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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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WorldSlayer said:
Not sure why this is so enticing, what does a journeyman deathmage provide that's so desirable? I'd rather just use our 49 death swords and gallons of magic mystery juice to trade in some favors to borrow a battlemage for a while. Then we can read up on the resulting research papers thus getting research done and being paid for it.
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In true professor fashion, we can put the journeyman to writing all the research papers so we don't have to spend actions on it.
 
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Purge of the Haunted Hills - Nachgeheim, 2476
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Yes. Don't be unrealistic. The paper communicates the concept and construction of Mathilde's Mystical Matrix without inducing unconsciousness or migraines. That's a win. Take the win.3

    [X] Plan Singing King Hunt + Enchantment
    -[X][Intel] Gossipmongers: Julia's previous attempt had no result but the enrichment of various hangers-on of the Flensburg courts. Perhaps this was just poor luck; perhaps she should try again. (NEW-ish)
    -[X][Watch] In Wissenland, there are a number of techniques in use to derive saltpeter from urine. It would take a great deal more effort than selling to tanneries, but saltpeter could be exported to Nuln for fantastic profit, or used to start gunpowder production in Stirland.
    -[X][Personal] Attach yourself to the army so you can join the hunt for the Singing King (specify which regiment to join, or general staff to avoid the thick of the fighting). (NEW-ish)
    --[X] General Staff
    --[X] Ranald's Blessing
    -[X][Personal] Enchantment: You've finally got the equipment, now you've just got to unpack it all and set up your laboratory.

    You agonize for hours over the decision, balanced almost exactly between practicality and perfection, but in the end practicality and the burning desire to be done with it win out. As the copy of your paper makes its way to Altdorf, you feel an almost physical weight lift from your shoulders. It's done; Mathilde's Mystical Matrix has been unleashed upon an unexpecting world. And if anyone overlooks it because the paper itself is merely good instead of amazing, then more fool they.

    Julia's been ordered to try to expand her gossipmonger network once more, while Jack is to look into producing saltpeter in industrial quantities from all the waste the gong farmers are collecting. You're not sure how suited he'll turn out to be for that sort of task, or how well the already-disgruntled watchmen will take it, but you suppose there's only one way to find out. You know that the Army of Stirland is going to be advancing on the woods where the Singing King has fled to with his court only after clearing the hills between the valley and the woods, so you've time to finally set up the enchantment equipment you spent so long searching for.

    Box after box of delicate glass and crystal components are unpacked from the straw that cushioned them for their journey to Wurtbad, and has been mouldering ever since. You're forced to gently transfer a mother cat and her kittens from the nest she had made among your crystal lenses, and she glares at you sullenly as you work from her new home in an emptied box the entire time.

    One unversed in the strange and subtle art of enchantment may think that this work could be completed in an afternoon, but they'd be very thoroughly convinced otherwise the first time their sloppy work exploded in their face. Prisms need to be angled exactly correctly to concentrate light at the correct angles - and natural light, too, since magical light would taint whatever you were trying to work with. Which means finding a source of high-quality candles - beeswax is the only local source, but oils found in certain trees in the Southlands or carved out of enormous creatures found in the seas were even better. And for times when no artificial light was suited, a series of mirrors needed to be set up to reflect sunlight into the laboratory, which also need careful measuring, and to be solidly fixed in place so the damn cats can't knock them out of alignment.

    Also necessary is to track down local sources for a whole range of substances standing on the intersection between chemistry and alchemy, necessary not for their action on physical matter but on how they can alter a substance to be better able to play host to the winds of magic. One could, through effort or skill, force the winds into any item, but it is far easier to first make an item a slightly less unnatural home for it. For those useful substances you can't find local sources for, you send off to Altdorf for the processes for creating them from more-common ingredients.

    A thousand little preparations that combine to take the onerous task of forcing winds into an inanimate object from nigh impossible down to merely very difficult. You hope you find the time to make the effort worth it.

    ---

    When you're finally done in Wurtbad and make your way to join the army, they're in the final stretch of their advance towards the Ghoul Woods. Van Hal glances up from the map of the hills he's poring over to greet you with a smile as you join him in his command tent, and Gustav and Kasmir give you nods, but the generals ignore you in favour of the map.

    "We ignore the dirt road the ghouls were using," Van Hal is saying. "The ghouls may be mindless creatures, but it's a fatal trap to think the same of the Strigoi ruling them, and even without him they have the animal cunning to set an ambush. Especially since our scouting force is no longer effective as such. Speaking of-" he glances over to Gustav.

    "They should be remounted in time for the march on Drakenhof," he reports. There's a near-permanent scowl on his face recently - he didn't take his pet cohorts being turned into pedestrians well at all.

    "That's something, at least," Van Hal notes distractedly. "So we push along the hills, as we have been doing all this time. It's slower but we can't afford many more losses, and the ghouls aren't going anywhere. The Aver has them hemmed in from the south and the west and the Throng of Zhufbar is advancing into the woods from the east."

    "The men are briefed," one of the generals comments. "They're prepared for whatever they face, whether it be ghoul or greenskin."

    "Let us hope so," Van Hal murmurs. "We've had ample practice in coordinated sweeps through difficult terrain, the only difference is this time it's forest instead of hills. We push forward on a wide front until we meet serious resistance and then we draw in to crush it, just as we've done a hundred times over by now." Gustav and the generals salute and hurry off to put the orders into action, leaving you with Van Hal and Kasmir.

    "Strigoi," he says. "Given the option, there's no type of vampire I'd rather fight. No politics, no plots, no hiding. Just the terrible monster they all are, visible for any to see."

    "It could have lurked in these hills for generations," Kasmir notes. "Feeding on wildlife and the innumerable dead of Sylvania. Until its vile court grew to where the Hills couldn't sustain it, and then they would have burst forth upon Southern Stirland."

    "A stroke of luck we caught it now, I suppose," Van Hal says, though he doesn't sound convinced, and you can understand why. A heavy price has already been paid, and the Singing King isn't even slain.

    ---

    Days of feverish activity pass, with Van Hal at the middle of it all like a particularly restless spider in a web. Forty thousand men - well, closer to thirty now - reporting to him, and he needs only speak to Gustav. Gustav speaks to the four generals, the generals speak to their four colonels apiece. Each colonel has five majors, each major five captains, each captain four lieutenants, and then sergeants and corporals manage individual squads. An operation of tens of thousands and not a single officer is directly responsible for more than a half-dozen men. You make mental notes at the masterpiece of delegation that is the modern army as the machine ticks away frantically in front of you.

    Information flows in, orders flow out, and paperwork accumulates. Some confused lieutenants have taken to filling in the contact reports for the greenskins they face, which... well, no reason to discourage that, you suppose - it can be filtered out later, or you could just add it to the enormous archive of information back in Wurtbad. Also accumulating are casualties, as there appear to be more enemies to face in the Ghoul Woods than there was in the entirety of the Hills that have been swept to date. Every yard is purchased in blood, whether it be that of human, ghoul, or greenskin, and with every casualty report Van Hal's temper shortens.

    Then, finally, the wretched singing is found once more, and the army closes on it like the steel jaws of a trap. Van Hal races to join the front, with you and Kasmir at his side, and when you all arrive you're presented with the sight of the Singing King's new court: Fang Island, a ramshackle greenskin fortress construction of wood and bone formed to resemble a massive set of jaws emerging from the ground. And now it looked as if someone had given those jaws a few solid blows, as one side of the fortress had been demolished, with greenskin corpses littered around showing where they fought to the last in the defence of their stronghold against an endless tide of hunger-crazed ghouls, which even now were swarming the fortress like ants from a kicked hive, stripping the flesh from the fallen.

    "He's within, I'm sure of it," Gustav reports as he hurries up. "I caught a glimpse of him through my spy-glass."

    "Then we flush him out," Van Hal replies shortly. "Where are the cannon?" The four of you look around for Schultz, who has been handling logistics, but he's nowhere to be found - the sudden concentration of forces had been a confusing mess, and a great deal of the strength Stirland had brought to bear was still scattered across the Woods - including, unfortunately, Asarnil. "No matter. Bring the crossbowmen together and start firing volleys into the fortress. Either they emerge and face us, or they don't and die in droves. Gather what knights we have, they can fight unmounted among the spearwall. Kasmir, Mathilde, will you join me in the lines?"

    "Yes, your Grace," Kasmir replies saluting.

    "Of course," is your reply as you double-check your sword is still strapped to your back.

    "Then let us finish this damned distraction."

    ---

    Thunk. As one, three thousand mechanisms send three thousand bolts skywards.

    Crash. As one, two thousand swords ring against two thousand shields. Crash. Again, every few heartbeats. The taunting tattoo of the battlefield. Here we are, it says. Come and get us. Crash.

    Thunk.     Another volley. Almost drowned out by the beating rhythm of the infantry, the inhuman cries from a hundred throats as their tainted lives bleed out onto the ground.

    Crash. You heard somewhere that ghouls were once humans that turned to cannibalism and were twisted by it. Crash. You doubt it, personally; you suspect that whatever mechanism transforms one into the creatures known as ghouls, Crash, possibly related to that which transforms people into beastmen? Thunk. That it has a side-effect in its early stages of a ravenous hunger for fresh meat, and the closest fresh meat to the average person is other people. Crash. You wonder if the Amethyst Order has ever studied the matter. Crash. You wonder if such study would even be allowed, or whether it would be considered too close to necromancy. Crash. You wonder if it's even a question worth answering, when the only answer truly needed is that of steel. Thunk. And a cry even more inhuman than the others arises, as the Singing King finally accepts the invitation that so many bolts have been sending to him.

    A hundred sergeants raise a hundred cries, and thousands of shields lock into place at the front of the lines just outside the ruined portion of the fortress walls. Any one man here would be no match for even the least of the terrors within these walls, but no one man is alone. They stand not only with those by their sides, but with the blacksmiths that forged their weapons, with the trainers that taught them the arts of war, with the chaplains that stoked the fires of their faith. And as if summoned by your thoughts, at the other side of Van Hal, Kasmir voice somehow pierces the din of battle.

    Lord Sigmar, Hear My Prayer, his cry goes up, and is joined by ten thousand more.

    Let not my weapon fail me, as a thousand skulking hungry horrors boil out of the fortress. But strengthen it against the foe, as the worst of them all emerges, his terrible voice drowned out by the call of the faithful. Give my blade your wisdom, and voices rise from prayer into a wordless cry as the foremost of the ghouls throw themselves against the spearline. For a moment it seems the line will hold, but then the weight of the rest of the forces are thrown at the backs of those impaled upon spears, and human muscle cannot stand against inhuman hunger. A step is taken back, and then two, as the only other option was to break under the terrible strength of the ghouls, and plenty had no opportunity to make those choice as their spears were torn away and claws and teeth tore into the flesh of far too many of the spearmen.

    But then the second line steps forward.

    The swordsmen of the Empire are a much romanticized lot, by nobody more than themselves, but you've learned from your times with the Greatswords that they barely scratch the surface of what is possible with a blade. All they are good for is wielding the steel of the Empire like a bludgeon, battering away at the enemy without artifice or any real skill. But these swordsmen have been campaigning for over a year against everything Sylvania could throw at them, and those that remain have been forged by adversity into an army worthy of the name. If that was all that stood in the second line, it would have been barely sufficient to halt the charge.

    But it was not all, for the Knights of the Empire stood with them.

    The Knights Panther. The Knights of Sigmar's Blood. The Order of the Black Rose. The Order of the Blazing Sun. And outnumbering them all, the Black Guards of Morr.

    Four warcries of four Knightly Orders sound, and a fifth remains silent as they swing as one with the Swordsmen of the Empire, and in a bloody instant a thousand creatures of the night perish, drowning out the cries of the dying spearmen.

    As if personally offended, the creature commanding the ghouls strides forward, pushing through the charging masses with ease. By chance or low cunning or just because he was the tallest figure on the battlefield and standing on an elevated point besides, his burning eyes lock onto Van Hal, and his eyes glow with dark hunger, his distended muscles bulging with strength that no mortal could withstand. But in doing so, he overlooked the two figures standing at the side of the Elector Count.

    With a chanted prayer that you faintly realize is a continuation of the one that began the battle, the Priest of Sigmar glows, literally glows, with what you cannot help but know is the manifestation of the truest faith in the Champion of Mankind. The gloom of the forest is driven back as a mirror to the sun in the sky bursts forth from the armoured priest, and the courage of every true servant of the Empire is bolstered as- you shake your head, trying to regain your concentration. Something about whatever it is Kasmir was doing (was it magic? was it divine? was there a difference?) seemed to twist your thoughts into grandiose purple prose, and you can't afford to be distracted. Because as the terrible creature advances, undeterred by the beacon of faith that Kasmir has become, you step between the two of them. Since the first pull of a trigger of this battle, you've been drawing the Ulgu that lies thick in the shadows of these woods into you, and shaping it into the most difficult and potent spell of Grey Magic you know. And as your silhouette falls upon the tide of the dead, you let the magic within you burst forth.

    And in an instant, holy light and caustic Ulgu woven by the combined will of a priest and a wizard slam against the packed ranks of the creatures and they melt.

    Literally.

    The terrible cries of the Singing King are nothing compared to the hundreds of agonized screeches torn from the throats of those between you and the King, and the air is filled with their cries and the smell of boiling flesh and a horrible fog of vaporized skin. In instants the creatures have either literally or figuratively melted away and there's nothing between you and the Strigoi, and the worst cry yet fills the air, as the set of lungs that commanded a battlefield is given over to nothing but the expression of pure agony as the creature's skin boils away to reveal blackening muscle and yellowing bone, until they, too, begin to liquefy...

    The legendary resilience of the grave might have been enough to counter even that, had Van Hal not chosen that moment to raise his repeater rifle and unload every single blessed bullet into the hideous creature.

    For an instant, your shadow stretches across a portion of the battlefield filled only with the bubbling corpses of the rightfully dead, until Kasmir's beacon of light blinks out and shadow rushes back in to fill the void.

    [Spearline holds against the charge: 35 vs 84]
    [Swords advance: 95+20 (Knights) vs 86]
    [Kasmir interrupt 92+??]
    [Mathilde interupt 95+18]
    [Van Hal fires: 66+24]
    [Strigoi rolls to not die: 22+20 (vampiric resilience)]

    ---

    After that, the battle was over; all that remained was cleaning up. Whatever terrible hold the Strigoi vampire held over the ghouls was shattered, and they reverted to mindless instinct and fled; unfortunately for them, they fled into the fortress, so the only escape from the Empire's steel was to throw themselves from the battlements upon the spikes of wood and bone crafted by the greenskins the ghouls had slaughtered and feasted upon. If greenskins had souls, you reflect, that would give theirs succour. The final tally is more brutal than you had expected; a full quarter of the spearmen died in the initial terrible charge of the ghouls, and many more are injured, and there's much damage done to the swordsmen, too. Combined with the previous losses, as much as a third of the Army of Stirland is no longer fit for combat, and you see Van Hal brooding over those figures time and time again.

    Weeks more pass in busy work, as the Purge is expanded to cover the Woods since you're there already and the greenskins have been all but exterminated. When the Throng of Zhufbar arrives, having decided to follow up their hard-won victory over the greenskins by destroying their fort, they find it already far advanced in deconstruction, with a single tent standing in the middle of it all, and within it Van Hal is carefully scrubbing the last vestiges of flesh from the skull of what had once been a Strigoi vampire. His gift to you, he had said, and you suppose you could always use a terrifying paperweight for the laboratory.

    Sitting beside Van Hal as the dwarves enter is you, staring in troubled thought at the candle that flickers away almost to nothing whenever you draw near to it.

    [Arcane Mark gained: Flicker]
    [Title gained: Sängerkritisch]

    ---

    PLAN FOR THIS PURGE TURN

    ORGANIZATIONAL ACTIONS - these have been LOCKED IN for the next two purge turns.

    Information Network - pick ONE (no action expenditure required):
    [ ] Expand your information network into another province (choose one)
    [ ] Expand your information network into another county or barony (choose one)
    [ ] Expand your information network into the military (choose a Division)
    [ ] Expand your Intelligence Attaché program to another Division (choose one)
    [ ] Off the Leash: Let Julia handle the network without your micromanagement from now on.

    Information Network finances - can be chosen INSTEAD of a selection from the above.
    [ ] Attaché Paperwork: The Intelligence Attachés are your biggest expense by far - see if you can have them paid for by the Army of Stirland instead.
    [ ] Fixer: Work with the Wurtbad Thieves Guild, supplying them information in exchange for a portion of profits.
    [ ] Special Branch: Pull some financial trickery to get the information network classified as part of the Watch, so that their costs are covered by the Stirlandian treasury.
    [ ] Trade Delegation: Convince Wilhelmina and Markus to partner your network with the EIC based on the value of market information.

    Stirland Watch - pick ONE (no action expenditure required):
    [ ] Expand the ranks of the Watch, so that they're able to start covering even the poorer parts of their covered area.
    [ ] Expand the Watch into a new county or barony (choose which)
    [ ] Expand the Special Branch into areas already covered by the Watch, so you have an additional pool of manpower you can call upon to supplement the full-time Watchmen.
    [ ] Improve the training of the Watch, hiring trainers and dedicating paid time each week to sharpening skills.
    [ ] Integrate the Roadwarden network of covered areas into the Watch.
    [ ] Investigate the possibility of adding a River Warden branch of the Watch.
    [ ] Headhunt administrators from other organizations in Stirland.
    [ ] Attempt to hire administrators and clerks from Altdorf and Nuln.

    Stirland Watch finances - can be chosen INSTEAD of a selection from the above.
    [ ] Formalize and organize the payments people make for the Gong Farmers to perform their service, as well as having the Watch start enforcing existing laws against dumping human waste in the street or the Stir.
    [ ] Currently, solid waste is sent by cart and wagon out to the fields for a pittance. It could instead be used to create market gardens along the banks of the Stir (hopefully downwind) and increase revenue and provide jobs for the desperate by growing a variety of cash crops.
    [ ] Tanneries have a seemingly limitless demand for urine, which explains a lot about the smell. A bit of fragrant research would allow you to identify how much demand there is and how much of a profit you can wring from this.

    PERSONAL ACTIONS - CHOOSE BETWEEN TWO AND THREE. ANY CHOSEN BEYOND THE FIRST TWO WILL COME WITH RISKS - PLEASE SPECIFY THE 'ADDITIONAL' TASK:

    Genießt den Krieg - join the divisions in Sylvania:
    [ ] If you're feeling nosy, Vanhaldenschlosse is apparently free of anything that would object to you poking around in what was once the proud ancestral home of the Van Hals.
    [ ] Something apparently quite similar to the Purge of the Haunted Hills is going on in Ostermark's southern regions; you could inspect goings-on up there yourself.
    [ ] The Dwarves have crossed into the Empire and joined up with the Empire forces. Perhaps you could spend some time with the general staff as the two of them start to work together.
    [ ] Attach yourself to the army so you can join in the Purge of the Ghoul Woods. (specify which regiment to join).

    Self-Improvement: Things have been going well so far, but the skills of a Journeyman Grey Mage can only go so far.
    [ ] Practice, Practice, Practice: Having been thrown into the deep end of imperial politics, it would probably be a good idea to brush up on your skills and internalize the lessons you've learned (choose which trait; can be taken multiple times; will be more effective if you've used the trait a lot lately).
    [ ] Tutoring: One of your fellow councillors may be willing to teach you in their chosen field (choose who; can choose which, or you can let them decide).
    [ ] Really Good Swords: You have achieved proficiency with the Greatsword. Future progress is possible, though it will take more effort to see results.
    [ ] Combat Training: You're virtually surrounded by armed warriors of various sorts. See if you can convince one to teach you (choose who).
    [ ] Combat Training, In The Free Market: You haven't made many heavily armed friends yet, but gold is good for that. Go out and buy some training. (-personal gold)
    [ ] Gun Shopping: You're currently using a pistol that was a spare for the pistoliers. Visit Nuln to upgrade. (Choose: dueling pistols for accuracy and range, repeater pistols for weight of fire, dragons for hand shotguns. Choose: whether you will acquire and use two pistols at once or keep one hand free.)
    [ ] Enchantment: You're naturally talented at enchantment; so far, this just amounts to being able to make your desk meow for about an hour. See if you can improve on that, or at least figure out a way to make that useful.

    Home Comforts: Your Palace-Shrine is bursting with potential. And also mud.
    [ ] Diggy Diggy Hole, Remixed: You're getting sick of having workmen tramping in and out of your abode. Recruit an entire team and personally oversee them to clear out all of the reachable portions of the Palace-Shrine and be done with it. (-personal gold)
    [ ] Filled with Potential: You've got a room cleared out and ready to be put to use. Decide what you're going to put there and get started on equipping it. (write in the purpose of the room)

    Research:
    [ ] Undead Research: You know the basics, now. Perhaps a great deal of effort will allow you to advance further.
    [ ] Snooping: Van Hal gave you a key to his Study. It's been a while since he's been in Wurtbad; he probably forgot he did so, and won't remember until he returns. And he didn't specifically say not to poke around and see what you could find.
    [ ] Shyish-kebabs: The Shyish swords are hideously dangerous as weapons, but fascinating as a subject of study. Try to reverse-engineer the lost enchantments woven into them.
    [ ] Qhaysh Juice: Whatever it is, it's dripping out of the box at a steady rate. You've got several gallons of the stuff and it's still coming out. It's got to be good for something.
    [ ] Qhaysh Skunkworks: It would take careful study to unlock the secrets of the liquid. It would take considerably less time to find out if it can be made to burn, or explode, or do something militarily useful.
    [ ] There's always room for more shadow spells in your repertoire. Send off to the Grey College for the basics on one of the others and get started on trying to learn it.

    Influence:
    [ ] Information Network: Work alongside to Julia to administer the network. Choose another Organizational Action for the Network.
    [ ] Stirland Watch: Work alongside Jack to administer the Watch. Choose another Organizational Action for the Watch.
    [ ] Financial Jargon: Everything with the EIC flew right over your head last time. Try again. Succeeding here will mean that you can take a more active hand in the company, adding it to the organizational actions; failing or not attempting means Mathilde will remain a silent partner.
    [ ] Thieves Guild: It's currently little more than a church group, albeit of a very unconventional god. If it could be expanded under your aegis, it could be a powerful tool.
    [ ] Biderhof: This village based on woodcutting and agriculture, has adopted you as one of it's own. Maybe you should adopt it as your own, in a literal sense.
    [ ] Non-Thief Guilds: Wurtbad, like all major cities, is home to a number of guilds. Reach out to them and enforce your will.

    Relations:
    [ ] Getting To Know You: Spend time with one of your fellow councillors, your liege, or any of the other important figures you've come to know, offering your help in their tasks and generally getting a feel for them (choose one).
    [ ] Getting To Know You Whether You Like It Or Not: Trust, but verify. Spend some of your time seeing what a certain person spends their time doing (choose one).
    [ ] Letters Home: You might be able to wring more information out of your Master, or you might just be able to get news, information and guidance in general from the Grey Order.
    [o] Free Time: Now well-established in Wurtbad, you can spend some time in your scant off hours getting to know someone better. Pick one character. (not possible during Purge Turns)

    - This turn the Purge will be finishing off the Ghoul Woods; next turn is the southern Hills. After that is the final preparations before the attack on Drakenhof, which will have separate options for last-minute preparations (including hiring battle wizards). So you have two 'proper' purge turns left until the climax of the Purge.
    - Because I know what to expect: don't, repeat DON'T, expect Burning Shadows to always be this effective. This was a     double crit. Tune your expectations accordingly.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Hmmm. I'm thinking Dwarves and something to do with the Qhaysh Juice? We don't really have anything else urgent, unless we want to do another organisational action.
     
    [X] Plan Digging and Dwarfing
    -[X] The Dwarves have crossed into the Empire and joined up with the Empire forces. Perhaps you could spend some time with the general staff as the two of them start to work together.
    --[X]Ranald's Blessing
    -[X] Diggy Diggy Hole, Remixed: You're getting sick of having workmen tramping in and out of your abode. Recruit an entire team and personally oversee them to clear out all of the reachable portions of the Palace-Shrine and be done with it. (-personal gold)

    Things have calmed down a bit, let's use that. First up, Dwarves. Might be useful, insightsful or just interresting. Ranald to cover up if Diplomacy is needed (I'm willing to change this). And let's dig out our home before we start delicate detail works.

    (Did I miss anything? First time trying to make a plan)
     
    Wooot. This is what happens when someone finally releases all the stress accumulated from heavy academic work.


    Also Kasimir must have earned a trait too, he really took advantage of his repast.
     
    [X] Plan More Magical Research
    -[X] Qhaysh Juice: Whatever it is, it's dripping out of the box at a steady rate. You've got several gallons of the stuff and it's still coming out. It's got to be good for something.
    --[X] Ranald's Blessing
    -[X] Enchantment: You're naturally talented at enchantment; so far, this just amounts to being able to make your desk meow for about an hour. See if you can improve on that, or at least figure out a way to make that useful.

    Try and improve our enchanting skill, and figure out what the juice is. I'd rather not look into it's explosive properties until we know more clearly what we're dealing with.
    EDIT: Next turn we could look into the dwarves and/or Ostermarkers.
     
    Last edited:
    [X] Plan Exploding Dwarfs
    -[X] The Dwarves have crossed into the Empire and joined up with the Empire forces. Perhaps you could spend some time with the general staff as the two of them start to work together.
    -[X] Qhaysh Skunkworks: It would take careful study to unlock the secrets of the liquid. It would take considerably less time to find out if it can be made to burn, or explode, or do something militarily useful.
    --[X] Ranald's Blessing

    Researching combat uses first might get us a bonus on more extensive research later. I also don't really want to spend more personal gold yet while our finances still need sorting out.
     
    So since I don't have a lore book. What does the Arcane Mark do, and for the record, what are the other Ulgu Arcane Marks?
     
    Forty thousand men - well, closer to thirty now - reporting to him, and he needs only speak to Gustav. Gustav speaks to the four generals, the generals speak to their four colonels apiece. Each colonel has five majors, each major five captains, each captain four lieutenants, and then sergeants and corporals manage individual squads. An operation of tens of thousands and not a single officer is directly responsible for more than a half-dozen men. You make mental notes at the masterpiece of delegation that is the modern army as the machine ticks away frantically in front of you.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Unless I'm quite mistaken, this reads "you get bonuses to increasing your Martial next turn". Having later fought in a rather major battle likely doesn't hurt, either. If we're ever going to spend an action on that, now would likely be a good time- all the more so because with the main nasties in the Ghoul Woods killed, they should be on cleanup there and won't need our direct assistance.
     
    [X] Plan Go East
    -[X] Something apparently quite similar to the Purge of the Haunted Hills is going on in Ostermark's southern regions; you could inspect goings-on up there yourself.
    -- [X] Ranald's Blessing
    -[X] Financial Jargon: Everything with the EIC flew right over your head last time. Try again. Succeeding here will mean that you can take a more active hand in the company, adding it to the organizational actions; failing or not attempting means Mathilde will remain a silent partner.

    There are three reasons to learn about the EIC. Primus, the EIC will likely become highly important in Stirland economics, so Mathilde should have information on it. Secundus, we may want to partner our spy network with the EIC and we should understand it first. Tertius, a spy mistress should understand the basics of shady financial dealings.

    Some people have expressed doubts whether there is anything to know about Ostermark that we haven't already learned from the general reports. This, however, is just the problem; we won't know whether there is anything to know until we go there and find out. Maybe Ostermark has found useful information on the inhabitants of Sylvania? If their troops are doing well, maybe they can be enticed to push into Sylvania proper and help us? I think it's worth spending an action.
     
    LockedMind said:
    Why did we get Arcane Mark? I thought that things like that are consequences of (crit)failures with magic, not successes?
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    It's both. Failing at magic has a chance of causing a wide variety of effects, of which Arcane Marks are some of the better options. But succeeding too much can also cause things to occur although I believe with a higher chance of it being good. Regardless collecting Arcane Marks is just a thing that happens for wizards, with the highest level ones having a good chunk of the arcane marks of their chosen school.
    Nix's Warden said:
    So since I don't have a lore book. What does the Arcane Mark do, and for the record, what are the other Ulgu Arcane Marks?
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    I can't remember any specifics but someone earlier in the thread posted about them. I believe one Mark we could potentially get would result in people having to pass a check in order to remember who we are.
     
    [X] Plan Fighting the Empire's enemies
    -[X] The Dwarves have crossed into the Empire and joined up with the Empire forces. Perhaps you could spend some time with the general staff as the two of them start to work together.
    --[X] Ranald's Blessing
    -[X] Practice, Practice, Practice: Having been thrown into the deep end of imperial politics, it would probably be a good idea to brush up on your skills and internalize the lessons you've learned (choose which trait; can be taken multiple times; will be more effective if you've used the trait a lot lately).
    --[X] Martial

    Spending time with the general camp and with any luck we can maybe find a dwarf trainer.
    This seems like a good time to get a boost to martial.

    Kind of a shame we didn't get shrouded or Mark of Ulgu considering the double critical but oh well at least Flicker doesn't hurt us.
     
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