Nevill said:
Well, that's the point. You don't ask them to. You order them, and if they disobey... well. Let's say it demonstrates your weakness far more than any of the talks about bad breeding if you leave that unanswered.
That is what I am getting at. Albrecht 'asked' him in private to take a 'vacation'. He 'declined'. If Albrecht forces the issue in public then it will reveal his weakness, his inability to control his children like a proper dwarf should. Right now it appears like the King just does not care, Wenzel is 'beneath his notice' and so no one else cares. If it becomes public knowledge that Wenzel is defying his father,
that will lead to a loss of face/prestige and can be used by his opponents.
Nevill said:
Eh. Let's just say I am a bit disappointed with Albrecht's indecisiveness on this matter.
The only other solution that he sees as acceptable is to have his son killed secretly. He is not so heartless as to desire that so he pretends not to notice, leading everyone else to ignore the issue as well.
Nevill said:
So pretty young, all things considered. A life of military service and being subjected to military laws might still do a boy some good.
Wonder if Morpheus can help with that as well...
The Prince of Dreams is always looking for more pieces for his collection. He does not have too many princes and Wenzel would make it an even three hundred, a nice round number.
Nevill said:
How expensive, actually? One thing I want from Melete is a Final Fantasy style airship to traverse the Mythverse in.
Just make the airship a casino for the fabulously wealthy. It will pay for itself.
A full blown
Final Fantasy style airship though would be quite expensive to build since they tend to be quite impressive constructs. Probably 5000 to 10000 WPs to build and a few hundred WPs to maintain monthly. It would certainly be a powerful tool though and a monument to its owner's wealth and power.
One way to help handle the cost would be to attract investors to cover the development costs. There are definitely individuals in the world that would like the ability to carry large amounts of cargo (or soldiers) across the continent without having to worry about raiders, bandits and monsters. They would likely want airships of their own and you could make a fortune building them (provided it is possible of course). That would also mean that at some point you would lose control on who exactly can build and field such things.
If you wanted to do it on your own you would need a substantial financial (and perhaps industrial) base from which to work. It would take time and it would be a considerable investment but you would also be able to ensure that you are the only owner of such a device (at least for a few years until the rest of the world tries to catch up).
Nevill said:
And does the city even have enough resources to withstand the siege? Where would they get the food?
The government has stores of food. And the garrison currently in Myrgard is as big as the army heading south, then factor in mercenaries, House guards, militias and the like and he can probably field a force of several thousand. No way to know at the moment if that is enough to win with.
The King seems to think that if left alone his enemies in the south will kill each other and he is not terribly concerned about Stoneheim, his is a 'northern House' and the fall of Stoneheim will not hit him as hard as it will many of his opponents. It is a calculated risk.
Nevill said:
We didn't resurrect the Eberhardt... I think... I hope?
Who knows?
Nevill said:
And by the way, isn't it too early for the ghouls to launch any kind of offensive? Nanshe has been the Empress for what, two weeks? Did the clans just surrender to her? There were still those who were content to serve the Watcher. I thought the process of unification would take years. I have trouble linking that to our actions alone, or at all.
There were hundreds of ghôls under the Watcher's command. They are now all free and if your plan worked they have probably all thrown their support behind Nanshe.
The only ones that stayed were members of his priesthood since they would be killed by the free ghôls if they are caught by them.
Unfortunately I can not answer any questions beyond that since Derryth does not know what Nanshe has been up to.
As far as unification of all ghôlish clans goes Derryth believes it is unlikely, at least in the short to mid term. No one knows how many ghôls are out there or how many lands they claim in whole or in part. Some scholars think there may be thirty or forty thousand in total, others think there are hundreds of thousands and a few even claim there are millions. At any rate it would take a fair amount of time and a lot of effort to unify them.
I suppose you could contact her in the Dreaming and ask her really nicely how many soldiers she can currently raise. It might work.
Nevill said:
And yet bringing a military force with you to enforce the King's will is seen as excessive and a gross violation of the law.
That is correct. If that seems unfair I would simply say that it is likely that even the loyalist lords do not want a particularly strong King that can order them about easily.
Nevill said:
Sorry, I don't get it. How else do you enforce your laws if there are people unwilling to abide by them?
City guards mostly and they do not get to use balloons and mortars.
Nevill said:
If one does not obey his liege, that is treason and should be dealt accordingly, no?
Who is disobeying Albrecht?
Certainly if someone
does disobey him then he could send in the army and
draw everyone's attention to the issue but so far there has been
no such treasonous activity.
Nevill said:
I do not understand why I can not use force to make people comply with my requests when they refuse a direct order from the King - or from the King's emissaries. People that do not recognize the King's right to rule are not subject to the laws of the kingdom that are based on the assumption that the King is the ultimate power.
Oh, you certainly can use force on all those that disobey the clear orders of their sovereign lord or his representatives. Should you find such people feel free to.
Nevill said:
Naturally, the monarchy in the kingdom is not absolutist, and the Assembly exists as a limiter of that power. But that limiter only comes into play if the King's order is 'unreasonable', and I don't think a request to release a person that is being held illegally qualifies as such. It is well within the King's rights to demand one to abide by the laws of the state and apply force to see it done if they refuse.
Oh certainly, if someone is being held illegally then it is completely within the King's power (or your power as his representatives) to demand their release. Should you find evidence that someone is being so terribly mistreated then feel free to make demands of the offending party. No doubt they will immediately move to release the prisoner
should they have such a prisoner.
However you have made no demands of Wenzel and he has refused you nothing. You have not even spoken to him yet so the use of such a threat of force would still be seen as quite excessive by the nobility and other interested parties.
Nevill said:
What if his attack fails?
If he tries to kill you and fails then feel free to kill him. You already have permission to kill any or all of his family if you feel you need to, Albrecht has been fairly clear that he places the survival of his kingdom over that of his family.
He would prefer though that you not murder his children unless it is neccesary.
Nevill said:
What if he gets some, but not all of us, sparking a small scale 'civil war' as we will try to get back at him for that?
If you want Albrecht to have Wenzel killed then go talk to Albrecht and if you have a compelling reason the King will put you in touch with the necessary people to ensure it gets done. You will have to excuse him if he does not want to directly participate in the murder of his children.
Beyond that you already have permission to do what you deem necessary to preserve the Kingdom.
Nevill said:
We would not be dead, but something would have to be done to prevent that from happening.
What would Albrecht do then? Ask him really nicely to step down? Because that proved really effective so far.
If Wenzel killed someone important to you and you asked Albrecht to have him killed he would likely agree to it. He likely would not like the idea but if you convince him that it is necessary then that is what he will do as you are much more useful to the Kingdom than Wenzel is.
If Wenzel killed you both but some of your people survived it is hard to say what the King would do. Your people are not worth much to the King directly and it is hard to say if 'justice' would outweigh a father's love for his son, even a son like Wenzel.
Nevill said:
Or will he do nothing and risk losing us, and the kingdom with us?
He trusts you to take care of yourself. If you need resources or personnel then ask for them and he will do what he can.
Nevill said:
I would have to ask again. If his son will work against us while we are trying our best to sort out the situation in the country, would it count as treason? Because from my perspective it is. Wenzel would be actively undermining his own country for personal reasons.
It would depend on the situation.
What he is trying to say is that it would be
devastating for his House to have Wenzel
arrested on a charge of treason.
Nevill said:
Avenging us may be futile, but preventing harm from coming to us in the first place might be a good idea.
The only way the King could guarantee your safety is to tie the two of you up in your chambers and never let you leave the palace. He has given you complete control over the investigation and as long as you don't burn down what is left of the city you will have his support.