Well, this was an interesting updated alright.
I find it extremely amusing that a lot of the Polar Gates's territory and culture are a consequence of the tail end of the Empire's various disasters. The Twilight King and the Cataclysm on the east, and the Death Jungle on the west. And of course, all the Cloud Nomads fleeing south an incorporating into the Polar Gates.
Speaking of which, we would need more details but the core philosophy of the Seared Land's integration policy doesn't seem so different from the Wang's: take the reasonable ones, the ones that stop practicing their ways, and kill the troublemakers and bandits.
The people across the eastern sea must be the ones from that interlude with a human and a seafolk. They were trying to reclaim the Grave and commented how the ash-zombies were becoming smarter the further in they went.
Those people are also in contact with the Jing's descendents. How fun will it be when the Empire at large and the Jin in particular find out about that.
I'm a bit confused about the timeline of the Polar Gates's lore. We know from the mural at the IronMountain Man that the Sun Priests and people of Jaromila's race came through the Polar Gates from the North Pole fleeing some kinda disaster (Jing related? They did reach the North Pole). Then they joined together with the Ice Ladies and fought off the starbeasts and/or void demons.
I'm not sure if that would be before or after the Giants and the World Tree age. I think it's after though. First they got separated when the World Tree withered and "the world's shape changed", each group ending in one pole. Then they got reunited in the South Pole. The lose of the World Tree probably also meant less protection from the sky's malevolence (that is the purpose of the World Trees), so it makes more sense that the starbeast and void demons appeared after it was gone.
So, what we have obtained during this meeting? Well, mechanically we have
Chance of Success on actions related to cultural understanding increased by 10%
This kinda makes me wish material had won. As others had said, Ling Qi is better at Cultural than Material, so the bonus would be more valuable there. Though that depends if one values more a 90% Cultural plus a 60% Material than a 80% plus a 70%. *Disclaimer: made up numbers
On the other had, learning our rep with the different factions is pretty neat. That's the part I actually liked about the culture option. So, what did we learn about them and what can we do to improve our standing? What material needs can we infere?
The Seared Lands are neutral toward us. They are the lands with the greatest number of integrated Cloud Nomads. They aren't a frozen tundra but neither are they wealthy in wooden materials. A bit like the western Golden Fields but more bog than desert.
The lady was really interested in both building (her "hobby") and spatial talismans. That's very good news.
If she manages to build a good rapport with Wang Lian, the Seared Land's rep could rise up pretty quickly. Wang Lian could also learn more about their Nomad assimilation methods. Two birds with one stone.
The Emissary is probably interested in these topics because they likely dedicate a lot of effort to reclaim their own blasted lands. Basic spatial talismans are pretty common even among low nobility. And, even though rarer and more expensive, there are specialized spatial talismans for bulk material transport as well as for storing delicate reagents or other complex talismans.
If they think they can obtain them through us (hello, Bao Qian!) they will be far more supportive of the summit.
The Pines are more problematic. They probably enjoy a privilaged position as the sole provider of wood in high quantites, and we are a new actor that could end their monopoly. The fact that they get their wood from the southern Red Jungle is actually good for us.
We don't need to ally with them against Sun Shao or anything like that. The Bai and the Meng have been working in pushing back the Jungle since before Sun and haven't stopped because of him. The Throne has no problem with that.
So, if we can get Uncle War Crimes (Suzhen's husband) to share some of their studies against the Jungle with the Pines, the increased wood yield and safety of the Pine's people may offset their wariness of us as competitors. If they learned our allies are also figthing the "Flower Demon", that could create sympathy and a sense of kinship.
It wouldn't so hard to convince the Bai either. They would get to push the Jungle from another front, and they also get to contribute to their allies project which they are already involved in through Meizhen.
And we finally got the break down on the other Count Clans's rep. It was about time.
The situation with the Jia it's actually better than what I had feared. The Imperial Conservatives are the only one we have a problem with, or rather they have a problem with us. The Moderates, while they likely won't be enthusiastic about our proposals, can be convinced of supporting them as long as they are objectively benefitial and don't hurt the Empire's sensibilities.
The Cai Loyalist are a double edged sword. They can be our greatest supporter or our biggest detractors depending if they judge that our actions strengthen or weaken the Ducal Throne.
The Bao has a pleastly surprising high percentage of Moderates. It's likely very different for the region's minor nobles, but this is still good for us.
I do wonder about the ???. It may be the faction more involved with the subterrain Ia in Bao's land. Or it may be the faction that agreed with the plan of breaking off from the ES and joining the Celestial Peaks.
Finally, it seems the squad has decided in their main objective for the summit: to establish the foundations of a joint foreign quarters. The personnel appointed there will work in cooperation to survey and map the Wall and, to a lesser degree, pacify the region of Cloud Nomads. Or at least reach a pact of assimilation or non-agresion with the different Khans.
The Wang will get their maps and frontiers. The Meng will suffer less raids. The Jia can get glory by being commanding officers. The road connecting the place to both sides will serve as a trade route for the Bao. The personnel and infrastructure themselves will be the "hostages" for the Luo. The Diao "don't care" (yeah, sure).
We still need to know if the Polar Gates would be interested in such a thing, and if not, convince them otherwise.
Likewise, we need the MoI to approve of it. Which will imply a tight surveyance of the whole operation. The hard part is to allow that without stiffling progress on the project or straining our relationship witht the WS.
The plan is solid, but we certainly have quite busy months ahead of us.
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