In the Wake of Monsters - an Advisor's Quest

Solemnity has replaced pomp and grandeur at this particular gathering of Avalanches. No bright ribbons hang, no musicians play. Carefully, slowly, making sure not to trip or jostle anyone or sully your fine robes, you walk towards the meeting-house where dozens of the elders of Avalanche are now approaching. Most are walking like you, while some come carried in palanquins, whether from importance or frailty. All in all they are perhaps fifty in number. Men outnumber women three to one, and the women are uniformly grey-haired while the men are only mostly so. Pillar stands by the entrance along with a handful of house soldiers, scrutinizing and greeting new arrivals.

"Good to see you... glad you could make it, ... why hello, cousin Quiet... welcome..."

It's quite the change from the normal social occasions you've attended under the auspices of your clan, particularly as your close family members are not present. You recognize a familiar great-uncle here, a second cousin once removed there, and old Pillar himself of course, but most are distant relatives about whom you know the name and little else, even with your powers of memory.

While you wait inside for the last stragglers, a steady hum of gossip runs through the room. Speculation, bets, philosophy. Then the doors are closed, candles are lit, and an old man lights several bowls of incense in a row, appealing to various gods, spirits, and an honored ancestor. Old Grandmother Avalanche deigns to manifest and watch the proceedings, and you smile at the oddity that a ghost would be one of the most familiar faces here, after all the times you've seen her at the family shrine.

Avalanche Pillar walks to the front and claps his hands once. Silence falls, and your clan head begins to speak with a firm voice that belies his advanced age.

"I have heard many of you ask and guess, so I will say it plainly: yes, this election was called at the will of Clan Bridge."
"This is cause for celebration and not despair. Some of you say it is because they think they are strong enough now. But I say it is because they are getting weaker. Bridge is not represented on the High Council. Avalanche is."
Several heads turn towards you, but no one interrupts.
"Clan Avalanche will be the fifth of the Great Houses soon, if we are but diligent. Then we will prosper."
He continues making simple assertions that things will go well, before yielding the floor.

The next speaker talks of the nature of your rivals. He says that Clan Plum and Clan Rain are the primary contenders: Plum on its own merits, Rain because it is not-very-secretly backed and funded by Bridge. But Plum used to have the support of Bridge until the head of Bridge decided that he wanted a client rather than ally. Then he gives a long recitation of which larger clans are in the running at all, and which smaller families are supporting them, and his speculations on which ones will throw their weight behind Avalanche when it is clear their favored candidate has lost.

The next speaker speaks of strategy and promises and advice in negotiations to come, and the next one after that rambles about numbers before being discreetly but rapidly shooed off to be senile elsewhere, and then there's a speech on historical parallells from the history of Silverport.

Eventually you are called up. You swallow nervously, march to the front of the room, stare at the congregation of powerful and wealthy kinsfolk, and worry about how badly this could affect your future prospects in the clan if you say something wrong.

[Diplomacy: 2+15=17. Unfortunate.]

Then you get self-conscious about being worried, fight down a surge of panic at feeling underprepared, focus on remembering the speech you'd prepared, and rush into blurting words out before things can get worse.

"Reveredandhonoredones, tenthousandthanks for the opportunity I have been given. You are old and wise, and I am young and hopeful. Together we will surely make good decisions."

As you look at the faces of the crowd, you realize that may have come off a bit arrogant, and start rapidly editing your planned speech on the fly, skipping over your own accomplishments a bit to describe the Portlord's vision: to reform and not merely squat in office. You only briefly mention mirrormetal, then speak of the new city wall that will secure Silverport for the next generations to come, point to the nearby wax candles as an example of a historical invention that was a great improvement on wooden torches, and generally sing the praises of innovation.

You close with a plea for Avalanche to become a forward-looking clan: "Greatness begins with one man's hope: when he sets himself a goal to accomplish something out of the ordinary. When he is not content with common things and tasks, when he dreams of a new life, he says: I will make a better thing. I will do a greater deed. In following known paths one finds safety, but only in going new places does one find glory. Let us therefore become great and glorious, doing the unprecedented."

Afterwards, you sense it's gone over badly. You hear the anecdote of your Horse-Killing Plow being told more than once as a cautionary example of what may happen when one attempts to do the unprecedented. But there's no laughter, no overt criticism, no jeering. Just sometimes being talked down to a little, and that was probably going to happen anyway when talking to someone twice your age.

Dodging questions about whether your speech was Creationist, you stay at the meeting just long enough to fulfill obligations of politeness before making your excuses, going back to see your wife and children, and later to your office to issue an edict that a second crop of graduates shall be accepted at a slightly lower standard for simpler jobs. Some day, when you have more time, you'll sort out just which ones the simpler jobs are, and maybe even tailor particular requirements for each of them. But for the moment the regular bureaucrats can administer that. You still have projects to oversee, things to do, and there are a great many more requests for people to see these days.

---

Voting time. This is a miniturn in a small span of time, so you do not have the normal options - but in the election season, networking and gossiping is running high, so social opportunities are more easily available. You get one choice from the social actions:

[] Get to know one of your fellow councillors. (choose which)
[] Spy on one of your fellow councillors. (choose which)
[] Socialize and build connections with one of the great clans of Silverport. (choose which)
[] Spend time with someone else. (choose whom)
[] Hustle to contribute to Avalanche's chances of victory at the election.

QM notes:
The plow in question was previously mentioned in this post as the reason you started in debt.
So far you've picked Inspiration as Marble's starting motivation, advised Void to chart a new course when he discussed city history, started a grand new construction project rather than reinforce the existing walls, and here voted to speak of innovation. Getting to be a distinct pattern.
The new fifth option in this vote will not give you any direct mechanical benefit, and it is not required for (nor does it guarantee) Avalanche's elevation. Choose it if you still think you might be the last straw, or if you want to be very devoted to your clan.