X] Under the assumption that he is warded against divination:
-[X] The primary reason to call on the dragon is that we plan to create and cast a ritual, that will both greatly anger the Sultan of Brass, and likely make him send considerable forces to disrupt it.
-[X] His expertise and aid in creating the necessary defenses for such an endeavor would be invaluable.
-[X] Besides the satisfaction in the task itself, the use of any resources we can offer to it and the aid of our greatest mages and runecrafters, we would offer a substantial direct reward
-[X] Long-term exchange of knowledge on magical defenses would be of interest too, mostly to defend our cities in a way that works without causing extreme expanses compared to the low level of use any large, static defense has against magical foe
--[X] For the first part of our proposed bargain, we wish for insights into how to build passive and conventional & unconventional defenses that would stop infiltrators of Illithid, Devils and Demons. This would be used to protect Sorcerer's Deep first, and later spread across the Imperium.
---[X] As the first part of the payment, offer the books Memories of Ghael the Bold and Rooted in Stone as examples of the history of warfare in Prime Material as well as generall war-related lore from Plane of Balance (currently on +9 in our Library), along with what monetary compensation is necessary.
--[X] For long-term goals, we wish to negotiate for insights into fortification methods of Illithid and Efreeti, so that we would find it easier to go around, or storm such, and for the long perspective - preparing SD for Efreeti Invasion Force, and the rest of the world for Long Night.
----[X] For potential payments we could offer him aid in studying ancient fortifications like the Wall (perhaps with our own lore for how such structures were built), along with monetary compensation and perhaps other things, but the details of the agreement and subsequent payment can be finalized at a later date.
General thoughts and comments:
- Highlight that we are the one who hosted and convinced the Djinn and shaitan to make their pact, and we technically stand shoulder to shoulder under it.
- Said ritual won't "make him angry", it will make him
apoplectic. We are expecting a literally apocalyptic response, and need somewhere to bear his focused ire while it gets done. We fortunately have secured troops of a type he should be familiar in accounting for, for the ritual fortress.
-- IIRC, part of the agreement was that the shaitan and djinn wouldn't just help us build and man it, including footing (some? All?) the bill, but an essential part of the deal was that they would
teach us everything they did. The plan is to make him commit so much that he is left catastrophically open for the other genie powers.
- We do need defenses against infiltration, yes, but we'd want to remodel our existing and future fortifications to take into account the reality of high level magic. A set of blueprints for all sizes and levels of sophistication/effort for towers, armored outposts, forts, fortresses and castles that can vary from "the Legion camp the army builds this night while on the march" to "the holdfast of a Duke" would be magnificent.
- We also really want the dopest castle there ever was.
So, the monumental siege for the living brass ritual, by itself, should be an enticement to him. IIRC, the shaitan/djinn agreed to foot the bill for a lot of it, or at least match our investment. So we can take advantage of that.
We won't be doing it in SD, because we'd have to evacuate the city, Yss might feel ticked off we forced his hand in defending it, and it ultra heartree is as big a target as you get. There's a very real chance of the island sinking, if we do a ritual as abrangent as we want.
Showing him the archtectural wonders of the PoB should go a long ways.
And it is simply unfeasible for him to work to the fullest without at least knowing what runes can do.
