>>6118420Manoeuvring the conversation to your political advantage goes along swimmingly. You also learn a few things about Roma and their system of government. They have had many Emperors! Some are Romans, others are barbarians, and a few are Lost Children. There are constant changes and upheavals because of treachery, and the Roman blithely talk about it as though it's a universal fact. In fact, he drops hints about how Roma will always stand ready to support your rule against treacherous Baphomets and how, with the right amount of silver, he will lobby on your behalf to the Senate. You smile genially at the uninformed foreigner and thank him greatly for the offer, but you need not fear betrayal yet.
<span class="mu-r">The Romans are not bound by a Geas to be loyal to their Emperor.</span> That means Emperor Lucius Hiberius must be having a hell of a time ruling her Kingdom and somehow succeeded in keeping her grip on power. That's pretty damn impressive. You might be able to bribe the Legatus and his men to work against Roma, but you are reluctant to spend silver on such a dodgy venture without knowing more about the dollmen.
There's some minor pushback from the Legatus, insisting that after a long journey the crew needs to rest a bit on land. You promise to 'think it over'. In truth, you've come to a decision. You are going to keep these strange guests closed up in a very limited area. The idea of creating your own Dejima is appealing; you could isolate the Romans in the Dock area and place them under heavy supervision to control their movement.
First, you're going to let the envoy stew indignantly about keeping the crew of the <span class="mu-i">Zama</span> on board after weeks at sea. Then you'll extract a pound of flesh for allowing them to actually touch earth. Who knows, perhaps being so tantalizingly close to the shore will tempt a foolhardy sailor into sneaking into Camelot. When that happens, you'll capture the illegal and interrogate them for info.
With this, the breakfast ends. Lady Kizaemon hasn't made her appearance; you wonder where the cat has gone. You ask a servant to search for her and get down to business with the candidates over the next few days.
The Educated Guild candidates were all at the Castle for breakfast. So ordering them to lengthen their political campaigning to fool the Romans is easy. The Doctor and Engineer agree readily enough but the Priest hems and haws before reluctantly agreeing.
You don't have much trouble with the Major Craft and Minor Craft candidates. You even get to have some fun by ordering the Carpenter to start engraving numbers in wood in significant locations around Camelot. The Major Craft candidates note that they are almost ready to select their leader, and suggest allowing the election to conclude since there's major work to be done. You promise to confirm results on a staggered basis, there's only so much delay the Roman's will accept to negotiations after all.
