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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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The Ducklings have grown into their own niches and have been fulfilling them wonderfully. Mathilde was a great help in helping them settle into those niches but they did the growth themselves and are happy with where they are.
 
storryeater said:
Question: what if the thing we create can only be operated by wizards? By definition, that would mean that the Witch Hunters could not operate them without college approval, and that outlawing magic would render it useless, or even better, it would make it easier for wizards to organise but have no use for non wizards.

Or am I missing something here?
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In addition to the brainwashing others have mentioned, they can also threaten the wizard's loved ones to gain his cooperation.
 
Esbern and Seija would be my pick for an anti-beastman magister. Not only are they Ambers, but also knights of Taal. If there's anyone who's got a similar level of beastman knowledge to match Mathilde's greenskin knowledge, it's either them, or someone they know.

It would also be good to hang around with them again.
 
So my mind drifted back to the We and how things will go in the future with them.

Odds are that they will probably set up colonies under each of the Mountains in 8 Peaks, assuming the food supply is stable (which it should be due to silk trade), but after that?

I can see them being exported to other Dwarven holds once they have proven to be a reliable ally. Which would be beneficial for all parties as the We will get a safe nesting location and a way to convert silk into food, while the Dwarves gain a reliable ally and a valuable trade good.

Although I do wonder how long it will take for silk prices to start to drop due to the more ready access?
 
Sinsystems said:
Although I do wonder how long it will take for silk prices to start to drop due to the more ready access?
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They might not drop at all, at least for a while.

Easier access to silk means a lot of people who previously wouldn't be able to get it can use it, so there could be a process of wobbling back and forth of prices and demand, possibly even a fashion craze driven by consistent access since previously trade was both unreliable and highly seasonal.
 
There's likely going to be a split in market where sellers who make the trip to Cathay try to distinguish themselves with "real" silk instead of icky gross spider leavings. Luxury goods are more about bragging rights than practicality, so We-Silk being (relatively) cheap and abundant means it can't actually fill the exact same market niche as Cathayan Silk does, because the point is having something ludicrously expensive to show off.

I'd compare it to the way the gemstone industry does everything in its power to make lab grown stones seem inferior, even though they are identical in every way except acquisition price.
 
Given how silk could be made into bulletproof vests, I suspect the demand would be very high regardless of anything. Especially given that such garment could be worn under metal armor instead of more conventional gambeson, allowing the level of protection straight up unmatched by anything IRL historical armours could do.
 
Idle musing: has egrimm ever made it down to 8 peaks? We offered to introduce him to cython and that never came up again, and I think he went straight from the expedition to the waystone project with not much in between. I don't think he was involved in the mountain waystone study, either, that was mathilde and thorek because Seekrit.
 
DocMatoi said:
Idle musing: has egrimm ever made it down to 8 peaks? We offered to introduce him to cython and that never came up again, and I think he went straight from the expedition to the waystone project with not much in between. I don't think he was involved in the mountain waystone study, either, that was mathilde and thorek because Seekrit.
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It's a potential action as of this most recent turn:
Boney said:
[ ] EGRIMM: Introduce Egrimm to Cython with hopes of some sort of information exchange (NEW)
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allmightytoaster said:
There's likely going to be a split in market where sellers who make the trip to Cathay try to distinguish themselves with "real" silk instead of icky gross spider leavings. Luxury goods are more about bragging rights than practicality, so We-Silk being (relatively) cheap and abundant means it can't actually fill the exact same market niche as Cathayan Silk does, because the point is having something ludicrously expensive to show off.

I'd compare it to the way the gemstone industry does everything in its power to make lab grown stones seem inferior, even though they are identical in every way except acquisition price.
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The problem is the spider silk is just as good if not better and it's not like the Empire has trademarks. If some fellow in Nuln tries to claim this his 3000% mark up silk is better for having come from Cathay and it catches on the merchant one stall over who is selling K8P silk will say 'sure sure mine too and only 2000% mark up, it's a steal'. The kind of market split requires either that the products be easily distinguishable or that you can enforce your branding somehow. I think silk from Cathay is just going to fall out of fashion entirely and they will use that cargo space for other things.
 
allmightytoaster said:
There's likely going to be a split in market where sellers who make the trip to Cathay try to distinguish themselves with "real" silk instead of icky gross spider leavings. Luxury goods are more about bragging rights than practicality, so We-Silk being (relatively) cheap and abundant means it can't actually fill the exact same market niche as Cathayan Silk does, because the point is having something ludicrously expensive to show off.

I'd compare it to the way the gemstone industry does everything in its power to make lab grown stones seem inferior, even though they are identical in every way except acquisition price.
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Actually I don't think it will. Mostly because its the dwarfs throwing it onto the market, dwarven made goods are generally seen as the best you can reasonably get, their steel is harder, their guns shoot better, their ale makes you drunk quicker. For the empire dwarfs are producers of wondrous stuff.
Now you get dwarven silk, which is stab proof... Ain't that something.
 
Tobtorp said:
Actually I don't think it will. Mostly because its the dwarfs throwing it onto the market, dwarven made goods are generally seen as the best you can reasonably get, their steel is harder, their guns shoot better, their ale makes you drunk quicker. For the empire dwarfs are producers of wondrous stuff.
Now you get dwarven silk, which is stab proof... Ain't that something.
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Not all of it is. There are three kind of We silk, one's good for thread to use in cranes and such, one's good for armor but not as soft and one's high quality and soft (the one the web-weavers use to cushion eggs).
 
Tobtorp said:
Actually I don't think it will. Mostly because its the dwarfs throwing it onto the market, dwarven made goods are generally seen as the best you can reasonably get, their steel is harder, their guns shoot better, their ale makes you drunk quicker. For the empire dwarfs are producers of wondrous stuff.
Now you get dwarven silk, which is stab proof... Ain't that something.
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I'm not sure how many Dwarfs are working on it, given the guild embargo.
 
How viable would it be for Wolf to learn how to fight by holding a sword in his mouth? It's unrealistic in real life, but I'm wondering if it's the kind of thing that'd be plausible in Warhammer.
 
Boney said:
The other way to bypass this is Barak Varr, which is a Dwarven Nexus and was once a 'regular' Nexus, and is the only place where this is the case. The problem with getting Barak Varr up and running is it unlocks the Forest of Gloom minihellwar and the Vaults megahellwar.
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I think I need a refresher from someone regarding the interconnectedness of these issues. Why does reactivating the regular Nexus functions of Barak Varr require doing something about the Forest of Gloom or the Vaults? Or, if it doesn't require it, why does it greatly change the equation on how necessary Dwarves see dealing with those two things? Their honor already says that all enemies in those regions should ideally feel the wrath of Dwarven vengeance. And especially the Vaults already have stuff the Dwarves consider to rightfully belong to them. So what is it about feeding magic to Barak Varr through Waystones that makes hellwars so much more likely, despite them not becoming an actually good idea compared to before?
 
Rafin said:
Why does reactivating the regular Nexus functions of Barak Varr require doing something about the Forest of Gloom or the Vaults?
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We can't recreate nexus stones (yet?) And the one from barak varr was never fully installed/activated - it was supposed to be, but war of vengeance said no, and the stone was later stolen by the beastmen. The karak nexus of dwarf holds - ie barak varr itself - can't be altered without dwarven knowledge that we can't have and magical skill that the dwarves don't have. So we need the old Nexus stone to install it and hook the karaz ankor into the wider continental network
 
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