Thanks for the update there. Not sure if that was mistake caused when I was removing the X's from the voteboxes (it was adding to the tally despite being in spoilers) or if Veekie actually had it that way originally, either way I'm glad that the blessing is on Ranald, or at least find it preferable to not having the bonus on such a dangerous action.
(Edit: Also my issue with the saltpeter isn't setting that up but rather why spend dwarf favors on doing so? Especially since it actually costs more to do the set up without dwarfs meaning our budget will look better later. I'd rather just set everything up and then call the dwarfs in, especially since we might not even be the spymaster soon which would mean essentially wasted dwarf favors.)
Well the big clue is the mentions in the original vote, you know the ones that say we should grab as much power and influence as we can.
But even ignoring that is the number of dubious actions you have us take, I'll go through them all.
The trade guild, we'll be buying up a larger share of the company and using them as our spy network. Even on it's own it looks fairly suspicious and that's despite the unfortunate parallel to our predecessor.
Some pretty blatant fraud to make money off the haunted hills. Another unfortunate parallel to a predecessor (the military one is a closer comparison this time) and another grab for money and power without a firm target.
Spending time with Gustav to securing his subordination is once again another one of those dubious acts. He's Stirland martial and having the spymaster have him under he thumb is a pretty scary idea. Worse he's already reporting to the Empire's spymaster which makes this doubly dangerous.
Spending time with Anton would normally be pretty innocent but after all the previous actions just about everything is starting to look insidious.
Attend the Elector's Meet yourself, to take any opportunity that arises to manipulate events in your favour. The most dangerous of the lot, especially since it explicitly states that we should take any opportunity to manipulate events. We don't and shouldn't have any voice at this meeting, Anton is going and he's capable of saying anything that needs to be said.
Any one or two of these would be OK. The fact you've taken so many of them and in your original post specifically mentioned wanting more power it indicates a firm direction in your planning. Hell you just mentioned wanting to be the power behind the throne, this is something the Grey Order is very much not going to be happy about and the new elector count is probably going to be even less happy with.
I'm perfectly fine with skimming a few gold off the top to pay for college loans and the enchanting lab, I'm much less OK with attempting to seize power over Stirland and worse being so blatant about it. We're already pretty powerful and our voice carries far, there's no need to go over the top into rogue wizard territory.
Well...the plan is a "power behind the throne" plan. Not a
blatant powergrab. We're consolidating and reinforcing what we already have, not overreaching. Gustav followed us meekly on the campaign, and no one really seemed to complain then. This is merely making sure he stays on the same bench, and that we speak with one voice when there's a new EC and a pretty new council as well, all of whom might take unkindly to our projects or even us being a wizard. It's securing an ally, not setting us up as the new EC. We have been Spymistress for a while now under an EC that trusted and relied on us, and we have never betrayed that trust to him or Stirland, and I don't expect or want us to in the future. The next EC might regard us with a great deal more suspicion and micromanage us, to which we have to have a counterweight.
As I've indicated above, the purchase of Haunted Hillland is not essential to my plan, and I added it in because everyone in the early consensus wanted to embezzle at least
a little. It currently seems a vocal minority is against it, but if more people object I would be persuaded to switch.
On the EIC, it is the
officially sanctioned trade company of Stirland. We are currently selling market information on the open market to pay for the large operational cost of the network. It is a perfectly logical step to instead sell the information to the organisation Stirland would benefit most from. It is
not suborning it in any way. Also, we already have a 1/3 share, I don't see how buying out Markus' shares is any more than simple management? Furthermore, becoming an active participant in the organisation we have a large share in seems pretty self-evident, especially as the QM pointed out there's a lot of useful options lying undiscovered because we're a silent participant.
On the subject of the Meet, there's only one option to attend, which includes "manipulate events". Had there been an option to attend with a less risky-sounding description, I would likely have included it instead. But then again, it is a pretty vague description, and I kind of trust the QM not to throw us into a situation where we put ourselves in disproportionate risk when we don't explicitly aim for a particular goal. Manipulating events could also be read as taking advantage of the situation to secure vital connections and alliances Stirland might need. Remember, this is the darker kind of imperial politics that saddled Van Hal with a council full of plants. We're going because even if our diplomacy is underwhelming, we
are the Spymaster and our intrigue is nothing to scoff at, and someone there needs to represent Stirland's interests. Anton will be charming and friendly, but most of things that will actually matter to us and Stirland will go right over his head.
