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A, Time, 3 Edit: update can be found on the previous page!
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Mar 25, 2023 16:00
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D, Times, 2
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Mar 25, 2023 16:22
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A Time 1
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Mar 25, 2023 20:28
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C, Time, 3 Bit of a side question, but what DLC, if any, is required to run Anbennar?
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Mar 25, 2023 20:54
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Dirk the Average posted:Bit of a side question, but what DLC, if any, is required to run Anbennar? From the workshop page, I don't know if this is exhaustive though. There are so many unique mechanics and so many mission trees that I wouldn't be surprised if every DLC touched some part of the mod. quote:Emperor: recommended for the best Ravelian experience
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Mar 25, 2023 21:08
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A, Time, 3 Both time and money can be spent, but only money can be earned back.
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Mar 25, 2023 23:25
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B, Time, 2
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Mar 26, 2023 01:54
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Time, working 9 to 5, that's a way to make a living.
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Mar 26, 2023 02:31
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C, Time, and 2.
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Mar 26, 2023 04:21
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A, Time, 3 We only have until 1821 to conquer the entire world (unless Anbennar changes the end date), money we can earn whenever but administrative power we cannot
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Mar 26, 2023 12:58
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Aesculus posted:We only have until 1821 to conquer the entire world (unless Anbennar changes the end date), money we can earn whenever but administrative power we cannot Going for a world conquest is a little outside of the intended playstyle for dwarves, but if Administrative wins it does indeed mean we will be conquering more land directly thanks to the extra available admin power. The votes stand as follows with one day left. Time looks like the obvious winner for the second vote, but there is still room for a shift in the others. In the event of a tie I will choose as LPer's prerogative. A: Adm - 4 B: Tol - 4 C: Inf - 3 D: Mari - 1 E: Off - 0 F: Naval - 1 Time - 12 Money - 2 1: Invention - 3 2: Techo-Thaum - 4 3: Mechanism - 6
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Mar 26, 2023 19:48
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e:f;b
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Mar 26, 2023 19:49
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D, Money, 3
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Mar 26, 2023 21:25
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B, Time, 2
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Mar 26, 2023 21:47
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A, Time, 2
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Mar 26, 2023 23:10
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B, Time, 3
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Mar 27, 2023 00:09
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Cyflan posted:A, Time, 2
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Mar 27, 2023 00:48
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The final results see a tie between Tolerance and Administrative. I will be taking Tolerance, as this was its first appearance in a vote and it managed to make it to joint first. Administrative and Influence will be definitely appearing in the next vote. On the other votes, it seems people prefer their Time by a significant margin, and by a narrow lead we will be focusing our artifice research on Mechanism initially.
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Mar 27, 2023 14:28
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Chapter Eight: The Hoardcurse 1562-1573  Ties cut off with the garnet hold Blackbeard could taste the impending crisis in the air, in the stone, in the very fabric of the hold. With that in mind, he could no longer justify the risk of potentially being stabbed in the back by Ovdal Lodhum with support from the Phoenix Empire. He went behind the Assembly's back to personally send a message to Balgar acknowledging his hold's independence. No response came from behind the sealed walls of the hold, but it defused the diplomatic situation.  To organise inventors There was an ongoing debate among the science clans as to how best organise their efforts. For the most part, the clans themselves were divided between maintaining independent research guilds or building closer ties with the International Gommo, the gnomish-dominated guild that shared discoveries across international lines. The Assembly, for its part, expressed interest in bringing the science clans under government scrutiny and expressed concern at potentially have Orlghelovaric discoveries freely shared across the world. They did not have quite the pull to force the science clans to submit, but it was enough to keep them out of the hands of the Gommo and instead organised as independent dwarven guilds. For most nations, artificery isn't available until the last third or so of the game. Gnomes, Kobolds, and a collection of other tags (Orlghelovar being one of those) get access to them earlier. As you can see, that is a big deal considering that it takes time to research inventions. Even with if we stick with Independent Unions we should still research ~27 inventions by the end of game. On that note, the reason I chose it was it gives us more flexibility compared to the low loyalty, high influence Gommo and income-impacting state artificers. The reasons to switch out might be if we want to cycle through inventions faster and have other buffs to the estate loyalty for changing to the Gommo, or if we have researched some inventions that buff our artificer regiments (and if that happens, I will get to explaining them) and we want a larger capacity of them via State Artificers.  Directing research Practical as they are, the dwarven artificers were most interested in enhancing the existing engineering techniques and tools rather than going deep into the strange and mysterious as the gnomes were wont to do. Members of the artificer guild could be found poking around every level of industry, from mines to forges to offices. When researching, you can choose the type of invention you are interested in and pay a small mana price and ongoing cost in tax income and prestige. Those aren't a big deal, especially for dwarves, so it's no problem to be constantly researching for the rest of the game. As voted for, we start with Mechanism.  A society not yet prepared Those guild members were met with some suspicion, and many of their initial suggestions were shot down by the cartels and the industrial guilds. The use of magical enhancement was viewed as being part of role of the magesmiths, and not something to be mixed into delicate industrial processes. It would take time and careful prototyping to demonstrate that the artificers were more than just mad scientists trying to push themselves into established industries. Your ability to actually use artifice is limited by your capacity, which depends on a variety of factors as shown. Right now, we have a capacity of zero thanks to not having embraced manufactories. That institution is roughly 90 years away, but there are things we can do in the meantime to try and scrape up a little bit of capacity such as conquering provinces with damestear or precursor artifacts (no coal available yet), while maximizing the influence of our artificers and minimizing that of our mages.  Golden Age? The indolence of the upper classes was beginning to spread. Dwarves were finding their wealth out in the caverns as mines across the Reach opened back up, or plying their trade out on the open waters and returning wealthier than they possibly imagined. Everywhere in the hold could be seen gold, silver, mithril, and ever-present cobalt glass adorning every home and workplace. The cartels declared it the start of a new Golden Age, and soon even working dwarves were rushing to get their hands on the precious metals.  False prosperity The incredible wealth flowing into the hold was concentrated in the upper and middle classes, while the common dwarf operating a forge or wielding a pick worked themselves to the bone to try and get their hands on just a handful of coins. The inevitable inflation caused by this was thus pricing the lower classes out of their very lives, and even starting to affect the middles classes. More and more dwarves were turning to loans just to survive, and no matter how much money was poured on the problem it only seemed to be getting worse.  A winner amongst losers Meanwhile, in Cannor, the League War appeared to be approaching its conclusion. The Corinites had been driven almost entirely out of the Empire proper and were forced to operate under the leadership of their Lorentish hosts. The winelords took full advantage of having an army of fanatics under their control, and retook their territory and dismantled several minor powers in their region. Even if they ultimately lost, they would get some gains out of the situation.  Acceleration towards madness The situation within the nation was getting worse and worse with each day that passed. Loans were handed out freely with extortionate interest rates. Dwarves hoarded money and precious metals even as essential goods were traded away. The cartels engaged in open battle to prove themselves the wealthiest, while working dwarves beat and robbed one another for a simple ingot of silver.  The name of the beast. The Hoardcurse. The Assembly was paralysed with indecision, in fact many of its own members had succumbed and hidden themselves away with their own personal wealth. Faced with the potential collapse of the government, the economy, and perhaps society itself, Blackbeard declared a state of emergency and gathered what sane dwarves that he could, along with any human, elf or goblin willing to help to fight against the affliction that had swept the nation. A name was spreading through the streets. The Hoardcurse, greed as a disease, the love of wealth more than life itself. Like any disease, it needed to be fought before it killed the host. Welcome to the first dwarf-specific disaster in Anbennar. Like most disasters in the mod it is a doozy, although it is deceptively straightforward to resolve. To fix the Hoardcurse we must pass five reforms, which primarily involve piling resources into decisions and events while trying to survive the negative modifiers shown. Each reform will counteract some aspect of those negative modifiers.  Centralized banking With the remaining members of the Assembly, Blackbeard was able to pass a proposal to unlock the funds that had been earmarked for the Dig-Deeply Initiative and instead direct them to buying out the countless banks that had sprung up across the nation. Once those were under control, the worst of the hoardcursed could be rooted out, interest rates could be brought back under control, and the economy could be stabilized. The situation remained precarious for months, as the sudden shock of nationalization almost brought the economy completely crashing down. The banks are the number one priority, as the interest rate debuff will kill you if it is still a problem by the time you get deeper into the Hoardcurse. You will inevitably have to take loans to make it through and with such a high interest rate it could lead to a death spiral.  A lean government Government expenditures were being cut to the bone so that all available money could be focused on saving the nation. All non-essential personnel were given extended leaves of absence, or otherwise drafted into the efforts to fix the situation.  Corin defeated Six years of war Cannor came to an end in 1573 with a clear victory for the Adeanic League. A handful of territorial exchanges took place, and Lorent was able to keep its gains, but the most important outcome was that a member of the Empire could only be elected Emperor if their denounced Corin as a usurper goddess. With the rule of Telgeir refusing to do so, Wesdam was elected to the position instead and the centre of power within the Empire shifted to their core lands around the Damesear.  Turning to the uncursed With so many dwarves afflicted by the Hoardcurse, the government turned to its other residents to keep the government ticking over. Verk Grandguard, a member of one of the goblin cartels, had taken innovative strides in rooting out the corruption within his own organisation and offered his services to do the same to the republic's institutions. Blackbeard gratefully accepted his help. One of the upsides of the crisis was the demonstration that all the other races, even those who were seen as barbarians, could help in a situation where dwarves were found lacking. With Tolerance selected, I will be aiming to have all races in our nation move to 'Integrated', the highest level of acceptance.  Military drawdown The Assembly continued to pass laws to preserve the government coffers for the crisis. The army was withdrawn into the mountains and placed into accommodation that had been seized as part of the efforts against the hoardcursed, which went a long way to reducing the amount of money spent on housing them.  Accounts settled The nationalization effort concluded after a year of intense work from Blackbeard and the rest of the government. Several nationalized banks were re-privatised after their glass slates had been wiped clean of unhealthy debt and oppressive loans, while a number of the remaining banks were dismantled and reconstructed into a central bank for the nation that would remain under direct government oversight. The Cobalt Bank would tightly control the money flow and ensure the private banks stayed in line. Every reform ends with a decision that costs even more money, and some mana, that finishes off that reform path and lets you pick another reform to start on.  Rigorous crackdowns A taskforce was established under Verk Grandguard to begin the process of rooting out the corruption that had set in from the top to the bottom of the government. Some of the more eager members of the Assembly suggested that arrests or even summary executions would be faster at clearing out corrupt officials, but such brutality was not the way of Orlghelovar. The taskforce would use data analysis to find the places where money was leaking out of the system, careful investigation to gather evidence against the worst offenders, and then have the hoardcursed officials quietly retire with severance so they didn't fall into the hands of the cartels. Corruption is a good choice for the second reform, as corruption growth will eat away at you as it raises the autonomy floor for your provinces and increases the amount of mana you have to spend on things.  Suffering and anger Even while the government worked to unravel the hold the Hoardcurse on society, the lower rungs of society suffered. An epidemic of influenza ravaged Aqatbar and the other surface cities, while riots of steadily growing intensity sprang up across the nation. The risk of an outright rebellion was growing, and threatened to shatter an already vulnerable society.  A clean administration The process of clearing out corrupt officials took a full two years, but Blackbeard considered that a worthwhile price to pay to avoid an outright purge of the government and bureaucracy. The Assembly of Holds was back to full strength, the cursed representatives having been removed from their positions, and having seen the effectiveness of the reforms so far, they were happy to sign off Blackbeard to do whatever else was required to remove the Hoardcurse from the rest of society.  Time over money Among the lower classes the Hoardcurse took a different form. The lust for wealth and the need to keep up with inflation had trapped countless dwarves in ever worsening contracts with the cartel, where they spent their whole day working for a mere pittance of coin. These were conditions that would have been unimaginable even in the early, more precarious, days of the hold. While a comprehensive reform would be hard to push through, focusing on one issue was reasonable. As a dwarf with very little time left, and having spent his whole life working for the nation, Blackbeard decided that he wanted all dwarves to have Time for themselves. Working hour restrictions were approved by the Assembly, along with stipulations that pay could not be cut that lead to an effective increase in hourly wages. Worker conditions is another good early choice for reform as it will clear the revolt risk and stability cost maluses. If your nation is more unstable or your army is depleted when the disaster starts it might even need to be your first pick to keep your army from being overwhelmed.  The Orlghelovar Riots Even though legislation was being pushed through, that did nothing to alleviate the immediate suffering of the workers. A collection of angered working class dwarves marched on the Assembly halls in Orlghelovar demanding immediate action not just on conditions, but also the crushing prices of food and clothes inflicted by the still-cursed cartels. As much as Blackbeard sympathised with their conditions, there simply weren't enough dwarves to fix everything at once, and tearing apart the government would only undo everything he had been doing to fix the issue so far. The army that had been quartered in Shazstundihr was ordered in to hold the line and push back the rioters.  Reforms see success After the initial anger of the rioters had been quelled, the legislation was completed and came into effect. Many of those dwarves who had taken to the streets promptly returned to work. Even the fact that government had done something for them personally, rather than fiddling with banks and bureaucrats, seemed to be enough to mollify them. However, that could all be undone if the cartels were allowed to maintain their stranglehold on the food supplies.  Returning to an unfamiliar nation An expedition that had spent the better part of a decade plumbing the depths of the Dwarovar near Ovdal Lodhum returned in 1567. They came emerged from a cavern entrance near the hold to see it sealed up, and local dwarves barricaded in their homes with hoards of precious metals glinting through their windows. The whole region was a centre of the metal cartels, who were throttling trade now that their near-slave labour had been taken away by government decree. The adventurers were met by government officials who paid them their cut and quickly took the rest of the treasure back to the capital, where it was much-needed to assist in the ongoing reforms.  Pawns that do not know their place The diplomatic situation on Orlghelovar's borders had been peaceful, much to the relief of the government. With the situation at its worst under the mountains, all the rest of the world knew was that trade with the dwarves had hit a downturn and not the true extent of vulnerability. There were some skirmishes and harsh words traded with the elves of Birzartanes, who did not seem to understand the situation they were in. They were no longer an official ally of the Phoenix Empire, but had instead been offered a guarantee of protection. It was obvious that would only last as long as it would take for Daraztarion to finished digesting his latest conquests against the Jaddari in the east and make ready for a western push. I did this to get some Power Projection, but thought the insult was actually appropriate for their situation.  Abolishing indentured servitude Included in the package of reforms for workers was the official abolishment of indentured servitude. No longer could an employer require an employee to repay debts as part of their contract. While many dwarves were saved from near-slavery by this, it also had the interesting effect of liberating the minority of orcs that had been retained as manual labour throughout parts of the nation. Compared to goblins, the orcs were still seen as vicious brutes by many of the population, but this might be the first step to changing that. Here is the permanent effect that we get. Another reduction in unrest, at the price of some goods produced modifier. That's pretty bad from an income perspective, but the 'Better Pay' option isn't much better in that regard, trading lower production efficiency (which a dwarven nation will rely on) for higher taxation income (which it won't).  Mithril blockade The reforms were not looked kindly on by the cartels, who shut down some of the most prominent mithril mines in protest. It was decided that they would be the next target of reform.  Against the cartels Between them, the largest cartels held a stranglehold over some of the most crucial industries within Orlghelovar. Luckily, the Glasslords had managed to purge the hoardcursed from within their own ranks so they were not a concern. However, the metal that supplied dwarven industry and the food and textiles that its population required were at risk due to the hoarders still dominating the associated cartels. In retaliation for the shut down of the mithril mines, the metal cartels were the first target. For this reform all three of the options have to eventually be taken, each for the same cost. Overall, the monopoly reform is low priority as it is very expensive and only impacts trade efficiency which even in our case doesn't make up a huge percentage of our income.  Magic, now import-only The Artificers Guild had been mostly unaffected by the Hoardcurse, because they were more interested in another substance. Their hunger for Damestear led to the nation's only mine being depleted within short order of the guild's founding. Protest letters reached the doors of the Assembly, demanding that new sources be secured or that imports began, but the government had bigger concerns to focus on.  The Hoardcursed fight back Troops were dispatched to forcibly nationalize the mithril mines, and the cartels fought back, using their vast reserves of wealth to lure thousands of cursed dwarves into their service. They gathered themselves in the caverns bordering Ovdal Lodhum and began making use of the metal they had on hand to forge an array of cannons capable of destroying any government counterattack.  Heroes against the Hoardcurse As luck would have it, the adventurers who had returned from the most recent expedition had settled down in that region. They had found themselves in a strange position, being surrounded by countless dwarves who thought of nothing but hoarding their wealth, but they hadn't succumbed to it themselves. When the cartel rose up, the adventurers took up arms and were able to defeat twice their number in cursed dwarves as well as break the attempt to fortify the caverns. When the Orlghelovaric Army arrived, it was a simple mop-up of the remaining rebels. The cartel was disbanded, its leaders arrested, and the mines nationalized or redistributed to unafflicted cartels.  Handing power back to the people With the situation steadily coming under control, the question started to arise regarding the extraordinary powers that Blackbeard had used to take charge in the early days of the crisis. Many in the Assembly raised the concern that he might use the opportunity to declare himself a dictator. As old as he was getting, he had no such intention. In fact, to keep such rumours from spreading and nip the risk of a monarchist faction in the bud he pushed through a number of reforms devolving power even further to the individual holds and their inhabitants, as well as granting additional privileges to surface cities.  Cracking open the seedbanks The Reach was almost self-sufficient for food by itself. With Halanna's Breath spreading throughout the caverns and providing large pockets of fertility in the darkness, there was no reason that a hold could not support itself. To earn a greedy profit, the cartels made sure to hoard food just as much as they hoarded gold. To prevent the risk of further starvation, those vaults had to be cracked open and the contents shared with the masses. Food prices would temporarily crash, but once the glut was over things ought to return to normalcy.  Tolerance for all The crisis had proven that the multitude of peoples that made up the nation could work together closely. Where dwarves faltered, other races stepped up. Across holds and surface cities, religious and cultural beliefs were being honoured by the local bylaws. Even the noble clans who had so viciously resisted integration in earlier decades were finding happy and compliant citizens far easier to manage.  Last of the cursed cartels The last major cartel to be dismantled was the textile cartel. During the height of the Hoardcurse, they had brought out a new line of fashion that was made of woven gold and mithril thread, exacerbating the crisis as countless dwarves rushed to participate in the next big trend and literally wear their wealth. These clothes were seized as part of the effort to break the cartel and return the fashion industry to a saner place.  Patronage of the Innovators Even during these efforts, the government still found time and funds to support the artificers and science clans. They had been almost untouched by the Hoardcurse, so it was almost a point of pride that the innovation never stopped in Orlghelovar, even if the rest of the economy had ground to a halt. Having a flat 10% mana cost reduction for the rest of the game is a really nice boost.  End of the monopolies After all the effort that had been put into dismantling the cartels, the final bureaucratic act, the final signature placed onto paper and glass, was more a formality than anything else. A comprehensive legal reform was now in place to ensure that the cartels never again held the overwhelming influence that they one had on the dwarven economy and society. Monopolies were banned, wealth above a certain value was to be taxed, and workers had mandatory free time and vacation days. All of this was to be overseen by stringent government inspectors, many of whom were race besides dwarves, who could not be so easily afflicted with the disease of the mind that the Hoardcurse truly was.  The final push There was still one major impediment to the resolution of the Hoardcurse, that being the countless minor nobles and other wealthy dwarves who were not part of any of the cartels. While their impact was curtailed by the fact that they were not part of larger organisations, if they were able to tear themselves away from their piles of gold long enough to work collectively, they could be a major threat. Moving directly against them would force them to immediately band together, so Blackbeard had to take another approach. Carefully, he started pushing through legislation that defined and acknowledged the state of being 'hoardcursed', and put in restrictions for those who were still defined as such as well as treatment and amnesty plans for those who dug themselves out of that hole. In the end, it was a disease. Both prevention and cure would prevent it from striking again. Curtailing the barons should be the final reform you take, as the chances of success will depend on how many other reforms you have completed prior to this. You can select one, two or three of the listed options, and I selected all three despite the steep cost for the sake of completeness.  The price of saving the nation As things seemed to be winding down, the government was able to take a moment to breathe and confirm the state of the nation's finances. Thousands of crowns worth of debt had accumulated over the course of the Hoardcurse, most of it owed to the Cobalt Bank and the Glasslords. The interest payments on the debt amounted to almost 20% of the GDP, but now that the economy was stabilising it could start to grow again, and repaying the loaners ought to just be a matter of time.  Phoenix at the gates While Orlghelovar had been looking inwards, the rest of the world continued to turn. Alarming news came from scouts observing the Silentblade orcs occupying the tunnels outside Hul-Jorkad. Phoenix banners were now flying from the hold itself. The elves had marched right up the valley, taken Lake Jorkad and the hold soon after. This caused great alarm in the Assembly, and after years of economic matters, military buildup was once again the concern on everyone's mind.  The first gift of artifice As the nation appeared to emerging into the light after years of darkness, so to were the inventors emerging from their laboratories. Emboldend by the sheer weight of bureaucracy that had been put in place to help combat the Hoardcurse, the new innovation that they had developed was self-cleaning parchment and slates. Mistakes could be easily corrected, documents could be recycled, and the administration as a whole could flow just a bit more smoothly. The issue was that, with the supply of Damestear severely throttled, there simply was not the capacity for mass production. So, for the moment the new parchment was a novelty used by the office of the Grand Mayor and other high-ranking officials. Inventions are represented as privileges we can hand out to the Artificer estate, which means there is an additional limit on the number we can have at once. Admin Efficiency is a nice boost, especially in these early years when we don't have access to absolutism, but it costs a whopping 20 capacity so it is unlikely we will be running it any time soon.  The dwarven nation is saved As the Assembly continued to debate spinning the rescued economy up to a war footing, Blackbeard took a much-needed break from the proceedings. It was incredible to think that he was not just the father of the nation, but a great reformer who had broken a curse that threatened to destroy dwarven society. Perhaps now it was finally time to rest, and let the next generation deal with the troubles to come. He stepped out into the hold, could hear the distant forges at work, see dwarves enjoying their time off, and watch endless carts delivering material up from deeper in the hold where excavation had been started on the next layer below them. The sunlight shone through the glittering array of glassworks in the roof above, and Blackbeard took the moment to take it all in before heading back into the Assembly Halls to finish his work. Perhaps just a little longer in the big seat, but retirement was looking more and more appetizing. To be continued It took a whole update, but the disaster is over. From a meta perspective, it clearly exists to put a brake on the runaway train of the dwarven economy. Even if you do your best to prepare for it, it will completely halt your growth and you will end up with a lot of loans that you will need to spend the next couple of decades paying off. The theming is good, but it does feel kind of boring in that it the solution is just spending money over and over again. If there were more impactful decisions like the Time vs Money decision that had long term effects, or the Hoardcursed fought back more often so there was a threat besides bankruptcy it might be more interesting to play through.
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Mar 30, 2023 17:25
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Sybot posted:It took a whole update, but the disaster is over. From a meta perspective, it clearly exists to put a brake on the runaway train of the dwarven economy. Even if you do your best to prepare for it, it will completely halt your growth and you will end up with a lot of loans that you will need to spend the next couple of decades paying off. The theming is good, but it does feel kind of boring in that it the solution is just spending money over and over again. If there were more impactful decisions like the Time vs Money decision that had long term effects, or the Hoardcursed fought back more often so there was a threat besides bankruptcy it might be more interesting to play through. Yeah, mechanically I'd say the Hoardcurse is the least interesting of the dwarf-specific disasters. It's main problem is that it's nearly impossible to handle reactively. The only strategy involved is deciding on the order of the reforms, and that's only strategic if you know which reform is tied to which set of maluses. You can infer some of them, but they're not spelled out. There's no way to know how expensive the reforms will be beforehand, and they're very, very expensive. On a blind playthrough the outcome is all but guaranteed to be bankruptcy. Narratively the Hoardcurse is thematic but dissonant since what you do to get through unscathed is hoard really hard. The trigger that starts it is having an income of 150 crowns/month. If you stop investing and start hoarding as that number approaches you can go into the curse with 20k+ crowns in the bank. Not needing to take (many) loans makes the event much easier. It's possible to get even gamier: the base cost used for all the reforms and events is locked in when the curse starts. If you intentionally tank your economy for that one specific month by sending all your merchants off to trade in Antarctica, taking as many temporary production efficiency reductions as you can, etc then every reform in the event will be much cheaper.
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Mar 30, 2023 18:05
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Xerophyte posted:Narratively the Hoardcurse is thematic but dissonant since what you do to get through unscathed is hoard really hard. The trigger that starts it is having an income of 150 crowns/month. If you stop investing and start hoarding as that number approaches you can go into the curse with 20k+ crowns in the bank. Not needing to take (many) loans makes the event much easier. So it's possible to stave off the curse of hoarding by... hoarding wealth...? 
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Mar 30, 2023 18:44
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GunnerJ posted:So it's possible to stave off the curse of hoarding by... hoarding wealth...? the hoardcurse is the dwarves hoarding the wealth for THEMSELVES individually rather than for the good of the state, note that Sybot it looks like avoided his leader becoming greedy which is entirely a thing in the hoardcurse and now you must kill your cursed dwarf leader.
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Mar 30, 2023 21:19
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Well, independent of mechanics, the update was narratively very satisfying. 
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Mar 30, 2023 22:07
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AtomikKrab posted:the hoardcurse is the dwarves hoarding the wealth for THEMSELVES individually rather than for the good of the state, note that Sybot it looks like avoided his leader becoming greedy which is entirely a thing in the hoardcurse and now you must kill your cursed dwarf leader. Dwarf communism when?
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Mar 31, 2023 00:57
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Love how you did it narratively!
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Mar 31, 2023 03:59
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Soylent Pudding posted:Dwarf communism when? In this world, Marx was a cobalt dwarf
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Mar 31, 2023 11:32
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Honestly, I think the hoardcurse could use a little more flavour to show the situation of the dwarf-on-the-street. Also it's a hilariously realistic consequence that a stratified, strongly clannish society suddenly gaining access to the wealth of a continent-spanning empire that had like a dozen times the population at it's height, plus centuries worth of advances in extractive technology would result in incredible inflation, massive corruption and hideous inequality.
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Mar 31, 2023 11:38
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Kanthulhu posted:In this world, Marx was a cobalt dwarf Forget Dwarf Marx, I want Dwarf Trotsky- let's spread the world revolution! 
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Mar 31, 2023 20:16
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Victoria 3 Anbennar is being worked on, although who knows when that'll be out. Can't imagine they'd feature this guy and not let Goblin Trotsky revolve him permanently.
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Mar 31, 2023 20:42
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Light and (almost) ever sharp, mithril icepicks must be well prized.
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Mar 31, 2023 20:57
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Chapter Nine: Union 1573-1593  The diamond specialists of Arg-Ōrdstun As the second-most important hold in the nation, and the centre of the critical trades of diamond cutting tools and gems used for industrial and research purposes, Arg-Ōrdstun was developing into another trade hub on par with Orlghelovar itself. The military structures set up during the days of Queen Ardeginn were being repurposed into more warehouses and workshops, while dwarves from across the mountains arrived to seek their fortunes. The government was eager to take its cut and accelerate the economy past the stagnation of the Hoardcurse.  Military expansion Under the threat of the Phoenix Empire, the Assembly approved the massive expansion of the second Orlghelovaric Army, which was to be stationed in the eastern tunnels. The fact that its area of operation also included Ovdhal Lodhum was not a coincidence. The Assembly had decreed that the risk of a Phoenix-sympathizing army within the mountains themselves was too great. While Daraztarion had withdrawn his support for the moment, it could resume at any time.  Integrated by force, not by love So long isolated from the outside world, the garnet dwarves had stagnated. Their walls were no match for modern cannons, and they fell within the year. This time Balgar didn't even bother to sign the surrender, but instead retreated deeper into the caverns and conducted a guerrilla campaign against the occupying forces, especially focusing on any goblins or orcs who returned to the caverns that he had originally forced them out of. With other priorities to focus, the Army set up a defensive line at the walls of Ovdal Lodhum itself, and in the Zarn Caverns on other side, designating what lay between as a no-go zone for the time being.  The wealth of the caverns The Zarn Caverns themselves had not really been exploited to their fullest potential by the garnet dwarves. With modern mining techniques, and bringing in miners and engineers with experiences from every corner of the Reach, the hope was that the true potential of these caverns could be brought to light.  Securing the coastal trade The bulk of the army was redployed to the western frontier, where they began a campaign to take control of the remainder of Bahar and with it give the dwarven nations uncontested control of trade in the region. The Republic of Crathįnor had once been a useful trading partner, but had grown increasingly hostile to dwarven traders especially after Ovdal Tūngr was subordinated under Orlghelovar. Gaining full control of the flow of trade was considered essential to the security of the nation.  Contrast of land and sea The war was no major issue on the land, but the seas were another matter. The humans called upon their allies in the island city of Nathalaire, who sailed in with a squadron of modern galleons and swept aside the Orlghelovaric trade fleet and even the Tūngric war fleet. They instituted a blockade that threatened to strangle the economy of the dwarven nations even as their allies fell under occupation.  The Masquerade is broken In Covuria itself, the nation was in the middle of a devastating civil war. It appeared that their most recent ruler had begun a program to purge the nobility of the vampires that had thoroughly infested it. In retaliation the vampires had risen up, enthralled huge numbers of citizens, and marched on the castles of the still-living nobility and royalty. The capital itself was close to falling, while most of the countryside was coated in blood in a manner not seen since the Crimson Deluge.  Dig faster, dig deeper Despite the need to pay down the national debt, money continued to be poured into the digging operations within Olrghelovar. When unusual layers of rock caused digging to slow down, it was the perfect opportunity to test new equipment and techniques.  Cabinet unity The Assembly was working like a well-oiled machine. The deepest rot of the cartels and nobility had been purged along with the Hoardcurse, and that only left dwarves, and other races, who were eager to serve the nation. For the first time a goblin representative was elected to the Assembly, and they found themselves welcomed as an equal by a majority of the members, while the Silvertusk observer was also elevated to representative giving orcs their own voice.  The occupied coast With the vampire crisis in Corvuria escalating, Nathalaire was forced to end its blockade in order to institute a quarantine of its own territory. The city itself sat just off the coast of Covuria, and they did not want to risk the bloodsuckers getting loose within the walls of their densely populated home. Crathįnor surrendered shortly afterwards, with the coast and key trading ports falling under dwarven control and leaving the humans with only direct control of the interior.  A defensive coalition forms The rulers of Covuria, fearing a dwarven invasion on top of their own vampire problem, called upon several other nations in southern Cannor to rally against dwarven aggression. This put a hold on any further expansion plans by the Assembly, as military strength and money both needed to be conserved.  The Grand Port of Aqatbar It was clear now that the future of wealth lay out on the open sea. More and more merchants were migrating out of the mountains and settling down in the dwarven-owned lands on the surface. Government policy had started to shift as well, to focus on the port of Aqatbar as the key checkpoint for goods coming from the east. Collecting tariffs and tolls directly by integrating the associated offices and merchant marine of their copper dwarf allies, as well as taxing the countless merchants who were now plying their trade there, gave a massive injection of cash to the treasury that went straight into reducing the debt even further. This is what I was talking about with regards to the value of nodes during that vote. Because Bahar has so much more trade flowing into it, it is vastly wealthier than just the Reach. If we can get to Eborthķl it will be worth even more. Incidentally, because we got the 'Historical Friends' modifier for Ovdal Tūngr a while back, they have a -50% modifier to their liberty desire which lets us run trade diversion without any risk of them becoming disloyal.  The Blood Moon rises over Arca Corvur The vampire uprising came to a conclusion in 1577, with King Cecill I taking the throne and declaring that he and his kind would no longer be confined to the shadows. He was met shortly afterwards by a declaration from the Magisterium, calling him and his kind a blight in the eyes of the gods and calling for a holy war to see the foul creatures eliminated. Very few were interested in taking the offer for the moment, as the politics of the Empire and Escann were a greater concern for them than vampires in another country. For the part of Orlghelovar, Blackbeard suggested an expedition to depose the vampire king, but the Assembly rejected the proposal pointing out that further dwarven encroachment on human lands, even those held by a monster, would probably cause the coalition to attack. A brief word about Witch Kings. A Witch King is a ruler who is considered by the rest of the world to be 'evil' in a very literal sense. This gives the nation in question several military buffs, a bunch of diplomatic debuffs, and every neighbouring 'good' nation a free CB against them. They are typically either liches, vampires, or mages who have otherwise gone too far in their magical studies. From a lore perspective this coming age will see the rise of many such Witch Kings, particularly in Escann. In game, they are less frequent, mostly being either the player or nations (like Corvuria) that can get them through events/disasters.  Easier material, dig faster Digging operation in Shazstundihr found different issues than those in Orlghelovar. A vast calcite layer lay underneath the hold. It was trivial to dig through, and would make expanding the hold and easy task, but some expressed concern about the runework that was woven through it. The magesmiths could not understand it, but at best they could tell it would have no negative effects even if you took a pickaxe to the material. Eager for more room in a growing hold, the digging continued. I'm sure this doesn't mean anything.  Hands reach across the Dwarovar Diplomatic overtures to expand the nation's network of alliances bore fruit, with a treaty of friendship and defence being signed with Orlazam-az-dihr, the largest of the holds in the northern Serpentspine Mountains. Between them, Khugdihr, and the adventurers who had recently liberated Er-Natvir from the goblins, it was now almost safe enough for a civilian dwarf to travel from Orlghelovar all the way to the old capital at Amldihr. Once the rail lines were restored, a new age of interconnectivity would be able to blossom.  Fortifying the Reach Without further expansion blocked, by the coalition on one side and the republic's own allies on the other side, the military's focus shifted to defending the Reach. With vastly more money entering the nation's coffers, it was no strain on the debt repayment budget to put funds into improving key fortifications. The entries of the Reach, as well as Aqatbar, were upgraded with the highest priority to ensure that no Cannorian or Elven armies could breach the interior.  The Marble Metropolis Any concerns about the rune-marked calcite in Shazstundihr were quickly put aside as the sheer speed with which miners were able to dig through it lead to a boom in the once-desolate hold. With the liberation of the orcish indentured workers during the Hoardcurse, many had migrated to the hold and made it their home, leading to Shazstundihr being one of the few places in the nation with an outright majority of orcs. Endless terraces of homes and vast halls of industries were populated as fast as they were being carved out of the calcite. Presently, Shazstundihr costs next to nothing to develop. This is fine, keep digging!  Some kind of machine for vending The latest artificer invention was a machine that could exchange coin for goods without any input from a merchant. While some businesses were very interested, the largest industries in the nation were glass, which was too fragile to put into the simplistic mechanisms of the machine, and gems, which were too valuable to leave in an unattended machine. Uptake was slow and vendorless stalls remained a occasional curiosity rather than a prominent feature of marketplaces. More trade efficiency is nice, but given the cost I'm not sure it is worth it even once we do get some capacity.  Firearms become the standard in the dwarven military Dwarven tactics were seeing a transition as the nation grew larger in both wealth and population. Before, the primary enemy were waves of undisciplined orcs or goblins who massively outnumbered the dwarves. In those times, focusing on defensive formations ensured the preservation of every precious dwarven life. Now though, Orlghelovar was facing peer opponents on the surface or besieging the entry points of the Reach. The addition of much more mobile auxiliaries wielding powerful but unreliable scatterguns gave them the versatility they needed in the much more varied environments of the outside world. Fire damage is really starting to take off, so I am switching our military unit choices from defensive to offensive.  Patent wars As artificery became a more common profession, all the problems of a profession came with it. In patent conflicts between independent researchers and those sponsored by the Gommo, the government declined to get involved. To support the Gommo would be to clamp down on innovation and leave it to foreign influences. To directly support an individual inventor, however would lead to accusations of favouritism and potentially withdrawal of gnomish support. For this incident, at least, they let the artificers sort it out amongst themselves  Distant Haless News was slow coming from the distant continent of Haless, but news did arrive. The latest was the that the Hobgoblin Command, a military with a state, had been acknowledged as a nation and not just a barbarian invasion. Despite that, they were still locked in a regular struggle with the monastic order of the One Xia. The Supreme Master of the Xia had made herself the bastion of Haless against further incursions by the Hobgoblins. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Empire had begun seizing ports along the Rahen coast to funnel valuable trade from the east. Most relevant to the dwarves of Orlghelovar was the state of the Dwarovar. Ovdal-az-Ān was secure the Tree of Stone, but everything east of that was held by the goblins of the Jade March on behalf of their masters in the Command.  The Sapphire Chasm The discovery of vast quantities of gems in the Zarn region saw a massive influx of both labour and capital to the area. Among them were industrial scientists looking for ways to enhance the nation's trademark output even further. The use of sapphires alongside with the cobalt glass seemed like a natural combination, and soon multiple cartels were competing to find the best ways to make use of the gemstones. This also increased pressure on the government to do something about the garnet rebels still in the area.  The ascension of Whitebeard The election of 1584 opened with a shocking declaration. Blackbeard announced that he would not be running for office again. His tenure of over one hundred years had seen so much change, going from cartel, to hold, to nation, and while he had kept up with it he was also getting very old. The time had come to step down and enjoy his retirement. This caught the various factions within the government by surprise. For the past century, the tradition had been to run young up-and-comers against Blackbeard even though they had no chance of success. This way the loss of face from a defeat would not reflect on the more venerable members of the Assembly, and the candidates would gain some experience in politicking even if it was only to try and win second place. When the dust settled in a contentious election, the votes saw a narrow victory for one Grūar Whitebeard. A young dwarf, raised in the cobalt mining towns outside Orlghelovar, he joined the Hoardcurse taskforce and proved himself a skilled investigator at rooting out corruption. Eventually, he joined the staff of the Orlghelovaric representative in the Assembly and was being groomed for the seat, but now circumstances saw him thrust to the very top. Some said that it was purely the irony of his name that won him the election, but in his inaugural speech, stood atop the podium where the Diamond and the Sapphire lay on display, he promised that he would not give up on the ideals that Orlghelovar had been founded on.  Extending rights to all To avoid accusations of being a weaker Blackbeard, Whitebeard immediately took action on issues that had been simmering under his predecessor's rule. The devolution of power to the provinces had seen a lot of success, but there was room to go a step further. The voting franchise, which had previously been limited only to selected clan and merchant representatives both at the local and national level, was extended to all citizens of means regardless of affiliation. This also included provisions to set up provisional governments in areas occupied by the Orlghelovaric Army and give the notable inhabitants of those areas the same rights as citizens, while cracking down on crimes committed against them by the army.  Orcish citizens Another issue was the status of orcs, who had been an underclass for even longer than goblins. The black orcs of the Dwarovar were elevated to the same status as the other races, and a commission was set up to see that the steady flow of orc refugees from elven territories were properly integrated into the nation. The pace of reform shocked the more conservative members of the Assembly, but the ferocity of the effort stymied any effort to prevent it.  A clean economy The final loan from the Cobalt Bank relating to Hoardcurse expenses was cleared in 1588. A quarter of a century after the crisis had started to rock the nation, the last economic damage had been repaired. This left a huge imbalance in the books, as suddenly the vast wealth flowing through Aqatbar could be directed to more useful purposes. Further expansion of the army and construction of manufactories around the nation were high priority, as was finally launching reconstruction efforts in Ovdal Lodhum, which was still damaged from its capture.  A young phoenix in the woods Forces from the Phoenix Empire were reportedly pushing deeper into the mountains and the Deepwoods, annexing and expelling the orcs inhabiting the region and viciously stamping out the fey worship of the woods elves. Eventually, word spread of intrigue within the Phoenix Court. Daraztarion had died and been succeeded by his son, Daraztarion II, but the boy elf had only lasted a few years before being assassinated. The most likely culprit was his younger cousin Thalanil, now the emperor, but no one was in a position to oppose him. An indulgent and greedy elf, the emperor was not inclined to vast conquests and more interested in what he could plunder from the weaker nations on the borders. Normally a nation with a Great Conqueror gets a 'legacy' bonus for the next ruler, but Daraztarion II only lasting a few years means that the Phoenix Empire doesn't get much of that. That's good for us.  Enlightened rulership For all that it was a hold of science, Orlghelovar was starting to see new philosophical ideas emerge from within. The idea that the brightest minds should lead was not a new one, and the government eagerly brought into political treatise encouraging the ideals 'enlightenment' within the administration.  Orcrend goes quietly When the army arrived to finally put an end to the insurgent campaign, they found a decrepit and exhausted Balgar Orcrend and a small band of garnet dwarves who had been reduced to near-barbarism themselves after years hiding in the caverns. Armed with only mithril blades and their love of his father, his band made one last charge at the scattergun line. In the aftermath, having seen everything lost in his pursuit of both love and hate, Balgar surrendered and agreed to house arrest in his former palace in Ovdal Lodhum. The line of Orcrend and his kingdom would both end with him. Besides that, the garnet dwarves who had been inhabiting the areas 'protected' by Balgar's bandits quickly adapted to the rule of cobalt without much complaint. The power of Tolerance ideas combined with other bonuses that reduce the years of separatism that a province experiences. Because separatism escalates, which is to say the higher it starts the worse the revolt risk, getting it this low basically neuters it completely. We won't even have trouble with conquering religious or cultural minorities once we have finished the other Tolerance ideas.  A nation cannot survive exsanguination The reign of the vampire lords of Corvuria was not a smooth one. Openly feeding on the peasantry, hosting blood-soaked opulent masquerade balls, and cutting diplomatic ties with the nations around them all contributed to the near-collapse of the economy. Peasants who had lost everything turned to banditry, crops were not being collected, and the few non-vampiric nobility plotted to restore sanity to the throne.  Communication at a distance The head of the Artificer Guild presented Whitebeard with their latest invention. A pair of stones infused with pieces of the same attuned Damestear fragment that could pass messages between them at any distance. With Damestear still so expensive they were limited to only the highest levels of society, but even there they promised a revolution in communication. As an experiment, Whitebeard sent one to King Odūn in Orlazam-az-dihr. A few weeks later, the first live conversation between the two centres of dwarven civilization took place, with the King and the Grand Mayor exchanging pleasantries and discussing possible action to liberate Hul-Jorkad. No longer would critical news be delayed by weeks or month, or coordination need to be planned years in advance. The limited supply of stones were distributed first to the frontier fortresses and Orlghelovar's allies. Not sure how this counts as 'Mechanism', but it is a cheaper artifice, and good if we were focused more on a diplomatic game.  Foundation of the Orlghelovaric Research Institute The latest excavations under Orlghelovar were earmarked not for further industrial development, but a much more important purpose. An institution devoted to research above all else, lead by the brightest enlightened minds within the hold, no matter their race. It would be something to rival the greatest gnomish institutions as a place of study and experimentation, and place Orlghelovar as the scientific heart of not just the Dwarovar but the entire world.  The first project The Institute's first task was to delve into the ancient secrets of the Aul-Dwarov. So much technology was still lost, the rail lines were still in a state of disrepair, and countless artefacts being dug up across the Reach were proving impossible to replicate even by the most skilled artificers. A project to elevate Orlghelovar to the technological heights of the ancient empire was a prerequisite to being able to go beyond. I would have offered a vote for what to research here, but one of these is a trap option for spoiler reasons. If we do get two or more viable options at any point, I will put up a vote on it.  Removing the last obstacles The Cannorian coalition fell apart in the early years of the 1590's, giving the dwarven nations the chance to finish the removal of the last Crathįnoran holdouts inland. Even from their position without access to the trade ports, their merchants had been taking a cut of trade and their removal would bring the entirety of Bahar under dwarven control, guaranteeing a monopoly on trade through the region. The mission gives +20% more tax, which is a little weird considering the description.  The new policy Over the years, the link between Orlghelovar and Ovdal Tūngr had grown ever tighter. Between the coordination of military efforts, the unified trade policy, and finally the admittance of a copper dwarf representative to the Assembly of Holds it was almost as though they were same nation. The Act of Union between the two holds was signed with some murmurings of discontent, but they were drowned out by the thousands who had found their wealth by participating in the booming economy post-Hoardcurse.  The Union of the Reach With the integration complete, Orlghelovaric control stretched unopposed from the port of Westend on the most distant tip of Bahar, to Gor Būrad in the fiery heart of the Reach. The holds of the nation were digging ever faster and deeper, and the wealth of the caverns was ever bountiful. With the shipyards of Ovdal Tūngr, a new age of naval supremacy looked ready to begin, and the integration of the Tūngric made the Orlghelovaric Army the largest dwarven military in the world. While fully completing the integration would tie up the diplomatic corps for years still to come, that was unlikely to slow down the accelerating ascent of Orlghelovar. In the midst of this, citizens of all forms and faiths were starting to see a new civil identity forming. One that was not about dwarf holds or human cities, but a union towards a scientific and economic purpose. The Union of the Reach. I might have accidentally our entire diplo point balance good thing that we didn't pick a diplo idea group for the fourth idea, or that diplo in general is the least useful type of mana. To be continued
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Apr 1, 2023 22:42
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Tiny Azka-Evran surrounded by all these Dwarves.
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Apr 1, 2023 22:53
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I'm sure that layer of ruined buildings is nothing to worry about.
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Apr 2, 2023 00:42
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And the entire layer of rock that is an enchanted prison wall? Perfectly safe to dig through and set up homes in it.
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Apr 2, 2023 13:01
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If whoever made those runes didn't want to have them dug through, they wouldn't have made it so easy to dig through it!
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Apr 2, 2023 13:43
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SIGSEGV posted:And the entire layer of rock that is an enchanted prison wall? Perfectly safe to dig through and set up homes in it. With any luck, it was designed to keep the dwarves out and not to keep anything buried too deeply underground in. I'm sure it'll all work out just fine.
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Apr 3, 2023 06:24
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SIGSEGV posted:And the entire layer of rock that is an enchanted prison wall? Perfectly safe to dig through and set up homes in it. The runes were read and said "circus tent" but they thought it was a translation quirk and the actual name was lost to the ravages of time.
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Apr 3, 2023 10:25
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Chapter Ten: The Depths Move 1593-1611  Naval reorganisation Integrating the Tūngri Navy was one of the top priorities for the new administrators. It had suffered heavy attrition during the conflicts with Crathįnor and Nathalaire, and with most contracts from Orlghelovar being focused on merchant vessels they hadn't had a chance to fully replenish it. Besides the mighty galleon Begga, the rest of their vessels were hastily assembled light warships better for coastal patrols than direct battle. These ships were decommissioned and several key shipyards were repurposed to add more galleons to the fleet. I'm not entirely sure why the AI went with galleys when they are 20% worse for dwarves. This region counts as an inland sea, like the Med in vanilla, which provides its own buff to galleys and might override the logic that looks at unit quality.  Seeking talent from across the world Scientists working with the Glasslords had reached an impasse. The ancient secrets of cobalt glass had been recovered, but there had been no new innovations in a long time among the glassworkers, only steady refinement of already-existing techniques. Seeing that other industries were jumping ahead in leaps and bounds, they called upon the Assembly to direct the nation's merchants to finding the greatest glassmakers around the world and to invite them to join Orlghelovar. Exactly how the trading bonuses work has never exactly been clear to me. In any case, we need 20% of the global glass market to get that bonus, which will require a bit more forethought than we have time for just now.  Revitalising the cobalt mines Just outside Orlghelovar itself were vast cobalt mines, one of the first places within the nation to be repopulated after the hold itself. Whitebeard had grown up among the towns that lined the sides of the great caverns steadily being stripped of their previous ore to be smelted into the hold's most distinctive product. One of his campaign promises had been to improve the infrastructure of the mines, and he eagerly fulfilled it.  Vast calcite conurbation Excavation of the calcite layer in Shazstundihr continued apace, and the city grew in leaps and bounds as homes were filled as fast as they could be purchased. Orc, dwarves, and members of every other race mingled in a manner that would have been inconceivable a century earlier as they worked to supply traders moving between the Reach itself and the ports on the surface. Complaints of scratching in the walls in the new homes were dismissed when investigators were unable to identify a source. Occasional disappearances were blamed on the labyrinthine construction of the homes, while reports of strangers wandering the darkest corners of the city whenever the reflected sunlight faded were never verified and blamed on dwarves and orcs spending too much time getting drunk in the evenings. For the majority of the population who never experienced such issues, it was perfect.  Ratification of the Union With Union fever sweeping the nation, the prospect soon came up to the Assembly. In a near-unanimous vote, the Act of Union was amended to officially elevate Orlghelovar and its associated holds and cities to the Union of the Reach. As part of the basket of reforms the office of Grand Mayor of Orlghelovar was granted the title of President and extended authority over the united institutions of the nation, such as the now-named Union Army. In his first speech as President, Whitebeard declared that he would continue to fight for free thought and that anyone who threatened the peace of the nation or sought conquest and slaughter would be struck down, even pre-emptively. I swear I'm not trying to make our new ruler a repeat of Blackbeard, but the game keeps handing me these.  War of liberation His promise was soon tested as news of further atrocities emerged from within Corvuria. In its first real test, the Union Army was mobilized to put down the vampiric threat once and for all. King Cecill had a collection of minor imperial states that he had bullied into supporting him, but his kingdom's old elven allies refused to support him leaving him against an overwhelming dwarven force.  Setting naval expectations The replenished Union Navy was deployed to blockade the Flooded Coast and prevent any vampires from escaping. Now that the nation had a proper warfleet, the Assembly made sure to make clear that their primary purpose was the protection of trade routes. Heavy warships would only need to exist in relatively small numbers, while the majority of ships would be focused on trade.  Dwarves at sea The Corvurian fleets were made up of smaller ships, and so made easy prey for the cannons of the dwarven galleons. As the armies made their way up the coast and drove away the ships hiding in port they were sunk one after another. The only losses suffered were on a Corvurian caravel that surrendered, but was later caught in the crossfire and sunk.  Scouring of Arca Corvur Dwarven forces entered the capital city in the winter of 1595 and stormed the king's palace. Neither he nor any of his night court were anywhere to be found, but all the intel that they had confirmed that he had not made it out of the capital before it had fallen under siege. Shortly after their arrival, a party of human Corvurian nobility and adventurers entered the city and requested that they be allowed to hunt for Cecill's coffin, so that he be put down for good and no longer haunt the nation. Initial forays into the deeper catacombs under the castle were faced with terror and slaughter, as hundreds of risen ghouls and lesser vampires fought to defend their sire. It was only when the adventurers, expert paladins hired by the Corvurian nobles, joined the fray that the teams were able to start making headway. After weeks of effort, they reached the deepest dungeon and drove a sanctified stake through the heart of the sleeping Cecil. The remaining nobles agreed to elect Andrel sil Antirhalan from among their number as the new king, and he began the process of negotiating peace with the Union forces occupying his capital. Just about a month and a half to complete the search. If you're playing a vampire, you really don't want to lose your capital.  Vast war foundries supply the Union Army The war in Covuria had seen the deployment of far larger artillery formations than had ever been seen, and that had brought massive logistical challenges with it. But where there was challenge, there was innovation. As the vast cannon foundries worked, they steadily moved towards standardization of both barrel and projectile, as well as innovations such as allowing them to be easily replaced in case of breakage. Tech 16 is where artillery really starts to take off in firepower, so we'll be adding more and more to our armies from now on.  Restoration begins The industry of the Union was not just turned towards war, but also progress. Engineers and Artificers were confident that they had the necessary tools, metallurgy techniques, and understanding to restore the Dwarovar railway system to its original functionality. Finally, the wreckage of ancient infrastructure that had been plied by the Blackbeard Cartel just 150 years earlier would serve a dwarven nation once again. Applicable province, in this case, is any province that has the 'old ruined rail' and is next to either a restored rail or a hold. This means that we will keep taking this decision and work our way outwards from the holds one province at a time.  Great achievements at sea With the Union Navy continuing to grow in size, the government was always interested in learning more about the waters beyond the mapped and busy trade routes of Bulwar, Sarhal and Cannor. So far, no dwarven ship had sailed on the open ocean so the returning sailors of Istralore, who claimed to have circumnavigated the whole world, were of great interest.  Corvuria reduced If the new King Andrel thought that the dwarves would go easy on his kingdom after the vampire had been slain, he was mistaken. Massive war indemnities were demanded to cover the cost of deploying the Union Army and to repay the families of those who had lost their lives. Large regions of the Flooded Coast were also placed under the administration of dwarven cartels to ensure the proper flow of trade. The justification was that while Andrel and his allies may have been plotting against Cecill in secret, they had still been practically complicit in his rule as nobles of the kingdom. That was on top of decades of disruption to dwarven traders even before the vampires seized power.  Roll out the carts and carriages Work was fast on the rail line, and the first successful repairs were completed less than a year after the project began. Bit by bit, piece by piece, the Reach was being connected.  Conflict not within, but without Corvuria's internal problems were finally resolved, as the new king hunted down the remaining vampire lords. It came at the cost of external invasion though, as their rivals from within the Empire took advantage of the weakened state. It appeared that Corvuria's time as a regional power was coming to an end, all thanks to the greed and bloodlust of a few wicked creatures.  A curious map Surveying for the rail project was ongoing across the length of the Reach. Almost all unusual caverns had been explored and mapped out over the past century, so there was surprise when a prospector frantically approached a surveyor at the eastern end of the Argrod with a scrawled map. He claimed that he had followed a set of suspicious characters all the way from Shazstundihr, and watched them use runic magic to open a pathway to a deeper cavern. While he was initially dismissed, the team did locate the supposed magical pathway, and an expedition was organised. In economic terms this will not end up worth it considering how much we paid for that map. As your economy grows, events like these which are keyed on fixed percentages of your income (while expeditions themselves aren't) get silly.  The suffering of the Phoenix The decadence of the Phoenix Empire had not gone unnoticed by its rivals. Under incompetent leadership, defending an empire spanning thousands of miles was near impossible. Against raids from the Raheni in the east and invasion by the powerful Sarheli nation of Kheterata it crumbled under the pressure and lost control a swathe of land, almost losing the city of Bulwar in the process. The emperor had been killed on the field of battle leaving his daughter Jexis, barely out of childhood by elven standards, in charge of the nation. This made it the perfect moment to drive them from the Dwarovar.  The artistry of wood Verkal Skomdihr was becoming a hold of artistry in its own right. As the main entry point for trade coming from the elves of the Deepwoods, it specialised in wooden crafts that were unlike any seen elsewhere in the treeless depths of the mountains. There was also a great deal of attention from artificers who were interested in understanding the fey magic that infused all the imports coming out of the forest.  Enlightened benevolence The Union had a fairly positive reputation abroad, one that had only been enhanced by the liberation of Corvuria from the vampires. There were those who were concerned about potential expansionism now that the edges of dwarven territory brushed up against the edges of the Empire, but the inhabitants of those lands were treated equally and both economic investment and the sharing of technology brought significant prosperity so as time went on it grew harder to give a moral justification to oppose the Union.  Operation Jorkad The Army advanced into Hul-Jorkad in 1602 and took the hold within a matter of months. What garrison the elves had placed within the mountain was forced to retreat deeper into it, into uncharted depths close to orc-held territory where they suffered constant attrition from the inhabiting tribes. Eventually, the force was cornered and destroyed leaving the hold itself the only way for the imperial troops to enter the mountain. Then, it became a matter of waiting.  Personal defence on the battlefield The war saw the deployment of a few prototypes of the latest invention of the artificers, a device that could generate a magical barrier capable of deflecting attacking from almost all handheld weapons. Theoretically these could be deployed to entire regiments to render them near immune to ranged volleys from enemy formations, but they were incredibly expensive to produce and so relegated to only high-ranking officers. Again, this doesn't sound like Mechanism. I wonder if there is a chance of getting an invention from a different category regardless, or if I've just been misclicking. This one is really good, and it has a cost to match. As fire damage gets stronger, cutting 20% of that damage gives you massive survivability.  The strangers lurk in the darkness Having followed the mad prospector's map, the expedition had charted out a series of caves that didn't appear on any previous surveys of the region. As usual, these were filled with a variety of treasures that had accumulated over the millennia, but the most important thing that they returned with was information. The caves had been long-isolated by a cave in, but someone had dug near-perfect rectangular passages in between them that had such precision in their carving that they had to have used magic. Deep in the cave, at the entrance to a massive sealed vault, they encountered a group of dwarves with ashen skin who spoke a guttural dialect that was only barely understandable. Considering them potential allies, similar to other dwarves that expeditions had encountered in the past, the grey dwarves were approached peacefully. Before the two sides could meet, the strangers made a break for the exit leaving the expedition to pursue them. Despite having a small army behind them, the dwarves slipped away into the darkness of the caverns.  An ancient vault The strange dwarves appeared to have been using magic to try and breach the vault, which was identified as the Rizvāmbrčthar. It was a mythical rune workshop from the ancient Aul-Dwarov, where magesmiths worked cutting-edge and dangerous runic magic. This would be of great interest to historians, mages, and scientists alike who all sought the secret knowledge that had once been thought lost. The mysterious dwarves were likely also interested in that knowledge, so a guard was placed on the vault until approval could be found to launch a full expedition inside. I haven't tried a dungeon before, this'll be something new this run when we get a moment to do it.  Rumours and uncertainty After the expedition made its report, Whitebeard took several days to collate all the strange reports that had been filed quietly away over the past couple of decades. Shazstundihr seemed to have quietened down, but sightings of strange dwarves had been appearing everywhere else, even in some of the surface territories. Something was coming. Much as Blackbeard had felt the Hoardcurse approach, he could tell that all of the unusual activity was in service to a greater purpose. He made his case to the Assembly, and while they did not authorise a full lockdown of the nation to capture the grey dwarves, they did agree to divert troops from the defensive lines at Hul-Jorkad to conduct thorough investigations in places where there had been sightings. You gain a bunch of provinces that need to be investigated and as can be seen from the always ticking disaster, only a limited time to investigate them. But even if you get all of them, it won't fully stop what's coming.  Hold the fort The war with the Phoenix Empire had reached a stalemate, as their war with Kheterata had ended and hundreds of thousands of soldiers poured into Harpylen to push back any dwarven encroachment outside of the mountains. That served the Union Army just fine, as they fell back behind the walls of the hold and let the enemy attrit at the very end of their supply train.  Ambitions of King Gronmar While the war was ongoing, the diplomatic situation in the Dwarovar was rapidly shifting. The new King of Orlazam-az-dihr, Gronmar I, had issued a rebuke against his own father's policy towards the Union and to the other independent dwarf holds in general. His expeditions had managed to locate the Dwarovkron itself, and while he did not hold any of the Gems that had previously adorned it, he considered it proof that he was destined to reunite the Aul-Dwarov. The multicultural republic ruling the Reach was an obvious opponent to his dreams of unification, and so became the primary target of his scorn. Welp, our ally picked up Great Conqueror.  All faiths under enlightened minds As much as Orlghelovar was a hold of science and engineering, it was also a place of philosophy and thought. Any faith was welcome within the walls, and scholars who might be persecuted in other parts of the world found freedom in the daylight-lit parks and terraces of the mountain interior. There was much lively debate with the more grounded technical disciplines as to the truth of the world. After all magic existed, and countless miracles and disaster unexplainable by even that had occurred. The Crimson Deluge, Damestear meteorites, the God Fragment, and yet more going back even further. Science had not yet come to an understanding of these things, and so there yet remained room for religion. With this, we shouldn't have rebel troubles ever again. Finishing Tolerance also gets us -10% idea cost, which combined with every other bonus means we're paying 60% the cost of ideas for the rest of the game. We have access to another policy to take us down to 50%, but that will eat 1 admin mana per month so I won't activate it until we need it. Also, whoops they forgot to rename this one.  Cobalt glass around the world As the 17th Century dawned, the world was becoming increasingly interconnected. This was no less true for the people of the Union. A glassmaker in Orlghelovar could create glass that would decorate a homestead in Aelantir, or a temple in Haless. Several more expeditions had completed circumnavigations, including with dwarven members from the Reach, and trade networks spanned once-unknown oceans. The beginnings of a global society had emerged. It did not take very long for the Union to embrace this too.  Orc-hold liberated Hul-Jorkad was famed as the place where the orcish race had first emerged, and it had been populated by a warband from within the Deepwoods until the Phoenix Empire had taken it. The elves had instituted a program of uprooting the orcish inhabitants and replacing them with dwarves from occupied Seghdihr. Both races found themselves in an unusual situation when cobalt dwarf forces took control of the hold and emancipated them both. The army had to spend as much time keeping tensions from boiling over as it did manning the exterior of the hold against counterattacks, so the signing of peace with the Empire brought much-needed respite and a chance to rebuild.  Allies against imperialism The dwarves of Verkal Kozenad, who were the former adventurers that had recently liberated Er-Natvir, approached the Union with an offer of a defensive pact against aggression from King Gronmar. They had no intention of giving up their independence for one dwarf's ambitions.  Dark works Despite all best efforts, none of the strange dwarves were apprehended during any of the investigations. What was discovered however, were runic circles large enough to hold a small village within them carved into the cavern floors. The magesmiths could again make no determination of what the runes were intended for, so the investigation teams prudently destroyed them.  Magic rains from the sky On an early morning in 1607, the city of Westend in Bahar was wracked with a devastating impact. From high in the Astral, a meteor had descended to the surface and brought with it a bounty of incalculable value. Even as a relief effort was being organised, miners, traders and artificers were making their way to the city to be the first to take advantage of this new source of the most valuable substance in the world. This is your main source of new Damestear if you don't want to go conquering for it.  Xenophilia Nation The Union was a rarity among the nations of the world in having such a wide range of races intermingling freely. And where races intersected, there were those who took it to the next level. Not all such pairings were viable, but those who were had their children welcomed by society at large creating an even more colourful tapestry. I think strictly speaking half-elves and half-orcs are both meant to be half-human only, but with how egalitarian we are being...  Warning against interfering the Empire Ever since the end of the League War, Orlghelovar had maintained good relations with the Duchy of Estallen, giving the dwarves a foothold within the Empire's markets while the Estalleni merchants gained favourable trade deals in return. Over the years, this had shifted into more of a formal alliance and recently the Duchy had been engaging in expansionism within the Empire to the point where it had become the strongest individual member of the Empire, bar the Emperor himself. Emperor Laurens VI was not pleased with this development, and declared that the Union was just as much a party to this as the Estalleni themselves, considering that dwarven money had helped finance the constant warring.  An excess of caution might yet carry the day Reports of mysterious dwarves were escalating, more and more dark circles were being discovered and yet they always managed to avoid pursuit. President Whitebeard pleaded with the Assembly to lock down the nation, but they still didn't consider the situation urgent enough to do something that would wreck the flow of trade and anger the population. Using what authority he did have, Whitebeard ordered the Union Army back from the borders to the heart of the Union. Two divisions were stationed by Orlghelovar itself, while a rapid response force was stationed in Verkal Skomdihr to deal with any situation that might emerge in the eastern end of the Reach.  Worse than possibly imagined When it happened, it was on a scale greater that even the most pessimistic investigators had theorized. In Shazstundihr, the calcite walls that made up the majority of the newest layers of the hold crumbled, destroyed tens of thousands of homes and businesses and killing thousands of people instantly. Behind those walls lay nothing both inky darkness, a magic portal that refused access from anyone who had touched daylight. From that portal marched tens of thousands of dwarves with ashen skin and wearing pitch-black mithril armour. They swept through the devastated hold, killing any non-dwarves that they encountered and enslaving the dwarven inhabitants. Before word could even get out, the army was on the move. Using the rebuilt rail lines, they began to spread through the western tunnels of the Reach faster than a messenger could travel. As they went, they destroyed the mechanisms that brought daylight to the underground, plunging most of the western Reach into darkness it hadn't seen since the fall of the Aul-Dwarov. Arg-Ōrdstun gave in with barely a fight, their defences unmanned because they hadn't even been aware there was a threat. The invaders began to move into the hold in force, apparently making it the headquarters for their war effort. Meanwhile in the east, dark circles, those that had not yet been located and destroyed, flared and spawned smaller versions of the portal that had appeared in Shazstundihr. Whole armies emerged from the darkness and began to rampage through the caverns with no garrisons to stop them. It was only by the use of Sending Stones that a total disaster was averted. The forces stationed in Orlghelovar barricaded the hold when the mayor of Arg-Ōrdstun used his last moments to send a message about the fall of his hold, before the dark dwarves could break into his office. Engineers from Verkal Skomdihr sabotaged the rail line and halted the eastern advance long before it could reach the hold proper. Still, the shock of the invasion sent ripples through the Union Army, as many once-stout dwarven warriors were pushed to the edge of despair for the safety of their homes. The Obsidian Dwarves had returned, and would show no mercy in their own war of reclamation. To be continued Vote The ferocity of the invasion has taken the nation by total surprise. Many of the Assembly are missing, and communication from one end of the Reach to other is only possible by Sending Stone. The President has declared martial law and given full authority to the Union Army to engage the enemy as they see fit. What strategy have the generals decided upon? Offence: Strike directly at the occupied holds and liberate them with all haste. Let the enemy be distracted with other territory, while we cut them off at the source. Defence: Eliminate any armies roaming the Dwarovar, and bottle up the remainder with our fortresses. Engage and destroy the invaders as they break themselves on our walls. Quantity: Rally the masses and draft every able-bodied dwarf into the military to defeat them with numbers. We do not know how many more of these invaders may emerge, and need to account for that possibility. Besides the strategic plan, this will also put a finger on the scales for the next idea vote. It's not a direct vote for the selection as we don't have a slot open so we aren't likely to be able to actually pick any ideas until after this situation is resolved. Voting will last 48 hours
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Apr 5, 2023 16:33
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Let's go on the offence against these fellows.
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Apr 5, 2023 16:48
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| # ? May 31, 2024 21:53 |
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offense
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Apr 5, 2023 17:08
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