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To be frank, I don't see it as a joke at all. It is totally accurate to call this a Dwarf quest.The dwarf quest thing is a bit of a joke, because how how much we've assimilated into dwarf culture.
To be frank, I don't see it as a joke at all. It is totally accurate to call this a Dwarf quest.The dwarf quest thing is a bit of a joke, because how how much we've assimilated into dwarf culture.
It started as a joke. Then Ranald made a joke by making it not a joke.To be frank, I don't see it as a joke at all. It is totally accurate to call this a Dwarf quest.
@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":
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:
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.
@Boney, I just found an old typo while rereading the Stirland parts of the quest."So, Gustav," Van Hal begins the meeting proper. "We've spoken at length of your plans to establish pistoliers in Stirland. I feel it will be a worthy addition to Stirland's forces, both in times of war and to keep the roads clear in times of piece. Work with Wilhelmina and Anton in arranging the importation of the firearms you'll need. Make sure there's close ties between the pistoliers and the Roadwardens - they'll be working hand-in-hand." Gustav looks pleased, but he's barely given an opportunity to express his thanks before Van Hal's moving on. "Anton, report."
Understandable. I didn't really want you to confirm the theory one way or the other so much as I wanted to know if I was looking into something that wasn't there or if there really was something behind the obvious in regards to the symbology there, so I appreciate the answer.I'm not going to weigh in on individual theories, but there is a deeper meaning in the symbol.
The dwarf quest thing is a bit of a joke, because how how much we've assimilated into dwarf culture.
To be frank, I don't see it as a joke at all. It is totally accurate to call this a Dwarf quest.
It started as a joke. Then Ranald made a joke by making it not a joke.
Ah, I agree that "This is a Dwarf quest" likely started as a joke, and the specific reason it existed was because of that running joke, but as a current descriptor I find it perfectly accurate to describe the current quest so I no longer see it as just a joke.I believe that the tag 'this is a dwarf quest' specifically is part of a running joke. It started as the 'this is not an empire quest' tag which predates this quest and, from what I can tell, is used to mean that a quest is not intended to be a quest in which an empire is built. Then it got 'this is not a vampire quest' as a play on that during the "is Mathilde a vampire?" strain of thread madness. Then 'this is a dwarf quest' rounded out the trio when Mathilde made a home at K8P. Though I might be wrong about the intentions, the only tags I added were 'ck2', 'warhammer' and 'fantasy' right back at the start.
Are you kidding me?!I believe that the tag 'this is a dwarf quest' specifically is part of a running joke. It started as the 'this is not an empire quest' tag which predates this quest and, from what I can tell, is used to mean that a quest is not intended to be a quest in which an empire is built. Then it got 'this is not a vampire quest' as a play on that during the "is Mathilde a vampire?" strain of thread madness. Then 'this is a dwarf quest' rounded out the trio when Mathilde made a home at K8P. Though I might be wrong about the intentions, the only tags I added were 'ck2', 'warhammer' and 'fantasy' right back at the start.
Well I wasn't going to post it before and I feel like it is unlikely since the symbology is probably related to the daughters themselves, but my first thought when we learned the symbol was super simplified penis and vagina/womb symbols. (IIRC both those symbols have been used that way historically.)I'm not going to weigh in on individual theories, but there is a deeper meaning in the symbol.
The project is likely to take quite a while, probably in the realm of at least a decade and likely more, and at some point we're going to go on Elfcation, which Boney said would likely take as much RL time as the Karag Dum expedition. For the forseeable future, we're gonna be seeing a lot of Elves.
It started as the 'this is not an empire quest' tag which predates this quest and, from what I can tell, is used to mean that a quest is not intended to be a quest in which an empire is built.
At the very least that was the intent from the originating TBG quest. I think it has transcended beyond that though but I'll admit to not being familiar with that many quests currently listed under it.Are you kidding me?!
I thought 'this is not an empire quest' meant that it wasn't primarily about The Empire. I need to edit some tags, smh.
The overwhelming majority of quests that currently use the tag are Warhammer quests, and I have a feeling that the reason they're using the tag is less of the fact that they're clarifying that their quest is not an Empire builder so much as it is advertising that the quest isn't focusing on Sigmar's Holy Empire (or for 40K, the Empire of Mankind).At the very least that was the intent from the originating TBG quest. I think it has transcended beyond that though but I'll admit to not being familiar with that many quests currently listed under it.
@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":
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:
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.
Now that we know the symbol has meaning, what could it mean? How will this effect our search for the daughters? I can think of a few general possibilities:I'm not going to weigh in on individual theories, but there is a deeper meaning in the symbol.
It might be that the symbol is hinting to us that the daughters are the result of Ranald splitting Himself apart, giving some of His domains 'independence' as Ellinill did. It's not clear what this means regarding Ranald's authority over those domains - I think when Ellinill created Gods for specific types of disasters he still mantained some power over those concepts as the God of general disasters, so it might be possible for Ranald to for example let one of his daughters have domain over a specific kind of theft while still keeping the concept of theft in general. The main objection to this theory is that what Cython describes with Ellinill seems to be a kind of asexual reproduction, and in Ranald's case we know there was a partner involved. Maybe Shallya did something similar, and the two Gods combined their budded off offsprings to create a greater power?Ellinill budded off children as a path to power, splitting Them off from His individual facets[...]
Well I wasn't going to post it before and I feel like it is unlikely since the symbology is probably related to the daughters themselves, but my first thought when we learned the symbol was super simplified penis and vagina/womb symbols. (IIRC both those symbols have been used that way historically.)
Even if it began as a joke, it's got an actual purpose now. Even Rhunrikki has it I think.Are you kidding me?!
I thought 'this is not an empire quest' meant that it wasn't primarily about The Empire. I need to edit some tags, smh.
I mean, we don't actually know that with any degree of certainty. A Dawi soul being stubborn enough that even after being denied a path to the Glittering Realm upon death, and being waylaid by some scoundrel so that they are forced to incarnate in an Umgi of all things nevertheless being stubborn enough to not only return to their people but overcome every conceivable obstacle to be not merely accepted but embraced could well resonate with the Dawi psyche.and few of the Dwarfs that actually know her believe the "Dwarven soul" drivel,
The only meaningful interactions we've had with Dwarves after the whole soul thing was with Belegar and Thorek, neither of which expressed even a whiff of believing that. Thorek straight up called her an Umgi, when most Dwarves no longer consider her one, and Belegar got mad at the announcement and called it rubbish.I mean, we don't actually know that with any degree of certainty. A Dawi soul being stubborn enough that even after being denied a path to the Glittering Realm upon death, and being waylaid by some scoundrel so that they are forced to incarnate in an Umgi of all things nevertheless being stubborn enough to not only return to their people but overcome every conceivable obstacle to be not merely accepted but embraced could well resonate with the Dawi psyche.
Now you're probably right when it comes to the Dwarfs that know her really well, and I can imagine Gunnars in particular just wordlessly gesturing at the shadow, but Matty girl kind of knows a lot of dwarfs that we don't actually have that great a read on when it comes to their inner thoughts. Complicating things also with a couple of the dawi that really know her is the still mostly unknown to us fallout from the Kragg Ancestor Rune Incident.
That feels kinda disappointingThe overwhelming majority of quests that currently use the tag are Warhammer quests, and I have a feeling that the reason they're using the tag is less of the fact that they're clarifying that their quest is not an Empire builder so much as it is advertising that the quest isn't focusing on Sigmar's Holy Empire (or for 40K, the Empire of Mankind).
I know a few people who don't like quests being centered on the Empire because it's the "generic human faction". I don't necessarily agree on that, but I can understand wanting to advertise that your quest isn't about that.
Oh I 100% agree. The Empire never struck me as a generic faction. It's always felt like an interesting combination of factors and the interplay between all the complex systems that keep it running gives you an endless array of options to play with.That feels kinda disappointing
Edit: As an aside, tbh I feel the Empire is pretty far removed from most of what we see as far as generic fantasy human factions, their obviously German rather than English coding helps a lot.
The only meaningful interactions we've had with Dwarves after the whole soul thing was with Belegar and Thorek, neither of which expressed even a whiff of believing that. Thorek straight up called her an Umgi, when most Dwarves no longer consider her one, and Belegar got mad at the announcement and called it rubbish.
Our sample size isn't large, but it doesn't point towards blind acceptance from the Dwarves that Mathilde had any sort of meaningful interaction with since coming back.
EDIT: Also, I have no idea why you're including the Kragg incident. Mathilde was not affected by the Rune, that was the Undumgi. Putting aside whether that made their souls "Dwarven", it has nothing to do with Mathilde.
I think it's mostly Russian, but there's definitely some Polish-ness in there (the Winged Lancers are the most prominent one, but some of the names as well)and Kislev is obviously slavic in nature (I can't pinpoint the exact reference but I think it's dozens of nations jumbled together)
Off the top of my head Praag is a rip off of the capital of the Czech Republic and the historic capital of Bohemia, Prague. In Realm of the Ice Queen, Koumiss is pretty common, likely as a result of Dolgan integration into Kislev because I believe it's said to be a Dolgan thing. Koumis obviously being a play on Kumis, fermented horse milk popular with Turkic and Mongol people from Central Asia. There's some serious Cossack influence, which is not just Russian but likely included several ethnicities, alongside the Polish influence. I will not say that I am a historical expert on this stuff, but I think while the Russian influence is strong, it's not the only influence.I think it's mostly Russian, but there's definitely some Polish-ness in there (the Winged Lancers are the most prominent one, but some of the names as well)
I'm sure there's probably more in RotIQ, but I don't know enough about the tropes of the respective cultures to really have any idea what might have contributed what.
@Boney
How do you type up the quest and keep track of all your notes, and how do you export it in a format compatible with the forum? Do you just have a single page in google documents/word with the story and another with the notes, or do you use something more intricate?
Sorry if you already answered this. I would have PM'ed you, but I imagine there are many others who might be curious.
Link for ZimI know the feeling, I was using nested folders full of .txt files before Zim clicked for me.