195 - Forum Diplomacy Steel Rex

[HeadHoncho]

OOC: Not going to put this in character, but I'm a huge proponent of data analysis, so please feel free to use the below to help crunch numbers and formulate hypotheses.

T14: Steal gold attempt on Cradia, attempt failed (probably due to my counter-espionage, as my agent was promoted, but no capture of the enemy)
T14: Assassination attempt on an agent/fanatic in Arcania, attempt failed (no counter-espionage, no capture)
T15: Nothing
T16: Steal gold attempt on a pop center in northeastern Runnimede, attempt succeeded, got away with a few hundred gold (no counter-espionage, no capture)
T17: Nothing

[Drogo]

GI ----> WA

Ok for food this month or do you need some?

No luck with the Prestige spells?

[DuPont]

TR-DW
Big Chief No Fart not mad. Me not want to say too much because me not want Dark One to always know what Big Chief doing. Me might take village this turn, though, since we friends my men know not to catch your people. Right now I hold no towns but four villages - GM, FK, CN, DQ. What you got?
I take Dark One's town at IB, but king long gone. Must be hiding back up in the Mists.

[Netstrider]

WA -> GI

Yes, I'm good for food. Thanks much my large friend. The prestige spell failed unfortunately. I find myself in a war of attrition against an unknown and unseen enemy. Not sure what to do about that. Ideas?

WA - GN

Thank you for the information. To be honest the Gnome and Dark Elf were on my short list of possible perps. Both of you because of your agent abilities and the Gnome because of the bantering at the beginning of the game. The DA says he's clean and I have no reason to doubt him. Granted, you did not claim that you were NOT the cause of my agent problems, so you are still on the list but not as likely as you were.

Here is my sad list so everyone can use that data as they may:

T12: 3x Sabotage of town defenses
T13: Stole gold from my capital which had an agent guarding it. Agent wounded but survived. Theft succeeded.
T14: Envoy assassinated. Lvl 7 Agent slept and assassinated.
T15: Gold stolen from Evanon (think the city belonged to GI that turn)
T16: 2x town defenses sabotaged. Baron assassinated.
T17: Wizards assassinated.

It's enough to make a king want to destroy a town or two. I'm left with two possible likely perps.

Red

[Vulkar]

DW-WA

Red Magus,

You may be assured that Dwarven agents are not responsible for any actions against you. They've been occupied in the North.

I had food stolen from me this season, though can't complain about any more serious losses. I imagine there are many agents out there sharpening their craft to improve efficiency. Now if only war would ensue as a result...

King Oban

[mafmiller]

WA -> GI

Yes, I'm good for food. Thanks much my large friend. The prestige spell failed unfortunately. I find myself in a war of attrition against an unknown and unseen enemy. Not sure what to do about that. Ideas?

WA - GN

Thank you for the information. To be honest the Gnome and Dark Elf were on my short list of possible perps. Both of you because of your agent abilities and the Gnome because of the bantering at the beginning of the game. The DA says he's clean and I have no reason to doubt him. Granted, you did not claim that you were NOT the cause of my agent problems, so you are still on the list but not as likely as you were.

Here is my sad list so everyone can use that data as they may:

T12: 3x Sabotage of town defenses
T13: Stole gold from my capital which had an agent guarding it. Agent wounded but survived. Theft succeeded.
T14: Envoy assassinated. Lvl 7 Agent slept and assassinated.
T15: Gold stolen from Evanon (think the city belonged to GI that turn)
T16: 2x town defenses sabotaged. Baron assassinated.
T17: Wizards assassinated.

It's enough to make a king want to destroy a town or two. I'm left with two possible likely perps.

Red

DA - WA

Remember, too, mysterious mage, there is a NAP between our two nations ... I would certainly consider many of the events you describe as aggressive!

RR

[Jumpingfist]

AN

if it helps we have seem no agent activity and would love it to continue.

OOC
AN - WA. Use order 730 or cast invisible to help protect your wizards. Also you can switch what group your wizards end up in. This helps a lot since 740s come before agent actions 900s

[DuPont]

TR-WA
Hey, King of the Flaming Nether Regions. We no like wizards, but we busy going after the Dark One. We not do anything bad to you.

[HeadHoncho]

GN-WA

Red Mage,

It would perhaps interest you to know that the Kingdoms who have the second-best Agent potential in the land are as follows: Elves, Ancient Ones, Dark Elves, Rangers, Gnomes, and yourself. I say second-best because the Kingdom with the best agent potential is obviously the Underworld, who, as has been pointed out, you have not purchased protection from, and who has pointedly refused to deny responsibility.

If you choose to ignore the obvious and instead make assumptions based on your own biases, that is your prerogative, but I can promise you that your implicit accusations do not go unnoticed, and are not appreciated.

Sincerely,
Bottlenose

PS: Part of me doesn't want to dignify your question with a response, but the greater part that appreciates candor will simply say that it wasn't us... but your attitude is making me wish that it was.

[Vulkar]

DW-WA

Red Mage,

In the spirit of friendship I wish to offer some advice in this matter, you may do with it as you please.

Every kingdom will have trained up agents to their maximum potential and is looking to advance their capabilities through covert activity, as such you won't be able to ascertain the culprits by considering who has strong agent potential. Being centrally located, Warlock targets are within range of every other kingdom, as such it's especially important to take measures to protect yourself. Aside from the obvious guard spells you can protect wizards by casting invisible group spells and by regularly changing group IDs (i.e. send a detachment, then combine the old group with the new). You can protect your agents and emissaries by moving them frequently, warding some on occasion to thwart sleep spells. Doing these things will discourage further attempts as enemy agents are unlikely to keep trying. Not doing these things presents very easy targets for improving agent levels.

Don't stand idly by while you slowly get picked apart - start vaporizing towns and villages if you have suspicions (especially those with wizards and agents in them), and if you still have agents of your own put them to use hunting down foreign agents, emissaries and wizards. You don't want to be the only kingdom suffering.

Lastly, have lots of agents and conduct lots of recons. You may learn who is acting against you and you'll find suitable targets for your own agents. Information is critical to success in Alamaze.

Best of luck,

King Oban