Topic: Crypto Kingdom - 1991 Retro Virtual World(City) - page 100. (Read 632701 times)

The old post could not be found where this was promised, but the promise still exists in memory:

The Most Ancient and Worshipful Corporation of the Town Hall has made THS1 silver rings in 1585. They are now being gifted to characters whose char_id = 120 or higher, and who reach level L3.

Because it took so long time before their issuing started, the recipients of the initial batch were "leveled" as follows:

L14: 2
L13: 3
L9: 1
L6: 1
L4: 4
L3: 16

About 100 rings still exist!

Tell your friends and family to follow Martti and learn the basics of CryptoKingdom https://twitter.com/Crypto_Kingdom

updated version
Tidings from the Counties - November 1622

General

Large resources were sent to the far ends of the Kingdom approximately 1.5 years ago, and some have already brought back reports. It has been found that summer is much more pleasant time for travelling than winter, and therefore the future for sending preparatory convoys in most cases needs to be made as early as March (end of Tuesday, please ignore the game that shows wrong month names). If they are still in place by the November deadline (end of Saturday), they count towards the PRE.

Geography

There is no appreciable cartography talent in the Kingdom, so very rough explanations will need to suffice until situation improves. (This takes into account the info received in the latter part of this post.)

The following counties are to the North of CryptoTown:
North Face, believed to be the furthest north
Tavastia
Petrichor
Stonehaven.
Apart from the initial detachment sent back from the Duke's troops, no information from the far north has been obtained.

The following counties are to the West of CryptoTown:
New Liberty, a large area including an inland sea and many islands.

The following counties are to the East of CryptoTown:
(none - the area has been considered part of Rossiya)

The following counties are to the South of CryptoTown:
Ramsey
White Cross
Grass
Plath
At least they left the south route, but it is mostly unclear where the counties actually are located, because most traffic goes that way.

The following counties are believed to be further away as enclaves of Foreign Powers, at least until our borders expand:
Nassau
Armagnac
Forte Spagnolo
Rome

The following counties are in Korea, the homeland of Dr. Paul Choo (Prince of Soul)
Soul
Gangnam

The location and/or "getting there" of the following counties is mysterious
Arda
Neverland

No information is known of the following counties
OZ
CryptoLuna
Sarajas
Naoned
Savannah
Ghibli
Carabas


In the feedback reports, I will have to use short notation because it might get excessive, so please add the details yourself

New Liberty

As some guessed, the Duke himself had left early to prepare his land for the troops. He was in Stockholm and had met the King Gustaf Adolf personally as a (self-nominated but convincing) high representative of Crypto Kingdom. Due to his massive SCI spends he believes to know the geography and political situation rather well. Sweden is a rising power and HKM (His Royal Majesty) has been fighting many wars around the borders with less success but more experience. The area known as New Liberty is vast as the claim historically encompasses both the coasts of Östersjön, the west one the Swedes consider part of Sweden proper and they also claim the east one, including the islands, and "Tavastia, North Face and Ingria", so possibly the majority of Crypto Kingdom. The claims did not make the relations sour, the King was just wary because he needs allies to "preserve the religious freedom" if possible in the continent as well, since apparently the protestants there are bleeding.

The incident with the advancing Duke of NL Company happened simultaneously and unrelatedly based on previous orders. The company had been searching a port town (or a possibility to build one) when they encountered the Swedish regiment. The Swedes gained "victory" as they held ground while the Duke's forces continued northward, mapping the area and making finds.

OldDuchy

The situation in the town had become somewhat intense, so most of the troops were stationed there, from where they could be deployed easily to help the nobles in their efforts, and also protect the town from surprises. Only the Royal Second Company (90 BV) was mobilized in the spring with the objective of going to the road to Rossiya and find out their outpost, "just to check it out" with no high level diplomatic contact sought due to insufficient preparations. The Training Detachments were tasked to divide the land for the Manors, and the main force (312 BV in single command) stayed in the Citadel, making plans for its modernisation.

The secretly-much-hoped expedition to the East managed only a few days from where our settlements ended. There it met a Rossiyan outpost with a staunch attitude and despite gifts, the only real information that was received is that Rossiya starts there and foreign troops are not welcome. (Civilian contact with Rossiya has been mostly unregulated throughout history.)

White Cross

The troops have already sent back first-hand reports.

Stonehaven

The County of Stonehaven, as currently defined, encompasses the area north of TVA Duchy and until the Great River. The river flows very slowly to the west, yet is navigable. The Marquessate of Tavastia is the norther side. The county has a great plain that is by the river, and some sort of hills in the south (historically considered the northern border of the Old Duchy.

In two summers, a camp has been founded in a suitable spot by the river. The peasant population is a mix of Rossiyans, northerners and locals. The Swedes seem to sort of lord it over the area, and have a very efficient engineering corps effort ongoing. They did not let us spy the main camp which is to the east, meanwhile ours is in plain sight. Communication difficulties have prevented contact. We have not seen regular military.

Plath

The County of Plath is likely the furthest contiguous extent to the South where our forces are seen. The Earl has expended great SCI resources for mapping the situation there, but his army proved their ineffectiveness in the Battle of the Ambush, the first encounter in the Crypto Kingdom liberation wars with casualties (4 killed). The local population stayed content with so many of the trolls slain, with no feelings to either side. The local leader "boy-king" escaped so the encounter is a victory. The management is now ready to start Social Policies in the area (private consultation). Notable is that despite their numbers, both the management and the army are hugely ineffective.

Despite the distance, reaching Plath is comparatively easy - 4 months by a wagon-train, 2 months for foot soldiers and 1 on horseback (summer figures given). This is a very strategic outpost and the construction of a proper road there should be a priority.

The Earl lifted up his gaze and saw a foreign diplomat on the courtyard. Message was:

Good tidings from Castellan and Voivode Palczynski, the ruler of the area. We are happy to inform you that the Universal Catholic Faith reigns supreme in all of Polonia. Good to see that your Kingdom has not fallen to the heretics like that of our archenemy Gustaf Adolf! Join us in our crusade to restore the faith and burn their towns! In return we will recognize your claim not only to Plath but also to the coasts, and strengthen the trade routes.  For now, we consider HRH Prince Boguslaw ("the boy-king") to be the rightful lord here, so you should stop fighting between brothers in faith.

Ramsey

Saddam observes the preparations of the others. Many seem to be going to the end of the known world (which, of course, is true!) But, calculating once in his life, he thinks about where the big prize is. Land near the Capital can be brought to production more quickly, tolls charged to wayfarers, farms are safer from invaders... The closest such land lies immediately to the south from what has traditionally been the Old Duchy entrance. Because the land is near, the troops did not cause too much uproar, the peasants knew where they were from (and the 150 BV of course pacifies things just like it should).

Despite the smallness of SCI available, the administrative component of Saddam's force was large enough to find out that the land was indeed large, and clearly wealthier than the sparse Manors at home. But it had been ravaged by war in not too distant past - all the Manors had been burned down and valuables looted. There was no king in the land, so the dwellers had organized a militia system: each Manor holder "Chief" (it could be envisioned that some of the manors had been fledgling seats of counties due to the size) had a life guard of a few NCO, sometimes only 2. But in 24 hours, each of these can muster 10 men from the peasantry with farm weapons. This was readily presented to actually happen.

Saddam's headquarters is founded in a strategic place near what could-and-should-be the highway from Rome to CryptoTown, and he is entitled to starting social policies towards the peasantry (contact GM).

North Face

The well-equipped force of the Duke of North Face has met no resistance from the locals - if there even were any! The locals live a nomadic life drinking vodka (if they can get it) and only gather together to slaughter their animals. No foie gras is produced here, and very few VEG. "If only this god-forsaken place was closer, that meat would be of value!" The locals pay no attention to the preparations, and are apt to trade and cheat in the trading, but don't produce anything. Silver and copper have been sighted but none of the strange coins.

The only question is, what in the world are we doing here? Does it make sense to build a town here? Some rivers are flowing to the south but because of the orders received, the colony has been kept in a hedgehog formation without venturing outside. The locals tell that far in the north is a snowy mountain range that few can cross, far far in the north is an open sea, then a sea that is frozen all-year round, then it becomes warm again, and Ultima Thule is in the far north. The VOD and MUS enjoyed by the reciter of the tale may have contributed. Still, the question is whether to stand against Nature and go further north, or to south, or to home...

After a longish time of questioning around, trying to get the whereabouts of Louhi, the same envoy appeared. Discussion was, if possible, even shorter than last time: "I am watching you, like I have watched all the previous ones. I will contact you, if I want. In the way I want."

Social policies have become possible because of the PRE accumulated.

Grass

The land of Grass is pleasant grassland as far as the eye can see. The Kingdom troops had no difficulty surveying the land but the peasants acted reserved. Here also the ravages of war were seen, which posed a sad contrast to the agreeable nature. CAN production is very strong here with the locals enjoying their full quota. A local slipped that huge secret stashes abound in the land, and due to the war and the Church have amassed all silver, CAN was even used as a currency. Similar to in Ramsey, no definite overlord seemed to be exist.


Scientific advances possible and their benefits

10,000 SCI  -  Heavy (24-pound) Cannon (almost immobile) manufacturing and proper usage
~30,000 SCI  -  Borough-22 incl eg. continuous urban planning
~10,000 SCI  -  Cho-ko-nu an easy to manufacture and use weapon with higher rate of fire than muskets (req. expedition to get plans)
10,000 SCI  -  Printing press installation and training (incl machinery)
20,000 SCI  -  Muskets manufacturing without helps
~20,000 SCI  -  Seafaring 1: coastal and auxiliary navy and basic seaman training
~20,000 SCI  -  Seafaring 2: wooden ships with cannon, control of Östersjön
~20,000 SCI  -  Seafaring 3: blue seas navy (in theory at least)

1623 Intermediate Promotions

The Town resources are pressed with the new developments, so be it announced that only L3 were promoted this Anno Domini 1623, as follows:
163, 199, 205, 210, 211, 214, 216, 217.

We have full employment, so all have received a job for the starting year, even Strangers have part-time work, and the salaries are as follows:
L2: 350,000
L3: 700,000
L4: 1,050,000
L5: 1,400,000
L6: 1,750,000
L7: 2,100,000
L8: 2,800,000
L9: 3,500,000.

These, plus the promotion-based gifts, etc. will be paid in the next week (6 real-hours).

Unless new resources materialize, the next promotion round is part of the Great One - the 225th Jubilee with promotions up to and including Grand Duke (L18) hinted. (And that 1624 will be few if any promotions.)

Subgame: Science - 1623 - Initial Report

SCI points are the currency of the Science subgame. The subgame causes new scientific advances to be known to the researchers. These might for instance be:
- New production technologies.
- New farming, food-storage, cooking, etc methods.
- New infrastructure technologies.
- New inventions in whatever area.

When a new advance becomes possible, it first appears in the "hinted" category. These are very vague opportunities which require some time passing, or a salvo of SCI, to be spent to make them come to "available" category. This is where the advances are given a SCI value and the outcome if the SCI is spent towards the advance. These may still change based on d20 however, it is not unusual that an advance requires further SCI spend to be fully actionable, or even that it is useless in practice. It may also open new discoveries based on additional spends, or even grant them as immediate bonuses!

New advances are implemented as Pool accounts (characters). The "owner" of the ongoing project is posted here, and arrangements might be made to distribute new knowledge upon its completion, as is the case with the collaborative effort B-22 where the new land in the said Borough is pledged to the contributors in proportion.

Foreign Powers can contribute to our research if they possess the technology and willingness to help. Their maximum contribution is half of the remaining amount, usable only once (per Foreign Power). Letting time pass on partially-researched project is beneficial as well: 10% of the accrued amount, or 10% of the remaining amount (whichever is smaller), can be gained annually as a bonus. Everyone who has contact to new things may propose them to be added to the list of "hinted" projects for GM approval.

It is possible that factions among CK will independently research the advances. If this is wanted to happen in secrecy, contact GM. Inside CK, granting the access to a technology to other factions can be made 100%, so no further spend is needed if the RWWC for instance wants to reveal the secrets of Cannon Making to the Noble Palace.

The organisation in charge of a SCI project must pledge 10 MGR points per advance (to the pool account in question) plus the ASS needed.

SCI once committed to a project cannot be reclaimed. All trades and deals with SCI are final (as are all other trades). The SCI will be consumed only at the completion, so the "SCI exists" includes not only the "SCI available" but also the "SCI committed".

(to be continued with the list of "hinted", "available" and "in progress" SCI projects soon)

And here's a second attempt at a map, based on what we know of the land.
I've not based this on actual Estonian/Baltic geography since apparently the mighty D20 may modify it.
This can be moved around and modified as and when new information becomes known. The New Liberty inner sea is completely missing for now. And most of the map is still unknown, waiting to be discovered.

The Estates (manors) are quite close to Cryptotown. Other locations are handwavy for now. Stonehaven is more detailed because I described the geography a bit, I'll try to do the same when I see others do the same. Next step is the inner sea.

Some counties aren't on it, because not much is yet known. Petrichor might be to the right of left of Tavastia, we'll know soon. Same for White Cross and Grass to the south. Probably somewhere between Ramsey and Plath.

The images cuts are from Wesnoth, GPL.

http://imgur.com/yeGcoTT

Thanks for the pointer, fixed this to the code quote! And yep, I prefer PDF, as you can always go from vector graphics to bitmap but not vice versa. Change "pdf" to "png" function and the sizes from inches to pixels, and you'll have a native bitmap figure.



There was quite a bit of political intrigue at the IRC channel today. I wanted to summarize some of my own opinions as well as what I thought could be a course of action, so here they are. Take it with a grain of salt though, as I have danced in the high royal halls for a very brief time, and am not yet very used to political intrigue.

Lord Syksy's Political Intrigue in 1622:

• I would consider diverting Gustaf Adolf's (GA) attention from CK towards the East a priority. We can uphold rather well the ultimatum of religious freedom, but the claims on lands, especially near North Face area, are of concern. We do not have very much knowledge of Rossiyan intentions, and only limited knowledge of Louhi's intentions, but I believe we could play a political game with these 3 to secure our own premises.
• Louhi is known to be a pagan, something that even the liberal Protestants (GA) cannot stand, and certainly something that the Eastern Orthodox (Rossiyans) have an issue with. Furthermore, Louhi's Kingdom, if my map is at all correct, lies within both the sphere of influence between the Swedish kingdom as well as Rossiya's kingdom. I suggest two simultaneous actions: (i) It is known that Rossiya is quite sensitive to having buffer zones and likes having its borders covered. If we can, through political intrigue, make them feel as if Sweden would be coming towards them by attacking Louhi, this might cause Rossiya to pre-emptively seize Louhi's lands. (ii) Simultaneously, the Swedes can be quite easily hinted at the paganism going on at Louhi's lands, that she has been flexing muscles at us, good Christians who hold religious freedom. This might actually provoke GA's attention towards the East, leaving us more space to establish our lands in our North. (iii) Louhi's army is weak in comparison to Sweden and/or Rossiya. If we can make either of them feel confident at attacking Louhi and to seize their land, this should provoke the remaining large nation to respond to this border conflict. Hostilities between Sweden and Rossiya would give us precious time, and possibly weaken them both. Lands of Louhi are rumored to be cold and desolate, and most likely a war in there would result in high casualties. (iv) Finally, if Louhi is crushed by Sweden and/or Rossiya, this leaves our counties at peace which have been approached by Louhi in a semi-hostile manner.
• Prince of Soul has so far been the only Prince to express discontent at the Church and its influence over the matters in the kingdom. Even if his criticism is justified, such harsh criticism in such delicate times may lead to division of the nation. As GA is pressuring us from the North as well as Louhi was flexing muscles, and we never know what the Poles are up to, I would suggest keeping Prince of Soul busy with the Korean counties to avoid division of a nation. A divided nation is a weak nation, prone to be a prey to more organized powers.
• Forging an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire (Imperial Alliance); the German princes have traditionally been good trade companions to us (i.e. wine, other goods), and we have never had any hostilities that I would know of. The HRE/IA is a mighty though divided kingdom that may be a powerful ally, but I would avoid formally joining HRE/IA, as the princes fall under the political influence of the Keizer of Austria. Thus only alliance should be emphasized. HRE/IA has interest in having an ally against GA, as their lands border that of Denmark, which is under Swedish rule, and he who holds lands of Denmark hold the narrow gate to the Baltician sea.

Just replaced source="statemen" with source="stamen" and it worked.

p.s. Moreover the pdf saved is in a vector format.

First Speculative Map of CryptoKingdom,
with major and minor powers, as well as general foreign power directions by Lord Syksy has now been drafted.

Based on intuition, reports of scouts, intrigue, knowledge of spatial relation towards CryptoTown as well as spatial relation from counties to each other, scientific mapping and pre-known geography, the following map has been drafted:


The map is produced using R, with the following self-sufficient code, which can be updated when new information emerges or if errors are noted (it contains everything required to plot the above):


The map is the first known to be produced of CK, and is naturally open to criticism. I'll try gather some here:

Pre-announcement

1625 - Age Of Intrigue

The tensions mount on every side. In the north, the mystical Louhi brags to have finished the previous attempts of bringing the lands under civilized rule. In the west, the militaristic Gustaf Adolf prepares for more campaigns. The Polonians are the current outpost of the Imperial Alliance, and eager to get Crypto Kingdom on board as well. Nobles in CK are divided, with some dreaming of alliance with Gustaf Adolf rather, to spare the contested lands from destruction and hopefully receive them after the hostilities are over. One more wild card are the Russians - they have lost the sea access recently to the Swedes, so might want to get it back, but not in the Imperial Alliance (they have one more version of the Holy Faith). If the Swedish are too tough a nut, there are other ways to get to the sea as well...

The health of the King is "weak", and this is the official version. Some suspect that two bad rolls can finish him. Key nobles such as the Duke of New Liberty and the Prince-Bishop, have taken their own decision to withdraw from CryptoTown, and are now plotting with foreign leaders on - who knows whose account. King has sent the other nobles out but has not failed to notice that Armagnac forces have not received their orders to leave the town. This is a little problematic because their commander cannot be contacted and the forces just seem to grow in number.

It is perhaps not a coincidence that The Three Musketeers is meanwhile happening in France.

The rules for personal encounters will be updated soon. The basics are:
- Murder is a crime. Expect to be detected, prosecuted and executed.
- The killed persons still keep their main belongings, only the political influence is reduced when the head of the clan is killed.
- Poisoning does not work every time. People care for each other, so it is difficult to hide that you look like a frog.
- In the countryside, assassinations, ambushes, scandals etc are easier to arrange. When something bad happens to you, remember that it is not necessarily your "friend" who covets your lands, it can be a GM event as well.
- That Heimo is in protection for his life because he knows too much, can as well be that he fears me, or that I fear that my enemies might want to kill him to cast a shadow on my reigning practices; Politkovskaya was killed by the CIA because Putin did not care to protect his outspoken opponents from being assassinated. Or who knows, perhaps it was him/me. Ah sorry, Heimo is still alive...  
- Etc. stay tuned

The Game DB has a tab /Affiliation, where you can codify your opinions on the hot issues about universal catholic rule vs. religious tolerance, and with which of the neighbors to ally if any. This will make it easier to plot whom to kill, how and where.

GM announcement: The following information is provided as-is without speculating on the motives of the participants. Only factually confirmed things are listed.

"It suddenly felt as if the Capital had moved 100 miles east..."
- After "Gustaf Adolf proclamation incident", HM The King speedily announced the Manors, which he had had surveyed earlier in the summer.
- Lord James Daniel was announced as the Lord of Aaspere. Aaspere is a big manor to the east. The "Road to Rossiya" goes from B.1 as Boulevard to B.3 and the PofC&S, then turns south as Phaeton Blvd to B.9, navigates next to Crichton's Country Club, and soon afterwards morphs to an unpaved but good-condition road, which can take a messenger to Aaspere in 3 days. The road goes further via the Manor, although its condition grows worse as neither side has been interested in upkeep of the section between outposts.
- Sir Heimo was not very public, and he was seen trying to buy/contract "lifeguards" from anyone, even the church (despite his freedom-of-religion tendencies). Nobody sold but Church temporarily provided him escort. Once the next year forces became available, Sir Heimo overspent on a force barely churning out 20 BV (which is somewhat potent a lifeguard though).
- Lord James Daniel of Aaspere sent a message to Prince of Soul exhorting him to consider an expedition to Korea and returning the Aquila given to him by Soul just a year earlier. At about the same time, he asked the King to make public he does not consider himself worth First Baronet, and asks the King to give the title to the most valiant man in the Kingdom in the Jubilee celebrations. Furthermore, he apologized in advance for not being able to attend to the celebrations because "Aaspere is the Kitchen of the Town" and his presence is required.
- Heimo let it be announced that he owns lands and palaces throughout the town and anything is for sale if the price is correct, and that does not mean high. (Contact GM.)
- Heimo announced that James Daniel had asked him to stay in Aaspere to help with the organisations, which might take 2 years, for which reason the town possessions are in active realisation. (The word liquidation was not used and Heimo said he will continue to keep servants in town.)
- The force, reviving the name The troop of Dauntless from 1599 and its Aquila, left with Heimo.
- James Daniel is amassing troops as well, which he of course should do as the Lord of the Manor.
- HM The King has announced to the Old Duchy administration that Aaspere is a key defensive position and must be guarded with a Company at minimum.
- As a result, the village suddently has forces under three commanders, in the words of a peasant: "guarding each other".

See link for more information.

Five halvings are done, so only about 1:32 of the original number of tickets remains!

Prizes Awarded

47,671 * CAN given!
23,707 * BEER given!

Prizes Remaining

5,889 tickets (RAF-1) remaining; halving every month (realday)

- - -
2,000 * FOIE
1,000 * JAD (1 kilo of unworked Jade, special gift from Ming merchants)
500 * W1603A (pre-Plague wine, the historical Spring Wine)
200 * MIN-5 (Most Elaborate Ming China Plate 16cm)
100 * CS1625E (special edition 5 CKS only 100 minted)
50 * CLXII (since there are no restaurants qualified to participate in the auction, it will be raffled instead)
25 * WOS-E1 (Green Suit, gift of HH The Mayor)
20 * MIR (Venetian Mirror 1 sqm, gift of HH The Duke of New Liberty)
15 <- when this number of tickets is reached, the subsequent SPOILs are 25% only to increase excitement!
- - -
10 * Baronet of CK (lowest numbers available starting from highest ranking winner, incl promotion to L12 if applicable)
1 * Third Prize: 1-SE-V76 Korean Restaurant (1518) (to the 3rd last ticket; gift of Prince of Soul)
1 * Second Prize: TRC4-19 Most Elab 4-Horse Carriage (to the 2nd last ticket; gift of M of White Cross)
1 * Grand Prize: Any Real Estate up to the value of 500,000,000 m (in the whole game, you pick, King pays   )

Total Value of Prizes: 3,700,000,000 m !
(Nominal value of ticket: 628,000 m)

It is possible to give prizes to the auction. Unique prizes will be listed as 4th, 5th etc. prizes, and will always be awarded. Fungible prizes you need to give the maximum amount to the King, and they will be dividended when the number of tickets reaches or goes below the amount, the King doing what he wishes with the difference.
JAD is a new creation, the rest of the items are King's donations unless indicated.
King is very happy if you wish to donate something to the 225ary Raffle! After all, how else would King know who the upcoming nobles in the Kingdom are... this information is needed for the Celebrations for sure!

To the Citizens of Plath,

First, and foremost, I will give you our objective as I feel it is in everyone's interest to know the truth of our plans and whether they wish to participate (for or against) or wait until the outcome is decided.

Our objective is two-fold: secure the border and raise wealth. To that end, we will be collecting taxes and using the proceeds to fund defenses and to encourage trade between tribes and nations. The tax will be 20% and will guarantee the payee our services in trade and war. However, if you decide that these services are not to your liking and decide to pay less than the 20% stipulated, you will see I'm a man with little patience for games and cannot vouch for your safety or that you will be able to participate in the burgeoning economy I plan to bring to this county. To put it simply, no one plays for free.

Gold coins have been minted with the express design to help those who help Plath, and will be given for any meaningful information on our neighbors, troops moving in or around our borders, unique trade opportunities, unique items to be obtained, negotiations that can be pursued for the profit of both sides, or anything that will help with the overall health, wealth and security of our great county.

Many have heard of the battle that took place recently, and we wish to issue peace to those we formerly fought and have both sides come to an arrangement that will be kind and beneficial to our lands. On this point, we offer a truce in the public forum and wish to gain an audience with the parties of Polonia to serve as a guide for the future development of friendship and trade between our lands.

There are many ways to run a county, and we pray that we will do justice for our people, whom both God and King watch over in earnest.

With His service as my guide,

Sir Crichton, Earl of Plath

Winter cold was starting to bite when the second expedition joined up with the newly estabished encampment, whose occupiers welcomed the new arrivals, as well as the news from the Old Duchy and letters from friends and family.

After a good night's sleep, the Earl left with a handful of soldiers for a tour of the immediate surrounding area, surveying the camp's location, on an elevated location where the Great River lazily flowed aside, as well as a few of the most relevant areas close to hand. A nearby forest had been providing the necessary timber to build palisades around the camp and simple buildings, and the river was well populated in fish, providing welcome variety in diet.

A few settlements had been located in the region. A small village lied directly south, inhabited by peasants working nearby fields, and raising sheep, pigs, and chicken. Two more villages were further away, one no larger than a hundred people, but the other, also southwards, more substantial. One last settlement was... well, that one was a potential problem. Swedes had settled a camp upstream, and had already started building more permanent structures. The location of the camp, far within Crypto Kingdom's borders, raised questions about the Swedes' intentions.

Until further notice, the Earl's orders are to continue working on the camp, strengthen perimeter palisades, supplement interior wooden shelters before winter. Part of the military will guard the camp, keeping the battle aquila prominently displayed high in the camp, and a scouting group will follow the river downstream, on the lookout for anything of interest, be they more settlements, armed troops, Swedes, emplacements suitable for establishing other camps, or any obstruction to free navigation on the river. Meanwhile, patrols will get the locals used to our presence, and keep an eye on movements, settlements, with particular attention to activity near the Swedes' camp, especially movements of large groups or people or materials in or out, and presence of weaponry. The nature and intent of the works they are engaged in should be ascertained. Materials used should be determined, as well as the source of those, if not already stockpiled. No hostile action should be taken except in self defence. Meanwhile, the sergeant is tasked to go ask if any of the new arrivals speaks Swedish.

The "PRE post":

TA Duchy of North Face 30*PRE (total)
The County of Plath 24*PRE (total)
TA Duchy of Ramsey 21*PRE (total)
--------------------
TMA Principality of Forte Spagnolo 17*PRE (total)
TVA Duchy 16*PRE (total)
TMA Duchy of New Liberty 15*PRE (total)
The Marquessate of White Cross 14*PRE (total)
The County of Stonehaven 13*PRE (total)
TA Marquessate of Grass 12*PRE (total)
---------------------
TA Marquessate of Tavastia 9*PRE (total)
The County of Petrichor 8*PRE (total)

Most of the info obtainable before winter is in the other post. The bonuses, looting and production comes tomorrow.

--Currently there are 2 LT, 1 MSG, and 1 SGT available for duty, with plans to add 1 CAPT, 3 PTE and 4 PTEM.

--Will donate 20mil to the treasury with the discretion to add more if future applicants see fit to raise the price.

--Will give HM CAO-8 (one of only two golf clubs in the kingdom) and 50 bottles BRA.

Urgent - new NPC for 1623 have arrived now!

- All existing NPC salaries & benefits paid!

- Don't worry about the high prices of new ones, they will decrease rapidly (in the period of 48 hours) if unsold.

- King and his wealth managed agrees to not buy in 1 hour after price decrease.

- CANNons for sale!

- RWWC and Phaeton merger completed, the owners of the ailing Phaeton accepted 3.5% of the new company. Phaeton debt is transferred to the new company Royal Weapons Works Corporation.

- RWWC needs SCI (again) and will have a financing round soon.

- Count your IC for the mercenary recruitment expedition!

Tidings from the Counties - November 1622

General

Large resources were sent to the far ends of the Kingdom approximately 1.5 years ago, and some have already brought back reports. It has been found that summer is much more pleasant time for travelling than winter, and therefore the future for sending preparatory convoys in most cases needs to be made as early as March (end of Tuesday, please ignore the game that shows wrong month names). If they are still in place by the November deadline (end of Saturday), they count towards the PRE.

Geography

There is no appreciable cartography talent in the Kingdom, so very rough explanations will need to suffice until situation improves. (This takes into account the info received in the latter part of this post.)

The following counties are to the North of CryptoTown:
North Face, believed to be the furthest north
Tavastia
Petrichor
Stonehaven.
Apart from the initial detachment sent back from the Duke's troops, no information from the far north has been obtained.

The following counties are to the West of CryptoTown:
New Liberty, a large area including an inland sea and many islands.

The following counties are to the East of CryptoTown:
(none - the area has been considered part of Rossiya)

The following counties are to the South of CryptoTown:
Ramsey
White Cross
Grass
Plath
At least they left the south route, but it is mostly unclear where the counties actually are located, because most traffic goes that way.

The following counties are believed to be further away as enclaves of Foreign Powers, at least until our borders expand:
Nassau
Armagnac
Forte Spagnolo
Rome

The following counties are in Korea, the homeland of Dr. Paul Choo (Prince of Soul)
Soul
Gangnam

The location and/or "getting there" of the following counties is mysterious
Arda
Neverland

No information is known of the following counties
OZ
CryptoLuna
Sarajas
Naoned
Savannah
Ghibli
Carabas


In the feedback reports, I will have to use short notation because it might get excessive, so please add the details yourself

New Liberty

As some guessed, the Duke himself had left early to prepare his land for the troops. He was in Stockholm and had met the King Gustaf Adolf personally as a (self-nominated but convincing) high representative of Crypto Kingdom. Due to his massive SCI spends he believes to know the geography and political situation rather well. Sweden is a rising power and HKM (His Royal Majesty) has been fighting many wars around the borders with less success but more experience. The area known as New Liberty is vast as the claim historically encompasses both the coasts of Östersjön, the west one the Swedes consider part of Sweden proper and they also claim the east one, including the islands, and "Tavastia, North Face and Ingria", so possibly the majority of Crypto Kingdom. The claims did not make the relations sour, the King was just wary because he needs allies to "preserve the religious freedom" if possible in the continent as well, since apparently the protestants there are bleeding.

The incident with the advancing Duke of NL Company happened simultaneously and unrelatedly based on previous orders. The company had been searching a port town (or a possibility to build one) when they encountered the Swedish regiment. The Swedes gained "victory" as they held ground while the Duke's forces continued northward, mapping the area and making finds.

OldDuchy

The situation in the town had become somewhat intense, so most of the troops were stationed there, from where they could be deployed easily to help the nobles in their efforts, and also protect the town from surprises. Only the Royal Second Company (90 BV) was mobilized in the spring with the objective of going to the road to Rossiya and find out their outpost, "just to check it out" with no high level diplomatic contact sought due to insufficient preparations. The Training Detachments were tasked to divide the land for the Manors, and the main force (312 BV in single command) stayed in the Citadel, making plans for its modernisation.

The secretly-much-hoped expedition to the East managed only a few days from where our settlements ended. There it met a Rossiyan outpost with a staunch attitude and despite gifts, the only real information that was received is that Rossiya starts there and foreign troops are not welcome. (Civilian contact with Rossiya has been mostly unregulated throughout history.)

White Cross

The troops have already sent back first-hand reports.

Stonehaven

The County of Stonehaven, as currently defined, encompasses the area north of TVA Duchy and until the Great River. The river flows very slowly to the west, yet is navigable. The Marquessate of Tavastia is the norther side. The county has a great plain that is by the river, and some sort of hills in the south (historically considered the northern border of the Old Duchy.

In two summers, a camp has been founded in a suitable spot by the river. The peasant population is a mix of Rossiyans, northerners and locals. The Swedes seem to sort of lord it over the area, and have a very efficient engineering corps effort ongoing. They did not let us spy the main camp which is to the east, meanwhile ours is in plain sight. Communication difficulties have prevented contact. We have not seen regular military.

Plath

The County of Plath is likely the furthest contiguous extent to the South where our forces are seen. The Earl has expended great SCI resources for mapping the situation there, but his army proved their ineffectiveness in the Battle of the Ambush, the first encounter in the Crypto Kingdom liberation wars with casualties (4 killed). The local population stayed content with so many of the trolls slain, with no feelings to either side. The local leader "boy-king" escaped so the encounter is a victory. The management is now ready to start Social Policies in the area (private consultation). Notable is that despite their numbers, both the management and the army are hugely ineffective.

Despite the distance, reaching Plath is comparatively easy - 4 months by a wagon-train, 2 months for foot soldiers and 1 on horseback (summer figures given). This is a very strategic outpost and the construction of a proper road there should be a priority.

The Earl lifted up his gaze and saw a foreign diplomat on the courtyard. Message was:

Good tidings from Castellan and Voivode Palczynski, the ruler of the area. We are happy to inform you that the Universal Catholic Faith reigns supreme in all of Polonia. Good to see that your Kingdom has not fallen to the heretics like that of our archenemy Gustaf Adolf! Join us in our crusade to restore the faith and burn their towns! In return we will recognize your claim not only to Plath but also to the coasts, and strengthen the trade routes.  For now, we consider HRH Prince Boguslaw ("the boy-king") to be the rightful lord here, so you should stop fighting between brothers in faith.

Ramsey

Saddam observes the preparations of the others. Many seem to be going to the end of the known world (which, of course, is true!) But, calculating once in his life, he thinks about where the big prize is. Land near the Capital can be brought to production more quickly, tolls charged to wayfarers, farms are safer from invaders... The closest such land lies immediately to the south from what has traditionally been the Old Duchy entrance. Because the land is near, the troops did not cause too much uproar, the peasants knew where they were from (and the 150 BV of course pacifies things just like it should).

Despite the smallness of SCI available, the administrative component of Saddam's force was large enough to find out that the land was indeed large, and clearly wealthier than the sparse Manors at home. But it had been ravaged by war in not too distant past - all the Manors had been burned down and valuables looted. There was no king in the land, so the dwellers had organized a militia system: each Manor holder "Chief" (it could be envisioned that some of the manors had been fledgling seats of counties due to the size) had a life guard of a few NCO, sometimes only 2. But in 24 hours, each of these can muster 10 men from the peasantry with farm weapons. This was readily presented to actually happen.

Saddam's headquarters is founded in a strategic place near what could-and-should-be the highway from Rome to CryptoTown, and he is entitled to starting social policies towards the peasantry (contact GM).

North Face

The well-equipped force of the Duke of North Face has met no resistance from the locals - if there even were any! The locals live a nomadic life drinking vodka (if they can get it) and only gather together to slaughter their animals. No foie gras is produced here, and very few VEG. "If only this god-forsaken place was closer, that meat would be of value!" The locals pay no attention to the preparations, and are apt to trade and cheat in the trading, but don't produce anything. Silver and copper have been sighted but none of the strange coins.

The only question is, what in the world are we doing here? Does it make sense to build a town here? Some rivers are flowing to the south but because of the orders received, the colony has been kept in a hedgehog formation without venturing outside. The locals tell that far in the north is a snowy mountain range that few can cross, far far in the north is an open sea, then a sea that is frozen all-year round, then it becomes warm again, and Ultima Thule is in the far north. The VOD and MUS enjoyed by the reciter of the tale may have contributed. Still, the question is whether to stand against Nature and go further north, or to south, or to home...

After a longish time of questioning around, trying to get the whereabouts of Louhi, the same envoy appeared. Discussion was, if possible, even shorter than last time: "I am watching you, like I have watched all the previous ones. I will contact you, if I want. In the way I want."

Social policies have become possible because of the PRE accumulated.


Scientific advances possible and their benefits

10,000 SCI  -  Heavy (24-pound) Cannon (almost immobile) manufacturing and proper usage
~30,000 SCI  -  Borough-22 incl eg. continuous urban planning
~10,000 SCI  -  Cho-ko-nu an easy to manufacture and use weapon with higher rate of fire than muskets (req. expedition to get plans)
10,000 SCI  -  Printing press installation and training (incl machinery)
20,000 SCI  -  Muskets manufacturing without helps
~20,000 SCI  -  Seafaring 1: coastal and auxiliary navy and basic seaman training
~20,000 SCI  -  Seafaring 2: wooden ships with cannon, control of Östersjön
~20,000 SCI  -  Seafaring 3: blue seas navy (in theory at least)

Angus being a newly ennobled landless Baron, began feeling the heaviness of the walls from his small home. He was not getting younger and felt that he needed to take a risk if he wanted to leave a legacy. Hearing about the new estate opportunity he decided to take his chances.

Lord Angus, RM, would like to apply to a seat in the Estate which His Majesty sees most fit. I vow to protect it by any means necessary (I making the due diligences to acquire a suitable military force  ), and would like to donate 10 mil to the Royal Treasury.  I wish to offer 4 KMT for HM graciousness.

To aid with this effort, The Marquess of White Cross would like to donate a H3 - Good Horse as long as there is a suitable rider found. Perhaps if one charming and persuasive commoner is brave enough to take on the challenge of recruiting mercenaries, he could keep the horse as a gesture of goodwill.