Bey Stefan Bogoridi was strolling the Grand Bazaar one morning with his aides, when he found himself short of breath. Strange, he thought, back in his youth he could plow through at least 30 prostitutes without breaking a sweat.

But he was old, and he wasn’t what he used to be. He knew that his time was coming and that the fate of Samos and Stefanopolis rested on his Sultan’s shoulders. The Sultan nominates the successor to the Principality, who is then confirmed by the Samoan Parliament. Calling over his favorite House Slave from Circassia, the Bey dictated a letter for the Sultan, outlining his recommendations for successor and encouraging his Sultanship to choose from that list.

Aleksander Bogoridi - Stefan’s son, the 25 year old Aleksander has grown up on Samos in Istanbul, and has been educated in France. Beyond serving as the Sultan’s trusted friend in Samos, he is also a useful statesman, and can succeed Stefan in some of the Bey’s domestic duties as well.

Butrus al-Bustani - I, Bey Stefan Bogoridi, have heard much of this Syrian Christian who was educated in the top schools of the Empire in Syria earning an education in Syriac, Latin, French, German, and Arabic, as well as Ottoman Turksish. He’d be cool too.

Ion Ghica - Even though this guy is a Romanian :vomit: [here, Stefan had the House Slave draw a small man throwing up], he’s well bred and well educated, and could be a valuable asset for developing Samos.

Kyriakos Venizelos - Mr. Venizelos comes from a prominent Peloponnesian family that has resettled to Crete. It would be prudent to re-incorporate such a prominent family into the Empire, and we could leverage their position for concessions in Crete and perhaps even Greece proper.

These are simply for the Sultan to keep in mind, though he may pick someone else once Stefan dies.