True but every leader after Vlad has been shit and it doesn't seem like Vlad is coming back any time soon after being dead for centuries. So Sylvanians have to deal with shit rulers, monsters, and a literally toxic environment. Plus I don't think they have a choice but to praise their vampiric rulers and are not allowed to leave so after awhile they get pretty indoctrinated.
Warhammer Fantasy: A Princess of the Borderlands
- Thread starter Tekomandor
- Start date
- Fantasy
- Pronouns
- It/Its
Under Conrad sure, but Vlad was a beloved ruler even after his vampirism was publically known, and while no one actually likes Manfred he pretty much just erased the taxes because what does he need grain for
As said, the general thinking (outside of empire loyalists or the vampire cultists) is "yeah they can be shit but their no more likely to massacre a town then regular nobles, and at least the taxes are low and they control the animals to work for them so there's no random wolf attacks" plus of course no conscription is always nice (I mean, after death sure but that doesn't really count)
I mean they and their vampire underlings literally need to eat people so I would say they are slightly more likely to massacre a town every now and again. Plus those towns start looking like an easy source of fodder when they want to attack the Empire again.
- Pronouns
- It/Its
To be clear "not really any more likely to massacre a town then regular nobles" is not a positive statement about the vampires it's a negative statement about the nobles
You seem to be greatly over estimating the psychopathy of the non corrupted nobility. Like their wealth comes from the peasantry why would they go around massacring them they aren't murderous psychopaths just because they are nobles. Plus murdering entire village is a good way to get your neighbors really mad at you and in this world it is a sign of literal demonic corruption.
- Pronouns
- It/Its
I mean they don't do it just because, but just the usually nobility reasons. Didn't pay taxes, small revolt, clearing the area, etc. vampires just have a lot less reason to care what the peasants are doing, so you get a lot more benign neglect with the added benifit of chill animals because the vampires are controlling them and no conscription for some war or another because they use corpses instead
Edit: this discussion is probably off topic though
Sounds like the Witcher Hunters who would do that and get away with it most of the time. Anyway, do Witch Hunters have jurisdiction in the Borderlands or just within The Empire?
Witch Hunters aren't the ruling nobility and have a very important job that effects a lot of people. So if they wipe out a village they better have some ironclad proof that it corrupted or else other Witch Hunters will start asking questions. They aren't the 40k Inquisition that goes around emptying cities and burning worlds.
Within the empire, but what does Witch Hunters have anything to do with the difference between Insane vampire aristocrats and normal human nobility?
True, the people of Sylvania made their bed and had to lie in it.
Speaking of indoctrination, it wouldn't be a surprise if they serve as armies of vampires. If they die, they get raised to undeath and keep fighting.
Fair enough. As for Sylvania, Witch Hunters do go in there and not all came out of it alive. At best, they had to make a blockade or patrol for encroaching vampire leaving Sylvania.
Cool, thanks.
Yeah, nobility sucks in every race and everyone below them is on the lower deck of the Pecking Order.
K von Carstein
Likes to go for a walk
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He
The Norscans still worship Choas because they don't really have a choice. That far up north, the Four can affect the Materium much more easily and worshipping them is the only way to stay alive.
Yeah plus that's where the Old Ones' polar gates are that got blown open and allowed Warp energy to saturate into the World That Was and there's no way to seal it without being hindered by Norscans and Chaos Daemons and also the risk of mutating point blank.
Cecylene
Eternal Idea Engine
- Location
- Massachusetts
- Pronouns
- He/They
Reverence does not mean like, one can be awed by displays of destruction or annihilation but that doesn't mean one enjoys them.
Why revere the vampire lords? Because if you don't it doesn't matter how much you refuse to follow them they'll kill you and turn your skin into a suit, your meat into food, and your bones into a slave. In Norsca, why revere Chaos? Because they're a demonstrable power that is visible because of the giant gaping hole in the world that makes the sky change colors at night and can inflict mutation and curses upon your family as gifts without even trying to be mean.
As for the Bretonnians, it's a matter that despite how awful everything is the Knights do at least fight against evil despite being the heelest of heels and the most repressive of oppressors. The knights make sure that the local Chimera is stuffed and mounted to avoid eating you and spoiling the harvest. Being alive is better than dead.
Just found this quest and I like it so far!
I have a question, will we potentially start getting elf immigrants and a "native" elf population once the city is advanced enough? (IE we start building some of those real expensive noble buildings I saw in the informational)
I have a question, will we potentially start getting elf immigrants and a "native" elf population once the city is advanced enough? (IE we start building some of those real expensive noble buildings I saw in the informational)
- Location
- Goose Land
It's probably not impossible, especially as we develop and expand and make broader diplomatic contacts. Grabbing a "local" elf recruit probably helped make this more feasible as it marks us as more likely to not be an absolute elitist prick.
If we're able to start up local production of Eagle Knights, especially without the home kingdom making a stink about it, then I expect we'll get a (relative) lot of immigrants looking to do the Cool Flying Eagle Thing.
The high elf settlement of Tor Anrok was only destroyed by the Tomb Kings in 2276 IC, a couple of decades in the future, and that's not very far away.
And in the case of chaos is because chaos is RIGHT THERE. they have more mutations, can see in the weird aureora borealis, have to deal with more monster, norsca live in a hellish version of a mythos were beast like Grendel are not only very real but VERY prevalent, it also means gift of chaos are also right there, Khrone can give you strenght to crush 10 men, nurgle can make plague that wipe you city make you stronger, Slaanesh can make you pretty as gods and faster than then and tzeetch open the secret of the universe.
Like, with that....why not workship the true gods?
Just finished reading this masterpiece of a quest, quick question. Is it on hiatus?
2252, Second Half Results
- Location
- Australia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
2252, Second Half Results
Population Growth:
12d20 Children = 122
16 Children Age into... 4 Sailors, 4 Farmers, 4 Labourers, 4 Soldiers.
6d100 Immigration = 431= 130 Labourers, 129 Farmers, 86 Sailors, 86 Craftspeople
Private Construction:
Budget: 600GC.
Result: 1d24 = 7, Vineyard. Cost 100GC = 6 Vineyards
The expansion of your trade links with Tilea, and through the elf merchant ships the rest of the world, has resulted in something of a boom for the wine produced by your settlement's vineyards. The life magic infused into the soil has given it the barest glimmer of the flavour that elfwine fully embodies, and reportedly your wine is taking over much of the "imitation" elfwine market, something the merchants of Lothern will be thankful for.
[x] Recruit woodsmen as skirmishers
Vadac is dismissive of the skill of human woodsmen, but he does agree to separate out the least incompetent. Not all have bows suitable for warfare, but there are perhaps half who - being former Brettonian peasants - are capable longbowmen. The rest you arm with crossbows or hunting muskets, as well as arming swords and hand axes.
Whilst not capable of standing up to cavalry, or holding ground without the benefit of serious fortification, the skirmishers will work well as light troops to either screen your heavier troops or for more specialised applications.
[x] Trade with Tilea
Your merchant ships carry wine, preserved foodstuffs, and more to Tilea. Your wine is especially successful as an export good - the life magic infused into the soil of your vineyards giving it if not the terroir of elfwine, then something of its technique.
[x] Trade with Wurtmoot Island
Wurtmoot Island remains your most important trading partner, however. The proximity of the island means that you can trade not only wine and preserved foodstuffs, but that plenty of the small boats that make the crossing are actually carrying fresh food and live animals.
You are almost surprised that 'Baron' Wurtmoot never considered establishing an outpost on the shore, but you suspect that his forces - whilst well armed to repel a siege of his island - are not numerous enough to secure any practical amount of farmland.
[x] Propose Something to Another Border Prince: Ulfric the Norscan help in hunting the Steam ship
You take Sir Carrad with you, of course, but this matter is one where your status will be helpful. The Norscans, though they might be far from their dark gods, respect the power of a Vikti, especially one from the shrouded isle of Ulthuan - a place that features prominently in many of their bloody sagas.
They sing of your homeland not as a paradise, as all the elves see it - even those long since lost to its shores, nor do they sing of the tales other humans tell. They do not sign of fair Lothern, the jewel of the world.
To the Norscans, Ulthuan is a bloody maw; a dark isle that drinks greedily of the blood of heroes.
So when you step ashore from your Hawkship, you are welcomed with awe and whispers. You are a figure from song; the end of heroes made manifest.
Ulfric knows of the steamship - how could such accomplished seafarers not? But he fears it, rightfully, ever since he lost three longships attempting to board it. Were you any other, were you man or dwarf, he would've refused you without a second thought.
But, by the barest of margins, the part of him that remembers the sagas wins out.
[x] Attempt to improve the attitude of another Border Prince: Baron Wurtmoot
Sir Carrad finally has some success with Baron Wurtmoot. The Bretonnian noble is of high enough birth to mollify Wurtmoot's ego that he is not receiving your personal attention. You are not exactly the best of friends, but the relationship between your courts - motley as they - is now notably warm.
[X] Order Buildings constructed 10 Medium Farms; 90 Decent Dwellings; 1 Market; 1 Fortified Powder Mill; 2 Horse Herds; 1 Medium Pier
Your settlement continues to expand. With a population now north of three thousand, the lighthouse now lies at the centre of a bustling town. Long, wide streets of well-made houses are peppered with small market squares, whilst the new temple of Myrmidia stands as the impressive of all the new buildings - an imposing fortress of volcanic rock.
You also order the construction of various items of strategic importance. You finally have the funds to import the labour needed for the powder mill, in addition to the materials you already have. You also begin to establish horse herds, both to supply your own troops and as an export.
Most importantly of all, you finally manage to enlarge the piers - establishing an entirely new section, many times the size of your previous facilities. Now you can easily dock a dozen ships and hundreds of small boats.
[x] Plan out a sewage system
A town of three thousand people - especially of three thousand humans - requires some thought as to the disposal of human waste if it is to avoid becoming a putrid hive. You task Captain Hochstrasse with arranging for the labour to begin the digging of a sewer system, to your exacting specifications. It will not be as capable as a true elvish sewer system, of course, but it will be far better than what the good Captain would've constructed if left to his own devices.
[x] Train Your Human Students
Eydis trains her human students. Restricted to only the Wind of Life, they make considerable progress through the much-simplified curriculum, they are taught. Though none are yet useful, none are lost to accidents or corruption. Anna, the teenager, is even capable now of sowing life magic into the fields around your settlement.
+1 to Anna's magic, taking Use Magic to Aid Your Farmers now no longer takes an action when taken as an intrigue action. 10 Children become Apprentices, a special type of Child.
[x] Use Magic to Aid Your Farmers
You walk amongst the fields surrounding your settlement, your ceremonial robes remaining pure white even as you walk barefoot across field and pasture. You not only sing to the crops, but bless the first foals born to your horse herds. Not a one is lost to birth, and none of the mothers either.
[x] Study Magic
You take more lessons with Eydis - a welcome reprieve for her after long days of teaching human children the barest basics. With your acquisition of a powerful relic linked to the Wind of Heavens, you attempt to learn more of that lore.
Unfortunately, you are unable to make any significant progress before you must leave to battle the steamship. You know only the basics of the lore - a little divination, elementary fate manipulation, and of course how to call down lightning bolts from the sky. Still, your time spent studying the arcane is not entirely wasted - though you learn no new spells, you do make some progress towards your overall level of skill.
4/10 Progress gained towards advancing the Wizard I trait.
[x] Spend time with a notable NPC: Vadac the Eonir
Vadac, the colonial, is an enigma. You have not known the colonists to be particularly hospitable towards your people, but he has taken your coin and given you good service without complaint.
"You are unusual, for one of the Asur," he says. He does not give you your title, as you have come to expect.
"You are unusually personable for one of the Eonir," you reply.
"Perhaps. You are no exile, are you?"
"I retain the favour of His Majesty," you say, carefully - for you do, your exile being entirely unofficial. You feel no need to clarify which monarch you are referring to. There is only one rightful King of the Elves.
"His favour, perhaps. His orders, most certainly. Tell me, eagle-friend, are you the beachhead for some fool invasion of the Old World?" he asks.
"What an absurd notion. I had assumed you were capable of determining my true purpose here," you reply.
"Then you have been sent to secure the southern flank. It seems your Sea-Farer does not forget the world outside of Ulthuan."
After that, the two of you exchange no further words - though you do spend some time sparring, Vadac one of the few beings in the settlement capable of coming close to your speed. He fights in the way of the Eonir, favouring a short spear, and the two of you find yourselves surprisingly evenly matched, though you can tell you have the slightest of advantages.
Gain +1 Prowess!
[x] Hunt the Steamship
Your ships sail out of your new piers armed to the teeth and carrying far more troops than usual. Your hawkship bears all five of your eagle knights, as well as yourself, Eydis, and Vadac. The Lady Ortiz marshalls the warrior priests on another, along with Sir Helene Carrad. Captain Hochstrasse remains behind to command any required defence of the settlement, but all of his handgunners and halberdiers are aboard your armed merchant ships.
The sleek form of the hawkship leads the column, her enchanted sails fluttering in the wind. Her bolt-throwers have been freshly restocked with enchanted star-iron bolts; each capable of punching through even the iron armour of dwarfish steamships. They are likely your only ranged weapon capable of doing serious damage to the chaos-tainted steamship. The cannons of your merchant ships are simply too small, their barrels too weak, to do anything more than damage weak points or the outer workings of the ship.
As you sail out into the Black Gulf, you are joined by a number of swift Norscan longships. Aboard them, you see warriors clad in a curious mix of Norscan craft and imported Imperial or Tilean armour. If you can slow the steamship, if Eydis can blind its gunners - they could prove vital in a boarding action.
Your Eagle Knights take to the air as your ships remain concentrated and begin to make long sweeping flights over the areas of the Gulf you know the steamship is likely to be in. Eydis reads the stars and makes some subtle predictions of her own - but she cannot use too much magic, or she may alert the great Sorcerer who this steamship seems to serve.
The lack of reliance on the wind makes the tracking somewhat more complicated, but orcs and dwarfs have always been subpar sailors. Your knights quickly locate the steamship by the long columns of black smoke its infernal engines produce. They dart away into the clouds before they can be seen, and as night falls your ships arrive in their positions.
You stand aboard the deck of your hawkship, your hand resting on Galerion's hind leg. Your sword waits for you in his saddle, and you wear your armour - gleaming ithilmar covered by black cloth tonight. Beside you are the rest of your knights, of course, but also Vadac, Lady Ortiz, and three of her warrior-priests. They will form your initial boarding party, provided Eydis can get you close enough.
She stands by the prow of the ship, forward of the bolt-thrower batteries, and is already deep in meditation. You wish you could call out to her, to ask her for reassurance - to ask her to be by your side in the battle to come... but the Sorcerer is not here, and without such a fell power to confront Eydis's efforts are best spent protecting your ships with her war magic.
You leap atop Galerion, and as Eydis begins to shroud the sea in enchanted mist, you and your knights ascend into the air. You see a brief glimpse of your ramshackle fleet as it begins to move, before the mist swallows it. Your hawkship rushes forward, attempting to land some telling blows with her bolt throwers whilst remaining out of effective range of the dwarfish cannons. Your merchant ships and the Norscan longships charge forward, attempting to close with and board the steamship.
Cannonfire blossoms from the side of the steamship, gouts of hellfire and black smoke shooting out from the turrets atop it. At this range, they would have no hope of a hit even without the mist that begins to enshroud the whole battlefield. Still, you know that the Norscans are not used to such weapons and that your own human sailors are unnerved by the infernal machinery of the corrupted steamship.
You and your knights are well above the battlefield, hidden from the crew aboard the steamship as your mounts carry you towards it.
Your ships race forward and it is your Hawkship that scores the first hit - a bolt slams into the thick outer armour of the steamship, the enchanted head of meteoric iron exploding with arcane force as it punches into the steamship. The wards beat into the dark armour with the blood of slaves and the fell power of the dark gods is not enough.
The turrets atop the steamship continue to fire, and though they are blinded by the mist their power is deadly. One longship takes a direct hit and is blasted apart. The largest pieces that remain are small spurs of wood, burning even atop the water. Were any of your ships, even your hawkship, to take a direct hit from the steamship's main batteries, it would surely be destroyed.
Your armed merchantmen hang back and fire their broadsides, the smoke from their cannons the only impediment to their sight - for the war magic Eydis is calling upon blinds only those she chooses. The cannonballs slam into the iron armour to little effect, however, for they lack the speed or arcane power of your hawkship's bolts.
As you reach the steamship, you call upon the power of the heavens. Though the sky is clear, the dragon-helm atop your head gives you power still. You reach one arm out, and suddenly the clear sky darkens for just a moment. A titanic bolt of lightning, crackling and splitting into many smaller bolts, lances down from the sky and slams into the fighting spaces atop the steamship.
You blow your hunting horn with your other hand, and then the battle is truly joined. Galerion needs no further instruction, and neither do your knights as you dive out of the sky towards the steamship.
Lady Ortiz and her warrior-priests gather their power and as you level out of your dive, they unleash it. Burning light heralds your advance, brighter than the sun, and blinds any looking towards you. You leap from Galerion's back and draw your sword in one smooth motion; your feet barely brushing the iron of the steamship's deck before your sword is wet with the blood of its defenders.
Hobgoblins and Black orcs man most of the fighting space, but not all - you see Dwarfs, clad in strange armour and wielding muskets with terrible glaives attached to them. They bark something in a dark tongue, but your attack has caught them by surprise. Galerion picks several rcs up as he flies upwards once more and flings them bodily into the sea. Your knights skewer many of the dwarfen overseers on their lances; as Vadac puts arrows through the tiny eyeslits of their helmets.
You hold up your blade and shout a prayer to Asuyran, Emperor of the Heavens, even as you focus upon the wind of fire. Here at sea, there should be little of it to draw on save your ring, but this dark ship is fuelled by great fires below deck. That dark power would endanger your very soul - so you do not draw upon it. You call upon another source of power; wielding multiple Winds at once.
As the Phoenix King is incomplete without the Everqueen, so is the power of Asurayan incomplete without Isha. You call upon her, remember her touch upon your soul, and meld Hysh with Aqushy in a mighty harmony.
Bright orange fire licks up your sword for only a moment - as you balance the two winds in one complex harmony, the red fire is joined by a golden light. Then, the two become one, your sword burning with fire the colour of sunlight.
You charge forward as Galerion and your knights fly back into the sky. Vadac, along with Lady Ortiz and her warrior-priests, remain on the steamship with you. She fights with her spear, glowing with holy power, and fells many of the orcs with blows that punch right through their dark iron plate.
The Chaos Dwarf who seems to be leading the forces atop the ship strides forward, his vision returned, and bellows out a challenge. You stride forward and see him clearly - he levels a pair of pistols at you, never intending to honour his challenge. He fires, but you move your sword with such speed that you cut both lead balls out of the air.
The Dwarf staggers back as he reaches for a glaive and orders several of the largest orcs to charge you. You will not forgive such dishonour. Your stride forward, dispatching the orcs with contemptuous blows of your burning blade, and then strike the dwarf's head from his shoulders. His entire body catches alight with the passage of your sword through his neck, whatever foul mutations contained within his body being rent apart and burnt by the Hysh racing through your sword.
The steamship is armed not only with the great turrets atop it but many smaller weapons. It is a good thing for them, too, because soon into the battle your hawkship has silenced the great turreted guns. Your merchantmen close in concert with the Norscan longboats, and now at close range the cannons on those merchant ships begin to pound holes into the armour of the steamship. The smaller guns on it fire wildly, and one manages to rake one of your merchant ships.
The burning iron balls luckily only set alight and sail and punch a hole through and through - had it been aimed with a clear vision, they would surely have been able to set alight the powder stored in the heart of the ship. As it is, one of the merchant ships withdraws from the fighting to put out the fire on deck.
That blind fire from the smaller guns is not able to hit the Norscan longboats, the much smaller craft literally rowing under the guns as the hardy Northmen throw grappling hooks up into the holes the cannons and your hawkship's bolt throwers have pounded into the steamships armour.
Several Norscans join you atop the ship, including their leader Ulfric and his Huscarls. His heavily armoured bodyguard have been equipped with armour from the Empire and Tilea, modern steel plate and armed with huge two-handed axes.
"See, see men! The elf-lord has the favour of her gods!" Ulfric shouts as he sees your burning sword, and his men give out a mighty battle cry as they join you in cutting down the armoured orcs atop the ship. Some fall, as does one of your warrior priests, but soon enough you have cleared the way towards the towering bridge of the steamship.
What you find there as you lead your forces to the heart of the steamship is sickening. A vast ritual circle, slick with the blood of human slaves, surrounds some lesser sorcerer - not the one you saw in Eydis's scrying. Rising from the pooled blood are a half dozen daemons, bloodletters with skin the colour of fresh blood and black-iron blades. Their burning eyes and fanged mouths grin as they see you, eagre for blood. The Norscans take a step back at the sight, their hands trembling.
It is not just them within the bridge - there is also another huge black orc, like the one you slew in the previous battle. He has his own guards, only slightly smaller.
"I will deal with the sorcerer and his pets. Lady Ortiz, keep the orcs clear of me," you order as you stride towards the sorcerer. She shouts in response, and a blast of light bursts from her speartip and blinds the orcs. At that show of power, the Norscans bellow out the name of Lady Ortiz's Southern god and charge forward; not willing to be outdone.
The daemons cackle in their tongues, a language thought fell and evil across the Old World. Only do the Elves of Ulthuan know the secret truth - that it is no tongue of daemons, but that of the Old Ones. The sorcerer bids them to slay you, and so they charge forward.
They strike with unnatural skill and speed, and their strength is far greater than yours, but their dark swords are far slower than your own. They dare not meet your blade, too, for the Hysh coursing through it would surely unmake their own weapons. You fight them in a swirl of steel and ithilmar, burning golden fire and flashes of dark steel. Such is the speed and intensity of the battle that no mortal could withstand it.
Several times they strike your armour, but again and again does the ithilmar palte and your enchanted dragon helm turn aside their blows. The daemons have no such protection, reliant on their innate resistance to mortal weapons... but that is no protection at all against your enchanted sword, and worse than useless against the power that blazes along it now.
You cleave daemonic flesh apart with single blows, and the Dwarfish sorcerer staggers backwards as you cut down his summoned minions. He raises his hands and readies a spell - and you are ready to stop him.
The sorcerer unleashes a gout of dark fire, roiling with chaotic power. You call upon not one wind, but all eight at the same time - unified into true magic. You unweave his spell directly, but also drain away the power he draws upon. You see him draw on something else, on his own life, and you know that merely unweaving his spell will not be enough.
Before the fire can reach you, you hold out one hand and weave a defence of your own. A shield of transparent force extends before you, tinged faintly blue, and as the dark fire splashes upon it like raindrops on glass, it is transformed into harmless multicoloured light.
Your shield fades as the sorcerer's attack does and before he can cast another spell, you cross the distance between the two of you and cut him from shoulder to hip. He does not bleed, nor cry out - instead his body, almost stone-like, shatters from the force of your blow.
The ship heaves, the sound of rippling, screaming metal echoing throughout it. Its master has perished, and the daemons bound to it find their leashes no longer so securely tied.
"Back to the deck, we're leaving!" you shout, and the Norscans smoothly switch to cutting a way out. Steam hisses from burst pipes, and dark smoke rises through the grated flooring as the daemonship comes undone around you. None seem especially interested in slowing your passage - indeed, even the black orcs seem to be turning tail and running.
As you reach the top of the ship, you see one of its turreted guns explode in a burst of dark fire, the daemon bound to it cackling as it is set free - luckily returning it to the realms of Chaos. Not all of the freed daemons are banished - you see them happily busy salughtering the crew, their dark blades wet with dwarf blood.
Galerion swoops down, and as the Norscans return to their longships, you rise with your knights and watch the daemonship tear itself apart, its dreadful guns at last silent.
Crushing Victory! The Daemonship is destroyed, and most of the Chaos Dwarf forces in the area along with it. Losses are: 25 Sailors, 10 handgunners, one merchant ship damaged.
+2 Martial, +2 Magic +5 Progress towards Wizard II, +5 Progress towards Blessing of Isha II. Blessing of Isha upgraded!
Population Growth:
12d20 Children = 122
16 Children Age into... 4 Sailors, 4 Farmers, 4 Labourers, 4 Soldiers.
6d100 Immigration = 431= 130 Labourers, 129 Farmers, 86 Sailors, 86 Craftspeople
Private Construction:
Budget: 600GC.
Result: 1d24 = 7, Vineyard. Cost 100GC = 6 Vineyards
The expansion of your trade links with Tilea, and through the elf merchant ships the rest of the world, has resulted in something of a boom for the wine produced by your settlement's vineyards. The life magic infused into the soil has given it the barest glimmer of the flavour that elfwine fully embodies, and reportedly your wine is taking over much of the "imitation" elfwine market, something the merchants of Lothern will be thankful for.
[x] Recruit woodsmen as skirmishers
DC 50 = 1d100 + 24 (Osydin's Martial) + 19 (Lady Ortiz's Martial) = 1, 56+24+19 = 100
Exceeded DC by 50, one degrees of success. Crit fail negated by double action.
Exceeded DC by 50, one degrees of success. Crit fail negated by double action.
Vadac is dismissive of the skill of human woodsmen, but he does agree to separate out the least incompetent. Not all have bows suitable for warfare, but there are perhaps half who - being former Brettonian peasants - are capable longbowmen. The rest you arm with crossbows or hunting muskets, as well as arming swords and hand axes.
Whilst not capable of standing up to cavalry, or holding ground without the benefit of serious fortification, the skirmishers will work well as light troops to either screen your heavier troops or for more specialised applications.
[x] Trade with Tilea
Your merchant ships carry wine, preserved foodstuffs, and more to Tilea. Your wine is especially successful as an export good - the life magic infused into the soil of your vineyards giving it if not the terroir of elfwine, then something of its technique.
[x] Trade with Wurtmoot Island
Wurtmoot Island remains your most important trading partner, however. The proximity of the island means that you can trade not only wine and preserved foodstuffs, but that plenty of the small boats that make the crossing are actually carrying fresh food and live animals.
You are almost surprised that 'Baron' Wurtmoot never considered establishing an outpost on the shore, but you suspect that his forces - whilst well armed to repel a siege of his island - are not numerous enough to secure any practical amount of farmland.
[x] Propose Something to Another Border Prince: Ulfric the Norscan help in hunting the Steam ship
DC 75 = 1d100 + 20 (Osydin's Diplomacy) + 21 (Sir Carrad's Diplomacy) + 5 (Signature Look of Superiority) = 47+20+21+5 = 93
Bare Sucess.
Bare Sucess.
You take Sir Carrad with you, of course, but this matter is one where your status will be helpful. The Norscans, though they might be far from their dark gods, respect the power of a Vikti, especially one from the shrouded isle of Ulthuan - a place that features prominently in many of their bloody sagas.
They sing of your homeland not as a paradise, as all the elves see it - even those long since lost to its shores, nor do they sing of the tales other humans tell. They do not sign of fair Lothern, the jewel of the world.
To the Norscans, Ulthuan is a bloody maw; a dark isle that drinks greedily of the blood of heroes.
So when you step ashore from your Hawkship, you are welcomed with awe and whispers. You are a figure from song; the end of heroes made manifest.
Ulfric knows of the steamship - how could such accomplished seafarers not? But he fears it, rightfully, ever since he lost three longships attempting to board it. Were you any other, were you man or dwarf, he would've refused you without a second thought.
But, by the barest of margins, the part of him that remembers the sagas wins out.
[x] Attempt to improve the attitude of another Border Prince: Baron Wurtmoot
DC 75 = 1d100 + 20 (Osydin's Diplomacy) + 21 (Sir Carrad's Diplomacy) = 90+20+21 = 131
Exceeded DC by 50, two degrees of success
Exceeded DC by 50, two degrees of success
Sir Carrad finally has some success with Baron Wurtmoot. The Bretonnian noble is of high enough birth to mollify Wurtmoot's ego that he is not receiving your personal attention. You are not exactly the best of friends, but the relationship between your courts - motley as they - is now notably warm.
[X] Order Buildings constructed 10 Medium Farms; 90 Decent Dwellings; 1 Market; 1 Fortified Powder Mill; 2 Horse Herds; 1 Medium Pier
Your settlement continues to expand. With a population now north of three thousand, the lighthouse now lies at the centre of a bustling town. Long, wide streets of well-made houses are peppered with small market squares, whilst the new temple of Myrmidia stands as the impressive of all the new buildings - an imposing fortress of volcanic rock.
You also order the construction of various items of strategic importance. You finally have the funds to import the labour needed for the powder mill, in addition to the materials you already have. You also begin to establish horse herds, both to supply your own troops and as an export.
Most importantly of all, you finally manage to enlarge the piers - establishing an entirely new section, many times the size of your previous facilities. Now you can easily dock a dozen ships and hundreds of small boats.
[x] Plan out a sewage system
DC 75 = 1d100 + 15 (Osydin's Stewardship) + 21 (Captain Hochstrasse's Stewardship) = 47+15+21 = 83
Bare Success.
Bare Success.
A town of three thousand people - especially of three thousand humans - requires some thought as to the disposal of human waste if it is to avoid becoming a putrid hive. You task Captain Hochstrasse with arranging for the labour to begin the digging of a sewer system, to your exacting specifications. It will not be as capable as a true elvish sewer system, of course, but it will be far better than what the good Captain would've constructed if left to his own devices.
[x] Train Your Human Students
DC 125 = 1d100 + 1d100 + 14 (Osydin's Intrigue) + 27 (Eydis's Intrigue) + 40 (Eydis's Magic) = 61+55+14+27+40 = 197
Exceeded DC by 50, two extra degrees of success.
Exceeded DC by 50, two extra degrees of success.
Eydis trains her human students. Restricted to only the Wind of Life, they make considerable progress through the much-simplified curriculum, they are taught. Though none are yet useful, none are lost to accidents or corruption. Anna, the teenager, is even capable now of sowing life magic into the fields around your settlement.
+1 to Anna's magic, taking Use Magic to Aid Your Farmers now no longer takes an action when taken as an intrigue action. 10 Children become Apprentices, a special type of Child.
[x] Use Magic to Aid Your Farmers
DC 50 = 1d100 + 28 (Osydin's Magic) + 5 (Blessing of Isha) = 40+28+5 = 73
Bare success.
Bare success.
You walk amongst the fields surrounding your settlement, your ceremonial robes remaining pure white even as you walk barefoot across field and pasture. You not only sing to the crops, but bless the first foals born to your horse herds. Not a one is lost to birth, and none of the mothers either.
[x] Study Magic
DC 150 = 1d100 +28 (Magic) + 40 (Eydis's Magic) + 15 (Mage of the White Tower III) =66+28+40+15 = 149
Bare Failure
Bare Failure
You take more lessons with Eydis - a welcome reprieve for her after long days of teaching human children the barest basics. With your acquisition of a powerful relic linked to the Wind of Heavens, you attempt to learn more of that lore.
Unfortunately, you are unable to make any significant progress before you must leave to battle the steamship. You know only the basics of the lore - a little divination, elementary fate manipulation, and of course how to call down lightning bolts from the sky. Still, your time spent studying the arcane is not entirely wasted - though you learn no new spells, you do make some progress towards your overall level of skill.
4/10 Progress gained towards advancing the Wizard I trait.
[x] Spend time with a notable NPC: Vadac the Eonir
Opposed Roll: 1d100 + 31 (Osydin's Prowess) vs 1d100 + 27 (Vadac's Prowess) = 39+31 vs 43+27 = 70 vs 70
Draw!
Draw!
Vadac, the colonial, is an enigma. You have not known the colonists to be particularly hospitable towards your people, but he has taken your coin and given you good service without complaint.
"You are unusual, for one of the Asur," he says. He does not give you your title, as you have come to expect.
"You are unusually personable for one of the Eonir," you reply.
"Perhaps. You are no exile, are you?"
"I retain the favour of His Majesty," you say, carefully - for you do, your exile being entirely unofficial. You feel no need to clarify which monarch you are referring to. There is only one rightful King of the Elves.
"His favour, perhaps. His orders, most certainly. Tell me, eagle-friend, are you the beachhead for some fool invasion of the Old World?" he asks.
"What an absurd notion. I had assumed you were capable of determining my true purpose here," you reply.
"Then you have been sent to secure the southern flank. It seems your Sea-Farer does not forget the world outside of Ulthuan."
After that, the two of you exchange no further words - though you do spend some time sparring, Vadac one of the few beings in the settlement capable of coming close to your speed. He fights in the way of the Eonir, favouring a short spear, and the two of you find yourselves surprisingly evenly matched, though you can tell you have the slightest of advantages.
Gain +1 Prowess!
[x] Hunt the Steamship
Your ships sail out of your new piers armed to the teeth and carrying far more troops than usual. Your hawkship bears all five of your eagle knights, as well as yourself, Eydis, and Vadac. The Lady Ortiz marshalls the warrior priests on another, along with Sir Helene Carrad. Captain Hochstrasse remains behind to command any required defence of the settlement, but all of his handgunners and halberdiers are aboard your armed merchant ships.
The sleek form of the hawkship leads the column, her enchanted sails fluttering in the wind. Her bolt-throwers have been freshly restocked with enchanted star-iron bolts; each capable of punching through even the iron armour of dwarfish steamships. They are likely your only ranged weapon capable of doing serious damage to the chaos-tainted steamship. The cannons of your merchant ships are simply too small, their barrels too weak, to do anything more than damage weak points or the outer workings of the ship.
As you sail out into the Black Gulf, you are joined by a number of swift Norscan longships. Aboard them, you see warriors clad in a curious mix of Norscan craft and imported Imperial or Tilean armour. If you can slow the steamship, if Eydis can blind its gunners - they could prove vital in a boarding action.
Opposed Roll: 1d100 + 1d100 (Second Action) + 24 (Osydin's Martial) + 5 (Sea-Elf) + 10 (Eagle Knights) + 15 (Superior Sailors) vs 1d100 + 20 (Warboss's Martial) + 10 (Daemon-engine) = 66+17+24+5+10+15 vs 43+20+10 = 122 vs 73.
Exceeded Opponent by 25, one extra degree of success
Exceeded Opponent by 25, one extra degree of success
Your Eagle Knights take to the air as your ships remain concentrated and begin to make long sweeping flights over the areas of the Gulf you know the steamship is likely to be in. Eydis reads the stars and makes some subtle predictions of her own - but she cannot use too much magic, or she may alert the great Sorcerer who this steamship seems to serve.
The lack of reliance on the wind makes the tracking somewhat more complicated, but orcs and dwarfs have always been subpar sailors. Your knights quickly locate the steamship by the long columns of black smoke its infernal engines produce. They dart away into the clouds before they can be seen, and as night falls your ships arrive in their positions.
You stand aboard the deck of your hawkship, your hand resting on Galerion's hind leg. Your sword waits for you in his saddle, and you wear your armour - gleaming ithilmar covered by black cloth tonight. Beside you are the rest of your knights, of course, but also Vadac, Lady Ortiz, and three of her warrior-priests. They will form your initial boarding party, provided Eydis can get you close enough.
She stands by the prow of the ship, forward of the bolt-thrower batteries, and is already deep in meditation. You wish you could call out to her, to ask her for reassurance - to ask her to be by your side in the battle to come... but the Sorcerer is not here, and without such a fell power to confront Eydis's efforts are best spent protecting your ships with her war magic.
Opposed Roll: 1d100 + 24 (Osydin's Martial) + 5 (Sea-Elf) + 10 (Superior Scouts) + 15 (Superior Sailors) + 40 (Eydis's Magic) vs 1d100 + 20 (Warboss's Martial) + 10 (Daemon-engine) + 15 (We Need No Wind) = 5+24+5+10+15+40 vs 12+20+10+15 = 99 vs 57.
Exceeded Opponent by 25, one extra degree of success
Exceeded Opponent by 25, one extra degree of success
You leap atop Galerion, and as Eydis begins to shroud the sea in enchanted mist, you and your knights ascend into the air. You see a brief glimpse of your ramshackle fleet as it begins to move, before the mist swallows it. Your hawkship rushes forward, attempting to land some telling blows with her bolt throwers whilst remaining out of effective range of the dwarfish cannons. Your merchant ships and the Norscan longships charge forward, attempting to close with and board the steamship.
Cannonfire blossoms from the side of the steamship, gouts of hellfire and black smoke shooting out from the turrets atop it. At this range, they would have no hope of a hit even without the mist that begins to enshroud the whole battlefield. Still, you know that the Norscans are not used to such weapons and that your own human sailors are unnerved by the infernal machinery of the corrupted steamship.
You and your knights are well above the battlefield, hidden from the crew aboard the steamship as your mounts carry you towards it.
Opposed Roll: 1d100 + 24 (Osydin's Martial) + 40 (Eydis's Magic) + 47 (Osydin's Effective Prowess) + 10 (Deployment) + 5 (Sea Elf) + 10 (Superior Scouts) + 15 (Superior Sailors) + vs 1d100 + 20 (Warboss's Martial) + 10 (Daemon-engine) + 15 (We Need No Wind) + 20 (Daemonsmith's Magic) + 15 (Hellcannons) = 69+24+40+47+10+5+10+15 vs 76+20+10+15+20+15 = 220 vs 156
Beat opponent by 50, two degrees of success
Beat opponent by 50, two degrees of success
Your ships race forward and it is your Hawkship that scores the first hit - a bolt slams into the thick outer armour of the steamship, the enchanted head of meteoric iron exploding with arcane force as it punches into the steamship. The wards beat into the dark armour with the blood of slaves and the fell power of the dark gods is not enough.
The turrets atop the steamship continue to fire, and though they are blinded by the mist their power is deadly. One longship takes a direct hit and is blasted apart. The largest pieces that remain are small spurs of wood, burning even atop the water. Were any of your ships, even your hawkship, to take a direct hit from the steamship's main batteries, it would surely be destroyed.
Your armed merchantmen hang back and fire their broadsides, the smoke from their cannons the only impediment to their sight - for the war magic Eydis is calling upon blinds only those she chooses. The cannonballs slam into the iron armour to little effect, however, for they lack the speed or arcane power of your hawkship's bolts.
As you reach the steamship, you call upon the power of the heavens. Though the sky is clear, the dragon-helm atop your head gives you power still. You reach one arm out, and suddenly the clear sky darkens for just a moment. A titanic bolt of lightning, crackling and splitting into many smaller bolts, lances down from the sky and slams into the fighting spaces atop the steamship.
You blow your hunting horn with your other hand, and then the battle is truly joined. Galerion needs no further instruction, and neither do your knights as you dive out of the sky towards the steamship.
Lady Ortiz and her warrior-priests gather their power and as you level out of your dive, they unleash it. Burning light heralds your advance, brighter than the sun, and blinds any looking towards you. You leap from Galerion's back and draw your sword in one smooth motion; your feet barely brushing the iron of the steamship's deck before your sword is wet with the blood of its defenders.
Hobgoblins and Black orcs man most of the fighting space, but not all - you see Dwarfs, clad in strange armour and wielding muskets with terrible glaives attached to them. They bark something in a dark tongue, but your attack has caught them by surprise. Galerion picks several rcs up as he flies upwards once more and flings them bodily into the sea. Your knights skewer many of the dwarfen overseers on their lances; as Vadac puts arrows through the tiny eyeslits of their helmets.
You hold up your blade and shout a prayer to Asuyran, Emperor of the Heavens, even as you focus upon the wind of fire. Here at sea, there should be little of it to draw on save your ring, but this dark ship is fuelled by great fires below deck. That dark power would endanger your very soul - so you do not draw upon it. You call upon another source of power; wielding multiple Winds at once.
As the Phoenix King is incomplete without the Everqueen, so is the power of Asurayan incomplete without Isha. You call upon her, remember her touch upon your soul, and meld Hysh with Aqushy in a mighty harmony.
Opposed Roll: 1d100 + 24 (Osydin's Magic) + 10 (Fireheart Ring) + 10 (Blessing of Isha) vs 1d100 + 20 (Daemonsmith's Magic) = 86 +24 +10 +10 vs 7 +20 = 140 vs 27
Exceeded opponent by 100, four extra degrees of success. Spending all 4 for duration
Exceeded opponent by 100, four extra degrees of success. Spending all 4 for duration
Bright orange fire licks up your sword for only a moment - as you balance the two winds in one complex harmony, the red fire is joined by a golden light. Then, the two become one, your sword burning with fire the colour of sunlight.
You charge forward as Galerion and your knights fly back into the sky. Vadac, along with Lady Ortiz and her warrior-priests, remain on the steamship with you. She fights with her spear, glowing with holy power, and fells many of the orcs with blows that punch right through their dark iron plate.
The Chaos Dwarf who seems to be leading the forces atop the ship strides forward, his vision returned, and bellows out a challenge. You stride forward and see him clearly - he levels a pair of pistols at you, never intending to honour his challenge. He fires, but you move your sword with such speed that you cut both lead balls out of the air.
The Dwarf staggers back as he reaches for a glaive and orders several of the largest orcs to charge you. You will not forgive such dishonour. Your stride forward, dispatching the orcs with contemptuous blows of your burning blade, and then strike the dwarf's head from his shoulders. His entire body catches alight with the passage of your sword through his neck, whatever foul mutations contained within his body being rent apart and burnt by the Hysh racing through your sword.
Opposed Roll: 1d100 + 24 (Osydin's Martial) + 40 (Eydis's Magic) + 75 (Osydin's Effective Prowess) + 10 (Deployment) + 20 (Skirmish) + 5 (Sea Elf) + 10 (Superior Scouts) + 15 (Superior Sailors) + vs 1d100 + 20 (Warboss's Martial) + 10 (Daemon-engine) + 15 (We Need No Wind) + 20 (Daemonsmith's Magic) + 15 (Hellcannons) = 95!+7+24+40+75+10+20+5+10+15 vs 98!+94+20+10+15+20+15 = 301 vs 272
Beat opponent by 25, one extra degree of success
Beat opponent by 25, one extra degree of success
The steamship is armed not only with the great turrets atop it but many smaller weapons. It is a good thing for them, too, because soon into the battle your hawkship has silenced the great turreted guns. Your merchantmen close in concert with the Norscan longboats, and now at close range the cannons on those merchant ships begin to pound holes into the armour of the steamship. The smaller guns on it fire wildly, and one manages to rake one of your merchant ships.
The burning iron balls luckily only set alight and sail and punch a hole through and through - had it been aimed with a clear vision, they would surely have been able to set alight the powder stored in the heart of the ship. As it is, one of the merchant ships withdraws from the fighting to put out the fire on deck.
That blind fire from the smaller guns is not able to hit the Norscan longboats, the much smaller craft literally rowing under the guns as the hardy Northmen throw grappling hooks up into the holes the cannons and your hawkship's bolt throwers have pounded into the steamships armour.
Several Norscans join you atop the ship, including their leader Ulfric and his Huscarls. His heavily armoured bodyguard have been equipped with armour from the Empire and Tilea, modern steel plate and armed with huge two-handed axes.
"See, see men! The elf-lord has the favour of her gods!" Ulfric shouts as he sees your burning sword, and his men give out a mighty battle cry as they join you in cutting down the armoured orcs atop the ship. Some fall, as does one of your warrior priests, but soon enough you have cleared the way towards the towering bridge of the steamship.
What you find there as you lead your forces to the heart of the steamship is sickening. A vast ritual circle, slick with the blood of human slaves, surrounds some lesser sorcerer - not the one you saw in Eydis's scrying. Rising from the pooled blood are a half dozen daemons, bloodletters with skin the colour of fresh blood and black-iron blades. Their burning eyes and fanged mouths grin as they see you, eagre for blood. The Norscans take a step back at the sight, their hands trembling.
It is not just them within the bridge - there is also another huge black orc, like the one you slew in the previous battle. He has his own guards, only slightly smaller.
"I will deal with the sorcerer and his pets. Lady Ortiz, keep the orcs clear of me," you order as you stride towards the sorcerer. She shouts in response, and a blast of light bursts from her speartip and blinds the orcs. At that show of power, the Norscans bellow out the name of Lady Ortiz's Southern god and charge forward; not willing to be outdone.
The daemons cackle in their tongues, a language thought fell and evil across the Old World. Only do the Elves of Ulthuan know the secret truth - that it is no tongue of daemons, but that of the Old Ones. The sorcerer bids them to slay you, and so they charge forward.
They strike with unnatural skill and speed, and their strength is far greater than yours, but their dark swords are far slower than your own. They dare not meet your blade, too, for the Hysh coursing through it would surely unmake their own weapons. You fight them in a swirl of steel and ithilmar, burning golden fire and flashes of dark steel. Such is the speed and intensity of the battle that no mortal could withstand it.
Several times they strike your armour, but again and again does the ithilmar palte and your enchanted dragon helm turn aside their blows. The daemons have no such protection, reliant on their innate resistance to mortal weapons... but that is no protection at all against your enchanted sword, and worse than useless against the power that blazes along it now.
You cleave daemonic flesh apart with single blows, and the Dwarfish sorcerer staggers backwards as you cut down his summoned minions. He raises his hands and readies a spell - and you are ready to stop him.
Opposed Roll: 1d100 + 24 (Osydin's Magic) + 10 (High Mage) vs 1d100 + 20 (Daemonsmith's Magic) = 45+24+10 vs 56+20 = 79 vs 76
Bare Success
Bare Success
The sorcerer unleashes a gout of dark fire, roiling with chaotic power. You call upon not one wind, but all eight at the same time - unified into true magic. You unweave his spell directly, but also drain away the power he draws upon. You see him draw on something else, on his own life, and you know that merely unweaving his spell will not be enough.
Before the fire can reach you, you hold out one hand and weave a defence of your own. A shield of transparent force extends before you, tinged faintly blue, and as the dark fire splashes upon it like raindrops on glass, it is transformed into harmless multicoloured light.
Your shield fades as the sorcerer's attack does and before he can cast another spell, you cross the distance between the two of you and cut him from shoulder to hip. He does not bleed, nor cry out - instead his body, almost stone-like, shatters from the force of your blow.
The ship heaves, the sound of rippling, screaming metal echoing throughout it. Its master has perished, and the daemons bound to it find their leashes no longer so securely tied.
"Back to the deck, we're leaving!" you shout, and the Norscans smoothly switch to cutting a way out. Steam hisses from burst pipes, and dark smoke rises through the grated flooring as the daemonship comes undone around you. None seem especially interested in slowing your passage - indeed, even the black orcs seem to be turning tail and running.
As you reach the top of the ship, you see one of its turreted guns explode in a burst of dark fire, the daemon bound to it cackling as it is set free - luckily returning it to the realms of Chaos. Not all of the freed daemons are banished - you see them happily busy salughtering the crew, their dark blades wet with dwarf blood.
Galerion swoops down, and as the Norscans return to their longships, you rise with your knights and watch the daemonship tear itself apart, its dreadful guns at last silent.
Crushing Victory! The Daemonship is destroyed, and most of the Chaos Dwarf forces in the area along with it. Losses are: 25 Sailors, 10 handgunners, one merchant ship damaged.
+2 Martial, +2 Magic +5 Progress towards Wizard II, +5 Progress towards Blessing of Isha II. Blessing of Isha upgraded!
Looks like Zharr Naggrund is now in the short end of the stick there and they deserved it.
Darik29
Verified Delicious
Hot damn! That Chaos Dwarf ship was likely the biggest threat in the area, naval wise! With it dead i expect we are going to have a brief period of stability before all kinds of pirates, Imperials, and other naval ships decide to poke around. Might even get an actual dwarf ironclad come poking about from Barak Var!
Regardless! Fun times ahead!
Regardless! Fun times ahead!
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
The best thing is how light our losses were, that was a proper Raid Boss against a genuine leviathan of the waves, and only 35 people actually died I think.
Ulthuan Rules the Waves indeed.
It's a good reminder that we're not to be fucked with to the other local powers too, especially the Norscans.
Ulthuan Rules the Waves indeed.
It's a good reminder that we're not to be fucked with to the other local powers too, especially the Norscans.
Darik29
Verified Delicious
25 sailors and ten hand gunners.
Which we can probably recoup in a single turn, given how fast our population is growing.
That and the fortified powder mill means we can start recruiting more hand gun ers! Or at least keep the unit we have supplied.
Now we need to start thinking about what other buildings we need to further expand the city.
Oh! Do we have a set of walls yet? Proper big ass stone walls for the city core?
Which we can probably recoup in a single turn, given how fast our population is growing.
That and the fortified powder mill means we can start recruiting more hand gun ers! Or at least keep the unit we have supplied.
Now we need to start thinking about what other buildings we need to further expand the city.
Oh! Do we have a set of walls yet? Proper big ass stone walls for the city core?
Ah glorious victory