Chojin Patriarch
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Ah... Looking to marry off a cousin or niece, of course. Because bonds of marriage are a little more reliable than any treaty on paper. Not that such things stopped some would-be lords. Consider the 'alliance' of Wu and Shu during the Three Kingdoms era, for example...3rd Sigmarzeit 2512
Early Morning
"Yes, I… Mostly try to keep busy so that I don't think about them."
But he's not talking about my family back on Earth. My eyes light up as I look around, staring through the walls and looking for-.
Because the Empire, for all its enlightened scientific advancements, has still not cottoned on about sanitary practices...Ah.
"My sister had just gotten married. My father was approaching retirement… He taught biology in college, and-" I smile faintly "-you can get some pretty odd fixations growing up with a biology teacher for a father."
"I thought that the air smelled a little less pungent around you. I take it you were lectured extensively on the danger of bad airs?"
Maybe he doesn't trust the lady to keep a level head if she went from mere 'Emperor's lady' to full Empress. Never underestimate the heady lure of that much power on a person's state of mind.It's been a while since I read Genevieve Undead, but I seem to remember Karl-Franz's heir being his son. I don't specifically remember whether it was mentioned that Karl-Franz was married or not. Turns out that he isn't, but he's in a long term relationship with a woman with whom he's had two illegitimate children. I don't really know what's going on there. I mean, she lives in the palace, no one's going to take the idea that he's still on the marriage market seriously. His actual heir is his sister Isabella's son, Wolfgang Holswig-Abenauer.
Not least the issue of where to send the results. Too close and you'd soon stink up your beaches. Too far and it becomes prohibitively expensive to maintain.Of course, he's hardly her only child.
"Really, the smell is more of a side-effect of the actual source of danger than a threat to health itself. I've hired a team of dwarf engineers to try and build a sewage system in my village, but it's actually quite hard that close to the sea."
And no doubt even hefty fines can convince them to stop that shit.Karl-Franz nods. "Townsmen here pay night soil collectors." He chuckles. "When they don't just chuck their chamber pots into the streets."
I wince.
"You have something better in your homeland?"
His little burg might well end up being the cleanest place in The Old World."After the late Queen Victoria's husband died of typhoid fever, she sponsored some major efforts in improving sanitation across the country. The dwarfs know far more about building underground tunnels than me, but they actually hadn't considered the U-bend or the flush. Please; once my village is finished, come and have a look at it. I'm trying to turn it into a model that other places can replicate, and… If you like it, I could happy re-plumb this whole palace for you."
Yeah, good luck explaining modern dating practices to someone with an understanding of matters five centuries or more in the past."Hah! That's the strangest bribe anyone's ever offered me. I see what you mean about your father. But… Your parents. Did they have a marriage arranged for you? I assume that your sister is your senior."
"No, two years younger. And no, we don't really do it like that. I mean, we used to, but these days even amongst the peerage, young people are mostly left to organise things themselves."
...Ah. Because of course the classic OL denseness was not unique to him alone."And had you?"
The distraction didn't work. Not surprising given that his niece is in the next room. No idea why he's trying to match her with.. me.
"No. Which turns out to have been a sound judgement, given that I'm here. I hate to think that I could have been forced to abandon a wife or children."
Well, embedding actual spies in Bretonnia into his village might be a challenge.One of the things that I keep missing is the low speed of information transfer on this planet. I see newspapers and I assume that I'm on a world that has the telegraph at least. But it's not. He doesn't know that I have a lover, or that I'm… I've got some sort of understanding with Queen Khalida. Why would he? I haven't told anyone in Altdorf, or spent significant time with either anywhere where someone reporting to him could spy on them. He only knows about the beastwomen because I had to get him to sign off on the Amber College assisting me.
And so he's looking to harness you to his Empire, by way of marriage. Pretty simple logic, really.There has just about been enough time for a ship to sail from Cathay with news about the diggings on the east coast of Nehekhara, so he might have confirmation about that. He had the report from High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer and multiple reports about the various daemon's I've hunted down. So he knows that I'm capable from people whose word he trusts. But I have no significant connections. Raw power is all I bring to the table, and I've made it clear that I'll bring that anyway. The Old World road network is my second highest priority.
Heh. So deep in thought he forgot he had company...So.. he.. wants a threat? Bound to him by marriage? Does he not understand how little I want to rule places? If that was what I wanted I'd have gone to the Border Princes, not stayed in a small Bretonnian village.
"Sir Paolo? Are you well?"
Not really surprised that he'd have spotted her, I see. I suppose this just makes it easier to invite her in without a contrived little ploy."Ah, sorry." I shake my head. "I was just trying to work out why your niece is in the next room." A slight reaction from him, more curiosity than concern. "I'm not very good at this sort of thing."
He turns his head and nods at a servant, who bows and leaves the room in her direction.
I mean, it's fairly obvious, really."I wanted to introduce you over breakfast."
"With a view to..?"
And I suppose this niece is troublesome enough that you can afford to lose her that way?"I have ambassadors in the courts of each of the Elector Counts. It is seldom possible to gather more than a few of us in any one place, so virtually all of our communications happen indirectly. You may be able to fly to any of our capitals when you like, but we cannot similarly contact you. Usually my ambassadors are distant cousins, but given your significance and the lack of existing ties, I felt that someone a little closer would be more appropriate."
...Paol might have to work on a method to allow that contact. Pity a Crystal Radio is a bit too short-ranged."So she would be your ambassador to my little village?"
"The village is incidental; I want to be certain that I can reach the man who can face Greater Daemons in the field and vanquish them."
Among other things, face-to-face meetings with your fellow rulers? Easier to think of someone as a friend rather than a distant title when you have a face to match to the name."Alright. Actually, I was thinking that a big get-together of rulers might be a good idea. Considering that the roads will be going through the territories of multiple countries."
"I think that you make for an excellent envoy. What could be accomplished by meeting directly that could not be achieved with a sealed letter?"
Oh, don't hold that against her. She doesn't smell at all, I assure you!"That's fine for King Thorgrim and King Louen, but… I was thinking of spreading things a little more widely. You know that I am on good terms with Queen Khalida."
"An Undead."
Not really all that many nations in the Old World that the Empire aren't already on neutral terms with."That's the point. Nehekharan rulers think of the Empire as it was in Sigmar's time. They don't really understand the improvements in magic, in artifice or in industry that your people have made. Entertaining her in person could change that as well as establishing a personal rapport."
"And who else?"
Barring a descendant with ambitions and a lack of scruples?"Ah… King Erik Redaxe."
The Emperor sits up slightly. "He still lives? I heard the tale of how he traded the Duke of Marienburg to my great grandfather when I was a boy."
Still, that is an impressive feat, given the High Elves are fairly powerful at sea."He's not a young man any longer, but he still rules the land north of Kislev. Still favours the aesir over the Chaos Gods."
"He raided Ulthuan. The elves don't like you enough to forget that."
Suggest a drinking contest, maybe? Perhaps they'll both die and you can get a more amenable successor?"I'm not asking them to like him. Just… Understand that it's in their interests to negotiate for him to unleash his reavers against the Dark Elves instead of them, or to hire them to fight orcs rather than fight them and the orcs." I shrug. "Heck, he may not even want to come. I didn't want to bother asking him if even you weren't prepared to talk to him."
"If he and Boris Bokha are in the same room, one of them will not leave it alive."
Well, it's a matter of who the piracy is committed against, I guess."It would need to be handled delicately."
"Delicately." He exhales. "I though you were against piracy."
...Honestly not that different to how the French dealt with the Nordic raiders."I am. But if he agrees to limit his peoples' actions in exchange for mercenary contracts, they won't be pirates any longer. If he doesn't, then he's had his chance. I could even explain the concept of shipping insurance to him."
"I think-."
Off to a good start, I see.The door opens, and a well-but-not-ostentatiously dressed young woman walks in, followed close behind my servants bearing trays of breakfast foods. Fruit, fresh rolls, bacon and sausages. Karl Franz stands, and I do as well.
"Sir Paolo, my niece, the lady Richilde Holswig-Abenauer."
I think you just need to recalibrate a little, Paol.I bow my head. "A pleasure to meet you, I'm sure."
She smiles-. I don't know. Maybe I've been spoiled between a elf and a woman with a custom-crafted face blessed by a goddess, but honestly? She looks kind of plain. Slightly short, shoulder length hair brown and straight… The only things that draws my attention is her genuine curiosity about me.
Making a good first impression, I see.She curtsies. "Good morning, Sir Paolo." A servant pulls out her seat and she sits, prompting the Emperor and I to do so as well. "Uncle Karl has been telling me about your plans for a road network. Tell me, how do you intent to maintain it once it is built?"
I take a draft plan out of subspace and put it down next to my plate.
"A combination of road tolls and magic drawn from the network. In Tilea, it was the responsibility of the military to build and maintain roads, and I think…"
Well, that's off to a good start. It seems the lady has a keen intellect, given her initial question. At least she's not trying to play foolish games of romance with him. ...Yet. Methinks the other prospects for Paol might have a new challenger. And an amusing discussion of sanitation, before that, eh? Still, I don't expect to see anyone complaining about that sort of thing... Other than Papa Nurgle.