...I just had a thought.
They've been the only library for a dozen lifetimes. They're still getting their mind around the idea of there being other libraries that are actually accessible to them, rather than being mere legends in a long-forgotten past. That libraries could view other libraries as rivals or threats doesn't occur to them, and they could very easily come to the conclusion that they shouldn't. When you really get down to it the idea that every type of everything is always going to be in constant brutal competition with every other thing of its type is an astoundingly grim one, and the longer I think about it the more distressing it is that it's just taken as a given that libraries will by default seek to undermine each other as much as possible for prestige.
The above is from roughly around when we thought "hey, we could get their silk weaving books" followed by "wait, we should get their books on textiles in general so we don't miss anything and also to mask that we're specifically aiming to enter the silk market".
And while it makes Boney depressed, I cannot help but notice that being the sole source of elven texts in general, the sole source on a number of elf-related lore
in particular, and just overall being one of if not the greatest library on the continent not locked behind a dawi guild would be a particularly juicy asset to their soft power and the normalization of relations with the empire via its prestige alone, nevermind as a destination for research.
And that they might notice that at some point. But haven't yet. The idea of other libraries being competition or rivals has not even entered their minds. The closest they've come to noticing that it's an asset to the single overriding goal of their grand strategy was Caedeth floating the library as a perk for having Laurelorn host the waystone project.
These are the people considering the value of scribing a copy of the Library of Mournings for us including most of its restricted magic and military texts (!!!) versus a single crate of scrap ithilmar.
Let that sink in for a moment.
...
We will never get a deal this good ever again. Take it. TAKE IT!
Take it with both fucking hands before they see the EIC debut spider silk garments that compete with their trade goods and realize why we purchased those textile books
. I don't think they'll turn off the spigot to us since they want weber to stay in their corner but they will
never, ever give us the opportunity to buy them out wholesale for a price this low again. Even a traditional scribing deal for less of the books on offer now is likely to go way up in price as soon as those silk garments hit the market and they put two and two together.
If you're worried about this deal being a scam for them, don't: We can easily make closing this deal the best decision for them despite the above considerations. As head librarian of Kron-Azril-Ungol we can set policies that preserve the geopolitical benefits of the library of mournings for Laurelorn, we can even help them recognize and leverage those benefits better than they otherwise could once we have an accounting of what's in it from our own copy, but we probably only ever have this one shot to
get said copy and do any of that.
So please. Just think of the limited time offer books, and please buy the Library of Mournings.
