Reviving the South

[Bedwyr]

I'm fairly certain they had picked a side . . . then the rebellion happened, which as far as I know, puts things back to square one as far as diplomacy.

Ziode had picked a side.  Do not confuse a Ruler with a Realm.  Do that and...Well...You end up seeking refuge in Zonasa.

[BardicNerd]

Ha, true enough.

[Calanar]

Ziode picked Zonasa. He had offers from half of the continent to join them, and had he picked Cathay, as he was invited there, this war might be singing a very different tune. (Zonasa, Cathay, C'thonia, Aenilia, and letters asking him to return to Kindara to try and retake the throne) 

[Velax]

Don't know how much success he would have had "retaking the throne". It wasn't just a tiny group that was opposed to Ziode - there were plenty that were unhappy with the way the realm was going, even if they weren't upset enough to start a rebellion. Lowering all the diplomatic relations before he left was seen as quite petty, too, no matter what justification was given for it.

[ó Broin]

Ziode picked Zonasa. He had offers from half of the continent to join them, and had he picked Cathay, as he was invited there, this war might be singing a very different tune. (Zonasa, Cathay, C'thonia, Aenilia, and letters asking him to return to Kindara to try and retake the throne) 

Wait so you couldn't hold on to your own throne after marching to war, but some how equate being invited to join Cathay as a indication you would have been able to reverse their decision? Was the vote to join the war against a realm that had violated the peace treaties Cathay brokered really so close that one new member to the realm was going to make that much difference?

[Calanar]

Ziode can do all sorts of crazy things if he tries. *shrugs* I don't understand him one bit. Really, the comment was that Ziode wasn't seeking refuge in Zonasa. He had plenty of options, and honestly, from what I've seen and heard, he wouldn't have to try much to do anything in Cathay.

As to the number of rebels, I don't think he'd care. Since the most common complaints that he saw was, "you aren't talking to us" over things that were months in the making and were well known, or when they were asking for information he didn't have. I think my favorite was, "we want to go to war, but when you didn't pick Zonasa or C'thonia we're going to whine that you hate Arcaea, because OW isn't our ally, and when you offered, Arcaea wasn't involved at all." Maybe Ziode read it all differently, but that's what I saw.

[Velax]

No, the issue was that most in the realm had no idea what was going on. As a relatively new member (three months now), I did what I could to try and understand what was going on in the inner workings of the realm. I joined the Military Council, I spoke regularly to the judge and the general. I spoke regularly to my liege. And you know what they told me? That they had little idea what was going on in the internal workings of the realm either. You can blame other people for your deposing if you wish, but it comes down to the fact that the rank and file of the realm's nobles, and even some of the higher ups, had little idea what was going into the major decisions that affected us. Most of the time we didn't even know that there was a decision to be made until well after it was finalised. I believe that was your failing as our ruler.

[Calanar]

Yes, and in 3 months, I shared every event with the councils that happened publicly. I don't have any idea what happened privately. The biggest problem was when Ziode told Lazarath something he was considering (moving to help GA should something come to pass) and he rallied the army. Of course I had brought the possibility of the war (not joining) to the council, and the army rallying this was honestly a few hours before I could get back and update everyone and propose the topic.

By the time anyone even tried to listen to what Ziode was saying, he'd already done his best to say he wasn't making decisions without them and that Lazarath crossed the line, but since no one seemed to care, he said let's help defend GA from Ohnar West. He offered, and that became, "You can't stand against Arcaea!" before Arcaea was involved.

The issue with the Far East is that it gets really quiet, and then explodes into wars. If there's nothing being said, then there's nothing to report. Honestly, Ziode started to teach other nobles some of the ways of FEI politics because it was something to do... There was no secret councils or anything. Just a group of advanced students that Ziode picked to have others lead.

Actually, I was working towards stepping down with Ziode, and was going to push for Min, Lazarath, or Edmund to take his place in the elections, and then delete Ziode after a couple of weeks. Way to screw that up Now he's living in Zonasa where he can be more of a nuisance to the FEI.

[WarMaid]

And yes, Artemesia, he's a bit like that. Except in BM no one is surprised when their strongest attacks fail and Jenred saunters out of the rubble unscathed  :p

When will people realize that the gods smile upon Jenred!  He personally and Arcaea generally have had some really handy turns of the cards.  At some point you have to figure that he's got an in with the higher powers.

[Heq]

Have you seen the number of woundings Jenred has?  I think every nation has gotten a lick in on him and he's not even a front line berzerker (No-one should be suprised when Thain or Ciann go down in a heap, for example).

The years have really tallied up on him to boot and if I remember correctly as you gain years injuries get longer and longer to heal from.  I would say Jenred has payed a huge price-tag for his empire and I'm not sure it could survive without him at this point.

[Bedwyr]

He is a front line kind of guy, though.  Front lines, hard-hitting infantry, usually wedge formation.  He does get wounded a lot...Which works, as he is rather convinced that blood has supernatural properties, and thinks of all his woundings as part of the price for success.  Which, of course, is quite true if not in the way he thinks.

[songqu88@gmail.com]

When will people realize that the gods smile upon Jenred!  He personally and Arcaea generally have had some really handy turns of the cards.  At some point you have to figure that he's got an in with the higher powers.

Usually that's the cue for the other mortals to shift the tides. Then again, who knows. Maybe FEI might be dominated peerlessly by Arcaea.

[Bedwyr]

Usually that's the cue for the other mortals to shift the tides. Then again, who knows. Maybe FEI might be dominated peerlessly by Arcaea.

Jenred would have to die for that to happen.  If his plans work the way he hopes they will, Arcaea will be considerably less powerful in the medium term.

[Morningstar]

Tom never had a problem with Batesaor before.  To be honest, PoZ and Batesaor were two of the coolest concepts of the nascent FEI.  Arcaea was rather vanilla and boring.  Funny how things have played out.

Our initial dive into what would become Arcachon /Mazdragul with Seraphina and the Overlord was quite fun.

[Morningstar]

From what I've heard people in the south have painted themselves into a corner. To start a war many of the rulers would basically need to do something that goes against their established characters. There also doesn't seem to be a big enough dissident group in any of the realms to stage a take over and shake things up. What we need is for someone to just go insane and get things started.

Does a reincarnated original FEI realm founder slash self-declared deity returning to the realm who betrayed her and her people count as a shake up?