Editing Promises Promises (section)

==Ministry of War==
[All Gazelle 30]
Vidan and Stella vanish, and Nesh reappears.  He still has tons of effects, but happily while the reverse gravity is still in effect, so is Gale's fly spell. 

The bureaucrat thinks this whole vanishing thing is very annoying.  

Zheldat  is due south of the tower, in line with the rivers hitting the coasts.   It's the capital of the Empire of the Orcslayer  (Purple)

We go to the ministry of War.  It is set up for centaur, and there are centaur walking through the halls.  Fewer other races.  (Other buildings have not been set up for centaurs, but this one has.)

Managaratha remembers– Zheldat was founded when the centaurs came back into the world; this building is not that old.

“I was hoping to speak with Vidan, but apparently I am speaking with you all.”<br>
“I have read Vidan’s report.  It appears that you all are the only ones that can get into this… whatever this Oasis miracle is.  I will have to treat you as… we will not say ‘agents’, but we will have to work together to determine how to undo the time effect.  There are some things I will need to share with you, but I will require a promise of secrecy first.  (An Oath.  It will make it difficult to share the secrets but not impossible, so it won't be accidental, and he will know.)   For Vidan and Stella, he'll have to bind them when they return, and by tomorrow will have something to provide for them.    

The minister wonders if the kid is one of us?  
He says enough of this floating Saurian nonsense, and Nesh comes to the ground for now.  He emphasizes the importance of this secret-keeping, as if Nesh is a child.

He puts together the purple Oath and we all agree.  

He thinks the timestop effect is the result of the death of Foran Zakar, Minister of Redaction.  He was a priest of the Twins as well as a mage, and was one of the leaders of their delegation; he had an effect of that sort prepared on his death.   The key to open the time stop was in the knowledge of Tier Lo (subminister of the second rank), who was assassinated in Zhaldat the night that Middlesea happened.   The fact that they want the effect to stay up and we want the effect to stay up, he finds interesting.   But he can't force it open anyway.   Who knew the internal affairs of the Ministry of Redactions, he is not sure.   The other fifth-level Bureaucrats were probably aware.  Other ministers of redaction probably. 

The Ministry of Redaction is not under the other fifth-level Bureaucrats; it keeps Secrets. 

It’s not clear to the Minister whether the weaponization was intended to be on a smaller degree or not.  The general purpose of the effect is to catch the assassin or whoever so that the Ministry of Redaction can put together a team and extract them.  Someone is of the opinion that the bubble should not be opened.

Gale wonders if the key can be recovered magically?
It’s unlikely; possibly Yellow could do it.  He does not speak of the possibility of what Yellow can do.

A Nameless priest could maybe do it?
That’s a plausible route to follow, if we have a Priest of the Nameless who could talk to a dead priest of the Twins.  Probably easier if we tried for Tier Lo.

It’s possible the key could be deduced; Zakar is the sort that uses suspenders and a waistband.  The Ministry has not been able to perform a complete search, as they are not acknowledging Zakar’s death.

[[Inspector Vok]] has been assigned to investigate Tier Lo’s death.  He likely is already running into issues with the Ministry of Redaction.  His reports thus far have not been very enlightening.  His post-cog has indicated that it was a single ninja that killed Tier Lo.  (Ninja are known to be a thing, but not culturally associated with anywhere specific.)

There is not a new Minister of Redaction; the Ministry is pursuing the matter in some degree, but it has lost both its Minister and the Subminister that would have stepped in.  There are discussions going on internally.

Managaratha “That sounds exciting.”
“Exciting.  Indeed.”

One assumes a post in a Ministry by proving one’s self, so there are Rules about how the next Minister is chosen.

Ministry of Lions deals with unusual threats and is also in the Middlesea miracle.   There is a subminister of war there.  

He is [[Tan Kato]], the Minister of War.  

Does he have any advice for us?   His focus is on the orcs invading - he does not expect us to join that fight.  

We are outside the scope of Ministry politics, which should give us some flexibility.
We are welcome to investigate the assassination.

He assigns us Volda (the bureaucrat we’ve been running into, as it turns out) to point us around and help us with contact.

Fifth Level is the highest rank of Bureaucrats.

Volda gives us the list of the delegates from Purple.
We get a briefing on the orc invasion.
Strong push to get them a foothold in the north of the Empire; they’ve been less coordinated since then, and the Minister and Head Stallion have been holding them at bay.
They didn’t take any obvious strategic locations, but it was definitely an invasion, rather than a raid.

Ministry of Repercussions is responsible for keeping the probabilities of outcomes updated.
Ministry of Fortune is small– probably not more than 5-10 bureaucrats total.  The current Minister is the first Minister of Fortune in a few decades.  Its role is primarily to take advantage of unusual opportunities.

There are 88 ministries currently active; it changes moderately regularly..
323 Inactive ministries currently.  The most recently reactivated ministry is the Ministry of Lilacs, which regulates perfumes and herbal remedies and some Green mages.  (Why?  Gale is going to have to investigate.  That sounds like an adventure).   Volda later confirms that they reactivated *on* the Middlesea Day.