The last assignment
"I'm sorry... ill-fated?" Naomi loved interrupting her old colleague so she couldn't let that slide, even though she could tell it was a trap. "How exactly was it ill-fated? We didn't get invaded?"
"Precisely. The fortifications worked exactly as intended. We didn't get invaded. And therefore we clearly didn't need them!"
Naomi threw a tiny sack of dusting sand at Mladen's head. "You miserable misanthrope!" she laughed.
Mladen grinned. It was good to be back at work. "I am Varushkan..." he said, pretending that explained everything. "Now if I can continue..."
Overview
- Mladen Escovitch has completed a review of three expired opportunities to fortify Feroz, Morrow and Necropolis
Mladen Escovitch's retirement is a running joke in the Prognosticators' Office. One person will make the joke that the Senate is instructing the office to appraise ways to stop Mladen Escovitch coming into work, at which point another person asks "But who will carry it out?" and then together everyone chimes in "Maybe we could ask Mladen to look into it?". Well it's funny if you're a prognosticator... maybe.
Poor attempts at humour aside, the ageing prognosticator actually has a job to do this season, having been instructed by the Imperial Master of Works to review three defunct opportunities to build or upgrade fortifications - namely Celesti Lighthouse in Feroz; The Three Watchers in Morrow; and Reumah's Rest in Necropolis. Delighted to have a reason to do the work he clearly wanted to do anyway, Mladen has thrown himself into the project.
He is pleased to report that two of the opportunities remain available, without too many significant changes. The third one has taken a little bit more work.
The Light House
| Fortify the Celesti Lighthouse |
| Commission Type: Fortification |
| Location: Oranseri, Feroz |
| Cost: 120 white granite and 30 mithril, 450 crowns labour costs |
| Upkeep: 10 thrones |
| Time: 1 year |
| Availability: Until the start of the Spring Equinox 390YE |
Effects:
|
| Celesti Lighthouse Keeper |
| Type: Brass Coast |
| Appointment: Tally of the Votes |
| Powers: Receives 12 crowns income each season |
| Responsibilities: To oversee the Lighthouse, and protect the shores of the Brass Coast from threats of all kinds |
- The plans to build the Celesti Lighthouse have been updated and are largely unchanged
The Celesti Lighthouse could be built and would defend the region exactly like any modern fortification would, with a strong bastion and a capable garrison to man it. It would help to restore Oranseri and allow Freeborn fleets to better defend the area. The title of Celesti Lighthouse Keeper would be adapted, but rather than a ministry that can purchase mana, it would represent a sinecure representing willing donations from Freeborn ship captains. The title would be appointed by Tally of the Votes rather than chosen by the Senators - those directly affected by the lighthouse would make the decision of who its custodian should be - and their responsibilities would expand to protecting the shores of the Brass Coast from threats of all kinds.
Four Citadels
| Four Points |
| Commission Type: Fortification |
| Location: Operus, Morrow |
| Cost: 140 white granite, 280 crowns |
| Upkeep: 20 thrones |
| Time: 2 years |
| Availability: Until the start of the Spring Equinox 390YE |
| Effects: A rank two fortification with a bastion in Operus and a garrison to patrol the territory |
| Special: Can be constructed in one year if a mandate is enacted with a greater majority by the Urizen National Assembly |
- The plans to build the Four Citadels have been updated and are largely unchanged
The four citadels in Morrow is an old plan that Mladen himself presented for the Senate's consideration several years ago and he is delighted to have an opportunity to brush the dust off it. Ironically the project has all the hallmarks of Mladen's signature style, there's little new here, just a ruthless emphasis on efficiency and practicality all in service of keeping costs down. Such an approach has fallen out of favour in the Empire in recent years, which is part of the reason the ageing prognosticator was put out to pasture.
The work relies on the inspiration benefits provided by the Three Watchers and is as valid today as it was then. The Empire could start the work tomorrow if it wanted, building a massive rank two fortification in a single year, if it was endorsed with an appropriate mandate from the Urizen Assembly encouraging sentinels to serve in the garrison.
Sentinels of Urizen, let us prepare for malice, let us thwart it before it strikes. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to urge Loyal sentinels to take up residence in the Watcher's Citadels, to create a bulwark against any threats within or without.
Synod Mandate, Urizen AssemblyIf this mandate were endorsed with a greater majority. it would allow the rank two fortification being constructed in Caeli to be completed in one year, provided it were passed after the first season of construction were complete. It would have no effect if passed before this point. Without this mandate, the fortification will take two years to complete.
White Sails
| The White Sails (Cheap) |
| Commission Type: Fortification |
| Location: Coursmouth, Necropolis |
| Cost: 40 white granite, 20 weirwood, and 180 crowns |
| Upkeep: Increases by 10 thrones a season |
| Time: 1 year |
| Availability: Until the start of the Spring Equinox 390YE |
Effect:
|
| Special: Allows the garrison, the White Sails, to take part in naval battles in the territory, provided there was an Imperial navy present and no land battle happening. |
| The White Sails (Ambitious) |
| Commission Type: Fortification |
| Location: Coursmouth, Necropolis |
| Cost: 100 white granite, 160 weirwood, and 780 crowns |
| Upkeep: Increases by 30 thrones a season |
| Time: 2 years |
| Availability: Until the start of the Spring Equinox 390YE |
Effect:
|
- The plans to upgrade Reumah's Rest could be updated, Mladen has produced a pair of new ideas for the Empire to pick between
- The idea involves ships for the garrison to move up and down the coast and the river
- The Empire could commission either the cheap or the expensive version of the White Sails, but not both
Sadly the situation at Reumah's Rest in Necropolis is considerably more challenging. The original proposal there is completely defunct, it takes no account of the need to station and supply a properly trained garrison. It was hopelessly over-ambitious in the first place - there is simply no way it could be built to the original specifications given the way Imperial fortifications are now constructed with a bastion and a well-equipped garrison.
Once Mladen has identified that the old plans are defunct, he sets to, to create something new to replace them. Nothing fancy, that's not the Varushkan's style, just something practical, something efficient. Mladen's work rarely captures the imagination, but the new plans have the advantage of being much cheaper than the old ideas.
Reumah's Rest was built during the reign of Empress Lisabetta as part of the grand project to fortify the entire southern coast. It's a beautiful, gleaming white fortress built right on the coast. Any army attacking the bastion would be faced with an uphill struggle, literally. Rather than wildly over-ambitious plans to extend the range of the garrison, Mladen imagines something quick and simple. Adjustments to strengthen the battlements, coupled with a new barbican to fortify the entrance. It's surprisingly cost-effective given that it significantly upgrades the bastion.
To uprate the garrison is harder, but Mladen proposes a series of paths cut into the cliff face, with work done to widen the mouth of the bay and remove some of the more dangerous rocks. That would make the region effectively coastal allowing the garrison to station small sailing vessels there. Then the garrison could deploy quickly up and down the coast of Necropolis, as well as all along the banks of the River Couros. Mladen calls the garrison the "White Sails" - he says giving them a clear identity will encourage the garrison to embrace the training they will need to learn to manoeuvre the craft quickly and effectively. That would improve the strength of the garrison to rank 3, but it also means that the White Sails could take part in any naval campaign taking place in the waters off Necropolis provided there was an Imperial navy present. They would prioritise defence of the land, if there was a campaign taking place on the mainland and another at sea, but they would support an Imperial navy if there was one engaged off the coast and there was no other battle taking place.
Mladen is often gently needled by his colleagues for producing proposals that are perfectly functional, they work, they're just not very exciting. "It's a fort.. with boats" is how one colleague described his idea for the White Sails. Somewhat piqued, the ageing Varushkan decides to go away and come back with a new idea for something "ruinously expensive the Senate will never build". And so he turns in a second, more Ambitious alternative proposal. A lot more Ambitious.
The new idea is to equip the garrison with a vast flotilla of small warships, enough naval capacity for them to proactively engage an enemy navy in the waters off Necropolis. If an armada attacked the coast, the White Sails would engage them, but if an armada tried to pass by Necropolis (as the Grendel often do) the White Sails would move to intercept them. One navy would be forced to stop, to defend against the White Sails, while the others continued on to their destination. Given the strength of the garrison would be almost twice the size of a regular army, that could be very damaging for the navy that was forcing to engage them alone. The White Sails would prioritise campaigns at sea, but they could still defend the land against invasion, if there was no barbarian naval forces in the territory to engage.
The Senate could commission either version of the upgrade to Reumah's Rest, but not both.
Further Reading
- Imperial Master of Works
- Fortification
- Opportunity - with particular reference to availability and the need to refresh certain opportunities