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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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I'm a bit wary about the surveil actions. I mean, for all we know there just won't be any interraction with the deamon during the next week, they could very well be wasted actions...

[X] Plan Kick Doors and Make a Mess
-[X] Renegotiate with Mira
-[X] Research: Underworld Turbulence
-[X] Scour the city: Elector Count of Talabecland

I just like the idea of doing this in a very straightforward way and honor our dawiness. Has the advantage of making connections with the Elector Count. We never know when we'll need to call a vote and another friendly Elector would be lovely. Plus, Mira will be able to push the narrative that it's Alric's mess and that because he isn't able to stop the murders more heavy handed methods were needed. Researching underworld turbulences with Regimand beforehand would help orient our searches with the autorities.

Still also voting for the cool collaborative plan. I just love the potential narrative of working with Alric and the Empress. Even if Alric ends ups betraying us, it only makes a future rivalry interresting and possible bonding moments with Egrimm.

[x] Plan: Interested Parties
 
Boney said:
The investigation rolls were hidden because if Mathilde and Regimand both missed something they wouldn't know it, the shown roll was just for the race to the murder scenes.
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Would Mathilde know the relative difference between Regimand's main investigation result and her own? Since after the race neither of the two would have a reason to hide what they were doing.
Codex said:
I think it's a bit harder for Roswita to hide having secret heirs than Abelheim, considering pregnancy and everything.
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Her siblings are still her heirs. Might be that she has one or more and doesn't see the need to create a crown princeling that takes precedence over an adult or teenager that she already trusts to take over should some gribbly nom her.
Swantree said:
I think we played an extensive game of telephone there.

Here's the whole context:
If I remember right, Codex mentioned intrigue escapades and her job as spymaster. I mentioned that even that wasn't even the real job we were there for. I thought that was neat where even that was obfuscated. People pointed out that wasn't where our strongest loyalties lie. I said fair,, but even so Mathilde fulfilled her role as a mole. She never wanted the job in the first place, she didn't apply or was vetted, didn't even know what the job entailed in the first place. No one but the Lahmians wanted Mathilde in Stirland.

I largely agree with your point but I think the quote is removed from a larger context. That wasn't a rant pointing out Mathilde's evilness, that was a sentence supporting my argument that her point being in Stirland was being a mole. I do think that her dedication to Abelheim massively overshadowed any of her duties to Stirland. But I may just be misremembering if she did do anything for Stirland on her own agency. I don't remember if there were even options for it.
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Maybe our apparent miscommunication comes because I don't get what you were initially trying to point out or refute with your statement that Spymaster wasn't Mathilde's real job. I thought it was about her job as Spymaster not being something Mathilde would consider real job experience. The context refresher you gave doesn't make it make more sense to me though. Codex was comparing the work environment that Mathilde has been used to compared to her master's work experiences. Which aspect of her activities in Stirland she considered her real job vs which she considered a cover or inconvenience or thing to work around don't even matter much to that discussion.

As for what she did outside her dedication to Abelhelm, I'd say that two things come to mind. One is the restructuring of the Wurtbad Watch into the Stirland Watch (including the sewer jacks and the gong farmers (the latter she subsequently stole thus negating a small part of her good work)) and combining both it and a decent foundation of an information network under the Spymaster's purview, which before that had no institutional assets. The other is the EIC as an organization that is loyal to the Empire, doesn't fleece the sheep and does wholeheartedly support Stirland's military and logistics.
 
I get wanting to check in with Mira, but from my understanding that's more if we want some Brights of our own; she'll be perfectly happy if we just collaborate with Alric and fuck him over that way. Plus, right now, we really want an inside view on Alric's investigation to make sure he doesn't mess with Heidi.

So I think I'm going to vote for this and collect more information before we make a decision or have to make our move. After all, the more info we have when we show up out of the blue to steal some glory the better.

[x] Plan: Ritual Centre
 
Sparsebeard said:
I just like the idea of doing this in a very straightforward way and honor our dawiness. Has the advantage of making connections with the Elector Count.
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Eh, I'm not so sure about that one. If he were a neutral actor then sure, but I seem to recall him being painted in a rather more negative light over the course of the quest. As a reminder, this is the same Elector Count who was won over by sending a coward as an advisor to Stirland, who didn't send any help to Abelhelm in the Drakenhof campaign, who almost got Grudged by Karak Kadrin for opposing their canal project with Ostermark, who Heidi reckons would be the favorite for next Emperor over Mandred if the succession were to happen now. Do we really want to cultivate that relationship?
 
[X] Plan The Hunt is On
-[X] Plunder Krieglitz Manor
-[X] Research: Alberich's form
-[X] Scour the city: specify who with
--[X] The Longshanks

Making my own plan because all the leading ones focus on surveilling. But surveilling will only (potentially) tell us what kind of ritual it is, and even then only if it's actually centered on the Unfahigers instead of on Alberich/the person conducting the ritual. Which it may not even be. Our interest in this isn't academic, it's in stopping the ritual. To which point:
Boney said:
"Kill the one doing them and they tend to end," Regimand advises helpfully.
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We've already narrowed down the main options for what the ritual could be, enough so that we won't be going into things blind when we're interrupting the ritual - we've defined the possibility space, and we can identify the correct option from that space when we're actually looking at it. And it's more important to stop the ritual than it is to know everything about it anyway.

So the options I've selected are to research Alberich's form because that'll help with spotting him, then scour the city for him with the local version of Witch Hunters. The Sigmarite Witch Hunters are the most famous/iconic, but they're not the only kind in the Empire, and the Longshanks fill that role for the Taalites. And this is absolutely a Taalite province/city, so that means it's the Longshanks doing that here. They'll be better at spotting cult/ritual related stuff specifically than any of the other options would be likely to be, and more likely to not stir up unusual interest when doing so. Cults are getting agitated and causing a ruckus all across the Empire right now anyway, local Witch Hunters going on a hunt is not going to immediately stand out as necessarily being about Alberich.

Plundering, meanwhile, is selected because it's the Ransack option with a side of economic justice for the heirs to Dieter IV's looted wealth. Hidden vaults and the like are absolutely where any ritual implements, etc, would actually be located. So if we really want to be thorough in searching Krieglitz Manor for anything potentially related, we need to be breaking into those anyway.
 
pucflek said:
I think Pit of Shadows is called Pit of Shadows because it looks like a hole. You know whats another word for hole? A pit. They are not mutually interchangeable words in every context, but its not that much of a leap tbh.
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Yeah but things actually fall into it. Which exactly contradicts how it is supposed to cause damage to things, by squeezing stuff in a place with no space.

Resonant said:
It's an infinitely tiny strip of space separating the material realm from the Aethyr. Opening a portal creates a suction force from air pressure as it tries to fill the intervening gap. There is technically space to pull things in, just that it's atomically small.
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"Creates a suction force" - if even the air can't fit in, how is there any suction force? The stuff that can fit in (nothing) will get pulled in, everything else is just going to treat it as a barrier because it can't fit through it.

The metaphor as it exists contradicts itself.

So I don't think the spell actually works like that.

There's got to be the bit that actually expands the dimension enough for other things to enter it, so like the grey college pockets, and then a second part that removes the expansion without removing the objects so they can be crushed without just being expelled.

So at least two different portals stacked on eachother? A portal with a time-limited and object-specific expansion effect?

Or just the expansion, so things can fall in, and the damage is caused in done other way.

The weird part is that the actual observable bits of the spell are the ones that contradict the theory of how it causes damage.

[X] Plan The Hunt is On
 
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Sparsebeard said:
We never know when we'll need to call a vote and another friendly Elector would be lovely. Plus, Mira will be able to push the narrative that it's Alric's mess and that because he isn't able to stop the murders more heavy handed methods were needed. Researching underworld turbulences with Regimand beforehand would help orient our searches with the autorities.
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I'm sure the guy that is the biggest rival of her kid for Empirer when the current is gone would love to help.

no, seriously having something like this would be a super card in his pocket when that starts up, even if its only 'I help make this dirty little secret about a cultist family member go away... or come back. (and if, somehow, he finds out she is a fake, he will literally be able to force his biggest rival to not only step aside, but even help him so that they dont die.)

they would be delighted to help.
 
Clearly how it works is that the tear in reality does not interact with gravity in any way, so the gravity of the earth beneath the portal still pulls things down. Into the portal to impossibly thin land.
 
[X] Plan The Hunt is On-no plunder
-[X] Research: Underworld Turbulence
-[X] Research: Alberich's form
-[X] Scour the city: specify who with
--[X] The Longshanks

[x] Plan: Ritual Centre with Mira
 
[X] Plan The Hunt is On
[X] Plan The Hunt is On-no plunder

I'll approval vote this alteration since I care more so about the hunting than the plundering.
 
I think economic justice is a really bad idea when we work for the very much feudal Empire. Mathilde is not some free spirited Ranaldite rebel, she works for the Man... and the Man has far too many ways of knowing if she has been towing the line on this. I would rather she did not get called to the porter's office on much graver charges next time.
 
einargs said:
I get wanting to check in with Mira, but from my understanding that's more if we want some Brights of our own; she'll be perfectly happy if we just collaborate with Alric and fuck him over that way.
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No? If we want Brights of our own, Mathilde goes to recruit them herself or she talks to...Reicthard, right? What's the Bright Patriarch's name again?
 
Hmm. I kind of like the idea of a more active plan, but maybe switch plunder for ransack?

[X] Plan The Hunt is On-Ransack
-[X] Ransack Krieglitz Manor
-[X] Research: Alberich's form
-[X] Scour the city: specify who with
--[X] The Longshanks

[X] Plan The Hunt is On-no plunder
[X] Plan: Maximum information
 
Fayhem said:
Making my own plan because all the leading ones focus on surveilling. But surveilling will only (potentially) tell us what kind of ritual it is, and even then only if it's actually centered on the Unfahigers instead of on Alberich/the person conducting the ritual. Which it may not even be. Our interest in this isn't academic, it's in stopping the ritual. To which point:
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I'd argue our interest is in keeping the Empress above suspicion so we don't start getting some very pointed questions about our friendship with her, I want to stop the ritual but that is second to Mathilde not ending up accused of treason. Algard was there when Matty first met her as Empress If it is known she's a Ranaldite it will be very hard to get out of that. So either we find out where the ritual is focused and can stop it in action and catching the real culprit or we can rule out the Empress completely and easily without any need for digging into her past.
 
Escalating violence in each case seems to point out to… Gork! Our old adversary finally caught up to us.

But okay, to really expand on the possibilities, I see three probable scenarios:

1. This is a Khornate ritual of Dedication, and Alberich is trying to ascend or whatever, and the eighth action will be an escalation of what happened to him. Meaning, murder of Light Wizard might not even be in the books, maybe he wants to open a giant Chaos Portal to contrast him being sucked into the Warp.

2. This is… not a ritual at all. It's a Tzeench plot to implicate the empress by drawing attention and apparent connection to her in such a way that not only will she be exposed as an impostor, but also a Chaos cultist. It looks like a ritual of Vengeance to manipulate Alric and any other investigator to dig into it as much as possible.
As another angle, it's vengeance against Gabriella who was a part of the previous conspiracy and now dares to impersonate Alberich's surviving issue.

3. Maybe it's just a run of the mill Nurglite ritual of Empowerment, in which case leaving it alone is actually not a bad idea. I mean, yeah, a bunch of nobles will die, I guess, that's… bad, and there will be another powerful daemon roaming around, but eh.
 
DragonParadox said:
I think economic justice is a really bad idea when we work for the very much feudal Empire. Mathilde is not some free spirited Ranaldite rebel, she works for the Man... and the Man has far too many ways of knowing if she has been towing the line on this. I would rather she did not get called to the porter's office on much graver charges next time.
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They haven't really said anything about our half-yearly pay day from the EIC so I'm not too worried. We literally had the Grey patriarch in our very comfy furbished mountain top penthouse and he didn't see anything wrong with that.
 
Raiseth said:
3. Maybe it's just a run of the mill Nurglite ritual of Empowerment, in which case leaving it alone is actually not a bad idea. I mean, yeah, a bunch of nobles will die, I guess, that's… bad, and there will be another powerful daemon roaming around, but eh.
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I feel like there's a flaw in the logic of assuming that a Nurglite ascension of all types wouldn't involve any collateral. The city would have a new plague within the hour, I can tell you that much.
 
Tobtorp said:
They haven't really said anything about our half-yearly pay day from the EIC so I'm not too worried. We literally had the Grey patriarch in our very comfy furbished mountain top penthouse and he didn't see anything wrong with that.
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Pay is pay, it is legal, stealing from a noble house is not. This sort of thing 'Grey wizard breaks into local mansion and steals everything not nailed to the ground' is why the Vow of Poverty exists.
 
Mopman43 said:
I feel like there's a flaw in the logic of assuming that a Nurglite ascension of all types wouldn't involve any collateral. The city would have a new plague within the hour, I can tell you that much.
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Okay, it's bad, but not a giant portal in the middle of a major city bad. It's not like we are actually leaving this alone, no way.
 
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