"Well, that was strange." Hans left the chambers after Aulon stromed out. There was something weird going on, least of all was Trubaldsome's insane actions against Elbreth. And whatever else was here meant that plan was as likely to fail, with Trubaldsome's lack of definitive agreement. That didn't mean that the effort will go to waste, and if that bufoon Trubaldsome still can be persuaded, then who knows...
After all, money was the sole objective for Hans, at least or now, and if those two could not agree, business can be taken to Elbreth. A good merchant always finds an opportunity anywhere, and Elbrethian Crown will definitely be interested in another source of revenue. Thoughts like that and more were making their way thourgh Hans's head as he headed back to his office to plan out another trade expedition.
Head back to the city to office and begin working out another trade route.
Aulon yl Marchis marched through the battlements, looking for his bodyguard. He had no idea what to do with Trubaldsome. His elder brothers - and most of his sisters, to be honest - could've calmed the paranoid king down, told him what he needed to hear. But Aulon didn't have their skills. He'd been quite proud of his plan, but the king was too unstable to follow his counsel. He was beginning to regret his choice of ally.
Finally, the young lord located the veritable mountain of a man serving as his bodyguard. Aulon hoped Asate really was one of the slave warriors of Udan, as his men claimed, and not just some lowly mercenary.
'Asate!' Aulon shouted, striding up to the warrior. 'Take... two of the men and find the merchant - Hans something - for me. Kill him and dispose of the body. Don't do anything that would mark me to the kill.'
The bodyguard nodded without comment and set off to find willing soldiers. If he was lucky, the merchant hadn't left the castle yet. If not - well, then he'd have to do without his bodyguard for awhile. He assured himself the castle walls would hold, and that he would have no need of the man.
Aulon sends Asate and two soldiers to kill Hans van der Vries
Hans escapes the castle just before the siege begins and is able to retreat to his warehouse and office to start planning his next adventure. A few days later, shortly after the battle, Asate and his men steal out of the castle on a lowered rope.
Hans is quietly studying a Guildsman's map of the region when Astate and his companions burst into the warehouse. None of them are trained assassins, so they don't even bother with stealth - they just turn up with weapons and armour. Hans, for his part, is unarmed and unarmoured. He does have several workers in the warehouse though, and most of them know their way around a length of lead pipe.
Asate: +1 Armour, +1 Weapons. 3/3hp
Hans: +1 Numbers. 6/6hp
[2+2 vs 6+1] Better armed and armoured as Asate and his companions might be, a mob of angry dockworkers with lead pipes is a force to be reckoned with. One of the soldiers goes down under a barrage of violent lynching. [Asate 2hp]
[3+2 vs 3+1] Asate turns so that he is back to back with his companion, more concerned about fighting off the band of longshoremen than pursuing his target. They take down a couple of them with swordstrokes. [Hans 5hp]
[6+2 vs 2+1] Hans scrabbles for the exit, but Asate and his companion work at methodically executing as many of the dockworkers as they can, forcing some of them to flee in the process. [Hans 3hp]
Hans has lost his numerical advantage.[2+2 vs 6] The last couple of longshoremen are able to knock down Asate's last helper and give him a few solid beatings to keep him down. They drop their makeshift weapons and flee. Hans makes to do the same, but picks up the lead pipe anyway (Weapon advantage gained). [Asate 2hp]
[2] Hans isn't quite fast enough, and Asate bears down on him with his blade.
[6+2 vs 3+1] Asate plunges downward for the kill. It doesn't connect, but seriously gashes Hans' arm and the blade sticks in Hans' desk. The merchant looks very pale. [Hans 2hp]
[1+1 vs 1+1] Asate's sword refuses to budge from the woodwork, so he beats the merchant around the face with his free fist as he struggles to remove the blade. Hans kicks back wildly with his legs, scoring a sharp blow to Asate's solar plexus. [Hans 1hp, Asate 1hp]
[2] The blade refuses to budge, leaving Asate without his weapon. He lets go of it and resorts to just strangling Hans to death. [1+1] Hans struggles weakly against the crushing weight of the man on his throat, his legs kicking ineffectually at the man's stomach... [vs 1+1] but brings the lead pipe in his other hand up to smack Asate hard across the temple. The hired killer slumps to the ground, but Hans is losing too much blood to finish him off. He stumbles to the door, fleeing into the streets until he finally makes it to one of his workers who takes him back to his house to rest.
Asate wakes about half an hour later, in no state to fight. On the other hand, since the merchant abandoned his warehouse there is nobody left to protect it. Asate breaks open the desk and steals the
1 ducat of petty cash that Hans had made, bringing it back to the Castle. Because of the chaos elsewhere in the city, Elbreth's forces are too occupied to prevent him from returning the way he came.
Hans' injuries are grievous, but he will survive. Fortunately, his writing arm was not the injured one, but it will remain in a sling until the end of Spring.
Asate steals Hans' money, but fails to kill de Vries.Jon investigates the bar fight further, trying to get both a name and a description of the man's face and clothes. If successful, he gets a scribe to make posters and he sends these to the borders with the promise of a reward.
[3] You get a rough description, but only general details - chainmail armour, brown cloak, brown hair and Elbrethan features. Other news suggests that the man had been shaking down local merchants for protection money, but you don't have a name.
Nahk state: Reading maps
The Nahk is the leader of my clan aka me
A soldier Replies to your yelling "We re the Zimtar and we are here to find out why you are trespassing on the Nahk's land, also to bring you to the Nahk for a talk.
Attempt to bring in the blind man without hurting him,
raider with no hands attempt to return quickly.
The handless raider returns in good time. Since nobody thought to just tail him to your camp, he arrives without being followed and with the head of Commander Zacmar in tow. He tells you everything that went on in the king's chambers.
[2] Your search of the blind man turns up nothing besides a hunting knife, and you cannot physically remove the crossbow stock from his hand. You confiscate his quiver, though.
The Doctor hid a face of disappointment as a man arrived, carrying the head inside of a bag. "We didn't need them anyway, did we?" He said nervously. "With Corv in Elbereth, or whatever its name is, we'll get help soon, eh? Now get out." His voice turning bitter as he waved his hand towards the exit. "With the large amount of smaller clans in the area we'll get help that way!" He thought out loud. "I'll send those new soldiers to search for smaller clans that we can absorb. More land, more soldiers and more chance of us staying alive! Brilliant plan, I believe." Walking out of the tent he headed towards the barracks, telling the new soldiers their assignment.
Send the heavy ambush regiment out to try and absorb smaller clans.
[3] In the wake of Manskinner's rapid expansion, a whole lot of the smaller clans have been allying themselves with the Munros or McKinleys. You are able to find one small clan, the McHales, who are currently neutral. [1] Part of the reason for their neutrality is their abundance of force. They only have one band of men, but they are all claymore-wielding psychotics - rather impressive considering they only have two parcels of land. Are you sure you wish to attack?
((Looks like it's time to go macguyver all up in this bitch, also I would of never allowed her to come with me, seeing as she's suppose to be protecting the monkey and I went in specifically to save people, BUT WHATEVER))
((Wait no, not whatever, who follows someone into a burning building?))
Take in everything going on in the building, I want all the details so I can concoct my master escape plan, also try to identify the soon to be roasted armored men.
[2] Somewhat embarassingly, Lilith takes this moment to express her amorous affections towards you. Gunther seems heartbroken. The monkey just screeches like a banshee. [2] You haven't the slightest idea who the armoured men are. They are big, bulky and wearing heavy chainmail. Most of them have axes. Several are garbed in monk's robes as well, probably one of the Orthodox orders. They do not look like monks.
[6] Parts of the roof are collapsing under the weight of the tiles and the burning beams. The tavern itself is an open floor design with multiple large tables and long benches. There is a wooden bar, behind which are some jugs and bottles of miscellaneous alcohol, plus four large kegs and a hogshead of what is presumably ale. The serving wench is screaming as loud as the monkey and wearing a flaxen dress in the Vasirian fashion. There is a cheap chandelier (crossed wooden bars hanging from the ceiling, supporting some candles). In the back, you can see a kitchen with wooden worktops, stone ovens and probably knives and other implements you would expect to find in a kitchen. You catch a glimpse of chickens hanging from the wall there, as well as garlic, onions and other vegetables. The inn has a second floor, with stairs (partly broken by a falling beam) leading up to a balcony and several closed doors behind which one presumes are bedrooms. There are a few narrow windows with wooden window-doors (glass is a luxury), and light is streaming through the holes in the roof. As is fire. There is a partly ajar door behind the bar, leading down to what you assume is the beer cellar. Somewhere, there should be a door out back to the privy, but you can't see it from here.
His repair work on the city of Preston had bought the Grand Master some good-will. Now he would deal with the noble prisoners.
Rules for the Nobles in Preston:
1) They should know that Grand Master Black is the current Steward until King Erik arrives and that others would not have been as forgiving as him.
2) Those that pledge allegiance will be let free to take back their titles
3) The landed nobles will be expected to send their first-born son or if none present, their heir as Ward to Elbreth to 'Foster better relations between the people of Preston and Elbreth'
4) Inform them of the tax expectations for the next year. Most likely the same as Elbreth. 1 ducat flat tax for all landed nobles.
The nobles who accept these terms and deliver their ward may be released and become productive members of court once again.
Those who do not accept will be kept in quarters under guard for another month to allow them time to change their minds.
Begin accepting pledges of fealty on behalf of the King under the conditioned outlined above.
If any nobles are upset about their estates being looted, direct them to Terenos and tell them he might still have some of their coin.
Your conditions are so reasonable under the circumstances that all of them accept your terms. This will seriously reduce the amount of free land to redistribute, but on the other hand will likely reduce the chance of revolt as well. [2] Some of them do indeed call upon Terenos, demanding their property back. It looks like they're after a total of
3 Ducats, though right now they have no forces to actually enforce that demand.
Terenos endeavors to discover if the Preston navy will serve him.
[6] You weren't directly involved in the attack, so there isn't the same level of enmity from the Prestoner navy towards you as towards Grandmaster Black or his forces. They are very inclined to assist you, although there is a slight complication. The current Admiral was a lord in King Philip's service. He will promise the assistance of the navy, but only in return for a guarantee that he will retain his land and title under the new rule
and tax exemption on the land tax. Since he commands the more or less total loyalty of the navy, his bargaining position is quite a good one.
Taric was sitting as the surviving commander gave his report about the battle, with Taric looking quite annoyed.
"*Sigh* You attacked a fortified position that had archers in it. I'm bloody well surprised that you lived while the others died..."
"The walls weren't the problem, we scaled them"
"What?"
"We managed to get the ladders up"
"Very well captain. Get your troops ready for some training, we've work to do."
Upgrade one crown regiment with berzerker upgrade, the other with a tactician and My PG with the heavy upgrade. Start burning the city. No man or woman is to be left alive, children are to be taken captive. Troops are allowed to take whatever they want (With execptions to humans) as long as I get a cut of the loot. Send a runner to Terenos requesting aid.
Your attempts to burn the port part of the city are mitigated by a constant rain of arrows from the Castle on your saboteurs. The city proper, on the other hand... [3] starts to burn quite merrily. A full third of the city goes up in flames with your soldiers fanning it. The soldiers fan through the remaining portions of the city proper, slaughtering and murdering every man and woman (and capturing or killing any children) they encounter. [4] They are horribly, horribly effective at this task, depopulating Miring even further.
Miring's population has fallen from 3 taxmen to 1.[3-2] Your horrific actions have utterly galvanised the surviving population of Miring against you. They now officially hate you and Elbreth more than they fear you, and as a direct result have risen up in opposition.
Because of the Arms shipment supplied by Hans der Vries, the townsfolk are able to raise
two units of peasant infantry to oppose Elbreth. They move towards the castle, aiming to join up with the defenders there. If they are attacked before they can enter the castle, the castle defenders will have to decide whether they will move to assist them (robbing them of the castle advantage for the first round, but letting all the forces retreat back into the castle on the second if a draw or victory) or let them fight it out against the vastly superior Elbrethan force and hopefully dent their numbers.
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Topic: You are King! (Spring 315a) (Read 189384 times)