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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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Nerdasaurus Rex said:
And how exactly would Alric mess things up? One day he'll get a letter in his mailbox saying "the emperor and the supreme patriarch have given two of your lords magister permission to study dark magic". What is he going to do with that information?
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I don't think he'd necessarily mess things up, but he could make it his business to hang around for a bit. He could check up on his old apprentice Egrimm and get filled in by his old friend Elrisse. It's not like he doesn't have the connections to hang around the project, so I would at least expect the possibility of him sticking around for a while.
Briefvoice said:
Really? Who does Mathilde know that knows about the lands of Araby?
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Cython:
Boney said:
"The Dwarves say you used to live off the coast of Araby," you say conversationally another evening.

"A pleasant archipelago," Cython says, scratching at its neck with a massive claw. "Mountains rising from the sea atop a confluence of magical energies. It served admirably for raising eight children over three centuries."
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ReImagined said:
I don't think he'd necessarily mess things up, but he could make it his business to hang around for a bit. He could check up on his old apprentice Egrimm and get filled in by his old friend Elrisse. It's not like he doesn't have the connections to hang around the project, so I would at least expect the possibility of him sticking around for a while.
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This is Mathilde's project. He has to ask her to be involved, and she has the right to say no. Feldmann made this very clear when he tried to take the Skaven stuff from us. "precedent and law give you the power to share or not as you see fit"—Feldmann's exact words on the topic.
 
[X] College Dispensation


In a hypothetical 'Johan and Mathilde run around the empire seeing where the laylines point' action, if we wanted to get the amber map of waystones would we have to use an action to fully bring them on or could we just hire one for a turn? And would they see that as a snub? I think they would see it as reasonable 'dont take more time than you need away from killing-gribilies-in-the-wilderness-time' but I'm not sure.
 
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NSMS said:
...ah. Algard and Paranoth already know about the project and are unlikely to raise a fuss, Feldmann probably wouldn't be a problem (he's pragmatic, if a touch slimy- worst case we have to bribe him), but Alric? If he doesn't take this as an opportunity to regain power I've horribly misread the guy.
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On the other hand, he might see it as an opportunity to gain power .... by joining the project.

As much as Alric is the worst(TM), having a former Supreme Patriarch on the project would definitely help. He should know enough about politics to not try and mess with anyone outside of the college, so we'd really only have to worry about him stealing credit from the other people from the Colleges working on the project.

Considering we put this together we're definitely gonna look good if this project goes well ... so I'd mostly be worried about Egrimm here. He's really the most in danger of getting screwed here, I think everyone else is safe enough if Alric get's involved.

....

This is, of course, assuming he doesn't decide to blackmail us or something. Threaten to cut his orders support unless we do him a favor.
 
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Waystone Research Avenues
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    • Boney said:
    The Rune, the capstone's metal, the foundational wheel, the leylines, the tributaries, and the other networks. Six different avenues of investigation for us to discuss further.
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    Since we now have some idea about what kind of things we're going to investigate in the course of this project I thought it might be a good idea to make a short summary regarding each potential research avenue.
    On the faces of each of those Waystones constructed by the combined efforts of Ulthuan and the Karaz Ankor is a rune used in Eltharin to mean Waystone. This rune is believed to have a part in the working of the Waystones.

    Current information:
    • The Rune is found in various magical traditions. At a minimum, it appears in:
      • Belthani script (source: Tochter)
      • High Nehekharan (source: Elrisse)
      • Anoqeyån (source: Sarvoi)
      • Arcane Khazalid (source: Thorek)
    • The Rune comes from the Old Ones script (source: Hatalath)
    • The Rune appears on some, but not all, of the first Waystones constructed before the time of the elves (source: Hatalath)
    • The Rune appears to make stone somewhat conductive to the winds, whereas normally it would be a great insulator. Runesmith secrets were used to make this effect greater (source: Mathilde, Thorek)
    Avenues of further research:
    Magical languages:
    -Learn Belthani script, High Nehekharan, Anoqeyån, Arcane Khazalid, and every other magical language we can think of that contain this Rune. Surely some insight will be found somewhere, and surely this will be an efficient use of a few dozen AP.
    -Less radically, find out which languages have this Rune, and see how they use it. Our contributors should know a thing or two, and if they don't we can search for experts.
    -Are there other Runes from Old One script being used somewhere? If so, would learning this help us somehow?
    The Old Ones:
    See if we can get Hatalath to tell us about the Old Ones (good luck)
    Runesmithing secrets:
    -See if we can get Thorek to tell us what the Runesmiths did, exactly. We don't need to know how to do it, and he's probably not allowed to tell us, but he might be willing to at least tell us what the effects are.
    -Does Thorek know those techniques well enough to use them if needed? If not, does he have some idea as to how he or other Runesmiths could learn them?

    Results:
    After some discussions with Elrisse, Egrimm, Tochter, Thorek, Sarvoi and Mathilde, Hatalath has managed to replicate the rune. When drawn in the correct manner with appropriate materials on a structure in the correct shape, it vastly increases Wind-conductivity.
    -Different materials can be used to draw the Rune, to different effects. More potent materials are generally more valuable, and Hatalath suggests silver as a decent middle ground. The original Waystones use Waystone Gold, so if we ever find a cheap source of it that'll be great.
    -The project has no deep understanding of the actual reason any of this works. But no matter what Runesmithing techniques were involved, no matter what deep metaphysical secrets were employed to find the Rune, it appears that the final product can be replicated by any competent stoneworker with a grasp of basic magic theory. We shall give the ancients our thanks as we shamelessly copy their work.
    On top of each of those Waystones constructed by the combined efforts of Ulthuan and the Karaz Ankor is a capstone made of some sort of golden alloy. It is known as Waystone Gold, Hepatizon, Aurichalcum, Kavzarian Bronze, Shakudo, Panchaloha, and Hesmenkem. It is believed to have a part in the working of the Waystones.

    Current information:
    • The pyramidions (that's the pyramids capstones) of Nehekhara may be made of the same substance. The Tomb Kings might know more (source: Elrisse)
    • Since getting Waystone Gold requires destroying a Waystone, possession of it has been a capital offence since the time of Simgar (source: Aksel)
      • It's similarly illegal in Laurelorn (source: Cadaeth, Sarvoi)
    • The Waystone Gold is an alloy of one part gold to three parts "Titan-metal". Titan-metal originated in the Skytitan holds, and the only known modern sources for it are in the Far East. (source: Johann, confirmed by dwarven records)
    • Unless certain methods are applied while casting the metal, solid Waystone Gold will not have the same properties that the Waystone Gold in the Waystone capstones does. Since the Gold Order's stocks were all melted down at some point, our Waystone Gold stock is currently unusable. (source: Johann, Hatalath, Grey Lord Turuquar)
      • Lord Turuquar and Johann are working on replicating those methods, but this is mostly a moot point until we find a reliable source of Titan metal.
    • The function of the Capstone is to allow the Watystone to absorb the Winds one at a time without being corrupted by Dhar.
      • When touched by a Wind, Waystone Gold becomes very conductive to that Wind, and by absorving it it repels the other Winds (since Winds repel one another). This allows the Winds to be absorbed one at a time. (source: observations by Mathilde)
      • The material is similarly conductive to Dhar. When conducting Dhar, the metal is in its "natural phase" (that is, non-conductive to all Winds) and so it doesn't pull in Winds into the Dhar.
    • In the absence of any easily available Titan metal, we'll have to settle for making our own alternative capstones.
      • The Eonir have an alternative capstone design that requires basic use of High Magic, which means only the Grey Lords and the most powerful mages of the Eonir can make it.
      • Thorek has a rune-based alternative capstone, using one rune to attract the winds and one rune to expel it into the rest of the Waystone. The runes are relatively simple to make, and could be done by Runesmith apprentices with ~20 years of experience.
      • The Colleges can make an alternative capstone, but it requires eight different enchantmenets and relies on the Waystone network to attract Dhar. It kind of sucks.
    • The Kingdom of Caledor can make new Capstones with the original Titan-Metal, but this appears to be expensive (source: prince Eltharion)

    Avenues of further research:
    Material Science:
    We can't harvest it from a Waystone, obviously, but if we can get our hands on some already harvested Waystone Gold that will be useful for the purpose of studying the material itself.
    -Broken Waystones?
    -Loot from desecrated Waystones? If so, it might be found in the possession of the kind of people who break Waystones: Chaos tribes, necromancers, vampires, Beastmen, Skaven...
    -Black market? I'll bet there's some stupid nobles who get off on the fact that their golden jewelry is super illegal.
    -What becomes of Waystone Gold that is confiscated by the authorities? Is it stored somewhere and could we get some from there?
    -The Golds have a stockpile from the pre-Teclisean alchemists, so acquiring Waystone Gold for the purpose of study is solved
    -For the purpose of actually studying this, see in the Gold's records if casting Breach the Unknown on this stuff is safe. If not, put Max to work on studying it the old-fashioned way.
    -And obviously just take the Gold Order's notes on this stuff if they're fine giving them, though this might require us to bring them on the project and this might be too much of an investment when we need them for a single task.
    -Get some dwarf metalsmiths to help us out? The Karaz-a-Karak owes us, and there are two Karaks that are officially part of the project.
    -Good news everyone! We figured out Waystone Gold! Turns out it requires a rare metal that is only found in the Far East, and also our current stocks of Waystone Gold were damaged when they were melted down, making them useless!
    -Johann and Grey Lord Turuquar are studying ways of smelting Waystone Gold in the proper manner, which if successful would make our Waystone Gold stock useful again. We'd still have a very finite supply of Waystone Gold.
    The function of the capstone:
    -What about Waystones or tributaries that don't have capstones made of Waystone Gold? Do they function differently? Can we tell what the difference is, and therefore what the capstones even do?
    -The Nehekharan pyramids appear to be the only other instance we know of this metal being used for a similar purpose. Look into that?
    -Stare at the tips of the Waystones really hard?
    Capstones are the part that makes the Waystone absorb the Winds and the Dhar one at a time. It's a non-magical and non-enchanted substance, which would make it a really good and useful solution to this problem if we actually had sufficient amounts of it.
    Alternative capstones:
    We need to actually test the three different capstones to see how well they work. The main issues we might run into (other than the difficulty of building our various solutions) is that unknown complications may arise from the interaction of our new capstones with the rest of the Waystone design.
    At the base of each of those Waystones constructed by the combined efforts of Ulthuan and the Karaz Ankor is a foundation, usually partially or entirely buried, which is in the familiar shape of an eight pointed star known as the Wheel of Magic, or the Star of Chaos, or the Gate of Cosmic Order, or the Elemental Compass. It is aligned with the cardinal and ordinal directions, and is believed to have a part in the working of the Waystones.

    Current information:
    • Energies flows along cardinal directions - and to a lesser extent, the ordinal directions - are easier to mantain (source: Cadaeth)
    • The foundation stores the the eight winds that the Waystones absorb, and when at least two different winds are present they drop them into leylines running below the Waystones (source: Mathilde)
    • The Waystones use a core of Dhar to pull on the Winds. The repulsive force between the Winds keep them in stable orbits around the Dhar core, to avoid them falling into the Dhar and becoming Dhar (source: Sarvoi, some speculation)
    • If no ambient Dhar is present the Waystones make some on their own (source: common sense)
      • Accordingly, all Magisters involved in this project are heretics and traitors, to be put to fire and sword immediately (source: Magnus)
    Avenues of further research:
    Theoretical knowledge:
    -The function of the foundational wheel appears to be, if not outright familiar to Sarvoi, at least something he believes isn't hard to figure out. Does he know more? Is this part of why house Tindomiel is so confident that this project will lead to the construction of new Waystones?
    -Do the other contributors have some idea as to how to replicate the function of the foundational wheel?
    -How about Thorek? Runesmithing has ways to repel winds, do they also have a way to attract them? If so that's all we need.
    -Apparently some Dhar is used by the Waystones' foundations. But surely not all of it - at some point there will be too much Dhar for the Waystone to contain, right? Where does the rest go? Mathilde couldn't see when she looked, and the push and pull mechanism used to manipulate the winds wouldn't work with Dhar since it's attracted to all of the winds and to itself. What gives?
    Abominable acts:
    -How do we make those parts without touching the bad magic?
    -Could Thorek use a design similar to the one he used when he worked on the AV?
    -Can we just let elves do this for us? Surely this will have no drawbacks.

    Results:
    The project has divided the foundational wheel into two parts, and has designed a number of alternatives for each.
    • The storage mechanism is simply the part of the Foundational Wheel that stores the Winds before sending them to the leylines.
      • The Colleges can provide both storage mechanisem based on enchantment and/or special materials. (source: Elrisse and Egrimm)
        • There are hysh cantrips that can shove Dhar around, so it's possible for Imperial Wizards to work on this thing without commiting treason and blasphemy (source: Egrimm, Jovi Sunscryer (STTL))
      • Runesmithing can provide a Runes based storage mechanism. (source: Thorek)
      • The Grey Lords managed to replicate the original storage mechanism, but they did a pretty bad job - they can make the thing, but it's absurdly hard, to the point where it's not truly a viable option and can at best serve as the basis for further research (source: Grey Lords Hatalath and Elrithish)
    • The orbital mechanism is the part that takes Winds from the storage, puts them in stable orbits around a core of Dhar, and introduces the whole packet to the leylines.
      • The Grey Lords have an enchantment based mechanism that can be made even by most College enchanters by Mathilde's estimate, though she has little idea as to how it actually works. (source: Grey Lords Skathrai and Yngra)
      • Thorek has an entirely mechanical orbital mechanism, which uses clockwork and Wind-sensetive materials. It requires zero caster hours, but might require periodic windups once a month. (source: Thorek)
    Each of those Waystones constructed by the combined efforts of Ulthuan and the Karaz Ankor lays on a leyline. Winds are sent from the Waystones along those leylines, and the leylines appear vital to the transportation of the winds.

    Current information:
    • It is difficult for leylines to be made to flow under mountains (source: Cadaeth)
      • But maybe not for the Dawi (source: Thorek)
      • It is also difficult to make leylines flow over seas (source: Hatalath)
    • The outer layer of the leyline energy stream appears to be a control mechanisem, somehow shepherding the rest of the stream. When deactivated it collapses into the rest of the stream. (source: Theory by Sarvoi, based on observations by Mathilde, Hatalath, Sarvoi and Zlata)
    • When a Waystone is disconnected, the flow from upstream to it is halted. In the upstream Waystone, which is now disconnected from the rest of the network, the flow of the leylines into the Waystone continues until the amount of magic in the Waystone reaches capacity. (Source: observations by Mathilde, Hatalath, Thorek, Zlata, Elrisse)
      • When disconnected from the rest of the network, the stream of energy to a Waystone curdles into Dhar, and is absorbed by the Waystone in that form. (Source: observations by Mathilde, Hatalath)
      • Disconnecting a Waystone in a chain of Waystones disconnected from the greater network does not halt the flow to it. This is probably because the control mechanisem at the heart of the main network (see below) is responsible for halting the flow to a disconnected Waystone, and said mechanisem cannot reach the disconnected Waystones. (source: Mathilde)
    • The flow between Waystones that are disconnected from the greater network can be mantained until the Waystones reach capacity. It is possible to mantain such a flow indefinitely, by expanding the energy created by the Waystones. Said energy is in large part Dhar, which makes this slightly problematic to pull off unless you're very naughty. (source: observations by Mathilde, Hatalath, Thorek, Zlata, Elrisse)
      • It is possible to make benign use of Dhar using Runesmithing, but the knowledge of how to make such runes is mostly lost and what is known isn't scalable. (source: Thorek)
      • It is possible to make benign use of Dhar with the help of a God, which can turn the Dhar into divine energy. The Ancient Widow is probably doing that with the Kislev network. (source: Mathilde, more or less confirmed by Zlata)
    • When a Waystone is reactivated the Leylines appear to be restored very quickly. (source: observations by Mathilde, Hatalath, Thorek, Zlata, Elrisse)
      • The Waystone might 'know' where to put the restored leyline simply by latching on to extant energy streams and to remnants of deactivted energy streams, which should remain for decades for most Waystones in the network. It might be possible to cause new leylines to be created by manually creating such an energy flow once, and then hoping that a reactivted Waystone will latch on to it. (source: Mathilde)
    • There appears to be an intelligence at the heart of the Waystone network. That intelligence may be a God, or it might be Caledor Dragontamer, still alive(?) at the heart of the Vortex. (source: Sarvoi)
    Avenues of further research:
    The missing keyphrases:
    In the heart of the Waystone network there is seemingly an intelligence that responds to Anoqeyån keyphrases. It is likely that there is a keyphrase that would cause it to create a new leyline, allowing to connect new Waystones to the existing network. Alas, we do not know them.

    Results:
    We now have the keyphrases from Ulthuan. We still need to try and create Waystones that connect to the existing leylines, but unless something unexpected goes wrong we should now have access to the original leylines. There may still be some value in experimenting with alternative leylines, as for example river leylines could allow us to drain magic from areas far from the existing network (with normal leylines we'll have to build chains of Waystones from the nearest working part of the network, which might take a while).

    Alternative leylines:
    Recreating the original leylines of the network might be too difficult, so we might prefer to use other methods to send energy between Waystones.
    -Air as a medium of magical transport is a well studied subject. We can almost definitely do this quite easily, but the results may be unsatistactory, as energy streams through air are very easily distrubted.
    -Materials as a medium of magical transport (that is, strings or wires) are fairly simple theoretically, but practically speaking disturbting the energy flow is as simple as sabotaging the material, and since the Waystone network stretches over large distances guarding the material would be difficult.
    -Rivers have been used by Nehekhara and Laurelorn network to transport magic. They might be difficult to adapt but they could serve the Empire well, as the Empire is already built on rivers.
    River leylines work by inserting magic into a river, letting the water carry the magic downstream, and pulling it out at some later point along the stream. There are many rivers in the Old World that could be used for this purpose, so river leylines would be useful, though still significantly less flexible than other leyline methods which don't require rivers.
    • Putting Winds into a river is pretty easy. Pulling it out is slighty harder, but still not too difficult. (source: Mathilde)
      • Magic can be taken out of a river using waterfalls, natural or artifical.
      • Magic can also be taken out of a river by erecting Waystones close to the river and letting them pull the magic out, though we're not yet sure how many Waystones we would need to use to match the incoming flow of magic.
    • River leylines are fairly resistant to being tapped for Winds. Pulling Winds out of a river leyline is difficult, and causes turbulence that is likely to rile up any local river spirits. (source: experiments conducted on the Schaukel river near the Tarn of Tears)
    • River leylines are mostly resistant to Dhar corruption. Introducing Dhar to a river does corrupt some of the present Winds, but fluid and Wind dynamics ensure that the effect is small and most magic remains uncorrupted. (source: experiment by Sarvoi and Mathilde)
    • River leylines require a seperate mechanism to move the Dhar, since shoving Dhar into drinking water is a horrendous idea. (source: Nagash)
      • We can transport Dhar by using river spirits. Relevant rivers probably have spirits that can be used, and the price they'll require should be managable. (source: Niedzwenka)
      • It is possible to use the principles of "induced correspondence" to create a channel for Dhar under the river. The Dhar can be moved along that channel because being under the river makes the area there kind of smybolically tied to the movement above. (source: Aksel)
        • The Hedgewise can make a device to induce the required correspondence, which requires a salmon or trout to be killed on a pile of specially prepared rocks once a week. The Dhar's pull into the channel and its movement along it are quite slow.
        • The Jade Order can make a menhir to induce the required correspondence, which requires an unknown and probably non-trivial amount of effort to enchant. It requires no upkeep, and pulls and moves the Dhar much faster than the Hedgewise device.
        • The Eonir can make a device to induce the required correspondence, seemingly through the resonance of the concept with fate and therefore with Morai-Heg. It is comically bad, and they should feel bad.
    Avenues of further research:
    Test the prototypes:
    We need to actually test the three different approaches of moving Dhar to see how well they work. The main issues we might run into (other than the difficulty of building and maintaining our various solutions) is that unknown complications may arise from the interaction of our new solutions with the existing network.
    The Waystone network that drains magic from much of the Old World to Ulthan, so vital to the survival of the Empire and its allies, appears to have a worrying amount of bottlenecks that could block the energy flow of half the continent. It might be best if the Empire had a better idea of the exact shape of the network, allowing it to be aware of such an event and respond to it.

    Current information:
    • The shape of the leyline network in the Old World is, to the best of our knowledge, is described in this map by @ScarabShell
      • Note: this is now slightly out of date. We no know that Tor Lithanel does not connect to Fort Solace - the Laurelorn nexus network is self contained.
    • The shape of Ulthuan's network, according to Prince Eltharion, is detailed in this post by @Parabola.
    • The shape of the Laurelorn network is as follows: Tor Lithanel is a nexus, and it is connected to nexuses in the following locations: the tower of Se-Athil, the Pass of Stone, Neues Emskrank, Salzenmund, and Middenheim (source: the Eonir)
    • The speculative parts of the map are informed by the following information:
      • The flow from the Empire west to Bretonnia passes through Athel Yenlui somehwere in Reikland, and from there seemingly either via Helmgart through Axe Bite Pass or via Ubersreik through Grey Lady pass (source: Hatalath knows of Athel Yenlui, Cadaeth's insight that leylines don't like to pass through mountains is the reason we suspect the network runs through one of the mountain passes)
        • It is now confirmed that Athel Yenlui is just north of Axe Bite Pass. Energy seemingly used to flow through it to the west, but the nexus has been repurposed and the leylines are currently inactive; see 'Reikland Nexus' in the nexuses section for further details.
      • The flow in Bretonnia from L'Anguille appears to continue to somewhere mysterious to the west (probably Albion) and from there to Ulthuan (source: Hatalath being evasive)
        • We now know IC that Albion probably exists, and while we're not quiet sure that it connects to L'Anguille that seems to be the way to bet (source: Prince Eltharion)
      • Possibily instead or in addition to the above the Bretonnian network flows from L'Anguille to Gisoreux to Parravon then through Athel Loren to Quenelles to Brionne to Bilbali in Estalia (source: educated guesswork by Tochter, attempting to figure out a reasonable path to Estalia from L'Anguille )
      • The flow continues from Bibali to Los Cabos and from there to Ulthuan (source: guess by Baba Niedzwenka, based on the otherwise incorogous presence of Elven goods in Los Cabos and its location on the southwestern tip of Estalia)
      • Judging by a number of ordinal and cardinal lines connecting Karaks to nexuses, it appeas that the Karaz Ankor network was once connected to the wider network (source: Mathilde)
    Avenues of further research:
    Map the network:
    -Will help us find currently hidden Waystones?
    -Will let us know where to build new Waystones, if we ever manage that.
    -May reveal the presence of currently unknown networks. As an exampe, the presence of major leylines passing through Athel Loren lead us to believe they have a network
    Each nexus is connected to a spiderweb of Waystones, and each Waystone is fed by tributaries. Some appear to just be smaller Waystones, but others seem to be entirely seperate designs created by factions other than the elves and the dwarves.

    Current information:
    • The lornalim trees are trees that require gold and/or silver to grow, and are tributaries used by the Eonir (source: Cadaeth)
    • The oghams are tributaries constructed by humans, probably the Belthani but possibly other groups (source: Tochter, Mathilde)
    • Kurgans are burial mounds which are apparently tributaries built by the Scythians or something? (source: Mathilde's creative interperation of some pictographs apparently)
    • Tributaries are probably easier to construct than Waystones because they handle small amounts of magic, and small amounts of winds do not retain the nature of the winds and instead have the same nature. This is sometimes called Earthbound Magic (source: Egrimm)
    Avenues of further research:
    Existing tributaries:
    Get the project members to tell us as much as they are willing on the way the tributaries they are aware of function. If they don't know, see if they have any idea where we might get more information.
    The Belthani tributaries are stones, carved with runes and markings but otherwise fairly unremarkable. As they are made of inexpensive materials and have no potential for corruption, they are fairly resilient to sabotage and vandalism.
    Current information:
    • The Belthani tributaries sit on the leylines the Waystone network uses, on a straight cardinal line from a nearby Waystone. They send the magic they absorb to those leylines, and the magic is then 'caught up' in the existing magical flow (source: Cadaeth)
    • The tributaries have no mechanisem to draw magic to them. The stones have a lower density of earthbound magic than their environment since they send the magic they absorb along the leylines, and consequently earthbound magic flows in them to restore equilibrium (source: Mathilde)
    • A consecration ritual was used by the Belthani to make the stones send the magic they absrob to the leylines, probably involving a Goddess called the Earth Mother (source: Tochter, a bunch of ancient stone steles translated by Tochter and Mathilde)
    Avenues of further research:
    Recreating the ritual:
    The Old Faith of the Earth Mother isn't well preserved, and there are some risks in calling upon a Goddess you don't know well - someone else might answer, and that someone may not be nice. Therefore, it would be best to recreate the ritual under a paradigm we are more familiar with, and our project members have a number of options in mind.
    -Cadaeth believes she can use the Forest itself to do the job (Dreaming Wood tributary)
    -Aksel believes he might be able to switch the Earth Mother with Halétha (Haléthan tributary)
    -Niedzwenka believes she can use a spirit to make the power start flowing (Bereginya tributary)
    -It is possible to attempt and use other magical paradigms to create similar rituals. It is likely that any such attempts will have to involve some sort of external intelligence - such as a God or a spirit - in the process.

    Results:
    Aksel, Cadaeth, and Niedzwenka all successfully adapted the ritual to their respective magical paradigms. The resulting rituals can in principle be cast by any caster, but they have requirements that make them most useful to the factions of the ritual developers:
    -The Haléthan tributary and the spirit tributary require that the casters know the arcane languages of the Hedgewise and the Kislevite magical traditions respectively.
    -The Haléthan tributary can only be cast by a certain bloodline if it is cast outside of the Forest of Shadows, effectively meaning it can only be cast by Nordland and Ostland Hedgewise (and maybe some Grey Wizards that were recruited from the Nordland and Ostland Hedgefolk) outside of the Forest of Shadows.
    -The Dreaming Wood tributary can only be cast in forests with Dreaming Woods, and the casters must spend at least a week in it. This is not a hard requirement for the Eonir who have thoroughly tamed the Dreaming Wood of Laurelorn, but it could pose serious risks in most other magical forests.
    Detailed descriptions of the rituals (from this update) are below.
    Roots of Stone (Haléthan tributary)
    Type: Arcane
    Arcane Language: Was Jutonian
    Difficulty: Moderately Complicated
    Description: The ritual calls upon Halétha to partially subsume a standing stone into the Hedge, so that it will draw magical energies out of the air and allow them to come to rest deep within the ground.
    Consequences: If failed, local Winds will be riled up, making spellcasting more dangerous and aggravating local spirits.
    Ingredients: Dowsing rod, standing stone, lodestone (consumed)
    Conditions: The ritual must be cast by someone from the lineage of the Was Jutones, or within the Forest of Shadows.
    Casting Time: One week.

    Liminal Germination (Dreaming Wood tributary)
    Type: Arcane
    Arcane Language: Lingua Praestantia
    Difficulty: Moderately Complicated
    Description: The ritual makes a standing stone exist simultaneously in reality and the Dreaming Wood, allowing it to draw magical energy out of the forest and sink it into the ground.
    Consequences: If failed, plantlife in the area is cut off from the Dreaming Wood. Usually this means they will be outcompeted by other plants, but it can become the residence of any number of beings that may be hostile to the Woods.
    Ingredients: A seed from the locally dominant form of plant life, a rhyton dedicated to a nature God.
    Conditions: A Dreaming Wood must be present, and the ritual must be cast by at least two people who have spent at least a week from the last month within it.
    Casting Time: One week.

    Aethyric Impluvium (water spirit tribuatry)
    Type: Arcane
    Arcane Language: Scythian
    Difficulty: Fiendishly Complex
    Description: The ritual forms an inverted spring that drains magical energies into the ground to fountain through the soil.
    Consequences: If failed, the spirit will be empowered to attack or attempt to escape from the caster.
    Ingredients: Water drawn from the local water basin (consumed), a biscuit (consumed).
    Conditions: Requires the presence of a water-spirit.
    Casting time: Two days.
    Ask Niedzwenka and Zlata about kurgans
    Ask Cadaeth about the lornalim
    Earthbound Magic:
    -What is the nature of small amounts of winds? What are the tributaries doing with it?
    -The Colleges believe that some non-Teclisian traditions are actually using Earthbound Magic. Do Aksel or Niedzwenka have some deeper insight into this?
    -We have some idea as to what's going on with the winds in the foundational wheel at the base of the Waystones. The repulsion between winds and the attraction to Dhar is utilized. Is Earthbound Magic subject to similar forces?
    There is a massive Waystone network draining magic from the Old World and beyond to Ulthuan, where some of it is dumped in the Vortex but some is likely used by Ulthuan. But there are other networks in the Old World doing the same.

    Current information:
    • The Karaz Ankor has a Waystone network, which uses Waystone Karaks to do...something (source: Cadaeth)
    • Laurelorn has a Waystone network which the Grey Lord are seemingly utilizing somehow, maybe other Eonir as well (source: Cadaeth)
    • Kislev has a Waystone network that turns the winds into Ice Magic? (source: Niedzwenka)
    • Athel Loren might have a Waystone network (source: it sure seems like a whole lot of major leylines pass through Athel Loren)
    • Nehekhara has a network that includes obelisks and pyramids and the Mortis river itslef (source: Elrisse)
    • Constructing a Waystone network for the Empire itself will be useful (source: trust me)
    Avenues of further research:
    Existing networks:
    -See which of our contributors is willing to tell us about their networks
    -The Light Order might be our best bet, since they are the only group which might have knowledge of a Waystone network yet isn't using the network itself, and so wouldn't need to be secretive about it
    Based on Mathilde's observations and Thorek's information, we now have a pretty good idea about the form and function of the Karaz Ankor Waystone Network (KAWN).
    Overview:
    The Karaz Ankor Waystone network is compromised of two main parts: Karak-Waystones and interstitial Rune-Mountains. The Karak-Waystones are giant Waystones which draw magic from a large surrounding area. The Rune-mountains draw no magic on their own, and instead connect the Karak Waystones to Karaz-a-Karak. Energy is drawn by the Karak Waystones and sent on paths marked by Rune-Mountains to Karaz-a-Karak (itself a Karak-Waystone), where it utilized to power vitaly important Great Works.

    Rune-Mountains:
    • Rune-Mountains are giant Runes carved into mountains.
      • It is in principle possible to carve those Runes even today, but wear and tear will disrupt them in short order.
      • The original Runes were seemingly drawn with profound understanding of the nature of the mountains and the forces that act on them, so that those forces will reinforce the Runes rather than disrupt them.
        • In practice, this means that the creation of new Rune-Mountains is beyond the abilities of the project.
    • After a long enough period, the Rune-Mountains change the nature of the mountain itself. At that point, even damaging the Runes will not disrupt the connection, so even though eventual damage to the Rune is inevitable the connection can survive pretty much indefinitely, unless someone actually levels the mountains themselves.
      • Mathilde believes that at this point the nature of the stone that energy flows through has itself been altered, and will continue conducting magic even if the Rune-Mountains are completely destroyed. It seems like it would be difficult to test this.
    Karak-Waystones:
    • At the heart of each Karak-Waystone is a Runed chamber that is responsible for turning the mountain into a Karak-Waystone.
      • The forces within that chamber render it lethal to dwarves and maddening to human Wizards, but non-magical humans can enter it freely.
      • The Runes in that chamber share some characteristics with known Runes, but are unknown to modern Runesmiths and cannot be replicated by them.
        • In practice, this means that the creation of new Karak-Waystones is beyond the abilities of the project.
    • The magic drawn into the mountain moves through the stone itself and avoids the tunnels. Mathilde believes that the dwarves themselves contribute to this, as they repel magic.
      • This would explain why fallen Karaks cease to function as Karak-Waystone, as the presence of dwarves within the mountain is actually part of the Waystone's design.
      • In the case of Karak Eight Peaks specifically, it is probable that there is some mechanism that allow the less populated Karaks to still serve as Waystone, somehow borrowing the nature of their neighbor Waystone. We don't know how that works and whether or not it's something unique to Karak Eight Peaks.
    The shape and function of the network
    • Each extant Karak-Waystones connects directly to Karaz-a-Karak, with the exception of Karag Dum, which connects to Karak Vlag which in turn connects to Karaz-a-Karak. This is probably because of the distance between it and Karaz-a-Karak, which is much larger than any other Karak-Waystone.
    • As far as we know, a total of twenty-five Karak-Waystones have ever been constructed. Of those, fifteen are currently connected to the KAWN.
      • Five Karak-Waystones never fell: Karaz-a-Karak, Barak Varr, Zhufbar, Karak Kadrin, and Karak Azul.
      • Eight Karak-Waystones are the eight peaks of Karak Eight Peaks, which were reclaimed in when Belegar completed his crown. This make Karak-Eight-Peaks one of the largest concentration of nexuses in the Old World.
      • Two have recently been reclaimed with the return of Karak Vlag: Karak Vlag itself, and Karag Dum.
        • Karag Dum appears to be functional in spite of its current circumstances.
      • Ten Karak-Waystones have fallen long ago and were never retaken. They are often known by newer names: Cragmere (Karak Varn), Red Eye Mountain (Karak Ungor), Black Crag (Karak Drazh), Hoard Peak (Karak Izril), Mount Gunbad (that one was always called just that), Mount Grimfang (Karag Agilwutraz aka Mount Silverspear), Silver Pinnacle (Karaz Bryn), Thunder Mountain (Karag Dron), Fire Mountain (Karag Haraz), and Red Cloud Mountain (Karag Orrud).
        • All of those are held by hostile forces and taking them would be a real pain.
        • There is currently a plan to retake Mount Silverspear, but the actual expedition is probably at least a decade or so away.
    • In Karaz-a-Karak the energies drawn by the KAWN are used to power some Rune-based works. The exact nature of those works is unknown. Based on the High King's response to a question on the subject we believe that they are important, but the High King cannot disclose their exact nature, seemingly due to some oaths.
      • We are fairly certain that it once powered some sort of aparetus that created gases that were used in the construction of airships. We suspect that The Eyes of Grimnir might be another thing the network once powered, and is once again powering now that Karak Vlag and Karag Dum have been reconnected to the KAWN.
      • Belegar and Mathilde have further speculated that the KAWN might be powering the Underearth (the dwarven afterlife) and/or the Glittering Realm (the source of Rune magic). Either possibility would make the KAWN vitally important to the dwarven race.
        • Mathilde is also aware that the Glittering Realm and the Underearth are in fact one and the same.
        • OOC we know that those speculations are in fact incorrect. While the KAWN The most vital thing the network powers is the Runes of Valaya, which protect the dwarves of the Karaz Ankor from magic. That revelation, and the name of some works of the Ancestor Gods that the KAWN once powered, all appear in this update.
    • There was once a connection between the KAWN and the wider network. This connection was mostly severed during the War of the Ancients, and the knowledge required to reconnect the networks is lost to the Karaz Ankor.
      • Ulthuan might know how to reconnect the network, but the Karaz Ankor likely won't trust them to do it.
      • Although no actual energy flows between the network, some connection still remains, and large tremors in one network can be detected in the other.
    Avenues of further research:
    There are several connections between the Karaz Ankor network and the wider network that might still be usable:
    -There is an almost-finished nexus right next to Barak Varr, which was supposed to connect Matorca and Karaz-a-Karak. With Ulthuan's help it might be possible to activate it and connect it, which would allow the Karaz Ankor network to have a little piece of the network in the Border Princes.
    -There was supposed to be a nexus on the southern end of Black Fire Pass, connected to Heideck and Karaz-a-Karak. Like the one in Barak Varr, it wasn't completed. Unlike the one in Barak Varr, it's not in a vault but was instead stolen by either goblins or beastmen, and is probably somewhere in the Forest of Gloom. If it's retaken and restored then that might allow for even more energy to flow into the Karaz Ankor, and it might help draining the Forest of Gloom of its bad juju.
    -There are also Waystone nexuses in Foul Peak, Fester Spike, and Putrid Stump, all Skaven strongholds, and another nexus in Karak Izor that currently isn't active because the Skaven nexuses are downstream of it. Retaking them and reconnecting them to the network could feed yet more energy in the Karaz Ankor network, and also screw over the Skaven, and also cost a whole lot of blood.
    At certain points multiple leylines controlled by Waystones constructed by the combined efforts of Ulthuan and the Karaz Ankor come together to form a large deluge of energy, which is sent to Ulthuan. Those are the nexuses, and most of them were erected in easily-accessed areas, many at the heart of ancient elven communities, upon many of which human cities now stand. Some of those could stand further scrutiny.

    Current nexuses of interest:
    According to reliable information (provided by Cadaeth and Sarvoi) there is a nexus in Fort Solace that was recently constructed with Ulthuan's help to replace a nexus that was in Almshoven and was destroyed in the Great War.
    • The replacement is a recent construction, built with an Old One Monolith. Both of those things make it notable.
    • Seems to be one of a only a few connections from The Empire to the west, making it a major point of failure for the Empire's network.
    • Is a nexus in good working order, which is easy and safe to access.
      • ...but we suspect that Marienburg has been aware of the important leyline passing through it since before its independence, but has kept this hidden from the Empire. In light of this and other tensions between the Empire and Marienburg it is safe to assume that Marienburg will not cooperate, so the project might be somewhat limited in studying it and getting answers from the locals
    According to reliable information (provided by Aksel) there are multiple nexuses in and around the Forest of Shadows, which the Hedgewise once controlled but have now all fallen into enemy hands.
    • One of the nexuses on which we have an expert (Aksel)
    • Are corrupted nexuses, dangerous to directly access.
      • Studying them might be helpful in understanding how a nexus may be corrupted by malevolent actors, and how such actors can use it to further their own ends.
    • If we can ever reclaim one or more of them, Aksel thinks he might be able to restore them. This could allow us to gain insights which might help with the restoration of other nexuses.
    According to reliable information (provided by Hatalath and Cadaeth) energy was supposed to flow from the Empire to Bretonnia through either Axe Bite Pass or Grey Lady Pass (or maybe both?), yet energy did not follow for whatever reason.

    A WEB-MAT expedition to search for the missing nexus was conducted, and using records of elven construction from the Library of Mournings the lost elven settelment of Athel Yenlui was found. Slightly north of Axe Bite Pass, with the only accessible path to it clogged with vegetation until WEB-MAT found it (which has kept it from being found by anyone else), Athel Yenlui hosts a former nexus that has been used by either the elves or the Belthani to increase the fertility of the surrounding area at the cost of cutting it off from the network.
    • The nexus itself is "a massive, floating shape of marble fringed with gold, at least twenty meters tall and shaped like an angular plumb bob with concave faces. It floats on a point of crystal several meters above an identical crystal inset into the floor at the centre of what looks [like] a much larger version of a Waystone base." There are also "what look like three control platforms, each with a control object of marble and crystal embedded at their points" around it.
    • It seems that the original function of the nexus was to bridge the nexuses of the Waystone network (specifically the Altdorf and Parravon nexuses?) but it has been "turned from the spatial to the Aethyric" - rather than moving magic from one point in reality to another, it is now moving magic from the Dreaming Wood to reality.
      • This has the effect of draining the Dreaming Wood of the Reikwald of Ghyran (making the Reikwald much less magically active) and using that energy to fertilize the Reikland (specifically the Vorbergland, a hilly area that otherwise probably wouldn't be particularly fertile).
      • In case of emergency - such as the Mareinburg nexus blowing up - it should be possible to use the control platforms to turn the nexus back to its original purpose, at the cost of depriving Reikland of some of its most fertile land.
    • The place has been picked clean of any movable possessions and Belthani script can be found in the area, including in the nexus room itself, indicating that the Belthani found and perhaps studied this nexus.
    Avenues of further research:
    -Try and translate the Belthani script that's present in the area, particularly the script in the room that hosts the nexus.
    -Play around with the control platforms. What's the worst that could happen?
    Based on the shape of the network around it, it is all but certain that Mordheim once held a nexus, at least until the city's destruction by a warpstone meteor.
    • Is a corrupted (destroyed?) nexus, dangerous to access - though Mordheim was purged recently.
      • Possibly somewhat less dangerous to access than the Forest of Shadows nexuses, but that's really damning with faint praise
    • Studying it might be helpful in understanding what happens to a nexus when it is corrupted by outside forces, but said forces do not actively use the nexus (because in this case the outside force is a meteor).
    • Might be a lost nexus that is relatively easy to get to, making it a good candidate for tests on restoring lost nexuses.
    Based on some speculation by Baba Niedzwenka we believe that there is a nexus in Los Cabos from which the energy flows from Estalia to Cothique.
    • Is a nexus in fairly friendly human hands, which should be reasonably easy to access.
      • Is very far away, but that's why we have a private gyrocopter.
      • May or may not actually exist. Maybe we should map the network in Estalia before we go there on a hunch.
    • Seems to be either the only connection from the Old World to Ulthuan or maybe one of two (if L'Anguille also connects to Ulthuan), making it a major point of failure for the Old World's network.
    • Supposedly the nexus is located on the southwestern tip of Estalia because leylines don't like flowing over seas. It is possible that observing it will grant us some insight into that matter.
    According to reliable information (provided by Thorek) there is a nexus in Bugman's Brewery, which the dwarves have somehow harnessed to facilitate the making of really good beer. Bugman's Brewery is now destroyed, but the nexus still stands, at least as far as we know.
    • One of the nexuses on which we have an expert (Thorek)
    • It should be able to provide a route to the west that doesn't involve Marienburg, which is important to have.
    • Is a nexus in friendly hands.
      • As long as Mathilde goes there alone, or with Thorek, full cooperation is to be expected.
    • Studying it might be helpful in understanding how to harness the power of a nexus to practical and benign ends.
     
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  • Media
    • A number of thoughts:
    1. A vampie waystone network in Sylvania could be one reason why it continued to be such a shithole, even after all the warpstone was striped. Incidentally, that's a very plausible possibility for what Hexensohn was investigating. Also, if the network was controlled from Drakenhof, then that's also a good reason why everyone always seemed to use it as a base, and why Roswita had a comparatively easy time clearing Sylvania after it was destroyed. Though assuming everything is about waystones when there could be plenty of other causes is a trap we should not fall into.
    2. On that note, we should put the deciphered skaven inteligence and dwarven knowledge together, and see if their big towns line up with the waystones. The idea of Skaven with access is rather scary. The idea of cutting them off is rather delicious.
    3. The ice magic mini vortex is a plausible path of how the prophesized male ice mage could forever taint ice magic. Just fuck with the circuit. And why it needs to be an ice mage, since they presumably have the current admin access.
    4. Mathilde continues her pattern of foiling Marienburg's schemes by pure accident. This time with the waystone link. I wonder if that's part of why that one dwarf banker wasn't worried about the loss of the trade monopole. Probably not.
    5. Shutting down the hypothetical Skaven network is all for the good. But a thought a occurs: Athel Loren is such a fucked up magic place because it has some many major arteries running through it. If a parallel line could be built... well, that's a very useful tool of diplomacy.
    6. Related, and somewhat meta, dropping the excess of into the dwarfs network is an interesting possibility. Sadly, they don't have the knowledge of making new ones anymore, or that Karak overlooking Athel Loren would a perfect spot.
    7. The waystones are made from some weird magic gold thing. Johann has a weird magic gold claw arm, which notably has the ability to cast one kind of magic while attached to someone soaked in another kind. Maybe one can tell us something about the other, if they're not the same.
    I love how this one update has opened up so many new lines. Exactly what should happen at the start of a new project. Also seriously impressive writing, especially since reveals based on the consistency of underlying world building is generally not a strenght of bazar style writing.
     
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    dinomannitro6 said:
    [X] College Dispensation
    [X] Imperial Dispensation

    In a hypothetical 'Johan and Mathilde run around the empire seeing where the laylines point' action, if we wanted to get the amber map of waystones would we have to use an action to fully bring them on or could we just hire one for a turn? And would they see that as a snub? I think they would see it as reasonable 'dont take more time than you need away from killing-gribilies-in-the-wilderness-time' but I'm not sure.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    For 10 college favour, we can get a Lord Magister to help out, no questions asked. They won't be joining the project that way, and if Dragomas thought his wizards could contribute in a substantial way, he'd have already contacted us, so I don't think they'll be snubbed by it.
     
    Nerdasaurus Rex said:
    And how exactly would Alric mess things up? One day he'll get a letter in his mailbox saying "the emperor and the supreme patriarch have given two of your lords magister permission to study dark magic". What is he going to do with that information?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Off the top of my head? By bringing in the Sigmarites. For all that potential benefits are worth it, we're still magisters bound by the articles studying dark magic in a foreign land that the empire has typically had territorial disputes with. (And still is, with a dash of religious tensions this time). On another note, even if we do manage to recreate waystones, a good chunk of them are going to be dedicated to a foreign god that would probably get banned if the authorities found out. Extra scrutiny is not wanted here.
     
    Nerdasaurus Rex said:
    And how exactly would Alric mess things up? One day he'll get a letter in his mailbox saying "the emperor and the supreme patriarch have given two of your lords magister permission to study dark magic". What is he going to do with that information?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Hey Mr Grand Theogonist want to support me as Patriarch in exchange for my help screwing over the Middenland - Eonir relations? You do? Great! Lets go to the emperor and point out that one of my wizards has been given the unprecedented right to study dark magic twice, something that is very deliberately avoided to prevent black magisters. And that with him on his first opportunity was LM Weber who journeyed in Stirland then spent years sat on top of a bunch of Skaven. This dispensation clearly wasn't very well thought out, maybe this whole project should be shut down?
     
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    Nerdasaurus Rex said:
    I wonder what the odds are that Vlad tried to make a similar network in Sylvania? He would have had access to Nehekharan lore, and he must have picked Sylvania as his home base for a reason. Even if he didn't build any waystones, he could have rerouted it like the Ice Witches did.

    We should check out that map the Amethysts have of the Sylvanian waystone network, just in case.
    Click to expand...
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    An extra reason to recover the library beneath Drakenhof.
     
    One thing Im wondering about why it wasnt brought up yet is what the emperor would expect from us. Heidi is our way in. That doesnt mean he wouldnt want something from us for going over the head of one of his direct subordinates. Could be another sidequest. More likely Id think some requests. Like, asking us to make our own waystone circuit or make them into a magical superweapon, youve already done it with a mountain or whatever idea an emperor could get. Dragomas and Algard have our back and understand the necessity around waystones. Following the proper procedures means nobody does something out of the ordinary requiring favor trading. I cant really belief the emperor wouldnt try to get something out of it.

    [x] College Dispensation
     
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