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Blazinghand
United States25550 Posts
Capital Sim
There's never a quiet day in Liquidia. Across the vast fields, orchards, forests, deserts, and oceans of the place, life bustles on with much noise. The cities themselves are monuments to the greatness of Man and his Gods, the roads and markets forever full with the activity of humanity. Ever since those days eons ago when The Founders wrested the stones of the CAPITAL from the earth itself and in their infinite wisdom reshaped them in their image, The Republic of Liquidia has stood as a bastion against the evils and horrors that beset the world.
The Republic is run from the CAPITAL city, Aebiyel. Both an administrative center and a commercial hub for the surrounding regions, the city is rich and glorious beyond compare. Although it does not produce great works of technology, or beautiful art and poetry, as some cities may, it is still a destination for all manner of upwardly mobile people, who infest is suburbs and populate the desks of its offices. A bright future in the city of imported wonders and great power. The city isn't just a place to live: the city is living.
The state is dying.
Most people don't know, of course. It's common knowledge that the budget is in deficit, that many aspects of the realm are mismanaged, and that there is some small amount of corruption-- at least, among the educated. They only see the surface of a battle that is just now coming to a head.
The Legislature has been battling gridlock for years, but the fight grows worse every day. We try as we can, but even as we grasp harder at the reins of power, it slips through our hands like so many grains of fine sand. The Judiciary is edging on our turf, redefining laws in radical courts, making heresies canon and profanity pure. The Executive seizes more power with each annum-- the Primus has been re-elected twice now, and his popularity seems to only grow. Though it is in theory controlled by the Assembly and Senate, the Army now seems to answer to the Crown on some days, to the Primus on others, and to the Legislature on precious few days.
However, today, the plan goes into action. We need to consolidate power, for war looms, and with it all the damage to democracy that it can deal. There is precious little time left after the delays, and perhaps they were too long-- but there's only one way to find out.
You stride into the office, gilded in the faded lustre of decades past, carpeted in the blues and yellows of Liquidia. The air is crisp today. It whispers to you of hope, of a chance for Democracy, for the country, and for yourself. A cool wind, a wind of change-- change desperately needed. One way or another, you must be victorious.
Today is the day it all begins, and perhaps today is the day it all ends.
Poll: Who are you?Jessie Leng, Radical Senator (8) 47% Mike Brown, Veteran Staffer (6) 35% Tiel Banks, Lobbiest-For-Hire (3) 18% 17 total votes Your vote: Who are you? (Vote): Jessie Leng, Radical Senator
(Vote): Mike Brown, Veteran Staffer
(Vote): Tiel Banks, Lobbiest-For-Hire
 
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Mike. The other two sound like right/leftwing douchecannoes.
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This misspell is bouncing around my head like an annoyingly catchy song. Stop propagating these terrible tunes.
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In other news: Jessie Leng. Radical.
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On July 23 2012 18:38 ohsea.toc wrote:
This misspell is bouncing around my head like an annoyingly catchy song.
I think it's intentional.
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Really. edit: I mean yes, I'm aware of that.
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I'm not quite sure what's going on here, could someone explain?
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Blazinghand
United States25550 Posts
On July 23 2012 19:57 Roe wrote:
I'm not quite sure what's going on here, could someone explain?
There's a fairly large thread floating around in the blogs here called "Capitalsim"-- despite the egregious typo in the name, it's picked up some steam. I decided I'd do something fun based on that typo. However, simulating the flow and investment of Capital seemed kinda lame, so I'm going with a Capitol instead, but I have to misspell it or the title won't make sense. After a bit, I'll add a new post based on what the most popular choice is, with a new poll at the end of it.
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Haha what?
What do we simulate first?
edit: oh god now there's 2 threads with the same title
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Blazinghand
United States25550 Posts
Jessie Leng, Radical Senator wins the vote! At the end of each post I make, there will either be a Poll, or a prompt asking for open-ended instructions. :D
>Jessie Leng, Radical Senator
Today is the day it all begins, and perhaps today is the day it all ends.
Yes, you think as you step into your office. Today is the day. The Emergency Military Powers Act (EMPA) has finally been pushed through the lower house. Let the judicial swines try to interpret their way out of this! Today would introduce a suspension of judicial oversight of military matters altogether, and provisions to allow secret inquisitions managed by none other than the Senate Security Committee, both of which would take power out of the hands of those quibbling fools. And who better to chair the Senate Security Committee than yourself, the most senior Senator from the Liberal Democratic Party?
You sweep over to your chair, your throne, your tower, and settle into it comfortably. Following last year's election, the Democratic People's Party had lost its majority in both houses-- the LDP now rules. And you, a seasoned politican, seized power and influence, pushing out the last members of the old guard. Your last rivals. Nobody else knows how to run the LDP, not like you do. And with these last bits of legislature, you shall seize power. There will be no more need to call elections, not for a long time. Not with things as they are now. And all who stand against you shall be easily silnced.
The Assembly are all fools and flatterers, nothings and nobodies. they were easily bought-- the greater part of your work lies ahead of you now. There are 18 Senators, hailing from different corners of Liquidia, different walks of life. To pass constitutionally modifying legislation, you'll need the support of 2/3rds of the senate. Every LDP senator has fallen in line with you, and together you are 10 of the 12 votes you need. The remaining two will have to come from the DPP. 4 of them are obstinant fools, old hands who have stood against you since the dawn of time. Baern, Davis, Oh, and Rwawa-- they will be difficult to buy or threaten. The remaining 4 might be more easily swayed. Taylor is a City man and could be amenable to bribery. You don't have anything on Loerus or Gral, but they are young and perhaps impressionable-- and everyone has secrets they want to hide. That leaves, of course, Lescol. Your man Mike said he'd dug something up on the grizzled independent Senator, something you might be able to use.
You set down your whiskey. Where the hell is Mike? You pull out your pocketwatch. Damn, you forgot to wind it this morning-- but it tells you its half past nine. Mike was supposed to be here half an hour ago with the documents, and he's not the type to be late. You could send a staffer to find him, but those documents are for your eyes only. Should you risk looking for him yourself? Your enemies are waiting for you to make a mistake-- these are ruthless times, and the EMPA is a ruthless bill that will grant you power beyond measure. They may be moving against you, even now.
You quickly evaluate your choices. What do you do?
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Send the staffer... if Mike's acting this strange, something's got to be up.
In the meantime, get another guy working on Loerus's past.
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Blazinghand
United States25550 Posts
On July 24 2012 10:42 [UoN]Sentinel wrote:
Send the staffer... if Mike's acting this strange, something's got to be up.
In the meantime, get another guy working on Loerus's past.
---->
Of course, you're an important man, a man with important enemies! You will not be running through the halls like some errand-boy. You ring the bell, summoning a staffer. This one is a bit younger, an intern named Gravis. Not fully qualified for the job, but few interns are. His grandfather was an old school friend of yours. You won't be sending this young man into a dangerous situation-- too many bridges you've burned already to start cheesing off old ghosts.
"Gravis, I want you to start reading up on Senator Loerus' youth. Look for any indiscretions, any secrets, anything that might give us insight into the man's character. If you can, get an ear to the ground about what he's up to now. I want to know who his friends are, who his lovers are-- anything that we could use against him. Go on, get started."
Gravis turns to leave.
"Actually-- on the way out, could you send Wen in?"
He nods, and is gone. Not fully qualified, perhaps, but discreet and hard-working. A good man to have. And who knows? Maybe he'll show a streak of competence and find Loerus is corrupt, or a woman in disguise, or-- you sneer to yourself as Wen limps into the room-- a homosexual.
"Xuyu."
"Good Morning, Jessie. What's cookin?"
Wen is one of three staffers who you are on first-name basis with. He typically handles legislative analysis, but he's a skilled man and probably the only one of these bastards besides Mike you can trust. Not that you trust him, or Mike, or anyone, but you'll be damned if you don't pay him enough to not get bribed. He's worth the money-- there's not a smarter legislative analyst in the city.
"Mike's missing." An eyebrow-raise from Wen. "He was looking into Lescol, and was supposed to report in half an hour ago. You don't know what he was up to, do you-- no, no you wouldn't, would you. Well, I know you're drawing up the fiscal impact paperwork, but I need you to pass that off to the junior staff. We need to find out what's going on with Mike, because we need those 2 votes to push EMPA through. Go figure out what happened to him."
"How lightly should I be stepping?"
"Don't trample the garden, but if you have to light a few fires under a few asses, do it. Whatever happened, discretion is out the window if he got caught. And I can't imagine why else the man would be late."
Wen's back inside the hour-- always punctual, almost to a fault. You've nearly finished your morning paper when he bursts into your office without knocking. Something's wrong. You know it's wrong before you hear him say the words. You see it in his wide eyes- in his disarrayed hair, in his frayed nerves, in his color-drained face. Something's horribly wrong. He opens this mouth to speak, and his voice is a croak, a whisper.
"Mike's dead, Jessie. They found him in Meeting Room 4-B off the main hall. Poison."
You head is swimming, and you realize you're on your feat. You sit down. Poisoned. "His briefcase?"
"Gone."
And with it, your hopes of pushing through this bill, of seizing power and fixing this damned government.
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Bribe Taylor, and offer Loerus a number 2 position in return for his vote.
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Blazinghand
United States25550 Posts
On July 25 2012 04:10 Arcanefrost wrote:
Bribe Taylor, and offer Loerus a number 2 position in return for his vote.
---->
You know what, fuck Lescol.
"What?" Wen still looks white as a sheet. It seems you said that bit out loud. Might as well roll with it.
"Fuck Lescol! You heard me! We don't need him." If not sticks, then carrots, right? Dad always used to say that. "Wen, I need you to bring me Taylor. He won't want to come meet me, but tell him there's something in it for him. He'll like the sound of that-- and be subtle. We need subtlety right now."
Wen hesitates for a moment.
"Go, go!"
He heads back out, and you lean against your desk. It's gonna be one of those days, you can already tell. Wen forgot to shut the door. You close it, and return to your chair. It's time to write an important letter. You were never one for bipartisanship-- not even in those days when everyone else was, when they said a new era of politics had dawned. Now, though, you do what you must. In your tussles before Loerus was always fundamentally a lightweight, but with grand ambitions. If any DPP would sell out for EMPA, it'd be him. And with the LDP's 2-house majority? It's a seller's market.
It doesn't have any flourishes, or fancy greetings, or even the formalities of a senior Senator addressing a junior. It's brusque and to the point. If Loerus votes for EMPA, you'll nominate him for the vicechairmanship of the Senate Security Committee. Your nomination is as good as getting the post, and with your protection he'd achieve great power. You loathe sharing, but it is sadly necessary in these tough political times.
You don't sign the letter, of course, but end it with an invitation to your offices. You seal it. You know just who to bring this to-- a junior staffer Mike pointed out to you last week. You walk through the offices of your staff, and noticing you, they do their best to look busy and hardworking, the cretins. You come to his desk, and slap your fist down on it.
"Dusang, my office in 10."
She looks surprised, as if stung by a bee, and for a moment afraid, and then you're gone. Your office, of course, is lavishly outfitted with cushioned chairs around a small meeting table. You pour her a glass of water as she enters. "Come, and sit down," you say with a hideous smile. She sits. You drink your own water. She opens her mouth to speak, but you cut her off.
"I'm a busy man, so all I have time for is this: I know you work for Loerus. Don't deny it. Just bring him this letter." The letter slides across the table. Jeanne Dusang takes it, and stares at you wordlessly. "Hurry up, get out of here. I don't have all day and neither does he."
She's doesn't need to be told again.
You sigh, and close the door after she's gone. What is it with these people and not closing doors? You didn't do all this work and spend all this money to spend all day closing doors. You're back in your chair, and consider smoking a cigar. You're not much of a smoker, but it seems to be that sort of day. You probably won't have time to finish it, though-- it's nearly noon, and you need to make roll call before the EMPA vote.
Wen returns, alone. Now it's your turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Well?"
"Taylor wants you to come to his office to discuss the issue-- he'd be willing to discuss a settlement, but only on those terms"
An insult! You feel the rage well up inside you. It warms you, like brandy on a cold winter morning, but you don't need warmth now, you need cold, and calculation. You check your pocket-watch. 10 past 11, and accurate since you rewound it and set it when the clock tower rang. You can make it to his office and back in time for the LDP Roll call, but you'll be damned if it doesn't take a good 15 minutes to walk there.
Forced to walk to his office? Damn him! Damn all those DPP bastards to hell! Damn Taylor and his stupid North Coast County and his fucking wife and his god-forsaken horse-riding! You should... you should have him killed! It's not like you haven't done that sort of thing before-- and he deserves it! That fucker!
But... you need to pass EMPA. You need his vote. And the last time you had a Senator killed, it was a hell of a time covering your tracks and cleaning up the mess. Maybe you can't afford to deal with that right now.
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Oooh... tough spot.
Go to Taylor's office, but have people who can get you out if things go sour, discreetly following you.
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Blazinghand
United States25550 Posts
On July 25 2012 06:11 [UoN]Sentinel wrote:
Oooh... tough spot.
Go to Taylor's office, but have people who can get you out if things go sour, discreetly following you.
--->
You calm yourself down. You can't kill Taylor... you need him. You need his vote. Yes, yes, you will go to him. You'll make the trip, and you'll make it quickly and quietly. Three deep breaths... and you look up and see Wen.
"Xuyu. Get Tommy in here."
He's gone. No hesitation now. No questions, only answers. That's all you have time for. Tommy and Xuyu stride swiftly into the room. Tommy is your ops specialist, and he's the best money can hire. There are one or two partisans who might be as good as him, but they can't be bought. You didn't spend a lifetime assembling an empire to see someone as weak as Senator Taylor, or something as ephemeral as your pride, stop you now. You remember Senator Marmin-- your mentor defeated every enemy he could find, and was consumed by his pride, and it ended him.
Well, technically you ended him. But what kind of man lacks the introspection to realize his trainee is plotting against him?
"Gentlemen, we have a situation. We're just short of the votes we need, and I need to talk to Senator Taylor before roll call-- he's giving a speech today and we wont' be able to get him in private and buy his vote unless we get to him now. There's a danger of treachery though, and I'm not going out there without an escort. Tommy, how many do we have on hand?"
"3 members of your Guard, Jessie, plus 2 of my men, and myself. I could scramble a couple more, but not before roll call."
"We'll work with what we've got. Xuyu, you're with me. Tommy, stick those 3 guards to our ass, and you and your two men follow at a distance and do your..." you grimace. "Do your thing, whatever it is you do. We might have company."
You check your watch. It's 11:25 as you cross the Middle Courtyard. A dozen of the Republic's finest musicians play subtle and entrancing music, but you have no time for such things. Your eyes flit back and forth among the traffic, eying men who might be armed or harboring ill intentions against you. Nothing.
A few moments later, you're inside, and safe, and knocking on Taylor's outer office door. The guard posted outside it is unnecessarily overdecorated with runed, enameled plate. Any assassin with a musket would laugh at such armor. Hell, a good swordsman would be able to cut through that gaudy chestpiece, even nowadays. You're ushered in, and as you approach his private office door, the Senator's staffer asks you to leave your retinue outside.
You're in the man's study, and it's not as you'd expect it. It's more spartan, though the desk is certainly finely crafted and polished to shine. Taylor is already on his feet, and extends his hand to you eagerly. "How good of you to come, Senator Leng! Come, what's your drink? Scotch?" His handshake is firm, as you remember it. His pale hair glistens in the pale morning light, held together by some infernal gel. You grimace and cut him off.
"We both know why I'm here, Taylor. Cut the crap."
His smile drops off his face like a stone. "Straight to business, then? Well, I suppose you were never much a drinker, were you?" He settles into a chair and gestures for you to sit as well. You wryly note the guest seats are uncushioned and stiff. An old trick-- make your opponent uncomfortable, and he may slip. As you sit, you suddenly notice what's on the table: a long musket. You don't recognize the design.
You sit.
"I need your vote on EMPA today."
A raised eyebrow. Too high, though. He's faking it. "Really? Well, your initial offer-- fourty thousand Poulders-- was more than generous. All that for such ephemeral power... do you really think it's worth it, old man?"
You try ignore the insult. "If it consolidates the power in this country, if it puts the army back in the hands of those fit to wield it, then it is absolutely worth it," you sneer at him, "boy." Well, you tried to ignore it, at least.
"Oh, certainly! But I didn't bring you here to talk shop. You'll have my vote for your price, but I have something to sell other than my vote, and I expect more for it."
He picks up the musket off the table. You stand up in alarm. Fuck.
"No, no, don't worry-- it's unloaded, see? Take a look at this barrel. Here, I'll detach it for you. Look at the craftsmanship. You see these ridges? It's got curved ridges all along the inside. Like a, uh-- you ever skip rocks on a still pool of water? Yes, of course you have. It's the same principle at work here, except the bullet skips across the air, spinning along the lengthwise axis. This thing's gonna revolutionize warfare! It's called a rifle, and it has superior accuracy and range compared with the muskets in production today-- and not by the usual 5% you'd get for a masterfully made one, either-- we're talking 3, 4 times the range--"
"Yes, yes, I've seen a rifle before. How was this weapon foreign to you? You don't go hunting much, city boy? They're useless as military weapons, it takes several minutes to load one since the barrels are so tight. They're only good for hunting..."
Taylor leaps to his feet. "That's just it, though, you've been using muzzle-loaders! This thing is a breech-loader."
Suddenly things are interesting. A breech-loading Rifle would reload as fast-- no, faster than the standard muzzle-loading Musket, and have several times the range, even in the hands of inexperienced soldier. "... so it is. I see."
Taylor smiles. "I can get suppliers for this, and ammunition. Think about it! We'll have the strongest army in the world-- nobody will be able to match us. Liquidia will be able to conquer everything East of the Sable Sea! We'll be an Empire again! We'll--"
You glance at your watch. 11:40. You have 5 minutes to wrap this up and get back to roll call. Once Taylor casts his vote in the afternoon, the ball will be in Loerus' court. You can only hope that spy of his got to him in time for him to make him his mind. Oh, looks like Taylor is finishing up.
"--are limitless. All I want is the vice-chairmanship of the Senate Security Committee, and this technology and its spy chain will be yours. You'll be the most powerful man in Liquidia-- maybe in all the world!" He smiles and rubs his hands together. "I may have to settle for being the most wealthy.
You may be old, but your eyes are sharp as they always were, and you spot the maker's mark on the front of the grip as he slides the barrel back into place-- "Æymb".
Your blood runs cold. You know that maker-- or their handiwork, at least. Their mark was on every weapon recovered from the Hrisan army in the last War. The Hrisans are the eternal enemies of Liquidia, and even now the gears of war are turning and bringing the nations together again in a violent struggle. Whoever Æymb was, he was no friend to Liquidia. A foreign arms merchant? A Hrisan trading house? Had he spies on Taylor's staff? In the Senate itself?
You glance at your watch again, involuntarily, to buy time as you consider your response.
11:41
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Pressure Taylor to reveal where he got the gun.
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Blazinghand
United States25550 Posts
On July 25 2012 20:43 [UoN]Sentinel wrote:
Pressure Taylor to reveal where he got the gun.
--->
"Yes, the most wealthy-- for buying and selling these rifles, I suppose? I imagine you'd get pretty good margins on this, a gun with the range of a rifle and the firing rate of a musket. It'd be what, 20%? 25?"
"Yes, now you're getting the idea," Taylor smiles, "easily. My supplier is willing to grant my exclusive buying rights, so I'll be able to set the price. There's room, of course, for other people to make some money, if that's what you're thinking."
You shift forwards in the unergonomic, uncushioned chair the younger man furnishes for his guests. "Well, after the import taxes, of course."
Taylor shakes his head. "We can get around those pretty easily, Leng. You think I'm a fool? I've smuggled more illicit things than this in my life--" He cuts himself off, realizing what he's said. The blood drains out of his face.
Time to seize the moment. You snarl at him and stand. "Where are they from, Taylor? Nobody in Liquidia can make something like this. Nobody." You jab your finger in his face. "I do think you're a fool. You don't even know it, but you're in the pockets of Hrisans! This is their making, isn't it? This is their rifle, isn't it?"
There's knocking on the office door.
"No, no--"
"You're consorting with the enemy! I was wrong, you're not a fool, you're a traitor. You sniveling coward, you've sold out your own country, haven't you? I've got 20 of the Senatorial Guard outside! I'll kill you, traitor!" You snatch the weapon out of his hands and strike him with it. He starts sobbing uncontrollably. He's bleeding where the barrel struck his cheek-- he'll have a bruise there for some time. You're shouting now. "Tell me where you got the gun, or I'll have your head on a pike. Tell me, your insipid blubbering fool!"
The knocking grows louder. The fool won't stop crying.
"It, it wasn't me, I--"
You punch him in the gut. He's far younger than you, but he grew up in the City, he grew up soft-- his attempt to block the blow is easy batted away, even by your old first. His flesh yields with minimal resistance. He doubles over. The wind knocked out of him, he wheezes for a moment, his disgusting sobbing stopped by lack of breath.
"They-- they came to me when I was in the city. The Meart Free Trade Company. They produce these in Iver, and offered me an exclusive deal-- it wasn't the Hrisans, I promise you." He produces a letter from his breast pocket. Meart's seal. You snatch it, and the weapon, and unlock the door. Taylor's chief of staff bursts into the room.
"You'll have your money, Taylor, and I'll have my vote. We'll talk about this--" you wave the weapon at him-- "later."
You sweep out of his office.
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Go back to office, read the letter.
Check how Loerus is doing.
How long till EMPA gets passed?
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EPT
