Amicus is trying to put together a kick-ass army for the inevitable conquering that will be coming soon in Adventurer, Conqueror, King. However, he is having a terrible time putting together cavalry. He's been training up mercenaries into a reasonable infantry force. He's got over 120 heavy infantry through recruitment and training. Now he needs some horsemen.
That's where the Therks directly to the South come in. I would like someone (Jason?) to adjudicate Amicus' outreach to the Therkish warlord/warlords to the South to first try to bring them on board as my henchmen. If that doesn't work, Amicus is not above hiring the Masked Archer to take out the current leader so that Amicus might make another offer to the new leader. If *that* doesn't work, Amicus would like to investigate taking the Therkish domain (or domains?) by force.
What strangeness could happen? Maybe Amicus is asked to marry the Therkish Warlord's backwards daughter. Perhaps the Therks demand that Amicus pays a tribute to them. Maybe the Therks are just asshats who need to be crushed by Rotwang and Murderface. In any case, Amicus is ready to annex more domains in order to build a more powerful fighting force.
Once the Therks are under Yoesville's flag, I'll be able to command a more balanced force and use it to drive the forces of Denguir from the Badlands.
Which reminds me. We need to drive all the bad guys from the badlands! Anyone want the forest of Hod as their domain? Amicus would support any foray into the Hag's domain. We may even want to do that before clearing the Island of the Dead.
Jason, what is the state of Yoesville's treaty with BadAxe Hold? Do you know what forces are under Badaxe Jack's command?
I'm totally racist against the Therks and would like to see them all dead. They brought Dengwur and his foul brood to ruin Gatavia and should all drown in lakes of blood.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they are jerks. They make pretty good horsemen, though. I don't want them dead, I just want to rule them!
ReplyDeleteBadaxe Hold just hit size 4 with his share of the plunder from Bor's temple, and is on good terms with Yoeville. Bastardo was harsh on caravans heading to the south, so now there's whole new markets of people to deal with.
ReplyDeleteBadaxe Jack currently has (not including his house troops) 240 heavy infantry, 120 crossbowmen, 60 mounted crossbowmen, and is actually a siege specialist. He could probably also muster up to 60 neanderthals with up to 12 white apes, if need be.
Murderface has 60 1st level dwarven furies (the survivors from that first goblin battle), 60 dwarven berserkers, and another 60 human berserkers (all in the Cult of Woden/Junior Murderface Fanclub).
Murderface as an ambassador to the Therks? I'll do it, but you know this could a recipe for disaster, right? A negative charisma to start with, a dwarf berserker with a gimpy metal leg and a bad attitude? If you could get Split-tongue to do it, it might work out better. Rotwang might be a better fit with them, as well.
Rotwang enjoys smashing people into submission, well, submission by death.
ReplyDelete>>Murderface as an ambassador to the Therks?
ReplyDeleteNo, not at all! I suppose I meant by this:
>> I would like someone (Jason?) to adjudicate Amicus' outreach to the Therkish warlord/warlords to the South to first try to bring them on board as my henchmen.
I meant that I'm looking for a GM to respond to Amicus' message to the Therks that I'm drafting. Look for it here soon!
Ah, okay. Yeah, that makes much sense. Yeah, as it just so happens, I just got through reading a couple of Conan books where he was messing around with basically the mongols, and I think I can work a bit of that into things.
ReplyDeleteI'm not ready for a domain yet, so if someone else wants Hod they can have it. But if not Tiberio would be willing to rule Hod, probably looking to expand west towards the Elfwood's borders and/or north towards the hills with the Tower of Graf. I didn't see details on the Tower anywhere, so I'm not sure what lives there.
ReplyDeleteOne of the preparations I want to make before I make before I make a move for a domain (other than reach 9th lvl, only just barely reached 8th last session) is bring mercenaries onto my payroll so I can have at least a core garrison in place immediately. I plan on using Helpful Bill for that, both recruiting and perhaps training. However, until Tiberio actually has land to rule they won't be doing much.
This leads to a proposal Tiberio has for Amicus. Tiberio would be willing to place any potential merc forces under Yoe command to serve as garrison until such time as he needs to call them to full service. In exchange, Amicus would pay Tiberio a portion of their salaries. I'm thinking half of the mercenaries' normal salary. You would end up getting half priced garrison units until I needed them, and I would make back some of my expenses for maintaining a force.
>>I'm not ready for a domain yet
DeleteDepending on who actually lives in Hod might make a difference on who should rule the domain. Everyone gets some sort of stronghold or hideout at 9th level that includes free henchmen. However, any of us can decide to try to rule a domain filled with regular folk.
>>This leads to a proposal Tiberio has for Amicus. Tiberio would be willing to place any potential merc forces under Yoe command to serve as garrison until such time as he needs to call them to full service.
Pontifex Amicus would gladly house, maintain, and pay the full going wages for any mercenaries that protect Yoesville. However, I'm not interested in paying for any training or upgrades to troops as that is pricey. Just pass me the monthly troop makeup and numbers and I'll pay up.
That goes for anyone! I know that Murderface has a few troops under his command. If he isn't already being paid upkeep to defend Badaxe Hold (and I'm betting he is), I would gladly pay upkeep and provide housing and blacksmithing for his troops as well.
Would anyone else like to lead a mercenary company? Would anyone else be interested in ruling a domain of their own? Who else is as stoked as I am about hitting 9th level and creating a stronghold?
For that matter, I've got a merchant henchman who I am considering using to start running a trade route with soon. Is there anyone else out there interested in investing in an overland mercantile venture?
ReplyDeleteif it would require a personal commitment of downtime, Tiberio might have to be out. I already have a lot to do between spells, research, hiring henchmen, hiring mercenaries, and anything else that might come up as I try to prepare for gaining a domain.
DeleteI might be interested in a purely financial investment, if I manage to find another henchman (I have other plans for Bill), or if it becomes part of an active mission.
Yeah, I suppose it would require an NPC. Amicus' Venturer henchman is going to start a trade route along the Patronus river (Diggers > Yoesville > Pickerville > Badaxe Hold > Boscovania) and having a second caravan would improve our defense while bringing cash to your coffers. Unfortunately, it is looking more and more like it could be more trouble than it is worth.
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