Good as gold
One of his companions who had been captured with him came across “I’ve got terrible news, Immy. We just drank the last of the Holberger.”
The Professor gave a deep sigh. “Damn. I was very fond of that stuff.”
“I remember. Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll be able to get a crate to take home.”
“That's a good though. We should focus on that." Professor Gelberg didn’t look away. The kestrel remained in its position. “We’ll have to do something eventually. It does no good to deny the inevitable.”
He noted his companion coming across to sit beside him. “It’s not inevitable. Don’t talk like that.” They were no longer discussing beer.
“I suppose not. But the mouse can’t hide from the kestrel forever.” It was still hovering. Did it take effort to hold themselves like that? He had never been much of a one for natural philosophy.
“Someone will come. The Imperials will find us. We’ll go home and you can tell everyone about the best beer in Imperial lands.”
Professor Gelberg shrugged. “Perhaps. Or perhaps this is all part of some terrible scheme...”
With a scream, the kestrel swooped on its prey.
Overview
At the Winter Solstice Nekoda of the Shattered Tower, now Cardinal of Courage, won the patronage of the Beurteilung at auction for forty-seven thrones. This gave them the right to request that the scholars of the Commonwealth appraise a pressing matter, much as if it were an appraisal being carried out by the prognosticator's office. As always, the work was led by Professor Immanuel Gelberg, a studious Commonwealth scholar whose research emphasises the Common Good. Last season, Die Beurteilung was set the task of assessing "...ways to build upon the River Couros, to strengthen our bonds and uplift our Prosperity from Therunin to the Bay of Catazar."
Professor Gelberg's team were pleased to carry out this task. Economic development is one of the main concerns of the universities and research fellowships that propose motions to the ruling council of generals. On top of this, a productive work trip along a beautiful river through land controlled by prosperous and generous hosts seemed like a fine way to conclude their business before returning home to their friends, family and colleagues.
If only it had turned out that way...
Disaster Strikes
- Professor Gelberg was abducted by Grendel raiders while sailing too close to the mouth of the River Couros
- Somebody knew exactly where the Professor was going to be and betrayed him to the Empire's enemies
- His team were able to complete the appraisal but Gelberg remains a prisoner of the Grendel
Shortly before the Summer Solstice, tragedy struck. Professor Gelberg was abducted by a party of Grendel wave riders. Somehow this group were able to penetrate the Empire's defences, evade their patrols, and precisely target the Professor. There is absolutely no possibility of any kind that that was a coincidence. Someone, somehow knew exactly where he was going to be and betrayed the Professor to the Empire's enemies.
There majority of the work had been completed already, but the team held their report back a season, hopeful that Imperial heroes would be able to recover their boss and he could present it in person. This was his last appraisal, his last piece of work in the Empire. Nobody wanted to accept that this might just have been his last piece of work period.
Sadly, the professor could not be rescued. The Gate did open, but somehow it didn't provide the heroes of Anvil with an opportunity to rescue the Professor, a thing which is literally impossible. Instead, they ran directly into a trap. According to skilled prognosticators, the only way that can happen is if the prognosticators misunderstood what the purpose of that conjunction was. The Gate doesn't exactly provide an explanation after all. It's very strange, but people who spend their entire lives studying the Gate claim it makes more sense if you think the point of the expedition was to try to rescue the Professor but fail. They point to the fact that he is still alive... clearly fate is not finished with the Professor Gelberg just yet.
Still, the Grendel show no sign of letting the Professor go. So - somewhat reluctantly - they have published their report. The work is thorough and practical, but nobody can quite shake the feeling that if Gelberg were still here he might have had one more idea to put the cherry on the cake. There's a reason he was considered one of the finest minds in the Commonwealth. Maybe it's the same reason the Grendel have abducted him...
Expand the Docks at Hedra
| Visitors Docks of Hedra |
| Commission Type: Great work |
| Location: Hedrossan, Necropolis |
| Cost: 100 white granite, 20 mithril and 360 crowns in labour |
| Time: 12 months |
| Effect: Raises the level of investment in congregations in Necropolis, Bastion, Morrow and Redoubt, providing 36 rings each season |
| Availability: Available until the end of the Summer Solstice 390YE |
| Special: Does not produce any benefit until the Grand Inspiration of the Way is complete |
- Once the Grand Inspiration of the Way is complete, the docks at Hedra could funnel donations from visitors to congregations along the river Couros
- Building the Visitors Docks at Hedra would raise the level of investment in congregations in the four territories, providing them with 36 rings each season
Much of Gelberg's work focused on Necropolis and Bastion. He quickly identifies that of the two nations, Highguard and Urizen, the former was the one that would more easily benefit from investment. The Urizen territories on the other side of the river already benefit from a number of significant investments, great works that help enrich their citizens, their nation and the Empire. By comparison, Necropolis and Bastion languish without any significant investment of that kind at all.
Nobody along the river Couros can avoid the constant news about the ongoing construction of the Grand Inspiration of the Way. Hundreds of wains are still required to complete the construction, along with massive amounts of labour, but work continues apace. Once it is completed, the Grand Inspiration will undisputedly cement the White City as the heart of the Way of Virtue the whole world over, and will attract massive numbers of pilgrims to bask in its aura.
Gelberg's team don't commit anything to paper about the reason for this failing, but in person they're less circumspect. It's clear Gelberg blamed the lack of investment in Necropolis and Bastion on the new monument. As far as he was concerned, this enormous white elephant was consuming much of the wealth of Highguard, which should otherwise have been directed to the Common Good. The Professor was full of praise for the architecture of the Grand Inspiration, but he found its purpose utterly baffling.
He was concerned that nothing would be built in Necropolis or Bastion until the Grand Inspiration was finished. As he put it "Until the Highborn get this out of their system, every thought will turn to their temple." For some reason, he did not share the optimism of the Assembly of the Ambition - he seemed to think that there might well be years of work yet to do. He forced the team to focus on the territory, arguing that Necropolis was without doubt the territory where they could do the most good, but he had the team future-proof the plans, spending extra time to ensure that they would be good for at least two years to come. "Hopefully they can come back to them when they've built their towers to the moon..."
And so the team got to work. The port-town of Hedra serves the traders from the League and the Brass Coast, as well as those from further afield in the Marches or Wintermark. Outside merchants benefit from access to Highborn stone and bring sacks of grain and other foodstuffs ultimately destined for the high peaks of Urizen. The presence of the diplomatenschloss boosted demand for all sorts of goods, leading to a small influx of ships coming to serve the market. If only the embassy were 100 times the size, that boost in trade could be the source of new wealth for the territories on the Couros.
Gelberg's team were impressed by the potential of the docks and draw up plans for an expansive improvement. They spent hours labouring over the proposals, until they eventually made a breakthrough - the Grand Inspiration. As far as Gelberg was concerned, nothing would get done until the Highborn folly was complete - so why not redo their prognostications on the assumption that it was already built? Why not look at what could be done once that happened? Frustrating to wait a year or more, but if they're going to have to do that anyway...
The final proposals are not cheap, coming in at 100 wains of white granite and 20 wains of mithril, but they would transform the fortunes of Necropolis and Bastion, and even Redoubt and Morrow would see some gains. The Visitor's Docks would be designed for passenger vessels, bringing visitors from all over the Empire - and the world, according to Gelberg's calculations, although he is very sceptical of that last part. From Hedra it would be a short journey to the city of Bastion and the Grand Inspiration. Gelberg's plan creates the facilities to handle this influx of visitors, thereby raising the level of investment in congregations across the four territories, providing each one with 36 rings each season from donations of grateful pilgrims eager for hostelry and support as they make their pilgrimage to the White City.
Gelberg's Last Theorem
- The work done by Professor Gelberg's team is complete
- A few members of the team believe that Gelberg had hit on an idea that he wanted to prognosticate shortly before his capture, but he was unable to tell anyone what it was
- Gelberg's Last Theorem is likely to remain a mystery unless the Empire can find a way to free him from the clutches of the Grendel
The scope of any Die Beurteilung is not guaranteed to match that of the Imperial Prognosticators' office - the small group of Commonwealth professors lack the resources and the facilities to produce something on that grand scale. Some of their work in the past has been expansive, but others have been shorter in length, as befits their scope. In this case, the team were delighted by the breakthrough they made - drawing on the enormous flood of visitors that are bound to come to see the Grand Inspiration creates a flaw in the design - the plans are no use until the Grand Inspiration is complete, but it enabled the team to produce a single commission that was highly efficient, by many measures, given that it boosted wealth across the congregations of four separate territories.
Pleased with themselves, the team submit the work to their Imperial counterparts, and those who are not staying behind to try and do what they can to facilitate the Professor's release from the Grendel make ready to depart. Die Beurteilung is over, and his towering vision for the Visitors Dock at Hedra will stand as his Last Theorem. At least in the Empire - for even if Gelberg can still be saved, he was due to depart these shores anyway at the end of last season.
And that would be the end of the matter, if it were not for one last thing. Sarotsin, one of Gelberg's students, was chatting with Naomi in her offices in the Castle of Thorns, and he happened to mention that Gelberg was working on something when he was captured, something he thought might be useful on this project. He'd been working on designs for ways to create access to the coast in areas where the geography wouldn't normally permit it - to allow fleets and merchant vessels to dock where normally it would be impossible.
It's too late now, of course, but maybe if the Empire can recover Gelberg, then his Gelberg's Last Theorem might yet prove useful?