[The Panther]

With all the stops and starts for this game, I got a bit behind on my yarns. Here is the belated Turn 33 yarn, with the Turn 36 yarn to come sometime soon. At least the battle against Pythium is prioviding me with lots of material for my yarns.


Turn 33

Pythium strikes back!

The evil nation of Pythium has bounced back from near elimination. These past few months, the Pretender Cibragol summoned some odd ether warriors who were surprisingly difficult for my hawks and wolves to strike. Those strange fellows mowed down my summoned nature army like they never even existed.

I therefore ordered a retreat from my frontier provinces of Endron and Voccan. Both those provinces are right next to the capitol of Pythium anyway, and that simple fact makes it quite difficult for my army to defend them. But, to placate my darn Uncle, I did approve a full mobilization of my vast army to the front lines. Certainly that show of force will put the fear of Selena into my enemies! All we can do now is to wait and see how it all turns out.

One thing I can now report on is the complete success of another of the splendid ideas from Veronicas, my fine friend and Minister of Research. She had reported to me that the quiet little library we discovered years ago in Gryphon Spires could potentially make a fine boost to our research. So, acting solely on her advice, I had long ago ordered the construction of a laboratory and began offering gold to lure members of an obscure brand of wizards who call themselves sages.

And the results are VERY apparent. My nation has done unbelievably well in research ever since then. Despite the Lands of Man being totally devoid of magic enhancing scales, my little nation is THIRD of all the nations for magical research (per the unbiased ONN reports). Also, the two purple nations ahead of my magic-poor nation both have maximum +3 (meaning expensive) magical-boosting scales! The fact that we are now so close to the purple nations in research amazes me even more than anything else Veronicas has done for my nation. That girl is so bright indeed.

There was another odd thing that happened in the last few months. First, Cleges, my Minister of War, performed a surprising field promotion of one of his knights after a vicious battle against Pythium. So, the result was that Godgifu is now a full-fledged commander leading armies into battle. And, to top it off, the Avalon Crone Darielle even taught Godgifu some magical skills! I have already read that particular report several times, for I was glad to see some benefits come from a war.

The second thing that happened was far more troublesome. After the losing fight against the ether warriors of Pythium, a lone dispossessed spirit named Nar decided to leave the service of his evil Pythium masters and join forces with righteous Man! Plus, during some fierce battle somewhere, Nar even found several nice artifacts, including a Black Steel Full Plate, a Barkskin Amulet, and a Boots of Giant Strength. Nar then reported to my laboratory in Cuna Eral to present those fine specimens as a gift for his acceptance into my just and rightful nation.

Unfortunately though, in a routine audit, the mundane bean counters of the ONN discovered the addition of these new artifacts to my treasury without my mages having constructing them. ONN then announced the supposed fact to all nations in the Land of Inland that the Nation of Man is cheating. Cheating!!! Me? I don’t even know how to cheat! I don’t know why those ONN bean counters tried to blame me for the fact that a lone spirit decided to quit the Pythium Empire and join Man! It ain’t my fault…

Of course, the presence of this dispossessed spirit does lead me to worry about my Inquisition allies. They have already issued far too many proclamations about their abhorrence of the use of death magic. While I have never practiced the dark arts myself, Nar, this new scout of Man, is surely a creature of death magic. No other explanation can be made for his presence. While I believe that it was the evil masters of Pythium who summoned the spirit in the first place, the Inquisition typically jumps first and asks questions later. And Marignon now shares a huge border with me after we squeezed Pythium from between us. So I worry. And I continue to plan for the total elimination of the Pythium Empire.

Pythium now; put off the Marignon issue until later. It is the only way I can rule effectively. For it is, as always, one thing at a time.