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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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Boney said:
"Do we have time for me to scout?"

"If you're quick about it," Thori says.
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As the Dwarves made their way through the crypt-like tunnels in locked shieldwall formation, they found only the dead.

Not even the kind of dead that gets back up and tries to eat your face, even if some of them were that kind just recently. Just dead.

The remains of ghouls that seem to have turned on one another and torn each other apart. Bits of vampire scattered about the general area, as if been rent apart by a greatsword wielded with terrible force. What looked like a recently-living human; a foolish necromancer that thought to make common cause with the undead horrors, lay dead with a look of utter terror on his face.

Thori turned to Mathild. "I thought you were just going to scout?"

The Grey Wizard looked at him. "I did? Not my most successful scouting excursion, but it went well enough."

"Not that I'm complaining," the Dwarf paused and looked around the devastation with admiration. "But you do know the term 'scouting' usually doesn't involve the phrase 'no survivors.'"

"Why ever not?" She looked at him with uncomprehending confusion. "If I'm here anyway, I'm hardly going to leave them alive when I go."






Because that's how Mathild's scouting missions usually tend to go. Assassinate the leaders, spark internal conflict that leads the enemy to slaughter each other, pick off stragglers like a horror movie monster.

Despite her great skill at actual stealth, Mathild's methods tend to have a lot in common with Malfean Stealth.
 
Irondrakes also have segmented beard armor, for protection from their own flamethrowers. They're the predecessors to the Kharadron's beard armor, except the Kharadron are more practical so they shave their beard to a managable length before shoving it under their helmets.
 
ComradeLegasov said:
What projectile weapons can the expedition bring to bear in the tunnels? Do we have anything that can affect multiple enemy combatants? Like Grapeshot and such? It would be handy in a pinch if lots of bodies are thrown at us.
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They have blasting charges, but that's about it. Irondrakes aren't in widespread use yet.

Nerdasaurus Rex said:
@Boney is Adela also present, or did we leave the gyro behind somewhere safe? I know that she's a journeywoman and that venturing into undead infested tunnels isn't really in her current job description, but she's also a bright mage and fire could be useful here.
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Even if it was in her job description, the benefits she could provide in battle are far outweighed by the risk of her dying or being wounded and leaving the Gyrocarriage unusable.

Aule said:
Speaking of capitalizing, I have long noticed that you capitalize pronouns referring to gods and the word "God(s)" itself, while the WHFRPG books do not. Any particular reason for that?
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It's called reverential capitalization, I can't remember if I picked it up from a fantasy or history writer using it or from the NKJV Bible. The purpose I have for it is to emphasize that these people genuinely believe in and revere these Gods, rather than the Gods being vending machines that they put belief into and get miracles out of.

Codex said:
That may be the case for most Grey Wizards, but I'd think that even Mathilde would find it hard to say that she isn't an incredibly visible and public figure. There are deeds that she's performed that very few people know of, but her actions are plainly visible. It makes sense to me that she's internalised the Grey College's teachings, but it is amusing to note how much Mathilde has diverged from that.
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There's often a gulf between being logically aware of something and having fully internalized it.

Codex said:
I understand what you're going for and personally I find it quite interesting. I get why you probably don't like the vagueness of Crypt Horror. I suppose I never considered Crypt Horrors as Vampires. I have it in my head that a "Blood Kiss" is required for a person to become a Vampire, where a Vampire drains someone and then adds their blood. But then I remembered that all Neferata did was bite her tongue and kiss Khalida and that was enough to start the process. I suppose that Crypt Horrors are very much a type of Vampire.
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If we dive into my other teenage obsession, under Vampire: the Masquerade rules, a Vampire feeding someone their blood without draining them first doesn't make them a Vampire, it makes them into a biddable servant with minorly improved attributes. Just to confuse matters even further, the term for someone who has been changed in this way is 'ghoul'.

Shane_357 said:
...are ghouls sapient?
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They're described as having 'only a vestigial sense of reason'.
 
Boney said:
"The omens are never good in Sylvania. My time here has been about finding the least bad omens and doing everything I can to tip the scales into something that can be called a win. But these scales have already been tipped. That means that this will either be very easy or very interesting."
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That's… reasonable.

Also somewhat concerning. A vast amount of effort has been expended to remove the worst darknesses from Sylvania. The fact it is still so cursed is disquieting.

"I also wanted to see for myself the one that has cast such a long shadow over this land."

"You might be disappointed, then. She had more ambition than skill, and I'm not even fully convinced she was a Vampire, let alone a true inheritor of the Von Carstein legacy."

She smiles. "I meant you." Ah.
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Despite everything, and there is a lot of 'everything' after so many years and triumphs, Mathilde is still, at heart, a dork.

You continue to talk to her and build a general impression of her as remarkably straightforward for a Celestial, and seems to see the study of omens and portents as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. It is, you suspect, a reflection of her background as a Battle Wizard - both because she has spent so long dedicated to warfare, and because her cloistering has insulated her from the dominant culture of her Order. Presuming all here goes to plan, she seems like she would be a useful person to know in years to come - someone with Hubert's practicality, but still within the Celestial College in more than name.
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/puts a tick in the 'network' box of the checklist.

Candle of Cleansing Radiance
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One day we will need that.
Just hope it isn't the day after we finally get tired of carrying the thing.

Then the screeches begin to fall back, and as soon as a runner passes on that the Ironbreakers have secured a breachhead you duck into the tunnel, stepping carefully over the carnage, all of it ghoul.
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If Ironbreakers were taking losses to freaking ghouls the Dwarfs would have been wiped out by now.

"At least part of her is still in there, though I'm guessing the Dreamwalkers have enough to keep her from being reawoken. I wonder if they'd appreciate being able to complete the set."
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I guess that counts as loot?

Best case scenario, it's out hunting. Worst, it's being awoken by its minions and will be here any minute.
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Isn't our official reason for being here to kill any surviving denizens? Surely the vampire being away and thus able to escape is a bad thing.

you smile at five inclined shelves containing two tomes each.
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Not yet a jackpot, but a promising start.

"Would either of you fancy your chances against a Vampire?" Thori asks you and Goendul.

"Alone, I'd rather not try," Goendul says. Quite sensible of her, you think to yourself, suppressing a wince as memory conjures a pang in your guts.
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On the one hand he was a vampire lord and a very old one at that. On the other hand he was a squishy* wizard type vampire.
Still I would give Mathilde decent odds against anything short of a Named Lord.

*squishy in comparison.

Raise, hold, or fold, then. Or try to sneak a peek at the opponent's cards and hope you won't burn too much time in doing so.
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Honestly I worry about Mathilde being trapped alone against a vampire and all its minions more than I worry about a direct clash.

[X] Raise
 
Nerdasaurus Rex said:
There is, of course, a third faction that claims she never even existed.

The name of the leader of that faction? Alys Schmidt.
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A grocer should stay out of collegiate politics.
E:
Boney said:
They're discussing the immediate strategic situation, rather than their ultimate goals. In that lens, no Vampire is a significant improvement over yes Vampire.
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Don't have to kill anything if its doesn't exist.
[Q] Argue that everything down here is already dead so your job is probably complete.
 
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Altom said:
As a matter of fact she got promoted recently.

Also, while talking about our magical firepower, remember that He Who Must Not Be Mentioned In Updates also knows Gold Battle magic . Learned it as prep for Dum expedition.

[X] Cheat
[X] Raise
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Though, Johann's BM is going to have best effectiveness against armored targets- not exactly in long supply with Ghoul courts.
 
also, the chat hits hard. I do hope we become active in Striland and Sylvania again in the near future. (Before the next vampire war preferably.)

It's possible, because if Kislev(Pragg especially) is priority one when it comes to the new Belthani tributarie, Striland/Sylvania is two to three on that list. Maybe the area around mordheim, but that probably needs a full stone to make any dent.
 
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Boney said:
If we dive into my other teenage obsession, under Vampire: the Masquerade rules, a Vampire feeding someone their blood without draining them first doesn't make them a Vampire, it makes them into a biddable servant with minorly improved attributes. Just to confuse matters even further, the term for someone who has been changed in this way is 'ghoul'.
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Fun fact, Ghoul is derived from an arabic word and term that refers to a supernatural being. It's uncertain and lost to time what a Ghoul really is because we used word of mouth and it's been distorted and lost over the ages, but we Arabs still use the term, except it's pronounced in a much more guttural manner.

My family often used it as a byword for "Ogre". Large, overly intimidating brute/monster.
 
[X] Cheat

knowledge is power and we will learn less if we smash and burn everything.
[X] Hold

Having everyone else stay in reserve seems smart as well.
 
Shane_357 said:
...are ghouls sapient?
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Most don't seem to be but there was this guy from Age Of Reckoning... I think?
warhammerfantasy.fandom.com

Bonechewer

"The people everywhere scream and hide, but Bonechewer can find them." —Bonechewer the Foul.[1] Bonechewer the Foul, was a Ghoul feared in the land of Sylvania.[1] Crypt Ghouls are horrifying sights for any who find themselves facing the Vampire Counts. They are hunched creatures with long...
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So it's probably a case like trolls where magic might easily make them intelligent but they are not so, naturally???

I confess to being unsure.
 
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