Now, I don't know anything about the current plans; I haven't really looked over them yet. But I will advocate for any plan that sets us up to do AV book, Morbs, Waystone rollouts, and Elfcation all on the same turn. Why?
Because it'll be funny as hell.
Shock and Awe
It was a cold and dreary Altdorf morning as eight colorful, robed figures stood before the gates of the Imperial Palace. Algard, Magister Patriarch of the Grey Order, frowned as he looked over his peers of the other Colleges. There was Manning, Elspeth, even Paranoth was there, completely on time.
It was relatively rare for them to all be called like this to the palace, especially without telling them precisely why. Algard moved over to Dragomas, Supreme Patriarch of the Colleges of Magic and head of the Amber Order.
"Did you ever figure out what this was about?" Algard questioned his old friend.
"No," Dragomas sighed. "Luitpold is being surprisingly tight-lipped about it. No clue why, but he's assured me there's nothing wrong."
"Do you believe him?"
"As much as I can. But gathering each leader of each Order of Magic into the seat of his power for undisclosed reasons? I don't
think he's planning on throwing all of us at some army on a suicide mission—and I certainly hope he won't pull a Dieter—but better to be over-ready than under."
The concern on his face was matched by every Wizard there—barring Maria, who simply wore a serene, knowing smile. Algard nodded as the gates to the palace opened and a servant led them in. The entire palace shone with wealth, but privately, Algard always considered it a bit gaudy.
The servant led them through the many halls and corridors, before stopping at a set of doors flanked by two Greatswords and turning to the gathered Wizards.
"You'll find His Majesty right inside," they said as they gestured to the door.
Nodding, Dragons led the heads of all eight Colleges of Magic into the palace's
Mappa Mundi room, currently occupied by only two people—and the group of Greatswords one of them was guarded by at all times. There in the middle of the room stood Emperor Luitpold von Holswig-Schliestein I, chatting pleasantly with Dame Lady Magister Mathilde Weber of the Grey Order.
Suddenly, every nerve in Algard's body was alight twice over with suspicion and concern.
Seeing them enter, the Emperor broke off from his conversation to greet them.
"Glad to see you're all here—on time, too," he said with a look towards Paranoth. The Jade Patriarch grumbled, but he at least had the decency to look a bit bashful. The Emperor continued. "I have brought you all here today because esoteric and arcane matters of great importance have been brought to my attention, and I have been convinced that a direct meeting is the simplest, fastest, and altogether most reliable means of bringing it to
your attention. With that said, I cede the floor to Lady Magister Weber."
He gestured to the woman beside him, then stood off to the side of the room with his Greatsword bodyguards. Eight pairs of eyes turned to look at the Grey Wizard, and the confident smile on her face quickly turned into a smug smirk.
"I have the best kind of good news for you all today," Mathilde began, her eyes dancing with mischief. Algard sighed internally, rolling his own eyes in exasperation.
Really, it was fine when it was just him, but with all the other Magisters Matriarch and Patriarch and the Emperor himself
in a meeting? "The Empire is plagued by many threats and concerns, be they logistical, political, military, or existential in nature. Today, I am happy to inform you that I have taken great and successful strides to solve two pressing concerns of the Colleges and the Empire as a whole."
So saying, Mathilde gestured with a sweep of the arm, and a MAP projection of numerous glowing points appeared over the map of the Empire on the floor.
"I am sure you are all aware of Waystones and their purpose, to drain dangerous ambient energies out to Ulthuan and the Great Vortex, and I am likewise sure that you all know about how the Old World has done nothing but lose Waystones since the War of the Ancients. Not a single new Waystone in millennia, and we consider ourselves lucky if the High Elves see fit to replace an old one."
She waved her hand again, and multiple points of light went out. The gathered Wizards looked on, all with knowing looks on their faces. Algard glared at the mysterious, knowing smile Maria still hadn't dropped.
"We all know—or at least can guess—the effects this has had in certain Imperial territories. Most fortunately, I and a group of experts of numerous magical paradigms have been working for the last few years on studying and reverse engineering the numerous Elven Waystones of the Old World, and we have had an astonishing amount of success. While we've not managed to perfectly recreate them, we have managed to replicate many of the individual effects. We have multiple effective substitutes for the tributaries, a means of transporting the magical energies via rivers—and before you ask, under the rivers, not through—and we have most recently managed to create an actual working Waystone of our own design."
Beacons began to appear along the border of Sylvania, tentatively creeping deeper into the reclaimed territory.
"We have already started rolling out both tributaries and Waystone prototypes into Eastern Stirland, which should serve as an effective test to study the efficacy of our prototypes in the years to come, and we are currently in negotiations with Kislev to do the same there. One of the Empire's oldest and most painful wounds and one of its closest allies, soon to be freed of much of the dark magic that has plagued them. One of the great existential threats of the Empire well in hand, if not yet entirely resolved."
With that, the lights hovering above the floor dissipated, and Lady Magister Weber took an elegant bow before her politely applauding audience. As Mathilde rose, it was Maria who spoke up.
"While that is all quite impressive, it hardly necessitates gathering us all here at once. Is there something else you called this meeting for?" the Celestial Matriarch prompted. It earned her twin glares from the Greys in the room, but Mathilde recovered quickly.
"
...make surprises no fun…Yes, there was another thing, something I think you will all be much more actively interested in," Mathilde turned, calling out to the doors at the other end of the room. "Apprentice! You can come in now!"
The doors opened, and in came Apprentice Eike Hochschild, wheeling in a cart laden with eight heavy, Runed chests clearly of Dwarven make, each bearing a symbol of one of the Orders of Magic. Mathilde turned back to her audience, clapping her hands together to regain their attention.
"Ever since the inception of the Colleges, we Wizards have been eagerly trying to recreate or match the sorcerous mastery that Teclis first demonstrated nearly two centuries ago. We've had… limited success in that regard, for all we have made impressive advancements of our own, make no mistake. We are, quite thankfully, not the Elves, capable of the numerous and grand feats of High Magic. And one of the things we've been unable to replicate are Teclis' famous Orbs of Sorcery, the arcane relics of immense magical power. Until now."
With a sly grin and a twinkle in her eyes, Dame Lady Magister Mathilde Weber began to open each of the chests upon the cart. In each one sat an immense sphere of crystalized magical energy, an Orb of Sorcery, each of a different Wind. Grey, purple, red, on and on she went until all of the chests had been opened, a glittering, multi-colored display of arcane potential set within cushioned Runic boxes.
The shocked silence of the gathered Wizards broke swiftly, each asking questions and clamoring to be heard. But Mathilde merely waved her hands, gesturing for them to be silent.
"No talking until the lecture is over, please and thank you!" Mathilde called out, grinning like a madwoman. Algard supposed she would have to be, to create genuine Orbs of Sorcery, reveal them to the gathered heads of the Colleges of Magic, and then
shush them like schoolchildren! She reached her hand out to her apprentice, who pulled a thick, heavy-looking book from a side bag—which looked like it could only fit that one book—to give her. "I call them Mathilde's Orbs of Sorcery, or just Morbs if you don't have time, and they have been just one of the products of my life's work and magnum opus."
She showed off the book for all to see, the gilded title glittering and shining in a way that had to be magically enhanced.
Aethyric Vitea, it read. She placed it atop one of the chests, laying her hand upon it.
"Within this book, you will find things that will completely change and challenge what you thought you knew about magic and the Winds. The secrets of liminal spaces and their creation and, yes,
how to make more Orbs of Sorcery can all be found inside. Now, if you have any questions…" Mathilde smiled around the room. Algard was starting to regret keeping Smug 101 in the Diplomacy curriculum—he'd checked, and it was the only Diplomacy class Junior Apprentice Mathilde Weber had taken and attended. "...you can direct them to my apprentice. I'll be leaving for Nagarythe for a few months to fight Druchii, so I'll be out of touch for a while. Do try not to blow yourselves up!"
And with that, the Illusion of Dame Lady Magister Mathilde Weber faded away, her slowly-quieting laughter the only proof she was ever there at all, leaving her apprentice, now looking more and more horrified, to a room of ravenously curious Magisters Matriarch and Patriarch, including the Supreme Patriarch himself.
Algard was the sole Wizard to not look to poor Apprentice Eike, instead opting to put his face in his hands. Then he had a thought, one horrific and terrible.
'I bring the best kind of good news,' Magister Mathilde had said as she entered his office so long ago. He'd found it amusing then, charming.
'I'd say Malekith's death or a full-blown Skaven civil war' had been his response.
Later, she had shown up again, somehow more smug than that last time she had come in.
'I bring the best kind of good news,' she'd said again. 'I speak, of course, of a full-blown Skaven civil war.'
And just now, as she laughed in the faces of the gathered heads of the Colleges of Magic.
'I'll be leaving for Nagarythe for a few months to fight Druchii.'
Algard looked up frantically, turning quickly to the Emperor of Sigmar's Holy Empire.
"
Stop her! Whatever you do, you have
to stop her!"
But it was already far,
far too late.
AN: I did the beginning last, so I'm not sure I like the pacing of it, but I'm pretty happy with the rest of it. Anyway, vote for any plan that achieves peak C O M E D Y