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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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Zero Gravitas said:
Van Horstmann wasn't a prisoner though.

It is one thing to keep watch over a prisoner and an entirely different thing to monitor every member of the colleges - mainly because you can have an apprentice hit a prisoner with a large cudgel in case of attempted summoning but that's obviously not viable when considering wizards who inherently have to live an active life and don't particularly want being spied upon.
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Von Horstmann was however, resident in the Pyramid of Light, which is the area most antithetical to demons. And still successfully summoned and treated with demons in the middle of the Pyramid while surrounded by Magisters.
And working with an entity that is somewhat reliably documented due to bitter experience.

As in, the Colleges have some idea of what a Chaos sorcerer working magic looks and feels like.
We wouldn't even know what a Skaven sorcerer summoning looks or feels like.

Mathilde's exceptional Windsight gives her an edge many Magisters don't have; just look at all the Magisters who have missed Empress Gabrielle's blessings. I do not share your confidence that a Magister would notice a Verminlord summoning in time, or be able to disrupt it.
 
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Re-reading the update, it's been an astonishingly bloody day. Something around a third of a million skaven have died, along with a hundred thousand greenskins. And tomorrow will probably be even worse.

Half the Shyish in the Old World is probably rushing here.
 
picklepikkl said:
This also works, but there's an ethical concern: we're the ones who killed off all their prey, and we also own all the livestock. Destroying the food source they can get for themselves and then requiring them to "buy" food from us with their silk smacks of company towning them, which I'd rather not do and which Mathilde is already committed to not doing (since we voted for uplift rather than for "feed them so they don't have to hunt anymore in exchange for silk"). The We have a right to food security, and so if we had to destroy their food source for the sake of our national security, we owe them a new one that is theirs, not one which they have to buy from us.
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You are slightly off the actual problem. The We do have a right to food security, but we don't owe them a food source they don't have to purchase. For example, most people in the US have food security without having a garden of their own, and they are fine with that. But what you do recognize is that if Karak Drazh falls, we could exploit the buyer by purchasing at monopsony (monopoly from the buyer's perspective) prices, as we would be the only buyers

There are two ways to solve this. One way is we open up bidding on the silk to any weaver who wants to use the silk. First, this would lead to spiders being auctioneers, which would be adorable. Second, this would guarantee they received a fair price, as long as we make sure to stamp out collusion. Having an auction is one of the only ways to ensure a fair price.

The second is that we pull the We into the supply chain of the weavers, cloth dyers, clothiers, armoursmiths, etc, and run it like a business, and pay them a royalty on the silk sales. This might end up paying them more than the other method, and make K8P more money, as it would be only competing with Cathay. Also, this would allow the methods of silk production and processing to remain secret.
 
Abhorsen said:
You are slightly off the actual problem. The We do have a right to food security, but we don't owe them a food source they don't have to purchase. For example, most people in the US have food security without having a garden of their own, and they are fine with that. But what you do recognize is that if Karak Drazh falls, we could exploit the buyer by purchasing at monopsony (monopoly from the buyer's perspective) prices, as we would be the only buyers

There are two ways to solve this. One way is we open up bidding on the silk to any weaver who wants to use the silk. First, this would lead to spiders being auctioneers, which would be adorable. Second, this would guarantee they received a fair price, as long as we make sure to stamp out collusion. Having an auction is one of the only ways to ensure a fair price.

The second is that we pull the We into the supply chain of the weavers, cloth dyers, clothiers, armoursmiths, etc, and run it like a business, and pay them a royalty on the silk sales. This might end up paying them more than the other method, and make K8P more money, as it would be only competing with Cathay. Also, this would allow the methods of silk production and processing to remain secret.
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I'm pretty sure the second method is already chosen, with the understanding that for now We are selling silk on credit because they don't understand the market yet. The will be fully recompensed once theybcan make an informed decision about pricec and sales method.
 
Alratan said:
Re-reading the update, it's been an astonishingly bloody day. Something around a third of a million skaven have died, along with a hundred thousand greenskins. And tomorrow will probably be even worse.

Half the Shyish in the Old World is probably rushing here.
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Gretel quest players are salivating in anticipation. Unlimited power!
 
Kornet said:
I'm pretty sure the second method is already chosen, with the understanding that for now We are selling silk on credit because they don't understand the market yet. The will be fully recompensed once theybcan make an informed decision about pricec and sales method.
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I agree. But if we want to determine a fair price, the auction is probably the best method.
 
LotusPocus said:
We don't have the traits to invent it, or the documents or objects to copy it.
I don't see Ulgu being able to replicate this Hysh spell, because smoke, shadow, uncertainty and confusion don't really translate ( for me) to super speed.
Perhaps you could provide a reasoning for how you see it working?
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Well for one dhar corrupted ulgu can do it.

Two, Ulgu also has relation to regular wind, as proven by the elven mist mages and the not yet invented stormcall.

"Run like the wind" is popular turn of phrase for "Moving really fast" which seems like it would take some sort of conceptual root in the warp.

So use ulgu to get a speed boost from its connection to regular wind and regular winds affiliation with speed.
 
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Codex said:
She can channel enough Shyish to cast Moderately Complicated spells, which is pretty damn good for a Journeywoman. She just values precision more than power, unlike Adela who seems to be the opposite.
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Power is precision, though; she can only cast relatively simple spells reliably. It may be in line with a journeyman's standards, but a journeyman's standards aren't much.
 
chocolote12 said:
Power is precision, though; she can only cast relatively simple spells reliably. It may be in line with a journeyman's standards, but a journeyman's standards aren't much.
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Maximilian reliably casts Silver Arrows of Arha with Magic 4, despite Silver Arrows being Moderately Complicated. You forget that NPCs have specialties and traits that make certain magic easier for them, and Gretel's Reaper trait gives her a boost with life stealing magic. Technically it would be impossible for Max to even be able to cast Enchant Item, which needs at least Magic 5 to learn (it's a Fiendishly Complex spell), but he can still cast it. NPCs don't necessarily work the exact same way that Mathilde did.
 
What we can surmise:
-Adela - Boost to power, weak in control, staff boosts effective power reach as well. She's likely better at elemental offensive effects, but not as good on the mental, protective and utility spells.

-Gretel - Boost to control, weak in power, boost to lifesteal/reaping effects. Probably should be good at things like communicating with the dead, but not so much at AOE stuff. Its actually pretty good for Shyish users, since it doesn't have a lot of 'power' based spells that aren't also reaping spells.

-Hubert - Uncomfortable with his own magic apparently, given that he never uses it if he has a choice. This guy probably isn't making Magister until it changes.

-Johann - You know, we never DID get the specifics of his difficulty with spells beyond being unable to dispel at all.

-Maxmillian - Appears to have generalized ability, no inherent flaw or advantages.
 
vsh said:
I agree. We have nothing to do with that.
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Sadly, the thread has problems about micromanaging things that are other people's jobs.

I mean, part of it is that we are a higher level character then the other advisors so it's a legitimate point that we can do their job better then them.

Anton is the only one who never had to deal with us breathing on their neck by dint of being a lucky sack at the thing we are the worst at.
 
veekie said:
Uncomfortable with his own magic apparently, given that he never uses it if he has a choice.
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Well, he does like using Lightning for the opening barrage before going melee and he seems to have no issues with Aethyric Armor.

Basically he is the closest thing to what a Khornate Sorcerer would be, using his magic to supplement his attacks, but never replace the bloody melee, or even "cheat" in it, as an Azyr-Wizard could easily do with some future-sight tricks.
 
Artemis1992 said:
Basically he is the closest thing to what a Khornate Sorcerer would be, using his magic to supplement his attacks, but never replace the bloody melee, or even "cheat" in it, as an Azyr-Wizard could easily do with some future-sight tricks.
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We probably wouldn't be able to tell if he was cheating using future sight though.
 
ninjafish said:
contrary to popular opinion, this is not the best time to try parlaying with it, the best time is when its blood isn't up, it isn't pissed, and it doesn't have any enemies that use our wind, and when we have an army and an actual fucking diplomat at our back ready for this shit.
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Right, but we are in the middle of a battle where we are about to spring a very large magical suprise, so we need the only thing here capable of crushing our tower on side or neutral. I'd prefer to do it slow and formal, but the downsides of not talking seem catastrophic. Needs must.

Neshuakadal said:
I would be quite happy with an eshin trying to sneak up on us while we talk to the Hysh dragon. That is one less assassin we have to worry about. Unless you think it can sneak past the dragon to stab us?
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That might honestly turn into a three-way dialogue, and is about the only way I see is talking to eshin-kun again without knives involved. I hope this pans out!
 
veekie said:
What we can surmise:
-Adela - Boost to power, weak in control, staff boosts effective power reach as well. She's likely better at elemental offensive effects, but not as good on the mental, protective and utility spells.

-Gretel - Boost to control, weak in power, boost to lifesteal/reaping effects. Probably should be good at things like communicating with the dead, but not so much at AOE stuff. Its actually pretty good for Shyish users, since it doesn't have a lot of 'power' based spells that aren't also reaping spells.

-Hubert - Uncomfortable with his own magic apparently, given that he never uses it if he has a choice. This guy probably isn't making Magister until it changes.

-Johann - You know, we never DID get the specifics of his difficulty with spells beyond being unable to dispel at all.

-Maxmillian - Appears to have generalized ability, no inherent flaw or advantages.
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Maximilian has an affinity for Mystical Chamon, just like Johann has an affinity for Elemental Chamon. It's why Maximilian can cast Enchant Item most likely, and why he's good with Silver Arrows.

There is also an AOE lifesteal ability that Gretel can learn, and I believe it's also Moderately Complicated. I imagine she'll learn it in time.
 
BoneyM said:
There's a school of thought among the Grey College that relying on a sword that could be dispelled is a terrifying prospect. Takes rather more effort to magic away a few feet of steel.
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LotusPocus said:
Regarding spell creation, instead of a Ulgu-sword inspired by Shadow Knife, why not copy the capacity of our sword to disappear and reappear at will?
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I agree. A spell to make a bladed weapon appear and disappear would be very useful for less powerful grey mages and fits Mathilde's wheelhouse what with her being a master swordswoman with spell masteries specific to weapons. That such a spell could possibly be extended to allow "flickering" non-weapons, or that it might allow others to use whatever future sword style Mathilde develops, are both possible bonuses on top of that.
 
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