We have a somewhat positively skewed view of Ranald due to playing as Mathilde.
No. We have discussed this, Karak Vlag may have a lot of people that can make glorified lightbulb, but they only know the least of the secrets of runelore. Unless the runic magic on Waystones is so simple a fresh, barely toddling apprentice would be enough, they will be of no help. And i can almost guarantee it won´t be that, otherwise they would not be half the mystery that they are.
IIRC it was that Ranald would be upset that Mathilde would turn to someone else for her future manipulation needs, as if he isn't good enough.
This is not the thread for this.
Considering how simple some of the symbols used so far apparently are, and the fact that Thorek only said some runesmithing techniques were used in improving some of said non dwarven symbols, I'd say that it seems quite possible to me.
I didn't call it anything, and you're making up quite a few other arguments I never made.
Keep in mind that the Cult of Ranald is extremely decentralized, and different Cults have different takes on His facets and His strictures. Yes, when taken to extremes the Protector is incompatible with loyality to the Empire, but does the Grey College understanding of Ranald go to those extremes? I think we don't know much about how the Grey College's worship of Ranald looks like, but I think we can get some hints from the saints Mathilde is aware of:
The first Saint Grey fought against Chaos, and the second against Greenskins. That doesn't have much to do with the Protector if you think of the Protector only as the patron of rabble rousers, but it does if you take a more broad interpretation of the Protector as defender of the weak and innocent in general, as Mathilde clearly does. Only the third Saint Grey fought against oppression, but the oppressor in that case is Deiter rather than the Empire in general, and the act of resistance wasn't assassinating government officals or anything, it was warning members of a persecuted group about oncoming persecution. I think it's entirely possible to have an understanding of the Protector that is compatible with loyality to the ideals of the Empire, and I think the famousely loyal Grey Order is a place where you're likely to find such an understanding.
You're thinking of the Waystone Rune, that's different from Runic tributaries (which we haven't developed and which we don't know for sure are possible). You are correct that Rhunkits might be capable of carving those:
Thorek noted that that dwarves of Karak Vlag are highly competent stoneworkers, so I guess the only question is if Rhunkits count as having a grasp of basic magic theory. There's also the question of the runesmithing techniques which were used to improve the Rune's effects - Thorek mentioned them in the first meeting of the project but not while studying the Rune, so I wonder if they are still known at all.
Protector is not anything. Its a concept that people rally behind. But the fact of the matter is that majority of those people are against Empire because that concept resonates with that sort of people the most, and that is what matters a lot when you are talking about gods.
He´s as accepted as he is because he doesn´t push it directly and because he has other, more acceptable faces. And its really hard to proscribe god of luck. And As accepted as he is is "almost proscribed, but not quite there yet" and "priests don´t get invites to The Conclave, they just find their way in anyway".
Where?
At the very least Ranald is at the edge of it at any moment. And I would not be suprised the hear that such purges happened in the past.
That didn't turn out well when Mandred's grandfather tried the same thing.
A line between combatants and non-combatants was fuzzy at best in period and it is bound to be much worse in Warhammer. But even then a bunch of high end Spellcasters, Anointed priest and Runelord all fall squarely into combatant part.
Is that actually a thing? I would expect safety issues to be a concern once someone starts touching the winds, regardless of their age, and getting them into a monowind environment to prevent dhar would be desirable.
That was a possibility with some significant downsides, but Heidi seemed pretty convinced by Mathilde's arguments for him to become a college educated wizard, so I expect him to end up in one soon-ish.
So thats why Mathilde had to get a big sword of hitting hard. Nothing else with powerful enough bonk to bonk a god out of being horni.
