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[GreatWyrmGold]

I'm specifically suggesting we be civil, however.

[tryrar]

Well given that up until now, Lord stone has been portrayed as a guy who's pragmatic when need, but still strives to uphold the hnor of a knight as he sees fit, common civility is implyed, so I don't see the problem. We're just saying we should be civil without looking weak

[GreatWyrmGold]

I can't argue with that any more than I can argue with the merit of specifically stating things to make sure you are not misinterpreted.

[tryrar]

Ok, then let's move on to the specifics of how we get them into a secure encampment somewhere so we can deal with them later. Gerv's idea sounds like a winner, but I'm sure we can refine it somehow...

[GreatWyrmGold]

For reference, here's that plan, which I didn't remember all of:

We're in the opposite direction, so we pass Curbiston on the way to meet the Duke and cross the river. This settlement has no value as a base, since it is not near where we plan to campaign.

March the prisoners away from the buildings, then say to the bilingual one: "You will be safe if you come with us; but if you run, you will be killed and someone near you will be killed. Tell your people that."

Gather whatever food stocks they have, set fire to the houses, and let's put distance between here and our encampment before nightfall. Let the watch be observant tonight, particularly if we remain near the coast.

As we ride, the halberdiers cover the prisoner band to landward, ready to cut in half anyone bolting into the undergrowth; the archers march to seaward, their eyes looking for ships; the heavy horse behind, and the rangers ranging in front. We will ride with the bilingual one in the next horse, perhaps riding double with Luther. We can ask questions on the march.

"Help us and your people will not be hurt."
"What is your name"
"Are there more men near the village?" (Observe body language.)
"What are your people doing in this land?"
"Who is your biggest chief?"
"How many Baabar have crossed the sea?"
"What false gods do you worship?"

Etc. I'm sure I've left some good ones out.

I would leave out "False" from the last question, advise using "most important" instead of "biggest" to prevent miscommunication and/or needless insult to their intelligence, and of course still object to "Baabar" on the grounds that they have no known resemblance to goats or sheep, but otherwise I have no objections.

[Gervassen]

Mal doesn't want to go too deeply into this, but as part of the medieval atmosphere, it will be understood that their gods are false, because they cannot remain on our lands if they worship aught but Christ. If you have no heart for assimilating them, and truly wish them to retain their pagan gods, I suppose we can slaughter them all as a means of cutting the Gordian Knot and foregoing further debates.

Let's be clear. If we go the Norman route and allow them to integrate into us, then religion is a key part of that transformation. If there's no will to make them conform to our ways, and to acknowledge the wrong that they have done us, and to aver that our culture is superior, then there can be no peace on these shores until the last baabar is dead.

[Gervassen]

As for whether they resemble goats, Sam Stone is standing in a village full of them right now, over a hundred in total, and from the balcony seat that I'm sitting in, their resemblance to goats is uncanny both in appearance and in fetid odour. Not only does their hairy and thick-skinned, overall sinewy, physiognomy suggest something bestial within them, but in my observations of their social and mental faculties I have been able to remark something akin to an animal cunning, like that of the goat or the fox, and a social inclination like to the pack instincts of the wolf, but nothing as yet approaching a show of true human intellect or the nobler social impulses.

I think we hit it dead on when we started calling them baabars, to be quite candid. 

[Kaferian]

We may also go the Scottish route.

[Gamerlord]

Why do I get the feeling that Gervassen wants us to be a stereotypical/traditional quasi-evil medieval noble instead of doing our own thing which may not conform to what is expected?

[Kaferian]

Keep it civil you two. Do you wish for this game to die once more?

[Gervassen]

Gamerlord, well, we have to be somewhat true to our background, or we aren't roleplaying. I was not entirely serious in the last post, btw. I mixed in some colonial or imperial era sentiment just for fun.

But put that aside, and we still have to be a little more within the timeline.

[Gamerlord]

I know, but I'd like Stone to be a good guy, not an arse.

[Gervassen]

I know, but I'd like Stone to be a good guy, not an arse.

In the context of our nation being invaded, our capital in threat of destruction, our king put in mortal peril,  our cathedrals profaned, and thousands of our countrymen massacred... simply not slaughtering them outright is far more leniency than they have a right to ask from us. You want us to be a "good" guy: "good" at committing treason, "good" at delighting in sacrilege, and "good" at failing in our duties as a lord empowered to mete justice upon the wicked. I repudiate the moral rot within any expressed wish to be "good" at these things.

Here we are with a hundred baabar scum graciously left unslaughtered. Yet we have much wringing of hands about the insensitivity of saying "biggest" rather than "most important."

What you ask of us is not merely being a "good guy" but touching madness itself.

We may also go the Scottish route.

The Scots were not invaders, at least not in comparison to the later English. These baabar have no claims of nativity over the land that they've grabbed. Besides, when I think of the Scottish route... I find very little inspiration in that uneasy pairing

[kaian-a-coel]

Just interrogate him honourably for christ's sake (meaning no torture and no outright insult. I am opposed to the use of "baabar", which only makes me think of that one elephant with a crown and a green suit.). I have no interest in the gods they are worshipping right now (from an in-character perspective)

[GreatWyrmGold]

Mal doesn't want to go too deeply into this, but as part of the medieval atmosphere, it will be understood that their gods are false, because they cannot remain on our lands if they worship aught but Christ. If you have no heart for assimilating them, and truly wish them to retain their pagan gods, I suppose we can slaughter them all as a means of cutting the Gordian Knot and foregoing further debates.

Not calling them "false gods" avoids the unneeded insult thing I was talking about earlier. Especially since they might follow the same religion, or a very similar one worshiping the same god (e.g. Christianity vs. Judaism).
Asking, quote, "What false gods do you worship?" is a good way to antagonize them while simultaneously making assumptions that may not hold true.

As for whether they resemble goats, Sam Stone is standing in a village full of them right now, over a hundred in total, and from the balcony seat that I'm sitting in, their resemblance to goats is uncanny both in appearance and in fetid odour. Not only does their hairy and thick-skinned, overall sinewy, physiognomy suggest something bestial within them, but in my observations of their social and mental faculties I have been able to remark something akin to an animal cunning, like that of the goat or the fox, and a social inclination like to the pack instincts of the wolf, but nothing as yet approaching a show of true human intellect or the nobler social impulses.

I think we hit it dead on when we started calling them baabars, to be quite candid. 

Your description seems more...boarish to me. Boars also tend to be more stubborn and contentious than goats.
What sounds to wild boars make?

Just interrogate him honourably for christ's sake (meaning no torture and no outright insult. I am opposed to the use of "baabar", which only makes me think of that one elephant with a crown and a green suit.). I have no interest in the gods they are worshipping right now (from an in-character perspective)

No objections here. If talking about how we will ask about their religion is causing such debate...it's probably not worth it.
As for baabars, maybe I just don't like stealing terms from real-world history when we can make up one just as good or better on our own.