Cold Iron, Empty Throne

[Zaealix]

[X] Plan to stay in town. Let Alberich do the dangerous part he already said he planned to, while you stay safer and be more visible to the locals.

[X] Go over, informally, and just happen to have a conversation. Whatever is going on, there's no need to start with it escalated.

 

[thamuzz]

My natural inclination is to make a write in for assassinating Alberich at the first opportunity. His magic is pretty obviously tied to what we saw/heard in the bad future vision.
Of course, that raises the question of whether taking him out now would be what triggers the war.

 

[VagueZ]

As for Dawn? Well. That Elementalist thing...I'm HIGHLY concerned about that. I mean it could just be a 'fading power dealie'...Except...As I understood it? Elementalism seems to be more an...ENLIGHTENMENT! kind of trick. So to have it and then lose it? ESPECIALLY SUDDENLY!?! That reads to me massively like somebody handed out seeds of power, and then when the people had gotten some serious gains from said power, ripped it out of them. So somebody is running around with some serious biggatons of magical power now. Also was that office mentioned before or was it more a 'path not taken coming to fruit' thing?

Click to shrink...

The elemental office was mentioned here: "There's a very seedy establishment near the docks that is growing infamous for promising to give customers elemental magic. Doubtless someone is going to crack down on it soon, as it is apparently killing about one customer in twenty... that they admit to. However, half of the survivors are genuinely gaining some control over a pair of elements as they exit. A few of the less savory ship crews have delegations outside it, ready to try to conscript any success stories before they recover from whatever abuse they're undergoing."

It wasn't something you were given a choice to go to; Azer and company were able to do better.

Hm.

-snip-

Click to shrink...

Just wanted to thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts; that really does help me see how well I'm communicating what I mean, so it's greatly appreciated!

My natural inclination is to make a write in for assassinating Alberich at the first opportunity. His magic is pretty obviously tied to what we saw/heard in the bad future vision.
Of course, that raises the question of whether taking him out now would be what triggers the war.

Click to shrink...

Good catch!

It's certainly something you could take action on in-character, so if after checking the vision you think you wanna try for something...

 

[wingstrike96]

[X] Plan to work together. Force Alberich to treat you as an equal and cooperate to get to the spring and keep the town safe.
[X] Go over, informally, and just happen to have a conversation. Whatever is going on, there's no need to start with it escalated.

 

[thamuzz]

So, after re-reading, subjugation magic looks to be an invention of Zahira, and Alberich wasn't giving off the screaming that is characteristic of that magic. That said, the magic he's using could be an inspiration that leads her to figuring out how to enslave spirits.
Governor Duilio is mentioned alongside Granny as a major threat in that timeline.

I still want to kill the smug bastard, buuuuut...

[X] Plan to work together. Force Alberich to treat you as an equal and cooperate to get to the spring and keep the town safe.
-[X] Place personal priority on pursuing pertinent details on Alberich's powers.
[X] Go over, informally, and just happen to have a conversation. Whatever is going on, there's no need to start with it escalated.

 

[Nevill]

Huh, this is getting interesting.

If it were just a matter of contest between the two powers, I'd let Alberich deal with the problem while taking over his ship in the meantime, Treasure Island style. It's a long way back to Governor Dulio's domain. Unfortunately, we also need to make an impression on the locals, and show them that we are willing and capable of taking care of their problems. Caught between the two Empire successors, and sufficiently out of the way of both their immediate influence spheres, they have the luxury of choosing their loyalties. So we can't sit this one out.

I am not sold on working together, though, even with the added appeal of investigating the competition.

[x] Plan to jump the gun. Sail around the island and land closer to the spring, then fight your way in and claim it yourself.

I find myself far more interested in Azer's segment than in Dawn's, even though both of them seem to deal with First Contact scenarios. Whether it's because Alberich raised the stakes from the get go, or because we don't know much what the latter is about, I am not sure. Then again, I voted for an overseas adventure over capital politics in the first place.

[x] Send Innes over, with an invitation to come to your office tomorrow afternoon. You can stay in control by having everything on your home turf and on your timetable.