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Well, that and I think a longpost Boney(?) made about the various ways Marienburg was fucking over the Empire and hence why the Empire's naval doctrine was 'Fuck Marienburg', at which point it was memed into the thread conciousness permanently. Good times.
Can you link that post, if possible? I want to bask in the glory of disrupting Marienburg's plans in full :V
 
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[X] [BLOOD] Empire (Canal linking the Urskoy and Lynsk)
[X] [ULTHUAN] Cooperation
[X] [BLOOD] Personal (Partnership between Kislev's libraries and KAU)
 
Well, there was that one rune introduced in War of Vengeance/the Beard ruleset... But it would be a master rune
Found it
RUNE OF SPELL-HATING
50 Points
Runelords - One use only
The art of creating this difficult rune has been lost in time, although at the time of the War of Vengeance, the most powerful Runesmiths were familiar with its intricacies. It is capable of shutting down even the most powerful of sorceries.
This rune may only be played once per battle, and will stop enemy magic instantly. The rune may be played to automatically dispel one enemy spell -there is no need to roll. This rune is even able to dispel a spell cast with Irresistible Force.

A Dispel-scroll or Rune of Spell breaking costs 25, and does exactly the same thing, without the irresistable force part.

25 points for resisting irresistable force spells... probably not worth it.
 
I think most likely the KAU action will be sourcing language teachers for our scribes. Boney said that the University of Nuln is very... patriotic, so it doesn't have stuff from other nations or languages, but we can't necessarily expect the same of the other libraries of Nuln. For instance, the Aquila Academy is a very Tilean organization. It wouldn't be weird at all if they had Classical texts in there.
Our scribes already know Tilean - many of them are former Tilean mercenaries. That's part of why I think the Aquila Academy is a good candidate for our next library.
[ ] [SCRIBE] Locals
Will demonstrate the value of literacy to the local population, and will be reasonably loyal and self-sufficient. Reikspiel, Tilean.
You're right that they might not be able to copy any Classical books, but then again Mathilde wouldn't currently be able to read any books in Classical anyway. I want those books on warfare in Reikspiel and Tilean because our library's warfare section is currently garbage and also because the Undumgi might be interested in those books. IIRC teaching the scribes additional languages later will still get us books from libraries we already copied (if any exist), because IC entire libraries aren't actually copied in half a year.
 
Also, can I just say that I love how for anyone who follows Mathilde's exploits, they'll see a mastermind who's making 4D Chess moves years in advance. There's so much foreshadowing in this quote for example. The Expedition was the first real foray Mathilde made into Kislev's politics and here we are 4 years later, setting up the start of an united Order faction with Kislev/Empire/Karaz Ankor and dismantling Marienburg's dominance in one fell swoop. The planted seeds has grown quite fruitful :D

Chancellor Otto: She's a certified diplomatic genius!
Algard: ... Maybe we should add a Mathilde's School of Diplomacy to the Grey Order's teaching courses ...

Mathilde: I wouldn't describe myself as a staunch Imperial or anything, I don't have that much attachment to the Empire so much as I just think it's a better alternative to the whole thing collapsing.

Also Mathilde: Fuck Marienburg, filthy merchants profiting off of blood shed by sons of the Empire, all my homies hate Marienburg.
Chancellor Otto: Lady Weber while I applaud your skill and achievement in diplomacy to pull off these plans I have to ask, what has Marienburg done to you that you are willing to do so much to harm them?
Mathhilde: They fucking existed!
* Orbs
* A Waystone prototype that now maybe uses the Ulthuan passcodes for making a leyline instead of the riverine options
* Arguments over whether or not to spend a personal AP to finish the AV book in one turn
Wait a moment! @Boney will Eltharion the Grim still be around Next turn for the Orb Flex? Because if so, we could have him stand their while we do our Two Gifts Day routine and give him a copy of our book and that is hilarious!

Can you imagine the nonreaction from elf batman to finding out we can make Orbs of Sorcery now? Because I can!
 
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[X] [BLOOD] Empire (Canal linking the Urskoy and Lynsk)
[X] [BLOOD] Personal (Partnership between Kislev's libraries and KAU)
[X] [BLOOD] Personal (book agreements with all possible kislev libraries)
[X] [ULTHUAN] Cooperation
 
My 1st choice for the blood boom will always be libraries but I can see what is going to win.

[x] [ULTHUAN] Cooperation
[x] [BLOOD] Empire (Canal linking the Urskoy and Lynsk)
[x] [BLOOD] Personal (book agreements with all possible kislev libraries)
 
You incurred a debt to this woman on the steppes of Kislev, after all. The only question is whether it's just happenstance, the metaphysical equivalent of tracking mud in on your shoes, or whether it's the sign of some sort of actual external attention.
So... anyone thinks the widow's been watching our night time visit to the Tzar? :p
 
Yeah, the counter-intellegence idea seems good. I do want this to go along with considering mudane military threats, because Eike does have an interest in naval warfare it'll be a shame not to do something with that. Maybe something like: "Analyze the threats and opportunities, both overt and covert, that the EIC will face if it will expand its operations into the Kislev river system via the new proposed canal. Suggest how the EIC's navy and intelligence network should prepare for those new circumstances. "

Also to consider - remember that charcoal-moving exercise we gave Eike some months back? Making sure the right materials end up in the right place, not necessarily the same ones? If we assign her to overseeing and protecting logistics for the canal, we are going to look goddamn prescient. Like we've been planning this, and her part in it, for most of the year.

It was mostly offhanded, but the more I think about this the more I like the idea. As far as initial 'Journeyman Grey Wizard' assignments, it's really hard to do better for Eike specifically than this- it's Intrigue in a subject area that Eike is familiar (much like Mathilde was familiar with Stirland), with Eike having the EIC as support to draw on for contacts and information enough so that you can afford to more or less take a step back, with a suitably formidable opponent (Marienburg) like you had (Sylvania).

Honestly, the best part of this is going to be presenting it to Eike.

Lady Magister Mathilde Weber (whose first act transitioning from Apprentice to Journeyman involved subjugating an entire province full of bloodsuckers who deserve neither pity nor mercy): Marienburg intends to stop us from opening the Sea of Claws, apprentice. Your job is to not let them.

Apprentice Eike Hochshild (16 year old trade heiress, blood pressure already spiked to 150 at the first four syllables out of her Master's mouth, about to become a Journeyman exactly the same way):
 
So, based on this:
Blood Price - For the crown he now wears, Tzar Boris promised to pay the price demanded by yourself, your Order, or your Emperor. If necessary, Mathilde would have retroactively laid any groundwork required off-screen.

[ ] [BLOOD] Personal (specify what)
[ ] [BLOOD] Order (specify what)
[ ] [BLOOD] Empire (specify what)

The canal's interesting. As if it was a personal favor, then that might mean just building the canal and being done with it (or maybe giving the EIC favorable trading rights on top). As an imperial favor, then that might mean that includes favorable concessions to the Empire in regards to its use, and the relevant imperial institution(s) (at least politically and diplomatically) supporting the project.

I think it also changes the context of the assassination itself. By extending benefits to other parties, Mathilde makes them (more) complicit for good and ill. It may make it easier to justify the assassination if it ever comes into question, and may increase the amount of cover the relevant institutions will be willing to provide her in the future.
 
Technically, I think they'd be a very Estalian organization.

(Because they're secretly run by the Knights of Magritta, an Estalian-originated 'secret society without a cause')
Oh, right. I hope that doesn't cause anyone any proble-

Gets mobbed by the Estalians who believe they are the true inheritors of the Reman Empire and who feel offended at being compared to Tileans

Also to consider - remember that charcoal-moving exercise we gave Eike some months back? Making sure the right materials end up in the right place, not necessarily the same ones? If we assign her to overseeing and protecting logistics for the canal, we are going to look goddamn prescient. Like we've been planning this, and her part in it, for most of the year.

It was mostly offhanded, but the more I think about this the more I like the idea. As far as initial 'Journeyman Grey Wizard' assignments, it's really hard to do better for Eike specifically than this- it's Intrigue in a subject area that Eike is familiar (much like Mathilde was familiar with Stirland), with Eike having the EIC as support to draw on for contacts and information enough so that you can afford to more or less take a step back, with a suitably formidable opponent (Marienburg) like you had (Sylvania).
...Would be helpful if Eike actually knew Kislevarin. That's doable, though - we could take a class about it together with her, for efficiency. We're gonna want to learn it eventually anyway.
 
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Each level puts who he is, who we are to him, and what it means that we're asking the favor in different contexts. I think it looks something like this?

Personal: He is one man, and we are the person who killed his father so that he wouldn't have to. It's deeply personal, which means that deeply personal requests would go here on the understanding that we're asking for stuff that satisfies our own idiosyncrasies. "Give us a cool wizard tower with one of those pretty Kislevite onion tops" would go here.

[Personal: Canal] would weird him out a little because it would mean that we just really like canals.

Order: He was the Tsaravich, and we are one of the heads of a mysterious and incredibly dangerous organization of supernaturally empowered artillery platforms slash assassins. It focuses on what we do, and would have the most connection with our job and expertise. "Give us the Fire Spire" would go here, because it's a wizard asking for your wizard stuff.

[Order: Canal] would imply a mystical reason for wanting to connect all his rivers together in a way that also connects them with all of the Empire's rivers. Riverine Leylines would look giga-brained with that interpretation (and still might, you know).

Empire: He is now the Tzar, and we are one of the most powerful leaders of the Empire -- other stars might rise above ours, but we're serving the interests of our people rather than trying to worm our way higher. It's the most long term and economical in its viewpoint; we're asking for this because the Empire stands to benefit. "Give up Kislev's contested territorial ambitions" would go here.

[Empire: Canal] is what we're going with now, and the economic and military benefits have been chewed over for a while. We benefit monetarily with the EIC, but that's just because we've got a company big enough that the way to get more money out of it is to ensure that there's a bigger pie to cut slices from.
 
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