Age of Legends (Warhammer Fantasy/Scion)

[X] Sun. You can choose to radiate sunlight in an aura around you. The intensity of the light, and thus effective range, can be anything between a soft glow to a near-blinding radiance. This is natural sunlight, and has all associated effects on relevant creatures or magic.

War has no chance, so anything but artistry.

Well, this has convinced me. Sun clearly has way more synergy with the other options than it initially seemed to have, so my new vote is:

[X] Sun. You can choose to radiate sunlight in an aura around you. The intensity of the light, and thus effective range, can be anything between a soft glow to a near-blinding radiance. This is natural sunlight, and has all associated effects on relevant creatures or magic.

[X] Absence. She called you beloved, and you can hear the affection in her voice when she speaks of your father. Why, then, did your mother disappear after you were born? Why did she leave you alone?

[X] Romance. How did your parents meet? What was it about your father that drew even the eye of the Goddess Myrmidia? You would never have thought of the divine in terms of love and affection - is it a legacy of her time spent as a mortal?

[X] Sun.
[X] Epic Dexterity.

[X] Absence.
[X] Regret.

Vocalend said:

[X] Artistry. Your artistic performances or creations really speak to people, conveying your meaning with impossible breadth and depth; a painting might convey a speech, or a statue a heartfelt appeal. Such works are always masterpieces, equal to those of the finest artisans or performers in the realm.

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An added advantage of this - it has great synergy with Afternoon of Fortnights and Flawlessly Platonic Ideal here, because it means she can do an Old Masters-level painting in a few days rather than sweating over it for weeks, and she makes *no mistakes* when making it so she never has to start again or be anything less than perfect.

And I really like the idea that her "day job" essentially becomes the Empire's Rembrandt - everyone wants a portrait from her, so she has excuses to travel all over the Empire, meet in the halls of power, and get involved in discovering corruption and wickedness in the Empire's elite.

[X] Sun. You can choose to radiate sunlight in an aura around you. The intensity of the light, and thus effective range, can be anything between a soft glow to a near-blinding radiance. This is natural sunlight, and has all associated effects on relevant creatures or magic.

[X] Artistry. Your artistic performances or creations really speak to people, conveying your meaning with impossible breadth and depth; a painting might convey a speech, or a statue a heartfelt appeal. Such works are always masterpieces, equal to those of the finest artisans or performers in the realm.

[X ] Absence. She called you beloved, and you can hear the affection in her voice when she speaks of your father. Why, then, did your mother disappear after you were born? Why did she leave you alone?

[X] Romance. How did your parents meet? What was it about your father that drew even the eye of the Goddess Myrmidia? You would never have thought of the divine in terms of love and affection - is it a legacy of her time spent as a mortal?

People have already talked about this at length, but finding out the stories of how they met will be cute.

[X] Artistry. Your artistic performances or creations really speak to people, conveying your meaning with impossible breadth and depth; a painting might convey a speech, or a statue a heartfelt appeal. Such works are always masterpieces, equal to those of the finest artisans or performers in the realm.

[X] Order. You have an intuitive and encyclopedic knowledge of the laws governing any jurisdiction you happen to be standing within. Mortal law enforcement cannot obstruct or punish you for lawful acts, nor may they overreach their authority or abuse their power when you are involved; their bodies betray them in the face of true justice.

I like the idea of a Warhammer Quest about art and making beautiful things more than "need to kill things good", which are pretty dime-a-dozen.

[X] Artistry. Your artistic performances or creations really speak to people, conveying your meaning with impossible breadth and depth; a painting might convey a speech, or a statue a heartfelt appeal. Such works are always masterpieces, equal to those of the finest artisans or performers in the realm.

[X] Artistry. Your artistic performances or creations really speak to people, conveying your meaning with impossible breadth and depth; a painting might convey a speech, or a statue a heartfelt appeal. Such works are always masterpieces, equal to those of the finest artisans or performers in the realm.
[X] Epic Dexterity. Your movements are impossibly fluid and effortless. You may stand on any surface capable of bearing a feather with perfect balance, scale and descend vertical surfaces without a handhold, and perform other feats of grace and dexterity without difficulty.


On reflection, Sun is the best purview....for a different character.
It just does not fit everything else, sadly. I have no great love for either of the other top choices (they are nice, don't get me wrong, but Sun is Sun), but they both can fit well enough, so both are fine in their own different ways.

[X] Artistry. Your artistic performances or creations really speak to people, conveying your meaning with impossible breadth and depth; a painting might convey a speech, or a statue a heartfelt appeal. Such works are always masterpieces, equal to those of the finest artisans or performers in the realm.

[X] Artistry. Your artistic performances or creations really speak to people, conveying your meaning with impossible breadth and depth; a painting might convey a speech, or a statue a heartfelt appeal. Such works are always masterpieces, equal to those of the finest artisans or performers in the realm.

[X] Absence. She called you beloved, and you can hear the affection in her voice when she speaks of your father. Why, then, did your mother disappear after you were born? Why did she leave you alone?
[X] Romance. How did your parents meet? What was it about your father that drew even the eye of the Goddess Myrmidia? You would never have thought of the divine in terms of love and affection - is it a legacy of her time spent as a mortal?

[X] Beauty. You have inherited your mother's looks; even covered in engine oil and half-asleep, you would still be the most beautiful person in any room. Miracles based on your personal appearance, behaviour or body language are free to use or repeat, be it silencing a room with a smile or terrifying a hydra with a smile.
[X] Epic Dexterity. Your movements are impossibly fluid and effortless. You may stand on any surface capable of bearing a feather with perfect balance, scale and descend vertical surfaces without a handhold, and perform other feats of grace and dexterity without difficulty.

I think epic dexterity is the play here. As much as artistry would be really cool and fit the theme, dexterity is probably our best chance for high personal martial skill in the foreseeable future.

Parzival95 said:

I think epic dexterity is the play here. As much as artistry would be really cool and fit the theme, dexterity is probably our best chance for high personal martial skill in the foreseeable future.

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OK, but why, though?

Your axiom is that high personal martial skill is the highest imperative, and you've completely failed to justify that.

I'm voting Artistry because I want her to be invited around to the houses of high nobility to paint their portraits, to always have beautifully hand-made cunning mechanisms she invented close to hand, and to be friends with the knightly order who she makes gorgeous armour and weapons for and so she can always call on them when needed because they consider her a bosom ally. I want her to be Leonardo da Vinci if he was also Sherlock Holmes (and a woman).

And high personal martial skill isn't required for those stories. She's not useless, and she'll almost always have a few cunning mechanisms and devices with her (like a small one-shot pistol hidden up a sleeve, for example), but it's not like a story is a failure and @Maugan Ra will kill her if she can't solo a Chaos Champion.

Parzival95 said:

I think epic dexterity is the play here. As much as artistry would be really cool and fit the theme, dexterity is probably our best chance for high personal martial skill in the foreseeable future.

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Thing is, not everyone wants high personal martial skill.
Some want to be, well, Leonardo da Vinci - be it IRL one or one from Assassin's Creed. Make tools, be The Artist of an age, shake hands with aristocrats and make tools for our loyal Knights of Myrmidia to get stuff done.

It would certainly be a change of pace compared to, hm, most of quests on SV really, so I can see the appeal at least due to relative novelty of it.

edit: Ranald'd.

[X] Sun. You can choose to radiate sunlight in an aura around you. The intensity of the light, and thus effective range, can be anything between a soft glow to a near-blinding radiance. This is natural sunlight, and has all associated effects on relevant creatures or magic.

There is one rather chilling bit of family history I would like to bring to the thread's attention with regards to 'we can deal with threats to our life don't worry about it': Myrmidia on the eve of her victory, of uniting Tilea and Estalia into a great empire was assassinated by Skaven. The more waves we make the more likely we are to draw that kind of attention.

Will chaos warriors want to claim Valeria's head? Yes yes they will, but that is not all the trouble than might come to us in time. There will I think be assassins and while we can and should pick up allies to help in battles we cannot live with said allies joined at the hip. Epic dexterity would help with defeating or at least escaping such foes

DragonParadox said:

There is one rather chilling bit of family history I would like to bring to the thread's attention with regards to 'we can deal with threats to our life don't worry about it': Myrmidia on the eve of her victory, of uniting Tilea and Estalia into a great empire was assassinated by Skaven. The more waves we make the more likely we are to draw that kind of attention.

Will chaos warriors want to claim Valeria's head? Yes yes they will, but that is not all the trouble than might come to us in time. There will I think be assassins and while we can and should pick up allies to help in battles we cannot live with said allies joined at the hip. Epic dexterity would help with defeating or at least escaping such foes

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Your argument is based around the idea that @Maugan Ra has presented an objectively correct choice before us ("Pick Epic Dexterity or get murdered by assassins").

You should try arguing based on the virtues of the choice you want rather than fearmongering that picking anything other than what you want will result in her getting killed by assassins.

EarthScorpion said:

Your argument is based around the idea that @Maugan Ra has presented an objectively correct choice before us ("Pick Epic Dexterity or get murdered by assassins").

You should try arguing based on the virtues of the choice you want rather than fearmongering that picking anything other than what you want will result in her getting killed by assassins.

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My argument is based on the idea that this is warhammer and those kinds of threats will come up due to the propensity of murder monsters around. Do I think that we will inevitably get killed if we do not pick Epic Dexterity? No but I do think it is more likely, the same way I would think that we would be more likely running into a battle in a tunic and hose than in armor. Not all caution is fearmongering and some concerns are legitimate I would say.

"Truth is beauty", "The play's the thing with which to catch the conscience of the king." etc.

[X] Artistry. Your artistic performances or creations really speak to people, conveying your meaning with impossible breadth and depth; a painting might convey a speech, or a statue a heartfelt appeal. Such works are always masterpieces, equal to those of the finest artisans or performers in the realm.

I will also note that Myrmidia was assassinated at, as you say, the height of her mortal power and the summit of her legend. She was an incredibly skilled general clad in armour, carrying divine and/or arcane blessings and surrounded by loyal bodyguards, and it didn't save her (as I understand it there's some ambiguity over who was responsible, it could have been the Skaven or just one of her defeated foes).

I will also note that getting assassinated turned out to be the catalyst for her ascension (or return) to godhood, which isn't exactly an unmitigated defeat.

Honestly you'd be better off with something like Epic Stamina to resist assassination. Which would mean finding a magical item or relic that can evoke it - not impossible by any means.

Yeah Epic Stamina is seriously bullshit.

[X] Artistry. Your artistic performances or creations really speak to people, conveying your meaning with impossible breadth and depth; a painting might convey a speech, or a statue a heartfelt appeal. Such works are always masterpieces, equal to those of the finest artisans or performers in the realm.

Before I look at the tally and stuff, I figure I can go through this and get a baseline of my thoughts. Starting with the Purviews, I figure it'll help to try and eliminate what I can.

War seems like something that we can kind of dismiss. Sure, it's something that'll doubtlessly get some use in Warhammer. That said, this is the foundation of Valeria as a Scion and it really doesn't look like we're at all interested in turning her into a war goddess. I'm okay with that. In fact, I can see it now as a part of her legend. How Valeria as a preeminent craftsmen, though perhaps with a far more radical bent than Grungni/Morgrim/Thungni, is the daughter of this goddess of war and civilization. Which also makes sense from a story telling perspective, in universe specifically. A strong martial culture enables stability in this world, and specialization comes with civilization.

In a similar vein, I feel like we can get rid of Epic Dexterity. Valeria isn't going to be out there running around, chasing something or being chased herself. It's a Purview that leans into making the individual more physically potent.

All the rest are harder for me to pin down. Artistry seems like the most obvious pick, but I feel bad discarding the others. I'm kind of biased against Order, but it be undeniably useful. More than that, it seems like a good fit for Valeria. She has perfect recall, and this gives her perfect information while also providing her with some protection. Beauty is something that I like when it comes to the flavor text, and it has similar applications to Order as it relates to diplomacy. That said, it seems more in line with something a charismatic fighter would have. Same with Sun.

So, I guess I'm for Artistry and Order.

[X] Artistry. Your artistic performances or creations really speak to people, conveying your meaning with impossible breadth and depth; a painting might convey a speech, or a statue a heartfelt appeal. Such works are always masterpieces, equal to those of the finest artisans or performers in the realm.

[X] Order. You have an intuitive and encyclopedic knowledge of the laws governing any jurisdiction you happen to be standing within. Mortal law enforcement cannot obstruct or punish you for lawful acts, nor may they overreach their authority or abuse their power when you are involved; their bodies betray them in the face of true justice.

Alright, and then there's the talk with mom. It's laid out pretty clearly that there are two different approaches here, and that it'll shape their relationship. There are the technical questions, about limitations and threats. While there's also more intimate questions, about why she left, why she stayed away, and why she was even born in the first place. With that being the case, I'll admit that I favor being more wholesome. This is narratively driven, so I don't really think there are any wrong choices. Meaning there isn't a need to be especially efficient or anything. So I guess I'm feeling Regret and Romance. Let their be brevity, and let mom get something off her chest. While not pressing her about her absence. I feel like it's not ever a question in warhammer wether or not there'll be more foes to face, so I don't think we need to question that too much.

[X] Regret. In that cellar, when you were lost in darkness, Myrmidia said she had hoped to spare you from this. Why? Is there some secret to your power, some drawback to your inheritance, that she would rather you not have?

[X] Romance. How did your parents meet? What was it about your father that drew even the eye of the Goddess Myrmidia? You would never have thought of the divine in terms of love and affection - is it a legacy of her time spent as a mortal?

Looking at the tally… huh.

Regret takes a distant third, but that's alright. It's something that seems like it could potentially touch upon things covered more completely by Enemy and Absence, but even if that's the case maybe the lack of focus would be a problem on it's own. Looking at the Purviews, Sun isn't something I expect to get as much support. I'll have to look through the thread to see the discussion. If it seems compelling, then I'm open to switching my vote on Order to Sun.

E: Yeah, I'll leave it as is. Ra didn't explain Order, but it's a hanging back in fourth place. I don't see anything really compelling about Sun, it's about what I thought it'd be. So I'll keep it as is, because I like Artistry far more.

[X] Artistry. Your artistic performances or creations really speak to people, conveying your meaning with impossible breadth and depth; a painting might convey a speech, or a statue a heartfelt appeal. Such works are always masterpieces, equal to those of the finest artisans or performers in the realm.

[X] Artistry. Your artistic performances or creations really speak to people, conveying your meaning with impossible breadth and depth; a painting might convey a speech, or a statue a heartfelt appeal. Such works are always masterpieces, equal to those of the finest artisans or performers in the realm.