In terms of master, I have no idea why, but my brain devolved into a tangent on the word. Master, historically, has been a gendered term referring to men. The feminine version is mistress. Yet the terms have gained different connotations over the years. I've seen master being used as a gender neutral term far more than I've seen mistress used, and that word has a different connotation, usually related to some sort of female head of the household.
The Orders in general are fairly relaxed about consistency with gendered terms, and whether a female who's promoted past Magister goes by Lord Magister or Lady Magister is up to them. Mathilde's not super consistent about it, and if memory serves has used both, generally Lady Magister when talking to people from the Empire and Lord Magister when talking to those who aren't to minimize the potential for confusion. For different reasons she generally goes by 'Knight' instead of 'Dame', because 'Dame' is often used to refer to the wife of a Knight. As for Master, she thinks of it as an ungendered term because she's had more exposure to and more reason to think deeply about the Dwarven system of Masters and Apprentices, and Khazalid doesn't have a gendered term for it.
(and of course the exact same implications and associations of things like 'Lord vs Lady' and 'Master vs Mistress' wouldn't apply in Reikspiel, but down that path lies madness)
Also an interesting tidbit on Eike not having ever been directly exposed to the sun for three years. On one hand, that sounds pretty bad to most humans because the sun is required for a healthy experience. Cicadian rhythm and health cycle requires it. But the Sun is full of Hysh and can interfere with the inner mechanisms of the Grey College, which is directly opposed to Hysh. In that manner, she would not be exposed to much Hysh if any as her body acclimated to Ulgu. In fact, it might be that Ulgu directly changes an individual's body to accomodate their own unique cycle independent of the sun.
It's also something of a necessary evil because most of the grounds of the Grey Order don't exist in the same plane as the sun, though there's a windowed reading room in reality that is accessible from the College for those that want or need to see sunlight from time to time. A full courtyard couldn't be warded against the intrusion of other Winds and so wouldn't be safe for Junior Apprentices.
Classic Mathilde. Reading one book is not enough, she needs to read two reciting the same story translated differently in a conflicting manner. Clearly an exercise in conflicting thought process and resolution/compartmentalisation. Necessary skills for a Grey Wizard. Being able to hold two conflicting thoughts on the same thing is an excellent source of Ulgu.
There's two different versions of the story in canon, one in the 7th Edition book for Skaven and one in the fluffbook The Loathsome Ratmen and All Their Vile Kin, which is explained in-universe as two different translations by two different scholars. Comparing different translations of something is a good way to make sure that the message of the original hasn't been skewed by a translator along the way.
I don't know why, but the first person I thought of when I saw that book's title was
Franz Lohner, who has stated that he worked as a former Mercenary in the Grudgebearers company and lives in Reikland. But then I reconsidered because he was a mercenary not a bounty hunter, so I then thought of the only notable bounty hunter I really know of,
Brunner.
He even has a writer friend who he tells stories to, so I could see his tales being published. I'm simply not certain if that's the case. It could be something else or it could not be referencing anything in particular.
The book exists in canon. It's about the adventures of Anton Veidt, a character in the Drachenfels novel.
A bit surprising that Boney would reference the Children of Ulric, especially since the priests of Ulric typically don't mention them in their sermons and it's often thought of as a fairy tale. Maybe that's the source of hesitation, or maybe the hesitation is from mentioning that the blessed of Ulric may be Beastmen.
I would struggle to believe that Mathilde would encourage a fairy tale, so I suppose there is a chance they exist. Although Mathilde may simply reinforce the possibility they exist, because something something ulgu, paranoia etc.
Mathilde says it's a good guess because Eike is suggesting the possibility even though associating them with Beastmen goes against a surface reading of the myths about them.
This is all stuff we already know and that has been gone over, so I don't envy that Boney had to go over it again to further develop the conversation because it would have been awkward to say "and then you told her about the Skaven" and call it a day. I suppose it's still a good way to reiterate the Conspiracy of Silence to mollify the semi-frequent arguments had in this thread about it, and to provide Mathilde's perspective on the subject.
Also the discussion on the Horned Rat and his Chaotic status. We often lump him in with the Chaos Gods because he is defined as such in many sources, but he isn't part of the Big Four so it makes sense that in-universe they would have no reason to necessarily consider him a Chaos God.
It also works in the perspective that it's a lot more mutual of an unspoken arrangement than the Empire being so absolutely terrified of the rats that they pretend they don't exist, which is a reading I've had to push back on a time or two. 'The Skaven could wipe out the Empire' is something a lot of fans of the setting repeat and might be technically true, but it would require that the Skaven be absolutely united in purpose instead of each Clan trying to minimize how much the war costs them while still trying to claim all the credit for themselves, and also keeping an eye on any other Clan that weakens themselves enough that they might be vulnerable. Most of the war that Mandred Skavenslayer got his name in was Rictus and Mors maneuvering to try to make it so the other took the majority of the casualties, and because of that both Clans' armies were wiped out and both of their Warlords were killed. In a war between Empire and Under-Empire where the Skaven acted like Skaven, both sides would lose.
Of course, this is all business to Mathilde. Or at least, that's what she tells herself. Even trained professionals with a strong sense of morals can often form a connection with horrible serial killers in interrogations, and Mathilde has probably made a connection to Qrech such that she feels a level of sympathy towards him. It's a controlled kind of sympathy, one that is tempered by firsthand experience with Skaven society and all the atrocities it has commited (see the Breeder update), but it exists.
Which is why the second part exists. It's not entirely practical reasons she's doing this. There is still a part of Mathilde that would like Qrech to die a little happier than he is now, despite all the bad things he might do if he were to be set free. He's not a good person, but that doesn't mean he isn't deserving of some empathy.
I think that it's rare for anyone to do anything for just one reason. There's usually something they pick out as The Reason, usually something that reinforces their image of themselves, but there's always other factors at play. Mathilde does a lot of things with ruthless cunning Grey Wizard reasons at the forefront, but that it tends to result in nice things happening for the people around her is definitely a factor. But this isn't just because she likes to think of herself as the cunning manipulator, it's to constantly remind herself that if it does come down to it, her job is to choose to do what needs to be done over doing what makes the people around her happy.
So, I have a very important question:
Where in Mathilde's fastness does Eile sleep? Repurposed training room? In with the puppies?
How will Mathilde rearrange her living space to accommodate an apprentice?
There's already a guest room available. From the charsheet:
Entrance: Heavily Fortified Pleasant Foyer
B1: Sitting Room / Library
B2: Guest Room / Trophy Room / Map Room
B3: Bedroom / Bathroom / Wolf's Room / Shrine to Ranald
B4: Extremely Secure Dungeon / Vault / Workshop / Training Hall / Dragon Room
actually
@Boney do we have an idea about her 'magic number' at this point?
I'm assuming magic 2, can cast lesser shadow magic, but not reliably: but we know she was going to be pretty strong magically. So she might, might be Magic 3 already.
Mathilde will get to know her well enough to judge all that after working with her for a bit.
Out of curiosity Boney, is the Dark Elves razing L'Anguille to the ground and enslaving all of its inhabitants (from the 8th edition DE army book) some 60 years ago quest-canon? (Figure that's probably the most prominent recent atrocity in the Old World that Mathilde would be aware of)
It is.
@Boney what spells does Eike have? It's not so much that I think they will be relevant in the next turn, but I am curious as to what it might mean for her inclination magic-wise coming out of her Junior Apprenticeship.
She doesn't. She's been taught the theoretical and practical groundwork to get her to the point where she can start reliably grasping and manipulating magic, rather than just letting any errant breeze of Winds wander through her soul.
) 
