The Grey Death, here? Right after I suggest we get rid of the prophet. And then a civil war? thought Anakyrto. Seems like the work of a madman. One who has been given too much importance. But the war must be dealt with first. If the prophet still lives after...
Head back to the docks, and attempt to find out what the majority of the people who own boats capable of travel (non-rowboats) think about the matter of the prince and the regent.
Despite Stormstead's position as hub of trade and commerce in Windheath, the merchant class was discouraged during the Iron Queen's reign from gaining power or influence; ships at the quay tend to be smaller and unsuitable for war. That said, there are two ships that could carry a regiment of troops each if they needed to; the
Marie-Rose and the
Peregrine.
The
Marie-Rose is owned by [2] a company of small traders and merchants who own it collectively; they have a small office at the docks. The
Peregrine is owned by [1] a rich old Haegar sea-dog with a suspected past (and present) in piracy. You could try approaching the owners individually if you wished.
[3, 2] The merchants are not terribly opinionated on the matter; the general consensus is that the Treasurer probably did try and assassinate the king, but that the Prince isn't much better. Dockyard gossip is notoriously unreliable, but you get the feeling that they are slightly more in favour of the Prince but don't care enough to do much.
Don't raise levies then, instead march with the remaining army to Stormstead.
Occupy the barracks of the royal army.
You march north and occupy the barracks, lending your support to Edgard's cause.
Move my forces to The Red Spear, and forge a camp in its foothills.
Sent out scouts to the nearby roads and bridges and keep a rotation going in search of caravans/supplies heading for the Regent and his allied nobles.
If those are found seize them for the cause, but leave the peasant goods.
Gather what support I can from farms or small villages near The Red Spear
Send men disguised to spread rumors of a great army for Prince Richard being forged in the Ironwood.
You and your men slip away from your ambush points near the bridge and head for the hills. [3] Your men have little success finding caravans or supplies heading south to Stormstead, as the majority of forces in the North have allied themselves with Richard. They do come across one shipment of supplies heading south from Osport, [4] lightly guarded. [4+1 vs 3] Your men ambush and acquire the supplies, [6] which turn out to be a major cache of armour and weaponry. Your troops jump at the chance to acquire them, doing their best to train with the newfound weapons in the short time they have. [Your levy regiment improves to a Heavy Ambush Tactician regiment. It will still disband at the end of the crisis.] [4] A single member of the caravan escapes into the hills.
The downside strikes you a few days later when you examine the crest on one very newly forged breastplate; that of House Stoneson. It would appear that the arms were being sent as a goodwill gift to Stormstead. You wonder what the political implications of this might be.
[4] The peasants in the area are mostly shepherds or prospectors. They gladly support and house your troops, but you find no more converts here.
[?, ?] You send your men out into local towns and villages to spread rumours, and you think you have some success.
Supply trains are unable to travel through the Red Spear foothills until local suppression has been lifted. Armies will need to keep a bridge secure to move north from Southstead.
Rumour in Stormstead: Prince Richard is raising levies at War's End, in the Ironwood.
Rumour in Stormstead: Bandits allied to Prince Richard are intercepting caravans near the Red Spear.
Rumour in Stormstead: A wedding present from Duc Stoneson was intercepted by bandits near the Red Spear.Richard sends scouts in Arborvent to check what regiments are guarding the city (not an actual regiment, sadly, so no bonus)
[2 vs ?] The city is surrounded by a low stone wall with multiple gatehouses and small turrets for archers to fire from if need be. Whatever troops are in Arborvent must be in the barracks within the city, but travel into and out of the city is obviously restricted by guards at this time.
In any case, troops raised on behalf of Edgard have largely gone to Stormstead; you would be surprised if he diluted his forces by leaving many here.
Train charisma with a courtier for the previous season.
Train charisma with a courtier for the current season.
Raise a PG for the previous season.
Raise an infantry regiment for the previous season (-1d)
[23164, 63245 = 0] You are a little too used to getting what you want through intimidation and blackmail; the finer points of diplomacy downright evade you. [6] Not long after the king takes ill you receive word from Duc de Parnoth that he understands you have been learning statecraft. His own chancellor is a particularly skilled diplomat, and Parnoth is very willing to allow the man to come and assist your education in exchange for a favour; a new offensive is likely to begin on Donnerstein in the coming months and he needs a safe harbour for his troops in preparation for an attack by ship. If you are willing to accept the strain of several regiments and even some warships in Lorvese, he can arrange for his chancellor to become resident until your education has improved.
You raise regiments as needed and bring them with you to Stormstead.
[1+1] You send out spies to keep track of current troop movements, but you learn quickly when they go dark that they are too used to working in urban environments rather than the country.
[3+1] Intercepting messages is a little more successful and you gain a fairly clear understanding of current events; rather than just killing messengers, you have spies break into the secretary offices of magnates and read the letters when they have already arrived. This is not foolproof; some letters are burned on reading. You do determine the stance of two wildcards, though; the barons of Dechire appear to be supporting Prince Richard, while Duc Stoneson has reacted very negatively to the interception of his gift.
[5+1 vs 4] Your spies come into their own in cities, and you soon have a fairly complete report on troop disposition in Stormstead and Altaregia. [Details will follow as soon as the GM himself has this information.]
Acting on behalf of Edgard, Rakon's espionage and counter-espionage skills are added to intelligence checks regarding the war."Very well then. i will ask Bravos to make an expcetion for you and let you in. I hope they do, since its all in our interest that ou find something that can explain this mess."
Request that Bravos allow Jitpau Itavny access to king's bedchamber and quarters to investigate. They have right to escort him and search him for anything they might deem suspicious.
[6+2] The Bravos are all too willing to let Jitpau into their custody and as soon as they have him alone he finds himself carried to a dark room and interrogated harshly by their captain. [6+1] Jitpau answers with naught but truth, and the captain is forced to let him go, but she seems to have deep suspicions about the prophet and assigns two Bravos to tail him at all times.
Nevertheless, Jitpau is given full access to the king to do whatever he needs, under copious guard.
Jitpau goes forth and investigates. Does the king have the Grey Death? If so, how did he get it? If not, what has happened to him?
[3+1] You are quite certain that the king does indeed have the Grey Death, though the length of his sickness troubles you. It may well be that the gods have seen fit to lengthen his trial, though the reasons for this are unclear to you. [6+1] The Grey Death, as you said before, travels up through the ground. You spend a good few minutes checking the floor beneath the bed in case of a very literal interpretation, but discover nothing of use. This leaves sorcery as your main possibility; if the king did not cross the tainted ground, then the ground must have been brought to him.
Keep investigating in order to finally present a conclusive, complete report to the King, trying to tie the loose ends normally only the King would be able to and backing up the report with more substantial proof. Attempt to investigate like a shadow, with Sahainn following some distance away and hiding whenever possible.
[4]You tail Mary back to a small house near the inn you watched before and wait until nightfall when you think she is asleep. [1] Attempting to gain access works rather less smoothly than planned and you end up very loudly breaking the latch on her window, [1] and she catches you red-handed as you try to run away. [1] You run straight back to the castle, and into the hands of Barran, who is waiting for you.
[4] Mary arrives a few moments later, panting for breath, and Sahainn paces around you, growling at the Bravo captain. He makes no move to apprehend you, and just speaks in a calm, rather sad voice.
"Please, saer, let this rest. We have all suffered enough, just walk away and let it end."
[6] You say nothing, keeping your eyes fixed on Barran. You are only aware of Mary's movement when Sahainn barks sharply and the knife is pressed against your throat. Sahainn readies herself to pounce, but hesitates, waiting for your signal. She does not seem sure if she can get to Mary before Mary slits your throat.
"This has gone too far, Barran!" shouts Mary. "Too many secrets, too many lies, too much guilt and too much dishonour! Give her back to me, or he dies!" Barran raises his empty hands and speaks to her, still looking at you.
"I can't. I cannot trust that your brothers will not use her against me. Give me the letter, Mary. If we were never married, they cannot use that against us, cannot use her against either of us. She will be provided for, Mary. She will get the best I can give her. But you have to give me that letter."
You are trapped at knife-point between two unreasonable people. How do you proceed?
Duc Stoneson arrives at Harald's Bridge, with an army of three standard infantry regiments at his heel. He acknowledges Duc Rakon when he arrives.
The Fool journeys to Altaregia amongst refugees and fortune-seekers looking to join the army, trying to pass himself off as any other peasant.
Provided he gets through, he immediately begins sifting the crowd for information on the local disposition toward Richard and Edgard, who his allies are and what factions if any are undecided. He also searches for general information of potential tactical importance - even something as obvious as a secret route into the city.
The Fool works on planting a rumour questioning Richard's motivations; if he was merely intent on ensuring his brother's will was not abused, why raise an army? What will happen if he decides that, to weaken his enemy, he might attack the innocents of Arborvent instead?
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Topic: You are King III: Spring 938 AAL (Read 123989 times)