EoT+1+Response

[QUOTE=Sithis][SPOILER][QUOTE=ArcaneStomper][QUOTE=Sithis][QUOTE=ArcaneStomper][QUOTE=Sithis][SPOILER][QUOTE=ArcaneStomper][B][SIZE="3"]Projects[/SIZE][/B] [B]The Phoenix Project[/B]

[SPOILER]I am working with the Remnants on this. Hopefully they haven't forgotten about it. The attached PMs cover it in detail but here is what I'm inputting this turn. [B]Investment[/B]

1. Use the +++ loyalty to encourage my dwarves, who should have an easier time blending in with humans than a lot of supernaturals, to like the humans more and want to help them. And then start running youth and aid organizations in Toronto and Ottawa to help the lower class and increase the prosperity of the two cities. 2. Use ++ wealth to begin funding the new organizations to help the poor especially youth organizations. 3. Use my ++ influence to look for suitable candidates among the human politicians. I kind of hope the Remnants help with this since they have higher subtlety and influence than me. Looking for one who is honest, idealistic, and has a lot of integrity. If we find a suitable candidate we will try and swear them to secrecy and then basically tell them who we are, and what we want to do. Which is encourage Canada to prosper so that they will become more open and in time be willing to accept the presence of the supernatural. [B]Goals[/B]

1. Hoping for an increase in strength from transformed youths willing to help me, which should also result in some loyalty due to the Dragon Blood trait. 2. Also increased influence from backing our political candidate and also helping make our organization look more humanitarian. Of course I'm not really expecting results for a while, but hopefully long term we'll also see a wealth bonus as the areas prosperity increases.[/SPOILER] [B]Mascul Cartel[/B]

[SPOILER]Iormungad himself comes down to continue negotiations with the Mascul Cartel. [COLOR="DarkRed"]"Your operation sounds promising. However you caught us at a bad time. We have only [++++ wealth] and [++ strength] to aid you in expanding your operations into Buenos Aires. (I'm hoping the way I'm casually discussing quantities that are equal to most of their stats will impress them.) We will aid you and perhaps next quarter we will be able to send more."[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkRed"]"In return however we want a piece of the pie. At least 40% of what the profits you earn in Buenos Aires, as well your cartel's aid in expanding our branches into Chile and once Buenos Aires is under control Argentina."[/COLOR] (I'm willing to bargain down to 30% for a correspondingly larger share of Santiago, which is basically what I'm asking. To help them take control of Buenos Aires and in return I get a share of control in both Santiago and Buenos Aires.) Now I'm not entirely certain whether the mascul is made up of mortals or not. So this next bit will have two sections. If they are mortals: [COLOR="DarkRed"]"In addition to our other aid Hyperion has secured access to an experimental military drug, don't ask us how, called DB. It makes you stronger, faster, tougher. I'm sure an organization such as yourself could find a use for it in this plan."[/COLOR] If they aren't mortal, or have a good grasp of the supernatural, hopefully I can tell if they do. [COLOR="DarkRed"]"In addition to our other aid Hyperion can supply you with Dragon's Blood. I'm sure you've heard the myths. They're all true ingesting the blood of dragons makes you stronger, faster, and tougher, and better able to use magic. And unlike other people who might try and sell you Dragon's Blood we can guarantee that it is both pure and real."[/COLOR] Iormungand smiles as he says this last line. [B]Investments[/B]

1. ++ strength to actually help the Mascul muscle in on Buenos Aires 2. ++++ wealth to both fund the Mascul and set up new branches of Hyperion in Santiago, and possibly Buenos Aires if it becomes safe and I have anything left. Both Chile and Argentina have extensive mineral resources, and Chile in particular encourages foreign investment, so I should be able to get some profitable business going fairly easily. 3. Iormungand will be setting up the businesses and if necessary providing extra muscle. 4. I'm hoping that they'll accept the Dragon's Blood and the loyalty bonus from it will make merging with them easier. 5. Also Dwarven Ingenuity should help me wring profit out of this even if I don't have the resources to expand very much once everything I use to actually help the Mascul is taken out. [B]Goals[/B]

1. Wealth obviously from exploiting South American mineral reserves with my expert dwarven miners, and from getting a cut of the Mascul profits. 2. Influence with the Mascul. Angling for a merger with them eventually, and maybe getting their leader as a VIP.[/SPOILER] [B][SIZE="3"]Actions[/SIZE][/B] [B]Strength: ++++[/B]

1. Send ++ to help the TLDT-TS. They should be using ++ influence to help me in return. If not the deal is of course off. The dwarves will also have instructions to pay attention to things so that when they come back they can tell me what the TLDT-TS needed them for. 2. Use ++ to help the Mascul Cartel. [B]Subtlety: +[/B]

1. Used to scout out Santiago and aid the Mascul in their Buenos Aires operations. [B]Wealth: +++++ +[/B]

1. Use ++ to fund Project Phoenix. 2. ++++ is used to concert with the Mascul Cartel. [B]Knowledge: ++++[/B]

1. +++ Used to help the rest of the alliance research mental wards. 2. + begins working out the feasibility of rune casters. I'd like costs for single rooms, and for conference calls if possible, as well as actually starting work on a single room under my base in Toronto [B]Loyalty: +++[/B]

1. +++ used for project Phoenix. [B]Influence: ++ (++ from the TLDT-TS)[/B]

1. ++ used for project Phoenix 2. The ++ influence from the TLDT-TS will be used to expand my presence in Kinshasa. I'm not really looking to expand here, but the OSA never paid my price to leave entirely so I want to maintain a toehold. Hopefully if OSA decides to expand here and is looking to stop me they'll be expecting an influx of wealth or strength, and not be prepared for influence from another faction entirely. [B]VIPS[/B]

1. Iormungand will be helping the Mascul 2. Chief Glasock set up the conference with the American powers 3. Councilor Hrimes investigated Kinshasa and will be directing the influence bought from the TLDT-TS to most effectively set up a small branch office and being mining operations. [B]Traits[/B]

1. Dragon Blood - Hopefully aid me with the Mascul 2. Dwarven Ingenuity - Hopefully aid me in two things. Leveraging my wealth to most effectively invest in Santiago. I'm also hoping it will help me to wring a little bit of wealth out of Kinshasa. 3. Gold is Life - Since this is negative I really hope it doesn't come into play. Obviously all my dwarves and Iormungand will be trying their best to gain wealth without spending any capital assets, (I.E. losing wealth) [SPOILER][QUOTE=Forum Explorer][QUOTE=ArcaneStomper][QUOTE=Forum Explorer][QUOTE=ArcaneStomper][spoiler] [QUOTE=Forum Explorer][QUOTE=ArcaneStomper][QUOTE=Forum Explorer][QUOTE=ArcaneStomper][QUOTE=Forum Explorer][QUOTE=ArcaneStomper]I'm just going to go ahead and move this to an actual PM now. [B]Ottawa, Canada[/B]

Glasock nods, [COLOR="DarkOrange"]"Aye it is exactly that which we wish to talk with you about. An alliance would be best for both of us. And what better way to confirm an alliance than a project that would benefit all of us. Consider the humans. Ignorant for the most part, but ever expanding ever growing a vital force on the planet. The Old ORder thinks it can survive by keeping secret, and that to be revealed would be to die, but we know better, and your very existance is proof that mortals and the supernatural can work together and prosper. Oh yes there are some beasties that humans would never live with, but not either of us."[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]"Of course as things stand the Old Order is probably right, but we can change that starting with Canada and then the world. To that end I propose a project. Human cities are afflicted with crime and proverty. There are neighborhoods where the strong prey on the weak. That is not an environment which is conducive to the acceptance of outsiders. But this project would change both those points. We call it Phoenix Plan. The first step is move into down trodden areas and set up community programs. These will help prepare the mortals to be more accepting and at the same time help lift them out of poverty. Meanwhile we will also be rejuvenating the local economy bringing jobs and generating wealth for everyone. At the same time certain more direct methods will be used on the local criminals to convince them to give up their violent ways. The end result happy peaceful communities all the better prepared to accept the supernatural openly when the time comes. "[/COLOR] At this point Glasock smiles happily. [COLOR="rgb(255, 140, 0)"]"And even better we won't just reap future benefits but present ones as well as the economy upswings benefiting both Hyperion and any local companies you control. So what do you think of this and what might you be able to contribute."[/COLOR][/QUOTE] [COLOR="Magenta"]We agree to this plan as it suits our goals. We will gladly contribute what wealth we have to this plan as well as whatever manpower we can spare. Still from what we can observe an equally big problem among the humans is corruption and apathy of human leaders. While this plan does help it leaves this further issue unresolved. [/COLOR][/QUOTE] Glasock frowns, [COLOR="rgb(255, 140, 0)"]"Humans and their inefficient governments, bah. Well we can use it to our own purposes then. With our efforts the cities we choose to clean will soon be shining examples to the rest of Canada, by choosing a suitable candidate from among the local human politicians, preferably one young and idealistic, we can transfer some of the goodwill for these efforts onto him, or her, and propel him into the highest level of politics. Normally by the time humans reach that point they are already corrupt, but with our backing our candidate should still be pure by the time they reach that point. Then at our prompting and because of their own beliefs our candidate will be able to initiate a clean up of the government."[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]"And the people will back him because as far as they're concerned he will be the one majorly responsible for their new happier neighborhoods. The incumbents will of course fight, but with a legitimate source to channel our own backing through we should be able to push the necessary reforms through." "This of course is something of a long term goal.But we have nothing if not time."[/COLOR][/QUOTE] [COLOR="Magenta"]Too true. Now a quick summery of our plan: We begin to clean up the downtrodden communities and improve the standard of living for all. We credit this to a human of our choice who with our support will use this to springboard into power and make additional positive changes. Now shall we have our human in the know? Or even actually be one of us. You for example could pass for human, while one of our human members could also work. Still perhaps it would be better if we let the humans feel that they fixed their own problems instead of knowing they were manipulated into it. [/COLOR][/QUOTE] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]"I think the plan would almost require that we inform our candidate of who we are. Remember we will specifically choosing the most honorable and idealistic candidate for our purposes. If a person with such a nature finds out we are hiding anything, for instance if a less benign faction tells them, then they will likely discount everything we have done so far as some kind of sinister plan."[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]"And a similar situation would arise if we used one of our own. If the public found out that we were positioning one of our own into power, at least before we revealed ourselves, then everything we had done so far no matter how benign would be cast in a much more sinister light."[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]"You know how paranoids humans are. That is precisely what we are seeking to change."[/COLOR]

Some time later, after the whole insane messenger delivery thing. [COLOR="DarkOrange"]"And while I am here, what is your take on the Eastern Star Pact"[/COLOR][/QUOTE] [COLOR="Magenta"]Agreed. Then lets start as soon as possible.

The Eastern Star Pact is still very much an unknown. At first appearance they are very much an alliance to drive away any influence that is not their own. While we've yet to see how they shall treat the humans inside their proclaimed territory the means of their message suggests that eventually they will need to be dealt with. Either by a benign faction like us or the humans themselves. Still we will at lest give them a chance to prove themselves. [/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[/spoiler]

[COLOR="DarkOrange"]"My own fear is that they will not prove benign. You know the forces at work in that area of the world. Few of them are what any would call benign powers. I believe it is in our own best interests to start preparing and gaining allies just in case."[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]"If they do indeed prove benign then all is well and good, we can welcome them as allies into a brighter tomorrow, and the work we have done gaining allies will still prove beneficial in the grander scheme of preparing humanity for knowledge of our existence. And if they do not then we will not be stuck scrambling for allies when they turn their eyes to the lands across the Pacific. Perhaps a conference could be arranged among the factions that call this continent home to discuss such things."[/COLOR][/QUOTE] [COLOR="Magenta"]Indeed there is no harm in making more friends. Also our influence may encourage less benign factions on our own Continent to improve themselves. However we are concerned with your rivals in New York. While we would love for the two of you to get along you are natural opponents. Would the two of you be able to come to terms? What other factions can you foresee being troublesome? [/COLOR][/QUOTE] Sithis, since I've already spent the VIP for this can I move it to Toronto and merge it with the conference I'm starting so that I don't have disjointed relayed conversations. Forum Explorer, if Sithis says its ok I invite your representative to Toronto. If he doesn't then I guess I'll either relay stuff to you or you can send a VIP of your own.[/QUOTE] We could move the conference to Ottawa if necessary[/QUOTE]

[/SPOILER][/QUOTE]

[/SPOILER]

You work with the Remnents to begin work on Project Phoenix. It goes pretty well on your end, especially with your new youth organizations. They not only make you look good, but also are acting as an aditional source of information, as many of these kids are very good at getting into places they aren't meant to be. Gain: + Influence, - Subtlety (This is only so far, the completion of the project will see a bigger gain.) (Also, you'll note that the Dragon Blood trait only works when using Iormungand to increase your Strength, so it didn't really effect anything this turn.)

The dominant power in Buenos Aires are, of all things, a bunch of gangs that started as groups of football players and fans. They're pretty much just street gangs now, and have managed to force out most other criminal or supernatural elements. Until now. They weren't expecting to get hit by not only a cartel hitters, but also your forces. And NO ONE is ever prepared to fight a dragon. They fight bravely to hold their ground, but are quickly defeated. The Mascul Cartel does a competent job of keeping the whole thing quiet, at least enough to keep the authorities from realizing YOUR involement. The Mascul Cartel moves in to establish control over the city, but uses their new Influence in the city to get your mining rights to the nearby areas, as well as allowing the same in Santiago. Mascul gains: + Wealth, + Influence

Mascul loses: none You gain: ++ Wealth

You lose: none' (After this turn, the Mascul Cartel will be a full NPC.)

Your people in Kinshasa have noted the arrival of several individuals from the DUS and Darkmoon Project.

Some of your Rune Casters have been looking intot he feasiablity of creating the rune casting rooms. After some experimentation, they bring you the following: Creating a Room: +++++ Of any combination of Wealth or Knowledge (the prototype room will probably cost between ++ and ++++ more, given that it will require developing the techniques) Creating a PM Level Conversation with one room-owning participant: + Knowledge from the initiator Creating a multi-user conversation: + Knowledge from the host, and - Knowledge from every participant (This doesn't seem terribly unreasonable to me, but give me your input. Or if you think this is too little. :P)

Several months of development and testing come to fruition as the Mind Blank ward is cast over Ottowa. And it works perfectly. Several attempts at mind minipulation fail spectacularly. In fact, several other forms of hostile magic also fail. Perhaps the ward is a bit more powerful than even you realized, and perhaps it could even be further improved? Now that the Mind Blank Ward is researched and a prototype created, one could be set up in any city for +++++ + Wealth/Knowledge (Any attempts to use any kind of magic that effects minds will auto-fail in cities with the Mind Blank Ward. Also, uses of Knowledge that are hostile to the owner of the city in question will be less powerful by +. The Ward can be further refined to increase this protection.)[/QUOTE] A few questions.

1. Will the Mind Blank Ward affect the loyalty properties of dragon's blood. 2. What is my influence with the Mascul right now? Did they accept the Dragon's Blood. I mean Iormungand was involved in that one. 3. Would it be possible to improve on rune casters to reduce the cost even further?[/QUOTE] 1. Yes, but modifying it to exclude dragon blood wouldn't be terribly difficult. 2. They did not except the dragon blood right now (they didn't really trust it). However, they trust you quite a lot now since you delivered on your promise. Of course, now that they're a faction with two cities and more power than most minor NPCs, joining with you wholesale is less likely. 3. Yah, I suppose you could refine the process, but that would require even more research.[/QUOTE] 1. I'll put that on the list. Speaking if which what will it do to the Succubi. Do I know? 2. They're still less than half my stats. I can work at it. And when I do that'll be two cities I get instead of just one. Which means I can let Kinshasa drop, and don't have to worry about racing to collect the remaining neutral cities ahead of the other PCs. 3. I think I'll just set this to the side. Everyone seems to be fine sending VIPs. And building and modifying the wards seems more pressing.[/QUOTE][/SPOILER] I'd say that it probably wouldn't be hard to guess that these mind wards probably wouldn't be good for the Succubis' mental magics. Although they can probably be modified to have exceptions for those as well. Probably a little harder for them, since their kind of things are what the shields were designed to stop anyway, instead of the smaller scale effects of dragon's blood.[/QUOTE]