Heirs to Heaven

[Decamper]

OOC: Sorry for not sending any orders but had no access to PC for a few days.

Actually, since I did not send any orders for Sanah and the stats show that Isaakios is still mine, can I remain as Isaakios?

No problem, Isaakios is yours.

 

[Double A]

Okay well if I get free upkeep this turn then fine by me

 

[Decamper]

GRAPHS

Edit: my availability is going to be spotty for the next few weeks. Leaving PMs on CFC or discord will be the best way to get my attention.

 

[Nuka-sama]

Her Excellency, the Lady Regent Léontine de Toullies the "Peace Bringer", has the following announcements:

First and foremost, much of the realm is now at peace at last. I am happy that we are on the verge of unifying Heaven once more. I know God smiles on our mission but there is one great center that still needs to be reclaimed; the Holy City.

The "Church" there has ruled the Holy City through fear, deception and other evil means. Well I will not let their crimes go unpunished. I hereby declare a full and total embargo upon the Holy City until they see fit to lay down their arms to me.

Furthermore, I have heard word of the terrors in the lands of House Koriates. The Choir will be dealt with by any means necessary and the heathens will be brought to justice.

Finally, I have an announcement; my doctors have succesfully created what they think is a cure for the Black Breath. While it is not fully tested, I will help produce the medicine for any lord who asks for it. I will not force anyone to take it, and will leave it to the decesion of the lords whether they want this cure to be used on their lands​

OOC: The cure costs 5 mp and 5 ep to be used per province. Please let me know if you're interested in it

 

[NinjaCow64]

Lady Nichola Taran also has announcements to make.

House Taran will be sending our armies north into Koriates lands to Crusade against the foul heresy coming from Lake Celestis. We will accept the surrender of all those who lay down their arms, but all those who resist will be assumed to have been corrupted by the Choir and will be shown no mercy. Consider yourself warned, House Koriates. We also encourage the other northern Houses to deploy armies to this Koriates Crusade.

I also wish to express my intent to distribute the cure throughout North Thuria and Stillhabor. Although this cure has not yet been proven to work all of the time, I feel like we can wait no longer. I will warn you that this cure may not work for everyone, but that is still far better than your chances without the cure. If it does not destroy the plague for good, then at least it will have made an impact towards curing it. The money that was so generously donated to us by the Clergy will be used to help distribute the cure along with money from our own coffers. Although House Taran is prepared to pay for the cure by itself, we would appreciate any economic assistance that Lady Regent Léontine de Toullies the "Peace Bringer" could give to us.

I am also pleased to announce the Thurian Economic Plan. This plan aims to repair the damage that the Black Breath has brought to the economy of North Thuria and Stillhabor. House Thustra and their vassals will provide 25,000 able-bodied serfs and their families (25 MP) to North Thuria in exchange for 1200 Godpounds (12 EP). These serfs and their families will enter temporary serfdom contracts with the nobles of North Thuria and Stillhabor hit the hardest by the manpower shortages. As an incentive for the South Thurian serfs to migrate to the North, after one year in this temporary serfdom contract they and their families will be released as free men and women. We believe that this influx of manpower will compensate for the shortages in the last few months and the shortages expected from the distribution of the cure as those who have been given the cure may require additional bed rest after treatment.

I have not forgotten the brave North Thurian men and women as well as those who have resided in Stillhabor. As a reward for their service, any direct living relatives of those who have died while serving in the North Thurian military will be released from any and all serfdom contracts. Additionally, all those who have given at least one year’s service to the North Thurian military will be released from any and all serfdom contracts, along with their direct living relatives. This does not mean that anyone will be released from service early or outside of normal discharging protocols due to this new plan, but they will be treated as free men within the army and when they return.

To compensate landowners who will likely have to pay their peasants more wages as a part of this economic plan, we are immediately implementing a 10% tax cut for all landowners. This will also allow them more funds to replant any crops that have died due to the lack of manpower and the other disasters that have come to Northern Thruia and Stillhabor in these dark times.

 

[NinjaCow64]

House Taran would also like to know which Houses wish to participate in the Koriates Crusade so we can organise a coordinated strategy.

 

[Seon]

House Koriate warns that every step will be taken to ensure Koriate autonomy and independence against any kind of aggression from rabid southerners.

 

[Double A]

This is an intervention. You need help.

 

[Seon]

Everything is under control.

 

[Double A]

How so?

 

[NinjaCow64]

How so?

http://gunshowcomic.com/648

 

[Double A]

I know but

seon pls

 

[Seon]

But don't you see

The choir is our life now.

To destroy the song is to destroy our very purpose so if we wish to live long, meaningful life, the song must not be destroyed.

 

[NinjaCow64]

Could we possibly have a 24 hour orders extension? There's a question I need answered on Discord before I can send my orders and I probably won't be able to send them today anyway.

 

[Decamper]

Could we possibly have a 24 hour orders extension?

Sure.

 

[Seon]

Probably relevant in more ways than one: http://youtu.be/FNSuYQ0mYUE

 

[Nuka-sama]

I can get orders in tomorrow, sorry for the delay ;-;

 

[Decamper]

Link to video.

God walked for ten years, ten months, and ten days across Heaven to remember the past, see the present, and know the future.​

The North​

God past through Stillharbour, and remembered the carnage. A province torn apart by repeated battles between a half dozen armies, its towns emptied by the legacy of House Wychland’s folly. But now God saw the resurgence of the province. Flying Thurian colours, the city bustled with life. Trade once again flowed through the harbour, and tradesmen and merchants bustled through the streets. Similarly, the rest of the once Wychland administered provinces were doing well under the joint watch of the northern Houses and the Church. And so God knew that the Wychlanders would continue to grow strong, pious and righteous under the church mandated Houses.

God continued along Terpira Bay, passing through the once of House Dandale, then of the self-proclaimed Sanah Kingdom, now under the guard of House Isaakios. God remembered the desperate struggle of Isaakios as it fell to its knees, province after province falling to the House of Koriates. God remembered how Isaakios, backed by the Thurian Houses, got back to its feet, first retaking Sanah, and then bringing the rest of the northern peninsula back under its banners during the Holy Northern Crusade. God saw the Northern House was once again strong, its Lord Alexandros ruling with a just but iron fist. Once Alexandros had named himself regent, and though he gave up that title to support God once again, God saw that the peninsula was separate from the rest of Heaven, a kingdom in its own right. God knew that Alexandros still had ambitions, and God knew that he would do anything to pursue them.

God saw the barren waste that was the true north of Heaven. God didn’t want to remember the Crusade. God didn’t want to remember the screams and the song. God didn’t want to remember the armies clashing in the burning forests, the trees screaming and weeping blood as they withered in the inferno. God didn’t want to remember the blaze on lake Celestis, or what died in the waters. God didn’t want to remember, but such is the plight of the omnipotent. God knew that this wild and savage land would never again be strong and proud. Never again would true Northmen stalk the frozen expanses, defying the indifferent cruelties of nature. The land was dead, and so it would remain, silent and songless.

God remembered the Northwest, recalling the bitter fighting between House Polud and House Lamere. God also remembered how, despite the bloodshed and betrayal, the peace that came to the two Houses. God remembered how they once again marched together northward alongside the other armies of the Holy Crusade. God saw the booming trade of Davensport, and saw the industrial powerhouse of the Polud provinces. Once again regular ferries ran between Lamere island and the mainland, and the wealth of House Polud was generously spread throughout the more wartorn lands of Heaven. God knew that while the political centre of Heaven was further south, the heart of continent’s economy was in the northwest, and would beat on steadily under the keen eyes of Polud and Lamere.

A detour through Thuria suited God’s mood. The peninsula had seen little of the war, but it had known the Black Breath better than any other land on the continent. For a time, as the healing began, north Thuria was a quiet place. God remembered the empty homes, the empty streets. The empty families. Even with all the effort House Taran put into restoring its lands, the emptiness took long years to fill. The joining of the Houses furthered the process, though, as southern subjects of the unified Thurian ‘Crown’ were able to move north to pick up the slack. Now, it was difficult to tell apart those from the north of the peninsula to those of the south, with both peoples fully embracing their identity as Thurians. Like the northern Isaakios lands, God knew that Thuria was no longer simply the holding of a House, but a budding kingdom of its own.

The Midlands​

​

God walked southeast, and passed through the lands of the True United Church. God remembered to fracturing of the Church, how brother fought sister, how believers clawed at one another’s throats, trying to scrape away the heresy through bone and flesh. Through violence, and a smidge of well placed diplomacy, the three churches were eventually brought back together, and as God walked through the streets of the Holy City, it was clear that the Faithful were once again back at their civil arguments and philosophising. Yet there was still a tension. One could see how groups would look at other groups, how individuals would argue and laugh, but a veil hid their true thoughts and questions. Who did you side with? Who did you kill? God knew they were healing, but God’s heart ached with the knowledge of how long it would take.

With steeled wits God once again set out westwards, to the Midland Houses. God remembered the once small House Arimathea, and how it had fought tooth and nail to become the largest standing House. God remembered the offensive, how Arimathea had shown no mercy as it ground its enemies to dust in the name of the Regent. God saw that the Arimatheans were a proud people, but they were also devout. They had been the rock behind which God had weathered the worst storms, and upon which God was raised. With the continued reconstruction work in the south, God knew that Arimathea would continue to lend its support to Heaven, and now through its charity, rather than its sword, its legacy would be forged.

Ferries now ran again with impunity, and in greater numbers than ever before, between the Arimathean mainland and Lion Island. God remembered fondly the sun-kissed island of House de Toullies. God remembered how colourful it had been, even while war raged, even while word of the Black Breath ravaged the lands, the island was always flush with colours and optimism. With less fondness God remembered when the war first reached its shores, and how suddenly the crushing reality smashed into the people. God saw the island still bore scars from the second invasion, craters marring the ocean cliffs and rolling hills where foreigner magics had torn through the earth. But God also saw the colour and the smiles. The extravagant clothes, the puffed up nobles and the glittering balls. God knew the scars would fade, becoming gentle dips in the fields for children to roll down. Lion Island would continue to be a paradise, as it had always been but for one brief, if horrific, moment.

The Summmerlands​

God had meandered, trying to visit places with better memories, but the trip had to lead south. The true south, the Summerlands. God remembered all the Houses. Mephisels, Braxton, Natt och Dag, Iskariota, Faulhamer. Languages and cultures, so many different tanned faces and smiles. Looking out over Summer Bay at dozens and dozens of ships, flying flags of all colours. God saw them turn on one another, blood sinking into the sand. Wiping tears away, God walked and remembered the indifferent destruction that had flowed north on the wave of an unknown and uncompromising enemy. God remembered the Houses falling one after the other in the smoke and fire. The nobles of House Iskariota and Natt och Dag fleeing north as their brief and undermanned offensive alongside Faulhamer withered in the face of foreign flames. The last stand of House Faulhamer, its warriors and leaders refusing to retreat from Hammerhold, giving time for refugees to flee north. The wide, desperate frontline along House Mephs’ lands as support from the rest of the Houses finally came south, done with the Koriates Crusade and the Church reunification battles. Songs are still sung across the continent of the day the first army broke through, when the tide finally turned. A far superior foe, stretched thin, defeated by its own ignorance as the outmatched, but craftier and righteous Faithful of Heaven forced them back into the sea. Great songs, epic poems and breathtaking plays documented the heroic campaign, but God only saw the loss. The Southern Houses were gone. Entire cities lay empty, silent tombs marring the fields and desert. Of course the remnants of the Houses remained, and together they were jointly trying to bring the Summerlands back with significant aid from the northern Houses. God knew that it would take decades to bring the south back to life, but it would be done. God knew that a new identity had been forged in the Summerlands as the old Houses had been knocked down. But even as the Summerlanders grew into their new selves, God couldn’t help but mourn for what was lost.

And so God returned to the Holy City. No longer hidden as a wandering commoner, God’s radiance shown through the streets, and followers gathered to watch their God, their Empress of Heaven, return to Her throne.

Year 10 of Our Beginning
178 months after the End

⚜

End of Heirs to Heaven​

Spoiler map :

 

[Decamper]

Big thanks to everyone who stuck around. Should have let this die off before I left, but eh, I still had fun with the extra turn.

I would love to hear from people a breakdown of their thoughts on the game. What worked, what didn't work, etc. Building a new thing, and feedback goes a long ways in making things better the next time around.

Once again, thanks folks for the fun little game.

 

[Nuka-sama]

It definitely had ups and downs, but the game was definitely memorable

Thanks all to my allies, I had fun plotting with you to unify heaven, and I think we can say we succeeded in our goals

Also you misspelled throne in the last couple of lines