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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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Laurelorn
[X] Thorek Ironbrow, to witness the arrival of the first Dwarf in Tor Lithanel for over four thousand years.

Karak Eight Peaks
[X] The Karak Azul Architects, to get involved in the design of your Library in detail.

Foreign Relations
[X] Stirland, to see for yourself how the war against Sylvania is progressing.

Friends Abroad
[X] Julia, to see what she has gotten up to as Stirland's most experienced spy master.

Following Up
[X] The Gold College, to see what's become of their research into Skaven technology.
 
Another thought about good reasons to build a friendly relationship with the Vicarius is that he is very well placed to introduce us to other elves, and to give us some insight into the elite politics of Laurelorn.

We have a very superficial introduction to the Houses and Wards in broad sweeps, but we don't know who likes or dislikes who on a personal level. This is a place where the personal really is likely to be political, as the leaders may well have been in charge of their institutions and also known each other for centuries or even millennia. Their characters and relationships will likely have strongly influenced the organisations they run and how they interact with each other.

This is a man who is part of that elite group. Even if he doesn't explicitly tell us, what he says and doesn't say should be enough to give someone with Mathilde's diplomacy and intrigue skills some hints to work from.

The other thing to remember is that this has been a small isolated pond for a long, long time. Mathilde and the other more important collaborators she's bringing in are likely to be the biggest new fish introduced to the pond since they declared independence from Ulthuan. Spending time with him around the time that Thorek arrives could be very illuminating as to how they'll react to that.

Edit: added a missing 'the'
 
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Alratan said:
Another thought about good reasons to build a friendly relationship with Vicarius is that he is very well placed to introduce us to other elves, and to give us some insight into the elite politics of Laurelorn.
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Quick point of order, Vicarius is a title, Galenstra is his name.

That said I do think I agree that talking to, like, anyone local is probably a good idea.

[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] Qrech, who is putting the finishing touches on his tome on the Chaos Dwarves.
[X] Julia, to see what she has gotten up to as Stirland's most experienced spy master.
 
[X] Vicarius Galenstra, to get to know him and his Ward.
[X] Pay a visit to your fief, to see if anything has changed. It probably hasn't.
 
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[X] Egrimm, to try to sound out more information about the Alric situation.
[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] Qrech, who is putting the finishing touches on his tome on the Chaos Dwarves.
[X] Pay a visit to your fief, to see if anything has changed. It probably hasn't.
 
Doing a reread, so some further reactions:
Boney said:
It's been quite some time since you actually wrote a paper by yourself, but the subject matter requires you at least put together a carefully expurgated first draft before you bring Maximillian in. This time you may not have to, as right from the outset you manage to strike a balance between scholarly observation, factual recording, and thrilling recounting - including in the ensuing battle with the Daemons, the inclusion of which is absolutely necessary as the detailed description of the Higher Daemon involved might allow it to be identified at a later date. The paper is sure to lose some of its impact as the involvement of Daemons and the remaining mentions of Waystones will require a degree of classification, but overall you're extremely pleased with your effort.

[The Return of Karak Vlag, 2486. Subject: Unique, +3. Insight: Revolutionary, +2. Delivery: Thrilling, +2. Popular, +1. Classified, -2. Total: 6.]
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Boney said:
Karag Dum: the Third Schism of the Karaz Ankor

You spend quite some time staring at that title on an otherwise blank sheet of paper, constantly being distracted from trying to write the paper by second-guessing it. It's definitely punchy, but Cython's speculation about the Dwarves makes you wonder if the Karaz Ankor shouldn't itself be considered a schism in the first place, and there's also a question about whether Karaz Ghumzul or the other 'Hill Dwarves' might have counted. But in the end you force yourself to forge forward. A bad title on a written paper is still better than a perfect title on no paper at all, and it certainly gets the point across.

The paper you end up writing departs from your usual habits of sticking to the facts at first and venturing into the speculation later, as the facts won't achieve the necessary result unless they are properly contextualized. 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.

"We did the best we could. When it comes time to tell the rest of the Karaz Ankor what has become of us, please tell them that as well. May the Ancestors forgive us."

You find yourself hoping that telling his story in this way would, in some way, fulfil Borek's last request of you.
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I find it funny how the first two papers Mathilde releases about the Karag Dum adventure are both "narrative" papers with thrilling and exciting adventures and stuff instead of the usual scientific exploration. I find it amusing how misleading it would be to read those papers expecting the trip to have been an action filled adventure when it was mostly travel and the greatest casualties were from natural hazards. I somehow doubt Mathilde extensively discussed how logistics was the greatest enemy of the expedition.

Also, Mathilde getting her start in writing adventure novels I suppose. Maybe she's getting a taste for it.
Boney said:
Johann runs his golden fingers over the equally golden surface of the arm. "Explain why you think this is a good idea," he says to you, caution and curiousity warring in his tone.

"Okay," you say, "we're sure this is a prosthetic. Compare the shoulder joint to the finger joints - the shoulder joint is an anatomically humanoid ball-and-socket joint, but the finger joints are hinge instead of condyloid, giving them a wider range of movement. For both artistic and war-statue purposes you'd use the same kind of joint in both, the only reason that makes sense for why you'd have one anatomical and one not is if the anatomical one is supposed to interface with a flesh-and-blood body. And speaking of which," you direct his attention to the shoulder ball, "actually, you might be better able to see this than me and Egrimm could. Do you see the separate metal in the ball?"

"Do you not?" he replies, running a fingertip over the ball.

"Not easily. Our conclusion is that it's a Hysh-conductive metal, which would be used to allow the arm's mechanisms to interface directly with the body's own control mechanisms - and since it's a prosthetic that would be so drastically attached to the wearer, it would need to be safe for long-term use, which means it would have to use that, it couldn't send a tendril of Hysh through the body to the brain without nasty long-term effects."

"It seems like you're building a lot of assumptions on whoever made this being competent."

"There's a couple of reasons for that. Have you noticed the material?"

"Mostly gold," he says, scratching at it with a fingernail and then frowning at it. "Mostly. Huh. It's hard for a gold-based alloy."
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I find it funny how Mathilde and Horstmann went through a meticulous exploratory process to check out the arm and find out that it's made of an alloy and has different sections through the use of a touchstone etc. And here comes in Johann who takes a single "look" and can tell most of what Mathilde and Horstmann spent hours or more researching in a few seconds. Next time, we should get him to weigh in on the research if it's metal related.
Boney said:
as Panoramia had supplied a draught with a bit more heft than the traditional laudanum tincture and he was quite thoroughly absent from the entire situation.
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Not entirely related to the mixture Panoramia provided, but I'm starting to wonder if Karak Eight Peaks also produces hemp as one of its crops.
Boney said:
Oh, the Barber-Surgeon is perfectly accommodating, professional, and hygienic, and the detachment of the original arm goes off without a hitch. But though you've seen a great deal worse on quite a few battlefields, seeing the same sort of thing performed in a clean and well-lit room by a man who whistles as he works manages to slip past your callouses and leave you feeling quite light-headed.
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Truly amazing how out of all the people who would unsettle Mathilde, who's a hardened warrior, it would be a barber surgeon.
Boney said:
"Carrying angle," he says, pointing. "It's the resting angle of the arm, so that it doesn't collide with the hips as you walk. If you look-" he stands straight, letting his functional arm rest by his side. "Compare my normal arm to my new one. I think it might have been designed to clear wider hips."
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I argued against the possibility that this arm would belong to a Saurus or Skink as I believe that they aren't unknown to the Old World, but I came to another conclusion that isn't just "amazon".

If we're talking about wide hips, what about the Slann?

Although, being fair, I don't see why a Slann would want sharp claws. Why swipe your fingers in close range when you can barely move without a palanquin. Why even bother with close combat when you can just wave your hand and turn someone to mincemeat. Yeah my leading theory is still amazon.
 
Codex said:
Next time, we should get him to weigh in on the research if it's metal related.
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People were paranoid that he would Breach the Unknown/Tale of Metal it and get his brain melted by Slann secrets, and so every time "ask Johann to poke at it" came up in discussion over the last nine months it got vetoed.

I personally was not that concerned, but there were other battles to fight, and this past turn specifically we wanted something for Egrimm to do.
 
picklepikkl said:
People were paranoid that he would Breach the Unknown/Tale of Metal it and get his brain melted by Slann secrets, and so every time "ask Johann to poke at it" came up in discussion over the last nine months it got vetoed.

I personally was not that concerned, but there were other battles to fight, and this past turn specifically we wanted something for Egrimm to do.
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Oh yeah I understand that. Your words might have triggered a memory and I think I might have been one of those people? If so then I feel really dumb. I can't remember if I was.

The big thing is, I think I was underestimating Johann. Also I'm fine with the actual decision I'm not going back and saying that our choice was bad. Just saying that next time we might want to get Johann on the metal stuff.

EDIT: Just as a side note, I actually started liking Johann a lot more after the Laurelorn updates. He's been getting a lot of character moments to get me to like him and making me reconsider a lot of assumptions I might have had about him.
 
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[X] Vicarius Galenstra, to get to know him and his Ward.

The Eonir are relatively new to Warhammer so there's a tiny amount of lore and story on them compared to everyone else. I want as much Eonir stuff as possible, and this promises not only to get closer to one, but also flesh out an entire region of Laurelorn.
 
picklepikkl said:
People were paranoid that he would Breach the Unknown/Tale of Metal it and get his brain melted by Slann secrets, and so every time "ask Johann to poke at it" came up in discussion over the last nine months it got vetoed.

I personally was not that concerned, but there were other battles to fight, and this past turn specifically we wanted something for Egrimm to do.
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I'm actually not to worried about the breach of the unknown.

Once we know more about it (such as being sure it's not connected to the geomantic web), Johann will probably use Breach the Unknown on it.

If it's a singular object (which we have no good reason to believe it isn't), it probably won't be as bad as the null stone thing we stole from the skaven. The problem with that wasn't just the Long history, just that it was so boring.

Afaik, the Slann don't have a thing for secrecy. The complexity would be pretty high, but it shouldn't be too dangerous.

Revealing how such a thing was made would be incredible.
 
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Boney said:
"Effective, though," you admit. "No wonder you couldn't figure it out. It's a warpstone reaction, and nobody's stupid enough to use Tale of Metal or Breach the Unknown on warpstone."

"You'd be surprised," is his somber response. "We have a wing at Frederheim from that sort of thing. I had to serve six months there as an Apprentice."
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Johann is well aware of the consequences of casting Breach the Unknown or Tale of Metal on the wrong object.
 
In some ways I wish that Mathilde had put a question mark at the end of her paper title. Or gone for the even more radical option of calling it:

Karag Dum: the Fourth Schism of the Karaz Ankor?

Just to leave readers wondering what was the third…
 
Alratan said:
In some ways I wish that Mathilde had put a question mark at the end of her paper title. Or gone for the even more radical option of calling it:

Karag Dum: the Fourth Schism of the Karaz Ankor?

Just to leave readers wondering what was the third…
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Gray Dwarfs, clearly.

You know I posted this as a joke originally but I'm starting to wonder...
 
[X] Vicarius Galenstra, to get to know him and his Ward.
[X] Roswita, to get a sense for who will control Sylvania after you turned down the position.
[X] Qrech, who is putting the finishing touches on his tome on the Chaos Dwarves.
[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.
 
By the way, is anyone still interested in an honest and serious attempt to save Qretch's soul? Like, even if it would require 3+ AP(at least one each to study potential ways, convince Qretch and actually perform whatever ritual might be needed)?
 
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Rafin said:
By the way, is anyone still interested in an honest and serious attempt to save Qretch's soul? Like, even if it would require 3+ AP(at least one each to study potential ways, convince Qretch and actually perform whatever ritual might be needed)?
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If he comes to us and confesses fear for what the Horned Rat will do to him, then we have one good option to make the problem less of a problem: have a word with Algard who has a word with Magister Matriarch von Draken who authorizes a casting of The Animus Imprisoned:
Boney said:
The Animus Imprisoned: Extract someone's soul from his body and Imprison it in a jar. It can only be released correctly by another Amethyst or a Morrite. All Wizards in a 5-mile radius can feel casting of this spell and your Patriarch will fuck you up if you do it without good reason.
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It's just like being dead except that the HR can't get him.

However, I don't expect that this will happen. My mental model of Qrech is that he sees himself as a Moulder patriot still; after all, we successfully tricked him into thinking that the Empire already had Queekish translated, so he wasn't helping the Empire against the Under-Empire, he was helping Mathilde against her political rivals. And didn't we show up a few years later in fancier robes, showing our rise in favor? Clearly his loyal plan of fomenting discord among different factions within the Empire's intelligence apparatus has worked.

So I don't think he fears what the HR might do to him, and from an external perspective I don't really see where he's wrong? I seriously doubt the HR attends to every soul that falls into his section of the Aethyr, so I expect Qrech's fate is going to be whatever the modal outcome for Skavens is rather than being singled out for special attentions. And, of course, it's not like Mathilde has ironclad certainty in the fate of souls after death off of which to be basing plans and schemes of her own.
 
Rafin said:
By the way, is anyone still interested in an honest and serious attempt to save Qretch's soul? Like, even if it would require 3+ AP(at least one each to study potential ways, convince Qretch and actually perform whatever ritual might be needed)?
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Alratan said:
Paging @Omegahugger, Omegahugger to the courtesy phone please.
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Indeed, this is one of the cases where using Necromancy to bind a soul to the mortal realm is an objective benefit.

Because, you know, the alternative is the Horned Rat. Who is a prick even by Chaos God standards.

Even if Qrech "betrayal" doesn't get noticed, I doubt the souls of random rats end up anywhere good.
 
More seriously, I would have liked to continue delving into the nature of the soul, learning Gazul's Lore, researching apparitions, stealing the secret lore of the Mortuary Cult, that kind of thing, but the quest has unfortunately gone in a different direction, and I doubt elven souls are using the Waystone Network as knock off Infinity Circuit in this setting; even if their Goddesses of the Underworld isn't exactly very welcoming, so we're unlikely to progress it in this arc.
 
Rafin said:
By the way, is anyone still interested in an honest and serious attempt to save Qretch's soul? Like, even if it would require 3+ AP(at least one each to study potential ways, convince Qretch and actually perform whatever ritual might be needed)?
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In all honesty no.

He has not once shown regret for his past actions and beliefs, and almost every WOB about him shows that his morals and ethics have not changed an inch.

fear of consequences will not move me without that aspect.

I have not once been convinced that he is a good person, or has become a better person, despite how much the threads likes him.

he just lives a life right now that doesn't need him to show off the cruelty that got him to be a warlord at one point.

(e.g at best, his is the Retired Monster Trope, at worst, old-folks home natzi.)
 
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The Schisms of the Karaz Ankor
  • Apocrypha
    • The Schisms of the Karaz Ankor: A Speculative History by L.M. Mathilde Weber (Grey), with a Foreword by L.M.(E). Cython (Karag Zilfin)

    Contents:

    Foreword, by L.M.(E). Cython (Karag Zilfin)

    Chapter 1: Against the Coming of Chaos
    In which Grungni, Grimnir and Valaya lead an expedition north from the lost city of Karak Zorn against the hordes of demonkind and found the Everlasting Realm

    Chapter 2: The Frozen North
    In which the Norse Dwarves depart from their kin to carve a new kingdom in Norsca, now lost to much grief and sorrow

    Chapter 3: Across the Desolate Plain
    In which the Fire Dwarves brave the blasted wastes of the east, only to find shelter in the shadow of evil

    Chapter 4: The Elfriends
    In which Karaz Ghumzul turns their back on their kin, and condemns a throng to an unknown fate during the War of the Beard

    Chapter 5: The Runemasters of Dum
    In which Thungni's descendants ignore warnings from the north, driving the Dwarves of Dum to desperation and worse

    Chapter 6: The Sundered Anvil
    In which Thungni's descendants shatter like glass under their own failings, and are superseded by newer, bolder traditions from Karaks Vlag, Azul and Eight Peaks

    ---

    Mathilde's paper on Dum was controversial, but could it have been even more controversial?
     
  • Apocrypha
    • [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 Gold College, to see what's become of their research into Skaven technology.

    I'm hoping that talking with Belegar will also lead to us learning about the meeting he had with the High King and the other Kings and Queen. Though the topic is Loremaster-hood so eh. Still, more Belegar interaction is good! ... Hopefully, he'll have gotten a more positive take towards Thorgrim? I can only hope.

    I still want to try to get Kragg involved in the Waystones project too. Or at least do something together with him, like the Seviroscope thing. He's the greatest runesmithing genius the Karaz Ankor has left. And is something of a friend or grumpy uncle. And I don't want to just leave him behind for Thorek interactions.
     
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