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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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I'm against the Citadel. While it means good access to everywhere else, it also means posing a credible threat to everywhere else. Better not paint a target on our ass.

[X] The King's Gates.
 
On the topic of arcane marks, while annoying aren't they kind of a good thing, from what I understand becoming a lord magister basically requires a significant number of arcane marks.
 
[X] The King's Gates.

No7sHere said:
On the topic of arcane marks, while annoying aren't they kind of a good thing, from what I understand becoming a lord magister basically requires a significant number of arcane marks.
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Good in as being signs of increasing power, but bad because you are visibly becoming less human and openly 'corrupted' by magic that most people don't trust and wouldn't tolerate if it wasn't so useful. It will make it harder for people to trust you if they can't tell the difference between you and a Chaos sorceror aside from you not killing them. Yet.
 
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There's a secondary aspect to this that people aren't noticing, and that somewhat surprises me. With this, Mathilde has achieved a much greater mastery of the shadow aspect of Ulgu, whereas before she was far more in tune with the fog aspect. In terms of magical knowledge and expertise this was actually a really important step for her. It's a shame it came at such a high cost to our Leadership aspect... but let's be honest here, we've never been fond of superstitious peasants, and they've never been particularly fond of us.
 
Fair enough.

[X] The King's Gates.
Armoury and airport.

BoneyM said:
So it is hoped. Hidden treasure does have a habit of growing in the retelling over the centuries, but there's no denying that the runecraft of three thousand years ago was both superior to and more plentiful than that of today.
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More plentiful? Certainly.
Superior? I have my doubts. The impression I get is that while modern Runes and Smiths are just as good as they were in the Good Old Days, there are less of both.

One of the big advantages of Runes is that their effects can be combined far more easily than conventional magic items. Losing the knowledge of how to make even a singe Rune means a vast number of possible combinations become impossible to replicate. Thus you get people saying that there are things the old Smiths could make that the new ones can't and assume that the old ones were better across the board rather than just having a wider range of options.
 
Angelform said:
One of the big advantages of Runes is that their effects can be combined far more easily than conventional magic items. Losing the knowledge of how to make even a singe Rune means a vast number of possible combinations become impossible to replicate. Thus you get people saying that there are things the old Smiths could make that the new ones can't and assume that the old ones were better across the board rather than just having a wider range of options.
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Rune are basically alphabet letter

and key letter keep being lost
 
BoneyM said:
When the first skittering ratman bursts through out of the doors and into the courtyard, he takes one look at you and shrieks in terror, and his attempts to turn back are foiled by the crush of bodies as more skaven pour out and they, in turn, are paralyzed with terror. A tendril of roiling shadow lashes out and wraps itself around the throat of one of the rats, and the terrified remainder bite and claw and screech against the flow of skaven boiling up from below, and sheer madness takes hold of the mass of bodies erupting from below. You stand in the gateway and watch as the ratmen tear each other apart in their attempts to scurry against the flow of bodies, as those that emerge from the madness below take one look at you and are struck with the same terror that has possessed the others. Your shadow lashes out from time to time as the rebellious magic entrapped within Dread Aspect seeks out a particularly terrified morsel, crushing the life from them. Eventually the press of maddened skaven outweighs those pressing from below, and the flood reverses, draining back into the doorway and leaving only those too maimed or dead to flee.

Reinforcements arrive to find you delivering a final stab to the last of the merely maimed skaven, as terrified screams and the sounds of a roiling, chaotic melee sound from below. You ignore the misbehaving of your shadow as it caresses the corpses of the rats in favour of memorising the exact modifications you made to the spell in your attempts to prevent it from thrashing free of your control, but the men don't, keeping their distance and murmuring to each other. Only Maximilian approaches, and that with some hesitation, watching as your shadow stretches out to him, circling him and observing him carefully before returning to its expected position.
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Now not only do the lights flicker around us, but our shadow acts unnaturally.

God damn, that's some nightmare fuel right there. Imagine noticing what looks like a little girl during night patrol, approaching her, your torch flickers, and you pointedly notice that light around her dims. There is a huge sword strapped on her back.

Then you see her shadow. For a second, you rationalise that it must be the flickering lights playing tricks on you, then you realise that no that shadow is unnatural... creeping closer to you.


Angelform said:
Another mark is annoying but at least it is a competitively harmless one.
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It'll scare all non-magic users though. I think this mark has just sunk any political aspirations we could have wanted to pursue.
 
Thinking of future tactics, I wonder if Mathilde knows enough/is competent enough to impersonate a skaven assassin, and start going around murdering goblin bosses or skaven chieftains, so they keep their focus on killing each other. She'd probably want the invisibility spell first, and have some way of extracting intelligence from them.

It's a high risk strategy, but it could be very high reward. Triggering a high intensity war between the night goblins closer to the surface and the skaven of the City of Pillars would make our lives a lot easier, giving us a chance to establish ourselves while they bleed each other. Clan Mors is a terrible foe to have to fight, and it's best to try to avoid that if we can.

The King's Gate having tunnels heading deeper down would be an advantage for this approach.

LoganBert34 said:
It'll scare all non-magic users though. I think this mark has just sunk any political aspirations we could have wanted to pursue.
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Not necessarily. It just changes how we go about it.
 
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[X] The King's Gates.

A great update all in all, I actually re-read it so I could properly enjoy it.

I second the previously mentionef hope that arcane marks get tailored to Mathilde's character/quirks/abilities.

It seems to me that this victory will give us a decent amount of respect at the war-table, and give greater merit to our proposals in the future.
Furthermore, our partnership with the rangers is in full swing, and I expect to generally be of the same mind as them on the most issues.

Ps. Poor Max, didn't get to do anything.
 
LoganBert34 said:
It'll scare all non-magic users though. I think this mark has just sunk any political aspirations we could have wanted to pursue.
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Well we might eventually become Magister Matriarch of the Grey Order if we become really powerful, and then might even become Supreme Matriarch if going by Gelt you need to win a duel instead of political connections.

I also didn't know Wizards were allowed a political office beyond advisor.
 
As much I like King's Gates and air support, I prefer we get treasure vaults so we can hire Asarnil again.

[X] The Entrance.

Say how would Kragg the Grim feel about Asarnil coming in?
 
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