Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

[Aranfan]

The best argument for never, ever going anywhere near Karag Dum again is the endless bullshit and bitching of people complaining about the first trip. Like hell I ever want to get near that issue ever again. Let it die.

Click to shrink...

People were arguing that this wasn't as dangerous as trying to infiltrate Karag Dum, as a reason to do this. I voted for fighting knowing full well it would be just as dangerous.

 

[Sparsebeard]

The best argument for never, ever going anywhere near Karag Dum again is the endless bullshit and bitching of people complaining about the first trip. Like hell I ever want to get near that issue ever again. Let it die.

Click to shrink...

Moaning and bitching about never wanting to come back isn't much better though

 

[Deathbybunnies]

Another idea is that the vacuum of space, empty and lifeless, simple and ordered by virtue of having nothing to be chaotic with, is as repulsive to the Winds of Magic as stone is and the upper atmosphere is where the two repulsions reach equilibrium, later descending lower to the ground at latitudes past the Wastes and plains where large amounts interesting people are living and doing interesting things, pulling them downwards.

Click to shrink...

Something similar was said in the construction of the Tower of Neutrality: "...a tiny layer of meteoric graphite, crystallized by the temperature and impact of its introduction to the world. It remembers the void between the stars where Chaos does not reign, and thus rejects the winds."

Click to shrink...

I forgot to reply to these, agreeing that these are a very likely reason for the winds to not go up into space - but that it still seems likely that they'd be pushed further down without some opposing force keeping them from going down.

I wanted to note that, before an update lands where Mathilde's scientific pursuits are permanently and tragically cut short, and I never have the chance to.

 

[das_slash]

I would like to point out that mountains have deep roots that are several times taller (or deeper i guess) than the height of the mountain itself.

Maybe there is something going on with the planet's mantle?

 

[tapkomet]

Well, let's hope that wasn't a roll-off not to die. With rolls this close, I imagine the fight will be a bit of a stalemate, at least to start... But a lot depends on what the mystery rolls were.

 

[SurpriseMe]

I forgot to reply to these, agreeing that these are a very likely reason for the winds to not go up into space - but that it still seems likely that they'd be pushed further down without some opposing force keeping them from going down.

I wanted to note that, before an update lands where Mathilde's scientific pursuits are permanently and tragically cut short, and I never have the chance to.

Click to shrink...

I think we can speculate on what the opposing forces that keeps the wind from sinking too deeply are. First, we've got the stone in the crust, keeping a natural layer of resistance. That wouldn't be enough by itself, but there's also the vortex sucking magic into itself. In fact, it is possible in large enough quantities the winds act almost like string or solid objects, allowing for the vortex to exert a more continuous pull. Even without wind-string theory, it should operate similarly to a river going into a drain over a mildly porous material.

 

[Deathbybunnies]

I think we can speculate on what the opposing forces that keeps the wind from sinking too deeply are. First, we've got the stone in the crust, keeping a natural layer of resistance. That wouldn't be enough by itself, but there's also the vortex sucking magic into itself. In fact, it is possible in large enough quantities the winds act almost like string or solid objects, allowing for the vortex to exert a more continuous pull. Even without wind-string theory, it should operate similarly to a river going into a drain over a mildly porous material.

Click to shrink...

The stone is further down though. It's an excellent insulator of magic, but it doesn't actively repel it like a magnet, to my knowledge.

I think that if the winds were getting stretched like string you'd have them slowly descend the whole way, not go straight until a sudden dive?

 

[Ericwinter]

Well, I'm caught up with the thread and uh oh those rolls could go ways.

Time to uh...pray to Ranald I guess? Is it too late for that?

Click to shrink...

Well if Ranald was one of the mystery rolls...

 

[tapkomet]

To be honest, I feel like these explanations of Wind behavior are a bit narrow-minded. For all we know, the Winds fall around those parts because they are literally tired. Being essentially indistinguishable from non-sapient gods, that seems not entirely impossible.

 

[das_slash]

The rolls were close, but slightly favoring us and keep in mind that both group have very different (if strangely aligned) goals , Mathilde and Lili have what they wanted and want to get out while the Kul are presumably reacting to what they perceive to be an attack on their camp.

With their leader dead, and hopefully not aware of what exactly we did, they might count driving us off as a win, and we will be far far away by the time they reorganize and realize what happened.

 

[Deathbybunnies]

To be honest, I feel like these explanations of Wind behavior are a bit narrow-minded. For all we know, the Winds fall around those parts because they are literally tired. Being essentially indistinguishable from non-sapient gods, that seems not entirely impossible.

Click to shrink...

Windfall always happens at the first sufficiently-large mountain range the Winds reach, which are not each the same distance from the Polar Gates.

 

[GrimTheMad]

Mountains are cool and they want a closer look.

 

[NexusEye]

I forgot to reply to these, agreeing that these are a very likely reason for the winds to not go up into space - but that it still seems likely that they'd be pushed further down without some opposing force keeping them from going down.

I wanted to note that, before an update lands where Mathilde's scientific pursuits are permanently and tragically cut short, and I never have the chance to.

Click to shrink...

Perhaps there is a threshold where thin atmosphere is considered a vacuum with little or no gradual transition, so the Winds would reach this altitude and hit the vacuum layer and essentially start sliding along a metaphysical ceiling, the vacuum refusing to let them go higher yet centrifugal force pushing them upwards towards the vacuum. This could also explain why the Winds eventually descend, that's the point where friction from continuously impacting the vacuum layer drains their speed enough that gravity overcomes centrifugal force and causes them to descend. Doesn't explain the Windfall unfortunately.

 

[ReImagined]

An alternative proposition/theory:

Aethyric energy emerges omnidirectionally from the Polar Gates. This means that a good portion of that energy does in fact fly out into space, while more sticks around in the air, and more still goes straight into the ground. As this energy radiates out and encounters reality, it decomposes into and forms many small streams of the eight winds that start to repel each other and saturate the matter they pass through. The amount of energy it takes to saturate air is less than the amount it takes to saturate the ground, and so the saturated ground of the Chaos Wastes contains far more energy, and therefore a stronger repulsive effect that forces the smaller streams to remain in the air until they gain enough distance, which is the point at which Windfall occurs.

Click to shrink...

This doesn't answer the question of why the winds follow the curvature of the planet, though.

Click to shrink...

I forgot to reply to these, agreeing that these are a very likely reason for the winds to not go up into space - but that it still seems likely that they'd be pushed further down without some opposing force keeping them from going down.

I wanted to note that, before an update lands where Mathilde's scientific pursuits are permanently and tragically cut short, and I never have the chance to.

Click to shrink...

Went and reread the topic, it seems that I missed your first quote.

That's a space where my theory can kick in.

 

[das_slash]

Well, this has probably been mentioned before, but for how much stone is supposed to be an excellent insulator of magic, Waystones and Herdstone and various Menhirs are made of it.

Is whatever property of stone that allows for the construction of those devices present in natural stones? are mountains basically giant conducts for magic and thus why Waystones are present in Dwarf karaks?
With how much geoengineering went into the world by the Old Ones and the Slann, could they have designed the world such that the winds are forced into "natural" channels, grounded and thus kept away from the tropics?

 

[Mopman43]

Windfall always happens at the first sufficiently-large mountain range the Winds reach, which are not each the same distance from the Polar Gates.

Click to shrink...

They're not at a terribly different distance, though. It's brought up in the update that there's mountains at roughly this latitude everywhere in the northern hemisphere except for the Great Ocean and Cathay.

"It's always mountains," Egrimm says as he begins to unpack his rucksack. "All across the upper hemisphere, there's always mountains to interrupt the flow of magic overhead. Here, the Mountains of Mourn, Norsca... I've read that even Naggaroth has a chain of mountains to its north that performs the same function. There's only two exceptions I know of: where the Northern Wastes meet the Great Ocean, and the Great Bastion of Cathay. Neither of which we know much about."

"So are mountains actually required for magic to descend, or is it an accident of geography?" you ask.

Click to shrink...

 

[Thomasfoolery]

Is whatever property of stone that allows for the construction of those devices present in natural stones? are mountains basically giant conducts for magic and thus why Waystones are present in Dwarf karaks?

Click to shrink...

The update where the tower of utter neutrality is built gives a good look at how stone works with magic. Generally though a big part of the reason why stone is good for the purpose is because you can easily have hundreds of feet of it to block with just by digging a bit more, and it doesn't easily ablate away.

 

[NexusEye]

Well, this has probably been mentioned before, but for how much stone is supposed to be an excellent insulator of magic, Waystones and Herdstone and various Menhirs are made of it.

Is whatever property of stone that allows for the construction of those devices present in natural stones? are mountains basically giant conducts for magic and thus why Waystones are present in Dwarf karaks?
With how much geoengineering went into the world by the Old Ones and the Slann, could they have designed the world such that the winds are forced into "natural" channels, grounded and thus kept away from the tropics?

Click to shrink...

It could be that stone is like semiconductors, normally insulating without special preparation, then the insulating property becomes useful since you can have multiple channels of magic/electricity close together without them leaking into each other, allowing you to fit more in a smaller space.

 

[Boney]

Spoiler: Voting results

Tally

[*] Fight

Scanning the battlefield, you resolve to add your own influence to it. But as your fresh bruises remind you, even if Branulhune is perpetually ready, you aren't. You reholster your revolver, draw your staff from your back scabbard, and take a moment to cast Aethyric Armour and feel the slight ache of exertion lift from your muscles. More concentration and a handful of whispered syllables sees the billowing gas of your form of Universal Confusion start to pour from you, and Dread Aspect has your shadow take form around you as a supernaturally terrifying aura. Then you interweave Smoke and Mirrors into a casting of Shadow Knives aimed at the nearest Kul, and you disappear from where you stand with a swirl of fog.

[Join the melee: Martial, 70+23=93.]

You appear mid-swing next to a Kul with a single brass horn emerging from his forehead, and take his head off his shoulders before anyone has time to react. By the time the men he was rallying are able to turn their weapons on you, the murderous tendrils of your shadow and the bewildering wisps of fog emanating from you have reached them, and you're able to cut through several more before they begin to scatter. With another burst of knives into the back of the nearest, you're gone.

Another knot of resistance has formed around a shield-wall at the border of the tempest, but the central warrior being impaled by Branulhune has the others recoil first from him, then from the figure of terror doing the impaling. As Ulgu gives their greatest terrors form in your swirling silhouette, they drop their weapons and flee into the storm, and moments later a bolt of lightning obliterates them.

A Kul wielding some sort of pike that sparks and shimmers to your Magesight is jabbing at a spectral bear, interrupting its feeding upon the fallen. It gives a silent roar and flinches away, but before the pike can find purchase in flesh or magic or wind given shape or whatever it is, you're there to slice first through the haft, then through their wrists. Then you disappear again, this time with the teleportation cantrip woven into a recast of Dread Aspect.

A wooden cage contains a misshapen beast of mouths and limbs that must be a Chaos Spawn. You cut down the Kul trying to unleash it, and then cut open the cage, and then slice the Spawn into halves, then quarters, then keep cutting until it stops trying to bite you. It takes many more cuts than it should.

It takes you almost too long to spot the gathering Ulgu, as at first you mistake it for a place you'd already visited. By the time you appear next to the Shaman, there's already a wailing adding to the din of the storm as reality begins to tear open and suck the air into the space between the physical and the Aethyr. It implodes in a scatter of arcing magical energies as the Shaman is cut down, and you flinch back and swear as the spilled blood begins to boil - more by reflex than out of any real danger, as your Belt protects you from extreme heat. You take a moment to dismiss Branulhune so the blood can fall from the blade, then resummon it as you scan the chaos for the next place to intervene.

[Ljiljana vs Kul: Learning vs Martial, 74+???+???(Widow?)+???(Tor?)+???(Dazh?)+???(Ursun?)+30(Mathilde)=??? vs 99+20-10(Losses)=109.]

Despite the hummock of snow that marks the boundary of Ljiljana's storm growing higher with buried bodies, the Kurgan keep coming. Perhaps that's only to be expected, as to the most devout of the Kurgan - which, by all accounts, would be the Kul - this would be the very definition of a holy war. To allow the Gods of the Gospodar to triumph over them could lose them the favour of their Gods, and this far into the Chaos Wastes that could be just as much of a death sentence as charging into the blizzard.

[Continued intervention: Martial, 23+23=46.]

Unfortunately the Kul seem to be catching on to your methods, as each teleportation starts to be met with shouted warnings as the most strong-willed push through the aura of confusion to meet Branulhune with their own blades. You and your shadow still reap a bloody harvest but it is now a battle, rather than a slaughter. You don't like fair fights so you switch from Shadow Knives to Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma for weaving your teleportation cantrips into, making sure that wherever you appear there is also a field of jittering time, sending even the most skilled warriors off-balance as their well-trained reactions encounter the concept of time as a variable. Blades lifting to parry a swing moving a hair too fast or too slow, feet stumbling as one moves slightly faster than the other, sights and sounds taking a fraction longer to arrive and shaving just enough time from their responses to make all the difference.

You feel the change in the energy of the battlefield before what has heralded it comes into sight, as the Winds are battered backwards by an invisible and overwhelming force and magic begins to answer your call a little more hesitantly. A hulking figure barges through the crowd, his skin as brass as the spiked collar fixed to his neck, his arms lacking hands entirely, instead being fused directly to the haft of an enormous steel axe. He turns his gaze to you, hatred shimmering in his eyes, then to the blizzard. Enemy spellcasters or foreign Gods, which does a Champion of Khorne hate more?

[Rolling...]

Evidently, you.

He charges straight in your direction, barging aside any foolish enough to get in his way as you ready your blade to meet the charge. You can't run from this foe without risking the entire battle, as if he meets the storm and brings his unholy patron into direct conflict with the Gods of Kislev, that could end it all. You can't turn spells directly on him either, not with any confidence, as the collar around his neck is a physical manifestation of the Blood God's hatred for magic. But that doesn't mean you're out of options entirely. So as the Champion gathers speed, you refresh the spells surrounding you and then ready another.

[???: ???, 51+10(Making Amends)-10(Not Their Idiom)=51 vs 50+10(Hatred)-10(Split Attention)=50.]
[Mathilde vs Khornate Champion: Martial, 58+23+20(Spells)=101 vs 33+30+20(Charge)=83.]

A second before the Champion reaches you you vanish from vision, but they're either too lost to fury or too canny to think you've teleported and swing their axe in a great arc you're barely able to sidestep out of the way of. You swing Branulhune in an arc in return, and for the very first time since you received it, the blade judders in your hand as the Runically-enhanced force of the swing is arrested by the flesh it has only sunken partially into. You yank it free as the Champion roars in outrage, backpedalling from his next swing.

[???: ???, 32+10(Making Amends)+10(Upper Hand)-10(Not Their Idiom)=42 vs 69+10(Hatred)-10(Split Attention)=69.]
[Mathilde vs Khornate Champion 2: 10+23=33 vs 36+30-10(Wounded)=56.]

But not fast enough, as the Champion's muscles swell with unnatural vigour as his swing meets your invisible stomach, causing you to cough and retch as your Aethyric Amour absorbs enough to turn what would have been a bisecting into an extremely painful blow to the gut. You look to the Champion's stomach for the response from your Belt, but instead the collar glows red and blood begins to seep down the Champion's neck, the influence of Khorne somehow denying the Rune of Rancour any purchase on His Champion. You backpedal further, looking for any opening and painfully aware that the impact of the axe has turned you visible once more. The air crackles with energy you can't spare the attention to examine and you can taste blood and bile that you swallow down. You let the staff fall from your fingers, trusting it to be sturdy enough to still be intact should you survive long enough to find it, and draw a revolver from its holster. It probably won't make a dent, but it might prove enough of a distraction...

[???: 48+10(Making Amends)-10(Not Their Idiom)=48 vs 75+10(Hatred)-10(Split Attention)=75.]
[Mathilde vs Khornate Champion 3: 38+23-10(Wounded)=51 vs 64+30-10(Wounded)=84.]

Apparently not, as the Champion ignores the bullets slamming into its torso in favour of swinging his axe once more, meeting Branulhune halfway and sending an agonizing jolt through your arm as the two forces arrest each other. Is the Champion swinging with as much force as Kragg's Rune imparts on Branulhune? Surely not, or it would have cut straight through your Aethyric Armour without effort. It must be the aura of the Blood God dulling it, imposing brutal reality where strength is all that matters, not ephemeral energies and cunning artifice. And that is a battlefield that a Champion of Khorne is much more at home in than you are, as it recovers from the impact much faster than you do and swings the pommel of the axe into you, sending you sprawling.

[???: 86+10(Making Amends)-10(Not Their Idiom)=86 vs 85+10(Hatred)-10(Split Attention)=85.]
[Mathilde vs Khornate Champion 4: 77+23-20(Heavily Wounded)=80 vs 70+30-10(Wounded)=90.]

It's been quite some time since you hurt this much, but you pull yourself to your feet once more nonetheless, meeting the gaze of the Champion as he approaches. He's not going to give you time for the Seed to restore you, and you don't trust it this close to the aura of his patron either. As you see his muscles bulge for another swing and ready Branulhune to try to meet it, you feel a strange sense of serenity. All you can do is the best you can...

[Meanwhile, Ljiljana vs Kul 2: Learning vs Martial, 95+???+???(Widow?)+???(Tor?)+???(Dazh?)+???(Ursun?)+???(Ranald)=??? vs 2+20-30(Losses)=-8.]

...and hope you bought enough time.

To his credit, the Champion of Khorne is more aware than you of events outside of your duel, and whirls to meet the oncoming figure. But it is not nearly enough. The axe shatters on skin crackling with Divine energies, and a wiry arm shoots out to grasp the Champion by the collar, lifting him off his feet as tendrils of frost engulf the bronze.

"The disciple of Our kin is not yours to break," says Someone else with Ljiljana's mouth. "We are the inheritors of this world, and We will brook no interlopers." There's a creak and then a crack as the frozen metal gives way, and shards of bronze rain down as the collar shatters and the Champion falls free. In an instant the overbearing energies filling Ljiljana grow even stronger, and the Champion swings at Ljiljana with the ruined remains of his limbs as the blizzard engulfs him. When it recedes, he is frozen in place, his shattered axe and collar bearing testament to the power of Winter.

Silence falls upon the camp, and you take a moment to run your eyes over the utter ruin where an encampment once stood. Bodies litter the ground, some frozen, some mauled, some burned, and some apparently untouched but just as dead, and there's not a living Kurgan in sight. "Pizdets," Ljiljana says in her own voice, flexing her hands. "Zhizn' ebet meya, could have put a blade in, but no, had to use my fingers to break metal. Blyat, ja zaebalas." She turns her gaze to you, and to the blood dripping from your mouth. "Will you live?"

With a thought, you nudge the Seed to do its work. "I'll be fine in a moment," you say. "How about you?"

She looks down at herself, and the many rips in her clothing with unmarred flesh underneath. "Yha, did not quite reach the handle. You did well, tovaritch. Za-Nekulturny would have been bothersome." She exhales as she looks around the ruined encampment. "Downside of battle without rota, nobody to make carry the loot. Can your ghost-horse carry?"

"Just a person, and whatever they can carry."

"The cat weeps. You got Za-Goblet?" You nod, frown, check it's still there, then nod again and hand it over. "Good. Will fill pockets with silver. You should too."

You exhale again and look over the ruins, where the first of the vultures and ravens are already descending. Silver is never unwelcome, but you hope you can find something a little more exotic for your troubles.


The two with the most votes will be chosen.

[ ] Silver
Coins of every kind and hacksilver of unknown provenance. You should be able to carry a few hundred crowns' worth.
[ ] Jewels
Possibly more valuable than silver. Possibly just polished glass.
[ ] Magic Weapons
Some of the magical weapons do not bear the taint of Dhar, though you don't know who made them or what they do. They could be very carefully collected for future study.
[ ] Scrolls
In runes that look slightly similar to Queekish and you assume are Dark Tongue. There's no good excuse under the Articles for not throwing them in the fire immediately, but the same could be said for some of your other reading materials.
[ ] Shrine
An icon that appears to be dedicated to the moon you know as Mannslieb. The Kurgan worshipping the Chaos Gods and the Winds is easy to understand, the sun and the moons, not so much. You can feel some sort of Divine energy at work here, but can't say much more than that unless you're able to get it somewhere quiet for further study.
[ ] Silks
Definitely not the ones that the Daemonette was lounging across. Not quite spider-silk, but at least you'll beat Gretel to silk sheets.
[ ] Khorne-Brass
The metal of a Chaos God, shattered by the power of the Gods of Kislev. Even more unforgivable than the scrolls, should it be found on your person. But perhaps even more educational.


- There will be a one hour moratorium.
- Ranald vs Khorne rolls: 1st round, Ranald won and tried to use that victory to get an upper hand in future rolls. Rounds 2 and 3, Khorne won and used the opportunity to buff his champion, including the antimagic effect. Round 4, Ranald won and made sure that Ljiljana (who was on her way anyway) intervened before the Champion could finish you off.

 

[Deathbybunnies]

Perhaps there is a threshold where thin atmosphere is considered a vacuum with little or no gradual transition, so the Winds would reach this altitude and hit the vacuum layer and essentially start sliding along a metaphysical ceiling, the vacuum refusing to let them go higher yet centrifugal force pushing them upwards towards the vacuum. This could also explain why the Winds eventually descend, that's the point where friction from continuously impacting the vacuum layer drains their speed enough that gravity overcomes centrifugal force and causes them to descend. Doesn't explain the Windfall unfortunately.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, if it were as you describe I'd expect the curve to slowly peel away from the "roof" and down into the ground, not a sudden drop.

Went and reread the topic, it seems that I missed your first quote.

That's a space where my theory can kick in.

Click to shrink...

I don't think the repulsive effect of "saturated" ground holds water unfortunately, again due to the Windfall. It wouldn't crash down all in one spot, and the Windfall location has way more magic than its surroundings, to the point where there's a great big pool of Dhar forming beneath it.

They're not at a terribly different distance, though. It's brought up in the update that there's mountains at roughly this latitude everywhere in the northern hemisphere except for the Great Ocean and Cathay.

Click to shrink...

Unless they're all at literally the exact same distance it matters, though. Even a mile off would have the Windfalls happening in the wrong spots.

Or maybe some others are a mile away from the mountains they're theorised to be pulled down by, and we don't know because we haven't read up on them? Questions for later, I suppose.

 

[Fanhunter696]

Spoiler: Results

Tally
[*] Fight

Scanning the battlefield, you resolve to add your own influence to it. But as your fresh bruises remind you, even if Branulhune is perpetually ready, you aren't. You reholster your recolver, draw your staff from your back scabbard, and take a moment to cast Aethyric Armour and feel the slight ache of exertion lift from your muscles. More concentration and a handful of whispered syllables sees the billowing gas of your form of Universal Confusion start to pour from you, and Dread Aspect has your shadow take form around you as a supernaturally terrifying aura. Then you interweave Smoke and Mirrors into a casting of Shadow Knives aimed at the nearest Kul, and you disappear from where you stand with a swirl of fog.

[Join the melee: Martial, 70+23=93.]

You appear mid-swing next to a Kul with a single brass horn emerging from his forehead, and take his head off his shoulders before anyone has time to react. By the time the men he was rallying are able to turn their weapons on you, the murderous tendrils of your shadow and the bewildering whisps of fog emanating from you have reached them, and you're able to cut through several more before they begin to scatter. With another burst of knives into the back of the nearest, you're gone.

Another knot of resistance has formed around a shield-wall at the border of the tempest, but the central warrior being impaled by Branulhune has the others recoil first from him, then from the figure of terror doing the impaling. As Ulgu gives their greatest terrors form in your swirling silhouette, they drop their weapons and flee into the storm, and moments later a bolt of lightning obliterates them.

A Kul wielding some sort of pike that sparks and shimmers to your Magesight is jabbing at a spectral bear, interrupting its feeding upon the fallen. It gives a silent roar and flinches away, but before the pike can find purchase in flesh or magic or wind given shape or whatever it is, you're there to slice first through the haft, then through their wrists. Then you disappear again, this time with the teleportation cantrip woven into a recast of Dread Aspect.

A wooden cage containing a misshapen beast of mouths and limbs that must be a Chaos Spawn. You cut down the Kul trying to unleash it, and then cut open the cage, and then slice the Spawn into halves, then quarters, then keep cutting until it stops trying to bite you. It takes many more cuts than it should.

It takes you almost too long to spot the gathering Ulgu, as at first you mistake it for a place you'd already visited. By the time you appear next to the Shaman, there's already a wailing adding to the din of the storm as reality begins to tear open and suck the air into the space between the physical and the Aethyr. It implodes in a scatter of arcing magical energies as the Shaman is cut down, and you flinch back and swear as the spilled blood begins to boil - more by reflex than out of any real danger, as your Belt protects you from extreme heat. You take a moment to dismiss Branulhune so the blood can fall from the blade, then resummon it as you scan the chaos for the next place to intervene.

[Ljiljana vs Kul: Learning vs Martial, 74+???+???(Widow?)+???(Tor?)+???(Dazh?)+???(Ursun?)+30(Mathilde)=??? vs 99+20-10(Losses)=109.]

Despite the hummock of snow that marks the boundary of Ljiljana's storm growing higher with buried bodies, the Kurgan keep coming. Perhaps that's only to be expected, as to the most devout of the Kurgan - which, by all accounts, would be the Kul - this would be the very definition of a holy war. To allow the Gods of the Gospodar to triumph over them could lose them the favour of their Gods, and this far into the Chaos Wastes that could be just as much of a death sentence as charging into the blizzard.

[Continued intervention: Martial, 23+23=46.]

Unfortunately the Kul seem to be catching on to your methods, as each teleportation starts to be met with shouted warnings as the most strong-willed push through the aura of confusion to meet Branulhune with their own blades. You and your shadow still reap a bloody harvest but it is now a battle, rather than a slaughter. You don't like fair fights so you switch from Shadow Knives to Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma for weaving your teleportation cantrips into, making sure that wherever you appear there is also a field of jittering time, sending even the most skilled warriors off-balance as their well-trained reactions encounter the concept of time as a variable. Blades lifting to parry a swing moving a hair too fast or too slow, feet stumbling as one moves slightly faster than the other, sights and sounds taking a fraction longer to arrive and shaving just enough time from their responses to make all the difference.

You feel the change in the energy of the battlefield before what has herald it comes into sight, as the Winds are battered backwards by an invisible and overwhelming force and magic begins to answer your call a little more hesitantly. A hulking figure barges through the crowd, his skin as brass as the spiked collar fixed to his neck, his arms lacking hands entirely, instead being fused directly to the haft of an enormous steel axe. He turns his gaze to you, hatred shimmering in his eyes, then to the blizzard. Enemy spellcasters or foreign Gods, which does a Champion of Khorne hate more?

[Rolling...]

Evidently, you.

He charges straight in your direction, barging aside any foolish enough to get in his way as you ready your blade to meet the charge. You can't run from this foe without risking the entire battle, as if he meets the storm and brings his unholy patron into direct conflict with the Gods of Kislev, that could end it all. You can't turn spells directly on him either, not with any confidence, as the collar around his neck is a physical manifestation of the Blood God's hatred for magic. But that doesn't mean you're out of options entirely. So as the Champion gathers speed, you refresh the spells surrounding you and then ready another.

[???: ???, 51+10(Making Amends)-10(Not Their Idiom)=51 vs 50+10(Hatred)-10(Split Attention)=50.]
[Mathilde vs Khornate Champion: Martial, 58+23+20(Spells)=101 vs 33+30+20(Charge)=83.]

A second before the Champion reaches you you vanish from vision, but they're either too lost to fury or too canny to think you've teleported and swing their axe in a great arc you're barely able to sidestep out of the way of. You swing Branulhune in an arc in return, and for the very first time since you received it, the blade judders in your hand as the Runically-enhanced force of the swing is arrested by the flesh it has only sunken partially into. You yank it free as the Champion roars in outrage, backpedalling from his next swing.

[???: ???, 32+10(Making Amends)+10(Upper Hand)-10(Not Their Idiom)=42 vs 69+10(Hatred)-10(Split Attention)=69.]
[Mathilde vs Khornate Champion 2: 10+23=33 vs 36+30-10(Wounded)=56.]

But not fast enough, as the Champion's muscles swell with unnatural vigour as his swing meets your invisible stomach, causing you to cough and retch as your Aethyric Amour absorbs enough to turn what would have been a bisecting into an extremely painful blow to the gut. You look to the Champion's stomach for the response from your Belt, but instead the collar glows red and blood begins to seep down the Champion's neck, the influence of Khorne somehow denying the Rune of Rancour any purchase on His Champion. You backpedal further, looking for any opening and painfully aware that the impact of the axe has turned you visible once more. The air crackles with energy you can't spare the attention to examine and you can taste blood and bile that you swallow down. You let the staff fall from your fingers, trusting it to be sturdy enough to still be impact should you survive long enough to find it, and draw a revolver from its holster. It probably won't make a dent, but it might prove enough of a distraction...

[???: 48+10(Making Amends)-10(Not Their Idiom)=48 vs 75+10(Hatred)-10(Split Attention)=75.]
[Mathilde vs Khornate Champion 3: 38+23-10(Wounded)=51 vs 64+30-10(Wounded)=84.]

Apparently not, as the Champion ignores the bullets slamming into its torso in favour of swing its axe once more, meeting Branulhune halfway and sending an agonizing jolt through your arm as the two forces arrest each other. Is the Champion swinging with as much force as Kragg's Rune imparts on Branulhune? Surely not, or it would have cut straight through your Aethyric Armour without effort. It must be the aura of the Blood God dulling it, imposing brutal reality where strength is all that matters, not ephemeral energies and cunning artifice. And that is a battlefield that a Champion of Khorne is much more at home in than you are, as it recovers from the impact much faster than you do and swings the pommel of the axe into you, sending you sprawling.

[???: 86+10(Making Amends)-10(Not Their Idiom)=86 vs 75+10(Hatred)-10(Split Attention)=85.]
[Mathilde vs Khornate Champion 3: 77+23-20(Heavily Wounded)=73 vs 70+30-10(Wounded)=90.]

It's been quite some time since you hurt this much, but you pull yourself to your feet once more nonetheless, meeting the gaze of the Champion as he approaches. He's not going to give you time for the Seed to restore you, and you don't trust it this close to the aura of his patron either. As you see his muscles bulge for another swing and ready Branulhune to try to meet it, you feel a strange sense of serenity. All you can is the best you can...

[Meanwhile, Ljiljana vs Kul 2: Learning vs Martial, 95+???+???(Widow?)+???(Tor?)+???(Dazh?)+???(Ursun?)+???(Ranald)=??? vs 2+20-30(Losses)=-8.]

...and hope you bought enough time.

To his credit, the Champion of Khorne is more aware than you of events outside of your duel, and whirls to meet the oncoming figure. But it is not nearly enough. The axe shatters on skin crackling with Divine energies, and a wiry arm shoots out to grasp the Champion by the collar, lifting him off his feet as tendrils of frost engulf the bronze.

"The disciple of Our kin is not yours to break," says Someone else with Ljiljana's mouth. "We are the inheritors of this world, and we will brook no interlopers." There's a creak and then a crack as the frozen metal gives way, and shards of bronze rain down as the collar shatters and the Champion falls free. In an instant the overbearing energies filling Ljiljana grow even stronger, and the Champion swings at Ljiljana with the ruined remains of his limbs as the blizzard engulfs him. When it recedes, he is frozen in place, his shattered axe and collar bearing testament to the power of Winter.

Silence falls upon the camp, and you take a moment to run your eyes over the utter ruin where an encampment once stood. Bodies litter the ground, some frozen, some mauled, some burned, and some apparently untouched but just as dead, and there's not a living Kurgan in sight. "Pizdets," Ljiljana says in her own voice, flexing her hands. "Zhizn' ebet meya, could have put a blade in, but no, had to use my fingers to break metal, astat'sya s nosam." She turns her gaze to you, and to the blood dripping from your mouth. "Will you live?"

With a thought, you nudge the Seed to do its work. "I'll be fine in a moment," you say. "How about you?"

She looks down at herself, and the many rips in her clothing with unmarred flesh underneath. "Yha, did not quite reach the handle. You did well, tovaritch. Za-Nekulturny would have been bothersome." She exhales as she looks around the ruined encampment. "Downside of battle without rota, nobody to make carry the loot. Can your ghost-horse carry?"

"Just a person, and whatever they can carry."

"The cat weeps. You got Za-Goblet?" You nod, frown, check it's still there, then nod again and hand it over. "Good. Will fill pockets with silver. You should too."

You exhale again and look over the ruins, where the first of the vultures and ravens are already descending. Silver is never unwelcome, but you hope you can find something a little more exotic for your troubles.


The two with the most votes will be chosen.

[ ] Silver
Coins of every kind and hacksilver of unknown provenance. You should be able to carry a few hundred crowns' worth.
[ ] Jewels
Possibly more valuable than silver. Possibly just polished glass.
[ ] Magic Weapons
Some of the magical weapons do not bear the taint of Dhar, though you don't know who made them or what they do. They could be very carefully collected for future study.
[ ] Scrolls
In runes that look slightly similar to Queekish and you assume are Dark Tongue. There's no good excuse under the Accords for not throwing them in the fire immediately, but the same could be said for some of your other reading materials.
[ ] Shrine
An icon that appears to be dedicated to the moon you know as Mannsleib. The Kurgan worshipping the Chaos Gods and the Winds is easy to understand, the sun and the moons, not so much. You can feel some sort of Divine energy at work here, but can't say much more than that unless you're able to get it somewhere quiet for further study.
[ ] Silks
Definitely not the ones that the Daemonette was lounging across. Not quite spider-silk, but at least you'll beat Gretel to silk sheets.
[ ] Khorne-Brass
The metal of a Chaos God, shattered by the power of the Gods of Kislev. Even more unforgivable than the scrolls, should it be found on your person. But perhaps even more educational.


- There will be a one hour moratorium.
- Ranald vs Khorne rolls: 1st round, Ranald won and tried to use that victory to get an upper hand in future rolls. Rounds 2 and 3, Khorne won and used the opportunity to buff his champion, including the antimagic effect. Round 4, Ranald won and made sure that Ljiljana (who was on her way anyway) intervened before the Champion could finish you off.

Click to shrink...

OK, I´ll let M Bison do it for me.


But dammit, that was close...

 

[JamesShazbond]

jesus fuck.

VICTORY SCREECH.

 

[silvanknight]

Too close for comfort...

 

[EVA-Saiyajin]

Whew, that was a close one. Welcome to proper service of the Empire.

 

[Deathbybunnies]

[???: 86+10(Making Amends)-10(Not Their Idiom)=86 vs 75+10(Hatred)-10(Split Attention)=85.]
[Mathilde vs Khornate Champion 3: 77+23-20(Heavily Wounded)=73 vs 70+30-10(Wounded)=90.]

It's been quite some time since you hurt this much, but you pull yourself to your feet once more nonetheless, meeting the gaze of the Champion as he approaches. He's not going to give you time for the Seed to restore you, and you don't trust it this close to the aura of his patron either. As you see his muscles bulge for another swing and ready Branulhune to try to meet it, you feel a strange sense of serenity. All you can is the best you can...

Click to shrink...

OH FUCK

[Meanwhile, Ljiljana vs Kul 2: Learning vs Martial, 95+???+???(Widow?)+???(Tor?)+???(Dazh?)+???(Ursun?)+???(Ranald)=??? vs 2+20-30(Losses)=-8.]

...and hope you bought enough time.

Click to shrink...

OH THANK FUCK

- Ranald vs Khorne rolls: 1st round, Ranald won and tried to use that victory to get an upper hand in future rolls. Rounds 2 and 3, Khorne won and used the opportunity to buff his champion, including the antimagic effect. Round 4, Ranald won and made sure that Ljiljana (who was on her way anyway) intervened before the Champion could finish you off.

Click to shrink...

Ranald you beautiful bastard I take back anything bad I ever said about you.