To the Balladeers of the Lost Hearth

[Sunburst]

Balladeers of the Lost Hearth,
Companions of the Grandmaster,
Seekers of the Ephian Cup,

I am told that you believe that the Dakhwar lies somewhere in the dark nightmare below. I must preface this letter with my earnest assessment that you are wrong, that it is not there, and that you will find only sorrow, horror, and torment in the unholy depths of the Assuru. There are no happy endings to be found down there. There are no heroic destinies waiting for the intrepid. There are no wonders worth the sacrifices you will make.

But I am sure my words do not dissuade you.

If this is your heart's desire to journey below in search of your artifact, then I am willing to grant it. Should your ranks come together to vote for me in the Qdim election, I promise to obligate the Astronomers to authorize your Descent. If they do not grant you this legal authorization, the Gold League will withhold the allotment from them until they comply. I will not approve a single dinar, not even if they attempt some maniacal brinkmanship, should they stand in your way.

In this bargain, you will follow the letter of the current law. You will still be required to comply with the guidelines laid out by Estellise Azimi. I will not allow these guidelines to change from their current state today, Qdim 13th; the Astronomers will not be allowed to spite or confound you with capricious games. But you will follow procedures, nonetheless, and give your neighbor a place in your adventures.

What I will leverage for you, exclusively, is to force the Astronomers to approve any given roster of Banda Rossa, Balladeers, or Sisters that the valiant Cinquefoil Rose selects for an expedition.

To save time and not repeatedly field the same questions, here is a brief explanation of the approval requirements under the new Descent Law.

Each expedition will...

- Be reported in advance, and be approved by, an Apothar or Zenithar
- Include at least one Nadiri, Apothar, or Zenithar*
- Include only those also pre-approved to Descent

To further simplify, here is an example of the process:

Before Your Trip:
1) Find someone who has the Passphrase, there are many such people**
2) Ensure you and those who will accompany you know the dangers involved (Optional)
3) Submit a list of those you intend to bring on the trip to any Apothar

The Day of Your Trip:
1) Find your pre-determined Nadiri Companion
2) Treat this Nadiri respectfully and answer any report-related questions they may have during the trip
3) Survive

In the event that your Nadiri Companion perishes, the following actions must be taken:
1) A surviving member of the trip still needs to write a Report including:
   a) the date
   b) who accompanied
   c) what objects (if any) were retrieved
2) Ensure the Nadiri and their belongings are returned to the Tower

Such requirements are necessary to ensure this knowledge is shared as needed to advance the prosperity of Ephia's Well and also to ensure that any disasters unleashed are not concealed and can be properly responded to and mitigated.

* Bringing an Apothar or Zenithar along simplifies this process a great deal
** I will not be providing a list of those who possess the passphrase

Apothar Estellise Azimi

You will not receive a better deal for journeying into the Assuru.

The Descent Law will not be repealed or modified by Marcellus Saenus, nor by Argent Argyris, nor will they allow such modifications while they hold their seats as rulers. You would need to achieve back-to-back oustings against both incumbent Legates. This is extremely unlikely, costly, and difficult. And even if it were achieved, you would only be provoking the Astronomers and Janissaries to hunt you down through the other corridors available to them.

I do not need to remind you of the kind of power these factions could leverage against you, even if this law is removed, even in this unlikely future where both Legates are completely on your side.

If there are other terms and items your order might wish to negotiate, any ranking Balladeer may reply in writing with those additional requests. If we finalize an agreement for your support, I expect these involved officers to sign a binding contract guaranteed by Condottiera Mirielle Rosseau.

If it is in ink, then it is in blood,
DANTE
MORETTI

[Lannister]

The first part of your letter had my genuine interest, but you dashed it entirely later on.

You are offering us very little here that we cannot simply arrange ourselves by gaining an Apothar's aid in descent.

Can you suggest a better way at removing the Astronomer's chokehold on the descent law? If so, we may be far more interested in discussing this further Dante.

Yours faithfully,
Balladeer Aurelio d'Lyon

[Pandip]

Dante,

You must believe that I have the political acumen of a nascent babe to have sent me this grandstanding "offer" and presume I would not be insulted by it.

Outside the Krak des Roses, there are a handful of pinned "contractual promises" that the Gold League have broken to the Balladeers of the Lost Hearth and the Cinquefoil Rose entire.

Forgive me if I find your words cheap and hollow in the aftermath of such broken deals.

You are welcome to make a second draft or elsewise find me in person to discuss your offerings at length.

Consider me unimpressed.

    -- Aubrey Domergue
       Lyrist of the Lost Hearth
       

[Sunburst]

Aurelio,

You could. Go ahead.

It interests me that your number has not done this already. Is it really so unacceptable to bring some Nadiri ravaging in your journeys below? Because I know for a fact that you have everything you need to begin below, held back only by this legal caveat. If you are confident that you could just ask an Astronomer to allow your number to descend, without treachery or obstruction, why haven't you?

If you feel that this guarantee of equitable cooperation is unnecessary, and that you can already trust the monitors to play fairly, then surely your expedition is ready and you can go below as soon as you fill out the paperwork! I would be pleased to hear it. I would love to see you prosper and succeed on your own graces.

I am not interested in repealing the Descent Law, nor will I give you some false impression that I can. No one who is elected this term can give that to you.

But I am interested in sorting out something that works well for you and your Balladeers. Make a different request, maybe; I would be happy to build a monument at the Gates of Dawn, depicting and honoring your heroic triumph, as an example.

Or returning to the matter of Assuru, you might assert additional assurances on how the Astronomers must treat with you, and I might enforce these.

As written, I am already willing to force them to allow you below, to guarantee this regardless of any other conflict or envy or intrigue they might be in the throes of; even if (Sages forfend) Vico Rasca returns from the dead and eats Lucian Nailo's brains in the Plaza. It is a necessary caveat of this that I would obligate you to pick a frightened Nadiri to go down there with you, even then, as an olive branch to the wizard.

DANTE
MORETTI

[Sunburst]

Aubrey,

I am not Argent Argyris. I do not hold you personally responsible for the crimes of Constantine Diakos and declare you a snake-worshiping infiltrator. I do not compare you to Domhnall Guivarch, who murdered citizens and eloped with a magical worm. I do not hold you to the fire for the actions of Ricario Cassella, who sought to shatter Ephia's Well with open rebellion against the Sultan. Do not equate me to my compeer, or believe me somehow identical to him.

He is not Modini. He does not make himself beholden to the honor of our people. The agreement is not sacred to him, and he does not pride himself on it.

The proposed guarantor, regardless, would hold me to unforgiving account if I were to break the contract. I'm sure you already know this. Just as she would hold you.

The proposed deal is realistic. I am offering you what I can compel on the authority of a single Legate, and to offer you more would be radically insincere. Grand promises to repeal the law entirely would be dependent on Argent Argyris, which no would-be candidate or faction can do, and which you have a bulletin board outside your tavern reminding all and sundry of.

You can ask for more, but I won't make promises that can't be kept. If you cannot conscience pet Nadiri in your wandering below (to keep like a dopey cat in your coat pocket), I suggest you seek a new, different angle in approaching the matter of Assuru. Brute force repeal will not happen.

Or better yet, consider where else you want to score victories?

In all this, foreign policy is a much easier ask.

DANTE
MORETTI

[Pandip]

Dante,

Can you deliver to me a reduction of the price of a Voice to the sum of 5,000 dinar or less?

Can you provide to the People the protections of the law regardless of their status as a Voice or voiceless?

Can you rectify the wrongdoings of your predecessors by having the new district placed in front of the Gate of Roses rather than the Gate of Sand? Are you even capable of guaranteeing that the district has no foreign ownership? That the heartless industrialists of Gohari Heavy Industries will not have the leverage to ruthlessly exploit the people they will "employ"?

Can you give recompense for the egregious insult inflicted upon the Balladeers during the last allotment? Can you even proclaim you were anything but an eager proponent of that insult?

Promising to be belligerent to the Astronomers if they waggle their finger at us regarding Descent is not a "realistic deal," Dante. It is the bare minimum to entry in negotiations, particularly considering you have already promised this to your patron, Condottiero Rosseau.

The Balladeers of the Lost Hearth are through being offered little and given nothing. You will have to prove you can do better than this.

    -- Aubrey Domergue
       Lyrist of the Lost Hearth
       

[Sunburst]

Aubrey,

1: No. Under no circumstances will I reduce the price of the Voice. However, I am open to granting waivers to enfranchise deserving luminaries, and advancing Gold League meritocracy in this way is a pet project of mine.

2: Restoring the legal protections of the Voiceless is on the table. I am willing to pursue this as part of our contract, reversing Balstan's "reforms" and restoring Syter-era law. Understand that this will require the cooperation of two Legates and demand from me back-and-forth negotiation with Argent Argyris.

3: No. I cannot move the district project over to the Gate of Roses. That ship has been sold, scheduled, and sailed. The Cinquefoil Rose will have the presence promised to them (Banda Rossa casino, Sibylline charity, etc), but the location isn't changing. I have not read the contract of property sale signed with Gohari Heavy Machinery, but they must be subject to the laws of Ephia's Well to operate here; certain standards to protect laborers and endorse our local economy, such as minimum wage, could be negotiated as part of your political support.

4: Requiring tripartite agreement on how the Rose's allotment is divided, I could agree to and enforce. I do not deny advocating for the benefit of the Banda Rossa, at the mentioned Assembly. I do remind you that the matter has been settled, however.

5: It is good we have agreed on a starting floor for negotiations.

6: This negotiation will not be easy, quick, or painless. But you will get what we agree to, and that is more than anyone else can truthfully offer you. I am here to do business with you, not to swindle you with dazzling words or unachievable ideals. If you can remember this, you will come out better than you have for a long time.

DANTE
MORETTI

[Pandip]

[Received]