Game 8

Fascinating. I had no idea Scotland tried to found a colony on the Panama Isthmus. I wonder why at the time they thought it would end differently than it did? Did they really think Spain would turn a blind eye? Or maybe they thought that England would back them against Spain?

Darien Scheme

Good questions and ones I have asked of other (lets call them "Native Scottish") curators and not got (shall we say) constructive responses.

Wrong place, wrong time...and just the last in a line of failed Scottish colonies...yes England could have supported the colony more...but at the risk of a war with Spain? Hardly worth it...and why did the Scots go and attack the Spanish? I'm sure there have been stupider ideas in history...but I'm struggling to remember them

Maybe the Scots should have stuck to Puerto Rico https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vieques,_Puerto_Rico#Spanish_colonial_period

July 1706 update for game 8. (I know its out of date but with more free time I will attempt to catch up on the happenings in game 8 over the next month).

A turn dedicated to gaudy gongs and inventive recruiting.

A) London, With grain for sale to one and all everything seems well in England, It would appear that the Rumelian Ambassador was so taken with his rambling in the English moors and the four legged company he kept that he shipped a flock home for his retirement.

B) Versailles, Big Lou spent the start of the month preparing for the feast of the enlarged heart, however things soon quietened down with a feast every third or fourth day.

C) Paris, New Academies of Music and Dance are being remodelled at the old Palais-Royal with a new statue of Big Lou having been commissioned! The sculptor M Antoine Coysevox was coy on whether he would depict Big Lou toe tapping to the latest waltz at the dinner table or on the dance floor but he insisted he would show his Majesty in a flattering light.

D) Munich, Bavaria has refused Austria’s attempts to buy recruits.

E) Berlin, Duke Eberhard Ludwig of Wurtemburg was surprised at an attempt to be press ganged into the Prussian Army, Stating that he held the rank of an Honorary General only. Wow I think Prussia is onto something here, Hand out a few meaningless titles and gongs to Europe’s lesser nobility and if they are stupid enough to come visiting. Slap on the leg irons and charge them for room and board.

F) Vienna, Emperor Leopold held a farewell dinner for Prince George of Hanover who was visiting to arrange the details of the upcoming wedding, Prince George then invited the Emperor on a reciprocal visit to Hanover. A good idea would be to make sure the travel plans avoid Prussia.

G) Hanover, Queen Anne arrived by way of the English Navy for a state visit. It seems Little Hanover is the flavour of the month.

H) Copenhagen, It looks like a diplomatic spat is about to erupt between Sweden and England over the arrest of an Englishman named Woodall, No details are yet available as too his perceived crime, however it appears he may be involved with the murders of Lord Peterborough and Sir Henri De Bouillon.

I) Stockholm, Sweden has again protested to Prussia over officers in their Infantry Battalions being told they are now in the Prussian Army.

J) Lisbon, His Majesty the Royal Flea King Pedro has presided over the refurbishment of the Monastery of St Clare.

K) Damascus, Against the advice of his Viziers the Pasha of Syria has ordered the adoption of the international 1704 weights and measures standard.

L) Mbundu Land, In another border skirmish between a Lozi warband and a Mbundu warband the Lozi were thoroughly thrashed. It appears in a clash of competing operational doctrine’s Mbundu’s “stick and yell” was far superior to the Lozi’s “yell and stick” it appears that Mbundu’s doctrine provided a better first strike capability.

M) The Great Karoo, Jean Chardin has finally led his expedition out of the great forest onto a dry desert. It looks like it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire.

N) Ajmer, The Great Mug has upset the nobles of Rajput with his micro management style, which culminated with the governor of Lahari Bandar being detained along with a senior Mug commander. It looks like the seeds of revolt have been sown which may be the only seeds the Great Mug will ever sow.

O) Delhi, With a cry of “Daddy I have found a women” Prince Ali Babar duly informed his dad the Great Mug he had found a suitable bride.

P) Canton, The Great Mugs Ambassador to the Chinese Province of Kwantung has been detained for attempted bribery of local merchants to acquire three cargo loads of Tea seed. It seems the Great Mugs love of the verses of Confucius especially the one “If you think of a year, Plant a seed.” Is creating diplomatic friction with China who seem determined not to allow the Great Mug to fulfil the last two verses.
                                     
Postings from the S.H.I.T.S
Eleven English Ships of the Line have been spotted at Hanover.

From the Kraken
Still asleep.

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This Month’s good read “My five best recruiting methods, and do Dukes really make ideal Pillagers”  By Attila the Hun.

One Grain.

one grain of grain wrote:
L) Mbundu Land, In another border skirmish between a Lozi warband and a Mbundu warband the Lozi were thoroughly thrashed. It appears in a clash of competing operational doctrine’s Mbundu’s “stick and yell” was far superior to the Lozi’s “yell and stick” it appears that Mbundu’s doctrine provided a better first strike capability.

Native African warfare (pre-Shaka) at its finest. Lots of shouting. Lots of jumping up and down, bouncy dancing, and hurling insults. Followed by some thrown pointy sticks, picked up by the other side and thrown back - Repeat this step as many times as either side chooses, but not too often as it gets in the way of the bouncy dancing and insults. All performed to the enjoyment of the watching spectators, waiting to see who it will be decided 'won' and what the prize will be for best performance.

Jason wrote:Good questions and ones I have asked of other (lets call them "Native Scottish") curators and not got (shall we say) constructive responses.

Wrong place, wrong time...and just the last in a line of failed Scottish colonies...yes England could have supported the colony more...but at the risk of a war with Spain?  Hardly worth it...and why did the Scots go and attack the Spanish? I'm sure there have been stupider ideas in history...but I'm struggling to remember them

Maybe the Scots should have stuck to Puerto Rico https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vieques,_Puerto_Rico#Spanish_colonial_period

Think the theory behind the Project was to trade with the Spanish Colonies not attack them.  But it would probably have been polite to ask Spain for permission to plant the colony first and also to check out the market for Heavy Scots Wool cloth in Central America as well.

The Scots were hardly alone in planting colonies on Spanish territory since the Dutch, French and English all did the same.  But most of these were not Official Government backed ventures, were more out of the way on Islands etc  and had products like Slaves the Spanish Colonies needed so it was a lot easier for local Spanish Officials to ignore them and their "Illegal" trade.

Basically the England and France could turn their small colonies (in terms of population) into captive markets for their own goods.  But the much larger in terms of population Spanish (actually Castilian.....Aragon and other parts of Spain could also not legally trade with them) colonies could not be supplied and serviced by Castile alone and needed Dutch, English & French traders and shippers.  So for hundreds of years a huge "Illegal" trade went on with Spanish Officials taking their cut and turning a blind eye.  But just because others were doing it, it really was not very diplomatic of the Scots to just push ahead without paying the required backhanders.

If you are playing Scotland and wish to do something about the project I think best option is to write nice letter to Spain, Treat the colony as a trade station (like the HEIC stations in India), establish another Scots colony in Africa and join the triangle trade.  Baically Scotland gets to buy its own Sugar, Tobacco, Cotton etc direct from the suppliers and avoids 50% English mark up's and London duty on goods intended for Scotland.

English interest towards the Project was down right hostile from the start as English Merchants did not want Scots rivals in their market while the Govt in London was concerned with the Spanish Succession.  The last thing they wanted was for blundering Scots to offend Spain & gaining support for Philip of Anjou in Madrid.  And anyway the Scots were really keen on keeping the English out of their Scottish Colony.

The Scots Govt did however partly fund the project via a Dutch Bank which later became part of ABM Amro and some Scots Banks which became part of RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland).  Oddly these historic links were used in the fanfare was went with the £50 Billion take over of ABM Amro by RBS in 2007.  Paying £6 Billion more than a Lloyds Deal everyone was already calling stupidly over priced.

I thought it odd that RBS used these historic links but did not mention that the project was a financial disaster for Scotland and the reason so many Scots Banks merged at the time was due to their loses.

Its hard to judge the cost of the Project to Scotland and the combined losses to the Government and private individuals but they clearly greatly influenced some Scots into support for the 1707 Union.  Partly to get some of their money back (with the UK Govt basically taking over Scots Govt Debt Edinburgh could not pay back) and partly due to the fact that after the failure of Scotlands own colonial project many Scots believed that for Scotland to have a share in colonial trade etc it needed to be part of a larger Union.

Its interesting to note that the English Parliament was not at all keen on paying Scots Government Debts and allowing the Scots to share in their Empire/Colonial Trade and the vote for the Union was only won in both London & Edinburgh by huge amounts of arm twisting/bribes by a Government which needed Scots Regiments and Commanders to fight the French and wanted the Union purely on political grounds.

So if you are playing the French or a position who thinks the Union is bad for you the moral is clear........Be really, really nice to Scots Trade Posts and Traders!  In G7 the Scots have currently got free trade and favoured Nation Status in the Spanish Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Dutch Empire & Swedish Empire & things would be really good for these plucky and heroic sorts with their tartan cloth becoming really trendy in the Alps and High Andes......pity they got invaded by the English and Russians.

Rozwi_Game10 wrote:

one grain of grain wrote:
L) Mbundu Land, In another border skirmish between a Lozi warband and a Mbundu warband the Lozi were thoroughly thrashed. It appears in a clash of competing operational doctrine’s Mbundu’s “stick and yell” was far superior to the Lozi’s “yell and stick” it appears that Mbundu’s doctrine provided a better first strike capability.

Native African warfare (pre-Shaka) at its finest. Lots of shouting. Lots of jumping up and down, bouncy dancing, and hurling insults. Followed by some thrown pointy sticks, picked up by the other side and thrown back - Repeat this step as many times as either side chooses, but not too often as it gets in the way of the bouncy dancing and insults. All performed to the enjoyment of the watching spectators, waiting to see who it will be decided 'won' and what the prize will be for best performance.

Clearly when the Ottomans got beaten black and blue by a Army of Crusaders from the Highlands of Ethiopia they were in the wrong part of Africa fighting the wrong sort of Africans!

The only bouncy dancing we saw was their Elephants and Camels buncing up and down on top of the Royal Mamlukes.

I wanted to let them keep the Bey of Egypt as a "prize" but Egypt paid the ransom. Pity I was quite looking forward to seeing him covered in honey and staked out over an ants nest for the enjoyment of watching spectators.

Haha Yes, I did forget to mention that that level of African 'warfare' was centralised to a specific geographic location which had very limited populations and so wasn't too keen to see men killed. And did rely upon two neighbours being good enough sorts to stick to the rules. I don't think it would translate to Agema games too well

Yes, the plan was to trade though whether the Spanish would have agreed to trade is another matter...but the Scots did launch an attack on a nearby Spanish outpost in January 1700, on the reasoning that if they didn't then the Spanish would attacked them. The Scots were ill, few in number and not in the best morale (think the attack was supposed to improve morale). The attack was a success but it did mean the Spanish decided to do something about the Scottish colony...

I did find the colony still in existence in G6 and it might have become a success if the game had lasted. The colony got wiped out in the first turn of G10 (as reported in the January 1700 paper) but the Spanish player decided not to go any further and I wasn't in a position to fight a war with Spain over the matter! Of course, perhaps one of the contenders for the Spanish throne, who wants Scottish support, might consider making offers over the colony...or bung Scotland some cash as a 'sorry for destroying your colony'...

Stuart Bailey wrote:

Jason wrote:Good questions and ones I have asked of other (lets call them "Native Scottish") curators and not got (shall we say) constructive responses.

Wrong place, wrong time...and just the last in a line of failed Scottish colonies...yes England could have supported the colony more...but at the risk of a war with Spain?  Hardly worth it...and why did the Scots go and attack the Spanish? I'm sure there have been stupider ideas in history...but I'm struggling to remember them

Maybe the Scots should have stuck to Puerto Rico https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vieques,_Puerto_Rico#Spanish_colonial_period

Think the theory behind the Project was to trade with the Spanish Colonies not attack them.  But it would probably have been polite to ask Spain for permission to plant the colony first and also to check out the market for Heavy Scots Wool cloth in Central America as well.

[quote="Jason"]Yes, the plan was to trade though whether the Spanish would have agreed to trade is another matter...but the Scots did launch an attack on a nearby Spanish outpost in January 1700, on the reasoning that if they didn't then the Spanish would attacked them. The Scots were ill, few in number and not in the best morale (think the attack was supposed to improve morale).  The attack was a success but it did mean the Spanish decided to do something about the Scottish colony...

I did find the colony still in existence in G6 and it might have become a success if the game had lasted.  The colony got wiped out in the first turn of G10 (as reported in the January 1700 paper) but the Spanish player decided not to go any further and I wasn't in a position to fight a war with Spain over the matter!  Of course, perhaps one of the contenders for the Spanish throne, who wants Scottish support, might consider making offers over the colony...or bung Scotland some cash as a 'sorry for destroying your colony'... t


Ref G10 on the basis that some of the ministers/officials who wiped out your colony have gone on to high treason and have usurped the legitimate succession to the Spanish Crown my guess is that if the legitimate King of Spain is ever restored Scotland may get its apology along with Cardinal Portocarrero's or one of the lesser traitors head on a silver plate.

August 1706 update for game 8.

A turn dedicated to Junk, when does one know when junk should be junked and what really is the shelf life of junk.

A) Plymouth, Curious crowds gathered to watch the arrival of ships carrying the notorious pirates of Tortuga.

B) Versailles, Big Lou is spending more time indoors so as to avoid the turmoil of the water garden remodelling, it also pleased his Majesty not to be near the garden workers who’s mud slinging in honour of the Lycian peasants they are trying to represent. Due to the uproar about the Palace Big Lou was forced to scale back his calorie intake with only two banquets per week this month.

C) Paris, Like an over ripe wrecking ball Big Lou has by royal decree ordered the demolition of the old city wall. When asked about the wisdom of this decision Big Lou replied “The hearts and limbs of the French people are far stronger than any wall”. Too many however as much thought was put into the ramifications of this decision as to a belch between courses of pheasant drum sticks.

D) Copenhagen, The fugitive Josiah Woodall is being detained aboard ship awaiting trial or extradition to England.

E) Kiel, It seems the Alliance Army still have command and control issues with troops unsure as to who’s orders they should obey.

F) Hannover, With a who’s who of the blue bloods of Europe arriving to outdo each other you can bet some royal noses are going to be bent out of shape, it’s just a question will Danish, English or the Swedish be first.

G) Magdeburg, Prince Frederick III entertained his guests Duke Ederhard Ludwig of Wurttemberg and Ting Fang Wu of China to an Army review in name only as the Brandenburg army was still on the march from Berlin. Not deterred the Prince arranged a game hunt at which no game could be found. This caused Ting Fang Wu to remark to one of his attendants that if he had organized entertainment like todays shambles for his lord Fong, all concerned would have lost their heads.

H) Vienna, Prince Karl accepted his fate after being scolded by his dad who told his son to pay due attention to his future bride Princess Sophia.

I) Lisbon, The Royal Flea loosened the purse strings and paid for performances, bullfights and fireworks in support of celebrations for Mary’s Assumption.

J) Venice, The new Library has already run into funding trouble with the Dodge only providing ten percent of the needed funds. Who knew that trashy pulp fiction cost so much.

K) Mbundu Lands, In what they thought would be an opportunity the Luango sent a warband across the border into Mbundu land expecting the Mbundu army to be still on the Lozi border, However they were surprized to find a force twice their size waiting for them, upon learning of the effective new Mbundu doctrine the Luango wisely withdrew suspecting their own doctrine of “Shout, about face, expose bare bums, about face and stick” may need some tinkering with so as to prove more effective.

L) Zanzibar, The royal Fleas forces captured and seized the Island of Zanzibar in a bloodless strike.

M) Isfahan, Adding to his growing reputation as the “Big Lou of the East” Shah Hoseyn of Persia, treated foreign ambassadors to a great banquet where they were plied with wine and pumped for information once in a stupefied state. BLE was richly rewarded during the night with tales of the Great Mugs despotism, the Ottoman Sultan’s wisdom and Frances admiration in BLE’s adoption of the French way of doing things.

N) Delhi, The great Mug has demanded two suitable Rajput princes be found to marry two of his granddaughter’s so as to avoid war. Obviously to be held as ransom to obtain Rajput loyalty the marriage proposal has enlisted less enthusiasm than the game known as the ”Ball Game” of Mesoamerica. One prince going as far as to dress in his sisters attire so as to hide in the Harem. The Great Mug also expressed his outrage to the Kwantung ambassador over the arrest of his own ambassador in Canton over the attempt to purchase tea seed.

O) Ahmadabad, A large group of Guijerati warriors engaged 30 squadrons of cavalry who sullied from the cities gates, in pouring rain the Guijerati were able to best the Great Mugs horsemen who retreated back within the cities walls.

P) Brunei, A Chinese fleet of junks sailed into Brunei smashing five Brunei junks into junk, after which transports landed a Chinese marine brigade who engaged the Brunei forces. Despite withering and accurate blowpipe fire the Brunei troops eventually succumbed to the Chinese numbers and by nightfall the Sultan and his forces had been driven out of town.
                                       
Postings from the S.H.I.T.S

Arrival of ships from Tortuga.

From the Kraken

Still asleep.

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This Month’s good read “Build yourself a dwelling fit for a Prince. And other DIY projects” by Richard Plantagenet III.

One Grain.  

July 1707 has landed in my inbox.

Nothing I'd consider major:

-England has decided to sail to the Tsar's rescue. Commander on site a bit flummoxed to be told that Sweden didn't own Ingria according to the prince of Ingria and that they were, and are, independent. (Somehow this all reads as a monty python skit to me. A group of strangers burst into your house and start moving in. When questioned they explain they own it now. Bought it off a guy standing on the corner.)

-Vienna is ready to host Queen Anne. Queen Anne hasn't arrived. (This is becoming something of a theme. So much for British punctuality!)

-Aulic Council talks some more. A decision is reached! To talk some more. And to have some people visit Hamburg, because nothing enhances a nice chat like a visit.

-The Tsarevich none too subtly threatens to invade Ingria. Perhaps they should have invaded first, then sent the Tsar and a bunch of money? It seems that sending the Tsar and a bunch of money first hasn't been a winning strategy to date.

-Paris built a zoo. The ladies of Portugal partied. Their menfolk watched the ritualized slaughter of livestock.

-Grand Vizier has brilliant idea. "If we are all Ottomans, maybe we should act like it! You know, we could actually have unified trading agreements. And stuff."

-Various rulers commented that despite poor harvests they had enough grains stores to suffer no ill effects. (Huzzah! Glad that the game has developed this way, and point any players short on grain to talk to their neighbors or Hispania. Lots have grain that they will trade/share.)



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July 1707 (additional):

Some chap from York (a Yorkshire merchant, B. Yorke Esq., as it happens) makes it known that he shouldn't be considered a one-man threat to international trade and states he won't be going off on his hol's to Greenland with the (English) Royal Society.

He will, however, be hosting a rave this summer instead. Live music is yet to be confirmed - The Housemartins, or The Beautiful South?? Also needed, possibly, is a suitable explanation of what a 'Caravan of Love' is, and that it doesn't refer to a slaver's caravan carrying stock to an Oriental's Harem

Rozwi_Game10 wrote:July 1707 (additional):

Some chap from York (a Yorkshire merchant, B. Yorke Esq., as it happens) makes it known that he shouldn't be considered a one-man threat to international trade and states he won't be going off on his hol's to Greenland with the (English) Royal Society.

He will, however, be hosting a rave this summer instead. Live music is yet to be confirmed - The Housemartins, or The Beautiful South?? Also needed, possibly, is a suitable explanation of what a 'Caravan of Love' is, and that it doesn't refer to a slaver's caravan carrying stock to an Oriental's Harem

In G2 when young George Elector of Hanover (& Prince of Wales) purchased what was left of the Janissary Corp from the Athens Corporation of Manufacturers & Exporters (ACME) after the Janissaries final difference of opinion with that very nice man Iskander Kruppa. The Athenian Slavers threw in a A1 quality flute girl, singer & two dancers for the valued clients Harem to add a nice finishing touch to the Caravan.

Sadly his mum (The Queen of England) had no objection to the Elector keeping a Janissary Band or importing a Army of hardened killers into the HRE but she objected to the Elector keeping a Harem and I think the Girls ended up as seamstresses working to keep the Elector as one of the best dressed men in Europe.

Pity G2 ended before young Boy George and his "Caravan of love" rocked up in England as the new King.

I wonder if my character can obtain a shipment of Spanish Fly and offer it for sale at the Commoner's Knees-up At Hull?

If it was good enough for BBC2's Versailles program...

Elephant in the room - does anybody understand what's happening in Ingria? I don't think it's a player-controlled nation - indeed according to wikipedia it's not a nation at all. The historical Prince Alexander was a Russian courtier given the title as a sort of sinecure. So who/what is behind the claims of independence? Is it Richard trying to stir up a too-pacific game (does he even do that?)? Or a "spy", or..?

The Real Louis wrote:Is it Richard trying to stir up a too-pacific game (does he even do that?)?

I believe he would. When needed. Provide a small frisson point somewhere. Not too big, but just enough to allow it to be taken seriously by a number of players. Just to stop the game growing stale, players dropping due to boredom. I also think harvest failures, early in the game, are used in the same way -- To encourage game-play and player interaction to resolve a problem.

Yes, NPC, I think like Oman. Richard doesn't want NPC nations to be complete walkovers so if you mess with them, you can expect some pushback.

In Ingria's case, I think the Tsar showing up with a pot of money and not enough troops was too rich for the locals to resist.

Deacon wrote:
Yes, NPC, I think like Oman. Richard doesn't want NPC nations to be complete walkovers so if you mess with them, you can expect some pushback.

In Ingria's case, I think the Tsar showing up with a pot of money and not enough troops was too rich for the locals to resist.

Which also explains the moral embarrassment for the English. Awaiting future months with interest.

The English or British are good... We still have plenty of resources to deal with other miscreants.

revvaughan wrote:The English or British are good...  We still have plenty of resources to deal with other miscreants.  

Ah.... not doubting the resources, just their wise disposition... ((I was looking for an "innocent" smiley to put in here, but couldn't find one))

August has arrived:

Versailles - More knights of the order of the holy spirit. More nights partying. Khat seems to be the drug of choice now.

Hanover - Queen Anne's navigational skills again seem challenged as she returns to Hanover having missed her stop (and banquet) in Vienna. Hanover has now adopted codified laws. Some debate over whether 300 pages of laws on the proper use of swagger sticks was really necessary. Prussian ambassador scoffs at giving the subject such short shrift. Churches were refurbished.

Kiel- The four men you are looking for... have left. via English merchantmen. with 2 friends.

Copenhagen - The king and the chancellor fight over who gets to fund the missionary work to seals in greenland. Seals seem to really like the loaves and fishes story, are a bit vague of the rest of the theology.

Vienna - The HRE seems unhappy with the 'corruption' of the attempt to take over Hamburg. Has asked the Aulic council reconfirm the independence of Hamburg.

Moscow proclaims that their signed piece of paper says that Ingria is theirs. Ingria swords at the Tsar's throat suggest that the sword may, in fact, be mighter than the treaty.

Lisbon - The royals mix it up by doing something completely different. They throw a party in a new place. small squiggly things are looked at. Drunkenness happened. Gambling happened. Drunken Gambling probably also happened but the emperor drunkenly bet people that they'd regret doing it. Churches were refurbished.

Sofia - praise was given to those who helped needy farmers. Nobody in the rest of the world understands. What is a "needy farmer?" How do those two words even go together?

Abyssinian monks on the way to Rome go missing. Experienced sailors roll their eyes and suggest looking for them in the slave coffles of Sfax, or the like.

Gondar - Emperor Iyasus learns why everybody in the world hates movement in the game. A mere 4 years to move his Ivory train.

Isfahan - Exiled princes who we don't acknowledge exist did not end up as a strangled body lying in the hallway of a royal palace. DID NOT. Also grain was not given to the poor secretly. IT WAS NOT.

Lahari Bandar however is under a naval blockade by 8 moghul line ships. Both fishing boats in residence refuse to give battle.

Khat and dodgy religious orders in France...........do I detact seepage from SFE????

Cheers for the write up Deacon.

I must admit that I don't bother reading Game 8's newspaper in depth - nothing much happens that would impact on my Swashbuckler playing, so I look at stuff from Africa (out of interest due to Game 10) and England (as that's where I'm playing).

Just about to email in my Swashbuckler turn ... Hopefully, soon, I'll be sailing off to lands new and customs not Christian (well, mostly). Just got to escape Hull first!

The Emperor Iyasus praises 'Emperor' Deacons dry and very humorous whit! And reminds his minions to log into the forum more frequently!