Gunther rises to deliver a message from Otto:

My lords, I congratulate the Chancellor and Count Hans on the seizure of Budapest. It is a great victory and I hope it will serve to turn the attention of the Magyars to their own defense and from pointless expeditions into our lands. Even now a large Hungarian force has turned from the Reich and lingers outside their former capital. While I respect the Chancellor's zeal in pursuing the Venetians, I am afraid he will have his hands full before then.

Congratulations are also due to the Franconians, who have only added to their martial reputation with their victories in the north. I hope their attention will soon turn to Breslau. Once we have taken this settlement, I am sure it will put an end to these bothersome Polish raids on Frankfurt.

I have been informed that the Tuetonic Knights wrongly taken from the Crusade are on their way back to us, with reinforcements no less. While I am worried about their ability to cross the Hungarian plains safely, I am gladdened by their return. If the Chancellor wishes he may once again use Florence in negotiations with the Spanish Pope.

The Papacy vexes me. We offer them a great deal for peace and yet they refuse. I hope Conrad can finish the Milanese soon, so he can travel to Rome and secure the city. This Filippus the Warmonger might yet live up to his name.

Despite the Chancellor's best efforts, our negotiations have failed. I would ask the Diet how we should proceed. As I see it, there are two ways we can proceed to increase the chances of peace and reconciliation.

The first is the way of the sword. I believe Kaiser Heinrich wished this pursued more. We attempt to make peace with the current Pontiff, if he proves intransigent, we remove him and vote for a candidate who might be more receptive to us. There are no Imperial Cardinals among the Preferati, but if we vote for the Cardinal who does become Pope, it might serve. If the Pope we vote for is ungrateful for our support, we unfortunately might have to repeat the process. I have found this idea repugnant in the past and I do not propose it lightly, but it may bring about peace more quickly.

The second is the way of the Book. We recruit more priests into the Imperial service, build churches in the Reich and have our missionaries convert the heathens in far away lands. This will eventually improve our standing with the Pope and again we might have peace more quickly. A secondary benefit is that many of those new priests would prove useful on the Crusade.

Either option requires that we set aside a large amount of money to facilitate negotiations. The first option would most likely be quicker and cheaper, but it is much more distasteful than the second.

What is the opinion of the Diet? Any ideas to break this stalemate would be welcome.