Feudal Quest

This is a VERY good point. Chesna, we had seen, was rather innocent in her views of adventures. She was all about them and sorcery and all this, and this is her first 'taste' of a real adventure- bodies flying everywhere, dead enemies and crippled guards.

Dominic must make sure that she is enduring it well. Maybe she is going to take thins kind of things more seriously if she truly want to go on adventures, maybe she will take it seriously as the heir of a barony and learn how important it is to keep your land clean, but the important thing, right now, is that she doesn't get traumatized by it and doesn't lose her upbeatness.

Of course, we will also need Ezti's help for this: she is an old friend who certainly had to go through the same process. It's going to be a precarious balance of "cheering Ezti's up", "canalizing her emotion so she tries to find what she could do about this productively", and "make sure not to be a crutch to her as we are not her prince charming". This is where Ezti being here also helps, as we don't want to seduce a vulnerable Chesna here, so Ezti has to have an equal impact on helping her.

If possible, use this little bonding time to go back into scheming mode you three had. However, this is second to getting back to safety. Once Chesna's stabilized, we have seen to our men and possibly looted the bandit the priority should be on getting toward the rest of our retinues as fast as possible. Once we have another dozen guards options will open up.

 

Also, not sure how feasible this is, but Etzi and Dom should try and clean themselves up (at least the major blood sprays) before bonding with Chesna.
We don't want any barriers to healing and communication after all.

 

[X] Regroup
[X] See if you or Ezti can heal the men at arms

 

[X] Regroup
[X] See if you or Ezti can heal the men at arms

 

Yeah, we better give Chesna a hug or whatever kind of moral support Dominic deems fitting.

 

Ok, a couple of questions about the last update:

The pirate boss had a hammer in one hand a spear in another- that sounds unwieldy as hell. Is it something that works in this world, or is it a case of a big man using inefficient weapons because he thinks they look intimidating?

The Beastman- we set him on fire, then no news. I assume he has been killed offscreen, but is it the kind of "danger-level" we can expect from beastmen? E.G, are they not really that scary compared to human fighters? If so, why were they created? Are they pretty dumb and good when it comes to setting them to particular tasks like hunting (better than humans)? Or is it more something like "they don't need much upkeep", or even "we just had a particularly beastman here"?

 

April Events Pt 6

[X] Regroup. Fall back and see to your wounded. Make sure the girls are alright, and see if you can find an injured brigand to question. Then you can decide whether to advance or retreat.
- Be sure to help Chesna get through the trauma of her first experience with combat

Backtracking, you find that Chesna’s guard and one of your men are dead. Your other man and one of Ezti’s are badly injured, and no one here is a doctor. You bandage their wounds as best you can, and Ezti prays for their recovery. Her efforts don't cause any visible special effects, but a few minutes later you check the men again and find that their condition seems more stable now. They’ll probably both live if you treat them carefully.

Chesna makes it back to her guard’s body before she finally goes pale, throws up, and then has a crying fit. Not being an idiot you hold her and reassure her that she's going to be alright, and then Ezti helps her get cleaned up. It takes her some time to pull herself together, and she doesn't want to let go of you afterwards.

Ezti seems a bit saddened by the carnage, and after cleaning her face and dealing with Ezti she goes around the little battlefield saying a prayer over each body. But the first time she finds a living bandit she’ll ask what you want done with them, and she doesn't hesitate to finish off anyone you don’t want left alive.

(What prayers does she say? Basically 'don't let the demons and evil spirits that haunt this world steal their souls, let them make it to heaven so they can face righteous judgement for their crimes'.)

You find a couple of men who are crippled but more or less conscious, and terrified enough to talk. From their confused babbling it sounds like their band was pretty big, maybe thirty men or so. They’d taken over a small hamlet nearby that doesn't appear on your maps, and were forcing some of the local men to serve as cannon fodder for them. They were all in awe of their leader, who seems to be the main reason they held together so long in the fight.

Oh, and apparently they’re both bandits and pirates - they've been alternating between the two types of robbery to evade detection and maximize their profits.

Thirty minutes after the end of the battle you’re pretty sure the bandit leader didn't have a strong second in command. So at the point the group will probably break up, with some of them fleeing for safety and others forting up in the hamlet or maybe coming back for revenge. Since you only have four effectives (all wounded) and two casualties to care for pressing the attack doesn't seem feasible.

So you improvise stretchers, and make your way back towards where you’re supposed to meet the rest of your party. The trip is a bit tense, but it gives you an opportunity to compliment Ezti on her fighting skills and give Chesna a bit more reassurance. That seems to be working, and you’re pretty sure both of them were impressed by your performance in the battle.

Once your whole party is together again you’re fairly safe from attack, and I’ll assume you take steps to care for the wounded as best you can. The real question is what you do about the brigands, the hamlet and your current project. Do you:

[ ] Attack with your current forces. The bandits are shattered, and you aren't going to leave one of your settlements in their hands for another day.
[ ] Spend a day getting reinforcements from your keep, then attack. It’s best to do this right, so you can minimize casualties and catch as many of the enemy as possible.
[ ] Write In

Once that’s over with, do you:
[ ] Finish walking the borders with what’s left of your original party.
[ ] Bring some extra archers along to make sure you can handle any further problems.
[ ] Call off the border walk until you get your internal problems under control.
[ ] Write In

 

[X] Spend a day getting reinforcements
[X] Including Dita

[X] Determine if either Ezti or Chesna wish to stop walking the borders
[X] Bring extra archers

 

[X] Spend a day getting reinforcements
[X] Including Dita

[X] Determine if either Ezti or Chesna wish to stop walking the borders
[X] Bring extra archers

 

[ ] Spend a day getting reinforcements from your keep, then attack. It’s best to do this right, so you can minimize casualties and catch as many of the enemy as possible.
[ ] Make sure you get some rangers to track people who escape

We don't want to go haring off into the unknown right now. Spend a day healing up and getting reinforcements and then we can claim it and get info from any other people from the hamlet.
Not sure why we'd be bringing Dita exactly, despite her skill she isn't a trained soldier. Am I missing something?

Once that’s over with, do you:
[ ] Finish walking the borders with what’s left of your original party.

We came here to do a Job, and we are going to finish it. We don't have time to do this later, especially with the next few months pretty much already planned for (including Chesna stuff that can't be brushed off without consequences)

 

Spending a day getting reinforcements would be ok but we should also set up camp near one of the places where people leaving the hamlet are likely to travel and ambush anyone leaving. We don't need the remaining bandits splitting into small groups and continuing their activities. We should also destroy the boats if they are nearby so they can't leave using them.

Not continuing walking the border would be a huge waste of time. We should only stop if we can't convince one of the others to continue.

[X] Spend a day getting reinforcements
-[X] Damage the boats enough to prevent their use if they are nearby.
--[X] While waiting set up camp near a route anyone leaving the hamlet is likely to take and ambush anyone leaving.

[X] Finish walking the borders with what’s left of your original party.

 

Burying is normal. Immolation is sometimes used instead of mass graves during wartime or plagues, but under any other circumstance it would imply a certain lack of respect for the dead. The normal expedient in this case would be to lay out the bodies and come back to collect them ASAP.

It was a one-handed spear (about 5' long), so not as crazy as it might sound. But yes, that was the sort of oddball combo untrained people will sometimes come up with. He was actually pretty skilled (Body 3, Skill 2), but in a one-on-one fight you'd have spent a minute or two getting a feel for his odd fighting style and then beaten him handily.

Actually it seems to have run off at some point, or at least you don't find a body.

Beastmen vary at least as much as humans, but they have a tendency towards high attributes and low skill. This one was probably Body 3, Skill 1 with some enhanced senses and other minor animal abilities, which is pretty typical. You were able to deal with it easily because you had higher skill, you surprised it with two different magical abilities in quick succession, and setting it on fire caused it to panic.

Now, every once in awhile you'll hear about a band of beastmen that actually train their combat skills seriously. That can make them extremely dangerous, since Body 3-4 and Skill 2-3 results in big numbers. But such groups are rare, usually forming around an extraordinary leader and falling apart when he dies.

 

Asking if Chesna or Etzi wants to stop is a poor idea. Of COURSE Chesna is going to want to stop, people just died, she's scared.
However we have to finish this boarder walk, and if we let Chesna go back it's unlikely she'll want to come out again for months, maybe even ever.

Gotta do it now.

 

[X] Spend a day getting reinforcements from your keep, then attack. It’s best to do this right, so you can minimize casualties and catch as many of the enemy as possible.

[X] Bring some extra archers along to make sure you can handle any further problems.

 

[X] Spend a day getting reinforcements from your keep, then attack. It’s best to do this right, so you can minimize casualties and catch as many of the enemy as possible.
[X] Finish walking the borders with what’s left of your original party.
[X] Bring some extra archers along to make sure you can handle any further problems.

 

Pretty much what Falconis said- walking this border is important, and letting Chesna run away right now won't even be good for her in the long run. This is a medieval world and she is going to get into dangerous situations anyway. Sheltering and hiding her away will just make it easier for her to be taken advantaged of.

We just need to make sure to have enough men and to act in such a way that she isn't in actual physical danger. And also to help her mind as much as possible.

 

[X] Spend a day getting reinforcements from your keep, then attack. It’s best to do this right, so you can minimize casualties and catch as many of the enemy as possible.
[X] Bring some extra archers along to make sure you can handle any further problems.

We could likely handle the remainder with our current troops but not worth the risk I'd say.

Did the survivors not know anything about why the beastman was here then?

 

[X] Spend a day getting reinforcements
[X] Including Dita

[X] Determine if either Ezti or Chesna wish to stop walking the borders
[X] Bring extra archers

 

Are Beastmen tainted? Is using flesh magic to kill them a bad idea?

 

Dita is already doing stuff, we can take some archers because they're just garrisoning the keep and leaving that undermanned probably isn't a huge deal, but if we pull others off to assist their projects will suffer for it I imagine.

 

Yeah, pulling Dita might mean she won't have her training sessions unless it counts as a minor action.

OTOH, well, her going on a small adventure is good for her growth. Likewise, she will be pleased to see Ezti and Chesna, and might actually help with Chesna.

So i don't really mind either choices.

 

[X] Spend a day getting reinforcements
[X] Including Dita

[X] Determine if either Ezti or Chesna wish to stop walking the borders
[X] Bring extra archers

 

April Events Pt 7

[X] Get reinforcements from your keep, then attack. It’s best to do this right, so you can minimize casualties and catch as many of the enemy as possible.
[X] Bring some extra archers along to make sure you can handle any further problems.


You send to Corzu Keep for reinforcements, which arrive well after dark. Dita shows up well before that, apparently unable to stand missing out on an adventure. Her appearance quite distracts Chesna from dwelling on the aftermath of the battle, although she gives Dita a bit of a scolding for misleading her. The three friends end up having a bit of a reunion that night, but you miss out on most of that due to the need to organize things and then rest up for tomorrow.

The next day you return to the scene of the battle with Jarislaw, the rangers and a dozen archers to round out your force. It only takes an hour or so to locate the hamlet, a sorry little cluster of huts surrounded by a few small fields cleared from the surrounding woods. Two of the buildings have recently burned down, and no one is working the fields.

You find that the bandits have all fled after looting the settlement, taking with them all the food and portable wealth. They left behind a dozen women and a gaggle of children, but no adult males. The surviving residents have a harrowing tale to tell - the bandit gang found their tiny settlement last summer and, noticing the lack of patrols in the area, decided to just move in and take over. They killed several of the men while forcing the older boys to join their gang, raped all the younger women, and used the peasants as slaves for the whole length of their stay.

After a bit more questioning you discover that while the locals don’t know where the bandits went, they do know there were around 20 survivors who left in three different groups. One was probably headed to join up with a gang they’d heard of in Pischia, while the other two could be headed anywhere. Jarislaw notes that while some of them left by boat at least one party set out on foot - but it looks likely to rain later today, and even if you can track them they’ll be well over the border into someone else’s fief before you could catch up.

Meanwhile, Ezti draws some of the survivors into conversation and discovers why they were here in the first place. Apparently they fled Pischia when there was a bad harvest a few years back, knowing they couldn’t pay their taxes but Nikolai would never accept an excuse. They’ve been hiding out here ever since, trying to get by on their own and hoping no one would find them.

Needless to say Chesna is shocked and appalled it discover that the poor abused villagers she was feeling sorry for are tax evaders, and from her own lands no less. Now she doesn’t know what to think - on the one hand, they’re abused women and children, but on the other hand they’re criminal scum who need to be hung immediately. Dita is appalled that Chesna would even think this is an issue given the circumstances, while Ezti puts on a pretty good poker face and quietly watches to see how you handle this.

This… is a problem. Tax evasion is one of the worst crimes a commoner can commit, and always warrants the death penalty. Hanging is actually merciful - a lot of nobles torture tax evaders in various creative ways before killing them. But normally it’s the men who get hung for such things, because it’s trivial for the women to claim they didn’t know what their men were doing and no one is especially interested in punishing them. Sadly this is one of the few cases where they can’t plausibly plead ignorance. But… you’re not entirely sure your men would obey an order to hang these poor women after all they’ve been through, and if you do the children are all going to die.

You:
[ ] Put up a gallows, and hang the villagers. The law is the law, and you can find someone who’ll do the dirty work.
[ ] Officially hand them over to Chesna. The crime was committed against her, so she should take them back to Castle Pisch to face justice.
[ ] Give Chesna a good excuse to defer dealing with them for a few hours so you can let them escape - there’s no need to punish them further.
[ ] Officially declare that you aren’t going to prosecute them, and move on.
[ ] Write In

With that dealt with, you:
[ ] Pursue the fleeing bandits no matter where they go. They won’t get away with this!
[ ] Pursue the bandits… unless they head for Rogatica. No sense risking Ezti or starting a war.
[ ] Go back to riding the borders.
[ ] Spend a day helping the villagers and deciding what to do with them, then go back to riding the borders.
[ ] Write In

 

I wonder if they fled after the taxes underwent a sudden jump as well as a bad harvest.

 

[X] Give Chesna a good excuse to defer dealing with them for a few hours so you can let them escape - there’s no need to punish them further.
-[X] Tell her that we never saw any villagers. If anything those people that escaped got themselves killed some time ago.
[X] Spend a day helping the villagers and deciding what to do with them, then go back to riding the borders.
-[X] Give them shelter in your country and have them work off their debts.

 

This is honestly taking too long, I've come around to the opinion we probably should've just pursued earlier, but ah well I didn't vote for it either. Might as well send then off with Chesna to die in Pischia, or we could kill them ourselves, not picky either way, though if we kill them here Dita will probably be a bit huffy about it.

[X] Put up a gallows, and hang the villagers. The law is the law, and you can find someone who’ll do the dirty work. If it does turn out no one else has the stomach for it then kill them yourself.
[X] Pursue the fleeing bandits no matter where they go. They won’t get away with this!

The area is pretty big, sparsely populated, and the bandits are unlikely to head anywhere they might run into authorities so I'd say we're likely safe pursuing regardless of the direction, while I honestly have half a mind to just finish of the border walk and forgot about them that would probably reflect rather badly on us.

 

[X] Falconis' plan, below me.

 

Pour on the Charm, convince Chesna to keep them alive, and we get a win. We get another goose laying eggs (though we lose the first crop) and people that will be /very/ grateful for our intervention, both since they won't die immediately, and because they will be watched over by our people, thus keeping them safe from bandits and keeping them from slacking off.

The extra gold we promise her should get her to at least see it our way for now, whether or not we actually deliver on it can be decided later. Should score some points with the troops and Etzi too

You:
[ ] Take them as your own. Killing them would be a waste, especially after what they just put us through. Propose to Chesna that you keep them here, and have them work the land. When taxes are collected next season, promise to send their share plus a bonus for her trouble to square away their wrong.




Not sure if the day is actually neccesary, but if we go with my plan then we can use that time to get the peasants settled into the new agreement, let them know what's what and decide if we need to move them to another place if we can't spare the men to send here.

Especially since no men remain here, it would be good to just shove them into another settlement and bolster it up. We get points with them too (and our other peasants) by seeming to be a caring Lord.

Then we go back to the boarder.


The thieves are not worth chasing at this point, from what our EXPERIENCED RANGER has said we probably wouldn't catch them. I'm curious as to why they had a beastman, but we can learn that from the villagers with any luck. Plus, they aren't worth straying off the boarder for and potentially ruining our current treck.
Let them run, and if they return they shall be cut to pieces.

We have much, MUCH bigger fish to fry.

With that dealt with, you:
[ ] Spend a day helping the villagers and deciding what to do with them, then go back to riding the borders.


minor edit for formatting purposes, hope that helps

 

We might not be able to catch them but we should have our rangers follow them long enough to find out that they did not decide to stay in our fief and so that we can tell Etzi if they went to her barony.

Ezti quietly watches us to see how we handle this. She is likely guided by her religion in this case. Are there any common interpretations of our religion that would consider something else than the death penalty appropriate?

 

As long as the constants which make up the universe I'm playing are sufficiently similiar & I'm not playing an intentionally alien or murderhbobo character I feel prompted to apply my own sense of morality. I'm not going to allow people to be killed for failing to pay taxes, especially after the inability of their local government to accommodate them led them into exile. That they've already been brutalized & that they have almost no source of social support themselves(legal status of women, general incapacity of children) only adds to my point.

[X] Plan Falconis