Game 8

So have just joined Game 8 as a far away land! Wish me luck ha ha!

Welcome and good luck.

Good luck Mark...and enjoy It is fun and the more we have in the east, the more fun it can be

Welcome Mark
I wish you well and hope you enjoy the game.

One Grain.  

I was in game 8 a while back as Russia, trying to deal with those damned tartars

Well I think you had it easy Mark, what's a few dead peasants compared to the derision, name calling and unseemly aspersions to my manhood
coming from the Tarter Khan to a fellow Muslim Leader like myself.
Its just horribly unjust.

One Grain. 

Ha ha ha, well now, you should do what a Ottoman does best

Yes! Yes! Turn to comfort Food. May Allah bless the humble Jam Tart.

One Grain.  

Hopefully when the next turn comes out you will see the Tatar ire is not directed at the honourable Bey of Rumelia, rather the blaspheming Grand Vizier, I need to send you some Tatar delights such as sheeps eyes in jelly to show you due regard and respect.

Immmm sheeps eyes in jelly do tell what flavour of jelly ? Please oh please let it be Lime.

The Bey has always been partial to sweet breads as well.

One Grain. 

June 1703 Game 8 update.

A month that has provided great interest amongst the global ship spotting fraternity better known as the "Ship, Harbour, Including, Tugs, Society". Better known by their acronym the "SHITS"
as well as the eligible junior members which is those under 14 years of age, Affectionately known as the "Little Shits" Its clear after such an exceptional month letters will be exchanged giving details
of the members sightings.

A) Grain Harvest Results. Happy :Egypt, Liege-Cologne, Bavaria, Denmark, France. Not so happy :Sweden, Portugal, Rumelia. (sigh)

B) Reykjavik : Denmark has opened a Whaling station here.

C) London : It appears that Herr Tull has refused to leave Prosperous Farm to travel to Berlin however he has agreed to teach Prussian artisans at his home.

D) Hague : The Venetian ambassador wished to know if knowledge could be shared between both navies or if a tandem expedition with the Dutch navy could be undertaken, The Dutch Admiral was non-committal
however after the meeting he confided to his staff that it appeared that the Venetian Navy appeared to have developed a rather large yellow streak due to the specter of the "Vile Kraken" and seemed to need
Dutch Steel to provide them with a bit of back-bone.

E) Paris : The King of France's 2nd Son has declared that Portugal has tried to recruit him as a spy! which of course he refused. The prince arrested the man a certain John Hadwell, which is surprising as it was reported
that a John Hadwell had been executed in London. which raises a number of questions, is this part of Cowley's doing, who is telling the truth, or are the dark arts of witchcraft at play?.

F) Elsdorf : Herr Steinbacher and the Duke of Norfolk visited Guiseppi Campani at the Elsdorf Observatory to partake in some star gazing. All very romantic, however Mr Campani did bemoan his rather dull life.

G) Munster : After learning of the alliance between Hanover and Munster the ambassador of Liege-Cologne closed his embassy and departed for Cologne in a fit of pique.

H) Hanover : A member of the "Shits" recorded the christening of 5 new Frigates for the Navy of Hanover which he noted had all been named after birds of prey.

I) Brunswick : The Prince of Brandenburg has expressed his support for the Duke of Brunswick's call for the return of his imprisoned daughter, The Duke made ready for any eventuality by commissioning 3 new bits of bling
to be bestowed upon his armed forces should the need arise.

J) Rostock : One of the "Little Shits" watched with glee as the Danish fleet arrived in Rostock it was rumoured that the Danish King as well as Prince Fredrick III of Prussia-Brandenburg where aboard. the Young lad watching
the arrivals wondered why the "Vile Kraken" had not attacked the fleet after all what a meal 2 of Europe's royal blue bloods would have made.

K) El Escorial : It appears that the union of Dog and Flea is closer at hand with both coinage of Portugal and Spain being made legal tender in both countries. Portugal has also closed all foreign embassies.

L) Rome : It seems the bickering over the exact wording in the text regarding the placement of Mary's Feet continues and after a rather heated exchange between Scheffmacher and Bento in which Bento later stormed to his
room where he was heard to cry out aloud if only there was a way to take a snapshot of history so as to forever attest as to the true nature of things.

M) Sicily : According to a member of the "Shits" who gained the information for the price of a tankard of ale from an Austrian seamen a fleet of 11 ships of Barbary corsairs where observed by his galley raiding the lands of
Sicily at a distance from any large town, It appears that the raids where not that successful as only 30 odd goat herders where taken prisoner.

N) Constantinople : The Crimean ambassador Kaplan Bin Bakchisari has been expelled from the palace of the Sublime Porte and told to return to Sofia and stop causing trouble however the ambassador did not retire meekly
and continued to forcefully state his masters point of view to the Grand Vizier Amcazade Huseyin. All agreed who witnessed the exchange that the ambassador gave a masterful display of diplomacy and tight-rope walking.
As not a forceful enough plea would have angered his Tartar Master and too forceful a display could have angered the Sultan to the point of his head. Only time will tell if the axeman's hand has been stayed, Until then it
appears that the ambassador is now the Rumelian Bey's problem.

O) New York : A member "Shit" watched as a Sloop and 8 Merchantmen commanded by Captain Kid entered harbour followed a few days later by 10 Frigatas it appears that Mr Kid is requesting his promised payment of
8,000 Guineas for hunting smugglers.
It is announced that the Royal Viceroy of the Thirteen Colonies has repealed the 1701 defence act and as such all defence matters will be decided from London.
Is this an unlucky coincidence of bad timing or a bit of clever connivance that the Colonies defence has been relegated to half a world away at the same time as an angry pirate seeking restitution arrives in town.

P) Benares : The Great Moghul has declared that he was of the true Muslim faith and he can't understand how any confusion occurred that he was a Hindu and he was intending to build temples of the true faith everywhere.
It has been noted that the trees located near low lying swampy areas have been stripped bare of the dry moss with which fires can be started with some stating that hundreds of tonnes of the dry tinder have been harvested.

One Grain. 

And there is the curious case of the disappearing Papin in Canton... 

Update July 1703 G8

A Month dedicated to devotes of the game hide and seek.

Edinburgh ) In an attempt to smooth the union between England and Scotland it has been proposed to establish a Scottish house of Lords in Edinburgh, Time will tell if the new strategy of pampering a few select nobles at the expense of the general populace will work.

Hague ) It seems that the United Provinces and Venice are engaged in a game of I will show you mine only after you show me yours over Naval technology.

Cologne ) After a good harvest it has been reported that the surplus is to be sold at 75 Gulden per Ton.

Copenhagen ) It has been reported by a member of the "SHITS" that the young Crown Prince Christian christened a new ship in his name.

Ronne ) A "SHITS" member watched in awe as ships docked at the port on the Island of Bornholm as King Frederick of Denmark arrived to unveil a statue poking fun at Sweden.

Poland ) It seems Baron Effern has embarked on a magical mystery tour following the yellow brick road, It appears that the Baron has been accosting local peasants with map in hand asking for directions to a non-existing town called "Ciemo" most took the Baron for a blubbering half-wit while others surmised that knowing the Barons love of drink and seedy Taverns that he had been taken advantage of by a man with a clever idea, scrap of paper, ink and quill.

El Escorial ) It has been announced that the Royal wedding will take place in Madrid in December.

Sofia ) The Tartar envoy held a feast for dignitaries in honour of the Rumelian Bey which culminated in the serving of a dish of sheep and goats eyes in lime jelly. Unfortunately due to the Bey following his own yellow brick road tour he was not present for the feast. In Athens the Bey of Rumelia on hearing by Military courier of the treat served in his honour showed his disappointment by those who witnessed it as having a tantrum fit for a two year old girl.

Bakchisarai ) Imam Shamil has issued a fatwa against the Grand Vizier of Anatolia calling him a blasphemer and calling for the death penalty, As the Imam only has jurisdiction for religious edicts in the Crimea it appears the Vizier would be safe unless he visits the Crimea. So in fact the fatwa could be seen as nothing more than a ban on foreign tourism.

New York ) It seems that Lord Cowper and William Kidd have come to an understanding over what Lord Cowper called an "Administrative oversight" which resulted in the payment of 50,000 guineas owed plus a small undisclosed sum in "over payments" for pain and suffering, upon the conclusion of the deal Mr Kidd ordered his considerable fleet to unload ball and shot from their cannon.

Ava ) The Manchurian Ambassador was summoned to meet the Burmese Trade Minister and asked why Burmese trade was still closed to Manchuria as almost a year had passed since the Ambassadors master had stated that trade would soon open.

Canton ) The town watch with dogs followed the trail of the missing Dennis Papin which led to the docks it was assumed that Herr Papin was at sea aboard a merchant ship.

Kowloon ) The Chancellor of the Chinese province of Kwantung has announced a reward of 500,000 Qing to anyone delivering the runaway Dennis Papin alive and well to Canton.

Yeongdeok ) King Sujong of Korea stopped at a local town in the district of Yeongdeok, Here he meet the local governor and the headmen of the village upon asking if there was anything that he could do for them the king was rather surprised when all they asked was for an investment in Crab Fishing, which differed from the usual requests for gold and silks. The King quipped that he wished his wives had such commendable desires.

Pfalz ) The Hannover ambassador while closing his countries embassy ruffled a few local feathers when he described Pfalz as a "relative backwater" and that he was looking forward to his new appointment as ambassador to Scotland in Edinburgh.

East China Sea ) Merchant Captains are reporting being stopped and searched by Chinese Imperial Vessels, no explanation has been given for such actions giving rise to the theory that it is either to do with the missing Papin or the Moguls desire for Chinese Tea Seed.

One Grain.

I'm afraid neither theory is correct One Grain, my noble warriors of sea are up to other things...

Could someone from the great and good of game 8 tell me when the next turn is due!

21st November

Well, I give the Emperor a present and I don't even get a response, HOW RUDE! Seriously that cost me a lot of money, the exchange rate isn't good here in Korea you know!

Heh.  The best you can hope from the emperor is a honor point or two if you really nail the present.

afraid Deacon is right, the Emperor is hard to please...on the plus side he didn't reject your gift (he has with some of mine in the past)

Well no more presents for the Emperor, maybe he will be happy if I brought him some heads

I don't know if it's the same with Korea, but for my honour to increase, it has to be by keeping the Emperor happy and the easiest way is by gifts. I think you might need to send him a few before you get the benefit though...at least that's how it worked for me.

I honestly don't know, I have a feeling that Korea might be slightly different, as I am a king in my own right.

August 1703 Game 8 update.

A) Edinburgh. The election for unification between Scotland and England has been set for the month of October which has seen furious activity by all sides on the Hustings.

B) The Hague. An air of desperation surrounds Venice's attempts to secure Dredger technology from the Dutch, Has the Cart been put before the Horse, ? with the result that the Venetian Canal system is silting up.

C) Marseilles. The Kwantung Emissary Wu Sangui has been scouring Marseilles for any sign of Dennis Papin. However the Emissary admitted to his staff that it was an impossible mission as everyone knew that to the
oriental eye all Frenchmen looked alike.

D) Cologne. It seems that a rather shady deal has been struck between Officer Steinbacher of Liege-Cologne and an unknown party for the master printer Jakob Le Blon to build and supply a printing press along with
two valuable apprentices to instruct the future owners in its use and maintenance. Mister Le Blon was understandably unenthusiastic with being involved with such a venture that could have unforseen
ramifications for his business and reputation. Was he getting involved in an underground free press preaching sedition and revolution or worse a foreign powers desire for propaganda, after all it was known
that officials from Kwantung had made an approach about a rather large order for what could only be described as wanted posters.

E) Hanover. With great ceremony the graduation of the first ever class from the Naval Academy was held followed by the christening and launch of a brand new escort Frigate. On hand to witness the event was a small
band of enthusiastic "SHITS"

F) Brunswick. The Duke of Brunswick was surprised in bed when one of his staff rushed into the dukes bed chamber looking rather flustered to announce that Frederick III of Brandenburg was to pay a visit. When the
Duke enquired as to when the visit was to take place the staff member stammered that it was to take place now and that the Prince was waiting in the reception room. The Duke informed his secretary
to send a diplomatic note to the minions of Brandenburg that in future it would be better to give more notice of future state visits.

G) El Escorial. After much debate the bill on a unified Tax rate for Spain and Portugal was narrowly passed into law, Variously known as the twin pocket tax due to it being likened to the distribution of wealth by you having
your hand in one neighbours pocket while the other neighbour has his hand in your pocket.

H) Volos. It seems that the town of Volos has revolted from Rumelian rule under the leadership of the former town watch commander.

I) Athens. Rumelia almost required a new Bey after Yegen Pasha almost choked to death on a piece of Goose liver which became stuck when the Bey was informed of the revolt in Volos while he was dining on the delicacy
during his morning elevensy meal, only the quick action of one of the Bey's Janissary guards saved the day when he lunged forward and struck the Bey with an extremely forceful blow with the hilt of his sword handle
squarely in the Beys back which resulted in the Goose taking one last flight across the room. The guard was hailed with great joy by all especially by his fellow guards who hailed him as a hero, It was unsure
if this was due to the fact he had saved the Bey's life or that he had been able to strike the Bey a forceful blow under the guise of administering a degree of first aid without the loss of his head.

J) Peking. Its that time of the year again when all the emperor's vassals endeavour to out-do each other in the style and inventiveness of the gifts presented, with the representative from Korea putting in an especially fawning display.

K) Kowloon. Lord Fong has increased the bounty for the return of a hog-tied Mr Papin to 5,000,000 Qing, No word yet as to what that equates to in "REAL" money.

As seen by a weepy, throat sore titan of leadership. 

I think it's very important that little Korea shows everybody how to fawn.

Fawning is a critical skill in the far east.

I'm waiting for one of you to really turn it upside down and do something out of the box.