obviously justRepublican teetotaler dwarfs more than half of which have some affinity to rune magic but next to no lore... yeah I have no idea what we could ask for them for a Transcendent Boon
Skateboards.Huh. If this happened with Vlag, now I'm wondering about the changes within Karag Dum's society and culture when they were stuck in the middle of nowhere.
Eeeee! More titles!
Matty really has a thing for returning uncomfortably radical Karags to the Karaz Ankor."Ah," you say carefully. He did say that the culture of the Karak had changed over the generations, and you're starting to get an idea of what he means. Those that knew the Karaz Ankor may have once despaired at the judgement that awaited them when they returned to it, but it seems their children and grandchildren are less willing to embrace self-abasement at the measures they had to take.
I never expected to agree with a dwarf on matters of alcohol.Oh, and alcohol. The Elders do go on about it, though they've never been able to properly explain why."
"It's an acquired taste."
"I've got plenty of tastes without having to acquire more," he says with a shrug.
So, this part got me thinking: Dwarfs can be quite adaptable (Vlag, the Ancestors, probably Azul, the chaos dwarfs in a less nice way). They just need a lot of pressure to force it (after all, even rock flows under enough heat). So the reason the Karaz Ankor hasn't been adapting well is that things didn't get bad enough. Which is both kind of impressive and a little stupid.You come away from Karak Vlag thoughtful. It's changed quite a bit, as you suppose would be inevitable after almost two centuries of complete isolation in such trying circumstances. They're something of a makeshift republic, they've splintered from the Runesmithing traditions of the Cult of Thungni, their culture seems, erm, markedly different from the Dwarves you're familiar with. They've had to rebuild their entire society around necessity. No brewers if there's barely enough grain to feed everyone. No smelters and very few miners if you can only mine in a single direction, and that upriver. No traders, no hunters, no rangers. Just farmers, and fighters, and those reworking and maintaining their dwindling and irreplaceable metals as best they can over several generations.
And yet they survived. No, more than that, they thrived. Their nadir was over a century ago, Brokkr said, and their population has been climbing since. Well, you suppose that makes sense, on both sides of the equation. The Daemons had reason to allow that as a renewable source of their new variety of shock troop, and as a self-maintaining toy for them to turn their attention to when they fancied. And on the Dwarven side, well, you're familiar with Dwarven fatalists, those that dwell on the decline of their race. But Karak Vlag's fatalists died in the first decade, leaving only those that embraced life as an act of defiance. You consider that for a moment, then draw a comparison to Karak Azul, isolated for millennia and constantly surrounded by greenskins but still strong despite it. Perhaps Dwarves with an immediate enemy to spite are ones more mentally healthy than those with no immediate threats, who have sufficient safety and freedom to despair at how much greater they used to be.
For a moment you feel that same tinge of despair, as you wonder if the Karaz Ankor will learn from this and immediately feel that they probably won't. But Karak Vlag has a lesson for you too. Those that embrace despair will die, and leave only those that still know hope to inherit. The arch-conservatives of Karaz-a-Karak may continue to wither, but they are not the be-all and end-all of the Karaz Ankor. The Young Holds continue to grow, Zhufbar continues to invent, Barak Varr continues to trade, and Karak Kadrin continues to deepen its relationship with Ostermark. And Karak Eight Peaks lives once more.
Heh. Such wizard.
Very Mathilde.as your sense of responsibiltiy and your ego are aligning with each other to point you in their direction.
Karag Dum's desperation was not an "Adapt or Die" thing, but a slow, grinding thing that happened over seven thousand years.Huh. If this happened with Vlag, now I'm wondering about the changes within Karag Dum's society and culture when they were stuck in the middle of nowhere.
Just with more kickflipping.
I think they'll do pretty well. Certainly have a good attitude.Those dwarves gonna have a hard time adjusting to this new world.
Those dwarves gonna have a hard time adjusting to this new world.
The K8U apocrypha was awesome and makes want to read all the stuff we have on the Liber Mortis, does anyone know where all the Liber Mortis stuff is? I'm unsure where in the thread it is, threads 10000 pages long sue me.
The Apprentices in the context are the first Apprentices that tought basic Runesmithing to others, right? Those new Runepokers are not bound by Thungni law am I correct?
The Apprentices in the context are the first Apprentices that tought basic Runesmithing to others, right? Those new Runepokers are not bound by Thungni law am I correct?
New headcanon: the seemingly bottomless warehouse is constantly kept as such by Masters sending their Apprentices on missions to steal old furniture from Altdorf citizens as part of their training.There's a seemingly bottomless warehouse of old and battered but well-made furniture and privacy screens for each Apprentice to customize the portion of the room available to them,
Ulgu.
Should probably capitalize 'her' to make it Her.
The Rhunkit are not part of the Cult of Thungni or the Guild of Runesmiths, but the Cult of Thungni argues that all practitioners of Runesmithing are under their jurisdiction. Karak Vlag seems to disagree.
I don't agree. To keep to the metaphor, too much force will smash a rock into pieces, too much wear will rub it into sand, and too much heat will vaporize it. Mama isn't exactly a narrow range of heat and pressure, but it's much easier to destroy a rock than it is to transform it from one state to another.So, this part got me thinking: Dwarfs can be quite adaptable (Vlag, the Ancestors, probably Azul, the chaos dwarfs in a less nice way). They just need a lot of pressure to force it (after all, even rock flows under enough heat). So the reason the Karaz Ankor hasn't been adapting well is that things didn't get bad enough. Which is both kind of impressive and a little stupid.
The vaults are the last part of a dwarf hold to fall. If they ever do."Oh aye, we've had a veritable landslide of nobles and dignitaries very cautiously asking about the contents of this vault or the other. Been tricky to properly confirm that each is the proper descendent of the manlings that left this, that, and the other in our protection all those years ago, but they seem quite astonished that we went to the trouble and returned every jot of it. That seems to have confirmed for them that we're not meaningfully different than the Dwarves their ancestors knew, which makes our return easier.
Fairly sure this was intended for Mathilde, I think? Good thing he had the sense to ask first.
An empire anthropologist would have a field day with a society that practices polyandry (female polygamy). There are quite a few cases in the real world, and in a society where 3 out of 4 children are male, it makes a lot of sense.