I say go for it. It's been awhile since we've been able to talk to a hostile noble from Uurlanth.

>in need of a second, so heres a bump with your current troop numbers

>>15857737
Second, but take Autronius with us. We'll get our own questions out of the way, before Autronius "strip mines" his brain for information.

Muhahaha.

>>15857737

Let him come with us. He can give us verbal cues if the lord is lying or what not. Else he might glimpse some hidden stuff if we troll and anger the lord enough.

And don't forget that we promised to screen Lennis's men for elementalism. I'm not sure if they would be willing to actually train at our academy, but we should at least give the potential elementalists some reading material.

>>15857955

It would actually be better to let them come to the academy.

Close contact for extended periods can deepen ties between our people as they continue to send their elementalist to our school which will tie their society much closer to us as allies.

>>15858040
Assuming he can afford to let them leave that long. These are warriors of his ghorat remember. People he needs to help protect it, especially now that it's gotten larger based on our warnings. Might be better if we send a few of our men to his ghorat for awhile.

You finish your, steak, you decide, horse never sits well with you, and stand up "I will interrogate him myself, but I would like for you to accompany me, to verify what I am told." As you set off towards the prisoner pits, Autronius follows you, as quickly as his damaged legs can carry him. When you reach the pits, you immediately move towards the wet, wooden box sitting nearby.

The guard on duty snaps to attention "Commander. Would you like the prisoner moved, or will you be questioning him here?" he asks, holding his salute.

>>15858062
I say we move him to a more private area away from the other prisoners. Just in case he tries to pull something.

>>15858079

Second.

"Move him to the interrogation tent. Just because hes a crated Lord doesn't mean we can break from the proper way of doing things." you reply.

Within minutes you and Autronius are sitting in stools across from, a box, balanced across two stools. You hear a shuffling from within the box "I take it from my elevated nature and the jostling I recently experienced that I am in an interrogation tent? Or is this my execution? Either way, you will get nothing from me, drakeling."

Autronius lashes out at the box "Watch you tongue dog." he retorts, hatred in his voice.

>>15858206

"Worry not, friend. Your daughter was quite the gift... how old is she? I thought it would be too rude to ask her."

>>15858206
"Come now Lord Ramon. There's no reason to be rude is there? I was just hoping for a nice, civil chat for once. For your own benefit, you might want to talk since I imagine the other commanders with me will be very adamant to get any information they can out of you. No matter what means they need to use."

>>15858206

"No Mr Ramon , I expect you to dine."

Toss a piece of horse into the box.

"And calm yourself Autronius. No need to get angry."

>>15858232
Let's not mention her daughter or let him know she's still alive. We don't want him eventually being released and telling the king we have a live Uurlanth and then we have royal assassins coming after her. We should remain vague, if not imply that we're going to kill her.

>>15858234
Seconding this.
We should save this >>15858232 for last.

rolled 43 = 43

Watch me fuck this up.

Rollan for interrogation.

>>15858232
Too creepy.

>>15858242
Please do not tempt the dice gods by channeling Bond villains.

>>15858234
Seconding this.

Ask him about his mission, just to establish a baseline.

Ask him about the force disposition at his main camp.

Ask him if he really killed the merchant that trained his daughter.

>>15858234
>>15858250

thirding max and withdrawing >>15858232

You sigh "Now Autronius, Lord Ramon, there is no reason to be so unpleasant to each otehr. Darin, if you would be so kind to tell me what your mission here was?"

You hear a dry forced laugh emit from the box before you "To push through into Degnar, and cause as much damage as we can. We're from Uurlanth, by the way."

You purse your lips before pressing further "And how many men did you leave at your camp?"

For a while, you hear nothing from the box, before he replies "you truly expect me to answer that question?"

You shrug "Cooperation will greatly improve your situation and treatment."

Again, there is a pause before the muffled voice from the box replies "If you release me from this box I could escape using the very ground I am standing on, you are not so foolish."

You pause again before replying "It may save your daughter."

You hear the nobleman laugh "I have heirs, what do I need a daughter for?"

You sigh "Marraiges can bring a family honor and power, if properly negotiated, cant they?"

The lord in the box echoes your sigh "Sixthousand."

You look to Autronius, who shrugs "He has excellent mental resistance, I know that he is lying but..."

You rub at your temples with your left hand, glad that it is not terribly bright in the tent "The truth, Uurlanthi, or I'll leave the necromantic freak to my men."

You hear a cold laugh "I wasnt realistically expecting to marry her off as it was. Hopefully she will spread the pox around your maniple. It would be the most useful thing she did since ruining the ritual that would have put, my friends, in her service at the end of it all."

Your frown deepens "Send for Crestus, have the boxs insides bladed. We can shake it some more after that."

Autronius makes as much noise as he can as he stands "Wait. fourthousand."

"Still lying, but he is closer tot he mark this time." Autronius informs you.

>>15858535
"And this ritual that she ruined. How did she do it and who performed it?"

>>15858535

"I've also half a mind to ransom you back to your sons.

Be abit more cooperative and might be convinced.

Also should I do so, whom and where should I send a message to?"

Our noble friend must be thirsty in that box! I can't imagine that the sun pounding on it is very kind...

Fill the box with water so he can cool down a bit!

>>15858622
No ransoms until the Emperor says okay.

Express interest in this ritual and ask for details. Pretend that we know nothing about it.

Maybe he'll be glad that we changed the subject from troop numbers, and be more talkative.

rolled 64 = 64

Rollin' for interrogation!

rolled 57 = 57

Interrogation time.

You sigh "Closer, but more truthful would be better." you reply, as you signal Autronius to bring you the bucket used to keep the lords box wet. "Now, this ritual you spoke of, could you tell me more about it?"

The nobleman laughs "You expect me to tell you because you asked politely?"

You shake your head slowly as you accept the bucket, and slide a portion of the box open "No, I expect you to tell me because dogs need air as well." and at that, you begin dumping the bucket into the box.

After a few seconds of spluttering, the nobleman manages to gurgle out a choked "Stop" after you stop the flow, and reseal the box, the man calmly states "I'm worth more to you alive than dead, and I dont intend to give you those secrets. Even if I did, you lack the skill, and intelligence to put such a ritual to use."

Autronius leans over and whispers into your ear "He doesnt know much, if anything, about the ritual."

>>15858977
"I wouldn't presume to set the price of your life on my behalf. Your public death could be worth more to my people. What do you know of how your country got the Guild to take part in this war?"

Can't really think of much else to say at this point. I guess let Autronius have his fun and we go to the command meeting?

>>15859005
I agree.
This lord doesn't seem to be that worth attempting to turn. Let's just mindrip him.

>>15859042
Don't mindrip him yet. We still need to get an idea on how competent his heirs are as well as seeing if Neshai might want him punished for what he did to his daughter. Or if we can use him as a way to get her off any punishments she might have coming her way.

rolled 66 = 66

Last interrogation roll. I say we go to the command meeting now if it's around the time for it. Otherwise speak to Neshai?

>>15859069

Go to the command tent first.

Going into a trance will take quite abit of time.

Pax has informed us that we still have one more day until the command meeting. I suggest we either talk to Neshai or do some training for once. It's been forever since we've trained.

>>15859127

Maybe go train with the younger elementalist.

Take them ALL on at the same time. Show them what an old timer can do, heh.

>>15859151

inb4 100

>>15859127
Let's train then.
Who's going to roll?

rolled 79 = 79

>>15859158
Urgh. I'm going to roll elementalism training.

>>15859179

At least its not a 100. haha

>>15859179
I'm done rolling tonight. Fuck /tg/ dice.

No one going to try combat training or anti-mystic? Or we just gonna go talk to Neshai after?

rolled 7 = 7

>>15859303
Alright, trying combat training.

rolled 56 = 56

>>15859303

Training with the Elementalist! Trying to teach them too.

You chuckle, before all but filling the box again "You underestimate your worth. My men have grown quite fond of my unorthodox methods for executing nobles. I'm not sure if you heard, but my concubine and I worked together to pour molten rocks down the Stant we captured. My maniple was begging us to do a repeat show for weeks after. Now, you will answer my last question, or I may choose to raise my maniples morale again." You then pause until the mans face is above the water, before you ask "How did your king convince the elves of the Guild Lands to join Uurlanths cause?"

The man spits at you "You overplayed your hand drakeling. the guild lands are no solid government, simply a group of like-minded organizations with shared interests. All mortals heed the siren song of powers promise."

You sigh "If only I hadnt already assumed that much. Autronius, the man is yours. He only needs to be alive and sane enough to prove who he is." And at ythat, you stride from the tent, as Autronius seals the box, and site on his stool.

-----CQ-----

Frustrated, you decide to spend the rest of the day training. You start by rounding up all of the other earth elementalists. Five against one would normally be terrible odds, however, something had fallen over your mind as you walked to the sparring area.
>cont'd

What began with large, theatrical sweeping attacks and blocks quickly evolves into rapid, powerful, merciless aggression on your part. Before the session is over, it is all your foes can do to avoid getting injured, learning is as out of the question for them as improving is for you by then. Though, with how frightened some of the onlookers are, you know that you wont have to worry about any insubordination for quite a while.

>so, a seven for combat training. Thats one new stance. Choose!
>Falcon: aggressive, many less powerful attacks at long range.
>Boar: charging stance, good power attacks, and good for short fights
>Tortoise: Defensive stance, very poor offensively, good for wearing foes down, and stall tactics

Pax, do we need to choose which stance to improve?

>>15859441
I think we should go with Tortoise, simply because it gives us a defense boost as we use elementalism in combat.

>>15859441

I'd say falcon though tortise looks good too.

>Falcon attacks + stone arrows!

>>15859441

+1 vote for Tortoise.

We do have that nasty habit of getting sliced up...

>>15859441
I'm putting my vote to falcon. We never take things defensively in combat and we always just attack despite the fact we're doing elementalism.

>>15859441

I say falcon.

rolled 48 = 48

I'm for Falcon, also, work is killer lately so been out for a while.

My vote is on falcon. Why stall your enemy when you can just kill him before he reaches arms length? We fight predominantly with a spear remember. This would aid us greatly for cavalry attacks.

Charge in, start stabbing from max range. If we get dismounted or lose our spear, we have another stance to fall back on.

>>15859755

can't use a stance unless we're on foot. Otherwise it wouldn't be a... stance...

unless we SURF Spite into battle...

Pax, can we do that?

Well, looks like we're going Falcon, then.

Since Autronius is occupied with mindripping Lord Ramon, I suppose we can't train mind resistance right now.

Pax, did our training take up the entire day, or do we have enough time to commune with Neshai to ask about the ritual that Catalina was involved in?

As the other elementalists limp their way from the training area, Collin makes his way over to you. "Ya look like'yer still up'fer some sparin, Commander. Are ya?"

You nod "Perhaps I could even learn another one of the Seven Stances..." you trail off, hopefully.

Collin looks you over, mumbling to himself "Long arms, average height, solid healthy build... already knows the Wolf..." he snaps out of his thoughts after circling you twice, drawing his blade. "Boar or Falcon?" he asks.

After having the dwarf describe them, you answer falcon, and just like that, the sparring match begins. At first, Collin uses that stance agianst you, dodging away from your every strike, always backstepping to keep you just inside his range.

By the time the crowd is quite thick, you are using the same stance. The duel had become dancelike, both of your just barely inside your weapons effective range. Steel flashes lighting fast, your feet shift about the soft earth, and, every now and again, one of you would knock the others blade away, to step in to score a blow.

After the first 15 minutes, you are comfortable with the Falcon, and Collin is back to switching between stances. As the midday sun begins to move towards evening, both of you are switching quickly between the stances you know. However, after an hour of constant sparring, the dwarven blademaster clearly has you bested. But by then, you are more than competent in the Falcon stance, and quite comfortable switching from the Falcon to the Wolf, so you feel no shame when your instructor lands the killing blow, ending the sparring match.

"Ye did good, Commander. A better study;an my youngest, t'be sure." Collin commeds you, clapping you on the back as he helps you up.

>so, what now?

>>15859827
Let's have a chat with Neshai then. Time to see what she has to say about the Uurlanth using the undead and our potential new necromancer.

>>15859827

Time to speak with the divine.

Naptime!

>>15859860
second

>>15859827
Next: commune with Neshai.
Ask what the ritual was that Catalina was involved in, and if Neshai has any problems with the girl.

After cleaning yourself, you head to your personal tent, where you promptly drop into a meditative stance. Shortly afterwards you find yourself on the divine plane, a quick check assures you that Lamynus and Karythria are slowly losing their hatred towards you, and the rest are still pleased to neutral in regards to you. At that, you plunge towards Neshais sphere, and before long, you find yourself on the near side of the Bleak Coast, standing next to the thin frame of an ancient woman, covered and cowled in dark gray and faded green robes.

"Ahh, Justinian" the hag goddess of death greets you "How nice to see you. Would it be safe to assume that you are here on behalf of this most recent young necromancer you have collected?"

You nod "Indeed I am."

She chuckles lightly before responding "And, aside from her ultimate fate or punishment, what else would you like to know about her?" she pasues and turns to face you, and although you cannot see her face, the glint in the one eye you can see is almost, mischievous "And I also have news on young Wulf, if you would care for it." she adds, as you feel a chill grip your very core.

>>15860000
"I know very little about her, so anything you could tell me would be appreciated.

"News on Wulf would obviously be appreciated as well."

>>15860000
"Was the ritual performed on her one to attempt to turn her into a lich? And can she be spared your wrath? The girl was forced into doing what she has done and I believe she can be guided onto a path more suitable to your desires."

>>15860000
"Why yes I would"

>>15860000

"I have spoken to her and her father and I have come to believe that she was forced into practicing these dark arts and that she would gladly forsake them if given the chance. In light of her circumstances, I would ask for leniency in your judgement of her so that she might be able to atone for what she has done."

>>15860045
>>15860032

seconding both.

>>15860032
>>15860045
Seconding these two.

>>15860108
thirding

You sigh "I know very little about the girl, so anything you are willing to share would be welcome. As well as any news on Wulf."

the Hag nods "She is actually your age, until she attempted to preform.... that, ritual." she spits out the last portion.

You sigh "Was it truly one to turn her into a lich? And, is there any way to stay your wrath, she was, forced, into the ritual by her father, and the... cult, that you we hope to prevent from reaching their goals."

The goddess nods, and you feel her probing your mind. You realize that you could keep her out for quite a while, but, you oblige her and open your mind. Then she smiles, and with a flourish of robe, her bony, pale withered hand is visible, a light, purplish brown pall encompasses her upthrust fingertips "Indeed, it would have made her a lich, and in its failure, a portion of her soul is already in my possession, along with it the years she shed. That ritual, and the one that binds priests and priestesses to my services are much the same."

You swallow, the sight of a soul, even part of one, so plainly visible before you harrowing, almost as frightening as the full gaze the goddess is now leveling at you, both of her eyes visible from beneath her hood. "And the poor girls fate?"

The hag chuckles "I have a portion of her soul already, and since the fool who trained her died, she has not resurrected a single corpse, nor stolen a single soul from me. Bring her into my fold, be certain that she does not stray from my path, and she will be secure when her journey comes to its end. Was there anything else you wanted to ask about the girl before I moved on to my news of Wulf?"

>>15860265

"I was curious about Loukys. Do you collect their souls when they expire too? Would you be adverse to our raising of Loukys dead to supplement our numbers."

>>15860265
"If the ritual is similar to what your priestesses and priests go through, that means the soul goes elsewhere. Do you have any idea where and if it might give us clues to this cult?"

>>15860291
I don't know how she'll take it, but she already knows that we like to skirt the rules, so I guess we might as well ask.

>>15860265

"I am not sure if Catalina knows of your return. It may come to pass that I must bring her here, before you. If I were to do so... she would need to trust me. Would you do me the kindness of not... tormenting or frightening her further if I asked it of you? If it meant bringing her into your fold?"

I just want to ask this one BEFORE we decide to bring the girl to see Neshai if it is required...

>>15860291
>>15860308
>>15860392
Seconding all these.

I wonder how long before the gods figure out that Justinian has multiple personalities. ;) We're not exactly talking like someone with a single train of thought here.

>>15860466
I've always wondered that about quest characters: if an NPC were to tap into the deepest part of the MC's soul, would they brush against the /tg hivemind?

Could you imagine it: the entire contents of /tg; the sum total of 4chan's traditional games knowledge blasted into an NPC's fragile mind with the full power of the Internet. Thousands of memes compressed into a single searing moment of absolute horror.

You scratch at your chin, before asking "If the rituals are similar, would it be safe to assume that the soul goes somewhere else? Could that lead us to the cult in someway, perhaps?"

Neshai shakes her head "Unfortunately, no. unless you know where a highly skilled, highly secretive cult bent on replacing the gods would hide the fragments of the souls of their liches."

"Fragments?" you ask, freezing.

She nods "Just as my ritual takes but one fragment, the one that creates a lich can cast their soul into multiple fragments. The only requirement is that none of the soul remains with the mind and body. Breaking the soul into multiple fragments weakens the lich, but hiding them in certain arrays can increase their power, and allow them to defend themselves, by temporarily leaving their vessel."

You sigh, and, after taking a few minutes to collect yourself, reply "The knowledge will make them easier to defeat, I suppose. As far as Catalina is concerned, she may not know of your return, so, when I do bring her before you, so that you might add her to your fold, considering her mental state, it may be wise to..."

The goddess gaze intensifies, freezing you in place, as quickly as it started, the gaze disappears "I will be certain to not break her mind. but asking the goddess of death to be anything but terrifying to mortals, asking the being who will carry out judgment and punishment on the dead and damned, is preposterous, Justinian Trentz." her voice has a hard, ragged, raspy edge to it. It is all you can do to nod in agreement.
>cont'd

You see a smile, not toothy, but yellowed and full of holes, framed in ragged dry lips, and the blackness created by her hood "Now, young Wulfs journey is not ended. In fact, he recently acquired a set of items that will help you more swiftly return that which is mine to me. Combined with the Bell of Inevitability, which you already have, you will be a force to be reckoned with where the undead are concerned. though the bell had been in the possession of my priesthoods militant branch until my absence from the mortal world..."

Frozen by the grin before you, you manage to reply "That is, excellent news. I was curious... about the Loukys, do they, do you, collect from them your dues as well?"

The grin dissapates "Their souls are scarcely worth anything, most of the m barely sentient, their greatest only worthy of being plunged to the Depths of Punishment. I do not lament their resurrection, though I would rather nothing is resurrected at all. The power a necromancer feels from raising the dead is stronger than any drug or drink mortals have ever devised. Many a stalwart and pious follower of mine has fallen to wickedness after a taste of the power I allowed them in order to better fight the Loukys."

>>15860573

Then our mystic is already bat shit insane. Hee.

>>15860589

Well, there goes easy supplements to our forces. Best not to even attempt it.

>>15860589
Seems like the best she can do it take bits and pieces of the bodies to make flesh golems unless we want to take the risk. Which I don't know if we do.

I can't think of anything else to do at the moment so unless you all think we should speak to another god or see if they have anything they need from us, I guess we should go back.

>>15860649
I think that's enough.
We've pretty much used up the day, so we should probably get to the command meeting.

Just to clarify, the flesh golems Catalina was making is fine?

>>15860707
>completely, she hasnt broken the rules with how she's done it yet, so theres no reason to assume she will start now.

You incline your head slightly "Thank you for your time Neshai. Though, until I am the Praetorian Divine, I have other tasks that I will need to be well rested for, and conferring with the divine does drain the energy from a mortal."

The goddess nods "It is better that you ask, than assume. And I most certainly understand your situation. Until you next require my council then, child." she replies, and just like that, all is blackness. You swiftly return to consciousness in your tent, covered in sweat, as it runs rivulets down your body.

Sansa takes a break from wiping the sweat from you to ask "Are you alright, love? You didnt over-exert yourself this time, did you?"

"You dont think your getting into this cot _already_ stinking of sweat, do you?" Kyrias groggy voice adds from the cot.

"Its the musk of sex that makes what males call 'the smell of a man' bareable" Laeliths equally groggy voice philosiphises.

"Oh, I dont mind the smell." Sansa quips as you wearily stand up, and begin heading for the bath tent again.

"I'm quite alright, love" you reply to Sansa, kissing her on the cheek as you head off to heed Kyrias wishes.

"Not giving any of you pick-me-ups in the morning if I dont get any sleep tonight." Jaynes cranky, groggy voice warns. Chuckling, you head off to clean yourself.
>cont'd

You sleep in late, as could be expected after a prolonged conversation with any god or goddess the night before. But, you still are not the last to enter the Central Command Tent. Vibius, Malcius and Gabriel all enter at roughly the same time you do, as well as Blackbird and Captain Corinth.

"It is good to see you well, friend." Gabriel greets the turban, and now eye-patch clad commander.

Scratching at the holes that were once his nose, Vibius replies "It is good to be well, though I cannot wait until I have an opportunity to purchase arcana that will restore my sense of scent, and return my eyesight to its best. Though, not having to smell you is consolation enough for now."

Malcius chuckles "I tried to tell him to bathe more but..."

"You were worse." the recently healed commander deadpans.

Gabriel scratches at the back of his head "Odoriferous or not, perhaps we should move on to business. Justinian, I do believe that you have the most intelligence to share, would you care to begin?"

>>15860923
I'm not really aware of much intel.
Maybe we should have Autronius report on the mindripping of Ramon, and Blackbird and Corinth on how well his attacks and recon went?

>>15860953

This. Bring in our experts to tell us what we've learned.

Also inform them that the Lord's daughter is likely to defect and will be under our protection.

"Yes, although I'm been mostly resting and training, so I'm in the dark myself. My valkyrie captain ought to have intel to share, at least."

>>15860983
>Also inform them that the Lord's daughter is likely to defect and will be under our protection.
Good point. Seconding.

>>15861026
Thirding

You chuckle dryly "Actually, I have been training and resting these past few days, so I will leave the reports to my captains. Captain Corinth?"

the man steps forward, and salutes, before picking his cup of water up again. It is late in summer, and the heat is still sweltering "the aerial cavalry did wide sweeps to the west, north and south, and I am glad to report that no Uurlanthi have made it past our line. Our scouting passes over the enemy camp have shown that there has been little change to our foes camps layout, and the decrease in lighting arcana has made night passes easier, though still not entirely safe or easy. Blackbird?"

The orc nods, and steps forward as Corinth steps back, and, though he is sweating, the orc stands at attention and abstains from taking his water with him. "They have closed in the entrances to their camp. They could now just barely accommodate two phalanxes abreast. Morale is low in the camp, and many of the camp followers and less important lordlings have already begun fleeing east."

Gabriel smiles "That is excellent to hear. I feel that now may be our chance to lash out at these bastards and end their hopes of sneaking into Degnar."

"We will need numbers first" Vibius observes.

You nod to Autronius, who steps forward, salutes and reports "Lord Ramon was well trained in mental resistance. I know that their mystic was not his, though most, if not all of the Uurlanthi nobility have had trained themselves to resist mental assualts to at least some extent. Their greatest necromancer was his daughter, who we now have in custody, though she had a pair of apprentices who are still active in the enemy camp. They number between 3500 and 4000 men still, not counting the wounded and infirm, who are likely to be sent east." At that, the old legionary salutes again and steps back, glaring at Blackbird as he does so. The orc ignores him, and remains at the table.
>cont'd

Malcius smiles "I think this may call for a night attack. Perhaps in a few days time."

Vibius shakes his head "It will need to be the three of your maniples, mine was too ravaged by a fight of even skill, but at inferior numbers. I can guard the prisoners, but nothing more."

Gabriel shakes his head "I am unsure of night attacks, too difficult to coordinate, and bright lights are too likely to damage soldiers using the moonseye paste. Now this captured necromancer... will holding her alive bring down any, divine, wrath upon us, commander Trentz?"

>>15861218
>will holding her alive bring down any, divine, wrath upon us, commander Trentz?
"I have checked, and Neshai has said that the necromancer has not done anything to offend her, though she has come close.
"She also said that she would prefer if the necromancer could be made into a priestess in her service; as it seems she may defect to Degnar, this seems like a good confluence of interests.
"As for a night attack, I have to agree with Gabriel. Those light arcana would be too blinding, even in their reduced number. A twilight attack when the sun would be at our back may be better."

Also, we might need to talk to Autronius later about Blackbird.

>>15861218

"The hag has agreed to a pardon for the daughter if she converts to her faith so we should have no trouble, unless, we compel her to raise the dead to supplement our numbers. I would still advise against letting her stay too close to the med tent and our wounded. Our last necromancer caused abit of a disturbance that way.

Blackbird, perhaps it is time to give our foes an icy shower? If not we could perhaps bath them in steel.

It would be a wonderful wakeup call before we strike, wouldn't you say?"

>>15861265

seconding.

Could we do our flyer night raids and drop iron arrows/uurlanthi heads into their camp?

"No divine punishments will be coming, I assure you.

"How about an attack at sunset, with the sun at our backs? I have an anti-necromantic arcana that I wish to deploy, but it makes for a rather large and vulnerable target for the enemy. Poor lighting conditions would be best.

"And if the battle stretches into the night, perhaps my earth elementalism will be able to disable the enemy's lighting arcana by then, and our men will be able to use the moonseye paste."

You smirk "I have spoken with Neshai, and so long as the girl converts to Neshai, and joins her priesthood there will be no problems, so long as we abstain from raising any corpses."

Vibius raises the eyebrow that does not have a scar running through it and asks "We, you make it sound like she is a Degnarian."

You smile, suggestively. Gabriel drops his head into his hands "Shes barely older than the mage you have Justinian."

You laugh "Actualy, she is my age. Her father attempted to forcfe her into becoming a lich. the ritual failed, and one of the side-effects was her aging backwards several years. As a whole we can thank the girls father for turning her to Degnar, though this is not something that can be rushed wither..."

Malcius throws his hands up "I will leave the subversion and seduction to you my friend. The attack, what is your opinion?"

"An attack at dusk. We can strike from the west, with the sun at our backs. By the time it sets, we will hopefully have the lighting arcana taken care of, and will be able to use the moonseye paste to finish the battle."

Malcius nods "A sound plan, but-"

Blackbird interrupts him "My men can climb over the stakes they erected, and I have trained the other infiltrators at your disposal to be able to do the same. You need not rely on luck to carry your battle."

Malcius puases before continuing "That is excellent to know, my friend. Now, how will we prevent escape?" he looks over the unit disposition charts before postulating "Gabriels maniple could lead, then either my maniple or Jusinians could drive the hammer home. The other would be the anvil, after moving around to plug the east entrance to prevent any escape. Since our numbers match theirs, as roughly as can be estimated, I think this plan, combined with Justinian would work."

>>15861477
I think the plan is okay, and we should be the anvil.
We have the most mobility, and the cavalry to hunt down any stragglers.

>>15861477
Sounds like a solid plan of action.

Lets try to get Blackbird and our infiltrators to hit the camp before our attack. Their aim is to disable and disrupt and flying units and any ranged unit. This allows us to get aerial domination early, and we can start bombing runs with our iron arrows and use the "Steel Rain' plan.

>>15861540
Second.

"Let my maniple be the anvil then. If you drive them out, and we'll hunt them down."

The hammer force assaults the base with our siege and wagon support to allow them to move faster.

All available cav wings should be flanking to catch straying units and pick off isolated ones in the confusion as they are directed towards the trapped fields and us.

This is preceded by a skywing bombardment as well.

You nod "My maniple will serve as the anvil then. And I will be certain that our infiltrators are ready in time as well." you reply, looking to Gabriel.

The Dwarf in question nods "I have one more solid charge in my maniple. We have initiative on this campaign now. I would recommend that we give our soldiers a few more days rest and preparation time, then we move."

Vibius nods "A sound plan, as only Justinians maniple has experience with the moonseye paste, and from what I have heard, it takes some getting used too."

Both yourself and Malcius nod in assent, and at that, the meeting is over, as the late afternoon sun begins spilling into the tent trhough the open tentflap.

>I'm tired as hell, and have work in the monring so I'm gonna call it here.
>Someone archive please.
>I'll be back tuesday at 9pm server time
>if you have any setting/CQ questions just email me at paxcomquest@yahoo.com