Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

Well then. Have the second part of the Omake. New and Interesting sins against Men and Gods Ho!

---
Omake - The Rise of The Dreamer (Part 2)

Á̸҉b̵̶̧̕͝e҉͟ļ͡ḩ̛e̴͡͏҉̕l̨̛̛m̷̸̛͟ M̧a͝t̨hi̕l͠d̵͢e͜ ͟͢V̨͏̸a͜҉̢͝n̷̸ ̸̢́̕͟H̸̡͟҉a̵͏͏l̴̀͢͝͝ ͏̛We̷͝b̀e̕r̴
2480IC

Five years, it took. Five years of working at feverish pace in the ruins of Drakenhof. But your duty to Á̸҉b̵̶̧̕͝e҉͟ļ͡ḩ̛e̴͡͏҉̕l̨̛̛m̷̸̛͟ is complete, now. The book you used so extensively for reference is in the hands of his son, as it should be. But the research and study of that dark tome has born fruit. Three tomes of your own making: the first relatively bening (a timid pursuit of the truth in shadows); the second dangerous to the unprepared (the work to accomplish your dreams); the third your preparations for a last resort (your nightmare made material). But now you are ready to finally deal with Sylvania once and for all. Á̸҉b̵̶̧̕͝e҉͟ļ͡ḩ̛e̴͡͏҉̕l̨̛̛m̷̸̛͟ is finally ready to return in earnest.

Not the intricate illusion you draped yourself in, but a true return. The "illusion", feeding on the images of Á̸҉b̵̶̧̕͝e҉͟ļ͡ḩ̛e̴͡͏҉̕l̨̛̛m̷̸̛͟ that Gustav, Kasmir, Wilhelmina and His son Sigmund held in their memory to reinforce itself, have discreetly given you the missing pieces you needed. Merging those memories with your own, you finally have enough to weave Him together from naught but Ulgu, with the barest sliver of Dhar to make the shadow permanent and independent of thought. You tremble as you make final checks and preparations, unsure whether from anticipation or nervousness. Years have passed, but you have found the place well enough (after all, you've lost count how many times you've come here to vent your frustration and grief). Drakenhof town, the very street just inside the gates, where Abelhelm's life was cut short, is where Á̸҉b̵̶̧̕͝e҉͟ļ͡ḩ̛e̴͡͏҉̕l̨̛̛m̷̸̛͟ will emerge restored. The city remains largely empty; though a few desperate souls still dwell in the collapses houses and intact sewer warrens, most of the city remains in ruin and the Vampires and Necromancers of Castle Drakenhof have yet to expend the organized effort to resettle the town. An hour before sunrise, you begin casting. Just after an hour later, the receding shadow of the sun leaves behind a man-shaped form into which you pour Ulgu (and Dhar), and not long after the figure is wholly solid. A memory, and a dream, made reality. The spell has succeeded. The greatest Champion of Stirland exists again. Despite yourexhaustion, you are quick to embrace the man.

An armored gauntlet softly pats your head and looking up, you see his face, nearly stern, but with warmth in his eyes and his lips curving just the slightest bit upward.

"Well then, Dame Weber." A͘b̕e͠l̢h͞e̡lm̴ begins "Shall we go and finish the job?"

---

Regimand Speiseschrank
2481IC

With the alarming news from Stirland's spymaster, Regimand had wasted little time calling in a great many of his favors to gather an appropriate response. Himself, and three other Magisters of the Gray Order went with him to Stirland (even the Patriarch might have joined, if not for an Imperial demand for his presence overriding yours). Eight witch hunters with their personal retinues, as well as two full knightly orders (Sigmar's Blood and Fiery Heart), went in beside them, outside his own calling. Some months were wasted, scouring Stirland for Weber, until the process of elimination concluded she was likely in Sylvania.

The witch hunters went in first, being the best suited to find and investigate. And one by one, fell completely out of touch with the rest of the effort to find Weber. Then, one of those Witch Hunters returned, alone, with dire news and shaken to her core. Alfhild Raftwald spoke of the madness she discovered.

According to her, Drakenhof was... changed. The witch hunters had sent agents there before. She had read the reports. Of a populace terrified, barely above starvation, and chained by shackles of despair stronger than any iron could hope to be; under the thrall of the Vampires' dark powers and unable to muster the will to do much of anything but silently support their dread overlords with their labor and obedience. Instead, she had discovered a town of hope, rebuilding. Its' citizens well-fed and stocky, if few in number. Instead of being met with suspicious glances or terrified scurring into building, they were welcomed. Though it was quite disturbing to see everyone, every sincle person they spoke to, assume that the witch hunters were there to aid "Count V̧a͟n͏ ̨H̕a͠l̶̨̀" against the undead in the surrounding countryside. She recalled a section of town adjacent to the wall had been demolished entirely, and a fortified town keep being under construction in the open space, creating an incropping from the exterior wall. It seemed as if a rather thick and tall tower was going to serve as the inner sanctum of the keep.

Not long after she claims to have encountered A͘b̕e͠l̢h͞e̡lm̴ V̧a͟n͏ ̨H̕a͠l̶̨̀ himself! Or rather, Raftwald quickly corrected herself, some monstrosity wearing his skin with a shockingly convincing visage. Weber was with V̧a͟n͏ ̨H̕a͠l̶̨̀, no doubt responsible for the abomination. Then things took a turn for the worse: as the sunset confrontation in the streets of Drakenhof was developing, Weber's "allies" emerged from the buildings, surrounding Raftwald and her retinue. The other witch hunters, and their retinues, alive and well, and seemingly having sworn themselves to the "noble cause" of cleansing Sylvania from undead, and demanding Raftwald do the same.

She rejected him and the whole abominable situation. Weapons clashed, but the abominations were clearly just cautiously buying time for Weber to cast her vile magics; no wounds were inflicted on them, but neither did the six of them have success inflicting solid blows on the abominations. As shadows fell, The opposing "witch hunters" withdrew to the buildings and V̧a͟n͏ ̨H̕a͠l̶̨̀ returned to Weber's immediate side, as six new figures rose from the shadowed ground: one each for Raftwald's retinue.

Raftwald begins to shake, as she recalls in detail what happened next.

---

The figures were our own. Like looking into a mirror... except not quite. In places there were imperfections, glimpses of shadow. But more importantly, our shadows were different from our true selves. More than we ourselves were. Like looking into a mirror and imagining what you want to see.

Our weapons were at the ready, but the fighting had paused. My... reflection spoke to me. It tried to convince be to join V̧a͟n͏ ̨H̕a͠l̶̨̀'s cause. It made a persuasive argument. Just barely, I found the strength to refuse. By this point, I barely had attention for the other reflections. When I refused, she... it denounced me. I was "judged and found wanting"; the whole formal declaration, you know. It asked if I thought... Doesn't matter. I didn't even have a chance to respond when sh-IT said that perhaps, it's for the best. That I wouldn't have the strength to support V̧a͟n͏ ̨H̕a͠l̶̨̀'s dream... but she-IT would. That it would be best if I just let her take my place.

"Please, Miss Raftwald. What did it ask you? I assure you, every little detail matters."

She asked me if Sylphie would be proud of me. Because there I was, a Witch Hunter, trying to put an end to the only force in the Empire that's actually working to wipe out the undead menace of Sylvania.
Sylphie is... was my older sister. Died when I was a child. The reason I... I even became a witch hunter in the first place. So there would be more reasonable individuals in the ranks, not maniacs burning everyone that a terrified peasant points a finger at.

"So... the reflection actually knew details about yourself that Weber couldn't... couldn't possibly know? Remar... Hm. Do continue, Miss Raftwald."

Fighting broke out, then. I snapped out of my daze just in time to clash maces. We... we were outmatched. Fighting stronger versions of ourselves. By the time we had a brief lull in the fight and I could glance around, there were only four of us left. Karken and Mossfeuer were... standing at Van Hal's side. Didn't even notice when their true selves went down. It... it's possible they didn't. They could've given in to words alone, as I said, I barely had attention to anyone but my own reflection for a while.

As the fight resumed, Wolfgang was out of position, and got overwhelmed by his reflection. His reflection stunned him, dazed him for for seconds, the reflection slowly grabbed his throat and the fell apart into a cloud of black fog that then went inside of him, through his mouth and nose. Maybe eyes and ears too. Didn't have too much time to stare at the process.

Galmar managed to land a solid blow on his reflection; right on the neck. It fell and started bleeding out into wisps of shadow. Not a moment too soon, because I had been disarmed and was about to get my own throat grabbed by my reflection when Galmar tackled her. The two of them left held the reflections off and yelled at me to flee. Galmar's own reflection had reformed, so it was three against two for them. Can-can't imagine they lasted long. Then I got to my horse outside the gates, and rode without stopping back to the border bridge.

---

We were on the cusp of victory. The battle had been arduous, despite the foe consisting "only" of Weber herself and no more than some 300 fighters; the Witch Hunters, as well as a number of patrols and skirmishers that she had "turned" over the weeks it took us to prepare for a march on Drakenhof. The "Dream Shades", as we had decided to name them, proved fully able to physically wound foes, despite all known Ulgu illusions being incapable of such. They weren't even limited to the core characteristic of the scant few examples of Ulgu-entities ("regular" shades) on record: the ability to reform and regenerate from any physical disruption of their form; in the case of dream shades, mundane damage failed to keep them down for any longer than a frighteningly short period of five minutes (and even that long was only from total destruction by direct cannon hit). No, dream shades were even capable of... terrifyingly quickly reforming from magical harm: ten to thirty minutes from brute-force magical destruction, depending on the degree of annihilation. Slightly over an hour to recover from generic dispellation aimed at the spellwork holding them together. To permanently destroy one, required a "live" capture and restraint, followed by a careful analysis of the individual shade, and a tailored disjunction of its' binding.

This process in the field of battle was not helped by the fact that Weber herself had taken to the field, and was summoning new dream shades in the images of the soldiers in the field.

Finally, after five days of constant skirmish on the streets of Drakenhof, and failed attempts to pin down that tiny but undying enemy force in close quarters, we have cornered Weber and her six remaining dream shades; including V̧a͟n͏ ̨H̕a͠l̶̨̀'s shade, whom we have determined is of a different type. Him we have captured twice now, once on the plains outside Drakenhof, and again on the first day of fighting within Drakenhof. For reasons unknown to us, even tailored disjunction has failed to keep him down for longer than a couple of days, though he has been altered by each disjunction, such that a new analysis had to be performed. No doubt, given their personal connection, Weber has done something to make his shade more persistent.

Weber was cornered. Her shades fading and losing ground. I saw her face several times during that final battle. She was unhinged to begin with, but I caught it. The moment when Count Sigmund bypassed the shade of his father and went for her directly. I caught the moment where she cracked utterly, seeing the blade come at her without doing anything to stop it. As the blade pierced her chest, a battle tome among her combat gear exploded with shadow and force, knocking away the Count before opening its' pages and the gates of madness. In the Winds, a vortex of power emerged as Dhar and Ulgu coiled around Weber and spilled into the sky as an invisible pillar right before my senses. The whole of the army was swarmed by a host of nightmares. Though I glimpsed at figures of madness from the corners of my eyes, from Orcs to Vampires to Daemons, I remained unbothered by all figues besides my apprentices: all of them suddenly around me, save for Weber herself. Back and forth the solid illusions switched places whichever way I looked: altering between states of death or undeath or corrption-by-Dhar and other unimaginably evil mockery whenever my eyes flicked around. What I feared they could become if I failed to prepare them accordingly... It was at that moment where I understood the nature of Weber's breakthrough and genius. Where the dream shades created an idealized image of ourselves, and twisted it just a fraction to serve Weber's crusade against the Undead, this hurricane pulled Ulgu through every mind in its' area and through Dhar made those nightmares into reality. Real enough to tear mail and flesh and mind alike. The army shattered into retreat in less than twenty minutes.

One of the Magisters I saw perished in the nightmare, two already before during the skirmish, the last, descended into the catacombs beneath the building, laughing and howling, his mind shattered by what he saw. I was all that was left, and I stood alone before my former apprentice and the shade at her side. Her mortal chest wound, and even the damage to her robes, gone as if they had never been there.

"̸̻̖̙̯͗̌̋ͧͯ̌͐ͥͅͅI͖͚͈ͦ̊͜͠ ̶̛̩͉͙̱̘̦̑̍͗͛ͭ̍ͬa̛͒ͥͭͤ̏̋͏͙̠̙̮͠m̡͎͎͕̱̫̰̣̠̾ͭͫ͟ ̼̬̗͖̊ͮ͆̑ͣͫ͝t̸̨̙̟͔̮̜̠̹̤̑ͬ͛͑̚ͅḫ̶͈̽ͫ̀̀ę̖̲͈̞̰̦̦͓͐̅̾ͧ̚͝ ̷̻̽́͛̿́͠͠D̷̴̳̗̱̔̾͝r̳̒̃̋͌̀̀ę̰̹̬̪̹̊̆ͯ̾ͣ̉͂͊͠a̵̗͇̻ͤͮ̑͠m̵̡͓̳̮̗͓͕̙͊̑̈̊ͭ́ͪͭ ̼̘̫̅̓͒ͯͯ̐ͦ̆͜͡a̶̹̤̣̹̲̤̮̟̺͒̒ͫ͑̏̓ṋ̜̹̎͛̏̀d̙̦͐̒ͥ͗̏̕͞ͅ ̐̓̀͊͑̚҉̀͏̻͖͓t̝̝͊͋̒̏́h̐̓͑̓̅͗̆҉̡͉ě̟͍̈́̑͂ͭ͝ ͫ̆͑̍ͭ҉͏̼̱D̸̳̱͙̣͈̃̈͆ͣ̄ͩ̋r̩̹̺̘͖͈̦̼̞ͯ̉̔̈́͌͡e̴͈̞͍͇̟̼ͤ̚͞ả̲̟̲͚̌̿ͬ̚̚͝m̓̿ͩ̉͐̐͋́҉̼̝̜ ͛̅ͥ͜͏͓͔̤̳̺͢i̷̡̘̞̮͍͋͆ͩ̏̀ͣ͂s̢̢͕͙͈̤̩͍̺̅ͅ ̯̫̞ͪIͪ̈́̏́ͥ͊̉ͬ́҉͇̙̺͚̼͓̠͙.̨̜̯̫͖̭̯͎́ͯ̀͊̇"̣̼͔̈͗͒

---

Magical Threats to the Empire (2500IC; Restricted Magister Edition)

...
Sylvania and The Dreamer

Since the Battle of Drakenhof(2481IC) (also known as the Battle of Dreamshades), Sylvania has become one of the most dangerous and unforbidding territories of the world, surpassed with certainty only by the northern Chaos Wastes. Belonging to the entity known as The Dreamer, those passing into Sylvania rarely return, and the minds of those who do are greatly changed by it. Though once famous for its infestation of undead that often spilled over into Stirland, the Dhar-corrupted Shyish winds of the land have since faded. Instead, they have been replaced by Dhar-corrupted winds of Ulgu, resulting in a realm of shadow and madness, where dreams of the hopeful come true and make them reluctant to leave, while the fears of the frightful swiftly transform into reality and consume them.

The creator of this realm, The Dreamer, is an entity of great power whose exact abilities, at this point, are possibly beyond enumeration, given the wide variety of reliable, but conflicting reports on the matter. Some Magisters have hypothesized that The Dreamer gains and loses abilities based on what her individuals in her immediate vicinity believe them to have, though this hypothesis remains unconfirmed. Nonetheless, it has been confirmed within reason that regardless of their opponents' beliefs, The Dreamer is an Ulgu mage of Battle Wizard caliber, as well as having the ability to create Dream Shades. Almost always, The Dreamer is accompanied by their first shade: the Shade of E̸l̷ect͞ór͡ ̶C͡ount Ab̀ȩlhe̢l̡m ̴V͟an ҉H͝a͡l, once a witch hunter and a fearsome warrior especially in that state of aberration.

Besides The Dreamer themselves, Dream Shades are the most immediately dangerous of Sylvania's denizens, coming in three varieties: Greater, Corrupted and Lesser. All three varieties are sometimes referred to as Dopplegängers by the common folk of the Empire. All variations of Dream Shade are exceedingly difficult to destroy permanently: to do so requires careful analysis of the Shade's magical existence, followed by a disjunction tailored for the specific shade. To study and disjunct a shade that has yet to replace their original is a fairly straightforward (if time-consuming) task made complex only by the Shade's attempts to break free during the process; given time, even Apprentice-level Grey Wizards ought to be able to succeed at the disjunction. However a shade that has succeeded in the replacement is far more difficult, and a permanent disjunction is a Magister-level task, likely beyond all but the most talented of Journeymen. Fortunately, to restrain the shades of humans is fairly straightforward once they are captured: Dream Shades of all varieties lack the ability to become intangible at will, and can only do so in reaction to direct physical or magical damage to their form. The only exception to this is the Shades of wizards, which possessed such an ability before becoming shades.
Greater Dream Shades take the form of a living individual as they dream to be, and will likely attempt to convince a willing merger, where the true person is subsumed under the idealized strength and willpower of the Shade, though failure to persuade results in an attempt to force the merger. Greater Dream Shades are created personally by The Dreamer.
Corrupted Dream Shades take the form of a living individual, corrupted to evil and madness; should the individual in question possess such a fear. Shaped by the beliefs of the true individual, they may or may not outmatch the original. Unlike Greater Dream Shades, they will usually attempt to kill the true individual, rather than dominate them, though Corrupted Shades with an obsession of domination are not unheard of. Corrupted Dream Shades can be created by The Dreamer, as well as by the Shades of Gray Wizards.
Lesser Dream Shades tend to take an imperfect and transparent mockery of the true individual. Some stronger examples of Lesser Dream Shades occasionally manage to take a more perfect form that can pass for the original person in a state of weakness or brokenness. While they rarely confront the individual they are formed of directly, as Greater and Corrupted variations do, the Lesser variation pursues a different strategy of replacing the original: they stalk their original until an opportunity presents itself to slay or subsume the original (most commonly, when the original falls asleep alone, ideally in the isolated wilderness). While not as dreadful to face as the Greater and Corrupted variants once discovered, the Lesser variant is threatening in its' own way, as they are capable of shifting into existence without a summoner anywhere in Sylvania, simply from the presence of a true individual. It is also hypothesized among Magisters of the Gray Order that the "peaceful and optimistic" residents of Sylvania, reported by the handful of people to return from the lands alive, are Lesser Dream Shades that have replaced the original population. Or particular threat, are Lesser Shades of Grey Wizards which stalk their true self out of Sylvania, and may begin summoning Corrupted Shades outside its' borders if they succeed in replacing their original.
...

---

A Magister's Index of Forbidden Lore (2512 IC; Restricted Edition)

...
The Three Tomes of Weber

The Three Tomes of Weber are a collection of books second in infamy only to the Books of Nagash (indeed, surpassing even the Liber Mortis at the time of this writing), and a harsh reminder to Mages of the Empire than not all great works of darkness and madness are something from ages long past. Written between 2475 and 2480 by the individual now referred to only as The Dreamer. Though the author's name and identity are known in Imperial and College record, it is hypothesized that people accurately remembering The Dreamer feeds The Dreamer's power, thus the true name and identity have been stricken from all but the most restricted secret records. The tomes, and the underlying research, was carried out when The Dreamer possessed the Liber Mortis, and is considered the definitive study of Umbramancy: the art of corrupting spells of Ulgu with Dhar. The three tomes making up the collection are: Liber Umbra Infinum, Liber Somnum Aeterna and Liber Verum Terros; or in Reikspiel: The Book of Infinite Shadow, The Book of Eternal Dreams and The Book of True Nightmares.

Liber Umbra Infinum is the most benign of the three, primarily dealing with theoretical analysis of Ulgu and laying the groundwork for the latter two books. After thorough review by the appropriate authorities, a version censoring some 1/5th of the book was approved for use by Magisters and Journeymen (with a Magister's letter of approval) of the College. A copy of the uncensored book is held in the vaults of the Gray Order, the justified study of which is occasionally permitted to select Magisters on the mutual approval of the Patriarch of the Gray Order and the Grand Theogonist.

Liber Somnum Aeterna is believed to be the tome containing the secret to creating Dream Shades. Any copies discovered and identified are to be retrieved and turned over to the Gray College without further study, or reported to the same if retrieval is impossible. A copy is held in unspecified Imperial vaults, to be studied in only the direst of emergency by the Grand Theogonist or the Patriarch of the Gray Order.

The contents of Liber Verum Terros are a matter of utmost secrecy. If you are required to know, the Patriarch of the Order will inform you of it in confidence. Any suspected copies are to be destroyed immediately, without further attempts at identification.
...