Warhammer Fantasy: A Dynasty of Dynamic Alcoholism

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Can you just imagine a champion of Nurgle specializing in just tendonitis?

Now imagine Freddie training to kill things with just his legs.
 
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torroar said:
So it's definitely tendonitis, got a tendon pokey lump I can push back down, swollen, etc. but I've got compression sleeves and menthol wraps and heating pads and tennis/golfers elbow push braces and cooling biogel and elevating with pillows at night.

Seems to be healing somewhat already, so all will hopefully be well sooner rather than later.

Can't do arms or back or much any upper body as much, cause like, handles and grip issues, so legs instead. Hitting 700 on leg press consistently now so that's neat.

Hopefully will be making edits sometime today based on the Bildhofen children stuff at least. I'll figure out one-handed typing if I really need to. I'm already doing it on the phone at least.
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As someone who types regularly with one hand on a computer for various reasons yeah you can do it. You can even do it nearly as fast as typing with two hands with practice. Hopefully you won't need to. Heal well and heal whole @torroar.
 
torroar said:
1. Ulthuan vs. Norsca, involving the major duel of Tyrion vs. High King of Norsca, Erik Redax
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Huh. So is that one of the reasons why the new high king has a harder time against the norse dwarfs than in cannon [besides the surprise lizardmen]? Because they got whacked by ulthuan before?
torroar said:
19. Kragg the Grim cleansing Karak Dron with an extremely minimal force successfully. It isn't described as such in the Rumor Mill because of pride, just that he got there and set up, but I guarantee you it happened.
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Wait, so have the dwarfs retaken a third karak?
 
AllenWalker said:
Huh. So is that one of the reasons why the new high king has a harder time against the norse dwarfs than in cannon [besides the surprise lizardmen]? Because they got whacked by ulthuan before?

Wait, so have the dwarfs retaken a third karak?
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1. Yes.... Hmmmm. Okay, I'm going to explain it. When Asavar Kul fell that splintered the horde into different groups. The Norscans were one part of the horde, those guys went back to Norsca and did their thing. One guy got a lot of others together and showed up in the Battle of Three Armies. However, the Norscans had multiple High Kings, individuals that acquired a lot of political pull among the tribes of Norsca. These two High Kings ended up competing with each other, Norsca was also not completely isolated and ended up facing stuff like Druchii raids, and competing interests. But, even with only one High King of Norsca it took time for the Norscans to consolidate.
torroar said:
Re-reading the past few pages, just saw this.

Uh, some things I can't say, but one thing I can is that Tyrion recently gutted High King Erik Redaxe of Norsca, with Teclis doing a ritual spell which encircled their fleet's retreat in impassible flames that burned atop the water, and prevented any survivors from escaping from the vengeful fleets of the High Elves. Unfortunately the coastline of Chrace and Cothique got raided a bit, which is what prompted the response. While Tyrion led the boarders and what not, Sea Lord Aislinn led the uh...naval bits. Encirclement, etc.

So that's something they've had going on. Not that the Old World would be aware of it, what with the fight being at Ulthuans' shores and the great expanse of the sea and all that.
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The above quote happened around Turn 24 (2328 IC). Stamping Erik Redaxe as dead by the end of 2328 IC.
torroar said:
Because he ain't the fuck in the province?

Do you have any goddamn idea the shit that would have happened if Tyrion wasn't literally right now out at Ulthuan? I know for a fact I've already talked about some of his recent deeds put on the seas, with Teclis, against Norsca's latest High King at the time of the post in question.

Normally I'd try to be a bit nicer...but this falls under you not looking at the front page. Come on, man!
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torroar said:
For the record, as noted in the interlude, Valmir Aesling, current High King of Norsca (with Erik Redaxe going off and getting himself and his enormous fleet killed by Ulthuan and Tyrion+Eldyra) has been killing off the attempted messengers south for ages. Only the Norscans would even be able to talk about it, and none of them are. It's not something that would come up in casual conversation.
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torroar said:
Incorrect. They were separated from the KA when Chaos arrived in the world, because all of a sudden Norsca was absolutely chockablock full of monsters and such whereas before they'd maintained communications. The Norse Dwarfs had zero losses to the War of Vengeance, and did not suffer from the Goblin Wars, nor were their holds rocked by the Time of Woes, they were noted to replenish well in those times behind their defenses while the KA got bodied up and down the WEM. They traded with the tribes of Norsca until Chaos began to influence them too strongly, but then forted up. Un-Chaos-based tribes who traded with the dwarfs were steadily forced south by those who began to revere the Chaos Gods.

Then it dips into 1ED Stone and Steel stuff, like how much they were really involved in the Great War Against Chaos, if they do or don't have a subterannean tunnel which lets their longships hit the Sea of Claws, etc. Is it Thorgard Cromson, or King Silverbeard who rules Kraka Drak? Sources differ. So on and so forth. I think that GW eventually wanted to just do away with, or at least expend little to no effort on them. Hence the inaccuracies.

If they had the tunnel, they should have been easily able to ask for aid against Valmir, what with it being ultra hidden after all. But they didn't, or he destroyed it? Eh, it's whatever.

S'aquest, an AU, so things are different either way.
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torroar said:
Here's an excerpt which involves the latest communication between Thorgrim and the Norscan Dwarfs is both from the wiki and from the wiki sourced from the 8th Edition Army Book:

After one year's time, the Council of Kings convened once more. As the ale flowed, each clan's contingent cheered boisterously before High King Alriksson raised his hand for silence. The right words were said, and grudges were written, for the three candidates who were not present — two of whom were known to have been slain during the course of their year's deeds, the third missing and presumed dead. After the formalities were concluded, the Great Hall again swelled with booming voices, chants, and rude remarks about the failings of different clans. Each claimant climbed the dais before the High King's Throne and turned to face the assembled throngs. After the echoes of his supporters died down, he regaled the audience with an account of his deeds. Most of these were well received — perhaps the loudest cheers were for Ungrim Ironfist, who had the head of the Giant he had slain dragged forth (which took a score of Dwarfs) so that all could marvel at its size.

A close second was Belegar, leader of the Angrund clan and direct descendant of King Lunn, the last ruler of Karak Eight Peaks. For several periods of Dwarfen history, the High King had sat upon the throne of Karak Eight Peaks and some few clans hoped to see that lineage restored to rule, although Karak Eight Peaks lay now in ruin. Even as High King Alriksson quieted the crowd to begin the pronouncement, a latecomer marched into the vast hall. It was none other than the High King's sister's son, Thorgrim, who had earlier been presumed slain. He was well known in Karaz-a-Karak and had long been mentored by the aged High King. Now he returned, flanked by a sight not seen in Karaz-a-Karak for thousands of years — a contingent of Dwarfs from Norsca.

For during the campaign in Kislev, after High King Alriksson had been injured, it had been Thorgrim who had re-established the old ties with those long distant clans. In turn, each of the Norscan kings spoke of Thorgrim, and of the deeds of valour he had performed in the icy north; of great monsters slain and battles won. Such acts were not the extent of Thorgrim's journeys. Thorgrim, along with other members of his clan, had entered several of the Lost Holds, seeking out those treasures which remained hidden, or hunting down and slaying those creatures that dared claim the revered artefacts made by the Dwarfs of old. He returned several long lost relics that bore runes of which Kragg the Grim, the eldest living Runelord of the Karaz Ankor, had only heard tell in legend. Many of the assembled Council of Elders wept openly as they passed around these recovered pieces of a more glorious age, marvelling at the workmanship of the Golden Scepter of Norgrim, coveting the returned fragments of what could only be the lost crown of Karak Drazh. While the assembled clan kings and revered elders passed these artefacts lovingly back and forth, Thorgrim finally spoke. His booming voice echoed across the mile-long collonaded hall, and all could hear the steel in it.

The return of these long-lost treasures, he said, was not enough. His words were bold, calling for the reclamation of the fallen holds, for the clans to work together as of old. Most passionately of all, Thorgrim called for a mighty vengeance. All of the potential successors had done as much, but Thorgrim's vow went further, for he announced it was his dream to avenge the wrongs done to his people by striking clean the entire ledger of the Great Book of Grudges. It was not long after being named successor that Thorgrim was crowned High King, for Alriksson's wounds from the Great War Against Chaos, had never healed. The old Dwarf was so resilient and stubborn, however, that he had simply refused to die, holding on against the pain until the proper heir could be named and his designs of unifying his people kept alive. So passed a great king. Thorgrim knew he had energized his subjects and that he needed to keep up the momentum. Thus he personally led a campaign to drive the Orcs and Goblins out of Black Fire Pass so that Karaz-a-Karak could ensure steady trade with the Empire.

After a series of bloody battles, Thorgrim led his throng into the pass from the south and King Alrik Ranulfsson, of Karak Hirn, circled his forces to attack Black Fire Pass from the north. The two kings cut swathes through the greenskins there and met in the middle of that steep vale, where they leaned on their axes and conversed before finishing the slaughter. Several grudges were struck out that day, the start of what would be the Great Reckoning.

Now, the issue here is that Valmir's big Norse Dwarf extermination campaign as the self-proclaimed Emperor of Chaos, supposedly, started in 2302. But the Great War Against Chaos wasn't over until 2304, and Erik Redaxe was the High King of Norsca then? Also, Valmir was part of Kul's horde, so he somehow managed to rally up from the fallout of the GWAC, gather up enough forces (despite the massive casualties at the Gates of Kislev) to force either King Cromson or King Silverbeard who FUCKING knows anymore, to the point that they avalanched Kraka Drak and then he fought down there for decades and exterminated them. OR, he left literally two years before the war ended, because the Everchosen Asavar Kul was totally going to be down with one of his major lieutenants and warband leaders just leave...right? Oh wait, that's absolutely ridiculous, this isn't 40k where a warband can just dip off into the warp. Valmir taking a force capable of leveling all the Norse Dwarf Holds would have been noticed by everybody, Kul included, if he left in 2302, two years before the Battle at the Gates of Kislev. Having, obviously, somehow also taken out all of the other Norscan Dwarf Holds too so that his wiping them out was as total as the Chaos Army Book says. But Thorgrim met with the Norscan Dwarf Kings in 2305+etc? And performed great deeds for them? So he technically was in Norsca in 2305, possibly more years depending on how long High King Alrikson really was able to hold out? So in 2302 Valmir was sieging Kraka Drak, and three to four years later, the Norscan dwarfs could come down to Karaz-a-Karak, but only after Thorgrim greatly aided them...but then nothing and no one does anything about the siege and somehow sudden loss of all other Norscan Dwarf Holds. Certainly not Thorgrim, who by the timeline WAS THERE IN NORSCA, for at enough time to perform great and valorous deeds.

Do you see how the timeline sort of falls apart?
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torroar said:
Ah! My mistake, apologies. Eric Redaxe was competing with a certain Valmir Aesling over the title of High King of Norsca, and the two only put their rivalry aside when Asavar Kul came rumbling through and knocked some heads together to make them all run at Kislev. Unfortunately for Erik, Valmir was more favored by Kul, and was forced to stay back in Norsca to continually raise up the tribes and send them forth, recruiting duty and all that. He was very unhappy with that. Missed the whole thing. But, on the other hand, he therefore had a shit ton more forces when Valmir and the others limped back into Norsca, and was able to enforce his rule as the High King.

Then uh, then he decided to make a run at Ulthuan.

So now Valmir Aesling is the new High King of Norsca, and declarative Emperor of Chaos, etc. etc.

Hope that was a better answer
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torroar said:
Some, yes. Ulha'up in Norsca has long been a thing in the quest, cause I thought it would be neat to see if he went to Norsca to try and directly combat the Ruinous Powers with the Word of the Old Ones. Just an idle note and idea, back in 2015, using a side-character from canon and seeing what 'success' might look like or failure. Not a GeNPC, but ironically something I do now because the GeNPC system burnt me out like a motherfucker, just establishing a regular npc with less absolute random chance in order to fulfill a specific purpose in the universe. The first Uxmaegr were basically created from converts that were literally beaten into the ground by Saurus Temple Guard and dragged in front of Ulha'up who then preached at them for like, a long time. Used his 'prodigious power' (for a Slann, mind you, it is noted) to preach Their Word. Eventually, it started to take, as he exhorted the Old Ones, the skink priests did their prayer works, etc. As it turns out, worshiping the Old Ones has a lot of things similar to how the Ruinous Powers are worshiped.

Instead of piling skulls for Khorne at a shrine to the Skull Throne, you can pile bodies at the foot of Quetzl's totem, for instance. You could just as easily spill huge tons of blood for Sotek. Crucify someone and set them aflame for Chotec. Hunting of beasts of all sorts being a huge thing in Norcsa? Obviously major influence can go to Itzl as well. Water, seafaring, etc. brings up good synergy with Tzunki. As for the name Uxmaegr, it is a blend of Norscan linguistics and the name of the Old One known as Uxmac, described as the Messenger of the Gods, who will one day return to the world bearing the name of the Old Ones. Now, the language in that in the 7th Armybook makes it possible that it could just be a Lizardman prophet or whatever, but I chose to make it a Hermes sort of thing. So, Uxmac the Messenger, effectively. The Uxmaegr, then, are effectively calling themselves the Messengers/Receivers of the Word, sort of thing?

Though they began as forcible conscripts taken from isolated villages or hunting parties, some generations in, and they're considerably more solid. Having a bit of genuine favor to show off helps. Now, as to how/should they even get any? I take it as a Sotek sort of thing. With enough piled up bodies sacrificed, enough blood spilled, things can work out even if other Slann don't think it necessarily should or are concerned about it. You can get attention with violent and zealous enough faith, as Sotek shows, and if there's one thing that Norscans can do well, it is violent and zealous faith. The update shows they've got a good number on them now, enough to dedicate four digits to help the dwarfs of Norsca. It's just that, comparatively, they are a tiny minority amongst the utter masses that are the Baersonlings, the Skaelings, the Bjornlings, the Graelings, the Vargs, and of course, the Aeslings. Along with all the other tiny-yet-still-Chaos-aligned tribes. Still, some success is more than I initially thought Ulha'up would have, but the rolls were kind enough to get the Uxmaegr ball rolling in the timeline such that by now they've gone from rumored hearsay of heretics camping out in hidden valleys to a proudly declared tribe willing to openly combat their fellow Norscans (though that happens all the time, constantly anyway, it's just that they're not doing it in the name of the Ruinous Powers, which of course infuriates everyone who is).

It's enough, at least, such that Freya Blazeheart, current co-ruler of the clan with her husband Ivar, has been allowed to wield a saurus' obsinite weapon (basically this but without the gold, being pure obsinite) since Ulha'up's Temple Guard and Saurus attendants have not been without casualties. She just happens to be Norscan enough, like her daughter and sons and husband, that she can wield it. Obviously IRL the absurd musculature and general super-stature of Norscans wouldn't really work out given their stated living conditions, but this ain't IRL, it's fantasy, yeah, so regular Imperials look like regular soldiers and Norscans are all huge and bulging with muscle despite the former having far nicer living conditions and all that. Eh, whatever. She killed a lot of people and things to get Quetzl's favor, obviously.
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torroar said:
Norsca certainly has some warpy bits, but it isn't straight up the Chaos Wastes or Athel Loren. Certain magics can wriggle with time, but...nah.

No, I took the fact that the timelines were garbo and made my own unified one:

The Uxmaegr emerged from their hidden misty valley settlements (not as good as Xlanhuapec, but Ulha'up made do) during the Great War Against Chaos, but didn't ally with the Norse Dwarfs until 2330, long after Thorgrim had visited them in 2305 and then fought alongside them before departing back south to become the High King. Current Great King of the dwarf of Norsca is King Silverbeard, Thorgard Cromson is a powerful Thane, but not Great King. Due to Thogar the Blooded One rallying so much of Asavar Kul's scattered horde, it took much longer for Valmir Aesling to gather up enough forces to start going after the dwarfs. Messengers and passages started getting culled/destroyed as he began knocking down the holds in 2327. 2330 was when Valmir hit a major Uxmaegr settlement, to which Ulha'up was able to focus his mind enough rather than endless preaching to respond to i.e. when the earthquakes were felt (see 2330 rumor mill). Alliance formed, they've been fighting since. Uxmaegr are convenience target, the Norse Dwarfs are the main target.

There, timeline issues solved.
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torroar said:
Mmm, yeah, well, aside from the timeline issues I've already noted before in thread, I also had to take some issue with the Norse dwarf gunpowder being a thing, what with...you know, them being cut off from the rest of the Karaz Ankor since, like, the Time of Woes, yeah? And gunpowder being a thing I've got for my own sanity invented sometime later on? So...yeah. Even more altered stuff, to be honest. By hey, that's Warhammer for ya.
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torroar said:
No.

I always went into this in the thread already, in fact around similar statements:






They have massive and advanced bolt throwers, but they do not have cannons or handgunners. The dwarfs have had guns and cannons for a good while now, in the regular Karaz Ankor, and there are still massive holdouts that refuse to trust them because they're weird and newfangled. I simply cannot see the Norse Dwarfs suddenly accepting brand new tech, installing it in their largest hold, and rejiggering their entire defensive setup to utilize them outright. So...no, they don't have cannons or handgunners. Many of the Norse Dwarf holds fell, but the War in the Mountains DID NOT begin while Thorgrim was there, and he did not just up and ignore how the war was ongoing all that time up until the 8th Armybook says they all died out, for literal decades after the Great War Against Chaos. It's just completely nonsensical for that to be the case, given his character and feelings of responsibility for the race of the dwarfs as a whole that he would just not make mention of/do anything about/etc. an entire set of newly rediscovered and most importantly populated holds for decades and decades on. That's...just how it is. That's part of the whole 'making things coherent' thing. War started later, after Thorgrim left, no cannons or handgunners outside of the most radical of their kind who were intrigued before Valmir started killing all of the messengers trying to get south and Thorgrim started focusing on threats closer to home.
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19.
torroar said:
Kragg The Grim Departs Everpeak: It is a rare thing for Kragg the Grim to ever leave the depths of Karaz-a-Karak. In recent histories, only once in the past century had he done so, in the reclamation of Karak Ungor. Now he travels out once again, accompanied only by a small group of engineers and a small cadre of runesmith apprentices. They travel on gyrocopters to the south, towards the fallow Thunder Mountain, where once the Anvils of Doom were stored. He told only a few of his travel path, the better to ensure secrecy, and is likely there even now. It is not likely, despite what some wide-eyed beardlings might try to say, that he is somehow recreating the ancient Rune of Sorcery or crafting some new Anvil of Doom. He could not possibly have carried the materials required to do so with his party, nor would he have some way to truly safely transport it back even if he could! The ancient forges there are long-shattered and no doubt scavenged entirely by the skaven, orcs, or otherwise. But the heart of that volcano still burns, no doubt. What is he intending to do? Some old romantics say he intends to create something for his children, or perhaps even perform trials for his century-suffering apprentices to see if they are truly ready! The latter is a desperate hope in every apprentice runesmith's heart. As well as every apprentice engineer, jeweler, blacksmith, warrior, leatherworker, brewer, and so on since time immemorial. Don't get your hopes up beardlings! You're ready when your masters say you are ready!
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torroar said:
Thunder Mountain Erupts: Worries struck many in the Karaz Ankor at news that the Thunder Mountain had erupted this year, spewing ash and smoke high into the air that nearly blanketed the Bonelands, strips of lava streaming down its sides. Luckily Kragg the Grim and his associates were entirely unharmed, and those sent by the High King to check on them were in fact chivvied away by numerous apprentices, eager to keep them from disturbing their master who apparently hadn't even left his forge despite the eruption! Luckily the ancient chambers, built long ago to protect form the environmental effects of such things, were more than up to the task for such a comparatively minor eruption to what had been sustained in the past. On the somewhat more positive side, the clogging of the air and streams of lava ended up diverting and pushing away greenskin scouts and foragers who were previously getting uncomfortably close. Perhaps even the eruption aided in the forging process in some way? It is impossible to say for certain at the moment.
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torroar said:
The Eldest Runelord Returns To Everpeak!: It is very rare for Kragg the Grim to leave Karaz-a-Karak, this is true. It was the first time in over four and a half centuries when he left to participate in the reclamation campaign of Karak Ungor. So his recent trip to Thunder Mountain was a great surprise – and worry – to many! Should his vast knowledge of runes be lost, there would be none who could possibly have matched his knowledge of runecraft, not even his wife! It would be a tragedy of the highest order for the Karaz Ankor. But this is not a tale of woe, but of wonder! For Kragg the Grim returned to Everpeak at last from his expedition at Karag Dron, once the wondrous place of creation of the legendary Anvils of Doom. Its ancient workshops were destroyed by the battle between the legendary Kurgaz Stonebeard, one of the finest of the ancient runesmiths, and the dragon Drelgithrex, who sought to make use of the mountain as its new nest. Though Kurgaz slew the creature, he was slain in turn, and so were a great many of the best runesmiths at the time. Since then, no new Anvils of Doom have ever been created, and indeed only some of the holds of the Karaz Ankor can claim to have one at all! Perhaps…no longer, however. Responding to a secretive communication brought by but a single ranger, a large detachment of the most elite ironbeards and irondrakes, with quarreler and ranger support, was sent out through the Underway under the leadership of none other than Angkra Ten-Braids, the Grim's own wife! A Runelord in her own right, of course. But few could have possibly anticipated the results of their return. Bloodied and battered by the ongoing chaos filling the Underway, they nevertheless managed to return with two wondrous things! Apparently, deep within the caverns of Karak Dron, he found the shattered remains of an Anvil of Doom, buried within the collapsed workshops there, and from the painstakingly collected fragments of three separate and otherwise utterly shattered Anvils he successfully forged one anew! It was a work of great peril, for he needed to reach the heart of the mountain itself, withstanding conditions and temperatures that few but one so stubborn as he could possibly survive, let alone create wonderment! The new Anvil of Doom was carefully examined by his own wife, as well as the Runelords Magdi, Skaldgrim, and Valya, and none of them could deny that it was a fully functional Anvil of Doom, one of appreciable make. Kragg was quick to stress that he only managed it due to using the portions of the shattered Anvils left in the mountain, that it was not a wholly new creation due to the salvaged components, but even so the presence of a new Anvil has set the longbeards to joyous song and celebration. Runesmiths across the Karaz Ankor will no doubt raise a tankard of ale at the news! The second item, or items, were of a far more somber nature. Many runesmiths, both Runelords and beardling apprentices, died in the fall of the mountain, never to be returned to their clans and holds for burial and proper entombment. No longer. While some were simply unrecoverable due to the vagaries of time, most however could be found. Found within the heart of the mountain, the slain corpse of Drelgithrex was excavated and recovered as well, the body of none other than Kurgaz Stonebeard still lodged in its jaw, the venerable Runelord's personal az still stuck through the dragon's eye and presumably into the brain. Though they were both long, long dead, entombed together as the tunnels collapsed on top of them, and then baked by the residual heat for many years, much still remained. All of Runelord Stonebeard's raiment was recovered, some of the finest rune-forged gromril weapons and armor that has ever existed. The corpse of the elder magma dragon had rotted away, but its bones remained strong, and some even murmur that because of their origin and the nature of Karag Dron itself has lent the bones a constant uncooling residual heat. Either way, Kragg was given a hero's welcome, as were the many honored dead he has returned home. Yet he did not appear to care much for the feasting, as he quickly returned to the Underhalls to continue to work. Admittedly, even that ancient dawi could not escape his wife's appreciation, a wife who proudly announced another pregnancy as the year comes to a close.
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Yeah, they have, and Karag Dron (Karag means mountain, Dron means thunder, translation is Thunder Mountain) is one of the earlier places of dwarf power lost. Events elsewhere are also affecting the Karaz Ankor. Such as the Karaz Ankor now learning that they have lost three holds to greenskins. In -2000 IC to -1600 IC the War of the Beard/Vengeance is happening. At around -1955 IC, dwarfs of the Karaz Ankor hear tales of a mountain of gold in the Mountains of Mourne and send expeditions after this gold mountain. These expeditions led to the creation of the holds of Karak Vrag, Karak Azorn and Karak Krakaten, in the mountains of mourn. There are supposedly more holds built by dwarfs in the mountains of Mourn, but the idea they still exist is slim. The Karaz Ankor found out their eastern Mountains of Mourn holds still existed thanks to the princess of Karak Ungor, Kazul, but now they've found out three of the Mourn holds have fallen (from the Whaaagh in the south due to armor symbols).

Karag Dron was lost around -1974 IC, due to dragon, according to the Kurgaz page on the wiki.

Karak Ungor in comparison was lost in -1501 IC, I think, then or -1500 IC.

Karag Dron is also not a Karak, it's more of a research compound in this quest. Like a big university with degraded military grade defences the size of a hold for runesmiths.

The Norscan Dwarf Holds were founded at some point in -5000 IC to -4000 IC. Somewhere in this towards -4000 IC the Polar Gates break and Chaos rushes in.

Edit: Karag Dron was also reabandoned by the dwarfs, becuse of the expected seige at Karaz-a-Karak, so there's that too. Not like Karak Ungor, where the dwarfs were eventually able to reintegrate it into the Karaz Ankor.

Edit2: In Karak Ungor we met what seemed to be a Norscan Dwarf engineer, Makai. Makai had a organ gun.
torroar said:
Karak Ungor 14​
The traditionalists grumble, rangers shake their heads at the impetuous youth, and you line up your artillery right alongside the dwarves. A rather surprising number of dwarven thunderers do the same – not surprising given that the very traditional Stonehammer – like many of his kind – dislikes the 'newfangled' guns and cannons as a concept entirely. How the dwarf King plans to repair the Great Lift with any speed without engineer assistance you have no idea. What front line units are available form up to create as strong a wall as they can with the vast majority being slayers who never bear a shield. The Army of Ostland instead hangs back and forms a surrounding defensive ring for your guns. Skaven or greenskin alike could potentially just show up from out of the great dark and run on in without what forces present could possibly redeploy themselves.

"Shall I be following your orders in this, or are we going to go at will?" you rather politely ask one of the thinnest dwarves you've ever seen. The man, in response, lifts his goggles up and looks at you with a bleary expression. No, wait, it's just that his left eye has some terrible cataracts.

"Ach we noo need tar talk like ya ken, just follow th' first shot n' goo at will."

You blink. Then you blink again.

"I…"

"Oh, don't worry about Makai," another much more comprehensible dwarf says, while 'Makai' goes and busies himself with his organ gun. "He means well, he's just…well, he's from one of those far off northern holds," the new engineer leans in with a shrug, "They're all a bit weird, so close to the Wastes I think."

"I see."

You actually don't but there's no reason to bring that up.

"In any case, we're all planning on concentrating our shots to blow open the first five portions, mainly focused on the gates. Ordered volleys until the gates have gone down then it's...fire at will," the dwarf nods at you before heading back to his own cannon.

Well that seems simple enough. As such, you begin barking out orders to your own engineers and raise the cannons as best as you can in this comparative low visibility. At best you can just see the fortresses themselves in a vague sense but you don't have fine specifics. A few minutes pass during which there is a bit of impatient hopping back and forth amongst the younger slayers but if there's anything you know about dwarven engineers after spending much of your teenage years with one as your teacher it's that they will not be rushed. Eventually however…

Hands go up, fuses are lit, and a number of variants on the phrase 'ready, aim…' were echoed.

"FIRE!"

(Dwarven Artillery: 74/100)
(Ostland's Artillery: 55-5(Low Visibility)+8(Presence of Anna von Hohenzollern, Master Engineer)=58/100)
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I dunno, a exchange of personnel to get up to snuff with the Karaz Ankor's engineer developments seems like something Thorgrim would have pulled off to aid the Norscan dawi. But if torroar made it so that the Norscan dawi don't use guns at all, explaining the presence of a Norscan Dwarve engineer.... Radical I guess, or a group of traditionalists that was sent to learn everything they could in the Karaz Ankor then return to the Norscan Dwarves to spread the knowledge found worthy of spreading. Cultural exchange around the start of the quest would explain why the Karaz Ankor didn't know about the Norscan Dwarves facing a problem, but did have some Norscan Dwarves in the Karaz Ankor. Teaching a dwarf takes a century sometimes.

torroar said:
"He's broken every other hold west of this valley," Freya grunted, "Shattered some of the ones east of it now, too. The only ones left are Drak, Sjoktraken, Dorden, Onsmotek, and Ravnvake. Will it be enough?"
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In 2339 IC, Drak, Sjoktraken, Dorden, Onsmotek, and Ravnvake, are all the Norse Dwarf Holds left.
 
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Makai is from near Karak Vlag, actually, and those northern territories of the WEM.

His son, Malakai Makaisson, is currently a young beardling.

I consider the 'northernmost holds' descriptor given to said son in Gotrek and Felix to be that area instead of the Norscan holds. Because canonically, the Emperor of Chaos had razed all the Norscan Holds a few decades after the GWAC anyhow. They would have said 'the lost Norscan holds' instead if that's what they meant, for me at least.
 
torroar said:
Morr does not necessarily 'gain power' from lots of funerals being done. And, historically, it really is often the Cult of Morr which handles a lot of funerals across the Old World, save for perhaps Araby. Funerals are solemn things, for the most part, and don't really count towards a comparative metaphysical 'power-up' method utilized by some Gods. People who die and are taken care of, consecrated by, etc. by the Cult of Morr are not having their souls 'sacrificed' to Morr to consume like you have for the Nehekharan Pantheon, Khaine, Dazh sometimes, etc. That would go against the point of Morr's Realm. Passing beyond the Stone Portal is meant to be achieving a peaceful afterlife, a rest. Invoking Morr, praying to him, showing faith towards him to hopefully preserve the souls of their loved ones and so on is one thing, yes, as verifiably showing a significant amount of faith can empower a God or at least have tangible results in the material realm in response or whatever, sure.

But as mentioned already, Cult-wise the main heart of the Cult of Morr is over in Luccini, in Tilea. Ostland happens to be the main heart of the Cult in the Empire, but it doesn't really make for a 'rival' situation atm. Though at least some of that is because of the general culture of the Cult itself.

The relationship between the God Morr and the God Khaine and the Elven God Khaine is mixed. Old World Khaine has considerable friction with the Cult of Morr, yes, but it's uncertain - or perhaps not impossible - for there to be a literal metaphysical divider of sorts between Khaine and Khaine with regards to Morr. Gods - and the Realm of Chaos - are inherently impossible forces acting upon reality and unreality simultaneously.

Overall, the burials, funerals, and subsequent prayers are unlikely to somehow vastly empower Morr or what have you. What's more likely is that the consecration of the dead, preventing their bodies from being easily raised up by a necromancer, might come more easily to the priests and be stronger in effect. The dreams of the folk of Ostland might be a bit eased, for a time or something like that.

You're not liable to see a gargantuan divine scythe come swinging from the heavens to scoop up all necromancers and what have you out of nowhere in the same vein as Khorne throwing brass skulls during a Storm of Magic.

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As mentioned, the point of Albion and it's wondrous spectacular irreplaceable and unreplicatable part in the greater continued existence of Mallus outright requires the constant and continual channeling of the Winds of Magic/Winds of Chaos towards Albion to be grounded upon their isle. It is - on purpose - suffused with such. The ancestors of the Albionese did it that way on purpose, after the Old Ones had left them, they did not leave some sort of thing like that. The Albionese did not get golden tablets or a part of the Great Plan like the Lizardmen did, they just happened to be the most incredible human learners from the Old Ones themselves who stunned said Gods of space and time from beyond Mallus with their capacity and capabilities. Ergo, there is no reward that would have been left behind for a thing the Old Ones did not expect/plan for/assume in the first place. No one told the Albionese to do what they did, they just did it on their own, and because they chomp down on that huge percentage, like 1/3 or whatever it was, the Vortex on Ulthuan is able to function without buckling under a full 100% drain requirement, which it would.

Albion stops doing that, Vortex collapses, world ends.

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I do not necessarily have any specific voice for Frederick or the rest of the cast in the vein of your question atm, though you can be free to speculate for yourselves.

Relatively deep voice, resonant, rumbling bass, is usually how I hear it in my head. Capable of getting very dangerously avalanch-y quiet at times, but most often rich with emotion. And eerie when empty of it for whatever reason.

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The Old World is interesting to see come back, though of course as mentioned I don't know how much I'll be using if any from it. Maybe some of the Bretonnian stuff might be usable, guess we'll see. A lot of their Imperial stuff, I'm pretty sure won't be working for me due to backfilling issues and what not.
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I will now headcanon that Frederick sounds like Optimus Prime.
 
Random thought but, How bad would it be for the Druuchi if they lost all 4 Black Arks including the one Freddie is on? The Ulthuan elves somehow managing to catch and sink the two that were chased off of Ulthuan plus the one that Stephen captured. I was rereading some posts and it occured to me that even if we don't know how many black arks are around, losing 4 in such a short period of time would have massive effects even locally.
 
Thors_Alumni said:
Random thought but, How bad would it be for the Druuchi if they lost all 4 Black Arks including the one Freddie is on? The Ulthuan elves somehow managing to catch and sink the two that were chased off of Ulthuan plus the one that Stephen captured. I was rereading some posts and it occured to me that even if we don't know how many black arks are around, losing 4 in such a short period of time would have massive effects even locally.
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Oh it would hurt them badly. But not forever. Torroar made that clear enough by hinting at a decent number of Arks being in mothballs (long term semi retirement with no/ tiny crews) in Druchii ports.

They would reactivate a few and soon the numbers on the sea would return to normal or potentially increase.

However, that's like over the course of a few generations of humans so it would make the Old World safer from Druchii corsairs during the quest.

More than just the physical loss of the Arks, this would hurt the Druchii population pretty badly. Based on the losses posted from Salkalten, 4 Black Arks have a combined Druchii population of 1-1.5 million on them.

That's a lot of elf power lost in a very short time period. A small handful of potent heroes, a few hundred sorceresses and a significant proportion of Corsairs and Ship captains.

Those new Arks that would replace them would need to pull on the remaining experienced cadre of professionals in the Druchii cities. Elves who would otherwise be doing other useful jobs. It would also cut down on the slave intake some. Another stressor of the Druchii economy.

Not a good time. Nothing fatal, but pretty uncomfortable for Malekith and his plans in the near term.
 
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Valerian said:
Oh it would hurt them badly. But not forever. Torroar made that clear enough by hinting at a decent number of Arks being in mothballs (long term semi retirement with no/ tiny crews) in Druchii ports.

They would reactivate a few and soon the numbers on the sea would return to normal or potentially increase.

However, that's like over the course of a few generations of humans so it would make the Old World safer from Druchii corsairs during the quest.

More than just the physical loss of the Arks, this would hurt the Druchii population pretty badly. Based on the losses posted from Salkalten, 4 Black Arks have a combined Druchii population of 1-1.5 million on them.

That's a lot of elf power lost in a very short time period. A small handful of potent heroes, a few hundred sorceresses and a significant proportion of Corsairs and Ship captains.

Those new Arks that would replace them would need to pull on the remaining experienced cadre of professionals in the Druchii cities. Elves who would otherwise be doing other useful jobs. It would also cut down on the slave intake some. Another stressor of the Druchii economy.

Not a good time. Nothing fatal, but pretty uncomfortable for Malekith and his plans in the near term.
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To say nothing about the resulting political upheaval, because the former patrons of the lost Arks will be lashing out, while their rivals are licking their fangs.

And naturally the Witch-King is not gonna be amused and making examples out of anyone.
 
Basically if the Factions of Order grow big enought they can take on arcs on a regular basis malekith would have to redo all his strategy.
 
Good to remember that even though Druchii do treachery, enshrined assassin cult culture, etc. that they also have all of Naggaroth to use for themselves.

Basically a continent. And yes, raids from the Chaos Wastes, issues with Lizardmen in south though more often Druchii are the aggressors there.

But far less internal enemies like the Empire and rest of the Old World has. Total War Warhammer is not representative of how things are over there. All their main cities are tier 5 with every building possible built, no limited building slots, no ogre tribes hanging out claiming territory, no skaven taking whole cities, no Grombrindal legion, no Sisters of Twilight expedition, no Mother Ostankya, no Tomb Kings, no Alith Anarchy expedition. They've had thousands of years to build up and fortify even with elf birth rate issues, which aren't as big a thing for Druchii for various reasons.

Empire has barely got control of its own territorial bounds between settlements.

At the same time, Empire isn't dedicating humongo swathes of military force on raids and expeditions across the entire planet, facing off against Order, Destruction, etc. factions constantly.
 
That's is true enough. It would take a long time to anything actually be able to treathen nagaroth itself even if their power projection becomes somewhat crippled.

Maybe if the skaven decided that the dark elves where somehow the ones that are stealing all the warpstone in the warpstone desert and declare rat holly war on them in full but this is really just an hypothetical and im pretty sure Malekith would win.
 
Only way to really dig the Druchii out is the Slann having another renovation project but we all know what happened afterwards the last time they did that.

Not to mention we have way too many closer and dangerous threats than the Druchii that's gonna keep us occupied for another thousand of years (And that's assuming the Druchii doesn't just raise those other threats)
 
Yes trough in a way the real risk of the order factions (with one notable exception) is that they aren't stagnant as chaos faction (with one notable exception). Wich means without the constant setbacks they only get harder to deal with. At the point you are losing arcs regulary it means they really became a problem.
 
I was going to say that losing Arks regularly would just mean they aren't so overwhelmingly powerful on the offense or the raid and the fact that most of the Arks are out raiding at any one time and they're few in number suggest they aren't crucial to the defence of the (very long) coasts.

But then I realised their power as a deterrent to invasion. Sure you might take a port or a beachhead without ever seeing a Black Ark but within a few months there'll be a couple looming behind your forces like Keith Lee and the Undertaker, cutting you off from support and launching a massive counterattack.

I do doubt that the interior of Naggaroth is as secure as it looks from the outside - it's a large area on Mallus after all. Druchii are a destro faction and so the focus of writing has been on the vileness of their culture and their conflicts with more sympathetic factions. No one would care how they suffer in their wars against the hypothetical horrors of Not!Kansas or the undocumented hordes of Chaos Canadians.
 
That is a good point.
The Druichii also suffer from one major problem that the elder races face, they are not fast at replenishing losses. Each sorcerer or Blademaster is a product of millennia of trials and tribulations, for them to be traded in war to 2 monkeys with big guns that have a messily 50 years in life combined it's not a pretty trade.

Each arc lost is a pain to remake and replace, being at risk of losing one each time you invade is too much of a risk to have the arcs being used offensively.

This also remind me how much a solid was to convince the dawi to use suff like mines and death spinners. Sure it may be an ugly thing for their sensibilities but each goblin and ork mulched is one less an iroback need to worry about, one less dagger that may strike between the plates, and possibly one more beardling that live to see their own children or nephew and past their knowledge, because make no mistake they need each and every dwarf to the age of reclamation.
 
Just watched Aladdin with some friends (seen it before, we were just having fun), and it made me want to ask if Frederick has learned any (at all) of the language of Araby, out of some curiosity with regards to Adira's native culture.

Not expecting fluency, but possibly some basic words.

Though I could understand Adira herself not wanting to participate in such a thing due to bad memories, and I don't know who else Frederick would learn from.
 
noliar said:
Druchii are a destro faction and so the focus of writing has been on the vileness of their culture and their conflicts with more sympathetic factions. No one would care how they suffer in their wars against the hypothetical horrors of Not!Kansas or the undocumented hordes of Chaos Canadians.
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I think that would be awesome. Druchii vs skinwalkers, vs sasquatch tribes, vs wendigo, vs Uktena, mothman, jersey devil, Tlanusi, Teihiihan, the bell witch, etc
 
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