[SPOILERS] Catherine of China

[plako]

Screenshot from the north containg latest dot map. City in the east is at the border we agreed with WarriorKnight. However the deal is off on T110 so we might be able to claim land from east there.

[Krill]

13 settlers shouldn't take too long to build.

[plako]

13 settlers shouldn't take too long to build.

Very true. With this amount of hammers available Catherine could build those settlers easily. Just need to make sure there are also sufficient amount of workers following along.

[plako]

We've deal with Lord Parkin:

Hi again,

Seems like we're pretty much agreed. I've written up all the terms you summarized in a more detailed format below, and added terms I think we made mention of just to make them official. Let me know what you think.

* Complete confidentiality - no information from any of our discussions is to be passed on to anyone else.
* Non-aggression pact until turn 180 - can be extended later if we both wish.
* Open borders to be signed as soon as this agreement is accepted, for economic benefits as soon as a trade connection is possible. (Probably still a couple of dozen turns away, but just so we don't forget.)
* No right of passage - no entry into each others' borders is permitted unless explicitly agreed between us later.
* No settling the fish yet - neither of us settles a city with the Fish near the canal in its big fat cross, until we make an agreement at a later date. (Just in case it isn't clear, this means you should settle the 3-way canal city on grassland to claim the Deer and Clams. Not the 2-way canal city on the hill with the Clam and Fish.)
* Border line agreement - regarding the land between us, I won't settle south of the Pig-Gold site, and you won't settle north of the canal city. (The only potential exception for both of us being the Fish city after later discussions.)
* Misdirection agreement - both of us can make use of our long-term friendly arrangement to misdirect others into believing we're hostile to one another, as they'll probably be expecting anyway. I suggest we keep this misdirection subtle until we get closer to the time when we're getting our power spikes. I figure if we're too obvious or persistent with the misdirection, it may throw off the game... so keeping it to short and simple "hints" of hostility (if anything at all) is probably better for now. When our power really starts to spike then we should become more obvious in our misdirection.
* Timing of military build-up - right now we're both concentrating on expansion, but later on we'll probably want to discuss the timing of our military plans so that we can try to syncronise them. (We could even discuss whether we want to direct our militaries against the same rival, if it turns out that would be in both of our interests later on.)

That's about all I can think of. Is there anything I forgot to put on the list? Or anything that you want to clarify further?

Look forward to hearing back from you.

Kind regards,
Lord Parkin

My reponse:

Alright we've deal assuming that the Border line agreement concerns only the jungle area discussed earlier. Not potential land bridges east or west of it

There is no mentioning about espionage points, but I take that as long as our fake status is alright we shouldn't allocate them more than is nescessary to see each othes demographics i.e. ~43. After cold war starts we probably want to allocate also EP points against each other. At this point we might want to close our borders, but that needs to be agreed separately.

I'll probably also start subtle campaign against you ;-). I'll be just laying some seeds.

plako

In reality I was mainly intrested in the NAP. I don't think that I really want to utilise this fake cold war thing, but I don't mind if Lord Parkin tries it. I'm pretty certain we'll be on better position when T180 arrives. He has a lot tougher neighbors in the north than we have.

[plako]

Planting the seeds. Not very subtle .

To Luddite:

Totally different subject. What is your opinion on Lord Parkin? I've heard some rumors that he would have been planting some seeds of an anti-China coalition. Probably nothing serious at this point, but I decided to check if Lord Parkin would have approached you with a similar agenda. I would appreciate any info about his actions you could reveal.

Best regards,
Plako

Before this I've been directing Rego to meet Luddite so that is the other not very intresting subject I'm referring to in the beginning.

[plako]

I also had a chat with Rego. It didn't go too well I think. I revealed too much and was probably a bit arrogant and secretive. I'm pretty certain Rego is the most dangerous player for us now after Lord Parkin is tied to us for a long time.

[antisocialmunky]

I was hoping that Lord Parkin would be a little more powerful than he actually is but oh well.

As long as he's not making secret pacts with everyone. But who knows, maybe he is.

[plako]

T73

I think I'll put the 2nd settler to the c that is north from Moai place. It has 2 food resources and 3 riversides to cottage so ít will be overall more profitable.

[plako]

New idea: We could also settle 1W of the furs. This would guarantee furs stay on our side. It could share rice and cottages from the tyvm and later obvivously furs that would give it a very fast start-up. Militarily it would make our border a bit harder to defend, but the city itself would be expendable so wouldn't need that much defenders. Most of its good tiles would be on the BFC of tyvm. I think this is my top candidate how to use the settler coming out of tyvm.

[plako]

Message from LP:

Hi Plako,

Sure thing, we're agreed that the border line agreement just applies to the north-south land bridge between us (the border being at the canal area).

I forgot about espionage points, but yeah, let's agree only to spend what's necessary to see demographics on one another. I don't think it's necessary to increase espionage spending against each other during our "cold war" period, because I'm pretty sure there's no way for anyone to see the espionage we have against each other anyway.

I'll offer Open Borders in the game as agreed. Not sure if it's necessary for us to close them during the "cold war" period - I've had plenty of games where I've kept borders open with genuine rivals for the economic benefit while preparing for war (of course with no right of passage). I don't think anyone will notice or care, and if they do then you can mention it's strictly an economic thing while you prepare for war - no entry permitted between us.

I think I'll pretty much keep quiet about our "hostility" for the time being, only making mention of it when it becomes relevant.

By the way, on an unrelated matter, I notice that you've signed Open Borders with Rego. I presume you two don't have trade routes yet (as you don't have them with me), but just be careful there, as he's one of the most liable civs to run away in this game if he gets enough fuel for his Great Lighthouse - as I'm sure you're aware. He's already talked his way into open borders with two other civs, and seems cunning enough to keep getting his way with most of them.

Anyway, just bear in mind that he'll get far, far more out of open borders than you will once trade routes open, so I suggest you at least try to negotiate something out of it when the time comes. That's what I'm intending on doing, anyway. I'll probably ask him for a resource or perhaps a portion of the gold he gets in return for the huge bonus he gets from the uneven trade routes. If he doesn't like that, too bad - the borders stay closed. That's the plan anyway.

Okay, that's about all for now I think.

Kind regards,
Lord Parkin

I'm surprised, if he doesn't know that diplo window reveals EP points. Maybe it is a test to check, if we know it or if we're kind enough to educate him. I decided to keep silent although I'm almost certain he must know the possibility.

My genuine response:

Hi,

Fair warning concerning Rego. However there are 10 people and at the moment they're not even close to being the leaders, so it is hard to arrange an embargo against diplomatically active player like Rego. Borders can be later obvivously closed.

Kind regards,
Plako

I don't think embargo would work or we should be trying to get one up. Maybe if they really get in to a dominant position this could be be thoght again.