- Location
- A Pit Of My Own Making
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Soooooo, in future we'll have wizards named after Mathilde?
Bonus points if it's a Light Wizard.
Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest
- Thread starter Boney
- Start date
- Fantasy Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Bonus points if it's a Light Wizard.
Codex
Fantasy Addict
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It was his first visible roll, and Boney does tend to define characters by their first impressions. I mean, we met Dragomas way before then, but I don't think we ever got to see him rolling any dice. It's possible the rolls in the Duels further defined his powers.
He's not invincible, but I do imagine that it's possible he'll be harder to depose next time. He's still a ways away from declining with age, and he clearly doesn't sit on his laurels.
- Location
- New Zealand
I can only assume it was Abhorash.
Mopman43
Mountain-Hermit of Nitpeak
- Location
- Vermont
In theory, becoming SP should put you behind the power curve because of all the time you could have previously spent on spellwork and training that's now devoted towards meetings, management, and putting out fires across the Empire.
Characters in the story did note that part of the reason that he's hard to depose is that those who are best suited to do it mostly don't bother. Elspeth is given as an example of someone who probably could take him but doesn't try because she doesn't want the job. I also think there's a WoB about how the fact that Dragomas is doing a good job and is well liked by the strongest wizards in the Colleges means he doesn't get challenged by some of the real heavy hitters, but I might be misremembering.
NuclearConsensus
Herald of the Thorned One
- Location
- the Philippines
In theory, maybe, but I doubt it in practice. If nothing else, the martial nature of the Empire's Wizards means that spellwork and training are part of the job, and the SP can't slack off on such things since the Colleges will be looking to them as an example to follow.
As for meeting and management, I imagine it depends on the SP? In Dragomas' case, for example, I imagine that part of the reason he's still so strong is that his good relations with his College, the other Colleges, and the Emperor smooth things out a lot. The Ambers probably don't need much managing anyway, at least not compared to, say, the Lights or the Greys. The fact that Dragomas has been SP for so long probably helps too.
- Location
- Utrecht
Hehehe XD
Erika Kurtsdottir, Bright Matriarch.
Everyone: Oh no!
Erika Kurtsdottir, Bright Matriarch.
Everyone: Oh no!
If I have my dates right she would have been the appointment directly after the night of arcane duels too, meaning she would have have been the one to try to calm down Dieter the Idiot and an angry grand theogonist and smooth the whole thing over.
A task that would require a delicate touch and careful diplomacy.
No wonder the colleges closed.
deathofrats0808
Don’t think of it as dying; just as leaving early
- Location
- Earth
"Armchair general" implies someone who doesn't contribute at all.
Sure, a Wizard is absolutely more useful if they're fighting. My point is not that leading from the rear is the best use of a wizard's time or energy, it's that being a combatant isn't actually a direct requirement for SP.
Yeah, that is my point. If an SP is a good enough politician and well-liked enough by the Colleges, they could maintain their position entirely through that. It's an unlikely outcome, but it's certainly possible.
The Empire prevents Wizards getting involved in politics only in the sense of being nobles (and even then, not always). Dragomas is on the Emperor's Council, and the Colleges play politics all the time. To say that Wizrads aren't involved in high level politics is flat out wrong.
It is the intuitive SP, but I doubt he invented the Shield. TW and 4e both have the design being discovered in tombs in the southern Old World (and then copied and used to make many more) and Ptolos is an incredibly Khemrian name, so I'd guess it originates there, and the SP is named after the inventor.
- Location
- Chicago
- Pronouns
- She/They
Clausewitz had it right, and that makes leaders of fighting forces politicians, but honestly a very shallow sort of politician. The two key skills for a Warhammer general, after all, are being hard to kill and being able to hold an army together. Asset allocation, bluff, and insight are also shared.
But yeah, military brass hate the idea that they are politicians, despite the long and proud tradition of generals making themselves kings.
- Location
- Australia
There's some interesting things going on by looking at the dates.
Firstly, not a one of them lasted any less than seven years. None of them ever died in office, they were all deposed in their duels.
Kadon beat Volans in a fight, and he in turn was defeated after a single term. Compare that to Dragomas' four consecutive terms, which makes that record even more impressive.
If Erika's Doom carries over, it means that Seisyllt Gwilymsson killed her. For reference:
Coincidentally, Teclis' term is also seven years, implying that Volans beat him unless you have other sources to tell you what really happened.
The last interesting item is Theodor Habermas, whose second term lasted nine years instead of the normal seven.
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deathofrats0808
Don’t think of it as dying; just as leaving early
- Location
- Earth
It might be that the College reaction to a Supremeiarch being killed or deposed out of order is to just not appoint another one. I wonder if that's what happened to Erika actually. The Colleges were under siege for her entire run.
Doomings aren't always literal. Mathilde had an excellent exmaple of this (at least, using her interpretation).
Teclis' term was honourary, which makes me think the Colleges gave his term dates retroactively and only once Volans was in charge.
I wonder why. Has to have been pretty extraordinary, considering there's no other instance of non-octennial terms.
Mopman43
Mountain-Hermit of Nitpeak
- Location
- Vermont
I figured that was a typo in the years. (One of a few)
deathofrats0808
Don’t think of it as dying; just as leaving early
- Location
- Earth
Ah, yeah, it is. Ptolos' term is listed as beginning in 2359, so presumably Habermas' second term should have ended in '58. Don't see any other year typos in Boney's list though.
Theodor's second term was a typo, I've had to rebuild that list two or three times from mucking up the dates. Something about listing the eight years inclusively, where the two numbers associated with a particular term are actually seven apart, makes my brain hurt.
2503 is the year the Orders of Magic were founded, after the Great War ended. What happened before that was a wartime boot camp and it wasn't after it had proved its worth on the battlefield that it was made a permanent institution - one more reason for the Orders to constantly remind themselves that their existence was won by war and is paid for by war. It's also another reason that so many College Wizards hero-worship Teclis, because at that point Yrtle was dead and Finreir was against the idea and needed to be convinced. Otherwise it could have been very possible that the permission of that first generation of Wizards to perform magic might have been stripped from them and they would have had to either return to mundanity or scatter to the dark corners of the Old World.
Teclis considered Volans to be the first Supreme Patriarch, but the Colleges consider Teclis to be.
2503 is the year the Orders of Magic were founded, after the Great War ended. What happened before that was a wartime boot camp and it wasn't after it had proved its worth on the battlefield that it was made a permanent institution - one more reason for the Orders to constantly remind themselves that their existence was won by war and is paid for by war. It's also another reason that so many College Wizards hero-worship Teclis, because at that point Yrtle was dead and Finreir was against the idea and needed to be convinced. Otherwise it could have been very possible that the permission of that first generation of Wizards to perform magic might have been stripped from them and they would have had to either return to mundanity or scatter to the dark corners of the Old World.
Teclis considered Volans to be the first Supreme Patriarch, but the Colleges consider Teclis to be.
- Location
- London, England
Now I'm imagining a duel over whether Teclis is or is not the first Supreme Patriarch, between Teclis (Not Me) and Volans (Yes You Are).
"You've gone on a centuries-long errand to buy milk, but now that we have you in our sights, we are never letting you shirk your responsibilities again Teclis-Senpai!"
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- Location
- Hiding in the walls.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Look, Teclis needs that milk for his incredibly breakable bones, alright? It's perfectly understandable.
- Location
- Canada
Even though it's a typo, I am amused by the idea of Theodor's second term being ten years, in the middle of a quiet period of Imperial history with absolutely nothing dramatic happening to justify it.
Apprentices are fascinated when they notice it, looking for clues and conspiracies to its reason for being, only to end up disappointed when the explanation is extremely banal.
Like maybe the Obsidian Hall was closed due to flooding, so they couldn't hold the Duels. The whole floor was just a couple inches of stinky water. The Wizards wanted it fixed immediately, but the place is obsidian, so a magic fix was impossible and they had to rely on mundane masons to install drainage and redirect nearby runoff away... but the masons dragged their feet for years, because creepy Wizards.
They could have held the Duels in some other place, but no contenders ever pressed the issue. Turns out that with Volans and Teclis still in living memory, no one wanted to be known as "That Patriarch What Got The Job In Some Field While The Obsidian Hall Was Closed For Remodeling."
Codex
Fantasy Addict
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I didn't think much about it, but it would make sense if Teclis has osteoporosis.
I get that his name is Theodor and not Theodore, but it always feels odd, like the e is missing. Not sure if that's just me.
BTW, I got a new pfp and profile banner for pride month (yes it's early, I couldn't wait). I hope you guys like it, because it's probably what you're gonna see for at least a year everytime you see my name.
As we have learned, normal people generally work faster and better for wizards because angering the dude in red robes with flaming hair and a fiery temper is bad juju.
- Location
- Leeds
Altdorf people are the literal opposite of normal.
neutronium95
Mad Rocketeer
- Location
- The test site
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I like the new profile picture. Who's the artist?
Yes and we got literal wog about how Altdorf people react to angry wizard who are annoyed about shoddy work. The colleges have a standing contract with the bookbinder guild and get good work because a angry bright came knocking after his work dissolved a bit.
Edit: i will find the quote later if you want but it was about having quretches book bound and published iirc.
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