Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
@picklepikkl
I personally have no issue with spending College Favor for Rare Waystone & Hedges books, nor for a five Favor good translation of the Skaven stuff.

We got no lack of College favors. Spending on an excellent translation isn't bad and a lot more doable than learning a language just for it is.

I mean, theoretically, if they brought it into a WARZONE, it must have some value beyond being fiction or information about Cathay (especially since, OOC, Boney doesn't want to have to create a whole new world in the East)
 
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To be honest, I'd rather be spending our Favour on stuff like translations and hiring expert consultants than on magic items to stuff our pockets with, so I'd vote to spend CF unlocking this mystery box, yeah.
A great library might actually be more affordable right now, with all of the craftsmen here, than in the future. We may want to consider this during purchase.
The actual construction would be cheaper now because of the K-a-K workers around.
He nods down at the work below. "In just under three weeks, every Dawi of the Karak will be able to return to their chosen profession. Karaz-a-Karak is sending a significant portion of their Guild of Stonemasons, the Guild of Miners, the Guild of Prospectors, the Guild of Toolmakers, and the Guild of Engineers to labour for Karak Eight Peaks at Karaz-a-Karak's expense for the next three and a half years."
But I don't think that would be the primary cost of the Great Library -- the primary cost is the books. We pay as much for an Extensive collection of a single topic as we do to get Dwarf construction workers excavating and building four very nice rooms in our Penthouse.
 
And @Andres110 wanted an item with Amber Spear to deal with massive monsters and another with Burning Vengeance for our infiltration missions...
Actually, I wanted an item with Amber Spear for any single opponent, whether monster size or human size or warboss size. The lesser version of the spell is an armour-ignoring ballista, and the greater version is an armour-ignoring cannon. For obvious reasons I really want our marksdwarf pistol to literally hit with the force of a cannon (that ignores armour and does bonus damage to monsters).
 
@BoneyM if the Halflings can re-vitalize the soil of the Caldera, could K8P produce enough food to sustain itself and the We without needing to import food? Without having the We hunt in the surrounding lands I mean.
 
I personally have no issue with spending College Favor for Rare Waystone & Hedges books, nor for a five Favor good translation of the Skaven stuff.
All right, with that in mind, here's another Library plan: Pickle's Profligate Purchases
[ ] [LIBRARY] Linguistics (Dwarf Antiquarian), The Eonir of Laurelorn (Imperial Extensive & Esoteric, Dwarf Extensive & Antiquarian), Waystones (Imperial Extensive & Antiquarian, Dwarf Extensive & Antiquarian)

This spends a total of 950gc, 6DF, and 2CF, reduced to 650gc, 4DF, and 2CF after our subsidy. I don't think I recommend this plan; it's too much money spent out of pocket right now when we are unlikely to need the benefits right now. I'd much rather wait a turn and use next turn's subsidy on this. But I figure I'd present the option for people who are interested.
 
All right, with that in mind, here's another Library plan: Pickle's Profligate Purchases
[ ] [LIBRARY] Linguistics (Dwarf Antiquarian), The Eonir of Laurelorn (Imperial Extensive & Esoteric, Dwarf Extensive & Antiquarian), Waystones (Imperial Extensive & Antiquarian, Dwarf Extensive & Antiquarian)

This spends a total of 950gc, 6DF, and 2CF, reduced to 650gc, 4DF, and 2CF after our subsidy. I don't think I recommend this plan; it's too much money spent out of pocket right now when we are unlikely to need the benefits right now. I'd much rather wait a turn and use next turn's subsidy on this. But I figure I'd present the option for people who are interested.
That's a fair point.
 
Speed of Light turns Mathilde's brain into a Dhar-bomb. The others are fine, but I feel the need to point out that Burning Vengeance, like all mind magics, can be resisted, and most targets you want to cast it on would be those with a lot of willpower.

Any spell that involves filling Mathilde's brainmeats with non-Ulgu magic has that result.

Ah, so you've decided to change things a bit since the following quote?

Speed of Light would clash with any other internal buffs when used, to the detriment of all spells involved, and make it harder to cast spells while it's active because the parts of you that normally channel Ulgu are filled with a different Wind. I can't see many scenarios where you punch the 'maximum murderblender' button and then decide to take a time out to cast some spells instead though, and the spell version only lasts a single round - this isn't an 'entire battle' deal.

The same applies to any other buff that improves the internal workings of your body. Mathilde's standard battle spells are Aethyric Armour and Scary Murdershadows, both of which are external.

Makes sense, I guess. It has been quite some time.
 
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They've also grasped the concept of a medium of exchange, though they see the gold coins more as an idiosyncratic method of recording debts than they do something with value of its own, and you have a quick word with Princess Edda, and a quick reconciliation later leads to a small pile of golden coins turned over to the We, who carefully weave it into a rather pretty tessellation on one of the walls of their hive.
...Okay so instead of going for pulp or cotton, I wonder if we (and The We) could jump ahead into Spidersilk Banknotes.
 
Though it's become less of an attempted invasion and more of a source of entertainment to the greenskins forcing their less-favoured underlings to throw themselves against the Dwarven defences, the Underway passage from Black Crag to Karak Eight Peaks is still a constant flow of greenskins. Though they're unlikely to make any real contribution as the battle is one of logistics rather than martial ability for the Dwarves, it will keep them reliably and safely fed, and they will be crediting most of those meals to the Dwarves.
We are going to have some pretty solid marksmen. Unless the Besiegers have left that's probably gonna be their new dream vacation of a job shooting oncoming Greenskins from Dwarven fortifications (realistically speaking)... @BoneyM have they left?
 
How did they feed themself in The Good Old Days?

Mushroom farms and Nehekharan grain.

Ah, so you decided to change things a bit since the following quote?

Makes sense, I guess. It has been quite some time.

Hard to recall a year and change onwards, but I might have only been considering the physical buff back then. It definitely has a mental component to allow someone to have maximum reflexes..


They're not on contract, but a number of them are still hanging around while they spend their pay.
 
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[] [WE] Scavenge the Gauntlet
Though it's become less of an attempted invasion and more of a source of entertainment to the greenskins forcing their less-favoured underlings to throw themselves against the Dwarven defences, the Underway passage from Black Crag to Karak Eight Peaks is still a constant flow of greenskins. Though they're unlikely to make any real contribution as the battle is one of logistics rather than martial ability for the Dwarves, it will keep them reliably and safely fed, and they will be crediting most of those meals to the Dwarves.

This seems like the best option, to me. For one, it gets the dwarves and humans of K8P used to working alongside the We, especially in battle, and getting an idea of their value in the defense of the Karak would be a major bonus. That the We would be crediting most of those meals to the Dwarves is icing on the cake. The only downside here is that it might reveal the presence of the We to the greenskins, but they'd still lack any real idea of their capabilities, and we're quite a ways from the We being in a position to provide substantial military support regardless.

---

On top of the matter of the We and the debts they're owed, you also have your own debt to consider: a Boon from King Belegar that is practically limitless in scope. Spent well, this could catapult you in power, or influence, or comfort. Spent unwisely, this could beggar the Karak. You're torn between salivating at the possibilities and quailing at the responsibility.

[] [BOON] Save it until the Karak is wealthy enough to afford my ambition.

I feel like this is the most reasonable option. The Karak is going to be wealthy in the future--between the We's silk, mining income, tons of trade income, our position on the Silk Road (trade caravans to Cathay and the Far East will still be lucrative, even if the silk becomes worth little, because the Far East still produces lots of highly desirable goods and vice-versa), and immigration from the promise of safety, security, stability, and opportunity, Karak Eight Peaks will become quite wealthy in time, perhaps even the near future. But right now, Belegar has to grapple with rebuilding the fortifications for most of K8P from scratch, buying all of the guns and cannons he can find, paying off the costs of the Eye of Gazul, and a whole lot more. Let's give it a few years before we drop a megaproject on his lap. Plus, it gives us time to refine our ideas for what we want, and if a major opportunity arises in that time, it gives us the chance to capitalize on that.

Penthouse
The four with the most votes will win.
[] [ROOM] Vault
To keep safe your wealth, your secrets, and your miscellaneous esoterica.
[] [ROOM] Guest Room
For when you have visitors; can fit three comfortably, or up to six if enough of them are on good terms with each other.
[] [ROOM] Wolf's Room
He sleeps at the foot of your bed, but he'd probably appreciate a room of his own for midday naps and playing with the Wolf-Rats.
[] [ROOM] Explosives Laboratory
A room with enough reinforcement and baffles to withstand all but the most inadvisable of experiments.

I figure that an airborne invasion of our Penthouse could only really come from either a handful of elite orcs (in which case, our sword would be preferable and I doubt they'd bring siege weapons on wyvern-back) or from druuchi, which is extremely unlikely. It's something that can wait, at least.

An explosives laboratory is something that would be useful for any particularly volatile experiments/research we do, like with AV and weaponizing it. It's something we probably wouldn't have an easy time finding elsewhere, given how antsy dwarves are with experimental magic.

A guest room is a good idea all around, because we do regularly entertain guests, and we could definitely end up wanting to (or having to) invite VIPs up to our penthouse at some point in the future. Good for prestige and comfort.

A vault because we are steadily accruing stuff we want to keep locked away safely and securely.

And a room for Wolf and the rat-pups, because best dog and puppers.

Library Purchases
Budget: 300gc, 2 Dwarf Favour. Anything not spent will not accumulate.

[] [LIBRARY] Waystones (Imperial Extensive, Dwarf Extensive) -- 215gc, 2 DF
[] [LIBRARY] Eonir (Imperial Extensive) -- 85gc


Not sure how to format this part. But I'd like to get elven books on waystones if at all possible (doubtful, I know); dwarf books on waystones would be good, too.
 
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@SaltyWaffles, it's a four-hour moratorium. Not a two-hour one. No voting yet; still an hour and a half to go.

Properly formatted library plans are available from a few of my posts, if you check my history.
 
So we got an indication of what the College education on Waystones look like: its a service technician's guide. How to identify bugs and debug them mostly.
I went back and looked at exactly what the Eonir ambassador was asking for - a service technician's guide might well be enough to give them what they want (specifically what was asked was for "a few more Waystones online", implying that what was needed was more about repair/re-connection rather than expansion of the network or total waystone replacement).
 
Mushroom farms and Nehekharan grain.



Hard to recall a year and change onwards, but I might have only been considering the physical buff back then. It definitely has a mental component to allow someone to have maximum reflexes..



They're not on contract, but a number of them are still hanging around while they spend their pay.

It makes sense, but I can't help but feel like that conflicts a bit with Speed of Thought.

"Speed of Thought - The wizard lays a lattice of Hysh into their own mind, increasing the rapidity of their thoughts tenfold."

It seems like accelerating the mind and the body simultaneously with Speed of Light would make this spell unnecessary. At the same time, the user must have SOME way of keeping track where the hell they're going...

Maybe, in a narrative unrestricted by stats and mechanics, Light accelerates the body and Thought accelerates the mind, allowing for the usefulness of Light to be maximised, and practicioners good enough to use either of those spells for melee combat simply use both? It would certainly impose a major limitation on the spell for us, making it useful only for going in straight lines (e.g. running away). Not something I would spend much Favour on, personally, but it would kinda fit in a neat way.
 
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I got 500 tabs in my home pc with tabs from 2018
Ah, so that's how you're in literally every thread.

The We are your next major concern, and you check in with the Priestess who has been working amongst them for the past year. Her main concern and the first thing she reports is that although she hasn't quite managed to convert them to Esmerelda, she has managed to conceptually extend their fundamental communalism into an appreciation for more artificial collectives, and that based on this understanding it has requested to become part of the Karak-We. You're still not entirely sure how that would technically work, but you're pleased with the development nonetheless. What you see as a more significant development is that the Priestess has managed to communicate, in one form or another, the concepts required for them to enter into an informed trade relationship. From the understanding that the Karak-We-Not-We were unable to produce silk of their own, they were able to grasp the idea that the unique labour of their stomach and their spinnerets had added value to the protein they had digested, and therefore that silk was more valuable than the protein that eating it would provide. The obvious question from there is 'how much more valuable', and the We had considered and ultimately rejected a great deal of economic theory in favour of a much more easy to grasp 'twice as valuable'. Twice the weight in protein, or roughly eight times it in live animals.

To your surprise, they've been keeping their own records, though not of silk supplied - instead, they've been recording the number of meals the Dwarves have provided, both from directing them to battlefields to have their pick of the dying and from the Rangers and their habit of turning over captives to the We. They're insisting on giving the Karak credit for these, as well as for any future enemies of the Karak-We turned over. They've also grasped the concept of a medium of exchange, though they see the gold coins more as an idiosyncratic method of recording debts than they do something with value of its own, and you have a quick word with Princess Edda, and a quick reconciliation later leads to a small pile of golden coins turned over to the We, who carefully weave it into a rather pretty tessellation on one of the walls of their hive.
...'Kay.

@Omegahugger I am with you. The We are our babies.

The hyper big brain Eshin plot where the books are all "Mathilde's Secret Plans To Overthrow The Man-Thing Empire" They knew this would happen and have snared us in the deepest plot.
Look man, yesterday I finally hit level 40 with Snikch, had him launch a panicked decapitation strike at Karaz-a-Karak before fourteen full stacks of dwarves marched down my throat because I poked Zhufbar too hard, under the impression that it would maybe cause un-confedations or something, or generate a bunch of rebels that would makes the Dwarves too distracted to declare war on me, perhaps permanently taking out an LL in the process.

Instead, I watched in awe as the entire Karaz Ankor went up in flames and got replaced with Orc Rebels.

I could believe a hyper big brain Eshin plot right now.
 
Crazy thought - Do we have a plan for if any of the We develop an aptitude for magic?
 
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