Remove ads

Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Voting is open
Reader mode
Swantree said:
So is the shipping of Ranald and Shallaya a popular thing in the Warhammer fanon or is this endemic to this quest?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Endemic to this quest.

Mathilde herself is a worshipper of Ranald which puts his mythos more in the spotlight than is usual.

And since the other Ranald origin myths make out Ranald to be huge dick to Shallaya, Mathilde prefers to believe that the one that purports that there is real love between the two of them is the more correct interpretation of it. To which she has some proof.

There are some in-universe Ranaldites that believe the same, considering that aforementioned lewd painting she got from anonymous donor competing on who gets to have their rendition be the centerpiece of the new shrine she was making back then.

Also what Travelsalot said.
 
Last edited:
Sir_Travelsalot said:
It's not just fanon, it is a legitimate theological debate within the Cult of Ranald whether he truly loved Shallya or swindled her, and which one should be seen as more praiseworthy.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That is a Divided Loyalties thing. I just quickly browsed Tome of Salvation. It isn't a thing. Ranald and Shallya are mentioned in the Chalice myth and then not again, just individual stuff. There is a section on the relationships between the gods, and there is a section on Verena/Sigmar/Ranald's relationship, but nothing on Ranald and Shallya.

Canon does not have nearly as much as you'd think on Ranald and Shallya.
 
Sir_Travelsalot said:
It's not just fanon, it is a legitimate theological debate within the Cult of Ranald whether he truly loved Shallya or swindled her, and which one should be seen as more praiseworthy.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Is it? Far as I'm aware, the whole story is only presented as a single myth about Ranald that ends with "and it didn't actually happen".
 
Last edited:
Swantree said:
So is the shipping of Ranald and Shallaya a popular thing in the Warhammer fanon or is this endemic to this quest?

I always thought the latter, but the comment I replied to made me rethink it and curious enough to ask the question.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I mean this quest is a story focused on a particularly devout Ranaldian, whereas the wider Warhammer fandom covers a vast array of topics of a fraction actually relate to those two... so yeah all things Ranald come up a lot more in this thread than they do in the general fandom.
I'm not super engaged with the fandom as a whole but that's just logical.
 
Boney said:
The Upanishads
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
My occultist friend* gave me the Easwaran translation for Christmas, and I've been slowly working through it. I gather it's a more selective/abridged/edited version, rather than a more scholarly take that presents the entire text, but it's still been an interesting read. Before that, he gave me the Nag Hammadi. I am excited to find out what esoterica I will wind up with next.

*Said friend recently published an original work of goetic demonology, which makes great reading for folks into that sort of thing.
 
picklepikkl said:
My occultist friend* gave me the Easwaran translation for Christmas, and I've been slowly working through it. I gather it's a more selective/abridged/edited version, rather than a more scholarly take that presents the entire text, but it's still been an interesting read. Before that, he gave me the Nag Hammadi. I am excited to find out what esoterica I will wind up with next.

*Said friend recently published an original work of goetic demonology, which makes great reading for folks into that sort of thing.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

That's the version I've got. I liked that the notes following each chapter were equal parts scholarly discussions of the word choices for the translation and spiritual explorations of the concepts present, it's a real sense of enjoyable whiplash that I've found texts from that part of the world tend to give me, because they don't have that hard cultural divide between science and divinity that exists in a lot of historically Christian cultures.
 
Codex said:
Outside this quest? I've barely seen anyone talking about the two in relation to each other. People usually mention Ranald when they're cursing him out for giving them bad luck when rolling for Winds of Magic in Total Warhammer. Shallya is mentioned, but not really in relation to Ranald. I mean, I'm still relatively new to "fanon" so I can't say much, but I'm going to be real with you and say that this quest shaped Ranald's narrative in a way that no other piece of canon or fanon work has ever done.

I legitimately don't think anything else approached this quest in terms of Ranald focus and development. If you go to, like, Dynasty of Dynamic Alcoholism for example, you will find a lot of Ranald dislike. I think I've seen people who genuinely hate him or something? I don't know. I don't think anyone views him positively there. The POV character treats him like a nuisance of a god, even after he became faithful. It's weird but I suppose it makes sense for upper class citizens to view him that way.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Triply so for playing a head of state, because if you're doing your job well he really should not have anything legitimate to do but get lucky...except theres sometimes justified oppression for lack of resources or security or social order...well theres a reason Ranald gets banned every now and then even by good rulers

Mathilde is a romantic and exceptionally devout, so Ranald does his best to make sure she only gets involved with a tolerable level of dickishness.

As for Shallya...gods are wave/themes and particle/individuals, whynotboth
 
veekie said:
Triply so for playing a head of state, because if you're doing your job well he really should not have anything legitimate to do but get lucky.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
There's a reason Gods of Luck are so popular. They apply to practically everything. It's why Ranald is such a major god despite not being endorsed by any structured organisation. Ranald is just as major as any of the other major gods, but it's not because of his Thievery, Protection or Decieving, because as common as those things are they don't compare to stuff like Death and Life. The reason he's major is because almost everyone who knows what's good for them in the Old World pays respects to him.
 
Codex said:
There's a reason Gods of Luck are so popular. They apply to practically everything. It's why Ranald is such a major god despite not being endorsed by any structured organisation. Ranald is just as major as any of the other major gods, but it's not because of his Thievery, Protection or Decieving, because as common as those things are they don't compare to stuff like Death and Life. The reason he's major is because almost everyone who knows what's good for them in the Old World pays respects to him.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Like protection money.

Sometimes from others, but mostly from him.
 
silentorphan said:
I thought one coin in ten belongs to the Colleges? (That's how they calculate their tithes, isn't it?)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
One coin in ten belongs to Ranald is a Stricture of his, but it only has to be followed by the super faithful and the clergy, not laymen or those who occasionally pray to him and pay respects. One coin in ten belongs to the Colleges as well, but that's for Journeymen, Magisters pay one coin in twenty.
 
It seems to me like the winning votes have an incredibly formidable lead:
Adhoc vote count started by Codex on Feb 23, 2022 at 10:31 AM, finished with 486 posts and 60 votes.
GREY GOLD ICE
Click to expand...

I've noticed that multi part votes that aren't grouped up under Plans generally tend to get less votes than single issues, probably because of the investment and effort required. You either copy someone else's selection entirely, or you copy and paste each selection you desire manually, which is kind of a pain. Sometimes I wish we could just click on a preset button to vote. Although I imagine there are issues that might come with that level of convenience.
 
Codex said:
Sometimes I wish we could just click on a preset button to vote. Although I imagine there are issues that might come with that level of convenience.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
You sort of can:

Pressing the Vote button underneath the textbox and then giving it cursor focus brings up a scrollable list of the vote options. It's got some issues (like automatically adding typos/incorrectly formatted votes), but it makes mobile voting much more convenient.
 
Dark as Silver said:
Guys, Ranalds best trick was making us think he wasn't Teclis.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

What? Don't be ridiculous.

Ranald is clearly Asuryan.

... no guys, I'm serious. Think about it. At the coming of Chaos, the gods banded together in a last stand, but Ranald ran away. Shortly afterwards, when all hope was lost, Asuryan, the mask-wearing Phoenix God (who's face has never been seen), resurrected from his tomb to drive back the Four and their minions.

Asuryan never came back. What really happened is that Ranald stole the dead god's mask and pretended to be him, striking at Chaos. And now Ranald has to pretend to be a coward because he can't reveal that the Phoenix god is actually dead and never came back.

Look at the evidence:

Boney said:
"And then the Cataclysm came. King Taal rose from His Forest, and with Dark Morr muttering dire portents in His ear, He banished all immortals from the world. But the Cataclysm's architects refused His order. The Crow, the Hound, the Serpent, and the Vulture were jealous of King Taal, and had tried to use the Great Gates to take what was His. They had failed. As the other immortals fled, the Four attacked, bitter and angry with their frustrations. Many died. After countless battles, King Taal was eventually surrounded. There were few still by his side. Ulric the Wolf. Noble Margileo. Just Verena. Sotek the Snake. Manann of the Sea. And Gentle Shallya, tear-stained and afraid. Even Smiling Ranald had fled, and now hid in the Places Between, fearful for the future. Then, just as the Four and their allies arrived for the Final Battle, Flaming Phoenix, whom all had thought dead, returned from atop His Gleaming Pyramid, and He smote about Him. Thus the rebels were pushed behind the Great Gates, and were sealed there forever. But they were restless in their cage, and soon worked to escape."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Finally, have you ever seen Ranald and Asuryan in the same room together? I thought not.

EDIT: Further evidence for this: Ranald is married to Shallya. Isha is married to Asuryan. Shallya is Isha.
 
Last edited:
IronFist said:
We don't pay anything.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
A part I found funny is that the description for Lord Magisters in the 2E Career Compendium Page 231 is that while LMs don't pay a tithe, they're the ones who make sure the tithes are paid on time now:

"Note: Wizard Lords no longer pay dues to their Order. They are, however, charged with preserving the purity of their order, rooting out Chaos worshippers, and ensuring the Orders receive the respect (and monies) due to them."

What a vicious cycle. You used to pay taxes, now you're the one making sure the taxes are paid.

I think it's different in DL. Only one LM is in charge of taxes in the Grey Order, Wilhelmine Bucht, and her support staff, which is most likely Perpetuals.
 
... Now I want Mathilde to get a letter from the college telling her it's her 6 month stint of cruising along the country side and hitting the late Magisters and journeyman for their fees.
Imagine, your a plucky Grey Wizard helping a band of adventures to destroy a evil in a Forrest somewhere. And through the epic battle you see a lady on a shadow horse killing her way through the hordes to tell you you owe the college 250 copper pieces, here's your receipt.
 
Tobtorp said:
... Now I want Mathilde to get a letter from the college telling her it's her 6 month stint of cruising along the country side and hitting the late Magisters and journeyman for their fees.
Imagine, your a plucky Grey Wizard helping a band of adventures to destroy a evil in a Forrest somewhere. And through the epic battle you see a lady on a shadow horse killing her way through the hordes to tell you you owe the college 250 copper pieces, here's your receipt.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
We have been trying to reach you concerning your tithe :V
 
Tobtorp said:
... Now I want Mathilde to get a letter from the college telling her it's her 6 month stint of cruising along the country side and hitting the late Magisters and journeyman for their fees.
Imagine, your a plucky Grey Wizard helping a band of adventures to destroy a evil in a Forrest somewhere. And through the epic battle you see a lady on a shadow horse killing her way through the hordes to tell you you owe the college 250 copper pieces, here's your receipt.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Heh, if there was that level of scrutiny then poor Journeywoman Mathilde would've never gotten away with embezzling. Now that I think of it, maybe paying off all of your loans on time is the real red flag... :V
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Voting is open
Remove ads
Back
Top