Sample emissary eventlet image, from IOS.
Once you send an emissary off, it takes them time to reach their destination. Once they do, you'll experience an eventlet in which you choose their goal and negotiate with the other clan.
Emissaries are protected by the laws of hospitality and will not be harmed even if the clan hates you. The only exception are clans who are feuding with you, which may attack your emissary and their escort. If you do send an emissary to a clan you're feuding with, you will be given the opportunity to ask another clan to mediate for you.
Goals[]
These are the general goals:
- Just give gifts: What it sounds like. Improves relations with the clan. If you gift over 20 goods or equivalent wealth to a clan you owe a favor to, the clan may count the favor as repaid.
- Call in favor: You can ask the other clan for food, cows, horses, magic, or knowledge (either information about another clan, sacred stories of the gods, or news about interesting people or landmarks they found while exploring). If the clan refuses to repay the favor, they'll still owe you one. In some cases when they refuse, they will give you a very small number of goods as consolation.
- Propose an alliance: See Requesting An Alliance.
- Discuss tribute:
- Return home: What it sounds like.
In Lights Going Out, there are also some special, conditional, goals:
- "Help us thwart Nontraya the Taker.": Appears only after certain events leading up to the Summons of Nontraya ritual.
- Seek their support for a raid on the Gods War: Appears after certain events leading up to the Orlanth and Ernalda ritual.
- Ask about the song we all know and can dance to the first time we hear it: Appears only after the Forgotten Song event.
- Share the rediscovered song: Appears only after the Rediscovered Song event.
- "The world will soon end.": Appears only in the final year before the end of the world.
- Denounce their goats: Appears only after the Goats vs Urox event. Only applies to clans that keep goats. Unless you have a very skilled diplomat, this will hurt your relations with the clan.
Chance of Success[]
Your emissary's success will be influenced a variety of factors, including:
- Their skills (high Diplomacy is, of course, usually the most important—but Intimidation (Diplomacy and Combat combined) can also be useful if, for example, you want to extract tribute.
- Their personality (if your best diplomat loathes the Rams, you might not want to send them to propose an alliance to a Ram clan!)
- Your relationship with the other clan. Diplomacy goes better with clans that like and fear you than with clans that hate and mock you.
- Ekarna's Silvertongue blessing can be of use.
- Other factors may also have an effect.