Isn't this the Redemption option but worded differently?
Redemption and making up for your crimes are similar but distinct goals.
Words cannot convey the sheer level of feral glee this update inspired in me.
We landed a good contract and Dorial got to show off why he's a Bladelord and remain cryptic - as is his wont and that was great. But the highlight for me was Fanriel's companions - I absolutely lose it (in a good way) whenever the Swordmasters get screen time (I'm so invested in them, to quote that Narnia meme - I was there when they were writtten). I love Fanriel interacting with them, I love them interacting with each other... I love all of them and everything about them. The fact that they're all fan creations is just icing on the wonderfully electic cake that is the mix of backgrounds and home kingdoms in the squad. And we got character interaction over Asur Diplomacy which is unbelievably cool.
I had to read the update four or five times over before looking at anything else because I kept on getting so excited that I wanted to read it all over again. You're doing an amazing job, Blackout.
Aww, thanks. I often feel like I struggle to write good dialogue and bring out a character's personality, so I'm happy to hear people liked it.
and nd if a graduate of the White Tower couldn't pull back -> and if a graduate of the White Tower couldn't pull back
Thank you, fixed now.
Okay, back up for a bit. What in the world are they teaching kids in Ulthuan? That the dwarfs kills elves just for shits and giggle?
They're teaching kids that dwarfs kill elves because they were duped by Malekith and are too stubborn to admit that they were wrong.
As
@SoulCaptain mentioned, official elven history says that they tried to explain to the dwarfs about the Druchii but dwarfs simply couldn't comprehend the idea of civil war, and that when Malekith's agents attacked dwarf caravans High King Gotrek Starbreaker couldn't keep his vassals in line and his own son, Snorri Halfhand, led a Throng to raze the city of Kor Vanaeth (Present day Altdorf) to the ground. When Gotrek's ambassador arrived in Lothern to demand recompense for the caravans after the dwarfs had already committed an act of war, Caledor II ordered him thrown out, but he pretended not to know anything about the attack, drew his axe and swore by his beard that he would not leave until Caledor II had paid weregild. As such, Caledor II ordered him shaved and sent back to Karaz-A-Karak as a declaration of war.
Of course, dwarf history has its own version of events which says that the elves went out of their way to conceal the existence of the Druchii from them out of pride, unwilling to admit to the shame of some elves being in open rebellion against the Phoenix Throne until after the caravan attacks at which point the dwarfs rightly distrusted them, and that Kor Vanaeth was razed in
response to the beardshaving rather than instigating it. Sure, they know now that Malekith was behind the attacks and the caravan grudge was struck out, but with the information they had at the time their actions were justified and the war was fought over the beardshaving, not the caravans. Thus they did nothing wrong.
Both sides accuse each other of historical revisionism to make themselves look better, but nobody can prove anything in a way the other side would accept.
Her folly has caused an international incident between Ulthuan and their oldest and most trusted allies against Chaos, one that led to seven hundred Asur deaths and change.
I don't believe she's done anything to the Dragons of Caledor?
The Asur and Lizardmen are not allies, and certainly not trusted. They fight the same common enemy, but the alien mindset of the Slann makes it impossible to do any lasting diplomacy with them, and they've come into conflict many times before.
What does happen? Suicide?
Elves do not die of old age, and so it is often these obsessions, the strength of one's purpose, that determines their lifespan. As they age, and experiences of sorrow and loss pile atop one another, the burden usually slowly becomes too much to bear, and the elf will fall into a deep melancholy, during which they will begin to physically deteriorate until eventually peacefully falling into a sleep they will never awake from. Indeed, it can sometimes be difficult to tell when death has occurred, for due to their timeless and magical nature, elven bodies do not normally decompose.
Quite an intresting prophecy, and extremely open ended, which is good for a quest character.
Hopefully one of the paths isn't the Path To Glory
It's only the first verse of her prophecy. There's more to it which will be revealed later.
Sounds like a fun & infuriating game. Does it include outside influences? Can the Druchii invade? Or is that after it's time? Although there could always be a expansion pack...
No, it's a contained system. Outside of trade nodes at the edge of the map the rest of the world doesn't exist.
The point of the game is that there are no random elements, outside of the players themselves.
Also speaking of which, trying to put some more effort into improving our swordsmanship skills could be good. And amusingly might make the quest name misleading b/c if we pursue that route instead of improving our magic we pretty much become a Swordmaster that happens to know some magic
Bold of you to assume that the Sword Arts of the God of Magic (Well, one of them anyway) involve no magic.