I believe it was this one:
1248 -- Count Otto von Luitpold's prized antiquity collection is unsealed and put on display in the Altdorf museum, including the priceless Golden Death Mask of Kharnut. Sensing the presence of the ancient artefact, a dozen Tomb Kings awaken from their slumber and together they lead their combined armies into the heart of the Empire to retrieve it.
Oh wow, that excerpt sent me on a journey. The Golden Death Mask of Kharnut sounded familiar, so I scoured 6th and 8th Edition for additional information. It's a magical item that causes terror in both editions (with additional effects in 8th Edition).
What I was surprised by was that the 6th Edition description was barebones, but the 8th Edition description steals the story of another Tomb King named Tutankhanut and applies it to Kharnut.
8th Edition Golden Death Mask of Kharnut: "According to Nehekharan beliefs, in the afterlife the gods would bestow each king with a body of gold. Thus, when Prince Kharnut awoke from his death-sleep he was horrified at his withered, skeletal visage and demanded the Mortuary Cult fashion for him a magnificent golden death mask. However, when the mask was being sealed around Kharnut's head, a drop of molten gold fell upon the Prince's embalmed body, immolating him in a fiery blaze. The Prince's spirit was not destroyed, but was mystically bound within the expressionless mask. The taint of death hangs heavy upon the death mask, gripping the hearts of all who gaze upon it."
6th Edition Tutankhanut: "Tragically, the young prince was slain before he had even come of age at 15. He had been hunting lions, for he was renowned as a particularly skilled bowman, even when speeding along the plains on his war chariot. Separated from his hunting party, a crude spear hurled by a savage northern tribesman smashed into his chest and threw him from his chariot. Adored by his wealthy father, prince Tutankhanut was given an elaborate burial. When the prince awoke from his death sleep, he was horrified at his withered skeletal form. According to the Nehekharan beliefs, in the afterlife the gods would bestow each king with a body of gold. Tutankhanut was furious to find this was not the case and demanded that his priests fashion him such a body."
I guess they realised that Tutankhanut was far too blatant of a reference to a real life historical figure (has that really stopped them before?) so they decided to combine his backstory with that of Kharnut instead of bringing him over to 8th Edition.
C-can you feel it?
Can you touch it? Get ready 'cause here we go
C-can you feel it?
Can you touch it? Get ready 'cause here we go
My soul pervading vital force
Won't spare what I'm hunting for
It's all the Chamon within my blood
Wouldn't stop it, if I could
Debt is owed, I'm gildin' skin
Break the bones, I'm gildin' skin
Breach Unknown, I'm gildin' skin
Mayhem flows!
Not backing down
Never backing down
Not backing down
Yeah!
C-can you feel it?
Can you touch it? Get ready 'cause here we go
C-can you feel it?
Can you touch it? Get ready 'cause here we go
Yeah!
Rats run when I come for fun
Can't kill me, I am never done
Add warptech to the College wrath
Riding down the Elemental path
Hear my call, I'm gildin' skin
Total war, I'm gildin' skin
Arrows fall, I'm gildin' skin
Kill them all!
Not backing down
Never backing down
Uh!
C-can you feel it?
Can you touch it? Get ready 'cause here we go
Yeah!
Yeah!
Yeah!
Oh, yeah!
Come on!
C-can you feel it?
Can you touch it? Get ready 'cause here we go
C-can you feel it?
Can you touch it? Get ready 'cause here we go
Chippin' In, by Refused as Samurai. Originally I wanted this to be a Ranaldian Revolutionary call to arms and anthem and such considering the in game and story background and some of the lyrics, but the ease of subbing in gilding for chipping cast my ruin upon the mountaintop and what not. Such is filk.
Did they also remove the rule where you had to have both a General and a Hierophant?
We removed that rule in our quick matches (500 pts) because it limited the options too much. There's only so many combinations of Liche + Prince + 2 core units + 1 special you can make. And forget putting some nice items on your priests.
Sorry for the late reply but I didn't want to double post. To answer your question, yes 8th Edition removed the rule where you had to have a Tomb Prince/King as a General. You do however have to have a Hierophant, and 8th Edition always requires you to have a General no matter the army you choose. You can just make your Hierophant your general if you want though. Hierophants also give regeneration (6+) to any unit they join in 8th Edition, but Regeneration in 8th Edition is nothing like 6th Edition.
Tomb Kings and Princes do have "My Will Be Done" though, which means that any unit that they join uses the Weapon Skill of the Tomb King/Prince instead of their own weapon skill (so you have WS6 Skeleton Soldiers if you want). Settra extends his aura to 6" around him instead of just the unit he joins, and his WS is 7, so it's pretty funny seeing how many soldiers fight like maniacs around him.
In 8th Edition, the primary difference between Nehekharan Undead and Vampire Counts undead is the following: Vampire Count Undead can march if they're within 12" of the General, Nehekharan Undead never march. Vampire Count General has to be a Wizard who maintains the binding of the undead, and if he dies all the undead take tests for additional damage, but this can be mitigated as long as there is at least one Wizard on the field who uses Lore of Vampires. Nehekharan Undead are maintained by a Hierophant, who does not need to be the General, and when the Hierophant dies nobody else can maintain the bindings (the upside is that the Hierophant has Regeneration I guess).
Also, something I've noticed is that 6th Edition had a lot of spells that broke the action economy, letting you charge or attack outside the set phase, giving you additional attacks and stuff. 8th Edition removed every single ability that let you do that. Tomb Kings do not play like they do in 6th Edition.
Did they also remove the rule where you had to have both a General and a Hierophant?
We removed that rule in our quick matches (500 pts) because it limited the options too much. There's only so many combinations of Liche + Prince + 2 core units + 1 special you can make. And forget putting some nice items on your priests.
Sort of? You had to have both a Hierophant and a General, but they can be the same character (your General is just the character in your army with the highest leadership, unless they have a rule stating otherwise). More importantly, they switched to a percent system. So only 25% of your points could be spent on Lords, 25% on Heroes, minimum of 25% on Core, up to 50% on Special and 25% on Rare, with no more than 3 of the same Special or 2 of the same Rare unit.
I thought the whole shtick of the Nehekarans was that they can't rest. How come they need someone to constantly maintain their bindings on the battlefield?
I thought the whole shtick of the Nehekarans was that they can't rest. How come they need someone to constantly maintain their bindings on the battlefield?
-[*] EGRIMM: Attempt to bring the Light Order into the Waystone Project
-[*] Attempt to bring an organisation into the Waystone Project (The Jade Order)
--[*] The Gambler: Attempt to bring the Jade Order into the Waystone Project
-[*] EIC: Insert agents into Talabecland administration to start gathering their secrets
-[*] Seek official recognition of Kron-Azril-Ungol as an affiliated library of the Colleges of Magic
-[*] Write a paper: Observations on the Chaos Wastes in the western Great Steppes
Altdorf's Southbank is one of the most wealthy and prestigious neighbourhoods in Altdorf, and it is one engaged in a very slow and genteel war where the ancient and somewhat crumbling abodes of many old-money families are being encroached upon by the relentless spread of upper-class commercial interests catering to wealthy and influential visitors to Altdorf. In this the old money have found a rather unusual advantage, as the unseen presence of the Light College on the western edge of the Southbank distorts the streets nearest it to an even greater extent than the rest of Altdorf, rendering it all but impossible to navigate to those unfamiliar with it. Here has formed the heartland of families of aged but diminished fortunes, who cling all the tighter to a status they can no longer afford to maintain and so rely on an abode within a supernatural maze to deter creditors and developers.
Nestled within this odd neighbourhood is an equally odd tearoom, supplying exotic beverages at affordable prices to those who wish to be seen drinking them, who will staunchly refuse to acknowledge the middling quality of the drinks or the counterfeit crockery they are served in. The courtyard outside it is laid out in a triangular pattern radiating out from a central point, and most of its visitors would take the neatness of this pattern as a sign of how upmarket the business is pretending to be. It may be that nobody working here realizes why they feel so compelled to correct even the slightest crookedness in the layout, as they would lack the senses to perceive the immaterial Waystone in the middle of the pattern, and would be equally blind to the currents of Hysh being drawn in from the radiant sunlight and eddying unnervingly around misplaced furniture. All they would know is the subtle wrongness they would feel, and would correct it without ever knowing the source of that sensation.
In a shaded corner of this spiralling pattern sits the Magister Matriarch of the Light Order in all but name, and that two of the tables nearest to her are also in use despite others being available indicates a level of comfort around Wizards that is rare even in Altdorf. Also indicative is that you are meeting her here at all, in a public place quite close to her campus. No more must Lady Magister Mira lurk in the Tempelgarten twilight for her meetings, now she takes tea in clear view of the public with her allies. "Lady Magister," she greets as you approach, and instead of being surreptitiously side-eyed by the others, they openly and politely look over for long enough to acknowledge your presence, as seeing and being seen is as much a purpose of this place as the tea is.
"Lady Magister," you reply, taking a seat across from her. "How fares your Order?"
"More so every day," she says with a pleased smile. "The longer Alric prods at the dark corners of the world for some evil to expunge, the greater an evil it would take him to restore himself to glory."
You nod. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me."
"Not at all, it's always a delight to meet with such a rising star, especially one who is taking such good care of our Egrimm. He seems more himself now than I've ever seen him. How can we help you?"
"I wish to bring the Light Order into the Project formally."
"More so than we already are?"
You glance at the nearest tables. "Teclis did not start from scratch," you say in Lingua Praestantia. "Nor should we."
She nods. "Dietlinde!" she calls out, and a young woman in an apron hurries over. "Is the back room free?"
"Yes, Lady. Shall I have it readied for you?"
"Please. Tea, Lady Magister?"
"Blue, if they have it."
"Dark for me, water for my guest."
---
"You've been getting yours from Tileans, I take it?" You nod as Mira leads you into the back room. "The variety of tea the Tileans call 'blue', the Cathayans call 'water'. Of course, most Imperial tea-drinkers who have adopted that style of naming teas don't realize it's based on the Cathayan understanding of the Winds." You close the door with a click behind you. "Now, let's talk business."
"We can speak freely here?"
"Of course. The back room of an upmarket Altdorf teahouse is sacrosanct."
"Very well." You take a sip of the tea that had been waiting for you, and find it quite similar to what you've grown accustomed to in Eight Peaks, though the taste is somewhat duller than you're used to. "The Dwarves and the Elves are coming into this Project with millennia of accumulated knowledge. For this Project to work, we must do the same."
"Dear Teclis was not exactly forthcoming with information on the Waystones, even to his favourite pupils."
"If the Light Order wanted to pretend they were all autodidacts in the style of Volans, it should have chosen a less exotic building style. I aim to sit us at a table where Hoeth and Thungni already have seats. We must meet their antes with our own, and ours have lineages to match theirs. Let us bring Tahoth Trisheros to the table."
Egrimm had been either unable or unwilling to uncover more for you than that name, but as Mira narrows her eyes at you over her cup of tea, it seems that it had struck home. "You ask much," she eventually says.
You frown. "I ask on behalf of the world."
"You misunderstand. I do not question the price, I question the wisdom of paying it." She swirls her remaining tea. "Anything we might achieve would be useless if it is subsequently squandered by a resurgent Alric. There are few Light Wizards who can be fully trusted with the information required, and those who are aligned with me are already busy keeping the Order in order, and those that are neutral would require swaying."
You suppress a sigh, and nod as you see where she's going with this. "So you would need external assistance to be able to freely rally the resources I ask for."
She nods, and you take a breath as you ready yourself for the negotiations.
Contributions:
[ ] Magister Egrimm van Horstmann (free) If nothing else, Mira would allow Egrimm access to some of the inherited secrets of the Order of Light on the weight of Mathilde's deeds and reputation alone.
[ ] Lord Magister Egrimm van Horstmann (1 Favour) With your vouching for him, Mira would be willing to fast-track Egrimm for promotion and clear him for even more information on the subject.
[ ] Choirmaster Stephen (2 Favours) Many Light Wizards can lead a choir, but very few can lead them for the weeks at a time it takes for the most potent of enchantments.
[ ] Lady Magister Elrisse (2 Favours) The Porter equivalent of the Light Order, Lady Magister Elrisse's loyalty to the Order and to the Empire is unimpeachable, and she is cleared for more access to information than any other living Light Wizard.
[ ] Lady Magister Mira (4 Favours) The personal attention of the acting Magister Matriarch of the Light Order would be quite a coup even before you consider her impressive knowledge and capabilities.
Favours:
[ ] Denounce Alric (1 Favour) Getting openly involved in an internal matter of the Light Order might have consequences down the line, but a respected Grey Wizard casting doubt on his loyalties could sway many.
[ ] Investigate Alric (2 Favours) Promise to personally investigate what Alric is up to in Talabecland, and to inform Mira of all the details.
[ ] Sabotage Alric (2 Favours) Promise to indirectly interfere with whatever it is Alric is up to. Can be stacked with Investigate Alric.
[ ] Introduction to the Order of Guardians (1 Favour) The Order of Guardians has millennia of experience against the dark forces of the world, but are usually unwilling to share what they know. Making an introduction between Mira and Gunnars could give the Light Order a foot in the door.
[ ] Permanent access to KAU (1 Favour) Grant permanent copying permissions to much of your future Library. While this won't directly cost you anything, it will make it rather difficult to renegotiate a more reciprocal arrangement with the Light Order and their Ancient Library in the future.
- There will be a 24-hour moratorium, since I'll be away from my computer for about that long. Voting will be in plan format.
- If you have other ideas for Light Wizards to recruit, or other favours with which to recruit them, feel free to bring them up. 'The Light Wizard who knows the most about X' is a valid sort of Wizard to seek - Mathilde does not know the entire Light Order by name. You can recruit multiple contributing Light Wizards.
- My original plan was to post this alongside the rest of the turn being resolved, but I went down a number of false starts with this and the Jade equivalent and at this point I just want to get something posted.
I thought the whole shtick of the Nehekarans was that they can't rest. How come they need someone to constantly maintain their bindings on the battlefield?
Nope. Canonically they need to be awoken. They all just got awoken at once when Nagash did his big ritual (except Settra). That caused a huge war, because Tomb Kings, so Khatep woke Settra up, who restored peace by murdering everyone who didn't kneel to him. Then he commanded his vassals to go back to their endless sleep and charged the Liche Priests with awakening them when it was needed or he ordered.
[ ] Lady Magister Mira (4 Favours) The personal attention of the acting Magister Matriarch of the Light Order would be quite a coup even before you consider
I'm thinking promotion for Horstmann and Elrisse for now. I think that we need more knowledge right now than spellcasting ability. For a price, probably investigate Alric and make introductions to the Order of Guardians.
We don't know exactly but it looks like he's been poking his head into a bunch of situations (Marienburg, Nuln's Skaven problem, Sylvania) to try to gain some glory. He had no luck up until Talabecland where he got involved in something we don't know about and went dark.
[] Plan: All-In
-[] Lord Magister Egrimm van Horstmann (1 Favour)
-[] Choirmaster Stephen (2 Favours)
-[] Lady Magister Mira (4 Favours)
-[] Denounce Alric (1 Favour)
-[] Investigate Alric (2 Favours)
-[] Sabotage Alric (2 Favours)
-[] Introduction to the Order of Guardians (1 Favour)
-[] Permanent access to KAU (1 Favour)
Because really, I'm completely happy to screw over Alric, the guy seems pretty useless. The other two favours aren't anything I worry about either.
Also, I took Choirmaster Stephen because I figure having Lady Magister Mira should give us access to all available Light College secrets that Elrisse might offer, but Choirmaster Stephen brings serious enchanting power.
[ ] Introduction to the Order of Guardians (1 Favour) The Order of Guardians has millennia of experience against the dark forces of the world, but are usually unwilling to share what they know. Making an introduction between Mira and Gunnars could give the Light Order a foot in the door.
I'm thinking we go with Lord Magister Egrimm - on top of getting an LM onboard, it will make him feel that he owes us a favour. (Mitigated by us getting paid by Light Order secrets, of course, but choosing the route to those secrets that get him to Lord Magister should be worth some feelings of gratitude, if nought else.)
I also think we can probably afford to drop an action on investigating Alric for a second Lord Magister? I don't feel comfortable openly denouncing him or sabotaging him - that feels like getting too entangled with their internal politics to my liking.
He's increasingly past his prime and eternally trying to add greater victories to his name to outshine some remarkable failures on his part, and generally keeping a death grip on power and authority while he does so because he doesn't want to 'retire' on anything less than a mountain-sized high note to his career. That's all we know of for the moment.
I still worry about getting Horstmann a promotion when we aren't sure he isn't closer to his canon self.
Sure, he didn't burst into warp-fire yet. But getting him a promotion means we'd have less ability to cleave his ass in half if we think he's up to no good. Also the responsibility over promoting a potential bad apple.
There also is a chance that he might legitimately be up to something unambiguously good, like rooting out a chaos cult or something, in which case either of those options would be a bad move.
We definitely shouldn't be staking our reputation to tarnish Alric by denouncing him with no evidence. That's a suckers move, and also if Mathilde cares rather dishonourable. Neither does it make sense to commit to sabotage here and now, if he is in fact acting in the interests of the Empire alongside his own.
Investigate him, sure. We've wondered about Talabecland ourselves for a while now.
These both make sense, as the second can spread knowledge amongst the forces of order, which is very in character and also a good thing.
-[] Investigate Alric (2 Favours)
-[] Introduction to the Order of Guardians (1 Favour)
An odd amount of favour doesn't buy much I'm interested in, though. Not convinced about accelerating Egrimm's promotion.
This would be my preferred plan:
[ ] Plan Measured Support
-[ ] Lord Magister Egrimm van Horstmann (1 Favour)
-[ ] Lady Magister Elrisse (2 Favours)
-[ ] Investigate Alric (2 Favours)
-[ ] Introduction to the Order of Guardians (1 Favour)
I still worry about getting Horstmann a promotion when we aren't sure he isn't closer to his canon self.
Sure, he didn't burst into warp-fire yet. But getting him a promotion means we'd have less ability to cleave his ass in half if we think he's up to no good. Also the responsibility over promoting a potential bad apple.
We have absolutely no reason think him any more suspicious than any other magister in-character, and attempting to balance this possibility using OOC knowledge of canon is just not how we roll.
I am leaning towards lord magister Horstman and one of the other LMs. For how to pay for it, investigate alric and introduce to the order of the guardians seem the least messy.
