Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

[Alliterate]

Thanks, but I'm more curious about the Night itself. That was clearly a Tzeentch plot, right?

The colleges seem to have largely amicable relations between each other, with the odd rivalry that's more exasperation than anything. At least from our interactions.

Click to shrink...

Plot? quite possibly, yeah. I don't think Mathilde knows much detail:

Melkoth's birthday shenanigans got me thinking: Wouldn't every Imperial Wizard who's been active for over fifty years have to have lived through both the Night of a Thousand Arcane Duels and Dieter shutting down the Colleges?

There's a number of touchy subjects young wizards quickly learn not to bring up.

Click to shrink...

Click to shrink...

@BoneyM Is the Night of a Thousand Arcane Duels canon to this quest? It happened in 2415, and the fallout shut down the colleges for 15 years. Given the lifespan of wizards, a lot of them would still remember that. And apperantly, the Grey Order is actually allied to the Knightly order of the Knights of Justice.

"We don't talk about that."

(canon, but utterly taboo to discuss)

Click to shrink...

Click to shrink...

But we could also infer this:

If it is, it means that the Grey-Bursar-to-be stole the Emperors regalia while order was officially disbanded.

That probably was at least one of the factors in the re-establishment of the colleges, be that through goodwill or, possibly, holding Ghal Maraz hostage.

Click to shrink...

Cue more "I want to be you when I grow up"-ism from Mathilde towards the Bursar.

 

[picklepikkl]

Sure. But an answer like that is the one she would give if she at all cares to conceal those vaults. A wholly loyal and thorough agent that trusts her superiors would detail the vault and its implications the moment she is told that K8P's economic providence is of interest to the Empire. And that is also true for a mostly loyal and thorough agent that puts personal oaths above even said loyalty, if she doesn't consider the vault thing an explicit secret in her trust.

Click to shrink...

You can relax about the vaults.

From that list, could we write-in to explicitly not mention the following?
-The dwarven Civil war moment in Karaz-a-Karak.
-The vaults Belegar is melting all those old coins from.
-Other Dwarven religious rites

Click to shrink...

Mathilde won't offer that information unprompted and the chamberlain won't know to ask.

Click to shrink...

 

[storryeater]

That quote's a response to a write-in which explicitly tells the man we're withholding information from him, which just isn't the done thing. There's a difference between him walking away after we told him to his face we were keeping stuff from him, and him walking away wondering what the Grey Wizard Dawongr failed to mention, because there's almost certainly something but he isn't quite sure what.

The latter option gives us plausible deniability, which makes it harder for him to call us on it or to feel insulted at our omissions.

Click to shrink...

Eh, I guess a wink wink nudge nudge think could be different. Will depend on the man I guess.

 

[Redshirt Army]

You shake your head in exasperation. "Be that as it may, he's very good at his job and the Battle Wizards adore him. I don't envy anyone that succeeds him."

"Any idea who that might be?"

You consider it. "Elspeth von Draken probably could if she wanted to, but she only took up leadership of the Amethyst after whatever happened to Hexensohn and there were no better candidates. Paranoth might be able to, he was Supreme Patriarch for a few years, but that was years before I was even an Apprentice. Algard likes him too much, 'No Relation' Reicthard doesn't seem the type... I think the most likely candidate to try is Feldmann of the Golds, he's said to be ambitious and he's very good at getting along with non-Wizards... but to me, that suggests that he's not dipped enough into his Wind to stand a chance." You shake your head. "I think Dragomas is going to be a fact of life for the foreseeable future. And though that might not be ideal for your ambitions, I think he's good for the Empire."

Click to shrink...

Interesting to compare this to what we know about the "canon" timeline, where we know that Thyrus Gormann of the Bright Order was a "long-standing" Supreme Patriarch before Balthasar Gelt of the Gold Order took over.

 

[Andres]

The fact that we could just buy lots of books with money only compounds it.

Click to shrink...

We can't buy lots of book with money, actually. We have an obscenely excessive amount of gold, so if we could buy lots of books with money, we'd have lots of books by now. If we could just buy lots of books with money, we'd have a lot more books than we have now. But we don't, so we can't. (The exact reason of why we can't is irrelevant; the only thing that matters is that we can't.)

 

[JackOfAll]

[X] Speak honestly of everything not explicitly secret, including rifts within the Karaz Ankor
[X] You've got a puppy, he's got several. Easy. Spend time with him as your pup plays with his.
[X] Panoramia currently calls a small cottage somewhere in the Eastern Valley home, help her expand it into a proper tower.

 

[Kornet]

While it's too late in the voting cycle, I'd like to note that I don't particulary trust imperial diplomatic service and would dearly like to play up interservice rivalry. The chancellor gets the safe and empry version, but the Algard gets a detailed briefing. If the chancewllor wants more, let him go through Algard and Dragomas.

 

[Deathbybunnies]

He might ask "Just how rich is K8P and where do the riches come from?" You know, after he noticed the kinds of stuff Belegar lets you buy on his dime despite Dwarves usually not relying on magic, especially as primary tools to rely on.
Remember, this guy could be doubling as Spymaster or working with him very closely.

Click to shrink...

"Very rich, Karak Eight Peaks held vast amounts of wealth, and not all was taken". I don't believe there's much chance of him asking such a question though, and vanishingly little of a follow-up.

 

[Varano]

[X] The Halflings are renowned chefs, and several restaurants have opened clustered around the base of Karag Nar. Share a meal with her.
[X] Though you both use your magic to cheat, you both have an interest in personal fitness. Work out with him
[X] Speak honestly of everything not explicitly secret, including rifts within the Karaz Ankor

 

[TaliesinSkye]

[JK] (Panoramia) Show her the glory of using the Dwarven Hell Flames for gardening.

Click to shrink...

You joke, but I think the mountain could theoretically be used to kill all the weeds in one go without harming the desirable plants. That'd probably be damn handy. They could do a sweep once a month or something during the growing season and save the farmers a hell of a lot of work, freeing them up for other things.

 

[TimEd]

[ ] You've got a puppy, he's got several. Easy. Spend time with him as your pup plays with his.

Click to shrink...

Awkward "puppy play date", date

[ ] Though you both use your magic to cheat, you both have an interest in personal fitness. Work out with him.

Click to shrink...

hot and botheredsweaty date

[ ] There's a festival to Grungni coming up, and Johann has taken to observing the Holy Days of the Ancestor-God. Join him in this.

Click to shrink...

the Vegan courting style date

[ ] Though you rarely think of those days, you did grow up on a farm and know something of the soil. Spend time with her as she goes about her work.

Click to shrink...

Sharing backstory date

[ ] The Halflings are renowned chefs, and several restaurants have opened clustered around the base of Karag Nar. Share a meal with her.

Click to shrink...

Straight up date date

[ ] Panoramia currently calls a small cottage somewhere in the Eastern Valley home, help her expand it into a proper tower.

Click to shrink...

and this is just us bragging about our towers.


It is clear where Mathilde gets her date ideas from. Are we sure Mathilde wants to date people, and not just as a way for her to enact the many romance books she reads?

[X] Conceal matters you know the Dwarves would prefer you conceal

Dwarven secrets arent really something the empire could use for anything other than towards dwarven disadvantage.

 

[deathofrats0808]

Interesting to compare this to what we know about the "canon" timeline, where we know that Thyrus Gormann of the Bright Order was a "long-standing" Supreme Patriarch before Balthasar Gelt of the Gold Order took over.

Click to shrink...

True, but who knows how long that actually means. Especially as there's close to 40 years between now and when canon was set.

 

[Deathbybunnies]

We can't buy lots of book with money, actually. We have an obscenely excessive amount of gold, so if we could buy lots of books with money, we'd have lots of books by now. If we could just buy lots of books with money, we'd have a lot more books than we have now. But we don't, so we can't. (The exact reason of why we can't is irrelevant; the only thing that matters is that we can't.)

Click to shrink...

I do actually think the difference between "can't" and "choose not to" is very relevant here. For one thing, we would absolutely spend that gold to buy a Great Deed/Boon, so using it as an argument to spent a more precious resource doesn't make sense.

 

[Alliterate]

You joke, but I think the mountain could theoretically be used to kill all the weeds in one go without harming the desirable plants. That'd probably be damn handy. They could do a sweep once a month or something during the growing season and save the farmers a hell of a lot of work, freeing them up for other things.

Click to shrink...

Imagine Mathilde's tedium, though.
"Yes, that dandelion is an enemy of the Dawi. So is that one. Again, that one, yes. Also that creeper vine. And that stinkweed over there. The entire patch." Sighs. "OK, yes, that stinkweed plant. And that one..."

 

[NexusEye]

Then during the Expedition, my two more traditional and favoured brothers went out hunting together, and were found days later with their axes tangled in each others' guts, and their bodyguards similarly slain by one another. The only surviving bodyguard blamed the paranoia of the elder before his execution, but some dubious evidence was uncovered in their quarters that suggested the ambition of the younger was the cause."

Click to shrink...

The thread discussion seems have neglected this bit of the update in favor of the talk with the Chamberlain but I'd like to redirect a bit of attention back to this because what the actual fuck!?

This would be a big scandal in the Empire, to the Dwarves this would as unthinkable as two royal princes murdering each other in IRL society. This is the Dwarven equivalent of the Nepalese royal massacre. I feel that there's a decent chance that this was one of Tzeentch's plots even after accounting for Dwarven Chaos resistance because the alternative, that at least one Dwarven prince would act so dishonorably, is just as far-fetched.

 

[deathofrats0808]

Imagine Mathilde's tedium, though.
"Yes, that dandelion is an enemy of the Dawi. So is that one. Again, that one, yes. Also that creeper vine. And that stinkweed over there. The entire patch." Sighs. "OK, yes, that stinkweed plant. And that one..."

Click to shrink...

Cursed dandelions! They're going in the Book!

 

[Andres]

I do actually think the difference between "can't" and "choose not to" is very relevant here. For one thing, we would absolutely spend that gold to buy a Great Deed/Boon, so using it as an argument to spent a more precious resource doesn't make sense.

Click to shrink...

If we cannot spend the gold to get books because there is a lack of will to do so, then it's just as impossible to get lots of books as if we had lack of gold. A library would mean we get books whatever amount of gold or will or whatever other resource else we lack.

 

[Ordis]

[X] Speak honestly of everything not explicitly secret, including rifts within the Karaz Ankor
[X] The Halflings are renowned chefs, and several restaurants have opened clustered around the base of Karag Nar. Share a meal with her.
[X] There's a festival to Grungni coming up, and Johann has taken to observing the Holy Days of the Ancestor-God. Join him in this.

 

[Mopman43]

You consider it. "Elspeth von Draken probably could if she wanted to, but she only took up leadership of the Amethyst after whatever happened to Hexensohn and there were no better candidates. Paranoth might be able to, he was Supreme Patriarch for a few years, but that was years before I was even an Apprentice. Algard likes him too much, 'No Relation' Reicthard doesn't seem the type... I think the most likely candidate to try is Feldmann of the Golds, he's said to be ambitious and he's very good at getting along with non-Wizards... but to me, that suggests that he's not dipped enough into his Wind to stand a chance." You shake your head. "I think Dragomas is going to be a fact of life for the foreseeable future. And though that might not be ideal for your ambitions, I think he's good for the Empire."

Click to shrink...

@BoneyM, so Paranoth stood out to me, given that he hasn't been mentioned before. According to the wiki, he was a Jade wizard, so mostly I'm asking in regards to the list of current atriarchs of the colleges I made a while back.

So, for the current line-up of Patriarchs in-quest, we've got:

Grey: Algard
Bright: Reicthard-of-no-relation-to-other-Reicthards
Jade: Probably Mira
Amber: Is the Supreme Patriarch still the Patriarch of his college?
Amethyst: Elspeth von Draken
Light: Probably Alric
Celestial: Stern Glanzend
Gold: Feldmann

Edit: Have been informed that Realms of Sorcery has Feldmann as the Gold Patriarch before Gelt.
Edit2: Put Stern Glanzend in for Azyr based on him being the elderly predecessor of the canon one.

Click to shrink...

So, is Paranoth the Jade Patriarch, Mira actually the Light Matriarch, and Alric not present, or is Paranoth "just" a Lord Magister, not the Patriarch?

 

[TaliesinSkye]

Imagine Mathilde's tedium, though.
"Yes, that dandelion is an enemy of the Dawi. So is that one. Again, that one, yes. Also that creeper vine. And that stinkweed over there. The entire patch." Sighs. "OK, yes, that stinkweed plant. And that one..."

Click to shrink...

Bwahahahahaha! I laughed out loud, thank you for that.

I'm not sure if the mountain can be directed to blanket attack species or not, even if blanket attacks are limited to non-sapients. Would be convenient if it could. If it can't she might need to trade off with some other people on running the mountain to get through it.

 

[bookworm702]

[X] Speak honestly of everything not explicitly secret, including rifts within the Karaz Ankor

[X] There's a festival to Grungni coming up, and Johann has taken to observing the Holy Days of the Ancestor-God. Join him in this.

 

[Rafin]

You joke, but I think the mountain could theoretically be used to kill all the weeds in one go without harming the desirable plants. That'd probably be damn handy. They could do a sweep once a month or something during the growing season and save the farmers a hell of a lot of work, freeing them up for other things.

Click to shrink...

How much subjective time would pass for Mathilde while she is being asked "Are you sure this wee sappling is also an enemy of the Dawi?" for each individual plant?

Edit: Ranger'd

 

[Kornet]

The thread discussion seems have neglected this bit of the update in favor of the talk with the Chamberlain but I'd like to redirect a bit of attention back to this because what the actual fuck!?

This would be a big scandal in the Empire, to the Dwarves this would as unthinkable as two royal princes murdering each other in IRL society. This is the Dwarven equivalent of the Nepalese royal massacre. I feel that there's a decent chance that this was one of Tzeentch's plots even after accounting for Dwarven Chaos resistance because the alternative, that at least one Dwarven prince would act so dishonorably, is just as far-fetched.

Click to shrink...

Not everything has to be a Chaos plot. People can be bastards entirely on their own. And yes, the dwarfs count as people.

Do bear in mind that they have this funny tendency of pretending that improper shit doesnt't happen and hasn't happened, and as long as it's not recorded or acknowledged, it does not exist. I expect they have a great many skeletons safely drowned in Lethe.

 

[Mopman43]

How much subjective time would pass for Mathilde while she is being asked "Are you sure this wee sappling is also an enemy of the Dawi?" for each individual plant?

Click to shrink...

Not much, it seems. Judging some ~800,000 Greenskins and a few vultures didn't take any time at all.

Edit: Oh, right, thought you were asking about objective time. Never mind then.

 

[Alliterate]

Bwahahahahaha! I laughed out loud, thank you for that.

I'm not sure if the mountain can be directed to blanket attack species or not, even if blanket attacks are limited to non-sapients. Would be convenient if it could. If it can't she might need to trade off with some other people on running the mountain to get through it.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, we can make crystals that target Grobi, or Beastmen, etc. With someone like Panpan providing the magical signatures we could probably work up a functional weed-targeting crystal.

We certainly would prioritise creating one before the second of the monthly weedings you proposed.