Would the thread be comfortable placing Mathilde's life in the hands of someone whose only qualification would be having nothing better to do and would have no way of protecting themself against magical manipulation?
I don't know about the thread, but I would be.
"Having nothing better to do" than becoming a professional pilot in service of a rich adventuring noblewoman isn't some kind of low bar that only includes layabouts IMO. In this world such a gig would be a great opportunity for any commoner not bound to inherit anything of note. So we should be able to actually audition and vet people instead of choosing the first desperate youngster looking for steady bread.
In addition, a young adult that chooses piloting as her main job and ticket to an economically secure future as something other than a farmhand is bound to improve their piloting skills faster than someone like Max, an adult trying to improve as a smith, researcher, writer and wrestler of reality itself.
As for protection against magical manipulation, isn't that already lacking with our current pilots? Or is Dwarven magic resistance that noteworthy? If it's the latter I guess we could try and get a Halfling pilot instead of a Human one. They too have some innate magic resistance IIRC.
Though to be honest, I didn't expect to fly the gyrocopter into a battle or siege anyway. That seems damn risky regardless of who is piloting.
Of course I am also aware of cons. Like, I'm not at all confident that the Colleges would cover the expenses of the pilot in their WEB-MAT budget, let alone the required education and fees. In addition someone young who is only bound to us by salary might decide to just leave one day, be it due to some scary thing they witness or because they fall in love or whatever. Still, I don't think that the overall cons outweigh the pros of having a pilot on retainer (who can also do other odd jobs while not flying).
Now if you wish to veto giving a scholarship and then hiring a random non-magical young adult that shows some talent because it would in your opinion be either boring to write or otherwise not mesh with the game layer of the Quest then I fully support your decision. But from a verisimilitude perspective it would be the choice I'd make in Mathilde's shoes, so if your only concern is that you don't think it's an ideal solution then I'll continue advocating for it.
Clanless, so can be reabsorbed into the Royal Clan where someone from another Clan couldn't. The throne staying inside the Clan isn't a rule, it's the preference of the Royal Clan.
Apparently I am quite lost when it comes to understanding Dwarven inheritance (of kingship or otherwise) in your Quest's canon. I thought that women joining their husband's Clan prevents them from being in line to inherit. Bit that's not how it works after all. How does it work?
632 IC Norscans raid and sack the city. A treaty between Westerland and Norsca is only signed in 765 IC.
How do you sign a treaty with "Norsca"?
I actually went on a quick browse over some Vampire pages, and I came across something that killed my braincells in the wiki for the Red Duke:
"By the year 1449 IC, the Duke had become known as El Syf ash-Shml, for the Arabyans had named him in the crude dialect of their nomadic tribes, the "Northern Sword", often shorted simply to "El Syf", the sword."
I'm going to ignore the "crude dialect" thing and just assume its in-universe racism, but what I will not abide is the horrific butchering of the arabic pronunciation here. What the hell is "El Syf ash-Shml"???? The words themselves are fine, but if you wanted a proper phonetic pronunciation it's "Al Saif Al-Shamal".
It's not that hard. Did the author who make the book never speak to an Arabic person to check? I'd give him a consultation for free to prevent this atrocity from touching the earth.
Honest question: How is this any worse than what they did to the Imperial "German" or Tilean "Italian"? I thought butchering the languages until they can pretend that it's a fantasy language was the point.
The problem lies inwhat happens when you actually try to pronounce it. I'm sorta fine with people changing the spelling if it still sounds right, but it doesn't. It sounds awful, like you're skipping syllables and vowels.
Now imagine my pain while keeping in mind where the world is primarily focused on.
