I didn't want anyone mistakenly thinking this was a grey area because it had been so long since the update in which it was discussed - Algard outright said that there was no value to be gained from telling Thorgrim about the Time Jaunt and that it shouldn't be done, so telling him was Mathilde explicitly choosing to go against her Magister Patriarch.
(Not intended as a criticism of doing so - it was a perfectly reasonable choice, Mathilde doesn't always have to obey orders.)
[X] [BLOOD] Regimand will call in a favour
Mathy's found the solution, Regimand's fully capable of doing the rest of the legwork. It's his arm, after all.
[X] [REPORT] You told Thorgrim the truth, against the orders of your Magister Patriarch
There'll be a cost to this. The cost will be lower than being caught in a lie, now or later. I do think she could get away with deception here; I just don't think she should. The middle option strikes me as the worst one here. Still lying, without even the benefit of avoiding censure.
[X] [BLOOD] Regimand will call in a favour
Mathy's found the solution, Regimand's fully capable of doing the rest of the legwork. It's his arm, after all.
[X] [REPORT] You told Thorgrim the truth, against the orders of your Magister Patriarch
There'll be a cost to this. The cost will be lower than being caught in a lie, now or later. I do think she could get away with deception here; I just don't think she should. The middle option strikes me as the worst one here. Still lying, without even the benefit of avoiding censure.
Why shouldn't we? I mean seriously did this harm anyone, does it have any prospect of harming anyone? No and no, this is just institutional paranoia from people who by definition understand the dawi less than Mathilde does.
[X] [BLOOD] Regimand will call in a favour
[X] [REPORT] You told Thorgrim the truth, against the orders of your Magister Patriarch
[X] [REPORT] You told Thorgrim the truth, against the orders of your Magister Patriarch
-[X] Thorgrim can almost certainly draw on the energy of other Karaks to unknown purposes. With the hierarchical and ordered nature of the Dawi I judged it too likely that his throne might be able to draw upon the functions of the crowns of his subordinate kings, of which I barely have hints as to what two of them are capable of. I judged it too risky to attempt obfuscation that could be misinterpreted as resulting from hostile intent toward the Karaz Ankor, particularly with their past history involving those extending the hand of friendship.
That last I can take out if the whole Dawongr Malekith history isn't as known as I think it is.
[X] [BLOOD] Regimand will call in a favour
[X] [REPORT] You told Thorgrim the truth, against the orders of your Magister Patriarch
Ironically, I favour honesty whenever possible. After all, was it not Captain Jack Sparrow who said that you can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest, but never know when an honest man might be dishonest?
Barring someone telling me otherwise, I'm pretty sure Mathilde will know that Malekith was trusted by the dwarves - it's a matter of regret, but I believe it's the sort of thing that would be taken as adding to the Grudge, rather than as something that should be forgotten. Probably won't know the full details of the story though - it's not something that they like talking about, and pre-Waystone Project she hadn't worried as much about the dwarf-elf history.
BTW, is your vote intended to correspond to telling, with a subvote adding details - or are you only in favour of telling if your subvote wins? Because the vote is currently very close on that issue:
Adhoc vote count started by kingreaper on Oct 16, 2022 at 10:35 AM, finished with 17 posts and 14 votes.
-[X] Thorgrim can almost certainly draw on the energy of other Karaks to unknown purposes. With the hierarchical and ordered nature of the Dawi I judged it too likely that his throne might be able to draw upon the functions of the crowns of his subordinate kings, of which I barely have hints as to what two of them are capable of. I judged it too risky to attempt obfuscation that could be misinterpreted as resulting from hostile intent toward the Karaz Ankor, particularly with their past history involving those extending the hand of friendship.
-[X] Thorgrim can almost certainly draw on the energy of other Karaks to unknown purposes. With the hierarchical and ordered nature of the Dawi I judged it too likely that his throne might be able to draw upon the functions of the crowns of his subordinate kings, of which I barely have hints as to what two of them are capable of. I judged it too risky to attempt obfuscation that could be misinterpreted as resulting from hostile intent toward the Karaz Ankor, particularly with their past history involving those extending the hand of friendship.
-[X] Thorgrim can almost certainly draw on the energy of other Karaks to unknown purposes. With the hierarchical and ordered nature of the Dawi I judged it too likely that his throne might be able to draw upon the functions of the crowns of his subordinate kings, of which I barely have hints as to what two of them are capable of. I judged it too risky to attempt obfuscation that could be misinterpreted as resulting from hostile intent toward the Karaz Ankor, particularly with their past history involving those extending the hand of friendship.
[X] [BLOOD] Regimand will call in a favour
[X] [REPORT] You told Thorgrim the truth, against the orders of your Magister Patriarch
"You're sure it won't cause you any trouble?" You ask Regimand.
"I'm sure it will - looking for Vampire blood is definitely something that will attract the wrong sort of attention." He smiles. "That's the bait for my next set of blackmailers. I could do with an excuse to get out from behind a desk.
"Don't you worry about me; even with the incident I've still got years more experience than you - and plenty of contacts in the other orders to call upon." He must see something in your expression, because he starts scratching Wolf behind the ear. "I know you must have left a lot of friends behind with the Jaunt, but you're already making new ones; and many of them you'll meet again."
"Losing such a large part of my life, it's hard to acknowledge sometimes." You smile wanly. "But in exchange I've regained a part of my life I'd previously lost."
---
"First, let me start by saying I wasn't expecting the High King to arrive before we departed. It required him to know about Vlag returning before any message had reached him, and then to immediately make his way there by means of a gyrocarriage capable of holding his throne - which I didn't know he had." You shrug. "And even given that he arrived swiftly, I expected us to be gone by the time he did - as I hadn't predicted the siege engines of the daemons nor that the plagued ones would join in - both of which bogged us down."
"So you were on the spot, and you made a call." Melkoth taps his pen against his desk. "What call was it?"
"I told him about the Jaunt."
Melkoth tenses up slightly. "Why?"
"He was on his throne, and wearing his crown. I don't know what either of those artefacts do, but the Ancestor Gods were no fools and the High King needs to be able to play politics with the best of the best."
"So he forced you to tell him?"
"No... I went in there having already decided I was going to tell him everything." Melkoth is now taking constant notes as you speak. "I needed knowledge that I knew he considered a major dwarven secret in order to bring Vlag back, so he was going to want an explanation of how I knew what I knew; and while I could probably just refuse to answer that would leave him feeling suspicious of the colleges and what Teclis might have taught us.
"Even with it being a clear good deed towards the dwarves, they have experience with treachery from magic-users they considered their friends - and Thorgrim quite simply doesn't trust in non-dwarves."
"I thought you hadn't interacted with him much?"
"I hadn't - I met him once, and received two letters he wrote. But those letters..." You sigh. "I wrote to him on behalf of King Belegar, asking for aid. He wrote us off because he didn't factor in the non-dwarven aspects of the defence - even a tower built through collaboration between Algard and Kragg the Grim was ignored.
"But it was the second letter which really made his opinions clear: After I recovered Karak Vlag he declared that I had the soul of a dwarf."
Melkoth giggles. "Seriously?"
"He declared a grudge against Ranald for stealing it, with the proviso that said grudge might be written off if I did enough good things for the dawi."
Melkoth breaks out into full laughter. After a few seconds he regains his composure. "The only things dwarven about you are your height and your hair-style."
"So you can see why I needed to nip that kind of thinking in the bud?" He nods. "With refusing to answer off the table my options were lying and the truth - and I have no idea what his crown and throne are capable of, but I'd bet on the Ancestor Gods including some way to catch lies spoken in his presence."
"I can see your logic." Melkoth sighs. "But Algard's already thinks you're grasping for the limelight. Going against his explicit orders isn't going to sit well.
"I'll talk to him, argue your case. It's the least I can do for someone rumoured to be either my paramour or my granddaughter." He smiles at you. "You're still a bit young for either of those, but I've been told to give the rumour mill a little nudge now and again to keep speculation in the wrong ball-park."
-
It's an hour later when an usher takes you to Algard's office. As you enter, Algard's eyes seem more stormy than usual.
You sit down next to Melkoth, who smiles at you reassuringly.
"You disobeyed my explicit instructions." Algard speaks with a firmness you rarely hear. "And in so doing may have jeopardised the diplomatic gains of the mission you undertook."
"But may also have saved those gains from an unforeseen complication." Melkoth responds.
"Which is why I'm letting her remain your problem for now." Algard turns back to you. "If you made the right call, then within a year the dwarves should be willing to offer us tunnel-fighters and training to push the Skaven out of a few undercities."
"And if they aren't?"
"Then you'll have disobeyed orders in a way that doesn't help the Empire, rather than acting in a manner that only you knew to be necessary." He frowns at you. "And I'll be reassigning you to the purge of Under-Altdorf where me and Starke can keep an eye on you."
"About the under-city-"
"Starke's and I have discussed your concept of using the renegades as a defensive line." Algard interrupts. "But if you broke my orders on a bad call with the dwarves, I'd have no reason to trust your judgement on Skaven psychology either; though I won't put you up against the rebels personally.
"Oh, and until we know which way that wind is blowing, I'm cutting you off from the credit of Magister Grey."
-
As you leave the office after a full debrief and dressing down, Melkoth pats you on the shoulder.
"Success is the ultimate balm for insubordination. I trust you to get the dwarves on board - and in a few months we'll be taking down Alkharad before he can establish that college of his." He smiles down at you. "Once those are done I'm sure all will be forgiven."
[Can't spend College Favour that was earned prior to graduation, nor the Great Deed from Queekish until re-authorised to do so.]
