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Seriously though, why wouldn't we also get Van Hal to help crack that 100g nut for the mirror maze? We COULD spend it out of our embezzlement funds, but why would we when he said he's willing to help.
 
His last activity is four hours ago, he's probably gone out or to bed or something. I don't want to override the majority of voters, but I'm not really seeing anyone else supporting the mindhole portion of his vote.

Non-binding minivote to gauge the will of the thread:

[] Leave Plan Veekie as written.
[] Edit plan Veekie as per approximately half of the Veekie voting bloc.
[] Wait until Veekie returns to change or defend his plan.
I feel like if Weber, as a denizen of that universe, would recognize that a plan is stupid (like SV not realizing how scary and mysterious wizards are), that she (i.e. BoneyM) could just veto it herself.

That is, our votes are still - in a sense - Weber's actions, and she shouldn't just do any dumb thing we think is a good idea without questioning or second-guessing herself.
 
To be fair that is a misconception that Weber herself could hold. She's spent her entire life since about the age of ten surrounded by wizards and the movers and shakers of society, there's reason for her to have a disconnect to how regular people think, and it's actually entirely in-character for her to unthinkingly talk about ripping out someone's memories like it's no big deal. If your Ranald's Blessing-generated lieutenant candidate wasn't at stake I would have gone with it and let the comedy unfold.
 
Basically anything Not Mindhole. Except the Asp. We should totally Mindhole it.

But also

[X] Exmorri.

This one shows Van Hal we acknowledge our need to improve, proposing a learning action or two.

Seriously though, why wouldn't we also get Van Hal to help crack that 100g nut for the mirror maze? We COULD spend it out of our embezzlement funds, but why would we when he said he's willing to help.
We can. He specifically said to let him know if there is anything he can do to help.
 
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[X] Edit Plan Veekie as per approximately half of the Veekie voting bloc.
 
[X] Plan Veekie
[X] Edit plan Veekie as per approximatelyhalf of the Veekie voting bloc.
 
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Plan veekie still, unless I am quite mistaken, has a "tell the Count everything about the other councilors" line which will bounce and come out as "tell the Count nothing" as per GM ruling.

Which is fine with me, I guess, because I'm not actually feeling like we have much left of relevance to tell the Count about the other councilors so instead of us frantically babbling out a stream of marginal information, staying quiet is fine. But people who are voting for that might feel differently.
 
Seems like a consensus. Closing vote, writing now.

Edit: Actually, on further thought I've previously said that a minimum of 24 hours is required for everyone to have a chance to chime in, and I don't want to go back on that. I apologize for my hastiness.
 
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[X] Edit plan Veekie as per approximately half of the Veekie voting bloc.
[X] Plan Guile
 
[X] [Julia] Hire her, buy her a home in town near your residence. Somewhere where people coming and going at odd times won't draw a fuss.
-[X] Her job would be to manage your informant networks in general, particularly sorting through the reports and picking out what's significant versus chaff. It'd also involve independently expanding the networks as funds and opportunities allow after she has settled in.
-[X] The only ones who are supposed to know her position should be Van Hal, yourself and anyone you specifically cleared for this. For anyone below her, she's to present herself as a messenger or other relay.
-[X] For your initial meeting, first, ask her if she's willing to accept being memory wiped in the event that she disagrees with certain confidential suggestions, and write a note to herself to the effect of giving consent. If not she'd only handle the more aboveboard networks.
--[X] If she agrees to a potential Mindhole sound her out on her religious beliefs, particularly relating to Ranald. You cannot feasibly have her work in your base or with your Ranaldite agents if she's not at least open to the idea. If it goes poorly, simply Mindhole her, have Anton reintroduce you, and ensure that she's isolated from the Ranaldite/Thief elements.


[X] [Greatswords] Greatswords will stay in the castle, except when we're going somewhere publicly, or interrogating potentially hostile persons.Assign two of them as security for Julia

[X] [Public Report] Plan Points for public consumption.
-[X] The castle infiltrators were sleeper agents.
--[X] They have not been conducting any significant sabotage.
--[X] Their loyalty was secured by a necromantic spell that would kill them if they even thought of betraying their master, or if their master did not meet them for more than a few days.
--[X] Said master had fled the area the very night an infiltrator got caught.
--[X] The monsters in the castle walls were previous victims of the spell. Refer to Van Hal's paper on details if anyone is interested.
--[X] They were lying about having any religious beliefs, but got away with it because nobody could probe them further on Morrite or Shallyan practices.
-[X] All other castle servants have been examined, their backstories hold up and all future servants would be rigorously examined to prevent more of this.

[X] [Private Report] Plan For Van Hals Eyes Only.
-[X] Tell him about everything you learned in the interview. Especially how they produce infiltrators.
-[X] Give him all information you have gathered on your fellow council members.
-[X] You have acquired some subordinates.
--[X] Introduce him to your prospective Number 2 in Julia. In case any unfortunate 'accidents' happens to you(like say, the pseudo-demonic snake), he can pick up some of your networks through her so he wouldn't need to start from scratch.
--[X] The veterans have been assigned to gather gossip in the cities and the army to get a barometer of events
-[X] You have a lead on permanently sealing the snake away. Give him as much information on the process as you have, if he's interested. Noting the cost in mirrors and possibly request some assistance with construction(not necessarily his personal assistance, but a recommendation to a skilled and trusted artisan could be valuable) since the damned snake can pop out of mirrors if you're building it yourself.
-[X] Confess your religious belief in Ranald to him. Mention how the god of Luck had been looking out for and helping you along with your work so far(particularly avoiding being killed by the Shyish-kebabs, and finding leads at crucial moments), and the belief that Ranald as Protector has a vested interest in Stirland's people not being eaten by vampires and turned into abominations by necromancers. The revolutionary thing happens only in places where their lords are actively abusing the people, which Van Hal of course, is doing the opposite of!

[X] [Orders] Plan Obvious Items
-[X] There's definitely evil afoot in Drakenhof. Perhaps there's a way to survive investigating this.
--[X] That said, the castle itself is off limits. You're certain you aren't up to the task. But you can try to send feelers into their periphery villages if Van Hal feels the risks is worth it.
-[X] The disappearance of your predecessor is very concerning, especially since he's actively trying to sabotage the hunt for him. He must be found, and you've got a lead: Julbach.
--[X] He's likely involved in the matter of the servant infiltrators and the Stirland League, considering you find it extremely unlikely that all these servants, with a necromancer within a short walk from the castle, were placed without his knowledge. Rolling him up is the next step now that your castle is secured. If you can catch him alive, an interrogation could be extremely fruitful.
-[X] The Stirlandian League is a cancer eating at Stirland's economy, and it must be destroyed.
--[X] This would likely be difficult while the previous spymaster is still at large to run counterintelligence, but it can be done.
-[X] This religion business has gone far enough. It's not really your place, but maybe you should step in and deal with it yourself... somehow.
--[X] There's alternative ways to verifying faith and beliefs than having a priest interrogate them. You could task your city and rural informants to focus on their local practices to identify if theres anything untowards happening religiously.
 
Actually, on further thought I've previously said that a minimum of 24 hours is required for everyone to have a chance to chime in, and I don't want to go back on that. I apologize for my indecision. Voting reopened, and I welcome people to continue voting and discussion on previous topics.

While waiting for the clock to run down I'd like to start a discussion on whether the quest would benefit from a discussion period after each turn with a voting moratorium. It came up earlier and it was decided it wasn't a problem, but it looks like readership has increased and I've seen multiple people saying they'd like a different vote but don't want to challenge an established voting bloc that got in during the first hour after a turn went up. How would everyone feel about, say, a 24-hour moratorium on voting, followed by 24 hours for voting? I don't want to have any period less than 24 hours, because I'm very aware of time zones being a thing and I don't want anyone shut out because they check the forums at the 'wrong' time of day.
 
Honestly, it feels like it takes a couple hours for the voting blocs to even emerge, so I don't consider a voting moratorium to be necessary.

Of course, I never consider a voting moratorium to be necessary, so that that as you will. It's done to prevent bandwagoning, but in a quest like this where votes are by necessity huge sprawling affairs there's only ever going to be a few people who make votes anyway.

Also, that would mean an extra day between updates, and I'd rather just read updates.
 
I think a 24 hour moratorium is way, way too much. It'd halve the update speed, which has been great so far. Not to mention some people would straight up forget to vote at that point, as alerts would stop coming in after they1ve left the thread for a time.

A one~two hour moratorium so we can properly craft votes sounds good.
 
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