Topic: Crypto Kingdom - 1991 Retro Virtual World(City) - page 99. (Read 632701 times)

Meanwhile, the officers of the Royal 1&2&Cannon Comp. inspected the Church forces in the d'Armagnac Military haw. The ~100 BV are now strengthening the CryptoTown defence "against protestant enemies". The incident would not even be worth mentioning, were it not the first time ever that the King's officers inspect the Church forces in Church lands.

Being winter, the nobles did not have much to do except to convene in Noble Palace in front of strong or even burning drinks. The case of CAPT was discussed, which lead the King to order a Squad sent to bring the father of the killed man to testify in the court. The CAPT was kept in the Dungeon of the Keep (bottom level in the central castle of the Citadel) until it was realised it is an inhuman place to spend a longer time. He now has a room in a higher level, yet still without window.

The map is updated with the latest info about the manors near Cryptotown, more info from New Liberty and Ramsey, and the location of Petrichor.

http://imgur.com/LaEka8A

Report from a CAPT of New Liberty troops and his audience with the King


A rugged man on horseback is coming from the north entrance to B.2. Since this is so unusual this time of the year with thick snow covering the vestiges of the road, the King goes outside the House of Magnificence to see what this is about. The man's uniform has almost turned to rags. The horse is ready for dismissal from service. He exclaims:

- Your Majesty (bows) what an honor to see You, and luck as well! I have very important information regarding the situation in the Duke of New Liberty Company!

* Speak, officer.

- CAPT N.N. from The Duke of New Liberty Company, in your service Sir!

As you know, Sir, the Company has a MAJ as CO and as FO as well. In absence of clear orders from His Highness, these two have developed a quarrelous relationship, which has slowed our progress very much. You probably have heard about our encounter with the Swedish troops. The CO was in favor of negotiations but the FO argued and said that our position would have allowed a tactical victory. After it was decided that we move to the north, the problem continued. At the coming of winter, we had advanced the coastline to a tall, old monolith, which the peasants explained is the cornerstone of 3 counties - Tavastia, Petrichor and New Liberty. It is located where the River flows to the lake the Swedes call "Östersjön". It was there that we met Swedes the first time after the initial encounter.

They were preparing to build a town there, even I could see that. I would think they have 40*PRE and the annual gain is 10*PRE. A force at max half of us was guarding the operations. Again there was a quarrel among the leading officers, with even CAPTs (we have 6) taking sides. The command in the end was to retreat to a vicinity of the operations to the south, and establish a winter camp there. Not even a messenger was ordered to be sent!

Tired of this inaction, we CAPTs decided to send an express messenger directly to Your Majesty. I am now here, after a less than 3 weeks journey - but what a journey it has been... 2 horses have died on duty, and after the second one, I needed to travel 3 days on foot in a blizzard. I thought I would die, but then saw lights of a wooden hut in front of me. Unfortunately, which I still regret, the encounter ended in the death of the son of the house, before I could get their horse...

* Captain, What is the reason you took on this express journey?

- Sir, in between the junior officers, we decided that this information of the Swedes' preparations needed to reach your ear most quickly, and the CO and FO could only decide on the location of the winter camp.

* So you did not have the permission from your superiors, let alone a command?

- No, Sir.

* Did you leave your unit without checking out in accordance of the Company Regulations?

- ...

- Yes, Sir. In wartime, an officer is foremost bound to his oath to His Majesty The King - long live the King! - and must do what is needed for the Kingdom, even if it constitutes an implicit disobeyance of the orders of the immediate superiors.

* (nods)

* Captain, your referral to "wartime": what is the power WE are at war with, and when did you learn of such a war taking place?

- Sir, the Swedes are our enemies, they war against the Church and defame the Holy Relics. The inaction of our CO has twice robbed a victory from our hands!!

* What happened with the horses?

- Sir, we had bought some horses from the locals and the Swedes for general purposes. I left with my own horse and a select CPL came with me on a H2 we had taken from the stables. After a few days, the weather got so rough and we did not know the way, so the CPL asked we divide the meat and take different routes so that at least one can get to CryptoTown. I have not seen him since.

I needed to seek shelter for a few days. When the weather cleared, the horse was in such bad condition due to lack of food that I rode him to death and pressed another one from the locals. This horse did not last much longer so I again ended in a blizzard. When I was afraid of my life, I ended up in a house where they did not speak the language. I stayed for 2 days to get my strength back. When I was ready to continue, they only had one horse. I offered 10 SCI to get it but they did not appreciate the offer. With no other way to move on, I drew my sword, and the son of the house took a club. I slashed him with 2 blows, after which I got the horse.

* Did you kill a man?

- I am sorry, Sir, it did happen. The old man gave the horse only after it was clear the son was dead.

* In what county did this happen?

- Sir, I believe it was still in New Liberty, but not far from the Old Duchy border, judging from the time it took to get here.

* Officer, you are under arrest for 2nd degree murder. Your case will be heard once the jurisdiction is determined. Please surrender your sword to SGT N.N. from the Royal Cannon Company. He will take you to the Dungeon of the Keep and arrange your family an opportunity to meet you. Dismissed.

Last year, in the late summer, The Marquess had sent three specialists out to look for the boroughs. It was a risk sending them out in the winter, but the information that could be provided was worth the risk.  The Air and Earth Boroughs had been sent 2 specialists, but neither of those had returned.

As the Marquess was drinking some W1620 and sitting in his battle planning tent, he heard the clip-clop of horse hooves. 10 seconds later, one of his Specialists burst through the door.

I've found it! he exclaimed excitedly.  I found the Water Borough!   Noms was hoping for some news, as his bottle was getting empty and he had not much to do this night.  After talking with the specialist, it was determined that that part of the County was not made of water, but filled with underwater springs. The specialist had spoken to a few of the locals, and while it was not clear that the water was special in any way, the seemed to regard it as if it were magical.  



This news made The Marquess immediately think of Zenon and his experiments with the 'Silver Water' Medinical Vodka.  Perhaps this water could be one of the missing ingredients in a potent magical blend?  Or, perhaps the MUS that The Marquess had consumed earlier that night was making him make connections that were not there. At any rate, it might be worth sending someone more scientific to the water area to take some samples. At the very least, a clean, clear water source was found that could prove very useful for the county.

The reports back from the far North reached the offices of the Duke and he was pleased to see the preparations continue at a nice pace although it is concerning that there is lack of resources discovered.  The Duke has assembled quite a force to prepare the area and discover resources (and is paying a handsome annual sum), but the distance and time has made organization of the operation very difficult.  Preparations will continue with the use of SCI and stone to establish an area where the nomadic can trade.

More horses and a Carriage are being dispatched to the region to allow for better scouting and longer distance trips by the SPEcialists employed.  The Duke's son Troy is traveling to the region to scout resources and people.  Troy's mission is to discover the sources of copper, silver, stone, and other unique resources in the area and he will command the NF troops to help.  In addition, another group of Specialists, Workers, and soldiers will be sent out to the river regions in an attempt to discover other producing population areas or bodies of water for trade routes.

No broad taxation policies are to be implemented at this stage in the counties operation.

Trading posts will be established for fair/safe trading administered by the Duke's forces.  These outposts will take a 10% fee of the trade for providing the safe trading posts to the local people.






 

The "Road" to Kunda

Lord Cooper of Kunda was musing about what to do regarding his new order, managing the Manor of Kunda, while sitting in the Gilded Goose one afternoon in January. He had just been notified which one he had been assigned. According to the announcement, the Manor of Kunda has no road connection, yet it is a familiar tavern for travellers.

This was puzzling to the Lord, as he had never been up to borough 4 other than to purchase a small house in the center of town.  It was fortuitious that his Manor was very close to his new residence-this would serve as a very good base of operations. He decided that it was in his best interest to immediately set off to Kunda to view it in person and get the "lay of the land", even if it was impassable.

As he did not yet have a horse, he thought about purchasing one. However, upon looking to purchase one, he was shy of the amount necessary to get even a Level 1 Horse. He ordered his Sergeant and 6 Privates to accompany him to his new manor to visit it for the first time.

He had two of the Privates carry his DIS (equipment for making mead) so that he may drink mead while exploring the new land at his Manor. He also brought along 32 bottles of beer, 37 bottles of W1620, and 4 bottles of W1621B, in addition to some Meat and Vegetables for the road. It was his opinion that he needn't get there quickly as long as he had good food and drink along the way. There were also 3 raffle tickets left in his posession. He tucked all three into his jacket for safe keeping.

His plan upon reaching the Manor was two-fold.

1) He wanted to come up with some strict orders that could be followed many times a month by a certain Alfred G. Orithm, to ensure that the markets for meat and vegetables were as fluid as possible.

2) Survey the land to see what was possible with the Manor and the surrounding land.

With these two items in mind, he set off to Kunda.

The Royal Survey of The Very Ancient Duchy

TVA Duchy ("OldDuchy") is the area where most of the game activities have historically been located. It existed in 1366 when HM The King was born, so its peerage is very old and may be titled "very ancient" (only pre-1400 things may do this).

When going directly to the north from the Old Town, there is some unhealthy and impassable land, even our B.4 belongs to this. To get to the north, it is advisable to make a detour around this, either way is possible. No road connection exists to the Manor of Kunda. The Manor is a familiar tavern for those wishing to travel northward, but other possible routes can be used as well, depending what the exact destination is. The area is forested and rugged especially to the north of Kunda.

When going to the east, as already mentioned, the road goes in a reasonably plain terrain to the Manor of Aaspere and in a much inferior condition towards the Rossiyan outpost. From there it is possible for well-intentioned civilians to go all the way to Moscow, although the road network in Rossiya is in a notorious shape. To the north of Aaspere, forest soon takes hold, but to the south, plains and agricultural lands continue, and a trail in a reasonable condition leads to the Manor of Pada. This is not the shortest route to reach Pada, however, but the only one traversible by cart or carriage. Light footmen who know the ground can take a shortcut directly to CryptoTown and save time.

The major road out of CryptoTown goes to the rough direction of south-southwest. The exit from the town has originally been the South Barbican (the old town is walled, you cannot just exit wherever you wish). Since the San Pietro was opened, it had become the first sighting of the travellers, but King has the plans to make the "Grand Entrance" go past the planned Château of Versailles in the same borough. For this reason, the roadworks start only a few miles away from town, and from there, a recently constructed road leads almost to the Manor of Essu, and is being continued with the annual PRE stone spends. The terrain in this way is easy to traverse so merchants can use multiple ways, with the new one of course taking priority for those having wheels.

The historical "Road to France" goes to the west through hilly and forested terrain. It is a track at most, yet has in the ancient times been capable to function as the preferred connection for the merchants of wines and such semi-heavy goods. New Liberty expedition took this road but was prevented from reaching the coast because of the Swedish garrison. It is believed a port, or even a town exists in the end of this road, which would make it plausible for merchants to take this route as most of the distance could be travelled by ship. The Manor of Haljala is located not far from CryptoTown and not exactly on the road either.

Further to the south, from Essu onwards, the terrain is more hospitable than the colder climate in the Old Duchy. Saddam's headquarters in Ramsey is currently located in a place somewhat on the north side of the lands claimed. Here his potent forces can monitor all legitimate traffic towards the capital. Surpassing them is easy of course due to the vastness of land - explaining the reason for avoiding the roads (if caught) is more difficult...

The trails actually start to become better in the southern edge of Ramsey ("south" is defined mostly as "towards Plath" not as actual south). The travel time from "Saddam HQ" to "roads again" is about equal to the time from CryptoTown to "Saddam HQ". From Plath there is not yet exact info but this lies somewhat further away from where the roads start.

Instructions to the Lords of the Historical Manors of OldDuchy

Congratulations for the appointment. As you know, the excessive haste of appointing you was because our Majesty is pressed on higher-level affairs. Use it to your advantage, and while doing so - remember the performance is evaluated after 2 years with the prudent continuing in the position!

The S-ME and S-VE2 production shares will be given to you latest when they will be needed. Vegetables are dividended in July-November in several batches. Meat comes in December in one batch. The preparations needed for a Manor are much in your own hands. We cannot give further guidance on the matter because of haste. Please contact the Councillors if unsure how HM typically wants his lands to be managed.


GM conventions on Time, Delays, Quests, Secret Messages and Such

The time conversion is as follows:
1. Today, 2016-1-18 is the January 1623;
2. The basic unit of time is the year (week of outside time), the year changes at the midnight following Sunday (UTC);
3. The year is divided to 7 months (days outside), each month is divided to 24 days (hours outside) and 6 days may be called a week.

The time is administered as a reasonable basis. Many things happen on an annual administration so that it basically does not matter when you acquire NPC for instance - their salary and production script is run every December anyway.

When the question is about transport times between the places in the "core empire" (areas listed in the beginning in this post, with the characteristics that CK military and administration reign supreme), time is calculated real-time from the thread post or PM to the GM. When sending supplies to the "colonies" (places outside our unquestioned military supremacy ie. every place except OldDuchy and Ramsey), the supplies are considered arrived after the GM-administered travel time, which might be years in case of places further away.

If there is an "encounter", an important storytelling event, whose result is changing the fortunes, and dependent on how the key players play the game, the GM calls the players to "play the event" with a tight deadline. The playing happens in the IRC channel usually. If one of the players is not reachable, the GM plays his role according to pre-knowledge of his likely objectives. Unless an encounter is secret, there will be a report in this thread, and hopefully soon in another dedicated media.

The GM is already giving Quests to characters. These involve participation in or even steering the historical events transpiring around us. Typically these are secret, so that it does not help the character in question to disclose the quest to the public, but rather try to navigate the events towards his desired outcome in the curtains. The Quest Medal is awarded (and the quest made public) when it is completed. Most quests have a deadline as well.

When Secret Messages are sent between the PC, it can be done whatever way without any administered delay. When Secret Messages are sent to Foreign Powers or their envoys (or similars), the Church message above shows how to disclose it. GM will take care about what happens to the messenger. Note: only important messages changing the fortunes of a Duchy or Kingdom, need to be disclosed like this. Trivial messages can travel their way according to the delays published.

Lord Angus rejoices that His Majesty has looked upon His servant with such favor. May Our Gracious Lord continue to guide your benevolent hand with Strength and Wisdom in these dire times.

Congratulations. Number of applications corresponded to number of awards

Let us see what is the situation with the manors in 2 years. Do not make further preparations until the Royal survey of the location of manors etc is posted, hopefully during the month.

My servant,

It enlightens us that the reply was so prompt and we are apologetic for the harsh tone of the initial letter. Given that there has been no contact from HG the Bishop, and the second-in-command Lord Callixtus passed away, we judge it fit to do as follows:

- We will promote you L5 Expert, and the same day Knight you in the AOD and promote you to the highest Officer level possible;
- A special oath of allegiance is required as is the custom with Knights and the Officers;
- We will promptly send a high-level military attaché to the Church Military haw to inspect all the troops and preparations.

We will organise the troops during the spring months and find positions for them in the town and the surrounding areas, so that the deployment corresponds to the larger plans of having the main Royal forces ready to be sent wherever they are needed.

We trust that this letter is responded to promptly. (however please do not do it after GM has sent a futher message with some clarification)

Wow, the long shot was aimed true!

I've sent the money and meat - some was sold overnight, so you get part money/part meat. I think I lost 5000m somewhere in the calculation, so I'll send that remaining little change as soon as my S-VE1 gives me something I can sell - 5 VEG should do it

Cooper is VERY excited that he was chosen and would like to thank HM The King profusely for the opportunity. At his first available moment, he walked to the castle to drop off his 10,000,000 m (leaving him 235k!) at the treasury and 10 x CS1617E as his gift to the king.

He started thinking of all the plans that he had in store for this Estate...the possibilities were endless! The title has a nice ring to it. Cooper, Lord of Kunda!

Your Majesty,

The Church acknowledges that preparations have been slow.
Unfortunately, as you so well know, the absence of His Grace the Bishop left the Church without his spiritual guidance, and Lord Callixtus answered the Almighty's call recently.

I will pray for Lord Callixtus' wisdom to guide me, and endeavour to inventory the Church's armed forces and report to your Majesty as soon as practicable.

The Church's templars are always at your Majesty's service, for the greater glory of God.

Royal Palace, 1 Central Square January 11, 1622

(From) HM The King, etc(x3)

(To) HG The Prince-Bishop, the M of Armagnac, etc(x2)
or
The Highest Representative of our Most Holy and catholic Church in TMA CryptoTown


Your Grace (or in practice Whoever This May Concern),

Our Kingdom has opened up to new worlds, but to the sadness of pious souls, intermittent reports of war are heard from all directions. The summer is coming, and our Kingdom also needs to prepare for whatever Providence (the word Destiny can be seen corrected) has laid for us.

It is even possible that a military campaign with the main forces is needed. To prepare for this, the Church forces need to be able to take the main responsibility for protecting the town. According to the Articles of 1466, Church enjoys high autonomy in military forces, but they are still a part of Royal CryptoArmy commanded by our Royal Majesty as General. We command:

- Church organisation with all the characters having manager/vicar or higher position needs to be listed and published.
- Order of succession needs to be made clear in case of death/absence.
- Seals must be distributed to those who are authorized to speak for the church (authenticated members tell which accounts are authorized).
- Church "Order-of-Battle" (arrangement of forces to companies and their commanders) must be listed in /Army tab.

We are happy that the Church is up-to-date with the current preparation levels. A token gift of 100 CKG towards the costs of these preparations is sent from the Royal Treasury in NF1500Y Most Ancient gold coins.

The deadline for the report is March 18. (tomorrow 20:00 UTC).

1623 dawns

The health challenge has been evaluated and a new one initialized. The coroner decided diplomatically to check all deaths in the beginning of the next year, so that they would get buried well in advance of the celebration year. Only promotions, Orders, honors, medals, and badges would then be announced - no deaths.

The expansion of the PC userbase has been good. The number of "characters initialized with health" has grown 50% during the time the health challenge has existed (about 8 years).

Also the preparations going on in each and everywhere, have boosted the economy greatly. In as little as 2 years, the CryptoTown rental market, originally facing death at 3,333 m rental dividend payout per share, is now 5,381 m/share, which will soon cause cultural buildings to be transferred back to rentals. Or more rentals built. This matter is a priority in King's plans, as are many other things, challengingly...

Lord James Daniel of Aaspere
Sir Crichton, Earl of Plath, Lord of Essu, etc
Lord Angus of Haljala
Cooper, Lord of Kunda
Red Erin, Lady of Pada

The manor lords are appointed (above) for a 2-year term. Please transfer the remainder of the gifts promised, as well as the rental amount, to account "1". This is a historical day. The guide to the role will be sent soon, possibly public in here, because the ingame communication is not yet that functional.

Instead of writing again about things that are too recent to have changed, I exhort everyone to take a large cup of coffee and read the thread with all the changes since Countryside, or actually the Title post.

After the recent halving, 2,941*RAF-1 exist! Now will start the active dividend phase with FOIE going to the ones remaining after the next halving..

I see that Cooper has announced his application for an Estate. Well, I wish him luck. If my son would only accept a donation he would probably have a better chance of success in this Estate mission. Children are very frustrating sometimes. All I want for him is success.  Sigh...

The Catholic Church

https://i.imgur.com/Py7wy3s.png



It is time. A SPEcialist-2 has been sent sent via horseback to the edge of Plath on a diplomatic mission. He has but a single scroll and enough food for the journey. There is not much time. Much is happening in the lands of CK...

Hi all,

I know I'm just fresh from the countryside, but I know a thing or two about farming and keeping track of everything a farm estate needs.  Since there is an opening for caring for one, and not enough candidates to fill the vacancies, I'm up to the task.

Now, I'm still a poor peasant, with a new pig being my most prized possession, so monetary donations are not on the table - though I have just received a yearly stipend of about a third of a pig (700000), which I would gladly send to the Treasury! I have some meat leftover from my previous pig, though, so there's that. I'm not sure what Kings eat, but something tells me they might have better than pig in reserve. But if that's to the King's taste, 50 kg of pig meat will be there (unless they're sold already by the time, in which case the shiny metal I get in return may be even more to the King's liking).

If I get the charge of one of these estates, all profit will go towards employing people till we get up to speed.  I may be more used to dealing with day labourers than soldiers, but that's just hiring for work, isn't it.  Based upon the King's own numbers, I expect I will have the required amount of new hires well within the end of term. Any profit left over at the end of the term, whatever it may end up being, will then find its way to the Royal Treasury If any is left, that is. It may be that hiring defenders may prove more pressing at time progresses, after reading the latest news. From past experience with marauders on our farmlands, I know being prepared is never a bad thing. I expect at minimum to have 1 LT and 3 PTE in the first year, and 5 PTE in the second, providing a small, but cheap guard.

After two years, I don't expect any hardship, regardless of whether the term is extended. There is a good market for soldiers, and if I have to disband the estate guard, they'll easily find another employer.

So here we go. An opportunity like this isn't found every day, and I came to town to find some of these, so I'll grab the long shot while I raise the next pig!

I've drawn a sketch of the NewLiberty county based on the descriptions, along with the emplacement of the Swedes' camp. Of course, the information I'm working on is rather vague, so a lot could well change.

As the Swedes seem to claim dominion over North Face, Tavastia, and New Liberty, but not Petrichor, and that Petrichor is said to lie to the north of the Old Duchy, it seems lilkely that Petrichor is east of Stonehaven. Or maybe the information is too vague to draw conclusions yet.

http://imgur.com/ZXJ7V7I

There you go: