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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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Adrian XXIV said:
In DL, Gotrek was "much better at dying" than his Canon Counterpart, given that he died in Karak Dum Expedition (despite Boney making 5 "anti-dying" saves for him)
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Yeah but see that's the issue, he had the opposite problem, since he wasn't a slayer.

Gotrek in all universes clearly has a curse on him where he's either bad at dying, or bad at staying alive, depending entirely on which is the opposite of what he wants in that moment.
 
Wiggy said:
Truly, patrons, with their grubby oily hands, and habit of taking books out of their perfect preservation shelves are the truest bane of a library. How dare they sully the books.
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You joke but library patrons taking out and opening books is legitimately a major source of wear and tear on said books. Many libraries specializing in very old historically significant books will only let them be opened by trained historians who know exactly how to carefully open them and turn the pages without causing undue stress on the book and wear latex gloves so the oil and skin flakes from their hands don't contaminate it. There are ancient scrolls that we've only been able to read recently because they're so old trying to unroll them would destroy them and it took X-raying them to identify the patterns of ink helically contained within and then digitally unrolling those patterns to figure out what they would look like if you could unroll them physically to actually read the contents.
 
NexusEye said:
Many libraries specializing in very old historically significant books will only let them be opened by trained historians who know exactly how to carefully open them and turn the pages without causing undue stress on the book and wear latex gloves so the oil and skin flakes from their hands don't contaminate it.
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Interestingly, there's a bit of a debate going on in library circles at the moment regarding gloves and old books. Some libraries force their patrons to wear gloves to prevent oils and such from damaging the paper, but others have discovered that wearing gloves reduces the users manual dexterity and results in more creases, folds, and rips in the paper.* Because of this, some libraries have stopped enforcing gloves when handling old documents.

Of course, as you said, some documents are so old and fragile that patrons can't touch them at all, so the gloves vs skin debate doesn't apply to those.

* I've actually seen that happen myself with a first edition of the Communist Manifesto. The tour guide was flipping the pages of it and a corner got folded in on itself.
 
Nerdasaurus Rex said:
* I've actually seen that happen myself with a first edition of the Communist Manifesto. The tour guide was flipping the pages of it and a corner got folded in on itself.
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That seems more like an issue caused by flipping through the pages rather than carefully and slowly turning the pages one by one with the utmost care but I get what you're saying about gloves and manual dexterity, some EOD technicians don't wear the gloves on their blast suits because it interferes with their dexterity when defusing a bomb and if it's a big bomb you're probably dead even with a blast suit so you should do everything to maximize your chances of defusing it and if it's a small bomb even if the blast suit saves your life you're probably still going to lose the use of your hands regardless because they'll be right next to or even inside the bomb when it explodes and there's only so much you can armor them without the gloves being so thick they make your hands completely useless meaning the gloves of blast suits have much thinner protection than the rest of the body.
 
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Shadow Schemes available to "Silver Peaks's Sentinels" in TWW: New
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    • Shadow Schemes aviable to "Silver Peaks's Sentinels" in TWW:

    Side-Note: Like it's the case with Clan Eshin's Schemes, any character used in a Scheme is unaviable for certain amount of turns

    Unique to Dawongr Mathilde Webber :

    - Recall Duckling
    -- allows to recruit one of eight Empire Wizards (each with different Lore of Magic)
    -- these Wizards are only ones that can access "Magic" Shadow Schemes (other than Dawongr Mathilde Webber herself)

    "I don't have any biological children, but this group of Wizards are nearest thing to such." ~ Dawongr Mathilde Webber, about her Ducklings

    - Suspiciously-Specific Denial
    - allows to briefly hire Eshin-Friend the Skaven Assassin to attack singular Hero or Settlement of hostile faction
    - defending on target, this action works either as "Wound" or "Assault Garrison"
    - this action has no chance of failure and can't be detected.

    "Every day, Skaven Assassins perform many actions of assassination and/or sabotage against enemies of Clan Eshin. This time, actions of one of them weren't directed by orders of his superiors, but he was careful in his job. Nobody will ever find this out. May he kill Mathilde Webber last." ~ The Advisor

    -     Rally Silver Peaks's Militia
    - causes unique army lead by "Thane of Clan Huzkul" to appear on the map.
    - This army consists of the following units: Thane of Clan Huzkul, Undumgi Captain, Undumgi Spearmen, Undumgi Spearmen (Shields), Clan Huzkul's Swordwarfs, Undumgi Crossbowmen, Undumgi Handgunners, Clan Huzkul's Archers, Clan Huzkul's Sappers, Knights of The Winter Wolf, The We's Hunting Spiders, Cannons, Bolt Throwers.

    "We bled and died to retake Karak Eight Peaks from forces of Grobi and Thaggoraki, despite not being of Clan Angrund. Now, It's time when Clan Angrund needs our help again and I vow that if I ever abandon my duty to King Belegar and Silver Peaks, I will personally write my own name to Damnaz Kron. Dawi of Clan Huzkul! Undumgi! To the Arms!" ~ Thane Dreng of Clan Huzkul, at sight of Waaagh! Birdmuncha

    - The Rite of Way
    - provides Strider & Vanguard Deployment to all units of Target Army
    - shortens amount of time that reinforcing armies need to arrive on battlefield. This value depends on Dawongr Mathilde Webber's level


    "Magic" Shadow Schemes (can only be done by Ducklings and Dawongr Mathilde Webber):

    - Gather Winds of Magic from Waystone
    - increases amount of Winds of Magic aviable to target army
    - amount of increase depends on level of character used for this action


    - Summon The We's Hunting Pack
    - causes 4 The We's Hunting Spiders units to be "recruited" by target army
    - target army needs to have free slots
    - these units's experience and rank depend on level of character used for this action


    - Create Magic Items
    - created bunch of random The Dwarfs & The Empire's Magic Items
    - amount and quality/rarity of these Items depend on level of character used for this action
    - The Dwarfs's Magic Items can be only used by Dwarfs and Clan Huzkul units, and The Empire's Magic Items can only be used by The Undumgi units

    "Martial" Shadow Schemes (can only be done by Undumgi Captains and Dawongr Mathilde Webber):

    - Sabotage Supply Line
    - causes all units of Target Hostile Army to have severely reduced amount of ammunition during next engagement, due to destroyed ammo supplies
    - amount of destroyed ammunition depends on level of character used for this action
    - this action has no chance of failure

    - Fog of War
    - next battle of Target Friendly Army automatically counts as "successful ambush"
    - if engaged Hostile Army has any reinforcing armies, this Scheme delays their arrival
    - amount of time that reinforcing Hostile Army is delayed, depends on level of character used for this scheme

    - Reroute Traders
    - Increases income from trading resources with other Factions
    - amount of additional income depends on level of character used for this action

    P.S. This can be treated as Semi-WIP, due to fact that Schemes above are just ones that I managed to invent "at this moment"
     
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    • Ok so
    Nexuses (Nexii? Is the plural the same thing as the singular, like how the word "sheep" is both singular and plural?) are great big concentrations of magical energy; they're either fed by the many, many Waystones surrounding them or the Waystones regulate the incoming magical flow and send it along to the Vortex, I'm pretty sure it's the second option. Some nexusii are in the control of Chaos-aligned factions or Orcs, which is double-plus ungood.
    Waystones are basically a bunch of valves that redirect and regulate magic flow. The more waystones there are, the more robust the network is. The more robust the network is, the less likely it is for Daemons to kill everyone ever, in all times and places.
    Tributaries do... something??? They support the Waystones somehow but I can't really recall how? I think they serve to redirect the magical flow without being obvious about it, or maybe they... extend the network somehow, by gradually increasing the "area covered" so to speak?

    this stuff is way too complicated for my tiny pea brain to keep track of, can we go back to being a wandering state employee who solves big crises like every other week?
     
    AmberSlime said:
    Ok so
    Nexuses (Nexii? Is the plural the same thing as the singular, like how the word "sheep" is both singular and plural?) are great big concentrations of magical energy; they're either fed by the many, many Waystones surrounding them or the Waystones regulate the incoming magical flow and send it along to the Vortex, I'm pretty sure it's the second option. Some nexusii are in the control of Chaos-aligned factions or Orcs, which is double-plus ungood.
    Waystones are basically a bunch of valves that redirect and regulate magic flow. The more waystones there are, the more robust the network is. The more robust the network is, the less likely it is for Daemons to kill everyone ever, in all times and places.
    Tributaries do... something??? They support the Waystones somehow but I can't really recall how? I think they serve to redirect the magical flow without being obvious about it, or maybe they... extend the network somehow, by gradually increasing the "area covered" so to speak?

    this stuff is way too complicated for my tiny pea brain to keep track of, can we go back to being a wandering state employee who solves big crises like every other week?
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    Tributaries drain small amounts of magic, much less than Waystones, but they're also much easier to make and can be built in support of Waystones.

    Tributaries draw in magic and feed Waystones, Waystones draw in more magic, take in Tributaries, and feed other Waystones down a chain or into Nexuses. Nexuses take in magic from multiple Waystones and feed into the next Nexus down the line, until it reaches the Vortex.
     
    NexusEye said:
    Technically from an accounting perspective all he's done is change one form of wealth into another form of wealth but that wealth now has zero liquidity, it can't be sold without betraying the principles the library was founded upon, to preserve all forms of knowledge for literal ages. The real reason it isn't a pure money sink isn't merely the reputation of being a center of knowledge, it's that those books can be read and the knowledge within them be put to use which is the reason pretty much all books are valuable, almost anyone can go in and gain the same skill bonus Mathilde gets from her access to the books for non-Divine and non-Magical topics and you can even get access to those too if you have the proper clearance. That's the library's true practical value.
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    It's not just stat boosters. While that's how it translates into quest mechanics, in-universe it would be the value of having all of the important information stored in those books freely available to everyone for as long as the library is accessible and intact. While not as readily valuable and applicable as the bulk of guild secrets tend to be, it's still extensive knowledge on a huge variety of subjects for anyone willing to learn.

    That means that a precocious kid who wants to learn about foreign countries can readily do so and grow up to become a diplomat or merchant for the Karak. It means a diplomat or steward trying to figure out why, say, Stirlanders are Like That can go and look up some books to read explaining exactly why they are Like That. It means that any academic or wizard trying to learn more about the We can go directly to the source in a comfortable environment where there's a We already predisposed to talking to academics and conversing with non-We about various subjects. It means a young adult interested in alchemy but lacking the immediate impetus to go join one of the few alchemist institutions around can read about the subject in detail before making the decision to pursue a career in it.

    But on top of all that, it adds a distinct and unique feature to Karak Eight Peaks that gives more people (and more prominent people) a good reason to come visit: a world-class library with works from across the entire continent in a variety of languages, fully funded and cared for as best a karak is able. Silk trade and production will put Karak Eight Peaks on the map for the whole continent, sure, but the library will be proof that K8P isn't just a one-trick-pony.
     
    The value and prestige offered by the library will only grow with time. Right now it's not well-known. But in 20 years? In 100? Or in 1000? Given how often lore is lost because a Waaagh or beastmen horde or whatever leveled several dozen cities, the value of a library as well-protected as ours cannot be overstated. In one thousand years, it will have the honour of being one of the only continuously intact and maintained library in the Old World, and one with the largest and most diverse collections available.
     
    The dwarf and human answer to the Tower of Hoeth. And we've got the Eonir works, which means we've even got elven stuff older than the loremasters have access to. How long do you think until we get our first Asur Loremaster showing up to read the stuff the eonir won't let him look at?

    Adrian XXIV said:
    - Summon The We's Hunting Pack
    - causes 4 The We's Hunting Spiders units to be "recruited" by target army
    - target army needs to have free slots
    - these units's experience and rank depend on level of character used for this action
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    I'm really liking these, and this big got me thinking.

    I don't have a full omake, but I was thinking that an apprentice of the kittybird shamans we know could come south to study the We, and come up with something like-

    Speak As Beast
    (ghur, fiendishly complex)

    A codified personalization of Speak with Beasts, this spell allows the caster to serve as a central hub in a eusocial species' caste-based hive mind. That is to say, to be an egg layer to several packs of We hunters. As hunters are normally range-limited before losing most of their thinking abilities, this spell allows both long-distance deployment of hunter packs and fine-grained tactical control by the caster.

    The mental strain is considerable, however, as the caster must learn to think as multiple bodies and interpret the different channels of sensation We communion demands.

    For this reason it is recommended that the spell mainly be used as an enchantment, and grey order mental training be requested before learning.
     
    Re-reading, noticed an apparent contradiction.

    In the update with Mathilde's discovery of power stone + AV -> Orb reaction, her internal dialogue:
    Boney said:
    the Orbs of Sorcery that Teclis gifted to the nascent Colleges, each an orb of pure magic the size of a man's head, much larger than any conventional power stone.
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    Later WoQM:
    Boney said:
    Power stones are small enough to be set into a ring, Orbs are the right size to be hefted or brandished with a single hand.
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    I know that the general policy is for the quest canon to supersede WoQM, but I can't help but feel that the WoQM is more reasonable, given the accompanying justification of the need for power stones to be small enough for eight of them to fit on Teclis' sword, and for orbs to be proportionally sized.

    Or wait actually, is there no contradiction at all, cause Mathilde's internal dialogue is from when she didn't have the proper knowledge and was just repeating not necessary true popular saying, as later in the update she looks up proper Orb diameter?
    Boney said:
    You return to your laboratory and repeat the experiment with the Crystal Mist a few more times until you're sure your calliper measurements are accurate, and then you sigh and return all the way back to the library - would it be wasteful to have Adela on hand to fly you back and forth from your home to the library? - to look up the diameter of the Orbs of Sorcery.
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    @Boney, could you clarify?
     
    Tobtorp said:
    If the celestial wizards don't have a spell that needs a crystal ball I'm eating my imaginary hat.
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    No mention I can find in either 2e Realms of Sorcery or 4e Winds of Magic, but given that ingredients there are all 'use on cast', using an entire ball of glass would be pretty far outside the feasibility range for any of the spells in there.

    Winds of Magic does have this passage at least:
    Divination amongst astromancers is a combination of magical prowess, mathematics, and close interpretation of portents. Every member of the Celestial Order scrutinises the heavens for a glimpse of the future, but some also use other means. Crystal balls are said to focus Azyr and make it easier to read. Astromancers often use the movement of air itself, by interpreting the patterns of wind on water, the swaying of trees or the drift of fine ashes when thrown into the air.
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    Mopman43 said:
    It's not impossible, I think that's an 8th edition model, so same edition as the Orbs, but it could easily just be a crystal ball for him to ponder.
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    Tobtorp said:
    If the celestial wizards don't have a spell that needs a crystal ball I'm eating my imaginary hat.
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    Yeah, it could just be a regular old ponder orb, but like I said, it looks to be about the same size? At the very least, it's evidence that Warhammer wizards can and do just walk around with large, glass spheres in one hand, so doing the same with an Orb might be possible.
     
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