Assuming that a functional prototype of a steam tractor is completed tomorrow, already having gone through decades of refinement to its design, it'll be at least two centuries of stress tests and other evaluations at the workshop before the patent is notarised, followed by another three of field testing at minimum.
Not talking about something as grand as a steam tractor, I'm talking about mechanized horse-powered threshing machines, seed drills, grain cradles, and the like that weren't invented in our timeline until the 18'th-19'th century. There was a lot of wasted labor up until then with everything done by hand.
Heck, even the (edit: common use of the) Scythe should be a relatively recent invention in the Warhammer world, with how anachronistic it is, moving away from the previously used sickle.
Not talking about something as grand as a steam tractor, I'm talking about mechanized horse-powered threshing machines, seed drills, grain cradles, and the like that weren't invented in our timeline until the 18'th-19'th century. There was a lot of wasted labor up until then with everything done by hand.
Heck, even the (edit: common use of the) Scythe should be a relatively recent invention in the Warhammer world, with how anachronistic it is, moving away from the previously used sickle.
Ah yes, just meant it as an interesting aside on the K8P's development as a whole. The fewer people you require in order to keep the greater population fed, the more you can spend on education for the group that would otherwise provide an excess.
It's a Hysh Dragon, and we need the bones to be aligned with Ulgu, its exact opposite. We'd have to get the bone soaked in crystal mist before we could even begin to work it properly.
Given the recent child discussion and since we're at or near the point Mathilde stops being an Umgi and starts being a Mathilde as far as the dwarfs are concerned: Would a kid be another Mathilde or would they still count as an Umgi?
They would be expected to be a Mathilde, especially if they were also our apprentice. They would not, however, receive accolades for reaching that standard; it would be considered a matter of course.
I distinctly remember that at least one lad upon our fiefdom near Sonnigwiese went to a school in the next larger town to learn his numbers and letters. The bare minimum I am hoping for is that there is a free (or heavily subsidised) option to do that in Karag Nar as well.
Widespread literacy is useful in general and something the Dwarves already have. But more specifically, if we do end up spending our boon on a grand library thing then that coupled with the basic ability of most local humans to actually use it if they want to will work wonders all on its own.
As anti-SV it is, we really have much, much better ways to spend our time on than fighting an uphill battle for a small handful of kids to learn how to read instead of how to make a living. K8P isn't in need of scholars, it's in need of skilled tradespeople, including humble farmers.
The one action in that direction I could see as worthwhile is setting up trade schools for orphans or people who have no trade but the most basic manual labor to teach their kids.
But that's something for the Steward and Francesco to do, not us. And for all we know, it might as well be done, or in the works as its a very dwarfen system.
We, otoh, can spend time unraveling the mysteries of the world, revolutionizing magic and breaking ground on esoteric fields of study.
what I would like to see next action phase. (knowing that these never survive contact with boney.)
[ ]Plan: Finish magical undergrad and other small things before shit hits the fan again.
Mandatory Actions: Pick one from each category.
Journeyman Maximilian de Gaynesford, Gold Wizard
[ ] MAX: Receive dictation: specify which. Must be taken with a 'dictate' action.
get the Skaven book done
Magister Johann, Gold Wizard
[ ] JOHANN: Have him teach Adela what he knows of engineering.
Might be as good a time as any to get the bright wizard up to speed and helping with the Skaven tech.
Wizards of Karak Eight Peaks
[ ] DUCK: Panoramia's about ready to test for Magister, but she's putting it off because she doesn't have a lot of free time to
[ ] DUCK: Spend time with Hubert in an attempt to find him a purpose. (NEW)
one of these: Panoramia because we want to be spending time checking her out, Hubert because the kid needs a hand (or a slap.)
The Eastern Imperial Company Your outstanding debt: 275 crowns
Your share of EIC profits: 175 crowns / turn
Current Focus of the EIC: Handgun Factory in Blutdorf (Rollout to Army of Stirland)
[ ] Integrate the Gong Farmers and the Niter Factory into the EIC, and expand production. (NEW)
I like the idea of de-confusing a lot of where our money is coming from.
Personal Actions: you have four actions you can apply without engaging in overwork.
Current Task:
Have to see what's coming up. but one action
Self-Improvement:
[ ] Travel to the Grey College and attend lessons there. (2 College Favour)
only two spells left and we are done, so lets get it done baby!
Research and Publishing:
[ ] Record all the entries of the Grand Urbaz vaults and select a good-quality example of each minting to save from the smelters.
[ ] Write a paper: Once per turn, you can write a paper without spending an action thanks to your Tower of Serenity.
[ ] Dictate papers: select which two, must be taken with Max's 'receive dictation'.
Skaven Magic paper. and the coins.
yes, we have more time for the coins, but I don't want to leave it for the last turn and have something important come up.
Aethyric Vitae (20 gallons):
[ ] Attempt to interest a prominent and knowledgeable Runesmiths in the interaction between Runes and Vitae. (will start at the top and work your way down)
[ ] Using the secrets you already know of the Vitae, attempt to weaponize it. (NEW-ish) [ ] The Enchanting option that boney hinted that we unlocked with the rune action last turn
honestly, I think we should go for the Enchanting one as A) we have been meaning to get a new robe and B) some of the thread are about to revolt if we do another 'test' action instead of a 'create' action. and getting the RuneSmiths to look at it is probably another 'look at it' action.
but if there is a lot of blowback I'll pick the Runesmith one.
I do agree that Hubert needs a... corrective force. Good on him if he wants to work diplomacy, but we can't be wasting time on him if he wants to end up a perpetual.
The Common version then? We turned in the Skaven - Khazalid edition last round.
I do agree that Hubert needs a... corrective force. Good on him if he wants to work diplomacy, but we can't be wasting time on him if he wants to end up a perpetual.
ya, I don't think Hubert is not trying to be wizard, even if i think he is not happy about it, but that he thinks his college is not interested in martial skill and so doesn't want to be that type of wizard.
I distinctly remember that at least one lad upon our fiefdom near Sonnigwiese went to a school in the next larger town to learn his numbers and letters. The bare minimum I am hoping for is that there is a free (or heavily subsidised) option to do that in Karag Nar as well.
Widespread literacy is useful in general and something the Dwarves already have. But more specifically, if we do end up spending our boon on a grand library thing then that coupled with the basic ability of most local humans to actually use it if they want to will work wonders all on its own.
Thats not something making it free would even help with. Theres few employment prospects for clerks at present, and most of them are already filled. People aren't looking for education as a good of its own, unless they're Verenans
If you want to boost general literacy start by creating jobs for it, letting the lack of skilled scribes niggle at everyone, then use THAT to start up a school with general public support. Or invite a bunch of Verenans and they'd do it with literally religious devotion.
ya, I don't think Hubert is not trying to be wizard, even if i think he is not happy about it, but that he thinks his college is not interested in martial skill and so doesn't want to be that type of wizard.
Yeah, I reckon we need to be acting as a guidance counselor to him. Getting to know what he wants, since he's kind of wasting his potential as a K8P diplomat.
It's ironic since the Lore of Heavens can be ridiculously useful on a tactical scale instead of small-scale combat.
I don't think he's wasting anything though?
Thing is, Hubert is:
-Actively furthering his magic. He has learned a new spell, one which would leave him with a broken neck if he flubs it, and its not related to his employment. This spell is either at the limits of his magical ability, OR he has significantly improved in magical ability since we last checked. Either means that he is not likely to stagnate in magic.
-Actively engaging in politics.
-Actively improving his bladework.
If he was Grey College he'd be looking at taking his Magisterial exams within the year, as bladework and diplomacy are major focuses of theirs.
As it is, he's Celestial College and they're looking for ivory tower scholars primarily. But Astrologers also make excellent court advisors, even if he lacks all the divination spells that most such would have.
He's not an academic, and thats okay, because his own Master was an adventurer Celestial Magister himself. Its not a dead end, it just takes more work and risk.
He does not seem to have a great love for the mystical aspects of Azyr in divination and fate manipulation, but I'd point right there to our golden punch wizard who made Magister with a pretty narrow selection of Chamon spells himself.
Its not something we need to meddle in here, other than for the sake of meddling.
[*] [TOWER] Oh Dear
[*] [LIBRARY] Esoteric Imperial Ranald (150gc), Esoteric Imperial Sevir (50gc, 2CF), Antiquarian Dwarven Dragons (100gc, 2DF), Dwarven Romance (50gc), Bretonnian Romance (50gc)
[*] [DWARF] No purchase.
[*] [COLLEGE] No purchase.
[*] [PURCHASE] Post a bounty of 300 gold at Barak Varr for enough dragonbone to make two staffs.
Of all your towers, the Tower of Calamity is possibly the least groundbreaking. Everything it does is a technique already used in one of your other towers, just applied differently, so it takes very little work on your part to set the construction in motion. But though the construction isn't of much interest, the possibility of investigating dangerous phenomenon with some modicum of safety is one you find very intriguing.
Your other new expenditure is a bounty posted at Barak Varr, with word also spread into the Empire by the EIC: intact dragonbone wanted of any variant, with enough of a prize attached to interest anyone who might have some but not so much to inspire anyone to actually go hunting a dragon, or so you hope. It will take time for news to spread and the results to reach you, but if all goes well you should have some very intriguing magical material to work with in the near future.
---
The Council meeting is a litany of grumbled complaints about the Okral, intermixed with grudging admission that once they do set their minds to working instead of tugging the beards of the Karak's clans, they're certainly industrious. Most effort is currently focused on Karags Rhyn and Mhonar, the two linked Karags that were once home to the majority of the Karak's population, and though reversing three thousand years of neglect is no small task, it seems well apace. Personally, you think it's misspent effort when the entire population can fit comfortably inside Karag Lhune, but it's a fool's errand to try to talk a Dwarf into a half-measure.
Your own report is not quite as well-received as you'd hoped - sure, everyone makes the suitable impressed noises, but you can tell that none of them quite grasp what you've accomplished. Most Dwarves just aren't wired to grasp the sort of tactics that this tome will make possible - after all, it doesn't make it any easier to strike a Skaven down with an axe or a quarrel, so how much of a difference could it possibly make? You have a feeling Kazador would get it once Kazrik passed on a copy to him, as would Prince Ulthar when one reaches Karak Hirn. It might not be quite as dramatic as destroying a charging Waaagh with the fires of a Dwarven God, but you think that of all your accomplishments, Rakilid un Thaggorhun could, in the end, have the strongest cumulative effect on the fate of the Old World - if it's used properly.
---
Finally the last of the court files out of the Great Hall, their footsteps echoing through the vast empty space. High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer allows himself to relax fractionally in his chair, his shoulders slumping slightly. Another day over, another day closer to-
Well. Not anymore, perhaps. His eyes flick sideways to a readout only he could see. Vala-Azril-Ungol, functional.
As if summoned by his thoughts, an attendant hurries in, still young enough to be in a hurry to get everywhere. A Gunnisson, he recalls. His Ancestors were once Kings of Mount Silverspear, and now they are mere warriors in Karaz-a-Karak. "What is it, lad?" he asks.
"Package from Karak- from Vala-Azril-Ungol, your Highness," the beardling says, laying a weighty bundle atop the desk in front of the High King. "Marked for your eyes only."
"Very well, take a step back," Thorgrim says, leaning forward to examine it. Plain cloth, wrapped in twine. Boxy, so likely not a head, which he sometimes received from his more rowdy subjects as proof a Grudge has been settled. The twine easily parts to a knife usually used to sharpen quills, and he unfolds the paper to see a book - leatherbound, good and sturdy. Rakilid un Thaggorhun, he reads. Some report on the Skaven?
He opens it, and turns a page. Then two. Then flips through the pages, his eyebrows rising.
"Good news, your Highness?" the lad asks.
"You could say that," Thorgrim replies thoughtfully. "Get me... well, let's start with my Loremaster."
---
Deep underground, under the lowest official level of the vast archives of Karaz-a-Karak, the air stirred for the first time in years as a door swung open, creaking on hinges older than civilizations. The light that fell upon it was not the flicker of lamplight, as no flame was allowed deeper than the second level of the archives - this was runelight, and save for the sun itself, no steadier illumination could be found. In stark contrast to the neat and orderly shelves above, these were dotted with a chaotic mess of assorted writings, from tattered books to half-torn scrolls to individual scraps of paper, each kept in a custom-made compartment to keep it safe from the ravages of the years.
"All of it, your Highness," the Loremaster says, his voice still strong despite his centuries. "Every book, every scroll, every letter, rubbings of wall carvings, even the warpstone-tainted ones are around here, in runed crates. Not quite as glorious as skulls and captured weapons, but it still does the heart good, to gaze upon it all."
High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer nodded in thought. "Is that why they've been collected? As trophies?"
"Mm, perhaps. The decree itself is from High King Morgrim, and I suspect it would be Morgrim Ironbeard because Morgrim Blackbeard would have specified. Blackbeard, I think, would have been the type to seek trophies, but Ironbeard strikes me as more likely to be looking for answers."
"And have any been found?"
The Loremaster sighs. "Many have tried, but it's like mining through mud. They have two separate alphabets of thirteen letters which we believe to be formal and informal variations, and numerous logographs besides, some of which seem to be morphemes and some whole words. There's also a great deal of inconsistency, which we believe to be due to differing dialects of the language. Every generation there's one or two that will sink years into pursuing it, but all have failed. Lost a promising linguist to it after he swore a Slayer Oath, though he did find a suitable death to a war mammoth in the far north."
"Right, then." Thorgrim lifts his hand, bringing the book he is carrying to the Loremaster's attention.
"A new addition?" the Loremaster asks, peering down at the book as the High King hands it to him. "No, that's proper writing. Rakilid... maybe not. Never saw the purpose in making up new words, the old ones served our ancestors fine." He falls silent as he opens the book, and then his mouth opens slightly as he flips the pages, though no sound comes out.
"Will this help?"
It takes a moment for the Loremaster to find his voice again. "Assuming this is all correct..." he pauses as he flips through some more, his brow furrowing. "We will need many more hands..."
"You'll have them. Send to Zhufbar and Barak Varr for all the scholars they can spare, in my name. And keep me apprised of everything of interest that you uncover."
---
Your assignment for the remainder of this year is a light one, as Belegar knows you've still got to finish the Reikspiel version of the translation - to create, commission, devise, or otherwise see to some sort of plan for if the Ice Dragon turns hostile, ideally something that could also come in handy against other dragons or any other variety of enormous flying beast. A number of possibilities immediately leap to mind, and it's up to you to decide upon the best of them.
Mandatory Actions: Pick one from each category.
Journeyman Maximilian de Gaynesford, Gold Wizard
[ ] MAX: Allow him to spend all his time on his metalworking studies.
[ ] MAX: Learn a skill: specify what from who. You may pay for a trainer.
[ ] MAX: Learn a spell: specify which.
[ ] MAX: Study an artefact: specify which.
[ ] MAX: Write a paper: specify which.
[ ] MAX: Receive dictation: specify which. Must be taken with a 'dictate' action.
Magister Johann, Gold Wizard
[ ] JOHANN: Have him teach Adela what he knows of engineering.
[ ] JOHANN: Learn a skill: specify what from who. You may pay for a trainer.
[ ] JOHANN: Learn a spell: specify which.
[ ] JOHANN: Study an artefact: specify which.
[ ] JOHANN: Write a paper: specify which.
Wizards of Karak Eight Peaks
[ ] DUCK: Work with Panoramia to try to implement the Waaaghsoak Mushrooms as an aid to spellcasting. (NEW)
[ ] DUCK: Panoramia's about ready to test for Magister, but she's putting it off because she doesn't have a lot of free time to prepare. Work with her to help make the most of every spare minute.
[ ] DUCK: Help Johann train his rat-wolf children.
[ ] DUCK: Spend time with Hubert to try to ensure a good relationship between him and magic, and between him and his identity as a Wizard. (NEW-ish)
[ ] DUCK: Tag along on one of Gretel's mercenary contracts. (NEW-ish)
[ ] DUCK: Each of your three ducklings can fight in melee. Spar with them, and teach them what you can.
[ ] DUCK: Magical target-shooting is rough on normal targets. Set up a specialized target range for your ducklings, and for any other wizards at Eight Peaks.
The Eastern Imperial Company Your outstanding debt: 100 crowns
Your share of EIC profits: 175 crowns / turn
Current Focus of the EIC: Expansion along the Aver
EIC Handler: The Hochlander
[ ] Completely hand over management of the EIC intelligence apparatus to the Hochlander. Will remove this section from future turns and regain the half-turn invested in it. (NEW)
[ ] Have the Hochlander introduce a series of ciphers to the EIC to allow it to communicate internally in much greater security. (NEW)
[ ] Lend the services of the Hochlander, and the EIC's intelligence and contacts, to Roswita to help track down the Talabeclanders buying peat from the vampires. (NEW)
[ ] Found an auditors division, to make sure the ledgers are in order.
[ ] Start hiring handlers who can then start hiring informers and begin to collect non-public information.
[ ] Reach out to Julia to find out if she's interested in being poached or passing on information.
[ ] Reach out to Roswita, and have the EIC start passing on tips about any tax evasion or other naughtiness by the EIC's rivals.
[ ] Start building a paramilitary river navy to ensure the coming trade explosion doesn't lead to a similar explosion in riverine banditry.
[ ] Sell some of the Grand Urbaz Bank coins to collectors and museums on King Belegar's behalf.
[ ] Integrate the Gong Farmers and the Niter Factory into the EIC, and expand production.
Personal Actions: you have four actions you can apply without engaging in overwork.
Current overwork status: [-] [ ] [ ] Each box will be filled by one action of overwork, and will take the two turns after that to fade as you recover. The first box incurs no penalty. The second will give a -10 penalty to all actions during the first turn of recovery. The third will give a -20 penalty to all actions on both turns of recovery.
Overwork incurs no penalties on the turns taken, only on the turns recovering from it. You can take as many actions of overwork as you have unfilled boxes.
When you use overwork it fills the left-most empty box, so [-][ ][ ] becomes [-][+][ ], not [+][-][ ]. All boxes recover in parallel and independent from one another, but second and third apply maluses on your actions during that cooldown period.
Current Task: Anti-Dragon (NEW)
[ ] Commission a suitable magical artefact from the Colleges of Magic, and train some dubious Dwarven volunteers in its use (specify what; does not cost favour).
[ ] Build a new tower with anti-dragon capabilities (specify Dwarven Rune or College spell it would be based on; does not cost favour).
[ ] Other (write-in; material and favour costs will be paid by Belegar)
Current Task: Queekish
[ ] Use King Belegar's pull to bring in some linguistics experts from the Empire's universities, though after proper vetting and swearing them to silence.
[ ] Despite him considering it treasonous, push Qrech to share the Moulder dialect of Queekish.
[ ] Despite him considering it blasphemous, push Qrech to share High Queekish.
Qrech Gambits (can be taken for free alongside pushing him for additional dialects or 'ask an acquaintance to train you' action targeting Qrech):
[ ] Convince Qrech that you seek an arrangement with Clan Moulder, and that you will release him as an ambassador for that arrangement once you are satisfied he'll cooperate.
[ ] Convince Qrech that the Under-Empire has no way of knowing he's even alive, and that he should prioritize the comfort with which he will live the rest of his life.
[ ] Convince Qrech you're ambitious and loyal only to yourself, and you're willing to repay his cooperation in ways that will benefit the Under-Empire.
[ ] Other (write in)
Self-Improvement:
[ ] Ask an acquaintance to train you in a skill: specify who and what.
[ ] Attempt to learn a spell from scrolls (specify which, will be harder than studying it at the Grey College)
[ ] Hire a trainer to come to Eight Peaks and teach you: specify what. (costs favours for Dwarf trainers, money for human ones)
[ ] Travel to the Grey College and attend lessons there. (1 College Favour per class; 100gc can be paid instead for non-magical classes)
[ ] Attempt to learn Battle Magic at the Grey College. (1 College Favour per attempt)
[ ] Gain enough control of your unruly shadow to still it temporarily.
[ ] Gain enough control of your attraction to smoke and gases to have it collect away from your face.
[ ] Try to see through Pall of Darkness with your improved magical senses.
[ ] Practice shooting while invisible. (applies to Substance of Shadow and Invisibility)
[ ] Branulhune's ability to disappear and reappear at a thought allows entirely new forms of combat. Try to create them.
[ ] Have one of Prince Gotri's pilots teach you to fly a gyrocopter.
Research and Publishing:
[ ] Study an artefact: select which.
[ ] Write a paper: select which. Once per turn, you can write a paper without spending an action thanks to your Tower of Serenity.
[ ] Dictate papers: select which two, must be taken with Max's 'receive dictation'.
[ ] Investigate the possibility of using one Wind to directly manipulate another.
[ ] The Second Secret of Dhar teaches how to collapse it upon itself. Practice upon local Dhar taint, and very cautiously see if this works with Warpstone.
[ ] Try to establish a relationship with the Cult of Verena, with the intent of offering them access to your rarer tomes in exchange for copies of some of their own.
[ ] Record all the entries of the Grand Urbaz vaults and select a good-quality example of each minting to save from the smelters.
Aethyric Vitae (21 gallons):
[ ] Attempt to interest a prominent and knowledgeable Runesmiths in the interaction between Runes and Vitae. (will start at the top and work your way down)
[ ] Attempt to interest a young Runesmith with ambition and flexibility in the interaction between Runes and Vitae. (will give a selection of candidates)
[ ] Call in favours to get a specific Runesmith to examine the interaction between Runes and Vitae with you.
[ ] Using what you've learned of how it reacts to Runes, create new means of storing and moving the Vitae in complete safety. (NEW)
[ ] Experiment with integrating the Vitae into enchantments. (NEW) [ ] Investigate how the Vitae reacts with Divine Magic.
[ ] Investigate how the Vitae reacts to a power stone. [ ] Investigate how the Vitae reacts to being subjected to power stone creation methods.
[ ] Using the secrets you already know of the Vitae, attempt to weaponize it.
Enchantment and Spell Creation:
[ ] Enchant an item with a Moderately Complicated or easier spell (specify what and which)
[ ] Attempt to enchant an object to translate Windsight into a visual image.
[ ] Attempt to deepen your skill with Enchantment (will be more difficult than studying it at the Grey College)
[ ] Attempt to create a spell (see Approved Spells threadmark)
Karag Nar Penthouse: each turn, you get ONE free choice in this category. Additional selections cost actions.
[ ] PENTHOUSE: Have a tower built atop Karag Nar: -100gc for 1 room, bonus to room's purpose.
[ ] PENTHOUSE: Have additional rooms excavated underneath your Penthouse: -125gc for 5 rooms.
[ ] PENTHOUSE: Your dungeon was built with a reasonable amount of paranoia. Apply an unreasonable amount of paranoia.
[ ] PENTHOUSE: Add security measures to your Penthouse to prevent forcible entry.
[ ] PENTHOUSE: Have firing platforms built around the Penthouse so that it can be defended from flyers or climbers without granting access to it. Setting up rooms for specific purposes will have to wait until new rooms are constructed or excavated. Only one construction or excavation can take place at a time, but you can do one of each.
Building downwards will increase by 1 each time; second set of excavated rooms will be 3 rooms, third will be 4, and so on.
Building upwards can be added upon; towers can be added on to or additional towers can be built. The distinction between the two is entirely cosmetic.
Foreign Relations:
[ ] Join the war between Stirland and the vampires in northern Sylvania.
[ ] Personally search for the Talabeclander buyers of peat from the vampires. (NEW)
[ ] Throw your reputation, and that of the Grey College, behind Roswita as she tries to browbeat the Talabeclanders into submission. (NEW)
Personal Relations:
[ ] Spend time assisting with a fellow councillor's task: specify who and how.
[ ] Spend time investigating a character without their knowledge: specify who.
[ ] Wolf is fully grown, very smart, and a Very Good Boy. Train him further. (specify what he will be taught)
[ ] Wolf is fully grown and very magical. Deepen your familiar bond. (may unlock a new familiar ability; risks obsession)
Ranald's Coin - specify which face it will be set to
[ ] The Gambler: specify an action this will apply to. A +20 bonus to up to two dice rolls resulting from a single chosen action.
[ ] The Night Prowler As long as you are outside of private property and within a town or city, nobody will question your presence and nobody will be able to find you if you do not wish them to.
[ ] The Deceiver: specify how this will be used. Lies you have developed beforehand will be delivered perfectly. The listener may believe you to be mistaken, but they will never believe that you are lying. Cannot be used to tell truths.
[ ] The Protector When you act in a way that defends an individual or group from a danger that you did not cause, they will become aware of what you have done and will believe you acted selflessly in doing so.
Moulder:
Electric whip, stolen from Clan Moulder.
Vials, stolen from Clan Moulder.
Captured Clan Moulder devices (as yet uninspected)
Skryre:
Firearms; jezzails, pistols, bullets, gunpowder.
Warp Lightning Cannon (misfired, possibly broken)
Lighting mechanism, stolen from Clan Skryre. (shared project with Adela)
Breathing apparatus, stolen from Clan Skryre. (shared project with Johann)
Brass orb, stolen from Clan Skryre.
Note: Fresh and Refreshed papers confer a +10 bonus; faded ones a -10 malus.
Papers get one step less 'fresh' each turn: Fresh; Fading; Mostly Faded: Faded. Only the first and last have an effect on the diceroll.
Ratling Gun mechanism and countermeasures (FADING) (can be written by Johann)
Brief observations on Eshin Sorcery (MOSTLY FADED)
Waaagh energy and magic witnessed during the Expedition. (FADED)
The Black Orc Warboss' worship of Only Gork, and what you saw of the Rogue Idol ritual. (FADED)
The physiology and venom of the We. (FADED)
The psychology and social structure of the We. (FADED)
Preliminary paper on Aethyric Vitae. (TIMELESS)
Insight on Skaven tactics and strategy, acquired from the Liber Mortis but justified by your current encounters (TIMELESS)
Basic Written Queekish: grammar, signs, common words (TIMELESS)
Low Queekish, the common tongue of the Skaven (TIMELESS)
Military lexicon of written Queekish (TIMELESS)
Medical lexicon of written Queekish (TIMELESS)
Technical lexicon of written Queekish (TIMELESS)
You can literally write the book on a topic for the same amount of effort as two papers; this can be split over multiple turns. You don't need to have all the pieces to do so, but it would be more efficient and impressive if you did.
The We
Queekish-Reikspiel Dictionary, including spoken Low Queekish (Half Completed)
- There will be a two hour moratorium.
- If there's anything I've forgotten - and that's quite likely - please let me know. Similarly, speak up if there's anything you think should be added.
- The exact favour payoff for the translation into Khazalid is pending, and will depend on whether and how it is put to use in other holds.
- The dragon task has a huge amount of latitude, and creativity is encouraged.
I'm very interested in the fallout from the translation, but I expect things to move with proper Dawi speed.
So in fifty turns we might get favor and a new war out of it!
I do hope that they share any new translations they manage. If they get access to another dialect, we could possibly get it as Loremaster and then translate it for the Grey Order. That would be theft, but it would also be so very worth it...
For our task: I think the correct thing would be to build the Anti-Air Celestial magic tower? That would also provide a nice narrative hook if we take the Hubert duckling action.
My initial thought is to go for some form of Tower - we need anti-air capabilities anyway, and due to its larger size, it's enormously easier to create a powerful effect within a Tower than it is within a single magic item.
There are some complications, though - a Dragon is an incredibly intelligent opponent, and through use of Hysh it is able to warp space. If it's set on destroying us, it doesn't need to fly up to do it - it could easily just blast its way through the underground tunnel network.
Which is to say, for true anti-dragon defense, an anti-air Tower is necessary but not sufficient.
I don't think his mind is all that 'blown'. Not like retaking our home did. This is closer to 'this can turn military leadership on its head'. As the meeting with the council showed, most Dwarven leaders don't see alot of value in this kind of work if it doesn't lead to more axe work. But for Rangers, kings, Loremasters, generals... knowing the many schemes of the Skaven means one of their primary advantages of operating in secret is being peeled back. And that's what Thorgrim is seeing as a possibility within his grasp.
- If there's anything I've forgotten - and that's quite likely - please let me know. Similarly, speak up if there's anything you think should be added.
And here we have Thorgrim realize that this might be one of the most important books ever written, after the Book of Grudges and the writings of the ancestor gods, of course.
I don't think his mind is all that 'blown'. Not like retaking our home did. This is closer to 'this can turn military leadership on its head'. As the meeting with the council showed, most Dwarven leaders don't see alot of value in this kind of work if it doesn't lead to more axe work. But for Rangers, kings, Loremasters, generals... knowing the many schemes of the Skaven means one of their primary advantages of operating in secret is being peeled back. And that's what Thorgrim is seeing as a possibility within his grasp.
Yeah, I just mean in the sense of "expanding his view on what is possible." Thorgrim has been afflicted with a fatalistic sort of tunnel vision as a result of having a low battery alarm in his head for his entire reign, and I like helping him break out of those limits.
My initial thought is to go for some form of Tower - we need anti-air capabilities anyway, and due to its larger size, it's enormously easier to create a powerful effect within a Tower than it is within a single magic item.
There are some complications, though - a Dragon is an incredibly intelligent opponent, and through use of Hysh it is able to warp space. If it's set on destroying us, it doesn't need to fly up to do it - it could easily just blast its way through the underground tunnel network.
Which is to say, for true anti-dragon defense, an anti-air Tower is necessary but not sufficient.
We could use a Personal AP on something to cover a different contingency and a Penthouse AP on building a tower. It'll be out of our own pocket, but EFFICIENCY.
