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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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On the subject of payment I'm leaning towards using it to have Kislev help Vlag get back on its feet. Vlag can't hope to defeat the next Everchosen's army but it can hope to survive it and extract a toll paid in blood as it traverses High Pass. Kislev's aid could help them reap a higher toll on the forces of Chaos as they pass through and improve its chances of survival if the next Everchosen decides to exterminate Vlag once and for all, even something like supplying them with food could help them build up a reserve so if necessary they can collapse their tunnels like the Norse Dwarves did and subsist for years or even decades on their stockpile and runelight farms until they're sure it's safe for them to come out or we send someone to tell them that the coast is clear, a period of reimposed isolation is unpleasant but better than Vlag falling forever. And for the equivalent of a transcendent boon I expect a lot more than just some food. Vlag gets the support it desperately needs and the cost to Kislev is mitigated by the fact that aiding Vlag also helps protect them from Chaos's next invasion.
 
Somic said:
Why would the Ice Witches be upset? They don't hate men gifted with magic, they just don't want them anywhere near Ice magic.
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They have this whole cultural thing about men inevitably going insane when they use magic, and the existence of perfectly functional male College Magisters is kind of egg on their face. It's mentioned how Johann was safe from persecution during the Drycha incident partly because the Ice Witches didn't have a lot of influence at the time.
 
StormySky said:
They have this whole cultural thing about men inevitably going insane when they use magic, and the existence of perfectly functional male College Magisters is kind of egg on their face. It's mentioned how Johann was safe from persecution during the Drycha incident partly because the Ice Witches didn't have a lot of influence at the time.
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Really? Because I vaguely remember Boney saying it's about the prophecy where a man would corrupt Ice Magic, and they don't have a problem with men learning other magical traditions.
 
fictionfan said:
Do we happen to know any root languages that might help the process happen quickly?
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No, Kislevarin is a completely foreign language to the rest of the Old World, with its Gospodar and Ungol roots both being in the Great Steppes while the roots of the Tileans and Estalians are local and that of the Imperial Tribes is theorized to be in the Dark Lands, so there's no common ancestor within known history. The closest possible link is that Kislevarin might have a hint of Khazalid in it, but that would be via the influence the Chaos Dwarves might have had on the Scythian language so it's several significant steps removed.

Somic said:
Why would the Ice Witches be upset? They don't hate men gifted with magic, they just don't want them anywhere near Ice magic.
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That's the actual reason they don't want male magic users, but the justification they've historically used is that men are inherently unsuited for using magic.
 
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Boney said:
That's the actual reason they don't want male magic users, but the justification they've historically used is that men are inherently unsuited for using magic.
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Oh! Right, thanks for clarifying. So looks like the current policy of turning a blind eye works more or less fine, what's with Kislevites being largely mobile.

Then copying böök and pretending it's about the Waystones or even just actual preparation efforts - to avoid losing books - seems like the best option for me. Pending whatever may happen between now and actually deciding on the price.
 
QuietlyObserving said:
I mean, it's almost a family tradition at this point. Regimand offs an Empress, Mathilde offs a Tzar, Eike offs a....?

...hm. Amongst nominally friendly local heads of state, the only ones left to compare would be...a Dwarf King, Bretonnian King?
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Future Lady Magister Eike gets contracted by someone to assassinate King Belegar for a really, really, really good reason, and Mathilde finds out about it, leading to the biggest case of Divided Loyalties the thread has ever seen and SV's servers literally melting down from the volume of thread discussion that takes place.
 
StormySky said:
It's mentioned how Johann was safe from persecution during the Drycha incident partly because the Ice Witches didn't have a lot of influence at the time.
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The full statement was

Boney said:
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Johann asks again. "I could head back to Tor Lithanel if this is about me."

"It isn't. I know everyone says Kislev has a problem with male Wizards, but it's a bit more complicated than that. The Ice Witches have a major problem with anyone male trying to use Ice Magic, so they only recruit women, and any men of Kislev who can't or won't stop trying to use magic are killed or banished or Pacified. But one look at you would be enough to tell any magic user that you're as spoken for as any Wizard could possibly be. And besides, the Ice Witches are out of favour at the moment, so they wouldn't be dictating border policies."
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Which puts a lot more emphasis on Johann being safe because he clearly doesn't practice Ice Magic than because the Ice Witches aren't in charge of border policy

We then go on to meet and actively recruit several Ice Witches and none of them make a fuss about Johann at all
Including Milica, who the local Boyar was conferring on the Shirokij matter and would have been in prime position to raise a fuss if she wanted to
She barely even paid any attention to Johann and was more concerned about us being there

Men not being suited to magic is the excuse they give, their actual concern is the prophecy that a man will taint Ice Magic somehow one day

Though that being said, actively endorsing men leaving Kislev to learn magic is probably a bridge too far
It's one thing to turn a blind eye because you don't actually care about the issue that much
It's another to give an official stamp of approval
 
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I think the mostly don't want men to learn magic and then come back. If they stay gone then out of sight out of mind not our problem. But if they return to the motherland and start hanging around being male and using magic then it starts to change the cultural zeitgeist.
 
Catpetter1981 said:
Future Lady Magister Eike gets contracted by someone to assassinate King Belegar for a really, really, really good reason, and Mathilde finds out about it, leading to the biggest case of Divided Loyalties the thread has ever seen and SV's servers literally melting down from the volume of thread discussion that takes place.
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Which is silly considering we both know there's already a good solution that lets Eike assassinate Belegar without him having to leave the mortal plane.
 
CrimsonOddball said:
The full statement was

Which puts a lot more emphasis on Johann being safe because he clearly doesn't practice Ice Magic than because the Ice Witches aren't in charge of border policy

We then go on to meet and actively recruit several Ice Witches and none of them make a fuss about Johann at all
Including Milica, who the local Boyar was conferring on the Shirokij matter and would have been in prime position to raise a fuss if she wanted to
She barely even paid any attention to Johann and was more concerned about us being there

Men not being suited to magic is the excuse they give, their actual concern is the prophecy that a man will taint Ice Magic somehow one day

Though that being said, actively endorsing men leaving Kislev to learn magic is probably a bridge too far
It's one thing to turn a blind eye because you don't actually care about the issue that much
It's another to give an official stamp of approval
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Also helps he was hanging with Mathilde, who is well regarded. That gets you protection even in the face of official policy.
 
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