"The Slann here do get a bit quirky at night."
Respect Your Elders v2 - Galactic Boogaloo [Warhammer Lizardmen Quest]
- Location
- Australia
This is 40k/30k universe. We don't get nice things without a lot of sacrifice, risk, and luck. Pessimism and cynicism is realism in grimdark settings. Being optimistic is foolish when it comes to 40k (and other grimdark settings). That doesn't mean you don't do your best and give up; it means you do your best with a grim understanding it may mean absolutely nothing in the end.
Possible? Yes. Do I believe it will happen? No. Do I think pining our hopes on it could screw us over; rather than being more realistic and focusing on mitigating the disaster rather than gambling to save everything? Yes. Does that mean we shouldn't gamble on that chance? Probably not, but we may anyway.
Even with Xantalos confirming it is technically possible, they even admit it is extremely difficult and unlikely. And if even it was possible it might require us to sacrifice more than we're willing to give.
To be clear I'm voting to deny; which means to stay and help. But I don't believe for a second we are going to be able to stop the Slaanesh's birth. But I believe we can make the Fall less catastrophic. If we can even just save Isha from being imprisoned by Nurgle I'd feel like it was worth it.
And honestly stopping the birth of Slaanesh wouldn't be satisfyingly to me narratively. I want Slaanesh to be born for the way the setting/story will be more interesting for it. Slaanesh is the Aeldari Dominions (overcompensating) karmic consequence; they're own sins returned back to them magnified. Removing Slaanesh stops them from receiving the rebuke they so justly deserve.
But on the same hand I would also want the Aeldari's fall to not be so catastrophic and for some of the Aeldari Gods to survive; that would make the setting/story more interesting.
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Hi, I finally got here!
This quest is just amazing thank you so much @Xantalos !!!
And I have a question. According to the results of the first turn, we learned about the demon of fog:
This quest is just amazing thank you so much @Xantalos !!!
And I have a question. According to the results of the first turn, we learned about the demon of fog:
We have dealt with the magical and spiritual components of the curse, but what happened to the physical? Do the Slanns still have this brain flaw?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
CuttleFish2.0
Friendly neighborhood cuttlefish
- Location
- Seattle, Washington.
Hmm, something that strikes me is that while staying on Mochantia is very attractive in terms of getting to see and play out the current plots fully and getting the rewards of those. While plenty of people in the thread have expressed apathy towards the issue of the Ayacmanik, just as many have expressed a desire to do something with them and a lot of people are very invested in trying to have some impact on the birth of Slaanesh, which, as discussed before is more likely from Mochantia than elsewhere. Then there are the benefits from getting more deeply involved with the Aeldari Dominion itself, while ti does come with risks, it also presents the possibility of further rewards as well; Isendral has literally just expressed to us that she is not actually very good at working with certain aspects of Aeldari technology, without our help it will take her much longer to work around the insanity curse on the stone, and we have good reason to suspect that soomeone like, say... Lauvanel would not have such problems. So, if we interact with more Aeldari, we might be able to pry more and different secrets from them about their technology than just whatever Isendral can/will be willing to part with.
All that said, there are other longer term benefits to not being stuck on Mochantia; it is in the end Isendral and Ysumar's world and the solar system beyond ti bears signs of further interference, given our own future development we'll probably have to end up working around such things if we want to maintain good relations with Isendral. All of that is to ask, @Xantalos, would Isendral be willing to, if we stay and see out this issue, to later transport us (or aid us in moving ourselves) to another world/solar system that would provide a blanker canvas?
All that said, there are other longer term benefits to not being stuck on Mochantia; it is in the end Isendral and Ysumar's world and the solar system beyond ti bears signs of further interference, given our own future development we'll probably have to end up working around such things if we want to maintain good relations with Isendral. All of that is to ask, @Xantalos, would Isendral be willing to, if we stay and see out this issue, to later transport us (or aid us in moving ourselves) to another world/solar system that would provide a blanker canvas?
- Location
- Australia
I thought of this yesterday, but I forgot to ask. So seconding this.
- Location
- Australia
I was more thinking that would that be a possible future reward from Isendral if we help. If we are going to help her moving now isn't needed. But in the long run moving to a new world should be good for us. Her offer is for us to skip out on the Aeldari drama, but if we aren't choosing to that then that; there isn't a reason she wouldn't be willing to to the same later... if she survives.
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It seems to me that a half-hearted solution is the worst that we can choose.
- Accept the offer - we decide not to contact Aeldari Dominion. Let the fall and birth of a new God take its course. There will be a lot of problems. Orcs, other xenos, people of the dark age of technology. And we will surely be touched by the fragments of the coming catastrophe.
- Decline the offer - we are getting involved in the internal politics of Aeldari Dominion. Then everything can go in a completely different way. Preventing the birth of Slaanesh, by engaging in civil war in the dominion. Killing the newly born God of Chaos with the support of the strongest psykers and priests of aeldari. Saving some gods from the Dark Prince. Preventing the appearance of Drukhari. Or simply taking more Craftworld under protectorate.
- But if we accept the offer and then try to interfere in the affairs of the Aeldari Dominion, we will find ourselves an external threat without allies from within. And here I think there will be very little chance of winning.
I get the powerful feeling that this is just gonna be a chain of plothooks and escalation. If we don't choose to leave now we will just get more invested, not less. IE it seems like the thread that chooses to stay will keep choosing to stay until there would be no more reasons to leave anyway.
And while there seems to be a focus on slaanesh and eldar keep in mind staying is also how we prevent the Rangdan from rising.
Then the Aeldari Dominion falls and the Age of Strife is ended by... wait. What's with this massive empire of lizards? The Imperium of Man shall not be denied its rightful place by mere lizards! Onwards, the Great Crusade continues. Nothing shall deny humanity its rightful rule over the galaxy! We shall wrest it from the foul, cold blooded bastards and purge the xeno!
If Orks are portrayed as/based on English football hooligans, can we portray the Imperium based on US gun-toting stereotypes?
Just full on "WHAT THE FUCK IS A
CuttleFish2.0
Friendly neighborhood cuttlefish
- Location
- Seattle, Washington.
For myself, I'm not looking to avoid getting more involved with Eldar stuff but more specifically looking to see if we can get more of a 'black slate' star system to develop wholly to our own ends. As time has gone on Mochantia has felt more and more less like its ours, to me, and more like we're just sort of camping out on it; I'm not going to hate it if we stick around there, but I want to at least explore if it would be possible for us to get someplace that be more wholly ours.
If we do stay the goal would to me, be getting as much as possible before the fall happens. Pre fall Eldar empire has epic amounts of stuff, we could benefit from.
It kinda feels like Isendral might be leaving Mochantia at some point. Either to chase down her ex, or maybe this Lauvanel character. She's let us have pretty much free rein over everything but her segment of the southern hemisphere. There are tech remnants to study (north pole crash), we're already adapted to the biosphere, and I'd hate to see what it would take to move the Quango. What else do we really want in a planet?
As for stopping the chaos god quartet forming, I'm not aiming that high. Maybe keep the Eye of Terror from eating a whole sector when it forms, or most of the Eldar empire sinking into it. Saving Isha would be great too.
As for stopping the chaos god quartet forming, I'm not aiming that high. Maybe keep the Eye of Terror from eating a whole sector when it forms, or most of the Eldar empire sinking into it. Saving Isha would be great too.
Loec/Cegorath: "Ok so is now a good time to break that stupid non-interference rule of yours?"
Asuryan, in the middle of Slaanesh eating his ass (in a non-fun way): "Nay. We die with dignity."
Loec, already packing his bags: "Uh huh, you have fun with that."
Didn't she basically confirm she would do that, to consult with the Eldar Coreworlds on the Slaanesh vortex in the Warp?
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- Location
- Your pantry
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'm personally in favour for the blank slate and accepting her offer, but I can understand people wanting to see this to the end. I just find it absurd we could do much if anything at all in terms of the Aeldari Dominion. This is the Eldar at the height of their power, with all the advanced tech and warp sorcery that entails.The Eldar that use the warp in 40k are extremely hampered by the fact that they can't draw too much on the warp, otherwise they risk getting their soul munched on by Slaanesh, yet even then, they're the undisputed masters of the craft. This is a period where they don't have that limitation. I wouldn't be surprised if the Slann find themselves struggling a lot combating them. I expect quite a few of them to die before this is over.
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that, in truth, the Blank Slate puts us at a disadvantage in many ways. It's not entirely starting over, but it's pretty darn close, and the biggest loss would undoubtedly be the connections we've forged with Isendral. Even from a purely logical perspective of wanting to ensure our own survival, we see little benefit by blinding ourselves to a coming galactic threat.
The Fall introduces more enemies into the already grimdark universe, and agitates the waters in ways that will unquestionably hit us. We just won't have as much forewarning, and our preparations will have only been delayed by an interstellar relocation when we could have been further expanding where we already are.
It would be one thing if running away from the coming chaos was actually possible, but it just isn't. Sticking to isolationism hasn't done any of the civilizations of WH 40k any good, and frankly I am loathe to repeat that mistake.
The Fall introduces more enemies into the already grimdark universe, and agitates the waters in ways that will unquestionably hit us. We just won't have as much forewarning, and our preparations will have only been delayed by an interstellar relocation when we could have been further expanding where we already are.
It would be one thing if running away from the coming chaos was actually possible, but it just isn't. Sticking to isolationism hasn't done any of the civilizations of WH 40k any good, and frankly I am loathe to repeat that mistake.
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- Location
- Your pantry
- Pronouns
- He/Him
"In recognition of your efforts to be truthful with her, and your consistent demonstrations of respect for her property, creations, and planet, Isendral extends an offer - she will bring you to a planet free of opposition, suited for lizardmen habitation and situated in a galactic neighborhood that would allow the safe growth of a modest interstellar power. You will not be pulled any further into the destructive intrigues of the Eldar, and leave her to resolve her predicament with the information you have given her."
Yes, we actually CAN run away from the Eldar Dominion imploding. Don't try to make out accepting her offer as a straight up downgrade to refusing. They both have their own distinct advantages and disadvantages. Staying will allow us to interfere in the Fall, for unknown rewards, and unknown costs. Leaving gives us a good solid base to build our interstellar empire on, at no cost, beyond the opportunity cost of not being able to interfere with the Fall, and getting some goodies from the Eldar. The advantages and disadvantages are already clear, there is no need to try to suss out some hidden meaning or benefit in each action, since @Xantalos has been fairly clear on the subject (makes sense, this is a very important vote).
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- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
I mean, by lizardman standards it's been less than a century and a half which isn't that long.
On the other hand, our people have flourished and multiplied and raised a whole passel of new lizardmen here, and since I don't really want to abandon Isendral (who has treated us honorably) and am actively interested in @Xantalos ' version of the Aeldari Dominion... yeah, I'm voting to stay and help too.
I wonder what a human empire that ran face first into an intact Aeldari Dominion would look like? I suspect even if the fall gets averted there's probably gonna be a massive civil war between the proto dark eldar pleasure cults and the people that want to not get their souls eaten by Slaanesh, so the Eldar are probably not gonna be in top shape either way.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
I think that not having the Fall would entirely butterfly the Great Crusade and the founding of the Imperium of Man.
Because even if the Aeldari fall into civil war, there's no giant galaxy-spanning Warp-screwing explosion to cut all the interstellar transport links and reduce everyone to single-planet warlordism. Revelation or Adam Kadmon or whatever the proto-God-Emperor is calling himself these days has no real incentive to go flexing his muscles by conquering Terra and using it as a base from which to dominate the galaxy. Chaos never gets so uppity and that, too, massively butterflies things.
I think we might just never have the supremacist human Imperium of 30-40k.
I won't.
I think that if we go to the interstellar phase, we'll be able to just go to such systems ourselves and do as we see fit. Especially with Isendral providing even a little low-key help (something less extensive than "move your entire civilization" would be fine), we could absolutely start doing our ambitious astroforming projects elsewhere using even limited operations on Mochantia as a base.
There are many people talking about the power of the Dominion. But after all, we should not try to resist him. We should conditionally join the "Isendral faction", working from the inside. Is it dangerous? Definitely. But if we want to change the world of Warhammer, we still have to take risks. There will always be challenges that we didn't have time to prepare for. Moreover, we have to face something that is impossible to prepare for at all. Necrons. The Uprising of the Iron Men. Tyranids. The Gods of Chaos.
On the other hand, Aeldari at the peak of their power can give there something that we will never be able to get anywhere else.
On the other hand, Aeldari at the peak of their power can give there something that we will never be able to get anywhere else.
- Information about the Old Ones. Only the Necrons know more about them... But I have doubts that we will be able to negotiate with them.
- Magic, magotech and psyker techniques. There are many civilizations in the galaxy from which we can learn technologies. But the Aeldari before the Fall are the only ones from whom we can learn at least something in terms of magic.
Beyond what everyone else has said, I also want to stay because Isendral will probably head to the Coreworlds in the near future, and I'd be really happy if we could send a Slann delegate/delegation with her because I really want to see pre-Fall Eldar Coreworlds.
I mean, I remember reading that there's a part in a 40k book where the characters find a pre-Fall Eldar machine that outright grants wishes (unfortunately had been corrupted by the time they found it). Pre-fall Eldar are insane and I am dying to see a depiction of them at the height of their power.
I mean, I remember reading that there's a part in a 40k book where the characters find a pre-Fall Eldar machine that outright grants wishes (unfortunately had been corrupted by the time they found it). Pre-fall Eldar are insane and I am dying to see a depiction of them at the height of their power.