Do we have any understanding of who supports us at the conclave and who are opposed to helping out?
Enma gave you a brief overview of his understanding of how people would feel of Hazou personally:
- Hostile:
- Condors -- Obvious reasons.
- Rat -- Fairly dedicated pacifists and friends of the Condors.
- Pangolins -- Cutting off skytower trade just before they crushed Hyena.
- Leopard -- Stopping the crushing of Hyena, preventing the Leopards from getting rich on colonial spoils.
- Neutral:
- Mara -- Allied with Pangolins, will probably oppose you if the Pangolins ask but they're generally not eager to make enemies.
- Otter -- Didn't engage much except to make sure there were no alliances formed against them.
- Capybara -- Didn't engage much except to make sure there were no alliances formed against them.
- Toad -- Staunchly neutral, Enma thinks they're still making up their mind about whether you or Noburi is the "real" inheritor of Jiraiya's legacy.
- Snake -- (ambassador left the Conclave after the conclusion of the Human Path war)
- Allied:
- Turtle -- Benefited a lot from the trade network.
- Porcupine -- Benefited a lot from the trade network.
- Monkey -- Enma is in your corner.
Would you mind sharing any info Hazou has on the Conclave? Like, who are any big players there that Kei or Noburi has caught wind of, what is Hazou actually supposed to be doing there, etc? Any info on the setpiece we are walking into would be helpful for formulating plans.
The above.
Kei and Noburi can identify the summons that they see frequently in the course of their trade network business shuttling pallets of stuff back and forth. Many of these summons are traders and merchant-types that simply tell Kei/Noburi what they need to retrieve from who, and what they're offering in exchange.
Enma's proposal was that Hazou go befriend and convince the trade representatives of the various clans of the importance of the Dragons -- while these merchants may not have executive power, they definitely have more influence with their clans at large than Hazou does personally. When the real ambassadors come, they'll be more inclined to believe Enma's pitch if all their people at the Conclave are telling them that the Dragon problem is real and demands action. Enma will be busy with traveling, so he wants Hazou to do the groundwork to build up the sentiment that'll make their pitch really hit.
Is there anything more detailed that you would like, that you expect Kei and Noburi would know?
When does Mari (and Asuma, if we can ask him) think it would be best for Hazou and Co. to arrive at the Conclave?
He has a several options:
- Proceed immediately
- Wait a couple weeks
- Wait for Enma to arrive in Toad
- Wait until after Enma arrives in Toad
Do they think Hazou would be better off arriving with Noburi and Kei or by himself?
Should he ask the other Leaf Summoners (except Oro and Tsunade) to come with as well to present a united front?
Mari has been impressed with Hazou's recent progress in one-on-one socials -- she thinks he has a realistic shot at doing the groundwork that Enma asks for. Still, she doesn't think that he should go in right away. If he sells everyone on the existential risk of the Dragons, then they have to wait weeks before they can petition their bosses about it, there's a risk of losing the emotional rawness of the panic or having people freak out or turn into a "death cult" (her words). To Mari, ideally Hazou starts making his big pitch to people around two weeks before their bosses arrive. She wants to give them enough time to freak out and internalize the panic after Hazou addresses all their obvious objections, yet not long enough that they've lost the intensity of the feeling, nor long enough that they might start coming up with solutions that they try to pitch by their bosses. Mari wants Hazou to be the sole vendor of solutions to the Dragon crisis in the eyes of the summon clans. Probably, that means a week or so of general carousing before making the serious Dragon pitch.
Mari thinks Hazou would be better off arriving with Noburi and Kei -- though she notes that allying himself with the Pangolins could have costs (if the Pangolins even accept him!) and that the Toads might not appreciate Noburi declaring the Toads for Hazou like that. She thinks it may be wise to ally with the other Leaf summoners for a united front -- if the other Leaf summoners could be brought together like that! In general, the more Hazou looks like he has allies and connections, the better. It makes him look less like a froth-mouthed madman predicting apocalypses that never manifest.
Asuma has little to add to the specifics of how to run a social operation -- he defers to Mari as the expert. However, he adds the following:
- Hazou should absolutely be asking other Leaf summoners about who in their trade delegations are the most influential, and picking his targets appropriately (Don't always hit the leaders! Bring down an organization at all levels, says Mari)
- The Rats could be a lynchpin -- they're broadly agreed to be reasonable and respected. If Hazou can sway them, many will pay a lot of attention to that.
- The Mara have a lot of soft-power, but their summoner is an enemy. Clear any plans to interact with them through Asuma first (not that F has been spotted at the Conclave).
- The Porcupines are fairly small-minded and focused on the little things in life. It'll be hard to sell them on a big picture threat.
- The Otters and Capybara are largely here for fear of being cut out of potential (esp. military) alliances. Hazou could try to play on that fear, but he'll need to be delicate to avoid alienating them.
- Save the Turtles for last. Having the Turtles evangelizing for Hazou will probably hurt his cause.
