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[kahn1234]

After spending a respectable amount of time making sure her accommodation was up to scratch, her blade sharp and her clothing neat, Anastasia spent several hours acquainting herself with the royal residence. After her excursion came to a close, she decided that it was about time she put her skills to good use, and thought the best way to do that would be to hunt down Raeric and his men and offer her martial skills in their endevour.

Try to find Raeric. Offer to assist his military training program.

While the commander was overseeing the troops training (he was still working with only a tenth of his men, and watching with great amusement as his Wardens tried to show the peasants how to march in order), a woman arrived near him. He recognized her easily as the weapons master who had recently arrived at court. Although what she wanted was pretty obvious, he asked anyway for the sake of politeness.

"You're here to help drill the troops, I assume?"

Of course, my good man. I will offer all of my skills in disciplining and training this sorry excuse for an army. Where i come from, they would have all already been flogged for incompetence.

Anastasia gives the levy a disdainful look.

It seems, Raeric, we have a lot of work to do before these 'men' she snorts, rather unladylike, at the word 'men', Are suitable for even a small skirmish. I'd recommend a strict schedule and drill regime, even when not in the drill yard. When they aren't working, making love to their women, eating, drinking of passing waste, they should be training as best they can. She makes sure her voice carries to the levy's ears.

Aid Raeric train the levy into a somewhat capable fighting force. Whatever it takes, corporal punishment and all.

[Azthor]

Hearing of the incoming mob, Atsam takes Hulen aside for a quick chat, ensuring he is adequately understood by the shaman "There has been an attempt on the King's life, a hillfolk envoy under the guise of a travelling  trader, and they now seek to throw his loyal servants against him through deception and treachery! They must know the truth"

Later, sharing the tale with the jester, down into the dungeons "We need a public confession from him, do whatever needs to be done to extract one, but remember: we need him alive"

[Ardas]

Arcadius observed the mob from high above, his face full of disdain and arrogance. Burghers, he thought. Jumped up peasants and shopkeepers. They did not know the half of the problems he had to deal with.

A servant came by and in few whipers updated the king on the actions of his chancellor. King only nodded approvingly. He only whispered back one command. "Make sure Carling does not overdo it. I don't want to butcher people's limbs."

He enjoyed the armor he was gifted, for it was a beautiful thing and worth in combat and he saw the reason in the man's intnetions, however sadly misguided he was. He knew that the court expected him to act like that, for appearances needed to be maintained. And now the people. He had to assert himself, be for good or bad.

[Ghazkull]

Dancing with Glee, Carling waved for two Guards to seize the man.

"Careful,Careful if you drop him, i will contend with you!"

The Guards with Carling  in the lead, proceeded deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole that are the dungeons. Passing several turnkeys which sickly grinned at the banker they soon left the upper levels of the dungeons and went deeper. As they approached the deepest levels below the Castle, singing could be heard.

If not for the Torch Carling was carrying it would have been pitch black darkness, even so it was incredibly dark and as the banker was dragged lower and the singing got louder he might notice that the walls were covered in drawings and writings, most of which he couldn't decipher as they weren't written in any language a sane man would nor could understand. Gibberish written in blood accompanied by drawings on which one doesn't want to dwell for long, the air was getting pregnant with smell of blood, old age and the atricious stench which one only can encounter at a medieval tanner. Finally the shrieking singing got discernible.

"...me staff has murdered giants
and me bag a long knife carries,
for which to cut mince pies from children thighs,
with which to feed the faeries,

still i sing bonnie boys,
bonnie mad boys,
bedlam boys are bonnie,
for they all go bare and they..."

The rest can't be discerned as it goes down in loud howling from a dark corner of a nearby cell. From the shadows halway a dirty "thing" can be made out...another one of the many sights down there which one doesn't want to dwell too long.

"SILENCE!"
It was the shriek of Carling, it had an annoyed high-pitched quality.
The howling stopped immediately and so did the singing.

"Welcome to my home!" Carling opened an ramshackle wooden door leading to his abode. Fulfilling the dream of any torturer, the room was filled with every torturing tool one can imagine, from the mundane to the outright horrific. Dried blood was sticking to almost all surfaces, in a nearby fireplace a fire was crackling fuelled by what seemed like femurs and next to it a tanning rack was used by a little boy who cleaned something quite suspicious spanned on it.

The boy looked up and beamed. "Uncle Carling!" When he stood up and ran towards the jester one realized that he could have seen no more than six summers. Dressed in selfmade Leather Clothes he hugged Carling, who produced forth a small honey pie for the boy and told him to run.

"His mother was the former cook of the castle. The old King sent her down here after she had apparently stolen a necklace, worked on her for two weeks but in the end it turned out somebody else had put it in her closet, since that time four or five years ago she is down here, i took care of little Quentin since then."

The Guards pushed the Banker into a seat and restrained him. "You may go now, i think i can take it from here." The Guards didn't object obviously happy to leave this places as fast as possible, well recalling the Jesters reputation.

Sighing Carling sat down on the other side of the table. "finally alone!" Then he clapped and suddenly jumped up again and clapped in his hands. "It is customary for me to begin showing you my tools first."

he walked over to a shelves stuffed with all kinds of implements. Some to Castrate, Blind , disembowel, hunting tools, butchering and skinning tools, scalpels and lots and lots of glasses filled with fluids, insects and other unpleasant things.

"Let me see, let me see let me see..."

he threw a look back at the Banker frowned for a while and tipped his nose with his index finger while scratching his jaw line with middle finger and thumb.
"A Banker...a banker...a banker...a businessman....a banker."

Suddenly Carling began to grin wider and wider. " I know what i need!"

He ran back to the shelves and searched for a while, cursing and murming to himself before he returned with a leather satchel. he placed it on the table and slowly unfurled it. It was filled with Dentist tools.

Carling grinned at his opponent. " This my friend are Dientist Tools. Apparently in the Far South there are men who use these to correct teeth, they can however also be used for different things."

he pointed at a very fine chisel and a small metal hammer. "The worst torture possible achieved with these tools is to use this chisel here and slowly chisel your teeth to bits slowly carefully and utterly painful. It is an art to drag this out for days while at the same time keeping it painful and not chiselling away too much.

Now answer me some questions and you may be spared this little torture here..."

And then Carling began to ask. Questions about the Burghers name, his home, his family, his friends, his business, his money. Are you a Traitor? Have you slept with the King's Wife? Have you sinned?

The Questions were random, could be mundane or secret, soemtimes they were accusations of things both of them knew the man couldn't have done, others were outright fantastic deeds which were impossible. Some concerned his business and his wealth. And they were repeated over and over and over with mad purpose it didn't make any sense but that wasn't the purpose of the interrogation, it should only add to the torture forcing the Burgher to answer again and again to useless unimportant Questions and each time he answered falsely (which was very often since the poor man couldn't ascertain what Carling wanted to hear) the Chisel and the Hammer came forth and were used. These terrible sessions and his screams were  drowned out by the mad singing of one of the prisoners.

"And when that i have murdered,
the man in the moon to a powder,
His staff i'll break and his dog i'll shake
and there will howl no daemon louder..."


Carling Interrogates and Tortures the Burgher, he isnt searching for anything particular but about generally everything the Burgher may know may it be so unimportant as that the neighbour was a drunkard or as important as a planned assassination of the king, he tried to extricate everything the man ever might have known. During this process he tries to mentally break the Burgher while inflicting no staying bodily harm (except for the teeth of which he will chisel out the entire upper half), the king after all said not to maim him, but he didn't say to bring him back sane.


An Hour into the Interrogation

When the Chancellor entered the interrogation had already been going on for a while. Covered in white powder Carling moved away from his prisoner.

"Oh my Chancellor, what a surprise! Can i offer you some kidney tea? No?"

he listened intently to the new orders and bowed.

"I will do my best." he returned to his victim, his interrogation continuing though now continuing purposefully.
Extricate several Confessions from Richard,all in which he confesses to different crimes ranging from Theft to an attempt on the king and an attempted coup. He also mentally breaks him so far that the only thing he will say when asked is that he tried to kill the king and take his crown.

[Shootandrun]

With Anastasia...

Raeric nodded, satisfied at the woman's words. However, when he was finished, he raised an eyebrow and turned towards her.

"I was told you were competent, and I was not disappointed. I'm actually planning to hand you the drills completely, Anastasia. While I can certainly train the peasantry, I am also commander of the King's Wardens, and that takes quite a lot of my time. I cannot correctly handle both responsibilities. What say you?"

Some other time...

Raeric stormed into the throneroom, still putting his armor. He was currently equipping his bracers when he spoke, to no one in particular - or perhaps to all the courtiers present.

"I do not know who is the genius who had the brilliant idea of sending a moron to go seize a fortune from armed cavalry with only twenty-five men behind  him - men he did not know nor lead, at that! - but when I find him, I'm going to make him wish he was the one who got his throat cut out there!"

Turning around, he barked an order, as he put on his helmet.

"Wardens! Remain with the King. If you ever take an order from anyone but me or His Royal Highness again, I'm having all of you hanged for insubordination. You do not have my permission to die in someone else's name, understood? Now, to fix this goddamn mess."

With that, he took out his axe and walked out of the palace, and into the mob. Without batting an eye at the massed peasants and cavalrymen, he shouted again - and he sounded like he was ordering those in front of him to do as he said.

"If any of you idiots even think about drawing a weapon on me, the Royal Army has the orders to charge out and turn this into a bloodbath. Now stop standing around wasting air and get me your commanding officer here!"

Refuge in audacity/Command: Order the rioters find their commanding officer (Bluff: the Royal Army will come out and kill them all if they attack instead)

[Brood]

Deny all charges.

One of the guards is to take the money and hide it all then not tell anybody where it is and stay with it until contacted by Richard or his contract ends.

[kj1225]

Kyle walks into the throne room and sits in a corner.

[Grek]

Some days later ((I'm not sure if I get there before or after the revolting burghers leave)), the Royal Huntsman arrives back at the court, leading a mule behind him with a still-unconcious spy tied to the saddle.

"My King, the Spymistress and I haff returned from the Westhills. At Your convenience, I vill deliver my report. Until then, I shall deliver Alexis here to the care of the Royal Physician."

Gamel waits until called upon, pondering his strange luck: "Where Alexis sought war and murder, I sought peace. I have returned unharmed, protected and provided for by unbelievable fortune, while Alexis returns half-dead with her forces scattered and her plans in ruin. It is an omen, or perhaps the will of the Gods, that Peace shall triumph over War." As he is called before the king, he resolves to himself to persuade His Majesty toward a peaceful, diplomatic solution to the upcoming conflict, for the good of his King and new country.

Kneeling, Gamel presents his updated maps to the King before speaking:

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

"King Arcadius, I return with news both good and ill. Though I haff learned much of the Hillfolk tribes, of their dispositions, and the number and locations of their villages, I regret to inform Your Majesty that the greater mission has proven to be a failure."

"The mission began well. Despite the outdated maps of the region, I and my escort successfully navigated our vay to the old capitol of the Alving tribe. The city was in ruins and being used as an encampment for raiders, likely from the Velkyr tribe. Alexis ordered her Blades to attack from ambush slaying them to the man, showing not mercy nor quarter. It was the night after that massacre when the storms began. The sky shook with fury the likes of which I had never seen before, and many of the Blades were scattered into the wilds in the darkness of the storm."

"In the end, it was Alexis and I alone who arrived at the new capitol of the Alvings, the one shown on the map. Without her Blades, Alexis went off on her own to do the spying herself, toward the hall of the Alving Chief. I myself sought out a merchant and convinced him to tell me what he could of the region. The fruit of my efforts is the document You see before You, showing the major settlements of the Hillfolk tribes. I also learned then, that of the tribes, only the small and violent Velkyr tribe, hated as much by the other Hillfolk as they are by Merdians, has sought out war with our nation."

"On the second night in the Westhills, disaster struck again. I know not what Alexis did or said to cause such a reaction, but the Hillfolk accused her of being a witch and attempted to slay us both. Separated, ve both fled in the direction of the road east. Providence alone allowed me to escape unharmed and for Alexis to escape at all. There ve met with Your envoy to the Hillfolk. I informed Mage Grewie of the disaster and directed him toward the Jallings, who would gladly receive him in peace, but soon after, Alexis collapsed from her wounds."

"My King, though ve must prepare for war, do not give up on diplomacy. Despite the actions of the Spymistress, if the Alvings can be soothed and the Velkyrs defeated, a lasting peace may yet be had."

Deliver Alexis to the care of Sir Kyle. Deliver the above report to the King, in hopes of persuading him towards Peace.

[kj1225]

"Oh, I do hope you make a full recovery, it would be a pity if the best looking person in the castle died."
With that Kyle gets to work fixing the admittedly good patch job.

[Iituem]

Aid Raeric train the levy into a somewhat capable fighting force. Whatever it takes, corporal punishment and all.

[4+1] Your methods are brutal, but effective.  A dozen recruits stand out in particular, and your command is inspiring that they take it upon themselves to begin serving you directly as officers and guards.  You have acquired a small personal guard.

Carling Interrogates and Tortures the Burgher, he isnt searching for anything particular but about generally everything the Burgher may know may it be so unimportant as that the neighbour was a drunkard or as important as a planned assassination of the king, he tried to extricate everything the man ever might have known. During this process he tries to mentally break the Burgher while inflicting no staying bodily harm (except for the teeth of which he will chisel out the entire upper half), the king after all said not to maim him, but he didn't say to bring him back sane.


Extricate several Confessions from Richard,all in which he confesses to different crimes ranging from Theft to an attempt on the king and an attempted coup. He also mentally breaks him so far that the only thing he will say when asked is that he tried to kill the king and take his crown.[/i]

Deny all charges.

One of the guards is to remove the money from the kingdom entirely and use it to hire the best mercenaries he can find.

[6+1 vs 4]  You sing like a canary, but you don't know anything of value to talk about.  In the end you just talk about your old business ventures to try and stop the madman with his tools.  Naturally, it doesn't work.  You lose a lot of teeth.  [3+1 vs 2] You start to lose it under the pressure, and after a while your mind withdraws from your body.  You begin hallucinating a better, less tortuous world and start singing the same song as the madman across the dungeon.  The only good news is that the madness insulates you against further pain.

[4 vs 5] Which proves to be good news indeed when the Chancellor arrives.  Despite all the horrors Carling is able to visit upon you (and they are many and varied) you do not break and confess to a single crime, stating your innocence over and over again.  [4 vs 2] Unfortunately, by the end of the torture session all you can say is that you are innocent.  And sing.  You can sing as much as you like.

You have gone quite, quite mad.

You have lost the upper teeth in your mouth along with 20 points of Sanity.  However, you do not sign any confessions and they are unable to force you to verbally confess.

[4] You are unable to deliver orders to your guards from inside a dungeon, but one of them does approach the mercenary, Korgoth, who just arrived in the capital with an offer of payment.  Perhaps he will come to your rescue.

Refuge in audacity/Command: Order the rioters find their commanding officer (Bluff: the Royal Army will come out and kill them all if they attack instead)

[1+1]  Your bluff is less than effective, even with your thoroughly commanding voice, and the midden hits the windmill with alarming speed.  [Escape: 5 vs 5] You leg it back toward the castle gate, thrown rocks and bottles crashing either side of you, the mob hot on your heels, [1 vs 6] but before you can reach the safety of the advancing Royal Army half a dozen burghers mob you to the ground and beat you with clubs [2/3hp].  [2+1 vs 4] You manage to draw your sword and cut one of them, but they have you on the ground and manage to keep you there with extreme violence. [1/3hp]  Around you, you hear the crash of bodies and screams as the Royal Army meets the mob, but you are presently occupied with fighting for your life.  [6+1 vs 6] You fight with the desperate fury of a cornered beast, slashing and hacking at the townsfolk around you.  Despite the odds your training wins out and you are able to struggle to your feet over the bodies of the tradesmen.  You hurry back into the lines of infantry, to safety.  By the time you are able to assume command, though, the fighting is done.

You have at least one broken rib.

Battle of Unruly Burghers of Meridon
Royal Army: 300 Basic Light Infantry (Led by Raeric after Round One)
Mob: 200 Militiamen (No Commander), Enraged

The mob rush the gates in a frenzied huddle, overrunning the commander.  The newly trained recruits emerge from the gates in shaky but clear lines and meet the enemy spears presented.  [5+3, 6+1] The battle is short, but furious.  Under the advance of such disciplined lines the mob crumbles, but in its fury it does serious damage to the still green troops.  Although the mob is quickly dispatched with a significant number dead or wounded, thirty of the Royal Levy are killed and twice that wounded.  It will take time to replenish the levy, more time than a war around the corner.

The Royal Army is reduced to 200 fighting men.
The Royal Army becomes more experienced from the battle and achieves 'Recruit' status, giving an advantage in battle.

[6] Although you are able to round up nearly all of McGrieve's soldiers after the fight, the money itself seems to have gone missing.  One of them must have hidden it somewhere in the city.

Kyle walks into the throne room and sits in a corner.

You try to get a moment's rest, but it is futile.  Hemel returns not an hour later with a seriously wounded Alexia and that very evening you have over sixty patients to deal with from the levies, plus the Commander's broken ribs.  You're one busy doctor indeed.

[4+1] Alexia's wounds are fairly simple to dress, and you clean them with boiling wine and apply poultices.  She screams like anything, but you think she'll be fine.  [2+1] She has a fever, but you are able to treat it and within two weeks she recovers.

Some rule changes: See the OOC thread.

[Shootandrun]

Raeric stepped back in the palace, his armor half torn to piece, with his hand holding his size. He threw his axe on the ground next to him, spat some blood, and sat down on the floor.

"Find me a surgeon! I have at least one broken rib here!"

Request a healer's assistance.

He then turned towards the king, to whom he nodded respectfully (since he was sitting down, that was the best bow he could give).

"Your Royal Highness, the mob is scattered, your enemies are dead, the money is all yours, unless the peasants fled with it before I got there. We have lost thirty and some men, but the levies are now bloodied and will perform better in an actual battle. Have I done well, my King?"

[Ardas]

King nodded back to Raeic and smiled. The man proved his worth, even though it was against their own people. But he knew he had a commander whom he could rely on and trust.

"Yes, you have done well indeed. you shall have your wounds tended too and I shall expect your presence at my side whne the time to face hillfolk will come."


Arcadius received a thorough report from his Master of the Hunt. The man was experienced, gave a detailed report and even produced a map. a most valuable man indeed.
"Thank you, Gamel. Your report is most intriguing. You are advocating peace, even though damage has been done? I am astounded at the possibility, but your words do lead me to believe such outcome is possible if carefully navigated. If I'm not mistaken, my chancellor advised for such an option, and with improved army we might be able to... hmmm."

He eyed the man and motioned for him to approach.
"Herr Gamel, I am proud ot name you my Steward of the Realm. My demense and taxes are under your care now. While I am yet to see your skill as an administrator I am sure you will prove worthy. You are in full authority to tend to my domain and ensure its prosperity."


Last but not least, remained the issue of Alexis. Arcadius decided to visit her later in her quarters. Despite the troubles and errors, she was one of his most devoted servants and he trusted her with a mission that would weigh on the religious future of the kingdom.

[kj1225]

Kyle walks into the throne room to see an injured Raeric.
"Oh for the love of... When your done here get to the infirmary! It's not good to run around with broken ribs. Also, sire, before you propose a feast in celebration, because I know you love to do that, remember your diet."
With that Kyle walks off to organize plans for a school system.

[GreatWyrmGold]

"Thank you. I would be glad for an escort, as my previous escort seemed to follow a different master than I. Good riddance, I say; I hope that my new escort will be better company than the old."

Accept the escort. Chat with them about the state of our respective land. Don't reveal anything that would get the King angry at me, but answer their questions. If the latter conflicts with the former, explain why I can't tell them. Take a mental note of whatever I learn.

[griffinpup]

[4] You are unable to deliver orders to your guards from inside a dungeon, but one of them does approach the mercenary, Korgoth, who just arrived in the capital with an offer of payment.  Perhaps he will come to your rescue.

Well, my men have been whining about the lack of food for a while.  Money tends to fix that.  I'll gladly accept your payment.  What exactly needs done, how much cash you giving, and what are your conditions?  Raping and plundering allowed?  If not, it'll cost ya.