This could be very useful, but don't be quick to make promises. Tell he she may count you as an ally, and whatever she can tell you can only help your own position and thus your ability to help her people. And tell her to be careful, both in gathering info and returning here. Having ones spy get caught can be worse than losing out on intel.

For now, talk with her about the current situation there, what the mood and intent of it's leadership are.

>Frog question earlier.

Ah, environmentalists? Before this meeting I would've said no. Now, assuming we actually get that Heurlyndian support: Yes, but only if future road planners take these things into account so that we might avoid a mess-up like this again.

>Lobol representative reaction.

Well, that does explain a fair few things. There wasn't much we could have done to salvage that meeting. The man was clearly not prepared to listen to anything we said, and ready to read the worst in everything. It's unfortunate that we made him explode, but at least we know where his true colors lie.

Having declared himself our foe, we might have to deal with this man and his supporters in some fashion, whether discrediting, silencing or dis-empowering them. Especially if he seems intent on removing us from power. Either way, I suggest we insert an Intel team in Lobol from here on after, perhaps particularly Wesburg. If he intends move against us, we should know. If there is truth in his claim that the Wesburg area is... troublesome, we should know.

>Duchess' sister's offer.

Tempting. Getting an agent in the Jerlan federation would boost our intel there...IF the duchess is capable and as unsuspected as she says she is. And IF we can trust her, and her agenda. As a former director of the GIA, I presume we know how to best go about recruiting such people.

It's interesting to hear that the Jerlan Federation might have been using underhanded tactics to unite their neighbors, worth checking up on. We'll have to consider sending an intel team there.

It also puts their entry into the Thrudwen alliance in a bit more perspective. Perhaps they hope to gobble up bits of Estramy should a war actually occur? Or maybe something involving Arnsgatte...Hm.

Speculation aside, do we really want to support the Dransworde by working towards a dismantling of the Federation? On the one hand, her story might be genuine. On the other, aside from intel on the Jerland Federation and the eternal gratitude of the people of Dransworde (and/or other similarly chow'd up states) should a revolution (whether peaceful or violent) succeed, what do we stand to gain, and what are the risks for our nation if discovered?

>Diplomat
It was quite apparent that man had nothing but ill will towards us from the begging. Furthermore it obviously was not to test our worth or get a reaction out of us, the man was simply there to rage at us.

At the very least we learned something from that train wreck, the Lobolese people do not view our succession or current method of ruling as suitable. An odd notion considering that we've attempted to create a good public face to deal with the fact that our history breeds suspicion. Perhaps it's our tittle of State Monitor that is causing such unrest or our lack of parliament.

I suggest we alter our tittle and perhaps reconsider our choice regarding a parliament when we return to Gorvia. Who knows what the rest of the globe thinks of us? The other diplomats could has simply been biting their tongues about the subject because they wanted something from us. It must be clear our nation has democratic tendencies lest we face such reaction again.

>>190686
In my opinion we just need be like Vetinari. Democracy? We're the man and we have the vote.

>>190498
I see no reason to turn this down. Free information in exchange for vague murmurings of future support? Why not? I'd even be willing to send a few spies to check up on general sentiments regarding the government in the Jerlan Federation. If "unrest rules", as she claims, I'd really like to know about it. We might want to look into Arnsgatte, as well; we actually share a border with them, so letting an aggressively expansionist Federation snap them up would be kind of bad.

Anyway, tell her that we're willing to accept her offer, and that if the people are truly behind her then it is right that they determine their own government (promising nothing, note). We don't have to actually work against the Federation until we know more, and we might as well snag some free intel.


>>190686
We're going to have a parliament soon; that's still all getting sorted out. Certainly, we'll have one by the next summit.

>>190686

Negatory. Changing our title won't alleviate his reaction, and at this point it might simply serve to make us look like we're waffling on what to call ourselves...Not a good sign in any newly minted leader.

We're already on our way to produce a legitimate face to our government, i.e. the parliament and senate. Sadly, because of our background, as long as we stay obviously in control, we'll have skeptics and naysayers like that Lobolese. Part of the game. With time, and if we don't get caught doing the spy game (unlikely), perhaps they'll let up a bit, but for now we have an Infamy score. Best we can do is handle the fallout from that as best and soon as possible.

>>190702

Vetinari is pretty much the ideal standard we could aim for. We might be some kind of tyrant, but we don't have to be a poor ruler.

“Madame, you may consider me an ally of yours.”

“Wonderful. After so many dark years, finally a glimmer of hope!” She has to keep her voice down, but her face shows her excitement.

“When are you going to contact me again?”

“I will need a few days to get to Jerlia, the capital. Due to the federal system of the Federation, I have limited access to government facilities.”

“Ah, yes, every Jerlan province has a representative in the Jerlan equivalent of a parliament, isn’t that right?”

“Quite so, and although I have no vote, I may still attend the Central Committee, the highest executive institution of the Federation. From there, I will continue my work. Expect my reports, Sir!”

“I will, Madame.”

After arranging an appropriate method of establishing contact with the duchess, you leave the library. At the entrance, your men join you, telling you they have nothing ominous to report.

The next day, you take your plane back to Gorven.

Coup 2010/06/09(Wed)11:25 No. 190966 ID: 7a0896
File 127610791138.png - (143.20KB , 600x600 , welcome_back.png )

Gorven, early morning in mid September

“Welcome back, Sir!” Stanislaw greets you.

For a moment, you are slightly astonished by the economist’s headgear, but you decide to not let on about that and you just ask for anything interesting.

“Well, Sir, we had some problems with the infrastructure upgrade near Neston. Some hairy hippies organised a sit-in at the construction side.
Miss Florence took the liberty to travel to Neston and organise a PR campaign. I’m not sure how she pulled it off, but in the end, she had the people believe the highway would be highly beneficial to a local orphanage...
Well, the protestors, being booed by a second crowd, left and construction has continued, so far without further hindrances.”

“Anything else I should know about?”

“Yes, Sir. The day you left, we had another earthquake. It didn’t cause too much damage, but the aftershock gave us worse.
We had to spend 21.000.000 Croms as emergency aid and to cover repair cost for the government buildings. Some minor injuries due to falling debris, but luckily, nothing serious.”

“I see...” You cannot refrain to ask: “And why the helmet?”

“Just some healthy respect for Mother Nature.”

“Aha.”

“And, well, Sir, apparently my insurance covers everything from being shot to drowning, but not stones falling from the roof.”

“Ahh, those cunning insurance companies...”

“If I may interrupt you” Florence says “Me and my team has prepared a plan to get our legislative system going.”

“Sounds good” you answer, thinking about the awful meeting with the Lobolese diplomat. “Show me.”

“Well, here’s what we got:”

Gorvia gets a new constitution, which will be ratified by the parliament and the senate. To chage the constitution, there has to be a majority in parliament as well as in the senate.

320 members of parliament, elected for four years, from the population as a whole. The parliament may propose new laws.

6 senators from every province and 6 extra senators from every major city (72 total), elected for six years. The senate has a veto on anything the parliament does. If the parliament insists, the head of government may decide the final outcome.
Every province gets an elected federal government which is allowed to handle the smaller, everyday problems of their region. They answer to us, the nation’s executive branch.
They also organise the elections of their 12 senators.


“It may not seem much, but it was quite some work to figure out what the population would like most and what they would rather dislike. We did subtle questioning on that.

Everything is still a ‘blueprint’, you could say. Nothing is written in stone.”

“However, we will have some kind of legislative” Florence adds “and I would advise to found our own party, Sir.”

“Which will cost money” Stanislaw grumbles. “By the way, any orders you want to have carried out in this month, Sir?”

>>190966

Speaking of earthquakes, are there any building laws in place? Not having our shit fall down once every couple of seasons sounds like a good idea.

>>190997
This. Spending on this, or any infrastructure has an up front expense, but it saves money in the long term and creates jobs. It's a net profit for the economy.

Politically it wins big points on both fronts, and if its the first major action to come with the creation of your new party it ends up paying for loads of PR.

And if you can throw in a couple new orphanages in there and some other feel good social stuff for the hippies all the better.

>>190997
Tightening up national building codes, and possibly establishing an inspection bureau and setting penalties into law, would probably be a good thing.

>Neston hippies dealt with.

Hah! Self-interest at its finest. Good work, Florence!

>Construction laws, etc.

Possibly good ideas, if they aren't already in place, or if their implementation won't bankrupt ye common housebuilder. Are there other/similar platforms that could be beneficial for us to enter politics with/reserve for ourselves, Florence?

>Government setup.

Interesting and usable, if a gamble. How will we stay in power, though? Liberal misuse of our political powers? It shouldn't be too obvious to outside detractors that we are manipulating things (while they'll likely accuse us of it anyway that's no reason to get sloppy).

And what should our party be named? I'm partial to "the Gorvian Stability Party" or "the Gorvian Future Party", maybe some formal long-hand version like "the Gorvian Party for Future Stability and Betterment of the Nation" if something like that can make for a good PR line to base our campaigns off.

Either name also has a ridiculously delicious double meaning in earthquake-ridden, former civil-war-suffering GIA-controlled Gorvia.

>Other tasks.

Hmm. Yes. Let's not forget all those [strike]plot hooks[/strike] hints of intel-needed situations that were dropped in our lap. In order of importance and (likely future relevance) I suggest us inserting teams in:

Lobol - Investigate diplomat's claims of unrest in Wesburg (probably a lie, but may be used to cover troop movements or similar) and a general sweep with the intention of identifying opponents of and general sentiments towards our rule in Gorvia, and find (preferably peaceful) ways to deal with them.

Jerlan Federation - Discreetly investigate claims of misrule and malcontent. I expect findings to be varied on that, considering the hodge-podge origin of this state. Some likely benefit more from the Federation than others...They'd have been the driving force behind the expansions.

Wellonturia - Frankly, the Wellonturians seem to be up to something. We've indications of at least two places where they've had their fingers in the proverbial pie. Coupled with that ominous round their diplomats had (which seemed not to include us, for some reason) it hints of worrying things to come. Expensive, but if the shit hits the fan in a few years, we'll all be grateful for having good men in place already. We can also pull out once we've got the intel we want.

Other intel options are investigating the opportunities for corporate espionage again (our economy could still use a boost), and/or inserting a team in Prestony (just in case...). There's also Arnsgatte, our weak little neighbor to the north, but we seem to have enough on our plate already, and let's not tax intel's resources to its brim (assuming the Lobol, Jerlan, Wellonturia combo won't already do so).

May also want to prep for counter-espionage against specific countries with the resources. After all, we've got an edge on tech... might want to look out for that.

“Gorvian Future Party has a nice ring to it” Florence says, seemingly deep in thought. “It suggest farsightedness, but it keeps our agenda vague. We should fill the ranks of the party with our agents and forge backgrounds for them, so an outsider will think they came from all parts of society.”

“Concerning intelligence” Stanislaw says “The language and the culture of Lobol are very similar to ours. Also, they are right behind the border. That’ll make infiltrating them easier. Also, if we concentrate mainly on the area around Wesburg... 800.000 Croms, I’d say.
1.200.000 for infiltrating the Jerlan Federation. And Wellonturia, well, our men already foretold 2.500.000 Croms after the Greyton story.
Economic intelligence would cost 600.000 for general information, which is what we should go for in the beginning. We can increase spending after we found a rewarding target.
For counter-intelligence, we could just expand our Home Surveillance, but I would say we’ll create a new section altogether. 1.000.000 Croms for starters.

“Building laws have not been touched for some years” Stanislaw continues “Probably a good idea to revise them. And with the penalties we might even get some of the funds back...

“Don’t overdo it” Florence warns.

“Nah, no worries. In the end, as you said, Sir, we’ll save money because we don’t have to repair as much. Judging from the numbers of the last earth-quake, I would estimate we’d need around 160.000.000 Croms once, not per month, to fund a modernisation of public buildings, including schools, hospitals and the like. I would also say we should give subsidy payments to private owners willing to upgrade their buildings. The amount of money would depend on the number of applicants, but I doubt it’s more than 20.000.000 per month.

“Oh, I almost forgot” Stanislaw adds “we expect the reports from the companies searching for oil and resources next month.

By the way, Sir, here are some new Research Projects which applied for financial support. As always, I took the liberty to add my unqualified commentary.”

Early Personal Computers Mk 2:
At the moment, our state-of-the-art computers have 80 MHz processors, 32 Kbytes L1 Cache and 256 Kbytes L2Cache.
These scientists promise faster, better and smaller computers. Personally, I can’t wait for those 250 MHz processors and 128 Mbytes of hard disk space.
500.000 Croms per month, 6 months development

Modern Management Methods:
Seems like the good old methods to motivate your employees don’t cut it anymore. These scientists want to find new management methods and they claim both business and government administration will benefit.
400.000 Croms per month, 8 months

Early Cancer Research:
Today, doctors are able to heal almost all infections and illnesses, but cancer and tumours refuse to cave in. These scientists want to research carcinogenic agents and possible treatments.
800.000 Croms per month, 1 year months

Flechette Ammunition:
An armament factory is testing tiny arrows as projectiles for all kinds of weapons, from sidearm to artillery.
150.000 Croms per month, 3 months development

New Special Forces – Training, Equipment and Rules of Engagement:
A general of our army had the idea to combine the knowledge of our GIA operators with the principles of modern light infantry. Deployed in small, independent squads, this could provide a new kind of elite troop.
250.000 Croms per month, 4 months development


I’ll make an article on the tgchan wiki. This will help to avoid the need to reread the whole thread just to find a single piece of information given earlier.

>>192593
>“It suggest farsightedness, but it keeps our agenda vague. We should fill the ranks of the party with our agents and forge backgrounds for them, so an outsider will think they came from all parts of society.”
We might also consider founding some "independent" parties or infiltrating those founded by others which seem to be getting successful, as our own exceptionally loyal opposition.

>Concerning intelligence
Frustratingly expensive, but... the cost of not having decent intelligence would likely be higher. Particularly for our counter-intelligence group. See it done.

>fund a modernisation of public buildings, including schools, hospitals and the like
Not too expensive, and if it can keep us running through most earthquakes it'll pay for itself. Make sure that we milk the PR for all it's worth, though.

>subsidy payments to private owners willing to upgrade their buildings
Reasonable for buildings already constructed, but nothing built after now gets subsidies for upgrades- they shouldn't be building things at all without decent disaster-proofing.

>Early Personal Computers
I think computer research is going places. Let's be at the front of this.

>Modern Management Methods
If they can boost national productivity even a percent or two, it'll be more than worth it. Fund it.

>Early Cancer Research
This is very expensive... while I'm not particularly fond of cancer and don't wish to leave medical science completely out in the cold, I don't think that it's worth it.

>Flechette Ammunition
I don't think so.

>New Special Forces – Training, Equipment and Rules of Engagement
I'm a big believer in quality over quantity, and this seems to adhere closely to that paradigm. Fund it.

As nice as curing cancer may be, lets have a stronger focus on recognizing and regulating cancer causing agents, prevention and early diagnosis for the citizenry. Those have more immediate returns both substantively and in simple appearance.

Let's keep researching cures in a well funded if somewhat lean official agency with top tier scientists, and encourage other researchers to contribute their independently developed ideas for them to confirm and develop in return for a modest reward and recognition. This gives our agency, and thus us, broad public and professional support, and credit for most scientific headway made.

In fact, we can extend this model to other scientific or technical endeavors, such as computing technologies.

[Meta-wise, we exchange some productivity for greater PR and control, and possibly lower cost. And the cost only increases if results come with it.]

POLITICS: FUTURE PARTY IS FUTURE

No objections? Make it so, then. Also, pipe dream, but perhaps with some care and attention, the party (or sections of it) can become a potential recruiting pool for future agents as well, producing people with ideals and skills compatible with our cause. Then again, most politicians don't become intel agents. More the other way around...

ESPIONAGE: INSERT TEAM HERE

I support the Counter-Intelligence division proposal, as well as inserting teams into Wellonturia, Lobol and the Jerlan Federation, AND the looking at possibilities within corporate espionage (particularly as this may give us a good overview of the prominent corporations on our continent/planet).

In total, this brings our next month's Intel expenses up by 6.100.000 Croms for a total of 7.100.000 Croms. Let's hope it'll be worth the bother, and not create any more.

LAW UPGRADES: STATE BUILDING UPGRADES + SUBSIDIZING

Fits well in with the revamp of infrastructure we're doing, and it's one-time only, though it puts us a month ahead on the banktruptcy schedule (although the big one-year support boost from the international community gives us nearly a full grace year, assuming we actually get it).

Though, and I'm no expert, wouldn't it be a good idea for those Super Durable Materials to reach a marketable state, or was that industry-only? Unless I miss my guess, they could be ready in as early as five months.

And subsidize away, but for the love of all that's holy, make sure we're not subsidizing crooks. I also hope the 20 Mill estimate won't be a too common happenstance, but our regularly disaster-struck people could probably use some form of state support, which is why I'm behind that oh-so-heretical notion.

RESEARCH OPTIONS: MORE MORE MORE

Oy vey. Three very useful future-wise options, and two cheap military ones. It's tempting to say 'let's take the lot', but research is one of those areas where spending potentially never ends, and we must need be limit ourselves.

Even so...It's hard putting away all these addictive techno goodies. I'll toss my lot behind Early Personal Computers Mk 2 (my, aren't we predictable?), Modern Management Methods and New Special Forces (fully comprehending that once such research is done, we actually have to train such a unit to test it) for a total increase of 1.150.000 Croms in monthly expenses. A pittance of an increase, but adding to a steadily growing research drain.

>>192757

Getting out prohibition laws and increases in health spending should be our job, as a result of scientists finding out the many myriad causes for cancer in the first place... could be a future PR/healthcare project, assuming we know how it works. My thoughts regarding the research rearrangement: Unless Coup's a-ok with it let's not micromanage the research setup too much. It's meant to simplify things, so let it do that.

NB! Idiocy Act is still in motion.

Also: People, we are spending like crazy monkies here. While we certainly have reasons to, sooner or later we will have to slow down to conserve funds in case of Emergencies, War or Future Opportunities (and, not least of all, for our Economy to pick up).

In particular, I suspect that the number of useful research projects are simply going to continue to grow in increments, so what's important is to pick those who can conceivably be of most vital use for our strategies and rule, short-term and long-term.

Coup 2010/06/13(Sun)15:52 No. 193282 ID: b36e84
File September_Report.swf - (6.93KB , 800x1000 )

You just finished reading the latest monthly report, as Florence enters your bureau and greets you.

“Sir, our plans to reorganize the legislative caught the attention of the people, and I can tell you: They like it. We got several applications from party members, new and old. This is how the political landscape will probably look like:


Gorvian Future Party (GFP): That’s us.
Party for a Green Gorvia (PGG): An environmentalist party, with a slight tendency towards left-wing.
Conservative Party of Gorvia (CPG): A party with a long tradition in Gorvia. The last president was CPG member.
Liberal Union of Gorvia (LUG): Another old party re-emerging.
Union of the Southern Peninsula (USP): A small, extreme right-wing party.
Social Justice Party (SJP): A small, extreme left-wing party.


That’s not much different than what we had five years ago. Any thoughts, Sir? Should we keep an eye on somebody specific?”

Before you can answer, Stanislaw comes running into the room.

“Sir, a message for you. Just came in from one of our teams in the Jerlan Federation.”

“A report?” you ask “So soon?”

“No, Sir. After decoding the message partly, we found out our team was asked to deliver it to you, but it’s originally from somebody else. They say the addresser apologizes for not being able to send a longer message, or sending it 'the arranged way', whatever that means."

You take the document and read it:


Dear ally,

Thrudwen lied.

Yours sincerely,
I.o.D.

>>193282
If we can keep up a series of modest environmental reform programs going we can likely count on PGG support. The other left wing interests shouldn't be too hard to bring on board so long as we keep a populist friendly message.

The CPG seems like it would be the most trouble, long standing conservative groups are the most likely to have a well ingrained and stubborn network to them, and being fresh out of power only makes that worse. If you can bring into focus issues they are divided on that may limit their ability to get anything done, or to not get done.

And extreme elements on both sides can of course be mostly ignored so long as they remain civil. Let them make their arguments, and make a point to dismantle their likely flawed logic. This will help prevent them from getting traction on some wedge issue.


>Thrudwen lied.
...Yes more details would have been nice. Still from what they've said so far, I think we can assume their positions are less about self defense and more likely trying to provoke a conflict.

They may be also secretly enhancing their military in preparation, which explains why they didn't want our assistance with it. If we had a hand with their military we would notice the buildup, and be harder for them to stage events such as a false flag operation. The statement about Wellonturia in particular is extremely suspect now, simply made up by them to win our support.

We'll need to get more information... perhaps the best ones to spy on is Estramy itself. It may be that it's supposed warmongering elements are backed by Thrudwen. It's a little extreme, but if we intervened to stop or disrupt those elements it could seriously compromise Thrudwens plans, and we could just claim to be acting in their best interests. Or better yet get someone else to do it and keep our hands entirely clean of it.

Thrudwen is not as innocous as we first assumed...Heh, is anyone? Knew we were jumping too easily into that deal. Let it be a lesson.

Assuming this is the truth, it is also of interest that our JERLAN mole is telling us this. If the Jerlan Federation is privy to that kind of knowledge, they either have an impressive intelligence service themselves or, more likely, they might have an arrangement with Thrudwen. I'm starting to eagerly wait some real intel here.

PARTY POWER: ESTIMATES

No less than five new home opponents to juggle, though three of them will be lightweights. Conservatives and liberals will be our main contenders most likely, maybe with the environmentalists on the side.

I hope we're as popular as anticipated, and that our public image stands up to the kind of tarring our opponents will try to subject it to.

The extremists... they might be prime targets for manipulation by Prestony or other nations, depending on their makeup. Perhaps check that they do not?

[Nice report thingy, by the way.]

>>194619
We might have jumped too easily into the deal, but fortunately we didn't do anything but privately promise our support. We made no public announcements or treaties; everything we said throughout those diplomatic talks is entirely unofficial. We can back out of our deal with Thrudwen at any time, and the only ones who will know that we ever had one are us and them- and, of course, whomever they told, though if we deny ever having had a deal their claims might turn out to be somewhat suspect. If we can discover how exactly they supposedly lied, then we might be able to back out more effectively by stating that the whole agreement was made under false pretenses and making them look worse, rather than us.

>>194688

You must've missed this:

>Just like yesterday, the rest of the day is spent to prepare the neccessary documents for the arrangements between Gorvia and Thrudwen.

And this:

>"And the stuff 'bout Estramy and whatnot? Well, alright, keep at it. The more the merrier. Will keep the Continent quiet for a while, dammit."

Furthermore, we have no proof of what they said "below table"...If the diplomat lied to us, then we can't prove it, and Thrudwen can easily deny they said anything like that.

No, the lesson is: Don't take anything for granted, and certainly look for more out of a deal that could land us in war than a wartime oil import upgrade.

That said, I wasn't against a deal with Thrudwen per se. I just wish we'd been more cautious, promised less or asked for more.

>You must've missed this:
Argh, you're right.

Hmm.

Have we seen/gotten copies of the similar documentation outlining all the other alliances they claimed to have? If so, what exactly do they say? If not, what are we waiting for? I'd have expected us to at least have random diplomatic minions get and read copies of those in advance, if such things are public. They should be, since if they're private we can claim that things were forged and we didn't sign anything.

>>194912

Oh, they should be public alright. No doubt the Thrudwen have paraded the fact that several nations (among them us) have joined a mutual defence pact with Ferundia to prevent war. It's not much of a supposed deterrent to Estramy if they haven't.

Suffice to say, we're in an alliance to keep the peace, and the main question is: Do we want to back out or not, now that we know we joined it based on a possible lie provided to us by Thrudwen?

For now, I say we wait, observe, and figure out just what we're liable to become party to, if we have the time. We might still benefit somehow from that alliance, so let's not burn bridges just yet.

Silently, you lament the lack of details in the message. But knowing little is probably better than knowing nothing. You wave Stanislaw away and turn to Florence.

“We should keep a few eyes on the extremists. They could be receptive to foreign influences.”

Florence nods, informing you this will increase the Home Surveillance budget bills by 50.000 Croms per party.

“What about our popularity among the people? Could you predict the outcome of elections?”

“Not yet, Sir. I would suggest having the first elections in January of the next year. It would give us time to prepare sufficiently. Also, it would be fitting in a symbolical sense: A new year, a new start for Gorvia.”

Less than three months without having to worry about that, then. You sigh.

“You look anxious, Sir. No worries, our election campaign is already being prepared by my PR teams. Also, Stanislaw will be glad about bagging the campaign contributions our party will get.” And with that, Florence leaves.

You feel the urge to have a look about the documents given to you by Thrudwen while you were at the CCSH.
The first page is the main clause of the coalition, signed by the representatives of all member nations: Thrudwen, Ferundia, Gorvia, Arnsgatte, Jerlan Federation, Nostromia

The document was certified by the current chairman of the CCSH and published openly, as per tradition, by the CCSH Herald, the council’s official journal. By now, it must have been mentioned by the radio and TV news in every country on the continent.

Gorven, Government Palace, a few days later
You skim through papers of this week’s Crux, a respected international newspaper. Some headlines catch your eye:

TARRPERIAN GOVERNMENT STILL UNDECIDED ON DRUG LAWS

LOVKO AND KORMUN ENTERING NEGOTIATIONS – POPES REFUSE TO PARTICIPATE

HEURLYNDIA REFORMING ADMINISTRATION – REFORM HALTED BY BUREAUCRATS

GOOD-LOOKING AND AMBITIOUS – WHO IS THE NEW MAN IN GORVIA?

PRINCESS OF MANESH TO MARRY PRINCE FROM ORGOS

HATE CRIME IN ESTRAMY – FERUNDIAN TOURISTS INJURED

PRESTONY REPORTS RECORD GAINS – AGAIN

PRIVATE CONTRACTORS – MERCENARIES ON THE RISE?


Stanislaw knocks and, invited by you, opens the door to your bureau.

“Sir, I have several reports for you. I summarized the first one:

The company commissioned to search for Natural Resources was quite successful. With an investment of 20.000.000 Croms per month, we will be able to increase our NR output by a great amount. The scientists say, their analysis shows an estimated output of more than 200.000 units per month is possible. Of course, this won’t work overnight, but we could probably accelerate the process by increasing investments to 40.000.000 or even 80.000.000 Croms.

Concerning our oil company, I have equally good news:
Our meagre output of 400 units per month, at the moment solely gathered by recycling industrial waste (a very inefficient and expensive process) will be increased greatly.
While Gorvia does not have any oil fields on land, putting up oil rigs on the continental shelf in the south will enable us to extract up to 80.000 units per month. And that’s just the first estimation.

Sadly, constructing the oil rigs is quite expensive: an investment of 50.000.000 Croms minimum, Sir. Also, every oil rig needs huge parts to be produced by our industry:
Every oil rig, giving 10.000 oil per month, needs 1500 units of Machinery, with 2 units of Machinery being produced by 1 Industrial Capacity. We could also buy Machinery on the world market, where it is currently worth around 300.000 Croms per piece.”

You remember Gorvia only has 670 unoccupied IC.

“That’s it for resources, Sir. We do have some news on intelligence:

Our team in Wellonturia is only beginning to gather information.

Our team in the Jerlan Federation got unexpected support from Madame Dransworde. She seems to have numerous loyal men helping our agents to establish their own base of operation.
One report mentions financial transactions between Thrudwen and the Federation. But there are also some connections between the Federation and Estramy. As of now, we don’t know enough yet.

Our team also reports the Federation trained two new Infantry Divisions and 1 new Armoured Division over the course of three years. Their total military strength numbers as follows: 15 Army divisions, mostly containing infantry, and 1 Navy Flottilla, consisting of cruisers and escorts, with a single carrier.

Our team in Lobol found something very strange going on in Wesburg: There is a build-up of Lobolese police and also a single Infantry Division, but there seems to be another kind of force in the urban area, which does not belong to Lobol.

Our team made contact with the Gorvian minority in Wesburg. As you know, Wesburg was once a Gorvian city, lost in the Second Peninsula War eighty years ago, and there is still a Gorvian-dialect speaking minority in the region. They seem sympathetic towards us.”

is this thread still running?

>>200652
sorry if that came out wrong, it is just that I've been without an internet connection for three weeks and the last post was on the 17th.

>>200653
As you said yourself, the last post from the author was one the 17th and there hasn't been any activity since. Go figure.

Also, please don't push threads like that.

Excuse him. He's not the only one curious if this quest has been abandoned or not.

I'm a bit surprised it faded so abruptly. Didn't even notice there had been an update, but I've been too busy to suggest very much for these last two weeks.

If the quest author still wishes to continue with this (it's a good quest in my opinion, and I don't know why people aren't responding), I'll fire off a quick suggestion.

It's not abandoned. But without suggestions, I simply thought that interest was lost (a reasonable conclusion, I'd say)

I'd continue this happily.


Government Palace in Gorven, early October

You have just finished reading the latest report concerning the party spectrum in Gorvia. Surveys currently hint at a tie between the Gorvian Future Party and the Conservatives, with the GFP at 35% being slightly ahead.

Third strongest political force are the liberals, with around 15%, followed by the environmentalists with less than 10%. The left-wing and right-wing extremist barely have 5% together.

The GFP's numbers are a bit disappointing, but the Public Relationship division suggests that it will surely improve until January. The people of Gorvia, normally prone to protest and demonstrate against everything and nothing, are currently observant and don't seem to want and test the waters with the new government this soon.

There has been, of course, that ugly incident with one of the dark-red government vans being photographed in front of that tiresome journalist's house. Not really good for publicity, but Florence, once more, was able to calm the gathering storm.

Also, apart from that, the behaviour of the operatives of Home Surveillance has been immaculate and things start to look a bit brighter on the home front.

Speaking of the home front, Justin Loyd, chairman of the Liberal Union of Gorvia, managed to gather 200 supporters for a petition, although you can't really remember whether petitions are actually legal in Gorvia.

You shake your head. "Those Liberals."


Dear Sir,

We bring forward this suggestion:

Since the Gorvian Future Party aims to ready our nation for the aforementioned future, it would be adequate to modernise an aspect of our military, which has bothered our citizen for a long time, now.

Our military system still employs the instrument of an 18 month compulsory military service to train young men in the matters of war.

Very few of these young men actually end up in the service of our military, thus the 18 months they spend on the training grounds are wasted. It's a waste of government money, a waste of time for these productive young men, who could be working in the meantime.

Finally, this relict from the old times serves no military purpose anymore: In times of stability and well-being such as today, Gorvia has no need of reservists or a large army.

We hereby suggest the abolishment of the compulsory military service.

Yours sincerely,

Justin Loyd,
Chairman of the LUG

+ 200 supporters

Several high-ranking officers already expressed their anger about the petition, but Florence mentioned that simply dismissing the petition might stir up sentiments among the population.

Speaking of Florence, she just enters your office.

"Ah, Sir, I see you are still brooding over that petition.

Well, I have something entirely different here:

As you may have heard, Lovko and Kormun began negotiations to put an end to their long-time conflict, but things aren't really progressing.

Thus, the CCSH asked whether the two nations would allow a diplomatic envoy to take part and help conducting the talks.

Guess what Lovko and Kormun answered?"

"Surely, you don't want to imply they wanted a Gorvian diplomat?"

"They even asked for you personally, Sir. Due to your former position, you are considered well acquainted with international matters, and maybe they liked what they heard about you during the last CCSH meeting. They also say, a new leader has less prejudices about their conflict and will be able to stay neutral."

Florence makes a pause.

"This is an exceptional situation, Sir. If you can help the negotiations even a bit, it will give our diplomatic influence a huge boot. We will be internationally respected. However..."

She sighs and tips her nose, as if in thought.

"...there's the possibility of screwing this up. Lovko and Kormun waged war since before I was born. Also, don't forget the negotiations will take place near the border between Northkol and Southkol. The divided city has been a combat zone for years. It's a big personal risk, if you go personally."

"Do you think it would be a good idea to leave Gorvia so soon after the CCSH meeting?"

"The people take interest in foreign affairs. I don't see a problem there. Also, Stanislaw and I are going to keep things rolling here..."

"Excuse me, Sir, Miss", Stanislaw enters without knocking. "I could not help but overhear a part of your conversation. I know my duties lie with the economy division, but if you decide to go, I'd insist on accompanying you.

Miss Florence here is probably too young to remember much of the conflict's origins, but at that time I was part of the GIA team which kept an eye on the Lovko-Kormun-area, and I have taken a private interest in that region ever since. Thus, I dare say, I fancy me to be an expert on the conflict. Also, I am fluent in the language of Lovkormuny."

"Now, now", you say. "I didn't even decide yet..."

If it makes you feel good, this is one of the few quests I am interested though I haven't put in any suggestions yet.... and right now I am too sleepy for that. I'll take active role later

See, I -like- this quest, I just damn well suck at it. I eventually break down and start going for cheat-codes and just Swiss-it-up and go for being the best city-state with the coolest technology.

Anyway, I suggest that we go. Power on the world stage is good! Take along Stanislaw, he seems smart.

Annnd I'm gonna let someone with a brain take care fo the rest.

Okay, it appears that we've got several things on the agenda. First, we need to have loyal people infiltrate the conservatives, liberals, and environmentalists. We'll need to keep an eye on them and have some subtle influence and information-gathering capabilities in all parties. Hopefully this will not be too expensive.

Second, the liberal petition. I want our military types to give us an analysis of the effects on the strength of our military if we abolish or phase out mandatory military service, as well as any possible substitutes that they can come up with which would allow us to retain military strength- can we shift our army to a smaller but more highly professional model? What fraction of those who go into the military currently remain beyond their required term of service, and what are their general political leanings? Also, I want cost estimates and subtle popularity polls for this and related topics amongst the population.

Passing up this possibility to build a reputation as an international diplomat is something we can't afford. At the same time, I don't know that we have enough knowledge of the background behind this war to effectively mediate it. Let's have an analysis of its causes, a summary of events throughout the fighting so far, and the current situation.

For the petition thing, I've got an idea: Why don't we try putting it off for a little bit while we draw some more stuff on it up, restructure our military on that 'Highly professional' idea the last guy to post had? That Special Forces tech should come though soon.

Anyway, down to the meat of it, issue a statement saying that, while we sympathize with their concerns, we are currently going through a rough period of the history of Gorvia, and need to keep up our strength until things stabalize. As such, we will keep your issue in mind, and review it in so-and-so amount of time/something vague like 'Soon' or some stuff. With our PR specialist, we should be able to pull this off. Hell, during the time the issue is dead, we might even be able to convince the populance to take its eyes off the prize, as it were, and forget about the petition (Unless those guys bring it up again or something). Sound like an idea?

(Apologies for the messy post, I'm currently rather exhausted and somewhat less than at full capacity.)

You raise your hand, demanding attention.

„Listen closely now. Firstly, we should take no chances with the other parties. I want our agents to infiltrate the Conservative Party, the Liberal Union and the Environmentalists.”

“Quite an easy task for our men, Sir. I think the Home Surveillance division could handle this, probably with just 50.000 Croms more. ”

“Second, the liberal petition. I want our military types to give us an analysis of the effects on the strength of our military if we abolish or phase out mandatory military service, as well as any possible substitutes that they can come up with which would allow us to retain military strength- can we shift our army to a smaller but more highly professional model? What fraction of those who go into the military currently remain beyond their required term of service, and what are their general political leanings? Also, I want cost estimates and subtle popularity polls for this and related topics amongst the population.“

“Coincidently, I can answer those questions party” Florence says.
“Our military leaders usually react allergic to any changes, and many insist on keeping the mandatory service, claiming the training of our soldiers would suffer.
One thing is for sure: To have many men on reserve enables us to rapidly deploy new divisions should we ever need them. If we have to train soldiers from zero, we’d need months. If we can call in reservists, it’d take merely days.

On the other hand, abolishing mandatory military service would save money: probably 5 % to 10 % of our military budget, am I right, Stanislaw?”

“Quite right, Miss.”

“We could, of course, reinvest the money to improve our soldier’s training even more. But we already have a fairly advanced army. I don’t think we could shift into a more professional military by decommissioning some divisions, thus reducing the number of soldiers.

Currently, we simply replace personnel going into retirement, so only very, very few of the men actually join the military after service.

And if the people would be in favour of abolishing the mandatory service, you ask? Well, even some of the Conservatives think it’s an old-fashioned rule, so people would look forward to it. The only ones who would outright protest are probably right-wing extremists.”

“Well, well.” You nod. “Now, the affair with Kormun and Lovko: I think I must not let this chance go. I’ll fly as soon as possible, and you, Stanislaw, will accompany me. But I demand a thorough briefing on the conflict and its backgrounds.”

“Certainly, Sir! If you wish, we could take the plane tomorrow and I’ll get you up-to-date onboard.”

“Very good.”

“Ah, Sir, I almost forgot. The government of Thrudwen asked whether you would agree to a exchange program on a governmental level: A representative of theirs would join our administration, as a kind of guest, while on of ours joins theirs.
They say it would be beneficial for the alliance: Organization could be simplified if we worked closer together.”

"Hrm." Stanislaw shakes his head. "This sounds like a security risk more than anything else..."

"Yes, but do we want to possibly offend them?" Florence replies. "It might look strange in the eyes of the other alliance members if we say 'no'."

No one else is posting here... sad.

>>201870
Spend those 50.000 Croms. Losing control of our own nation would be beyond embarrassing.


At 10% of the military budget, the loss of response time in the event of a war isn't worth it. As there isn't much political pressure on this issue at the moment, I'm inclined to stay with the status quo on the mandatory service bit. Though the lack of mandatory service for women seems vaguely inappropriate, considering that we live in a modern era nominally free of gender bias. Whatever.

I do have a few concerns that having virtually our entire military only present on rotation is leaving us without truly capable military specialists, who spend their lives studying and improving methods of warfare just as our researchers do the various sciences. How professional can our troops possibly be, when their entire term in the military is nothing more than that needed for an associate's degree? But I suppose that's not an immediate concern.


On the Thrudwen matter: It would doubtless look odd if we refused... assuming that the other members of their alliance have agreed to such a program already. Look into that. If they have such representatives from Thrudwen already, we'll need to accept and see about keeping whoever they send usefully occupied with harmless matters, trade projections or something, while gaining all the information we can from our own representative. We might also be able to get certain of those other nations to agree to a similar exchange program... Arnsgatte comes to mind. We don't have nearly enough eyes there, for an adjacent nation we have reason to believe might be under significant political pressure.

"Sir, just to make sure there isn't any misunderstanding: Soldiers of our regular army usually enlist for more than five years, mostly ten or fifteen years. Many stay in service until retirement.

Our conscripts get the mandatory 18 months of training, after which they may join our army as a regular, given there's a vacancy.

Every two or three years, a number of reservists are called in for a field exercise, which usually generates a few extra costs. However, those did not take place during the last five years.”

Stanislaw laughs dryly. “In my time, we had 24 months of service and a one-week drill every year. And contrary to today, we had to take unpaid leave from work...”

“Which was a total waste of effort and money” Florence adds. “98% of these reservists would never serve in the army. That’s why the semi-voluntary reservist system was introduced: After the mandatory service, a conscript may pick whether he wants to participate in field exercises in the future or not. That leaves us with a total of maybe 50.000 reservists.”

“Okay, and where are the conscripted soldiers of our army at the moment?”

“Officially, the conscripts should be training alongside the regulars for the duration of their service, but that has proven to be unpractical. The conscripts are put into their own training units, which means three of our eighteen infantry divisions consist mainly of recruits, with special instructors attached.”

“So, although we have 18 divisions of motorized infantry on paper, we, in fact, only have 15?”

“If you mean full combat readiness, Sir, the answer is yes” Stanislaw replies instead of Florence. “Nowadays it got very, very unusual to send conscripts into combat. Military research and, sadly, also practical experience have shown that a few well-trained, well-equipped soldiers are much more effective than a large number of soldiers with suboptimal training and equipment.

Whenever you need further information about our military, you should pay one of our generals a visit.”

“Ah, I have another general question. What is the policy of mandatory service for women?”

Florence nods. “Currently it’s handled like this: women are allowed to join as regulars, but they are not required to. As it stands 95% of our military are male, and those female 5 % are either in logistics or another non-frontline branch. It’s seems to be traditional or something like that. Introducing a mandatory service for women would meet heavy opposition by the conservatives.”

“Understandably”, Stanislaw says. “Having women in the army causes all sorts of trouble...”

Florence glares at him.

“...with organisation, I mean. Women are as competent as men, but... ah, as you said, it’s a traditional thing.”

“Ahem.” Florence waves the comment away. “Anyway, it’s not really a concern of the common Gorvian, at the moment.”


With that, you move to the next point. “The Thrudwen exchange program. Well, if the other nations of the alliance accepted, it seems we have to comply.”

“Hrm, I think you are right, Sir” Stanislaw says. “But I don’t want the guy sniffing around in the economic division.”

“Nobody does, Stan. We should try to occupy him with trivial matters, while our man, on the other hand, should try to do what he is able to in Thrudwen.”

“I’ll make sure we send someone capable, Sir.”

“Good. If that was all, you’re dismissed for today.”

Gorven International Airport, early morning on the next day

You, Stanislaw, your pilots and the rest of the small delegation enter the presidential plane. From the side of the secluded runway, away from the public, Florence and some other government officials are waving their goodbyes, while a camera crew of the government channel is filming the scene.

Due to the distance to Southkol, the capital of Kormun, the plane will refuel in Casia, a city in Nostromia. There, a representative of the CCSH will join your delegation.

The weather is calm, the sky is clear and you enjoy the first hour of the flight by chatting with the other envoys. Everybody is eager to bring this mission to a success, as your men call it jokingly.

Soon enough, you and Stanislaw retire to a cabin, taking a few heavy folders with you.

“The conflict between Lovko and Kormun...” Stanislaw begins his briefing.

The conflict between Lovko and Kormun is quite unique on the continent, for it is not a war between two different nations, but a civil war, fought among the population of what formerly has been the nation of Lovkormuny. The two countries, Lovko and Kormun, are still a united entity on paper, although nobody in his right mind would call them that nowadays.

Before I say anything else, you should know that the Lovkomuns are very religious. Whereas the Gorvians are mainly atheistic and would only go to church on the most important holidays, the Lovkomuns believe. They really do. You would have to ask a historian or a social expert for a reason, but that’s just how it turned out.

The cause of the war was a breakup of the church of Lovkormuny, the so called “Solarian Church”: Contrary to most of the other major religions, which are monotheistic, the Lovkormuns believe in a polytheistic pantheon of gods, with the four major gods being represented by a pope. Forty years ago, the popes wanted to reform the church: So far, the minor gods have been gods in their own right, each with his own place in the society of Lovkormuny, but from then on, they should be mere servants of the four major deities. I am not a religious expert, but I think an appropriate term would be “angel”.

People who followed the minor gods were enraged, while the followers of the major gods wanted their popes to continue with the reform. And they did.

As it was, most people believing in the many minor deities lived in the north, from where the Solarian religion historically descended, while most of the reformers lived in the south.

It was harmless at first. A few demonstrations, a riot, a protest movement. Then a bishop was murdered by a member of the opposing faction. Then another. Then the popes tried to declare those who did not obey as heretical, which was a terrible, terrible insult: don’t forget, the protestors thought they were the true believers, who tried to rescue the others from eternal darkness or something like that. The tone grew more aggressive.

One thing lead to another. And before you know it, we had a full-blown civil war in Lovkomuny. Their whole society was divided: One group of soldiers, clerks, workers, teachers, policemen believed this, the other believed that. Militias were formed, then armies.

Maybe everything could have been solved peacefully, if the international society would have paid more attention to the conflict, but foreigners have never been welcome in Lovkormuny and the Lovkormuns saw the whole affair as an “internal matter” and told the CCSH to keep out.

How huge the differences between Lovko and Kormun might be in terms of religion, one thing they do share: their rejection of foreigners. If it was difficult to get entry clearances for Lovkormuny before, now it became impossible. The country isolated itself and cut off all communication lines, as they said, until the conflict was resolved.

That was thirty years ago.

Since then, only little information has left the country. But what we hear occasionally has shocked the world: Neither Lovko, as the northern part was called from then on, nor Kormun, the southern part, was able to secure a fast victory. The landscape between the two nations has become a constant battlefield. And there are stories of war crimes, committed by both sides, which I don’t want to describe to you.

The fighting became less intense in the last years, but whenever the CCSH tried to start negotiations between the two nations, they refused. They said the conflict was their concern only.

There has been, however, a shaky truce, signed by the pope of Lovko, who seems interested in peace, and the elected government of Kormun. However, there’s still occasional fighting, since both nations do not have full control over their own military and hatred has grown deeper over the years.

I can’t describe what a great chance the current negotiations are, Sir. Lovko and Kormun are bleeding out. That’s not a metaphor. Due to the isolation, it’s hard to tell, but experts say, the Lovko-Kormun-War is the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the history of the continent.

In Casia, the aircraft is refuelled and the representative of the CCSH gets aboard. It’s a calm, grizzled man called Gustav Jacobsen, a Heurlyndian and experienced diplomat. His role is merely the one of an observant, since neither Lovko nor Kormun wanted any involvement by the CCSH.

Surprisingly, he is accompanied by a young, stocky woman, who is introduced by Jacobsen as Meryl Quant, despite her age a respected journalist of the Crux, the international newspaper. It’s a novelty she got the permission to enter Lovko and Kormun.

After the plane has ascended over the clouds, Stanislaw and Jacobsen enter your private cabin.

“Good evening, Sir.”

“Is something wrong?” you ask.

“Oh, no. I just wanted to wish you the best of luck” Jacobsen answers. “Also, I want to bring you a message from the CCSH: The main interest of the negotiations has to be to decrease the suffering of the people. The blood-shed has to end. “

“And in order to be successful, we have to be as well prepared as possible” Stanislaw says.

“Agreed.”

“So, Sir, is there anything you want to know about the conflict? Also, do you want to meet any of the participating parties in advance?
The negotiations officially start the day after tomorrow, so tomorrow we could arrange talks with the Pope of Lovko, who will lead negotiations for Lovko, and the Acting Field Marshal of Kormun, who will lead negotiations for, well, Kormun.”

“That could backfire” Jacobsen warns. “Either side could claim you wanted to undermine the talks by setting up an agreement with the other faction beforehand.”

I wanted to deal with the ton of issues that's been cropping up in the backlog, but I figure it can take the backseat until we return to Gorvia. That, and I don't have the time to spare tonight.

LOVKO/KORMUN DISPUTE

Huh. Didn't take long until we came across our first long and bitter struggle that's created an enduring cycle of hatred that will be hard to break out of. Oh religion, you cad.

Alright... Both nations are reasonably wealthy, according to Stanislaw's projections, but Lovko more so than Kormun. In turn, Kormun is more autocratic and oppressive than Lovko.

Trouble is, it seems a bit like we're starting negotiations with people who carry only a -part- of the weight of the full religious and governmental authority of Lovko and Kormun.

It's pretty obvious that not everyone will want to forgive and forget, and not everyone will want to lay down their proverbial arms, particularly not if leader-types on both sides of the borders are still pushing for conflict. We'll have to keep those bastards in mind as well when we're trying to ease negotiations along.

So here's a slew of questions we should try to figure out the gist of. Granted, I'm not hopeful a lot of these can be properly answered, given our lack of intel.

Stanislaw, is there anything going on right now in either country that we should be aware of?

Who, exactly, are trying to negotiate and who, exactly, are in a position of authority to do so, but have chosen not to?

What will they negotiate for?

What are their end goals with these negotiations?

What factions exist on either side of the border that will have to be appeased or dealt with to make these negotiations more effective?

OUR PR IMAGE

And let's not forget our own goals. We want to come through this looking well, so we should make sure we don't commit any standard faux passes. Familiarize ourselves with the religion, and the social norms of the country. Stanislaw should be able to help there.

We want to be seen helping arrange something more than the current truce, something that can start some kind of healing process, let them 'help themselves', as it were. That might require some drastic steps some people might not appreciate. Thirty years of civil war and war crimes is a long time.

I don't think we should meet with either the Pope or the Marshal before the appointed time given our role, though if they could be convinced to send us their 'mission briefs', lists of topics they intend to raise, then that would be helpful to us as the neutral mediator won't be caught completely off-guard on what matters are being raised.

Regarding tomorrow, what else could we be using the day for that would be productive (and put us in a good light)? Seeing the devastation of North/Southkol first-hand ourself (if, admittedly, with some care because of the danger)?

Coup 2010/07/05(Mon)07:20 No. 203624 ID: 360168
File 127833960210.png - (202.52KB , 750x600 , austeaux_manoevre.png )

“I don’t think I should meet either of them. Stanislaw, is there anything going on right now in either country that we should be aware of?”

“The most important thing is probably the rise of peace movements both in Kormun and Lovko. People now believe that peace is more important than religious unity.”

“Took them long enough.” Jacobsen shakes his head. “After all these people had to endure...”

“It was shown, throughout history, that the people of Lovkormuny possess the ability to endure great hardships. And it’s not really easy for those who want peace, either. Those who think the war has to be won at all costs deem them to be traitors.”

“I see. Who, exactly, are trying to negotiate and who, exactly, are in a position of authority to do so, but have chosen not to?

“The pope of Lovko, a woman called Solia IV, may not be an official part of the administration, but on the other hand she is considered the spiritual leader. If she agrees to a treaty, it could be considered a certainty that most of the Lovkosi will accept.

The hard core of the anti-reformers might, however, try to secede and create their own religion. Which is something the religious leadership on both sides will try to avoid. Those puritans did not send a representative, although they are in position of power: The more fanatic elements of the army respond to them. A small, but possibly dangerous minority.

The fact that the Acting Field Marshal Austeaux will lead the negotiations for Kormun is a double-edged blade. It is know that the religious part of the conflict is of secondary importance for him. But he does not believe in a reunification by peaceful methods, and his goals will be to secure a good position for Kormun. He is, however, interested in peace, if only to make it possible for his successors to regain lost strength and strike anew in ten or twenty years.”

“A warmonger, then?”

“A military man, who wants his own nation to be victorious.”

“Don’t forget” Jacobsen adds, “that he was responsible for the Austeaux-Manoeuvre-Plan.”

“Please enlighten us.”

“As you can see on this map, the border between Lovko and Kormun is quite narrow. It was the plan of Austeaux, a general at the time, to bring troops through the territory of Tarrperia and flank the defence lines of Lovko.
It was not carried out, because, thank the heavens, the Kormuns asked the Tarrperian government beforehand whether they would be allowed to march through. The Tarrperians refused and immediately informed their friends, the Nostromians.
It was a great crisis: If the Kormuns violated the neutrality of Tarrperia, the Nostromians would move out to repel them, which might have caused the Lovkosi to help their brothers in faith.”

“Wait, but weren’t they at war? They could have waited for Kormun to get tangled up with the rest of the continent and take the chance to strike.”

“Sir, you underestimate their feeling of the whole civil war being a concern of Lovkorumy and Lovkormuny only. If nonbelievers made a move against their enemies in the south, they would have rushed to the aid of Kormun. In their mindset, they would have to throw out any foreign troops before they could get on with their internal matters.”

“So, they really do detest foreigners more than their enemies in faith.”

“Not foreigners in person, but foreign influences. And don’t forget, Lovko and Kormun still both follow the Solarian Church; they only disagree about a religious reform act.”

You shake your head. Madness. „What will they negotiate for?“ you ask.

“Probably what it all comes down to in the end: power, wealth, influence and territory.” Stanislaw grimaces.

„But surely, we at least know about their end goals?“

“Their much sought-after goal would be the reunification of Lovkormuny under one united church, which is something neither side will agree to after thirty years of slaughter. Lovko seems to be more interested in a peace than Kormun, and we will probably hear some hard-to-come-by terms and conditions from Kormun and Austeaux.

“Any other factions we should know about?”

“I’ll try to summarize:
On both sides, we have the original war parties, the four popes and their followers in Kormun and the followers of the many gods in Lovko, for eighteen years now with their own pope as symbolical leader.
Opposed to the reform of the four popes are the hard-liners of Lovko, who would accept a divination of the church. A move which is criticised even by their own allies in Lovko.

Then we have the secular leadership of Kormun, who represent the government of what has been Lovkormuny. They want national unity more than anything else, probably even more than religious unity.

On both sides we can find more or less influential peace-movements, who strive for conciliation.”

”There are more”, an unknown voice says. You, Stanislaw and Jacobsen turn around.

“You forgot the nomadic Remis” Mery Quant, the journalist, explains. “They do not belong to the Solarian Church, but existed just as long in Lovkomuny.”

“Remis?”

“Ah, yes, the Remis. An ethnic minority in Lovkomruny. Maybe 8% of the population. Migrant workers, cattle herd owners and the like. Historically, they trace their lineage back to those who did not share the faith of the Solarian Church, thu losing the right settle down in Lovkormuny or own private property above a certain threshold. The conflict made it impossible for them to follow their nomadic routes from north to south.”

“Many families were divided. No contact in thirty years!” Quant exclaims. “Can you believe that?”

“Did you write about the Remis?” you ask.

She nods. “The conflict caught my eye some years ago. Many of the few refugees, who made it to other countries before the closure of the borders, are Remis. They have been an invaluable source of information.”

“Well, due to their limited political influence I wouldn’t add them to the list of factions” Stanislaw says with a shrug.

Jacobsen disagrees. “We should have an open ear for their misfortunes. The CCSH is interested in the well-being of all people, regardless of faith or ethnicity.”

Your conversation is interrupted by an announcement of the pilot.
”Sir, we have crossed the border of Kormun.”

There is a small commotion as everybody tries to get to a window. You look down.

The change is not too obvious at first, and you begin to wonder, what exactly is stirring the feeling of wrongness in you while you gaze at the landscape below. Then you realize it’s October and nature should be showing the many colours of autumn. Instead, it’s a brown and grey landscape of mud and raw, open soil. Water has gathered in bomb craters and created small, circular lakes. Roads, curvy grey lines on the brown earth, seem to end nowhere, cut off like limbs.

There seem to be strange rectangles on the ground, forming groups and patterns. It occurs to you that these are houses, with their roofs blown apart, leaving just the outer walls.
No leafed forests, no green specks of grass.

A miserable sight. You and the others avert your gaze.

”Please fasten your seatbelts. We are approaching Southkol Airport.”

There is pause.

[i]”We were informed the runway is not in best condition. If I consider the touchdown to be too dangerous, we will change course and land in Cimt.”

Again, you look outside: Southkol, and its sister, Northkol, have been two barely distinguishable cities, their suburbs almost touching each other, bustling with life. Now the houses were burned down, the skyscrapers are in ruins and in the great port basin you can make out the wrecks of abandoned freighters, rusting in the evening sun. No cars, no people in the street. A ghost city, if not for the faint specks of light in the far south and the far north. Neither war party was willing to give up their symbolic capitals, although the administrations have been moved to Irven and Swischon, respectively, a long time ago.

Coup 2010/07/05(Mon)07:21 No. 203626 ID: 360168
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Luckily, the landing is conducted without problems, but as you leave the plane, you can see what the pilot was referring to: the runway is covered in little craters.

The mood of the delegation is slightly aggrieved.

There are several staff cars waiting for you. You, Stanislaw and Jacobsen are lead to the first, and with a smile you notice Meryl Quant, pushing her way through the Kormun guards, to reach you. Nobody protests as she takes a seat beside Jacobsen.

“This is depressing” she says. Again, nobody protests. As you drive through the city, past heaps of rubble, burned out houses and empty streets, the whole scenery seems surreal to you. You remember Gorven, as you left it today, chatting people in the streets, men on their way to work, women pushing baby buggies.

Stanislaw dares to end the uneasy silence. “As bad as it may look here, don’t forget we are practically on top the former frontline. The rest of the country looks much healthier.”

His words were probably meant to be reassuring, but the effect is totally lost as your group drives past a manned SAM installation, surrounded by sandbags.

Finally, you arrive in front of the Montgomery Hotel, where you and the members of your delegation are allowed to occupy the entire second and third floor.
The hotel is quite comfortable and seemingly untouched by war. Before you enter, a young woman in uniform greets you.

“Welcome to Kormun. You will surely want to rest after your long travel. Please follow me.”

You notice the woman wears utterly black glasses, which obscure her eyes totally, although the red evening sun is barely able to hold itself over the ocean surface in the east and does not give too much light.
It’s not until she almost bumped against a wardrobe that you notice she is blind. With slight touches to the wall and the wardrobe, she feels her way back to the middle of the corridor.

“I will translate for you. Please excuse my pronunciations, I not did talk Gorvian for quite some time. My room is on the first floor, if you need me. My name is called Simone Jourdan.”

“Sorry, Miss Jourdan, but is a translator from Kormun acceptable for the Lovkosi?” asks Stanislaw. You notice he speaks Gorvian, not Lovkormunian, which he claimed to be fluent in.

“They have agreed. They say it is alright.”

Your room on the second floor seems to be quite comfortable, with a beautiful view over the Bay of Kollste (if you ignore the ugly harbour, that is).

After a short while, Stanislaw enters. “Well Sir, seems like this is going to be our headquarters. By the way, the journalist, Meryl Quant, asked me to ask you for an interview tomorrow.”

“Hm. Tell me, Stanislaw, why is our translator a blind person?”

“In Lovko and Kormun live more blind people under the age of forty than in any other country.” As he notices your questioning gaze, he says “Poison gas.”

“Anyway, Sir, what plans do you have for tomorrow?”

Both you and Stanislaw wince as something like thunder, but not quite thunder, reaches your ears. Neither the windows are rattling, nor the floor is shaking, but it’s still startling. It takes almost three minutes until the sound stops.

“102 mm artillery.” Stanislaw mutters a curse. “And a lot of it.”

“You can tell by hearing?”

“It’s the most common calibre here in the east.” He laughs, but it doesn’t sound amused. “Probably produced in Gorvia and sold fifteen years ago. It’s an outdated design.”

The thunder does not repeat. “Well, Sir, the delegations from Kormun and lovko want to give us their documents in person only, but for the sake of security, they won’t arrive before tomorrow afternoon. I think you mentioned you wanted to visit the city?”

REPORTER'S INTERVIEW

This could be good, this could be bad, depending on how we handle it, and what questions she asks, and how she'll phrase herself when she writes the report itself.

Hum...Time permitting, let's have a short talk with her, go on a round trip in Southkol and then review those documents.

If time does not permit, I think the look-around should take precedence, as well as a chat with Stanislaw. Is something bothering him?

And, ah, does their truce have something as sophisticated as a permanent De-Militarized Zone?

FACTION DESIRES

Peace pros:

The Remis probably desire peace and open borders - Low influence. Seem like second-class citizens. We might get some international cred for sticking up for them, especially since the Crux woman seems concerned about their plight and might put us in a more favorable light in whatever article(s) come out of this.

Lovko's pope desires peace - High influence with Lovko. If we convince her to accept Kormun's terms, we'll likely have done what we came for... assuming the terms aren't something Lovko extremists will react too negatively at.

Peace parties on both sides desire peace - Varied influence. At least the populace seems tired of war, even for religious reasons, and might give it a shot.

Field marshal suing for peace - Represents (semi-oppressive?) secular government. This might be the deal with the devil. A few years of peace versus more war later? Who knows.

Troubles:

Kormun's four popes won't participate in the peace talks. They might not acknowledge the results either. Depending on how the religious populace interpret that, we might be back at stage zero.

Hardliners in Lovko desire seperation of church rather than submit to any kind of reform, so we're sort of tied up on how to suggest re-unifying the churches.

Kormun's secular government might be less keen about solving the religious schism and get a lasting peace, than setting themselves up for future schemes.

Let's have a realistic look at what we're doing, people. We're not going to be fixing these people's problems in one fell swoop.

Chance of unifying Lovko and Kormun? Nil.

Chance of unifying their churches? Very nil.

Chance of (possibly temporary) peace? Maybe, if we play our cards right. It's the eventual outcome of that peace that's to stand to worry. At best, we'll bridge a few gaps, but with thirty years of war on their backs the divide will be very, VERY deep.

At worst... a short period of peace, and then they'd be at it again, or simply a breakdown of negotiations and it's back to the murderin' good ol' days.

Coup 2010/07/06(Tue)14:58 No. 204265 ID: 360168
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>>203745
„Stanislaw, is something bothering you?“ you ask.

“Me, Sir?” He seems surprised at first, but then he gestures toward the window. “I think the whole situation has left quite an impression on me.

I think I underestimated how difficult this might become. In Gorvia, I thought, ‘Hell yes, let’s do some good.’ Now I’m not quite sure if we’ll succeed. There are many problems to face.”

“And you wonder how we might come out of the affair?”

“Exactly, Sir.”

“Why didn’t you speak a word of Lovkormunian, yet?”

“Oh? Just a precaution. It might be useful if they don’t know.”

You are not really sure, whom he might have in mind. But after years in the GIA, everybody developed some kind of paranoia.

“Well, I think I’ll grant Quant the interview, but the round trip in Southkol has preference.”

“Very well, Sir. I’ll inform our Kormunian guards, they might want to know where their state guests are heading.”

“By the way, Stan, does the truce...”

You can’t finish the sentence, because a blast takes out the windows, blowing a storm of shards towards you and Stanley. Luckily, the room’s furniture absorb most of the dangerous projectiles.

“What the...”

“Sir, quickly, we have to...”

Another explosion, right outside the hotel. Somewhere, fires roar like wild animals. Alarm devices of cars start to wail, but you can barely hear. The last blast almost rendered you deaf.

Stumbling, you and Stanislaw make your way towards the door. Alarms sirens add their shrill voices to the chaos outside and, throwing a last glance over the shoulder through the broken windows, you can see searchlights from trying to pierce the sky, missile trails still lingering in the air.

Stanislaw pushes the door open with force. You notice something new, the gut-thrilling sound of a jet plane breaking the sound barrier.

“Oh fuck...” Stanislaw stares back at you, at the windows.

You turn around.

A bright object is closing in on the hotel building, smoke gushing in its wake. It seems so slow over the distance, like something flying in slow-motion, but it must be fast, oh so fast...

A moment later, everything goes dark.



Well, this is it.

I want to thank everybody who participated and tried to keep up with the numbers and stuff I threw at you. Your well-thought-out suggestions were a joy to read.

And Public Address, I thank you for your persistence, but when an author makes more posts than the participants, I think it might be prudent to call it a day.
People probably think I'm you with another IP, haha.

I know this might look like I’m disappointed about the lack of suggestions in my quest. Please believe me, that’s not the case. I am convinced that it’s the duty of an author to present an interesting situation and thus attract readers, something which was not the case here.

It was fun while it lasted. I see it as a kind of experiment. And I think I improved my english.

Well, enough now, I’ll surely stay around the board, so see you in another thread!

>>204265
On the one hand, I'm disappointed, because I did enjoy this quest. I admit that I didn't post in it every update, but I gave ideas when I had them and was looking forward to seeing where it would go.

On the other, I see the amount of work you were putting into this; making you do that when we're tag-teaming a single response to each of your statements is hardly fair. Your decision is definitely understandable.

Anyway. I liked the game a lot in its flavor and scope; I disliked that I felt there were a large number of important things I had only a vague or nonexistent grasp of. A bit much of the game consisted of being given issues to deal with and dealing with them immediately, instead of making a few decisions and watching our nation change because of it- I understand that being more involved in the decision-making was a good thing, but... I don't know, I just felt kind of like I was playing nationstates at times, and not in a good way.

Overall, though, I'm leaving this game feeling that the failure was greater on the players' collective part than yours. Good show, and I look forward to your future creations.

I really enjoyed reading this quest. Coup put a huge amount of work into it, and it shows.

I also enjoyed reading this quest, although I'm not sure if I ever really suggested in it or not.
If you want to eventually come back to this quest some time down the line, I don't think anyone would be opposed to it.

Also, Coup, I don't know if you've tried to log on it or not; but don't forget about our two IRC rooms.

>>204265

I'm more disappointed than I thought I would be, considering I was wondering how long this quest would last at this rate. Guess that just shows I enjoyed it, eh? But I don't blame you, Coup. When the effort you put in isn't matched by the effort you receive in turn, it's generally a good time to pass the torch.

Say, am I right in assuming you were behind that sterling, interesting Warhammer 40K quest a while back as well? I thought I recognized the art style.

As for how this came to be... bar the start, this quest seemed to lack, I don't know quite how to put it... player engagement? Which isn't quite right. I KNOW there was player enthusiasm. Everyone I've spoken with (which, admittedly, haven't been that many) like this quest to some measure, but the posts just weren't coming as they used to.

I found this a little weird, because it was a good quest, and had a TON of stuff going on in it. Perhaps it was simply too much to take in, too many elements to juggle and consider at once, so that people didn't feel like making the effort. Oonce effort isn't made, it's generally harder to keep up...Even so I think you had a fair few readers, if not responders.

The quest's length and general verbosity might also have kept people from joining in as well, when it grew in size (the classic TL;DR syndrome). Or somesuch. As someone who DID make an effort, I can say I felt it well worth the read and time invested, despite all the times I had to pull out a calculator and mentally revisit Math and Economics classes. Heck, just writing some of the responses, I enjoyed myself immensely because I had to THINK about them in a way that engaged me far more than some quests on this board.

In case it wasn't obvious, to me this was a successful quest while it lasted. What can I say? I'm a sucker for well-constructed worlds, good role-playing narrative, moral dilemmas and historical strategy games. So on that line, I think I shall finish up here.

Coup! I salute you and your efforts! If you have any other background stuff or images related to this quest, I'd enjoy seeing it put up in the discussion quest, unless they are spoilers for an eventual/possible restart of this thread, in which case you should clutch them to your bosom like a newborn child.

Have a nice day, SIR.

>>204265
Aww.

I know I wasn't posting, but I did like this one...

>>204347
Yeah, me too.