Imperial Diet & Rules

[Zim]

As the debate dies down and it becomes apparent he survived his first Diet unscathed, Helmut allows himself a brief sigh of relief and has his servant refill his wineglass.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Kaiser Heinrich:

You there. Becker. What makes you think you're qualified to serve as Imperial Spymaster?

[Zim]

Those looking closely might notice a brief look of shock cross Becker's face at being addressed by the Emperor himself, before he quickly composes himself.

"Absolutely nothing at all. It appeared noone of higher qualifications was going to nominate themselves, and so I thought I would be remiss in my duties to the Empire if I failed to offer my own modest abilities towards the task."

[phonicsmonkey]

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

Becker is far too unassuming. He is eminently qualified to handle the intelligence of the Empire, having served for some years in reconnaissance capacity for the Prinz before heading the Prinz' bodyguard, distinguishing himself in many a battle against the Poles and Magyar.

The Kaiser would be familiar with Becker's career had he been present for the past decade, or at least at the wedding celebrations of the Duke of Bavaria to his royal daughter!

[GeneralHankerchief]

Kaiser Heinrich gives the Prinz's representative a cool look before returning to his papers without comment.

[Zim]

A loud bang disturbs the dozing servants as the doors to the hall are flung open. In comes a plain looking man, with a mop of brown hair overlooking watery blue eyes and a slightly too large nose. Although his clothes are dirty and disheveled, apparently from a long ride, his livery plainly identifies him as one of Duke Becker's men. He strides to the center of the room and pulls out a scroll, clearing his throat loudly before reading aloud.

Greetings, nobles of the Empire,
As the first to assume the new position of Spymaster I thought it would behoove me to make a general report of the departments current assets and goals, hopefully setting a precedent for those that follow. I regret being unable to deliver this report personally on account of being on campaign against the perfidious Venetians, instead leaving the task in the capable hands of my faithful aid Wilhelm von Staufen.

Wilhelm takes a bow before continuing.

Several days before you likely received this message I sat down one evening with the members of our spy corps. We carefully pored over the assets left to me to do this job and I include this list for you. Names of our agents have been changed to protect them.

Staff:
Hans, a mostly bedridden octogenarian.
Sven, a somewhat clumsy todler who we nonetheless hold great expectations for after he comes of age in 14 years.

Physical assets:
1 small shack to meet in, with leaky roof.
1 IOU note for the taxes that would have gone towards training spies over the last ten years, signed by the previous spy guild leader, who was conspicuously absent.
Last, found under a bench, 1 florin

That essential task completed, we moved on to take action. Our first action was to determine that the shack we were meeting in was far too rat and flea infested to ever be cleansed except by fire, so we burnt it to the ground. Sifting through the wreckage we discovered 5 more florins, only one of them being made of now very charred wood. Our funds were thus increased 5 fold (six if one is a dishonest sort, which I suppose many spies are by nature). We immediately celebrated by moving on to our new meeting place, a nearby tavern rather accurately if unimaginitively going by the name "The Seedy Pub". Once there we had a few drinks (on my tab, not using our newly gained fortune. And of course Sven had a milk) and bemoaned the state to which the Empire's network of spies has fallen.

Not all news is so grim, however. After many rounds we decided that at least we had nowhere to go but up. To that end I have raised taxes in Nuremburg with the hope of building new facilities from which to hire spies. If some of my colleagues ruling over other parts of the Empire do the same, we can not only once again have a competent spy force, but poor Hans can finally retire.

Somewhere around midnight Sven's mother insisted he come home, and we decided to call it a night.

Your servant,
Helmut Becker.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Kaiser Heinrich:

*Raising an eyebrow at this latest report*

Well, er, done gentlemen, well done indeed. I look... forward to future reports of your progress.

In addition, this reminds me. I have decided to assume the position of Chancellor for this most important of terms. The position of Steward will remain vacant. You may all wish me the best in my endeavors at your pleasure.

[Nightbringer]

The doors open and a man looking to be in his late 20s enters the room. He is dressed in fashionable, but clearly well worn cloths, and sports a small pack with him. Held casually in one hand is a leather journal, while the other fidgets with the hilt of a sword. He surveys the scene for a moment, and seeming somewhat bored by it, finds his way to a vacant chair and sits. The man carefully removes a small flask from his pack and takes a drink from it, before spreading a few papers out in front of him. Finally, he begins to speak.

Greetings all, I am Jens Herden, some of you may already know me, (he nods to Helmet) but for those who don't, I am the loyal vassal of our glorious Prinz Leopold von Osterreich. I myself have little wealth or property, but I am here to support my lord and to take in all the wisdom of this council.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Kaiser Heinrich:

Before this Diet session draws to a close, there is one other issue to discuss, and it is more of an administrative thing than anything else. As you all know, Lothar Zirn, while not being in a state of war with the Reich, is being uncooperative and therefore does not have a presence in this Diet. Now, I believe he is currently styling himself Count of Genoa, however, this is unfortunately not the case. I hereby invoke Charter Provision 6.11, specifically Clause 3:

The city of Frankfurt and its outlying province will become part of the newly-created Imperial Dominion. All newly-conquered cities become part of the Imperial Dominion until/unless the Kaiser grants them to a Duchy, as per Charter provision 6.6.

At this time I would like to announce that Genoa shall remain in the Imperial Dominion for the time being. God save the Reich.

[phonicsmonkey]

The Prinz.

Hear Hear! The rebel Zirn should not enrich himself at the expense of the Reich if he is not prepared to swear allegiance.

However, mein Kaiser, your statement seems to highlight a contradiction at the heart of our Charter, wherein your quoted 6.11 seems to contradict clause 3.4 which states:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

3.4 The acquisition and allocation of new settlements is determined by a multi-step process involving the Kaiser and the Diet. First, a settlement cannot legally be captured unless an edict was passed in the previous session authorizing it’s conquest. An edict can only authorize taking one settlement, each settlement requires it’s own edict. The session after a province is conquered, the Diet will automatically vote on granting the conqueror, which is defined as the General leading the army which first entered the settlement, the province as a fief to be held by him and his successors in perpetuity. This vote requires a two-thirds majority to pass, and should it not pass than the province passes to the King who may grant it as a fief to any avatar as soon as he sees fit. A noble who holds one or provinces in violation of this rule should be considered an outlaw, and have his property seized.

How are we to reconcile this? Is 3.4 to be considered repealed or should we continue to vote on the allocation of captured settlements in the way I had proposed to do with Innsbruck? I have no doubt in this case that the assembled Electors would vote to deny Genoa to the rebel, but it strikes me that in the future we may need to clarify this process.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Kaiser Heinrich:

As Charter Provision 6.11 was originally proposed as an Amendment and came after the original Charter was signed into existence, it is my interpretation that the contents of 6.11 override the highlighted part of 3.4 and thus the Diet vote to determine settlement ownership is no longer valid. Instead, the happy task of determining provincial ownership is mine and mine alone.

However, you do bring up a valid issue in that the Charter is somewhat out-of-date and may need rewriting/clarifying in order to properly account for its changes. I will set my scribes to it soon enough.

(OOC: I'll take a look at it this weekend, have to write a paper right now.)

[Zim]

Hmmm...I always took it as the Kaiser granting the settlements unless a Diet vote hands them off to someone, although I see the argument for 6.11 superceding 3.4.

Either way I think the Zirn issue should be settled. Either he should be brought back into the fold of the Reich or eliminated. This half life of his cannot continue and makes the Reich look weak to other nations.

[phonicsmonkey]

Crossbows should be within our capabilities, although I confess myself unwilling to invest too much in the facilities at Innsbruck if it is not to be my permanent posession.

Perhaps as Spymaster you could take it upon yourself to ascertain the state of facilities at Ragusa, while keeping a close eye on Turkish troop movements in the east?

As to Zirn, to my mind he exists in his limbo only because we have been beset with other more pressing issues. I agree that the matter should be seyttled forthwith...one way or another..

[Zim]

I plan on sending a spy to Ragusa right away if I get the position. As per the Turks, I would keep an eye on them for troop movements, although a diplomatic envoy still seems advisable. Spies cannot ascertain their intentions or the mood in their capital, only tell us where their armies are. Valuable information, but nonetheless information that can do with some supplementing.

[The Celtic Viking]

Theodericus der Bartige finally puts down his pen and stands up. With another wave of his fingers, Friedrich von Eisel speaks.

"The Magnificent Margrave of Magdeburg wishes to speak."

He bows to Theodericus, and then sits down. Theodericus lifts his right hand in salute, and then turns to the Prinz and...

"... who are you? I fail to put a name to your face, you who think that nominating yourself for Spymaster is the same as acquiring that position. It is not, as I shall teach you, so you shouldn't be so arrogant as to presume such a thing. Lets make a sport out of it, shall we? I nominate myself for the position of Spymaster.

Moving on, I would like to propose the following:

Charter Amendment 4.1c

Should Charter Amendment 4.1b pass, the following should be added to the Marshall position:
Penalties:
(3) The Marshall's army has 2 priorities, in order of importance:

a) To defend the Reich's current possessions

b) To reclaim lost settlements

The Marshall's army cannot be used to conquer new settlements

(4) The Marshall shall while holding this position lose all his ties to his Duchy and answer only to the Kaiser and the Diet

I believe that this is a fair amendment to make sure that the Marshall's army is indeed used as advertised, and not abused to serve any one specific Duchy's interests.

I also have two House Edicts to make. As I am the only representative here from Brandenburg-Bohemia who is eligible to vote, they require no seconders.

House Edict 4.4: The Diet authorizes Margrave Theodericus der Bartige to capture Stettin.

House Edict 4.5: The Diet authorizes Margrave Theodericus der Bartige to capture Breslau.

[phonicsmonkey]

The Prinz grins at the Margrave's irascible nature.

Good Margrave, it is a pleasure to see you in such fine spirits.

I may be able to support your amendment but I'm not sure exactly what it means. What, in practice, will the following mean for the Marshall?

(4)The Marshall shall while holding this position lose all his ties to his Duchy and answer only to the Kaiser and the Diet.

It is a worthy sentiment but vaguely drafted at present - it could be given a wide range of interpretations. Pray be more specific and I might consider seconding it.

I should also point out that I will not support this measure unless point 3 is redrafted thus:

The Marshall's army cannot be used to conquer new settlements unless expressly authorised to do so by the Diet.

This will allow us flexibility should we collectively decide to use the Reichsmarschall's force as part of an offensive against an enemy which threatens the Reich and must be eradicated.

I agree with the sentiment which I perceive to be behind it, which is that the centrally funded army should not be used to further the territorial ambitions of individuals.

[Zim]

Elberhard raises an eyebrow at the Margrave's antics.

Me? I am just a servant of the Empire. With the diet starting to come to a close I decided that I would step in where it seemed noone else would. As a mere noble of the Reich I imagine I have no chance against one so "illustrious" as the Margrave, but if nothing else my candidacy can serve as a testament to the prestige of the Margrave with his inevitable win.

Theodericus der Bartige finally puts down his pen and stands up. With another wave of his fingers, Friedrich von Eisel speaks.

"The Magnificent Margrave of Magdeburg wishes to speak."

He bows to Theodericus, and then sits down. Theodericus lifts his right hand in salute, and then turns to the Prinz and...

"... who are you? I fail to put a name to your face, you who think that nominating yourself for Spymaster is the same as acquiring that position. It is not, as I shall teach you, so you shouldn't be so arrogant as to presume such a thing. Lets make a sport out of it, shall we? I nominate myself for the position of Spymaster.