How many days has it been since we took Lost Conflux?

Does Janos believe that the lord of Dyson's Ford is likely to send a force to crush us or simply ignore us with the fall of LC?

Do we have any scouting reports on the towns near the gold mines to the South of LC?

>>13546986
>four days, and no, aside from that they have palisade walls at best you have no intel on the mining towns

Sighing, you track Janos down again "Do you think it likely that Lord Dyron will strike at us, now that we have destroyed the main holding of one of his principal Lords?" you ask the former nobleman, resuming the conversation he had though just finished.

"Not yet, no. Once we strike into his territory however, I am certain he will come for us." Janos replies evenly.

>>13546939
We need to make sure the slaves are leaving. That and we should find out if any of them are semi-important since some of them were enslaved for political reasons if I remember correctly. Further, I'm wondering if we should start raiding more towers rather than hitting those towns further south.

>>13547135

After a certain point, we ought to stop looting.

Slash and burn. Whatever we cannot destroy, we hide. If it's missing from their economy, they'll be hurting terribly.

We should look into getting some of our loot across the river and into some earth vaults.

>>13547175
The way I see it, they know Lost Conflux is fallen and word will spread for sure. After raiding the last town, they'll likely suspect more towns are next so their forces will immediately be heading that way. Beyond the survivors of the tower we took, there's no indication we're hitting the passes so unless they suspect it themselves, hitting the towers now would likely be best. Plus, it's our main objective and now is going to be the easiest time to take the towers out since we won't have to worry about forces actively searching for us just yet.

I'd argue we should go back to raiding after we take out a few more towers based on that and hopefully draw their attention to defending the river more after we take another tower or two.

>>13547212

Didn't the captured lord only hold 3 crossings?

>>13547212
I agree.

Also Pax, has Degrian finished the timed lock for the dungeon? I want to offload the POWs we have as quickly as we can and prepare the maniple to march.

We should take any horses and wagons we can find to carry our loot until we can find a safe place to stash it all.

>>13547246
He did. I meant we start hitting Lord Dyson's towers since there were a few closer to Lord Blentus'.

>>13547259
>yea, the timed locks are finished

>so, dump the prisoners in the dungeons, head across the river to stash your loot then head south to trash more towers?

>>13547263

wouldn't it be better to hit the captured noble's two towns with their gold mines before attacking another lord's crossings and potentially causing a force to march after us?

>>13547371
It would be if it was our mission to loot and plunder villages. Our objective is to weaken the crossing so our main force has an easier time getting across. We're either going to have an easier time taking out towers or their towns and I suggest we hit their towers. The other lord is going to send forces after us eventually and while hitting the towns is the safer option, we should actually do our mission and take down as many towers as we can easily.

>>13547371
Hitting those gold mines would be tempting...but it would put us out of position for when the counter-attack arrives, and we'd be deeper in Uurlanth territory.

That being said, I believe our primary objective of destroying the Uurlanth river defenses has been achieved, and I think we should move on to targets of opportunity.

Can we get the map posted again, please?

My own thought is that we should strike more into the interior rather than continuing along the coast where all the soldiers are. Yes, our orders were to free up a crossing- but we've done that. We freed up THREE crossings, in fact, plus took out the lord whose job it was to support them. Primary objective is complete, now on to secondary objective: gain as much wealth as possible and do as much damage as possible while taking as few losses as possible.

>>13547401
You guys are crazy. There were tons more towers along the river protecting crossings. We've only taken care of a few out of many, which is why I suggest we hit more rather than worry about lining our pockets.

>>13547430
You think we need to destroy more towers to fulfill our ordered objective?

Do you think that the counter-offensive will require more than 4 crossings (our original and the 3 towers we took)?

>here ya go

>>13547430
Pax will have to confirm my understanding of the paradigm here, but my understanding was that we were only SUPPOSED to take out a few of the many. One maniple, sent in to punch a hole in the defenses which the rest of the army could subsequently pour through and exploit. There are so many remaining towers, and the forces protecting them are so much stronger than we can take on alone- tens of thousands of troops, was it not?- that we can't possibly be reasonably expected to make much progress against them at large.

The only decent reason to not strike inland is that the other lord could potentially move up behind us and retake the crossings before the rest of the Empire's troops can get there and make use of them. However, given what we know of Uurthlani politics- they don't see given to significant military cooperation with one another except in a vassal/lord sense- that doesn't seem incredibly likely.

>>13547458
The river near Dyron's Ford is heavily defended, but it seems that the river at Lost Conflux is completely open.

Pax, in-character, does Justinian with his years of military training and experience, believe that this is enough of an opening for the size of force that the Second Praetorian told us about, or will we need to strike the other towers?

>>13547457
I do. Once they learn the crossings are destroyed, there's a chance they'll just station troops there as long as their towers are unmolested. Just because we took out the towers doesn't stop them from putting troops to camp at the crossings. If we start hitting their towers, they're likely going to start to station more men to defend their own rather than the ones we destroyed. Further, I imagine the counter attack is going to be pretty large. More than a maniple and the more crossings we have open or lightly defended due to our assaults, the quicker they'll get across and into Uurlanth territory.

Plus, the crossings we used are further up north than the enemy fort we bypassed, which is what they're going to hit first. The counter-attacking forces are going to have to do more marching if we only leave the northern crossings open. But that's just my opinion. If you all think the 4 we have are enough, I can't convince you all, heh.

>>13547485
Our orders were to weaken the enemy's position along the river. They never went into details on how many towers we should take out. I rather hedge on the side of take more than less. Yes the lord south of us has tons of troops but his towers won't have maniple sized armies defending them yet. They have a really good communication system between them so they don't need to. Hence why I imagine we can take at least one more tower, maybe two if we're lucky before we'll have to abandon the idea of hitting the towers.

rolled 90 = 90

Hey guys, I think we should possibly think about hitting areas around Dyrons Ford rather than Lost Conflux if you are worried about being effective in our mission. If we do that, the area around Dyron will start to need assistance therefore causing him to pull his forces away from his fort or crossings to deal with us which allows for the Empire to plow straight through and over them as well as through our already captured crossings.

Also, I'd kind of like to have a talk with Dyron after we do start hitting his area. The man seems like he would be more loyal to his people than his country. I mean think about it. He wants MORE soldiers and what not to DEFEND his area, but the King knows this and is using his area as bait. Not to mention we know that the King is most likely using an undead army of some sort. Dyron probably isn't on agreeable terms with the King now that I think about it due to the issues had with the power structure and the limitations put in place on him. We should ask Janos about it.

>>13547430
Second, also aren't we supposed to try to draw out the troops from Dyron's Ford?

>>13547517

We actually can hit more than a few. It does involve lightning attacks with lots of fire arrows to burn the outpost to the group.

Either on our autowagons or if we have time, boats.

Let's hit the gold mines first. I think Blackbird already hit the northern most one.

Then the large town to our east.

Then we can look into going after Lord Dyson's holdings. Maybe alternate between hitting towns and towers. And be ready to bug out with the auto-wagons if a part of that 3000 men force come after us.

>>13547485
>that assumption is correct, you arent expected to take all of them, just enough for one or two Legions to make the crossing (it took your maniple the better part of a day to cross, and for the most part yea, the Lords of Uurlanth dont cooperate very well.
>>13547493
>you have done the bare bones minimum to say you completed your mission... verging on slacking

>>13547574
On the verge of slacking? That settles it. We are taking more towers. And I don't think we can burn them down since they're stone towers. Lord Dyron actually maintains his defences. We can ill afford to be seen as a slacker if we want a good political life.

>>13547574

Hmm. In that case, I change my vote to hitting more towers first, then leading the enemy on a wild goose chase through the countryside.

>>13547586

His towers are stone towers? Thats gonna be troublesome...

Have we spoken to Janos with regards to how are they constructed? Stone foundation only or full stone?

rolled 94 = 94

Pax, can we ask Janos about the question in my previous post as well as whether or not he thinks Dyron would pull forces out of his towers and forts to come deal with us if we are ransacking his supply of income/food/people.

One thing you guys are forgetting, we discussed this before we even made a move. We would hit the holds to line our pockets AND draw Dyrons attention towards the inland of his area so that he would be blindsided by two Legions.

Also Pax, have we received word yet from, Fluffy was it, I forget our eagle's name.

By the way, guys, I made portraits for the major NPCs using Dragon Age's char creator.

This is non-canon, of course.

Okay, I dug up our orders in http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/13105425/.

>"Commander Trentz,
>...
>Three weeks from your receiving this missive you are to begin advancing towards Uurlanth. Your mission is to bypass the enemy fort, which we will be upon within a week of your arrival. You will force a fording of the Greyrun River and begin weakening enemy positions along said river. You are free to raid as necessary to keep your force fed, and pad your coffer. You need not worry about being cut off from support, as a full third of the assault force will fall upon the enemy defenses before the Greyrun, and your advance deployment should mean several lesser crossings are not prepared. I have instructed the commander of the Flumenos garrison to give you as much support as necessary before you set out, and to take down your name for the Empires newest fort. Ave Degnar."

I request more information about the locations I've numbered on this map. Their rulers, their wealth, their defenses, how many troops are probably there, and how inclined they'll be to march out against us.

>>13547609
I remember that aspect of our plan but to draw them deeper into their land, we need to be sure we've done a sufficient job in taking the towers. Clearly we need to take more unless we want to look bad when we return home. And that's just unacceptable in my mind.

(Note: In order of appearance:)

Retinue member. Aide (think personal secretary). Leadership skills. Experienced hunter. Wears leather armor. Fights with long bow and twin long knives. Love interest.

Height: 5'6"
Hair: shoulder length black hair
Eyes: green
Face: lightly tanned, soft facial features
Build: athletic

Captain of legionnaires unit. Good tactician. Leadership skills.

Degnar Legionnaires: Plate-mail. Tower shield (hardened oak with steel studs). 6.5 ft spear. Long sword. Phalanx.

Height: 6'2"
Hair: none/bald
Eyes: green
Face: tanned by the suns of many battlefields, scarred old war veteran
Build: very muscular

Captain of legionnaires unit.

Degnar Legionnaires: Plate-mail. Tower shield (hardened oak with steel studs). 6.5 ft spear. Long sword. Phalanx.

Height: 5'11"
Hair: close cropped brown hair
Eyes: blue
Face: looks like a young Gaius (fewer scars)
Build: very muscular

Captain of dwarven warlords unit.

Dwarf Warlords: Plate-mail. Two-handed war-hammer, or two-handed battle-ax. Shock infantry.

Dwarf
Height: 4'8"
Hair: Messy, lengthy red hair.
Eyes: brown
Face: pale skin, big red beard, not braided.
Build: very muscular

>>13547458

Based off the placement of the towers, there is a noticeable gap in the dense placement of outpost.

Between the 2nd, 3rd and 4th outpost from our position, the distance is greatest along this stretch.

We should be able to take out those 3 without too much trouble with reinforcements reaching us if we don't tarry too long. Given enough lead time, we could also mount a raid and burn to the ground the large town next to the outpost.

If we're going to attack, these should be our next targets.

>>13547694
Indeed. We'll probably need to send some scouts out to make sure we have no incoming men at us but if our elementalism rolls aren't terrible, we should be able to take them and just avoid an open conflict. If our elementalism does fail though, we're going to be in for a pounding. Did we get any info from Janos on how many men might be in those towers? I forgot. Guess I should check old threads.

>>13547718
Even if our elementalism fails, we have at least one siege engine which should be able to knock a tower out in an hour or so.

>>13547718
>>13547763

Speaking of which...


Pax, fluff question. Is this area tectonically stable? Does the empire or the kingdom regularly suffer earthquakes?

Ah. Flood detection.

Similar number of men, as I recall, but these troops will be much more professional. (Probably won't bungle the job on lightning the warning signal fire, for example.)

The towers are probably also made out tougher material.

Let's see how many towers the Lord lets us raze. I guess we can always raid and loot more when we are running away? Use the auto-wagons to outpace anything he throws at us except cavalry, and then set an ambush for the cavalry?

Here's what Janos had to say about the towers from: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/13166139/

>The towers will have a permanent garrison of about 100 men, the smaller versions of the keep at the Ford will have two to three hundred.

He said a lot of the men would be veterans too so I doubt we'll be dealing with levies as much. If they're smaller versions of their main keep, they'll likely be stone so we're going to have to elementalism our way in or sit there for awhile with the siege equipment. Don't think we can afford to sit and shoot away at them if we want to take out as many towers as we can though.

>>13547809
Then it sounds like we'll need to use the autowagons to get our maniple most of the way to a tower, then dismount and march the rest of the way so that the sounds of our autowagons don't alert the tower to our attack.

The problem is that at the first tower being attacked, the other towers will likely be warned and a mobile force deployed against us.

>>13547809
If we move south and drop two-three hundred good men and a siege engine capable of breaking down the walls at each tower we pass, we can probably get down the the fourth crossing or so in short order with minimal losses. Then we pull together and sack site 4 (on >>13547634)
before preparing to face some serious fighting.

>>13547634
"Janos, what can you tell me about the towers south of Lord Blentus' holdings?" you ask the man as you enter your command tent.

"They are all about the same size as the ones you recently razed. They have stone foundations, and stone walls to roughly the middle, where they are wooden. The last 5 crossings north of, and 4 crossings immideately south of Dyrons Ford are cut into the cliffs at that portion of the river." he answsers, taking a seat accros from you, his map of the region between the two of you.

"What can you tell me of the men ruling these towns?" you ask, motioning towards the towns marked still within Blentus' holdings (5, 6, and 7).

"They are Blentus men, so I would expect merchants or money-keepers, not militant at all, their money wasted on frivolous things, not defense." your turncloak informs you.

"And the Dyron men?" you ask, motioning to the smaller settlements around Dyrons Ford (the rest of the numbered settlements, 1 being Dyrons Ford)

"Whatever knights currently have the most favor with Lord Dyron. Experienced soldiers, some of them may be infirm or elderly and being rewarded for a life of service, others simply being doted upon. I would expect these settlements to have more professional guards, and proper standing militia. Maybe even stone bases to the wooden walls they are likely to have." Janos replies, though he looks like he is trying to remember something more.

I think we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's work on burying all that treasure first. Preferably on the west side of the river.

If we end up in a situation where the enemy is chasing us across the river, we can always collapse the bridge behind us. That will buy us enough time to grab the loot before withdrawing.

>>13547868
Aye, unless our initial salvos can take out their signalling room they're going to get a message out. Maybe we should hit the further tower we want to hit first and then move north from there? Whether we hit target 4 or not all depends on how long it takes for the towers to go down and what shape our men are in. The dot looks pretty big so it might be a significant siege to take it out.

>>13547904
I disagree. That's wasting precious time that we don't have to worry about the enemy arriving and using it to hit the towers is more important in my mind. And based on >>13547896, we're not going to be taking down those towers very quickly. We're going to have to storm them and likely we're going to have to demolish them ourselves with elementalism.

>>13547908
We sacked Lost Conflux four days ago. Word of our presence will have spread by now; I don't know that preventing signals is as worthwhile as simply overrunning them before an army is gathered and dispatched against us.

>>13547896
Where would whatever forces which would be dispatched against us as we start attacking be based?

>>13547875
We only have a small catapult and two repeater ballistas. Small, portable siege weapons. Taking down one tower took hours.

Hit the enemy at where it's weakest.

The largest gap for their response will be at the red line of attack. If we bypass around the first 2 and attack the 3rd one, we can fall back and destroy the initial 2 alone the way.

Depending on the number of men, we might be able to have a secondary force hit the 1st one at the same time but I'm not very keen on the idea.

I'm very curious as to whether the 2 towns circled are visible to the outpost and the quality of their troops. If we have a small force light them up, we might draw out troops from the towers who have families there. We can either ambush them or bypass them to attack their towers.

The brown line is the very maximum which we can attack. Once past that river, we're too close to Dyson Ford and will likely provoke a massive response. Our actions, if we reach the river, will likely already do so but the river will buy us time for a retreat.

>>13547951
Yeah they know we're here but they don't know where we are in general. As of this moment, they don't know we've hit the river crossings although they'd be stupid to think we'd ignore them. We have a bit of time until they send a concentrated force at us if we hit the towers ASAP if what I figure.

>>13547868
We don't have that many siege engines.

>>13547935
Then we would have to leave some troops behind to guard the loot. Take your pick.

>>13547951
>the bulk of Lord Dyrons forces that he would deploy to deal with you are at Dyrons Ford
>you have 4 repeaters with you, and your mangonel

>>13547982
Pax - how much loot do we have? Enough that we'd have to have our men start marching or do we still have enough wagon space that it's not a hassle yet? If it comes to it, I rather have men left behind or go on their own to cross the river and start to put our loot there. I rather focus on taking the crossings now personally.

>>13547969
Given the amount of time that it takes to take a tower, and that Dyron is already beginning to marshal his forces to repulse any attacks we make, I think your plan is the best one we have so far.
From what Janos as said, these towers (the last 5 north of Dyron's Ford) are cut into the rock face. They will not be easy to take out.

Finian

Captain of dwarven scouts unit.

Dwarf scouts: Leather armor. Crossbow. Round shield. One-handed battle-ax or short sword. Speed on open fields. Scouting. Marksmanship.

Dwarf
Height: 4'6"
Hair: neatly trimmed black hair, with a hint of blue
Eyes: brilliant blue
Face: pale, aristocratic features, a series of brilliant blue razor-burns where his mustache should be, neatly trimmed black beard
Build: athletic

No pic for Aurelius because I fail at posting images. Maybe later.

Lady Jayne Garlian

Captain of House Garlian ursan cavalry unit. Love interest.

Ursan cavalry: Giant bear mounts with steel barding. Plate-mail. Various pole-arms or battle-scythe.

Height: 5'8"
Hair: medium length brown hair, usually tied into a tail or a bun
Eyes: brown
Face: fair skin, sculpted features
Build: very athletic, muscular

>>13548082
>>13548105
...Dragon Age? Really?

Kyria

Captain of dwarven rangers unit. Love interest.

Dwarf rangers: Chain-mail. Crossbow or repeater-crossbow. Combat/climbing pick and one-handed battle-ax. Scouting. Wood-cutting. Fortification construction. Mountaineering.

Dwarf
Height: 4'3"
Hair: short and straight blonde hair
Eyes: gray
Face: pinkish skin
Build: curvy

I'll stop if you don't like them. :)

>>13548074
>right now it would be uncomfortably tight on the wagons, but guys wont quite have to start marching

I'm okay with taking the loot with us, if it doesn't slow us down too much.

I need to go eat dinner. Will be back later.

>>13547969
I do like your basic angle of attack I would propose pic related. We have enough night paste left for two battles- we attack the first target, the settlement, in the darkness during the early hours of the morning. Then we leave the bulk of our troops there to loot it and have ourselves (read: earth elementalist), our siege engines, and enough troops to do the job go and take out the three towers. We should be able to take out the three placed in this plan, then return to the settlement and use its defenses to keep whatever army is sent after us from taking us out easily.

>>13548178
Problem is they might just settle on a siege and try to box us in if we try to defend there. At that point, they have superior numbers and supplies compared to us. I think we'll have to avoid hitting that town for now. Pax, how many days has it been since our raid on Lost Conflux?

>>13548215
They can't settle on a siege. We've been here four days already, and according to our orders it won't be more than another three before a third of the assault force has smashed into their fort- that will grab all their attention then, and they'll be forced to divert enough troops that they can't keep us bottled up.

>>13548247
Has it been four days since we hit Lost Conflux for sure? If so, their men are likely already on the move since we estimated it would take the civilians 2 days to reach the nearest town. Regardless, the counter-attack force still has to take the fort across the river we ignored. They won't be at the door steps of the river right away and if they get enough men, they can just assault us in the city. Plus, we don't know what kind of defenses are at that city. It looks big enough to have some kind of walled defence but if it's stone, I don't think we'll have the time to take it down and hit the towers.

>>13548247

We cannot expect the operation to go smoothly.

Based off our latest intelligence, there is a major counter offensive planned. The main force might be too busy fighting for their lives to come and relive a small scouting force.

I'd like to at least give a large salvo of incendiary arrows at the town.

The militia will be too busy putting out fires and saving lives to come and harass us.

>>13548178
Sounds good, though I would have the bulk of our maniple come with Justinian to raze the towers and a small contingent stay behind in the town.

With the main counter-offensive only 3 days away, it leaves Dyron to either continue the siege and we tie up the forces while the Legion assaults Dyron's Ford, or he breaks the siege to reinforce his holdings, allowing us to hit him from the rear.

We just have to survive 3 days.

At worst, we could retreat into that forest near the city. Nearly half of our maniple is composed of light skirmishers who could do hit-and-fade ambushes in that forest.

>its the morning of the fourth day after you hit Lost Conflux, to be specific.
>so, go osuth to hit the city you guys have been circling/the towers close to it?

>>13548178
Seconding this plan of action

>>13548408
Hmm. Well I'm for ignoring the city and focusing on the towers. I like what was outlined in >>13547969 myself.

>>13548408

Bypass and assault. If we can sabotage the town we're moving closest to such that they will be occupied and unable to respond, all the better.

I'm leery of using our NV paste at such an early stage. I expect we'll need to use it as the shit hits the fan.

>>13548427
Both plans are essentially the same.
The only difference is one hits the town only if it's within sight distance of the towers when it's on fire.
The second is to set the town on fire regardless, then move on to the towers.

>>13548449
As I see it, if we can take out a fortified town more easily, it will be well spent. Anything to reduce losses- because we MIGHT need that night vision paste before we have a chance to brew up some more. We WILL need every man that we can keep alive.

>>13548456
Actually in >>13548178 we explicitly do not burn the town, but instead occupy it and use its defenses to boost our effectiveness against whatever force is dispatched to dispose of us.

>if you light the town up, the towers will be able to see the fire

>>13548456
One plan wants to take the city and use it to hold up after we take the towers if necessary. I think we shouldn't attack the city and just focus on the towers.

>>13548511
In that case I suggest we hit the towers and then the town

>>13548518
Look, taking out the towers is good, but ultimately the towns are the targets that matter the most, and they're harder targets. If we are going to take out any of the towns before the main force arrives, it will be far easier to do right now, when they're the first thing that we'd be hitting in Dyrons' lands, than after we've already cleared out all the towers. And leaving them in enemy hands gives any force that comes to deal with us an excellent place to rest and resupply, not to mention providing them with an excellent place from which to defy our full legions' later assault.

>>13548511

The more I think about it, setting fire to the towns is going to be a bad idea. We'll alert the towers prematurely and news will spread. We'll be seeing a rapid response force much faster than if we didn't.

I'd relent and say, bypass completely. Go for the towers.

>>13548504

With our mil tech and elementalism, we have a good edge against our enemies. We' also outnumbered each outpost at least 3 to 1. I think we can afford not to use them yet. We are still dealing with militia, granted, more professional but still a militia.

Our primary defences is high mobility doctrine warfare. Holing up in a fortified position takes away the advantage of our wagons, using which we can easily outpace our pursuers.

>>13548557
Our mission was to weaken the crossing, not their holdings in Uurlanth land. So I'd argue the towers are a lot more important than the towns in terms of what we need to accomplish. Furthermore, that town won't be merchant run. It'll be run by a competent knight most likely and have proper guards and defenses. It'll likely be a messy fight if we assault it and not even central to our main objective. While you may be right that it'd help a lot more in the long run, we need to take the crossings and likely fall back. We can't afford to sit around in their territory and let them know where we are.

Alright, so we skirt around the town, and attack the last three Dyron towers from the south, rolling them up as we go north.

Pax, would 6 towers be enough to be considered as having fulfilled our requirements well or exceptionally well? You mentioned 3 as minimum and implied us as slacking.

>>13548608
Our mission was to "begin weakening enemy positions along the river". That does NOT include leaving them a goddamn fortress town so close to the river that the towers there can see its smoke! The town is along the river- just because it's not on its shore doesn't mean that it's not critical to the supply lines and chain of command which forms the river's defense.

Yes, taking it would be a bitch. It will be even MORE of a bitch after they've realized that we're under assault and have thrown a few hundred more professional troops in there. Better to take it now, before they're on full alert and at night when we'll have the advantage. It is the best we can do.

>>13548639
>six would do it quite well.
>so, head south, skip to the tower third farthest from you, then roll north?

>>13548665

Lets roll. Watch for ways to covertly sabotage the town. Poisoning water supply and all that.

>>13548647

It is not mission critical and it is not a fortress town. Just a town with a wooden wall with some stone. The militia is not going to stay if their families evacuate.

>>13548647
Hmm. You do have a point. Didn't think of them using the city as a mini-fort. Pax, did Janos mention how well defended that specific city would be? If it has stone walls, I don't think we should bother despite how useful it would be to take it. A city with those kind of defenses will have a decent garrison at least...

>>13548647
But I contend that getting the Legions across the river is more important.
We can cut off supply lines and lines of communication with the town, effectively sieging it without being there. As long as we can get enough of our forces across into Uurlanth territory to be able to begin cutting off roads and major supply routes, we can siege cities just as effectively as if we had built an earthen wall around them.

>>13548706
Whoops. He mentioned it in his last post. Likely stone foundations blah blah blah. Hmm. As useful as it would be, part of me still thinks we should hit the towers and fall back north since taking that city will keep us down here a few days more and the enemy units will be coming for us at that point.

>>13548706

>>13547896
>"Whatever knights currently have the most favor with Lord Dyron. Experienced soldiers, some of them may be infirm or elderly and being rewarded for a life of service, others simply being doted upon. I would expect these settlements to have more professional guards, and proper standing militia. Maybe even stone bases to the wooden walls they are likely to have." Janos replies, though he looks like he is trying to remember something more.

>>13548697
>It is not mission critical and it is not a fortress town. Just a town with a wooden wall with some stone. The militia is not going to stay if their families evacuate.
A town with 15-foot high walls- and I assume they're proper walls, not a palisade like that other town had- is basically a fortress town. If their leader is defense-minded they'll have some catapults and crap on there too.

If the militia leaves, they will be replacing them with proper troops which will be many times tougher to kill.

As for mission critical... we have done the bare bones minimum for the crossing proper, and will clear out another three towers at least. How many of the Empires' troops might we save by taking out this town before it has the chance to become a more hardened position? By taking it- and either burning or holding it, doesn't matter- we deny the northernmost viable defensive position to Dengar's men as they move to fend off our assault. In terms of cred with our superiors, taking three towers+the town will be FAR more valuable than taking, say, another five or six towers even if we have to pull back north afterward.

>>13548805

>Proper walls, not a palisade

Clarification Pax?

>A town militia with siege

Siege equipment cost quite abit to maintain. The most I expect will be a crossbow/longbow contingent augmented with the mayor's household troops/bodyguards.

>A defensive position we have to take

Depending on the type of walls on the settlement, it may not be. Even then, it is roughly in the middle of nowhere. If it was occupying a critical junction, I would agree but it would not be a stretch for our forces to march abit further around this town.

If they wished to intercept us, they will have to sortie, casting away their defensive advantage. Should they decide not to, depending on the number of troops garrisoned, they will begin to starve without resupply. They will be forced to surrender or retreat.

As Janos rises to leave, you hear a flutter outside the tent, you rise with him to find Aquila on his perch, his feathers rough, and a deep gash, mostly healed, along his right eye. His message tube is still attached, and the bird is patiently waiting for you to retrieve the message, though his eyes are fixed on your tent, the small pallet that he sleeps on in the tent clearly calling to him. The letter boils down to the second acknowledging the threat of a counter-attack, and informs you that he will divert an available force to aid the assault. However, he is unsure as to whether there is more trap waiting to be sprung, as the Kings Marshal was seen leading a force of at least 75000 men, just under half of them flying his banner, against the Legion forces in the north. He acknowledges that your messengers reached him, and thanks you for the warning, indicating that he suspected some form of treachery, but was not aware of its depth of penetration. As you read Aquila lazily flaps over to, then into your tent, the only indacation you get of his safe arrival is the small clamor Fluffy and Scaly make.

By midday your men are ready to march, and Wulf approaches you just before you leave to mount Spite. "Commander, what is your intent with the fort west of this city? It still stands, though deserted, and I think it may be best to raze it. If you would rather set off immediately, I can take some spare horses and lead our fire elementalists to burn the structure down, we would be with the maniple again before we meet up with the remainder of our forces.."

>>13548919
>no higher than 15 feet, half stone at the very most, according to Janos

>>13549019
Oh, if only we had modern explosives or their magitek equivalents!
We could mine and trap that fort so bad, that it would be cheaper to level it and rebuild it than to attempt to disarm all of the traps.

>>13549019

I was thinking it was ideally suited for an emergency fallback position.

Thoughts people?

>>13549019
The real question about these walls is not their height, but rather if the enemy can stand on them and shoot us.

>It still stands, though deserted
What the hell I thought we gave orders to burn that thing while we were gone. There wasn't even argument about that- it's a military asset, it should be a scorched smear on the ground. Why is it still up?

Also the city, there was more argument there, but I think we should be lighting at least some of it on fire as we leave.

>>13549019
Burn it. I thought it was already gone to be honest. It would be a useful fall back position but while we're gone, there's a chance someone could occupy it. Too risky.

>>13549087
I can definitely settle with doing as much damage as we can before we leave. How about this - hit the towers first and then hit the city. Have some scouts watch out for enemy troops and if their reinforcements are too great, we head back up north. Even if we only savage their fortifications, that'd still help. My main concern with taking the town and towers second is what if something happens after we take the town if we do it first and we can't take the towers? If that does happen, I rather have the towers be taken rather the town. If we can do both - awesome.

>>13549019
Have the fortress burned to the ground.
Also make sure that any smithies, warehouses, mills, and anything else is burnt and destroyed in the city.
Have those elementalism-boosting talismans handed out, and give some shockstones to Wulf to help boost his power.

"Do it" you command, before heading off to get to your mount.

As the young man promised, he rides up to you, the two fresh fire elementalists behind him before you encounter the rest of your maniple. What perplexes you, is the tall figure riding with one of the elementalists. The newcomers robes are a light tan, and from what you can see the leathers underneath are dyed a very dark gray. Whatever the boys reason for taking this newcomer back to the maniple with him, you will find out soon enough, as the quartet is riding towards you at a leisurely pace.

>>13549113
My main concern with taking the town and towers second is what if something happens after we take the town if we do it first and we can't take the towers? If that does happen, I rather have the towers be taken rather the town. If we can do both - awesome.
I can roll with this. When it comes time to hit the first tower- that is, when we are unmistakably announcing our presence to the area- we can dispatch a few dozen cavalry with orders to scout the whole damned area and keep us informed. As long as we don't dick around and there isn't, say, an all-cavalry fast response unit that comes to deal with us, we should be able to hit all four targets long before Dyron's troops get here.

>>13549221
Bust out our new crystal to see how strong they are. I believe it gave an indication of how strong they were based on how it reacted. Otherwise let's go meet them I guess. Is Laelith around? Perhaps we should give them the fire boosting items for now.

>>13549243
Well, we do have 2 cavalry units whose sole job now is recon, as well as the fact that cavalry won't be of much use in taking down towers.
If we have all of our cavalry units (except the uursan cavalry), then we have 4 cavalry units to continuously run patrols and keep an eye out for the inevitable enemy counter-attack.

>>13549221
Do we have our crystal with us? We should see if it reacts, and this newcomer is an elementalist.

You meet the small group halfway, surreptitiously checking the group with your crystal. Your men all seem to be of roughly the same power as when you last checked them, and the newcomer gains no reaction from the arcana in your hand. "Commander Trentz, I presume?" he asks, extending his hand from the robe he is wearing, revealing a black wing tattoo on the top of his hand "I'm not sure if I should be thanking or cursing you, though I will be civil, as you seem to be in a position of power at the moment." he quips, waiting for your response.

>>13549326
"That I am. Civility is so difficult to come by, especially in my profession. May I have your name, sir."

>>13549326
Shake the mans hand.
"You would be correct. Whether you should be cursing me or thanking me though, I imagine that depends on who you are."

Hmm. Checked the old banners Pax posted and the tattoo doesn't match. I'm assuming he's a noble but we shall see.

>>13549371
I can't imagine that it would be an Uurlanthi noble (or at least, not of a current House in good standing). Maybe a political prisoner from another nation?

>>13549419
I don't see why he would curse us if he wasn't from their kingdom though.

"Indeed you are. Though I do very much appreciate civility" you reply, extending your hand "as it is so very hard to come by in my line of work."

The figure chuckles "I would imagine it is, commander."

"On the subject of civility, you have yet to introduce yourself to me." you mention, returning your hand to your side, trusting Spite to keep with the column.

"Daeseu Flenth, and you must forgive me if my manners are poor, my profession is inherently uncivil, you see. In addition to that, I expect that I will be a marked elf soon enough, though your recent actions, and I would assume plans, if my knowledge of the Empire does not fail me, will complete my job for me... I still failed in completing it personally. And I am most certain that you know how us marked folk tend to eschew most civilities." the elf replies easily.

>>13549459
Interesting. Assassin or something along those lines?

"I presume you were amongst those kept captive by our friend Lord Blentus? I have some guesses but why not save us some time and enlighten me as to what you believe we're going to accomplish for you?"

"Well, I presume you came seeking me out for a reason then? Perhaps you wish to be on the scene when I kill whomever your mark is."

I'd be wary of this guy, if he is an assassin he'd just as easily try to take us out.
Try and fail of course, but I'd rather avoid that.

>>13549494
Also, perhaps we should ask if he's an independent contractor, and if he would be open to employment with us.

Blackbird is good at infiltration, but his unit is more useful in the field, raiding and getting us intel.
It would be nice to have someone that can infiltrate city and fortress defenses and weaken them for our assaults.

"Am I safe in assuming that you were either a prisoner of Lord Blentus, or sent to cause his early demise? And please answer clearly as I would rather not waste time with these word games." you prompt the elf evenly.

"I was not the fat lords prisoner, though if I were to admit to my intent, even to an enemy of my mark, I would not be very good at what I do, now would I?" he replies, grinning.

"I suppose so, and why would you curse me if I saved you the trouble of completing your job." you ask, curious.

"My order... to fail to be the one who ends your target is a grievous failing. I was in disfavor when I was given this last assignment, and I suspect this failure will earn some rising star a chance to leap ahead, at the expense of one very particular old hand in this trade, one whom I am quite literally, attached to." the elf replies candidly.

>>13549677
"If I were to....be pre-occupied, and find Lord Blentus to have mysteriously expired, it would not concern me greatly, if there were some matter of more importance to occupy my attention.
"But come, are you an independent contractor, or is there a superior from whom I must contract your services."

>>13549677
"If you weren't his prisoner, then that means you approached my protege and you did so with a reason. I'm assuming that reason is going to be related to your situation so that in the end you won't have to worry about any potential rising stars being a problem?"

rolled 9 = 9

>>13549759
>>13549722
I guess combine the two some how, eh?

Also, anyone else up for possibly seeing on what the relationship between Dyron and the King are?

>>13549846
Would be interested but I don't see how we'd find that information out. Plus even if relations were bad, there would be no reason for the guy to betray him at this point.

"I would assume then that the reason you approached my protege was to be allowed to speak with me, and hopefully remove the threat of any rising stars being sent for you?" you ask, warily.

"Indeed it was, sadly due to my own failings the time has passed by when I must return with proof of my success, and your destruction of Blentus' holdings make him too irrelevant for an unfortunate lapse in your security to save me. I would have to leave my order to ensure my survival now, the further from my home the better off I will be, as only the best of my profession have a limitless reach." the elf informs you, the soldier he is riding with shifts uncomfortably.

"Well then. Should you wish, there is room in my cadre of misfits, though, you would be understandably watched for a while. Protocol, of course. I assume your actual name would be much to ask for, given your profession, so I will simply ask for your professional moniker, in lieu thereof."

A test of loyalty is in order then.

Let's give him a semi-impossible task that puts him at great personal risk. If he succeeds, he's in.

I would suggest we have him attempt to obtain the panties of one of our women before sundown. The pair they're currently wearing. The only question is, whose?

>>13549888
"So you're hoping to go along with us? Before I even consider such a thing, what is this organization you're apart of and what kind of foe am I about to make? If I do decide to do as you wish, I assume they won't ignore me if you're accompanying us."

rolled 5 = 5

>>13549875
Ah, where as what you say is true. There are ways possible. I mean:
A) King is probably going to use a huge ass undead army to defend/counter our counter offensive
B) King is using Dyron and his bordering lands as bait.
C) Dyron has always wanted to increase his military size apparently and the King isn't allowing specifically for the purpose of making them looking weak. This might not sit well at all for Dyron.

Think of it this way. If we were a militant leader with a very family like relationship with our subordinates as Dyron is......oh wait, I'm sure we wouldn't sit well with being used as bait. I assume Dyron views his men and soldiers similar to family from Pax's description from Janos of how Dyron interacts and rewards them.

>>13549932

DERP, completely glossed over where he introduced himself. disregard.

rolled 47 = 47

>>13549888
my paranoia bell is ringing.
why are we trusting him? all we have to go on is his word. Maybe Blentus isn't his hit, maybe it's the second praetorian or someone else in our empire and he's using this as an excuse. the fat guy was a waste, who would want him gone?
I'm not trusting this. It's too easy.

>>13549942
Oh I'm well aware we have things we could say. The problem is he won't believe us because we're his enemy and hate for us has been bred into his bones. If he came up to us now and said "The second praetorian is using you as a decoy for an army of undead to come and kill us all." would we believe him? Hell no. That's his situation. We're going to need more before we have any chance of convincing him. That's assuming our theories are true at this point.

>>13550000
Of course if we do accept him, we're not going to just let him do as he wants. He'll be watched. Although I'd be more amused if we were his target and he was using this to get closer to us.

>>13550000
>I'm not trusting this. It's too easy.
Motion to have his first mission/condition for employment with us be the conveniently-timed death of the knight ruling that city that we were arguing about attacking. Whatever it's called (have we gotten its name yet? If not, Pax...?).

If he betrays us after being dispatched, say by informing the knight that we're attacking big deal. ("What's that, the giant enemy army is planning to attack? I thought they wanted tea!") If he kills the guy, we win and can deal with the assassin later.

"I may be interested in hiring you, provided you prove that you are trustworthy." you reply, mentally running through ways to test his trustworthiness.

"And how, would I be able to prove myself to you?" Daeseu asks curtly.

"Well to start, I would like to know what, order it is you come from." you inform the elf.

"I was of the Bleak Ravens, though I doubt a Degnarian would have heard of them, as we see mostly to... internal, matters." the tattooed elf replies "And what else would you have me do to prove my trustworthiness?

rolled 55 = 55

>>13550011
From a person in an authoritative position, hate isn't a valid reason to act on anything. At least to legitimate authorities. Dyron seems like so far a straight up soldier that is only trying to do what is best for his lands. We should at least send a message or something asking for either maybe an audience at a neutral meeting place or something. I'm also gunning for the fact that Dyron and the King are on bad terms. Janos even said that the Uurlanth has regs on military because they don't want anyone challenging the King. If that is the case, then politics and what not could be VERY shaky.

Pax who was it Blentus said he overheard their King talking to when he heard of the bait and switch being pulled on us?

>>13550072
That's.... actually a good idea. We have the loot to pay him well for the hit, at that.

>>13550125
The first hit he does for us, he gets paid by our trusting him enough to keep him around. We can consider paying him for subsequent hits, but I'd rather just consider him a standing asset like all the other crazy awesome people that we've got lying around working for us and expect him to do it for free.

rolled 87 = 87

>>13550152
We have assests that stand around and that we don't have to pay because the Empire is already paying them xD.

I assume at least. Pax, our aides and what not are considered part of the Empire payroll right? Or are we supposed to be paying them.......

>>13549933
... He's an assassin, not a panty-thief.

That's Justinian's job.

>>13550152
Well our retinue members do get paid. They're not doing what they do for free.

>>13550124
Maybe that's something we can ask Janos then on what their relations might be like but I still don't think it'd work at this point simply because he'd see it as his enemy trying to fool him. We have no real proof other than what Blentus said and for all he knows, we could be making it up. You have fair points but we need something more solid if we want to convince him.

>>13550120
Hmm. I'm tempted to try to get him to infiltrate the towers we hit to kill anyone who could light their signals. I doubt that would be feasible though. Maybe sending him after the knight would be best. Cause havoc amongst their chain of command while we make our move.

>>13550163
...I know that they're not actually unpaid, by "for free" I meant "included as part of standard duties rather than something which requires additional funding". That is, free from the perspective of not depleting our war or personal funds.

>>13550163
>empire assets
>>13550072
>settlement was too small for Janos yo remember its name, only that it was one of Lord Dyrons more important minor vassals

>>13550120
Bleak Ravens? Where are they based? Uurlanth? The Seven Guilds?

I also support sending this assassin after the knight in command of the small town.

>He acknowledges that your messengers reached him, and thanks you for the warning, indicating that he suspected some form of treachery, but was not aware of its depth of penetration.

Pax, is that referring to the cult that has infiltrated their command staff?

As awesome as it would be for him to be able to take out the guys in the towers doing the signal, I don't think he's that awesome of an assassin so many taking out the knight vassal would be best. Regardless, I must be out for the night. See you all tomorrow I assume

>>13550179
>I'm tempted to try to get him to infiltrate the towers we hit to kill anyone who could light their signals. I doubt that would be feasible though.
Yeah, problem with the towers is that they're a military installation. A town is full of civilians- far easier to get close to, much more supportive of bullshit artisting and plausible excuses to get into position and away safely. Most assassins aren't ridiculously good at infiltrating or killing, they have just enough skill and sneaking and stabbing to get the job done.

>>13550218
>you will have to ask Janos about that, as you haven't the fuzziest
>>13550225
>correct

"There is a knight who has been given one of Lord Dyrons principal vassals not already taken by a noble house. It is roughly equidistant from the first three towers he garrisons. Kill the knight, and his captain of the guard. Then I may trust you enough to consider a long-term employment of you." you inform the assassin.

"How long will I have to complete my task, and what proof will you require?" he asks, his posture shifting almost imperceptibly.

Hey Pax, could we please get a version of the map that doesn't have the giant "Dyron's Ford" lettering in the way?

I'm not sure if there is a tower underneath the letters or not.

>>13550283
2 days, perhaps? Not a lot of time, but we're on a schedule here.
I'm unsure as to proof, though.

>>13550283
"After I take the town, the words of whomever of the soldiers guarding it survive will serve as proof. You have until my maniple arrives to seize the settlement."

>here ya go

>>13550350
>>13550351
>tiebreaker?

>>13550351
I'll vote for this.

>>13550351
"Before you leave, I'd like you to present your weapons you have on you."

He was a captive of ours and searched, If he was Good, he might have some still on her person.

How long do we estimate we would need to take down the three towers? We want the target eliminated by the time we are ready to raid the town.

"Or do you need more time?"

Words of the survivors will have to be enough. It's not like we'd recognize the faces if he brought the heads back.

>>13550527
Rather than that, why not phrase it as "Before you leave, how many weapons were you able to sneak past my men? Including the hidden holdout one you undoubtedly have."

"You should have a few days before I reach the town, you will have until I arrive. The proof will be my arriving to a leaderless chaos." the assassin nods, but before he can get to a horse to head out, you ask "How many weapons did you manage to get through to me... the hold-outs as well, if you would."

The assassin replies by drawing a pair of shivs, a long blade, and several throwing knifes, handing each to the now very pale soldier he is riding with as he does so. "Acceptable?" he asks, almost mockingly.

"I am almost afraid to answer that. Are they regular or arcane in nature?" you press.

"Steel and meteorite, nothing special about them aside from particularly skillful forging." the assassin replies "And dont be overly frightened, your men took over half of my blades when I approached." he adds, grinning.

>so, what blades do you want to give him?

>>13550644
Give him the one that passes through regular armor. "This was taken from the fat bastard himself. Consider it a signing bonus."

>>13550644
For an assassin, a weapon that passes easily through iron and steel would be Ideal.
We have, just such a blade.

We could give it to him, as, a show of good will that we wish him to succeed, and a hint to the rewards he could reap in our Nations employ.

>>13550644
Give him all of his own weapons back. He is a professional, and we should treat him as such.
"Professional interest, you understand. Both of yours, and of my men. I would have been disappointed if you didn't have at least three different ways to kill me readied, excluding poisons, of course."

>>13550671
>>13550684
Do not give it to him now, definitely. That should be reserved for when he does something rather exceptional on our behalf.

>>13550732

We still happen to have the poison blade from ages ago.

Don't forget those two nasty knifes we took from the rebel leader. One drips a poison that cannot be cured and kills in a few days. One makes cuts that never heal.

I wouldn't trust him with all this arcana right away though. Maybe gift those to him after a successful mission.

I wonder if Pax will ever call us on being so trustful of new retinue members. D:

>>13550747
Well, don't give him that either. We don't give him shit until after he's actually done work on our behalf. Preferably not until after he's done a LOT of work on our behalf and seems quite reliable.

>>13550732
We're asking him to kill not one knight, but likely two, heavily armed and trained soldiers. To wait to catch them unarmored might take too long, especially with one after the other, who would be on aware of the death if lucky.
The armor ghost blade would allow him to forgo any risk, and take them on any time, any place.

So, by my count, not counting the towers we razed already, there are 12 towers north of Dyron's Ford, and 9 towers south of it?

Towers highlighted.

>>13550755
Thats why we throw out todays dinner set out for us and have another prepared... just in case.

>>13550644

Give him orders to tamper with the water supply. A corpse in there will do.

The faster the town empties out, the better.

>>13550770
You make a good point, but I still think that the risk of him going AWOL on us is still too high. Maybe when he's been more proven to be loyal.

Besides, we also need to see just how good he really is; giving him arcana to easy-mode through an assassination mission isn't a good test of his skills.

>>13550770
He has DAYS. They're not going to be armored all the time, and if he kills them when they are then he's either not half the assassin that the number of weapons he's carrying implies he is, or good enough that there's no way in hell he should need to turn to us for a job.

The arcana stay with us.

"Profesional interest... I would have been dissapointed had you not managed to get at least 3 different ways to kill me past the guards." you inform the elf, drawing and flourishing the blade that can pass through steel and lesser materials. "I assume you have an idea of what this blade could do?" you ask, watching the world through the distorted haze the blade leaves.

The elf looks to be near salivating "My mentor once used a blade forged by the same arcanasmith." he informs you, greedily watching the blade.

"Serve me, and the Empire, well, and you just may earn such a weapon, along with others that I have come into possession of." you inform the elf, before making one last flourish of the blade and sheathing it. Within half an hour the assassin is riding off to the city you specified, and an hour after that, you meet up with the remainder of your force. You expect that you have a few more hours until you reach your first target, and it would be wasteful to do nothing with that time.

Give him the ghost knife. It'll just sit around here unused, otherwise, and that's a waste of a resource.

>>13550839
Well, the blade served its purpose, of giving him want to work for us more then coin.

This goes well and Daeseu just needed to pass the Drunk test, the bro teir test, and of course the friendship is magic test.

>>13550839
Good. He now has an incentive to work for us beyond just coin.

Now, we need to get a report on how the taking of the other two towers went, and an up-to-date force composition.

>>13550839
Pax, please confirm that we burned everything that we wanted burned in Lost Conflux. Because apparently last time our wishes to that effect were somehow missed.

As for what to do on the trip, perhaps we should talk with the ladies. Have Jayne take a look at Aquila; apparently he was injured and that's not good at all.

We also need to order out all our cavalry as scout if we haven't yet. It's time to get some serious eyes out there so that we know for certain where enemy armies are.

>>13550909
seconding this.

>>13550909
Second. Also seconding on whether we lost any men razing the two other towers.

>>13550909
Fourthing this.

>>13550909
>yea, all the military targets were destroyed/burnt

Aurelius is beaming as he pulls himself up onto the wagon left for the ambush forces. "Your plan went perfectly, commander, not a single loss on our end!" he exclaims happily. "Both towers were destroyed as well." he adds.

"Excellent." you reply, saluting the man before riding off to have Aquila seen to.

You find Jayne at the front of her wing, as usual, though she seems to be talking with Vohzd Lennis' son, more or less willingly. Husbandry, from the sound of it, though the conversation seems to have died off by the time you reach the noblewoman. "Justinian, how goes it?" she asks you as Spite and Stormcloud fall into step with each other.

"Well enough, though I wish I could say the same for Aquila." you reply, removing the exhausted bird from your cloak.

She grimaces, before speaking "He could be worse, most likely falcons or some other small bird fast enough to catch an eagle, and smart enough to be trained to attack them. I'm assuming you want me to see to the poor creature?" she asks, you nod an affirmative for your reply. "I'll have him seen to before midday tomorrow." she informs you, accepting the bird. "Is there anything else you wanted?" she asks, grinning.

>>13551019
"I'm hoping a kiss from a loved one wouldn't be out of the question?" Oh Trentz, how i love thee.
And her willingness to show affection in front of her own soldiers would do much.

Kiss kiss.

Jayne should be in charge of the cavalry patrols. Should we send out Finian's scouts as well? To give us warning if enemy reinforcements are coming in?

>>13551058
I'll leave the romance to you.

Though to have not suffered a single loss after taking 2 towers was well worth the money we paid to the Mirthless Warriors.

"Would a kiss be to much to ask?" you whisper, leaning over far enough to speak directly into her ear.

She blushes a little, the replies by turning her head to catch you in a brief kiss "They already knew about us anyways I suppose." she deadpans. You ride alongside her for the better part of the day, not departing until she has to lead her men to keep the wagons at a constant speed.

About an hour after Jayne departs, Janos rides up to you "Commander, is it true that you hired an Uurlanthi assassin?" he asks, his emotions regarding the matter hard to place with the mask distorting it.

>>13551153
"I like to call it a 'Trial Membership' rather then recruitment. And for the Record, No I Did Not Hire An Uurlanthi Assassin... For the Record. That would be an extremely stupid move for a Manple commander to do."

"Problem, Lord Helmet?"

Where are the Mirthless Warriors anyway? Mercs are usually pretty damn eager to get paid.

>>13551190
"Off the Record... Bleak Ravens. What are they."

>>13551190

We are playing with words. He is not going to appreciate that.

We owe him some measure of honesty. After all, his life is at great risk and his counsel has always been sound.

>>13551153

"We took out his target before he could do it himself, and have inadvertently dishonored him. I've given him a new target, and the promise of safety in numbers should he live. Before you get worried, he easily could have attempted to kill me when we spoke, had he wanted to. So you know, he'll be in the same boat you are, should his kin find out he's with us."

>>13551153
"For the record, I did not hire an Uurlanthi assassin, the Legion does not engage in assassinations, and the Empire does not contract out the killing of nuisances and obstacles in the night.
"Now, what I HAVE done, is contracted the services of a mercenary with a very special skillset, to weaken the defenses of the town we later intend to attack. This is a test of this mercenary's capabilities, to see if he is worth contracting for any further such missions."

>>13551207
Hense stage two comment

Captcha, i dont see how 'recruiting appluffi' is going to help us, you want to, recruit AppleBloom? I suppose she would be able to assist our morale but a warzone is no place for a child, must less a pony child,

"Off the record of course, and this is only a trial. What can you tell me of the Bleak Ravens?" you reply.

Janos rides in silence for a moment before responding "A rather dedicated, highly skilled order of assassins. Their Hall is somewhere southeast of BleakGate, and aside from the orders thoroughly uncreative name, they are an exceptional lot. I'm assuming that is the order this particular blade is from?"

>>13551207
Maybe.
But it needs to be made clear to Janos that officially, we did not hire an assassin. Unofficially, off the record, yes, we did, and we need to know about the Bleak Ravens.

We're not playing with words to persuade him or deceive him; we're doing it so he understands the thin rope he must balance on when we talk about such matters.

>>13551241
"Yes. Is your reluctance related to the possibility of a contact on your head?
"Or is it the unpalatable nature of his work, and what it implies?"

>>13551241

"It appears so.

Now, don't hold back. I can see that you have grave misgivings about this. Give it all to me and don't hold anything back. I've always valued your counsel and this issue is on a knife's edge in more ways than one."

>>13551276
seconded

>>13551241
"No, i was just thinking up thoroughly uncreative names for organizations, but that's very interesting Lord Helmet. The assassin's target was already felled by us, and the order will quickly know the target has not died from his handy work or was our prisoner should he be let go and return to the order.

Thus his test with me, He was honest with me, for the most part, ensuring to omit the names of his employer and target, but willingly showing any weapons in his possession when asked. This was after the men searched him.

What do you know, if any, of the Bleak Raven's loyalty to the king? and their connections there of?"

"According to him, yes. He was very honest for an assassin, though he withheld his employer, he was honest in his admittance that our capture and eventual execution has placed a death mark upon him from his order." you inform Janos "Though it is clear that you have grave misgivings on this manner, which rests on a knifes edge, so I would hear your opinion."

The former nobleman rides in silence for a while before replying "Aside from the natural aversion to Uurlanthi assassins I have recently acquired... the political outlook on them is, complicated, at the very best. In Uurlanth, slander, duels, trade embargoes, even the hiring of mercenaries to replace a particular person in a position of power you do not agree with their holding are all fair and acceptable... everything short of open war is allowed. Assassins however, there is no honor in using them, though I doubt that is as much of an issue in Degnar, being caught with one in your employ, it would certainly be death to most of your upward aspirations. On top of that" Janos nearly rants "they are, as a group, completely amoral, honorless, and almost completely bereft of loyalty. Only the Bloodhunters are totally trustworthy, and they only answer to a very select few. However, the Bleak Ravens... they are a close second in that regard, and nearly as good when it comes to excess deaths, though they are not by far among the most professional and least proud. Despite his status as a deserter and prospective turncloak, I would be hard pressed to suggest a better blade to hire, were I forced to suggest one. It is an extremely fine line you walk, Commander, one I have only seen my father tread but a handful of times, and I have only walked once, and considered but seven times, including when I did, in fact, hire a blade."

>>13551393

"Really now? Care if I ask you about that one time?"

>>13551393

No wonder he seemed so proud and sure when he displayed his guild.

Based on their aversion of using assassins in Uurlanth, the guilds cannot be too large.

I wonder if their potential reach will extend into Dengar.

>>13551393
"All points true, you'll have no argument from from me on that.
"But as a commander, entrusted with the lives of my maniple and of achieving the objectives set before me by my superiors, I must explore all options available to me.
"I will not ask you to befriend the man, or even to like him. But if he proves his worth, then I would like you to at least respect the force multiplier that he represents and how it can preserve the lives of the men in this maniple."

"I agree completely, howerver, as a Commander, certain unseemly acts become necessary to ensure victory and the survival of my men. If the blade does in fact, prove his worth I do not ask that you befriend the man, only that you support me as your superior officer, and continue to advise me as a friend. In fact, if you insist on mistrusting him, make no effort to hide it, as he would likely notice it, and it would make whomever I have watching the assassin for treacheries job easier." you reply, Janos nods reluctantly "And Lord Helmet, I would like to hear the story you just alluded to one day." you add good naturedly.

The former Uurlanthi chuckles "Only if you can give me a good reason for choosing _that_ as my moniker when we might be overheard by those who could expose that I still live."

>gah, I'm tired gonna call it for tonight.
>be back monday at 9pm server time
>someone archive please
>if you have any setting/random didnt fit in the thread questions, just email me at paxcomquest@yahoo.com

Hmm. Would hiring an assassin kill our social aspirations in Degnar?

If so, we would need some sort of cover story for the assassin elf. We could say that we hired him as a professional scout, one who was familiar with the area and doesn't mind working for Degnar. If sometimes the target he is "scouting" ends up dead, we have no idea how it happened.

We need to cover up that tattoo on his hand as well. Maybe with a larger tattoo?

>>13551540
>only if he'd dumb enough to get found out. You know that more than a few commanders also have assassins in their employ, or they did when your mentor told you about them.

>should I just archive then, or do one of you guys have it?

>>13551638

Archived already.