Okay, so, so the "They're trying to turn it into a Herdstone" theory has probably been brought up before. But I'ma bring it up again anyway. Because maybe Morghur is just taking decades to a century plus, to try to corrupt the
biggest Waystone ever. One bigger than anything found in the Empire's forests. In which case, we would probably need to take action, to prevent a Beastmen demigod from corrupting the biggest damn waystone ever. (On the other hand, Borek probably would have reacted differently if things were really bad. He also would have told us to tell the Karaz Ankor to, like, cut off the waystone power... oh yeah, the Waystone power. It was still pure when going to Vlag. Huh.)
"You know what Herdstones are?" Lord Magister Luuk says after you enter the tower, not looking up from the battered kettle he was patiently watching.
"Gathering points for the Beastmen," you say. They'd come up a time or two in Regimand's travels.
"They're also the complete opposite of Waystones, which scares the shit out of anyone with sense." He scratches at his shoulder, where the angry red of a new scar is visible under his leathers. "If you can interrupt them while they're setting one up, and drag the thing away before they summon reinforcements, you've got a menhir attuned to Ghur but not yet tainted by their rituals. It was a stroke of luck to find one just as you asked for this."
Doesn't quite fit, because Morghur was dancing around like that was his herdstone
already, as if the thing was
already sacred to him. While the mountain looked totally normal, rather than a corrupted mess but... I dunno. Maybe the reason that Morghur isn't mutating things left, right, and center... is because his aura is being focused on the waystone at Karag Dum? Same for the way Dhar isn't pooling everywhere and is a bit lacking actually; it's because it's being concentrated on the mountain-sized waystone?
... No, no that doesn't quite make sense... First of all, it feels like if the Dhar were being used to corrupt the mountain waystone, we'd probably have noticed and noted it, right? Even from the distance away.
Secondly though...
With a tiny fizzle of Divine energy, a tiny piece of rock disappears from the lip of the crater, replaced by a few grains of sand that tumble down to join the rest of the desert.
... BoneyM said that this wasn't Chaos God energy. It was some divine energy. So... yeah. I don't think this is right.
I guess, despite bringing the "turning it into a Herdstone?" possibility up, I have to conclude that I think it's wrong.
EDIT: Also, the Vlag waystone power was pure. So... If anything, even if this nightmare theory were true, it would be more likely to be the case that the Beastmen are futilely doing this; that Karag Dum is converting the Winds channeled their way into energy, and burning away any Dhar. Nevermind then, I guess.
============
I kinda wish we could talk to the Kurgans safely though. It would let us know if Morghur still transforms people into Chaos Spawn, if casting magic near him is still dangerous. And so on. The thing is, maybe if we camp and watch for a day or two, we can see if any war-parties attack the mountain and what happens to them?
[ ] Approach the Kvellige camp peacefully and attempt to discuss the Karak with them
[ ] Fortify here and see if anything interesting happens over the next day
Wondering over voting for both of these. For now, will just keep with the "fortify for a day" vote.
We can just wait a day first. And then, next we make contact with the Kurgans -- the Kvellige probably.
Hopefully the day-long wait will reveal something to us though. Or, heck, maybe the
Kurgans will send a messenger to
us.
I'm going to go back to sleep now.
