Coedd
All is Coedd
Diplomacy: 3, Military: 1, Economy: 1, Faith: 10, Intrigue: 10
Actions
1) Faith - Conversion in Region 26 (Establish Coedd Minority) (Success)
non-Coedd meats fought non-Coedd meat. Coedd aids Coedd.
A voice recording by Siobhan of Clagarth
This is well oiled by this point - I wonder if there's a less-machinery-more-plant way of adjusting that metaphor? Well lubricated? Sounds kinda gross. Anyway. It's an appropriate metaphor. Scarcely has the final gunshot echoed away before cultists swarm the area: repairing the damage and spreading the word of Coedd.
2) Faith (10) - Celestial Domain
Subaction: Create Holy Order - Choristers of Sian
There's no fanfare, no announcement. Internally, nothing really has changed. Nothing is fundamentally altered. But Coedd has spent long enough managing a planet spanning network of cultists that they've grown good at it and can use it more effectively than most, getting more use out of its followers in an equivalent time than anyone else can.
A voice recording by Siobhan of Clagarth
There is one potentially interesting development though. A group of the human natives have formed something of a..sub-cult? focused around a young girl with a truly incredible singing voice - I've heard her and it really is a once in a generation talent. She sings devotional songs to Coedd, heavily played on local media, and her gifts are being hailed as Coedd-granted. A few - myself included - have queried why on Coedd Coedd would do that. And how. And, again why. But it matters not, they are using her music to increase their devotion and on balance that's probably a positive.
3) Intrigue (10) - Intelligence Agency
Subaction - target the ArkHive
With cultists across the planet sending information to Coedd and Coedd paying no attention whatsoever to any of it, the backlog is becoming extreme. Its stored electronically, of course, but if it weren't there'd certainly be towering stacks of paper everywhere. The not particularly shadowy figure known as B when people remember to use her codename but usually as Michella Farn subtly arranges for a warehouse in the federal face to be given over to their spy games (there is a broad agreement that it was done "subtly" despite the actual mechanism being her simply asking if she could use it - the land registry records the building as "Super secret Coedd spying base") and begins moving information there for arkhival.
An open day is held in celebration of the opening. Visitors are eagerly shown round and many leave with free mugs with "Coedd is All" on the side. In the main hall there is a sign up sheet for those wanting to get involved in the fast paced world of spying for Coedd.
4) Intrigue (5) Assault Organization Base (Imperial Embassy in region 21)
Subaction: Using Hives of Scum and Villainy
As the sun rises on a glorious summer day, the Imperial Embassy on Sansar's communications light up like a Coedd Day fireworks display. Through every communication method at Coedd's disposal - including a few that her spy network had uncovered and weren't generally known - the same message is received. "Evacuate the building. You have three hours" This repeats for a good fifteen minutes before being reduced to only a few channels, so as not to impede internal communications potentially needed for organsing any evacuation.
At the third hour to the dot, five imperial fugitives - violent men with no loyalty to Coedd but a strong grudge against the Empire - place earthernware pots around the perimeter of the complex and then RUN. Vines grow rapidly from the pots and into the Embassy through open windows, airt vents and other openings, seeking out and wrapping round electrical power lines. And then tugging on them, moving wires that shouldn't be touching so that they do and sparking electrical fires throughout the building.
As is probably expected, there is no official word from Coedd but senior cultists make no pretence that Coedd viewed the Imperial encouragement of violence against the Elif Dhaoine and the Glorious Purifiers as an attack on her allies that demanded some degree of retaliation.
5) Intrigue - Theft of One Treasure from TEA (Success)
A voice recording by Siobhan of Clagarth
So apparently there was a succesful hacking attempt on the Eucrus' Alliance's government bank accounts and appparently a similar amount, less transaction fees has appeared in the government accounts here on Coedd. There's some bragging going around that the enemies of the Basu-Rahman group have been punished which I suppose they have but honestly as far as I can tell this was just to prove that they could. Government figures seem a little embarassed by it, if I'm honest.
Expected Stat Increases Next Turn:
None (Faith and Intrigue both maxed)
Other mechanical notes:
+2 Renown (+1 Exalt Domain, +1 First to do so) From Higher Powers
+2 Renown (+1 Establish Intelligence Agency, +1 amongst first five to do so) From Eyes in the Skies
-1 Renown From Hives of Scum and Villainy
Net change: +3 Renown
-3 EMP rep from attack on base (Action 4)
1 BRG favour repaid (Non-Action 3)
Non-actions
-
The Opening of the Golden Phoenix is surprisingly well attended by Coedd's representatives. Siobhan travels there for some final relaxation and socialisation prior to her long sojourn into the jungles of Coedd while representatives of Coedd's "spy" network travel to make contact with Tekhum's other major intrigue power and draw up an agreement:
The Nine Year Understanding
- BRB will not personally take proselytism or subterfuge actions on Sansar, unless otherwise invited
- COE will not personally take proselytism or subterfuge actions off Sansar, unless otherwise invited
- BRB and COE will, in this manner, enter into an Understanding of non-interference with each other.
- Each will be given first right of refusal to act on the other's behalf in their respective territories. Refusal allows the offeror the ability to act unimpeded by this Understanding. Agreement means the offered will take action on the offeror's behalf.
- Professionalism and secrecy will be maintained regarding the offers made to act within defined territory, excepting acts that might be considered an extreme risk to the offered's interests.
- This Understanding will last for nine-years, and be reviewed again at the conclusion of that time period.
- A visit to Neo Guleum. The Golden Phoenix isn't the only draw on Badal. The merchants of Coedd feel aggrieved. They've been ignored by Coedd. Their overtures to the Empire were rebuffed. The Union didn't seem impressed by their work. Noone had taken them up on the advertising campaign they had sponsored. And what do merchants do when they feel unloved? Well, maybe they could change their working practices, form a voluntary code of conduct and reform. Or maybe they could say "No, it's everyone else who is wrong" and seek out the one group in Tekhum most likely to find a use for a merchant group living under a goddess who wasn't interested in setting any laws or regulations whatsoever. They arrive in Neo Gulueum to speak with the psycho-capitalists.
- Repay BRG favour through The Enemy of My Enemy (theft from TEA)
- The White Pawns attack a trade post with no defence offered although "attack" might be putting it a bit strongly. At first they set up a cordon and defeinsive positions to hold off the anticipated defenders but over time it becomes clear none are coming. Locals watch with relative disinterest as the refineries are smashed and pulled down, the merchants owning those refineries having fled as soon as they White Pawns mobilised. Overall, any White Pawns casualties would have been caused by the generally hostile nature of Coedd's fauna - though non is specifically tasked to attack them - and any local casualties (aside from the ones killed by Coedd's generally hostile native fauna...) more a misunderstanding than an actual combat casualty.
-
The people want action and they shall have it. A detailed plan is submitted to the Sansar guildhall by Coedd along with carefully labelled seed samples for the various plants detailed:
The Plan
Low but fast-growing plants are to be planted along the south-western edge of the area (sample 1). These will stabilise the soil and prevent further encroachment of the dust deserts. The nutrients released by their deaths will, in three years, be able to support a secondary ring of plants (sample 2) - slower growing but sturdy fruit trees which will provide needed construction materials, fuel (through burning) and fruit to Veerha. Their eventual death will in turn support an eventual growth along the bank of the water of the third and final type (sample 3) - very long lived plants which will a) give a screen to the water to prevent further dehydration but more importantly b) release water vapour in sufficient quantities to eventually (estimates break down a little at these sort of timeframes but 250 years seems reasonable) increase rainfall on Veerha and move the atmosphere slowly closer to normal - it is understand that when Coedd says "normal" it means "Sansar-normal"
Arkhive
Submission to the Arkhive
The Media Landscape of Coedd - Notes by Siobhan of Clagarth
The local media franchises support Coedd thoroughly. This isn't just "they know their target audience", this is a deeper support caused by the bulk of the producers, writers, etc being devoted worshippers of Coedd. Most media outlets in Tekhum broadcast 24/7 making Coedd's outlets an outlier in that they only broadcast in daylight, with the broadcast hours thus varying through the year. I'm not sure why this is the case and no one I spoke to knew either. But they start, to the minute, with sunrise and end, again to the minute, with sunset.
You may think this is a result of legislation or regulation, but this is note the case. There is no legislation, no regulations governing Coedd's media whatsoever. Coedd itself obviously has not produced any, but the human government has not done so either. The media of Coedd are unregulated beyond the dreams of the most libertarian laissez faire minds.
And so what does an entirely unregulated media do? In this case it broadcasts devotional matter. The three major media companies have slightly different focuses (and slightly different theological beliefs as well, actually) but in the main TV, radio and other mass market media give a constant diet of hymns, sermons, panel discussions and other material related to the faith of Coedd. Even news broadcasts and other factual programmes are heavily biased by the faith of Coedd and present analyses and similar matters through that lens.
This wasn't always the case, of course, and the three major companies (and the flotilla of minor ones) were considerably more varied prior to Coedd's efforts to drive out unbelievers fifteen or twenty years ago and vestiges of this can sometimes be seen in the slightly different approaches and theologies I mentioned before.
CBC - Coedd Broadcasting Corporation - was previously the more "highbrow" of the media companies with prestige journalism shows, hgih culture and generally targeting a higher class, higher education target audience. It handles the syncretism of Coedd worship by, essentially, ignoring it. It's editorial stance is that the variation of Coedd worship practiced on the sub continent is the correct one and its documentaries ad coverage of the rest of the faith often takes a sniffily disapproving tone.
RTC - RadioTelevision Coedd - previously served the other end of the market. Lower culture shows, worse quality journalism, considerably more fart jokes. Nowadays, though, they ironically serve a better class of citizen than CBC. Their cooking, gardening, home improvement and so on shows transitioned seamlessly into Coedd coverage, focusing on the same areas just through a different lens.
S4C - Station for Coedd - was, even before the takeover, a religiously themed station (remember that even before the takeover the human worshippers of Coedd dominated much of life). Their output has barely changed over the last couple of decades.
Spies
Units: 1
Treasure: 0