Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

[X] Write in: Try to ease the awkwardness by making small talk, like telling each other what you do in your free time, and swapping stories.
-[x] Share experiences, stories, get to know each other better. How does he prepare for battle and possible death? Any ideas what fast but not tough infiltrators might be? We don't get much non-report-giving face time, so let's use it.
-[x] Tell him we plan to fight from Shadowhorseback if it becomes necessary. Prepare for Mathildeface.
-[x] Then give your report. Sir Berthold has no particular dirt on him, although his friends are noted as overzealous to the point of beating peasants that do not know the words of all the Hyms, or follow other gods and his Sigmarite chapter house was very obstructionist. You don't like the sound of that, but you swear that wasn't why you accidentally knocked him unconscious. Sir Jungfreud is skillful and leads from the front- at all times, even when it might be better that he doesn't. Very popular with young men. His outrider barracks was obstructionist and also bruised your nose. Otto of Nuln may be a genius, and likely took the post to practice some of his more extreme weapon designs out in the country where an explosion or two wouldn't be minded quite so much as in Altdorf. Likely to be expensive, but potentially revolutionary.
-[x] Adjust clothes to be comfortable as possible in preparation for a fight.

Okay everyone who is voting for the scattered report votes please consolidate into this one.

TimEd said:

Thank you! Everyone is just voting for if we should just fall on our sword or have Van Hal hold the sword for us. We are just hanging ourselves here with rope WE PROVIDED OF OUR OWN DECISION

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TimEd said:

We are at crisis mode! Unburdening bullshit can happen after someone dies. If the bandwagon passes and van hal loses faith in us we would probably LOSE rep with him and many others probably

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Can you quit this ridiculous fearmongering, please?

Guys, I like the idea of the apology vote... As an apocrypha omake! Not as our leading vote! We're close, but not that close as to break down right now in such a situation.

[X] Stand there in increasingly awkward silence for twenty-seven minutes.
-[X] Then break down and give your report. Sir Berthold has no particular dirt on him, although his friends are noted as overzealous to the point of beating peasants that do not know the catechism and his Sigmarite chapter house was very obstructionist. You don't like the sound of that, but you swear that wasn't why you accidentally knocked him unconscious. Sir Jungfreud is skillful and leads from the front- at all times. Very popular with young men. His outrider barracks was obstructionist and also bruised your nose. Otto of Nuln may be a genius, and likely took the post to practice some of his more extreme weapon designs out in the country where an explosion or two wouldn't be minded quite so much as in Altdorf. Likely to be expensive, but potentially revolutionary.m

[X] Write in: Try to ease the awkwardness by making small talk, like telling each other what you do in your free time, and swapping stories.
-[x] Share experiences, stories, get to know each other better. How does he prepare for battle and possible death? Any ideas what fast but not tough infiltrators might be? We don't get much non-report-giving face time, so let's use it.
-[x] Tell him we plan to fight from Shadowhorseback if it becomes necessary. Prepare for Mathildeface.
-[x] Then give your report. Sir Berthold has no particular dirt on him, although his friends are noted as overzealous to the point of beating peasants that do not know the words of all the Hyms, or follow other gods and his Sigmarite chapter house was very obstructionist. You don't like the sound of that, but you swear that wasn't why you accidentally knocked him unconscious. Sir Jungfreud is skillful and leads from the front- at all times, even when it might be better that he doesn't. Very popular with young men. His outrider barracks was obstructionist and also bruised your nose. Otto of Nuln may be a genius, and likely took the post to practice some of his more extreme weapon designs out in the country where an explosion or two wouldn't be minded quite so much as in Altdorf. Likely to be expensive, but potentially revolutionary.
-[x] Adjust clothes to be comfortable as possible in preparation for a fight.

TimEd said:

Thank you! Everyone is just voting for if we should just fall on our sword or have Van Hal hold the sword for us. We are just hanging ourselves here with rope WE PROVIDED OF OUR OWN DECISION

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Exactly, I just don't like us basucally telling him we're failing because we are woefully underqualified. Its a big no-no to tell your boss that, even if he can't fire you

Guile said:

We're 22, and have just had a string of failures in a quest where usually we fairy-foot all over potential consequences with good rolls and by being generally likable and plucky.

Our emotions are running high after nearly getting murdered, killing our assassin, then the ensuing fuck-ups followed by getting trapped in a room with Van Hal in our underpants. We're feeling emotions, guys, and this is how young people deal with emotions: by getting emotional.

Van Hal, meanwhile, is at a 8/10 relationship with us and just shrugged off our Mathilde-ing. The narrative after our unburdening on him is him being maybe uncomfortable but building us back up with praise for our successes. Morale, and all that.

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You are giving a narrative reason based on your assumptions, I can equally give a narrative reason for giving the report: awkwardness and being miserable.

I'm just showing everyone that they can vote for something other than telling our boss we are woefully underqualified (and spelling out why) but still owe up to our mistakes
For example:
Give report in a sulky manner
-awkwardly state that we know we've been screwing up a lot lately, and hope we haven't dissapointed him too much

Easy

Edit: god i hate typing on mobile

[X] Write in: Try to ease the awkwardness by making small talk, like telling each other what you do in your free time, and swapping stories.
-[x] Share experiences, stories, get to know each other better. How does he prepare for battle and possible death? Any ideas what fast but not tough infiltrators might be? We don't get much non-report-giving face time, so let's use it.
-[x] Tell him we plan to fight from Shadowhorseback if it becomes necessary. Prepare for Mathildeface.
-[x] Then give your report. Sir Berthold has no particular dirt on him, although his friends are noted as overzealous to the point of beating peasants that do not know the words of all the Hyms, or follow other gods and his Sigmarite chapter house was very obstructionist. You don't like the sound of that, but you swear that wasn't why you accidentally knocked him unconscious. Sir Jungfreud is skillful and leads from the front- at all times, even when it might be better that he doesn't. Very popular with young men. His outrider barracks was obstructionist and also bruised your nose. Otto of Nuln may be a genius, and likely took the post to practice some of his more extreme weapon designs out in the country where an explosion or two wouldn't be minded quite so much as in Altdorf. Likely to be expensive, but potentially revolutionary.
-[x] Adjust clothes to be comfortable as possible in preparation for a fight.

[X] Write in: Try to ease the awkwardness by making small talk, like telling each other what you do in your free time, and swapping stories.
-[x] Share experiences, stories, get to know each other better. How does he prepare for battle and possible death? Any ideas what fast but not tough infiltrators might be? We don't get much non-report-giving face time, so let's use it.
-[x] Tell him we plan to fight from Shadowhorseback if it becomes necessary. Prepare for Mathildeface.
-[x] Then give your report. Sir Berthold has no particular dirt on him, although his friends are noted as overzealous to the point of beating peasants that do not know the words of all the Hyms, or follow other gods and his Sigmarite chapter house was very obstructionist. You don't like the sound of that, but you swear that wasn't why you accidentally knocked him unconscious. Sir Jungfreud is skillful and leads from the front- at all times, even when it might be better that he doesn't. Very popular with young men. His outrider barracks was obstructionist and also bruised your nose. Otto of Nuln may be a genius, and likely took the post to practice some of his more extreme weapon designs out in the country where an explosion or two wouldn't be minded quite so much as in Altdorf. Likely to be expensive, but potentially revolutionary.
-[x] Adjust clothes to be comfortable as possible in preparation for a fight.

I don't see Mathilde as the type to wallow in guilt and self-pity. She has been trained by the Grey Wizards, who emphasize calm professionalism.
From the update, her motive for confessing was that van Hal would be making incorrect tactical assessments if she did not speak up.

[X] Write in: Try to ease the awkwardness by making small talk, like telling each other what you do in your free time, and swapping stories.
-[x] Share experiences, stories, get to know each other better. How does he prepare for battle and possible death? Any ideas what fast but not tough infiltrators might be? We don't get much non-report-giving face time, so let's use it.
-[x] Tell him we plan to fight from Shadowhorseback if it becomes necessary. Prepare for Mathildeface.
-[x] Then give your report. Sir Berthold has no particular dirt on him, although his friends are noted as overzealous to the point of beating peasants that do not know the words of all the Hyms, or follow other gods and his Sigmarite chapter house was very obstructionist. You don't like the sound of that, but you swear that wasn't why you accidentally knocked him unconscious. Sir Jungfreud is skillful and leads from the front- at all times, even when it might be better that he doesn't. Very popular with young men. His outrider barracks was obstructionist and also bruised your nose. Otto of Nuln may be a genius, and likely took the post to practice some of his more extreme weapon designs out in the country where an explosion or two wouldn't be minded quite so much as in Altdorf. Likely to be expensive, but potentially revolutionary.
-[x] Adjust clothes to be comfortable as possible in preparation for a fight.

Seems ok, the shock can be lessen with topics of work. Wouldn't a office have coats and what not?

Inserted tally

DarkLight140 said:

Actually, @BoneyM, could you clarify why in-character we didn't tell him immediately upon our return, and whether that is to be taken as a serious reflection on the competence/motivations of the characters involved or as a transparent justification for game mechanics?

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There was no urgency in what you found, so there was no reason to report it ahead of your usual twice-yearly meeting of the council - at least not until you found yourself desperate for a conversational topic. The decision won't be made for a while yet, as each of them is given a chance to prove themselves.

And yes, it's very much a transparent justification for game mechanics. The delay between what you learned and reporting it to Van Hal is so you have an opportunity to vote on what to report, and whether to add in a personal recommendation and if so, who gets it.

DarkLight140 said:

Seems ok, the shock can be lessen with topics of work. Wouldn't a office have coats and what not?

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Wrong time of year, it's currently early summer.

I hereby propose a plan for the next turn that involves us concealing caches of Emergency Clothes throughout the entire castle.

Just in case.

All in favor say aye.

[X] Write in: Try to ease the awkwardness by making small talk, like telling each other what you do in your free time, and swapping stories.
-[x] Share experiences, stories, get to know each other better. How does he prepare for battle and possible death? Any ideas what fast but not tough infiltrators might be? We don't get much non-report-giving face time, so let's use it.
-[x] Tell him we plan to fight from Shadowhorseback if it becomes necessary. Prepare for Mathildeface.
-[X] Then give your report. Sir Berthold has no particular dirt on him, although his friends are noted as overzealous to the point of beating peasants that do not know the words of all the Hyms, or follow other gods and his Sigmarite chapter house was very obstructionist. You don't like the sound of that, but you swear that wasn't why you accidentally knocked him unconscious. Sir Jungfreud is skillful and leads from the front- at all times, even when it might be better that he doesn't. Very popular with young men. His outrider barracks was obstructionist and also bruised your nose. Otto of Nuln may be a genius, and likely took the post to practice some of his more extreme weapon designs out in the country where an explosion or two wouldn't be minded quite so much as in Altdorf. Likely to be expensive, but potentially revolutionary.
-[x] Adjust clothes to be comfortable as possible in preparation for a fight.

aye and greatswords \[T]/

Wasn't the outrider guy very popular with his men too since that sounds like something that should be mentioned because it could mean the difference between the count thinking he's glory seeking jackass when he's more a popular gloryhound.

NotteBoy97 said:

Wasn't the outrider guy very popular with his men too since that sounds like something that should be mentioned because it could mean the difference between the count thinking he's glory seeking jackass when he's more a popular gloryhound.

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The leading report version says that, at least regarding the young men who admired him.

Edit: Votechange
[X] Plan Stick To Work Now, Be Blushing Maiden After Work
-[X] Discuss the latest infiltrators with Van Hal, focusing on what they might be and what their objective could be.
--[X] On their nature, they are clearly as intelligent as any human, do not seem to be significantly impaired by sunlight and are superhumanly swift. Yet they are common enough to employ in numbers, considering you found at least two in rapid succession, if the things discovered in the walls previously weren't more of their kind.
---[X] It would be difficult to pick them out without some kind of supernatural tell, you only caught the first one because he tried to use a personal acquaintance of yours for his cover story, and the second one when she tried to pick the lock to the sealed room.
--[X] On their objective, if their main mission was assassination, you fear they could have long accomplished that by drugging the food and drink, so you suspect it's mainly information gathering, as servants pass unnoticed.
-[X] Discuss countermeasures for cases of future infiltration.
--[X] Most of the key staff in the castle are without personal security. While your can't feasibly be escorted everywhere and still do your job effectively beyond getting some security for interviews, the others should not be too impeded. Particularly those without much personal combat ability.
--[X] Some way of relaying messages covertly between the council would be valuable. However, that turns up the issue of what if they were compromised like the past Marshal and the code leaks. Maybe if the cipher was regularly changed?

-[x] Tell him we plan to fight from Shadowhorseback if it becomes necessary. Prepare for Mathildeface.

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Look, I want to see Van Hal's face when we show up as a half-Mathilde half-shadowhorse centaur wielding a greatsword too, guys! But trying to fight from horseback in a small office space is just not a good idea.

Perhaps, 'Don't worry, if necessary I can take the form of a shadow-horse-centaur and you can ride me to safety ride with me to safety.'?

Okay lets see now that I got a desktop to type with:

[ ] Stand there awkwardly for fifty-seven minutes.

Neutral-awkward. SV never liked wasting time on anything.

[ ] Deliver your report regarding the Marshal candidates (write in the report)

Professional-awkward.
This would be the angle where we know this is awkward as hell, and he knows

[ ] Challenge Van Hal to a spar

The worst possible time for it. Now is a terrible time for training injuries on our primary

[ ] Find Van Hal's bottle of Ostland brandy and drink away the awkwardness

Pretty bad, since we need our wits and we're getting drunk.

Of the write ins, the spill it all apology is...unprofessional and going to be seriously tempting Van Hal to fire us if he wasn't on such good relations.

Lets save that stuff for when we do our annual personal report and aren't completely out of sorts.

The Mad Eye Moody option of asking to be taught the ways of proper paranoia is professional, as is speculating on what can be done next.

So considering all that, I'd go something like this for now, since its early and the vote can swing far:

[X] Plan Stick To Work Now, Be Blushing Maiden After Work
-[X] Discuss the latest infiltrators with Van Hal, focusing on what they might be and what their objective could be.
--[X] On their nature, they are clearly as intelligent as any human, do not seem to be significantly impaired by sunlight and are superhumanly swift. Yet they are common enough to employ in numbers, considering you found at least two in rapid succession, if the things discovered in the walls previously weren't more of their kind.
---[X] It would be difficult to pick them out without some kind of supernatural tell, you only caught the first one because he tried to use a personal acquaintance of yours for his cover story, and the second one when she tried to pick the lock to the sealed room.
--[X] On their objective, if their main mission was assassination, you fear they could have long accomplished that by drugging the food and drink, so you suspect it's mainly information gathering, as servants pass unnoticed.
-[X] Discuss countermeasures for cases of future infiltration.
--[X] Most of the key staff in the castle are without personal security. While your can't feasibly be escorted everywhere and still do your job effectively beyond getting some security for interviews, the others should not be too impeded. Particularly those without much personal combat ability.
--[X] Some way of relaying messages covertly between the council would be valuable. However, that turns up the issue of what if they were compromised like the past Marshal and the code leaks. Maybe if the cipher was regularly changed?


Shipping goggles off please. Theres treason to stab.

LoganBert34 said:

[X] Write in: Try to ease the awkwardness by making small talk, like telling each other what you do in your free time, and swapping stories.
-[x] Share experiences, stories, get to know each other better. How does he prepare for battle and possible death? Any ideas what fast but not tough infiltrators might be? We don't get much non-report-giving face time, so let's use it.
-[x] Tell him we plan to fight from Shadowhorseback if it becomes necessary. Prepare for Mathildeface.
-[X] Then give your report. Sir Berthold has no particular dirt on him, although his friends are noted as overzealous to the point of beating peasants that do not know the words of all the Hyms, or follow other gods and his Sigmarite chapter house was very obstructionist. You don't like the sound of that, but you swear that wasn't why you accidentally knocked him unconscious. Sir Jungfreud is skillful and leads from the front- at all times, even when it might be better that he doesn't. Very popular with young men. His outrider barracks was obstructionist and also bruised your nose. Otto of Nuln may be a genius, and likely took the post to practice some of his more extreme weapon designs out in the country where an explosion or two wouldn't be minded quite so much as in Altdorf. Likely to be expensive, but potentially revolutionary.
-[x] Adjust clothes to be comfortable as possible in preparation for a fight.

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I don't see how people think this is a better plan than the apology. I don't mind giving him the report, that's fine, but how on earth is "How do you prepare for battle and possible death" either one of small talk or getting to know each other? On top of that, it's incredibly stilted and awkward. Following up that weirdness with a declaration of... cavalry ability(?) is even worse. Then there's the report, it goes a little hard on the insane engineer for my liking, whatever. And she finishes up by adjusting her underclothes? What the hell?

[X] Plan Stick To Work Now, Be Blushing Maiden After Work
-[X] Discuss the latest infiltrators with Van Hal, focusing on what they might be and what their objective could be.
--[X] On their nature, they are clearly as intelligent as any human, do not seem to be significantly impaired by sunlight and are superhumanly swift. Yet they are common enough to employ in numbers, considering you found at least two in rapid succession, if the things discovered in the walls previously weren't more of their kind.
---[X] It would be difficult to pick them out without some kind of supernatural tell, you only caught the first one because he tried to use a personal acquaintance of yours for his cover story, and the second one when she tried to pick the lock to the sealed room.
--[X] On their objective, if their main mission was assassination, you fear they could have long accomplished that by drugging the food and drink, so you suspect it's mainly information gathering, as servants pass unnoticed.
-[X] Discuss countermeasures for cases of future infiltration.
--[X] Most of the key staff in the castle are without personal security. While your can't feasibly be escorted everywhere and still do your job effectively beyond getting some security for interviews, the others should not be too impeded. Particularly those without much personal combat ability.
--[X] Some way of relaying messages covertly between the council would be valuable. However, that turns up the issue of what if they were compromised like the past Marshal and the code leaks. Maybe if the cipher was regularly changed?

As usual veekie is the voice of reason. The shipping can wait.

veekie said:

Shipping goggles off please. Theres treason to stab.

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Always the time for shipping and mine are built-in.

Does WHF's holy prayer/song/sign does anything besides psychological morale booast? If prayer does damage the vampire or cultists would daily session work as detection?

[X] Plan Stick To Work Now, Be Blushing Maiden After Work

[X] Plan Stick To Work Now, Be Blushing Maiden After Work

Agreed. Smallclothes?

[X] Plan Stick To Work Now, Be Blushing Maiden After Work

Seventeen said:

I don't see how people think this is a better plan than the apology. I don't mind giving him the report, that's fine, but how on earth is "How do you prepare for battle and possible death" either one of small talk or getting to know each other? On top of that, it's incredibly stilted and awkward. Following up that weirdness with a declaration of... cavalry ability(?) is even worse. Then there's the report, it goes a little hard on the insane engineer for my liking, whatever. And she finishes up by adjusting her underclothes? What the hell?

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Was tactically voting to avoid the worse option, have now changed to veekie's