Experience suggests we should probably ask the Ice Witches the price of their aid first, then when they say 'you could bring us the head of the thing crawling out of the Forest of Shadows' we could hit two contributors with one deed.
I feel like Patiarch was one of the easiest marks Ranald ever had when it comes to leading someone by the noise. the man has never met a distraction that he didn't like.
its also important to remember that the ice witches are professional assholes.
Here's a crazy idea: some malign forces, probably Chaos cultists, have some evil rituals that requires 'the blood of emperors' - the blood of a line that contains an emperor is sufficent for their purposes. But you need to sacrifice a lot of individuals for the ritual, some in pretty visible ways, which makes it difficult to pull off. Luckily, the line of Dieter is both weak and hated, and hopefully no one will put too much effort into finding their killers before the ritual is complete. That's a better fit for the kind of thing the Light Order deals with than some political assassinations, which is Grey Order business. And it might not even be true, but if Alric believes it to be true that might be enough for him to see this as a project worth taking on to shore up his position.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's right. This:
looks like the work of The Gambler.
I believe Franz was one of the Undumgi, not a dwarf.
Maybe the effects dilutes with distance from the Emperor. Deiter reigned less than a century ago, so the blood of his line is still 'pure'. But it's a crazy idea, as I said. Just throwing it out there.
Literally, I don't think there was anything in the passage itself firmly saying if he was a man or Dwarf.
Bit late but:
Had a peek at the map of Averland. Merfeld sits on a road between the Karak and Hochsleben. I think it's a case of "there's fuck all else anyone's heard of near us" rather than "nearest Karak".
Goldpuncher, he's the man, the man with the Grungni punch (and Frickin' Laser Beams in his arm).
Though, there are Imperial Dwarfs that pick/are given human names to fit in. Josef Bugman for the most famous example.
I also said patronym.
On checking, he didn't give any name at all.
This comparison is entirely wrong thought. The requirements for both getting and actually running the office in any measure are entirely different. Obviously, not even the greatest Magister Patriarch can know literally every scroll that has ever littered their in-order library, but not knowing the magical merits of one of the major groups under your leadership that has like, less than a thousand people seems strange. Especially when it is for a topic as alluring as Waystones.
