[X] Plan Chain for Runesmiths
[X] [Talk]: Knowledge about House Dawnseeker
[X] [Talk]: Knowledge about the Everqueen
[X] [Talk]: Knowledge about Elf History
We only have 13 turns till the Ancestors go so for me that's the deadline and gives me a limitation of what I want done before then, and the current dominant plan of Valaya >> Grave Wardens >> potentially another commission just doesn't interest me enough. Grave Warden's armor on it's own takes 2 turns off that deadline with others being available to do equally as well as Snorri given they specialize in armor runes and are experienced Runelord's in their own right.
The current "plan" as it stands with Rune 2B, then Valaya's basket, then Valaya's commission takes 4 turns out of that countdown, with 9 left.
Of that, I'd much rather get Eltharin (1 turn) and Akazit (2 turns) done as a priority, given it's a new and potentially revolutionary idea for the Dwarves that wasn't iterated off something the Ancestors did, and I'd prefer it done with enough time for them to experiment with it themselves if possible. Another 3 turns taken off, leaving 6.
At this point the decision needs to be made whether to try and push for T5 Gromril before the Ancestor's go, or perhaps go for understanding the Happening of Things rune Gazul showed us, going for the Bloodthirster Gronti, or likely pursuing any of the new options that actually unlocking Akazit gives or mixing and matching our various research options where we have AP available. There's a chance it includes Wardstones if we want to counter enemy scrying, which may be important if you want to keep what Snorri's working on a secret.
If you go for T5 then it quite honestly is likely to take most of the remaining turns. 1 turn for further understanding Master Rune of Purifcation given it's role in the making of it, 1 turn to take Runemetal Part 5 which if we're very lucky may result in a tiny sample when you combo the better understanding of the winds + alchemy + deep magic + Snorri's equipment and traits and them just synergying to fuck; ... maybe. It undoubtedly will need Runemetal P6 though, which'll take 2+ turns itself. You've likely got somewhere between 5 and 10 AP left over which isn't much. Then there's the thought that it'd a make narrative sense for T5 Gromril, the most Dwarven of metals, to require Runemetal Part 7 to completely finish and unlock production capability given there are 7 Ancestor Gods. So going for it all the way would be incredibly appealing at this stage and may give Thungi/Grungi/Smednir interactions given the respective roles their portfolios take in the creation of it. Either way I can't see there being much leeway in the AP if this is the goal, and even then may need further research boosts to accomplish.
The other approaches will similarly take up a lot of those turn timers, who knows just how long Gazul's rune chain could be given the description of the first action I'm not optimistic on it being a short chain given just the oomph and symbolism behind the word Fate.This would go wonderfully with Snorri's new magic knowledge, and in particular an understanding of the Winds of Heaven.
Then there's the Bloodthirster Gronti approach and getting that done before they go. 1 turn on Mind of Things, 1 turn on Movement of Things, 0.75 turns for researching Suneaters Brain, then any other research which pop out before we actually get to constructing the Gronti itself. That is likely to consume 5 turns just on it's own minimum.
While I may have preferences about which of the above ideas wins out, in general I just heavily prefer them all to spending 2 turns on grave Warden's Armor shortening our clock further. It's just not that interesting for me personally or as a narrative compared to the others, given the large build up and momentum each of those ideas will generate both within the story itself and OOC with the discussion of it with everyone else.
