Asleod grunted softly as the conversation finally turned towards their actual purpose.  Setting his mug of wine down slowly, he gathered himself up from the chair and turned around to face the people in turn.<br/><br/>"You've raised several excellent points, which is one of the reasons I've gathered you folks in particular.  I have the framework of a plan, and several ideas on how to go about implementing it, but each of you have different areas of expertise, and I expect you to make use of it in helping me refine the plan as we get things rolling."<br/><br/>He picked up his now-empty mug from the table, using to emphasize his words as he gestured.<br/><br/>"On the subject of the magic might of the nobility, I've been investigating it for some time now, and have drawn several conclusions.  First off, I'm certain that the current nobility only has a few individuals of enough personal power to constitute a true threat in a large-scale battle should it come to that.  Certainly, outside of the Council of Lords, there are only one or two who might qualify.  However, I'm hoping it won't come to that.  As several of you pointed out, a large-scale military action would in all likelihood be quite ruinous to the prosperity and survival of the common people.  As such, I'm hoping that by the time we move out into the open in force, we'll have a situation where the Council of Lords stands relatively alone.  Even they cannot hope to prevail against such numbers, and will be forced to surrender."<br/><br/>At this point, he paused for a while, letting his words sink in.  He didn't intend to drag this meeting on for that much longer after they got their first objectives hammered out and clarified.  After all, any large-scale action in the city would only be feasible come spring.  Autumn was nearly over, the land sliding towards the chill of winter, which would slow down outdoor activities considerably.   It also gave them time to lay out plans, weaken the foundations of the noble houses and in general cause havoc and sway the general population.  The nobility generally spent the winter in various social functions, one after another, and as such they had plenty of opportunities to turn the houses against each other, as well as start hitting some choice targets with their robber teams.  He continued into the momentary silence his earlier comments had created.<br/><br/>"I'm not overly worried about the armies, or about having their families used as hostages.  As pointed out, something like that would only make a general uprising a near certainty.  Only the high command of the armies is in any way personally loyal to the Council, so we may have to see to it that they are removed before we make our move.  I'm considerably more worried about the Inquisitors.  There aren't that many of them in comparison, but they operate in complete loyalty to the Council of Lords, and are individually considered some of the most dangerous soldiers alive.  What's more, they almost always operate in teams of four.  By my estimation, there are less than ten of said teams in the city.  Several more roam the countryside, but those aren't an imminent threat.  We may have to think of something to do about the Inquisitors."<br/><br/>Asleod let the silence give weight to his words for a few moments, before pressing on.<br/><br/>"Let's summarize several of the important points to which we have to attend in the coming times.<br/>Firstly, we need to identify valuable targets among noble holdings to burglarize, thus providing ourselves with working capital while at the same time denying it to them.  We should make it a priority to get into at least a few of the major House's treasuries as soon as possible.  I also recommend we liberate any significant piece of magical equipment we come across, as it's an extremely valuable resource to them."<br/><br/>He walked over to a smooth patch of the wall near the bar counter, picked up a stick of charcoal set aside for just that purpose, and began writing his musing on the wall in bold, easily visible type, underlining words where appropriate.<br/><br/>"Secondly, we need to find out everything about the Council of Lords and other high nobles, particularly when it comes to their magical talents.  While fishing for this, we should also take the opportunity to see if we can get some the Houses to turn their attention away from us to their political enemies."<br/><br/>Asleod wrote things down in shortened format, so that everyone could instantly see their immediate objectives.<br/><br/>"Third, we need to begin gathering goodwill among the common people of the city, as well as bringing the many atrocities of the nobility into their attention and rousing their fighting spirit.  I've heard several excellent ideas regarding that already."<br/><br/>After writing down the basics of the third part, he set the stick of charcoal down and stepped aside so everyone would have a clear view.<br/><br/>"I think that covers the very basics of what we need done, and everyone can contribute to planning and working on those points in several ways.  We've a long winter ahead of us, during which the activity of armies and troops always goes practically into hibernation, leaving us a clear field to work on our objectives."<br/><br/><br/><br/>