TakanataTiJun
It is too late to talk to the Prince this puttering, but I try to get added to his schedule for next puttering in the hopes that's enough time since the last time I talked to him it won't seem unusual to the Marked. :-)
- You can zip back to the Isle of Beauty this puttering to talk to the Prince.
I will in fact go back for my appointment. I begin with "I thought it would be appropriate for us to speak before we leave again." and see if he has stuff he wants to say. If he doesn't seem to, I have stuff to go into, but thought it was polite to let him go first. :-)
- Well, he's clearly pleased with himself about his little "coup" against the Ringmaster - though he thinks that if the circus keeps being coincidentally nearby when interesting things happen, it's possible that Cai Wen or someone else may eventually go on the list.
"Indeed. I do not expect we will be able to keep from being discovered forever, but secrecy remains a valuable asset to be spent as carefully as possible."
- He is also interested in hearing your version of the recent goings on in the Hidden City.
I give him basically the same summary I gave Autumn Rose, with more information about the people working for Lucky Chang and less eliding about what happened in the Throne Room.
"First, your Highness, you should be aware that I suspect it is likely the Mark will return, in something on the order of months. The Alchemist will be able to restore the Throne Room, once he is recovered from the damage he suffered from Bear, unless something else occurs to prevent him from doing so.
- He nods. "I didn't really think Spider would just give up at this point."
If your Highness would care to suggest a sign to indicate that we should not speak freely with you any longer, I will attempt to ensure that everyone is made aware of it.
- He smiles. "Well, tell them not to run up and say 'Hello, your Highness, how is your secret plot against the Spider going' if they're not sure, or really, even if they are sure. But the easy way is, if they set up a secret meeting with Narina and it turns out to be with Narina, that's because it's not safe to talk to me any more."
"Second, I have been considering your question about who we should 'go after.' I advise against planning to actually take out anyone with an official Imperial position at this time - it seems too likely we would be noticed, and too easy for the rest to turn the might of the Empire against us if we were. As one of the Immortals, Li presents different but similar concerns in that regard. On the other hand, Chang and Lung are relatively unprotected. If your Highness prefers us to focus on Lung, I will consider what preparations we can make before we reach Iron Mountain. Even there, however, it is a difficult project, and I am not certain how worthwhile it is if he will simply be replaced by someone who is not an ... opportunistic recruit.
- He sighs. "Lung is the one that really no one would mind if you took out, but you're probably right, that's mostly because he's not that useful."
"Do you have any idea who would be... waiting in the wings, for want of a better phrase? Or even how such a selection would be made? It is likely we will confront Tai Lung at some point, as Master Zhou has a point of honor to resolve in that matter, but if we could arrange to have a... less suitable ... replacement selected, based on our timing of that confrontation, we might be able to arrange the time.
- He shakes his head. "Li and the Alchemist are the most likely to have possibilities in mind, but it would probably depend on what most needed to be done. If it was part of a plan to tag the north without the Warlord, you might lure the Alchemist into moving on it. But it would have to be a plan with a good shot at success."
Takanata nods. "Very well. If an opportunity presents itself, we will see what can be done, but that sounds sufficiently uncertain that we will probably not incorporate it as a requirement for confronting Tai Lung."
"I believe we would be better served by focusing on how to keep them all off balance and distracted. On that front, I am aware that the Cartogromancer is trying to make certain that the Isle is nailed down as a Northern Country and unable to shift again. Your Royal Father, however, has asked me to look into attempting to restore the islands to their proper places.
- "He's looking to build a bit of North Wall here. My father has always been dead-set against that sort of thing, and that's unlikely to change. I'm supporting the idea, but honestly it's stupid - what good does a wall do on an island, unless we explicitly want to say Tokai isn't part of the country or something? So that'll just make my father think I'm overenthusiastic about military defenses, and he'll keep overruling it. So I don't *think* that's going anywhere, unless Song has something up his sleeve, which he probably does. But if you can move the islands back soon, that would be good.
Takanata nods. "I do not have a clear plan to move the islands back, but I will see what I can arrange. One thing I admit I had been considering was arranging to have Wall segments built both here and on the Shrouded Isle, but have them be for the Wall relevant to their original position. If you think your father is opposed to any Wall, I will consider what other methods of arranging the islands to return might be arranged."
- The Prince doesn't know what the King's priorities would be if it came to wall versus moving - that might be the only thing that would make it palatable, or it might be a deal-breadker.
"I will see if I can speak with Your Royal Father on the subject. I admit that as of yet, I am not even certain if it will work."
Similarly, I expect that Your Royal Mother's suggestion to the Regent, that he seek to rename the Hidden City to The Dragon's Throne, will discomfit and distract the Mayor. We will be doing what we can to forward your parents' goals, and as a loyal son, I hope you can at least hold off from opposing those goals.
- "Well, as I said, I'm officially in favor of the idea of a wall, but I'm not doing anything sneaky to get it done, and it's not in any of my official responsibilities, so that's only a little more effective than Tai Lung being officially in favor of the wall."
The Alchemist, as I mentioned, is recovering from his wounds at present, and will hopefully continue to be less than fully capable for a month or two, at least. I am not certain how to slow that recovery, however, as he is currently protected by having cashed in a number of powerful favors with demons. That will leave him short on resources even after he has recovered, however.
- He nods. "You could go after his apprentice - he probably hasn't cashed in any favors to protect her - but it sounds like you've got some leverage to use her against him, so that might not be worth it."
Takanata considers this one. "She has some ties to Ringmaster Zhu, and some personal antagonism with Master Yang and Brother Han. I doubt we will target her directly soon, but it is a possibility to be considered, if you think it would harm him."
- "While he's under the weather, she'll be his eyes and ears. It won't physically harm him."
"But blinding him is tempting. I will bring it up with the others and see if we think there is anything we can do without revealing ourselves."
"As to those on Li's side of the divide, I have fewer thoughts, and would be most interested in hearing Your Highness' opinions. I know that Chang has a bet pending with the Warlord of the Forest regarding a wresting match for the right to sit on the Warlord's Throne, but do not know how far along his preparations are for that, or what he seeks to gain, precisely.
- "Lucky Chang has a lot more irons in the fire than he ends up using. My guess is that he's found some old law somewhere saying that someone sitting on the throne can issue some sort of proclamation or another, because it was flowery-ese for the Warlord issuing the proclamation, and he's good at making that sort of loophole stick. It might be part of his Emperor plan, I'm not sure."
"I see. I will try to determine if there is anything we can learn about what sorts of proclamations those would be, then."
Similarly, he was at one point making some sort of preparations regarding the Golden Palace of the Immortals, but I have no information as to what it was for.
- "Oh, that's interesting."
"Indeed. At the time we learned it, we did not know that Li was one of the Immortals himself. Given that he is, there seems to be several options for what Chang might be planning."
I do understand he recently lost control of the Red Pagoda, but do not know if he will be concerned about recovering it.
- "That was mostly to turn the Mountain. I think he would have liked to keep it as a resource in his pocket, but now that he's lost it again, he's not going to come back for it. It's a gambler thing - once you've lost the pot, it's not your money any more, and you move on to the next thing."
And of course, he recently made a play for the Throne of the Empire, but was thwarted by ourselves with the assistance of the Alchemist. As to the Obsidian Warlord, I know only that he is planning to make a play for the throne himself, soon, and as to Li, I know even less. I do wonder how he is uniting both Chang and the Obsidian Warlord when they are making such seemingly opposed plans for the Throne. If Your Highness can shed light on any of those matters, I would be most pleased."
- "There's a general understanding that... well, everyone wants to be Emperor. At least, the ones who do assume everyone does. But you can't let playing that game distract from the bigger picture, because if Spider doesn't win overall, nobody's going to get to be Spider Emperor."
"Do you know which of them are actually interested in the throne for themselves?
- "The Bureaucrat would rather have the Regency Council; that lets him have greater control. Li isn't interested. If the Alchemist is interested, he's keeping it close to his chest - I think he'd rather be the kingmaker, but I don't know for sure."
"Do you understand what Li's motivation is? My understanding is that he was an ally of Dragon at one point, where the Alchemist has always been on Aku's side."
- The Prince nods. "He's not really very... expansive, on his personal hopes and dreams. But I knew he was way older than Spider was. Anyway, I think he likes bringing complicated plans to fruition, and this is like the most complicated plan ever."
Takanata raises an eyebrow. "He is certainly older than the time Spider has been in the Cycle. As is the Alchemist. I suppose it is possible that an Immortal would be older than Spider himself, but I would not have expected that."
- He only meant older than the time Spider has been in the Cycle. Though that distracts the Prince - are there new spirits, generally? Are there spirits who are the children of other spirits, that sort of thing?
"It is certainly possible for spirits to have children. As I understand it, if a spirit has a child with a mortal, there is a choice made whether the child will be mortal or spirit. I assume, but do not actually know, that spirits can have children with each other. I would expect that they can have children with demons, and that a similar choice is made on the birth of such a child as to what its nature will be. I would be surprised if they can have children with ghosts.
"I suspect that new spirits also simply arise from time to time - if an earthquake creates a new pond, or a village disappears and is replaced by a forest, a spirit might arise to be the spirit of that pond or that forest."
(Int with KS: Spirits, Demons, Undead, World Above, World Below to make sure there's nothing blatantly wrong there:
dice 7 7 6
Results are: 10 8 6 4 3 2 1
Target: 7. Natural successes: 2.
Target: 7. Successes: 4 )
- You are less sure about the last bit, but you phrased it as speculation, so it's good. You didn't spend a Yin for anything blatantly wrong, so your Int roll thinks it's fine too. :)
And how much does Spider actually monitor... infighting? Are there specific rules, or simply an overall reminder that Spider's agenda is the most important thing?"
- "Well, Spider's not monitoring anything now. But in general, it's not that there are specific rules, but that it has to advance the plan. Having a Spider Emperor would advance the plan. Taking out Naraku advanced the plan, because it let them put me in and spiderbite the Island, and he hadn't been getting the job done. But going straight out after each other just to determine who the Spider Emperor is, that's not going to make Spider happy."
"Finally, I hope Your Highness can take this opportunity to relay to us more of the details of your actual recruitment, and what you intend as the end result of your association with the Marked. It has been ... difficult, feeling around the edges of your plans, to discern where you actually intend us to go."
- He sighs. "I'd like to be the mastermind with the long-term plans that cover everything, but mostly I'm improvising. Accomplish things Spider wants to accomplish that don't actually help very much, like Ringmaster Te, or that are actually useful for us, like the sea horses. Or with my uncle, I just wanted to fix things here, and because I made it a Spider plan, Spider helped rather than thwarted it."
- Then he looks more focused. "Going forward, though, I think the strategy is to arrange to have you all thwart us when that can be done coincidentally and without an overall greater cost. For example, I don't know yet what the Warlord's plan to tag the North is, but it's not worth thwarting him on it if it means having the Empire overrun. I think I'll be pulled in on that one, because - overenthusiastic about military defense! - but that'll be a more delicate line. And we'll have to respond to trying to change the name of the Hidden City, but it's not like anyone has a plan for that yet."
Takanata nods. "If we can at least arrange to place a Dragon-ish tag on the North, as well, that might be the most that can be hoped for there. You have not heard anything of the Warlord's imminent plans for the Throne?"
- "It's not like he gives me briefings. But I'd expect him to try for something as the conquering victorious hero, after the North tag."
Takanata frowns slightly. "The impression I got was that he was planning to move more quickly than that. Or at least, that the play for the throne would come in the next few months, and it seems hard to implement a victory over the North before next Winter, at this point. But my information is second-hand gossip from the concubines, so it is possible I misinterpreted it, I suppose."
- The Prince doesn't really know. But he doesn't think that becoming Emperor is the sort of thing you just wake up in the morning and finish accomplishing by teatime - maybe he's doing some necessary step?
