After much thought, I have drafted up several options we may pursue regarding foreign relations. I believe it best that they be presented to the court to choose the best decision, for these issues affect us all. Thus I present the following options regarding foreign policy:
Regarding Navarra, we have a few options. We believe it prudent that we extend our protection to them, although we are unsure of the methods of achieving such. Here is what we have considered:
1.
Diplovassalization - The people of Navarra view us quite favourably and it is believed that they would willingly become our subjects in time. It would be prudent to establish an alliance first and work from there to peacefully bring them into our kingdom.
2.
War - Diplomacy will take too long to achieve. Let us bring them under our rule by force.
3.
Neither - Who cares about Navarra? Let us leave them to fend for themselves.
Then there is the question of alliances. We believe it best that Aragon seek out two potential allies ((We only have 4 relations slots, and it's assumed that 2 of them will be for Naples and Navarra)). We have collected a list of potential candidates for you to consider. We advise you all to select your two preferences.
1.
Portugal - A fellow Iberian kingdom, they could be an useful ally to use against Castile. However, they are also allied with England and may not be entirely hostile towards Castile.
2.
France - One of the strongest land powers in Europe, who also happens to be close enough to be able to help against Castile. Allying them may also keep them off our back, or it may drag us into unimportant wars.
3.
Austria - The Holy Roman Emperor fields a massive army that could be to our benefit, although the distance from Aragon may make them an ineffective ally.
4.
Papal State - What good Catholic would not want to be an ally of the Pope? The Pope does covet our lands in Naples, but perhaps an alliance will offset that.
Then comes the question of war. We have come up with three potential targets. Unfortunately Granada does not make this list due to the truce. The other three will have to do. It is assumed that if we choose war against Navarra, we will have to delay any of these endeavours.
1.
Provence - As many within the court has mentioned, attacking Provence would provide us with valuable provinces on the Mediterranean and allow us greater control of trade in the region. This may risk antagonizing France in the future, but that is a risk we must take for the success of Aragon.
2.
Tunis - The heathens of North Africa must be shown the true faith. Grabbing provinces within Africa may also strengthen our position in the Mediterranean.
3.
Castile - As Ioannes Kontostephanos has suggested, we may be able to make a quick strike at Castile with the right allies. It is a risky plan and could be difficult to pull off, but would greatly weaken our chief rival if successful.
Those are all the matters we wish to consult you all on. We have also decided that we will declare
Castile, England, and Genoa as rivals.
- His Majesty, Alfons V de Trastámara, King of Aragon and Naples
((All three of these proposals are up for a vote. You can also express discontent for the choice of rivals, but the king has a long memory so be warned.
For the three votes, simply state which of the options you prefer and
bold the vote. The second one regarding alliances is special, since you can choose two options. Seeing as this is the first official vote and it will end up being added with the other council plans, I'm giving everyone
4 days to vote on them. I'm aiming for
6pm PST on Saturday. That should be more than enough time to vote. It also works out well since I'm working until Saturday and won't have time to play until then.
To add to the confusion, I have an OOC vote to conduct. I need your opinions on some matters regarding this iAAR. I had a discussion in the Coldfront channel with some players about how player generals work. At the moment I merely pretend they're leading a leaderless army, but that means that it's the equivalent of every player general being terrible. The alternative is adding player generals into the game. The leader cap presents a problem though. If I add player generals, we'll go over that limit and start losing military points. We discussed the possibility of raising the limit through modding and adding in player generals with the console. The stats of each general would be randomly assigned by me based on our army tradition. At the moment, I'm thinking of raising the leader limit to 4, which should allow us to have 3 player generals and our sole admiral. Of course I also realize some may see this as gamey, so that's why I'm putting it up for a vote. To clarify things, here are the two options:
Raise the leader limit and add in player generals using the console.
Stick with the system of pretending player generals are leading the army.
This is part of the vote, but please keep it OOC. Voting power does not apply here, so everyone gets a single vote. The deadline is the same as the earlier vote, so
6pm PST on Saturday.
But we're not done yet! Andre brought up the idea of players becoming cardinals or even the Pope. While I believe making it so that players can become cardinals should be relatively easy, the Pope may be more difficult. If we allowed a player to serve as Pope when Aragon becomes papal controller, how would that be implemented? I'm a bit unsure about it, since in-game the Pope would be the leader of the Papal States, which is a country we cannot control. Either we'd have to find an explanation for why one of the characters is leading a foreign country or have an NPC serve the role. I'm bringing this up because I want to hear what everyone thinks of this idea. It's in the brainstorming process, so offer up any suggestions you have.
I've also got some questions about forts. I have not had the chance to play an actual game with Common Sense, so I'm not entirely familiar with the new fort system. From what I can tell, each fort has a sphere of influence over the surrounding provinces to help protect them and reclaim provinces. My question is if having two forts next to each other has any benefit? To me it'd make more sense to spread them out to cover all provinces instead of wasting precious ducats protecting the same provinces twice. This has to do with Roussillon and Girona both having forts. I almost want to move one because it seems illogical to have both there. Can someone clarify this whole fort thing better for me?
Well I've rambled on for long enough. Sorry for bombarding you with so much information at once. Take your time to process it. To clarify, you have four things to vote on, three in-character and one out-of-character, and four days to vote on them.))