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I am curious what the culture of Oste Wasi is like. It seems to have stuck far closer to its trade company roots than the former Aztec colonies, though its does have an interesting integration-focused approach to its board of directors. It also has a rather interesting mix of territories, even if it is far from its early days of owning the south coast of China. It must be quite the mixing pot, if it has much of a culture at all.
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Jul 14, 2014 07:48
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 You have questions, I imagine.   Ah, a hammer. How little creative. I…I will not scream… Pain...Means… Nothing. Listen, listen! I come to you as a friend, listen! I used to crush rats with rocks when I was a child… I assure you, there is a point to this, just hold on… Crushing is… The most simple of reaction when we see something that displeases us. It was what I did as a child, it is what you do as an agent of your government and it is what millennia of Chinese tradition taught the pretenders of the Celestial Mandate.  The numbers at first looked so very favourable to you, did they not? … Listen, listen, indulge my tale, there is time, it will all become clear.  So, Yian, I met him, it was the most important day in my life. If I were to describe his appearance you would find nothing notable. A man of average height, somewhat thin, crooked teeth, sunburnt and of dark eyes and hair, dressed in weathered clothes that suggest he was not the first to own them. He could disappear in any crowd and you would never find him. But when he speaks, or when he looks at you…  You understand that you are in a moment of importance, bearing the burden of infinite possibilities. He is a man who has great hopes for all, and there is no possibility more terrible than to disappoint him. Not because of fear, but because you know it would crush his heart.  There is no subject that he does not understand and no problem too insignificant or complex for his intellect. If you speak to him of a great tragedy he will offer the words you need to gather strength and if you tell him of a moment of weakness he will understand and help you understand as well, so that you may forgive yourself. It is for this reason that he gathered the finest minds of the world to his side… Even a German, one that Yian regards as an enlightened.  It is so no coincidence then that the universe conspires in his favour and that his every action is a harbinger of great consequence. The Oste Wasi knew of his coming and yes, write this down, they did provide him with gifts from the ancients. Gifts, I believe, that came from lands that once belonged to your people, if I am not mistaken?  Vision. The Oste Wasi have it, Yian has it. You lack it, you wal… Hold. Like children you walked into Selatan and it devoured you and you learned nothing.   Understand this. Your ignorance is not your fault. The truths you have been given are inherently false. You must shed the fiction that was woven into your minds and find truth in other places. Selatan, the land that never lies.   Some of you at least try. I remember Kurt Warendorp. He tried, he really tried to understand, but you are so afraid of escaping your lies that you hunt those with the courage to see. He was arrested, for no crime greater than curiosity and the practice of trade your nation is so fond of.  And still, the Hansa is powerful, despite your flaws. More distractions were necessary. No, we did not plan for the Aztlantic campaign, but reality itself is at our side.  You needed to be distracted, your participation in the Holy War as limited as possible.  And so it was, the Legions of the Hansa were needed to defend their homeland from the European hordes.       So many dead, and for such a great purpose. The Hansa was paralysed, running in circles against invaders from every corner.   It is true, that did not prevent your expedition. Tell me, did you personally feel pride at the achievements of the soldiers you sent off to die in China?   They did.   They saw themselves as saviors, liberators. The 31st Army of China they called themselves.  They were like cranes waving their wings against a storm.   ...Yes, bring in the fire. They all died and it was not even against the Yian. Do you know what they did to the survivors? Cut off their hands, one and all, so that they may never prac… No longer do violence.  ...Rrrr…  ….  …That… That… It could... Not help you. It won’t help you. You are distracted. You can do nothing, the world is on our side…. Laugh all you want.   It was fate. China, your homeland, your colonies. Who do you save? Reach for all and catch nothing.   You are not alone, it is true, but I am not either. Everything you do, everything you work for… It shall be undone.   First China, then the world, these are the fin….  Fin-n-nal days. First China, then the end of history as you know it.  Not a single expeditionary force could change the fate of the Chinese, why do you persist?  Ah, laugh, laugh and laugh. Our capital, yes, and the First Temple, beyond our grasp, your conquest guarded by your fleet. Just a setback.    Your nations knows of setbacks, does it not?  You are a daring people, you reek of pride.  So did the Chinese Emperor. You know what came of him. Of course you do. His screams will echo for an eternity.  You too will die, the Sun we keep shall rise in Lübeck.  I have said all. Torture me if it will bring you comfort, but know that our grave shall be one and the same.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:02
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Well poo poo. Why didn't any of our military engineer guilds come up with a Sun Maker? Edit: also hehe, shun the shun.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:11
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We don't negotiate with terrorists. These men will come for us in time. Shun is not enough for them, they have a hunger in their eyes.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:12
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We do not negotiate with terrorists Stand fast merchants, yield not to despair. Yes, darkness comes, the shadow strengthens, but the light of Reason burns brighter.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:12
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Shun the Shun. Shunnnnnnn.....nn.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:12
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How many pacific islands do we even have?
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Jul 14, 2014 20:13
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gently caress the Yian, we do not negotiate with cultists!
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Jul 14, 2014 20:14
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Shun! That's enough of this nonsense!
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Jul 14, 2014 20:15
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Pfeh. The people of the Hansa are people of courage, conviction, and honor! We will not surrender to the Yian - to do so is only to invite future doom! We will continue to fight until a second city is destroyed by the power of the Atom.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:15
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Why did you people have to lick an otherworldly artifact? No negotiations with squid worshipers!
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Jul 14, 2014 20:15
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GSD posted:How many pacific islands do we even have?  Three and a quarter.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:15
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No negotiation with terrorists! Personally, I'd give up way more than just that little bit of land to be safe from those guys, but at this point, I just want us to storm headlong into every possible disaster you have prepared for us.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:16
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We do not negotiate with terrorists.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:17
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We don't negotiate 
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Jul 14, 2014 20:20
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Remember like one update ago when people were complaining that the Hansa had blobbed too much and that they were indestructible? Yeah. Anyway: We do not negotiate with terrorists. Also, we're totally getting blown up by a nuclear bomb for refusing this. I mean, that's what's going on, right? That's what that explosion the Oeste Wasi saw was. The complex we explored was a silo. The Selatani had nukes. And the Yian are those cultists from Planet of the Apes who worshiped that nuclear missile or whatever, I guess. Cthulhu was just a misdirection. Or maybe the inconceivable destruction wrought by the atom would be so horrifying to the eighteenth century colonial magnates of China, Lubeck, et al., that it might as well be Cthulhu, and not the ultimate product of the scientific method and rationality so beloved of Lady Reason's Enlightenment. EDIT: Also, aside from everything else that's gone horribly wrong, I'm inconsolable that our alliance with the Oeste Wasi ended. I like the Oeste Wasi-- they're, I think the nation in the world that came closest to seeing the world on our terms.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:20
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ZearothK posted:
Schwanfurt is a cursed land that cannot possibly be making us much of a profit (outside of the black market at least), considering our ban on the artifact trade, so I would happily sell it. The islands are more profitable, but I am sure we could work out a price. But he did not offer us a mountain of gold. We are a company, we make deals. If the South Chinese Emperor wishes to come to the table with a price in mind, we will consider it. But we do not answer to threats. Lady Reason would not approve. (I am in favor of selling Schwanfurt to whoever would pay for it though  but Oste Wasi didn't want it, apparently.)
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Jul 14, 2014 20:23
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Just say no to Cthulhu cultists. See, this is why we should have taken all of Selatan for ourselves. We could have prevented all of this, but now it's too late. ...still, there's time to rectify our mistakes. Our future course of action is clear: We must burn Selatan to the bedrock, and all those who seek to protect its horrors must burn with it.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:26
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How many nukes could they possibly have? We don't negotiate with terrorists!
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Jul 14, 2014 20:28
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Hansa survived the death of its government once, if necessary it shall do so again!
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Jul 14, 2014 20:29
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gently caress you ancient unknowable horror squid headed dad. I suggest we try to find some powerful allies. Us, New Aztlan, and the Altaic Confederacy should probably look into forming some sort of West Eurasian Treaty Organization.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:30
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We don't negotiate with terrorists. Besides, it's probably just a bluff. If they had more nukes ready to hand they would have just hit us and taken the islands instead of trying to extract a relatively light concession. 
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Jul 14, 2014 20:35
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Scruff McGruff says to take a bite out of crime.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:37
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Personally I was not even against joining the cultists. But if we were going to do that it should've been on our terms. Not under threat of an earth-sun. Now the Selatani have declared themselves an enemy, and we will not capitulate without a fight.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:40
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Do we really want to have our capital reduced to a base tax of one and subject the rest of the Hansa to nuclear fallout for the next eon?
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Jul 14, 2014 20:41
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Capitulate.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:41
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Patter Song posted:Capitulate. Who would ever stoop so low as to vote for something like that? 
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Jul 14, 2014 20:44
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The Selatani Ideas' tech bonuses would be even scarier in Res Publica with the bonuses they're adding for being "ahead of history" in Adm and Dip techs.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:47
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GSD posted:The Selatani Ideas' tech bonuses would be even scarier in Res Publica with the bonuses they're adding for being "ahead of history" in Adm and Dip techs. Right now the bonuses seem to be all about shock and awe. If you can bear their initial attack you can probably beat them. Their army will be better than yours but they won't be able to regrow manpower as fast as you and once war exhaustion kicks in those high revolt risks should hopefully cause the nation to eat itself. Getting to that point though will be one hell of a battle. I suggest we form some sort of international strike force to capture Yian and throw him back into the fires of Mt. Ayers.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:53
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Ethiser posted:Right now the bonuses seem to be all about shock and awe. If you can bear their initial attack you can probably beat them. Their army will be better than yours but they won't be able to regrow manpower as fast as you and once war exhaustion kicks in those high revolt risks should hopefully cause the nation to eat itself. Getting to that point though will be one hell of a battle. I suggest we form some sort of international strike force to capture Yian and throw him back into the fires of Mt. Ayers. That is, of course, disregarding the fact that they can still nuke you.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:55
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Ss....ounds like a... reason - reason, yes, I remember reason... where was I? oh, yes - able offer...
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Jul 14, 2014 20:57
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A wise man once said, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." We do not negotiate.
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Jul 14, 2014 20:57
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Ethiser posted:Right now the bonuses seem to be all about shock and awe. If you can bear their initial attack you can probably beat them. Their army will be better than yours but they won't be able to regrow manpower as fast as you and once war exhaustion kicks in those high revolt risks should hopefully cause the nation to eat itself. Getting to that point though will be one hell of a battle. I suggest we form some sort of international strike force to capture Yian and throw him back into the fires of Mt. Ayers. Good thing they also have a lot of money for mercenaries. ...And that leads to the amusing image of the eldritch apocalypse army having a mercenary recruitment drive. "Reasonable pay, guaranteed place in the new world order."
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Jul 14, 2014 21:08
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Rincewind posted:Who would ever stoop so low as to vote for something like that? I would! Capitulate Let the masters words into your hearts and minds, unravel before each other
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Jul 14, 2014 21:15
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Rincewind posted:Also, we're totally getting blown up by a nuclear bomb for refusing this. Lovecraft didn't just write about Cthulhu, you know. Funky Valentine posted:...Did we just have an encounter with the Great Race of Yith? ZearothK posted:Original character, don't steal. It might be worth doing a little reading to find out - if not the particulars of whatever's behind the Yian, but the general theme & character of our enemy as presented thus far.
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Jul 14, 2014 21:15
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Come on, we didn't get this far by surrendering, did we? No, we got this far by mugging other nations and stealing their wallets. We don't negotiate with terrorists, no, we plot, mass our forces and then we steal their stuff. And if there are these sorts of wonder weapons in Selatan, giving up Schwanfurt would be a ridiculous thought. Now if they'd offered an alliance or some sort of partnership... then yes, but not this sort of surrender-or-die shenanigans.
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Jul 14, 2014 21:16
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That sounds completely reasonable. Say, I think we should let them open a Temple in Lubeck!
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Jul 14, 2014 21:22
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You know what this means? Somewhere in Lubeck is a device capable of levelling a city. We must have it. No Surrender. Ever. To anything. Anywhere.
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Jul 14, 2014 21:27
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Rincewind posted:Also, we're totally getting blown up by a nuclear bomb for refusing this.  Excerpts from "Theories on the Nature of the Artifacts of Selatan", reportedly written by Niklas Tiedemann "... At some point, I suspect that the world was destroyed due to the hubris of Man. God took pity upon Earth, and reforged it anew. Has this happened only once, or is this just an infinite iteration of our world, another example of the failure of Mankind? ... ... I am afraid to write this down, for it is one of the most heretical thoughts I have ever pondered... I worry that the Lord may have made a mistake. Looking upon the destruction of Beijing, the artifacts this "Emperor of Yian" is exploiting is not from this time. The world was reforged... but I fear Selatan was left the way it was, in the moments before the Lord reforged the world. The instruments of Mankind's Folly are already here. ..."
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Jul 14, 2014 21:28
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