Diary of Jory Hutchinson: 3014 – 3023

 

I am Jory Hutchinson. Faction Leader of The Hutchinson Dominion since 3001.

51 years old; married (twice) with two surviving daughters, Brielle and Teagan, and living on the capital system, Phecda.

My earlier logs are: 3002: The Beginning and Star Date: 3005 – 3010

Diary Entry: Star Date – 3014

The last few years have been very unsettled – rulers from all factions, including mine, are raiding weaker systems for resources, and even occasionally allying with each other to raid the capital systems of leaders.

The bad blood between Vandalin and Argus is causing significant problems now (the two rulers joined me after Argus’s rebellion  led to the downfall of Vandalin’s faction).

Argus and Vandalin have raided each other multiple times in tit-for-tat attacks. Initially I helped Vandalin defend, but latterly I am remaining neutral. The only solution I can see is to depose one of them as ruler, but they both have allies among my other rulers and I suspect the attempt would split my faction in half.

Diary Entry: Star Date – 3016

I attacked, conquered and deposed Ruler Kimberly Medina, a ruler from the Diaz Collective faction who kept raiding my systems and allying with some of my rulers against others.

I gave her system, Juxta, to my daughter Brielle to rule.

My rulers, however,  became unhappy with the frequent fighting caused by raids, and the war with the Diaz Collective over Juxta and Tseen (another system I conquered).

I never under estimate the ability of discontented rulers to de-stabilise a faction, so I quickly regained the approval of my rulers by reducing their taxes to me.

I maintained the state of ‘at war’ with Leader Roger Diaz for two years,  but neither of us made any attacks. As the stronger leader, I invited him to surrender twice but he chose to surrender to Leader Luam Hanson with whom I had no enmity, and so the war was ended.

I am the most powerful leader in this quadrant of space with 12 systems and a strong military fleet of ships.

My house has grown in prosperity to host over 50 nobles and I have sent several diplomats as ambassadors to live on the systems of my neighbouring rulers and leaders, increasing my public reputation for diplomacy rather than warfare.

Diary Entry: Star Date – 3018

Unfortunately, Juxta’s economy was in a bad state at the end of the war with the Diaz Collective. Brielle could not save the system, and the colony had to flee to safety, leaving it in ruins.

I decided the time had come to sort out some of the more disloyal rulers.

I deposed Ruler Odessa Davies from the Tau Cygni system because she allied with my enemy, Leader Roger Diaz against me in the war and later they also raided my system together!

I gave the rule of the Tau Cygni system to my wife, whose title  became Ruler Oralee Dean and she moved there with our youngest daughter, Teagan.

This appointment greatly pleased Oralee, who is ambitious (and made amends for her grievance against me for an affair I’d had with Leader Diaz’s mother, Rosalba in the past!).

However, before I could turn my attention to the long-running feud between Argus and Vandalin, the system infrastructure on Yildun collapsed after a raid by Argus leaving Vandalin and my grand-children, Hila and Santos, homeless and without status.

I gave Vandalin and his people a home on Phecda.

As Hila was 18 years old, I arranged a good marriage for her with Noble Colman Ayers, the son of a nearby ruler from the Deleon faction and she moved to her husband’s system, Neshmet.

Santos is 15 years old, and a fine looking boy – already sporting a moustache, he resembles me! I look forward to negotiating a marriage with good prospects for Santos in the future.

Diary Entry: Star Date 3020

I have deposed Ruler Grizelda Newman from Marfik for not responding to my call to arms and for allying with outsiders to raid rulers in her own faction which she has done several times over the years. We have never liked each other.

I gave Marfik to Brielle – hopefully she will have more luck with this system!

As I had ample and clear justification to depose Grizelda and Odessa, my rulers supported my actions on Tau Cygni and Marflk without concern, and my reputation was undamaged.

I raised my rulers’ taxes to medium, but spent the next six months investing in the economies of all my faction’s systems to ensure that our faction remained powerful.

On a sad note, my wife, Odessa died at the relatively young age of 50 – our daughter, Teagan, inherited Tau Cygni and rules there now.

Without Grizelda, Odessa or Vandalin in power, there were far fewer raids amongst my rulers and I did not engage in any fighting unnecessarily – my only combat was to help Ruler Cory Ibarra survive a rebellion on her system.

No further diary entries by Jory Hutchinson ….

Post-Script – Star Date Jan 3023

Jory Hutchinson died suddenly at the age of 61, in the year 3021.

His daughter, Brielle Hutchinson inherited his empire of 11 systems but she was intensely disliked by her father’s rulers and her rule was short and disastrous.

The end was swift. Leader Gizelle Deleon declared war on the Hutchinson Faction, and took the Tseen and Sigma Draconis systems in combat easily when Brielle’s rulers ignored her call to arms. Praecipua, the next system to be attacked, collapsed and became uninhabitable.

Brielle’s half-sister, Ruler Teagan Dean, took the opportunity to raid Phecda, which also became uninhabitable as a result of the combat; making Brielle homeless and ousting her as faction leader.

Teagan became faction leader, aged 16, but the Hutchinson Faction was quickly defeated by the Deleon and Diaz Collective factions which attacked simultaneously.

Jory Hutchinson’s legacy was wiped out in 6 months.

Play Tester’s Note

This AAR showcases Strategy Mode, where I play the game with full control to select any valid action for my character.

The fate of characters is influenced by personality traits, opinions character form of each other, kinship and feudal bonds, economic/military strength and consequences of actions taken. The success of Jory and failure of Brielle was not  pure chance.

Our other story, Katie Bond, features Star Dynasties in Story Mode where the player selects an action from recommended options.

Star Dynasties is in development; some of the game systems in this prototype are incomplete or may change in the future.

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