Damn, almost as bad a timing for the update as I can get for being able to comment before votes roll in.
Going to try anyway. This turn is super delicate.
The Fog Of War. Such an evocative phrase. And who better than a Grey Wizard to master it, to banish it, to weaponize it?
[Trait Gained: Warrior of Fog. +2 martial, bonuses to scouting and hidden gambits while in command, unlocks creation of battlefield spells for revealing or concealing troop movements.]
Very nice as Watch Commander, because scouting and hidden gambits are literally the majority of our command duties, and literal recon spells are good...though our magic proficiency isn't high enough to make pursuing them effective yet.
Those are Magister level at least, and some interpretation would be nearly Battle Magic.
But deeper than that is one burning memory that you will never be free of: Kasmir's bleak expression as he prays over Abelhelm's dying body. Sigmar's light does not shine here.
Abelhelm and Kasmir are- were- great men. Together they had been giving you a new appreciation for Sigmar and his followers. But Sigmar had ignored the prayers of the latter and let the former die, and now you know that Sigmar is unworthy of the great men that have dedicated their lives to him. You remember Abelhelm's crisis of faith, the trust he lost in the institutions of the Sigmarite church and thus in Sigmar himself. You regret not reaching out to him, leading him to a faith more worthy of him - to a God that wouldn't abandon him.
You'll never make that mistake again.
[Trait Gained: Disdain for Sigmar. Piety +1, will not allow faith in Sigmar to flourish in the institutions under her control - will do her best to encourage faith in worthier gods, or face a heavy malus while it goes undone.]
And here...its interesting to see that we like and respect Kasmir. Its one of the reasons we no longer respect his god.
Mathilde takes the first step in becoming a Zealot.
First order of business: inheritance. Anton, his voice breaking every now and then, tells you he has left a letter in a drop box that Abelhelm gave him the location of, and he is to await a response. One will be forthcoming, apparently, within a few months, as news filters through the layers of protection around the Van Hal progeny, and then news will filter out once more as to whether said progeny will be making their existence known to the wider world, or whether the world will be allowed to think that Abelhelm's line died with him. For now, you are in limbo, and soon the rest of the Empire will step in to decide a new Elector Count. There's already an Elector's Meet scheduled for midway through the year, so it's likely they'll pick a candidate there, should no heir be forthcoming.
Good preparations at least, but if the Van Hal kids don't show up in time, the Meet would be how we might influence the new Count being chosen.
On the other hand, we're not really allowed IN the Meet. It's for Electors and invited only. Wizards are usually not invited.
Second order of business: Eagle Castle. Mothballed during the campaign, apart from the guards protecting it it has been uninhabited. You make your way through the silent corridors, your footsteps echoing around you, and open the door to Abelhelm's study with the key he gave you so long ago for you to borrow books from him. Slowly, agonisingly, you crate up his belongings and try to fight back memories. Books, trophies, weapons hidden in a dozen different locations, a bottle of the Ostland brandy the two of you would share during your twice-yearly meetings - you pour a glass for yourself, another for Abelhelm's spirit, and drink to his memory. The halberd that was his weapon of choice during his career as a Witch Hunter that was supplanted by his Runefang. A spare hat, hanging from a corner of a bookshelf, that added another foot to the height of an already towering man. The door itself, that once withstood the battering of an ensorcelled berserker as you stood there with Abelhelm in your underthings.
You cry a lot in the process of cleaning out that study.
;_;
Finally, as crate after crate is loaded into a wagon for you to tuck away in your hidden sanctuary until an heir arrives to claim it all, you find the hidden compartment in his desk. You knew it was there from about five minutes after inspecting the desk simply because of the amount of space unaccounted for by drawer depth, but it still took you days to find and you had to cheat by disassembling part of the desk to get at it. But finally it swings open, presenting an empty space about the size of the lead box that holds the Liber Mortis, and at the bottom of it, a letter. Addressed to you. You eventually crack the cipher - it's encrypted using the Epistolary of Kurt III, which Abelhelm recommended to you so long ago - and, you recall, who was the Grand Theogonist who read the Spell of Unmaking from a copy of the Liber Mortis during the Third Vampire War.
Dame Weber,
If you're reading this, you either succumbed to the temptation inherent in that key I lent you or I've fallen in battle. If the latter, I trust you've avenged me upon whatever entity orchestrated said death.
I once told you that I have children; Anton has the details for contacting them, but should he have fallen also, then the experiment can be considered to have failed; let the Elector Counts choose another to sacrifice to Stirland. Likewise, if they are contacted and they respond with letter and not in person, leave them be. I hope to spend my life in lessening the hold of Sylvania over my line, not to strengthen it.
Your company has been of great value and comfort to me.
Yours,
Elector Count Abelhelm Van Hal
PS. I hope the books I have given you have been enlightening.
The letter was the last blow to your faltering self control, and you spent more time than you care to admit blubbering alone in Abelhelm's study. But the last line itched at the back of your mind. He hadn't given you many books; he had given you a key, and recommended books in his office, but the only book he had given to you was the Liber Mortis.
Abelhelm had some very careful planning here.
The table built to hold the Liber Mortis is easy to see that there's SOMETHING in there(which is to say Mathilde would almost certainly notice before anyone else ever reached the office).
The encryption is a reference which is going to be nearly impossible to crack unless you already knew what used to be in that space. A book based encryption is the next best thing to a one time pad.
And finally...we learn what he meant by "you know what to do with it". Because he already left written instructions.
Bless his paranoia.
You return to your Sunken Palace and expose the letter to lights of various colours and strengths with the array of mirrors and prisms in your workshop, and find that pure sunlight does the trick, exposing a string of letters. With trepidation, you crack open the cover of the ancient grimoire. The title page, thankfully, is all that is necessary for the key, and you decrypt the string of letters.
I am now free. You should be too. Tell your Magister this: And then a string of names, dozens long, each with a set of letters next to them - H-W and H-BM are the most common, but some have L and others vC. Most of them are unknown to you, but three leap from the page:
GW M. Regimand Speiseschrank, H-BM
GW D. Mathilde Weber, H-BM
C. Gabriella v. Bundebad. vC(?)
...of course he checked our background.
And searched for the backer to remove that we didn't.
So based on what we know:
GW - Grey Wizard
C - Count/ess
H-BM - Held by Blackmail
H-W - Held by Wealth?
vC - von Carstein, the ? denotes unconfirmed allegiance.
The meeting with the EIC Board of Directors is grim, since it consists solely of you and Wilhelmina. Wilhelmina says that she intends to buy out Markus' share of the EIC, and that she has the votes to force it through no matter what the heirs say - some cousins, apparently. She's offered you the chance to split the shares with her as a courtesy. If you accept, it will increase the size of your debt significantly, and you and Wilhelmina will each hold 36% of the company. Otherwise, Wilhelmina will hold 48% and you 24%. Either way, the two of you will have enough votes to overrule whoever the new Elector Count of Stirland turns out to be. She also mentioned that she is going to resign as soon as the new Elector Count takes up his position, and focus on the EIC and trying to rein in her sons. Her loyalty was always to Abelhelm personally, not Stirland.
We definitely should buy up the half share, because Wilhelmina's sons would be a problem in the future.
This is for the sake of Stirland, even if the ownership wasn't hidden. Grey Order rules passed.
News from abroad trickles in, and Ostermark has apparently concluded it's 'campaign' without setting a single foot in Sylvania, contenting itself with clearing the forests around Mordheim. You're less than impressed.
=.=
Seems they were never going to do more than that.
Julia reports on her attempt at milking money from gossipmongering; she's broken even, but that's it. You filter through the information she presents to you, both written and verbal, and can't find any indication as to why the profits just aren't there. Infuriating, but at least you didn't lose money in the attempt this time, which means you've ended the war with a scant handful of coins left in your discretionary coffers. Without the burden of the Attachés, you'll be comfortably in the black once more.
Broken even. Looks like the cause is likely her low Stewardship.
Jack reports the Watch's mood is acceptable for now, mollified as they were by internal training. The dogs are starting to join the patrols, too. You're currently in a healthy financial position with the Watch, but that was from Abelhelm's perspective. The new Elector Count will most likely take the status quo when he begins as the norm. Now might be the time to spend.
Now would probably be a good time to spend HEAVILY. Any budget points in the Watch won't stick around.
Information Network - pick ONE (no action expenditure required):
[ ] Expand your information network into another province (choose one)
[ ] Expand your information network into another county or barony (choose one)
[ ] Expand your information network into the military (choose a Division)
[ ] Expand your Intelligence Attaché program to another Division (choose one)
[ ] Open a dialogue with Zhufbar, offering an information exchange.
[ ] Off the Leash: Let Julia handle the network without your micromanagement from now on.
No particular priority here yet, we might want to expand our network under Bundebad however
Information Network finances - can be chosen INSTEAD of a selection from the above.
[ ] Gossipmonger: Maybe it was just bad luck. A long streak of bad luck. Maybe this time it will work.
[ ] Fixer: Work with the Wurtbad Thieves Guild, supplying them information in exchange for a portion of profits.
[ ] Special Branch: Pull some financial trickery to get the information network classified as part of the Watch, so that their costs are covered by the Stirlandian treasury.
[ ] Trade Delegation: Convince Wilhelmina to partner your network with the EIC based on the value of market information. Especially likely to work since Wilhelmina will soon be losing her position of power in Stirland's government. (NEW-ish)
Trade Delegation is a good idea,
but now is a good time to bill it to the
Watch. All Budget Points earned in the Watch will be reset when the new Count comes in.
Stirland Watch - pick ONE (no action expenditure required), currently at +1 Budget Points:
[ ] Expand the ranks of the Watch, so that they're able to start covering even the poorer parts of their covered area. (-1 Budget Point)
[ ] Expand the Watch into a new county or barony (choose which) (No Budgetary Impact due to expanded Gong Farming)
[ ] Expand the Special Branch into areas already covered by the Watch, so you have an additional pool of manpower you can call upon to supplement the full-time Watchmen. (-1 Budget Point)
[o] Improve the training of the Watch further, hiring trainers and dedicating paid time each week to sharpening skills (LOCKED until administrative staff acquired) (-1 Budget Point)
[ ] Integrate the Roadwarden network of covered areas into the Watch.
[ ] Investigate the possibility of adding a River Warden branch of the Watch.
[ ] Headhunt administrators from other organizations in Stirland.
[ ] Attempt to hire administrators and clerks from Altdorf and Nuln.
Key priorities:
-Administrators
-Expansion into Drakenhof town(HIGH PRIORITY)
Stirland Watch finances - can be chosen INSTEAD of a selection from the above, will yield an unknown number of Budget Points.
[ ] Set up saltpeter production facilities using the information Jack has gathered. (-1 Budget Point) (NEW)
[ ] Set up saltpeter production facilities using headhunted experts from Nuln. (-2 Budget Points) (NEW)
[ ] Set up saltpeter production facilities and call in favours to bring a dwarvern expert in. (-1 Budget Point, -2 Dwarf Favours) (NEW)
[ ] Formalize and organize the payments people make for the Gong Farmers to perform their service, as well as having the Watch start enforcing existing laws against dumping human waste in the street or the Stir.
[ ] Currently, solid waste is sent by cart and wagon out to the fields for a pittance. It could instead be used to create market gardens along the banks of the Stir (hopefully downwind) and increase revenue and provide jobs for the desperate by growing a variety of cash crops.
[ ] Tanneries have a seemingly limitless demand for urine, which explains a lot about the smell. A bit of fragrant research would allow you to identify how much demand there is and how much of a profit you can wring from this.
We should
not take these actions until the new Count moves in!
Remember they won't see us helping the budget, they'd see the Watch being cheap and take offense at any increase in budget.
Stirland Watch faith - can be chosen INSTEAD of a selection from the above, penalty to any Watch actions Mathilde takes unless/until one is taken. Sigmarism must be driven out. (NEW)
[ ] Verena is the Goddess of Justice. Enshrine her as the patron goddess of the Stirland Watch.
[ ] Shallya is the Goddess of Mercy. An odd choice for the Watch, but it would ensure that they remember their duty to the common people.
[ ] Ranald is the God of Thieves, yes, but he's also the God of protecting the common folk. It's worth a shot, right?
[ ] Seppel is the Minor God of Vengeance, popular in Stirland. Vengeance is sort of like justice.
[ ] Grungni, the principal Dwarf Ancestor God, actually has some following among the Stirlandian populace - and he is their Lawgiver to boot. Bring in a few priests to make it happen. (-1 Dwarf Favour)
So we have to take this. Assessments:
-Verena
--Pros: Investigatory techniques. Greater appreciation for academia and record keeping. Is publicly acceptable.
--Cons: Hostility to Ranaldites.
-Shallya
--Pros: ???
--Cons: You want ex-soldiers. To follow a pacifist god.
-Ranald
--Pros: Allows us to use Ranald's Blessing on the Watch. Ranald the Protector makes the Watch focus on the welfare of the people.
--Cons: Technically a proscribed god. A tough sell, would require the Blessing to avoid disaster.
-Seppel
--Pros: Already popular in Stirland
--Cons: Focused less on crime prevention and more on punishment.
-Grungni
--Pros: Is already popular in Stirland. Is big on keeping to oaths, upholding laws and reducing corruption.
--Cons: Is a Dwarf god and will get some strange looks. Costs a favor.
[ ] Abelhelm left you with a list of notarized names. Pass them on to your Master and let the fireworks fly. (does not take an action)
[ ] As above, but insist on being a part of whatever happens.
Personally invested in doing this while the info is still fresh. The longer we wait the more likely it will go stale.
[ ] It may be a moot point, but you can still send off the entirety of information gathered on undead types in Sylvania to your string-pullers. (does not take an action)
[ ] Concentrate the gathered information on undead types in Sylvania into a single dense tome and publish it. It's likely to be of some use and interest to Morrites and Amethyst Wizards. Not ground-breaking, but a nice feather in your academic cap nonetheless.
We probably want to send the report regardless, since that keeps them assuming we're still under their thumb.
And publishing is good for Magister promotion and Learning.
[ ] Buy out half of Markus' shares in the EIC. (does not take an action; increases your debt to Stirland)
Must do.
[ ] Visit the Amethyst Wizards in Altdorf and ask what the hell they were playing at.
This can probably wait, but effectiveness may drop over time as they get a cover story.
On the flip side, waiting should also decrease the chance of Mathilde being
very rude to the Amethyst Patriarch, who's 4 ranks above her.
[ ] Investigate the Valley of the Singing King.
[ ] Investigate the underground tomb complex in the southeastern Haunted Hills.
[ ] Investigate the very ruined ruins of Castle Drakenhof. Sure, there's several hundred thousand tons of rubble on top of anything interesting, and sure, the only tunnel you found to the castle catacombs was caved in by the dwarves, and sure, even if you do get in there's every likelihood that undead monsters still roam free in there and will eat you, but why not do it anyway?
Not really urgent, or wise.
[ ] Your debt to Stirland is recorded in a handful of documents in the Archives, and the current Steward is leaving the position. If said documents were to be slightly altered at the right time, nobody would notice in the handover and your debt could evaporate.
This is fine. We can justify it to a tribunal even, that using the funds to take control of the EIC is in Stirland's interest.
[ ] Though the Haunted Hills have always technically belonged to the Elector Count, they've suddenly skyrocketed in value. If you could backdate some purchases from the Elector Count, you could make a killing reselling them, and still retain your own slice of prime grazelands.
[ ] There's never been less oversight on spending. Embezzlement now would be impossible to trace later. Scrape up whatever funds can still be found in the treasury, and pocket them.
This is NOT fine, and will almost certainly be asked difficult questions on when we go for Magister.
Groundwork - should Van Hal's heir decide not to make themselves known, the question of who would take power is a very interesting one (NEW).
[ ] Spend time with Anton, possibly talking about how good a candidate he would be - local support, known to external powers, and a few powerful friends supporting him, and so forth.
[ ] Spend time with Gustav, securing his subordination to you.
[ ] Spend time with Wilhelmina. As emptied as the treasury of Stirland was by the campaign, the EIC may be the wealthiest institution in the province.
[ ] Attend the Elector's Meet yourself, to take any opportunity that arises to manipulate events in your favour.
Not good, any of this.
-Anton likes us, but he's
completely guileless, and would be slaughtered at the Meet. If he gets in he'd be an obvious puppet of anyone who would try.
-Gustav is good at horse and gun. Not much else. Oh and he's the agent of the spymaster.
-Wilhelmina has no loyalty to Stirland and her sons are already known to prefer Grand Larceny if ever in a position to inherit the province.
-We aren't even allowed into the Elector's Meet, we're a wizard who's suspicious to the Empire...nope.
[ ] 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 and internalize the lessons you've learned (choose which trait; can be taken multiple times; will be more effective if you've used the trait a lot lately).
We have pending Diplomacy and Martial XP to lock in. Reminder that the bonus will be gone by next turn and we can expect to have even LESS free time once the new boss comes in.
[ ] Read the Liber Mortis. (NEW)
[ ] Your experience with the so-called Fog of War has given you a lot of ideas for new applications of Ulgu. (NEW)
Not the time. These are 'leisure' activities that require dedicated attention, which won't see results in the immediate future.
[ ] Financial Jargon: Everything with the EIC flew right over your head last time. Try again. Succeeding here will mean that you can take a more active hand in the company, adding it to the organizational actions; failing or not attempting means Mathilde will remain a silent partner.
Word of GM, this is important now.
Now to assess existing plans under these measures and make a new vote it it doesn't click
The hills raid is arguable. However if stealing, outright stealing, enough gold to pay a small army isn't sabotage then nothing is.
