Forest Retreat - 5
Orchard - 0
Patrol the Perimeter - 5
Challenge the Enemy - 1
Clear Buildings - 3
Guard the Canoes and Druids - 0
(I'll take the top two for now. I never said you were limited to 1, but I don't want to think up a million brides.)
Druids - 6
Raid Clans - 0
Merchants - 1
Penteram's Clergy - 1.75
Distant Imperials - 1
---
You speak to Penteram, who is still in town and will be joining you on the raid, about finding a spouse for yourself or Andre from the families of the Imperial clergy in his lands. Your brother nods, and calls forth a servant to travel north and deliver your request to his Bishop, whom he assures you should have no problem coming up with a list of candidates.
Next you pay your great uncle Tamar another visit to speak about taking a bride from his temple. He has a few suggestions.
Possible Druidic Spouses for you or Andre - (You don't have to commit to one now)Allana: 16 years old. Allana is 1/8th moon elf, which conventional wisdom says is the most elf blood one can have and still function in human society. Her blood makes her a stunning beauty and will slow her ageing - it is expected that she will be fertile into her early 60s. Her magic is narrowly focused on combat: increasing her physical attributes and enhancing her attacks with the dagger and bow.
Luanda: 21 years old. Luanda currently lives off the land about two days outside of Bride Price, where she spends her days tending to herds of wilderbeast and Zebra. Tamar suggests that her affinity for outdoorsmanship and animal husbandry would make her a good match for you. Her education is well rounded, neither excelling nor struggling in any of the druidic arts.
Halia: 18 years old. A young druid known for her cunning and ambition. Tamar notes that she has been lobbying him to present her to you as a possible bride for some time. Tamar isn't sure if her interest in you is based on your political power, the possibility that you could teach her exotic magic, or both. Halia is a known shapeshifter who can assume the form of a 17 foot long Frontier River Crocodile. Tamar suspects she has other, more stealthy, forms as well.
Noelani: 33 years old. Noelani is much older than you and fairly infamous for taking female lovers. The only reason Tamar is suggesting her as a potential spouse is that she is one of the most powerful and spiritual druids at the temple, and thus on the short list of possible successors to Tamar's office. Wedding the king would make her a clear frontrunner for the role, at long last reuniting the offices of Monarch and Archdruid.
---
The day has come. You depart for the raid.
You take the seat of honor in the lead canoe, a vessel which is reserved for key members of the raid clans, other nobility, and young adults celebrating their coming of age. In the canoe with you is Hau, two of his trusted champions, and twelve other young adults. You note that of your fellow initiates, nine are young women. The Mahallo
do allow women to raid if they wish, but it isn't necessarily common or encouraged. Hau whispers to you that on average there is one or two female raiders per canoe, and most of those are bull dykes.
"For some
completely inscrutable reason," Hau smirks, "everybody was fighting to put their daughters on first canoe when they found out their bachelor king was going on this raid. I only took the ones I thought might actually be decent at fighting."
He points out two of the girls to you in particular. Kamea looks fierce in her raider war paint and most comfortable in the canoe of all the young adults present. Hau explains that she is the sole heir to the small Manta raid clain, and that she will one day own a small compound on the river and command about twelve sixteen-seat canoes worth of raiders. The gorgeous woman with slightly pointy ears is Allana, the elf blooded druid whom Tamar already offered to you as a potential wife. Hau confides in you that Druids generally do not ride in the first canoe, but that she is here as a favor to Tamar, who thought that you two should meet.
The canoe directly behind you has few human occupants: just Andre, Keanu, Kane, Kaylee, their four Dire Kangaroo Rats, and your own noble steed Vera.
Barely behind you, with their bows reaching the midpoint of your own canoe, just off to your left and right, are two canoes filled with druids. The druids are here to help navigate the river and deal with any elf druids lurking around the woods. Behind the four lead craft float another 30 canoes filled with 16 raiders each.
---
Note: Skill checks in this game are a d6. Lower is better as you generally aim to low equal to or less than your skill level unless the check is particularly easy or hard. In high pressure spur of the moment situations, a natural 1 may be a critical success and a natural 6 may be a critical failure. Critical success is also possible on a 1 when making a roll you can't fail, and critical failure might occur on a 6 if success is impossible.
Dice = 2
Royal Subject Bonus: -1
Awkard Teen Malus: +1
Final Result = 2
The first few days of the journey are quiet and awkward. You know the girls are here to woo you. The girls know that their job is to woo. Nobody works up the courage to make the first move.
On the third night, while the raiders are camping on the river bank, Hau breaks open a bottle of sweet pineapple liquor, and passes it around to you and the other young adults on the first canoe. After just a sip or two, everybody starts to open up. Kamea is frightened that she will not prove worthy of inheriting the Manta Clan. Allana desires nothing more than to kill moon elves, whose blood she blames for all the things she hates most about herself. The other young women, lowborn or children of less important raiders, want many things: wealth, glory, adventure. Some are just happy to have the opportunity to meet their king. Others would be interested in becoming your mistress or even a one night stand. But you soon conclude that everyone, yourself included, regardless or rank or upbringing, is just a teenager: frightened and excited by the prospect of dying and killing on their first raid, and nervous about the social expectations surrounding an unwed monarch.
You might be their king, but in many ways the people on first Canoe are your equals, and you have no reason to be uncomfortable around them.
---
The fifth day of your voyage marks your 17th birthday. Once you return home, your regency will be over, and a small feast will be held to mark the proper beginning of your reign.
---
Hau's Skill Level = 5
Roll = 4
Hau's bonuses: -1
Final Result = 3
At 8am on the 8th day of travel the canoes beach. Hau informs everyone that the target is just around the next bend of the river. You and your squad from the nameless city are given instructions to ride straight inland until you reach the main road heading in and out of the forest retreat. You are each given horns to blow to warn the main body of raiders if you see incoming reinforcements.
Your primary objective is to butcher anyone that tries to leave the city. The merchants will purchase corpses at a fair price, and sell them to necromancers at the nameless city. Although live captives are worth more, Hau suggests that as inexperienced raiders you avoid taking prisoners unless you are positive the situation is under control and you have time to properly restrain them.
The squad you are traveling with fills you with confidence. Andre is capable of defeating trained knights in single combat. You and Keanu are both competent up close and deadly with ranged weapons. And isolated from any potential snitches among their allies, the twins are free to cut loose with their dragon magic.
You are mildly surprised when Allana taps you on the shoulder. "I know there is a chance that I am to wed you or Andre, my liege. Fighting alongside someone is a good way to win their heart. I implore you, if I am still under consideration, let me watch the road and fight alongside your group. My magic should let me keep up with your mounts over a short distance."
Do you accept this request?---
Once you are in position, you and your party hide in bushes. You let the first few people you see pass without a fight, as the forest retreat still sounds peaceful and you don't wish to blow whatever element of surprise the main body of raiders might have.
Eventually. You hear screams. About a minute later a family of six elves come running down the road, away from the retreat. Their dress is unimpressive and they don't appear armed.
Actions:A: Chaaaaaarge!
B: Order the others to charge, while personally pelting javelins at the target from the rear.
C: Order the others to charge, while personally using a lasso to try and take a live captive in the chaos.
D: Order Kane and Kaylee to unleash draconic destruction on the poor sods!
E: Let them pass, maintaining the element of surprise for more dangerous prey.
F: Create some illusionary raiders to try and force the civilians off road and toward your hidden position.
We are now in combat mode! Turns will be short and frequent. I will take the first action to receive 2 votes, or the first action posted if nothing gets to two votes in an hour!
Author
Topic: (SG) Petty Kingdom of New Mahallo: Reign of King Arawn (Read 20740 times)