[x] Egrimm, to try to sound out more information about the Alric situation.
[x] Thorek Ironbrow, to witness the arrival of the first Dwarf in Tor Lithanel for over four thousand years.
[x] Belegar, to discuss who has been made Loremaster after you.
[x] The Karak Azul Architects, to get involved in the design of your Library in detail.
[x] Qrech, who is putting the finishing touches on his tome on the Chaos Dwarves.
[X] Egrimm, to try to sound out more information about the Alric situation.
[X] Thorek Ironbrow, to witness the arrival of the first Dwarf in Tor Lithanel for over four thousand years.
[X] Roswita, to get a sense for who will control Sylvania after you turned down the position.
[X] The Gold College, to see what's become of their research into Skaven technology.
[X] The Karak Azul Architects, to get involved in the design of your Library in detail.
Job-relevant and interesting, job-relevant and interesting, job-that-could-have-been relevant and interesting, what are they doing with all that tech we traded them for the apparition knowledge we still haven't done anything with, and BOOK. Respectively.
Edit:
[X] Vicarius Galenstra, to get to know him and his Ward.
[X] The Amber College, to check in on the salamanders.
[X] The Gold College, to see what's become of their research into Skaven technology.
[X] Julia, to see what she has gotten up to as Stirland's most experienced spy master.
[X] Follow up on your donation of the Skaven organ-vat, and see what has been made of it.
Would really like a follow-up on at least one of these.
I remember the days when Belegar was such an automatic pick that Boney was reluctant to include him. Now he's getting edged out by a rat. Just goes to show that tastes change.
I think a large part of why Qrech is winning out over Belegar (both are getting in there anyway) is that Qrech doesn't have much time left. He might very well be on his last legs, and the whole "finishing touches on his tome" very much strikes me as Qrech's "masterpiece/final work". Basically a send off and culmination of his character arc.
I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last time we get to have a social action with Qrech.
It's very narrative, hovering somewhere between a journal, a memoir, and an adventure story that hits on the notable events of the Expedition and the conversations you had with and about Borek. The climax of the story is, of course, the revelation of Cor-Dum, and Borek's unsurprised and resigned reaction to his home's new guardian, and said guardian's reaction to Borek's approach.
Loremaster Lady Magister MATHILDE WEBER leads a band of WIZARDS in a dangerous journey into the CHAOS WASTES to relieve or investigate KARAG DUM. Responding to her call for aid are ASARNIL DRAGONLORD, MAGISTERS VAN HORSTMAN, M. SOLMANN and her frequent collaborators M. JOHANN and M. DE GAYNSEFORD.
Having personally returned KARAK VLAG to REALITY (see The Return of Karak Vlag, 2486), the convoy travels the dangerous ROAD OF SKULLS. Lady Magister Weber proceeds to WIN THE TRUST of THANE BOREK FORKBEARD and documents his thoughts, that his later SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOUR might be decoded. Allusions are made to her PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS with van Horstman on WINDFALL PHENOMENA (M. van Horstman, 2486). The CORRUPTIVE EFFECTS of the CHAOS WASTES on the WIZARDS can only be speculated upon, but are surely not connected to the ACCIDENTAL DEATHS which strike the convoy.
The CRYPTIC departure of Borek compounds the SHOCK AND AWE at the sight of two (2) DUMs. LM Weber records the OBSERVATIONS and outstanding questions in meticulous detail. How did Karag Dum bind Cor Dum, the SHADOWGAVE? How did the DARK FOREST surrounding the Karak come to be filled with BEASTMEN? And what is causing the slow expansion of the desert BATTLEFIELD covered in MUTATED bones?
You look again at the card that had been left in your lockbox from the Librarian "For your records".
"So, this card you left in my lockbox..."
"Yes, Lady Magister? Do you have an enquiry? Or perhaps correction? It is a new system, we're still making some adjustments."
"Yes, the new system. Of cards."
"Indeed, Lady Magister. The index card provides a synopsis of your work, for quicker reference when browsing the catalogues. Did you wish to propose an amendment? As I said, it's a new system for the College Library, this is one of the first new works to be indexed."
Index cards, a system you're sure your librarians are already planning, back in Karak Eight Peaks.
"Of course. And the, ah, frequent capitalisation..."
"Do you wish to suggest alternate Keywords?"
"The Key Words, yes. Those."
"We capitalise them to draw the eyes' attention to the subjects under which the paper should be cross-referenced, which is also where related material may be found. Sometimes we find we need to add additional ones, typically at the bottom of the card. I'd be happy to consider any you can suggest."
Key words. Words that are Keys, to unlock the index archives. "Ah, no, these Key Words look excellent. Please, carry on." You turn, thinking back on how you are incorporating this technique in your Library.
"Thankyou, Lady Magister." The Librarian pauses for a moment, looks at the card, and back to your vanishing form. "Heh. It's funny- and I hope you don't mind me saying- but reading this now all together, it strikes me that you bear an uncanny resemblance to... to oh what's her name, Ma..."
You definitely didn't catch the last part as the library door closed, not at all.
[x] Thorek Ironbrow, to witness the arrival of the first Dwarf in Tor Lithanel for over four thousand years.
[x] Stirland, to see for yourself how the war against Sylvania is progressing.
[x] Pay a visit to your fief, to see if anything has changed. It probably hasn't.
[x] Egrimm, to try to sound out more information about the Alric situation.
@Boney I have a question about the library. Belegar diverted the efforts of the existing Runescribes/Loremasters who were arguing over restoration of the Library of Reckoning to Mathilde's library. As far as I know, the Library of Reckoning was focused on matters of law, administration and grudgelore. So I was wondering if the current runescribes/loremasters have their own personal libraries or if we should start considering adding grudgelore to the Great Library to appease them since we kind of poached them from their job.
Or maybe I'm overthinking things and they got everything covered.
@Boney I have a question about the library. Belegar diverted the efforts of the existing Runescribes/Loremasters who were arguing over restoration of the Library of Reckoning to Mathilde's library. As far as I know, the Library of Reckoning was focused on matters of law, administration and grudgelore. So I was wondering if the current runescribes/loremasters have their own personal libraries or if we should start considering adding grudgelore to the Great Library to appease them since we kind of poached them from their job.
Or maybe I'm overthinking things and they got everything covered.
Loremaster mc loremasterpants: so about your documents?
Mathilde:... Umm... here.
Loremaster mc loremasterpants:
Mathilde: yes... That's why you're here and I'm off doing zhuf stuff elsewhere.
The good part about this is that the transfer of power wasn't as painful as being removed from the council with Roswita. Mathilde spent so much time building that Watch and info network and we gave it all away. I mean, it's for the best and I'm glad we did it, but damn that was painful.
At least this time we didn't have an entire infrastuctural network that we would give up when we left office.
[X] Pay a visit to your fief, to see if anything has changed. It probably hasn't.
[X] Thorek Ironbrow, to witness the arrival of the first Dwarf in Tor Lithanel for over four thousand years.
[X] The Karak Azul Architects, to get involved in the design of your Library in detail.
[X] Qrech, who is putting the finishing touches on his tome on the Chaos Dwarves.
[X] Thorek Ironbrow, to witness the arrival of the first Dwarf in Tor Lithanel for over four thousand years.
[X] The Karak Azul Architects, to get involved in the design of your Library in detail.
[X] Qrech, who is putting the finishing touches on his tome on the Chaos Dwarves.
[X] Roswita, to get a sense for who will control Sylvania after you turned down the position.
[X] Julia, to see what she has gotten up to as Stirland's most experienced spy master.
It seems like a real shame that we're heading in the direction of working in an elf city and not talking to a single elf.
And I worry that's a precedent. If went not interesting in talking to the Ulgu-wielding, gun-slinging elf that's open to importing dwarf engineering and controls the region that all our contributors will probably have to travel through to reach us, what elf will we be willing to talk to?
I think we need to have our character socially engage with the elves of Laurelorn to get thhe most out of this arc. Staying detached from it doesn't help us immerse our self in the world building or the characters, because we're always going to be emotionally focused on other areas.
[X] Vicarius Galenstra, to get to know him and his Ward.
[X] Thorek Ironbrow, to witness the arrival of the first Dwarf in Tor Lithanel for over four thousand years.
[X] Egrimm, to try to sound out more information about the Alric situation.
[X] Belegar, to discuss who has been made Loremaster after you.
[X] Follow up on your donation of the Skaven organ-vat, and see what has been made of it.
The good part about this is that the transfer of power wasn't as painful as being removed from the council with Roswita. Mathilde spent so much time building that Watch and info network and we gave it all away. I mean, it's for the best and I'm glad we did it, but damn that was painful.
At least this time we didn't have an entire infrastuctural network that we would give up when we left office.
I actually really enjoy that we founded institutions in Stirland that are there to stay and will probably expand over the next few decades. I mean we created a centralized state police organization (with separate branches for rank-and-file and secret agents) whose top chief is in the state's ministry. And with the next "Spymaster" being a Witch Hunter essentially overseeing a third law enforcement organization, that has pretty much completely transformed that post into an important and mundanely powerful part of the government apparatus. Which is especially ironic given that Stirland was one of the few Imperial Provinces that didn't use some obfuscating euphemism for that job's title.
In K8P on the other hand we didn't leave pretty much anything that's directly attached to the Loremaster title. We only left the permanent results of our achievements. Which, don't get me wrong, are pretty damn major, but their still not really institutions that we've brought to life and slowly formed. Those we only started right as we quit the job, funnily enough.
And I worry that's a precedent. If went not interesting in talking to the Ulgu-wielding, gun-slinging elf that's open to importing dwarf engineering and controls the region that all our contributors will probably have to travel through to reach us, what elf will we be willing to talk to?
Whist I agree it's very important to speak with Galenstra, I feel the need to point out that he's a ulgu wielder the same way Thorek is a hammer wielder—which doesn't make Thorek a Hammerer, or a hammer-souled person. It's just one of many tools he uses for his craft. It's not at all a part of his identity, neither the way being a Hammerer is for Dreng, or being a wizard is for Mathilde.
[X] Vicarius Galenstra, to get to know him and his Ward.
[X] Egrimm, to try to sound out more information about the Alric situation.
[X] Thorek Ironbrow, to witness the arrival of the first Dwarf in Tor Lithanel for over four thousand years.
[X] Belegar, to discuss who has been made Loremaster after you.
[X] Pay a visit to your fief, to see if anything has changed. It probably hasn't.
[x] Thorek Ironbrow, to witness the arrival of the first Dwarf in Tor Lithanel for over four thousand years.
[x] Belegar, to discuss who has been made Loremaster after you.
[x] Vicarius Galenstra, to get to know him and his Ward.
[x] Egrimm, to try to sound out more information about the Alric situation.
Still catching up, just got to where we got the magic belt, and it only reinforces the idea of us learning so called "corrupting" magic and creating fun things with the book, since we dont even get the corruption from it, meaning that as long as were secretive or far away there's full on no downside (not that corruption really was one to begin with)
Still catching up, just got to where we got the magic belt, and it only reinforces the idea of us learning so called "corrupting" magic and creating fun things with the book, since we dont even get the corruption from it, meaning that as long as were secretive or far away there's full on no downside (not that corruption really was one to begin with)
Ah, I've wanted to talk about this for a while actually. I want to discuss Galenstra a little.
First, I don't think Galenstra is a mage. For a person of his position, and possibly a person of his age, it would be expected for him to know a few spells, particularly as some of them would be very useful for his circumstances. Very importantly, his house is from Yvresse and dominates the worship of Ladrielle. I should mention that Ladrielle is the Goddess of Mist, protector of all that is hidden and lost, and patron of travellers in wilderness. It seems extraordinarily fitting that a person who worships Ladrielle would then use Ulgu for his needs, particularly as it might assist in his line of work.
I do want to emphasise however, that just because he uses Ulgu doesn't mean he's an expert in it. He might see it as an act of worship and a useful tool in his toolbox, but I don't think he specialises in it. Look here:
After a moment he tears his gaze away and goes still as he focuses, and over a few seconds he draws in and shapes Ulgu into a textbook-perfect example of Shadowsteed, bearing none of the tweaks, shortcuts, adaptations or personalizations that every human Wizard develops. He mounts his conjured horse with practiced ease. "Do not veer far from my side unless you're confident in your ability to swim."
I would like to note this is the part where Galenstra casts Shadowsteed. This is actually the first and only time we've ever seen an Elf cast a spell (in an obvious manner at least). He seemed to pause, focus for a bit then manage the cast. I mean sure, I'm biased because most magic we see is the heavily personalised human magic that can pump things out fast through shortcuts, but I think that if Galenstra was an expert, he could do it more casually than presented here. My belief is that Galenstra has a number of incredible talents and skills regarding a wide variety of things, and magic is only one of them. Every Elf can cast Magic that is true. It's also true that every human can run, but most of them don't train to be professional athletes and runners. Some people are bad at it, some people just don't practice it because they're doing something else, some people don't think it's relevant to their skill set.
So yeah Galenstra uses Ulgu. He might even appreciate it heavily due to associations with his goddess if he's a pious man. That doesn't necessarily mean he's an "Ulgu user" in anywhere near the same capacity as someone like Mathilde.
Still catching up, just got to where we got the magic belt, and it only reinforces the idea of us learning so called "corrupting" magic and creating fun things with the book, since we dont even get the corruption from it, meaning that as long as were secretive or far away there's full on no downside (not that corruption really was one to begin with)
Leaving aside the practical considerations of poisoning the world with magical radiation creating an Ulgu-Dhar lore which we could safely use would take a vast amount of time for a magical skill which we could never use in public lest it cost Mathilde every ally and friend she has. It is not even worth it from a utilitarian PoV.
[X] Thorek Ironbrow, to witness the arrival of the first Dwarf in Tor Lithanel for over four thousand years.
[X] The Karak Azul Architects, to get involved in the design of your Library in detail.
[X] Qrech, who is putting the finishing touches on his tome on the Chaos Dwarves.
