Realpolitik III: Dark of the North

Tanya cast a worried glance over her shoulder. They can't be far behind me.

Uneasy, she spurred her horse forward a bit. The Prince would want the Staff back, of that she was sure. Well, she was an Outrider - one of the guardians entrusted with the safety of such magical artifacts. No mere mortal could be allowed to possess them. Indeed - no one could. They must be kept on the move, lest dark powers find them and use them again.

Tanya thought she heard a galloping horse. She pulled over to the roadside and paused, a hand approaching her sabre. For a few moments, nothing happened.

Then a lone rider came around the bend at a trot. He was cloaked in black, but visible as a man, not an elf or dwarf, underneath everything. At his side was a sword, and Tanya thought she could see some throwing axes on his belt. He eyes her for a moment, then paused.

"What do you carry?" he asked in a rasping voice. Tanya narrowed her eyes.

"I carry nothing, traveler," she growled. "Be along your way."

The other rider did not move. "You carry something of great value," he hissed. Tanya's sword was drawn nearly instantly.

"Move along," she commanded. "I carry nothing."

The other rider moved so fast Tanya didn't realize he even had twitched until she was on the ground. He had grabbed her wrist and pitched her from the saddle, dismounting himself in the process. Tanya felt the staff under her body, under the green cloak she wore to protect her from the chill of winter. Snow began to fall as though summoned.

"Give it to me," the rider hissed. Tanya cried out and rolled to her feet, her sword in hand again. She lunged, impaling the man.

The rider backhanded her hard enough that she staggered away, then pulled her sword from his chest and broke it over his knee.

"Wraith!" Tanya cried. It had been a thousand years since the Dark Lord was defeated in his attempt to conquer the world, and his wraith-lieutenants had faded into myth - but were apparently very real.

"I am Lighthearter, the Ice-King of the North," the wraith hissed. "You are mine, mortal." He reached out a hand for her.

Tanya grabbed the hand, trying to shove it away, but Lighthearter ignored her and grabbed her throat. Tanya gasped as she was heaved from her feet, choking. Her horse whinnied and trotted towards Lighthearter, snorting aggressively. Lighthearter gave it one glance, then raised a hand to point at it.

"Razh N'areth!" he called.

"No!" Tanya moaned.

A flash of red light flew from his hand, causing the horse to scream once, bloody light shining from its eyes, before dropping in a heap. Tanya felt herself cry out - the horse had been her mount her whole life. The wraith hurled her thirty feet into a tree. Tanya gasped as several of her ribs snapped.

She felt the staff being pulled from her coat before she realized what it meant. As soon as she did, she scrambled to her feet. A chain of ice formed around her left hand and heaved it behind her back, linking it to another on her right wrist. The wraith turned and kicked her hard, causing her to fall to her back, screaming at the pain from her ribs.

Lighthearter stared at the staff wondrously, then smiled. He raised it into the air.

"No," Tanya whispered again, the totality of her failure hitting her. A blast of silent energy shot from the road, the trees whipping around at its passing. There came a moment of calm.

Clouds of smoke formed across the roadway, morphing into men and other strange creatures. All carried weapons and looked at Tanya with pitiless, inhuman eyes.

The wraith-lords are regathered, Tanya thought desperately. I have to warn the other Outriders - warn the Prince - warn the King, even! Our doom is approaching!

Lighthearter was just smiling.

"Welcome, brothers," he said. Then from his tongue rolled a stream of syllables in another tongue - a dark tongue. Tanya screamed as they assaulted her ears, and even the very air started to grow black.

If she had heard what Lighthearter was saying, perhaps the inevitability of becoming a human sacrifice to augment his powers would have been even more ironic to her.

So yeah. Hi guys. Been a while, hasn’t it? Now then, I’ve decided to do this as GMing is sorta addictive to me. Just keep it clean, alright? So, without further ado - here are the rules of the game:

- We are playing Aztecs on a continents map in Civilization V.

- I as host reserve the right to veto any action any player wishes to undertake. To consolidate the stability of the AAR, to stop interference with the normal functioning of the thread or simply because I feel like it. Don't mess with The Man.

- Rule #1 of Realpolitik: Democracy is absolute. Even when the Nazis or communists are elected into office, they will still have to answer to the opposition and face elections every thirty turns.

- Any member is free to establish or join a political party of his choice. A member can only be member of one party at a time, although he is free to switch allegiance whenever he sees fit.

- I am going to ask everyone to use their own nicknames at all times when playing or in story updates they write. This is to avoid confusion.

- Every thirty in-game turns an election shall be held, the first election will be in about one week. During the week, I'll grant the right to all parties to organize, unite and campaign to get as many people as they can to vote. Note that everyone registered on the CivFanatics forums is eligible to vote.

- Parties are allowed to form coalitions. At the end of an election, all votes are tallied and the party or coalition with the largest amount of votes wins the election.

- Everyone chooses two weapons(era-appropriate, please) and one magical specialty(Earth, Water, Ice, Fire or Air), as well as any three spells from the Spell List(bottom of post). Note that choosing a spell only allows you to cast it once, so if you want more uses pick the spell multiple times. These spells can be used during quests(which can be left to the GM’s imagination or played out in the chatroom). To earn another spell, take a mortal hostage and then sacrifice them to the gods. Each mortal is worth 1.

- The parties that did not win will be sent to opposition, where they can comment on the policy of the leading faction. I will monitor opposition closely, and the leading players have to understand that failing to appease the public will lead to us penalizing out nation in-game (improvement deletion, raised unhappiness). It is therefore very important to listen to the public.

- If the opposition is strong enough, they can call for a General Strike, a Vote of No Confidence, an Assassination, or if things get REALLY ugly, an Armed Revolution.

- The winning party or coalition will come into office the in-game update after the elections. They must put together, before elections close, a complete cabinet encompassing 3 positions: President, Domestic Minister and Military Minister. One person may hold more then one position.

- At the same time as Presidential elections are the Steward Elections. The Steward rules over all the cities of his respective subfaction, as well as choosing policies and tech choices for it. He is sworn to obey the president, but ultimately his subfaction follows him and not the prez. The Governor-General commands all the subfaction's military units, with the same stipulations as the Steward towards the President. If someone wants to take Mongolia or Rome and secede from the Aztecs, they'll need to win over a Steward and preferably a Governor-General.

- NPC voters are divided into the Districts of each Region. Each District is worth at least a single vote in either midterm or presidential elections. Districts do not vote until the final day of the elections, though projections will be brought up to demonstrate likelihoods beforehand. Each region has issues and the party that pledges to fulfill their wishes will receive their votes. On election day, based on the strength of your get-out-the-vote campaign Districts might produce more votes.

- If your coalition carries the majority of Districts in a Region, then you receive an extra vote per District you carried.

- The buildings built in cities, the units near them, and the improvements around them will play a major role in determining the makeup of the voting population in Regions.

- NPC organizations may form, and these organizations will put forward Senatorial candidates in various regions. You can destroy or ally with these groups as you see fit.

- Elections can be ended early if one side concedes defeat, but their starting opposition strength will be lowered and they will gain it much slower.

- Every reader (including players) has two votes in the presidential elections. Putting in two votes for a single party is not allowed. However, if parties want to play it smart they'll seek coalition with a like-minded party so players can put two votes into their front.

- The host (Lighthearter) retains full rights to ban any party that has violated these rules. Spamming parties, parties using a complaint generator, parties inciting hate, parties that are found obtrusive for the normal functioning of this thread or parties that plain tick him off will be banned from the elections indefinitely.

- Please refrain from PMing me for every Realpolitik-related issue. Alternatives are using the profile visitor comments, or simple commenting in the thread.

- You cannot change your vote once it is cast, but you can withdraw your party from a coalition and join another one mid-elections.

- True Player Measure - If you only arrive to vote in elections, and come and vote every election but never post in between, then you are going to have your votes taken away because you obviously don't have a stake in the game. In order to get them back, you need to be an active player - even if not the most active - and remain active up to and through an election where you have no voting rights. That's right. You have to prove that you're here to play, not just to vote for a friend. I will be paying strict attention to all lurker voters in the future and adding their names to this list as they qualify.

- Major Party Rule - A leader (or member) of a Party cannot put himself forward for the position of President unless he has another member (not counting himself) within his own party. He can, however, run for any lower position if he so wishes.

- If you have an issue about my GMing, contact me through PMs. Please do not feel afraid to bring issues to my attention. If you can talk to me but choose not to for whatever reason and instead “take an issue into your own hands” I can guarantee that you’ll get nowhere with me.

- By voting, joining a party or performing any other form of interaction with this AAR, you declare that you have read and understood all these rules to the letter. I don't want to be a jerk guys, so keep it clean!

Administrations:


Opposition Leader(OPLDR):


Opposition Actions:

General Strike - Basic action. Must be declared in thread by opposition leader. Based on the strength of the opposition, a certain number of cities will be selected for coin flips. Heads=get off scat-free. Tails=all production shut down. Number of cities depends on opposition strength.

Assassination - Any player may order an assassination of another politician or of an NPC, but if the assassin is successful then evidence always surfaces that reveals who ordered the action. Tread lightly. These assassinations, if successful, will remove the target from play for one turnset if a PC or opposing Immortal, permanently if a true NPC. If a minister is Assassinated, he is removed from office for the duration of his injuries.

Vote of No Confidence - Action that the Opposition Leader can take. Calls on the President to hold a reelection. I may step in depending on the circumstances, however, for one side or the other.

Sabotage - Basic action. May destroy a random province improvement. To perform, ANY player must PM me with the target city and improvement(or leave it up to me) and I will flip a coin for odds of success. Whether it fails or succeeds, I flip a coin again to decide if the President discovers evidence leading back to the instigator of the action.

Kidnap - Functions as Jail, save can be performed by any player. Higher odds of success if you are targeting an NPC. Odds increase further if there are multiple people participating.

Call for Desertion - Advanced action. Opposition leader must announce the call in the thread. Some units may or may not be disbanded. Number of units depends on opposition strength.

Secession – VERY advanced action. Must be declared in the thread by the opposition leader. Causes a group to splinter off from the main nation. Must choose between the two available revolt factions(Mongolia and Rome) and from there sends orders to LH as always, with him playing hotseat between the two nations.

Armed Revolution Concepts:

The Foreign Legions:

The Legions will provide extra strength to the Government or the Rebels in a Revolution if nearby nations are sympathetic to the cause of either side. Foreign Ministers for both factions in a Revolution may negotiate actively with foreign leaders for more troops - though this may backfire or prove ineffectual.

Government Actions:

Martial Law - Advanced action. All opposition actions except Armed Revolution and Sabotage are made impossible, and the latter is highly unlikely to succeed. Elections are not suspended, however. Is in effect until repealed, even if the President who ordered it is not the one who repeals it. That's right - it transcends elections. However, there are penalties for this action . . . .

Jail - The administration may place another player in jail at any time . . . but this will raise the OSR and could produce disastrous consequences if not handled correctly.

You have one week to organize your parties before I begin the first administration starting right . . . NOW!

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

PARTY LISTINGS:

The Merchants of Cthulhu
Respecting the Great Old Ones, we belives the Aztecs should have the best economy in the world. If Cthulhu wills us to declare war, we see as he wants to let us open markets elsewhere.
Leader: Redspy
Members: Southernking & Christos200

Moderate Aztec Party
This party will be very open to all decisions put forth and will focus on science, production and growth. We are very liberal.
Leader: Steel Knight
Members:

The Sect of Chalchiuhtlatonal
We believe in pleasing the gods what ever necessary (although as we are Aztec I can't see it being that peaceful ). Our main god is Chalchiuhtlatonal god of water so we also want a strong navy.
Leader: hoplitejoe
Members:

The Imperial Party
Our goal is to defend Aztecland's interests by means of the sword. Because a strong military needs a strong economy, we advocate developing commerce and industry. While we prefer military solutions to Aztec problems, we are willing to pursue alternatives. We believe that those of Aztec heritage should be spared the blade and all others, by necessity, should be brought before the altar if war arises.
Leader: Sonereal
Members: Celticfury & Magnive

The National Party for Reform
Formed primarily of the youth of the Aztec population, the NPR seeks to completely reform society by any means possibly. Democracy, theocracy, technocracy, and pretty much anything other than the current government is preferable. Society must be turned on its head! The march of progress will not be intterupted by blind traditionalists.
To rise from the ashes ...there must first be a flame!
Leader: Prospo
Members:

Insanely Evil Warmonger's Party(Was waiting for them to show up)
We believe that AZTECIA should conquer the world! We need to destroy all enemies in our way! Of course, we need a good economy to support our army, so we support a good economy. And we need science to get Giant Death Robots, which are awesome, so we support science as well. But most of all we want to destroy and conquer! EXTERMINATE!!!
Leader: Ninjcacow(Who else?)
Members:

Greek Ninja Party
The GNP (Greek Ninja Party) is a party who immigrated to Aztec lands from Greece. We shall ensure the safety and prosperity of our people.
Leader: Yoshiegg
Members: General Olaf

Cult of Blood
Oh, Blessed be the Sun God, Huitzilopochtli, whom bless us Immortals with the Powers of Magic, and bless Mortals with fertile land for food...We of the Cult of Blood believe that sacrifice to the Sun God is the only way to the Greater Peace.
Leader: LordNwahs
Members:

Cult of Tezcatlipoca Titlacauan
The Cult's platform is incomprehensible to mere mortals (we are capricious and will change based on our interests) but for one thing, the sacrifices must continue and the march of sacrifices for Tezcatlipoca and all the gods must continue. We will thus support the party or coalition that engages in the most pleasing sacrifices (the more blood flows the better) and on the grandest scale. We shall abstain from allegiances (although being capricious you can ask, we may provide) or positions in a cabinet.... for now.
Leader: Jehoshua
Members: None

Progressive Followers of the True Faith Party
1) We will try to create a strong economy.
2) we support imperialism and colonization.
3) we beleive that christianity is the true religion and the other gods of the Aztecs are false and that sacrifice should be illegal and banned.
4) we should trade with friendly empires in times of peace.
Leader: christos200
Members: Tambien

NPC ORGANIZATIONS:

INDEPENDENTS:

- Nonevah
- Dem Taqat
- Nukeknockout
- Tambien

SHADOW STATUS (AWOL/Retired):

COALITIONS:

Popular Front(IMP/IEWP/Cthulhu/MAP)
11th Sun Coalition(CoB/Sect)

SPELLS:
Razh N'areth - Killing spell. Any one target is slain.
Eph Heren - Telekenisis spell. Any one object can be manipulated by the caster's mind until they release it or can no longer concentrate fully on it.
Orm Tapharith - Invisibility spell. Grants temporary invisibility.
Hath Yahoram - Low-level teleportation spell. Instantly transports anywhere within line of sight.
Alem Narin - Low-level spell of Banishment. Hurts creatures of darkness badly.

-L

Jawa King
Gadarffii
Bow and arrows

Earth
Eph Heren, two uses.
Hath Yahoram

The Merchant Party​

We believe that the economy of the Aztecs shall be the strongest in the world, specifically one of a barter kind, where one man can trade something of equal worth to another. We see war is a thing to expand our trade throughout the world.

Social Policies: Commerce, Tradition, Honour,

As the first person to join this thread I will create the MAP (Moderate Aztec Party). This party will be very open to all decisions put forth and will focus on science, production and growth. We are very liberal.

Element: Water
Weapons:Bow and Poison Arrows, Shiny Bronze Dagger.
Spells:Eph Heren Orm Tapharith, Hath Yahoram.

We favor Freedom, Liberty, Commerce, and Rationalism as Social Polices.

Element: Water

Weapons:
2 handed amber sword
A Load stone war hammerI may have changed my mind a little LH : D

Spells:
Razh N'areth
Orm Tapharith
Hath Yahoram




We believe in pleasing the gods what ever necessary (although as we are Aztec I can't see it being that peaceful ). Our main god is Chalchiuhtlatonal god of water so we also want a strong navy.

Social Policies: Piety, Tradition, Honour, Patronage.

Cry havoc! The Metalpocalyspe is upon us!

Element: Fire
Weapons: Sonereal's Blade (7-foot blade), Meat Cleaver

Spells:

Hath Yahoram - Low-level teleportation spell. Instantly transports anywhere within line of sight (Triple use)

Element: Air
Weapons: Knives, (if possible) bow and arrows (quiver carries 15 arrows)

Spells:
Razh N'areth
Orm Tapharith (two uses)



Currently independent

Element: Fire
Weapons: Torch, Trident
Spell: Razh N'areth - Killing spell. Any one target is slain

OOC: That is probably the most creative way of saying you're aiming for a cultural victory I've ever seen ever.

INSANELY MAD WARMONGER’S PARTY!!!


We believe that AZTECIA should conquer the world! We need to destroy all enemies in our way! Of course, we need a good economy to support our army, so we support a good economy. And we need science to get Giant Death Robots, which are awesome, so we support science as well. But most of all we want to destroy and conquer! EXTERMINATE!!!

THE WEAPONS THE NINJACOW

DUEL WEALD FLAMING WARHAMMERS!!! And the Ninjacow is Ninjary enough to be able to throw them

MAGICZ OF THE NINJACOW

FIRE SPECIALTY!

TELEKINESIS SPELL! THREE TIMES!!!

@Sonereal: IMWP and Imperial Coalition? It just makes sense.

OCC: See this post as over 9000 in excitement. I AM SO HAPPY THAT LH HAS CONTINUED THIS!!! YAY!!!!!

The IMWP is a proto-Imperial Party. Therefore, we believe it would be sensible if the IMWP merged into the Imperial Party.

The First Law of the Imperial Party Manifesto is that all actions of the State should be in the name of the State or the Immortal. The State is what protects the People. The Immortal runs the State. In exchange, the State should never persecute a law-abiding, tax-paying Aztec citizen.

The Second Law of the Imperial Party Manifesto is that murderers, tax evaders, rapists, arsonists, and terrorists have forfeited their citizenship. As such, these traitors will be brought to the Altar. Sacrificing these criminals bring power to the Immortal and therefore, the State.

The Third Law of the Imperial Party Manifesto is that parties that orchestra State-threatening acts of Sabotage, Assassination, Kidnapping, and Armed Revolution shall be purged from the State and brought to the Altar.

The Fourth Law of the Imperial Party Manifesto is that client states (puppets) exist to contribute manpower to the Altars. If a taken city is smaller than the average size of an Aztec city, then the city should be dismantled and its population brought to the Altar.

The Fifth Law of the Imperial Party Manifesto is that laws will be created as new ideas (social policies) are created.

Sonereal said:

The IMWP is a proto-Imperial Party. Therefore, we believe it would be sensible if the IMWP merged into the Imperial Party.

Click to expand...

NO! IWMP IS MORE INSANE THAN THE IMPERIALS!!! THAT’S WHY I’M SHOUTING!!!!!

Seriously, IWMP values it’s independence. Besides a coalition would be more beneficial.

Anyways, I might have to go soon, so we will use Horizons II as a placeholder for this Coalition and discuss an actual name later.

NinjaCow64 said:

NO! IWMP IS MORE INSANE THAN THE IMPERIALS!!! THAT’S WHY I’M SHOUTING!!!!!

Seriously, IWMP values it’s independence. Besides a coalition would be more beneficial.

Anyways, I might have to go soon, so we will use Horizons II as a placeholder for this Coalition and discuss an actual name later.

Click to expand...

A coalition already exists and the IMWP may join it.

Signed
August Sonereal

Chairman of the Imperial Party
Member of the Popular Front

Sonereal said:

A coalition already exists and the IMWP may join it.

Signed
August Sonereal

Chairman of the Imperial Party
Member of the Popular Front

Click to expand...

Wait, what???

Please direct me to the social group.

I will be joining the Imperial Party.

Element: Fire
Weapons: 1) A one handed arming sword and a round "target" shield; 2) A Rondel dagger Edit: Modified so it can hold poisons/potions.
Spells: Orm Tapharith - Invisibility spell. Grants temporary invisibility. (Triple use)

NinjaCow64 said:

Wait, what???

Please direct me to the social group.

Click to expand...

There is no social group yet. The Popular Front is made up of the Merchant Party, Imperial Party, and IMWP.

Signed
August Sonereal

Chairman of the Imperial Party

Sonereal said:

There is no social group yet. The Popular Front is made up of the Merchant Party, Imperial Party, and IMWP.

Signed
August Sonereal

Chairman of the Imperial Party

Click to expand...

Excellent. I officially join the coalition.

NinjaCow64 said:

Excellent. I officially join the coalition.

Click to expand...

Excellent.

The GNP (Greek Ninja Party) is a party who immigrated to Aztec lands from Greece. We shall ensure the safety and prosperity of our people

Social Policies: Freedom, Piety

Element: Ice
Weapons: 1 Handed Fire-Ice Katana, Crossbow
Spells: Orm Tapharith (2), Razh N'areth

Most Civ4'er's know already, but I'm gone for a bit. If somebody does join my party, they can lead it until I'm back.