I'll go to the Camp Smithies. "Can I get a crossbow of some sort? Perhaps a dagger?"
You quickly make your way to the smithies, the girl Lilianna tagging along with you for a little while before splitting off to go find some other smith worthy of her desires.
You quickly find a jovial old man with a salt and pepper beard and balding head, you wait a few minutes as he finishes hammering a steel band into place along the top of a carved oak staff. It takes him a few moments to notice you as he examines his work, but after a few seconds he turns to face you and takes a slight bow before speaking,
"Hello there, names Henry, I specialize in creating the base armaments for Knights. What could I help you with my dear Squire?"
He listens as you describe your desire for a crossbow, and perhaps a dagger, as you finish the man turns his attention to a large steel bound chest in the back of the smithy as he talks,
"Well I don't have much at the moment but I got a few crossbows, and a dagger or two in here somewhere. Keep in mind these are the basic weapons, for blessings and such you'll need to go up to the Chapel, since the Priest I had working for me buggered off to who knows where I've been unable to bless 'em myself I'm afraid. And any such weapons I did have got bought up a while back by them Apostles that passed through not long ago, heading for Blackspire the Capital of the third isle, never been there m'self but I heard thats where the main conflict is gonna take place."
Turning back towards you with a handful of weapons in his arms Henry walks over to a table set up on the edge of the pavilion, and lays the weapons out on the table. You find three crossbows, two daggers, and what looks to be a shortsword though a strange notch mars the blade halfway up with that done he speaks up,
"Well this is what I got.
This first crossbow here is pretty much standard deal, its an
Oak Crossbow with nothing really special about it, but it'll do just fine against your run of the mill armored foes. I'll give it ya for
3 Silver Marks and throw in 8
Standard Bolts along with a
leather quiver for ya to hold them in.
Now this here second one is the best one I got in stock, its a
Reinforced Siege Crossbow, the arms are reinforced with a thin layer of bronze that been worked to be bendable. Then the crank and latch mechanism cuts the reload time for this masterpiece in half, if your looking to punch through something the equivalent of unblessed Knight armor this baby will do the trick. You can have it for
1 Gold Crown and I'll throw in 6
Heavy Bolts along with a
leather quiver, this one I guarantee to be worth the price. Its been one of my finest creations.
This final one here is a bit old, but still a fair weapon, its a
Talnesean Hunting Crossbow. I picked it up last year in the northern parts of the Talnesean Republic hoping to improve my overall design, but the mechanisms for this thing are a bit beyond my comprehension I'm afraid. See the thing was made for hunting Yule Stags, the things grow horns of silver you see so they're quite valuable, anyway their hides to tough for normal bows to pierce so they made these things. I'm not sure how the entire thing works but it packs about half the punch of your average crossbow but has the ability to load and fire two crossbow bolts in sequence. I'll let you have this for
5 Silver Marks along with 16 of your
Standard Bolts and the
leather quiver as usual.
Moving on the daggers are your basic
Iron Daggers, nothing real special there I'd sell em to ya for about
2 Silver Marks a piece. However this beauty here, this sword is a little something I cooked up, its a steel
Sword Breaker as I like to call it. The blade itself is a lot heavier then your standard shortsword, and has been reinforced quite nicely, the trick is to catch the your foe's weapon in that notch and then throw your weight into the blow. If its not heavily blessed then the weapon you catch will shatter and leave your foe at a disadvantage. I'd be willing to part with this for
2 Gold Crowns, after all it is perhaps my greatest creation to date."
...well, the day had to come. This is what I am. Nothing else to do here. Time to finish it...
Go to the training grounds. Try to politely extract information from a Knight what this battle is going to be about, what kind of army we're going to fight and whether our side has an advantage. The most interesting bit would be what the black smoke signifies, but it's likely he doesn't know either.
Then, ask him for a sparring session once we're through with the questions.
Watching as two of your fellow Squires make their way to the Smithies you decide to go down to the training grounds, and try yourself against one of the Knights overseeing training there. Perhaps they could shed some light on whats about to happen, perhaps some details on the enemy forces, and such, you continue on lost deep in thought on what information to ask for and find yourself at the training grounds in no time. Looking around the rather large field you see dozens of training dummies, only some of them taken, along with numerous small sparring sessions and mock battles going on along its length. On the far side of the training grounds you see a three Knights arrayed in a small line, all watching the training like hawks observing potential prey.
Shaking that odd feeling away you quickly cross the field, most people quickly stepping out of your way as they realize a Squire is in their midst, after a minute or two you stand across from the trio of Knights all of whom have turned their attention to you.
The Apostle on the far right of you turns his head away shortly after, clearly displeased with what he sees, while the one in the middle waves to the rest and steps forward to greet you his cheerful voice booming from the inside of his helmet.
"Ah you must be one of the reinforcements sent to us, I'm quite glad its a Knight and his Squires they sent and not more common men for as it is we are at a severe disadvantage. Hello Squire, my name is Joshua Stone, Captain of the Twenty-Third and Knight of ten years now. Might I inquire of your name, and purpose here?"Seeing the man to be quite friendly you tell him your, and launch into an explanation of why you are there. He listens intently the entire time, and upon you finishing quickly replies,
"I'd be quite glad to answer your questions, and I would gladly spar with you if your sure that is the path you wish to take, but first to answer your questions. The coming battle is to be the first true battle of the war between our Kingdom and the filth that is the Black Empire, as for what the battle is going to be about it should be quite obvious. We are the first and only line of defense before those beasts reach the capital of Granite Peaked, the city of the Primarch of the third Isle, Frost Isle. If this war host manages to break us here they will move on and siege the Capital, thousands would die and thousands more would die reclaiming it.
Quite simply put we are the entire might of the eastern isles, only a barebones force remains in the Capital for protection against any strays or small raiding parties that manage to sneak by us. Our forces here number around six hundred foot soldiers, two hundred archers, one hundred rifleman, one hundred heavy cavalry, and the six Knights of the Twenty-Third. As for enemy forces we're unsure though we estimate they have somewhere between three and five thousand men, only the Gods know how many Magi and demon-bound are among those ranks but we are sure its few for the main force of the Black Empire's War Hosts lie elsewhere. The only advantage we have are us Knight of the Twenty-Third, you Squires and you Master, and the fact that we are the defending force.
That is our situation sadly, but for the time being all we can do is wait, the Black Empire seems hesitant to attack and until then we must do what we can to prepare. So now answer me Squire Alexis, are you sure you desire to spar? If you wish I can make it interesting for you, our match shall be to first blood, if you manage to beat me then I shall give you a pendant blessed by the God of Justice himself. Do you accept?"There are a few things to be done. First, a side arm...
Lilliana walked with Alistair to the smithies, before breaking off in search of a weaponsmith.
"Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to have a short blade available would you? A dagger, or small shortsword, I do not mind which. I don't intend to be disarmed during the battle but if I am ..."
After breaking off from Alistair you quickly
a scarred young man with his skin bearing a deep tan sitting lazily behind what looks to a shop counter. In fact his smithy is less a smithy and more a merchant stall as all he has is the basest of tools with which to complete basic repairs, scoffing at you as you ask to see his wares the man points to a rack behind him baring twelve of what look to be the exact same sword. Written in a nice spidery handwriting on the rack are the words,
Steel Short Sword ; Cost
1 Gold Crown, giving the man a displeased glare you begin to ponder whether to buy from him or go looking for another smith to sell you weapons though for all you know these could likely be the only shortswords left in the camp ...
Really bad rolls there Kashyyk, but a few the 5 and 3 balanced out to net you a fair weapon if you wanna buy it.
Author
Topic: Path to Knighthood - Turn 0: Calm Before the Storm (Accepting Waitlisters) (Read 7722 times)