Let's head out and see Wulf. Hopefully things went better for them than it did us.

>>18141879
Lets head out and see how Wulf and his force is doing.

>>18141982
Not much to add might as well do this

"Either way, thank you for waking us, Hans. And I will do my best to ensure that my men show restraint with winter coming." you reply, taking the opportunity to loudly climb out of bed, warning the mayor to not turn around again.

"You are being surprisingly professional about this" he notes, as he pauses at the threshold to the room.

You pause as well, half-dressed, and cryptically reply "Ignorance can be quite blissful." At that, Hans leaves the room so that you and your wives can dress.

-----CQ-----

Wulf and his force look ragged, tired, and frustrated, but not nearly as bad as your half of the maniple did. "Hobgoblins?" you ask warrily.

Wulf just nods "Not too bad though... I'm assuming that their mad dash west was to attack your force?" You simply nod as a reply. Wulf chuckles sadly, and continues "I am surprised to see this town already beaten, on a certain level."

You shrug "After dealing with the Schwartan brothers, I was not feeling like offering the locals any chance for treachery."

Wulf nods "I take it you have yet to raid this town, judging by the fact that only a skeleton guard was posted at the walls?"

>>18142297
"I want confirmation on the nature of the mayor of this town. Someone set us up in that forest and I intend to punish whoever that is. If this man is as innocent as he claims, there's no need to vent my wrath on him."

>>18142297
"Can you also tell me any information about the Schwartan brothers?"

>>18142297
Ask Wulf for any additional information on what his force encountered.

You nod "You are correct, Wulf. Though, I would like you to confirm my impression that Mayor Hans is in fact as good a man as he claims, and any information on the Schwartan brothers you may have."

Wulf nods "This towns mayor was never known for his deceptive nature, or cruelty. He is a good man. as for the Schwartan brothers, deceptive, amoral, deceitful snakes in the grass that inherited, or perhaps stole, some powerful arcana that are said to allow them to choose what thoughts of theirs can be read by arcane measures."

You sigh, as you begin to walk into the town, most of your half of the maniple still abed "What did you encounter, Wulf?"

He shrugs "The expected light resistance from the town, nothing worth looting, and an unnervingly high number of Hobgoblins rushing west as I crossed the forest." he pauses as one of his autowagons enters the town, several shrouded cages on top of it "And a small group of werespiders that lost the ability to return to their true form."

>>18142720
sounds like we need to swing back there and burn that town to the ground.

>>18142720
"Hmm, a rather useful bit of arcana. It sounds like it could be useful one we wrench it from their cold dead hands.

We encountered a fair number of hobgoblins and some rather unusual were-creatures as well."

>>18142720
"Some of the prisoners we picked up from the last town ended up being were-rams...or goats...or whatever, they were angry and horny at the same time and one of them had his way with one of our horses. The poor thing."

>>18142783
Well we can't go back right now BUT yeah we gotta burn the town to the ground and crucify those brothers. You would think Wulf would give a heads up you know like "Don't trust the Schwartan brothers they are complete pricks"

>>18142783
Those brothers definitely have some fun times coming to them but it'll have to be the long route back. I don't think we should go through that forest again.

>>18142821
Hmm. Can't really think much else to do except maybe let them rest while we start the looting. Wulf seems to back up Hans as being a decent man so I think we should be on the lenient side here. We'll make up for it when we get those brothers anyways by taking all their gold.

You sigh "Well, that puts us in possession of three of the types of werebeast now, as some of the slavers I took were weregoats. They raped a few horses before being captured... poor animals will never be the same."

"The horses, or the infected Uurlanthi?" Wulf asks, a grin spreading wide across his face.

"Both, if we let the others in the werebeast barracks hear what they did." Sansa interjects. "How were your losses, I'm trying to assemble a proper Butchers Bill now, and need your numbers."

Wulfs grin diminishes some, though it mostly holds as he replies "I will update your counts as we begin the looting then. I doubt we will loose many until we strike at the seat of the Order of the Bloodrose however."

"No, there will be bandits on the road, or some other misfortune to further weaken us, no doubt." Sansa quips, a slight smile on her face.

Before you can retort, Camilus, Tearania and Lethiana bickering a bit noisily draws your attention. "Should I lead the looting then, Commander, or will you still do so?" Wulf asks, easily reading your curiosity.

>>18143080
let wulf do it, let's go check out the bickering

>>18143080
We should start the looting I mean Wulf just got here

>>18143192
As much as I want to let them get settled in and rest, I kind of want to know what the whole issue is about while they're all together. I'm sure Wulf and Sansa can handle the looting for now. We can take over after we find out what's going on.

>>18143080
Let Wulf be in charge of the Looting. We should check on Camilus, Tearania and Lethiana.

You sigh a bit, and reply "Thank you Wulf. I know that I can trust the two of you too see that things are done properly." both salute, and head off towards the town, as you continue on to the Camilus, with Teirana on his shoulders, and Lethiana walking along beside him.

"I dont care how powerful it could be, I dont trust your idea!" the demonologist presses as you enter earshot.

"What you describe can easily be done by runes. Not dangerous at all!" Lethiana counters, something a bit unnerving glinting in her eyes.

"And what if the runes grab a demon more powerful than the phrase? Can we be certain that it wont simply shatter the crossbow, or the bolt, and just start feeding?" Camilus presses.

"Demons of Violence arent very smart. It would just attack the nearest mortal of this plane." Teirana adds "We just need to make certain that the phrase doesn't take the demon until the bolt has-"

"You aren't helping Teir. Its a bad idea and you know it is." Camilus cuts his demon off, voice stern enough to make her excited demeanor droop a bit.

"What precisely are we talking about now?" you interject to the following silence, hoping for an explanation.

"Runic phrases to bind demons of violence to crossbows. Very useful against undead." Lethiana answers, moving towards you with clear intent.

>>18143565
"What's the difference between regular demon weapons and ones binding them with runes?"

>>18143565
See what Kyrias opinion is on this. She would know more of the potential risks and benefits of this process.

>>18143565
Not sure if I like this idea. The last thing I want to have happen in battle is demons appearing in the middle of our lines because a crossbow or bolts break and starts ripping our ranged units to shreds. Unless they can think of a kick ass binding for any kind of demon, it's iffy to me. Also I believe they tested things while we were gone - inquire into how that went.

I still want my frag granades. Also collapse the mine.

>>18143924
I thought we did that

Utterly confused, you ask "And the difference between demon weapons bound by a demonologist, and one bound by runes?"

Camilus shakes his head "From what I have learned in my dabblings in Kyrias runic texts, the runes would not be discriminatory in the demons they bind to the weapon, unless they were exceptionally well written. Whereas a demonologist could select a demon to force into the weapon, and adjust his method of holding it there as needed, which the runes could not."

Nodding almost excitedly, Teirana adds "And since you would need a fresh demon for every shot, you would eventually end up with a demon too powerful for the runes."

"Small risk, can be negated easily." Lethiana adds as she climbs up your body to perch herself on your shoulder.

You sigh "I take it you already tested something similar to this during your taking of the last town?"

Teirana grins widely, nodding her head "Yup. Camilus bound a demon of violence to my bow, and when I shot the arrow at the palisade, the wall blew up!"

"But her regular bow was barely able to handle the stress, which is why we decided on crossbows. However, trained demonologists are in short supply so the tactic is not viable." Camilus finishes.

Lethina shakes her head stubbornly "Quite viable. Runes are reliable. Kept arcanathrower from exploding... should bind demons to use it though, not stable enough yet."

"NO!" Teirana exclaims "Camilus is MY Master, no other demons can have him!" her face full of petulant anger. Lethiana simply casts a sidelong glance at the immature demon, almost as amused as she is annoyed.

>>18143934
Frag grenades with metal shards as filling, I mean.

Let's not make any decisions until Kyria has her say.

>>18144070
I think it's best to get Kyria's opinion on this and if it could be feasible with enough work. I'm iffy on something that could have random demons spawn in the middle of our unit. Especially since the dice tend to hate us.

>>18144177
Although on that note, what if we upscaled this? Maybe the bows and crossbows are too small to have enough binding... What if we put it on something like the manogels? If an arrow blew up a wall, what would a manogel do?

>>18144148
I agree. We absolutely need an experts opinion if we are to seriously consider something like this.

>>18144208
This certainly needs more research. Demon ballista? Demon fire-bombs? Who knows what might be feasible?

>>18144269
second

Sighing, you reply "Lets talk to Kyria, she is the expert on runes, after all." glad that you have no need to order Camilus to bind more demons to his will right now.

Finding Kyria doesnt take too terribly long. Camilus explaining of the demonic binding process, however, does. Its not taht Kyria didnt understand it, or that it is all that complicated, its taht Kyria was trying to scribe a phrase to do what was described in the process. It isnt even her idle writing that slows things, as she only needs a few questions answered but... "Shouldnt that be a-"

"Hold your tongue, Camilus. I am a bit more experienced in the creation of runic phrases than you, in fact, there existed a few of them specifically for the purpose of summoning or binding demons in the tomes I found in the Duchy." she pauses, and looks at the piece of parchment she had been scribbling on. "There, now all I need is the activation runes and this phrase will bind the first demon it finds to whatever touches the parchment. In theory, this is the phrase that would be used to bind a demon to a crossbow bolt as it is fired."

"Is it a sound idea to do so?" you ask, suddenly very afraid of the sheet of parchment Kyria is now scribing another phrase to the bottom of.

She sighs "Not in this form. the additional runes needed to specify a demon of violence would fill a lot of space on an average crossbow. Add to that the phrasing needed to keep the thing bound to the bolt until it strikes a target, and the runes would need to be tiny. And then they would be so fine that they would _HAVE_ to be filled with dragon bone or kextratia to not burn out after three shots."

Lethiana parts her beak in an attempt to immatate a smile, though she most certainly does not have the gesture down in the least "Camilus' arguments invalid then? My plan will work?"
>cont'd

She shakes her head "I am not certain. Camilus, is it unheard of for powerful demons to use weak demonologists as a means to break free to our plane of existence?"

He shrugs "It is not unheard of, but most demonologists are intelligent enough to stay away from places where demons with enough strength to do so through them dwell, and flee if they chance upon one."

Kyria sighs "The runes would cost more than a band of mercenaries to apply and set into the crossbow, and they still would not be intelligent enough to avoid areas where they could be used as an easy conduit to a grand feast by a powerful enough demon. Such an occurrence would be incredibly rare of course, but still a present risk."

>>18144797
seems to me that the plan isn't really feasible. oh well, back to lootin'

>>18144797
That's... Too damn expensive. What about using it on something like manogels? Less things to modify, more space for runs and we could attach demonlogists to the unit to help deal with those rare situations or maybe even make demologists apart of the unit to improve the system. If they can direct what kind of demons are bound or something like that.

>>18144846
Yeah it's settled

>>18144869
can't hurt to ask I suppose

>>18144797
It's a pity it's too unfeasible for wide usage in smaller weapons.

>>18144869
Yes, ask if the siege weapons size would help.

Also, could these runes be designed to fail and release a demon?

>>18145042
dropping demons from above? How horrifying

Yeah, sounds like we're trying for too much miniaturization.

I say wait until we get back to DragonsReach, build a proper testing facility in our keep, and start testing demon-bound runic siege weapons, while having several other siege weapons pointed at the weapon under test.

Maybe we'll get artillery after all...

You sigh "Far too expensive than. What if it were to be applied to siege weaponry then? Perhaps with demonologists to reinforce the runes, and prevent demons from escaping?"

Kyria shrugs "Less expensive for the labor, as larger runes are easier to carve, though the Kextraitia or dragon bone would cost more... not that labor, or acquisition of dragonbone is difficult for you to come by, between your academy, and Vi's ability to grow the bones with her elementalism."

Lethiana nods excitedly "See, profitable to create, useful to use."

Camilus shakes his head "Its still dangerous, and even with our advantages, it wont be inexpensive, Commander."

You nod, thinking on your options, before you ask "Would it be possible to set an item to fail in its binding of a demon on purpose when it strikes against something? Through runes or demonology."

Kyria nods "It has been done before. I actually found the runes for demonic binding and the proper phrasing for that in a tome on runes used for security purposes. Alot of the pages were damaged, but it was fairly clear what the intent was."

Lethiana grins "Bind most powerful demon that can be found to stone in a room. When someone enters room that doesn't know about trapped stone, demon is released."
>cont'd

Kyria pauses, her eyes darting back and forth, brows scrunching up for nearly a minute, before her face relaxes, she looks at Lethiana and replies "Actually, Justinian was thinking of dropping items like that on enemy soldiers in battle. Preferably from the sky, even better, while they sleep at night, supposedly safe in their camp."

Grinning feraly, you reply "I fear you know my mind far too well, love." as you begin to set off to find Wulf and Sansa to see how the looting is going.

-----CQ-----

It takes until late in the day for the looting to finish, but every weapon is burnt or melted down, every anvil sundered beyond repair along with every last piece of armor. three supply autowagons are laden with the silver mines silver ingots, and you stand before the mines, Hans looking at the wagons, currently penniless. "Commander Trentz, at the risk of offending you, for questioning your character, will you leave me the gold I requested? And, perhaps, simply bar the way to the mine? All of the pickaxes are inside." he asks, gesturing towards the entrance to the below-ground mines, carved into a hill behind the village.

"There wasn't a scrap of gold in the town, Commander," Wulf notes idly "just silver and copper."

>>18145547
If we're leaving him penniless, I say we just bar the mine and leave him the gold. I didn't think we were going to beggar the man in the first place but seems like we did.

>>18145609
Actually to go further, I don't think we should leave him penniless. I think we should leave him a wagons worth of silver. We have confirmation this guy is decent unlike those brothers who will pay dearly if we can find them.

>>18145648
Well I think we should have to collapse the mine but I don't mind leaving him some silver I guess and he can keep his gold I mean it's 100 coins that's chump change

>>18145547
We'll leave him double what he needs, and wall up the mine for now. He's been a gracious, if forced, host, and I still feel kinda bad about just rolling in and buttfucking everyone who could fight without parley.

Um, we have orders to destroy military infrastructure. That includes the mine.

If you people are so tsundere for Hans, at least collapse the upper levels of the mine. Make it look good. Whisper to him that you left the lower levels alone.

Give him 200 gold in Degnarian currency.

>>18145547
Give the mayor the money he requested and a bit extra that he can use to provide for the basic needs of the citizens. Give a bit to the widows and orphans as well.
Bar the way to the mine so that it won't be producing any wealth for the Uurlanthi war machine until the war is over.

>>18145760
this

>>18145760
I'm fine with leaving him 200 gold, and enough silver so that he stays solvent. And of course leaving them enough food so that they don't starve.

But leaving the mine alone will bring *consequences* when we return to Degnar. "Barring it"? With what? A note that says "plz dont reopen dis"? Their farm tools can knock down a wall in a few days at most.

Come on guys. Don't pussy out on me now.

>>18145814
I gotta agree with Panda here. Even though we like the guy, he's still an enemy. After the war, we'll try and make it up to him but not right now.

>>18145814
how about we give him the cash and damage the mine to a point where they'll have to spend a goodly ammount of time to repair it?

>>18145896
Yes. I'm not opposed to walling it up in theory. I'm just worried that they'll just bring farm tools and knock it down within a week.

Even collapsing the uppermost underground level would shut the mine down for months. Digging new tunnels is more time consuming than breaching a wall, especially if you want the tunnels to be stable/safe.

And this mayor would probably advocate safe labor practices.

>>18145707
No support for this idea? Give him 200 gold in Degnarian drakes. He'll be slowed down while he gets a forge working again to re-mint the coins. (He can't spend it as is without looking like a collaborator/traitor.)

By the time he's ready to pay the assassins, hopefully we'll already have put the S. brothers on crosses. If we fail, he still gets to enact the assassin plan.

We just get a head-start.

Plus trolling.

>>18146123
sounds fine to me

>>18146123
Sure why not sounds fun

You nod "I am a man of my word." before turning to Sansa "Fetch 200 Drakes from my personal funds." as you walk over to the wagon, and pick up a small stack of ingots.

Sansa returns, and hands the man the Degnarian currency as you drop all but two of the bars at his feet. "This is more than Justinian agreed to leave you, but you struck us as an honest man of solid character." she quips, as he stares dumbly at the foreign currency. The coins will easily re-forge to Uurlanthi crowns, and the bars will keep his people from starving, but, not until he has a working forge.

Grinning impishly, you dramatically flourish the two ingot in your hands, the silver gleaming brilliantly in the early evening light. Then you sweep them wide, spreading your arms, before quickly bringing them to the point of nearly touching, raising them above your head, and finally, thrusting them down into the ground. Sure, it was far more gesturing than needed, but when the entire surface of the hill topples down, dirt and dust bellowing out from the door to what was once the mines uppermost level, it makes the dumbfounded looks on the mayors face even more priceless. As he stares, stammering dumbly, you whisper into his ear "I only collapsed the top few levels, dont worry." before confidently striding on to mount Spite, and lead your column away from the town.
>cont'd

Aurelius and Gaius, both barely able to control their mirth, ride up to either side of you "Excellent showing, Commander. I take it the Schwartan brothers will be ours to punish now?" the larger of the two asks.

"Can we come back to collapse his mine again on our way home? With the sieges, it will take at least that long for him to get even close to the profitable depths of the mine." Aurelius adds, even closer to losing his self-control and falling from his horse laughing that Gaius.

>so, anything else you want to take care of, or begin the timeskip to the next town?

>>18146318
Timeskip

>>18146318
I can't really think of anything so timeskip.

Have a good laugh with our captains. Everyone could use some laughs right now.

The Schwartan brothers will have to wait though. Stick to the plan!

Time-skip would be good.

>>18146318
Timeskip but I suppose during the timeskip we should spend some time with our new mounts. Gotta make sure they're well maintained so we can start flying around.

The journey down the road to your next target is mercifully quiet, after the madness of the woods you left behind. That is, of course, until a messenger eagle with the crest of Malcius' maniple affixed to its leg approaches your column. After the bird lands on your arm, you take the message from the opposite foot, and read it. "Justinian, I hope that your exploits are proving successful and profitable. We have run into a snag here at Drans Ferry, in the form of the Golden Flames flying cavalry. They have, modernized, their weaponry, and our flying cavalry is being torn to pieces. We humbly request that you send yours to help maintain the siege."

After reading the letter aloud, you simply exclaim "Fuck."

Sansa, who had been riding next too you, feeding Vodka its namesake and preferred drink, asks "What is it, love?" you had her the message, and when she has finished reading it, curses aloud as well.

By the time the letter finishes circulating your command staff, Gaius chimes in "We could probably do without our flyers for these next two town raids. From the way Wulf paints it, the Order of the Bloodrose can barely afford horses for the best of their order..."

Your protege nods "Skilled or not, they will not be able to match Jaynes cavalry for skill, even with the numeric difference to strengthen their position, and that is before one factors in that we will likely greatly outnumber them."

>>18146633
Just great well it's not like we can say no you can't have them so I guess we gotta give them up for a while

>>18146633
Well looks like we're out of flyers for this part of the trip. But tell our flyers to be careful, I don't want us to have seven valk riders left like our defense of the north.

>>18146633
Damn, this sounds bad. Hopefully the Daimus Skywings and House Morlan will be able to out-class and the enemy.

Send with the units a message to the other commanders saying that we would like them to be careful with the units, if they can.

Make sure our air cav is well supplied before they depart.

See if Kyria and Lethiana have any new toys for them to play with.

You know what we need? Flares to blind the enemy riders.

You heave a sigh "It doesnt seem that we have much of a choice. See that both of our aerial units are well equipped, and have as many flare rings as we can spare." you turn to the two captains "Do be careful, we can ill afford any losses this early on in the campaign."

Cornelius nods in agreement "Hopefully our foes will be that much closer to breaking by the time we arrive. They may have modern weapons now, but the Skywings, and to a lesser extent, the Morlan Griffon riders have experience with such weapons."

By the time the flyers are ready to depart, and your message ready to be taken back with them, the next town is just beyond the horizon. It looks more like a small city than anything, if you are to be truly honest, though the low thing they likely call a stone wall is more than a little pathetic to behold. "We may as well camp here, and strike with the sunrise." you announce as your aerial cavalry take to the sky, your newly acquired pegasi looking forlornly at the valkeries and griffons as they depart, clearly wishing to spread their own wings in flight. All around you, the camp is quickly set, just beyond your targets line of sight, but, thanks to the difference in elevation, just barely within yours. Tomorrow will be another day of bloodshed and raiding, full of promise and profit no doubt, and you are eagerly awaiting its arrival.

>I'm gettin pretty damn tired, so I'm gonna call it here
>someone archive please
>I'll be back thursday at 9pm server time