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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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Reynal said:
I find it extraordinarily unlikely that any of the Dwarfish priests, radical or traditionalist, would make this claim about the (and presumably our) soul for any reason whatsoever outside of a sincere belief that it the truth or a representative of their Ancestors telling them to. Lying about it to save face would be a massive blow to their honor, and one of the core components of their culture that drives us fucking batty is they continue to view that as being of transcendental importance—in my reading, the only reason even Belegar is down with some less-than-directly-honorable stuff is because he views his fulfillment of this oaths as King as being more central to his honor than the specific methods used.

With priests of the Ancestor gods... Well, I'm just not seeing a lever outside of their gods telling them to that doesn't absolutely shred their personal and institutional honor to a far greater degree than Mathilde being amazing and helping them out bunches does.

Basically, if this conclave doesn't end with a third of its members going Slayer, I think it's fair to say that they have a strong reason to believe the dwarf soul claim is the literal truth, and I'm doubting that even the High King could order or connive a different result.

That said, it probably is worth remembering that the dwarfs look at a lot of things somewhat differently. Just as a refresher, this is what we know of their soul beliefs/lore:
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There's room for nuance between "the ancestors told me so" and "lying to save face." Plus, Mathilde's soul existing in a legal grey area is terribly appropriate :V
 
Omegahugger said:
So this next update we happen to have a -10 malus on every action we take.

You know, in case we wanted to do something where failure had a low bodycount...
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You've clearly never been disappointed by a long-awaited book. :V

Also, out of all these "wonder what this character will think" speculations, has anyone asked what Mathilde would think? Like, she probably doesn't mind the accusation against Ranald, even if false it's funny enough and he probably enjoys it himself, but being told that she's actually supposed to be a dwarf... I'm not sure if she would be offended or pleased. Maybe a bit of both? We are, after all, more comfortable in the Karaz Ankor than the Empire.
 
kingreaper said:
Note that only souls that are properly dispatched by the rites of Gazul actually make it to that locked off part. So Ranald wouldn't have stolen one of those souls - but there isn't always someone available to perform those rites. Hell, in one very recent event they deliberately chose not to perform those rites, because Slaaneshi Slayers don't get into the glittering realm
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Well, those souls that don't get the rites of Gazul still have the chance to make it there, its just harder.
 
kingreaper said:
Note that only souls that are properly dispatched by the rites of Gazul actually make it to that locked off part. So Ranald wouldn't have stolen one of those souls - but there isn't always someone available to perform those rites. Hell, in one very recent event they deliberately chose not to perform those rites, because Slaaneshi Slayers don't get into the glittering realm
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Good to know! Thanks for clarifying for me.
 
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das_slash said:
Grey Magisters are supposed to be trusted, more so than any other wizard, and in the immortal words of No-Bark Noonan (from fallout new vegas)

"I don't trust a man that doesn't have something strange going on about him, 'cause it means he's hiding it from you. If a man's wearing his pants on his head or if he says his words backwards from time to time, you know it's all laid out there for you. But if he's friendly to strangers and keeps his home spick-and-span, more often than not he's done something even his own ma couldn't forgive."
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Mathilde is doing something ever her own mother could not forgive, magic.
 
storryeater said:
That is actually pretty fair, yeah. She wouldn' be a good ambassador in actuality.



That, however, I disagree with, it doesnt matter how one got them, reputation, connections and cultural knowledge> any nebulous diplomacy stat any day.
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Thats not quite it. A diplomat's most important feature is to be able to effectively represent their parent polity's interests, in the context of the broader diplomatic and strategic picture.

Mathilde does not have that. What Mathilde has is the understanding of DWARF politics and the ability to ensure that she or a chosen representative is at least heard out rather than automatically dismissed.

I.e. Mathilde would make a pretty okay Karaz Ankor To Imperial envoy, but a terrible Imperial to Karaz Ankor diplomat due to a lack of knowledge and skill to discern what the Empire of Sigmar actually WANTS diplomatically, beyond continued good relations, and her ideas of how internal Imperial factions would act are...relatively naive.
She would be an immensely valuable resource to a dedicated diplomat however.

Best to think of her as the Teclis equivalent. She's here to do hero things and accomplish by brute force of reputation difficult things...and leave the diplomats, administrators and rulers to clean up the many details as she goes on to do the next reckless and heroic thing.
 
The Ancestor Cult Conclave is presumably led by the oldest most curmudgeonliest Priests out there, they wouldn't have made this announcement without lots of debate, there's a good chance this decision was finalized before news about Vlag was even a factor.

Also while the Umgi being referred to is obvious to us Mathilde's faith is while not a secret, not common knowledge either. What are everyday Dwarves thinking about this? Hell, what is the rest of the Cult of Ranald thinking about this?
BoneyM said:
A few times a century.
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BoneyM said:
Once a century.
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Also I enjoy this subtle sign of the sad state of Karaz Ankor, emergency meetings outnumber the regular ones.
 
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veekie said:
Naw, what we have here is like....a national action hero. Not a diplomat, but can lend her reputation when she deems it appropriate, to a better planned and understood diplomatic undertaking.
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Mathilde has bad diplo stats is a bit of a meme. She's got a perfectly fine grasp on diplomacy and stewardship - she's just hero or near hero tier at everything else.

Quick reminder most people, including quite a few rulers and councillors work without having any stat over 20 and very, very few humans have any stat over 25. Mathilde's statline is bound to be significantly better than that of the average elf.
 
There's also a fair chance that with a little bit of effort Mathilde will have positively exceptional diplomacy, thanks to her Xeno-affinity trait.
 
I wonder if our Karaz Ankor diplomacy skill will be increased now that we're considered to actually be a dwarf.

Speaking of, that would also be an influence on Mathilde's ability to be a diplomat. Her raw stats may not be super high, but she does have the specific skills for dealing with Dwarves. Actually, I wonder if and when our Colleges diplomacy will increase, given we're working with a bunch of Wizards.
 
I would point out that Mathilde has gotten along fairly well with most elves she's met.
I feel like the ulgu mindset might be well suited for that actually.
 
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