Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

[Fehu]

If anyone can catch up to the Expedition it is Mathilde. Id say we stay and keep looking for Gotrek. But without a clear choice to keep looking for Gotrek without a Write-in it seems the leading vote will be hard to change...

[X] Stay behind to keep looking for Gotrek with a dozen Taal knights as support.
-[X] Suggest the Expedition press on.

From the last two paragraphs of the update, it's been longer than a few minutes allowed by the seed, so the only way we'd be reviving him is necromancy.

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It's to late. Gotrek is dead and gone.

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Gotrek might be stuck in an air pocket inside the wagon! We can still save Gotrek dawi will survive for longer without water!

Edit:
There is no evidence Gotrek has perished! Dammit we gave the Okral more time than this!

 

[LightLan]

We stored the golden arm in the food barrels right?

Has BoneyM rolled yet if it was on Gotrek's ride?

 

[IronFist]

Gotrek might be stuck in an air pocket inside the wagon! We can still save Gotrek dawi will survive for longer without water!

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Dude no. He fell down a mountain while in a steel behemoth. The impact would have killed him as surely as any carcrash. Dwarfs are tough, but not that tough.

 

[Fanhunter696]

@BoneyM can Mathilde keep looking for Gotrek? Is it too late to revive him?

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It is, we only had a few minutes to revive him and we have not yet found the body after lookingfor hours...

It's to late. Gotrek is dead and gone.

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Unless Boney has had a Secret Roll and he ends up surviving somehow due to Grimmir's intervention or something like that (and this is extremely unlikely) and even if it was the case we have no way to know... And I don't think that Boney will answer any questions regarding that.

 

[Horium]

Presumably to play a fun and popular game. I've played games starting from halfway in on someone else's save and played to the end and had fun, and I've done it more times than I can count with TV and movies. I don't think I've insulted a film director by asking my mum for a brief synopsis of what's happened in the movie so far then enjoying the rest of it. I don't think it would've been good if she'd responded by telling me to fuck off and watch it on my own time.

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All the things you mention have one thing in common.

They are non-interactive.

It affects nothing and no one whether you decice to play a SP game or not, or whether you decide to finish the film.

Quests are fundamentally different.

 

[Boney]

Will the unnecessary Dawi and supplies be taken out of the moving wagon when it crosses the narrow part of the road?

Like moving the wagons 1 by 1 without supplies in them in dangerous stretches of the road would increase duration but at least they wouldn't risk tumbling over a cliff with everything in them.

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They'll minimize risk for bypassing the part that the Urmskaladrak falls on, but the wagons can't be unloaded and reloaded at every turn, it would take hours each time and would mean running out of food before reaching anywhere.

That said, I too felt like something was missing from that chapter section. It just happened kind of matter-of-factly, if that makes sense? Like, it was a very short section with no dialogue and nothing else going on to be suddenly and surprisingly interrupted by this disaster. It felt a bit like "April 12: Dear Diary, Today my house burned down" or "and then our plane crashed on an island and only few of us survived".

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It happened suddenly and now Mathilde is dealing with it. It's not an emotional wrench to her, it's a sudden major logistical problem.

So just a thought, could this not-submarine have been what was used to attack the dwarves at Skull River?

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Mathilde studied the attack site in detail and found several pieces of evidence that suggested a method, and it wasn't a submarine.

Presumably to play a fun and popular game. I've played games starting from halfway in on someone else's save and played to the end and had fun, and I've done it more times than I can count with TV and movies. I don't think I've insulted a film director by asking my mum for a brief synopsis of what's happened in the movie so far then enjoying the rest of it. I don't think it would've been good if she'd responded by telling me to fuck off and watch it on my own time.

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Those are all solo activities. Quests are group activities. It seems fairly self-evident to me that a portion of the voters not having read the quest could really damage the health of a quest, they wouldn't have the context to make well thought out decisions. I know my desire to QM would take a sharp nosedive if people responded to a vote by saying 'okay, and who are these people?' Would I have to have a 'last time on Divided Loyalties' recap on every chapter to explain every character and plot point that came up earlier in the quest?

I mean, am I missing something here? How is this even a debate? If someone doesn't know what's going on in the quest, how can their input on that quest be useful? This isn't a general hangout thread, it's a thread built for a very specific purpose, and if it fills with people that don't engage with that purpose then I'm wasting my time here.

@BoneyM can Mathilde keep looking for Gotrek? Is it too late to revive him?

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Mathilde stopped looking because it was too late.

 

[lancelot]

Presumably to play a fun and popular game. I've played games starting from halfway in on someone else's save and played to the end and had fun, and I've done it more times than I can count with TV and movies. I don't think I've insulted a film director by asking my mum for a brief synopsis of what's happened in the movie so far then enjoying the rest of it. I don't think it would've been good if she'd responded by telling me to fuck off and watch it on my own time.

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That's your Mom we aren't his mom, this isn't a one off movie in a theater, your metaphor is HORRIBLE. If he doesn't want to take the time to catch up then he doesn't need to be here and nothing of value was lost.

 

[SaltyWaffles]

So...one thing I just realized about the whole "Mathilde is an honorary dwarf/has the soul of a dwarf" thing: once this becomes known to the Grey Order, they're going to make sure that Mathilde will never be put in a position where the whole "divided loyalties" thing ever becomes an issue. There would simply be far too much damage done to human/dwarf relations and dwarf/Colleges relations at risk. And that would be just as true for the Emperor and his subordinates--Mathilde is basically the second coming of Sigmar in terms of human/dwarf relations, and you absolutely do not risk the goose that lays golden eggs.

Also, as an aside, I love how the key breakthrough in saving Vlag was how Mathilde is so well-versed with dwarves, their language and culture, and their attitudes towards magic, and thus able to recognize the memetic diversion that no other wizard would notice (because stone IS an excellent insulator for magic), and that even Mathidle wouldn't have noticed if there hadn't been dwarves present.

 

[GardenerBriareus]

I mean, am I missing something here? How is this even a debate? If someone doesn't know what's going on in the quest, how can their input on that quest be useful? This isn't a general hangout thread, it's a thread built for a very specific purpose, and if it fills with people that don't engage with that purpose then I'm wasting my time here.

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It's more that I assumed that this expedition was embarked upon by the actually informed voters because they thought it stood a chance of success, and instead it's that they apparently wanted to see a story about tragedy and despair where most of the cast dies.

For evidence, see the following posts:

Going to Dum was always a fools errand. This changes little.

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This is the condition we would have been crossing the steppes in when we started out, because the one that we lost was the one that our extra year with the snow thing got us. If we had voted to leave as soon as possible, we'd never have had the big supply landship.

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But, what did you expect of the conditions? We're going into hell. it's been emphasized multiple times.

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same, this is a death march.

the main characters were going to die.

main characters will be dying going forward.

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Given my severe anxiety and depression and general fragility (and the fact that I'm physically nauseous from stress after reading through the post-update thread conversation), that means the Quest's proposed trajectory is now leading into places that would be actively harmful to my mental health.

Thank you for the story up until now, @BoneyM. You're a highly talented writer, and Divided Loyalties has been a joy to read. Unfortunately, the Quest's current direction means I can no longer safely partake.

Goodbye.

 

[Omegahugger]

I mean, if people think there's a chance for Gotrek to be alive despite everything, there is a write-in for Mathilde to go down there and "salvage" the remains.

If you really want to find him, that's probably your best bet.

 

[Verdom]

I mean, am I missing something here? How is this even a debate? If someone doesn't know what's going on in the quest, how can their input on that quest be useful? This isn't a general hangout thread, it's a thread built for a very specific purpose, and if it fills with people that don't engage with that purpose then I'm wasting my time here.

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It's more that I assumed that this expedition was embarked upon by the actually informed voters because they thought it stood a chance of success, and instead it's that they apparently wanted to see a story about tragedy and despair where most of the cast dies.

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Uh, I think you quoted the wrong BoneyM post?

 

[Horium]

It's more that I assumed that this expedition was embarked upon by the actually informed voters because they thought it stood a chance of success, and instead it's that they apparently wanted to see a story about tragedy and despair where most of the cast dies.

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Okay, I feel I have to respond to this as one of those advocating for the Expedition.

This Expedition is already a wild success, despite being an expedition into a literal hell.

Casualties were expected. We hoped and continue to hope for the best, but they are definitely expected.

Frankly, on a personal level, as long as Max and Johann (and probably Hubert) don't die, I will still consider it a success even if Dum is never recovered, and only Vlag is.

I am unsure how well acquainted with the setting you are, but WHF is a deathworld.

It was never going to be all sunshine and rainbows.

 

[LightLan]

IIRC at least 4 named characters died at Drakenhof.
We are off to a good start so far.

We still razed the castle in the end.

 

[shepsquared]

IIRC at least 4 named characters died at Drakenhof.
We are off to a good start so far.

We still razed the castle in the end.

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Markus, Abelhelm, and the two wizards that were more powerful & experienced than us.... I'm not sure anyone else died.

 

[Sir_Travelsalot]

Markus, Abelhelm, and the two wizards that were more powerful & experienced than us.... I'm not sure anyone else died.

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All the Greatswords, a not insignificant number of State Troops...

 

[Nerdasaurus Rex]

My mum made me a hot chocolate and she poured it into my Gotrek and Felix mug because she knows I like that mug and now I'm sat in front of my family trying not to cry because how am I supposed to explain "the character on my favourite mug just died in an interactive fanfic I started following a few weeks ago" to them?

 

[tapkomet]

Those are all solo activities. Quests are group activities. It seems fairly self-evident to me that a portion of the voters not having read the quest could really damage the health of a quest, they wouldn't have the context to make well thought out decisions. I know my desire to QM would take a sharp nosedive if people responded to a vote by saying 'okay, and who are these people?' Would I have to have a 'last time on Divided Loyalties' recap on every chapter to explain every character and plot point that came up earlier in the quest?

I mean, am I missing something here? How is this even a debate? If someone doesn't know what's going on in the quest, how can their input on that quest be useful? This isn't a general hangout thread, it's a thread built for a very specific purpose, and if it fills with people that don't engage with that purpose then I'm wasting my time here.

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As far as I can tell, engaging with the whole quest is indeed the point. I have certainly binge-read every quest I follow before voting.

The idea of participating while not being familiar with events so far seems alien to me.

 

[Fanhunter696]

@BoneyM I am sorry for bothering you but whereas I love your work and I fully respect your author's agency, I think that after decades of comics, novels, films, tv-series... reinforcing the trope "Never presume someone/something for dead until you see his/her/its corpse" you should have known that it is going to be a lot of inane speculation with Gotrek´s fate (if that was your objective that is great) when you declared him dead without showing us an identifiable corpse... So sorry about this, but I am afraid that there will be lots of pages discussing the fate of Gotrek, a lot of questions for you in that regard, and we will see this matter reappear from time to time a lot of times in the coming turns.

 

[SuperSonicSound]

@BoneyM I am sorry for bothering you but whereas I love your work and I fully respect your author's agency, I think that after decades of comics, novels, films, tv-series... reinforcing the trope "Never presume someone/something for dead until you see his/her/its corpse" you should have known that it is going to be a lot of inane speculation with Gotrek´s fate (if that was your objective that is great) when you declared him dead without showing us an identifiable corpse... So sorry about this, but I am afraid that there will be lots of pages discussing the fate of Gotrek, a lot of questions for you in that regard, and we will see this matter reappear from time to time a lot of times in the coming turns.

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It doesn't matter what the trope is Gotrek is dead, the situation killed him, he's not coming back barring divine intervention that we're utterly unaware of. People need to move on, BoneyM provided the dice rolls. It's happened it's over.

 

[Redshirt Army]

Like, seriously @BoneyM, am I hallucinating that Cython mentioned flying out near Karag Dum and seeing naked dwarves running around?

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I suspect you're conflating things with Asarnil talking about how Deathfang gets hungry looks from half-naked slayers whenever they're near Karak Kadrin.

 

[Guisarme]

[X] Turn back

 

[Klaus]

It's more that I assumed that this expedition was embarked upon by the actually informed voters because they thought it stood a chance of success, and instead it's that they apparently wanted to see a story about tragedy and despair where most of the cast dies.

For evidence, see the following posts:

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Some posters have always thought the mission would end badly. Enough other posters disagreed with them to send us on this journey anyway.

Look at just how unlikely the series of rolls it took to produce this outcome was. The chances of success were strongly in our favor, but even unlikely chances sometimes occur. But the voters were right to expect success here.

 

[SuperSonicSound]

It's more that I assumed that this expedition was embarked upon by the actually informed voters because they thought it stood a chance of success, and instead it's that they apparently wanted to see a story about tragedy and despair where most of the cast dies.

For evidence, see the following posts:






Given my severe anxiety and depression and general fragility (and the fact that I'm physically nauseous from stress after reading through the post-update thread conversation), that means the Quest's proposed trajectory is now leading into places that would be actively harmful to my mental health.

Thank you for the story up until now, @BoneyM. You're a highly talented writer, and Divided Loyalties has been a joy to read. Unfortunately, the Quest's current direction means I can no longer safely partake.

Goodbye.

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It's not a death march perse, it's just that it's absolutely one of the possible outcomes. I personally don't believe that to be the case or I wouldn't have voted to go on this expedition at all. That said I did want more time to prepare but preparation wouldn't have helped with this event. I genuinely believe we can make it to Karak Dum and investigate the situation there, as to what outcome we get from that, THAT I don't know. We will be able to trade for food around Karak Dum so there's no logistical difference to going and heading back ultimately, so it makes sense to push on, as cold as it is to say if we do battle any forces around Karak Dum that aren't the Dolgan we'll end up better for it logistically as most of the food consumption is due to our cavalry and they will have the worst casualties in any future engagement going forwards.

 

[Dark as Silver]

Mathilde studied the attack site in detail and found several pieces of evidence that suggested a method, and it wasn't a submarine.

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Thats exactly what a bunch of chaos dwarves in a submarine would want us to think!

 

[SaltyWaffles]

Given my severe anxiety and depression and general fragility (and the fact that I'm physically nauseous from stress after reading through the post-update thread conversation), that means the Quest's proposed trajectory is now leading into places that would be actively harmful to my mental health.

Thank you for the story up until now, @BoneyM. You're a highly talented writer, and Divided Loyalties has been a joy to read. Unfortunately, the Quest's current direction means I can no longer safely partake.

Goodbye.

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I would recommend checking back in a while before assuming that things end in doom and death. Hell, look at what Mathilde has achieved and survived so far. Remember when she singlehandedly infiltrated and took down an entire college of necromancers, then took on a powerful vampire one-on-one and won? She's been in plenty of danger before.

We suffered from a series of pretty horrendous rolls, here. But I would not assume that things are especially dire yet; things may be okay.