zerozero said:
You do know that Mazzarin knows, he will use this info as he sees fit.
I ruled Mazzarin out. Forget necromancers, he knows about our involvement with the Fallen Lords. That's a death sentence.
But if Mazzarin sought to ruin us, all he needs to do is snap his fingers. Why start rumors and use middle-men when you can do everything yourself?
This is why I see it as a non-issue.
zerozero said:
The faceless man could of killing us when he/ she first got out of dreaming, he did what he said he would do
He also betrayed us in the Dreaming to get to that point, threatened to kill Lyssa and the girls to get our compliance, and would have stolen Nine if Uttu didn't get her from our backpack first. Not to mention our acquaintanceship started with him trying to drive us to suicide.
No thank you, I don't want to do anything with him for the moment.
zerozero said:
Morpheus has done what he has said he would do
He is a demon. He is bound to do what he says he would do. He was trying to get us to absolve him of his oath not to abduct us when we first met him.
If he can break his agreement with us to his benefit and keep this knowledge from spreading, I think he would have done so.
zerozero said:
nanshe has generally kept to her agreement
Was there a way for her not to? She told us plainly that she would have robbed us completely if she could have gotten away with it. Being honest and/or decent has nothing to do with it. Now, I'll give you that she tried to compensate us with things that were not terribly important to her, but I would still advertise extreme caution when dealing with her, as we work for two very different sides.
zerozero said:
We freed her to help us in sealing the tunnels, information and translating: and if I remember you said in a previous post that you saw her in a teaching/ adviser type of role in Muirhemne. We didn't release her because we were frighten of her.
As I said, it was one of the factors. We freed her because we couldn't have left her in the fort. Rand was also mentioned as a reason for that.
zerozero said:
Given the type of decisions that Derryth & co has made, we have taken a lot of risks time and time again, everything we do is a risk .... and the nature of mages is to take risks for power
True, true, but there are smart risks aka gambles, heroic risks like what we did with Miosguinn or at the Fort, and stupid risks like what we did with Melete's workshop. One needs to maintain a delicate balance there.
zerozero said:
Remember this is the guy who convicted an innocent dwarf to death and got you to be a part of it. he did this for his gain.
Innocent? Eberhardt was innocent of the most heinous crime of conspiring with the Dark, but he was still guilty of treason, and we have collected numerous evidence to that effect. He and his family would still hang, though some of his allies may have escaped.
As for 'doing it for his gain', Albrecht does what he believes is best for the country, and, naturally, thinks that he knows what's best. He sees instability as harmful, and so he tries to root out its causes. Now, he may be conceited, but I would not call him selfish.
zerozero said:
Derryth is selfish but generally good, we played along with this trial knowing that the dwarf was innocent and we did it for our gain.
The motives of Derryth are largely in the air, though I did that to be done with the unpleasant business quickly and to prevent a civil war among other things, seeing how the Eberhards had control over most of the officers and money. I just trusted that Albrecht knew what he was doing.
zerozero said:
Ok but you haven't answered the question what would you gain from joining the battle in the south? Given all the other hostile armies against the necromancer army everyone except the cloaked riders who are neutral.
I would gain access to Stoneheim and its resourses (we still have trading contracts to take care of, and 20 of our mercenaries are stuck there); fame as a war hero; an in with the military and the younger noble dwarves; a weakened Watcher who is seeking to kill us at all costs; and possibly Great Houses who are more loyal to the crown after we are done dealing with traitors. I would save the country that I made my investments in, preserve the military for future use against the ghols or rebels or what-have-you, and secure Albrecht's rule (as without external threats internal ones will have to keep quiet) for a while at least.
Not a bad list, all things considered.
zerozero said:
This was a act of desperation, he asked you to potentially kill his own family to save him, this will hurt his pride and if this got out his reputation as a ruler will be in tatters.
To save him? He asked us to save his country, not him. If he could just take his family and get away from it all, he would have done so. In fact, if you believe his words, that's exactly what he is saying here:
"If Jori had failed, if you had failed, then I would have been humiliated in front of the entire Assembly. I would have lost my throne and my crown and I would have been forced into exile but now I wonder if that might not have been better for me."
He knocks back his drink and pours another one, "At least if I had fallen, at least if I had even died, I would not have to see this, I would not have to dothis."
The problem is that he can't, because there is no one else fit for that job - or at least he thinks so. He has the "I am the state" mindset, though maybe a more benevolent one than Louis XIV had.
I see no reason to think that internal threats are more important than external ones. He will have to manage one while we tackle the other.
zerozero said:
I think that there are a lot of threats to his life and rule. The Watcher has been planning for awhile to dis-stabilize the dwarven kingdom.
If he was this good of a ruler, he would need us to do anything for him.
That's a good argument, let me apply it to all instances of people that needed our help at some time or the other:
If Mazzarin was any good as a mage, he wouldn't have needed us to revive him.
If Morpheus was nearly anywhere as powerful in his realm as he says he is, he wouldn't have needed us to rescue him.
If Melete was such a genius, why did she not escape her prison with her contraptions?
Do you see a lapse in logic in all of those? Because I do.
zerozero said:
If the TWM sent the mazzarin letter as well- how does he know that we have a connection to Mazzarin to write M on it and to dress up the letter so extravagantly to suit Mazzarin's taste.
We told him about Mazzarin's return during our first meeting, and his journal speaks about our connection non-stop. He is ancient enough to remember what Mazzarin is like.
Seriously, this 'letter from Mazzarin' was a very poorly disguised trap.
Hell, it even pointed us to the exact same location where TWM is waiting for us to answer his challenge.
zerozero said:
I take it you mean the battle south as the fire but are we really needed, look at the hostile armies against the necromancer army who can deal with it (See above).
The necromancers are not the only threat. The ghols, the rebels and the cultists are another. Espesially now that we know some of the cultists infiltrated the ranks of the dwarven army. If the rebels are allied with the cultists, this might result in them taking control of Stoneheim or all sorts of nasty things.
The situation in the south is a mess, but there is only one side that I want to win, and if you look at it from that angle, they are definitely outmatched.
zerozero said:
She and the forces protecting her are not going to hang around for us. She will probably look for more allies and a secure location, she will be long gone.
We have taken our sweet time getting to the capital, she might already be long gone.
I can't waste time on a wild goose chase when there is a clear immediate danger that I can take care of.
9B as much as I wish all our rodents were dead and gone.
I knew it, I knew you cared!