Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest
- Thread starter Boney
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Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Research project for a graduate student.
Also this.3. Finally, and most importantly, this prospective student must be an edgy teenager-Elf. Preferably the star of their own series of Young-Adult paperbacks. This requirement is self-explanatory.
Preventing the greenskin ecology getting a foothold is Karak security. It's everyone's job in a dwarven Karak.
Else you wake up with greenskins in your silk sheets, drinking your good ale, and you can't get any work done because they keep blasting the stereo.
Edda is Steward, and is down in the Caldera. Even Panoramia the gardener whose job is improving the soil is presumably out there.
I mean, by the same parameters you're using here, you could just as easily argue that negotiating a tentative truce with an angry Dragon is not Mathilde's job as Loremaster either. Certainly, hunting vampires in Stirland in the name of K8P is not in the job description of any dwarven Loremaster I've heard of.
Official titles aside, what we are in truth is Belegar's court wizard. Specifically, Belegar's Grey Wizard.
And in that role, greenskin infiltration is very much our business.
They haven't even started looking yet. Their focus has been first on the Skaven and then on the Waaagh.
Fair enough, I had thought they would look in case some of the stuff inside could be used against the Waagh, but I can see the point of focusing on things they know will work.
NavySeel
"I don't know what I'm doing."
- Location
- Places
Speaking of Elves studying at the colleges, it's possible that there baybe somethings humans came up with that elves don't have.
Probably not anything major but it's been b centuries and Mathilde for example has come up wih several tricks like the Matrix and MAP in a fraction of that time.
If the elves didn't have their whole pride issue they'd probably check in every 50 or so years just in case any of those turn out to be useful.
Probably not anything major but it's been b centuries and Mathilde for example has come up wih several tricks like the Matrix and MAP in a fraction of that time.
If the elves didn't have their whole pride issue they'd probably check in every 50 or so years just in case any of those turn out to be useful.
But i was hoping for a library about Runes or ancient smitting techniques. (AKA the closest thing they got to a memory core)
BattlemechsSorry wrong universe.
But i was hoping for a library about Runes or ancient smitting techniques. (AKA the closest thing they got to a memory core)
Runesmiths do not write their lore down ever. It's why so much was lost.
More likely that modern runesmiths don't write their lore down.
If they were working with Elven archmages before, then they almost certainly did write shit down.I would not be surprised to find that they just lost records during the Fall and adopted emergency measures as how things have always been.
Or that they forgot how to read their own records.
It would be the runelord thing to do store their records in runes of their own.
And if someone dies without teaching his successors how to read or write those runes.....
I remember reading that occasionally, and by that I mean very rarely, Runesmith do write some things down but when they do they hide everything in metaphor and secrets you need to decode in order to prove the one using it is worthy of the knowledge.
OH right the review:
Alas today its Ulgu day.
His speech is wasted
Orcish tank commanders.
But on the other hand its working in his favor, so no need to think too hard about it.
Letting your enemy know where your shots range before you hit them good, is usually a bad plan after all.
Usually
Thats a thing you don't see often.
But at the same time given their sheer number of snotlings...this probably is a practiced tactic. Most orc forces have lots of snotlings but not enough to form major coherent forces on their own.
Furthermore, a quick googling says they probably shouldn't be bright enough to manage sapping without a fair bit of prior practice.
2. Worst case scenario for us.
3. A pretty bad case if they make it to th caves, though we could also fire it earlier than usual.
4. Diggy diggy hole!
5. Pack them in close boys.
6. Real close.
Or they're actually Dungeon Keeper Imps in disguise.
Considering the currently running vote, they really might go through the bedrock if they got lost or panicked.
Organized, digging, greenskins.
Its like everyone is picking up some dwarf qualities while the dwarves have gone Ulgu this whole war phase.
Wonder if they could hit a sapper's tunnel or if thats a waste of ammo.
Still, I suppose dwarves know their sappers, and its possible the snotlings got turned around and started digging straight down in places.
"Sometimes your enemies want to kill each other JUST as much as they want to kill you. You should encourage that."
Stand by, ready.
When it was instant.
God knows we'd never get around to it before it fades though. Maybe if we made the next turn 5x Writing actions.
Maybe.
Mork: "Don' wanna, dat smug humie mugged me da last time ah did dat. Ya do it yerself Gork."
I suppose we are within his portfolio.
Birdmuncha's backstory kind of intrigues me, just how did an orc this badass get known for eating a bird?
Thorek is at the "success needs no apology" phase.
Mathilde is at point of not yet processing the fact that she's now got the dubious honor of responsibility for kilodeaths.
And burning it would be difficult, in tunnels a fire can move extremely unpredictably, as the heat itself acts as a powerful air pump
Wait, Kragg used lava in the initial caldera battle. Did he not care about it when the under-Caldera was held by hostiles, or did Kragg get overexcited and careless about it when he got the chance to smite lots of greenskins with his stockpiled runes?
In which case yeah, most of the energy is going to be wasted making dirt fly up.
Works a sight better on stone though.
Just pointing to the soil and telling it its vapor now?
Meanwhile the non-nerds have fled in self defense...
The most commonly known example is quicksand
Though Sand Boils actually DO exist, I suspect that 'physics' wise, what happens is that they'd be applying a "Boil Stuff" rune effect which must target a liquid substance on a liquified solid, which replaces the continuous bedrock they normally need to use to channel the more potent Soil Vaporization effect.
Which is a proven thing, because we've just used it to kill half a Waagh in one hit. Burning Shadows turns shadows into something that works like fire if you squint, and the Rune of Gazul turns fire into black, soul severing fire, and you can use one to conduct the other.
Also Mathilde wasn't kidding about tasting it. When she activated the Eye of Gazul she felt the Waagh in her mouth as she metaphorically bit down. And chewed.
Move X to Y applied on things, conducted through a channel without affecting the channel as the core principle?
*Petto the doggo*
Indeed by all conventional logic the Gate is the only place you COULD hold against a Waagh this size until it gets bored and wanders off.
Alas today its Ulgu day.
His speech is wasted
Thats uh...closer to tanks than what I imagined.
Orcish tank commanders.
That's definitely more than enough snotlings to just erode any trap based strategies.
That is really zoggin big. Fighting him might resemble fighting a Rogue Idol, though his size probably isn't that unusual for an orc who've been in command of a million greenskins for a long time.
And that is probably serious anti air. You can see from all the gubbinz.
If Birdmuncha was a keen strategic mind he'd probably have given that a suspicious look. Dwarves don't tend to harry your stragglers like that.
But on the other hand its working in his favor, so no need to think too hard about it.
Taking this from an outside perspective...it looks a lot like unprepared, overenthusiastic dwarf defenders.
Letting your enemy know where your shots range before you hit them good, is usually a bad plan after all.
Usually
"Boss, this is no fun!"
This took way too long to figure out on my first read. Percentage in the Caldera, derp.
Greenskin. Sappers.
Thats a thing you don't see often.
But at the same time given their sheer number of snotlings...this probably is a practiced tactic. Most orc forces have lots of snotlings but not enough to form major coherent forces on their own.
Furthermore, a quick googling says they probably shouldn't be bright enough to manage sapping without a fair bit of prior practice.
1. Immediately...useful, but problematic long term in terms of encouragement for the dragon to make a more-in-dwarf-favor arrangement if they can't even keep the orcs out.
2. Worst case scenario for us.
3. A pretty bad case if they make it to th caves, though we could also fire it earlier than usual.
4. Diggy diggy hole!
5. Pack them in close boys.
6. Real close.
Waagh bullshit dig speed.
Or they're actually Dungeon Keeper Imps in disguise.
Considering the currently running vote, they really might go through the bedrock if they got lost or panicked.
Pretty good at keeping their snotlings on task too, if the Big Bosses actually quell brawls like that.
Organized, digging, greenskins.
Its like everyone is picking up some dwarf qualities while the dwarves have gone Ulgu this whole war phase.
Sighted artillery positions are AMAZING for hitting on target.
Wonder if they could hit a sapper's tunnel or if thats a waste of ammo.
That'd be fixed by the next campaign turn. Some dwarf must be smacking themselves as they make double flags for everything
Sighted archery range likewise. Great for maximizing volley shock.
Thats concerning. Underground greenskins can't get ashed by the Eye.
Still, I suppose dwarves know their sappers, and its possible the snotlings got turned around and started digging straight down in places.
Must be the Black Friday sale.
"Whats the secret to your success Belegar?"
"Sometimes your enemies want to kill each other JUST as much as they want to kill you. You should encourage that."
80%
Stand by, ready.
I like the bit where Gazul checked "is this an authorized user?"
Well it does do a lot for its difficulty tier. Its just that with all the extra work setting it up you're better off doing something else.
As for the "Lies To Bards" this would probably be narrated as a much slower event, with the sun turning ponderously and the creeping, burning shadows sweeping.
When it was instant.
Theres a paper in that.
God knows we'd never get around to it before it fades though. Maybe if we made the next turn 5x Writing actions.
Maybe.
Bite the Waagh!
Ranald: "Mathilde, I'm SO gonna brag about this to anyone who'd listen."
Gazul: "It'd do. Take the wheel Dawongr."
Gork: "Dis iz kunnin brutality, ya do it Mork."
Mork: "Don' wanna, dat smug humie mugged me da last time ah did dat. Ya do it yerself Gork."
Grombrindal: "I'll go make sure the dwarves at on the fields will not falter"
Sigmar?
I suppose we are within his portfolio.
Paper Topic: Materium-Aethyr Threshold Disturbance Induced Through Mass Death Events
So...the room appears to be knurd.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Reading this over, the stress is mainly emotional. Spellcasting anything more complex than mage armor or the MAP is ill advised, but Mathilde's raw decisionmaking ability should be fine enough.
And hmm, could be better, but seeing as 1/3 of the options had casualties, being satisfied with that is enough.
Birdmuncha's backstory kind of intrigues me, just how did an orc this badass get known for eating a bird?
Kragg is...satisfied.
Thorek is at the "success needs no apology" phase.
Mathilde is at point of not yet processing the fact that she's now got the dubious honor of responsibility for kilodeaths.
Endless work that.
And burning it would be difficult, in tunnels a fire can move extremely unpredictably, as the heat itself acts as a powerful air pump
Hmm, its a good point, for a small creature a cave in is significantly less than lethal. More likely to fit into a pocket of air and make it last.
Wait, Kragg used lava in the initial caldera battle. Did he not care about it when the under-Caldera was held by hostiles, or did Kragg get overexcited and careless about it when he got the chance to smite lots of greenskins with his stockpiled runes?
So this one seems to be forcing a state transformation on water vapor, and then boiling it with the energy to make a steam blast?
In which case yeah, most of the energy is going to be wasted making dirt fly up.
Works a sight better on stone though.
...um...soil vaporization?
Just pointing to the soil and telling it its vapor now?
Meanwhile the non-nerds have fled in self defense...
Soil liquefaction is very interesting as a phenomenon. Basically its very very well lubricated dirt, which behaves like a viscous liquid rather than a solid(though arguably, a collection of loose solids is not a solid in itself to begin with)
The most commonly known example is quicksand
Wascally Wabbit logic.
Though Sand Boils actually DO exist, I suspect that 'physics' wise, what happens is that they'd be applying a "Boil Stuff" rune effect which must target a liquid substance on a liquified solid, which replaces the continuous bedrock they normally need to use to channel the more potent Soil Vaporization effect.
Which is a proven thing, because we've just used it to kill half a Waagh in one hit. Burning Shadows turns shadows into something that works like fire if you squint, and the Rune of Gazul turns fire into black, soul severing fire, and you can use one to conduct the other.
Also Mathilde wasn't kidding about tasting it. When she activated the Eye of Gazul she felt the Waagh in her mouth as she metaphorically bit down. And chewed.
*Takes notes on runecraft*
Move X to Y applied on things, conducted through a channel without affecting the channel as the core principle?
DocMatoi
Theoretical Lover of Girls
- Location
- within 2 hours of the White House
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Material-Aethyric Threshold Hangup Inducement- Large Death Events
FTFY
I think he was doing it in East Valley, that has solid rock down there, not a huge cave system.
Sinsystems
Patron Librarian
You know I wonder if Gretel was watching the Orc army as it got hit by the eye, since I can just imagine how fascinating the effect would be from her perspective. Honestly I would not be surprised if she ends up developing a spell based on it.
- Location
- his hidden lair
That implies urbanization and larger villages rather than small hundred person hamlets. Which is was my original argument way back when in response to 'a hundred people would be a fairly large town'
Horned Rat.
DocMatoi
Theoretical Lover of Girls
- Location
- within 2 hours of the White House
- Pronouns
- They/Them
good arguments for either
Ericwinter
Definitely not a Skaven Infiltrator
- Location
- America
I'm somewhat proud that it only took me reading this twice to get it. Cute, but we're not naming an actual spell, so the effort is probably a bit much. That said, it would totally be a Grey Wizard thing to do, and I'm chuckling at the thought of people getting taught on how to apply the MATHILDE effect.
Sinsystems
Patron Librarian
I mean we might end up helping the fertility bit, since we'd be liquifying the soil which will allow the ash to mix in nicely and then boiling it thus killing Orc spores and other hostile organic elements.
Asheram
Not quite altogether
- Location
- Δ Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground
Won't the boiling mess up the soil nutrients?
The basic logistics of trying to do a City-Town mode of civilization without widespread horse availability or mechanized transportation is that the food efficiency goes straight to hell.
Keep in mind that the forests are not magically full of Beastmen and Greenskins.
Beastmen can arise out of animals naturally, but without the high ambient magic of a Storm of Magic, this very fact that any kind of ecology still exists at all says that this is rare.
The big, dangerous source of beastmen are human mutants being evicted into the forests and turning to Chaos out of desperation and warped instincts.
Which means you need enough mutants born to at least form a tribal society.
The forest around a lone farmstead in Dhar laced lands, with a village of a hundred people three days walk away having a 10% mutation rate, which all raise their mutants to the point where they can survive on their own before abandoning them, doesn't suggest a dangerous beastman tribe.
It suggests ten beastmen in the forest hunting and stealing livestock, with whichever beastman going the path of the shaman having pretty good odds of no living teacher, no literacy and exploding before they make contact with anything more complicated than their beer.
Or more realistically, one lone beastman hunter in the forest, because most of the abandoned mutant newborn die in the woods of starvation or the wildlife.
What a village needs is just a local temple of any god and a perimeter fence. Such a village would get wiped off the map without any resistance when a Warherd or Waagh shows up, but at the same time they could have never seen either for a hundred years.
Likewise for greenskins. Lots of places have small goblin or orc tribes, which never really manage enough Waagh to raise much of a Boss, not when their neighbors are podunk villages which can't offer any kind of decent scrap.
Fact is, we know this system works, because Mathilde owns one such podunk village, which we know didn't even have a wall, and consisted mostly of herders living with small families scattered across the land.
Sinsystems
Patron Librarian
I don't think so, I mean wild fires get to stupidly hot temperatures but it tends to help soil rather than harm it. So I'd assume that so long as the boiling doesn't somehow remove the topsoil it should be fine.
Asheram
Not quite altogether
- Location
- Δ Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground