Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

[Glau]

Ok I went back a few chapters.

Aethyric Impluvium, Fourth and Final Draft
Type: Arcane
Arcane Language: Scythian
Difficulty: Fiendishly Complex
Description: The ritual forms an inverted spring that drains magical energies into the ground to fountain through the soil.
Consequences: If failed, the spirit will be empowered to attack or attempt to escape from the caster.
Ingredients: Water drawn from the local water basin (consumed), a biscuit (consumed).
Conditions: Requires the presence of a water-spirit.
Casting time: Two days.

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I want to do an omake of a journeywoman, her companion water spirit, and her pet we hunter, as they go around to different spots in the empire carving tributaries.

Though they haven't yet formally broken with the Ar-Ulric, it's just a matter of time, and various elements within the Cult are moving to back one side or another. In abstract, this seems like a just and worthy cause. In the actual, this could have worrying repercussions for the matter of Laurelorn.

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I think we need to bring a delegation of the ulrican house to meet with the winter wolves, if there are any willing to make the trip. Having an independent alliance there helps the elves not get caught in the crossfire.

[ ] Tributary: International (specify country)
Share information and expertise on how and where to create the tributaries to supplement existing Waystone networks.

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I want to do Kislev, because I think that we can persuade Boris to lay out cash to hire southern mercs to protect the areas it's being done in.

Sell the empire on the idea of having the mercs 'prepositioned' for the next everchosen at Kislev's expense, and out of the hands of ulrican factions.

[ ] EIC: Gather as much Ithilmar from throughout the Old World as possible to resell to the Eonir for a one-time profit

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We can totally use this to fund the construction of the road of way, and even get the Eonir to do it for us with trade concessions tacked on. Wilhelmina will be all about sheering the sheep that is the charcoal trade, and Thorek would get his ins.

The actions aren't personally doing it, it's clearing it with local authorities, finding people with the time, inclination, and ability to do it, and teaching them what they need to know. If you think Johann is all you need for that, then sure.

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I think I trust Johann. He's got the chops.

 

[ChronOblivion]

"I now know how to expand your desk to hold all your paperwork forever. And my work with this is how I paid for Melkoth's Mystifying Maze."

Now he could decide to get upset with us. And we could in turn decide we need to revise a little more, just for say a decade or two. There's no percentage in playing shouty police chief to his loose cannon that gets results, so he won't.

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It's not public rebuke I'm worried about, it's the private opinions, it's remembering Belegar asking why the absolute fuck we haven't mentioned we can halfway trivialize any aboveground assault on K8P, and it's also Mathilde solo-ing this secret research tree over a decade instead of maximizing the widespread benefits of releasing constant results and selling the Vitae at a premium and getting reciprocally buoyed by the research of others. We're past the point I thought we'd be finally publishing and I just don't like delaying it much further.

 

[Jyn Ryvia]

I think we need to bring a delegation of the ulrican house to meet with the winter wolves, if there are any willing to make the trip. Having an independent alliance there helps the elves not get caught in the crossfire.

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considering the background of why the winter wolves had to leave their old lives for the worst part of the old world.

I think your very, very optimistic about how willing they are to play ball with the Enior.

 

[Gavin Prince]

And as a side-note, I'm really not that enthused about the applications of vitae towards liminal realms, anyway. The conversion rate is very poor, and from Mathy's perspective, not having seen the dice, its first showing had one rather large additionial problem that came with it.

I don't know if we really want to outline that particular use for it, given that the main outcome of writing that chapter will be requests to repeat the experiment using the very scarce and unique resource for which we've already established multiple better uses. The book is complete without that addendum.

 

[ArcanaVitae]

I mean, it's not like telling anyone would make there be more of it to go around since our source is unique. And the really relevant stuff for the colleges about the orbs and liminal realms are all recent.

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AV is extremely rare but it's possible for the colleges to get more. It's also an already known substance, just not explored deeply. The Runesmiths know it as the liquid near the polar gates.

[ ] Create Orbs of Sorcery with College buy-in (no cost)
Mathilde will not have to source her own materials, but will have to negotiate in advance what happens with the resultant Orbs.

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"I now know how to expand your desk to hold all your paperwork forever. And my work with this is how I paid for Melkoth's Mystifying Maze."


Now he could decide to get upset with us. And we could in turn decide we need to revise a little more, just for say a decade or two. There's no percentage in playing shouty police chief to his loose cannon that gets results, so he won't.

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Boss Man is pretty chill and likes Mathilde so I think he'd be inclined to trust her judgment on her own research even if releasing it earlier would have been extremely useful.

It's not public rebuke I'm worried about, it's the private opinions, it's remembering Belegar asking why the absolute fuck we haven't mentioned we can halfway trivialize any aboveground assault on K8P, and it's also Mathilde solo-ing this secret research tree over a decade instead of maximizing the widespread benefits of releasing constant results and selling the Vitae at a premium and getting reciprocally buoyed by the research of others. We're past the point I thought we'd be finally publishing and I just don't like delaying it much further.

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This is a good point, but thing is AV is something that will cement a legacy. It allows for the Creation of Orbs of Power which the Colleges have wanted to do since their inception, it's a breakthrough in magical theory, and is an incredibly potent resource all around. Mathidle wanting to do all the studying herself is something that any Wizard can understand, also it's not like she hoarding the knowledge only to herself or the Grey Order which they technically could do.

 

[DarknessSmiles]

i think we should knock out the primary investigations on the last two major pieces of the waystone this turn.

 

[Thomasfoolery]

AV is extremely rare but it's possible for the colleges to get more. It's also an already known substance, just not explored deeply. The Runesmiths know it as the liquid near the polar gates.

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Well... I don't really agree that "Liquid found at the polar gates" actually is something it's possible for the colleges to get more of. I think at best maybe a gallon or so might have been able to have been scrounged by trying to harvest apparitions, but I've grown much more dubious on the feasibility of that after some boney posts.

So overall I don't actually think releasing it early would have accomplished much. Most of the liquid sold probably would have been wasted being used by someone that had to build up their own institutional expertise with the stuff so I wouldn't have expected much in the way of novel insights. It's not even like Mathilde has let a massive stockpile build up, there's enough for one set of Orbs and then a modest warchest for future needs, so hardly a huge stack going unused.

Also Mathilde very much did use the stuff for the college's benefit already, it was a key part of the deal that gave them the rooms of calamity.

 

[deathofrats0808]

beginning the inexorable ebb that will culminate in a thirteenth Everchosen

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Did you mean ebb here? Ebb is where the tide is going out, and I would have thought that Chaos would increase heading towards an Everchosen.

Also Mathilde very much did use the stuff for the college's benefit already, it was a key part of the deal that gave them the rooms of calamity.

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The Colleges don't know that though. They know they have very nice rooms, but not that they were paid for by AV.

 

[Aule]

Waystone: Nexuses
Specify which: Marienburg

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Would now be the best or the worst time to do this action? I'm not sure of their current unrest would make it easier or harder to ask for this.

 

[Thomasfoolery]

The Colleges don't know that though. They know they have very nice rooms, but not that they were paid for by AV.

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Sure, but inquiries about what she's been doing with stuff can only come after they know the stuff actually exists. So that would be an easy answer to give at that point. Realistically I don't expect there to be anything of the sort though, it's not really how the colleges operate, plus they don't even know how long she's had access to it.

 

[ArcanaVitae]

Well... I don't really agree that "Liquid found at the polar gates" actually is something it's possible for the colleges to get more of. I think at best maybe a gallon or so might have been able to have been scrounged by trying to harvest apparitions, but I've grown much more dubious on the feasibility of that after some boney posts.

So overall I don't actually think releasing it early would have accomplished much. Most of the liquid sold probably would have been wasted being used by someone that had to build up their own institutional expertise with the stuff so I wouldn't have expected much in the way of novel insights. It's not even like Mathilde has let a massive stockpile build up, there's enough for one set of Orbs and then a modest warchest for future needs, so hardly a huge stack going unused.

Also Mathilde very much did use the stuff for the college's benefit already, it was a key part of the deal that gave them the rooms of calamity.

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I went to use the "Liquid found at the polar gates" as an example that while insanely rare AV is already something people are kinda aware of just not particularly knowledgeable about. I was basing the College's ability to get AV on the fact that making an Orb of Power through their resources is an option, though that may be wrong.

 

[Thomasfoolery]

I went to use the "Liquid found at the polar gates" as an example that while insanely rare AV is already something people are kinda aware of just not particularly knowledgeable about. I was basing the College's ability to get AV on the fact that making an Orb of Power through their resources is an option, though that may be wrong.

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The resources the college's provide there are just the standard powerstones we'd use to bathe in AV. It's the same procedure we'd do with or without college support, it's just we have to pay for the stones ourselves if we don't bring them in from the start.

 

[deathofrats0808]

I went to use the "Liquid found at the polar gates" as an example that while insanely rare AV is already something people are kinda aware of just not particularly knowledgeable about. I was basing the College's ability to get AV on the fact that making an Orb of Power through their resources is an option, though that may be wrong.

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They can make power orbs, they can't make Orbs of Sorcery, which is what AV allows. There's no evidence the Colleges know that AV is a thing at all, and indications that the Runesmiths don't (although they might have just lost the knowledge). The only people who seem to have known what it was were the Eonir (although I suspect all the Elven factions know about it. A good candidate for producing it has to be the Vortex after all).

 

[ArcanaVitae]

They can make power orbs, they can't make Orbs of Sorcery, which is what AV allows. There's no evidence the Colleges know that AV is a thing at all, and indications that the Runesmiths don't (although they might ahve just lost the knowledge). The only people who seem to have known what it was were the Eonir (although I suspect all the Elven factions know about it. A good candidate for producing it has to be the Vortex after all).

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The Runesmiths know but that may just be limited to Thorek and probably Kragg. The Elven factions certainly all know though.

 

[deathofrats0808]

The Runesmiths know but that may just be limited to Thorek and probably Kragg. The Elven factions certainly all know though.

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The Runesmiths know now (more than just Kragg and Thorek, because Thorek has been effectively selling it to the rest of the Guild IIRC) but didn't before Mathilde introduced it to them.

As for the Elves, the Eonir definitely do (they have their own portal into the Aethyr in Laurelorn). I'd be surprised if the other Elven factions (High, Dark and Wood) don't also know about it, but it depends on how long it took to figure that stuff out (ie, if it's post-War of the Beard or not), and also whether they have another source. I suspect they have another source and therefore the existence of one such in Laurelorn wasn't considered a huge deal at the time, but I'm speculating, there's no canon on it as yet.

 

[Andres]

- Get CF for the Galaxy Dunk

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We've got liminal realms now, so we can put off farming CF to do more proper AV research.

 

[Prime 2.0]

I'm in favor of the Ithilmar trade. The EIC's doctrine of preferring steady sustainable trade over big windfalls is just that - a preference of one over the other. There is no steady sustainable alternative to the Ithilmar sale, we either take the opportunity and reap the windfall or allow someone else to take it leaving us nothing.

Out of everything on the EIC's plate, I really do not think anything justifies the opportunity cost of letting this expire.

 

[pucflek]

I want to do an omake of a journeywoman, her companion water spirit, and her pet we hunter, as they go around to different spots in the empire carving tributaries.

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Journeyman casting fiendishly complex probably happens (and Mathilde might´ve done so? I can´t recally but she probably did) but i would think that in conjunction to this being related to waystones, it should probably be a magister.

It's not public rebuke I'm worried about, it's the private opinions, it's remembering Belegar asking why the absolute fuck we haven't mentioned we can halfway trivialize any aboveground assault on K8P

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You do realize that wasn´t any sort of opinion ding from him, just sort of incredulous disbelief this is even possible.

People are not going to go "Oh you pioneered a new approach entirely dependent on researching unknown phenomena" and go "fuck you for keeping it to yourself until it was ready".

 

[ConfusedCanuck]

Oh jeez is it going to be annoying once the High Elves catch wind of our Waystone project they'll just insist to bud in on it won't they?

 

[pucflek]

Oh jeez is it going to be annoying once the High Elves catch wind of our Waystone project they'll just insist to bud in on it won't they?

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Depends. They historically react very poorly to someone trying to mess with it. But they would´ve probably learned that trying to fuck around will just lead to the Kislev situation.

What i expect is that the best possible scenario is full support with us having to provide concessions. The worst is they did not learn that Old World polities do not, in fact, need to bend to their every whim.

In case of the first the concessions would likely be
1) stop entertaining druuchi support
2) whatever advancements will be made, we will not stop the Reikbasin from sending the flow of power to Vortex (Basically pledging to not do the same as Kislev situation)

In case of two, well, the Druuchi are right there. They might have at least some useful knowledge, thought it will have to be thoroughly cross checked to not go the way of Morathi teaching Ariel.


The first would be a major fucking win but it will probably still hurt in case we are wildly succesfull and it turns out we could, in fact, have used the nexuses the same way the aethyric shunt is used. Or like, any other cool use of the network.

The second would have the problematics of trying to play nice with a slaver/reaver polity and some unexpected bullshit on the stones, but honestly, the people involved should be able to detect that.

 

[DragonParadox]

In case of two, well, the Druuchi are right there. They might have at least some useful knowledge, thought it will have to be thoroughly cross checked to not go the way of Morathi teaching Ariel.

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In the worst case scenario... well Mathilde is the linchpin of the whole thing. Kill her and the project dies and the Asur have some really good assassins, the kinds that can make it look like one of our many other enemies got to us.

 

[ConfusedCanuck]

What i expect is that the best possible scenario is full support with us having to provide concessions.

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That's best possible though I am not expecting it to be best possible circumstances though at the same time I'm not expecting the worst case of them trying to kill us for doing this. But I would not be surprised if they try to stop this in tracks before we can complete it.

 

[deathofrats0808]

In the worst case scenario... well Mathilde is the linchpin of the whole thing. Kill her and the project dies and the Asur have some really good assassins, the kinds that can make it look like one of our many other enemies got to us.

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No they don't? The Asur don't really do assassination. The Druchii do, they have probably the best assassins in the world, but the Asur never seem to have developed that capability, possibly because of association with the Druchii, possibly because of association with Khaine.

 

[DragonParadox]

No they don't? The Asur don't really do assassination. The Druchii do, they have probably the best assassins in the world, but the Asur never seem to have developed that capability, possibly because of association with the Druchii, possibly because of association with Khaine.

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Shade Walkers make really good assassins, they just mostly target Druchi. I'm pretty sure the White Tower could commandeer one if they felt it would be the best way to keep humans and misguided colonials from blowing up the world. To be clear this is a worst case scenario, I do not expet this to happen, I just think that it could.

 

[deathofrats0808]

Shade Walkers make really good assassins, they just mostly target Druchi. I'm pretty sure the White Tower could commandeer one if they felt it would be the best way to keep humans and misguided colonials from blowing up the world. To be clear this is a worst case scenario, I do not expet this to happen, I just think that it could.

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You mean Shadow Warriors? Because Shadow Warriors flat out aren't assassins. They're fantastic guerilla fighters, but the two skillsets aren't the same. Especially in regards to faking the assassination as the work of someone else.