Ok, but looking up her rank in the Thief Church database just returns [ERROR: LOL, LMAO], so she doesn't exactly hold official rank in the clergy
-
Going forward, links to content from Twitter (now X) will no longer be embedded. Pre-existing links should not be affected.
Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest
- Thread starter Boney
- Start date
- Fantasy Users' Choice!
-
- Tags
- warhammer warhammer fantasy fantasy be gay do crimes (gay) female protagonist pansexual protagonist ck2 quest divided loyalties mountain vietnam ranald is real this is a dwarf quest (dwarfs) this is maybe an elf quest this is not a vampire quest this is not an empire quest try it and find out open voting
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
- Location
- Finland
Any random person can do those.
And if they have enough faith, god might even care.
Well, yes, but that's true for all of Ranald's priests. It's not exactly the most hierarchical of organisations.
infinityDivided
Prince Of Doom
- Location
- USA
That goes for trying to look up the rank of anyone in the "Thief Church database", though.
EDIT: Grey'd
Last edited:
Well, any random person can be a priest, so that's true. With Ranald in particular, if you do priests things enough you end up being a priests, they're not huge on formal structure.
- Location
- Finland
Which is also why we are not the thief pope.
Because there is no thief pope.
- Location
- Greece
Sure she is the thief pope. Just like the other 37 thief popes, just don't ask them.
And yes, all of them are official and most of them at odd with each other, Ranald thinks its hilarious.
More seriously, a Pope seems antithetical to Ranald's entire vibe. Not all religions need or want a singular highest authority, indeed, Christianity actually didn't until the Catholic-Orthodox schism, and it still depends on denomination whether such a thing is followed. A god that detests hierarchy certainly would only really give such a title as a prank. The job we were offered was, in practice, Ranald theological emissary, it just came with a lot of perks because we'd need them to do that job.
And yes, all of them are official and most of them at odd with each other, Ranald thinks its hilarious.
More seriously, a Pope seems antithetical to Ranald's entire vibe. Not all religions need or want a singular highest authority, indeed, Christianity actually didn't until the Catholic-Orthodox schism, and it still depends on denomination whether such a thing is followed. A god that detests hierarchy certainly would only really give such a title as a prank. The job we were offered was, in practice, Ranald theological emissary, it just came with a lot of perks because we'd need them to do that job.
Last edited:
Personal theory: A big part Mathilde's (unofficial) religious authority is that Ranald gets a kick out of being far more overt than he needs to be when it comes to her, which makes the already outsized amount of attention he pays her look even bigger to everyone else.
Like, take the first big thing where he got visibly involved, getting in contact with the criminal underworld. He could have had a black cat rub up to her or given any number of subtle, seemingly coincidental hints to his priests. It's what he'd have done for most of his followers. But instead he did this:
Like, take the first big thing where he got visibly involved, getting in contact with the criminal underworld. He could have had a black cat rub up to her or given any number of subtle, seemingly coincidental hints to his priests. It's what he'd have done for most of his followers. But instead he did this:
Because he thought it was funny (and it was).
I wonder what happened to those cards. Did they vanish, or does Heideck keep them still—as a lucky charm perhaps?
K von Carstein
Likes to go for a walk
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He
Presumably the later.
Just as every cat is the King of Cats so too is every priest of Ranald the Thief Pope.
Well now we're just looping back around to Discordianism.
- Location
- Chicago
- Pronouns
- She/They
It would be kinda funny if there was no actual thing as the chaos gods, just four factions of demons, all constantly struggling with eachother to claim the mantle. "The warp is beyond time and space" that the demons tell their worshipers this translates to "well, no, I'm not tzeetch NOW, but once I am I always will have been so it's pretty much the same thing as being tzeetch now."
Last edited:
I mean, in the immaterium the edges of things get really really fuzzy. It's not entirely incorrect to say that the a chaos god is the sum total of chaos that leans in their direction.
- Location
- Australia
Huh, this could be where WFRP 4e's Lore of Witchcraft comes from. Rough Nights and Hard Days depicts Witchcraft's version of the Entangle spell as wrapping someone up in their own clothes, which also happens to be a miscast result. Could be that entry-level magic dabblers try to cast spells, miscast and curse themselves, and then try to turn those curses into intentional spells. That's how you keep getting these self-made spells that all so happen to obey the strict thematic constraints of the Lore of Witchcraft.
And since Dhar is often the product or cause of miscasts, it's no wonder why so many end up intentionally using Dhar rather than just whatever Winds are around.
Last edited:
The Phoenixian
The Glacier Witch
- Location
- My own little world
My own musings are that Dhar might be something Chaos made, and more specifically something Belakor made, but that is very different from being something they control.
Though while some of that is me piecing together bits and pieces (Which I've talked about at length before,) other parts are less as a matter of evidence, and more just the arcs of a story that appeal to me.
It would be a grim and fitting tragedy if Chaos's original motive wasn't anything so utterly rotten as they are now, but a far more understandable tale. The original gods of the World that Was seeking a revenge against the Old Ones and the Dragons for those races the Old Ones and the Dragons displaced, until that revenge quite literally consumed them. They trusted someone they should not have to aid them, and then that someone made a power that warped them, twisting every part of them that was redeemable into the themes of the weapon they had formed. Hopes placed in a traitor, who ended up being every rotten thing about their enemy.
Once upon a time, gods of peoples on the brink of the end. The Provider who gave what care he could to his grandchildren. The Soldier who took what fight remained to be taken. The Survivor who looked for any means to carry on. The Exemplar who showed their people the pride of what they had been. Unable to take back the gifts that had been given. Unable to lay down the weapon they had raised. Unable to unmake the power they have made. Unable to undo what they have done to themselves. Corrupted by their own quest to avenge their followers, warped from all they had once been, until only the desire for power remained.
I just think there's an incredibly poignant tragedy that could be formed there if the Chaos Gods became Like That instead of always having been so ruinous.
Besides which "The power! I can't control it!" is just... a classic.
Of course, this is something that also comes from the part of me that likes the idea of Belakor being the Dark Lord in and subject of the Prophecy of Demise, to be finally unmade by either Malekith or, with fitting irony,* Nagash.
Partially in a bit of, "You may have made this art, but I am it's true master. Let me demonstrate that mastery to you." Partially in the wondering of an alternate take on the End Times where it's Nagash, not Chaos, who really snowballs. Mostly for the sake of Belakor suffering a fall as well earned as it is possible to be. I like the idea of Belakor caught in the grips of some dark sorcery and each Chaos God in turn turning their last, final memory of decency upon Belakor and saying "This is what I was. This is what I lost because of you. No, I will not save you."
*Ironic, because it would mean the one who cares most about the Prophecy of Demise... plays no part in it.
You could conceptualize them like that just like you could also conceptualize Gork and Mork as one Gorkamorka/Morkagorka that occasionally hits himself in the face and... very little would actually change in either case, it would not make you better at opposing Chaos or for that matter worshiping it.
If I remember correctly at Karak Vlag, Mathilde made a point of saying that the daemons are like her familiar to the chaos gods. Always aware, always there but unless you make an effort into it then it's just something that is there. Following that line of logic daemon princes would be given more metaphysical weight as it were.
The only problem with the logic of this is if that were the case, the four would spend as much time in civil war within themselves than with each other/everyone else. The only way I can see it working is if it wasn't so much a being as a location/item of power to possess. A kind of I possess the crown of Tzeentch/the axe of Khorne therefore I am them and can draw on all the powers and oaths owed.
- Location
- Finland
Well, different daemons of the same chaos god fighting each other is not exactly unknown.
Daemons being part of their god, and in constant struggle against each other, is pretty understandable, it's less a civil war, and more an internal debate that just happens externally (and occasionally involving armies).
Daemons being part of their god, and in constant struggle against each other, is pretty understandable, it's less a civil war, and more an internal debate that just happens externally (and occasionally involving armies).
The daemons of the Four do spend much of their time at war with each other, we see that when novels touch on the Warp in its various incarnations. Whether it is as much as the time they spend fighting each other, that is harder to judge, if only because time is very very relative in the Warp.
The Challenge
New
The Challenge
I saw the convo on thief pope and I got an idea.
Heidi requested a meeting with you. You arrived at the palace to see your friend, sipping tea in the rarest room in all of the Imperial Palace. It was completely empty of people. Just Heidi by herself, not another soul around.
That was definitely the work of your mutual friend.
You sat down by her and gave her a good look.
Heidi was usually a bundle of Aqshy and Ulgu covered by a thin layer of Ranald's Divine power. The former was gone, replaced by...Ayzr of all things. What possibilities had stolen her attention?
"Do you know of the Ten Crosses?" she said so softly you barely heard it.
(Ranaldian Secrets 100: 61+26=87)
You shook your head.
"This is a story few of us know and even fewer will repeat," she said. That brought a curious tilt to your head, but you nodded.
"He was never fond of authority. Even in those early days in Father Taal and Mother Rhya's Hall, but it worsened when He started teaching. When people came to learn from Him, He taught them, gave them His strictures, and left them to their own devices. If they acted in accordance with His will, then He would help in the way He thought best. If they did not, then," she shrugged, "There was one though. One who sought more. They sought His recognition in a way none before them had ever won. Yet, they knew that He would never give it unless He knew He would be entertained and so they went on the first Pilgrimage of the Fingers,"
Heidi stopped to take a sip of tea. It made sense there had to be a first Pilgrimage, but no one ever talked about it or discussed it, so you assumed it had been forgotten. Something Heidi was most likely about to explain why.
"No one quite knows what it was or who they stole from. Some say it was from the greatest of the tribal chieftains. Others say it was from the great lords of Myrmidia's Empire. A few say they stole from distant Ulthuan or even the Dwarf Empire. One said they stole from the Gods. All that is known is eight marks sat on the Pilgrim's fingers. Eight crosses for eight great deeds. Two for the Gambler, two for the Prowler, two for the Deceiver, and two for the Protector. He had taken notice and so had His other friends who began to do their own Pilgrimages. Unhappy at being copied, the Pilgrim sought to separate themselves. To stand permanently in the attention of Ranald. Two last deeds. Two deeds which is said permanently won them His notice. On that day, The Pilgrim gained their final two crosses. On that day, their need and His need were the same. They became the living embodiment of Ranald's will on earth,"
"Heidi, did something happen?" you asked, not entirely sure where she was going with this.
"Four separate people have gained seven of the ten. They are coming to Altdorf to gain their eighth and if they should survive, begin the quest to gain their ninth and tenth," she said.
"How? Wouldn't we have heard about that? Wouldn't He let you know?"
"He did. Today. They are coming to me in two months and Mathilde, you have to be my challenge,"
"Wait, what?"
"Mathilde, this has to be the most dangerous challenge. I needed someone who fit that description. I can think of no one better than the woman who killed a million orcs, stole the power of another God, reclaimed two whole Karaks, destroyed Castle Drakenhof and won back Sylvania, and then decided to recreate the greatest feat of the Elder Folk. If one of them is to bear all ten crosses, then they have to beat you,"
"What do they have to do?"
"Steal the gift He gave you without you noticing,"
"What can I do to them?"
"Anything. There's a reason no one has gotten more than four let alone eight crosses since Jack o' the Sea. If they can't survive you, then they're not worthy,"
What do you say?
[]-Accept the role and become the test. Accepting means facing off against the four most skilled thieves, con-men, revolutionaries, and liars in the Old World and whatever they decided to bring with them.
[]-Refuse the role and tell Heidi to choose someone or something else.
- Location
- Attempting to cast animate object on a black hole.
Accept and go visit the We for a bit.