Imperial Diet & Rules

[The Celtic Viking]

A man enters the Diet and heads up to Friedrich von Eisel. They salute each other, and the man hands Friedrich a paper. After a short exchange of words, they once again salutes each other, and the man turns and leaves as quickly as he came. Friedrich turns his attention to the paper, reads it quietly for himself before he stands up and addresses the Diet.

"Mein Kaiser, electors of the Reich, and representatives, I have now in my hand Margrave Theodericus der Bartige's answer."

He holds up the paper as if he subconsciously wished to prove to everyone the truth of his statement.

"I will now read it out loud for you to hear." He clears his throat.

Kaiser, I have recieved both your requests, and for lack of time I will answer them briefly and in turn. As for your first request, I immediately sent orders to my army to move west, and have joined up with it myself. I will be able to reach the walls in time to join in your assault. I have, though, left Magdeburg practically undefended to ensure as quick and decisive a victory as possible, sure enough that the new recruits will be ready in time to defend the walls should anyone wish to attack it while I'm gone. Still, as my loyalty to you and the Reich has lately come into question, despite the fact that I, alone, fitted the bill for a church in Prague, that is only being built to keep our relations with the Pope from worsening, I would like to have it noted in the records what personal risks I am willing to take for You and for it.

As for your second request, I am not pleased at all with your involvement in the matter. I wish to underline the fact that I, myself, laid the grounds and the organization to form the Brandenburgian cavalry regiments, and I did so using my own money before you had even come back from your vacation. As such, you have no purchase on the use of those facilities! However, I am still willing, for this time, to rethink my decision in the matter, in the interest of friendship and peace. If a guarantee can be given that no man I send will ever, under any circumstances, fall under the command of this Jens Herden, or anyone who should find himself unfortunate enough to be subservient to this maggot, then I can agree - retaining a right to recall my men should the aforementioned come to pass. I simply cannot and will not degrade and debase any man of Brandenburg-Bohemia by sending them off to be led by someone who isn't fit to lead a herd of sheep, much less a unit of Men.

I trust that you will respect my decision on the matter.

Signed,
Theodericus der Bartige
Margrave of Brandenburg-Bohemia

Friedrich puts the paper away and turns to Ernst of Melk.

"You are absolutely entitled to ask for a briefing of my lord's plans, and I shall give it to you, and to the rest of this Diet, such as I am able. Margrave Theodericus der Bartige believes that a strategically important point on the northern front is and has always been the castle of Stettin. Whoever controls it has access to the Baltic sea, and it can serve the enemy as a place from which to launch an attack on Magdeburg. For as long as it is in enemy hands it will always be a threat to our northern border, and therefore Theodericus deems it critical that we take it. If we do, we will not only have made our positions much more secure, but we will also put much more pressure on the Poles, who will undoubtedly recognize this as a big threat to the town of Breslau. With Stettin in our hands, we can exercise our control over the whole of Pomerania, and with coordination with Prague a pincer attack can then be made at Breslau.

I don't suspect such an attack to be viable immediately, but just the threat of such an attack should put us in a more diplomatically favourable position towards the Poles.

Lastly, I would like to ask you, Ernst of Melk, as the representative of the Prinz, holding the office of Spymaster, how much hope could my lord have of gaining some assistance from the intelligence department in this offensive?"

[Nightbringer]

I do not wish to speak for my lord, but I think it would be quite fair to let you make the use of a spy, provided you pay the required fees of course.
I must also question a certain phrase from the letter. "you have no purchase on the use of those facilities!"
As a loyal follower of the Kaizer, did you not swear the oath, "I will not question his supremacy."
And yet here you have denied his right to command you. You have instead given "permission" for the Kaiser to use your facilities provided he follows what you demand.

This is blatant insolence and disloyalty!

[The Celtic Viking]

Friedrich, visibly unimpressed, waves Jens Herden off.

"If you do not understand what a margravate is, or even the revolutionary concept of personal belongings, then you should leave such matters to us grown-ups who do."

[Nightbringer]

Friedrich, visibly unimpressed, waves Jens Herden off.

"If you do not understand what a margravate is, or even the revolutionary concept of personal belongings, then you should leave such matters to us grown-ups who do."

You do not seem to understand the concept of loyalty to the Reich as a whole, rather than simply to your own personal vanity.

[phonicsmonkey]

The Prinz himself enters the Diet, black cape swirling behind him as he strides down the aisle to the front. With a menacing scowl he commands Herden to sit and be silent. He then turns to the Margrave's representative.

You sir, would you be so kind as to convey this message to your master?

Good der Bartige, I trust you are well.

Let me first apologise for your rough treatment at the hands of my representatives and vassals. They have been disrespectful to your status and personal authority and for that they will be chastised. However, I beg that you understand that the perils we currently face have served to somewhat erode the usual constraints of hierarchy. I believe this to be a good thing overall as it allows a man to speak his mind and share opinions which may be valuable, nay even vital, to the very life of the Reich.

Secondly, let me thank you for your support of my father the Kaiser in the recapture of Frankfurt. With your assistance I am assured that our great capital will be returned to us forthwith. This will greatly improve our chances of a successful sally to the east against the Poles. I agree with your strategic assessment and support your plan to concentrate on capturing the castle of Stettin in the first instance.

Thirdly, to the matter of the cavalry, again I thank you for your offer. Would it be possible for you to outline exactly how many units you shall be able to offer? Three would be well received, but we can suffice with the services of two if necessary.

But I beg you to reconsider your restriction. My strategic plan relies entirely on my ability to leave Sir Herden in command of a small force of cavalry which shall sweep the Austrian border for Magyar incursions. Whatever you may think of his manners, he is a skilled cavalry commander and I have no doubt that your men will find him an able and inspirational leader in battle.

Should you be willing to relax this constraint I will make every effort to provide you with a spy for the purpose of scouting out the Polish invasion. Indeed, I have one such a man in training whom I had earmarked for a mission to Hungary in order to provide us forewarning of any Magyar attacks, but I will divert him to your service instead, provided that is that you are willing to take over his upkeep in the same way as I shall do with your cavalry. Do not also forget that I am to recompense you for the recruitment costs of the horse - I will not ask the same of you for the spy.

I trust this message shall be received in the spirit that it is offered - that of peace and friendship among the great houses of the Reich.

[Nightbringer]

Looking somewhat ashamed
You are right my Lord, I am sorry, I spoke out of turn and without respect for my superiors.

Please convey my apologies to the Margrave, while I disagree with his words, his actions speaker louder, and they speak of a true loyalty to the Reich. His actions to recapture Frankfurt make that clear.

I hope this affair shall not forever spoil my relations with the Margrave, I am young yet, and though I may know well how to acquit myself on the battlefield, and in the camp with my men, I still have much to learn about the court.

[The Celtic Viking]

Friedrich von Eisler:

"On the note that you ended, mein Prinz, you can rest assured that it did. I never doubted, nor did my honoured Margrave, that you would have more sense than this Ernst of Melk you left here to represent you. If you were to ask me my opinion, you should find yourself someone more suitable for the task. Someone more fit to represent such an esteemed man as yourself." Friedrich slightly bows his head.

"Unfortunately, the Margrave is very specific and firm on this restriction. He feels that Jens Herden has no honour, so what would his men think of him if he told that they should go and fight for such a person? No, it won't do. His apology here is a start, but when one considers the situation and the timing of it, one is left to wonder how much of it is sincere, and how much of it is simply calculated tactics.

As for how this affects your strategy, you have our sympathy, but I don't think the Margrave is the one to be blamed for this.

Moving on to the matter of the intelligence, this is an entirely different matter than with the cavalry. The office of Spymaster is there because it was recognized that we needed a central entity which took care of and shared all the intelligence from all parts of the Reich, and its immediate surroundings. It is there to make the use of spies more effective, and is there for the Reich as a whole. It is therefore not unreasonable or unfair for a general of the Reich who sets out on an offensive to expect some backup from the intelligence department if there is any available, as he is not allowed by law to have his own. It is not quite the same as requesting to use someone else's men and facilities.

Now, Margrave der Bartige is willing to front the costs for both the training and for the upkeep of the spy if this is indeed what is necessary. Under such circumstances, however, we - meaning the margrave and I - should expect this spy to answer only to the margrave, and be under his sole command.

If you still view his stance on the cavalry question as a block to this, then there is little I can do. Perhaps exercising some discipline on your subject to truly show both Margrave Theodericus but moreso Jens that such behaviour won't be tolerateed, it could help. If that is out of the question... well, I doubt Margrave der Bartige could offer you more than two cavalry regiments initially even if he wanted to give you a thousand, but talks about a later third one is not off the table."

[Nightbringer]

I am sorry I have so offended the Duke, but these cavalry regiments are of vital importance to me in defending the Eastern empire against the Hungarians.
My loyalty is to this Reich, and I shall do whatever I can to appease the anger I have stirred in the Margrave if it will allow me to better protect our borders.

If he thinks this is guile, I am sad to hear it, but I fear there is little I could say at this point to persuade him otherwise.