Week 5: April 20th - 27th April

• Investigate the ship and tries to find out where it comes from. Assuming we learn in which city the Queens lives, while making it possible for us to reach her through the Hub, we will do so and attempt to meet her. If we can't do it in in less than a day... well, it will have to wait for later. There's a civil war going on. I'll write the plan me and Kolson and came up with in case we have to postpone our meeting with the Queen.
  
• We want to foil the Aristocrats' attempt to take over Aluvia. So here's it is: Kolson meets up with the Lady of Holtburg to coordinate the defence of the Royal District with her. He would certainly want to have some units under his command and give his advice on the strategy the military should use. At the same time, he would try to obtain more prestige (by making some clever plans I guess and carrying them out) to get more influence over the Aluvian soldiers while looking for a way to depose the Lady of Holtburg. But first and foremost, we want to stop the Aristocrats. It would be nice to get rid of her and the Aristocrats at the same time, but if we have to choose between the two, the Aristocrats will go out first. And just to make sure, yes, Kolson the player agrees with that plan.
  
• While Kolson does this, Zeiss will meet with the Aristocrats leaders in Holtburg and offer his expertise in this endeavour to take over the government. If they're unsure about bringing Zeiss to the big table, he will suggest that they put X number of mercenaries under his command and give him a mission objective; this will serve as a test to demonstrate Zeiss' value as a commander. The only reward Zeiss wants is this: the complete support of the Aristocracy with his plans to take over the remnants of the Undermarket. They control Aluvia as a whole while Zeiss, through the Exchange, acts as the glue that keeps the various companies they own together. In case they don't know who Zeiss is, he will reveal he's the one who convinced them to unite to take over the country. He knew it was the perfect moment to strike against the current leaders of Aluvia and there wouldn't be any other opportunity to do so, which is why he sent his agents to "discuss the idea" with the Aristocrats. Once again, they would stand to gain by following his advice.
  
• Kolson will suggest a plan of last resort in case the Aristocrats are winning: evacuate the Aluvian military through the Veil and bombard the Royal District with the airships.
  
• The idea behind this plan is for Zeiss to rise trough the ranks of the Aristocrat's army and at the critical moment, turn on them and sabotage their plans of taking control of the Royal District.
  
• There has to be some Aristocrats and other Aluvian organizations who haven't taken a side in the civil war. My spies, Gretta's men, and also Qui-Gon will try to rally them under our leadership. Unlike the current factions within Aluvia, we are trying to stop the war against Naverre and to do that, we need to be in power. We are willing to go to great lengths to make it happen... and we could certainly use the support.
  

• Week's profits?
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- Sareth will manage the Exchange when Zeiss can't.
  
• -Zeiss is personally involved- Check up on Sareth to see how he took his father's death.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- Gretta's men will help Zeiss and Kolson coordinate together... and make sure we don't fight each other on the battlefield. They will also gather info that may prove useful for our plan to take down the leadership of both sides.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- Consolidate the Exchange in this time of crisis. I don't want it to implode because of the civil war. We're calm and in control. No need to panic.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- If the two black mages Rory brought are willing to participate in the combat, I will bring them with me to fight under my orders.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- The Exchange's Intelligence, under Sareth's supervision, will use a new method to quell my employees' tendencies to sell information to rival parties. In fact, this will be turned to our advantage. My employees want to keep making some money on the side? Well, now you can. However, I will dictate what info you can sell. Being a criminal doesn't make you unaccountable. My agents will tell you what is "safe" to sell and the Exchange will get a reasonable cut from each deal. Of course, we won't sell straight up lies; half-truths, harmless or old info are now your new products. We could even "leak" some announcements (*cough cough* we're prepping something called the Shadow Depository *cough cough* and a private inn for those who want to disappear *cough cough* maybe somewhere in the Veil *cough cough* here's the supposed route *cough cough*) Two other rules: I also suggest you guys don't try to tell your buyers about this new policy: they would most likely reduce the price on the information they buy. Also, don't try to sell them info you're not supposed to. How will I enforce those new rules? I won't. You'll do it for me. If any of you learn that one of your colleagues is breaking one of these rules (or did something intentionally that could cause harm to the Exchange), tell one of my spies/agents and they will buy this information from you; after verifying the veracity of the claim, of course. Then proper measures will be taken. Also, dear spies, don't try to embezzle the money through some little scheme: me and Sareth will notice.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- You don't feel comfortable lying to shadow brokers about what you're selling them? Then sign up to the new salary increase system! After X amount of time of giving good hard work to the Exchange, you may find yourself eligible for a salary increase! Of course, there's a point at which the salary you gain at your position will plateau... but a promotion may rise it further! By the way, the only way for you to be promoted within the Exchange is to sign up to this program and not sell any info to the Exchange's competitors. Choose carefully.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- Grant Zeiss' father the right to use the Hub and send him 20 pieces of gold with a letter in which Zeiss explains he will see him soon, but cannot right now because of some problems he must take care of. He will send him more money at a later date, so he should rest for now and try to get better... preferably out of Aluvia. If Zeiss' father really want to meet his son, he can find him in Holtburg at X address.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- Rebuild the spy network. We will also look for ex-adventurers to become Ciphers. Every spy will be discreetly put under a Scan spell to detect whether or not they have a "self-destruct device" installed in their bodies. Proper measures will be taken in order to avoid a panic. All new spies we recruit will also have to be scanned.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- I want my people to keep working on the Shadow Depositary and the plan to bring the Blocs together, even in this time of civil war. Qui-Gon is working on this too.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- Send spies I don't need on Assassin's Brotherhood missions. Consider it a permanent ongoing task.
  
  

Higaide wrote:I'll try and make the most of this; now that the story of the spy's death - and the reasons thereto, are circulating throughout the exchange, i'm gonna make note of any suspicious changes in behavior among our people. Some overall change in attitude is to be expected, i guess (and not really for the better), but i'll make special note of people who seem edgier, more anxious or worried or shifty. Heck, i want to know which people are losing their appetite, if possible.

On the other hand, people who carry on exactly as before (like it didn't even bother them) will catch my eye even more. In short, i'm looking for deviations to the trend.


Whoever it was that executed the spy, they really screwed up when they tipped their hand like that. I want to see to it that it costs them as much as possible.

• Investigate the ship and tries to find out where it comes from. Assuming we learn in which city the Queens lives, while making it possible for us to reach her through the Hub, we will do so and attempt to meet her. If we can't do it in in less than a day... well, it will have to wait for later. There's a civil war going on. I'll write the plan me and Kolson and came up with in case we have to postpone our meeting with the Queen.
  The Exchange's spy network has taken a serious hit to its effectiveness recently. I mention this because the network uncovers nothing other than coming up with several ships that might be hers.
  
• We want to foil the Aristocrats' attempt to take over Aluvia. So here's it is: Kolson meets up with the Lady of Holtburg to coordinate the defence of the Royal District with her. He would certainly want to have some units under his command and give his advice on the strategy the military should use. At the same time, he would try to obtain more prestige (by making some clever plans I guess and carrying them out) to get more influence over the Aluvian soldiers while looking for a way to depose the Lady of Holtburg. But first and foremost, we want to stop the Aristocrats. It would be nice to get rid of her and the Aristocrats at the same time, but if we have to choose between the two, the Aristocrats will go out first. And just to make sure, yes, Kolson the player agrees with that plan.
  Kolson rolls surprisingly well for someone who's never been a military commander prior to last week. His initial plans are fairly standard but he's quick at adapting them to the situations as they develop, pushing back against the mercenary forces. Assuming Kolson spends his entire week doing this (which I am assuming), this will lead to slow but costly gains against the Aristocracy until, without much warning, the opposing side withdraws entirely. Kolson makes no successful gains against the Lady, recognizing several times that doing so would be exceedingly dangerous in fingering him as a traitor in a time of war.
  
• While Kolson does this, Zeiss will meet with the Aristocrats leaders in Holtburg and offer his expertise in this endeavor to take over the government. If they're unsure about bringing Zeiss to the big table, he will suggest that they put X number of mercenaries under his command and give him a mission objective; this will serve as a test to demonstrate Zeiss' value as a commander. The only reward Zeiss wants is this: the complete support of the Aristocracy with his plans to take over the remnants of the Undermarket. They control Aluvia as a whole while Zeiss, through the Exchange, acts as the glue that keeps the various companies they own together. In case they don't know who Zeiss is, he will reveal he's the one who convinced them to unite to take over the country. He knew it was the perfect moment to strike against the current leaders of Aluvia and there wouldn't be any other opportunity to do so, which is why he sent his agents to "discuss the idea" with the Aristocrats. Once again, they would stand to gain by following his advice.
  The Exchange and Zeiss are relatively well known to the Aristocracy and is quickly welcomed into their ranks, though none of their troops will be granted to him as they assume (naturally) that he has his own army and expect him to employ it in defense of 'their' cause, referring to Zeiss and their cause as if it were one. They do not commit to any support of the take-over of the Undermarket, but say they are willing to make trade and legal concessions once in control, but details will have to be hammered out later.
  
• There has to be some Aristocrats and other Aluvian organizations who haven't taken a side in the civil war. My spies, Gretta's men, and also Qui-Gon will try to rally them under our leadership. Unlike the current factions within Aluvia, we are trying to stop the war against Naverre and to do that, we need to be in power. We are willing to go to great lengths to make it happen... and we could certainly use the support.
  Because the spy network has lost significant efficiency, the Exchange finds no worthwhile allies in this endeavor.
  

• Week's profits?
  Taking into account operating expenses in military endeavors, net profit is down to 112g.
  
• -Zeiss is personally involved- Check up on Sareth to see how he took his father's death.
  Sareth acts as though it doesn't particularly bother him and shrugs the incident off. If Zeiss presses the issue, his light hearted nature drops a bit. If pressed further, he tells Zeiss to leave it be.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- Consolidate the Exchange in this time of crisis. I don't want it to implode because of the civil war. We're calm and in control. No need to panic.
  The Exchange loses quite a few employees over recent incidents, not the least of which being the Spacial Ley Line erupting, the murder of their best spy at the hands of the Exchange itself (or so the rumor goes), and a civil war literally right next door. This has also reduced roll effectiveness across the board.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- If the two black mages Rory brought are willing to participate in the combat, I will bring them with me to fight under my orders.
  The two Black Mages will be working with Zeiss as he fights the good fight against the Lords.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- The Exchange's Intelligence, under Sareth's supervision, will use a new method to quell my employees' tendencies to sell information to rival parties. In fact, this will be turned to our advantage. My employees want to keep making some money on the side? Well, now you can. However, I will dictate what info you can sell. Being a criminal doesn't make you unaccountable. My agents will tell you what is "safe" to sell and the Exchange will get a reasonable cut from each deal. Of course, we won't sell straight up lies; half-truths, harmless or old info are now your new products. We could even "leak" some announcements (*cough cough* we're prepping something called the Shadow Depository *cough cough* and a private inn for those who want to disappear *cough cough* maybe somewhere in the Veil *cough cough* here's the supposed route *cough cough*) Two other rules: I also suggest you guys don't try to tell your buyers about this new policy: they would most likely reduce the price on the information they buy. Also, don't try to sell them info you're not supposed to. How will I enforce those new rules? I won't. You'll do it for me. If any of you learn that one of your colleagues is breaking one of these rules (or did something intentionally that could cause harm to the Exchange), tell one of my spies/agents and they will buy this information from you; after verifying the veracity of the claim, of course. Then proper measures will be taken. Also, dear spies, don't try to embezzle the money through some little scheme: me and Sareth will notice.
  90% of the spies will take Zeiss up on the offer. Rumors of the Depository and whatnot are going to start circulating, though only locally due to the ongoing communication difficulties.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- You don't feel comfortable lying to shadow brokers about what you're selling them? Then sign up to the new salary increase system! After X amount of time of giving good hard work to the Exchange, you may find yourself eligible for a salary increase! Of course, there's a point at which the salary you gain at your position will plateau... but a promotion may rise it further! By the way, the only way for you to be promoted within the Exchange is to sign up to this program and not sell any info to the Exchange's competitors. Choose carefully.
  5% of the spies will sign up for this offer.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- Rebuild the spy network. We will also look for ex-adventurers to become Ciphers. Every spy will be discreetly put under a Scan spell to detect whether or not they have a "self-destruct device" installed in their bodies. Proper measures will be taken in order to avoid a panic. All new spies we recruit will also have to be scanned.
  A couple of new spies are recruited this way. None seem to have devices in them.
  
• -Zeiss the Delegator- I want my people to keep working on the Shadow Depositary and the plan to bring the Blocs together, even in this time of civil war. Qui-Gon is working on this too.
  I would recommend diverting more resources to this. Personally.
  

K wrote:I'll try and make the most of this; now that the story of the spy's death - and the reasons thereto, are circulating throughout the exchange, I'm gonna make note of any suspicious changes in behavior among our people. Some overall change in attitude is to be expected, i guess (and not really for the better), but I'll make special note of people who seem edgier, more anxious or worried or shifty. Heck, i want to know which people are losing their appetite, if possible.
Effectively everyone who was a member of the spy network is behaving in all of the above, including the losing the appetite problem. This is also a problem for the refugees as a whole. Higaide has no problem hearing across the rumor mill that the Exchange murdered the gentleman in question, the reasons given as to why vary tremendously.

On the other hand, people who carry on exactly as before (like it didn't even bother them) will catch my eye even more. In short, I'm looking for deviations to the trend.
As mentioned, no one is really business as usual at this point. Part of this might be due to the stress of the entire region right now.

Essoje wrote:Javan is going to be back to Holtburg by the start of week 5, possibly in time to see hell breaking lose. As such, he's going to coordinate with allied forces, softening enemy forces for other regular forces to finish the fight, although he'll be taking a few prisoner for questioning, trying to complete the puzzle which may or may-not point to the Exchange's leadership as the original instigators.

Anyways, Javan and the Scarves are going to be making main use of ranged attacks, plus smart use of Javan's daily Lightning balls to take annoying targets out.
Odd question. Whom is Javan and the Scarves fighting?

Rory wrote:Martial training
People who want to learn magic can do so in their own time with their teachers, whom I'm recruiting into the Exchange armed forces as their primary function, with teaching as a tertiary. This adds additional tests Rory very is curious to try, "curious" meaning he finds the idea amusing, and it should provide a great distraction if useful for nothing else:

The mages will cast weak fire spells for infantry to dodge or endure, and create simple storms in an area of the Veil to train during 'bad weather' to teach focus and condition endurance(Concentration and Constitution), mainly for our combat troops. Practice weapons only, and armor not allowed if damaging it with fire is a possibility.
Rory can add these Black Magic teachers to the pay roll, already deducted from the weekly funds. These 'environment' exercises prove simultaneously more and less popular, thanks to the more serious and brutal nature of them.

Guard shift
I'm going to take shifts, watching for anything suspicious. In addition, I'll go out to see if all Black Magic has been deputized, or if Black Mages remain independent and available for hire within the city. Awareness rolls and Diplomacy here.
Other than the two Black Mages already mentioned, Rory finds absolutely no Black Mages not hired out one way or another. A fairly large number are on contract to the Separatists.

Fighting ring
Rory's not going to earn money in the fights. Now he's fighting to inspire, and fighters who impress him better than his own guards are will be noted as candidates for recruitment. If none are better than my own guards, perhaps those who are as good will do.

Zeiss of Dreamkeeper wrote:Edited

More resources are devoted towards the very last task: build up the Shadow Depository and bringing the Blocs together.

And a few question... among the Aristocrats I met, were there any important NPCs I should take note of?
I could make up random names but basically no. Zeiss will recognize a large number of the big names who are supporting the cause, mostly the wealthy land owners, company controllers, and otherwise well invested individuals.

Why did they make it sound like me and the "cause" are one and the same? Am I thinking too much about it? If they're prepping me as a scapegoat, grrrrr.
The point here is they clearly see Zeiss as one of their own, since he's just another rich fat aristocrat who's only out for himself, and so automatically assume he is just like them.

Why have they withdrawn from the Royal District? I guess I'm privy to their plans.

Also, my "soldiers" will be mainly used to cut off supplies routes (and take them when possible), sabotage and surgical attacks against the "enemy". Obviously, I will kill only when necessary to protect my cover.
Quite a bit of this will involve killing, despite Zeiss' best efforts. He also rolls okay to convince the Aristocrats he's on their side despite his incredibly questionable tactics, but he's at Disadvantage. As a result he's not fully privy to the plans of the organization, but he is aware of the general idea; the Seperatists have realized they haven't claimed Holtburg yet, which was the initial goal (and one that probably would have succeeded before the party even intervened if not for the Lady being the tactically brilliant woman she is), so the new goal is to regroup and start preparing for a more long term conflict.

I will also attempt to learn more about the Aristocrats and how best to defeat them. At the very least, find how how best to kill them and/or stop them from paying their mercenaries.
There's no single controller of the group per say, which makes easy solutions... unlikely.