Remove ads

The Enemy Within (WHF Witch Hunter Quest)

Reader mode
LucidProp said:
One of the major themes Markus has regarding his journey is redemption. He seeks to find absolution for his sins through what he believes is honest and godly work, and he extends that to other people like Spatin who didn't immediately give themselves up to the Colleges like the law demanded, or Max who has a criminal record.

If his own brother cannot be offered absolution, then what of him who killed his father and now his brother? His quest for redemption will grow heavier now that his own faith has led him to betray his motivation for being a enforcer of said faith in the first place.

More than anything, killing his brother would damage his faith in Sigmar. A deadly weakness for a Templar.

Markus has shown trust that other people can find redemption if they reach for it, and he should extend that to his own family. His father's last wish is for Rikard's protection, Maria hoped to see her family reunited, and Markus wants absolution for his sins. Rikard? We don't know what he wants, and I suspect he doesn't know either because he's lashing out blindly at a representative of the source of many of his traumas.


Killing Rikard now means we never get the chance on account of him being dead. It's true that Rikard holds much disdain for the Empire due to what he went through, but his core motivation of respecting his father's sacrifice remains unchanged. If he went ahead and started summoning daemons and such, he'd put himself at risk and disrespect his father's sacrifice.

It's only a all or nothing choice if we play along with what Rikard wants. Markus has shown surprising amounts of patience and a willingness to forgive criminals such as Spatin and Max. He needs to extend that trust to Rikard for the two to see eye to eye again. It won't fix everything magically, but it does open a path of reconciliation between the two brothers and through that, convincing Rikard.

I rather like the idea of Markus being the one Witch Hunter people like Spatin are actually happy to see since they know they won't instantly be sent to burn.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Ah fuck it, you've got a way with your tongue, I'll give you that, lol. You've convinced me, I just hope it won't backfire on Markus.

[X] Turn a Blind Eye
 
[X] Turn a Blind Eye

I hope this isn't a terrible mistake. Neither of the options feels good, but I can't justify murdering someone who merely has the capacity to be dangerous, but who hasn't used that power.
 
Maugan Ra said:
"He favours my insight," you reply, taking your own seat and nodding to the servant who comes to bring you two the wine, "My willingness to reserve judgement, to not act until it seems the situation calls for it, instead of caving to the pressure others might feel that they be seen 'doing something'."

"Ah, so it was an ideological choice," Maria nods approvingly, "and it sounds as if you have chosen the correct faction to side with as well. The moderates are clearly in the ascent of late, for all that some proclaim they have overstepped with the mutant edict."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Just wanted to highlight this bit from Maria's conversarion with Markus regarding the politics of the Empire. She pegs Witchfinder General Walder as a moderate who favors Witch Hunters who don't come to hasty decisions just because they have to be seen doing something immediately.

I don't think the man's part of the conspiracy behind Karl Franz's sudden bout of madness since even he hasn't made up his mind regarding the Mutant Decree, at least not to the point he wants to share his opinion, but from what we've seen of him, Markus' boss isn't the stereotypical Witch Hunter.
 
So ... Anyone wondering why is that the ghost suddenly appeared? It seems a quite a recent thing. Therefore I'm calling bullshit on poor innocent Rickard who never hurt a fly. Dude is probably a necromancer or a cultist and ghost dad knew it. There's no need for proof if his vibes are rancid. Ghost dad asked Marcus to save Rickard and a loyal Templar of Sigmar can save a witch in only one way.
 
[X] Kill your Brother
Rikard is compromised, he'll be a threat to everyone around him including Maria if he refuses to call the black guard on the Shade just to hide his own magic. If we can't protect Rikard, it's our duty as a Witch Hunter and brother to protect Maria and everyone still working in the mansion, Sigmar, Morr, our creed as a Witch Hunter, and our duty as a brother to Maria demands no less.
 
Second Bear said:
So ... Anyone wondering why is that the ghost suddenly appeared? It seems a quite a recent thing. Therefore I'm calling bullshit on poor innocent Rickard who never hurt a fly. Dude is probably a necromancer or a cultist and ghost dad knew it. There's no need for proof if his vibes are rancid. Ghost dad asked Marcus to save Rickard and a loyal Templar of Sigmar can save a witch in only one way.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Not every ghost is the result of necromancy. Sometimes, they really do just appear because of a great emotion in life which their father certainly had. Unless Markus has definitive proof that Rikard is a necromancer, he wouldn't convict him of the crime.

I don't have a copy of the Bestiary with me right now, so the wiki will have to suffice.
Ghosts are the most commonly seen type of Spirit, arising when the circumstances surrounding a person's death cause some part of his or her soul to remain near the place of death. The most common reason is that the person was not buried properly – either not in consecrated ground, without the correct funerary rites, or both. Sometimes a Ghost may also arise because a person died with some great task unfulfilled, or was murdered by a killer who is still at large.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Their father's task was to protect Rikard and that's a unending task which is consistent with his last wish for Markus. Yes, their father theoretically recieved the proper funeral rites, but he had a great attachment to the land of the living in the form of wishing to protect his children forever more considering he sacrificed himself for them.

Also, Necromancy dirties the soul with Dhar and the people around the Necromancer tend to be infected by it too. We've seen no signs of that in Maria and the manor staff.
 
Last edited:
01paradox01 said:
It seems like Rikard, at least to me, is already on a path that will lead him to damnation.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
He is not. All these years, before and after his father's death, and he hasn't taken a single step down any road to damnation. And besides that, remember how Rikard described Petr's association with Etelka - it's something that Rikard disapproved of, that he described as honeyed poison. By his actions we know he isn't becoming worse, by his words we know he has no intention to become worse.

He has not been hurting anyone these past many years, is not hurting anyone now, and has no intention of hurting anyone in the future. The right thing and the law do not match up in this situation. Killing him for seeing colours is wrong.
 
Last edited:
If Rickard meant us harm he would have done something by now.

The question is plain: do we uphold the law and destroy our family, or spare a brother and let the law sleep?

Like seriously y'all are starting to sound like 40k Inquisitors. Maybe let things play out differently this time?
 
Last edited:
Warmachine375 said:
He's suspiciously vicious and jumpy for an innocent man who never hurt a fly. If he's innocent, then he shouldn't be scared.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
He's vicious and jumpy because Markus killed his father and destroyed their family, and now he's here again clad in the colors of his father's murderers.

Of course he'd be vicious and jumpy, who wouldn't? He just saw Markus put a sword through his father again, and now the possibility that he's about to suffer the same fate is right in front of him.
 
Warmachine375 said:
Even before that, he's just like that when Markus showed up. He is really asking for a knuckle sandwich after repeatedly antagonizing Markus.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
If your father's murderer came to your house clad in the symbols of said murder and with weapons by his side, you'd be vicious and jumpy too.

Rikard is angry and scared as any person would be in his situation.
 
edofthesquid said:
I feel bad for Markus and Maria, but not Rikard. Dude knew the whole time what was going on, and was too selfish to go to the colleges (or even apparently learn more about them). He let his dad die for him, took out everything on his brother, and apparently decided it's fine for the people he's responsible for to be tormented by his father's spirit rather than summon anyone to deal with the problem (and it seems to me he decided that so he could keep hiding his magic)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Agreed.

To save the soul, we must kill the man.

[X] Kill your Brother
 
LucidProp said:
Also, Necromancy dirties the soul with Dhar and the people around the Necromancer tend to be infected by it too. We've seen no signs of that in Maria and the manor staff.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

We haven't really interacted with the staff before running away to pray. Also, have we seen Maria stand in direct sunlight? She's also suspiciously social and interested in our career and who's our superior.

Corruption is a virulent disease. It spreads. Dad ghost decided that his son is more important than Sigmar. This damned him and everyone around. But Marcus saved himself by being a good Sigmarite. Maria is under suspicion but she did ask for Marcus help and went with us to the chapel, so maybe Sigmar also protected her. Or maybe she's a vampire. Facts are unclear and Marcus is not very smart.

But Rikard is 100% a heretic and should not be forgiven because he has connections. Justice is blind for a reason.
 
Warmachine375 said:
Even before that, he's just like that when Markus showed up. He is really asking for a knuckle sandwich after repeatedly antagonizing Markus.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
For goodness sake, stop being ridiculous. It is incredibly easy to understand why Rikard acted the way he did. Your arguments are bad and you should stop making them. Also, your arguments sound pro-cop in the worst way possible.
 
I'm not sure how Markus making enormous carve outs "Magic Users must go to the Colleges...unless it's my brother, he should face no consequences for anything ever because following the rules is hard" is going to STRENGTHEN his faith in Sigmar the God of the Empire And Its Laws instead of making him into a giant wad of hypocrisy on legs.

Spatin helped him fight a daemon and couldn't get a "Don't Go To The Colleges" card, why does Rikard "If Ghost Dad eats a few servants' souls that's a sacrifice I am willing to make" rate one?
 
Warmachine375 said:
It does not excuse Rikard regardless. If he had done that to other Witch Hunters who are not as lenient or patient like Markus in his place, he's toast.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Saying that it would've been unwise for Rikard to act as if he did with any other witch hunter is pointless. Arguing that we should kill him because of the potential consequences of something he never did is shit and you should stop doing it. Further, you should stop thinking in whatever way leads you to believe people should be punished explicitly for something they never did, and executed for badmouthing cops.
 
Second Bear said:
We haven't really interacted with the staff before running away to pray. Also, have we seen Maria stand in direct sunlight? She's also suspiciously social and interested in our career and who's our superior.

Corruption is a virulent disease. It spreads. Dad ghost decided that his son is more important than Sigmar. This damned him and everyone around. But Marcus saved himself by being a good Sigmarite. Maria is under suspicion but she did ask for Marcus help and went with us to the chapel, so maybe Sigmar also protected her. Or maybe she's a vampire. Facts are unclear and Marcus is not very smart.

But Rikard is 100% a heretic and should not be forgiven because he has connections. Justice is blind for a reason.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This line of arguement falls apart when you consider that it was Markus who started the conversation about careers, and that if Maria was corrupted, she wouldn't lead a Witch Hunter to their base of operations, or they'd jump him while Markus had his back turned fighting their father's ghost.

Rikard's not being let go because of his connections, but because there is no proof to convict him of the crime of necromancy, and Markus is very much a Witch Hunter who only acts if he has enough proof.
 
Last edited:
Warmachine375 said:
You do realize that Witch Hunters are the cops of the Empire to hunt down and root out any threat, right? Do you think they just go for enthusiastic walks around with fancy hats and nice trenchcoat outfits to look cool?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I am aware that the witch hunters are Imperial law enforcement. I'm saying you think that disrespecting law enforcement is worthy of execution or at least violence, and that your argument is shit because of it, and that you need to stop thinking in whatever ways lead you to believe that your stance on this subject is reasonable or anything but evil.
 
Last edited:
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top