Capt Wolf

While we're asking for AMRCA extensions, I could also use one for my expedition to New Haven. I'd need one through the coming weekend.

Good build! I really like the sharp angles of the tied-back curtains, and the grooved bricks and SNOT technique for the floor. The desk is appropriately both ornate and cluttered. And apparently the Eslandolan admiralty has a rare Norwegian Blue. Who knew?

Very nice! Fun build with lots of activity. Nice use of the SNOT technique for the water.

Oops! Link fixed.

A special election has been approved by the Colonial Council to fill the vacant Sea of Thieves seats. Any Eslandolan player not currently in the council may post a "campaign" MOC in the forum to be in consideration for the vacant spot. The MOC must be situated in the Sea of Thieves. If the player does not have any previous builds in the Sea of Thieves region, the MOC must demonstrate the player's new connection to the region. More than one MOC per player is allowed if desired for story-telling purposes. Deadline for entries is April 15.

Guilder was pleased with the quick action of the council. "And so it is decided, 15-0, to hold a special election for the seats of the Sea of Thieves delegation. Campaigning by any interested party may begin immediately, with voting to be held April 15." WHACK went his gavel again! OOC: Any Eslandolan player not currently in the council may post a "campaign" MOC in the forum to be in consideration for the vacant spot. The MOC must be situated in the Sea of Thieves. If the player does not have any previous builds in the Sea of Thieves region, the MOC must demonstrate the player's new connection to the region. More than one MOC per player is allowed if desired for story-telling purposes.

Please note that the ESL council has voted 15-0 to ratify the treaty.

"It appears unanimous for ratifying the trade agreement, with the only exceptions being the absences of two of our delegations -- one for something called 'exams'" Guilder muttered under his breath ). "As such, the treaty is ratified." WHACK! went the gavel. ... "Now we return to the issue of one of those missing delegations. It has been proposed and seconded that we should have a special election to fill the vacant seats from the Sea of Thieves. I'll get the ball rolling on that proposal by entering 3 AYEs from the members of the Sea of Storms delegation."

Before Guilder could respond to Chef Jalape, a courier entered the hall, strode purposefully up to the front of the council hall, slapped an envelope in Guilder's hand, and turned around and strode purposefully out of the hall. Guilder looked down at the envelope in his hand and recognized the seal of Román Fontonajo. He quickly opened the letter and read it silently to himself. "Council members, we have word from Ambassador Fontonajo in Kings Port. He has negotiated a trade agreement with the Terraversans! We need only ratify it for it to take effect. The treaty states that, as far as port taxes, harbor fees, customs duties, etc., are concerned, each nation treats the other’s ships the same as they treat their own. As such, Eslandolan ships would not be subject to any harbor fees and/or customs duties when calling in Kings Port or Westface; and Terraversan ships would not be subject to the ship-level harbor fees in Nova Terreli and Montario, and would only be subject to the cargo tax that even Eslandolan ships pay. The only other Eslandolan port that charges any taxes is Trador, which would remain in effect for visiting Terraversan and Eslandolan vessels alike, but Terraversan ships would not be charged any taxes, fees, duties, etc., at any other Eslandolan ports as long as Eslandolan ships are not charged any at Terraversan ports." Guilder looked up from the letter and out across the council hall, then continued. "This is an important step that will give us an advantage over the competition as our merchant ships make the crossing to and from the continent, and as such I put it up for an immediate vote. I will begin by voting AYE for this trade agreement." Aaron van der Meede stood at the Sea of Storms tables. "I too will vote AYE to ratify this agreement." Pieter Reyngout stood. "Make that three AYEs from our delegation." @Kai NRG, @Garmadon, @gedren_y, @Faladrin, @Legostone, please let us know your votes on this trade agreement.

If we choose this course among our options, do we have to wait until the AMRCA is run to bring it up in the council, or should we start debating ratification now?

Guilder stood to address the council: "Well, still no sign of the MAESTRO or Sea of Thieves delegations, but with the other five delegations having cast votes, with 13 ayes, one nay, and one abstention, the proposal has already garnered a majority of possible votes, and so it passes." WHACK! went the gavel to punctuate the result. Guilder continued. "While the MAESTRO delegation has been seen intermittently, the Sea of Thieves delegation has been absent for some time. I propose we consider the Sea of Thieves seats vacant and hold a special election for new representation from the Sea of Thieves. Does anybody second this proposal?" OOC: Umbra-Manis hasn't even looked at the PMs for months, and I assume he has left the game.

Will February be the last time the sheets are updated monthly, with future sheets synchronizeded with the MRCAs?

Fantastic build! Another realistic period-appropriate factory! As others have noted, the chimneys are the highlight, but it is all well done. Nice attention to detail in the walls, and I think the digital definition of the white bricks actually enhances the build over how it would look in real bricks, but it would look stunning in that form, too, I am sure. Again, fantastic MOC!

I always PM Phred about pinning it when I post it.

Whomever you want. Correct, it is un-MOC'd. That link is our default link for un-MOC'd NPC ships. Yep. That's A-OK!

Captain, I really like this ship! Great shape, lovely color scheme, nice stern gallery, and good crew posing! I'm already working on how I can copy some of the features on my next ship. Well done! Will we get to see her sail the Brick Seas?

The sign-up deadline for the next Adventure MRCA and Trade MRCA is March 5, midnight, anywhere in the world. ---------------- Players can sign up for both the Adventure MRCA and the Trade MRCA, but individual ships can only participate in one or the other, not both simultaneously. To sign-up for the Adventure MRCA, read the rules here and then sign-up via this form. To sign-up for the Trade MRCA, read the rules here and then sign-up via this form. For a ship to take part in either MRCA, it must be licensed. You can license your ship under the new ship rules via this form. If there are any issues (typo, wrong number of points or other issues) with this process, PM @Legostone. Note that the MRCA signup form still doesn’t have raids added yet, so if you’re interested in conducting a raid this turn, PM @Capt Wolf. If you’re just going to be trading, you can go ahead and fill out the forms normally. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Consult this map for trade zone numbers before submitting any forms:  IMPORTANT: Note that if you click on the above map to go to one you can zoom in on, there is an error on the linked map (zones 10 and 11 are mislabeled). Use the map visible above for proper zone labels. And here are the trade values as of February 14, 619. When filling out your MRCA form, please make sure you spell the ports exactly as they appear below. Settlement Faction Zone Trade Value Acropolis OL 24 23 Aden CAR 2 178 Alexport PRI 29 172 Arlinsport COR 6 410 Astrapi OL 23 246 Balmin NAM 2 175 Balondia COR 2 149 Bardo ESL 8 248 Baskers Island MAR 6 126 Bastion SR 18 336 Belson COR 4 897 Breshaun OL 7 1130 Calisto MAR 25 78 Camp Isaac COR 35 63 Cecropia OL 22 41 Charlatan Bay SR 24 427 Dortanix MAR 1 594 Dragonstone OL 20 18 Elizabethville COR 22 214 Eltina OL 7 334 Elysabethtown ESL 20 178 Fatu Hiva OL 35 301 Fortaleza Victoria ESL 32 5 Freeport GAR 27 26 Fuerte Unido ESL 32 230 Granoleon OL 5 892 Haven SR 21 36 Hojaroja ESL 32 33 Hussar’s Isle COR 24 9 Jameston COR 35 489 Kieg GAR 3 594 King’s Harbour COR 24 478 Kings Port TER 13 898 La Puebloto ESL 32 5 Lavalette OL 28 282 Leopaldis GAR 24 118 Londa MAR 2 594 Mehit ESL 32 5 Mesabi Landing COR 35 400 Montario ESL 17 100 Mooreton Bay COR 24 310 Moray’s Den SR 21 18 Myzectlan COR 35 118 New Haven COR 24 52 Nova Malto ESL 32 90 Nova Terreli ESL 17 820 Pontelli ESL 17 170 Poorvintia CAR 26 7 Poppy Port SR 26 78 Port Raleigh COR 20 157 Port Wilks ESL 22 14 Port Woodhouse COR 35 80 Prinport GAR 9 840 Puerto Alijo ESL 20 5 Puerto Desafio ESL 32 165 Quinnsville COR 24 381 Rassilon SR 18 176 Salida Este ESL 23 157 Spudkirk COR ? --- Stedor ESL 3 297 Stormhaven COR 22 60 Takashii SR 18 18 Terreli ESL 3 892 The Sereen Cay SR 26 32 Tortuga SR 32 148 Trador ESL 32 418 Ulric ALT 1 149 Weelond ESL 8 668 Westface TER 13 592 Windfall Island OL 28 9 Yeldo COR 1 594 Also, these islands can now be chosen as destinations. They have no trade value, so you won't earn any DBs sailing to them, but they're better than sinking. If sailing to one of these islands, use the name listed here: Island Faction Marked on map as Zone Trade Value Fever Island --- 1 26 0 Island of Bats ALT 4 27 0 Bubbling Island NAM 6 30 0 Garden of Hades --- 9 31 0 Gunpowder Island --- 16 35 0 Stilt People Island --- 17 35 0 Glimmer Island CAR 20 35 0 Mud Beach --- 21 35 0 Screeching Isle --- 22 35 0 

@Legostone and @Umbra-Manis, your votes are still needed on the proposal.

I found my error. I misread a 2 as a 7, thus inflating ESL total income for January by 50,000 DBs! Actual income was 4410. So it would take an income tax of more than 60% to match the 1% "wealth" tax!

I can see why Román Fontonajo, richest of all Eslandolans, might not like a "wealth" tax, but let's look at some numbers from the January account sheets. Total income for ESL accounts in January was 54,410 4410 DBs. Total account values was 277,947. A 1% tax on income produces only 544 DBs, not even enough for the upkeep of Nova Terreli's royal fortress. The tax as proposed nets 2779 DBs, which comes very close to covering ESL's fort upkeep expense of 3100 DBs per turn. It would take an income tax of 5% more than 60% to match that, and likely more since the reduced income from royals has not taken effect yet. EDIT: something was wrong with the numbers in my examples. I'll repost later. Numbers fixed. That's all the time I have for number-crunching at the moment. Just presented for your consideration. Although I will add that I am troubled by the discussion of tax dodging schemes, both by citizens and foreign nationals.

That's how I understood it. Thanks for clarifying.

FYI, from Kai's vote on the proposal:

Well, clearly there is some confusion. I guess we need @Kai NRG to clarify her proposal. OOC: It seems to me that a 1% tax on income would generate so little revenue as to be practically pointless. The richest players would be taxed less than 10 DBs per turn, and I doubt it would generate enough revenue to pay the upkeep for a single fort.

Wealth, as measured by account balance. As an example, an account with 20,000 DBs balance will be taxed 200 DBs that turn; an account with 800 DBs will be taxed 8 DBs.

Aaron Van Der Meede stood. "Captain Argentum 's argument is persuasive. It is important that the tax be fair, and that obvious loopholes are plugged. And I know the MCTC can afford the tax. I have decided to vote 'Aye' on the proposal." Reyngout rose briefly to add "It is an 'Aye' from me as well." At the front desk, Guilder spoke: "It is known I am not a fan of taxes, but this tax appears to have support. So, in the absence of any other strong proposals, and in my role as a member of the Sea of Storms delegation, I too will vote 'Aye'." --- That's 3 Ayes for the 1% tax. We still need votes from @Garmadon, @Legostone, @gedren_y, and @Umbra-Manis. --- OOC: Just to be clear, it was not just about the TC tax proposal; it had been a week since I had called for input for any suggestions. Yes, the fines are a bit of an IC flourish, but all of the members of the council are rich enough to afford a fine now and then.