[LP CYOA] Epic

[Esquilax]

It's not about Sek playing Ean or anything like that, it's just really stupid and pointless. She wants secrecy, we want an heir to provide some stability for the Empire for when we're in the rift. She has no reason to agree to a marriage and we have no political reason to marry her. If you want an heir, just get Nabukudzur to pimp out a few princesses and send them to us.

The bad part about making Athena heir is that we probably want her to going through the rift with us. You can't really have the Emperor and his sole heir both going on a journey that they won't come back from. If we adopt her, her sense of duty might make her unwilling to help us out against the dangers in the rift.

We're overthinking this shit. Just accept Nabukudzur's offer and attempt to pump out an heir with the consorts he sends us. Or adopt someone capable, whatever.

treave, if we pick 1B, what kind of discoveries would our scholars have in mind to better traverse through the miasma?

 

[Baltika9]

Besides which, I don't think trusting any Immortal too much, until we find a way to get them completely and utterly off the grid, is that smart of an idea. They are still contingent on the masters, after all, and their powers subject to revocation.
I get where you're coming from, but Sekhenun is a master of deception and throwing up a persona of whoever she wants to be for a while and then disappearing should be trivial for her (example: a noble from an obscure region of, say, Egypt, middle of nowhere. Emps travels there to inspect, she catches his eye, romance ensues. Married, she makes an heir, then dies of a mysterious illness some years later. Or falls off a cliff. There's you secrecy.)

But, with adoption, I really think making a promising scholar (in management, mathematics, discourse and leadership), noble blood desirable but not necessary, is our best option, unless we have a hyper-talented princeling lying about somewhere.

Edit: also, a human-gieloth hybrid, besides most likely being more powerful, could give us another point in dealing with the Gieloth race. Or open new possibilities down the road.
Besides, if Ean dies/gets incapacitated for any amount of time, there's no one else I'd rather play than an Immortal/Gieloth named Horus.

 

[Storyfag]

Well, Athena is, I think, the most promising scholar in management, mathematics, discourse and leadership we might ever find. She is the goddess of knowledge, wisdom and justice after all. I don't think she'd be a good companion in the rift - her speciality is *commanding* men, not *fighting* per se. She does, however, make the perfect regent to leave behind.

 

[Baltika9]

Well, Athena is, I think, the most promising scholar in management, mathematics, discourse and leadership we might ever find. She is the goddess of knowledge, wisdom and justice after all. I don't think she'd be a good companion in the rift - her specialty is *commanding* men, not *fighting* per se. She does, however, make the perfect regent to leave behind.

But what happens when/if her voices return? Immortals are apparently on Earth to guide it down the historical progression route, or keep it close to it. And if the voices return, what will they do to our ahistoric Empire?
And when we consider Immortals, we must consider the Masters. We don't know how much control her voices exercised on her. Or how loyal she is to them, being pretty pissed about Ean killing Zeus.

 

[Azira]

She's also a young immortal, when compared to Ean. And Shulgi found a way to dominate his voices. If Athena trusts Ean and his vision enough, she might be able to do something similar.
Conjecture, I know it. But it's not too far fetched. I assume it banks on how much she likes and trusts Ean.

 

[Smashing Axe]

She's also a young immortal, when compared to Ean. And Shulgi found a way to dominate his voices. If Athena trusts Ean and his vision enough, she might be able to do something similar.
Conjecture, I know it. But it's not too far fetched. I assume it banks on how much she likes and trusts Ean.

It also depends on how much she considers her "duty" towards us is, and whether it is greater than her duty to the voices.

 

[Esquilax]

Exactly, Azira. That's been my plan from the beginning - gain Athena's trust and support so that if the voices come back, she can resist them. Shulgi found a way to do so, so can Athena. Shulgi was able to do so through his hunger for power, Athena might be able to do so through her sense of right and wrong. Zeus is still alive somewhere in the rift, we need his two pieces of Vajra. What better way to fight him than to use his ally against him?

Storyfag, her strength might be in strategy and leadership, but she is still a powerful immortal. We want Athena and Artemis' loyalty, and we're probably going to need their help in the rift. Athena's a bit of an all-rounder god, good at a lot of things, but not amazing at any one thing (i.e. Ean's physical abilities, Edem's mindfuckery)

Again with the ridiculous scheming and paranoia, Baltika9? What is your obsession with being pals with the tentacles? Other than Sekhenun and Edem, the rest of them are trying to eat the planet right now! Forget it, I'm voting for consorts and hoping we pop out an heir.

Immortals can reproduce among themselves though any given pair might be lucky to have one child in five hundred years of trying. Kids formed inherit a power or two randomly, but they’ll never be as strong as their parents. Though they regenerate wounds they will gradually age and die over a thousand years or so, weakening as their powers run out. Mixed union tends to be slightly easier, but even then it could average out at about 1 child in 100 years. Mixed children live longer than usual but are distinctly ‘human’ heroes with less than supernatural feats, rather than being able to pass for a divine being, i.e. Alexander.

Now, let's stop getting distracted and get to the important choice - how are we going to approach this rift situation? I'm not entirely convinced that throwing more men into the miasma will be useful or productive. Our men would do it in a heartbeat for their beloved Emperor, but it might actually be more beneficial in the long-run to see what kind of advances we can make in terms of technology here.

However, I really don't want to waste time - the rift is dormant at the moment and there's still China to think about. If Terasphagos activity increases, mapping out the miasma is going to be even harder than it is now.

I would be voting for the Imperial Guard strategy if I wasn't convinced that our scientific base wasn't really fucking good. We've got Sekhenun, the Scientific Method, and a large population of educated people to draw scientists from. If we can come up with better harnesses, flares to increase visibility, we might end up spending less time getting to the rift.

 

[Storyfag]

Immortals are apparently on Earth to guide it down the historical progression route, or keep it close to it.

Are they? And you're basing this on what?

For her part, Athena claimed:

Let me tell you this; immortals are duty-bound to guide and protect the people

I believe we can leave Mankind (or at least our part of Mankind) in her care.

 

[Storyfag]

Storyfag, her strength might be in strategy and leadership, but she is still a powerful immortal. We want Athena and Artemis' loyalty, and we're probably going to need their help in the rift.

And I believe we will have to leave a single Immortal to act as regent while we're absent, so that our empire prospers while we're amusing ourselves on the other side of the rift or in China. Athena is the logical choice here.

You convinced me regarding the human wave tactics. Let's wait for more discoveries first.

 

[Baltika9]

Again with the ridiculous scheming and paranoia, Baltika9? What is your obsession with being pals with the tentacles? Other than Sekhenun and Edem, the rest of them are trying to eat the planet right now! Fuck them and fuck the Masters.

Tentacles are our allies of circumstance, at worst. We rebelled against the masters and they did too. I still think if we play this situation right, we may come out on top (sandwiching them in a choice between cutting a deal with Ean and getting exterminated by the Chinese is one way to go about it). And seriously, why wouldn't we want an entire nation of space travelling biotechs on our side (besides, those guys are pretty much like Immortals, only they have more in common with Ean's current state), so long as they don't devour the planet. And with the displayed Gieloth adherence to "deals", we can get it done, if we'll be a smart motherfucker. Besides, I'm sure if we look into the hunger afflicting them, we may find one for us. Sekhenun did say they were connected.

Now, about that rift, let's sum up what we know already: as stimulating to my paranoia Azira 's idea of it being Marduk is, it's already been confirmed as a rift in reality, formed by Marduk trying to devour Zeus. While the latter tried to open an incomplete portal...I think that is key here.
Treave said we'll have to complete something inside of this rift and I think I'm starting to get the picture of what that something will be.

Moving on, it produces a noxious, oftentimes deadly miasma to all non-portal entities. The Terrasphagos, on the other hand, thrive inside of it, to the point of not being able to live for long outside of it. Visibility is almost non-existent inside and even Sekhenun's gas masks do little to help an Immortal, much less a human, to breathe inside.

The Terrasphagos look little more than Zerg/Tyranid expies right now. However, something tells me they are more than that. And while I do have a tinfoil hat theory about that, but I think that shit's starting to get old now. Suffice to say, I think their hunger, the abducted Gieloth, the Gieloth hunger and the Masters are connected.
If we stick to the facts, though, they are extremely tough, agile and strong, but possess animal-level intelligence, capable of only rushing their opponents. Have a tendency to abduct humans into the Warp.

And about me seeing problems everywhere: this is going way too smoothly. To paraphrase Azira, I'm expecting a Grue to jump out and eat us.

 

[Baltika9]

Are they? And you're basing this on what?

Well, let's analyze what we have: the Masters are preaching some sort of "destiny" gospel, as in shit can only happen the way they want it to happen/has to happen. The voices were confirmed by treave to be the only ones with the knowledge to restore historical continuity. He also confirmed my theory about the voices being a "guidance system/AI" as being "on the right track."
Now, why would the Masters send a guidance AI with the knowledge of history as they want it to happen, but to make it happen as they want it to?
Gieloth hunters? Perhaps. However, the Gieloth have a MO of working under the noses of the Masters, so unless they flood every world randomly with Immortals for a "hit-or-miss tactic", I don't think that's the case.

Edit: not saying that this is their only priority, but it must be one of them. Otherwise, why give the voices that programming in the first place?

 

[Baltika9]

If we go into the Eye of Terror, we're going to encounter strange and terrifying beings that might teach us of our nature, how to cure it, alternative sources for our hunger, dealing with the rage, etc. Fighting the Gieloth in China doesn't deal with the issue of our hunger.

I suppose if you want to have an adventure in strange and wondrous dimensions, you could. I'll say this: if you can track down the other two pieces, you will have enough power and knowledge to close the rift. The Tentaculos Mexicano aren't going to be in China for another decade at least.

The obvious part is that Olympus is simply a broken portal that leads to the "space between reality" and spews out Bad Things, and I think the solution to it will be rather simple: find the entrance->find Vajra->close portal. The bad part is that Zeus, Hera, Ares and Marduk are confirmed to be alive and well(ish) inside.
The worse part probably won't be finding the way to close it, but paying the price for Terra's safety. We'll probably have to repair the portal first, and you know what(who) that means.
Which is why I'm so concerned to leave some mini-Eans running about, there's no one else I'd rather play as.

Edit: as far as the current vote goes: we have two options, small scale scout operation relying on lucking out and IG rush methods. The latter will allow us to cut to the chase, but compromise Ean's morality. The former, well, it'll take more time and most likely risk something else bad happening, but at least we get to keep a good rep.

Edit 2: last note about Sekhenun, it's a good time to cash in on the reputation points we've been accruing over the last four chapters, before the brewing shitstorm of China, the North and Olympus hits us.

The kid will grow up a hero just like his pop, alone, unloved and in the hellhole that will be Fallout 4: 100 AC, by Bethesda Softworks, in conjunction with RPG Codex productions.


So, we might even do some combining: adopt Athena into the family and produce an heir by Sekhenun or whomever.
treave, do the Immortals know who Sekhenun actually is?

 

[Tigranes]

BAD with Antioch. Maybe BAC with Athena as daughter, but no consorts, no harems.

You guys need to look beyond your cocks and think about the political consequences. The first generation Kings might have loved Ean to death, but they're not going to keep on cocksucking generation after generation. Remove us into a rich but depoliticised capital city, and then have us sit around all day fucking women who report our every move back to the Kings. Recipe for becoming an immortal, corpulent man-whore.

Now, some specifics about the capital, which Esquilax Smashing Axe Storyfag Azira Baltika9 Kipeci and others should take note:

The idea of a new capital is a good one, because in the long run it helps us depose Babylon as the 'Primary Kingdom' and reduce any undue influence the Babylonian dynasty might attempt to impose. It's also a good idea for future expansion to the West, and to respond more quickly to the threats from the rift. Antioch is a good location, but @treave I would say that it should be founded either on the coast or slightly off the coast with a direct route to port. Antioch was founded by Seleukos in 4th century B.C., which means it doesn't actually exist as a city in our setting yet. If we are going to found a capital, we need to move aggressively. We need to use the resources of the Empire; we need to have grand ritualistic ceremonies where Ean consecrates the new city; we want to develop a strong, centralised bureaucracy. We want to make sure that the road network system we are building locates Antioch at the centre of all paths that connect Egypt/Babylon with the Hittites and Greece. Thus, by way of roads, regulations and money, we redirect trade, aspiring politicians and all manner of people to the city.

In other words, we cannot afford to have Antioch become a backwater Versailles where all we do is fuck all day. Antioch historically prospered because of its position in regional trade, as well as its strategic position for military movement. It needs to be the same in our Empire. Depending on what treave lets us do, I suggest things like an Imperial Examination where aspiring politicians and bureaucrats all over the empire travel to Antioch, pass a test set by our scholars and statesmen, and then take up prestigious jobs in the Antioch public sector, which will govern all issues of inter-regional trade, the military, redistribution of imperial resources to the states, etc. We've been doing fine with a despotic system where we personally get the support of the three rulers, but although Athena remains Athena, the other two spots are revolving doors of mortals with their own ambitions. We need to set this up so that Antioch can be the seat of imperial power even if we are away in the rift or in China.

Regarding the third option. Sekhenun is obviously a stupid, stupid idea, for reasons already mentioned. I think D is best, because anybody we adopt or take as consort, we give immense power, and possibilities for scandals. I can get on board with adopting Athena, though I don't know if she'd even accept.

 

[Baltika9]

Good points.

Honestly, if it weren't for this:

Government

The Emperor is the head of the empire and the one in which all decision-making power rests. Although each kingdom nominally holds great autonomy over their own administration, in practice the current Emperor has exercised his influence in a wide variety of issues, ranging from trade to the military. The kings of the empire serve a function more akin to that of a governor, dealing with day-to-day matters of the bureaucracy, maintaining the rule of law, and ensuring that their kingdoms are progressing in the direction that the Emperor desires. It is in essence an empire united under the absolute power of one monarch.

The Emperor has established a school of scholars which bring in the brightest and most talented citizens of the empire. Although the kingdoms tend to rely on their own home-grown bureaucracy for their administration, many scholars from the Emperor’s school tend to be assigned to high ranking positions that are near to, but not the top, in their respective homelands.

Internal Relations

The three kingdoms of the Greeks, Egyptians and Babylonians, as the founding members of the empire, have somewhat cordial relationships with each other. The Hittites have had a long history of conflict with all three, and as such are less committed to being partners in the empire’s growth if any of the other three stands to benefit more. The Assyrians, having been under Babylonian rule since they were subjugated by Marduk, have begun proposing that they should be granted equal status as the other kingdoms on the basis of their history. The current king of Babylon, Nabuchasar, is not too agreeable on the matter, noting that under the Assyrian proposal some of the disputed and wealthier cities near the Assyrian-Babylonian border would go to the new Assyrian kingdom.

Relations of each of the kingdoms with the Emperor vary. Both the Egyptian and Babylonian kings are extremely loyal to the current Emperor. The queen of Greece, Athena, had cultivated an attitude of indifference, tolerating the Emperor’s rule only as long as her dominions prosper, but the recent incursion of the Terasphagos and the successful defense against it has given her a change of heart. She now supports the Emperor’s rule openly, though she does not hesistate to point out what she feels are mistakes in his rule. King Tudalliya of the Hittites was brought to the throne by the deaths of the reigning members of the Lubarna dynasty, and as such is grateful to the Emperor for his current seat. However, his gratefulness does not extend to his interactions with other members of the empire, who have not given him any courtesy either.

I'd be with you 100% I remember starting out as wanting to give this Empire back to humans eventually, but since we've failed to establish any unifying factor whatsoever except the Emperor, any absence of one for an extended period of time will, eventually, cause fracture. What is needed, then, is another Emperor, or Ean's heir(s). Surprise, I'm not voting for Sekhenun because "tentacles, hurr durr."
3A, as you correctly stated, gives the kings eyes and ears in the Emperor's new capital, giving them advantages over both him, his heirs and subordinates.
3B won't work, because Athena, Artemis and the TTs don't like him all that much.
3D is foolish, as it leaves no heirs at all.
And adopting Athena into power is not a smart idea at all, judging from her reaction to becoming Queen.
I'm not saying Sekhenun is the ideal solution, or that they will be playing house together for a loving cuddly family. No. I'm swaying that it gives us the best chance of holding the empire together in our absence.

 

[Esquilax]

Voting to approach Sekhenun for marriage is still really fucking stupid though. If you want heirs, why not fuck a harem full of princesses instead? Much better chance of conceiving that way. So yes, it really comes off as "tentacles hurr durr".

I'd urge anyone voting for proposal to Athena to change their votes, it's a bad idea. She won't go for it, and she'll see it as a cynical power play. Don't do it. The only way we'll get her on our side is to continue being a good, responsible Emperor. Adoption of her as heir might work, but trying to marry her and convince her that it's "FOR THE GOOD OF THE EMPIRE!!!" She didn't offer herself as a consort, so don't press her on it.

If you want an heir, adopt her as a daughter - that'll get her in our good graces far better. It's not a cynical power-play and it shows that we're interested in humanity's future if we don't make it through the rift.

Baltika9, Athena's changed over the past thirty years we've known her. You are underestimating the fact that her opinion of us has improved greatly. She's become far more loyal to us over the years - she's not at the level that Akilhotep and Nabuchasar were, but she's definitely in our corner. I feel like you're doing a lot of mental gymnastics to justify your own position.

Tigranes, that idea is fantastic. However, I must mention that even with our superb bureaucracy and road network, that is still going to be a massive undertaking. A lot of the great minds that would be researching better ways to navigate the miasma in 1B would be busy creating a new city out of thin air. Is there an existing city near Antioch's location that we could build up to the specifications you describe? I'd much rather do that then doing the difficult task of making an entirely new city.

Here are a few suggestions:

Hattusa: The Hittite capital we personally conquered some years ago. Located in central Anatolia. The downside here would be that our Egyptian and Babylonian kingdoms would be pissed off. The upside here is that it's relatively close to Olympus.

Ashur: Assyrian city that Gudersu was ambushed in earlier. It's a really good fit. Not quite the prime real estate that a city on the Levant would be, but it's far closer to Olympus than Babylon is. Also, it fulfills the function we're looking for: it creates a unifying factor and it calms the Assyrians down.

My point here is that we don't have the time to build up a city from scratch and investigate new ways of navigating the miasma at the same time. With the threat of China, we simply don't have that kind of time. So instead of trying to found a new city, let's look at our existing cities first.

 

[ScubaV]

B - We need some time to unify the Empire a little bit and prepare it for our absence anyway, so let's not risk tons of men.
A (Antioch as described by Tigranes) - no explanation needed
A - We need heirs, either produced or adopted. I don't trust Athena fully until the voices return and she rejects them or some other clear sign. So what if the kings try to use the consorts to spy on us and jostle for position. We're a fucking telepath whose been alive for hundreds of years. I think we can manage.

Now I do think it is important that we establish some sort of ruling council that can decide Empire-wide issues while we are gone. Any heirs we produce with mortal women will only be uberhumans, not even demigods and still vulnerable to petty desires for power. Perhaps we could give a designated heir a position on the council, but otherwise I think they should be more symbolic leaders than actual successors.

 

[Tigranes]

Hattusa is quite remote, and would isolate us far too much. We need the coastline, and we need to be at a location where you HAVE to pass through us to navigate the empire. Assur is not bad, but it's actually quite near Babylon - still well in central Mesopotamia.

I don't think the prospect of creating new cities is such a big deal at the current point in time. It's not great if it's 1000 AD, but given the current state of prosperity in our Empire, we are going to be experiencing huge population boosts, urbanisation and mobility. Consider that Byzantium was a small fishing village for most of Greek history before it quite quickly became the capital of ERE. And really, there aren't a lot of cities that were around in... what, we're at ~2500BC right now? Not a lot of choices. We could go for Tyre which, in history, would have been around by this time, and would develop into a major trading centre for Phoenicians. It's not as well positioned as Antioch, but it's still a central port city.

I'd still say Antioch, personally, as I don't see a substnatially large city that exists in this timeframe waiting for us to take over that is in a good central position. Crete would have been a possibility, if we had focused on seafaring.

 

[Esquilax]

A - We need heirs, either produced or adopted. I don't trust Athena fully until the voices return and she rejects them or some other clear sign. So what if the kings try to use the consorts to spy on us and jostle for position. We're a fucking telepath whose been alive for hundreds of years. I think we can manage.

Now I do think it is important that we establish some sort of ruling council that can decide Empire-wide issues while we are gone. Any heirs we produce with mortal women will only be uberhumans, not even demigods and still vulnerable to petty desires for power. Perhaps we could give a designated heir a position on the council, but otherwise I think they should be more symbolic leaders than actual successors.

Even if we weren't a telepath, we have a spy network that even the Kings don't even know about. Any attempts to move against us will horribly backfire:

The Emperor has established a school of scholars which bring in the brightest and most talented citizens of the empire. Although the kingdoms tend to rely on their own home-grown bureaucracy for their administration, many scholars from the Emperor’s school tend to be assigned to high ranking positions that are near to, but not the top, in their respective homelands.

I'm betting a few of Akilhptah/Nabukudzur's advisors are actually our Watchers. Even if we're all the way in Olympus, we'll know what they're doing.

Hattusa is quite remote, and would isolate us far too much. We need the coastline, and we need to be at a location where you HAVE to pass through us to navigate the empire. Assur is not bad, but it's actually quite near Babylon - still well in central Mesopotamia.

I don't think the prospect of creating new cities is such a big deal at the current point in time. It's not great if it's 1000 AD, but given the current state of prosperity in our Empire, we are going to be experiencing huge population boosts, urbanisation and mobility. Consider that Byzantium was a small fishing village for most of Greek history before it quite quickly became the capital of ERE. And really, there aren't a lot of cities that were around in... what, we're at ~2500BC right now? Not a lot of choices. We could go for Tyre which, in history, would have been around by this time, and would develop into a major trading centre for Phoenicians. It's not as well positioned as Antioch, but it's still a central port city.

I'd still say Antioch, personally, as I don't see a substnatially large city that exists in this timeframe waiting for us to take over that is in a good central position. Crete would have been a possibility, if we had focused on seafaring.

Wat? Bro, we're in ~1860BC right now.

According to the updates, Ashur is Assyrian:

The mountain tribes of the east had somehow been warned of Gudersu’s arrival and ambushed him before he even reached the Assyrian city of Ashur.

We've voted for research with 1B, and I'd rather build up a city that already exists than create a new one. If the Chinese Gieloth succeed, there won't be an empire to save, so let's work quickly.

 

[Storyfag]

Is there an existing city near Antioch's location that we could build up to the specifications you describe?

Not quite. Tarsus already exists during the Brozne Age, and is pretty close though. Other than that, we might hope that history was altered enough for an Antioch-analog to have already sprung up on its own, right treave?

 

[ScubaV]

An idea for the ruling council to get discussion flowing:

Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Greece, and the Hittites each get one representative on the council, either chosen by their ruler or it can be the ruler themselves. Any potential heir is a ways off, but I would suggest giving a designated heir a spot as well that receives one vote and serves as the tiebreaker. Each representative gets one vote and the majority rules on Empire-wide issues while Ean is absent.

Sometime down the line, when our empire is more unified and communication is easier we might also experiment with democracy by adding a representative for the common citizenry.

 

[Baltika9]

Voting to approach Sekhenun for marriage is still really fucking stupid though. If you want heirs, why not fuck a harem full of princesses instead? Much better chance of conceiving that way. So yes, it really comes off as "tentacles hurr durr".

It isn't though, and it's not my intention. For the princesses: the conception odds are low for human-immortals too and the princesses, as Tigranes pointed out, are offered for the Kings' agendas, not as a sign of goodwill.
No, Ean is a smart bastard and Sekhenun is smarter. I doubt he'll go up to her singing love poems, but will get to the point: I need heirs to the Empire. She will, in all likelihood, agree, because a) she and Ean had a good working relationship together, b) we accrued a shitload of rep with her over yhe years and we know her best out of everyone else, and haven't asked for anything in return yet. Oh yes, she will be striking a deal with Ean, this will not come free. However, with her know-how and SCIENCE!, I'm pretty sure she'd get round-bellied soon enough.
But, above all the others, I believe Sekhenun is the most reliable and trustworthy of the group because we know precisely what and who we're dealing with. Ean already knows Sekhenun, we already know Sekhenun.



And there is no one I would trust a regency more to other that Sekhenun with an army of spies at her command. Let me run that by again: Sekhenun+hyper educated spies. Exactly, they complement one another perfectly.
And about Athena, yes, she does approve of Ean, but I doubt she'd just discard her morals and beliefs because the big, manly Emprah saved her country and looked sexy doing it. Besides, honorable people tend to do stupid, unpredictable shit. And we still don't know the hold the Masters have on her. Plus, she'd be an asset in the Void.

Having no heirs, though, is the worst option of all, seeing as our Empire needs an Emperor figure to hold together until "Empire" comes before "Kingdom."

The only alternative I see is adopting a human into the Imperial lina. But he'd have to be one outstanding human to fill Ean's shoes, because this is what it'll come down to: will the new Emperor measure up to the old and have the strength to keep this Empire together?

 

[Esquilax]

It's a stupid idea, and I'm not going to discuss it further.

Not quite. Tarsus already exists during the Brozne Age, and is pretty close though. Other than that, we might hope that history was altered enough for an Antioch-analog to have already sprung up on its own, right treave?

In any case, relocation is a no-brainer and our Empire is well-equipped to handle the administrative burden it would result in. Given our high rates of literacy and road network, relocating into a new capital won't be a big stress on the Empire.

The first generation Kings might have loved Ean to death, but they're not going to keep on cocksucking generation after generation. Remove us into a rich but depoliticised capital city, and then have us sit around all day fucking women who report our every move back to the Kings. Recipe for becoming an immortal, corpulent man-whore.

Tigranes, I just want to point out, we really shouldn't be concerned by Akilptah and Nabukudzur reporting on our moves and seeing what we're doing. Even if we weren't an incredibly powerful immortal telepath, we have Watchers planted in their respective administrations as advisors. We aren't going to be blind here - Ean has eyes and ears everywhere now. That will neutralize any potential political moves.

Based on that, I think we should accept the proposal. When you get down to it, we really do need an heir. We cannot leave a loose end like that untied - we need to produce an heir. Adopting Athena is okay, but we might need her with us in the rift, and the Sekhenun thing was just flat-out retarded. So based on that, I think we should accept the proposal as is. That would mean 2A and 3A. Those are clear.

However, I think we should discuss the first choice some more because that's the most important one. Should we go for an IG rush into the miasma despite our lack of success so far, or should we hold back and wait for more advances so that we're better prepared?

 

[Anabanana]

Trust me, Baltika, I enjoy tentacles as much as the average Codexian, but having the leader of your team of spies in a highly visible position just completely undermines the efficacy of a spying army, doesn't it? Sekhenum will always be Ean's waifu in our hearts, but if we want an actual regent, I'd rather have Athena on the throne and have Sekhe support her with the team of hyper educated spies from the shadows. If you're worried about fertility, I'm sure Sekhe will help out no matter who the actual consort is, but I'd rather have her spend her intellectual resources on the miasma.

The easiest route would be to adopt Athena and take no consorts. We can recruit Artemis to our expedition team if we're worried about having backup. I don't like the idea of leaving our empire in mere mortal hands - having Athena there will hopefully ensure it doesn't crumble if we don't come back. She puts the people's interests first and foremost - exactly the kind of person we want on the throne.

About the capital, I don't see why we're still going for Antioch if we have to build it from scratch. Assur sounds like a perfectly reasonable option to me.

 

[Baltika9]

Trust me, Baltika, I enjoy tentacles as much as the average Codexian, but having the leader of your team of spies in a highly visible position just completely undermines the efficacy of a spying army, doesn't it?

Oh, last thing: there is no public Sekhenun. She chages personas every thirty years or so. Which means the empress can mysteriously die of an illness when the new Emperor is ready.
Right, I've argued about this waifu shit too much; it's too much, even for me.

 

[Storyfag]

About the capital, I don't see why we're still going for Antioch if we have to build it from scratch. Assur sounds like a perfectly reasonable option to me.

Assur has the same problems Nineveh has. It's near the Eastern border of our Empire, while the Olympus Rift is in the West. See?

Worst of all, it's landlocked. We need access to the Mediterranean, because sailing to Egypt or Greece or even to Anatolia will simply be faster than traveling on land.

If treave doesn't agree to have a non-historic city on the spot of the historic Antioch, I'm perfectly willing to change it for Tyre or prefferably Tarsus, since both are confirmed to have already existed in the Bronze Age.