Remove ads

Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Reader mode
Saotome Nakazawa said:
You attack to if you think, your about to be burned in a pyre, especially if you know your biss is a hunter who will torture you and kill you,

I take it that , the boss' plan is to kill every vampire or perceived enemy in Stirland, wothout looking for a more resonable alternative. I thought the vampire treating humans as cattle thing and ruling the empire is just racism and normal superiority complex, and self-entitlement than vampiric nature.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Welcome to Warhammer :)
 
This is warhammer while there are sometimes exceptions to the rule when it comes to monsters they're so rare and the consequences are potentially so terrible that hesitation is simply not worth it.
 
I meant what I said, the dark elves are twisted because as individuals they are twisted, not because they are dark elves.

The servants have been working here for awhile, the only indicators that they are involved with the ledger theft is, that they are not normal, which isn't enough evidence and the trying to break down the door thing, which could be a misunderstanding, as maybe a different party took the chance to do something and let the infiltrators take the blame, or it could be a unaffiliated vampire or something trying to talk to Val Halan trying to clear up a misunderstanding about the whole plotting evil thing and may not even be on the same side as the conspiracy thats trying to subvert Stirland.
 
Saotome Nakazawa said:
You attack to if you think, your about to be burned in a pyre, especially if you know your biss is a hunter who will torture you and kill you,

I take it that , the boss' plan is to kill every vampire or perceived enemy in Stirland, wothout looking for a more resonable alternative. I thought the vampire treating humans as cattle thing and ruling the empire is just racism and normal superiority complex, and self-entitlement than vampiric nature.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Most Warhammer Vampires treat humans like cattle. It's in the setting. There are *very* few exceptions.

The nature of their vampiric curse, the necromantic Dhar energy involved, can cause them to become insane monsters.

Attacking us without provocation in the interview room was a hostile move.

Attempting to batter down the study door until bloody was a hostile move. 'Wanted to talk to van Hal'... No. No. Please read the QM posts so you can stop crafting random theories.

I really don't see the point in the line of argument.

Our boss hates Vampires.

People in Stirland fear Vampires. Because Vampires feed on people.

The people of Stirland are vulnerable to Vampires.

Our job is to protect and serve Stirland and it's people.

This means protecting them from supernatural threats. Vampires are supernatural threats.
 
Last edited:
I'm actually open to accept individual Vampires if we have a very good reason to do so (like one being family, saving your life or being known to damage Chaos far more than regular humans), but for the majority of them it's just basic sanity and survival to assume evil and shoot first, because you certainly won't get chance to strike second against that kind of monster.
 
There are too many unknowns, the banging on the door could be a false flag operation, led by different factions to the infiltrators, even if there are vampires which is likely, there is no concrete proof that they are the ones that the main characters should be looking for. There is no proof that they been killing or eating people.

The vampire here if there really is one may not even be part of the same conspiracy, but may just be here as a representative or to keep an eye out for any trouble for his people, with bis slaves. Or the vampire may not even be related to the infiltrators.

There is no clear picture to get a understanding on how many factions there are, what their motives are, only guesses and theories. What is known is the ledger thefts are connected to necromancers and undead. But there is no proof that the infiltrators are connected to the necromancers, and the one that attacked during the interview could have just panicked, the one banging at the door may or may not be related to the infiltrator.

The bottom line is you can only guess or speculate what is going on around here.
 
?false flag op? by who, for what reason?
what other factions? and how would they benefit?

if there are vampires there is a very high likely hood they have been drinking blood willingly or not.
i`m not fully up on my warhammer vampire lore but i am almost sure they kill who ever they feed from.

uhm..
lets see we have a group that is likely tied too vampires getting the books out that is connected to drackenhof
we have infiltrators, again likely vampire agents they do have them.
stirland in general and von hal knows vampires love too mess with it.

so unless i see good reason to say other wise i think most these thing might be connected
 
Saotome Nakazawa said:
There are too many unknowns, the banging on the door could be a false flag operation, led by different factions to the infiltrators, even if there are vampires which is likely, there is no concrete proof that they are the ones that the main characters should be looking for. There is no proof that they been killing or eating people.

The vampire here if there really is one may not even be part of the same conspiracy, but may just be here as a representative or to keep an eye out for any trouble for his people, with bis slaves. Or the vampire may not even be related to the infiltrators.

There is no clear picture to get a understanding on how many factions there are, what their motives are, only guesses and theories. What is known is the ledger thefts are connected to necromancers and undead. But there is no proof that the infiltrators are connected to the necromancers, and the one that attacked during the interview could have just panicked, the one banging at the door may or may not be related to the infiltrator.

The bottom line is you can only guess or speculate what is going on around here.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Speculation and guesses are the domain of the weak. And in WARHAMMER humans are laughably weak if they do not leverage all their advantage. This is why humans are seen as cattle.
 
I'm sure we could think up reason why for example Lahmian infiltrators could pretend to be Von Carstein infiltrators, or that there are several groups in the castle.

But bottom line stays we have infiltrators, they are very unlikely to be pro-Empire, so we should work to find a kill or capture them.
Nothing complicated exept actually doing it here.
 
Let me just state for the recprd that I am still peeved that we told anyone about our little accident. It would have been soo easy to just ignore it and brush off their concern by saying that we handled it already. Just saying.
 
But then Van Hal would have assumed that the infiltrators were already aware they had been discovered and attacking which would have been incorrect and potentially dangerous.
 
@Saotome Nakazawa when it comes to any version of Warhammer it's always safer to assume anything that isn't human wants to kill you. You'd be correct 90% of the time.

If the vamps are being nice, they have an agenda and are playing the long game.
 
No7sHere said:
But then Van Hal would have assumed that the infiltrators were already aware they had been discovered and attacking which would have been incorrect and potentially dangerous.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Which could be explained easily by sayin that we dealt with it already. No need for explanations just bluff it out. We are supposed to be Intrigue for crying out loud. Cant act like stupid maiden because it opens us to inquiry and our position may be questioned.
 
BoneyM said:
As the QM I have perfect information re: what report would get what reaction. If there was something that at first glance seemed innocuous that would tip off Van Hal about something, there's no good way for me to handle that situation. I can 'cheat' in your favour by not including that information in the report, or I can have it included and autopilot you into a potential disaster.

The only way to do it that works is to have all information that's given to Van Hal be what the thread has voted to give him. If you weren't hiding your God, your Palace-Shrine, your sleeper agent status, and your habitual embezzlement from him, then things might be different. But this would also be a very different quest. It's called 'Divided Loyalties' deliberately.

That said, if you do decide to come clean about everything (and I recommend getting a better grasp on what's going on re: your Sleeper Agent status before you consider doing so), I'll follow the will of the thread. Mathilde's become enough of a character in her own right that she'd keep me entertained even if the quest shifts away from the original core idea.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
In short, we can say "tell everything about <Specific Mission>", but anything more open ended than that is going to have some rather important slipups just get shoved in.

Besides, that's half the fun of writing the reports...I mean I hope everyone else doing it liked it.
Dutch said:
The fuck did I just read?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Seconded.

I mean, a fair chunk of vampires are necessarily inhumane, simply because there's not really many feasible ways to reconcile having to feed on humans with standard human morality. Doubly so when in setting, the alternatives is to feed on animal blood and go feral, or feed on Dhar and go insane, barring some kind of end of campaign level exception like drinking a dragon or divine intervention.
 
List of cool vampires that shouldn't automatically get staked:

1. the handful of Blood Dragons that have transcended their dark thirst and no longer see humanity as any sort of worthy opponent or prey, aping the forms of chivalry while going on an indiscriminate murderhobo bender, killing helpful Giants and Treemen in equal measure to Chaotic Monsters.
2. The few Lhamians that abandon the Sisterhood and their conspiracies, becoming attached to the mortals and seeking more direct action in their favor and for their own good. Sometimes they won't even become a mad bloody Evil Queen cast down by their own kin, damn it Kattarin.
3. A scattering of sorcerous vampiric hermits that hold themselves to some kind of aristocratic and scholarly code and ultimately feed more on dhar energies than people- a few Necrarchs, some of the more Confucian Jade-Blooded, and Old Strygos in the pre-history of the Empire.

It is a small list.
 
Hold on a minute! Cathay and clay soldiers are a thing? We must get some of that! Wizard always need obedient tanks.
 
Okay, voting has trailed off and we've got a clear winner:

DarkLight140 said:
[*] [General Report] Plan Short And Simple
-[*] Efforts to build our intelligence network have produced some results. Munzhausen and Purgg are now sending regular reports our way and the Watch here in Wurtbad will provide intelligence on anything suspicious. Checking the castle staff for infiltrators found some rather dramatically; unfortunately I can't guarantee that they were the only ones.
-[*] The blades we recovered from the mound aren't usable as weapons and would kill anyone who tried to use them that way in short order. Studying them for potential magical applications might produce useful results, but that will take funding and years of work.
-[*] Our written report should include more detailed information on the expansion of our network as well as a note on our failed attempt to gain contacts in a timely fashion in Wörden.

[*] [Incident Report] Plan Two Sentences And Kasmir
-[*] A fairly extensive interviewing process of the castle staff eventually found one spy based upon an inconsistency in his story, who attacked with unnatural speed when he realized he was discovered. At least two others revealed themselves in the aftermath, but we still haven't fully determined what exactly happened or identified the infiltrators' nature.
-[*] Kasmir, next time I attempt to call upon your expertise, please provide it.

[*] [One-on-One Report] Plan Small Items Of Concern
-[*] Request Van Hal's support in our efforts to purge the castle of infiltrators and track down their source over the next few months.
-[*] Ask Van Hal if he can explain what's happened with the East Wing. Unless it's a known variable it's a potential threat and we can't consider the castle safe.
-[*] See if he has any recommendations for finding reliable lieutenants.
-[*] If he ever has spare money, we want to build and equip a concealed wizard's lab. We consider our having a well-equipped enchanter's lab and a plentiful supply of reagents to be in Stirland's interest, as is concealing its existence and location from anyone who might consider us a target (read: absolutely everyone).

[*] [Marshal Candidates] Plan Everything Turns Up Gustav
-[*] Tell Van Hal everything we know and how we found it out, in private
-[*] Recommend Gustav on the grounds that Berthold will clash with Morrites and de facto encourage proscribed cults by making all non-Sigmar religions seem less legitimate, while Otto will soak up money that the County can ill afford. Gustav is reckless, but both capable and well-loved; Stirland needs competent, popular leadership right now.

[*] [Options] Plan There Are Really Only Two Important Things Happening Here
-[*] The servants. Is there even any reason to suggest any other course of investigation?
-[*] The disappearance of your predecessor is very concerning, especially since he's actively trying to sabotage the hunt for him. He must be found, and you've got a lead: Julbach.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Voting closed. I'll get a cup of coffee into me and start writing shortly.
 
VoidZero said:
Hold on a minute! Cathay and clay soldiers are a thing? We must get some of that! Wizard always need obedient tanks.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I think golems and homunculi are already a thing as alchemical creations and familiars, and if not all we need to do is grab a Rune Guardian or Ushabti and study it for a couple decades...
 
Grey Wizards (among others) are able to create familiars out 'mud, clay, dung, blood, and the vital organs of humans and animals, but these only scratch the surface'. It would take about a month and a great deal of money to gather all the components and between one and three to piece them together and instil them with your magic, and if you make a mistake you'll have to go back and start instilling it all over again. At the end you'll have a homonculus or golem made of wood, stone, flesh, clay, or whatever else, based on either humanoid or animal design. It would be obviously artificial to look upon and usually varying from the base form of the creature it resembles in some way. It would also have a degree of sapience, the ability to communicate (verbally or otherwise), and some measure of free will, though you can magically impose your will to force it to obey. You will have little control over what sort of relationship your familiar will have with you when first 'born', though you can hope to change it over time. You're also not yet magically skilled enough to attempt this, though learning enchantment would be a shortcut to allow it.

Grey Wizards, like Bright and Light Wizards, are one of those fortunate orders able to both create and bind familiars. Binding a familiar means either searching for months or spending an outrageous sum of money for an animal with that certain je ne sais quoi, a combination of health, appearance, attitude, intelligence, as well as an intangible form of potential within it. Then you need to go full crazy cat lady and spend no more than a couple of hours a day separated from your new baby for a period of a month or two, though you can be doing other things as long as you're doing it in the immediate presence of your would-be familiar. At the end of it, if you've formed enough of an emotional and mental bond with the creature, they'll have a mental awakening and become your familiar. It's personality and level of obedience will vary quite a lot based on random chance and the animal itself - a dog is more likely to be eager to please than a cat is, for example - but like with created familiars, you can mentally impose your will over the creature.

There is no limit to the amount of familiars you can have except for money and time.

It may be possible to bind demonic and pseudo-demonic creatures like a Thorned One as your familiar, but funnily enough they didn't cover the topic back at the College.
 
Last edited:
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top