Be a queen for a day

The four things you protect as a Queen

• 🌾
  Prosperity

  If Prosperity reaches zero, your day ends early with “The coffers ran dry”. The treasury emptied out and the palace roof began to leak on the throne. The treasurer put a bucket on your crown.

  52% of the choices in this role lower it, and 19% raise it.

• 🤝
  Alliances

  If Alliances reaches zero, your day ends early with “Friends turned away”. Every envoy went home early. The banquet hall was full of food and empty chairs.

  12% of the choices in this role lower it, and 54% raise it.

• 💛
  Trust

  If Trust reaches zero, your day ends early with “The people stopped trusting”. The market stalls closed one by one. The only sound in the square was a very sad parrot.

  23% of the choices in this role lower it, and 62% raise it.

• 🎭
  Culture

  If Culture reaches zero, your day ends early with “The music faded”. The bard left, the painter left and the festival lanterns were never lit. Auralis went very, very quiet.

  19% of the choices in this role lower it, and 73% raise it.

Tips for a better day as a Queen

1. Do not chase one number. In every role, a day with all four meters between 50 and 70 beats a day with one meter at 95 and another at 10. As a Queen, the danger is rarely the big mistake. It is the quiet neglect of one meter.
2. Watch Prosperity most closely. In this role, 52% of choices lower it, which makes it the meter that slips away fastest. Alliances is the most forgiving, with 12% of choices lowering it.
3. Read your advisors as opinions, not answers. Each one backs the option that helps the meters they care about, so when they disagree, ask which meter you can least afford to lose today.
4. Look for the choice that gives you something back. Many of the best options cost one meter a little and help two others. The tempting “easy” option often costs more than it seems.
5. Remember that choices can come back. A decision in the morning may return as a follow-up situation later in the day, so a quick fix early on can be expensive at six in the evening.

A sample day, step by step

Here is one example of how a careful player might get through a day as a Queen. It uses six of the sixteen situations, picks the option with the best overall balance each time, and shows what each choice did. Your own day will be different, because situations are drawn at random and some choices bring follow-ups later.

1. 7:00 AM

   The seating chart war

   The kings of Dorn and Meris are both coming to your banquet. Neither will sit on the left. Neither will sit on the right.

   Chosen: “Use a round table”. A neat solution. Everyone is slightly confused.

   🤝 Alliances +10💛 Trust +3🎭 Culture +3

   The road not taken: “Seat them in separate rooms”. It avoids a fight and the food gets cold twice.

   Standing after this call: 🌾 50 · 🤝 60 · 💛 53 · 🎭 53

2. 9:30 AM

   The harvest festival date

   The farmers want the harvest festival this week. The traders want it next week, when the ships arrive with more visitors and more money.

   Chosen: “Hold two smaller festivals”. Twice the bunting and half the stress.

   🌾 Prosperity −3🤝 Alliances +4💛 Trust +5🎭 Culture +8

   The road not taken: “Next week, for the ships”. The harbour is delighted. The farmers wait a little sourly.

   Standing after this call: 🌾 47 · 🤝 64 · 💛 58 · 🎭 61

3. 12:00 PM

   A gift for the queen’s birthday

   The city wants to give you a giant golden statue of yourself. It would cost a year of festival money. The statue’s nose is slightly crooked.

   Chosen: “Ask for a garden instead”. A modest, kind answer. The people love it.

   🌾 Prosperity −6💛 Trust +8🎭 Culture +5

   The road not taken: “Accept the statue”. Magnificent and a little embarrassing.

   Standing after this call: 🌾 41 · 🤝 64 · 💛 66 · 🎭 66

4. 3:00 PM

   The orphans’ school

   The old orphanage is about to close for lack of funds. The headmistress asks for a small yearly gift and brings twenty children who sing very loudly.

   Chosen: “Hold a charity ball”. The ball is glamorous and raises just enough.

   🌾 Prosperity +2🤝 Alliances +6💛 Trust +6🎭 Culture +6

   The road not taken: “Fund it generously”. The children cheer. The treasurer sighs.

   Standing after this call: 🌾 43 · 🤝 70 · 💛 72 · 🎭 72

5. 6:00 PM

   The weavers’ complaint

   The weavers of Tarn say cheap cloth from abroad is ruining their work. They bring a very large and very beautiful tapestry to prove their point.

   Chosen: “Limit the cheap imports”. The weavers are saved. The foreign envoy frowns.

   🌾 Prosperity −6🤝 Alliances −10💛 Trust +8🎭 Culture +6

   The road not taken: “Allow the imports”. Prices fall. The looms fall quiet.

   Standing after this call: 🌾 37 · 🤝 60 · 💛 80 · 🎭 78

6. 9:00 PM

   The merchants want lower tariffs

   The merchants’ guild asks you to lower the harbour tariffs. They say trade will boom. The treasurer says the palace roof will not mend itself.

   Chosen: “Lower the tariffs”. The harbour bustles. The roof drips on.

   🌾 Prosperity +8🤝 Alliances +4💛 Trust +3

   The road not taken: “Keep the tariffs”. The palace stays solvent. The merchants sulk in the cafés.

   Standing after this call: 🌾 45 · 🤝 64 · 💛 83 · 🎭 78

Situations you may face

Every game uses six of these sixteen situations, so you will not meet them all in one day. There are also 4 follow-up situations that return after specific choices and 3 surprises that can appear without warning.

• The harvest festival date. The farmers want the harvest festival this week. The traders want it next week, when the ships arrive with more visitors and more money.
• The parrot that repeats secrets. The envoy of Teshar has given you a beautiful parrot as a gift. It keeps repeating things it overheard at his palace, including some rude ones.
• The merchants want lower tariffs. The merchants’ guild asks you to lower the harbour tariffs. They say trade will boom. The treasurer says the palace roof will not mend itself.
• The leaking library. Rain is dripping onto the royal library’s oldest scrolls. You can fix the roof, buy new books or ask the scholars to carry the scrolls upstairs.
• The seating chart war. The kings of Dorn and Meris are both coming to your banquet. Neither will sit on the left. Neither will sit on the right.
• The bard’s cheeky song. The court bard has written a new song about you. It is very catchy. Some of the lyrics are about your bad singing.
• The heir and the circus. Your young heir has skipped lessons to watch a travelling circus and now wants to learn to juggle. The tutor is hiding in the pantry.
• The storm and the ships. A storm is coming and a fleet of Auralis ships is still at sea. The admiral says a rescue is possible but risky and costly.
• The weavers’ complaint. The weavers of Tarn say cheap cloth from abroad is ruining their work. They bring a very large and very beautiful tapestry to prove their point.
• A gift for the queen’s birthday. The city wants to give you a giant golden statue of yourself. It would cost a year of festival money. The statue’s nose is slightly crooked.
• The faraway wedding. You are invited to a royal wedding three kingdoms away. It would take four days to get there and four days back. It would also be a very big friendship.
• The spy among the maids. You discover that one of the palace maids has been sending your menu plans to a neighbouring kingdom. She is very young and very nervous.
• The suspicious jewel. A jeweller offers a rare blue diamond at a very low price. The crown jewel inspector squints at it and says “mmm”.
• The orphans’ school. The old orphanage is about to close for lack of funds. The headmistress asks for a small yearly gift and brings twenty children who sing very loudly.
• The painter and the ceiling. A famous painter offers to paint the ballroom ceiling. He says it will take ten years. He is already on a ladder.
• The cold winter. The first frost arrives early. The palace guards stand at the gates in thin cloaks. The wool merchants are asking a very high price.

Every ending (spoilers)