Modified my plan based on some thread preferences.
[] Plan: Slow and Steady Research
-[] MAX: Use kitting out his workshop as a pretext to get to know House Miriel and the local Cult of Vaul
-[] EGRIMM: Attempt a Windherder enchantment with Egrimm (insert ulgu/hysh enchantment here)
-[] JOHANN: Train with and study the freshly-attached golden arm
-[] Furnish the research spaces of the Waystone Project HQ (specify how much: 2000gc for Laurelorn-grade)
-[] Attempt to bring an organisation into the Waystone Project (The Jade Order)
--[] The Gambler: Attempt to bring the Jade Order into the Waystone Project
-[] Investigate how the Vitae reacts with Divine Magic
-[] EIC: Insert agents into Talabecland administration to start gathering their secrets
-[] Seek official recognition of Kron-Azril-Ungol as an affiliated library of the Colleges of Magic
-[] Write a paper: Observations on the Chaos Wastes in the western Great Steppes
Justifications: this has two waystone actions; Max integrating himself with House Miriel, and recruiting the Jades. That should keep the people who want waystones as a priority happy. Personally, I think we only need to dedicate two waystone actions a turn, with at least one recruitment attempt. This plan also has the much desired AV and Windherder actions. I don't actually know of any Hysh/Ulgu enchantments, so if someone knows of one that's been discussed previously, let me know and I'll add it in.
I compromised slightly on the EIC and Library actions; I'd much rather do the Ranald bounty and spy on Alric directly, but I understand people want to take the safer options first. That said, the EIC actions feels like trying to have our cake and eat it too. If we want information on what he's doing, just spy directly on him. I trust the Hochlander to see it done properly and safely. Also, would spying on the administration actually get us anything? Alric's working with the nobility, after all, and I don't know if "administration" with catch that.
As for recruiting, I think we should build a small core of experts—the grey lords, the runesmiths, at least one order, and one house, and then begin the project. Every time we hit a roadblock in our research where we can't advance any further, then we go out and recruit the faction most likely able to assist us. Trying to recruit everybody is going to result in a "too many chefs" situation (or maybe a "too many investors"), whereas if we keep it small and bring in specialised knowledge when and where we need it, that just feels like a more natural approach.
We've already achieved the impossible by getting a runelord and grey lord to agree to work together. We don't need to shoot for the moon and sacrifice all of our personal actions to give everyone a slice of the pie. Remember that once we've recruited people, we're going to have to help them get along—what is our plan if a Jade gets into an argument with a Priest of Isha? What happens if an Ice Witch and a Hedgewise don't get on? The more people we have, the more relationships we have to manage, and the more likely there will be some sort of personal conflict.
Quick and dirty draft for the next few turns:
Turn 36: Max/Vaul and Jades
Turn 37: Lights, Tindomiel
Turn 38: any Ward, any House, groundwork
Frankly, that's more recruitment than I think we actually need to do. We'd have ~eight factions recruited after 4 turns/2 years. That's more than enough to get started with. I don't think we need to bring in the Damsels, Ice Witches, Hedgewise until we know we need their expertise.
Start slowly, like an avalanche.
