Vote Called.

It would appear that Erika is giving virtually all her money to charitable causes, doubtless out of noble instinct and pious duty and not at all because the Shallyans are like 90% beautiful women by population.

Then she's going to work for some merchants to recoup some of her losses and go to temple so Ulric can... hmm actually Ulric probably approves of doing dumb things to charm pretty ladies.
Given that Shallya has her origins as a petty hill tribe goddess before Neferata needed an excuse for mysterious unattended and beautiful women to wander from tribe to tribe and co-opted her, Erika isn't unlikely to run into more possible vampires if she lets her thirst do the talking!
 
Given that Shallya has her origins as a petty hill tribe goddess before Neferata needed an excuse for mysterious unattended and beautiful women to wander from tribe to tribe and co-opted her, Erika isn't unlikely to run into more possible vampires if she lets her thirst do the talking!
Isn't it mostly Shallyan priests who do the wandering from place to place, while the priestesses provide healing and care at the temples?
 
The Time of Legends books make a lot of weird choices like that, not all of which I'm happy with. That said, even if that was how the wider Shallyan cult got its start, in the modern day the Lahmians are known to harbour a bitter hatred for the White Dove - presumably Shallya got rather fed up of her good name being used by a bunch of bloodsucking parasites at some point or another.
 
The Time of Legends books make a lot of weird choices like that, not all of which I'm happy with. That said, even if that was how the wider Shallyan cult got its start, in the modern day the Lahmians are known to harbour a bitter hatred for the White Dove - presumably Shallya got rather fed up of her good name being used by a bunch of bloodsucking parasites at some point or another.
Shallya, @ vampires: "PAY RENT OR GTFO"
Vampires: "We paid you in exposure!"
 
Hah. But yes, when talking about conspiracies in general and the Lahmians in specific it's important to remember that, almost by definition, they're discreet.

Two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead, as the old saying goes. The more people who are in on your secret conspiracy of vampire matriarchs pulling strings from behind the scenes (or secret conspiracy of Tzeentchan cultists or Skaven agents or Ranaldian puppetmasters or...) the less secure that conspiracy is. There are absolutely going to be members of the Sisterhood of Shallya out there who are in thrall to the Lahmians, either directly or indirectly, and a few might even quite literally be vampires themselves... but the vast majority of the Cult will have no idea they exist and would honestly be rather appalled if they found out.

The overwhelming majority of Shallyan priestesses are exactly what they seem to be; pious, hard-working woman fanatically dedicated to caring for the sick, providing for the downtrodden and alleviating the pain of those who suffer. They bring supplies to plague-ridden villages, oversee food distribution in towns hit by famine, and help any expectant mother who asks through the trials of pregnancy and birth. More importantly, they do this indiscriminately - Shallyans are not only absolute pacifists who stay carefully out of all kinds of politics, they're one of very few factions in the Old World that will comfort and support mutants as much as anyone else, if not always openly. It's hard to understate just how ridiculous, absurdly popular they are across all levels of society as a result.

That popularity and acceptance is what makes them a perfect vehicle for others to use as a manner of infiltration and subversion, but it only exists because such things are so rare as to be unthinkable.

...also Shallya is an actual Deity who probably gets very annoyed at people trying to undermine and subvert her faithful, and while she herself is an absolute pacifist, her father loves her very much and is also the literal God of Death.
 
The Time of Legends books make a lot of weird choices like that, not all of which I'm happy with.
Other neat bits include Nagash-as-unliving-god and the existence of the Tomb Kings being entirely avoidable because Khsar's high priestess prophesied that Alcadizzar would end Nagash at the cost of his own life... And Alcadizzar called off his invasion of Nagashizzar because he wanted to live a long happy life with his wife and children. And. Well. We know how that went.
 
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@Maugan Ra Just curious but is this your own fluff or did you get this from a Warhammer book?
...ok see I thought I had this from a book somewhere but I'm looking now and I can't find any reference to it. Hmm.
In the Sigmar Time Of Legends trilogy it's a Shallyan high priestess who is trusted to safeguard Nagash's crown by Sigmar and she doesn't just hand it to the vampires. That might be why.
 
One would expect that helping mutants and other "evil" creatures would result in unpopularity, not popularity.
It wouldn't if done openly, no. Even so, it is noted that a great many people in the Old World quickly change their tune about mutation (in private, obviously) when it occurs to them or a close friend/family member. Also, Gaves are a fairly common occurrence.
 
One would expect that helping mutants and other "evil" creatures would result in unpopularity, not popularity.
They're popular among the mutant level of society for helping the mutant level of society. They're popular among all the other levels of society for helping all the other levels of society while also keeping their mutant-helping secret.
 
...also Shallya is an actual Deity who probably gets very annoyed at people trying to undermine and subvert her faithful, and while she herself is an absolute pacifist, her father loves her very much and is also the literal God of Death.
Be a vampire.
Manages to be one of the only things that can get her rascal boyfriend and her grim father to team up.

Mistakes were made.
 
...also Shallya is an actual Deity who probably gets very annoyed at people trying to undermine and subvert her faithful, and while she herself is an absolute pacifist, her father loves her very much and is also the literal God of Death.

And her mother is "divine Lady Judge Dredd with a BIG Sword", and her big sister is the Goddess of Strategy, the Sun, and Revenge.

The moral here is do not bully the Bleeding Heart.
 
And her mother is "divine Lady Judge Dredd with a BIG Sword", and her big sister is the Goddess of Strategy, the Sun, and Revenge.

The moral here is do not bully the Bleeding Heart.
Plus, if they get pissed, they know a lotta people who will happily take revenge for them.

That rich merchant whose wife was saved from smallpox can fund a merc band.

The local guards who grew up with them "accidentally" point the local criminals your way.
 
Also, as was pointed out on the discord me and Maugan share, the cult of Shallya wouldn't even be terribly useful as a catspaw for Lahmians. Lahmians are focused on court intrigues and manipulating high nobility to infiltrate the halls of power. The cult of Shallya spends most of their time working with the poor and downtrodden, eschewing luxury and payment. They're popular, yes, but they're not powerful in a way that's useful to Lahmians.

Now, Sigmar - I'd expect Lahmians to be very interested in co-opting the church of Sigmar.
 
That's kind of hard, given power of Sigmar hurts all the vampires. Unlike the wolf father, which I guess is positive for Erika.
Faith in general is harmful to vampires, Sigmar's is just especially harmful due to a dumb, pointless bit of lore about a confrontation between him and Nagash. Lahmian's whole shtick is navigating that difficulty.
 
That's kind of hard, given power of Sigmar hurts all the vampires. Unlike the wolf father, which I guess is positive for Erika.
Not all vampires are weak to the symbols of sigmar , and while the anti undead prayers harm them its not like hitting people with the cross in a hammer movie.
The Sisters of Sigmar where accused of all manner of dark things and had lahmians among them also, including such dark things as politics
 
Also, as was pointed out on the discord me and Maugan share, the cult of Shallya wouldn't even be terribly useful as a catspaw for Lahmians. Lahmians are focused on court intrigues and manipulating high nobility to infiltrate the halls of power. The cult of Shallya spends most of their time working with the poor and downtrodden, eschewing luxury and payment. They're popular, yes, but they're not powerful in a way that's useful to Lahmians.

Now, Sigmar - I'd expect Lahmians to be very interested in co-opting the church of Sigmar.
Sounds like its more a bug out route nobody would search than a true intrigue channel. Like, got made, disguise as a nun, and spend a decade slumming before popping back up.

Shallya (possibly) wouldn't hurt a vampire thats just laying low. Possibly.
 
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