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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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As much as having Clan Mors around to divert the attentions of the under empire is attractive to me I think it is not worth the risk.

Ideally we want both clans slain.
 
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A Moment's Peace in the Cavern of Stars
  • Apocrypha
    • With careful movements Bori tucked his slightly damp beard into his belt. It was infuriating that one of those putrid rats had managed to nick his belt. Now it needed constant adjustment so his beard didn't touch rat blood. A talk with Kazrick seemed to be in order. Kazrick did passable work and had managed to restore his ancestor's belt before. Bori paused. Had it really been twenty five summers since Kazrick fixed his belt? He supposed it had. A mere twenty five years had passed and already the belt needed to be fixed again. Perhaps allowances should be made though. Twenty five years ago he would have never been here. Here in the Cavern of Stars. Here surrounded by the still cooling bodies of Clan Mors. Here. Home.

    Bori turned his gaze upward towards the desecrated ceiling. Flickering shadows danced to the whims of carefree torches where stars should have shone. Yet one more crime eased with this day. It was his hope that one day this cavern would shine like the days of yore. He planned to help with the reconstruction. One of his most ancient of ancestors had helped create this cavern. A fitting way for him to spend what little time he had left after his other duties.

    Sudden movement from one of the tunnels caused him to tense before a dwarf ranger was revealed by the dim light. The ranger sprinted into the middle of the cavern where the leaders of the day were consulting with each other. With hurried words and gestures whatever information he needed to give was given and he ran back into the darkness. Bori didn't quite know what to make of Thane Mathilde. The very idea that a manling would be given charge of a throng chafed him. But, the traditions and laws were ironclad. Mathilde was the loremaster that King Belegar Ironhammer had chosen. Thus it was Thane Mathilde who led them this day.

    Mathilde waged war in a manner he had never seen before. He felt much more like a smith on this day than a warrior. Striking rats in an eerily consistent pattern. Like a smith forcing metal to a form. It worked though. All around him Bori could hear the whispers. Kvinn-Wyr had been reclaimed. Taken with dwarven steel as the trolls beastly mind pulled the foul creatures away. Now there was only four of peaks left outside of dwarven hands.

    There was weight to the air now. Whispers creeped through the air. Slowly almost as if the speakers were hesitant to even believe their own words. Today. Some were saying that whatever dark spirits lurked in Karag Mhonar had fled at the dragon's roar. Today. Others were saying the trolls had devoured everything in Karag Rhyn, including themselves. Today. Even more said that Clan Skyre had been devoured whole by the dragon leaving only foul smells and cowering survivors in Karag Zilfen. Today. All said that Clan Eshin and the remains of Clan Mors were devouring each others hearts throughout Karag Yar. Could it be today? Could it be true that all of his waiting would end today? Ahh… His belt had shifted again. With careful movements Bori tucked his damp beard into his belt. Today his dreams might finally come true.

    A.N.
    Another shorter omake trying to take a look at what a member of Clan Angrund might be thinking.
     
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  • Apocrypha
    • BoneyM said:
    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 throw around 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 the of the tablet. Underneath that, Eltharin runes, Classical characters, Nehekharan hieroglyphics, and another language you don't recognize perform what you assume to be the same repetition.
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    Okay, a couple big things here.

    1) It has five Runes. IIRC, any single creation, under conventional wisdom, can only have three. So this is, to my knowledge, unprecedented as far as modern Karaz Ankor Runecraft in concerned.

    2) When asking to inform people, it went Runelord, and then Archmage, an Elf title. This was definitely created before the War of Vengeance, and in fact, seems to have been a joint project between the Dwarves and Elves. Hell, combine that with the Bolt Thrower that they found in the King's Armory, and Karak Eight Peaks might have very well been a major center of Elf-Dwarf cooperation.
     
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    That Dwarf Elemental would be a pretty interesting project to study in regards to how Elf magic and Dwarven Runes work together. Also Kragg the Grimm would probably love to find what new runes are apparent in the thing.
     
    Soooooooo, given we just told the Dragon that the Skaven are very much our enemies, I'm not feeling like any kind of parlay is good here. I say we pop an Eshin Assassin or two, to make a mutual kill more likely, or we just Cordon Off the mountain and make it Belegar's Problem.
     
    Well now that we're in agreement with the Dragon, who's up for some bonding while killing Skaven?
     
    I wonder. Imperial magic is based on Elven magic. Elven magic and Dwarf runes created this bound elemental. Could we create a shadow elemental with Kragg? Or even discover how to make bound Elementals? They could be a huge boon for defending Karak 8 Peaks or any other Karak for that matter.
     
    Yer the two remaining skaven clans are the most dangerous of there kind it be best if you destroy both of them.

    I think we should weaken clan eshin enough for clan Mors to exterminate them in come behind and mop up the last of clan mors
     
    ... You know, if we continue to negotiate with the dragon and do so well I can see the dwarves giving us the title Mathilde Dragon Tamer just to tell the elves "We have one to"
     
    I am not sure about any of the other options, but I am strongly against any offensive action against Clan Eshin. The fact that we still don't know who the local leader is just screams Snikch to me, and I have no desire to piss off potentially the best assassin in the entire setting.
     
    [ ] Strike against Clan Eshin
    - [ ] ESHIN: Attempt to assassinate their Sorcerer.

    Regarding the choices, I'd argue to go after the sorcerer because he's a shadow mage, and that's our schtick. Also he can likely cast Skitterleap, and run off to the Underempire to tell them what happened in better detail.

    But mostly him stealing our schtick.
     
    [ ] Cordon the mountain off and wash your hands of the whole business.

    This seems like the way to go to me honestly. Low risk targets of opportunity would be okay also, but don't really feel that worth it.
     
    I will note that I'm now deeply wary of trying to cut a deal with any of the Skaven remaining.
    Don't think it's necessarily a realistic concerned, but I'm kinda terrified that the dragon might find out somehow and consider it an attempt at deception.
     
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    Chlof said:
    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.
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    We could bother that one chick. What's her name... The tomb lady type who worships the Nehekeran snake goddess who's sister/cousin was the first vampire. She's supposed to be very chill, and Settra doesn't go out of his way to bother her.
     
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