Ruined Kingdom: Post-boom. (Always open)

[M0rtimer]

"Magister, I am sure with your skills you can find a messenger willing to carry word to the villages! It doesn't need to be you who goes. Regardless, we must also consider the possibility of dealing with the other dragon... What skills do you have in dragon-slaying?"

The Magister grunts. "Very well. I will find a... Messenger to pass on the message."

"As for dragonslaying... Whilst I believe myself quite competent in combat... I would not dare say I would be capable of slaying a dragon. I believe it would be a stretch to even say I would be capable of wounding one. It takes an army of common trained men to kill a dragon my lord. You of all should know that. And, of course, he will have an army too. So I suppose that in the end, it comes down that it will most likely have to be you to slay him... I believe you have done so in the past, have you not? That being said, I assume your old friend has not been sitting still in the past 150 years."

And how were our standing and reputation among our neighbours before the fall? Are there any other dragons around besides me and that bronze scum?

"I believe the kingdom of Gravenroght to the west houses a green feathered dragon. A female one even." He says with a smirk, as if he was trying to imply something. "Besides that, I do not believe there are any dragons in our immediate vicinity. Unless you want to look to the kingdoms lying farther away or on one of the smaller continents..."

No, Magister, I can see you are not hmmm... enthusiastic about that task. But maybe some of the nobles we have now in stock would want to carry that duty? Or someone else entirely? It would gain that person great reward in terms of position and respect. If he or she succeeds, of course. Spread the word, and volunteers would appear.
And you will be undisturbed by such petty task again

"The nobles?" The Magister says as he begins to laugh, stopping in a coughing fit. As he recomposes himself he turns back to you. "The nobles wouldn't lift a finger. Sure, they have a lot of power, and prestige- But that comes from commanding others while sitting high upon their personal little throne eating themselves to death. The whole idea of actually having to work to earn their rank would sound foreign to them."

"And of course I wouldn't be... Annoyed by such petty task my lord. Oh, I would not dare."

[thinkslogically]

Thinks, I don't like the idea of anyone killing any dragons. if his answer is "yes, I'm exellent dragonslayer", I would fear for our safety <back>

Exactly.

The magister is not our friend, and I want to know what he knows (if he'll tell us). I dont' think he should be allowed to study it though...

[Alavar]

No, Magister, I can see you are not hmmm... enthusiastic about that task. But maybe some of the nobles we have now in stock would want to carry that duty? Or someone else entirely? It would gain that person great reward in terms of position and respect. If he or she succeeds, of course. Spread the word, and volunteers would appear.
And you will be undisturbed by such petty task again

"The nobles?" The Magister says as he begins to laugh, stopping in a coughing fit. As he recomposes himself he turns back to you. "The nobles wouldn't lift a finger. Sure, they have a lot of power, and prestige- But that comes from commanding others while sitting high upon their personal little throne eating themselves to death. The whole idea of actually having to work to earn their rank would sound foreign to them."
"And of course I wouldn't be... Annoyed by such petty task my lord. Oh, I would not dare."

You misunderstood me, Magister. What I wanted to transmit was more in the lines of "who would make it happen will be rewarded. Who wouldn't... well, their rank is for me to decide, isn't it? Someone worthless on his position might as well become a peasant"

[Arch Lich Burns]

....Smell the magister. If he smells good, get a good taste. ....What?

Also get some way to gain a horde of something. I don't know what, for all I know fishes.

[BadgeAddict]

Magister, brainwash 2 units worth of bandits until they are willing to do our bidding and then send 1 unit to the city to aid the artisan in his rebuilding efforts and send the other unit to the surrounding lands to begin to cultivate and farm it.

[lozlo]

Magister are you still here? How is that spy interrogation doing?

[BadgeAddict]

Magister are you still here? How is that spy interrogation doing?

He is still here, i suppose he hasn't been directly told what to do yet. or updated what to do.

[M0rtimer]

As for spies - Magister, after interrogating spies could you put them in suspended animation for one season? I don't want them to learn anything, and I might just have some plans for them for later...

"Magister, we are not a strong kingdom yet and crushing the rebellious villages will only drive them to the armies of our enemies and to further revolt. For now, let us give them time. Send someone to them with a message from me stating that they will be left in peace for now and are invited to join the kingdom peacefully. Allow them to enjoy the food from our farms and the wealth from our city. Let them come to rely on us. However, the next time they see you, my dear Magister, they must declare allegiance to us or be destroyed.

" For now, I think I will use your skills to interrogate our captive Umicellian spy. Leave the other for now, but ask if he will carry a message to his masters for us. We have no quarrel with his people after all. Enjoy yourself!"

"Very well my lord. I shall interrogate the Umilicien spies."

"And release the Rhenovian spies if that is what you wish. Personally I believe it to be stupid to not at the very least see what they know, but I would not dare question your intelligence." He says with just a tiny bit of sarcasm."

"And I suppose I shall... Take care of the tribes as well. Or direct someone else to do it. Whatever." He says, annoyed, though it seems he will keep his promise.

>The Magister will attempt to direct someone to try to speak to the tribes.
>The Magister will interrogate the Umilicien spies.

"Dragonknight, who are those bandits, and what are their crimes? Dou you think any of them would be fit for our use, or not?"
If none of them are of use, and their crimes were heavy, I want you to commit a trial according to the law, for people need law and stability more than anything else now... And if they are sentenced to death, I will personally carry the sentence <lick lips>

Our Dragon Knight should have some idea which of the bandits we have caught would be both most willing and least willing to work for us. She hunted them down, and has a great deal of strategic expertise. Therefore, we should see to it that those least willing to work for us serve as an example to the rest, while we see to it that some of the most skilled and most likely to work for us get increased rank, perhaps to things like Master Huntsman and Spymaster, at least as long as we don't have people truly loyal to us to hold those positions. We can, then, allocate them so as to have a few spies of our own and enough hunter/gatherers to replenish our stocks.

"Very well my lord" the dragonknight nods with unquestioning loyalty. "A clear process will take time. But it should help make clear to the populace that you are a fair king. And those that refuse will be the example of what will happen if they do not take your offer of generosity. Afterwards, I shall try to train the remaining bandits. Hopefully they will be more willing after they have been given fair trial."

>The dragonknight will bring you a sacrifice after each bandit has been trialed.
>The dragonknight will attempt to train the bandits.

Artisan, you are right - shelter is most important now. My freedom second. Temporary barricades third.

Further, I would suggest putting most of the general workforce under the artisan's command establishing farms and housing in the general area. It's doubtful the enemy forces will concern themselves overly much about this.

The artisan seems briefly perplexed - Though as he pulls himself back together he speaks enthusiastically- "Yes sir! I will begin work on it immediately!" He turns around, heading for the exit as you tell him to briefly pause. He freezes in his tracks, slowly turning around.
"Y-Yes sir?" He says nervously as you move closer to him... And then lick him.

"Wh- WHa-"

"Hmm... A hint of mahogany?" You say, looking at the saliva-covered artisan, before telling him he could go- Which he did as quickly as his legs would carry him.

>The artisan will work on providing shelter and restoring farmland.

>The court has been assigned their tasks.

>Time passes...

► Show Spoiler

I might be able to do an update tomorrow before I leave for the weekend. If not it'll probably be monday before the next update I'm afraid!

Also, a note on actions- Technically seen any member of your court can execute multiple tasks- Though it will decrease their chance of successfully doing so, or at least not as good as they originally would have. Now stuff like this "sacrifice" I consider only flavor and I won't take any penalty for that (At least not a big one- It may have some very minor beneficial effects) What the artisan and Magister are doing might have some influence though- Even if what the Magister has been tasked to do seems like only a minor task. Probably just because he's a big crybaby.

[Davecom3]

Magister, brainwash 2 units worth of bandits until they are willing to do our bidding and then send 1 unit to the city to aid the artisan in his rebuilding efforts and send the other unit to the surrounding lands to begin to cultivate and farm it.

I really don't know what would make you think bandits would be great farmers and builders, especially when we have others who could do that work. I've not known highwaymen and brigands to take interest in hard work all that often myself. That's why I suggested allocating them as I did, with jobs they are less likely to hate and their presence less likely to unnerved by their presence.

[BadgeAddict]

► Show Spoiler

clearly this dragon is suffering from multiple personality disorder. I suppose i just think of myself as the voice that tells hims to do bad things mixed in with occasional good advice.

[Arch Lich Burns]

Brainwash the bandits...to become YOUR bandits.

[BadgeAddict]

Brainwash the bandits...to become YOUR bandits.

even better

[Davecom3]

Now, that's the evil method. You take away all chance of free will.

[Arch Lich Burns]

It is their fault for being bandits for the wrong people....we should turn the spies too.

[Davecom3]

Bandits for the wrong people? You mean themselves?

[BadgeAddict]

I believe he meant they are preying on our people, who are well..ours.

[M0rtimer]

>It is the 306th year after slumber.

>It is Summer.

The season begins in high anticipation, for you at least- You are awaiting your meal. It takes a while, about a week after the dragonknight left for her task, due to the many trials. But eventually she returns, bringing in two groups of bandits- Averaging about 30 man, hands tied to their backs and dressed in mostly rags. You ask them if they declined your generous offer. A few reply by yelling proudly in your face that "Yeah, you lizard!", they indeed did. A few others, seemingly only now realizing how grave the situation is try to flee, but it is more then clear that they won't suddenly turn more obedient. And hence as they are instructed to line up, eventually under force a line being sort of formed... You stare at one of them for a while before snapping down, swinging him up, then chewing him down with a single bite. As to be expected, panic breaks out. Though without a single blink the dragonknight guards the only exit, pushing away any that try. You sweep up a handful of the bandits with a single swipe, biting down on them, at which point one of them tries to be brave by kicking your toes. You reward him by stepping on him, crushing most of his ribs as he is held in place. At this point all that is left is mostly panicking bandits, which you slowly pick of one by one. You spend some time chatting with the last one. Before finally grabbing him as well- If perhaps somewhat quicker when you realize the one you crushed previously was still stuck beneath your foot. You lift him up to see him barely breathing. With a little bit of dragonbreath you cook him nicely, eating him as well. A hearty meal, at the very least. The dragonknight bows as the last one is devoured, leaving immediately afterwards. Only to return at the end of the season.



"I have returned my lord."

"I hope you have enjoyed the dinner. And apologize I did not stick around for much longer. But I needed all the time I could gather."

"The bandits may have been more willing after the trial, but they are men of short patience. They lack all capabilities a claw should exhibit. A lot of my time was spent on teaching them the principles they should exhibit, and assuring their loyalty to you before I could even begin with any training in combat and secrecy. Hence I have only been successful in training one of the units my lord. Forgive me."

"The other unit however, has sworn allegiance to the kingdom. While I cannot guarantee they will not turn back on the path of banditry, they have certainly improved their behavior. Their fate lays in your hands."

"I could also continue my training on the one unit I have trained. Now that I have been able to discipline them, I am hopeful I can teach them some of the claw techniques."

>The Dragonknight has trained one unit of common troops.
>The Dragonknight's patience remains elevated.
>The prisons are filled with one group of bandits.



The Magister enters the resting chamber, looking far less pleased then he did previous time. On a serious tone he reports. "As you demanded from me, I sent someone that was willing to try and convince the rebel tribes to come back to the capital... I suppose I have no other choice but to admit you were partly right in your benevolence my lord. At least one of them came back."

"However, the fact the messenger I sent didn't only serves to prove my point right." He finishes in annoyed tone. "They will not listen to reason. Most of them, at least."

"Onto better news- I successfully penetrated the Umilicien spies minds... They will now serve our every command my Lord."

"What knowledge they had seemed to also favorable towards us. It appears their kingdom will not dare to do anything for a while. Their sudden attack startled the other kingdoms who made sure to fortify their borders. They dare not move their troops out of their own borders, even if the odds of an unprovoked attack against them seems very unlikely. We hardly were friends with any of his neighboring kingdoms, after all. Luckily, it seems Darilcoth hardly was too."

"As for you my lord... They seemed very much aware you were still alive. They were only doubtful about the fact whether or not there were any attempts to free you, and more importantly whether or not those were successful. I believe we are shortly approaching the point where it will become obvious to everyone what the answer to that is."

"In fact... While... Working on the spies, I noticed something over sea. It appears a ship is trying to make land on our shore. Carrying no flag no less. I thought I should mention that."

>The Magister has converted one unit of spies to your side
>The Magisters patience remains high.

>A ship has been spotted nearing the coastline.




The artisan comes back in, excited at first, though staggering as he is face to face with you once more. With a little bit of hesitation he looks up at you and speaks - You can see that whilst it appears he still fears you, the task he was allowed to do has made him gain some more trust in you.

"M... My lord." He stutters. "I have set out the task you wanted me to do, and... I am very happy to report it went better then I could have hoped. Then again the populace was more then happy to help out with the task. There is still... Dissent of course my Liege, but I believe these events have tempered their moods."

"Temporary shelter is in place for everyone. Actual housing will slowly return, starting with the nobles... Once you reappointed them that is my liege. Some of... The older nobles are having some internal conflict. They all believe there might be some way they could gain your favor and hence remove one of the other families from being nobility. Feuds do not die easily, after all."

"A- Anyways. Considering the farms, there was so much more I wanted to do. I had ideas for it, but I just did not have enough time to put any of them into full execution. Regardless, with some minor improvements on the farms I foresee we should have enough food in storage to survive the winter my Liege. If only barely."

>The artisan provided housing and some minor farm improvements.
>The artisan fears you!
>The artisan trusts you.
>The artisans patience is typical

>The city lays in ruins!
=>The city has been provided with shelter.
=>Key structures remain ruined.
=>The castle is in state of disrepair.
>You are trapped!
>Rhenovia may desire your land!
>Food will (barely) last through winter.
>A ship with no flag is approaching shore.

>The Dragonknight is available.
>The Magister is available.
>The Artisan is available.

► Show Spoiler

Sorry it's only up now guys. I really wanted to still get this up Friday, but only barely lacked the time to do so. Oh well.

[PSychotic]

Magister, implant false memories within our Umicillian spies and then have them return to their homeland as sleeper agents. You can read their minds from great distances and reactivate them, if given time and needed materials I assume?

Dragonknight, bring our new troops with you and see what this mysterious ship claims to want. After that, continue training the remaining bandits.

Artisan... I dunno, just do whatever you do, I guess?

[thinkslogically]

"If we are going to rebuild our kingdom, we need to provide food and shelter for the populace and we must be able to pay those who work directly for us...

Magister: That is worrying news, but we will deal with it in time. Perhaps they simply need time to be persuaded. In the meantime, having a sleeper agent in Umicellia is an excellent idea. Can you make that happen? I think it is also time we considered building wealth for the kingdom - can you begin to convert base metals into gold?"

Dragonknight: This seems like a useful test of our new troops. Take our new soldiers and investigate this ship for me. I wish to meet the captain of any vessel that would seek to land on our shores unannounced.

Artisan: Send word to the nobility that I favour any house which can prove their worth to me in this time of rebuilding! Have them re-establish any trade routes that they can and replant their fields. Use them to boost trade and create jobs for the common folk and craftsmen. Those who do this well and willingly will win my goodwill and will be well rewarded. Houses that work together to achieve greater things will share in a greater reward - see that they understand that I have no patience for petty squabbles. As for you, it is imperative that our people do not starve this winter. See to it that the farms are properly irrigated and make whatever improvements you can to ensure a satisfactory harvest this year.

[BadgeAddict]

I agree with thinks

[Davecom3]

Having no flag, I'm inclined to believe that it's a pirate ship. Most ships owned by a region would fly that region's flag, right?

[Alavar]

I agree with thinks as well.

"The remaining group... Release them, but first allocate them to the task of freeing me. Someone have to do it eventually, and we cannot spare common folk as it is. Afterwards, you can try to train them once more if you want."

I'm also thinking about "unleashing" our brainwashed spy on rebel tribes first - maybe we can learn something useful.

[M0rtimer]

Magister, implant false memories within our Umicillian spies and then have them return to their homeland as sleeper agents. You can read their minds from great distances and reactivate them, if given time and needed materials I assume?

"I certainly can my lord." The Magister smirks. "Though there are certain complications. Mainly that, whatever way we will contact our agents, it will be traceable. I will not expect their mages to notice my interference on their land immediately, though they will sooner or later, depending on how often I would have to contact them. On the other hand, I could... Discipline them in such a way they would listen to a certain codeword. But that would mean we'd actually have to send someone there, which is hardly ideal."

"Finally my lord, how would you wish for them to "sleep"? Trying to stay underground, surviving on their own? Returning to the castle, returning false information?"

[BadgeAddict]

I am going to assume a few things.
A brainwashed person will obey all commands without question until death.
They will not backtalk authority, they will throw themselves into any situation without fear.

With this in mind, do we really want to waste them on small things.

Magister, train the spies to understand keywords. Give these keywords to the Dragon-knight. Dragon-knight, please accept these completely-loyal brainwashed spies to aid you in whatever endeavor we send you on.

[thinkslogically]

With respect, sending them home to gather information on a 2nd dragon is not wasting them. Besides, we can brainwash anyone we want for soldier-duty, this guy's the only one who could sneak back into his home kingdom.

I would simply send them back with small bits of truthful, but not critical information about us so as not to arouse suspicion. Let the Umicilliens know I am awake and that efforts are being made to rebuild the kingdom. Otherwise, have them watch and wait. If they are sent back to spy on us again we can collect their information without fear of being traced, otherwise we can attempt to 'read' them at a distance.