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>>45822646
>brief recap given the break between threads

Things had been rather hectic for you lately, even as you actively reach for your dreams. The empire you had dreamed of forging was beginning to take shape, even if that shape was currently of cities broken by war and pillaging. Vitria had given you ultimate power as a means to protect themselves from the vampires of Taour and Darlesia relied on you as their liberator. That would do for now, but if you truly wanted to be seen as the ruler of an empire then you needed to offer them something more. Once the vampires were gone, you needed to prove yourself a leader in peace as well as war. The first step was actually formally announcing your empire, whatever it was to be called and whatever your title was to be.

Since fending off the vampiric general Volante, you had began to work towards this goal. As such, you had immediately set off for Harrowmont, leaving your army behind in Darlesia to protect it from any further attacks as well as remind the League that you were in fact ruling it. Mercenie may have been happy to recognise you as a ruler at the time, but you didn’t want to tempt her into seizing territory by leaving yourself open.

Not that you could stop a power as great as the Magi League if they really wanted to take territory from you.

“As fun as it is to watch your expression change with your churning thoughts, do you perhaps have something you want to share or ask me to take some pressure off your mind?” Gnome asks you from besides you, placing a hand on your shoulder as the two of you continue your trek. Knowing that you may be held up with affairs of state for some time, despite the Taouran army currently trapped near Vitria, you had brought her back to resume her reconstruction of your main fortress, Harrowmont.

>continued

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>>45822652
Said fortress loomed in the distance, with great walls of dark stone standing tall since Gnome had mostly reconstructed them. Or at least the inner walls. There may have once been outer walls but they had been turned to ruins at some point over the past century and a half. You had repurposed this old fortress as your capital, namely to have Gnome by your side. As your Champion, bound to you via the Source that lay underneath Harrowmont, she was a loyal ally and had already aided you in achieving so much of your dreams.

Realising that she was being ignored as you kept your thoughts to yourself, Gnome huffed and said, “Well, will you at least share with me some idea of what you’re going to do about your name? Others may think of you as Waise, but if you think of yourself as a Rorsgrov or want others to do so, then this is the time to do it.”

You weren’t too surprised Gnome was badgering you about this. Having fobbed it off when Mercenie had brought it up, the question still remained: how did you think of yourself? You couldn’t see it mattering too much, but questions may be raised as to why you continue to bear an orphan’s name when you have a surname that many would be proud to bear. You…

>1. Choose to go by Saul Waise, as you have for more than a decade now.
>2. Choose to go by Saul Rorsgrov, as you aren’t ashamed of your family name.
>3. Custom

This thread will focus more on empire management, which is the first thread of its kind for AEQR.

>>45822683
>2. Choose to go by Saul Rorsgrov, as you aren’t ashamed of your family name.
We used the other name to hide ourselves. No reason to do so anymore.

>>45822683
>2. Choose to go by Saul Rorsgrov, as you aren’t ashamed of your family name.

>>45822683
>1. Choose to go by Saul Waise, as you have for more than a decade now.
Caught it live!

>>45822683
>>2. Choose to go by Saul Rorsgrov, as you aren’t ashamed of your family name.

>>45822683
>>1. Choose to go by Saul Waise, as you have for more than a decade now.
Ahahaha! I got my fix! Feels so good!

>>45822683
>Go by Saul Raisegov
But actually
>2. Choose to go by Saul Rorsgrov, as you aren’t ashamed of your family name.
This thread is empire building and the upgrade at some point, right? I seem to recall you having said so in the past.

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>>45822875
Yeah, the quote below is from last thread
>One thing I will say about next thread is that there's finally going to be some proper management stuff. Nothing anywhere near as in-depth as the old numbers threads, but there'll be a binding vote on the empire name and title (e.g. emperor or imperator), what Saul chooses for his last name, whether he intends on forging a royal family or putting it off as well as some policy decisions regarding nobility, food, trade etc.

Anyway, 2 wins. Writing.

Reminder that instead of buying swordsmanship subskills, we should save up for Swordsmanship 4, because none of the presently available subskills are worth spending a subskill slot on. I wouldn't be opposed to leveling up Leadership either.
As for magic, I believe we should pump Combat Evocation up to level 2. The rest depend on personal taste, my preference would be Energy Slashes, Snap Barriers, or Simple Disruption.

>>45822646
Wait, what happened to Talon York? Did the quest restart?

>>45822683
>>2. Choose to go by Saul Rorsgrov, as you aren’t ashamed of your family name.

I'm already way too late, but I don't give a fuck

>>45823276
Quest restarted. Talon is dead in this timeline.

>>45823276
C'mon Jim, do we have to go through this e'ry time?

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>>45823292
>Quest restarted. Talon is dead in this timeline.

Why? Did everyone decide we were approaching a dead end or something? Did he die?

>>45823381
I've been gone for half a year, it can't be helped.

>>45823426
A number of reasons. Look in the ask for more specifics

>>45823426
QM got fed-up and wanted to restart

>>45823426
No, in short Aspie felt like he wrote himself into a corner and needed fresh start to straighten things up.

>>45823490
Thanks

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>2.

“You’re right,” you say to Gnome. “Now is the time. My name is Saul Rorsgrov.”

“Any reason for the change in heart since meeting Merce?” Gnome asks you. You realise she’s still gripping your shoulder as she gives it a light squeeze.

“I just didn’t like the way she was trying to take charge of the meeting,” you say, frowning. “I suppose getting my name out there will be easier when I actually have a title to spread, too.”

“Emperor Saul Rorsgrov?” Gnome asks. “That could work, but you could try being something else.”

“Isn’t that just sophistry,” you grumble, liking the ring of emperor. “A word is a word, why not use what is the most obvious?”

With a laugh, Gnome removes her hand from your shoulder and the two of you finish your trek to Harrowmont in peace. Mostly. Your mind continues to churn as you think of what to do next in your fledgling empire.

Stepping into the great hall of the keep of Harrowmont, you’re surprised to see Sarah waiting patiently for you. Or at least, you thought she had been waiting for you. The way she frowns and continues looking past you makes you think she was expecting somebody else.

“You don’t have the Archmagister with you, Saul?” she asks as you approach, still looking past you.

It takes you a moment to process the statement and realise who this ‘Archmagister’ is, before realising she’s referring to Maloric. You had brought Sarah here from Vitria to be a mage under him, but you’re surprised at how formally she refers to him. You’d say she had good manners pressed into her as part of her education, but that leaves the question of why she doesn’t refer to you similarly.

>continued

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>>45823539
Gnome coughs and reveals she’s wondering the same thing. “So Maloric is ‘the Archmagister’ but Saul is just Saul, in spite of his position?” There is only a hint of tartness in her voice, leaving you wondering whether she really cares or is just needling Sarah.

Giving Gnome a blank stare, Sarah looks at you as she plays with her silver hair. She had been growing it out since arriving here and it was already to her shoulders instead of the neat bob it had been earlier.

Deciding that there’s probably something to Gnome’s statement, Sarah does a brief curtsy, spreading her light blue dress out slightly as she does so before repeating herself, “Where is the Archmagister, Saul?”

That was definitely impertinent rather than ignorant. Sarah clearly didn’t put you on a pedestal. You…

>1. Ignore her refusal to acknowledge your position and answer her question. Sarah is more of a friend than a subject, and you don’t expect Gnome or Maloric to call you ‘General’ all the time.
>2. Wait for Sarah to actually call you by your title or at least acknowledge your position in some way before answering. Until then, you can settle into Harrowmont.
>3. Ignore her question entirely and ask her whether her mother has arrived. You had hoped to rely on Lady Hawkins’ expertise.
>4. Custom

>>45823566
>>3. Ignore her question entirely and ask her whether her mother has arrived. You had hoped to rely on Lady Hawkins’ expertise.
Bitch

>>45823566
>1. Ignore her refusal to acknowledge your position and answer her question. Sarah is more of a friend than a subject, and you don’t expect Gnome or Maloric to call you ‘General’ all the time.

>>45823566
>3. Ignore her question entirely and ask her whether her mother has arrived. You had hoped to rely on Lady Hawkins’ expertise.

>>45823566
>>3. Ignore her question entirely and ask her whether her mother has arrived. You had hoped to rely on Lady Hawkins’ expertise.

>>45823566
>2

>>45823566
>3. Ignore her question entirely and ask her whether her mother has arrived. You had hoped to rely on Lady Hawkins’ expertise.

>>45823381
>Jim
So fuckin' happy I was part of that collective hive mind who went "he's dead, Jim"

>>45823566
>>3. Ignore her question entirely and ask her whether her mother has arrived. You had hoped to rely on Lady Hawkins’ expertise.

>>45823566
>>1. Ignore her refusal to acknowledge your position and answer her question. Sarah is more of a friend than a subject, and you don’t expect Gnome or Maloric to call you ‘General’ all the time.

I want to have a good relationship with Sarah

>>45823566
>2. Wait for Sarah to actually call you by your title or at least acknowledge your position in some way before answering. Until then, you can settle into Harrowmont.

>>45823899
Speaking of Jim, is the original Jim here by any chance?

>>45823967
So do I anon. Thats why I want her to use our title.

I want to gently bully Sarah

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>Skimming the archives
>People posting about befriending Blackwater
We will never escape him

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>3.

“Has Lady Hawkins arrived?” you ask Sarah, ignoring her question.

The blank stare you receive from Sarah is rather cute but it is soon replaced by a frown as she realises you’re ignoring her question. Fortunately, she is polite enough to answer your question anyway.

“She left yesterday morning and expects to be here tonight,” she answers reluctantly, her frown transitioning to a pout. “So about Maloric?”

“I see. Let her know that we can meet in the morning if she wants to settle in, or we can meet tonight if she feels up to it,” you say before waving Sarah off in an obnoxiously dismissive fashion and moving towards the stairwell.

Catching Gnome ruffling Sarah’s hair as you walk past her, you hide a smirk. For her part, the young noble glances between you and the doors into the keep in confusion. It’s not until you’re at the stairwell that she decides to chase you, holding her dress up as she tries to run after you. You idly wonder why she didn’t just wear mage robes like you’ve seen her in normally.

“Is he still in Darlesia?” she asks, awkwardly trying to hop up the steps in her long dress to keep up with you and Gnome. “I would have thought you would bring your best mage back to do more research.”

Seeing her stumble, you catch Sarah by the arm and pull her upright. She pouts at you, giving you a look that would probably make some men tell her what she wants. You…

>1. Continue to ignore her questioning on Maloric.
>2. Ask her why she’s dressed up.
>3. Ask her whether anything interesting has happened while you’ve been away.
>4. Custom

>>45824461
Combine 2 and 3.
Maybe somethingsomething slight compliment of her abilities, if we even know if she's good or not.

>>45824461
>2. Ask her why she’s dressed up.

>>45824461
>>2. Ask her why she’s dressed up.
I must admit, it suits you

>>45824461
>>2. Ask her why she’s dressed up.

>>45824461
gurl u rlly tryin to git sum mal fuck?

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>2.

You might try to remove that pout from her face. “Any particular reason you’re dressed up? It suits you but it is new.”

The pout hardly moves and she continues to stare at you. “This how I normally dress.”

“Which is why I never see you in a dress normally,” you reply drily, glancing at Gnome. You receive a shrug in return, which you perceive as her agreeing with you but not knowing what Sarah is talking about. Or it could be that Gnome simply doesn’t care. She does seem to wear the same thing all the time, so perhaps she just looks past the clothing of others.

“You just don’t pay enough attention,” Sarah says. After several more seconds pass, she realises she’s not going to get her way and lets out a loud huff. “Fine, be that way. I’ll just contact the Archmagister directly.”

With those words, Sarah marches off as fast as her dress allows her. Which isn’t very fast. Gnome shrugs at you again. With your entertainment having passed, you begin to get settled back into Harrowmont and prepare for your meeting with Lady Hawkins.

It’s late night when she finally arrives, well past dinner, but she wants to get right down to business. “I’ve had all day to rest in my carriage. I don’t see much reason to wait any longer,” she says.

The three of you, including Gnome, settle into the makeshift study you’ve set up. There’s not much here beyond a desk, some chairs and a coffee table. Some biscuits and coffee sit on the table but largely go ignored as Lady Alecia Hawkins launches straight into the heart of matters.

“So, you’ve finally decided to finish what you started back in Vitria,” she says, leaning back in her chair and watching you closely.

“Finish? I’d say there’s still a long way to go,” you say, glancing at the biscuits. You wouldn’t mind having a few, but you have a feeling this conversation is going to be fast-paced and you don’t want t be the one holding things up as you munch on snacks.

>cont

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>>45825465
“I’m not referring to the longevity of your… empire? Federation? Whatever it is you wish to form,” Alecia says. “Rather, I’m talking about the fact you’ve put everything in place to form one but haven’t actually formed one. You need to finish the beginning before you can even think about how far away the ending is. Your position in Vitria is only solidified within the city-state, not more broadly. Strictly speaking, Vitria and Darlesia are still separate even though you nominally rule both right now. Without something tying it all together, it’s all too ephemeral to be considered something that will survive the ructions of the world.”

The long spiel from Alecia takes you off-guard. You had expected to be asking for advice on matters, not having her talk your ear off of her own regard. You ask, “You seem to have changed your opinion of me?”

There’s a lengthy pause from the woman as she considers your question. You decide it’s long enough to pour some coffee and take a few biscuits. As you bite into the first one she finally responds.

“I will admit to being unsure of you at first. At the time you were our best chance of fending off the vampires, and even when you revealed your past it merely solidified my opinion that you were a wartime leader that we needed to survive,” she says, staring up in thought at the magical light on the ceiling. “But seeing Farun act as they are, with little Annette pushing back against the complacency of her nation, made me realise that there is potentially more to it. Do you know the history of this region very well, Saul?”

>continued

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>>45825495
You frown at that question, mostly to buy time. You still needed to finish chewing. The question itself was easy to answer: yes. Darlesia and Termina had fought over the region, each trying to form an empire that would cover the entire region. Both had failed, grinding each other’s militaries into the ground and leaving both too weak to properly control their own territory. Their moral authority had hinged on their successful conquests and having pulled back, the nationalism that had supported them outside the ruling city then faltered. Vitria had been governed by Darlesia for some time, before breaking away and becoming the merchant city it is now. You wondered what was so relevant about it and ask as such.

“I merely find it ironic that it may well be Vitria and Farun that succeeds in the dream that Termina and Darlesia once had, even if it may only be as the central cities underneath this… empire of yours,” Alecia says. “And on that note, what exactly do you wish to call your empire? Or federation? I do hope you’ve thought of something? Or else I can suggest a few names, though they might not be to your liking.”

>What do you want to name your faction?

I think the main name from before was Eastern Phoenix Empire? If anybody else has some suggestions, then offer them up.

>>45825532
I think Phoenicia was a brought up and liked by some before.

>>45825532
Why was it the Eastern Phoenix empire as opposed to just the Phoenix empire?

>>45825724
I can agree with this name.

Also holy shit, I've been trying to post this for a solid 6 minutes.

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>Still deciding

“I was thinking of something relating to phoenixes,” you say. “I’m not exactly one for names, but the rebirth motif in the name could work. The Eastern Phoenix Empire was a thought, given our location, but Phoenicia was also an idea to appear more like a nation than just a state.”

“That motif could work, but if you do want a stately name you could leave the national identities alone. There is no harm in an empire that represents multiple nationalities, after all,” Alecia says. “It may even be for the better. You could try something like the Osteraun Empire – Oste means east in the RSK, and Goraun is the term for Gauron in Old Guel. Or if you want something closer to home, perhaps the Gauvostok Empire along similar lines?”

NAME VOTE
>1. Eastern Phoenix Empire (later just Phoenix Empire)
>2. Phoenicia
>3. Osteraun Empire
>4. Gauvostok Empire

I’m just going to make this binding, given how little the name really matters.

>>45825991
>>2. Phoenicia

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>45825991
>>3. Osteraun Empire
>>4. Gauvostok Empire

Ost - 1
Gauv - 2

>>45825991
>2. Phoenicia
Seems we had a posting issue for a bit

>>45825991
>>2. Phoenicia

>>45825991
>>2. Phoenicia

>>45825991
>2. Phoenicia

>>45825991
>>2. Phoenicia

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Phoenicia it is then.

Any thoughts on titles? Emperor is an obvious one, and there is Imperator, Kaiser, Czar... Any other ones people are particularly interested in? Or are people particularly interested in any of those I mentioned? Trying to narrow down what people want.

>>45826413
Was the one who wanyed to escalate in title to match our lands and power like prince to king etc etc but I guess starting with emperor is fine

>>45826413
I'm always fond of a good Emperor. Now on to troll choices!

Caesar
Chairman
Supreme Leader
Secretary of the Board
Father
Chieftain
Big Guy

>>45826413
Emperor

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TITLE VOTE
>1. Emperor
>2. Something else

>>45826413
Emperor is fine

>>45826673
>1. Emperor

>>45826673
>>1. Emperor

>>45826673
>1

>>45826647
>Dat spoiler
Poor Saul needs to compensate for his manlet status.

>>45826673
>>1. Emperor

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>2 and 1

“Emperor Saul Rorsgrov of Phoenicia,” Gnome says after you announce your decision. “It’s going to take a while to iron into people that they’re all part of the same nation.”

You shrug at that. “It will give people something more to believe in regarding their home than the might of a single city. I’m not building for the short term.”

“Or else you wouldn’t be going for a rebirth motif,” Alecia says, nodding. “It takes a great deal of effort to go through such a process, but out of the ashes of the wars in this region you will form something greater than ever before? I suppose you will need to prove that to everybody – you’re beginning to be seen as a true wartime leader now but that’s only the beginning.

“Although thinking of coming out of the ashes, there is one other major problem facing us. Food.”

Food was indeed a major problem. The climate has been excellent in recent years, mages are spread amongst the villages to help with crops and drought, efficient systems to tax and redistribute all the food to the towns and cities have been developed and used for decades since the famines that followed the exodus from the north some century and a half ago. All of that was failing amidst the warfare that had gripped the region.

On your trip to and from Darlesia you had seen far too many fields lying fallow or overgrown with weeds given the swift approach of Spring. Villages abandoned or in ruins. With Darlesia in partial ruin and Vitria still in turmoil, the population estimates were no doubt wildly inaccurate. It was hard to tell where the people may have gone as they fled wartorn lands, but you doubted many would leave the area altogether. That meant you had plenty of mouths to feed in your lands but less land to produce it. For now.

>continued

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>>45827742
“Vitria has food stores to last until the next harvest, but Darlesia is likely on the ropes as is. On top of that, if the next harvest is poor then the damage that will be done is great. Even if you were to conquer Taour before Fall, you would no doubt have so much difficulty with food you would face a threat far greater,” Alecia says, looking dead serious.

“If we make things safer, then we can usher the people back onto the lands,” you say. “They know what they’re doing and will do their best to feed themselves. We can just make up the shortfall.”

“Yes, they know what they’re doing in terms of farming but in both Vitria and Darlesia there has always been substantial noble interests,” Alecia says. “With Darlesia being virtually depopulated of nobles and Vitria having lost so many, there is a lot of unowned land. The lands are farmed because people know they will get their fair share, which has been protected in both nations for national security reasons in the past – but they won’t put in the effort if they can’t trust that it will all be taken away.”

In other words, the people won’t farm if there isn’t something to codify who owns what and who gets what. Should you just take ownership of all unowned lands yourself and set the tax rate on them? Or perhaps take over all agricultural land – though that would create a genuine mess with the nobles of Vitria. You could even let the farmers own the land and just tax all agricultural produce.

“I recall that there was an interesting phenomenon happening in Compagnon regarding farming?” you say, remembering some gossip you had heard from some of the staff in the Hawkins tower in Vitria.

>continued

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>>45827773
“Yes, there is a collective of farmers there that has been buying back large amounts of land from the traditional land owners and gifting it to the residents of the farm land,” Alecia says, frowning at you. “The issue there has been that it can lead to food shortages. When they own their own land, they grow whatever crops they wish in such a free society, which tend to be cash crops. Compagnon has been importing far too much food from the Guard given they lay atop flood plains.”

“I imagine they’re making a lot of money, though,” you say dryly. “But I understand your point. If we’re reliant on importing food, that only works in peace. I imagine Termina is trying to cut off food supplies there?”

“Yes, and to Farun. They have large cash crop plantations and a forestry industry, so have imported their food from Vitria and Compagnon. With both sources drying up, they’ll need to rely on the Guard,” Alecia says.

Or us, if we get our house in order. Perhaps there is far more behind Annette’s alliance with you. Politics and diplomacy aside, the question still remains as to what to do with your food problem?

>Any ideas as to how you want to handle your agriculture? Both short-term and long-term, though if there aren’t many thoughts for long-term that can be put off.

>>45827806
Take ownership of agricultural land that has no current owner and tax it ourselves. Makes the land around us more reliant on us and wont piss off the nobles who own land. Make them produce food for feeding larger populations.

>>45827806
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Acts

>>45827806
Gonna need to iron out a lot of shit
How about 2/3 of the farmable land being reserved exclusively to grow food for the realm and the last third for cash crops solely for export?

>>45827806
Whatever we do, we need to mandate that at least 3/4ths of the crop go to food as opposed to cash crops. I'm in favor of keeping a local rural nobility. Tax a certain percentage from the nobles gains.

>>45828046
Terrible idea.

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>>45828120
Specifically reserving proportions of land is relatively dangerous but I get the gist of it.

>>45828046
That's basically just giving the residents of the land ownership of the land. Probably a bit differnet as in this case there are many peasants farming the land but it is now unowned as the noble who did own it is now dead.

FARMLAND VOTE
>1. Take ownership of all unowned land yourself, with a short-term priority on food production (and likely relatively lenient taxation to ensure that). You can look at passing on ownership later if need be.
>2. Let able-bodied residents and citizens take ownership of specific amounts of land, relying purely on taxation policy to influence crop production (note that I'll avoid the nitty-gritty there and let people simple say 'want more food').
>3. Take control of all agricultural land, paying off existing owners as need be. This gives you complete control but will also shift investment elsewhere (as merchants and nobles can't purchase agricultural land).
>4. Custom

>>45828360
>Not wanting to make Gauron great again

>>45828388
>>2. Let able-bodied residents and citizens take ownership of specific amounts of land, relying purely on taxation policy to influence crop production (note that I'll avoid the nitty-gritty there and let people simple say 'want more food').

>>45828388
>>1. Take ownership of all unowned land yourself, with a short-term priority on food production (and likely relatively lenient taxation to ensure that). You can look at passing on ownership later if need be.

>>45828399
The homesteading act wouldn't do much. It only existed because the US had insane amounts of arable land that was unused.

>>45828388
>1. Take ownership of all unowned land yourself, with a short-term priority on food production (and likely relatively lenient taxation to ensure that). You can look at passing on ownership later if need be.

>>45828388
>>1. Take ownership of all unowned land yourself, with a short-term priority on food production (and likely relatively lenient taxation to ensure that). You can look at passing on ownership later if need be.

>>45828388
>1. Take ownership of all unowned land yourself, with a short-term priority on food production (and likely relatively lenient taxation to ensure that). You can look at passing on ownership later if need be.

>>45828388
>1. Take ownership of all unowned land yourself, with a short-term priority on food production (and likely relatively lenient taxation to ensure that). You can look at passing on ownership later if need be.
Try to make it pass this year and we'll see what we can do next.

You know what I kind of want to do over the course of this quest? Lets centralize power under the king. Go all Louis XIV on Gauron. I think it would be an interesting direction to go for sure.

>1

You idly fiddle with the Rorsgrov ring on your finger as you consider your decision. You’re pretty certain that it’s the only one you can make at this time without creating enormous vulnerabilities.

“For now, the state will own the land. Take thirty percent of food crops and fifty percent of cash crops in fields, which I think is the Vitrian practice?” you say, getting a nod from both Gnome and Alecia. “Wartorn areas will be exempt this year. We’ll need to use a lot of the food crop we collect ourselves to feed the urban population of Darlesia, given they won’t have the money to trade for it, and we’ll ask for their labour in rebuilding the city in return. The cash crop… we’ll need to use it to fund the food we buy now. That means we’ll need to start talking to major trading firms that will be willing to provide us food now in return for the cash crop later, likely at a discount. Eastern Winds might be helpful, as I remember hearing from some dwarves that they’ve been trying to sell rice to the underground cities for years now.”

You nod to yourself as you speak your thoughts out loud. It all looks very positive – the main thing is to get the message out there that its safe for the people to move back into the wartorn areas. The negotiations to get food while you’re not exactly flush with money isn’t fantastic, however. It might be easier to just try to trade with other countries directly, but food is going to be in short supply in the League and RSK with the offensive under way. With Termina trying to block food transport south from the Guard, that means the best chance to get it is via the sea. That meant either trying to outbid the dwarves for grains, vegetables and fruit or trying to cosy up with Pharos. Perhaps even cut out the middle-man of the Eastern Winds Trading Company and try to contact the Imperial Court, though that’s technically forbidden.

>continued

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>>45829383
It takes you far too long to notice that both Gnome and Alecia are staring at you and have been for some time now while you’ve been lost in thought.

“Um, is there something wrong?” you ask.

“No, but you could say that fact is the reason there is something wrong,” Alecia says. “For somebody who has been a mercenary for the last decade, you’re rather better versed on the management side of things than I expected.”

If you weren’t so good at maintaining a poker face, you might have flushed at the remark. As it were, you simply shrugged and said, “I had lessons on this while I was in the Guard and kept up on the knowledge while travelling. Not that I know how to actually do any of this, just the ideas.”

“There are plenty of people who can put plans into action, but making the plans is the hard part,” Alecia says. “Yours is sound, though it may not survive contact with the populace, but few plans ever do and they can be adjusted if they’re not structurally flawed.”

And with that, you had an empire, an agricultural policy and plenty of plans that needed to be put into action. The next step was to actually start talking to people. Word had spread, as you had learnt with Mercenie, and diplomats wanted to meet the man they were technically supposed to be representing their nation’s interests to.

>That’s the thread

So this ended up being short and crappy, mostly because I wasn’t doing very well and the more I try, the worst it seems to get. I’ve been horrendously slow and uninspired today. I’ll try again next week, hopefully with something more interesting to start us out. I’m not sure what else to say or do at this stage, beyond the fact that I’ll try and produce less crap next week.

Next thread on Saturday 12th March at 5:30pm EST. Hopefully will start on time and actually be a full thread that isn’t terrible. It’ll mostly be character interaction, as I’m hoping that will be more lively and less terrible.

>>45829416
Thanks for running still, I liked this session actually, but it's fine if you don't feel up to it. Looking forward to the next one.

>>45829416
Thanks for the shitty thread OP!!!

>>45829416
Where York?

>>45829416
Thanks for running, Asp! Even though it was short, I needed my fix!