Don't think so, otherwise, I would've considered it. Angering them is not something I am against, I'd say diplomatic victory is not possible since we have so many against our warmongering.
((There is a great general sleeping and he could build a citadel. It'd use him up but it would extend our territory. Enough to steal the resource, I think. That's not me suggesting we do this, just pointing it out as an option. ))
We could also annex the city then culturally expand or purchase the tile. It is in the 4th ring of that Shoshone city so I don't think they will ever get it, right?
Anyway if we were going to use the general to steel resources lets steel something we don't yet have. Maybe capture that Dutch city then steel gems from the Shoshone.
Also, my opening narrative will be quite long because it's setting a few things up, but don't worry my future narrative offers will be much shorter in the future.
Melodas, son of Melodios was to be crowned King of the Delphians and the Siamese. He had never thought that such an honour would be afforded to him.
His grandfather, the seemingly-immortal Melda of Islandia was a foreigner from the icy lands to the south and had arrived in the Delphian kingdom with nothing but the clothes upon his back, his wits and his will. He'd made quite a comfortable life for himself, serving as Chief Minister during the interregnum, marrying a Delphian woman, siring children and advising political figures until his retirement two decades ago.
Melodas's father, Melodios, had been a titan of the Delphian Council, serving as Chief Minister to King Bazil in his younger days and minister to King Alexander the Great. His elevation to royal commissioner had been a point of pride for the entire extended Melda family, even though it ended with his bloody murder at the hands of traitorous elements of the Delphian Council.
Melodas had tried to follow in the footsteps of his forefathers, but never did he ever think he could surpass them. That was until the Delphian Council offered him the kingship after Bazil's abdication. How could he possibly refuse such an offer to serve his people in such a capacity? With his newfound status he'd be able to implement the political changes the former King Bazil had requested of him, something which the former king had not been able to achieve with the Council he'd had to work with. A new ruler at the peak of his powers could make the drastic but necessary changes that gradually became impossible after an extensive reign, as momentum and the novelty of the new ruler wore off on the Council. It was a very conservative and traditionalist body which hated any and all kind of change, that is to say any change which did not benefit them personally.
Melodas looked up as someone entered the room and broke his reverie. It was his personal secretary, the hardened fighter Phrenios, son of Phrenos who approached. "I beg Your Highness's forgiveness for this intrusion."
Melodas smiled at the formality Phrenios insisted upon. You wouldn't know it from the formal manner in which Phrenios addressed the newly elevated sovereign, but the two of them had been lifelong friends since childhood, a friendship which had been hardened into an almost brotherly relationship due to the violent deaths of both their fathers in that same tragic incident decades ago.
"There's no intrusion, Phrenios. What is it?"
"Your grandfather has arrived," he announced, then bowed and left at Melodas's nod.
The young king stood, suddenly feeling nervous and excited as he anticipated the presence of his ancient patriarch. Melda entered the room slowly, one gnarled fist clenched around the head of his walking cane. The years had not been kind to Old Melda, especially those since his favourite son's bloody death. His back was as bowed as ever, as he bent over his cane and shuffled forward. His beard and hair were by now completely grey, and had started to become thin and wispy. Any passerby in the street would assume this were simply any other elderly man of Delphi Nova unless they looked into his eyes: those hard-willed, piercing blue eyes. They had seen a great many things. It wasn't only because he was born in Islandia that he was referred to as the "ice-born".
Spoiler:
((This note is just for fellow linguistic nerds. Islandia is not the native name for the land of Melda's birth, it's the Delphian name for it because Delphians couldn't be bothered learning the languages of primitive peoples who live in the snow. It means 'ice-land', the 'is' meaning 'ice', 'land' meaning 'land' and '-ia' being a suffix that means 'place'. In my head I pronounce it like you would in English, 'Eye-landia', but the proper Delphian pronunciation would be more like 'iss-lahnd-ia', where 'lahnd' is a long 'aaa' like in 'father'))
"Your Highness," he began formally, as he stiffly shuffled forward.
"Grandfather," Melodas moved to embrace him. "You never have to call me that."
"Nonsense!" the patriarch bellowed as they embraced briefly. "It is an honour to! You have achieved so much. You've succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. You've surpassed my achievements, even your father's achievements!"
He paused for a moment as they both fell into contemplative silence. "May he rest comfortably for all time. You know your father would be extremely proud of you. When I was a lad, I came here with nothing, and now you're king. You can't go higher than a king! Except perhaps a god."
The old man wryly smiled than broke out in raucous laughter. Melodas smiled at the good-humoured old man and his blasphemous ways. His grandfather's people worshipped very different gods to the Delphians, gods of nature and the wilds. He felt overawed by his grandfather's praise. Especially because the only thing that had happened was that he was acclaimed king by the Council; he hadn't actually done anything of merit yet. He chose not to voice these views to Melda. He knew his grandfather's response would be something along the lines of 'you haven't achieved anything yet, but as king you can achieve anything!'
"Thank you for your kind words, grandfather. But I have an important request to ask of you."
"Oh?" the old man's interest was piqued. Those icy eyes bored into Melodas inquisitively.
"I would ask that you end your retirement from public life and advise me as my Chief Minister."
There weren't many things in this world that could surprise Melda of Islandia. His grandson had managed it with those words.
"Your Highness, I . . . am touched, and deeply honoured, of course. But I fear I am an old and weary man, and do not feel I would be best suited to advise you in these changing times. There are many . . . worthy . . . members of the Council, I'm sure, who could best serve you. Many younger people with more years and energy left with which to serve you."
"Perhaps that's true, but I want someone I can trust."
"What about young Phrenios?" Melda ventured.
Melodas smiled. "Yes, I trust Phrenios implicitly, but he has no ministerial experience. Who here in the kingdom has more experience in these matters than you?"
Melda couldn't argue with that.
"However," Melodas looked more serious as his tone darkened and his voice lowered, "there's more to it than that. I also need someone the Council will trust, someone they can't say no to."
And how could they possibly say no to the nomination of the widely respected and longest serving Chief Minister the kingdom had ever seen? Who else had single-handedly held the kingdom together for twenty years without a king on the throne? None others could claim such an achievement.
There was a long pause. Melodas could see that his grandfather's mind was awhirl, processing the information, thinking things through.
"All right. As Your Highness wishes, I will serve as your Chief Minister for as long as you see fit," he resolved proudly.
------------------------------
It was late that night, but Melda of Islandia could not sleep. He slept alone; his wife had died years ago. But it wasn't that which kept him from sleep.
It was pride. And elation. His grandson would achieve more than he could ever imagine, could never have even considered when he set out north from his icy home in the south all those many years ago. He knew he had a lot to think about and plan for in order to be the best asset his grandson had as ruler. The Delphian Council in particular would be a complicated beast to tame. He knew they couldn't say no to someone as accomplished as he but he had not set foot in their hall since Melodios's murder all those years ago. He didn't know the current Council, and he didn't trust them. It was going to be difficult weighing up the political situation and achieving the outcomes his grandson would want while keeping him safe: he was determined to not let harm come to him like that which had befallen King Alexander the Great.
Melda felt a fluttering thrill in his chest which he'd not felt in many a year: the excitement at adventure and challenge which he had thought had left him long ago. There was only one person in the world for whom he would come out of retirement. And he was certain his grandson would do well. He was proud of the legacy he and his descendants had wrought. He was sure it would be augmented further.
Suddenly the sleep which had so far evaded him came flooding in. There was much to consider. Much to think about. Much to do. But he felt tired, so very tired and he closed his eyes with a relaxed smile upon his aged face.
------------------------------
It was morning. What day was it? Coronation day, he remembered.
Something had awoken Melodas, but he wasn't coherent enough just yet to work out what it was. He heard a clamour. His eyes opened groggily. He looked over and realised his wife, the woman who would soon be queen, was missing from bed. This wasn't unusual; she normally rose before him to fetch water. No, something else was amiss.
He realised there was a messenger waiting for him. He rose and summoned them in. It was Phrenios.
His friend averted his eyes, staring and the floor, refusing to make eye contact with him. He said nothing.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
Phrenios finally looked up fearfully. "It's your grandfather. He's dead."
Melodas felt his legs give way from underneath him.
------------------------------
They said he had died in his sleep. They said it had been peaceful. He hoped it had been.
And so ended the life of Melda of Islandia, a titan of the Delphian political arena and progenitor to a great aristocratic family line.
------------------------------
The coronation had proceeded as planned, but it was a grey, sombre affair. The sun had shone clearly and uncaringly from on high. Rain would have more appropriately fit the mood of the congregation. What should have been a day of joy had been twisted into a day of fear and mourning. Mixed in with his deep sadness came the uncertainty of the future. He did not have anyone else he could turn to who held both his trust and the trust of the Council. It was a quandary. King Bazil had managed to not alienate the Delphian Council, but also had been limited in the amount of political reform he'd been able to accomplish. The newly proclaimed king did not trust any of the Councillors since the assassination of King Alexander, especially since there were changes he knew the former king had wanted him to carry out. There had to be a better way.
------------------------------
The king, Melodas, son of Melodios, addressed the Delphian Council. Its membership were shocked at the sudden death of a figure who seemed to have inhabited the very fabric of Delphian political life for longer than they had been alive. Even in retirement Melda's presence seemed to have lingered over proceedings. And to have him snatched away soon after the abdication of the steady and even-handed King Bazil make it feel like the winds of change were in the air. The Council hated change.
"My honourable advisors, I have a number of royal decrees to make but I will aim to keep matters brief as I understand how busy you all are."
They had no idea what to expect. In the last four decades they'd had a bloody tyrant followed by a measured builder. King Melodas, despite having served in the Council as a minister for many years was still a largely unknown quantity: what would he be like as a ruler? A madman like Alexander? Or a steady hand like Bazil?
"Before I begin, however, I have a personal decision which probably does not classify as a decree. In honour of my late and much-beloved grandfather, the great Melda of Islandia, I shall no longer refer to myself as Melodas, son of Melodios. I shall instead refer to myself as Melodas Melodopoulos, and any who follow in my line shall henceforth refer to themselves as members of the House of Melodopoulos."
Spoiler:
((Fellow linguistic nerds might wonder at this choice. The non-Delphian name 'Melda' is rendered in Delphian as 'Melodas', but the 'melod-' is the root of the name, and '-as' can be replaced with other suffixes, such as '-ios' meaning 'son of' or '-opoulos' in this case, which means something like 'descendant of'. I've looked into it, and '-opoulos' looks to be the most appropriate suffix to use for surnames in the Delphian region of Greece in reality, hence Melodopoulos.
In-story this works as a way of honouring a dead character who's left quite a legacy, and it also makes sense that a ruler would want to formally name his royal house. But what this also does is set the precedent for surnames, and since we're almost in the gunpowder age that seems like an appropriate time as any to introduce the concept into Delphian society. Feel free to follow this 'prestige' practice of the king's and start adopting surnames for your own characters. ))
The notion of using two separate names, rather than the existing 'son of' arrangements was new and interesting. Traditionalists among the Council worried, however, that this might be an early warning of a radical ruler who would seek to destroy the existing Delphian way of life which had been handed down from generation to generation beyond memory. Politically the Council consisted of many traditionalists, a fair number of moderates but no radicals.
The new ruler continued on: "My first decree is to agree with this Council's proposal, that due to the former King Bazil's peaceful exploits in rebuilding our kingdom from the ravages of war that he receive the appellation 'the Builder'. So be it."
There were nods. Bazil was well liked by the Council. He had not been unpredictable or bloodthirsty, unlike his immediate predecessor. He'd instituted some changes that more conservative Councillors disliked, but it was nothing like the enmity the Council of old had held for King Alexander.
"My second decree is a change in my royal style."
This got their attention.
"In honour of the much-revered twice-king Bazil and as a mark of respect for the four decades of serve he has provided to this kingdom from the throne, I am formally changing my royal style to honour him. I understand there has been much debate about whether to use the term king or emperor; I am instead going to henceforth institute the royal title of Basileus."
Spoiler:
((Incidentally, there were a number of Byzantine — Greek — rulers of the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire who were named Basil, and coincidentally the Greek term for king OR emperor is Basileus. Purely coincidental, but I'm going to run with it here. It also neatly resolves the king/emperor dispute because the term means both! ))
The Council were not expecting this. They hoped the new king, or basileus as he was insisting on being called, would not surprise them often. It could make him a liability if he insisted on changing treasured traditions on a whim.
"I understand there has been some controversy regarding the status of the Siamese in our kingdom, and of how we should refer to our kingdom in official titles. I am going to defer to the wisdom and judgement of this august Council to resolve for me whether I should style myself as Basileus of the Delphians or as Basileus of the Delphians and the Siamese. I await your counsel on this matter."
After unilaterally changing one aspect of his royal title, the basileus had now turned another over to the Council. It appeared that the new ruler was going to work with the Delphian Council rather than against it. Time would tell to what extent, but some Councillors were already pleased that they weren't going to be ignored and disrespected like in the years of the Great and Bloody Tyrant.
"I have a third and final decree for this, the day of my coronation. It is clear to me that this kingdom cannot function if the ruler and the Council are at odds with one another. We have seen all to well in the past what happens when royal and courtly interests clash. I don't think anyone here wants a return to the bloody past. I am therefore declaring the creation of a new political body, a legislative assembly which shall be henceforth known as the Synedrion. Anyone in the kingdom may nominate themselves for a seat in the Synedrion, and I shall entrust the decisions of the membership which shall constitute this new organ to be determined by you, the most noble members of this, the Delphian Council. Exercise your will wisely, as I will call upon the Synedrion to form my government. I will therefore look to your delegates for guidance in the days ahead."
This was unprecedented. Would the new ruler allow himself to be dictated to by the will of the Delphian Council? Surely not. Some suspected a trap. Others were optimistic at the chance to avoid one person holding the fate of the entire kingdom in their hands. Others felt it was a radical notion, far too much change from the traditions of the old ways. But if any Councillors objected they did not speak of it, the day of Basileus Melodas's coronation, and the day of the death of his grandfather Melda.
"I leave you now," Melodas announced suddenly, cutting short the silence that had fallen upon the Council. "My grandfather gave strict instructions for his funeral. I will therefore travel with his body south to the frozen lands of his birth. My royal secretary, Phrenios, son of Phrenos will present to you soon to oversee the inaugural Synedrian elections. I trust you will show him the same respect that you would my person." He stood and the Council rose to their feet.
Spoiler:
Note: Anyone pedantic with spelling --- like me --- might think I've misspelt my own scenario concept, but trust me: I haven't. I've spoilered this because it's a bit of linguistics which not everyone will find interesting. You've been warned!
The Synedrion was a historical Greek political body. It therefore follows Greek grammar rules. The root of the word is 'synedr-' and the different endings mean different things:
The institution itself is the Synedrion (-ion)
Referring to it adjectively (e.g. like 'parliamentary', or 'congressional') is Synedrian (-ian)
A male member of the Synedrion is a Synedros (-os)
A female member of the Synedrion is a Synedri (-i)
A group of members of the Synedrion is referred to as Synedroi (-oi) (e.g. "the three Synedroi who disliked the king were stupid")
No one needs to worry about these rules. I'm just sharing this because it's how I'll be using it in text.
------------------------------
As Melodas strode from the Delphian Council he crossed paths with Phrenios, who looked decidedly uncomfortable as he whispered: "Are you certain you can trust them, Your Highness?"
Melodas considered for a moment. "No. But I can't possibly hope to rule without their support. With my grandfather dead, I need you to oversee the Synedrian election. I do hope they choose wisely. The Chief Minister shall be whoever can demonstrate the most support of the Delphian Council."
"I also don't think I—" Phrenios began, but his friend cut him short with a knowing look.
"You can do it. And you will. It's just like we discussed when King Bazil charged us with instituting political reforms. Now is the chance to implement them. I would prefer to oversee them myself, but I think we need to act quickly while I have the political capital to make changes like this. Therefore it must be now. I need you to be my eyes and ears and mind while I'm out of the kingdom."
Phrenios still looked unconvinced, so Melodas continued: "You wouldn't know this, but it was only yesterday that my grandfather expressed confidence in you to serve as my Chief Minister," Phrenios's eyes' bulged disbelievingly at the praise. Melodas didn't mention that he himself had vetoed the suggestion. "So unless you doubt the seminal Chief Minister of this kingdom's political judgement, go in there and wrangle the Council into choosing the best Chief Minister they can!"
"As you wish, Your Highness," Phrenios bowed, still overawed that the late Melda had thought highly enough of him to serve in the top political office of the kingdom.
"Best of luck, my friend," Melodas the Basileus replied as he strode off to begin his unpleasant task.
Before long he'd reached the horses, carts and carriages with his bodyguards. The royal convoy set off southward from Delphi Nova with an armed escort of elite Delphian swordsmen. They headed to the icy lands of Islandia where they were to bury a great man the Delphians had in years past claimed as their own.
So as you might've gathered by that, we're going to be doing things a little differently during my reign.
The short version (tl;dr)
Declare in-thread what you would do if you were Chief Minister for the next ten turns.
The player who wins the greatest support in the Synedrion can dictate to me how the government should be run and what the kingdom should do for the next ten turns until the next Synedrian election. If unexpected events occur in-game I will consult the Chief Minister on what course of action he or she would like for me to take.
The long version
It is my intention to run this more like an IAAR --- Interactive After-Action Report --- rather than a normal democracy game during my twenty-turn run as ruler.
I will reign as Basileus/king/emperor, but I will act like a constitutional monarch and defer to the advice of my ministers, who will be members of an elected assembly, as voted by the aristocrats and priests of the Delphian Council.
How this will work is that all players here will put themselves forward as candidates in the Synedrion --- or put themselves forward as Synedrian candidates --- and announce what their plans are for the next ten in-game turns. The Delphian Council --- represented by the in-game wealth- and faith-bearing citizens (and specialists) in the ethnically Delphian cities (so not the Siamese ones) --- will cast their vote for one of the candidates. In-story this can be referred to as them voting for a delegate who sympathises with each player and will vote for them in the Synedrion (if anyone wants to extend the franchise to the aristocratic/priestly voters in the Siamese cities they can attempt to do so once they're Chief Minister). You, the players, can choose to be as co-operative or as competitive with each other as you want (e.g. even if you all come up with the same proposal for what to do next I have ways of making them choose ).
SpoilerIf anyone's confused by the inconsistent spelling of Synedrion I'm using, click here :
Reposting this here in case anyone skipped the previous post.
Anyone pedantic with spelling --- like me --- might think I've misspelt my own scenario concept, but trust me: I haven't. I've spoilered this because it's a bit of linguistics which not everyone will find interesting. You've been warned!
The Synedrion was a historical Greek political body. It therefore follows Greek grammar rules. The root of the word is 'synedr-' and the different endings mean different things:
The institution itself is the Synedrion (-ion)
Referring to it adjectively (e.g. like 'parliamentary', or 'congressional') is Synedrian (-ian)
A male member of the Synedrion is a Synedros (-os)
A female member of the Synedrion is a Synedri (-i)
A group of members of the Synedrion is referred to as Synedroi (-oi) (e.g. "the three Synedroi who disliked the king were stupid")
No one needs to worry about these rules. I'm just sharing this because it's how I'll be using it in text.
Wealth-bearing citizens of the cities (i.e. in-game citizens that produce wealth) are considered to be aristocrats and faith-bearing citizens of the cities are considered to be priests, who in Delphian society come from the aristocratic classes. These in-game citizens who get to vote are considered to be neighbourhoods, so each neighbourhood with aristocratic or priestly citizens gets to return a delegate to the Synedrion. Peasants and other classes do not get to vote in the Synedrian elections. If anyone wants to change this, the Chief Minister as head of my government may propose such changes (of course you'll probably lose a lot of support from the upper class who currently have a monopoly over the franchise).
Each of these 'neighbourhoods' will have specific wants and needs. They will have a specific thing they want (they might want a particular building produced, or a unit, or a particular tile improvement made --- it could also be something very different like a declaration of war on someone or allying a city-state) and they all have attitudes to war and peace. Some will be blood-lusting warmongers who will love all talk about warring on our neighbours, others will be peaceniks who want to live and let live, and others will be neutral to this and aren't affected by talk of peace or war one way or the other as a general rule. Also, the religious status (are they religious and which religion do they have?) factors into this based upon the religious status of the cities. Also, neighbourhoods will have in-built socio-political world views (traditionalist, moderate, radical) which you'll get to know very soon. I will share details of one randomly-chosen neighbourhood with each player by private message to give each of you a fighting chance at winning a seat, but other than that you'll have to discover for yourself what each neighbourhood wants. If a neighbourhood can't decide between two or more candidates --- i.e. if they love or loathe them equally --- the decision of which candidate to support will be made randomly.
The player who wins the support of the most neighbourhoods will be my Chief Minister for ten turns, at which point another Synedrian election is held. The Chief Minister may run the government however they want. They will essentially be an elected dictator for ten turns. I will act on all lawful advice provided to me on how to run the game. It is hoped that the Chief Minister will appoint other players to serve as ministers to provide advice --- such as Science, Culture, War, etc. --- but I'm not going to force it and if the Chief Minister wants to be a one-man ministry then the Chief Minister can go for it. But remember: just because you're Chief Minister now doesn't mean you always will be, so if you short-change the other Synedroi it might come back to haunt you. Also, with great power comes great responsibility, so being in charge means you get to take credit for all the good things that happen and get credit for the achievement of things people want, but you also take credit for all the bad things that happen and will be punished accordingly for achieving things that neighbourhoods oppose!
The maximum duration for this Synedrian election campaign will be one week. But if all the current players of the game have made all their announcements of intentions / election promises they can request we close the election earlier than that. I will leave it up to you all on how long you want it to run. I'm ready to go when you are. New players are most certainly welcome to join in, but they should do so as soon as possible in case the existing players want the election closed before the deadline you're expecting (don't wait, don't hesitate; in other words --- jump right in! ).
The amount of roleplaying candidates want to engage in is entirely up to them and won't have any bearing on the election outcome. Writing pages of in-character text of speech will have the same effect as listing the policies or actions you want pursued in dot points. But feel free to roleplay, of course. You can see I do!
Any questions or concerns please let me know.
Time left in the first Synedrian election campaign: [timer=07/01/2015 2:35 AM UTC;Expired][/timer] (unless the current players choose to end close the polls early)
Edit: I forgot to mention: any new players should post their in-character name and what colour they'd prefer to have used to represent them (if your colour is already chosen by somebody else or too similar to an existing one whoever's first in will be best dressed).
So we use the info you PMed to create a program that will win the support of the aristocracy and get us elected, but once elected we can do what we want really.
Then you play the turns with our advice, write up the turn reports, and then we have another election?
BTW: I thought the bit about the etymology of Synedrion was really interesting. I've only ever heard of it as Sanhedrin in ancient Judea. I had no Idea it was Greek.
Also: kudos Bazil, you played Phrenios perfectly in your turn reports
Yes, there are presently ten eligible neighbourhoods (aristocratic and priestly) across the four Delphian cities (no Siamese, and no filthy commoners) who are represented in the Delphian Council and who can potentially vote for your candidates. I've given each of you a snapshot of what two neighbourhoods want. You can use that to appeal to those neighbourhoods, so at the very least you should win one seat apiece in the Synedrion.
And yep, that's correct: I'll do what you tell me to do for ten turns, then we have another election.
Sanhedrin: Derived from Greek. Yeah, I found that interesting, too.
To clarify, if you look at the 'current situation' images at the bottom of Bazil's post (just a few above) you can see the tile yields that have citizens working them (and specialists). To be clear, since only aristocratic (gold tiles) and priestly (faith tiles) have franchise, even if they are a minority in the tile (e.g. one gold, three hammers) the neighbourhood still gets a vote (but it's only the upper class members that vote, in the case of that example the minority aristocratic population of the neighbourhood).
You can see from the images that there are six eligible neighbourhoods in the capital, two each in Kirrha and Dostana and only one in Apollonia.
Attitude-wise, there are two axes.
On the war and peace side, there is peaceful > neutral > warlike.
On the political spectrum, there is radical > moderate > traditionalist.
It's fair to say that both upper class types will typically be traditionalist (but not always). Also, aristocrats will be far more warlike than priests.
But that's not to say you won't get warlike priests or radical and peaceful aristocrats. After the election results I'll post a breakdown of what each neighbourhood thinks of all the players. (in which I'll also include the disenfranchised neighbourhoods, such as the lower classes and Siamese cities)
Yeah, I'll have to remember to write him with a sense of humour in the future.
To answer your question, while ultimately the overall goal is to try and win the most seats and therefore win the Chief Ministership, winning any seats at all will give you a chance at having some input, depending on the whim of the Chief Minister (i.e. whether he or she wants ministerial advisors or not).
Depending on how many players we have, and whether any kind of warlike/peaceful or radical/traditionalist divide ends up in the players elected to the Synedrion, the Chief Minister could choose to appoint ministerial advisors such as, for example, a Minister for Foreign Affairs (or 'Foreigners'), a Minister for War, a Minister for Culture, a Minister for Science, etc.
But it's entirely up to the Chief Minister as to how he to she want to run their affairs.
And if you don't win any seats --- or win seats but not the Chief Ministership and don't get any ministries --- there's only ten in-game turns until the next elections.
Upon hearing the news of the government reforms, Queen Sueang was at first intrigued. She might be of royal descent but ever since the fall of Sukhothai she had been an advocate for representation. But when the details came in about non-priestly electors only coming from Delphian aristocracy she was enraged. How dare this nation call itself Kingdom of the Delphians and the Siamese when they clearly could not care less about its Siamese citizens?
Sueang left her residence in Muang Saluang and travelled alone along the road to the Delphian capital. When she arrived she simply sat down on the temple courtyard at the Delphi Nova shrine and started a hunger strike. The old Queen Mother declared that she wouldn't eat until the Delphian Council decided to feed not only itself. She was fond of old King Bazil, a good man who did his best to rebuild not only one nation but two. But the men of the council had never been very friendly towards her or her people.
As long as she sat down on the shrine's holy ground there was nothing anyone could do to her without the risk of bringing Apollo's wrath upon them, Sueang thought, and over a few days she was joined by a number of lower class citizens from the capital who had heard of her. Perhaps no one would care about one old woman, but 59 workers and a Siamese queen starved to death outside the shrine of Apollo would be quite the scandal. The growing number of people had however begun to annoy the priests and it was uncertain how long this could go on.
((So, Queen Sueang is not running for Chief Minister. This doesn't mean I won't, I still have her grandson as a character. ))
Leonidas walked down the Delphi Nova main road on his way home. He passed by the shrine and was taken by surprise when he saw that it was his grandmother sitting there silently on the courtyard. It saddened him to see yāy Sueang starving herself but he knew better than to talk her out of it. She had her beliefs, both politically and religiously, and nobody seemed to ever get through to her. Also, he didn't feel like talking to her anyway.
Sueang had gone back to her childhood home in Muang Saluang after their first visit to the Delphian capital and turned it into some mysterious shrine to the Hellenic gods, and he had no interest in dealing with his grandmother's issues. No, he had moved on. When they came to Delphi Nova the first time he knew he wanted to stay here forever, and stayed he did. He joined the Delphian army, where he adopted his new Delphian name: Leonidas Siomaios. He had made a life for him in Delphi and it was a good one, even if it wasn't the royal life he had been destined to live at birth. He had a job, he had a home, and he even had a lover in the city. All was good.
Yāy Sueang was right though. All parts of this kingdom needs representation, not just the Delphian cities. But unlike his grandmother and her symbolic gestures Leonidas wanted to take faith in his own hands, and since his 10 years of army service had given him Delphian citizenship he had the means to with the recent government reforms. Chief Minister Siomaios, now that would be something.
((Yes, he can use the same colour. No need to change it. I will post later about the direction in which Leonidas Siomaios wants to take Delphi.
Language notes: yāy (ยาย means grandmother in Thai. And Leonidas' surname is just "Siamese" in Greek.))
Very interesting. I was thinking '???' with the name, but then I finished reading the post.
Incidentally, does the Council have any particular view as to whether Melodas's title should be Basileus of the Delphians or Basileus of the Delphians and the Siamese?
The royal caravan moved south, away from the civilised lands of Delphi, into the frigid wastes of endless winter.
The horses were unhappy, and so too were the people. The air held a chill, despite the fact that it was summer back home. Melodas Melodopoulos, the Basileus of the Delphians and the Siamese shivered in his carriage. He knew his wife, siblings, aunts, uncles and bodyguards were all feeling the cold in their very bones. But he felt the most sympathy for his loyal swordsmen escort outside the carriages and carts, trudging through the snowy drifts without any protection from the cold other than their furs and armour.
Melodas stared through the distance into the forbidding ice-capped mountains ahead.
It was so cold. And they had not even reached the place known as the "ice-land" yet.
A muffled sound came from behind the caravan. The guards, not expecting anyone, approached the back, trying to determine what was the root of the noise. The whole situation was heavy enough on its own, and more trouble was not something anyone desired.
From behind one of the hills, a strange horseman came, riding a white horse, almost as white as the snow. A dark-clothed man came slowly, or as fast as the horse could bear, approaching little by little. As he arrived, he was immediately stopped by the guards:
Older Guard - Alexios
"Who goes there? State your business, you are not expected here."
Tension rose as he dropped from the horse. One of the guards took his sword out, ready to fight in case it was necessary. The man stopped.
Kirillos
"I am Kirillos Christides, son of Chrēstos, and a Scholar from Delphi and Zurich."
Alexios recognized him, as he took his warm hood off.
Older Guard - Alexios
"Guard your weapons men, I know him. He's a known scholar amongst the philosophers and researchers of our kingdom." - and as weapons were put aside - "What brings you to the Bazileus? You know he is not to be disturbed, I hope you have a good reason, boy."
Kirillos
"I come as a request from the old King Bazil"
Older Guard - Alexios
"The old King? That is unexpected, what proof do you have?"
Kirillos
Kirillos took a letter from inside the Black Hooded Woolen Cape, and present the wax symbol closing it - "As you can see, this letter was closed by King Bazil's Seal. Will the be enough?"
Older Guard - Alexios
"Let the boy pass, men. He's on official business indeed, it seems. A word of caution, this is a funerary caravan, if it's something that can wait, then do so as this is not a good time"
Kirillos nodded, and as he turned, he immediately faced Melodas. He had moved in quietly, and Kirillos could see his cold stare.
Melodas
"This is not a good time, what do you want?"
Kirillos
"I'm sorry to interrupt the caravan, and let me start by giving you my condolences, your grandfather was a great man."
Melodas
"Thank you, but I believe that's not why you're here"
Kirillos
"You are right, I come bearing a letter from King Bazil" and he delivered the letter.
Melodas looked at the seal. He hadn't seen that seal in quite a while, he wondered what could be reason enough to send the letter. And for a moment, curiosity won over grief, and he opened the letter right there. A small ring was inside, and a sheet of paper, folded on itself several times. Melodas read the paper, ignoring the cold.
"Dear Melodas,
I'm very sorry to hear that Melda died, my deepest condolences. It has been a sadness hard to bear. Still, it's with the living that I'm more worried, and I hope this letter finds you well. All this situation will be a great lesson in life, and I hope that you can better cherish the moments you had with him, and the moments still to come in your life.
I wish I could attend the funeral, but as you probably understand, neither does my wife allow me to leave her side, as that would not be a favorable place for an old man like myself (and my bowels would probably cause me even more issues, as Phrenios would agree)"
- this brought a faint smile to Melodas, as he continued -
" so I decided to send to you this letter, wishing you the best.
I'm also sending you Kirillos, son of Chrēstos, my brother's son. While you may not remember him much, as I barely spoke about him, he's been a good man, and the scholar circle knows him well. While my son may not be tailored for command, he has not only the will, but the knowledge to do so. I've spoken to Chrēstos, and he agrees with me. I've spoken to Kirillos, and explained the whole situation to him, so he is well aware.
However, knowing he is a stranger to you, I leave it to you whether you want him to escort you or not. Know he is a way better fighter than me, so he may be useful even if just for protection.
Also, the small ring inside the letter belonged to my me, and to my father before. I would like him to be buried with your grandfather, as that's the one thing that connects me, my father and him, materially speaking.
I wish you a long and prosperous life, and that your ideas hold and carry on, as a change from the past into a better future,
Old King Bazil"
A tear fell over his cheek, and Melodas felt his cheek for a brief moment, before it froze again. He turned to Kirillos, wondering what to do with him.
OOC: you can decide whether to send him back to Delphi or not. He is a stranger after all, and Phrenios might not like it I guess.
EDIT:
Ouch, well this turned to be bigger than I expected. Sorry about that! I'll properly introduce Kirillos on a later post.
Melodas considered for a few moments. "Come, travel with me a little while. I would have you return to Delphi Nova ahead of me, but we must speak first . . ."
((Yeah, so Melodas has a good old chat with Kirillos, then sends him on his way --- upon Bazil's recommendation the Basileus has sent him back to the kingdom to stand in the Synedrian elections. Not that the Basileus is picking winners, but he wants every good candidate he can find to stand. ))
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Amazing.
