A group without government support will always lose to the one who has the weight of a nation behind it.
[x] School
-[x] Fund a New Wing of St. Peter's University
So long as we get results we may be able to avoid scrutiny, and closer integration with those who hold power will allow us to throw a wider net and use a bigger pool to hire new talents from.
Although people have already expressed their opinion, I will still clarify why exactly this combination - the state and the manufactories in Russia in the 1750s are directly connected. The state, in fact, needs the help of industry to provide a larger army and navy.
Therefore, if our production is profitable for the country, we will have influence, and, equally important, conceal the victims. This is the middle of the 18th century, and we have serfdom.
If our "experiment" or "ritual" kills a person in an institute or library, it will be a scandal and attract attention.
If our "experiment" or "ritual" kills a person in a manufactory, no one cares, "The Motherland has given you spare workers specifically for this purpose"
Also, the presence of a Factory justifies a large number of movements around the country, because the search for trade and contacts looks much more logical than a trip to the country of librarians. Although they could just look for the books of the churches that they no longer want to contain.
We will also participate in the war in the case of nationalism, which is again quite good for Russia, due to the fact that we can take away interesting finds in the army by force. Russian Russian-Turkish war and the 7-year-old war are quite close in history (Do not ask which of the Russian-Turkish wars, there are only 14 of them).
This quest is definitely interesting, but every time I see an update I think Slayer's Code Geass quest got an update and I'm sad when I realize I'm wrong.
Curious how a pro government school will make things work out. I feel like schools are always breeding grounds for radical ideas so pro government radicalism would be interesting to see.
And they are! When students actually got radicalized enough for bomb-throwing and shooting officials, one of the first shot was the minister of education (ironically enough, killed by a guy who was thrown out of a university for involvement in political manifestations - twice).
However, Russia currently needs all kinds of schools, so even if we have to limit ourselves to teaching reading, writing, basic arithmetics and basics of the Bible - we can do that. It's not like there's a deficit of schools teaching even only these subjects.
Just noticed that this was a thing and catched up. No comments yet as I've only read the updates and the latest vote results, but eldritch things and secret societies are things I'm certainly interested in. Watched.
Next update is written, will be posted tomorrow. I've decided that this quest is going to be previewed by my patreon supports as an early-access feature. So they get to look at updates for about a day before they go live.
This also has the beneficial side-effect of allowing anyone to spot huge problems in my quest posts and bring them up to me before I have to hit the undo button publicly.
So, link to my patreon in my sig if you're interested. If you're not, don't worry about it, you guys get the error-checked version here publicly free of charge. Might be a better deal, actually...
The large, well-decorated room was adorned with all the trappings one might expect of a cultured institution of its day and age. Maps of the known world, places of regional importance, and tantalizingly blank areas testified to the knowledgeable nature of those in attendance. Mounted and preserved heads of various animals, in turn, displayed their interest in the natural world. Glass cases held artifacts from human cultures which had never come into contact with each other, while lavishly intricate oil lamps gave enough illumination for the various members to read and review their notes in the otherwise windowless room.
The final occupant seated themselves and, abruptly, the mood changed from relaxed to focused.
"We've done well, these past several years," Viktor stated, taking a defacto authority he had assumed as something of a 'first among equals' over the course of the previous half-decade. "I feel it would be in our best interests to discuss what achievements we now have under our banner and what shortcomings we have unfortunately seen come to pass as well."
Adrik, now significantly less youthful than he had seemed at the start of their St. Petersburg meetings, cleared his throat and leaned forward. The unsubtle request for permission to speak brought a gracious nod from Viktor and an extended hand.
"The institute got off to a rough start," Adrik stated bluntly. "We clearly lacked experience with larger-scale projects, and it showed. Our first classes were small, our staff were neophytes, and we deliberately estranged ourselves from the rest of the local educational community when we should have been extended offers of friendship."
Gustavus nodded, holding up a few fingers for attention in turn. "Indeed, it seems in our quest to achieve independence, we were somewhat... overzealous. These actions bred, if not resentment exactly, then a certain deliberate cautiousness on the part of the other schools."
"But it must be noted we were able to correct course once we understood the repercussions we were bringing upon ourselves," Adrik stated, seizing the momentum again. "Our current classes are much larger, even to the point that we've strained our current batch of teachers. For the first time we've had the luxury of refusing applicants, even those with enough money to pay upfront."
"In some ways," Faina broke in, gesturing apologetically to her brother, "we've become victims of our own success. As much as we are orthodox to the state itself, our heterodoxy to academia has bred respect for our ability to defend our position, something that the Empress' donation of funding is emblematic of."
There was a moment of quiet contemplation.
Francis broke the silence with a chuckle. "It truly is no real surprise, is it? We've spent long hours and great energy in debating dearly-held principles only to come to the conclusion that supporting the Empire is in our group's best interests, as well our own individual ones. Our ability to ideologically defend that stance, both to our students and other academics, has garnered the appropriate level of appreciation from the throne."
Many around the table nodded.
It was, in hindsight, a somewhat obvious series of coincidences. The fact that many of them had taken to having vigorous discussions over what, precisely, their society should endorse as their approach to research, development, and technological proliferation.
In short, they'd argued.
For months upon months.
In small groups of twos and threes just as much as they had as a whole body together. As a predisposition towards the usefulness of the Russian Empire coalesced, many of their group had taken to defending the empire whenever the occasion called for it. What would have been a quirk of behavior, though, was magnified when many of the society took up lecturing positions within their specialty to both save funds and demonstrate their commitment to the project.
Needless to say, a number of very public debates had ensued.
The Institute of Scientific Crafts had quickly garnered a reputation as a result.
Loyalty, thankfully, was nothing to be ashamed of, and had borne unexpected fruit when Empress Elizabeth had deigned acknowledge her nation's new university as an exemplar of proper absolutist values. This, too, culminated in the bequeathing of the name of a religious icon (coincidentally the same name as one of her lovers bears) to your institution as something of distraction from the shifting political realignment within her court.
"It seems Austria's diplomats have successfully talked the Tsarina around," Dimitri spoke up. "That should finally quiet those who wished an alliance with Britain and Prussia."
"Then war is inevitable?" Adrik asked, frowning.
"War always is," Old Zakhar replied with his characteristic flippancy. "Land or faith, take your pick, people will always wish to fight over something. Even with the successor's wife a Prussian-born noble, it seems the boy is more enamored of them than the girl. Perhaps this whole charade is merely to break the lad of his worship of that ponce Fredrick."
There was a bit of idle laughter over the idea.
"I've heard a bit from the New World," Gustavus admitted. "My contacts with the trading companies have brought word of increasing skirmishes between English settlers in North America. It appears they wish to seize more of the red man's land, land which technically falls under French authority."
"As stupid as any good cause for fighting," Zakhar snorted. "A bevvy of fools who think they have a right to take what was never theirs in the first place. Soon enough the French and English will be quarreling on the seas. Then Fredrick will take advantage of Louis' distraction. I reckon it will be but a year or two."
Adrik nodded in contemplation, exchanging looks with his sister.
"Is there some manner of preparation we can undertake?" Faina asked. "We are yet a young group, but war seems a time of great opportunity. Even if it only to gather warm bodies for future uses."
Viktor interlaced his fingers and considered the matter before laying out options...
-Leadership: "What kind of leadership should be looked-to? A single person, a council, an elected body? We need to decide at the foundation of our group so as not to breed confusion within our own body. It is of singular importance the some form of hierarchy is established to prevent arguments from fracturing us or stalling important projects."
-Applied Magicks: "We have at our fingertips the potential to revolutionize the empire and create from it a greater power than the world has ever known. Our current abilities are somewhat lacking, but there are goals we could reasonably achieve if we are careful. Ritual magic need not be overt, the process of alchemy can be kept from prying eyes, and astrology has become more and more simple superstition. We must rely on the growing disbelief of the supernatural to shield us from discovery instead of allowing fear of discovery to stop us from accomplishing our goals."
-Reconnaissance: "It's more important to ensure there are no threats of supernatural origin looming nearby. A thorough investigation of our surroundings will yield us knowledge of where we can safely organize meetings without arousing the church's suspicion at the very least. This is a matter of life and death for all our brethren."
-Enhance Establishment: "We now have a form of camouflage, yes, and it is providing us some small amount of income. Still, it could be so much more. The Empress' favor has allowed us the chance to carve out a more defined niche in the imperial culture. Perhaps we might select a specialization for our university so as to better cultivate a specific manner of skill and talent that we might achieve our ends in a more efficient manner?"
-Recruit: "Many hands make light work, as the saying goes. Surely any and all of these tasks will be easier should we grow in number. Gathering more expertise, talent, and influence from seeking out like-minded individuals will be extremely profitable for our group."
-Research: "There will be time aplenty for such worldly concerns later. We gathered to advance the reach of our works and it is that we should commence with. Some may call it naive or foolish, but should we be so concerned with protecting a group which has accomplished so little worth protecting?"
-Court Favor: "What we can currently achieve are mere parlor tricks compared to what is, eventually, possible. This we understand, yes, but others less informed might see them as the achievements of mundane wonders. Passing off piercing supernatural insight as simple genius, for example, is well within the realm of possibility. The most pressing caveat would be how our members go about presenting our... talents to their audience."
Results: The Institute of Scientific Crafts informally bears the name 'St. Ivan's University' after publicly aligning itself with the ideology of the Russian Imperial State in support of a strong government headed by a powerful monarch. (Elder) Sister Institution to the Imperial Moscow University. The name (and generous donation) honors St. Ivan of Rilla, but almost certainly alludes to the Empress Elizabeth's lover Ivan Shuvalov, Imperial Russia's first Minister of Education, patron of the luminary Mikhail Lomonosov, and driving force behind the Imperial Moscow University's founding. Initially the private school is seen as an affront to the authority of the the Empress, but thanks to a strong espousal of pro-government doctrine, the perceived slight is forgiven and funding has been put forth in the name of better incorporating the scholarship opportunities your institution offers with the government.
Well, in this next vote, I believe we should begin the organization of our leadership, but I have no idea where to go from there. So, I am open to suggestions and arguments.
