We now Have the Earl of Osel, What do we do with him???

[Imarë]

Ok, we have now established the location and identity of the Earl. In his current condition he seems to be unable to do anything for himself (the knowlege of who he is seemingly eluding him). It was good that Sir Ewen was able to peg him for us, and there should (and will) be further talk about that. Knowing the predilection of Sir Ewen for secrets I guess we are lucky he did not touch him on the sly and leave us without this knowlege. There are several courses of action available to us now:

1) Go to the castle (or any official) and let them know we have found the long lost Earl. Considering Imare's reputation at this point (may Siem grant them pustules, don't ask any further...) I would suggest she not be the one to do this. What would the party gain from this, either personally or for their mission. I can see very little. A small reward perhaps if this was seen as a good resolution (which I doubt). This could mean that the Earldom is declaired vacant or continues under the current administration of his wife. This would not do anything to help in fomenting whatever is going to happen (especially if it is not timely). This would be the "feel good" move. I think everyone in the group knows how to feel good all on their own (I think we have probably violated most of the decency regulations already...).

2) Arrange an accident for the poor derelict and let him go to his grave in anonimity. This would give the party very little either. Nobody would know that the missing Earl had become the missing dead Earl (not the anybody seems to care anyway). There is always the chance that this would be observed and reported and I don't think that killing people in the street would endear us to the power structure. If it were ever discovered that the "people" in question was one of five Earls in the country it would probably hurt quite a bit. Imare likes hanging out in the woods but not in the style of Kaldor. So no profit, no advantage, possible drawbacks.

3) This arrangement cannot go on forever. The King cannot ignore the fact forever, and I think the good knight who is responsible for the condition of the Earl would not find the situation acceptable. It has to break soon. We know the man is the reason behind the brutal assault on an Earl, but he does not know that the Earl is still alive or if he does, who he is. I think there may be the possibility to turn this into an advantage for ourselves. There is also the possibility that he is at least partially responsible for the death of the daughter of a Baron (I believe that is what he was). This is the type of information you just don't want getting into circulation, it could lead to social (and perhaps physical) death. Maybe we should put on our thinking caps and see if there is a way to get the son to take a dive at the tournament using this information. This is a long shot, I doubt there would be time to lay the groundwork needed but the information is available to be used on the occasion (do we think he knows what daddy did or did he do this himself to help daddy?). I would find it highly disconcerting to have somebody bring up the subject in mid combat myself.

There is also the question as to whether we bring the matter up to either our mentors or to the Thardan representative to the Kingdom. Do the mentors know already (there seems little they are not aware of). The location of the man would make casual contact very difficult, I don't see the Ladies hanging out in that neighborhood myself and I doubt if the Lord Roulon would recognize him (especially in his current condition). The question also remains as to what to do with the Earl. Do we leave him in his current position, exposed to all who happen by or do we find a way to either bring him onto our staff or send him somewhere safe that he will not be found (or do we know anywhere like that in this half of the continent)?

There is much meat here to be digested and I think discussion would be helpful to us all.

[Imarë]

We also have to make a determination if others know what we do. I would not put it past the Morganettes to have this knowlege and just be satisfied to have that. His continued absence seems to cause at least a little ripple in Kaldor.

[Lord Ewen]

I think you did well in essentially ruling out the first two options yourself, so I'll not repeat the effort. Regarding option three, I think we have far too many other ways of disgracing the Harabors to waste the present opportunity by using Osel in this manner, and I really don't think we want Harabor getting wind of Osel's status or location. Your un-numbered fourth paragraph, however, where you wonder where we might stash the Earl, points us in the right direction.

Ewen thinks our stumbing upon Osel at the close of the last session is a godsend of enormous proportions. We have an earldom in our pocket if we play our cards right, sooner than we might have dreamed, and Ewen thinks this opportunity should be exploited for all it's worth. Trading the Osel coup for merely disgracing the Harabors would be a huge net loss for us, in his opinion. But if we can stash the poor fellow somewhere, as you suggest, and then manuever our own candidate into position to take the vacant earldom, say, then we have a new Earl in our pocket who owes everything to our ability to ensure that Osel never resurfaces.

That's the general strategy Ewen will propose during the summit meeting with Para, and I think it possible she may be of assistance. Bringing Lord Roulon into it seems more dubious, though, although Para's judgment on that will be critical to learn. Let me know what you think, or we can discuss it more on Saturday before the meeting with Para.

[Matt]

But if we can stash the poor fellow somewhere, as you suggest, and then manuever our own candidate into position to take the vacant earldom, say, then we have a new Earl in our pocket who owes everything to our ability to ensure that Osel never resurfaces.

Just so.

[Imarë]

This leaves two problems. The first would be how to get the King to actually do something about the vacancy which he has been ignoring for over 10 years. I get the distinct feeling that this is not high on his to do list. The second would be how to arrange who gets elevated to Earl in this kingdom. I doubt that anyone who is from outside would be able to achieve this. There are several candidates who we already know of. Any preferences that we could work in favor of?

The problem I am worried about is that if we are able to maneuver someone into a favorable position and then actually prod the king into motion, what is to keep this candidate from cutting himself off from us (exile, murder, gibet woods...). The only influence we would have is the former Earl and being able to credibly tie the successful candidate to elbowing him out of his position. I do not think the entire plan will be a short term affair, it might last several years. I do not believe hiding the Earl inside the city is a viable option if we are going to remove him from his present surroundings (where few of the ruling class go). We would need to arrange a place outside the city, perhaps it is time to look for a country place to suppliment our city dwelling. He might also be averse to leaving the sanctity of where he is now, he seems quite devoted to those who have helped him (one wonders how much he realizes about who he is and the protection that his location affords).

[Lord Ewen]

Both of the problems you have identified certainly lay before us, and you are correct in saying that the plan will take some time to put in motion, but I think it's clear that we're maneuvering on a grander scale than we have heretofore, with the stakes quite a bit higher.

As you say, the earldom has been an unresolved issue for many years, and I for one feel like I'm unclear on the timeline here. How long ago was Osel injured, when did Lady Amersyn die, etc? Perhaps others caught that info in the session; if so, let me know. Otherwise, it should be easy to find much of it out.

Leaving the earl at the Peonians seems unwise, as I would like to see how much more I can learn from reading him in greater depth, and frequent visits on our part to see Digger are bound to attract unwelcome attention to him.

But all of these questions really need to be hashed out during the meeting with Para...

[Matt]

How long ago was Osel injured, when did Lady Amersyn die, etc? Perhaps others caught that info in the session; if so, let me know. Otherwise, it should be easy to find much of it out.

Both events occurred about two years ago, Osel's injuries a few months earlier than Lady Amersyn's death.

[Lord Ewen]

Well, that was easy.

See ya in the morning.