I have no idea, but I would say yes, at least with pall of shadows. I don't think we got WOG on that specific case, but it was mentioned every journeyman who learns the spell (and probably every magister too) spends some time thinking of clever ways around the circumstantial nature of burning shadows. If it was as simple as a really basic spell, it would be noted. Though having the cloud right there with you doesn't help all that much in directing the shadow where you want it.
Now, your suggestion was having it high above. Issue one is that you need to have contact with object casting the shadow, if I'm not very mistaken. Not just any shadow will do (which makes using a fog cloud difficult, though I can see a Grey Wizard being able to conceptualise it). Issue two is that fog high enough is no longer fog, but cloud, and falls under azyr. Dunno how that would work with pall of shadow, but for that you'd probably have problems making it large enough to matter. Assuming you can get around the touching limitation.
Personally, I think "Grey Wizard in a gyrocopter" is the most promising direction for this problem. Maybe add a Hubert to make some clouds you can fly inside (because I do think casting it on the shadow of a cloud while inside would be within at least spell adaptation range, though @Boney would have to confirm). Which isn't as good, but still a neat possibility.
Now, your suggestion was having it high above. Issue one is that you need to have contact with object casting the shadow, if I'm not very mistaken. Not just any shadow will do (which makes using a fog cloud difficult, though I can see a Grey Wizard being able to conceptualise it). Issue two is that fog high enough is no longer fog, but cloud, and falls under azyr. Dunno how that would work with pall of shadow, but for that you'd probably have problems making it large enough to matter. Assuming you can get around the touching limitation.
I know this technically isn't relevant to our current circumstances, but while I was reading the High Elves army book I was reminded that Gotrek Starbreaker took the Phoenix Crown of Aenarion as a trophy and it's still in KaK vaults. And apparently we could have spent favor to get a look at it as long as we didn't take it out of the vault.
Mathilde's very busy, but man am I intrigued. I don't know if it's an actual magic item, but some of the Warhammer books say that items that hold a lot of significance/cultural value can become "enchanted" naturally by people's perceptions. The significance of the Crown intrigues me.
The inspiration for this is partially fueled by the rage I'm feeling at the fact that the "Cloak of Beards" is a goddamn magic item. I thought it was just some weird relic, but no it has actual mechanical effects. What the hell.
The inspiration for this is partially fueled by the rage I'm feeling at the fact that the "Cloak of Beards" is a goddamn magic item. I thought it was just some weird relic, but no it has actual mechanical effects. What the hell.
They are. And that doesn't take into account the fact the thing may actually be enchanted. Use the shame and humiliation of the Dwarfs whose beards are woven into it to enhance its powers against Runecraft and to induce fear and terror into the Dwarfs who see it.
Ah, I had to edit my Character list. I put Grom the Paunch as having been killed by Eltharion, but apparently he just ran away. His status is unknown, probably as a way to justify GW making him a playable unit in the tabletop. I put in that Grom's status is unknown.
I don't know if Goblins even live that long, but considering this is Grom the Paunch we're talking about, the guy who ate troll meat and his stomach is still fighting a constant battle between digestion and regenerating meat, I wouldn't be surprised.
Ah, I had to edit my Character list. I put Grom the Paunch as having been killed by Eltharion, but apparently he just ran away. His status is unknown, probably as a way to justify GW making him a playable unit in the tabletop. I put in that Grom's status is unknown.
I don't know if Goblins even live that long, but considering this is Grom the Paunch we're talking about, the guy who ate troll meat and his stomach is still fighting a constant battle between digestion and regenerating meat, I wouldn't be surprised.
Far as I'm aware, whether or not Grom dies is one of those things that varies by source.
It's not required that a character be alive to be on the tabletop- there's been entries for Gorebad Ironclaw, Magnus the Pious, Gorthor the Beastlord, all thoroughly dead by 'present day'.
Far as I'm aware, whether or not Grom dies is one of those things that varies by source.
It's not required that a character be alive to be on the tabletop- there's been entries for Gorebad Ironclaw, Magnus the Pious, Gorthor the Beastlord, all thoroughly dead by 'present day'.
Well, I'm using the 8th Edition High Elf Army Book as the source for the Grom thing as I'm going through it rn. I went through the 8th edition Empire Army Book and didn't see a Magnus statblock. Which edition has his statblock? I'm curious.
Well, I'm using the 8th Edition High Elf Army Book as the source for the Grom thing as I'm going through it rn. I went through the 8th edition Empire Army Book and didn't see a Magnus statblock. Which edition has his statblock? I'm curious.
-[*] EGRIMM: Study an artefact: Golden Arm
-[*] MAX: Go through every library of the Colleges you can access for any scrap of information about Waystones.
-[*] Attempt to bring a Karak's Runesmiths into the Waystone Project (Karak Azul)
--[*] COIN: The Gambler
-[*] Furnish the living spaces of the Waystone Project HQ (600gc)
-[*] EIC: Have a blackpowder factory built in Wurtbad.
-[*] SERENITY: Observations of Karag Dum and its unusual guardian
"Well," says Egrimm, looking down at the golden arm, "my first thought is the New World. Infamously full of strange golden artefacts, and said to be filled with lizard-men who guard them. If those lizard-men are approximately the size of a man, that would fit."
"Are we sure it's gold?" you ask.
He considers that. "Good point," he concludes.
You summon a Shadowchisel, frown at it, then dismiss it. Better not to introduce unnecessary magic. "Do you have a blade?"
He pats his robes. "Ritual or regular?"
"Regular, just need to take some scratchings to assay."
He frowns as he draws a plain steel dagger from inside his robes and leans over the arm. "It does look pretty battered, so it shouldn't be a problem. If surface damage would discharge the enchantment, it would already have happened." He carefully scratches at part of the arm far from the joints, and then his frown deepens as he puts some force into it. "Must be an alloy," he grunts. "I'm just blunting my knife."
"That might imply this has a practical use - a prosthetic rather than an ornament."
"That fits with the articulation on the fingers."
"You think it's articulation? If so, it's seized tight." You carefully grip one of the clawed 'fingers' to demonstrate.
"Maybe fouling, maybe it requires the enchantment to be activated to operate. Though I suppose it could still be ornamental if that's the case. Some sort of poseable statue?"
"Or a mobile one. A war-construct, like Nehekharan statues?" You frown. "Are we sure this isn't Nehekharan?"
He looks down at the arm in alarm, then relaxes and shakes his head. "No, it would have their runes on it if it was theirs, and would probably be part stone as well. Wouldn't that be a way to endear ourselves to our hosts, bringing a Tomb King's army upon them." He tucks his dagger away. "We need some equipment. A chisel, touchstones. Assaying chemicals, maybe?"
"Maximilian should be able to take care of that."
"I thought their spells were dangerous to use on things like this?"
"No, he can do it normally. He takes an interest in that sort of thing."
---
You reconvene several days later with the result of Max's careful assaying of a few chiselled-off slivers: mostly gold, but whatever else is in there isn't identifiable from a few slivers, and testing any more than that would risk endangering the enchantment within. With that initial assumption successfully identified, excised, and tested, you resume the examination of the arm. What you quickly identify with the help of the touchstone is that the entire arm is not made of the same material - the raised circle in the palm is a separate, slightly lighter material, and you find what seems to be the same material in a spiral pattern at the shoulder joint. That fits in with the theory that this had some practical use, and leads you to suspect that whatever the material is, it's magically conductive in some way.
With a series of very careful isolation tests, you expose the arm to a spectrum of mono-wind environments to see how it reacts to each, and how each reacts to it. It exhibits a mild repellent effect on every Wind but Hysh, leading you to conclude that the magic stored within must be Hysh. But the exterior Hysh is not outright attracted to or absorbed by the arm, likely because of the insulating effect of the exterior gold alloy, but Egrimm's careful testing with a minute sliver of light on his fingertip confirms that the secondary material is conductive to it.
"Prosthetic," Egrimm says confidently as he carefully turns a vice around one clawed finger of the arm. "Not a war-statue. I'm certain of it."
"Oh?" you ask curiously.
"Have you studied anatomy?"
"Some," you hedge. "Probably in a different context to most."
He looks up at you, and you can practically see 'oh right, she's a Grey Wizard' run through his mind. "Well, ball-and-socket is an anatomical method of articulation. It works in flesh and bone, but it's a nightmare to get working with metals, or so Maximilian tells me. There's much simpler ways to achieve the same result in ways that work better in the medium. So that says to me that the reason for this being a ball looking for a joint is that it's meant to interface with bipedal anatomy."
"Or it was made by an artist instead of an engineer," you counter, more for the sake of argument than out of disagreement.
"The finger joints aren't anatomical, though. Revolving joints - or at least they look like them, since it's refusing to revolve - with a wider range of motion than in regular fingers. Hands are where attention is drawn, why would an artist put all that effort into a shoulder joint and then get lazy with the fingers?"
"It makes sense," you concede. "And it would explain why it's not cooperating. If you're supposed to install it into flesh and blood, you'd want it immobile while you're installing it."
"Which leaves us at something of a crossroads. If it is doing its best to lie dormant, with how magically insulated it is there's only two ways forward - we either go along with it or destroy it. Find a volunteer to install this into and see what happens, or break it down and start examining its innards."
"No shortage of people missing an arm out there, it wouldn't be difficult to find someone who wants it back badly enough to cooperate," you say musingly. "But it would mean that it's theirs, at least for the rest of their natural life. Wouldn't be able to get volunteers otherwise." Something occurs to you. "Or... Johann might be willing to volunteer. He's a big believer in self-improvement and already has golden arms. Though the magical interface seems like it would be a problem, Hysh meeting Chamon."
"I can't say for sure, but I don't think it would. If this is meant to be a long-term prosthetic, it must work through the body's natural control mechanisms - if it ran a tendril of Hysh all the way to the brain it would have negative long-term effects on the wearer. The only question would be the recharge mechanism. It's possible it absorbs exterior Hysh via the palm, but it's equally possible it's supposed to absorb it from the host, and that could present a problem. Though I think it would be a surmountable one."
[ ] [ARM] Johann Attempt to attach the prosthetic arm to Johann, with his full and enthusiastic consent.
[ ] [ARM] Amputee Find an amputee in the Empire who is willing to volunteer to have the arm attached to them.
[ ] [ARM] Disassemble Attempt to disassemble the prosthetic arm, so you can better study its inner workings.
[ ] [ARM] Finish Conclude your study of the prosthetic arm without attaching or disassembling it.
---
Protocol dictates that for matters of foreign affairs you go through Karak Azul's King instead of approaching the Runesmiths of Karak Azul directly, but Kazador is an incredibly practical Dwarf: in response to your letter on the matter, he simply states that he has more faith in your judgement than he has in his ability to understand whatever it is you're trying to do and gives his blanket approval to get up to whatever mischief you have in mind with his Master Runelord. Bolstered by this, you pen a carefully-written missive to Thorek Ironbrow and start planning a trip to Karak Azul, but his brusque reply instead proposes a meeting in your penthouse and gives a range of dates when he would be passing through Karak Eight Peaks.
Needless to say, this is rather unusual. Unlike Kragg, Thorek is an intensely political Dwarf and would be very aware of the advantages of you coming into his domain as a supplicant, and how much of an advantage he is ceding by instead coming to you at your convenience. You consider the possibility that you are dealing with an impostor, possibly one that is aligning itself for an assassination attempt on your person, and you resist the impulse to dismiss it out of hand. You do end up dismissing it as a virtual impossibility, but only after carefully running through the logic that would make such a counterfeit incredibly difficult to pull off compared to other possible vectors for an attempt on your life. With that worry set aside, you go through the other possible reasons and end up with two likely candidates: that he does not want the rest of his Guild learning of the meeting, or that he wants to negotiate an extreme degree of control over the project and seeks to put you off your guard.
Well, the simplest way to find out for sure is to let it play out. You arrange the meeting for the next time your schedules intersect and set the stage in every way you can: you confirm that Kragg is, as usual, firmly ensconced within his workshop, you ask Wolf to be nearby so you can borrow his sense of smell and mental faculties if needed, and you've had Clan Dourback consult with their counterparts in Karak Azul for the preferences of the Runelord so they can supply a suitable keg for the meeting. With the stage as set as it's reasonably likely to get, you sit back and await your guest's arrival.
Several minutes before the given time, you're alerted to a visitor outside the entrance, and you're heading towards it before the knocking sounds. With a calm you don't feel you greet the Runelord and his Hammerer escort at the door, introduce the Hammerers to a slightly lesser keg you set aside for them, and you lead Thorek to your meeting room. One-on-one, he is an incredibly intimidating figure, even for someone that has grown used to Kragg. Kragg disapproves of everything on principle, so his disapproval of any one person in particular is reflexive and easy to accept. In contrast, Thorek is constantly scrutinizing everyone around him, forever gathering evidence for a conclusion that you feel will rarely vary from the conclusion Kragg would have reached, but will sting all the more for being so carefully considered.
"So," he says, as you draw a mug for him. "We send an Umgi Zhufokri to sup with rebel Elgi to claw back the knowledge of our Ancestors."
You take a breath before turning and replying as you lay the mug before him. "We do," you say, "and I feel that, if anything, their rebellion against the Phoenix Crown during the time of Caledor II is a point in their favour."
He pulls from the mug as you take a seat across from him, and you have to wrench your mind back on track to keep it from wondering how he manages to keep the ale off his beard. "You know the history of the Middle Mountains?"
"The Dwarven history?" He nods. "I know there was a Dwarfhold there, Karaz Ghumzul, that was abandoned at the start of the Time of Woes."
"Karaz Ghumzul rebelled," he growls, "and closed their gates to a Throng that went on to march with empty bellies and blunted axes to their doom at the hands of exiled Elgi sorcerers. And when the Time of Woes taught them the true, bitter taste of independence, they abandoned their Hold and sent their own starving children on a march across a ruined continent to beg for food and shelter from the Empire they betrayed while they used their riches to buy a place among the Umgi. Treason seems to be carved into the bedrock of those lands. Elgi, Dawi, Umgi, all seem to find treachery growing in their hearts in the shadows of those cursed peaks." He narrows his eyes at you. "I have marched into worse to seek the relics of the Ancestors, but the world has no shortage of cursed mountains filled with ancient woes. Even now a Throng begins to gather to right the wrongs of the Silver Road Wars, and each heartbeat I spend at the forge will be a drop less of Dwarven blood spilled upon Karag Agilwutraz."
"You have a price in mind, I take it." One that he does not want widely known, you would guess. That would explain why you're having this meeting here, far from any Dwarven ears except those sworn to Thorek's service.
"Two," he says frankly. "First, the descendants of ancient Dawi treason live fat, happy lives within Middenheim. There are many wrongs that must be punished before their own inherited sins are a priority for the Karaz Ankor, but they still hold the keys to Karaz Ghumzul. I need allies in the Empire to bring pressure to bear on them so they will surrender those keys, so that I might harvest a beginning of repayment from its ruins."
Most Imperial cities with a substantial population of expatriate Dwarves are very protective of such industrious and knowledgeable citizens, and Middenheim is no exception. Trying to bring pressure to bear on them would be politically fraught. But you knew that partnership with a Runelord as renowned as Thorek Ironbrow would not be cheap. "And the second?"
Some of the steel goes out of Thorek, and he takes another pull on his ale as he considers his words. "The Waystones," he says carefully, "are a product of some of the greatest minds of the Golden Age. There are many who would say that there is no question that their workings would be considered secrets of Runesmithing, and therefore cannot be shared with anyone without the blood of Thungni flowing through their veins. But there is another line of argument, that this information was so intimately entwined with Zhuf magic that some knowledge of it must have been shared with the Elgi, and so it cannot be called a sin to share that knowledge without levelling that accusation at those that were taught by the Ancestor Gods incarnate. I look at these facts arrayed before me, and know that you are asking me to choose an interpretation of them that is favourable to you. So I would ask the same of you."
"Aye?" you say cautiously, running through the possibilities in your mind. Karag Dum, you'd guess, or Karak Vlag. Either the old scar or the fresh wound in Runesmithing orthodoxy.
"Karag Dum," he says. "I've heard much from many, and like with the matter of the Waystones, the facts are inarguable, but the interpretations of those facts are more open. You spent more time with Thane Borek Forkbeard than most, did you not?"
"I did."
"You heard the last words he spoke before he left the Expedition, and you've proven you have respectable insight in unusual matters. Those that you repeated those words to have repeated them to me, but the only one who heard them from his lips is you. So if any can claim insight to what he meant, it is you."
"And you have a particular interpretation in mind?"
"Just as you do for the Waystones matter. It seems to me is that Borek was ashamed but not surprised by what he found at Karag Dum. Which would seem to imply that whatever terrible deal they struck with Cor-Dum, it was a final resort that desperation drove them into. Desperation brought on, in no small part, by the schism in the Cult of Thungni, and the southern Runelords abusing their authority to paint Karag Dum as untrustworthy. And as such, when they faced the forces of Chaos, they did so alone."
"You once told me that you'd tear the Guild asunder if you knew for sure that that was the case."
"And your words would give me the authority to do so. Tear it apart and melt it down, that it may be reforged anew. Since we last spoke I have been travelling the Karaz Ankor, and everywhere I look I see so-called Runelords with beards grown yellow instead of white, squatting atop their secrets as jealously and uselessly as a Dragon atop a hoard. They fail the Karaz Ankor twice over, for in the absence of Thungni, Morgrim grows reckless and hasty in His experimentation as He tries to do alone what should be the work of two. I will correct this in time, but could do so in a more efficient and lasting manner with your testimony as a banner."
You consider his words carefully. On one hand, an internal matter of the Empire. Relatively simple, but one that would require you to exert your influence upon some very touchy people, and could cause turbulence in Middenheim - but Middenheim is already out on a limb for the sake of their new allies, and it wouldn't be hard to nudge them further. You're sure the Colleges would feel it is a small price to pay for the cooperation of a Runelord, and it's a decision your rank allows you to make on their behalf. On the other hand, an internal matter of the Karaz Ankor, much more complicated and potentially ugly, but one that would unfold far from you and in a way that would leave your hands clean. It's difficult to weigh the two matters against each other, and against the amount of aid a Runelord of Thorek's calibre could offer.
Or you could assist with both. Though you're sure Thorek would grant all the insight he has if his cooperation was purchased, there's a gulf between that and having his full partnership. Being his ally in both matters would firmly align your cause with his, and would mean that he would make time for the Waystone Project, rather than simply lending it whatever he can spare. It would also greatly increase his influence within the Karaz Ankor, for better and for worse. Is that something you want? Is that what's best for the Waystone Project? For the Empire? For the Karaz Ankor?
[ ] [THOREK] Karaz Ghumzul Lend your influence to pressuring the expatriate Dwarves of Middenheim into revealing the secrets of their ancestral home.
[ ] [THOREK] Karag Dum Pen a testimony of Karag Dum that would be a casus belli for Thorek's bid for power and influence within the Runesmiths Guild.
[ ] [THOREK] Both Either possibility would purchase the cooperation of Thorek Ironbrow. Assisting with both would make a partner of him.
[ ] [THOREK] Neither There are other Runelords in the Karaz Ankor, ones with less baggage and lesser pricetags. Turn down a partnership with the Runesmiths of Karak Azul.
- There will be a six hour moratorium.
- Yes, Johann would volunteer for the arm thing. You may have noticed his position on taking large and potentially painful risks to improve his body. If it does go terribly wrong it could be removed and his original arm reattached.
- Yes, Mathilde has the authority to make the Thorek decision on behalf of the Empire and the Colleges. That's what being a Lady Magister means.
- Yes, Johann would volunteer for the arm thing. You may have noticed his position on taking large and potentially painful risks to improve his body. If it does go terribly wrong it could be removed and his original arm reattached.
I see no reason to not vote for Johann in this case, honestly, if we can reattach his arm if things don't work out. But then again, I know next to nothing about Slann bullshit or how badly it can fuck him up so...
That's good to know, because whatever the arm does, it uses Hysh, and not all uses of Hysh are external.
Mmm. While I'm not so attached to the arm that I'm unwilling to give it up for an interesting paper, it's almost certainly a weapon, and I'm not sure I want to leave one of those floating about. On the other hand, I'd like to see the arm actually functioning rather than dismantling it; magic prosthetics would be a very nice thing to be able to provide the citizenry of the Empire. As Mathilde says, there's no shortage of people missing limbs.
Think I'm leaning towards Johann, but I could be persuaded to go with a volunteer amputee.
... Actually, Mathilde would be picking the amputee, wouldn't she? Shouldn't be too hard to find a loyal Empire knight who's more interested in getting back to fighting than avoiding magic.
