Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

With the five steam-wagons lined up on the lip of the crater with broadsides pointed towards the mountain, the Council meets atop the Alriksson to discuss what to make of all of this. Unsurprisingly, all eyes are on you. You're the Wizard, but even more relevantly you're the Loremaster. Making strange and unpredictable circumstances make sense to the Dwarven mind is your job. And you've spent the time since Borek departed compiling theories and possible courses of action, with quite a lot of overlap, frustrations, and desires to yell at Borek finding their way into the list.

"'We did the best we could,' he said," you repeat to the severely diminished council. "'When it comes time to tell the rest of the Karaz Ankor what has become of us, please tell them that as well. May the Ancestors forgive us.' I have about a hundred different theories, but to me, that would seem to imply that whatever we're looking at is a known contingency plan that Borek was aware of, but hoped that the besiegement of Karag Dum would never become desperate enough for it to be enacted. So I think that it's likely that Karag Dum is still intact and functioning in some capacity, and whatever they're doing is inflicting constant attrition on the forces of Chaos."

"What have they done, exactly?" Sir Ruprecht asks.

"I'm not an expert on Runes or Beastmen, but it seems clear they've used some sort of Runecraft to bind Morghur to their service. Perhaps some sort of illusion or ensorcellation, perhaps something to burn the Chaos taint off of him to free him from the orders of the Chaos Gods. Perhaps his latest incarnation was born to Dwarves, and they managed to either bind him or protect him or raise him so that he's more loyal to them than to Chaos. I don't know if Morghur's been sighted in the Old World since the Great War Against Chaos-"

"Not since the Battle of Arden in 2244," Sir Joerg says.

"Well, there you have it. Though it might just be a coincidence and all this is an illusion, one good enough to fool Beastmen into thinking that it's their demigod so they protect the Hold."

"None of those possibilities are the sort of thing that covers Karag Dum with glory," Snorri says darkly.

"Hence Borek's resignation. He assumed that once we clapped eyes on Beastmen defending Karag Dum, that would be the end of the Expedition."

"Whatever the case may be, they don't seem to need rescuing," Sir Ruprecht says, running his eyes over the bone-strewn desert. "And as far as I'm concerned, if the forces of Chaos are killing themselves off here even faster than usual for their kind, that's to the good."

"If our descendants are going to be faced with another variety of Chaos Dwarf, any information we can give them would be of benefit," Sir Joerg says.

You nod. "This might be the last chance the Empire and the Karaz Ankor get to study whatever has happened here. The practical thing might be to depart at all speed, but I do want at least some answers to bring back."

"I want to know what Gotrek died for," Snorri says. "If whatever's in there isn't boiling out of it to take a swing at us..."

All eyes turn to Sir Ruprecht, who stares at the forest. "We won't be in much more danger for staying here a little longer," he concedes.

"How long do you need to gather your answers?" Sir Joerg asks.

"There's a few things I can do safely and quickly," you say. "Perhaps a couple of hours will shed enough light to know if there are more answers to be safely plucked."

"We can reassess then," Sir Joerg says, and Sir Ruprecht nods. Snorri just stares at the forest that Morghur disappeared into pensively.

---

"They're definitely Old World species," Journeyman Cyrston says, peering through a telescope. "I'd need to get up close and collect seeds and samples and bring my own Magesight to bear to say with any certainty, but if I had to guess, I'd say northern. Drakwald, Laurelorn, or Forest of Shadows."

"Any idea how it would have got here?"

"Apart from just labelling it Chaos Waste weirdness? None whatsoever. Until I clapped eyes on these I'd have bet good money you wouldn't see any of these species further north than the Western Oblast."

"And their age?"

"Under normal circumstances, which," he gestures vaguely at the Chaos Wastes behind you, "I'd say it would take centuries undisturbed, perhaps longer. These are old forests. The type you don't go into lightly, because if there's not something terrible already living there, it's because the trees are the something terrible."

"Any sign of mutation?"

"Nothing major. Though I can't rule out minor mutations at this distance."

---

"This one's definitely Beastman," Esbern says, running his fingers over the curved horns attached to misshapen skull. "Look at the growth rings. This wasn't a sudden mutation, this was something they were born with that grew over decades."

"Teethmarks," says Seija from the one she was inspecting. "But not as many as usual for a Beastman feast. They filled their stomach and left the rest where it stood. That's how they act on a raid when they're wary of counterattack."

---

"I wasn't a part of that jaunt, but three of my cousins were," Asarnil says. "Finubar's attempt at building bridges. The Forest of Arden had been corrupted by Morghur and Beastmen flocked to it from across the Old World. L'Anguille called for aid against a foe they could not understand, the Everqueen pushed for its restoration, and the so-called 'Glade Lord' Araloth that was preparing a great hunt for the beast had a lineage greater than that of some Princes. Finubar the Haggler saw a chance to earn credit with three polities at once, and was all too eager to spill Elven blood for it, so Prince Eldyr of Tiranoc and Handmaiden Ystranna raised a mighty host. Many of them never returned." Asarnil chuckles darkly. "Bitterness over that poisoned any hope of improved relations between Ulthuan and its abandoned colony, the Bretonnians gave all credit to their Lady, and as for the Everqueen, it wasn't long after that she found she much preferred the brother of your Teclis than the company of the Phoenix King. Finubar has a gift for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory."

---

"This is how they act if they're near something they consider sacred and feel threatened," Sir Joerg says with a nod. "If they can, flank and kill. If they can't, stay out of sight and wait for an opportunity to flank and kill. If pressed, kill or die for the sacred whatever."

---

"No doubt in my mind, definitely less ambient Dhar around than in the Chaos Wastes," Egrimm says. "Hard to tell much more than that with this much turbulence, though. Timpania has a headache and Barbitus can't stand up without staggering like a drunken sailor. The overall trend is it definitely being drawn towards the mountain, though."

"That was my impression too," you say, nodding. "Can you pick up any more than that?"

Egrimm looks to Citharus, who is frowning, his eyes closed as he concentrates. "It's like the busiest, noisiest shepherd's tone I've ever heard," he says eventually. "Always falling, but never getting any lower. Or at least not fast enough to be detectable to me."

You consider that. "That could be hopeful or very grim. Any idea which?" He shrugs. "Very well. Thank you both for your insight."

---

"The item we have to retrieve, is it in the Karak?" you ask Ljiljana.

She concentrates. "No."

You exhale. "Good."

"Yes."

"Do you know anything about Beastmen?"

She sniffs. "No. Hag Witch business."

---

Max reels in the long length of rope, his eyes on the half-apple attached to the end of it. "This has to be the least precise experiment I've ever done."

"We don't need to know a ratio, we're just testing for temporal abnormalities," you reassure him. "I'm mostly sure it was just heat haze, but mostly sure is a good way to get killed."

Max finishes the reeling, and compares the two halves. One's clearly more shrivelled than the other, but no more browned. "Well, it's definitely hotter in there," he says, "but there doesn't appear to be any time difference."

---

"Smoke from fires from what looks like moderate-sized settlements or encampments," Snorri says to you after hearing from the Rangers who were straining their eyes to try to make out details through their own telescopes. "One northwest, the other northeast, I'd say about an hour's walk or a much shorter ride from the lip of the crater."

You nod. "Any reaction from the semaphore?"

"Nothing."

"Thought not, but it was worth a try. What was the other matter you wanted to discuss?"

"Look," he says, pointing at some sort of metal pole driven into the lip of the crater. "Eleven and three quarter inches between it and the sands."

You consider that thoughtfully. "And what does that signify?"

"An hour ago, it was exactly twelve. I'd stake my beard on it. Measured it three times, and two other seasoned Rangers measured it twice apiece. You don't put a theodolite stand in about the right place, you put it exactly where you wrote down you put it."

You frown, and kneel down to consider the edge of the crater. To your eye, it's solid stone. You dig into the sand next to it, and find that there's no fresh crumbling underneath, just smooth stone. "It hasn't crumbled," you say. "The desert is expanding."

"That's what I got from it," Snorri says with a nod.

"A quarter inch per hour, times two hundred years," you say, looking at the forest in the distance. "Does that add up?"

"We can't get an accurate measurement from here - we know the exact height of Karag Dum, but we can't see the base. So we're going off of eyeballing here. But... yes. Two hundred years at six inches a day, that's about the distance you get."

You frown, then drop onto your stomach to examine the edge of the crater from an inch away, to see if you can witness individual grains of the stone crumbling into sand. "Find me whoever knows the most about stone in this Expedition," you say.

---

"Dormant stratovolcano," says the Dwarf that Snorri fetched for you as soon as you ask about Karag Dum.

"And the stone of the landscape around it?" you ask, still staring at the edge. "Don't answer from memory, look at it and tell me what it is as if you'd never heard of this place before."

He obeys, producing a pickaxe from his belt to chip off a piece to examine, and then carefully chew. "Scoria," he says with confidence.

"Is that what should be here?"

"Aye. More mafic than I'd have expected, but then again, we are far from the mountains I know."

"And the sand? Is it fragmented scoria?"

"No," he says instantly. "Wrong colour completely." He bends down and picks some up, letting it run through his fingers before putting a pinch in his mouth. "Sedimentary silicate, not igneous. Nearest place you'd find this is the southern Dark Lands."

You remember what Cyrston said. "Anywhere in the northern Empire with that sort of sand?"

"Nowhere near. All I know of that would is the southern Dark Lands, Araby, and Nehekhara."

With a tiny fizzle of Divine energy, a tiny piece of rock disappears from the lip of the crater, replaced by a few grains of sand that tumble down to join the rest of the desert.

"Thank you for your insight," you distractedly tell the Dwarf as you stare.

---

After running through all the safe experiments you could think of, you're much richer in questions but not exactly overburdened with answers. From here, the avenues for answers get significantly riskier, and often significantly more dubious. You also won't have long before the others begin to start pushing for the Expedition to leave, and not without reason - though nothing is currently attacking you, this is the Chaos Wastes, and enemies and corruption are never far away.

[ ] Approach the Kul camp peacefully and attempt to discuss the Karak with them
[ ] Approach the Kvellige camp peacefully and attempt to discuss the Karak with them
[ ] Fortify here and see if anything interesting happens over the next day
[ ] Attempt to approach Morghur to see if he can be communicated with
[ ] Attempt to scout the forest at the base of the Karak
[ ] Attempt to infiltrate the Karak with magic
[ ] Attempt to infiltrate the Karak without magic
[ ] Attempt to intercept a Kurgan war-party en route to attack the Karag and the Beastmen
- Hopefully, this will trigger the Protector and implant the knowledge that you protected them in both the Beastmen and any remaining inhabitants of the Karak.
[ ] Ask for a volunteer to approach Morghur to see if he can be communicated with
[ ] Ask for a volunteer to test Morghur's reputed ability to turn anyone using magic nearby into Chaos Spawns
[ ] Leave


- There will be a two hour moratorium.
- If you have an idea for some other approach, let me know.
- If anyone isn't shown as being explicitly asked, assume that Mathilde asked them off-screen and they didn't have anything more to contribute.
- If you have an idea for experiments that don't take long that involve no spellcasting, not leaving the fortified position, and not potentially starting a fight with the Beastmen, suggest them and I might edit in the results of Mathilde doing them.
- Experimenting with the rock-to-sand effect will be set up before Mathilde does whatever is voted for, unless 'leave' wins.
- Among Morghur's reputed abilities is that anyone casting spells near him has a chance of turning into a Chaos Spawn. Just something to keep in mind.