Feudal Quest

[fitzgerald]

While i am not against manufacturing bonding time between Dita, Dominic and Boris, It might be rather rude to use our brother for training, especially if he does not propose first. Not only are we not the boss of him, but the opposite is more likely.

Edit: furthermore, he is here on vacation. Talking about important family business is one thing, assuming he is going to work for hours most days for us is something else.

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Actually instead of tactics I'd love for him to train us in Strategy

I'm guessing he's got at least two actions a turn.

Its basically going "Big Brother teach me your Awesome!"

 

[BFldyq]

Actually instead of tactics I'd love for him to train us in Strategy

I'm guessing he's got at least two actions a turn.

Its basically going "Big Brother teach me your Awesome!"

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Dominic once mentioned that Dita was the only other person he's meet who gets more then 1 action per turn.

I'm guessing Boris has been adventuring for some time now. And if hasn't been, I shall be cross.

 

[ShaperV]

For those who are trying to fit in some training with Boris, be aware that his actions this turn are:

Boris
[X] Party with little bro, meet this hot babe he's talking about and charm her panties socks off.

Minor Actions
[X] Get laid
[X] Check out Dominic's magic

...so while he'll be happy to go hunting, spar with you and Dita a bit, talk about possible future wars and so on he's not going to put in enough hours to make it count as training.

 

[Jiven]

I really like Boris' stats.

 

[BFldyq]

All right, with the new information, I'm adjusting my vote.

Major actions
Dominic
1) Host you guests, play matchmaker between Boris and Ezti
2) Magical Research
3) Magical Research

Dita
1) Meet Kolarovo's heir and Dominic's big brother Boris, participate in hunting games and make good use of your newfound diplomacy to show off your awesomeness without looking alien.
2) Research: Camouflage technique

Kat
1) Repair the Keep. If haven't already, make her aware we want the Tower Loft, and apologize for not informing her sooner.

Jaroslaw
1) Assist Bialis with training the troops

Minor Actions
1) Talk with Dragos to see if he has any suggestions about longer term developments to Corzu.
2) Tell Boris about The Hand in Piscia, and our worries that it could hurt the family if it became known they had a base in one of our Baronnies. It is especially troubling when considering that Chesna is now courting the Czene heir.
3) Make sure to always have a word for Dita when she goes too far, she must make sure not to look too alien. Likewise, try to push her to meet Boris' men and socialize with soldiers a bit. She want to become a Hero after all.
4) Try not to get so drunk we go on a panty raid in Piscia.
5) See about getting a helper monkey for Traian and a Blacksmith.
6) Arrange for Aldona and Mira to wear your personal livery, and possible training for a more prestigious/important/valublae position.
7) Keep Boris, and any of his body parts, away from Kat, Dita, Aldona and Mira. Goes double for his men.

I would suggest nursemaid for Mira, but I'm not sure if that'll be stepping on Zarana's toes.

 

[Arkeus]

7) Keep Boris, and any of his body parts, away from Kat, Dita, Aldona and Mira. Goes double for his men.

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Hey, our brother needs to get laid. He certainly isn't dumb enough to seduce Dita (and while i would say she isn't dumb enough to sleep with him, we already saw how vulnerable to seduction she is), Kat probably has a "i am keeping my virginity" mentality strong enough to thwart him for a single month (might need to make sure she doesn't sic a earth elemental on him, though...), but if he does seduce Aldona or Mira it's totally fine.

They are freaking mistresses, and if they are going to sleep around with the first random charming noble that comes around, it's better that we know now than in the future, especially as some are actually wanting to trust them with important roles.

I would suggest nursemaid for Mira, but I'm not sure if that'll be stepping on Zarana's toes.

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I don't want a dumber-than-average-woman as the nursemaid for our babies. One Lala is enough, thanks.

 

[BFldyq]

I don't want a dumber-than-average-woman as the nursemaid for our babies. One Lala is enough, thanks.

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Only by Noble standards. Peasants normally have a score of 1 in either Mind, Charm or both, remember? Mira's normal in that regard.

Also, I want us to eventually investigate boosts to Mind. Which renders your complaint mute.

Hey, our brother needs to get laid. He certainly isn't dumb enough to seduce Dita (and while i would say she isn't dumb enough to sleep with him, we already saw how vulnerable to seduction she is), Kat probably has a "i am keeping my virginity" mentality strong enough to thwart him for a single month (might need to make sure she doesn't sic a earth elemental on him, though...), but if he does seduce Aldona or Mira it's totally fine.

They are freaking mistresses, and if they are going to sleep around with the first random charming noble that comes around, it's better that we know now than in the future, especially as some are actually wanting to trust them with important roles.

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That was half-joke, actually, meant to represent protectiveness/possessiveness, either or. I was thinking of putting in a crossed out "Mine!", but figured that would be blatant.

And now I've had to explain it, making it lose any humor.

 

[Arkeus]

Only by Noble standards. Peasants normally have a score of 1 in either Mind, Charm or both, remember? Mira's normal in that regard.

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Having a -1 in either mind or charm doesn't make someone with a 1 in mind any less dumb.

Also, I want us to eventually investigate boosts to Mind. Which renders your complaint mute.

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Or we can have a nursemaid with a mind score of 3 and boost it to 4. Sorry, but i won't settle for 'average', or even 'good enough', when it comes to our children.

That was half-joke, actually, meant to represent protectiveness/possessiveness, either or. I was thinking of putting in a crossed out "Mine!", but figured that would be blatant.

And now I've had to explain it, making it lose any humor.

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The problem is that they already know they are ours, and if we have to actively protect them from themselves whenever there is a social situation there better be a real reason. Dominic's time is precious, after all.

As is, it will just show that we can't trust them, and them betraying our trust with Boris is the best time it could happen, especially before they are given liveries or, even worse, being trusted with our children.

 

[BFldyq]

Having a -1 in either mind or charm doesn't make someone with a 1 in mind any less dumb.

Or we can have a nursemaid with a mind score of 3 and boost it to 4. Sorry, but i won't settle for 'average', or even 'good enough', when it comes to our children.

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And is that Mind 4 going to be any use raising them any more effectively then a Mind 1? Her primary job as a nursemaid would be to act as a wetnurse for the younger children, play with the older children, and basically make sure they're all healthy and happy. Not educating them.

So having someone who'll nurture and cherish them is far more important then how smart they are.

Anyway, let's not argue about this, it pointless as neither of us are Dominic or ShaperV. We've said our part, ShaperV will comment on it if they decide to.

 

[Arkeus]

And is that Mind 4 going to be any use raising them any more effectively then a Mind 1? Her primary job as a nursemaid would be to act as a wetnurse for the younger children, play with the older children, and basically make sure they're all healthy and happy. Not educating them.

So having someone who'll nurture and cherish them is far more important then how smart they are.

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It's kind of the opposite. You emulate the people you are around, and it's especially true for kids. If your wetnurse is dumb it gives a atmosphere where being dumb is ok/good for the kids in question. 'Nurture/Cherish' is in great parts education (which needs mind) but it's also the baby being around someone who talks well, thinks well and has points of views we approve of, as even for babies it actually builds some real influence.

Anyway, i'll stop now as it's not something that will be relevant inquest for another couple of years at least.

Edit: It does need quite a bit of charm to impregnate social awareness too, of course.

 

[Walkir]

Kat probably has a "i am keeping my virginity" mentality strong enough to thwart him for a single month (might need to make sure she doesn't sic a earth elemental on him, though...)

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Seems you don't remember this part:

Kat scowls. "No! I'm not stupid, Dominic. He just… it was summer, and I was working outside all day putting up the new wall for his father's castle, and I guess I wasn't covered up as much as you prudes think a girl should be. But I wasn't trying to lead him on! When he started flirting with me I thought it might actually go somewhere, you know? I would have been ok with giving him a nice blowjob or something if he'd bothered to ask."

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We do not even want that much.

 

[Arkeus]

We do not even want that much.

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Why not?

I mean, if she wants to have fun with Boris what's the problem exactly? My problem with her actually sleeping with him is that she seems to actually want to marry the guy she is sleeping with (probably because of the virginity bit, actually) which would make keeping her in our employ, let alone marrying her, much harder, but what's the issue if she does decide to fool around a bit?

 

[BFldyq]

Why not?

I mean, if she wants to have fun with Boris what's the problem exactly? My problem with her actually sleeping with him is that she seems to actually want to marry the guy she is sleeping with (probably because of the virginity bit, actually) which would make keeping her in our employ, let alone marrying her, much harder, but what's the issue if she does decide to fool around a bit?

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Is this a double standard, or am I not reading this right?

Anyway, while we, the players, might not mind, whether Dominic minds is another issue. I'm doubtful such a thing would make him a happy camper.

Of c Nope, not completing that train of thought. That way lays lands of madness I have not yet reached.

 

[Arkeus]

Is this a double standard, or am I not reading this right?

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You probably aren't reading it right, as i am saying that given Dominic is constantly sleeping around and is utterly unable to make a promise to marry Kat until he knows what's going on with Zarana, expecting Kat to remain chaste is a double standard.

OTOH, i very much doubt that Boris will be satisfied with a blowjob from Kat, so the point is probably moot anyway. Beside, we have been making it clear to Kat we are interested in marrying her, and she should know fooling around with our brother in particular is not the best way to keep Dominic interested.

 

[BFldyq]

You probably aren't reading it right, as i am saying that given Dominic is constantly sleeping around and is utterly unable to make a promise to marry Kat until he knows what's going on with Zarana, expecting Kat to remain chaste is a double standard.

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I was talking with regards to Aldona and Mira "sleeping around" compared to Kita "sleeping around".

 

[Arkeus]

I was talking with regards to Aldona and Mira "sleeping around" compared to Kita "sleeping around".

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Well, yes. There are totally double standards there, as Mira and Aldona are skill-less peasants whose job is to sleep with us and who also depends on us, While Kat is not only a highly skilled Egyptian Wizardess coming from noble families, but a potential wife, not our current mistress.

Also, i didn't say to get rid of Mira or Aldona if they slept around with Boris, i actually said it was a good thing to know if they do it right now as we will know they can't do their real job (be our mistresses) without bringing us shame. After all, there is the fact that in Borjeria your mistresses sleeping around is badly seen, so it definitely means we couldn't give them our livery or some such as that is a mark of uncommon trust, and showing uncommon trust for someone shaming you is not a good idea.

 

[Walkir]

Kat is going to become our second wife, so I'd really appreciate it if she didn't sleep around... at least not with Dominic's brother before the wedding and especially not before she does it with Dominic if it's unavoidable.

 

[LeoAbogos]

We should have that Hand talk with Boris. Tell him about the camp we found in Pischia and the testimony we heard linking it to the governance of the land. Plus Nikolai's shifty behavior. Seems likely it's one of Pavel's schemes, but our father should be informed and it's a bit sensitive for a letter.

 

[ShaperV]

Event - ???

You're preparing to issue your orders for the month when your lunch is interrupted by the arrival of a frantic, exhausted peasant at the castle gates. Normally that wouldn't be enough for your men to disturb you, but then he gasps out his message and they change their minds.

Apparently Ezti's party stopped at the inn in Igal for the night, and when her escort woke in the morning she was missing. Naturally they immediately started tearing up the village and interrogating the locals trying to figure out what happened. That was a day and a half ago, so there's no telling how the situation has developed since then.

What do you do?

 

[Ghost]

Welp, fuck. We need to send some men down to the western border. Also get the rangers out there asap. Maybe Dita or Kat have some magic that could help.

 

[bastur2]

Oh F...!

[x] get our brother and tell him that he will get an opportunity to see our magic in action.
[x] ask if he has some tips about how to deal with the search
[x] get our rangers and tell them to start too look for Ezti in the direction of Rogatica's borders
[x] lets move our party to there (us, Dita, Katiana, our brother, any of his knights that he wants to bring)

 

[Arkeus]

Ok, it's too late for me to think coherently, but here are my thoughts before i wake up in a few hours:

Igal is in the south-east, and if they are trying to move stealthily underbrush they are probably not past Corzu. It might be best to position corzu foot on the frontier, having another patrolling the roads, and having Dominic/Dita/Jaroslaw/Rangers hunting for them underbrush.

Of course, we should ask Kat if she has any way to get a general direction for Ezti magically, but iirc she is pretty bad at any kind of divination.

Dita... Dita might actually be able to ask Inovia, but i don't know how long her asking would be. Given her ability to run, Dita might actually be the best one when it comes to running to Igal fast and tracking where Ezti's kidnappers (if she was kidnapped) went. Maybe wild empathy might give her a few flash of directions when in Igal, too. The problem would be how to stay in contact with Dita as we currently don't have a potent movement buff and horses won't cut it underbrush. Maybe Kat has some way to keep into contact, but...

Boris... we can't demand him to do anything, but we might ask him if he wishes to participate. As a superior tactician, he probably has his own ideas on how to tackle the problem, and they would be welcome.

EDIT:
We have to make sure they didn't use a boat to take her on the Sava too. If they did, what kind of speed do those small river boat have? we might want to have some men waiting to see such boats, just in case.

 

[BFldyq]

Okay, in descending order of likeliness as I see it:
1) Baron Rogatica
2) The Hand
3) A supernatural nasty
4) A survivor of the bandit/pirate group
5) The Dardai Family
6) Random Kidnappers
7) She left on her own
8) The Church of Khersis
9) The Petran Familiy

 

[LeoAbogos]

Igal is all the way at our south eastern border, with Kiscun. If Rogatica is involved his abductor has been following Ezti's party from before it entered our borders.

I want our rangers deployed south and then on a sweep to the east unless Jaroslaw thinks that a two day lead would be enough to make that pointless, which I rather doubt. Any kidnapper wouldn't stray into the Black Forest, so we don't need to worry about that. Some men should also be sent to our eastern border with Pischia. They don't have to be rangers, but we've had troubles with criminals in that area before and I think it's better to be thorough.

All boat traffic should be halted and searched at Tamasi until this is over and suspicious parties should be asked after, search parties sent up north just in case.

Boris should be notified. Any advice he could give would be appreciated. Dita should be found and recruited to help, but prevented from running off without a plan. If Dita can't be found then this situation has gotten both simpler and more complicated.

Our main party should ride to Igal as fast as possible. Any party met along the way should be stopped and searched if they could conceivably be transporting a bound Dita.

1st Corzu Foot should standby at Corzu keep so that they can respond to news brought by the rangers, if any. 2nd Corzu Foot should be used for general assignments, broken up if needed.

All settlements encountered by any of our men or ourselves should be questioned for unusual activity or strangers.

I know there's more I'm forgetting. We should be ready for a certain degree of unpleasantness when we get to Igal. Ezti's guard may have called in further Kiscun troops, for example. Things will be tense, but that's what we have diplomacy for. And of course, ideally, Boris saves the day as Ezti's knight in shining armor.

 

[ShaperV]

If we assume for the moment that some nefarious party has managed to kidnap Ezti, and is currently carrying her off somewhere, then:

[list type=decimal]
[*]A group on foot headed for Rogatica would probably be due south of your castle right now, near the edge of the Black Beast's wood. Given the relative distances they'd almost certainly make it across the Lim into Rogatica before any normal group can catch up with them, but Dita could intercept them easily. Of course, she can hardly fight a whole group alone.
[*]By the same assumptions, a mounted party would already be at the Rogatican border.
[*]If they took a boat downstream they'd be able to travel by night as well as day (the moon is nearly full ATM, and the weather has been clear). So they'd certainly be past Tamasi already, and are probably somewhere between Kecel and Eztergrom.
[/list]

Katiana does know a divination technique for finding people, but she needs something that was recently part of them (usually blood or hair) and the range is only a couple of miles. So that's only useful if you already have a rough idea of where to look, and you'd have to somehow get possession of a sample first.

Boris points out that kidnapping a lady who doesn't want to cooperate when she's surrounded by guards seems implausible unless there's a vampire or evil wizard involved, and if Ezti really has True Faith like you think it should make her highly resistant to evil magic. Is there any way this could be a plot against you or the Petrans that she's in on?

Dita thinks that's absurd - obviously Rogatica has hired those Hand assassins to kidnap Ezti and deliver her to him for a forced wedding. Oh, maybe they're going to brainwash her first! Yes, that sounds like the sort of thing that dastardly devil would do. She's ready to go find her friend as soon as you figure out where you want her to look.

 

[BFldyq]

Musn't forget the possibility that this is a trick of some sort, or that guards weren't actually loyal.

 

[LeoAbogos]

There was that smuggling operation that there's a decent chance she has something to do with. It's possible she snuck off to meet with the smugglers since she was in Corzu to discuss matters pertaining to their operations anyway. If so, something could have gone wrong. Or she could have already returned to Igal by now. If we want to be paranoid, she could have used her absence and the subsequent search by her men as cover for searching out and destroying evidence of the smuggling operation, if indeed it is Kiscun's.

Since it seems it's already too late to intercept her if she is being stolen away, the best we can do is go to Igal with our rangers in tow and either find her or track where she's been brought. Dita will insist on coming and this is interesting enough Boris would want to come too, I imagine. We wont know more until we get over there in any case.

If Dita really wants to go running around the woods to look for Ezti, I'm not inclined to stop her so long as she absolutely promises to return and report any parties she finds rather than try to fight them. Not much harm it can do and if she has been kidnapped it would be good to have confirmation as soon as possible.

 

[BFldyq]

I think now might be a good time discuss the social status of widows, heirs and marriage law. If Rogatica really did kidnap her and rushed her through a forced wedding, and he then dies without a heir, what would the status of Kiscun be? Would default back to Ezti and any future husband of hers?

And what is the status of widows? Are they viewed as "spoiled goods"?

Anyway, on searching for Ezti: if look everywhere, we risk spreading ourselves too thin. If we don't, and look in the wrong direction, we'll fail.

I'm honestly not sure what to do. Pray to Khersis, and hope that he'll be willing to point us in the right direction? He does apparently answer Ezti on occasion, he might be willing to answer us for her sake.

 

[Arkeus]

Boris points out that kidnapping a lady who doesn't want to cooperate when she's surrounded by guards seems implausible unless there's a vampire or evil wizard involved, and if Ezti really has True Faith like you think it should make her highly resistant to evil magic. Is there any way this could be a plot against you or the Petrans that she's in on?

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Depends what kind of scheme, we didn't get the impression of a deep schemer out of her. Of course, this could be something recent planned by someone else.

There is something remarkably plausible, though: we know there have been smugglers in the Sava, and we had recently checked whether she could talk about it by letter in a missive with other information. It's quite possible that she went to meet with them with minimal guards as they didn't quite want to stop their activity upon the marriage, and they objected to the loss of their livelihood. It could be something as simple as some young hotheads getting in too deep too fast. It's also possible they have been subordinated by Rogatica's men, we guess.

Another possibility- one we do not like thinking about, was that this was planned by someone both the Kiscun and Petran family trusted in order to shame us. It would probably be the Balzar though, and we do not like thinking about this possibility.

If we assume for the moment that some nefarious party has managed to kidnap Ezti, and is currently carrying her off somewhere, then:
A group on foot headed for Rogatica would probably be due south of your castle right now, near the edge of the Black Beast's wood. Given the relative distances they'd almost certainly make it across the Lim into Rogatica before any normal group can catch up with them, but Dita could intercept them easily. Of course, she can hardly fight a whole group alone.
By the same assumptions, a mounted party would already be at the Rogatican border.
If they took a boat downstream they'd be able to travel by night as well as day (the moon is nearly full ATM, and the weather has been clear). So they'd certainly be past Tamasi already, and are probably somewhere between Kecel and Eztergrom.

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All of those are much harder than i thought, but it seems possible in all cases to at least be able to tell whether that option was used, even if only as a diversion.

*For the boat downstream possibility, we should ask how knowledgeable exactly are river spirits. If Kat summoned and used dance magic to get the Sava's spirit to talk, would it be able to tell whether a boat left from Igal at that timing, and where it is now? Does Kat needs to be in Igal for this, or just close to the Sava?

*A mounted party would reasonably leave many traces that could be tracked, so sending our own mounted party to look for such signs should be able to tell us if anything happened.

*For a group on foor headed to Rogatica, how reliably could Dita intercept them? If we are pretty confident in her ability to do so, maybe the best option there would simply be for Kat to use the stealth ward on her, and for Dita to go not to 'intercept' them but to check whether there is anyone. If there is, our rangers would be onway (though much slower than Dita) and she would report back to them, go back to tracking them and following them alone while at least one of the ranger report back to our men on horses in the road to pass the message and the rest follow the directions Dita could give before dashing off.

Those options, while not rescuing Ezti even if they prove correct, would at least bring us information.

Katiana does know a divination technique for finding people, but she needs something that was recently part of them (usually blood or hair) and the range is only a couple of miles. So that's only useful if you already have a rough idea of where to look, and you'd have to somehow get possession of a sample first.

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Clearly we can get such a sample from Kiscun when we meet the men in Igal: whether they are plotting against us or not they have to put up a front that they want her found. If any of our tracking options leave us with a direction, we could then use Kat to further narrow down where she is hidden.

Dita thinks that's absurd - obviously Rogatica has hired those Hand assassins to kidnap Ezti and deliver her to him for a forced wedding. Oh, maybe they're going to brainwash her first! Yes, that sounds like the sort of thing that dastardly devil would do. She's ready to go find her friend as soon as you figure out where you want her to look.

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Now would be a good time to tell Boris about what we have learned about The Hand in Pischia. While them being hired to kidnap Ezti is very improbable, if they were Nikkolai might be able to learn something about it. As said in my minor action list, tell him of our worries about the repercussions of The Hand having a base in Pischia, especially given Chesna's courting of the Czene hair too.

As for Dominic, I think he would be best served by going to Igal (probably with Kat, at least) and trying to get info there. It would be nice if Boris also came, but we can't really order him to do anything. Likewise, it would be useful if his men and their superior training and equipment could be put to use, but he is again the one to decide if and how such things will happen.

Do tell Boris all of our thoughts about this, and everything we are thinking of planning, see if he has anything to say or contribute for. For example, he might think we should send a messenger to Nikkolai, but what could we tell him exactly that would be safe with a messenger?

Ideally, Boris will be the one to step up and resolve this crisis, being Ezti's knight in shining armor.

 

[ShaperV]

I'm guessing a combination of bad terrain, non-existent roads and a circuitous route was the cause. Once we hit the highways, the whole thing will probably go faster.

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Correct. The trip from Kolarovo to Corzu was through hill country with really bad roads. A lot of this traveling would be through areas that have royal highways (the dashed lines on the kingdom map), so you'd make better time.

It's kind of the opposite. You emulate the people you are around, and it's especially true for kids. If your wetnurse is dumb it gives a atmosphere where being dumb is ok/good for the kids in question. 'Nurture/Cherish' is in great parts education (which needs mind) but it's also the baby being around someone who talks well, thinks well and has points of views we approve of, as even for babies it actually builds some real influence.

Anyway, i'll stop now as it's not something that will be relevant inquest for another couple of years at least.

Edit: It does need quite a bit of charm to impregnate social awareness too, of course.

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For purposes of this game you can assume that stats are innate rather than learned. Really serious training might give a kid +1 in one stat, and really serious abuse might give them some penalties, but aside from that the details of how they're raised isn't going to have much effect. It will, of course, influence their personality, loyalties and other psychological factors, but that's a much harder area to predict.

Kat is going to become our second wife, so I'd really appreciate it if she didn't sleep around... at least not with Dominic's brother before the wedding and especially not before she does it with Dominic if it's unavoidable.

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Kat shows no interest at all in sleeping with Boris.

We should have that Hand talk with Boris. Tell him about the camp we found in Pischia and the testimony we heard linking it to the governance of the land. Plus Nikolai's shifty behavior. Seems likely it's one of Pavel's schemes, but our father should be informed and it's a bit sensitive for a letter.

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Boris is not happy to hear about this. But he agrees that it's entirely possible Pavel is running some stupid scheme with them, maybe selling drugs to raise money for his crusade or something. He'll make plans to discuss this with your father when he goes home.

I think now might be a good time discuss the social status of widows, heirs and marriage law. If Rogatica really did kidnap her and rushed her through a forced wedding, and he then dies without a heir, what would the status of Kiscun be? Would default back to Ezti and any future husband of hers?

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If Baron Kiscun dies while Ezti is married her husband inherits the barony. If Rogatica then dies without heirs you have a mess, because it isn't clear who his nearest male relative would be. So in that case Ezti's claim to both Rogatica and Kiscun would be about as good as anyone else's, and in reality the issue would be settled by force of arms.

And what is the status of widows? Are they viewed as "spoiled goods"?

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To some extent, yes. They normally have to settle for a lower-ranked noble if they remarry, and there's automatic suspicion about the legitimacy of any heir they produce too soon after the wedding.

*For the boat downstream possibility, we should ask how knowledgeable exactly are river spirits. If Kat summoned and used dance magic to get the Sava's spirit to talk, would it be able to tell whether a boat left from Igal at that timing, and where it is now? Does Kat needs to be in Igal for this, or just close to the Sava?

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She can try this anywhere along the riverbank, since there's only one spirit for the whole stretch of river. But spirits tend not to pay much attention to mortal affairs, and since it's harvest season there are hundreds of boats on the river right now. Odds of the river spirit being able to point out the correct one aren't good.