Mad Scientists Embassy

[General_W]

@Krill & others - I think we should just hint at the trade. Not spell it out.
They will probably imagine something much worse.

It's a tip I gleaned from Tolkien and Stephen King... what isn't clearly described for you is usually scarier that what is.

 

[Karhu]

Should we say that Cavs traded polytheism/IW to Kaz specifically, or just hint at it?

aren't the reading of tea leaves an indication of that?
While we are at it, I suggest removing: "(or at least, that’s how they explained it to me)" and let the tea leaves stand on their own.

 

[General_W]

@Karhu - that's for the capitalization catch in the letter. I'll fix that. There should not be an "s" on the end of Scientist though, with the way I'm using it in that sentence.
Also, I think the "that's how they explained it to me" is funny and should stay

Really nice background for the treaty, GW. Just one nick pick. At the top of the page you have "Agreement between MAd Scientist and Sancta".
How hard would it be to change "MAd" to "Mad" and capitalize all of SANCTA?

I'll capitalize SANCTA. Not sure how I missed that.
but the spelling of "MAd" is on purpose. That's how the AMASS treaty abbreviation works out.

 

[Karhu]

ah, i though you were adding an "A" for "and".

 

[1889]

I think its great.

 

[General_W]

ok - sending this off now!

Namaste Peter Grimes,
The Ninjas salute the brilliant Mad Scientists.

We have much to speak with you about! Events are proceeding rapidly on this world, and the ninja have sensed a loyal and trustworthy spirit in our Mad (in a good way!) Scientist friends.

The ninja wise men, by studying the intricate patterns formed by tea leaves cast upon steaming hot jade water (or at least, that’s how they explained it to me), have discovered compelling evidence that the nations of Kazakhstan and Cavaleiros are trading heavily. They both have knowledge of Alphabet, Monarchy, and Iron Working. To make matters worse, the Kazakh’s just learned Code of Laws.

Ourselves, we are nearly done with our studies of sailing, but we still lack writing and aren’t sure how soon we can get Alphabet. In the face of this building technological juggernaut – we think it’s time for us to cement our friendship in peace, and rapidly begin to build a tech alliance of our own. At the least, we should coordinate techs to not duplicate efforts and fall further and further behind the Cav-Kazak partnership of doom.

We are attaching a peace treaty for signing – based on your last letter to us – and are very eager to hear back from you on building a larger alliance on this foundation to keep us both away from the dustbin of history. We feel we should try to lock something down now, rather than waiting for Alphabet when it may be too late.

Faithfully yours,
General_W, Daimyo of State, SANCTA

Desperate times call
The Mighty to greatness new
Daybreak of friendship

SENT! To Peter Grimes and Mad Scientist e-mail


edit: crud - forgot the "each _ other" edit. - sorry Whomp! next time, I'll get it next time.

 

[Krill]

Awesome

 

[Memphus]

So if Kaz and Cav play not so nice we need to pm Mad S and tell them we'll get alpha and trade them for Maths.

Shut out those other two.

 

[Krill]

OK, ideally, we need to find out from MS exactly what they are researching now, and if they are closer to alpha than we are (we get it t88 at latest). We need to offer them alpha, and MC later (or earlier if they agree not to build Collosus, or trade it to anyone else) for their techs. There are many different tech routes each team could take, adn we would need to ask them what their ideal tech path would be, and how we could fit in with their aims.

 

[General_W]

Just sent to Peter:

Hey Peter - I'd love to chat with you a bit more informally about the MTDG game.

Hopefully your team has had some time to digest our last letter, but I really think there would be some benefit in you and me chatting a bit about meta-strategy if you can get some free time.

Let me know what works for you. We can do gmail or Windows Messenger. Even AoL if you make me!

Hope all is well with you and Stacey,
Best,
Josh

 

[General_W]

Sent to Peter:

Peter,

I keep trying to grab you on Google chat, and you keep going inactive or offline after I say hi!
I'm giving up and am going to try e-mail.

We haven't heard back from your team on the peace treaty - are you discussing it? Is there some problem with the proposal?

I'd like to talk with you before you make any deals with the Cavalerios... we think they're playing a really aggressive diplomacy game, and you should be aware that we have (we believe) solid evidence to back up a Kazack-Cavalerios alliance. We think they're working on getting to Civil Service together, and we're worried they're going to try to dupe you into helping them (as a very junior partner) while trying to isolate us.

We think this is a pretty obviously bad scenario for both our teams... and we'd really like to cement close cooperation with you team. I'd really like to explore this idea more with you - but obviously we're having a hard time connecting.

This isn't a formal letter approved by my team - just an attempt by me to try to touch bases and find out what's up.

When you get a chance to talk, let me know!

Thanks,
Josh

 

[Memphus]

perfect!.....

 

[Krill]

Yeah, perfect...

(sinister note...why does he keep on going offline...or maybe they aren;t so junior partners but the reason they don't have alphabet is to make us think they are juniur partners... :tinfoilhat: )

 

[Memphus]

nope there i no way that they are that advanced.... wise and diplomatically to pull that off.

 

[General_W]

<sigh of relief>

The creeping paranoia hadn't gotten as far in me as it had in Krill... but I'll admit it had started!

Just got this e-mail from Peter:

Hi Josh,
Yeah, sorry about that. I'm pretty busy these days, sadly. My boss's wife is due any day now, so he's all in a flutter about wrapping up loose ends before he's gone for a while. So as soon as something comes into his head, the rest of us have to drop everything and listen attentively. I'm sure you understand! Even though it appears that I'm online all the time, most of the time I'm in the shop or in one of the theatres, holding his hand, telling him it's going to be OK

We aren't still discussing the Treaty - we've already decided to sign it. In fact, most of us had already chimed in within the first day, but since I've been sparse on the Forums, the delay is my fault. The rest of the team has been waiting for me on this, and I still haven't even come up with a seal!... but consider this our official acceptance of the treaty. Signed copy will follow this weekend at the latest

Regarding Cavalerios: we have some suspicions of our own... btw - did you guys attack one of their explorers?

-Pete

I'll write him back later today, and maybe offer to help with his team's seal... if I get time.

 

[Memphus]

Be honest with him that they declared war on us with thier workboat after they refused umpteen alternatives.

Then say we now have peace but thier WB is trapped in our borders.

What we might even want to consider is

Asking MS thier opinion on playing hardball with Cav and their workboat.

Could help cement our relationship?

 

[1889]

Be honest with him ...

We told Cavs they could declare war because we felt we couldn't stop them but at least wanted to deprive them of trade routes. Then some of us changed our mind and took advantage of a lame technicality to trap them. Not one of our proudest moments to be sure but don't spin it. We need them to trust us.

I'm willing to be Cav will be less than candid when they present their side of the story. Giving MS the full story up front will cement our relationship and put us in the position of the honest broker making future deals and other cooperation easier to arrange.

 

[Memphus]

No we didn't tell them they could.

We gave them an array of options and the CHOOSE that one. The ony lreason we offerd it is we had no choice since we couldn't prevent them!

 

[1889]

The Way of Twilight:
We agree that you'll declare war &#8211; and thus pass through the borders of the Inner Sanctum &#8211; with the eternal Shogun's personal guarantee of safety for your vessel. Then, as soon as your boat is past our borders, we will sign a peace deal and continue negotiations of friendship.

We had many choices. One of our choices was to suggest, without any prompting from Cav, that they declare war and pass through with our promise of safe conduct. They accepted this suggestion and so we came to what was a mutually acceptable deal, which they have fully lived up to.

To present it otherwise is to put us in a position where we must be careful that the truth doesn&#8217;t get out.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

I absolutely believe we should be upfront with them, about the workboat and the way of Twilight (and that Kaz did the same thing, btw)

and, btw - I think offering it implicitly means that we would be ok with it - I mean, we aren't MAD at them for declaring and going through, like we aren't mad at Kaz.

However, if we had said "we do not want you to explore past us, though we can't stop you", then declaring and moving through would have been a more aggressive act. Essentially, we used game mechanics and were ok with their explorations.