YEAR 6

Slevadovia

(I have placed the city you wanted on M22 on another square (L23), because at the beginning of your turn M22 was not adjacent to a city of yours.)

Advisor Hussime: "Two moons ago, on the west of the Pale-man's Cove, priests of Urzgtharh have performed some very dark rituals. I don't know the exact details, but it involved cannibalism. This ritual has brought some dark power to our nation. A curse has been placed on our people. First only a few were afflicted, but soon we realised the curse spreads to all who touch the accursed.

First the accursed becomes feverish, sickly. But after a week or so they regain their strength, nay, gain greater strength than they had before. The terrible drawback of this curse is the bloodthirstiness that courses through the afflicted's veins. A previously gentle person might suddenly be found to pick fights on the street. People that couldn't hurt a fly are now capable of murder.

We need to make sure that this curse cannot spread. Otherwise our fine Slevadovian people will be turned into Rok-like savages. We could set up some sanatoriums were ill people can suffer their illness in isolation. Whatever the affliction."

Advisor Augustus: "This evil must not only be isolated - it must be destroyed. Annihilated. If we truly want to get rid of this infernal darkness we must use the bright cleansing power of the naked flame. And burn them alive, because this curse only befalls those who are evil-inclined. I can't imagine that truly good people can become bloodthirsty. It must be something already present, slumbering perhaps, but already present and condemnable. Let the wicked burn!"

Advisor Julio: "Is this a curse, or a blessing? You can curb bloodthirstiness with laws, but you cannot increase our people's strength so easily. We are to become a great warrior nation. It would only be natural to accept this gift of strength. Perhaps we could even thank the powers that have brought us this gift, for they might grant us some more?"

Zalfir

Advisor Jawahir: "What do we value most? Imaginative stories, stunning architecture, exciting gameplay; all products of the mind. Some minds are not capable of producing anything valuable, though they serve to control the bodies that do valuable work. Food production, logistics, and so on. Still other minds are not capable of doing either of these things. These people are functionless. Without function they cannot repay the gifts they receive from society. They are a burden to all of us, they are parasites. Luckily we can spot the unwanted conditions - the retardation - even as the child is in the womb. With a special tea we can abort the pregnancy. Should the baby emerge alive even after treatment, because it was fairly mature already, we could choose to give it a large dose of Xilior juice to end its life fairly painlessly. Without this burden, our nation can reach even greater heights."

Advisor Nabendu: "All life is valuable to us, no matter how it appears. Some people are really good at doing things themselves, and others require assistance. It's just the way it is. Life should be more important to us than *products*. It is the one thing that distinguishes us - elves - from the other more lowly races. To regard life as a fantastic, divine phenomenon. It should not be divided into parts by the rational mind. Life is not about usefulness. Not about function. It's about curiosity, and love."

Advisor Aleras: "Life is not *that* important. We also kill certain plants for food, do we not? Think about seeds, they can be regarded as vegetable babies. What's important is minds. Our minds are everything. We must serve the minds of our fellow-elves. When an elf has literally lost her mind, perhaps through some construction accident, that life has lost its value. But when certain characteristics of the mind are altered, it does not become so clear. We could investigate how useful each measurable characteristic is, and translate this into a certain usefulness value for the person. And as characteristics are passed on to the progeny, this means that certain parents should not get children. Well, they might adopt children, or help with raising other people's children, but they shouldn't get babies of their own flesh and blood. We could enforce this in two different ways. We could either punish those that get children without permission, or we could prevent it by a harmless sterilization procedure. The most important, of course, will be to inform the people about how useful this is for society."

Equestria

Advisor Kvikke: "Certain Equestrians are becoming rather *liberal* with regards to their mating activities. We have tolerated more-than-amical behaviour between the parts of an equestrian pair - all for better bonding, right? But now we have dwarves and pegasi make love with cousins, or even brothers or sisters. This cannot be allowed, it is unnatural. It's a disruption of the divine order. A broken horseshoe, if you will."

Advisor Snaeri: "What are you complaining about? Our nation is great that it allows such freedom of love. If all participants consent, how can there be a problem? Who cares about social position, age, race, and so on? The only truly important thing is LOVE, and we should not restrict it."

Advisor Feyte: "I agree, love is really important. But we must also be rational about it. In some cases this behaviour might lead to the birth of inbreds. And it could also increase the spread of certain illnesses. To deal with these potential consequences, we should create sanatoriums with properly trained herbalists. We are lacking good medical facilities anyway."

Kingdom of Rok

Priest Zirt: "The time has come that you all bow down before the real master of Jotnjordh: DONAR! God of the roaring thunder! God of war! If you bow down now, Donar will grant you victory. Pleasing my Lord is easy: kill and destroy as much as you can. And he will protect you from death."

Advisor Bork: "I've seen no such God. And I know for a fact that thunder and lightning originate on the mountains to the north. It's the home of the Ettin god Urzgtharh. He accepts human sacrifices from fellow human eaters, and rewards them with great power. It makes more sense to worship him."

Advisor Ter: "Our master is Gagnorok! His roar is law! Everybody that thinks otherwise should be killed and eaten!"

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."

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 Chrimr: "Recently some middle-class Khemrians have died after the consumption of spoiled blood. We need laws to prohibit the sale of spoiled food, and allow the wraiths to enforce them."

Advisor Tanatei: "That's good and all, but we need to fix the real problem. We just do not have enough fresh blood to go around. What we need is blood farms. We can tie the elves or nords to the spot, and slowly drain the blood from them. If we don't drain them too fast, we can use them for quite some time."

Advisor Mawet: "In this world we have to consider other people's feelings. I don't want to sound too sentimental, but we cannot ignore that other nations are not going to like this. Let blood be an expensive commodity, fine. I'd rather have unhappy peasants than no peasants at all."