[EMPIRE4!] IC Thread

[Zayuz]

The Great Kingdom of Varjik
Ex-Vassal of the NPF

Jaine Anivine Kren El Sira
Diplomacy: 9
Military: 7
Economy: 6
Intrigue: 4
Faith: 4

Actions for Round 22 (Rolls)

1. [Economy] Purchase Aspen Heights TP2 (Textiles)! (Roll:15 - To be contested by SMP)
   One of the primary goals before the true fighting breaks out is to remove the SMP presence in the Aspen Heights, ousting their merchants and closing the east-west trade. The embargo is supposed to last until the end of the war, with the benefit of allowing a heavy dose of racial profiling when it comes to suspected spies. Most if not all Rakshasa are pushed back into the deserts for fear of betrayal, with the promise that if the city's walls remain unbreached that their homes will be available in a few years time once again and that they may freely inhabit them. In the meantime, they serve as barracks for soldiers, and the flow of cloth turns to the east.
   
   
2. [Economy] Purchase R67 TP2 (Salt)! (Roll: 12 - Success)
   In the scramble to stock up resources for war-time, preservatives that would be included in the soldiers' rations are required to keep the army from facing too much attrition in the desert. The High Jain reaches out to the independent region of 67 and offers them a deal that they might usually refuse, but require now with the collapse of the NPF. A reluctant agreement is met, and Anivine walks away having bought the salt for a simply fantastic price to the displeasure of the region. The spare coin is spend funding the independence movement in R67, which she prays will keep the enemies of the empire at bay until she can spare more men.
   
   
3. [Diplomacy] Aid the Company of the Crescent!!
   Just like the last time the Kingdom of Varjik butted heads with the SMP, the mercenaries from the Crescent Company are called to arms with favors promised in turn. But first, they need better gear. They are required to be ready for mobile counterattack actions, giving them horses as part of their payment that they are told to use to navigate the desert and potentially conquer towns in Vajik's name. Anivine preaches that last time the war was a massacre of her own people and the mercenaries she hires, assuring them that if they are worth their price it will not happen again - their lives will be protected as much as possible where she can.
   
   - Donate Camel Cavalry and R63 TP3 (Horses) to the CSC
   
4. [Diplomacy] Fund the Defense of R67 against Azenhal
   Spare funding is sent to Imperial Loyalists against the invaders from Azenhal in R67. Varjik believes in the empire as the sovereign state that should govern the world, citing claims on their conquests that it is Dejan's brief unification of the world that connects them all. This extends even to broken nations; the remnants of the NPF now standing against Dwarven forces from Azenhal included. Resources in the way of funds are donated, hopefully giving them an edge despite their disheveled state. One can only hope that the imperial borders will finally stop receding in the coming years... Ever since Dejan's conquest, it feels like the empire has only gotten smaller and smaller.
   
5. [Intrigue] Raid Carida TP2 (Maize)! (Roll: 9 - Fail)
   The maize in the southern lands is also wanted to help stock the troops and allow for full, proper meals while in the field of battle. Unfortunately, the area lacks any friendly government to speak of. The attempts made to set up an operation to get it back home are prevented by the new presence of the SMP in Ka-Ruun and the Khirese guards in the area. The trade transports are either blocked or raided, and nearly nothing actually returns to the Aspen Heights from south of their region. Nothing except bad news, that is.
   
   
6. [Secret] After the destruction of Pellos, the government of Varjik falls silent for a time. (Roll: 18 - Success?)
   Their collapse started years ago during their time of great warring. With dragons emerging and their old rival on the horizon, some say that in only a matter of years the southern empire will be lost to history. These people did not, however, recall that the empire was capable of making great allies from outside their own lands.
   
   
   
   Spoiler: A response to Sinja Lagos Ssuras

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   It comes as a great revelation to me to realize that the emperor of Pellocia was not working with you out of desire to consort with imperial enemies, but out of wisdom. Perhaps he realized at some point in the past, many years before I had come to power, that such a move was the only way to keep you and yours contained in the vast regions of sand and filth you call your home. Your mercy is barely concealed greed; your threats for war from my people only conjured to justify your attempt at our extinction. You say that you are not above working with monsters to get what you so desire; but let me share with you a lesson that comes from Dejan's scripture: Those who consort with monsters become monsters. ..It has always been the way of Varjik to put monsters to the sword.
   
   With the same bloodthirsty fervor that your priests deliver to our lands you choose to forget the treaty signed between your people and Pellocia some years prior that forbade hostilities between our people for a period of 25 years; of which only 13 have passed. Now, do not take this mention as a sign that I do not wish to fight. I merely honor the true spirit of a deal rather than the specifics laid out in text to a power that no longer exists. Such dishonorable actions are a sign that angers the spirit of the great conqueror in addition to your unprovoked slaying, and you will find that we need no allies to keep you from our borders. Let this be your warning: the very mountains will come to our righteous defense, and they will not fail us again.
   
   From birth I had vowed to Dejan that I would make right what my father could not, and now it is time for me to make right upon my promise.
   
   March on my homelands of the Aspen Heights and take your place as ruler of the Edge, if you are so capable. In doing so you revoke the claim to life each and every soldier your army contains.
   
   Your overconfidence will be your undoing.
   
   Signed the Great Jain of Varjik and Aspen Heights
   Glorifier of the Avakonian claim to the Earth
   Anivine Kren El Sira
   
   
   

Non Actions:
Allow passage for troops from Karys & Dvalta
Grant Karys permission to buy all resources within Varjik (Exceptions: R53 TP1 and R58 TP1)

Spoiler: News and Rumors

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1. It comes as a great inconvenience to find that the mercenaries from Lazar had been bought out on the same year that the Serene Masara pride threaten war. As most of the spy networks in Estensule are lacking due to the absence of recent conflict in nations, their ability to keep track of the dying Pellocian Federation is rather... Limited. Instead of getting mad at things she cannot control, she beseeches that Regno with their great power and influence bring their scholars to their once emperor's capital region to investigate for anything concerning their royalty's wherebouts, hints on what this dragon is, and various magical phenomenon that the magi are entirely more capable of understanding than Varjik's military. While in the region, they are given written documents of permission from Anivine to conduct investigations within imperial territory in general, as long as these are working towards the pursuit of knowledge and do not harm and members of the empire.
2. With no heir, it seems unlikely that the Kren dynasty will exist in the coming years if the battle does not go their way. The one to take the throne after her death should it arrive would thus be her husband, the brother of the Dvaltan king. This could either lead to their complete unity as a single power or the appearance of Varjik as a vassal state to his brother, depending on how stubbornly the younger brother wishes to hold onto the title of Great Jain. But Anivine is still young, in good health, and away from the army. Her chances of a natural death in the coming years are very slim.
3. Spare funding (of which there is not all too much) is sent to Imperial Loyalists against the invaders from Azenhal in R67. Varjik believes in the empire as the sovereign state that should govern the world, citing claims on their conquests that it is Dejan's brief unification of the world that connects them all. This extends even to broken nations; the remnants of the NPF now standing against Dwarven forces from Azenhal included. Resources in the way of funds are donated, hopefully giving them an edge despite their disheveled state. One can only hope that the imperial borders will finally stop receding in the coming years... Ever since Dejan's conquest, it feels like the empire has only gotten smaller and smaller.
4. Thoughts on dragons tbd
5. A figure appears that claims that they can see the future! Spooky! To be written.
   
   Action for next round..
   
6. [Diplomacy] Change Capital to the Aspen Heights! (R59)
   The Firethorn Regiment was reborn after a rebellion against the empire; formed as a military junta that serves as a bastion of the empire against threats in the south. Since then the nation has grown and changed, even the government type shifting twice to become what it is today. The main operations have likewise changed from being conducted in Varjik to Derokar to the Aspen Heights post union with the El Sira dynasty. The Kren family line was a short one; a recent name that rose through glory in battle and never truly held much prestige in noble courts of its own right, but El Sira was just the opposite. When the two families became one, the Kren line was overshadowed by the long standing name of the rulers of Aspen Heights, and combined with their more prosperous region in the mountains the Kingdom of 'Varjik' has actually seen more activity there than its supposed namesake. With the declaration of war from the SMP received, Anivine finally decides that it is her home and seat of power that will be the capital of her Kingdom instead of the historical location it once started in.

Spoiler: Stats

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Military Units: 6 (Burning Embers, R61's Royal Army, Queensguard, Greenfire Brigade, Quill Stadium Mercenaries, Jain's Enforcers)

Regions Owned:[Varjik - Region 58], [Derokar - Region 53], [New Lijas - Region 52], [Aspen Heights - Region 59]

Cultural Identities:
[Legacy of the Preserver] Increase die size from 2d6 to 2d8 when making stabilization rolls. (Temporary)

Military Specialization:
[The Eleventh Hour] Increase dice pool from 2d10 to 2d12 when fighting in a capital region.

Holy Artifacts: Crown of Thorns (+1 to battles if used; for each battle this relic is used in, all battles this relic was used in give -2 on leader loss rolls for user; Difficult to Steal)

Military Technologies:
Sedellan Armor Coating [Sedellan Glass] +2 VS magical tech.
Sacrificial Supply Lines [Crops] -1 Size Loss Roll
Obsidian Fire [Obsidian Glass] +1 to Defending
Diresnags [Labor] +1 size loss roll (unpreventable) && [Secondary] +1 distance loss roll (unpreventable) (both for enemy)
Camel Cavalry [Camels or Horses] +1 to Battles
Mass Conscription [Food] - After 4 units are spent raising troops, each subsequent action raises an additional troop. && [Secondary] Food x2, Labor, Preservatives - Triggers after 3 actions are spent

Spoiler: Mil tech color to slots

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Cavalry
Logistics
Armor & Wards
Fortifications, Sappers, and Siege
Stealth, Sabotage, and Traps

Generals: Polshannen El Sira (6), Sofrid (7), Wilting Spear (8)

Economics Technologies:
Violet Oath [Violet Oak] +1 Against Secret Actions
Salt Wagons [Preservatives] +1 Unit Cap

Secrets Whispered: 1
Resources Required: Foreign Workforce
Resources controlled: Violet Ash (R53, TP1), Slaves (R78, TP2 & TP3), Sedellan Glass (R58 TP1), Bysthian Horses (R63 TP 2 & 3), Obsidian Glass (R40, TP3)
Embassies: Avakonia?, Azenhal, Karys
CC Bases: [R58 - Varjik]