YEAR 4

Kingdom of Rok

Advisor Razr: "Great Gagnorok, through your guidance we have had many victories on the battlefield. I would not easily admit being afraid, but I do fear some other nations on the continent. Not because they have strong warriors; nobody can match our guys. No, I fear their cancerous growth. Perhaps we ought to expand too. If you decide to expand, I suggest we get some sustainable method of producing food. I know you are not keen on using slaves, so perhaps we can use some spare women to keep some pigs? It's not that hard. Pigs'll eat anything. Even shit."

Advisor Rokan: "I think that's a good idea. However, we also shouldn't waste good meat. Whenever some weakling amongst us dies, we burn their corpses out of respect. All I see is a terrible waste. If you can't fight, what better purpose is there than to serve as food for those that do fight?"

Advisor Bork: "I have heard from a hermit priest that when you eat a weakling, you get their weaknesses. And when you eat a strong person, you gain their strengths. So, for example, if you want to be good at shouting, you eat the tongue of someone that can shout. If you eat big balls, you become extra potent. What I'm saying, is that we shouldn't eat just everybody. Or every part. Only people that look like they were powerful. And parts that seem to contain power. That makes sense, doesn't it?"

Slevadovia

Advisor August: "Our nice cities are littered with stray people. Vermin, if you ask me. I don't want to see or smell those pathetic pests that are too lazy to work. These people either bother customers by begging endlessly with teethless mouths, or scare them away because of their general repulsiveness. Can't you just make them go away? Get some soldiers to throw them in a dungeon? I'd say out of sight, out of mind, but the stench will remain for a while."

Advisor Hussime: "You cannot do that. They did not choose to become homeless. Possessionless. They were made so by society. We should give them some means to get started again. An investment, to create a better future for all."

Advisor Stojan: "I like where this is going. We invest in these people, and if they do not pay back the money they borrowed (plus some interest) within the agreed timeframe, they have to give up their sole possession: their life. Yes. I am talking about slavery. Think about it. It's a way to get them off the streets, to get them to work, and to provide food, all in one! I'll be the first to invest in these people!"

Austria

Minister Henricus: "Our nice city of Berlin is troubled by thieves. People are afraid, and business is bad. You just cannot step outside without thinking about these unlucky low-lives. Perhaps you can let soldiers patrol the streets. Authorised to use lethal force. That'll keep them in check."

Minister Gregorius: "These persons should not be killed. For Fortuna might have some purpose for them still. Bring them to the Abbey, my colleagues and I will turn them into exemplars, priests of the lot.

Minister Innocentius: "You are the upholder of our laws. Any crime against a citizen of Austria, is a crime against you. And as you are the high priest, any crime equals heresy. Execution is not the appropriate response. Not immediately anyway. They know damn well that they are not allowed to steal or to kill. And yet they act in a wicked manner nonetheless. Our goddess demands sacrifices. Demands pay back. We shall torture them using geomantic devices to choose the appropriate tool, and after each session choose whether to continue, or to end their unlucky lives."

Khemri

Advisor Marakugh: "I've learned something that might be of interest to you. Some of our citizens are disobeying the natural order. Brothers mate with sisters. Parents mate with children. Inbreeding, that leads to degeneration of the body and of the mind, I fear. We must do something about it. Perhaps we can expand the wraith organization, and have them secretly check what people are doing in their homes on regular basis. If they disobey the law, we will throw them in the dungeon. It's infringement of their privacy, yes. But what does it matter if they do not know? Well, until they misbehave of course."

Advisor Mawet: "We should prohibit sexual activities until the age of twelve. And make the parents enforce it. If any girls below that age get pregnant we will question her to reveal the identity of her sexual partner. And we do not incarcerate them, but their parents. As those parents were apparently too lazy or unfit to teach their offspring how to behave."

Advisor Zeeth-es: "Laws that repress sexuality are against the natural order. Do you want to create even more civil disorder, disobedience? I say let people fuck whoever they please. Let them fuck elves, or even pigs. And if we do get some degenerates we just dispose of them, right? Why throw fit people in jail for feeling horny? It's our nature. We should not deny who we are."

Zalfir

Advisor Aleras: "Honorable lady and lord, I have found another way of reducing the threat that is black metal. We can create cyprium coils in the ground before city gates, hooked to amber-power mills. This will create an invisible field within black metal becomes significantly heavier, to the point where the enemy cannot fight properly with their weapons.

However, I still think reforging the armor and weapons is a better plant. These coils cannot be carried across the battlefield, because they do not work without the mills, and are pretty heavy themselves. This static solution is also more expensive."

Junior alchemist Frulir: "What if we modify the coils a bit to store the amber-power in a ....? If we then release the energy, a great destructive power will exit the top of the coil, and 'desires' to go to the cyprium plate on the ground. Only it does not want to travel through air, but rather through black metal. Any person carrying an armor made of black metal will be roasted before they can enter our towns. You don't even need guards! .. Oh, of course there is a countdown before the coils can fire again. But I'm sure that nobody will enter a gate that has just turned their friends to ash."

Advisor Aleras: "You are not allowed to speak here! ... hmm. Well I suppose it is possible. If we ... we could incorporate the mills and coils on siege towers, we can move them around. We could use saudhs to pull them. That way we can move our defence system to the hypothetical front line."

Advisor Jawahir: "I would suggest not to go ahead with this, but you are planning on hiring out our soldiers. In that case we need to increase tax. Let each citizen of zalfir write one extra shortstory each week."

Equestria

Advisor Bulbe: "Your ladyship, I bring alarming information. The loch Lomond contains a strange danger, though not of the dragon kind. We have spotted humanoids coming out of the lake at night. At day they hide in the water, they are apparently able to breathe under water, and are presumably harmless. But at night they come out. They have already assaulted a number of our people, and there's even one case of abduction and drowning. Horrible. I say we place a good number of guards in the town near the lake to protect the people. Kill anything that comes out of the lake and or tries to enter the town at night. We cannot take any more chances."

Advisor Feyte: "That will be a constant battle between equestrian and lake-monster. I propose we send a specially trained team adept at holding their breath, and find the under water nests or wherever these beasts spawn, and exterminate them. That's the only way we will get some rest around here."

Advisor Moath: "You can't do that! Think about the environment, about nature. About the magic of this place. If we are going to destroy these creatures then the next thing is fish that bite, or itchy weeds. Or irritating birds. We cannot turn the whole world into a perfectly ordered city. Or we can, but I don't want it. It takes all the fun out of the world. It makes everything so dull. And you cannot reverse this. You cannot bring back species from extinction."

Unaddressed issue from year 2:

Lienzo Republic

Minister Cayu: "The festival we had on the first year of the second age really showed how great Lienzo's cuisine truly is. How great the potential is, I should say. Most people do not have much choice in food, it's mostly black pudding and lard-covered bread. Other things are only consumed as exceptional treat. Therefore I propose we pump some money into local restaurants, so that poor people can afford great food too. Everybody should be able to have fine steak, cheese and wine every day."

Minister Hierro: "You realize we have spent a lot on health recently? I suggest we use this ongoing food-craze to fill our coffers a bit. Let's increase the tax on prize-winning food. It's only rich people buying it anyway, they'll still be able to afford it."

Minister Senagh: "I remember how it was before all these foreigners came here. All was better. I know we cannot evict them, that would go against our fundamental principles. But what if we increased the general tax for non-vampires? That way you don't force them to leave, but do give a push in the right direction. And the extra money can be spent on local restaurants, just as minister Cayu explained. So that every vampire can get a proper meal every day."