So it was that Al found himself with an urge for combat, but not the funds nor strength to pursue it as much as he wished.
He stopped at a nearby village to recruit a few hands to help keep an eye out for bandits. (And to be used as bait, should a group of bandits get the drop on the party!)
So he set off to patrol for some Looters.
It went pretty well.
He had learned a few riding tricks during the battles, and found he had put on a bit more muscle.
Sometime between the last two battles, Alagoth had heard that there was a Tournament being hosted not too far away, in the city of Veluca.
Knowing he wasn't bad at combat, he decided to head that way.
Another looting of Looters on the way, and he found he had more strength, and had gotten better at his sword swinging.
Having arrived and entered the Tournament, Al made a few wagers on his performance.
He was a little over-confident at first, but did better towards the end, and came out about 400 Denars on top with the side bets.
But really, that paled in comparison to the Tournament purse that went to the winner.
Having fared somewhat poorly in most of the rounds, only slightly better than average, Al didn't really expect to even take 3rd place, and it's 14% of the total prizes.
By some Cosmic luck however, Al did astoundingly well the last two rounds and came out as the Points Leader!
With much bragging to be done, Al and a few of his company headed to the Tavern, eager to share a few drinks and toast the town.
Unfortunately, someone had apparently bet on Alagoth to come out near the bottom and lost a fair sum. He had headed to the tavern after the points started showing that he'd come out at least in the top half, and started drinking.
When Al arrived an hour later, he was none too happy, and had lost the ability to think things through.
When Al toasted the town, the drunk started berating Al, and even dared to draw steel!
It didn't end well for him.
Alagoth decided to hit the road, 'fore another belligerent drunk decided they had issue with a relatively unknown person winning a Tournament.
While travelling, he pondered how best to manage some of these Looters, should they manage to take a few prisoner.
After all, there's decent enough money to be made in the slaving trade.
A few miles down the road, he bumped into a Messenger, carrying word that the Sarranids and Swadia had come to a truce.
Probably for the best, as Al had no interest in running into an enemy War Party anytime soon.
On the way to the coast, in a search for some better loot, a group of Bow and Crossbow armed Mountain Bandits managed to maneuver close enough that conflict was inevitable. Since the group was still poorly armored, and had practically no ranged weapons, Al had no choice but to use two of his recruits to slow them down while the rest of the group escaped.
The group took a moderate loss in morale, but Ymira voiced her approval of the tactical retreat, since the loss of two was better than the loss of all.
After taking down another group of Looters, and gathering a few that lived, Ymira told Al that she wanted to pursue Archery.
Being that she was otherwise unskilled in combat, Al had no problem with this.
He did tell her that it would be awhile before the party could afford to outfit her with a proper bow and arrows, but that she would have first pick of any that they found after battle.
Before the next battle with Looters, Al decided that he was going to try out the Lance that he picked up back in Veluca.
He didn't account for it being so forested and having so many hills and valleys.
He made it out alright, but the same couldn't be said of his steed, who went down in the battle, and did not recover.
Being Lamed, Al could not depend on it, and passed it to his companions. Sadly, even the ones that were on foot were not interested in the steed, and it would have to be sold to the Horse Merchant when they got back to Praven.
And so the party returned to Praven, better experienced, and somewhat better equipped.
Alagoth decided to invest some of the winnings from the tournament into expanding he family plot, bringing his bi-weekly income from renting out the land to a modest 327 denars.
Prisoners and loot sold, and affairs managed, the group is ready to head out again. And again, being almost poor.
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Should we continue cleaning up looters, waiting to hear word of another Tournament?
Should we search farther away for stronger bandits?
Should we start recruiting in earnest?----------------------------------
I've decided that the choice of banner will be open to the first post requesting a change after each gameplay post.
The first time no one requests a change, I'll pick the crab banner for you Meph.
I've yet to run into a single group of Sea Raiders, despite patrolling the coast from Veluca back to Praven.
I'll continue searching, but I'm not sure where they've been moved, or if they're still around.
Also, I've tweaked some of the Mod Settings, specifically disabling the boosts to spear damage vs horses, as it's somewhat asinine for a swinging blow at a horse as it's passing to have a giant boost of damage. I had a looter with a Shepard's Crook get almost 40 bonus damage, even though the blow itself did 0 damage. Ridic.
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Topic: Mound & Blade: Warband (Floris Mod) Brave New World (Read 18526 times)