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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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Speaking of Malekith, there is something which has drawn my curiosity about the character due to me reading precisely how the curse of Anearion curses Teclis and Tyrion and bless them in equal measure with Teclis unparalleled magic but tremendously weak body and Tyrion's superb martial provess with his maddening bloodlust he must restrain. Has there ever being any information given how the the curse of Anerarion affected or affects Malekith especially due to the extremely close proximity he had to the one who started this curse?
 
Regarding people who think that Elfcation and Druchii Diplomacy are incompatible, remember that these are Druchii. They think that talking diplomatically and making deals while their compatriots still raid Empire lands/ships is just business. We could very well do the Elfcation and present it as a fact finding mission with a side benefit of proving to Druchii that we are in fact dangerous and willing to kill. Barring some well placed nat 100s, we won't do anything to change the thousands years of status quo in Nagarythe. We'll just have killed some Druchii, just like probably each one of them has killed or enslaved at least one Imperial in their lifetimes.
 
Dheer said:
Speaking of Malekith, there is something which has drawn my curiosity about the character due to me reading precisely how the curse of Anearion curses Teclis and Tyrion and bless them in equal measure with Teclis unparalleled magic but tremendously weak body and Tyrion's superb martial provess with his maddening bloodlust he must restrain. Has there ever being any information given how the the curse of Anerarion affected or affects Malekith especially due to the extremely close proximity he had to the one who started this curse?
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As far as I've seen it, basically the only time the CoA is really brought up is in relation to T&T.

Like, every single Everqueen starting from Yvrainne also descended from Aenarion, but nobody really brings up that you'd figure they're cursed by it too.
Rafin said:
Regarding people who think that Elfcation and Druchii Diplomacy are incompatible, remember that these are Druchii. They think that talking diplomatically and making deals while their compatriots still raid Empire lands/ships is just business. We could very well do the Elfcation and present it as a fact finding mission with a side benefit of proving to Druchii that we are in fact dangerous and willing to kill. Barring some well placed nat 100s, we won't do anything to change the thousands years of status quo in Nagarythe. We'll just have killed some Druchii, just like probably each one of them has killed or enslaved at least one Imperial in their lifetimes.
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I think people are more worried about what the Shadow Warriors would think.
 
Deathbybunnies said:
It's a bit odd for the narrative to decry the pleasure cults as being the cause of the problem when Morathi is, well, Morathi, but I suppose they can only shift the narrative so far away from the truth.
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Only one man is hard and strong enough to resist the Wiles of Morathi.




With his penis.


Mopman43 said:
I think people are more worried about what the Shadow Warriors would think.
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I imagine the hope is that their reaction will be along the lines of 'I'm sorry, I stopped listening when you said it would help you kill more druchi.'


At least I know that's my hope anyway.
 
Dheer said:
Speaking of Malekith, there is something which has drawn my curiosity about the character due to me reading precisely how the curse of Anearion curses Teclis and Tyrion and bless them in equal measure with Teclis unparalleled magic but tremendously weak body and Tyrion's superb martial provess with his maddening bloodlust he must restrain. Has there ever being any information given how the the curse of Anerarion affected or affects Malekith especially due to the extremely close proximity he had to the one who started this curse?
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It would, presumably, be his insane ambition and madness.

Mopman43 said:
As far as I've seen it, basically the only time the CoA is really brought up is in relation to T&T.

Like, every single Everqueen starting from Yvrainne also descended from Aenarion, but nobody really brings up that you'd figure they're cursed by it too.
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Blood of Aenarion does say that not all of the descendants of Aenarion take so strongly to it, and some of them are just ordinary people.

I'm pretty sure it's heavily implied that Tyrion and Teclis' flaws are so apparent because their talents are equally incredible.
 
Mopman43 said:
I think people are more worried about what the Shadow Warriors would think.
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I'd say that that's just a question of ordering (i.e. don't make any noticeable deal before the Elfcation), but I also have to admit that I am not at all eager on having that particular stretch of sidequest interludes any time soon. Right now I am still into reading the here and now of the Waystone Project.
 
Mopman43 said:
Nah, I don't like it because that's not headcanon, that's just End Times canon.

Like, that's literally it in the End Times. If he had stayed in a second longer, he'd have been Phoenix King.
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No, the End Times canon is that he is still the rightful Phoenix King even though he failed. My headcanon is that he showed himself to be the kind of person who is unworthy to be Phoenix King. He showed that he craved the throne for power and ego, to serve himself. The test of the Flame of Asuryan is self sacrifice, and Malekith has always been a selfish twat.
 
Mopman43 said:
Malekith believes he is the Dark King, and him taking efforts to try to make sure that the conditions of the defeat of the Dark King don't come about are why male Dark Elves are not taught sorcery in Naggaroth (with it being unclear if that's just 'no Dark Magic' or 'no magic period').
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The Malus Darkblade books have a general prohibition on magic for everyone with the exception of Malekith's personal order of all female sorceresses. I'm not sure how canon they are though
 
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Magda Wessen: Chosen's Bane
  • Apocrypha
    • Back cover blurb on a feather-covered tome of MAGDA WESSEN: CHOSEN'S BANE, kept well-protected in an unspeakable vault filled with strange fires:

    Allowed to return HOME after pleasing her mysterious ELVEN HOSTS in Lornelim, the CUNNING MAGDA WESSEN, great Diplomat-Spy, valiant Knight and Lady Magister of the GREY ORDER, believes she is due for some PEACE. HOWEVER, a strange and alluring WHITE RAVEN appears before her with a DIRE PORTENT: the DREAD POWERS have gathered their FELL ATTENTION yet again upon the world! The UNNAMEABLE ONES desire to obtain a STRONG VESSEL upon which to pour all their malice and awful amusement, to serve as a conduit to DESTROY THE WORLD, and for this purpose they have chosen many PAWNS to fight one another without knowing, so that they may CHOOSE the GREATEST among them!

    Unknown to her until now, Magda has already thwarted several of these WOULD-BE CHAMPIONS, and obtained a position in this UNWANTED COMPETITION. Now faced with the prospect of attracting DASHING ROGUES and MYSTERIOUS BEINGS, Magda realizes she cannot return home until these NASCENT THREATS are dealt with. And she cannot deny the TEMPTATION that is upon the SHADOW OF HER HEART, for she knows all-too-well that greatness is in her NATURE.

    YET, her mind is AWHIRL with fears and possibilities, not knowing who to TRUST, for the FEARSOME WARNING has told her that one among her close companions may have been, or still is, among the CONTESTANTS. Who could it be...? The charming Von Heartsman, whose confidence is undercut by his MELANCHOLY? Muscled Jürgen, whose lost eyes long for SIGHT? The ever-dutiful Mark, whose PERSONAL GRIEVANCES are well known? Or perhaps her most recent acquaintance, the ritualist Tahlia, whose reputation as a TRADITIONALIST within her Order may hint something?

    The few individuals Magda knows are SAFE cannot help her, as the NOBLE King Belegor has POLITICAL DRAMA to keep at bay, and her lover Constance Brew is in the middle of her TESTS OF ARCANE MIGHT, and she knows better than to DISTRACT them!

    Traversing the Old World with the aid of the cheerful BRIGHT WIZARD ADELE'S mechanical expertise and strange ROUND-WING machine, Magda and her companions must defeat the FOOLS that may serve the DESTRUCTIVE POWERS. But though her MIGHTY MHORNBLADE rests firmly in her hands and her SHADOW MASTERY banishes fell magics, there are yet HIDDEN PLOTS outside her GRASP!

    Now more than ever, her PURE HEART shall sorely be tested!

    So I decided to try my hand at one of these, since the panic a few weeks back prevented us from properly doing so and we've calmed down somewhat since.

    One of @Glau's comments some days ago made me consider to instead make a MAGDA WESSEN, XIANXIA PROTAGONIST omake, but I think I should reserve something like that until we decide to make a trip to Cathay for books and/or adventure.
     
  • Apocrypha
    • Boney said:
    The founding mythos of the Druchii is that of betrayal and the weakness of peacetime rulers. That Malekith, son of Aenarion, was passed over for Phoenix King in favour of Bel Shanaar ostensibly because he would be a superior peacetime ruler. Malekith accepted this, and spent the coming centuries burnishing his own credentials as a peacetime ruler by becoming ambassador to the Dwarves and forging an alliance that dominated the world. But while Malekith was proving that a ruler born in war could rule in peace, Bel Shanaar proved the folly of desiring a ruler that had never known hardship by falling under the sway of the Pleasure Cults. Bel Shanaar killed himself with poison rather than seeing the truth come to light, and the other Princes sabotaged the Flame of Asuryan to cripple Malekith when he tried to take the crown so he could fight the Pleasure Cults that Bel Shanaar had allowed to blossom.

    It's purestrain Hard Man narrative. Aenarion is the Hard Man who created Good Times, then the Good Times made Soft Men in the form of Bel Shanaar and the Pleasure Cults who brought on Hard Times once more, necessitating that Malekith, the next Hard Man, take back control to bring on the next set of Good Times, which will be here for everyone just as soon as he conquers Ulthuan, which he will then rule forever in the One Weird Trick that will forever pause the cycle at Good Times.
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    And through all of this, nobody mention Malekith's mom.

    I wonder whats their narrative on her.
     
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    I've been looking at the map of Laurelorn and Nordland a bit because the Wards were being discussed, and I now relaize that I'm not entirely sure about the border situation in Laurelorn.
    • What's the situation in Hargendorf, Dietershafen and Neues Emskrank? Are Nordlanders allowed to travel back and forth between those settlements and the rest of Nordland via land routes, or just by sea?
    • How far north does the Ward of Sun reach? Most importantly, does it reach the coast?
    • Same question for the Ward of Frost. I think it was mentioned that Laurelorn isn't pressing its claims to the coast, but how far north does the Ward of Frost press their claims? Ueblingen has been rzed and it's very close to the coast.
    • Are there any significant number of Eonir living on the coasts, or are the Forestborn of the Ward of Storm all living in the forest?
     
    mathymancer said:
    What's the situation in Hargendorf, Dietershafen and Neues Emskrank? Are Nordlanders allowed to travel back and forth between those settlements and the rest of Nordland via land routes, or just by sea?
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    Civilian travel along the coastline roads is currently not being intercepted, but the bridge across the Salz at Stavern has been destroyed. Local industries are a mixed bag, fishing is fine and agriculture close to the town walls hasn't been affected, but most of the herds in the area have been slaughtered or sold off to herders elsewhere and the timber-based industries are at a complete halt and have seen a lot of people that worked in them give up and head east. Early on Nordland tried to make a fuss about the burden of maintaining the Second Fleet with imported timber, but cut that out in a hurry when Ostland started saying that maybe the Fleet should be rebased to Salkalten if it couldn't be maintained in Nordland.

    mathymancer said:
    How far north does the Ward of Sun reach? Most importantly, does it reach the coast?
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    All land between the Schaukel and Demst, all the way to the coastline.

    mathymancer said:
    Same question for the Ward of Frost. I think it was mentioned that Laurelorn isn't pressing its claims to the coast, but how far north does the Ward of Frost press their claims? Ueblingen has been rzed and it's very close to the coast.
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    Likewise, all the land between the Salz and Demst, all the way to the coastline. They haven't recognized Nordland's claim to the three remaining towns, they just haven't attacked them.

    mathymancer said:
    Are there any significant number of Eonir living on the coasts, or are the Forestborn of the Ward of Storm all living in the forest?
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    About the same amount live on the forested coastlines as any other stretch of forest. Living there exposes Forestborn to the dangers of the Sea of Claws, but also allows them easy access to fishing and beachcombing and a nice view. The unforested coastline at the northern edge of the Sea of Claws is unpopulated, but it is garrisoned at the Tower of Se-Athil.
     
    Boney said:
    All land between the Schaukel and Demst, all the way to the coastline.


    Likewise, all the land between the Salz and Demst, all the way to the coastline.
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    So the rivers serve as natural borders between the Wards. How does the Ward of Rain fit into this? I'm guessing it includes the tiny bit of forest between the Misty Hills and the Schaukel, but where does the border between it and the Ward of Frost pass? The edge of the Misty Hills?
     
    Boney said:
    About the same amount live on the forested coastlines as any other stretch of forest. Living there exposes Forestborn to the dangers of the Sea of Claws, but also allows them easy access to fishing and beachcombing and a nice view. The unforested coastline at the northern edge of the Sea of Claws is unpopulated, but it is garrisoned at the Tower of Se-Athil.
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    They probably have a lot less issue with that than humans, since their settlements are a lot less visibile (and more spread out). Raiders can come, spot a human village and get their raiding done then be moving before a real force arrives. With the forestborn, they'd have to pick a spot basically at random, search the forest while dealing with the harrassement, and then get the stuff back (which is a lot harder when it's on a tree and a mile from the water than when it's conviniently right next to shore). The risk reward ratio is just much worse.
     
    mathymancer said:
    So the rivers serve as natural borders between the Wards. How does the Ward of Rain fit into this? I'm guessing it includes the tiny bit of forest between the Misty Hills and the Schaukel, but where does the border between it and the Ward of Frost pass? The edge of the Misty Hills?
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    Misty Hills is Ward of Rain anything north of that is either Frost or Sun, depending which side of the river it's on. Silver Hills is the Ward of Frost, anything south of that is Rain. That leaves a few tens of square miles of grey area between the two, but if something that needs dealing with happens to set up camp in that exact part of the forest then the Wardens of the two can just talk to each other and decide between themselves whose problem it is. It's not a modern legalistic system that is trying to rigidly define a right answer to every conceivable question, if someone tries something like trying to avoid punishment by committing crimes in that specific part of the forest where jurisdiction is hazy, it just means they'll get punished twice. To this sort of system, 'double jeopardy' is when you're in twice as much jeopardy because you pissed two Wardens off instead of one.

    BurnNote said:
    They probably have a lot less issue with that than humans, since their settlements are a lot less visibile (and more spread out). Raiders can come, spot a human village and get their raiding done then be moving before a real force arrives. With the forestborn, they'd have to pick a spot basically at random, search the forest while dealing with the harrassement, and then get the stuff back (which is a lot harder when it's on a tree and a mile from the water than when it's conviniently right next to shore). The risk reward ratio is just much worse.
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    There's still weather and gribblies to worry about.
     
    Boney said:
    if someone tries something like trying to avoid punishment by committing crimes in that specific part of the forest where jurisdiction is hazy, it just means they'll get punished twice. To this sort of system, 'double jeopardy' is when you're in twice as much jeopardy because you pissed two Wardens off instead of one.
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    I don't think that really went away. We have a lot fewer grey zones of control, especially state-internal, but they do still exist, and I imagine the reaction is still pretty similar. If you're well connected enough or otherwise would be a huge hassle to deal with, you can use that to get away with more because neither side wants to deal with it. If you're not, or it becomes a Thing especially if the two sides are a little hostile to each other, both sides will make sure to punish you to show they they totally have jurisdiction.
    Boney said:
    There's still weather and gribblies to worry about.
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    I imagine the trees help to shield you from the weather? If you're not at the very edge of the forest.
    Gribblies is fair, that border probably gets the most gribblies, but it also seems like sea gribblies are the least likely to try to move in?
     
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