Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

After a fair bit of genteel haggling you reach an agreement with Lady Magister Mira: Lady Magister Elrisse will join the Waystone Project and Egrimm will be fast-tracked for promotion to Lord Magister, and in exchange you'll personally investigate what Alric is up to in Talabecland and organize an introduction between Elrisse and Gunnars. In the process you casually mention that you have agents in Talabecland who would be able to point you in the right direction, without mentioning that this is a new development based in part on your already-existing intention to keep an eye on what Alric is up to, instead framing it as a simple matter of fact that a Grey Wizard leaves fully-formed spy cells in their wake.

You shake hands with the possibly soon-to-be Magister Matriarch of the Order of Light, finish your tea, and head back out into the city.

---

Having promised yourself to an investigation of Alric, your infiltration of Talabecland has become rather more important than you originally expected, and you turn your full attention to the reports that have been coming in from those who had been able to work their ways into the social circles of Talabecland's administrators, and then forwarded to the Altdorf branch of the EIC for you to collect while you were in the area. Alric's presence in Talabecland is an open secret among them, and his latest doings are very frequently the subject of gossip and rumours that all make their way back to the Hochlander and onwards to you. It becomes quickly clear that Alric seems to have involved himself in the doings of one of Talabecland's most prominent noble families, the Unfähigers, once the most powerful dynasty in the Empire but quite fallen from grace in modern times after the disastrous rule of Emperor Dieter IV Unfähiger. For a moment you have a moment of giddy shock at the idea that Alric might be plotting with them to return them to power, but as you go deeper into the reported rumours it becomes clear that the Unfähigers are in no position to be making any attempt of the sort, as several prominent members of the family have died in mysterious circumstances in recent years, all of which are surrounded by contradictory but universally brutal rumours.

It's exactly the sort of thing Alric has been searching for: something suitably dramatic for him to uncover, defeat, and cover himself in glory from. The benefactors could be better chosen, but you suppose after being countered in Wissenland and Stirland he might not be too choosy, and at the end of the day nobles of the Empire aren't supposed to be brutally murdered. You take careful notes and start to consider how best to start prodding at the mystery yourself.

You also go through the rest of your messages from the EIC while you're at it, frowning at the increased volume of messages concerning some sort of trouble brewing in Ostermark while still maintaining the complete dearth of useful information. Everything else appears to be business as usual, with the output of the blackpowder factory in Wurtbad steadily increasing as the workers grow used to the process. There is, however, a build-up of activity in Sylvania, possibly hinting at a resumption of active warfare in the coming year after such a very long siege. An uptick in traffic through Barak Varr, apparently as a result of more infighting than usual among the pirates of Sartosa. And rumours of unrest between Marienburg and Couronne, possible a reignition of the eternal question of where, exactly, the border between Couronne and the Wasteland can be found.

While you're in Altdorf and dealing with paperwork anyway, you also see to pursuing official recognition of Kron-Azril-Ungol as an affiliated library of the Colleges of Magic. While technically any collection of books owned by a Wizard could be considered such, official recognition comes with various rights and responsibilities. Most notably for your purposes, the acquisition of books on restricted magical topics is currently limited to ones directly applicable to your current circumstances, and having the status of an officially affiliated library would bypass that requirement. It would also be a good foundation with which to begin negotiations with other institutions of the Old World.

Unfortunately, it does require quite a bit of documentation.

You can understand why this is. You don't want the entire corpus of the Colleges of Magic to be easy pickings for any sneak-thief or warband that happens to be in the area of an official library, so it makes sense to properly vet applications for that status to make sure they're sufficiently secure and well-protected. But the process of acquiring official recognition was made with the assumption that the libraries would be within the borders of the Empire, so it takes some creativity on your part to answer a number of them. One particular sticking point is that of religious dedication, and eventually you settle for Valaya, which the mountain itself is named for and was once dedicated to. It's as correct as if you had put 'none', and you're trying to emphasize 'it's in a Dwarfhold' as much as you can. No, you haven't reached a formal agreement with a nearby population centre for their militia to come to the defence of your library, because the entrance to it is within Karak Eight Peaks. You could make a strong case that Kron-Azril-Ungol is more heavily defended than the Colleges themselves, it's just the answers don't fit the format that this paperwork was expecting.

When you finally finish and submit the application, you expect to wait months as a proper assessment is made, possibly involving hosting an inspection committee to study the grounds themselves. You're a little outraged when within the hour one of Altdorf's pigeons, grown large and confident from a city steeped in Ghur, drops in your lap the official recognition of KAU's new status with Dragomas' blocky signature on it.

---

[Paper writing: Learning, 91+29=120.]

Your paper on the Chaos Wastes in the western Great Steppes is a bit of a challenge, as instead of being based entirely on your own notes and fading memories, it requires you to distill down the notes you had all the Wizards on the Expedition take. Sense-memories resurge of the variety of the sights and smells of that sickly landscape, and you fight past them to note down more tangible details: the strange culling of the vegetation where some plants withered and others thrived, the fungal forests that were feasted on by the herds of the Kul, the strange flying beasts in the distance, the bizarre ruins worn down by the passage of so many years that you have to speculate on even time itself being warped, or on some race predating even the Elves building monuments in the far north. The Fimir, perhaps? The Shartak? Or had it once been ocean, and some ancient turmoil beached a temple built by the Prometheans?

By itself, the paper is not particularly useful. It does present a rarely-seen breadth of magical senses, but your time in the Wastes was short, shallow, and largely uneventful. But this is a collection of trustworthy data points in a field where most knowledge has to be gleaned from the ravings of the insane and the rantings of the fallen. In future studies of the Chaos Wastes it could present a rare trustworthy landmark in an ever-shifting sea that threatens to claw any who venture into it down to madness and heresy. And for every Wizard who consults it for scholarly purposes, there will be ten who do so for the vicarious thrill of being able to peek off the edge of the map. And you have to admit you play to that a little, weaving a narrative a lot more compelling than that stretch of the actual journey had been, especially when interwoven with mentions of the diverse and exotic company you kept and the hints at the terrible mystery you risked so much to catch a glimpse of.

[Observations on the Borderlands of Chaos, 2487. Subject: Rare, +1. Insight: Confirming, +1. Delivery: Thrilling +2. Exotic, +1. Varied, +1. Shared Credit, -1. Total: +5.]

So you're quite surprised when Wolf lets you know one morning that there's an aged Wizard in green exploring the fields and leaving a wake of Ghyran rippling through the earth behind him. This is a visitor you're quite surprised to get, despite having explicitly requested it. Magister Patriarch Paranoth the Wanderer is rather aptly named, and it's more difficult to get in touch with him than it is your own Order's leader. Normally this would mean that you would deal with whoever is authorized to make the relevant decisions in his absence, but for something of this magnitude you had needed to at least try to get in touch with him. So you sent a letter to his pigeonhole, a request through the provostry, and asked Panoramia to send word through the Jade Order, and put the matter aside while you wait out the amount of time politeness would dictate. But now, here he is.

You drop what you're doing, let Panoramia know of the visitor, and dress for a meeting with one of the most powerful Wizards in the Empire, a circumstance that has become dizzyingly common of late.

---

Paranoth is a man of advanced but indeterminate age with a long, white beard that even the most fastidious of Dwarves could find little fault with. His robes still bear the trimmings of a Magister Patriarch if you really look for them, but they've faded over years of hard travel under sun and rain into a shade of green so pale it might be more accurate to call it off-white. But where careless eyes might see only an ageing vagabond, to mystical senses he is unmistakably more, as with every step Ghyran from the soil beneath his feet is drawn into him. Some of it he appears to keep for himself, but most radiates back off of him, soaking into the plants of the fields he walks through.

"Welcome to Karak Eight Peaks, Magister Patriarch", Panoramia says as she approaches him. You'd discussed it on the way down, and with you no longer the Court Wizard of Karak Eight Peaks, protocol dictates that her greeting her superior takes precedence.

"Thank you, Journeywoman Panoramia," he says in a rich and warm voice, and he gestures to the fields around him. "So this is your work?"

"The Halflings' work, but done under my guidance." You step forward in response to her gesture. "This is Lady Magister Mathilde Weber of the Grey Order, the ranking Wizard of Karak Eight Peaks."

"Greetings, Magister Patriarch Paranoth," you say.

"And to you, Lady Magister," he replies with a nod.

"I apologize that you weren't greeted at the gates, Magister Patriarch," Panoramia says. "We hadn't anticipated your visit."

"No way for you to have. I wanted to visit the 'green slate' myself at some point, and the Order happened to reach me with news that the Lady Magister was trying to get in touch while I was passing through Barak Varr. Any word I sent would have travelled alongside me. Seeing all this for myself, I can see why you've been calling the Valley that. Elevated, isolated, sheltered, well-drained of rain and Winds, and with thousands of years of Dwarven records saying that only greenskins have lived here. This was a rare opportunity, and you took it."

"Thank you, Magister Patriarch."

"How is the local water table? I haven't seen any wells, just those artificial rivers."

"It's fairly deep down, but not inaccessible. I've tested it and it appears wholesome, but the Dwarves don't want to rely on it, instead putting their trust in the spring-fed tarn halfway up Karagril."

"How usable are your results so far?"

"Not widely, I'm afraid. I've been relying on the density of skilled farmers here. Even if I can refine the techniques, it would still be far more labour-intensive than assarting the equivalent acreage out of the forests."

"Not everywhere. There are valleys in the southern Grey Mountains that might be reclaimed from the local greenskin tribes if there was a way to turn them into farmable land. And there's the mountains near Pugno in Tilea, the northern bank of the Lynsk upstream of Erengrad, a lot of Bretonnia, of course... you just focus on streamlining what you've done into something that can be taught to the average Journeyman, as once you do there'll be a lot of good that can be done with them."

Panoramia frowns. "I had intended this to be a testbed for agrology, not a proof of concept against greenskin spores."

Paranoth gives her an amused smile. "If you go into the forest to hunt for herbs and find a bush heavy with ripe berries, do you hate it for ruining your plans?"

Panoramia considers that and nods. "Of course not. Thank you, Magister Patriarch."

But Paranoth isn't done. "The first time I visited Araby, I wanted to see an oasis, but instead I got caught up in a fight between Malaluk and Ghutani nomads over a treasure they had found in the ruins of Bel-Aliad. I could have ignored them all and pushed on, but instead I stayed and tried to find peace between them, being young and naïve. When they proved unwilling to listen to the ignorant prattling of a foreign Wizard, I instead sold my services to the side that was willing to pay more, and came home richer and wiser for it. And a few years later I used a small part of that money to buy passage on a ship to Al-Haikk and joined a caravan that was travelling to the oasis I had originally intended to visit." He smiles. "I've sidetracked myself, but with a story about the value of sidetracks. That is why they call me the Wanderer, you know. Not because I travel without purpose, but because I welcome new purpose where and when I find it. Where was I actually going, though?" He muses. "Oh, yes. Take in the unexpected harvest. It will cost you time, but gain you resources and respect and interest in your original goal."

"Yes, Magister Patriarch."

"Now if you'll excuse us, I need to discuss inter-Order business with the Lady Magister."

"Of course, Magister Patriarch."

He turns to you as Panoramia retreats. "So," he says. "Waystones, hmm? Was this your idea, or Algard's?"

"It was the Eonir's idea. The Karak Eight Peaks Waystones reactivated when the Karak was reconquered, and the Eonir believed me to be partially responsible."

"And you weren't?"

"I believe it to have been autonomous. Something to do with the crown, if I had to guess. But I haven't dissuaded them of the notion, due to the opportunity it represents."

"And you want our help to hoodwink them?"

"It's no secret the Order of Life are more familiar with the Waystones than any other of the Orders. I want your help to preserve that impression they got, and hopefully make it true in the process. The Grey Lords of Laurelorn and the Runelords of the Karaz Ankor are already coming to the table, and if we can get information flowing, there's no telling how much we could learn about the Waystones we live among and die to protect."

"You might be just as fooled as the Eonir. Do you know how Teclis proved himself to the Druids? With a wave, he awoke a Waystone we had been worshipping since before the coming of Sigmar, that we believed had been put up by our own ancestors in honour of the Great Mother. We used what he taught us to rework sacred rites into profane rituals to channel the power of the Waystones. Any secrets the Druids once knew were worn away by the centuries of being pushed aside by the modern Cults."

"That's still more than I have to go with currently. We need to come to the table with insight that lacks Teclis' fingerprints, or we'll miss the opportunity to engage with the elder races as equals."

"I don't think we have what you're looking for," he says, but appears to be thinking. "But there are those in the Order who disagree with me, who still practice the Old Faith, and who think there is more truth than we have extracted in the ancient mysteries. Their belief might add the appearance of truth to your bluff. But I would be empowering a faction that anchors the Order in our past ignorance." You're pretty sure you know where this is going. "If I have to busy myself with undoing the damage this will do to the forward progress of my Order, I'll need you to do what I would otherwise be taking care of." There it is. "Do you know anything of Gryphon's Wood?"

"The part of the Great Forest in northern Ostermark?"

"The part of the Forest of Shadows in northern Ostermark. There's trouble brewing there, but whatever it is keeps hopping across the Upper Talabec into Kislev. And the Jades don't have much reach in Ostermark, never have, even before Teclis. But you of the Grey might be able to find friends there. Plus you got along with the Ice Witches. Uncover what's to blame for the goings-on there, and I'll send one of ours to the table."

It would be nice if someone were to agree to help you for the common good of the Old World, rather than for the opportunity to get you to do something for them.


Do you agree to investigate Gryphon's Wood in exchange for the Jade Order joining the Project?

[ ] Yes
[ ] No


If you do agree to investigate the trouble in Gryphon's Wood, which representative from the Jade Order will join the Project in exchange?

[ ] Lady Magister Arburg
A former Battle Wizard who has spent a fair bit of time defending the northern provinces against Beastmen and Norscans, which might be appreciated by the Eonir. She has spilled blood to defend more Waystones than most have ever seen.
[ ] Magister Tochter Grunfeld
An ambitious pioneer in Jade rituals who has spent recent years engaged in the Sylvanian campaign, experimenting with ways to purify the soil. She knows more than any other about the rituals that descended from Druidic rites.
[ ] Magister Cyrston von Danling
Recently promoted and far junior to the other candidates, but you already know you can work well with him. He is extremely perceptive to the rhythms of Ghyran's flow, and thus suited to the study of Waystones.
[ ] Perpetual Apprentice Culloch
One of the most respected Perpetuals of the Jade Order, only partly due to his rather intimidating Lady Magister wife. He is the secular expert on the history of the Cult of the Mother.

---

Thus concludes the work Mathilde performed these past months, but not every waking moment was filled with work. With whom did she spend her free time? The five with the most votes will be chosen, not counting those locked in.

[+] Social interaction initiated by someone else (locked in)

Laurelorn
[ ] Egrimm, to celebrate his imminent promotion and gauge his reaction to it.
[ ] Elrisse, to get to know the most recent contributor to the Project.

Karak Eight Peaks
[ ] Belegar, to discuss who has been made Loremaster after you.
[ ] Gretel, who's apparently getting involved in the Karaz Ankor's ambitions in the Border Princes.
[ ] Panoramia, to talk about how well her project in the Eastern Valley seems to be going.
[ ] Cython, to talk obliquely of what it means for a God to have offspring.

Foreign Relations
[ ] Stirland, to see for yourself how the war against Sylvania is progressing.
[ ] Middenland, to see how the Ulricans are going with their new Eonir coreligionists.

Friends Abroad
[ ] Roswita, to get a sense for who will control Sylvania after you turned down the position.
[ ] Kasmir, to see how partnership with Sylvania's native faith has been going.

Following Up
[ ] The Amber College, to check in on the salamanders.
[ ] The Gold College, to see what's become of their research into Skaven technology.
[ ] Follow up on your donation of the Skaven organ-vat, and see what has been made of it.
[ ] Pay a visit to your fief, to see if anything has changed. It probably hasn't.



- There will be a three hour moratorium.
- You can still vote for a Jade Order representative if you vote against investigating Gryphon's Wood.
- If you have ideas for other social encounters, feel free to suggest them.