Syl for Pharaoh - Working for Osiris

[Severisen Montresor]

Interesting you mention your status as a Black Rider as a weakness. Why do you feel that is? Also, and I'm speaking from experience, are you ready to give up WA Immobility for at least 3 months?

[Ridersyl]

Interesting you mention your status as a Black Rider as a weakness. Why do you feel that is? Also, and I'm speaking from experience, are you ready to give up WA Immobility for at least 3 months?

- In any office, I feel that being a Black Rider will be a weakness, specifically in certain areas of diplomacy. It is my hope that we all would set aside gameplay alignments for the betterment of our regions, but I don't know if everyone will do that. There's also the simple fact that someone can scream 'Oh my, he's a Black Rider!' and suddenly I'm an awful guy to a lot of people. That's a weakness when you're trying to work with others.

- Yes, I am ready to give up WA mobility for, at least, 3 months. This is worth it to me.

[Severisen Montresor]

Perhaps. Some might consider it an asset in this region. When I was elected, I was a member of TBH, DEN, TBR, and BoM, among other places. In any event, thank you for your answers.

[Cormac]

Thanks for your answers, Syl. I'm really impressed with them and I liked your cultural ideas. I'm glad you're running.

I'm going to be asking all of the candidates this exact same set of the following questions:

1. A coup d'etat takes place in The Rejected Realms, led by The Black Hawks and supported by the United Imperial Armed Forces. The Sekhmet Legion is asked to support the coup. How do you respond? How, if at all, does your response differ if the coup is instead led by the UIAF?

2. What is your favorite color, and why?

3. A coup d'etat takes place in The East Pacific, supported by the UIAF as well as raider regions with which the Legion has collaborated in the past. How do you respond?

4. If you had to choose a song to represent your campaign, which song would it be and why?

5. Osiris is approached about joining an interregional military organization of six initial regions: The North Pacific, Balder, Europeia, Equilism, Spiritus, and of course Osiris. How do you respond? Does your response differ if it is instead a trilateral organization with Balder and The East Pacific and, if so, how and why?

6. Do you know who your Vizier is going to be? You don't have to name him or her, I just want to know from each candidate, honestly, whether they know who they want for Vizier and whether that person has confirmed they're going to take the position. Not necessarily a deal-breaker, more a curiosity.

7. The highest influence Guardian of the Atef seizes the Delegacy and gives his nation to Biyah. The Empire of Osiris is declared, supported by pilers from hostile regions and various unflagged units. Within a few updates, you and your Vizier are ejected and banned, and no Guardian is anywhere within striking distance of the Delegacy. What do you do? How does your response differ if one or more of the other Guardians join the coup, and why?

8. Choose a Christmas carol to be the official carol of the Osiris Fraternal Order, and explain why.

9. A serious dispute breaks out between Balder and The East Pacific, prompting mutual severance of relations between the two. Both sides are pressuring you to cancel Osiris' treaty and sever relations with the other. How do you respond?

10. Two members of your Hedjet are embroiled in intense arguments. These arguments have been erupting, on and off, for two weeks, dominating the private Hedjet IRC channel and even spilling over onto the forum and into #osi on a regular basis. Both are your friends, both do their jobs well, and both are demanding you fire the other. How do you resolve the conflict?

Thanks in advance for your answers and, again, best of luck!

[Ridersyl]

Thanks again for posing questions, Cormac. I'm glad you liked my previous answers.

1. A coup d'etat takes place in The Rejected Realms, led by The Black Hawks and supported by the United Imperial Armed Forces. The Sekhmet Legion is asked to support the coup. How do you respond? How, if at all, does your response differ if the coup is instead led by the UIAF?

My first response would be to make contact with the leaders of The Black Hawks, specifically Jakker, and see what their goals for TRR are. As long as they are not toxic to TRR itself or by extension Osiris, then the coup would receive diplomatic support. As far as military support, that would entirely depend on a vote within the region. My response would certainly differ if the coup is lead by the UIAF. Due to the past concerns of toxic relations with imperialist militaries I saw during your term, and my own personal view on imperialism, I would be hesitant to diplomatically or militarily support a coup lead by them.

Of course, circumstances and what I hear from UIAF leaders could also make all the difference in the world in that situation.

2. What is your favorite color, and why?

Red is my favorite color, because it's bright, flashy, and it's almost like a "loud" color... and it can be many things, too. If it gets a bit darker in shade, and suddenly it's tough and bad. If it gets lighter in shade, suddenly it's soft and gentle.

3. A coup d'etat takes place in The East Pacific, supported by the UIAF as well as raider regions with which the Legion has collaborated in the past. How do you respond?

The diplomatic ties with the current government of TEP are too strong to support any sort of coup, even a raider-related campaign.

4. If you had to choose a song to represent your campaign, which song would it be and why?

'New Year's Day' by Black Veil Brides. The reason is because of the lyrics, how it fits my campaign theme, my objectives for Osiris, and the fact elections will open around New Years'. Here's a snippet of the lyrics.

~ All the graves of the ones remembered, in a desert we call home.
~ All the slaves of the cold December, find a voice to call their own.
~ Stand up, we are united, in the eyes of the greatest storm.
~ Line up, we are ignited, this world will be reborn in... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
~ This is New Year's Day, so rise from the ashes!

This could really be the theme for the whole election, in my mind. Every Pharaoh is going to do their best to bring Osiris back from this inactive state.

5. Osiris is approached about joining an interregional military organization of six initial regions: The North Pacific, Balder, Europeia, Equilism, Spiritus, and of course Osiris. How do you respond? Does your response differ if it is instead a trilateral organization with Balder and The East Pacific and, if so, how and why?

For what would be a 7-region military organization... even with the inclusion of Balder, I would have to decline. As lovely it might be for our foreign affairs and military activity, I have to keep the health of our region in mind. I just cannot envision a seven-region organization not turning toxic at some point in time. My response to the trilateral organization would differ slightly in that I would be hesitant rather than outright refuse the idea. I really would rather see the Sekhmet Legion work for our region's interests and those alone during my term, above all else. We can worry about interregional military organizations once the Legion returns to being a formidable force.

6. Do you know who your Vizier is going to be? You don't have to name him or her, I just want to know from each candidate, honestly, whether they know who they want for Vizier and whether that person has confirmed they're going to take the position. Not necessarily a deal-breaker, more a curiosity.

I know who my Vizier will be, and upon contacting him about it, they thanked me gratiously. However, due to them being a fellow candidate, they did not confirm the position and are quite obviously hoping they do not have to worry about confirming it.

7. The highest influence Guardian of the Atef seizes the Delegacy and gives his nation to Biyah. The Empire of Osiris is declared, supported by pilers from hostile regions and various unflagged units. Within a few updates, you and your Vizier are ejected and banned, and no Guardian is anywhere within striking distance of the Delegacy. What do you do? How does your response differ if one or more of the other Guardians join the coup, and why?

We work our diplomatic ties, asking for help in countering the coup de'tat. At the same time, I personally call on every favor and friendship I have with military organizations in the game, down to any buddy with the ability to pull a WA nation out of a hat, to assist in our efforts. We take back the delegacy from Biyah, warn everyone on the WFE to unendorse the traitorous Guardian's account, and have a nullified Biyah inside the region. If one or more of the other Guardians join the coup, they get the same 'nullification' treatment. If The Empire dares to attempt a coup during my term, it sure as hell won't last.

8. Choose a Christmas carol to be the official carol of the Osiris Fraternal Order, and explain why.

I... I don't know any Christmas carols. That's really quite pitiful, isn't it?

9. A serious dispute breaks out between Balder and The East Pacific, prompting mutual severance of relations between the two. Both sides are pressuring you to cancel Osiris' treaty and sever relations with the other. How do you respond?

I respond by emphasizing the lack of Osiris' involvement in the dispute between the two regions, and state that both regions are of value to Osiris as diplomatic allies. We will not be the one to sever relations. One of the two regions will have to be the one to pull the trigger on burning the bridge, or Osiris will just move on with both of them as allies despite the two regions being at odds with each other.

10. Two members of your Hedjet are embroiled in intense arguments. These arguments have been erupting, on and off, for two weeks, dominating the private Hedjet IRC channel and even spilling over onto the forum and into #osi on a regular basis. Both are your friends, both do their jobs well, and both are demanding you fire the other. How do you resolve the conflict?

I make it clear to both of them that I will not be firing either of them unless they start being that intense with me personally. I'll then tell them to take to private messaging when they start arguing, because it's disruptive to the chat. I'll trust that the conflict will eventually resolve itself. If it doesn't, and continues to be disruptive, I will give both of them another warning; Stop being disruptive to the region or I will fire both of them. If this doesn't end it and they continue with intense arguments that spill over everywhere, then I will be a man of my word and they'll both be gone. Again, the health of Osiris will be a huge focus during my term and the situation we're talking about would be very toxic.

[Cormac]

Thanks for your answers, Syl. I find myself in agreement with several of them -- particularly your hesitation toward interregional organizations, and outright refusal to even consider a 7-region organization. The failed Sovereign Confederation was such an organization, it was a disaster for Osiris, and anyone who would consider membership in that type of organization is, in my view, not prepared to be Pharaoh.

I'm afraid I have one follow-up question though.

1. You are saying, to make sure I've got it, that you would be most likely to support a coup led by The Black Hawks, a region that is not an ally of the OFO -- but not likely to support such a coup led by the UIAF, whose member regions are all allied with the OFO -- against another Sinker?

If that's the case, can you explain why it would be in Osiris' interests to support non-allied raiders in a coup against another Sinker, but not in our interests to support allies in the same endeavor? Not being combative here, this was just an unexpected answer so I'm curious to hear the fleshed out reasoning.

[Ridersyl]

Readers beware; I'm responding with severe sleep deprivation, so there might be some typos.

1. You are saying, to make sure I've got it, that you would be most likely to support a coup led by The Black Hawks, a region that is not an ally of the OFO -- but not likely to support such a coup led by the UIAF, whose member regions are all allied with the OFO -- against another Sinker?

If that's the case, can you explain why it would be in Osiris' interests to support non-allied raiders in a coup against another Sinker, but not in our interests to support allies in the same endeavor? Not being combative here, this was just an unexpected answer so I'm curious to hear the fleshed out reasoning.

Firstly, the Sinker in this situation in The Rejected Realms. They very quickly turned against us in their media when they had to pick sides in the short-lived Laz-Osi war, and I am personally not a fan of their current government. That means that I myself would desire supporting the coup over the sinker's present order. However, a vote in our region would have a final say in whether or not we would support a coup there, so my personal views on TRR are not that impactful outside of my answers here.

Secondly, I am well aware that the UIAF's member regions are all our allies, and that The Black Hawks are not, but when dealing with major developments such as other GCR's being couped, I'd much rather approach the situation wisely and objectively.

My idea of a wise and objective approach is to first speak to the leaders of the primary couping region and see what their plans are for the region; Be it TBH or UIAF, Be they allies or potential ones. Then, I would review the health of past military relations and joint operations and see how many of them were toxic, if any of them were, and take that into account on whether there should be any military involvement in the coup. Finally, I would have us vote on whether or not to involve the Legion.

This is where it would be in Osiris' interests to support a non-aillied raider in a coup against another Sinker, but not in our interest to support allies in the same endeavor. Your long speech on your dealings with Imperialists during your term, posted shortly after your term ended, provided me a wealth of information on the unintentional toxicity our military had at times with our Imperialist allies. Since The Black Hawks are not an ally, they actually come in as a clean slate. Since nearly every decision I make will place the health of Osiris as one of my top priorities, that's why my current stance is that I would likely support a coup led by TBH over one led by UIAF in TRR.

Of course, I will again say that my talks with the leaders of the primary couping region can make all the difference in the world, in that scenario. If TBH's coup would be 'Because lol', and UIAF's coup would lay out a very specific plan of what to do with the region going forward, then I would shift my position to support a UIAF-led coup rather than a TBH-led one. While my initial positions are where I'm going to start, I won't be afraid to shift them if it becomes obvious that I need to adapt to new information or changing tides.

Also, I believe that such multi-faceted, complex ordeals shouldn't be treated like something that can be pinned down and concretely planned for. The best way to approach these things is to cast a wide net of options, then narrow them down as the situations become reality and we gain more clarity.

[Cormac]

Thanks for the in-depth answer, Syl. Best of luck again!

[War Wombat]

Best of luck, Syl.

[Ridersyl]

Thank you both.