>The war, however, is not the only thing spreading chaos about the land. The gods, and the arcane are returning to the world after nearly 4000 years of having been thought dead. You, are at the forefront of those in the empire re-discovering that which has been lost for four millenia, and your ultimate goal is to become the Praetorian of the Divine.
>
>That office once thought lost to obsolescence with the disappearance of the gods, 1000 some years after the mortal races, humans, dwarves, elves, the cat-like felixsians, and the massive hulking lizard-men known as lacertans, killed the gods immortal servants on the mortal plain, the 6 Dragons, Elemental Patriarchs and Elemental Matrairchs 5000 years ago.
>You are currently going through a much needed period of staff enlargement and tending to your persoinal assets, and most of your plans involve either training the arcanists in the maniples of the other members of the Praetorian Militants fists, and the new order tasked with hunting and killing the vicious, bestial Loukys, an ancient race of intelligent predatory creatures recently returned to the land of the living.

A shaking on your arm rouses you from your meditation "Justinian, love, you have a briefing to attend in six hours." Sansa cheerily informs you, as you realize that for once, meditation has not left you tired at all. In fact, you feel downright rejuvenated.

Though, you are confused "How long was I..."

Sansa smiles, and kisses you on the cheek "The better part of two days. And you nothing roused you this time either."

"Wulf and Daeseu?" you ask, hoping that they have been hard at work.

Sansa pulls you to your feet, and supports you as the cramps work themselves out "Have been training with Autronius and Janos. All is ready."

>so, anyone you want to talk too before the briefing, or head straight to it?

>>15365457
I want status updates from Degrian and Kyria. Also progress reports on the students at our academy.

rolled 35 = 35

>>15365496
I like the idea of progress reports, kind of like an actual school. Call them evaluations though, sounds more official and proper since we are talking mostly military personnel.

Can we ask Collin about his sons/daughters?

Perhaps one of them would make a good swordsmanship/master of arms for the academy, since it was mentioned last time we visited that our students are lacking in actual fighting skills.

Notes: make sure that physical conditioning and combat training are a mandatory part of the curriculum at our Academy.
Higher stamina means elementalists that can do more.
Look into hiring PT and combat instructors, perhaps Collin's sons.

Also, we got an arcanasmith; I want to know if he's made any progress these past weeks.

Finally, have the advanced students try out combined elementalist attacks, for combos and Double Techs. Water to drench an area and Lightning to shock everything, stuff like that.

You stretch your legs some, before beginning to walk towards the officers dining hall with Sansa, asking "You wouldn't happen to know how Kyrias rune crafting is progressing, are you?"

Sansa nods excitedly as you finally begin the journey to the dining hall "She almost has runes of transference accurately worked into a runic phrase."

You smile "Thats good to hear." you reply as the two of you sit down with your food. "Do you have any idea how things are going at the arcane academy we have set up?"

Sansa shakes her head "No, but I think Lena does, and she is sitting across the hall looking sad right now... Wulf must have left their room for training early again." surreptitiously gesturing at the young mage.

>>15365705
I was hoping the influx of veterans from other fingers and thumbs would help our recruit elementalists achieve the combat part of 'combat elementalist' while they help the veterans get the 'elementalist' part

>>15365724
Well, of we go to Lena then. Ask her about the school's progress and if she needs anything from us.

>>15365756
Also, putting up trip

>>15365724
Go over to Lena, ask her how she's doing. Move the conversation towards the Academy and how the training of the new elementalists and arcanists is going.

>>15365743
it should help a bit, but a dedicated master is nearly always going to have better results.

A hare-brained idea.

Do we have any earth elementalist in our maniple who can recreate the 'create caverns' powers we used in our raiding?

If so, send one with Wulf and Daseau. Should things reach end game, they can retreat to their command tent and literally, go to ground.

We should be able to recover them easily.

>>15365791
That might be possible, but it would depend on having an elementalist that skilled, and counts on there being no enemy elementalists that could detect them.

Also, Pax, we really need to know if there's a way to test for were-beast infection besides waiting for them to go on a rampage.

You finish eating with Sansa, mostly making idle conversation and enjoying each others company. Once both of you are finished eating, you stand, and make your way over to Lena, who is staring intently at her food, though it seems she has barely touched it. "How are you feeling, Lena?" you ask. she turns to look at you as you sit near her, the fear she has for Wulf, and resentment towards you for separating her from him for such a dangerous mission written all over her face.

"Finesir" she mumbles, taking a bite of, what you can only assume is cold, porridge.

"That doesn't sound fine. And you only have to address me formally when I am giving orders, or when we are discussing official matters." You sigh deeply before continuing "I am worried about him as well. But I have every trust that he will return to us healthy and whole." you chuckle "And I am certain that he will be overjoyed to see you when he does." Lena still does not reply, but she does smile ever so slightly, so you decide to give up on that track of conversation and move on to business. "How go things at the academy?"

Lena pushes her porridge back, takes an apple from the bowl next to her, and after chewing a bite, replies "Well enough. My mages are all capable of magesight, and are learning basic spells. By the time we deploy, they will be ready to learn from our tomes for themselves. Laelith was able to get the archives to loan us enough tomes for all of them. and aside from physical training, the elementalists are learning quickly as well. Esthriya says that she may even have two students of each element ready to teach before too long." Lena finishes between bites of apple. Once it is finished, she obliterates the core with a flash of magic, and asks "Did you need me for anything else?" her voice still softer than normal.

>>15365918
"No. I will see about having copies of those tomes created so that the Academy has its own copies.
"I won't tell you to not worry about Wulf, since that's impossible. But he WILL come back, even if it might take longer than expected."

>>15365918

Have we spoken with Lena about how she feels about fighting with the maniple and taking lives?

Last I recall, it was bothering her, and this seems like a perfect time to have her start teaching mages full time at the academy.

>>15365984
Possible. I suppose we should ask her about it. If after this deployment, she'll consider becoming an instructor full-time.

I think we can all agree that increasing security at our Academy is a good idea.
I'd like to suggest that we bring it up with the Praetorian when we meet with him, try to get some reservist Legion personnel for obvious security, and some Imperius Excolo agents as part of the support staff to defend against enemy spies.

>>15366093
And if we can't get the Empire to foot the bill for us, hire a merc company with a good reputation as security staff for a cushy garrison job, and see if we can hire some retired Excolo agents as consultants and internal security.
Also have the earth elementalist students build defenses (walls, bulwarks, hidden tunnels) as part of their training so we don't have to spend money.

>>15366093

seconded.

As to getting a security force RIGHT NOW, i suggest having men from the Louky Hunting Force act as a guard rotation with some of our maniple's men as a temporary solution. unless doing so breaks some code i'm not aware of.

It's been brought up in the IRC that we could buy one of the Dragon Keeps in the mountains and renovate that to become our new Academy/Rune Factory.

I support this plan, and would like to speak with Janos about our finances to see if we can purchase one without going bankrupt. I want a nigh-impenetrable fortress in the mountains to turn into our own Hogwarts.

You sigh "No, if you have something else you would rather be doing I will not stop you. Though, if that something is worrying alone about Wulf, while I cannot say it is foolish to do so, I can assure you that he will be in EXCELLENT hands, and will return, though it may be later, rather than sooner."

Lena sighs "I just wish this war would end. Then we wouldn't have to fight, we wouldn't have to be separated from our family." she slowly eats the berries in her fruit bowl

You run your hand through your hair "If you would rather not fight..."

Lena shakes her head "Then I would be away from Wulf even more." she takes a deep breath "It doesn't bother me as much as it did. I'm a soldier now, and if I stopped fighting I would be abandoning my duty. And I want to be a citizen, not a plebeian." she replies, her voice quiet and trembling, but there is a trace of resolve in it.

>so anything else you wanna tackle before heading to your briefing?

>>15366163

a good idea to look into, but if we can't get our hands on one near dragon's reach, it might be better to have the academy near a city in the event loukys are attracted by the presence of trained life elementalists.

Also, as far as security for the academy goes...

Pax, when you have a chance could we get a list of what the academy already possesses in terms of buildings/walls/dungeons? gotta know what you have to start with if you want to upgrade!

also, knowing roughly where it is!

>>15366190
If Janos has the time, have a look into Dragon Keeps we could purchase, and come up with a list of candidates.
I believe we are (from the IRC) looking for one that is somewhat close to Dragonsreach if possible, and that we are planning on turning it into a training academy for advanced combat elementalism, runic experimentation, were-beast containment and training, and being the base of our Loukys taskforce.

Okay so to sum it up.

> Purchase dragon keep isolated from the main city, but still nearby.
> Renovate and staff with security forces and official government security agents.
> Turn school into a combination of military fort, rune smithy and arcana/special forces academy.

>>15366190
One more thing: talk with Laelith, see if in her research she's come across a way to find people with were-beast infections. I'd rather not have to wait until they go on a rampage to know that someone is Infected.

>>15366190
"You've grown quite a lot since that nearly helpless blind girl I discovered in the temporary refugee camp. I am proud of you. Have faith, Wulf will return."

>>15366190
"Lena, you are well on your way to citizenship. And remember, if ever you need someone to talk to, you can always come to us. The same goes for Bellatrix."

And then go talk with Janos.

>>15366286
Don't forget we have to work on getting some temples up to Garagush on our return. I doubt we're going to get much loot from the next part of our campaign so we have to be a little more careful for now on how we spend our cash.

It has been brought up by Maximus in the IRC, about loaning the arcane dagger (phase through armor) to Daeseu for the duration of this operation.
I think we should do it, because he'll need all the advantages we can give him, and as an assassin, he can keep it hidden very well.

>>15366425
Confer with Janos first on if it would be too odd or not. No point giving him something that would make it really odd for him to have. I assume the blade isn't a plain looking one after all.

>>15366440
That's true, if anyone were to ever see it. I trust in Daeseu's ability to keep the dagger hidden until it's in someone's back or kidneys.
But we can bring it up with Janos, since we'll be meeting with him about the Dragon Keep purchases and the renovations of Garagush's portion of the Temple of the Ten.

>>15366425
Agreed. It can phase through steel, but not the better metals. Which is okay because if the SHTF Daeseu will be escaping from large bands of mooks, not elite troops or champions with better armour.

You shoot the young woman a smile resting somewhere between brotherly and fatherly "You have grown alot since I plucked that frightened young girl from the slaves sent to die against my maniples phalanx. Wulf will return to you, you will be a citizen, and if you ever need to talk about something, you have me. Take heart." at that, you reach over, ruffle her hair, and stand to find someone else to speak with.

You next find Janos, who is tutoring Wulf, who is idly training his hounds, both now fully grown, and being trained to move naturally in the plates of armor the young man has strapped to them. "Commander, how can we help you?"

you sigh, and reply "Janos, I have your next large purchase for my holdings selected."

The treacherous Uurlanthi lordling gulps "And that would be?"

You chuckle, before replying "I need you to find a Dragon Keep, one of the ruined fortresses from the Great Rebellion that are scattered throughout the DragonSpine Mountains, one close to a city, or a Legion fort, that is in good enough repair to serve as a base for the Loukys hunting unit, the arcane academy, a prison for any were-beasts that are captured, and a state rune etching and arcane smithy."

Janos runs his hand through his head "Wulf, I'm done with you, have Daeseu come to see me, you have more mind shielding to learn yet." your majordomo tosses over his shoulder "Aside from being near a city, do you have any other requirements?"
>cont'd

You shrug "Our current academy only has housing for a hundred students at the most, its archives are small, and it has very few cells for detainment. Anything will be larger really. The Keeps were all crafted by elementalism, so long as they can be repaired without too much effort, and will not take too much of our funds to furnish it will work."

Janos nods, but before he can reply Daeseu cuts him off, actually walking in plain sight for once, and looking rather tired "You sent for me?" Janos almost jumps up, he is so startled by the haggard looking elf that he cannot reply, simply handing the assassin a sheet of parchment. Daeseu quickly scans it, before letting out a low whistle and replying "That is a long list of mercenary bands you worked with. And at least four of your aliases have healthy bounties on them... two of which an elf could live a life of luxury with nary a day of work from, after collecting."

>>15366574
Let's bring up the question of the dagger now.
Ask if it would be out of place for someone of Daeseu's assumed position to have the arcane ghost dagger, and as long as it's not drawn, would it draw any attention? Daeseu, I assume, can keep the dagger hidden until it needs to perforate someone's kidneys.

>>15366574
"I imagine you'd be bored with that kind of a life though if you did have that kind of cash. Otherwise I'm sure you could have made a fortune somewhere in Uurlanth with your skills rather than come to me. Janos, I was wondering if it would be odd for Dasesu to have arcana on him. If not, you may need to keep what I'm going to let you use well hidden Dasesu."

>>15366647
>>15366643
I guess it's time to equip him properly for the job. Agreeing with ghost dagger handover.

One more item for our agenda today:
Shouldn't we meet with our brother?
I mean, we're getting married, and have all of this political intrigue and stuff going on. Shouldn't we at least, you know, give him a heads-up that there might be assassins coming for him in the night?

>>15366789
Hmm. That's a good point. Something I always mean to suggest but gets buried under our huge list of other things.

You smirk "With that much gold, I think one would end up bored rather quickly." Daeseu chuckles, but Janos looks rather confused "Daeseu, you seemed to like my... collection, would it be safe to assume that you would enjoy having the use of one of them durning your next deployment?"

The assassin chuckles "I do love having a good blade."

Janos shakes his head "So long as it stays hidden he shouldn't have a problem with it. Slaves are not often given weapons at all." Daeseu raises an eyebrow at the elf, before making the sheet of parchment he had been reading disappear somewhere within his cloths with a flick of his wrist.

You nod "Then you have the use of the ghost blade for the duration of your next deployment. At that, however, I must take my leave." and you do.

-----CQ-----

After a steady three hours of debate in the Praetor Militants office, it is decided that Wulf, your protege, and Daeseu, an Uurlanthi spy you turned to Degnars cause, will lead the command element of the force being sent to ensure that the Dwemer Duchy enters a full military alliance with Degnar. "Whos maniple will be sent to collect them?" you ask, knowing that it will be your own.

"Commanders Sulpicius and Annius, though High Commander Lucretius will be the one to collect your men, as well as any surviving legionaries that deploy with them. Commanders Trentz, Renol, Agrenus, and Salvious, please remain, you will be briefed for your next campaign immediately. The rest of you I will call for once you are needed" The Praetorian replies quickly.

>>15366789
it's long overdue, but we really havent had any time for ourselves since we left the officer's academy. we've got nothing to lose by visiting him

>>15366877
If we do ask why we're not being allowed to go after them, we might as well wait until the other commanders have left and only the few of us are behind. I personally think we should wait and see what he wants us to do before asking why we're not being allowed to do the mission.

>>15366877
"Praetor?"

>>15366877
Not cool, Praetor. If it's not us leading the counter-attack force, then the chances of Wulf and Daeseu dying go up.

But, there's nothing we can say on the matter. If we push for our maniple right now, then it would only open us up to criticism that we're putting the lives of our retinue above the success of the mission, and by extension, the salvation of Degnar.

Just say "Yes, Praetor" and see where we're being shipped off to next.

>>15366973
I agree with this. Plus, Lucretius seems like an alright guy, if it was Spuria personally collecting them I'd be more apprehensive, but Lucretius has done alright by us.

>>15366973
You mean how not a single commander was ready to send their own retinue members?
Ah, I'm mad that I missed that thread else I would have given them a piece of my mind

>>15367003
They were all ready to accept the original plan by the Praetor, which was to dress up as Uurlanthi and burn a Duchy city to the ground.
We were the only one to come up with an alternative plan.
The other commanders basically told us to put our money where our mouth is, and put our own retinue members on the line if we think we can plan better, since this operation can lead to either us winning the entire war, or losing it.

>>15367025
Winning the war? More like putting us back into the war. It won't help us win it unfortunately and we have no more allies we can turn to.

>>15367031
Yes, you're right about the 'winning' part. This operation, if successful, would only put us back into parity with Uurlanth.

Internally, you are shouting with rage, tearing the office apart, beating the Praetorian and every last one of his Old Guard lackeys within an inch of their lives. Externally, you are the perfect image of calm, perfectly collected. Once it is only the few commanders the Praetoian asked to stay behind, and the Praetorain Militant himself in the room, you simply ask "Praetor?"

He sighs before replying "Once you hear the task I have for the four of you" the other three are all young, or at least, look it, considering that one of them is a dwarf, for members of a fist, you do not doubt that you are within a decade of all of them "it will make sense. We recently received word that the Desert Lords, seated at BleakGate are moving to take over slipping through our forces on the central front. They of course have some of the best light infantry and cavalry that Uurlanth has to offer, and in the Skirmish Wars" you superior explains, referring to the last war, and the three before it "they successfully did what they are currently on their way to do now. And that is break our central lines, and lay waste to the Degnarian countryside."

The dwarf replies "So your sending us to relieve the maniples currently holding the central front while rotating forces is easy. I do not see why this necessitates Commander Trentz' moving to this field."
>cont'd

The Praetoian sighs "Commander Gabriel Agrenus, I had thought you kept abreast of rumors better than that. Commander Trentz radical tactics will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible for one of the minor lords to swiftly move past your forces. Combined with his ties with a large Kharynchek Ghorat, he is an obvious choice for this deployment. Even the most simple-minded of informants would deduce that the two maniples headed east have an ulterior motive if he was with them. His maniple tactics, Commander Malcius Renols quick wits and excellent eye for multi-maniple level tactics, Commander Vibius Salvius elite Light Infantry Maniple, and the hammer that is your maniple, Commander Agrenus, should make this a fairly simple campaign for the four of you. If you have no questions for me, please move your planning to the next suite over, I have several other maniples to brief and deploy yet today. The four of you will have a week before you have to leave. And yes, that is assuming you all use Commander Trentz' autowagons; if not, it will be two days."

>>15367153
>>15367148
I have to admit, he's right. Our reputation as a commander who uses radical tactics and deception would only undermine the operation.
Doesn't mean I have to like it, however.

Okay, so, we move to the next suite over to begin planning. First thing is to make sure that enough auto-wagons for all 4 maniples are constructed.
Also, we need to see about deployment funds; we're going to need lots of cavalry and air mercs.

Finally, will we be equipping all of the maniples with repeaters and heavy repeaters?

>>15367153
"Do we have an estimation on how large a force these lords will have and any information on who might be commanding them?"

>>15367153
"Do our spies know where my friends are? It is important that I make contact with them as soon as possible when we arrive."

You take a deep breath, and calm yourself before replying "Very well. Is it safe to assume that all of these Lords will be fielding the legal limit to soldiers for Uurlanthi Lords? Are their Lords to be leading, or heirs?"

The praetorian taps on the recreation of the house Hernanda banner "The Lords of Bleak Bend have always been more traders than warriors, aside from that, assume a full compliment for all other lords. Lady Vistyek is likely to send her son, as is Lord Hernanda. The other two Lords are ailing, aging, and likely to have sons with them, but will be on the front lines."

Commander Renol nods "WE'll make our way to the next suite then, Praeotor." at that, he salutes, rather sloppily, and leads the others out of the room."

"Commander Trentz" the praetorian stops you "I know what the older, and more obstinate Commanders forced on you. I will raise your requisition to 100,000 Dragoons, and, see to it that the 196th is moved to the top of the list for conversion to Centurions, it is long overdue in my opinion." at that, the man dismisses you.

The next room over, is already dominated by a map of the Halrian valley, the Commanders grouped around the table. "Trentz, it is good to see you again." Reynol greets you "We were just about to begin giving rundowns of our forces. Would you like to start, or should I?"

>>15367367
Let's give a basic run-down of our forces and what we have available. Then we'll see what the others have.

So what are the differences between Legions and Centurions?

> absolute xpards
Uh...

I feel we should send for both Janos and Deaseu, as both may have information on our opponents that only a recent defector may know.

If any commander objects, let them.

>>15367382
Agreed. Also Pax, think you could update that pic to show how the forces that are rotating out are positioned? Just so we have an idea on what kind of a line they were holding.

>>15367408
seconded

What exactly constitutes uurlanthi light infantry and light cavalry?

>>15367392
>Same gear, plus javelins, except its all Meteorite and Duchy-forged. That, and Centurions0
are generally better as soldiers
>>1536749
>Sergeants, and men at arms in chainmail, plus the usual Levy rabble.

You incline your head to the other Comanders before replying "I will begin, COmmander Renol"

"Malcius, please. All of this formality makes me nervous, it feels like one of us is about to get court-martialed, or something equally unpleasant with all the formality." the light brown haired commander cuts you off, before inclining his head towards you again.

You clear your throat "As I was saying, I have two men in my retinue that are experts of sorts on Uurlanthi banners, nobles, tactics and the like. If the three of you agree..." you trail off.

"By all means, Justinian." Agrenus replies, the two others nodding their heads in agreement. "And, for what its worth, none of us here agreed with what the other members of the fists did to you, and, provided you can provide my rangers with a full compliment of Repeaters, I will happily see that an additional 25000 dragoons worth of Uurlanthi gold makes it to your protege before he departs."

Salvius nods his head "Were my funds not so bare after raising my own mercenary units, I would do the same. No man should be forced to send his son, even an adopted one, off to what is certain to be his death."

While the messenger returns to your barracks to retrieve Janos and Daeseu, the four of you exchange the composition of your Legion forces.
>cont'd

>the arrows are the predicted enemy paths of advance to the center, by the way.


Renol
257th Legionary
300 Legionary
271st Archers
328th Archers
57th Light Swords
121st Dwarven Axes

Agrenus
86th Warlords
91st Warlords
451st Berserkers
377th Berserkers
58th Rangers
60th rangers

Salvius
67th Light Swords
88th Light Spears
90th Dwarven Axes
94th Dwarven Hammers
54th Deadeyes
66th Deadeyes
-----
-Personal Mercenaries - Light Cavalry
velociprey, shortbows, spears, khopesh
-Personal Mercenaries - Light Cavalry
velociprey, shortbows, spears, khopesh

>>15367620
Hmm. I'm thinking we have the heavier maniples holding the center of the plain and the lighter ones on the edges. With the wagons, the light ones should make decent time that way and I suggest we sit in the expected main path of the enemy.

Wonder if Blackbird is going to ask for time in the swamps again.

>>15367620
>khopesh

Interesting. An excellent blade for locking an opponent's weapon arm before delivering a shield bash to the throat, from what I remember.

also "Disagreeable as it is, any of my command staff would have succeeded, but these two I chose for their chances of survival. They'll come home.

As for the repeaters, I consider sharing them among the other maniples to be a civic duty. The more shots our army can field, the more their armor is forced to endure. As well, I shall have enough moonseye paste made up for us on the chance we can get a good point to hit them at night."

While we wait for Janos and Desu to get here, ask each of the other commanders if they have a "specialty" or preferred tactic.

>>15367614
In regards to personal stuff. "I have confidence in Wulf that he'll arrive back to us once this is all done. I'll see what I can do about getting you those repeaters Commander Argenus. Just be very careful that the Uurlanth don't get their hands on any. The last thing I want to hear about is their men using our technology against us."

>>15367712
this sounds good. seconding.

We should try to hit there armies before they move pass the lake, try to force them into the swamps or to stay close to them. Also we should depart before the week is over and choose a place where the enemy cavalry could be manipulated into charging an apparently vulnerable position that is actually a dead trap for mounted units.

>>15367614
"You've no doubt heard of the orc of the Old Clans in my employ and about his unit. I was thinking that I send him south by tonight so he can work his magic. I can also send my valkyrie knights to scout for a field suitable for battle and ways to force Uurlanth to engage us on our terms."

>>15367620
Make sure that all of the maniples with us are equipped with repeaters, auto-wagons, and moonseye paste.

We should probably try to intercept the enemy before they get past the inland sea and can spread out, if possible.

As for deployment, have the lighter two maniples on the flanks, and ours and Agrenus in the center.

>>15367614

"The boy will return whole and hale. I'm more worried about the chances of his return with a swooning harem of uurlanthi girls and how his current lover will react."

We are the most confident man in Degnar! THE DICE WILLED IT! And lighten the mood.

"As to the repeaters, I'll gladly see to equipping any of your men with them."

>>15367738

seconding, though i feel our valk riders would be put to better use locating our nomad friends and asking them to ride to war with us once again.

>>15367722
Highly risky since we still have to deal with the Uurlanth forces that are already in the area. We can't push too far forward without risking being trapped by two enemies. Unless we somehow manage to crush whoever is already there.

Ask the other commanders if there are known enemy forces near the inland sea, and whether we can intercept them there if we move out as soon as possible.

Seems like the enemy's possible routes spread out the closer they get to our front. Would it be feasible to catch them near the inland sea? Or do we have strict orders to hold the line near Degnar?

(And yes, I'm thinking about driving the enemy into the swamps, where Blackbird and his men will be waiting for them.)

>>15367772

I see no other forces engage in the area unless you are talking about those currently in the south front. I still say we should try to arrive before the enemy and force them to battle in our terms in a battlefield of our choosing and previous modification to our benefit.

You smirk "I have confidence that my men will return, as I selected them for their higher chances of survival. As to the repeaters, I would happily distribute them to my fellow Commanders as a matter of course. Provided that you can prevent them from falling into enemy hands of course."

The dwarf laughs heartilly "Commander Trentz, I have two battalions of both Warlords and Berserkers. I am a hammerstroke for the Legions, if the enemy can break through my charge, they will have plenty of time to loot our cold corpses. If not, they will never touch the rangers." He pauses before adding "And does that mean that you do not want some of my funds to alleviate the strain on your funds for funding your man and your maniples mercenary and noble cavalry needs?"

Salvius cuts in "Speaking of noble cavalry, I will have House Morlan on retainer, and I am considering hiring on Morzitus as well, seeing as Commander Trentz had success with them. I feel that it is safe to assume that House Garlian will be working with Trentz again, and the rest of you?"
>cont'd

The other commanders shrug indecisively "Mercenary hiring is a topic well need to discuss." Renol opines, before pointing at the map "I drew in arrows where these Lords, or their parents or grandparents successfully pushed through in the past, the largest being the rout they have had the most success with. I would expect either of the two larger arrows, with the infiltrating Lord taking a completely different path."

You nod, as Janos and Daeseu enter "As I am certain you are aware, I have an Orc of the Old Clans in my employ. I could have him depart along with the force bound for Duchy territory tomorrow night, to scout an acceptable location for us to set our defense, and send word back via the Valkerie riders I have on a long-term contract. Perhaps even to harass our foes as the pass the Inland Sea, more specifically, the swamp bordering it."

The other commanders nod in approval "So long as we have them for the actual fighting." Agrenus replies "Also, it would seem that your advisers are here, would you care to introduce us?"

We should be trying to spread our tech as much as the Praetor will allow us.

Agreeing with heavy troops in the center and light troops on the flanks. Although our scouting units should be in the vanguard. And I bet we'll be getting our money's worth from our valks.

Surely the "Desert Lords" will be expert at fighting in the desert and plains. Perhaps we can catch them in terrain they are not used to fighting in.

>>15367861
Before I go: Will we be able to hire the Ghosts along the way to the operational theater? Will we pass by Flumenos that we could make the necessary detour?
Because having elven SpecOps archers on our payroll for a change is always nice.

>>15367614
"I would be very grateful for Uurlanthi gold, Commander Agrenus. Wulf's mission is very important."

He's offering us free money for Wulf. TAKE IT.

>>15367861
introduce Janos as former Lord Helmet!

>>15367912

I disagree. If we give the repeaters freely, this is a chance to improve relations with fellow commanders.

Having friends ALWAYS helps.

>>15367912
On second thought, maybe offer him Degnar gold in exchange, if we are allowed to spend our requisition funds on this.

"This is Daeseu and Lord Helmet. (Are we still calling him Lord Helmet?) Two former Uurlanthi turned to our cause due to personal reasons. They have both proven themselves to reliable. Were it not for fate, I'm sure they would have continued to be great assets for Uurlanth... but now they serve ME."

>>15367940
Right. Offer him one-to-one trade for Degnar gold, using our requisition funds, assuming that we're allowed to do this at all. This way he doesn't get hit with the "gold exchange tax", Wulf gets more funds, and we only use up 1/4 of our requisition funds. Acceptable results all around?

>>15367971

I feel we should give the repeaters freely.

If the commander wants to give the boy more funds or give a charitable donation to our engineer's personal projects, he is free to do so of his own accord, but we expect no such favors in return. If anything, we should feel obligated to give the repeaters freely for the good of Degnar.

>>15368007
Didn't we already?

>'As to the repeaters, I would happily distribute them to my fellow Commanders as a matter of course. Provided that you can prevent them from falling into enemy hands of course."

Anything we get back in return is a courtesy.

>>15368007
A trade would not cost him anything though. In fact he's making a profit, because he would lose of his Uurlanthi gold (which he looted anyway) when he turns it in for Degnar gold at HQ.

>>15367943
This but add:

"Ah, but I kid, and Janos, you still haven't told me what your chosen surname is yet."

>>15368047
That should say, he would not get back 100% value of the Uurlanthi gold if he exchanged it at HQ. By exchanging with us, he gets more value, and we get genuine Uurlanthi gold coins instead of Degnar counterfeits. Everyone wins.

1. Procure horses for Blackbird's unit
2. They are to do their thing as well as locate Vohdz Lennis' Ghorat.
3. Roll for diplomacy, grease the die with our horses as a gift to an old friend

Y/N?

>>15368073

If we are offering horses to the nomads... we'd better buy some PRIME horses.

>>15368073
VERY YES

Idea from IRC:

WWI tactic: drop arrowheads on enemy's trenches via biplanes

New Degnar tactic: drop arrowheads and caltrops on enemy formations via Valks

You smirk "this is Daeseu, the uurlanthi spy I turned who will be accompanying Wulf on their mission, and, Lord Helmet, my advisor on all things Uurlanthi."

"I dont see any helmet..." Renol quips.

"I melted that damned thing down..." Janos whines.

"His actual name is Janos Fetlius, he had to wear a helmet during the Commanders last deployment in Uurlanth, lest his treachery be discovered and royal assassins sent for him."

The other commanders in the room suddenly get the joke, and a fit of coughing erupts behind their hands. "I see." Agrenus replies "Would you care to brief us on our foes then?"

Janos nods, before looking over the list of lords and their banners that the Praetor left you with. "The Vistyeks are known for strike and fade tactics, and have by far the best trained and most varied units of the Desert Lords. Cunning and cruelty are their virtues. House Ramon, if you haven't guessed from their banner, prefer to fight with spears, and most, if not all of their soldiers will be outfitted with them. aside from their knights, most of their forces can be expected to be used as line infantry. Zales has the heaviest infantry, in that most of their forces are in at least chainmail, instead of at most, though their knights have at best splintmail. They also hire the most mercenaries. They may hail from a city whos port is known for its calmness, but they are by far the most violent of the Desert Lords." Janos sighs "And House Hernanda is known, or, not known, for its infiltrators and assassins, as they prefer to not openly engage their foes. Politics and the blade in the dark are their weapons. Their soldiers will be easily broken and poorly trained, their knights weaker and more apt to flee. Have you any more questions for me?"

>>15368115
"What is the disposition of enemy cavalry and air units?"

>enemy is expert with assassins
>Daeseu won't be with us
>why.jpg
Maybe we *should* pick up some bodyguards before leaving DragonsReach. *Good* ones.

>>15368115

"Does House Hernanda make use of a particular assassin group or run their own?"

Then: "Daeseu, ideas or information on this assasin group?"

>>15368137
We take our pets with us, and maybe a few more spiders, and get trained hounds for every commander, important officers and we integrate them into our camp patrols.

>>15368167
Building on this: "What are the preferred tactics of their assassins? Any tips so that I and the other commanders don't wake up with extra holes on our bodies?"

>>15368064
do it

>>15368106
im thinking that we could tie nets to these, or maybe some more heavy duty metal projectiles to pin dozens of soldiers to the ground.

>>15368106
Full explanation of Valk arrow drop idea:

> Idea comes from WW1 when aerial combat was very crude.
> Imagine a bucket, full of SOLID metal arrows, 2 feet long.
> Dropped out of a plane the arrows fall straight down thanks to their fins.
> These arrows can go through a metal helmet, through a person and into the ground without stopping.

Why make them out of metal instead of mostly wood like a balista bolt? It keeps the size down, so you can carry more of them. And a smaller projectile has better armour penetration.

The only downside to this is the expense of all that metal. Each arrow has enough metal in it to make a small sword. But we will be capturing enemy equipment soon enough and even poor steel can be melted down and used for this.

Bonus troll points:
> An arrow that hits nothing will impact the ground and sink up to its fins. Make the fins thick and sharp enough and presto, you have a caltrop.

>>15368214
Fucking genius! I am for this plan!

>>15368246
That is... Wow.
Sold.

>>15368214
they can be recovered, reused and reforged too. we're not actually wasting metal.

from IRC:
talk to blackbird about training us, the other commanders and retinues in swamp survival 101, so that we can set up our HQ in the swamp. it will be assassin proof and just a little bit too crazy.
I doubt renol, agrius and salvius will agree to such an outlandish idea but we should pitch it nonetheless.

>>15368260
I think that bit would be a bad idea though. 'assassin' proof, but the lives lost from infection, disease ridden bugs, and the wondering swamp beast of various size and horrifically dangerous would more than make up for it.

>>15368280
that's what training is for! I admit I am mostly curious of how they will respond to the idea though.

"Commander Agrenus, i would distribute the repeaters to my fellow Commanders freely, however, if you insist on a token, how would you like to exchange 25000 of your Uurlanthi coins for an equal ammount of Degnarian gold from my funds?"

The dwarf nods "I would be quite pleased with such an exchange." he replies.

You nod happily "Daeseu, what can you tell us about the Hernanda assassins?"

He shakes his head "One of the better groups of assassins, perhaps, third or fourth in the realm. They prefer poisoned blades and bolts, and are highly professional. The females that act as camp followers... be wary of any whores, especially the ones too attractive for their fee, bladed inserts for their cunts, and muscular control to keep the blades safely retracted inside the mechanisms until it is too late."

The men at the table all shudder, before Salvius asks "What can we expect in the way of aerial cavalry, Janos?"

the ex Uurlanthi scratches at his head "Griffons from House Zales - at least two full wings of knights; and 3 or 4 wings of pegasus knights from Vistyek, if my memory is not failing me, and neither house has had a bout of particularly bountiful or difficult times in the recent past."

The room goes silent, flying cavalry is expensive. Commander Renol breaks the silence "Gabriel and I will hold the center, Vibius can take the flanks, and Justinian will move to wherever the pressure is greatest, or the Lord attempting to sneak through is moving. I feel that we should all adopt his night assault and trapping techniques, and make certain that the areas to either of our flans, and behind our maniples are heavily trapped, so that Justinian, or the nearest available Maniple has enough time to reach the Lord in question. What do the rest of you say?"

>>15368295
Hmm. Risky to have the one maniple guard both flanks but that might be best if they're going to have one lord try to infiltrate. Might be best for us to focus on hunting them down with our valks keeping an open eye. If we can get our nomad friends in on this, perhaps we can use them to help out the guys holding the lines. I think we should go with their plan for now. Just gotta make sure we trap the hell out of the terrain even better than when we were fighting the Stants.

That's a lot of cavalry.

Bring up the idea of intercepting the enemy early, deep inside the valley. (I'd skip the "swamp HQ" idea though.)

>>15368328
I'm hesitant to push forward too far in the event the enemy takes a path we don't expect or because we might take too long getting there and not have enough time to prepare the terrain to deal with them. Might be worth suggesting to see their opinions but I'm not sure if we want to try to push the lines that far forward into Uurlanth right away. Especially with their air dominance, which we have to deal with again. Sigh.

>>15368295
our mobility thanks to the wagons should let us protect both flanks with some success but it seems too risky if the enemy wisen up to our strategy.
is harassment and counter-attacks a viable option?

have their maniples been screened for elementalists?

tell them we have enough moonseye paste and we believe the surrounding area will support our requirements for the duration of the campaign.

are we going to invest in fliers, as in, is our ground force strong enough for our suggested role? we should ask them to lend us their requisition when they have hired their mercs so that we can hire more flyers.

run them by all the ideas posted so far, there's no need to hold back. brainstorming is good and they may get some ideas of their own once they get our way of thinking.

run by them the idea to utilize poisons. we have a swamp and people who can survive long enough to gather what we need, we should ask daeseu about this. he should meet with blackbird to discuss this.

we need as many valks as we can get and arm them with repeaters.

exploit the height/speed/climb advantage of valks over both pegasus and griffons and use poison that causes paralisis or numbness on the bolts.

Stay high and rain death if they chase. If they don't chase, loose attack runs. dive past and strike. If they follow, stay LOW to the ground and head for friendly archers. If our guys can fly ~10-20 ft from the ground, the enemy should be forced to either halt their dive and lose their speed advantage from it, or strike the ground and have a bad day.

>>15368387
That's assuming that valks still have their speed advantage at very low altitudes.

Man... air superiority is going to be hard to grasp on this campaign. We will be hard pressed just to maintain parity.

You sigh "It is risky, but short of deploying at the Inland Swamp, I can think of nothing better."

The other commanders step back from you "And you call our plan risky?" Agrenus asks you, raising an eyebrow.

You chuckle "Madness I know, but I thought that if Blackbird, the Orc I employ, could traverse teh swamp without any losses, with proper training we could use it as a base of operations." the other commanders faces are a mix of terror and intrigue, though they do not voice any opinion other than horror on your suggestion. You sigh "Poisons and repeaters to deal with the air cavalry would be best I think."

The other men nod in agreement. Renol yawns "The hour grows late, and we still have time to finish planning. Would you men agree that while we have our general plan, the rest will be difficult to properly set in motion until we have our mercenary units hired?" again, the men at the table nod "Then, let us reconvene the day after tomorrow, with our battalion lists, including the mercenaries we hire on." and at that, the commanders in the room all salute, and make their ways from the chamber.

>so, merc list than skip ahead to Wulf heading out? or something else inbetween?

>>15368436
We'll need it though. Best way to recon the enemy and see where they are going is from the air. If we don't know where they are and where they are going to, we'll have a hard time catching them.

We might have to go with Generic's idea. If I remember correctly a single noble house Griffon unit would cost us 25k gold. We need to spend 50k gold total on Wulf's mission, and the other half for us.

Merc list sounds good. If possible could we cast a wide net to other cities and outposts? During our second campaign we ended up hiring the Ghosts this way and they worked out pretty well.

Any mercs with prior working experience would be a big plus.

Wait. Halt. Hold!

Are we going to hire mercs independent of each other? We need to discuss the mercs in detail before any transactions are made.

>>15368473

1. Go the DragonsReach HQ, and ask to exchange 25k gold worth of Degnar gold for captured Uurlanthi gold at 1:1 rates. We want genuine, used Uurlanthi gold for Wulf's mission, not newly minted ones from DragonsReach's forges.

2. Any graduates from our academy yet?

3. Hire bodyguards?

4. Merc list. Look into valks and other air units. I think the other commanders will have ground merc units covered.

>>15368508
True, let's get a general division of labor between the maniples. Someone should focus on light infantry, someone else on ground cavalry. Two commanders should focus on air cavalry.

Otherwise we might end up bidding each other up.

>>15368492
And by air dropping the caltrop/metal arrow idea we can control the terrain by having field seeded with caltrops and hidden earth elemantalist-mad pits, foring the desert lords to came at us directly instead of the more flanking form of fighting our foes would like.

Our enemies want to charge at us. Let them. Instead, we turn the plains into France 1914-1918, i.e. World War One

Then, we four commanders should go and get mercs together.

The next morning you get up plenty early, in order to get a good pick along the Nobles Casueway. The street is its usual wartime madness, and you quickly find yourself drawn into the gossip and fact finding of determining which mercenary units are even woth your time. After a while, you and Sansa have a decent list of mercenary bands put together, and you are ready to move in to hire some of them.

Tenish Blades 200
Surecoat of Chainmail, longswords
+++++
--
5000
Brelna Axes 200 Dwarves
Scalemail, combat axes, circleshields
++++
--
3000
Corin Myrmydons 150
Leathers, greatswords
+++
-
3500
Roans Reavers 200 Dwarves
Plate armor, battle axes
++++++
--
6500
Tylnar Spears 175 Lacerta
Leathers, Spears
+++++
-
5500
Torin Ghosts 100 Lacerta
Leathers, javelins, combat knives
++++++
--
6000
Trelith Marksman 200
cloth, Longbows, knives
+++
--
2000
Estren Infiltrators 150 Lacerta
Javelins, Slings, combat axes
++++
--
3000
>cont'd

Frentor Riders 50
Plate Armor, Lances, Longswords, Horses
+++
-
10000
Skyrus Thunderers 50 Dwarves
Uursan, Plate Armor, Lances, Battleaxes
++++++
-
15000
Torin Light Riders 50 Lacerta
Velociprey, scalemail, baradiches
+++++
--
12500
Grenth SkyRiders 50
Griffons, splintmail, polearms
+++++
--
25000
Windet Cloudscreamers 50
Valkeries, leathers, breatswords
+++
---
15000
Hornam Lightningriders 50
Pegasus, chainmail, lances
++++
--
20000
-----Noble Cavalry Wings-----
House Deshtius
Heavy Cavalry 50
*****
30000
House Testus
Peagusus Riders 50
*****
45000
House Gontur
Light Cavalry 75
**
22500
House Mestus
Valkyrie Riders 50
****
40000
House Hunstis
Gryfons Riders 50
*****
50000
House Morlan
Grifon Riders 50
****
45000

Renol
- balanced maniple
- air cavalry mercs

Agrenus
- dwarven hammer!
- ground cavalry mercs

Salvius
- elite light infantry
- light infantry mercs

Justinian
- balanced
- air cavalry mercs

We can always "trade" merc units in the field.

>>15368535
Are the other commanders there? Can we get a quick huddle and implement this?

>>15368525
>>15368529
We'll be going around plugging gaps in the line so we will need a good mix of cavalry and flyer units.

Frentor Riders 50
Plate Armor, Lances, Longswords, Horses
+++
-
10000

Hornam Lightningriders 50
Pegasus, chainmail, lances
++++
--
20000

I suggest getting these.

Cloudscreamers and Thunderers look like good buys. We are becoming experienced with Valks and Uursan.

If we can, send out messengers to track down the merc bands we have worked with before. Especially those familiar with our night tactics like the Ghosts.

Wish list:

Grenth SkyRiders 50
Griffons, splintmail, polearms

Windet Cloudscreamers 50
Valkeries, leathers, breatswords

Hornam Lightningriders 50
Pegasus, chainmail, lances

House Mestus
Valkyrie Riders 50

15000
Torin Light Riders 50 Lacerta
Velociprey, scalemail, baradiches
+++++
--

Are also nice. Velociprey are suppost to be faster than pegasi.

>>15368609
And they spook horses too, something we should keep in mind.

The reason I want us to specialize is because we're going after all these directions.

Gloquenteentleman is suggesting in the IRC that we hire less successful valkyrie bands on the assumption that they will get beaten bloody and slaughtered in the field, so that we can make the survivors join our Skywings.

rolled 11 = 11

Seconding huddle with other commanders

also, second for hte hiring of hte valks, they are likely to get mauled in fair combat just because of their 1:1 ratio and I am thinking ahead that if equipped with repeaters they will still take heavy losses like our last one, and we can offer them the same bargain we did our last one, this way we can possibly have a quick and large boost to our personal Valkyrie wing

>>15368623
I suggest sticking with valks and uursan. We are most familiar with the two. Plus it gives us leave to hire velocipreys.

>>15368624
The other way of looking at this is that we hire less expensive Valk groups and train them in our methods. Which are essentially the cutting edge of aerial warfare.

Windet Cloudscreamers 50
Valkeries, leathers, breatswords
+++
---
15000

definately hire these guys. Our valk unit should be able to get them up to speed with repeaters fairly quickly.

As far as griffon and pegasus units go, I can't see hiring them unless the other commanders get them. We might have better results hiring additional archer units to act as Anti-Air batteries.

>>15368630
that's a good way to put it when we haggle with them. being a top of the line unit is going to give them much better chances at better contracts and will net them not a small amount of renown.

I wonder if Trentz is famous enough that having fought with us is a free ticket for bragging rights.

>>15368648
They are too expensive. We have to take comfort in numbers, if we only have a small force of elites they will tire and be out of commission far earlier and far easier than the enemy.

I'd rather we use leftover gold to equip our units with those sweet ass anti-air spear hooks.

During our last engagement with enemy valk units, I think our valks had about a 1:1 k/d ratio. The enemy was better trained, but our repeaters evened things up.

I don't know about fighting griffon and pegasus knights with them, though. So I'm still for getting the merc griffon and pegasus units. Give them repeaters too, and they might be able to go talon-to-talon the enemy air knights.

You track down the other commadners you will be deploying with, who seem to have been looking at you. Renol looks jealously at Sansa, who is hanging on your arm, and Agrenus looks intrigued by her, but Commander Vibius gets things back on track rather quickly "Commander Trentz, what are your thoughts on today's crop of mercenaries?"

You shrug "At the moment I am leaning towards hiring mostly cavalry, aerial and land based. What of you men?"

Renol shrugs "Some archers, perhaps one of the swordsmen units. I plan to put most of my budget into hiring House Deshtius however."

Gabriel shakes his head "Not much in the way of decent infantry, I am considering a few units of light infantry to guard my rangers, and a Noble wing as well. I still am not certain which one."

Finally Salvius chimes in "Those Lacertan Ghosts and spears intrigue me. I simply aim to have a light infantry unit or two to bolster the flanks. I will still be staying mostly with light infantry however, my skill with that sort of battalion is what earned me this post."

>also, since it was requested in the IRC, a list of noble houses friendly to you, or that have been trying to be friendly towards you through Janos
>House Morlan
>House Morzitus
>House Garlian
>House Ovidius
>House Norum
>House Halrius

>>15368669
I agree. I want air superiority this campaign.

Pax, what's our maniple look like now? The updated list with Centurions and stuff. We know the other maniple's but not our own. I don't keep lists myself.

House Morlan
Grifon Riders 50
****
45000
>Friendly to us.
Please please please please please.

Suggest the Uursan merc unit to Gabriel. Then we can focus on air cavalry.

>>15368667
I'd love to hire more valks, but it seems that we only have two valk units available for hire. The only other one that we know of is already on our payroll.

rolled 33 = 33

>>15368703
House Morlan is already on retainer by Salvius.

we could get griffens or get a noble house.

>Torin Ghosts 100 Lacerta
>Leathers, javelins, combat knives
>++++++
>--
>6000

>Estren Infiltrators 150 Lacerta
>Javelins, Slings, combat axes
>++++
>--
>3000

I was thinking that we hire the cheap Lacertan skirmish bands and join them with Blackbird's.
If you recall the sheer terror they inflicted on both the enemy and our own troops in the last campaign... now imagine that instead of humans using Old Clan tactics, it is huge Lacertan brutes. Enemy morale will break like wet tissue paper.

We could definitely haggle down the price to something a LOT more comfortable and affordable for us if we told them that they can learn Old Clan warfare from a real Orc.
They must have heard the rumors about him by now, they should be itching for a chance like this.

What do you guys think?

>>15368717
>thats only one of their wings.
>just like Jayne has teh training wing (which you drained to have more riders while on campaign a while back) Morlan is a big rich house with multiple combat wings

>>15368742
Salvious is going for those. we can probably loan Blackbird for a day or so.

>>15368574

With house Morlan and my suggestion, it will cost 75 000
without bargaining. So yeah, House Morlan is a go from me.

New wish list:

Windet Cloudscreamers 50
Valkeries, leathers, breatswords
15000

House Mestus
Valkyrie Riders 50
40000

House Morlan
Grifon Riders 50
45000

Estren Infiltrators 150 Lacerta
Javelins, Slings, combat axes
3000

Salvius is already hiring the Ghosts.

Skyrus Thunderers 50 Dwarves
Uursan, Plate Armor, Lances, Battleaxes
++++++
-
15000

Windet Cloudscreamers 50
Valkeries, leathers, breatswords
+++
---
15000

Total 30k, we can probably bargain them down to 25k total at least.

I heavily suggest we stick with Uursan and Valks. We are very familiar with the Uursan and the Thunderers are an elite unit. Valks work best with our repeaters which are our biggest advantage in the air.

I'm against taking any ground units until we negotiate with at least the cloudscreamers and house Morlan.

If the enemy is attempting to sneak a group past our force, we need air superiority or at least enough air power to contest the skies.

If the enemy has air superiority, our movement will be hindered and observed, making it far too easy for the enemy to bypass us.

Windet Cloudscreamers 50
Valkeries, leathers, breatswords
15000

House Mestus
Valkyrie Riders 50
40000

Estren Infiltrators 150 Lacerta
Javelins, Slings, combat axes
3000

Tylnar Spears 175 Lacerta
Leathers, Spears
5500

Mobility, strength, pure unbridled savagery and psychological warfare.

Money left over to equip our units with hooked spears and maybe outfit the lacertans with armor or secondary weapon.

We will need some gold left to buy horses for blackbird

>>15368841
Seconding.

>>15368806
Our budget is 50k. Pick something else too.

One of the other commanders is already hiring the Tylnar Spears. We can always offer to train them, but someone else is nice enough to be spending the money in our place.

>>15368898
I've misread the post, I thought he only wanted to hire the Ghosts.

Negotiation list:

Cloudscreamers

House Morlan

Then we go from there?

Haggle list:

1. Windet Cloudscreamers
2. House Morlan
3. House Mestus
4. Estren Infiltrators

Agreed?

rolled 50 = 50

Try to get Gabriel to hire the Skyrus Thunderers.

Haggle roll for Cloudscreamers!

rolled 50 = 50

>>15368929

works for me.

Seconding.

Also, test rollan!

rolled 64 = 64

Rolling for Estren Infiltrators

rolled 86 = 86

Is the diceroller smoking pot?

Maybe we get a bonus if we mention the "free repeaters" offer.

rolled 16 = 16

Rolling for House Morlan

Okay guys to sum it up:

> Gabriel and Renol are anchoring the center. Salvius is responsible for the flanks.
> We are the mobile response force to counter a sneaky enemy commander and bolster the line.
> We need to be as mobile as possible, so cavalry is a plus.
> We need to counter enemy air HARD.

So the plan:
> Suggest that Renol hire a unit of flying noble cavalry. In a pinch they can join with our flyers.
> We have a budget of 100k, half of this is reserved for Wulf.

> On a good day we can barter about a third off hiring costs. I suggest the following, in this order:

Windet Cloudscreamers 50
Valkeries,
15000

House Mestus
Valkyrie Riders 50
40000

Skyrus Thunderers 50 Dwarves
Uursan, Plate Armor, Lances, Battleaxes
15000

When hiring flying units, offer repeating crossbows as an incentive when bargaining. Set up a demonstration if possible. Hire the Dwarf Uursan to stack with our own elite cavalry.

Plan of attack:
1. Kill the shit out of the enemy air assets. Send blackbird to attack grounded birds during the night. Spread anti-air tactics among our side as wide as possible. Trap the hell out of everything.
2. Find the sneaky enemy noble army, intercept with our mobile force.
3. ????

You better roll for Mestus, Starshadow. We're gonna run out of money soon.

>>15368948
You roll for the thunderers.

rolled 62 = 62

Making a haggle roll for House Mestus.

rolled 69 = 69

rollan for Thunderers

rolled 61 = 61

>>15368984
>>15368975
>>15368942
>>15368936
We are doing badly today.

rolled 7 = 7

>>15368995
you're not helping

>>15368929
Looks like we are gonna have to take out some cash from our personal stash.

rolled 93 = 93

>>15368984
ffffffff.....

I say we have Jayne do the bargaining. Offer them breeding rights or replacement mounts or something.

rolled 84 = 84

>>15369002
No, we're not touching that money. Janos needs it to build us a new fortune, we are dirt poor from buying the temple

>>15369008
If the bargaining gets close, say 5-10k, I say tap those personal funds. We have them for a reason, not getting killed on campaign is one of them.

It will set Janos back a step but we can just say "Lord Helmet? DEAL WITH IT".

After a few more minutes of conversing, all four of your disperse to make see to hiring your mercenary and Noble wings.

You are able to talk the Windet Cloudscreamers down to a happy 13000.

The Estren Infiltrators are willing to hire on at 2500.

House Morlan, is a very enjoyable string of negotiations, for you at least. Considering that you had worked with the captain of the wing currently working with Commander Salvius, and having worked with you in the past, you are able to talk the captain in charge down to a wondrously affordable 20500, though the captain looks terrified that he went that low.

Your negotiations with the Captain of the Skyrus Thunderers however, are not quite what you had expected. It started off simply enough, the one-eyed dwarf greeted you, put away his whetstone and axe, turned to greet you. the negotiations were fierce, ending with the dwarf half shouting "14000 and that's FINAL!! at which point he grabbed up his whetstone and axe to go back to sharpening. What he did not notice, was Sansa, turned around and talking with Gabriels aid as he passes. the haft of the axe connecting solidly with the center of your own aids buttocks, and sending her flying. When she does stand up, she is rubbing what is certain to be a sore spot sooner rather than later.

>>15369131
Total: 50k.

... If I didn't know better, I'd say Pax had this all planned out.

>>15369131

Cloudscreamers and House Morlan HIRED.

Have them report to the Skywing's captain for introduction to the Repeater crossbow and its use in air-to-air combat. He's technically the leading expert!

I'll defer to others on the other choices.

1. Outfit Cloudscreamers with repeaters. Get them to start training with our Skywings.

2. Get more Uurlanthi gold for Wulf.

3. Timeskip.

>>15369131
Hire everybody. We lose the req funds if we don't use them.

rolled 36 = 36

>>15369178
4. Tell our engineers to start making iron spikes

5. Have the Lacertan generals (the other commander's too) meet Blackbird.

Smiling at how well the negotiations went, you hire on all four units. Before long both the Cloudscreamers and House Morlan are training with the now Replenished Skywings above your academy. Lena and Wulf are nowhere to be found, but, considering that Wulf leaves for the Duchy at midnight, you suppose that they are sleeping.

The captain of the Thunderers is talking about breeding uursan with Jayne when you leave to get Wulfs Uurlanthi gold. And when you return several hours later, they still are. Gaius and his unit are happily switching out their armor, and Sansa and the captain of the Estren Infiltrators are both laughing at the Centurions as they fumble with their javelins. Laelith has her nose buried in a book, and Kyria is happily etching a runic phrase into another hastily, and poorly assembled crossbow.
>cont'd

>>15369197
Hand forging the metal arrows is extremely time consuming if you want them to be consistent. They need to be about the same size and weight or they will not drop consistently where you want them.

When we get a chance we should ask Degrian if he knows a way to cast the arrows, or a way of melting down captured weapons into round bar stock to make forging easy.

>>15369221

Considering what we're dropping and what they are being dropped from, such variations might actually be a good thing, if not negligible variation.

We're generally going to be dropping the things on massed groups of men, after all!

>sonundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGcMPp7TNo4

That night, you ride off with your command staff, and the handful of Legionaires that will be posing as knights, though not all of Wulfs knights, to one of the lesser gate out of DragonsReach. The moon is full, though the cloud-cover leaves the sky fairly cloudless. Before long, everyone dismounts to make their farewells. Blackbird and Daeseu clasping arms, Daeseu reminding Sansa of some lesson he taught her about assassins. Gaius, Cornelius and Uurist go through rounds of clapping Wulf on the back, and imparting their own bits of wisdom on him, before moving on to try to joke with Daeseu, though from the looks of it he ends up frightening them. Janos spends the better part of half an hour making sure Wulf wont blow his cover, before moving on to Daeseu, all the while Autronius is standing off to the side, lightly sweating, but smiling in the general direction of the pair that is departing.

Lena spends nearly an hour with her goodbyes to Wulf, doing her best to repress the tears as she clings to him. At first Wulf looks ready to cry as well, but before long, he is simply rubbing her back, and cooing into her ear softly. Eventually the two break away from each other after one last long kiss; and it is your turn to make your farewell to your protege. "Come back alive, and as quickly as your mission allows, son. And if you get it in your head to make som eheroic sacrifice to ensure Degnars survival or victory, think of her." you add, tilting your head to Lena. For Daeseu it is a strong hand clasp and a silent nod of respect from you, and at that, Wulf mounts up, and begins to ride into the moonlight.
>cont'd

He takes a slow pace at the head of the column, and they ride in silence, lest the fall into the habit of singing Degnarian songs once they reach Uurlanth and the Duchy. Bellatrix is embracing Lena from behind, and it seems that the girl is crying again, and likely has been since she and Wulf broke their embrace. With how tight the embrace is, you think there just might be a chance that she is keeping her younger sister from running after Wulf. "He'll make it back, right Justinian?" Sansa asks, her voice small, the one only you ever get to hear. You simply nod, and pull her closer.

>well, thats it for tonight
>coneone archive please
>I'll be back sunday at 9pmish server time
>if you have any cq/setting questions just email me at paxcomquest@yahoo.com

>>15369271
He better, or I'll kill him.