Recently I have started a courtship with one of my advisors. How do I convince the others that I won't allow the romance to compromise my judgment? I am willing to lie to some but not all of them. 

To Jagged Stone Breaks the River's Flow, a concerned adventurer sends greetings.

My attention has been brought to your intriguing advice column, and thus I will summarize my situation to you.

Several large factions (let's call them U, X, L, and B, with the understanding that there are also factionless parties involved) have long-standing tensions. U is in favor of flourishing, X is in favor of stability, L is an expansionistic tyrannical horrible torturepit, and B is omnicidal. In the distant past, a conflict which included many factions no longer present, L, and a significant chunk of U, rendered 80% of the planet's landmass uninhabitable. ("What if Not This" was a major factor that enabled X's rise to prominence. Also, the absence of B from early portions of the conflict is not well-known.)

I mention this because these parties were involved in treaties to do Something Else Which Is Not This. Unfortunately(?), for obvious reasons, everyone has massive reason to break these treaties when they think they can get away with it. The treaties are still somewhat meaningful, in that "no doing obvious violations or we'll all gang up on you" is in fact a big constraint.

I've been working with a member of U on some secret treaty-violating projects for a while, particularly regarding B, which seems to be winning. Through this, we've found that B has a lot of stuff going on which would probably be a really flagrant treaty violation. We could report this to X and L, and team up with them against B, but that would stabilize L's position, which … wouldn't be great. However, I feel pretty bad about this because I sort of like the idea of being the kind of person who doesn't do secret projects that violate treaties of the sort necessary to prevent really bad all-out wars.

Therefore, I ask that you seriously consider this situation and how one ought to act in it, as it is a matter close to my heart.

Farewell.

Greetings Lucea West Hill,

If the romance won't compromise your judgement, explain the situation to them fully! If they have objections to your points, hear them, and either refute them individually or accept their advice (advisors can be right on occasion, that's why you have them).

If it will compromise your judgement but don't care, either lie, or take measures to make sure the influence is mitigated. Or simply tell them that the matter is not up for discussion.

Concerned Adventurer,

As I have minimal knowledge of the exact situation, a perfect plan would be difficult to create. However, there's normally no reason that giving someone more enemies to fight will stabilize them, and not the opposite. Find a way to give L the information in a way that will obligate them to spend resources on fixing it. Find a volatile moment, to best take advantage of the proceeding chaos. 

If a specific factor means that L will be strengthened by more problems, remove that factor. If it's societal, dismantle and reshape their culture.

JSBTRF: HOW MORE ITEMS OF THIS.  ADVISE HOW DEAL WITH EXPONENTIALLY INCREASING POWERFUL DEMONS BUT LOGARITHMIC POWERFUL SUPPORT AS WARZONE SHRINKS.  SINCERELY WATCHCOMMANDER DIANA PALLAS.

I don't know if the longer portion of this message will make it through, since Sending only carries twenty-five words, but the situation here is dire.  We -

(The message, in its original form before it was captured by means inexplicable and translated to a tongue Jagged Stone can understand, trails off, as if the writer was called away and could not even properly set her pen aside.)

My apologies; I had to go fight something.

 

We are fighting an army of demons that is for most intents and purposes constrained only by the mass throughput of a mile-wide hole in reality and their own infighting, and there is a significant local base of power that has turned to the cults of a demon lord who wants to wipe out the world under a plague of locusts or corrupt society into a mockery of itself rather than bear another minute under the corrupt Inquisition hosted by a country that is nominally our ally - to say nothing of Infernal Cheliax, backed by Heaven's enemies and only cooperating to the extent that they do because of other concerns!  I'm making incremental progress in establishing forward bases to concentrate our lines, but that only covers my quadrant, and I'm half convinced they're avoiding me and focusing on Mendev (aforementioned debatable ally).

...Strike that, wholly convinced.  Do not strike where the enemy is strong, after all.  Regardless: At the moment my forces are sufficient for the tasks we face in patrolling and securing the lines between us and the remnants of Sarkoris, but as we approach closer to the Worldwound rift, I expect the casualty rate to go up and the number of people who can even survive encountering, let alone fight, the demons that will proceed to pay attention to us to go down.  I am a member of the strike force that usually is dispatched to these tasks, and I know I am straining my limits already, even with the strokes of good fortune we have had.

Assuming we cannot close the Worldwound without a miracle occurring - and I don't just mean the spell; we'd have tried that by now if we thought it would work - what would you recommend as an approach to keeping people alive long enough that they can actually learn how to fight e.g. balors?

Is there something I'm missing in this?  Or are we truly without recourse short of some miracle beyond mortal ability to realize?

Also, do you know how we can get more of these?

Sincerely,

--Watch-Commander Diana Pallas, of Lastwall

Watch-Commander,

This is a truly complicated situation to fix! I’ll start with the artifact. If you found it in a ruin, as I did, you could try scavenging from similar ruins, although I would not necessarily expect success. If you purchased it, ask the merchant where she found it. If you made it, then create more? There aren’t very much shortcuts when it comes to artifact creation, not without very, very complicated infrastructure. 

Onto the demons, then. First of all, can you negotiate with them? Demons are as complicated as humans, if not more so, any many varieties will accept bribes, trade, and even contract work.

Mendev appears to be a problem. If their internal corruption is making them less use as an ally, then make preparations to take over their power structures. Wait until the demons kill them (assuming they are indeed focusing on them), sweep in, and take over their infrastructure and resources. This will let you use them more efficiently.

As for the combat issues, I’m afraid you are likely more the expert than I am. Do certain troops do better than others? See if they can be scaled up, etc. If manpower is an issue, focus on propaganda and recruitment. If specifically powerful individuals will be more useful, use your resources to recruit more sorcerers and Dragonblooded. Titles often make extremely effective bribes, and require little upfront cost. They’re inconvenient longterm, but I expect that is not a current concern. Some may even be persuaded by the fact that they live on the planet, and thus the apocalypse would be bad for them! 

The situation in general seems somewhat suspicious, now that I think of it. It’s possible that the demons are being created in-creation by a first or second circle, rather than traveling from Hell (you have not mentioned logistics issues on their end, and that would be an obvious target if they were crossing The Endless Desert). In that case, assassination might be worthwhile, although I would not precisely expect it to work. 

If you haven’t petitioned Heaven for aid yet, do so. They probably won’t respond within the century, but it’s worthwhile to make the attempt. Invoke their duties as enemies of the Yozi, point out the risks to Creation, and threaten to audit them.

Demons are incredibly varied creatures, and have no weakness that applies to all species. Should you know what species you are dealing with, or even their creator, I could provide more specific information.

I assume you are using thaumaturgy? Collaborate with your allies for techniques, and see if they can be combined. Use the most effective rituals from every culture.

….It really just sound like you need sorcerers, though.

I had to imprison the entire population of my world in a, let's call it a waking dream, because they created world-destroying weapons and had begun to use them. Do you have any advice on how to release them from the dream? Advice that relies on social engineering instead of magic, I think we just have very different understandings of magic.

Dear Jagged Stone Breaks The River's Flow:

It showed up.  On my desk.  In a warded room.  Without anyone apparently having caused this.

Also, I'm pretty sure you're not on the same Prime Material Plane as I am.  Just for future reference.  Because I'm pretty sure that none of this is how anything works - we're backed by the Upper Planes! And what's a Yozi? - and that consequently you have hit upon the useful idea of seeing if we can get any Tien ritual-casters in to...do something useful, hopefully...approximately by accident.

(We've tried negotiating.  It doesn't work very often.  Though it has worked at least once.)

Regardless, your advice is appreciated.

Watch-Commander Diana Pallas