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Mercenary Mage Quest: Asur Dogs of War in Warhammer Fantasy

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Just realised I forgot to include my rationale for the compromise:
Father Zanitlov holds our purse strings but he also told us that these were hired by the Cult of Dazh (who are paying very well) on the reputation of being the best trackers. So Belgutai and Jalyv have a lot of bargaining power right now considering we're in the middle of the Oblast on foot and this is their professional domain - it'd be unwise to make them too angry.

That said, we also want to avoid another Kurgan attack so the compromise seems like the best option. I'm sure Father Zanitlov, who's deity is the patron of hospitality will understand that it's best to keep discord amongst the group to a minimum; even if he's not entirely happy with the compromise, I think he'll understand given the situation we find ourselves in.
 
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[x] Side with the Ungols, when in Cothique do as the fishmongers. If you help them they can get it done faster and you can be away from here sooner.
 
[x] Side with the Ungols, when in Cothique do as the fishmongers. If you help them they can get it done faster and you can be away from here sooner.
 
[X] Offer a compromise option to gather the corpses into a pile and then burn them with your spells.
 
Blackout said:
Swordmasters: (17+30+20(Superior Equipment)-5=62/100)
Fanriel: (74+30+5+5+5+30(Superior Equipment)=149/100)

But the sheer force of a cavalry charge is a terrifying thing. Vaelon is sent flying by a kicking hoof, landing in a heap, and Dolwen takes an axe to the shoulder, blood staining his armour.
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one thing I noticed, and that I don't know if it's been talked about, is that down the road we won't be able to maintain the +20/30 Equipment defence for the whole quest. Dolwen now has a break in their master-crafted elven armour at the shoulder, and no master elven smith to fix it.

like, barring being pardoned or finding the one elven traded that doesn't hate Fanriel/scared of the PK in marienburg, its just not happening. (even the Enoir dont really trade in Ithilmar.)

this time its probably fine, a bit of welding or even just bit of human plate metal to keep it at practically the same level. but over time the little things are going to add up to Fanriel and the team having to trade down to human steel armour (or worst, shit cost money.) a greave here, a helmet there etc etc.

they are likely going to be a bit mixed and matched amour wise by the end of the decade. hopefully more Ithilmar than not, but definitely something will not be.
 
Jyn Ryvia said:
one thing I noticed, and that I don't know if it's been talked about, is that down the road we won't be able to maintain the +20/30 Equipment defence for the whole quest. Dolwen now has a break in their master-crafted elven armour at the shoulder, and no master elven smith to fix it.

like, barring being pardoned or finding the one elven traded that doesn't hate Fanriel/scared of the PK in marienburg, its just not happening. (even the Enoir dont really trade in Ithilmar.)

this time its probably fine, a bit of welding or even just bit of human plate metal to keep it at practically the same level. but over time the little things are going to add up to Fanriel and the team having to trade down to human steel armour (or worst, shit cost money.) a greave here, a helmet there etc etc.

they are likely going to be a bit mixed and matched amour wise by the end of the decade. hopefully more Ithilmar than not, but definitely something will not be.
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We are a Loremaster of Hoeth. Smithing is explicitly one of the things we are capable of. Making a suit of Ithilmar wholesale is likely not something we are going to sit down and do, but I fully expect us to be capable of repairing it.

I fully expect us to maintain a +20/30 bonus against chaff enemies, and let's be clear these are chaff enemies that random Kislyv boyars are expected to be able to fight off with militia. Warhammer is FULL of forces who are thrown into battle with little to no good equipment and are expected to die rapidly. We deliberately picked a force that is completely filled with elite troops. Honestly I expect us to maintain huge equipment and skill bonuses but start facing penalties like -20 (outnumbered 20 to 1)
 
Fouredged Sword said:
We are a Loremaster of Hoeth. Smithing is explicitly one of the things we are capable of. Making a suit of Ithilmar wholesale is likely not something we are going to sit down and do, but I fully expect us to be capable of repairing it.

I fully expect us to maintain a +20/30 bonus against chaff enemies, and let's be clear these are chaff enemies that random Kislyv boyars are expected to be able to fight off with militia. Warhammer is FULL of forces who are thrown into battle with little to no good equipment and are expected to die rapidly. We deliberately picked a force that is completely filled with elite troops. Honestly I expect us to maintain huge equipment and skill bonuses but start facing penalties like -20 (outnumbered 20 to 1)
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I cant really agree with this, there is only so many times you can repair armour and weapons without a source of Ithilmar.

smithing is a reductive process, there is metal loss every time you do it. you can only thin it so far.

and we are a Loremaster, not a Master smith, so no, even if we did have a source of Ithilmar, I don't think we could keep the 'master crafted' part of it up.
 
Jyn Ryvia said:
one thing I noticed, and that I don't know if it's been talked about, is that down the road we won't be able to maintain the +20/30 Equipment defence for the whole quest. Dolwen now has a break in their master-crafted elven armour at the shoulder, and no master elven smith to fix it.

like, barring being pardoned or finding the one elven traded that doesn't hate Fanriel/scared of the PK in marienburg, its just not happening. (even the Enoir dont really trade in Ithilmar.)

this time its probably fine, a bit of welding or even just bit of human plate metal to keep it at practically the same level. but over time the little things are going to add up to Fanriel and the team having to trade down to human steel armour (or worst, shit cost money.) a greave here, a helmet there etc etc.

they are likely going to be a bit mixed and matched amour wise by the end of the decade. hopefully more Ithilmar than not, but definitely something will not be.
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I'm pretty sure we were told via word of God that small breaks in our armour were fixable, not to mention that we actually have the knowledge required to perform such repairs.

And even then, is it actually said that his armour is broken through? I thought it more likely that the Kurgan had managed to slip his axe in between his armour, or something along those lines.
 
Jyn Ryvia said:
I cant really agree with this, there is only so many times you can repair armour and weapons without a source of Ithilmar.

smithing is a reductive process, there is metal loss every time you do it. you can only thin it so far.

and we are a Loremaster, not a Master smith, so no, even if we did have a source of Ithilmar, I don't think we could keep the 'master crafted' part of it up.
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Yes, but there are lots of elven ruins throughout the old world. Finding Ithilmar may not be as impossible as it first seems. We don't need much to replace the odd chain link as they become too worn to reuse. Worse comes to worse we just need to make enough money to send one of our swordsmasters back to Ulthuan to buy a tiny amount. THEY are not exiled after all.
 
Fouredged Sword said:
Yes, but there are lots of elven ruins throughout the old world. Finding Ithilmar may not be as impossible as it first seems. We don't need much to replace the odd chain link as they become too worn to reuse. Worse comes to worse we just need to make enough money to send one of our swordsmasters back to Ulthuan to buy a tiny amount. THEY are not exiled after all.
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Er, those ruins have existed for thousands of years by this point. I'd be very surprised if there is any ithilmar left in ruins. Actually, I imagine anything of value was most likely cleaned out by scavengers. Finding anything valuable in those ruins would be a surprise, honestly.
 
I was thinking about it and realized that necromancer would solve so many of Fanriel's problems:

Need disposable chaff to act as meatshields for the elite troops we actually care about? Necromancy!

Need to desecrate your dead enemies' bodies to satisfy Ungol auxiliaries' social mores, while doing so in a timely fashion to prevent enemies having enough time to regroup and surround you? What can be more desecrating to the enemies than to raise them from the dead and force them to serve us as unthinking minions?

NPC accidentally got killed during an escort mission? Necromancy! We only need to make the NPC look alive for long enough to claim our fee at the end of the escort route, and then off we can go on our merry way.
 
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Jyn Ryvia said:
one thing I noticed, and that I don't know if it's been talked about, is that down the road we won't be able to maintain the +20/30 Equipment defence for the whole quest. Dolwen now has a break in their master-crafted elven armour at the shoulder, and no master elven smith to fix it.

like, barring being pardoned or finding the one elven traded that doesn't hate Fanriel/scared of the PK in marienburg, its just not happening. (even the Enoir dont really trade in Ithilmar.)
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Fanriel can explicitly fix ithilmar armor, as long as we don't lose a significant quantity of metal or anything. Being a Loremaster is cool when it comes to mundane skills like that.
 
Fanriel is a trained smith and can repair your weapons and armour, even if she might not be able to match the quality of the original work. The main issues would be sourcing new Ithilmar, and repairing damage to any possible enchantments.
 
The fight scenes in this chapter were magnificent. The way you sketched out each action to paint a picture without getting too detailed in the description was absolutely superb. The prose itself gave a sense of the frenetic nature of the combat. I loved it.


[X] Offer a compromise option to gather the corpses into a pile and then burn them with your spells.
 
TaliesinSkye said:
The fight scenes in this chapter were magnificent. The way you sketched out each action to paint a picture without getting too detailed in the description was absolutely superb. The prose itself gave a sense of the frenetic nature of the combat. I loved it.
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Thank you, I personally enjoy writing fight scenes so I'm quite glad to hear other people liked them as well. A part of the reason I made this Mercenary Mage Quest instead of Magical Research Quest or Kingdom Ruling Quest is that I don't think I'd have the patience to wade through turn after turn of social actions and nation-building to get to the action.

That's not to say that there will be no non-combat stuff in MMQ, obviously, but the focus is on being mercenaries.
 
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