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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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So long as we survive and thus are still able to play as Mathilde (and as such, be able to do all the cool research awaiting us), everything else is just gravy for me.

I really want to write up the Queekish dictionaries.
 
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chocolote12 said:
Sounds fractional. Great Deeds are about turning the tide of battle.
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chocolote12 said:

Royal Boon (Minor): For their part in the Karak Eight Peaks campaign, they have earned a boon they have yet to call in.

Some of the journeymen got this, too.

Sounds fractional. Great Deeds are about turning the tide of battle.
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If turning the tide of the battle is a Great Deed then what's singlehandedly winning the battle?


Because between evaporating most of the Waagh, advising Kragg and Thorek and now fighting with the Warboss Mathilde's contribution is like about as large as everyone else put together and that's just in this battle alone.
 
Chopak said:
What if we did survive but our skaven friend did not? :)
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That'd be really weird. Like, Eshin are good, but not 'skip up to the top of the furthest-most mountain in the area after a grueling, all hands on deck battle against the full power of Clan Mors in order to break into the deepest part of the assassin-proofed highest room to kill a single skaven prisoner they have no mundane way of knowing about' good.
 
Zero Gravitas said:
If turning the tide of the battle is a Great Deed then what's singlehandedly winning the battle?


Because between evaporating most of the Waagh, advising Kragg and Thorek and now fighting with the Warboss Mathilde's contribution is like about as large as everyone else put together and that's just in this battle alone.
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Not to mention, y'know, taking all of Karak Eight Peaks in a day, that little sidequest we indulged ourselves in before getting to the real fight.
 
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Waaagh Birdmuncha, Part 6
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    • [*] Patrolling the Under-Caldera with Dreng and Gunnars.

    The problems above are being seen to by those just as well-equipped as you to deal with them, but the problem below is something you're uniquely capable of contributing to. The greenskins being able to fill the vacuum left by the Skaven would be disastrous for the Karak, and you've mapped the Under-Caldera and have the senses to detect where the remains of the Waaagh might be digging through into it. So you part ways with King Belegar and find your way to Karagril, where Clans Angrund and Huzkul are preparing to fill the warrens of the Under-Caldera with enough eyes and ears to hopefully respond to any breakthrough, leaving just enough behind to see to the Karak Drazh Underway defences.

    Dreng is as focused as you remember, and after a brief nod of approval at your work with the Eye, he sets to work planning the patrols, the task much easier with the MAP you summon, which not only shows the tunnels but also their positions relative to the Caldera above. The most troubling parts are a pair of natural caves right under the Caldera and the artificial avenue dug between them. They had been used as warehouses from the very first decade after the Karak was founded until shortly before the Karak's fall, and more recently Clan Mors had used it as an outpost before the Civil War had forced them to pull back to a tighter defensive perimeter. So it's there that you choose to hold your vigil.

    ---

    [Greenskin tunnelling: 6]

    The strange sound of liquefied soil being brought to a boil that wouldn't be possible under normal circumstances echoes through the caves as a faint, distant whistling, varying in pitch and volume as separate sections of the Caldera above are targeted. The caves are somewhat interesting, as the floor was smoothed out by Dwarves but hasn't been maintained since the fall, and now a knee-height forest of stalagmites cover most of the floors, except where the Skaven had cleared it for their former base. But there's only so much of your attention this novelty can capture, and after your interest wanes, you take to patrolling up and down the connecting avenue, so you can run a careful eye over each of the caves every so often. You're so lost in trying to keep from becoming lost in your thoughts that you don't notice the person approaching until they're almost on top of you. Even if they are directly to your rear, it's an embarrassing lapse in caution for a Grey Wizard.

    "Journeywoman," you say, and Gretel falls in beside you.

    "Magister," she says, her tone careful.

    "Come to join the vigil underground?"

    She nods. "Hubert is at the West Gates, and Adela is in the Caldera with Magister Johann. I felt this would be the most efficient application of my time and effort."

    "You might be right." You look up at the ceiling, and even through the rock and soil you can still see/feel/taste the aftershocks of the Waaagh's obliteration. "A stitch in time, and all that. If they do manage to punch through striking them down still won't be glorious, and if they don't this will be forgotten. But only having to clear the greenskin ecosystem out of Karag Rhyn is an enormous stroke of fortune. The cost in time and effort and lives if the greenskins take root where the Skaven used to rule would be enormous." You smile. "That's why your College and mine get along so well. We understand the inglorious necessities." She doesn't reply, and you let the silence stretch for a while as the two of you walk down the avenue. "Okay, spit it out. I can feel your curiosity." Not metaphorically, either. The unanswered question she's contemplating asking is a faint tug on the Ulgu within you.

    "The 'Eye of Gazul', Magister. Was it literal?"

    You mull over your answer for a time. "In that Gazul was involved, yes. But I think it would be more accurate to describe the Tower as His sword, rather than His eye."

    "So the Dwarven Ancestor-Gods are..." She trails off, and glances back down the avenue.

    "Gods? Oh, yes. I've seen some books dismiss them as an extension of ancestor veneration, but they're quite real." You might not have been quite so sure on the matter until a few hours ago, but you leave that part unsaid.

    Gretel is silent for a time longer. When she does speak again, it's in a hushed voice. "Is Gazul their Morr? Or is..." Another look up and down the corridor, and she switches to Old Reikspiel. "Is Gazul an aspect of Morr? Or are both aspects of the same being?"

    You think you see where she's going this. "Aspects of Morai-heg, for example?" She frowns at you, but nods. You'd encountered the idea before. Some human priests insist the Elven gods are just renamings of human ones, and some Elven priests insist it's the other way around. You try to reach an answer that doesn't draw from the secrets you've gained from the Liber Mortis or from Gunnars. "I don't think the theory can be extended to the Dwarven Ancestor-Gods," you say. "Gazul doesn't have the aspects of dream and prophecy as Morr and Morai-heg do. And their Pantheon doesn't have Ancestor-Gods of the wild, like Taal and Rhya and Ulric." You switch back to Reikspiel. "As far as I understand, Morr and Gazul are allied, or at least their respective organizations are. I know the Black Guard has an understanding with the Zhufbar Order of Guardians."

    She falls silent, mulling that over, and you reach your destination and cast your Magesight over the cave's ceiling.

    [Greenskin tunnelling: 85]
    [Rolling for location...]
    [Rolling for who...]

    And you frown at what you 'see'. The Waaagh field of the surviving greenskins, even when some of them were actively fighting Princess Edda's throng, should not be visible at this depth. But you can see a crackling, fizzing energy out of the corner of your mind's eye as you frown upwards. "Khazuk!" you yell, and all eyes in the cave snap to you, belonging to several hundred Clan Huzkul Dwarves and five Rune-festooned members of Clan Angrund. They see the direction of your gaze, and in a moment the atmosphere of the cave is deadly serious, and the only sound is the distant piping of boiling soil and the scuffling of soles on stone as runners take off towards Karagril and the Citadel. Dwarves do not believe in taking chances, and your word carries enough weight that nobody here doubts the urgency in your tone.

    Then, right on the edge of hearing, the faint tink tink tink of metal on stone. The Dwarves circle cautiously, straining their ears for a direction, and a thought brings Branulhune to your hand as Gretel summons her scythe once more. It's hard to spot the place where the energies are leaking in through all the energies that have already done so, but you narrow it down to about a quarter of the cave and Gretel and the majority of the Dwarves silently follow your lead as you carefully step through the stalagmites. Then the energy strengthens, and you can clearly see the point where it's welling, and all eyes follow your pointing finger to it. Several seconds later, dust starts to float down from that point, and then entire pebbles. By the time a stalactite is dislodged and plummets to the ground, a score of handguns and your revolver are trained on the forming hole.

    "'Ey boss!" comes a slightly muffled voice as a choppa dislodges more and more of the ceiling around the forming hole. "I think this is it!" A massive head sticks through the hole, and takes in the amount of firepower levelled at it. "Oh zog."

    A ripple of fire from the Thunderers scattered amongst Clan Huzkul seals the fate of the unfortunate Orc, but the corpse is yanked out of sight and moments later a slightly muffled WAAAGH indicates the other Orcs in the ceiling have accepted the offer of battle. A great deal of stomping causes the roof to rumble and more stalactites to fall, and then the ceiling gives way, and at least a dozen Orcs are plummeting downwards inside a shower of rubble.

    [Clan Huzkul vs Orcish 'Charge': 20 vs 8]

    Clan Huzkul was not ready for such an enthusiastic approach, but gravity was not kind to the plummeting Orcs, and they lay groaning long enough for the Dwarves to get over their surprise and move forward, finishing them off where they lie. You keep your revolver levelled on the opening above. Through the dim light of the tunnel, you can see the glint of eyes staring back down at you with more intelligence than most would give a greenskin credit for, and you can see the waning Waaagh that centers on him. Warboss Birdmuncha.

    [Rolling...]

    "Zog that," he says, his voice a low rumble that reverberates through the cave, and then he's gone.

    ---

    Reinforcements from Karagril aim enough firepower at the hole in the roof to fell a small army, but no further greenskins emerge from it, and your vigil in the Under-Caldera finds no more interlopers. Word trickles down to you of the long, hard work of clearing the greenskins from the soil one group at a time, which got significantly harder once reality healed enough to disallow the boiling of non-liquids, and of the glorious battle at the West Gate, which will probably be what the songs that will be sung of this day will focus on. The sun sets and work continues by the light of great bonfires lit by Adela and stoked by Maximilian. The Waaagh finally winked out when the final charge at the West Gate was repulsed, and somewhere in the small hours of the morning, Princess Edda stopped finding pockets of greenskins left underground. When dawn breaks, the Dwarves carefully comb over every inch of the Caldera and cave in every single break in its surface. If there's greenskins trying to wait out the Throng, they'll quickly run out of air, and a final few holdouts dig their way out and are quickly cut down by the unflagging Dwarves.

    Princess Edda's Throng reports that they never set eyes on Warboss Birdmuncha. Somehow, you don't think he suffocated in the soil-dug tunnels.

    You told the Halflings supplying breakfast to point any and all wizards your way when they turned up looking for food, and they gradually accumulate on the balcony of the Citadel you've chosen to do today's brooding in, and they exchange stories. Johann and Adela were in the thick of the fighting in the Caldera, as Johann's gilded body and Adela's affinity for Aqshy made them better able than anyone else to handle the heat given off by the boiling soil, and both acquitted themselves quite well. Maximilian had once more been riding one of the gyrocopters, and to his satisfaction he finally managed to successfully fire his Silver Arrows from it, and accounted for quite a toll of greenskin stragglers. Hubert fought in the extremely successful defence of the West Gate, and managed to both bloody his blade and make good use of his Lightning Bolt to contribute to the battle. Panoramia is the only one amongst you who hasn't joined the battle, but she might make the most difference of anyone in the coming days, and she stares fretfully over the churned soil of the Caldera.

    "Ho, Dawri," comes a voice by the door, and a chorus of tired greetings respond to Prince Kazrik's arrival.

    "Wandar, rikhazkal?" you ask cautiously.

    "Everything's fine," he reassures you.

    "Okrag, then," you say, less than reassured. If he wasn't on official business, he'd be celebrating with his father.

    "King Belegar's Dalaz Kron," he says. "Many scores to settle at the closing of such a momentous chapter in history. He's instructed me to tell each of you that you're each to be granted a Boon, and should start to consider the form you wish it to take."

    Prince Kazrik hurries off to see to the next set of scores soon after that, and chatter amongst the other wizards quickly turns to speculation on how they will cash in their token of royal largesse. You, however, are simply trying to catch up with the events of the last two and a half days. You assumed military command of Karak Eight Peaks and waged a successful campaign against two greenskin Tribes, three Skaven Clans, and a horde of trolls. You made peace with a dragon. Then you fired the Eye of Gazul for the first time in hot blood, and in the space of a few seconds ended a Waaagh that could have been an existential threat to the Karak and reduced it to merely moderate threats on two separate fronts. Out in the Caldera, Dwarves still carefully comb over every square foot of soil looking for any disturbance that could indicate remaining greenskins. At the West Gates, the stragglers still make occasional forays against the defenders there, since Da Howlaz have them penned in on the other side of the Western Approach. And at some point the few remaining Clan Mors forces under Karagril will collapse, and the constant pressure from Karak Drazh will have to be held back by Dwarves. There may never be a total end to fighting here, but this battle is well and truly won. Karak Eight Peaks is once more in Dwarven hands.

    All because you and Johann stole a gas mask.

    [Title Gained: Azrildrekked.]
    [Trait gained: Royal Boon (Transcendent)]
    [Dwarf Favour gained: 40.]

    ---

    To be continued.


    In the coming day or so, I will continue the turn where things left off. I plan to have a big wrap-up of the Eight Peaks campaign at the end of the IC year, and there will be three different ways these events will have ended up shaping Mathilde: one from these past two days as Thane, one from these past four years as Loremaster, and one reflecting on her personal life. I will be taking suggestions for possible entries to this list; please make these suggestions with an eye to Mathilde's continued evolution as a character, rather than mere mechanical advantage. The draft below is very rough and a lot is likely to change between it and a final list of options to vote for.

    I will be away from my computer from the 20th until just after the New Year, and while I'll have my mobile and will remain active in the thread, I will not be posting updates during this period.


    Lesson Learned: The Battle for the Caldera & Waaagh Birdmuncha

    [ ] Battle: General of Fog
    Upgrade Trait: Warrior of Fog > General of Fog: The easiest victory is against a blindfolded opponent. +4 Martial. While in command, +20 bonus to scouting and moving forces unseen, +10 bonus to surprise attacks and ambushes.
    The Rangers were your eyes and ears, and where they could not penetrate, you had to go in personally to find out what was happening. The information acquired thus is what truly won the Battle for the Caldera.

    [ ] Battle: Strategy & Tactics: Greenskins
    New Martial Skills: Strategy - Greenskins (+5 to command and planning rolls while fighting or leading greenskin armies) and Tactics - Greenskins (+5 to command and reading the battlefield while fighting or leading greenskin units).
    You fought a lot of battles against a lot of greenskins. You've learned how they fight, and how they think.

    [ ] Battle: Advanced Strategy & Advanced Tactics: Skaven
    New Martial Skills: Advanced Strategy - Skaven (+10 to command and planning rolls while fighting or leading Skaven armies) and Advanced Tactics - Skaven (+10 to command and reading the battlefield while fighting or leading Skaven units).
    You've built on the understanding of the Skaven you inherited from Frederick van Hal. It could be that no living human has your mastery of fighting against the ratmen.

    [ ] Infiltrator: Nobody seems to guard anything well enough to keep you out. +2 Intrigue, +10 bonus to infiltration.
    [ ] Scout: Sometimes the best weapon is knowing where everything is. +2 Intrigue, +20 to infiltrating all but the highest-security areas.
    [ ] Battle: Assassin
    New Trait: Assassin: Combat is easiest when the other person doesn't realize they're in it. +2 Intrigue, +40 bonus against unaware targets.

    [ ] Battle: Trucemaker
    New Trait: Trucemaker: Sometimes the best victories are won by not fighting. +Diplo, bonus to attempts to secure truces or ceasefires.

    [ ] Battle: Thief trait of some sort

    [ ] Battle: Waaaghbane upgrade

    Sometimes you just need to get your hands dirty. Bonus to command roles after Mathilde has personally taken the field.

    [ ] Blooded > Campaigner: You've seen more than your share of battles. +2 Martial, +10 bonus to fighting alongside others.

    When in doubt...: You would have never had the confidence to attack to boldly if you didnt have the utter trust in your allies ability to hold onto your gains. You will have to leave that behind if you ever change your job, so you should absorb all you can during the rest of your stay here and try to aquire that strength.
    Bonus to fortifying. Allows spell creation.

    "Fog of War upgrade that expands it into applying at some level even when we are not in command? Basically making us a bit better at personally blinding scouts, discovering or causing surprises, etc—or at least doing so in a manner that better favors our side of the battle"

    ---

    Lesson Learned - Karak Eight Peaks

    [ ] Karak: Polyglot
    New Trait: Polyglot - Able to learn new languages very easily, either from dedicated study or from immersion.
    Picking up Khazalid helped you find a place in Karak Eight Peaks. Learning Queekish might well turn out to be the greatest coup of this entire campaign. Languages, you've discovered, are extremely important.

    [ ] Karak: Collegiate
    New Trait: Collegiate - Bonus to convincing wizards from the other seven Colleges of Magic to work with you; bonus to assisting and teaching wizards in your employ or under your authority.
    Come to think of it, the only College that hasn't contributed to this adventure in some way is the Light Order. And the dragon probably counts for them.

    [ ] Karak: Mapping trait
    Allows quick and accurate mapping, and future recall of those maps.

    [ ] Karak: Infiltrator
    Getting in and out of where you shouldn't be

    [ ] Diplo trait: Skaven understanding

    [ ] Magical multi-wind superprojects

    Interrogator -> Chameleon
    You've spent so much time in the minds, cultures and shapes of others that you can blend into almost any crowd.
    +2 Intrigue, +1 Diplomacy, +5 to avoid drawing unwanted social attention.

    Having Fun Isn't Hard If You've Got A Library Card: Your book collection has contributed to your success, and you're dedicated to continuing that state of affairs... by hook or by crook. [Bonus] to convincing people/institutions to give you access to controlled texts or to find merchants who can sell rare books, [bonus] to finding books while attempting to loot a place.

    [ ] Bureaucrat + Practical > Warrior of Paperwork: Scholarship is just a specific form of paperwork. You can live with it. Combines the two traits, +2 Learning, remove penalty to writing papers yourself.

    [ ] The great library of Karak Eight Peaks
    You have built one of the greatest personal collection of knowledge on this side of the world, and that fact is starting to spread. those in relevant fields or interests (Wizards, scholars etc.) are beginning to recognise the wisdom of your words (or at least you likely have a book on the subject)

    Patsy: Where Possible you will arrange for your enemies to blame either themselves or each other for your thefts.
    Eshin being an easy scapegoat was convenient but it opened your eyes to how theft isn't just a means of acquiring your enemies strengths but also a way to sow disunity among them on its own.

    Follow the Paper Trail: You will keep your eyes peeled for documents that give insight into your enemies thought processes when infiltrating or stealing from them.
    Getting materials to learn Queekish has given you a decent Idea of what important papers look like and how they are stored. "Know your enemy" extends to their paperwork just like anything else.

    Undecided on: Count The Cards: You've felt the influence of gods, distant and near, faint and mighty. How could you fail to notice the meddling of your oldest friend when it happens right before you? Mathilde is aware, in a broad "high result/low result" way, of all rolls that the players see OOC.

    ---

    Personal Change

    [ ] Personal: Ancestor-Gods
    New Faith: Ancestor-Gods (will be concurrent with worship of Ranald, and will not conflict with it)
    You've learned some of the secrets of the Ancestor-Gods, and felt the power of at least one of them. You're beginning to appreciate them in a way that few humans have the chance to.

    [ ] Personal: Remove Disdain for Sigmar
    Removed Trait: Disdain for Sigmar, +1 to Piety (for no net Piety change)
    Time and distance has healed the grudge you still carry.

    [ ] Personal: Xeno-affinity
    Bonus to gaining diplomacy traits focused on cultures outside Old World humanity

    [ ] Personal: Unphased
    Upgrade of 'Blooded'.

    [ ] Beatified
    Word is starting to spread amongst Ranaldites of your unconventional but close relationship with Him. They are more likely to identify themselves to you, more willing to cooperate with your goals, and may seek your wisdom.
     
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    • BoneyM said:
    Through the dim light of the tunnel, you can see the glint of eyes staring back down at you with more intelligence than most would give a greenskin credit for, and you can see the waning Waaagh that centers on him. Warboss Birdmuncha.

    [Rolling...]

    "Zog that," he says, his voice a low rumble that reverberates through the cave, and then he's gone.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Gonna need to hunt him down. A Warboss with brains isn't someone we want wandering around the Karak.

    But, we survived. More than that, we won.
     
    Hmm. Possible upgrades:

    Windseer: Many sense the Winds of Magic, fewer see them, but almost none amongst mankind comprehend them as you do. +Magic, +Learning
    As so much of what she's done is based on this

    Assassin: our old friend the +40 trait
    As we've done an awful lot of that.

    The Shadow in the Dark: + Intrigue, bonus to causing fear and morale damage
    After what we did to the Mors in the Trench
     
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