Alright, so getting into the update:
A brief skim of your recent purchases highlights the difference between the human and Elven perspective of Gods. A human book on a God will tell you how one should act to attract the attention and approval of a God, whereas an Elven book instead instructs the reader to find the place in themselves where that God is already reflected, how to give that part primacy when needed, and the situations in which doing so would be most beneficial.
An interesting exploration on the societal and psychological differences between the Warhammer races. I always enjoy when Boney explores these parts of the Warhammer World. I enjoyed it with the Dwarves, and I'm sure I'll continue to enjoy it with the Elves.
Parts of the books dedicated to Hekarti read like a very mystical version of a set of Wind attunement and attenuation techniques, and parts of the books dedicated to Loec would function well as guide to music, dance, or ambush tactics.
Hekarti makes a lot of sense, particularly as Boney is putting more focus on her aspect as the Goddess of Magic rather than the Goddess of Dark Magic specifically. Loec intrigues me here, because the way Mathilde describes him is very distinct from the way Ranald would be described. She emphasies his focus on music, dance and ambush tactics, and aside from similarities between Night Prowling, which is more of an urban thievery thing, to ambushes, that holds little similarity to how Ranald would be described. Is this simply a matter of the books Mathilde is consuming focusing on aspects that differentiate him from Ranald, or Mathilde simply viewing him as a different god and therefore focusing on aspects of him that don't entirely resonate with Ranald?
Or maybe I'm looking too deeply and the parts of Loec that are largely venerated by the Elves are very distinct from what humans appreciate about Ranald. I can't remember humans having any seriously prominent Gods of Theatre, Music, Dancing and Festivals and stuff like that. WHF humans are allergic to fun sometimes, justifying it with stuff like "Slaanesh will prey on you for that" or whatever. Humans tend to worship Gods for things they want, rather than things they are. They want mercy, so they pray to Shallya. They want to survive, so they worship Ulric. They don't want to die, so they pray to Morr. They want healthy children and lots of fields, so they pray to Rhya. They want good luck and freedom from their oppression, so they pray to Ranald.
You wonder if this difference arises from the Elves or their Gods - are the Elven Gods more willing to share worshippers, or are Elves just poorly-suited to dedicated to a single God? You find the question resonates with very similar ones about the Winds, how Elves are capable of weaving all of them in concert but humans delve much deeper into just one.
The Elves had a rich and well constructed society before Chaos came to the world that they can still recall. Human society was barely a thing before Chaos came to the world, and their lives and memories are much shorter. Perhaps it's just the fact that Human society was born into a world of Chaos and destruction that leads them to be so desperately attuned to extremes, compared to Elven society which still recalls the time before the world was war after war and death after death. The Elves still long for the time before the world became what it is, but for humans, this is what it's always been. I think that plays a factor into the ways in which Humans tend to dedicate themselves into extremes. Life is short, so why waste time being indecisive and moving around when you can commit?
As in all things, the Elves have a tendency to claim this as a sign of superiority, but an argument can be made - and Cython has already done so - that this is a form of cowardice. To choose one is to reject the others, but to choose none is to master none.
The interesting thing is that even Elves have mono-wind casters, although their mono-wind effect is probably different than humans. Shadow Dancers of the Asrai cast exclusively from Ulgu, and the Dragon Mages of Caledor are stated to be---
Actually, you know what, let me quote Page 47 of High Elves 8th Edition, the Dragon Mage section:
"Into every generation of Caledorian nobility, a handful of Dragon Mages are born, Elves who have a sensitivity not only to magic, but to the slumbering minds of Dragons. Many nascent Dragon Mages only recognise their destiny when their sleep becomes haunted with dreams of fire and blood, in which they ride Dragons the color of the setting sun. Such dreams mark the dying days of a mage's tutelage, for they herald an impeteousness that is ill-suited for the study of anything other than Fire Magic"
In the tabletop, Dragon Mages only cast from Lore of Fire, and they have the "Reckless" special ability. This gives them an additional +2 to casting Lore of Fire spells (on top of any other bonus, like their Wizard level. That is Staff of Volans level bonus), but it also means that they get no bonuses whatsoever to dispelling enemy spells. They're just garbage at dispelling. Even Elves have those people who aren't well suited to everything.
This difference in perspective is also why you were able to secure this many books at all. In any human Cult, a large amount of these would be considered Cult secrets and only available to those that have dedicated their lives to the God in question. But to an Eonir perspective, it makes no sense to try to conceal these things because they are simply transcriptions of information that lies within every Elven soul. And because no non-Eonir have had access to the Library of Mournings for millennia, it would make no sense to have any sort of safeguard against that information reaching non-Elves. Perhaps they will identify this as an oversight and close it in time, or perhaps they won't, as this is all information available to polities as distant and inscrutable as Ulthuan and Naggaroth and Athel Loren. Divine secrets exist that aren't on the shelves for any reader to access, of course, but they represent a much narrower portion of the corpus and would fill perhaps a tome or two, rather than entire shelves.
Mathilde going through an entire philosophical discussion about the differences between the mindsets of humans and Elves just because she bought some books. Fascinating.
With some effort, you put the metaphysical examination of specific psychology and sociology out of your mind to turn your attention to more worldly matters.
It actually takes her effort to bring herself down from her own musings at this point, which seem to increase the longer the story goes on, to focus on more grounded things. My suspicions on her ascension being farther along than expected gets stronger with every update.
With the cooperation of the Order of Light and the Order of Life secured, if not yet fully paid for, you now have quite an array of contributors, including inheritors of each of the major parties that was present for the raising of the Old World's Runestones - Thorek for the Dwarves, Lord Hatalath for the Elves, and Elrisse and Tochter for the humans. While there's undoubtedly still value to be found among other groups, this foundation should bring enough perspectives to the table that a groundwork established here and now should be able to incorporate all of those you're likely to be able to bring in in the future.
I think this is a bit of a hint that we should get moving on the groundwork action. I would like to continue recruiting, but at this point I think we have a solid base from which to work from and Mathilde seems to think so too.
Part of you does want to bring in practically every magical tradition on the continent before you begin, but that's hardly practical. Another part of you does rankle at beginning work on credit, so it might be preferable to fully pay for the presence of Elrisse and Tochter before you put them to work. You did agree to investigate Alric personally, and while you technically didn't promise personal investigation for Gryphon's Wood, a lot of the reasons why Paranoth thought you'd be suited for it wouldn't apply if you merely delegated it.
Have I said how much I like that Boney interprets the thread's discussion that he reads through into Mathilde's musings and thought processes? I find it a really nice way to include the audience into Mathilde's characterisation while maintaining who she is. It also depicts a very solid understanding of what the thread's desires are and allows for Mathilde to specifically address the thread's concerns to mollify them and provide direction and solutions to the problems brought up by us. It really helps me solidify what I want to do with the turn plan.
[ ] WEB-MAT: Investigate Alric with one or more members of WEB-MAT (specify who) (NEW)
[ ] WEB-MAT: Investigate Gryphon Wood with one or more members of WEB-MAT (specify who) (NEW)
I do not want to bring anyone else with us to Alric. That would be dangerous, and no one else has the capabilities to match Mathilde. I 100% support bringing Johann along into Gryphon Wood though. That seems like the sort of adventure he'd be suited for. This is where Johann excels, dangerous journeys into unknown areas. I can think of a few airborne contagions that might be in the area which I'd prefer Johann walk into rather than Mathilde. Gotta make use of those golden lungs.
[ ] Investigate Alric (NEW)
[ ] Investigate Gryphon Wood (NEW)
I support doing Alric investigation solo, and Gryphon Wood with Johann, to clear the cost of Tochter and Elrisse. Clearing our conciousness and getting some action. Sneaky Mathilde's great.
[ ] EIC: Investigate what trade goods the Eonir might be willing to import from the Empire. (NEW)
[ ] EIC: Try to uncover what's going on in Gryphon's Wood. (NEW)
While the second option is good and I think it might be useful, I'd prefer a personal look. The EIC doesn't have much of a presence in Eastern Talabecland, Ostermark or Ostland, because we've been focusing on the central and western sections of the Empire. Instead, I think we should analyse what sort of good the Eonir might want so we can further consolidate our position and alliance. We want to make sure the Eonir think that they're better off with us than against us. A reminder that the council almost voted against contact, with a tiebreaker being necessary.
[ ] Lay the foundations: work with the current members of WEB-MAT and the Waystone Project to build a single unified framework for understanding the Waystones.
I am currently of the mind that we should do this action.
Lovely Laurelorn
[ ] Explore the wonders of the ancient and beautiful city of Tor Lithanel.
[ ] Explore one of the Wards of Laurelorn (specify which: Storm, Rain, Frost)
I want to explore the Ward of Frost. We've kept Cadaeth and the Council of Frost waiting, but they were our contacts and I'd like to see them. Getting some Forestborn support would be nice, especially since they're one of the more invested parties, what with them bordering Salzenmund.
[ ] Seek an agreement with a Cult to have access to their libraries (specify which, eg: Verenans, Myrmidians, Sigmarites)
Difficulty will vary heavily depending on the Cult in question, but can allow access to rare tomes and esoteric subjects.
My suggestion is to try to contact the Verenans. Obvious reason being that they're the best contact for books.
My proposal: Investigate Gryphon Wood with Johann, Investigate Alric with only Mathilde, Lay Foundations, Explore Ward of Frost, Get Verenan cooperation with the Library, Explore what the Eonir want trade-wise with the EIC, and two more WEB-MAT actions. Maybe we let Max write papers and do Windherding with Horstmann.
This is is all very tentative, and I don't make plans, so I could be convinced.