Hattington wrote:

Besides, worst to worst there's another whose interests I advocate for who would benefit from both a) a quasi-ally in the Presbyterate, b) a more cilmbable chain and c) the brass marvels Hell could provide.

"An evening of fiery speeches" wrote:

You settle into the front row beside the Affectionate Devil, who favours you with a flashing smile and squeezes your shoulder. The woman at the lectern begins to speak of the wonders of the Iron Republic, the city of anarchists: their freedom from restraint and tradition, their successful overthrow of the laws of nature, the riches and glory to be found in the embrace of freedom... She takes some time to thank the infernal patrons of the Republic for assisting them in "shattering the chains of earth and Heaven."

Fascinating stuff, if a little disturbing. In conversation afterwards, you can tell your friend is impressed by how much of the lecture you've retained and understood.

"A veteran of the battles of that old city" wrote:

Feducci's campaign manager transpires to be a very Indulgent Devil, whose red eyes smoulder like the rising of Mars. "Of course," he tells you in a voice like molten honey, "Feducci has helped us in the past, when the apparatus of state weighed on our liberty. When we felled all thrones, he was in the vanguard. I think he rather misses such grand sport."

If even the most indirect of connections to the Liberation of the Night is as bad as you say, to the point that knowing a handful of anarchists is disqualifying, then you should abandon Feducci right now. Because he's neck deep in it.
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edited by Anne Auclair on 6/30/2017

But based on the behavior of some of her supporters on the forums

I felt like the whole honey-well thing was meant to show that she didn't completely know what she was doing. The Campaigner has a good heart assuredly, but she's more idyllic than practical. I strongly disbelieve she's hoarding it for nefarious purposes; I just think that she's a little naive, so she poured a drug, which she labels dangerous, down a well, of all things, in a room where people who are determined can pretty easily break in and steal some.

First, and someone's got to say it, he's not very good at being a spy. He reveals the skin beneath his bandages while he eats, often forgets to keep his limp or his false voice up, openly interacts with Presbyterate traders and officials on the docks, and, most damningly of all, basically reveals his nature to any well-read Black Ribbon duelist who challenges him simply by returning from the dead. Plus, his main rival, the Devout Intriguer, knows far more about his movements than she reasonably ought to. And so do we!

Gul al-Ahlaam wrote:

First, and someone's got to say it, he's not very good at being a spy. He reveals the skin beneath his bandages while he eats, often forgets to keep his limp or his false voice up, openly interacts with Presbyterate traders and officials on the docks, and, most damningly of all, basically reveals his nature to any well-read Black Ribbon duelist who challenges him simply by returning from the dead. Plus, his main rival, the Devout Intriguer, knows far more about his movements than she reasonably ought to. And so do we!

Given how the Presbyterate operates, this could all be on purpose. They are just as fond of misinformation as they are of guarding knowledge,

SS, when visiting Naples. It mentions mushroom wines are snubbed on the Surface, prisoner's honey loses its magic up there, and the only thing from down below people like is GLORIOUS COFFEE.

Hattington wrote:

[
...excuse me, am I blind or do the words "has no idea what to do with it all" indicate a marked lack of destruction? Unless you're implying she's in cahoots with Mr. Eaten (and damning her by...whatever aiding and abetting Mr. Eaten is called, association seems a bit strong), what I'm seeing is putting it somewhere it can be extracted later.

I have my doubts the Iron Republic. Can't do the linking thing, but trading brandy with the Infernal Sommelier has him point out they never rebelled agains the Judgements SPECIFICALLY. So I'm not convinced the association with the Anarchists isn't simply a business relationship they're expecting to not achieve it's slated goal; yes I've witnessed the transaction where Hell was commisioned to smelt a new Law and i've also seen the inscription that implies the Fingerkings are allied with Hell to some extent. But what clinches it for me is-Hell ultimately WANTS (the transaction of) souls, in the sense they see value in them. As souls are star-spores, it stands to reason they can't entirely agree with the forces that would see them as either potential enemies (I'm pretty sure Lost in Reflections has allusions to Parabola rotting lights with reference to souls), or one more link in the Chain to be broken.

Also, I just plain don't like tea.

EDIT: Actually, I just noticed you yourself put it better than I could have: "Oh dear, this could go very well or very badly."

edited by Hattington on 6/30/2017

The DTC is not "stockpiling honey" in contradiction of her platform, she is trying to dispose of it. So you simply got that wrong.

As for Hell's Republic, even if their deals with the Revolutionaries are ultimately insincere, they are still making deals with the Calendar Council, providing them supplies, helping them build weapons, and sponsoring them with a safe haven in which to test out their ideas of a law free world. Hell and Feducci are therefore pretty deep into the Liberation of the Night, way deeper then someone who just happens to have a few casual Revolutionary friends.

Of course most players have a few casual Revolutionary friends...so the DTC's sin in that regard is no worse then the player with a few a Revolutionary Connected points and no "plotting against the Masters." But Feducci is allied with Hell and Hell supports the Liberation...so Feducci probably has a pretty high "advancing Liberation of the Night" quality.
edited by Anne Auclair on 6/30/2017

As for Hell's Republic, even if their deals with the Revolutionaries are ultimately insincere, they are still making deals with the Calendar Council, providing them supplies, helping them build weapons, and sponsoring them with a safe haven in which to test out their ideas of a law free world.

Hell's client-state. Be wary. Their laws are not the laws of Man or Nature.

All of them. All at once, when the Device was set in motion. Candles, gas-lamps, oil-flares - the false-stars of the roof, the fungus-glimmers of the marshes. All gone. On the skin of the Bazaar, faint traces of fire fitfully shudder and crawl. They shed a feeble, feeble light for moments only. You can barely see. And you can barely hear, for the screaming.

Factory-engines roar like false lions. Blood thunders in the dock-pipes. Crimson lightning skitters across the deck, leaps to the rail, coils there like a cat. The city is reflected in glassy-calm harbour water: the citizens there have the heads of dogs and serpents.

The Crotchety Tobacconist strides off your deck while glaring upward into the crimson lights of the Iron Republic

'You want to head to the Iron Republic? Why? Really - what can be worth that? Even my kind don't relish a visit. Well, it's your money. And don't think that this will save you.

But I do recall flashes of memory: a place not of tormenting, but fermenting? A place where experiments are made to appease the Law. Nothing more comes to me.

What was purchased: the casting of a new law in the factories of Hell.

The Iron Republic has no government, no representatives. But it has plenty of citizens eager to purchase an engine of destruction.

The Calendar Council, that master-cell of anarchists, is on the rise: and they have you to thank for it.

It is said that seven once tried to democratise death.

Promises of a chain that can be climbed has sparked hope in London’s poor. Jet and crimson banners herald Feducci’s arrival.

...the display on the Season of Revolutions, celebrating when the devils overthrew the infernal nobility and Hell became a republic.

An anarchist who gives a public lecture on the Iron Republic "takes some time to thank the infernal patrons of the Republic for assisting them in "shattering the chains of earth and Heaven."" It might not be full Liberation of the Night, but it's a bit closer to it then simply climbing the Chain, and there are many Liberation supporters in the Iron Republic itself, "a city of anarchists."

Anne Auclair wrote:

As the recent election campaign has established, Feducci is being paid by the Presbyter for these services. These payments are laundered through under-zee commercial transactions. Feducci invests in a speculative venture that a London company is hoping to make with the government controlled Licensed Exchange at Adam’s Way. The Presbyterate government then agrees to and insures that this venture is profitable. There was never any possibility of Feducci losing his investment.

These payments are only recently coming through and being made. Yes, they may prove that Feducci is performing insider trading, but that in itself is not proof of payment from a foreign power. That’s just proof of business dealings.