Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

Your first self-appointed task is the equipping of a band of marksmen with the Black Lotus venom. Logistically, it would be a lot simpler to set up if you weren't on the march, but needs must. Panoramia clings gamely to the back of a shadowhorse you summon for her as the two of you ride ahead to the point where the army will be making camp in a few days, and in the entrance to the wooded valley the two of you set to work digging a small pond and carrying buckets of water from the nearby river. It doesn't have to be big, but it does have to be a suitable environment for the Black Lotus to bloom.

With the small pond dug, Panoramia takes one of the seeds she gathered earlier and plants it in the mud and, uncomplainingly, lowers herself to sit cross-legged in the muddy pond. She cups her hands around the seed and focuses, and you can feel the Ghyran of the nearby woods answer the call and flow to her. After ten minutes, you can see a single stalk gamely growing for the surface of the water; after another twenty, large, flat leaves have grown and begun to cover the surface, drinking in sunlight. You dig a book out of your pack while you wait, and you're glad you did because it's not until just over an hour has passed that the first bulb blooms into a deep purple flower, and more don't start sprouting until even more time has passed. Eventually, three hours after she went into her trance, Panoramia finally returns to the here and now, rises to shaky feet, accepts your help in clambering out of the pond, and looks over her work with pride.

From there, it's much more mundane work - business with mortars and pestles, with a very hot flame and a retort, and in the end the half-dozen flowers are reduced to a pint of opaque black liquid that swirls sluggishly in the bottle. Panoramia goes off into the nearby woods to gather compost to fuel another round of hyper-accelerated growth, and you mount up to rejoin the bulk of the Expedition.

Dwarves in general have little tolerance for unsavoury tactics like poison, but Rangers are very much the exception and Ulthar is more than happy to accept anything that could provide an edge. The contents of the bottle are separated into a score of vials, each with a neck just large enough to allow a bolt to be dipped into it, and they're distributed to what Ulthar has taken to calling his Raiders - the elite of his Rangers who have shown the most aptitude for striking terror into the hearts of the greenskins. They accept the vials and disappear out into the Badlands; a few days later, reports filter back in that the poison is doing an acceptable job, though a glancing blow can do more harm than good as the target becomes even more dangerous as they're swiftly driven mad by the delusions it causes and become extremely unpredictable and violent. They do, however, theorize that when it's not one-on-one, such an effect could cause impressive chaos among enemy lines, especially if they target larger and more dangerous parts of said forces. By the time the army's reached the advance point where Panoramia has been doing her work, there's enough accumulated poison that you have to set the solar forge back up and blow more vials just to distribute it. All in all, it's a good result for a few day's work.

---

Your next task is to assist Johann in endearing himself to the dwarven artillery crews so he can find a place amongst them when it comes time for battle. The Master Engineer, Durin Wutokri of Karak Norn, is unusual for a dwarf engineer in that he puts his trust in wood, rope and tension, rather than steel, lead and blackpowder. The hardy mountain oak the dwarves favour may approach the toughness of steel when properly dried and treated, but it's still an entirely different approach than that of Narfi, the Zhufbar engineer you spent time with during the Sieges of the Drakenhofs.

Your reputation among dwarves means that he listens doubtfully rather than dismissing you out of hand as you explain your idea, and you re-emphasize several times that the spell he'd be using would not extend to the dwarven crews at all - it would solely work upon him, allowing him to swiftly calculate the consequences of their actions and correct them accordingly. He reluctantly allows for a demonstration, and two bolt throwers are set up by the side of the trail and a distant hillock is designated as the target. One crew has Johann supervising and assisting, the other does not, and may the best team win.

[Rolling...]

The effects are subtle - Johann simply watches and occasionally comments, pointing out an imbalance of strain here, a slight crookedness in the aim of the massive siege weapon there. But the results speak for themselves - after ten shots, Johann's team has struck the hillock six times while the other manages only four. Durin's eyebrows rise to meet his hairline, and a third bolt thrower is pulled out of storage along with a crew with longer and greyer beards. This bolt thrower has a trio of sullenly glowing runes emblazoned into it, and when a bolt is slid home it bursts into flame of its own accord. Johann watches as they set up, and only comments twice, but each time the crew very carefully examine whatever it is he pointed out, and then reluctantly concede the point and make the adjustment. Instead of simply embedding themselves in the hillock, these bolts punch right through it, sending dirt flying in every direction. Durin nods once, and Johann's place among the artillery crews is secured.

---

Codrin Petrescu, you notice, never turns his back to you. His hands remain a safe distance away from his weapons while he does so, careful not to present any kind of threat to you, but it's clear that he is at least cautious, if not concerned, about you - or what you could become. Nevertheless, he does not protest as you join him on the day's march, and cooperates as you engage him in conversation.

"There are two kinds of people in Sylvania," he says softly, as you walk side by side through the valley. "Those that would willingly serve the vampires and necromancers, and those that want to be left alone by any would-be masters."

"And yet you served the Army of Stirland," you note.

"I said people in Sylvania, not Sylvanians," he points out. "The Sylvanians who would prefer a human master, even an Imperial one, over a vampire or a necromancer need only cross a border, and become Stirlanders or Averlanders or Ostermarkers."

"Is this common?" you ask curiously.

"Oh yes," he says. "Families in Sylvania are large, because so many will die young. There are always those that choose to leave, and those that have managed to survive in Sylvania are usually able to thrive in the Empire."

"And did many of them join the Expedition?" you ask, starting to suspect how he became their leader.

"Some," he admits. "Perhaps a half of the huntsmen and a third of the crossbowmen are at least partially Sylvanian, by birth or by blood."

"Is that how you came to lead them?"

"In part," he says. "I lived in Siegfriedhof, patrolled the Hunger Wood and worked with the Black Guards of Morr. That elevated me in the eyes of many. Very few of the crossbowmen were officers, but I was a Major in the militia. That helped with many more. I can put an arrow through the heart of a deer - or a man, for that matter - at a hundred and fifty paces. That, too, impressed some."

Having gotten to know him a little, talk turns to the men under his command. "Most of the Stirlanders," he says, "and perhaps a third of the rest, seek nothing more than enough money to purchase a farm of their own. The remainder, however, seek their fortunes - either for ambition, or because they are the type to drink and gamble and whore away any amount of money they get their hands on." He looks at you appraisingly.

[Rolling...]

And apparently reaches a positive conclusion, because he continues on frankly. "It is my solemn duty to ensure that as many of that remainder die in the attempt as possible." Being a Grey Wizard means you have long since learned to school your expression, so you are able to keep from showing any surprise at that as Petrescu continues. "Should they achieve their ambition of looting the dwarfhold, it will endanger the fair recompense of the rest. My loyalty is to my fellow Sylvanians and Stirlanders, and to those who would willingly join in their humble ambitions, and not to the band of vagabonds and bandits who would happily anger the dwarves for their personal enrichment."

"Reasonable enough," you say, though you're not sure if you mean it.

---

[Rangers vs Greenskins: 58 vs 9]

Ulthar's Raiders keep the Ironclaw Orcs thoroughly terrorized until the army is across the bridge and the bridge is collapsed safely in your wake, and the Expedition is able to avoid that needless battle, to the relief of most and the disappointment of some. The valley is a welcome break from the near-badlands that the Expedition has been marching through since leaving Barak Varr, and it's given the name of Kagazan Thingit, or the Valley Grove. The deer population, left in peace for untold generations, is given a sharp lesson in the food chain as the Amber Mages and the Knightly Orders cut swathes through the woods, ensuring it's as peaceful as it looks.

The next week is going to be a change from the past two months of marching, as the Expedition is going to send a force down the Underway to stamp out the snotling interlopers and fill in the site of their 'city'. In the meantime, the docks are going to be repaired, the cranes replaced, barracks and warehouses built, and assuming nothing has gone terribly wrong back at Barak Varr, the first of the resupply ships is going to be steaming its way upriver very soon. Assuming all goes well, the week will close with a fifty mile underground jaunt to Death Pass, neatly bypassing Black Crag.


How do you feel about Codrin's plan to have as many of the vagabonds and adventurers under his command die in action as possible?
[ ] Dangerous nonsense. This needs to be stopped.
[ ] He's got a point. You should help where you can.
[ ] His command, his business. Stay out of it.


The THREE of the following with the most votes will be performed:

Contributing to the Campaign:
[ ] The Snotlings need to be wiped out so their 'city' can be filled in. Join in the extermination, possibly with a Journeymanling along to see how they fare in battle.
- [ ] Bring Esbern and Seija
- [ ] Bring Panoramia
- [ ] Bring Maximilian
- [ ] Bring nobody
[ ] Scout the far side of the Snotling city to ensure there's no other surprises waiting to be found.

Spend time with the Council of War:
[ ] Thane Skaroki Grimbrow
[ ] Master Engineer Durin Wutokri
[ ] Grand Master Sigwald Kriegersen
[ ] Grand Master Ruprecht Wulfhart
[ ] Marshal Titus Muggins

Other Preparations:
[ ] You've heard that greatswords and greataxes are near identical in the way they're used, and you happen to be surrounded by experts in the art of the axe. Learn how to use one.


Spend time with your Journeymanlings:

Esbern and Seija of the Amber Order
[ ] Test their skills in battle.
[ ] They'll be going hunting in the valley. Join them, and bring Wolf along too.

Maximilian de Gaynesford of the Gold Order
[ ] Ask him to reforge your sword into a superior one.
[ ] Introduce him to the dwarven smiths so he can try to convince them to teach him.
[ ] Ask the smiths to teach him as a favour to you (-2 favours)


- Bringing a Journeymanling to the battle will not take an action; however, you can only take one (or two, if you take the Ambers) since you'll be evaluating their performance and protecting them from any serious harm and you can't do that if your attention is split.