It is probably because you haven't spent appropriately for the policy trigger to kick in. In fact, looking at your stats, it is pretty clear where you are short.
BirdNES 2: Forge of Empires -- The Animas Valley
- Thread starter Birdjaguar
- Start date
Once three stats reach a predetermined threshold, you will be able to create a UU. The red "no" changes to a "0". Since there are multiple stat combinations that can trigger the ability to create UUs, I cannot tell you exactly when you will be able to. It is all dependent upon how you spend your money. Giving it a little thought might give you some ideas on what to do. I have tried to make all the triggers for various things logical and realistic.
From the stats:
Army: 1500-I, 500-M, no -aUU (2200-max)
I certainly could, but I'm not going to.
You need to think like a leader and figure out how things in this NES world works. If you get IC and think about your nation and what kind of nation you want it to be, then you can make decisions like you think a leader would make to create such a nation. Are you a builder? A warmonger? A culturalist or religious fanatic? Choose which is closer and spend your money accordingly. If you want a powerful army, how would your spend your nation's resources? This is what you know about your army: Minimally trained, lightly armored spearmen, swordsmen and archers; Bronze weapons; elephants; warships/trading ships do not sail out of sight of land. Dirt roads; religious altars.
How do you get from there to what you want it to be? What do you want to improve? What kinds of investments do you need to make? It is worth pondering.
EDIT: BTW, I would not use anything from another NES as a reference to what happens here.
LittleBoots
The Bloody Banner
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2006
- Messages
- 1,979
sp1023, given that BJ has repeatedly told us that we are to run things like a real ruler would, as opposed to trying to manipulate stats. So, instead of asking BJ after an arbitrary representation, perhaps you should ask yourself what you think would allow you a UU. Perhaps it is some combination of efficient leadership and higher level military training, just to make a guess on at least two things that could contribute to the organization of an elite military force.
EDIT: Crosspost. Sorry for answering for you BJ
sp1023, given that BJ has repeatedly told us that we are to run things like a real ruler would, as opposed to trying to manipulate stats. So, instead of asking BJ after an arbitrary representation, perhaps you should ask yourself what you think would allow you a UU. Perhaps it is some combination of efficient leadership and higher level military training, just to make a guess on at least two things that could contribute to the organization of an elite military force.
EDIT: Crosspost. Sorry for answering for you BJ
Hmmm, I see what you mean. So, in order to create a UU, you have to think about how to become a UU. I know that this doesn't make sense to you, but I think I see a little light ahead! Thanks a lot, BJ and Little Boots! I don't know how I would have done the next thing without your help! Luallen is indebted to you!
Congrats on post #13K, BJ!
Congrats on post #13K, BJ!
Thank you. The whole set of rules is based on the single principle you stated and I bolded, just substitute what you want to do for UU.
The Animas Valley
Update Three: Serpents in the Water
Izad knew he was clever and so did most of the people he met. He was good with languages and ever since he was 12, a mere 6 years ago, he could speak three of them and get by in 4 more. He had a quick mind and the gift of gab and could talk his way into and out of most situations in all seven of his languages. And in the rare circumstances when that didn’t work, his sleight of hand, that was, to say the least, impeccable, usually did the trick. When called for, he could play the flute or lyre and carry a passable tune of his own creation or even cipher a series of numbers into a total. Yes, he was clever. And he was a traveler too. In fact he spent most of his time traveling up and down the Animas River entertaining the high born and low for what coins, sustenance and shelter they offered.
Today he was on a dock along the great western branch of the Animas. Behind him to the east stretched the dark and verdant forest of the Annwfyn or “bear people”. Few outsiders ever ventured off the water’s edge in that land for to do so was to put one’s life in danger. Of course putting his life in danger was an everyday event for Izad and he had sung and performed his way into the hearts of the bear people like he had so many others. He was welcome there and had seen the depths of their dens, drank their honey wine and gnawed the bones of the wild pigs that call the dark forest home. Recently, all the chatter had been about the Great Bear Den called by the king and attended by nobles from all across the Annwfyn. The king and his lords had struck a deal and put it in what the bear people called writing. There was little trust between these lords and the macGwynn (as the king was called here) and all feared more years of civil strife. Izad knew few of the details, but the macGwynn was clearly at the top and the nobles beholden to him and his absolute law. And, likewise, the common people (he wanted to call them “cubs”
were under the equally absolute thumb of their lords. Little of this struggle between the “bear lords” and their “bear king” was known outside of their land, but Izad pitied any outsider who got whiff of trouble and choose to turn the discord to his advantage. Woe unto the foreigners who crossed weapons with these fighters. Whatever their dislike for each other, their dislike for outsiders was far more.Izad stepped to the shade of an overhanging branch and sat on an upright barrel. Probably honey “nicked” off the last trader heading west to the Ksiliotai. When someone came for it, he would give up his seat. He cast his mind back to the last year or so and how the whole of the animas seemed “not quite ordered”. For sure it wasn’t the bloody wars of previous times that brought the Nazar Kingdom to its knees and ready for execution, but none-the-less there were problems all around. Marcus the Cruel of Ereva had had been poisoned in 193, oops, 303. 193 was the Erevan calendar and not the old Nazarian one that tended to be used by many folks. As good as he was with languages, Izad did have trouble keeping dates and years straight since they could change when one crossed from one side of the river to another. Hiram II was crowned in 194/304 and took the occasion of his kingship to brutally crush those tribes between the tin mines and the Atani River and push his southern border further south. Izad had been a juggler at the coronation and had impressed the lovely Queen Beria who laughed and clapped at his skillful handling of the royal fruit. Hiram and Beria had four children now and he had attended many of the parties celebrating the steps in their young lives. Princes Janus and Marius were now three; Donatus two and the youngest, a princess, one. The youngsters especially loved it when he pulled eggs, birds and even bugs from behind their ears. In Opulenth the kids wanted him to find pennies. He was most happy to accommodate the varying tastes of the locals.
Even Sarah, the aging, powerful, but not too old at 44, Queen Mother, gave him audience whenever he asked now. It had just taken a little time for him to figure out what made her laugh. With clumsy juggling and a few “dropped” balls he would “purloin” a bit of jewelry or ornamentation from her royal personage and “find” it tucked away somewhere on a stalwart, rutting courtier who blushed at carrying a “love token” from the king’s mother. The king’s siblings, from the most beautiful Sophia to sisters Dia and Della and brother Drake, all begged Izad work his magic and illusion on them too. Suitors of the very eligible girls also sought his advice and paid handsomely for a bit of teaching in the fine art of deception. When he left, it was as if the court went into mourning. Now a trip to Ereva would not be complete without a visit to the sea and the ruins of Nazar. On his last trip, he remembered that much of the land was being rebuilt and was becoming productive again and the rich estuary where the Animas mixed with the ocean, now called the Jacobean Gulf, was being harvested and provided both food for the villages of the coast and salt, dried fish and pearls for merchants.
Far to the south Izad had heard about the Luallen people of islands, but had not yet made a voyage to their distant lands. Their prowess at sailing was renown among the coastal peoples of southern Nazar, or should he call it Ereva now? If the rumors be true, then the sailors of Luallen had made frequent voyages over the edge of the world and returned unharmed. That would be quite a feat and one that the master of illusion, Izad, was not willing to accept just yet. He knew little else, not even the names of kings or queens or whatever ruled this faraway people. One day he was sure he would make the voyage and learn for himself just what Luallen was all about.
Of course, not every visit to every nation was as pleasant or rewarding as Ereva. In Kana, god’s breadth, he never knew what year it was there either, he frequented the capital Tianzuo, but had never even met anyone above the rank of
Maozhi (Count). Now the Maozhi of Kana were not too shabby. Each could have a household and up to 50 liveried servants and liveried in Kana meant armed and dangerous if crossed. For the Duke-like Fuzhi the number was 100. Kana seemed particularly orderly in its structure even if it was chaos in the markets and taverns where Izad spent his time. These were a people on the move and seemed adroit at inventing new ways of doing things. Once while juggling clay bowls of food (which he did for the opportunity to eat lunch) before a crew of shipbuilders, he got a firsthand look at the future of riverine warfare and it was impressive. The new war craft were sleek, probably fast and very deadly in design. But for such an inventive people they seemed to have trouble with their kings. He paused and thought a moment and decided that “Shizhi” was the correct word. “King” was used in Ereva. Shizhi Tian Tang was a sybarite and died after two years while raping a servant girl. His brother Zhishu ruled a bit longer (five years) until 308. Damn he still couldn’t remember how the Kana counted their years; Nazarite years would have to do. Zhishu died without an heir leaving the country ruled by the council of lords that choose one Zhang Ming as the next Shizhi. It seemed to Izad that being too close to that royal family would be to “court” trouble. He laughed to himself.
The kings or rather Shizhi of Kana reminded him a bit of the loopy elephant herders of the far north; Izad had been there only once and he wasn’t sure he would ever go back in spite of the beautiful women there. These semi-nomadic people were obsessed with small animals and big bows. From the best he could make from the bar keeps and whores he frequented, the Hinsa Hinga kings dreamt of small non elephant-like creatures that would appear someday and carry them out of their barren steppes to conquer the world. In spite of such madness, their bow technology was impressive and dangerous and they were now building something even bigger. So big that it had to either be mounted on a wall or carried by an elephant. In any case, the traders of the Hinsa Hinga were beginning to show up as far south as the Sedaya.
Like the bear people’s nation, Sedaya was at a major confluence of branches of the mother Animas, but unlike the secretive people of Annwfyn, the kings and traders of Sedaya celebrated and shared their blessings. As he was sitting staring up the western branch of the Animas toward the failing nation of the Ksiliotai, Ranai (yes that was the Sedaya word for king) Daypa was building a great market where the surging middle branches of the Animas joined and flowed south. Two flies landed on his boot and made him ponder the counting of the years in Sedaya. Let’s see 198 in Ereva; 308 by the reckoning of the dead kings of Nazar and probably 288 or 289 in Sedaya. One day someone should straighten it all out and make everyone agree on a single way to mark time. He shook his head and the flies buzzed off and out over the river. He had seen the beginnings of this wondrous bazaar and when it was finally finished he would be there for the celebration. Clearly King Daypa wanted all the trade of his nation and that of many others to flow though his Tsiba Nameya. And if early signs could be believed it would. Already his coffers were filling with new gold. Such a grand place would be perfect for him too. The crowds would be large, rich and ready for a little entertainment. He could easily picture himself in front of the new temple of Sedai with the High Priestess Medi tossing coins in his out stretched hat. From what Izad had seen Daypa was a pretty good king as kings go. He had enforced the codified laws of the Tsiba Seda (highest laws) and even had armed men patrolling the streets to keep order and restrain ruffians who got out of hand. Complaints were handled in an orderly manner by government officials who he presumed were skilled in such things. There was something comforting about Sedaya. One felt safe there or at least safer than in many other places he had been. The cities were walled and secure and the ebb and flow of traffic controlled.
Of course, all this musing was a mere distraction from his task at hand. West was the spirited land of the Ksiliotai and from what he had heard in the last two weeks he had been perched along the river in bear country, the picture was not a pretty one. Simmering rivalries had exploded in recent months and war was at hand. King Aurigiros VI had fled the capital and the Nakatai (his Ksiliotai was a bit ragged and he thought that meant Eastern dog or was some other slap at the warlords of the East) had taken the brewing war west to the capital and the land of the Gasireai. From the traders and mercenaries that passed this way, it seemed that any and all warlords with 100 men had declared war on whoever was closest and had something worth taking. Some said that the Nakatai had captured the treasury and made off with more gold than they could carry; then he heard that the Gasireai had gotten there first and carried the treasure west to their mountain refuges. His debate was whether or not to go find out for himself. Aurigiros had taken a Nakatai wife and some even said that she had killed him and set the rebellion in motion herself. There was no end to the speculation. Now, if what he had heard today was true, there were five or more Ksiliotai nations all vying for power and control and all were willing to kill to get it.
It takes as long as it takes, and even though I finished it last night, I have been proofreading it and making last minute correction to make it better. Just so you don't blow a gasket waiting, I will go over the map one last time, check it against the stats and cloak it. That will take a little while so hold your horses.
In this update, there were no wars so everything is based on what information individual players provided. Those who sent no orders got little or nothing. Those, like you Sp1023, who sent very little, have little beyond your change in stats. Somewhere there is a lesson in all this.
jalapeno_dude
AKA Panda Judo Eel
Nice update! Will wait patiently for map and stats.
Abaddon
Deity
You rude little Oik! How dare you say something like that when all you have done is scratched a few sentances together as orders? Have you any idea how much effort is required to run a successful NES?
alex994
Hail Divine Emperor!
OOC: An interesting read, I did rather enjoy the puns Why is there a black smudge south of my capital? Is it the descent of the Gods to welcome their chosen nation?!?!?! 
And props abaddon, I agree with you fully. Except the little Oik part
Why is there a black smudge south of my capital? Is it the descent of the Gods to welcome their chosen nation?!?!?! And props abaddon, I agree with you fully. Except the little Oik part
Map is up.
Izad is a character through which I am telling the stroy of this update. By having such a "person" I can more easily and hopefully, more interstingly talk about what is happening and not just list things. I expect that as long as we are in short turns he will be around.
Sure if you want to see it that way.OOC: An interesting read, I did rather enjoy the puns
North King
blech
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2004
- Messages
- 18,165
Bird, I would like to formally petition a second time to have my capital's color scheme changed.
