---++ Action 1: Building the Spy Network
Weight: Single, strategic
Description: This is a continuation of the work of previous years--no
radical changes in course. Hopefully, either this year or next year will
be the last year for this strategic action, which will have been running
for 13 years at the end of this year--exactly as long as Exquaestio's
spent trying to build the Pantheon (only with rather better success).
One change does occur this year--Minister Ghere tries to recruit some of
the Vraa'al & half-Vraa'al who left Arelcar with the Empress. His chance
of succeeding in recruiting them is perhaps not that great--the ones who
aren't inclined to immediately go to ground & hide are loyal to the
Empress and her children. But, given the Vraa'al reputation, Ghere feels
he must at least make an attempt at recruitment or be derelict in his
duties.
Difficulty: Hard
Sub-parts:
* Insert 'deep cover' agents
* Hire analysts
* Develop counter-espionage
* Try to recruit from the Arelcar exiles
---++ Action 2: Persuade the Empress to step aside
Weight: Single
Description: The return of the Empress Yzara to Sedonia--in an election
year!--throws Sedonia's politicians into an uproar. Most of them are old
enough to remember Yzara when she first came to the throne as a
teenager: a face and figure like a goddess', a mind like a steel trap, a
will like iron, and a vocabulary like a sailor's, all wrapped around a
driving determination to reconquering the Empire at all costs.
Quite frankly, most Sedonians today, nearly 60 years after Yzara took
the throne, couldn't care less about reconquering the Empire. This
includes all the peasants, most of the city-dwellers, and a majority of
the nobles. The Empress' involuntary exile on Arelcar means that she did
not experience the aftermath of the Sinari War, nor did she live through
the long, drawn-out Civil War. In the opinion of many nobles, she's too
out-of-touch and too set in her ways to remain as Empress. The fact
that, if allowed to remain as Empress, one of Yzara's first acts would
be the dissolution of the Regency Council is also driving Sedonia's leaders.
Therefore, the Count of Rochlyn, Prince Arden, Minister Raden Ghere,
Minister Aldin Vellin, and the Dukes of Roth Mythysa and Tirroth meet
privately with Empress Yzara in early 1455 to try and persuade her to
abdicate in favor of her 30-year-old son, Prince Arden.
Difficulty: I'm going to call it as Normal, as I think the various
factors on either side balance out. On the one hand, Yzara doesn't want
to abdicate. On the other hand, she's *not* stupid and knows that
there's very little she can do given that all the Legions answer to the
Council. On the gripping hand, Yzara sees herself as a Sedonian patriot
and wants to do what's best for Sedonia. The question is, what's best?
Sub-parts:
* Peasant Reaction
* City Reaction
* Noble Reaction
* Yzara's Reaction
---++ Action 3: Bobbing for Ice Demons
Weight: Single
Description: Given the attacks on King Villard and the suspiciously low
number of Ice Demon casualties at the Ha'ash Et Uta, the Allies become
convinced that there are Ice Demon & cult infiltrators in Burcancy.
General Martros loans his legions and some of his priests to the
Burcancy & Mir to use in patrolling the cities, while he commands the
Selarian, Burcancy, and Parglug cavalry in their sweeps of the countryside.
The cavalry patrols escort priests of Coron, Lusia, Demerhaze, &
Miracradsa on search-and-destroy missions seeking pockets of hidden Ice
Demons in the Burcancy countryside. The cavalry is there for ordinary
demon-killing; the priests are there in case of vampires or Demonspawn.
Difficulty: Hard
Fudge Points: 1
Sub-parts:
* Finding Ice Demons
* Finding Cultists
* Eliminating Ice Demons & Cultists
* Keeping Friendly Casualties Low
---++ Action 4: Hitting the Campaign Trail
Weight: Single
Description: 1455 is an election year for the Commoners' Circle. The
Empress' return has upset the political balance of power, just as Prince
Arden's arrival did. In the election, the Urban League is likely to
maintain its hold on Sedonia's cities, but the rural areas that the
Grangists control are seen as vulnerable by the Constitutional
Monarchists, and the Imperial Loyalists. The ConMons and the ImpLoys
find themselves battling for votes in the rural districts:
right-centrists versus far-right-reactionaries.
Difficulty: Normal
Sub-parts:
* The rural farmers
* The urban poor
* The urban tradesmen
* The merchants
Note on resolution: A success represents an increased Constitutional
Monarchist bloc in the Commoners' Circle; a failure represents an upset
and take-over of power by the Imperial Loyalists.
Andrew
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