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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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[X] Conceal matters you know the Dwarves would prefer you conceal

[X] There's a festival to Grungni coming up, and Johann has taken to observing the Holy Days of the Ancestor-God. Join him in this.

[X] The Halflings are renowned chefs, and several restaurants have opened clustered around the base of Karag Nar. Share a meal with her.
 
Omegahugger said:
If "I swore to the Dawi not to reveal this" isn't a valid reason to stay quiet the Empire should get a new foreign relations guy.

You do not want to break a promise to someone who will remember it for at least three generations.
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Only three? Dwarves will never forget it, and never forgive it until suitable recompense has been made.
 
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chocolote12 said:
I think write-ins cause a lot of trouble because they're very rigid, and that means that it puts QMs in a vice. Either they can meet every requirement on the checklist they've just been handed and everything goes exactly to plan, in which case somebody else has written the update for them, or they have to deal with the players explicitly going for something that they can only see causing trouble, so they let the players get in trouble and now everybody's day is ruined.

It's probably for the best to just assume that the QM has your general best intent in mind and let them sort out the specifics, because nobody wants to have to deal with SV planning (and monologuing) like an overly complicated super villain.
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Only true for micromanagey write ins, which most are in this situations, fair, but not truly true for all write ins.
 
Here's my idea: We've got to acknowledge that there's some kind of rift between Belegar and Thorgrim, because it's something they could find out themselves. We can mention how it is due to Thorgrim's lack of military support through the whole campaign and that Thorgrim acknowledged that miscalculation and sent the Okral. But I think it wouldn't be a good idea to go into their personal feelings for each other or how it is still an ongoing issue. The Empire prefers to have leverage or good relations with the High King of the whole Karaz Ankor (which in their understanding is the equivalent of their Emperor) over that if some rich and friendly "Elector Dwarf" in the deep south. The only reasons they would (appear to) take Belegar's side are bad ones. And beyond dumb games of intrigue there's nothing to actually gain for the Empire through this knowledge. Except maybe the Young Holds/Old Holds rift in general, but I assume that that's basic stuff among competent Dwarf-oriented diplomats.

tl;dr ~ Tell them the surface thing before they find out elsewhere. Don't tell them about ongoing (lower case g) grudges. Don't tell them secret secrets.

Edit: Except if any of you can come up with real or fake secrets that are juicy but harmless.
 
Garlak said:
And also -- even aside from all that... "1-3 centuries old" is not something that's in "longer lifespan than Dwarfs" range, really. Also also, even that much is for wizards that are powerful and notable and/or have a special circumstance for being able to get more time to live in.
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Re: Dwarf lifecycle.
BoneyM said:
Technically age doesn't come into it but unless a Dwarf is a true prodigy they'd be expected to stick to the norms - taught by the Clan until 30, Apprentice until about 50, Journeyman until about 70 when a Dwarf is considered a Fullbeard. If one does strive to become a Grandmaster, it rarely happens before the age of 120, when they're considered Longbeards. At 150, Dwarves are considered Elders, and it's expected that they'll take a position of leadership among their Clan or their Guild. They also become part of the Elder Council, a sort of brains trust for the Karak. Any that reach 200 - and most succumb to 'old age' before this point - do whatever they damn well please, and those that reach 400 are considered Living Ancestors and they have a status halfway between superheroes and saints.
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A typical dwarf with a long life (natural) might live to be 150-200 years old.

Re: Wizard lifecycle
BoneyM said:
Few enough Wizards reach the point of dying of old age anyway, and those that do last the longest tend to be those that push their magical limits the least. Those that do reach an enhanced age are valuable enough to the Empire that they receive the best of magical healing, so they can be expected to reach fairly ripe ages without suffering too much of the effects of lingering age. If one accumulates that many years and still wants to fight the encroaching grip of Morr, then there might be possibilities. One does, after all, tend to accumulate the Marks of their preferred wind, and if you replace (transform? reinforce?) enough of your mortal soul with immortal magic, it could be that you could leave mortality behind entirely.
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A typical wizard with a long life (natural) might live to be 80-90 years old, assuming bog standard human 'ripe ages'.

Both cases can have extreme outliers, either Dwarfs who just are too stubborn to die or Wizards who have succeeded at unholy magical experimentation intended to keep them alive and kicking.

Essentially, the average dwarf will live a little less than twice as long as the average wizard (based on natural lifespan rather than whether or not they died in battle), but extreme outliers for long-lived wizards (we've seen at least one wizard we think is 130+ years old) may well outlive the average dwarf.
 
[X] Conceal matters you know the Dwarves would prefer you conceal

[X] There's a festival to Grungni coming up, and Johann has taken to observing the Holy Days of the Ancestor-God. Join him in this.

[X] The Halflings are renowned chefs, and several restaurants have opened clustered around the base of Karag Nar. Share a meal with her.
 
BoneyM said:
He'd be of the opinion that it's his decision to make, and he's got a point in that it is literally his job. There's no way of saying "I know better than you" to him that he's going to take well.
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could we tell him we are under oath not to share out right secrets and sensitive information I mean as chief diplomat he would understand what oaths to the dwarfs mean , also her loyalties to empire and the articles of magic is also based on oaths taken so being an oath breaker is a big no no for her there is also the excuse that the grey collage kills off an apprentice that shows unreliable tendencies like oath breaking
 
[X] The Halflings are renowned chefs, and several restaurants have opened clustered around the base of Karag Nar. Share a meal with her.

[X] Though you both use your magic to cheat, you both have an interest in personal fitness. Work out with him

[X] Speak honestly of everything not explicitly secret, including rifts within the Karaz Ankor
 
[X] Conceal matters you know the Dwarves would prefer you conceal

---

You have also resolved to embark on the first tentative steps of romance, starting with getting to know Johann and Panoramia better. How exactly will you go about this?

Johann:
[X] You've got a puppy, he's got several. Easy. Spend time with him as your pup plays with his.


Panoramia:

[X] The Halflings are renowned chefs, and several restaurants have opened clustered around the base of Karag Nar. Share a meal with her.
 
Alliterate said:
Which was... late teens, maybe early 20s apparent age, IIRC?
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Seems I misremembered slightly. We met in '76, meaning we were 26-27, so thought she could be early to mid 20s.

BoneyM said:
Your eyes narrow at her in thought; by all appearances she's younger than you, but she talks with the confidence and experience and world-weariness of a woman with a decade on you. You're sure that Countess Gabriella has ruled here for as long as you've been Spymistress, which must mean she was merely a teenager when she became Countess; not unheard of, and it could explain her acting older than her years, but...
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Still looks it nearly a decade later.
BoneyM said:
The Empress looks not a year older than when you first met her as Gabrielle
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BoneyM said:
'High level politician' is underselling it a bit. He's directly under the Emperor, part of the same council as the Reiksmarshal, the Supreme Patriarch, and the Grand Theogonist.
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Is he essentially the Emperor's diplomacy advisor in CK2 terms or would that be someone else? Or does the Emperor have two (one intranational and one international) the way Dwarves have two martial advisors?
 
BurnNote said:
From the wiki, he's also got some internal intrigue responsibilities (hence the targeting by Lahmias).
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I suppose it's not impossible that the non-existent Spymaster is in fact the 'external diplomacy' advisor.
Indeed, that's good cover, for an externally-focused spymaster, and tallies with how a lot of modern-day consulates are also staffed with espionage agents.
 
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[X] Conceal matters you know the Dwarves would prefer you conceal

[X] There's a festival to Grungni coming up, and Johann has taken to observing the Holy Days of the Ancestor-God. Join him in this.

[X] The Halflings are renowned chefs, and several restaurants have opened clustered around the base of Karag Nar. Share a meal with her.
 
BoneyM said:
The Empire expects that the High King would go through the Emperor rather than deal directly with individual Elector Counts, so they return the courtesy.
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If you think each large hold being ruled by Elector Count and the High King being King, I guess having disagreements would be normal (you just wouldn't tell outsiders about it).
Garlak said:
I think trying to micro-manage this is the worst possible thing to do.
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Trying to micro-manage a Grey Order Magister will lead to _fun_, appropriately given the Dwarf Fortress thing we got going on.
 
[X] Conceal matters you know the Dwarves would prefer you conceal
[X] The Halflings are renowned chefs, and several restaurants have opened clustered around the base of Karag Nar. Share a meal with her.
[X] You've got a puppy, he's got several. Easy. Spend time with him as your pup plays with his.
 
[X] Conceal matters you know the Dwarves would prefer you conceal
-[X] That said you do know about matters that are not secret that most humans don't even consider.

[X] There's a festival to Grungni coming up, and Johann has taken to observing the Holy Days of the Ancestor-God. Join him in this.

[X] The Halflings are renowned chefs, and several restaurants have opened clustered around the base of Karag Nar. Share a meal with her.
 
mmgaballah said:
could we tell him we are under oath not to share out right secrets and sensitive information I mean as chief diplomat he would understand what oaths to the dwarfs mean , also her loyalties to empire and the articles of magic is also based on oaths taken so being an oath breaker is a big no no for her there is also the excuse that the grey collage kills off an apprentice that shows unreliable tendencies like oath breaking
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That's a good point. @BoneyM , would saying that we are taking all our oaths seriously be insulting to him? Rationally, it should be calming, cuz it means we are loyal to our Empire's oaths too, and its not like all humans are perfect rational machines, not even grey magisters, especially since grey magisters have been conditioned for loyalty to their oaths.
 
[X] Speak honestly of everything not explicitly secret, including rifts within the Karaz Ankor
[X] You've got a puppy, he's got several. Easy. Spend time with him as your pup plays with his.
[X] The Halflings are renowned chefs, and several restaurants have opened clustered around the base of Karag Nar. Share a meal with her.
 
BoneyM said:
The Empire expects that the High King would go through the Emperor rather than deal directly with individual Elector Counts, so they return the courtesy.
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What about the Elector Count of Reikland? Does his council keep direct diplomatic lines to nearby Dwarf Holds when wearing that particular hat? Because otherwise the Emperor is disadvantaged compared to all the ECs who do. Like if Barak Varr disrupts trade or shipping in unfortunate ways, or any other nearby Hold sees fit to deal with a human-caused Grudge, does Reikland really try to get the High King to tell other Kings to cut it out and come to terms?
 
Okay dumb idea that just came to me. Mathilde is basically one of the foremost experts in dwarven culture out there right now.

Couldn't we just like, ask the head diplomat to send us a apprentice to K8P and we help teach them? Just getting the guy/girl a chance to live among the dwarves to some degree a great way to teach them.
 
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