Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

allmightytoaster · Feb 9, 2024

Alratan said:
Agreed. An Emperor declaring war on the Karaz Ankor probably ends with that Emperor being deposed and an apology to the High King from his successor.

"Declaration of war? Oh that. No, that was a chaos plot. Shame the emperor died in a different, unrelated chaos plot. Whatever kind of mutant they sent after him, its sword hit with the force of a cannon ball by the looks of it. Very messy to clean up.

Anyway, the empire will of course do whatever it takes to make things right with our longest, most trustworthy allies."-Mathilde Weber to Thorgrimm, conspicously wiping blood from her sword.

ReaperofInterest · Feb 9, 2024

This certainly seems like an interesting quest. It's had its ups and its downs, and I'm interested in seeing where it goes.

Although, for the Waystone project, would it be worthwhile to design some more tributary types? The Ice Witch or Runesmith versions I could see being quite useful for Kislev and the Dwarves, as those would allow the others to improve their own energy situations while allowing them to handle it "in-house" as it were, even if they needed some actual Waystones for major improvements.

A_Somebody · Feb 9, 2024

ReaperofInterest said:
This certainly seems like an interesting quest. It's had its ups and its downs, and I'm interested in seeing where it goes.

Although, for the Waystone project, would it be worthwhile to design some more tributary types? The Ice Witch or Runesmith versions I could see being quite useful for Kislev and the Dwarves, as those would allow the others to improve their own energy situations while allowing them to handle it "in-house" as it were, even if they needed some actual Waystones for major improvements.

For Ice Witch Zlata rolled badly which means its established in universe she couldn't get it working with The Ancients Widow as the intermediary. It's not impossible to try again, but generally there needs to be something "new" or some sort of reason/insight for why it trying again will result in different results other than nebulous "oh I guess the working environment was better." Like some sort of new insight into the Widow or something.

For Runesmiths I don't think I see what entity they can really use as the 3rd party that plows a path for passive diffusion to happen. The way runes and dwarfs interact with the winds is already really wonky by the standards of pretty much any paradigm that isn't theirs. I guess maybe a runesmith could somehow glare and scare the winds into making a path, but then it's a question of if we want runesmiths doing that vs working on the big ticket Waystones.

Also even if my above speculations are wrong, doing so would require at least 1 AP. Then we're getting into diminishing return debates on if its worth further optimizing/expanding our already honestly amazing options for tributaries vs installing tributaries vs developing Waystones vs installing said Waystones, etc

picklepikkl · Feb 9, 2024

ReaperofInterest said:
This certainly seems like an interesting quest. It's had its ups and its downs, and I'm interested in seeing where it goes.

Although, for the Waystone project, would it be worthwhile to design some more tributary types? The Ice Witch or Runesmith versions I could see being quite useful for Kislev and the Dwarves, as those would allow the others to improve their own energy situations while allowing them to handle it "in-house" as it were, even if they needed some actual Waystones for major improvements.

Glad to see you here! Welcome to the front lines.

The Aethyric Impluvium ritual does pretty well for Kislev, since it requires a speaker of Scythian (the arcane language of Kislev) and the cooperation of a water spirit, so Kislev can definitely handle that in-house with Hag Witches. If it turns out there are areas of Kislev lacking rivers or lakes that really need tributaries, though, we could definitely go for an Ice Witch type later.

Regarding dwarf tributaries, Boney has had this to say:

picklepikkl said:
This is a good point. Boney, if you don't mind my asking: do we know whether "dwarves not using tributaries" is the case, or would finding out whether this is the case be the result of taking the Waystone: Other Networks action for the Karaz Ankor?

Boney said:
Dwarves have treated any infrastructure outside of a Karak as an inherent security risk since the Time of Woes.

So there's reason to believe that they would be skeptical of such a thing; as such, a Runic tributary would be useful only if we wanted to convert runesmith-hours into protection for other polities, which doesn't seem worth it to me. However, we're investigating the Karaz Ankor network this turn with Thorek, so possibly Mathilde will have some thoughts about the usefulness of tributaries that will change our position.

(That's really the key virtue for participants in this quest, IMO: willingness to update your priorities and plans as a result of new information. Sketching out ideas for plans two or three turns ahead is fun, but that's all it is and it should not be confused with real planning.)

A_Somebody said:
For Ice Witch Zlata rolled badly which means its established in universe she couldn't get it working with The Ancients Widow as the intermediary. It's not impossible to try again, but generally there needs to be something "new" or some sort of reason/insight for why it trying again will result in different results other than nebulous "oh I guess the working environment was better." Like some sort of new insight into the Widow or something.

This isn't true. We never tried it with the Ancient Widow. Zlata worked on the Haléthan tributary with Aksel.

Boney said:
-[*] Waystone: Tributary Prototype (Wood tributary, Haléthan tributary, Bereginya tributary) (Max, Tochter, Zlata, Cadaeth, Aksel, Niedzwenka)
--[*] The Gambler

A_Somebody · Feb 9, 2024

picklepikkl said:
Glad to see you here! Welcome to the front lines.

The Aethyric Impluvium ritual does pretty well for Kislev, since it requires a speaker of Scythian (the arcane language of Kislev) and the cooperation of a water spirit, so Kislev can definitely handle that in-house with Hag Witches. If it turns out there are areas of Kislev lacking rivers or lakes that really need tributaries, though, we could definitely go for an Ice Witch type later.

Regarding dwarf tributaries, Boney has had this to say:

So there's reason to believe that they would be skeptical of such a thing; as such, a Runic tributary would be useful only if we wanted to convert runesmith-hours into protection for other polities, which doesn't seem worth it to me. However, we're investigating the Karaz Ankor network this turn with Thorek, so possibly Mathilde will have some thoughts about the usefulness of tributaries that will change our position.

(That's really the key virtue for participants in this quest, IMO: willingness to update your priorities and plans as a result of new information. Sketching out ideas for plans two or three turns ahead is fun, but that's all it is and it should not be confused with real planning.)

This isn't true. We never tried it with the Ancient Widow.

Aha once again "Cunningham's Law" proves itself! But I swear I remember reading about Zlata trying to crtl-f, crtl-z out something with the Ancient Widow instead and it not working....

Aha found it!

Boney said:
Tochter, to her very visible frustration, has had little progress adapting - or, in her words, updating - the ritual to something in the Jade Order's wheelhouse, and Zlata's work has been equally fruitless. But Cadaeth has what she feels is a very solid ritual for encouraging the forest itself to anchor a tributary stone, Aksel has very straightforwardly swapped out the Earth Mother for Halétha and is ready to give it a try, and Niedzwenka thinks she knows just the spirit to make power start flowing. That's certainly promising, but if there's anything you learned about rituals during your lessons at the Colleges, it's that you can never be entirely sure how well you've done at crafting one until you actually do it. And considering the potential repercussions a botched ritual can lead to, you'll have to carefully consider whether to go for a blunderbuss approach and approve all of them, or try to decide which of them is the most promising.

And then it leads to adding the "develop tributary ritual" action for the other three. Seems like her theoretical attempts to workshop using the Widow as a carving force went so badly we didn't get the option to try.

MrHobbit · Feb 9, 2024

A_Somebody said:
Aha once again "Cunningham's Law" proves itself! But I swear I remember reading about Zlata trying to crtl-f, crtl-z out something with the Ancient Widow instead and it not working....

You are right that Zlata gave it a try as part of the initial Belthani tributary action. Tochter also failed. But neither of them would be options to try if there was anything blocking us from getting results.

Personally I hope to do the Teclisean, Ice Witch, and Druid tributaries at some point. Perhaps if the Damsels join the Project.

Boney said:
Tochter, to her very visible frustration, has had little progress adapting - or, in her words, updating - the ritual to something in the Jade Order's wheelhouse, and Zlata's work has been equally fruitless.

picklepikkl · Feb 9, 2024

A_Somebody said:
Aha once again "Cunningham's Law" proves itself! But I swear I remember reading about Zlata trying to crtl-f, crtl-z out something with the Ancient Widow instead and it not working....

You're thinking of the action we took on the turn prior to that, the investigation of the Belthani tributaries.

Boney said:
It grates at you that you have to hear about progress with the rituals in dribs and drabs as Tochter reports back to you instead of being involved with the whole process, but vetting the steles is the price you paid for the leap forward that they represent, and you're not overburdened with free time to do both. So you suppress your desire to breathe down necks and let information trickle back to you as you make your gradual progress with understanding the steles.

Tochter, to her very visible frustration, has had little progress adapting - or, in her words, updating - the ritual to something in the Jade Order's wheelhouse, and Zlata's work has been equally fruitless. But Cadaeth has what she feels is a very solid ritual for encouraging the forest itself to anchor a tributary stone, Aksel has very straightforwardly swapped out the Earth Mother for Halétha and is ready to give it a try, and Niedzwenka thinks she knows just the spirit to make power start flowing. That's certainly promising, but if there's anything you learned about rituals during your lessons at the Colleges, it's that you can never be entirely sure how well you've done at crafting one until you actually do it. And considering the potential repercussions a botched ritual can lead to, you'll have to carefully consider whether to go for a blunderbuss approach and approve all of them, or try to decide which of them is the most promising.

[New action unlocked: attempt to create a tributary (select one or multiple: Dreaming Wood tributary, Haléthan tributary, Bereginya tributary)]

My attempt at decoding this into mechanics is "everyone who was studying the Belthani tributaries had a roll to see if they could adapt the principles". Three of them succeeded: Cadaeth, Aksel, and Baba Niedzwenka. As a result, we gained the ability to prototype their ideas as a followup action, which we did the next turn.

Boney said:
[ ] Waystone: Tributary Design (select one or multiple: Ranaldian, Druidic, Ice Witch, Runesmith, Teclisean)
[-] Waystone: Tributary Prototype (no untested designs available)

Tochter and Zlata, our two disappointing students who failed their rolls (which is actually insane for Tochter when you think about it, given that she critted the investigation roll into the runestone and is a ritual specialist and you'd think the Belthani principles would be most applicable to a Druidic prototype -- she must have gotten like a 2 on her d100), have their tributary paradigms sitting in the back with Ranald, the dwarves, and Teclisean magic. So they didn't really "try and fail" -- they failed the stretch goal of "come up with something quickly enough to skip a full design phase," but that didn't establish any facts about the universe like "the Widow doesn't wanna play ball."

Bear in mind that adding new tributary types at this point is at least 2 AP: 1 for the design phase and 1 for the prototyping. We can do multiple at once, which is nice, but my suspicion is that in the absence of some really compelling reason why we need more tributary types we're not going to bother and will instead focus on Waystone designs and production.

Parabola · Feb 9, 2024

I'm inclined to think Zlata might have an easier time with studying the Scythian tributaries rather than the Belthani ones. Might be more within the Ancient Widow's wheelhouse.

Nerdasaurus Rex · Feb 9, 2024

I think it's a good idea to invest in more tributary rituals, for much the same reason it's a good idea to invest in multiple seed vaults—if one is lost, at least you have a back up.

That said, the ones we have now cover a decent spread of use-cases—forests, rivers, and the priests of a minor goddess. I think making a Ranald tributary so that we also have the priesthood of a major god capable of working on it would nicely round out the options available.

Also, I'm curious as to the steps Mathilde would take to create a Ranaldian tributary, seeing as she herself can't wield the divine magic of Ranald.

MrHobbit · Feb 9, 2024

Parabola said:
I'm inclined to think Zlata might have an easier time with studying the Scythian tributaries rather than the Belthani ones. Might be more within the Ancient Widow's wheelhouse.

Maybe. The Ancient Widow is a spirit of Kislev, which is inhabited by descendants of the Scythians so it would make sense if there was some resonance. But the main thing she's known for is inhabiting Kislev's network. I don't see why she would be less suited for it than Haletha or even the Earth Mother.

Zlata is just kinda bad at this. If anyone would be good at the Scythian tributaries I would think it would be Baba Niedzwenka, even ignoring that she is Baba Niedzwenka.

I'd love to Ice Witch, Druid, Teclisean, and Damsel Belthani tributaries at some point. I don't care over much about the Ranaldian tributary. Not like it will be used much.

picklepikkl · Feb 9, 2024

Parabola said:
I'm inclined to think Zlata might have an easier time with studying the Scythian tributaries rather than the Belthani ones. Might be more within the Ancient Widow's wheelhouse.

Sure, but that's no guarantee (cf the ritualist druid trying to reverse engineer the druid ritual and going "fuck, I got nothin'").

MrHobbit said:
Zlata is just kinda bad at this.

Extremely normal Zlata L.

Nerdasaurus Rex · Feb 9, 2024

MrHobbit said:
I don't care over much about the Ranaldian tributary. Not like it will be used much.

I disagree. Ranald has a shrine and a priest in nearly every town and city on the continent. If He commanded his priests to start laying down tributaries, we could get a startlingly large coverage of the Empire almost overnight.

Parabola · Feb 9, 2024

MrHobbit said:
Maybe. The Ancient Widow is a spirit of Kislev, which is inhabited by descendants of the Scythians so it would make sense if there was some resonance. But the main thing she's known for is inhabiting Kislev's network. I don't see why she would be less suited for it than Haletha or even the Earth Mother.

picklepikkl said:
Sure, but that's no guarantee (cf the ritualist druid trying to reverse engineer the druid ritual and going "fuck, I got nothin'").

True, true...

MrHobbit said:
Zlata is just kinda bad at this. If anyone would be good at the Scythian tributaries I would think it would be Baba Niedzwenka, even ignoring that she is Baba Niedzwenka.

picklepikkl said:
Extremely normal Zlata L.

It's so disheartening to imagine being in Zlata's shoes that I just hope she gets any kind of W at this point.

ReaperofInterest · Feb 9, 2024

Hmm...Kislev is handling the Dhar issue mainly by having the Widow take care of it, according to my unerstanding. Does she get anything out of that? Like, can she convert however many energy units of Dhar into 1 unit of divine power? If so, then maybe a Ranaldian version of a tributary would be a nice gift for our friend. And we might be able to encourage Ranald the Dealer's worship.

Nerdasaurus Rex · Feb 9, 2024

Parabola said:
It's so disheartening to imagine being in Zlata's shoes that I just hope she gets any kind of W at this point.

The closest thing to an ambition that Zlata has confessed to us is that she wants to travel and see the world.

Hmm, I wonder if the EIC will benefit from an Ice Witch on retainer, especially if we're pushing upriver into Kislev now.

MrHobbit · Feb 9, 2024

picklepikkl said:
(which is actually insane for Tochter when you think about it, given that she critted the investigation roll into the runestone and is a ritual specialist and you'd think the Belthani principles would be most applicable to a Druidic prototype -- she must have gotten like a 2 on her d100),

I'm curious if the opposite might be true, or rather that she might have just had mediocre rolls. How active is the Earth Mother nowadays? How reachable is she?

(which could be a rather big oof)

Parabola said:
It's so disheartening to imagine being in Zlata's shoes that I just hope she gets any kind of W at this point.

Worst part is that there genuinely is not much she can do anymore. Ljiljana described her as wanting to prove yourself and instead it's just been two years of getting dunked on by Baba Niedzwenka.

I guess there are several actions she can do. Obviously we need her for the Kislev network action. She can design an Ice Witch tributary design and hopefully prototype it. We can have her on Scythian tributaries. We could also have her on Rune alternatives. I would prefer to do all of them at some point. Maybe she'll succeed on one of them.

Nerdasaurus Rex said:
I disagree. Ranald has a shrine and a priest in nearly every town and city on the continent. If He commanded his priests to start laying down tributaries, we could get a startlingly large coverage of the Empire almost overnight.

Good luck convincing the people who own the land (the nobility) that they should erect hundreds of monuments to Ranald (the god of revolution and crime) across their territory.

Also Belthani tributaries are man-high rocks. That is very conspicuous. The Cult of Ranald is nowhere near that organized or likely to act in such an overt manner.

ReaperofInterest said:
Hmm...Kislev is handling the Dhar issue mainly by having the Widow take care of it, according to my unerstanding. Does she get anything out of that? Like, can she convert however many energy units of Dhar into 1 unit of divine power? If so, then maybe a Ranaldian version of a tributary would be a nice gift for our friend. And we might be able to encourage Ranald the Dealer's worship.

Anything that potentially empowers Ranald will get every Cult in the Empire to close ranks and tell us to fuck off. This is ignoring that the nobility will laugh in our face if we try to propose it.

Also tributaries wouldn't empower Ranald. They are passive. The ritual just sets up a funnel where it is being set. Once the ritual is finished, Ranald doesn't do anything.

Boney said:
"But even if we simply assume that it would be possible to implement the same approach in the Empire, the merest hint of the idea would instantly split the Empire into at least three parts."

Boney said:
There's not even anything to corrupt like there are with Waystones, the magical inflow is through the natural tendency of earthbound energies to seek equilibrium. If you broke the outflow somehow they'd just become normal rocks and eventually become no more filled with magical energy than any other rock."

deathofrats0808 · Feb 9, 2024

MrHobbit said:
You are right that Zlata gave it a try as part of the initial Belthani tributary action. Tochter also failed. But neither of them would be options to try if there was anything blocking us from getting results.

That's not necessarily true. Research pathways can be dead ends, things that are just flatly impossible. Mathilde's looking into non-Dhar-making Ulgu tongs for example. I don't think that's the case here, but options do not necessarily promise results.

Nerdasaurus Rex said:
The closest thing to an ambition that Zlata has confessed to us is that she wants to travel and see the world.

Hmm, I wonder if the EIC will benefit from an Ice Witch on retainer, especially if we're pushing upriver into Kislev now.

IIRC, she also lamented the fact she had to stay celibate with all the attractive people around in Laurelorn.

Alratan · Feb 9, 2024

MrHobbit said:
I'm curious if the opposite might be true, or rather that she might have just had mediocre rolls. How active is the Earth Mother nowadays? How reachable is she?

(which could be a rather big oof)

I'm not sure we know that the Earth Mother even exists as an identifiable entity. If the Earth Mother is just what the druids called Ghyran, then there may be nothing to reach that can hear you.

Nerdasaurus Rex · Feb 9, 2024

MrHobbit said:
Good luck convincing the people who own the land (the nobility) that they should erect hundreds of monuments to Ranald (the god of revolution and crime) across their territory.

Also Belthani tributaries are man-high rocks. That is very conspicuous. The Cult of Ranald is nowhere near that organized or likely to act in such an overt manner.

Firstly, Ranald isn't exactly an "ask for permission" kind of guy. He'd just send out his priests to do the work in secret, and if the aristocracy takes offense at that, then fuck them.

Secondly, as befitting the Night Prowler, those tributaries would probably be hidden or disguised, and not immediately obvious as belonging to Ranald—same as how his shrines are hidden.

Thirdly, it's going to take three journeymen just four years to cover all of Stirland. How many magic using priests do you think Ranald can rustle up at a moments notice? Five per province, maybe? More? How long do you think it'll take the Cult of Ranald to cover all of, say, Reikland?

fictionfan · Feb 9, 2024

Boney said:
Dwarves have treated any infrastructure outside of a Karak as an inherent security risk since the Time of Woes.

All of our current tributary options don't actually involve infrastructure though. They are just a ritual guiding winds to the nearest waystones such that future winds will continue following the path of least resistance. An equivalent rune version of that would seem to be a runed pole/banner/flag or something is put in the ground for a month or so until the tributary is established then picked up and planted in a new location.

MrHobbit · Feb 9, 2024

deathofrats0808 said:
That's not necessarily true. Research pathways can be dead ends, things that are just flatly impossible. Mathilde's looking into non-Dhar-making Ulgu tongs for example. I don't think that's the case here, but options do not necessarily promise results.

If I remember correctly the thread came up with Ulgu-tongs and the thread investigated and found out that it wouldn't work without dhar. Not an action Boney provided without input from the thread. I am not aware of an action Boney provided that was just flat-out impossible.

Alratan said:
I'm not sure we know that the Earth Mother even exists as an identifiable entity. If the Earth Mother is just what the druids called Ghyran, then there may be nothing to reach that can hear you.

Belief is power in the aethyr isn't it? The ritual calling upon the Earth Mother obviously worked at some point. Unless it doesn't call upon her at all, but I think that is extremely unlikely. Even if it called upon a spirit that was only related to the Earth Mother.

4e named the Earth Mother and made her a whole pantheon. It also hinted that her mythology drew from the Old Ones. But obviously that's probably not canon for Divided Loyalties.

Nerdasaurus Rex said:
Firstly, Ranald isn't exactly an "ask for permission" kind of guy. He'd just send out his priests to do the work in secret, and if the aristocracy takes offense at that, then fuck them.

Secondly, as befitting the Night Prowler, those tributaries would probably be hidden or disguised, and not immediately obvious as belonging to Ranald—same as how his shrines are hidden.

Thirdly, it's going to take three journeymen just four years to cover all of Stirland. How many magic using priests do you think Ranald can rustle up at a moments notice? Five per province, maybe? More? How long do you think it'll take the Cult of Ranald to cover all of, say, Reikland?

I am unsure that you realize what Belthani tributaries are. They are man-high rocks that have to be dragged to precise cardinal direction of each waystone.

The Cult of Ranald does not have the capability to acquire the hundreds of man-high rocks, does not have the capability to find all the waystones that need tributaries, and does not have the capability to have priests to spend a week chanting around a rock to get it to serve as a tributary.

Those three journeymen are not covering the entirety of Stirland. They are going to the problem areas. They are practicing triage, trying to get as many areas stable as possible.

Baba Niedzwenka is the one who made the Belthani ritual so much better than the other ones. I genuinely do not think that there is a Ranaldian on the planet who knows Ranaldian rituals as well as Baba Niedzwenka knows spirits.

Boney said:
Haléthan Tributary Ritual, First Draft
Type: Arcane
Arcane Language: Was Jutonian
Difficulty: Moderately Complicated
Description: The ritual calls upon Halétha to partially subsume a standing stone into the Hedge, so that it will draw magical energies out of the air and allow them to come to rest deep within the ground.
Consequences: If failed, local Winds will be riled up, making spellcasting more dangerous and aggravating local spirits.
Ingredients: Dowsing rod, standing stone, lodestone (consumed)
Conditions: The ritual must be cast by someone from the lineage of the Was Jutones, or within the Forest of Shadows.
Casting Time: One week.

Research Result: 68. Slightly increased casting difficulty.
Casting Attempt: 93. Success!

Roots of Stone, Second and Final Draft
Type: Arcane
Arcane Language: Was Jutonian
Difficulty: Moderately Complicated
Description: The ritual calls upon Halétha to partially subsume a standing stone into the Hedge, so that it will draw magical energies out of the air and allow them to come to rest deep within the ground.
Consequences: If failed, local Winds will be riled up, making spellcasting more dangerous and aggravating local spirits.
Ingredients: Dowsing rod, standing stone, lodestone (consumed)
Conditions: The ritual must be cast by someone from the lineage of the Was Jutones, or within the Forest of Shadows.
Casting Time: One week.

---

Dreaming Wood Tributary Ritual, First Draft
Type: Arcane
Arcane Language: Anoqeyån
Difficulty: Moderately Complicated
Description: The ritual makes a standing stone exist simultaneously in reality and the Dreaming Wood, allowing it to draw magical energy out of the forest and sink it into the ground.
Consequences: If failed, plantlife in the area is cut off from the Dreaming Wood. Usually this means they will be outcompeted by other plants, but it can become the residence of any number of beings that may be hostile to the Woods.
Ingredients: A seed from the locally dominant form of plant life.
Conditions: A Dreaming Wood must be present, and the ritual must be cast by at least two people who have spent at least a week from the last month within it.
Casting Time: One week.

Research Result: 46. More casters.
Casting Attempt: 38. Failure.

Research Result: 100. Solid work.
Casting Attempt: 41. Failure.

Research Result: 49. Two results.
Research Result: 47. Shift of language.
Research Result: 37. New ingredient.
Casting Attempt: 67+20 (Gambler). Success!

Liminal Germination, Fourth and Final Draft
Type: Arcane
Arcane Language: Lingua Praestantia
Difficulty: Moderately Complicated
Description: The ritual makes a standing stone exist simultaneously in reality and the Dreaming Wood, allowing it to draw magical energy out of the forest and sink it into the ground.
Consequences: If failed, plantlife in the area is cut off from the Dreaming Wood. Usually this means they will be outcompeted by other plants, but it can become the residence of any number of beings that may be hostile to the Woods.
Ingredients: A seed from the locally dominant form of plant life, a rhyton dedicated to a nature God.
Conditions: A Dreaming Wood must be present, and the ritual must be cast by at least two people who have spent at least a week from the last month within it.
Casting Time: One week.

---

Spirit-Stone Tributary Ritual, First Draft
Type: Arcane
Arcane Language: Scythian
Difficulty: Moderately Complicated
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 attack or attempt to escape from the caster.
Ingredients: Water drawn from the local river basin (consumed).
Conditions: Requires the cooperation of a Melusine.
Casting time: One week.

Research Result: 37. New ingredient.
Casting Attempt: 68. Near Success, +30 on next attempt.

Research Result: 55. Increased casting difficulty.
Casting Attempt: 67. Near Success, +30 on next attempt.

Research Result: 120. Solid work.
Casting Attempt: 129. Success!

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.

Boney said:
The Forest of Laurelorn will be dealt with as part of Nordland for this purpose. You can either go with the Dreaming Wood tributaries and focus on Laurelorn, or go with the Halethan ones and focus on the Forest of Shadows. The purpose at this stage isn't to achieve 100% saturation across the entire province, it's to shore up the Waystone Network where it's needed, to demonstrate the value of Waystones to Elector Counts that are currently varying levels of ignorant to apathetic about them, and to build up a proven track record to help with future negotiations.

fictionfan said:
All of our current tributary options don't actually involve infrastructure though. They are just a ritual guiding winds to the nearest waystones such that future winds will continue following the path of least resistance. An equivalent rune version of that would seem to be a runed pole/banner/flag or something is put in the ground for a month or so until the tributary is established then picked up and planted in a new location.

Boney said that as a response to a question asking if the Dwarf Network uses tributaries. It had been asked after we finished the three tributary rituals. I think it is safe to say that it would be difficult to convince the Dwarf kings to use them

xamaplak · Feb 9, 2024

fictionfan said:
All of our current tributary options don't actually involve infrastructure though. They are just a ritual guiding winds to the nearest waystones such that future winds will continue following the path of least resistance. An equivalent rune version of that would seem to be a runed pole/banner/flag or something is put in the ground for a month or so until the tributary is established then picked up and planted in a new location.

I'd argue that tributaries are infrastructure.

fictionfan · Feb 9, 2024

xamaplak said:
I'd argue that tributaries are infrastructure.

Yes, but not the sort very vulnerable to being destroyed. At least not by random people with hammers anyway.

Alratan · Feb 9, 2024

MrHobbit said:
Belief is power in the aethyr isn't it? The ritual calling upon the Earth Mother obviously worked at some point. Unless it doesn't call upon her at all, but I think that is extremely unlikely. Even if it called upon a spirit that was only related to the Earth Mother.

The Belthani stones mentioned naiads, so their ritual probably called on water spirits just like the ones the Project invented did.

Tobtorp · Feb 9, 2024

Generally I assume that involving Ranald in making tributaries wouldn't work so well because he wouldn't just "message" every one of his priests to do this. Be barely messages us and he likes us. Ranaldians themselves have not enough organization to get a project that size moving.

Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

Herald of Disaster

This isn't even my nerdiest form

This isn't even my nerdiest form

Divided Loyalties Librarian

This isn't even my nerdiest form

Divided Loyalties Librarian

Herald of Disaster

Don’t think of it as dying; just as leaving early

Please sir, may I have some Meows?

WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE @SOUP?

Please sir, may I have some Meows?