Yes, but where are they working?

I like Maher, he seems to realize that the faster this conflict is over the safer our interests are.

Magistrate: Councilor Prado, they were split across Game and Pearls.

I agree, the faster the better. But we can go too fast. We have to be able to control the population. This has to be handled correctly. If we move too fast, we could lose everything.

Perhaps we could discuss the local customs of war and conflict with the Loyalist Council.

Bo, would you like to head that up?

Magistrate, call a meeting with the Loyalist Council please. ASAP.

And I would very much like to hear from the captain of the guard.

I would also like to consider a show trial for the remaining holdout prisoner. Or at least starve him.

The Council (loyal one) conducts trials. We have to let them think they have some semblance of control.

We can make this one happen publicly, right?

Or "strongly encourage it to be public?"

I don't see a problem with it, though they should be consulted.

The only question I have about the Loyal Council conducting this trial is that we limited their maximum penalty to 1 year incarceration, right? What if we want a drawing and quartering?

I think we decided that we must be involved in that case. Our main reason was that we wanted a self-sufficient court that could track petty crimes. We didn't want to be called every time someone stole a loaf of bread.

@Prado ... let's put some meat and maybe a few vegetables in the ration packs. They aren't intended to last long. The main point is to give them reason to read my letter. I don't want you to have to stress out about it trying to find resources; I would rather we simply use what we have in surplus already. Obviously, that's not wheat or fruit.

@KC ... are you sure we don't have the manpower for seizures? Even if we only take so many weapons, it detracts from their cause significantly. If they can't fight us, they can't beat us and none of ours will die anymore. If not now, then when can we work on putting that plan into action?

@Maher ... we are trying to lure the separatists to our side, not force them to our side. We are doing all right, so let's not let ourselves get out of hand. Killing their elders will not do us any good. We need their elders to endorse us. If it takes blackmail to do that, I'm all for it.

Our wheat harvest appears to be getting extremely low. We really need to work on that, we don't want to exhaust the entire stockpile.


With the gold we have, we need to buy plenty of cloth to keep our promise to the loyalists there. I suggest we purchase 10-15 bolts of fine cloth, which should plenty to supply the loyalist population. I also suggest we purchase a reasonable amount of Salted Beef, as it's very cheap (1 gold per 1000) and would give us a nice stockpile of Meat for emergencies. A 40 gold investment there would be ideal.

It's a shame they aren't selling any iron or stone. Looking at the people we could hire, do we want the carpenter or the physician? The carpenter could really speed up construction, and as a journeyman, he should be pretty reliable. Could be worth an investment there.

The ale, we probably don't need, as we haven't done anything with the ale we have. The tobacco could be useful though, as a luxury to reward the most productive workers. Perhaps the SecLab and the magistrate could look into the possibility of setting up a rewards system where the 5 most productive workers each month share a crate of tobacco between them as a reward, starting from next month (so the 5 crates last til the next ship arrives). Buying another 9 rifles so as to supply the entire royal guard with rifles would probably be a smart idea as well.

@Bo - Why? What does it matter if we lure them or compel them? The king wants his pearls. This is pure teleology - the ends matter. The means don't. This council's attempts to play nice have utterly failed. If you have a question about that, go smell the dead bodies that came from the uprising a few days ago.

People are getting killed. They're storming the buildings and the docks. The time for pattycake is over. The time has come for a resolution.

My proposal has a legitimate chance of either (1) immediately ending the separatists' ability to fight against us and bringing their followers in line once they see that we mean business, or at least (2) reducing the effectiveness of their ability to organize attacks on us with their leadership obliterated. Either case is better for us than the status quo.

I think we should seriously consider taking the physician. The alchemist has a lot on him. We don't want him overworked for about 22 different reasons. We should purchase as many weapons as we require. Promises made to loyalists can be fulfilled when the conflict is over. That should be adequate incentive for any loyalists who get miffed we didn't give them their swag.

I think the Guards will require another 9 guns. Swords can be used to train loyalists perhaps?

Bo, I think we could go about taking weapons, but I believe the Magistrate said there were none on the island.

I think we should take the Physician and the Carpenter.

I move the following:

That this council, in conjunction with the Local Council of Elders, begin a public trial against the holdout prisoner for the capital crimes of treason and 54 counts of felony murder.

If possible, I would like to see this happen after the strike against the Separatist Elders. Between both of these acts, we should break the back of the resistance movement.

15+12+10 = 37 gold per month, meaning we'd need 222 gold left over. I suppose we can manage that.

We can't let the loyalists lose faith, Councillor Maher. Showing we keep our word will not only reinforce their loyalty, but also prove to the separatists that we are honest people. And if they see the loyalists wearing nice new cloth, they'll be more tempted to join us, too.

Well, there should be a lot more to go around now that 54 people on this island are dead.

The deaths of their comrades probably hasn't been very good for morale. Going back on our promise is just sticking the knife in, and then there's the worry that they might just start wishing we'd never arrived.

If I were a loyalist, here's what I would see.

I went out on a limb. I went against what my culture and my local elders said to do. And why? Because I took the king's bribe.

And here we are, 3 months later. My formerly friendly neighbors now have antipathy towards me and my family. I see them eating rats. I see them eating garbage. I see them getting desperate, and violent.

But what are the king's councillors doing? Still trying to negotiate? Still waffling? Still quaking? I would think that they lacked will or leadership or commitment to their position.

Now I see that the people near me have attacked the king's buildings. They've killed some other loyalists. They've killed a guard. And still no reprisals? No serious response from the people I trusted my fate and family to?

The bottom line is this - if we don't act quickly, the loyalists are going to start getting murdered. They're going to be targeted. We can't protect them all.

Let's kill the seditious leaders and have a public execution. Then we can redistribute the assets of the dead to those who are entitled.

Fair enough.

I move that we imprison councillor Maher for conspiracy to commit murder.

I don't necessarily disagree with you, but why don't we have the Magistrate ask the Loyal Elders how they would like us to approach this uprising? They are, after all, within our government as well. Magistrate, do you mind asking them whether they favor an open war against the separatists or if we should take a more patient approach, potentially asking them to attempt to persuade the separatist elders to endorse the King?

I'm happy to submit whether I should be imprisoned for my proposals to this council, provided you're similiarly willing to put yourself under their jurisdiction for a charge of treason against his majesty, the king.

If executing the king's enemies - those who murdered 54 of the king's loyal subjects is "murder" then I would submit, councillor mendax, that you are sympathetic to the traitors.