A through occurs. Anyone remember that time Mat wrote a book about an Exile from Ulthuan and made a lot of money off it? How the Phoenix Court banned that book? Also, remember the Liber Mortis and being a Loremaster of a resurgent Karak Eight Peaks? And the EIC?
Now advising the Empire to go to war with Marienburgh? It seems to me that some Tzinchian sorcerer could not have asked for a finer brew to sell to the Phoenix King's Court.
Just. As. Planned.
The dreams of the Phoneix King were ever troubled, but that night a particularly annoying bird had somehow managed to breach the wards and bother him with its endless squawking.
"Oh look, that Evil Wizard that wrote that damaging book about the Dragonlord you hate is now spilling her poison into the ears of the second most influential dwarf king on the continent, agitating for the start of a dwarven civil war with her teachings. Even if civil war does not result, the dwarves are filled with such glorious change! Tearing the Empire apart from Ulthuan by telling them misinformation about the waystones network and how you are stealing all that magic from the Empire while encouraging them to reach ever deeper into magic and sorcery. Why, she will soon start experimenting with multiple winds and our lord has seen fit to bless her with the vision to do so. All while getting to dwarves to build cannals that will make the Empire dependent on dwarven trade and free them from your influence. All while filling her EIC coffers with great wealth to fund her further schemes. Plot within scheme within plan, such wonderful work, hitting numerous goals with one working, such complexity!"
"Getting Barak Varr to go war on your only landhold in the Old World, and generally positioning herself to be unassailable amidst a massive network of favor and influence, fit to let her become the second coming of Neferata, or better yet, Nagash! Or don't you know oh great King, Mathilde Weber, the Loremaster of Karak Eight Peaks has and has read the Liber Mortis. Haahahhahahahahha!"
"Are you sure you want to allow her plots to drive Ulthani influence from the Old World and get you cut off from the siphons all over the old world as another undead terror eats the entirety of the Empire and undermines the dwarves from within? Are you not the chief champion of Order in the World? Act glorious King! I'm sure the dwarves will believe you when you accuse their most favored human of being part of the Great Plan! Especially when you do it!" Mad laughter rang all through the dream.
"How foolish, the dwarvers, to allow such a schemer so close to fill their heads with her lies? And all it took was arranging for the fall and apparent reclamation of Karag Eight Peaks. Eight Peaks and the Citadel in the middle, for Nine, the holy number of Tzeentch! All is going just as planned and only you can save them, noble king of Ulthuan! Or this is all a lie and I'm pandering to your arrogance? But can you tell which is which, Noble King?"
All that followed was mad laughter as the bird was finally expelled. The morn found the Phoenix King reexamining the reports from the White Tower of Hoeth. Karak Eight Peaks had reconnected, that much was proven truth. The rest would need to be investigated. Closely. Humans who rose so fast and so high were rare. Far too often, whatever their contribution in their rise, the fall erased it all and did far worse. If this Loremaster was compromised, a quiet end would be for the best. If the quiet swords of Khaine could not end this threat, another war might become a necessity.
The Phoenix kings days and duties knew little else but necessity, in these waning days.