[] Runa Kalenbal. The youngest daughter of the newly-raised Count of Kalenbal would tie you to a man who is absolutely rich with ransoms and booty at the moment, and who has an excellent reputation for glory and power. A potent ally, but possibly a distant one and certainly one you don't know anything about personally. Runa is apparently an architect, which is intriguing.
[] Nathalie Franzen. One of the Count of Franzen's granddaughters- A different one than the pious girl you didn't really get along with. You've already met the Count and know his (claimed) aims lie in improving the power of the nobility in general. He has a good reputation and a location deep in the center of Veschwar. You think the family would expect you to help with their political schemes, but that's a small price for a reliable ally. Nathalie plays the harp, apparently.
[] Piper Gerri. While Franz Gerri, the heir presumptive to the name, somehow infuriates you with his very presence, they are your immediate neighbors to the south and a marriage would secure an alliance. There are all sorts of ways close-by allied houses can help each other where distant ones cannot. Your wife could handle all the diplomacy with the family, hopefully. She is said to be quite attractive.
[] Anastriana Whitehall, second child of a Baroness. Byers' Notes: She simply adores the old Duke of Destruction's books, so she's actually already heard of you - lucky for you! Something to talk about! She likes fighting rather more than you do, but I don't think that's a problem. Perhaps the opposite really - A bit like your mother. But in a good way, not an awkward one.
[] Lucille Fairsol, the second-youngest child of a Viscount. Byers' Notes: This one would be good for you, I think. She's such a sweetheart, all her friends and servants adore her. I think she'd do a wonderful job of keeping you and yours working at their best. She follows Shallya as well, and with your recent inspiration to their cause that's a great foundation for better things!
[] Estrella Burke, a distant relation to Lord Governor Burke. Byers' Notes: I hope you can ignore the inconvenient relation. Rest assured, she is second cousin to the Lord Governor and not particularly aligned to him. But Mary has a certain drive to her that reminds me of you and is always talking about economics things I don't understand but you'd probably love.
[] Nivri Stronrinaid, a Knight in her own right, second of her line, childless and unmarried. Byers' Notes: She has a mind as sharp as yours for mathematics and the like, I'd wager - too bad she keeps running into the most terrible prejudice, being foreign. Yes, yes, she's a bit older and not the most friendly sort, but I think she'd be fascinated by your weird windmill, so that's a starting point.
Wow that's a list of some good prospects.
Runa is interesting to me mainly because she's an architect actually.
Nathalle I think is worth looking into more because the Count of Franzen might be a very good ally to have. What we are planning could very easily upset the balance favoring nobles, but if presented by a noble who is in the faction supporting noble rule - well, suddenly other nobles will pay more attention to the benefits it can grant the nobility if they get on the modernization train early. Might be a good pick if we want to avoid a French Revolution, and instead get something more like the British experience.
Piper... would be a good political match, but I'm not feeling that is as important as personal attributes, so I think I'll skip her.
Anastriana would be a good pick to balance out our weakness, and I like the existing connection.
Lucille also seems like a very good pick to balance some of our weaknesses, and after what Shallya did for us this turn I'm much more keen on aligning ourself with her, so that's a bonus as well. I'm very surprised that no one is voting for her, as I think she's easily in the top two based on the information we have.
Estrella seems like she might be the most like us, which is interesting. She's help us exploit our strengths even more, so I'd put her as the other one in the top two.
Nivri seems like she might be interesting as she would provide martial, but also has synergies with us due to her mathematics... she might be perfect for our artillery corp plans... I think makes her a strictly better choice than Anastriana.
So that leaves me to choose between Runa, Nathalle, Lucille, Estralla, and Nivri. Lucille and Estralla I feel are no-brainers. I'd like to have at least one martial option, so that's Nivri. Between Runa and Nathalle... Runa appeals more to me as a character, but I think Nathalle is a more important option to explore... so I'm gonna go with Nathalle.
[X] Lucille Fairsol
[X] Estrella Burke
[V] Nivri Stronrinaid
[X] Nathalie Franzen
[ ][Codex] Plan name
-[ ] Item 1
-[ ] Item 2
Clay Bricks and Cement [0/10]
The Codex has recently shown you an interesting way to make sturdy, partially-hollow blocks out of clay and lay them together with a binding substance called 'cement' - which would be useful in its own right. The resulting bricks look like they can be used basically like stone, but would be much cheaper and less unwieldy than actual quarried stone, and you can even mass-produce them with molds and specialized kilns.
Soil Science (Theory) [0/??]
Niter as fertilizer is only the first step for many more improvements you could to the farmland in your domain. Begin learning the complex reality of the soil - it's clear that the Codex knows enough about soil to keep you busy for years. Fertility and chemistry and watering and erosion and stranger ideas still. Actually knowing and understanding the nature of dirt is not immediately practical, but probably long-term useful.
Seed Drill and Reaping Machine [0/15]
Two complicated-looking machines that promise to make the hard work of farming somewhat easier. The seed drill digs holes and plants seeds at a specified distance from each other just by being pushed along, and the reaping machine quickly cuts down stalks of grain as the machine is pushed along. Both of them work by linking the motion of the wheel to the motion of tools. You'll need a good blacksmith on board to make these.
Beekeeping [0/6]
The old ideas for specialized hives to attract bees has returned, as well as methods to extract the honey without hurting the bees too much or letting them sting. They would be relatively simple to perfect and construct, which could make beekeeping a nice side project, and honey would be a luxury good you could sell for a high price on par with your little Vodka distillery.
Bessemer Process [0/??25+??] [Rare]
You'll call it something else, of course. This 'Bessemer' is apparently the one who invented a way to mass-produce steel. Steel - Iron treated just so that it becomes harder and more durable than almost any other metal in the world. A way to produce large amounts of steel is the key to all manner of things. Your first attempt will be crude, but this research is clearly of very high importance - not to mention likely to be extremely profitable.
We have to take the Bessemer Process, no doubt. This is the kind of thing that makes a huge difference in war and industry, and that will make Timothy Green a legend. The only question is what about the other one, and all four are interesting and tempting options. Seed Drills and Reaping Machines are going to make the biggest difference in the economy right now, since agriculture is where it is at. On the other hand Soil Science Theory is also useful, and it builds on niter, which could be useful in making it a real industry. Clay Bricks are tempting because we happen to have a clay field on our land, it plays strongly into our existing resources, and it also diversifies us - which has bad points, but also has good ones too. Bee Keeping is really tempting because not only is it a high value product, but it also synergizes with our vodka business, since mead is made from honey.
Okay... so breaking it down a bit more... Bessemer Process is an addition to the blacksmithing Guild, Seed Drills are an addition to the Carpentry and Blacksmithing Guilds, Soil Science is really something that will need to be released to the public to be useful, it means that farmers will begin producing large quantities of Niter, possibly freeing us from that part of the gunpowder making process (which will need to be confined to a new guild). Beekeeping will need to be distributed rather broadly, I doubt it can be made into an official guild, but maybe a lower intensity organization, a Beekeeping Society? Clay bricks and Cement will probably need a guild (unless there is an existing one?)
Looking at it that way... I think I'm leaning towards the Seed Drills and Reaping Machines. It will play into what we already want to do making our fief a center of blacksmithing and carpentry.
[X] [Codex] Farming and Steel
-[X] Bessemer Process
-[X] Seed Drill and Reaping Machine
