Finding is the final act
"If I told you there was a 100 throne coin somewhere in one of my offices, would you simply be able to find and spend it just like that?" In fairness, Merchant-Princess Milia of the Carta del Sale did own over a dozen properties and sublets over the city.
"Well... no" Rhoda admitted, that is the kind of task that would take a solid week, if she got lucky.
Milia sat down and sighed, bored of all the paperwork they weren't even halfway through reviewing "And what if that 100 throne coin had a tiny little brain that hated you, and tiny little legs that ran away whenever you found it? And what if it wasn't a single coin with a tiny little brain that hated you and tiny little legs to run away from you, but it was 100 thrones in unknown denomination of coinage with tiny little brains that hated you and tiny little legs to run away from you?"
Rhoda added a fresh stack to the pile "Ah"
Milia was at the end of her tether. "And what if they each had tiny little knives to stab your toes and cut off your ears and gouge out your eyes while you were chasing down their mates?" Surely there were more people she could employ to do this kind of thing for her? No, what would Tyburn think of allowing just anyone to go over these documents?
"...oh dear. Pub?" Rhoda was just as spent.
"Please. I'm buying." They packed up and headed out to The Victordee, a place owned by one of Milia's associates, a kind of posh joint that thought they could charge nine rings for a sandwich. They did have good non-alcoholic cocktails, though.
Overview
The Grendel's expertise with espionage is well known. The espionage ring in Spiral remains, though it was damaged by order of the Senate. The Vigilance Assembly have rallied against this poison hidden in their fields by upholding a judgement by Laurencio di Sarvos that calls on the Silent Bell to investigate rumours of an espionage ring in Sarvos.
What's more, the Highborn Assembly upheld a judgement by Joran of Reikos, that called on their people to support their cousins in Sarvos through peerless kinship. This was matched by a judgement in the League Assembly raised by Estella Lucati, Archbishop of Capodomus, that called on all citizens of the League to be vigilant in the face of this threat.
Expose the Truth
- The Highborn and League Assemblies can enact a mandate to encourage the faithful to travel to Sarvos and uncover the wickedness there
- If enacted, Highborn and League congregations will have a lecture option available to them to identify sources of espionage in Sarvos
The call to action has been made, and citizens of the League are ready to help the bishops and bravos who might travel to Sarvos to uncover the extent of the espionage ring. Highborn priests, likewise, are eager to answer the call of their National Assembly and are prepared to venture out to identify espionage rings in Sarvos. The civil service has presented the following mandates:
Seek out falsehood and expose the truth! We send (named priest) with 25 doses of liao to rally the people of (Nation) to use their well-earned skills to find those who would betray the people of Sarvos. Let Virtue reveal the deceiver!
Synod Mandate, Highborn or League AssemblyIn support of Judgement 87 (League). I call on all of Highguard to support our cousins in peerless kinship. In particular, the League calls on our inquisitors to ferret out Grendel spies, and unmask the Siakha cultists in Sarvos, and to assist with attacks of the Siakha pirates.
Joran of Reikos, Highborn Assembly, Autumn Equinox 387YE, Vote: 574-0If enacted, this will create a lecture for Highborn and/or League congregations - Preach Vigilance - Investigate Sarvos - which will see their congregation travel to Sarvos. Leaguers and Highborn who take this action will take part in interviewing the faithful in Sarvos, investigating leads and clues in the city, and potentially identifying any traitors to the Empire. Any congregation owner who takes this lecture will receive the standard amount of votes but no liao, that will be consumed in the course of their activities. They will be placed in the Vigilance Assembly at the Spring Equinox.
If at least 40 congregations take part, this will create opportunities through the Sentinel Gate at the Spring Equinox 388YE to uncover details about the espionage ring and potentially shut it down. Unfortunately, the disruptions to normal business will see tax revenue from Sarvos reduced by four thrones for the season.
Chamber of Commerce
| Sarvosan Chamber of Commerce |
| Akora Maraccino de Temeschwar |
| Aloysius di Sarvos |
| Araminta Vicente di Sarvos |
| Ariella di Sarvos |
| Aroha Jlassi |
| Arrigo Levoto |
| Arturo di Sarvos |
| Basilio Di Sarvos |
| Bianca Legna di Sarvos |
| Brinare de Sarvos |
| Camillo De Cantante |
| Dante Isaia Cassius krystallo Santiago de Sarvos |
| Darius Belleweather |
| Eleanora Valois de Sarvos |
| Emilio Marsana Saverio di Sarvos |
| Erikas Van Temeshwar |
| Garibaldi Constanza |
| Giacomo Corvinoscuro |
| Giustiniano Sola di Sarvos |
| Guillaume |
| Jacques Damask |
| Leifwyn |
| Lisa de Regario |
| Lorenze Tieri di Sarvos |
| Lucreza Basilio di Sarvos |
| Lucrezia Corvinascura |
| Marigold Dayweaver de Sarvos |
| Marsilio Cellini Crivelli di Sarvos |
| Maximilian Sandermall |
| Milliavaré di sarvos |
| Philoclea |
| Rebecca Fabbro di Sarvos |
| Samuel Lombardi di Sarvos |
| Solitaire |
| Tonis Tevin |
| Trinculo de Cantante |
| Vincenza Tessaro di Sarvos |
| Vincenzo Caravelli de Sarvos |
| Vincenzo d'artevier de sarvos |
| Viola Cattarina Maria De Bello |
| Vissa La Risi |
| Wolfgang Wilheim Von Vanderghast |
| Zarek Vazz Di Tassato |
- Sarvossan business owners can vote to ask the orcs of the College of the Liberated to support the efforts
- It would remove the additional money provided by the College of the Liberated for the season
- The Chamber of Commerce will meet at 16:00 on Saturday in the Plaza
Giulia di Sarvos, who has spent the last six months at the College of the Liberated, suggests that some of the orcs studying and working at the college are well-suited to be able to help. The orcs could spend the season ingratiating themselves in the city, and pass on information to those investigating in the city. It would mean they were unable to do their accountancy and auditing, but the support they provided could prove incredibly useful.
A meeting of the Sarvossan Chamber of Commerce will be held at the coming summit. If they vote in favour of asking the orcs of the College of the Liberated to help the efforts, the support they would provide would reduce the total number of congregations needed by ten.
During the Winter Solstice, the Sarvosan Chamber of Commerce is invited to meet and make a decision whether to ask the orcs of the College of the Liberated to support the efforts or not. Every business owner in Sarvos is part of the city's Chamber of Commerce, and the egregore has worked with the civil service to secure an updated list of everyone eligible to vote. Discussion and vote will take place at four in the afternoon on Saturday; the decision will be made by a show of hands among all those eligible.
How Many Fields?
The Assembly of Vigilance directs the Silent Bell to investigate the presence of the two Grendel spy networks in Sarvos; one of which is reported to be in the Trivento region. As a Priest of Vigilance and Senator for Sarvos, I welcome the Silent Bell to our city - especially those who have survived a season embedded in the Mallum - and in conjunction with the Archbishop of Capodomus commit to such hospitality, ministration, care and celebration as can be provided without jeopardising the Sodality's work.
Laurencio di Sarvos, Vigilance Assembly, Autumn Equinox 387YE, Vote: 364-0- The Vigilance Assembly could direct the Silent Bell to uncover what territories on the Bay of Catazar have espionage rings
- It would take six months, and the Silent Bell could not be directed again during that time
Part of the problem with dealing with spies is that it is very difficult to understand where they actually are. It's a valid strategy to deal with the problems as they come, but some of the Silent Bell look instead to a grander plan. Inspired by the words of Laurencio di Sarvos, and the judgements of Asteria of Ocean Kites Root in the Urizen Assembly and Lochias in the Vigilance Assembly, the sodality wants to spend the next half a year making careful investigations in each of the territories on the Bay of Catazar.
If the Vigilance Assembly raises and upholds a statement of principle calling on the Silent Bell to investigate the territories on the Bay of Catazar, then the sodality will not be available to call on until the Summer Solstice 388YE. However, the sodality will be able to confirm - once and for all - which territories are currently the unwitting host to Grendel agents.
Within and Without
- The Whisper Gallery have made an offer to magicians to make use of the espionage ring for their own advantage
- The eternal is under emnity and employs Shadowcrow Infusion, which is interdicted making it completely illegal
Somehow, the Whisper Gallery has gotten wind of the goings on and the war of spies in the Empire, and is offering to 'help' the Empire identify what secrets are getting out. Any Night ritualist with a military unit who performs Whispering Shadow Courtiers at the coming summit, can consume a dose of Shadowcrow Infusion to invite the favour of the Concilium of the Perjured Throne to join them over the season. They will be able to take part in a unique scouting venture - Exploit the Espionage - to exploit the espionage ring in Sarvos and gain 108 rings, eight random resources, and Grendel luxuries, with upgraded or enchanted military units receiving proportionally more.
Unfortunately, the additional chaos and confusion caused by their presence will inevitably impact the ongoing investigations. For each military unit that takes the venture, an additional congregation will need to take part in the lecture.
This is undoubtedly treason, though that won't bother the Incarnadine Minister who is apparently the specific sponsor of the scheme. The only way this could possibly be legal is if the Conclave removed enmity from the Court of the Shadowed Oracle and removed the interdiction from Shadowcrow Infusion. The former in particular is not without risk - given it would grant the Whisper Gallery much more freedom to act in the Empire.
Prepare for Malice
Treachery, infamy, and villainy beset Sarvos! Two Grendel spy networks operating in the territory. Siakha cultists masquerading as true Navarri. Siakha pirates and Suranni sorcerers assailing our shores. We exhort all citizens of the League: Be Vigilant against these myriad perils. As Vigilance exhorts the faithful to seek the poison in their neighbour’s fields, the League assembly would welcome the peerless kinship of the Highborn in draining this poison, if it were offered.
Estella Lucati, League Assembly, Autumn Equinox 387YE, Vote: 276-0, Greater Majority- An enterprising Sarvosi merchant is willing to use their resources to support building a spy network on the Bay of Catazar
- If a spy network is commissioned in an Imperial territory on the Bay of Catazar then citizens can use Imperial roseweald to pay for the weirwood needed
As every well-to-do League merchant knows, war is just as good a time to turn a profit as peace, even better perhaps. Sofia di Sarvos is a prosperous merchant-prince who has been inspired by the words of Estella Lucati and is looking to employ her Prosperity in service to a higher cause - helping support the Empire's attempts to poke out the eyes of the Grendel.
Sofia has a dozen wains of weirwood from a deal that went wrong. She is prepared to part with it (at a fair rate of course) to construct a spy network within the borders of the Empire. She will contribute up to ten wains of weirwood towards the construction of the next spy network that is commissioned in an Imperial territory on the Bay of Catazar, in return for 26 drams of Imperial roseweald per wain.
If a spy network is commissioned in an Imperial territory on the Bay of Catazar in the next year, then Prosperous citizens can engage in trade with her to support the construction. (OOC Note: Anyone who wishes to engage in trade with Sofia di Sarvos should hand in the Imperial roseweald at the end of the event and email plot@profounddecisions.co.uk before downtime closes to take advantage of the offer).