Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Just to get it out of the way right from the start: this isn't an announcement that I'm abandoning the quest or even putting it on hiatus.

I usually prefer to keep my private life private, but at the same time I don't want to be a contributor to the culture of silence, so I'm going to put one card on the table. I suffer from an aggravatingly treatment-resistant form of depression, and for the past few months have been going on a decidedly unmerry romp through various medications to try to find one that works after my previous one fell to tachyphylaxis. The latest stop on this tour is, to put it plainly, kicking my arse. Updates may be slightly more staggered than usual until things settle down, but they won't stop entirely. I will be writing in the upswings when they come, as writing is an important source of self-actualization for me.
Take care of yourself, boney. We can wait.
 
Just to get it out of the way right from the start: this isn't an announcement that I'm abandoning the quest or even putting it on hiatus.

I usually prefer to keep my private life private, but at the same time I don't want to be a contributor to the culture of silence, so I'm going to put one card on the table. I suffer from an aggravatingly treatment-resistant form of depression, and for the past few months have been going on a decidedly unmerry romp through various medications to try to find one that works after my previous one fell to tachyphylaxis. The latest stop on this tour is, to put it plainly, kicking my arse. Updates may be slightly more staggered than usual until things settle down, but they won't stop entirely. I will be writing in the upswings when they come, as writing is an important source of self-actualization for me.
Well @BoneyM I certainly hope you find a chemical balance that leaves you happy and content.

Please. Take as much time as you need. Questors here and on SB are remarkably patient.
And even if you can't appreciate it, please remember that everyone here truly enjoys the entertainment you give them through your stories.
 
Trying to find bearable psych meds is its own special hell. Good on you for sticking through it, I do not envy you right now.
 
I am sorry to hear that. I won't pretend to know what you are going through, but for what it's worth, I wish you all the best and that you feel better soon.

Take your time, and do whatever makes you feel relaxed and happy. If that's writing, then even better.

If not, that's fine as well.

Thank you for sharing this with us. It must not have been easy.
 
Karak Eight Peaks: The Eve of Battle
The dwarven advisors are first to speak. "King's Gates," Kragg says firmly. "Many dawi will die retaking this hold; their names must be carved in the Hall of Oaths."

"The Citadel," Durin says. "We could dominate the entire caldera with the field of fire it would allow us."

"Kvinn-Wyr," says Ulthar. "We could turn the Sentinels into a slaughtering ground for every grobi and thaggoraki in the Karak."

"The Entrance, and the Vaults," says Skaroki. "We could lure every mercenary in Tilea with them. And Tilean mercenaries are good, dependable troops, by manling standards."

"Well, that doesn't at all narrow it down," Belegar grumbles. "Let's hear it from the rest of you, then."

"The King's Gates," you say, pointing at Karag Lhune. "The airport opens up entirely new tactical and logistic possibilities, especially with Karaz-a-Karak and their aircorps so close by."

"The Citadel," Codrin says. "With that elevation, we could reap a harvest of the enemy with impunity."

"The Citadel," Titus agrees. "Let them dash their lives away upon it."

"The King's Gates," says Grand Master Wulfhart. "For the Temple. Dwarven souls need the balm of faith, just as ours do."

"The Entrance," Grand Master Kriegersen says. "And the West Gate. Kettle in the enemy and throttle the life from them."

Belegar looks broodingly down at the map. "Ulthar, second preference?"

He considers for a moment. "If we could secure the entirety of Karag Lhune, we could shorten our supply lines by receiving them at Und-Uzgar rather than going through the East Gate. So the King's Gates."

"Near enough to a consensus," Belegar remarks. "Any objections?" Silence in response. "Very well. It so happens that I agree - we have force enough to challenge the grobi and thaggoraki for at least one of the two peaks, and Karag Lhune is the more strategically sound of the two." He refurls the map. "Drink deep and rest well this night, for there's no telling when next we'll see a semblance of peace. Tomorrow, we march on the East Gate."

---

The Expedition encamped is a city in miniature that is torn down and rebuilt each day, housing over a hundred thousand souls, man, dwarf and halfling. And of this enormous force, you are responsible for only five. You weave your way through the tents to your own slice of meagre comforts. For possibly the first time, all five of your journeymanlings are in the same place, waiting together to hear your news.

"Karag Lhune," you say to them. "We march on the East Gate tomorrow, and from there we punch straight through to the King's Gate."

They nod. "Enemies?" Esbern asks.

"Likely greenskins on the gate," you say. "Unlikely to be the Crooked Moons in sunlight - perhaps they'll have another tribe living overhead. Ulthar's men have picked off Red Fang and Broken Toof greenskins while patrolling, and while the Red Fang dominate Black Crag we're not sure where the Broken Toof are operating out of, so it could be them. Once we reach the King's Gate, expect either the night goblins themselves or the ratmen."

There's sober nods all around. "Orders?" Maximilian asks.

To your carefully listening underlings, you lay out the plan for the next day's battles.

Your Place:
[ ] Sticking close to Belegar, just in case.
[ ] Mounting your Shadowsteed and fighting with:
- [ ] The demigryph knights
- [ ] The Winter Wolves
[ ] Joining the fighting wherever it's thickest
- [ ] Fighting among dwarves
- [ ] Fighting among humans
[ ] Striking at enemy lines wherever they seem most vulnerable
[ ] Trying to flank the enemy to strike at spellcasters and siege weapons

Esbern and Seija:
They are inseperable; Esbern is a dangerous melee combatant and Seija is skilled at assisting friendly animals and sabotaging unfriendly ones.
[ ] With you
[ ] With the Demigryph Knights
[ ] With the Winter Wolves

Panoramia:
Her offensive spells make her a terrifying threat at range, as thorned plants burst from the ground and sprout within the enemy.
[ ] With you
[ ] With Titus' skirmishers
[ ] With Codrin's archers
[ ] With Ulthar's rangers

Maximilian:
His spells make him a supernaturally resilient and accurate archer.
[ ] With you
[ ] With Titus' skirmishers
[ ] With Codrin's archers
[ ] With Ulthar's rangers

Johann:
He can supernaturally guide the efforts of his allies, which has won him a place among the dwarf siege engineers; he can also magically sabotage enemy wepaons.
[ ] With you
[ ] With the Siege Engine crews


- This vote will be in plan format.
- For full spell lists, see the Dramatis Personae page.
- If you are considering writing in a strategy, try to keep it simple. Mathilde knows well that the chaos of battle and the fog of war make a mockery of complicated plans.
- Wolf is not quite grown enough to fight by your side, and will be left with the camp followers.
 
Last edited:
[x] Trying to flank the enemy to strike at spellcasters and siege weapons

[x] With you

[x] With Codrin's archers

[x] With Ulthar's rangers

[x ] With the Siege Engine crews
 
[ ] Trying to flank the enemy to strike at spellcasters and siege weapons

This seems best for us personally, but we'd probably lock out anyone coming with us.
 
Last edited:
[ ][Mathilde] Trying to flank the enemy to strike at spellcasters and siege weapons
[ ][Esbern & Seija] With the Demigryph Knights
[ ][Panoramia] With Titus' skirmishers
[ ][Maximilian] With Codrin's archers
[ ][Johann] With the Siege Engine crews

Thinking of going with these. Might swap Mathilde to wherever the line seems weak, or put Panoramia with Max and Codrin's group.

Remember to use tasks in your vote, since several have the same options.
 
[ ] Trying to flank the enemy to strike at spellcasters and siege weapons

This seems best for us ersonally, but we'd probably lock out anyone coming with us.
That it's best for us is actually debatable. Dwarf cannons are pretty good and with Johann's help won't have too much trouble killing spellcasters and siege weapons by themselves. Our ability to potentially cause a rout may be more valuable.
 
Just to get it out of the way right from the start: this isn't an announcement that I'm abandoning the quest or even putting it on hiatus.

I usually prefer to keep my private life private, but at the same time I don't want to be a contributor to the culture of silence, so I'm going to put one card on the table. I suffer from an aggravatingly treatment-resistant form of depression, and for the past few months have been going on a decidedly unmerry romp through various medications to try to find one that works after my previous one fell to tachyphylaxis. The latest stop on this tour is, to put it plainly, kicking my arse. Updates may be slightly more staggered than usual until things settle down, but they won't stop entirely. I will be writing in the upswings when they come, as writing is an important source of self-actualization for me.
know the feeling, one in 6 people feel depressed in their lives
the only advise i can give you as it worked for me is if your drugs don't work turn to religion
if it any good there have people there to help you through it
 
[x] Plan Strike Team and Buffs
-[x] {Mathilde} Trying to flank the enemy to strike at spellcasters and siege weapons
-[x] {Esbern and Seija} With the Demigryph Knights
-[x] {Panoramia} With you
-[x] {Maximilian} With you
-[x] { Johann} With the Siege Engine crews

Reasoning:

Mathilde is a pretty good assassin and tough enough to be the front-line fighter of her little kill-team.

Esbern and Seija are better off making the Demigryph Knights that much more killy. Having an elite formation out there rocking with buffed mounts and facing their counterparts on de-buffed ones could be a real asset.

Panoramia and Maximillian both make good ranged combatants to support Mathilde as she goes around ganking enemy leaders, and they don't have the ability to buff whole formations, so they are better utilized in her company.

Johann, meanwhile, is best utilized turning the cannon crews into high caliber snipers. He can make them as deadly to enemy leadership as Mathilde is likely to be.
 
Last edited:
That it's best for us is actually debatable. Dwarf cannons are pretty good and with Johann's help won't have too much trouble killing spellcasters and siege weapons by themselves. Our ability to potentially cause a rout may be more valuable.
That is not a bad point. Especially since it could allow us to conserve our stealth skills for later in the campaign.
 
- This vote will be in plan format.

[X]Plan Leeroy
-[X] Mounting your Shadowsteed and fighting with:
- [X] The demigryph knights
-[X] With you
-[X] With Titus' skirmishers
-[X] With Ulthar's rangers
-[X] With the Siege Engine crews

Maybe we'd be better picking off casters but they are pretty rare and our spells and items make us pretty good linebreakers.
I think that'll be more useful than putting down whatever petty shaman thinks he's hotstuff compared to Kragg the Grim.
 
[x] Plan Strike Team and Buffs
[x] Trying to flank the enemy to strike at spellcasters and siege weapons
[x] With the Demigryph Knights
[x] With you
[x] With you
[x] With the Siege Engine crews

You need to indent your choices under your plan name and add a space between Plan and Strike. Also, I would suggest adding task notation in the form of the characters' names to make vote counting easier on BoneyM. You can figure out what's what, but being able to tell at a glance would be better.
 
Use our newly mastered uber-terror-spell and position ourseleves where the fighting is thickest.

We are a badass swordswinging gunmage sporting 2 artifacts that makes very tanky and very killy. Lets just wreck stuff.

I personally need some murder release on this quest. Let Mathilde bathe in the blood of her enemies.
 
Last edited:
Old news, but a reminder wouldn't be amiss, I suppose; new Mastery now blobs of infantry are yet another thing on the list against which Mathilde is pure murder against. 1d3 hits at 1d6 strength to every model in a unit would absolutely murder just about any non-elite unit you care to name unless your dice is completely fucked and routinely keeps rolling 1 and 1.

The fact that she is also nigh-unkillable needs no mention at this point.

Therefore, I think there is no real bad option on the list, but I am kind of partial toward either flanking or "Joining the fighting wherever it's thickest".

When you have a character that killy, it's a sin not to properly utilize their talents.
 
[X] Plan Specialist
[X] Trying to flank the enemy to strike at spellcasters and siege weapons
[X] With the Demigryph Knights
[X] With Ulthar's rangers
[X] With Codrin's archers
[X] With the Siege Engine crews
 
Old news, but a reminder wouldn't be amiss, I suppose; new Mastery now blobs of infantry are yet another thing on the list against which Mathilde is pure murder against. 1d3 hits at 1d6 strength to every model in a unit would absolutely murder just about any non-elite unit you care to name unless your dice is completely fucked.

The fact that she is also nigh-unkillable needs no mention at this point.

Therefore, I think there is no real bad option on the list, but I am kind of partial toward either flanking or "Joining the fighting wherever it's thickest".

When you have a character that killy, it's a sin not to properly utilize their talents.

Couldn't have said it better myself.
I want to push the limits of what we can fo and see where it takes us. The new mastery just reinforces my position that we can become the answer to massed infantry for this expedition.
 
Back
Top