Flooby Badoop

The Age of Nations

Here, but most people simply haven't had anything to post IC.

The Age of Nations

Hey guys! I'm out of town until Monday! Post away until then!

@Theodorable

Well, bollocks. Have fun!

The Age of Nations

Poasted. I'm starting to miss Milkman. We need him to be our antagonist!

The Age of Nations

The Sanguine Empire

Captain Khurnov had looked into the four dead men. He had initially requested their paperwork, but to no avail. There were literally thousands of documents, two or five for each soldier. Errors were abound, especially after a war. Their papers could not be found.

Khurnov instead went to the source, and asked their companies. He found few similarities in the dead men.

One was a teenage peasant, who during the capture of the Kapitan capitol, had stabbed a man and raped his wife in front of him and his children. While a terrible act, what seemed most interesting to his company was how he'd skipped over the beautiful young daughters, and went straight for the older matron.

The second was a freeman, whose family owned enough land to avoid poverty. He had a wife, three children, and a dutiful brother, who now farmed the land. The soldier was thirty, and noted to be of good moral character.

The third was an old man, a bit off in the head, who despite decades in the military, had not risen above the rank of Lieutenant. This was mostly due to his inability to communicate properly with his men, as he would only speak by rambling in a mumble.

The last was an out of shape drunkard, who never spoke with his fellows.

Khurnov stopped investigating the men. If would have been one thing if they'd been marked out for their brutality. This would give him a chance to the show the people of Kapitas that the Sanguine were not monsters, that discipline and conduct mattered to them, and a condemnation could be given out to those who had wronged the local people. But only the first man had any apparent motive behind his death.

It was as he feared. These killings were acts of opportunity, borne of rage against the occupiers. There was no point to them, beyond violence.

Khurnov had so desperately wanted to find another way beyond the orders of his superiors. They had told him to make examples of those suspected of nationalist activity. Public hangings.

Only venom could come from venom. There had to be another way.

That evening, Khurnov personally went to General Bancaster's temporary residence, and lied about progress being made on an investigation into the nationalists. He'd requested more time before action was taken against them. The General relented. Immediately afterward, Khurnov made orders to have a trap set up. Three soldiers would be posted on guard in the marketplace, with a dozen men dressed in plainclothes waiting nearby, pretending to shop, and armed with pistols. The small number of guards who, Khurnov hoped, prove to be a tempting target, and the nationalists could be captured.

As desperate and risky this plan was, it seemed the best course of action. Otherwise, he would have no choice but to go through with a mass execution.

~ * ~

Recruiting officers travelled to villages across the empire. They proclaimed that their neighbour, the United Kingdoms of Dalatrum, was seeking to form a coalition against the Empire, and men were needed to serve. Some volunteered, but most were conscripted. Reactions from each village and town varied. Some were delighted, waving goodbye their fathers and sons with handkerchiefs. Others looked with silent glares at the recruitment officers, speaking only in grunts, if at all.

But if any time were good for recruiting, it was in winter, where men had nothing to do but wait, wanting nothing more than to be indoors. And not without some charity, the officers took every batch of new recruits to the nearest barracks, where a warm hearth and a mug of ale were provided to the men.

The losses from the invasion were not only to be replenished, but to be overcome.

~ * ~

The Emperor weighed many things on his mind.

Foreign affairs of the Old World's western nations did not effect the Empire directly, but there were ramifications. The Grand Kingdom of Schulstien had been attempting to reclaim Fulric for years now, and it looked as though this would become another failure.

Private talks with Boleteria through Fall had yielded mixed results, and it seemed non-hostile relations were the best that could be hoped for at the moment. Still, Skeptonia was the enemy of their ally, Sinesia. Did this make Skeptonia the Empire's enemy as well? Was there any reason to get involved.

After finishing a small dinner with those at court, he spoke once more with the resident Boleterian diplomat. An agreement for trade had been sent out via courier to the Palace, as well as with other nations. Boleterian merchants often came to purchase raw resources in Bittle, while selling off manufactured goods, such as tools, refined metal, and various sundries. This pact had few downsides, so there was no reason not to agree. He signed it, and sent a courier off to deliver it before retiring for the night. He went to sleep with the fleeting wonder of how his cousins were doing on their vacation in Vatannia.

~ * ~

The Boleterian Trade Pact of 1837

1) Unrestricted trade between either nation be it land or sea.
2) To provide protection for either nation's trade ships while at it's ports or within it's sphere of influence.
This forming the basis of the trade pact, nations are encouraged to extend the terms of the treaty.

[X] Emperor Damian Gregory Amoury

The Age of Nations

@LordZell

Sawl had ships going around, even to the old world, giving any nation that they came across a letter of introductions

@Lauder

Sawl: Hey Old World! I exist! Notice me!

Zellon: Who the flippity flop is this nobody?

The Age of Nations

<Snipped quote by Flooby Badoop>

No.

<Snipped quote by Flooby Badoop>

<Snipped quote by Flooby Badoop>

It's not about the killing. It's not about the brutality. It's not about winning. It's about knowing that "orders" will not be disregarded. If I detail an invasion path, unless there is an excuse why my orders were ignored, even if it's as lazy of an excuse as they took a wrong turn, I should be able to expect that there be some attempt to accomplish the plan.

Of course they're not automatons. But there was no explanation why the plan wasn't followed. There was no "they took a wrong turn". There was no "the commanders saw that the fort was less impressive as it was planned and attacked because of that". There was no "the commanders could not restrain their men from attacking due to the perceived weakness of the fort". From what was posted, the orders were not followed "just because".

@Dedonus

Don't know what exactly you said in your order, so I'm not passing further judgement. Punish them for disobedience IC, and make the best of it.

The Age of Nations

<Snipped quote by Theodorable>

Except it didn't follow my plans at all...

@Dedonus

Let me guess, you told him "We raid their colony, sparing only the women and children."

You've already established that your people, especially your warriors, kill men just for being men. What's gone wrong with what happened?

It's one thing for something to not go according to what was planned (unexpected troop placement, weather, morale, etc). It's is something entirely different when you cannot even rely on your soldiers to follow a plan.

@Dedonus

Because your forces are perfect and professional automatons who will follow your every order exactly, without fail or misinterpretation? Things didn't go as planned during the invasion of Kapitas. Do you hear me complaining?

The Age of Nations

Sorry you lost it all, man. That is the worst shit. :|

The Age of Nations

@Flooby Badoop

I must congratulate you on your aesthetics and the style of your writing.

Bravo.

@Shade

The Age of Nations

Hey guys... It's been a few days but I'm back. We still haven't gotten the results yet but I might as well explain what happened.

My mum collapsed at work Friday evening and was rushed to the E.R. She was unable to breathe but was fine by the time she was at the E.R. X-Rays showed a mass or inflammation in her airway which was preventing her from breathing... The assumption at the moment is that it could be a small tumor..

So yeah. I've been taking care of her over the weekend. I'll be back to posting by Monday evening at the latest. I'm sorry again for holding you guys up.

@Chairman Stein

That's awful. I'm so sorry you had to go through with that. Best of wishes to her, and hope she gets better.