Remove ads

Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Reader mode
It'd be funny if the secrets were presented in a two truths one lie format

1) I once performed a counter ritual that helped and hindered the green skin gods AND messed with a chaos plot, by accident

2) the final battle(s) for Karak Eight Peaks that ended up capturing the remaining half of the Karak with ridiculously few casualties were kicked off by me stealing a gasmask

3) I like Sigmar
 
I'm kinda hoping one of the secrets that ends up being revealed is the Counterespionage in Eagle Castle incident. It would be really funny to me if Eike has gotten this weird idea of who Mathilde is as a person before she comes along and blows it to smithereens by explaining that there was once a time that she threw up upon first killing someone, that she had to walk around the castle half-naked, accidentally knocked out a Knight of the Order of the Hammer of Sigmar with an apprentice-level spell, and then still somehow successfully warned Abelhelm of the dangers of the situation.
 
Remove ads
Turn 39 Social - 2489 - Part 2
  • Threadmarks
    • [*] Yes
    [*] Secrets

    Tally

    You know Eike has been considered an adult by society since she turned ten, but despite that she still seemed like a child to you, firmly placing her in the category of 'not your problem'. But now, with Ulgu pooling within her instead of flowing freely through her, she looks more like the adult she actually is and you're doing your best to adjust your thinking accordingly.

    That, and she's... what, almost fifteen now? She's already as tall as you and seems like she's nowhere near done growing, and has long dark brown hair in a ponytail and a prettiness that hints at the beauty her mother once possessed and she seems destined to inherit. She's also put on some muscle, suggesting that she took more advantage of the available combat lessons than you did at her age.

    She's currently standing beside a bag packed with her things in the entrance hall, as she's been instructed to. She wouldn't have been told why, simply given her instructions and left to either unquestioningly obey or investigate for themselves. The Grey Order is filled with these little tests, used to determine the nature of the Apprentices before they're trusted with any of the deeper secrets of Ulgu - and sometimes just to keep the Apprentices on their toes.

    "I hear you've finished your Junior Apprenticeship," you say to her as your Invisibility dissipates.

    To her credit, it only takes her a moment to answer you. Either she already suspected or she's developing a good sense of composure. "Yes, Lady Magister Weber," she says to you, a little louder than she likely intended.

    "That's a bit of a mouthful," you say with exaggerated casualness. "'Master' will do. Follow me." It's the same induction into the next chapter of her life that you once received, and as you turn and start walking she falls into place just as you once did. "Karak Eight Peaks will be our base of operations, and we'll be working in Tor Lithanel frequently as well, so there'll be a fair bit of going back and forth. I find it to be a good opportunity to catch up on reading, though it may take you some time to get used to the motion and noise." You lead her out a side door and into a disused courtyard, where the Gyrocarriage is waiting, and you give her a moment to get used to the sunlight she hasn't been directly exposed to in three years. "This is my pilot, Brevet Magister Adela Burgstaller of the Bright Order. Adela, this is Apprentice Eike Hochschild."

    "Hi!" Adela chirps, in the slightly alarming half-yell she uses when she's wearing her piloting helmet.

    "Hello!" Eike responds in the same volume Adela had used. Either she's quick on her feet or she reflexively echoes the mannerisms of whoever she's talking to.

    "Eight Peaks, Adela," you say, and she nods and begins the series of odd rituals required to awaken the Gyrocarriage as you open the door to the passenger compartment and wave Eike inside. She only hesitates for a moment before clambering in, luggage first, and you follow after her.

    While your Gyrocarriage is a fair bit more comfortable than the previous one you used, where the passenger compartment was originally a bomb rack, there's still no getting around the fact that the noise of the engine makes conversation impossible. It's a little unkind to spring this all on her and then leave the very many questions she must have trapped inside her, but unanswered questions are good for the soul of a Grey Wizard, and whichever ones make their way to the forefront after she's had a good, long time to think on it will tell you more about her. You turn to your current reading - two competing translations of The Doom of Kavzar - and you conceal a smile as Eike frowns at the rising noise of the starting engine and digs around in her luggage, eventually producing what you eventually manage to make out as My Years as a Bounty Hunter in Reikwald, Bretonnia and the Grey Mountains. You vaguely recall that it was written in the aftermath of the latest troubles in Drachenfels about one of the more prominent mercenaries that involved themselves in that mess. As recreational reading goes, you've certainly seen more frivolous volumes.

    ---

    "Why did you take me on as your Apprentice?" is the first question Eike asks as the engine winds down and you lead her into your home.

    That's a complicated question, with an equally complicated answer. But the answer you give is much more pared down. "Because I think you have the potential to be a good Wizard, and I think I can help you realize that potential."

    "Not because of Oma?" she says, with admirable boldness.

    "I know you well enough to have evaluated you because of her, but if this was just about the EIC, well, I know you know the numbers. It would take a lot less time to lean on Anton or the Counts and have enough votes to appoint whoever I wanted than to try to make a puppet out of you."

    "Oh," she says simply.

    "Before you settle in, since you're going to be working in and around the Karak a fair bit, there's something I need to read you into. Tell me, do you know of any form of Beastman other than the standard equine, caprine and bovine varieties?"

    She frowns as she considers that. "There's the birdmen, well, birdwomen, the wolfmen of Norsca, and the frogmen of the Wasteland, and the lizardmen of Lustria and the Southlands..."

    "Any within the Empire?" you hint.

    She frowns, hesitating. "The Ulricskinder?"

    "Good guess, but I wouldn't describe them as Beastmen within earshot of an Ulrican unless I really wanted to have an argument. There's a much more numerous and dangerous form of Beastman in the Empire - the ratmen, known as Skaven. They live underground, very often under our very own cities, and they aren't publicly acknowledged because neither we nor they want a war of mutual extinction - we've got plenty of problems to deal with already and they like to be left alone to fight amongst themselves. If we really go at it with each other we'd each end up being stamped out by our respective other foes once we bleed each other dry. But, of course, neither side can openly admit that without it being seen as weakness or cowardice by the more militant members of our societies. We call it the 'Conspiracy of Silence', and helping to enforce it is one of the more important duties of the Grey Order. But the Dwarves have been in open war with them for millennia, and several of their factions were present in Karak Eight Peaks during the reconquest, so they're talked of openly here."

    She frowns. "Do they serve Chaos?"

    "Not that we know of - they serve their own God called the 'Horned Rat', and though It's certainly an unpleasant deity, It doesn't seem to act in concert with the Four, even during the time of an Everchosen. They have their own forms of Dark Magic, and their society is split into Clans with each specializing in a specific type of magic or warfare. Their society is very insular, which means little was really known about them until very recently, when a particularly clever person was able to capture one of their officers and extract from them enough information to translate their most common dialect. A project that is, I understand, still ongoing, and increasing the Empire's knowledge of the creatures of the Near East, where that Skaven previously commanded an outpost." You stop as you reach the door of Qrech's cell, and weave an Illusion of an empty corridor around Eike. "Keep quiet and still."

    You knock, wait a polite few seconds, then enter the cell to find Qrech staring into the air with a pair of pince-nez balanced upon his snout. He seems distracted, and doesn't seem to react as you enter his room. "How go your studies?" you ask him lightly.

    "Good, fine." He says distractedly. "More interest than usual, more resources available, more students that need teaching. Trade routes shifting, people want to know more about what might prey upon them on the way east."

    "That's good to hear. Bodes well for your ambitions."

    "Mm," he hums in vague agreement, which isn't like him.

    "Something wrong?"

    "Have you been poisoning or potioning or magicking me?" he asks abruptly, turning his gaze to you.

    You frown as you consider that. You used to ensorcell him before making changes to his prison, but in recent years the only changes necessary have been those that he requested. "Not in many years. Why do you ask?"

    He stares at you a while before answering. "Qrech is old," he says frankly. "And I have never known anyone older than I am now that did not owe it to the Grey Seers or the Master Moulders or the Warlock Engineers. Qrech is strong, but not stronger than everyone I have known who died younger. Why do I still live?"

    "Why would you not?"

    "Because Qrech is old," he repeats.

    You're starting to see what he's getting at. His vision seems to have faded in recent years, hence the pince-nez, and his fur is a little greyer than you remember. "By which you mean, your reactions are a little slower, you get out of breath a little easier, you take a little longer to recover from exertion and injury?" He nods, a little hesitantly. "You're just getting older. It typically happens to humans somewhere from thirty to forty."

    He looks at you quizzically. "You are thirty to forty, yes?"

    "I turn forty next year."

    "You have suffered this?"

    "I have," you lie.

    He glances up to your shoulder, where you once wore a sword and now wear your staff instead, though not for the reason you think Qrech is assuming. "And have not been supplanted?"

    "Why would I be? In all likelihood I have several good decades left that would be lost if some ambitious underling killed me, so it is not allowed to happen."

    "But if one were to do so, it would prove they were stronger." Qrech's voice is quiet, and thick with the tension of not letting the doubt swirling inside of him show in his voice.

    "Does strength write books or weave magic? Does strength build guns or grow grain or spy on enemies? Why should the strongest have authority over that which does not require strength?"

    "If they are strong, they can take it."

    "They might be stronger than one person, but they are not stronger than their society. If their society does not allow them to take all that they desire, they cannot. And then those who are weak in body but strong in mind use their minds to better their society for their entire lifespan, not just until they are no longer able to keep themselves from being killed by their underlings." You weigh the matter for a moment, then decide to go a step further. "I do not think you have ever known a Skaven that has died of old age. You only know those who reach the highest heights they could manage when they were young and fast and strong, and then grow older and can only make up for the speed and strength of youth with cunning and treachery for so long. I think that while you're here, with no ambitious underling and no shortage of food, you could have as much as half your life still ahead of you."

    Qrech stares at you in obvious bafflement. "Half?"

    "Sure. What you're describing is what we call 'middle age'. Most humans who survive childhood reach it, and if we reach it and are careful and a little lucky, we could still have half our life ahead of us."

    You watch Qrech try to process that, and recall the sense of urgency that had been propelling him to try to achieve his doctorate, a status he seems to equate with that of a Master Moulder of his former Clan. He had thought he had only a precious few years, maybe even only months, left to spend, and now he finds himself grappling with the possibility of decades stretching out before him. It has to be quite a shock.

    Of course, this is all just supposition on your part. It could be that Skaven senescence is fundamentally different to that of humans and he really is on the verge of death from old age. But it wouldn't be the first time you told him a lie to put a wedge between him and his former society. And if he dies a little happier for thinking he still has plenty of years ahead of him, then you don't see any harm in that.

    After it becomes clear he has nothing more to say, you leave him to his thoughts and back out of the room, closing the door behind you and then dismissing the Illusion. "That was a more intense conversation with him than I expected," you admit as you turn to Eike.

    "He thought he was dying?" she asks quietly, and you're surprised to see tears in her eyes, and you lead her down the corridor to avoid any chance of Qrech overhearing.

    "Apparently so. Skaven society is extremely treacherous, and Skaven age quickly and most don't reach twenty. Only their leaders live much longer than that, and that's with magical intervention to maintain them at their physical peaks. How long they'd live outside of their extremely violent and stressful society is an open question."

    "That's so sad," she says, a catch in her voice.

    You consider that. "I suppose it is," you concede, "though I try to focus on preventing human lives from being cut short. If we had met under other circumstances Qrech would have happily killed and eaten me, and him having the chance to live a long and relatively happy life is just a happy side-effect of my service to the Empire."

    "Are there many happy side-effects as a Grey Wizard?" she asks you, wiping at her eyes.

    You lead Eike out onto the balcony so she can get some fresh air, and find yourself smiling down at the patchwork of fields in the Eastern Valley. "There can be," you say, your smile growing as Eike gasps and leans out on the railing as she takes in the view, her tears forgotten as she looks over the flourishing community that has taken root in Karak Eight Peaks.



    When you had been told there was going to be some sort of diplomatic soiree in the anterooms of the Silver Tower that you were invited to attend as a representative of the Empire, you had a few guesses as to what it may be about. Those guesses needed substantial revising after a Druchii Ravenship sailed up the Schaukel and docked at the city, flying three flags depicting an eye, a pegasus, and a hydra, and in doing so attracting only a few curious onlookers and a greeting delegation rather than a raising of the alarm.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • I see Boney is teasing what happens next in a way I did not expect. But that is going to be a hell of a update. I fully did not expect that kind of social to happen, ever. Like usually I have some interest in social but I am fully looking forward to it.
     
    Last edited:
    "flying three flags depicting an eye, a pegasus, and a hydra"

    I don't have the army book, but there are a few Total War: Warhammer Dark Elf factions that have banners that match those.

    The eye might be the Drackla Coven. The pegasus is almost certainly the Cult of Pleasure, Morathi's faction, and the hydra could be Clar Karond.

    The first two seem to definitely be magic related, and it's not like it would be impossible for a sorceror to come from Clar Karond. Or it could just be a matter of ship procurement.
     
    EVA-Saiyajin said:
    She, did not seem all that fazed about being told the ratmen are real.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Mathilde looks at Qrech and sees his cunning and tenacity and ambition and mistrust and up until this exact conversation if given a chance he'd probably still kill and eat her if he thought he stood a chance of getting back to Clan Moulder with a story that made him look good. Eike sees oh my god look at his little paws, his little inkstained paws, and his little whiskers and oh my god his little GLASSES and oh my god he thinks he's dying because none of them live long enough to get old so he doesn't know what getting old is oh my god what is the protocol for rats do you cuddle them or pat them or what
     
    Last edited:
    Boney said:
    When you had been told there was going to be some sort of diplomatic soiree in the anterooms of the Silver Tower that you were invited to attend as a representative of the Empire, you had a few guesses as to what it may be about. Those guesses needed substantial revising after a Druchii Ravenship sailed up the Schaukel and docked at the city, flying three flags depicting an eye, a pegasus, and a hydra, and in doing so attracting only a few curious onlookers and a greeting delegation rather than a raising of the alarm.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Druchii? In my social actions? Its more likely than you think!

    This feels like shenanigans on the High Elves' part.
     
    Last edited:
    There may be times where being a Gray Wizard will be stressful and painful. Where Eike will suffer and face death or worse. But she'll never forget how someone like her can make a positive difference for an individual or a community.
     
    Boney said:
    She's also put on some muscle, suggesting that she took more advantage of the available combat lessons than you did at her age.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Gosh, I wonder who could have inspired her to do that.
    Boney said:
    He looks at you quizzically. "You are thirty to forty, yes?"

    "I turn forty next year."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Kinda wild to me to consider this, honestly. Time really do be passing.
    Boney said:
    "You have suffered this?"

    "I have," you lie.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Chiselfingers are a hell of an anagathic.
    Boney said:
    "He thought he was dying?" she asks quietly, and you're surprised to see tears in her eyes, and you lead her down the corridor to avoid any chance of Qrech overhearing.

    "Apparently so. Skaven society is extremely treacherous, and Skaven age quickly and most don't reach twenty. Only their leaders live much longer than that, and that's with magical intervention to maintain them at their physical peaks. How long they'd live outside of their extremely violent and stressful society is an open question."

    "That's so sad," she says, a catch in her voice.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    It's rather sweet to see Eike's compassionate side. In theory that could cause problems for her in this line of work, but not necessarily, and as she's still just an Apprentice she's got time to sort that out before Journeying.
    Boney said:
    When you had been told there was going to be some sort of diplomatic soiree in the anterooms of the Silver Tower that you were invited to attend as a representative of the Empire, you had a few guesses as to what it may be about. Those guesses needed substantial revising after a Druchii Ravenship sailed up the Schaukel and docked at the city, flying three flags depicting an eye, a pegasus, and a hydra, and in doing so attracting only a few curious onlookers and a greeting delegation rather than a raising of the alarm.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    SAY FUCKING WHAT
     
    Last edited:
    Eike's instant sympathy for Qrech, to the point of tears, does speak well of her. Though yeah the fact that this is her first impression of the Skaven is very relevant. Definitely cannot afford to grant mercy for the rest of the race, Qrech worked because he was secret and we were in a fantastic position to swindle a language and a life of academic contribution out of him. Otherwise they are the most dangerous faction.

    A very touching scene.
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top