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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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Voikirium said:
I daresay there'll be some sort of reaction once we start knocking on their front door with cannonfire.

Class: Archer, 3 Star

-She is considerably less powerful than the others we have already encountered, more a threat for her strategic insight than as a raw combatant though I am not fool enough to think I could face her myself, nor that she could not engage in some trickery to see the deed done.

If you will allow me a moment's supposition, I believe this is likely as not simply a result of the fact that her Archer Spirit Core has little to grasp onto that is unique to itself and not already "claimed" in a certain sense by another incarnation. At base she is the Mathilde that took command in Stirland after Van Hal's death, and to a lesser extent the leader and strategic mind behind Mathilde in general; however, that is an area that she must fight with at least two other incarnations for, as she must for so many other deeds that could enrich her. She could claim saving Karak Vlag, but the Caster took that; she could claim the leadership of the wizards of Karak Eight Peaks as Belegar reclaimed it, but the Rider took that; she could claim her work in the [REDACTED] expedition, but the Assassin took that and on and on it goes, so rather than all encompassing as they are she is vague.


Titles: Lady Magister of the Grey Order, Knight of Stirland, Thane of Karak Eight Peaks, Loremaster, The Dämmerlichtreiter, Sängerkritisch, Dawongr, Azrildrekked, the Silver Savage, Dawizhufokri, Spymistress of Stirland, War-Councillor of the Expedition to Karak Eight Peaks, Court Wizard of Karak Eight Peaks, Loremaster of Karak Eight Peaks

Alignment: Lawful Good

Attribute: Star

Parameters:
Strength: D
Endurance: C
Agility: A
Mana: B
Luck: B
Noble Phantasm: B

Class Skills:
Riding Skill C: She still has her shadowsteed, and sufficient magic to make copious, annoying use of it.

Independent Action B: As the embodiment of the strategic and tactical acumen of Mathilde, the Archer is a more independently minded and less attached to her Master; or at least, she would be if she hadn't been summoned by a control freak. Still, even he is not entirely unaware of how useful that can be.

Mana Resistance B: Surprisingly high, perhaps to represent withstanding the effects of Dhar on her psyche long before the Dwarfs showered her with gifts for her deeds. It can be forced through, fought against or battered aside but it would take both time and effort, neither of which being in copious supply.

Personal Skills:
Unwavering Perseverance B: She was bound and determined to cast down Castle Drakenhof, to make sure there would be no more Vampire Wars, to shatter the resistance of the Undead, and her stubbornness and will to win only begin there, in deeds that would be the apex of the legend of others. She might be convinced to stop, but she will never be frightened off simply because the task is difficult.

Mind's Eye B: She's fast and she always has more information than you'd really want an enemy to have. Her greatest problem is that there is no amount of information that makes getting into a hand-to-hand dust up with Kintoki a good idea, never mind any of the other.

Quick Draw C: She keeps a pair of Runed Dwarf Revolvers and a Marksman's Pistol on her at all times and, even when not fed Mana to reach their truest potential, she shoots quick and fast, if not quite as fast as Billy.
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This entire section seems to be the Archer version.

EDIT: Mathilde'd
 
DragonParadox said:
I mentioned going into the Fire Spire back when we were talking about Vlag and the like, the GM pointed out that it has been looted constantly by adventurers for the past almost 200 years so there is no guarantee there is anything even worth an AP in there, much less a favor of this scale.
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It has but apparently there are parts literally no one comes back from.
Those would be where I'd imagine the best stuff would be.

Also I never said Mathilde would be the one spending the AP, just have him offer the colleges the chance to try to clean it up and whatever is there.
 
NavySeel said:
It has but apparently there are parts literally no one comes back from.
Those would be where I'd imagine the best stuff would be.

Also I never said Mathilde would be the one spending the AP, just have him offer the colleges the chance to try to clean it up and whatever is there.
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Or they could just be where the most corruption and death is. The world is under no obligation to give you good loot just because you made it though a boss fight. In any case I do not think we should ask for the chance for imperial wizards to risk their lives in a literal Chaos infested hellhole, they might be sensible and not do that and then we will have wasted the boon... or some of them might not be and also die, which is worse than a wasted boon.
 
Voikirium said:
Personality: Her wits are still all about her, and she is more together than nearly any other Berserker, for all like most she still tosses herself into battle with fury and rage in her heart. But there is an odd elusiveness, evasiveness, and detachment to her, as though she hides some terrible secret from the world.
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Secret? Ah, right. The book with two secrets. Yeah, I can see how that might affect this incarnation.

Also, a bit of a non sequitur. Going back to the topic of Boris', or Boris Negaverse's, reaction to Mathilde's work, I just realized it would be influenced one way or another if he decides to be present for the eventual autopsy instead of just waiting for the results, which he well might.
 
NuclearConsensus said:
Secret? Ah, right. The book with two secrets. Yeah, I can see how that might affect this incarnation.
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The Liber Mortis? Aside from getting it from Abelhelm on his death bed, it doesn't have much to do with her rage. She didn't open it until a lot later, and by then she'd calmed down. I think it's referring to when Mork possessed her, as then she fell into a proper berserk fury, more than any other point in her life actually.
 
Andres said:
The Liber Mortis? Aside from getting it from Abelhelm on his death bed, it doesn't have much to do with her rage. She didn't open it until a lot later, and by then she'd calmed down. I think it's referring to when Mork possessed her, as then she fell into a proper berserk fury, more than any other point in her life actually.
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It doesn't have much to do with her rage, no. But the second part, referring to her behaving like she's hiding a terrible secret? That, I think is referring to the Liber Mortis.
 
Voikirium said:
Class Skills:
Riding Skill C: She is an able rider, gamely hunting down and striking at all those who have incurred her fury,.

Madness Enhancement E: Her character actively rebels against the deepest depths of madness, driven by the iron training of the Gray Order to resist being influenced by Dhar, or by worse thing...but her rage has still granted her strength and clarity.

Mana Resistance A:...This is higher than it should be. Against all manner of magic, but especially against Dark Magic, Dhar, and the Undead, she has proven all but unstrikable with magic, almost as though she is unweaving it.

Personal Skills:
Valor B: She knows no fear, no hesistation, only bravery and loyalty and rage, rage at those who would harm her companions.

Mind's Eye (Fake) B: Berserker is not a subtle, stealthy class but even so fallen she can at least pull tricky nonsense, summoning a cloud of mists to hide for the breifest moment before she strikes for instance.

Mystic Slayer D: Archer may have killed the most vampires and torn down Castle Drakenhof with guns...but it was Berserker who took up Dwarf-forged blade and entered hand-to-hand against undead and carved their skulls from their bodies in the name of the Empire, Berserker who has felt fetid, foul blood splash against her skin, Berserker that the Undead know to fear.
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I'm not familiar enough to know if it should go in Class Skills or Personal Skills, but I think she'd have Divinity like I think Iskandar did? Orc Hewer says she holds the power of a god, and she once went berserk when she was possessed by a god.
 
Andres said:
The Liber Mortis? Aside from getting it from Abelhelm on his death bed, it doesn't have much to do with her rage. She didn't open it until a lot later, and by then she'd calmed down. I think it's referring to when Mork possessed her, as then she fell into a proper berserk fury, more than any other point in her life actually.
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The book is still inextricably linked to Abelhelm's death, and it being a terrible secret was part of, like, his whole legacy. That the knowledge inside the book is linked to the book itself doesn't surprise me. Wasn't that time when she was the most tempted to turn to unsavory methods out of sheer grief (and ambient Dhar exposure)?
 
Andres said:
The Liber Mortis? Aside from getting it from Abelhelm on his death bed, it doesn't have much to do with her rage. She didn't open it until a lot later, and by then she'd calmed down. I think it's referring to when Mork possessed her, as then she fell into a proper berserk fury, more than any other point in her life actually.
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Her Mana Resistance section indicates she has the Liber Mortis:
Voikirium said:
Mana Resistance A:...This is higher than it should be. Against all manner of magic, but especially against Dark Magic, Dhar, and the Undead, she has proven all but unstrikable with magic, almost as though she is unweaving it.
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soulcake said:
*I think people already discussed this, and it may even be quest canon that it seems keeping the magic moving plays a part somehow in stopping Kislev's weird spinner from becoming a Dhar pit, because I have no fucking clue where it dumps its magic.
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It does appear to be quest canon using the magic is an alternative to sending it to the OG Vortex, which doesn't work as a general solution because there's just too much magic to use and also a lot of it is Dhar. This came up during the leyline action, where Zlata sort of confirmed that this is what's going on, though it seems like she's not authorised to tell Mathilde much so she didn't exactly give Mathilde a straight answer.
Boney said:
You look to Zlata. "And if the flow was maintained instead of being dammed, and energy was being taken out at least as fast as it is being added, then it could last indefinitely." Zlata returns your gaze, gives it some thought, and nods.

"So if we had a way to spend the energies..." Sarvoi begins.

"Including the Dhar?" Elrisse asks pointedly.

Sarvoi considers that. "Ah. Yes, I see your point. There are arguments to be made about lesser evils in some circumstances, but scaling up to a size of a continent means rapidly running out of evils great enough to justify such widespread use of corruptive energies."

"Unless there was a way to convert Dhar into some other, more benign form of energy." You turn your look to Thorek.

"It is said," he says heavily after a long period of thought, "that the Ancestor Gods and those that learned from them could create Runes with that capability. Some of the very least of those techniques were rediscovered by the Runelord Alaric, but he drove himself mad seeking more than that. And only a very few Runelords are capable of reliably using them."

"Would they be at all scalable?" you ask.

"If Kragg had spent his entire long life doing nothing else, then he would perhaps have managed enough to protect a tenth of Altdorf."

You grimace. "And it stands to reason that even if any logistical concerns were handwaved away, any still-existing examples of the greater Runes would have a finite throughput."

Thorek takes even longer to consider this answer. "It does stand to reason," he eventually concludes.

"The only other possibility would be divine," you observe. "A deity willing to dedicate Themselves to a land and take upon Them the burden of purifying a constant stream of Dhar within that land into divine energy."

All eyes turn to Zlata. "Kislev is land, land is Kislev, we are Kislev," she says simply, her voice only betraying a hint of nervousness.
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I bolded the Zlata sections, but really the entire discussion in the quote deals with the question you're asking here, including the similiarty between Rune and Ice magic.
soulcake said:
What exactly is Kislev dumping all that magic into? Like, the witches use it obvsly, but you're a northern nation( and the main route for Chaos Invasion into the rest of the Old World for most of your country's history), you're inundated with the stuff I assume, moreover its also more than even the Ice Witches can use I ALSO assume. My theories so far range from Kislev coopting the Waystones to be part of a ritual that basically feeds magic into the Widow, who in turn accelerates/enforces the naturing of the magic when it comes in to contact with Kislev's ice to make the power for Kislevian Ice Magic.
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I don't think we know for sure, but at a guess maybe it's been used to slow down the spread of the Chaos Wastes. Could be that by inundating an area with Ice Witch they allow the Widow to enforece Her will on the land, which clearly doesn't stop Chaos from eventually claiming more and more land but maybe at least slows it down. That would probably be a project ambitious enough to consume all that magic, because however much magic the Ice Witches have to work it Chaos still has more.
 
Parabola said:
...And, in all honesty, a nation-wide BÖÖK exchange beckons to me way more. "You send copies of every book you as leader of your nation can get your hands on, and we let you copy books from our library that may help rebuild or strengthen Kislev" may not sound like the most fair of arrangements, but in the Great War Praag was razed, so Boris can get away with saying 'hey we need backups of our all knowledge, and they'd be in a Dwarven Karak'.
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Boris Bookha
 
Voikirium said:
Noble Phantasms:
Orc Hewer( The Blessed Blade of Grafs)
Rank: EX
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…seems a big overhyped.
Ghal Maraz, aka THE Warhammer, would be EX rank as the unifying symbol of the Empire. The Runefangs, while powerful even before they became legendary, are not quite on that level. Particularly as there are a bunch of them. And as there are a great many weapons and armours that have tanked Runefang hits in full view of an army.

Otherwise I love it.
Wonder how many command seals you would need to activate her book NP?
 
This is the only Mathilde who is inexperienced enough and sufficiently emotionally uncontrolled to give hints as to a secret she doesn't want anyone to know, as opposed to smugly misdirecting you to the secrets she wants you to think she doesn't want you to know. They all have the Book.:p
 
Artemis1992 said:
Bad for her personally, great for the Ice Witches in general.

They only invest a minimum of secrets because Zlata doesn't know much, but get the full results.
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Ok. Book is one thing. Book good. Sure, especially the ideas about promising full copying rights in the event of lost cities and such.

But what if we (also) ask for "additional support for the project"?

i.e. pull strings to send us our granny friend.

She is cool af.
 
BeepSmile said:
Ok. Book is one thing. Book good. Sure, especially the ideas about promising full copying rights in the event of lost cities and such.

But what if we (also) ask for "additional support for the project"?

i.e. pull strings to send us our granny friend.

She is cool af.
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Ljiljana and Nedswenka in the same room for extended periods of time would definitely liven things up.
 
Voikirium said:
I'm gonna call these semi-finished here, in that there's a chance I might pop out, IDK, an Alter Ego or Avenger or something but you know, I would still feel satisfied even if I didn't.
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Any chance we could get an Abelhelm one? The Hunter Count probably has a fair myth to him, even if Mathilde was the one to actually finish his push for drakenhoff. I doubt he'd be an *exceptionally* strong Servant, but I could see this group trying it just to fuck with all the Mathildes hunting them.
 
An Alter Ego with her having gone deep into all the evil options she has could be interesting. And terrifying.

Arch-Necromancer Mathilde or Everchosen Mathilde ain't nothin' to sneeze at.
 
Voikirium said:
I'm gonna call these semi-finished here, in that there's a chance I might pop out, IDK, an Alter Ego or Avenger or something but you know, I would still feel satisfied even if I didn't.
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Honestly, I'd say that until we have a lot more done then it's good. Unless we get to the point where she'd make a good pretender.

Wiggy said:
Any chance we could get an Abelhelm one? The Hunter Count probably has a fair myth to him, even if Mathilde was the one to actually finish his push for drakenhoff. I doubt he'd be an *exceptionally* strong Servant, but I could see this group trying it just to fuck with all the Mathildes hunting them.
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Actually, an Abelhelm summoning depending on class could chain in a Mathilde summoning
 
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Dust&Ash said:
I really dislike posts like these, because they start romanticizing the tragedy of the death of an 'innocent', as if a negligent warlord king of a feudal society bordered by a bunch of tribal warriors literally empowered by corrupted hell gods did no wrong by sitting on his butt and pulling a Bobby B for decades while thousands of his citizens lost their literal souls every year to Taint in Praag, or to Norscan raids, or to Chaotic cults, or to Skaven raids and experiments in Hell Pit, etc., etc.

There's even levels to this type of willful ignorance, because it ignores the foundational sins of feudalism *and* those of Warhammer to craft some type of narrative where a negligent king who didn't hand over the reigns to his more competent son is a saint because he didn't personally kill orphans on his front lawn like his vampire mother.

Vladimir Bokha was a Tzar- a king. And by the very definition of that word, he's a warlord who uses the power of 'I have the biggest stick around' to gather tithes and tributes from pettier warlords in order to drive off external invaders. Vladimir Bokha was an incompetent tinpot dictator who sat on an iron throne of swords and blood forged by his mass murdering mother... and who did nothing but sit on that throne, while his subjects wallowed in abject poverty and Chaotic Taint, and storms gathered on the horizon.

But it's important to note- even were Vladimir competent, wielding the power of a tyrant makes you a tyrant.
Because there is no ethical way to conscript people to work and die for the State. But if you don't, and not doing so gets everybody killed?

Welcome to the Feudal Trolley Experiment, where the winning move is to not be king. After all:







The quotes are included because they're a very Eastern European mindset that Kislev was narratively set up to echo- that of


In other words, and to make a long ramble shorter, Vlad wasn't a good guy because he did nothing but let his subjects die. His son is a better guy, but he won't be a good guy either, because he'll force his subjects to do things, and that'll get them killed in great quantities and horrific ways, but probably in less quantities and less bad ways than if he did nothing, in the long run. Don't be a warlord, kids!
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I... am honestly confused as to why commenting that I preferred a quiet, sober, tone to an update about Mathilde committing cold-blooded murder required a multi-paragraph rant in response? Vlad might not have been perfectly innocent- no ruler is- but based on what little we know of him he wasn't an actively bad ruler (i.e. overtaxing citizens, executions on a whim, etc), and the crimes we assassinated him for were of omission rather than commission (as someone else already put it). That makes it much more of a tragedy and a much harder pill to swallow than Mathilde's previous foreys into murder, which were committed against active traitors or enemies.
 
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