- Location
- Wherever I feel like being
- Pronouns
- He/Him
@Reliable_2IC Dude, spoiler the large image. It's also considered "chan behavior" by some people here to reply with only an image. So perhaps actually have some more commentary in there?
Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest
- Thread starter Boney
- Start date
- Fantasy Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
- Location
- Seattle
A state secret Cadeath casually dropped in conversation like it should be obvious to anyone with eyes.
- Location
- his hidden lair
The Ar-Ulric all but admitted he played shenanigans to save lives, and we have no direct evidence to say the Nordlanders as a whole aren't really pissed at the thought of what looks like fellow Imperials trying to aid in the massacre of other imperials.
It's a clusterfuck for sure, but to say any of the human rulers involved are ignoring the cost of human life involved in this seems premature.
Keep in mind how it looks to the outsiders. Given Mathilde's relationships there's a lot of potential politics that goes into letting her become a lady magister in the first place. It tells the Dwarfs, who trust and respect her, that the Empire trusts and respects her too- and it speaks well of the Empire to honor such a Dwarf Friend. It tells the Elves that she's knowledgeable and respected, and this assuages some of their concerns over getting with Mathilde- because even if she is a relatively foolish human, she's widely regarded in her field and recognized as such. Will change what we do? Probably not. Will it change the optics of what we do? Probably, and in a relatively positive way unless we fuck up.
I don't get why the waystones are controversial. Magic is absolutely hazardous, yes, the Elves are using it to sustain the Vortex and protect the world. But magical loci have been long established to be of huge potential in Warhammer- arcane fulcrums are a thing after all. Associating the former with the latter makes sense, and just established a benefit for being the ones regulating all the waste disposal systems. There doesn't have to be exploitation for a potential renegotiation to look appealing- especially when the issue is so poorly understood.
NeonLights
Formerly Reliable_2IC
- Location
- In shambles
Alright, give me a moment and I'll have that sorted out.
Mopman43
Mountain-Hermit of Nitpeak
- Location
- Vermont
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure only SB has rules against Chan posting, not SV.
Omegahugger
Inattentive Idiot
So, hypothetical question: If the local Temple of Morr were to be completely wiped out due to an unfortunate and unpredictable accident, would ownership of the land and therefore the bodies buried within pass on to the local elector countess?
Or would we-Er, I mean the accident- have to take out the entire church of Morr?
Just curious, no nefarious planning here, I swear.
Considering just about the least aggressive and effortless thing the elves can do is leave whoever taps into their networks alone when Chaos comes because if you can use all that warp power you can also defend yourself renegotiating doesn't seem like a great idea.
The Asur aren't arrogant just because they're elves - they're arrogant because they're the only people regularly running around helping other folk against Chaos and other gribblies. They're the one reason why the Empire even has a top tier magical establishment in the first place.
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Nobody sensible wants to be landlord to a plot of land full of the restless dead, so even if the letter of the law leads to the land passing into secular hands, they'd do everything in their power to return it to the greater Church rather than try to keep the land for themselves. That said, in most places the law recognizes the greater Church as the ultimate heirs to any local Temples.
chocolote12
A Penguin Flailing Against The Keyboard Of Life.
That's only an SB thing. Meme post as much as you'd like, as long it's relevant to the thread and not spam, or at least that was the impression I got.
A Meeting in Middenheim 3 - Aftermath
After spending an appropriate amount of time admiring the newest addition to his display of wallscrolls on behalf of a Beastman Warherd, you fill Algard in on what little you know for sure and the great deal you suspect from your meetings in Middenheim. When you finish, Algard sits back and sighs. "Refugees," he says. "Nobody pays attention to the refugees. Gods know we've used that to our advantage more than a few times in the past. Do you have any idea if the Eonir are aware of it?"
"Their Ambassador didn't give any indication one way or the other."
"Even if they do know and are choosing to pretend they don't, it's a chink in this new alliance. Not that I know whether that's something to defend or something to target." He closes his eyes and hums tunelessly to himself. "Okay. Luitpold's sensible enough to read him into this, it might give him some leverage. Hopefully Laurelorn are happy with restoring their historical borders and Middenland don't have any ideas about taking a little something for themselves, and he can start bringing down tensions. Which relies on Nordland being sensible, so that's far from guaranteed. Bloody politics. Okay. Religion is thankfully far outside my jurisdiction, so let's move right on to the matter of the Waystones. How much do you know of them?"
"Just what I learned as an Apprentice," you admit. "Until that meeting I had no idea that anything had changed with the Eight Peaks Waystones."
"I'd recommend you bring yourself up to speed, then. Assuming you have the time, which none of us ever do. Not that we know a whole lot about the Waystones - the Ulthuani have always been cagey about them, even Teclis only taught us as much as he needed to for us to repair any blockages we encounter. Run the idea past anyone in the Karaz Ankor you think might be amenable, and if that doesn't work - anyone else, I'd say 'when that doesn't work', but you seem to have a knack for the Dwarves - then we'll try to step in and make it a College-Eonir project. But make sure you don't make any promises on behalf of the Eonir. They have the same act of smug superiority as Ulthuan, but they don't have the Tower of Hoeth in their back pocket and there's no way to tell how much knowledge they had in the first place and how much they've retained in the millennia since their independence." He tuts, rapping his fingers on his desk distractedly. "Waystones. On one hand I'm furious that Ulthuan never told us it could be so easily tapped into and put to use, as the Eonir seem to be implying. But on the other, I shudder to think how much damage every Journeyman with more ambition than sense would cause if they had an idea that playing with henges and leylines could get them limitless power."
---
"Eonir," King Belegar says cautiously. "Eonir. You're sure they're not the same as the ones Karak Norn are staring down?"
"Asrai. Same origin, different forest," you say. "Athel Loren is a nightmare realm of ghosts, monsters, trees, demons, and tree demons. Laurelorn doesn't come close to that, or even to the Drakwald or the Forest of Shadows or any of the Sylvanian woods."
"So they're 'only' as bad as regular Elgi," he says, distaste evident in his tone.
"Perhaps only mostly as bad. They're aware of their position and have always sought to reach accords with the Empire, first with Nordland and now with Middenland, and they remained neutral during Westerland's War of Independence despite overtures from the Directorate of Marienburg and the Exarchate of Elfsgemeente."
"Mmm," King Belegar says, just as neutrally. "I'll send to Karaz-a-Karak for the Book of Grudges of Karaz Ghumzul, which will give a starting point to even begin thinking about the matter. Now repeat to me what they said of Waystones. As close to their exact wording as you can."
A trick of memory that would have been more difficult when you only had one memory to work with. You compare notes with the recollections stored in Wolf's mind, ignoring the parallel adventures through the streets of Middenheim he got on with his new friends. "First they said 'Eight Peaks reconnected', and implied it was very recent - not long before my recent trips to Altdorf. If I had to guess, I'd say when you completed your Crown."
King Belegar reaches up and runs his fingers along the rim of it. "We understand so little of the works of our Ancestors," he admits. "What else?"
"'We've got our own piece of the network just as the Dwarves do,'" you repeat.
"At least they spoke your language instead of theirs. Definitely singular?" You nod. "And present continuous tense?"
"Implied. She could have said 'as the Dwarves do now', but Reikspiel doesn't demand precision as Khazalid does, and her leaving it out might not be meaningful."
"'Piece of the network'", he considers. "Not branch or node, piece. Significant fragment of the whole. And theirs is operational and useful?"
"They spoke as if adding to it would immediately be of use to them. So I'd say so."
"'Just as the Dwarves do,'" he repeats. "'Just as the Dwarves do.' Oh, Grimnir give me strength, Valaya give me wisdom, Thungni give me eyes to see the unseen. First Thorgrim did not send aid. Then the Crown was reassembled. Then Thorgrim sends aid. Oh, that sly old bastard."
"You think-" you begin, and then stop yourself, realizing that this fits exactly with Algard's concerns with Ulthuan. Magic being siphoned off across a continent for the benefit of a single central power, leaving those being robbed in ignorance. "Oh."
"'So long as the Rune of Azamar endures, the Karaz Ankor shall never fall.' Right there in plain sight, lying to all our faces. It's bloody powered off the Karaz Ankor, for the benefit of Karaz-a-Karak. I thought I'd put his beard to the fire when we spoke, but he's willing to send aid to fortify because it lets him rob my Kingdom blind." You remain silent, extremely uncomfortable with how this is escalating but not able to point out any outright errors in his reasoning. He sighs again. "Thank you. Once more I am in your debt."
Normally, you love to be praised in this matter. Today it leaves you cold.
---
You sit on your balcony with your bare feet burrowed into Wolf's thick fur and a tankard of ale in your hand, staring moodily over the Karak as the sun begins to dip below Karag Zilfin. Once more, circumstances left you in charge instead of those infinitely more qualified, and once more you were able to lead the forces of Order to victory. And once more, the aftermath of your victory is proving infinitely more complicated and conflicting than what came before. The coming years are filled with opportunity, low-hanging fruit growing heavy on the branch as you try desperately to juggle your responsibilities long enough to pluck it, but they're also filled with potential disaster as your King nurses a growing animosity for his High King, as Nordland and Middenland stare each other down over a stretch of forest neither has claim to, as your Empress rolls the dice with the boldest Ranaldian gambit since Shallya offered him a drink from her chalice. Technically, none are your problem, being 'merely' a Magister of the Grey College and the Loremaster of Karak Eight Peaks. But you very strongly doubt you'll be able to stop yourself from getting involved, and don't even know whether you should try.
So instead of staring with trepidation into the future, you firmly turn your sight to the rear and do your best to digest the lessons that recent years have taught you, knowing that you'll need every scrap of wisdom you can harvest and more besides to ride out the potential tumult of the coming years.
Lesson Learned: The Battle for the Caldera & Waaagh Birdmuncha
First, the incredibly eventful day mere weeks ago when the Ice Dragon awoke and Waaagh Birdmuncha spilled out of Black Crag in pursuit of it, precipitating the final conflict of the Reclamation of Karak Eight Peaks. Fate or chance or both decided that King Belegar and Thane Dreng and Prince Gotri were all seeing to business elsewhere on that day, and you were left to deal with what nobody else knows is the aftermath of your and Johann's raid into Karag Zilfin. The extermination of Clan Mors, the exodus of Clan Eshin, the feasting of the Trolls of Kvinn-Wyr, the meeting with the Ice Dragon and the revelation of Bok, and the still-unfolding consequences of your request to the High King for aid, and the unveiling of the Eye of Gazul and the near-total destruction of the Waaagh... it would be hard to boil down the events of those two days into a single lesson, but there are plenty of candidates.
[ ] Battle: General of Fog
Perhaps you should embrace the role of General that fate seems to insist on thrusting upon you, and deepen your understanding of deriving and concealing information on the battlefield.
[ ] Battle: Understanding of Greenskins
This wasn't the first time you clashed against the greenskins and it certainly won't be the last, and you've recently received a fair few accolades for your ability to get inside their head. Perhaps you should deepen that.
[ ] Battle: Understanding of Skaven
Those that fight against the Skaven usually do so unprepared and ignorant. You've had the rare opportunity to witness four different Skaven Clans in combat while knowing what you were seeing.
[ ] Battle: Surreptitious Intervention
Or perhaps you should focus not on when you lead the battles, but when you turned them more personally. Eyes and blades in the right places can make all the difference.
[ ] Battle: Trucemaker
You may not have the diplomatic chops to make lasting peace, but 'if we fight each other now, we both die' is much easier to sell, and can radically shift the balance of a conflict.
[ ] Battle: Shoulder to Shoulder
One of the strongest statements a general can make is joining the front line. Perhaps that's a skillset you should cultivate in yourself.
[ ] Battle: When In Doubt
Of the lessons that the Dwarves can teach, perhaps the strongest is that there's rarely a bad time to be strengthening your fortifications.
Lesson Learned - Karak Eight Peaks
The rest of your time in Eight Peaks was not quite as eventful as those two days, but it was no less significant, both to you and to the wider world. Assuming it sticks, the retaking of a Karak is an event that will go down in history, and with a little luck so will some of the other accomplishments you've managed during your time here. The Eye of Gazul, the translation of Queekish, your insights into Waaagh magic, and a hundred other contributions to the Reclamation present a dozen different possibilities for where you should concentrate your time and attention.
[ ] Karak: Polyglot
Between Khazalid and Queekish, you've found there's a great deal of benefits to expanding your linguistic lexicon.
[ ] Karak: Collegiate
How independent the Colleges are from each other depends a great deal on your perspective. There can be a lot of value in bridging those gaps.
[ ] Karak: Cartographer
Being able to explore, record, and subsequently navigate unfriendly territory is an incredibly useful and often underrated skill.
[ ] Karak: Understanding of Greenskins
Perhaps more important than being able to hold your own against the greenskins in times of war is being able to manage them as neighbours in times of peace.
[ ] Karak: Understanding of Skaven
The ratmen have a mind very few are able to get into, and between Frederick's memoirs and Qrech's insights it might be no human could eventually achieve the understanding that you could.
[ ] Karak: Surveillance
A careful eye upon those that don't know about said eye can reveal all sorts of information, more than making up for how difficult it might be to get that eye into place.
[ ] Karak: Windherder
It's said the High Elves can achieve miracles by using the Winds in parallel. You'll have to make do with using them in series, having other people handle the other Winds, and making sure they keep a safe distance from each other. But cultivating this ability expands the possibilities exactly eightfold.
[ ] Karak: Light Fingers
It's not theft, it's espionage. The enemies of the Empire and the Karaz Ankor have all sorts of interesting and portable items that would do a lot of good in friendly hands, from supplies to devices to paperwork.
Personal Growth
And in the middle of all this is you. It's hard to believe it's only been five years since Stirland, as your ability and your reputation has grown in leaps and bounds since then as you've found yourself in the midst of pivotal events and risen to meet the challenge each time. Sometimes you feel like a perfect confluence of being the right place with the right skills at the right time, and sometimes you feel like you're torn five different ways as you try to juggle the Empire, your College, your King, your friends, and your God. And the future promises to be just as fraught, if not more so, and it promises just as many opportunities for growth as it does pitfalls that will land you at the epicentre of one of many possible disasters. What sort of person will you be, at the end of all of this?
[ ] Personal: Ancestor-Gods
Most worship many Gods, but in the Empire you've only felt drawn to one. Perhaps your time amongst the Karaz Ankor, walking where the Ancestor-Gods once walked and feeling the power of Gazul, has changed that for you.
[ ] Personal: Mountain Mystic
Your unconventional relationship with an unconventional God has so far gone mostly unnoticed. Perhaps word might begin to spread amongst the faithful that far from the sects, orders and brotherhoods of the Empire, one walks with only Ranald for company.
[ ] Personal: Poker Face
Acting like you always know what's going on has gone from a source of personal amusement to a vital diplomatic first line of defence. Perhaps this should be cultivated into a deeper understanding of the art of bluffing with no cards.
[ ] Personal: Xeno-Affinity
Your circle of friends and acquaintances includes Dwarves, Halflings, seven flavours of Wizard, spiders, a wolf, a litter of wolf-rats, and to your surprise, one Skaven. Who can predict the benefits to cultivating an ability to find friendship amongst those most different from you?
[ ] Personal: Unphased
You've seen a lot of terrible things. You were responsible for some of them. It is necessary to grow at least a little numb to the horrors of the world, so that one can continue to combat them.
[ ] Personal: The Mom Friend
As a friend, you have something of an interventionist streak. Perhaps you should embrace this, and make it your mission to ensure that those closest to you live their best lives.
[ ] Personal: The Mentor
Gosh, the Ducklings are so fun. And not just because they so easily fall for what Panoramia has learned to see through. They have so much to learn, and you have so much to teach them, and one day the Old World will be filled with movers and shakers that you have helped blossom.
- There will be a two hour moratorium, both to discuss the conclusion King Belegar has reached as well as for any suggestions for new options. I've decided against giving information on mechanical consequences to these decisions, and encourage everyone to choose based on how they want Mathilde to develop and on the story they want to experience, rather than weighing abstract advantages. Voting will be open for at least 50 hours from this post, or 48 hours after voting opens, and will remain open until I explicitly close it.
- One option will win out of each of the three categories. You can vote for as many as you like.
- Please don't ask me what mechanical effects any of the options would have. They would make Mathilde better at X, that is all the information I am giving at this point. If the nature of X itself is unclear, then ask me.
- Greenskin/Skaven understanding exists in Battle and Karak. There is some overlap, though the Battle ones would focus more on strategy while Karak would focus on culture. It's possible and acceptable for an Understanding for one or the other to win in both categories.
"Their Ambassador didn't give any indication one way or the other."
"Even if they do know and are choosing to pretend they don't, it's a chink in this new alliance. Not that I know whether that's something to defend or something to target." He closes his eyes and hums tunelessly to himself. "Okay. Luitpold's sensible enough to read him into this, it might give him some leverage. Hopefully Laurelorn are happy with restoring their historical borders and Middenland don't have any ideas about taking a little something for themselves, and he can start bringing down tensions. Which relies on Nordland being sensible, so that's far from guaranteed. Bloody politics. Okay. Religion is thankfully far outside my jurisdiction, so let's move right on to the matter of the Waystones. How much do you know of them?"
"Just what I learned as an Apprentice," you admit. "Until that meeting I had no idea that anything had changed with the Eight Peaks Waystones."
"I'd recommend you bring yourself up to speed, then. Assuming you have the time, which none of us ever do. Not that we know a whole lot about the Waystones - the Ulthuani have always been cagey about them, even Teclis only taught us as much as he needed to for us to repair any blockages we encounter. Run the idea past anyone in the Karaz Ankor you think might be amenable, and if that doesn't work - anyone else, I'd say 'when that doesn't work', but you seem to have a knack for the Dwarves - then we'll try to step in and make it a College-Eonir project. But make sure you don't make any promises on behalf of the Eonir. They have the same act of smug superiority as Ulthuan, but they don't have the Tower of Hoeth in their back pocket and there's no way to tell how much knowledge they had in the first place and how much they've retained in the millennia since their independence." He tuts, rapping his fingers on his desk distractedly. "Waystones. On one hand I'm furious that Ulthuan never told us it could be so easily tapped into and put to use, as the Eonir seem to be implying. But on the other, I shudder to think how much damage every Journeyman with more ambition than sense would cause if they had an idea that playing with henges and leylines could get them limitless power."
---
"Eonir," King Belegar says cautiously. "Eonir. You're sure they're not the same as the ones Karak Norn are staring down?"
"Asrai. Same origin, different forest," you say. "Athel Loren is a nightmare realm of ghosts, monsters, trees, demons, and tree demons. Laurelorn doesn't come close to that, or even to the Drakwald or the Forest of Shadows or any of the Sylvanian woods."
"So they're 'only' as bad as regular Elgi," he says, distaste evident in his tone.
"Perhaps only mostly as bad. They're aware of their position and have always sought to reach accords with the Empire, first with Nordland and now with Middenland, and they remained neutral during Westerland's War of Independence despite overtures from the Directorate of Marienburg and the Exarchate of Elfsgemeente."
"Mmm," King Belegar says, just as neutrally. "I'll send to Karaz-a-Karak for the Book of Grudges of Karaz Ghumzul, which will give a starting point to even begin thinking about the matter. Now repeat to me what they said of Waystones. As close to their exact wording as you can."
A trick of memory that would have been more difficult when you only had one memory to work with. You compare notes with the recollections stored in Wolf's mind, ignoring the parallel adventures through the streets of Middenheim he got on with his new friends. "First they said 'Eight Peaks reconnected', and implied it was very recent - not long before my recent trips to Altdorf. If I had to guess, I'd say when you completed your Crown."
King Belegar reaches up and runs his fingers along the rim of it. "We understand so little of the works of our Ancestors," he admits. "What else?"
"'We've got our own piece of the network just as the Dwarves do,'" you repeat.
"At least they spoke your language instead of theirs. Definitely singular?" You nod. "And present continuous tense?"
"Implied. She could have said 'as the Dwarves do now', but Reikspiel doesn't demand precision as Khazalid does, and her leaving it out might not be meaningful."
"'Piece of the network'", he considers. "Not branch or node, piece. Significant fragment of the whole. And theirs is operational and useful?"
"They spoke as if adding to it would immediately be of use to them. So I'd say so."
"'Just as the Dwarves do,'" he repeats. "'Just as the Dwarves do.' Oh, Grimnir give me strength, Valaya give me wisdom, Thungni give me eyes to see the unseen. First Thorgrim did not send aid. Then the Crown was reassembled. Then Thorgrim sends aid. Oh, that sly old bastard."
"You think-" you begin, and then stop yourself, realizing that this fits exactly with Algard's concerns with Ulthuan. Magic being siphoned off across a continent for the benefit of a single central power, leaving those being robbed in ignorance. "Oh."
"'So long as the Rune of Azamar endures, the Karaz Ankor shall never fall.' Right there in plain sight, lying to all our faces. It's bloody powered off the Karaz Ankor, for the benefit of Karaz-a-Karak. I thought I'd put his beard to the fire when we spoke, but he's willing to send aid to fortify because it lets him rob my Kingdom blind." You remain silent, extremely uncomfortable with how this is escalating but not able to point out any outright errors in his reasoning. He sighs again. "Thank you. Once more I am in your debt."
Normally, you love to be praised in this matter. Today it leaves you cold.
---
You sit on your balcony with your bare feet burrowed into Wolf's thick fur and a tankard of ale in your hand, staring moodily over the Karak as the sun begins to dip below Karag Zilfin. Once more, circumstances left you in charge instead of those infinitely more qualified, and once more you were able to lead the forces of Order to victory. And once more, the aftermath of your victory is proving infinitely more complicated and conflicting than what came before. The coming years are filled with opportunity, low-hanging fruit growing heavy on the branch as you try desperately to juggle your responsibilities long enough to pluck it, but they're also filled with potential disaster as your King nurses a growing animosity for his High King, as Nordland and Middenland stare each other down over a stretch of forest neither has claim to, as your Empress rolls the dice with the boldest Ranaldian gambit since Shallya offered him a drink from her chalice. Technically, none are your problem, being 'merely' a Magister of the Grey College and the Loremaster of Karak Eight Peaks. But you very strongly doubt you'll be able to stop yourself from getting involved, and don't even know whether you should try.
So instead of staring with trepidation into the future, you firmly turn your sight to the rear and do your best to digest the lessons that recent years have taught you, knowing that you'll need every scrap of wisdom you can harvest and more besides to ride out the potential tumult of the coming years.
Lesson Learned: The Battle for the Caldera & Waaagh Birdmuncha
First, the incredibly eventful day mere weeks ago when the Ice Dragon awoke and Waaagh Birdmuncha spilled out of Black Crag in pursuit of it, precipitating the final conflict of the Reclamation of Karak Eight Peaks. Fate or chance or both decided that King Belegar and Thane Dreng and Prince Gotri were all seeing to business elsewhere on that day, and you were left to deal with what nobody else knows is the aftermath of your and Johann's raid into Karag Zilfin. The extermination of Clan Mors, the exodus of Clan Eshin, the feasting of the Trolls of Kvinn-Wyr, the meeting with the Ice Dragon and the revelation of Bok, and the still-unfolding consequences of your request to the High King for aid, and the unveiling of the Eye of Gazul and the near-total destruction of the Waaagh... it would be hard to boil down the events of those two days into a single lesson, but there are plenty of candidates.
[ ] Battle: General of Fog
Perhaps you should embrace the role of General that fate seems to insist on thrusting upon you, and deepen your understanding of deriving and concealing information on the battlefield.
[ ] Battle: Understanding of Greenskins
This wasn't the first time you clashed against the greenskins and it certainly won't be the last, and you've recently received a fair few accolades for your ability to get inside their head. Perhaps you should deepen that.
[ ] Battle: Understanding of Skaven
Those that fight against the Skaven usually do so unprepared and ignorant. You've had the rare opportunity to witness four different Skaven Clans in combat while knowing what you were seeing.
[ ] Battle: Surreptitious Intervention
Or perhaps you should focus not on when you lead the battles, but when you turned them more personally. Eyes and blades in the right places can make all the difference.
[ ] Battle: Trucemaker
You may not have the diplomatic chops to make lasting peace, but 'if we fight each other now, we both die' is much easier to sell, and can radically shift the balance of a conflict.
[ ] Battle: Shoulder to Shoulder
One of the strongest statements a general can make is joining the front line. Perhaps that's a skillset you should cultivate in yourself.
[ ] Battle: When In Doubt
Of the lessons that the Dwarves can teach, perhaps the strongest is that there's rarely a bad time to be strengthening your fortifications.
Lesson Learned - Karak Eight Peaks
The rest of your time in Eight Peaks was not quite as eventful as those two days, but it was no less significant, both to you and to the wider world. Assuming it sticks, the retaking of a Karak is an event that will go down in history, and with a little luck so will some of the other accomplishments you've managed during your time here. The Eye of Gazul, the translation of Queekish, your insights into Waaagh magic, and a hundred other contributions to the Reclamation present a dozen different possibilities for where you should concentrate your time and attention.
[ ] Karak: Polyglot
Between Khazalid and Queekish, you've found there's a great deal of benefits to expanding your linguistic lexicon.
[ ] Karak: Collegiate
How independent the Colleges are from each other depends a great deal on your perspective. There can be a lot of value in bridging those gaps.
[ ] Karak: Cartographer
Being able to explore, record, and subsequently navigate unfriendly territory is an incredibly useful and often underrated skill.
[ ] Karak: Understanding of Greenskins
Perhaps more important than being able to hold your own against the greenskins in times of war is being able to manage them as neighbours in times of peace.
[ ] Karak: Understanding of Skaven
The ratmen have a mind very few are able to get into, and between Frederick's memoirs and Qrech's insights it might be no human could eventually achieve the understanding that you could.
[ ] Karak: Surveillance
A careful eye upon those that don't know about said eye can reveal all sorts of information, more than making up for how difficult it might be to get that eye into place.
[ ] Karak: Windherder
It's said the High Elves can achieve miracles by using the Winds in parallel. You'll have to make do with using them in series, having other people handle the other Winds, and making sure they keep a safe distance from each other. But cultivating this ability expands the possibilities exactly eightfold.
[ ] Karak: Light Fingers
It's not theft, it's espionage. The enemies of the Empire and the Karaz Ankor have all sorts of interesting and portable items that would do a lot of good in friendly hands, from supplies to devices to paperwork.
Personal Growth
And in the middle of all this is you. It's hard to believe it's only been five years since Stirland, as your ability and your reputation has grown in leaps and bounds since then as you've found yourself in the midst of pivotal events and risen to meet the challenge each time. Sometimes you feel like a perfect confluence of being the right place with the right skills at the right time, and sometimes you feel like you're torn five different ways as you try to juggle the Empire, your College, your King, your friends, and your God. And the future promises to be just as fraught, if not more so, and it promises just as many opportunities for growth as it does pitfalls that will land you at the epicentre of one of many possible disasters. What sort of person will you be, at the end of all of this?
[ ] Personal: Ancestor-Gods
Most worship many Gods, but in the Empire you've only felt drawn to one. Perhaps your time amongst the Karaz Ankor, walking where the Ancestor-Gods once walked and feeling the power of Gazul, has changed that for you.
[ ] Personal: Mountain Mystic
Your unconventional relationship with an unconventional God has so far gone mostly unnoticed. Perhaps word might begin to spread amongst the faithful that far from the sects, orders and brotherhoods of the Empire, one walks with only Ranald for company.
[ ] Personal: Poker Face
Acting like you always know what's going on has gone from a source of personal amusement to a vital diplomatic first line of defence. Perhaps this should be cultivated into a deeper understanding of the art of bluffing with no cards.
[ ] Personal: Xeno-Affinity
Your circle of friends and acquaintances includes Dwarves, Halflings, seven flavours of Wizard, spiders, a wolf, a litter of wolf-rats, and to your surprise, one Skaven. Who can predict the benefits to cultivating an ability to find friendship amongst those most different from you?
[ ] Personal: Unphased
You've seen a lot of terrible things. You were responsible for some of them. It is necessary to grow at least a little numb to the horrors of the world, so that one can continue to combat them.
[ ] Personal: The Mom Friend
As a friend, you have something of an interventionist streak. Perhaps you should embrace this, and make it your mission to ensure that those closest to you live their best lives.
[ ] Personal: The Mentor
Gosh, the Ducklings are so fun. And not just because they so easily fall for what Panoramia has learned to see through. They have so much to learn, and you have so much to teach them, and one day the Old World will be filled with movers and shakers that you have helped blossom.
- There will be a two hour moratorium, both to discuss the conclusion King Belegar has reached as well as for any suggestions for new options. I've decided against giving information on mechanical consequences to these decisions, and encourage everyone to choose based on how they want Mathilde to develop and on the story they want to experience, rather than weighing abstract advantages. Voting will be open for at least 50 hours from this post, or 48 hours after voting opens, and will remain open until I explicitly close it.
- One option will win out of each of the three categories. You can vote for as many as you like.
- Please don't ask me what mechanical effects any of the options would have. They would make Mathilde better at X, that is all the information I am giving at this point. If the nature of X itself is unclear, then ask me.
- Greenskin/Skaven understanding exists in Battle and Karak. There is some overlap, though the Battle ones would focus more on strategy while Karak would focus on culture. It's possible and acceptable for an Understanding for one or the other to win in both categories.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
Wow...Belegar, you wise, wonderful dwarf. However right you might be, you cottoned onto the basic truth.
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Eh, how much and how frequently does Ulthuan help Empire in particular is a matter of debate.
Teclis did establish the Colleges, and that's an enormous thing.
However, he did it almost in opposition of the central authorities (Finubar) and barring that, rarely have the Asur intervened to aid the Empire.
Iirc, even in Great War against Chaos, they sent three archmages in total. That's quite underwhelming.
The Long March and accompanying Waystone maintainance is the biggest solid good that Ulthuan has to its name.
With that all being said, I actually like the Asur, I just think they need to be a lot more proactive if they want their title of World's Shield to be taken seriously.
- Location
- Actually pretty lost
Oh dear. While Thorgrim was certainly happy to reinforce K8P for exactly those reasons, I suspect it didn't even cross his mind that Belegar might object. To be fair, Belegar thinks it's just powering the Karaz Ankor (which it is) and doesn't know it's literally keeping the dwarves from extinction.
Mopman43
Mountain-Hermit of Nitpeak
- Location
- Vermont
This is going to go badly.
- Location
- New Brunswick, NJ
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Hunh. Thought we weren't getting these for at least one more turn. Guess the plan changed. That out of the way:
THORGRIM DIDN'T EXPLAIN AZRILBEZAZ TO BELEGAR? THAT... THAT... I CAN'T EVEN THINK OF A SUFFICIENTLY INSULTING TERM FOR THAT. THAT SHODDY TUNNEL BRACING OF AN EXCUSE FOR A LEADER!
I am genuinely infuriated about this. I take back most of the nice understanding things I said about him.
THORGRIM DIDN'T EXPLAIN AZRILBEZAZ TO BELEGAR? THAT... THAT... I CAN'T EVEN THINK OF A SUFFICIENTLY INSULTING TERM FOR THAT. THAT SHODDY TUNNEL BRACING OF AN EXCUSE FOR A LEADER!
I am genuinely infuriated about this. I take back most of the nice understanding things I said about him.
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- Location
- Cardassia Prime
My friend didn't understand what conclusion was drawn by Belegar, could someone help him?
- Location
- Finland
But not yet for the most important one.
I really, really hope Thorgrim brings him in on the secret (probably won't though).
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
That's awkward: Belgar thinks that the power from the way stones only help the Dwarven Citadel, when in truth the power is needed to ensure the dwarves can survive.
Mopman43
Mountain-Hermit of Nitpeak
- Location
- Vermont
He thinks Karaz-a-Karak is using the power drawn from the Karaz Ankor for it's own purposes. He doesn't know it's being used for the Runes of Valaya that protect the Holds from magic and are responsible for the Dwarfs continuing to survive.
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- Location
- Finland
Belegar thinks Thorgrim just wants to power Karaz a Karak, he does not know about the runes of Valaya.
Digger-of-Unnecessarily-Convoluted-Tunnels would a pretty interesting addition to K8P.
oh dear. This might go badly.
- Location
- UK
Regarding the lessons, I think it best to build on the current play style? (Subterfuge/Intel Gathering/Assassinations)
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Mopman43
Mountain-Hermit of Nitpeak
- Location
- Vermont
6,000 years of secrecy are hard to go back on.