[x] Get all key personnel (Wilhemina, Kasmir) alerted so they can't be caught alone and killed once the infiltrators catch on.
-[x] Berthold was me. I may have panicked and tried to attract Marcus' attention with a Magic Dart. He was fighting and I hit Berthold too hard instead, it was an accident.
[x] Show the infiltrators to Val Hal and get his expert opinion. What are we dealing with?
. "I apologize for interrupting, Your Grace," he says with a surprisingly level voice, "but this is a matter of urgency. Berthold was attacked in the courtyard."
"They must realize they've been discovered," Van Hal says to you, and you open your mouth to correct him, and then shut it again as he turns back to Markus.
Has there been murmurs about getting the Count married and produce offsprings by the various nobles and ministers? I assume the Imperial court isn't keen on having another round of pick the poor bastard political shenanigan.
He's only on this third year, so it hasn't quite gotten full into gear, though a number of eligible bachelorette daughters of local lords have started finding excuses to be in Wurtbad recently.
[X] Berthold was me. I may have panicked and tried to attract Marcus' attention with a Magic Dart. I am not accustomed to running around in my underwear alright.
[X] Defer harder to the experienced Witch Hunter.
[X] Our main priority is defending the leadership of Stirland. As above, but also find a way to get a message to Wilhelmina, telling her to seek safety.
[X] Close the gates. Nobody in, nobody out. Not until we get to the bottom of this.
[X] Get Van Hal to take a look at the infiltrators.
(Phrasing that last one short to match other votes, although I would have liked to add "Does he know what they are, or recognize any distinctive marks on them?" as reasoning.)
He's only on this third year, so it hasn't quite gotten full into gear, though a number of eligible bachelorette daughters of local lords have started finding excuses to be in Wurtbad recently.
Hmm. I rather think Stirland needs Elector Count alliances. @BoneyM Do the local Elector Counts have any suitable matches in their family? Averland, perhaps, to seal the military cooperation he wants for the border.
Hmm. I rather think he needs Elector Count alliances. Do the local Elector Counts have any suitable matches in their family? Averland, perhaps, to seal the military cooperation he wants for the border.
He's only on this third year, so it hasn't quite gotten full into gear, though a number of eligible bachelorette daughters of local lords have started finding excuses to be in Wurtbad recently.
He's effectively an imperial appointment, he personally isn't going anywhere less he screws up to death. The nobles, apparantly, mostly seem content with him. And who do you show favour to, by marrying their daughter? You might just piss off all the other barons with daughters that way.
Only exception to marrying for alliances and claims, is land. (Or an Attractive Quick commoner with beneficial inheritable genetic traits. Just saying). If there was a single female ruler in Stirland?
Are you agreeing with me or the local marriage idea?
Anyway, why is Mathilde standing around in her underwear next to Van Hal thinking about marriage? She has to save his life, first! Just like in her favourite novel series, The Witch and her Hunter!
Hmm. I rather think Stirland needs needs Elector Count alliances. @BoneyM Do the local Elector Counts have any suitable matches in their family? Averland, perhaps, to seal the military cooperation he wants for the border.
ICly, you don't know - you haven't looked into it and Anton's knowledge of the political situation ends at Stirland's border.
OOC, I haven't fleshed that out yet, though it's a pretty safe bet that for any given Elector Count, they'll be able to find some suitable cousin or niece if they wanted to.
Marrying him off isn't the job of the Intrigue advisor, it is the job of the Diplomacy one. Our job will be to check out the local girls who desperately want to meet him. Although let's hope Marcus won't talk about what happened, so the more forward suitors will only show up in underclothes, and not underclothes and a greatsword.
Marrying him off isn't the job of the Intrigue advisor, it is the job of the Diplomacy one. Our job will be to check out the local girls who desperately want to meet him. Although let's hope Marcus won't talk about what happened, so the more forward suitors will only show up in underclothes, and not underclothes and a greatsword.
I like to think Van Hal might approve of suitors showing up in underclothes for entirely the wrong reasons, i.e. harder for them to have concealed weapons, easier for Van Hal to see if they're disguised monsters.
Seriously do you honestly think Ranald isn't laughing his ass of at the embarrassment we are enduring from our romantic shenanigans? He's going to turn this into a harem comedy if it he can just for Mathilde's reactions.
[X] Don't tell, it's a secret to everyone.
[x]Act natural. Investigate the two infiltrators you know about and hope none of the infiltrators realize they've been detected.
-Intimidation will work better now on the other one since we locked someone WITH A DEAD BODY. Get Van Hal on that quick
-Also see if any one else gets too interested in the room.
-[x] Get all key personnel (Wilhemina, Kasmir) alerted so they can't be caught alone and killed once the infiltrators catch on.
-Gather them somewhere secure to minimize failure points
[x] Us along with a pair of guards will go to the gate and inform the guards there to watch out for anyone suspicious tryin to go in or out.
--This is more to see if there are any more. We dont need to catch them all just to figure ou what is going on. And if they leave, we can be assured that they arent able to come back.
--Closing the gates are too extreme a measure i think.
--We can also have our budding spy network look for anyone suspicious loitering around after we deal with the immediate problem.
Interlude: Outside Wurtbad Books, Periodicals, and Printing
Markus was heading to the Shieldarm, a favourite tavern, after drills to meet up with some of the Watch. A few were veteran Greatswords, old comrades injured in Sylvania who still wanted to serve Stirland, and Markus wasn't going to forget about them.
He rounded the corner, dodged neatly to the left to avoid tripping over a stray cat, and ran right into a small figure exiting a shop. The package she was carrying flew from her arms and burst open, scattering books even as the cat tangled her robes and tripped the woman up. Robes. Grey robes.
"Mat- Journeywoman Weber!" Markus extended his hand to help her up. "My apologies! I dodged the cat, but not your flanking attack." The look Mathilde gave him from under her brim was... unreadable. "Cat. Of course. RnldIhpyramsd." Markus didn't catch the last bit.
"Are you unhurt?" Mathilde stood and dusted herself off, but appeared uninjured. "Of course you are, my honorary Greatsword-in-training. Still, let me help you collect your books."
"Oh. Oh! Umm, no, thankyou that's not-" Mathilde scrambled for her books, still somewhat in disarray.
Markus already had an armful, but paused at this as he picked up another, taking a look at one for the first time. The Witch and her Hunter 3: Trials By Night. The cover had a rough print of a tall man in a tall hat with a very long rifle looking at a young woman who had raised her arms theatrically, as if to cast a spell. Or embrace him.
"Ahh, your books, m'lady."
"Thankyou. Markus. Sir. I must be on my way, please don't let me detain you." Mathilde seemed a little flustered as she swept away, balancing her pile of books.
Wizards.
In the alley opposite, two reflective eyes gleamed, then it was dark once more.
I always wanted to make clear that I pictured this as happening shortly before the other more famous Interlude, CounterShenanigans in Eagle Castle. This line in particular was the inspiration, particularly for the book cover description.
Then he trails off, looking from you, standing there in your underwear with a greatsword strapped to your back, then to Van Hal, standing next to you with his rifle cradled in his arms.
Because, well, I like their interactions and it amuses me, it is clear that Ranald ships it and as a loyal worshipper of his we should do as he wills, I like having more power, and, uh, it's almost like you guys forgot that we are doing a bunch of shady stuff that he might get pissed about and we might want him to like us as much as someone typically likes there wife.
Like, for instance, if we marry him, I'm pretty sure we never have to embezzle funds again. We can just be like "hey honey, I need some cash money for reasons" and he'll give us the money. Also, if he ever finds out about us spying on him, he's vaguely more likely to not kill us or throw us out if he loves us.
Remember, our job here isn't just to protect Stirland, it's also to do a bunch of other stuff that Van Hal probably wouldn't approve of it he knew and him being in love with us would very much help keep us safe.
If we get a chance to influence appointments, I say push for the nuln madmen. It'll be !FUN! if the steward and priest ends up the only peopke that aren't a source of shenanigans
Question: is there a voting bloc against telling Van Hal that Berthold was your fault? There's a three-way voting split but only because half the 'defending the leadership of Stirland' are lacking the 'tell Van Hal' line, and that could just be because they voted before that conversation started.
Question: is there a voting bloc against telling Van Hal that Berthold was your fault? There's a three-way voting split but only because half the 'defending the leadership of Stirland' are lacking the 'tell Van Hal' line, and that could just be because they voted before that conversation started.
If we are going to act in a manner that's gonna drive out all the infiltrators anyway, and we know there are a bunch of infiltrators, and the infiltrators already tried to kill one of the advisors (us), then the fact that one of the attacks was a fact doesn't really matter too much in my books.
Just don't tell, I don't see how it helps things, but on the other hand there's a chance that people might not be too happy with us about attacking one of the advisors.
underwear
