DIPLO: RollPlay Team contact LOG

[Harovan]

To His Holiness Pope Calixtus I

(shortly, as not much time available)

Your Holiness,

many thanks for appointing me to the Cardinal of Egyptus. Be assured, that I will do all I can to strengthen our Holy Church and to be a good shepherd to our Stormian warriors. As much as it urges me to go public with this great honor, reason and battle tactics order me not to. It is wiser to keep it secret, at least until our great alliance is publicly known. Since the lives of many brave pikemen, infanterists and knights are at stake, I will keep my lips sealed and urge Your Holiness to do the same.

Humbly yours,

Ralphus,
Cardinal of Egyptus

[Harovan]

RE: To His Holiness Pope Calixtus I

Your Eminence,

Worry not. I know as well as you that this alliance is to be kept a secret, and I can assure you that it will be maintained as such for as long as possible. You need only act upon my letter when this conflict has been brought to a satisfactory close.

Go with my blessings.

His Will be done,
Pope Calixtus I

[Theseus]

Sent at 9:04pm EST, 7/21:

His Holiness the Pope Calixtus I,

Your Eminence, I am a simple man.

I speak not with the flowery words of the diplomat. I speak most often with the coarse language of the battlefield, and, infrequently, of a rhetoric to stir my men's souls.

For some time now, I have been... distraught. As your Holiness may not know, I lost my two sons, valiant young men, in the battle with Vox at Arashi9. Since that evil day, my life has been an empty shell; even watching the final elements of the Voxodus unfold has brought but a small spark of pleasure to me.

This Grand Alliance between Spain and Egypt, however... it has woken something in me, a desire and growing hunger for the world. I wonder if this is not fate, if this indeed does not mean something more than just politics and war, but if the Alliance, and the exposure to your ways and beliefs, might not have meaning for me personally.

I question my long-held belief in Chickenism, and wonder whether your way, following the teachings of Cathol, might be in my future. I would learn of you and from you...

But while I have had my eyes opened to these new wonders... that they be threatened by heathens such as these Chinese and Arabs, why, my anger BURNS on your behalf, and I will not stand for it!

Simply put, my sword is at your feet, in the hope that you will accept my defense.

/me kneels and bows, holding out sword for blessing and benediction

[Theseus]

Received 11:14pm, 7/21:

My dear friend and brother in Christ,

Bow not to me, for after all, I am but a man. It is to the cross that you must bow, for there is ever man's salvation. I only preside over the Church in the place of Christ, before whom ever knee shall bend.

Brother, I am moved by your story. You are clearly and good and honest man, and a true Christian man at that. What does it matter that you speak coarsely to your men? As a soldier, you are expected to do so. Surely, priests of the Church don't speak thus from the pulpits, but no one expects them to. A general speaks thus because his men speak thus, and the men look up to the general and wish to be like him, and likewise, the general wishes to be like his flock so that they will trust him, and when they trust him, there is no place that they will not storm for him. I commend you for your integrity as a man and a soldier. May God shower his blessings upon you and your men!

I deeply grieve over the loss of your two sons. It is a sad time in which we live, when children are buried by parents. But remember that this vale of tears is but a shadow, and that God knows and sees all. Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.

I rejoice at the opening of thy eyes, brother. The Lord does great things, truly. Is there anything that He would not do for sinful man?

Come closer, my son.

*Theseus kneels for baptism. The Pope pours water over his head, and marks him with the Sign of the Cross.

I seal you with the Holy Spirit. Rise, all your sins have been washed away.

I bless you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Take with you this banner, my banner. Fly it above thy regiment as you march into battle. Let they who seek to bring this world to ruin know that God will not allow them to win this war.

My son, I appoint you as the second and final paladin of the Church in Egypt. Cardinal Ralphus serves with you as a paladin. You are a crusader of the Church. Know now that you are Paladin Theseus of the Order of St. Michael. I also appoint you a Cardinal of the Church if you wish to have the position. There shall be, in all, five cardinals appointed to the Curia from Egypt, just as there are five in Spain. Will you honor me by accepting, my friend and brother?

God's Will be done!

Pope Calixtus I

What the heck do I do now?

[Aeson]

Still trying to picture Theseus as a Cardinal... maybe something like Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers?

[Theseus]

Well, I'm DEFINITELY turning that down... I am just a distraught soldier, after all.

AHHH, I know, what does a distraught soldier do?

DRINK!!!

/me heads for the Chivas.

I'll come up with a response in, uh, a little while.

[Shiber]

Public Forum

Hi Arnelos,

Hasty semi-personal, semi-official message follows:

GS would really really appreciate it if you would try to quiet down the issue of city exchanges in the public forum. We can meet up later and discuss this amongst ourselves, and decide what to make public, but let's not do anything hasty. I understand your frustration in light of the other comments in that thread, but please keep it bottled up for now.

Btw, I'm taking this opportunity to request another joint GS-RP chat when RP gets the turn. We have lots of news, and some new ideas. Please prepare your new battlefield screenshots (annoted, if possible).

Best regards,
Shiber.

[Shiber]

Re: Public Forum

Shiber,

I've only stated in the public forum what was planned ahead of time for public consumption. The problem is that if I'd said NOTHING, GoW would get highly suspicious because it's out of character for me. So I had to say something, but something they would both likely believe and something that would not give away the true nature of the GS-RP agreement.

I did discuss this with NYE last turn, the fact that we'd need a cover story for the city exchange. We're also going to need a cover story for the "brief war", should it Lego and/or Vox notice (though they might not).

I want your forces' arrival on Bob and deployment into the battle to a surprise as much as you do. This is why only pre-planned statements have been asked to be made by RP members.

However, I must warn you that apparently GodKing, of his own accord, told Unortho and MZ in chat that we'd received tech and some money from GS in exchange for the cities. He made sure to mention that GS was insistent on not breaking any NT agreements with GoW, however. Quite frankly, I'm not happy that this lie was shared with GoW as I'd preferred that we kept a single straight story.

On your end, OPD told me that Arrian (I think) sent a PM to ND. When we asked NYE about it, he said the PM specifically was written to ENCOURAGE ND to declare war on GS for happiness reasons. While this is good for GS on the happiness front, it would have been nice if we'd known about that PM ahead of time. I might be wrong here, but we were under the impression that the joint hope was that ND would bypass the cities so they couldn't be used as forward military bases in the war (since roads around those cities are now speeding the movement of Ansar Warriors).

It sounds like we need to try to coordinate what we're telling ND and GoW in the near future to prevent further misunderstandings.

As for the save, it has arrived.

[notyoueither]

Damn.

[Theseus]

Ummm, I got a bit into it:
________________________________

To his Holiness, the Pope Calixtus I

To Him, who from evil is able to bring forth good, I render thanks for having mercifully inspired you to extend to me your blessing and your banner.

I am but a military man, Holiness, and must with all humility cry out my unsuitability for the vaulted position of Cardinal of Egypt.

Within your beneficience, I would instead extend upon my role as Paladin of the Order of St. Michael... I propose to create a Knights Templar, dedicated to the corporeal health of the Holy Church and its ministrators, and guide and protector to those in the world who may wish to explore the beauties of Spanish churches and cathedrals.

Until all threats are removed, praised be to God and his son the Lord Jesus, all of the Knights Templar shall take vows of poverty, humitility, and abstinence; we shall live together in martial training and in prayer until all are safe. Ecce quam bonum et quam jocundum habitare fratres in unum - Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

Already, there has been eggregious loss for the God-fearing folk of Spain. We Knights Templar shall ensure that the heathens make fitting reparation for the losses and wrongs inflicted upon the Church: while my kin and brethren may put down a heavy boot upon seized lands, know that in my heart all of the territory taken shall be under apostolic suzerainty.

I fear, Holiness, that this must remain a private matter for the nonce... but, oh the Glory and Rapture for all of Christendom when we make our intentions known and take the battle to the enemy!!

Humbly,
Paladin Theseus
Nautonnier, le Prieure de Sion

[Theseus]

History Guy wrote on 25-07-2003 21:47:
Beloved son of the Church,

I understand. Archbishop Ralphus may look for other candidates. Please inform him to send me some suggestions if he has any. I am very interested in our missionary activities in Egypt, and I am most anxious to see all men saved. I believe that God has shed His light upon Egypt as He has also done upon Spain. Truly, God has shown the countries of Egypt and Spain His favor! May that we earn it by sharing His Word with the entire world.

The idea for the Knight's Templars is a rather good one, I think. You have my full permission to see to its creation as a Paladin of the Church. I've sent along a group of Swiss bodyguards to assist you in its formation. I thank you, my friend. The Church needs such talented members such as yourself.

It shall indeed be a great day when the idolators see your troops carrying the banner of the Church on Bobian soil!

You may go to your troops with my blessings, my son.

His Will be done,
Pope Calixtus I

[zeit]

From Togas:

Zeit,

I have cleaned out my inbox AND my outbox, however, feel free to email me directly at tom_ogas@yahoo.com It's a much more reliable method of communication.

Arnelos posted your message in our forum and I concur. We haven't spoken as much these past few turns. We have simply gone through the motions of managing our cities and worker and moving new units about. The enemy has presented us with no changes and we have, therefore, continued to carry on with our conservative plans of defending Pamplona at all cost and rebuilding cut roads, while our rear cities get back into war production.

I have made a point of contacting NYE with any new information we receive and any requests we have had.

In the future, we welcome GS participation at our chats, there just hasn't been much to chat about the last few turns. We are also VERY interested in a joint military planning meeting. Right now Nuclear Winter and BigFree are the primary military minds on our team. Both are working on some future plans and both are anxious to meet with your team to see how we can help each other in this war.

Please give me a good time/day to meet and I will share it with my team.

--Togas
Zeit,

I have cleaned out my inbox AND my outbox, however, feel free to email me directly at tom_ogas@yahoo.com It's a much more reliable method of communication.

Arnelos posted your message in our forum and I concur. We haven't spoken as much these past few turns. We have simply gone through the motions of managing our cities and worker and moving new units about. The enemy has presented us with no changes and we have, therefore, continued to carry on with our conservative plans of defending Pamplona at all cost and rebuilding cut roads, while our rear cities get back into war production.

I have made a point of contacting NYE with any new information we receive and any requests we have had.

In the future, we welcome GS participation at our chats, there just hasn't been much to chat about the last few turns. We are also VERY interested in a joint military planning meeting. Right now Nuclear Winter and BigFree are the primary military minds on our team. Both are working on some future plans and both are anxious to meet with your team to see how we can help each other in this war.

Please give me a good time/day to meet and I will share it with my team.

--Togas

And from Arny:

Ok, part of the problem is that a lot of people have been busy of late and Togas has essentially been handling turnchats by himself recently. I've brought this issue up in our forum and talked to Togas about it in chat (along with NYE). I'm hoping we can schedule some joint chats in the near future for planning purposes... we really should be consulting each other more on tactical planning, I agree.

Perhaps if we also set up the MilOps channel on a permanent basis?

I'm open to ideas.

- Arnelos

[zeit]

To Togas:

Togas,

I have recieved word from Arnelos- he suggested making MilOps a permanent channel for GS-RP talks. I think this is a wonderful idea, and I'm sure the other GS members will agree. Both our team have (I hope ) fond memories of the talks held there during the earlier days of this war and alliance, so I'm sure this would work well.

I will make contact with NW and BF about this- I'm not so good with technicalities registering an IRC channel involves, but I'm sure we could find someone that could accomplish that task...

I would also like to stress out that despite the fact that we are now commited almost wholly to defense, there are many things that can be done- our generals have adopted a defense strategy that could help us take the edge off of the enemy's speed advantage- by, for example, placing defensive units on key tiles. RP could certainly help by sparing troops for this important task, which could save the lives of other troops, and bring the loss ration greatly to our favor.

Respectfully,
Zeit.

[notyoueither]

Received from Arnelos.

On a completely seperate topic while I'm writing you a PM and I just thought of it, I don't think either of our PTWDG teams have been using the MilOps channel. Of course, the PTWDG has been receiving very little attention of late because of events in the ISDG, but that's bound to fade to some extent soon and it would be nice if we can get everyone in there more often.

I'll be sure to mention this to my team in our channel... in fact, it might do to add a reminder in our channel topic (w/o the channel name and password, of course).

I'd also like to conduct a chat with you or someone from GS in the near future about relations with Legoland and Vox. I've started something of a new diplomatic initiative with Lego and I've been reminded of an earlier potential deal I discussed with Beta of Vox. I just want to coordinate with you guys in terms of what each of us are doing toward/with Lego, if possible.

Thanks.

- Arnelos

[vulture]

Somewhat delayed PM from BigFree, with lots of images.

I'd like to get an update on the war in the South. what happened with those 8 Cats? Did you get them Back? What are your troop positions? Should we coordinate an attack on any certain city? Alamo?

We have 3 MI and 4 Pikes just North of Alamo, as reported by Togas. I think these shots were taken before the all the units were moved there.

Here are screens from the 260 AD turn:

(deleted)

Here's the one "after" picture:

(deleted)

I think we could possible take Salmanca with the 3 MI's and 4 available Knights. We had figured GoW had 11 Rider's in Salmanca. But now that they have moved some out to meet your troops, I think there are not many there. How many Rider's did you see in the field on your turn?

Response:

A little late, snice they've played their turn. I'd sent out estimate of how many Riders GoW had used (3, or possibly 4, leaving 6 or 7 in Alamo at best (for GoW).

Sorry for the delay in response, although I think much of the info you asked for was in what I sent to you already. The catapults, in case you haven't heard through other means, were initiall captured by GoW and were on a non-road square at the end of their turn. For them to vanish from our view (which they did) they must have either disbanded them, or had ND capture them, move them on to the road, and then GoW recapture them and move them into Alamo or Merida. We know GoW have 2 slaves (our ex-settler), which that has happened to, and I believe you met some catapults in Alamo.

Regading co-ordinating attacks, I think that is going to be necessary. Alamo is very well defended now, and is going to need a large force to crack it open (realistically, anything less than 20, 4-attack units is going to be a waste of good troops, although 15 might be enough to scare them into abandoning it).

We only saw 4 riders. One was guarding a hill to provide intelligence. Three were used to attack us (and came from one of the towns). They had all their units in towns, and moved them out to attack one at a times. They only needed 3 or 4 to finish our stack off, so they have 6-7 left around the place, mostly in Alamo I suspect (plus three injured riders which will be healed next turn probably). My extimate to attack Alamo is based on their being 6 riders defending.