Southern Strategy
With the election for
Speaker in 25 days, Damira and her advisors were in favor of sticking around a little while to
legitimately help Amun Khet-Sa however possible, as losing Caryatis as a reliable ally posed a real danger to their efforts. However, the longer the delay, the longer Acatha would have to mobilize as an opposing force before the dominion marched south to
Baharsi Bay. To balance these conflicting factors, Damira held an impromptu council, and decided on a plan. A scouting force—consisting of Needle Hill forces and a few diplomats—would be sent south to contact tribes and prepare them for the dominion's arrival. Meanwhile,
Quamaniq's goblin horde would continue to raid in the area, and the main force of the Dominion would linger in the
Stone Cradle, allowing a few days of politicking in
Caryatis.
Ideally, then, the dominion forces would be able to march to Baharsi Bay quickly and quietly, accumulating a few new tribes along the way (most crucially the
Sacred Cliff Tribe) while the goblins distracted any human efforts to mobilize. When Acathan aggression would eventually fall on the dominion, it would do so at Baharsi Bay, once the kobolds had time to assemble some defenses; after repelling such a potential attack with the help of the goblins, a military campaign could be conducted against Fercul if necessary, putting the city to siege.
Friendly Faces
Drusa explained the
intricacies of the election and provided information on the non-Amun candidates. Rufus the Firebrand was a charismatic populist type, and Theano the Preacher a religious man of a libertarian bent. Theano appeared to be bleeding candidates from Amun more than from Rufus, so the kobolds decided that getting Theano to drop out would be ideal.
Mursili, Nazgul, Qazir, and Celebrated Tursynbek met surriptitiously with Amun Khet-Sa and his trusted associates (in the home of a caryatid painter who had gone on a walkabout of undetermined length to find inspiration for his art). Amun Khet-Sa was very polite and direct. He explained the concept of
voting blocs, in which established families that cast their votes early in the process get later participants to agree to follow their lead in exchange for some sort of benefit, and said that determining what blocs were forming would certainly be a useful thing that the party could do. He requested that the dominion
not publicly take sides in the election, but appreciated anything they could do to help. Amun also preemptively initiated diplomatic discussions, offering trade benefits (including embargos on enemies of the dominion) but stopping short of offering involvement in any armed conflicts.
Later in the conversation, Amun Khet-Sa also introduced the group to a caryatid named Meges, whom he introduced as an
old family friend. Mursili did his best not to appear too starstruck in the presence of Meges, as the latter was the caryatid who had initially granted him volition; Meges was too polite to notice any awkwardness, and gladly accepted Mursili's offer to introduce him to Damira. He asked all the assembled kobolds, as well as Mursili, to share with him the details of their travels thus far.
Campaigning in Caryatis
Over the course of nearly half a moon, this contingent of the dominion lingered in Caryatis, working toward a variety of objectives during their downtime.
Qazir, with the help of Celebrated Tursynbek, set up shop in the markets, selling his extra inventions to any who were looking to buy. Money was not his primary objective; if anything, he was selling at low prices deliberately in order to cultivate goodwill and positive kobold relations. This was a definitive success. A handful of the inventions were remarkably popular, including his "stirrups," and with Tursynbek's help on the diplomatic side, this had a sizable effect on the local perception of kobolds.
Damira continued to practice her magic, this time under the guidance of Meges. While incapable of magic himself, Meges possessed secondhand knowledge from a variety of sources, and was able to provide solid guidance and encouragement.
Nazgul met face-to-face with Theano the Preacher, under the guise of inquiring about theology. Over the course of an in-depth conversation, she got the sense of him as a man who very much valued Caryatis' liberty and independence, to the point of paranoia regarding the dwarves and the reverence the caryatids held for them. When he fumbled a response in a crucial moment, she quietly intuited—to her surprise—that Theano was running
as a spoiler for Rufus, who must have offered him something given their differing politics. Toward the end of the meeting, Damira stopped in to meet him; Mursili then proceeded to spread the word of this meeting by gossipping with his caryatid friends in the hopes that associating with Damira would tarnish Theano's prospects in the election.
Near the close of this period, Nazgul took to spending evenings out with her husband
Timur in nice establishments, enjoying each other's company while also eavesdropping on servant gossip. On one such occasion, she overheard two servants discussing Rufus and learned the secret behind his support: he claims to have some sort of weapon that can kill a caryatid, and that this power will allow him to leverage the flesh district into a position of power.
Quick Notes
Clocks
Projects
- [3/4] Training Petros and the caryatids to fight alongside kobolds (Mursili)
- Mutual Respect for the Underfoot Kobolds (HC)
- Works Great in Theory (T)
- [3/4] Reliably performing basic human magic (Damira)
- Fluent in Basic Therian Magic (HC)
- Works Great in Theory (T)
- [4/4] Framing Damira as a reasonable, peaceful ruler (Nazgul)
- [1/4] Learning how to besiege a city (Mursili)
- Knowledge of Legion Sieges (HC)
- Works Great In Theory (T)
Other
- [8/8] Bracaran Awareness of Damira
- [6/6] Acathan Awareness of Damira
- [3/6] Goblin Patience
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