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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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veekie said:
What stages of grief is Mathilde left with?
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Depends on a lot of things, but I guess a rough outline would be.

Bargaining: Begging and pleading with the Gods to save Al's life as he was dying.
Anger: The intense emotion that had her tell the guards that anyone who entered the tent while she was away was going to die, and meaning to enforce it.
Denial: Continuing the campaign without Al. This is what he would've wanted had he been alive and it is mentally delaying the inevitable.

So there is still depression and acceptance left, but all the aforementioned is pretty sketchy. She might cycle through the stages a couple of times before she gets to acceptance in a couple months to a year. Or longer depending on how consistently she is reminded of the death and if she gives herself proper time to grieve.
 
Thor's Twin said:
Depends on a lot of things, but I guess a rough outline would be.

Bargaining: Begging and pleading with the Gods to save Al's life as he was dying.
Anger: The intense emotion that had her tell the guards that anyone who entered the tent while she was away was going to die, and meaning to enforce it.
Denial: Continuing the campaign without Al. This is what he would've wanted had he been alive and it is mentally delaying the inevitable.

So there is still depression and acceptance left, but all the aforementioned is pretty sketchy. She might cycle through the stages a couple of times before she gets to acceptance in a couple months to a year. Or longer depending on how consistently she is reminded of the death and if she gives herself proper time to grieve.
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I should point out here that the stages of grief aren't actually a real thing. It's like that 'common fact' about how humans only use 10% of their brain.

I just want to clear that up for any of you readers who aren't already aware of this. If someone tells you there is a 'proper' way of grieving and you have to go through 'the 5 stages of grief' or something then they're full of crap.

Like a lot of lame pop-psychology the stages of grief is taken from an old outdated source, then taken completely out of context and then dumbed down to make it become potentially actively damaging.
 
thisisinsane said:
The same as the Wartbad vote
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It doesn't read like that. It reads like you want an emotional interlude after which we once again will "decide what to do with your life", in other words, repeat the current vote. While I'd appreciate if made current choice being better informed, I don't like the thought of breaking the intended quest flow with unapproved write-in.
 
WorldSlayer said:
I should point out here that the stages of grief aren't actually a real thing. It's like that 'common fact' about how humans only use 10% of their brain.

I just want to clear that up for any of you readers who aren't already aware of this. If someone tells you there is a 'proper' way of grieving and you have to go through 'the 5 stages of grief' or something then they're full of crap.

Like a lot of lame pop-psychology the stages of grief is taken from an old outdated source, then taken completely out of context and then dumbed down to make it become potentially actively damaging.
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I'm aware. Its a handy literary shorthand for plotting out what comes next.
Do not use on real people.

Real people do not fit in neat boxes without lopping bits off.
 
[X] The campaign is over, so your duty to Abelhelm is done. What else is there? Leave. Pack your snake-in-a-box, pack your equipment, pack your savings, pack the Liber Mortis, and go somewhere else.
 
Alliterate said:
Well, the Amethysts sent three of their biggest hitters, and the Lights had a Magister representative.
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Jovi wasn't exactly a representative of the Lights, he came personally.
"Sylvania, hmm? Interesting." He purses his lips thoughtfully. "We're aware of the assault, and have decided our attentions are needed elsewhere. However, I am due a holiday and this does seem interesting. Tell your master that the Sunscryer will join in the fun."
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Although I may be reading too much into that, if something perhaps happened behind the scenes like the Light Order pre-arranging that Jovi Sunscryer's holiday should double as their rendering service.
Whereas the Amethyst Order sent excellent support initially, but then decided to bugger off and run into tunnels on Mysterious Wizard Business without even explaining what was so important they had to abandon the army. Bad wizard, no cookie.
Alliterate said:
That the Patriarch went off after some (probably) Terrible Ancient Necromantic Evil below the town, after the Elector Count died... well, if in his judgment 'service' is trying to prevent that falling into the wrong hands, or animating and attacking the besieging army on the back... well, that's pretty much his call?
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Even just saying "Article Fifteen" would have helped a lot if we knew that the Patriarch was going off to counter a destructive and anti-Imperial machination of some sort, which takes priority. And when Hexensohn dropped, the other wizards should have notified us twice over, because when you're losing people to secret trouble you tell someone, so that you don't risk the trouble killing everyone who knows and spreading unchecked or becoming a secret weapon of the enemy. If it's important enough to demand the Patriarch's attention, it's important enough to make sure word gets back.

I understand Mathilde would likely not be personally entitled as a Journeywoman to details, but she was positionally entitled as Army Commander to know about the general existence of a bogey, particularly when the wizards were commandeering soldiers.
 
Exmorri said:
Even just saying "Article Fifteen" would have helped a lot if we knew that the Patriarch was going off to counter a destructive and anti-Imperial machination of some sort, which takes priority. And when Hexensohn dropped, the other wizards should have notified us twice over, because when you're losing people to secret trouble you tell someone, so that you don't risk the trouble killing everyone who knows and spreading unchecked or becoming a secret weapon of the enemy. If it's important enough to demand the Patriarch's attention, it's important enough to make sure word gets back.

I understand Mathilde would likely not be personally entitled as a Journeywoman to details, but she was positionally entitled as Army Commander to know about the general existence of a bogey, particularly when the wizards were commandeering soldiers.
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Actually as I understand it normally they wouldn't tell the commanding officer about wizard business, especially business about wizards who had gone bad. Internal college business and all.
They WOULD tell other wizards to secure their cooperation though, which they didn't here.

That they didn't tell the commanding wizard...I imagine they might have concluded that Mathilde was not enough of a wizard to be trusted?
 
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Assault on Drakenhof, Part 8: Way Back Home
  • Threadmarks
    • [*] The campaign is over, but your duty to Stirland remains. Go home to Wurtbad.

    Part of you wants to pack up and leave Stirland behind, but pragmatism, duty and sentimentality combine to stop you. You've a base of power, you've a duty to at least see to a proper handover of power, and you've got friends in Stirland, albeit less than when the campaign started. So as the army packs up, you remain with them, technically still in command though there's no orders to give. You do note with some faint amusement that the carts that had delivered food, ammunition and blackpowder have been returning filled with freshly-cut lumber from the sightlines the dwarves cleared to bombard the former Castle; Wilhelmina never misses a trick.

    The first separation happens almost immediately, as the Third Division remain on the far side of the River Drak to garrison the 'annexed' Drakenhof. You travel with them to see the town that claimed Abelhelm one more time, and oversee the mounting of fifty greatcannon on the walls of Drakenhof - and not all of them facing outwards. The town is not going to fall out of Stirlandian hands without a fight.

    By the time you return to the bulk of the forces, they're splitting again. The Fourth Division and Schultz are staying behind to garrison and fortify what some are starting to call Abelhelm's Bridge, and some of the dwarves and halflings are staying with them, at least for now. On top of that, a contingent of the dwarves, mostly miners and quarrellers, are striking off south to blaze a trail to Zhufbar through the mountains.

    You spend a great deal of the next few weeks in the back of a wagon, holding court with the leaders of the forces that remain. You strike a pro tem agreement with the dwarves to delineate where the Haunted Hills end and the World's Edge Mountains begin, to be ratified by the incoming Elector Count, and generally spent a great deal of time reminiscing over dwarven ale. Narfi is rapt with what he's calling the two greatest artillery campaigns he could have hoped for: bombarding an enemy-occupied town from their own walls, and the utter destruction of a pre-gunpowder castle. Thori has a section copied out of Zhufbar's Book of Grudges for reference purposes and is radiating sublime satisfaction as he makes notes as to how many could be considered Avenged by the campaign, not only against the von Carsteins and their ilk but also a few relatively minor matters they still considered outstanding against the von Draks. All in all, you seem to be getting along fairly well with the dwarves.

    [Previous Dwarf Rep: +1]
    [Govibarazak: +2]
    [Two sublime demonstrations of the power of artillery: +2]
    [Grudges Avenged: +8]
    [Adbarazi: Your Oath Fulfilled: +2]
    [Total: +15]

    Also occupying you on the long road from Drakenhof to Leicheberg is a side-project with your maps and a pot of glue.


    ---

    When you finally arrive in Leicheberg, most of the combined forces disappear - the Halflings heading home to the Moot, the Throng of Zhufbar to the Zhufbar Road in Southern Stirland, and the Second Division returning to Fort Redemption. In Zipf, the Black Guard of Morr head north to Siegfriedhof, the other Knightly Orders to Talabecland, and the Throng of Karak Kadrin home via Ostermark. It is only the First Division, some five thousand men, that remain for the rest of the trip to Wurtbad.

    With the good company of the dwarves gone, you spend a lot of time alone with your thoughts as you let your wounds slowly heal on the road to Wurtbad. You were exposed to a lot of information and revelations over the course of the campaign. But there's one thing that stands out above all the rest for you that strikes you as the greatest lesson of the Purge:

    ONE of the following will become a new trait:
    [ ] Artillery is the King of Battle.
    [ ] Dwarves are the greatest ally of humanity.
    [ ] The Halflings have proven themselves as a worthy neighbour.
    [ ] If such rank amateurs could rival the strength of an entire Province, imagine what a skilled hand could do with Dhar.
    [ ] The dead of Sylvania's prehistory deserve an undisturbed rest.
    [ ] Magic used recklessly has catastrophic effects; great care must be taken in it's handling.
    [ ] The best battle is one where the enemy never gets a strike in.
    [ ] The best counterspell is, in fact, a blackpowder projectile to the face.
    [ ] The Black Guard of Morr were the most dependable human asset across the entire campaign.
    [ ] Magic is unreliable, gods are doubly so: always have a mundane solution.
    [ ] It's not a great hero who carries the day, but a lot of small men working in concert.
    [ ] The fog of war is a bitch, to all involved.
    [ ] Expertise matters. And Stirland has precious little of it.
    [ ] Mathematics is universal.
    [ ] Complex problems, simple solutions.
    [ ] Unity brings Strength, Discord brings Failure.
    [ ] Other (write in)

    But as great an educational experience as the campaign could be considered, it was still a tragedy. There were a great deal of lives lost, and you can't help but brood over everything that went wrong and what could have been done better. As the walls of Wurtbad finally approach, there's one haunting thought that you simply cannot shake.

    ONE of the following will become a new trait:
    [ ] In the confusion of battle, even the greatest warrior can lose their life pointlessly.
    [ ] The Colleges of Magic act in their own interest, rather than that of the Empire.
    [ ] Sylvanians will meekly accept any tyrant, to the point of complicity in their actions.
    [ ] The Empire is a morass of self-interest, to the point of becoming a millstone around the neck of humanity.
    [ ] The Morrite compunction against mutilating corpses is the greatest gift necromancers could ask for.
    [ ] I, personally, failed to protect Abelhelm.
    [ ] What use are infantry, if all they can do is die in droves?
    [ ] Magic is a curse; Magisters and rogue mages alike will eventually die in it's handling.
    [ ] Sigmar abandoned his most worthy follower in his hour of need.
    [ ] Gods will not help us.
    [ ] Mysteries are not worth unraveling - just bury them deeper and call it a day.
    [ ] You can't trust people to have your back.
    [ ] I will never meet a man as worthy as Abelhelm was.
    [ ] Dwarven ale is a valid coping mechanism.
    [ ] Other (write in)

    - I've been working on and off on trying to join up the maps of Stirland and Sylvania since the start of the quest, and it's appropriate that I've finally learned enough about image editing to accomplish it now.
    - I'm allowing Approval Voting - feel free to vote for multiple items, but be aware that only one will win.
     
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    • [X] Expertise matters. And Stirland has precious little of it.
    [X] Dwarven ale is a valid coping mechanism.
     
    [X] It's not a great hero who carries the day, but a lot of small men working in concert.
    [X] In the confusion of battle, even the greatest warrior can lose their life pointlessly.
     
    [X] If such rank amateurs could rival the strength of an entire Province, imagine what a skilled hand could do with Dhar.
    [X] I, personally, failed to protect Abelhelm.
    And none of you are allowed to act surprised that I'm voting this.

    Unless you just joined us last update, in which case: Hi! Welcome to Divided Loyalties, a quest that surely looked alot different six updates ago than it does now!
     
    [X] The fog of war is a bitch, to all involved.
    [X] If such rank amateurs could rival the strength of an entire Province, imagine what a skilled hand could do with Dhar.
    [X] Sigmar abandoned his most worthy follower in his hour of need.

    I'm fine with either Lesson.
     
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    Hilariously: I don't think we casted any magic this battle.

    The Wizard's curse afflicted everyone, including us, but since we weren't using magic, there was precisely 0 chance of miscasting. :V
     
    [x] The fog of war is a bitch, to all involved.
    Very suitable for a spymistress and a grey mage. It leads to superior recon operation on our side, magical or not, and skills in disinformation, misdirection and large-scale stealth used against the enemy.
    I also like Mathematics is universal (+learning +enchanting +stewardship), Complex problems, simple solutions (a development of Practical trait), and Artillery is the King of Battle (Luminark creator is dead, but we may be the future creator of Shadowtank or Ninja Artillery or something).

    [x] The Empire is a morass of self-interest, to the point of becoming a millstone around the neck of humanity.
    That's very Ranaldite of us. I also like The Colleges of Magic act in their own interest, rather than that of the Empire (works nicely with our hidden puppeteer problem) and I will never meet a man as worthy as Abelhelm was.


    UPD: never seen a vote this divided in this quest.
     
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    [X] Magic is unreliable, gods are doubly so: always have a mundane solution.
    [X] Gods will not help us.
     
    Can we get to throw a bitchfit at the Grand Theogonist for sending us a useless priest? Because seriously our priest is one or two steps over less than useless.

    [X] Artillery is the King of Battle.
    [X] I will never meet a man as worthy as Abelhelm was.
     
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    [X] Complex problems, simple solutions.
    [X] Dwarves are the greatest ally of humanity.
    [X] Magic used recklessly has catastrophic effects; great care must be taken in it's handling.
    [X] The best battle is one where the enemy never gets a strike in.
    [X] The best counterspell is, in fact, a blackpowder projectile to the face.
    [X] The Black Guard of Morr were the most dependable human asset across the entire campaign.
    [X] It's not a great hero who carries the day, but a lot of small men working in concert.
    [X] The fog of war is a bitch, to all involved.
    [X] Expertise matters. And Stirland has precious little of it.
    [X] Mathematics is universal.

    [X] In the confusion of battle, even the greatest warrior can lose their life pointlessly.
    [X] The Empire is a morass of self-interest, to the point of becoming a millstone around the neck of humanity.
    [X] I, personally, failed to protect Abelhelm.
    [X] What use are infantry, if all they can do is die in droves?
    [X] Sigmar abandoned his most worthy follower in his hour of need.
    [X] Mysteries are not worth unraveling - just bury them deeper and call it a day.
     
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    ONE of the following will become a new trait:
    [X] Artillery is the King of Battle.
    [X] Dwarves are the greatest ally of humanity.
    [X] The Halflings have proven themselves as a worthy neighbour.
    [X] The dead of Sylvania's prehistory deserve an undisturbed rest.
    [X] Magic used recklessly has catastrophic effects; great care must be taken in it's handling.
    [X] The best battle is one where the enemy never gets a strike in.
    [X] The best counterspell is, in fact, a blackpowder projectile to the face.
    [X] The Black Guard of Morr were the most dependable human asset across the entire campaign.
    [X] Magic is unreliable, gods are doubly so: always have a mundane solution.
    [X] It's not a great hero who carries the day, but a lot of small men working in concert.
    [X] The fog of war is a bitch, to all involved.
    [X] Expertise matters. And Stirland has precious little of it.
    [X] Complex problems, simple solutions.
    [X] Unity brings Strength, Discord brings Failure.

    ONE of the following will become a new trait:
    [X] In the confusion of battle, even the greatest warrior can lose their life pointlessly.
    [X] The Colleges of Magic act in their own interest, rather than that of the Empire.
    [X] Sylvanians will meekly accept any tyrant, to the point of complicity in their actions.
    [X] The Empire is a morass of self-interest, to the point of becoming a millstone around the neck of humanity.
    [X] I, personally, failed to protect Abelhelm.
    [X] Magic is a curse; Magisters and rogue mages alike will eventually die in it's handling.
    [X] Gods will not help us.
    [X] You can't trust people to have your back.
     
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    Shard said:
    Hilariously: I don't think we casted any magic this battle.

    The Wizard's curse afflicted everyone, including us, but since we weren't using magic, there was precisely 0 chance of miscasting. :V
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    Actually, we did cast some magic when defending Van Hal.
    BoneyM said:
    A second, a second, is all the lull you get between the endless onrushing of skeletal fiends, but it's enough to scoop Orc Hewer from where it fell. You can feel magic humming under your hands, and not wild, dangerous, treacherous magic you know so well but magic that has been broken and tamed and used against the enemies of man for thousands of years. It doesn't threaten to twist free of your grip if your attention wavers, but hums eagerly in your grip, and where you were battering the skeletons away you are now tearing them apart where they stand, and those that replace them stumble on fallen bones, the fell magic animating them too crude for them to be anything but clumsy. Contempt rises in you, contempt for the wizard who crafted these abominations - they fell to the temptations of dark magic for this? They succumb to the lure of Dhar and this is the best they can do with it? Ulgu envelops Orc Hewer, and though it can do nothing to add to the ancient power of the blade, you need your magic to be tearing through that of the so-called Elector Countess who can manage no better than these pathetic, mindless automatons. Blasphemy twice: once for falling to temptation, and once for doing so little with it.
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    [X] It's not a great hero who carries the day, but a lot of small men working in concert.
    [X] In the confusion of battle, even the greatest warrior can lose their life pointlessly.
     
    BoneyM said:
    [ ] If such rank amateurs could rival the strength of an entire Province, imagine what a skilled hand could do with Dhar.
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    Honestly, seems more to me that Dhar allows idiots to try and reach beyond what they're capable of, but it either makes them explode, or makes them even more stupid (even as it force more honest folks to spend time in the shooting gallery (or should that be stabbing gallery?) to put them out of their misery). Best to stay away from and/or burn.

    [X] It's not a great hero who carries the day, but a lot of small men working in concert.
    [X] In the confusion of battle, even the greatest warrior can lose their life pointlessly.
    "Hero" is another term for "target". If they see you, they will shoot you. Try to see them first, and have cannon do shoot them with :V

    Edit: some additional votes
    [x] The fog of war is a bitch, to all involved.
    [x] Expertise matters. And Stirland has precious little of it.
    [x] Mathematics is universal.
    [x] Unity brings Strength, Discord brings Failure.

    [x] What use are infantry, if all they can do is die in droves?
    [x] Mysteries are not worth unraveling - just bury them deeper and call it a day.
    [x] You can't trust people to have your back.
    [X] I, personally, failed to protect Abelhelm.


    BoneyM said:
    Added a borderless map to the update, so you can better admire how pretty it is. I'm really proud of how it turned out.
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    And rightfully so, it is very pretty. (remind me again, what does all the pretty colours mean?)
     
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