[X] Guard bypass
With how the beginning was written I was worried we had rolled low again, but instead it turns out we critted
Orbs of Sorcery for pauldrons is too much of a security risk. We should have Kragg rune it instead, then wear our existing robes on top of it so we still benefit from the enchantment.
Nah, I was thinking more like the "cheerfully and casually better than you" rival. Later on it gets revealed that she worked really hard and was found young, but I imagine her initial appearance has her outperforming the slightly older MC in academics. But you know, ok, the MC had a hard live that didn't leave much oppertunity for learning, they're catching up, it's ok. They're really here for their magical talent. Next scene, Eike just knows stuff about the magic happening (why do you think she's got intuitive windsight?) with seemingly now effort, and her mark of ulgu speciallness comes up (that probably makes her substatially better than most of her peers, just because they're all pretty bad). The episode ends with the MC going to the sparring room to train. Their sparring partner comes out, clearly a little dinged up. The final shot is Eike standing in the middle of the ring, waving goodbye with a big smile and a greatsword in her other hand, clearly not beaten up.
Well, we don't even know what control over arcane marks does, or how much it's possible. We've never done it, and we don't have a mark of ulgu ourself. So it's hard to speculate
When you wrote it like this I realised that our fighting style has ended a lot like Minato Namikaze didn't it? Not exactly same but close enough.
Mathilde wouldn't have used it on the Khornate champion.
Turn 34:
Turn 38 (Guard Bypass):
Turn 41 (Hand Switching):
Those poor, poor Grey Wizards who developed the Mark of Ulgu in unfortunate places they can't casually show off in a cool way...
All components thus far have been 1 AP, but for Quick-draw and hand-switching I imagine it's a better narrative effect rather than anything you can nail down on the sheet like '+20 against vampires trying to ambush you'.
Boney already answered this, but it's worth noting that in general, even aside from shadowsword, we can use other regular traits other than Warrior of Fog for purposes of spell creation, as long as they also fit the nature of Ulgu:
To the Asur, Hick is probably one of the highest possible statuses a human can reach.
Well, of course the Mark of Ulgu would be stuck somewhere where the sun does not shine. Its thematic!
since we aren't trying to make it a ranged attack, that takes out some of the complexity to make room for it being a sword instead of a knife. (speculative)
Yes, because Mathilde has a relevant Mastery. From the Compendium of Approved Spells:
It might not succeed, but it's something I'd definitely like to try eventually. Not any time soon, just... eventually.
