Inserted tally
Adhoc vote count started by Seventeen on Jan 31, 2018 at 11:26 PM, finished with 100 posts and 22 votes.
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[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!
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[x] [Marshal Candidates] Plan Everything Turns Up Gustav
-[x] Tell Van Hal everything we know and how we found it out, in private
-[x] Recommend Gustav on the grounds that Berthold will clash with Morrites and de facto encourage proscribed cults by making all non-Sigmar religions seem less legitimate, while Otto will soak up money that the County can ill afford. Gustav is reckless, but both capable and well-loved; Stirland needs competent, popular leadership right now.
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[x] [Options] Plan There Are Really Only Two Important Things Happening Here
-[X] The servants. Is there even any reason to suggest any other course of investigation?
-[x] The disappearance of your predecessor is very concerning, especially since he's actively trying to sabotage the hunt for him. He must be found, and you've got a lead: Julbach.
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[x] [One-on-One Report] Plan Small Items Of Concern
-[x] Request Van Hal's support in our efforts to purge the castle of infiltrators and track down their source over the next few months.
-[x] Ask Van Hal if he can explain what's happened with the East Wing. Unless it's a known variable it's a potential threat and we can't consider the castle safe.
-[x] See if he has any recommendations for finding reliable lieutenants.
-[x] If he ever has spare money, we want to build and equip a concealed wizard's lab. We consider our having a well-equipped enchanter's lab and a plentiful supply of reagents to be in Stirland's interest, as is concealing its existence and location from anyone who might consider us a target (read: absolutely everyone).
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[x] [Incident Report] Plan Two Sentences And Kasmir
-[x] A fairly extensive interviewing process of the castle staff eventually found one spy based upon an inconsistency in his story, who attacked with unnatural speed when he realized he was discovered. At least two others revealed themselves in the aftermath, but we still haven't fully determined what exactly happened or identified the infiltrators' nature.
-[x] Kasmir, next time I attempt to call upon your expertise, please provide it.
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[x] [General Report] Plan Short And Simple
-[x] Efforts to build our intelligence network have produced some results. Munzhausen and Purgg are now sending regular reports our way and the Watch here in Wurtbad will provide intelligence on anything suspicious. Checking the castle staff for infiltrators found some rather dramatically; unfortunately I can't guarantee that they were the only ones.
-[x] The blades we recovered from the mound aren't usable as weapons and would kill anyone who tried to use them that way in short order. Studying them for potential magical applications might produce useful results, but that will take funding and years of work.
-[x] Our written report should include more detailed information on the expansion of our network as well as a note on our failed attempt to gain contacts in a timely fashion in Wörden.
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[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."
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[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."
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[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."
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[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."
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[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."
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[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."
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[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."
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[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."
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[X] [Marshal candidates] Report our findings to the Count plainly and objectively in private. Recommend the Count to retain the pistolier as military advisor as he is neutral in faith, well liked among his peers, brave even against monsters, and most likely to obey orders competently and without distraction. Which is the most important as the army is in dire need of stable progress and not funny business.
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[x] Plan Concise
-[x] [General Report] The Wurtbad Watch is now giving me information, albeit reluctantly. Worden was a bureaucratic tangle, giving me the runaround. May have been intentional or unintentional. The main thing I need is a trustworthy assistant, and could use candidates from Champion Markus, Van Hel, or Wilhelma.
-[x] [Investigation Report] While interviewing the palace staff, I caught one of them out in a lie. He was faster than a normal human, but no more durable. I found another infiltrator trying to check up on the body. Also, I was only in my underthings because my robes were covered in blood and I didn't want to tip them off. There was at least a third infiltrator who tried to batter down the door into Van Hel's study, before it fled.
-[x] [Marshal candidates] [Private] They're all flawed, but none are as bad as de Verezzo. Sir Berthold hangs out with zealots, the kind of people who beat anyone who's not a Sigmarite, or Sigmarites who they think aren't good enough. Master Engineer Otto is brilliant. However, he's likely to focus on his own inventions rather than more normal soldiery, and doesn't seem to have experience or skill in military matters. Outrider Champion Gustav von Jungfreud is brave and either incredibly lucky, incredibly skilled, or both. However, he's likely to favor charging enemies rather than actually leading the army in battle. I'd favor Jungfreud as the least bad option, followed by Otto. While neither is ideal, they're unlikely to actively damage the military. I'd advise against Berthold, as the military has a number of religions and he'd be liable to cause issues with the Morrites.
-[x] [Private Report] I have a lead on getting rid of the snake. The barrow swords need to be put back in the crypt, put in proper storage, or sold to the Amethyst Order. I'd like to keep them for research purposes. I have talents in enchantment, and spending some of my budget would allow me to further research into that area. Finally, what's with the East Wing?
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