[LP CYOA] Epic

[Kipeci]

Let's do A. This doesn't mean all courts and intrigue; I think we'd be more inclined to pull an Alexander. Also, given how many of our skills are related to fighting, I think even if there was more conflict that it'd develop us more than a hermit life in wherever.

 

[anus_pounder]

B.

It is time to swim to Italy and carve out a mighty empire.

 

[ScubaV]

Come on bros, Conan became king, he didn't run away like a little girly-man. We took all these risks and now that they've paid off you want to run away before we can reap the reward? We're an immortal. The "fuck it" option will almost always be available to us. Now is not the time. Yes, those tentacle beasts will be after us. Yes, Shulgi will return and want revenge. Yes, Naram is a total unknown. Personally, I can't think of a better way to learn more about our adversaries and to hone our own abilities than to be challenged by them. Thanks to our telepathy we won't be caught totally off-guard.

Right now, as far as we know, we're top dog. In any strategy game, when you're top dog you act like it until someone forces you to do otherwise.

 

[m4davis]

A

 

[Omicron]

A

 

[Baltika9]

A

 

[Smashing Axe]

A...

Also, let's find a way to neutralise Shulgi for a very long time. Burn his body and encase his ashes in cement/stone?

 

[m4davis]

That won't disable him as long as burning him and dispensing small amounts of his ashs into tons of different parts of the ocean

 

[Quetzacoatl]

This is how it should go: Cremate him, place his ashes in a box, tie the box to a large and heavy rock, then dump the rock with the box somewhere in the red sea. Or, chop him into little pieces and feed them to our guests in a feast.

 

[Baltika9]

Eat the fucking corpse.









Do it, faggot.

 

[ScubaV]

I think the best way to deal with another immortal (at least until we get to the black hole option) is to keep him/her in a state of perpetual regeneration. Kill the immortal, keep all the body parts in a chamber of some sort and periodically destroy the corpse as it regenerates using whatever means (hacking into pieces, burning, etc). Now, whether treave will give us this option or find a way to circumvent it is another story, but I think it's probably better than a fire and forget option regardless of how thorough the "fire" is.

 

[m4davis]

heres the thing if we do the fire and forget option right chances are he's going to be gone for thousands of years and won't gain any power during that time if we encountered him again after that he would be absolutely destroyed

 

[Stygian Lurker]

A

 

[TOME]

A

 

[oscar]

A. Time to take what is rightfully ours.

 

[newcomer]

LET'S GO WITH A!

WE CANNOT PLAY WITH PEOPLE'S MIND IN THE WILDERNESS! HOW COME THAT SHULGI SURPASS US IN MIND CONTROLLING TECHNIQUE?! NEXT TIME WE MEET HE'LL BE OUR PUPPEEETTTTTT!!!!

 

[SerratedBiz]

A. This is the reward for all the crap we've been through. And from observing Shulgi we ought to gather that having follower-believers is a good thing.

 

[Cassidy]

B

Better an immortal hero than an immortal pussy hiding inside a throne room and a legion of mortal minions.

 

[Quetzacoatl]

B

Better an immortal hero than an immortal pussy hiding inside a throne room and a legion of mortal minions.

Did Alexander the Great do this?

 

[Esquilax]

B

Better an immortal hero than an immortal pussy hiding inside a throne room and a legion of mortal minions.

Did Alexander the Great do this?

I prefer the example of Cincinnatus instead. Refuse power in the end. I believe it's more prudent as well, since I think Ean is better at conquering places than he is at ruling them. Besides, I'm eager to learn more about those strange alien creatures that we met in Memphis, and I'd rather not get wrapped up in mortal affairs because of it.

Makes things way more interesting from a character development and narrative standpoint too. You have all this power in your grasp, everything Shulgi ever wanted... and you turn it down to gain enlightenment and knowledge of self instead. That's pretty fucking cool. Way cooler than "dude with big army conquers country, becomes King". Lame.

 

[treave]

A 13
B 5

Big choices coming up. The votes for each category will be counted separately.

***

Chapter 2.1: King

The king crumples to the ground as you draw your sword from his body.

I guess you're top dog now, buddy.
We should be having a looooot of fun on the seat of power...

The Akkadian Empire is in a state of shambles. The city of Akkad itself has been devastated by the flood. Your new ministers tell you that you'll be needing to bring in crops from the other city-states for years to come. Your once great army is scattered; your murder of King Sargon in full view of the soldiers was not greeted with joy by all. Clearly their adulation of you did not extend to the point of regicide. Many of them still remain, but more than half of the surviving soldiers have run back to their homes, deserting your service. Shulgi's cultists are still roaming around the empire, preaching of their god's return. You had searched for his body immediately after the flood waters have receded, but luck did not smile on you then. In far off Egypt, news have come of the Pharaoh regaining his throne. He does not have a good disposition towards the Empire at this moment, and may prove to be a threat. You do not know if the black, tendriled monsters that the voices warned you about are still around in Egypt and Sumer; they form yet another danger to your reign.

There are many decisions to be made to set the direction of your kingdom, and you are to be responsible for all of them.

The year is 2300 B.C.

***

1. Military

A. You institute a mandatory draft of all able-bodied men of age in Akkad. The farms have been ruined and they have little to do anyway. This should increase your forces by about 500 men.

B. You demand each of your subordinate city-states send you a tribute of 100 men. This should double your forces, increasing them by 1000 men.

C. You institute a draft and demand a tribute of manpower, increasing your forces by 1500 men.

D. You do nothing and retain your standing force of a thousand professional soldiers.

***

2. Rebuilding the City of Akkad

A. You prioritize repairs of your walls. The battle and the flood have wrecked the walls protecting Akkad, and should you delay repairs any longer, they will crumble, causing you to spend more time to rebuild them.

B. You prioritize the reconstruction of the farms and the irrigation channels that sustain them. The flood has severely damaged the surrounding farmland, and if you want to reach self-sufficiency in terms of food, this is crucial.

C. You prioritize the restoration of the city's buildings. Trade and entertainment have been ground to a halt with the siege and the subsequent flood. This will help boost the happiness of the citizens.

***

3. Society & Religion

A. You suppress Shulgi's cult mercilessly wherever you can find it, sending your soldiers to root out the cultists and kill them.

B. You outlaw Shulgi's cult, but do nothing drastic to cull the cultists. They have too much popular support to be dealt with violently.

C. You do nothing about the cult. With Shulgi gone they should die out on their own.

(E) You introduce the cult of Ean above all other gods, establishing your own divine status.
(G) You promote worship of the old Sumerian pantheon
(N) You declare that there are no gods, and introduce, way before its time, secularist philosophy.

(Example of vote format: A(E) for suppressing Shulgi's cult, and introducing your own.)

***

4. Internal Diplomacy

A. The city-states of Sumer shall bow before your every whim, the way they did before Sargon. You rule them with an iron fist, demanding a quarter of their food and coin in tribute.

B. You rule moderately, introducing a representative system where each city-state elects a councillor to voice their concerns to you. You increase the requirements for their tribute; 30% of their food and coin will be extracted to fund the smooth flow of this system.

C. You allow the city states to be more or less autonomous, as long as they contribute 20% of their food and coin every season, less than they would have paid to Sargon.

***

5. External Diplomacy

A. You invest in establishing friendly relationships with the various states around you who are still nominally client-states of the Empire (expanses of Syria, Lebanon and the Middle-East).

B. You demand tribute from the states around you to rebuild the Empire; dissenters will find an army of screaming charioteers outside their walls.

C. You leave the other states alone. There's a lot more to deal with at home anyway.

***

6. The Matter of Egypt

A. You send peace missives to the Pharaoh of Egypt, in hopes of establishing a friendly relationship.

B. You send the head of an ass to the Pharaoh. You're coming for the crocodile-lover sooner or later.

C. Fuck Egypt. They can rot in their sandy shithole.

***

7. Technological Advancements

A. You focus research on military advancements. Your troops will be better drilled and more disciplined. Advances in logistics allow you to project your power further than any other kingdom. Composite bows and spoked wheels will be introduced. You will be militarily dominant for the centuries to come.

B. You focus research on economic concerns. Introduction of a more sophisticated trade system with legal protection those who engage in it and a single currency for all cities in your empire are but some of the advances you will discover.

C. You focus research on the arts. You cultivate a culture of love and beauty, finding more and more creative uses with the materials you have access to. Your citizens become more appreciative of the wonders of the world.

 

[Quetzacoatl]

ABCeBABA
This has gotten really interesting.
EDIT: minor flip flopping

 

[treave]

Added a final option for a bit of R&D. No bears, unfortunately.

 

[Urist McLurker]

– they see your duel with Ean, and cheer loudly

Not sure if anyone else picked up on that slight mix up with the names, so I thought I'd mention it

EDIT: Post made during treave's update, that was to do with the one before, so I've just removed that part of it.

Second EDIT:
1C 2B 3A(G) 4B 5A 6A 7A

The only one I feel strongly about is 4B, the normally the main downside to this is that they might have their own motivations of advancement that might weaken our rule, but I don't think it would be much of an issue of people having hidden motivations if you can just read their mind. So I don't see anything wrong with it.

 

[XenomorphII]

1. C - Rebuilding the army and having enough troops to fight if anything happens seems like a good idea right now, though such a drastic measure may aggravate our internal situation.
2. B - I feel like food is the most important here. We need to be able to feed ourselves first, then worry rebuilding the city and the walls.
3. A(G) - I don't think it wise to simply leave the cult alone, and I think it would be best to settle on the traditional pantheon instead of trying to bring in new ideas right now because yet another religious shift could cause severe instability (especially if we create a cult of us).
4. B - Hopefully some of these guys will know more about domestic issues then we do, and can help us rule well. Should also free us up more (while still maintaining central control of our territory) to go about conquering once things settle down.
5. C - We need to be investing in our own territory not our nominal client states, and we certainly don't need trouble with them.
6. C - They should be in no shape to come after us, and it might encourage them to if we send peace missives (they may see it as weakness).
7. A - So that once our country is no longer in shambles we can cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war on our neighbors.

VOTE: CBA(G)BCCA

PS: This is an awesome CYOA treave. Thank you for doing it.