Bride of Malekith (WHF Druchii Sorceress Quest)

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[x] Plan Patient Hunter

I got no interest in going to the temple to try and meaningfully take part in their... stuff, and this plan doesn't do that so I'll vote for it.
 
Maugan Ra said:
The bindings you scribed into her shackles prevent it, and the only way she could even access them would be by carving open her tree and tearing them free with bare hand and claw. She can't do that, any more than you could choose to be a flower,
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While she couldn't do it, I wonder if someone else could. It would be a very elaborate form of assassination, sabotage her bindings, Thystra comes home and gets gutted by her own pet. Of course, you'd need to get past the chamber's wards and past Yara in the first place to set it up. On that note, can Yara leave the chamber, or is she forced to remain in proximity to her tree?

Also man, growing your own enslaved Dryad is such a sorceress thing to do, mad respect to Thystra.

Maugan Ra said:
And yet you obeyed. On the far side of the world, surrounded by the ignorant and obedient, you obeyed Lilliana's dictates as if they were divine. Such was the form of the tutelage she deigned to bestow upon you, the enlightenment she shared upon the nature of dhar. Control, absolute and undeniable, in defiance of sense and nature. Tyranny in its purest form.
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She's got her hooks deep. A part of it is no doubt for her own amusement/pleasure, but it also makes a lot of sense from a 'practical' point of view. Thystra specializes in Hysh, the wind best at fighting other Dhar users/sorceresses. Having such a sorceress utterly loyal and devoted to you is a good asset in case of plots or coups. And her allegiance should be plain as day, with how she's obviously favoured, which might be a deterrent all of its own, especially as Thystra grows in power. Of course, maybe I'm interpreting too much and she'd have been Liliana's pet/lover/minion regardless of Wind choice.

Maugan Ra said:
"Will you stay?" Lilliana asks, and more than anything else this you did not expect.
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Who knows how much of their feelings are real. I suspect you don't become Matriarch without being an expert plotter and manipulator, so she could just be faking things.
 
Something that occurred to me wrt training - if we ever decide to pursue further mastery of Dhar or Hysh (or Azyr) and find a master to learn from, it would be risky to have this master be anyone but Lilliana. She strikes me as the jealous sort:
Maugan Ra said:
Such was the form of the tutelage she deigned to bestow upon you, the enlightenment she shared upon the nature of dhar. Control, absolute and undeniable, in defiance of sense and nature. Tyranny in its purest form.
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and her, hm, dominance over Thystra is intertwined with tutelage upon the nature of Dhar. Given this, I don't think she would take well to us spending significant amount of time, learning a great deal of lore, entrusting our education on things she is a master of to anyone but herself. The more actions we'd take with the same master's assistance, the riskier. Of course, Lilliana's tutelage is anything but free as well...

(relevant quotes for Hysh and Azyr)
Maugan Ra said:
You've always been the Matriarch's favourite, your shared pursuit of light joining you in the eyes of your sisters.
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Maugan Ra said:
Most of the named Sorceresses in the previous update will have a rating of at least 7 in their area of focus, which is what gets them the fancy thrones. Lilliana has an Azyr rating of 9 and can reliably slaughter a small army with bolts of lightning and hurricane-force winds.
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And in general, I get a feeling that "who teaches you the most important lore" would be something of a thing, somewhat weightier when it comes to determining allegiances.
Maugan Ra said:
Dhar conveys knowledge of daemons, monsters and all things twisted and transgressive, and can be rolled to dominate, enslave, and overawe one's peers and rivals. Mastery of this approach is synonymous with political success and social cachet within Naggaroth.
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That said!

The Ghyran YOLO ends up actually being one of the most viable yolos we could possibly do. It'd drag us very far into another Sorceress's endeavors... but said Sorceress, being a master of something (as far as I can tell, anyway) unconnected to Lilliana, would be simultaneously less of a, hm, direct jealousy-provoking threat, and more useful in case Lilliana does actually go too far* and Thystra is forced to confront the question of "do I have any other resources at all?"

*she has gone too far way, way back, but there's that and there's the things Thystra is afraid she might eventually do.
 
-[] Attend religious services at the Temple of Khaine (Hysh, difficulty 1)
--[] And meaningfully participate in the rituals (raises difficulty to 3)
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In all seriousness, it's not clear to me what people are hoping to get out of this one. Yes it's likely to succeed with Hysh being a strong skill... but why do we want it to succeed?

Getting in bed with the Khaine fanatics isn't going to buy any safety from them. I'd argue that attracting their attention like that only makes things more dangerous. Internally, it's going to make Thystra seem like a potential traitor to the rest of the coven. The Temple of Khaine is the rivals of the coven. Yes there's no need to pick fights with them, but they aren't to be desired as allies.

Walk me through it. Say we get a great success and all dice come up 6's. What does "success" look like? What are people hoping to get out of this, and how is Thystra's situation improved afterwards? I want to understand what the best possible outcome looks like from the perspective of those standing behind these plans.

EDIT: Also, not sure that reading about Thystra willingly engaging in acts of ritualistic murder of innocent people that we voted for her to do is going to make me like her a lot more, you know what I mean?
 
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Briefvoice said:
Internally, it's going to make Thystra seem like a potential traitor to the rest of the coven. The Temple of Khaine is the rivals of the coven.
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Thystra isn't going to stop being a Sorceress just because she got in bed with the local Khainites. Marrying Malekith is for life. If she brings ruin to a part of the household, it's dumb and she's dumb and she'll probably get dead. If she uses goodwill with the Khainites to subtly (or, well, unsubtly, since Hysh and Khaine...) advance her personal interests, that's just life in the upper echelons of Druchii society.

Success, to me, looks like her being noticed in a good way. Being seen favorably by the local law enforcement. Sure, they wouldn't get any less murder-happy in any direction, but being known for her piety might make some people more murder-happy in a direction she prefers.

Oh, and one of the most powerful Sorceresses in the Convent is a devout Khainite herself (gore! covered! arms!), which means that it's both a viable path and something that might endear us to another person of power much closer to home.

But honestly, personally, this above was just me rationalizing the decision. In truth, I just want cool and very bloody religious rituals.

Briefvoice said:
EDIT: Also, not sure that reading about Thystra willingly engaging in acts of ritualistic murder of innocent people that we voted for her to do is going to make me like her a lot more, you know what I mean?
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I'm not gonna complain about a Druchii protagonist doing evil, if you know what I mean :V
 
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I assume participating in the rites of Khaine is a means of gaining favor with the Khainite faction, which is a valid goal. Personally I'm less invested because there are a couple other WHF quests that deal heavily with Khaine, so I'd rather explore other aspects of the setting.

As to evil, well, it's silly to pretend that different people don't have different expectations for what a Dark Elf quest would look like, what would get shown on screen and what would be fade-to-black territory. Just because it's impractical to do lines and veils for an amorphous and large quest audience doesn't mean that people don't get to vote for the scenes they want to see and against the scenes they don't want to see and argue for same. "I don't want to see this" is a valid reason to vote against something in any quest.
 
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Mmm. Yeah. Okay.

[X] Plan Politics and Piety
[X] Pursue Greater Mastery​
[X] Ulgu (from 3 to 4)​
[X] Seek a tutor (-1 piety for two bonus dice)​
[X] Work on synthesising drugs, poisons and other alchemical concoctions worthy of the Temple of Khaine. (Ghyran, Difficulty 4, benefits from Yara bonus)​
[X] Research what is known about the faith and spellcraft of the women of Bretonnia (Hysh, difficulty 3)​
[X] Attend religious services at the Temple of Khaine (Hysh, difficulty 1)​
[X] And engage a Witch Elf in fruitful discussion on religious doctrine (raises difficulty to 5)​
[X] Replenish and strengthen the wards around your personal chambers (Hysh, uncapped difficulty, hits set the difficulty of hostile intrusion)​
 
KreenWarrior said:
As to evil, well, it's silly to pretend that different people don't have different expectations for what a Dark Elf quest would look like, what would get shown on screen and what would be fade-to-black territory. Just because it's impractical to do lines and veils for an amorphous and large quest audience doesn't mean that people don't get to vote for the scenes they want to see and against the scenes they don't want to see and argue for same. "I don't want to see this" is a valid reason to vote against something in any quest.
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I mean, yeah - and when that's my reason, I take care to only put it as my personal reason, not involve it in arguments, y'know? I respect a "that's not my cup of tea", I have sympathy for "looks like I'll have to skip this scene", but when someone puts their personal dislikes in the same tone as an argument about the merits of an action in general, I consider it fair game to engage with as an argument.
 
Edited a new plan into my post to avoid the hassle of reposting everything else alongside it. Reasons within!
Somic said:
Edit: had a free moment to consolidate a few bugbears into a single alternative plan

[X] Plan Playing to Strengths
-[X] Pursue Greater Mastery (twice)
--[X] Ulgu
--[X] Seek a tutor (1 Piety for 2 bonus dice)
-[X] Work on synthesising drugs, poisons and other alchemical concoctions worthy of the Temple of Khaine. (Ghyran, Difficulty 4)
-[X] Replenish and strengthen the wards around your personal chambers (Hysh, uncapped difficulty, hits set the difficulty of hostile intrusion)
-[X] Familiarise yourself with current affairs and any recent development in the Convent. Provides a general summary of significant figures, their known skills and current projects. (Azyr, Difficulty 2)

- no Khainite rituals
- taking more advantage of having a tutor without going too far
- taking a job we're qualified for, rather than one we're overqualified for
- not taking actions unlikely to succeed at all
- not leaving ourselves blind to current affairs, or our chambers underdefended
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