December 5th
2004 A.D.
Three Corners Fort
Southwest Megalos

This day had been a long time in coming.  Though he could see the parapets of the fort rising up in the distance, Giles guessed that he still had another hour of riding ahead of him.  Underneath him, the thick shouldered Warmblood (Giles had been told his name was Firebrand for his warm roan coloring) plodded on at an easy pace just keeping abreast of the lead cart of the supply caravan that was leading the way along the barely discernable path to the outlying unit.  The long march along side the caravan had given him plenty of time for thought.

It had been perhaps eight months ago that the last straw at the Templar College had been pulled away.  It was perhaps not a surprise in coming for Giles had seemed a marked man ever since the incident with the imp had happened.  He was blamed for nearly every mishap, punished at times for things he had not even been present for.  In truth, it had left a rather bitter aftertaste towards the Templars now that Giles thought back.  The last incident however was probably something that Giles could have predicted if he had thought about it logically as opposed to academically.  He had been discovered deep in study of a book of unsavory topics and the brother who had caught him was not one to tolerate even slight flaws of character.  Whether it was the mountain of small infractions or the last one specifically that had been the issue, Giles was never to know for his adjudication was carried out entirely by paperwork.  He was gone from the college within the week, shipped off to the capital of Megalos to be entered into the legions.  Here, surely, Giles had found true speed of bureaucracy.  Shuttled from person to person always showing the same certificate of inscription he received upon his expulsion, Giles felt sure that he could have deserted his charge and no one been the wiser if he had wished.  Still, Giles had suspected that the legions held possibilities that had never really been available to him in the Templars.

After a matter of months, Giles had finally managed to be assigned, had been given his writ of equipment for the quartermaster in Raphael and a handful of credits of travel to use on his way there not to mention of his insignia to be worn about the collar of his uniforms... when he got them.  Though it was certainly not he was deserving of, Giles did not fuss, deciding rather to write a letter off to his father to see what strings could be pulled in court for a commission.  From there he passed his first writ on a merchant vessel bound for the Keyhole bay.  It had been five weeks with stops at Dekamera, Sho'joor, Min, Serrun, and Yibyorak before finally making port at Hyrnan.

Giles second writ was used here to procure a steed, a dapple Appaloosa mare so that he could travel on with a trade caravan bound for Raphael.  Perhaps it would have been faster to take another vessel to Bannock and from there up the river Conn but Giles had been warned about stepping foot on Wazifi soil especially as a new army recruit... though there was no open war the locals there were not always entirely welcoming and foreigners could easily be made targets.  So the going was slow, a distance of over 300 miles taken perhaps twenty at a time before he had made his last stop along the way before he reached his new, permanent station.  He had turned in his writ to the quartermaster in exchange for his gear, traded his mare in for the fresh philly Warmblood and made ready for the last hundred and fifty miles of his trip.  Loathe to do the trip alone and so close to the borders, Giles hired on to the caravan bound for the fort that departed each month bringing grains, cloth, supplies, and medicine, for the fort had none of its own farming to sustain itself.  Finally, step by step, his trip was at last coming to an end in the rolling plains of the southwest.  Only a few miles farther south would be the river Makarem, the border between the southern stretches of Megalos and Al-Wazif, traveling farther west for much the same and Giles would be in Caithness.

Still, though it was late in the year and nearly the heart of winter, the temperatures were not unbearable.  The dry cool of the west was not nearly as inhumane as the wet and waspish winters of Azer.  His saddle horse was strong enough not to complain under his own weight and that of his extra bags and his sores from riding, though they had started out traumatic, had long since faded into the blur of his every day.

So as the gates of the fort grow on the horizon, Giles cannot help but mull over the past several months and wonder what the future months will bring...

OOC:  Sorry for the Delay Giles but welcome finally to your thread!  I have more to do in the way of introduction but I have run out of time for tonight to keep writing.  Feel free to write up your own post if desired but I'll probably carry on when I get the chance regardless.  What I do need from you is a reaction roll from your 'recruiter'.  Add a +2 for your charisma and attractive.  A poor or worse reaction will result in a rank of private, and neutral will mean he accounted for your 'time in service' with the Templars and will put you at corporal, and a good or better reaction will mean he accounted for your status as well and made you a sergeant.  Feel free to post your results here in OOC or in a private to me.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:11, Sun 26 May 2019.

It seems barely moments longer before the caravan pulled even with the gates, the thick, wooden draw was opened and Giles had his first glimpses of his new home.  The fort itself, though not overly large, looked like it had been built to withstand war.  Square in shape, it opened its gate to the East, or towards the rest of the country, although there were watch towers on each corner that were manned to look in all directions.  The outer walls were two feet thick of stone and twenty feet high at the shortest, growing another ten or more at the towers.  Inside was a ten foot wide open passageway that encircled the fort with openings at the corners that led in tight winding stairs to the top of the battlements.  The inner gates were part of the fort itself, blocked at two ends of a ten foot tunnel with portcullises that could only be opened and closed from the watch stations above.  Just inside there was a large courtyard boasting the few homely effects of the structure built and housed for war.  There was a humble garden with an apple and buckeye tree and on the other side a small sand pit.  Giles would learn that the south wing of the fort would house the barracks and staterooms, the north wing the stables, armory and quartermaster supply, while the west wing, by far the largest, included the mess hall, recreational areas, ready rooms and the few small offices for the company level officers.

Met in the courtyard by a score of other soldiers, most of them begin unloading the supply caravan.  However, one of the corporals sees to Giles, helping him with one of his bags from Firebrand before the horse was led off to the stables to be brushed and rested.  Giles was given only a moment to throw his gear on the bed he was shown, a neat little cot that seemed barely big enough for his body before he was lead off to check in with the first sergeant and captain.

And so, perhaps only fifteen minutes after stepping foot in the fort, Giles finds himself face to face with his new company officer, Captain Brashear.  He is a grizzled man of perhaps forty with peppered gray hairs just starting to leaking into the black, his skin rough with a two day growth of stubble and has a gruesome scar across his cheek and another thin one across his chin.  Though Giles saw no hint of enemies on his way, the man wears a tightly woven mail shirt over cloth padding rather than the uniform that Giles had seen on most of the other men.  At the introduction Brashear smiles, leading Giles into a small office, offering a chair and taking the one beside him rather than behind his small desk.

"Heard we had a new check in."  He starts, his voice easygoing and warm.  "And we can use you, think at this point we are almost a whole platoon down in manning.  What's your story soldier?"

OOC:  Roll 3d6 reaction for Captain Brashear as well as the one for your recruiter.  Remember for a reaction roll you want it to be high rather than low.  Here you get a +1 for your charisma and +1 for your attractive, as well as a potential bonus based on rank.

The past months had not gone the way Giles had hoped. Now he sat astride his new horse patting it lightly on the shoulder; it was a beautiful creature and he was happy to have received it. But it was a small victory that his father had enacted in lieu of everything that had happened over the past year.

Giles J’naeth Hind, soldier of the Megalan legion” he said to himself into the cool winter air. It was a mantra he had oft repeated of late to familiarise himself with his new position. It helped to bring reality to an otherwise dreamy series of unfortunate events. As the man repeated the words, his mind focussed on being present to the moment. With the thought exercise he felt the bite of the air and the warm ripple of Firebrand’s muscle work at counter point. A sword bounced on his hip and the weight of his garments had only just started to lose the alien feeling. He experienced the sensations with objective distance trying to disembody his self from the situation and re-evaluate the paradigm of his life.

A wash of giddy excitement hit Giles as the thought of skirmishing raids from his childhood came to the forefront of his mind. This was better than being a wizard, it must be.

Giles J’naeth Hind… General and hero of Megalan Legions he repeated with the added touch of ambition. He wanted to do well and make his family proud, his mother most of all.


A slew of thoughts passed his mind and disguised the closing of the main fort’s gate and it was with a touch of surprise that the door opened and welcomed him to his new life. He passed the gate and grinned to himself at the wonderful metaphor of passing the gate.

I’m here he said to himself and signed in preparedness.

Everything that happened next seemed to be a relative flurry but the one thing that prickled the new-arrival was how small he looked relative to the other soldiers. He held height over many of the others, a gift from his father’s blood, but had not thickened out in the way that most pure-men had done by his age. After a moment pondering whether he had made the right choice in staying with the legion Giles put the thoughts to the back of his mind and prepared to meet his new Captain.

The man had a grizzled look, more than that of any man he’d seen before and the crossing scars on the face of Captain Brashear sent a flash of red-hell through his mind, vicariously reliving a situation that could have caused such a wound. Giles winced a the thought but didn’t show it.

Captain Brashear

Thank you for the warm welcome, I am happy to be here.



He said standing straight and upright infront of the man, despite the easy demeanour. And began to tell the tale of his arrival. He thought it best to be frank and honest about the situation as the captain may already be aware of the man’s history. Despite this, however, he was sure to never mention anything that could be considered weakness – no complaints of unfairness, or poor treatment were made and Giles took the responsibility to the mistake he’d made in his curiosity regarding magic that was beyond his curriculum.

… after leaving the study of magic I thought that the best opportunity for me to do well in my life, make my family proud and achieve something was done in the legion.
he said in conclusion.





13:14, Today: Giles 'J'naeth' Hind rolled 11 using 3d6.  giles reaction.
// Including charisma and attractiveness that is 13
// if status matters at all that’d be an additional +2


// Also in addition to reaction maybe the additional questions might work towards some social skill to improve the captain's opinion of Giles - my guess is that this would be best represented by diplomacy
13:20, Today: Giles 'J'naeth' Hind rolled 9 using 3d6.  diplomacy.




Thinking to take initiative and appease his own curious nature Giles asked Sir, down a platoon? Is this a result of our proximity to the Wazifi border? Are there many skirmishes or sorties?
This message was last edited by the player at 13:20, Sun 22 Jan 2017.

It is not a short tale that Giles relays, for in truth, he has to start even before his admission into the mage's academy, however the Captain is patient, asking only a few questions during the tale as to Giles's family or interests and the tale passes with relative ease.  The captain only quirks his mouth towards a frown during a single moment, when Giles is talking of his transition from the Templar college to the army but the moment passes quickly.  When Giles wraps up his tale, Brashear smiles warmly and does not let the silence last for long.

"Well sergeant, I'll be frank.  We can use a mage regardless of your talents or interest out here.  Follow your orders and be true to the unit and mission and I don't forsee any problems.  I will say that I'm not sure your recruiter has done you any favors.  Most men make their way here as privates and only make their way to sergeant after putting in a few years of hard work and proven performance.  If the men get the impression you've never done anything but a year of college with the Templars and come out ahead of everyone it may be a little rough getting their trust...  We don't really have a position to spare in the platoons for a sergeant who hasn't been tested so you'll have to be on company staff until you've been tested, but not to worry, if you keep a level head and prove yourself to the men it won't take long to gain their trust."

Brashear leans back in his chair, stretching his legs and shoulders, restless after only a short sit.  "Well, I suppose that's that then.  We'll put you on assignment for the company, I think we have a spot open in logistics... I'll make sure you do watch with the platoons at interval to get to know the routine and some of our men.  You'll know your way around in no time and we'll set you to one of the platoons when we have a chance.  The command isn't that big and you should know most everyone after a few weeks.  I have small staff to run the everyday issues of the command, a lieutenant, first sergeant and a handful of others.  Below me are three platoons, each with their own officer and sergeant with about twenty or so men, though like I said we are short and are at more about sixteen or so.  Each of the platoon generally have three squads to divvy up the watches.  We have a patrol each day out to the border, the other two squads do twelve on twelve off sharing the watches of the fort, gates, battlements and whatnot.  Makes it so you do watch about every three days, patrols about every nine.  I do my best to get my staff involved when they can - everyone is here to be a soldier and protect against the next invasion, though somehow the thing that seems to matter most is the damn paper reports on supplies, pay, and spending.  Speaking of which make sure you stop by the quartermaster.  He'll have issued gear for you for patrol and watch.  Sword steel is in short supply and is only issued to the officers, but most everything else should be available."

When Giles asks his question about the platoon, Brashear laughs just slightly, "No, our shortage is mostly a shortfall in manning, though there will be dangers here.  Bushwolves have been known to pick out the single travelers on occasion and a wyvern or two has been spotted arcing around the skies to the south.  I don't doubt that there are a great many more beasts nearer the great forest and I would encourage you not to venture there.  The Wasifi army will probably be the least of your worries, though there can be a clan or two at times that decide to take matters into their own hands.  I wouldn't put it past fate for you to have a skirmish or two with the zealots during your time here.  The biggest thing is not to blow anything too far out of proportion...  No one here wants another border war, if for no other reason than our closest garrison is over a weeks march away."

Brashear smiles, trying to make light of the gruesome subject.  "Any other questions Giles before I release you to your duties?"

OOC:  The military structure here is as described above.  Each squad is led around by a sergeant or senior corporal and consists of around five people.  They each report to their platoon lieutenant who has something around 15-20 people under him.  Each lieutenant reports to Captain Brashear, the over all company officer.  The company armory has enough equipment to allow you a well-fitting (or close enough to well-fitting) suit of armor of your preference.  The armory carries cloth/leather/studded leather/and chainmail equipment.  Feel free to use anything from the basic books and let me know if you want to try out anything that branches out to a more specific genre.  You can also pick out a weapon of your choice - swords are reserved for officers but any just about any other TL3 missile or melee weapon is fair game.  The most common choices are by far spear, axe, or bow and arrows.  You can also pick out a shield if you desire to do so.  Keep in mind that you do not own any of this equipment.  Likewise your horse was procured through what amounts to an IOU from the army.  Essentially, the army owns your horse, but has leased it to you.  Of course, you could probably take it with you if you decided to leave, but it would only add horse theft to the crime of desertion.  At some point you will get paid in actual money, though in this posting there isn't a whole lot you can do with it other than save it up for liberty.  Feel free to ask any questions you wish of the captain or otherwise let me know when you are ready to progress.

Giles inwardly frowned at the suppressed laugh, it was a common thing to be taunted in the academy but this man had enough of a conscience to at least surpress what he supposed was a reasonable question given his new arrival.

The moment passed when he heard the rank of sergeant mentioned. It was a blessing that he already had enough regard to be given responsibility but the captain was correct - it would wrinkle a number of people and Giles was sure that he would have to prove himself both up the rank-chain and down it. A flash of doubt added a knot of worry to his stomach when Hind recalled every sergeant he'd ever seen previously. They all had presence and an intimidating aura that commanded respect, something that in all cases had been forged in fire. They had, in all cases that he knew, risen from the masses of people through apparent and obvious qualities that befitted the role. Giles suspected that he had few.

"Captain Brashear, I have no questions that would not be answered through familiarising myself with the place, the duty and the culture of the men here. he replied. The man inwardly was impressed with the demeanour of the captain he seemed well-practised both in command and soldiering - even if it was obvious from the battle scars. Though the cynicism of a rough life had obviously not taken its toll like Giles had seen on others.

He resolved in the moment to be an asset and an ally to the captain.

After a moment silence, purposefully thinking through anything that might have missed him a spark came to mind and he asked
"Will it be possible for me to write correspondence? How often is it collected?




I appreciate that my posts are a little bit light on content atm, but just finding my footing and getting things going.

As for armour/etc. (I guess we'll roleplay this bit anyway) Giles will take plenty of the heavier stuff.

- Shield
- Spear
- Axe
- Chain  (maybe with studded leather legs

- he realises that he still holds onto a youthful boyish appearance and hasn't quite 'filled out as a man' and will do himself no favours by dressing in 'flimsly light leather' because he can't carry anything heavier.