A new thread before the other gets completely out of control and starts sending me annoying messages.

-----
A recap of the Melee.

So that is how Melee and Battles work.  As noted, pre-melee strategy does not really impact the outcome of the melee, it just determines where you are on the field and generally what each side is doing.  If you had decided to line up on the Salisbury left instead of the right, you would have faced 2:1 odds from the start.  Commander battle rolls at the start (both successful) determine if you get any modifiers.  In a real battle, pre-battle plans could affect terrain, surprise, type and number of engaged troops, etc.

Each turn I roll battle results for each side to determine how well the NPCs are doing, which impacts position on field and losses.  Losses usually start slowly as everyone is at full health and accelerate as the battle progresses and wounded fight wounded.  I roll for all PCs and their opponents, and then based on their actions and all of the rolls, troops move (for instance bringing up reinforcements).

Sir Sejanus's gambit worked far differently than he was expecting for a variety of reasons about which he was unaware.  If he had tried the same thing a turn or so earlier, it would have worked/failed entirely differently.  That said, luck favors the bold.

Heh, these things happen.

Thanks for the clarification!

Looking at the map is the Naddar fordable at Chicksgrove?

Nope, just at Wilton.

Sir Dalan and Sir Gracian can determine if Lady Ellowyn and Lady Ariette are in Salisbury or the Banneretcies looking after building projects while you are off fighting the Saxons Irish.

Anyone sensibly fleeing their manor should determine what if anything they are bringing with them (cash, valuables, wives, girl friends, favorite oxen, etc.).
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:21, Sun 05 Nov 2017.

Okay... in that case Sir Dalan and his squire will have to stick to warning the manors on the north bank of the Naddar - Dinton, Baverstock and Barford.

Dandy.  Heading to Vagon is probably much more difficult than heading to Wilton due to terrain.  You can assume that rivers are reasonably flat, while there are hills to the North of Tisbury.

The fact that your friends live in two of those has nothing to do with your decision eh? ;)

To be fair, it is because Dalan lives there that you two do, I think.

Well I based my decision off of Gracian, who no doubt based his off of Dalan.  So yes, by extension, probably?

On the flip side, it makes it easier to rope us into the story.

Pretty sure the story is going to rope you in without any help.

Given that there's little doubt that this invasion could have happened without a certain Praetor standing aside for them, yes, I have no doubt.

I was told that they were a trade delegation.

I know but the Irish are so close do I even have time to go back to Tisbury?

You are on a horse.  They are still a bit distant from you, as the land is mostly cleared so you can see for a decent distance.

Oh I think Lady Ariette will be in Stonewall. Much prettier there this time of the year :)

I know I am not the most stable player these days and things are probably not likely to change for the moment, but I can see that only Sejanus, Garym and Dalan is mentioned. I suppose that means Gracian doesnt know anything until a messenger arrives at Dinton?

Correct.  The Irish arrive in Tisbury first, moving toward Dinton and Baverstock, etc.  So Sir Dalan is aware of them and his actions will likely affect what Sir Gracian and then Sir Perin see.

Feel free to think about or compose what you might do when Sir Dalan show up.  :)

Okay, I misunderstood. In that case Sir Dalan will make for home first and order an evacuation towards Wilton.

Feel free to edit your post and add whatever you want to tell Sir Gracian when your household flows through his lands.  :)

Panic and run around in circles?

Heh, edited. :)

That is what I always advise my son to do.  Be like me, "run around in circles with your arms in the air screaming Daddies First!"

In reply to Sir Dalan (msg # 20):

Perfect.  Sir Gracian can feel free to respond in thread.

Nice to know we raise our boys the same way :D

Sir Perin is free to respond to the messenger's news.

So,it seems that Sejanus's estate is further north then the others.But I assume the entire area is under threat of fire and sword.

Yes, Sir Sejanus's manor is well north of the others.  He has no idea that anything is going on to the south, he has onlyt been told that a manor to the west on a river crossing is under attack and likely to fall.

Well,silly me. I should have placed Sej more close to the others. AH well, no use crying over spilt milk,as they say.

Meh, what would be the fun in that?

Actually having folks from all over is a good thing.  Lets us get a clearer picture of it all, and allows us to take action in more places.

Or all die alone.  You know, whatever.

Well the three of us are at least going to die horribly together, so neener neener?

Sej is playing the role of Pizza Delivary Driver for the Irish. He being the Pizza,as it where. "Those of us about to die, Salu....flip you off."

Could we make a pass at the Irish and still have time to escape before their knights arrive?  Last thing we want to do is get bogged down and swamped by weight of numbers.

It seems that the knights have been charging at the front of the foot soldiers at an angle, forcing the front ranks to stop, and then veering off.  Since there are not as many knights as there used to be, this is still a dangerous maneuver.

Going straight at them and through with lance damage would end with you being each surrounded by three footmen who would probably do their best to kill your horse or knock you off of it.  This is because there is a column of ~10 across that goes back a long way.  There are more than 200 foot soldiers and three dozen knights.

You can probably make a charge in an attempt to get the foot soldiers to block the knights that are riding up.  The knights are the real problem as the foot soldiers all move at roughly the same pace.

So we ourselves should be looking to charge at an angle and 'clip' the Irish foot, rather than straight on?

Yeah, coming from a shallow angle along the front, aiming to just take a tithe from their first rank and immediately wheel about and retreat.  I'm hoping we wound more men than we kill outright actually.  Wounded men require treatment and their fellows to drag them away, slowing things down.

Did we manage to kill/wound Irish soldiers on our charge?  Or were we just aiming to cause panic and not actually hit with lances?

It is not worth the risk to try to engage.  Anyway, killing a few would be fairly insignificant.  :)

Nicely done,Sir Knights. :)

Not good, not good at all. The GM won't even describe what hapepned to Sajanus.I hope the Irish at least give him a wake. ;)

Thanks Sejanus!  However it's now time to continue to retreat with our tails tucked between our legs.

Teller, what's the approximate strength of our force once we count the reinforcements?  Obviously not enough to hold here, but I'm just curious.

You currently have 28 knights and 40 soldiers.  It is probably as many as you will get.  You can round up a dozen or two people who could throw things or shoot a bow.  None would be terribly effective.  The town is emptying as fast as people can leave it.

It is afternoon and although they are bringing up materials for a siege, or at least to batter down your defenses and crush you, they do not appear to be planning an imminent attack.  The bridges over the Naddar and Wylye Rivers are outside of the gates, you cross them to get to the city.

They can't combine armies without taking Wilton but the army to your west can go north and cross the Wylye River at Stoford and get between you and Sarum.

Grr, if you'd told us the bridge across the Naddar was outside the walls we'd have destroyed that first.

Bridges on solid line roads (Good Roads) are stone.  Bridges on other roads are wood.  Destroying a bridge is not a simple task, as you could tell from when the Irish set the one in Escavalon on fire.  Even wooden bridges do not just go up in flames.


The bridge across the Naddar is what you used to go to and from Ebble.  Destroying it would have doomed those defending Ebble.  Since the knights were in hot pursuit of you afterwards, there was no time to destroy it, something that would take a great deal of effort anyway.

So the Wylye River runs just outside the walls of Wilton as a sort of moat to the South and West of the City.  There is a stone bridge over the main river to the south prior to it forking, which is on the road to Ebble.  There is another bridge to the West after the Wylye splits.  That is a wooden bridge that goes along the road out to your manors.

So there is no way we can prevent the Irish crossing?

I will try to draw a map that shows everything (I think).

It is just going to take a while.

Teller, do we have any idea how many mounted men headed north?

OK, I drew a quickie map.  Game Map group 1.  You may need to reload to get rid of the old battle map.

Does this make things clear?

Thanks. :)

So the enemy have a hundred foot (in two units) across the bridge to the west, seperated from the bulk of the Irish army. Could we lead a sortie against them with just our horse, leaving our foot to man the walls of Wilton for the moment?

Could you?  Sure.

As with the army Sir Garym sees, they have men with pikes as well as archers.  And they are digging in.

Make sure you know what your goals are before doing anything and figure out what the enemy is going to do in response.

Neither group is very far from the walls.

So 50 are digging in, but the other 50 are headed north, yes?

Ahh ... I hate time zones.

First I go to bed and wake up to the Irish more or less having conquered half of Britain. I then decide that Gracian will stay in Wilton and defend the city because the civilians can possible outrun the Irish soldiers but work has been hectic today and I have had no time to get online and write. And then when I finally manage to get home and come online then you guys are already on the walls!

*sigh*

Oh well. Gracian will try and calm the citizens then. Probably for the best ... damn I am going to miss all the fun! :)

EDIT: I like how you all try and destroy the bridge across the Nadar but may I remind you that there is a recently rebuild stonebridge at Dinton? :)
This message was last edited by the player at 15:04, Mon 06 Nov 2017.

I was going to send you off to Robert to warn him if you were amenable.  Gets you out of danger and allows you to AFK due to RL without being worried about catching a sword to the gut or something.

Oh I dont mind a little sword to the guts now and then :) I am trying to write up something that hopefully will make people stay in Wilton.

EDIT: Oh . .we are trying to get them to run? :D (sorry .. trying to read up on all this)
This message was last edited by the player at 15:11, Mon 06 Nov 2017.

Double post here.

Just trying to understand the plan here ok? We want the civilians to cross the bridge and then set it on fire?

Check the PM thread good sir!  Don't want to clutter OOC up with our babble.

GM, I know Sej sees 100 footmen, but are there archers in evidence,and any sign of Irish Horse? The handful of Knights could not make much of an impact on so large a force, yes?

No horses, just foot soldiers.

They are a mix of sword, pike, and archers.

The Irish with the siege equipment, what exactly is it?  We weren't close enough at first, but we should be able to ID it now, no?

In reply to Sir Perin (msg # 59):

Does it matter?  I would prefer not to waste a lot of time on the mechanics of a siege and fortifications as the PCs have no control over either the defensive works nor the attacking army that would determine the results.  Think something big that is capable of gaining entry into the city and go with that.  ;)

In reply to Teller of Tales (msg # 60):

We have actually discussed siege options in pm and I have a few ideas that should be well within our means - boiling up water, tar and oil, reinforcing the gates with carts and so on. I think we stand a pretty good chance of holding the city.

Couple questions:

How many Knights and foot does Robert command at Sarum, and how many can he muster quickly?

From what I can see Camelot is barely a stone throw away. Is the King currently at court at Camelot? Also, what type of standing force is there.

I am considering riding to Arthur. Unless there is protocol or common sense reason I am missing.

Portcullises, murder holes, boiling oil, etc. are all factored into the DV of the existing defenses.  To the extent that they don't exist there currently, you don't really have the ability to add them on the fly.  In order for boiling liquid to be effective you need to have a very large cauldron . . . the cauldron needs to be suspended over the gate on a pivot . . . and be designed so that it can be tipped . . . and you need to get the liquid up there . . . and be able to heat it to a boiling temperature . . . and there has to be a way for the liquid to go down where you want it to and not where you don't . . . none of which is in place.

This does not mean that you are not free to invest what resources you have in attempting to rig something up, just know that it will require a lot of time and resources and may not work.  The question is, what do you gain from staying longer than you have to?

Arthur is on campaign Garym, remember?  That's why this attack is so brilliant, most of the kingdom's forces are in the north.

We kill more of the enemy and delay the rest. Falling back on Sarum might give us some more resources but it will also allow the different parts of the Irish army to unite.

I just can't believe the walls of Wilton are useless against only a few hundred men - even with siege weaponry.

In reply to Sir Garym (msg # 62):

Earl Robert commands 75 knights and 165 men-at-arms.  They normally take a while (days) to muster, although this occurred right before the Earl's knights were to head to Sarum for the Summer Saxon Hunt.

I can't figure out how you could possibly garrison the castles and cities with the listed knights/soldiers unless they were always on duty, so outside of the knights/men-at-arms listed above, there are normally 5 knights and a dozen men-at-arms in each of the four forts, a dozen knights and 25 men-at-arms in Wilton, and 10 knights and 25 men-at-arms at Sarum.

Camelot does not yet exist.  Arthur is in the north with the army (including most of the troops from many of the Logres counties, duchies, and kingdoms).  London is currently the capital.

I'm not saying we can't bloody their nose, I'm just saying we shouldn't die to do it.

Here's the thing mate, you're right, you could totally hold off the Irish for a bit, if you were willing to die.  They're about to be around to the third gate (the one we're currently evacuating from) in a matter of hours.  At that point, you're not retreating.

And honestly when it comes to defense, we don't have the missile weapons or defenses to put up a good fight.  Walled cities were good at keeping the riff raff out, but they generally weren't designed to hold up against a true siege.  And even if they were, we've got less than half the usual soldiers that we need to effectively man the battlements.  Correct me if I'm wrong Teller?  It usually has 90-100 men?

As I said to Sir Perin Sir Dalan's reluctance to just abandon Wilton is partly narrative. He needs to feel we've achieved something even if we ultimately can't hold the city - give the enemy a bloody nose and/or substantially delay them at least.

Just abandoning the second city of Salisbury without a contest would be something he'd have a hard time forgiving himself for.

Which is why Perin offered him an olive branch.  He's suggesting that they go and do their best to waylay the Irish forces headed north.  I'll take 2:1 odds if we're on mounts and they're not.  Granted, we could easily run into more Irish on the way, but that's more information we'd be able to provide to Robert, which is a good thing.

In reply to Sir Perin (msg # 69):

Alright. Sir Dalan is very unhappy with abandoning Wilton, but at least this is doing something other than just retreating.

Time zones again - here I was all ready to defend the city :D

I will go along with the plan but I still think it would be wiser (and probably a bit more my character) to defend the city but so be it :)

I like living my friend ;)

So do I and so does Gracian. But I just see Gracian as the kind of guy that would love to live but not if it means that Irish raiders can walk all over his land :)

Oh I know, you're both good, honorable, chivalrous men!  Perin on the other hand is a bit more pragmatic.  He recognizes that retreating to fight another day is the best way to drive the Irish out.  Granted, it would be a different story if we had to hold the line so that the civilians could retreat...

I understand that :) I just still think Gracian would defend the city but without men to man the walls there is not much he can do. A single mistake and we have doomed every citizen fleeing on the road.

Note that the "~one week" clock does not start until Sarum is surrounded.  At present, containers of all sorts are being filled in the nearby Avon River.

Also, having learned from his last tangle with the Irish, Sir Robert has homing pigeons which messengers can bring with them so that they can send a message back to Sarum quickly.  The birds will return within a day of their release.  Sadly, he only has pigeons that return to Sarum.

Sir Dalen stole Sejanus's thunder. lol. Great mind think alike, I post mine without checking for an update,or I not have posted that,as they are so close in concept. Well done,Sir Dalen.

Go together!

I agree, let us go together (assuming Earl Robert agrees at least!)

Sorry for the delay, I am going to post something later but I had to vote and now take son to annual checkup and then parent-teacher conference.

I wish we were doing those today.  Instead I'm stuck in an entirely too useless session of professional development.  Hooray?

Anyhow, take your time mate!

Oh I love those sessions of professional development. They usually serve bad coffee and terrible sandwiches and the breaks are much too short.

Oh they're just the worst!

The best part is, they spent 2+ hours talking about tests for subjects that I don't teach.  Thankfully here in the US, History remains something that isn't tested.

Anyhow, I just sat on my laptop and did grading and stuff the entire time.  Unfortunately it's only half over, so yay?

Honestly my favorite PD of all time was when a lawyer that had just sued us came in to teach us how to not be sued by people like him.

Schools get sued??? Why????

It's almost always due to something related to a special ed student.  The problem is that they take a TON of resources to ensure that they're getting all the attention that they deserve, as each case is unique.  Well we didn't do right by one student, as we just didn't have those resources and got sued for it.  Fault was on both sides.

But still - to sue a school seems a bit extreme?

A friend of mine's son goes to a special ed school and even though the school isnt perfect there seems to be an understand that it is impossible for the school to get it right everytime considering that every student is - as you say - an unique case. I remember he told me that he and his wife wasnt satisfied with the school at first but that he suspected part of it was that they both had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that their son couldnt be in a regular school.

Sometimes, but sometimes it's completely valid.

The problem is that here in America there are a number of laws surrounding special ed students.  By in large, we're not allowed to segregate the students into different schools.  Consequently, those students often aren't quite able to get the resources that they need.

I see both sides, but to give you an idea of what I'm dealing with, I have students who have IQs in the 50s, who are in the same class as very gifted kids.  It's problematic as I can never give either group the attention they deserve.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:25, Tue 07 Nov 2017.

Interesting. This is the first Pendragon I have been in, where most of the players do not spit on the ground where a Saxon walks. Usually they are hated, as the Saxons where considered the main enemy of Arthur's early reign. But as they say, vive la difference.

You're not wrong that most folks hate Saxons mate.  You're certainly not in the minority here in Salisbury.  However Perin's mother is a Saxon... so take that as you will.

Yes and I can understand why it makes it more difficult for you to give both groups the attention they deserve and need. Here in Denmark kids with special needs sometimes go to a normal school and sometimes they are offered to go to a special ed school all depending on the severity of their handicap or problems.

In my son's class they got two girls with special needs. One of the girls seem to actually thrive in the environment and has made huge progress since she started in the class. The other girl seem to need more structure and it seems to me that being in a normal school isnt a good experience for her - too many defeats and too many conflicts and that sort of things really crush a kid's self esteem.

My friend's son go to a special ed school and fortunate for him he seem to thrive there. 60 teachers to 100 students make for a good learning environment. I dare not think of what the budget is for that school but I like to think it is money well spend.

Sir Perin grow up with Sir Gracian and in the beginning of the campaign we also had Sir Wulfric, a part Saxon knight that got his ass kicked by someone's husband.

 detailed backgrounds for characters, is always a good thing. But As much as it would be good to have the players as friends, Sejanus hates Saxons,as a Saxon War band ravished and then slew his mother and a younger Sibling,on a raid, many years ago a character's background impacting current players actions. But it makes for good rping.

That's quite alright mate, conflict can make for interesting RP, especially since I'm not worried about it spilling into OOC.

This just opens up the chance for some interesting stories post invasion is all.  And I'm *really* interested in seeing Sejanus' reply.  Especially if he doesn't realize that Gracian is talking about Perin.  There's a very good chance he doesn't!

I am not much into player vs player conflict,upon further consideration. However, I have seen the caliber of this group,so I doubt it becomes a problem.

Sej won't linger on the point,once he gave his advice to the Earl. Since it is obvious it could cause dissension with the group,and that is the last thing we need.

I have no problem with you as a player, and I am not looking for long term drama. But, I did have to respond to both Gracian and Sejanus.  I hope as a player you do not feel personally attacked or singled out.

We're allowed to get grumpy with one another ICly.  Like I said, Perin is going to have words with Sejanus when this is all over.  Just like he's allowed to be angry about Saxons.

That said I'm not worried about this spilling into OOC as we're all a reasonable group.

It's just a game.

We're all on the same page then, good!

Now time for Robert to respond when Teller's life stops being so crazy.

Guess the GM is having a life, this evening. ;0)

Just a note I have only a seven hate of the Saxons, so I do not think I went off script. I know nobody said I did, but I am aware of the Saxon hate in Salisbury

Hmmm ..  realized I never rolled for Hatred (Saxons)

And I have absolutely no idea about where to hide the Princess except for some cave somewhere. Any ideas better than mine? :)

In reply to Sir Garym (msg # 101):

It was not so much a matter of anyone in the room hating Saxons, it is everyone else in Salisbury hating Saxons.

EDIT:  Stupid phone.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:52, Wed 08 Nov 2017.

In reply to Sir Sejanus (msg # 100):

No such luck.  And tomorrow is not going to be much better, I will be at my son's school most of the day and again on Friday.

Thats okay Teller. Real life comes first and good luck at your son's school.

(We will just never forgive you for giving us a cliffhanger like this one :D)

And to the rest of you. Being new at this game I never rolled my Hatred (Saxons). I have now:



Thats a pretty extreme Hatred and according the rules one of Gracian's defining traits (because it is 16+ and all that). Problem is that so far I have played Gracian as rather neutral about Saxons. He doesnt really trust them but he doesnt hate them and on top of that he has had/have good relationships with Sir Wulfric and Sir Perin (both of Saxon blood). On top of that Gracian is Roman and really sees Saxons and Romans as strangers to England and with no real right to be there.

So I suppose from now on I will have to play Gracian as the "I dont trust the Saxons and as a whole they are bad news but individually I have no problems with them."-kinda guy.

 Sejanus has a 16 hatred of Saxons, so I put into his background,he had family members killed by them.

 The Saxons where in the east coast of England,and more where always coming in by ship. They needed land for crops, so they raided for food, among other loot,and invaded parts of England trying to capture them. Arthur brought them to heel for a time by a combination of diplomacy and military action, or at least in Pendragon. That is not to say, that is how it will go in this reality.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:24, Wed 08 Nov 2017.

I thought that given Perin's familial history, that he shouldn't have to roll it, and so I didn't.

Gracian, if you don't want it that high, try asking Teller nicely if you can lower it?  17 means you REALLY hate Saxons.  Perhaps it started at 17, but lowered over time?  Especially given his interactions with Sir Wulfric and Sir Perin.

Oof, that's a lot of conferences.  How old is he?

Not a conference, there is a program called Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) in which fathers or father figures spend the day at school being role models, sit in on classes, or help out, etc.  Roughly 90% of teachers and staff are female, so students don’t see many men at school.  I do it once a month and take the opportunity to take pictures for the yearbook and for the parents of the other kids in my son’s class.

Friday is Veterans Day and because we live in an area with a lot of military families, they put on a lot of displays and programs.  One of our neighbors started the program last year so I help out (another opportunity to take yearbook pictures).

My son is nine.

That's awesome!  And yeah, Primary Education tends to be a field mostly populated by women, though it tends to even out by the time they hit Secondary.  My school is split roughly 50/50.

Sounds like a really good thing mate!  A group of my Vet friends and I make a point to get together every Veterans Day.  Some years we go visit friends in Arlington, other years we just have a big ol' bonfire and just shoot the breeze.

Good age!  Enjoy the last few years before the transformation into a surly teenager!

Question Teller, the crossing at Amesbury, has it been cut?  Or is it in Irish hands?  Since it's one of three crossings, the farthest away from us, and wooden, it seems important to know.

That is the one that the men at arms with Sir Sejanus destroyed.

That is very good news indeed!  Especially since it bottlenecks them to two crossings that are *very* close to the castle.  Perin is really going to try and put his plan into action now.

So that we are generally all on the same page/map, I uploaded Group 2 map showing approximate enemy troop movements and numbers.  Some of this is guesswork.  It is likely that there are ~500 soldiers and 40 knights between Wilton and the Avon bridges, or will be soon enough.  At last sighting, the 100 men at the X-ed bridge to the North over the Avon were heading farther north.  Some of the ~200 men at the crossing marked "1" over the Bourne may have headed north.  There may be other soldiers/knights hitherto unknown.

Group 3 map is a blowup of the Sarum vicinity minus most place names.  It is not exactly precise.  Sarum is a fairly close to the Avon River and less than a mile from the three bridges.  All can be assumed to be blocked or under attack by the Irish by morning if they are not now.

All of Salisbury's usable forces are between the Avon and Bourne rivers within a mile or so of Sarum.

And what do we have here roughly?  In terms of our forces.  I honestly forget how many folks actually made it out alive.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:26, Thu 09 Nov 2017.

130 soldiers and 80 knights.

More knights than I thought, that's good!

The bridges we are talking about look something like the above, possibly with more arches if they are longer.

There are no flammable liquids to be had, certainly not in large quantities.  Wine does not have a high enough alcohol content to burn and oil is not in popular use (torches, charcoal, and candles are mainly used).  Being stone, the bridges are not really affected by fire.

The bridge the Irish set on fire last summer was a wooden bridge (on a secondary road), mush like the one to the north that the Salisbury soldiers destroyed.

FWIW, the Irish did not make more than a token attack on Bridge 1.  They seemed disinclined to try to funnel foot soldiers across when there were 40 knights close by opposing them and even when there were only 15 knights, they mainly shot arrows at any knights who seemed inclined to get too close.

I am not sure how that affects your proposed traps.  Dismantling these bridges is an engineering project.

That changes things quite a bit, as in truth, the plan is basically worthless now.  It's my fault for not talking to you about it in OOC first.  But we can simply blame it on Perin not being aware of what kind of resources we have available.

Guess I'll need to go back and edit the post significantly now.  I'll let you know once I've done so.

Not trying to be a jerk or anything but stone bridges are meant to be permanent things that last for hundreds or thousands of years.  Wooden bridges, while still relatively sturdy, are more temporary.  However, even destroying one of those will take quite a while.

While many games have flasks of oil available at every street corner, Pendragon does not use oil at all as far as I know.

Not your fault even a little Teller!  I've seen those bridges, they're still standing, and in many cases, cars drive on them on a daily basis.

We'll figure something else out.

 Sejanus moonlights as an oil flask salesmen. Didn't I mention that before? :)

Pitch was often used. That is how torches were made in some cases. Trouble with pitch it burns slow.

Oh pitch is wonderful, I just doubt we have enough of the stuff.

Just think all that work into making those stone bridges that now so help the invader could have gone into making proper walls for Wilton. ;)

If folks prove amenable, Perin is going to take whatever mounted forces we have available to spare (and a few pidgeons), and head north.  Something is going on up there, and we need to know what.

If people are interested in scouting, let me know who is going, how many knights/men you are taking, what path/route you are taking, and if you plan on going with torches, etc.

Perin was going to wait until morning by the way.  As you've maybe perfectly clear time and time again, it's a terrible idea to go out at night.

First his mother, and now Fiona.  Sejanus just loves pissing off Perin today huh?

Fiona?

Me too? I mean his statement compares my suggestion to being in league with the devil.


Very good religious zealotry. So applaud the roleplay, but want to kick the charater.

Fiona is big into fae. She is rumored to be a witch I believe

Actually Sej is trying to speak common sense, in his way of seeing things. Political correctness did not exist in those days. He hates Saxons,and is a hard core Christian. Gotta rp the passions.

Oh goodness yes, major props my friend, well done with the roleplay!  I want to smack him, but bravo!

And since the thread is public and y'all could find out if you were suitably inclined, Fiona is half Fae.

So Sejanus has gone and insulted the two biggest women in his life.  His mother, by virtue of the Saxon comments.  And his love, by virtue of the Fae comments.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:13, Thu 09 Nov 2017.

 That stinks, Sejanus liked Perin,and hoped a friendship could develop. That's why he wanted to bring Perin in on the Quest for the Praetors heir and sword. To get the Duke off his ass.

 Best laid plans,and all that..

Well he doesn't know Perin is half Saxon, as Gracian was vague.  I have no doubt that one of his brothers might pull him aside and share that detail once we're done (or after this conversation).  Nobody knows about the Fae thing, but given how strongly Perin reacted, folks are free to draw their own conclusions.

And no, this won't ruin things between the pair, but what's life without an argument between friends?

And hey, the whole Praetor thing might be moot.  I'm really curious to see how the Irish made it through his lands (assuming they did), without him noticing...

Sits back, rubs his hands together and smiles.  "Almost there, almost there."

The GM must be done for the night.

And I have to agree with the others Sejanus - good roleplay there :)

Just as an aside, think about how you plan on getting information from any prisoners you happen to capture.  What do you have to offer?  Torture, in addition to being cruel and unchivalrous, is not really an effective tool for getting information, especially in the short term.  It is most useful for getting people to admit to doing things, whether or not they actually did them.

Very good point.  Long term a solution is to offer folks their freedom, which won't solve our immediate issue, especially if they think they could be freed soon enough when their comrades storm our castle.

Why would they want to live here?

Think about if they captured you.  Would you tell them where the Princess is and how you planned to sneak her off to Silchester?

EDIT:
I am not trying to dissuade you from anything, I just want to make sure people think through their plan before executing it.  And perhaps there is something else you can offer, I don’t know.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:45, Sat 11 Nov 2017.

Never said they would want to live here, rather than we'd be willing to release anyone who co-operated.  Granted, that's not necessarily going to ensure their co-operation.  Footmen possibly, knights not so much.

I'm still thinking that at the very least, we should send out scouts once it becomes light.  We really need to know what's going on with that group that went north.

I'd love to strike at some of the soldiers, but I don't think we can quite mass enough men to really threaten any given group, especially given the fact that they're packing bows and spears in decent numbers.

The group that went north is probably our best best, as they're only 100 men strong.  However given the terrain they're marching along, it'll be some time before they get here at all.  Assuming that they even intended to come here.

Also, we'll see if the men at bridge 1 split and move north to cut off the other bridge at Allington, if they don't, that's significant and opens up some opportunities for us.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:25, Sat 11 Nov 2017.

And where exactly are they going to go once you release them?  It is a long walk over the Irish Sea.  :)

As you found out from the last time you met the Irish, their footmen are unlikely to know much about their plans, much as your own footmen know little to nothing about your plans.  They are told where to go and/or what to do but you can likely figure a lot of that out by where you capture them and where they were heading.  When you leave the room tonight, are you going to go round up all of the soldiers and explain your plans?

Again, not trying to dissuade anyone from scouting or trying to capture soldiers or knights, or kill Irish.  Just trying to tell you upfront what your characters would probably already know so that you can make informed decisions rather than finding out after you lose a couple of dozen knights that capturing some footmen does not automatically yield any useful information.

All this said, it is getting late and you have all been up all day, riding, fighting, under stress, etc.  If you want to discuss what the Irish are doing or make plans for the morning, you have a few more posts to do so.  Sir Cadlew does not have anything more to say absent some new information.  He will go along with whatever plans you guys come up with.

And a special note, good role-playing here.  I hope this leads to the characters getting a better sense of one another and maybe becoming more tolerant or maybe sticking with their beliefs.  It is one of the problems with playing Saxon-based characters in Salisbury or ones who have dealt with the Fae anywhere.  You are very much viewed with suspicion.

Agreed Teller, props for the roleplaying everyone!  Nothing like a stressful situation to bring out the best in folks! Or worst...

I figure we have a few spare messengers.  Hopefully.  And they know how to navigate in the dark much better than we do, have faster horses, are lighter, etc.  Give them each a homing bird and let them do what they can to map things out for us.  Like I said, Perin wants to know about that second bridge.

Anyhow, take this as, Perin is ready to move on.  Assuming of course Teller tells me the plan isn't entirely unfeasible.  If night is going to prove too much a problem for them, then EARLY morning, like 0Dark30 as it were.  Like I said, the sooner we know more, the better.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:40, Sat 11 Nov 2017.

OK, to summarize.

Go to sleep.

At dawn, send out scouts.   Use messengers - there are currently 6 available and as Sir Garym notes, they are not military so their information will be more about enemy location and numbers than anything.

- - - - -

Where would you like the scouts to go?  Route and destination?

There are currently 15 knights at each of the three bridges (listed as 1, 2, and 3 on the map).  Do you want to reinforce any of them or move forces from any of them?

Anyone else you want to talk to or anything else you want to do in preparation for the morning?

I'd say two north towards Fittleton and that crossing.  One following the river, the other using the forest.  One towards Allington and that crossing.  The remaining three I'm open to suggestions for.  Maybe check on the three bridges that are controlled and report back their numbers/disposition?  Just to make sure folks haven't "wandered" off.  We can send them back out after that, but let's get accurate info on the immediate threats first.

I also suggest that we have a standing force of knights ready to reinforce any of the positions if necessary.  Never hurts to have a rapid response force as it were.

I think 15 knights to each is about all we can spare at the moment.  We're got just 35 remaining, who like I suggest, are in reserve, ready to ride out.  The remainder of our forces (the footmen) should be preparing the fortress for siege.

At daybreak, if possible, folks should be put to work using any and all containers to bring water to the fortress.  Since water is what is our limiting factor on our holdout time, we want to get as much as possible.

Any comments/concerns folks?
This message was last edited by the player at 21:10, Sat 11 Nov 2017.

The only way to get to Fittleton is going up to Bulford and continue east around the spur of the river.  Do you want one to then stay on the bank of the spur and then along the banks of the Avon and the other to go straight toward Fittleton through the forest?

That was my thought, yes.  I should note, he's not going to tell the men how to do their jobs, since they know the terrain much better than he does.  Rather it's a fairly vague, check "most likely routes" kind of deal.  Does that make sense?

Sure.  You are looking for 50+ men.  They just need to know where to look.

I think you've got the general idea?  Unless anyone disagrees?

And the one heading to the crossing at Allington, once he's made his observations there, if possible, he should follow the river north towards Upperchute, before taking the road to Fittleton.  Last thing we want is the Irish slipping east for some reason.

Is there anyone in Sarum that may have links or knowledge about the Irish. Long shot, but perhaps there might be some insight there.

Never hurts to ask mate!  But maybe get someone who isn't so tired to do the asking for you? =P  Last thing you want is to be tired tomorrow when there's the chance that we're stuck fighting.

There are currently about 22,000 people in Sarum so probably.  You don't know many people in Sarum because you are not there all that frequently and when you are you are generally on duty of some kind.

Most people are in bed so you would need to figure out how to find someone.

I was thinking a known entity such as a priest, noble, or something of the like. Like the foot soldier, a common Irishmen would not know much.

It depends on what you want them for.  People don't move around as much in this period as they do today, so the majority of people will be Nth Gen local.  In any decent sized city you will find traders and nobles from elsewhere.

And the fun keeps on getting funner.

As Conan the Barbarin once said " Enough talk!" Lets kick some Irish fanny.

Oh doesn't it just?

Bet you're regretting not talking to Galeria a bit more about the whole strangers thing eh my friend?  Perin's kicking himself about not pressuring Sejanus to resolve that whole thing for sure.

Oh I think we're all more or less ready at that point!

Not really, She was reluctant to tell him,what she did tell him. She said that was all she knew. And Sejanus belived her.

Your knights - Bridge - Enemy soldiers - earthworks - camp

Crossing the bridge requires you to funnel down to 1-2 abreast.  The soldiers are about 100 yards from the bridge, right in front of the earthworks and can retreat behind them easily enough.  The earthworks make charging impossible and require horsemanship to jump.  Other than taking time to cross the bridge, it will take about a full turn to ride to the earthworks, during which the archers can fire on you.

Unless you wait for everyone to cross the bridge and form up, you will be approaching the earthworks in column.

Soldiers can cross the bridge 3-4 abreast and take about 3 turns to get to the Earthworks but can climb them easily enough.

Sounds like assaulting these things head on is a terrible idea gents.  It would be like shooting freaking fish in a barrel.  Hence Perin's idea to go north.

How swift are the rivers. Would it at all be possible to ford the river and attack from a different direction. The fording would take place further upstream or downstream

Probably far too swift to ford if past experience tells us anything.

Teller, do we have the Lord of Porton with us?  Might be helpful when we're planning the assault.

I live in Alaska. When younger; I use to hunt in the fall season. The Kenai river has a rough undertow, but it is possible to ford safely if done correctly. I have never been to Salisbury, so I can not say much about these. Is there trade ferries?

Fair enough, it might be possible, but then w have to worry about the same, it's a double edged sword.

For simplicity, all rivers are only crossable using bridges or ferries.  There are no ferries in Salisbury and bridges are at the roads.  Wooden for poor roads and tracks, stone bridges for good roads.

The knight from Porton is not at Sarum.  If you ask around, apparently he is at Bridge 2.  If you want him, figure half an hour round trip.

Manors are not particularly complex.  Manor house, a few buildings, fields . . .

Nope, no need then!  Unless some objects we're going to take 25 knights (leaving 10 in reserve) to go clear them out.

OK, leave immediately upon hearing news, twenty-five knights heading directly on good road to Porton.

The goal being to encircle the place and assault it at as one.

Map 2 updated (at least partially).  It is unclear how many soldiers are at bridges 1-2.

Are any of the dead messengers the one that Perin handed the letter to last night?

What if they are not trying to take Sarum but merely boxing us in so we cant protect Camelot and the Queen?

(Yes I am paranoid but it is ok - I work with mental health)

You have no idea what messenger was sent with your letter.  You don’t know any of the messengers and Earl Robert took your letter with him and presumably gave it to a messenger to deliver.

In reply to Sir Gracian (msg # 174):

What is up with you and Dalan and the Queen?  :)

Imagine how it would benefit our career as a knight if we saved the Queen? Glory my friend. More Glory than you can count ...

Waiting on a few questions to be answered, but I'll have a post up here in a few.  Obviously we're not attacking, that's suicide.

Perin will flag you gents down before you can get too far.

Gents, take a look at the map please as I think there's a bit of confusion.  Bulford is north, and there's no bridge that we need to cross.  Our horses should give us the advantage we need there, as we finally get to do what knights do best, charge.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:37, Sun 12 Nov 2017.

what horse is dalan on? I believe Gracian is on Destier, are you as well.

Yes I'm on a Destier ('Hector').

So is Perin.  Sounds like we know who is going on the road and who is sneaking!

Must be nice to have rich women. Fancy armor and horses. All you have to do is put out, kill an animal or two, or sing real pretty. LOL

He says it like that lion didn't just kill a knight of the round table in a single go. =P

And I believe the late Sir Tyngyr had a quote about rich women...

Lamorak tired it out for you. LOL.

So who is going in which group and how many per group?

my suggestion is

Road Group Perin, Gracian, and Dalan + 12 knights

Second Group Garym and Sejanus + 8 knights.

Sounds good to me!

Sounds like a plan to me!

Good plan

Bad luck Sir Garym, especially as the plan as a whole was a great success and you led well. I am also sorry to see one of our knightly brothers fall in battle.

Sir Dalan doesn't actually expect any of the Irish to speak Cymric but it's a question worth asking and we *might* get lucky.

Oof, 30 on 6d6?  That's *really* rough mate.

And indeed, well done good sir!

wow, I have the worse luck in this game. Really getting frustrated. But good job. Any oner just want to cut Garym head off. Might be less painful in long run. LOL

Heh, just the WORST luck mate.  They were at what, -10?  So effectively a 1, and we saw not one, but two crits?  Yeah...  GG dice roller!  Trust me, we've all been where you are, I'm sorry.

But damn good job leading us in battle mate!

In reply to Sir Garym (msg # 194):

Not even sure what to do with poor Garym right now.  The fun never ends.  I think once he gets Chirurgery he is 'ok' again and does not require constant bed-rest, etc.  Need to look that up.

Whose squire has the best Chirurgery score? :(

Teller do the Irish have any distinctive banners/armour/shields/clothing to them? I'm thinking be able to disguise our own foot as Irish warriors might come in use...

You need to get Sir Garym to somewhere that he can get rest until healed properly.  Riding, fighting, etc. make things bad.  You don't want to have a squire do that nor do it in the field.  I'll figure out exaclty what he needs to do and with luck we can get him back in the saddle quickly.  And by luck, I don't mean Garym luck.  :P

Their armor is different.

Oof, ninja'd post. There goes that idea.

Still the armour might be useful.

I am gone for a few hours and suddenly Garym is down?? What is wrong with you guys? :)

Oh.. Gracian got Chirurgy 5 if it helps.

Irish had a skill of 1, and still crit.  That's some serious garbage luck there mate.

I am asleep.and all hell breaks loose.  Well done,lads.

The God of Dice hates you Garym. He really hates you.

thanks

You are welcome :)

So Perin wants to see what's going on with Sarum, then he plans on heading northeast to Levcomagus.  He'd like to ride in force, as otherwise we're splitting ourselves up and are easy prey, but he'll respect the decision that everyone makes.

Sejanus will travel with Perin, even if Perin hates him. :)

That's the nice thing about Perin, he gets grumpy at times, but doesn't hold grudges all that often (the good Praetor is an exception).  So while Sejanus may have done some things that anger him, he'll get over it.  He will however have a private chat with the man later, as I think it'll be an interesting conversation and fun rp!

So, take all of the Irish weapons and toss them in the Avon River, leave the prisoners and head South toward Sarum (figure 1.5 hours so that Sir Garym is not further injured)?

As much as I want to just get going, we need to see what's going on with Sarum.  Thoughts?

In reply to Sir Perin (msg # 208):

Yep

Reluctantly I have to agree. We need to get our wounded back home.

Should we try and take the Irish armour - or some of it - in case we can use it for subterfuge?

Never hurts to have.  Give it and some of the accouterments to the squires to carry?  Though we could rapidly run into issues as I don't think any of us speak Irish, so take that as you will.  Still, better to have it and not need it.

There are approximately 59 suits of 4-point leather armor.  How many would you like?

So we are heading back to Sarum, yes?

Only close enough to get a feel for the situation, then we'll probably need to head north again.   But we can't flee... err retreat blindly, you know?

If anyone wants to stay and the opportunity presents itself, then yes, by all means let's cut you a path, but Perin *needs* to get north and to Fiona.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:43, Mon 13 Nov 2017.

Teller, is it safe to say that we can gain a Hate Irish after all of this?

Much of what I can do will be determined by Teller once he tells me his rulings on healing

Curious, what's the question?  I'm entirely new to the system, so it's not like I'll have an answer, I just like mechanics =)

Probably it would be best if Garym, the other wounded knight, the dead knight, and a couple of other knights, head slowly north as otherwise it is a good bet that they will need to ride an extra 3 hours to little purpose down to Sarum and back.  If there is fighting going on down there or patrols, you will have to ride hard and that would be bad for Garym.  Even if Sarum is not currently besieged, it is already overcrowded and healing and beds will be in short supply, while it seems that outside of the area between the Avon and Bourne there is little to no fighting and thus a better place for healing.

Hanging out north of where you are, if the five of them encounter someone, they can get away in an emergency but otherwise can avoid undo strain.  Neither of the wounded knights will be much use in a fight anyway.

This is what Teller was checking

Taken from post from Teller:
As I read it, you require Chirurgery if you receive a major wound, even though you didn't go into negative hit points or go unconscious.  Chirurgery rolls are done for the week and if successful, you have no ill effects from the wound and get normal healing.  What is unclear is how long you need to do the Chirurgery rolls?  It seems like it is until you are restored to full hit points.  You can do strenuous activity when wounded and get aggravated damage (1-3 hp per event).  On top of that, you suffer deterioration if you fail your Chirurgery roll.

Maybe I was not clear the idea of the decoy was not an action of last resort, but an action to do quickly in hopes it might change the Irish Timetable

That's a good call Teller, I agree.

Not a clue there mate.

And Garym, my issue is that we can't get into Sarum, so unless we can, we have almost zero say in what happens there.  Therefor, we can't put your cunning plan into action!  Find a way into the city, and sure!

That is still uncertain if you can't and staying outside attack random troops is a waste. Something needs to be dine to allow time. Since no one else has offer a solution I threw it out there. Not saying it is only way, but currently at least it is something.

Which is why we're going to take a look at the fort first.  And it seems to me that there are a number of solutions that are on the table, but they mainly assume that we're unable to reach the fort.  Yours is a good one for if we are in fact able to do so.

Perin will suggest heading to the crossing at Upperchute, with the intent to make it to Levcomagus.  It's a big city, which means we should be able to get our men looked at, and the roads are excellent, so we should be able to make good time wherever we want to go after that.  What do y'all think?

Let's try it. I admit I'm struggling to come up with a plan.

Well we need to get any additional soldiers that we can.  Since Perin's message didn't get to Fiona, that means her.  So we mass together and break free of the Irish blockage, then folks can go whichever way they need/want.

Also, my reaction to us right now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZwuTo7zKM8

And here is where four years of high school Latin come in handy Sejanus!  And they all made fin of me for taking it!  Who is laughing now huh?  I can translate insults in a Pendragon game.  Hah!

For the unenlightened, or too lazy to Google crowd, he told the Irish to kiss his ass.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:12, Tue 14 Nov 2017.

 We have to wait on the next act?? GASP!!!

From here to Fittleton (give it a wide berth, use the trees as cover so we aren't spotted maybe), then on to Upperchute, where we can hopefully cross without interference and make camp on the other side.  Thoughts?

And there was ...silence.

Upavon then folks?  It'll be roughly the same time as Levcomagus, and if the Irish are blocking the bridge, then we're better off avoiding combat.  Besides, Perin needs to to northwest anyhow.

I wonder how many days to Arthur

I suppose so.

I'm not sure what else we could have done but seeing the soldiers we scattered immediately regroup and become a threat is pretty disheartening.

Arthur is up North.  Two weeks is a good guess.

Ouch.We are screwed.

Dalan, absolutely, but what are you going to do?  We're knights, so something something moral high ground?  I'm more interested in knowing where they got the weapons, but that's just me.  Though it doesn't really matter now I s'pose.

We might not have a choice, we may have to follow them, especially if they're going to try and cut upperchute.

Arthur probably isn't happening, especially if he's in battle, but if someone wants to try, by all means!.  But the two gentlemen with knights *might* be able to raise them if we send the messengers.  Perin is of course, going to Fiona.

Does the Countess have enough men to tip the balance against the Irish?

80 something of the best trained and equipped knights around, and 200 something footmen as memory serves.  So I'd say so, yes.  And those are rough numbers, Teller can tell you exactly.

While she's not enough to stand against the Irish alone, if we're smart about it all, then we stand a very good chance.  Well, we stand a chance.  Of dying a little less horribly at any rate.

RE: Arthur.  Arthur left the defense of Logres in the Hands of Earl Robert, and perhaps others as Robert might have been boasting a touch.  Going to Arthur and telling him that Robert can't handle it is probably going to be a blow to Earl Robert.  Take that fact to be worth whatever you feel it is worth.

RE: Countess Fiona.  Countess Fiona and Earl Robert are of a like rank and have similar forces.  Fiona, it turns out, is far more militarily savy than is Earl Robert and her 80 knights are all Superlative Knights, while his are all ordinary.  Can she take 800 soldiers and 40 knights by herself or with help from the remnants of Earl Robert's forces?  Probably not.  Except that as they planned for 6 months the invasion of Salisbury and used surprise and tactics to manipulate you, perhaps she has the ability to do something similar to the Irish.  They were certainly working hard to hamstring Salisbury's knights.

So one last warning about the Irish.  As should be clear from their attack last summer and what you have seen so far, they are wily bastards and plan things well in advance.  You are not going to beat them by allowing them to manipulate you or attacking blindly for the sake of attacking.  As several of you have said now and again, you need to out-think them.

As you are perhaps starting to figure out, Sir Robert has a low Battle score . . . really low.  That is why he put the bridge defenses and battle plans in your hands.  Now when I look at the map of Salisbury, I see how it is divided by rivers, where the choke points are, how to corral and separate forces, how to use bridges, and the like.  Not everyone thinks that way although your characters probably do.  So if you have questions about what things mean to your characters, what they would think about certain actions or the disposition of forces, etc., then you need to ask.

This invasion was meant to be tough, to cause people to make decisions, to get a real hatred for the Irish (because you will be meeting them again).  But it was always meant to be very winnable.  It was always likely that you would need some help, which would allow me to push forward some story elements.  However, NPCs are not going to be able to win this for you.  As a COMPLETELY OOC YOUR CHARACTERS DON'T KNOW THIS, Fiona will be able to get to and break the siege with her forces.  However, this requires get to her and, once broken, you still need to get the Irish out of Salisbury and that is going to require more than simply her forces.

Time is not on your side, so think about what you are doing and why and do it.

So no Arthur then!

And I'm all for out thinking the Irish, but that means we actually need to come up with ideas, not just stand around and do nothing while disagreeing with the ideas put forth by everyone else.

Yeah... I think Robert's failings are becoming quite obvious.  It's alright, he's got a better political mind than military.  Besides, none of us are displaying tons of military acumen at the moment either.

Anyhow, Perin is trying to push things forward.  He's trying to figure out how to best handle the Irish if we do manage to break the siege.  The good thing is, the bridges that they've used to trap us work both ways... So if we can break the siege, we could trap their forces if we can get the right men in place.  The idea has no small amount of appeal to me, as I imagine it does for all of you.

Garym, I figure we use wherever you end up as a staging point.  You can get a grasp on what forces we have available that way, plus you can continue to contribute, despite not really being in the shape to fight.  Thoughts?
This message was last edited by the player at 16:25, Wed 15 Nov 2017.

Where would the best place to ambush troops be.

The Irish will not know about the Countess. What is we could bait and lure them into a trap to where the Countess troops could lay waste to them.

The Irish have shown a wiliness to put out their knights in pursuit of targets. I believe that is we can eliminate the knight support then the lesser troops will be easier.

Well in a perfect world I think we should try to cut off the Irish retreat after we scatter them.  They've already accomplished quite a bit of this for us.  In surrounding Sarum and cutting a lot of the bridges there, they've limited how they can escape quite nicely.

I agree about luring their knights into an ambush, and I think our current forces would be exactly the kind of thing they could gladly give chase to.  If we're able to conceal our reinforcements for their sight, then I imagine we could envelop and destroy them quite easily.

Sir Dalan mentioned something important early on when Earl Robert was speaking with you.  They need to supply themselves and the longer things go, the more important their supply line becomes.  At the time, there was nothing you could realistically do about that because rivers and armies prevented you from getting to the road South and there were manors and Wilton from which to gather food.

However, things change once their army surrounds Sarum.  Now their rear is somewhat exposed.  There are far more manors to the West of Sarum than to the East, so you can probably recruit far more knights in the West.  It is also easier to get to the Southern road from Wilton to Ebble, etc. from the West.  So they will probably put something to guard that area.

That also means that it is likely that all of the bridge along the Avon have been destroyed and getting to the Western section of Salisbury is going to be far more difficult.  However, you have a few days at the least to maneuver, gather forces, etc.

If retreating becomes a necessity, they are almost certainly going to retreat South if they can, which is where the solid stone bridges lie.

Very quiet today, off day eh gents?

Figured I'd give folks a chance to respond ICly before I jump in again here and try to get this train moving.  I know, shocker.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:38, Thu 16 Nov 2017.

Sorry everyone, I was trying to do something that very clearly is not going to work.  RPoL is not a great forum for planning out something that is not relatively simple and straightforward.  Every time you guys would seem to be on the right track, you would go off on a tangent that was great role playing but was not furthering the story.  This was getting me increasingly frustrated as I had to reshape things in order to get you where you needed to go and frustrated everyone else because you couldn't do anything meaningful.

So we are skipping on to the next season and doing more straightforward adventures . . . pre-made ones at that!  Sir Garym is heading off with Arianwen in hopes of uncursing her.

Sir Sejanus is heading off to find Galeria's brother.  Anyone interested can join Sir Sejanus.

Ok, I'll bite,what where we supposed to do,in the Irish situation?

Well we probably should have pressed Galeria for more info about it all.  Baring that, I should have pressured Robert to do more.  Either way would have given us a heads up.

That's just off the top of my head.

When she told him of her fathers strange behavior, Sejanus did ask for greater details.She said that was all she knew, so that was a dead end. And Sej would not of asked her again.

In reply to Sir Sejanus (msg # 247):

You could do lots of things.  There wasn't a solution.

Allowing them to trap you in Sarum would be bad, as Dalan noted when defending Wilton, which was a foreshadowing of what would happen in Sarum.

Defend the bridges.  Fifteen knights are useless defending a bridge against 50/100+ soldiers, much less the army behind it.

If you take out a force of knights, bring enough to actually defeat the groups you are likely to encounter, each of which was 100 soldiers.  25 knights against 100 soldiers is bad odds.

Make use of the 160 soldiers in Sarum, they are great against the Irish soldiers in close combat where knights are mostly useless.

Bust out through the East or North-East bridge with all of the forces in Sarum, use the terrain and your knights to full advantage.

Contact Robert sooner so that he can send forces you can use to defend the area around Wilton, attack the Irish in pieces before they can combine their forces.

If they siege Sarum, attack their supply lines once they are extended.  Attack the bridges in force.  Rally the knights outside of Sarum.

There were plenty of good ideas you guys came up with but they were not always practical at the time given where things were or they were not implemented with sufficient force.

Unfortunately, Sir Robert turns out not to be a great commander, something you would not likely have known beforehand.

- - - - -

Get more information from Galeria or investigate what the Duke is up to so you aren't surprised.

Galeria knows more, she just doesn't know that what she knows is relevant.  Earl Robert gave you a list of things to ask her about.

I'm sorry things didn't quite work out for, well any of us. At least we're moving on.

Sir Dalan is going to be pressing his father-in-law, Princess Ellowyn and Earl Robert for an invasion of Ireland; I assume that kind of thing will take many months to plan and petition though?

It will be something for next year.

King Arthur will be moving on the Irish.

You and me both brother.  So it's good to know that we're going to do something about them.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:18, Thu 16 Nov 2017.

 We lost, for all intend and purposes. What is done, is done.and we look to the furture. As the saying goes. " What does not kill us,makes us stronger."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:38, Thu 16 Nov 2017.

So uhhh how about our manors?  How badly have they been looted?

They will be considered lightly raided for harvest purposes.  Fortunately, it occurred before crops began to really grow so they were not too badly damaged.

Garym and Dalan are going together, no?

Gracian, are you coming, or are you taking advantage of the down time as it were to do stuff around your manor?

I don't know. To be honest it's hard to imagine Sir Dalan joining on a quest for the son of Praetor of Dorset.

I thought you mentioned earlier that you were going with Garym?  Or was that Gracian? Or am I going mad?

And trust me, Perin wants nothing to do with this.  But it's so Sejanus can get married, so...

Sir Garym is going solo.

No evidence has been presented to suggest that the Praetor planned anything with the Irish nor had anything to do with the invasion, passively or actively, as Sir Sejanus won’t talk about what Galeria told him and Sir Perin, who is already ill-disposed toward him, only has bad feelings and untalked of evidence.

Ah, okay then. I guess I will be going to stop Sir Perin and Sir Sejanus murdering each other. :)

Perin isn't going to murder Sejanus!  He still wants to punch him in the face for insulting his heritage, his mother, his potential future baby momma... but hey, no murder!

The Praetor on the other hands... Perin wants nothing more than to stick a sword in the mans's guts.  He wouldn't piss on the man if he were on fire.

So much anger.  And all from the one who stole my future bride.  Who is the bad one here?

ROFLMAO

At least we git the ball rolling,on the quest.

WAVES

I think we need to decide what we're doing first mate.  Are we heading to Cirencester right after your prayer group? =P

If so, say as much and let's go going!
This message was last edited by the player at 21:24, Fri 17 Nov 2017.

Sorry, just waiting to hear back from Sir Gracian.  Not sure how his RL is going and whether or not he wants to join Sir Sejanus and company.

In reply to Teller of Tales (msg # 268):

he could always catch up with us.

 Hey Sir Perin, while Perinatal might be of a larger size then Sej. He is hardly small.Sixe 15

Hi guys

Sorry for taking so long to answer. I dont think I have the RL time to go Questing (sorry) but on the bright side I may be able to get more online now than I have been able to during the last few weeks. Not that there are any (good) news in RL but just that things seems to have settled down and the family are (slowly and somewhat) coming to terms with it all.

But I suppose you young knights needs some Glory :)

Hi Sir Gracian, thanks for keeping in touch. I'm sure we all understand about RL and are sending you vibes. :)

Understandable mate, like I said, focus on your family, we'll be here when you get back.  Best of luck in these trying times.

As an aside, if anyone wants to do random RP in a private thread let me know.  Half of our disfunction during the last go round stemmed from our inability to work together well.  It was fantastic RPing on everyone's part mind you, but I figure we should try and solve that ICly before we invade Ireland next spring/summer ;)

Point being, if you want to have a chat with Perin (anytime from the end of the siege through now), let me know, I'm always game!

I think some problem is that we did not realize what walls were real and what walls were false. Robert is a poor general. I believe a few people mentioned lightly that doing better at the defense of the bridges was the answer. We allowed the narrative to control us. We reacted more then being proactive.

And as such we've all learned quite a bit I think.

I still think having all our characters become closer isn't a bad idea for what it's worth, so my offer remains.

Yep, Perin is sure closier to Sejanus.He is so close, he wants to punch Sej in the nose. ;)

Maybe a few months ago, but right now he's rather smugly enjoy the contortions that the man's brain must have done in order to accept Fiona and the Fae's help.  Given that he rather pointedly compared them to the forces of hell...

In retrospect I'm regretting not buying a horse as a gift for the Duke (though in the aftermath of the invasion I'm guessing there are few available in Salisbury!)

Which Duke?

And Perin is going to keep doing his strong and silent impersonation, so take it away Sejanus!  I think we're done with questions and can hit the road?

Galegantis. :)

Sir Dalan won't be quite so silent but I don't want to step on Sir Sejanus's toes on his quest.

 Unexpected company,will post Asap

Toss the lady in the cage and profit handsomely my good man!  =P

 Beware, the gratitude of King's and Fairies. ;o)

Pshhh, what's life without a little bit of selling the pretty lady out in exchange for power and/or wealth?

I think we should become evil,and have our Knights ravish Salisbury,while it is yet weak, Evil laughter,follows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znxFrgql5dc

Sound about right?

So yeah, he saw it.  And his jaw probably hit the floor, just like Perin's =P

Sometimes I miss things. It would have been a fun scene to rp.

These things happen mate!  And there wasn't time sadly, there was a lot that needed to get done to just wrap that whole thing up.

But you're always welcome to open up something in your private thread and chat with anyone at any time!  So if you want to have a chat about the library with Perin post Battle for Sarum, you're more than welcome to!
This message was last edited by the player at 23:36, Sun 19 Nov 2017.

I know that Sir Garym stayed in Salisbury (mainly an issue with needing to rest) and Sir Perin went to Hereford.  I am not sure where Sir Dalan, Sir Gracian, and Sir Sejanus were, that is up to them.

If Princess Gwendollyn returned home after the invasion Sir Dalan would have offered to escort her. Otherwise he would have likely stayed in Salisbury and looked after things (he might have offered to help escort the Countess home but I get the feeling Sir Perin and she wished for some privacy!)

Well didn't your father-in-law not send some of his forces/you called up your men?  It might be appropriate to see them all home, no?

True enough, in that case Sir Dalan will have been travelling to Dover's Crossing with them.

The question is whether or not Sir Dalan, Sir Gracian, and/or Sir Sejanus accompanied Sir Perin after Sarum was surrounded, when Sir Perin went to get help from Fiona.  Not after the battle when troops returned to their homes.

Ah, sorry my misunderstanding. In that case yes Sir Dalan was with Sir Perin.

I would say Sejanus was not with Perin when he went to the Countess. If he had gone, he would not of been able to go on the Sword Quest, because he would be in her Dungeon. Something about refusing to leave her Library, or grabbing a sack and start stuffing it full of books. No telling what he might have done upon seeing such a treasure trove. ;)

You don't need both of your hands, Sir Sejanus, right?

Fiona

So Sejanus first help from the fae. Than the coveting your neighbor's books.

The road to heaven is narrow, but the path to hell is wide

Hah!  Well said my good man!

I am still here. Enjoying your Quests guys and wishing you the best of luck! :)

I'll try to get posts up tomorrow sometime, had to drive ~5 hours to/from my mom's house to help her clear out old crap and have 8 people over for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  Gobble gobble!

Oof, fun times!  And hey, I've got 20 coming tomorrow and 26 on Saturday when we do the 'big' family celebration, so I completely understand!  My fault for marrying in to a big Irish family I s'pose.

Pre-emptive happy Turkey Day Yanks. :)

We don't celebrate here, as such, but I've seen in a lot of American TV and movies.

Oh yes - Happy Turkey Day from me as well. I hope you have a wonderful time with your families :)

 Happy Turkey day, to one and all. Even you English folk,across the Pond. :)

We eat early,so I took a break from the chain gang of clean up,and fired off a post.

Oh course he asks us for help putting down some serfs.  I figured as much.

This is all you Sejanus, have fun figuring out how to reply!

You guys survived Thanksgiving? I hope you did .. and I am looking forward to how Sir Sejanus is going to solve this. If only Sir Tyngyr had been with us still then those serfs would have been dead meat ... ;)

Irish, though the across the Pond part is accurate enough! :)

And a little bit further to the East you find the Danes :)

Gamewise, we already have the Jutes,Angles and Saxons in England. I don't think the Danes had showed up yet, but I could be wrong.

In reply to Sir Dalan (msg # 309):

I always wanted to visit Ireland. I am a student of Western European history. While I am an American,and proud of it, history wise, two hundred years is a big deal to us, because we are a young country. You mention something that happened two hundred years ago to your average Gent from Ireland, they might reply " Two hundred years, you mean something that happened yesterday." :)

Nah .. we will wait another 300 years or so before we show up :)



I have been to the US a few times visiting friends and such and always liked the country. People are very polite and quite eager to help a stupid Dane that is lost or cant find the diner. On one of those trips I visited The Henry Ford Museum in Michigan and one of the people working there was very proud of the place (with good reason) and showed me around for most of the day. He pointed out some houses there were about 150 years or so old and marveled by how old they were. I couldnt bring myself to tell him that the family's summerhouse is 200 years old and that the apartment building I lived in back then were from 1788 :)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but one of us (whomever has the highest Hunting) can probably just use the hound, right?  No need to involve his men.

Anyone have higher Hunting than 10?  If so, it's all you, if not, Perin will take point here.

And that's a good question, horses or not?  There are certainly advantages and disadvantages to both.  Being mounted is of course a big deal, especially when it comes to combat.  But on the flip side, we're in a forest that we don't know.  That and it's very likely to intimidate the crap out of the poor buggers.

Yeah, that makes it all better.

Indeed... And another brick is added to the road to hell.

I can see how the rebels might get intimidated but if we leave our steeds behind might our host not get suspicious?

He has intrigue, so he used it. So there. Naaah :P

Yeah, I'm thinking we need to take them.

Yeah, take the sway backs.

I have to admit I'm jealous Sir Garym gets to deal with actual talking boars!

Right?!

Its a pretty cool quest

Pretty cool?  It's bloody awesome!  We're all very jealous!

Don't worry, there will be ample mud for everyone in time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6femF3zHbtA

Except mud.  Mud for everyone!

Alright, so, hunting is being done by Perin unless someone else speaks up.  We said yes to the dog, assuming that there's no handler involved.  And yes to horses, though not our best ones?
This message was last edited by the player at 20:21, Sun 26 Nov 2017.

Heh. I love that game!

Yes to Perin leading the hunt, bringing the dog and using our riding horses rather than our battle steeds.

Ohhhhh, a hunting we will go, a hunting we will go, to bag some Peasants for the sport, a hunting we will go.

Still around - enjoying watching your quests unfold :)

Figured it was only a matter of time before the bugger crit you Sejanus (and I was right).  Good thing he didn't wound!

And no martyrdom for you mate!
This message was last edited by the player at 00:40, Thu 30 Nov 2017.

Haha nice done mate!  I won't lie, snorted a bit of water reading all of that.

Sir Brocklebuck is a complete barstard. Hmm ... when you guys arrive at Dinton Sir Gracian may not be available ;)

Hah!  Don't leave me alone to deal with this my friend!

"Sir Gracian is not available for Quests at this moment. Please send a message with next pigeon. Thank you"

He is just misunderstood.

And he is good to animals.

A new challenger approaches.

Hi guys! Apparently there's been some mention of me already. Perin keeps regaling me with epic tales of how great this game is and how excellent you all are, so I look forward to getting embroiled in some trouble with everyone <3

Besides, I rolled Healing on the Family Characteristic Table so that means you have to take me with you.

I've been doing some reading here and there of a few threads to catch up. You guys have been writing up a hell of a storm!

Welcome Sir Alister to our merry band of old farts :)

I think we all know Sir Perin is prone to enthusiastic outbursts but he is right this time. It is a wonderful campaign due to incredible players and an outstanding Teller that somehow manage to keep up with our posting rate. It started out with a different Teller but he disappeared and poor Sir Tyngyr had to die before we could get a new Teller (we miss you Sir Tyngyr. We really do).

So Sir Dalan and I are the old (surviving) players and we were lucky enough to get Sir Garym and Sir Perin to join us and they have done much to keep the campaign exciting. And Sir Perin's posting rate has been breathtaking.

Timezones can be an issue though as we have Americans (Teller, Sir Perin), an Irishman (Sir Dalan) and a Dane (me) in the group. And from what I can understand you are Australian (correct?) so now the campaign will truly never sleep.

I am playing Sir Gracian of Dinton and the Banneretcy of Stonewall. A Roman and a barstard that has for some mysterious reason not only survived but also prospered. He has survived wars, raids, quests, faes and even tournaments and has recently married fair Lady Ariette. Why she married him is still a mystery because it wasnt because of his good looks and it sure as hell wasnt for his money. Life is strange.

So in other words - welcome! I hope you will enjoy it as much as we do and if there is anything we can do/explain then let us know. As long as it isnt about rules because I dont know the rules at all.

EDIT: Where are you from Sir Garym??
This message was last edited by the player at 11:19, Tue 05 Dec 2017.

Thank you for the honest welcome <3

I'm still catching up, but there's been some high quality storytelling going on. Hopefully I don't let the legacy down!

Correct on my being Australian! And whatever else he said about me, I swear it isn't true.

I hear devious tales that supposedly Teller is plotting for Sir Gracian and Sir Alister to join into the current plot together, so I'd say you'll be stuck with me before long! In short, my rough plan is for Alister to have been a third son, but who lost his father and brothers in the Irish invasion. As a result, he's recently been knighted and inherited Burcombe, and Teller indicated that Sir Gracian might have offered him some help to get him on his feet. If you're amenable to that, I think it sounds like a good foundation!


Oh good! We'll get along famously <3

Offering Sir Alister some help? What? My silver .. my precious silver??!!! Oh cruel fate, why? Why!!!!

Of course I am up for that and Sir Gracian has more than enough money so of course he has offered his assistance :)

Hah! If not silver, I'm sure some good mentor-y advice on How To Run A Fief for Dummies would have gone a long, long way. He needs all the help he can get.

I deliberately picked Burcombe as it's sort of along the river from Baverstock and Dinton (and Tilsbury and Woodsford to a lesser extent), so I'm hoping that's enough to give all your characters at least a passing familiarity with mine so that we're not quite starting from Ground Zero. Even if it's just a "Yo, sorry about your Dad."

I just have a history to write up, but otherwise I'm moooostly ready to go. So in the mean time I'll just make myself a pest in the OOC until someone calls me to enter stage right.

Sir Gracian has a well-used copy of How to run a Fief for Dummies but he mostly leave it to his wife that is alot smarter than him :D

Clever boy. I might need to get some scribes to make me a copy of that book.

Welcome Alister!  And I promise, we won't hold you being an Aussie against you my friend!

And breathtaking?  Pshh, this whole group has been fantastic about posting rate, which is something of a rarity on RPoL.

Trying to make the most that I can from our... situation.  So Perin is heading back to Salisbury, he can drop off Dalan and pick up Gracian and our new knight!

Welcome Sir Alister, I hope you enjoy the game!

Feel free to journey up to Bourton.  It takes about 3-4 days.  Good Old Sir Brocklebuck is there, waiting patiently.  :)

Oh I cant wait

While Gracian and Alister make jokes at Perin's expense all the way there.

And Gracian tell Alister little secrets about Perin. "... and there was this one time when ..."

I think we're going to be great friends.

I am still here. Life just taking a toll on my better reality.

Oh dear, don't we all know that feeling. Nice to meet you anyhow, and looking forward to some RP when life stops kicking everyone in the butt. <3

Haha, that's some absolutely terrible rolls with hunting gents!  This quest is continuing to be an absolute gem!

Also, you know what they say, 5th time is the charm?

Well, your rolls are average it has just become much harder because they are attempting to avoid you, so you need two successes (~23% chance) and the second needs to beat Cad's avoidance roll.  So maybe 10-15% overall.

That explains so much.  Does the dog provide any bonus?

Sure.  Just not much of one.  It is an old dog.

Honestly the old dog has become my favorite NPC on this adventure, I won't lie.

Sorry, what now?

Love
Fiona

Pshhh, Fiona's not on this adventure!  I didn't say anything about favorite NPC overall ;)

As an aside, unless one of you gents has another idea, I'm thinking we're just going to have to suffer through hunting for these buggers.

I got no ideas what so ever so we will just have to rely on our trusted dog ;)

Hunting it is then!

I love that dog. Do you think we can bring him home with us?

Ahaha lol holy shit

"Okay new guy, show all these big intimidatingly famous knights you're not useless."

Fate: no.


Edit: I got a character description up now, so that should help some.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:48, Wed 06 Dec 2017.

Wow you guys don't waste any time. Good luck with quest!

Sir Dalan, [sic]: PEACE. I'm out.


Thanks for the well wishes. We're going to need it.

I call dibs!

Fiona will be less pleased when it pees on the rug <3

Edit: The lion rug.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:13, Wed 06 Dec 2017.

Sorry, super busy time right now.  Painting downstairs, making Christmas cookies, going through family albums, the list keeps getting longer.  I'll try to reply to PMs tomorrow.

Please, those are the things that make life worth living, don't ever apologize for spending time with family!

Our great cookie bake is this weekend, we legitimately use 16+ pounds of butter.

So, heads up to everyone! There'll be a slight activity drop on my end this coming weekend (Friday night and Saturday night for you Americans). I'll be around, just possibly not during prime-time.

For those not in the know (ie, everyone barring Perin), I live on a 3500 acre sheep/cattle ranch, and it's about shearing time, meaning I gotta drag my current project horse out to go find 3000 sheep in the hills somewhere. Annoyingly, posting from a phone on horseback while I'm meant to be finding livestock isn't as easy as I'd like it to be.

Clearly, I have the very worst of first world problems.

So, mostly, lots of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCtxPZ6LWBY

And a bonus video of me casually walking my sheep down a public road. Because tiny baby lambs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m808lfNyqIQ

^{(And because people have asked, no, I'm not "moo"ing at him, it's just my atrocious accent. I've trained him to voice commands, so "steady" = "slow down" and "Wooah" = "Stop.")}

Haha have fun dear!

What she doesn't mention is that everything out there is trying to kill her.  No really, it's bloody Australia, I swear everything is poisonous.

Oh, I assumed "valiantly dodging snakes on my noble steed" went without saying <3

Well I mean you know how I feel about Hiccup.  Just saying that you'd better bring my pony back in one piece!

Sorry for going silent. Finally found time for a date night with the girlfriend. We saw the new version of Murder on the Orient Express and I highly recommend it :)

Please, don't apologize!  I'm just glad y'all found the time to do stuff together.

And hey, they aren't armed.  And Perin isn't Sejanus, he won't stand there and get hit if things turn violent.  Though I really think they won't.

... I hope

You dont understand. They may be unarmed - but they have squirrels!

Enchanted Ninja Squirrels!!!!!

In reply to Sir Gracian (msg # 377):

We saw Murder on the Orient Express a week or two ago.  Quite enjoyable.  Even if I remembered what happened from reading the book and/or seeing the original movie.  :)

I hate you all.

Excellent idea!! Enchanted Ninja Mutant Squirrels named Bob and Harry.



We know you do and thats why we love you. Now go fight the squirrels and make us proud. But not too proud - we got money on the squirrels.

Like, a lot of money. If you could just lie down in, about, the third round? That'd be perfect <3

Not the first. Not the second. But the third round. Ok?

What a cool story, Teller.  Was this one of the modules. I do not remember it if it was. If original, it is outstanding!!!!

The part about Twlc Mochyn and retrieving the boar spear is from Tales of Magic & Miracles (which is where the Quest for the Holy Sword came from) in the Adventure of the Fay Road.  The rest I made up.

No matter where you got the idea to the quest from the quality of this campaign is just mindblowing. I love the campaign, the stories, the setting, the mood and feel .. like Garym I can only say the campaign is outstanding.

What the other folks said!  Teller there's a reason why I tell folks this is the best campaign I've played in on RPoL!  I mean just ask Alister if you want proof ;)