Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

[Boney]

Yeah, and actually give the source in the OP. I'm not sure if that guy really just didn't know (it was stolen on a third site?), or wanted to pretend he made it until someone dropped a source.

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I'd guess it was shared without context in one Discord or another.

 

[Codex]

So CA released the Slaanesh roster for Total War Warhammer 3.

I'm satisfied, I like it. I find the male presenting nipple being visible but the female presenting one (using Tumblr support team terms) being covered by a bra an incredibly funny way to sidestep the rating system. I also just realised that the Fiend has the infamous Slaanesh multi breast thing, except instead of eight breasts it's four, since Slaanesh's new thing is one male breast one female breast.

By far the most satisfying thing for me was seeing N'Kari actually fleshed out on screen as a combatant and getting to see his abilities for the first time. He has surpassed my expectations, proving to be apparently the most powerful fighter in Warhammer Fantasy, for 17 seconds. He really needs to work on his stamina.

Anyways, looking at the roster I can't help but find it funny how lucky we were in the Karag Dum expedition. Even before Total War, Slaanesh's roster always focused on incredibly high mobility and had a bunch of cavalry and chariot units and the ability to manipulate movement.

The Slaanesh force that was occupying Karak Vlag did not have those things, because they were besieging a damn mountain. Slaanesh's greatest advantage and source of power was completely nullified by the circumstance that they found themself in. No wonder we didn't see a single chariot when chariots are such a big part of Slaanesh's identity.

 

[Rafin]

Anyways, looking at the roster I can't help but find it funny how lucky we were in the Karag Dum expedition. Even before Total War, Slaanesh's roster always focused on incredibly high mobility and had a bunch of cavalry and chariot units and the ability to manipulate movement.

The Slaanesh force that was occupying Karak Vlag did not have those things, because they were besieging a damn mountain. Slaanesh's greatest advantage and source of power was completely nullified by the circumstance that they found themself in. No wonder we didn't see a single chariot when chariots are such a big part of Slaanesh's identity.

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I thought that they actually did have some of that. And that they tried to flank us with it. And thus ran into our kittybird division, which overpowered them.

 

[Codex]

I thought that they actually did have some of that. And that they tried to flank us with it. And thus ran into our kittybird division, which overpowered them.

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They had Seekers, and not a lot of them I believe. I don't believe there was any mention of Chariots. I'm surprised they even had any Seekers whatsoever, and they must not have had many of them because they were run out by 50 Demigryphs. Demigryphs are strong, but they have a speed of 8", whereas Steeds of Slaanesh are the fastest mounts in Warhammer at 10" movement. I can't imagine the Demigryphs outran them, so they must have outnumbered them or managed to cordon them off, which wouldn't be possible if the Seekers had the numbers advantage.

Also, I'll say this. If they had a decent contingent of chariots, the Demigryphs would have been mincemeat.

 

[Tobtorp]

They had Seekers, and not a lot of them I believe. I don't believe there was any mention of Chariots. I'm surprised they even had any Seekers whatsoever, and they must not have had many of them because they were run out by 50 Demigryphs. Demigryphs are strong, but they have a speed of 8", whereas Steeds of Slaanesh are the fastest mounts in Warhammer at 10" movement. I can't imagine the Demigryphs outran them, so they must have outnumbered them or managed to cordon them off, which wouldn't be possible if the Seekers had the numbers advantage.

Also, I'll say this. If they had a decent contingent of chariots, the Demigryphs would have been mincemeat.

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Tbf dwarf holds do seem like a bad place for chariots. Yes they have big open halls but any not brain damaged dwarf will pull back to choke points and then your chariots are really cumbersome messagers.

 

[Codex]

Tbf dwarf holds do seem like a bad place for chariots. Yes they have big open halls but any not brain damaged dwarf will pull back to choke points and then your chariots are really cumbersome messagers.

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Yeah that was my assumption. There is no reason they would have brought chariots into a siege. I'm surprised they even had any cavalry whatsoever available to them. I don't see what Cavalry can even do in a siege.

Anyways, this is what's actually said about the Seekers in the story:

The final Wizards to check up on are Esbern and Seija, and your being done with the others neatly coincides with some of the Knights of Taal's Fury returning to the Expedition. Their vigil over the Expedition's flanks had them clash with the mounted Daemonettes, and over a series of inconclusive skirmishes and cat-and-mouse chases through the mountains the Seekers were thoroughly scattered. Most of the Knights are still out hunting them down one by one, but the threat they pose to the Expedition is likely neutralized, as it would take too long for them to reunite in sufficient numbers to pose a significant threat. They are now reduced to one more lurking threat amongst the dozens that are already assumed to be hiding amongst the mountains, and one that the Expedition is already well guarded against. You have a word with the Knights to check for any news about the Ambers, and you're told that apart from Seija sporting a minor wound that should heal cleanly, they're fine and enthusiastically participating in the hunt.

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Inconclusive skirmishes and cat-and-mouse chases. Not all that exciting. If I were to take a guess, they went divide and conquer against the Seekers and prevented them from forming up into a centralised mob, and the Demigryphs are quite tough and frightnening so they're useful for harrying enemies even if the enemy in question is fast. No chariots are mentioned, and they would be utter garbage since the terrain seems to have been primarily mountainous around the area they fought in.

 

[Tobtorp]

Yeah that was my assumption. There is no reason they would have brought chariots into a siege. I'm surprised they even had any cavalry whatsoever available to them. I don't see what Cavalry can even do in a siege.

Anyways, this is what's actually said about the Seekers in the story:

Inconclusive skirmishes and cat-and-mouse chases. Not all that exciting. If I were to take a guess, they went divide and conquer against the Seekers and prevented them from forming up into a centralised mob, and the Demigryphs are quite tough and frightnening so they're useful for harrying enemies even if the enemy in question is fast. No chariots are mentioned, and they would be utter garbage since the terrain seems to have been primarily mountainous around the area they fought in.

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I think lone riders can work for scouts and fast reinforcements, dwarfs build their halls much bigger then necessary and that gives you space to have a fast patrol of singular mounts.
Are they über practical? Not really, but being run down in your own hold by a daemon horse is a horror I can totally see them just doing.

 

[Ultrackius]

So I was going through a few things and filling out my notes as I tend to do, and I'm currently musing on something. Cython here compares the Sun and Moon god and goddess of Nehekhara and Ulthuan, and that got me to to thinking about all the other gods of Sun and Moon in Warhammer.

So I had a little thing in my head that I'm forming into a theory. Disclaimer that this is for fun, but I hope to be informative in the process.

So there is an incredibly notable Old One god for the Lizardmen. His name is Chotec, and he is practically everywhere. He is one of the most revered gods of the Lizardmen, and he is the God of the Sun for them. The Solar Engines placed on the back of the Bastilodons sent to war, and many other powerful artifacts are attributed to Chotec. But you might be thinking, if they worship the Sun, then what about the moon?

Well, the closest thing I've been able to find, is none other than Huanchi. Huanchi is the Old One God of the Earth and Night, whose animal representative is the Jaguar representing speed and swiftness. There is one part in 6th Edition Lizardmen Page 19 which I found very interesting. In that page is a map of one of the four remaining Temple Cities of the Lizardmen in Lustria, Tlaxltan the City of the Moon. Within that page is the description of several temples of the Old Ones in an in-universe voice, likely that of a Skink.

Dome of Huanchi: "Cousin of darkness, Huanchi's priests too shall dwell in twilight."
Sun Temple of Chotec: "Whilst one brother dwells in darkness, his double-twin, exists in light. Behold!"

So you see, the funny thing is, this description set me into the weirdest conclusion. You see, there is another pair of "double-twin gods" who have had some examples of being related to the Sun and Moon. The connection is tenous at best, but I found it amusing.

You see, the Lore of Da Big Waaagh has the following Cataclysmic Spell:

"The Evil Sun - Fuelled with vast power, an Orc Shaman can will into existence a burning core of energy. With great tusks and a leering face, this evil sun descends upon the battlefield to smash all before it."

The Lore of Da Little Waaagh has the following Battle Magic Spell:

"Curse of da Bad Moon - With a chilling howl the Shaman summons a great pale moon with a leering goblinoid face and large, tusk-like fangs."

Gork and Mork being fallen Old Ones joke aside, Chotec, Huanchi, Gork and Mork are gods of Sun and Moon alongside Asuryan, Lileath, Sakhmet (Morrisleb), Ptra and Neru. Except one group see them as husband and wife (Nehekhara, Elves) and one group see them as double-twins (Lizardmen, Greenskins).

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The only question now is if their fallen old ones or old ones who got bored and decided to fuck around for a bit

 

[Candesce]

I don't see what Cavalry can even do in a siege.

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It's a decent choice for a reserve; the besieging force needs to spread out much more than the besieged, and that means there's a constant risk of a sally somewhere if the defenders can put together local superiority.

Even if you outnumber the defenders, you want a fast reaction force, and those always have an emphasis on fast.

I don't think they actually had much of one of those, though. As you said, they collapsed pretty quickly in the face of 50 Demigryphs. Possibly they had one when the siege first started, and then most of them got called off to other things as the Karak Vlag dwarves stopped trying to make sallies?

 

[Rafin]

I don't see what Cavalry can even do in a siege.

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Even if we ignore traditional uses like running down sallies, Steeds of Slaanesh are very different beasts from horses. They can and do attack on their own initiative, have no problem climbing up stairs and rocks or slinking through tunnels and angled alleys and can ambush people out of stealth. Remember that Vlag wasn't besieged from the outside. The Daemons had taken major parts of it and were using several halls as their own strongholds and domains.

So yes, not as useful as they would have been on an open field, but more useful than warhorses in a similar situation.

Edit: Oh and another thing. All of this was happening in the Daemon realm. So it was probably quite common for external armies to try and dislodge the Slaaneshi forces within, trying to conquer it for their own Daemon Prince or master. And the Dwarves seemed like they were mostly contained. So within the Warp most people saw it as a Slaaneshi fortress that had to combat sieges. And for Slaaneshi worried about Dwarf backstabs having a sallying force makes quite a bit of sense. Especially if Vlag on that side of reality was more of a lonely mountain than just one peak in a mountain range.

 

[Andres]

It's a decent choice for a reserve; the besieging force needs to spread out much more than the besieged, and that means there's a constant risk of a sally somewhere if the defenders can put together local superiority.

Even if you outnumber the defenders, you want a fast reaction force, and those always have an emphasis on fast.

I don't think they actually had much of one of those, though. As you said, they collapsed pretty quickly in the face of 50 Demigryphs. Possibly they had one when the siege first started, and then most of them got called off to other things as the Karak Vlag dwarves stopped trying to make sallies?

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Your fast reaction force doesn't need to be that fast against dwarves.

 

[Candesce]

Your fast reaction force doesn't need to be that fast against dwarves.

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Depends on how many of their sally-ports you've actually located.

Chaos probably has better odds than most of actually finding all of them, granted.

 

[mathymancer]

We don't really know how the Slaaneshi forces we faced compare to the ones that were normally stationed around Vlag. They were initially allied with two other forces, which could have demanded them to send away some of their forces (to make backstabbing less likely) and by the time they reached us they already lost some of their forces to infighting.

When you think about it, Tzeentch and Khorne deserve a lot of the credit for our victory at Vlag.

 

[Alliterate]

[x] Leave

 

[Horologer]

[X] Grief

 

[Jyn Ryvia]

When you think about it, Tzeentch and Khorne deserve a lot of the credit for our victory at Vlag.

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but I would rather not give them any credit and keep it all for ourselves.

 

[Codex]

We don't really know how the Slaaneshi forces we faced compare to the ones that were normally stationed around Vlag. They were initially allied with two other forces, which could have demanded them to send away some of their forces (to make backstabbing less likely) and by the time they reached us they already lost some of their forces to infighting.

When you think about it, Tzeentch and Khorne deserve a lot of the credit for our victory at Vlag.

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A large part of our overall success in military endeavors is the result of the Forces of Destruction hating each other's guts and fighting each other as much as they fight us. Say what you will about the Forces of Order, but they're at least more stable and take a bit more effort to set them against each other.

 

[Glau]

Extending that argument, it seems like a lot of the success we've had had been fundementally aggressive- we do great on the strategic attack, tactical defense scenarios. I think our style is counterpuncher, and I worry we would suffer if only by comparison on the defensive.

 

[Codex]

Extending that argument, it seems like a lot of the success we've had had been fundementally aggressive- we do great on the strategic attack, tactical defense scenarios. I think our style is counterpuncher, and I worry we would suffer if only by comparison on the defensive.

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That is a good part of why Mathilde synergises with the Dwarves. They specialise in defence. The reason they lost so much was because they were overwhelmed by an utterly ridiculous numbers advantage that they've never been able to make up because of their slow growth, but despite that they still survived for an incredibly amount of time even with the disadvantages they had.

A reminder that Karak Eight Peaks took about 180 years to fall after its underway was breached and the Skaven started swarming upwards, and it was the poisoning of the water supply that dealt the final blow to them. Mathilde might struggle on the defensive if her greatest allies weren't the Dwarves.

 

[Aura]

[X] Grief

 

[Codex]

So I came across something on twitter and I couldn't help but think of DL. Remember this?

You're starting to develop a headache. You suppose this sort of recursiveness is what you get when you turn an artefact against itself.

Your second approach is to use the Coin as a locus to examine Ranald Himself, which is technically something you could do using your own link with him, but looking inwards like that requires a lot of meditation and focus to get good results and being completely centered gets in the way of reaching conclusions. Even with the Coin, it's an effort to give the Aethyr a proper study rather than snatching a glimpse at a time, as even though Magesight is not restricted to the normal three dimensions, your brain tends to insist that it should be, and doesn't like to interpret the information it garners. But over a series of prolonged meditations on the Coin, you start to gather impressions of what it connects to.

A God, it is sometimes said, can be compared to a mortal being in the same way that the sun can be compared to a smouldering ember. You doubt that it was meant literally, but from looking Ranald-wards, you start to think it might be on to something. The fragment of the being you can see does not look materially different from the soul of the beings around you, just - 'just'! - astonishingly greater in size and intensity. Though you suppose you can't be sure that you're looking at Ranald Himself, you could be looking at the outermost edge of Ranald's domain within the Aethyr. Though you must admit you don't even know enough to say whether that's a meaningful distinction.

Then, one morning as you mentally prepare for another day spend gazing into the Warp, someone hands a letter that's come all the way from the Empire to Wolf to bring up to you. It's not the same stationery the College uses, the handwriting is atrocious, and it seems that at some point it had an unfortunate encounter with a puddle. You carefully unpeel the brittle envelope and extract the letter within.

To my very dear friend, it begins, and most of the ink after that has smeared beyond recognition. One single word, left miraculously untouched in the middle of the mess of stains, remains legible: don't. And at the very bottom, it is signed Yours most sincerely.

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Perhaps that is why Ranald warned you so harshly about inspecting Him - if this tiny fragment of Him is so impossibly intricate, what mortal mind could withstand witnessing the entirety?

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I found a good representation of what it might look like for a mortal mind to witness the entirety of a God in the Aethyr:

Spoiler: Incomprehensible

From this twitter page: https://twitter.com/REALFishFeeling/status/1471243028484562948

 

[Codex]

@Boney I want to ask if I'm looking too deeply into this or if this might be something you intended. Here, Mathilde goes over the symbol for the "Father":

But then you frown and lean a little closer. It looks like an X at first glance, but it's bisected horizontally, leaving a line of unmarked stone between the V above and the chevron below. You run your fingers over the shape and as you do you feel the Coin around your neck grow warm against your skin, and when you pull it out you find the same shape on the first face you see. You rotate it through and find that this is a new fifth side of your Coin, which is all well and good, but what does it mean?

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The symbol is the standard X for Ranald, but bisected horizontally in the middle, splitting it into a V and a chevron. Then there was talk about birds, and Doves are Shallya's symbol. I then remembered something. Aren't Birds often drawn as a V shape when simplified:

Spoiler

The chevron could be representing the bird flapping its wings downwards, and the V is when the bird's wings are facing upwards.

I think it would be a neat way of including Shallya into the imagery of the Father, but maybe I'm looking too much into it.

 

[Franksson]

So I know that reading all of the treadmarks would be better, but this quest is immense and I got exams to do in a while so I hope someone would answer me.
I noticed this quest some monts ago, the wizard protagonist but the dwarf tag really confused me.
Also the wood elf immage at the start.
then someone posted funny memes on grimdank that included some deep lore that is probably behiond the scope of the average fan.
So i decided to not waith months before asking this question even though it will probably take monts to me to actualy read the quest in a good way.
So I want to know what is this quest?
I read the description in the first page but that gives little info, what is happening in the world (in general) and what the tread is doing.
Why there is som much dawi on a grey wizard quest?

 

[Codex]

So I know that reading all of the treadmarks would be better, but this quest is immense and I got exams to do in a while so I hope someone would answer me.
I noticed this quest some monts ago, the wizard protagonist but the dwarf tag really confused me.
Also the wood elf immage at the start.
then someone posted funny memes on grimdank that included some deep lore that is probably behiond the scope of the average fan.
So i decided to not waith months before asking this question even though it will probably take monts to me to actualy read the quest in a good way.
So I want to know what is this quest?
I read the description in the first page but that gives little info, what is happening in the world (in general) and what the tread is doing.
Why there is som much dawi on a grey wizard quest?

Click to shrink...

The quest progresses through several stages and arcs that change its scope and direction several times. It makes perfect sense when you read it, but it takes place over almost two decades and the protagonist climbs the ranks and does some stuff that results in her going all over the place.

I don't want to spoil you, but there is a very good reason for the Dwarf and Elf stuff you've seen.

 

[Nerdasaurus Rex]

So I know that reading all of the treadmarks would be better, but this quest is immense and I got exams to do in a while so I hope someone would answer me.
I noticed this quest some monts ago, the wizard protagonist but the dwarf tag really confused me.
Also the wood elf immage at the start.
then someone posted funny memes on grimdank that included some deep lore that is probably behiond the scope of the average fan.
So i decided to not waith months before asking this question even though it will probably take monts to me to actualy read the quest in a good way.
So I want to know what is this quest?
I read the description in the first page but that gives little info, what is happening in the world (in general) and what the tread is doing.
Why there is som much dawi on a grey wizard quest?

Click to shrink...

We're playing as Mathilda Weber, a Shadow Wizard. At the start of the quest, she was Spymaster to the Count of Stirland, a poor province locked in conflict with the vampire counts of Slyvania. When that story arc ended, Mathilde traveled to the lost dwarf hold of Karak Eight Peaks to help the Dwarves retake their ancient home. Whilst travelling and fighting alongside the dwarves, Mathilde picked up a lot of cultural traits associated with dwarfkind, and is broadly considered a member of dwarf society (although a strange and unusual one). When that story arc ended, she became a sort of ambassador to the wood elves, helping them rediscover ancient magic created by elves and dwarves working together, which hasn't happened since the two had a big war thousands of years ago. That's the current story arc.

The dwarf quest thing is a bit of a joke, because how how much we've assimilated into dwarf culture.