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[GreatWyrmGold]

Let be polite, I mean if some one thinks were weak because we're polite to a group of unarmed women and children they might be forgetting the whole peasant, turned baron, turned count, who's also married to a dukes niece and on friendly terms with the king.

And/or the "unarmed women and children" thing.

You inquire as to whether Gergal is their biggest chief. She smiles, quite disarmingly. "Yes, he is very big. That is why we call him the Fat."

Told you so.

Agreed. As a practical matter, although not one we necessarily need to mention to Joral, we should have someone we trust as being honest and perceptive check wherever we have them working every so often to make sure that the conditions are being kept good--e.g, no worse than it is for our peasants.
Also say that we intend to do the same with any other prisoners we capture that are not troublesome (e.g, trying to assault us after capture, trying to escape repeatedly, etc). If she asks what we'll do with the troublesome ones, reply that that varies from case to case. It really should--a coward who tries to run once or twice should be treated differently than a firebrand who leads minor rebellions every other day.

[Gervassen]

They are not peasants yet. They remain prisoners in an active war, until we've reached a resolution to the war. Then we may consider terms of allowing them to settle here, so long as they ditch the whole "I worship battle" schtick that frankly should be an obvious deal-breaker. They will be confined and chained, men apart from women, perhaps with monks giving them some instruction in our language and religion while we are gone. Good behaviour reaps good treatment, ill reaps ill.

Escape attempts will continue to be punished with two deaths. They will have inside knowledge of Torchester, and you do not fuck around being a "good guy" with shit like this.

Joral is coming with us. We wish to know more about the war-like customs. Can we challenge Gorgal to a personal duel? How can we identify the banners of his personal guard on the field of battle?

[Gervassen]

You hear her yelling in a melodic language... Joral, Gergal, Kamchuk, Boral, In'url, Mardak.

"It is well known, Count Stone."

As you travel, she sits in front of Luther on his massive steed, and answers your questions as you pass the days to Torchester. Luther appears somewhat uncomfortable with the situation, but says nothing.

Several thoughts upon reading this: those words ain't very melodic. Boral, Mardak. That's the sound of goats. Can't throw me off the scent, Mal. I know a bleating goat-devil when I see one.

Second impression. These are Dothraki that ride the wooden horse across the big salt water. It is known, Count Stone.

Third impression. Luther had better get used to this arrangement. Perhaps if he eventually takes a shine to this saucy little number we can give him Joral as a war prize.

[Gamerlord]

Second impression. These are Dothraki that ride the wooden horse across the big salt water. It is known, Count Stone.

The Dothraki were basically horse-vikings anyway... plus that phrase pretty much means 'it's common sense you dumb shit'.

[Gervassen]

They were mongols, more or less.

But yeah, it's absurd to have prisoners of war out working the fields and streams right now while... fields and streams are crawling with their less constrained brethren. We can tell Joral that stuff as a long-range intention, but right now, it's hard to contemplate why we'd allow them outside a cell. And let's not leave behind essentially a human rights advocate to oversee their imprisonment. That's silly.

"Someone we trust" has a million better uses in the middle of a damned war than babysitting a bunch of needy prisoners. These people are going into a oubliette until we can safely implement plans for integration. I'm tired of how needy these dirty savages are becoming. We are fighting a war for our survival. I don't see the recognition that this is an existential threat.

Hopefully we can catch up to the Duke soon. Let's bring a large load of oil. People wanted to experiment with gunpowder, but I think fire can substitute well enough.

Meanwhile, we may as well begin learning Goat-speak. Joral can instruct us, with fighting words like "weak" "scared" "fight" and various insults being a priority.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Boral, Mardak. That's the sound of goats.

...What kind of goats have you been around?

Second impression. These are Dothraki that ride the wooden horse across the big salt water. It is known, Count Stone.

Interesting.
They don't look like goats, however.

Third impression. Luther had better get used to this arrangement. Perhaps if he eventually takes a shine to this saucy little number we can give him Joral as a war prize.

Um...sure?

And let's not leave behind essentially a human rights advocate to oversee their imprisonment. That's silly.

Who suggested that?

"Someone we trust" has a million better uses in the middle of a damned war than babysitting a bunch of needy prisoners. These people are going into a oubliette until we can safely implement plans for integration. I'm tired of how needy these dirty savages are becoming. We are fighting a war for our survival. I don't see the recognition that this is an existential threat.

How few people do we have we can trust? How many of them have skills that are useful to the war effort?

Hopefully we can catch up to the Duke soon. Let's bring a large load of oil. People wanted to experiment with gunpowder, but I think fire can substitute well enough.

Agreed...wait, what? Agreed.

Meanwhile, we may as well begin learning Goat-speak. Joral can instruct us, with fighting words like "weak" "scared" "fight" and various insults being a priority.

That's not pandering too much to the dirty savage heathen foreigners?
But I agree.

[Gervassen]

How few people do we have we can trust? How many of them have skills that are useful to the war effort?

Every able man will be a soldier or involved in our supply somehow. Consequently, we will be taking most of the good trusty men, leaving only a small garrison. Sir Stone does not preside over meetings of the knitting club, so the amount of old women he knows is probably slim to none. That's why we need an oubliette. We simply cannot spare men to guard these prisoners safely.

That's not pandering too much to the dirty savage heathen foreigners? But I agree.

Of course not. Understanding them is our only hope at this point. The situation is nearly hopeless. The latest news--that the previous raid was much smaller than this one--is a grim tidings indeed. This is close to the final chapter in Sir Stone's story, if we don't take this seriously and use every advantage.

Please consider that the latest update suggests that perhaps 20 thousand fighting men have invaded our lands, plus a sizeable number of women and children. We simply won't have the manpower to guard thousands of women and children like the hundred that we just spared, plus defeat tens of thousands of warriors. When we come across villages like this in the future, what do you think we'll have to do to them? Conduct them back to Torchester with an escort of our valuable troops? Feed them with food we need? Watch them with hundreds of guards needed much more in the line of battle?

This one time, just this one time, we got some valuable intel and we made a promise to spare them. Going forward, no promises about other villages. Ask Joral how the Baabar have been dealing with Kingdom prisoners. Then reassure her that her further cooperation will save her village. And that is as far as we promise right now.

The Norman scenario was predicated on being able to defeat them in the field, and to impose our civilisation on them from a position of advantage. We simply don't have that latitude anymore.

Time to start talking about total war scenarios.

[GreatWyrmGold]

How few people do we have we can trust? How many of them have skills that are useful to the war effort?

Every able man will be a soldier or involved in our supply somehow. Consequently, we will be taking most of the good trusty men, leaving only a small garrison. Sir Stone does not preside over meetings of the knitting club, so the amount of old women he knows is probably slim to none. That's why we need an oubliette. We simply cannot spare men to guard these prisoners safely.

While you have a point about the guards, are you seriously suggesting (slight exaggeration) that every single man who is capable of walking should be forced into military service? Some people just can't be soldiers, whether due to age, physical maladies, or mental issues. Some of these old men, cripples, whatever, are probably people we can trust enough to be honest.

Please consider that the latest update suggests that perhaps 20 thousand fighting men have invaded our lands, plus a sizeable number of women and children. We simply won't have the manpower to guard thousands of women and children like the hundred that we just spared, plus defeat tens of thousands of warriors. When we come across villages like this in the future, what do you think we'll have to do to them? Conduct them back to Torchester with an escort of our valuable troops? Feed them with food we need? Watch them with hundreds of guards needed much more in the line of battle?

I'd like to point out that while guards and soldiers seem similar, their tasks and the skills needed for them are much different. Some people who can't march, can guard.
I'd also like to ask where you got those numbers. I saw "thousands" per clan, which suggests to me an estimate about half your number.

This one time, just this one time, we got some valuable intel and we made a promise to spare them. Going forward, no promises about other villages. Ask Joral how the Baabar have been dealing with Kingdom prisoners. Then reassure her that her further cooperation will save her village. And that is as far as we promise right now.

I suggested saying we'd do the same with other prisoners, not other villages. I never said we'd try to take other villages prisoner...although I'd still like to, if we can.

Time to start talking about total war scenarios.

I hope we don't have to do this alone. We're one Count, and if we can't get more...we're outnumbered no matter what we do.
While we don't have to start planning yet, we may want to start thinking about what we would do if we were defeated...

[Gervassen]

While you have a point about the guards, are you seriously suggesting (slight exaggeration) that every single man who is capable of walking should be forced into military service?

Service or support. Old men can drive carts, mentally ill can load bags of grain. Okay, okay, I suppose we need to impress Joral with the sincerity of our promise to her villagers, so let's find a legless veteran from a previous battle known for good habits. He can be warden of the pit.

I'd also like to ask where you got those numbers. I saw "thousands" per clan, which suggests to me an estimate about half your number.

"Gergal united the Kamchuk, the Boral, the In'url, and the Mardak. The last invasion of your people's lands was only three clans, and weak ones at that."

The King has arrived to the front, wearing a crowned helm. He casts his gaze on the enemy. "That's at least twelve thousand men, if not more." You aren't sure if he is addressing you or not, but you believe it to be true.

Three weak clans were at least twelve thousand. The current clans are four normal-or-strong clans.

[10ebbor10]

Note: People can boast/lie over their own clans. Take stuff with a grain of salt.

Also, the last invasion's clans lost, so hence they're automatically remembered as weak by their people. I highly doubt 3 weaker clans would be capable of setting up an invasion, especially as it would leave them weak to attack by others clans

[Gervassen]

Note: People can boast/lie over their own clans. Take stuff with a grain of salt.

Also, the last invasion's clans lost, so hence they're automatically remembered as weak by their people. I highly doubt 3 weaker clans would be capable of setting up an invasion, especially as it would leave them weak to attack by others clans

Hmm. Good points, but that introduces more questions than reassurance. I still can't help but be alarmed, and feel that we may well be up against something  insurmountable, unless we use every trick.

While we don't have to start planning yet, we may want to start thinking about what we would do if we were defeated...

Rotting is a simple feat, accomplished by the best and the worst equally well. Is there any other way out for a knight pledged to protect his liege's lands? A dead lion or a living cur?

[GreatWyrmGold]

While you have a point about the guards, are you seriously suggesting (slight exaggeration) that every single man who is capable of walking should be forced into military service?

Service or support. Old men can drive carts, mentally ill can load bags of grain. Okay, okay, I suppose we need to impress Joral with the sincerity of our promise to her villagers, so let's find a legless veteran from a previous battle known for good habits. He can be warden of the pit.

Come to think of it, it doesn't need to be a man. It's not like these prisoners are going to be much of a danger. We could have one of Marna's friends or someone check on the oubliette every week or two, make sure it's up to our requested standards, make sure there's no one raping or beating the prisoners or anything like that.

I'd also like to ask where you got those numbers. I saw "thousands" per clan, which suggests to me an estimate about half your number.

"Gergal united the Kamchuk, the Boral, the In'url, and the Mardak. The last invasion of your people's lands was only three clans, and weak ones at that."

The King has arrived to the front, wearing a crowned helm. He casts his gaze on the enemy. "That's at least twelve thousand men, if not more." You aren't sure if he is addressing you or not, but you believe it to be true.

Three weak clans were at least twelve thousand. The current clans are four normal-or-strong clans.

Each was stated to have, quote, thousands of fighting men. If each had five thousand, I would expect something more like "a few thousand" or even "several thousand". Just because the clans are stronger doesn't mean that the armies they send are larger, just that their total armies are larger--it's entirely believable that the weak chiefs sent every able-bodied man they could to get glory or something, whereas these stronger ones are confident and sending a smaller percentage of their forces. An army about the same size, perhaps better-trained and -armed, seems about as likely as a host of 20,000.
I suppose it's something to clarify.

Rotting is a simple feat, accomplished by the best and the worst equally well. Is there any other way out for a knight pledged to protect his liege's lands? A dead lion or a living cur?

Le resistance. If we somehow survive the battles which kill the king, we might be able to lead part of the kingdom in an ongoing minor conflict.
It's a more positive line of thought than assuming that defeat equals death.

[Gamerlord]

While you have a point about the guards, are you seriously suggesting (slight exaggeration) that every single man who is capable of walking should be forced into military service?

Service or support. Old men can drive carts, mentally ill can load bags of grain. Okay, okay, I suppose we need to impress Joral with the sincerity of our promise to her villagers, so let's find a legless veteran from a previous battle known for good habits. He can be warden of the pit.

Come to think of it, it doesn't need to be a man. It's not like these prisoners are going to be much of a danger. We could have one of Marna's friends or someone check on the oubliette every week or two, make sure it's up to our requested standards, make sure there's no one raping or beating the prisoners or anything like that.

The punishment for rape will be gelding. Only really applicable punishment.

[GreatWyrmGold]

While you have a point about the guards, are you seriously suggesting (slight exaggeration) that every single man who is capable of walking should be forced into military service?

Service or support. Old men can drive carts, mentally ill can load bags of grain. Okay, okay, I suppose we need to impress Joral with the sincerity of our promise to her villagers, so let's find a legless veteran from a previous battle known for good habits. He can be warden of the pit.

Come to think of it, it doesn't need to be a man. It's not like these prisoners are going to be much of a danger. We could have one of Marna's friends or someone check on the oubliette every week or two, make sure it's up to our requested standards, make sure there's no one raping or beating the prisoners or anything like that.

The punishment for rape will be gelding. Only really applicable punishment.

We'll cross that bridge if we come to it. Ideally after finding out what typical punishments for rape are--we're not going to punish rape of the prisoners worse than rape of random peasants.

...That is poetic, however. Disturbing, but poetic.

[Gamerlord]

While you have a point about the guards, are you seriously suggesting (slight exaggeration) that every single man who is capable of walking should be forced into military service?

Service or support. Old men can drive carts, mentally ill can load bags of grain. Okay, okay, I suppose we need to impress Joral with the sincerity of our promise to her villagers, so let's find a legless veteran from a previous battle known for good habits. He can be warden of the pit.

Come to think of it, it doesn't need to be a man. It's not like these prisoners are going to be much of a danger. We could have one of Marna's friends or someone check on the oubliette every week or two, make sure it's up to our requested standards, make sure there's no one raping or beating the prisoners or anything like that.

The punishment for rape will be gelding. Only really applicable punishment.

We'll cross that bridge if we come to it. Ideally after finding out what typical punishments for rape are--we're not going to punish rape of the prisoners worse than rape of random peasants.

...That is poetic, however. Disturbing, but poetic.

?