Okay, let's have a look at our options here.
[ ] Remain here and help Ulthar make sense of the reports flowing in.
A reasonably solid choice; Mathilde is pretty sharp and isn't utterly lacking in command staff experience (she spent an action on that in the Stirland campaign). She could probably provide capable assistance, and if something does go wrong anywhere in the Chiselwards' three areas of conflict this would let her know about it very quickly and move to immediately reinforce the location personally if applicable- it might even let us know if something's gone horribly wrong in any other region of conflict, since as a field commander Ulthar should be getting periodic communications from the other field commanders alerting him to the wider strategic situation.
Acting as an intel analyst also plays directly to her Fog of War trait, so there's a good shot at being usefully insightful and learning something herself. Take this option for helping with an important job and not commiting to further combat until we know where we're needed.
[ ] Go to the Squig Caves...
-[ ] And join the attack.
-[ ] And collect samples before the Dwarves destroy them all.
[ ] Go to the Mushroom Caves...
-[ ] And join the attack.
-[ ] And collect samples in danger of being destroyed in the fighting.
[ ] Go to the Spider Caves...
-[ ] And join the attack.
-[ ] And learn what you can of the creatures.
There are two basic sets of actions here: "Go get stuck in at location X" and "Go poking at things in location X".
I would argue that all of the poke-at-things options are bad votes:
- Mathilde only remembers the high points of her greenskin classes- notice her struggling to recall the basics of their ecology in this very update- and is not at all qualified to analyze squig-bits for useful intel.
- Likewise, she knows little to nothing about mushrooms to let her identify which samples would be the critical ones to take, and aside from that unlike the squig bits the dwarves are not systematically destroying all the mushrooms or even burning them out or anything- they just happen to be getting incidentally ruined. Sometimes. Odds are good that most of them will remain intact for analysis by our Jade and the dwarven/halfling civilian farming specialists accompanying the expedition after the area is secured, so what Mathilde could accomplish here is of dubious worth as even a pitched battle in a mushroom field will probably leave at least as many intact mushrooms as Mathilde could carry in her sample bag.
- As with the squigs, Mathilde knows precious little about giant spiders and what she does know is likely focused heavily on the question of how to kill one. She doesn't have the background to learn a lot about them, and the key question here is mostly how to efficiently exterminate them anyway which will be a problem naturally overcome by the attack option.
The attack options do the basic job of making Mathilde get a few more kills but it seems like the dwarves are doing a pretty solid job there already. The squig assault in particular it seems like she'd be mostly redundant, so that one's a bad vote. The others she'd be helpful but not critical based on what we know right now; goblins might be immune to Terror when they start taking their psycho-shrooms, the spiders might be alien bugs that know no fear, or she might go through either bunch like a murderblender that sends them into a panicked frenzy. Either is likely to take a very long time to conclude the battle here because of the labyrinthine structure of this area will mean that they end in a drawn-out hunt of any lingering survivors. Pick those options if you want to get some killing done and are willing to commit to not being present on any other fronts for this battle.
[ ] Continue downwards to the Grand Avenue.
If we're looking for the tough fighting that we haven't found so far, this would be the place to do it. This could be completely quiet or a total bloodbath. Take this option if seeking to force another GM roll providing another opportunity to maximize Dwarf Favor via glorious combat.
Personally I'm not that inclined to continue running around chasing the thickest fighting, and I don't think that Mathilde swinging her greatsword is the best use of her talents in the Chiselwards, so I'm going for this:
[x] Remain here and help Ulthar make sense of the reports flowing in.
