Alric, and no our deal was just to send a report back on what he was doing, we did not take 'sabotage' as an option. Mind depending on how generous Mira is feeling we might get something, or it could turn out her gratitude is worth is worth its weight in gold.
Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest
- Thread starter Boney
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Alric, and no our deal was just to send a report back on what he was doing, we did not take 'sabotage' as an option. Mind depending on how generous Mira is feeling we might get something, or it could turn out her gratitude is worth is worth its weight in gold.
To anyone outside the Longshanks, the first hint that a Grey Wizard is even in Talabheim will be whatever the thread votes to do here, and not even that if the subtler options are chosen. A hidden Chaos plot ending out of nowhere with an explosion or a swinging sword is extremely on brand for Grey Wizards.
Grey Wizards aren't necessarily sneaky - they're also showmen; not just spymasters but also diplomats. They don't just hide, they also use illusions to make themselves seem more impressive.
Killing Chaos cultists in the open is perfectly fine and acceptable.
Codex
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I don't expect to get an actual tangible reward if we end up doing this and sabotaging Alric's credit. My feeling is that Mira would be incredibly grateful, but this wasn't part of the contract and I will NOT vote to squeeze her for a little more. I'd vote for Mathilde to say you're welcome and go. What we might get is something more ephemeral.
Mira liking us.
Yes it's less tangible than a reward. I might have preferred that. But if sabotaging Alric was part of the contract and Mathilde did it that's just part of the contract and she'll be rewarded. Goodwill is limited for just doing what you promised to. Going above and beyond? That usually means gratitude and someone liking you. Will Mira liking us have a direct benefit immediately? Probably not. Will it boost relations and make it easier to work with her, one of the most powerful possible contacts in the Colleges? My belief is probably yes. Mathilde didn't network all that often in the Colleges, but there are few contacts worth cultivating in the Colleges more than a Matriarch.
Mira liking us.
Yes it's less tangible than a reward. I might have preferred that. But if sabotaging Alric was part of the contract and Mathilde did it that's just part of the contract and she'll be rewarded. Goodwill is limited for just doing what you promised to. Going above and beyond? That usually means gratitude and someone liking you. Will Mira liking us have a direct benefit immediately? Probably not. Will it boost relations and make it easier to work with her, one of the most powerful possible contacts in the Colleges? My belief is probably yes. Mathilde didn't network all that often in the Colleges, but there are few contacts worth cultivating in the Colleges more than a Matriarch.
With Kill: Branulhune enjoying a commanding lead, I feel like it would only to be fair to make a case for some of the neglected options:
[ ] Capture: Throttle
This night's murder is supposed to parody a death by choking. What better way to subvert it than by chocking out the would be murderer? And our subsequent questioning can reveal if they are any Chaos cultists Alberich told about Heidi, which is the kind of thing we'll want to know.
[ ] Capture: Mockery of Death
Is this ending not cinematic enough for you? Picture this, then: Mathilde sneaks onto the sedan chair, only to be overwhelemd by Alberich's musk, and there's a tense showoff as Mathilde's will is pitted against the Tempter's power. Maybe Alberich even gives a villian monologue as Mathilde struggles to break free, he seems like the type to do something like that.
[ ] Follow
There's some worry about what Alric is going to think after this night. Dealing with Alberich with Alric's help means sharing some credit with him, but we didn't agree to sabotage him, and if he can see the murderer with his own eyes the odds are he will accept that the Empress wasn't involved. This might serve our long term goals better than any other option.
[ ] Capture: Throttle
This night's murder is supposed to parody a death by choking. What better way to subvert it than by chocking out the would be murderer? And our subsequent questioning can reveal if they are any Chaos cultists Alberich told about Heidi, which is the kind of thing we'll want to know.
[ ] Capture: Mockery of Death
Is this ending not cinematic enough for you? Picture this, then: Mathilde sneaks onto the sedan chair, only to be overwhelemd by Alberich's musk, and there's a tense showoff as Mathilde's will is pitted against the Tempter's power. Maybe Alberich even gives a villian monologue as Mathilde struggles to break free, he seems like the type to do something like that.
[ ] Follow
There's some worry about what Alric is going to think after this night. Dealing with Alberich with Alric's help means sharing some credit with him, but we didn't agree to sabotage him, and if he can see the murderer with his own eyes the odds are he will accept that the Empress wasn't involved. This might serve our long term goals better than any other option.
Thebigpieman
I've got this, I think.
- Location
- United States
You might have a point if this was any other character but it's Mathilde. She has a string of very public and well known acts to her name that aren't sneaky or intrigue based and was promoted in spite of that. She is very well capable of such things but her promotion says to me that Greys don't need to be wholly intrigue to be considered up for its highest ranks.
I am surprised that one of the captures isn't getting more love. Now is when the thread choses to not be ambitious?
You know, being be to unwind this dude's cultist network could do a lot of good in the world. Forget criticism for Mathilde for not being subtle enough. What about criticism for neglecting a capture-and-interrogate option in favor of a sure kill when this dude is a long way from actually carrying out his plan? What, you don't like intelligence on Chaos cultists? You don't think Mathilde can manage it?
[X] Capture: Throttle
[X] Capture: Mockery of Death
You know, being be to unwind this dude's cultist network could do a lot of good in the world. Forget criticism for Mathilde for not being subtle enough. What about criticism for neglecting a capture-and-interrogate option in favor of a sure kill when this dude is a long way from actually carrying out his plan? What, you don't like intelligence on Chaos cultists? You don't think Mathilde can manage it?
[X] Capture: Throttle
[X] Capture: Mockery of Death
That sounds like it would take more time and I do no think we have the AP to spare. We do not even live in the Empire, let the people who actually do deal with the local chaos cults.
We cannot follow every plot thread or we would not get anything done.
Useless Writer
He who should not access the interwebs...
- Location
- Somewhere between Wolf 359 and Courscant
[X] Capture: Throttle
I very much like @mathymancer 's idea of this option possibly being a counter ritual step, we can always have him physically choked to death after he's been made to spill his guts if it requires a more literal step. Not only is it a satisfyingly ignoble end for this failed Elector count, but I tend to worry about rituals gaining too much momentum to be stopped if not countered, personally. Bit of leftover trauma from one of my DM's over the years.
I very much like @mathymancer 's idea of this option possibly being a counter ritual step, we can always have him physically choked to death after he's been made to spill his guts if it requires a more literal step. Not only is it a satisfyingly ignoble end for this failed Elector count, but I tend to worry about rituals gaining too much momentum to be stopped if not countered, personally. Bit of leftover trauma from one of my DM's over the years.
For example, let's imagine that we hadn't chosen to investigate Alberich's form and would not have known about the mutated arm or strange scent. (That's not to mention the fact that not having a physical description of Alberich might have made the team effort to canvas the city a lot harder and might not even have succeeded at flushing him out to begin with.)
Imagine the counter-factual scenario where we've just located this sedan; we don't know what the identifying marks of Alberich are, which means that the players are given an update that ends with:
"You've come across a sedan that has Alberich's personal seal on it. There is an odd smell about it, and your witchsight shows the person has a sullied soul, and they're sitting weirdly. What do?"
>Attack anyway, assuming that this is Alberich.
>>Attack with the dragonflask; the body will be destroyed, but it was probably Alberich anyway, right?
>This might be a body double or servant of his. Or some other unrelated mutant entirely. Capture them and try to see if this is Alberich or might lead us to Alberich.
>Just follow them and see if they lead you to Alberich, or if they head for the Unfahigers which would tip us off.
Without a few critical pieces of knowledge, the entire situation changes because we have to act with a lot more uncertainty. Options that destroy the body become a lot less palatable. Capture or following them might become a lot more desired, because we might feel like we "can't take the chance."
That "can't take the chance of" thing shifts and flows. Sometimes it can be "can't take the chance they get away", sometimes it's "can't take the chance we lose this lead", sometimes it's "we can't be sure we can take this fight."
It would still be entirely reasonable to, in that situation, conclude that this is Alberich. "We came here looking for a sorcerer or mutant or something, and this guy has Alberich's seal on his sedan (assuming it's not a fake-out that he put on a sedan to lead people away and see if anybody takes the bait; if somebody attacks the sedan with his sigil on it, he can assume that people are looking for him specifically; if not, maybe not) so... let's go for it." But we'd probably be a bit more uncertain and concerned about things anyway.
- Location
- USA
The vote is only to capture him. She can just turn him over to the people who actually do deal with the local chaos cults, like how she deposited a Druchii from Clan Moulder at the elves' embassy.
Not from the Lights but Mathilde should get at least part of the credit that Alric would have gotten - might be a rep boost or a Great Deed or just a formal pat on the back from the highest levels and a shiny medal but I would expect a decent level of acknowledgement.
Mathilde also has a number of acts that are sneaky and highly classified (Queekish; Sylvannia's necromancer college) and various research papers of differing levels of openness.
Codex
Fantasy Addict
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The problem with that that people pointed out is the danger of it adding scrutiny to Heidi's position. Yes they might not believe him if he says she's not a Haupt-Anderssen, but it might rouse suspicion, and that is the exact opposite of what we want.
Given that this is the man who knows the Empress is a fraud I really, really do not think we want to do that. I would prefer both Heidi and Mandred alive over catching random chaos cultists.
- Location
- Rivendell
On the flip side of this, Alric is likely going to be extremely pissed. He thinks that stopping the ritual is his big chance at getting back into the game politically, and we completely blindsided him, taking most if not all of the credit in the process (if something doesn't go horribly wrong).
What's even worse, it's going to look quite suspicious. He'll likely try to pull some strings to find out exactly what deal we struck with Mira. If he manages to find out that actively thwarting him was never part of the original agreement, he'll start looking for reasons. Unfortunately his conclusion might well be that those reasons are Empress related ones.
Speaker4thesilen
Superpower: Common Sense
- Location
- Noneya Business
They're transporting an agent of Chaos. Catching them in the explosion might very well be the kinder fate.
But if the Longshanks get them they may be able to roll up more of his network.
- Location
- Denial
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I think the more likely conclusion is that the former spymaster of Stirland who has a good relationship with the current EC of Stirland doesn't want the former EC of Stirland pulling off a chaos ritual and didn't trust the guy who had already failed to stop it once so took care of it herself.
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I don't quite disagree, but I think you can easily think of a reason for Mathilde to be invested that have nothing to do with the Empress. Besides the possibility that Mathilde just felt duty bound to stop a Chaos plot there's also the fact that Mathilde is a Stirlander - a knight of Stirland in fact - who also served as spymistress of Stirland of years. This ritual is all about the deaths of the dynasty that once ruled Stirland, and it could be that Mathilde just took a personal interest in this.
EDIT: Webered.
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