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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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Exmorri said:
I don't see why the paper is so important as to spend both actions on it, could someone please explain their point of view on that to me? As I see it, we're supposed to be spymaster first, wizard second, and getting published is only one part of being a wizard. A part we've already spent a lot of time on. It's useful, but far from urgent.
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It is time sensitive and is likely to have maluses if put off. We already have a decent plan of report (if you count the vampire bit) and could take the mini turn required to put this to rest. Frankly my vote is still on the Inn and Inspiration for the possiilities.
 
Dark made a good case for communing with Ulgu, seeing as Magister seems a genuinely worthwhile target, both as Spymaster and Wizard. Kicking back in the hot springs seems a trifle indulgent, but then again, Mathilde hasn't had a real break in what, five-six years now? Barring the odd book-binge.

As for the Countess... she was dropping heavy hints. Meaning she wanted to provoke an action. Meaning she thinks she can deal with the actions she considers most likely, or we'd figure out she's a Vamp anyway, so this way she retains some control.
It's possible she's not telling the truth and is leading us on, but it seems like she'd know we've got good creditibilty with Van Hal if she's trying to undermine it. It could be a long play... but it's probably more likely that she is a Vamp.

As I understand Sylvania, even if they know (and aren't being ruled through sheer terror) the locals aren't necessary fiercely opposed to having a Vampire Noble Lord, as long as things are kind-of sort-of better with them than without- I.e. the Vampire is sane, keeps blood demands reasonable and largely keeps the worse things in the wilderness at bay. Seems like this one decided that being part of Stirland made sense? Paying taxes, though? Maybe she was turned afterwards?

Also worth noting, not every Warhammer Vampire is also a Necromancer. Most aren't. But Mathilde clearly expects their animating Dhar to show up- so I guess it can be concealed.

She's hoping to come out of this with her rival in Drakenfells destroyed and retain or improve her own position. So... gain leverage, prove her worth, or strike at a moment of weakness, or...?

As for handling our response- she could of course have a castle full of dominated servants.
 
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[X] Throw yourself back into reclusion and goddamn stay there until the job is bloody well done.(takes two actions)
-[X] Ranald's Blessing
 
Ok I have asked boneyM he says he hasn't read the books so it doesn't necessarily apply to this quest. In the Grotrek and Felix novels, there is a vampire called Countess Gabriella that aids both of them against the plot of another. This vampire turns Ulrika on of their companions, and the Gabriella takes her under her wing after the book finished. The are another series of books called Ulrika the Vampire in which we learn that Gabriella is a Lahmian vampire who is firmly entrenched in the nobility of the empire.

That is the reason why I am insistent about learning about Gabriella in character.
 
[X] Plan Gettin Gud
-[X] Countess Gabriella von Bundebad implied quite a lot, and in such a way that it's clear she's trying to needle you into action. But you don't know what. If inaction isn't the correct move, what is? (write in; may take an action) (NEW)
--[X] Write in: Tell Van Hal about the conversation. Advise that, as the situation is apparently stable and we have ears in the city, it can probably wait until the purge is done and we have time to investigate properly.
--[X] Ranald's Blessing
[X] Really Good Swords: You have achieved proficiency with the Greatsword. Future progress is possible, though it will take more effort to see results.

I'd rather avoid three actions, and I am interested to see what hilarity Ranald manages with the lesser evil vamp.
Otherwise, murthering big fight coming, best practice. We can come back to the paper when time has given our subconscious opportunity to work on it.
 
Exmorri said:
I don't see why the paper is so important as to spend both actions on it, could someone please explain their point of view on that to me? As I see it, we're supposed to be spymaster first, wizard second, and getting published is only one part of being a wizard. A part we've already spent a lot of time on. It's useful, but far from urgent.
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Comes down to opportunity cost. Our organisations are doing work and we can't rush them all that much, due to money/manpower constraints. We have tried, and mostly failed, to help with the campaign's current phase. I really don't want to investigate Countess Gabriella von Bundebad until we can call in backup from the other advisors and Van Hal if needed. So we are left with personal improvement.

Of our improvement options the book is the only one we can finish rather than being an incremental growth thing. Plus it is arguably something that can help every wizard in the empire, present and future.

WorldSlayer said:
@Angelform is there any particular reason you chose to go to the Inn or would you be willing to replace it with enchantment?
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Even for workaholics frustration builds up. Consider recent events:
Spent a month or two 'investigating' what turned out to be a problem of geography. Also did some tedious and not particularly useful fighting.
Spent a month on a freezing mountain top utterly failing to uncover a mystery.
Spent a month failing to write a research paper.
Had a conversation with maybe a vampire who is maybe reasonable and maybe a scheming bar steward.

Taking a bit of time to unwind so you can come back to a project with a clear head is not to be underestimated.
 
[X] Plan Wait and Listen
-[X] Countess Gabriella von Bundebad implied quite a lot, and in such a way that it's clear she's trying to needle you into action. But you don't know what. If inaction isn't the correct move, what is? (write in; may take an action) (NEW)
--[X] Write in: Tell Van Hal about the conversation. Advise that, as the situation is apparently stable and we have ears in the city, it can probably wait until the purge is done and we have time to investigate properly.
-[X] Wurtbad was once famous for hospitality, and it still has a wonderful selection of high-class inns with actual hot running water. Book yourself into the Golden Eagle Inn and allow yourself to be pampered in the hopes that it will let the words flow. (costs personal funds)
-[X] Get atop your horse, find a place rich in Ulgu, and play hermit for a month while hoping that the energies you're so familiar with will inspire you. (???)
--[X] Ranald's Blessing

We can't help much with the actual fighting and our skills have already been tested so we don't need to be there in person right now.
I'm struggling to think of what we can do about the Countess beyond telling Van Hal and getting a second opinion, so we do that.
Enchanting would be pretty cool, but I'd rather get this out the way with once and for all.
 
WorldSlayer said:
Angelform is there any particular reason you chose to go to the Inn or would you be willing to replace it with enchantment?
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The thing about Enchantment is that it is a long term project and any action now is unlikely to be useful immediately. Also it would probably annoy Van Hal if we dumped the news of a vampire then do NOTHING with it.
 
Tao said:
Ok I have asked boneyM he says he hasn't read the books so it doesn't necessarily apply to this quest. In the Grotrek and Felix novels, there is a vampire called Countess Gabriella that aids both of them against the plot of another. This vampire turns Ulrika on of their companions, and the Gabriella takes her under her wing after the book finished. The are another series of books called Ulrika the Vampire in which we learn that Gabriella is a Lahmian vampire who is firmly entrenched in the nobility of the empire.

That is the reason why I am insistent about learning about Gabriella in character.
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I am familiar with Gabriella from the Ulrika books. I wanted to avoid meta gaming by abusing that knowledge and also just feel that we are better off taking it to VanHal like in AngelWings plan rather than trying to deal with on our own. In the normal turn this is the kind of thing we presenting to him as in part of the plan vote.

From my iPhone
 
[X] Plan Wait and Listen

Note to self: Best way to find full vote without slogging through pages of discussion is via vote tally tab
 
Lupercal said:
I am familiar with Gabriella from the Ulrika books. I wanted to avoid meta gaming by abusing that knowledge and also just feel that we are better off taking it to VanHal like in AngelWings plan rather than trying to deal with on our own. In the normal turn this is the kind of thing we presenting to him as in part of the plan vote.
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Fair point, but I disagree because I actually had to grab my books and double check the name. I wouldn't have given it a second thought, but from the conservation we can infer, she knows who we are, aware of the more players in the game then us, comments on the magical ability of another vampire and scoffs at the vampires title. I was for it before I realized who it was, because of the implication of a intrigue based vampire. Von Carstein are a martial issue while Lahmians are more Mathilde area of expertise. The meta knowledge just sorta cinched the decision for me to at least attempt to pursue the matter.

Also don't participate in quest, but is there and etiquette in regards to referring to the characters decisions such as we/our or just using their name.
 
BoneyM said:
As spring arrives and the armies of Stirland march, you remain underground. You've finally gathered together all the knowledge you require to properly record Mathilde's Mystical Matrix in such a way that it can be shared among all present and future wizards of the Empire.

Or so you thought.

Weeks pass in a haze of frustration as words emerge like blood squeezed from a stone. The words drip out of you like tar from a barrel, describing the ways to anchor a matrix of mystical energy within a living creature. Every trigonometric detail is checked and double-checked and laid down in the correct place. Every single sentence is an effort, and there's more than you could begin to imagine as you find no elegant way to describe what you can picture so easily and have to describe every facet of it individually in agonizing detail, then go even further in the descriptions of how they all connect together. The only thing more painful than writing it is rereading it, except more painful still is trying desperately to edit it into something slightly easier to understand.

The end result is, technically, an accurate guide to constructing Mathilde's Mystical Matrix. It's not even misleading. But it is incredibly dry and difficult to grasp and far longer than it has any right to be, and if you have to look at it one more time you might scream and set it on fire.

You storm out of your buried palace, summon a horse, and ride at considerable speed for Sylvania. You'd rather face the undead than that bloody paper right now.

[Writing the papar again: Learning, Roll, 31+19=50.]
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Every student writing a thesis paper knows the pain.
We're uh...the basic mistake is we're writing an academic paper like an engineering blueprint.
BoneyM said:
Fresher zombies were preyed upon by ghouls, who were in turn preyed upon by wolves - not, it appears the undead 'dire wolves', but living giant wolves who loafed around the edges of the siege, shattering the occasional skeleton to gnaw upon its bones and on the lookout for anything close to living for them to fall upon.
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Life finds a way huh?
BoneyM said:
Each local was accompanied by small herds of sheep or goats, but these were the most obedient herds you'd ever seen, staying within a few yards of their overseer and following along obediently every time he moved.
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All the disobedient herds probably being dead.

BoneyM said:
"We're quite used to being an island of civilization in a sea of terror, I'm afraid," she explains vaguely. "By the time it occurred to anyone to send for help, we had already been encircled."

"Messenger pigeons?" you suggest, but she's shaking her head before you even finish the words.

"That's a boondoggle one only has to sink money into once to learn their lesson. It's the bats, you see. They've got quite an appetite for blood, which tragically extends to that of birds."
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Huh, predation just isn't going to do enough damage to make messenger birds more than inconvenient/expensive. A countess should easily be able to afford redundancies
BoneyM said:
"Impromptu, unguided sieges? Oh, yes. There's some sort of rudimentary herding instinct in them, so every now and then enough accumulate at the walls to start attracting more and from there it just accumulates.

"And how do you usually solve it?"

"Winter comes eventually; the ghouls and wolves seek shelter and the zombies freeze, while the skeletons are buried in snow. We spend the winter months digging them up one by one and smacking them over the head until they stop moving. Inconvenient when a siege begins in spring, but such is life in Sylvania."
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Inconvenient is an understatement. That implies an insanely large food reserve
BoneyM said:
But your suspicions must be visible on your face, because her smile suddenly widens. "I know that look," she says suddenly. "It's a 'I'm going to check the records when I get back home and see how long there's been a Countess Gabriella in Nachthafen' sort of look."

You stare at her again, both at her person and at the mystical energy flowing within her, and to both she seems absolutely normal. "You get that look a lot?" you manage, shifting in your seat slightly so you could leap to your feet without trouble, if necessary.

"Every now and then. Let me spare you some trouble: since just before the turn of the millennium. The nineties were a good time to put down roots."

Too obvious. Too obvious. She's giving it away for free. Why? What reaction is she trying to get? Remember your teachings. Game it out. She all but tells you she's a vampire. You... do you attack her? If she knows you by reputation, she has to be at least prepared for the possibility, and you have an enormous sword on your back, for crying out loud. Witnesses? Is she prepared to fend off an attack and then have witnesses tell of your 'unprovoked' assault on her? Otherwise... well, you'd go straight to Van Hal. Van Hal would investigate himself. Is she trying to draw him in for something? To discredit you? To spring a trap on him? Is she even telling the truth about being a vampire? Why would someone lie about that? But then, why would someone be honest about that?

Then... do you do nothing? That might be the play. She's revealing this to inspire some sort of reaction in you; to do nothing counters that. It leaves her free to act, but no freer than if she had just said nothing. What's she trying to do? How do you prevent it?
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Its a test, see if we can play the game and remove the false von Carstein without her having to lift a finger, or if we need to be dealt with. Like, her statements, the behavior of her people, etc, have significant inconsistencies, up to and including livestock not following instructions being sent to the kitchen.

That sounds a lot like punishing a disobedient/criminal by picking them for the blood tithe.
BoneyM said:
"Anyone with money, of course." She smiles as you stare at her. "You know who one of them was. Everyone with the senses to feel it knows the spell that girl in Drakenhof hurled at you." She tuts, and fussily rearranges her hands in her lap. "So much raw power, so little control. Little wonder she's stark raving mad."

"Countess von Carstein," you venture, and she scowls.

"So she calls herself. Incorrect on all three counts - if you'll excuse the pun. No more spurious a claim has ever been made, I assure you."
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So neither a countess nor a von Carstein. Possibly not even a real vampire?
We got a lot of questions, but we don't know if Bundebad is good or bad.

[X] Plan Wait and Listen


Thats like the plan I want anyway.
We're THIS close to success, we just need the right inspiration(also we know theres a trait behind the research process)
 
DarkLight140 said:
started visibly changing to reflect it. Mathilde hasn't done so at all, yet- at least not that I've noticed in the text.
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Having grey fog automatically writhing from weapons (and other things?) we hold doesn't count? It's bascially an Arcane Mark.

veekie said:
Huh, predation just isn't going to do enough damage to make messenger birds more than inconvenient/expensive. A countess should easily be able to afford redundancies
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Well, these vampire bat swarms are very nasty. Like, marginally-effective-in-battle nasty.
 
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Angelform said:
Comes down to opportunity cost. Our organisations are doing work and we can't rush them all that much, due to money/manpower constraints. We have tried, and mostly failed, to help with the campaign's current phase. I really don't want to investigate Countess Gabriella von Bundebad until we can call in backup from the other advisors and Van Hal if needed. So we are left with personal improvement.

Of our improvement options the book is the only one we can finish rather than being an incremental growth thing. Plus it is arguably something that can help every wizard in the empire, present and future.

Even for workaholics frustration builds up. Consider recent events:
Spent a month or two 'investigating' what turned out to be a problem of geography. Also did some tedious and not particularly useful fighting.
Spent a month on a freezing mountain top utterly failing to uncover a mystery.
Spent a month failing to write a research paper.
Had a conversation with maybe a vampire who is maybe reasonable and maybe a scheming bar steward.

Taking a bit of time to unwind so you can come back to a project with a clear head is not to be underestimated.
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I agree with the relaxation but can't that be done with spending time on personal projects and spending time soaking up that fresh shadowy breeze. While it's true enchantment seems to be incremental (maybe we haven't ever actually done it so I have no idea what we'll actually get out of it) it seems to be related to those bound spell we've been working on so working on one might result in an epiphany in the other.

TimEd said:
The thing about Enchantment is that it is a long term project and any action now is unlikely to be useful immediately. Also it would probably annoy Van Hal if we dumped the news of a vampire then do NOTHING with it.
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Which is why I don't really want Mathilde to be known to be relaxing in a hotspring. This seems to actually be a point against spending time in the hotspring and actually the main reason I think now would be a really awkward time go around relaxing.

[X] Plan I'm totally working, honest.
-[X] Countess Gabriella von Bundebad implied quite a lot, and in such a way that it's clear she's trying to needle you into action. But you don't know what. If inaction isn't the correct move, what is? (write in; may take an action) (NEW)
--[X] Write in: Tell Van Hal about the conversation. Advise that, as the situation is apparently stable and we have ears in the city, it can probably wait until the purge is done and we have time to investigate properly.
-[X] Enchantment: You've finally got the equipment, now you've just got to unpack it all and set up your laboratory.
-[X] Get atop your horse, find a place rich in Ulgu, and play hermit for a month while hoping that the energies you're so familiar with will inspire you. (???)
--[X] Ranald's Blessing

Anyway I can see my argument hasn't really convinced anyone. However, I still personally think being seen to go on a holiday right at this moment would be a bit embarrassing. So I've decided to vote for an unseen holiday instead.
 
[X] Plan Wait and Listen

Hopefully Van Hal doesn't instead order us to instantly try and kill her. On one hand I want to spend more time investigating her first, from documents to questioning the locals. On the other hand it's important to tell our lord that one of his nobles is a vampire who is actually serving the empire. On the other tentacle I want more information because I'm really hoping that we'll have a friendly vampire (or could it be a dhampir made it into WHF?) to interact with, and I want to be able to tell Van Hal with certainty that not trying to instakill her has some extra positives.

Heck, while she's implied she's a vampire she hasn't actually confirmed she's one. While lying about being a vampire would make less sense than admitting you're a vampire, I'd still like to know more than "She implied she's a vampire and I'm going to investigate her later".
 
TimEd said:
It is time sensitive and is likely to have maluses if put off. We already have a decent plan of report (if you count the vampire bit) and could take the mini turn required to put this to rest. Frankly my vote is still on the Inn and Inspiration for the possiilities.
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I don't see how it's time sensitive. It's done, we're not going to drop it halfway through now. There's also no submission deadline. If anything I'd think we should leave it to come back with a fresh approach later.
 
Exmorri said:
I don't see how it's time sensitive. It's done, we're not going to drop it halfway through now. There's also no submission deadline. If anything I'd think we should leave it to come back with a fresh approach later.
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Thats why i vote for the Inn and Inspiration. It gives Mathilde time to unwind and come back with (hopefully a mastered spell) an open mind(hole)
 
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