Its own category. The cumulative knowledge of the Dragons would definitely be able to fill it, but extremely few of them have bothered to put any of it to paper.
Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest
- Thread starter Boney
- Start date
- Fantasy Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Its own category. The cumulative knowledge of the Dragons would definitely be able to fill it, but extremely few of them have bothered to put any of it to paper.
Hmmm... What would happen if we put a Vampire Skull inside a Liminal Realm made with AV and then let it close with the Skull inside?
Wouldn't it be impossible for them to regenerate there? And if they did, wouldn't it be impossible for them to breach the liminal realm as, even if they know how which is a big if, there shouldn't be enough Wind there to make a hole in reality?
Wouldn't it be impossible for them to regenerate there? And if they did, wouldn't it be impossible for them to breach the liminal realm as, even if they know how which is a big if, there shouldn't be enough Wind there to make a hole in reality?
Maybe that would work. There'd be no way to check. Wouldn't that be fun, locking a Vampire away somewhere that it's impossible to check on. It would mean that if there's any problems with this plan, the first indication you'd have is when a fully recovered Vampire tears a hole in reality.
The Von Carsteins had a fun little trick where if a member of their family misbehaved, they'd lock them away in a stone coffin they were unable to escape from. Starvation and madness caused them to mutate over time until their new form could tear its way free, and that's where vargheists came from. And that was just from a particularly sturdy coffin. Just a fun little story that came to mind for some reason.
- Location
- North Wales
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
There's no reason it'd harm their regeneration. If keeping the skulls in a Winds-free zone was enough to do that, Mathilde wouldn't be flensing the skulls herself and would just store them in her Room of Utter Neutrality instead. And given how often that flensing needs to be done and the slow rate of thickening of the liminal walls, they'd probably have an opportunity to break out from the inside before it fully solidified, if they're able. Given Alkharad's demonstrated magical and physical ability, I'd not count him out, and it's entirely on Mathilde if those evils are freed when she's supposed to be watching them.
It's also possible that Liminal realms are only semi-stable rather than fully stable, or that they need an open connection with reality to remain such. We don't have enough data. Maybe they form an unbreakable cyst. Maybe they just empty out their contents somewhere after they're sealed for a while. Maybe most are stable, but something about the process using Vitae to make one is different - how would we know?
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- Location
- Outside the Box
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Here's my nonsense from when this topic came up last time. I have to say, I'm really happy to see more support for the "Liminal-Vargheist" lobby. I know we're a relatively new group, but following in the steps of the Necromancy lobby, I think we've got a cause truly worth creating horrifying abominations against sanity and nature!
- Location
- Florida
Vampires with the power to tear through the fabric of reality with their claws sounds like a great DLC/supplement book/whatever.
And we just hope it tears it's way out on our side. Otherwise you have a starving turbo vampire tear it's way out into chaos and that sounds like whatever eventually finds it's way back to the material world would be the worst of all worlds.
King Arthur
The Once and Future King
Well, good to know that we've figured out how to invent super Cthulu.
- Location
- somewhere over there.
- Pronouns
- They/It
I'd expect that 99% of the time they wouldn't make it back, or would make it back to the wrong reality and end up fistfighting a tyranid. But that 1% sure would be a problem.
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chocolote12
A Penguin Flailing Against The Keyboard Of Life.
It sounds bad because we're assuming that it'd be our problem. But, you know, we don't have to do it in our own tower, if you get where I'm going with this.
Infiltrating someone's castle and seeding their bedroom with Liminal Vargheists sounds like a fascinating and very deniable experiment. Who would possibly suspect us?
Infiltrating someone's castle and seeding their bedroom with Liminal Vargheists sounds like a fascinating and very deniable experiment. Who would possibly suspect us?
Parabola
Divided Loyalties Librarian
- Location
- The Destination of Fate
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I think last two times 'put a vampire skull in an AV-made liminal realm' came up (and for some reason this isn't even the second time), I suggested that the result would be a super Daemon-vampire or Chaos-worshiping vampire.
I still think that.
I still think that.
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- Pronouns
- He
Just imagine the paper that could be written about it.
No?
nothing about their regeneration requires them to be in reality. just not in the warp.
also vampires are all wizards, tearing a hole in the liminal barrier is almost trivial for any spell caster with power and the vampires have this big thing made of power, glowy, kinda dhary, needs sekhem to lubricate it, I think they call it a soul.
doing it safely isn't trivial, but that is mostly because if you are in reality doing that can only send you into the warp.
but if you are between the warp and reality, it's a coin toss on whether doing so would send you to the warp or reality. the distance to both is the same after all.
and this is ignoring the fact that vampires change themselves to fit the challenge they are presented with automatically when blood deprived. it's where vargheists come from iirc. they are trapped in a thing they can't escape with their current strength and starving, so they warp and break until that stops being true.
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- Pronouns
- He/His/etc
Who replaced our thread commenters with skaven engineers?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That druchii over there in Naggaroth, go get him, yes-yes!
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- Location
- Australia
You know put like that, that's A LOT of random cool esoterica we've got, and that makes me wonder about Elspeth. She's older and more powerful, and she's downright famous for gathering knowledge and relics. If Mathilde got all that in just 30 years of being a wizard, imagine all the magical goodies Elspeth has locked in her tower.
And imagine what that implies for her romance book collection.
NuclearConsensus
Herald of the Thorned One
- Location
- the Philippines
Can't be Skaven Engineers, there hasn't been a single suggestion to chuck the skull in a liminal realm with some warpstone for company.
Mopman43
Mountain-Hermit of Nitpeak
- Location
- Vermont
Not quite- you see, her secret bookcase is actually full of satirical writings about the ruling powers and nobility.
(In the interest of clarity, I feel the need to point out that the above is my personal unhinged conspiracy theory, not something that is likely to actually be canon)
NexusEye
Aspiring God
- Pronouns
- She/Her
There's also the problem that liminal realms seal slowly. If you just toss a vampire skull inside and wait for the aperture to heal you might end up with a regenerated vampire inside an incompletely sealed liminal realm they could easily tear their way out of the same way Mathilde enlarged the hole with her soul. You could flense the vampire skull to prevent them from regenerating but going in and out of the liminal realm prevents the aperture from healing so that's counterproductive. You would essentially have to wait until the hole is just large enough to fit a vampire skull, throw it in, and hope that it seals the rest of the way before the vampire fully regenerates.
chocolote12
A Penguin Flailing Against The Keyboard Of Life.
We can put stuff other than the skull inside the realm, and indeed would be encouraged to.
After all, you need a good coffin to get a Vargheist 1.0. If you want to make them even worse, it's smart to start with what made them bad at first.
- Pronouns
- He/His/etc
Presumably a warpstone coffin graven with reinforcing runes. And fill the entire space with holy water.
Turn 43 Social - 2491 - Part 2
There is an endless realm of might-have-beens for a Mandred of different dispositions, but in this one there's one choice that rises above the others for a charming and boisterous boy with no head for academia - the Bright Order and the study of Pyromantic Thaumaturgy. His personality doesn't quite resonate with Aqshy, but the Brights are quite unique in thinking that being too aligned with their Wind is actually a detriment to becoming a good Wizard. Being able to solve all your problems with fire and being inclined to thinking that fire is a good solution to any problem can be a bad combination. There's a reason they're so into symbology based on chains and locks.
You wait for Lord Magister Thyrus Gormann to wrap up his murmured conversation with Prior Albwin, then take him aside to make your conditions known, because while being a walking artillery piece might be a useful skill for just about anyone, the books you acquired from the Elementalists revealed another take on Aqshy that would be particularly suited for a future ruler.
"Have you heard of the Indic paradigm of Aqshy?" you ask him.
He frowns in confusion, then gives you a questioning look. "I have," he says, his tone cautious.
"That simplifies matters. The library at Karak Eight Peaks recently acquired some translated Indic texts on Aqshy. The dominant paradigm of the Bright Order is very well suited for the demands of the Empire, but I feel that a Bright Wizard that is also to be the leader of a province would benefit from a curriculum that incorporates the properties of leadership and inspiration that the Indic paradigm emphasizes, if the knowledge of such could reasonably be acquired."
"I see." He takes a moment to consider that, and then smiles. "Is this a condition of the Grey Order's support?"
That's a bit blunter than you'd prefer. "Making a commitment to at least investigate the possibility would secure the Grey Order's support."
"Then who am I to deny the wise counsel of the Grey Guardians?" He sounds amused. "I will see to it that Mandred's education will incorporate suitable elements from Indic practice."
That's more of a commitment than you'd expected. "Then the Grey Order will be happy to see Mandred's education entrusted to the Bright Order."
With the Bright Order pulling ahead, Gehenna and Professer Vogt take turns trying to talk Master Abjurer Betlinde around, but neither of their arguments seem to have found any purchase in her. Both factions bow out gracefully once it becomes clear that there's no further gains to be made, as at the end of the day nobody's really against Mandred going to an Order that seems a good match for him.
"We have consensus," Dragomas announces after everyone returns to the table. "As the Counselor of Matters Magical, I will recommend that the Emperor's son should join the Bright Order. Remember to keep the matter quiet for now - there'll be a Grand Conclave later in the year where the Cults will be informed, and the public announcement will come soon after that."
With that the meeting breaks up, and everyone returns to their respective duties. Though you're happy with the result, it still leaves you feeling a bit off-balance. You've seen history being made a number of times now, and it happening in quiet little meetings always seems somehow wrong to you.
---
Gretel's Princessipality, being ruled by someone quite openly consorting with the Wind of Death, is already a place that every Witch and Vampire Hunter that passes through the Border Princes runs a cautious eye over. Most are assuaged by the papers proclaiming her a Journeywoman in good standing of the Amethyst Order, which seems rather insufficient to you, and a surprisingly small contingent go so far as to send word to said Order to have that status confirmed. But a recent visitor seems to have something more on her mind, as the open suspicion she's been showing is at odds with the papers she barely glanced at. When she headed back to Barak Varr and sent word not to Altdorf to confirm Gretel's identity, but to somewhere in Tilea, it became clear to both Gretel and her backers in Barak Varr that something more was going on.
Gretel has several options for dealing with the matter, not least of which would be simply waiting for the Hunter to make a move and then trusting in her own skills and that of the Besiegers - all far beyond what anyone might reasonably expect to encounter in the Border Princes - to carry the day. The Colleges do try to seek an arrangement of mutual benefit and support with the Hunters, but no Wizard is ever required to give their life to maintain that. An overzealous Hunter being righteously slain would not even be seen as entirely negative, as some elements of the various Hunter groups benefit from periodic reminders of exactly who they should and should not be hunting. But a much more direct and peaceful way to put an end to whatever is happening is to drop a much larger roadblock in the way of the overzealous Hunter, such as a Lady Magister of the Grey Order who is also a minor noble.
But being a Lady Magister of the Grey Order means you needed to do your due diligence, so before you stuck your oar in, you had a quiet word with the woman herself. "Are you sure there isn't anything that would have given them legitimate reason to dig deeper," you had asked her. "Keep in mind, this is me asking. I'm not going to overreact to the small stuff, and I'm your best hope if there's any big stuff."
She'd shaken her head. "There are Morrite fundamentalists that consider us to be heretics, but the Fellowship are usually the ones on the receiving end of those accusations, not making them. There might be individuals in the Fellowship that could go after me for what they perceive as a flouting of the lesser tenets of the Cult, but if they're calling back to Tilea that can't be it."
"You're sure you haven't edged up to the line anywhere? You never were shy about your taste for the finer things."
She'd nodded, not taken aback in the slightest. "I get what you're saying, and yes, I'll take the silk sheets when they finally figure out how to make them. But I'm not stupid enough to go rushing off into damnation for Beastman velvet or whatever. I plan to still be enjoying what I enjoy in twenty years."
Everything about what she said had rung true to you, so you'd taken up the cause. It's not so much that you have that much faith in the strength of her character as you do in her intelligence - if she did want to get away with something heinous, doing so while sandwiched between and in regular dealings with Barak Varr and Ulrikadrin would not be the smartest way to go about things, nor would be inviting a Lady Magister of the Grey Order to pay personal attention to the matter.
So now you find yourself in Barak Varr, looking into the movements of this Hunter and conferring with the local representatives of the Order of Guardians and Order of the Stone Wall to learn more about her. Normally it would be nigh impossible to get information on one Hunter from a group of others, who look out for each other as a matter of course, but between your reputation and the fact that she seems like she's out to step on some Dwarven toes, they're willing to share at least the publicly available information. The Hunter in question is Alonza Trovatella of the Fellowship of the Shroud, which would theoretically make her a Vampire Hunter, but it seems she also sidelines as a Witch Hunter in the Border Princes. It's not unknown for a Vampire Hunter to stamp out a minor threat that isn't their specialty should they stumble across it, but the numbers she has seemingly discovered is more than random chance should have led her to.
Your first suspicion is that either she or the person she takes her orders from in the Fellowship has some sort of prejudice against magic users in general and is using accusations of witchcraft to cover up a predilection for lynchings, but apparently the majority of those she's found have been taken to Altdorf in chains. Going to that trouble so often would be remarkable for a Tilean Witch Hunter, and it's outright perplexing for a Tilean Vampire Hunter. You send a request for information to Altdorf by piggybacking on the daily pigeon post, usually used to carry news of price variations and ship arrivals, and receive a reply back the next day carried by someone's familiar - some sort of bird of prey that didn't stick around long enough for you to identify it. Alonza's prisoners have been reaching Altdorf, and a few have been Hedge Wizards and Magickers that were recruited into the Colleges, and one was even a fledgling Black Magister that was executed. But most were wandering Journeymen or Perpetuals, and while some had legitimately misstepped and taking them back to Altdorf was justifiable, others had very flimsy justifications given for their imprisonment and transportation. Nothing was thought of it at the time because a Hunter that takes Wizards in alive is considered something to be celebrated in the Colleges, and the pattern only emerges when you cross-reference the experiences of all eight Colleges. But now that you've drawn official attention to the matter, the Colleges are distinctly unamused with this Vampire Hunter that seems to have taken it on herself to play silly buggers with Wizards in the Border Princes.
And it is just the Border Princes. Although Alonza Trovatella ranges throughout the southern realms, she only plays these games in the Border Princes.
Sharing what you've learned with Barak Varr's chancellery gets you their full cooperation in the matter - at least, once you've talked them down from their initial impulse to clap her in chains and send her back to Monte Negro with a very stern demand for an explanation - and you begin to weave a trap.
---
For all that the Border Princes are always shifting, it is very rare that anything actually changes. Petty fiefdoms sprout up everywhere like mushrooms after rain and are just as easily eaten or trampled, and then the cycle starts anew. Those that claim a piece of the area rarely leave a mark, and even more rarely investigate the marks left by those before them. When ruins can be found on every hill and in every valley, why investigate what would almost always turn out to be the ruined dream of some petty nobody from a century ago?
This is how secrets stay buried in a land that sees the comings and goings of so many people seeking their fortune.
But not all of them are sufficiently blind. To those with the senses to see it, the marks left by the past that refuses to stay dead glow like fire and gleam like gold. For the good of all, these people must not be allowed to make a home near to that which must lay undisturbed. Alonza Trovatella does what she can to ensure that those whose only crime is to be too aware do not suffer more than they have to, but she will do what must be done.
As soon as confirmation of her orders arrives, she musters up the most able and disciplined of the available mercenaries and secures a ride up the Howling River. As long as she had a sufficient show of force to keep this 'Gretel Maurer' from doing anything foolish, there shouldn't be any problems with uprooting her. Based on her publication history she must have been something like the apprentice to a physician before she came upon her magic - possibly an animal doctor of some sort, considering how she's been developing the land she currently controls - and she theorized that that spoke to a deep conflict with her Wind and her College. Though the Morrites that considered medicine to be a sin against Morr were in the minority, the tension that arises from that indicates to her that it would be hard to reconcile a life dedicated to prolonging with wielding the energy of endings.
That explains her long Journey, and her decision to try to create something permanent in the Border Princes. Such a conflict would prevent her from making much of herself in the order of Death Wizards, but what skills she does have would be enough to carve out something for herself here, where even a scrap of magical ability would give her a significant advantage. She almost regrets the necessity of needing to drag the Wizard back to the Land of the Hammer and destroying the new life she's building for herself, but she could always just come back and start from scratch somewhere less objectionable. It is a much better fate than what would await her, and countless others, should she stumble upon the neighbour she has unwittingly chosen.
And if something went wrong, she would wing it. Vampire Hunters who lived long enough to make a career of it tended to be very good at winging it.
---
It all went off without a hitch. A Vampire Hunter would normally be a tricky target to set a trap for, but Alonza Trovatella was used to trusting the Dwarves of Barak Varr. They would never act against the interests of a Vampire Hunter on legitimate business, and it seems this one had grown used to thinking of whatever she was doing as legitimate business. So she set off from Barak Varr on a river monitor with her posse, not realizing that everyone around her was working for you.
She made her challenge at the gates of Vitrolle and was let in, sharp eyes scanning what looked like a village that would only be considered above average in size in the Border Princes. She didn't seem to realize that one of the larger buildings was a bunkhouse and one of the barns was a stable, possibly because that was the sort of trickery she had no reason to have honed her skills against in the past. Vitrolle was built to not look like the garrison it secretly was, and most of the men under Gretel's command were out patrolling the area and watching over the cattle.
Letting Alonza into her hall with all of her mercenaries was a carefully-calculated display of weakness - making that sort of allowance, instead of insisting that some or all of her group remain outside, would normally be an acknowledgement that if they were to resort to violence, they could do whatever they wanted to do whether they started right next to Gretel or from outside the palisade. The Besiegers on guard here are deliberately dressed down, their normal heavy armour and pavises nowhere to be seen. That is why Alonza does not realize that the people guarding this settlement are some of the most formidable ranged troops that money can buy on this continent - or that the mercenaries that she has 'hired' are also Besiegers.
Except, of course, the one that is you. You'd used Doppelganger to replace one of the mercenaries as the rest disembarked from the river monitor.
"Journeywoman Gretel Maurer," Alonza intones in only lightly-accented Reikspiel, "I have heard conflicting reports of you wielding magics outside of the restrictions laid down by Teclis of Ulthuan. You are required to submit yourself for trial."
"The title is 'Doyenne', Hunter," Gretel replies. Her apparent lack of weapons is the only reason why her height doesn't let her dominate the room, but you know that she could have a scythe of pure Shyish in her hands within seconds.
"Neither of our peoples recognize the titles of these lands, and they do not free you of the laws of your Order and of the civilized realms. This does not need to be violent, but I am prepared to make it such if you force me."
Gretel runs her eyes over the mercenaries lined up behind the Vampire Hunter, stopping as they reach you. You don't currently look like you, but you are glowing softly with Ulgu due to the Doppelganger spell making you look like one of the mercenaries. There are ways to prevent that, but you'd deliberately failed to utilize them so that Gretel would be able to spot you. "You'd be surprised how recognized my titles are. It would be a good idea to drop this, Hunter. I'm no Hedge Witch to be burned on a whim."
Alonza is unmoved. "If you surrender yourself into my custody, I swear by the Lord of Death that I will deliver you safe and intact to Altdorf to be judged by your own. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee your safety." Interesting. She's not willing to drop this, but she's hesitant to resort to violence in the face of Gretel's clear confidence. She believes herself to be acting with righteousness, but really doesn't want to escalate to outright violence.
You listen with half an ear as the two continue to trade barbs and threats as you examine the facts. You can't see any reason why the Fellowship of the Shroud would want Gretel interfered with in this way. If they suspected her of Necromancy or of being in the service of a Vampire, they'd either kill her or seek to bring her back to Monte Negro for scrutiny. Was Alonza Trovatella not really from the Fellowship? No, you had confirmed her identity from too many incorruptible quarters for that to be the case. A double agent, then, in service to some other power? That doesn't fit, her communications had definitely been going to and coming from Monte Negro, and there's only one thing of note in Monte Negro - the castle that is the Fellowship of the Shroud's headquarters in the southern realms. Well, technically two things if you include the original priory of the Priory of the Spear. Official history has them being a precursor of the Fellowship, but the reality of the Fellowship's founding was not quite as neat as official history might portray, with some refusing to abandon their original patron of Myrmidia in favour of Morr...
And, you recall, refusing to abandon their original mission: to thwart the Vampire Prophecies as told by W'soran and recorded in the Scrolls of Zandri. Primarily by hunting Vampires of Nehekharan descent, but one of the reasons that the Priory needed a rebranding was that they were rather infamously indiscriminate in slaying anyone that they felt might have a sliver of Nehekhara's magical lore that could ever be twisted to further the designs of Nagash.
Why would the Priory be going to so much trouble to uproot Wizards in the Border Princes, rather than slaying them? What could they do if left to their own devices that would worry an organization terrified of the distribution of Nehekharan lore? There must be something out here that a Wizard might find that most others wouldn't, something relating to Nehekhara. Probably something left over from when the borders of Nehekhara were pushed north through the Border Princes and into the Reik basin. This being Nehekhara, land of the Tomb Kings, one might feel safe in presuming that the remnant would be some manner of tomb.
"Right," you say, interrupting Alonza and Gretel as you step forward from the mercenaries, Doppelganger dissipating in a cloud of Ulgu, "I think I've allowed this to go on for long enough."
Alonza turns, hands going for weapons and then freezing as she takes you in. You may not cut a very intimidating figure, but the robes of a Grey Wizard, bearing the trimming of a Lord Magister, with a Witch Hunter's hat on your head and a gromril sword in your hand all combine to send a very clear message even to those who don't know exactly who that combination adds up to. Her eyes flick to the mercenaries, probably wondering if she can still win the day if she orders them to attack and they obey, but to her credit she doesn't try it. If she's never heard of you, she's likely guessing you're a Lord Magister Vigilant, and messing with one of those is a very different prospect to messing with a Journeywoman. But just to completely remove temptation, you nod to the leader of the mercenaries and they obediently file out of the room. Alonza very carefully returns to a neutral stance. "Lady Magister. I am Vampire Hunter Alonza Trovatella of the Fellowship-
"No," you interrupt. "Not right now, you aren't."
She studies you carefully for a long moment. "I am Beguine Alonza Trovatella of the Priory of the Spear."
"You are. And you don't like Wizards living in the wrong parts of the Border Princes. That would have been a great way to open a conversation, had the Priory sent an envoy to Altdorf instead of you to here."
"There are very legitimate concerns-"
"There are," you interrupt again. "A lot of them. Barak Varr has concerns about securing the western end of Mad Dog Pass. Karaz-a-Karak has concerns about the restoration of the Watchtower-Clans. Karak Eight Peaks has concerns about the continued security of the southeastern Border Princes, as their only connection to civilization runs through it. The Winter Wolves of Ulrikadrin have concerns about the security of their northern border. The Amethyst Order has concerns with their point of contact to the people busy hunting vampires in the area. The Orders collectively have a concern with the games you're playing with Wizards in the area. And I have concerns regarding a Vampire Hunter harassing my former ward." You give her a moment to digest the sheer amount of toes she's managed to step on here, and to her credit, very little of it shows on her face. That reinforces your belief that she's acting under orders here - if this was a personal side-project, then that was a life-ruining amount of trouble that would be about to come down on her head. "Gretel, can we have the room?"
"Sure thing," she says cheerfully, and sees herself out.
"So," you say, "is this going to turn into something that your boss, my boss, and our bosses' bosses are going to be hearing about in the morning? Or are you going to admit what you're actually doing so that we can back away from the brink?" Her eyes flick over you several times as she considers that. Part of her is still trying to decide if she can murder her way out of this. Fortunately - for her - she's not acting on it. There are ways for Vampire Hunters to see through the Ulgu trickery that many Vampires are versed in, but they take preparations that she wouldn't have taken for a potential fight with an Amethyst Journeywoman, so she has no way to know whether the Wizard she's looking at is actually in front of her. And definitely no way to know that if she does take a swing at you, a Rider in Red is going to take her head off. "You can tell me what's hiding nearby or I can be back next week with a score of student archaeologists to find out myself. We'll take whatever's in there back to Altdorf and if it hasn't got pointy teeth we'll put it in a museum."
That gets through to her, probably because that's definitely something Altdorf would actually do. She takes a deep breath and speaks. "We have fragmented records of someone identified only as the 'Vulture Lord' who attempted to conquer the Old World. There are some that theorize that this could be a Nehekharan perspective of the Great Necromancer's invasion of the Old World during the time of Sigmar. The records mention a lieutenant of his, the 'Death Scarab', who is buried in this area. Considering the damage done to the world by the known Vampire progenitors, we see it as our duty to prevent anyone from discovering and inadvertently resurrecting another."
Your first instinct is to continue to criticize the policy of the Priory, but you quash it and give it careful thought. Chances are very slim that that's actually a lieutenant of Nagash, but considering the trouble the currently extant ones have caused and are still causing, it's still probably for the best that it's kept in the ground. And even if it is just a normal Tomb King in there, better in the ground than getting dug up and sent off to an Altdorf museum to get the city sacked by them again. You also swallow a comment that this sort of thing would be easier if the Priory had just reached out to Gretel - everyone involved in getting her set up here have been very careful to keep from revealing that she's anything but just another small fish that has found a tiny pond to rule, so of course the Priory would treat her accordingly. If anything it speaks well of them that they'll spend weeks each time transporting a troubling Wizard to Altdorf.
"Very well," you say at last. "The final decision will be above my pay grade, but considering the circumstances I feel pretty confident in saying that the College would be willing to work with the Priory on keeping this potential horror undisturbed. Vashanesh, Melkhior, and Walach planted their accursed bloodlines on our soil, we have no desire to add another to the list." With a thought, Branulhune vanishes. "Gretel's people will keep everyone else from leaving the roads until an agreement is reached about what to do with the site, and will raise the alarm if anyone shows an interest in it." You reach out your now-empty hand for her to shake.
Alonza frowns. "Just like that?"
"Just like that," you reply with a smile. "When you work in the dark, sometimes you have to deal with bumping into someone else doing the same thing. Defaulting to sticking knives in them just ends up with everyone full of knives."
She cautiously reaches out to shake your hand, and you smile at the odd texture of a half-dozen different rings on her fingers, made of the most common substances that Vampires disagree with. It's almost a shame that this is so easily reparable. If the Priory was to be a permanent enemy, dropping a few quotes from your own copy of the Vampire Prophecies would have them tearing themselves apart with paranoia.
---
"There's a Nehekharan tomb in the area," you say to Gretel later. "The Priory are worried that there's even worse than normal sleeping in it, and while it's apparently well-hidden - it'd have to be to still be unlooted after all this time - they believe College-trained Magesight would be able to spot it. So whenever a Wizard tries to settle themselves near it, and presumably near anything else around the Border Princes they're worried about, they drag them off to Altdorf and by the time things are settled someone else would have taken over here. Our people will talk to their people and your Order will be in touch when a more cooperative plan is worked out. Until then, make sure travelers stick to the roads."
Gretel nods. "You've encountered this person before?"
"The Vampire Hunter? I'd never heard of her before all this."
"Her organization, then?"
"Never come across them." You think for a moment. "Well, I think they might have had someone at a conference I went to."
"How did you know who she was and what she wanted, then?"
"I thought about it and figured it out."
"When?"
"When you and her were talking."
"You were, what, invisible in the hall the first time she-"
"No, just now." Gretel's look is searching, and you can feel your smile growing smugger as she fails to spot any sign of a lie. If there's one thing that your experiences with Dwarves and Elves have taught you, it's the power of accumulated experience, and how easy it is for those who lack it to underestimate it.
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- Location
- Somewhere on Earth
…he's probably already read the books, hasn't he? Mathilde did send a note to the Brights that her library had them, and a specialist in battle magic and enchantment sounds like the sort of person with a well rounded respect for the Wind. Mathilde might have just asked him to do exactly what he was already planning on.
- Location
- California, USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
OH WE'RE SO BACK
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