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File 12746425603.png - (136.70KB , 600x600 , dead_president.png )
181871 No. 181871 ID: d60fd3

"...after the tragic death of our president, the people of Gorvia face an uncertain future..."

The Gorvian nation is in turmoil! For almost five years after the death of the last president, different factions have struggled for power and influence.

Now, finally, a victor emerged. It is YOU,

[-] a general from the Gorvian Army. You fought your way to power with the help of your loyal soldiers and your military expertise. But the world of finances is a mystery for you and the people will hardly love you...

[-] the director of the Gorvian Intelligence Agency. You know what your enemies will have for breakfast even before they know they are hungry. Of course, the other nations on the continent will regard your new government with suspicion...

[-] a multi-million corporation leader. You know the economy like the back of their hands and all industrialists admire you for your profound knowledge of the market. Unfortunately, you have no clue what so ever on military matters...

[-] a revolutionary from the working class. Together with your comrades you brought the nation under your control and now you strive to lead them into a bright future. Too bad nobody in your camp knows anything about administration or managment!

[-] a civil servant of the former government of the late president. You are a political animal and foreign diplomats will greet you warmly as a rightful representant of Gorvia.
However, you also carry a heavy burden: the failures of the former government will be seen as yours and many fear the economic decline of Gorvia...
Expand all images
>>
No. 181872 ID: 417bb1

The director of the Gorvian Intelligence Agency. Clearly.
>>
No. 181874 ID: 426169

General.
Military coup ftw.
>>
No. 181875 ID: 3afd1f

GIA.
>>
No. 181878 ID: e973f4

Intelligence dude.
>>
No. 181880 ID: 0b8844

I wish to be the little girl.
Failing that, the idea of a revolutionary leader having to suddenly learn the ropes intrigues me! The popular support is delicious too!

Hmmn, can we be the revolutionary little girl?
>>
No. 181882 ID: 8bdb6a

Revolutionary!

>>181880
Maybe we'll choose gender and species (if there's different ones) later.
>>
No. 181883 ID: c71597

>>181874
I second that. Military leader FTW!
>>
No. 181884 ID: b14128

The director of the GIA. Spies are fun.
>>
No. 181886 ID: a85626

12 year old girl

military general

General Pigtails
>>
No. 181887 ID: 0b2a05

Intelligence.
>>
No. 181891 ID: 79685e

I WILL DESTROY BRITTANIA revolutionary. people's support = democracy

if not that, id say public servant, unless you guys wanna play fidel in cuba.
>>
No. 181893 ID: 8de776

Seconding little girl revolutionary.
Like Che Guavara except sickly cute.
>>
No. 181925 ID: 8bdb6a

>little girl
No. That's retarded.
>>
No. 181929 ID: 620bfb

People's hero. What we lack in political skill we make up for in good intentions and resourcefulness! Almost.
>>
No. 181932 ID: b24d39

little girl = no fanservice. lets make a don juan or a karen lookalike.
>>
No. 181934 ID: 903f16

Intelligence, we're a secrete agent man. It'd help us both militarily and economically to always know what our fellow leaders will be doing beforehand. If we're at all a good spy then we'll easily be able to clear the aura of suspicion around us.
>>
No. 181941 ID: 701a19

>>181934
"Secret agent pigtails" gets my vote. Trained since birth to become the ultimate covert ops agent, she is like Hit-Girl with additional espionage training.
Naturally, she has "Agent Duseldorf" installed as a puppet leader so that even a successful assassination attempt will be a failure.

She rules the country while attending middle school, and at night she patrols the capital to fight crime and corruption.
>>
No. 181947 ID: 6550ad

...

Seriously, screw that Little Girl shit, please.

I vote for a General.
>>
No. 181956 ID: d60fd3
File 127465338217.png - (74.04KB , 600x600 , news.png )
181956

Breaking news! Our nation has a new government, under the leadership of the former director of the GIA. The Gorvian people look forward to a new era!

You are a leader type, visions and decisions are your métier. It is clearly fitting for you to get two personal assistants who do your paperwork. It doesn't hurt that you can choose among the best of the best of the GIA.

Two choices available:

[-] public relations: don't try to convince people of your ideas, make them believe it was their idea all along!

[-] military adviser: Troops may need bread and bullets, leaders need strategic overview and grand-scale theater planning!

[-] foreign affairs expert: Sometimes, a single silver tongue can bring greater results than a thousand steel swords.

[-] economic expert: Whatever you do, you will need money. This guy knows where to get it.

[-] research adviser: Stay ahead to stay on top!

[-] public welfare: We need our people. This guy know, what our people need.

[-] intelligence expert: The GIA has been concerned with taking over Gorvia for the last five years. Now it's time to concentrate on other nations! But since there are so many of them, an additional mind may help organising stuff.

[-] administration expert: A real paper-shuffler. Get things done faster, be more effective and save money!
>>
No. 181959 ID: c71597

>>181956
Military adviser and intelligence expert. Ours shall be an ironfisted dictatorship that makes the Junta of Burma and Kim Jong-Il wet their pants in envy!
>>
No. 181961 ID: 701a19

>>181956
We have to choose which of our cronies we appoint as advisers?
Then Secret Agent Pigtails needs foreign affairs and economics experts. The two things we need to secure first are money and legitimacy, because any other option will leave a perceived power vacuum.
>>
No. 181963 ID: 6550ad

>>181956

Public Relations and Economic Expert.

We'll rule the country with a silver tongue. And if that doesn't work, money's language is universal.
>>
No. 181967 ID: 0b8844

Economy and Administration experts

Because we need money, and we need something anti-red-tape, else our policies will keep getting lost.
>>
No. 181982 ID: b3ee70

>>181967
definitely administration.
Faster means better in most cases.
I'm not sure about second. I'm tempted to say PR, so that if there is a mistake, they don't get on our tail... and we stay in power...

then again, a great economy keeps em from complaining
>>
No. 182004 ID: 01ab41

Admin and Economic
>>
No. 182055 ID: 5aaa7a

>>182004
I'll second this. Besides, who needs an army when our enemies always seem to have fatal 'accidents'?

Besides, all the money we'll be making and saving can go into research, military, and PR.
>>
No. 182085 ID: 8dc333

Admin and public relations.
>>
No. 182088 ID: f95872

admin and PR.
>>
No. 182159 ID: d9ca51

Public relations, foreign affairs. We will get to have such a positive spin, well have allies everywhere!
>>
No. 182169 ID: 8bdb6a

Economic and Welfare
>>
No. 182192 ID: f3db66

Military and economic. Since we already have the brains, only thing that is needed is the force and the money to supply it.
>>
No. 182224 ID: d60fd3
File 127469299094.png - (258.59KB , 800x1000 , Stan&Flory.png )
182224

Shuffling through the files of your GIA agents, you finally find two suitable persons.

Mister Stanislaw graduated in macroeconomics before he joined the Agency and will consult you on that matter. This is both important for improving your own economy as well as finding weaknesses in the economies of rival nations.

Miss Florence is responsible for successfully creating the illusion of YOU being a white knight in white armour riding on a white horse while giving candy to small children. And helping an old woman to cross the street. All the while you rob their wallets. Ah, politics...

Now it is important to look at the nation of Gorvia itself. As every Gorvian child knows...
[-] ...it has a numerous population.
[-] ...its soil is rich with natural resources.
[-] ...it has a great industrial capacity.
[-] ...it has no financial debts and great money reserves.
[-] ...it is technologically ahead of its neighbours.
[-] ...it is admired throughout the world for its achievements in culture, art and philosophy.

Sadly, Gorvia also...
[-] ...is plagued by natural disasters.
[-] ...is void of natural resources and relies on imports.
[-] ...suffers from a lack of factories and production facilities.
[-] ...is afflicted by a terrible inflation.
[-] ...is technologically behind its neighbours.
[-] ...has a headstrong population, with riots, strikes, uprisings and revolts taking place more often than not.

Choosing contradicting options will result in a balanced starting position without particular advantages or disadvantages (except for those already chosen beforehand).
>>
No. 182227 ID: f95872

>[-] ...it has a numerous population.
NOT this. All our biggest problems will come from our own populace, both the logistical trouble of providing for them, and any civil unrest.

>[-] ...it has no financial debts and great money reserves.
This is most useful.

>[-] ...its soil is rich with natural resources.
This makes most sense. And it's also fairly useful.

On the downsides
>[-] ...suffers from a lack of factories and production facilities.
This is likely to be most interesting.
>>
No. 182228 ID: 50cfdf

>>182227

Agreeing with all of this.
>>
No. 182233 ID: c71597

>>182224
Do we choose more than one of each? I'm guessing it's just one of each but you can never be sure.

Anyway, I think we should go with great industrial capacity along with inferior technology.

We will be china, but without the massive population. So kinda like the Soviet Union, but probably without the massive army. Of course with good production capacity that is something we can fix.
>>
No. 182235 ID: 0b8844

Economist and PR, huh?

I like the idea of [-]Technologically Ahead while [-]Lacking factories.

I guess that would mean our neighbors would make an habit of popping up here, checking our stuff, making labs, researching, and take the know-how elsewhere to build the actual facs.

And I admit [-]Restless Population also makes sense. We had five years of faction wars before we stepped in. I don't know how much the actual people was involved, but that would make them either complacent and uncaring, or pretty pissed.
>>
No. 182239 ID: 6550ad

>>182227

I think we only have to choose one advantage and one disadvantage.

I say that

>its soil is rich with natural resources.

and

>suffers from a lack of factories and production facilities.

So we can use our echonomic genius to sell expensive resources to our neighbours, in order to build us some factories.
>>
No. 182240 ID: 3adf4a

numerous population does not equal civil unrest. we can do like russia and literally emply mass jobs to improve general conditions

money and debtless is worthless feature nowadays unless your credors want their share now.

natural riches are NOT useful. the only countries nowadays that have that are readying up to lose them like the arabs and oil or are in social decay like africa and their blood diamonts.

i also disliked
[-] ...it is technologically ahead of its neighbours.
thanks to globalization this should be worthless.
[-] ...is void of natural resources and relies on imports.
this means economical sanction will kill people, thus our reign.
i would go with:
[-] ...it is admired throughout the world for its achievements in culture, art and philosophy.
this screams peace.

[-] ...it has a great industrial capacity.
hello foreign investment!

[-] ...is afflicted by a terrible inflation.
this is economically "innefective" and expected after a war. given 5 year economical plan its possible to end inflation.

[-] ...is technologically behind its neighbours.
again, foreign companies will render this worthless. all they truly need is cheap-ish electricity and services like internet.

i personally vote for:
[-] ...it has a great industrial capacity.
[-] ...is technologically behind its neighbours.
>>
No. 182241 ID: c71597

>>182239
That sets us up for being a mono-economy. We really don't want to be a mono-economy, most of the worlds U-nations are mono-economies. It makes us completly dependant on foreign markets, and sucessfully converting a mono-economy into a more useful one is not easy. It's pretty much just Brazil that has succeded fairly well with that lately, and that took alot of time to get done.

Seriously, having an economy competly dependant on exports to generate income and an internal market completly dependant on imports to supply the population with goods is not a good idea.
>>
No. 182261 ID: 38f396

>[-] ...it is technologically ahead of its neighbours.
>[-] ...it is admired throughout the world for its achievements in culture, art and philosophy.

We keep stealing and improving on everyone else's ideas and prototypes, after all. And taking the credit. INTELLIGENCE.

>[-] ...suffers from a lack of factories and production facilities.
>[-] ...is plagued by natural disasters.

Goddamn winters locking down half the country for a quarter of the year isn't conducive for developing an industrial base. Also, people tend to freeze to death a lot. Or something.
>>
No. 182264 ID: 8bdb6a

Large population + Inflation

Easy mode is for sissies.
>>
No. 182287 ID: 54af1f

>[-] ...it has a great industrial capacity.

>[-] ...is plagued by natural disasters.
>>
No. 182302 ID: 0c2d00

I think we should make the most out of our public relations officer and get the headstrong population. We can turn this to our advantage if any corporations get uppity.

Hopefully it also means our population will be more intelligent and entrepreneurial instead of dull worker drones.

For the bonuses I would say the technological advantage is vital. After that either natural resources or industrial production.
>>
No. 182334 ID: 5aaa7a

>>182302
I like the technological bonus because it implies that our population is intelligent and most likely has a prestigious university and research institution or two.

Not only that but it applies to all parts of the government, so we could upgrade the military for more power, or reduce the costs of the administration by increasing efficiency.
>>
No. 182339 ID: 701a19

If we can pick more than two, then I pick these:

[-] ...its soil is rich with natural resources.
[-] ...suffers from a lack of factories and production facilities.

[-] ...it has no financial debts and great money reserves.
[-] ...has a headstrong population, with riots, strikes, uprisings and revolts taking place more often than not.

[-] ...it is technologically ahead of its neighbours.
[-] ...is plagued by natural disasters.

[-] ...it is admired throughout the world for its achievements in culture, art and philosophy.
[-] ...is afflicted by a terrible inflation.

I would like to note that none of them actually conflict.
>>
No. 182368 ID: f95872

>>182240
>numerous population does not equal civil unrest.
No, but it magnifies the effect of any unrest.

>money and debtless is worthless feature nowadays unless your credors want their share now.
Um, what? Money is what makes the world go 'round. It's what's going to fund literally everything we do.

>natural riches are NOT useful. the only countries nowadays that have that are readying up to lose them like the arabs and oil or are in social decay like africa and their blood diamonts.
I dunno, the US is doing pretty good with their massive breadbasket and copper reserves.

>>182302
>I think we should make the most out of our public relations officer and get the headstrong population. We can turn this to our advantage if any corporations get uppity.
>Hopefully it also means our population will be more intelligent and entrepreneurial instead of dull worker drones.
Pretty sure it just means our people will violently riot for no damn reason all the time. You know, like Italians. I'd much rather have them never do anything but whine a bit, more like the Brits. Though in practice, it'll probably be a bit between those extremes.

>>182261
This is a good post.
>>
No. 182376 ID: c71597

Seriously people a monoeconomy is a bad thing. Having the nations economy depend entirely on the export of a few natural resources while we have no refining or production capacity ourselves is a very fucking bad thing. Having high natural resources and no production capacity fits in with that 100%, we should not want that.

If the market takes a dive (and that will happen) then so does our economy and then a shitload of people all of a sudden lose their jobs, and they're going to blame the people in charge, which means us.

An economy with production capacity is also affected by market changes. But not as bad as monoeconomies when the shit hits the fan.
>>
No. 182409 ID: 62781c

Go for wealth or technologically ahead, definitely.

A lack of factories isn't bad at all as long as we're technically advanced, because we'll still be able to have strong service industries and product development; we just use our money to build factories in other nations and ruthlessly exploit their larger, poorer populations in order to build our products cheaply, with the profits circling back into our economy.
>>
No. 182418 ID: 3adf4a

>>182287
contrary to popular belief, factories are not disaster-proof.

>>182264
dont kid. mother russia had worse that those on its start.

>>182376
japan is entirely dependand on import/export. brazil is a good example of overcoming inflation but we should not want that, a emplyed population is a happy population.

ever since the industrial revolution was over, there is no longer a need for great natural resource. this is also a huge bullzeye in our forehead.

we only need to import tecnology for jobs and products. we may or may not do like china that used its huge production lines and incredible cheap prices to lure factories in order to steal their original work and reverse engineer it.
>>
No. 182780 ID: 44bb6e
File 127478372160.png - (209.41KB , 800x600 , gorvia_big1.png )
182780

Most votes got:
[-] ...it has no financial debts and great money reserves.
[-] ...it is technologically ahead of its neighbours.
[-] ...it is admired throughout the world for its achievements in culture, art and philosophy.


And:
[-] ...is plagued by natural disasters.
[-] ...suffers from a lack of factories and production facilities.
[-] ...has a headstrong population, with riots, strikes, uprisings and revolts taking place more often than not.


Gorvia has a population of 40.000.000 (40 millions).
Currently, the treasury holds 25.000.000.000 Croms(Gorvian currency).
The industrial capacity of Gorvia is 75% of the average on the Continent.
The technology level of Gorvia is 110% of the average on the Continent.
Gorvia's coasts and countryside are sometimes devastated by hurricanes and earthquakes respectively.

Gorvia's capital is Gorven. Other cities with more than 1 million inhabitants are Greyton, Vailchester, Neston, Port Vain and Port Folia.

Gorvia is currently at PEACE.

There reports on your desk concerning BUDGET, PRODUCTION, DEFENSE, RESEARCH, INTELLIGENCE, DIPLOMACY and POPULATION.
>>
No. 182781 ID: 903f16

>>182780
Open up the intelligence folder first, starting with what you know can't hurt.
>>
No. 182782 ID: 44bb6e

>>182781
You open the INTELLIGENCE folder.


For the last years, the GIA has focused on Gorvia itself. This will change.

You can give us a target to concentrate on in general, e.g. a foreign country and we will beginn to infiltrate them immediatly. This will cost money.

The more agents are active and the more time they spend there, the higher will be our chances of succes for a mission. A mission can involve: killing an enemy leader, stealing blue prints or prototypes, sabotaging their production lines and everything else you can think of.

Improving our espionage technology will increase our chance of success and maybe decreae the amount of money or agents needed for a mission.

Our agents are usually organised in "Cells" and orders are given to a Cell, not individual agents.
Every active Cell costs 1.000.000 Croms per month and can work on 1 mission.
Passive Cells cost nothing.
If several cells work on the same mission, the amount of time they need to reach their goal may decrease, but so do their chances of being detected.

We currently have 8 Cells available.
7 are passive, 1 is observing our own population.

>>
No. 182783 ID: 903f16

>>182782
Flip over to the budget folder, we need to know what our restrictions are in terms of cash right now.
>>
No. 182792 ID: c5dcc0

i think its a safe bet to say that we want to read them all.

infodump tiem!

also i wanted a small review of our countrymates if possible.
>>
No. 182818 ID: c71597

Yeah having the full info is vital to forming policy. If we do it any other way we're gonna have to change previous policy several times as we see the new information.
>>
No. 182862 ID: 44bb6e

>>182818
Corrupted text file. Had to write everything again. No suggestions neccessary until infodump is complete. In the future, monthly reports will be posted as a diagramm, because it's much much more clear and easier to read that way.

You decide to open every report.

MILITARY:
Overview:

Infantry Division: They are the most common and most versatile troop type. Thanks to their transport vehicles they are very mobile.
Costs: 10.000 men, 2000 MH (10 Fuel per month, 10 MH per month), 6 months

Armour: They hit fast and they hit hard, but they are vulnerable to aircraft attacks. They are also expensive, need a lot of fuel and depend on the right terrain.
Costs: 10.000 men, 8000 MH (100 Fuel per month, 50 MH per month), 9 months

Air Division: Multipurpose jetfighters equipped to intercept enemy aircraft as well as attack ground and naval based targets. They are very expensive and hard to maintain.
Costs: 10.000 men, 25000 MH (250 Fuel per month, 250 MH per month), 12 months

Ship Flotilla: Carriers, cruisers and escorts form an expensive, but formidable force.
Costs: 10.000 men, 40000 MH (200 Fuel per month, 200 MH per month), 24 months

Submarine Flotilla: Their ability to move unnoticed by the enemy gives them an edge, but in open battle they will lose.
Costs: 10.000 men, 15000 MH (100 Fuel per month, 125 MH per month), 18 months

Current Gorvian military forces:
18 Infantry Divisions,
2 Armoured Divisions,
2 Ship Flotillas,
1 Air Division,
1860 MH per month for maintenance

(MH = Military Hardware)

Monthly cost: 1.045.000.000

Monthly Fuel usage: 1.030 Fuel

(1 unit of Fuel is refined from 5 units of Oil)


>>
No. 182865 ID: 44bb6e

BUDGET:

General Taxes: 2.000.000.000 (50% Rate)
Commercial Taxes: 3.600.000.000 (40% Rate)

Resources import: 800.000.000
Oil import: 1.560.000.000
Defence budget: 1.045.000.000
Education Funding: 960.000.000
Healthcare Funding: 800.000.000
Social Funding: 1.320.000.000
Espionage budget: 100.000.000

Total income: 5.600.070.000
Total outcome: 6.485.000.000

GAINS: - 885.000.000

Reserves: 25.000.000.000
END RESULT: 24.115.000.000


Earlier typo: 1 Cell of agents costs 100.000.000, not 1.000.000
>>
No. 182868 ID: 44bb6e

POPULATION:

Current population total: 40.000.000
Junior Citizen: 8.000.000
Adult Citizen: 24.000.000
Senior Citizen: 8.000.000
Employment:
4.000.000 Primary Sector
8.000.000 Secondary Sector
6.000.000 Tertiary Sector

6.000.000 unemployed

40.000 Consumer Goods needed per month

Current Mood: 90
Education Level: 100

A population mood of 100 is a happy population. more than 150 borders fanatism, less than 50 means hatred.

Better education means better research. Also, a minimum education of 50 is required for Secondary Sector employment, 75 is required for Tertiary Sector employment. Cutting education funding will reduce this over time. Good education also improves population mood, but makes it harder to lie to them.

>>
No. 182869 ID: 44bb6e

PRODUCTION:
Current Resources output: 40.000
Current Oil output: 400

Current Industrial Capacity: 8.000

IC used for Consumer Goods: 4.000
IC used for MH: 1.900
Fuel Refind: 1.030

1 Industrial Capacity needs: 25 Resources and 20 Oil to function

1 Industrial Capacity can produce: 1 unit of Fuel OR 10 Consumer Goods OR 1 Military Hardware OR 1 Luxury Good
>>
No. 182900 ID: 44bb6e

DIPLOMACY:

The diplomacy folder is empty. The other nations probably didn't realise yet Gorvia has a new government.

>>
No. 182911 ID: 44bb6e

RESEARCH:

Technology will always be improved over time, due to research by universities and cooperations. But we can accelerate the process by giving out money for certain projects.

That way, we can also influence which field of science will be a priority. Sadly, there's always a tiny bit of luck involved.

Gorvia already has a headstart in all fields. Factories use less Oil and Resources, the military has slightly better weapons and countless other small improvements.


Infodump done. I wish I still had my original textfiles, since I probably forgot something obvious...
>>
No. 182918 ID: b14128

Well, first things first, let's get Miss Florence's help on preparing a speech to inform the world and our country that Gorvia is in possession of a government (I'm sure that between the two of us, we'll come up with some crap about us being fair and just and all that stupid stuff), and then make our announcement.
>>
No. 182923 ID: 86faf0

>>182911
We have a 15% unemployment rate. We should probably consult Stanislaw on how to best rectify this. Best case scenario would be promoting entrepreneurship that would help alleviate our lack of production.
>>
No. 182965 ID: c5dcc0

not only we have 15% unemplyment as we also have a national debt. we are not self sufficient YET.

we need globalization for jobs and hope to get unemplyment down to 10%, hopefully this will somehow hinder the national debt. having cheaper production costs will bring foreign companies to work with us, but then they will use their tecnology instead of ours. would demilitarizing some units cause employment rates to go up?

we should invest in tecnology and/or tecnology theft, if we would make investment in intelligence. unless we can sell intel, there doesnt seem to be use for it yet

>>182780
why do we have MONEY AND TECNOLOGY but no FACTORIES?

>>182918
well. this is a bit of a conundrun.
we have advanced tecnology and that requires good education. we cant really try to lie to the population because they riot easily. if we are to keep the country as is, we will need to turn our intelligence to outside. maybe.

so we should do something like:

Gorvian people. friends, workers, soldiers, beloved countrymen.

we are the remainings of the old government intelligence agency. we have worked hard with everyone, but forgot to what we are supposed to work for.

i am not sorry. i am not sad for killing the president. i am not sad for endangering the lives of my fellow men and women in a useless fight. i am not sorry for ending the war. i am sorry that i could not foresee it.

i am sorry for not foreseeing that this murder would be needed. i am sorry to see the former president literally grow mad with power, running its army against its own people. i am sorry i worked with him, and that it tooked so long for me to realize to who i am supposed to work for.

gorvian people. i am a public servant above all. i was supposed to work for the people. i am sorry for neglecting my work for so long. i am sorry for letting brothers kill brothers and watch cities burn. i am sorry we could not prevent it.

but we stopped it.

i can promisse you this: we will undo this damage.


this reminds me. about 1/4 of the military should be demobilized anyway.
>>
No. 182985 ID: 86faf0

>>182965
Why are we admitting to murder? Why are we taking blame for the war?

We need to put the blame on the devious politicians and generals who took advantage of our ex-president. While he was wise and honorable, he trusted to much and it was his downfall.

In fact, we must make the former leader a rallying point, carrying on his legacy of good-will and hard work.
>>
No. 182986 ID: 86faf0

One last thing. How do our neighbors see us? Do we have any long standing friendships or any ill will?
>>
No. 183045 ID: c71597

>>182862
Military seems to be doing fine right now.

>>182865
Looks like we need ways to increase our incomes. And we also need to combat unemployment. Sounds like Stanislaw should get cracking on that, preferably in a way that increases our industrial capacity. After all factories would need workers and so would their construction.

Might also be a good idea to get him cracking on setting up some oil companies for us as a way to get some cheaper oil.

Oh, and if we find space for it in the budget and our PR lady can spin it well enough. Set up a youth movement for poor kids. Rich kids are also welcome but they're not given any preferential treatment. The movement is entirely voluntery and free for the kids and the parents. Hell maybe even give poor parents a bit of a tax reduction if their kid attends.

>>182900
Well then it sounds like it's time for some diplomatic missions. Send out the diplomats and maybe a few spies in with them.

>>182911
Medical science is usually a pretty good thing. Can have all sorts of applications.

>>182965
Demobilizing the army would mean more unemployed people though. And these ones would have military training.

Also that isn't really a very good speach, we shouldn't be admitting to any sort of guilt.

A better speech would be.

Friends! Our country has had to endure many hardships these past years. We have all suffered since the tragic death of my predecessor.

But that is now a thing of the past. A new brighter future awaits for us all. One in which our country shall regain it's former glory and rightful place in the sun.

But sadly this won't happen simply because we wish it to be so. It will take work, hard work from everyone in every position in society. But if we all unite behind this common goal I know that there is nothing we won't be able to accomplish.

With some extra editing from the PR people that will hopefully be a popular speech.
>>
No. 183054 ID: 86faf0

>>182965
We don't have a debt, only a deficit. We should actually be investing the money we have in our reserves. Seriously, 24 billion in liquid assets?

I'm also assuming that the currency is equatable to the dollar.
>>
No. 183082 ID: c00244

We should be investing our surplus in attempting to expand the secondary and tertiary job sectors, in our educational system, and in research. PR spin all three of these as bold new initiatives to cure all that ails our nation, destined to bring it rising like a phoenix from the chaos that it has known in recent days.

Eliminating unemployment is important, but primary industries should be avoided- secondary industries are more profitable on both a national and personal level.

Research and education are obviously important because our technological edge will vanish unless we do something about it. Also, they can provide jobs, and keeping our populace educated means that we'll have a greater share of the high-intelligence jobs in the future globalized market; that should further cement our technological lead, which will hopefully result in getting some of this money that we're spending back.

Our monetary reserves are massive, and we have virtually no information on other nations; we both can support and really need a much larger intelligence apparatus than we currently possess. Raise and activate five intelligence cells for every nation bordering us, three for every nation bordering those, and one for every other nation; send them all in with orders to passively gather general intelligence. Since effectiveness of covert ops increases with time in the target nation, it's best to move on this immediately.
>>
No. 183092 ID: c5dcc0

>>183054
thanks for pointing that out. english isnt my native language.

about the speech... we actualy WORKED for the government. this is also our responsibility. ot may not FEEL like it but the people knows. we had responsibilities towards the people and we let it go.

we should accept the fact that we do have responsibilities now and before in order to show the population that this is not a sequence of the previous warmongering government NOR a complicated coup to get to power by simply overtrhowing/killing the president with a false war raised by this very intel agency.
>>
No. 183098 ID: b8c34d

>>182965

That's a poor speech. The GIA director should simply make sure to have Miss Florence make him a speech to maximize his presentation as a man who has stroven single-handedly to save his nation from a descent into future ruin and a continous, disastrous civil war. A man who has united and will continue to unite many of the disparate elements of the headstrong Gorvian population and from here on out will stand on the helm to forge a strong future for the Gorvian people!

<i>Heh heh heh.</i>

What position does Gorvia's inestimable ruler have, by the way? President For Life? Supreme-Ruler-By-Appointment? Head Of The Shadow Government?

INTELLIGENCE: ACTIVATE SPY CELL +1

Duty: Monitor Neighbouring Government for Weaknesses.

More specifically, our closest, smallest, neighboring nation, the brown one directly north of us. Having an active spy cell monitoring its government could help tell us if the country is (or can be made through exploiting its flaws) ripe for the plucking by Gorvia's military and/or intelligence agencies and/or DIPLOMACY.

It is also a good way to 'field test' the capabilities of our agents, i.e. see how (and how well) they can function in a different nation.

MILITARY: HURRY UP AND WAIT

Given our current lack of knowledge of neighboring nations, it seems best to let any and all military expansions or decommissions wait.

BUDGET: DEAD TO THE RED

We need to improve our economic base. We have a supply of money to play around with for now, but that will rapidly dwindle to nothing within the next two years (24 months) as things stand. Given our country's tendency for suffering sudden, abrupt disasters, I think we can ALL agree that the Gorvian Emergency Relief Fund should be topped up, not slowly draining.

Whether through improving infrastructure and providing jobs to make more taxable citizens, increasing the tax rates (be aware, these are already social-welfare nation high), making cuts in the budget, conquering/subverting another nation's riches and/or other options, we need to make sure that the red turns black as soon as possible. You can't conquer the world on an empty wallet.

>Education Funding: 960.000.000
>Healthcare Funding: 800.000.000
>Social Funding: 1.320.000.000

Be aware, cuts to ANY of these is liable to earn us more detractors among the Population.

>Defence budget: 1.045.000.000

Cuts to military spending might earn us some grumpy generals, or make us weaker against assault from other nations, and therefore a more tempting target, depending on their political makeup.

>Espionage budget: 100.000.000

As a quick stopgap fix, we can at any moment 'turn off' the espionage cell monitoring our nation to lower costs somewhat. I would not advice it, however. As a Former(*cough*Hah*cough*) Director of the GIA we should know our country like the palm of our hand, which is incidentally where it lies.

POPULATION: MILDLY MIFFED.

We're ten points short of having a happy population, not bad after five years of turmoil. Given the Gorvian tendency of breaking out into spontaneous strikes and picket lines we want our population as happy as we can make them to not make everything we do an uphill battle.

There are several things that can be done that might have a positive effect on Happiness.

Produce Luxury Goods.
Decrease Unemployment.
Increase Education, Social Welfare and/or Healthcare Funding.

As a reminder, Miss Florence is a Public Relations expert, not a Public Welfare expert. The difference, I believe, is that she aids us in making the population go along with our ideas, not in making them more happy and comfortable. I.e. they might go along with our ideas even if they are unhappy, as opposed to it is easier to make them happier.

Personally, I think the EWH triangle of the budget should be left alone for the moment while we go through the tutorial scenes.

PRODUCTION: SYNOPSIS & SUGGESTION

We are currently using 6930 of our Industrial Capacity of 8000 on Consumer Goods, Military hardware and Oil Refining.

As far as I can figure, this 'costs' us 173.250 Resources and 138.600 Oil.

We produce locally 40.000 Resources and 400 Oil.

Therefore we Import 133.250 Resources and 138.200 Oil every Month, costing us per the Monthly Budget a combined total of 2.360.000.000.

Each imported unit of Oil costs approx. 11.288.

Each imported unit of Resource costs approx. 6.004.

As we must have some untapped natural resources (as that weakness was not picked), and as we clearly do have a 15 % Unemployment Rate, I suggest we explore the possibility of funding increases to our Resource and Oil Outputs with an emphasis on Oil, if available.

Unless this is insanely expensive, we will gradually remove the need for Costly Imports while at the same time Lowering Unemployment, making it a Worthwhile Investment.

I also have an optional suggestion for that we assign 100 IC each month to supply 100 Luxury Goods for the Population.

This will require additional Imports and will increase the following months' deficit by 4.022.600, but presumably also increase (or decrease loss of) Happiness with the New Government.

Testing how well we can 'buy' happiness with Luxury Goods is also a good way of seeing if it's a viable means for Emergency Population Mood Control.

DIPLOMACY: DIPLOMATIC DIASPORA

Well, as a simple courtesy we need at least to make contact with our closest neighbours, (and make a general announcement to the rest of the world) so send out diplomats to each and every one offering the token goodwill of the new Gorvian Government, hopes of peaceful coexistence, trade and mutual benefits, yadda yadda.

There's no need to send any spies with the diplomatic missions (that aren't diplomats already, anyway), as that would only help compromise the diplomats' integrity should the spy be discovered (and thanks to the new government's GIA background they're going to be peered at suspiciously anyway).

Real spies can access their nations without having to hang on the coattails of a diplomat.

RESEARCH: FUND ESPIONAGE

Our agents are good, but they could stand being better, and researching ESPIONAGE will help with that. A nation needs to play to its strengths, after all, and clearly INTELLIGENCE is the greatest Gorvian strength.

Note that we should take care that we do not FUND too much research at the same time, particularly while our MONTHLY DEFICIT is still large. At first, I think we should only fund ONE line of research, to see how costly such sponsoring can be. My suggestion, as you can tell, is for espionage.

N.B.

Any and all information supplied to you by this Public Address is under subject to the Occasional Idiocy Act, and cannot be guaranteed to be 100% correct. Feel free to double-check the figures and information yourself.
>>
No. 183103 ID: c5dcc0

id wait on the spy cell untill we make contact with all nearby countries. also the home spy team should not be decomissioned since it will literally warn us of riots beforehand.

i agree with literally everything if you read my comment on the speech.

and we should be called something more administrative. prime-minister is more like president-for-live and it doesnt sound like something made up.

however Prime Minister Secret Agent 000 sounds very childish
>>
No. 183116 ID: b8c34d

>>183082

I do not endorse a rapid expansion of the spy network until its level of efficacy and usefulness is proven, particularly not while the deficit is this large and there are other things to use it on, such as improving the economy, being held in reserve for the next big disaster (at least in part) or being used to swiftly expand our military to defend us from an outside threat/conquer a neighboring nation.

>>183092

Not relevant. We are in position as a ruler now and need to look towards the future. Let the past be the past. Unless someone starts lobbying against us with success on the platform of those issues, we have no need to adress the difficulties of the civil war, nor our role in it (other than that we unceasingly strove to bring about peace and order, etc.).
>>
No. 183126 ID: c00244

>>183116
Oh, come on. The entire expansion of the spy program I've outlined will cost us around 50.000.000- a mere fifth of a percent of our current reserves monthly. How is it not worth it to aggressively expand our spy network at that price?
>>
No. 183131 ID: 86faf0

We should have diverse investments. Infrastructure and mass transit, clean energy, loans to other countries and organizations that will pay with interest.

Large investment into education and attracting educated workers from other countries.

Spying should take a back seat to actual diplomacy, as we don't want to get caught early and destroy our reputation as a government.

Last point, I don't think that the last prez was evil. Would we work for an evil man? Emphasize to the public that we will pick up where the country left off, before the power struggle that ensured in the wake of the death of a great man.
>>
No. 183137 ID: b8c34d

>>183126

You missed this:

>Earlier typo: 1 Cell of agents costs 100.000.000, not 1.000.000.

I did some math, and it looks like the 50-ish cell strategy you suggested would result in us using roughly twenty percent of the entire current reserves total, monthly. We'd be in debt in less than half a year. Furthermore, we only have 8 cells available for use.

So...Quality over quantity, focus over spread, baby steps for all.
>>
No. 183142 ID: c00244

>>183137
Missed that indeed.

Okay, yes, my plan does indeed require some modification if the rules were changed to increase all involved costs by two orders of magnitude, yes. I am astonished that it costs a hundred million to support any operational structure that's described as a "cell", but I suppose that can't be avoided if they're the rules. Bloody hell, can't we just send in some exchange students have them poke around for general intel on the cheap?

Apparently not. Screw having any significant intelligence apparatus, then. The game mechanics no longer support it as a viable option except against people we know we'll be fighting or are actively attempting to steal from/sabotage.
>>
No. 183143 ID: 86faf0

>>183137
You guys want to know the best way to learn about our countries neighbors? First, read a book. Then check the internet. Then send some diplomats to assure our neighbors of our friendly intentions and while they're their they can take notes.

Spys? pssh. As the director of intelligence we should know when they are appropriate.
>>
No. 183145 ID: c5dcc0

i wanted to get agressive on this. our population is unemployed, is prone to rioting and it looks like we just made a coup to get presidency.

>Last point, I don't think that the last prez was evil. Would we work for an evil man? Emphasize to the public that we will pick up where the country left off, before the power struggle that ensured in the wake of the death of a great man.
coming to think of it, its missing some small details of our neighborhood countries.
>>
No. 183146 ID: 86faf0

>>183142
You forget that our espionage cells will be involved in assasination, sabotage, and high level theft. One hundred million for that? Sweet deal.
>>
No. 183152 ID: c5dcc0

>>183146
im thinking in james bond level of espionage.

invisible cars, handwrists with rapel cords, drone-suitcases, etc.
>>
No. 183155 ID: 86faf0

>>183152
Or we could use all that to mess with enemy leaders by sneaking into their homes and re-arranging their furniture.
>>
No. 183160 ID: b8c34d

>>183145

My opinion is that the last president is a non-issue. He died five years ago, which caused a struggle for power and influence in our nation. We won that struggle recently, and now we get to rule.

So let's get our ruling on and not think too much about the past unless it rears its ugly head.

>>183142

Is that Gorvia's tiniest espionage violin I hear there? Obviously a "cell" is more than just a small ten-man group within the context of expenditure and possibilities (high-end sabotage, political leader assassinations, etc.).

>>183143

Diplomats are probably not as costly as the spy cells, yes. Hence my 'diplomatic diaspora' suggestion earlier. Furthermore, we should know something of our neighbours, as they are, after all, neighbours. I'm hoping we will be filled in soon, or during the next monthly update.
>>
No. 183162 ID: 86faf0

>>183160
I believe that we want our government to be viewed as legitimate. The last government probably left unfinished business, so it would be good to know about it.

And if it was viewed favorably, or at least if the leader was, we could take advantage of it for PR purposes.
>>
No. 183165 ID: c00244

>>183146
One hundred million PER MONTH for that? Less sweet of a deal. That's 1.200.000.000 annually, per cell. For reference, assuming a crom is about a dollar, that means that the entire United States intelligence apparatus, including all the various agencies, is only around 40 cells in size.

All I'm looking to accomplish with our intelligence agencies at the moment is to provide us with a realistic assessment of the state of other nations which is entirely independent of their governments. Not to shoot, rob, or sabotage anyone; just get some people we can rely upon to look at the right things and ask the right questions of random civilians onto the ground. This is not particularly nefarious, but it's exceedingly valuable in planning foreign relations. Can we manage that with one cell, spreading their attention thinly to make up for the fact that we're not really asking much?
>>
No. 183169 ID: 86faf0

>>183165
That's what ambassadors are for. Have the ambassador meet the government while his entourage mingles, reads newspapers and takes the nations pulse.
>>
No. 183170 ID: b8c34d

Taking the back-and-forth discussion to the discussion thread. See ya there.
>>
No. 183484 ID: 14324f
File 127490984035.png - (83.28KB , 800x600 , nation_names.png )
183484

DIPLOMACY NEWS:

Lobol: Lobol is very similar to Gorvia in terms of size, power and economy, but without the five years of chaos and civil unrest. They are Gorvia's traditional nemesis, but in the "two children in a sandbox" way. They are civilzed and reasonable; so diplomatic deals are possible, but they will probably watch us closely.

Prestony: With 25 million inhabitants and a strong economy with a highly modern industrial base, they (or at least their cooporations) play a big role on the world market. They seem to be rather peaceful and have good diplomatic relationships with most nations on the continent.

Arnsgatte: A weak nation with less than 10 million inhabitants, they have been the plaything of other powers during the last centuries. Currently, the Jerlan Federation seems to take a special interest in them, but we know nothing for sure.

Ferundia: Arround 20 million inhabitants. They are the sworn rivals of Estramy, but recent history has given them one kick in the teeth after another. High unemployment and the brooding conflict with their neighbour - I wouldn't place any bets on them.

Estramy: With 30 million inhabitants and plenty of ressources to build upon, they seem to have the edge in the long, long conflict with Ferundia. Their people are very proud, and it's a well-known fact that nationalistic voices in Estramy are crying for war against Ferundia.

Jerlan Federation: Their territory has been formerly been a chaotic place, made up of many tiny nations. 50 years ago, most of them signed a treaty to become politically united. Ever since, they invited other small nations to join them.

Orgos: A tiny nation, but with more than 15 million inhabitants, population density is high. They have been part of a large and militarily strong empire in the past, but they lost practically everything. Now their grim people are rotting in the ruins of their nation.

Notromia: Twenty years ago, they were part of the empire of the Orgos, but the Nostromian people fought for freedom and succeeded. They seem to be down-to-earth people and focus on economy and peace snce then, but whenever they see a weaker nation being threatened by a bigger neighbour, the young nation of Nostromia feels compelled to intervene.

Roin: Not much has been going on in Roin. But as far as we heard, it's a lovely place to spend your holydays in. It seems to be their main source of income.

Thrudwen: From this nation, we get most of our ressources and oil imports. Besides that, it seems to do pretty average for a nation with 50 million inhabitants. Most of the time, they just want to be left alone.

Wellonturia: This nation is not everyone's favorite. They are known to throw their military weight around whenever they feel like things aren't going their way. With 70 million inhabitants and a modern, highly advanced army, they are sometimes regarded as the troublemakers of the Contintent.
>>
No. 183496 ID: 14324f

STANISLAW:

"Sir, investing in our nation's infrastructure is an excellent idea. Overall, it will probably cost us 10.000.000.000 Croms for a decent improvement and 20.000.000.000 Croms to really establish new, shiny highways and railways. How much you want to invest monthly to pay for that sum is of course your choice. Estimated build time is six months up to one year.

There will be costs for maintenance and funding public transport, but I doubt they will be higher than 80.000.000 a month.

I also support your plans to fight unemployment. But be warned, Sir: Well-educated people want good, clean, nice jobs, not dity work on the production-line or in the mines.
It won't be a problem now, since ervey unemployed person will be thankfull for an opportunity to work, but it could become one in a few years.

Trying to maximise our ressource output? Well, why not.
As with every of your decisions, we can go two ways:
First possibility, is doing it government-controlled.
Second possibility is handing out contracts to private cooperations.

Both ways have advantages and disadvantages."
>>
No. 183501 ID: 14324f

FLORENCE:
"I will work on a speech right away, Sir.

Concerning your title and legitimacy... We got a signed letter by members of what formerly was the Conservatice Party. They want to know if you plan to establish the parliament. You should consider this carefully, Sir.

I think most people are relieved that the times of chaos are over, but in some weeks they will begin to ask questions about how they will be governed... and by whom.

May I put forth a suggestion, Sir? Establishing our own television broadcast station will cost maybe 1.500.000 Croms a month, but it would be a great way to stay in touch with the people. Of course, the liberals in Gorvia will cry out, but really... when do they not?"
>>
No. 183516 ID: ded92b

>>183501
a paper journal is the proper way to do it.

>>183496
id say 10b investment over 8 months seems nice. we should subcontract to NATIONAL companies with safety clausules.

we should improve infra structure. if our production can pay for the resources used then all we need is more factories.
>>
No. 183518 ID: ded92b

>>183501
oh right. no parliament, maybe a senate, maybe a council of elected deputy of every state. we should definitively let cities rule themselves with senate and mayor, but not the federation nor the whole country.
>>
No. 183540 ID: 86faf0

>>183518
I put my opinion of this update on the discussion thread.
>>
No. 183564 ID: ded92b

>>183540
but i like derailing threads!
>>
No. 183733 ID: 86faf0

I'm formally re-posting my suggestion here with a few changes.

Infrastructure- A five year plan would make the monthly cost 166,666,666 or 333,333,333 for either plan. That's assuming we don't just pay for it out of pocket (a bad idea), or take out a loan (which would include interest).

An important question to ask would be if either option is easily upgradable. Will we have to re-build each decade, or can we just integrate new technology as we acquire it.

Jobs- We should promote entrepreneurship and give citizens the tools and knowledge to succeed. Another priority is starting a loan program for students.

We should also quickly invest in researching alternate fuels that can be produced locally. I propose paying for both by recalling our spy cell and splitting its budget 25/75 respectively.

On the matter of the telivision station, it is a good Idea. In fact, liberals should be easily placated if we promise to use it to bring about unprecedented transparency to government.

On the matter of government- States (or provinces or whatever we have) elect their local governments by popular election. The peoples governments shall then nominate representatives for terms of no more than eight years, to be confirmed by the people.

(I assume that in the states there will be a multitude of parties and candidates, so a plurality should be enough.)

The candidates from every state shall be joined by a representatives from the navy and military, as well as any other officials we care to appoint, to advise the national leader, us.

We're not a dictator, we're just the only man qualified for the job.
>>
No. 183813 ID: 5b38b7

TITLE AND LEGITIMACY: PATHS OF POWER

I'm going to go by the assumption that we're not going to want to hand over the reins of power anytime soon to a different party/ruler, nor incite a future/immediate revolt by directly proclaiming ourselves Dictator Von Tyrant for life. Also, my suggestion for the Ruling Party is "the Gorvian Intelligence Party" and my suggestion for title is "Head of State Monitoring" or "State Monitor" for short.

Establishing an elected parliament would traditionally impose a system of checks and balances to our (presumably non-elected) government, in effect limiting the things we can casually order (or increasing the outcry when we do so anyway), but possibly also giving us more legitimacy in the world at large and appeasing the worries of larger segments of our moderately well-educated Population by allowing them just representation.

If we establish such a parliament, we could still make sure that the Gorvian Head of State Monitoring (or [Insert Othername]) has the right to Veto through decisions. We could also add a tiny clause about being able to sideline the Parliament during Times of Great National Trouble/Importance in order to React Swiftly and Decisively...

That said, I do have another system in mind for our governing, that of being the Only/Main Party; like the chinese communists. Sure, some will cry foul, and people in general are going to be antsy about it, but [Rhetoric: On] wasn't it the political party machinations and backstabbing following the last president's death that brought the state of civil war upon us? Gorvia needs stability, the kind of stability that can only be provided if the Gorvian Intelligence Party (or [Insert Othername]) is able to securely direct the nation's affairs for a prolonged period!

In essence, pour enough rhetoric into it, back it up by being seen doing some obvious good for our nation and a bunch of other decent PR, and we CAN pull a single-party system off. We might even do very well with it, and if not we can still go back to a more open way of government later should it suit us. There will of course be dissidents, but as a former (*snortgiggle* Oh, that gets me every time.) director of the GIA, we're uniquely positioned to identify and deal with such people, one way or another and the pros of having a one-party system is that we can pretty much arrange things to turn out how we want them (within reason).

We could also establish a Gorvian Representative Council, where we can put political animals/representatives from the different regions/parties of Gorvia to bring issues to the Ruling Party for some vague value of Fair and Just Consideration. Their actual authority wouldn't be anywhere near on par with a parliament's, but the election of such a group, as well as whatever system we'll have in place for electing/establishing new Ruling Party members for sections of Gorvia could help make Gorvians feel that they haven't lost all authority over themselves.

Elected Parliament+Entrenched Government or One-Party System (with a side-order of GRC) are just two ways to establish ourselves.

Currently, my choice is for the One-Party System I outlined, as I'd like the extra control and would be willing to go as far as upset the Population somewhat to get it (we intend to try to make them happier through improving our nation's infrastructure, improve the economy and add more job possibilities anyway).

OIL OUTPUT: ESTABLISH GOVERNMENT-CONTROLLED OIL COMPANY

What it says. The government handles the costs of searching and boring for oil, and reaps the eventual reward for the Nation's Coffers and Betterment. From the looks of it Gorvia has at least some oil resources that can hopefully be expanded. As an added benefit, the oil industry does offer a fair few number of highly paid high-qualification jobs for grabs by our population. The more skilled and intelligent people of our nation will naturally gravitate towards plucking those up.

Cost: Unknown added deficit and gains.

RESOURCE OUTPUT: CONTRACT PRIVATE RESOURCE CORPORATIONS

While the less smart can fall into the clutches of commercialism. Also pretty much what it says on the paper. Just contract a few decent corporations to extract what we have of resources, and hopefully the deficit will be made up in the increased resource output. If not... well, we can stop contracting and keep importing.

Cost: Unknown added deficit and gains.

INTELLIGENCE: NADA

I'm retracting my suggestion to insert a spy cell in Arnsgatte for the time being, until our economic prospects improve.

Our home spy cell should remain active, however. Better safe than sorry.

INFRASTRUCTURE: IMPROVEMENT SCALE, BUDGET PROBLEMS

Stanislaw says it will take six months up to a year to accomplish the build-up, an impressive speed. At the rate of a full year, we would either pay 833.333.333 a month at the low-cost solution, close to what we currently have in deficit already, or 1.666.666.667 for the high-quality, double our current deficit. Completing the Best infrastructure in 12 months would put us some 4-5 Billion Croms in debt at that time.

To put it in perspective, the best upgrade costs us around 80 percent of our current reserves, whereas the decent one costs us around 40 percent.

Also remember that once it is complete, we will have to add a Monthly Deficit of roughly 80.000.000 to the Budget, and it is unclear how much we stand to directly gain in way of Income from the upgrade.

It is my opinion that a Decent upgrade built over the course of six months to a full year is all we can afford unless we make some seriously large Budget cuts or Income gains. We will also need larger income gains sooner rather than later with the decent upgrade, since at the time of completion we will be roughly 9-3 months from getting into debt, depending on how long the actual construction takes.

Before we make a final decision, however: Mr. Stanislaw? Will investing in infrastructure bring in more money in a way that can help justify the expenses (or a raise in taxes), and can the upgrades be done at a slower pace, stretching our reserves for a longer period?

PUBLIC RELATIONS: ESTABLISH GORVIAN NATIONAL BROADCASTING SERVICE

With an official charter to entertain and inform the Gorvian public and display our great culture, art and values.

Cost: Added monthly deficit of "pocket change" 1.500.000.

EMPLOYMENT: ENCOURAGE SECONDARY AND TERTIARY SECTOR EXPANSION

Suggested ways of doing so: Offering state loans, promote entrepeneurial activities, create relevant jobs (i.e. oil industry expansion, company contracts).

Cost: Unknown deficit and gains.

MILITARY: FUTURE WORRIES

This is an obvious place to make budget cuts. However, depending on how soon we might need our military, it might actually be more expensive/disastrous to decomission troops now, and then have to raise them again later. Of course, if the alternative turns out to be swimming in Debt, we might have no choice...

BUDGET: RAISE COMMERCIAL TAXES BY 2%

A 42% fixed tax rate would gain us a monthly 180.000.000 gain, and PROBABLY wouldn't scare/hurt investors/companies too much. Assuming a slight tax increase doesn't cripple/slow our industry by much it could buy us some more time before our black turns red. We could reach higher, but I'm guessing the further up we go, the less attractive our nation becomes to do business in and the harder it is to stay competitive. As a rule of thumb, by every percentile we increase this tax rate, we can gain 90.000.000. croms in Taxes.

The General taxes is already at 50%, so I do not think we should increase it. 1% raise there would 'only' net us 40.000.000 croms anyway.

PRODUCTION: EXPORT POSSIBILITIES

Question for Stanislaw again. Can we produce consumer or luxury goods, MH and/or Refined Oil and export it elsewhere at a net gain? An eight of our IC is going unused, after all.

FUND RESEARCH: RESOURCE AND OIL OUTPUT

Changing my priorities here from ESPIONAGE. Imports costs us a lot. Anything that can help us lower some of our expenses in the long run is welcome.

Cost: Unknown deficit and gains.

N.B.

Any and all information supplied to you by this Public Address is subject to the Occasional Idiocy Act, and cannot be guaranteed to be 100% correct. Feel free to double-check the figures and information yourself.
>>
No. 184044 ID: 752a98

>>183813
my good sir and/or madam, i qould like to know if you give online lectures on economy as well.

>Head of State Monitoring
eh. we are a lot more active that a monitor. manager, prime minister or administrator would fit better the description

for the political part, a parliament would be bad. we should delegate minor power, not give restrictive power to the people (gosh i am such a tyrant. how do mayors keep themselfes in power on SimCity?). we should do ministry.

a head minister would have a budget and would care for something. the pop should vote for the minister, with rules and possible veto from the intel agency. we dont want revolutionaries or uneducated people there.

some of the initial ministry: culture, transport, foreign commerce, (maybe) economy, (maybe) justice, Military (we will need to appoint someone for this position, possibly someone that used to work for us. a general if not higher).

>single-party system
GOD NO. i am from brazil and case you havent heard we had a dictatorship literally funded to fight communist. of course there were no communist here so...

a single party system IS dictatorship. a dual party system means that there is only government and oposition, the last one usually amass WAY more people that the government.

ideally we should make 6+ fixed political parties. they should cover even anarchy. most specially anarchy.

>Gorvian Representative Council
a senate of some sort to pass laws that would be approved by us is not bad. we should also make sure they are elected by the peeps with some restrictions of no war criminals and the likes.

>RESOURCE COMPANY
we should do a mixture of public and private investment. the people get some monies, we get the upgrade. if we keep majority we will keep control, if the output increases we will eventually become economically stable. we can also attempt to buy them in return, altho historically this last part does not work well.

>PUBLIC RELATIONS: ESTABLISH GORVIAN NATIONAL BROADCASTING SERVICE
i still think that a journal is the best way to do it. anyway, we should also put some stuff on it like ads and actual talk shows for us to get sum monies and attention of it.

>MILITARY: FUTURE WORRIES
i have arrived to the conclusion that some of our nearby "friends" arent that friendly. id say a 15% cut maximum. we can appeal to the general that complains the most with the ministry of military.

>COMMERCIAL TAXES
1% or 0%. we still have money, let it be. we need the people to get companies and make jobs, raising taxes will put a dent on that.
>>
No. 184089 ID: 14324f

Stanislaw:
“Improving our infrastructure won’t need much time, because we don’t have to pave and concrete anything from zero. Gorvia already has a rather well developed infrastructure; it just suffered much because nobody bothered to look after it during the last five times. Don’t forget the earthquakes we are having every year. Many roads and railways and the public transport lines are currently closed, because nobody is really sure whether they can still be considered safe for public use.
Checking the integral structure and replacing broken parts with spares is costly, but it won’t take decades, especially if we consider the amount of free labour at the moment.

Since you seem to be concerned about our deficit, I wanted to give you some information:
Current world-economy is looking good, which means our economy will probably improve slightly over time.

To put some of our money to use, we could try to invest into private corporations, national or international. The more profit we want, the higher will be the risk, though.

To reduce the cost of our imports, it might be worth to try and strike a better deal with another resource-rich nation.
We could also try to give out loans ourselves. The Crom is regarded as a relatively stable currency.

I know that the last two points will take a lot of time, with diplomatic relations and whatnot, but maybe you can keep it in the back of your head, Sir.

One last option is to actually print Croms. As your economy adviser, I would be strongly opposed to this, though.”

GOVERNMENT-CONTROLLED OIL COMPANY

“Establishing this will take an investment of 25.000.000 Croms. Costs may decrease rapidly, but I want to add that it could take quite some time before we get any money back."


RESSOURCE OUTPUT IMPROVEMENTS

"Hiring a corporation to find Natural Resources will and exploit them will cost 1.500.000 Croms once if we give them mining rights as well as money.
If we want to decide ourselves what ALL Resources will be used for, we would have to lure them out with 20.000.000 Croms once. All that equipment is costly, I heard.
There’s also an offer, Sir, from a corporation with a rather bad reputation. But they say they will do it for 4.000.000 Croms without mining rights. Kinda shady guys, if you ask me, Sir...”
>>
No. 184090 ID: 14324f

RESEARCH PROJECTS:
“The following projects might be of interest to you. I tried to filter the more... unusual projects. You wouldn’t believe what people are trying to get government support for.
Anyway, there’s also a rough estimation for the duration of every project from the applicants. Since I can’t look into the future and since we also have no research expert, I don’t know how much we can trust these estimations.
There is a recommended sum of money beneath each project, but how much you are willing to pay per month is entirely up to you. Giving more might speed research up, giving less might slow them down. Still, don’t expect wonders. Spending ten times the money on a project won’t make it magically ten times faster.
Of course, you can always decide to fund a project later and progress will still be made due to various reasons, like funding from corporations.


Developing high efficiency power plants: It will reduce the amount of Oil one Industrial Capacity needs to function.
500.000 Croms, 5 years

Developing deep mining techniques: We are looking to expand our natural resources output and we will probably find some easily reachable depots. But this technology will help to squeeze the last bit of oil or ore out of mother earth’s teats by drilling really deep holes.
250.000 Croms, 2 years

Synthetic hydrocarbons: Currently, fossil fuels are the main source of energy for our country. These scientists claim that there are ways to somehow produce Oil from Natural Resources.
1.200.000 Croms, 4 years

Alternate Energy Sources – Basics and Theorems: These scientists claim that there are other procedures which produce amounts of energy comparable to one of our power plants without actually using Oil at all. There was talk about the sun, water, ethanol and other things I couldn’t really grasp. But as far as I understood, research in this field is totally in its infancy.
1.000.000 Croms, 6 years

Developing high-efficiency refinery methods: At the moment, producing 1 unit of Fuel needs 5 units of Oil. This seems to be a promising project mainly for the military, but since the amount of oil they use is only a fraction of our total usage, I have doubts about this project’s usefulness at the moment.
350.000 Croms, 6 years


A team is working on a comprehensive list of all research projects for your reading convenience, but that will take a bit, Sir.”
>>
No. 184092 ID: 14324f

Florence:
ADMINISTRATION:
“Sir, we tried to put your ideas on paper.

Executive:
You, Head of State (office still undefined due to recent national crisis)

Legislative:
Parliament: I think I found some ways to hold this off without looking too shabby in the face of public.

Senate: Two elected representatives from every Gorvian province, of which there are six. This means 12 senators. What kind of power they will hold is yet unknown.


You probably have things to add to this, Sir. Remember though, time is not really pressing on this matter.


TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION

As far as I understood from your last memo, you want a journal rather than television? A journal is cheaper, but I'm not sure if it isn't a bit old-fashioned, Sir.
Remember, a picture says more than a hundred words, but 23 pictures per second...”

PUBLIC OPPINION

"Sir, I have bad news. Ever since we sent word of our new government out to the street, responses have been positive so far.
But now there are reports of people in GREYTON who feel like we should only have authority over the mainland, but not the oversea province. We still lack information about this.

It could be nothing; OR it could be the start of a Greyton Secessionist Movement."
>>
No. 184106 ID: c00244

Whatever we do, don't raise taxes. They're already quite high. The big problem with our budget as it currently stands is that our government's only income is from taxes- we have no "exports" line in our profits, yet we're paying for 2.360.000.000 in imports, mostly for oil. Why are these imports the government's responsibility? What the hell are we paying for here, and why can't private industry and the end consumers take care of it? Are we massively subsidizing everything?

>We could also try to give out loans ourselves.
This is a promising line of thought. Many nations, even those which are considered economically very strong, have significant national debt. Perhaps we should consider looking into its purchase, both for purposes of international relations and to establish a flow of income. Since defaulting is always a danger, we should focus on nations unlikely to do so.

>RESEARCH PROJECTS:
Fund the high efficiency power plants and the alternate energy sources, both at 150% of their requested cost. Power is the lifeblood of an industrialized nation, with more and more being needed as advancement progresses, and we can easily afford the research. Additionally, as our universities resume operation offer government scholarships for students going into these fields so that we'll develop a stronger base of professionals in that area in the years to come.

None of the other research proposals really impress me. We haven't exploited our natural resources enough to require deep mining techniques, if synthetic hydrocarbons catch on in an economical fashion some other nation will begin using them extensively and we'll work to share their research, and our military isn't large enough to justify the fuel refining project. Although I could be persuaded to change my mind on that last point, given a decent argument.

>TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION
There's little reason to have a journal instead of a television when we could have both. It'll employ more people and give us the opportunity to disseminate information in multiple styles. Make it so.

>Greyton Secessionist Movement
Quash this immediately. Start with a PR blitz about the numerous promising initiatives we're starting up to strengthen the economy and how much everyone is going to benefit from them; hopefully public opinion will stick with us in the hopes of better jobs. Keep an eye on it.

>12 senators
I don't think this is enough. We want there to be enough representatives that they can argue and bitch endlessly at one another, be divided along a dozen lines, and generally occupy each other's attention so that the executive branch can actually get things done. Consider layering a party population approach on top of the province approach, so that in addition to every province getting two reps, each political party gets one representative per, say, 4% of the population which they can claim. That ought to keep things a bit more confused, at least until we start getting blocs aligning with one another to get things done.
>>
No. 184110 ID: 3f82ff

>As far as I understood from your last memo, you want a journal rather than television? A journal is cheaper, but I'm not sure if it isn't a bit old-fashioned, Sir.
>Remember, a picture says more than a hundred words, but 23 pictures per second...”
yes you are right. we should do something that the CIA can hack. lets do a internet site!

a journal is more effective. if anyone is interested they would buy one. a whole channel for the gov really is weird. we could even do some sort of live TV from the senate.

>Synthetic hydrocarbons
research this. we should attempt to replace oil with something we can literally grow. eventually the wells will dry anyway.

>We want there to be enough representatives that they can argue and bitch endlessly at one another
oh god i know what to do. a senate and a deputy system, one can veto the other's work. in the end they still have to go trhu us.

>Greyton Secessionist Movement
spy the fuck out of them, plus PR stunts. if there is a head we must convince him to stop before killing him.

>RESSOURCE OUTPUT IMPROVEMENTS
>RESOURCE
lol'd. the oil company must also be of government control. we must really think long term.

we should do the 20m offer. we need the stuff as much as the extraction of it. maybe we can make a deal, like they can sell enought to make ends meet.

>MONIES
invest in national companies ONLY. maybe a whole B on it. we should not give LOANS to those that wont pay, that is literally everyone now.
>>
No. 184124 ID: 86faf0

>oh god i know what to do. a senate and a deputy system, one can veto the others work. in the end they still have to go trough us.

So an upper and lower house? I would assume that the upper house is a continuous body as well?

>Secessionist Movement- This is what Miss Florence is here for. We just need to convince Greyton that it is in their best interests to stay with us.

>we could even do some sort of live TV from the senate.

Finally. A government channel that is pro us, but placates naysayers by bringing transparency to the parts of government we let it see.

My final idea is establishing a top secret government research facility. One that we control both the direction and funding for. Where else will we get our GIA spy bots?
>>
No. 184139 ID: 3f82ff

>So an upper and lower house? I would assume that the upper house is a continuous body as well?
in essence they are divided in local and state affairs. if a city requires a law to pass the state has to give their go before we pass it. same happens with the state.

the idea is also that state A will not be over favored because city on other state can whine on it.
>>
No. 184209 ID: c6f963

>We are a lot more active than a monitor.

We monitor the state's welfare and progression, and then make the decisions needed to direct it. It's a fresh breath from all those variations on President or Prime Minister, and would indicate we intend to take a different role than the preceding government. That said, if everyone disagrees or if it turns out to scare people with its Big Brother-y implications, I'll drop it.

>Establish a top secret government research facility.

Sounds hella expensive, so I'll nay that for now. We're at 70-80ies tech-level and will have to research everything.

ADMINISTRATION:

What is our main government/supporting apparatus beyond Miss Florence and Stanislaw? Wholly based around the GIA?

GRUMBLING GREYTONS:

Identify the heads of those who might think or speak of secession/semi-indepedence. Observe reactions to our authority and our actions/plans for Gorvia.

NEXT MONTH'S BUDGET ADDITIONS:

Time to whip out ye olde calculator again.

One-time expenses

Establish Oil company: 25.000.000 (followed by new monthly expense, may take some time to see results)
Contract Resource corporation: 20.000.000 (we keep mining rights)
(ALTERNATE: 1.500.000 (give away mining rights))
(ALTERNATE: 4.000.000 (shady corporation))

Monthly expenses

Decent Infrastructure Upgrade: 833.333.333 (12-month payment plan, 1st month, followed by new monthly expense)
(ALTERNATE: 1.666.666.666 (Best Infrastructure, will bankrupt us twice as soon))
Research High-Efficiency PP: 750.000 (150% payment rate, 5 year prediction)
Research Alternate Energy: 10.000.000 (100% payment rate, 6 year prediction, START of a research line, very SCIENCE-y)
Research Deep Mining: 250.000 (100% Payment rate, 2 year prediction)
Fund national TV service: 1.500.000
Produce 100 Luxury Goods: 4.022.600 (per my earlier statement, might be wrong)

Total new monthly expenses: 854.855.933

Total: 899.855.933

And that pretty much doubles our deficit right then and there. We'll run out of money in a year and roughly three months. It's really the Infrastructure thing that's helluva expensive, if not for that, we could drag the budget out for another year. But fixing the infrastructure would probably be one of the more popular things we could do, and send a powerful sign that we're working for the betterment of the nation.

We could, of course, make budget cuts elsewhere, or increase taxes to make up for some of our new deficits...But there's opposition to tax-raising, so I won't push that. Yet.

N.B.

Any and all information supplied to you by this Public Address is subject to the Occasional Idiocy Act, and cannot be guaranteed to be 100% correct. Feel free to double-check the figures and information yourself.
>>
No. 184255 ID: 86faf0

>>184209
Could we say...put strict regulations on the shady mining corporation and have our spy cell watch them? Put it in the contract and if they screw up they pay fines and forfeit their operations in our country? A bit harsh, but if their shady reputation is well known it shouldn't hurt attracting foreign investment to much.

For the research facility I was assuming that not everything we research will be something we want public. We're obviously not the only spy agency around and we wouldn't want military secrets getting out. Something to think about in the future at any rate.

What does our country look like defense wise anyways? We don't have any hostile neighbors, but a country that's had five years of civil upheaval would make a tasty target.
>>
No. 184265 ID: 3f82ff

forget any spy works untill we actualy get a income. the 20m deal will suffice.

>Research Alternate Energy: 10.000.000
this didnt worked in the new 10s it wont wor in the old 80s. research how to make oil from vegetables.
>>
No. 184312 ID: c00244

>this didnt worked in the new 10s it wont wor in the old 80s. research how to make oil from vegetables.
No, THAT didn't work. Gorvia, as far as I know, is not a Brazil-analogue in climate and layout. Biofuels are only economical in nations with immense amounts of arable land, and preferably advanced agricultural technologies and booming agribusiness. We are not a massive food exporter. Even should we be highly successful in that research, without a large agricultural industry to support its implementation it will forever remain nothing but a curiosity in our nation.

Since we're in an area vulnerable to natural disasters, odds are good that we're in a geologically unstable part of the world. That means we've got very good potential for geothermal energy taps, if nothing else.
>>
No. 184378 ID: 3f82ff

>>184312
this still means electric cars...

and america has the tecnology too. the agroindustry can be made to fullfill that void if the prices arise. its a good backup plan for america.
>>
No. 184883 ID: 797af6

[i]PRODUCTION:
Current NR output: 40.000
Current Oil output: 400

MAXIMUM Industrial Capacity: 8.000
IC used for Consumer Goods: 4.000
IC used for MH: 1.900
IC used for Luxury Goods: 100
Fuel Refinery IC: 1.330

Total IC used: 7.330

1 Industrial Capacity needs: 25 Resources and 20 Oil, 5 Oil are refind into 1 Fuel



BUDGET:

General Taxes: 2.000.000.000 (50%)
Commercial Taxes: 3.806.050.000 (40%)

Luxury Goods exports: 1.100.000

NR imports: 800.000.000
Oil imports: 1.668.000.000

Defence budget: 1.045.000.000
Intelligence: 900.000
Administraion: 500.000

Education Funding: 960.000.000
Healthcare Funding: 800.000.000
Social Funding: 1.220.000.000

Public Relations: 2.200.000
Research Funding: 2.000.000

Infrastructure Funding: 833.333.333
Private Contracts: 20.000.000
Gorvian Oil Company: 25.000.000

Total income: 5.807.150.000
Total spending: 7.376.100.000

Result: -1.569.450.000

Reserves: 24.115.000.000
End Result: 22.046.050 Croms

Stansilaw:
"Our deficit makes my hair grow more grey every day. On the positive side, a small part of your spendings are nonrecurring.

Also, unemployment is decreasing! Due to our various government projects, we have decreased the number of unemployed people by 500.000 people. My estimations tell me we can achieve 500.000 more next month without spending a single Crom more. The employers just have to catch up with our massive funding, Sir.

As it stands, I predict Oil to get a bit cheaper on the world-market, while Natural Resources remain stable.
Our inflation is low and as far as I can predict it will be less than 2% per year."


Florence:
"Sir, population mood increased by 2 statistical points last month.
Also, me and my team have brought the PR hammer down heaily on the people of Greyton. The great majority of them now thinks that secession would be a bad idea. My team used 200.000 Croms for this action from our budget.
Also, we now have a TV station AND a journal."

INTELLIGENCE:
"Sir, the Secessionist Movement in Greyton seems to have lost its momentum. Our agents have, however, found several clues which indicate that there is more behind this than meets the eye. Currently, we use 15% of our agents and 500.000 Croms for monitoring Gorvia as a whole and 400.000 Croms for Greyton and area.
If you could double our budget for Greyton, our agents might find out more about the secessionists and their origins."
>>
No. 184884 ID: 797af6
File 127515670645.png - (119.65KB , 1000x750 , continent_politics_small.png )
184884

"Sir, we got some updates for you:

This map shows current politics on the Continent for every nation.

Green means democratic and pluralistic tendencies.
Red means authocratic and oppressive tendencies."
>>
No. 184887 ID: 797af6
File 12751569696.png - (119.93KB , 1000x750 , continent_wealth_small.png )
184887

"Sir, we have another map for you.

This one shows distribution of wealth among our neighbours.

As you probably guessed:
Green means there are positive tendencies and profits.
Red means the nation is at risk to go bankrupt."
>>
No. 184897 ID: a594b9

>>184887
Orgos looks ripe for the picking. We move in under the guise of trying to help their nation get back on its feet, then slowly and quietly take over their government. The people would be grateful to us for the change.

Though it looks like our situation is not stable enough to start expanding yet.
>>
No. 184901 ID: b14128

>>184897
Considering the nation is both poor -and- oppressive, I'd be willing to bet our PR team would be able to nicely handle it if we invaded them, yes.

Hrmm... Double the intelligence budget in Greyton, I want to know what's going on over there. We may also want to think of spending some intelligence money on Orgos. Lastly... I have a nasty idea: Why don't we combine our specialty in espionage with some private investing, use our spies to ensure our investments pay out?

It would also appear that our industry is not working at its full output, using only 7,330 of the full 8,000. Hrmmm... I wonder how much of a difference using the remaining 670 output on luxury goods would make. Ask for Stansilaw's opinion, let's see what he thinks.
>>
No. 184932 ID: 86faf0

>>184901
Invasion? Not a chance. However, if we can either provoke or wait for a civil war or similar power struggle we could instill a puppet government. This should probably wait until we've got our own things under control.

Another money making idea would be to encourage tourism. We do have all those achievements in culture, art and philosophy. Isn't it time to make those work for us? No big or expensive advertising yet, just reopen the sites, restore any that were damaged, and re-affirm our commitment to our countries national treasures.
>>
No. 184942 ID: 0fe930

>>184897
>>184901

"
Orgos: A tiny nation, but with more than 15 million inhabitants, population density is high. They have been part of a large and militarily strong empire in the past, but they lost practically everything. Now their grim people are rotting in the ruins of their nation.

Notromia: Twenty years ago, they were part of the empire of the Orgos, but the Nostromian people fought for freedom and succeeded. They seem to be down-to-earth people and focus on economy and peace snce then, but whenever they see a weaker nation being threatened by a bigger neighbour, the young nation of Nostromia feels compelled to intervene. "

Yeah, invasion sounds like a GREAT idea /sarcasm

Let's fix our own shit first before we attack any nations that are

1) poor so we get no wealth from attacking
2) not bordering our country, which complicates supply lines and communication
3) bordered by countries that the provided literature specifically says have tendencies to protect small nations.
>>
No. 184949 ID: b14128

>>184932
>>184942
Ok, fair point, 'invasion' is probably the wrong word. Still, I doubt Notromia would be a huge problem if we decide to push Orgos around a little bit, considering they probably hate Orgos, having rebelled against their empire. But yeah, I digress, there doesn't seem to be much to be had from Orgos, but still... Oi, hey, mind if we can get some more information about the nation?
>>
No. 184963 ID: 15f93c

>Gray hairs.

Me too, Stanislaw. Me too.

If at all possible, we really should stretch the infrastructure spending a bit more out than twelve months, maybe eighteen or twenty-four from here on. Unless it's too late to pull back out of it without causing some kind of mess-up.

Considering Stan is saying the industry itself is lagging behind on the hiring, easing up on the cash flow wouldn't be that weird, as long as we still hand out enough for the employees to stay employed.

REVISED STATEMENT:

Bah, Idiocy Act in motion. Looks like I forgot to take into account the oil refined.

1 Unit of Oil currently costs approx. 10900 Crom. NR should still costs approx. 6000 Crom.

However, we do not appear to be importing more NR on our Budget despite producing an extra 100 luxury goods this month and the price being stable. Probably a goof.

>>184901

This much difference: 100 luxury goods = 1.100.000 exports gain - 3.680.000 in costs to produce (20 x 100 Oil + 25 x 100 NR) = -2.580.000 overall.

See my thoughts on that in Questdis.

BUDGET GOOFS:

Poor Stanislaw must be overworked. Even aside from the missing NR expenses, the budget's Total Spending should be at 7.377.000.000 (rounded up from 933.333), up roughly three quarter of a million from what it currently stands. More alarmingly, the End Result should be up some 500 million from where it's currently at. I certainly hope this is just a spelling error!

It also doesn't take a genius to see that the End Result should have a few more zeroes, so don't panic, we haven't gotten close to bankruptcy yet.

RE-ENCOURAGE TOURISM:

Give this man a gold star for a good idea we could capitulate on.

That said, we've been a country in turmoil (and might create more turmoil ourselves, everything depending), so it might be a while before tourists see fit to visit us.

BUT, affirming a dedication to Gorvia's Cultural Values and History, with some spending, could a) strike a starter blow for tourism and b) make us more popular with the Population/outside world.

It could also cost us a lot when we have enough of a deficit already...So unless the cost is negligible, the idea should wait while the country stabilizes under our rule. We're already juggling a fair few balls as-is, after all. Another danger could be that we'd have a harder time catching spies. Tourists necessitate a certain opening of borders, after all.

GRAYTON CONNECTION:

I fully agree on spending more to check on the Greyton movement's origins.
>>
No. 185006 ID: d4872d

regarding tourims, it can increase gorvia nationalism sense if the gorvians themselves peform tourism in their huge country.
>>
No. 185010 ID: 797af6

>>184963
"Sir, it seems somebody on my team commited several errors on the budget presentation.

He was... taken care of."


BUDGET:

General Taxes: 2.000.000.000 (50%)
Commercial Taxes: 3.806.050.000 (40%)

Luxury Goods exports: 1.100.000 (sold cheap)

NR imports: 1.099.500.000 (7330 IC) (increased)
Oil imports: 1.668.000.000 (increased)

Defence budget: 1.045.000.000 (at 100%)
Intelligence: 900.000 (decreased)
Administraion: 500.000 (new)

Education Funding: 960.000.000 (at 100%)
Healthcare Funding: 800.000.000 (at 100%)
Social Funding: 1.220.000.000 (at 100%)(decreased)

Public Relations: 2.200.000 (new)
Research Funding: 2.000.000 (new)

Infrastructure Funding: 833.333.333 (at 100%) (new)
Private Contracts: 20.000.000 (new)
Gorvian Oil Company: 25.000.000 (new)

Total income: 5.807.150.000 (increased)
Total spending: 7.676.433.333 (increased)

Result: -1.869.283.333 (increased deficit)

Reserves: 24.115.000.000
End Result: 22.245.716.667 Croms


"I am terribly sorry, Sir. Something like this is unexcusable."

TOURISM
"Tourism is a great money machine and investments for supplying tourists wouldn't be too high. But attracting them to come here...? They didn't like us in the past due to our earthquakes and hurricanes, the last ones during the best season even. And that was when we had had a stabile government for decades."
>>
No. 185284 ID: 797af6

POPULATION
"After years of political stillstand, we can see political parties and labour unions reorganising. It's like the people are rousing from a long sleep."

GREYTON SECESSIONISM
"Sir, thanks for the extra Croms you granted us.

We were able to find the leaders of the secessionist movement and through them we found one of their 'headquarters'. It was the basement of a house owned by one the leaders.

We were suprised to find three large printing machines, along with heaps of paper and concepts for pamphlets advertising the movement's goals.

We didn't expect the group to have the funds for aquiring something like that. The printing machines are the type able to print hundreds and hundreds of pamphlets every day. Their size was almost to large for the basement.

We were almost done with our sweep and on our way back up, but one of our agents found the user manual and data sheet of the printing machines.

Not too unusal itself, except for the fact that the documents were written in WELLONTURIAN language.

We examind the printing machines closer. Their farbication is wellonturian.

We traced back their origin: They were transported by ship, by a tranport company with its registered office in Wellonturia.
The ship's manifest labeled the printing machines as 'vegetables'.

We tried to find out how the machines were purchased: None of the secessionists lost a sufficient amount of money in the time between the machines' fabrications and today. In fact, several thousand Croms had been transfered TO the leaders' accounts from a bank in Wellonturia."
>>
No. 185289 ID: 797af6

"Sir, please excuse my straight-forwardedness, but you will probably need this:

Setting up a base of operations within the Wellonturian border will be difficult. They have very strict policies concerning immigration and tourism.

I think we'll need 2.500.000 Croms per month in the beginning and we'll report back whenever we need more."

ORGOS:
"I heard you are interested in information about the Orgos... uh Orgosians?

For a general sweep of them we'd need probably 800.000 Croms per month."

INDUTRIAL ESPIONAGE
"for international business, we'd need 600.000 Croms for an overview over what we could achieve and when.

Executing an operation will probably need extra personnel and money."
>>
No. 185297 ID: 797af6

"Sir, new research projects asked for funding. There'll be probably more in the future."


Multistage Rocket Prototypes: The concept of rockets was known for a long time now and is used extensively in our military. Recoilless AT rifles and AA weapons come to mind, as well as our jetfighter weapons.
Now scientists claim that large rockets could be used to travel on their own or something like that. Maybe as a kind of new transportation vehicle or something. Don’t really know what they were babbling about, but they seemed to say that this kind of research has been ignored by nations all over the world for too long....
800.000 per month, 6 months

Operational Nuclear Power Plant: Radioactivity and nuclear reactions have been known for thirty years now. But nobody thought about how it could be implemented on a large scale. Now this man with weird hair came to us and claimed it would be possible to produce power with nuclear fission. Crazy guy if you ask me.
2.000.000 per month, 2 years

Synthetic Super-durable Materials: These scientists say they want to develop harder and better materials on an industrial scale. Many possible usages come to mind.
1.000.000 per month, 6 months

Experimental Vertical Takeoff Aviation: I saw a drawing of this one and it didn’t look like a plane at all. Had the engine in the middle and a propeller on top. Strange stuff, but they claim their early prototypes would already work.
500.000 per month, 6 months

WMDs – Advanced Combat Principles: This comes straight from the military. Sir, WMDs of biological and chemical nature have been known for sixty years now. Usually, nations never utilize them because they are afraid their enemies would use them, too. There are also international treaties on banning WMDs in the works.
Nevertheless, our Generals think it would be useful to research this more. It’s not only about the usage, but also about the protection against WMDs.
400.000 per month, 6 months

>>
No. 185376 ID: 86faf0

I honestly think that Wellonturia can be ignored for awhile. Keep monitoring Greyton and see if they make any more movements there. That goes for the other espionage as well, we should hold of on it for awhile.

>Multistage Rocket Prototypes
Space program anybody? The journey to Alpha Centauri begins with a single step.

>Nuclear Power Plant
A good source of energy, though we might need to import materials, still it sounds like nobody has done this yet.

>durable Materials
yes.

>Aviation, WMD
These one shouldn't even be up for debate in my opinion. Very little long term profit.
>>
No. 185386 ID: ca82d1

>>185376
nucelar energy would yeld better WMDs. we could research it if we fear war.

durable material is also a yes. bigger buildings in the least, at utmost, GUNDAMS!

space program is a no. maybe we can launch sattelites. of the soy type.

i would like to say that we should use intel funds to do these research without the public knowledge.
>>
No. 185388 ID: 903f16

>>185289
I'll support setting up a base in Wellonturia. Judging by the information we've gathered they have been taking action against our great nation.

You can hold on the Orgos and industrial operations for now.

>>185297

>Multistage Rocket Prototypes
This has interesting applications, the Gorvians could be the first people in space. Fund it.

>Operational Nuclear Power Plant
This could provide a good source of power for our people and crazy hair guy sounds pretty reliable to me. Fund it.

>Synthetic Super-durable Materials
Could have thousands of applications, from combat armor to tools. Fund it.

>Experimental Vertical Takeoff Aviation
Helicopters, sounds interesting, but not necessary. Hold funding for now.

>WMDs – Advanced Combat Principles
Researching into this area could potentially mark us as a target, but we should at least look into protection from it. Fund it and focus the research into defense against these weapons.
>>
No. 185456 ID: 4b5c49

RESEARCH OPTIONS:

My fellows, keep in mind there are more research options out there than what has been currently presented. We can't keep funding things willy-nilly, even though it's tempting to do so at these comparatively low prizes.

Unfortunately, many of these are research paths that WILL increase in cost as we progress, and might require solid investments outside of just the research to produce the goods and benefits they make for us.

>Multistage Rocket Prototypes

My vote is no...For now. Rockets have uses both in war and outside of it, but for now we must prioritize.

>Nuclear Power Plant

Hmm...Given our penchant for earthquakes, having a nuclear power plant sounds like a poor idea. At least until we've secured ourselves more durable construction materials.

>Durable Materials.

Yes.

>Aviation

Yes to Aviation. Choppers are useful for more than just wars, especially on getting manpower reliably to and fro, say, offshore oil platforms, or for emergency services.

>WMD

No to WMD, unless it becomes obvious Wellonturia is gearing up for some kind of war and/or that someone threatening towards us have WMDs.
>>
No. 185560 ID: c00244

>>185284
>Intelligence: Wellonturia is obviously messing with us
Guys, we do not want to get into a covert ops war with Wellonturia. While I understand the sentiment of "they funded secessionists, we should send in people", the fact is that they are a much larger nation than we are and economically much healthier. The upshot of that is that they can simply throw an endless stream of money at us and win by default.

Do not fund spy operations in Wellonturia. We can't afford it and can't win in the long term. If their fucking with us becomes a recurring problem we can reevaluate this decision. For now, handle the situation by sending them an ambassador and mumbling about mutually beneficial trade agreements. Maybe they'll decide we're better off under our current government.

Do not spy on Orgos, because we need to get our own nation stable before meddling in others' affairs. There's not a lot of advantage in taking over an economically shattered nation, and we don't have the money and clout to pull it off anyway.

I'm willing to throw 600.000 Croms at evaluating the possibilities of international business espionage. Getting a couple well-placed agents into the right places could save us a hell of a lot of time and research funding.

>>185297
>Multistage Rocket Prototypes
No strong opinion on this one. A lot of potentially useful applications, but we're pushing the research budget here.

>Operational Nuclear Power Plant
No. Expensive, and in a nation full of national disasters we can't afford any artificial ones creating damage multipliers.

>Synthetic Super-durable Materials
Hell yes.

>Experimental Vertical Takeoff Aviation
I'd do it. It's relatively cheap and there are numerous useful applications.

>WMDs – Advanced Combat Principles
No. We're not planning to use WMDs, and we're not going to be getting into the sort of war where someone would use them on us.
>>
No. 185905 ID: 006690
File 127533111662.png - (229.85KB , 800x600 , lytha.png )
185905

Stanislaw:
"Very well, Sir. These are now the projects we are funding (at 100% if not otherwise stated):

High-Efficiency Power Plant: 750.000 Croms (150%)
Alternate Energy Sources: 10.000.000 Croms
Deep Mining Techniques: 250.000 Croms
Super-Durable Materials: 1.000.000 Croms
Experimental Vertical Takeoff Aviation: 500.000

Research Budget total: 12.500.000 Croms

Of course, we keep track of projects which were dismissed by you. You can revisit the files whenever you like.

As you ordered, we will not take any actions concerning Wellonturia or Orgos.

We will, however, spend 600.000 Croms on economical intelligence.

We will stretch the Infrastructure Upgrade over two years for now, basically halfing our investment. I don't think this will have negative effects on the employment situation."


Florence:

DIPLOMATIC NEWS:
"Sir, the CCSH will meet this month! This is great news.
The Continental Council of the Southern Hemisphere, or CCSH, is an instrument for all nations of the continent to get together and discuss recent or troubling matters.

But it's not only a place for the chattering of diplomats. Nations may lay charges against each other or may call for an international tribunal or ask for arbitration in a dispute.

Nations may also apply for financial or humanitarian help after a catastrophe.

The CCSH meetings take place twice each year, in the third and in the ninth month of each year.
But the governments of every nation may call for an extraordinary meeting any time.

The CCSH is not inactive during the rest of the year. The meetings are just special occasions.

It should be considered whether you would want to travel to the meeting in person, Sir. It's tradition the new head of government shakes some hands during his first CCSH meeting.

This year, the CCSH will be hosted in Lytha in Heurlyndia.

If you refuse, it would be very important to give our envoys and diplomats an agenda."

We currently have "september" (or the gorvian equivalent), meaning the ninth month of the year. So, you came to power during June, or the seventh month of the year and two full months + a few days have passed since then. Although we are on the Southern Hemisphere, we currently have autumn season (the world-wide used calendar of this world was apparently developed on the Southern Continent).


POPULATION NEWS
"Sir, the population is looking forward to the improvement of our infrastrucure.

But an enviromentalist group has raised concerns. They claim a species of frogs is threatened by highway construction near Neston. They also say the frogs don't live anywhere else and moving the frog population will cause harm to the whole biotop.
Protests and demonstrations near Neston already hindered the construction work slightly.

Sir, if we order the construction site to be moved as the enviromentalists demand, we would lose a lot of money and time!"
>>
No. 185936 ID: 06ef0f

detour the construction is expensive? we can make a small tax to that state to move the construction.

we should go to the meeting. we also need physical evidence of wellonturia's shenanigans. i am not sure we should attack them openly. i know we should at least organize army passage trhu roin.
>>
No. 185945 ID: 86faf0

>>185936
Wellonturia is the country that has a big army and isn't afraid of using it. We don't want to give them any legitimate reason to attack us.

Is there anyway we can bypass the frogs habitat? Honestly, I could care less about a single species of frog that nobody else has even heard about. Progress has a price, but we will be more careful in the future.
>>
No. 186592 ID: 006690

DANCING COFFEE MUG
"Did you feel it this monring, Sir? Oh, a little earthquake, alright. No significant damages, though. Reports still coming in, but the worst might be an old Lady who suffered a heart attack.

By the way, your flight is in the afternoon."


You and your little entourage take the government plane to Lytha and arrive late in the night.

The meetings will start tomorrow. After a surely expensive meal and the obligatory military parade of the Heurlyndian Army, there will be general talks among the diplomats and you will be presented to the other nations' represantatives.

Since you stay for three days, you are able to arrange extensive talks with three nations.

Which one would be the most useful to meet, you wonder...

Despite the exhausting travel, you take a look at one of sheets Florence gave you before the take-off.

MATTERS OF STATE
"Sir, after your hopefully safe return, we will have to take a look at the legislative and executive offices of Gorvia.

Here's what we got for the moment:

SENATE:
An unknown number of representives from the nations provinces/cities.

PARLIAMENT:
A (larger) number of representatives from the whole natioon in general.

EXECUTIVE:
An unknown number of ministries, probably under our direct control.

This would make our work a lot more acceptable for the people. Of course, actually establishing this will take time, so nobody will wonder why we govern Grovia ourselves alone for the next months. By when, we should have found a method to stay in power for as long as you wish."
>>
No. 186618 ID: a8c42c

>>186592
Lobol and Prestony for the necessary diplomatic good relations. They have strong economies, are close geographically and are friendly enough that we would benefit from closer relations.

Thrudwen for economical ties. They produce most resources and oil we import. It would be prudent to meet them.

As for staying in power I've got nothing. To make our government fairly democratic yet keep ourselves as a despot would require making every other option look much worse.
>>
No. 186629 ID: b14128

Let's talk with Notromia, too. Maybe secretly show them the evidence that Wellonturia is screwing with us, take advantage of their leaping to the aid of nations that are getting bullied to get an ally and some support.
>>
No. 186631 ID: a8c42c

>>186629
I would advise that we hold of until we get some more evidence. For one we only get to talk to three nations. Secondly, we don't have any proof that it is the Wellonturian government that is messing with us. We don't want to waste any credibility with insufficient evidence.
>>
No. 186885 ID: 006690

Lobol, Prestony and Thrudwen, then.


THE CCSH
You shake more hands than you can count. Many congratulate you, sometimes in a more, sometimes in a less honest way, for your accomplishment to become the new Gorvian President.

As you mention your new title is actually "State Monitor", some of the fake smiles turn into a slight frown. It amuses you greatly.

The afternoon goes by. The CCSH meeting seems to be business-as-usual:

The Ferundians and the Estramy shouting barely conceiled obscenities at each other.
Lovko and Kormun diplomats trudging by in their bright robes, the bishops and priests of their draconic religions following in their wake.
The Orgos, displaying their delusions of grandeur as casual and witty as only the Orgos can.Almost, they are able to convince everyone, they were not be taken aback by the lack of respect the Nostromian and Tarrperian diplomats are paying them.

The Wellonturians are strolling from the seats of one weak nation to another, always leaving the addressed diplomats slightly paler than before.
The Jerlan represantatives are as diverse as their country. As heated as the discussions and arguments are among themselves, some might think they need a diplomatic conference all of their own.
The empty seats of the Sorquellian, who, for the twentyfourth year, have refused to visit the CCSH.

Finally, the Heurlyndian Secretary of Foreign Affairs, this year's Head of Concil, raises his voice and addresses you:

"We all know how difficult times have been for the Gorvian people. Five years without a stable government! Grave indeed ahve been the sufferings of our brethren in the south.
But now, the Gorvian people shall see they are not left alone.
As a token of friendship, and as a tribute to the accomplishments of the Gorvian people in the past, the CCSH declares as follows:

The nation of Gorvia will reveive the sum of 250.000.000 per month of their own currency for the time of one year, as a gift to help the rebuilding efforts of their new government!

Peace, everlasting!"

"Peace, everlasting!" the assembled men and women iterate the CCSH's motto.

Applause from every corner in the hall.

Well, well, this might be worth the travel after all.


DIPLOMATIC TALKS WITH PRESTONY

The next day, the highest ranking diplomat of Prestony enters a secluded room, where you already wait for him.

Your own men already sweeped the room for wiretaps and hollow walls. Under current circumstances, the room is as safe as can be.

"Well, Sir" the tall man from Prestony begins, "let's get straight to business. What would you like to talk about?"
>>
No. 186925 ID: a8c42c

>>186885
Peace everlasting? Well, maybe if we get our way.

Well Prestony is the economic powerhouse closest to us so we need to get them interested in something like a free trade agreement. Reduced tariffs, educational and cultural exchange, the free flow of ideas.

We are updating our infrastructure. The ease of transporting goods to and from here makes us an obviously important trading partner.

Also, ask what he thinks about our new title. I for one love that it's making them uncomfortable.
>>
No. 186934 ID: 006690

"Well, what is your oppinion of my title?"

The man hesitates. "I'm sure you choose your title with great care, Sir."

A diplomatic answer.

“How about free trade agreements?", you say, "Exchanges of cultural and educational nature?”
The diplomat nods.
“I see. I’m glad you are interested in bringing our nations closer together. Let me propose the following terms and conditions:

Free trade between our nations. This will bring profits for both sides, surely.
Educational and cultural exchange. Well, I’m sure the people of Prestony will be glad to take part in this.

Reduced tariffs? Why not abolish tariffs completely? We would be very interested in this.

Free flow of labour between our nations.
Whenever you need money, Prestony shall grant the most generous interests, I promise that.

Gorvia shares the technological developments of its great scientists for the next three years.

A non-aggression pact between our countries, to be made public in front of the CCSH, in effect for the next ten years.

Would you agree?”
>>
No. 186952 ID: 9755c2

>>186934
>Gorvia shares the technological developments of its great scientists for the next three years.
This would include:
>Developing deep mining
>Multistage Rocket Prototypes.
>Operational Nuclear Power Plant.
>Synthetic Super-durable Materials.
>Experimental Vertical Takeoff Aviation.
>WMDs – Advanced Combat Principles.
>>
No. 186956 ID: c00244

>>186934
>Free trade between our nations.
>Educational and cultural exchange.
>Reduced tariffs? Why not abolish tariffs completely?
>Free flow of labour between our nations.
>Whenever you need money, Prestony shall grant the most generous interests, I promise that.
>Gorvia shares the technological developments of its great scientists for the next three years.
This sounds so much like the way that the United States commits economic rape, it's not even funny. They've just slathered technological theft on top. Taking this kind of offer will strip us of our own economic strength and individuality, bind us to another nation, and remove our only edge- technological growth. Do not tell him that this is what we hear in his words, obviously.

We appreciate their generous offer, but unfortunately until our nation has stabilized we would prefer a more scaled-down set of agreements. We had intended to propose the free flow of specific categories of items, such as [insert product(s) which we could import without significantly harming our own recovering economic base]. As for our technology, of course our researchers would be delighted to license their innovations to your corporations or government in a mutually profitable fashion, but we would prefer for it to be on a case-by-case basis.


>A non-aggression pact between our countries, to be made public in front of the CCSH, in effect for the next ten years.
That sounds delightful.
>>
No. 187016 ID: 903f16

>>186956
Seconding this course of action.
>>
No. 187027 ID: b4c60d

>>186592
Show what evidence we have to Roin to, so they can be prepared.

Personally I'd like to air these grievances out in the open. Make us seem like the hurt new government and the unhappy war-makers are the, well, unhappy war-makers.
>>
No. 187039 ID: c00244

>>187027
The evidence that we have is extremely sketchy. While we could air it out in the open, it might be better to just keep it quiet- we don't have the pull to make any charges actually turn into something, and it'd piss the Wellonturians off.
>>
No. 187053 ID: a8c42c

>>187039
We don't even have any proof that their government was involved. All we have proof of is that the secessionists were being supplied and funded by people in Wellonturia.

We just need to give them enough rope to hang themselves with.
>>
No. 187090 ID: 9755c2

>>186956
>>186934
I hate to sound paranoid but Prestony is an ECONOMIC POWER, it's going to have a predisposition to being specialized in PRIVATE SECTOR ESPIONAGE and STEALING and SELLING TECNOLOGY from it's business partners and competitors. I think we should avoid any unmonitored transactions involving labour, goods, and trade with these people.
>Free trade between our nations.
No. How are we supposed to get money if we can't tax imports and exports?!?
>Educational and cultural exchange.
Yes. It's mutually benefical and has a the lowest chance of back firing.
>Reduced tariffs? Why not abolish tariffs completely?
No, perhaps grant them a slightly lower tariff, we still want there to be competition between goods and services from both countries.
>Free flow of labour between our nations.
No. This will mostly likely spawn some kind of private sector espionage
>Whenever you need money, Prestony shall grant the most generous interests, I promise that.
Maybe... I don't like the idea of us soiling our debt free track record.
>Gorvia shares the technological developments of its great scientists for the next three years.
Absolutely NO!
>A non-aggression pact between our countries, to be made public in front of the CCSH, in effect for the next ten years.
Yes!!! (Remeber we can always break it something comes up, but it will most likely ruin our diplomatic reputation)
>>
No. 187104 ID: 006690

You decide to not say anything about the secessionist affair to Roin or any other nation, at least for now.

"I would certainly agree to the Non-aggression pact and the cultural exchange program.

To abolish tariffs altogether would be too fast a step - but I would still offer you reduced tariffs.

Concerning our technological developments, I would insist on having these matters decided on a case-by-case strategy. However, Gorvia would never hide any technology from our good friends in Prestony - provided an appropriate license is payed."

The Prestony diplomat looks slightly disappointed.
You continue.

"Your other points, well, I would like to wait some time, while our nation recovers from its former state of crisis."

"A pity, a pity..." The diplomat scratches his head. "To be sure, our offer about generous loans still exists. Feel free to ask for Prestony Dollars, which is, as you certainly know, a currency as safe as solid gold, whenever you are in a financial crisis.

If I may direct your focus on technology and science again, Sir, would you at least agree to this:

Whenever Gorvian researchers develop a new technology and are willing to publish, Prestony or corporations from Prestony are the first allowed to negotiate about a license.

That would be my last point. Concerning the cultural and educational exchange, the reduced tariffs and the Non-aggression pact, you can consider us to be in agreement."
>>
No. 188244 ID: 9755c2

>>187104
>Whenever Gorvian researchers develop a new technology and are willing to publish, Prestony or corporations from Prestony are the first allowed to negotiate about a license.

I could go either way with this, but I'm leaning toward letting them have it just for the sake of getting their cooperation
>>
No. 188293 ID: 006690

„Is that a precondition...?” you ask.
“Consider it a token of trust and friendship from you to us.”

Gritting your teeth, you agree.

The rest of the day goes by, while clerks and law councillors from both Prestony and Gorvia work on the documents necessary for the Non-aggression Pact, the reduced Tariffs and the exchange program. The diplomat of Prestony approves of the technology license purchase option remaining an unwritten agreement.

After dinner, you sign the prepared documents. It seems a slightly shallow gesture for your first diplomatic accomplishments.

THRUDWEN TALKS
The next morning, you mentally prepare for the talks with Thrudwen. As Gorvia’s main artery for oil and resources, the diplomat from Thrudwen might behave very different compared to the economy-focused Prestonite yesterday.
Again, the meeting will be held in a secluded room.
Your gaze falls on the bottle of wine on the small table. You notice one corner of the label has been peeled off. You reach out and grab the piece of paper. It comes off without resistance.
Surprised, you find the following words written on the back of the label in tiny handwriting:
Please come to the library room, tomorrow at 18 o’clock.
A solicitant.


Footsteps are coming closer from outside, and so you quickly put the label into your pocket.
The diplomat from Thrudwen enters, a tall and broad woman. Her fake smile is probably the most convincing one you saw during the last days.
“Greetings, Mr. State Monitor.”
You exchange some, well, diplomatic chatter, until the diplomat feels like it’s the right moment to get into business.

“Allow to begin with my nation’s greatest concerns at the moment:
The conflict between Ferundia and Estramy is getting more and more dangerous. As you know, there are factions in Estramy who openly call for war. We cannot let the warmongers have their way!
Would you, in case of a war, join our peacekeeping efforts and support the independence of Ferundia?”

‘And keep the Estramy away from the coast of Thrudwen, huh?’, you think.

“We already approached other nations and responses have been positive, mostly.” The diplomat continues. “This is, of course, only a precaution for one of many possibilities. But having the strength of your nation lending weight to our coalition’s efforts would be very handy.”
>>
No. 188453 ID: 903f16

>>188293
>Please come to the library room, tomorrow at 18
o’clock.
>A solicitant.

Be sure to clear our schedule for that time so we can meet this solicitant.


>‘And keep the Estramy away from the coast of Thrudwen, huh?’, you think.

Well, it seems like we can use this our benefit. They are acting out of their self interests, why not act on our own? We're not getting much out of these deal right now other than good press. As a sign of friendship and trust would they be willing to provide us with a reduced price on their goods? After all our people just exited a very unstable period in our history, possibly entering a war is not something they want. They could use a remind as to why we should help our fine friends in Thrudwen.

>“We already approached other nations and responses have been positive, mostly.”

Well who exactly have you approached, and more importantly who said no to them? We can't enter this coalition without having this basic information.
>>
No. 188641 ID: 9755c2

>>188453
>>188293
>‘And keep the Estramy away from the coast of Thrudwen, huh?’, you think.

>main artery for oil and resources

Ahhh if Thrudwen wishes for the assistance of Gorvia to "defend Ferundia's independence" perphaps our military's response time could be faster if we had larger and better access to oil? After all with the country in the state it's in, it could take a while before battleships are given approval to start burning through all that useful petroleum in order to reach Ferundia?
>>
No. 188653 ID: 9755c2

>>188293
>main artery for oil and resources.

Besides oil what else do they supply us with?
>>
No. 188857 ID: 006690
File 127581711345.png - (141.34KB , 1000x750 , coalition.png )
188857

>Besides oil what else do they supply us with?

From Thrudwen, freighters carry mostly metal ores, steel, wood and the occasional chemical we don’t produce ourselves. Most processing is done by our own industry, though.

„Well which nations exactly have you approached, and more importantly who said no to you? “
“The Jerlan Federation, Arnsgatte and Nostromia support our coalition. It goes without saying we can count Ferundia in as well.
Tarrperia choose to remain neutral, as well as Lovko and Kormun and Prestony.
Orgos and Heurlyndia are against meddling with the affairs of other nations and discouraged any action by us.”
With a nod, the diplomat beckons you closer.
“There are certain... conjunctures..., which hint at Wellonturia supporting the nationalistic factions in Estramy. But you don’t know that from me, you understand?”

“Confidential information? Nobody knows more about that than me”, you reassure the woman.

“Well, I planned to talk with the representatives of Lobol, Roin and Manesh the next days, although any support from the two last ones will probably mostly of symbolic nature. And I think asking the Sorquellians is pointless, anyway.” She shrugs.

In your head, you picture the nations of the continent accordingly.

“Wouldn’t you agree Gorvia would be able to help much faster in case of emergency, if our access to oil was somehow... expanded?”

“I see. Well, in case of war, we could probably ship a few hundred units of oil for free from our own reserves...”

“I’d like to have more precise information about that.”

“Well, 600 units of oil free of charge, each month, to support the Gorvian military campaign. How does that sound?”

“What about reduced prices?” You rub your fingers together, probably the only gesture shared by literally everyone on the continent.

“I can’t promise anything in that regard. Our oil industry is mostly independent. Really, I don’t know.”
>>
No. 189176 ID: 903f16

>>188857
This is an acceptable offer, and it gives us a way to go against Wellonturia's interests while furthering our own.
>>
No. 189189 ID: 9755c2

>>188857
>main artery for oil and resources.

If war does break out, Ferundia's allies (including us if we chose so) will have to bear much of the economical brunt of the conflict considering they're already in the orange when it comes to going bankrupt. Perhaps a war time economy could pull them through similar to America during the Great Depression?

"Perhaps Gorvia would be willing to supply its allies with bigger and better weapons if we had greater supplies of iron, steel and other various supplies needed for a war effort..."
We can either remain neutral and profit from supplying both sides with weapons or we could go side with Ferundia, sell excusivley to our allies, and get a chance to strike at whomever encouraged the secessionist movement.
>>
No. 189782 ID: 006690

"Your offer of 600 units of oil per month to aid our military campaign in case of a war is very generous. I accept."

"Very well. Thus, I can count on your support?"

"Yes. Gorvia will help the peace-keeping effort."

"Fantastic. With your backup, I expect Estramy to back down. Mot talks with them will be conducted by diplomates from Thrudwen, but we will keep you informed."

"Let me now suggest the followin: Gorvian armaments could increase the power of the coalition's forces and we would happily provide those. We would need enough natural ressources for such a project, though..."

The woman shakes her head. "Thrudwen has no interest in upgrading its military forces at the moment. But thank you for the offer."

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

During a much needed break, you find yourself wondering about the message you found. Calling out for one of your assistants, you decide to keep some free time at 18 o'clock tomorrow. This could get interesting.

LOBOL TALKS
Again, you find yourself in a secluded room, again waiting for a diplomat.

The Lobolese enters wthout knocking. He looks at you, queerly, and helps himself to a glass of wine.

"Well, well" he begins "You are the new Gorvian bloke, aren't ya?"

He sits down.

"Eh, we don't know how ya became the head o' state in Gorvia. Honestly, I don't care. But I tell ya what: Ya'll be gone as fast as ya came, sure as hell."

He takes a sip of wine. You feel your anger rising.

"Them fancy deals with Prestony? You better call that off, quickly as can be. That's some good advice for ya, ya hearin'? Whatever Gorvia paid them, it ain't worth it, I tell ya.

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."

He finishes his glass.

"But to business, eh? So, in the area around Wesburg, there's been some trouble. Some folks doin' crimes and bashin' peoples' heads in, right?
So, we don't wanna our Gorvian friends to get hurt, right? But keeping it all good n' secure is expensive, I tell ya.

Why don't ya support the nice cops from Lobol with a bit o' money, huh? I think, some 400.000.000 of whatever your currency is called will be a'right. We don't want any Gorvian stuff to get broken, right?"
>>
No. 189855 ID: 903f16

>>189782
Well they're sufficiently annoying, nothing like Lobol was described to us as. They're supposed to be civilized and reasonable, not brutish idiots who think they can get off trying to start a protection racket against their rival nation. Are we sure this is even the right guy? If it is then just kick him out and tell our people to upgrade the police force and border patrol along Lobol when we get home.
>>
No. 189890 ID: c00244

>>189782
Plan one (tell him to fuck off): Inform him that while we would of course like nothing better than to give away millions of croms, unfortunately since we'll doubtless be out of office by the end of the year we had better save enough money to leave our successors a surplus. Sorry.

Then tell him that we're afraid that he'll have to leave, because we're expecting a meeting with a diplomat from Lobol and can't have any vaguely threatening random hooligans sitting about drinking our wine when he arrives. It wouldn't help to make a good impression.

Plan two (demonstrate that Gorvian Intelligence can play the vague threat game as well): Try telling him that we had a diplomatic proposal- we've heard that Lobolese factories are REMARKABLY dangerous, but if they'd be willing to partially fund our researchers' work into safer industrial practices with, say, 401.000.000 croms, we're sure that any unfortunate incidents could be neatly avoided. If they agree, we would of course support their police force's operations around Wesburg as requested.

If he says no, go home and send a dozen teams to blow up Lobolese chemical plants. Also boost our border security.
>>
No. 189943 ID: 5f20de

>>189855

Don't kick him out, it could be what he wants. This is a test. Even if it isn't, even if we've been sent the most insultingly coarse diplomat on the Lobol team, we should maintain a calm, civilized (though perhaps subtly menacing, we seem good at that) facade. Drink our own wine with slow controlled relish, compared to his quick, casual drain.

I'll be surprised if he expects us to actually pay that crazy amount. More likely, he is taunting us, or wanting to see how we'll react to some half-empty threats. Or, like an experienced barterer, he is putting his initial request for money high.

It was poorly presented, but it sounds like they've got societal trouble in Wesburg, actually...Or it could just be a made-up excuse for extorting money from us/get under our skin.

However, there's no reason to even think about conceding to this demand. If Lobol needs monetary aid to be able to stop some of its less righteous elements from spilling over onto Gorvian soil, perhaps a more direct intervention is needed? Far be it from us to let our close neighbors down. Gorvia would be happy to lend well-seasoned police and investigative units to help its brother nation in hunting down criminals of all capes and colors...

((This would be a good time to eye him up and down, as if evaluating his particular cape and color. And, hey, if Gorvian aid is more successful in calming things down in Wesburg than Lobol, perhaps the citizens there will rethink their allegiance. Or perhaps we now have an excuse to actually go in there ourselves and try to win the people over. Who knows? One really should be more careful with what one tries to justify one's requests with. As Gorvia we should take a whole hand when someone gives us the finger... even when they're just flipping us the bird.))

>Thrudwen's alliance.

Now, frankly, the Thrudwen initiative is good for the continent, if it can lead to an increase in stability in an unbalanced region on the edge of war. Lobol should join in as well if they are at all interested in a quiet continent...Yet Thrudwen will talk for itself, if they haven't already.

((Personally, I don't hold too high hopes to that a war will be successfully avoided through this alliance. The fact that we simply got in because of Wellonturia being the instigator is also shameful... we should've negotiated for something more than just oil aid in CASE of war. Getting involved in a war may also be us falling into whatever Wellonturia has planned if they simply mean to weaken or distract us away from them. Finally, while I doubt Thrudwen lied to us just to get us into the alliance, they certainly could have done that as well.))

>The Prestony deal.

That deal is already in the process of being finalized. We'll take his frank stance under advisement, but Gorvia WILL be able to deal with Prestony on its own terms. Should troubles with Prestony arise because of the current deal... well, deals that are no longer favorable deals can be renegotiated or terminated.

If he has any intel on this in particular that we can believe to be trustworthy, perhaps we have something to talk about. If not, perhaps we should talk more about these troubles in Wesburg.

>Meeting at six PM.

Keep a guard on standby, and a very discreet Intel man or two on watch to tail anyone leaving the library room afterward. If we have any Intel with us, that is. This might have something to do with the Wellonturians, and that makes me edgy.

>>189890

Wesburg is in Lobol, its west-most large city, if you didn't know (map in Quest Discussion). It's more a possible border problem he's intimating at.

I partly disagree on your proposed action. We should be far more subtle about making threats, and how we accomplish any object lessons on our part, particularly ones that might be construed as acts of war and/or require us to considerably up our intel spending and manpower.
>>
No. 189950 ID: c00244

>>189943
>I partly disagree on your proposed action. We should be far more subtle about making threats, and how we accomplish any object lessons on our part, particularly ones that might be construed as acts of war and/or require us to considerably up our intel spending and manpower.
True. Writing it up that way was probably an unwise knee-jerk reaction on my part.
>>
No. 190493 ID: 80f021
File 127602307215.png - (133.26KB , 600x600 , lobolese_diplomat.png )
190493

Swallowing your anger, you decide to give your response as calm as possible, suitable for the head of state of a nation of this continent.

“Firstly, allow me to tell you, we are able to deal with Prestony on our own. But I thank you for your advice.”

The diplomat chuckles. His lack of respect is disturbing. If you hadn’t seen him talking in front of the assembled CCSH council, you would almost doubt his identity.

“Secondly, the Thrudwen coalition aims to stabilize a region of the continent threatened by war. If you’d allow me to suggest a course of action, Lobol should join.”

“Right. Keep on goin’, this is very amusing.”

You ignore the remark.

“Last but not least, if Lobol has difficulties keeping its population safe, maybe it would be prudent to allow Gorvian security forces to enter the area around Wesburg until the situation is under control, rather than supporting you with money.”
The face of the man in front of you suddenly turns a deep red.

“You think you can threaten us?”

“Excuse me? I merely tried to offer help...”

“Right, let me tell ya somethin’ there: The people o’ Gorvia and the Continent will soon be tired o’ the games ya playin’ and then we’ll see where ya’ll end up.”

“Does that mean you are not interested in any diplomatic deals?”

“Diplomatic deals? With a pretender? If only I could laugh ‘bout the jokes ya tellin’. The only document signed by ya I might be interested in is your retirement.”

“The relationship between Gorvia and Lobol has been defined by civilized, polite and reasonable behaviour from both sides. It saddens me to see this turn for the worse.”

The diplomat puts the glass down, hard, and stands up.

“Those words are insults to all free people. Honour binds the nation of Lobol to help the Gorvian people to get the elected and lawful government they deserve. I tell ya, I’ll bring down the entire Continent on ya myself if I have to. Times are really bad if tyranny and oppression may rule freely in front of all nations like that. I will not have it! Lobol will not have it!”

The voice of the man increases in volume while he speaks. In the end, he is almost yelling. After he has finished, there is a moment of silence in room. Then he leaves, without so much as looking at you.

There won’t be many documents to prepare today, you assume.
>>
No. 190498 ID: 80f021
File 127602337959.png - (244.86KB , 600x600 , duchess_dransworde.png )
190498

Librabry, around 6 o’clock
Two very experienced intel men from your retinue are following you to the library. You instruct them to stand by for further orders.
Seamlessly, they melt in with the other library visitors, of which there are only a few.

You ask yourself from whom you got the message, just as the librarian tips your shoulder.

“The book you are looking for is over there, Sir” the man says, pointing.

“Thank you, but I’m not...” You slightly shake your head. “Yes of course, my book. Over there, you said? Thank you.”

The librarian disappears.

You make your way to a very quiet part of the library. Nothing seems to be here besides you and the dusty bookshelves.

You are about to turn back, feeling foolish for even coming to the library, but then you spot a movement from the corner of your eye. A hand, beckoning you to come closer.

The hand belongs to a woman in strange, old-fashioned clothes, which remind of something a Gorvian woman would have probably worn more than eighty years ago.

“Thank you for coming, Sir” the woman greets you. “I’m glad you received my message.”

“A strange way to arrange a meeting. May I know who you are?”

“My name is Isabel. Isabel of Dransworde” she answers.

“This... does not explain much.”

“I thought so. Dransworde is a small country, currently within the territory of the Jerlan Federation."

Jerlan? Well, now you are able to place her accent.

“A small country?”

“A duchy, to be precise. My late father was the last duke of Dransworde.”

“So you are the duchess, Madame?”

“No, I’m the current duke’s sister. But my brother is no more a leader of our nation than a cat is afraid of a mouse. The Jerlan Federation robbed us of our independence and took away our rights.”

“Well, a tragic tale, Madame. But I don’t see...”

“I am here to ask for your support. Please, Sir, help us! My father was a modern man, he wanted to establish democracy and abolish the line old dukes who ruled Dransworde so far. The people loved him! But the Jerlan Federation... I have no proof, but I’m sure they are responsible for his death! And then they took control of our country.
Believe me, Sir, our people aren’t ready to rebel against Jerlan rule, but the time will come! And our neighbours might join us. Unrest rules among the Jerlan provinces.”

“With your neighbours you mean...”

“Other countries inside the Jerlan Federation!”

“Each the size of a few football fields, am I correct?”

“You exaggerate. We are small, Sir, and our people are few. But a combined effort by several countries, with sufficient preparation and support from outside, will surely succeed!”

“So, you ask for money? Weapons?”

“No, Sir. Maybe I will come to you in the future, pleading for these things. But right now I try to gather allies. People whom I can trust, who are willing to help our cause.”

“And in return you offer...?”

“The friendship and gratitude of the people of Dransworde. And more. While my brother is a prisoner in his own palace, I, the unimportant sister, am free to go where I please. And the Jerlan Federation suspects nothing. If you wish, I will be your informant, your spy among them.”

“Why me?”

“Who else? The other nations consider the Jerlan Federation a lawful entity, ruling over its provinces. You are new.”
>>
No. 190560 ID: 40cb26

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.
>>
No. 190567 ID: 5f20de

>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?
>>
No. 190686 ID: 903f16

>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.
>>
No. 190702 ID: 798746

>>190686
In my opinion we just need be like Vetinari. Democracy? We're the man and we have the vote.
>>
No. 190723 ID: c00244

>>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.
>>
No. 190749 ID: 5f20de

>>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.
>>
No. 190965 ID: 7a0896

“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.
>>
No. 190966 ID: 7a0896
File 127610791138.png - (143.20KB , 600x600 , welcome_back.png )
190966

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?”
>>
No. 190997 ID: bcf25c

>>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.
>>
No. 191034 ID: 40cb26

>>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.
>>
No. 191036 ID: c00244

>>190997
Tightening up national building codes, and possibly establishing an inspection bureau and setting penalties into law, would probably be a good thing.
>>
No. 191149 ID: 5f20de

>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).
>>
No. 191162 ID: bcf25c

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.
>>
No. 192593 ID: b36e84

“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.
>>
No. 192667 ID: c00244

>>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.
>>
No. 192757 ID: 40cb26

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.]
>>
No. 192915 ID: b6178d

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.
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No. 193282 ID: b36e84
File September_Report.swf - (6.93KB , 800x1000 )
193282

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.

>>
No. 193383 ID: 40cb26

>>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.
>>
No. 194619 ID: 5f20de

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.]
>>
No. 194688 ID: c00244

>>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.
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No. 194796 ID: d86f54

>>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.
>>
No. 194912 ID: c00244

>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.
>>
No. 194929 ID: 5f20de

>>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.
>>
No. 194996 ID: 57a992

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.
>>
No. 194997 ID: 57a992

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.”
>>
No. 200652 ID: 7e186c

is this thread still running?
>>
No. 200653 ID: 7e186c

>>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.
>>
No. 200759 ID: 1188f9

>>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.
>>
No. 200771 ID: 5f20de

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.
>>
No. 201425 ID: b7fdd4

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..."
>>
No. 201548 ID: 4af8c8

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
>>
No. 201670 ID: 37b673

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.
>>
No. 201836 ID: c00244

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.
>>
No. 201869 ID: b14128

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.)
>>
No. 201870 ID: b7fdd4

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. 202353 ID: c00244

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.
>>
No. 203037 ID: 360168

"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.”
>>
No. 203038 ID: 360168

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.”
>>
No. 203347 ID: 5f20de

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)?
>>
No. 203624 ID: 360168
File 127833960210.png - (202.52KB , 750x600 , austeaux_manoevre.png )
203624

“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.
>>
No. 203626 ID: 360168
File 12783396937.png - (125.71KB , 400x800 , translator.png )
203626

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?”
>>
No. 203745 ID: 5f20de

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.
>>
No. 204265 ID: 360168
File 127845353258.png - (126.21KB , 600x500 , stanislaw.png )
204265

>>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!

>>
No. 204309 ID: c00244

>>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.
>>
No. 204327 ID: 732129

I really enjoyed reading this quest. Coup put a huge amount of work into it, and it shows.
>>
No. 204330 ID: 6834bc

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.
>>
No. 204340 ID: 5f20de

>>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.
>>
No. 204347 ID: e973f4

>>204265
Aww.

I know I wasn't posting, but I did like this one...
>>
No. 204364 ID: b14128

>>204347
Yeah, me too.
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