Looking at canon creatures, we can immediately exclude Dread Saurians, Thunder Lizards, Couatls, and Carnosaurs because they're apex organisms. Bastiladons and Stegadons are out too because they're herbivores. That still leaves Troglodons, Ripperdactyls, Terradons, and Razordons, as well as the aforementioned Cold Ones and Salamanders.
As amazingly appropriate as a Troglodon would be, I think it unlikely. We're talking about a Carnosaur sized ambush predator that, while maybe not apex, is definetly too high up the food chain for Mathilde to handle. Besides, I shudder to think how we're even going to support a cold one, let alone anything more specialized.
Why would we keep them at all? Just give them to the Amber College to keep and grow. They'd hopefully be breed-able with Amber College help which would make them potentially incredibly beneficial long-term.
We can just give whatever comes out of the eggs to the Imperial Zoo in Altdorf. Should be some decent rep in expanding their collection.
So… worrying though occurred to me. When Karak Eight Peaks fell a lot of Dwarfs fell with it. Lots of last stands took place. At least some of those that fell would have been wielding runic weapons. Weapons that were then picked up and used by the Skaven/Greenskins who now inhabit the mountain. Some of the weapons would have been taken elsewhere, traded away or taken on campaign. Some may have been destroyed. But some likely survive through the many centuries.
I'm not looking forward to seeing a Black Orc swinging a Snorri special in our general direction.
Just got myself caught up on everything. Love that Warhammer Fantasy tale feel. And it drove me absolutely batty but dear van Hal's end honestly felt completely in keeping with Black Library. Great to see the progression for our wizard, and all the Dwarf interactions are enormous fun.
The best thing to do with the eggs is to make the Amber wizards hatch and care for them. As the Magister who ordered it and the actual owner though we'll get the profits whether they're useful warbeasts or an amusing curiosity to sell to a rich nobleman or the Zoo.
Being the person in charge has some nice benefits attached. Claim the successes for yourself and blame the failures on your minions. Isn't it delightful?
Plus the Dwarfs manage to farm enough within (or on top of) the Karaks to feed themselves. No reason the Skaven can't use the same infrastructure. Supplemented by a steady diet of Greenskins.
The dwarves farmed the surface. Around Karak Eight Peaks, that option is mostly unavailable to the skaven, as the surface is held by orcs and goblins and the levels underground close to the surface by the night goblins.
That's why I raised the issue in the first place. In other locations the skaven have access to the surface. Around Karak Eight Peaks they generally don't. BoneyM's explanation makes 'sense' (as much as the skaven logistics can), andnalso introduces a hook we can exploit, which is fun.
BoneyM mentioned that runic weapons are all hand weapons. I'm not sure if this was just in a reference to the tabletop though (the preceding posts are all in reference to the tabletop and RPG) or if it's true for this quest as well.
Runic weapons are always hand weapons. However, there is a rune that gives a runic weapon the same stats as great weapons, allowing you to essentially have a great weapon with two runes.
@BoneyM when you get a chance could you clarify this please.
On the topic of magical stuff lying about and dwarf favors I'm wondering if there might be a great weapon with 3x rune of striking hanging around in the armory. The 3x rune of striking ability is to set weapon skill to 10 and reroll to-hit rolls. Because of this attribute It might be usable without extensive training with greataxes and if it's already in the armory we might be able to either borrow it or get it at a discount.
We've also seen a lot of other interesting suggestions for what to spend that dwarf favor on other than runic weapons.
Spending favor to help with the settlers: We know there are a lot of people who joined the expedition not for gold, glory and grudges but rather to find a place to live. Most of the halflings, lots of Sitrlanders, and a number of Dwarfs are all here to settle permanently and there's plenty more who likely intend to hang around for a while.
The Eastern Imperial Company (EIC): We can encourage the Dwarfs to pick the EIC as trader of choice when dealing with the Empire.
Wizard outpost: Try to convince the Dwarfs to sanction a magical college chapter-house or local guildhall.
Runic Banner: A runic banner would be beneficial for both Mathilde and those around her.
Those are the ones I can distinctly recall anyway, there's probably other good ideas that I've missed or just haven't been posted yet.
Runic Weapons: Runic weapons are going to be most desirable if we can use with a greatweapon (that +2 Strength is valuable, as is not needing to retrain). I'll list a few of the notable runes that we'd most likely want to get (normally you can't have multiple Master runes on one item so we'd probably need Kragg to forge an item that does so).
- Master Rune of Snorri Spangelhelm: 25 points. Always hit on a roll of 2+. Rune of Parrying: 25 points. Enemies suffer -1 to hit in close combat. 3x Rune of Striking: 60 points. Weapon skill to 10 and reroll to-hit rolls (mechanically this works out very similarly to combing Snorri and Parrying runes but is a bit better at attacking*) Rune of Fury: 25 points. +1 attack, notable mostly since we can add it to a weapon with Snorri and Parrying. Master Rune of Smiting: 60 points. Each unsaved wound causes 1d6 wounds.
*it's better on the attack unless the enemy has WS10. It's equal on the defense except in cases where our enemy is WS1 (we cause fear so it happens more than you'd think) or both our opponent and Mathilde have WS over 5 and Mathilde's weapon skills is equal or greater than that of her opponent. In these rare cases it's worse.
Spending favor to help with the settlers: Most of these guys already have deals sorted out with the Dwarfs so don't think we need to spend favor here. Also we don't really know these settlers well enough that I'd want to go out on a limb for them in case they turn out to be screw ups.
The Eastern Imperial Company (EIC): This could be quite valuable although just being associated with the company should give it a decent edge without actually spending favor on it.
Wizard outpost: Being in charge of a chapter-house would be an excellent way to push for Magister Lord, probably something to think about in a few years but somewhat premature right now.
Runic Banner: There's a number of intriguing banners runes here.
- Strollaz's Rune: 35 points. Confer Vanguard to the unit. This is very cool and Mathilde doesn't have vanguard but she does have scout. Having both is super awesome and implies an absurd level of mobility. The fluff text is some nice stuff as well. This rune boosts the already tireless nature of the Dwarfs, allowing troops bearing it to march for days and nights on end. Master Rune of Grungni: 60 points. 4+ ward save to the standard bearer and 5+ ward save against shooting and magic attacks against units nearby. Master Rune of Balance: 50 points. This is actually a talisman rune (also runesmith only) but we know that for Kragg the rule of form is more of a polite suggestion than a firm rule. During the enemy magic phase 50% chance to steal a power dice and add it to your own dispel pool. Master Rune of Valaya: 65 points. We already use this on our talisman so it's very unlikely we can have this on another item (Rune Jealousy). +2 bonus to dispel, can dispel existing magic (remains in play spells) on a d6 roll of 3+
Note: Due to the way commissions for runic items go these are really more like ideas of things to shoot for and a general guideline. It's very unlikely we can just ask for a specific rune combination. However, an item with the combination already existing that we can buy with gold or favor seems like a good possibility.
BoneyM mentioned that runic weapons are all hand weapons. I'm not sure if this was just in a reference to the tabletop though (the preceding posts are all in reference to the tabletop and RPG) or if it's true for this quest as well.
@BoneyM when you get a chance could you clarify this please.
If you want to discuss weapons via the tabletop side of things, stick to the hand weapon rule and it'll be fluffed as a particularly light bastard sword or similar. If instead a weapon acquisition is made narratively, then I'll translate it to tabletop after the fact and may or may not pay heed to rune rules.
Thinking about what happened to Rune weapons lost when the Dwarven Holds fell, it has been nearly three thousand years since then. As IRC's, goblins, and skaven would be much less fastidious about them, that's plenty of time for them to be lost in various ways; buried in cave-ins, flooded when a tunnel hit an underground river, lost on battlefields when the victor didn't realise what they were, tested to destruction by skaven warlocks failing to reverse engineer runecraft, taken by a dragon as part of their hoard, etc, etc.
[*] Remain here and help Ulthar make sense of the reports flowing in.
You came close to leaving, but as you looked over Ulthar's shoulder, a memory from a few years ago stirred - the Siege of Castle Drakenhof, when Halflings first discovered the caves underground and the Dwarf Rangers and Miners scouted them out, mapping an intricate tangle of tunnels and caverns and shafts, culminating in the destruction of a column of skeletal foes that were so thoroughly ambushed you never bothered to discover if they were Wights or lesser terrors. Memories of that campaign were still raw for you, but that part of command had been exhilarating - being the nexus of information for an entire army of eyes and ears and minds, taking the information from a hundred scouts and a thousand sentries and weaving them into something near enough to the truth to be weaponizable.
You pull up a boulder and join Ulthar at his table, piecing together sketched maps and listening to his descriptions as a mental map starts to form. From time to time a runner comes from the fronts, and upon seeing you they switch from Khazalid to Reikspiel. Rangers tend to be bilingual, if only to be able to properly threaten trespassing manling prospectors, and for the Rangers of Karak Hirn, that meant Reikspiel. Soon you know enough to know what you don't know, and you start sending orders back with the runners and deeper within the tunnels, Rangers begin to push back the borders of what is known.
"You can never have perfect clarity," Ulthar is saying, waving a hand at the four sketches that all claim to be of the same tunnel junction, but all disagree on the number of branches. "Work around it. When we're hauling out the corpses, then we can figure that mess out."
"Durek says-"
"Even if he's right, it'd be a hell of a risky gambit when we can just wear that redoubt down. They don't even have bows there."
"Okay, granted. But look at the other end of the spectrum - if Rekthor's report is right, then the entire Squig-purging front is exposed, that enormous pocket that's bottled up in the assembly hall-"
Ulthar stares at the map, then shakes his head vigorously, sending his beard waving. "It can't possibly connect up there. Look, you're sharp for a manling, but you just don't have the Dukkul, the tunnel senses for this sort of thing."
"Look, it's- oh, by the-" You scrabble as the stub of pencil rolls across the slab of stone, then swear as it drops off the far edge. Overwhelmed with frustration, you reach out, grab a handful of Ulgu, and slap it into the air. "This is the pocket, right? We've barricaded it in here, here and here." Grey smoke thickens, then flows obligingly down invisible channels. You can see it so clearly in your mind and projecting it into the air in front of you seems a thousand times easier than explaining again to the obstinate Dwarf how a bunch of Rangers hacking away at half-grown Squigs could be about to get about three hundred fleeing Goblins to the rear. "Here's what we thought was the dead end coming off it, here's that weird interwoven bit, here's the edge of the Squig caves, and if Rekthor's report is right, here is where that junction branches off towards the hall."
The expression on Ulthar's face is alarmed as he leans away from the unexpected display of manling wizardry, but then he frowns in thought and leans in close. "Oh, krut," he breathes, then leaps to his feet, shouting a stream of Khazalid at a runner nearby as he grabs his axe from the table. He pauses just for a moment to tell you to take over here as he sprints off on the heels of the alarmed runner.
As the footsteps recede into the distance, you consider the hanging model of the tunnels, reshaping it with a few stray thoughts. In maps, Dwarves favour blue for friendlies just as the Empire did, but for fairly obvious reasons they use green for foes instead of red. You compromise, marking the known pockets and redoubts of greenskin farmers in green, and the spider-infested parts of the map in red. You refresh your memory with the accumulated sketches and scraps as you fill in the rest of the tunnels, and once it's gotten back to the room you're in, you smile to yourself as you mark your position with a nice rune of Ulgu.
Then you come to a halt, and stare at the faintly glowing construct taking up half the room.
---
It's an oft-told joke that looking like you know what you're doing is taught at the Colleges. In the case of the Grey College, it's no joke at all. By the time the next runner comes in, there's nothing to suggest that this was anything less than planned, and his look of alarm, then recognition, then wary curiosity is one you grow very familiar with over the next hour. The reports coming in clarify the few remaining hazy parts and allow you to clearly delineate the edges of spider territory, and the runners go back with orders that allow you to rapidly reduce the remaining patches of green, as Rangers emerge from unexpected angles behind the makeshift defences that the greenskins have established.
Ulthar returns covered in sweat and blood, with his quiver empty. He edges cautiously along the edge of your Ulgu construct and resumes his seat with a huff. "Met them just as they were running down the tunnel," he says. "Damn near clogged it with their bodies before they broke. We harried them all the way back to the hall, where they met the lads that had been bottling them in." You gesture, and that last bit of green vanishes. Ulthar traces it back and forth with his eyes. "That's not a dead end, it joins up over there," he says, and with a thought you correct it. He scans it for further errors, then grunts. "Handy," he finally admits. "So we're done here?"
"No concentrations left," you say. "There'll be stragglers here and there, though."
"Always takes a week or so to fully winkle the last of the bastards out. Only major problem is the spiders, then."
The two of you work together, and by giving up a few tunnels and rooms you reduce the cordon to three chokepoints, each with a clear field of fire for the defenders. Once the rest of the Karag is taken care of, then attention can be turned to the spiders - or they could just be starved out, you suppose. Either way, half the Chiselwards have been secured, and most of the dwarves here have been freed up. As they take the opportunity to eat, drink, and catch their breath, news starts to filter in from the other levels.
---
[Hangars: 22+15=37 vs 73+10=83. Sending reinforcements.]
[Hangars: 97+15=112 vs 55+10=65.]
The Hangars, far from being the wide open caverns that the Thunderers that went there had expected, turned out to have been transformed into an enormous greenskin metropolis, and handguns that could take a Goblin off his feet at a hundred paces were little help when the Goblin is leaping at you as you go around a corner or duck through a door. It had turned into a bloodbath by the time reinforcements arrived, and it remained one afterwards, albeit one that no longer favoured the greenskins. The Knights of the Winter Wolves seemed to terrify the greenskins, no doubt used to wolves that were both significantly smaller and being ridden by Goblins. The Ulricans and Nordlanders that fought alongside them had no compunctions about fighting fair, and Ulric may demand bravery but he doesn't demand stupidity. They quickly took to simply knocking over every ramshackle building they saw and stabbing anything that tried to emerge from the wreckage.
[Kragg at the Hall of Oaths: 95]
[Kragg at the Temple of Grungni: 9.]
[Kragg vs the Temple of Grungni: 60+20=80 vs 27+10=37.]
[Kragg at the King's Armoury: 60.]
[Contents: wealth: 89.]
[Contents: weapons: 45. Two sets, rolling...]
[Contents: siege weapon: 27. One, rolling...]
Kragg had unsealed the Hall of Oaths without trouble and left the stoneworkers there to begin the ongoing task of continuing the list of the fallen from where it had been interrupted three thousand years prior. You can only imagine his reaction when he reached his next destination, the Temple of Grungni, and found that its doors had been breached and the insides had been transformed into a shrine to greenskin gods. You don't have to imagine his reaction shortly after, as everyone is telling of how he walked through the spell the resident Goblin Mage-Priest had tried to defend itself with and then hit it so hard that it left a crater.
His final destination, the King's Armoury, was a topic of some concern for you. Belegar had made a fair few promises on behalf of the legendary riches of Karak Eight Peaks, but the main treasure vaults of the Karak were almost exactly opposite the Expedition, under Karag Zilfin, and the lesser ones were within Kvinn-Wyr and beneath the Citadel. As it turns out, your concerns were misplaced. The Karak did not fall all at once, and the silver mines of Karagril remained working long after the treasure vaults had been sealed. Much of that wealth had been lost to the invaders or spirited away to other Karaks, but the majority had piled up in the closest thing the Dwarves had to a treasury in what remained to them: the King's Armoury.
(You're briefly distracted by contemplating long-dead Dwarves obstinately mining and refining and smelting silver even as the hold is lost to invaders, but manage to shake yourself free to hear the rest of the contents.)
You're told of row after row of beautiful polearms, a thousand each of a dozen different designs, each made of a silver-iron alloy made of the two ores native to the Karak, still as sharp as the day they were forged and with wooden hafts that have aged to be even stronger under Dwarven runes of preservation. You've never heard of a Dwarf wielding a polearm, but apparently in ages long past it was quite common, before the onslaught of Skaven and Night Goblins necessitated new tactics. You wonder if they'll start once more.
The other discovery was of gromril hammers, once belonging to the bodyguard of the Kings of Karak Eight Peaks and bearing powerful and ancient runes, many of which were thought forgotten. Perhaps that went some way to mollifying Kragg's rage.
The final discovery of note is a bolt thrower of some sort, but the Dwarves seem fairly tight-lipped about it.
[Highways: 79+15=94 vs 71+10=81. Fierce fighting. Reinforcements already sent to Hangars. Belegar heading down.]
[Highways: 75+20=95 vs 75+10=85. Fighting continues to be fierce. Chiselwards Rangers joining the fight.]
[Highways 84+25=109 vs 14+10=24. Enemy finally breaks.]
Finally, the fighting below all else turned out to be the fiercest of all, and calls for assistance ended up pulling in Belegar and Clan Angrund, and the Rangers you freed up from the Chiselwards. The Goblins fought bitterly for every step down the great, half-collapsed stairway that wound around a great empty shaft that once carried cargo from the Grand Avenue below to the Hangars above, and a single missed step was all it took for anyone, Goblin or Dwarf, to plunge the length of the shaft into the Grand Abyss below. A final vast chamber was the last pocket of resistance, its existence not even guessed at and apparently dug out sometime after the Karak had fallen, and there the fighting finally ended and the Crooked Moon Tribe broke completely, fleeing downwards and into the darkness of the Grand Avenue. Belegar called back those that went to pursue, and as they barricaded the entryway between the Avenue and Karag Lhune, the fleeing greenskins cried out in terror one by one before being silenced by whatever new foes lurked out there.
The War for Karak Eight Peaks has barely started, but the Battle of Karag Lhune is won.
---
The extermination of a Night Goblin tribe was exhausting. Cleaning up after said extermination, you can only imagine. But those Dwarves that didn't directly contribute to the Battle of Karag Lhune leap at the opportunity to be a part of history, many of whom joined the expedition as wanderers, vagabonds and outcasts. The work is fuelled by innumerable casks of ale freshly arrived from Barak Var, and a joke goes around that completely evades what little grasp of Khazalid you have, but seems to trigger much chortling and slapping of knees among the Dwarves. Then it goes around again with more thoughtful pauses around it, and as the sun begins to dip in the sky, King Belegar gives his first edict and Clan Huzkul is born. Any Clanless that spilled blood or hauled corpses is welcomed into it and made a citizen of Karak Eight Peaks.
The atmosphere is not exactly jubilant, since everyone is either exhausted from the day's fighting or hard at work, but the ale flows freely and uncharacteristic optimism shines on the face of every Dwarf, and the Ulricans and the Nordlanders are getting along quite well with their new comrades-in-arms. A train of wagons goes back and forth between the East Gates and Karag Lhune, mostly hauling ale; every now and then Orcs from the Citadel find themselves no longer able to resist temptation, and the vast flight of stairs have become a very tall set of stadium seats to cheer on their inevitable doom, either from artillery fire from the East Gates or from a punitive sally from Demigryph Knights.
There's still work to be done before the Expedition can be considered a success, as the sight below you attests. For the Karak to consider its position even slightly secure, the final leg of the tenuous link between it and Barak Varr cannot be over such exposed territory. But that's a problem for tomorrow. For now, all you need do is accept the odd tankard of ale from a Dwarf brave enough to approach the manling Zhufokrul, and decide how you'll spend this subdued but well-earned quasi-celebration.
Chose as many as you like; the three with the most votes will be selected.
[ ] King Belegar Ironhammer
[ ] Head Ranger Ulthar Alriksson
[ ] Thane Skaroki Grimbrow
[ ] Master Runelord Kragg the Grim
[ ] Grand Master Ruprecht Wulfhart
[ ] Asbern and Seija
[ ] Panoramia
[ ] Maximilian de Gaynesford
[ ] Johann
You seem to have invented a spell. What will you call it?
[ ] Write in.
- Congratulations on your second ever natural 100.
- There may be long-term benefits to getting close to people, but there won't be any direct consequences for this decision. Consider this a short break from the fighting.
- Minimap Spell: Acquired. It allows you to project, edit and colour a fairly low-resolution 3D visualization. It is Relatively Simple and seems to be similar to Marsh Lights; it could be considered an illusion but its eerie glowiness makes it poorly suited for deceit.
This was an amazing change of pace after all the action. So great to read!
I always love seeing Mathilde bullshit her way into having everyone think she's competent
10/10, I'm hyped for the next chapter.
[X] King Belegar Ironhammer
[X] Head Ranger Ulthar Alriksson
[X] Wolf
These are the three we haven't spent a social action on so far throughout the expedition, before we start voting:
[ ] Grand Master Sigwald Kriegersen
[ ] Master Runelord Kragg the Grim
[ ] Grand Master Ruprecht Wulfhart
Now that's a spicy thing we just invented there. It's a simple spell, but if we can figure out how to make enchantments that would let anyone use it?
Fucking hell we could make a fortune off of that. Marshals all over the Old World would literally pay a king's ransom for an editable, real-time 3D map of a battlespace.
Anyway, let's keep it to two words. Mirage Map is just fine I think.
Anyway, all things considered, it looks like the first leg of the campaign went decently. Our biggest losses were the meat grinder that was the fight down to the highway and the initial ambush at the Hangars. But we more than made up for it by trivializing the gates and the Hall of the Moon it seems.
Pity about the Temple of Grungni, but the gains in the Armory look like they've softened the blow somewhat. At the very least, the shitton of money we got will go a long way to supporting the next leg of the campaign.
[X] King Belegar Ironhammer
[X] Master Runelord Kragg the Grim
[X] Maximilian de Gaynesford
[X] Mathilde's Misty Map
What else would we call the spell besides this?
Edit:
Approval voting for alternative alliterations.
[X] Mathildes Malleable Model
[X] Mathilde's Mapping Mirage
Minimap Spell: Acquired. It allows you to project, edit and colour a fairly low-resolution 3D visualization. It is Relatively Simple and seems to be similar to Marsh Lights; it could be considered an illusion but its eerie glowiness makes it poorly suited for deceit.
