Prentigold is a libertarian (albeit it in a fantasy setting), so my gut feeling is that dealing with him will involve bears in some way, in reference to that town in New Hampshire that was taken over by libertarians who destroyed the local government, then overrun with bears.
That would only be true if Elys was a student at his school. Because she's at a rival school in an enemy country though, he would not desire Elys getting stronger, at least not for its own sake. If a Tyrepheum student were to sneak out Green Flame, Prentigold would look the other way as long as no one else knows, and be happy that he has students as clever as this, because from a certain point of view it could be considered to make school look good. The implication here is, the student never would have been able to steal from Tyrepheum if they weren't taught by Tyrepheum. On the other hand, if Elys were to sneak out Green Flame, Prentigold would do everything in his power to stop her, because that only makes Engelram look good while making his own school look like a bunch of incompetent jackasses who can't protect their most valuable assets.
So much of this is speculation... I feel like we should probably pivot mid-conversation depending on how he reacts, because we've only had a few facts, his public speeches, and second-hand accounts to go by as far as personality modelling goes.
Since Visit the Headmaster of the Tyrepheum Academy, Opernus Prentigold was meant to be a separate vote option, I'm going to split this latest storyline into two parts, which will be spread over two in-game months.
*
Heart of Gold (Part One)
Your first year at the Engelram Academy is coming to a close. Soon, it will be over. A summer of leisure and spending more time with your parents looms in the distance.
Some of the older pupils are getting worried and distressed about exams; nevertheless, for you and Jana, school life seems to continue in much the same way as you have become accustomed to. Over the past several months, it has become 'normal' for you. Of course, the other pupils aren't occasionally sneaking out to visit their uncle who happens to be dragon god who has a palace at the bottom of the sea: as far as you know, you are unique in that respect.
You've invited Cadre 1F to dine with you in Mishrak's undersea palace: your uncle offered to provide the food and venue, and seemed very excited by that, which you hope won't result in a disconcertingly unusual meal. However, your plans have hit a snag: you've been told that Green Flame won't be able to attend. Apparently, her magical chains won't allow her to travel further than twenty-seven miles away from the Tyrepheum Academy and its current Headmaster, Opernus Prentigold. If she goes through a portal to a location hundreds of miles away, she will be incapacitated, which seems like a weakness that an enemy could potentially exploit. You wouldn't have designed it that way; but, on the other hand, it seems vanishingly unlikely that whoever designed the arcane bonds that keep Green Flame as a slave would care about your opinion.
And so, on one of the weekends, when you don't have classes and it seems unlikely that anyone will notice your absence, you've travelled to Tyrepheum in the hope of persuading Headmaster Prentigold to give Green Flame a longer leash.
"You're sure that this is a good idea?" asks Raef, dubiously. "I hope you don't mind if I stay as far away as possible."
"As long as you come to fetch us afterwards," you reply, a trifle anxiously. "I'm not sure we could get home without your help."
"I'll see you in the usual place," he says, meaning the shady gardens by the local temple of the Forgotten God. "Will two hours be enough or do you need more time?"
"That will be fine." You give him a nod.
He nods back to you and then vanishes through a portal.
With Jana by your side, you continue towards the Tyrepheum Academy. It takes almost half an hour for you to reach the outer gates. Then, you open a portal so that you can enter the school grounds swiftly and without anyone noticing. After that, you approach the largest building, the one you're most familiar with, and present yourself to the secretary at the reception desk.
She seems bewildered when you tell her that you are a princess from a faraway land whose rich uncle wants to fund a scholarship program for young mages from disadvantaged backgrounds and therefore you would like to talk to the Headmaster, Opernus Prentigold, about that, please. Her eyes dart from your face to your pretty dress, to your subtle but precious jewellery, and then to Jana, standing by your side, wearing the formal livery of a high-ranking servant, which has rather more embroidery and gold frogging than you think are practical; she chose it herself, of course. For several seconds, long enough for it to be uncomfortable, the Tyrepheum Academy's secretary is wide-eyed and speechless, staring at Jana wearing her outlandish outfit, before at last she turns back to you.
"I'm afraid I don't… I'm not sure if… I'll go and see if the Headmaster is free," she says, in a quavering voice. Then, she gets up and scuttles away, speedily enough that her panic is evident.
A few minutes later, you are escorted upstairs to Prentigold's office, a large and well-appointed room which appears to have been designed to impress visitors. The furnishings are clearly valuable, enough to emphasize the wealth and prestige of the Tyrepheum Academy to anyone who might see them, but not so much as to be tastelessly opulent. There is an ornately carved desk and chairs made of exotic wood, plush carpets marked with intricate patterns, bookshelves filled with rare books of arcane lore, and a scale model of the entire world, made of wood and brass, in the corner of the room.
From where he is sitting on the other side of the desk, Opernus Prentigold scrutinizes you with gimlet eyes. He is a wiry old man dressed in plain black robes, with a wizened face and a neatly-trimmed white beard. "I have been told that you are a princess from a foreign land, here to talk about a scholarship fund for needy students," he says, derisively, raising a suspicious eyebrow at you. "I hope that this is not a prank. I take a dim view of such things."
Jana takes a step forward, indicates you with both hands, and says, "May I introduce you to Elys Allardyne, Princess of Ismar and Windskil?"
"You may not," Prentigold snaps at her. "I'm here to talk to the organ grinder, not the monkey. Anything she has to say, she can say to me herself."
Opening her mouth to say something else – some sarcastic retort, no doubt – Jana takes a deep breath, but manages to restrain herself. Taking a step back, she rolls her eyes in exasperation and then gives you a nod, as if to say, 'Over to you, Elys.'
"I'm Elys Allardyne, the princess of a couple of tiny islands in the Sea of Squalls," you say. "But never mind that. More importantly, I'm the Chosen of Mishrak, the dragon god of the depths of the ocean, whose hoard consists of all the sunken treasure that has ended up at the bottom of the sea ever since the world began. He would like to expand his portfolio and get more worshippers, in the Sambian Empire and elsewhere, and therefore he has decided to put his wealth to good use by funding a scholarship program to enable more young mages from impoverished backgrounds to go to schools such as this and get a proper magical education."
"I see," says Prentigold, who doesn't seem convinced. "And what is it that you need from me?"
What will you say to him?
[] Write in.
Yes, the world of Chosen by the Dragon God is quite advanced in some respects, despite the fact that it's almost medieval in others: apparently, mobile barrel organs are common enough for 'the organ grinder's monkey' to have become a popular idiom.
Schizo tech, eh? Don't blame me: blame the Demon Lords for causing the collapse of human civilisation every few thousand years!
Does anyone have any ideas for the write-in? I'm kind of stumped for how to get him to get the scholarship seriously, let alone loosening Green Flame's bonds. From what I remember from School of Sorcery, we should emphasize that we're interested in giving talented but poor students the chance to prove themselves, rather than this being something charitable. I don't know if we should mention the Mystic Path or any other political components.
beats me, prentigold honestly spooks the hell out of me, if he wasnt so deadly id say we just stab the guy. for diplomacy though, his way of thinking is too alien for me to begin to try and get what we want from him.
Jana, standing by your side, wearing the formal livery of a high-ranking servant, which has rather more embroidery and gold frogging than you think are practical; she chose it herself, of course.
Ooo, negative points for this man. He's pushin' it. I suppose that's his military background talking - little patience for those of low rank (his secretary, I presume, included), can smell BS a mile away.
Good job, Jana. If I had a gold star to give, I would give it.
[x] Mention that starting an operation like this isn't something one does casually. A great deal of organization and foreplanning has to go into it
-[x] That's why you're here to see him, Opernus Prentigold, to get an idea of what it would take on an organizational level to interface with Sambian schools, and whether he thinks he could get support for it
--[x] At some point in the ensuing shoptalk, casually mention that Mishrak began thinking of this due to exemplary behavior on the part of some students of Tyrepheum Academy who, when questioned, reported to come from lower income backgrounds - clearly, poorer students are an untapped well of talent and potential
---[x] with that in mind, he wanted to meet these students, and the teacher that had taught them so well. Unfortunately, she appears to be bound, physically, to a small radius around this school, which his banquet hall sits outside
----[x] suggest that such restrictions be loosened to allow her attendance
Prentigold... he is very direct, and to the point. I don't think we can get away with much embellishment in front of him. He is... well, I never thought he was nice or good, but he's less tolerant than I thought he'd be, given his management style.
[x] Mention that starting an operation like this isn't something one does casually. A great deal of organization and foreplanning has to go into it
-[x] That's why you're here to see him, Opernus Prentigold, to get an idea of what it would take on an organizational level to interface with Sambian schools, and whether he thinks he could get support for it
--[x] At some point in the ensuing shoptalk, casually mention that Mishrak began thinking of this due to exemplary behavior on the part of some students of Tyrepheum Academy who, when questioned, reported to come from lower income backgrounds - clearly, poorer students are an untapped well of talent and potential
---[x] with that in mind, he wanted to meet these students, and the teacher that had taught them so well. Unfortunately, she appears to be bound, physically, to a small radius around this school, which his banquet hall sits outside
----[x] suggest that such restrictions be loosened to allow her attendance
[x] Mention that starting an operation like this isn't something one does casually. A great deal of organization and foreplanning has to go into it
-[x] That's why you're here to see him, Opernus Prentigold, to get an idea of what it would take on an organizational level to interface with Sambian schools, and whether he thinks he could get support for it
--[x] At some point in the ensuing shoptalk, casually mention that Mishrak began thinking of this due to exemplary behavior on the part of some students of Tyrepheum Academy who, when questioned, reported to come from lower income backgrounds - clearly, poorer students are an untapped well of talent and potential
---[x] with that in mind, he wanted to meet these students, and the teacher that had taught them so well. Unfortunately, she appears to be bound, physically, to a small radius around this school, which his banquet hall sits outside
----[x] suggest that such restrictions be loosened to allow her attendance
[x] Mention that starting an operation like this isn't something one does casually. A great deal of organization and foreplanning has to go into it
-[x] That's why you're here to see him, Opernus Prentigold, to get an idea of what it would take on an organizational level to interface with Sambian schools, and whether he thinks he could get support for it
--[x] At some point in the ensuing shoptalk, casually mention that Mishrak began thinking of this due to exemplary behavior on the part of some students of Tyrepheum Academy who, when questioned, reported to come from lower income backgrounds - clearly, poorer students are an untapped well of talent and potential
---[x] with that in mind, he wanted to meet these students, and the teacher that had taught them so well. Unfortunately, she appears to be bound, physically, to a small radius around this school, which his banquet hall sits outside
----[x] suggest that such restrictions be loosened to allow her attendance
Ideas far more clever than I could come up with sound good to me
[x] Mention that starting an operation like this isn't something one does casually. A great deal of organization and foreplanning has to go into it
-[x] That's why you're here to see him, Opernus Prentigold, to get an idea of what it would take on an organizational level to interface with Sambian schools, and whether he thinks he could get support for it
--[x] At some point in the ensuing shoptalk, casually mention that Mishrak began thinking of this due to exemplary behavior on the part of some students of Tyrepheum Academy who, when questioned, reported to come from lower income backgrounds - clearly, poorer students are an untapped well of talent and potential
---[x] with that in mind, he wanted to meet these students, and the teacher that had taught them so well. Unfortunately, she appears to be bound, physically, to a small radius around this school, which his banquet hall sits outside
----[x] suggest that such restrictions be loosened to allow her attendance
beats me, prentigold honestly spooks the hell out of me, if he wasnt so deadly id say we just stab the guy. for diplomacy though, his way of thinking is too alien for me to begin to try and get what we want from him.
"Starting an operation like this isn't something one does casually," you say, playing for time. "A great deal of planning and organization has to go into it."
"Of course," says Prentigold, narrowing his eyes. His sardonic tone is almost palpable. "I notice you haven't answered my question: what exactly do you need from me?"
"Well, that's why I'm here," you say, with a small shrug and a disarming smile. "I came to see you because I wanted to get an idea of what it would take on an organizational level to interface with Sambian mage schools."
The Headmaster grimaces. "'Interface'. Ah, how I hate the word! If words could take human form, it would be a smooth-tongued charlatan: superficially impressive, but otherwise shallow and worthless."
You laugh politely. "I mean, what would we need to do to turn this idea into reality? And do you think we could get support for it?"
"Support from whom? The teachers? I'm sure most of them will be in favour, except for those who loathe their pupils or think that magic should be restricted to a small, elite few. The regional governor, his magistrates, and other local authorities? They know better than to meddle with the smooth running of this school – or any of the others. The Emperor himself, his flunkeys, and other members of the Imperial Court? I suppose anything is possible, given sufficient bribes." Prentigold takes a deep breath, gives a derisive snort, and shakes his head. "And if your dragon god wants to provide financial support to any of our pupils, he certainly doesn't need my permission – in that sense, why should he be any different from anyone else? Already, there are a great many patrons who pay for young mages to attend this academy; they all have their reasons… and I don't turn any of them away or refuse to accept their money, despite what I might think of them."
"What do you mean by that?" you ask, trying to unravel his web of words.
"For instance, the Imperial Legion is our most important financial backer: each year, it pays for around a third of our students to attend this school, on the condition that they will join the Legion as soon they graduate and for twenty-five years afterwards, serving as scouts, or battle mages, or weather wizards, or in various other roles."
"Aren't you a war hero? Didn't you serve in the Imperial Legion?" you ask. "In that case, I guess that you… uh, approve of them doing that?"
"Not necessarily," he replies. "As a 'war hero' and the headmaster of this school, I have seen first-hand how the Imperial Legion exploits young mages and then discards them when they are no longer useful."
"So… do you like the idea of a scholarship fund for young mages? If Mishrak were to give them the money they need, they wouldn't need to join the Imperial Legion, right?"
"On the other hand, the Imperial Legion is dedicated to the vital task of defending the Sambian Empire from foreign aggressors. Therefore, I should do nothing to prevent them from getting the steady supply of new recruits they need to carry on their work. And if a few young mages end up dead, crippled, horribly mutilated, traumatized, or otherwise ruined… well, that's a small price to pay. Or so they say."
"I'm not sure I understand you," you admit.
"Princess, the day when you feel that you can perfectly understand me will be the day that I'll have to accept that the ravages of senility have left me a broken shell of the man I once was: on that day, I'll resign as headmaster and go to live out the rest of my life as a doddering old lunatic in a local nursing home." Prentigold smiles unpleasantly. "No doubt I will spend my time regaling visitors with tall tales of my adventurous youth. And I'll enjoy it!"
You don't like the way he says 'princess'. It sounds as if he is mocking you.
"Do you want to know why Mishrak came up with the idea for a scholarship fund?" you ask, changing the subject, somewhat awkwardly. "It was because he witnessed the… uh, exemplary behaviour of some of the students of the Tyrepheum Academy. When I questioned them, they admitted that they came from lower income backgrounds: all four of them! Clearly, poorer students are an untapped well of talent and potential!"
"Which students?" asks Prentigold. "What are their names?"
You hesitate, briefly, but there is no avoiding it: "Dorian Valens, Isolia of the Sprawl, Philander Bulhac, and Venta Durgensis."
"Dorian is the son of a magistrate; even if his father is suffering from ill health, his family is far from poor. Philander is the son of one of the richest and most influential men in the city. And Venta has the support of her entire clan; even if they are not given equal pay or fair treatment, they are an industrious people: they want her to do well and have pooled their wealth to make sure that she will have a place at this school for as long as she needs it." Prentigold rolls his eyes dismissively. "If they told you that they are examples of our 'poorer students', they lied to you. Isolia, on the other hand…" His face remains impassive, but he seems to twitch. You're not sure what that means.
"Dorian is in danger of losing everything because his father is dying, Philander needs to get away from his abusive father, and Venta… well, you said yourself that goblins aren't treated fairly or given fair pay for the work they do!" you exclaim hotly. "Why shouldn't they be able to apply for money from the scholarship fund, just like Isolia?"
"So, this scholarship fund has the intention of curing all of society's ills, is that it?"
"No." You fold your arms and give him a determined look. "But it's a start."
Prentigold stares at you for several moments. He looks contemplative. The fingers of one hand drum a familiar pattern on his desk.
At last, he says, "So, Princess Elys, I ask you again: what exactly do you need from me?"
How do you want to proceed?
[] Write in.
I didn't finish going through Flashkannon's entire plan, but I felt that this was a good stopping point. Feel free to carry on with the same plan or amend it as much as you want.
Oof. I think that we've bungled that enough that if we ask for Green Flame's bindings to be loosened it will be seen as a prelude to stealing/freeing her, and he thinks of her as school property.
I don't think we need to ask Prentigold for permission to take Cadre 1F to dinner, but I'm not sure what else to ask him.
"Aren't you a war hero? Didn't you serve in the Imperial Legion?" you ask. "In that case, I guess that you… uh, approve of them doing that?"
"Not necessarily," he replies. "As a 'war hero' and the headmaster of this school, I have seen first-hand how the Imperial Legion exploits young mages and then discards them when they are no longer useful."
"Princess, the day when you feel that you can perfectly understand me will be the day that I'll have to accept that the ravages of senility have left me a broken shell of the man I once was: on that day, I'll resign as headmaster and go to live out the rest of my life as a doddering old lunatic in a local nursing home." Prentigold smiles unpleasantly. "No doubt I will spend my time regaling visitors with tall tales of my adventurous youth. And I'll enjoy it!"
You don't like the way he says 'princess'. It sounds as if he is mocking you.
This is pretty raw and like, he's right, I don't fully understand this man, his motives, or his thoughts in a way that allows me to be sure of a plan, but also, I bet we could bait him into saying "Well excuuuuuuuse me, Princess!" which would be a personal victory.
Regardless, though I think coming at this with a pretense to disguise our true intentions may have backfired majorly on us, I am convinced we can pull out of this tailspin.
I'll cool it on the business words, too.
[x] I need two things from you, headmaster:
-[x] First, it needn't be now, but from the way you spoke earlier, at least some of the people, like perhaps the Imperial Legion, or Isolia's sponsor, would object to being supplanted as financial supporters, or for their students to have other financial support available to choose from. Please tell me about anyone you think would try to stop Mishrak from starting this program, if they knew about it.
-[x] Second, through Cadre 1F, I also met Green Flame. She's a good teacher, but I noticed that she's hampered in her teaching by commands placed on her. Could you re-evaluate which commands she's under are absolutely necessary, which are just unexamined artifacts of previous administrations, and adjust what she's required to do accordingly?
This... I feel like the second point needs expounding upon or proofing to make sure we don't land GF in hot water, but the first point is pretty valid, and Prentigold is in a good position to know that info where few else would.
[x] I need two things from you, headmaster:
-[x] First, it needn't be now, but from the way you spoke earlier, at least some of the people, like perhaps the Imperial Legion, or Isolia's sponsor, would object to being supplanted as financial supporters, or for their students to have other financial support available to choose from. Please tell me about anyone you think would try to stop Mishrak from starting this program, if they knew about it.
-[x] Second, through Cadre 1F, I also met Green Flame. She's a good teacher, but I noticed that she's hampered in her teaching by commands placed on her. Could you re-evaluate which commands she's under are absolutely necessary, which are just unexamined artifacts of previous administrations, and adjust what she's required to do accordingly?
Hmm. Well, one new thing became clear about Prentigold's thought process, to me: the reason he is so hard to get a read on is because he's doing it on purpose. Which makes sense; if no one can tell for sure whose side you're on, that both allows you to play all sides at once, and increases the likelihood that people will be honest with you (since if you can't figure out what would manipulate him, you wouldn't know whether a lie would be beneficial or counterproductive, so all else being equal might as well default to the truth since that won't run the risk of getting caught in a lie).
Anyway, for what to do, Flashkannon's suggestion is once again a good one, but needs a slight addendum:
[x] I need two things from you, headmaster:
-[x] First, it needn't be now, but from the way you spoke earlier, at least some of the people, like perhaps the Imperial Legion, or Isolia's sponsor, would object to being supplanted as financial supporters, or for their students to have other financial support available to choose from. Please tell me about anyone you think would try to stop Mishrak from starting this program, if they knew about it.
-[x] Second, through Cadre 1F, I also met Green Flame. She's a good teacher, but I noticed that she's hampered in her teaching by commands placed on her. Could you re-evaluate which commands she's under are absolutely necessary, which are just unexamined artifacts of previous administrations, and adjust what she's required to do accordingly?
--[x] For instance, the rule preventing her from traveling twenty-seven miles away from the Tyrepheum Academy without being incapacitated could be reworked; it's both an obvious glaring weakness that could be exploited, and it prevents her from assisting her pupils in certain circumstances.
---[x] If you are hesitant to remove the rule completely, maybe you could add in a time limit of some sort? Say, two full days outside the radius before she is incapacitated?
That one needed specifically pointed out, just in case he re-evaluated that one and didn't see a problem with it. And though I feel a bit bad about suggesting a compromise solution rather than getting rid of the rule entirely, I suspect he wouldn't be willing to give her that much freedom, and this is better than nothing.
I think bringing up Green Flame at all would be a big mistake.
We have no idea how Prentigold feels about her, but what we know is that he's smart enough to survive as headmaster here and has declined to loosen the restrictions on Green Flame.
Either he has already chosen not to, or is is limited by some other means from doing so.
Either way, asking him about Green Flame will tell us nothing, do nothing helpful for her, and may hurt either her position or ours.
While I still think a scholarship program is trying to solve the pothole problem of Isola with a mining excavator, it's taken on a life of it's own and the only way to avoid entirely tipping our hands is to actually commit to it.
[X] Your insight seems sound, thank you for it and I'll consider it.
-[X] Perhaps my perspective as a princess limited my understanding of hardship, especially as regarding cadre 1f, but that doesn't make alleviating hardship outside of my interests.
--[X] From you, I want a list of students that would be otherwise forced to drop out of classes due to injury. As you have pointed out, many interests make use of magical education. A program limited to students already partially educated but who would otherwise drop out would likely be of appropriate testing size and politically innocuous.
This... I feel like the second point needs expounding upon or proofing to make sure we don't land GF in hot water, but the first point is pretty valid, and Prentigold is in a good position to know that info where few else would.
Any thoughts on improving your plan? I personally think pursuing information on Green Flame is unsalvagable at this point, but you often have thoughts that I don't.
