You interview the Hochlander in one of the College's less hostile meeting rooms. He's a young man with a short and wiry build, with a handsome face slightly marred by pockmarks. He listens intently to your explanation of the role you're seeking to fill, and thinks carefully before responding to you asking if he had any questions. "No," he eventually replies.
"Very well. Tell me how you'd go about it."
Again, he takes his time considering it. "The position of authority means that cooperation can be assumed," he says slowly, "so it is a matter of infrastructure. Of creating avenues for the information to flow to you without being intercepted. The job will necessarily be a highly mobile one at first, travelling wherever the EIC reaches to embed institutional knowledge of encryption amongst the clerks and managers. After that, it will be largely reactive."
You nod thoughtfully, having expected an answer like that. Show a tree to a lumberjack, and he'll assume the job is to fell it. But it may be that he is simply putting his best foot forward. "The job will also likely involve troubleshooting for the EIC on occasion. I'll run you through a few hypotheticals, let me know how you'd go about the shooting of those troubles."
Bandits in Talabecland was first, and it was a trap, but instead of saying that he would descend upon the forests with gun and axe he explains that the only major overland route where a traveller can't put their back against a river was along the Old Forest Road between Uckrofurt and Lieske, which meant the Farlic Hills, which meant the hill tribes. The EIC should seek a good relationship with the Roadwardens of Lieske, not just in this scenario but in general, in order to secure overland trade, and if the hill tribes are getting up to enough mischief to challenge the Roadwardens then it's serious enough to take all the way to the Grand Duke. You nod along, making mental notes.
You posit the same question in Averland, which is much further than his native Hochland. Heideck is his eventual answer, and for a moment you think he means the Priest of Ranald before you remember the town located in the heart of Averland. It is also, you are told, a hotbed of competing elements as the local nobles seek a Charter to elevate it to an semi-autonomous city-state, rather than being subject to the whims of the infamously unreliable Leitdorfs, and those appointed by the Leitdorfs to oversee it seek to thwart these ambitions. An accord sought here would be swift and firm, as either side would seek to lock down a potential partner before the others could get wind of the opportunity.
After a few more questions, the general impression you get of the Hochlander is that he is simple in the sense that is far from stupid. He thinks carefully, knows his limits, and seeks to lean on the existing power structures of the Empire wherever possible, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel whenever a novel problem is encountered. You thank him for his time, and let him know you'll have an answer for him before long.
