Warhammer Fantasy: A Dynasty of Dynamic Alcoholism

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The opportunity cost here is Hultressa being able to do more damage to the Pyramids food supply, and making the damage to the Aquafarms as certain as possible.

But kneecapping Alyssa's own efforts towards final consolidation are just as, if not more, important to the end of sending the Ark into total chaos.
 
torroar said:
I am aware of the length of time for this current arc extending longer than intended. I apologize for that.
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Additional to any of your apologizing, and the innumerable excellent and compelling reasons why you aren't just a typing-bot turning out 5000 words a day...

I would just like to point out that your hundreds of real fans don't mind one bit and aren't upset about it.
 
torroar said:
For now, at least. There were some who were speaking of calling him Elector Count. There were even a few, very few for now, who had raised the question of whether or not the Hohenzollerns should be an Electoral Dynasty at all anymore. It was, much to Magnus' barely restrained fury, not the most unreasonable of questions to be asked. Runefangs had been lost before, taken from the hands of their dynasties. In the vast majority of those comparatively rare instances throughout the history of the Empire, such a thing constituted the rapid and total erosion of an Electoral Dynasty's prestige and position. In the worst cases, it could even lead to the dissolution of an entire province if the damage was great enough both physical and political. It had happened only twice before in both directions. Solland after Gorbad Ironclaw, and the Drakwald after centuries of decay despite having Emperors originating from their province.

Ostland would not be another Solland or Drakwald, Magnus had sworn before Sigmar and all the Gods to ensure such a thing would never come to pass regardless of whether his father returned or not.
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The problem with dethroning the Hohenzollerns as the rulers of Ostland for losing a Rune-fang is that this "loss" is in the context of having just defeated and capturing an entire Black Ark while making a second retreat in a state of chaos while the heir to Freddy is still very much alive and still very much able to kick ass. When your expecting to be utterly wrecked, trading a runefang for actually stopping them is likely a good trade.

The catch being that it aint over til the fat lady stops singing. Last I recall, that Bretonnian fat ass ghost lady is in fact still singing. We still live. And as long as we live, we can show back up with Runefang in hand while terrifying several nobles as we take stock of which traitorous curs dared argue we should not be considered an electoral dynasty or even County.
 
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Oleg-14191 said:
Dumb question here - Do we really want to get involved in Kislev Civil war?

We might not have choice, but do we actually want to?
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Honestly? Outside of picking up our daughter midway? I see no benefit to getting involved. Let's think of this on both sides, our wife's sister who a Druchii torture master supreme compared her rein to a dreadlord, which holy shit. Or whatever opposite side is opposing her, so let's say the church, the ones that are not ice witch and widow, the ones with a bear for a god ursun and other gods. Also the nobles.

We don't have the best view of the conflict, not the basis, the players, the reasonings, etc. so let's just look at it from a beneficial side. What has katterin done for us and can we expect her continued rein to be a positive one? I don't think it will provide any benefits to us or the empire, as I just don't think it's sustainable. Yes she has marched with us, but it has been very clear it was more out of duty and honor than any actual want. I don't think she will exactly be friendly to us in the future.

Ok so now the church/nobles. The actual benefits of their rein could be guessed at, but the detriments to their rein are very clear. They do not like foreigners/prefer an isolation policy, they like slavery and will undoubtedly start up the trade again as soon as they are in power, while they will undoubtedly still trade with us, there is little to any chance that our emperor will be able to continue his talks with forming a military alliance.

I lack enough information to list more, but these are the obvious ones. They have plenty of negatives, but outside of making any further inroads and military alliances very difficult, it has no effect on us compared to how they are now. The only difference would be the slave trade will pick up, which yes is bad, but it's not the worst thing in the world. At least compared to katterin deteriorating mental state. Seriously I think she's about to snap soon.

In other words, while I don't think we should support the opposition, I don't think we should support katterin either. Possibly just speed run finding our daughter and leave as fast as possible. It probably won't go that smoothly but that's what I think we should aim for.
 
Also sounds like our favorite friend-vampire tried to get into tower, but sadly magical defenses got in the way.

Would have been funny if she broke in, planning to kill a dark elf, only to run into Freddy in middle of it, lol.
 
[X] Early Aquafarm Destruction Attempt: This would be the greatest guarantee towards Natasha's survival, and the worst for the long-term efforts of Hultressa at the Fulmination being discovered as a result of heightened security and paranoia. The destruction of another food production location, or at least the damaging of it, would further reduce food stock on the Black Ark and worsen Alyssa's position. At the same time, if Natasha acts too early, the less damage she may be able to do towards the aquafarm itself. For now, your wife seems mostly certain she can cripple it, if not destroy it. With the majority of the military of the Ark dedicated to slave raids, Natasha's escape is all but guaranteed according to Hultressa. Sabotaging the pyramid will go through just before the auction for maximum destabilization - assuming Hultressa's efforts are not stymied too greatly of course. Which they may well might be.
 
X] Early Aquafarm Destruction Attempt: This would be the greatest guarantee towards Natasha's survival, and the worst for the long-term efforts of Hultressa at the Fulmination being discovered as a result of heightened security and paranoia. The destruction of another food production location, or at least the damaging of it, would further reduce food stock on the Black Ark and worsen Alyssa's position. At the same time, if Natasha acts too early, the less damage she may be able to do towards the aquafarm itself. For now, your wife seems mostly certain she can cripple it, if not destroy it. With the majority of the military of the Ark dedicated to slave raids, Natasha's escape is all but guaranteed according to Hultressa. Sabotaging the pyramid will go through just before the auction for maximum destabilization - assuming Hultressa's efforts are not stymied too greatly of course. Which they may well might be.

I feel like we should secure our people to prepare the escape into Norsca
 
Blackangel said:
In other words, while I don't think we should support the opposition, I don't think we should support katterin either. Possibly just speed run finding our daughter and leave as fast as possible. It probably won't go that smoothly but that's what I think we should aim for.
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Canon Katterin at this point was transformed into a Lahmian and managed to resist for over a century the scion of an entire subspecies beating down your mental defensives. Obviously a lot has happened behind the scenes but well established is her husband dying put her down the path to run into the vampires. We have seen that she is kicking the pants off of the vampires as they manipulate skaven cultists, chaos cultists, the actual cults of Ursun and Dazh and Tor, her SON, and a decent portion of her country to the point of civil war. I think we can safely say she isn't a vampire at this point but also she isn't all there. I imagine with all that's happening she may have to abdicate and Alexandra or one of her sons take over. (assuming it goes her way)

[X] Early aqua-farm.

Despite the danger to Hultressa, I think it's more important that she seems unstable than max damage, this society is built on tearing down weakness. Between her sidelining Caledor's Bane and taking the eggs, then outright stating that she has a deal in the works for some of the tribes of Norsca? At best she has plans we don't know about in the fire, and she is needing stability more than anything. This reeks of her having some plan that benefits a lot of people for very little risk, I imagine with Norsca, either a great many beasts and bound deamons for the Beastmasters and the houses she needs on her side. Along with a great many slaves that can fight in the Arena get more of the population on her side. Sometimes it better to cash it in early than try to wait for the perfect moment, and against Druchii they are aware of the perfect moment can be spoiled. The inherent instability of their society should at the very least cause some form of internal schism, and a Druchii riot is even more chaotic than a slave revolt.
 
TehChron said:
She's not.

Our main ticket out of the Ark is the chaos. That's the entire point of her explaining that contingency in this update.
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Yes, but that is part of it, the other part is her helping rescue our friends and helping us get a way off Ark, since more likely to successfully steal a ship with her aid, and the fact we promised to do what we can to help spirit her and her daughter away to safety.

Either way, you vote for what you believe is right in that end, no judgement.
torroar said:
"Aye. The beastmen, quiet after so many years, are beginning to poke their snouts out of the deep forests."

Magnus ground his teeth as he looked away.

"It's not just Ostland. We're getting a few scattered reports from elsewhere in the Empire as well."
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Seems like Beast Tide everyone was talking about might be starting.

On another note, seems like Freddy's kids are dealing with things as best as they possibly can, but clearly stressing them out. Just another reason to get off Ark as soon as possible and get home safely.
 
[X] Middle Aquafarm Destruction Attempt: A middle ground between boosting the destruction capable to be caused by both Natasha and Hultressa, the damage shared between them might be considered equal in most aspects. Except that Hultressa is a powerful sorceress and Natasha and your other allies and friends would be in far more danger on their lonesome, even with her working to ensure their evacuation. The damage done to the aquafarm would be increased with surety, as well as allowing Hultressa to work with more impunity. However, the danger increases on the part of your wife, as the longer the Ark is given to stabilize, the more difficult it would be for her to be extracted safely. With the islands left behind, this fact is quite a grave one.
Middle of the road seems like the best course of action, enables us to cause certain maximum damage to the water, and possible maximum for the food, and causes tons of Chaos in the Ark as we land closer to Norsca while the confusion that still remains in the ship reignites and has everything be ready for our cap off event with the auction and meeting up with our imprisoned allies and possible execution opportunity for Altreassa.
Shame we never got the chance to ask about that Norscan civil war chance unfortunately. Or that the Beastmen Tide that we all feared has started to show up like we feared.
 
I say early extraction. The actual damage to the food supply isn't the point of either operation. The Ark is massively depopulated but still capable of raiding - we aren't going to cause operationally significant starvation. We're doing this to cause unrest and infighting. Paranoia works best with time to do its worst. Even if the bombs get discovered, so long as they aren't traced to Hultressa, they advance our cause because everyone will know that somebody was willing and able to rig a pyramid farm to blow. Fingers will be pointed. Everyone will be trying to search all the other vital systems for sabotage that isn't there with too few people and no trust between the searchers - that means lots of frustration and anger at the new management.

Of course we still get that effect if the pyramid does blow, plus some deaths of dangerous Druchii. And the destruction of a lot of dangerous physical evidence. The ideal case has Hultressa only just avoiding getting blown up. At which point the relatively apolitical (but feared) member of Alyssa's own coven gets to be publicly furious and stir the pot more. She can even demand to be put in charge of the investigation!

In the end though, we don't care about the survival of Alyssa's regime one way or another. We just want enough chaos to cover our escape. Losing Nat and Roland in an attempt to maximise an effect we don't need maximised is unacceptable. So, extract them sooner when it's more likely to succeed. Maybe that heats things up in the pyramid and Hultressa has to blow it early to avoid getting caught - that's OK, we can adapt to it.
 
For all the reasons already outlined, keeping Alyssa distracted and forked on what to spend her time on is what suits our needs the most as unrest builds leading up to the Auction

[X] Early Aquafarm Destruction Attempt: This would be the greatest guarantee towards Natasha's survival, and the worst for the long-term efforts of Hultressa at the Fulmination being discovered as a result of heightened security and paranoia. The destruction of another food production location, or at least the damaging of it, would further reduce food stock on the Black Ark and worsen Alyssa's position. At the same time, if Natasha acts too early, the less damage she may be able to do towards the aquafarm itself. For now, your wife seems mostly certain she can cripple it, if not destroy it. With the majority of the military of the Ark dedicated to slave raids, Natasha's escape is all but guaranteed according to Hultressa. Sabotaging the pyramid will go through just before the auction for maximum destabilization - assuming Hultressa's efforts are not stymied too greatly of course. Which they may well might be.
 
[X] Early Aquafarm Destruction Attempt: This would be the greatest guarantee towards Natasha's survival, and the worst for the long-term efforts of Hultressa at the Fulmination being discovered as a result of heightened security and paranoia. The destruction of another food production location, or at least the damaging of it, would further reduce food stock on the Black Ark and worsen Alyssa's position. At the same time, if Natasha acts too early, the less damage she may be able to do towards the aquafarm itself. For now, your wife seems mostly certain she can cripple it, if not destroy it. With the majority of the military of the Ark dedicated to slave raids, Natasha's escape is all but guaranteed according to Hultressa. Sabotaging the pyramid will go through just before the auction for maximum destabilization - assuming Hultressa's efforts are not stymied too greatly of course. Which they may well might be.
 
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[X] Early Aquafarm Destruction Attempt: This would be the greatest guarantee towards Natasha's survival, and the worst for the long-term efforts of Hultressa at the Fulmination being discovered as a result of heightened security and paranoia. The destruction of another food production location, or at least the damaging of it, would further reduce food stock on the Black Ark and worsen Alyssa's position. At the same time, if Natasha acts too early, the less damage she may be able to do towards the aquafarm itself. For now, your wife seems mostly certain she can cripple it, if not destroy it. With the majority of the military of the Ark dedicated to slave raids, Natasha's escape is all but guaranteed according to Hultressa. Sabotaging the pyramid will go through just before the auction for maximum destabilization - assuming Hultressa's efforts are not stymied too greatly of course. Which they may well might be.
 
Thanks for the update torroar, it was great! Much happened in this chapter I honestly don't know which to focus but I think I will start with Magnus.

He already had many moments to shine but it is still good to see how far he has come from the little kid who wanted to match his father in training to a man who could become a very good elector count even a great one maybe.It was hard to read how bleak things seem to be for him, yet it is nice to see he is still holding it together as best as he can. It was awful what happened with people and those 'pogroms' but I don't know Frederick or anyone else could have dealt it better short of a diplomatic/oratory miracle. I hope they can deal with eldritch fungi zombies as soon as they can because it seems Malagor and his chaps are about to go full Gorthor on Empire.

Then there is Salkalten in where things seem to be going better than I expected? Seeing how that Eonir prince and dwarf thane were both with Anna as she deescalated things I guess worst has been avoided. I wonder what happened with that asur mage and the phoenix. Poor sods had already been through enough I hope they are fine.

More Gwendolyn is always welcome in my book. Frederick becoming a sort of parental figure to her and her relation with Hultressa alongside their small moments are easily my favorite parts of this arc. I could go on, write an entire essay on them or do some sort of character study, maybe I should try after this arc is over. Tho of course I would ask torroar for permission before such an attempt.

There is still much I want to talk about but I think I have rattled on enough. Once again thanks torrar for this chapter.

For voting I think I will vote for middle option as it is balanced between damage and safety but I don't feel strongly towards any vote.

[X] Middle Aquafarm Destruction Attempt
 
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[X] Early Aquafarm Destruction Attempt: This would be the greatest guarantee towards Natasha's survival, and the worst for the long-term efforts of Hultressa at the Fulmination being discovered as a result of heightened security and paranoia. The destruction of another food production location, or at least the damaging of it, would further reduce food stock on the Black Ark and worsen Alyssa's position. At the same time, if Natasha acts too early, the less damage she may be able to do towards the aquafarm itself. For now, your wife seems mostly certain she can cripple it, if not destroy it. With the majority of the military of the Ark dedicated to slave raids, Natasha's escape is all but guaranteed according to Hultressa. Sabotaging the pyramid will go through just before the auction for maximum destabilization - assuming Hultressa's efforts are not stymied too greatly of course. Which they may well might be.
 
[X] Early Aquafarm Destruction Attempt: This would be the greatest guarantee towards Natasha's survival, and the worst for the long-term efforts of Hultressa at the Fulmination being discovered as a result of heightened security and paranoia. The destruction of another food production location, or at least the damaging of it, would further reduce food stock on the Black Ark and worsen Alyssa's position. At the same time, if Natasha acts too early, the less damage she may be able to do towards the aquafarm itself. For now, your wife seems mostly certain she can cripple it, if not destroy it. With the majority of the military of the Ark dedicated to slave raids, Natasha's escape is all but guaranteed according to Hultressa. Sabotaging the pyramid will go through just before the auction for maximum destabilization - assuming Hultressa's efforts are not stymied too greatly of course. Which they may well might be.
 
[X] Early Aquafarm Destruction Attempt: This would be the greatest guarantee towards Natasha's survival, and the worst for the long-term efforts of Hultressa at the Fulmination being discovered as a result of heightened security and paranoia. The destruction of another food production location, or at least the damaging of it, would further reduce food stock on the Black Ark and worsen Alyssa's position. At the same time, if Natasha acts too early, the less damage she may be able to do towards the aquafarm itself. For now, your wife seems mostly certain she can cripple it, if not destroy it. With the majority of the military of the Ark dedicated to slave raids, Natasha's escape is all but guaranteed according to Hultressa. Sabotaging the pyramid will go through just before the auction for maximum destabilization - assuming Hultressa's efforts are not stymied too greatly of course. Which they may well might be.
 
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