Ibrahim,
I love the stuff you have written, your ideas are extremely well-written and well thoughtout.
I will reiterate two of the points that I think are in question and I at least would like clarification from the GM.
First, spy networks take time to develop, a long time in many cases. It has been my experience from playing previously, that if you don't usually get a spy network unless you build it.
Second, you can not write orders for another society, unless the GM gives permission. For example, you can write actions for your commanders giving the rebel Taltheran navy orders but you can not write orders directly for the navy. It might just be a distinction in how orders are written but it does make a difference in the game and has made a difference in the past.
Joel.
Ibrahim Dughlas-gani wrote:
Hi,
here's my two cents. Scroll down for more than a few comments.
At the end of the day, I'm sure everything can be resolved to everybody's satisfaction.
Cheers,
Ibrahim Underwood
----- Original Message -----
From: Joel Elfman
Date: Friday, July 18, 2003 8:06 pm
Subject: Re: [Cel] GMs Please Respond - Are We Bending or Altering the Rules?
> 1) the extent of the Tal-Wyr basin which impacts teh current spy
> network that tried to assasinate King Villard. At it's shortest
> geographical area it covers a semi-nomadic society which would
> have little to no need for assassins. Larger the spy network
> delves into other societies and could reach as far as Kaeir.
The Order of Assassins in medieval Palestine-Syria operated amongst very similiar conditions, based on a religious-messianic ideology. Yet it still had a highly effective spy-cum-assassin network that terrorised Crusader and Muslim rulers alike.
> 2) I have requested a GMs perspective of King Agrigax of
> Taltheran. Supposedly Agrigax has recently lost Tirmar & his
> Navy. Is this accurate? Is he regarded as a weak king?
Though I'm not the GM, in my opinion he's not weak, just failing miserably at centralising royal power in attempt to move away from a feudal model of government (and thus a aristocratic reaction).
> 3) The last question above raises an even broader game issue and
> potential violation of the rules. In the past, it has been
> regarded that all borders of societies are pretty much sacrosanct,
> and that only the society could dictate its own actions.
> Recently, it seems that Tirmar in Taltheran has been taken over by
> Mir. And again in Taltheran the Navy has been taken over by Kaeir.
A political division in Taltheran wrested control of a major portion (not all) of the Taltherani Navy from government forces, into the hands of a republican government established in the Kaeir islands.
>
> In Taltheran the same question appears in regard to it's Navy.
> Kaeir's actions appear to have ripped the Navy from Taltheran.
> While Kaeir has that potential right, any orders it generate must
> be carefully written to respect the rights of the non-player
> society. Again, if there was a Taltheran player he could write
> actions for a rebel navy but Kaier can not. Kaeir can only write
> actions for itself. Kaeir can write actions for its leaders or
> its men aboard the rebel Taltheran navy but not for the navy
> itself unless the GMs are going to change the definitions of
> Taltheran society.
I think I should clarify some matters regarding Kaeir. In the last active period of the game, Kaeir was conquered by Taltheran.
The current form that Kaeir takes is a Taltheran-Kaeir hybrid that has revolted agains the Taltherani King, and seeks to change Taltheran itself. The Kaeirean Republican Revolution was not a reaction against Taltherani rule (having been successfully colonised), but part of a broader Taltherani reaction against Aggrigax's centralisation of power in Taltheran. This reaction may not be explicit in the earlier game moves, but it is very realistic. Military power lay largely in the hands of the Taltherani Houses, not the King, in previous turns, and this inbalance of power was on of the things Aggrigax was trying to address (as well as increase royal control through greater trade and a better navy).
The participants in the revolution were political, commercial and military elements of Taltheran that had played key roles in colonising the old piratical Kaeir. Particularly the merchant and nobles houses, almost all of whom come from mainland Taltheran, but whose Kaeirean branches have taken on more importance in recent years.
The Kaeirean Republic is Kaeirean only because the Revolution started in the newly formed Taltherani Principality of Kaeir. It is a proto-revolutionary movement intended not to sever Kaeir from Taltheran (it's not even a concept), but to sever all aspects of the Talherani monarchy from Taltheran.
At the end of the day, it's a civil war. If the republicans are defeated by the forces of the monarchy, I can also envisage "Kaeireanism" going underground as a secret political philosophy/organisation.
I have based all my developments of the society (remembering that the game is allows PS's on multiple levels) on the fact that Kaeir had been forcefully, but highly successfully, integrated into Taltheran. It was this new status, and its distance from the capital, that made it the rallying point for the original Taltherani anti-monarchist forces that then developed into "Kaeirean" republicanism.
Just to repeat, Kaeirean Republic is not a Talherani separatism but revolution.
> At least, these were the old rules as I understood them. If I
> am incorrect, I ask that the GMs please provide clarification.
So i feel that I am more than within the bounds of the game rules.
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