How many warriors do you think the Shoanti could field if they invaded Korvosa? Based on myreading, obviously the Sklar-Quah would lead the way, & it seems likely that the Lyrune-Quah & Shundar-Quah would be the first two quahs to back them up.
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In my campaign, the Shoanti will be preparing for was while the PCs are in the Cinderlands. It will be the PCs' secondary objective (next to the primary objective of finding out more about the fangs of midnight) to delay the war.
Here are my numbers:
Shoanti tribes are massing for war under the impuls of the Sklar-Quah (Sun clan). The PCs can try to negotiate with the chiefs to delay the departure of the war force, which will consist of 4,320 Shoanti:
- Lyrune-Quah (Moon): 820,especially hunters and archers;
- Shriikiri-Quah (Hawk): 370, with lots of horses and 16 mastodon eliphants;
- Shundar-Quah (Spire): 480, including a number of bards;
- Sklar-Quah (Sun): 1750, with a lot of horse riders and warriors;
- Skoan-Quah (Skull): 710, including a fair number of shamans and healers;
- Tamiir-Quah (windclan): 290 and 7 gigantic rocs.
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I like the addition of rocs & mastodons. Hadn't thought about that.
In my campaign, the Shoanti will be preparing for was while the PCs are in the Cinderlands. It will be the PCs' secondary objective (next to the primary objective of finding out more about the fangs of midnight) to delay the war.
Why would the PCs want them to delay the war? I mean, aside from the obvious reasons that they should first go to Scarwall, but what would be their motivation not to set loose the Shoanti on Ileosa?
Why would the PCs want them to delay the war? I mean, aside from the obvious reasons that they should first go to Scarwall, but what would be their motivation not to set loose the Shoanti on Ileosa?
My guesses?
a] Concerns with collateral damage. If the Shoanti go to war with the tshamek without the PCs to restrain them, their war goals are going to be more along the lines of ‘raze the entire city of Korvosa, slaughter anyone inside its walls who has Chelish blood, and reclaim our ancestral lands’, rather than simply ‘overthrow Korvosa’s psychotic monarch’.b] Without high-level PCs to deal with the heavy-hitters Ileosa’s got at her disposal (the Grey Maidens, Kayltanya and her Red Mantis assassins, an adult black dragon, and by that point Ileosa herself and the entire retinue of fiends placed at her disposal), it’s entirely possible that the Shoanti would get exterminated before they could even reach the city walls, much less breach them.
c] When the PCs left Korvosa, disaffection with the Queen was rising, but nothing unites a divided house like an external threat (at least in the short term). If a Shoanti army marches on Korvosa, the Korvosan opposition is likely to align itself with the Crown to defend the city, if only out of simple survival. And if Ileosa and/or her fiendish advisors have nouse enough to hide the regime’s main strength until it’s needed, she/they will have a perfect chance to let the main bodies of organised domestic resistance unmask themselves in the city’s defence, bleed them white by throwing them against the Shoanti, then sic all those nasty heavy-hitters from above on both sides, exterminate them, and cast her rule over Korvosa in adamantine. (Remember, Hell thinks Machiavelli’s The Prince is the kindergarteners’ guide to statesmanship.)
Why would the PCs want them to delay the war? I mean, aside from the obvious reasons that they should first go to Scarwall, but what would be their motivation not to set loose the Shoanti on Ileosa?My guesses?
a] Concerns with collateral damage. If the Shoanti go to war with the tshamek without the PCs to restrain them, their war goals are going to be more along the lines of ‘raze the entire city of Korvosa, slaughter anyone inside its walls who has Chelish blood, and reclaim our ancestral lands’, rather than simply ‘overthrow Korvosa’s psychotic monarch’.
I agree, Trace.
War with the Shoanti would lead to a lot of damage: all of the outlying towns would be destroyed, its inhabitants killed (unless they can flee to the city). There would also be thousands of deaths, certainly among the Shoanti, who would probably lose the war in the end, but also among the Korvosans. For example, I can definitely imagine Ileosa using the approaching barbarian army as an excellent excuse to get rid of the rest of the Korvosan Guard, who would be sent out to stop the enemy before they reach the gates of the city. At which they will fail, of course ... Then only the Grey Maidens would remain.
b] Without high-level PCs to deal with the heavy-hitters Ileosa’s got at her disposal (the Grey Maidens, Kayltanya and her Red Mantis assassins, an adult black dragon, and by that point Ileosa herself and the entire retinue of fiends placed at her disposal), it’s entirely possible that the Shoanti would get exterminated before they could even reach the city walls, much less breach them.
I wouldn't think that Ileosa would be able to kill the Shoanti before they reach the walls of the city, but she would probably be able to kill them at the walls, using the advantage of the city's defenses. After all, the Shoanti are bound to have some high level characters themselves (fighters or barbarians, but also sun shamans and others). And I guess they have more mid-level warriors than the Korvosans, who've had lots of their military forces decimated in the last few months.
c] When the PCs left Korvosa, disaffection with the Queen was rising, but nothing unites a divided house like an external threat (at least in the short term). If a Shoanti army marches on Korvosa, the Korvosan opposition is likely to align itself with the Crown to defend the city, if only out of simple survival. And if Ileosa and/or her fiendish advisors have nouse enough to hide the regime’s main strength until it’s needed, she/they will have a perfect chance to let the main bodies of organised domestic resistance unmask themselves in the city’s defence, bleed them white by throwing them against the Shoanti, then sic all those nasty heavy-hitters from above on both sides, exterminate them, and cast her rule over Korvosa in adamantine. (Remember, Hell thinks Machiavelli’s The Prince is the kindergarteners’ guide to statesmanship.)
Very good point. Although war with the Shoanti will hurt Ileosa, she will come out the victor, which will only strengthen her position in Korvosa.