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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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BurnNote said:
On my reread I came across this quote, from the aftermath of taking Drakenhof, the town.

I overread it the first few times I've gone through the story, and I didn't see anyone in the thread commenting either, but this time it really struck me. Markus and a few slayer charging a strongpoint, just before it gets obliterated by cannon fire. It's understated, but it's really a quite powerful image if you consider it a little. What a sad end.
Though I'd like to think he'd have been happy with how Mathilde has used the skills he taught her.
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I like Markus a lot, but that feels like kind of a dereliction of duty. The Dwarves would love that shit, but a Champion of Man should really have survived his lord to be an asset to his child, rather than going full Slayer.
 
Guile said:
I like Markus a lot, but that feels like kind of a dereliction of duty. The Dwarves would love that shit, but a Champion of Man should really have survived his lord to be an asset to his child, rather than going full Slayer.
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Well… that or died actually defending his liege.
Greatswords are fundamentally bodyguards. Dying after your principle is a mark of failure no matter how you do it.
 
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United As One
  • Apocrypha
    • My friends. My comrades. Loyal soldiers, each and every one of you. Reluctant rats, each and every one of you.

    Ah, there it is. Those hiss-squeaks of outrage! No, don't give me those faces. You have borne festering wounds and technological horrors in the line of duty. You have faced ravening monsters and diminishing food stocks in the name of our cause. You have endured assassins stalking about in the night and dwarves plodding around in the day. Moreover, you're still here in spite of it all. None can doubt your measure now.

    Not Beaten-Clan Moulder! Moulder, who thought us weak, and were devoured in their arrogance! Moulder, whose mindless beasts are nought but stew in our stomachs! Moulder, whose territory is ours now!

    Not Foolish-Clan Skryre! Skryre, who fears our unity, and whose attacks betray their own weakness! Skryre, who blow themselves up so we don't have to! Skryre, whose catastrophic misfortune has now given us a marvelous opportunity.

    Not Coward-Clan Eshin! Eshin, who attacks and runs and attacks and runs and attacks and runs! Cowardly Eshin, unable to fight a real war. They will never face us willingly on the battlefield, so today we force them to fight on our terms!

    Of course, if you lot were joining that, it'd be Sleek ramping you up instead of little old me. No, while Eshin relearns why they should fear us, somebody needs to hold the line at home. That is your duty and mine today!

    Not that those decadent dwarves will ever do anything serious, of course. However, losing our nests to spider-things and greenskins would be an embarrassment to my good name. More importantly, it would be a disgrace to the Clan. You are Clan Mors, and you will not fail.

    That'll be the first wave of them over there, then. Clanrats! You've trained for this. You know your assignments. You know what to do.

    United as One! FOR CLAN MORS! MORS! MORS!

    ---

    "Nice-nice speech. For a Traitor-Clan." Qrech grumbled.

    "Thanks-thanks!" Mathilde grinned. "I wasn't sure if I got that tone translated right."

    "Close enough to their drivel. United as one, pah." he spat. "What nonsense."
     
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  • Apocrypha
    • BurnNote said:
    On my reread I came across this quote, from the aftermath of taking Drakenhof, the town.

    I overread it the first few times I've gone through the story, and I didn't see anyone in the thread commenting either, but this time it really struck me. Markus and a few slayer charging a strongpoint, just before it gets obliterated by cannon fire. It's understated, but it's really a quite powerful image if you consider it a little. What a sad end.
    Though I'd like to think he'd have been happy with how Mathilde has used the skills he taught her.
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    Indeed, what happened to Marcus was very sad. I kinda wish we had a chance to talk with him post-everything exploding.

    I wonder what the former greatsword would give for a second chance...
     
    Omegahugger said:
    Indeed, what happened to Marcus was very sad. I kinda wish we had a chance to talk with him post-everything exploding.

    I wonder what the former greatsword would give for a second chance...
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    I think if we told him that Abelhelm's daughter is left with fresh-out-of-academy Greatswords who die faster than she can train more, he'd leap out of the grave as a wight, no necromancy needed.
     
    Question: does Mathilde have any family? She was recruited for the Grey Order at a young age, but I can't recall if it was ever mentioned if she had any family, or if she was just an orphan, or what. Or if she had family that died when she was young, what happened to them, etc.
     
    SaltyWaffles said:
    Question: does Mathilde have any family? She was recruited for the Grey Order at a young age, but I can't recall if it was ever mentioned if she had any family, or if she was just an orphan, or what. Or if she had family that died when she was young, what happened to them, etc.
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    She did have family. They tried to kill her.
    Understandably, her family is now Regimand and a Wolf.
     
    SaltyWaffles said:
    Question: does Mathilde have any family? She was recruited for the Grey Order at a young age, but I can't recall if it was ever mentioned if she had any family, or if she was just an orphan, or what. Or if she had family that died when she was young, what happened to them, etc.
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    Her family stood aside when a mob tried to set up a pyre for Mathilde when she awakened to the winds as a child.
    She only lives because the village sheriff mentioned that there's a law about that, put his hand on his sword and insisted.

    Her opinion on her family is understandably that they aren't her family.
    Her chosen family is Regimand.
     
    pucflek said:
    Less of active malice and more of general apathy and uncaring. They didn't try to kill her. They were just afraid of magic and wanted nothing to do with it, irregardless of it being wielded by their child or someone else.
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    *irregardless is not a word, and if it was, it would be a completely meaningless word. You're looking for "regardless" or "irrespective".

    And I honestly wouldn't regard "gave zero shits about a mob burning me at the stake for no reason" as apathy, really. After a certain point, that becomes "accomplice".
     
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    pucflek said:
    Less of active malice and more of general apathy and uncaring. They didn't try to kill her. They were just afraid of magic and wanted nothing to do with it, irregardless of it being wielded by their child or someone else.
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    Didn't her father bring her to the pyre himself? And then they refused all contact with her, even once it was made clear that she wasn't going to be killed?

    EDIT : You know, I'm going to go reread that update. It was a great one, anyway. Very sad, and a striking contrast with her reactions to the previous villages.
     
    BoneyM said:
    The Headman is a tall man, still muscled despite his advancing years, and well used to getting his way. But he sees the robes and the hat and the sword and the paperwork. He bows and stammers and welcomes you to the humble village of Kelham, and what could it do for such an august and powerful figure? What he doesn't see is you.

    He doesn't see the face of the girl that he dragged into the village square fourteen years ago, screaming for her to be burned; her mother and father had stood and watched and said nothing as the villagers started to gather firewood. Then someone arrived who argued, the single man that served as law enforcement in Kelham, who said that there was laws. That the girl had done no crime with her magic; that she hadn't harmed anyone nor raised the dead nor summoned creatures, only made a toy horse neigh. And the man that had once fought and bled for Stirland placed a hand on the hilt of his battered sword, and he insisted.

    Two weeks later, of living in that man's spare room and not seeing another human being and asking every day if her family had asked about her, and they hadn't, nobody did... two weeks later, answering the summons that had been sent to Wurtbad, a man by the name of Magister Regimand had arrived in the town, and demanded to see the child blessed and tainted with magic, and took her away to learn to control and cultivate the blessing and curse of magic.
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    Finally found the update where we got the info about Mathilde's family.

    it's ambiguous why her family stood by.
    might be because they were scared of magic.
    might be because they were scared of the headman.
    we don't know.
     
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    LightLan said:
    Finally found the update where we got the info about Mathilde's family.

    it's ambiguous why her family stood by.
    might be because they were scared of magic.
    might be because they were scared of the headman.
    we don't know.
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    Thanks for finding that. And yeah--the fact that they never even asked for her in the couple of weeks afterwards says volumes, really. They were either too afraid of her to care or viewed her as no longer their child at all, effectively disowning her.

    It's no wonder Mathilde washed her hands of the whole thing. No need to reopen that emotional wound, especially when she has Regimand. I hope Regimand gave that retired soldier a nice bit of gold for doing what he did.

    I also think that it serves as a nice contrast with Mathilde's reaction to the We. Also something unknown, frightening, and potentially dangerous, but she did not leap to "kill them all" or stay silent while others expressed that view. She proposed giving the We a chance to show themselves to be different, while keeping an open mind. And as soon as she had her sign, she was enthusiastic about exploring the matter further.
     
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    SaltyWaffles said:
    Thanks for finding that. And yeah--the fact that they never even asked for her in the couple of weeks afterwards says volumes, really. They were either too afraid of her to care or viewed her as no longer their child at all, effectively disowning her.

    It's no wonder Mathilde washed her hands of the whole thing. No need to reopen that emotional wound, especially when she has Regimand. I hope Regimand gave that retired soldier a nice bit of gold for doing what he did.
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    Some credit should be given to her parents in that this is a world of magic with a culture somewhere around... 12'th century Europe (with a lot of anachronisms). Superstitions around Trolls, Fay, Changelings, Demons, and so forth, lived on well into the 19'th century in the real world, and theirs is a world of literal magic. There's a lot of different ways her parents could have rationalized away that she wasn't their daughter anymore, or possibly that she never was their daughter.
    They likely loved her up to that point, and likely grieved over her, but once she showed magic she was a threat.
     
    SaltyWaffles said:
    *irregardless is not a word, and if it was, it would be a completely meaningless word. You're looking for "regardless" or "irrespective".
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    Irregardless - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
    www.merriam-webster.com

    Definition of IRREGARDLESS

    regardless… See the full definition
    www.merriam-webster.com www.merriam-webster.com
    dictionary.cambridge.org

    irregardless

    1. despite; not being affected by something: 2. despite; not being affected by…
    dictionary.cambridge.org dictionary.cambridge.org

    I might bork spelling with typos sometimes, but please, have some faith.

    As for the rest, i don't particularily care for them doing that, but what you have to account for is that magic became legal like, century ago. And that its users used to have a really, really bad rep. This was a small village. They didn't want their child dead, perhaps, but for them it ceased being their child when it manifested cursed powers. Its easy to blame people for doing something we view distasteful when there is no real way to put yourself in their shoes.
     
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    from that wikipedia link.

    Irregardless is a word sometimes used in place of regardless or irrespective, which has caused controversy since the early twentieth century, though the word appeared in print as early as 1795.[1] Most dictionaries list it as non-standard or incorrect usage, and recommend that "regardless" should be used instead.[2][3][4]
     
    SuperSonicSound said:
    Irregardless is a word sometimes used in place of regardless or irrespective, which has caused controversy since the early twentieth century, though the word appeared in print as early as 1795.[1] Most dictionaries list it as non-standard or incorrect usage, and recommend that "regardless" should be used instead.[2][3][4]
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    Yes indeed. But it is still a word and i can still use it as such. :V
     
    pucflek said:
    As for the rest, i don't particularily care for them doing that, but what you have to account for is that magic became legal like, century ago. And that its users used to have a really, really bad rep. This was a small village. They didn't want their child dead, perhaps, but for them it ceased being their child when it manifested cursed powers. Its easy to blame people for doing something we view distasteful when there is no real way to put yourself in their shoes.
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    A hundred years ago black kids weren't allowed to go to school with white kids in the U.S., and I feel very comfortably judging anyone who still thinks that was justified as not being good folks.

    Even if we ignore the fact that burning children is wrong, regardless of whether or not they're yours, it is still a dumb practice that heightens the risk for everybody.

    If showing magic leads directly to your death, you'll try to hide it and not get the education neccesary to not accidentally blow up their aunt.
    If someone won't be accepted no matter what they do, they are easily recruitable be cults and similar very nasty and actually dangerous groups.
    If all magic is equally bad and dangerous, then why not reach for the forbidden yet powerful Dhar? It's not like they can doublekill you for it.
     
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