Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
That is a fair point, but is Alaric sneaky enough that we would need something like that? I am kind of dubious. After all the 'lights are bad at sneaking' applies to him as well.

He's a gazillion years old and has been playing high stakes political games with wizards for longer than Mathilde's been alive. I could see insight into why he's doing whatever he's doing to be pretty dang valuable. I mean, I'm not gonna say he's some kind of mastermind, but it's not like taking him seriously would hurt, given that the opportunity cost of bringing Egrimm along would be pretty small.
 
I note this point: There will be an additional action cost to incorporate any new recruits and their information into the framework.
Can be repeated if desired, but will not unlock anything new after the first time, it will just make a new framework incorporating any new recruits.

My general thoughts for a pretty focused 'discharge obligations and get started' plan would be something like:

[ ] WEB-MAT: Investigate Alric with one or more members of WEB-MAT (Egrimm) (NEW)
[ ] WEB-MAT: Investigate Gryphon Wood with one or more members of WEB-MAT (specify who) (Johann)
[ ] EGRIMM: Attempt a Windherder enchantment with Egrimm (specify what) - Ideas?
[ ] Personally scrutinize a Waystone as thoroughly as you possibly can.
[ ] Attempt to bring a Major House or Ward into the Waystone Project (Cadaeth and the Ward of Frost)
[ ] 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.
[ ] Write a paper: Observations of Johann's prosthetic arm (FRESH)?
[ ] EIC: Have the Hochlander set up a shadow headquarters for the EIC in your fief.
edit: or the Auditors or Eonir Commerce thing.

Coin? On the premise that we could be doing stuff in settlements, maybe
[ ] The Night Prowler
gets an outing, mostly relevant to Alric (and who knows, maybe clue-chasing for Gryphon Wood)?

Re. Alric- it behooves us to remember that while they're not quite as bad as Celestials, the Lights also have tricks up their sleeve that can no-sell and completely negate a lot of our magical concealment tricks
 
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Alright, let's see what we can make of this:
She is often referred to as the Goddess of the Forest of Shadows, but specifically she is the one who protects people from the Forest of Shadows. While Taal and Rhya are those worshipped in the larger towns and cities, in the rest of Ostland many call on Halétha instead. Where Taal and Rhya is 'here's how to live in harmony with nature', Halétha is more 'there is no nature here, here's how to carve something you can live on from the darkness'.
Not much new here. More emphasis on Halétha's protection aspect, with the possible Ranald connection being rather obvious, but we already knew that.
Nordland Haleth is simple enough, the general explanation is that those in central and western Nordland adopted her from those in eastern Nordland, which is within the Forest of Shadows, as a general hunting Goddess. Middenland Haleth is more puzzling. It looks like both arose at about the same time as the Cults of Taal and Rhya were expanding their influence in Ostland, so it might be a result of a Haléthan diaspora.
This seems like pretty strong evidence against Haleth being Halétha's sister. The fertility Goddess seems likely to just be an aspect of Halétha, while the hunting Goddess doesn't have any obvious connection to either parent. So if Halétha is a daughter - which still seems likely - we've still got one more to find.
Lots. They're very basic symbols and pretty much every language has at least one as a letter, including Khazalid and Dark Tongue. Shapes like V are used to represent trees, flowers, springs, cups, lakes, and a yonic symbol, while shapes like chevrons are used to represent mountains, roots, sunshine, rivers, and a yonic symbol.
Hmm. A yonic symbol could fit Halétha, due to the fertility connection. So either a V or a chevron. Maybe chevron for a tree as well, since she is connected to a forest.
And, uh, a V representing a cup and a lake might fit The Lady. God forgive me, but I think this theory shot up in likelihood, especially now that Haleth's is likely to just be an aspect of Halétha
Hekarti and Atharti are explicitly said to be twin sisters but there's no information about any other relations. Some are referred to as Loec's children - Alith Anar, Wardancers in general, and bizarrely Draugnir in one place - but it doesn't seem to ever be applied in a way that is meant to be literal.

Not really. If you really wanted to you could draw a line between Loec's shadows and Hekarti's darkness, but magically the two are completely different. Hekarti is as associated with the Wind of Shadow as she is with all the others, and Loec is associated with shadow and only indirectly with the Wind of Shadow, which might make sense if you were trying to argue that Loec is Hekarti's son, but not the other way around.
This seems like a pretty strong blow against the Hekarti theory. I never thought it was likely, and it seems less likely than ever before.

All in all as far as probabilities go I would call this a blow against Haleth and Hekarti, a slight boost to Halétha, a large boost to The Lady and a moderate decrease to anything else, since nothing we learned seems to indicate any previously undiscussed Goddess. Oh, there's one more thing?
Shallya and Myrmidia, Hyacinth and Groplotta, Clio and Scripsisti, and a handful of paired river goddesses. Familial relationships don't seem to be common among minor Gods, and when they do occur it's usually because they're being chained in to the family tree of the main pantheon.
Ok, that's pretty much a nothingburger, so...wait. Wait.
Hyacinth and Groplotta
no
  • In the picture, the twins appear as small children, making them shorter than their human parents. Halflings are shorter than humans. Coincidence?
please
Just crazy enough to be true.
oh god
 
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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?
Either *dedicating or *being dedicated.
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.
There are multiple ways for someone to help investigate, and not all of them necessitate sneaking around in the shadows with us. For instance, having someone present who is intimately familiar with Alric's operational methods and habits of thought could be enormously helpful in guiding us for where we should be looking, interpreting preliminary info to determine what's worth following up on, etc.
[ ] WEB-MAT: Investigate Alric with one or more members of WEB-MAT (Egrimm) (NEW)
[ ] WEB-MAT: Investigate Gryphon Wood with one or more members of WEB-MAT (specify who) (Johann)
[ ] EGRIMM: Attempt a Windherder enchantment with Egrimm (specify what) - Ideas?
[ ] Personally scrutinize a Waystone as thoroughly as you possibly can.
[ ] Attempt to bring a Major House or Ward into the Waystone Project (Cadaeth and the Ward of Frost)
[ ] 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.
[ ] Write a paper: Observations of Johann's prosthetic arm (FRESH)?
[ ] EIC: Have the Hochlander set up a shadow headquarters for the EIC in your fief.

Coin?
I like this list. For the coin, I'd say either Gambler on Windherder, or if we want to take a swing on Haletha maybe being related to Ranald put it on the Father. But I'd probably go with Gambler since I'd like to at least meet some followers of Haletha before devoting the coin for a turn.

Oh, I don't care much for the EIC action tho tbh. A shadow headquarters should be hard to find but easy to get to, not the other way around. So setting it up in the Sunken Palace would be better if we wanted to set one up. I also don't see an actual need for a shadow headquarters at this time, unless I've really missed something.

I'd prefer either
[ ] EIC: Found an auditors division, to make sure the ledgers are in order.
or maybe
[ ] EIC: Investigate what trade goods the Eonir might be willing to import from the Empire.

The latter for obvious reasons, and the former because if there's ever anything hinky happening with the EIC's books I would like to know about it BEFORE the Bursar of the Grey College takes an interest.
 
That would be possible.
Neat, maybe Egrimm-Wolf bonding time (as he relays comms)!
I'm sure there are zero untoward risks associated with entrusting an embodied link direct in to our soul to good Lord Magister van Horstmann.

I like this list. For the coin, I'd say either Gambler on Windherder, or if we want to take a swing on Haletha maybe being related to Ranald put it on the Father. But I'd probably go with Gambler since I'd like to at least meet some followers of Haletha before devoting the coin for a turn.

Oh, I don't care much for the EIC action tho tbh. A shadow headquarters should be hard to find but easy to get to, not the other way around. So setting it up in the Sunken Palace would be better if we wanted to set one up. I also don't see an actual need for a shadow headquarters at this time, unless I've really missed something.

I'd prefer either
[ ] EIC: Found an auditors division, to make sure the ledgers are in order.
or maybe
[ ] EIC: Investigate what trade goods the Eonir might be willing to import from the Empire.

The latter for obvious reasons, and the former because if there's ever anything hinky happening with the EIC's books I would like to know about it BEFORE the Bursar of the Grey College takes an interest.
These are fair observations.
 
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I mean if this is true, and personally I do not think it is, then it is basically a dead end anyway. We are not planning to bake the waystones into pies and eat them and they are rather large to pick out of someone's pockets.
Hyacinth is a Goddess of Fertility and Motherhood and Groplotta is a Goddess of Herbalism and Gardening/Horticulture. Esmeralda is the Pie Goddess who's about Home, Hearth and Cooking.
 
Hyacinth is a Goddess of Fertility and Motherhood and Groplotta is a Goddess of Herbalism and Gardening/Horticulture. Esmeralda is the Pie Goddess who's about Home, Hearth and Cooking.

Thanks for the clarification, I was just going off general halfling things because I am not expecting the individual domains of halfling goddesses to be relevant to this quest at this point.
 
Elven library?

Alternatively, he might decide to join for the whole "world not getting rekt" part.
  1. Unfortunately I do not think that would work, if he wanted to go visit the elf library he could ask the elves about it, they do not have any prejudices against dragons
  2. He was not even willing to help against a Waagh on his doorstep on the basis of general safety. He is a dragon by his lights he does not need our help to stay safe
 
Thanks for the clarification, I was just going off general halfling things because I am not expecting the individual domains of halfling goddesses to be relevant to this quest at this point.
If Cython is going to continue exploring divinities, then they should be exploring different pantheons and their domains.
To attempt to study the Gods as one cohesive group would be deeply insulting to literally all of them. Ancestor Gods, Elven Gods, human Gods, Halfling Gods, Chaos Gods, by all accounts they differ heavily and fundamentally from each other. So instead they're studied in their native context
They've even expressed interest in the Halfling gods before as they are a pantheon they did not have access to.
"What makes Hashut different?"

"Precisely. The Ancestor Gods are easy - they started as Dwarves, and ascended. Or perhaps descended. Did Hashut? Or is there some other mechanism at play?" It hums again, lowering its head to run an eye over the titles of the stacked books. "Are there any other species with their own unshared pantheons?"

"Well, yes. The Halflings." It turns its eye to give you a searching look. "Like humans, but shorter. You must have seen them, they're inhabiting the Eastern Valley, among the farmlands."

"I had simply assumed you used your young to tend the fields. They are a distinct species?" You nod. "Where did they come from?"

"We don't know, they've been living among us for as far back as written history goes. They came west with the tribes that eventually formed the Empire."

"And their Gods? Do they conform to the usual archetypes?"

"I'm not all that familiar with them, I'll have to borrow some research materials for you. But I do know that their main Goddess, Esmerelda, is the Goddess of Food and Hearth, which seems more similar to Valaya than Rhya or Isha - especially since they have a separate, masculine God of Farming, Josias."

"Are they notably resistant to magic?"

You frown in thought. "Perhaps. They produce Wizards only very rarely, and I remember hearing rumours as a child that they're resistant to mutation, though it was framed as being because they're already mutants." You think further. "There's Ogres, too. I've only read about them, but they supposedly only rarely serve Chaos, and most of them instead worship some sort of God of Eating called the Great Maw. I've got some books on their society, mostly from when the Dwarves were expanding into the mountains they inhabit."

"There is a greater variety of species here than in the west," it notes.

"Simple geography, perhaps? Less formidable natural barriers to stop the spread of species. Dwarves are from the south and Ogres from the east, after all."

"Perhaps," it says thoughtfully.
IMO the Halfling Pantheon is quite interesting. It's small and quite different from the usual pantheons, with a bit of a hyperfocus. Halflings also tend to have a far more irreverant nature in their worship as opposed to the other races who place a great deal of solemnity to their prayers. Here's the list of their gods:
So I've collected all the Halfling Pantheon that I've been able to find from various 2e WFRP sources. This is the result:

Esmeralda: Goddess of Hearth and Home. Cooking and good food. Head of the Halfling pantheon
Josias: God of Farming and Agriculture
Hyacinth: Goddess of Fertility and Childbirth
Quinnsberry: God of Ancestry and Tradition
Phineas: God of Tobacco and Smoking
Gaffey: God of Building and Villages
Groplotta: Goddess of Herbalism and Nature

I'm very interested to see what Cython makes of this, it's quite the interesting pantheon. In terms of Ogres, they worship the Maw, which isn't really a formal cult or priesthood but the Maw is all about eating. They also worship the Fire Mouth, the largest and most destructive volcano in the Mountains of Mourne. Priests of the Fire Mouth are known as Firebellies and can cast from the Lore of Fire, and priests of the Great Maw, known as Butchers and Slaughterpriests, can cast from the Lore of the Great Maw, Death, Beasts and Heavens.
They have a God of Building, one for Smoking, one for Ancestry, one for Farming. Then they have a Goddess for Cooking, one for Fertility, and one for Nature.

In contrast, the Ogres also have Gods for Eating and Eating with lava. Their worship is heavily tied to physical, tangible things that they can see and interact with and affect them mentally, spiritually and physically. They even have beliefs about climbing mountains and eating their "Heart" as a psuedo religous ritual to gain the Big Name "Mountain Eater", and considering some of these mountains move around, I'd be inclined to consider them divine entities as well.
 
Cython: if there's anything that thinks it's strong enough to kill me, it probably deserves to have a chance to try.
Dragon superiority + light arrogance arcane mark.
 
No. The Gods already have ways for people to wield their power. Trying to sidestep those ways and create one completely out of their control would be an extremely efficient way to make an enemy of almost every organization on the continent.

Wasn't there discussion of trying to use av to supercharge the coin? ah well, ill take that to mean AV is permanently dead for divine usage then.
 
If Cython is going to continue exploring divinities, then they should be exploring different pantheons and their domains.

They've even expressed interest in the Halfling gods before as they are a pantheon they did not have access to.

IMO the Halfling Pantheon is quite interesting. It's small and quite different from the usual pantheons, with a bit of a hyperfocus. Halflings also tend to have a far more irreverant nature in their worship as opposed to the other races who place a great deal of solemnity to their prayers. Here's the list of their gods:

It should be noted that Mathilde and Cython care about the nature of gods for different reasons. For him it is a puzzle, a mystery he is hunting, for her it is a way to advance other aims. We want to know if Loec is Ranald for instance because it would tell us if we have elf friends to tap in his cult, for things like training and espionage help. We want to know what is up with the lady because her sorcery is... odd and we might learn something from it. Hallflings have no secret lore, they do not even have spellcasting priests. They are fundamentally not relevant to our interests and this is not just me projecting I do not think, look at how long it took us to talk to the head halfling in K8P, literally years to spend a social action.
 
It should be noted that Mathilde and Cython care about the nature of gods for different reasons. For him it is a puzzle, a mystery he is hunting, for her it is a way to advance other aims. We want to know if Loec is Ranald for instance because it would tell us if we have elf friends to tap in his cult, for things like training and espionage help. We want to know what is up with the lady because her sorcery is... odd and we might learn something from it. Hallflings have no secret lore, they do not even have spellcasting priests. They are fundamentally not relevant to our interests and this is not just me projecting I do not think, look at how long it took us to talk to the head halfling in K8P, literally years to spend a social action.
A reminder that canon is pretty contradictory when it comes to Halflings due to different ideas over how seriously they should take them or if they should keep treating them as a joke. Boney's world is more consistent and less likely to have them be the Hobbit joke they are in canon, and part of that is having to put his fingers on the scale on the topic of Halflings and Magic:
I have to. Actual canon contradicts itself on the point of Halflings and magic.
They don't produce them often, but Halflings do have spellcasters.

I'm not saying that they'll likely have some sort of secret Waystone lore, but the Halflings are far more interesting than just a pie joke. I understand you were making a joke, but it felt pretty reductive to a group of people who have proven absolutely vital to Karak Eight Peaks.
 
"It wasn't that they didn't take an interest in the world around them. On the contrary, they had a deep, personal and passionate involvement in it, but instead of asking, 'Why are we here?' they asked, 'Is it going to rain before the harvest?' A philosopher might have deplored this lack of mental ambition, but only if he was really certain about where his next meal was coming from."
 
Personally, I'm tempted to go with the Father face and talk to Empress Heidi, but using gambler on personally examine a waystone may be a better idea.
 
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