Diplomacy 4: Tale of Ekonia


Diplomacy 4: Tale of Ekonia is set in a world similar to our own, yet the technology level is broadly equivalent to the Ancient Era in Europe. Of course there are some differences however, for example, in Ekonia it is possible to construct Gas Vents to channel the gas beneath the surface of the land, this has allowed for the construction of large Airships, which are commonly used to transport army regiments into battle. Sanitation levels are also fairly advanced compared to ancient Europe and large cities are not uncommon.


http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/1792/basemapad9.png (http://imageshack.us)


‘’Once upon a time this world was united. It was a time of great peace and prosperity, there were no wars, and even poverty and disease was rare. Yes, those were the days. The Emperor at Nikea was kind and just, a good ruler, but when he found his wife had cheated on him he flew into fit of rage. He killed her and the other man in the bed that they laid in, they died brutal deaths indeed, and the Emperor began to turn to drink. A year passed, and the Emperor had gotten worse, some say he was being blackmailed. They say men in grey robes came to him and threatened to reveal to the people just what had happened to their much-loved Empress. The Empire’s coffers were bled dry and taxes were raised in every city and town. The nobility were in uproar. They refused to pay, and led rioting in the home towns. The payments had stopped, and the men in grey robes needed payment. That was when the Emperor’s son was kidnapped. His only son. Heir to the Empire. Of course, a ransom would have to be paid, but the Empire was bankrupt. Taxes were raised. A revolution occurred in Meineria, their noble families promised to change things, to return the run-down city to prosperity. The Emperor demanded that the rebellion must be crushed, but the nobles of the Empire refused to draft their regiments. They refused to pay the new taxes, threatening to also revolt. The Emperor had no money, but the blackmailers still demanded money, as well as the ransom for his yet to be returned son. He couldn’t pay, and the men in grey robes threatened him with death if he could not get the money. An assassination attempt was foiled, but the emperor now feared for his life. In response he created several new and highly restrictive laws, no one would go out after dark, lest they be assassins, no trade of food between cities, lest it be poisoned, no autonomy for noble houses, lest they be the men in grey robes. And the Emperor shut the doors of his palace in Nikea, and proclaimed that no one may enter or leave the building. The doors remain closed to this day. Of course, that truly was the end of the empire, and ever since then the nobility have each ruled their city-states.

Yet it is prophesised that the Empire will one day return, and rumoured that descendants of the Emperor’s Son may be living somewhere in the former Empire.

But of course, Time will tell.’’

Rules


Capitals: Your capital city provides a bonus of 10 gold to the normal city’s 15 Gpt for a total of 25Gpt. Capturing an opponent’s capital will revert it to a basic city and one of your opponents remaining cities will become their capital. If they have no other cities they lose their capital until they capture a new one.

Cities: Cities provide 15 Gpt.

Tiles: Tiles without cities on provide 10Gpt.

Sea lanes: When one player has a sea lane, they gain a 15% increase on their base tile income (BTI) (the amount you get from cities, capitals and other tiles).

Triremes controlling a Sea lane receive a 20% combat penalty.

Trade: When two nations border each other they may trade. In this case each player gains 25% of the amount equal to their partner’s BTI, in addition to their own BTI. Two players who both control SLs may also trade. Trade may begin on the same turn as the circumstances to do so are created, so for example, you may begin to trade with other players holding Sea lanes on the same turn as you capture them. However, to do so you would have to reveal your plans to capture the SL to other people. If the owner found out, they could use their Gold to reinforce the SL or bring ships in from elsewhere, if you were unable to capture the SL for this reason then, of course, your trade agreements will not be applicable. For a trade to begin, both players involved must put it in their orders. This will not be necessary in subsequent turns after trade is established.

Units have an initial cost, which you pay upon buying them, and an upkeep cost, which you then pay for each subsequent turn you control these units. Please note that in this variant of diplomacy, having a large standing army may not be the best plan long-term and it may be better to mainly draft units in when you need them. This is to increase the reliance on strategy and to give smaller countries a chance. It is recommended that you defend Forts and cities well however.

Infantry: Strength=1 Movement=1 Cost=10G Upkeep=4 May be disbanded for 5 G refund.

Cavalry: Strength=1.5 when attacking, 0.5 when defending, Movement=2, Cost=25, Upkeep=10 May be disbanded for 5G refund.

Trireme: Strength=1, Movement=1, Cost=20, Upkeep=4, May be disbanded but give no refund.

Transport: Strength=0, Movement=1, Cost=15, Upkeep=3, May be disbanded but give no refund. It is possible to load and unload a ship in the same turn or move and load or unload in the same turn. Can carry a combined strength of 6 (for this purpose cavalry count as 1.5.)

Airship: Airships can drop 3 infantry anywhere within a 3 tile radius, sea tiles count as 2 tiles. They must always be based at a fort or a capital and each fort may only hold 2 at any one time. When not dropping units they may rebase to other forts or the capital. You may not control more airships at any time then the number of AB’s you have, doubled. Airships may be disbanded but give no refund. Cost=20, upkeep=10

Transports and airships may not transport units on the turn they are made.


firstly you don't need to keep money aside to pay for your unit upkeep, this is deducted from your BTI at the start of the next turn, therefore it is not necessary to include it in your orders. Also, income from disbanding units is not readilly available on that turn and is added at the begining of next turn.

Income is calculated: Turn Start Gold - (Cost of buying units + costs of improvements + Gold trade) + (BTI - upkeep) + Trade and SL income + Gold trade.

In your orders it is only necessary for you to deal with the costs section (Red). Upkeep is not actually a cost, more like a negative income if that makes sense. All the blue stuff is handled by my spreadsheet. The amount left over after this calucualtion is the amount of gold you start with next turn.


Fort: Forts are a very versatile improvement but a single player may not control forts in adjacent tiles so choose their position wisely. They provide a 15% penalty to enemy units attacking tiles adjacent to the fort controlled by the same player as the fort and a 30% penalty to enemy units attacking the fort’s tile (while the fort is manned). They can produce Cavalry and Infantry, and with upgrades, Ships and Airships. Forts have a hidden strength value (HSV) of 8. They cost 40G to build.

Ship yard (SY): This in an upgrade that may be bought for forts and the capital. It allows the construction of ships. It also allows for up to 4 triremes and 2 transports to be stored in the fort which will not be shown on the map. Ship yards cost 20G.
SY’s may also be built in non-improved tiles for the same price, however these cannot store ships.

Gas Vent (GV): This upgrade may be bought for the capital or a fort. It allows the construction of Airships, and the storage of 2 Airships in the fort. Gas Vents cost 20G.

Note:
SY’s and GV’s are not shown on the map and are automatically razed when the fort or capital is captured.
Forts may be razed or kept when conquered. A player may not raze a fort under their control.




Hidden strength value is the combined (living) strength limit a fort or city may hold before the units are shown on the map. For example, if a fort contains 5 Infantry, the combined strength is 5 and none of the units are shown on the map. If a fort contained 5 Infantry and 3 Cavalry, the combined strength would be 9.5, so all the units would be shown on the map.

The HSV’s are as follows:

Forts: 8
Cities: 3
Capitals: 5

Temporary increases to a player’s HSV’s may be bought using espionage.

Espionage

Espionage is key in this Diplomacy Variant because the public map is far less informative then in normal forum diplomacy games. There are many different espionage missions and without using them a player may find themselves falling behind. Listed are all the costs of the different missions along with their chance of success.

Investigation:

Investigation missions reveal what living units are contained in the target tile. It costs an additional 10G to investigate a capital or fort’s fleet and the success chance is reduced by 15%. The cost varies depending on the improvement.

Cities cost 15G to investigate. 70%
Capitals cost 20 G to investigate. 70%
Forts cost 30G to investigate. 70%


Steal Map:

Stealing a map will reveal the location of the target player’s SY’s and GV’s. It costs 40G and has a success rate of 55%.

Steal Records

This mission can be used to reveal the amount a player spent in each city or fort, giving you an idea of what hidden units these tiles may contain. It costs 25G and has a success rate of 70%.

Counter-Espionage

This mission can be used to tell you what espionage missions have been used on you this turn. There are two levels of counter inteligence.

Level 1: Reveals which espionage missions were used on you by one target player. Cost 25G / 75%
Level 2: Reveals which missions have been used on you by all players. Cost 70G / 505

Hide Units

This espionage mission can be used to increase the HSV of improvements and hide units in the field. Very useful for attacking players when they least suspect.

20G to increase the Hidden strength limit of all cities and forts under your control by 3 for that turn.
40G to increase the Hidden strength limit of all cities and forts under your control by 5 for that turn.
10G per unit to hide the position of units in non-improved tiles. (Can only be used on Infantry.)

Privateers:

For a one-time payment of 5G (per ship) you may hide the nationality of a Trireme, these will then appear on the map as Privateers. You may use this on ships stored in forts. It may be best to ''build'' Privateers in SY's bordering the same sea as an opponent’s SY. Remember that SY's built on non-improved tiles are not shown on the map so in theory any coastal territory could have a SY in. You can use privateers to sabotage opponents' sea lanes and other ships without declaring war but be wary of them finding out who controls the ships. Privateers can control sea lanes themselves, this will mean that your opponents won't know you have a sea lane etc. For every ship you destroy with your Privateers you gain 20G. Privateers may share the same tile with other players' ships if that's what you want but if they land in the same territory as another player's ships by chance then they will attack them, you may tell me players that you do not want to attack with your privateers, in which case if this happens they won’t attack them. Bear in mind that any player may attack your privateers without declaring war. Privateer controlled Sea lanes may not be used for international trade.



Combat is resolved territory by territory.
Forces are matched by Strength, bonuses are added, and random factor is added.
Highest total wins. Difference between winner and loser equals winning survivors.

Defence: 30% only works if the unit is entrenched, meaning it hasn't moved this turn.

Flanking: 20% each direction from which an invasion attacks a territory adds 20% to the total attacking force

Blitz: 20% When a Cavalry unit (or group of Cavalry units) and an Infantry army attack the same territory from the same direction the infantry are given the 20% bonus.

Naval Bombardment: Triremes attacking with other forces grant their strength to the attacking force, with a strength cap set at 4, as well as adding Flanking if applicable. This strength is added after other bonuses have been applied.

Amphibious: -10% to the attacking force if it has just landed during the turn it is involved in combat; this applies to Airship drops as well.

Unprepared: -10% to all defending troops if the attack is totally unexpected.

Surprise! : If the attacking units were hidden from the enemy using espionage, (not including hidden unit strength from forts + cities) the attacking units get a bonus of 50%.

Inexperienced: -20% to units that go into combat on the turn they were made. They also wont recieve defensive bonuses. Transports and airships may not transport units on the turn they are made.

Ambush: If a player moves an army onto an enemy, non-improved tile that had enemy troops that are hidden using espionage on, the hidden player gets a 60% bonus.

Fort: Provide a 15% penalty to enemies attacking or defending in neighbouring tiles and a 30% penalty to enemies attacking the fortified tile.

Last Stand: If the outcome of the fight would destroy a player. That player’s troops gain a 100% bonus.

Morale Level 1: Purchasable bonus. Costs 5G per unit under the player’s control, and gives a 25% bonus to all battles they take part in that turn. Duration = 1 turn

Morale Level 2: Purchasable bonus. Costs 10G per unit under the player’s control, and gives a 50% bonus to all battles they take part in that turn. Duration = 1 turn

Morale Level 3: Purchasable bonus. Costs 15G per unit under the player’s control, and gives a 100% bonus to all battles they take part in that turn. Duration = 1 turn

Inspecting Trade: Triremes defending a SY have a 20% combat penalty, making them harder to defend and easier to attack

Randomness
There will be a dice roll for each side. Winner gets +1.5 strength. A roll of 6-1 will give +2.5 to the side that gets the 6.

Rounding
Defenders have a high rounding: 1,5 and higher = 2
Attackers have a low rounding : 1,5 and lower = 1


In updates, it will be given how much each player has spent during that turn but it will not mention what things that player spent the gold on.

The person who plays each state will be chosen randomly.

Neutral Tiles require a strength of 2.5 to be captured, which takes 1 turn.

Enemy tiles take one turn to be changed to neutral and then another to be changed to that player.

You do not pay upkeep on units the turn they are created.

When forts are captured, all fleets stored in them are destroyed, as well as the SY and GV if they are present.

Start gold is 50G

The only way a player may gain more gold to use during the current turn is if another player trades them some gold. Money from disbanding units does not become available until the following turn.

Current Players

Niklas - Tan - The State of Fenor
Stuck in Pi - Yellow - The State of Clobeck
Izipo - Blue - The State of Ninerest
Backwards Logic - Orange - The State of Meineria
Pinman - Purple - The State of Einora
Tasslehoff - L.Green - The State of Tenshores
Methos - Red - The State of Inesterl
Frozen in Ice - D.Green - The State of Hitillia
Lightfang - Brown - The State of Treharn

Reserves

sirtommygunn
The 13th Ronin
Merciary
Neverwonagame3
Charles Li

Please read the rules, there are numerous changes to normal Diplomacy in this variant.

Order Format

Please title your orders like this: Player Colour, Player name, Turn Number (eg. Grey, Kol.7, Turn 1)

Please include some form of strategy, either long or short term in your orders to make things a bit more interesting for me.

Remember that you will pay upkeep on troops from the turn after they are created, this is deducted from your income at the beggining of the next turn, as long as your income is big enough to cover yoiur maintainance it is not necessary for you to save money each turn to pay maintainance.

Also, because its much more fun for a GM if he knows what's going on, please could you either forward the odd PM to me, give me a short run through of what you've been saying to other people in your orders or invite me into IM conversations, or any combination of the three.

Updates:

Update 1: November, Year of Ashes (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=6999265&postcount=8)

Current Deadline: Wednesday, 7:30pm GMT

Current Treaties:

None

Current wars:

None

Ninerest
Anesia
Vieren
Lonarc
Paresque
Thade
Chalein Coast
Inesterl
Metoan Fields
Thornpire
Lerforth
Nikea
Tios Mountains
Mernesia
Dermore
Kremarsh
Hitillia
Kienore
Tralinas
Eastlome
Treharn
Herlorne
Gedeia
Clobeck
Noroah
Rheme
Bacanae
Wanefork
Izina
Loemarsh
Sedilla
Ligeska
Lenmoor
Daron Coast
Fenor
Miaske
Flein
Tenshores
Helask
Taslin
Cateina
Serlea
Murlane
Arelton
Meineria
Ornesia
Pinalta
Markon Wastes
Tunport
Uresea
Inorn
Nrein
Freitan
Einora

There are 55 regions, 100% domination by a single player is required for victory :p.

The current deadline for first orders is Friday, 7.30 pm GMT. If this is too soon for anyone let me know and I'll add on an extra day or two.

Some Tips:

The first turn is going to be very important long-term.

You have 50G, it is not neccessary for you to spend any or all of this amount.

Neutral Regions need a strength of 2.5 to be captured. This means 3 Infantry, 2 Cavalry or a Cavalry and an Infantry

Cavalry are not like tanks. They may move two tiles on all occassions except when they attack/are attacked in the first territory they move to.

I think I can make it by this Friday. Note though that this is a holiday weekend in the states, so the following orders need to take that into account.

~~ 24 Hour Reminder ~~

Please get your 1st orders in by tomorrow 7:30 pm GMT.

November, Year of Ashes

Two men are sitting, crouched over a small, round table, their faces obscured by grey hoods. On the table is a large map of Ekonia, weighed down at four points with small rocks. It is dark, a dim lantern hangs from the cave wall, flickering in the cold night’s wind. On the table, a man is writing a note.

''The Milk has spilled, the Children are playing.''

He puts down his quill and sighs, curling himself tighter in his grey, cotton robe attempting to fight of the cold.

‘’Light the fire, Three Golden Suns.’’

The taller, broader man replies, ‘’Yes master.’’, and begins to busy himself with a large tinderbox.

‘’A cold night.’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’But we will not have to stay much longer, soon we will return.’ He stands, and walks to the cave mouth, looking down at the city in the valley bellow. ‘’This is a land of chaos, Three Golden Suns.’’

‘’Indeed, master. We have made it so.’’

‘’Perhaps, yet...’’

Suddenly there is the sound of hooves. The men fell silent. The rider dismounts and walks to the entrance of the cave and calls out ‘’May the light of the Emperor shine upon ye, brothers.’’ There is a short pause, before the one known as ‘master’ replies, ‘’And upon ye, brother. Please enter.’’

The man enters the cave and hands the master several letters bound in ribbon. The master opens them and quickly scans through them. Contained are the actions of the noble Houses of Ekonia.

‘’They are fast to extend their control. Interesting. How goes the search?’’

‘’Nothing to report, master’’ Replies the horseman, anxiously.

The master picks up his own message from the table and hands it to the horseman, ‘’Take this.’’

He departs quickly.

‘’What has happened, master?’’ Asks Three Golden Suns.

‘Little of interest, they are mostly powerless for now. They have all reformed their regiments, and taken control of nearby lands. The taxes from these new cities will fill their coffers. Oh, except Lord Hittilia and Lord Meinara, who seem perhaps to be biding their time, a foolish decision I fear...’’

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Backwards logic and Frozen in Ice, I didn’t receive orders from either of you. Your gold has been banked. Make sure you get them in, in future or you will be replaced. I’ll let you off for this turn, as it was a short deadline and you may have been unaware the game had started. However, anyone that doesn’t get in two sets of orders for me will be replaced by someone chosen at random from the reserve list.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/4113/turn1publiccn6.png (http://imageshack.us)



Gold for Next turn:

Methos - Red - 50G
Izipo - Blue - 50G
Frozen in Ice - D.Green – 85G
Lightfang - Brown – 50G
Stuck in Pi - Yellow - 70G
Backwards Logic - Orange – 85G
Niklas - Tan - 50G
Pinman - Purple – 50G
Tasslehoff - L.Green – 70G


Next deadline: Wednesday 7.30pm GMT

OOC : Nice update !

IC :
From : Ninerest
To : Inestrel (Methos-Red)

We need to talk about Nik.
I propose it is left neutral for the next 5 turns, what do you say ?

It would pain me to have to go to war on such a trivial issue.

Reminder

I have rightly predicted that most of the diplomacy of this game will take place in private. Therefore, it is necessary that you keep me in the know. Players must forward me PMs, they must give me overviews of diplomacy.

There is no espionage that will reveal this diplomacy to other players and there will be no hints as to what's going on behind closed doors. There is no risk involved in telling me what you're doing.

OOC:

Kol.7, I recommend that you add player names to the stats at the bottom under the map where it says how much gold each person has. This is to make our lives easier and diplomacy easier to conduct.

Danke!

OOC: I'm leaving for the weekend due to the holidays. I'll be back late Sunday.

From : Ninerest
To : Treharn (brown - LightFang)

Seeing that we share a border, would you like to trade ?

From : Ninerest
To : Treharn (brown - LightFang)

Seeing that we share a border, would you like to trade ?

From: Treharn (Brown)
To: Ninerest (Blue)

Golly, I'd love that.

Ok there's been some confusion over how income and upkeep works so I'm going to explain it all here.

Ok firstly you don't need to keep money aside to pay for your unit upkeep, this is deducted from your BTI at the start of the next turn, therefore it is not necessary to include it in your orders. Also, income from disbanding units is not readilly available on that turn and is added at the begining of next turn.

Income is calculated: Turn Start Gold - (Cost of buying units + costs of improvements + Gold trade) + (BTI - upkeep) + Trade and SL income + Gold trade.

In your orders it is only necessary for you to deal with the costs section (Red). Upkeep is not actually a cost, more like a negative income if that makes sense. All the blue stuff is handled by my spreadsheet. The amount left over after this calucualtion is the amount of gold you start with next turn.

Hopefully this will lead to less confusion.

~~ 23 Hour 15 Reminder ~~

Please get your orders in by tomorrow 7:30 pm GMT.

Orders Received from: Frozen in Ice, Niklas, Tasslehoff, Izipo, Backwards Logic, Pinman.
Waiting for: Lightfang, Methos, Stuck in Pi.

Pinman and Methos please send a PM version of your orders to use as a referance.

@Everyone: Expect updates to the rules with the next update to be more specific about several things that some people are still confused about.

Well you know, I was busy holidaying...

And it gives me a great occasion to remind my neighbor to mention our trade agreement in his orders.

EDIT : Orders sent in 26 minutes, see that wasn't so difficult.

My orders are sent

November, Year of the Agile Monk

Two robed figures sit hunched in the shadows, in silence. One of them leans towards the centre of the small cave and prods the embers of a campfire glumly. Suddenly, shouting is heard outside.

‘Hey captain! I think I’ve found something.’’

He enters the cave. He is a strong, well built man wearing leather armour decorated with the crest of the Lord of Ninerest.

‘’It looks like someone’s been – ‘’

The shorter of the two robed figures hits the man over the head with a large rock. The man falls to the ground with a moan.

‘’You are stronger then you look, master.’’ Says the larger figure, happily.

‘’Silence! Come quickly, Three Golden Suns, we have no time!’’

He runs desperately out of the cave mouth, followed clumsily by Three Golden Suns.

‘’Hey! You! Quick! Get them!’’

The two men begin to pick up speed as they run down the mountain path.
The soldiers chase them a little way, and then stop, out of breath.

‘’Hmmmm..... How strange.’’ Says the captain, who had been searching the cave. ‘’A map of Ekonia, and records of military movements, look.’’ He hands a letter to a soldier. ‘’That was us, there, three infantry regiments to Vieren. Someone’s been spying on us!’’

‘’Errr? Should we take this to his lordship, sir?’’

‘’Do you fancy explaining to him? No? Me neither. What happened to those.... monks.... by the way?’’

‘’They errr... got away, sir.’’

‘’Thank god for that. Burn the letters.’’

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

A rather fat and pompous man sat in his study. He was, technically, the patrician of Nikea. He was sat at a desk, looking at a map of the known world.

‘’These are interesting times indeed, Willis.’’

‘’Yes sir.’’ Replied his butler, a touch uneasily.

‘’They say the other cities have been claiming more and more land. Although there’s been some dispute over who should control Thornpire, a rather strategically located area of coastline. Oh and there’s some kind of arrangement in place, apparently Ninerest and Inesterl aren’t going to invade us for a while. That’s thoughtful of them.’’

‘’Indeed .’’

‘’Of course, I will be gone before this treaty expires. After that I don’t really care what happens to this place.’’

‘’Yes. Actually sir, I’ve been meaning to ask you about that, it’s just that... well... I was hoping, if you wouldn’t mind, I could come with you?’’

‘’On the voyage? Well yes! Of course, you’d be welcome to come Willis. It’ll be nice to have a bit of a change of scenery won’t it?’’

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lightfang and Stuck in pi, you did not send orders in and so have now got a metaphoric black mark against your names.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/7880/turn2publicbe0.png (http://imageshack.us)

Gold for Next turn:

Methos - Red - 58G
Izipo - Blue - 97G
Frozen in Ice - D.Green – 55G
Lightfang - Brown – 80G
Stuck in Pi - Yellow - 108G
Backwards Logic - Orange – 65G
Niklas - Tan - 115G
Pinman - Purple – 87G
Tasslehoff - L.Green – 98G


Next deadline: Tuesday 15th, 7:30pm GMT.

Red and Green, you should discuss amongst yourselves who should control Tho, untill one of you moves your troops no one gets the territory. You may also tell your troops to attack the opposition in your next orders if that's what you want.

Also, p[lease go through the rules again because they've been updated to make some things more balanced.

Great update, I love the style.

OOC : LightFang, are you planning on playing this ?

IC :
From : Ninerest
To : The filthy spying monks

You can run and hide, we will find you and exact revenge.
And it only proves one thing : That the kingdom of Ninerest is true to its word.

Another OOC : The way thing are set up and with the emphasis on spying, I think it would be best if Gold total was kept private. (Because, you know, it hardly stretches my intellectual capabilities to find who spied on me).

uggh. Missed because of vacation. Sorry.

To: Backwards Logic, Pinman

Wanna trade?

-Tasslehoff of Tenshores

Sure, I'll trade.

I can't find when the next orders are due.

Any help ?

Next deadline:

Apparently, they're due on the Blankth day of Blank Month, Year two thousand and blank.

Hi everyone, sorry I've been away. The deadline is Tuesday 15th, 7:30pm GMT.

Isn't Tuesday the 15th?

Or do you mean Sunday ?

Sorry, yeah I mean the 15th :rolleyes:

Hello everyone, this is just a teaser to tell you that I have sent orders...

Because, you know, like, the deadline is approaching...

Reminder: Methos and Frozen in Ice (red and dark green) you need to negotiate between yourselves what will hapen to Tho region, while both your troops remain there the area will stay neutral. I am available if you have any questions.

Thanks for the reminder, I almost forgot!

Hmmmm... I've decided that you lot having to say who you're trading with all the time is a bit unneccessary. All trade (land and sea) will now be completely automatic. From now on you will all trade with everyone possible unless you specifically put in your orders not to trade with someone. Should make things a little easier.

My orders are technically 25 minutes late. I hope you accept them :(

Yep I will. Orders not yet in are now late. However, I will still accept them up until I actually post the update tomorrow. I guess the trouble with GMing in the summer is that people are gonna be on holiday. In future please tell me in advance so I can have you NPCd or reserved for the turns you are away.

Sorry for the delay, I'm staying with familly this week and forgot to bring my spead sheet meaning its taken me about an hour to do what would usually take a couple of minutes. I'm trying a new image hosting site to see if the map can be bigger too. Update will be this evening or tomorrow.

Pinman and LF, if you're not away then try to get orders in before then.

A pasture where goats roam, high in the Tios Mountains. A goat looks up from his meal of grass as the sound of thundering feet and heavy breathing grow louder and louder. Two men appear from around a corner of the fence, dressed in grey robes. They sprint on, paying no atention to the forming audience of goats. They continue up an Inn, where a horse-drawn coach awaits them. They climb in, without pausing for a second, and the coach drives off, fast.

----

April, Year of Deep Worries.

Although the Palace at Nikea has long been closed, its gardens have become a major attraction for the nobility and commoners of the former empire. Once denied to all but the Emperor and his familly, these beautiful gardens now host many public and private events. Every wednesday at 6:00pm, the gentlemen's society, an exclusive club for the male nobility of Nikea, gather for drinks, gossip and a break from the stressful life such people lead. Some men are sitting at a central table, playing a card game. Amongst them is Lord Harold Applesby, also known as Lord Nikea, the man technically in charge of the city.

''Twist.'' he says calmly, poker-faced. ''So, what's the news from the other parts of Ekonia?''

A thin, weedy man with thin brown hair brushed across an ever-growing bald patch replies, ''They say Lord Hittilia is to have the village of Thornpire.'' Passing him another card.

''Oh really, Gerold? Looks like a couple 'a people owe me some money. Including you, Jeoffre.'' Turning with a smirk to a tall, broad man with shoulder-length blonde hair.

''Hmmph.'' He replies, grudgingly handing over several gold coins. ''I don't trust Hittilia myself, people round there's a it funny, I heard.''

''Indeed'' says Gerold, ''Far too must water around there, and you know what that means...'' The others nod sagely. ''Anyway'' he continues, ''That bastard Ninerest has invaded Eastlome, almost three thousand armoured men are rumoured to be camped out there. Stick, by the way.''

''People these days...'' replies Harold bitterly, ''So inconsiderate. My nephew owns land up there. Twist.''

''Of course, that's not all that's happened. Tenshores has invaded Tunport and Inorn, both of which were under the control of Lord Einora. There's been a battle!''

''Oh?'' Harold says, interested. ''Was it a good one?''

''No, a bit of a dissapointment actually.''

''Shame. Woops, one moment chaps, call of nature.'' he said, hurrying off towards an outhouse that had been converted into public toilets.Once inside, he sits uon the toilet and pulls a thick notepad out of his bag, quickly he begins to scrawl down everything he'd heard from Jeoffre and Gerald. He then tears the page out of the pad, folds it, and slips it into an envelope...

---

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k326/Ekolite/Turn3-PUBLIC.jpg

---

The map is a little bigger, but a bit unclear in some places annoyingly.

Next Deadline is next monday 7:30pm.

Nice update.

What's the grey square thingy in Loe ?

{ OOC: It's a Fort. :smug:

Kol, try to save your image as .png instead of the stupid .jpg. The latter is a (compression) format for photographs, and will invariably be unclear for a sharp drawing like a map. The fact that everyone uses .jpg on the web is quite astonishing actually.

EDIT: Oh, I almost forgot - bloody good update Kol, your writeups are truly enjoyable. }

I also prefer the old way as it allowed for easy moving back and forth between turn pics and seeing movements. Since the first three maps were all the same size, worked as a great slide show of moves.

Agree, excellent updates!

Totally OOC

About the fort : It was another case of 'I should have thought more before hitting post quick reply'. The answer came on its own as soon as I looked at the map again.

About the map : I also think that the previous format was OK. I understand you may have problems positioning troops and whatnot, but bigger is not always better ;).

About the gold : :goodjob:

About the updates : Again, great style. A very nice change from what is the usual norm for these things. Keep it up.

Thanks everyone for your compliments. I'm fairly sure I have the maps saved as .bmp or something like that. I know they aren't usually like that because I edit previous maps to make current ones. I think the hosting site must change it. Atm there's no choice because I can't get onto my account on the other site. Forgot my password lol, but its saved on my computer at home so its fine.

I lost internet, and thus couldn't send orders.......

Next Deadline is next monday 7:30pm.

Orders sent, just in time.
:D

Mine will be a bit late. Gone all weekend and still catching up.

Hiya, I just got back from holiday today and am in no mood for updating. The new deadline will be wedesday, normal time (7.30pm).

There are two different bonuses listed for forts. Under improvements it cites a 30% combat bonus while under combat bonuses it says they give a 50% bonus. Which one is correct?

The correct one is 30%, but remember it isn't a combat bonus specifically but actually a penalty to attacking units. It's been changed.

The deadline has been extended to tomorrow because of a player request. Just so you know, I am very happy to extend the deadline if you are unable to send orders so long as you tell me beforehand.

Orders not in are now late. Get them in before the update. The update will be in ~1hr.

August, Year of Brewing Storms

Nikea, East Gate

A dark sky looms above, rain thunders onto the road before them, making the coach wheels slip and slide. Behind them is the sound of battle. The city guard valiantly defy the Inesterl invasion, even without their leader before them.

‘’I didn’t expect to have to leave so soon! Willis!’’ shouted Lord Applesby above the wind.

‘’No sir! Where are we going? If they catch us we’re doomed!’’ replied his butler

‘’ .....! ‘’ A sudden gust of wind rocks the coach onto two side wheels for a moment and drowns out his answer.

‘’Oh? I have relatives there we can stay with!’’

‘’Yes Willis, that’s what I’m counting on! From now on, we’re on the run!’’ He looks down at the large sacks of gold at their feet, a slightly guilty expression across his face. The city’s funds. ‘’Go faster!’’ he screams to the coach driver at the top of his voice.

-----

Thornpire

Two monks sit at a small, rickety table, staring out of a window in disbelief. They had been staying in the cottage of a contact for several months.

‘’This is not good, Three Golden Suns.’’

Outside, at the top of a small, rolling hill, a Fortress was being constructed. Thousands of builders and architects were clustered in temporary accommodation, waiting out the storm that raged throughout the village.

‘’Quickly, hand me a pen and paper, we must tell them to send the ship elsewhere. Else we’ll never escape this hell-hole’’

----

http://xs129.xs.to/xs129/08304/turn_4_-_public437.png

Gold PMs to come.

Next Deadline: Tuesday 29th 7.30 pm

From : Ninerest
To : Inestrel (Methos)

The state of Ninerest takes note that our agreement is now void.
We wish we had been informed before... But understand that in this day and age, communication can sometimes be... Troublesome.

To avoid further troubles and worries, maybe we can have another agreement.

{Methos, I'll try to contact you tomorrow (because right now, I'm going to bed).
Nice update, btw.}

Question: How could cavalry reach Ten? Didn't they have to go through either Izi or Lig first (and thus encounter a battle and lose their extra movement?)

That was MY interpretation of the rules.

It's how the battles are resolved. They are done one by one, not at the same time. Therefore, Niklas was able to attack Lig with his Infantry, they won, meaning the path was clear for the cavalry to reach the next battle, Ten. If they did not attack Lig too then the cavalry would have been stopped.

Please Note: There are some minor adjustments to the rules.

1. Water tiles now count as one tile for Airships, but they may only cross one sea tile per flight. This would mean that, for eg, an Airship in Eas could go NoS -> Nor -> Rhe and drop infantry at Rhe.

2. From now on, if a player attacks a fort or city that have units hidden inside, and the defending player wins, the defender's remaining units will not be shown on the map. I will tell you how many remain in your gold PM.

So that would mean movements aren't necessarily resolved simultaneously. So in what order do the battles and movements get resolved? If there is no system, it introduces a large random element which will be unfair.

Lightfang has been removed from this game due to not sending orders for the past 3 turns. If anyone would like to take his place then contact me about it, if not he will be NPC'd.

Its about to die so I dont think anybody would like to join for one turn :p

To: Ninerest (Izipo)
From: Hitillia

Since you have decided to not take Tra after all, I hope that it is ok that I will claim it this turn.

From : Ninerest
To : Hitillia

Well, it was my intention to fight the scoundrels in Tra all along, but it appears that some of my orders were misled and that my troops acted on their own and took Tre instead.
I thought my officers were educated enough to not mistake Tre for Tra, but I was wrong.

This puts us in a very unfortunate situation. I feel that Tra should be ours for the aforementioned reason, but I understand that having idle troops near my borders is a very bad thing indeed.

A little meditation and some private talking will help me reach a decision.

So that would mean movements aren't necessarily resolved simultaneously. So in what order do the battles and movements get resolved? If there is no system, it introduces a large random element which will be unfair.
{ OOC: It's not random - it means you as the player can choose. I sent my Cavalry to Ten, not to Lig. Had I sent them to join the fight at Lig, they couldn't have moved to Ten, but then on the other hand my losses at Lig would have been much lower.

Oh, and sorry. :mischief: }

{Even so, you, or some unknown system determined that, instead of all moves happening simultaneously, the infantry move to Lig and the entire battle of Lig all happened before the cavalry moved into Lig and then into Ten. That is fine with me, I just want to know the system, so I know how to use it.}

Tasslehoff you can specifically say in your orders that you want to do one thing before another. This is what Niklas did. If you don't tell me specifically it is assumed it happens at the same time. Sorry for the confusion.

I can take over lightfang. I have free time right now. Please PM stuff and I'll see if I can do a brilliant rebound! (whatever it is in trouble for)

Hey Kol.7, I'll be travelling today (holidays are over, sadly), so I may be late in sending orders.
Mind extending the deadline a few hours ? I should be able to send them later tonight.

No problem.

Unfortunately I'm going to be late myself.

Ok, because so many people are havig trouble sending orders in today I'm changing the deadline to tomorrow.

Starting on Friday I'm on a two week holiday in France where it is unlikely (although not impossible) that I will have computer access. I'm leaving on Friday at ~3:00pm, so if I'm going to do an update before then which is my aim I need all orders in by Thursday evening or friday morning at the latest. I will have a short amount of time at around 8:00 or 9:00 am on friday if I'm awake at that time. Any players that don't get orders in by then will be skipped.

I appologise for this inconvenience.

If I do have computer access on holiday I will try to get one done per week. Please remember that this is my holiday though so the game will be slowing down untill I get back. When I get back I will be trying for 1.5/2 a week.

Good luck everyone, this is a critical turn for quite a few players.

Good for you.
I hope you'll have great holidays.

And remember that we DO have the internets in France :p (and hotspots everywhere too).

Ok everyone, the deadline for orders is 12:30 today. I've waited untill literally the last minute for you Tasslehoff as you requested, I leave at 3:00pm and still have a lot of packing to do. Please try to get them in.

After this update, Next orders are due on the 17th of August.

July, Year of Embedded Knives

I'm too rushed today to write text but will do when I'm back.

Espionage missions are now guaranteed to work, no % success chance, and you may pay 20G to find out how much gold a player has on your next turn.

I wanted to write a big update today but have no time - sorry for the crapness of this update. Good Luck!

Tasslehoff has become the first nation to be destroyed.




http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/3470/turn5publicin3.png

Just curious, but why does it show me attacking Tho? Is that supposed to be someone else?

Her survived... Now I need to claw my way to the top!

Methos, now that your honorless face has been displayed to the world, let the true fight begin.

Frozen in ice, would you like to join me in sending him back to the sea ?

{no hard feelings, I was kind of expecting it anyway. Hope you enjoyed my greeting parties :p}
{And Kol, what about Tre (LightFang's former capital, in case it gets mixed up again), how come I still don't own it ?}
{EDIT : And what about those two guys in Eas ? They were supposed to attack Mer too :mad:}

Well I need Kol to explain what is going on with Tho before a decision is made.

I believe Kol got Tho and Tio confused, as my troops were supposed to attack Tio.

Maybe there was a mixup between Tho and Tio ? Trust me, these things happen... :mischief:
Unless Pinman attacked from overseas, but I seriously doubt it.

EDIT : Xposted of course. It makes sense, good moves btw Methos. I wonder how many troops you used in Lon, because I had a very nice garrison there.

Maybe there was a mixup between Tho and Tio ? Trust me, these things happen... :mischief:
Unless Pinman attacked from overseas, but I seriously doubt it.

EDIT : Xposted of course. It makes sense, good moves btw Methos. I wonder how many troops you used in Lon, because I had a very nice garrison there.

I thought that too, but the troops in Tho our red, which is me and I know I didn't attack him. Guess we wait and hope Kol gets online sometime prior to his return.

:'(

I'm staying at a friend's house in Europe, and we lost internet and phone. 6 days later, the phones are back, but no internet. Still don't have internet where I'm staying... Sorry I couldn't participate when it got important.

EDIT: I hope you enjoy my indirect revenge Niklas. :smug:

Ok, appologies for the rushedness f that update. I probably shouldn't have bothered trying to get one out before I left. Anyway I'm back now and this update will be up properly tomorrow or the next day. I made a mistake with Methos attacking Tho. This will be fixed in the new update. Thanks.

As Pinman seems to have dissappeared early I need someone on standby to take over his very strong position ;).

Hang on-you mean a fixed last update?

Yes. The update coming is a fixed vesion of the last update, with the writing to go with it.

That's the way. Good luck with the fixed update and don't forget don't give me Tre, I'll need it :p

July, Year of Embedded Knives

Lord Harold Applesby stared in disbelief in the doorway of his new hideout, the family home of Agathe Hernia, cousin of his butler Willis. To him it looked more like an unfortunate hole in the ground then any fit place of residence. He couldn't help but stare at the bare walls, mud floor and six straw beds lying on the floor around the small fire place. He sensed he would find living here would be difficult and prayed that those damn monks would give him further instructions soon.

''It's not much, but it's home.'' said Agathe, following his gaze, her voice thick with a strong Bacanaen accent.

Applesby nodded uncertainly. Not much was right.

''Excuse me sir!'' Willis called, dragging one of the heavy gold-filled sacks down the muddy steps into the house, followed by his five nephews, each dragging another bag before them.

''My, that's a lot of gold! said Agathe, wondering where she was going to keep the largest amount of cash she'd ever seen in her life. ''Come in kids, its cold and late.''

The children hurried to their beds, they were 5 boys of varying ages, each a little skinnier then usual for their age.

''Errm... Which is my bed?'' Said Applesby, worried he already knew the answer.

''You'll be sleeping on the floor hon.'' replied Agathe, almost cruelly. She was certainly not overly fond of the Aristocracy, thieving bastards that they were.'

~~~

Three Golden Suns sat at the table of the cottage, eating a lump of bread with obvious distaste. The food here was so disgusting, even the 10 years he has spent in Ekonia had not taught him to appreciate it. It hadn't been so bad in the Palace, where he had feasted in what could almost have been called luxury, but the food had still been horrifically bland. However, this bread, he decided, was surely among the worst things he had had to endure. How could these people eat it? He watched his master busying himself about the small stove. He was trying to make tea again. He rolled his eyes and wondered what he could be using this time. Last week he had caught him using ground potato skins. He shuddered to himself, potatoes was another thing the citizens of Ekonia were fond of. To him they just tasted like mush. Three Golden Suns wondered if he should stop his master, before he ended up poisoning himself, and that would be disastrous. Without the Master he would never get home.

Suddenly, a loud nock on the door shook Three Golden Suns from his thoughts. Two men entered, dressed in black. The Agents they had hired.

''We may have found something.''

~~~


http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/7940/turn5publicbx1.png (http://imageshack.us)

Gold PMs to come, as some players have more or less gold then I told you last time.

Ok, not sure why the map's so big but at least it's better quality.

The current deadline is: Saturday 23rd of August, 7:30pm GMT

I believe you are six hours ahead of me, so I'll do my best to get them in on time.

I'm extending to 1pm Sunday. (GMT)

A question - how is it possible for Fen and Rhe to both have forts, even though they share a border? I realize why that happened, I just wondered what the effects will be, and if that's an oversight in the rules that should be plugged somehow.

They share a border, but are not under the control of the same player. Next turn, if yello takes it they can choose to destroy it, or destroy the one in Rhe.

I will have to blow up one? How sad... Can I get some $$ bonus for it at least?

Alright, noted, thanks for the explanation.

Grr. I just got home and I don't have the time right now. They'll be a few hours late unfortunately. Sorry.

Any chance of an update soon ?

January, Year of the Thoughtful Giraffe

The small familly home of Agathe Hernia had changed a lot since Lord Applesby moved in. The six straw beds had been pulled aside and now lined the walls of the room, and in front of the fire now sat a rickety wooden desk and ancient armchair, which formed ''Lord Applesby's Study''. On the desk lay an empty grey envelope and a short, unfolded note.

''Go to Foreshorn Manor, Taslin. Bring men. Detain all inhabbitants.''

Applesyby and his butler had left straight away.

~~~~~~

A young woman with copper-red hair rode through the forest on a milk-white horse. It was dark and she knew she shouldn't have stayed out so late. Foreshorn forest was deceptivie at night and she was beginning to think she was riding in circles. Suddenly she came out into a large clearing, it was the stone foley that she had enjoyed visiting as a child. She knew the Foley was only around a mile away from the manor, yet it was so dark she had no idea which way to go. Knowing it would be far safer to stay there then attempt to make her way back home she tied her horse to a tree and made her way inside. She just hoped Jonathon wouldn't be too angry when she came back the next morning.

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7769/turn6publicww2.png (http://imageshack.us)

I was supposed to move that cavalry out of Mar. I'm pretty sure I had that in my orders ...

Double-checked and I did -- I moved it from Mar to Ure. It looks like you moved it but also left it in place? Unless I missed that there was a second cav in Mar to begin with, which I don't think I did, but I don't see the map for the last update anymore so I can't be sure. If by some chance that's the case, can you please take pity on a newbie and correct that oversight for me? I did not intend to break the agreement with BL about Tun and Mar.

Oh, and thanks for the update. :)

No you said move one cavalry out of Mar. I'm fairly sure I asked you if this was correct and at the time you confirmed it.

Why do I not have Tas anymore? :confused:

Right, but there was only one there to begin with.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=281212&page=4

Unfortunately I seem to be both short on time and having trouble bringing myself to submit my orders. Sorry about that Kol. If someone wants it, they can take my lands.

Again, sorry Kol.

Why do I not have Tas anymore? :confused:
Didn't you read the story? Lord Appelsby probably stole it from you. ;)

Yay thanks for the update.
One question though, what happened with my troops in Tra ? Was I attacked by Charles Li ?
And I'm sad to see you leave Methos (Although it's good for me), we had fun fighting each other.

Izipo, if you mean Tre, then they were probably hidden by the Hidden Strength Value since they didn't fight this turn. Check the rules for details.

@Backwards Logic: You moved the units out of Tas this turn, therefore you didn't capture it.

@Renata: Your right, I have no idea where that other one has come from. BL now has 15 extra gold and the region of Mar is now under his control.

I hate being a nitpick (ok, I lie, I love it), but Niklas and I should also have a few extra gold from the trade, right? Because that could conceivably be enough for me to buy one extra ... something. :shifty:

Why? All trade is done automatically. You have been trading with niklas since Pinman got the sealane under purple control. When a new trade partner becomes available you automatically trade with them.

I meant that since BL's BTI is now larger, so is the fraction of his BTI that Niklas and I get in trade by virtue of sharing borders with BL. Am I understanding it right?

:eek: That's one hell of a nitpick Renata! But you are in fact right, you both get 4 extra gold, for what it's worth.

4 gold is a fortune when in war. Thanks Renata, I'll put them to good use. :evil:

Whoa, wait a minute here...

The territory was neutral when I entered it last turn, so therefore during the previous turn it should have been turned to my control. Since I didn't take it from Tasslehoff, it shouldn't have taken two turns to capture. It should have been treated as any other neutral territory in the game.

Izipo, if you mean Tre, then they were probably hidden by the Hidden Strength Value since they didn't fight this turn. Check the rules for details.

Yeah, I meant Tre, it's me who mixed them up this time...:)
But, it means that I have hidden troops everywhere ? Man, I should have been paying attention...

4 gold is a fortune when in war. Thanks Renata, I'll put them to good use. :evil:

You're welcome, and amen. Oh wait, I'm not at war. :scan:

(And by the way, Kol, if BL is right about Tas, I want my 2-3 gold from that, too. Must be thorough, you know. :p )

Izipo I can go through them with you if you need it, however please can everyone make the effort to remember where they have their troops lol.

Well, I'd really appreciate that if you don't mind, since I somehow totally forgot about the HSV.

And I promise I'll pay attention now.

Next deadline: Monday 1st btw

Whoa, wait a minute here...

The territory was neutral when I entered it last turn, so therefore during the previous turn it should have been turned to my control. Since I didn't take it from Tasslehoff, it shouldn't have taken two turns to capture. It should have been treated as any other neutral territory in the game.

So, what about this?

Hmmm. Yes I think you're right. I'll look into it.

And while we're at it:

Loe should not be Niklas'. I would have taken it over at the beginning of the turn, and Niklas would have moved it back to nuetral.

No, that's not true. That used to be the case for previous diplo games, but Kol has specifically said that that's not the case for this game, to help mitigate the vast advantage of the attacker from previous games. So Loe is correctly under my control.

Ok, my appologies to BL. You should have Tas afterall. The region is now under your control. Both niklas and renata gain an additional 3 Gold and BL gains an additional 10.

Tasslehoff is going to take over Red from methos, and so there is a 1 day extension to the deadline to allow him to get his orders in.

Welcome back Tasslehoff. We have some things to discuss...

:eek: That's one hell of a nitpick Renata! But you are in fact right, you both get 4 extra gold, for what it's worth.

Now that I'm back in the game, I'll follow Renata and send in MY nitpick. Shouldn't everybody with a Sea Lane (Stuck In Pi, Izipo, myself) also gain the gold? I'll assume not for the sake of these orders, but if I'm right, I'd like the additional 7G in my spendings for next turn.

No, BL doesn't have a sea lane so you don't trade with him. :p

What nation am I, I forgot while I was banned.

Bah, I could've sworn he did...

Niklas, your color is too similar to BL's. I looked at your SL and though it was his.

Charles Li, you're the brown one-city nation.

:lol:

I have tons of gold!

In the next update I'll brighten up the orange colour for you. I'm fed up of the updates having so many problems so in this update I am going to go for a hopefully perfect one. If you have any other questions or problems then please tell me now.

I have tons of gold!

Would you mind sharing ?
I can offer protection in exchange (against myself mostly :mischief:).
Send a private message to my castle if you are interested.

To all: I need too know currant events.

To Kol: does vassals count toward an another (master) states' victory?

Yes, but in the event that the master state wins, the vassalled player would not. There is no team victory in this game.

All other diplomacy regarding vassals is for the involved players to decide.

To all: I need too know currant events.



Current events : Stuff happening, wars, monks on the loose.
You know, nothing special ;)

Well, from what I hear, I really don't need protection...

...since interested parties are fighting....

And I can survive and conquer...

I will think on it.

EDIT:To Izipo,

All surrounding nations are busy and won't attack. We don't accept Vassalage.

All surrounding nations are busy and won't attack. We don't accept Vassalage survival.

Fixed it for you ;)

I looked at the map and see you being attacked bigtime.
Not something I would like to be vassalized with.

Also, we have our own reasons. (besides saying bye to any possibility to win!)

I'll send my orders in on the first chance I get on Monday morning.

Next deadline: Monday 1st btw


Tasslehoff is going to take over Red from methos, and so there is a 1 day extension to the deadline to allow him to get his orders in.

Will Tuesday night be Okay ?
Because I'm going to bed right after this post, I probably won't have time to write something good tomorrow since I have to get the kids to school and spend the evening at my ex-wife's place, and I'm working tuesday.
So, really, my best chance will be tuesday evening.

That will be fine yes.

Cool, that means I don't have to get out of bed early to get mine in, either.

(What, you mean I could write them tonight instead? Like, *early*? You must be joking.) :p

Well, you know what folks ?
I sent orders, like 3 days ago... I hope you did too.

Got mine in on time. :)

Yep, appologies for the delay. I've been having meetings and induction days and so forth in my new college and I've been a little pre-occupied because of it. Update will come either this evening (unlikely) or some time tomorrow. I think I have all orders in, anyone who hasn't sent orders by the time I start the update will be skipped

http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/2159/catownageimminentzz7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
By Izipo (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/Izipo)

Seriously, am I still alive ?

Hi guys, I'm sorry to say that it's getting less and less likely that I'll be able to continue running this game as the summer holidays are coming to their end and I ams starting college this year. I am taking 5 AS level courses this year and my dad is trying to force me into getting a Sunday job. Although I haven't got my time table yet, I'm fairly sure I will be packed, and I'll only be having Saturday completely free of work/college. This is not to say that I'll be free as I'll have huge stacks of homework and coursework as well as a social life to maintain. This will keep me occupied 24/7, all year. I am going to one of the best Colleges in the UK, which has a waiting list of more then 1000 people. I cannot afford not to pull my wait here. I am not going to say one way or another whether this game will continue until Friday, when I get my time table, but I'm warning you now that it doesn't look good.

Ah! Gah! No! :(

Since there aren't hidden mechanics, is there a possibility of somebody else finishing it?

Yes, if someone would be up for it. I am doing the final update this weekend, and then for a week it will be on hold to see if I'm right about not having time for this. If I am right, then it will either die or be taken over by someone else. If I'm wrong I will continue it, although the pace may be slightly slower.

Okay, good. Thanks for letting us know.

Whatever your choice will be, I'll understand. You have to have your priorities straight, this is just a hobby after all.

Take care.

:bump:
Sooo, where's that update that was due 17 days ago ?

Not pressuring you, just curious really :mischief:

Ah, glad you brought that up. Just in case this thing *does* go on, it's probably good to mention that I'm headed off on vacation in, oh, about 8 or 9 hours, and won't have internet until I get back on October 10th. I'm perfectly happy to have someone play for me if it comes to that.