take the 2 Ducats bribe
Raise a Regiment of Heavy Blôdvindr Raiders for 3 Ducats
ask the Cousin of King Erik whether she want to marry Reg McRiar else take her with me to Elbereth
bring back the messengers to the their camp and get the other 2 Ducats
take the freshly Raised Regiment of Heavy Raiders with me, the messengers (and King Eriks Cousin propably) and make my way to the Palace of Elbereth to meet up with King Erik ( make sure to raise a peace banner as soon as they reach the Border of Elbereth)
award the position of Steward to MCJohnston (which allows him to take care of the Weyland Jarldom as long as Corv is away)
[2] Erika refuses to talk to you, either out of spite or fear. Donald suggests this probably counts as a "no" to marrying Reg. Reg is mildly put off by this, but adheres to the will of his Jarl.
You forcibly escort the messengers back to their camp near the southern border. [3] Their comrades, seeing your armed escort, flee over the border into Preston, but still leave
1 Ducat behind in their haste. [2] Whilst your men are busy collecting the spoils, the three travellers break free and make a run for it. One of them is accidentally killed in the escape, but the others evade you and successfully vanish into the hills.
[4] Once you cross into Elbrethan lands, you raise a white banner to indicate your peaceful intent. Unlike Elbrethan messengers, you are actually received appropriately once you near Sheepy Hollow and are provided with a polite but firm armed escort directly to the capital to speak your business with the King.
Action: Upgrade the raider regiment I raised earlier to a Berserker Raider Regiment (-0.5 ducats = 3.5 ducats)
Raise another Berserker raider regiment (-2.5 ducats = 1 ducat left in the treasury)
Use those two Berserker raider regiments to raid the McKinley's land.
You take the two berserker raider bands under your command deep into McKinley land to try a raid on the only settlement of note in West Weyland; Weybridge itself. [1] The McKinleys, after all the recent fighting, have been more on their guard and catch your raiders in the act. [6] Three bands of claymore-wielding heavy fighters respond to the call for help, testing the luck and skill of the raiders rather more than they had hoped.
McKinley: 3 Heavy Infantry
McJohnston: 2 Berserker Raiders
Fight: 6+4 vs 4+6 - Draw (1 McKinley Heavy Infantry, 1 McJohnston Berserker Raider lost)
The battle is fierce, costing you dearly in men. Those raiders that survive bring their loot with them, capturing [5]
5 Ducats in loot from the McKinleys.
You are flush with cash, but the constant fighting of the year has drained the manpower available to you. Unless you were to take more land (e.g. from the Munros) you will not be able to raise new units until Spring.
Manskinner Treasury: 7 Ducats
Enquire as to the three tasks.
The Landseti who has agreed to train you has a daughter, of marrying age. He wishes to wed her to a man of stature and thus requires a suitable dowry for her. With this in mind he gives you the first two tasks:
1. By yourself or with the aid of others claim a parcel of land for her and her future husband to start a farm, either by conquest or by taming an unsettled vale in the Highlands.
2. Capture at least
1 Ducat's worth of slaves, through trade or raids, so that they may have plenty of thralls to work the land once it is claimed.
As you complete each task, he will reveal more of your training to you. When the first two tasks have been completed he will tell you the third.
Research Checks
Before you continue with your research, you must decide whether to pursue it without the use of a human corpse, or else obtain one, fresh (for a bonus) or otherwise.
Ask about the house he was given.
The Rusted Pick is little more than a shack where miners go to drink, but the liquor is hard as the men. The bartender, a grizzled man with a scaggly white beard, listens to your question whilst he cleans some mugs. [3] He explains that the house used to belong to one of Lord Vadud's own bodyguards, a scout and one of his most trusted men. Rumour has it that Kain went mad and killed him and his entire scouting division, convinced they were traitors, then plastered the barracks with that sign in their own blood. [3] You saw the sign on your way in, hard as the barracks is to miss. It looks like the blood dried up and caked off a while back, but somebody filled in the gaps with black paint to keep the message clear.
You ask around about any rumours of note. [6] As it turns out, there are plenty of wild stories in these parts. Number one was a raid on the town in the next valley, Stonewood, by Suulian mercenaries. After that there are the usual drunken stories of finding seams of gold in the hills, rumours of ghosts at the ruins of Shizume's Camp (not far from the Cyclicist Temple) and even talk of some families of bears in the region. The wildest rumour from one perspective was of a town of hideous cave-people much deeper into the range, that steal children at night and eat them. Since nobody has lost any children lately, you don't give this one much credit.
Rest in room and submit record of conversation to archives.
[3] You ask around amongst the witnesses, but alas the cause of the fire remains unknown. Whoever may have known clearly perished in the flames. You dutifully note this down and carry on with your duties.
Needless to say, you recover from the blood loss without any problems.
March the army from Eelspine to Miring.
You return in a state of semi-disgrace to the ruins of your village and do the best you can to calm the citizens. [6] You technically succeed in quelling a riot, but only by promising vengeance upon the mercenaries that raided them. You had best make good on this promise eventually, as the populace will remember.
Your forces will arrive around mid-Autumn, likely just after Terenos has completed his defence of Miring's capital.
MiringSignal fires are lit and scouts return with news; Preston's army has arrived!
However, it is not all that it could be. Because its advance post was apparently destroyed and fresh water supplies made unavailable, it appears to have taken some attrition. Furthermore, the doubled attack on Preston itself by the Royal Army seems to have forced a change in priorities. A mere
3 Infantry Regiments have arrived, plus a single
Catapult to brave the castle.
Weak as Preston's position is, King Lueki meets with Lord Markan Drummel (Drua's husband) and Terenos in the throne room to ask if he truly intends to meet the enemy at the northern forest rather than fight at the castle. Manning's crew and three of the regiments are already waiting at the heavily trapped forest; only two regiments of guards remain at the palace; Drummel's own and that of the king.
"Are all your troops in place?" Drummel asks.
PrestonThe Royal Army pursues the fleeing Prestoner cavalry and infantry to the city of Preston itself. Rich as the city is, it stands almost empty now; much of the population has retreated into the fort for protection. The local terrain is flat, save for the dozens of blind alleys produced by the townhouses. The fort is on a high ditch, but not moated as with Miring's castle.
Scouts estimate that some
6 Regiments of infantry are probably camped within the fortress, based off smoke stacks from cooking fires and the like. A further
2 Catapult squads are visible on the battlements. If you attack immediately, you can try and crush the last of Prince Karl's forces before they enter the castle. If not, you can take your time and try different tactics you think might work. Or, of course, you can jump straight to the looting whilst you wait. The city
is undefended, after all.
OOC: This campaign's going very well, chiefly because your enemies miscalculated horribly. Well done so far - can you keep it up when you start thinking about taking on someone like Brighthall?
Author
Topic: You are King! (Spring 315a) (Read 185689 times)