Could be. But he's also talking about kicking the Erengrad elves out of Erengrad if they don't play ball, and as DragonParadox said he's a Peter the Great expy. It's the vibe I got from him, I admit it's not a sure thing, but that's how I read it.
So we assume, but we don't actually know. Mathilde considers both possibilities:
There are good reasons to suspect Drycha, but Mathilde knows none of them, and we should really ignore that kind of meta knowledge when voting.
Let's put aside whether Boris is actually a Peter the Great expy or not. Even if he was, this character:
Is explicitly a Marie Curie reference from Boney
And Boney's pointed out that just because she's a reference to a real life historical figure:
That she wasn't going to be discovering Radium and Pollonium.
It's a shame you don't know about the Hag Spell involving Bear Piss:
From a cursory look, the Peter the Great thing seems to come from him modernising Kislev after a long period of the nation lagging behind, but the actual treatment of civilians under his rule is never elaborated on. Tzarina Katarin is the one who challenges the reign of the Boyars, Boris is just mentioned as being loved by everyone. I think he was called "Boris the Beloved" at some point. Most of the focus on his story is about the Urskin story than his actual edicts and rulings during his reign.
I get that, I'm just talking about the vibe I got from him and why I read his words as I did. And the whole 'evict the elves from Erengrad' thing lends credence to that read, in my opinion.
I'm not sure what you're saying? Is your point that any force from Athel Loren is not open to diplomacy or something? Regardless of whether or not that's true, I don't see how this has anything to do with my point about Mathilde not having any reason to think it's Drycha or Dryads specifically.
Usually through being effectively a powerful lord with their own armies, land, and huge amounts of wealth. Plus having popular support, and therefore being able to convince the populace not to obey the monarch. But pulling those levers is a risky proposition, especially over a relatively minor matter.
I mean, sure. If you ignore literally everything else and zoom in on that specific line, it supports what you're saying and it makes him look like an oppressive despot. I'm sure you could also do the same to Mathilde and make her out to be a manipulative politician too.
I mean, honestly, I said it's my opinion, I hedged my statement with "I think his words imply", and I'm 'zooming in on a specific line to make him look like an oppresive despot'? Come on. It's a possible reading of the text, it's not the only reading but it's not crazy.
You know exactly what I mean, but I believe you're choosing to be pedantic and getting stuck in the wording. When you call someone a manipulative politician you're referring to who they are as a person. Defining character traits. As much as Mathilde has had to exercise those aspects lately she is not defined by them in any way shape or form.
One additional thing they can do is make the Hedgewise we will potentially recruit feel more comfortable (and vice versa). I don't know how much that matters though.
@Boney Are the Athel Loren forces geographically in between Kislev and the Taalite holy site? Like if you were to draw a (ley)line in between?
I am not so sure about this. The Ice Witches might potentially barely know more than the Longshanks. Depends on how good their relationship with the local Hags is I guess.
Eh. I could go either way. The mix of pressure and leased power would definitely have made for an interesting and exiting Quest.
Maybe mathymancer is conflating it with his implied threat to the Kislevite Elves?
To be fair, some people genuinely have learning and reasoning difficulties. And the range from "average" to "disability" is a spectrum in which people can fall across the whole line.
I did in fact not know about this and it is charming knowledge to have. So thank you. That said, this is a far cry from cleansing the land from Chaos/Dhar taint in a manner akin to Waystones. It seems more like a flavorful form of exorcism, something I know Light Wizards to be capable of and I believe various Imperial Priests to be capable of as well.
