Sinsystems
Patron Librarian
One thing I look forward to is someone trying to assassinate Mathilde, only for her to show them how bad an idea was followed by the "It was at this moment that he knew, he fucked up."
Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest
- Thread starter Boney
- Start date
- Fantasy Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Or worse, someone tries to get up close, figuring the ole "Wizard can't melee", and we break out the sword and or gun.
Checked with BoS over on Discord, and well....
I would heistantly say yes.
Sinsystems
Patron Librarian
Wait there is a Discord for this?
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I think the key trick here is that Mathilde could probably gather up a bunch of fellow Knights, but wouldn't have the legal ability to Knight more folks. And that's what a proper Grandmaster title and Order Charter allow for, knighting of initiates.
Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
This in particular, no.
Just for another quest.
Plus well, Ranald. We're in Stirland. Gonna make shit difficult, doubly so since the EC wasn't exactly sad to see us go.
EDIT:
He also recommends so long as we're focused on gambling and luck off duty, along with protecting from despots and tyrants, we should be safe. Ish.
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- Location
- Russia
She can be faster if she learn some ritual lore. Realms of Sorcery has a ritual with a charming name of "The Impossible March of the Damned Soldier" (despite the name it isn't Dark ritual) that allows a wizard or a group of wizards to relocate a group of soldiers to any point on the same continent in a single night.
Book says that "The soldiers' experience is to march all night in what seems like a supernatural fog through which the surrounding terrain is sometimes seen. ", which sounds right up Mathilde's alley. Number of soldiers rise exponentially with the number of casters (it is a product of Magic scores of all wizards involved). Failure has some complications, of course (arriving at some other destination anywhere on the same continent) but if the need is great it is an invaluable tool.
@BoneyM, do rituals from Realms of Sorcery exist in your quest?
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DevilsAdvocate
Always follow the golden rule.
safe from what?
BoSPaladin
The Paladin
Ranald is also worshipped as the god of thieves. But stay clear of that. (You are knights) And You should be fine.
But the long and the short of it. Knightly orders can be three things. 1. professional military formed by the state out of knights. 2 A business or mercenary company founded by knights in persuit of profit. Or 3, a charity in service to a god. Most famously would probably be Morrs Blackguard. Formed to defend their Gods Graveyards, temples and priests and to put the dead to rest.
The second or the third in theory any person can form. There might be an issue of licenses or fees to be paid. But I can't see any reason why a Elector count would refuse an order of knights settling on their lands to help defend it. Assuming you don't try to trick or swindle them out of tax or harbour thieves at least.
- Location
- Aotearoa
An interesting perspective, but even if that general state applies in this specific quest, I don't see it happening Stirland.
I can't see Roswita (and her Witchhunter court) being at all welcoming to an independent military force, with magical leanings- one founded and led by the very same, very dangerous Wizard she all but banished as her first official act- setting up shop in her backyard.
And I don't see this thread/Mathilde swearing any such order directly to this probably-very-Sigmarite, raised-by-Witchhunters Countess.
I can't see Roswita (and her Witchhunter court) being at all welcoming to an independent military force, with magical leanings- one founded and led by the very same, very dangerous Wizard she all but banished as her first official act- setting up shop in her backyard.
And I don't see this thread/Mathilde swearing any such order directly to this probably-very-Sigmarite, raised-by-Witchhunters Countess.
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Who says they have to know we are in charge?
- Location
- Aotearoa
Well, either Dame Mathilde Weber is listed on the Charter as the founder of any such order, or she isn't.
So, continue on the path of Elder Scrolls protagonist. We'd already made some strides towards becoming head of the Thieves guild (by founding it, totally legit), become Thane(-equivalent) for Stirland, Magister is one step towards Supreme Matriarch (you know you want it), and founding a knightly order takes care of the fighters guild equivilant. And you can see the whole K8P thing as a quest to become a Thane there, especially if we do take up a position as advisor.
Regarding the Border Princes in general:
The Empire's position is that it would much rather maintain the incredibly formidable defences at Black Fire Pass than try to fight off all comers from the aptly-named Badlands in the open. The reason the Border Princes are anarchic is because they are, in the world as it currently is, not worth it. The land is barren and lacking in natural resources worth the trouble of extracting, a great many greenskin call it home, and any permanent infrastructure will last only as long as it takes for the next Waaagh (or worse) to arrive.
Sure, it's possible to make something of it. If someone went to the trouble of wiping out a whole bunch of native greenskin tribes, pushing back the skaven presence, cuffing a thousand petty kings about the ears and telling them to fall in line, establishing understandings with the Empire, Tilea and Barak Varr, and fortifying one or more of the rivers near Barak Varr, you could create a new kingdom or add a new province to the Empire. But the existing powers in the Old World believe that they have better things to do with that much time, effort, money, and blood.
If you really wanted to, you could be able to convince the College to let you try, but it would be more to get it out of your system than them thinking it'd result in any return worthy of the investment. Thinking they can make something useful out of the Border Princes is probably a phase a lot of up-and-coming movers-and-shakers goes through.
For the gromril, you'd either have to commission experiments or search for records of someone else who's done so to find out. That's to do it at all, in a way to how silver or gold thread is used. To do it usefully would require technology and techniques currently unknown to the dwarves.
For the latter, not by itself. If you rolled very well while making the enchanted armour, that could be why you exceeded the expected result, either because you found a way to make the enchantment and the base material work in harmony, or because of some sort of conceptual link between the material and the magic.
IIRC it's never been said explicitly since way back in year one, but it can be reasonably expected that anyone expecting to see battle in this setting would have a knife on them.
Additionally, one of her enchantment cantrips creates a temporary chisel, which could be used to shank someone if required.
If you did nothing to threaten your current good standing with the College, they'd likely approve if you ran it by them first, but they'd expect that your first loyalty would remain with them and the Empire. Either officially, with your presence in that polity being a favour from the Empire to them, or unofficially, where you'd tell the polity that you've gone rogue and hope that they're ignorant enough of the inner workings of the Colleges of Magic (which, for minor polities, is not too much of a stretch) to not question the lack of assassins. Though I suppose you could always fake the assassins.
At first, after. After the first few times Ranald dunked on statistical probability, I upgrade his 'naive' trait to something along the lines of 'inspirationally naive'.
On paper, most Knightly Orders are technically monasteries. If you had the backing of an approved religious institution and enough accumulated money or favours to make it happen, you could do it.
Making a secular order in one go would require the approval of the current Emperor, or the approval of an Elector Count and not being actively opposed by the Emperor, and would be the subject of a lot of suspicion from the other Elector Counts as well as any future Emperors until they proved themselves. You could also do so gradually - start off with a sort of Riding Around On Horses Club for nobles, scale up, and eventually petition for official approval, like the Knights Encarmine. Or you could start off with happenstance, like the Knights of the Golden Lion or the Knights of the Broken Sword, wherein a group of unaffiliated armoured horsemen achieve some notable deed, and found the Knights on the spot based on it - though you'd still have to get the backing of an Elector Count or religious institution at some point.
It's worth noting here that Ranald is not officially recognized in such a way that would allow for a Knighty Order dedicated to him.
Yes, though they are unknown to Mathilde.
I've also used something I've been calling 'ritual casting' in the thread, which is shorthand for casting a spell over a longer time with greater effort for a greater effect.
Voting closed, writing has begun.
The Empire's position is that it would much rather maintain the incredibly formidable defences at Black Fire Pass than try to fight off all comers from the aptly-named Badlands in the open. The reason the Border Princes are anarchic is because they are, in the world as it currently is, not worth it. The land is barren and lacking in natural resources worth the trouble of extracting, a great many greenskin call it home, and any permanent infrastructure will last only as long as it takes for the next Waaagh (or worse) to arrive.
Sure, it's possible to make something of it. If someone went to the trouble of wiping out a whole bunch of native greenskin tribes, pushing back the skaven presence, cuffing a thousand petty kings about the ears and telling them to fall in line, establishing understandings with the Empire, Tilea and Barak Varr, and fortifying one or more of the rivers near Barak Varr, you could create a new kingdom or add a new province to the Empire. But the existing powers in the Old World believe that they have better things to do with that much time, effort, money, and blood.
If you really wanted to, you could be able to convince the College to let you try, but it would be more to get it out of your system than them thinking it'd result in any return worthy of the investment. Thinking they can make something useful out of the Border Princes is probably a phase a lot of up-and-coming movers-and-shakers goes through.
For the gromril, you'd either have to commission experiments or search for records of someone else who's done so to find out. That's to do it at all, in a way to how silver or gold thread is used. To do it usefully would require technology and techniques currently unknown to the dwarves.
For the latter, not by itself. If you rolled very well while making the enchanted armour, that could be why you exceeded the expected result, either because you found a way to make the enchantment and the base material work in harmony, or because of some sort of conceptual link between the material and the magic.
IIRC it's never been said explicitly since way back in year one, but it can be reasonably expected that anyone expecting to see battle in this setting would have a knife on them.
Additionally, one of her enchantment cantrips creates a temporary chisel, which could be used to shank someone if required.
If you did nothing to threaten your current good standing with the College, they'd likely approve if you ran it by them first, but they'd expect that your first loyalty would remain with them and the Empire. Either officially, with your presence in that polity being a favour from the Empire to them, or unofficially, where you'd tell the polity that you've gone rogue and hope that they're ignorant enough of the inner workings of the Colleges of Magic (which, for minor polities, is not too much of a stretch) to not question the lack of assassins. Though I suppose you could always fake the assassins.
At first, after. After the first few times Ranald dunked on statistical probability, I upgrade his 'naive' trait to something along the lines of 'inspirationally naive'.
On paper, most Knightly Orders are technically monasteries. If you had the backing of an approved religious institution and enough accumulated money or favours to make it happen, you could do it.
Making a secular order in one go would require the approval of the current Emperor, or the approval of an Elector Count and not being actively opposed by the Emperor, and would be the subject of a lot of suspicion from the other Elector Counts as well as any future Emperors until they proved themselves. You could also do so gradually - start off with a sort of Riding Around On Horses Club for nobles, scale up, and eventually petition for official approval, like the Knights Encarmine. Or you could start off with happenstance, like the Knights of the Golden Lion or the Knights of the Broken Sword, wherein a group of unaffiliated armoured horsemen achieve some notable deed, and found the Knights on the spot based on it - though you'd still have to get the backing of an Elector Count or religious institution at some point.
It's worth noting here that Ranald is not officially recognized in such a way that would allow for a Knighty Order dedicated to him.
Yes, though they are unknown to Mathilde.
I've also used something I've been calling 'ritual casting' in the thread, which is shorthand for casting a spell over a longer time with greater effort for a greater effect.
Voting closed, writing has begun.
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- Location
- Aotearoa
This. Yes, this I want. Keep the knightly orders, battle wizard lifestyle or advising a petty warlord how to run their postage stamp of a principality.
Indeed, I've reflected on it previously when thinking of where I'd like to see Mathildes' career head, longer term.
A decade or as Matriarch of the Grey Order, then to accept the accolade of our peers (with just the hint of a smug smile) and stepping up to advise the Emperor as Supreme Matriarch; this would make a lovely "and what happened then" coda.
For all our intrigue, martial and faith talent- it's arguably (thanks to excellent rolls) in magical understanding we're pushing the curve.
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Witch Hunter - a Witch that hunts!
- Location
- Aotearoa
The Knight Witch Hunts, you even might say.
Thanks for the info!
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Either of these is sufficient for my desires, especially the first because slipping a covert organization into that is not particularly difficult.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Honestly, the Border Princes are probably better for treasure hunting than nation-building, sitting on a confluence of historical civilizations and battlefields without any standing law or organizations stopping the seizure of and usage of such things, as you're not butting up against pre-existing claims or laws on the utilization of them. Plus, doesn't cost nearly the same amount of resources and time and energy expenditure.
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- Location
- Upon the back of the Great A'Tuin
Instead of a knightly order, we would be better off using our position within the EIC to build in an intelligence-gathering component that we can use for the Grey Order's benefit.
We can still return to Aldorf to give a 'Greatswords: Great Fun!' seminar at the college every once in a while if we want to encourage more martial apprentices.
We can still return to Aldorf to give a 'Greatswords: Great Fun!' seminar at the college every once in a while if we want to encourage more martial apprentices.
- Location
- Europe
While uniting the borderprinces into a fighting force that can protect the empires southern flank would be great, it has been done before.
Nation building can be fun, but I personally like to read more about the (mis-) adventures of a plucky shadowmage and not how the (dread) wizard-queen of Khypris, the binder of Kadon and the unmaker of the Crown of Sorcery, spends her days.
If the thread wants to take the quest in that direction, I'll still read it though.
Nation building can be fun, but I personally like to read more about the (mis-) adventures of a plucky shadowmage and not how the (dread) wizard-queen of Khypris, the binder of Kadon and the unmaker of the Crown of Sorcery, spends her days.
If the thread wants to take the quest in that direction, I'll still read it though.
Zedman7054
Eternally 3rd
- Location
- United States
I haven't said anything since the quest came back, mostly because I felt like I wasn't going to add anything to the conversation yet, but becoming the Supreme Matriarch of the Empire is exactly the kind of goal I want this quest to start working towards! There's a lot of cool things that could be done in that position, and a lot of ways to (try to) influence the Empire. Hopefully for the better too.
Plus the interactions with Roswitta would be...fun. And no, I'm not still salty about her firing us, why would you think that?
Plus the interactions with Roswitta would be...fun. And no, I'm not still salty about her firing us, why would you think that?
- Location
- Somewhere, probably Earth
@BoneyM How would you classify the difficulty of an Ulgu spell that creates a chilling mist which muffles sound and heavily obscures sight from any source further than short range over a large area, indiscriminate effect?
Combat happening ten feet away might feel like it was on the other side of a courtyard.
How much more difficult would it be to, at the very least, make it so the caster alone can see through it?
Combat happening ten feet away might feel like it was on the other side of a courtyard.
How much more difficult would it be to, at the very least, make it so the caster alone can see through it?
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