Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
That depends on just how ruthless is Wilhelmina is in enforcing her tax farming rights and leveraging those to crush competition.

That's the problem with tax farming: it encourages the tax farmer to be as greedy as possible, and often results in an economic depression.
True, but Roswita believes that Wilhelmia is trustworthy and won't do that, at least not to the point of hurting Stirland.

And tbf, she's right about that.
 
Also who else is peeved at Magister Johann. Who ever called him out over knowing FC spells was dead on the money. I hope we can make his life just a little bit miserable for lying to a grey wizard.
 
[X] Marry me...
- [X] Soon
[X] Court Wizard
[X] 'Head Ranger' (Spymaster), Internal Focus

What can I say? I think they'd be cute together. And make lots of cute babies together.
 
Right now I am hoping that even though it looks like court wizard will win we will be able to spare some time to helping set up trade for K8P. We are just at such a huge crossroads that it seems a little silly to not make use of it to build a massive web of informants.
Word of GM is we can still arrange trade (like how the other would-be stewardship advisors will presumably still be heading their own fields of economy if we become steward), but we won't be leading the Undumgi if we're not the Stewardship Advisor.
Yes, but in that case you will not be in charge of the Undumgi.

This is why I'm still voting for Stewardship and not anything else, because I want to be in charge of the Undumgi. I like the idea of continuing our Ranald spree with them, and taking what was initially the least valued and most expendable part of the Expedition's forces, and turning them into a force that dominates the pass. Plus, if we are investing heavily in trade, it'd probably be for the best that we kept a close eye on the guys whose job it is to keep the trade route safe.
 
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[X] Marry them...

- [X] Wilhelmina.

- [X] Reinhild Gerber.

- [X] Stefanie Krebs.

- [X] Cordula von Halstedt.

- [X] Wilhelmina.


[X] Stay single. Marry for love.
[X] Stay out of it.


Insider trading doesn't necessarily have anything to do with being for or against shareholders. It has to do with using knowledge that only a limited amount of people are privy to in order to prevent a loss or to make money.

If, for example, you have special knowledge that a company wants to purchase a certain plot of land to build something on, and you use that special knowledge to buy the land before the company only to sell it at a higher cost to the company, that would be a rudimentary form of insider trading. Or depending on how you got the information a breach of the duty of loyalty/care.

However, modernly the primary concern is not insider trading for property or land or goods, but rather insider trading in securities. Stocks and such. Which is what the security laws actually forbid because of how bad it can get.

So, to get ever-increasingly specific, what Mathilde did here would likely not be modernly illegal. It would likely be illegal if what the EIC was purchasing was stocks instead of land, however.
It's not actually insider trading, because the knowledge isn't private or hiden from the public in any way.
What we've done is essentially buy a direct fiberoptic connection to the stockbroker, so we can reliably trade faster than everyone else. We can do this because of our Gyrocopter and Ulgu-Horse, but it isn't insider trading, just faster trading than most anyone else could manage.

Still broken as fuck, of course, but that's just the benefit of a technological edge.
 
[X] Marry me...
- [X] Soon.

[X] 'Head Ranger' (Spymaster), Internal Focus
[X] 'Head Ranger' (Spymaster), External Focus
[X] Steward
 
I think Wilhelmina has the constant examples of her children to remind her of of the difference between skinning and sheering sheep. About time they're good for anything...

Honestly, while making a hash of thing economically certainly isn't good for Stirland, at least she seems to be doing so in a manner that is unlikely to have significant negative long term consequences. Sure, she's getting less of the windfall that selling the land could net her, but at least the land will start producing soon, and while she's pretty severely bungled the tax situation for the near future it shouldn't actually hurt their economic growth much. She's just going to have a real bitch of a time funding her war for much longer.
 
Ah... OK, so she is not as stupid as we were assuming, not really stupid at all, just a little too focused.
Wait, you mean the thread might have assumed the worst of the countess out of resentment? Perish the thought :V
(Seriously, the sheer level of vitriol and assumption of total incompetence* the thread has had for Roswita is... somewhat extreme, to say the least o_O)

*Not to be confused with things like 'her witch hunter friends that raised her are likely half in charge just by way of influence' or 'is relatively monofocused on sylvania/routing out the undead as is expected for her upbringing', those are things we have confirmed to one extent or another, and are frankly 'just' the usual 'most people in power are going to have some downsides, the question is just how many, how bad, and how much they get in the way of their tasks'.
 
Why ":V" ? We could totally pressgang him! Regimand even suggested it! :grin:

More seriously, at least poke him and see if he's willing to be pressganged and how much pressure is required. Being Mathilde's associate in K8P could be quite the attractive job for a Journeyman, particularly one looking to get on the good side of dwarfs.
I agree! But that's something for a later vote.
You're right, he'd probably be happy with the arrangement. Especially now that Karag Lhune is getting an Engineering Guild.

But if he tries to run anyway, then we can Mork 'im roight propa. :grin:
 
I guess I will just have to stick to longbeard grumbling and add making a global network of informants to my list of goals. Hopefully we can crush any magical dissident to the overwhelming awsomeness that is ulgu that we can have time to get those informants up and running.
 
[X] Marry them...
- [X] Reinhild Gerber.
- [X] Stefanie Krebs.
- [X] Cordula von Halstedt.
- [X] Wilhelmina.


[X] Stay single. Marry for love.
[X] Stay out of it.

[X] 'Head Ranger' (Spymaster), Internal Focus
[X] 'Head Ranger' (Spymaster), External Focus
[X] Steward
 
That is so much better. Like unbelievable better than the worst case.
And hopefully the returning mercenaries and the implications of the EIC's land purchase will encourage her to not do it again.

For now, I'm more or less fine sitting on our 36%. If something goes too wrong, we can bail Roswita out by trading her our shares for something she doesn't want to give us but will be good for the Empire - the rights to build that secondary college in Stirland, maybe - and she'll have learned enough (or gotten enough of a competent steward) to do better with her second chance.
 
Yeah, setting up an information network is just a good idea, even with the Court Wizard position. Part of our job is keeping track of Weird Magical Shit, and better to deal with that kind of thing before it blows up in someone's face.
 
Also who else is peeved at Magister Johann. Who ever called him out over knowing FC spells was dead on the money. I hope we can make his life just a little bit miserable for lying to a grey wizard.

No need to the petty, just do our job as part of king Belegar's council and inform him of Johan's true rank. The deception will likely see all dwarf support withdrawn from him forcing him to go blow himself up somewhere else.
 
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Also who else is peeved at Magister Johann. Who ever called him out over knowing FC spells was dead on the money. I hope we can make his life just a little bit miserable for lying to a grey wizard.
I mean, if you tell a Grey Magister mostly known for her martial exploits to police and keep an eye on another magister- there's a lot implied there. Obviously violence is a last resort, but I imagine the Golds would wash their hands of him if we had any proof, and it's not like it's in Johann's interests to risk Mathilde's ire by this point either.

She could pretty much casually alienate him to the Dwarfs with a few choice words, and let's be real, even for a fellow Magister Mathilde is going to seem pretty intimidating what with the Waaaagh wrastlin' and the Skaven slaying and the Warboss wacking. Point is, if Johann is remotely as rational as his wind tends to be he'll realize that it's not worth trying to circumvent or oust her.
 
It's not actually insider trading, because the knowledge isn't private or hiden from the public in any way.
What we've done is essentially buy a direct fiberoptic connection to the stockbroker, so we can reliably trade faster than everyone else. We can do this because of our Gyrocopter and Ulgu-Horse, but it isn't insider trading, just faster trading than most anyone else could manage.

Still broken as fuck, of course, but that's just the benefit of a technological edge.
I don't know if you've gotten to my post about why I agree that this isn't insider trading, but I do feel like I've not been able to express why I think what we've done is equivalent to insider trading and why the spirit of what we've done is the reason why insider trading is illegal.

Insider trading isn't illegal because of the use of confidential information for profit, it illegal because insider trading undermines society's trust in a fair securities exchange where everyone plays by the same rules. The breach of that trust and playing by different rules is why insider trading is illegal.

And I believe that Mathilde, and the EIC in general, are playing by different rules when they are able to communicate valuable material information quicker than literally anyone else in the Empire. And that's where I'm seeing the connection between what Mathilde did and what makes Insider trading illegal.
 
[X] Marry them...
- [X] Reinhild Gerber
With only a clever mind and an ambitious blueprint.
[X] 'Head Ranger' (Spymaster), External Focus

We're a grey wizard. Shouldn't we at least think about investigating Antons possible future wives for malfeasance?

I think Wilhelmine really shouldn't marry Anton. She's extremely powerful already, I think a noble title on the level of Baronesse and an effective majority in the EIC would be too much. Furthermore, marrying the engineer at least diversifies the EICs assets in terms of technology and her family propably isn't powerful enough to do much if she suffers a "tragic accident" when we judge her a bad influence for Anton.
 
@BoneyM, could you please answer a few questions about whether it is possible to spend College Favor on the following and, if so, what the associated costs might be?
  • Getting a Perpetual Apprentice to serve as assistant/general minion
You can put the offer out, but it's up to the individual PAs whether they take the offer. Two favours a year would be standard for those in a more convenient location, four would probably get you someone.
  • Getting a Journeyman/Magister/Lord Magister of a specific College/with a specific spell to come assist with a specific question/project/calamity
2/5/10 per six months. This is assuming they have no interest in the topic and will receive none of the credit (or blame) for whatever it is you're trying to do.
  • Getting copies of the Colleges' books for our library (is this the same 50gp+0/0/1/1/2 for common/extensive/rare/very rare/extremely rare that we have with Dwarf Favor, or some other ruleset?)
Same ruleset.
  • Acquisition of an animal suitable for being a familiar, or a specific type of animal so suitable
Any animal, 3. A specific but common animal, 5. Anything rarer, you'll have to negotiate.
  • Getting powerstones for our personal research/use
5 per.
  • Having a wizard lab/tower optimized for magical research/other specialized effects built
A survey done and turned into instructions to give the builders to either emphasize a specific wind or a lack of any wind, 5 points.
  • Acquisition of specific esoteric desired items (ex., what if Mathilde really needs a Lustrian flowering plant or the tooth of a sea drake or something for research, presumably mages have requests for this kind of thing constantly)
You can put the word out and see if anyone has it within their collections or stockpiles, but if nobody has one on hand it's probably a matter for adventurers rather than wizards.
  • Getting permission to do push-the-limits sorts of research (ex., Johann is literally going to poke the skaven and their warpstone, Mathilde is in a great position to research multi-wind interaction and ways to avoid creating dhar when it happens, or to study probably-corrupted Waystones with an eye toward unfucking them, and the Articles are intentionally vague enough that what is okay and what isn't is basically a judgement call by the Colleges; can we pay in Favor to represent burning political capital on being given dispensation for this sort of thing instead of being uncertain whether we're crossing lines?)
No, such things are entirely based on respect and track record.
 
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Another reason I want to lead the Undumgi is this:
Warrior of Fog: Appreciation of and focus on mastering the fickle fog of war. +2 martial, bonuses to scouting and hidden gambits while in command, unlocks creation of battlefield spells for revealing or concealing troop movements.
The 'in command' and 'troop movements' bits are things that imply this works best when we're actually leading the soldiers, so I want to try stuff out with the Undumgi once we get established and clean up some of our backlog.
 
Also who else is peeved at Magister Johann. Who ever called him out over knowing FC spells was dead on the money. I hope we can make his life just a little bit miserable for lying to a grey wizard.
He's not the only one who knows theoretically Fiendishly Complex spells.
Both Panoramia and Maximillian have capstone spells with comparable difficulties to Johann, technically demanding Magic 5 to learn.
I've been assuming Panoramia staff is a standard +1 Magic staff (from Ma or Da?), boosting her from 4 to 5.

All those three Journeymanlings were accomplished casters.
 
Mathilde stands at a pivotal point in history, with a lever in her hand. It is not an exaggeration to say that the fate of the Karaz Ankor will be shaped, for better or worse, by what happens at Karak Eight Peaks. The question we must ask ourselves is simple: 'Do we want Mathilde to make the most of that lever, and work to ensure the greatest possible future for our new home, or are we content with a meager push and willing to let the dice far where they may?'. I know that I will not be satisfied unless Mathilde makes the most of the opportunity presented to aid Belegar, the Karaz Ankor, her god, and the Grey Order. It is for this reason that I am voting that Mathilde take the most important role offered to her, the post of Steward.

To finish the reconquest of his home King Belegar is going to need weapons to kill the Greenskins and Skaven, men to wield those weapons, supplies to keep those men in the field, and gold to pay for all of it. It is a simple fact that the strength of an army is built off the back of an economy. So, what is the strongest basis for an economy in K8P? Agriculture? No. The Orks have seen to the ruination of the local ecosystem. It will take time and a great deal of effort to restore it to a productive state. Mining? Not yet. Karagril is still in enemy hands and the depths are enemy territory. The traditional artisanal economy? There is nobody to buy the goods, not in any great number, not when we are starting from scratch. Finally, we come to trade. We have been told time and time again that Karak Eight Peaks is perfectly positioned to make a fortune from its position. The best part is that we can hit the ground running and start bringing in gold right away. There can be no argument that the greatest basis for a strong economy in K8P is trading, and we are the only advisor with trade as our focus.

Karak Eight Peaks is also an experiment, with significant populations of multiple races looking to make a long term home in a dwarven Karak. What better way to ensure that the experiment is successful than overseeing the human component? Being able to shape the culture and attitudes of the inhabitants' will greatly smooth the way for future cooperative ventures. It also provides the opportunity for us to redeem Ranald the Protector in a way that would be difficult within the empire. Finally, the connections we can establish and the information network we can build will provide the Grey Order with information more valuable than gold, a great way for us to prove our worth as a potential Lord Magister.

If we were playing as King Belegar, for which position would you select Mathilde for? Steward, where she can make the most of your strengths and keep a lid on potential internal conflict or Court Wizard, a position that can be filled by a Runesmith or the Prince of Zhufbar?

We will always be the Wizard of Karak Eight Peaks, but this is a chance to be something even greater. It is a chance to tie Mathilde's experience in Stirland and K8P together and harness our unique outlook to make the most of our abilities. We can be the right person, in the right place, at the right time. Do not let this chance pass us by.

[X] Steward
[X] Stay single. Marry for love.
 
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