Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

Winning vote:

[*] Plan Conjectures
-[*] Report: Stick to the facts. We very discreetly acquired Petr and Maksim von Stolpe, using the Count's authority to borrow troops. We looked at the burst of magic flooding into the mound, and calculated that it came from Drakenhof.
-[*] Share some conjectures: The fact that the books were stolen at night by human shaped things that actually managed to traumatize horses by being nearby. As well as the powerful necromancer in drakenhof who put the alarm trap and then raised the dead in the mound suggests that the books were actually stolen by vampires, and that there is a pretty powerful necromancer among the vampires. The fact the books were kept rather than destroyed suggests they intended to use them, probably after installing their own patsy as a stirland elector count. The series of unfortunate deaths of Van Hal's predecessors and the connection between them and the noble we captured is further cementing the idea that we have a vampire making moves on stirland via subterfuge instead of an overt and open invasion. We should probably take steps against assassination attempts by vampires, and hopefully whatever info our guest at the dungeon provide will be a useful lead in the investigation.
-[*] Possible orders:
--[*] The disappearance of yourpredecessor is very concerning, especially since he's actively trying to sabotage the hunt for him. He must be found, and I've got a lead: Julbach.
---[*] Capture of predecessor can lead to taking over the Stirlandian league for purpose of spying
---[*] Could he be related to the vampire plots? if so then finding him is a priority.
--[*] The Stirlandian League is a cancer eating at Stirland's economy, and it can be destroyed now that we have the ledgers.
---[*] The former spymaster has been acting against us. He probably still controls his spies in the league. Destroying it now would deprive of him of valuable resources, but may also destroy possible leads on his location
--[*] I've got the budget for a proper network of informants, now it just needs building.
--[*] Variant Writein: Drakenhof. This vampire plot to subtly take over stirland is concerning. We know there are vampires in sylvania, but who and where? And what exactly have they done in stirland so far? I could try to examine other stirland nobles for possible vampire connections, although this seems a bit of a shot in the dark. Alternatively, follow up any leads acquired from the interrogation of Stolpe.

[*] [Execution] Surprised and curious. While you had raised the issue of embezzlement and divided loyalties, the Count had also noted and accepted both. You want to know what did he actually do to cross the line, from the implications, he had sabotaged the army in some way for an outside party. Both for your own interests and for national interests, you want to know what the Count found.

---

The atmosphere at the reconvened meeting is subdued. The Great Hall echoes and amplifies the smallest sound, very different to the cozy privacy of the conference room - the conference room where several unlucky servants were scrubbing blood out of the floorboards. Blood that is still visible on Brother Kasmir's armour, as he had hauled the Professor's body out of the room and into the chapel to await the attentions of a Morrite priest.

Van Hal is staring into the flickering fire, lost in thought, fingers tapping out an unconscious tune on the table. Nobody seems to want to interrupt him. But it is an hour later, and the meeting is to be reconvened, so...

You clear your throat, and six heads swivel to you.

"As you know, Petr and Maksim von Stolpe are now guests here at the castle. Nobody at Leicheberg Castle saw my face..." Well, nobody has memories of seeing your face, which is close enough, and that sort of thing tends to disturb non-wizards. "And the riders I borrowed from Swartzhafen transported the two of them here without drawing attention."

"Well done. I will be seeing to the von Stolpes," Van Hal says.

"I do have some conjecture regarding the events at the Mound," you begin, and pause, giving Van Hal the opportunity to interrupt if he saw fit. He didn't, so you continue. "The Carter that transported the books said that they were loaded up by humanoid figures who badly spooked his horse, and then the books were transported to a secure location, guarded by death magic, and then defended by necromancy. And as I felt the pulse of Dhar that raised the skeletons coming, I was able to see the direction it came from. That plus the travel time pointed to a specific location - Castle Drakenhof." The expressions on the faces of everyone present are grim at that, but not surprised.

"Bloody Drakenhof," Anton mutters. Everyone nods in agreement.

"Vampires?" asks Brother Kasmir, his eyes narrowed.

"I believe so," you confirm. An atmosphere of grim resolution settles upon the six of you - even upon Herr Schultz, which surprises you. Anton is a native Stirlander and the others were veterans in fighting the forces of darkness, but you didn't expect the Talabeclander architect to take the news in stride. "If they had destroyed those books it would have undermined the unity of Stirland and the legitimacy of our authority. Instead, they sought to secure them. Add in the apparent complicity of von Stolpe, and possibly even the deaths of the Haupt-Anderssens..."

"Subversion," Van Hal growls.

"I believe so."

He exhales, and stares at you thoughtfully. He's got the document you prepared for him in his hand, but he apparently doesn't need to look down at it to remember the options you placed upon it. "Stirland," he says at last, "has had nine Elector Counts in the past forty years. I do not intend for there to be a tenth before the close of the century. Build your network. I don't want a single bloodsucker stepping foot in Wurtbad without a volley of crossbow bolts being there to meet it." He shuffles the papers, then looks over to Anton. "How did you find the Knights of Morr?"

"I went to Siegfriedhof and they were right there," he replies, then smiles at the look Van Hal gave him. "My impressions of the Knight-Commander are in the report. They're open to working with the secular military, but they've given some conditions - the majority of them will remain posted defending the Gardens of Morr, and they want all the dead given the Rites of Morr after battles, not just our own."

"That's..." Van Hal pauses, then looks over to Brother Kasmir. "Do the Knights themselves count as Priests?"

"They're a monastical order, so I believe so."

"If the Knights can give the Rites, I don't see a problem with it. I'll write to the Knight-Commander, we should be able to hammer out the details. Okay, apart from that, for the next few months you'll be with me. Assuming I find the man acceptable, we'll work out how to insert Maksim as the new Count von Stolpe without causing too many waves. Wilhelmina, how's the treasury?"

"Drained," she replies. "But it should start recovering once I get these ledgers sorted out and we start making everyone pay what they should."

"How long?"

"It'll take weeks just to get them back in chronological order," she says with a scowl. "But I should be able to start sending tax collectors after the remiss within a couple of months."

"Thank Sigmar," he notes, and Brother Kasmir nods in agreement and makes the Sign of the Comet. "So Schultz, you'll get your cannon soon. In the meantime, build a castle granary - with any luck we'll soon have taxes in kind flowing in, and I want somewhere under my control to store them."

"Tower or cellar?" he asks.

Van Hal considers. "Cellar," he finally decides. "I'd rather run the risk of vermin than have it vulnerable to siege weapons. Kasmir, how'd the clean-up go?"

"The mound will be tainted for generations to come," he notes with a frown, "but at the very least there are no restless dead remaining there. I also recovered a number of weapons that seem immune to the ravages of time that so affected everything else in there. I almost destroyed them, but while they are soaked in death they don't appear to be tainted."

"Weber, if you get a chance, take a look at them - but your network takes priority. Kasmir, tend to your flock. Find out which God every soldier and servant within these walls answers to. If the goat has predilections towards proscribed cults I want to know about it. And write to Altdorf - the military of Stirland is in need of better spiritual guidance."

The meeting breaks up, with your fellow councillors drifting away to go about their business, the shadow that had been over them mostly banished by the prospect of going out there and doing something. You move to do the same, then Van Hal shoots you a penetrating look.

"Mathilde, a word?"

---

Your mind races as you follow the Elector Count to his office. Your immediate fear is that you're about to meet the same fate as the Professor, but surely if that was the case you wouldn't have any warning, and he surely wouldn't be showing his back to you like this. Does he know about Ranald? Does he know about the Palace-Shrine? Does he know about the embezzlement? Does he know about the mysterious requests for information you know you haven't seen the last of? Does he know about the Asp? Does he know about- wait, is that all you have to worry about him knowing about? Have you forgotten anything?

You're still stewing in your own concerns as he sits down at his desk and you tensely imitate him, then he demolishes your fears by pulling open a drawer and producing a pair of battered steel mugs and a bottle of something golden brown that reflects the lamplight beautifully. "Ostland brandy," he says, misinterpreting your confused look. "Terrible place, but they know their alcohol." He splashes a little into each of the mugs and slides one over the table to you.

You'd experimented with alcohols in College, of course, but you doubted brandy would hold many similarities to the Brettonnian wines and the Reiklandian shandy that was often smuggled in. You sip cautiously at the drink, and manage to keep yourself from wincing as it burns all the way down your throat.

"To your first kill," he notes, toasting you.

"You mean-"

"I wouldn't have investigated him if you had not tipped me off. The blood is on my hands, but on yours as well." He doesn't sound condemning. In fact, he sounds almost gentle, and a little proud.

"What did he do?" you can't keep yourself from asking.

"He was to fill fifteen thousand vacant positions. He filled four in every five of them, and filled the leadership of the new regiments with men chosen for their willingness to split the wages of the missing men." He scowls. "Not only would he have left the ranks of the Army of Stirland full of holes, but he invited corruption into some of its highest ranks."

"Oh," you note. You try to picture a regiment missing a fifth of its men and led by the corrupt facing a horde of skeletons in battle. You wince.

"It is a heavy weight to carry, to take the life of your fellow man," he says softly, watching your expression. "But we deal death to the corrupt to prevent the suffering of the innocent. Never forget that."

---

You have six actions to spend.

[ ] As Per Orders: Perform your current assignment.
-[ ] The Wurtbad Watch already has their ear to the ground. Make their information flow to you.
-[ ] Personally vet everyone that works in the castle, and replace everyone you're not sure of the loyalties of.
-[ ] Wurtbad, like all major cities, is home to a number of guilds. Reach out to them and enforce your will.
-[ ] Wurtbad, inevitably, has criminals. And you're a follower of Ranald. Maybe you could reach an understanding - they'd have access to a huge amount of information, though it would mean tacit approval of their activities.
-[ ] There's a vacuum where a dozen trade guilds should be. Found one of your own, and let information and profits flow through you, and see what the Stirlandian League does about it. (warning: expensive, will need Van Hal or Wilhelmina to sign off on it)
-[ ] You're from peasant stock yourself, so it shouldn't be too hard to make friends and contacts among the peasantry in the villages surrounding Wurtbad; Julbach, Biderhof and Tarshof.
-[ ] Much of Western Stirland is under the de facto direct control of the Elector Count. Meet with each of the local leaders and make it clear that you're to be kept in the loop.

[ ] Backtracking and Side Operations:
-[ ] You haven't asked Anton about your predecessor - see if he knows anything useful.
-[ ] The thing you stabbed in the face is still in the cells, and now several others that were found are keeping it company. Examine them, learn from them, see if you can identify them.
-[ ] Van Hal is interrogating the Von Stolpes. Sitting in may be helpful to him, and educational to you.
-[ ] A large number of Shyish-stained weapons were uncovered from the Barrow. Perhaps you should:
--[ ] Examine them yourself and see if they're useful, or dangerous, or both.
--[ ] Send them to the Amethyst Order for examination (does not take an action).
--[ ] Allow the Morrites to examine them (does not take an action).
--[ ] Just have them melted down and buried (does not take an action).

[ ] Getting To Know You: Spend time with one of your fellow councillors, offering your help in their task and generally getting a feel for them (choose one).
[ ] Getting To Know You Whether You Like It Or Not: You've been given good reason to mistrust your fellow councillors. Perhaps you should see what they spent their time doing (choose one).
[ ] Sucking Up To The Boss: Normally you'd just go about things and report in to the Elector Count when you've got something major to report. If you instead give him regular reports and updates, it may make him more willing to trust you, and allow you to better get to know him. Opening yourself up to oversight, criticism, and potential micromanagement is a heavy price to pay, though.
[ ] Letters Home: You might be able to wring more information out of your Master, or you might just be able to get news, information and guidance in general from the Grey Order.
[ ] Hang Out A Shingle: Spymasters don't advertise, but wizards sometimes do. Make an official announcement that there's a wizard in residence, and see who comes out of the woodwork.
[ ] Now that you've got gold to throw around, you should stock up on spell components. They're not strictly necessary, but they do make things easier. (-personal gold)

[ ] Self-Improvement: Things have been going well so far, but the skills of a Journeyman Grey Mage can only go so far.
-[ ] Practice, Practice, Practice: Having been thrown into the deep end of imperial politics, it would probably be a good idea to brush up on your skills (choose one).
-[ ] Tutoring: One of your fellow councillors may be willing to teach you in their chosen field (choose who).
-[ ] Pretty Good Swords: You've struck up a friendship with the Champion of the Greatswords and have discovered a talent for wielding them. Continue to cultivate this.
-[ ] Combat Training: You're virtually surrounded by armed warriors of various sorts. See if you can convince one to teach you (choose who).
-[ ] Combat Training, In The Free Market: You haven't made many heavily armed friends yet, but gold is good for that. Go out and buy some training. (-personal gold)
-[ ] You only really kept in practice with a handful of the petty and minor magics you were taught. Maybe you should brush up on the others.
-[ ] You're naturally talented at enchantment; so far, this just amounts to being able to make your desk meow for about an hour. See if you can improve on that, or at least figure out a way to make that useful.

[ ] Home Comforts: Your Palace-Shrine is bursting with potential. And also mud.
-[ ] Diggy Diggy Hole: A wizard wielding a shovel is unnatural, but doing it yourself might be the only way to keep things secret. Clear out a new room of your Palace-Shrine by hand.
-[ ] Diggy Diggy Hole, Outsourced: Pay someone to do the digging, then Mindhole them on their way out. (no action required, -personal gold)
-[ ] No Place Like Home: Move in furniture, set up a chimney, put in the effort to make sure that your new home actually feels like a home and not like sleeping in an underground mud cave.

[ ]Research:
-[ ] This is Stirland. Time to bone up on your knowledge of the Undead.
-[ ] That damn Asp has still been quiet, but maybe it's just biding it's time. Finally admit it's existence to your contacts back in the College and see if they know anything that can help.
-[ ] As a Journeywoman, the path to Magister is marked by mastering more than the two shadow spells you already know. Send to the Grey Order for the basics and work on figuring out one of the others.
-[ ] As a Journeywoman, the path to mediocrity is marked by only learning spells created by others. Your relationship with Ulgu is between you and it. (create-a-spell, write in the effects)


FINANCES: NO ACTION POINT EXPENDITURE.

Personal Income: 50 gold/turn
Discretionary Income: 150 gold/turn
Informer Payroll unlocked

Currently paying Grey College tithe (5 gold/turn)
Currently paying Grey College student loans (35 gold/turn)
Currently embezzling half of discretionary income

[ ] Begin plumping the informer rolls (choose ratio of real:fake informers. Almost impossible to detect, but also very difficult to increase or decrease the amount quickly)
[ ] Change tithe payment/loan payment/embezzlement (specify)


- Voting will be in plan format, including finances.
- I would like to reiterate once more that you can write in alternatives to any of the above activities. Most of the time, I write these on the spot based on what immediately occurs to me. It is very possible that you could think of better ideas.
- Don't forget Ranald's Blessing! If I forget to remind you and you forget to add it in somewhere, you miss out on it.
- This is a great example of the influence your reports have. Plan Reasonable and Plan Conjecture presented the same options to the Van Hal, but Plan Reasonable would have resulted in an order to go after either your predecessor or the Stirlandian League. Instead, by laying out what you think the plan of the enemy is and tying it into the fate of the Haupt-Anderssens, you've influenced him to focus on defence.