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What exactly is an esoteric romance novel?
The way I parse it, the Extensive/Obscure/Antiquarian/Esoteric refers to the breadth of texts involved in the collection not the texts themselves; if imperial romance is extensive, it means we have a lot of common examples of romance literature from the empire. Each successive levels involves, rarer/older/more specialized books.
 
I'm voting against "building a legend." Remember that the fall of the Drakenhofs was because of Ableheim's efforts putting together the army that did it. Remember that, when faced with eating an energy field larger than her head, Mathilde called on a good friend to rescue her. Remember that she's still lagging behind a normal Grey Magister in her spell list, and has many Magisters that she looks up to as being better than she is. Remember that while she was the most prominent Adventurer on the expedition, as a counciler she's not going to be building any sword-related-legends when buried in a library full of books.

Hubris is just a deadly a poison as Dhar. I emphatically am against people trying to bend the story itself into making Mathilde some super-heroic character when she's really just very very good at faking it forward.
Ciaphas Cain, Hero of the Imperium, certainly isn't a bad role model; that is, not seeking glory isn't a bad character trait, not that I mean you're saying we should be cowardly or anything. However, I believe that this is a matter of interpretation. Ableheim created the army, but one could argue that it was only us holding it together that brought it against the castle, to its inevitable ruin; it would not have been the fall of the Drakenhofs if we had not brought it there.

When we were confronted with the power of a raging god, we called on a good friend to rescue her, but that friend was an Elder God, and he answered, and together we committed a swindling to mirror the legend that birthed his divine existence.

One might say that we are lagging behind a normal grey magister, but another could argue that we are in fact far ahead of many; our magical score puts us at a place many men will never reach, and we still have ways to increase it further that we haven't been able to take advantage of yet, such as filling out our spell list, or getting a magical staff.

One could argue that we're not going to be building any legends while buried in books, but just this last turn we had a roll for whether or not we'd be walking away from those Skaven Warrens with another military leader's head.

Mathilde is very silly from her own point of view sometimes, and she makes light of things she experiences, but I feel that it would be as erroneous to downplay our contributions as it would be to become prideful because of them.
 
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But those are still legendary deeds, though? Or rather, voting for the sword retroactively makes them the first chapters of Mathilde's legend, I suppose. And given that we are likely to keep scouting, and that we have more peaks to take, we can continue to build that legend. And that's really cool.

We're only barely going to use a sword when scouting and retaking the other peaks anyways. When assasinating the Black Orc Shaman, Mathilde first used a shadowchisel before Mork convinced her to do otherwise. The sword is our back-up, not our main weapon. You don't "build a legend" around your secondary fall-back weapon, no matter how big it is.
 
Could you maybe explain this vote ? I just can't undertand why vote for the best possible sword but also sugest he metal we want to make it from be given away.
People were arguing for a 25 pt. sword long before we had the armour. It is entirely consistent to vote for an awesome sword, but not one forged from the metal of the armour.
 
Maybe Mathilde is worthy of a 25 favor weapon. But if the reason she's asking for it is because she's trying to be the next Sigmar, she very much emphatically does not deserve it and the fake "legend" she's trying to purchase.
I cam see where you are coming from, but your phrasing seems to be saying that people shouldn't try to reach beyond their current limitations and become greater than they thought they could be, which I have to strenuously disagree with.

There is some arrogance in trying to reach similar heights to the legends of old. Maybe you will never live up to your goals. The thing is, people thinking that they can't live up to the old symbols and glories is the attitude that is dooming most Dwarfs in this quest.

Reach for the greatest heights, and even if you fall short, you can still inspire.

Also, obligatory down with Sigmar. If we can do more for the Dwarfs than him and upstage him over the course of Mathilde's life, I'd be extremely pleased.
 
Vote Tally
Adhoc vote count started by Lupercal on Oct 6, 2019 at 10:03 PM, finished with 1082 posts and 162 votes.
 
You think the guy who takes every opportunity possible to talk about his Morrite Priestess Great-something-or-other Grandmother is going to be Sigmarite?
He didn't mention her at all, that was info we got from our background check. It's been well over 300 years since the 2nd Vampire War.
 
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[X] [ENCHANTMENT] An item enchanted with Talk With Beast to give to the spiders (3 favors)
I still maintain this is a risky idea and very premature.
Aside from the very strong "Belegars' Allies, Belegar (as Lord of the state) pays for the magic doodad" argument-

Giving The We an item enchanted with Talk With Beast would also let them exchange Sound-with-meaning from not-We with Orcs, Goblins, Skaven, and pretty much any other language-using being.

I don't know that that's what we want to happen, speaking from the interests of K8P.

My point isn't so much about Reikspiel, it's that we probaby shouldn't take the risk of putting an object into the pedipalps of the Spider-We that allows them to communicate with others, considering all the Other We around here are our enemies.
I think all that convinced The We that we might be Not-Food was that by the time we started speaking, we'd successfully avoided becoming such food.
The We already have a sometimes-not-food relationship with Greenskins, who I gather sometimes ride spiders. Why (possibly) make that an easier deal to strike?
Skaven are also only usually-food- so if all that's required for them to be not-food is to be able to fight back effectively, what happens if a warlord starts making their own deals with The We? It might not be likely- but why the heck would be pay our own college favour to put that security risk in the hands pedipalps of very, very uncertain allies?
If this is the leading enchantment purchase option this turn, I'd have to vote-

[X] [ENCHANTMENT] No purchase.
 
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Skaven are also usually-food- so if all that's required for them to be not-food is to be able to fight back, what happens if a warlord starts making their own deals with The We? It might not be likely- but why the heck would be pay our own college favour to put that security risk in the hands pedipalps of very, very uncertain allies?
Technically, I think that was goblins, which makes more sense.
 
But the real reason I want this sword is the emerging legend.
While I understand that, that sort of narrative is exactly why I'd prefer not to go all out with spending favor on a sword. I really dislike having an item so powerful that one of Mathilde's major titles may end up being "wielder of the Eight Peak Blade" or something. It's just not a way I'd like to see her character go.
 
One thing to point out... the leading vote is not to give the armor back, but to make no recommendation. You could call it leaving it up to humility.

If Belegar believes that the best thing to do is to melt the armor down for his heroes, you'll get your uber-metal sword... and untainted by having given him advice just to benefit her selfish desires too. If he doesn't then it wasn't meant to be.
 
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While I understand that, that sort of narrative is exactly why I'd prefer not to go all out with spending favor on a sword. I really dislike having an item so powerful that one of Mathilde's major titles may end up being "wielder of the Eight Peak Blade" or something. It's just not a way I'd like to see her character go.
I think @BoneyM said that a legend would grow around the sword if we used it for legendary deeds. So it would be "the Sword of Mathilde" in the same way that Ghal Maraz is the Hammer of Sigmar.
 
Makes for a far more awesome story than "I did all of these things which made me one of the three key figures of a legendary undertaking, and then I got this +2 keen longsword out of it".
 
One thing to point out... the leading vote is not to give the armor back, but to make no recommendation. You could call it leaving it up to humility.

If Belegar believes that the best thing to do is to melt the armor down for his heroes, you'll get your uber-metal sword... and untainted by having given him advice just to benefit her selfish desires too. If he doesn't then it wasn't mean to be.
I like this. Anyone up to approval vote it?
 
It feels gross. I don't know how else to put it. It's not really that shady, it's Belegar's call in the end, but...

Like, your friend found a culturally significant find in your backyard! Like, I dunno, pirate gold (in this hypothetical, you're descended from Davy Jones or something, work with me here). Then, when you ask for their opinion on what you should do with it, they respond, "You should reinvest it into the local economy! ... Oh, and by the way, not that this has anything to do with anything, but I'll be opening Mathilde's Curios down the street next month~"
So, I understand where you're coming and I don't want to change your mind.

However, I would like to explain why I voted the way I did on this, so that should the vote go through you don't have to feel more uncomfortable than necessary.

At its core for me the question became, if Mathilde wasn't benefiting from this, would she still make the same decision?

I decided yes, it is crucial for Belegar to maintain and stabilize the ideological momentum he currently has on his side. To do this he needs symbols. In dwarven society physical symbols are the most enduring and most powerful. Of the physical susbstances a symbol could be made from Gromril is the most enduring and most potent.

If Belegar decides to make a new book of grudges from this, empty and symbolizing the new start of his Karak. Or if it's a sword, a hammer, an axe and a pistol. Or if it's a stained glass depiction of the rise of the dwarven species from the ashes, that's fine.

If we don't get a sword from this that's fine. Maybe Kragg will gives us a quest to mine some Gromril from where the trolls are, maybe he won't.

I'd still think this choice was the right one.
 
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The right sword is what will inspire men to march for three months, beyond the reach of civilization, and fight and die for that third peak. And the fourth. And the fifth.

This entire line of argument just stinks to me of Quester's Hubris. Bragging about accomplishments that haven't been made and over-inflating past achievements past the point of absurdity. Mathilde can become a world-recognized legend, but right now everyone's front-loading things by making the expectation that it's inevitable. It's not. Mathilde could still meet misfortune and die ingloriously. She could settle down and end up doing research for the rest of her days. Heck, maybe she'll even piss off the Grey College by accident and have to go on the run. None of those seem likely or like things that we'll vote for, but they're still just as improbable as Mathilde somehow inspiring armies to march for her when she's still that geeky wizard in the tower who carries a big scary sword that no-one actually sees her use out in the open.
 
One thing to point out... the leading vote is not to give the armor back, but to make no recommendation. You could call it leaving it up to humility.

If Belegar believes that the best thing to do is to melt the armor down for his heroes, you'll get your uber-metal sword... and untainted by having given him advice just to benefit her selfish desires too. If he doesn't then it wasn't mean to be.
Funnily enough, I've just re-read the part where Abel told us that the one person that doesn't fully believe in us, is ourselves, and here we are, throwing it up the command chain instead of making a stand.

The way I see it, that his best option also is likely to benefit us is a very fortunate coincidence, but it doesn't change the fact that I find the reforging the best idea.
 
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This entire line of argument just stinks to me of Quester's Hubris. Bragging about accomplishments that haven't been made and over-inflating past achievements past the point of absurdity. Mathilde can become a world-recognized legend, but right now everyone's front-loading things by making the expectation that it's inevitable. It's not. Mathilde could still meet misfortune and die ingloriously. She could settle down and end up doing research for the rest of her days. Heck, maybe she'll even piss off the Grey College by accident and have to go on the run. None of those seem likely or like things that we'll vote for, but they're still just as improbable as Mathilde somehow inspiring armies to march for her when she's still that geeky wizard in the tower who carries a big scary sword that no-one actually sees her use out in the open.
Personally I see the main symbol being the reforging of the gromril. If we get a sword out of it, that can become another symbol, but the act of reforging the old for the new is something I really like narratively all on it's own.
 
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Personally I see the symbol being the reforging of the gromril. If we get a sword out of it, that can become another symbol, but the act of reforging the old for the new is something I really like narratively all on it's own.
I can see this, too. Somewhat like passing the Silversteel spears to the Undumgi. 'We must find new uses for the old, if the Karaz Ankor is to live as more than a fading line in the grudge-book.'
 
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