Fascist 8 - Proposals 71-105

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Plea for Guidance 71

Pleader: Death
Pleaded: Mon, 23 Jan 95 17:47:16 -2400
Plea: Proposal 67/Rule 52 implies that a ship has a finite amount of space in the brig, while Proposal 48/Rule 42 implies no such limit. Can you stuff more than one person into the brig? It seems like a few prisoners would take up much less space than a squad of Marines or a bunch of Colonists with all of their gear. Has Rule 52 torn our Brigs from the very sides of our ships and replaced them with mere space?

Decision: Rule 52 shall be amended, removing the first sentence which specifies a limit on the number of Prisoners which may be taken. Each Prisoner in the Brig has a chance to escape and take over the Ship, however.
Comments:

Proposal 72

Proposer: Tivol
Proposed: Mon, 23 Jan 1995 20:18:55 EST
Proposal: Wise Emperor, we are all curious about this far-off mysterious land known as SevenLand. I believe that we may be able to communicate to them with a special breed of carrier pigeon that seems to enjoy flying toward areas of benevolent dictatorship. I hereby propose that my Ship, the good Grease Lightnin', be allowed to collect and breed thousands of these Pigeons so that I may hand them out to others in our Fleet. After training the Pigeons to recognize, track, and enjoy the smell of both my Ship and an odd scrap of cloth I found floating, I'm sure that they will serve as reasonable messengers. Players who get these Pigeons from me may write notices and send them flying toward my Ship (at <tivol@mit.edu>), and I will direct them toward their destination. I will Bravely accept the duty of being the Entrepreneurial Pigeon Breeder and dutifully post messages given and received from these weird natives. Perhaps after communications improves, we will be able to pinpoint their location better.

Decision: Accepted as Rule 55.
Comments: So, it seems this Tivol person knows more about this fabled SevenLand than he lets on.

Proposal 73

Proposer: Tivol
Proposed: Mon, 23 Jan 1995 20:18:56 EST
Proposal: Sailing around on my many voyages, I have heard many a wonderful rumor and wished that I could go off and try to find what I've heard about in various shanties and fables. I'm sure many others have heard fantastic rumors as well, one about foreign lands and what the natives are like, one about dangers of the sea, and one about vast amounts of buried treasure and what is required to find it. I propose that these rumors be collected and published, although only you, Emperor, in your infinite wisdom, knows which are true and which are mere tales. Any player with rank First Mate or higher may Sail Aimlessly in the hopes of finding such fabled lands, with a 2% cummulative chance of finding one true land for each Proposal he spends sailing. Upon finding such a land, the sailor will automatically notify the general public as to the exact nature of the discovery.

Decision: Accepted with modification as Rule 56.
Comments: Any player may submit a Rumor describing a Fabled Land to the Imperial Cartographer at any time, although the Imperial Cartographer is under no obligation to publish more than one Rumor per player. TIE shall notify the THS which Rumors are True, Partially True, or False, and discovery of Lands from True or Partially True Rumors may cause Rules to be Enacted from that Rumor. Players may submit Proposals detailing Rules for Fabled Lands even if those Fabled Lands subsequently prove nonexistant.

Proposal 74

Proposer: damian
Proposed: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 18:53:45 +1100
Proposal: Sire, I bring to your attention the existent of a powerful miscreant known as the Pirate King! This would-be ruler of the lands is currently enthroned at the Near Azores, and is known to be behind the piratical operations that eminate from that region.

The Pirate King judges all proposals sent in by pirate-players, thus rules 1 and 2 should be modified to say 'The Imperious Emperor or the Pirate King..'
All rules applying to players currently under the guidance of the Imperious Emperor apply to pirate-players as well.
Players may at any time elect to desert the Atlantean Empire for the Pirate Kingdom and vice-versa. If they do elect to do this, then they are relegated to the rank Fifth Mate and lose 2 levels of bravery (cannot fall lower than bold).
As an addition to rule 15, for a player to be condsidered to have Won, they must also have vanquished all opponents of rank Commander and above. The opponents of the Empire of Atlantis are the Pirates of the Near Azores and vice-versa. Also, if a player is a pirate-player, then the monument built must be one flattering to the Pirate King.
An opponent may be vanquished by (i) Capture and imprisonment (ii) Opponent's death (iii) Opponent deserting to the other side (suffering loss of rank and of bravery as discussed above).
If a player is imprisoned by a pirate, then he is offered a choice of death or desertion to the Pirate Kingdom. If he chooses to become a pirate, he is then considered a subject of the Pirate King.
Pirate ships are colored Red, Black or Yellow, and must be repainted if a player changes allegiances.
All pirates have a parrot on their left shoulder.
References to Pirates in Rule 21 are to be changed to Opponents.
Pirate-players have available "King's Buccaneers", who are evenly matched with the Royal Mariners. All rules applying to Royal Mariners, also apply to King's Buccaneers for pirate-players.
Settlers can be picked up from the Pirates Cove, a fief in the Near Azores.
Rule 25, replace Pirate Ship with 'Opponent'.
Rule 26, similar chances for pirate ships sailing near Atlantis.
Any rule that currently requires presence at Atlantis, requires presence at Pirates Cove for Pirate-players.
Strength ratings for ships sailed by pirate-players are the same as those for atlantean ships (after all, in most cases, the player will keep the same ship and just paint it a different color). Current rules regarding battles with pirate ships are to remain in force, these pirate ships are not controlled by players.
Notorious Pirates are those of rank Commodore or Admiral. However, a player who reaches this level does not automatically get a Catapult.

Decision: Accepted, with modifications, altering rules too numerous to list, but I believe I have them all done at this point. - THS
Modifications: It has been discovered that THS has secretly been the Pirate King, plotting against the Empire, all this time. Furthermore, the Pirate King must always be a Pirate player. Pirate players, instead of encountering hostile Pirate Ships, encounter hostile Imperial Galleons, which are treated similarly to encountered Pirate Ships; however, a Pirate who defeats an Imperial Galleon also captures 100 to 600 Pieces of Eight as Booty. Pirate players cannot gain Bravery for Acts of Valor; instead, they gain Bravery for Acts of Infamy, which shall be determined by the Pirate King. A Governor must relinquish their Governorship to become a Pirate and a Pirate cannot become a Governor. Pirates may not recruit Personnel, trade Cargoes, receive weapons, or perform any other transaction in any Land of the Empire. Rules enacted by the Pirate King affect all players, including non-Pirates, but Proposals enacted by Pirates may only create new Rules; they cannot modify or repeal old Rules. The Ranks for Pirates shall be: Galley Slave, Cabin Boy, Deck Swabber, Deck Hand, Mate, Pirate, Pirate Captain, Notorious Pirate, Dread Pirate, corresponding to Fifth Mate to Admiral ranks, and Rules depending on Rankings shall apply to Pirates by using their equivalent Imperial Rank.

Award: Despite all the modifications, this is a very interesting Proposal, and as a result damian is appointed Governor of Makal.

Message from The Pirate King: Well, you've uncovered my secret plot, have you? Har! No matter, I'll still keel-haul the lot of you! And I'm sailing back to my hideout in the Near Azores with a ship chock full of Hostages: 18 Settlers and 2 Marines. You'll be lucky if anyone in Atlantis ever sees them alive again! To kick off my bloody reign, here are a few Kingly Decrees: (1) Any Pirate who manages to get Atlantean Settlers or Royal Marines onto his ship may bring them back to the Near Azores, where they become Hostages. This will be an Act of Infamy. (2) Whenever a proposal by a Citizen is Rejected, I'll celebrate the disunity of that Atlantean rabble by promoting the lowest-ranked Pirate (as long as this does not create a new Notorious Pirate or Dread Pirate), ties broken by my choice. But easy come, easy go: any Pirate who makes a proposal I reject will receive a demotion, but only one (i.e., not an extra one if Rule 11 applies). Also, the method for becoming a Commodore or Admiral won't do for becoming a Notorious or Dread Pirate; you'll have to come up with something more Piratical, mateys. (3) Becoming the Entrepreneurial Pigeon Breeder (or being such upon becoming a Pirate) shall be an act of Infamy, due to the highly rank Reek produced by the resulting pigeon droppings.

Proposal 75

Proposer: Dawn
Proposed: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 12:11:16 +0100 (MET)
Proposal: Oh, your worldy master of the strong nails that keep our ships together, your empirial theorists lecured me about our currently used place-distance scale. They told me that a this moment the distance between two place which are both equally far away from our beloved Atlantis, is not defined or even there is no distance (Not distance = 0 but just no distance) and so there is no way to travel between them. Also There is no way to distingish between them at effect that according the theorists they are or may be one and the same place in an other dimenstional space( this does not exclude the first statement : Distance(A->A) is also undefined). I think that this could be a true place that all players are currently in a dimension that is named the first or the true dimenstion. all currently know places also appear to be in the true dimension. players can switch between Dim. by using the servises of the Gateway mage at Atlantis. There can be no two places in the same dimension that have the same distance from atlantis. It is possible that our meetric laws are not the ones who count in other dimensions, though the second dimension appear the same(further studie required).

This is a Strange story which i cannot see if it could be true or not but it seems that some poeple think that others have said that your theorists might have theorized that the place "Fascist Game Seven" is at this dimension 7 though the gatewaymage has trouble connecting this dimension that, is theorized, has gone an other way some where in time an the physics are so different that there even seem to be 2 Dim.. it is in some way the same to ours there even are reflection captured where it is concluded that some of us have equivalent beings there.

Decision: The Seventh Dimension shall be classified as a Rumor of a Fabled Land, and the Imperial Cartographer shall publish it as such.

Proposal 76

Proposer: Andre Engels
Proposed: Tue, 24 Jan 95 14:49:16 MET
Proposal: Oh, noble and wise Emperor, pay heed to this message. Lately I walked through the streets of Atlantis and I met a man who said he had been to a land called Brazil. Of course first I didn't believe him, how could a non-player go so far to explore our world, but he told me so much about it that I not only started to believe him, but even must say it may be considered a known land. Hear what the man said:

Brazil is a land, quite far from Atlantis at distance 20. It has not been explored yet, so it is not known whether it is an island or part of a continent. The natives are unfriendly, and have no central government. There is plenty of wood there, so much that any player can go there to get any amount of wood he can carry in his (or her) ship. However, as it is necessary to go on land to get the wood, for each ton of wood that is taken onto the ship there is a 1 in 6 chance that a fight with the (unfriendly) natives starts. The number of natives in this area is approximately 50.

Decision: Accepted as Rule 62.
Comments: Though We were initially tempted to classify this a Rumor, with the detailed directions you give it seems it should be considered a Known Land.

Proposal 77

Proposer: Citizen Andre Engels
Proposed: Tue, 24 Jan 95 15:40:04 MET
Proposal: I would like to propose a few changes to Rule 47. 1) add the following products: Greek Fire (starting value 100) (as defined in Rule 51)
Wood (starting value 100); 8 tons of wood are necessary to build a ship. (although of course then still one needs the shipbuilders, who currently are only present in Atlantis)
2) Buying a product costs 10% more than it pays to sell them.
3) Not all places buy and sell all goods. Fish and General Cargo are bought in all inhabited places. Places with a village or city, like Atlantis, are considered to have a marketplace and buy all things. All sales or other buys must be defined by the Rules.

I propose for the existing places: 

Atlantis:    	Marketplace, sell Arms, Fish, General Cargo, Silk
Makal:	     	Marketplace, sell Fish, General Cargo
Sakal:		buy Opium, Silk, sell Arms, Greek Fire
Takal:		buy Opium, Silk, sell General Cargo
Near Azores:    buy Arms, Wood, Greek Fire(*), sell General Cargo
(*) the Near Azores pay an extra high price for Greek Fire, see existing Rule

And for places of proposals currently underway, if they are adopted:
Seven Land:	buy Silk, sell Wood
Pirates Cove:	as Near Azores
Brazil		sell Wood
4) If an area produces a certain product, it is sold for the existing buying price instead of the selling price. At the moment there are 2 producing areas: Sakal for Greek Fire, and Brazil (if accepted) for Wood.

Decision: Accepted amending rule 47.
Comments: Note that this will make a Cask of Greek Fire take up a Ton of space, like other Cargoes. Hopefully it will eventually become worth it to trade Cargoes.

Proposal 78

Proposer: Citizen dpn
Proposed: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 10:49:09 EST
Proposal: My liege, it seems to me that the rules dictating the actions of Squadrons could use some expansion. I propose, therefore, the following two additions to rule 32:
The Leader of a Squadron may choose to lead her followers onto the land to explore or do battle. In this case, all normal rules for overland movement shall apply.
Should a Squadron of n players achieve an objective which would accord a single player an m-step increase in Bravery or Rank, all members of the Squadron shall receive a floor(m / n) increase in the appropriate attribute.

Decision: Accepted amending rule 32.
Comments: This seems reasonable. [But may make Bravery harder to come by. -THS]

Proposal 79

Proposer: Citizen Shadow Foxy
Proposed: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 08:51:51 -0800 (PST)
Proposal: Oh Magnificent Ruler of All the Lands Under the Sun (except for Those under the False Rule of Dastardly Impersonators), I humbly submit to you that ships may carry life rafts, which may be used by the ship's inhabitants in the unfortunate case that their ship is sunk. These life rafts take two cargo spaces each, and may carry four people, passengers, or prisoners (in admittedly cramped conditions) either back to Atlantis or forward to the original destination of the ship. The life raft, moving as it does only by tides and man-power, will take twice as long to reach its destination as a ship would have.

Decision: Accepted as Rule 63.
Comments: Life rafts will be freely available in Sakal.

Proposal 80

Proposer: Citizen toejam
Proposed: Tue, 24 Jan 95 16:15:48 -500
Proposal: Oh keeper of the most excellent known land: I have heard tell of a new land known as China. There, opium and silk are said to be plentiful. It is a far away land, however, 30 from Atlantis. They also have not heard of gunpowder, and will pay large sums for it, apparently as high as 250 Pieces of Eight for a keg of the powder.

Decision: Accepted as Rule 64.
Comments: China will be considered a producer of Opium and Silk, and sell both of these Cargoes. They will buy Kegs of Gunpowder for 250, although where Kegs of Gunpowder can be acquired remains to be seen.

Proposal 81

Proposer: Citizen Architect
Proposed: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 21:48:01 -0500
Proposal: A player who has won two consecutive land battles may declare him or herself a Warlord. To do this players must first return to Atlantis, make the declaration, and give up all ships that they possess (these ships go back into the 21 ship pool). A Warlord player may not command or own any ships; however, they may travel in ships owned by other players. As a commanding officer, a Warlord does not really take up space in a ship. Any Marines that are led by a Warlord in a land battle recieve an additional +2 to their rolls. When a Warlord and player act together to conquer a land for the crown, they both recieve the awarded ranks. Players may undeclare themselves a Warlord at any time, but they will only recieve a boat if there are any left in the pool of 21, and they must wait untill 15 proposals after their undeclaration to take any action.

Decision: Rejected.
Comments: It does not make a lot of sense to Us that you would become a Warlord by stranding yourself without a Ship in Atlantis; it would make a bit more sense if you could become a Warlord once you conquered a Fief. Also, becoming a Warlord isn't something we want our Imperial Officers to do; it sounds rather Piratical, in fact. Imperial Officers should, of course, become Governors.

Proposal 82

Proposer: Citizen Big Mad Drongo
Proposed: Wed, 25 Jan 1995 15:11:47 +0000 (GMT)
Proposal: Oh great and wise Emperor, ruler of the seas, hear my plea... I propose that any player, should they so wish, might take a small drill, bore holes in the bottom of their boat, stand on deck and go down with the ship. Obviously this results in the destruction of their boat, their possessions, and themselves. However, the lifeboats on board the ship will allow any settlers/royal marines to escape with ease.

Decision: Rejected, bringing on the Hurricane.
Comments: What, and waste precious Timber? You can already Sail off the Edge of the World if you want to make an exit.

Proposal 83

Proposer: Citizen Shadow Foxy
Proposed: Wed, 25 Jan 1995 09:08:58 -0800 (PST)
Proposal: O Great Pulchritudinous Emperor, to Whom we are as Boils on a Calloused Foot; I humbly submit that I have heard Great Talk amongst the Beachcombers of Atlantis; they speak Excitedly of the many Shipwrecks around the Shores of the Known Lands, and how these Wrecks contain Great Treasures and Delights of Old. I therefore humbly ask that Your Loyal Subjects be allowed to go on Treasure Hunts around the Shores of Royal Empire, by Informing the Humble Scribe of their Intent to hunt Treasure off of a Specified Fief. If there be Treasure off of that Fief, and the Player finds that Treasure, they may Load it and Return in Glorious Victory with the Treasure in their Cargo.

I submit to your Royal Greatness that the Chance of finding Treasure is 1 in 11 (a Roll of 2 on two Fair Six Sided Dice) for every 6 Proposals spent Hunting, and that Once Treasure has been Found off of a Fief, no more will be Found until 30 Proposals have past. Treasure occupies the Same Space as Two Settlers, and is worth 2000 Pieces of Eight.

Decision: Accepted, with Modification, as Rule 65.
Comments: The Chance of rolling a 2 on two Six Sided Dice is, of course, 1 in 36, and so the Chance shall be adjusted to that. Treasure is a new commodity initially valued at 1000 Pieces of Eight per Ton, and when Treasure is Found as above, two Tons are found. Only Atlantis and the Near Azores shall buy Treasure initially. Rule 25 shall be changed so that an Imperial Galleon defeated by Pirates no longer will give Pieces of Eight, but instead gives one Ton of Treasure (if the Pirate can carry it).

Proposal 84

Proposer: Citizen Anarchy
Proposed: Wed, 25 Jan 1995 19:22:33 +0000 (GMT)
Proposal: O Emperor of the waves, I have heard that The Piratical Pirates, following the recent bloody war in the New Azores, have decided that The Empire Of The Imperious Emperor is a Serious Threat. They have therefore recalled all their ships and men from distant lands to come to the defence of their home base. For every 5 proposals that pass without The Piratical Pirates being attacked at the Near Azores, 5 Pirate Troops will turn up to reinforce their defences, until they reach their maximum of 36. We must defeat these evil scoundrels quickly!

Decision: Accepted, with Modification, as Rule 66.
Comments: Instead of 5 Pirate Troops, one Buccaneer shall appear as a reinforcement per Pirate player who is docked at the Near Azores, including the Pirate King, per 5 proposals that pass without an attack on the Pirates.

Proposal 85

Proposer: Citizen Dawn
Proposed: Thu, 26 Jan 1995 22:25:11 +0100 (MET)
Proposal: Oh, ruler who rules better than a ruler, I propose that besides a proposal and a plea for guidance players also can submit a plea for mercy. A plea for mercy is a proposal that will not be judged by the power(TIE or TPK) currently under but by the other one A plea for mercy must be properly humble and beging and is considered an act of cowardice and so followed with a one step decrase in bravery atlanteans cannot go lower than bold, Pirates however are utterly selfish and therefor can go below bold. bold is preceded by shy, chicken, coward and paranoid.

Decision: Accepted with modification as Rule 67.
Comments: A Plea for Mercy, if accepted, will also automatically cause the player to change sides without losing the 2 levels of bravery (but still causing all the other effects). If rejected, one level of bravery is still lost.

Proposal 86

Proposer: Citizen Slakko
Proposed: Fri, 27 Jan 1995 12:56:17 +0930 (CST)
Proposal: Most Imperious Emperor, here is my proposal: All Citizens of the Empire, when docked in Atlantis, may use any money they have in obtaining harmless pleasure. To do this they attend the Emperor's Arms Tavern in the Municipality of Atlantis, and gamble at the tables. The gambling games available will be: Roulette: Pick a number between 1 and 20 (it's a small wheel). A player, called The Tavern Manager (a new Rule 45-type position), rolls 1d20 or otherwise randomises. Odds paid are 18 to 1, bets made in whole pieces of eight. Fantan: Same but odds paid are 2 to 1, number chosen between 1 and 4 and The Tavern Manager rolls 1d4.
Note that the Tavern Manager delegates the running of the tavern to commoners when he/she is on the high seas, but is still responsible for the dice rolls.

Decision: Accepted with modification as Rule 68.
Comments: The Tavern Manager shall receive 10% of any Bet which is placed regardless of the outcome; however, the Tavern Manager cannot himself ever gamble in the Tavern. Initially, THS shall be the Tavern Manager.

Plea for Guidance 87

Pleader: Citizen damian
Pleaded: Fri, 27 Jan 1995 15:04:03 +1100
Plea: I wish to take advantage of the gracious offer of Governorship of Makal that TIE has so kindly offered to me. However, I believe that by Rule 29, I have to send 5 Royal Marines to this place, but to do this, by rule 22 I need to get Royal Marines from Makal! Do I just need to sail to Makal? If so, then I submit sailing orders to take the Good Ship Venus to Makal. Can the fiefs of Makal, Sakal and Takal be settled? If so, then I would also like to take some settlers from Makal to Makal!!! As Makal seems to have an unlimited supply of settlers, and a fief can hold a maximum of 200 colonists (rule 43), may I assume that I have control of a fief with 200 colonists and as many marines as required? Does this then count towards the 1000 settlers required by rule 15 (rule 29 would tend to indicate that it does)? Many thanks for clearing up this most confusing issue!

Decision: As the Rules currently stand, upon arriving in Makal, damian may immediately recruit enough Personnel to completely fill the Fief of Makal. However, We choose to interpret the term 'colonist' as referring to any type of Personnel -- thus, a combination of up to 200 Settlers and Marines may be recruited. Settlers in a Governor's Fiefdom do count towards the 1000 Settlers required. Naturally, transporting Personnel away from Makal will still occur only one Shipload at a time.
Comments:

Proposal 88

Proposer: Citizen damian
Proposed: Fri, 27 Jan 1995 17:37:16 +1100
Proposal: O Ruler of the Great Seas! I submit that there are currently few ways for your subjects to earn a living. I propose that players should be awarded for bringing clarity to the many unsolved mysteries of the universe. Thus a proposal that is accepted should result in the player earning 50 pieces of 8. A rejected proposal would earn 10 pieces of 8, as even rejected proposals make some of life's great mysteries clearer.

Decision: Rejected.
Comments: While We agree that some means for making a Living would be good, this particular Method would be troublesome as THS keeps track of Proposals and their passing, while the Minister of Trade keeps track of monetary totals, so linking these two would cause problems. Getting Proposals passed already has its own Advantages anyhow.

Proposal 89

Proposer: Pirate Anarchy
Proposed: Fri, 27 Jan 1995 21:29:30 +0000 (GMT)
Proposal: Foul fascist-imperialist scum who calls himself The Imperious Emperor! We will send your fleet to join Atlantis at the bottom of the sea! We will plunder your women and rape your Pieces of Eight! Every Proposal from a Pirate Player must be accompanied by a Pirate Oath. Oaths which, in the opinion of The Pirate King, are particularly nasty and insulting to the Empire, shall be rewarded. Failure to submit an Oath will result in penalties, possibly including Demotion. We shall teach those foul imperialist toadies to fear us!

Word of the King: (Just barely) Accepted with modification as Rule 69. This type of thing has become rather a Fascist chestnut, so we're going to try the following slight twist: the Oath shall not be required, but any Pirate proposal missing an Oath shall be prepended with "Yo Ho! The wind she blows!" before being posted by THS. Nasty, insulting Oaths shall still be rewarded, whereas wimpy Oaths will be penalized.

Proposal 90

Proposer: Pirate Tivol
Proposed: Sat, 28 Jan 1995 10:30:29 EST
Proposal: Haaarrr, Mateys! Before I set sail to brutalize, maim, and generally disembowel the pesky citizens of Atlantis and restuff their corpses with Twinkies, for that be the Pirate's Way, I beg The Pirate King to hear what I have to say: There are other pirates floating around that are unaffiliated with our great brand of Pirates. I hereby suggest that these inferior pirates be referred to in the rules with a lowercase "p" and that we glorious Pirates be referred to as "Pirates" with a capital "P". No need to make the even more insignificant Citizens written in <h6>--we will dispose of them soon enough.

Word of the King: Accepted. While we're at it, the Pirate rank between Mate and Pirate Captain will be changed to Plunderer, to avoid further ambiguity. And a small Kingly Decree, to patch what I think is an oversight: any player upon conversion to Piracy is told the exact whereabouts of the Near Azores, and may therefore set sail to it any time, regardless of rank. This will be an amendment to Rule 60.

Proposal 91

Proposer: Citizen dpn
Proposed: Sat, 28 Jan 1995 12:27:27 EST
Proposal: Great one, light of our lives, finder of the way, I beg you to hear me. The noble Donagel went forth to do valiant battle with the despicable Pirates. In doing this, even though he was overwhelmed by the superior forces of his cowardly foe, I feel that he has proved his Bravery, and should be accorded a one-step increase in such.

Decision: Accepted.
Comments: No Rule shall be created by this; Donagel shall simply increase a step of Bravery.

Plea for Guidance 92

Pleader: Citizen dpn
Pleaded: Sat, 28 Jan 1995 12:43:22 EST
Plea: Rule 47 states that Sakal produces Greek Fire. Rule 51 states that Takal produces Greek Fire. This situation appears to have come about with the acceptance of proposal 77, which listed Sakal as the source of CGFs, even though the proposal which created these named Takal as the source. Has the CGF merchant moved? Has his identical twin brother opened a store on Sakal? Or are we all just very confused?

Decision: The original Rule shall take precedence, and all other references shall be modified accordingly.
Comments:

Proposal 93

Proposer: Citizen Architect
Proposed: Sat, 28 Jan 95 14:46:39 -2400
Proposal: Any player who joins the game will have the suffix "the Bold" added to their name whether wanted or not, provided it was not already part of the name (i.e. no Tivol the Bold the Bold's).

Decision: Rejected.
Comments: A player's Bravery rating already is reflected in the player listings in this way, so this Proposal would not cause any change, and might cause problems later (e.g. Tivol the Bold the Brave).

Proposal 94

Proposer: Citizen Slakko
Proposed: Mon, 30 Jan 1995 12:20:29 +0930 (CST)
Proposal: O Most Worthy Emperor, too worthy to be concerned with minutiae: I propose that, to reduce the Emperor's burden, that laws relating to the management of the Municipality of Atlantis be placed under the jurisdiction of a new title holder, the Mayor of Atlantis. The Mayor is elected at every 60 proposals, with the voting period lasting for 10 Proposals before each multiple of 60 (i.e. first voting period is from 110-120). Nominations may be received at any time before the voting period begins. To be eligible to be elected as Mayor, you must be a Citizen of at least Fourth Mate class. To vote for Mayor, you must be a Citizen. TIE is impartial and hence cannot nominate or vote. The Mayor decides all proposals relating purely to the Municipality of Atlantis for the 60 proposals after their election. In return they receive a salary of 20 pieces of eight for every proposal they decide. TIE may overrule the Mayor, but must then sack the Mayor, leaving the position vacant until the next election, and pay the Mayor 500 pieces of eight as a golden parachute.

Decision: Accepted with modification as rule 70.
Comments: While there is no Mayor of Atlantis, TIE shall Decide Proposals relating to the Municipality of Atlantis. Furthermore, no player may ever Decide upon a Proposal he or she has submitted. Nominations for Mayor shall be forwarded to THS until Proposal 110, at which time Votes shall be submitted to THS. The results of the election shall be published after Proposal 120.

Proposal 95

Proposer: Citizen dpn
Proposed: Mon, 30 Jan 1995 13:31:56 EST
Proposal: As your Imperial Cartographer, I feel that it is my duty to provide clear definitions for several terms whose meanings are somewhat ambiguous at this time: 
A Land is a group of one or more Fiefs.
"Continent" is a synonym for "Land".
An Island is a Land of one Fief.
Currently, we have several named continents, such as The Near Azores, Brazil, and China. However, there is no provision for the naming of newly discovered continents! I suggest, therefore, that the discoverer of a new Land be permitted to name it.

Decision: Accepted, amending the rules where these terms are introduced.
Comments: It pleases Us that the Imperial Cartographer is fulfilling his Position so diligently.

Proposal 96

Proposer: Pirate Tivol
Proposed: Mon, 30 Jan 1995 16:58:43 EST
Proposal: "...we'll sink the ships/of those Citizen dips!/said Barnacle Bill the Sailor." When the fabled lands or creatures of Rumors are found, the discoverer shall be notified via email by the Imperial Cartographer. TIC will inform the discoverer the current rumors and rules pertaining to the newly discovered land and the discoverer may make a Special Report about the land to TIE or TPK, whichever is appropriate. TIE or TPK can decide if he believes this Special Report; if it is indeed true, then the reporter will gain one level of Bravery and one level of Rank, and the Report becomes part of the rules. If the Special Report is deemed too outrageous to be believed, then the reporter gains nothing and TIE or TPK can disclose the real truth about the discovery. TIC will still maintain the original rumor in the list of rumors, noting and crediting the fact that the Rumor had been validated.

Word of the King: Accepted with modification as Rule 71. THS will send the report to the Aimlessly Sailing player. That way, TIC won't have to know which proposals are true/false, so it will still be fair for TIC to sail aimlessly. But about that Oath, it seems a tad wimpy to me; this Barnacle Bill sounds more like a clown than a Pirate. So I'm awarding you a Piratical Observer, who will stay on your ship and make sure that you're doing things in a Piratical way, and incidentally take up one of your cargo/personnel spaces. Piratical Observers cannot be dropped off (voluntarily).

Proposal 97

Proposer: Pirate Anarchy
Proposed: Mon, 30 Jan 1995 21:31:22 +0000 (GMT)
Proposal: Oath: Foul and cowardly Imperial dog who awards his citizens in bravery for losing battles in a most pathetic manner, we will throw you off the Edge of the World so that your vile body will no longer defile our fair oceans!
Pirates may propose changes to existing rules if(and only if) the proposed changes relate specifically to Pirates or pirates. This rule would then cause rule 4 to be altered.

Word of the King: Well, technically, ignored. You see, your proposal wasn't technically legal, as it proposed to change an existing rule; so I tried to help you out by amending rule 4 to allow such a thing when the existing rule refers specifically to Pirates or pirates; but at that point I discovered that your proposal was redundant. But it was a good idea, so because of your fine Oath (all the more stinging for being 100% true) I will grant you a promotion anyway.

Proposal 98

Proposer: Citizen Andre Engels
Proposed: Tue, 31 Jan 95 11:30:29 MET
Proposal: Noble emperor, please hear my humble proposal, My proposal concerning distances & sailing times was made when Atlantis was still the centre of the whole world. Nowadays a secondary (and very bad) centre has been erected on the Near Azores. To give the Pirates sailing times comparable to those of the Atlanteans I propose the following:
>From each land that is not part of the Empire the sailing time to The Pirate Cove is equal to that to Atlantis.

Decision: Rejected.
Comments: It makes little sense to Us for all lands outside our Empire to be Equidistant from both Atlantis and the Pirate's Cove. And this Proposal would make the Distance from the Pirate's Cove to some places different than the Distance from that place to the Pirate's Cove. As if the Geometry of Our World were not confusing enough!

Proposal 99

Proposer: Pirate Anarchy
Proposed: Tue, 31 Jan 1995 20:39:21 +0000 (GMT)
Proposal: Atlantean dogs and imperial lackeys, take note: My ship's paint is beginning to flake off and I shall have it repainted with your blood! The ranks of Notorious Pirate and Dread Pirate are not obtained easily. In order to become a Notorious Pirate, one must first have sunk 3 Atlantean Ships(either players or Imperial Galleons); in order to become a Dread Pirate, one must first be a Notorious Pirate, one must first have delivered a total of 40 Hostages to the Near Azores and Plundered a Royal Land. Clearly, this needs a rule on Plunder, so; Although a Royal Land cannot be ruled by a Pirate, should there be no Defending Troops, A Pirate(and only a Pirate) may order his Buccaneers to Plunder it. For each Buccaneer sent Plundering, the Pirate may choose from either: 100 Pieces of Eight, 2 Hostages or a Cask of Greek Fire(if at Takal). The Buccaneers, however, being piratical, will promptly indulge themselves in the local pleasures and refuse to leave the Plundered land. They must be cleared out by the Royal Marines before that Royal Land can be used again.

Word of the King: Optimistically speaking, half accepted. The part about promotion to higher Pirate ranks is excellent, except I feel Pirates should be Wealthy as well to gain Notoriety; so I'm reducing the "ships sunk" requirement to 2 and adding the requirement of a personal fortune of at least 3000 Pieces of Eight (at the time of promotion). The definition of Plundering, though, is rejected, as the wording is sufficiently poor that it might be construed to allow you to order your Buccaneers to plunder Atlantis immediately, as nothing in the rules says it has any "Defending Troops". Although we be Pirates, mateys, there be no fun in Plunder that comes so easy! And I'll take this opportunity to close another loophole: Any Imperial Personnel taken aboard for Hostages from now on will only qualify for the Act of Infamy if they were acquired after the player became a Pirate. (Thus, Pirates who currently have Imperial Personnel aboard can still use them for the Act of Infamy no matter where they got them.)

Proposal 100

Proposer: Citizen Slakko
Proposed: Wed, 1 Feb 1995 11:27:53 +0930 (CST)
Proposal: Most noblest Emperor of the High Seas, please hear my proposal: It has come to my attention that the exact method by which a mayor is elected is still lacking something. To this end I provide another proposal for your perusal. I propose that the votes for Mayor be counted and decided on the First Past the Post System. Further, should there be a tie on number of votes, that TIE, being impartial in the election, shall decide the winner by any means that TIE sees fit. Citizens who have nominated for mayor shall not be debarred from voting because of this nomination, as the right to stand for Mayor and the right to vote are not mutually exclusive.

Decision: Accepted, amending rule 70.
Comments: We aren't really sure what a First Past the Post System is, [THS comment - please send me details on how the winner of an election by the First Past the Post system is decided.] but it looks like We have got one now. The rest of the Proposal made sense, though.

Proposal 101

Proposer: Pirate Tivol
Proposed: Tue, 31 Jan 1995 18:50:54 EST
Proposal: Aahaarg, ye repulsive Citizens--fear the Super Coop III or suffer a fate worse than that which befell our unwelcome Piratical Observer! Aye, we bet he knows what true malevolence can be dealt by the hands of Pirates... However, we Pirates have of soft sides, too, especially for the feminine folk. Pirates may, in addition to carrying the standard settling and colonizing types of personnel, carry Wenches in their Ships. Pirate Ships with Wenches will always be merrily singing various shanties and Gilbert and Sullivan tunes, but that is not the main purpose of the Wenches--their main purpose is to woo and entrap locals when Pirates dock. Each Wench can convert five personnel people or natives over to the Pirate's forces. The Wenches may bring these people aboard the Pirate's Ship if there is room, or they may convert some or all of a Land's population, swinging the balance and control of the Land. Wenches may be cast overboard at any time, turned into mastheads, or possibly traded for Pieces of Eight or other goods depending on local customs.

Word of the King: Rejected. I may be the evilest, cruelest King to ever sail the innumerable seas, but unfortunately for you, I am also a P.C. King. I just can't stomach a proposal so abusive and discriminatory to one sex. Besides, how do you know that our Buccaneers aren't mostly female themselves? And lest you think I am only rejecting for vague philosophical reasons, this proposal has technical difficulties beyond its overarching tongue-in-cheekness (which I do enjoy): to wit, where would Wenches come from? Do converted personnel become Buccaneers, Hostages, Slaves, or what?
The Pirate Oath is shaping up, though! Keep on like that and you'll soon be rid of that niggling Piratical Observer.

Proposal 102

Proposer: dpn
Proposed: Wed, 01 Feb 1995 16:50:43 EST
Proposal: My Emperor, I fear that the seas have become quite dangerous for the noble citizens of your empire to traverse. I have prepared the following short document on the dangers to a sailor's worldly goods that arise from battle, and the steps that may be taken to protect from disaster. If a player's ship is sunk by enemies, there is a 2/3 chance that the victorious foe shall recover all Pieces of Eight and cargo on the ship. If the victor used Casks of Greek Fire in the battle, however, this is reduced to a 1/3 chance. If the Po8 and cargo are not recovered in this fashion, they sink to the bottom, never to be seen again. In order to protect his or her fortune from capture by marauder, a player may choose to store Pieces of Eight onshore. Citizens may deposit their fortunes in a bank at any inhabited, friendly fief. Should the fief be captured or plundered, any Po8 left at the bank there are taken by the invaders. Pirates, naturally, disdain banks, preferring to bury their treasure. Pirates may choose to bury treasure in any uninhabited Fief. Should a colony ever be formed on this fief, any Po8 there are found by the colonists.

Decision: Accepted as Rule 73.
Comments: We like this Proposal so much that we hereby appoint dpn as Governor of Takal.

Word of the King: Robbing a Bank or another Pirate by Unburying his Pieces of Eight shall be an Act of Infamy, for sums of 500 Po8 or more. We're all money-hungry gold-lovers, and only slightly prefer Imperial gold over buried treasure!

Proposal 103

Proposer: Citizen Shadow Foxy
Proposed: Wed, 1 Feb 1995 15:12:39 -0800 (PST)
Proposal: Oh great Ruler of the Seven C's and Nine D's: I have been told that there is a ShipWright in your Famous Naval yards who has Invented a Remarkable Modification to your Imperial Ships. This Inventor has fashioned Large Wooden Ramming Plates, which may be Attached to Ships at No Cost. These Ramming Plates, while Large and Bulky, slowing your ship to Half of its Normal Speed, are very Helpful in Naval Battles, allowing you to attempt to Ram the Opponent Ship. This Ram attempt as an Attack, with your Ship having a strength for this attack of Five more than your Base Ship Strength (not counting Cannon or Marines). If the Ram attempt Succeeds, the Opponent's Ship is Split in Half and begins to Sink immediately. However, if the attempt Fails, your Ship is crushed by the Collision, and *your* Ship sinks.

Decision: Accepted as Rule 74.
Comments: Ramming speed!

Proposal 104

Proposer: Pirate Dawn
Proposed: Mon, 30 Jan 1995 12:35:38 +0100 (MET)
Proposal: The emperor is weak, he he wants to discover new lands instead of seeking the glory of the battle. If he continues like this i will be out of a job. hail the glory, battle is all. My new King shall provide me with much of this glory, so : We sail with death to the land of etternal battles. May, a million curses cover all the sea you sail. I become sick and tired of all those cowards of the empire, they always flee at the first sight of battle. I propose we are able to pursue them. If a player or other ship decides to flee it gets a head start of the strength that it has less that the attacker. after that both roll a six-side dice for each proposal that is passed. The roll of the pursuer is subtracted from the distance between them and the pursued is add to the distance. If at some piont the distance becomes 0 there will be a fight between the persuiter and the persuited. if at any time the distance is greater than 20 the pursuer has lost pursued. and must set sail back where it came from. if the destination is reached for the persued, no more may be rolled to increase the distance. the persuer rolles normaly and if the distances becomes 0 than it comes at the destination, where the pursued and the pursuer will fight then (if the pursuer is still there ofcause).
all distances are in shiplegth in this proposal.
for squadrons : each ship rolles dice, the lowest count( a chain is only as strong as it's weakest part) at both sides.

Word of the King: Accepted as Rule 75; get after those Imperial scum, mateys! And this is an Oath indeed; I award Dawn a Skull and Crossbones to fly over her ship, and a 50 Pieces of Eight bonus.

Proposal 105

Proposer: Citizen Egil
Proposed: Fri, 3 Feb 95 1:10:45 MET
Proposal: Oh Highest of the Highest, hear my proposal. Citizens can be a Pirate without anybody but TPK and THS knowing about it. These Pirate Spies will be able to do proposals to both TIE as TPK. Their proposals to TPK however will be published on WWW with "Pirate Spy" as proposer. THS will keep record of their score as Pirate Spy (PS). This score will only be published when TIE discovers that this PS is a PS. Upon discovery TIE will put "Defeat in battle." in the list if possible Acts of Valor (reward: one step increase in bravery). Of course this also goes for Pirates that become Citizen Spy (CS).

Decision: Rejected.
Comments: We suspect this Proposal has several problems, viz,
(a) why would everyone not become a Pirate Spy to make twice as many proposals?, and
(b) what happens when a Pirate Spy is attacked by a Pirate Ship?
Word of the King: Ahoy, there! I thought it was an idea with excellent potential. Therefore, I'm setting aside a Skull and Crossbones and an immediate promotion for Egil should he ever see the light and come join the side of Victory!

Care to submit a proposal? Please use subject "Fascist". (Email gwhitney@umich.edu if the previous link does not work. Thanks - THS.)

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Last modified: Tue Mar 14 08:10:24 1995