Right, but the description for Disdain for Sigmar didn't say 'renewed belief that other gods exist' or 'renewed belief that gods are invested in human welfare and contribute something useful to humanity to some extent', it says 'renewed faith in other gods', so I thought that meant she had faith in other gods. My interpretation was wrong but I don't think it was unreasonable.
Forgot about that.
There was another wording of the same general idea that didn't list someone specific, it just got lumped together under the one that specified Gunnars because it didn't make enough of a difference for me to bother juggling them around to get the other one to show on the tally.
I think that vote was the one I worded and it only had one or two votes anyway. Had it had actually won it would probably have resulted in a very different story section, because it specified meeting one of the Priests that were actually present during that Conclave, which Gunnars (being "young" and far away) probably wasn't. But I expected it to be merged. I did so myself in the merged tallies I posted. And I eventually stopped voting for it because I expected it to be merged.
The chapter:
Ooh! Eight sections? You spoil us.
Gunnars sighs when you ask him about the Conclave's declaration of you as having a Dwarven soul, and guides you to a part of the crowd where the only people close enough to eavesdrop on a hushed conversation are those who don't speak Khazalid. "It's plausible on two levels," he says. "On one level, there's the level that most Dwarves understand - that upon death a soul is either directed towards the Underearth to join the Ancestors by the proper rites, or it fails to get those rites and returns to the Aethyr, eventually returning as another Dwarf and having another chance to end up where it should. Given that framework, it's plausible that a soul that was once a Dwarf and would have been returning to be one once more could be redirected into a human body. But I'm sure you spot the part that'll make most Dwarves uncomfortable if you pick at it."
"There's a big leap between the departing and returning."
"Right. The other death Gods all claim to have an answer, but Gazul can only speak for those that go to the Underearth. If some or all souls are those that have walked the world before returning for another go, there's no metaphysical maker's mark that anyone's been able to find that proves they keep coming back the same species. So yes, maybe you were a Dwarf before, and maybe your Ranald is responsible for you being a human now. But it's just as plausible that any other human was a Dwarf before. Maybe any bird or goat or Goblin was. That's the part that no Dwarf wants to think about too hard - that someone not given the proper rites might come back as something other than Dwarven. We like to think of ourselves as a species apart from the world, and the world does a lot to reinforce that, but one way in which we're exactly the same is that the origin of our souls is as unknown to us as it is to you."
"I can see why Dwarves wouldn't be comfortable with that. But the announcement the conclave gave was a lot more than just saying it was plausible. What takes it from 'it's technically possible' to them being sure enough to announce it to the world?"
"More than the need to assuage the guilt and shame of a Karaz Ankor that had given up on Karak Vlag? Well, I speculate,
As I thought. Gunnars can explain the most likely reasoning and logic, but he can only speculate as to how it even came to this vote with multiple High Priests considering this anything like a fact.
but if they were able to communicate with your Ranald and put the question to Him, would He have given them a straight answer?"
You consider that. "Ah."
Aethyr damn it, Ranald! You absolute troll!
That said, Gunnars seems informed enough about Ranald and his antics. And while some of it comes from his proximity to and observation of Mathilde (he probably also got curious to learn more about who protected her soul after checking her for possession), I can't imagine that the Grand Conclave in KaK wouldn't have had someone that either already had or would have gone looking for third party information on this "being, spirit, force, ancestor, demiurge, and/or anthropomorphic personification commonly known as Ranald, believed to originate somewhere in or about the continent called The Old World" before just taking its word for gospel. Then again, it was an emergency meeting in Karaz-a-Karak. All Ancestor-Gods have high ranking representatives there and it's the place least likely to think that any Priests from the wider Karaz Ankor are necessary to solve theological questions in an emergency, even if they are present. Still, the Cult branches of the majority of Holds west of there must be facepalming.
"We are, in the abstract, not uninterested,"
Damsels...
And the effort of becoming so much further aware is effort that could be spent elsewhere - such as, for example, the Iron Orcs of the Irrana Mountains.
Huh. Provided this is not a snub at us that just aims at bringing up the exact favor we decided not to help with, this does surprise me a bit. I didn't expect the wider organization of the Damsels to consider a force of Khorne-Orcs to be the best thing for a Grey LM to help with. Though on the other hand, the Fay Enchantress does live in nearby Carcassonne, which would be the most likely place to be overrun by them first if worst comes to worst.
And Mathilde is probably most famous there for killing half a million Orcs somehow, while details of the exact replicability of the feat would be very sparse so far away.
Arkat Fooger, head of House Fooger and the only Dwarf on Marienburg's ruling council, says to you.
Ooh wow. Arkat came himself. Unexpected.
"Pfah, it's because they're manlings. Right and proper they put their elders in charge, but their elders have maybe a decade of living left in them, and they go whenever they go instead of when they're at peace with going. They feel Morr's breath on their neck, and it makes them as hasty as a beardling in a brothel. Things going back to normal ten years from now might as well be never for them, because it means that they'll be less rich for the rest of their lives. So they fret and moan and rattle their sabres until they do something stupid enough to get their hands slapped and remember they've got a lot more to lose than to gain."
Frank. And a tad openly racist for a Dwarf that's talking to a foreign Imperial manling that he's never met before. Especially since a large part of his day to day career is dealing with 9-14 of such manlings in a political fashion.
I guess Arkat Fooger is just very informed on who Mathilde is, including the latest missives from KaK.
They feel Morr's breath on their neck,
I wonder how he and/or most of his House handle religion. Have they adopted a few local gods? Syncretized a bit? Or are they just accepting the local patrons while sticking to their own? What with them being a highly successful Dwarf Family/Clan in an environment that's very unusual and far off from the Karaz Ankor (which they themselves chose to be), I assume that the founding Fooger Ancestor is even more revered than usual Clan Ancestors, provided they still worship Ancestor-Gods at all. Maybe they even elevated him into a minor Ancestor-God of trade and manling-wrangling, seeing as those domains aren't taken by anyone else.
He snorts. "I take it you're getting at that business with the mine on the river? I'd be happy to throw the de Roelefs under the boat since they're the ones that stand to lose the most from the canals, but truth of the matter is I haven't a clue. All I know is that if anyone had come to me with an idea like that, I'd have buried them myself and saved you the trouble. Things like this, the big problem is that you aren't limited to the few who might actually benefit, there's also all the people who are stupid enough to think they might benefit."
Direct and convincing. Might be honesty without fear of airing dirty laundry. Might be highly talented deception and diversion. Talented enough to convince me that he's probably truthful. Which makes the Grey in me all the more worried.
He considers that. "There are two distinct groups of people within the Cult of Verena who seek dominion over libraries: the Lorekeepers who see knowledge as sacrament and wish to spread it, and the Scrollbearers who see knowledge as power and wish to hoard it. Identify which you are dealing with as soon as possible, as you will need two entirely separate kinds of bait to ensnare each. The Lorekeepers would value an institution who can guarantee the safety and spread of knowledge entrusted to it, and if you wish to present yourself as positively as possible to such people, a chapter of the Knights of the Scroll to guard your library would be the most effective way of doing so. The Scrollbearers, however, do not have a better nature that can be enticed thusly, and so you must resort to a quid pro quo approach if you find yourself in need of what only they can offer."
This dude acts impartial at first, but it's pretty clear which school of thought he ascribes to. Can someone remind me what kinds of known libraries the Altdorf-based Order of Mysteries runs? Because in their case we at least know that they are willing to send a Lorekeeper sympathizer to represent them abroad.
and the Graf couldn't be happier.
The Graf? I thought he's a Grand Duke, not a Grand Count. Games Workshop inconsistent weirdness striking again?
Gustav! I was wondering what you were up to, old house!
"There's talk of establishing a Markgraf, but no firm details yet.
Oof. It's been two years and Roswita still has to micromanage Sylvania herself. I feel just a little bit bad.
I had a few ideas to start with, but having seen some of the reading material you managed to nab from the former inhabitants of here, I've got much more than a few now.
That absolute radical is letting himself be inspired by Skaven Engineering manuals? And calls them "inhabitants"? Woah, damn. I think this dude kickflips so hard he makes
Gotri look like a Longbeard traditionalist.
That's Johann then. I guess he's settled into Tor Lithanel so much that he doesn't commute like Mathilde? Does Max?
Also I like
Gorlzhufokral. Soft and vibrant gold seems like a perfect description for wizardry that includes gilding themselves and still being able to move like living beings.
To Dwarves, once the decision is made and agreed upon, the union becomes an accepted fact and the Harazdeg ceremony itself is merely a formality. It's also only open to the family of the spouses
Oh. I was kind of hoping to witness a proper Dawi ritual ceremony. Well, that makes me just a bit sad.
But I get that we've already spent quite a lot of time on this wedding. Still, I'd have loved to actually hear something from the newlyweds directly. I guess congratulating the couple should have been something we'd have had to write in to see happen.
and something calling itself the 'Council of Manhorak'
Hmm. Sounds a lot like Manhavok. Either its an alternate Fennone name for him that Kasmir and the locals dug up from archives and oral traditions, or it is a modernist recreation and rebranding, because openly worshipping Manhavok directly might piss off West-Stirlander folk.
As for the purchases, I am sure I missed quite a lot of new discussion. And I already chimed in on the old discussion.
