Imperial Diet & Rules

[The Celtic Viking]

"Kaiser, Magdeburg and Brandenburg go hand in hand: you cannot seperate the one from the other. If you do, and you wish to be that pedantic in words, then I will point out that I only ever surrendered Magdeburg to you. Thus, by this reasoning, Brandenburg still belongs to me and me alone, and then I will demand not only to have all the future income from Brandenburg, save Magdeburg itself, to be paid to me personally, but also to be reimbursed for the money that you would have stolen from me ever since my surrender. When Vaclav returns and I swear fealty to him, he will give me Magdeburg back as well.

So whichever way you twist or turn, by right both Magdeburg and Brandenburg as a whole is mine once I have sworn my fealty. To deny me this would both be unjust and illegal, and it would cost you your honour."

[GeneralHankerchief]

Kaiser Heinrich:

*sotto voce* Always with the nitpicky types, always. Can a Kaiser never catch a break around here?

*out loud* You cannot possibly expect me to allow anyone to retain a Duchy who did not side with me from the beginning or did not willingly defect over to my side. I will not get into a pointless legalese battle when the implications of my negotiations were clear. You will become the first vassal of what promises to be a very strong Duchy as well as a landowning one - a very good opportunity to springboard your career.

[phonicsmonkey]

Ernst of Melk, representing Prinz Leopold, rises to address the Diet.

Nobles of the Reich, my master has sent word that a Polish force threatens our lands south of Thorn. The foe is out of reach of the Prinz' army but could be intercepted by the force which currently garrisons the castle Thorn.

He entreats his fellow Nobles to be active in challenging this incursion by the Poles and to keep our lands safe!

[Cecil XIX]

Albrecht der Bartige, envoy from Provence, stood up in response.

My lord seconds this, and would like to remind the electors that there is no telling if other factions will take advantage of The Reich's weakness by attacking themselves. Only recently has a Venetian army been spotted marching right close to Marseille.

[phonicsmonkey]

Prinz Leopold himself enters the chamber, somewhat frustrated.

Nobles of the Reich, what is the sense of my adding lands to our domain if we are simply to ignore their defence and allow the enemy to saunter back into them unchallenged?

I would have seen to the defence of Breslau myself had my father in his wisdom not granted it to Premyslid. Now The Duke of Bohemia has fallen asleep at the reins and lost the province to the Poles! What small gain we had made has been lost, and many lives and florins with it...'tis a shameful waste.

He shakes his head, clearly annoyed.

[phonicsmonkey]

Ernst of Melk rises to speak on behalf of the Prinz.

My lords, it seems that, our warnings having been ignored, our Polish foes have struck at the Duchy of Bohemia and lay siege to Prague.

It is but a small force that assails the city and one which would be easily defeated should the garrison sally, but our Prinz is unable to reach it in time to muster the defences so this duty must fall to the Duke of Bohemia himself.

Instead, our Prinz and his retinue strike back at the Magyar-Polish alliance by besieging the city of Budapest, which should fall to the soldiers of the Reich next campaign season.

[Cecil XIX]

With the end of the Time of Troubles, the Diet is once again called into session. The Speaker steps forward to address the assembly.

My lords, the Third Diet Sesssion is now open. Please begin your deliberations on the conduct of the Reich.

In addition, please do not forget that there are now four new offices to assume. The Marshal and Spymaster are elected by the Diet from among those who step forward, whilst the Chancellor and Steward are appointed by the Kaiser.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Marshal:
Term: Self-nominated and elected every normal Diet Session.
Powers:
(1) Sole control over the Reich's mercenaries.
(2) Can recruit and disband mercenary regiments in any army, can move mercenary regiments to and from armies or assign to/remove from an Elector
(3) Recruitment and upkeep are paid for by a pool of funds which is sustained by an income tax on all electors automatically paid each turn.
Penalties:
(1) If the pool runs out, mercenaries are paid for out of the Marshal's treasury.
(2) The Kaiser sets the 'Mercenary Tax' rate for the pool.

Chancellor:
Term: Appointed by the Kaiser each Diet Session.
Powers: Can move Diplomats and conduct diplomacy, just as the Kaiser can.

Spymaster:
Term: Self-nominated and elected every normal Diet Session.
Powers: Sole control over all spies and assassins, can recruit them in any settlement with the owner's permission.
Penalties: Pays for all spies and assassins out of pocket.

Steward:
Term: Appointed by the Kaiser, serves at his pleasure.
Powers:
(1) His settlement limit, minus his settlements, is added to the Kaiser's.
(2) Sets tax rates for the Kaiser's settements when in the Kaiser's territory.