A comment on vampires. Mathilde is probably wrong about what they look like. Of course, that's probably not her fault.
Vampires can survive undetected in Altdorf under the eyes of the Colleges and the greatest concentration of magically talented priests in the Empire.
The way I understand it is that vampires only accumulate the True Dhar the vortex in their body/soul converts the Winds of Magic into if they don't feed on human blood and so souls, and so they start eating the True Dhar instead. That's what happens to Nechrachs. Otherwise, vampires are incredibly resistant to the point of immunity to corruption by the use or presence of Dhar or True Dhar, or of other kinds of magic. It's only if they start eating it that they get corrupted. It's part of the effect of cutting their soul of from the warp, IIRC.
As long as she's never starved, the countess should look no different to a human with magical potential under regular soul sight, as the vortex appears to be invisible. A daemon would immediately notice the difference, but Mathilde isn't a daemon. What may be noticed is that she disturbs the Winds by her presence, but pretty much everything interacts with the Winds at some level, so that isn't definitive, and she's probably ignorant of what to look for. Vampires are the crowning achievement of an one of a kind evil genius from a mature magical civilisation benefiting from the knowledge of another even more mature one. They're expected to be bullshit.
That order was 14 months ago. One regular turn then four two-month purge turns. We have received no meaningful orders since then. Also in our last privet conversation he said we should not be asking him to give us priorities.
Largely as a result of you reducing us from 6 actions a turn, to 5 without overwork, to 2.
If we take this as a full turn we have already spent our two organisation actions on 'work' an action investigating Nachthafen in the first place and still have the option to spend another 2 actions on 'work' next purge turn.
The way I understand it is that vampires only accumulate the True Dhar the vortex in their body/soul converts the Winds of Magic into if they don't feed on human blood and so souls, and so they start eating the True Dhar instead.
You're going to have to provide a source on that. My understanding is vampires are always corrupted mind, body, and soul. They are held together by dark magic, and I've never heard of something that could hide it. From my limited experience with the roleplay, how they got around wizards comes down to supernatural charm, avoidance (which is easier than you would think), or making the wizard disappear.
You're going to have to provide a source on that. My understanding is vampires are always corrupted mind, body, and soul. They are held together by dark magic, and I've never heard of something that could hide it. From my limited experience with the roleplay, how they got around wizards comes down to supernatural charm, avoidance (which is easier than you would think), or making the wizard disappear.
Libris Necris describes the meta-biology of vampires in detail.
There's also the WFRP Lords of the Night book, which backs it up.
Vampires were originally created by dark magic, but they're constructs of the soul. They're held together by, well, their own substance. It's why vampires are truly indestructible, and can only be scattered not destroyed. They're not an active magical construct, they're an altered state of existence. They're souls that have been irrevocably bound to the physical matter of their bodies, with both their body and mind massively upgraded, and cut off from the warp, with a vortex that sucks in the Winds and compresses it back into True Dhar for use in necromancy. The near incorruptibility comes because their souls are inaccessible to corrupting influences (being bound to matter) unless they choose to assimilate it to nourish their souls, which is why they can use Necromancy without being corrupted by True Dhar, multiple Winds without regular Dhar corruption, or even the other individual Winds without being altered by them.
[*] Plan Wait and Listen
-[*] 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)
--[*] 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.
-[*] 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)
[*] 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. (???)
--[*] Ranald's Blessing
Sometimes, you feel the burden of your allegiances as a physical weight upon your shoulders. The allegiances of a wizard are lain down in stone in the Articles of Imperial Magic. To the Empire and the Emperor, first and foremost - easy enough. Next, theoretically, to the Supreme Patriarch, but you've yet to have any allegiance to any Supreme Patriarch play a part in your life. Then to the laws and ideals of the Grey Order, which, well... you've always cleaved closer to the ideals than the letter of the actual laws. Then to the Patriarch, which might become relevant one day should you learn who the Patriarch actually is. Then to the 'authorities you serve in the course of your duties': to wit, Van Hal. And, finally other superiors within the Grey Order - most specifically, your Master.
Then, either parallel or subordinate to those, are your loyalties as Spymistress, as a Knight, as a citizen of the Empire, and as a person.
You owe Van Hal your fealty at least five times over. But none of them, you eventually conclude, supersedes your duty to the Colleges.
---
In the scant privacy of a tent pitched outside the walls of Nachthafen, Van Hal nods as you give your report on the Countess. "It fits what we know - 'we' being the Witch Hunters. She's been under suspicion for quite some time, but by chance or artifice she's always been far down the list of priorities. It's not like there's any shortage of targets in Sylvania."
"So do you think she's a vampire?"
He waves a hand vaguely. "Impossible to say. The possible reasons for her lying are as devious as those for revealing the truth. Whatever she is, she's cooperating, and said cooperation cuts half a year of our timetable for marching on Drakenhof."
"Lesser evil," you note.
"Very much so. I'd like to know exactly what kind of evil she is, but either she keeps playing along and lends her aid to the destruction of Drakenhof or she plays her hand when I've got forty thousand men and fourteen hundred knights at my back. Both possibilities bode well for Stirland." He turns to you, raising a questioning eyebrow. "Though if you've got a better course of action in mind, I'm open to suggestion."
You've got ideas. A lot of ideas. A dozen different ways to burrow into Nachthafen and start watching for whatever may be rotting at its heart leap to mind immediately, and more would appear with thought. But all would take time, and effort, and attention that is needed elsewhere. So instead you open your mouth and say, "the situation is apparently stable, and we have ears in the city. Whatever she is, she can wait until the Purge is done and we have time to investigate properly."
He nods, not questioning it for a second and already turning back to the map of the hills he was studying when you came in. You feel something twist in your stomach at the trust he has in you. "If all goes well, in three to four months I will call a final council meeting before the advance on Castle Drakenhof. Until then, continue as you have been."
Within the minute, you've summoned your horse and are on your way back to Wurtbad.
---
In a city filled with quality inns, the Golden Eagle Inn stands far above the rest. They claim to have served visiting dignitaries in the time of Emperor Dieter IV and his forebears, and that they haven't dropped a notch in standards since, and you believe them. The beds are soft and clean and the option exists for breakfast to be served in them. There's a tangle of metal pipes to deliver hot water to the room for use with the brass tub tucked into a corner, as well as hot spring baths around the back should one prefer. The food is straightforward, no Halfling nonsense or Bretonnian pretension to be found, just quality meat cooked to perfection and served with fresh bread and plentiful gravy, and seconds are always available should they be desired. The servants are always at hand when desired and never to be seen when not. By your third day there, you're starting to wonder if you can fit an indefinite stay into your budget.
Each morning, you rise early and take your notes and a breakfast with you to a tower on the walls, where the coming dawn illuminates the mists rolling over the trees and lapping at the base of the walls like waves against the shore. Every time frustration rises in you, you lift your head and take in the sight of a world awash in Ulgu and are able to find some measure of peace once more. As the sun rises in the sky you return to the Inn, where you continue your revisions in the comfortable quiet of the reading room, the only sound being the crackle of the fire and the soft noises of paper and parchment as the other guests turn pages or roll scrolls. Then you return to the walls, this time on the opposite side of Wurtbad, and watch the sun fall below the horizon, and return to the Inn in time for supper.
If it weren't for what you were doing, this may be the most idyllic period of your life to date. As it is, it's a counterweight keeping your mood from plummeting as every day you chip away at the opacity of your past words, hoping to reveal the shape of elegant truth within. Weeks pass. Spring turns to summer. Dawn comes ealier and dusk later every day, and just as eternal as the sun is the task at hand. You have to think hard to remember that anything but this damnable paper still exists. But progress is made, paragraph by agonizing paragraph.
When you finally lift your pen for the final time, you feel both empty and free.
The end result is... you ache to call it outstanding. Or elegant. Or any sort of word to justify the amount of time spent, to match the profundity of the dawn and dusk you witnessed every day for two months. But it's... it's competent. It's readable, it's understandable, it's legible, and all sorts of things ending in -ble. It's... it's stolid. It's a medium for communicating the structure and creation of Mathilde's Mystical Matrix and it does exactly that, and no more.
The only thing that hurts more than the unexceptionalness of the paper you've produced is the idea of spending another minute on it.
[Appreciating Ulgu: 28+19+10(Ranald's Blessing)=57]
[Time at the Golden Eagle Inn: 52+19=71]
---
You meet with your two lieutenants in a conference room in Julia's townhouse, over a highly annotated map of Greater Stirland. Their reports to you are short and to the point. Jack has mollified the worst of the grumblers, and though the mood of the Watch's long-term veterans is no better than it was they've been convinced to wait and see rather than reflexively pining for the nostalgia-tinted past. Julia's news is less positive: her attempts to expand the Network to start soaking up saleable information went terribly, and badly-needed funds vanished into Flensburgian society like stones thrown into a bog. You're not sure whether Julia was outmanoeuvred, got unlucky, or is just unsuited for this facet of her role, but at least she pulls no punches in her evaluation of how badly it went.
Julia also passes on information from the front lines: the central Hills proved to be as terrible as Van Hal had feared. The army stumbled into a vast natural valley within the Hills that proved to be the home of innumerable ghouls led by what the troops are calling the Singing King: an enormously muscled vampire mounted atop some sort of hideous dragon-bat that directed his gathered horde with long, wordless cries. The fighting was long and bloody, and near a fifth of the army are now dead, wounded, or otherwise out of action - including Gustav's Pistoliers, whose horses were driven wild by the singing of the Ghoul King, and ended up bucking their riders and escaping into the questionable safety of the Hills. In the end the back of the ghoulish army was broken and the majority of the creatures were ridden down by the Knights as they tried to flee along ancient dirt roads weaving through the hills towards the Ghoul Wood. Their King, however, remains at large - though without a mount, as Deathfang apparently took umbrage at a counterfeit dragon sharing a battlefield with him.
In a grim silver lining, Jack notes, the massive amount of those retired from the Army due to injuries are filling the ranks of the Watch nicely.
News from the other two 'fronts' are better. Ostermark's progress continues, advancing slowly but steadily through the Dead Wood. The first of their troops have reached the dead city of Mordheim, and have reported chasing off small numbers of beastmen calling the city home. Down south, Zhufbar has finally broken their twin sieges, and greenskins are flooding out of the mountains pursued by the Throng of Zhufbar, seeking shelter in the greenskin shelter of Fang Island... deep within Ghoul Wood. Grins are shared over the table as the image of a greenskin army running headfirst into a ghoulish one fills your heads.
In other news, tensions are higher than ever in the Hochschild household as Wilhelmina chooses keeping the army amply supplied over outrageous profits; the EIC is currently operating practically at cost, to the protest of absolutely none of its shareholders. There'll be time enough for profit after the war is over, the three of you feel - but Wilhelmina's sons definitely do not feel the same way.
Further afield, Van Hal apparently gave Anton a discretionary budget again. Anton, it seems, mentioned to the Master Engineers of Nuln that Van Hal was going to kill the infamous Castle Drakenhof, but due to lack of cannon and powder he was going to have to do so with catapults. The thought of such a magnificent feat being accomplished in such a Bretonnian way went against everything the Imperial Gunnery School stood for, and now two score cannon were travelling up the river Aver to Sylvania, with all but the down payment still outstanding on them.
All in all, though the Army of Stirland has lost eight thousand of its number and the pistoliers have been turned into infantrymen, the war seems to be going well.
---
VOTE: Do you submit the paper as it exists now?
[ ] Yes. Don't be unrealistic. The paper communicates the concept and construction of Mathilde's Mystical Matrix without inducing unconsciousness or migraines. That's a win. Take the win.
Paper is sent to Altdorf to be published, gain trait: Practical - Long exposure to scholarship has given her an appreciation for literally everything else. +1 Diplomacy, +1 Stewardship, +1 Martial, +1 Intrigue, -1 Learning.
[ ] No. Mathilde's Mystical Matrix is worthy of a paper of sublime profundity, that communicates the earthshaking possibilities of the spell with elegance.
Continue work on paper, ???.
---
PLAN FOR THIS PURGE TURN
ORGANIZATIONAL ACTIONS - new ones to be chosen now; these will be LOCKED IN for the next three purge turns.
Information Network - pick ONE (no action expenditure required):
[ ] Expand your information network into another province (choose one)
[ ] Expand your information network into another county or barony (choose one)
[ ] Expand your information network into the military (choose a Division)
[ ] Expand your Intelligence Attaché program to another Division (choose one)
[ ] Off the Leash: Let Julia handle the network without your micromanagement from now on.
Information Network finances - can be chosen INSTEAD of a selection from the above.
[ ] Gossipmongers: Julia's previous attempt had no result but the enrichment of various hangers-on of the Flensburg courts. Perhaps this was just poor luck; perhaps she should try again. (NEW-ish)
[ ] Attaché Paperwork: The Intelligence Attachés are your biggest expense by far - see if you can have them paid for by the Army of Stirland instead.
[ ] Fixer: Work with the Wurtbad Thieves Guild, supplying them information in exchange for a portion of profits.
[ ] Special Branch: Pull some financial trickery to get the information network classified as part of the Watch, so that their costs are covered by the Stirlandian treasury.
[ ] Trade Delegation: Convince Wilhelmina and Markus to partner your network with the EIC based on the value of market information.
Stirland Watch - pick ONE (no action expenditure required):
[ ] Expand the ranks of the Watch, so that they're able to start covering even the poorer parts of their covered area.
[ ] Expand the Watch into a new county or barony (choose which)
[ ] Expand the Special Branch into areas already covered by the Watch, so you have an additional pool of manpower you can call upon to supplement the full-time Watchmen.
[ ] Improve the training of the Watch, hiring trainers and dedicating paid time each week to sharpening skills.
[ ] Integrate the Roadwarden network of covered areas into the Watch.
[ ] Investigate the possibility of adding a River Warden branch of the Watch.
[ ] Headhunt administrators from other organizations in Stirland.
[ ] Attempt to hire administrators and clerks from Altdorf and Nuln.
Stirland Watch finances - can be chosen INSTEAD of a selection from the above.
[ ] Formalize and organize the payments people make for the Gong Farmers to perform their service, as well as having the Watch start enforcing existing laws against dumping human waste in the street or the Stir.
[ ] Currently, solid waste is sent by cart and wagon out to the fields for a pittance. It could instead be used to create market gardens along the banks of the Stir (hopefully downwind) and increase revenue and provide jobs for the desperate by growing a variety of cash crops.
[ ] Tanneries have a seemingly limitless demand for urine, which explains a lot about the smell. A bit of fragrant research would allow you to identify how much demand there is and how much of a profit you can wring from this.
[ ] In Wissenland, there are a number of techniques in use to derive saltpeter from urine. It would take a great deal more effort than selling to tanneries, but saltpeter could be exported to Nuln for fantastic profit, or used to start gunpowder production in Stirland.
---
PERSONAL ACTIONS - CHOOSE BETWEEN TWO AND THREE. ANY CHOSEN BEYOND THE FIRST TWO WILL COME WITH RISKS - PLEASE SPECIFY THE 'ADDITIONAL' TASK:
Genießt den Krieg - join the divisions entering Sylvania:
[ ] If you're feeling nosy, Vanhaldenschlosse is apparently free of anything that would object to you poking around in what was once the proud ancestral home of the Van Hals.
[ ] Something apparently quite similar to the Purge of the Haunted Hills is going on in Ostermark's southern regions; you could inspect goings-on up there yourself.
[ ] The Dwarves have crossed into the Empire, pursuing the greenskins into the woods. Perhaps you could tag along. (NEW)
[ ] Attach yourself to the army so you can join the hunt for the Singing King (specify which regiment to join, or general staff to avoid the thick of the fighting). (NEW-ish)
That Bloody Paper: (If further revision was chosen)
[ ] Send it off to our Master and ask that he passes it on to someone with the skills to distil it into greater elegance; though it will mean that they will get co-author status, and may fight you on the name. (does not take an action)
[ ] Throw yourself back into reclusion and goddamn stay there until the job is bloody well done. (takes two actions)
[ ] Spend some more time in the Golden Eagle Inn. It's such a lovely place, there's plenty of room. (costs personal funds)
[ ] The watchtowers on the walls was an uninspired choice for watching the Ulgu in the world, perhaps you can think of something different. (???)
Self-Improvement: Things have been going well so far, but the skills of a Journeyman Grey Mage can only go so far.
[ ] Practice, Practice, Practice: Having been thrown into the deep end of imperial politics, it would probably be a good idea to brush up on your skills and internalize the lessons you've learned (choose which trait; can be taken multiple times; will be more effective if you've used the trait a lot lately).
[ ] Tutoring: One of your fellow councillors may be willing to teach you in their chosen field (choose who; can choose which, or you can let them decide).
[ ] Really Good Swords: You have achieved proficiency with the Greatsword. Future progress is possible, though it will take more effort to see results.
[ ] Combat Training: You're virtually surrounded by armed warriors of various sorts. See if you can convince one to teach you (choose who).
[ ] Combat Training, In The Free Market: You haven't made many heavily armed friends yet, but gold is good for that. Go out and buy some training. (-personal gold)
[ ] Gun Shopping: You're currently using a pistol that was a spare for the pistoliers. Visit Nuln to upgrade. (Choose: dueling pistols for accuracy and range, repeater pistols for weight of fire, dragons for hand shotguns. Choose: whether you will acquire and use two pistols at once or keep one hand free.)
[ ] Enchantment: You're naturally talented at enchantment; so far, this just amounts to being able to make your desk meow for about an hour. See if you can improve on that, or at least figure out a way to make that useful.
Home Comforts: Your Palace-Shrine is bursting with potential. And also mud.
[ ] Diggy Diggy Hole, Remixed: You're getting sick of having workmen tramping in and out of your abode. Recruit an entire team and personally oversee them to clear out all of the reachable portions of the Palace-Shrine and be done with it. (-personal gold)
[ ] Enchantment: You've finally got the equipment, now you've just got to unpack it all and set up your laboratory.
[ ] Filled with Potential: You've got a room cleared out and ready to be put to use. Decide what you're going to put there and get started on equipping it. (write in the purpose of the room)
Research:
[ ] Undead Research: You know the basics, now. Perhaps a great deal of effort will allow you to advance further.
[ ] Snooping: Van Hal gave you a key to his Study. It's been a while since he's been in Wurtbad; he probably forgot he did so, and won't remember until he returns. And he didn't specifically say not to poke around and see what you could find.
[ ] Shyish-kebabs: The Shyish swords are hideously dangerous as weapons, but fascinating as a subject of study. Try to reverse-engineer the lost enchantments woven into them.
[ ] Qhaysh Juice: Whatever it is, it's dripping out of the box at a steady rate. You've got several gallons of the stuff and it's still coming out. It's got to be good for something.
[ ] Qhaysh Skunkworks: It would take careful study to unlock the secrets of the liquid. It would take considerably less time to find out if it can be made to burn, or explode, or do something militarily useful.
[ ] There's always room for more shadow spells in your repertoire. Send off to the Grey College for the basics on one of the others and get started on trying to learn it.
Influence:
[ ] Information Network: Work alongside to Julia to administer the network. Choose another Organizational Action for the Network.
[ ] Stirland Watch: Work alongside Jack to administer the Watch. Choose another Organizational Action for the Watch.
[ ] Financial Jargon: Everything with the EIC flew right over your head last time. Try again. Succeeding here will mean that you can take a more active hand in the company, adding it to the organizational actions; failing or not attempting means Mathilde will remain a silent partner.
[ ] Thieves Guild: It's currently little more than a church group, albeit of a very unconventional god. If it could be expanded under your aegis, it could be a powerful tool.
[ ] Biderhof: This village based on woodcutting and agriculture, has adopted you as one of it's own. Maybe you should adopt it as your own, in a literal sense.
[ ] Non-Thief Guilds: Wurtbad, like all major cities, is home to a number of guilds. Reach out to them and enforce your will.
Relations:
[ ] Getting To Know You: Spend time with one of your fellow councillors, your liege, or any of the other important figures you've come to know, offering your help in their tasks and generally getting a feel for them (choose one).
[ ] Getting To Know You Whether You Like It Or Not: Trust, but verify. Spend some of your time seeing what a certain person spends their time doing (choose one).
[ ] Letters Home: You might be able to wring more information out of your Master, or you might just be able to get news, information and guidance in general from the Grey Order.
[o] Free Time: Now well-established in Wurtbad, you can spend some time in your scant off hours getting to know someone better. Pick one character. (not possible during Purge Turns)
Personal Income: +50g
Estate Profit: +10g
Tithe: -6g
Student Loans: -35g
Golden Eagle Inn stay: -20g
---
Net: -1g
---
- Mathilde's time spent working on the paper has twisted her perception of things. As it exists now, it is a perfectly acceptable means of communicating Mathilde's Mystical Matrix, and a solid foundation for a Magisterial bid. What it isn't, thanks to your uncharacteristically mediocre rolls, is the source of the amazing mystical trait I know that some of you are hoping for.
- Note that the paper vote is separate to the plan vote.
- The perils of subordinates: you can't see Julia's dice or full charsheet, so you can't see for sure whether she just glitched the roll, whether there's traits that make it a poor fit for her, or whether there's something untoward going on.
- Don't forget Ranald's Blessing.
- Currently it seems like the Purge will last another six months before the final assault on Castle Drakenhof (which I've been using interchangeably with just Drakenhof, though they're two different albeit nearby places - sorry about that). Your accumulated discretionary funds can just last that long with no additional spending, but if it goes even a single Purge Turn longer than that you'll be in the negatives; if the Purge is still going when your budget is about to hit zero you'll be given the option of accumulating debt (which is acceptable, though hardly ideal, under wartime conditions) or the emergency measures you can take to plump your finances.
[X] No. Mathilde's Mystical Matrix is worthy of a paper of sublime profundity, that communicates the earthshaking possibilities of the spell with elegance.
GIVE ME THE HIGHEST GRADE OR GIVE ME DEATH!
oh ranald I sound like my sister...
I've reorganized the Information threadmarks to collect all the lore posts in one, mostly so I don't have to click 'view all threadmarks' to get to the charsheet. If there's any loreposts I've made that aren't included in it let me know.
[X] No. Mathilde's Mystical Matrix is worthy of a paper of sublime profundity, that communicates the earthshaking possibilities of the spell with elegance.
At this point I don't care about any of the other options nearly as much as finally getting this fucking paper right.
- The perils of subordinates: you can't see Julia's dice or full charsheet, so you can't see for sure whether she just glitched the roll, whether there's traits that make it a poor fit for her, or whether there's something untoward going on.
Hmmm. Once the Purge is done, how about we take an action to investigate Julia more closely? We hired her mostly on reputation, after all.
Proposing for this turn:
[] Yes, submit. Take the win. Give me some of that Diplomacy back!
[] Action: Set up enchantment lab (and next turn Qhaysh Skunkworks to have it for Castle Drakenhof; could also go straight to Skunkworks)
[] Action: train Greatswords more (trying to turn Advanced Fitness into a trait)
[X] No. Mathilde's Mystical Matrix is worthy of a paper of sublime profundity, that communicates the earthshaking possibilities of the spell with elegance.
I'll vote for pretty much anything that includes the combination of Special Branch for InfoNet Finances and one of the money-making actions for the Watch. If there's not one by the morning, I'll make my own, but for now I need to get to sleep.
[X] No. Mathilde's Mystical Matrix is worthy of a paper of sublime profundity, that communicates the earthshaking possibilities of the spell with elegance.
[X] Yes. Don't be unrealistic. The paper communicates the concept and construction of Mathilde's Mystical Matrix without inducing unconsciousness or migraines. That's a win. Take the win.
[X] Plan Money troubles and Ostermark
-[X] Formalize and organize the payments people make for the Gong Farmers to perform their service, as well as having the Watch start enforcing existing laws against dumping human waste in the street or the Stir.
-[X] Headhunt administrators from other organizations in Stirland.
-[X] Getting To Know You: Spend time with one of your fellow councillors, your liege, or any of the other important figures you've come to know, offering your help in their tasks and generally getting a feel for them (choose one).
--[X] Stewardship adviser.
-[X] Something apparently quite similar to the Purge of the Haunted Hills is going on in Ostermark's southern regions; you could inspect goings-on up there yourself.
--[X] Ranald's Blessing
Basically putting more attention to make sure we are fully capable of employing those retired soldiers as well as looking at Ostermark army, just in case.
[X] No. Mathilde's Mystical Matrix is worthy of a paper of sublime profundity, that communicates the earthshaking possibilities of the spell with elegance.
I'll vote for pretty much anything that includes the combination of Special Branch for InfoNet Finances and one of the money-making actions for the Watch. If there's not one by the morning, I'll make my own, but for now I need to get to sleep.
Our organizational actions are locked in, though.No they're not, apparently. It's hard enough convincing people to stop chasing the Paper... say, did someone sneakily go and change Mathilde's Motivation? From the first post:
[ ] Vainglory: The role of advisor is prestigious, certainly, but hardly glorious - unless you go above and beyond the call of duty, and sometimes above and beyond what was asked of you, and sometimes even above and beyond sanity and rationality.
Bonuses to large, revolutionary, or otherwise impressive projects or achivements; maluses to more mundane assignments.
[ ] Inspiration: To you, this position is merely a stepping stone towards a pet project that consumes you.
One inspired super-project of dubious utility and questionable safety with bonuses to working towards it when given official permission; minor maluses to all other projects as you neglect them in favour of tinkering with your passion. Completing a super-project will give you peace for a few years until a new one occurs to you.
[X] Yes. Don't be unrealistic. The paper communicates the concept and construction of Mathilde's Mystical Matrix without inducing unconsciousness or migraines. That's a win. Take the win.
Paper is sent to Altdorf to be published, gain trait: Practical - Long exposure to scholarship has given her an appreciation for literally everything else. +1 Diplomacy, +1 Stewardship, +1 Martial, +1 Intrigue, -1 Learning.
It's a cool trick. But it's not going to revolutionise the understanding of magic, and we've spent long enough on the paper.
What might revolutionise the understanding of magic is our every-colour Qhaysh juice, if it turns out it lets humans in some way safely do something with or approaching High Magic. Very Big If, but that'd be worth writing a paper for the ages about.
Our organizational actions are locked in, though. It's hard enough convincing people to stop chasing the Paper... say, did someone sneakily go and change Mathilde's Motivation? From the first post:
Our organizational actions are locked in, though. It's hard enough convincing people to stop chasing the Paper... say, did someone sneakily go and change Mathilde's Motivation? From the first post:
[X] Yes. Don't be unrealistic. The paper communicates the concept and construction of Mathilde's Mystical Matrix without inducing unconsciousness or migraines. That's a win. Take the win.
As the vote itself says, that's a win. Obsessing over the paper again and again is just going to drive our little wizard completely batshit, and in turn will continue eating up a bunch of actions each turn that could be spent on any number of other, more interesting things.
I messed up last turn and either miscounted it or copied the 'these are locked in for the next two turns' from the previous turn without noticing. I've gone back and edited it.
