DocMatoi
Theoretical Lover of Girls
- Location
- within 2 hours of the White House
- Pronouns
- They/Them
the pareto principle at work
-
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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.
NSMS
Probably evil, unfortunately.
- Location
- A rapidly widening tear in the fabric of reality
Wouldn't the trait have been edited onto our sheet already then, though? I don't think this would be a negatrait that we'd get a vote to pick (or rather, I think we've already picked it).
Quest
The Great One
- Location
- Everywhere
I imagine BoneyM simply hasn't gotten to it, or he's planning to do it next update. It ties up nicely with the Tower Upgrades and he seems to be focusing on the skaven part of the plan first.
Well, if Mathilde was spending multiple actions per turn training, I think her skills would be going up. I still think there's low hanging fruit available there is we wanted it. Things like an Exfiltration or Theft skill for Intrigue, or Strategy for Martial, or other basic skills for other stats.
That's quite literally something for her to work out as part of her Journey.
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DocMatoi
Theoretical Lover of Girls
- Location
- within 2 hours of the White House
- Pronouns
- They/Them
we can't teach her spells- we're not her magister. Her development is her own deal.
Which is to say, it lies within the Bone(yM) Zone (of control).
she is deff good at it, but there is a difference between a talent (raw Stats) in the art of sneaky and training and skills, (Traits and Shadow magic,) in it.
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
Magic goes up if you learn spells, get a staff, and stuff like that.
None of that is our business.
- Location
- Goose Land
Three ways I see it.
We fail to flip or convert Qrech, and so he needs to die once we finish with him.
We flip but don't convert Qrech, he ends up as an Intelligence Asset inside the Grey College and provides intel and insight to the Empire as a whole while squirreled away from assassination attempts.
We flip and convert Qrech? Maybe Ranald changes his species. Maybe he ends up just broken from the Horned Rat's influence. But it'll likely just be a more secure version of the flip scenario.
- Location
- Actually pretty lost
Wait - I've got it. We smuggle Qrech to Nuln, and have the Empress help us pull our second-greatest heist ever - a ritual to Ranald where we steal a Skaven back from the Horned Rat, and turn him human!
Well spending multiple actions training every turn is... unlikely to happen. A steady one training action per turn is still pretty decent considering AP hell.
THe comparison point in question is Gretel, who people were saying was progressing a lot faster than Mathilde, and I was pointing out that the former could be spending multiple training actions a turn, and that if Mathilde could do the same she'd probably progress as fast or faster.
NSMS
Probably evil, unfortunately.
- Location
- A rapidly widening tear in the fabric of reality
I guess that's the advantage of being a journeyman; unless you have a job (like Mathilde did), you're free to spend a lot of time on self-improvement.
Abby Normal
High Clerk of the Ymaryn
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Earliest i've got is from after the hiatus, i'm afraid. Iirc, i didn't discover the quest until then?
Speaking of, however, new sneak peek updates while i was playing smash with a friend:
Its new, along with another ogre kingdom tick; our skaven friend is picking up more books:
Char sheet also has these listed now, but as far as i can tell nothing new as yet.
+1 Martial, +1 Intrigue for Johann =3
For any who missed the earlier sneak peek, Gretel gained +1 intrigue and a new(ly revealed?) trait
Looks like Wilhelmina took advantage of the weaver search to get some good dominance (again, on par with 'half the docks on the entire river are ours) of wool trade!
Ok back to hangout now, they just finished making lunch for us
- Location
- Canada
The Dreaded 14th returns
We shall raise an Army of Mathildes!
Turn 24 Results - 2481.5 - Part 1
[*] Plan Translation Extraction (Ultimate Tower Edition), 10 Pull Gacha Edition
-[-] MAX: Study an artefact: Skaven book on the Anatomy of Chaos Dwarves.
-[*] JOHANN: Join him on raids into Clan Mors territory with the aim of finding written correspondence.
-[*] DUCK: Gretel's motivated by wealth. Take her on a raid against Clan Mors, looking for wealth and Queekish.
-[-] EIC: Have the Eight Peaks branch keep a careful eye on the mood and actions of the Undumgi.
-[-] Travel to the Grey College and attend lessons there. (1 College Favour per class; 100gc can be paid instead for non-magical classes)
--[-] Spend 10 Favour to get all remaining spells.
-[*] Red Tower: build a tower that uses Aqshy to create mystical flames (and non-mystical light) to use the mountain at night.
-[*] Blue Tower: build a tower that uses Azyr to create clear sky on demand.
-[*] Supply a steady stream of Queekish documents for him to translate, and carefully check the results for consistency.
--[*] Convince Qrech that the Empire has already translated Queekish, but his help could provide a faster turnaround and better help you plan an attack on Clan Mors.
-[-] Serenity: Write a paper: Your personal understanding of countering Waaagh Magic.
-[-] Penthouse: Add security measures to your Penthouse to prevent surreptitious entry.
-[*] The Deceiver: Support Skaven Gambit.
-[-] MAX: Study an artefact: Skaven book on the Anatomy of Chaos Dwarves.
-[*] JOHANN: Join him on raids into Clan Mors territory with the aim of finding written correspondence.
-[*] DUCK: Gretel's motivated by wealth. Take her on a raid against Clan Mors, looking for wealth and Queekish.
-[-] EIC: Have the Eight Peaks branch keep a careful eye on the mood and actions of the Undumgi.
-[-] Travel to the Grey College and attend lessons there. (1 College Favour per class; 100gc can be paid instead for non-magical classes)
--[-] Spend 10 Favour to get all remaining spells.
-[*] Red Tower: build a tower that uses Aqshy to create mystical flames (and non-mystical light) to use the mountain at night.
-[*] Blue Tower: build a tower that uses Azyr to create clear sky on demand.
-[*] Supply a steady stream of Queekish documents for him to translate, and carefully check the results for consistency.
--[*] Convince Qrech that the Empire has already translated Queekish, but his help could provide a faster turnaround and better help you plan an attack on Clan Mors.
-[-] Serenity: Write a paper: Your personal understanding of countering Waaagh Magic.
-[-] Penthouse: Add security measures to your Penthouse to prevent surreptitious entry.
-[*] The Deceiver: Support Skaven Gambit.
The Brights tend to be a practical lot, and those that lean towards enchantment usually lack the worst eccentricities of their kind, so you feel comfortable putting the word out and seeing who responds. The result is Hugo Bann, who according to College rumour had an extremely promising career take an unexpected turn from an unfortunate miscast, though said rumours never agree on what exact form that miscast took, and he has never cast battle magic in anger since. Instead he delved into the art of turning, creating staffs not just to improve the channelling of Aqshy, but also allowing for much easier casting of various manifestations of flames. He's a giant of a man, towering at least a foot taller than the tip of your hat, and after a bluff greeting he throws himself into the task, fire-etching runes into support beams and building an enchantment piece by laborious piece. An interesting challenge, he says; apparently most high-level Bright Magic is concerned with making as much of the energy manifest as heat instead of light as possible, and taking things the other way is a great way to stretch a mind that easily grows tired of the usual orders for staves.
The Celestials are a more tedious sort, but you've got an inside source, and Magister Kereveld arrives with a classmate of his: Klaus Solmann, who's trying to build his dream observatory in some town in Ostland but keeps burning through his resources as the scope of the project keeps expanding. The two of them set to work, bickering good-naturedly and spending what seems to you an unreasonable amount of time staring up at stars, trying to determine some esoteric local stellar property that may or may not impact the tower itself. You're forced to be present for every step of the way, as very few wizards are used to this many Winds operating at once, and you need to take regular countermeasures to ensure that ambient magical leakage will be minimized.
It's a long, tedious process, but inch by agonizing inch the third and fourth towers of Karag Nar take shape and stretch towards the sky. The Red Tower will be easy enough to keep powered; your hearths and fireplaces are all linked up to the same outlet, and you have it moved so the smoke emits from the top of the Red Tower, robbed of the ambient Aqshy that the fires below produced, and in a pinch you could just build a bonfire inside it, as the wooden beams it's constructed out of are apparently no longer flammable. The Blue Tower is much simpler, as at this height ambient Azyr is prevalent, and if that's not enough, the lightning spire on top of it will be constantly absorbing Azyr and electricity alike when the weather is at its most disruptive. Once more King Belegar's goodwill flows into the Colleges; you wonder how many times those favours will be traded before they're finally called in, and the final form the repayment of them might take.
---
For your gambit to extract knowledge of Queekish from Qrech without him realizing the importance of what he would be sharing, you need documents, ideally documents from Clan Mors. Luckily you're not short of underlings eager to go on raids into Skaven territory, and the first up is Gretel, who has recently begun to show an impressive ability to move unseen in the underground tunnels dominated by the Skaven. You've got a theory or two along those lines - Maurer is the traditional surname of masons, but it's also a common one given to foundlings and orphans raised by the Temple of Morr. Your own upbringing was far from opulent, but you don't doubt those that compete for the few resources dedicated to helping the most vulnerable had it worse than you. Did Gretel turn to theft to survive? Or perhaps for comfort? Did the gift of magic provide a future for her, or did it steer her off one she'd already chosen?
You've no way to learn for yourself without asking some rather personal questions, and it wouldn't be fair or sporting to use the Grey College's resources to settle your curiosity, so you leave the question unanswered for now as the two of you start to probe the outer limits of Mors' expanded territory. Though they undoubtedly took heavy casualties from Clan Moulder and more holding back the green tide from Black Crag, they equally undoubtedly would have feasted well on Clan Moulder and their creatures, added to their slaves, and possibly even captured breeders if the Moulder leaders had enough hubris. You certainly hope their numbers are diminished, but the only way to find out for sure is to see for yourself. Sure enough, your findings reinforce your hunch, and the fronts pointed towards the Citadel are stripped to the bone, a mere handful of clanrats on barricades that once had entire platoons dedicated to them. The slightest noise in the darkness sends the 'guards' diving for cover rather than investigating, so you bypass them with ease. You're starting to wonder how dedicated Eshin is to Mors' destruction, considering that their most skilled would surely find it as trivial as you and Gretel do to circle around and penetrate their defences.
[Robbing Clan Mors: 88+20=108]
Though Gretel's raw affinity for the shadows is almost the equal of your own, the Lore of Death is not suited for stealthy endeavours. You could certainly cast a few suitable spells on her, but though that might make this foray easier, it would do nothing to sharpen her own abilities, since she can't rely on always having a Grey Wizard on hand. So you let her take the lead, and grow more and more impressed as she pushes further and further into Mors' territory. There are several false starts and it takes a few different attempts until you find out the safest way through the tunnels when invisibility isn't an option, but eventually you once more find yourself passing through the Cavern of Stars and into the Trench. When last you were here, this was a nervous but still thriving center of trade and industry, but it seems Mors has not profited from their recent expansion. Now only a handful of Skaven mill about the much-reduced marketplace, and they're short enough of resources that light sources are few and far between. This, of course, increases the ability of the two of you to make yourselves at home in what should be the heart of Clan Mors' power.
[Rolling...]
[Jewels, Jewels, Organ Vat, Gold Coins]
[Rolling...]
You direct Gretel towards where you remember permanent guards being posted previously, and though you could literally walk right through the door, you watch as the girl produces lockpicks from an inner pocket and in only a minute or two has the door swinging open. From the sheer amount of stuff piled around and the number of bars on the door you take it to be the home of a Chieftain or possible even a Warlord, and you shut the door behind you and conjure light to begin your search, each starting from one end and working your way through. Most of it is of dubious value, broken weapons from vanquished enemies, skulls still bearing the toothmarks from being gnawed clean, piles of silk stolen from caravans that once would be priceless but after years of neglect held value only to the fungus and insects that had colonized it. And, of course, copious amounts of the warpstone tokens they use for currency, which is worse than worthless to you but you gather it up anyway - the Dwarves have ways to properly seal it away, and better that than in Skaven hands. But here and there you make discoveries worth the effort; a chest containing a solid-black gem, a small sack of blood-red jewels, and Gretel was brave enough to dig through a fetid nest of haphazardly-piled cloth that serves the Skaven as a bed, and was rewarded with a pillow that bore tightly-bound golden coins inside its stuffing. The desk is your last port of call, confirming that not even Skaven are free of paperwork, and you gather up everything bearing the scratchy runes of Queekish.
The two of you spend a few more days lurking in the area, but it seems your burglary prompted the Skaven to shake at least a few clanrats free from the front lines and opportunities dry up. You wrap the voyage up with an ambush on a trio of Stormvermin hauling a cart containing some sort of murky, chilled vat that seems like Moulder-work to you, and with some effort you haul it back out of the tunnels, your hands only slightly sparking from leaking Dhar. All in all, a profitable campaign, and all that's left to do is split the booty.
As before, ceding more than you claim is generous, claiming more than you cede is technically your right but is unlikely to endear you to others. You automatically Claim the Skaven correspondence, and it does count as a claim.
Blood-Red Jewels
Living in a Karak means never being far from someone with a loupe. Garnets, but of a shade far deeper than ones typically found in these mountains. Their value is uncertain; perhaps novelty will make them worth more, perhaps unfamiliarity less.
[ ] GARNET: Split
[ ] GARNET: Cede
[ ] GARNET: Claim
Solid-Black Gem
It's not magical; it's the opposite of magical. Possibly some sort of protective charm?
[ ] GEM: Joint research
[ ] GEM: Sell and split
[ ] GEM: Cede
[ ] GEM: Claim and sell
[ ] GEM: Claim and research
Golden Coins
They bear Khazalid letters, but instead of a King or an Ancestor-God, the face is that of a bull, and the runes give praise to a 'Hashut'. They're significantly larger than Karaz Ankor coins, and if their gold content can be trusted, you estimate about 1,000 gold coins worth.
[ ] COINS: Split
[ ] COINS: Cede
[ ] COINS: Claim
Organ Vat
Kept chilled through some sort of warptech, and it's either very efficient or well-contained because it's hardly leaking Dhar at all. Inside the murky liquid float organs you can't identify.
[ ] VAT: Joint research
[ ] VAT: Send to College and split
[ ] VAT: Cede
[ ] VAT: Claim and send to College
[ ] VAT: Claim and research
Queekish Correspondence
To and from either a Chieftain or a Warlord of Clan Mors.
[*] Claim
---
Being directly in your employ instead of merely loosely under your authority, Johann is happy to follow your choice of target instead of having to find a compromise that serves both of you. As such, you move far from the location of your recent jaunts with Gretel, and instead begin to plan and execute a series of raids into any weak points you can find in Mors' defensive lines. It's easy to forget that Johann can be quite underhanded when he wants to be, what with him being a slab of golden muscle with an ever-growing level of expertise in punching things, but he's able to keep up with you as you take him towards the positions you mapped out in advance that require only a short charge and a quick battle to grant you access to whatever they might have.
[Johann's stealth: 90+18=108.]
[Johann's combat: 72+15=87.]
[Loot roll: 30.]
[Crit loot roll: 3.]
[Rolling...]
Anyone without your confidence would call the results you achieve beyond your wildest expectations. As is, you merely smile at a result that falls neatly within your forecast for best-case scenario.
Over two weeks Clan Mors is rocked by a series of raids on their most isolated guard posts, with reinforcements arriving to find the guards, their equipment, their correspondence, and their weapons nowhere to be found, which is far from necessary but does mean they're unable to pin the blame on anyone in particular. Particularly cunning greenskins? Techno-sorcerous devilry from Skryre? The usual shenanigans of Eshin? That the weapons are melted down by Dwarves for scrap iron, the Skaven either turned over to the We if punched senseless or to the Halflings for composting if they're bisected by Branulhune, and their correspondence and anything else of interest is added to your growing collection of Skaven curiosities is likely far from the top of their suspect list.
Though you do add significantly to your collection of Queekish writings, the rest of the loot is fairly lackluster, and all you end up keeping are several more examples of Skaven firearms. This doesn't really increase your research possibilities, but it does mean that whoever ends up poking at them will have an easier time of it, and will have no need to hold back from destructive testing.
---
"Qrech," you say in greeting as you reach the barred doorway to the Skaven's cell.
"Mathilde," he replies, still slightly stumbling over the Reikspiel name, though you suspect that's only part of the reason. His cell now has a small bookshelf over the stone desk, and though most books rotate out into your library as he finishes with them, there's a few favourites that he's kept, mostly on the Ogre Kingdoms. He seems to have developed a fascination with them. You hand over the latest acquisition, and as always his thankyou sounds awkward and self-conscious. If his interest remains fixed on the Ogres, he'll have exhausted the readily available Dwarven sources and you'll have to start considering your next move on that front.
With his focus on the book, it takes him a moment to notice what was in your other hand; a small square of wood, about the size of your palm on each side. Ulrikadrin hardwood, which Johann had started supplying to his rapidly-growing children after their teeth started growing uncomfortably large, and after a few more book purchases you'd started to suspect that your prisoner might be concealing his discomfort from you. "Your teeth," you say, and you're familiar enough with him to recognize that he has just become significantly more tense. You place the block of wood on the desk in front of him and take the stone seat opposite him. "They never stop growing, do they?"
"I am fine," he says, but he does reach out and grip the wooden block.
"I do not seek your weakness," you remind him. "You are already under my power. If you have a problem, that is also my problem, not my opportunity." Qrech turns the wooden block over and over in his hands, trying to process the information that Ranald's Coin won't let him disbelieve. The cube wasn't quite the legendary Ironbark the Dwarves prized, and the carpenters among them were always quick to grumble about it, but it was certainly dense and tough. The block was also just small enough that it couldn't be shaped into any sort of weapon, and you'd be supplying one with his morning meal each day from now on. "Speaking of problems," you say, knowing that it would take more than words to get around the paranoia that Skaven society had instilled in Qrech, "there is one you might be able to help me with." You produce a few samples of Clan Mors' correspondence. "Those that should be my allies demand a great deal to do what should be their duty. It takes six weeks and an irritating amount of influence to process translations."
"It is ever thus," Qrech says with a nod, seemingly glad the topic is moving on, and either unsurprised or suppressing any reaction to the news that humans could translate Queekish, divine magic bypassing any suspicion he might have had.
"My leaders want assurances that Traitor-Clan Mors is vulnerable before they risk their soldiers and their reputation on an assault, but though I can intercept Traitor-Clan Mors' communications easily enough, I cannot get a rapid translation of their meaning. Then it occurs to me that clever Qrech speaks Khazalid, so he could translate these letters into Khazalid for me." Qrech had reflexively scowled at the mention of Clan Mors, but beyond that automatic reaction he seems to be thinking quite deeply. You sit still, letting him process your words.
"Only that of Traitor-Clan Mors?" he asks cautiously.
"All of them were taken from Traitor-Clan Mors. I do not know who originally wrote them. If anything they have was taken from another Clan, you may destroy it or translate it as you wish."
"Skryre and Eshin are better than Traitor-Clan, but Clan Moulder will shed no tears if they are made vulnerable," he muses. Finally, he puts the wood block he'd been fiddling with down on the table with a click of wood on stone. "Qrech, Chieftain of Clan Moulder, will do this. But Qrech, prisoner of Battlemage Mathilde, has conditions."
"Speak them."
"More books. Of the Ogres, or of their Maw, or of their Gut-sorcery." He pauses, searching for a word, waving a paw at the door. "Curtain," he finally says. "To block the light when I wish to block the light. And company. A pet, like the wolf-beast that always watches over you."
"A curtain will be installed when you awaken tomorrow. I shall consider the others." He nods and you stand, leaving the letters and a small stick of graphite on the desk in front of him, considering whether and how you will meet his requests.
You have exhausted the commonly-available Khazalid books on the Ogres; any additional books may contain information valuable to the Under-Empire, should Qrech ever return to it.
[ ] BOOK: Rarer Dwarven books on the Ogre Kingdoms.
[ ] BOOK: Dwarven books on Gut Magic.
[ ] BOOK: Dwarven books on the Great Maw.
[ ] BOOK: Reikspiel books on the Ogre Kingdoms, supply a Khazalid-Reikspiel dictionary and...
- [ ] Take the time to teach him.
Will take an action next turn.
- [ ] Have Max teach him.
Will take Max's action next turn.
- [ ] Try to find a very open-minded Dwarf to teach him.
- [ ] Find the most fluent of the Undumgi and have them teach him.
[ ] BOOK: Deny request.
[ ] PET: A pet rat, of course.
[ ] PET: A puppy, of a smaller but non-ratting breed.
[ ] PET: Johann's wolf-rats are regular visitors to your penthouse, let them visit Qrech.
[ ] PET: A bird.
- As your raid buddies were the stealth bottleneck, the spells you may have learned wouldn't help one way or the other, so I've left them until later in the turn.
- Splitting the Loot is a plan vote; the book/pet decision is not. Remember to keep all your votes in one post.
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Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Okay, Chaos Dwarf gold, we're gonna need to melt that down into something else, is this going to happen automatically @BoneyM?
Gretel can definitely have the garnets though, she's established that she wants more bling, the black gem should be study material, not sure what to do about the vats.
Deciever Coin did work for us though, he didn't even blink at our story--and it fits the Skaven worldview that you can get anything as long as you can pay the right price, so he didn't second-guess his belief.
Gretel can definitely have the garnets though, she's established that she wants more bling, the black gem should be study material, not sure what to do about the vats.
Deciever Coin did work for us though, he didn't even blink at our story--and it fits the Skaven worldview that you can get anything as long as you can pay the right price, so he didn't second-guess his belief.
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So Querch wants books on Gut Magic of all things. I wonder if his interest is purely academic? If I were a Skaven who had ended up a prisoner of the Horned Rat's enemies and pondering the notion of displeasing him though cooperation, apostasy would seem rather tempting and the Black Hunger does have some affinity to the Maw. On the other hand I would not give good odds of being able to catch its attention so far removed from its area of interest.
Honestly I'd rather have or split the garnets.
We have a mile long backlog of research materials, to the point we haven't properly studied our pile of amazing one of a kind things. I'd much rather pick up a bit more gold and expand the library more rather than acquire another distraction.
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
Can't we get something bigger but slower/stupider?
Because a rat, wolfrat ,puppy or bird all make decent enough messengers.
On the other hand, big things make decent sacrifice.
Edit: I assume it would be cruel to give him a cat?
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- Location
- Europa, Jupiter Orbit
Hmm. How about a pet chicken or something?
That's what I meant. It's just that all of those kinds of options seem to be gone. Or maybe I'm just blind.
Why would this be a problem if we give him a pet of a non-rare species? Like a chicken for instance.