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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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Turn 29 - 2484 - They Go to the Land of the Ice and Snow
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan Red
    -[x] PROJECT: Cartographer
    -[x] PROJECT: Waystone
    -[x] PROJECT: Black Waters
    -[X] PROJECT: Karag Dum

    [X] [TOWER] Anti-Air: Azyr

    [X] [LIBRARY] Enchantment: Imperial Antiquarian (100gc, 2CF), Divine Magic: Imperial Antiquarian (100gc, 2CF), Ranald: Bretonnian Extensive (100gc), Engineering: Imperial Esoteric, Bretonnian Extensive, Dwarven Extensive (350gc), Waystones and Henges: Dwarven Esoteric (50gc, 2DF)
    [X] [DWARF] Rooms of Calamity for eight colleges (10DF + 10 gallons AV)
    [x] [COLLEGE] No purchase.
    [X] [PURCHASE] Firkin of dwarven ink for Grey College Docent (5gc)

    After some thought and a great deal of correspondence with the Colleges, you strike a deal with Thorek: he and his numerous Apprentices travel to Altdorf to install Rooms of Calamity in each of the Colleges, and in exchange you turn over half of your accumulated stockpile of Aethyric Vitae to him. Though there are no immediate benefits to you, the benefits to the Karaz Ankor and to the Colleges make it worth it. The Karaz Ankor being able to use their most potent Anvil-Runes on demand will no doubt be of use when under threat in the coming years, and the Rooms of Calamity will, you hope, ensure that more College Wizards survive their educations. And it won't exactly hurt your own reputation to be responsible for both of those.

    Before Thorek leaves, you have some nicely understated plaques commissioned to be placed by the entrances to the rooms, bearing your name and the names you've come up with for each of them. The Maze for the Grey College, the Alcove for the Golds, the Tomb for the Amethysts, the Hall for the Celestials... it may be that nobody will ever set eyes on every one of the rooms and put the pieces together, but that just makes it all the more satisfying. The only part you're not entirely sure of is the Enclosure for the Amber College, not entirely sure if it was worth building, and whether it could be built somewhere more appropriate for them. But in the end you put your doubts aside and have it built as a second story on the small, squat tower that the Ambers possess in the city. They may not be fond of civilization, but that doesn't mean they aren't sensible people, and you're sure they'll see the value in being able to more safely learn the most dangerous of magics, and will likely consider having to do so in Altdorf a small price to pay.

    In comparison, your own new construction is relatively modest, consisting of a new floor on the Blue Tower and a series of crystals and metallic cross-joints, along with a series of instructions that allow Hubert to assemble them. At first you're a little annoyed at how little effort the Celestials put into the matter, until you read through the instructions and find a caution to avoid working on a certain day, as Hubert will be distracted with personal matters and the mistake he would make could be dangerous. You suppose prognostication means never having to double-check your work. Once the Dwarves have built another floor onto your Blue Tower you turn the matter over to him, and it takes only a couple of weeks for it to come together. It absorbs and contains the lightning strikes that the Blue Tower already feeds upon, and that energy can be unleashed at the press of an activation glyph, either in a specific direction or just to ground the energy through anything nearby that isn't already grounded.

    When you're done seeing to all that, you also organize a small gift of a firkin of high-quality Dwarven ink for the Docent. Whoever they are - their identity is kept a secret for fairly obvious reasons - they're responsible for collating, organizing, and cross-referencing the College's records of captured and intercepted enemy communications, and the book on Queekish would have dropped what you're sure is a substantial task into their lap as they turn it on however many Skaven books and documents the Grey College may have amassed over the years.

    ---

    You'd explained the operation of the Menhir to King Belegar, and though his expression spoke volumes, he refrained from commenting until Kragg, Thorek, and Gunnars had all given it a thorough inspection, and all had declared it free of corruption. "I hate this," he finally says, glaring at the pool meant to be filled with heartsblood. "I hate it almost as much as I hate the idea of an unchecked Ice Dragon. Good work. I'll have it secured within the Citadel, and hope it never sees use."

    After that is the Council meeting, which of late are starting to blur together, and there's a definite sense of rising tension, even as the Council grows more and more adept at handling the complaints and provocations of the Okral. Two more years is a common refrain, sometimes in relief and sometimes in resignation. If all goes according to plan, the departure of the Okral will be soon after the completion of the restoration of Karags Rhyn and Mhonar and the construction of Temples to Valaya and Smednir within them, as well as the defences both above and below that will hopefully keep the Karak secure for generations to come. And then everyone can move on to their pet projects instead of being full-time Grumbaki-wranglers.

    "Karag Dum," Belegar says, drawing the attention of all present. "What do we know about the Expedition there? All I know is that if every Dawi that claimed they wanted to help my own efforts but were already invested in the other were truthful, they could conquer every mountain from Karak Kadrin to Kraka Drak."

    "Zhufbar is supplying a convoy of Steam-Wagons," Gotri says. "Which means it's able to carry an incredible amount of supplies and weaponry, but limits the terrain it's able to cross. It's to set out from Karak Kadrin in the coming years, with the exact time and route to depend on weather and circumstance."

    You'd memorized a map in preparation, and with a moment's concentration silvery-grey light seeps out from your fingers and forms a map on the table, outlining the lands of Kislev, the Northern Dark Lands, and the Western Great Steppes; your fellow Councillors are used enough to this that none react with anything but interest. "The High Pass and the Skull Road was once one of the safer routes to the East, but now most traders flock to the more southern passes."

    "Karag Dum once marked the threshold to the lands ruled by Chaos," Gunnars notes. "Now it's stretched as far south as Praag."

    "Still, you said 'most'," Kazrik notes.

    You nod. "It must still be passable to an extent, but at some point the path of the Expedition will have to leave the Skull Road and turn north, driving further into the Wastes."

    "Most acknowledge it as untenable," Gotri says, "so the goal of the Expedition is to evacuate any remaining survivors, artefacts, and treasures, not to retake or reinforce. The tales of Thorgrim Grudgebearer give many hope that like the Norse Dwarves did, the Dwarves of Karag Dum still hold out, and the fate of the Norse Dwarves has convinced many of the dangers of the Wastes."

    "There is value in that," Belegar says, patting the hammer on his hip. "The Hammer of Angrund performed many mighty deeds while exiled from here. Very well. Loremaster Weber, lend what assistance you can to the preparations of the Expedition. I've no doubt Karak Kadrin has supplied them with all the conventional weaponry it can carry, but you've shown quite a talent for the unconventional."



    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.
    [ ] 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: Attempt to recruit Gretel and the Besiegers for the Karag Dum Expedition.
    [ ] 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.
    [ ] DUCK: Study an artefact with one of the Journeymen: specify who and which.


    The Eastern Imperial Company
    Your share of EIC profits: 175 crowns / turn
    Current Focus of the EIC: Expansion along the Aver
    EIC Handler: The Hochlander
    [ ] EIC: 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.
    [ ] EIC: Have the Hochlander introduce a series of ciphers to the EIC to allow it to communicate internally in much greater security.
    [ ] EIC: Found an auditors division, to make sure the ledgers are in order.
    [ ] EIC: Start hiring handlers who can then start hiring informers and begin to collect non-public information.
    [ ] EIC: Reach out to Julia to find out if she's interested in being poached or passing on information.
    [ ] EIC: Reach out to Roswita, and have the EIC start passing on tips about any tax evasion or other naughtiness by the EIC's rivals.
    [ ] EIC: Start building a paramilitary river navy to ensure the coming trade explosion doesn't lead to a similar explosion in riverine banditry.
    [ ] EIC: Sell some of the Grand Urbaz Bank coins to collectors and museums on King Belegar's behalf.
    [ ] EIC: Integrate the Gong Farmers and the Niter Factory into the EIC, and expand production.
    [ ] EIC: Have the EIC keep tabs on mercenaries so that they can be more easily hired if needed.


    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: Karag Dum Expedition preparations (NEW)
    [ ] Collate useful information on the northernmost Dark Lands from Qrech and Lady Magister Grey.
    [ ] Seek out merchants who have travelled the Skull Road to learn what they know of it.
    [ ] Trawl around the bars and brothels of Tilea, looking to talk to the actual mercenaries that have walked either the Skull Road, or the Great Steppes.
    [ ] Seek volunteers from the Colleges to join the Expedition.
    [ ] Seek mercenaries to join the Expedition (optional: specify who/where).
    [ ] With the help of a gyrocarriage, personally scout part of the route (specify: High Pass, Road of Skulls, Western Great Steppes, Karag Dum vicinity)
    [ ] Try to contact the Ice Witches of Kislev in the hopes they can provide clement weather for the Expedition.
    [ ] Attempt to learn the Greenskin tongue to communicate with the Hobgoblin Khanates of the Steppes.
    [ ] Attempt to learn Kurgan to communicate with the Kurgan of the Steppes.
    [ ] Learn what you can of dealing with the Hobgoblin Khanates of the Steppes.
    [ ] Learn what you can of dealing with the Kurgan of the Steppes.

    Qrech
    [ ] 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 a Qrech option):
    [ ] 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.
    [ ] Write something else: write in.
    Once per turn, you can write a paper or a 'something else' 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.
    [ ] Attend anti-Chaos training at the Grey College. (NEW)

    Aethyric Vitae (11 gallons):
    [ ] Experiment with integrating the Vitae into enchantments.
    [ ] 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)
    [ ] Turn a staff from mundane materials.
    [ ] Turn a staff from the horn of a Storm Dragon.

    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.
    [ ] Involve yourself in the Marienburg affair (specify how) (NEW)
    [ ] Involve yourself in the Black Waters project (specify how) (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.


    Ranald's Coin
    Vampire skulls

    Preserved bodies of the Rat Mothers of Clan Mors.

    Eshin:
    Throwing star, still dripping venom.
    Eshin Sorcerer crystal sword.
    Eshin Sorcerer amulet, shattered.

    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.

    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)

    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


    - There will be a three hour moratorium. Voting will be in plan format.
    - To see the current plans, click on Thread Tools in the top right, then Vote Tally.
    - If you have ideas for alternate ways to help the Expedition, please suggest them.
    - The Karag Dum Expedition is currently planning to leave some time from late next year to three years from now, which means between three and seven turns from now. You'll have a better idea of exactly when as it gets closer.
    - Background information that Mathilde would know: the northern Dark Lands along the Road of Skulls is uninhabited, but between two major Chaos Dwarf strongholds. The Western Great Steppes is populated by the Hobgoblin Khanates and the horse nomads known as Kurgans.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • chocolote12 said:
    In order to @mention me people have to spell my username correctly. This is rare enough that it feels odd.
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    That is peculiar, the @er has an autocomplete function that also shows avatar, I imagine that by the cho you would be one of the options and people would pick you, so youd get at least a 50% correct rate.

    Edit: QM Mathilde'd
     
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    me.me.here said:
    Even disregarding whether or not any fireships could get into place or not, this would still be a bad idea that might actually be worse than doing nothing.

    The scenario you describe, where a fire ship could use the enclosed spaces generated by needing to head upriver to break the furthest-in chains/blockages, has a critical issue in that the parts creating said tight spaces are inhabited.

    In other words, any fire ship would be detonating literally in the middle of Marienburg, thereby all but guaranteeing more damage would be done to the city (and the pocketbooks of its ruling class) then just sitting back and doing nothing. It'd be like cutting off your nose to spite your face, only scaled up to blowing up your own city to spite your trade network's disintegration.
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    You raise a good point.

    I think there are two potential counterpoints, though. First, the interests of the ruling class may not necessarily be the priority of the city's defenders in the middle of battle. Soldiers and merchant princes rarely share the same mindsets, after all.

    Second, the College of Sea Magic may be able to contain or redirect the waters or winds into a more favorable outcome for the fire ship's explosion.

    Valmond said:
    Yes, and none of that is likely to matter.
    Leadership of Marienburg is not suicidal, and sinking a dwarf ship is not going to go well for them.
    Dwarves are not stupid, they are unlikely to be taken by surprise by a sneaky boat full of gunpowder, and more than willing to enforce safe distance from other ships with superrior firepower.
    Traders will not be willing to give their ships for that use, and Marienburg being a trade port, is unlikely to be eager to piss of the people who bring them money (also food).

    And if Marienburg decides to go with the fireship plan, in spite of how terrible that plan is, it is unlikely to suffer any major consequences (unless they roll a 1 and end up with a sunk ship), because traders are not stupid, and dwarven goods are too valuable to not trade in (especially with the canal).

    So, Marienburg has now stolen some traders vessel and sunk a dwarven warship? What next?
    The potential consequences of that action range anywhere from "extremely expensive" to "no more Marienburg".
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    Well, if it's gotten into a shooting war, yes, things are going to be quite dire already. To address things by point:
    - The desires of the leadership may not align with the actions of the soldiery.
    - Depends on the geography of the harbor. At some points it looks quite narrow, and then remember that the place is usually filled with shipping traffic.
    - The traders' willingness doesn't matter if they're being seized by the garrison. Marienburg the polity may not want to do it, but military commanders panicking at an existential threat might.

    To be clear, I'm not arguing that this is favorable for Marienburg, likely to happen, or even relevant to the quest. I just liked the idea that was brought up, and thought it was a good potential threat for the Barak Varr navy.

    Edit: And, update's here, woot.
     
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    BoneyM said:
    You'd explained the operation of the Menhir to King Belegar, and though his expression spoke volumes, he refraind from commenting until Kragg, Thorek, and Gunnars had all given it a thorough inspection, and all had declared it free of corruption. "I hate this," he finally says, glaring at the pool meant to be filled with heartsblood. "I hate it almost as much as I hate the idea of an unchecked Ice Dragon. Good work. I'll have it secured within the Citadel, and hope it never sees use."
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    I love every part of this. God I love that we made this happen.
     
    So because looking at the Diff Checker hurts my eyes what reputation boosts did we get from the Calamity Rooms for the College/Vitae for the Dwarves?
     
    So, about the plan... We have to have at least 1 Karag Dum option. Even if its a safe one, I think we should take chaos preparation before that (maybe even specify it in the vote that said actionshould be prior to the Karag Dum's action). There may be Tzeenech interference even to the safe actions. I think that, at least, is necessity, AP hell or not.
     
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    So if we are planning at all on going to Karag Dum, we need to get more killy.

    We should work on Branulhume's combat tricks as one of the more direct ways to get better, and one that's a lot safer given magic might not be as reliable in the Chaos wastes.
     
    Well, then. Typo report first, then some thoughts about the coming turn.
    BoneyM said:
    tou turn
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    you turn
    BoneyM said:
    you're dong seeing
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    you're done seeing (nice Freudian slip)
    BoneyM said:
    the College's of enemy
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    missing word; I think something like "collection" belongs between College's and of
    BoneyM said:
    he refraind from
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    refrained
    BoneyM said:
    [ ] Investigate how the Vitae reacts to being subjected to power stone creation methods.
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    I believe this should be struck through, since we haven't taken the class yet.
    BoneyM said:
    [ ] Collate what useful information on the northernmost Dark Lands from Qrech and Lady Magister Grey.
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    I think the words "there is" belong after "information" and before "on"

    OK, so, I'm thinking something like this:
    • Max: look at an artifact
    • Johann: help Adela with engineering
    • Duck: ???
    • EIC: Handlers, I guess? We need an actual spy network, dammit
    • Serenity: Half of the We book
    • P1: Chaos training
    • P2: Recruit at the Colleges
    • P3: Talk to Qrech and LM Grey?
    • P4-P5: Flex
    Where the flex slots should be, idk, a Coin action and a self-improvement action?
     
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