I really doubt that is how the Empire presents the Colleges externally and the original question was about what Boris would think/do. Heck, that is not how LMs are presented internally or there would be riots about these probably damned wizards doing whatever the hell they want.
What Mathilde is doing is not different from other Nobles, Witch Hunters or Priest do, she is just vastly more capable of it in that she does the job of all three. But yes it is kept quiet to public because you want people be invested in the system and have enough loyalist to ensure no single person really rocks the boat.
But here is the thing, Boris would know it works that way because Kislev has same system with Ice Witches so it is not new info the him. Infact it is probably one of the reasons why his father was against the Ice Witches as well. They probably made him feel insecure in his position with their constant independ actions.
I've heard it explained that Grimdark comes in two parts:
-dark, in that things in the setting are bad. The opposite being -bright.
Grim, in that things are getting worse, and nothing the protagonists can do will change that. The opposite being Noble-
If things are bad but there's still light at the end, it's Nobledark. Supposedly. If you believe Tumblr and fanfiction sites where this terminology gets spread around.
Huh, I don't think I've ever seen the term thrown around, but this formula implies the existence of GrimBright, where everything starts out great but then begins to spiral into an inevitable slide into darkness and despair. I suppose there's likely a lot of tragedies that would qualify. Lots of horror movies with downer endings too.
but this formula implies the existence of GrimBright, where everything starts out great but then begins to spiral into an inevitable slide into darkness and despair.
Huh, I don't think I've ever seen the term thrown around, but this formula implies the existence of GrimBright, where everything starts out great but then begins to spiral into an inevitable slide into darkness and despair. I suppose there's likely a lot of tragedies that would qualify. Lots of horror movies with downer endings too.
I've seen GrimBright described as 'a story where the world is fascinating to explore but the protagonist has no agency to change anything'. I believe they gave Neil Gaiman's Sandman as an example.
Huh, I don't think I've ever seen the term thrown around, but this formula implies the existence of GrimBright, where everything starts out great but then begins to spiral into an inevitable slide into darkness and despair. I suppose there's likely a lot of tragedies that would qualify. Lots of horror movies with downer endings too.
Utopias in decline are another source. Or postapocalyptic settings that have more or less stabilised, where the world is full of slowly-decaying wonders. Though it's unusual to see a story set in either of those that doesn't at least hint at a hope of restoration. I guess...Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita (Humanity Has Declined) might fall into that category. Everything is bright and cheerful and yet Humanity is never coming back.
I've seen GrimBright described as 'a story where the world is fascinating to explore but the protagonist has no agency to change anything'. I believe they gave Neil Gaiman's Sandman as an example.
Honestly, while we are at it, One Piece is peak Nobledark.
Seriously, it has some of the darkest setting details and backstories that wouldn't be out of place in Warhammer 40k, and it somehow manages to get worse every arc...
And yet, it is overall an optimistic, cartoony and cheerful story about a crew of heroes (even if they do not like the title) making things better.
Huh, I don't think I've ever seen the term thrown around, but this formula implies the existence of GrimBright, where everything starts out great but then begins to spiral into an inevitable slide into darkness and despair. I suppose there's likely a lot of tragedies that would qualify. Lots of horror movies with downer endings too.
Yeah, there's a sort of Tumbler alignment chart with Dark Vs Bright and Grim Vs Noble, which of course inspires countless arguments over what should be categorised where.
this formula implies the existence of GrimBright, where everything starts out great but then begins to spiral into an inevitable slide into darkness and despair.
Doesn't need to go that far; hell, Tolkien arguably qualifies. "The best of the world is behind us, the worst days ahead" shows up in a lot of writing, you don't need to actually reach those worst days to qualify.
Of course, having that as a "background" element while things can still be made better locally kind of dilutes the term.
It would feel strange, but I'm not sure it would be the funniest situation. Aksel lacks the flair of Thorek and Baba Yaga, and as cranky old people they have an inherent funny element when interacting with youngsters.
Prince Eltharion of Yvresse woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling. He sat up, slowly, taking in the room around him. He was in some sort of quaint dwelling. There was a fireplace with a large pot warming up over it, a nearby oak dinner table with a few chairs nearby, and lots of strange decorations. Not elven, he thought, as it was too primitive. Not dwarven, either, as it would be more austere. Human, then.
He did not remember how he arrived to this place.
He took stock of the situation. He noted that he still had his armor on, which was good because he was always most comfortable when he was most protected from physical harm. He also noticed that he was in a warm bed and that his pillow had been soft and cool, which was also good, because most pillows warmed up his helmet too much for when he went to sleep.
All this painted a strange picture.
He got up from the bed (boots still on) and went over to the table. There were several maps of the Old World. It was filled with notes on greenskin-controlled areas, their numbers, difficulties of terrain, and the difficulty of logistics for certain locations. Several notes, in ink, were clearly of his own handwriting.
Yes, he had been... They had been discussing the Old World's so-called Waystone Project, and one thing had led to the other, and...
The door to the room creaked open. An old woman stepped in. Her.
"Oh, dearie, you're already awake. Did you have a good sleep?"
Eltharion nodded automatically, but before he could stop and consider how he would normally never react like this, the woman, Granny Niedzwenka, continued.
"Oh, that's great. I would have hated if our talk yesterday had exhausted you."
"Oh, that could never have happened. But thank you for the concern, Granny," he said. Perhaps if the topic had been anything but greenskins, he would have noticed that he would have never said things like that normally. Not in a thousand years. But it was, so he did not.
"Shall we continue?" She asked, gesturing to the door.
"Of course."
Baba Niedzwenka gave a smile that in a younger woman would be described as predatory. They exited the room, and Eltharion found himself back onto the courtyard of Bohka Palace. They walked back to the room the meeting had started in. The members that had been there yesterday were assembled again.
They were doing their absolute best not to appear bothered by what was happening, but did not dare raise a word.
"So," said Eltharion. "In addition to Yvresse is willing to support Kislev, the Karaz Ankor, the Empire, and Laurelorn with a number of troops to help curb their own greenskin problems..."
There was something strange, he thought distantly, about how surprised the assembled members were. But he had long forgotten to care for the reactions of others, when it came to important things.
This got away from me. Niedzwenka controlling the conversation is too perfect for this.
Also, you cannot convince me that Eltharion doesn't sleep in his armor like Samus does.
The way I think about it is that 40k is Grimdark, the world is shit and becoming shittier by the day. Every faction is varying degrees of evil, the most you can hope for is well-meaning individuals making a difference on the personal level, but they are probably still complicit by proxy in some pretty horrific shit just by participating in the system.
Warhammer Fantasy is Nobledark (outside of the End Times anyway): the world is bleak and dangerous, but things can improve, and the good guys can win. And most importantly there are good guys, not just those who are less evil than the soul-devouring abominations who want to kill everything. They might not be perfect, but at worst they're just kinda assholes and at best they're genuinely altruistic and trying to make the world a better place. And they can make the world a better place and have that stick: the posterboy faction of the setting can decide that maybe they shouldn't horrifically torture people with special powers and give them human rights and shit, the good guy factions can band together to throw back the evil.
Noblebright would be Harry Potter or Percy Jackson: the world is generally a good place to live in, and there are mostly good people living in it. That doesn't mean there is no evil or bad things happening, but there are good people fighting back against it, and they inevitably win in the end.
Grimbright is not really my jam so I don't have good examples of it, but I would define it as a dystopian world where most people don't have to fear for their lives and can live decently comfortably so long as they keep their heads down, but there are tons of systemic issues and it's next to impossible for anyone to make a real difference. As I said I don't consume a lot of Grimbright media because I find the concept depressing, but from what I've heard things like Cyberpunk or Shadowrun are fairly close. Or if you want to be really adventurous, I've heard people argue that we are all living in a Grimbright world right now.
Grimbright is not really my jam so I don't have good examples of it, but I would define it as a dystopian world where most people don't have to fear for their lives and can live decently comfortably so long as they keep their heads down, but there are tons of systemic issues and it's next to impossible for anyone to make a real difference. As I said I don't consume a lot of Grimbright media because I find the concept depressing, but from what I've heard things like Cyberpunk or Shadowrun are fairly close. Or if you want to be really adventurous, I've heard people argue that we are all living in a Grimbright world right now.
There is a concerning amount of My Little Pony fanfic that falls under the Grimbright label—which usually involves "Tyrant Princess Celestia" enforcing Peace and Harmony at the expense of free will and self determination.
The way I think about it is that 40k is Grimdark, the world is shit and becoming shittier by the day. Every faction is varying degrees of evil, the most you can hope for is well-meaning individuals making a difference on the personal level, but they are probably still complicit by proxy in some pretty horrific shit just by participating in the system.
Warhammer Fantasy is Nobledark (outside of the End Times anyway): the world is bleak and dangerous, but things can improve, and the good guys can win. And most importantly there are good guys, not just those who are less evil than the soul-devouring abominations who want to kill everything. They might not be perfect, but at worst they're just kinda assholes and at best they're genuinely altruistic and trying to make the world a better place. And they can make the world a better place and have that stick: the posterboy faction of the setting can decide that maybe they shouldn't horrifically torture people with special powers and give them human rights and shit, the good guy factions can band together to throw back the evil.
Noblebright would be Harry Potter or Percy Jackson: the world is generally a good place to live in, and there are mostly good people living in it. That doesn't mean there is no evil or bad things happening, but there are good people fighting back against it, and they inevitably win in the end.
Grimbright is not really my jam so I don't have good examples of it, but I would define it as a dystopian world where most people don't have to fear for their lives and can live decently comfortably so long as they keep their heads down, but there are tons of systemic issues and it's next to impossible for anyone to make a real difference. As I said I don't consume a lot of Grimbright media because I find the concept depressing, but from what I've heard things like Cyberpunk or Shadowrun are fairly close. Or if you want to be really adventurous, I've heard people argue that we are all living in a Grimbright world right now.
Grimbright is a weird concept IMO since if most people live comfortably if they keep their heads down it means they should have the space and time to plan and enact change. Take shadowrun as an example, sure the PCs can live comfortably, but that is because they are the interesting people. Most of the people in the setting have it pretty dark.
Take shadowrun as an example, sure the PCs can live comfortably, but that is because they are the interesting people. Most of the people in the setting have it pretty dark.
Shadowrun PCs are mostly SINless (SIN = System Identification Number), which is to say they are members of the literal underclass who effectively lack legal ID. They are the equivalent of illegal immigrants who can only manage comfortable lives via crime because they can't get a legal job. Most people have SINs and a higher standard of basic living than most of the SINless.
Which is not to say that it's not kind of a dystopia, it absolutely is, but that the PCs actually have it worse than usual, at least at first.
Grimbright is a weird concept IMO since if most people live comfortably if they keep their heads down it means they should have the space and time to plan and enact change. Take shadowrun as an example, sure the PCs can live comfortably, but that is because they are the interesting people. Most of the people in the setting have it pretty dark.
It can also work if the authority at the top is completely unbeatable, but also somewhat apathetic. Or at least generally delights in small scale evils so most of the population can ignore him. Can't actually think of any examples.
Shadowrun PCs are mostly SINless (SIN = System Identification Number), which is to say they are members of the literal underclass who effectively lack legal ID. They are the equivalent of illegal immigrants who can only manage comfortable lives via crime because they can't get a legal job. Most people have SINs and a higher standard of basic living than most of the SINless.
Which is not to say that it's not kind of a dystopia, it absolutely is, but that the PCs actually have it worse than usual, at least at first.
I meant the PC once they have been given the opportunity to become PCs, if they live they have social mobility at least and with that the ability to enact some change
It can also work if the authority at the top is completely unbeatable, but also somewhat apathetic. Or at least generally delights in small scale evils so most of the population can ignore him. Can't actually think of any examples.
The best I can think of is WoD's vampire history with the First City, Caine and his progeny were basically gods in flesh and to be a human in that city was to pay a blood tax, but at the same time Caine did have some principles when he was not too depressed to care so the lives of the local blood donors weren't that bad. You could not even become a vampire for social mobility since Caine outlawed the practice after the Third Generation was made.
It can also work if the authority at the top is completely unbeatable, but also somewhat apathetic. Or at least generally delights in small scale evils so most of the population can ignore him. Can't actually think of any examples.
Big Mom built a kingdom based on racial tolerance, where her subjects can live lives of relative plenty and peace.
The downsides are that Big Mom is kinda loco in the coco and goes on kaiju style rampages, that you pay taxes with your literal soul (which takes away 1/6th of your life expectancy), that trying to leave gets you killed for treason and that the whole thing is financed by the tribute and loot of the Big Mom pirates.
Another case of Grimmbright would be say if a huge astroid was heading towards Earth and was definitely going to kill everyone and there was nothing anyone could do about it so everyone on Earth is partying like there is no tomorrow.
The world is certainly doomed, but everyone is making the most of it together.
Does Marienburg retain monopoly over... anything, with this new canal becoming a thing?
Like, they are still the best route from a lot of places to a lot of places. But I think that the days of having Enough Money to force the tail to wag the dog are over?
Big Mom built a kingdom based on racial tolerance, where her subjects can live lives of relative plenty and peace.
The downsides are that Big Mom is kinda loco in the coco and goes on kaiju style rampages, that you pay taxes with your literal soul (which takes away 1/6th of your life expectancy), that trying to leave gets you killed for treason and that the whole thing is financed by the tribute and loot of the Big Mom pirates.
When doing these classification of Grimm, bright, heroic and dark you can get very different ratings depending on if you are rating the world building or the story being told.
You will notice that about all Grimmdark are settings rather than stories in their own right. They are often used as background lore for a video game or war game. Most actual stories tend not to be.
