Another cycle of Dwarven paperwork has made you almost gleeful to escape the Karak, and as your transport makes its way over mountains you look forlornly down at your still-aching hand.
Thankfully, by the time you reach the Empire, your hand has fully healed.
Mathilde: [Writes Paper on Seeds of Rebirth and their interaction with repetitive stress injuries]
Your permanent ownership of the location required one set of papers, and that it was to be a religious site was another set of papers, and that it might be a site where alcohol was to be drunk was an equally formidable set, the Dwarves taking drinking almost as seriously as religion. That the site could be both a Shrine and a Tavern was not a problem, as apparently Temples to Valaya in her aspect as the Ancestor Goddess of Brewing were quite similar.
I now see the adventurers converting when some wandered into the Valaya sermon during the conversion.
"Goddess of good beer, mountains and safety? I'm in, all three are highly relevant to our lives."
That said I think this might well be the best beer served in a Ranald shrine in the Empire, in order to pass the beer regulations. Most of the taverns that do this tend to serve more swill, but I think what the dwarves will even ACCEPT as swill would be either pretty high grade, or else particularly nutritious/easy to brew in poor conditions, but tastes poor, like Ranger ale.
Gyrocopters are not unknown in the Empire, but they are certainly rare enough to draw stares. When one lands in the poorest and most violent district Altdorf has to offer, that counts for double. You disembark to dozens of curious stares, but the colour of your habitual robes has all but the boldest quickly pretend to have been looking elsewhere. People in general know not to bother a Wizard going about their business, but people here learned very, very quickly that the Grey College that lurked in the dilapidated heart of the district was absolutely not to be bothered at all.
I'd say this was possibly one of the flashier entrances a Grey Wizard could have made...but I can't deny the possibility of one hitching a ride on a dragon at some point.
Might even be the same Grey Wizard...
Even when you start unloading your weight in silver, eyes remain firmly turned away, and a nearby street merchant selling fried meats of unidentifiable providence is offered a month's profit for the loan of his cart, and a swarm of street urchins and beggars are very careful not to get too close to you as they each gather armfuls of the now unwanted meats.
@BoneyM
Is that a C.M.O.T Dibbler cameo?
As you wheel your weight in silver through the streets, you're entertained to see the same set of events play out on a dozen different faces: eyes alighting on an enormous stack of silver and widening in greed, then those same eyes spotting that a Grey Wizard was in possession of that silver, and that person freezes on the spot as self-preservation and greed go to war.
Self-preservation always wins. Those with more greed than sense have long since been weeded out of the neighbourhood.
Reckon natural selection is a swift thing for anyone trying to steal from Grey Wizards.
Preying harmlessly on Grey Apprentices might be encouraged though.
Its good training!
The doors you wheel the cart through have not seen an overambitious thief in many years, though urchins on dares scamper in on a regular basis. Most emerge without incident after lingering long enough to show their bravery, a few meet Grey Wizards to make reports to their secret employers, and once in a while one will not be seen again - at least not until they've advanced enough in their Apprenticeship to be allowed out unsupervised. Each of the Colleges have their own way of calling to those who resonate with their Wind.
...is that an enchantment based off a variation on Eye of the Beholder to entice in anyone with enough aethyric senses to notice it?
Like, just make the door look particularly interesting.
The normal way to gain access to the Grey College is to walk through the corridors in a maddening array of zig-zags in a path that seem to fold in on itself, but though Wizards love that sort of thing, sometimes practicality must win out. A storage closet near the door is home only to a single broom that has long surrendered its grip on its bristles, and you carefully wheel your cargo into it and close the door behind you. A few seconds later, you open the door again and wheel the cart out into the Grey College's storerooms, filled with all the mundane fuels required to run an institution: quills and inks, paper and papyrus, chalk and slate.
I can just imagine the early days before they installed the bypass.
Just imagine the bitching from the deliverymen who've just HAD it with this twisting road.
And after a few weeks of having apprentices cart the stuff through the twisting corridor the College concedes their point and installs the side door.
Out the door, down the corridor, a few nods and exchanged greetings with those you pass. A few eyebrows are raised, but only just - yours might be a contender for the strangest cargo for the Grey College to receive this week, but only just.
Suddenly madly curious about what was the strangest cargo of the month...but gold and silver is hardly strange. The quantity is unusual, but I expect adventuring Greys to bring in large hauls every so often, if not usually with so small a gap between them.
Algard and his Towers of Screaming Death, which reliably draws in Chaos warbands who seek the forbidden tomes supposedly encased within and walk right into Imperial Army ambushes.
This guy here is playing Tower Defense.
I'm curious how he's getting them to keep getting ambushed without figuring out the trick.
Also how and why are the towers screaming?
Kurtis Krammovitch, double agent turned triple agent turned quadruple agent turned unofficial diplomat to the Hedgefolk, who technically breached the Articles but fought sorcerers and necromancers for new recruits in areas where the College's influence didn't otherwise reach.
That sounds kind of like the Stirland political landscape before we got here.
Walther Kupfer, who fomented civil unrest from the slave pits of Clar Karond and caused inter-house feuds that still periodically explode into violence to this day.
Sneaking in under Druchi noses.
Or did he legitimately get enslaved by the Dark Elves, and caused hell on his way out before claiming he planned it all?
It definitely sounds like that kind of story.
And Wilhelmine von Bucht, who shattered the House of Goellner when they thought their trade empire had made them too powerful to tax, who dismantled every Smuggler Guild from Middenheim to Fortenhaf, who concealed the Imperial Regalia and forced the just-deposed Dieter IV to retreat to Talabheim without performing one final theft. Who in the twilight years of a successful career settled down to serve her College as Bursar. Who is now sitting across from you and offering you a nice cup of tea.
*Eyes the name*
We're reasonably sure she's not Wilhelmina right?
Also SEMPAI NOTICED US!
We've been doing work in her image as Journeymanling!
...wait, she hid Ghal Maraz?
Lord Magister Wilhelmine looks anywhere from thirty to fifty, her hair the pure grey of Ulgu rather than the interspersed whites of age, and it rather unnervingly wriggles from time to time as it tries to escape from the bun it's been forced into. Her frame is thin but not quite gaunt, and she has the air of a friendly aunt, seeming nothing like the figure of legend that inspires even the most arrogant of nobles to meet their tax obligations.
Well...Mathilde doesn't look a lot like the terror that strikes in the night either!
As you sip on the tea - mild, with a hint of mint - she turns the bar of silver over in her hands, running her fingertips over the imprint attesting to its origin, weight and purity. She also has in front of her the paperwork you filled out to go with it, and though she only appears to have glanced at it you're sure she knows every detail you entered.
"Not the first windfall you've come into," she notes.
"No, Lord Magister. The Memoirs of Asarnil proved unexpectedly popular."
"I assume you did take the usual Vows at some point, yes?"
"Yes, Lord Magister."
Hah, its hilarious how Mathilde is sounding like the kid who painted a giant mural over their porch on impulse and is now wondering if they're in trouble.
"We do rather focus on how funds are obtained. Our own dear Ulgu could make quite a terror of any that put their minds to the acquisition of wealth, as I'm sure you're aware. I'm likewise sure your acquisitions will remain benign, and there will be no need for any of those little loopholes to become a noose."
And so you see how the loopholes actually are
traps. Anyone being legit would pass them without issue beyond a brief nervous bout, but its ALSO a handy bait for people to try to thread the needle with illegal wealth.
Then it snaps shut.
She taps the silver with a fingernail. "This isn't a warning. If we didn't have faith in you, you would not bear your current rank, and truth be told the silver will come in handy - our wedding present for the Emperor was not cheap. This is simply a reminder to help you retain that faith we have in you. As the Wolfship captain said to the midshipman: if a fish jumps aboard there's no point throwing it back overboard, but don't get so used to the taste that you find yourself baiting hooks. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Lord Magister."
"Lovely. I'll be watching your affairs with great interest. Oh, and if you could do me a small favour?"
"Yes, Lord Magister?"
"Do tell Magister Johann to stop playing silly buggers. He can poke at the ratties if he really must, but it's unseemly to play pretend with our allies."
And looks like we're more than in the clear.
We got a little bonus, but she's pretty much told us she's got an eye on the EIC situation and our personal wealth/power combination.
So Johann is almost certainly capable of a lot more spells, but him being a purported Journeyman means:
-He can be excused for knowing only enough spells to be assigned to artillery batteries. If he knows more spells he might be assigned to counterspelling far from the artillery! Or worse, like Panoramia, Esbern and Selja who are being basically a small Knight where he might be forced to expose himself in self defense. The dwarfs will never let enemies near the artillery.
-He would not be assigned subobrdinates who might be annoying and cannot be exposed to his research work.
-The Grey Order thinks he's legit about wanting to poke Skaven stuff.
It still feels unreal to think of Magister Regimand Speiseschrank as your peer rather than your Master. He's tucked deep into an armchair in the entrance hall, apparently engrossed in a tome, but you notice that your mind says he is reading a book rather than going through all the usual steps of identifying the object in his hands and coming to a conclusion of its own. You really should get around to learning Cloak Activity when you have a spare month or two, but time is always scarce and the Colleges frown on attempts to interfere with its passage. You slip into Substance of Shadow and take the seat opposite him before revealing yourself in a mirror of the way he used to appear to you as a Journeyman, and of course he doesn't give you the satisfaction of jumping.
"You should learn Invisibility," he says, still supposedly engaged in his reading. "Next time I might not do you the courtesy of dousing the nearest lantern."
Once your teacher, always your teacher.
Mathilde trying to look all mature in the face of someone who saw all her mistakes.
"There's a lot of things I should be doing," you retort, and with barely a flicker the spell dissolves and Regimand is looking directly at you, the book nowhere to be seen.
"I daresay they would be. Have you seen the second layer of nastiness yet?"
"Whiskers and warpstone? Oh yes. How many of those little messages are there, anyway?"
"A few. Most of the big ones you'll probably never need. There's a big one a bit further south from your current playground, but it's going on twenty-five centuries without a whisper and thank Sigmar for that. One's just a how-to-stop-a-Waystone-from-exploding that we keep tucked away so those Journeying don't get it into their heads to seek them out, but can still deal with one gone bad if they trip over it. There's one for if you're stupid enough to go to Lustria, one that basically says 'don't touch the mummy gold, idiot' after an overambitious twit came home proud as punch of a sceptre he'd stolen from a pyramid - we jumped into the fastest ship in Altdorf Harbour and nipped across the Sea of Claws and threw it in the general direction of the Skaelings, and a week later every sailor in Marienburg is telling stories about the Curse of Zandri wandering up and down the Norscan coast. I've heard there's two in the Dark Lands, but never been curious enough to go poking around there. Terrible place. Oh, one for the Blighted Marsh to say get the hell out of the Blighted Marsh without giving the full story." He scratches his chin in thought. "I think that's all the major ones. Or maybe just the ones I know about. Far as I know, the rest are all 'run away and call for help with this codeword' warnings for specific Black Magisters - problem with them is that so many of them end up blowing themselves up in some godforsaken nowhere, but we can't take them off the books because every now and then one will re-emerge after thirty years and start raising hell." He frowns. "What was I- oh yes, rats. Honestly the best advice I could give for those bastards is find some Dwarves and point them in the right direction. They know what they're doing."
-South of Eight Peaks - Someone pointed out its where Nagash was chilling? Do not poke.
-How to stop a Waystone from exploding - This is legitimately important data given we're camped on there. I guess this is one of Teclis' packages?
-Nehekeharan Gold - Probably wise. Without metaknowledge...Mathilde still wouldn't have done it. She knows wight kings from back home are much the same and much less powerful. Nice trick tossing it to the Norscans though.
-Dark Lands - Probably the Dawi Zharr. Whats the other thing?
-Blighted Marsh - Whats so secret that even the secret package only tells you to get the fuck out of there?
-Rogue Magisters - Okay...yeah, hard to find a rogue magister, especially a Grey one who went to ground.
Man, Regimand's been Places if he triggered that many.
"You're a font of wisdom," you grumble, and he smiles.
Kragg-infection spreading. Send help.
"As much as always," he says evasively. Perhaps he actually is, or perhaps he's getting up to mischief he can't discuss in Altdorf; he 'semi-retired' twice during your Apprenticeship, and the first ended with three different chaos cults declaring war on each other and butchering each other in the streets of Altdorf as the Watchmen waited to arrest whoever was last standing, and the second with the 'tragic accident' of a noble who turned out to be a puppet of the Lahmians.
Wow. Chaos Cults are not known for their fine judgement, but thats a fine trick.
"Well, if you're looking for ways to spend your time, I've got a few boulders to catapult into the academic landscape." You hand over your papers and he immediately tucks in, and you sit back to wait impatiently.
"The general Runic insight is solid, nothing earthshaking but there's good information there and a lot of it. Good read, too." Another period of silence, and you've only got his gradually raising eyebrows to gauge his reaction by. "They hardly ever bring those Anvils to battle, and I've never even heard of some of those abilities. Damn cagey Dwarves. This one's a cracker, too." The third one is a great deal shorter, but the information goes over just as well. "That title would give a lot of generals heart attacks. Good information, damn good information. I daresay these will see some widespread reading. If this is what's going to come out of that place, it won't just be the diplomatic sorts that want you to stay put. Tie a rope around whichever of the young'uns you got to write these for you before someone else snatches them up."
Regimand: "Please, bribe him, marry him, whatever it takes. I don't want to read another paper so dry I need tea to go down with it that I'm obligated to out of courtesy as your teacher."
[Timely Tithe: +1 College Favour.
[Diplomatic Benefits of K8P: +4 College Favours.]
[Economic Benefits of K8P: Pending.]
[Strategic Benefits of K8P: Pending.]
[Wrangling Journeymen: +2 College Favours.]
[Observations on Runecraft During The Expedition To Karak Eight Peaks. Subject: Uncommon, +0. Insight: Confirming +1. Delivery: Compelling, +1. Shared credit, -1. Varied, +1. Final Rating: +2.]
[Deployment of an 'Anvil Of Doom' During The Battle Of Karag Nar. Subject: Rare, +1. Insights: Revolutionary (Lightning and Lava), +2. Delivery: Compelling, +1. Shared credit, -1. Precious, +1. Final Rating: +4]
[Dragon Ogres and Volcanic Lightning. Subject: Rare, +1. Insights: Revolutionary, +2. Delivery: Compelling, +1. Shared credit, -1. Tactically Relevant, +1. Final Rating: +4]
[Lustrian eggs: Pending.]
We knew most of this already but two things to point out:
-If Eight Peaks becomes a strong trade nexus we'd likely be getting as many Economic and Strategic credits off each as we did for the Anvil of Doom paper.
-Wrangling Journeymanlings is doubletapping Favor, we got both College and Dwarf favor. Something to keep in mind.
Also hah, the Dragon Ogres thing would be fun to see them read.
His hug is just as warm as you remember, and he chatters his way through current events, most of which you've just heard the reports of. His straightforward summaries cut to the heart of most of the matters with more conciseness than even the tersest intelligence report, and you wonder if he's growing more astute or if you're just more prone to taking him seriously, knowing the diplomatic feats he's been capable of.
Anton's getting good!
"Fort Redemption is the new Wurtbad, they're saying," he says as the two of you look over a map of Stirland. "She's brought Southern Stirland to heel and the selling off of the Hunter's Hills are going well, and after the Countess disappeared she brought Nachthafen and Pfaffbach under her control. The Black Guard love her, Central Stirland has never felt safer, and the road Abelhelm had made has been a boon for trade. But she's completely ignoring Western Stirland, and you more than anybody knows what the problem with that is."
So looks like we're seeing a bit of a military industrial complex, her strategy is essentially using war gains from the rebellious and necromantic bits to fund the army to go after more of them.
The road that was so bloody hard to build is paying dividends at last. Pity Abelhelm never lived to see it.
"Oh god," you groan as Anton rummages through a pile of scrolls. "Don't tell me the Stirlandian League is back."
"Even better," he says with a grin, and passes you a scroll. Your eyes widen at the seal stamped into the wax, and you unroll it to find a contract very similar to ones you've signed.
"Baron Anton Kiesinger II, in his capacity as the Baron of Blutdorf, ownership of a stake of 16% of the Eastern Imperial Company?"
Its just natural trade cartel territory, with all those rivers.
"I saw how Wilhelmina was as Steward, she's scary when it comes to trading and finances and whatnot. So when she started clashing with the West Stirland Riverine Company - you remember, with Franzen and Wolfsbach? I told them it'd probably go really badly, and they spoke to her, and the Countess is paying a fortune for those handguns she's trying to introduce so she jumped at the chance to be bought out of the EIC. They got half each, and that meant that the EIC had the entire Old Dwarf Road, and with the Countess away the EIC has a free hand throughout the demesne so that gives them the Nuln Road all the way to Ramsau. And of course I'm not going to ignore the advise I just gave to Petra and Artur, am I? So when Wilhelmina came to town with that look in her eye, I didn't just get out of her way, I jump aboard. I cracked open the treasury, bought 16% of her share, damn near gave Da a heart attack. But then just as the Countess is getting mad at Nuln for the prices for all those handguns - which the EIC is being paid to ship, by the way - Wilhelmina has a word with her and gives her the idea, what if Stirland made the guns? And you know, Bultdorf already has a crossbow factory, it's got a Guild of Engineers, it's a safe distance from Sylvania, so where better? So Wilhelmina turns around and gives me back all that money I bought her share with, and we've just broken ground on a handgun factory that's going to have an exclusive contract to supply the Army of Stirland."
...Anton. its only been six months.
You did your Thing again!
So breaking it down to more digestible form:
-West Stirland Riverine Company - Anton told them
completely sincerely that if they made a fight for it Wilhelmina will eat them alive. They believed him and bought into the EIC, adding their assets to the trade route.
-Roswita overspent on the guns so she sold her shares in the EIC to 2 of her trade focused vassals to have enough money to keep running the province and avoid being in debt.
-Wilhelmina wanted her shares lower to bring her sons' problematic ways in check when they inherit, so she turned it into cash they can't abuse from Anton, at fair market rates.
--In typical Wilhelmina manner she immediately made her friend back the money by giving him a monopoly on gun sales in Stirland.
---Incidentally we could probably go one further and spend dwarf favor to upgrade their gunpowder production for Anton if we wanted. This would be good for Stirland to have better quality dakka to use on undead gribblies. Would need to upgrade the Gong Farmers to have enough shit for all though.
You remain in Blutdorf long enough to catch up entirely with Anton's life. It seems that his inheritance has made him one of the most eligible bachelors of Stirland, and he's rapidly being backed into a corner and only Wilhelmina's ruthless advice has kept him from just marrying one at random to stop the sharks from circling.
Cinnamon roll facing thirsty ladies with more of an eye to his money than his
The closest he has to a preference is a perpetually frazzled graduate from the Imperial Gunnery School of Nuln, who has cropped red hair, a missing ear, and a patent on a very interesting variation on the Repeater Hand Gun, with only a single barrel and a revolving chamber for holding the rounds themselves; when the girl isn't looking you compare the design with your own Dwarven revolver, and wonder if it's parallel evolution or if the girl has been looking outside the Empire for inspiration.
Tech bonus, though Anton DOES like her somewhat. No noble title though, and she'd compound on his weaknesses in Intrigue from the sound of it.
On the other hand shes the only one unlikely to manipulate him into anything.
More conventionally, there are marriages within Stirland. Specifically, the Count of Halstedt has a daughter, and the Baron of Marburg has a niece. A glance at the map confirms your suspicions: the former would spread the EIC into an overland trade route with the Moot, whereas the latter would allow the EIC as much a stranglehold over the Stir as they had over the Aver.
In terms of pure benefit, Marburg is probably a good one for the EIC, but moving very close to uncontested monopoly.
You frown at the map in thought, trying to decide how much you disapprove of Wilhelmina's string-pulling. It could be argued it was in his best interest - after all, 16% of the EIC's profits were Anton's profits. "Or," he says nervously, "I could just marry you." You almost laugh off his words, but Anton doesn't generally joke about such topics, and your surprised stare spurs him to continue. "It's like with Wilhelmina and trade. There are things I," he waves his hands vaguely in the air. "I don't understand, and I know I don't understand them, and I'd much rather just let someone who I trust that does know what they're doing take over. Probably whoever I end up marrying is going to be able to get me to do just about anything they want to, so I might as well marry someone that can already do that and hasn't done anything bad with it, right?"
There may have been moments where you imagined what it would be like to be proposed to, and none of them were anything at all like this, but nevertheless you're at least a little touched. Anton faced a future where his life was probably going to fall completely under the sway of a woman, and in his straightforward way he had decided that you were the most trustworthy woman for the job. You let him know that you'll think about it, and he hastily says that that's perfectly okay, and even if you say no that it would be okay, and he shouldn't have even said anything, and you just smile and hug him until he calms down again.
Or Mathilde, who'd be perfectly complementary but its a bit of a long distance relationship, though they do like each other.
The thought keeps your thoughts well occupied on the way up the Nuln Road. With painful memories now insulated by your graduation and the Expedition, you can admit that you had more than a little bit of a crush on Abelhelm, and if thinks had been different... well, things probably wouldn't have been different, he was a Witch Hunter and he was your boss and he had a daughter only six years your younger, but maybe they could have been... but now you'll never know, and that's the end of it. So with the age of thirty just over the horizon, where did that leave you? What prospects did you have in your life? A bunch of Journeymen, two of which were involved with each other, one was actually a Magister, and you're still annoyed about that, and two that seem at times like they're more a decade younger than you than merely a few years. Beyond that, a huge number of men who were rightfully terrified of you, and a number of Dwarves who... well, maybe the idea wasn't completely unthinkable, but from what you've heard they don't even have, well, urges, it was entirely a matter of duty and clan instead of drives and entertainment.
Maybe some bold adventurer could seek their fortune at the Karak, or some clever trader could travel up Death Pass, or a counterpart from one of the more tolerable other Colleges could be drawn by the discoveries to be made, and maybe any of the former could just happen to be suitably close to you in age and suitably easy on the eyes... but that's a lot of maybes.
So current prospects:
-Anton - Diplomatic genius, utterly trusting. Cinnamon roll.
-Maxmillian - He's a couple years younger, in a dwarf smithing apprenticeship,
can write our papers, but we hadn't made a strong personal bond yet.
-Pray to Ranald for a romance out of our trashy romance novels. Beware what you wish for.
"Mathilde!" Wilhelmina cries, enveloping you with a hug as enthusiastic as Anton's. "Thought for sure you'd end up cornered in some Godsforsaken corner of that Dwarf warren for years. Already run out of greenskins to fight?"
:3
Well, just a couple of warbosses got killed and all.
"To her credit, she jumped right in and took right up stomping the hell out of Sylvania where you left off. But hell, that's all she's been doing, and she's been burning money to make it happen. A lot of that money has ended up in my pocket so I can't complain too much, but if she didn't have the Hunter's Hills to sell off she'd have run dry long since, and even then there's not many that want to buy at the price she wants to sell, so she can't be too far off skint."
A ruler in a crusading mood can be very expensive to keep up with.
Before we criticize too much though, Abelhelm spent the first half of his reign preparing for this.
"A ripe situation," you comment, eyes going to the map on her wall, larger and more detailed than Anton's. Everything west of Halstedt is stamped with the familiar sigil of the EIC.
"Couldn't be riper. She made an Exciseman her Steward. An Exciseman! Anyone trying to smuggle goods through Stirland is catching hell, sure, but it takes more than that to keep it all running, and I should know. He's farmed out the taxation rights! Sure, with proper restrictions so it's not quite the bad old days, but when the one that buys those rights is me, suddenly the EIC can undercut every poor bastard from here to Kirchham who still has to pay tolls and tariffs. I'd call it highway robbery but I've got three lads here and two in Altdorf triple-checking that every single step of it is completely legal, because sooner or later she's going to realize she handed me Western Stirland on a platter."
While the thread has been full of comments on the new steward's incompetence...its not bad in the scenario where you need a lot of upfront cash.
Tax farming's problem is perverse incentive, you encourage the farmer to promise the skies then reap the market dry.
But the EIC got around that problem by dint of simply paying for the tax rights, then using that to undercut every competitor in trade, and paying Stirland directly out of money they made in duty free trade.
By the time the tax rights revert to Stirland the EIC would have marginalized or assimilated every other trade concern in the area.
You stare past Wilhelmina at the map. As the reign of Dieter IV quite thoroughly proved, if someone's stupid enough to cut their own purse, there's no law against picking up the trail of gold they leave in their wake. But as the very same example also proved, there comes a point where enough's enough and something must be done. Does your old friend's burgeoning trade empire approach that point? Has she just boasted of the entire plan to a Grey Wizard, whose remit is to crush such overreaches?
Some of your thoughts must have shown on your face, because Wilhelmina turns solemn and follows your gaze. "I pay every tax she hasn't been stupid enough to sell me, and all the ones that go to Altdorf. She had a stake in all of this and it was her idea to sell it. I'm not skinning the sheep like the Stirlandian League - more trade than ever is flowing, and the ledgers are open to you if you want to confirm that. If you think this crosses a line, go ahead and bat your eyes at Anton or wave your sword at those silly buggers along the Aver and you've got the percentages to stuff the djinn back in the jar. But the way I see it, with the Countess selling everything she can get her hands on, there's plenty worse than me that could have bought it."
She's not wrong. If Roswita wants to turn trickles of income into lump sums now, that's a decision her title grants her the authority to make and there's hundreds that would come running to fill the vacuum if Wilhelmina stopped being the one to benefit. Wilhelmina is a known quantity, a decent person, and not least of all, almost entirely at your mercy. "I saw Anton on my way up," you say conversationally. "Gone into business with him?"
The EIC is providing a useful service to the Empire here...though also unfortunately perpetuating Roswita's mistakes, because responsible tax farming(or in this case not even bothering to tax and just paying her in trade profit) means she won't even see the consequences.
I wonder if she sold the tax rights for the period to the EIC because she trusted Wilhelmina not to rip the peasants off.
"You're damn right I have," she says, grateful for the change in topic. "Abelhelm sent him off to round up the usual assortment of Tilean pikemen and he came back with a dragon. Abelhelm sent him to sort out that taxation mess in Flensburg and he redraws the poltiical map and founded a riverine monopoly on the side. He got Nuln and Zhufbar to try to one-up each other with cannon. I can't talk to a Dwarf or a Wissenlander without that coming up! The largest concentration of cannon in history, and yeah they got the job done because you would have murdered them if they didn't, but they were there in the first place because of that boy in Blutdorf. So absolutely, the moment he had the key to the treasury, I took however much he could scrape up from it and handed over 16% and I wrote the difference off with a smile."
Ooo, she basically sold her shares for as little as she could get away with. And that means
Anton has a controlling stake because the other two active members are his friends even with Mathilde out of the country.
Man her sons are gonna be mad as fuck.
"Remember when we first arrived at Eagle Castle and he seemed like a sheep among wolves? That's what he really is when some tart starts cooing and flashing skin. He doesn't know what to do about it so he gets nervous and he'll agree to anything in the hopes that things start making sense again. I was half tempted to snap him up myself and see if the second lot of children come out better than the first, but in the end I just pointed him at ones that'd actually have some give rather than being all take."
It wouldn't be too bad if it works out but I suspect her sons are going to start running 'accidents' in his direction if she risks their inheritance.
You linger in Wurtbad long enough to catch up with Wilhelmina, hear the latest set of disappointments her sons have inflicted on her, and pass on a few tips.
Right, still trashy family. It happens like that at times.
The tidal wave of silver in the hands of returning Stirlanders is definitely the sort of tip she can use. All those brave souls will be wanting land to settle down on, and it just so happens that an Elector Countess had been trying to sell land for long enough that she'd dropped the price a few notches. If she was aware of the triumphant return of Codrin and his ilk she'd know to keep a hold of it a little longer, but it just so happens that she had decided against retaining the services of the stunningly talented Grey Wizard who happened to have that information. You indulge in just a little schadenfreude as Wilhelmina gobbles up vast tracts of the Hunter's Hills, which are soon to take a massive leap in demand, and not one to miss a trick, Wilhelmina also strikes a deal with the Stirland mint to supply high-purity Dwarven silver for them to debase into rather more than the sixty coins Dwarves would make of it. Land for gold, silver for land, gold for silver - a level of alchemy beyond the arts of the Gold College.
...I think Ranald would be proud of that sleight of hand. She got Roswita to pay her for giving her land.
Wilhelmina is also fascinated at the possibilities of a resurgent Karak Eight Peaks - not for making the long trip to the Far East, for even with Death Pass safe the Dark Lands remain just as treacherous, but for being on hand to supply equipment to those who dare the trip and skim the choicest goods from those who succeed before anyone else has had a chance to apply their markups. Once you've established yourself, you'll certainly have to consider helping the EIC build a branch in the Karak - the information that you could haul in and send back to the Grey College would be even more valuable than the fortunes to be made.
As it stands it'd be a powerful intel network, with a powerful bribe to get their foot in the door anywhere in the Empire's heartlands.
You know, if we were to make a will, I'd probably deed the EIC shares to the Grey College.
You also raise the matter of your outstanding debt to Stirland, and Wilhelmina's able to put your mind at ease. Not only does the contract explicitly disallow any early calling in of the amount owed, it also can only be sold after first refusal is offered to the EIC, and at a substantial discount. Roswita can either deal with you paying off the debt at a leisurely pace, or she can eliminate a significant chunk of it and deliver it into the hands of an organization that you and yours have a stranglehold on. You're once again reminded how terrifying Wilhelmina has become in matters of finance.
When you put it like that, and looking at recent events, I suspect she might well cash out if she runs out again.
[ ] Marry them...
- [ ] Reinhild Gerber
With only a clever mind and an ambitious blueprint.
He said she's not outright annoying to talk to, they have topics in common and it gives Stirland better dakka for cheaper.
- [ ] Stefanie Krebs
Delivering a stranglehold on the Aver.
This gives the EIC enough of a monopoly on Stirland trade to do all kinds of insane things.
- [ ] Cordula von Halstedt
Linking the EIC to the Moot.
This helps with the food trade, and caravans between the Eight Peaks expatriates.
- [ ] Wilhelmina.
She said she's thought about it. Give her a push and promise to call in a favour or two with the Jade College.
Strongly against this.
Her sons are not the people you want set against poor Anton.
[ ] Marry me...
- [ ] Soon.
Gyrocopters are wonderful things. You could spend weekends at Blutdorf, or he could spend them atop Karag Nar.
Well, I wouldn't mind. Anton is nice and its a handy way to close the book on romance.
- [ ] When I return.
An engagement ring and a promise for when you return to the Empire.
Strongly against. We're likely going to be there for a LONG time, unless we want him to be old and grey.
[ ] Stay single. Marry for love.
Anton's achieved miracles for others. Maybe he could do so for himself.
Mathilde the Romance Novel Lover.
Anton IS likely capable of this. He just needs to go searching rather than them coming to him.
[ ] Stay out of it.
Without any input from you, he's likely to end up following whatever Wilhelmina advises, making this a
de facto vote for the 'Marry Them' option.
He's asking for our advice. I'd advise.
[ ] 'Head Ranger' (Spymaster), Internal Focus
[ ] 'Head Ranger' (Spymaster), External Focus
Not catching my love here. The Rangers are perfectly good at the job and it makes it all the harder to make a good relationship.
Against
[ ] Steward
With the news on the EIC...we could be sitting on a big heap of trade and intrigue. We're also aware that the other Stewardship options are going to be slow liftoff. The Umdungi are good for getting an economy off the ground FAST, and I dare say dwarf goods and halfling grain would sell well anywhere in the Empire.
[ ] Court Wizard
Neutral. I like the lifestyle, but its hard to exploit our past connections.
[ ] No role
Against. Nope.
Conclusion:
[X] Steward
[] Marry them...
-[] Reinhild Gerber
[X] Marry me...
-[X] Soon.
[X] Stay single. Marry for love.
E: Strategic untick
