Survival Of Lux!!!

[Beta]

Ok - this is similar to your future of lux thread, Diss, but I had to get people's attention. Here is what is up. You will recall my offer to Lux to 'take' their gold to prevent it from falling into the hands of either Neu D or GoW. Well, Trip contacted me this evening- and asked to chat - which we did.

To start with - they are sending us 150 gold, accepted at their end, along with the agreement for communications with GS. This will keep GS happy.

The war does not go well. Lux's last city gets destroyed next turn. But they have produced a settler, which keeps their civ alive. They want a city.....

Trip agrees to put in writing an agreement whicjh would go something like this.

They get the city for 40 turns or so. Enough to produce a settler, a galley, get map making, etc. Enough to migrate to another part of the world. We get the 150 gold, and our city back. And - an ally for the remainder of the game. This he has promised. I even made him cross his heart.

So - it would obviously be Dissidentville we would give them. It is not doing too much for us right now as it is.

Some issues. How will GS feel about it? This is probably why GS was so eager for contact with Lux. They may have been thinking of doing this. You need communications to do it.

Even if this was not GS' intent, they will need to be on-side. It may be seen as a fairly aggressive move by us.

If Lux's word means much - and we don't have a lot to go on here - we could have an ally in both them and Legoland - which is where they say they are headed. We should check with legoland on this. But Lux as an ally won't be worth much until they rebuild. We may also make some enemies doing this.

Or GS, Lux, and Vox could be a solid alliance.

Or GS and Lux turn on us.

So - there are some high risks here. On the other hand, I for one hate to see a team out of the game so early. And I do work in the social housing field and work with the homeless and hard to house - maybe this influences my views.

I am up for doing this. It will add some excitement to the game. Maybe when I sleep on it I will feel differently. Late night euphoria!!!

At any rate - we should not be too quick to play our turn until we have decided what we want to do.

[Beta]

Finished some further chatting with Trip. He is quite sincere about this request, as far as I can figure. It will be in writing.

It would sure keep the game interesting. We just have to work out what the benefits are going to be for us.

And one benefit I can think of is that we may get Dissidentville back in a much better developed state than we provided it to them. It will be their capitol for awhile, so zero corruption. They will need to clear out some jungle and improve some tiles.

[Dis]

this may impact our research rate. It does sound exciting, but what's in it for us? Just the 150 gold I suppose.

As for security. We have to insist on keeping our warriors just outside the city boundaries and insisting they move no units outside those boundaries- in either direction.

How many turn will it take for all that stuff? how long does he expect to have the city. We could look at what the city is producing economically and how many turns we will be without it.

Hold on I'll take a look at the game real quick.

[Dis]

Dissidentville is only bringing in 2 commerce right now. 1 is wasted on corruption. It will grow to size 2 next turn though. But we will probably only gain 1 commerce, the other will be lost to corruption.

There is one serious issue. How does Lux plan on getting to the other continent with a galley? The only way to do it possibley is to go around the main contient. Which will be very dangerous for them. They may get their galley destroyed.

They will be hoplessly behind. I'm not sure what Trip plans to do. Maybe he wants to survive long enough to build one nuke and nuke new demo Even if he loses he will get that satisfaction.

[Dis]

and how does he plan on getting map making? We could trade it to them when we get it. But we don't have it yet.

and how does he plan on getting that galley anywhere without it being lost at sea or destroyed?

[Beta]

Diss - good points. I have PM'd Trip with your question. My sense is that right now they are desperate and grasping at straws. They may not be lookinng at just the next couple of turns and survival, and may not have thought out the entire long-term plan.

[Beta]

Just PM'd vondrack of Legoland with this.

Hi vondrack - I'm contacting you directly as vondrack, the Legolander.

A very serious matter is currently under debate in the Vox Controli senate. Lux Invicta - and Trip personally - has approached us on a matter of survival. Their last city will be destroyed this turn. They have produced a settler - which keeps them alive - for a bit. They have asked for one of our cities - a coastal city - to which they can 'migrate'. They have also moved their gold reserves to the central vault of Vox Controli for safe keeping.

Their plan is to occupy the city for 40-50 turns and then they would turn it back over to us. They need sufficient time to build a galley and a settler, and to migrate once again. They say they have discussed with Legoland the possibility of settling on your continent. I am asking if you could verify the veracity of this last statement, and whether you are in agreement with their plans.

I for one, would not like to see Lux exit the world stage so early. Indeed, having a nomadic civilization would add considerable spice to the game. However, Lux's reputation has been slagged in a number of threads, and although we are a kind and peaceful civilization, we do not want to get blind-sided. Trip seems very sincere about this, and agrees to put it in writing.

We also see a long-term benefit of bringing the three civilizations of Lux and Vox and Lego closer together.

If you could provide me with Legoland's view on this matter, it would be greatly appreciated.

Our regards to you and the fine people of Legoland.

BetaHound, Voice of Foreign Affairs, Vox Controli

[Beta]

Vondracks's response. I now say that we do this.

RE: Lux and ptwdg
Hi, BetaHound!

I fully confirm that we are conducting negotiations with Lux Invicta, offering them permanent refuge on our landmass. Even though details of the agreement have not been finalized yet, I am quite sure that a deal will be made sooner or later.

For us, it is more or less the "proper" thing to do... as you say, losing one team so early would not be fun. We do have a piece of land Luxes could live, possibly even becoming more than just a surviving mini-civilization. The land we have offered them is not paradise, but it is a place they could develop their nation in relative peace.

I also assume that having someone quite bitterly pitched against GoW and ND may very well serve our purpose in the future.

So, if you are in a position to lend them one of your cities, go ahead and save their life. All they will need is one galley and a settler (you can demand they are prohibited from building military units). We will take care of the rest.

Best regards,
vondrack

[Beta]

I think one condition on this should be that the city be renamed Portia, who in the Merchant of Venice argued:

The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.
Tis mightiest in the mightiest. It becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.

Wm. Shakespeare.

[Eli]

I tend to believe Lux and to agree.

But, 150 gold is not enough.

How about this? When/If they survive and get a decent civ going again, they will be obliged to give us(if/when they have them) 10 technologies or their equivalent in money/luxuries.

Basically, they cant give anything of importance now, but they might be able to give later.

We should also consider the option of GS attacking Dissville when it's in Lux's hands.

[Wittlich]

Ok, I to concur with "loaning" Lux our city. Do we have a unit garrisoned in the city? If we do, we will need to move it out prior to "giving" them the city or it (the unit) will be lost.

This should prove to be an interesting twist to the game!

[Eli]

Darn!

I wanted to post a chat log but my clipboard ****ed it up.

[Dis]

One other thing. Can we get their map or is it too late? Roleplay says they see the remains of their capitol, so they probably cannot even trade maps. Hell I don't even know if we can give them a city if they have none.

[Dis]

also we will need to contact GS and let them know what is happening. Also I would like to ask GS keep this a secret for now. and pledge not to attack Lux- as that is really our city and will respond as so.

We will station the spearman to the south of the city along with the warrior as a lookout.

[Wittlich]

Originally posted by Dissident
...Also I would like to ask GS keep this a secret for now. and pledge not to attack Lux- as that is really our city and will respond as so.

My exact same thoughts.