>>18397564
While we wait for the Camilus to finish we should see if anything interesting has been found in the town.

>>18397769
Let's go talk to Catalina. We never talk to her one on one anyways

>>18397788
>>18397769
a tiebreaker or decision on which to do first would be nice

>>18397788
Sure, lets check on Catalina.

>>18397959
Let's invite her to do find something interesting to do (My post btw)>>18397788

You shrug "Have Camilus let me know when he is done." you look up at the sun "I am hoping for a crucifixion at sunset." Setting off into the town, looking for Catalina, you manage to find Vi.

"Justinian, we need to tend to your wounds." she orders, grabbing you by your arm and nearly dragging you to a building being used to care for the few wounded of this battle. "We had been hoping you would still be resting when we found you." she continues, pulling the armor away from your wounds as she moves in to heal them with elementalism.

You sigh "I had things to do." is your nonchalant response.

Vi simply huffs and continues to work towards healing you. it takes nearly an hour, but she has you back in good health in short enough order. Resuming your search for Catalina, you find her sitting outside a tavern, shivering a bit, a rather large chicken leg in one hand, cup sitting beside her on the bench. "Did you need help with anything, Commander?" she asks as she spots your approach through her strangely deformed mask.

Since Generic is still banned his IRC suggestions:

<Generic> put cloak around Catalina, ignore any protests, wait for her to finish her meal, explain we'd like some company for our errands, since the wives will do nothing but complain we're not resting
<Generic> will we need to pick conversation for after she finishes as well?
<Generic> if so, joke about how we're worried that Lealith would seduce her with books, or that Kyria would use Catalina as a starting point for her own circle of wives
<Generic> before we felt Catalina had found her path and we could, of course
<Generic> if questioned on "found her path" bit, explain that when she first came to us she seemed to be following a path because she lacked the confidence to choose another, but over time she has gained the confidence and strength to make her path as she wishes.

>>18398615
Sounds great

>>18398615
Seconding this.

>try to tie up a character, my attempts push you guys into haremize mode... grr... haha

You drape your cloak around the necromancer "Dont argue, you still arent used to the cold." you order, before dropping down next to her.

"Why..." Catalina trails off, suddenly realizing that you arent going to take no for an answer as she looks at your face.

"I still want to see if anything interesting has been found, and my wives will let me have no peace for not resting after getting myself injured in battle." you reply, deciding to interpret her incredibly open-ended question differently than she had meant it.

Catalina pauses, before taking the last bite off of her meal and replying "There wasn't anything really of note found outside of the spire. the mayor here was a puppet to the Master of the Order. I think Wulf was looking for you though. I could show you to where he and Lena are resting, if you would like."

>>18398932
Might as well go see what Wulf wants.

>>18399083
Yeah we should the pranks can come later

You nod "We may as well then, though I must admit, I was worried about you for a while."

Catalina stands, tossing the picked over bone aside and asks "Why is that, Commander?"

You shrug "Call me Justinain when we arent on official maniple business. And I was worried that Laelith would seduce you with books, or that Kyria simply seduce you. You seem to have finally found you own path quite well by now, however."

As the necromancer begins to walk, and reform her mask to its usual perfectly symmetrical skeletal visage, she blushes a bit, and quips "I was a good Uurlanthi girl until not too long ago, Justinian. You wouldn't need to worry about Kyria." she chuckles a bit "Up until I accepted my current role in life, and stepped into it, most of my fantasies revolved around having some knight sweep me off my feet, then, after I defected to Degnar, it..."

"Never wish for a military man, Cat. They always find a way to scare you witless." Lena cuts her off as you reach the mage and your protege.

"So, was it just a captain, or a full fledged commander that your fantasies shifted to when you left Uurlanth Catalina?" Wulf asks, grinning impishly.

As Catalinas blush deepens, Lena playfully scolds Wulf "What did I tell you about being so cruel to Catalina Wulf! shes more fragile than I was."

Your protege shrugs, still grinning, and not looking chastised int he least, adds "What, your fantasies were about a kind Vohzd coming to take you from your Ghorat. then me after we met... you admitted that much." Lena yelps as if she had been bit, and begins to blush as well, suddenly as lock-jawed as her silver-haired friend.

>>18399389
"We military men are charming it can't be helped."

>>18399389
"We only scare you to keep you on your toes."

>>18399536
Let's just go with this

>>18399389
I'm actually curious on what it changed to for Cat after she defected to Degnar.

>>18399536

>>18399518

Seconding both of these

You grin "We only scare you to keep you on your toes." nodding sagely towards Wulf.

"I dont need anything more to keep me on my toes, as you put it. I have a class full of idiot mages to teach at home, plus my own duties on the battlefield. The same goes for Catalina." Lena huffs, still blushing more than a bit, and lightly resisting Wulf as he glides his arm around her waist.

Still grinning, you add "Yes, she may not think she needs to be kept alert any more than you do Lena, but Catalina still hasn't told us what it was her fantasies shifted to after joining us."

As Lena finally relents with a huff, Wulf, now grinning even deeper adds "I'll bet a dragoon that she has one of each chasing after her heart right now."

Lena sighs a bit, nuzzling her head against the crook of his shoulder as the breath she exhaled ices over in the air "Be nice Wulf... and that's a stupid bet."

"It... it was a comander." Catalina relents, looking down at the ground, wrapping herself tighter in your cloak, her blood red, green trimmed gloves gripping its hem tightly.

Wulf barks out a laugh "I knew it!" he exclaims, causing the both of you to fall into a bout of laughter. As the sounds of mirth die down, he adds "I take it you came to ask me about the Lords responsible for resurrecting the Loukys? Or did you have some other business that compelled you to have poor Catalina lead you to us?"

>>18399773
Don't think we're here for anything else other than the lords. At least I can't think of anything else.

>>18399773
Just wanted to have a one-on-one chat with Catalina and she said you had some important news to tell me so I took her along with me."

>>18399773
About the lords responsible. Hell will be had.

How is she eating thru the mask?

>>18399773
Any information on them you have would be greatly appreciated.

>>18399922
she warped it so she could eat.

You nod "I was looking to talk with Catalina, and mention of that did come up, so yes, any information you have on them would be appreciated."

Wulf nods "It was a group of 5 lords and lordlings. All of the minor ones I saw dead on my... mission, here. Their leader however, a courtier by the name of Daniel Kaern, escaped my grasp. He was last seen headed towards the Mercenary city."

"Why?" Catalina asks "That place is abandoned, save for the garrsion both Degnar and Uurlanth keep their to ensure that the Armistice Hall remains safe, well kept and neutral."

Wulf shrugs "I do not know, but, I would not doubt that we will encounter him when we are there to guard our Emperor when he goes to negotiate the end of this war."

"How can you be so certain?" Lena asks.

Wulf shrugs "The same way Justinian knows that we will have to face the Forge of New Divinity shortly after we end this war."

Could you give us the low-down on the Mercenary City, Pax?

>>18400228
seconded

>>18400197
More information on that courtier might be needed. Who he worked with before the war and such. Guess we can find out a little later though since that won't help us now. Can't really think what else might need to be done with Wulf so I guess we're done with him.

Oh right, I was wondering if Cat and Kyria might be able to combine the use of runes with her siege golems. Might be worthwhile to have for the upcoming sieges. We should ask Cat about it after I guess.

>>18400197
"Do you have any idea why he would flee there instead of to another part of Uurlanth."

>>18400228
>>18400271
>the mercenary city was just that, a city full of mercs and exiles from the major nations of Kataraksia. It is also the last known resting place of the Faeries floating city of Aeneroth, which disappeared when the Fae King died fighting in the Mercenary city. Most of the inhabitants were killed in the following slaughter, and it is now abandoned save the token garrisons that both Degnar and Uurlanth keep their to keep their agreed upon meeting place to broker truces neutral.

You sigh "But why flee to the Mercenary Cities bones?"

"He knew that once the Loukys reach Uurlanth he wont be welcome their either I suppose."

You shake your head "Then why did he bring them back in the first place? And what else do you know of the man?"

again, Wulf shakes his head "He served only himself, making his way into the kings court as a moderately successful merchant. He is rumored to have never come out on the losing side of a bargain or deal. I would suspect that he took more resources than needed to create the hives from the other supporters."

"So, he worships Baashek, and somehow, the Loukys return, and even his own fleeing Uurlanth will greatly benefit him." Lena concludes, a scowl on her face

>>18400433
I think a better question to ask is where the hell the Loukys spores came from. That isn't just shit you find lying around.

>>18400477
That's a damn good question. Did Wulf manage to find out how they got the means to do this?

"He could be in league with the cult for all we know..."

That's too far away from our assigned combat area. We'll have to deal with him later.

>>18400433
"But why not flee to the guild lands and lay low there? Surely that would have been preferable to hiding in a dead city full of dust and dilapidated buildings. "

>>18400477
All we know is that the dude who use them got them from "a seer".

You groan, and drop youself into one of the other seats laying around the small inn porch you found Wulf and Lena sitting about on. "Why didnt he flee into the guild lands though? And, more importantly, where did the Loukys Spores come from?"

Wulf sighs "I have no idea, aside from their generally disagreeable nature why Kaern didnt flee to the Elves of the Guild Lands. As to the spores, he was known to deal in ancient artifacts of dubious value. My guess would be that he acquired them by chance."

Lena shakes her head "One does not chance upon something so powerful as the spores to form a Loukys hive, let alone as many as we encountered, by chance. Several milenia ago, perhaps, but not after such things have been gone for so long."

Catalina nods her head "Unless he had an incredibly powerful, incredibly stupid necromancer _and_ life elementalist he would have had to find them alive and working as well."

Before you can add anything more, Camilus approaches your group, Guntehr and Teirana in tow "Everything is ready when you are, Commander."

"Have you chose a man to drive the nails in yet, Commander?" Gunther adds as he gives you a crisp salute.

>>18400632
We'll do it ourself. We shall hammer the combined suffering of every soldier who fought the loukys, and every family who lost a daughter to them into the man's wretched hands.

>>18400632
I can't recall - did we say we'd let Gunther do it? If not, I say we do it.

>>18400632
"If you would like to nail him to the cross yourself Gunther I would certainly understand. A betrayer of the orders ideals being crucified by a faithful member of the order seems appropriate to me.

If not, I would prefer to do it myself."

>>18400694
This

Why not share the job? Degnar and Uurlanth need to learn to work together eventually. Why not start with this?

>>18400793
Fine let's nail this guy as friends.

>>18400669
>>18400682
>>18400694

We could both do it since someone has to hold the man down while another nails him to the cross. We could even switch jobs after the second nail.

You shrug "If you would like to bring the man who ruined your order to justice, you are welcome to do so, if not, I will drive the nails myself."

Gunther nods "Perhaps a compromise, Dominu? We can alternate nails drove through the bastards flesh until it comes time to raise the cross?"

You nod "That would be acceptable to me. Camilus, I take it the demon has been properly bound?"

The demonologist nods "It is spread between the wood, and nails, and will perish along with its victim."

"Let us depart for the site of the execution then. I assume it is properly visible?" you reply as you begin to lead the small group to the edges of town.

Camilus nods "Just outside the town, he is marked for all of his crimes as well, and after Autronius' help, he will be sane enough to fully grasp the agony."

"Good." Gunther replies, his voice far colder than the early winter air, despite the late hour of the day, and dark clouds gathering on the horizon.

-----CQ-----

Driving the spikes through the mans hands and feet does takes far longer than usual, though, not because the man had particularly thick skin. Gunther dragged it out, pausing between every stroke of the hammer until his former superiors screams from the most recent agony subsided.

After nearly an hour of slow work however, you hoisted the ragged, hoarse, crying wretch of a man up, to hang his death. "Are we going to stay to watch, love, or would you rather I rune the area so that he cannot be freed so that we can return to Drans Ferry sooner?"

>>18400880
Rune it up and let's head out. We have more important things to take care of than watch him suffer.

>>18400880
Rune the area and leave a small group to watch over him until he dies. We should get to Drans Ferry as soon as we can.

>>18400910
totally good with that.

>>18400910
>>18400927
We got stuff to do so rune it

"Rune the place. We have more important things to do than watch this bastard suffer." you reply politely, not moving much as Kyria sets about her work.

"Though I could stand to watch it more." Gunther ads from beside you, still wiping some of the blood from his hands.

"As could most of us, though it really is trivial at the end of the day." Gaius adds from your other side "He was only a small part of the larger plot, and they will all be brought to justice eventually. I just hope Wulf wasn't too soft on the ones he already caught."

"You wound me, Gaius." Wulf interjects as the winters first few snowflakes begin to fall. "And I honestly dont think the man will last long up there, naked, in this cold." he adds thoughtfully as he pulls the large cloak he is wearing tighter around himself and Lena.

-----CQ-----
>cont'd

It takes just under two days of travel by autowagon to return to Drans Ferry. When you arrive, the sight that greets you is, disconcerting, to say the least. High above the city, your aerial cavalry is clashing with the riders of the Golden Flame, while the Uurlanthi soldiers are at the walls, clearly trying to goad the forces besieging them into an assault.

Above, small groups of two or three flyers dart about equally sized groups, sprays of crossbow bolts and arcanely accelerated stone spikes flitting back and forth, most missing in the twisting, turning maelstrom, but, every now and then, a rider or mount will be struck, and either fall to the ground dead, or limp away from the battle guarded by their fellows. Periodically, you spot a flash of steel when a pair of opposing flights pass close by each other, but most of the fighting is done with ranged weapons. "It would seem that the enemy garrison is down to at least partial strength." Gaius observes.

Cornelius nods "Indeed it does, though we will have to speak with the other Commanders to confirm that."

>>18401083
Well, then lets talk to them. We need to know what is going on, what has transpired and how our flyers have been faring. Hopefully, casualties have been low throughout the Degnar lines.

>>18401107
Yeah sounds alright

>>18401083
Lets check in with the other commanders first and get up to speed on the situation.

>>18401107
Yep yep. Best to find out what's been going on exactly. The fact the Uurlanth garrison is still taunting for a fight though doesn't fill me with optimism.

>>18401083
Do we start planning for the siege now? Or finally take out the Golden Flame's tower? And visit the slaver brothers' village again?

I'm inclined to let the city siege stew a bit more (for extra flavor), but the other commanders might be getting restless.

Also, SHARE our loot with the other commanders. That ought to be good for morale, and they deserve a fair share.

>>18401162
Share our loot? What I can't understand that at all

Nodding, you reply "Let us go to see how the siege progresses then." and before long, you, Sansa, and Wulf are all headed for what is clearly the main command tent of the siege camp.

The other commanders are already waiting for you within the tent "I take it your raiding went well, Commander?"

You nod "There were a handful of, surprises, but mostly, yes, it went quite well. And the Siege?"

Gabriel grins "They had a failed sally yesterday afternoon. It was not deciseive, but it was more than enough for them to have no choice but to try to wait us out, or hope that relief comes for them."

Smirking, Jarin adds "Their attack was shattered against my battlehosts lines, and taken to pieces by the ranged support I was provided with."

"We could assault them any day we wish, though, I feel that if we starve them a bit longer we will see a white flag." Malcius adds, looking quite optimistic.

Jarin shakes his head "No, this Lord is known for his preference to attempt to simply ride out storms such as us. We will have to break his defenses to break his will."

Gabriel shakes his head, leaning back in his seat at the main table inside the insulated tent "Justinian, you mentioned that a few things did not go to plan on your raiding. How large a hindrance will those prove to be to our campaign, and, if I may ask, what were they?"

"The tower of the Golden Flame still stands, and that Order are obviously still harassing us with their aerial cavalry. I only managed to do minor damage to them as my maniple rode past the tower. I'd like to return to finish the job, either now or after the city falls. Destroying them would make the siege easier, I believe.

"There was also a minor town whose leaders... deceived me, and got away with only a light looting. I will be wanting to return and put them on crosses.

"How is the situation here? Any intel reports from our raiders that went south? Unless another Lord is reinforcing the city, or if we are running low on supplies, I'd like a bit more time to destroy the Golden Flame."

>>18401279
An ambush of Hobgoblins and some slaver brothers that are gonna die if I ever see then again.

>>18401325
This and mention the hobgoblins harassing us in that forest. I suppose also mention the fact we were deceived due to them using an arcana to fool our mystic.

>>18401325
>>18401331
>>18401355

Don't forget to mention the tower of horrors and that they used Degnarian POWs and slaves as test subjects.

>>18401500
Yup that was some evil stuff man

You nod "I was not able to damage the Order of the Golden Flames keep as badly as I would have liked... as it would seem that they still have the strength to send aid to this city."

Gabriel shakes his head "No, the aerial cavalry you see was already garrsioned in this city. Though much of the rest of the Golden Flame forces within died yesterday."

You nod as you reach for a cup resting on the table, and motion for a pitcher of water "I suppose that was not as bad as I thought it was then. The only other real misfortune that befell me was when a trio of brothers running one of the local lumber towns deceived my mystic using arcana, and negotiated their way into a lighter looting than I would normally go through. they allowed me to pass through a hobgoblin infested forest unwarned, and lied to my face. If given the opportunity I will affix the..." you pause, consciously thinking to exclude 'slaving' from your comment, so as to not offend Jarin "bastards, on crosses."

"What did you manage to loot then, Justininan?" Malcius asks through a grimace at the thought of having to pass through a hobgoblin infested forest.
>cont'd

You take a drink from your freshly filled cup, and reply "Some arcana that will be useful at my academy, a few wagons of lumber and silver, as well as a handful of arcane weapons and some traitorous members of the Order of the Bloodrose. I think they are starting to refer to themselves as the 'Last Thorns' now that they are Degnarian mercenaries. Does any of that interest any of you?"

Jarins jaw drops open, as Gabriel slowly asks, as if testing reality "Traitorous... Knights. From an order."

"Are you certain they can be trusted?" Malcius asks, wiping his mouth to clear away the water that did not clear his face when he sprayed it from his mouth.

"How?" Jarin manages, clearly still dumbfounded.

>>18401522
"the Grand Master was a staunch supporter of bringing back the loukys but his second in command wasn't as enthusiastic about it and offered to help us defeat the grand master and those who supported him"

>>18401522
"My mystic determined their leader was telling the truth, and we've been more careful since we were last fooled. He gave us enough information to make taking their tower relatively simple. And finally, the leader of their order was involved with bringing the loukys back, which has driven a wedge between members of the order."

>>18401522
"They brought their families with them, and gave all the information we needed to wipe out the rest of their order. Me and the current leader of their group even took turns driving nails into the former master of the order on the cross. Personal vendetta, you see, the turncoats say the master had sold his honor for gold, and then revealed to me the bastard was one of the dogs who schemed to bring back the Loukys."

>>18401522
"Honest men tend to re-examine their loyalties to their orders leader when the leader spits on all that your order stands for.

To give an example: the leader of the order was part of the group that thought it was a good idea to revive the Loukys. The fool even sent life elementalists to be used in the hives."

Are we allowed to tell Jarin about the Loukys? Not sure if that's still classified.

I would also like to suggest that we send a letter to the first praetorian sometime informing him of what we found in the tower. For all we know those arcanists that escaped may be close to fielding those abominations against Degnar.

>"How?"

Because I'm Justinian fucking Trentz.

>>18401637
Second.

>>18401629
If he doesn't already, he needs to know. It's unlikely they'd come far south enough to be a Duchy problem, but we should share just so that they aren't a total unknown if encountered.

>>18401637
thirding

>>18401637
Go for it

You shrug, staying as calm as you can "The second in command of the order did not appreciate the fact that the orders Master had seemingly sold his honor for gold and power. When I leanred that the bastard was part of the plot to return the Loukys to the living, I agreed with the second. He then helped me take the town, drive the nails into the orders former masters cross, and gave his men and their families both employment and a way to flee to Degnar."

Gabriel nods "I can see how they would have joined you, in light of that. Dare I ask if anything else of note happened?"

You sigh, pull your flask from your boot, take a long pull from it, and launch into what you found in the dungeons of the arcanists tower. Roughly an hour later, after telling the story, and explaining that which needed explaining the tent is sitting in horrified, disgusted, furious silence. Malcius is the one to eventually break it "We cannot pursue these monsters, but, if they are not caught by the wars end, I will add my... infiltrators, to yours when we track the madmen down."
>cont'd

Gabriel nods "And, if you are going to be sending a letter on this to the First, I would recommend that all three of us Degnarians send a copy of the message. It needs to reach him untampered with." as he idly pulls a small scrap of skin, you do not know where he got it from, but you can see the mark on it. You shake your head in a negative, you did not find any direct eveidence that they were working for the Forge.

Jarin stands angrily "I will lend whatever financial support I can to your endeavor... but I do believe that it is time for us to rest. We can decide on how we go about taking Drans Ferry on the morrow. Justinian, of what you offered, I think access to some of the lumber you looted would be most beneficial."

Gabriel nods "I believe that I would like some of your looted lumber as well. Were it not for the fact that your share of this cities loot will be small,I would ask for more, my friend."

>I got work later this morning, so I gotta get myself ready
>someone archive please
>I should be back thursday at 9pmish server time

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