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Jinny doffs her fancy plumed hat, bowing low in the way of the Western land courts.
As the food harvest is most important, I would be honored to assist in it and provide some measure of protection from attack.
She looks at her fancy, brightly colored clothes.
Would someone be willing to loan me some worker's clothes?
"Off course we have some working clothes for you"
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Timmon cocks his head. " The bandits may be watching even now. They may attack as soon as the harvest is finished."
I suggest:
Day 1. Dragon -- crossbow. Ox,hare -- combat. Crane,turtle -- harvest.
Day 2. D -- crossbow. O,H -- harvest. C,T -- combat.
Day 3. D -- harvest. O,H -- combat. C,T -- harvest.
We keep up a similar rotation. Hopefully we get some indication that training has worked and we can drop crossbow and combat training for barricading.
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Belina seems to consider the situation.
"We need to speed up the harvest so we can reduce the risk of having innocents in the fields and allow us to flood them. We can train the villagers, and archery training will be of great use if we can limit the approach of the bandits by flooding the fields as soon as possible."
Belina once lived in a hobbit village. "How many can we put on the harvest before they are just getting the way?? That is where we should start. We can skip scouting for one day, but should probably send some scouts out the next day."
She smiles: "I will begin training unit dragon to fire crossbows."
Belina shows team Dragon some tricks with the crossbow. She thinks that it would take it least another day before the unit shows any real progress. The team tells her that they are a bit short on bolts, so that is something else she might be able to help them with
Jinny shouts team Ox into shape, the team shows quick progress. At the end of the day they seem to get accustomed to their drills and also to Jinny's shouting. Jinny thinks that she has some stuff left to teach these farmers.
Timmon and Heveel help with the harvest and make good progress. There is still plenty to be done but at this rate they both think they can finish the work in another one to two days.
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Jinny falls into bed, exhausted by a day of shouting, marching, and mock battle, but pleased with the progress her Ox Warriors have made.
Belina shows team Dragon more tricks with the crossbow. They are hitting the targets more reliably then when she started training. After looking over the number of available bolts she agrees that more would enhance the combat effectiveness of the unit, although enough are available to be able to shoot for a while.
Jinny shouts some more at team Ox, and they seem to get the drill. It is obvious that there is still stuff to teach these farmers, if only the pathfinders have the time available...
Timmon and Heveel help with the harvest and make good progress. There is still plenty to be done but at this rate they both think they can finish the work in another day. They might even be able to finish the work with just two teams and Heveel if he is able to give enough pointers
Jinny knows there is only so much that these farmers can absorb in training. She recons that it does not matter that much whether she continues training this team or she starts with a new team.
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Belina tries to encourage them to work hard. Not much on making something with her hands, she encourages those in town with whittling skill to make a simple crossbow bolt out of hard wood.
Heveel helps to bring in the last of the harvest. Belina tries to show the farmers how to make crossbow bolts. Unfortunately her own skill leaves much room for improvement and at the end of the day she and her team have produces some bolts that are not fit for use.
Jinny shouts team Turtle into a proper drill. After just one day these boys have picked up the same stuff as team ox knows after two days!
Timmon finds some tracks of several horses. He estimates that the attack is likely to come at day 6. He thinks that more scouting might be needed to confirm or improve on this estimate.
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These villagers are peaceful and wise. But they have the warrior spirit in them when they need it.
Jinny raises a toast to the villagers.
All have worked hard. The danger is coming, and coming soon. But we will be ready. And they shall rue they day they crossed us! Huzzah!
She turns her eye to team Hare.
You are next. And your combat skill shall exceed even the mighty Turtle clan!
I'm okay with the current estimate, given that we have not started flooding and have no barricades yet. Since flooding and barricades both take several multiple units for multiple days, and have the same function (limiting access to entry points), we will have to choose one or the other. We have two full days (estimated) before the attack, so I think our priorities for those two days are:
* melee training Hare (1 unit, 1 day)
* melee training Crane (1 unit, 1-2 days)
* flooding the fields (2 units, multiple days)
* ranged training Dragon (1 unit, 1-2 days)
* ranged training Ox, Hare, Crane, Turtle
* melee training Dragon
I seem to be pretty good at melee training so I think it makes sense for me to train Hare and Crane for those two days. Would it make sense to send Crane, Dragon, Turtle and Ox out to flood the fields today and have the PC's do untrained Engineering checks (with Aid Another) to see if we can knock that out in a single day?
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Constructing the Barricades: Controlling possible attack routes is key to not being overwhelmed. Constructing barricades from wood and bamboo aids in this endeavor. Incorporating the landscape and the existing structures of the village into this barricade allows the defenders to contain attackers to several choke points. Construction was already underway before the party arrived in Nesting Swallow; by continuing to assign workers to it or overseeing construction, You can assist in making it sturdier and more effective. It will take 3 units several days to complete the barricades. Assinging more units to the task will speed up the work. You can help by directing the workers (Knowledge Engineering or Profession Woodcutter). If a PC oversees construction each and every day he can incorporate traps in the construction (Craft Traps or Disable Device)
Flooding the Fields: This can only take place after the harvest is completed. The crop fields are low-lying and designed to be irrigated by the stream. With work, they can be turned into a virtual moat by adjusting the flow of water, causing them to flood. This limits the routes the bandits can attack from, giving significant tactical advantage to the defenders. It will take 20 villagers (two units) multiple days to accomplish this, although proper supervision (Knowledge Engineering) will speed up the work.
Belina shows team Dragon more advanced tricks with the crossbow. She needs another day to let today's lessons truly sink in. Jinny shouts at team Hare, who are intimidated into quickly understanding the drills.
Heveel is helping the teams that are flooding the fields. He notices that damming the stream and flooding the ditches is work where only so many hands are of use at one time and that the third team working here is not adding that much.
Timmon is scouting, but only finds the same tracks that he found yesterday
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Jimmy will train Crane so every villager has some form of training before the storm hits.
-Posted with Wayfinder
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It will take 3 units several days to complete the barricades. Assinging more units to the task will speed up the work. You can help by directing the workers (Knowledge Engineering or Profession Woodcutter). If a PC oversees construction each and every day he can incorporate traps in the construction (Craft Traps or Disable Device)