[Qai] Bringing Cedonia's determinants up to date

Since there's been such a lapse of time with Cedonia being involved in the game world, I think it would be a good idea for me to update some of the society's determinants and key elements, and possibly fill in a few of the historical blanks. Comments and alternative points of view are most welcome.
 
In 1422, the Empress Yzara was apparently killed when the Sinari took Thalcedon, the capital city. The heir presumptive, her uncle the Duke of Caladyn, was besieged in Talishera at the time. The Sinari invasion trashed the central government, and left nearly half of the Cedonian legions stuck in Tanimbar without support or supply. Duke Caladyn and his surviving troop eventually made it back to Cedonia after the end of the God-War. The southern army, however, under General Zenos, had to make a fighting retreat out of Tanimbar and across Vizinia, which had risen in rebellion along with the city of Zelkor. 
 
In 1424, the empire was essentially fragmented up into scores of counties, duchies, and baronies, all of which paid lip service only to the notion of the Empire. The problem was, who would be Emperor, if anyone?
 
By 1436, three major political polarities are coalescing out of the mix. Duke Caladyn still controls the legions from northern Cedonia and Selaria, and uses them to control the northwestern portion of the old Empire, including the cities of Losela and Caladyn. General Zenos has the loyalty of the soldiers he rescued from Tanimbar, and has his powerbase in the south of the old Empire, as well as support from some Vizinians. Finally, in Tirmar and along the Gulf of Gomel, all the way to Thalcedon itself, support is growing for the idea of doing away with Emperors and setting up a Republic, as in Kaeir. The driving force behind this movement is Doctor Aldan Vellin. Before the wars, Dr. Vellin was a civil engineering graduate student at the University of Thalcedon. He received his doctorate in 1420, and after the fall of Thalcedon in 1422 he was heavily involved in the rebuilding effort. He is now, for all intents and purposes, the Mayor of Thalcedon.
 
These, then, are the three key elements now in Thalcedon. Note that where I have two numbers, the first is for actions taken outside the element's faction/powerbase; the second is for actions that are strictly internal to the faction.
 
Duke of Caladyn:
Influence:-2/0 The duke is notoriously honorable in all his dealings, and his external influence suffers because of his refusal to dig up dirt.
 
Authority:0/+2 Legally, the Duke *is* the heir to the throne, although for the moment he is not using the title. More importantly, he was and is the most senior field commander of the Imperial Legions, which gives him some power even in areas outside his powerbase.
 
Consent:-1/+1 While the Duke is quite charismatic and is admired by his troops, he was never very popular among the nobles at court, and especially not in the areas he helped add to the Empire, Tirmar & Vizinia.
 
General Zenos:
Influence:+2 General Zenos is a rare creature--a political general who can also fight. He knows where the bodies are buried in Cedonian politics; more often than not, he buried them himself.
 
Authority:-3/+2 While the men of the legions he used to command recognize him as their commander, to most of the rest of the Empire, Zenos is a mutineer.
 
Consent:-2/+3 Again, the fact that Zenos is a mutineer in the eyes of the rest of the empire hurts him. His men, however, would follow him to Hell and back. Indeed, most of them would say that he led them out of Hell once already, on the long retreat from Tanimbar.
 
Dr. Aldan Vellin:
Influence:-2/+3 Most people outside of Tirmar and Thalcedon find Dr. Vellin's beliefs about government and the relationship between governor and governed to be absurd. Within those areas, however, and *especially* within the cities and universities, his ideas are highly influential
Authority:-1/0 Dr. Vellin, *as yet*, does not hold any office other than Director of Thalcedon's Department of Public Works. This may change. 
Consent:0/+2 Again, Dr. Vellin's theories are unpopular outside of Tirmar and Thalcedon, especially with the rural nobility. The rural laborers, however, find them somewhat attractive.
 
There you have it. To summarize, the Duke of Caladyn is a Royalist; General Zenos is a would-be-despot, possibly a Fascist-analogue; and Dr. Vellin is a Republican(*not* in the American political sense of the word). I'm still working on actions for the year, if anyone has a concern about this outline for the key elements, please let me know soonest. Also, as a side note, I've noticed some discussion on the list about Technology in Qaiyore. Dr. Vellin is definitely a "pro-technology" type, while the Duke tends to be "pro-magic". As for the General, if it doesn't have a military application, he doesn't care about it.
 
 
Andrew Janssen


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[Qai] Bringing Cedonia's determinants up to date

You might want to not that the retreat out of Tanimbar was quite difficult.  The Burcancy & Tanimbar waged a very successful war w/ Cedonia and also helped raise the native population to resist.
 
Also, I believe that the Burcancy established Vizinia as a protectorate and an ally, although I am sure you can find loyalists there.  We have been supporting and rebuilding the economy.  And there is a formal alliance between Vizinia and the Burcancy.
 
Joel 

Andrew Janssen  wrote:
Since there's been such a lapse of time with Cedonia being involved in the game world, I think it would be a good idea for me to update some of the society's determinants and key elements, and possibly fill in a few of the historical blanks. Comments and alternative points of view are most welcome.

In 1422, the Empress Yzara was apparently killed when the Sinari took Thalcedon, the capital city. The heir presumptive, her uncle the Duke of Caladyn, was besieged in Talishera at the time. The Sinari invasion trashed the central government, and left nearly half of the Cedonian legions stuck in Tanimbar without support or supply. Duke Caladyn and his surviving troop eventually made it back to Cedonia after the end of the God-War. The southern army, however, under General Zenos, had to make a fighting retreat out of Tanimbar and across Vizinia, which had risen in rebellion along with the city of Zelkor. 

In 1424, the empire was essentially fragmented up into scores of counties, duchies, and baronies, all of which paid lip service only to the notion of the Empire. The problem was, who would be Emperor, if anyone?

By 1436, three major political polarities are coalescing out of the mix. Duke Caladyn still controls the legions from northern Cedonia and Selaria, and uses them to control the northwestern portion of the old Empire, including the cities of Losela and Caladyn. General Zenos has the loyalty of the soldiers he rescued from Tanimbar, and has his powerbase in the south of the old Empire, as well as support from some Vizinians. Finally, in Tirmar and along the Gulf of Gomel, all the way to Thalcedon itself, support is growing for the idea of doing away with Emperors and setting up a Republic, as in Kaeir. The driving force behind this movement is Doctor Aldan Vellin. Before the wars, Dr. Vellin was a civil engineering graduate student at the University of Thalcedon. He received his doctorate in 1420, and after the fall of Thalcedon in 1422 he was heavily involved in the rebuilding effort. He is now, for all intents and purposes, the Mayor of Thalcedon.

These, then, are the three key elements now in Thalcedon. Note that where I have two numbers, the first is for actions taken outside the element's faction/powerbase; the second is for actions that are strictly internal to the faction.

Duke of Caladyn:
Influence:-2/0 The duke is notoriously honorable in all his dealings, and his external influence suffers because of his refusal to dig up dirt.

Authority:0/+2 Legally, the Duke *is* the heir to the throne, although for the moment he is not using the title. More importantly, he was and is the most senior field commander of the Imperial Legions, which gives him some power even in areas outside his powerbase.

Consent:-1/+1 While the Duke is quite charismatic and is admired by his troops, he was never very popular among the nobles at court, and especially not in the areas he helped add to the Empire, Tirmar & Vizinia.

General Zenos:
Influence:+2 General Zenos is a rare creature--a political general who can also fight. He knows where the bodies are buried in Cedonian politics; more often than not, he buried them himself.

Authority:-3/+2 While the men of the legions he used to command recognize him as their commander, to most of the rest of the Empire, Zenos is a mutineer.

Consent:-2/+3 Again, the fact that Zenos is a mutineer in the eyes of the rest of the empire hurts him. His men, however, would follow him to Hell and back. Indeed, most of them would say that he led them out of Hell once already, on the long retreat from Tanimbar.

Dr. Aldan Vellin:
Influence:-2/+3 Most people outside of Tirmar and Thalcedon find Dr. Vellin's beliefs about government and the relationship between governor and governed to be absurd. Within those areas, however, and *especially* within the cities and universities, his ideas are highly influential
Authority:-1/0 Dr. Vellin, *as yet*, does not hold any office other than Director of Thalcedon's Department of Public Works. This may change. 
Consent:0/+2 Again, Dr. Vellin's theories are unpopular outside of Tirmar and Thalcedon, especially with the rural nobility. The rural laborers, however, find them somewhat attractive.

There you have it. To summarize, the Duke of Caladyn is a Royalist; General Zenos is a would-be-despot, possibly a Fascist-analogue; and Dr. Vellin is a Republican(*not* in the American political sense of the word). I'm still working on actions for the year, if anyone has a concern about this outline for the key elements, please let me know soonest. Also, as a side note, I've noticed some discussion on the list about Technology in Qaiyore. Dr. Vellin is definitely a "pro-technology" type, while the Duke tends to be "pro-magic". As for the General, if it doesn't have a military application, he doesn't care about it.


Andrew Janssen


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[Qai] Bringing Cedonia's determinants up to date

Yeah, I figured that the retreat from Tanimbar was horrific. The best
way to picture it, I think, is to combine Xenophon and the Ten
Thousand's march out of Persia with Napoleon's retreat out of Russia.
Well, maybe not quite that bad, but you get the picture. 

On another note, it looks like from what M. Keaton said in his recent
post that Mir is maintaining some ties to Duke Caladyn. We may want to
talk about that at some point.

Andrew Janssen

--- Joel Elfman  wrote:
> You might want to not that the retreat out of Tanimbar was quite
> difficult.  The Burcancy & Tanimbar waged a very successful war w/
> Cedonia and also helped raise the native population to resist.
>  
> Also, I believe that the Burcancy established Vizinia as a
> protectorate and an ally, although I am sure you can find loyalists
> there.  We have been supporting and rebuilding the economy.  And
> there is a formal alliance between Vizinia and the Burcancy.
>  
> Joel 
> 
> Andrew Janssen  wrote:
> Since there's been such a lapse of time with Cedonia being involved
> in the game world, I think it would be a good idea for me to update
> some of the society's determinants and key elements, and possibly
> fill in a few of the historical blanks. Comments and alternative
> points of view are most welcome.
> 
> In 1422, the Empress Yzara was apparently killed when the Sinari took
> Thalcedon, the capital city. The heir presumptive, her uncle the Duke
> of Caladyn, was besieged in Talishera at the time. The Sinari
> invasion trashed the central government, and left nearly half of the
> Cedonian legions stuck in Tanimbar without support or supply. Duke
> Caladyn and his surviving troop eventually made it back to Cedonia
> after the end of the God-War. The southern army, however, under
> General Zenos, had to make a fighting retreat out of Tanimbar and
> across Vizinia, which had risen in rebellion along with the city of
> Zelkor. 
> 
> In 1424, the empire was essentially fragmented up into scores of
> counties, duchies, and baronies, all of which paid lip service only
> to the notion of the Empire. The problem was, who would be Emperor,
> if anyone?
> 
> By 1436, three major political polarities are coalescing out of the
> mix. Duke Caladyn still controls the legions from northern Cedonia
> and Selaria, and uses them to control the northwestern portion of the
> old Empire, including the cities of Losela and Caladyn. General Zenos
> has the loyalty of the soldiers he rescued from Tanimbar, and has his
> powerbase in the south of the old Empire, as well as support from
> some Vizinians. Finally, in Tirmar and along the Gulf of Gomel, all
> the way to Thalcedon itself, support is growing for the idea of doing
> away with Emperors and setting up a Republic, as in Kaeir. The
> driving force behind this movement is Doctor Aldan Vellin. Before the
> wars, Dr. Vellin was a civil engineering graduate student at the
> University of Thalcedon. He received his doctorate in 1420, and after
> the fall of Thalcedon in 1422 he was heavily involved in the
> rebuilding effort. He is now, for all intents and purposes, the Mayor
> of Thalcedon.
> 
> These, then, are the three key elements now in Thalcedon. Note that
> where I have two numbers, the first is for actions taken outside the
> element's faction/powerbase; the second is for actions that are
> strictly internal to the faction.
> 
> Duke of Caladyn:
> Influence:-2/0 The duke is notoriously honorable in all his dealings,
> and his external influence suffers because of his refusal to dig up
> dirt.
> 
> Authority:0/+2 Legally, the Duke *is* the heir to the throne,
> although for the moment he is not using the title. More importantly,
> he was and is the most senior field commander of the Imperial
> Legions, which gives him some power even in areas outside his
> powerbase.
> 
> Consent:-1/+1 While the Duke is quite charismatic and is admired by
> his troops, he was never very popular among the nobles at court, and
> especially not in the areas he helped add to the Empire, Tirmar &
> Vizinia.
> 
> General Zenos:
> Influence:+2 General Zenos is a rare creature--a political general
> who can also fight. He knows where the bodies are buried in Cedonian
> politics; more often than not, he buried them himself.
> 
> Authority:-3/+2 While the men of the legions he used to command
> recognize him as their commander, to most of the rest of the Empire,
> Zenos is a mutineer.
> 
> Consent:-2/+3 Again, the fact that Zenos is a mutineer in the eyes of
> the rest of the empire hurts him. His men, however, would follow him
> to Hell and back. Indeed, most of them would say that he led them out
> of Hell once already, on the long retreat from Tanimbar.
> 
> Dr. Aldan Vellin:
> Influence:-2/+3 Most people outside of Tirmar and Thalcedon find Dr.
> Vellin's beliefs about government and the relationship between
> governor and governed to be absurd. Within those areas, however, and
> *especially* within the cities and universities, his ideas are highly
> influential
> Authority:-1/0 Dr. Vellin, *as yet*, does not hold any office other
> than Director of Thalcedon's Department of Public Works. This may
> change. 
> Consent:0/+2 Again, Dr. Vellin's theories are unpopular outside of
> Tirmar and Thalcedon, especially with the rural nobility. The rural
> laborers, however, find them somewhat attractive.
> 
> There you have it. To summarize, the Duke of Caladyn is a Royalist;
> General Zenos is a would-be-despot, possibly a Fascist-analogue; and
> Dr. Vellin is a Republican(*not* in the American political sense of
> the word). I'm still working on actions for the year, if anyone has a
> concern about this outline for the key elements, please let me know
> soonest. Also, as a side note, I've noticed some discussion on the
> list about Technology in Qaiyore. Dr. Vellin is definitely a
> "pro-technology" type, while the Duke tends to be "pro-magic". As for
> the General, if it doesn't have a military application, he doesn't
> care about it.
> 
> 
> Andrew Janssen
> 
> 
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[Qai] Bringing Cedonia's determinants up to date

Okay!  And we need to discuss Vizinia.  How do you want to handle its current alliance w/ Burcancy.  Considering you were just chased out of Tanimbar parts of Cedonia you are interested in taking over might not look kindly on the Burcancy or its influence in Videssia.  On the other hand we have treated the people well.  There are a ton of fascinating options.
 
I'll have to read up some more about Duke Caladyn I'm afraid I've forgotten the details on him.
 
Personally, I think Mir has his fingers in way too many pies.  Jason is a brilliant player and exploited Mir to a major extent.  I think Mir is way too powerful compared to most of the other countries and some day I would like to see it fall like Cedonia.
 
 
 
Joel

Andrew Janssen  wrote:
Yeah, I figured that the retreat from Tanimbar was horrific. The best
way to picture it, I think, is to combine Xenophon and the Ten
Thousand's march out of Persia with Napoleon's retreat out of Russia.
Well, maybe not quite that bad, but you get the picture. 

On another note, it looks like from what M. Keaton said in his recent
post that Mir is maintaining some ties to Duke Caladyn. We may want to
talk about that at some point.

Andrew Janssen

--- Joel Elfman wrote:
> You might want to not that the retreat out of Tanimbar was quite
> difficult. The Burcancy & Tanimbar waged a very successful war w/
> Cedonia and also helped raise the native population to resist.
> 
> Also, I believe that the Burcancy established Vizinia as a
> protectorate and an ally, although I am sure you can find loyalists
> there. We have been supporting and rebuilding the economy. And
> there is a formal alliance between Vizinia and the Burcancy.
> 
> Joel 
> 
> Andrew Janssen wrote:
> Since there's been such a lapse of time with Cedonia being involved
> in the game world, I think it would be a good idea for me to update
> some of the society's determinants and key elements, and possibly
> fill in a few of the historical blanks. Comments and alternative
> points of view are most welcome.
> 
> In 1422, the Empress Yzara was apparently killed when the Sinari took
> Thalcedon, the capital city. The heir presumptive, her uncle the Duke
> of Caladyn, was besieged in Talishera at the time. The Sinari
> invasion trashed the central government, and left nearly half of the
> Cedonian legions stuck in Tanimbar without support or supply. Duke
> Caladyn and his surviving troop eventually made it back to Cedonia
> after the end of the God-War. The southern army, however, under
> General Zenos, had to make a fighting retreat out of Tanimbar and
> across Vizinia, which had risen in rebellion along with the city of
> Zelkor. 
> 
> In 1424, the empire was essentially fragmented up into scores of
> counties, duchies, and baronies, all of which paid lip service only
> to the notion of the Empire. The problem was, who would be Emperor,
> if anyone?
> 
> By 1436, three major political polarities are coalescing out of the
> mix. Duke Caladyn still controls the legions from northern Cedonia
> and Selaria, and uses them to control the northwestern portion of the
> old Empire, including the cities of Losela and Caladyn. General Zenos
> has the loyalty of the soldiers he rescued from Tanimbar, and has his
> powerbase in the south of the old Empire, as well as support from
> some Vizinians. Finally, in Tirmar and along the Gulf of Gomel, all
> the way to Thalcedon itself, support is growing for the idea of doing
> away with Emperors and setting up a Republic, as in Kaeir. The
> driving force behind this movement is Doctor Aldan Vellin. Before the
> wars, Dr. Vellin was a civil engineering graduate student at the
> University of Thalcedon. He received his doctorate in 1420, and after
> the fall of Thalcedon in 1422 he was heavily involved in the
> rebuilding effort. He is now, for all intents and purposes, the Mayor
> of Thalcedon.
> 
> These, then, are the three key elements now in Thalcedon. Note that
> where I have two numbers, the first is for actions taken outside the
> element's faction/powerbase; the second is for actions that are
> strictly internal to the faction.
> 
> Duke of Caladyn:
> Influence:-2/0 The duke is notoriously honorable in all his dealings,
> and his external influence suffers because of his refusal to dig up
> dirt.
> 
> Authority:0/+2 Legally, the Duke *is* the heir to the throne,
> although for the moment he is not using the title. More importantly,
> he was and is the most senior field commander of the Imperial
> Legions, which gives him some power even in areas outside his
> powerbase.
> 
> Consent:-1/+1 While the Duke is quite charismatic and is admired by
> his troops, he was never very popular among the nobles at court, and
> especially not in the areas he helped add to the Empire, Tirmar &
> Vizinia.
> 
> General Zenos:
> Influence:+2 General Zenos is a rare creature--a political general
> who can also fight. He knows where the bodies are buried in Cedonian
> politics; more often than not, he buried them himself.
> 
> Authority:-3/+2 While the men of the legions he used to command
> recognize him as their commander, to most of the rest of the Empire,
> Zenos is a mutineer.
> 
> Consent:-2/+3 Again, the fact that Zenos is a mutineer in the eyes of
> the rest of the empire hurts him. His men, however, would follow him
> to Hell and back. Indeed, most of them would say that he led them out
> of Hell once already, on the long retreat from Tanimbar.
> 
> Dr. Aldan Vellin:
> Influence:-2/+3 Most people outside of Tirmar and Thalcedon find Dr.
> Vellin's beliefs about government and the relationship between
> governor and governed to be absurd. Within those areas, however, and
> *especially* within the cities and universities, his ideas are highly
> influential
> Authority:-1/0 Dr. Vellin, *as yet*, does not hold any office other
> than Director of Thalcedon's Department of Public Works. This may
> change. 
> Consent:0/+2 Again, Dr. Vellin's theories are unpopular outside of
> Tirmar and Thalcedon, especially with the rural nobility. The rural
> laborers, however, find them somewhat attractive.
> 
> There you have it. To summarize, the Duke of Caladyn is a Royalist;
> General Zenos is a would-be-despot, possibly a Fascist-analogue; and
> Dr. Vellin is a Republican(*not* in the American political sense of
> the word). I'm still working on actions for the year, if anyone has a
> concern about this outline for the key elements, please let me know
> soonest. Also, as a side note, I've noticed some discussion on the
> list about Technology in Qaiyore. Dr. Vellin is definitely a
> "pro-technology" type, while the Duke tends to be "pro-magic". As for
> the General, if it doesn't have a military application, he doesn't
> care about it.
> 
> 
> Andrew Janssen
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------
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> SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per
>
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> 
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[Qai] Bringing Cedonia's determinants up to date

Quite so. I'm thinking that for the next few game years, Cedonia's
going to be a fairly inward-looking society. What will happen to
Vizinia probably depends on who comes out on top of the power struggle.
General Zenos knows how tough Tanimbar and the Burcancy can be, and
probably won't be terribly interested in a military rematch. Dr. Vellin
and his followers would probably take a realpolitik attitude, although
they might see it as fertile soil for the Revolution.

The Duke of Caladyn is another matter entirely. If he comes out on top,
his first order of business will likely be to try to resume Empress
Yzara's program of restoring the old Empire, despite the fact that he
always doubted her stated reasons for doing so. If you look at the
archived turns, he was co-commander with the Warlord of Mir of a joint
Cedonian-Mirish force that tried to halt the Sinari advance short of
the Inner Sea.

I would agree that Mir is becoming rather meddlesome. Dreams of Empire,
perhaps? :)

On a slightly unrelated note, in the appendix at the back of the
reissue of Michael Flynn's novel, "In the Country of the Blind" there
are several fascinating graphs and tables with useful information to
world-builders. Two stand out. The first is that in our world, nomad
invasions of civilized areas come at intervals of 4 to 6 centuries,
with 5 centuries being the mode.

The other useful chart deals with the lifecycles of imperial states. In
our world, centralized unitary states have a Mean Time Before Failure
of 160 years, a Mean Time To Repair of 70 years, and then toddle along
to their second MTBF after an average of 185 years. These are, of
course, averages, and thus can't really be applied to individual
nations, in a game or in real life. It does suggest, though, that any
Empire which has lasted more than two centuries without a major
disruption in function is past due for such . . . and that empire
repair is not for the short lived.

Andrew Janssen

--- Joel Elfman  wrote:
> Okay!  And we need to discuss Vizinia.  How do you want to handle its
> current alliance w/ Burcancy.  Considering you were just chased out
> of Tanimbar parts of Cedonia you are interested in taking over might
> not look kindly on the Burcancy or its influence in Videssia.  On the
> other hand we have treated the people well.  There are a ton of
> fascinating options.
>  
> I'll have to read up some more about Duke Caladyn I'm afraid I've
> forgotten the details on him.
>  
> Personally, I think Mir has his fingers in way too many pies.  Jason
> is a brilliant player and exploited Mir to a major extent.  I think
> Mir is way too powerful compared to most of the other countries and
> some day I would like to see it fall like Cedonia.
>  
>  
>  
> Joel
> 
> Andrew Janssen  wrote:
> Yeah, I figured that the retreat from Tanimbar was horrific. The best
> way to picture it, I think, is to combine Xenophon and the Ten
> Thousand's march out of Persia with Napoleon's retreat out of Russia.
> Well, maybe not quite that bad, but you get the picture. 
> 
> On another note, it looks like from what M. Keaton said in his recent
> post that Mir is maintaining some ties to Duke Caladyn. We may want
> to
> talk about that at some point.
> 
> Andrew Janssen
> 
> --- Joel Elfman wrote:
> > You might want to not that the retreat out of Tanimbar was quite
> > difficult. The Burcancy & Tanimbar waged a very successful war w/
> > Cedonia and also helped raise the native population to resist.
> > 
> > Also, I believe that the Burcancy established Vizinia as a
> > protectorate and an ally, although I am sure you can find loyalists
> > there. We have been supporting and rebuilding the economy. And
> > there is a formal alliance between Vizinia and the Burcancy.
> > 
> > Joel 
> > 
> > Andrew Janssen wrote:
> > Since there's been such a lapse of time with Cedonia being involved
> > in the game world, I think it would be a good idea for me to update
> > some of the society's determinants and key elements, and possibly
> > fill in a few of the historical blanks. Comments and alternative
> > points of view are most welcome.
> > 
> > In 1422, the Empress Yzara was apparently killed when the Sinari
> took
> > Thalcedon, the capital city. The heir presumptive, her uncle the
> Duke
> > of Caladyn, was besieged in Talishera at the time. The Sinari
> > invasion trashed the central government, and left nearly half of
> the
> > Cedonian legions stuck in Tanimbar without support or supply. Duke
> > Caladyn and his surviving troop eventually made it back to Cedonia
> > after the end of the God-War. The southern army, however, under
> > General Zenos, had to make a fighting retreat out of Tanimbar and
> > across Vizinia, which had risen in rebellion along with the city of
> > Zelkor. 
> > 
> > In 1424, the empire was essentially fragmented up into scores of
> > counties, duchies, and baronies, all of which paid lip service only
> > to the notion of the Empire. The problem was, who would be Emperor,
> > if anyone?
> > 
> > By 1436, three major political polarities are coalescing out of the
> > mix. Duke Caladyn still controls the legions from northern Cedonia
> > and Selaria, and uses them to control the northwestern portion of
> the
> > old Empire, including the cities of Losela and Caladyn. General
> Zenos
> > has the loyalty of the soldiers he rescued from Tanimbar, and has
> his
> > powerbase in the south of the old Empire, as well as support from
> > some Vizinians. Finally, in Tirmar and along the Gulf of Gomel, all
> > the way to Thalcedon itself, support is growing for the idea of
> doing
> > away with Emperors and setting up a Republic, as in Kaeir. The
> > driving force behind this movement is Doctor Aldan Vellin. Before
> the
> > wars, Dr. Vellin was a civil engineering graduate student at the
> > University of Thalcedon. He received his doctorate in 1420, and
> after
> > the fall of Thalcedon in 1422 he was heavily involved in the
> > rebuilding effort. He is now, for all intents and purposes, the
> Mayor
> > of Thalcedon.
> > 
> > These, then, are the three key elements now in Thalcedon. Note that
> > where I have two numbers, the first is for actions taken outside
> the
> > element's faction/powerbase; the second is for actions that are
> > strictly internal to the faction.
> > 
> > Duke of Caladyn:
> > Influence:-2/0 The duke is notoriously honorable in all his
> dealings,
> > and his external influence suffers because of his refusal to dig up
> > dirt.
> > 
> > Authority:0/+2 Legally, the Duke *is* the heir to the throne,
> > although for the moment he is not using the title. More
> importantly,
> > he was and is the most senior field commander of the Imperial
> > Legions, which gives him some power even in areas outside his
> > powerbase.
> > 
> > Consent:-1/+1 While the Duke is quite charismatic and is admired by
> > his troops, he was never very popular among the nobles at court,
> and
> > especially not in the areas he helped add to the Empire, Tirmar &
> > Vizinia.
> > 
> > General Zenos:
> > Influence:+2 General Zenos is a rare creature--a political general
> > who can also fight. He knows where the bodies are buried in
> Cedonian
> > politics; more often than not, he buried them himself.
> > 
> > Authority:-3/+2 While the men of the legions he used to command
> > recognize him as their commander, to most of the rest of the
> Empire,
> > Zenos is a mutineer.
> > 
> > Consent:-2/+3 Again, the fact that Zenos is a mutineer in the eyes
> of
> > the rest of the empire hurts him. His men, however, would follow
> him
> > to Hell and back. Indeed, most of them would say that he led them
> out
> > of Hell once already, on the long retreat from Tanimbar.
> > 
> > Dr. Aldan Vellin:
> > Influence:-2/+3 Most people outside of Tirmar and Thalcedon find
> Dr.
> > Vellin's beliefs about government and the relationship between
> > governor and governed to be absurd. Within those areas, however,
> and
> > *especially* within the cities and universities, his ideas are
> highly
> > influential
> > Authority:-1/0 Dr. Vellin, *as yet*, does not hold any office other
> > than Director of Thalcedon's Department of Public Works. This may
> > change. 
> > Consent:0/+2 Again, Dr. Vellin's theories are unpopular outside of
> > Tirmar and Thalcedon, especially with the rural nobility. The rural
> > laborers, however, find them somewhat attractive.
> > 
> > There you have it. To summarize, the Duke of Caladyn is a Royalist;
> > General Zenos is a would-be-despot, possibly a Fascist-analogue;
> and
> > Dr. Vellin is a Republican(*not* in the American political sense of
> > the word). I'm still working on actions for the year, if anyone has
> a
> > concern about this outline for the key elements, please let me know
> > soonest. Also, as a side note, I've noticed some discussion on the
> > list about Technology in Qaiyore. Dr. Vellin is definitely a
> > "pro-technology" type, while the Duke tends to be "pro-magic". As
> for
> > the General, if it doesn't have a military application, he doesn't
> > care about it.
> > 
> > 
> > Andrew Janssen
> > 
> > 
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