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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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[X] Hag Witches

Sounds like they would get along well with the hedgewise, which either means they are related or they absolutely hate each other with a burning passion, either way i want to find out more.
 
[X] Ice Witches
IronFist said:
Rereading the part with Boris... Holy shit did the guy want the project.
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It was actually very off-putting/a tiny bit scary.

What would he do if we had failed, or even taken too long?
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Also, he wants to push back the wastes - if any of the groups we looked at are willing to expend effort despite not hosting the project, it'd be the one he has authority over.
 
BeepSmile said:
[X] Ice Witches

It was actually very off-putting/a tiny bit scary.

What would he do if we had failed, or even taken too long?
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Also, he wants to push back the wastes - if any of the groups we looked at are willing to expend effort despite not hosting the project, it'd be the one he has authority over.
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He lives in Kislev, the Shield of the North and the barrier holding Chaos back from the rest of the Old World. Of course he'll be intense about it when he hears that there's a chance Chaos can be pushed back. Chaos has only ever further encroached on the world, and it was only 180 years ago that Praag fell and even after being rebuilt it was never the same.

The context behind the situation sheds a lot of light on his intensity. This is a man who cares about his nation and can't stand his father's indifference to its current state, and he wants to make things right and keep his nation safe. He will do anything he could to make sure that happens.
 
mathymancer said:
Tsarevich: He made us a very generous offer, which we declined. He might be annoyed, or he might be pleasantly surprised to find that Mathilde will be a 'good friend for him to have even if she wasn't living in his back pocket', as she says.
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He said he'd do anything to have more Kislev and less chaos. He doesn't need to be the base for his people to benefit.
 
There are some salient quotes from Realm of the Ice Queen that make it likely the Ice Witches know something about Waystones. These include

  • 'First, they must protect the source. The network of leylines carrying Ice Magic throughout Kislev flows into many nexus points, most of which are capped by ancient Oghams (standing stones). Some of these magical sites boast Elven ruins; others boast the sacred sites of ancient, long dead Human tribes, such as the Scythians or Belthani. Most such sites have an ice witch guarding them, who often lives in a nearby Gospodar settlement. The witches believe loss of these sites will diminish—and perhaps even taint—their Ice Magic, so they do anything to protect them.'
  • 'Before invading the Old World, the first ice witches practised their magic on the Endless Steppe. Unlike their Kurgan neighbours—who worshipped the Great Eye and channelled the dangerous magic it seeped—the Gospodars learned to tap the cold power coursing through the land. Although this magic did not carry the same risks of mutation, it was difficult to control and often killed unwary witches. Many centuries later, things are little different.'
  • 'You need access to Ice Magic to cast your spells. In Kislev, this is never a problem because even in summer, the leylines are flooded with chill power, and your spells can be cast normally.'
  • 'The flows of Ice Magic vary in strength. By Kislev's sites of power, along her leylines, and in the depths of winter, Ice Magic is very strong. But in warmer climes, it is far weaker and wanes the closer to the equator and the further from Kislev one travels.'
  • 'The ice witches of Kislev practice traditions founded long before the Gospodars migrated across the Worlds Edge Mountains. Witches from the noble bloodlines are taught the old ways of their Khan-Queen ancestors and learn spells to manipulate the great ice spirits of the land and spells of rulership and war. The common folk, by comparison, are less concerned with regal ice spirits and instead practice spells manipulating the cold magic that saturates the oblast (oblast witch). Lastly, ice witches guarding the leylines and ancient Oghams of Kislev learn spells to control the freezing flows of magic that flood those powerful places (ley witch).'

Recruiting a Ice Witch trained as a key witch seems like it might be very useful.
 
Codex said:
He lives in Kislev, the Shield of the North and the barrier holding Chaos back from the rest of the Old World. Of course he'll be intense about it when he hears that there's a chance Chaos can be pushed back. Chaos has only ever further encroached on the world, and it was only 180 years ago that Praag fell and even after being rebuilt it was never the same.

The context behind the situation sheds a lot of light on his intensity. This is a man who cares about his nation and can't stand his father's indifference to its current state, and he wants to make things right and keep his nation safe. He will do anything he could to make sure that happens.
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Yep yep yep.

Way too intense for me fam! (I just beat Hades with the max level boss pact, if that means anything to anyone. I am now all about the chill).
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Shitpost-bragging aside; I don't disagree with him, or am unsympathetic to his perspective, but I am glad we don't have that pressure he would have created hanging over our heads regardless of how reasonable-given-his-circumstances he's being.
 
Phrux said:
He said he'd do anything to have more Kislev and less chaos. He doesn't need to be the base for his people to benefit.
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It is very possible that the Kislev Waystone network works differently than the Eonir and dwarf networks, and that if we don't study it specifically the project will have a hard time helping them. And as the Bretonnian lady we talked to in that same update said, 'good intentions have a way of fading with distance'. Mathilde wants to prove that wrong, but Boris might not buy it.
 
mathymancer said:
I also think the langauge he used regarding the Hag Witches implies he intends to browbeat them into cooperating,
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I strongly disagree with this assesment. I believe he was saying that the Kossars would obey him, because their true loyalty is to him, rather than his father. Based on what has been mentioned so far, it sounds like the current Tsar is ignoring a lot of Kislev, leaving room for an ambitious prince born under good omens to make connections and garner loyalty.

Boney said:
The Hag Witches? The kossars know they are mine, you can have Hag Witches
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"They know they are mine"—they are loyal to me.

Nowhere in his speech does he threaten anybody—he simply states that they will obey him or otherwise cooperate.
 
Boney said:
"Yes, Bedrich?" Captain Loza replied, not looking up from his paperwork. Bedrich was the kind of underling he prized above all others: large, strong, and dim, but the kind of dim who knew they were dim, and so could be counted on to follow the instructions they are given exactly and to come and get him when they were confused by something. In his experience, a steady stream of small concerns from a self-aware idiot was much better than an occasional complete disaster that could only come from a slightly clever person who thought they were a very clever person.
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Huh. On the one hand, a boss calling his subordinates dumb is kinda messed up, but on the other, this sort of consideration for people who are still learning their job and need direction when something new comes up—which has more to do with education than intelligence—is really nice to see, even in fiction. Having been in that learning position a few times myself it's good to have a trainer that doesn't mind questions.
 
At the end of the day Boris is a Peter the Great stand in, he is a would be enlightened despot of a large agrarian and feudal nation. I really would not want to be one of his boyars and I am not so sure about being say an ordinary townsman when the social upheavals of the reform hit, but Mathilde is not any of that, she is an expert and a noble of another (allied) land. We have nothing to worry about from him.
 
Boney said:
Hag Witches are said to know a great deal about pacifying the spirits of the land and cleansing the taint of Chaos. If that involves Waystone, great, and if it doesn't, then they're somehow able to do the same thing that Waystones do."
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Whoa what? I didn't know this. This is important. Now I'm more conflicted. Instead of two options that sound good to me there are three.


Hmm. I think I'd still rather stick with either Boris or the Ice Witches because of the expected backup they can provide. The Hags and local atamans and forest town dwellers might all be more grateful, but that might well be because they don't have the kind of fire power to deal with it themselves and expect Mathilde to do quite a bit more than scout and bring information. Up to and including dueling a super-dryad.

On the other hand Boris won't be able to force the Ice Witches to be truly cooperative on the Laurelorn Waystone project, even if he can manage to force them to send a representative to Tor Lithanel. So while it would be delightful to meet him again and while I trust that he would take the Shirokij threat seriously, I don't know how useful his gratitude would actually be in the mid-term. So I guess I am leaning Ice Witches.

The only problem with leaning Ice Witches is that out of the three groups the Ice Witches are benefiting most circuitously from our help. The Hags literally live there and have to deal with the problem no matter what. Boris is the Tzarevich and very clearly benefits from helping his father's vassals this way. The Ice Witches can use the political support, but the political support from a couple of border boyars is, while not negligible, also not extraordinary.

Still, for now I vote

[X] Ice Witches
 
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