>>13460566
Another odd vision to try to figure out eh... And no clues so far. Hmm.

"Have the other forces finished dealing with the men that left the fort or are they still occupied?"

Were we able to find out from the slaves who they were and why were they being kept there Pax? Or were they all too out of it?

>>13460601
>the remaining enemy troops are taken care of, and most of the slaves were out of it, but you gathered that they were either generational slaves, or political slaves, judging by the ones that were able to keep their food down long enough to talk

>>13460656
Political you say? Interesting. We may need to find out in what way at some point. If that's the case, I suppose it would be best to move out once we've made sure Lena is fine. I think she should sit out the raiding of the city.

>>13460566
If we're completely exhausted, see if one of our life elementalists can restore us. An army should NOT be going into combat with a commander who can hardly think.

>>13460656
Political slave may be useful later, in giving us information concerning the personalities of our foes.

Now, as for marching on the city; what defenses still remain?
Move all siege weaponry to the northern side to prepare to breach the walls surrounding the Lord's Manor; if we make an opening there, then we can get into the city while bypassing the other walls.

Additionally, I worked up our losses from assaulting the fortress:
Casualties recieved:
Impetus (light mercs)
- 4

196th (heavy infantry)
- 5

98th (Warlords)
- 14

Total losses suffered: 23

Casualties inflicted:
Levied archers
- 600

Levied swordsmen
- 139

Medium mercs
- 79

Heavy mercs
- 87

Total losses infliced: 905

Have we sent a runner to check on wolf and his detachment? If not lets send one

>>13460753
Yes, we need to know if any forces had actually taken the bait and left the fort, and how well the fires had burnt parts of the city.

You send a runner, and by noon, he returns with news that the rest of your maniple has Lord Blentus and his last few battalions confined to the section of the city that is sequestered off by stone walls. By evening you reach the city of Lost Conflux, all of the shacks to the west and south of the cities walls have burnt down, already the population is streaming south, giving the forests wide berth. As you move through the city it is clear that it has already been gone through, doors kicked down, some buildings smoldering lightly, as the cities now blackened outer walls still do. When you reach your camp, Sansa is commanding, Jayne never far from her side, no doubt keeping the woman from collapsing as you currently feel like doing. Scattered throughout the camp are piles of food and weapons, as well as gold and other items of value. "Losses were minimal" Sansa informs you "The noble bastard is holed up in his manor, guarded by two units of elven light infantry, one of archers, and two mercenary units, at least one of them has crossbows. All of his barracks, store-houses, his treasury, and anything else you would be allowed to claim is within his city within the city." she continues. "I apologize, commander, but I have not yet prepared the Bill for you."

>>13460878
"that's alright, have the siege weapons move into a position to fire on the troops on the wall"

>>13460753
sounds good to me

>>13460878
"It's fine Sansa. You look exhausted so take a break for now. I assume the stone wall is in the best condition it can be? Does he have the walls completely defended or is he focusing his men in certain areas?"

Initial ideas - Parlay with the man and see if we can get them to surrender or at least the mercs to give up. Secondly, spread out to surround the keep so he has to spread out his men. He only has two units with ranged units so that'll make certain parts of the wall safe to assault without getting shot unless he spreads his range out everywhere. With our ability to sculpt stone, if we can get close we might be able to make our own entrance.

Can we get a map of the walled area?

Does it look like Sansa has slept at all?

Is Wulf out cold or something? I wouldn't be surprised if he was.

>>13460906
>doesnt look like it, and yea, the wall is in excellent shape

>the area this map covers is a empty area surrounding the walled off section of the city, outside the map is your standard medieval urban sprawl.

Obsrvation: It seems the parting luck roll this runtime made the other night was the first in a series. Good to know.

Query: How long would it take to make a tunnel right into the fortified area?

>>13460993

Addendum: Assuming aid from other earth elementalists in our maniple?

>>13460990
Seems like the ideal thing to do is arrange most of our forces outside the range of their archers in the front while we lead a smaller unit into the rear and sculpt stone an entrance in and try to capture the lord or hit them from behind.

Do we have any idea of what is inside the walled off area? I am referring to builds and the like. We might be able to throw exploding fire pots into the fort and burn everything inside to the ground.

>>13460990
Motion to have our siege engine bombard those walls for a while. It'll outrange even their elven archers, and I see no pressing reason to storm our other troops into a well fortified position right now.

So we can hurl giant rocks at them for a couple hours while we catch a nap, and then we can move onto the assault from there once there are a couple very large holes in their wall.

>>13461010
But that's where our valuable loot is. We should avoid burning things unnecessarily if possible. Since we lack ladders, we're going to have to cause a breach in the wall...

Pax, I assume Sansa saw the banners of the mercs. Anyone Janos recognizes?

>>13461010
>the treasury, armory, barracks, food and water stores, library, the nobles villa (lots of expensive shit inside that)

>>13460905
Stone walls, eh?
And his manor is within the city...
It'll take a bit, but here's an idea: Us and all of our earth elementalists, with a small guard detail, sneak into the houses within elementalism range of the walls. We concentrate on bring the wall down in that section even as the artillery has been battering the opposite section of the wall to divert the enemy's attention.
Our own troops sneak into position, going through houses and such to not be seen and stay safe from elven archers.

Once the wall is breached, we storm the manor and fight the archers at close quarters.

>>13461043
We don't need to sneak. Our arcanist can generate a shield impervious to arrows- our earth elementalists can literally walk right up to the wall and tear asunder.

If we weren't completely exhausted, anyway.

And if they wouldn't pour flaming oil or something on us if we did that, so probably staying a little farther back would be good.

>>13461078
We definitely can't assault them until there's a breach in the wall since we have no way in but if we could sneak in, it would be useful. Maybe we could bribe some of those mercs again if we could talk to their captains or maybe just capture the Lord if we can get around them by sculpting the walls where it's not being defended. They can't have enough men to hold the walls in all 4 directions.

>>13461120
Sneaking in with any practical numbers of troops is a huge gamble and frankly unlikely to work unless Lena has a mass invisibility spell that we don't know about.

Anyway, this is a siege situation. Let's take advantage of the besieger's ability to choose when to attack, and get some rest. Finish looting the city, make sure there's a good cordon around the fort, and sleep for a bit while our siege engines bombard the fortress. When we, some of our other commanders and elementalists, and an elite unit or three are fully rested, THEN we assault- and we'll have a breach or two by then to do it through.


There is no reason at all to rush. The enemy's relief forces can't possibly get here for quite some time, as I understand the geography. We will lose far too many men by being hasty when we could be methodical.

>>13461120
All of his defenses seem clustered on the southern face; likely expecting us to slog through the city to get to his manor.

As I recall, the area map showed that the manor was at the norther edge of the city. We could move out heavy weapons into range, as well as assembling our cavalry there. We begin bombardment as our soldiers make to look camp.
When darkness falls, the siege weapons continue firing, but our soldiers sneak out and reassemble where we're about to breach the walls with elementalism.

>>13461177
Hmm. We should ask Wulf/Sansa if any of the enemy managed to get away and send out word to the enemy now that I think about it. Even if it's not applicable now, it would be nice to know when our enemy has an idea we're coming. You are right I suppose. Think we should try for a parlay to get the dude to surrender?

"Sansa, send for Janos, and take a nap, I'll take things from here, and dont worry about the bill, the days fight isnt over yet." you reply. Your aid nods her thanks and stumbles off, noticeably slumping as she walks away from Jayne.

"I suppose I have to keep you going now?" the noblewoman asks you, half sarcastic, half bone tired, reminding you that most of your command staff hasnt so much as taken a nap since you crossed the greyrun.

"You sent for me commander?" a strange sounding voice asks you. You turn to see a man in brown leather armor, a deep crimson cloak, and a steel mask, its face impassive yet harsh, approaching you, a large, ornately carved longbow slung across his back.

"Ah, Janos. Indeed I did, I was hoping you recognized one of the mercenary units inside Lord Blentus governing fortress." you inform the man as the revitalizing waves of Jaynes power wash over your body.

Janos pauses for a moment "I believe I did, the unit down behind the gatehouse, the Mirthless Warriors, they call themselves. Decently skilled, utterly ruthless, and loyal only to coin. Morwayne recruited them for a minor dispute with some of the Port Lords. So you need to speak with them?" he asks.

>>13461217
"It would be useful if we could. Any ideas on how we could or are we going to have to try to sneak in to speak to them? Even just hiring them to help us in this little siege would simplify things. Also, get some rest as well Jayne. We won't be running into battle right away."

>>13461217
Hmm...loyal only to coin...
We might be able to buy them off to open the gates for us, but we would still need to run through open territory while being shot at by elven archers.
But...if we do this at night and under cover of darkness, we might be able to get in before the enemy realizes what's happening.

>>13461206
>Think we should try for a parlay to get the dude to surrender?
I think that we should have Lena use a magic megaphone spell so that we can arrogantly boom out surrender terms across the battlefield.

Possibly also terms which we offer his troops if they betray him and hand over control of the fort to us. Which would be substantially more generous.

Gold doesn't burn. We can't take the armory with us. We get gather supplies from the rest of the city. I doubt that we'll have time to do research in his library. We don't care about the resell value of this place once we're done with it.

I say just burn it all down. The garrison will surrender once they see that they'll die if they stayed inside.

>>13461287
We should also inform the lord we know of his slaves in the fort and his impending death. If he surrenders, we will assure him we won't harm him.

Of course we just don't mention we'll just drag him back to the empire to be tried for what he has done.

>>13461304
It's very likely the guy will have valuable things other than gold though. They're definitely trapped and they know it and a barrage of our siege weaponry and a chance to surrender should work. If we could convince the mercs inside to tell us where their forces are and to help open the doors when it's time or butcher their archers when we make our assault, it'd be simple to do it without burning anything.

Plus, the more loot that's in there and is left unburned, the more we're going to get since we have promised the mercs a share of loot.

Don't forget that they most likely have more forces hidden inside the fort as well.

"If you think you could arrange for a meeting, yes, I think I might have a use for them." you reply "Now get some rest, I'm going to start bombarding this little fortress and want everyone well rested when it comes time to break it open." you reply, mulling over possibilities in your head.

"Have a few volleys from the ghosts and the 99th, I'll get the Warriors my message during that." Janos replies, heading off to his tent, presumably for a different sort of arrow than the broad-heads strapped to his back.

"Well commander, will you trust his plan? And what exactly is yours?" Jayne asks sleepily.

Did any soldiers/messengers escape south?

How long would a relief force take to reach us from the city to the south? (D-something's Ford, was it?)
How long do we estimate refugees to take to reach that city?

Also, we should have the Ghosts spread out into the sprawl around the manor and have them attempt sniper-style attacks on the soldiers manning that wall.
Fire and relocate. Perhaps in shifts to keep the pressure on the enemy.

We can also hit concentrations with our siege engines if they can stay relatively safe from enemy archers.

In any case, our forces should get some rest in shifts.

>>13461315
"Treated with all respect due a prisoner of your rank", is I believe how one puts that one.

Anyway, for now begin bombardment and have people get some sleep while we see about quiet dealings. Plan to demand surrender and subsequently launch a heavy elementalist/arcanist bombardment followed by an assault in oh, say, eight hours.

>>13461406
"That all depends on those mercs. If we can convince them to help us, it'll make getting inside easier. If not, we'll likely have to commit to a messy assault since we can't stay with a prolonged siege. We have no idea if they managed to send word to anyone at this point and we need to start hitting the crossings while we have the surprise."

Observation: This runtime feels we should begin writing down our visions whenever we start having waking dreams again. We may not remember all the details well enough later to make best sense of it all.

As for the current situation agreeing with >>13461430

>>13461430
Pretty much.

Though we should be careful of a triple-cross by the mercs.

Aurelius and Vesteaus walk up to you, looking confused "So, we're going with metal-mask to pester the enemy postion?" the elf asks, clearly hoping for clarification.

"That depends, if you two did your job and no Uurlanthians made it past the forest and we have time for a slow seige or not." you reply.

Aurelius grins "Not a soul made it through the forest, commander. Most of the commoners think its haunted, from seeing our eyes and the enemy soldiers dying from what seemed like nothing." he adds, twirling an arrow that has been painted black idly in his right hand. "So do we move or wait?" he asks. You start to think before responding, estimating how fast terrified pesants who believe their hated foes are employing the undead will make it to the nearest properly fortified city, and trying to conjure up a decent image of Janos maps. Two days at the least, you settle on, knowing that time will get shorter as your raiding continues south.

>>13461546
True. Very true... The guy is sitting in his holding where he has tons of gold. But do you have a better idea other than barraging the walls and assaulting? I can't think up much else than that, use the mercs or try to sneak in to a side less defended and make our own opening using sculpt stone. Maybe Lena can join in the taking down the walls at some point but we have no idea how long it'll take to take down stone walls.

Pax - can we use our elementalism beyond the range of the elven archers?

>>13461558
Wait, at least for a while. Plan to launch an assault on the city in ~8 hours, and to have the place looted and destroyed with our army gone in 24. That should be enough time to thoroughly destroy everything that needs destroying, kill everything that needs killing, loot everything that needs looting, and get some rest before charging on to blow apart some river forts.

>>13461558
I say we take this city out. We can't afford to starve them out though, we will have to assault within the next day or so. Once we and Lena have rested up. Have the ghosts and hunters do what Stant did to us - snipe some people and then get out of there to avoid any losses for now. Attrition them and then we'll strike the next day if they don't surrender.

>>13461638
>>13461626
>so, start shelling?

>and no, you arent good enough to elementalism the wall from the 500 yard effective range of the elf archers

>>13461558
Have the Ghosts and Aurelius fire into the compound in order for Janos' message to get in.
Then take potshots at the enemy archers on the walls as our bombardment continues.

The rest of the maniple start looting through the city, burning down warehouses, smithies, foundries, tanneries, looms and textile mills.
Then rest up for an attack at night if we can manage it.

>>13461681
Yes, start shelling.

Perhaps we should try tunneling?

>>13461681
That's unfortunate, heh. Start shelling and concentrate on making breaches. Archers harass their archers if they can but don't take any unnecessary risks.

I still think we should parlay guys. They know they're cornered and if the guys men hears the terms of surrender, they might jump ship on their own.

>>13461681
I'd say go with janos to ensure we don't get betrayed. If we can get the mercs to open the gate, great. If not, we start shelling

>Just wanted to say I've also been keeping up with the threads Pax, just that I often get here after you're done for the night or I read it on the archives.

>>13461724
They will be even more inclined to surrender, and at more favorable terms, after we've shot some arrows at them and made a couple very large holes in their nice wall.

>>13461737
Fair enough. I just think it'd be easier to parlay now than after we've rained arrows upon them. Regardless, at least this will let our men rest a bit.

>>13461718
>Perhaps we should try tunneling?
Tunneling is a very bad idea except in situations where engineers and multiple days of careful work are available. We don't have the knowledge and likely don't have the finesse to make a usable, stable tunnel- and one mistake which results in a collapse will kill WAY too many of our troops.

>>13461730
>If we can get the mercs to open the gate, great. If not, we start shelling
If the mercs agree to turn- and our terms had best not be too generous, because their options at this point are "turn" and "get killed"- then they open the gate for us AFTER the shelling.

>>13461766
I figured we'd offer them a percenage of the loot

>>13461766

Statement: We can make a cavern in hours that would take ordinary dig teams weeks to do with elementalism. All we'd have to do, in theory, is bring in some lumber to support the tunnels.

why not make a tunnel just for us. Then we can get within 500 yards of the wall and hollow out the underground underneath one of the corners of the fort, causing a collapse.

>>13461798
But in the time it would take for the lumber to hold the tunnel up, we'd have to maintain it. And there's a chance it would collapse. We saw as much when we tried to cross the river. I say stick with the plan to use artillery and Lena on the walls for now. The wooden walls went down in a few rounds so I imagine these walls should go down or have breaches by the time our men have had some rest.

>>13461816
Actually, this is what I had meant by digging a tunnel. One just enough for us to get within elementalism range, not all the way past the wall.

"Yes, after the initial volley start taking shots of opportunity at the soldiers on the wall. Strike from buildings to the east and west of the walls." you reply, both soldiers salute and move to gather their troops. You make your way through your camp, set up in the open yard before the fort, but outside the archers range. You set your captains to taking down targets of military use, and to do a more thorough search for weaponry in the city, also being sure to stress that their men are to be given a chance to rest before you assault the walls. On your way to Janos tent you see Wulf lying on the ground, clearly passed out, judging by the shallowness of his breaths, Lena curled up beside him, Bellatrix leaning against the wall of the two story house your medical staff set themselves up in.

You enter Janos tent to see him sitting in front of his table penning a letter. You peer over his shoulder to read the letter, in short it signifies that an "old friend" is informing them of an opportunity to increase their profit from this job, and end the contract early as well, and that they should reply "as is usual" sooner rather than later. "Are you in need of additional assistance, commander?" the man asks, wrapping the message around a blunted arrow, applying a plain seal, and rising to face you, picking up his masked helm with his free hand.

>>13461827
this, tunneling is something you do when you have time to do it right, you don't rush it.

>>13461842
"You said these men are loyal to coin. What are the chances they might try to double cross us and think they can actually hold the manor long enough to outlast us?"

"You said that this band is only loyal to coin, how likely is it that they will try to betray us for more coin from their current employer?" you ask, passing off your mistrust as worry of a different sort.

"They arent a complete unit, but the men that escaped Wulf and Sansas killing field. They'll turn." he replies, pulling his helmet back over his head and jogging out to catch Aurelius' unit.

Satisfied, you make your way towards spite, planning on setting up your tent and sleeping until you get your reply from the mercenaries, then sleeping until it is time to make your assault. You are pleasantly surprised to see your tent set up already. "I wonder who did that?" Jayne asks from behind you, the answer becomes apparent when you enter, to find Kyria and Sansa sleeping in seperate cots in your tent, the human in yours. "I could go and get my cot..." Jayne suggests.

>cont'd

"Actually, if you want to have some fun with Sansa..." you reply, already peeling off your armor and cloths, heading towards Kyria and her cot, by the time you explain your plan to Jayne, she can barely restrain her laughter.

You are awoken by a surprised greeting - Jayne, your groggy head identifies it, the one doing the waking masculine, and metallic - Janos. Shortly thereafter, a shocked scream jars you awake, you and Kyria looking to your collective left to see Sansa leap from your cot, then leap behind one of your chests to cover herself. "Commander, I, umm" Janos begins, quickly donning his helm to disguise his blush "I received a reply from the Mirthless Warriors." handing you the letter. You slide from your cot, trusting your undergarments to protect your modesty. The mercenaries request access to the noblemans wine cellar, and a small payment of gold, preferably minted in a land other than Uurlanth or Degnar, your mind immideately thinks of the nice pile of Duchy Ingot you have in one of the coffers in this room.

"It- its not what it looked like." a mortified voice begins to explain from behind the chest you were thinking of.

Alright, so no tunneling.

Should we go for another night attack, then? With our possession of NV paste, it's become something of a standard tactic with us, and I worry about us becoming predictable.

>>13462132
"They ask of only a Small payment, and access to the wine cellar? Something doesnt feel right about it, as if, they know something Far more valuable is in there... We, might as well accept their offer, and, of course, crush them after."

>>13462133
Yeah I'm hesitant to attack at night as well. We'll see what the state of the wall is like during the day before we decide on a night attack.

"Excellent. Hopefully these men know how to best assist us when w make our assault. Tell the Ghost and the Hunters to try to avoid that unit in their harrassment please Janos."

Poor Sansa, heh.

>>13462132
I see no problem with letting them have a goodly portion of the noble's wine but I don't think they should be allowed into the cellar by themselves beyond that I have no problem with their terms

Recitation:"A rich man's wine cellar, I can only imagine, must possess some rare vintages worth fortunes per bottle. Alright. So long as they don't hog it all. And we DO have some Duchy coinage for them."

Query: How much should we offer to pay when the time comes?

>>13462255
With their blood. [spoiler]maybe[/spoiler]

>>13462132
The wines are likely worth as much as their pay... but I daresay we'd probably just let our soldiers drink most of it. Their deal is acceptable, although their wine cellar access will not be exclusive- we'll want to search it for anything interesting and take a modest portion of the wines as well.

Ask how much time has passed since we sent the message, then thank Janos and comment that he might wish to depart for the comfort of the *smirk* ladies.

Could it be possible that the wine cellar also is the entrance to another, more valuable vault?
Perhaps one that contains arcana?

We'll be on the road, so I would be worried about valuable vintage wines being broken, so the mercs are welcome to the wine cellar, but only to the wine.

>>13462328
They said access to the wine cellar. Not any rooms that might be connected to it. Regardless, we'll join them in searching it just in case.

>>13462132
Sure, we'll give them "access" to the wine cellar but it doesn't mean we'll give them any.

Regardless of what we want to do or not, we can't negotiate at this point unless we want to send letters back and forth. We can be more precise when we finally meet them. If they want the wines, go for it. If there's something else hidden in there, we may have words about it then.

>>13462255

Let that depend on their performance.

Personally, I feel that letting them go with their lives and equipment is more than a fair deal.

>>13462328
perhaps we should search the cellar before we alow them into it, I don't see how they could refuse such a stipulation

D&D is better

Alright, looks like the consensus is that we accept their terms, but we escort them into the cellars or search the wine cellar first ourselves, whichever is more practical, to ensure no funny business.

"Sounds fair enough" you reply, walking over to the chest with your Duchy coin "so long as they dont take all of the wine, and allow myself or a representative of mine into the cellar with them. And tell them that we will negotiate the ammount I owe them after they take their share of the wines." you finish, leaning over the chest.

"I have to go and oversee my battalions section of the city to clear out." Kyria announces, and before long it is down to you, Jayne and Sansa in the room.

"Would it make you more comfortable if I was in the cot?" you ask Sansa, who is still hiding behind the chest.

"Yes..." she replies, sheepishly. You lead her back to the cot, moving quickly, you and Jayne manage to sandwich her in between the two of you before she can react, hugging each other, and trapping her face to face with the noblewoman in the process "No fair" she quips as you drift back to sleep.
>cont'd

You awaken just after sunset, Jayne already gone, and Sansa stirring as you walk out into the well rested camp. As you head to where your siege engines are set up you pass Lean and Bellatrix "Had better make sure he knows that you sent me away then." the black haired warrior is half-scolding her younger sister, though you miss the rest of the conversation as you pass from earshot.

You find Janos leaning against the mangonel, message arrow in hand "They accept" he informs you as you look over the wall, spotting a weak spot near the eastern corner, and another just west of the gatehouse. Most of the soldiers are crouching closer to the battlements, and the elven archers are more than occupied exchanging fire with your units.

"Excellent." you reply, trying to decide how to go about cracking this fortress with minimal losses. Your medical staff informed you shortly after you rose that you will only have enough mooneye paste left for two more full deployments at night, counting the paste the 99th and the Ghosts took out before heading off to their assignments.

>>13462506
Have the artillery been bombarding the walls all night? Regardless, I think we should focus them and Lena on the eastern part of the wall. If we hit the center, in theory all of the archers can hit us but if we focus on one side of the walls, unless they redeploy they won't have that great of a shot on us.

Damnit, we should of asked the mercs what men the enemy had within the fort... Did they tell us that by chance?

>>13462506

Are there any buildings near the wall or has a proper kill zone been maintained?

>>13462569
>only 300 yards in every direction but south
>>13462548
>they're all thats left according to Sansa, who watched these units stay in/flee to this position

>>13462548
>>13462506
In that case, the weak spot on the eastern corner looks to be our target.
Inform the crews to begin concentrating fire on the two weakspots we identified, to keep the enemy guessing which one is the read target.

If we have only 2 day's worth of paste left, we may have to do a daytime assault; We'll also need to see if we can scrounge up more of the necessary ingredients on our march, as well as letting Blackbird's men loose (we will need to have pre-determined rendezvous points set up before we let him go raiding).

>>13462619
Agreed here. Have Lena prepare to do some major damage to the eastern part of the wall and then Gaius and Uurist can use their formation to approach the wall once it's been breached. While they approach, we concentrate arrow/crossbow bolt fire on the units at that side of the wall while the artillery focuses on the other weak area to potentially open another breach.

>>13462611
So, the southern face of the wall has buildings even closer?
Since our breach will likely come from the eastern corner (is it NE or SE?), we attack from a South-East direction?

>your camp is in the huge open space adjacent to the southern face

>>13462506
Christ, we hit the walls with an all-night bombardment and we only managed to create two weak spots? Those are some damn nice walls! We might not be able to elementalism them down. Could be a problem.

>>13462660
I'm wondering if we should have the breach go on in the east but then we sneak in with another unit like the hunters or rangers. We go from a direction that won't have guards since they'll think we're coming in from the front and we can make our own way through the wall by sculpting an entrance. A salvo or two into their rear without the walls to protect them will be damn painful and the interior of the castle will have lots of cover for us. We can even bring some of the mercs with us.

>>13462713
Heavy infantry go in through the eastern breach while the Ghosts and the artillery keep up suppressive volley fire, while the rangers, scouts, hunters, and light mercs sneak in through the second breach for a flanking attack?

>>13462766
Exactly. We might want to buff the frontal assault a little more since they know how many troops we have but we can easily sneak in side troops. Maybe keep the scouts with the frontal force so they have more ranged support while we bring the hunters and rangers with us since the Ghosts will be giving suppressive fire to distract and keep em busy.

>>13462796

Perhaps we could fashion a few ladders as a backup for the flanking force?

>>13462706
>stone wall, only light, portable siege weapons... youve got the elementalism to beat it (provided you roll decent)

>>13462796
>>13462766
>>13462713
so, ghosts/artillery make with suppressive fire, you/Lena busts open the eastern weak spot, then you lead the hunters around and in through the south while the rest charges in through the open gate/east corners breach?

>>13462901
We'll bring our light mercs with us as well. You said there were buildings and such within the walls so that should give us cover to get close enough without being peppered from the walls. That and they'll be too busy dealing with the incoming troops or being shot at to do much to us.

>>13462901
I believe so.
Have ladders readied just in case we need them.
Also, make sure that the heavy infantry are given a head start so that the enemy's attention becomes fixated on them while we sneak in.

>>13462901
Wait, not the south. Didn't see that part. I meant hit from the east or west and make our own way into the fort by sculpting an entrance through the walls from a direction they wouldn't expect.

>>13462962
>confirmation? whered everyone go?

>>13462962
Oh? Not using the second weak point or the opening of the gate by the Mirthless Warriors?

i admit, that should throw the enemy into even more confusion, since we'll be coming from a completely unexpected direction.
We should attempt it if we can.

>>13463040
No clue...

>>13463041
If we approach the second weak spot, we'd have no real cover and their other archer unit could pepper us rather easily. By going in from another side, they won't see us coming until we attack for the most part and we can hit them from behind with a nice volley where they won't have cover from the walls. Plus as I mentioned, we'll have cover in the form of their buildings.

>>13463057
Alright, let's go with your modification to the plan.

Heavy infantry (Gaius, Cornelius, Uurist, Cornwal mercs, Finian's scouts for ranged support) go to eastern corner breach.

Light infantry (Impetus Marauders, Aurelius, Rangers) come with Justinian to create a hole in the western wall where the enemy has currently no defenses, and will do so once the enemy become preoccupied with the heavy infantry assault.

Artillery and Ghosts continue to provide suppressive support fire.

>>13463114
I suggest we keep Wulf and Laelith with the main assault while Sansa and Collin come with us. No point making this a night attack since we need to save the NV paste.

>>13463114
As an addendum to this, I bet that Laelith, Wulf, and Lena between the three of them could utterly devastate the enemy's ability to hit our assault teams with ranged fire. As our heavy infantry charge goes in, they should smash any and all ranged-type enemies with magical bang.

Frankly, in my opinion we personally would be best suited for accompanying the heavy infantry charge- judicious use of earth elementalism there could break the enemy defenders, meaning that we wouldn't even need any of the sneaky crap that we're planning right now. Just hit hard enough with the hammer, and the enemy will break. The fact that they're going to have traitors in their ranks seals the deal.

Have all of our cavalry charge into the main gate once it's opened by the traitor mercs. They are fast and shouldn't take too many casualties to archer fire.

>>13463201
No point. Their men are all on the walls. It's just be a waste of cavalry. Plus cavalry will get wrecked by arrow fire. They have to sit out of this battle.

>>13463218

Agreed.

Cavalry has no place in a fortress assault when the enemy is on the walls.

>>13463201
>They are fast and shouldn't take too many casualties to archer fire
Maybe if these were regular archers, this would be true. But they're elven archers, and they will inflict massive casualties amongst lightly armored units.
No, until the archers are neutralized, it's not worth risking the cavalry.

>>13463151
I disagree. The added power of a flanking attack is worth more and will cause greater confusion amongst the enemy.

How about:

Heavy infantry (Gaius, Cornelius, Uurist, Cornwal mercs, Finian's scouts for ranged support) go to eastern corner breach.

Wulf, Collin, Laelith with the frontal assault.

Light infantry (Impetus Marauders, Aurelius's Hunters, Kyria's Rangers) come with Justinian to create a hole in the western wall where the enemy has currently no defenses, and will do so once the enemy become preoccupied with the heavy infantry assault.

Justinian personally leads the Marauders so that they do not rout. Sansa leads the hunters. Lena is with us for additional wall destruction.

Jayne and the dwarven merc cavalry charge into the main gate if and when it's opened by the traitor mercs.

Artillery and Ghosts continue to provide suppressive support fire.

>>13463281
Lena stays with the artillery to help take down the walls. Cavalry stays with the artillery to protect it if they decide to sally forth and that's it. The cavalry is useless without an opponent on the ground and almost all the enemy units are on the walls. They're only going to charge into a bottleneck and get shot to hell. It's a waste of our expensive cavalry to use them in a siege.

>>13463281

Why are you suggesting a cavalry charge? They will charge into the gate and then do what? idle in the courtyard?

>>13463319
>>13463312
Agreeing with these.
What the hell is cavalry supposed to do against defenders that are on walls, and will be able to turn their fire inward?

Lightly armored? You guys do remember that Jayne's uursan cavalrymen all wear plate armor and have steel barding for their mounts, right? They have cut through light infantry units with zero casualties before.

I am worried about the damned elves though. Maybe Justinian can try to disrupt them with an earthquake mid-battle? That will give the cavalry an opening to ride in.

And who says the enemy will stay on the fortifications? They got down to the ground pretty quickly last battle.

>>13463312
this, if we have the cavalry charge the elven archers will pick them off from the walls

>>13463339
Re-read the thread where we captured Janos. We dodged their volley and they did quite a bit of damage to Jayne's unit despite their armour. And they have no reason to leave the walls since they have the advantage on them while our cavalry won't be able to do anything inside the courtyard.

>>13463339
The enemy at the fortress moved infantry to counter our breach. the archers were brought down when we collapsed their section of wall, bringing them to meet the Marauder's twin axes.

This enemy force appears to be mostly light infantry and ranged units. Any commander in their number should know that a courtyard stand will quickly end in their death. They stand the best chance holding the walls unless we can bring down whole sections.

Fine fine. I'll just say "I told you so" when Pax springs the surprise heavy merc units on us in the middle of the fort.

We'll keep the cavalry in reserve, and use them to run down fleeing enemy troops.

If we are not going to use our cavalry, then the traitor mercs shouldn't bother opening the main gates at all. Maintain the ruse as long as they do not have to engage our units. Then hit enemy ranged units when the opportunity presents itself.

Any objections to my retinue placement? I am worried about the Marauders routing again.

>>13463339
>They got down to the ground pretty quickly last battle.
They got down to the ground in the last battle because WE DESTROYED THE WALL!

In every other battle where we faced elven archers, they stayed well behind screening forces and caused us major casualties. The only time that didn't hold true was when we had the advantage of darkness to hide our position and we were pounding them with all of our ranged units and all of our artillery.

>>13463281
>Wulf, Collin, Laelith with the frontal assault.
Wulf and Laelith need to be taking out the enemy's ranged units on top of the walls. Call that frontal assault or whatever else, but they don't need to be going through the breach- they need to be using lightning and fire on the enemy trying to shoot those troops who are.

>13463362

They were Janos's personal guard unit, with armor-piercing "fuck you" arrows. Are the elven archers that well equipped? I don't know. Damn elves!

I bow to the group consensus. No cavalry.

>whoree Journal
I... don't think you are in the right quest, Captcha.

>>13463403
I'm aware there's another merc unit within the fort but it won't be full strength and we have us there. That's why I suggested we lead the sneak in force. This is assuming the mercs we hired to betray the enemy aren't that unit - we're not sure if the guys we hired are the crossbow mercs or not. Either way, we'll deal with them just fine without cavalry with us and our archer units there to focus on them if necessary.

>>13463466
>Are the elven archers that well equipped?
They don't need to be. It's been shown time and again that elven archers can target small gaps in armor on a moving target. That's what makes elven archers so highly sought after, and dangerous.

So, rangers, marauders, and Hunters hitting the West flank, lead by you, Sansa and Collin

Everything else but the cav pounding down the center, either through the gate that will be opened for you, or the hole Lena is going to blast at the East corner of the wall, before she joins Wulf, Laelith, the Ghosts, Scouts and seige engines in keeping the archers onthe walls supressed?

Wulf and Laelith needs protection from arrows as well. They will have to get close if they are to take out the enemy archers. That means sticking close to our infantry units.

Collin will probably cut the arrows mid-air or something badass like that. He's there to keep Wulf and Laelith alive.

Justinian leads the marauders to make sure that they don't rout because they saw some sewer rats or something. Stupid elves.

The hunters do better when Sansa is around.

Lena is there to blow a hole through the wall if we fail our elementalism roll.

Pax, will Justinian still be able to give orders to the units going into the eastern breach? Assuming that he makes it into the fort from the west?

>>13463536
Yes, that seems to work.

>>13463546
I actually thought we should keep Collin and Wulf with us. Collin because I don't think he'll actually be able to cut down arrows in the air and Wulf because they don't know we have someone who can do air elementalism since he was controlling the storm last time.

I doubt we'll be able to control the guys in the east if it was like last battle.

>>13463546
>your signal rings could accomplish that...
>I'm surprised that you guys haven't started using those yet, to be honest

>>13463536
Pretty close, although I think people really don't want to go through the kill zone near the front gates, and I agree with them. Eastern breach or bust.

>>13463581
I'm heading out for a bit but if no one agrees with bringing an offensive elementalist with me inside, then go with the majority.

Do we really still have to keep reminding our captains to use the signal rings? We've been using them for a while now.

>>13463585
Bring Collin and Wulf with us to the western wall. Collin will work pretty good in the close-quarters once we make our breach.

As for the signal rings, we need to start using them more. Signal for Eastern force "Breach stormed, enemy attention on us" and Western force "Wall breached, flank attack underway".

>>13463624
>I derped, never mind

>>13463581
I figure that we have enough killer elementalist power on our lonesome, and the guys keeping those elves from cutting up the frontal assault can use every extra bit of firepower. But if you really want him with us, I'm not going to insist.

>>13463516
So, we have a number of potentially low morale and damaged units as our opposition, but better than levies at least.
We have men that will open the gates which will Severely cut their advantage of the walls. We will be walking in through Another hole which we'll make.
Believe me when i say, The Lord Burns Tonight.

what is commanderquest?

>>13463632
Sounds good.

The problem with the signal rings is that their data bandwidth is "one bit". No good for complex battlefield orders. I figured our captains know that they can at least signal each other with their, err, "signal" rings.

And we don't need Collin with the eastern force if our important retinue members are staying back.

If Wulf and Sansa are both with us, though, who's in charge of the eastern force?

>>13463667
No, he will be properly tried as a prisoner of war that has committed war crimes, before we execute him via crucifixion. If we're going to kill him instead of torturing him for strategic information and the locations of all of his hidden caches of valuables, then we're going to do it right.

>>13463689
>who's in charge of the eastern force
Gaius, since he's the senior captain.

>>13463676
What is Commander Quest?

1 part Maid Quest / harem anime
1 part Rome: Total War
1 part Dungeons & Dragons

Mix liberally. Heat over an open flame.

Serve on a crucifix.

>>13463699
What's to stop us from doing both? We can just say we're well within our rights to kill him for his acts of slavery. I imagine the man will be totally afraid at that point and then we can show him the one ray of hope - give us information. Then we bring him back to be tried.

>>13463722

We have consensus then?

Ghost mercs and siege provide cover fire. Laelith sets arrows on fire(?) or just provide cover fire, literally.

Lena opens up eastern breach and then fall back to siege engines.

Gaius leads Cornelius, Uurist (and their infantry), plus Cornwall mercs through eastern breach.

Finiain either provides close range or long range fire support, whichever is better.

Justinian leads the marauder mercs, hunters, and Kyria's rangers through a western breach (with elementalism roll). Sansa, Wulf, and Collin is with us.

Cavalry stay in reserve and get ready to hunt down fleeing troops.

>lemme make sure before I post the battles start, you guys wanted to wait for daylight, correct?

>>13463800
Sounds good to me.

>>13463805
If possible, in order to conserve the NV paste.
But I assume that the manor is probably well-lit, so whenever the wall is breached is fine.

Did I miss anybody?

>>13463800
Sounds good.

>>13463805
Indeed. We can't waste all our NV paste on Fort Conflux since we only have 2 days worth left.

>>13463805

Would an attack at dawn be too cliche?

>>13463834

Cliche? THIS. IS. COMMANDERQUEST.

>>13463834
It seems fine to me, we'll break our fast in the Lord's manor or in the afterlife

"Men of Degnar! (And dwarves... and elves...) Ready your breakfast and eat hearty! For tonight we dine in the Lord's manor!"

Yeah, no NV paste. They don't seem to work for fort attacks. Attack as soon as the men are rested and ready. I believe it's dawn in game time.

The bombardment goes on through the night, you sleep again, and prepare your commanders. As dawn breaks, there are large, noticeable gaps in two section s of wall. To your right Gaius and Uurist have their men formed up, Lena and Bellatrix waiting inside the formation to punch down that wall. You stand at the front of the Impetus Marauders, Collin to your direct right. Sansa is amongst Aurelius' men, knives already drawn and ready for dispatching elves as they descend from the walls. The tension is palpable, time seems frozen, and with a word you can set the world back into motion.

>your waiting just outside the elven archers range roll for elementalism to kick this battle off.

rolled 53 = 53

>>13463948
Elementalism to break down some walls.

>>13463948

... wasn't the plan to attack from different SIDES of the fortress?

>>13463973
I thought so. =\
I had assumed the side attack group would of been waiting from that direction and we would go meet them but I suppose I should of specified that since now they'll easily see we're making a side attack.

Pretty sure it was supposed to be Separate sides so their forces would be cut, easier to overrun when the gates/walls opened...

1. I don't see any gaps in the walls.

2. I thought we were going to attack from the western and eastern sides of the fort.

3. Our western force pretty much have no armor. We should make it look like they are just there to provide covering fire. Only attack when the western elven archers are forced to reinforce their eastern lines.

Please add in the gaps, Pax. :)

>sorry, misinterpretation, my bad

As you spur the Marauders forward, arrows and bolts of steel and lighting arcing over your head you reach out and will the wall segment in front of you apart, and shatter it does, the massively weakened section of wall blasting apart like a sappling struck by a bolt of lighting. A second peel of stone thunder epupts from your right, and you look over in time to see a great bolt of white-hot energy tear the weakened corner of the wall asunder. The mercenaries you bribed off act perfectly on cue, throwing the gates open before Sansa and Aurelius charging hunters, crossbow bolts whizzing innefectively into the loose formation. Before you, a handful of elven infantry is rising from the rubble, spurring the mercenaries behind you onwards one more time, you prepare for combat.

>roll for combat, command, ect

rolled 26 = 26

>>13464108
If the mercs can get up to the walls to hit the crossbow mercs, have them do that. Otherwise the hunters might need to rush in and do that. We charge forward with the mauraders to hit the light elven mercs from the walls while the 65th lays suppressive fire on the archers on the left with the artillery. Have the 50th focus fire on the elven lights on the right wall and have the troops on the eastern flank march forward and prepare to storm the walls. Wulf shocks the elven lights in front of us if he can while Laelith can do her stuff. Rolling command.

And with that I am out for the night all. Make me proud.

rolled 58 = 58

>>13464108

FUKKEN COMBAT ROLL GO

How do I roll? :)

rolled 61 = 61

>>13464108
Well this throws most of our plans into total disarray, since we were supposed to attack two opposite walls of the manor, not the same face but just different ends.

Anyway, elementalism roll to cause a portion of the wall under elven archer group A to fall and take the archers with it.

rolled 45 = 45

Suppression earthquake on the western elven archers.

Elementalism roll.

rolled 51 = 51

Dice+1d100 in the E-mail field below any possible name you might use.

Also Quaking the wall segment with the elven archers, messing up their aim of potentially sending them toppling from it.

Element Roll

>>13464167
>>13464189
>>13464190
>>13464193
That's far from proud guys! At least they're not super high, heh.

>>13464208
We used up all our godly rolls raping the fort.

Roman re-enactors demonstrate a variant of the Roman testudo formation

Source: http://reference.findtarget.com/search/Roman%20infantry%20tactics

As the mercenary unit around you smashes into the Uurlanthi infantry you see Kyrias soldiers without repeaters ready their ropes and hooks, Aurelius' unit doing the same as the approach the gatehouse. Wulf and the repeater wielding dwarfs exacting a bloody toll on the embattled archers, as you maintain a quake beneath their feet greatly reducing their accuracy. All around you, the wild, barely trained fury of the Impetus marauders clashes against the slowly reforming neat, professional Uurlanth soldiers, their circleshields and shortswords matching your dual-wielding mercenaries blow for blow. "TO THE WALLS!" you urge your soldiers on between blows exchanged with the captain of the elven unit before you, while the stranded crossbow mercenaries unleash a wicked volley into your newest recruits as they rush to the gatehouse to deal with their former allies.

Accross the battlefield, Uurist and his men charge from the safety of Gaius unit, barreling at full speed towards the second unit of Elven infantry as they descend from the wall, the rest of the western flank fast behind them.

>combat, command, ect.

At least we got a good combat roll. I think.

rolled 54 = 54

>>13464336
Combat roll GO

rolled 19 = 19

It's good to be back rolling to maintain a light quake on archers with elementalism.

rolled 2 = 2

>>13464336
Hit the gate house, Hard!
Quakeing, or Earth spikes, but pain must be wrought

rolled 58 = 58

Keep the elven archers suppressed with earthquakes.

Elementalism roll.

>>13464384

Command roll?

rolled 22 = 22

>>13464336

Spike the elven infantry engaging the marauders.

rolled 51 = 51

Our heavy infantry needs to get through that breach, and the medium mercs need to get through so they can flank the light elven infantry we're fighting.

"FLANK THESE DAMNED ELVES!!!" you bellow to the mercenaries trying to fumble up the gatehouse stairs to get to the crossbow wielding mercenaries, Causing the stones to erupt into a forest of spikes as you do so, mere seconds before Sasa, Aurelius, and the best melee fighters of the hunters are to the wall. From what you can tell, its butchery, the pavise shields and gladius' of the mercenaries simply too large and clumsy for the tight space of the gatehouse walkway. With a flourish of your blade you decapitate the captain of the elven unit arrayed against you, and set into another soldier immidiately. To your left, hooks now secure Kyrias soldiers are rushing the wall even faster, their stocky forms soon to be on top of the wall before them. On the Eastern flank Laelith makes a funeral pyre out of the surviving elven archers, cowering behind battlements not providing them any mercy from the greatest of your elementalists. As the rest of that force rushes through the breach, Uurist and his men crash into the light infantry, their battle-axes cleaving through shield mail and bone alike, as the elves struggle to adjust their formation to meet the rampaging dwarves, knowing that only victory can secure their lives.

>take your rolls

>derp, map, forgetting

rolled 53 = 53

>>13464508
Combat Roll To completely Sandwich the elven soldiers!
And might i suggest someone else use an elemental spike swarm on the other elves to the East?

rolled 82 = 82

>>13464508

Spike the elven archers.
Our men scaling the walls are at their most vulnerable as they climb and attempt to secure their foothold on the wall.

rolled 11 = 11

>>13464508
Elementalism Roll to have spikes impale the rest of the elven light infantry on the left.
The faster we take them out, the faster our infantry can get in close with the archers on the walls.

>>13464552

Thoughts of vulnerability and our earth powers obviously should never be mixed!

damn it

rolled 84 = 84

Ghosts and artillery to concentrate all firepower on the remaining elven archer detachment.

Command roll.

rolled 42 = 42

Gaius should flank the eastern elven infantry.

The rest of the infantry units need to hurry up or they'll miss the party.

Shot encouragement to our hunters. They are outnumbered.

Command roll.

Humans killing elves.

Dwarves killing elves.

Elves killing elves.

>itsbeautiful.jpg

You attempt to turn the wall against the remaining unit of elven archers, but your focus fails you, too much attention being demanded by the desperate elves before you, now fighting more to escape this narrow section of ruined wall than anything else, and dying all the faster because of it. Luckily for Kyria, Wulf manages to scale the wall ahead of her dwarves, and sends a brilliant arc of lightning down the line of archers before setting into them with his blade. The close proximity of him to their own number, and the hundred odd other issues rapidly approaching them buys the youth safety from their arrows as he cuts his way down their line. Accords the gap, Sansa and the hunters continue their bloody work, the bodies of both Degnarian and Mercenary soldiers falling from the stone structure as the mercenaries falter.

Far off to the west flank, Gaius wheels his formation into the flank of the elven light infantry, Lena and Bellatrix sprinting ahead of the legionaires and into a position where your young mage can sow destruction into the remaining flank of the doomed unit. The brilliant white bolts of death driving the lightly armored elves into the two units of heavy infantry before them, who are all to happy to greet them with steel.
>make your rolls

rolled 52 = 52

>>13464700
One more elementalism roll to rid us of these light elven infantry.

rolled 73 = 73

>>13464700
gimme combat roll

>>13464731

That does it, I'm done rolling.

rolled 4 = 4

We need to take care of the elven infantry now, and rescue our hunters. They are taking too many casualties.

Earthen and stone spikes into the elven infantry we are fighting.

Elementalism roll.

>>13464715

Oh come on. Most of our follow up rolls are better than the original roll. The dice, it mocks us.

rolled 90 = 90

Cornwall mercs, cut off the eastern elven infantry from behind/west.

Cornelius, double-time your unit and rescue our hunters. Go in through the eastern gatehouse. We'll charge in the western gatehouse as soon as possible.

Command roll.

To your left, Kyria and her soldiers climb up and over the wall, making short work of the surviving elven archers, realizing that they are alone, the light infantry you are fighting break before you, one of the elves nearly bowling you over in his attempt to flee, off balance, you are unable to parry another elfs blade as it bites into the meat of your left shoulder. You dispatch the elf, before looking up to see the 99th hunters still battling the mercenaries, you send another torrent of spikes forth from the wall to aid them, the volley clearly breaking the mercenaries spirit, as they begin trying to flee to the stairs leading down from the wall segment they are battling on, which only serves to increase their casualties.

Farther off to the west Lena's barrage continues to drive the terrified elven infantry into the waiting blades of the 98th and 196th. The day is yours.

>so, what do you want to take care of first, Lord Blentus, the mercs you bought off, or looting?

>>13464851

Tell mercs to stand down. We'll speak with them once we secure the noble.

Secure the noble.

Deal with mercs.

Split the loot fairly.

Make sure that we capture the lord. Maybe ask the bought mercs where he's holed up.

>judgment cionders
That's right, Captcha. Judgment!

Justinian's to-do list before his leaves this area:

1. Figure out what to do about the freed slaves.

2. Burn the wooden fort (that was housing the slaves) to the ground. Deny any further use of it to the enemy.

3. That fort should have been guarding a river crossing. Have Degrian and his engineers make sure that the crossing is in adequate condition for a Degnar invasion force.

>>13464875

In this order, please.

You motion for Collin to follow you, and stride towards the manor. Between the two of you the noblemans guards are far from adequate. You kick in the door to the manors main hall, where you find the fat, aging lord reclining in a chair barely large enough to accommodate his mass. Collin slashes through the guards as the fat bastard attempts to flee the room. You easilly catch up with him, tripping him as you step behind him, kicking him over on to his back with your next, and leveling your blade at his face with your final step. "Yield." you growl as the noble voids his bowels.

"Please dont kill me!" he begs, as you glance about the room, dead guards, fleeing retainers, and over in the corner, a young girl, who shares some the pathetic mass at your feets features, though none of his mass, no older than sixteen by your estimate, desperately clinging to a young elf, a red boarshead within a black diamond emblazoned on his green doublet. You would assume the young elf to be a third or fourth son of the Lord of Kerlis.

>>13464931

I believe the fort was meant to defend the city. Poorly.

>>13464954

Were we going to crucify him for the treatment of the prisoners?

>>13464954

Recitation: "Mere death is too good for a sniveling coward like you. I'd never hear the end of it if I took the life of such a subhuman beast. Money. Maps. Arcana. Their locations please."

>>13464982
He's probably so fat he'd fall off the damned cross.

rolled 73 = 73

>>13464962
blindfold the fatass and put him in isolation. Let him sweat for a bit then interrogate him. He got some splainin' to do.
to the elf anf the young girl: "will you come quietly or shall you die here?".

>>13464954

Is it just us and Collin?

"Return to your seat, sir."

Find out who is who in this filth's home

Now we know why there was Kerlis cavalrymen so far south. They probably just finished delivering the lordling to Lost Conflux. This lordling is either betrothed or married to the fat elf's daughter.

I'm starting to worry about the fact that we'll be lugging around several VIP prisoners, while trying to raid in enemy territory.

At least the fat elf won't get very far.

>>13464954
"Lets get one thing straight. I have nothing but contempt for you. For your greed, for your gluttony, for your slaving, and most of all for your pathetic cowardice and indignity."

"It is by my good graces that you will live or die. Now stop sniveling and carry your corpulent self like a gods-damned lord."

>>13465054

Statement: Changing my vote to this.

"Collect yourself slime, and get back to your seat. I have questions for you. Answer them well and I may show you mercy." you reply to his plea, turning to walk over to the frightened couple as he crawls to his seat. "Now, will the two of you cooperate and go quitly, or will you force me to drag you out of this room?" you ask them.

A trembling hand shoots from the side of the elfish lordling, you bat it aside deftly, sending the dagger it held flying across the room. Lord Blentus' daughter screams out for who you can only assume to be her betrothed or new husband as the back of your gauntleted hand smashes into his face, splitting cheek and lip and spilling him to the ground. The elf spits on your bloodstained boot "I'll never let you take my Elaine you Degnarian dog!" he exclaims, the fire in his voice offset by the terror in his eyes. A metallic laugh emits from behind you, Jayne, Janos and Laelith enter the room to help Collin hold the still living guards and nobles at bay.

>>13465090
"This one, at least, knows what is called for in a man! Lay your fears to rest, I am not here for her. My business is with the creature in the soiled silks."

Please tell me Janos is still wearing his helmet. Was he the one laughing?

>>13465112

Statement: I like you. Voting for this.

>>13465090

"Control your fear or you'll lose your head."

rolled 1 = 1

speaking of which we probably shouldn't call Janos by his name anymore. he need a fake name or a callsign.

>>13465162
Why a 1 now of all times?

>>13465162

Statement: We should take to calling him Lord Helmet. For laughs.

>>13465162
Dr. Doom

>>13465162
The Man in the Iron Mask

>>13465173
DO IT

>>13465112

This, plus:

"Lord Helmet, Laelith, would you two please escort the young couple from the manor? See to it that they get proper accommodations. I must have words with the master of the house."

After they are gone, interrogate the lord. Jayne can probably use her elementalism to make him calm down enough to give intel. Collin will look intimidating to the surviving house staff, so they don't try anything funny.

"At least that one knows what his duty as a man is." you announce to your entering retinue members, Janos masked helm even fiercer in the torchlight. "But no" your reply to the lordling "my business is with the man who has soiled himself. Control your fears and watch your tongue, as you are my prisoner now... and I _DO NOT_ tolerate mouthy prisoners." you finish, as seemingly on cue a quartet of legionaries enter the room to collect the prisoners you have no business with.

"Wh- what do you wish of me?" the fat man asks, still shaking.

"First, arcana, maps, the keys to your coffers and arsenal, where will I find them." Shaking, the man tosses a keystone to you, well, weakly throws it at you would be more accurate.

After you take the few steps needed to collect the stone you toss it to Laelith "Strongroom?" you ask the man who quickly rattles off the directions to the room holding his most valuable items. "Now, how many men do you have at the river crossings you hold?" you ask, stepping up the dias his seat is on until you are on eye level with the shaking sack of refuse in silk.

"t-t-t-t-two regiments, bow and halberd, split evenly between all three of my crossings... am I to live?"

rolled 13 = 13

>>13465173
by the emperor, make it so!

>>13465216
Part of me wants to nail him to a cross.

Part of me is thinking about the warnings of the goddess about a threat to Degnar and Urlanth both.

Even if we don't kill him, we should ransack the place.

>>13465216

"Why should a man that treats his people as you do be allowed to live?"

Let's see his reasoning for shits and giggles.

>>13465216

Recitation: "That all depends on some answers you will now give me. Firstly, how much money do you, personally, bring in with your slave trade?

Secondly, what routes do your gold-bearers take from the mines.

Third, which shipment are you expecting to come in next?"

>>13465237
Shits and giggles is a must here. But really, we should do what must be done and that is the boring way. Make him prisoner or something then give him the usual trial at the capital. After all, we are the paragon of Degnarian justice.
[spoiler]or are we?[/spoiler]

>>13465216

[ ]Kill
[ ]Take Prisoner
[x]moustache

rolled 9 = 9

>>13465216
"Let the courts decide your fate slaver. Unless you have some information that will be of use to me........ no?...pity. If you think of anything let me know. You'll have quite a lot of free time on your hands from now on."
blindfold, isolate, and interrogate. He may be useful yet.
LETS GET LOOTIN'

>>13465267

Statement: This runtime has a simple starter: have him crawl his excrement-smelling self infront of the slaves we freed, begging them for their forgiveness. On a table we place a pile of throwing stones, and a single dagger. The former slaves may do as they please. If he lives, we take him with up.

>>13465279
Save it for a ruling young lordling.

>>13465267

We should not make a habit of taking many prisoners while acting as a raiding force. Prisoners are a burden to a mobile force.

Especially that elf. He'll do something stupid the moment he thinks he can get away with it.

>>13465320

Let's keep him alive for further interrogation. Eventually we'll turn him over to the main invasion force. If he's eventually ransomed, the money is ours. If he's executed for being a slaver, he got his just desserts.

Also voting for asking him about the gold mines. Eventually we'll want to collapse them so the enemy gets less income.

Deal with bought mercs, then check our loot.

"I'm still not sure. What routes do your gold mines use to ship the gold to you, how frequent are the shipments and from where will the next one come?" you ask, dragging out the space between now and the question he is clearly dreading.

"I... I collect the gold from them myself, my personal guards take the wagons to the mines and collect my dues. Um..." he blurts out.

Still not quite sure you respond, sniffing the air "When did you last wash?" you pause for a moment, waiting for the man to open his mouth before continuing "No, dont answer, some things are best left mysteries. Lord Helmet, how would you say this man treats his peasantry?" you ask your traitor to uurlanth.

"Well enough, for a small lord who can only hold his seat by the weight of his gold, and is bitter that his cow of a wife bore him no son." Janos informs you.

"So, such an upstanding, wealthy lord as yourself would clearly be among those who have abolished slavery within his holdings then, following the example set by the kings great grandfather, if I recall the history of your nation properly." you postulate, idly flourishing your blade.

The fat man is silent for a time, his eyes following the tip of your blade as it gains momentum, knowing what you are within your rights to do with him should he answer the next question wrongly. "I um, well, you see... I had just released all slaves within my holdings you see and I was planning on... um," he wets himself as you add a release to the increasingly complex flourish you are working your blade through, catching it in your off hand before continuing to exhibit your skills.

>>13465342
Seconded. Crucify the Lord (is he an elf, or is Kerlis' lordling who is one?), ransack the place, be ready to move.

Speak thusly to the young pair, "While I would have wished to acquire the ransom both of you might have given me--though yours (to the daughter) might be lesser now--I have no inclination to tarry around here. Thus I am forced to make a decision of your fate, here and now."

Wait for a beat, then sternly motion to your (openly armed) escorts to take the pair. "You are free to go. My people wil escort you out of this area, for your safety. Leave immediately, I do not give more guarantee after this."

>>13465435

Statement: I am in agreement with this, save that this runtime feels that punishment should be meted out by the slaves we had found with the aforementioned stoning/dagger option.

rolled 67 = 67

but these aren't just any prisoners, these are nobles. there are only three of them. They are still very valuable. we could just dig REALLY DEEP pits and keep em in them if we wanted. I just think it is a wasted opportunity to let two go and kill the fatass (so quickly).
He must know something about weak spots in the nearby area. He must be interrogated first, never give him a straight answer about his fate. That will make him desperate to apease us.

>>13465413
"Oh, were you? Well then, there shouldn't be any problem with freeing all of those unfortunates and informing the populace that henceforth slavery is outlawed and that those who deal in slaves can expect nothing more than a strong rope and a good kick."

>>13465413

Call him on his bluff. Tell him that we broke his arcane lock.

I think we can manage one prisoner, at least. Seriously, how far is this guy going to get on foot? Give him the damp box treatment. Hell, give them all the damp box treatment.

>>13465435
They are all elves.

Damn elves.

"Truly, you were freeing those good folk I found in your fort then?" you reply slamming your sword into its sheath abruptly, Lord Blentus whimpers "Perhaps I will let them see to your justice then, perhaps I will see to it myself... I tire of your stench however. We will continue this conversation later." At that you stride from the room, motioning for the men now guarding the outside door to take the pathetic man in the chair to a more secure location where he can stew in his terror.

>damn I'm tired, I think I'm gonna call it for tonight.
>someone archive please
>I'll be back monday at 9pm server time
>If you have any CQ/setting questions just e-mail me at paxcomquest@yahoo.com

Commentary: Lord Helmet is now cannon. This runtime is overjoyed.

Excellent game....also: shit it ran late. It's 5am here.

>>13465666
same here. At least I dont work tomorrow, err, today

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