Written by Ivan.

With your help Princess Chang Ping and her small retinue has left the dubious protection of Dom Alonso and is now with the majority of the refugees from Cathay, living upon the island on which the gunpowder factory has been established. Her advisers have tried to keep her hidden from the rest of the refugees but in such a small intimate community it is impossible to keep such a thing secret and the court around her is becoming concerned that she will have to publicly declare herself soon. They are also worried that any agents of the Manchu that have hidden themselves amongst the refugees may be prepared to strike against her.

You learn much of this from nervously fretting courtiers while waiting outside the private chambers of the Princess Chang Ping. The Princess has requested that you visit her, but you have arrived somewhat early, and must wait for Chang Ping to complete the rites of her religious vocation as a nun.

When you are shown into the Princess' quarters at the appointed time she is sat calmly upon the ground, her legs set in the lotus position. Princess Chang Ping does not seem concerned by either possibility. (You certainly judge it unlikely that any assassin would escape with their life from a physical attack against her.)

In her quiet voice she thanks you for you help. When she sees how you walk, painfully, the wounds from the Jesuits still hurting, she instantly leaps to her feet and helps you to sit. You are in socially impossible situation of being cared for by the Crown Princess of the Ming Dynasty! You manage to get her to stop asking after you health before you have to kill yourself (not literally, especially not for this Princess).

She then turns to business. She approves of your wish to tell them King about her presence, but believes that you are wise enough to know who else to trust with news of her. She leaves such matters to your discretion. She cannot grant you the title of ambassador, for she has not been crowned Daughter of Heaven, and may never be but she hopes that you will hold the title in your heart and in your mind.

She has heard much of the present situation in Cathay and believes that the Mandate of Heaven that was lost by her family has not been gained by the Manchu invaders. She has also heard tell that many in the South remain loyal to her family. Her voice drops low, so that none may overhear. She asks you to seek out news of all Cathay and of those who would follow her. She wishes to know if, if she repeats with emphasis, it would hurt China less for her to return than to pass from memory here in a foreign land.

You judge her sincere. She wishes only to return to Cathay, a move which will surely reignite the war already being waged there, if it will bring her aid her people more than her abandoning the throne and the power and wealth it would bring.

Princess Chang Ping does not dismiss you, but instead helps you to your feet and enquires who has done this to you. When you name the Jesuits you see that she will remember this, and though she says no words to you but only squeezes your hands and looks at you, that from this day they are her enemies too. Then you take your leave. Looking back you see that Chang Ping has drawn her sword and is practising her sword forms.

One of the last actions of Sir Christophe Swal before his tragic death was to finish preparing the gunpowder manufactory for the Fucanglong that will dwell there. Under the tutelage of the spirit of the late ambassador Lao Jungfei the Jewish theurge makes swift progress in learning the necessary rituals. It seems to be the calligraphy that gives him the most difficulty but he eventually masters it to Lao Jungfei's grudging satisfaction.

The spell is cast and nothing happens for a few moments. Then quite suddenly the factory begins to glow lightly and seems to almost come alive with a soft rumbling. Everyone pats themselves on the back and cheers. Now all that needs to be done is for a sorcerer to summon the Fucanglong into its new dwelling place.

The spirit of Lao Jungfei still seems concerned about the standard of the calligraphy, but in the general atmosphere of celebration you seem to be the only one who listens.

You set sail once more with the White Tiger and White Wolf to Asia, proudly flying a the new ensign of the Kingodm of Tungning from the stern of your ships. You have the flags produced by some of the best tailors in Oxford and they are most impressive.

You journey across the Atlantic to the Straits of Gibraltar and on to the east of the Mediterranean is smooth. However, once you reach the entrance to the Gerard Canal you once more encounter the patrolling ships of Commodore Mandrake. They are most insistent that you allow them to inspect your vessels. You decide in this case that it is more important to be diplomatic than to stand on your status as an ambassador of a foreign country. Besides the young officer in charge during the last encounter was quite polite.

You invite the acting-commodore (Baron Mandrake is not present) aboard and serve him some delicious tea and crumpets as you show him round your ship. Pleased with the courtesy and delicious fresh biscuits he tells you that he has instructions to ensure that there are no more “unauthorised military expeditions”. He is most regretful that he had to inspect your ship, but orders or orders, and apologises most politely before departing.

From the Gerard Canal you sail on eastward before a good breeze to Siam, making excellent time on the journey. The King greets you most warmly again and is interested in your tales of battle against the barbarian Manchu and of all the news from Europe that you bring. It is clear that rumours of your exploits on Formosa have already reached Siam, possibly painting you in an even more heroic light than the reality. A number of young ladies of the Court take an opportunity to bat their eyelids at you.

Although you are carefully, if discretely, chaperoned around Princess Chaiama it is clear that she has heard the same stories of your bravery, might and excellence with a sword. She is quite smitten with you, and asks you a number of times to tell her again about your exploits in defending Cathay from the invaders and about your adventures in the New World and Norway.

Not an unintelligent young woman, and having more intimate and close knowledge of your third brother than the King, she also recognises you as Lang. For your part you find that she is in fact quite beautiful, a lucky throw of the hereditary dice means that she's much better favoured in looks than her mother and father!

You make the wedding arrangements for six months but are careful to inform the royal family that as an ambassador, bound to the duty of your Kingdom, you cannot make any guarantees. (You promise to write to the Princess, of course!)

OOC Note: Feel free to arrange to have the wedding in Albion, she is after all only the 14th in line to the throne! We will fudge something up if you want to have a grand ceremony with the player characters involved.

You also ask after the gunpowder situation in Siam. You are told that Siam is not too dependent on black powder. The King's armies have some regiments of musketeers and a few cannons but by and large they are still armed with pikes and swords. The King is significantly less interested in your help in Chenla when you place the condition that his armies aid you in fighting in southern Cathay. He is well-aware that his army is not large by Chinese standards, but more importantly it has never made any long distance expeditions, fighting either within Siam or just over its borders. The King is still very much interested in your aid however. He still remembers the successful intervention by Yamada Nagamasa in the time of King Songtham.

Once you depart Siam with further courtesy gifts and kind words (but no soldiers) from the King you and your two ships head for Hainan and your third brother. Láng Sǐ-le (is that his real name?) takes the news of your greater success with Princess Chaiama with equanimity - perhaps if he'd been a real ambassador instead of a fake princess he'd have done as well. You do find his wiggling of his eyebrows when asking if you found your future wife pretty and “accommodating” is a little distasteful, but you forgive him magnanimously. He also doesn't seem upset not to be invited to the wedding, given his popularity in Siam when he departed a few paces beyond the good range of the King's bowmen.

You gather your new force of men, although your requirements are quite exacting so that only 3 or 4 of the ten speak good Nipponese. However, you set them to teaching the others. Once recruited you sail on to southern Cathay.

The local nobles are most interested in your news of strong alliances in Europe, though perhaps a bit less than when there was gunpowder to use in the cannons and muskets they imported from there. No newly produced gunpowder has been seen in southern Cathay since just after Manchu invasion. However, the nobles' intelligence indicates that the Manchu have no new powder either. Rumour links the new shortage to the eruption of the volcano in Shaanxi which has also prevented fresh Qing Dynasty attacks on the south. The Manchu had more cannon than the southern nobles in any case so the sudden lack of black powder may be to their advantage.

A much greater problem than the lack of gunpowder is quickly evident to you however. The nobles are horribly disunited, arguing about who deserves the throne, although all at least notionally loyal to the Ming Dynasty. They are all willing to ally with the Kingdom of Tungning but not to join it, and many will demand that your armies follow their commands. It is clear to you that when the Manchu do come in the summer they will be able to isolate individual Ming loyalists and destroy them. It may take them years but as the situation stands unless someone can unite the south under their banner the Qing really will eventually rule all of China.

You need someone to rally all the Ming loyalists behind! Then they will be a formidable match for the Manchu barbarians.

You make some discrete inquiries about the possible locations of Princess Chang-Ping in Oxford. It appears that with the death of Dom Alonso, who had taken in some refugees, the vast majority of the refugees from Cathay are being housed and employed by the East India Company. Very few of them are left in Oxford however, apparently they've been transported elsewhere in Albion.

News from Cathay remains confusing and, since gunpowder supplies from that distant land have dwindled away to nothing in recent months, fewer of our ships are making the journey. Nonetheless it is clear that the invading Manchu have been checked by the volcanic eruption in Shaanxi province some six months ago, and the rise of the new Kingdom of Tungning in the islands off the coast and along the Southern Coast.

Tungning still professes its loyalty to the old Ming Dynasty though as yet it has not thrown its weight behind any of the pretenders to that throne. (Rumours are rife that the Imperial Princess Chang Ping escaped the overthrow of the old regime, but no reliable news of her current whereabouts has emerged.) The most influential of the families vying for control of the Kingdom is that of the Lang clan which has seized control of Formosa (also known as Taiwan) and Hainan. Apparently with the aid of troops from Albion's own Dragoons!

Much of the centre of China has been struck by famine, caused by the darkness and ashfall of the Shaanxi volcano. Nonetheless the Manchu are gathering their strength again and, once summer comes, they will inevitably attack the prosperous and disorganised south. It seems certain that unless the fractious nobles of the weak Kingdom of Tungning can be truly united that the Manchu will simply slowly erode their Kingdom to nothing.

It is therefore most unfortunate that the Manchu have closed their ports to all ships from Albion. It appears that the Imperial Astrologer, a Jesuit named Johann von Bell, has succeeded in convincing the Regent, Prince Dorgon, that agents of Albion are directly responsible for the rebellion in the south, the destruction of Shaanxi and the end of gunpowder production.

If the Regent cannot be convinced otherwise I fear our most profitable trading market may be lost to us for generations! This cannot be allowed to happen. I charge all members of the East India Company with either clearing our name or otherwise ensuring that all the ports of Cathay are reopened to our traders.

The King has demanded that the Merchant Companies bear the costs of compensating the Spaniards for the annihilation of Naples by the still smoking Vesuvius. The Lord-Directors' protests that surely this cannot be the work of a human agency have been swept aside. This has created a difficult time for all the Companies and out losses are likely to be substantial this financial year. More worryingly it is clear that the King is much displeased with the Companies.

The monopolies that our Companies are founded upon are in the gift of the King and we cannot afford to antagonise our patron. All traders should be especially careful these next months to ensure that their work is seen to be for the benefit of the King's Realm. The Lord-Directors also encourage you to speak with those known to have the King's ear on their behalf. If gifts will mollify the King or his friends then you are encourage to give such presents as will please them mightily.

The situation grows even more precarious for the Companies when the current shortage of gunpowder is considered. The last drought of black powder almost destroyed the East India Company and the current may prove even more damaging to all the Companies since the King is already vexed with us. All members of the Companies should be assured that, while supplies from Cathay have been interrupted, the Companies' own stocks remain robust. To ensure that the Armies and Navies of Albion remain well-supplied however sales to private citizens will henceforth be rationed, and only the lower quality powder spared.

In the last year the East India Company has given secure accommodation to Cathayan refugees fleeing the chaos in their own land. The new manufactories that these skilled foreigners have established upon an island set aside for them will soon be profitable. It is of absolute priority that any rumours, or questions, that reach your ears about the existence of this new facility should be reported to Director Mandrake at once. The Lord-Director will see to it that any officer leaking any details of the facility will be utterly broken.

Baron Mandrake, with the aid of the sorcerer Ms. Leah Brandage and men of Major-General the Lord Devereux, has succeeded in rescuing our officer Tsung Chang-Mai from the clutches of the Jesuits who have captured her. The foul followers of the Bishop of Rome have visited unspeakable tortures upon her.

Tsung Chang-Mai has business absolutely vital to the Companies and moreover the safety and strength of Albion. It is of the greatest importance that she should be kept safe and well. There is a danger that the Jesuits will continue to pursue Tsung, she must be guarded against any such move.