Ranuld Silverthumb was the last runesmith to make Rune Golems, he was KAK's runesmith. We have Kragg and Thorek, our gods name is only one away from Silverthumbs and our best buddy has a Gold Thumb. With AV I think we have a solid shot at making and empowering a solid company of rune guards.
[Settra] finishes by saying that after he's done killing the Chaos Gods, Nagash is next with a promise to take Nagash's skull and retake rulership of the Nehekharans, right before charging into battle against the Chaos monsters by himself, killing a giant for good measure. He's last seen fighting them as the world is consumed.
The only interaction with Settra we should ever have is tying up any idiot coming through who stole from him and shipping them back to Khemri to face punishment.
'Anton doesn't need to face the evils of the world because somebody else will do it for him'? That was my point. That the people who do that for him aren't fools is the corollary.
The only interaction with Settra we should ever have is tying up any idiot coming through who stole from him and shipping them back to Khemri to face punishment.
To be fair, given that Settra is, well, Settra, i am not convinced he'd be satisfied with that alone. Chances are he'd just burn down the cities of everyone even tangentially involved in the theft on principle, just to make sure everyone else is discouraged from the very idea of stealing from him.
I dunno. I would love to head to Khemri and write Settra's autobiography to be sold through out the empire. Both because Settra would be an amazing character to meet in a nonhostile setting, the chance for Mat to see the human Theurgy Civilization still 'around', and also because it just sounds like an amazing adventure.
If asked to weigh in on the matter, conventional wisdom's preferred approach to opening a dialogue with a rampaging Emperor Dragon would most likely be along the lines of 'don't'. The problem with conventional wisdom is that it is for conventional people in conventional situations, which has not really described any part of your life since you were ten. So you instead turn to your ample supply of unconventional wisdom, observing that a being capable of using Hysh battle magic could not possibly be in an unthinking rage, and that it went straight from Karag Zilfin to Karag Yar suggests its enmity is focused on the Skaven. So you take a deep breath, mentally prepare yourself as best you can, and begin to track the dragon as it stalks through the passages of Karag Yar wide enough to accommodate its size. Mundane senses alone might have managed it, especially when it happened upon some of the few remaining Skaven, but to your Magesight it shone like a beacon.
So to be entirely sure the dragon won't think you're trying to sneak up on it, you return the favour. Normally when you wrap yourself in Ulgu, it's while also enforcing your will upon it to act as armour or camouflage or some other magical effect. This time, you simply allow it to billow around you in a way that a magical being on the hunt couldn't miss. You position yourself in a large, empty room, its purpose long lost to time, and you cycle through a few different stances trying to find the right combination of nonthreatening but also not vulnerable before realizing that a dragon likely wouldn't know or care about human body language. And then you wait, as the dragon pauses in its relentless search, considering the new and unexpected factor that has just revealed itself. Entire books could be written on the differing temperaments of the different types of dragons, but shared amongst almost all of them is that they are creatures of cunning and intellect, and that means a certain amount of curiosity can be safely assumed. A magical being displaying themselves openly while doing nothing like this is either the most inept trap imaginable or an invitation to communicate, and you're sure that both Mors and Eshin would be capable of much more devious traps, so you hope it doesn't take what you're doing as one of those. You've got a combined illusion-and-teleportation spell on the tip of your tongue just in case, and you've mapped out three different nearby tunnels too narrow for a dragon, so all that's left is a muttered prayer to Ranald and to wait.
Sure enough, it approaches, and preceding it is the aura of Hysh that dispels darkness and makes your shadow writhe uncomfortably. The Light Magic coils cautiously around the Marsh Light bobbing at the ceiling, the glow of it increasing several-fold as the spell too basic to have a Wind affinity absorbs the radiating energies and becomes transformed by it. The magic also circles you, close enough to examine but not so close as to intermingle with the Ulgu you wear, which you take as a hopeful sign. The next proof of the dragon's approach is a chill in the air, not enough to drop the temperature to an uncomfortable level but with a taste of frost in the air that suggests that such a drop and more besides was an option. The third entry in the procession ahead of the dragon is a pure white light infiltrating the room, not emitting from the passage the dragon is approaching from but simply arriving between one instant and the next, as if the natural state of the room was to be completely and evenly illuminated.
And then, finally, the dragon itself appears, a head larger than your entire body appearing in the passage, and you realize how apt the label Ice Dragon truly is. Where a Frost Dragon is merely dappled with white and blue like an early spring morning, the Ice Dragon does not seem to exist as a being of flesh or even of scales, but instead as interconnected glints of light, only the line of its jaw and the outline of the frill along the back of its head clearly visible. To a layman, the only comparison they would have would be ice. A more educated label might instead label it a Prismatic Dragon, but then a more educated labeler might fret that it would mislead people into believing it to be rainbow, so perhaps it would be best to stick with ice.
It seems content to have only its head within the meeting place you have chosen, but the sight of it has robbed you of your prepared introduction. Instead the dragon is the first to speak, and the sentence it speaks has a hint of Khazalid and a hint of Old Reikspiel and a hint of a serpent's hiss. It stares at you, its pupil larger than your fist and seeming to emit a beam of light, and then it speaks again. This time you recognize the language, and you curse your past self that chose to learn Old Reikspiel over Classical.
"Do you speak Old Reikspiel?" you say hopefully. "Or regular Reikspiel, for that matter?"
Evidently not, as when it speaks again, it is in a language that if you were forced to guess, would be one of the human languages of the Far East, though you couldn't say which.
"I don't suppose Khazalid?" A moment of silence answers that, before the dragon makes its next attempt.
"Though you are blessed with not being water-folk, do you sing their song?" Eltharin! A terrible language for communicating clearly and concisely, but at least it's something.
"Yes, I speak Eltharin," you say.
"A respite to suffering. Are you in harmony with the Daroir, if their story here is yet to be concluded?" Daroir: remembrance and the strength of stone. Also the rarely-used polite Eltharin word for the Dwarves, and intriguingly close to their own word of Dawi. The dragon's wording is odd, but you can't tell if it's deliberate or due to a partial or archaic understanding of the language.
"I am here to represent the Dwarven King of these mountains." You'd prefer to dance around that point, since the dragon might object to someone else claiming the mountain it is calling home, but Eltharin means you're already dancing just to be understood. You'd rather risk offence than misunderstanding.
The dragon nods once, slowly and carefully. "Likely varied topics of discussion with Dwarven King of these mountains. Primacy is this." The head retreats, and a moment later it is replaced with a massive clawed hand pushing what looks at first like a massive fistful of rubble. But the stones writhe of their own accord, and they seem to melt and flow into the floor as it passes over it. When the dragon ceases pushing it, it quivers and begins to reform, slowly sliding into a shape that's first vaguely humanoid and then slowly and painstakingly refines itself, stone crumbling to pebbles crumbling to dust as it increases in detail until you are presented with what seems to be a perfect (if oversized) statue of a Dwarf, complete with hammer and chainmail. It looks at you in what appears to be a disapproving manner, though you've come to recognize that as the default state of older Dwarves, and despite being literally stone, it's still less stoney than some of the looks Kragg has given you. With slow and careful movements it sheathes the hammer into a loop on its belt, and then approaches you slowly, a pause between each step. A glance at its feet shows that at least one is melded into the stone at all times, which confirms your suspicion: an Earth Elemental.
Elementals are... aggravating. Under the Teclisean understanding of magic the Four Classical Elements should exist only as an obscure part of the Gold Order's alchemy. Fire is Aqshy, air is Azyr, water could be Ghyran or Ulgu or Hysh depending on circumstance, and earth was split between the soil of Ghyran, the metal of Chamon, and stone being magically null. But pre-Teclisean Elementalists didn't know that and seemed perfectly able to make use of all four while only going a normal amount of eccentric for pre-College wizards, instead of the fast trip to insanity that throwing around that many Winds should cause. The official College stance is that Elementalists are merely a variety of Hedge Wizard, those that use the Winds in sufficiently small amounts that they are more malleable and can be made to fit just about any conceptual framework, but the Elementalists were and have continued to be stubbornly able to call upon more power than the Petty and Lesser Magics of the Colleges can boast, including the summoning of Elementals; a construct composed of a single element, obedient to the Elementalist that created them and sustained by constant contact with their element. An Earth Elemental is capable of moving freely through soil and stone and reforming itself out of whatever material is at hand when it emerges. They usually take very vaguely the appearance of their summoner, nowhere near this level of detail, and as you stare at it with your Magesight, you also recall that they normally don't bear five Runes superimposed upon where the soul of a living creature would be.
The Elemental stops before it reaches you and raises a hand, and stone spreads out from its fingers until it is holding out a stone depiction of a tablet, and the surface of it ripples as Khazalid appears upon it. Visitor to Vala-Azril-Ungol; there exists danger within the Karak. Please proceed to safety at: Bok. None found. Please inform Runelord: Bok. None found. Please inform Archmage: Bok. None found. Please inform Runelord... And the writing repeats itself over and over until it reaches the end of the tablet. Underneath that, Eltharin runes, Classical characters, Nehekharan hieroglyphs, and another language you don't recognize perform what you assume to be the same repetition.
"It follows and stares," says the dragon peevishly, whose head has re-entered the room. "Striking the rat-beings commendably when we encounter them, but then resumes. It reforms when shattered or dispelled, drawing power from the mountains. Return it to the Daroir."
"Very well," you say faintly, trying to wrap your mind around the construct.
"Second matter; rat-beings. Friends of the Daroir? Foes of the Daroir?"
"Foes," you say firmly. "Very much foes."
"Agreement. Third matter. Uppermost one-part-in-three of mountain to north, the largest of the eight, is hewn and barren, not inhabited stone. It is mine. My judgement: Daroir will not invite extinction by seeking to reclaim." The dragon makes no threatening move to accompany its words. It doesn't need to. Its very existence is threat enough. "Am I to be corrected?"
You'd considered just what you might be able to promise on Belegar's behalf, and you believe he'd rather you overstep here than start a war with an Emperor Dragon in his absence. "The Dwarves will seek to reclaim the mountain, but only the..." you do your best to recall the old maps you've seen. "Lowermost three-fifths. No extinctions are necessary."
"Perhaps. Treaty in future; rat-beings to be harried now." It begins to withdraw its head.
"Before you go," you begin, and it pauses. "There is a rather large Waaagh approaching. Perhaps we could-"
"I will destroy them if they trespass upon my home," it interrupts. "If this happens, it would likely be after your extinction. You may consider it vengeance if that brings your soul peace. Fight well and die proud, shadow-being."
With that, it leaves. You stare after it, frowning. That could have gone much worse, but you'd prefer a new neighbour that was a little less phlegmatic about a rapidly-approaching Waaagh. You shrug and put the matter from your mind; that's a problem for tomorrow. Today's problems...
Well, one of those problems Is how badly Kragg is going to react to... whatever this is. But on the bright side, you're pretty sure that answers the whole Karag Mhonar question.
---
By the time you return to the Cavern of Stars and have the Elemental point its chorus of Bok at the Dwarf that was unwise enough to volunteer, news has started to come back from the two active Throngs. Princess Edda seems to be working her way through the Trolls with characteristic thoroughness and estimates the job will be done within the next hour. King Kazador doesn't report as much success, and though he's doing his best to winkle out the remaining Skaven, between the size of Karag Zilfin and the tunnels his forces can't venture into due to the sheer amount of nightmarish chemical melange that's still oozing out of the Grand Forge, his judgement is it's going to be a matter of careful sweeps and starving them out over weeks rather than something that can be sorted out in an hour or two. You recall him and arrange to cordon off Karag Zilfin with Rangers, which will ensure that any remaining Skryre Skaven remain isolated there for the least investment of forces. The sole remaining question is Karag Yar.
The dragon is certainly formidable, but it is also very, very large, which limits where it can go. Clan Mors and Clan Eshin would easily be able to reach this conclusion and work around it to finish their fight to the death. If Clan Eshin wins, they will likely gather up all their belongings and vacate the Karak; if Clan Mors wins, they're still unaware that the Trench has fallen and the Albino Stormvermin will become your problem. Now might be your last chance to put your finger on the scales for one or the other. The opportunity also still exists to merely talk - though you wouldn't trust Skaven to keep to any agreement just based on their word, your experience with Qrech leads you to believe they can be trusted to follow an agreement that's in their interest instead of betraying merely for betrayal's sake. Clan Mors might be convinced to leave - though you'd likely blame Skryre for the reason why they can't return to the Trench - and therefore prevent whatever damage the Albino Stormvermin might do while trying to return home, as well as continuing to be a thorn in the side of the rest of the Under-Empire, costing them attention and resources to try to stamp out. Or for Eshin... well, the world is distressingly reliable at producing greater evils, and it's hard to imagine a better lesser evil to have on your side. Having a line of communication with Clan Eshin is the kind of thing that might just pay off one day.
Or you could just treat it the same as Karag Zilfin, cordon it off and let things sort themselves out.
[ ] Strike against Clan Mors
- [ ] MORS: Take low-risk targets of opportunity.
- [ ] MORS: Attempt to assassinate Warlord Sleek Sharpwit.
- [ ] MORS: Pick off as many of the Albino Stormvermin as you can.
[ ] Strike against Clan Eshin
- [ ] ESHIN: Take low-risk targets of opportunity.
- [ ] ESHIN: Attempt to assassinate their Assassins.
- [ ] ESHIN: Attempt to assassinate their Sorcerer.
- [ ] ESHIN: Attempt to identify and then assassinate their leader.
[ ] Contact Clan Mors
- [ ] MORS: Offer to tip the scales for them in exchange for something. (specify what)
- [ ] MORS: Tell them Skryre took out the Trench and they should flee the Karak.
- [ ] MORS: Other (write in)
[ ] Contact Clan Eshin
- [ ] ESHIN: Offer to tip the scales for them in exchange for something. (specify what)
- [ ] ESHIN: Try to set up a line of communication with Clan Eshin.
- [ ] ESHIN: Other (write in)
[ ] Cordon the mountain off and wash your hands of the whole business.
- As you're not inside the mountain, there's not even a flimsy justification for going in there just to loot, so it isn't an option.
- If 'Contact' wins, Mathilde will take an enormous amount of precautions to ensure that she can communicate with them without physically endangering herself.
- This is the last chance to intervene in the Karag Yar conflict. Only one can be chosen.
- There will be a two hour moratorium.
Despite the memes Settra is still a slaving, imperialistic, tyrannical douchebag. We're not likely to have a positive relationship with him if he turns his attention our way.
'Anton doesn't need to face the evils of the world because somebody else will do it for him'? That was my point. That the people who do that for him aren't fools is the corollary.
Looks like this Elemental was some project of Elves and Dwarfs. With the Bolt Thrower prototype also being here, there must have once been a sizable number of elves working here.
"Agreement. Third matter. Uppermost one-part-in-three of mountain to north, the largest of the eight, is hewn and barren, not inhabited stone. It is mine. My judgement: Daroir will not invite extinction by seeking to reclaim." The dragon makes no threatening move to accompany its words. It doesn't need to. Its very existence is threat enough. "Am I to be corrected?"
You'd considered just what you might be able to promise on Belegar's behalf, and you believe he'd rather you overstep here than start a war with an Emperor Dragon in his absence. "The Dwarves will seek to reclaim the mountain, but only the..." you do your best to recall the old maps you've seen. "Lowermost three-fifths. No extinctions are necessary."
"Perhaps. Treaty in future; rat-beings to be harried now." It begins to withdraw its head.
Not helpful beyond killing large numbers of Skaven, but that's already more than we could reasonably have expected, so.
Pretty sure all we're concerned about now is the Eshin Elites, and the utter pain they could make of themselves even if all their forces die here and now - either by sticking around and being spiteful at us, or by taking a little too much news back to the Underempire.
The problem being is that, short of the dragon, the Eshin Elites are the hardest targets here.
Also: I did a quick search of the thread, and nobody guessed "bound Earth Elemental" as far as I could tell. We all fail.
My inclination with regard to Thunderdome is somewhere between "tell Mors to run" or "assassinate Stormvermin." Not really sure how to figure out our best gains here. Thoughts?
It looks at you in what appears to be a disapproving manner, though you've come to recognize that as the default state of older Dwarves, and despite being literally stone, it's still less stoney than some of the looks Kragg has given you.
