Well, here we go. With that much on his plate, Ninkasi had some problems to do all his tasks justice - blame the dice if you need to. You also ought to blame them on his qualities as a fighter, thou we closely dodged a bullet there. Still waiting for your input, but basically our MC just plainly sucks at blocking and dodging. Hard. In comparison, he is almost a natural with axes, even more so with two-handed ones.
While I mentioned it somewhat briefly before, the yearly gathering draws near - I apologize for the late Introduction of it. It was on my mind to write it in earlier at some point, but then it slipped. See the trivia for more on it.
Could this be the next Lordship!?
While I won't deny that Maldevious work and the enjoyment I derived from reading it were the main inspiration for starting this thread, it seems only time will tell if my writings of Ninkasi will live up to the skill and popularity displayed in the Lordship-Thread. For now I will try to update at least once a day, and I guess we'll see how well my writing skill and plot fares. I will take it as a compliment in the meantime. ;3
P.s.
Sorry about the rambling...
On the contrary, if someone is willing to write such a response, I just might be doing something right afterall.
As I will be preoccupied for quite a while tomorrow, any updates might be late or delayed to thursday. Well, if that happens let us call it even with todays double-update.
Rainfall, sunshine, clouds - the weather is quite fickle and changes often this month, even sending you a small hailstorm at one point - the fields luckily take not much damage from it.
Quite more worrysome is the friction between the new farmers and the villagers, with the former demanding that some laws or custom should be set in motion to prevent this. Luckily there were not any kinds of outbursts yet, but you would be a fool to count on it in the future. You also have to agree that the elves are getting ahead of themselves every now and then, but finding the line between a show of strength and domination while not having the elves at your throat seems difficult.
When you push the matter of the cooper, you soon find out that the elves themselves are quite well stocked out with his goods already. He is open to the idea of paying his tribute in goods, but has not much to sell or show at the moment, mostly working only on orders - even coin can't help that. As he is amiable to pay some of his tribute in advance for extra meat come winter and extemption of his family from being drafted for work, it seems that you got yourself a deal. Barrels and similiar will be lacking for some time, but you ought to get a viable amount of them soon.
After discussing it within your circle of trusted orcs, you confront the elves about their tributes. They take the thought of a food tributing system very well, you taking care of the outlying smaller communities during winter might have played a part with that. You are able to leverage a hefty tribute, with the promise of distributing it later on as needed. They obviously are less pleased with the positioning of the storage inside the pallisade, but you decide that this point is not up for discussion and they relucantly agree. You make some witty banter with Murak later on, as it seems quite alien to you that they would agree to these terms, all the while still hating your guts - a point that is still unchanged. His remark that they very well might need to be sustained after their inital seeds where drowned does make sense thou.
The question of a quarry for building purposes is quickly awnsered by the Elder - you refusing to learn his name has become some kind of hostile running jest by now. It is quite a far way towards it, and in the elven province of Gala'vo to boot. While the thought of aquiring rock from them, to possibly build fortifications against them would certainly spark the kind of humour the Supreme Chieftain is said to enjoy, you very much doubt to go along with the idea. Further inquiries only turn up a quarry that has been abandoned for decades, since the promised layer of non-brittle rock did simply refuse to show up. The rock won't hold up for any kind of fortefied wall, but it seems like it will do for your immediate needs - some of the men and refugees will cart them to the village with an oxen.
Your training goes quite well, and you can feel yourself improve visibly over the course of the month. The men are quite shaken by your lack of skill at the beginning - Ninkasi always was the stronger of you two anyways - but you trying so hard redeems your standing by a fair amount towards the end of the month. In your personal defense - wich you only would voice to Gózul - it is no wonder that the men find you lacking. Previously getting meat onto your plate was a rather rare occurence, and you never really had the time for serious training either.
While you seem like a passable fighter overall, Surkoz remarks that you fail miserably at dodging or blocking strikes from your opponents. Even after being accosted for hours on end, you only seem to get better at dashing out, or finding a weakness in the other's defenses. Growing weary with your inabilities and lacking growth thereof, the raider tries some other means of fighting for you. After some hours of doing so, you come to the conclusion that dodging or blocking actually makes you less effective and standing your ground while soley reacting with counters seems like the way to go. He even let's you try two axes for a time, but you soon take to a two-handed axe, it's greater reach complimenting your strengths much better. You are somewhat unsure if you really want to go about combat this way, but think about the matter extensively.
One of your scouting partys comes upon a message, left behind in one of the villages near the border. It seems to be from Rakver, who is pleased to have recieved his payment. He also makes a passive notice that his invitation to you still stands, but you really dont know if you have the time for that right now. You are also slightly bewildered that Gózul has taken this matter into his own hands completely, but decide that it is in your best interest to settle this matter as soon as possible.
At the end of the month you realize that you never really got around to care for the housing of the farmers, or aquiring more trading goods from the elves - all that training was quite draining after all. The palisade is nearing its completion, and with the stakes submerged into the dirt by a fair amount they will be quite hard to topple or break through. The woodworkers also raked in the stuff, giving you a nice surplus of wood. You are somewhat torn between letting the farmers do it on their own, or just drafting the elven carpenters to do so, but you guess that this will be a decision for the next month. Surkoz reminds you that there will be only two months until The Council will gather in September, and you should think about the possibility of attending and your tribute towards the Supreme Chieftain as well.
What are your plans for next month?The yearly gathering of "The Council" is a big occasion for trade and festivities in the heart of the homelands. While only those with six ranks and higher are allowed voting rights, it is attended by many of lower rank. Because of its nature, it is a prime opportunity to find employment, catch up with the current situation and more.
There are also some show-battles, with the more succsessfull combatants being rewarded a mark - in most cases the champion, often enough one of the runner-ups who caught the eye of the audience or chieftains. As these contests are obviously highly sought after, it takes about five different instances of fighting to get into the final rounds - the first two instances of free rounds being the hardest. Some disciplines like wolf-ridden combat obviously attract far less combatants, but still more than enough.
It still is a political gathering and matters of national interest are always part of the discussions. For Instance, the war against the Elves was made public on the gathering, after the chieftains had finalized their military plans. With valouros men aplenty, most "Wars of Aggression" are decided and called out for under this occasion. A fact that is not lost on the rest of the continent, and a many foreign lords sleep somewhat more uneasy this time of the year.
Health: Good
Characteristics:
Raider-Tattoo
Impressive scar on the abdomen
Skills:
Adequate Axewielder
Poor Blocker
Competent Brawler
Beginner Elven
Amateur Wolf-Rider
Personal Possessions:
Set of adorned hardened leather
Decent Furs for harsh weather (Tribute)
Decent battleaxe
Moderate stylized wodden buckler
Scourge, Marauder-Strap
Ninkasi's Ashes
Parchment "for the Elves"
2x Elven Silver (looted)
14x Orcen copper
The whole areal seems to be one big sea of trees, anchored at the foothills of a massive range - the later somehow holy to the elves. There are countless brooks and shallow rivers cutting through the woods, fed by springs from the mountains. While there are some hunting cabins and farmsteads doting the land, "Fairspringwood" seems to be the only village really worth mentioning. The populace is spread out by a fair amount - with hunting being a big support to their daily food an obvious outcome. (Map in the first two posts).
"Fairspringwood"
Some Hovels - surrounded by ramshackle barricade
Few Farms
~215 Native Elves
20 Refugee Elves
Up to 50 Orcs, mostly soldiers
15 Orc-Hunters settled in for the winter, about most of the other times
10 Orc-Farmers +freshly settled in
Military Constructions underway: Barracks and moat finished, palisade in construction, grainary planned
Orcs:
30 Skilled Wolf-riders, moderate weapons and armour
25 Passable Milita, differing equipment, generaly low-tier
Native Elves:
~50 Passable Bowmen, good bows, no armour
Up to 150 lowly Milita, Mostly Farming and Woodman Tools, no armour
Refugee Elves: -
Orcs:
Plenty food - Tributed, hunted and bought
No real monetary assets, 70 Silvers - found, Many hides and pelts - hunted, Big staple of useable lumber - produced - Debt, Gózul acting on his own
Bearable living conditons
Native Elves:
Enough food? - Gathered, farmed and hunted
Low monetary assets, array of crafts and hides - produced and hunted
Slightly bad living conditions
Refugee Elves:
Enough food - Gifted from the Orcs
No monetary assets
Tolerable living conditions overall
Ninkasi - Your shortly deceased Cousin - Dead
Gózul - Long-Term Companion - Trusted Friend
Surkoz - Raider in your employment - Respecting your intellect, Unsatisfied by your strength
The Elder - Native Elf in your "Service" - Passive Hostile
Murak - Translator - Enjoyable company
Alanor - Spokesperson of the Refugees - Thankfull but wary
Rakver - Neighbouring Warlord - Only heard of, but quite positively so
Uzgath - Supreme Chieftain - Only heard of
Citizens of your Province
Orcs: Contemptful towards the natives, Accepting of the Refugees. Generally obeying and respecting you.
Native Villagers: Quite hatefull towards the Orcs, Hostile towards the Refugees. Definitely hostile, openly glaring at you.
Refugee Elves: Thankfull to the Orcs, Spitefull towards the Natives. While a bit wary, they seem to consent to your rule.
General Populace: Quite wary, but overall accepting your rule for lack of other options.
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Topic: (TSG) Warlord (Read 8321 times)