http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakoku

Yes, Imperial Japanese isolationism was legendary. Remnants still persist in some social attitudes, although almost all countries have some measure of xenophobia, greater or lesser. If I was forced to justify the presence of a ninja outside of Japan at this time period, I would have to say either exile (ninja were unloved by many in their day) or sent as a spy by some daimyo looking to acquire foreign knowledge or technology. Given how the Floating World existed apart and unto itself for so long, the former is far more likely.

I am a dabbler in Japanese history and mythology, something not uncommon in Americans born in the Shōwa Era, when Japan came prominently within our notice. First militarily, and later culturally.

Nonetheless I happily withdraw my suggestion of a Ninja in the Tzar universe if it is unduly realistic. Instead I shall revert to my original selection of the Mage, an entirely plausible entity who can be seen in the game screenshots urinating blue lightning the length of soccer pitch. ;)

I take the mage, i like it when enemies will burn after a fireball of the mage. :-)

Seriously? Pretty damn cool if so. I've not got the game yet so I'm just going by the screenshots and descriptions. Sounds even better than I previously believed. I think I'll have to get this quite soon, thanks!

Check out the second screenshot (winter theme). You can see European cavalry close to the boat, an Asian monk (white clothes) and eight ninjas!


EDIT: I will announce the winner within few hours but you can still post your answer. You can still win the game :)

I would choose the Mage, it worked out pretty well for Arthur didn't it? :)

I need to be able to trust my second in command, so I say the peasant (assuming he's a lifelong friend, willing to learn the skills required for this new duty and all that crap). Mages tend to be wise, so I wouldn't let him too far away from me, and nobles can get bitchy so I would have to come up with nice sounding titles for them; such as best friend of the crown or royal advisor, which I can later ignore if I so desire.

Still, if a trustworthy and capable noble was around.... but that would be too convenient, even on a fantasy universe.
Merlin was never second in command. In fact, in most legends of Arthur his downfall stems from not having a proper second in command.

Thanks and +1 for your generosity, Ghorpm! Please, count me in.

I'd choose the Peasant, after all I've always believed that no good deed should go unpunished. :)

He saved my life and has been a loyal follower and friend since the beginning, so he deserves a really severe punishment. And what better punishment that make him my second-in-command, to share all the burders of the power and wealth my victories have brought to me. Also, don't understimate peasants. Games like Dungeon Siege have showed to us all a peasant could be the very saviour of the world, so a simpler task like this one would be really easy for him. ;)

Besides, I'll need someone trustworthy enough at my side, now that the Crusader, the Mage, one of the Nobles, the Ranger and the Spy are all plotting against me, each believing that he deserved that enlightening position, far way more than an lowly, ignorant, uneducated Peasant. :D

I'm not able to understand the reason, but it seems the glow of a crown attracts usurpers and malcontents like the moths are attracted to the flame. ;)

Not technically second in command, but advisor. Also in a medieval time peasants would have almost no education, no experience in governing a country, thus even though it looks nice in fairytales, peasants rarely make good governors...

While I agree, what I would value most of a second in command is trustworthyness, followed by skill. And a peasant who has been around me would have had a chance te get to know a thing or two, assuming they had the will to learn; and I could complete their education. That's why the mage and all the other advisors are there after all.

And the winner is... HomerSimpson! I mean... you are a Tzar for what, two days? And you are already plotting to kill a person who assisted you in seizing the power? Wow! Just how sick is that?! That was very, very tzarish indeed ;) Ivan the Terrible would be so proud! I wouldn't like to live with such a ruler so I hope playing the game will give you enough entertainment so that you won't try to become a Tzar in real life. Congratulation!

Big thanks for everybody who took part in this contest! It was a great pleasure to read your answers and the discussion where you didn't agree with other users! Thanks a lot!

Oh, and a quote from an old movie seems so appropriate:
- Is there a proper blessing... for the Tsar?
- A blessing for the Tsar? Of course! May God bless and keep the Tsar... far away from us!

Congrats, Homer (you machiavelic ruler), and thanks again, Ghorpm!

I can't believe I missed this by minutes. I had started writing a little short story but I couldn't finish it in time. Keep in mind that this is just a draft, but here's how far I got:

Three years... It took us three years to get to that point, and when we had finally won, at the hour of victory we were bickering like children. I said that you will have my decision, that I would choose my second in command. I asked only for a month to cleanse the castle of all the spies that still lingered like vultures, and then you would have my decision.

To think that Crasus would be sanctified by the Church and have all his zealous bloodshed forgiven just to further the clergy's position. Even if I were to have chosen him he wouldn't have lasted long before the Church would have had me replace him with a more “worthy” servant of God. I couldn't have chosen Crasus or Nathan, and his bloated nobles, would have stopped their supply of gold, so badly needed for the reconstruction. And I did need their money because the greedy clergy would have sooner starved us all than spend one golden piece to save the realm. However the greatest blow came form my generals. In the hour that I needed friends the most, my generals demanded of me to choose Ragnar the Ranger, “The Piercing Strider”, as my second in command. Any one of three and there would have been chaos... none and there would have been bloodshed... so I asked for a month... what else could I do...

I spent that whole night awake and it was that very night, that I first thought of it. The one way that I could save this fragile victory from turning to ash.

My “loyal” generals would lead the army near the Northern border, just in case the Dark King's brother would be foolish enough to cross the mountains and raid us while we were still in turmoil. Using a very efficient spy it was quite easy to turn the nobles against the clergy and force their hand to action. It would be Nathan to discover a very disturbing letter making it evident that the clergy had been secretly hiring mercenaries to storm the capital and keep the guards busy while the holy crusaders would cleanse the realm of the vile nobility. When I approached him and expressed my own concerns about rumors of armed riders in the northern hills he was quite relived to have the Tzar's support. While he was making plans with his fattened ilk, I sent my spy North on another mission. Under my supervision we planed the “perfect counter-offensive”. We would place lookouts to give us a day's warning on any armed force approaching the capital, thus maximizing our time to gather our forces. I was amused by how knowledgeable the nobles were, when it came to gathering the villainous scum of the capital that would be willing to kill anybody for the right price.

When the signal came all the preparations amounted to nothing more than a turbulent mess... screaming and wailing and hacking... even so, caught by surprise the fanatical holy warriors could not stop that frenzied whirlwind until it ran its course. And in that perfect mess I and Mardek rode out through the main gate, heading North.
It took us five hours to finally meet up with the advancing armed force “threatening” the capital. Mardek had the biggest grin on his face up to the point when that arrow shattered his skull. Nobody would question his motives for helping the nobility in their attempt to seize the capital while the army was in the North... after all he was insane. Taking pleasure in incinerating the prisoners and always reeking of burned flesh... we couldn't have won the war without his help and he played his part, but the moment the war was over he became an unusable liability. And nobody would ever question the nobility's choice to contact the Dark King's brother. Or why would the spy, carrying their letter, choose to traverse the army's encampment in his attempt to exit the border, even if he was using Mardek's blinking talisman. Because nobody held any love for the nobility and nobody cared about poor insane Mardek.

Once reunited with the army we returned to the capital and slaughtered every nobleman and their armed rabble. The rest was easy, if somewhat time consuming. I took the vast wealth of the Church for myself, only for safe keeping, of course, until the upper clerical class was restored, while frequently making sure to prevent it. Then I repaid my trusted generals with the domains of the nobles for their years of service, thus removing them from the power they held in the army. And Ragnar the Ranger, “Savior of the Realm” became my second in command and he was also lost command of the army. As expected, the generals proved themselves incompetent in all other domains other that war making so they always fell into debt, while I, as their sovereign and old friend was there for each of them, slowly rebuying the lands I gratefully bestowed on to them.

Well, I still think Lifthrasil would be a better Tzar (hehe), but I agree that Homer would make a good one too..



Congrats Homer, and thank you Ghorpm! ;p