Personally, given how the (by some some claimed) excessive 600 there is a result of the die and modifier both and that said modifier existed to ensure that the floor was 300 instead of the skinflint choices, I like to think that the result is Ranald's way of telling @Redshirt Army that he could have had a more reasonable result, if he hadn't been a coward.
The assumption is that we would have to spend a Max action for him to scour the libraries every time a new library comes in that we have access to, which adds up to a lot of AP spent over a period of time.
My headcanon is that Loec saw a chance to goad someone into setting the place up like a proper ritzy dance hall, and sent a quick message to Ranald (who is a totally distinct God and definitely not also Loec (who is also definitely not Ranald)) to finagle Mathilde into doing it.
My theory is that Ranald and Loec are not the same entity, but that they are similar. I think they probably come from the same origin, and Ranald "budded" off of Loec to become his own entity by leeching off human society. Ranald, in all his aspects, is a human god, and he represents aspects of humanity. Loec and Ranald's domains are similar and they probably draw from some of the same power sources, but just as Loec is more a God of Dance, Theatre and Trickery, Ranald is a God of Luck, Thievery, Deception and Protection.
I'm not very fond of having the Forestborn wait when they're some of the people who wanted our support the most. Stormwitch Kaia was one of the oldest supporters of interaction of the outside world (which inludes Druchii and Norsca but I digress). And the Forestborn council of the Ward of Storm voted for us, and were our point of contact in the form of Vicerine Cadaeth. Spending 6 months integrating with the upper class while ignoring the lower classes does not sit right with me.
If that was the case, then we wouldn't have to spend an action with Max to scour the libraries he has access to. If they automatically gave us the books we need after we get them on board, then the action is useless. The fact that the action exists means that there is no convenient operation that makes it so the books are ready for us, especially since the Grey College IS on board. We're a Lord Magister, if that isn't on board, then I don't know what is.
That seems overly optimistic and built on an assumption that I'm not certain will play out. I'd like to ask Boney about this specifically rather than assuming things will turn out perfectly and we'll never have to spend any more AP on library scouring after this turn. @BoneyM can you confirm whether or not we will have to spend further Max actions in the future to scour the libraries of other orders if we get them on board?
I mean, Mathilde is a devout person, of sorts, so it's not exactly out of character to as k the gods for advice and then go with it.
Thank you very much for the clarification. That eases most of my worries.
