Dark Designs Revision Turn TwoThe Duke of Orcs
We thought he was our enemy for life. We thought he could never understand. We thought the Dark Lord would have to break him, or worse. The world has a certain way of subverting expectations.
As the former Duke recovered from his wounds, he was accorded the privilege due to a prisoner of rank and honour — no great risk with the chains of the Dark One on his soul to hold him. However, his resentment and disgust, packed and dried into heaping layers of stale hatred, made him a recluse in his room in spite of the relative freedom offered, refusing to engage with the lesser creatures around him. That is, at least at first. It's impossible to say what machinations of fate drove a handful of orcs, who had just as much reason to hate him if not more, to take pity on him, bringing food and water and clean linens to his door when he would not leave to collect them himself, even, tentatively, offering conversation, as he grew willing, eventually teaching him orcish games of chance (such as "twenty-one") to pass the time – and slowly, slowly a strange camaraderie grew, which was surprise enough – but for the young orc-maiden who returned evening after evening, collecting his worn clothes, leaving offerings of fresh fruit, tidying up his space, and, before long, staying long into the night sharing stories... do such things as this even demand explanation? Are any of us so far gone that we could not have imagined this?
It is not that he has changed, exactly. He still fears, just a little, that he might be making the wrong choice. He still loves his daughter and hopes desperately to see her again (and not as an enemy). But, in small ways at first, but growing ones, he has come to understand. He is eager to repent, now. He has learnt from defeat, too; grown more cautious, less willing to throw precious life away in the face of possible alternatives – having seen himself that change is possible, he seeks to bring it to his former comrades if he can. We do not all trust him fully, but... we hope.
The Duke of Orcs: Roll 4 It didn’t even take magical compulsion to sway the Duke of Arnhold to your side. Just friendship and understanding. The lack of human sacrifices also probably helped. He still didn’t like to look your avatar in the eyes, but the Light no longer returned to him so he was safe enough. He still has kept much of his physical prowess, however, and began to spar with the orcs training in the yard.
It did come as a bit of a surprise that he was willing to serve in your armies, but you were always one for the forges and gears spinning in their place, predictable and everything in place. Maybe the Maiden could have foreseen this.
In battle the Duke can be empowered by Darkness, though not to the extent he embraced the light. He fights defensively, preferring to spare lives where he can. His main benefit is the inspiration he causes in those he fights alongside, and you can imagine the dismay he will cause among his foes. However, you are unsure of how his conviction will fare against a hero, and particularly his daughter.
The Duke of the Orcs will be considered a full Champion, unless defeated by Matilda, or until Matilda is defeated or slain.It’s Just Raptors
After the Terrible Claws turned out, well, terribly, we've worked on fixing them, because boy oh boy those things turned out poorly. I guess wiring an organic brain works a lot differently from wiring up an automaton, who knew? We'll keep some of the defective ones around, though...they'd make great training material in the proper circumstances.
Anyway we're going to go rewire their brains to be less, eh, what's a good word for "hostile to all life"? Very, very carefully. Then we're going to rewrite the magical bindings, with more understanding of what exactly is going on inside the creature as our reference for how to more efficiently and effectively enchant it. The magical bindings will be reworked to actually provide control and direction and a sense of "ally" and "enemy", however basic it is. They need to be controllable by mages we actually have. They should follow physical commands given by a non-magical rider so long as they're under the control of one of our mages, so that not every cavalryman needs to be a mage.
It’s Just Raptors: Roll 6 While physically the Terrible Claws were imposing, mentally they were uncontrollable and unusable. With some careful recalibration, they proved much more receptive to commands and riders, while still keeping much of that killing edge. Mages can keep them much more controlled, while riders have a much higher survival rate while actually being able to ride the beasts. They still have the limitation that a mage needs to be nearby, so they aren’t as effective scouts as they could be, but in a fight they are a terrible foe.
Terrible Claws improved to Tier 3, and while a spellcaster needs to be nearby, they are far more easily controlled and ridden.Novices of the Forge-God (Magic I, tier 3)
Amongst the Orcs, just like among humans, there are those who can wield magic. We don't have time to find all the ones who can do it but we can pull the most capable magic users and, well, basically just make them like our Dark Acolytes but with less black themes, fewer ominous robes, and a little more in number. These new Novices are drawn from Orcs instead of humans and wear the lighter weight armor of the Shieldbearers. Their surcoats bear a golden crown and red flames, the flames held by a steel-grey hand, the heraldry of our magical forces. Their mail is burnished black, their light gambesons are a deep red, as is their surcoat.
They are only a first-level spellcasting unit but are capable of casting every spell we've got. All two of them.
Novices of the Forge God: Hard 1-1=0 The training of the future Novices of the Forge God. . . went poorly. Turns out that the orcs use magic a little differently than your human acolytes, they have a deeper connection to your power and a weaker one to general magic. This meant that the magic training you put your acolytes through did little to develop your orc novices. You also supposed you may have tried to train too many and spread your attention too thin, instead of focusing on the orcs with the most potential.
Unfortunately, none of the novices you trained would be ready for the next battle. You would have to adapt your training plan. The Fateweaver always had her favorites, and perhaps you should have known she would have disregarded the orcs. However, you can make use of their enhanced connection to your power.
Novices of the Forge God are not capable enough to go into battle. However, you do gain a +1 for designing or revising an orc spellcaster next turn, due to your revelations from this design.
Strategy/Battle Phase
Your conquests thus far have been swift, and what little resistance you have encountered has been easily brushed aside. This has begun to change. Rangers now plague your patrols, ambushes wiping out supply convoys. Your spies have been hard at work, but they have little purchase with the close knit rangers.
They have more luck in tracking the movement of the host that Iserria is assembling to face your army. King Farn is leading this group north, attracting more and more brave men and women rushing to defend their homes. Your Silent Hand reports that the priests fill the people’s heads with lies of how the Dark Lord drove people from their homes and into the mines to work to death beneath the lash of their orcish masters. Your spies do what they can to spread the truth, but there is little tolerance for dissent.
Your fair hand and the turning of the Duke has gained you an uneasy acceptance of the locals. Those most inspired against your rule fled in the night to safer ground, and most have found it easier to ignore the flag change than actually resist you. This holds true even in the seat of your power, as you improve the standard of living in your city. Widows are unlikely to quickly forgive those who killed their spouse, after all.
However, your building projects have attracted a flood of people to your city, and most are quick to put aside any reservation out of serving “The Forge Lord”, some call you now. There is still a divide between orc and human, but you can see the cracks starting to form.
Speaking of cracks, your building projects and iron clad army are straining your capacity to the very limit. With even your archers clad in mail, you can hardly seize enough mines and forges to equip your army. As it is, you will probably only somewhat outnumber the enemy, and that is due to giving every spare orc whatever you scrounge up and putting them in the rabble. As it is, your properly trained and equipped forces will most likely be outnumbered.
You could begin conscripting some humans to shoulder the burden. It will likely make you less popular, but humans do this to each other all the time. It's only fair for them to earn their keep.
Do you conscript militia from your captive populace? (Gives you Tier 0 militia from Iserria army list)
A- Only volunteers (Much fewer in number, but somewhat more reliable)
B- Yes, take as many as we can get. They aren’t any better than the orcs.
C- No, I would not like a free unit. (
? bonus?)
Your armies will likely clash in or around the Valley of Runsford. If you win here, you will have free range over most of the Kingdom. Lose, and many of the gains you have will be lost. Your Silent Hand is not most effective in pitched battle, so what orders do you give now?
You can give one Major directive (Try to kill the King, place an undercover operative by a hero) or 2-3 minor ones (target priests/ spellcasters, spoil/poison supplies).
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Topic: Dark Designs: Turn Two-Battle Phase (Read 12172 times)