Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

Omake
The Suspicious and Suspicions

With the imminent arrival of the Dwarven 'steam-wagon' convoy, the main force of the expedition consisting of the rangers, slayers, and engineers, and the leadership of the endeavor, come numerous human forces pre-empting them, including, most interestingly, a force of additional wizards. Five of them. A pair of Ambers accompanying two wings of Knights of Taal's Fury, Demigryphs included, a pair of Gold wizards, and a Celestial. What grabs your attention however, is how the Lady Magister Mathilde interacts with them. Gone are the constant suspicious glares leveled at everyone, gone is the all-knowing confidence, and replacing them are soft smiles and keen interest as she chats with them. Chat, not interrogate like she did to you or the Journeymen who arrived here on their own volition. It doesn't take much to figure out these are people she knows and trusts. These then must be the vaunted wizards of the Karak-Eight-Peaks.

After the Lady Magister's briefing, she almost immediately approaches each one and confers with them. The air of the two conversations you're able to observe yourself are much different from how it is around her any other time, and it is noticeably darker when you happen to idly pass her by just after a third. It's certainly not that she just happened to be in a good mood.

As such you send out your choirmates to converse with their peers.

Citharus approaches the Amber wizards first. From what you know he has a distant cousin who's an Amber and asking of him is a natural, if clumsy, cover. From what he brings back after, the Ambers are Esbern and Seija, both Magisters, and that the two of them were here because the Lady Magister had asked for their help specifically. That two whole wings of Taal's Fury happened to have accompanied them, the two only claim was a fortunate decision of the Grandmaster of the chapter himself. Hmm. Outside of ways to care for the temperamental beasts they ride and inane small talk, he brings back little else.

Barbitus decided to talk to the Celestial, Hubert. A wise choice you personally muse, after all Celestials and Greys rarely develop close relations to each other, or to any other come to think of it, so seeing the young Lady Magister interact with one commonly of an opposing mentality as an ally of close repute cannot help but draw your interest. The first part of Barbitus' report is about how fearsome he is, possessing such skill with Wings of Heaven that he was able to match speed with the mounted knights of the Winter Wolves that was equally matched by his proficiency with his sword. Combined with the ability to throw lightning around and Barbitus declared him one of the most dangerous fighters in the expedition. Whether or not that was true remained to be seen. Beyond that the two of them managed to build up an affinity and a small friendship that was nearly ruined when Barbitus asked Hubert about any omens he had seen or any other sign of the expedition's future. Apparently he had clammed up and become terse, refusing to answer. A worrying sign. Does he know of something ill-fated to happen? Or are the signs too muddled to get a clear picture? Or worse, could he be keeping it a secret, and if so, was it his own decision or at the behest of another? Oh yes, Barbitus has also decided that he's going to apologize to him at the next opportunity.

Timpania took the opportunity to meet with one of the Gold Wizards, Maximillian. Of the three, she certainly built up the greatest rapport with...you hesitate to call him 'her mark', but it does carry the correct connotations. Apparently 'Max', as she called him, was one of the original wizards to join the initial expedition to Karak-Eight-Peaks, and has been a part of the reclamation ever since. Timpania waxed poetic about 'Max's' great tales of valor, from the numerous battles he took part of during the march to personally sniping uncountable greenskins from a moving gyrocopter during the Battle for the Caldera that truly won the reclamation of the legendary dwarf-hold. He apparently went into great detail about his crossbow, really almost more of a staff, that he used to fire/cast silver arrows. A frightening prospect as equally interesting. Timpania also revealed that in between his bouts of heroics the gold sniper was also personally recruited by the Lady Magister as her first choice to aide her in her duties as Loremaster of Eight Peaks and has worked on numerous projects, all too secret to talk about in public of course, to better the state of the forces of the Empire and the Karaz Ankor, and which pushed him to develop the skills he needed to become a Magister. She has plans to...meet up with him again before they leave Praag, and you have no doubt that you don't want to know any more details of their future encounters.

That leaves you to interview the second of the Gold Wizards, Johann. Of the five new arrivals he is the one that strikes you as the most interesting. A mere glance reveals that his eyes have been damaged, almost likely beyond repair, and have either been subsequently covered in gold, or replaced by gold orb prosthetics. A punishment perhaps? For seeing something that should not have been seen he shall see no more? When probed on the topic he merely laughs and admits it was a small miscalculation. Indeed, he takes it in good faith and the two of you find yourselves in one of the few 'nice' bars in Praag, seated in a booth tucked away in a corner where you have a civil conversation and a hearty meal.

You don't trust him. The ease of which he smiles and the way he dominates the conversations leads you to almost open up to him like the two of you are old friends and sets off every paranoid and suspicious bone in your body.

Still, the conversation the two of you have is informative at the least. It started off banal with "how are you"s and "What did you do as a Journeyman?"s and it's the second that strikes, pardon the pun, gold.

"It's actually nostalgic to be honest. This whole thing brings back memories of the expedition to 8 Peaks. Seija and Esbern are here, Max is here, Mathilde's here, it's a shame, the only one missing is Pan."

"Who?"

"Ah, Panoramia. She was the Jade wizard that accompanied us...gods, has it really been 10 years? Ha, it only seems like two! Anyway, she was part of the expedition. Wonderful person, not much of a fighter, but a talented...farmer works. She works with the Halflings to grow food in the Caldera to feed everyone, and I don't think anyone else could the job the way she does."

An opening? "Speaking of, what is it like living and working in the legendary Karak Eight Peaks? Under a Dwarven King?"

"Oh it's strange alright." And from there he launches into a tirade about stubborn dwarves and carefree halflings and non-magical humans. A veritable crucible of the races. "Wizards are practically their own species down there. We don't really fit with any group, it's always more like someone finds an exception and just meshes with one. Pan with the Halflings, Hubert with the Winter Wolves, and Mat with just the Dwarves in general. Speaking of, we didn't realize it till the Okral came, but the Dwarves, traditional dwarves, really dislike magic and those who use it. I'm not going to lie, probably the only reason we're allowed to tag along on this whole thing is because of Mathilde, she wasn't lying about that. First she tore down Drakenhof, then helped Belegor take back his home...her coat-of-arms is recorded right next to his clan's crest on the memorial, you know. Literally the highest place of honor he could have put her. Outside of the colleges, 8 peaks might be the friendliest place for a wizard to be. Well, as long as they aren't an elf, but an elf wouldn't be walking into any Karak."

"I'm sorry, did you say her 'coat-of-arms'? She's a knight?"

"Yeah, she's the famed Dämmerlichtreiter after all, she got knighted because of some business when she was working in Stirland under the last Count, you know the one, the Van Hal."

"I didn't know that." You say. "And she worked for the Van Hal? I thought she just journeyed in Stirland?"

"Hmm, yup. ...She doesn't talk about it much, but she worked on his council. I asked her once, what it was like working for a Witch Hunter, and a Van Hal at that."

"And what did she say?" You can't help but lower your voice and lean into the table, Johann matching you.

"She said it was complicated." and he leans back in his seat and laughs, calling out for another round.

You sit back down yourself, your whirling thoughts kept hidden by discipline.

"You mentioned that she tore down Castle Drakenhof, yes? What do you know about that? I know that I'm not the first Light mage she's worked with, there was a magister by the name of Jovi Sunscryer. He was there during the fighting."

"Oh, what happened to him?"

"By the reports...he exploded. A miscast. The white fires burned down at least a district of Drakenhof, the town. Then there was something about some Amethyst wizards. The report said they went into some tombs, and they never came back out."

"Ominous. That whole campaign was just pain." He leans back in his seat, "You know," his voice quiets, "some of the soldier that joined us in the expedition were a bunch of crossbowmen from Stirland. I've asked them about Mathilde before, if they knew anything about her, in general, but also if they knew the truth about what she did in Sylvania, at Drakenhof and the Castle."

You resist the urge to once more lean in, to show your interest. But you do motion him on. "Oh, don't keep a man in suspense."

At your words the blind wizard gives a small smirk, before it falls into a sad smile. "Surprisingly little. The only things that everyone agrees on is that she and the Van Hal charged at the start of the battle, made it further than the rest of the army, and when the Dwarves managed to link up with them the Van Hal was mortally wounded. After that she stood at his side until he died. One of the men I talked to was part of the camp guard. He said she walked out of that tent looking like a wicked widow seeking vengeance. She grabbed the camp's colonel by the balls and ordered the count's tent guarded and warned that her magic would destroy anyone entered it. Then she rode off into the town on a horse made shadow. We all know the story after that. She had the Dwarves unleash their fury on the town and then let them pulverize the castle. Hundreds of years worth of Vampires and Necromancers, destroyed by cannonfire and buried by debris."

"And then she become a magister and joined the Expedition to Eight Peaks."

"Yup. Lot of stories I can tell you about that. One time she infiltrated a fort, she was only supposed to find a way to open the gate, but when she did half the...enemy was already dead, ripped apart by her own shadow, and the other half was half routed. And the number of times she snuck into the mountains and cut down Warbosses and Shamans is uncountable. And don't even get me started on the Orcs I've seen her cut in half with that greatsword of hers." Johann paused as he took another drink from his poison of choice, a somber, tired look overtaking him. "She's one of the greats. A once in a lifetime living legend. They're gonna be telling stories about Mathilde for decades to come. Centuries even. And the Dwarves? They're never going to forget her. She's going to be great."

You merely give a thoughtful hum as the conversation winds down into silence, and eventually to a mutually decided end. You flag down a waitress and make sure to pay for your fellow magister's meal and drinks, despite his half-hearted protest. It's the least you can do for all the information he's given you.

And with that, you return to your inn room. Casting a small cantrip to give you enough light to see by, you sit on your bed, mind a whirl. Now you feel like you have a good place to start in figuring out Lady Magister Mathilde Weber.

What you're most certain of is that she's dangerous. She's a woman accustomed to using power. Stirland, Eight Peaks, and you are sure here as well she flexes her power and influence. Thirteen wizards, almost half loyal to her, and covering every aspect of magic except the violet, is a powerful force, but so is one-hundred demigryph knights. Just what kind of blackmail or influence did she have to manipulate the Grandmaster of one of the Empire's most dangerous knightly orders? And the Winter Wolves, he'd heard they'd unofficially split with Cult of Ulric, and unofficially joined up with Eight Peaks, how much was she involved with that? And none of that even included the fact she was responsible for this expedition hiring Asarnil and Deathfang, from under the noses of Marienburg, the second time a force she was involved with managed to hire him. Coincidence? Maybe or maybe not.

More than that however was the...concerning facts that Johann's story revealed. That Van Hal had hired, and even knighted, her was beyond strange. A veteran Witch Hunter of the Van Hal lineage would never trust a wizard, especially one so close to Sylvania, so he must have elevated her to her positions so he could keep an eye on her. And combined with the confirmation that the two of them had been separated from their army, caught in a herd of the undead and only Mathilde surviving, well enough that she could ride off in a moment's notice at that, and that she stayed by Van Hal's side? It could it have been coincidence, or could it be her using the cover of an undead army to kill him. But if so, why? Her actions after that were to secure the town and then destroy Drakenhof Castle, carrying on the very purpose of Van Hals' campaign. Was it to secure allies in the form of the Dwarves, or could she have been involved with the Vampire at Drakenhof? Allies who sacrificed the castle to escape, the vampire's body never was discovered. Or maybe it was a betrayal and she was covering up their relation.

You can't help but to grimace. There were just too many empty gaps in your knowledge, too many coincidences and incidents. Too many ways the truth and speculation intermingled. Could the reason no Amethyst wizard joined this expedition be related to the loss of the two wizards in Sylvania? And the way both Mathilde and Johann talked around underground beastmen practically showed they knew about the Skaven, how did they figure into things? Too many questions and there was no way you could answer them. Not without biting the bullet and approaching the source of your growing ire and frustration. And that led to the most important question.

Was Mathilde Weber someone that you could trust?

You stare into the magic ball of light, the harsh but brilliant white glowing like a personal star, the room, the city, everything fading out except your light. You don't think you can truly trust any but yourself. Still, you muse, Mathilde might be a threat but she might also yet be an ally.

You've never been a fan of the saying 'only time will tell'. You've never been one for such a passive mindset. The Dwarves will arrive soon and then the expedition into the furthest reaches of the civilized world, where the very boundaries of sanity and insanity, Order and Chaos themselves meet and war for control, will begin. Will it succeed and save the lives of hundreds of Dwarves? Or will it fail and doom everyone?

With a wave of a hand your magic light vanishes and leaves only darkness. Total lack of light, with nothing but afterimages burned into your eyes, consumes you.