The Mortal Coil is personally intervening with the recovery of a war-torn nation. Any further interruption will be seen as an act of war and dealt with as such.

WE ARE FUCKING TIRED OF THIS SHIT.

Chuckle. "I see. So the Mortal Coil wants our attention so badly they would resort to trade embargo? Surprising; not how I thought they would move at all. That's a move I might have expected of Castilliathen. And economically troubling until we move further afield in search of business partners. Still, our particular brand of trading means it is far harder to stifle us; long-range trading is still as swift as trading with the next country over."

"Actually, this does provide the impetus for expanding our economic grasp, something I've been hesitating to do with the easier trading contacts close at hand.

"I am curious, though. Dregas, see what 'warning' the Mortal Coil is offering about us, would you? I'll see if I can get in touch with the various people I know within the Coil itself."

Read: go cap in hand to Lenryt again.

Mmmm... the mortal coil is ruled by a council, the head of said council is lynret who is on OUR side. However, she choses to not be a dictator and allows the other arch mages to retain their political power. So, the question is, which of the individuals on the council (IIRC there are 5 besides her). has voted for this measure, and what can we do to sway them or kill them such that this verdict is overturned.

Recall that hte mortal coil is not a country by a guild of mages. Furthermore recall that our job for lynrett, one worth TWO boons, is to open a branch of the mortal coil in the LOD. As such exterminating the mortal coil is totally unacceptable. Furthermore lenryt will see it as a direct attack on her own property and holdings and the paradox knights will reveal our identity and attack us. Some of our followers, probably eisenheardt and maybe cinko and harkburton will also likely turn on us if we attempt to merely slay them. And we will be beset upon by jack and the epic time mage king as well as others.

Attacking the mortal coil directly is about the worst possible thing that can happen to us.
So, what we need to do now is call lenryt, find out who is who. And start working on getting the arch mages on our side from those most open to the idea to those least. (via wordplay, bribery, work, threats, or outright violence).

In fact, we COULD find the least popular archmage and slay him/her and take their seat as lenryt did. We are already an honorary master mage... but we should not jump the gun here... Also its quite possible that an archmage is powerful enough to slaughter us. There are still many beings more powerful than us around.

Ask Dregas how much the embargo will hurt us and if it will make us regress or will just slow us down.
Get the status on the treasury.

Not sure how we do it, maybe Dregas can fill in the details, but make it so that it is economically nonviable for them to stop trading with us. Literally making them slack behind us and our partners.

We have a great hold on many resources, we can still expand to thousands of precious metal and gems deposits, we have huge terrain for food production, our technological base is growing at exponential rates.
The only problem still is to repair everything and make them going.

I know we took a "loan" out of Premen lands, but I think this call for another hefty withdrawal for rubies.
Hmm, the Morgren lands should also have bunch of deposits, so we should look into that took.... and Morgren themselves are great workforce to use... but I guess we will have to wait.

Are we trading with ALL the nations on this continent? The Mortal Coil reach cannot possibly encompass all of it, right? If there are places where we still haven't established trades, tell Dregas to get on to it.


Another, more dangerous and harder, alternate trading option would be to discover a new continent and make a Burduko connection to it.
Hmm... since the planet rotates and since Burduko once too us to space it is possible that the point where he has been doesn't rotate along with the planet and stays on the same place. meaning that he could teleport there and find himself over different part of the planet....
Although, thinking of it, I doubt it, because if the spaces he gets to do not move along with the planet they would be wedged in specific point in the universe and left behind as the planet moves around the sun, the solar system moves around the galaxy core and the galaxy moves around the Universe.

But he could still get up there, wait till planet rotates a bit and drop on another continent.
The only problem is Broggammek... fortunately he doesn't reign over this continent only, he travel above entire planet. So we could just wait till he is half-way across the planet and then make out move.
To achieve this, we basically need to put the Soul Eden on a mountain and have it observe the skies for a while.
When the coast is clear, we order burduko to space, where he last left, calculate the which new landmass will take him the least amount of time to go to and make a landfall there. If Broggammek appears in 100 mile radius, Burduko is to abort the mission and return. He can try again where he last left after the way is safe again.

Hopefully, the new continent would not be as alien (both in environment, culture and governments) as Dionepa and we could set up relations with them and start trading with them.
This would effectively be a huge FU to Mortal Coil since they cannot do shit about it.

>>311629
I agree with this wholeheartedly. Aptly put, Guile.

We cannot attempt blustering and Threats to the Mortal Coil. That will yield to us nothing good. Remember, via Lenryt, we are officially RECOGNIZED by the Coil, but Lenryt is our only real sponsor. The Coil is a dominant force in this entire area of the world, and Lenryt's interests reside there as well: If we cement ourselves as their absolute enemies, then we make her life harder, which in turn will feed back to us again, making OUR life harder.

Those who are trying to opt out of contracts should be informed there needs to be a damn good reason for reneging on a binding agreement.

As for what we should do about the Coil, we've only been denying them because much of our personal research has the potential to cast our nature in questioning light, though not outright expose us. Their constant attempts at browbeating us and blatant lack of respect have only exacerbated that.

Simply put, at this point, we need to get into actual negotiations with them. No more demands from either party, no more bluster from either party. Mutual cooperation to some degree has to happen. Simply put: They want access to our research, they need to scratch our back, then we'll scratch their's in proportion.

>>311717
Sorry, addendum:

I agree with Guile's points made, SAVE for the "Going to Lenryt and asking her to fix this for us"

We should go to her simply for hte sake of arranging the negotiations. That sidesteps the more unreasonable mages attempting to StoneWall us.

So... how exactly are the Coil enforcing this? Will they withdraw services in retaliation or just turn into a mafia and threaten all of our trade partners with kneecapping?

Our network is essentially portal based so they can't muck with anything in transit without actually attacking the network on either end.

>>301616
If you can spare a moment for an earlier multipost that got passed over. We should create Ignitract.

>>311718
mostly agreed... i agree that we should go to her to arrange negotiations, but not just for it. We also ask her for intel on the mortal coil actually opposing us.

I would agree with you that we don't just say "fix this please". We need to fix this... besides which considering all the deals we have going with er its obvious that she opposed it politically and lost, and certainly will not be willing to slay the other council members of the mortal coil.

I could be mistaken, but didn't there used to be 5 archmages, and then Lenryt killed two?

Also, do trade agreements between nations come with escape clauses?

>>311718
I suppose I didn't word that right. I meant, 'Go to Lenryt to find out what's going on'.


Anyhow, we can do this two ways, I figure. One, we do as Emba suggests and both groups put aside their childish bullshit and come to an agreement like adults. We do have Arkus's runic golem control research we can crib, though we'll also need some concessions in exchange for it if we give it up at all. This would have the benefit of making them think we have fucktons of energy we can squander to use it 24/7, despite the runic configuration being an energy hog. The downside is that these other nations might see this as us backing down to the Coil, which simply allows them to repeat the process the next time they want our attention.

The other is the 'fuck you guys, I'm going home' approach. We don't come to the negotiating table, and simply tap other markets. The LoD is the size of all the States put together; Desparden is an as-yet untapped economic resource (as far as I know) and that's not the whole of the continent. We just keep moving outwards, bringing profitable trade wrapped around an blootz steel fist.

Honestly, both sound pretty interesting to me.

Although both of these may be based on an imperfect understanding of the Coil's objectives, depending on what 'warning' they gave out about us.

a possibility is that it's more of a move against lenyrt because they believe we are her puppet than a move against 'mordre', so going to lenyrt might only crerate more trouble.

Clearly, the way is to make our own international mage organization, but with more blackjack and hookers and science.

And or spread that knowledge fuckin' everywhere.

I'll add one voice to find out what the warnings about us are.

While I think the desire for Mordre supposed long range golem control is one reason for the embargo, I don't think it's the only one.
The Mortal Coil finances their member's research to a great part through the school fees prospective mages pay at their schools.

Now the State with its research outposts is probably the biggest, best organized other organization doing magic research and education. In the past they had a excellent reputation and produced new applications and processes. Now it is run by Mordre, a mage recognized for accomplishments in research by, but not part of, the Mortal Coil.

In the Mortal Coil there is probably a rightful worry of the State taking the students from them and drying up their source of money.

So lets check up on Kaisara, how her education goes and if perhaps she shared news about her schooling with others. Also inquire how many of our employed mages at research outpost have apprentices or otherwise provide education. Then see if we can get it organized. For one it gets us something more to negotiate with. For another it implies we knew about that and let it rest but the Mortal Coil's recent behavior moved us to action.

If it comes to a fight with the Mortal Coil, we cannot fight it with might. Instead we will have to take the bread out of their mouth by taking their students and replacing them. Lenryt probably would tolerate this kind of fight, since we can offer her a similar management position in our replacement organization.

On Council business, it may be time to start a review of the research outposts. You know, get the status of current research projects, material resources, including library contents, human resources and unfilled needs.

Another Council business, the State's foreign and counter intelligence services. IIRC they don't exist as such yet. Create them.

>>311822
>Tap other markets
>Ask lenryt
Great ideas, lets do both.
Also... the cribbing research idea... lets actually try more seriously to gain political power in the mortal coil. Our aim should be to become an archmage of the mortal coil to fill the empty seat of the second one that lenryt killed, as well as becoming allies of at least enough of the other archmages to have a majority.
This will work in our favor when we expand the mortal coil to the LoD as per lenryt's contract. And we could further do small favors for her by casting our vote her way... plus being that the mortal coil is the most powerful mage guild this side of the world...
Heck, maybe we could ease up restrictions on "non evil" soul magic, and so on (much harder to prove someone is using soul magic for human sacrifice type rituals then it is to prove that he simply uses soul magic).

>>311876
The Mortal Coil, to my knowledge, aren't the ones who ban Soul Magic. It's individual places, and threat of War keeps the ban in place. Also, we've got access to Mortal Coil libraries just as a Master Mage. So we've got little reason to join a group and have to follow their rules. Especially one as nosy as the Mortal Coil seems to be. We don't want to be an Archmage, we want to have enough individual clout that they don't matter to us anymore.

Also, since we have access to their libraries, let's go ahead and read all their books, improve those we can, and then publish them all for cheap. Teach them a lesson about trade-blocking us.

>>311944
Right, let's go talk to the Mortal Coil and have our minions observe their libraries. However, we really shouldn't publish their secrets on the cheap. There is a line between bloodying their nose and causing a cataclysmic magical war that lays waste to the entire damn hemisphere. Let's just yell at them first, THEN kick their ass.

>>311952
Mordre has access to the library, not his underlings.
Besides, due to his nature, Mordre can remember EVERYTHING with perfect clarity, so he could read all the books and replicate them. Even if his minions get access, they cannot do the same.

>>311944
Second.
And then we pull a trollface
"Problem Coil?"

We should start a research into printing press too.

>>311944
>Also, since we have access to their libraries, let's go ahead and read all their books, improve those we can, and then publish them all for cheap. Teach them a lesson about trade-blocking us.
I'm not sure that's a good idea- it's a serious escalation of the situation. Publishing all the Mortal Coil's works would be an aggressive attack against the very base of their power, and they would be forced to act against us with everything at their disposal. Powerful though we are, I don't know that we can take them in a straight-up fight right now.

>>311981
That's we start with just one series of books. Let them know we can play this game too.

>>311690
I agree with looking for other continents.

I have a refinement to this plan though. Burduko should take some of your Eye-spawn with you, teleport into orbit, and then teleport around drop off eye spawn above clear spots that aren't covered in storms.

>>311944
And down voting any other 'mess with the Coil' suggestions too. Look, that's just being pointless. They sent out a warning regarding us, making us appear as a threat is just gonna have The State turned into the same Cursed Lands as Mosmordre. We don't do this.

What we should do is talk to the nations that have stopped trading with us and simply ask what warnings were they told. Because, remember, even if they say they've been told by the Coil, this could be a false flag operation run by one of the Planet Eaters, the Time King, or Lubu's Enemies.

That is why I suggest doing >>311718 first before we look into other markets. Ask the Coil and Lenryt what just happened, and then talk with them before we go jumping to conclusions. If it's because we haven't come to their call yet, tell them that we are trying to run an empire at the moment and we would have come to them the first moment we had, and sending an angry massager to our door was not the best way to ask 'are you ready yet'.

>>311981
Instead of immediately publishing all their secrets, we could just hold the threat of doing so over their head. They aren't exactly playing nice at this point.

Or we could just find out what that little bugger who barged into our meeting some time ago wanted. This situation might have something to do with the fact that we teleported their supposedly "official" envoy several hundred miles away after refusing to hear him. Not that it wasn't totally worth it. Oh, and let's NOT try and blackmail the collective of amoral wizards. That will NOT end well.

On other council business, how is taxation currently going? I have the suspicion we are all over the place in taxation. THe old State controlled lands are under the State system. The personal fiefs, like around our or Kierson's research outposts, likely have each their own tax system. We should strive for some normalization in all of the State. That prevents internal strive caused by big regional differences.

Another issue is education. With trade we are currently working toward our Empire goal by making others prefer and later rely and depend on our trade system for their supply. We should try the same with education, and not just magical education either. Make the State the general brain trust, where others send their young bright and talented to learn a trade. If implemented properly they will go with a first class education and an impression how wonderful, advanced and good the State is.

>>311615
"Perhaps it is time to inform the Mortal Coil how... displeased we are with their actions."
>[Dregas]"So... do you want me to draft a return letter stating-"
>>311629
"Hah. So, the Mortal Coil wants our attention so badly they would resort to trade embargo? Surprising; not how I thought they would move at all. That's a move I might have expected of Castilliathen."
>[Dregas]"Respectfully, while a mage collective they still monopolize the supply of Arcane texts and reagents-they are every bit a trading empire as they are a mage collective."
"Hm. Perhaps I am too used to thinking of things in magical terms."
>[Dregas]"That... is your perogative, is it not?"
"Perhaps-but it changes nothing about the situation. This action of theirs is irritating-and economically troubling until we move further afield in search of business partners. Still, our particular brand of trading means it is far harder to stifle us; long-range trading is still as swift as trading with the next country over."
>[Carkiano]"What, you're not gonna confront them about this?"
>[Dregas]"Actually, this may be the wisest move-as far as I can tell, the Mortal Coil still is not fully aware of how.. versatile our trading is-and I know they are unaware of our acquisitions in the Mahnlea mountains. Refusing to confront them could allow us to quietly strangle them economically."

"A thought I share. Actually, this does provide the impetus for expanding our economic grasp, something I've been hesitating to do with the easier trading contacts close at hand. "
>[Eisenhardt]"Are you sure this is wise? They are largely a bunch of twats, I do not deny this-but some of their number..."
"I am quite aware. ...I am curious, though. Dregas, see what 'warning' the Mortal Coil is offering about us, would you? I'll see if I can get in touch with the various people I know within the Coil itself."
>[Dregas]"As it happens, I have a copy of one of their requests-though before I read it, I will note that the individual I got it from believed they sent personalized letters to each trader. ...Ahem: Factor Manigam, the Mortal Coil writes you to hope all is well, and that one of our preferred traders is still having acceptable business. We also enquire as to whether you have gotten entangled with the trouble begalling the Azelhaedran State-we fear it's new ruler too turbulent for safe trading... past there it goes into references to past deals that, per my agreement with the trader that provided it, I will omit for his privacy."
>[Carkiano]"Well that's a load of bull-not even telling people outright to not trade, but doing it all squirrelly like that?"
>[Eisenhardt]"Say hello to the official face of the Mortal Coil-why do you think I left?"
>>311652
"Is there any indication of which of the Grand Elder Mages supported this?"
>[Dregas]"Not in the letter, no."
"Eisenhardt?"
>[Eisenhardt]"Best guess? Probably Tiluwatt the Sculpter-he doesn't like ANY new possessors of power, political, magical or otherwise-and Erinythis The Puppeteer-she usually votes the same way as Tiluwatt, when it comes to matters that are external to the Mortal Coil's structure. Beyond that... I couldn't begin to fathom how Lenryt would vote-nor Deregoro The Aged. ...As to the fifth member-I must admit I do not know who they are, and could not comment."
>>311690
"I see. Dregas-presuming we do expand towards other, more distant trading partners-the Gialgorran Isles, Desparda, the Land of Dragons-what will be the end result to us, from a financial point?"
>[Dregas]"Hard to say-I do not have anywhere near the full capacity of trade going with any of those nations, so at best I could offer you a largely unfounded guess."
"An estimation then-I will not hold you to it."
>[Dregas]"...Probably a thirty percent hit to net income for a month until I have fully adapted our trade to work around the embargo."
Thirty percent... not enough to destroy our ability to rebuild and grow-but nevertheless a heavy hit.
>>311717
"Hm. Send word to all those with existing contracts that we will need an EXCELLENT reason why they would try and renege on established agreements-the merchants this does not apply to need not be bothered, as they themselves are not responsible for this."
I start having the Soul Eden vocalize, at a decible below any audible to human ears: 'Lenryt, I wish to speak with you on official matters-it will not take overly long' over and over, presuming the Planet Eater to be fully capable of percieving the utterances-and move on.

Or try to-until I note a ripple in the air, a spasm of color made solid, scintillating in the air-that resolves into Lenryt, this time seated on an austere chair wrought of solid gold, relying on its substance not decoration to convey it's quality. With my past experience with her, it is easy enough to see past the disguise as she makes her body move, lips and vocal chords at work despite her lack of need for such.

>[Lenryt]"You seem to have something to say to me."
"I do-I am curious if you could assist me in arranging a formal meeting with the Grand Elder mages that chose to support this move? I fear if I request it myself..."
>[Lenryt]"As you suspect, you would be rebuffed."
And as you may have surmised, despite my personal capabilities, I do not have as much political power as I would like-hence why I tasked you with the duties to the south. Concerning which-you may wish to make time to visit Lubu once more.
I give no sign I got her mental telegraph and continue with our verbalized conversation.
"Would you be willing to ask them?"
>[Lenryt]"I will ask-as we are a board of equals, I can make no promises they will accede."
It took the deaths of two of their number, but they are finally grasping how to resist me in such a fashion it would be more inconvenient to force them than to accept their resistance. I truly can do no more than ask, lest I risk unraveling the Mortal Coil itself-and as entertaining as you are-you are not yet worth such.
...Yet?
>>311822
I glance at Arkus.
"Were documents detailing aspects of remote Golem Control provided in the form of a thesis-would that help entice them to meet? They have hounded me for such."
>[Lenryt]"It could at that-I will bring your request to them."
Until Arkus can be more adept at hiding his... irregular magical capacities, I would not recommend he go anywhere near the Mortal Coil-nor should Kyorto, for similar reasons. Eisenhardt is a persona non gratis amongst our ranks thanks to how he and Weinsho left-so that means you must bring the documents to them yourself, if you wish to travel this path.
>[Lenryt]"Please do so."
Without another word, Lenryt vanishes-and the rest of the room lets out the breath they had been holding-even Eisenhardt was sweating. ...What would it take for me to be regarded that highly, I wonder...
>>311855
"...Arkus-your apprentice-has she made mention of her tutelage to anyone?"
>[Arkus]"...Sorry?"
"Has she spoken to anyone about the arcane training she can recieve here-possibly comparing it to that available from the Mortal Coil?"
>[Arkus]"..Ah. No, she has not, as I have kept her as busy as... well, me."
>[Eisenhardt]"She won't be talking to anyone soon, then."

From there, the conversation drifts back to more 'normal' topics-the dropping crime rate, the continued improvement to the state's livining conditions, and ever more people coming in the hopes of learning magic-precious few of them already learned in the subject. The meeting is ended shortly thereafter-

And two minutes out of the council room, I am gifted with a response.

As was expected, a formal meeting was declined-but Erinthys and Deregoro both are willing to speak with you privately, and discuss whether an informal solution to this can be found. Personally, I would recommend speaking with Erinthys, as swaying her could lead to Tiluwatt likewise siding with you. Deregoro, however, was willing to meet BEFORE I mentioned your willingness to discuss publication of findings. Both parties are ready to meet right now, and I can take you to either-be aware that you will only be able to bring your faux-body-there is but one Soul Grave allowed to enter the Mortal Coil's Central holdings, and yours is not that one. Your response to this?

This is why I like working with Lenryt-secretive as she can be, she gets things done.






What is my response?
What kind of direction should negotiations go in, whoever I meet with?

Well, it's not a soul grave anymore, for starters.

I'm somewhat wary of meeting them in "person". They're big mages after all, what if they see through the fake body?

Eh, I guess we could just write it off as a security measure.

soul grave? as far i know, our only soul grave was stolen

>>314987
Our Eden-hood is not exactly public or easily discerned knowledge. Precious few people are experts in Soul Graves.

We could have the meeting in person, and explain away any strangeness of our body away as personal modification towards closeness with the golem and personal reasons - anyone who asks beyond that would be overstepping bounds.

Personally, I think you should meet with Erinthys. Ask Bobobo about her before going - really, en route (and we should take a slow route if possible) ask him about the names you've learned.

Remember: Knowledge is power! The more you know, the better.

As for Lubu, we should head over there FIRST THING after things are settled at the meeting.

Also, is there any way you could empower your 'normal body' with Heroic souls from the Eden? Look into this.

>>314987
[Just because it is not technically a Soul Grave anymore does not mean the Mortal Coil would let you bring it-that was what she was trying to convey by calling it such.]

Ah, Lenryt. Such a good friend to have.

>>314936
That would only further our reputation of skill with this power, that we can remotely control not just our golem, but a life golem left intentionally empty for us.


I wonder if that Soul Grave so allowed is the Caemlo Repository, or Lenryt's. No matter.

Anyway, this is intriguing. If we win over Erinthys, her ally comes with her, forcing a tie (I'm under the impression there are six seats currently filled in the MC, but I may be mistaken there; six isn't a very good number for a ruling council). But Deregoro sounds more likely to become a true ally.

So of course, we must meet each individually, preferrably without the other knowing.

In the Erinthys meeting, try to come off as that glove of diplomacy wrapped around a hand of steel. Be polite, but ensure that she understands that we are a very poor enemy to make; we are still accumulating power and allies at a swift rate and if necessary, we could - in time - provide an alternative to the Mortal Coil. Their latest move was slipshod, heavy-handed. It puts us in a reactionary frame of mind, and the State is not without its resources.

The trick, I think, is to give her incentives; making us an enemy will not accomplish the MC's ambitions. If we were truly allied with the Mortal Coil, we could send our more adventurous sorcerous students (the ones who do not wish to remain in the State all their lives) on to the MC, and in return we have a fair amount of sovereign land in which to conduct experiments. Both could benefit if one chooses to meet the other halfway.

In fact, to cement this alliance, we might try to plant the idea of our becoming that seventh Archmage seat, if Erinthys and her ally think we'd be on their side. It seems to me that their Archmages have a wide degree of autonomy, while still reaping benefits of the support network.

For Deregoro, be more friendly. Judging by his name, I imagine him to be a part of the 'old boys club'; play up our own similar breadth of experiences, play up our personal power and connections (not Lenryt, perhaps, see below) and our economic clout, but downplay our military might. Paint Erinthys and her ally as reactionary and short-sighted. Young'uns today, and all that. Ask him what we need to do to resolve this without meaningless loss to both sides.

In both cases, do not mention Lenryt at all if you can help it. If we can get Deregoro and the other two individually on our side, Lenryt wouldn't even need to push our case, meaning we can hide the extent of our own alliance until we can sweep the entire board.

Given her title of Puppeteer, it seems pretty obvious what her motivation is here. The ability to puppet golems or such at distance has got to set her to salivating.

Deregoro, on the other hand, is a puzzle.

I would accept both invitations, personally, with a preference towards Deregoro.

Eh
Not going with my suggestion to discover new continent?

I still stand by it. Mordre doesn't even need to give his personal attention for it.

I'd recommend using your Huge Soul Eden body, as you should rightly be paranoid against such a dangerous and already-shown-to-be-treacherous organization such as the Mortal Coil.

There is also the potential that your wizard body may be uncovered as a bot if you use it there. You said yourself, you don't even use aeromancy to fly, you just run absurd amounts of magic through it to levitate, in such a way as to explode normal wizards.

no, that would be like showing up to a meeting with a head of state holding a heavy machine gun. lets use the small human body. though we might want to take care to try and hide its nature.

ok, so they do not allow your "soul grade" into their holdings and they agreed to meet. But they didn't specify that they want to meet in their office in the mortal coil itself.

So meet them in a "private location" that ISN'T in the mortal coil itself. Build a hovering platform of stone, place nice furnishings and finger food on it. Teleport it into the air somewhere scenic and use soulgrave to hold it aloft. Put it outside your state, perhaps somewhere far away, offer your aid in teleporting there (or lenryt's aid) if they are unable to get there themselves. Phrase it like "I am sure a mage of your caliber would have no trouble in accessing said meeting place, but if you need assistance either me or lenryt can teleport you there".

Oh, do consult with lenryt and those amongst your advisors who know them (ex: eisenheardt), ask if said archmages would be offended by any of the above and modify as needed.

>>316061
we are not going into a fight, if it looks too much like were expecting one we may get it and these guys could probably kill or criple us whit or without the soul eden. so general downvote to anything other than "meet at a neutral location"

I strongly doubt we get to choose the place of the meetings if we take Lenryt up on meeting them now. The Grand Elder Mages probably have trust issues just like we have. I am also reasonably sure we will be safe with our little body. We can still channel more magic than any natural body and AFAIK we can switch between bodies without problem.

>>314996
I think Deregoro has the byname 'the Aged' more because he is really old. He may be one of those immortality seekers you get every so often. He may see a kindred spirit, maybe even a successful fellow seeker. Remember Harmonious Discord is mostly people who some way or other managed to end up discorporated and taking over a golem body. They are keeping quiet, but there should be rumors about the possibility.
Mordre's supposed remote control could look like a cover for a another fellow who cheated death.
Alternatively he could know something about the history of Soul Grave we occupy and wants to talk to us in regard to it.

I prefer meeting with Erinthys first because we have a better handle on her motivation from her byname and the favorable reaction to offering our findings.
Send a message to Deregoro if he's willing to wait till after our meet with Erinthys or if he prefers to set up a new meeting time.

>What kind of direction should negotiations go in, whoever I meet with?
I support Mordre working toward taking a council seat from >>314996.
Make clear you are disturbed by, and annoyed with, their lack of manners and generally discourteous conduct toward your person, with Lenryt being the exception.
A necessity is lifting the trade embargo. I would be willing to offer either a first offer option for the Mortal Coil or mutual discounts, as Azelhadren charges the MC less for transport and the MC charges less for reagents.
I'd allow a Mortal Coil academy in the capital, but they have to keep out of the research outposts.

"It it times like this I wish I had favored your presence in my mind over the intrusion of others. I thank you humbly for your assistance Lenyrt and I will make the crafting of Yeti hats a singular goal for you. Mhm, should speak with Lorgk about that. However, to my response. I will meet with Erinthys by myself as, ahem, myself. As for Deregoro forgiveness on my part for appearing later, if I can still speak with him." Now, get ready to leave. Craft a small puppet out of wood or, if that's a bit too hard, quickly buy one. Then, to negations.

>What kind of direction should negotiations go in, whoever I meet with?
Restrained ham.
Apologetic but aloof about that lad who barged into your meeting: "By the way, what did that Tractomantic ruffian want, anyway? I was right in the middle of a meeting, and not even an ounce of courtesy! I'm quite sure if a proper mage came to me, but kids today with their tractomancy and their disrespect for their elders and their loud music and their hair styles, and their clothing, and their pierced I don't know what and they're oh soul magic is a curse and their fancy pancy 'oh, look at me, I'm so powerful'...wait, where was I?"
Continued Trading.
Attempt to actually find out what our honorary rank means, and actually start using it.
Socialize and attempt to make friends as best we can.

>>314936
>>314987
>>315049
>>316061
No to bringing the Soul Eden in any fashion. This is something we were explicitly told not to do and trying to question or manipulate the wording of the order doesn't sound like a smart idea considering who issued it.

I'm still not convinced that we should play ball with them.

Would be better to economically strangle them. Develop new markets or find new ones entirely (new continents).
The cat-thief (forgot her name) working for us, has traveled between continents and could help us with choosing the right one.

>>317937
The problem with that is that all of the people holding a seat could most likely turn us to vapor even if we brought the Soul Eden with us. We have to play ball with the Mortal Coil for now. Economically strangling them will piss them off, and pissing off legendary mages is not a great plan as of now.

I dunno, something about Deregoro strikes me as odd. To be called 'the Aged' at his rank seems kind of generic if it;s just his age. After all, lots of mages spend years and years to learn the arts. I may be wrong,but I think our buddy Deregoro may have dabbled in Chronomancy or some really dangerous stuff. Perhaps, magic strong enough to cause him to prematurely age?

Still, I say we go with him first. He's wanted to see us for reasons unrelated to the thesis. There is a good chance he can be a very good ally even when we have to face the Mortal Coil.

As for trying to trick them? In terms of the mercantile and governing business, they have a lot more experience when it comes to playing the political game and since with someone with the nick name "puppet master" being one of the top dogs, it would likely be wise to keep our swords sheathed until we either have the skill and power to deal with them outright, or a strong enough hold to deal with the more dangerous elements.

We know already that names have power and 'Puppet Master' sounds like one big red flag when it comes to making friends. Both in terms of her specialty, and what she likely does with the mortal coil. We don't want another Jak.

>>317937

Aside from >>318027, actually strangling them will get other enemies with available resources, like the King Arcturo Fissykus, to pick up the pieces they like and let the rest fall by the wayside.
As it is the Mortal Coil has its own interests and anyone wanting to use the MC has to work with their interests. Short to medium term it is to Mordre's advantage if the MC remains independent and largely unchanged.

Long term Mordre should want to take over and absorb the MC into his empire. My suggestions toward economic threatening the Mortal Coil are more to show just like they can make life difficult for Mordre, Mordre can make life difficult for the MC and there is more advantage to be had by being on good terms with Mordre.

>>318107
I don't think anyone proposed making friends of Erynthis. It's more that we have a better grasp of her than of Deregoro since we only have his byname.

Well, lets ask Bobobo for a quick overview of Erynthis and Deregoro. Things like first appearances, where they originate from, major publications and research fields, how they got and how long they hold their Council seat.

>>318107

There could be another Deregoro. Maybe there's Deregoro The Aged and Deregoro the Younger. Two different people, both with the same first or surname (or even the same complete name, they could be relatives).

>>319295
in that case its younger or elder. aged does not fit.

Eh, not really against any of the plans so far, but I'd like to downvote any attempts at joining the council or becoming an actual member of the Mortal Coil. I just don't think joining someone else's club and having to play by their rules is something he should restrict himself to.

Yeah, let's not join em. Look at how much Lenryt got screwed over. She's powerful enough to EAT the planet, and yet she has to work through the bureaucracy and send out random champions to bitchslap the world into shape. We should still MEET with them, though.

Regardless of our intent towards joining the Mortal Coil as a full-fledged member, which I should note is not really relevant at the moment, we should go ahead with both meetings with the following as our goals:

1. End the "advice" to our business partners
2. Gain additional allies among the Mortal Coil

Focus on the first goal with Erynthis, since she's obviously a first-class manipulator, and having her on our side for that might well sway the rest of them. For Deregoro, though, given his seeming interest in us, it might be more worth it for us to pursue a more personal association between the two of us - whether that is a friendship, strategic alliance, or otherwise. On the other hand his name suggests he is an Immortal of some kind, so he has a wealth of experience and knowledge and, while we may gain something from that, we should be wary that he might suspect we are Anathema.

Yeah,may have been a bit too hasty saying that one part, and I apologize. Though, I may have an idea that could help us with various rolls at the cost of a deep spawn core and maybe a PS.

(Blank) Embodies the concept of Moving Images in the form of Orbs and Illusions.

If done right with the proper restrictions, we would basically have our own TV network among other thing. For example: Use Orbs as a sort of deep spawn camera and have the image beamed in front of the watcher in a sort of hologram using a connection similar to Phohn. Maybe having a restriction that to see the image, you need a properly tuned crystal(with better gems giving a better picture and size perhaps)to the appropriate orb.

Aside from giving us visuals of battle fields and such, we can use them for conference calls, better surveillance(security cams or even scouts), means to preform extremely long range strikes without needing a marker, and best of all, as a way to gain a shit ton of faith.

I mean, imagine all of Mordre's followers WATCHING him fight for them. Hearing it second hand is one thing, but seeing our soul eden leader kicking ass and taking names will be another thing entirely.

While I am not sure I did my best with this, I hope this concept seems reasonable. Afterall, the sound of Mordre TV sounds too good to squander.

uh, is this thread still being used?

Hiatus while Gun for Hire runs a bit. Will update again afterwards probably.