[X] [SPIDER] The We can be a powerful military ally against the greenskins.
[X] [UNDUMGI] Francesco Caravello, Tilean ex-merchant
[X] [ARMOUR] It should be returned to the Hold it was stolen from, to build strong ties among the Karaz Ankor
At the risk of getting fixated on minutia with the Favor Sword- I have to say looking at the runes, the combo; Master Rune of Snorri Spangelhelm, Rune of Might, and Rune of Parrying really appeals to me as a sort of rough guide. It's pretty solid mechanically but the thematics are top notch- that's not a sword for a skilled duelist, it's not a sword of some peerless hero, it's a sword that lets a person stand against a monster. A blade that would let a peasant kick some serious ass so long as they can swing.
Against weaker enemies all it would really do is make us hit more often and be harder to hit. But against a monster; a Vampire, Dragon Ogre, or an Orc Warboss? All that but suddenly hitting like a truck. A weapon that will be at it's weakest when turned towards people, but never stronger when facing the kind of gribblies mortals are ill equipped for. A gift given not in acknowledgement of our martial prowess, but that we were there and willing to act. A tribute to the hope that Belegar's faction ardently believes not by virtue of sheer strength or raw power but the conviction to march against their enemies in spite of that. Something about having a sword that's incredibly good and useful, but in such a way that it's obviously not intended for a particularly skilled swordswoman has a visceral appeal, and for people afraid of the sword sort of obligating Mathilde into becoming more of a traditional fighter, if nothing else I think this combo can attest to different possibilities in that regard.
It's awesome for going after key figures, doesn't give a shit about how good Mathilde actually is with a blade (except for the purposes of making her harder to hit, which is still pretty useful), and makes her tankier by virtue of being harder to hit. I imagine some hypothetical fog spells we develop in the future could stack with that last one if we really wanted to capitalize on it. Not too worried about chaff because of things like Dread Presence and Burning Shadows. It is also amusingly enough an elf's dream come true in terms of how useful it is for one of them.
And that's
There's a hilarious opportunity cost that people against the Rune Weapon are completely ignoring. Namely, we need to spend favors to get anything out of them. Apart from blowing all our Dwarf favors on books and the like it's going to cost us actions to get Dwarf tutelage or commission Dwarfs' to help us build something elsewhere, or any number of things.
It will take turns upon turns of dedicating actions to Dwarf Favors to clear them out. Actions where we're not actually exploring our existent options. A commission is one and done, a hugely useful piece that we don't need to spend a bunch of time and energy to utilize.
