Mathilde is on the 'handed down on stone tablets' side of things. Well, dice, cats and general trolling. But she did literally get mail on what He wants her to not be doing.
Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest
- Thread starter Boney
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- Fantasy Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
- Location
- Utrecht
Live by wits, not by your sword
Mathilde: my sword is called moonlit wit. Therefore, there is no problem. My wit just happens to be sword shaped.
- Location
- Finland
Ares may be the god of war, but he is also known for his numerous chidlren, usually with Aphrodite, among whom were a goddess of harmony, victory, and two different gods of love.
For a god of war, Ares tends to come out looking pretty good when going from ancient myths instead of pop culture.
- Location
- Aotearoa
I meant Ranald's code of conduct for Ranald.
I expect the reaction would be more of an exasperated huff and throwing of hands in the air- that is if Grey Magisters showed exasperation.
- Location
- Finland
Ranald's Code of Conduct: Do whatever i feel like.I meant Ranald's code of conduct for Ranald.
Codex
Fantasy Addict
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- She/Her
I don't think Mathilde ever truly bothers to try to understand Ranald necessarily. She is a bit of a scholar and dabbles in theology, but as someone who's channeled his favor multiple times I think she knows how inscrutable and unpredictable he is. It's part of the game, and the one time Mathilde tried to peel back those layers He told her to stop. I don't think even Ranald wants her to truly comprehend him, probably because it might permanently scar her to attempt to do so for a Warp Being of that size and power.
- Location
- Aotearoa
Well, I mean. There are a few glimpses she knows to be true. Ranald could not refuse this bet, gambling his very existence.
And the exasperation you can feel with your oldest friend and their prankster ways, even (especially!) when they're thanking you, or at least passing on your share of the take.
Exasperation, but she also knows the Rules of the game are what make it a game.
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There's a significant difference between 'I don't want you looking at my metaphysical structure, because Bad Things would happen' and 'I don't want you to understand my philosophical position/personality/self'.
That warning was about the first (and it could be for anything from privacy, 'things man was not meant to know', to 'it attracts attention from warp gribblies'). I don't think we've ever had any indication for the second. He's not super talkative, but I'd put that down more to trolling and bandwidth limitations.
- Location
- Aotearoa
Heidi seems to have a higher-bandwidth connection allowing more detailed communication, yeah. Possibly, probably through being both Favoured and actual sworn clergy.
I think Boney's mentioned previously that Ranald speaks to Mathilde in omens and portents because it really annoys her (same reason she doesn't like celestials), and if he wanted to speak to her verbally he could, it just wouldn't be as funny to him.
- Location
- Leeds
Don't forget letters that got misdirected in the mail.
Codex
Fantasy Addict
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My point is that to a certain extent, the only way to understand who Ranald truly is means to understand his metaphysical structure, to truly behold Him in his form in the Warp. I don't make a distinction between the two because I believe that to truly understand Ranald you would have to look at him. Even Heidi, who seems to have frequent conversations with Ranald, has a lot that she's missing. She had absolutely no idea about the whole Kislev gods thing and didn't seem to ever expect Ranald to tussle with other gods, attributing that fact to Mathilde's influence.
I disagree with that position. To me, it's like saying that the only way to truly understand another human is to understand their biological structure.
And it wasn't the goal of that action either. Mathilde was studying Ranalds metaphysical structure to better understand divinity, not Ranald specifically, and another god that was accessible and wouldn't smite her in offence would've done just as well (that last point is very restrictive). It's like a biological researcher recruiting a buddy as a subject.
I also think you're being way to strict on what it means to understand someone. I don't have to know every bit of my friends history or thoughts to understand him. Hell, I'm not sure anyone can understand someone under that strict a definition (I suspect Ranald didn't expect to get into a fistfight with Khorne).
At some point he's going to answer a completly unimportant and incidental query with words, and the refuse to ever do it again.
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The reason I view that as a false equivalence is that you're comparing Ranald, a God, to a human. Gods are not humans, they're beings made in the Realm of Infinite Possibility and Potential, an area that can not be measured or quantified and theorised to be the crystalisation of the collective unconciousness of the entire world and possibly the universe. He is not a Person who can be understood the normal way, because He is not a Person, He is a God.
If Ranald had a human Avatar or a manifestation, then yeah I'd say we could understand him without seeing his biological structure, but you can't understand the Warp Being known as Ranald who exists in a constant flux in a realm of eternal change without viewing what he looks like in that realm. It's like trying to get to know someone without ever meeting them in person. There's going to be a lot of details left out when you're not looking at someone and can interpret their microexpressions, body language, tone and general demeanour, which forms a significant chunk of communication.
Nice! Athough I find it surprising that neither Teutogen Guard nor Fellwolf Brotherhood( White Wolves Inner Circle )are on the list, given that we visited the Grand Temple and dealt a lot with Winter Wolves, who, being White wolf monster riders are all but guaranteed to be Inner Circle. Then again, Mathilde probably doesn't know enough about cult of ulric to make a distinction.
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I made a note of that before. The Ar-Ulric had a bunch of White Wolf bodyguards, but she didn't list them as Teutogen Guard which is probably because she doesn't know the intiricacies of the cult.
It's fair to take the position that gods don't work like humans, and so understanding them works by different rules. Personally, my assumption is that Ranald (at least as pertains to a given person) has a consistent personality, and understanding him means understanding that personality. Due to Mathilde's particular relationship, understanding means understanding the personality of a friend, because that's her perspective and Ranald does not seem to disagree.
I still don't see looking as at Ranald in the warp as necessary to understanding him.
But then, I also don't think you need to meet someone in person to understand them. It helps, because humans are better at that sort of thing, but it's not necessary, and it's more a matter of how fast than whether at all.
But honestly, it seems this has become a debate of definitions, and therefore unlikely to go anywhere further. So in the interest of not derailing/bloating things, I'll offer the last word to you and step out of this line.
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Mopman43
Mountain-Hermit of Nitpeak
- Location
- Vermont
The Fellwolf Brotherhood are an End Times thing, so it's entirely possible they're not quest-canon.
deathofrats0808
Don’t think of it as dying; just as leaving early
- Location
- Earth
"Don't get caught"
Actually if you look at what ancient myths of Ares we have written down he absolutely comes off poorly. He's either the victim of near slapstick comedy or he's doing stuff so more war happens. Now, that's largely because like 95% of the myths that were written down were written down by Athenians, but it's still a thing that we have written evidence of.
- Location
- Finland
We may be using different definitions of looking pretty good.
And a lot depends a lot on which version of the myths you go by.
He is also a fairly effective champion against enemies oft the gods, avenges the rape of his daughter (by killing the rapist and pissing of Poseidon whose son it was), saves Thanatos from Sisyphus (according to some versions).
By modern standards, and probably ancient greek standards, Ares is not a nice person.
But then neither are rest of the pantheon, his, sins, are generally sins of not looking the most heroic (and, as said, Athenians doing writing), and war (well duh).
So, yes, Ares comes of looking pretty good for a god of war, largely because the crowd he is standing in is so fucking terrible.
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*checks the sources in the wikies* Huh. That they are.
Still, the only thing 100% End Times is the name. Inner Circles are a common feature in Knightly Orders and we have no reason to believe White Wolves are an exception. And you have to admit it is a kickass name.
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
SuperSonicSound
Shadowmancer of the Shadow Cabal
Nope, not what Boney has said. Cults/religions have interpretations that does not have to match with the actual god in question.