Quite the contrary. Siding with you would have put huge bulleyes on our heads.
35k CS, sure... needs to refit every now and then. The north can strike through Port Raviel, though Port Nebel, and through the East. The Lurias can also strike through the east and Port Nebel. Sea routes couldn't be scouted over, we had spies. They could have easily stricken the least defended city, and started a TO to deny walls before a defense can be organized.
So you planned on a permanent existence of pointlessness? You exist because you trade to feed yourselves, and you exist so you can trade. Too afraid of war or losing territory or your wealth, your vast collection of cities your biggest restraint and weakness. What is the point in having land and wealth if you're just going to sit in peace perpetually out of fear of losing it? And of course, you're quick to argue how impossible it would be to attack the north, but you wasted no time at all in attacking the south, and still managed a decent defence against the Lurian's when they did invade.
Not to mention that both Aurvandil and Asylon seem to have made the mistake of believing that because we were anti-allison, we were anti-SA, or that because we were anti-hegemony, we were anti-SA.
I never assumed that at all, you did however imply you were that ways inclined when you commented on how you would much rather see Aurvandil fight to defeat S.A. than fight some one else and asked Aurvandil for a defensive alliance in regards to the threat from the north and the east.
If you, even for a moment, thought that Machiavel wanted to see SA defeated, you were making yourself quite colorful delusions. Aurvandil hegemony would be a million times worse: at least SA doesn't have robotic activity, unnaturally large resources and armies, hive-like behavior, and pompous heterogeneity.
Lol well I'm not sure what world you live in, but S.A. does have unnaturally large resources and armies, considering they own more than half a continent, the largest continent in the game as well. But no, I'm sure Aurvandil with its modest income and economy is far, far larger in resources than S.A. could hope to be. Aurvandil doesn't have hive like behaviour, and if you were the least bit clued in you would know that by now, nor do we have robotic activity, considering how much we fail to move competently right before your very eyes, which we even showed in the battle of Paisland this turn, and the previous campaign against Terran. But as ever, you like to tout and already disproved lie to try and make some sort of a veiled accusation against us. If we had robotic activity, would our regions revolt for lack of lords work? No. Would our regions starve because lords forget to transfer food? No. If we had robotic activity would we frequently have to make as much as four turn movements before a battle just so every moves in time? No. I could go on, but I'm sure the fact of the matter isn't actually relevant as far as careless remarks go.
We can deal with SA without being SA ourselves, the only ones who got whacked by them deserved it. When one of them attacked without the others, it was isolated and defeated. I've got no problem dealing with this.
And I am sure you believe that, it's convenient to convince yourself they deserved it so you can turn a blind eye to the excesses of the church and feel as though you have done nothing wrong. (This is all in regards to IC, not OOC in case you think this is a remark upon yourself and not your character).
You'e just mistakenly viewed D'Haran anti-hegemonism as anti-SA, when the reality is far from that. Bunch of our nobles are SA, and we are quite happy to have them.
No, we assumed your anti-hegemony-ism was actually that, opposed to hegemonies on principle. Evidently not, you just like to declare your enemies hegemonies on no basis whatsoever, such as you do to Aurvandil, whilst looking at real hegemonies and going "Oh, they're pretty all right actually, I mean they mass war anyone who so much as looks at them with a squint in midday sun, but still".
Much of our wealth was because we really didn't spend much of armed forces. If we had to buy food AND pay for troops, we wouldn't have been nearly as rich as we were. Heck, just the food alone bankrupted us a few times.
My comment on your wealth was in regards to sheer gross income you must have from four cities and two townslands, all the cities being the wealth of Candiels or higher, and the Townslands not exactly shabby either. Under a competent economic administration you should have a vast treasury stored up, like S.A. does, though obviously nowhere near as large.
And you don't seem to realize that these sea routes allow for easy travel, while also granting a "border" that enables TOs. Sure, TOs are possible almost everywhere now, but there's no landing penalty with these sea routes. Focusing their forces while our allies would be refitting would have allowed them to strike at us quite easily. And if they hit Port Nebel by surprise, win a battle, then they could have started a TO, denied us of our walls, and cut our realm in half, preventing us from travelling from one side to the other. Effectively dooming the whole realm.
I am perfectly aware of how powerful these new sea routes are, considering the enemies of Aurvandil managed to bring south armies from every realm in the north in what appeared to be a weeks worth of travel when it should have taken far, far longer and at much greater equipment damage.
D'Hara could have been wiped off many times in the past, had people put their heads to it, and without all that much effort. The removal of the sea routes will remove this great weakness, even the current set-up kinda screws up the infrastructures to be built for the Paisly-Raviel connection.
We shall see how Aurvandil fairs then.
