Rolling catchup time:
Being told about it might force them to react.
Not being told might make them react in panic.
Being told in a way they can just claim never happened might give them the information to not act in panic without forcing them to act out of pride.
Or it might let them prepare an ambush.
This is one of those tricky needless to thread because we simply don't know enough about elven politics, and there are no actual established channels to do these things.
Not actually that difficult, if you actually know the polities involved...but the key portion here is to make it known and obvious that
Marienburg started the blockade ploy due to economic interests. This is public and non-secret, you need the news to propagate to Ulthuan and set off a tizzy of debate, because they
know the Empire won't let that be. The Ulthuan embassy has been consulted on the blockade and their official position is "no comment".
Then, Barak Varr dreadnoughts moving alongside the convieniently positioned to join up Imperial Fleet with obvious intentions. Theres very little surprise involved on Ulthuan's part at this juncture. If they're going to intercept at a crown level position they'd have aleady had ships posturing around the time the Imperial fleet starts taking threatening postures, which should happen in time for the Chancellor to know that Ulthuan is seriously considering intervention.
...and of course once dreadnoughts start steaming down the coast the posturing and manuevering is going to go smash because dwarves don't into that.
Given that the description doesn't mention hurricane-strength winds, and how you can't cast it on other people, I would guess that it also functions by filling your body with Azyr to lighten it and make it possible for a light breeze to control your movements, and maintaining that state for an extended period.
So it goes back to "setting Dhar on fire inside your body is a bad idea."
Think the workaround is to have the flight apply entirely to an external tool, like a broomstick or a carpet, which can support the rider without interfering with magics on their person.
But if you're looking to air-to-air combat I'd genuinely recommend that theres an Ulgu battlemagic perfectly suited for that and could be built into a bound item.
A cloak that combines Cascading Fire-Cloak and our mastered Dread Aspect.
Cascading Fire-Cloak is a Battle Magic spell from the Lore of Fire that wreathes the wizard's unit - the whole unit, not just the wizard themselves - in a shield of flame, damaging all enemies in melee with them. My hope of combining this with Dread Aspect is to create a magical effect where tendrils of shadow and flame attack nearby enemies while also projecting Terror. This idea was inspired by Lord of the Rings' balrogs, described in the book as creatures shrouded in shadows and flames.
Mathilde: "Subtlety's for suckers."
The duel is anything goes, probably because wizard ego says that magical skill will win the day no matter what gewgaws are deployed. If someone pulls an Elder Scrolls and becomes Supreme Patriarch without using magic, they'll probably introduce some rules.
I kind of imagine that anyone aiming for the job also needs enough political backing that they wouldn't just keep getting challenged for the title every other week anyways.
It really seems like the final formality stamp more than the key determinant.
@BoneyM
Since fog is essentially tiny droplets of water hanging in the air... would it be possible to weaponize fog? IE make fog thick enough and fast enough that it can hit things with significant force?
No. There's only so thick you can make fog until it's just water and therefore no longer under the conceptual umbrella of Ulgu.
Aww, no making Unzan-style giant fists, then...
If you want to play silly buggers at two steps removed you could make fog, then turn the impression of fog looking like a big heavy fist into the effect of a big heavy fist?
Lots of rather dangerous hoops to jump through for the effect though.
"Not without doing significant damage to relationships between the Dwarfholds involved and the Empire," is your eventual response. "They would see it as cowardice, that the Empire is having terms dictated to them by a city-state. They'd question why the Imperial Navy doesn't simply sail into Marienburg and break the blockade - in fact," you continue, as though you'd only just thought of it, "Barak Varr would be almost certain to be willing to aid such an effort with their own naval forces."
Otto von Bitternach's expression turns calculating as he considers that. "A potent threat to be able to level," he muses, "and if matters do escalate, even Ulthuan would have to think twice before engaging with the combined navies of the Empire and Barak Varr. The First is hemmed in here, but if we had the Second go find some Reavers or something to loudly clash against, they would have to either let our fleets combine or give us a credible charge against them of aiding and abetting piracy and the Ruinous Powers, which could peel off Ulthuan, or it might bring in Kislev and Bretonnia..." He stares intensely down at the ivory button representing Marienburg before seeming to remember your presence. "The Emperor's thanks for providing your insight on the matter. Pass on his regards to King Belegar."
The man shows why he's a Diplomacy Hero.
Because that's how many moves he's making at once.
Anti-piracy operations ,especially against Norsan Reavers(and potentially Druchii Reavers) would be lauded by every country of the region provided it doesn't happen in their waters.
And Ulthuan can either not intervene, intervene by hunting down the pirates for them, or piss everyone off and get no diplomacy done for a few years(which would also sabotage Marienburg's attempts at Blockade later on as well with a little favor quickswap, since theres a big difference between "opportunistic merchants gouge Marienburg during the blockade" and "these countries are all pissed at Marienburg and all cooperate to gouge them for all they're worth").
Which in turn, averts much of the potential conflict - the dance of back and forth positioning to be in a good position to Blockade the Empire Time which Barak Varr would be plowing through remaining timelines on the canal.
All from simply knowing that Barak Varr would back the Empire up militarily on this...provided everyone acts intelligently anyways, and that they can't pull something else via intrigue to bring the blockade back on the table.
We'd probably know in the next 3 turns, after which they'd have run out of clock to do damage in.
When you return to the Karak, the first thing you do is go through your reports from the EIC to check for any signs of Marienburger mischief. You're quite relieved to find that everything appears normal, and the EIC's grip on the northern bank of the Aver almost complete. Since you've got all the paperwork out anyway, you move on to checking through the rest of the reports from up north, starting with the Hochlander's adventures in Talabecland, and find yourself quite surprised. You'd expected the Templars of Sigmar to descend upon the innocent populace of Talabecland like a Khornate Beastherd on the warpath, but all indications are that they quickly and efficiently winnowed through the citizens of note with no more threats than necessary and systematically narrowed the suspects down until they identified the culprits as a loose collection of allied burghers in Krugenheim and Ossino, who thought they could avoid suspicion by pointing investigators back and forth between the two towns until they gave up. They thought wrong, and ended up answering to the pyres.
The Hochlander's contribution to the project was minimal, though if his reports are accurate you can't find fault with his attempt, it was simply a matter of the Witch Hunters had both more manpower and a larger information network in the form of the Church of Sigmar. But he did manage to keep up with the investigation and give every appearance of helpful cooperation, as well as aiding the Witch Hunters with transportation upon EIC wagons and boats, and has come away from the project with a significant list of contacts within the Templars of Sigmar. Which is the sort of thing that might come in very handy in the future, even if you're not their biggest fan.
Well, as some predicted - the Templars of Sigmar are perfectly competent at hunting down vampires without aid.
Still, such contacts are usually good. Intelligence networks doing each other a bit of quid pro quo is healthy for both until they day they stab each other.
Reading through the reports from the rest of the EIC, it seems the Army of Stirland is making ready to break camp and tighten the encirclement of the vampire-controlled towns with the Spring thaw. Personally, you'd think it would be best to allow the lack of income time to really wear on them, but Roswita has demonstrated a definite preference to act quickly in Sylvania, and so far it seems mostly to be working out for her.
Sieging makes sense, but I suspect Roswita is looking at the necromancers on the vampire side and the Battle Wizards on the Stirland side and probably deciding that making a quick push might be a better idea than letting them have time and prep.
Plus, knowing the Marienburg situation, it'd be ideal if she could provide a mission accomplished within a year, before whatever silly buggers come into play.
The only other oddity is reports from Talabecland that there's been a fairly significant increase in the worship of Karnos, the local God of the Hunt. Unusual, but as he's not proscribed and seems relatively harmless, it's probably not anything to worry about.
Wood elves moving. Which of the two, not a clue.
So they venerate him as one of the three foremost Ancestor Gods, sometimes calling him the Father of the Dwarven race or the first High King of the Karaz Ankor. And every hundred days when it is time to celebrate the Festival of Grungni, only the most vital of work or dire of illnesses will prevent any given Dwarf from participating.
That's got to be some illness that could keep a good dwarf down.
That Johann is joining the festivities is something of a surprise. Not the fact that the Dwarves allow it - Grungni has a number of followers in the Empire as the God of the Forge, and you've read of a Temple to him in Nuln - but the fact that a Gold Wizard would adopt any God, as they're usually the least religious of the Colleges, both by tradition and the influence of Chamon.
"That's usually the case," he says quietly as the gathered Dwarves file out of the Temple and towards the Underway. "But there's a standing order amongst the Gold Order to make whatever overtures possible towards Dwarven religion."
You frown. "To what end?"
"Nothing specific, at least as far as I'm aware. We're just aware they're the foremost crafters of the Old World, and anything we can do to get in their good graces is to our advantage. But besides that, I've had a lifetime of hearing tales of the great deeds the Gods have supposedly done, but you'd be amazed at how many 'slivers of Sigmar's armour' or 'weight from Verena's scales' have origins in a local blacksmith when you hit them with Tale of Metal. So it never really rang true for me."
"So what makes the Ancestor Gods different? Is it the Disciple of the Pick business?" He hesitates, and you brace yourself. "What did you do?"
He hesitates a moment longer. "The First Mine, under the Citadel? The Priest took me to visit it as part of my training. I was supposed to meditate in there, but I was curious, and it turns out trace amounts of gromril left behind by a miner counts as 'creation'. I only got the split second of the pick striking the stone, but... it was Them. All three of Them. One mining, one smelting, and one striking down the greenskins. I don't know if they were Gods, but what I saw of Them was more than enough to justify worshipping Them."
Certainly very rational approach. Provable divinity goes far!
Though part of you is aghast at how Johann had apparently been systematically ensorcelling supposed divine artifacts, you can understand the effect that must have had on him. During the quiet parts of the Battle of the Caldera, you saw Dwarves fall to their knees in numbed awe simply from standing in a mineshaft dug by Grungni's own hand. To have caught a glimpse of the Ancestor Gods themselves as they performed one of their greatest acts must have been overwhelming to someone that had never felt the touch of divinity.
I think Johann just casually Tales of Metal everything he can get his hands on. Would be amusing to see it on the coin.
The Barrows are the most secure of the mines that the Karak is currently working, and the procession splits off as it works its way deeper underground. The topmost levels have been exhausted, but small nuggets of ores and native metals have been secreted around the place for the youngest of children to discover as they swing their tiny picks at piles of loose rock. Below that, the miners have carefully uncovered minor veins without excavating them and marked the path to them for youths strong enough to do some actual mining, but not yet knowledgeable enough for prospecting.
:3
Fun fact - many old festivals are educational in nature, and they're PRETTY good at immortalizing certain techniques.
Or in the case of dwarves, a thrice a year festival to do mining is a good way to ensure that basically every dwarf knows:
-How to dig
-How to identify ore
-How to NOT cave yourself in
All the adults - including you and Johann, though a number of Dwarves hinted that you might be better off sticking to the shallower tunnels - are to strike the earth and genuinely discover metal for yourself. Perhaps not the most romantic setting, but that might just be a matter of perspective - it is a religious obligation to leave your fellow miners be unless they're actively threatened by enemies or cave-ins, even if the sounds coming out of their side branch sound nothing like metal on stone. It's apparently an unspoken tradition for courting couples to venture into the mines together and return with a suspicious lack of ore.
You're not sure if Johann knows about that part. You went forward on the assumption that he didn't, otherwise asking to join him for this would have been even more awkward than it was.
Well its mining for a different
kind of ore...
"Do you know anything about mining?" you ask, weighing the pick in your hands.
"Hit the rock until metal comes out," Johann says. "Or ores, I suppose. Let's see..." He stops walking and tilts his head as he reaches out with his Magesight. "On the left, about an arm's length in. It's shining like a beacon." He walks over to the spot, seems to peer at the wall through his blindfold, and taps it with his pick. "Right here."
"Shining? Is it magical?" You're not sure what sort of omen it is to find Warpstone during a Festival to Grungni, but it can't be good.
"No, wrong sort of shining. I think it's lodestone." He takes an experimental swing at the wall, and a small cloud of rock-dust bursts forth, along with a few sparks.
"That's a good sign, right? Sparks means metal?" You take a moment to summon Ulgu into your muscles, then step up and swing alongside him, raising a second cloud.
Striking sparks just means hitting rocks that are harder than steel. Usually means you hit around the area until you work your way around the extra hard rock, but our wizards here straight out pulverise the rocks AROUND the extra hard bits with sheer force.
As for lodestone, its just magnetized iron.
If anyone was reading the omens into this I've put it up earlier
"I have no idea," he says frankly. The two of you quickly fall into a rhythm, your Ulgu-infused muscles keeping pace with his golden ones.
"They don't teach properties of metals in the Gold College?"
"Probably do to most, but you need to be at least theoretically capable of Alchemy to take the class." He keeps his tone light, but it's clearly artificial.
"Ah." You remember a few of your classmates who ran into similar roadblocks. Most of them are still Apprentices to this day.
"Yeah. I was lucky that my Master gave me the chance to prove myself instead of dropping me right into Perpetual. I decided if I was going to be stuck at one third of a Gold Wizard, I'd have to be three times as good to break even. Eventually I had begged, borrowed, and stole enough coin for my first Gilding. Got made Journeyman on the spot. Who needs alchemy?"
Johann you madlad.
Most Gold Wizards ready for gilding are basically late stage Journeymen, its one of the ways they can prove they're ready for Mastery.
Its also super risky since at the time theres no way he could undo the damage if he fucked up.
I sort of wonder if he would be interested in expanding the Chamon spell list, but without a better view of his advanced traits I've no idea where he'd even start.
"Better to do one thing well than be mediocre at everything," you say. "My Master told me that, then got annoyed when I skipped Diplomacy class."
He gives a brief laugh. "I suppose you're as typical a Grey Wizard as I am a Gold."
"Never developed the habit of sticking to the shadows. My first grown-up assignment was to the Council of Stirland. Made it difficult to act innocent."
He pauses mid-swing. "Wait, the whole Stirland thing was your Journeying?"
Most Journeymen get hired by merchants.
Mathildes get hired by Elector Counts.
"What happens to the ores?" you ask Johann.
"They'll be either smelted or cut to an appropriate size, usually by someone doing penance. Dwarf merchants always make sure they have plenty of rings and pendants and whatnot they can be mounted in, or you can just drill a hole in it and wear it on a string. It brings good fortune. Shavings and off-cuts are all smelted together and given to anyone that didn't find anything."
"What, a sort of pot-luck alloy?"
"I thought it was odd too at first, but it's a moral teaching. The Hold will look after you if you need it, but it's better to be self-sufficient." You nod in understanding. Dwarves usually don't trust metaphors, but the exception is when it's about mining or metals or both.
So...the lodestone would make for matching rings that would stick together when oriented right?
