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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
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[X] Battle: Understanding of Skaven
[X] Battle: Surreptitious Intervention
[X] Karak: Polyglot
[X] Karak: Understanding of Skaven
[X] Personal: Xeno-Affinity
 
Lessons Learned.

For Battle: It's looking like maybe Trucemaker, or General of Fog, or an Understanding trait... (I thought it was funny to think of a Diplo trait from a "learned From Battle" coming in useful for international politics, because the situation in the immediate K8P battle was so different... but then again when I thought about it, the situation between the Dwarfs and the Elves are Not Good, so.)

K8P: For me, it's looking like Windherder, then Polyglot, then the two Understanding traits. (I'm really tempted in being able to pick 2 understanding traits, from For Battle and K8P, and then seeing just how much we can write on Greenskins or Skaven! It could be quite useful to everybody in the Old World. Then again, we have other concerns, too...)

Personal Growth: This one is hard to pick. There's a usual top pick, in the form of Xeno-Affinity of course. But Ancestor Gods, Mom Friend, and Mentor are all really tempting too.

Having "Ancestor Gods" might make it easier for us to realize further things about the Karaz Ankor and runes maybe? About the projects and workings that the Ancestor Gods left behind. (In the sense of, 'We might more quickly realize the implications of the Protection of Valaya when combined with what we just heard about the Waystones.') On the other hand, Xeno-Affinity is exactly that, too -- it's about being able to get closer to non-humans. Just, Ancestor Gods is dwarf-specific.

Mom Friend would be great if that "interventionist with those closest to you" thing would mean that we'd more often act to try to connect with, keep in touch with, and help out, the people who're our friends. Just. If it means hearing more of Anton, Wilhelmina, Belegar, etc, just because Mathilde now focuses more on them? That'd be great.

Mentor is great because... well because. The idea of having a trait to make it easier to teach wizards. The idea of having a trait that says "Don't worry, you are not going to fuck up this big responsibility" is verrry tempting. Being responsible for another person can be terrifying. Having a bit of assurance in that category would be nice. Also, the thought of us being able to raise great wizards? That, too, is very tempting.
From the update 'A Tide Turns' said:
So long as the Rune of Azamar endures, the Karaz Ankor shall never fall.

These were the words that Grungni spoke when he carved the Rune of Eternity into the Throne of Power. They brought comfort to the Dawi that gazed upon the Throne of the High King. But as the centuries passed, they became more and more a source of dread to the High Kings themselves, because of the most guarded secret of a very guarded race, never known to more than two living Dawi.
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It's known to the High King, and the High King's heir. Of course Thorgrim wasn't going to tell Belegar about this. People shouldn't have expected him to do so. I mean, I still hoped it'd happen myself of course, because of the sheer circumstances, but... gah.

With that said, sure, maybe if Thorgrim had been more enthusiastic and talked about or vaguely hinted at some of the things the Karaz Ankor can afford to do now, maybe Belegar would have been mollified after he learned this... except consider what kind of mood Belegar was in when he came to talk to Thorgrim. How would Belegar have reacted to a cheerful or enthusiastic Thorgrim? Do you think Thorgrim could have acted that way? No, he was probably thinking 'How do I satisfy Belegar's problem with me, while giving him as much materiel aid as I can?' And Belegar was probably thinking about how to stick it to Thorgrim.

That damn Everpeak reinforcements roll, and us choosing to call for aid in the first place, just keeps coming back to bite us in the bass and piling on pressure on us again and again.... ><

If only we'd chosen differently. Or if only it'd rolled differently.
 
[x] Battle: General of Fog
[x] Battle: Understanding of Greenskins
[x] Battle: Understanding of Skaven
[x] Karak: Polyglot
[x] Karak: Collegiate
[x] Personal: Xeno-Affinity
[x] Personal: The Mentor
 
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[X] Battle: General of Fog
[X] Battle: Surreptitious Intervention

[X] Karak: Collegiate
[X] Karak: Windherder

[X] Personal: Xeno-Affinity
[X] Personal: Poker Face
[X] Personal: The Mentor
 
[ ] Battle: General of Fog

I expect us to keep our current position for quite some time. And even if we leave Belegar's council for another one, I don't expect us to become anyone's primary Martial advisor. So while I do expect Mathilde to stumble into leading more large scale battles from time to time, I don't want to focus on it.

[X] Battle: Understanding of Greenskins
This wasn't the first time you clashed against the greenskins and it certainly won't be the last, and you've recently received a fair few accolades for your ability to get inside their head. Perhaps you should deepen that.

[X] Battle: Understanding of Skaven
Those that fight against the Skaven usually do so unprepared and ignorant. You've had the rare opportunity to witness four different Skaven Clans in combat while knowing what you were seeing.

I like both of these though. And I don't know which one I like more.

[X] Battle: Surreptitious Intervention

This one might be my favorite, but I since I am more than okay with several of the options, I'll approval vote for now. I might get more selective closer to the deadline.

[X] Battle: Trucemaker

Diplomacy is Mathilde's greatest weakness stat wise. I don't know if that means we should shore it up or if we rather should focus on improving our strengths instead. I'll approve it for now because it might lead to all kinds of interesting developments down the road.

[ ] Battle: Shoulder to Shoulder

This ine seems boring to me. Not that Mathilde is bad at it, but she can do so much more.

[ ] Battle: When In Doubt

Not only is this boring, it is also superbly unnecessary for as long as we fight in a primarily Dwarf-led army. They already have this down better than we ever could. They are much more lacking in all the other things we can provide.

[X] Karak: Polyglot

I don't have a good argument as to why this should be the thing, but somehow it just resonates with me.

[X] Karak: Collegiate

Great synergy with the whole Place of Magical Learning thing.

[ ] Karak: Cartographer

While this is definitely useful (maybe even more useful than Polyglot) it doesn't seem like something important or interesting enough to build into Mathilde's character.

[ ] Karak: Understanding of Greenskins

Greenskins bore me as a target for politics and intrigue. I'd rather stick to fighting them or researching their magic and religion. And even there they don't excite me enough to take this. At least the battle trait will lead to a growth of a particular reputation we have.

[X] Karak: Understanding of Skaven

Skaven on the other hand are still a major interest of mine.

[X] Karak: Surveillance

This is boring on its surface, but really powerful and could lead to both great opportunities and power accumulation.

[X] Karak: Windherder

So this is more about academic and practical knowledge about our colleagues abilities and when to use them? Eh. I like it more than other stuff I didn't vote for, so I guess I'll approve for now. It will be the first on the chopping block if it competes with stuff I actually like though.

[ ] Karak: Light Fingers

More random shinies. Whatever.

[ ] Personal: Ancestor-Gods
This really isn't where I see Mathilde going. Respect is one thing, but worshipping Gazul to a point of resonating with him. Nah.
Ranald is best boy.

[X] Personal: Mountain Mystic

Did I mention that Ranald is best boy?
This one, while not actually useful for any of our specific jobs and projects, or even a direct boost to Mathilde's actual personal abilities, is bound to be hilarious and full of interesting future plot hooks.

[X] Personal: Poker Face

I'm torn. It's not really one of my personal favorites, but it does resonate with Mathilde's character. Approving for now.

[X] Personal: Xeno-Affinity

This one on the other hand is one of my personal favorites. The only thing holding it back is that I don't expect it to be very strong because it is so broad

[ ] Personal: Unphased

Mathilde is already ruthless enough as is. While useful, I'd rather not hammer this into her personality even more.

[ ] Personal: The Mom Friend

Funny as it is, we can continue doing this without a specific trait for it. In fact, getting a numbers boost whenever we butt in on our friends personal problems feels manipulative and unnecessary.

[ ] Personal: The Mentor

Other than combat skills and respect for miscasts, have we actually taught our Ducklings anything major? Don't get me wrong, this definitely has potential, but it just doesn't cut it in my opinion when compared to the other options.
 
Looks like the closest vote so far is between Surreptitious Intervention and General of Fog.
Adhoc vote count started by Derpmind on Feb 5, 2020 at 6:47 PM, finished with 349 posts and 116 votes.
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[X] Battle: General of Fog
[X] Battle: Trucemaker
[X] Karak: Windherder
[X] Personal: Mountain Mystic
[X] Personal: Xeno-Affinity
[X] Personal: The Mentor

Was hoping to put out an analysis, but work calls and I probably won't be free for another 12 hours
 
EVA-Saiyajin said:
One language project we're on the verge of completing with or without any additional boosts does not make a polyglot required.
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It's not just queekish. Learning Anoqeyan would massively benefit from polyglot, and there's other languages we can learn that'd open up loads of bonuses via books. Arabyan and Tilean/Estalian are the ones that come to mind, giving us potentially +15 in any subject there. If we get the Great Library, it'd also become viable to get books from the east thanks to Eight Peaks' location, from Ind, Cathay, and Nippon. High Nehekharan books are also a possibility, if a lesser one. If human civilisation in the Southlands is a thing in Divided Loyalties, that's yet another source of knowledge that we'd get very quick access to thanks to Polyglot.
 
[X] Battle: General of Fog
[X] Battle: Understanding of Skaven
[X] Karak: Polyglot
[X] Personal: Mountain Mystic
[X] Personal: Poker Face
 
[X] Battle: General of Fog

[X] Battle: Surreptitious Intervention

[X] Karak: Windherder

[X] Personal: Ancestor-Gods

[X] Personal: Xeno-Affinity
 
[X] Battle: General of Fog

[X] Battle: Surreptitious Intervention

[X] Karak: Windherder

[X] Personal: Ancestor-Gods

[X] Personal: Xeno-Affinity
 
Angelform said:
Ironically the utility of this has dropped as we learn more languages. Unless we want to wonder beyond the known (to the Empire) world there isn't much point getting it.
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We're nowhere near the middle of the utility curve. We have elf languages to learn, we have various ancient human languages and if it helps us indirectly with Runes as well that would be a bonus.

[X] Battle: Trucemaker
[X] Karak: Polyglot
[X] Karak: Windherder
[X] Personal: The Mentor
 
[X] Karak: Windherder

[X] Personal: Poker Face
[X] Battle: Understanding of Skaven
 
[X] Battle: General of Fog
[X] Battle: Surreptitious Intervention
[X] Karak: Windherder
[X] Personal: The Mom Friend

Not particularly concerned about mechanical benefits here; I'm just voting for what interests me the most.
 
[X] Battle: Surreptitious Intervention
[X] Karak: Windherder
[X] Personal: Xeno-Affinity

Looks to be fairly settled, but, eh, turnaround is always possible.

I think the lack of +Number on the choices is a good idea.
 
[X] Battle: General of Fog
[X] Battle: Understanding of Skaven
[X] Battle: Surreptitious Intervention
[X] Karak: Windherder
[X] Personal: Mountain Mystic
[X] Personal: Xeno-Affinity
 
BoneyM said:
"'So long as the Rune of Azamar endures, the Karaz Ankor shall never fall.' Right there in plain sight, lying to all our faces. It's bloody powered off the Karaz Ankor, for the benefit of Karaz-a-Karak. I thought I'd put his beard to the fire when we spoke, but he's willing to send aid to fortify because it lets him rob my Kingdom blind." You remain silent, extremely uncomfortable with how this is escalating but not able to point out any outright errors in his reasoning. He sighs again. "Thank you. Once more I am in your debt."
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"Arn't you glad that you decided to deal fair with the We. Imagine if they felt like you are feeling right now."
 
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