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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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Candesce said:
Huh. Just had a thought.

Should we decide to ask Roswita what she's thinking about the entire taxes thing - (this isn't the first time that option's been suggested in this thread so far, is it? Please tell me it's not the first.) - we do have an official channel to do it by and a reasonable reason to be asking in the form of our status as a vassal baroness.

Combined with, say, asking the question by letter rather than showing up in person, she might even answer us.
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The line of thinking is understandable. She needed more money to continue her crusade against all things corrupt and undead. Honestly, asking her wouldn't do much good because the issues do not simply lie with her, but also her council as a whole. They are either apathetic or supportive of Roswita continue expenditure to finish off the nasty bits that is in her land.

If we do want to get involved with her, what we would be doing isn't asking Roswita she is doing this. It would be giving her suggestions and cleaning up some chaff. The former Mathilde rather not do considering her poor relationship with Roswita while the latter she simply got other stuff to do at the moment, such as helping out in K8P.
 
ninjafish said:
Why is being steward specifically tied to leading the Ungumgi?

It's not like we're not part of the court.

Oh well , it was linked to the most boring job, so i guess it's an acceptable loss.
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Stewardship Advisor, Trade Focus
You will be in command of the Undumgi and Karag Nar, and will be first point of contact for Ulrikadrin.

I imagine it was linked with leading the Undumgi, because we would have been the Steward of Karag Nar, seeing how that's one of the meanings of the word.

If I'd have to guess why the others don't give positions of leadership over settlements, it's because the Court Wizard is expected to solve problems by wandering around and the two martial options are about leading troops and crushing problems. The Steward would have been managing a settlement and connecting it to the Old World trade network.
 
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Alliterate said:
It just seemed like you're being wilfully obtuse. If not, my bad.
Steward came, out of the box, with leadership of Karag Nar and 5,000 heavily armed Undumgi built in.
The clue to the joke is in "first we have to be 'leader and chief general of a city' to be like Setra."
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Huh, it's seems odd that the thing we voted for before hand was attached to a specific role.

Aww well if it means not being the steward i suppose its a sacrifice im willing to make.
 
ninjafish said:
Why is being steward specifically tied to leading the Ungumgi?

It's not like we're not part of the court.

Oh well , it was linked to the most boring job, so i guess it's an acceptable loss.
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BoneyM said:
Stewardship Advisor, Trade Focus
You will be in command of the Undumgi and Karag Nar, and will be first point of contact for Ulrikadrin. You would be responsible for protecting the incredibly vital route back to Barak Varr; the side benefit is that if Death Pass is a safe passage, trade caravans to the Far East become merely very risky instead of insanely dangerous, and the Karak would stand to benefit hugely.
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At least from how I read it, being a steward in this case isn't limited to managing the economy and trade routes, but also the Undumgi and Karag Nar in general. This has a lot of potential and people like it since city building games or quests are fun.
 
Thor's Twin said:
Alright, with our position as Court Wizard, we are going to have to deal with a bunch of weird, strange, and altogether bizzare stuff. I predict that all of these things will come from three avenues: Greenskin Shamans, Skaven Grey Seers/technology, and natural things corrupted by Dhar/broken waystones.

It also means that we'll have access to a lot of material to write papers on, which is good because of all that delicious favor.

A couple of initial topics for potential study as a Court Wizard are the strange spiders in the Chiselwards, those trolls that get weird slobbering on warpstone, Skaven technology (most likely with some assistance by Johann), Greenskin Shamanic Rituals, and any other nasty critter that pops their head out.

Hopefully we won't have to deal with Clan Pestilens here, as magical plagues would be a really difficult study in order for Mathilde to be properly prepared to counter them.

And that's excluding our own research regarding the Snakeblood and Heldrake scales. Lots to do!
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And of course, there is always the option/necessity of finding ways to handle more mundane problems more easily with arcane means.
 
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Karak Eight Peaks: Expeditionary Epilogue 4
  • Threadmarks
    • [*] Stay single. Marry for love.
    [*] Court Wizard

    Anton is a sweetheart. You think you could be happy with him, and even if you weren't you'd be sure you'd be at least content. But while you might be willing to settle for that, he shouldn't be. He's a genuinely kind person in a thoroughly unkind world, and while normally that type of person inevitably ends up shattered by said world, Anton has proven time and time again that there's something about him - perhaps his likeability, perhaps his genuineness, perhaps some hidden streak of genius - that has made him able to enforce his will upon the world. The memory you keep coming back to is the Siege of Castle Drakenhof, where Asarnil atop his dragon had obliterated the Cairn Wraiths and tore every fleeing Vargheist from the sky to fall broken onto the trees below. That is the sort of accomplishment Anton is somehow capable of. So when you do arrive back in Blutdorf, the answer to him is simple: ignore the harpies. Marry for love.

    "Easier said than done," he sighs, but you instantly shake your head.

    "Saying would be doing." You look over at the man standing just outside the door. "What's his name?"

    Anton barely glances over. "Ermanrich."

    "Ermanrich!" The man turns and peers into the room. Part of nobility is never having privacy, but good guards would pretend to be deaf until they were called upon. "If Anton told you to throw me out, would you?"

    He looks at you doubtfully. "I would try."

    "There you go. If these petty noble girls try to badger you, have them ejected. Doubt they'd put up more of a fight than I could. Might cause a political fuss, but less so than the headache they'd be if they succeeded."

    You spend the next few days lingering in Blutdorf and trying to build up Anton's self-confidence in his ability to control his fate, and by the time you leave he's at least willing to give it his best. Unfortunately, that's all you have time for - the year is coming to a close and by Nachexen, King Belegar wants his council to be ready to begin work. You've decided to accept the position of Court Wizard, beating out the more traditional option of a Court Runesmith or a Master Engineer, but deciding what that means is almost entirely your own decision.

    First, there are the Journeymanlings. Esbern and Seija will be remaining at least until the spiders are sorted out, and it would be much easier to convince them to stay, and the Amber College to back your request, as a Court Wizard than it would have been as 'Head Ranger' or 'Marshal of the Undumgi'. Panoramia has fairly deep ties to the Halflings already and is likely to be making herself useful with them for years or longer. Maximilian will be learning as much as he can from his new friend in Clan Angrund, and considering his appreciation for Dwarven artifice, he's likely to stick around even after his studies conclude. Johann's deception could give you an in to bring him under your authority, even though he's your equal and may have seniority over you.

    On the other hand, time spent managing junior wizards would be time not spent pursuing your own tasks and goals.

    Which of the Journeymanlings to recruit will be in plan format. Votes for individual Wizards will be considered votes to only hire that Wizard. This is because it would be optimal to have two or four without the trait, or three with it - unless you plan to hire more later.

    [ ] Recruit Esbern and Seija
    [ ] Recruit Panoramia
    [ ] Recruit Maximilian
    [ ] Recruit Johann

    There's also the matter of the EIC. While it is certainly thriving under WIlhelmina's rule, it's worrying how much of Stirland's economy it has been allowed to control.

    [ ] Take an active hand in the EIC
    One action per turn will be spent keeping in touch with the EIC, allowing you to more directly control it and, if you wish, helping it branch out towards Karak Eight Peaks.
    [ ] Leave the EIC alone
    Wilhelmina's the least bad person to fill the power vacuum Roswita has left in Western Stirland.
    [ ] Interfere with the EIC
    As Wilhelmina herself pointed out, you own enough of it that you could easily dominate the EIC. Start bringing it down.

    The long journey back to Karak Eight Peaks also gives you a lot of time to ruminate over the Expedition. Despite not even lasting six months, it was certainly eventful and you've learned a great deal.

    Mathilde has gained +1 Martial, +2 Intrigue, +3 Piety. You can also choose new traits or change existing ones. For Changed Traits, the stat bonus is on top of the existing bonus. The two with the most votes will win. You can have two new traits or two replaced traits or one of each.

    New Trait:
    [ ] Infiltrator: Nobody seems to guard anything well enough to keep you out. +2 Intrigue, +10 bonus to infiltration.
    [ ] Scout: Sometimes the best weapon is knowing where everything is. +2 Intrigue, +20 to infiltrating all but the highest-security areas.
    [ ] Assassin: Combat is easiest when the other person doesn't realize they're in it. +2 Intrigue, +40 bonus against unaware targets.
    [ ] Avatar: You're growing worryingly familiar with being used as a conduit by deities. ???
    [ ] Polyglot: Your time with the Dwarves has revealed that you have an ear for languages, and learn new languages much faster.
    [ ] Marksman: Blackpowder is a wonderful thing. +2 Martial, +10 to attacks with blackpowder weapons.
    [ ] Collegiate: They say managing Wizards is like herding cats. Herding cats isn't actually that difficult. Can manage three other wizards per action spent.
    [ ] Magical Duellist: Anyone unwise enough to try to cast spells you don't want them to will quickly regret it. +2 Learning, +10 bonus to dispelling and inducing miscasts.

    Changed Traits:
    [ ] Wolf Familiar > Winter Wolf Familiar: Turns out Wolf is a late bloomer. Wolf will grow large enough to ride upon.
    [ ] Brave > Daredevil: Runic protection, magical protection, magical healing... why are people scared of combat again? +2 Martial, immune to fear/terror effects.
    [ ] Blooded > Campaigner: You've seen more than your share of battles. +2 Martial, +10 bonus to fighting alongside others.
    [ ] Bureaucrat + Practical > Warrior of Paperwork: Scholarship is just a specific form of paperwork. You can live with it. Combines the two traits, +2 Learning, remove penalty to writing papers yourself.
    [ ] Practical > Collaborator: Though you still prefer fieldwork to paperwork, you've found that as long as someone else is doing the actual writing, you're capable of producing some amazing papers. +2 Learning, +20 bonus to dictating papers.
    [ ] Practical > Hands On: Wait, you can just get other people to do the paperwork? Why didn't I think of this sooner? +1 Diplomacy, +1 Stewardship, +1 Martial, +1 Intrigue, -1 Learning, +10 bonus to insights developed 'in the field' (as opposed to careful laboratory study).
    [ ] Windreader > Windsage: Your magical senses see more than your normal ones. +2 Learning, even more able to see and understand emotion and magical effects in others.
    [ ] Disdain for Sigmar > Polytheist: Your bitterness towards Sigmar has softened with time and distance. You're still not thrilled with him, but as long as his followers are coexisting with those of other Gods, you can deal with it. +1 Piety, removes anti-Sigmarite penalty except when dealing with Sigmarite supremacists and monotheists.


    And finally, the least troubling matter to consider: your Torc of Fire. A nice gift when you first received it, but ever since you learned a spell that outstrips its ability to intimidate your enemies, it's seemed rather surplus to requirements.

    [ ] Return it with your thanks to the Bright College. +2 College Favour.
    [ ] Try to sell it as you pass through Barak Varr. +??gc
    [ ] Donate it to whoever ends up leading the Undumgi.
    [ ] Donate it to the Winter Wolves of Ulrikadrin.
    [ ] Keep it around in case you ever want to study non-Ulgu enchantments.
    [ ] Keep it anyway - you might need to encourage allies at some point.


    - You will have the option to spend actions helping Anton with his love life in coming turns.
    - Without any relevant traits, each Wizard under your authority will soak up half an action a turn to manage. Esbern and Seija together count as one. Other Wizards may also investigate K8P of their own accord, and you will be able to take on Apprentices, recruit Journeymen, lure Magisters and hire Perpetual Apprentices from the Colleges in future turns if you so wish.
    - Which of the Journeymanlings to recruit will be in plan format. Votes for individual Wizards will be considered votes to only hire that Wizard.     This is because it would be optimal to have two or four without the trait, or three with it - unless you plan to hire more later.
    - If there are other traits you think should be possible, let me know and I'll consider adding them to the options.
    - The next turn should be the first turn as a councillor of K8P and the beginning of 2479, and at some point between now and then I'll work on a 'state of the Karak' threadmark to total current population and military forces.
    - Happy 100th update. Thank you all for joining me on this journey.
     
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    • Flash new K8P icon, Boney!
    BoneyM said:
    On the other hand, time spent managing junior wizards would be time not spent pursuing your own tasks and goals.

    [ ] Recruit Esbern and Seija
    [ ] Recruit Panoramia
    [ ] Recruit Maximilian
    [ ] Recruit Johann
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    Inclined to attempt all of these.
    Mathilde knows the power of delegation!

    But especially Max, our scribe, is a must.
     
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    [X] Take an active hand in the EIC

    [X] Avatar: You're growing worryingly familiar with being used as a conduit by deities. ???

    [X] Wolf Familiar > Winter Wolf Familiar: Turns out Wolf is a late bloomer. Wolf will grow large enough to ride upon.

    [X] Return it with your thanks to the Bright College. +2 College Favour.

    Traits are probably not optimal. But wolf amuses me and the Avatar is... interesting.
     
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