Van Hal grips the lifeline you've thrown out. "Yes, right, infiltrators." He takes a moment to gather his thoughts. "Was there any change in their appearance when they displayed inhuman abilities?"
You think back, and shake your head. "No, completely normal."
"And still alive, based on the blood you mentioned." He glances back over to you, and then away. "Could they have cast a spell?"
"Not without me noticing."
"That eliminates a lot of the possibilities. Not vampires, not shapeshifters, not creatures under an illusion... possibly humans enchanted ahead of time, possibly mutants... empowered mortal servants of the vampires, perhaps? I've never encountered a Von Carstein that bothered, but some of the other bloodlines do. Once the castle is secured we can investigate the source of their abilities. For now, it's irrelevant. What do you think their goal is?"
So probably Renfields huh?
Those are problematic to identify, but most tropes for Renfields require them to be renewed in some way.
For most of the next hour, you discuss various possibilities to vet the castle staff, ranging from personally investigating the family links of every single candidate, to importing an entirely new staff en masse from a distant and randomly-chosen town so that it would be impossible for someone to infiltrate them ahead of time, to doing without servants entirely and just having soldiers perform all the menial tasks of the castle. There's no practical solution, so you bandy around impractical ones, each more outlandish than the last. Have apprentice priests who've taken vows of humility rotate through the castle to do the work? Hire a small army of halflings? Force the castle staff to never leave the castle? Send away to distant Cathay and purchase, at outrageous cost, a small handful of terracotta automatons to act as servants?
Hmm, the random recruitment might actually work, but would drive our poor Steward bald.
Before long, you've almost forgotten that you're in mortal peril and your underwear. You haven't spent that much time with Van Hal, considering you've been working him for going on three years now, and he surprises you in just how much he varies from what you'd expect from a Witch Hunter. For one thing, he's a veritable font of obscure law when it comes to magical constructs and nightmarish creatures and how to identify and counter them, far from the 'set them on fire and let Sigmar sort them out' you feared when you first laid eyes on him. And for another, he's actually kind of really bad at espionage and sneakiness.
...who's the wizard here, really?
Oh, he's got natural paranoia and decades of experience to draw from, but every suggestion he comes up with for a body of servants that couldn't be infiltrated has flaws that are immediately apparent to you but invisible to him. When you tactfully point them out, he furrows his brow and thinks of a workaround that just opens more holes. That it took this long for you to realize this is a testament to how far confidence and authority can take someone.
Oh my god, the whole castle is full of people who don't know what the hell they're doing but won't let that stop them isn't it?
It's the door. Van Hal had it installed himself the first month after he arrived. Six inches thick, made of solid hardwood, and with steel hinges driven into the stone of the doorframe. Completing the picture is a very well-made Nuln-made lock and a bar you'd struggle to lift without help, all topped off with your spell making the bar and lock all but immune to brute strength. Whatever it is that's bashing away at the door is strong and tireless beyond the abilities of a human, but it's just not enough.
The worst part is, it's too loud for you and Van Hal to continue your discussion.
It continues on for what feels like forever but was probably more like ten minutes, until it suddenly stops, and the reason is immediately obvious - without the constant percussion of flesh on wood, you can hear yelling and the clash of steel boots on stone floors coming closer at speed. You hear a surprisingly human yell of frustration, and then footsteps retreating away.
And THAT is most likely a bloody vampire. Probably the one controlling the Renfields. They have to be based in the castle itself if they responded within the hour. They've PROBABLY fled the castle with the lockdown broken.
Not that I think our dozen Greatswords could actually HOLD a vampire who wants out. Not without being decimated.
Van Hal lent you his coat for the walk back to the interview room to retrieve your robes, but the looks you get wearing his coat are almost as bad as the ones you would have gotten in your underwear.
Ranald: "I continue to ship this, none of you can stop me."
So a peek at the (only) other vote:
[X] [General Report] "I've spoken to the Watch and convinced them to proactively report when they see cultists and other funny business, so that I don't have to spend weeks reading through their record-books again to find when something happened. I've also been to Munzhausen, Purgg, and Wörden to recruit informants, but I only found useful and cooperative people in the first two. Wörden was a bureaucratic tangle of 'I don't have the authority', 'This isn't my business', 'Who are you anyway?' and 'He's away, ask tomorrow'. Finally, I interviewed the palace servants and was attacked by one definite infiltrator, finding another likely infiltrator, and I wasn't even halfway through, which suggests there are several more. But I'll get to that in a moment. What I'd like now is for Van Hal, Wilhelmina or possibly Champion Markus to recommend me some trustworthy people I can start delegating to, because right now I need a loyal assistant more than I need a skilled spy."
Reasonably good this, but we don't want to ask for general assistants in public council, because that raises the risks of the assistants being tracked and subverted, unless it's just for the Watch(which is public anyway).
Furthermore, we also don't want to make public the status of the infiltrators. Because they'd be silenced before a possible interrogation otherwise.
[X] [Incident Report] "While interviewing the palace staff, one of them claimed to be related to one of my intelligence contacts. As it happens, said contact was a distant relative of mine and it was partly due to hearing his family tree that I'd won him over. So I started asking the staff about his relations, and noticed that his presentation of the family tree was inconsistent. When pressed on the point, the servant in question attacked me with vampire speed, though fortunately not vampire strength or resilience. I cut him open with my greatsword, he collapsed, and I cut off his head to be sure. That's the point where I ditched my bloodstained robe so that I'd only cause gossip rather than a panic, as well as not tipping off any other infiltrators there might be. Then I went to the courtyard to try enlist the aid of the Greatswords I had seen there previously. That was the point where I tried to fling a dart to tap Markus on the shoulder, missed, and knocked Berthold on the head. Since that was getting a lot more attention than I'd intended, I went to look for the Elector Count instead. On the way I saw one of the staff I'd interviewed earlier fiddling with the lock and trying to get into the room where I'd locked the first infiltrator, so I knocked the second one unconscious and left her in there too. Then I went to see the Count, Markus came to see the Count, and we barricaded ourselves in until the rest of the Greatswords came back. During that time, something very strong - probably a vampire - tried quite intently to beat the office door down and got nowhere. Allow me to say how much I appreciate that door, my liege."
(There's a fine line I'm not sure how to toe here, of trying to get Kasmir to own up to the fact that our double-check was useful without parading our superior skill too much.)
A little too long winded. We're giving a report, not a blow by blow.
I'd also focus more on the stuff that were publically known and relay further thoughts in private.
We probably should not tell the zealot we knocked him out with magic...
[X] [Marshal candidates] "All the candidates have significant flaws. First, Outrider Champion Gustav von Jungfreud is the one I favor the most. He's well-liked and undoubtedly skilled and brave, but perhaps foolishly brave and headstrong and liable to charging into danger. He's a front-line leader, not an army builder. There's a significant chance you'd have to replace him again in a few years. Second, Sir Berthold seems competent, but also overly zealous. I have not observed him personally striking anyone, but the local chapter of his order has a nasty habit of beating people who don't confess Sigmar, and then sometimes still beating even those who do confess Sigmar but stumble over the words. That's bad company to keep. He might improve away from them, or he might start a feud with the Morrites. And then, of course, there's the fact that I accidentally knocked him unconscious with magic. If you select him, I must advise that you give him strict instructions to focus his attention on the Army of Stirland and not on the Morrites or me. Finally, Master Engineer Otto is everything you'd expect from a Master Engineer of Nuln. Grandiose visions and brilliant mechanical projects and quite eccentric. He could be useful for modernizing our armaments and giving us new tricks against Sylvania and otherwise being useful in the long term, but likely expensive and I don't think he's what you need right now. You might consider retaining him in a separate position."
Some disagreement, but that's natural with this.
[X] [Options] Infiltrators and Masterminds
-[X] The servants. Is there even any reason to suggest any other course of investigation?
-[X] Drakenhof. The servants were pawns. You should study the hidden hand.
-[X] Your predecessor is still out there, doing gods know what, being in league with gods know what. And you've got a lead: Julbach.
-[X] The Stirlandian League is a cancer eating at Stirland's economy, and it must be destroyed.
-[X] You've got a whole bunch of friends now, but you could always use more!
Some minor differences here, but no major issues.
[X] [Private Report] "Item one, the snake. It's still lurking, but while I was in Altdorf, I was able to obtain a copy of one of Leonardo's books that should help me get rid of it. Item two, the barrow-swords. They're absorbing and draining magic; having lain in the barrow they've absorbed practically pure Shyish. Now that we have them outside the barrow, they're likely to absorb all the winds and eventually rot to Dhar unless we either seal them away in an appropriate chamber or simply put them back in the barrow for the time being. It's not a structured enchantment, but a very volatile one, apt to destroy the weapon and injure the wielder as things currently stand, so they're no good to us right now. On the other hand, it's also a very unusual enchantment, doing things with Shyish that I can't recall enchanters ever doing before, which is very interesting and perhaps profitable. You could store them until a better time, sell them to the Amethyst Order, or, perhaps, depending on how much you need my other duties, simply have me look at them, as I studied enchantment. It would take proper tools, though, which brings me to item three. Would you consider allowing me to use part of my budget to set up a proper enchantment-laboratory, whether for the barrow-swords or other future projects? And finally, item four, I'd like to know what that business with the East Wing is."
I'm not sure about this part, we have a discretionary budget. We're allowed to use it at our discretion.
My vote meanwhile:
[X] [General Report]
Plan Public Interests
-[X] "I've spoken to the Watch and gotten them to report to me any unusual events, so we're less likely to have to deal with things like our entire tax record being carried out through the city gates. I've also been to Munzhausen, Purgg, and Wörden to recruit informants, but I only found useful and cooperative people in the first two. Wörden was a bureaucratic tangle of 'I don't have the authority', 'This isn't my business', 'Who are you anyway?' and 'He's away, ask tomorrow'."
-[X] "I've also gotten the magic weapons checked out unfortunately, they are currently closer to small bombs of pure Shyish energies than true enchanted weapons, barring further research to put them to use, and could become dangerous over time if not kept sealed in lead or steel, at least when kept outside of a Shyish charged atmosphere like a tomb or the Amethyst College. I suspect this might be part of a ploy with the ledgers to get our people to wield valuable seeming weapons that could kill the wielder if the enchantment was disturbed. Further study could turn them to good use however. It would take time."
-[X] "Finally, there was an incident with a couple of spies in the palace servants, but their backers remain inconclusive after I was forced to kill them when they came after me."
[X] [Incident Report]
Plan Limited Facts
-[X] "As everyone is likely well aware, there were infiltrators in the castle amongst the castle servants, with cover stories that held up until they tried to claim familiarity with someone I personally knew. They do not seem to be undead or shapeshifters upon being killed, but there is at least one more supernaturally strong being that tried to break into the Study to assault Van Hal and myself before the Greatswords chased them off."
-[X] "I would like to work with Kasmir, and preferably additional Morrite and Shallyan priests of the servants' claimed faiths to further vet the remaining castle servants, as their professed religious beliefs seem a little odd for Stirlanders. There should be more Sigmarites by proportion in the province, and it would be too convenient to have most of the servants claiming beliefs which their interviewer cannot personally verify."
[X] [One-on-One Report]
Plan Darkened Wing
-[X] "As per our previous discussion, the two servants seem likely to be vampire enhanced servants, and we can likely find out more by interrogating the surviving one. I've taken the liberty to imply that both of them were slain in the ensuing struggle, so as to reduce the risks of an attempt to silence the survivor before you're done with them if we're being listened in on at council."
-[X] "As I understand it, the vampire themselves must be in reasonably frequent contact to maintain such a relation, while the last attacker was most likely the vampire themselves, considering the sheer strength exhibited. If they responded within an hour of the incident, they pretty much have to reside within the castle itself. I suspect the East Wing may be where they are based, but can't be certain."
-[X] "Additionally, considering the increasing load of managing our informants, I'd also like to request for some trusted and reasonably discreet recommendations to help coordinate the information. I've also gotten some materials on dealing with the snake mentioned previous."
[X] [Marshal candidates]
Plan Fair Reviews
-[X] Sir Berthold of the Order of the Hammer of Sigmar - "His friends in the Order themselves are fairly zealous in their belief in Sigmar, which makes Berthold difficult to subvert to the cause of the many, many ills that plague this land, but at the same time they are intolerant and abusive to those of other, legitimate beliefs. Berthold himself was never seen physically abusing anyone in that manner however, but you can expect some significant friction with the Morrite and Ulrican members of the army if he follows the lead of his friends. "
-[X] Outrider Champion Gustav von Jungfreud - "Gustav himself is well loved by his fellows, and reputed to be a skilled fighter with his pistols, but is noted to brave to the point of recklessness and puts himself at the front of every battle."
-[X] Master Engineer Otto of Nuln - "Otto is a bonafide genius in his field, with many proven credentials , and ambitious regarding his projects. However, he is the picture of a disorganized, eccentric engineer, with no noted military accomplishments beyond his brilliance. I suspect his goal with this assignment would be mainly to test his creations in the field, to see them put into mass deployment, or to make something particularly impressive they were reluctant to fund him for."
-[X] Recommendation - "I'd note that all of these would have major complications, but I would say either Berthold, for his devotion to Sigmar and thus resilience to vampire wiles, or Otto, for improving the quality of arms and equipment. Depends a lot on where you prefer your headaches to be, since Berthold is likely to cause troubles with diplomacy and morale, while Otto would probably hurt your budget, your Grace."
[X]
[Options] Infiltrators and Masterminds
-[X]
The servants. Is there even any reason to suggest any other course of investigation?
-[X] Drakenhof. The servants were pawns. You should study the hidden hand.
-[X] Your predecessor is still out there, doing gods know what, being in league with gods know what. And you've got a lead: Julbach.
-[X] The Stirlandian League is a cancer eating at Stirland's economy, and it must be destroyed.
-[X] You've got a whole bunch of friends now, but you could always use more!
That took too damned long to type!
