Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-17114085-20160322224717/@comment-24696651-20160529211239

(Yeah, I reported multiple months. As for the soldiers: I recruited the replacements. The soldiers which are technically not part of my levies I listed, but I left them behind as guards anyway, so it doesn't affect how many soldiers I can really use. Besides, the deal of the peace treaties was that Riften had control of their vassals' armies - they just decided to leave them as guards anyway.)

1st of Second Seed

Skuldar was preparing for an invasion of Ivarstead - Cynric didn't need to attend the Council meeting he called to guess that. However, he had gone to the trouble of creating an agenda - presumably with someone else's help, given that he was semi-literate at best, which piqued Cynric's curiousity, so he made sure to arrive early. Skuldar was, predictably, late, but he turned up with a slender high elf man, who looked slightly intimaded by Skuldar.

"It has come to my notice that our soldiers' training is somewhat a problem," Skuldar said, slightly stiffly, as though the words were not his own. "To deal with Jarl Korst the Cruel's expansion aggressively, we need better trainnig and drills. For that purpose, I have got an architect, Mensus, to make plan for better barracks and new facililities."

Cynric noted Skuldar's clumsy attempt at formal speech with interest. Skuldar was clearly very concerned about this.

"Yes, well, as Skuldar has, er, said, we need better training facilities," Mensus stammered. "I have drafted plans for a new drill square, large stables with a corrals totalling to about two acres, an archery and artillery range 600 feet wide, a hippodrome and amphitheatre for our troops to train whilst entertaining the public, and a baths, which will be used by soldiers and the public."

A scale model of the new facilities was brought in, as well as top down plans.

"How large will the amphitheatre and hippodrome be?" Cynric asked.

"The hippodrome will be 400 yards long and 60 wide," Mensus replied, relieved to be talking numbers. "The amphitheatre will be 100 yards in diameter. Both will be able to accomdate about a quarter of Riften's population."

Cynric was impressed. A spectacle this large would certainly bring in a lot of money from betting and entrance tickets, as well as plenty of tourists. Of course, this was predicated on some kind of system to rig the results.

"What about the baths?" Asjath asked. "Do we even need those?"

"Mister Skuldar has assured me that baths will ensure the soldier's commitment and convince people to join our ranks," Mensus responded. "It is modelled on ancient Reman baths, with a seperate cold room, warm room, changing rooms, and a gymnasium complex. It will be 200 yards by 200 yards, and about a tenth of Riften will be able to use it throughout the course of the day, if they can afford it."

"What military reforms would come with the facilities?" Cynric asked.

"Men would be drafted into the arny on coming of age," Skuldar explained. "If they can pay a conscription tax, they avoid the draft. They would train for six months, then we sort out who joins what branch of the army. Training would occur over most of the day, and would include strength training, marathons, drilling, fencing, and theory training, as well as a specific diet for soldiers."

"How much would it cost?" Astata asked, wary of how expensive this would likely be.

"Construction would take place in stages, over a period of a couple of years," Mensus explained. "We would therefore pay for it in stages."

"How much?" Cynric asked, exasperated.

"It would gain an estimated net profit of 30,000 gold per month, and-"

Cynric stared at Mensus, daring him to give a straight answer.

"A million gold," he admitted, sheepishly.

Astata sighed and walked out of the room immediately - she clearly wasn't interested. Cynric followed suit.

"If it helps us kill bandits, I'm all for it," Salma laughed. "Asjath?"

"It's very expensive, but if we're dealing with Korst, then we need all the help we can get."

And so, by some miracle, the Council voted in favour of construction, at some point in the future.