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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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Mopman43 said:
Given the revelation of the politics involved, it honestly makes me wonder if walking away without a deal would have prompted him to give better terms.

Eh, probably not worth thinking about.
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I admit, a part of me is also curious if we had managed to learn more about the particular politics ahead of time we might have been able to get a much better deal...

But, what's done is done; and it's hard to see what applicable lesson we might take from this as players.

Not like it's the end of the world, regardless.
Probably.
 
BeepSmile said:
I admit, a part of me is also curious if we had managed to learn more about the particular politics ahead of time we might have been able to get a much better deal...

But, what's done is done; and it's hard to see what applicable lesson we might take from this as players.

Not like it's the end of the world, regardless.
Probably.
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At least we picked the correct house for both the politics and the arcane knowledge, so I'm counting that as a win.
 
Sarvoi sounds like a swell guy and teacher, the kind I could see in our reality wearing Hawaiian shirts to class. Aksel's neat and chill. Poor Zlata is out of her depth but coping. With this, the only member of the Waystone Project that hasn't had a dedicated social action is Hatalath, who is not quite our peer and thus presumably we won't get the option for him anytime soon.

And now, the long-expected Apprentice vote. Not sure whether it will reach more steam than the librarian vote or not, but it promises to be interesting.

I've already expressed the desire to vote for Mathilde before, but Wilhemine would be a strong second choice, I think - she'd align neatly with Eike's eventual inheriting of the EIC, and she's a Lady Magister whose credentials are accounted for. Regimand's a third option because I'm sure he'd do a solid education, but he strikes me as a tad distant in some ways. And personally Starke rubs me the wrong way, not sure why but he does. So likely I'll vote for Mathilde and Wilhemine only.
 
[ ] Wilhelmine

Seems the best to lay strong foundations, and her expertise will be invaluable given her potential future.

I say we give her to the Bursar, and she can later Journey with Mathilde.
 
Boney said:
since before Kislev was Kislev
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Hooooly carp. For reference: that's almost a thousand years, as Kislev was founded early 1500th.

Boney said:
Kalita
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From the etymological standpoint, the word "Kalita" is an old Turcic -> Russian word that means "a moneybag", the literal kind. The original Turkic word, as far as I understand, meant small leather bags and pockets that were useful to keep money in (essentially wallets), and the word was transferred into Russian with little change of meaning except for a greater focus on "money" part. "Kalita" was an honorable nickname of Ivan I, who did much to propel Moscow principality into prosperity, wealth and power (and is rumored to be generous to beggars, giving them silver from the kalita he had on his person).

Thus I agree with Realm of the Ice Queen stating him as the god of trade and commerce (another bit of homework well done, the word fell out of use in modern Russian entirely). While journeys are a necessary part of trade, it's clearly not his focus. The RotIQ even states that "Kalita is only worshipped in the cities... he is only remembered by small symbols or statues on the desks and walls of the counting houses and guildhalls". Which meshes well with "god of trade and wealth" but not very well with "god of journeys".

I consider it likely that the Imperial author Mathilde read simply heard that Kalita watches over caravans, saw the symbol of a horse laden with goods and misunderstood it as him being the god of travel.

Boney said:
the Bursar
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Not a bad choice for the company's successor, eh?
Would it be possible to talk to Eike before deciding, however?
 
Ohohohoh this is good yeeesss. Man I think my favorite one of this lot was Sarvoi's, I really really liked the bit about how similar the Colleges one wind approach is with the non Caledorian Dragon's way of engaging with the winds. I love how giddy and interested he was during the conversation too.

And wow. Good hearty chuckle from me at Eike turning into mini Mathilde lol. But then again wasn't Piety higher than Intrigue early on? So not quite.
 
Boney said:
"Glad to hear it. By all accounts the girl has taken to the mysteries and habits of Ulgu like a duck to water, her teachers describe her as bright and inquisitive, and she spends a fair bit of her spare time in the library. The only potential problem of note is that she's rather open and expressive about what she thinks, which is nice to have in a student but could develop into a weakness for a Grey Wizard. She's also on track to graduate out of Junior Apprentice at the end of the year, which means it's time to start talking about who her Master is going to be. Starke and the Bursar have both expressed an interest, but you're the one that brought her in and you're probably going to be inextricably tied up in her future, so unless Algard decides he wants her as his Apprentice it's going to be up to you."
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Oh that's interesting. If I'm reading this correctly, she has talent for Intrigue and a love of academics, in the same mold as Mathilde did around the time the Quest started, but she has the opposite problem with diplomacy: where Mathilde was secretive, bookish and a bit awkward, Eike is as expressive as an open book and has trouble hiding it.

Kind of like a small hidden Anton that can be sprung on the unwary.

I guess she's flowered a bit while out from under Wilhelmina's thumb. Then again, neither Wilhelmina nor her sons were ever capable of hiding their volatile emotions, so Eike comes by it honestly.
 
Garlak said:
On that scale of "time and effort", Gods are when you do something big enough and long enough that you get a nation.

And the 8 Winds are when you bust out the terraforming equipment -- "the Great Machines" -- and do something which will set the course of history for the rest of time to come.
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Another good take away from that metaphor, is that gods are alive and have personality and character. They can have a face and a personality. (Well, probably. Some people or posters have theorized that they're just made up however they're made up, by magic and belief presumably, and then just react and act only in the way their make-up says they would.)

A continent doesn't have that. A continent is just a continent. It has stuff on it.

Gods might be Aethyric life-forms; beings and individuals. (Or maybe hive-minds? Or corporations? Gestalt consciousnesses? Or nations in the Aether. Or nations and their ruler both; a god is both the land and the king.) Whereas the Winds are like machines or rules of nature.

This only just goes to show the folly of trying to summarize everything that exists on a world by showing a map. A map can't contain everything. Some things will just be quantitatively and qualitatively different.
 
Boney said:
He nods thoughtfully. "To think that you are not yet forty and already half-spent. I can see how that would alter your perspective. If you don't have the years to master them all, then what value is there in retaining the potential to?"
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Surprisingly open-minded considering the usual elven opinions. Fits his earlier description and job as a theorist though. I imagine someone more engrossed in the practical application of magic would likely have much stronger opinions on the matter, but for him we just represent an interesting perspective he's not heard before.

"So if he named a price I balked at and I went to one of the other three Houses, House Tindomiel would be to blame for robbing the cooperative clique of a victory."

"There are those that could make that argument."

You mull that over some more. "Just by walking in that door, I'd cornered him." Sarvoi smiles, but says nothing. "He couldn't let me walk out of there without making a deal. If he'd let on, I could have pushed for concessions from him. But not only did he avoid that, he also set his house up nicely for if the Waystone Project turns into a huge success."
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Quite an interesting look at how elven politics works. People were wondering why he ended up offering what he did, but I don't think anyone clued in to this potential angle on things. We were wondering why nobody was approaching us, and we attributed it to elves operating on different time scales, and bot being used to foreigners. But I wonder if the view that they were not being respected contributed to that. Them having to approach us could be painted by the isolationists as them being the lesser party, and helped support the isolationist narrative. They wouldn't eb able to approach us even if they wanted to - and it seems they (or at least their faction) probably did want to. But with us making the first move that narrative would no longer make sense.

It also gives us a better look into the expertise of a thousand year old politician. We had cornered him, but he correctly guessed that we didn't know that, and managed to both prevent us being able to ask for concessions, but get some of his own. They may be mostly symbolic unless we are very successful, but their very existence strengthens his factions narrative, as it shows them interacting with foreign powers as equals, as well as getting "paid" to do so. Quite impressive.


"What's the difference between a Mage and a politician?" You give him a questioning look. "Once tries to wrestle poorly-understood forces into submission for personal gain despite the fact that it could all blow up in his face and ruin the lives of everyone around him, and the other casts spells."

You can't help but join him in laughter.
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I think we're going to get along with this guy quite well. Let's throw some puns his way and see how he reacts.

"That is why Castle Alexandronov was built. There used to be only three, the old cities of Norvard and Dorogo and Srebrograd, but if you have three and lose one it collapses. If you have four, you can lose one and fall back to the others and retake and rebuild later."
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Persumably they just modified a preexisting one, else they'd have built more since then, but it still implies they have an awful lot of knowledge - and hopefully they'll be willing to part with some of it sooner or later. Unfortunately they seem to have the same problem as everyone else, if we judge by the old city names, in that this was done a long time ago. Let's hope the knowledge to do this survived. At least we know that this happened much more recently than the elf/dwarf war, so there's less time for secrets to be lost (though more generations).

"Compared to what I know, it's like the difference between a dog and a wolf. Is this what the Forest of Shadows could become?"

You look out at the trees as you consider that. "I suppose it's possible," you eventually conclude. "Though likely no time soon. The Elves have cultivated this forest for thrice the age of the Empire, and I doubt it was so welcoming when they first arrived."

He sighs. "I suppose so. I don't know whether to be jealous or pitying of them and their tamed trees."

"If you wish to do the same, or something like it, you may have an advantage over them. The Eonir venerate Isha above all, but Her domain is all things that grow, and this forest and those within it are just a sliver of it. Halétha is a much more local Goddess, so much more of her attention would be reserved for your struggle. If we can restore and expand the Waystone network, it should be possible to change the nature of the Forest with Her help, whether that be simply to be less welcoming to Chaos or whether that be to shape it as dramatically as the Elves have theirs."
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Interesting to see what the hedgewise might want in the future. And if they succeed it would probably be a pretty good outcome for everyone, though it's probably to ambitious to happen in a reasonable timespan.

"Gods no. If we pull it off I'm definitely painting us all as the equal of Caledor Dragontamer." He chuckles and nods at that. "So, bit of a strange question, but does Halétha have any siblings?"

He gives you a considering look. "We're not the Ostermarkers, but that doesn't mean our faith is a completely open book," he says, his tone neutral.
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It seems that we're not the only one who knows about Ranald's daughters. It's a shame we don't know any other notable godesses that the hedgewise worship, as between Ranald, Haletha, and apparent knowledge of the other daughter it seems like the entire hedgewise might be a Ranald/Shallya family project. Shame that he isn't willing to share though.

"If there's nothing you can tell me, that's fine. I've just encountered the name Haleth a time or two."

He seems to relax. "Oh, that. Yes, some of our people in larger towns disguise some aspects of their worship, and those half-truths have grown into almost separate faiths as outsiders see their success and attribute it to what they know of their God. Lady of the Hunt in the west, Patroness of Childbirth in the south, God of Journeys in the east. It rubs some of the hidebound the wrong way, but nobody can deny how useful it can be to have allies outside the Forest."
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Given how much he is willing to give away on Haletha herself, compared to immediately clamming up - despite the coin - when asked about her family I think he definately knows about the second daughter. Not necessarily who she is, but that she exists - much the same way as Mathilde knows. And unsurprisingly it's considered a pretty big deal to keep this secret, considering what it took to reveal this to Mathilde, who's one of his more devoted followers. I wonder if Ranald is worried that his bad reputation amongst the powerful could rub off on his daughters, and have the authorities turn against them if their relationship became known.
 
If we take Eike as an apprentice we should also consider the impact our current project would have on her apprenticeship.
  • Leaning into diplomacy over skullduggery
  • exposure to many magical traditions
  • Learning about Waystones
  • Potential to get tips from the others
Of course there'd probably be just as many cons too
 
Hydroplatypus said:
I wonder if Ranald is worried that his bad reputation amongst the powerful could rub off on his daughters, and have the authorities turn against them if their relationship became known.
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While possible, i suspect going after the daughters of everyones favorite goddess of healing might not go over well.
Would not stop people from trying of course, but that would probably just piss of two powerful gods/cults in the process.
 
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