>>12604840
Have we been appropriately taunting Khaless while he's in the box?

As for speaking with anyone, do we still have any of the mercenaries with us, or did they all retire? I can't remember.

>>12604866
of course you have been. And yea, whats left of the mercenaries are traveling with your maniple for safety, they'll be gone as soon as you hit DragonsReach

>bumping with current depleted-ass troop counts

196th Legionary
Gaius Rex
140/200
average

454th Legionary
Cornelius Hoursch
113/200
(+10 on guard duty at Collins village)
Average

98th Warlords
Uurist Titius
54/150
Average

99th Hunters
Aurelius Caspius
45/75
average

50th Dwarven Scouts
Finian Gaurush
65/100
Average

65th Dwarven Rangers
Kyria Esfelda
-arm useable, but nowhere near full capacity
40/75
average

House Garlian Uursan Cavalry
Lady Jayne Garlian
39/50
average

Peasant Archers
Wulf
100/100
Average

Blackmoore Freeblades
Arthurius Tezrah
9/150
bad

Neshtifeld Myrmydons
Aaryn Wayde
13/135
bad

Let's talk to our new recruit from last session. Get a general feel as to how he's like.

You ride up to the now nearly empty wagon used by the wounded. Degrian is curled up against one of the poles holding up the wagons cover, wrapped up in a spare cloak, sleeping fitfully. "You move to ride away and talk later, but your Uursan snorts loudly, waking him with a start. He jerks upright, and stairghtens his long drooping mustache (its a huge fukkin fu man chu starting above his beak) before asking "How can I help the Commander?"

>>12605062
how are you liking the Legion so far?

>>12605062
"Just wanted to check in to make sure you were recovering all right. Those gnomes weren't fooling around."

"I was wondering how you were recovering, the gnomes we saved you from were set on harming you to a rather extreme extent. you reply, although you can see a great sadness form in Degrians eyes at the mention of the Gnomes "and i was curious as to how you are liking being in the Legion after a week."

Degrian clicks his beak before replying "The food isnt very good, the cloths are too big and the doctors tools are frighteningly large, aside from that I am enjoying it well. I heal well, though wish that I could leave cart already. You never tell that you have tinkerer in maniple, why not?" Degrian steps out of the cloak, swaying, but staying on his feet... a marked improvement from when you set the passed out Kaskyana down on the wagon and instructed your surgeons to see to him.

>>12605201
"We don't really consider the men in the maniple as tinkerers. We have them construct the weapons, armour and fortifications we need as we need them but that's all. I'm hoping your skills will make them excel. Also, what about the food isn't to your liking? I'll aim to fix that next time we get supplied and get you better clothing."

>>12605239
"No no" Degrian replies "The leader of the mechanics is a tinkerer, she took the weapon her... soldiers... have and improved it. Hers can fire many bolts rapidly without reloading action. She must have done that on her own, as her men have no such weapons, I would like to get my hands on her gears, see how she arranges them and how well she keeps them." Degrian replies, a slight whistle in his voice to the end of the reply, a noise you have learned to associate with mirth. "As to food, perserved is not good, will be solved when we meet hunting party, hope. CLothes I can fit when blade is made sharp again."

>>12605357
I assume she means Kyria then.
"You can ask her then to see the gears. I'm sure the two of you can learn a lot from each other and work together. I might need to speak to her myself... The idea of a unit with crossbows that do not need to be reloaded after each shot is intriguing... What was the item you used when the gnomes went hostile anyways?"

"That was gear they want badly. Expertly forged, use in head of construct, gear within gear withing gear of Dwarven Steel. To use to kill with is terribly sad, gear can do many things with power... many many useful things. I would be happy to talk with Kyria more, thank you for saying you will arrange. can I help you further?" Degrian replies

>>12605524
"That will be all for now. Go back to resting."

I can't think of anything else at the moment. Oh yes, what did we get off the gnomes in the end?

>>12605603
Seconding this.
After checking what we looted, we should have Kyria talk with Degrian about improved weapons.

"Thank you for your time Degrian" you reply, nodding to him as you ride off. Aside from the small chest-full of power-stones you got from the gnomes you found two mauls made of the stuff, and a trio of their swords, which are about the length of your forearm, and as thick as your middle three fingers at their base, you realize just how little the gnomes had on their persons materially... curious. You can see several figures in crimson growing larger off to the front of the column. If you hurry you might be able to talk with someone else, but you might not finish the conversation either...

>on a side note, where is everybody?

>>12605716

present and accounted for

how do you activate the shock in the power stones?

do say a word , or point at what you want shocked?

how powerful is the shock itself?

also , might as well go and meet this caravan

>>12605716
No clue. Maybe it was the change in picture? I suggest we talk to Kyria and mention Degrian would like to see her crossbow and that we'd like to talk to her more about that later on.

>>12605716
I'm here.
Just want to let Kyria know that Degrian is interested in her work, and we'd like to talk with her about it later.

>>12605771
you have no idea as to how the stones work. Dengrian would be able to tell you however. You mention to Kyria that Dengrian would like to talk to her about her bow, and that you would as well, when time allows. she replies with her usual peppy enthusiasm as you ride on ahead to meet the hunting party you sent out.

When you are about 20 yards from the sight of the parties kill, two large, tasty looking boarox that set your stomach to growling with their promise of fresh meat, your Uursan refuses to advance any further. At first you are perplexed, but then your hunters start sprinting your way, and you can see why now. Three huge Uursan roil out of the woods near the kill, the two larger ones are fighting each other, one black as midnight, the other the color of a summer evenings stormcloud. The third, slightly smaller than the others is a deep russet, and is watching the battle closely. Your mount rears up, throwing you from its saddle, and runs towards the column, leaving you alone on your freshly recovered legs, trying to decide whether you should run back to the column as well, or try your hand at catching and perhaps taming some of these beasts. to your left you see the saddle-bag that fell from your fleeing mount, your shield strapped to its outside edge, a rope, dagger and the net you had jokingly said you would use to catch a bird to eat with last night to your captains.

>had to change the pic, my usual was a dupe tonight, got used in a thread back on page 13 or 14

>>12605934
Oh, why do I think this will end horribly... Has Jayne come forward yet? I think we should get her in on this. She DID say she wanted to tame one for herself and we might want her help if we do attempt to do it.

>>12605934

grab all the gear from the saddle bag then go for the smart one , the one waiting for the other two to tire each other out

>>12605934
We need to get Jayne and her heavy cavalry up here; they're the uursan experts.
Hell, maybe today will be Jayne's lucky day and we'll be able to catch them.

Tame the smart one. Also, just happen to be a bit tired tonight as well as being busy, so I'm just refreshing occasionally

Jayne thunders up on her mount, dismounting next to you, rope net and shield already at the ready. "After that conversation we had a few weeks back, I would think your had planned this out. I'll take Stormcloud" she says, nodding to the gray Uursan "If I finish first... you owe me for the bet I lost to Sansa" she says, before shouting to get the beasts attention, and staring down the one she has already named, beating the butt of her knife against the shield the commandeered.

You can hear the maniple watching you from a safe distance, as your impromptu lesson on taming Uursan rushes back to you. Get its attention, dont show any fear, get on its back and show it whose boss... without hurting it. If your not strong you can always try to tame it slowly in captivity, but most wild Uursan languish and die in captivity, something about the taming process helps the intelligent beasts cope with their new life.

>roll for the first bit.

rolled 61 = 61

>>12606157

can we name the smart one Spite?

rolled 82 = 82

>>12606157
Damn. Too late to make my roll. Let's see what I would of got.

Well shit looks like we might get mauled to death.

You collect your kiteshield, and the rest of your gear before running at the russet, the great bear standing, on all four, sizing you up. You scream at it at the top of your lungs barreling towards the beast, eyes locked.

The uursan stands motionless, staring you down until you are a few feet from it, at which point the beast roars back at you, the vocal emission nearly knocking you off of your feet, the beast rears up on its hind legs, going from about your height to half again as tall.

>roll again to start trying to tame this fellow

rolled 8 = 8

>>12606296

get ready to use the botch

rolled 33 = 33

>>12606291
Rollan

rolled 45 = 45

>>12606308
Well shit I guess we got this in the bag. Will this role affect the taming of both our mount and Jayne's?

rolled 59 = 59

>>12606308
Excellent job sir. I salute you today.

>>12606308
I smell a designated Roller!

rolled 78 = 78

>>12606296
Well won't this be fun.

rolled 27 = 27

>>12606296
Just how big are these Uursans, and how much smaller is the smart one compared to the two fighting ones?

We should take some of the meat to Laelith after we finish here, I doubt she will come out of her tent and get it on her own due to the scarring and everyone deserves some fresh cooked meat.

Also we want her loyal and willing to tell us about the old gods, magic, all that stuff. She used to be a researcher, I'm sure she has plenty of information. And if we trigger some sort of romance flag, all the better.

The uursan bears down on you, but you slip out of its path, its huge paws leaving great craters in the snow where you just were. Now positive that you have the bears attention you decide its time to somehow get on the thing. As you circle the bear, both of you studying each other, you hear Jayne let out a whoop of uxhiliration, the russet Uursan turns its head to look, but you know that cry well, and figure she's already mounted her pick. Moving while the russet colored beast is watching Jayne you ram your shield into the Uursans face, stunning the bear and knocking its front half to the ground. Wasting no time you pull out your rope and sling it around the uursans neck. The beast doesnt even notice your weight as it rises, but as soon as it does it rears up, and you barely manage to stay on top of it between the rope around its neck and the strength of your legs. In the distance you can see the black uursan dragging the hindquarters of a neberreh out from behind the boarox. Mmmm, venison.

>keep on rollin

rolled 35 = 35

>>12606421
Bear taming time.

>>12606374
These are all fully grown wild Uursan, so about 3/4ths again as large as a big warhorse, yours is about a foot shorter than the others on all four, and proportionally weighted. An average born and bred in captivity Uursan is about a quarter again the size of a warhorse.

rolled 10 = 10

>>12606421
How smart is our bear anyway? And are we sure it's even smart? It could just be young and doesn't want to get involved, or its a female which the males are trying to fight over, or any number of things.

rolled 41 = 41

>>12606470

is there a limit to the number of mounts we can have?

ever since last thread ive been thinking about getting a griffon

>>12606545
Well I imagine we would have to pay for board and upkeep, and that exotic mounts would cost extra. Other than that, why would there be?

>>12606476
>from what you can tell, its been doing nothing but size things up since this whole thing got started, and from when up reared up... its a male. Just a bit smaller than most, and trying to make up for it with its mind.

The Uursan bucks and rears wildly, throwing its arms out as far as it can to its sides; you respond by digging your heels into its armpits, compelling the bear to put them back to a position more conducive to riding. It retaliates by launching itself upwards as soon as it is back on all fours, your shield arm flying free of the rope you are using, the shield going even further. When the uursan lands it starts heading for the forest, and you draw your knife. Behind you you can hear Jayne curse loudly, but you are to engrossed by the rapidly approaching trees to look to see why.

rolled 6 = 6

>>12606564
I assume roll?

>>12606571
Fuck yes. We are a bear taming savant.

>>12606571
If we succeed before Jayne and she isn't getting terribly mauled, we must go back to her riding our mount and simply say "Problem Jayne?"

And then ask what she'll owe us for losing after throwing that bet on someone who has never tamed a bear before.

>>12606571
Oh man, you're on a roll tonight.

>>12606624
I approve of this plan. Maybe we should even say that we'll decide later what she owes us for losing such a patently unfair bet.

>>12606571
FFFUUUU!!!!

The Uursan picks a large tree and leaps at it, about halfway up you feel yourself slipping, and you play last trick. You drive the knife into the meat between the Uursans shoulder and spine and the great bear roars in pain, falling from the tree. You can feel the lack of movement on its part, realizing that it intends to crush you, you wriggle the knife as the both of you fall. The uursan growls as it spins in midair, landing on its feet. You pull the knife out of the bears back, clean the blade on the beasts fur and move your grip to its blade it in one swift motion. The bear begins to buck you again, but you shout out, and crack the Uursan in the side of its head with the hilt of your blade, and it stills itself. After a few seconds you slap the Uursans hindquarters and it begins moving out of the forest. At the last tree it turns abruptly, ramming the trunk and throwing you off, you quickly get up to see the bear standing still, staring you down... but with what you assume is joy or amusement in its eyes, resentment and apprehension as well no doubt... but it lets you mount it again easily enough. You look around, and are able to catch the last few furious seconds before Janynes Stormcloud finnaly settles down with her still on its back. You check your right knee into your new mounts side, and it moves away from the blow, and towards Jaye and Stormcloud, you scratch the base of one of your new mounts ears, and it bucks its head up into your hand "Now what am I going to name you?" you ask the Uursan as you approach earshot of Jayne.

>well? what will you name it, I have one vote for Spite right now

>>12606756
Spite is fine.

>>12606756
Not that fond of Spite but I can't think of anything I like at the moment. I hate naming things in general.

rolled 50 = 50

I can't really think of a name aside from shit like Teddy, etc.

>>12606756
We totally need to rub in that we won the bet.

>>12606829
I like teddy, it's funny

>>12606756

where can we commission barding for Spite?

Spite sidles up next to Stormcloud and immediately starts growling at him, you check Spites skull when it tries to move against the larger uursan, effectively ending the issue. "That was hardly a fair bet Jayne" you state matter of factly "But it seems I get something out of you... the only problem is that I dont know what i want yet, dont worry though, I'll tell you as soon as I figure out what it is that I want."

Jaynes face drains of color, her cheecks flush, her eyes widen in terror and she smiles, all at the same time, it has a rather flattering effect on her swaet drenched form "You did a good job taming yours, but you still need me to train it... and a wash wouldnt hurt you either, you stink of sweat." she replies, directing Stormcloud back towards the bulk of the maniple, and you gesture to Spite to follow suit. "Your a bit heavy handed with teaching the poor little boy commands" Jayne tells you, looking over her shoulder and watching you. "We'll work on that before we reach DragonsReach."

Even though the sun isnt all that far past noon, you decide to treat your men and stop todays march early, as you can almost see Collins village, and you should be able to follow the main roads now.

>so, anyone you wanna talk to or anything in particular you want to do?

>>12606981

can we try and interrogate khalless again?

the dice are being oddly good to us tonight so we should get the most out of it while we can

>>12606981
Either have our chat with Kyria and Degrian or talk to Laelith. We need to try to get on decent speaking terms with that elf girl at some point. Especially if we're keeping her around.

Do this.
>>12606393

>>12606756

Spite is awesome, if only for being a hilariously appropriate Malus Darkblade reference.

>>12606981
Once the meals have been prepared, bring Laelith her meal.
Justinian himself shouldn't eat or drink until the men have had their dinner.

>>12606981
Let's go be nice to Laelith. Maybe we can get her to tell us a story about the old days.

If you know what I mean.

>>12607016

been waiting for someone to get it

also , yeah , i guess go bring fresh boarox meat to laelith and make nice , we could also see about getting the good life goddess to fix her face.

>>12607047
On that note... I'm wondering if the gods had any changes in us after our battle with Khalless.

>>12607078

im still voting for Neshai and Raynha as our not quite patrons , but gods we accept help from or go to for help

also , ask laelith about uurlanth since we'll be going there soon ,

As the maniple is happily going about preparing and cooking the fresh boarox, and whats left of the neberreh you look over to see Degrian and Kyria chatting. walking over them you hear Kyria happily describing the workings of her "repeater" to the kaskyana, who while he is clearly is most certainly not watching her face, though he is so subtle about it you doubt that she even notices. "Degrian loves how I got my repeater to work, cant believe that I didnt need to use any gears for it, but he thinks if we have enough time he could outfit my whole unit with it. I told him the process takes alot of the punch out of the bolts, but this little guy wants to do it just the same." Kyria pauses to take a breath, clearly overjoyed to have someone approving of her work "He also thinks he needs to re-write how my unit builds fortifications after he saw the plans book we worked out commander... what do you say?"

You can smell the meat cooking, if you want to get a decent, fresh cut to your reclusive elementalist you will need to keep this conversation short.

>>12607109
We have a month of leave I believe to recoup our strength. So unless we go understrength or we're assigned to a new maniple, we're not going anywhere yet. I'm pleased at the fact we did this with a bunch of reserve units. Now they're experienced troops at least.

>>12607135

sure , have them brainstorm up some ideas and have it on our desk by friday

>>12607135
"He's the expert engineer. If his methods don't take exceptionally longer, I see no reason to not improve our techniques. If they do, perhaps we can have a combination of methods based on the situation. Also, a unit of rapid-firing crossbows would be devastating in ways other than just punch I would think."

And so begins the construction of a machinegun. Goodbye enemy morale when they are hit with it.

>>12607135
Hmmm. Yeah sure, the rangers are built for closer in fighting anyway with their mail as opposed to leather. Chucking more bolts at the enemy would be fine. They could be used against lightly armored foes while our rangers use armor piercers with their bigger bows.

>>12607135

also , tell them we can just slather the bolts of the crossbows with a potent poison like the chinese did

>>12607164
Crossbow machine gun nests combined with Roman style fortifications and trenches?
Uurlanth is going to get introduced to WW1, Roman Style.

Let's keep this short, tell them good job and to draw up the plans and get them to us. Congratulate Kyria too, say we will think about proposing it to the army at large if it's effective. And the poison idea is a good one too.

Now let's go get a prime cut.

>>12607164
What about for emplacements and heavy squad fire support, we build a bigger repeating crossbow that needs a sling in order to be carried and fired, to increase range and hitting power while keeping the machine-gun aspects?
Let's introduce our enemies to the Heavy.

I think outfit half of them with repeaters and the other half with standard crossbows. repeaters lose power that the standard has. We shouldn't just have a high rate of fire, power is important too.

>>12607223
Honestly, I think we need to develop a new troop type first. From what I remember of our options in terms of troops for infantry, it was only light or heavy infantry. We REALLY need a medium class. If we had medium class troops instead of the merc light classes, they likely wouldn't of taken losses as bad as they did against the Duchy heavy infantry.

>>12607242

which is why poisoning the bolts would make up for the loss of pentration

>>12607223

Or 2-man crewed repeating ballistae. One guy carries the assembly, the other has ammo & the tripod.

Suddenly, Imperial Gueard Heavy Bolters, everywhere.

>>12607254

so humans or lacerta in heavy chain mail with hand weapons and shields for all around effectiveness

"As long as Degrians techniques dont take much longer, I see no reason not to defer to the experts opinions. Enjoy yourselves." you reply before walking towards one of the food lines. You wrap your cloak around yourself when no-one is looking, disguising yourself. After getting a nice steak and some beans and berries your scavengers managed to dig out of the snow you make your way to Laeliths tent. You enter to see shards of glass everywhere. "I brought you food, again." you announce "If you dont feed yourself you'll waste away, and as a member of my retinue, I cant allow you to do that."

Laelith sighs, but when she turns and sees the plate with fresh, recently cooked meat she cocks a lopsided grin "You certainly know the way to an elfs heart. Now what are you trying to bribe out of me today commander?" she replies.

>roll persuasion and give me a question or three to ask

>>12607261
If we're talking about getting kills against a force of light infantry, yes.
But if it's a force of heavy infantry with shields, then the bolts likely will not penetrate, and the poison will not have an effect.

>>12607261
unless you penetrate the armor, poison is useless. I just want to be sure we can get through the armor
we can poison the standard bolts too if we want

rolled 18 = 18

>>12607286
Is the result of what happened to her face tormenting her that much?

>>12607272

well , if we want a heavier variant of the repeating crossbow , we'd need to come up with our own design because the current design requires the user to rely on his own arm strength to rack the bow assembly which fires the bolt

a ballistae variant would need an awful lot of gears to lessen the load

luckily we have degrian and his magical gear know how

>>12607272
>Suddenly, Imperial Gueard Heavy Bolters, everywhere.
No, no.
Imperial Legion Heavy Bolters.
We'll need to pick only the strongest, in order for them to be mobile while still carrying the weapon and being armored.
Their emplacements should be actual fortifications, with armored roofs as proof against volleys.

>>12607323
I suppose also ask about the glass and reassure her we're not here to bribe anything out of her. If she's going to be working with us, we need to get past this whole bribe for help relationship.

rolled 96 = 96

>>12607286
Ask about her old research into the first age and ask her if she would be willing to practice her abilities alongside us.

Small steps, she will be ours.

>>12607286
Ask about the glass and if she really thinks herself that ugly now. I mean, if she was so ludicrously smoking before I can't imagine a few scars make her hideous. She probably still has amazing bone structure, body, and an appealing demeanor.

>>12607378
>an appealing demeanor.
Ditching the teachings of the Succubus Queen can only help.

>>12607306

the hunters and their longbows can take care of heavily armored foes , while the scouts and rangers deal with lighter armoured enemies who can be easily decimated due to the poison


also , ask laelith about uurlanth , her life their , its cities and its government , its geography , and the general mix of races and creeds that inhabit it

and ask the good life goddesss to fix her scars

>>12607406
We aren't a priest of the life goddess nor trained in life magic broseph. I don't see how that would work.

>>12607429

she healed our arm when we helped out the sullen mountian clan orcs , so i dont see the harm in asking

Looking around, your initial questions bleed from your mind, and you feel like the scum off of an ass's shoe again. "Is... is what I did to you still that fresh of a wound to you?" you ask, gesturing at the glass on the ground.

laelith sighs, a look of sorrow in her eyes now "No, its not you I'm angry with anymore... its myself. The fact that I needed to have this" she says, gesturing to her face as she takes a bite "done to me to return to reality. It reminds me of how far from my true self I was brought. I was a scholar... a damned pacifist. I was a bit promiscuous; and thats how He got Her into my head. When my friends tried to slow down the rate I was going through... partners, I raged at them, ruined their lives. When my family came to take me, well... I'd rather not discuss that. I thought I could burn off the emotions in battle and bed, with the heat of lust and flame, it only hid the damage I had done to myself. I can hardly stand the sight of my own face to be honest." she is watching you intently, looking for... something, the whole time she unburdens herself on you, though you have no way of knowing whether she found what she was seeking. "I have a question for you now though, and before you object, after all you asked me its only fair. Why are you trying to help me? Why spare me from a swift justice with this chance at redemption that I dont deserve?"

>>12607448
that was the good earth goddess giving you a reward for protecting/helping them. It may not be her domain, but gods can do all sorts of crazy shit just because they are, in fact, gods.

>>12607473
"Beyond a few exceptions, everyone deserves a second chance if they're willing to take the steps to do so. By turning away from what you became and by helping us stop Khalless, you've shown you're one of those that deserve it. You may have taken and ruined many lives in the past but you helped save a lot more in the past few weeks. It may not forgive what you did but it's a start. Only as long as you're willing to deserve it."

>>12607473
We should probably be honest and tell her that it was a combination of events. We needed information and aid is why we initially recruited her, and we've given her the chance at redemption because we believe she deserves it and earned it through her own efforts earlier. We didn't make her keep to her word. She could have tried to run in the middle of the battle and we would have been hard pressed to ever catch her.

We offered her a hand out of that pit, but she was the one who grasped it. Now it's our turn to make sure she can use that chance.

>>12607473

a life full of hate and destruction and meaningless sex is not a life worth living.and everyone deserves a second chance , no matter what they did in the past

this is what i think justinian would say , not exactly my opinion , but i digress

>>12607406
we've been facing a lot of heavy infantry.
it just doesn't make sense to reduce the power of a weapon designed to punch through armor.
I agree that repeaters are awesome, but we need anti heavy gear. I still say half repeaters, and half standard.

>>12607532
Might not be necessary. If we go east to face the elves, I doubt they'll be as heavy armed as the Duchy troops were. The repeaters might be best actually and it might result in a new unit being formed in the empire if they're really successful.

>>12607493

also , once we're done here , can we go see whats up with neshai and raynha?

>>12607525
Oh come on, Justinian is not THAT much of a boyscout. She earned her redemption, we don't just hand it out.

"I'll be honest with you Laelith" you reply, sitting down "At the time, I deeded information, and a boost in manpower. That was me extending you a hand, though I didnt know it then. The fact that you told me what I needed, and stood up to fight against a dwarf who fancied you to be his wife, instead of running in a battle you know that I would not be able to catch you during, or betraying me proved that you deserved the chance. And even though after everything you have done you may not feel you deserve that chance; I believe that almost every living being deserves one; and you proved to me that you deserve yours." you reply earnestly. "However, you were right... I did come here with business in mind as well. What can you tell me about Uurlanth, dont exclude anything, my knowledge is tainted by my service."

cont'd

I present to you how a 12 year old sees an imperial legion heavy bolter.

>>12607733

That's awesome.

Well, as you know Uurlanth is ruled by their king, each of the nine major cities is ruled by one of the most influential lords, all of whom answer directly to the king. Each Major Lord commands several Lesser Lords, usually three or four, as well as a number of knights and favored merchants within the city the more important family rules from. The Lesser Lords have small cities or large towns for their holding, and hold sway over whatever villages were not given to their Lords favored knights and merchants... the lesser Lords give of their smaller holdings as their betters do of course."

Laelith takes a breath before continuing "The peoples are mostly humans, with mostly elfs and felixsians for the non-human population. there is very little commerce with the elven lands to their east, as the Masters of the Seven Guilds see little to be gained from the Uurlantihins. Culturally, they are nearly the opposite of your Empire. In the larger cities they pursue not science but philosophy, and the status of the common man is much more liberated and free than the average plebeian, and in the capitol of TruthsHaven the rights of even your empires citizens are surpassed by the common man... of course those are by the laws of the commoner, and while they are more free they still have no choice but to bend the knee and obey whatever the king and his lords say. and the further from the larger cities you travel, the more you find that what is law in the city is merely concept or fantasy in the towns and villages."

cont'd

Laelith begins scraping the last of her food together on the plate you brought her "The nobles adhere to a code more than anything, so long as the code remains unbroken they are free to do whatever they wish. Most of the codes they hold are still breakable, only when two lords so ignore the code that they are arraying forces against each other is there ever any intervention from the king, and punishment is meted out. Is there anything you wanted to know about Uurlanth? The capitol is quite amazing, carved out of marble, white granite, silver and platinum; perched along lip the crater created when the First King led the people of Uurlanth to kill the matriarchs and patriarchs of the fire, earth, and water clans of elementals."

>*pant pant pant*

>>12607803
Why do they keep waging war against the empire? If I remember a previous thread correctly, it was they who were the aggressors while the empire would prefer to remain at peace.

>>12607803
Tell us about the Guild lands.

they want to controll the ENTIRE fertile valley that separates the two nations, its the best farmland on the continent, even the third that either nation normally holds puts out enough food to keep armies much larger than the homeland could support afield.

(thats the kinda stuff you already know though)

So uh, what do you do in here all day? Practice elementalism and break mirrors? I can do the first one, if you don't mind having company.

>>12607888
My mistake. What does the people of Uurlanth think of the Empire in general?

Maybe you could tell us a little bit about elves. Both what we know and ask Laelith about anything we should be curious about.

Right before we leave we should ask her what she said the other day as we were walking out.

>>12607875
Laelith sighs "the lands I grew up in... The elves control these lands. as I'm sure you know elves live their lives in pursuit of perfection, like most dwarves. But where the stout folk will do their best to make perfection, or tear it from whatever they need to savage to attain it, the elves will wait for perfection to come naturally. The Guild Lands are ruled by the guildmasters of the seven greatest guilds, the guild of the Artisans, Craftsmans, Warriors, Armorers, weapon-smiths, hunters and scholars. There are lesser guilds, but their purposes are the same, to ensure that every elf has the space and materiel for their pursuit... I feel going deeper than that on this matter will bring up too many memories for me at the moment. Have you any further questions, or can I return my plate to the chef?"

>>12607941
That and if she still feels like she needs to kill Khalless. She said she's tell us at the palace but let's see if we can get it now. Also tell her if she needs anything, she should send word for us.

rolled 30 = 30

>>12607952
More questions about elementalism and helping us out with it?

>>12607982
Heh, if nothing else we'll be spending time with her and learning what she can do. Both good things.

>>12607952
We can go return it together, I still need to get some food myself. By the way, what did you say the other day as I was leaving?

"Well, would you mind telling me what you muttered when I left your tent the other day?" you ask, hopefully.

Laelith chuckles "I was merely thinking about whether or not I wanted to skin him alive or torch him. And before you ask about help with elementalism, unless I read you wrong after you first tried meditating you are studying earth, an introverted art, whereas fire is very extroverted. If you manage to manifest your powers I would be happy to help you practice them in sparring, but until then I can be of no use. now if you'll excuse me commander I need to clean my tent." You decide to gracefully leave before you anger the temperamental elf again.

>anything else you want to get done? if not roll for meditation for elementalism, and training Spite, Fluffy and Scaly (in that order, one roll per person)

rolled 13 = 13

>>12608053

rolling for earthbending

rolled 44 = 44

>>12608053
I think we are good for now. I want to get back to the capital damnit, heh.

rolled 94 = 94

>>12608053
I assume we feed ourselves. Can't think of anything else.

>>12608053
Did we ever get a response from the letter we sent back to the capital with our eagle?

rolled 26 = 26

>>12608053
With as much damage as we take, I wonder if we should train life magic too.

rolled 71 = 71

any word from our bird yet?
no right?

>>12608092
Perhaps we should try to encourage Laelith to go into life magic as we get to know her better. She did say she was a pacifist and all. What better way to try to get in touch with her old self than by going that route?

rolled 11 = 11

>>12608053

Rolling Fluffy

rolled 54 = 54

>>12604866
sup guys, kinda rolling? most everyone already did.

Gonna be on and off. Playing League of Legends with some buds of mine.

>>12608102
Devote herself to Neshai, eh? Hmmm. That could work.

rolled 96 = 96

>>12608053

Suppose I should roll Scaly, then.

rolled 34 = 34

>>12608102

but then we lose our flame flingin' elf and a valuable asset on the battlefield

rolled 50 = 50

>>12608142
We could turn her into our cleric. She'd minor in fire too.

>>12608146
Indeed but it might be better for her mentally and it'd help our troops off the battlefield a lot. Imagine how many people could be saved thanks to magical healing? How quick people could recover? It's something we should think about since I doubt it could even be done until we're on better terms with her.

In your tent at night your mind wanders as you settle into your meditative stance, Spite took to his training well, you barely need to direct him at all to get him to obey your commands, and he doesn't spook -as- badly when you try to seal the headguard on his mock barding... he still doesn't like your left hand near his front left shoulder however. Fluffy spent your whole time training with him chasing vermin and eating them, while you made some very good progress with scaly.

As you settle into your meditative stance, something feels different. You can feel the faults and cracks in the hard ground beneath you, the weight and give of the stones, every last shift in weight on the ground around you, you focus as much as you can, ignoring everything but the
>loose stones, faults and schisms, or motion on the earth?

>>12608160
Indeed, it would be nice to have a priestess of the love/healing/growth goddess around even if it doesn't end up being Laelith. We took some serious losses this campaign and need to curtail that.

rolled 28 = 28

>>12608167
faults and schisms!
TAKE THAT DEFENSE OR WELL ORGANIZED FORCE APART!

rolled 52 = 52

>>12608167

loose stones

theys be good for flingin'

>>12608167
Hmmm... All so promising. Not sure which to pick... I think either loose stones or motions of the earth. While faults and schisms are good, I imagine something of that level would exhaust us, meaning we'd be out of the battle. Is that something we want to risk?

>>12608167
>motion on the earth

Hell yeah long distance tracking and strategic intelligence gathering. I would also be fine with faults and schisms though.

rolled 60 = 60

>>12608167
What would motion of the Earth even do?

Faults and Schisms since we've been so combaty. I don't see what we can use motion on the earth for other than tracking enemy forces, but if our army is dispatched we already know where we will be fighting and we have scouts to find the foe.

>>12608250
Err, explaining my stance: I think Faults and Schisms will give us a strong tactical advantage, manipulating battles in our favor. Loose stones would be actual personal combat, and we already do fine there. Strategically we aren't really... you know, doing anything. We know where the enemy is going to be and such already mostly. Still, it might be worth looking into the larger strategic picture if we get promoted into directing multiple armies rather than just commanding in the field.

rolled 32 = 32

I was thinking faults and schisms more metaphorically as well. Figuring out cracks and weakness in all things we see as well as finding ways to repair them or further use them. That and also useful for finding chinks in armor or cracking open the earth under our opponent?

faults and schisms

>3 to 1 for faults and schisms

reaching out wmentally to the nearest fault, you pull at its edges, you try pushing levering, hitting it with your will... nothing seems to work. In frustration you mentally heave back on the nearest spot, while thinking of stabbing the stubborn patch of earth with your spear. You hear a great rolling tearing noise, and you fall backwards. Opening your eyes, you realize you misclassified what you could feel, it was neither a fault nor a schism, just a more maleable part of the ground... and you just pulled it up into a spike, roughly three feet high, about half a foot around... the tip isn't the sharpest, you discover after further inspection; but that should be easy to work on...

>anything else you wanna try to do before you get back to DragonsReach, or no?

>>12608303
Are we allowed one last interrogation roll or no? Otherwise I say let's head back to the capital.

>>12608303

talk with neshai and raynha

>>12608303
I think we're good.

>>12608315
I think we should be about SCIENCE! and HUMANITY FUCK YEAH! but still give the gods an ear. So yeah, let's see what the divine is up to.

>>12608333
>>12608315
I agree. since we are meditating, now is a good time

rolled 36 = 36

>>12608333
HUMANITY FUCK YEAH! We need to make it clear to them when we do though, that we are out to carve our own destiny, not to be someone's pawn. We respect their power, but we wish to be advance on our own and influence things the way we see fit. If their goals and purposes align with ours, by all means give us assistance. We will gladly accept. However, we refuse to bargain.

>>12608367
Let's not move too fast. We don't know much about them yet.

>>12608309
you did a pretty wonderful job of shutting yourself down last time, so probably not.
>>12608315
Neshai still doesnt know what to think of you from what you can tell, but Raynha is obviously pleased with how you've been carrying yourself, watching you more closely as well.

After another week and a half of riding your maniple finally reaches DragonsReach. The Imperial banners fly high above the cities walls, and there is even some small fanfare when you enter the city, your soggy box perched on Spites back behind you. However, upon entering the city you see an entirely different story being told. Men training everywhere, black banners hanging from villa and shanty alike. The patriotism is there, but no joy.

A runner summons you to the Second Praetorians chamber before you reach the Nobles Causeway you split from your maniple, continuing down the road towards the DragonBone Palace, you signal for Laelith and Jayne to accompany you. There is a horde of mercenaries clogging the road as you pass. Most of them light infantry, more than a few heavy and one or two in between. Most of the noble houses have men with horses and chariots in the stalls, simply waiting for a commander to walk up to them. None of the shouting from you last visit however, just tired men waiting for another shot at the war.

Once you reach the palace you switch Khalless over to Jaynes mount and make sure that the rebel leader is properly detained you lead Laelith to the second praetorians chambers.

"Ah, Commander Justinian" the man who commands the legions greets you "I'm glad you have finally returned, and with the leader of the rebellion alive, no less. And who might this lady be?" he asks, inclining his head to Laelith.

"She is one of the rebel leaders advisors, turned to my cause during my actions in the north. She will corroborate my report." you reply.

>wait to be questions, or use the brief silence to ask one yourself?

>>12608417
"I see that the entire capital is on a war footing. How is the fighting in the East?"

>>12608417

before i give my report i would like to know how long i have until me and my men are shipped to the battlefileds in the east , sir

Respectfully await his questions as an officer should. Trust me, just blurting out questions can piss some COs off, especially if they are sensitive issues.

>>12608454
I have to agree. None of these are so vital that we can't wait to ask them later.

>>12608464

alright then , after were done giving our report

>>12608454
You're right. Let's keep our mouth shut for now.

"How goes the war?" you ask before the Praetorian can begin his questioning of you.

The aging man sighs before responding "Not as well as I would like. As I'm sure you know our holdings extend out past our last fortresses in the east, as of the messengers that arrived before you, I expect to have lost everything up to the fortresses by the end of the month. In one months time you will be leaving the capitol with the rest of your cohort, bound for the southern front. The Breakwater Lords have been wreaking havoc on the last several forces we went to that front. Now, what of your last campaign, tell me in detail if you would... your briefing will come soon enough."

>how do you want to do this?

>>12608485
Be honest at this point and tell everything. Our initial letters stated they had might of had arcane artifacts but we should conclude that they were doing what they were doing without it. We have members in our legion that have wounds thanks to their magic use so it can be backed up. And we have Laelith.

>>12608485

tell him everything leading up to khalles' capture , the numbers of the enemy , our strategy , the recovery of the torches and brazier , and finish with not knowing where the second wife is.

what should we say about elementalism?

>>12608512
The truth I suppose. Hiding it might only make things worse and we can prove it exists.

>>12608503
Well, it's not really Magic as it's understood in the context of the setting; when you say Magic, they think First Age stuff.
No, most of what they were doing was elementalist stuff; still pretty damn rare, but not as unbelievable as magic.

After giving the full report of the combat actions, make mention of the sealed chests of magical artifacts we captured, and that there is still a sizable bandit force with a water elementalist on the loose.

rolled 21 = 21

>>12608512
The dudes we're at war with probably have at least one elementalist running around somewhere as well. It'd be better that we tell them now so they don't get possibly surprised later.

I don't think we should mention the gods. People who hear voices don't get regarded well.

>>12608568
Mention the rebels belief in the gods and the fact they put signs of the old gods in cities they burnt down. No point leaving that out I think.

Be sure to mention how we were outnumbered 5 to 1 and won.

>>12608574
Right, just not that WE hear the gods.

Be sure to mention Khalless is an earth elementalist so he doesn't escape through ignorance.

You keep the report short, sweet and to the point. "Excellent work Commander Justinian" the praetorian replies as you finish your report "I will give your report to the Emperor, and I will raise your campaign requisition from 30000 dragoons to 60. You were able to smash a fanatical force with numerical superiority and in some cases equal quality, I would like to see you with more at your disposal. I do have one last question however... why have you kept this one on your retinue, what is her purpose?" you nod to Laelith, who calls all of the flames keeping the interior room lit to herself, setting them in an orbit about her head.

The praetorian gapes at the elf "She is an elementalist, as is the second wife... and Khalless. The dwarf commands the earth to great effect, and is the engine that tore down the walls to Avensgate. I would highly recommend keeping him in his box."

After a few more moments the praetorian collects himself. "I will ensure that he is. In one week you will attend the dwarfs trial, and will be required to stand for Laeliths trial deferral. At the end of the month I will expect you here for your briefing. Ave Degnar commander, dismissed."

>any questions? if not I'm gonna call it for tonight; I'll be back saturday at 10is according to the server time.

>>12608646
What do we know about elves anyway? Or gnomes? Or the forces we are going to fight against? What are they mainly composed of?

>>12608669
mostly humans and elves, some felixsians, gut their minds just dont function right for military service.

until you saw those few on the way back to DragonsGate you thought Gnomes had died out during the first age

Elves live for about 1000 years, and are generally damn good at whatever it was they chose to master.

I can't think of anything else. Might be because I'm dead tired. Thread has also been archived.

>>12608692
thanks much, I'll see you guys saturday

I would like to talk with military R&D and weapons development, concerning our repeating crossbows and setting up a program to identify and train elementalists, but I guess we should have concrete results under our belt first.