GM Ukyo's Rise of a Hero campaign arc

Game Master Ukyo

He smiles, and takes her hand. "Never too bold for you, my dear."

She'll dance with the natural grace of one born on the waves and dancing with dolphins. Her pale blonde hair sparkles as you twirl her around the dance floor and her steps naturally guide yours, improving your own dancing abilities. Flutes and harps, drums and bells fill the air as you lock fingers and glide across the floor. As the song finally comes to an end your focus expands to the rest of the room and you realize your standing in a circle of silent, staring faces. Alliandra blushes, gasping for breath. Someone begins to clap, then another, and another, until the entire room lets loose an uproar of applause!

Tertius approaches with the farm girl in a beautiful dress on his arm as the circle breaks and another song starts and others begin to dance again, "I never knew you were such a dancer brother?"

"Alliandra makes my heart soar, so why not my feet as well?" he says smiling warmly at his love.

For all of his children's birthdays, he'll requisition protective clothing, armor for Essen, Leathers for Tessa, and something stately for Anthony. He'll pay the rune crafter seperately for any enchantments, as he will agree this isn't covered under their agreement.

He will also work with Magelos as needed, helping where he can getting the barony and other lomis up and running, without getting in the way.
He has smart dedicated people working hard on this, and doesn't want to micro-manage.

He'll talk with the shipbuilder and the captain, about the kind of ships one would need to hunt pirates, letting them brainstorm. He will also see about giving the captain a naval rank, or at least commision him as a privateer, if he isn't already.

Titus will spend his evenings with Allie and his children, making sure to have some alone time with Allie, as usual. He doesn't pressure her in any way, but hopes perhaps she will tell him what is bothering her about "them". He doesn't believe it's her age anymore...

Alliandra smiles at your remark, clearly pleased. The farm girl with Tertius, having no real sense of culture or etiquette blurts out, "So when are you two getting married?"

Tertius breathes in sharply and Alliandra's smile locks in place but is completely gone from her eyes. The woman realizes her error and blushes bright red, "Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize I... I just assumed, I'm so sorry."

Alliandra grips your arm tightly, "It's ok you can't know... it's just, my parents.." she shakes her head, "Not your fault."

The awkward situation is broken up by the consigliere approaching, "M'lord there is a matter of great importance if you could follow me?"

Soon as he gets you away from them he says, "Forgive my impertinence m'lord, I just felt you might wish to be rescued."

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Octavia will make a fine hardened leather breastplate for Essen, it has twice the number of individual plates as normal in order to reduce the loss of mobility and is studded in brass. Tessa's will be a thin leather shirt snug enough that she can wear it under her clothes and doesn't hide her feminine figure. Anthony's will be a pair of bracers. All three will have Andronicus and Caratos emblems etched into them and will be enchanted with Durability and Protection runes.

It'll take a letter to the Doukas to get a letter of mark as a privateer, a simple thing that you've no doubt he'll sign. As far as a naval commission you'll need to send directly to the naval academy at Goran on the continent of Caratos. That is a signature authority reserved at the highest level. The Doukas would be willing to give his recommendation though.

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Alliandra will explain a bit more during your evenings together, "My father is a very powerful man, my mother very dedicated to what's proper and will advance the family. My father will choose who I am to marry and there's nothing I can do about it."

She won't really say that, if you press her at all the most you'll get is that he's "VERY influential, VERY powerful, and can be very dangerous if crossed."

Titus will say to tertius' woman: "No apologies necessary, M'lady. I can understand if people assume we are betrothed. Please give it no thought, and enjoy yourselves!"

He'll then go off with the consigliere and thank him for his intent.
.............................................

He will send a letter to get the privateer mark while waiting for the naval comission, if the Doukas agrees to give recommendation. As long as it's undertood he is to be assigned to him. If there's a better way to get him the authority and backing of caratos to hunt pirates, he'll listen to suggestions.

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"Why cross him? He wouldn't approve of linking your family to a Von family of Caratos? To a baron of the realm no less? I will endure his scrutiny and judgement for you, Allie. As you have figured out, I'm not one to give up. I would have you for my wife, and I know you love me." He'll realize he's getting intense again and backs off a notch. He sighs and looks her in the eye.
"Maybe we should see if it really is an issue, see if we can get what we want and appease your family obligations before we just give up?"

There really isn't any other way to get the authority and backing of the empire. You can personally back him, and the Doukas will personally assist by providing support and supplies from Port Haros, but anything more than that will require the letter of mark or commission, steps which your already taking but as you know take a long time to bare fruit.

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Alliandra looks frustrated but she gives in, "Okay, I will write to my father, he'll be furious but it's been a year and he's got to see that I'm an adult and should be allowed to decide my OWN future!"

She'll spend two weeks writing the letter... then rewriting it... disregarding and rewriting it again... and again... before she's finally willing to send it. She looks terrified as she gives the letter to the captain to have delivered.

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The rest of Dacono is downright pleasant as the weather cools to a comfortable warmth. Derbin steps up training, an assignment he refuses to relinquish despite his new rank, and with your permission he has a full size training facility and yard built outside the castle walls. The Lord's Captain protests at first, but can't deny the benefit of his direct oversight of training and he just shuffles off some of the normal Lord's Sergeant's duties onto one of the Senior Sergeants, who also doesn't mind as she sees it as experience for a future promotion.

The Bay Komis begins to develop as some of the estates are getting built and some of the slaves are shifted from the port city to other tasks. You've appointed people to oversee everything and they are very competent at their jobs, as such the biggest decision you have to make is what to name your new city.

Titus will reassure her as best he can...
.......
He'll ok the training ground's contruction.

Still need a name for your Bay Komis... you can always leave it up to whoever you decide to appoint there. :P

The month of Peloso is wet and rainy, old men complain about aching knees and you begin to wonder if the sun will ever shine through the clouds again.

Alliandra frets and worries for a couple weeks about the letter before finally letting it go.

Xion brings good news, he's found a cheaper way to make the boxes work, it takes longer but it works... instead of sending messages on paper he tried sending something on clay, a suggestion from your runecrafter. "It takes time to make the clay tablets so sending messages isn't quick, but I sent a message from the castle to the innkeeper without blowing anything up!" So progress is being made...

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28th of Peloso
You hear your head servant arguing in the hall, "He is not to be disturbed just now, he's busy, you can make an appointment!"

Grush's voice, "He not too busy for this, see Titus now!"

The Servant, "The Lord Komis does not wait on you, Hippotis or no, hey you can't go IN THERE!"

The door to your study bursts open and a very irritated looking Grush strides in with your servant attached to his arm vainly attempting to hold him back. Grush looks as if he's run for a day straight, a feat you know him capable of.

"Titus tell human to let go or I let him go!" and he shakes his arm, the servant goes flying into a tumble on the floor, "Black Spiders attack loggers, wood no more!"

Titus looks at the servant.
"I admire your zeal, but when one of my Hippotis or Komis come to me and say its urgent, do not impede them, in any way, again. No go send a runner to the Lord's Captain Dermont, and quickly."

"Ok Grush, what happened? Is this the beginning of the war?"

The servant scrambles to his feet and bows, "Yes m'lord... yes m'lord!" and he leaves hastily.

Grush nods, "It come soon, Black Spiders bring many warriors."

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Dermont hurries in still buttoning the collar on his coat, "Yes m'lord?" and nods to Grush respectfully.

"Dominus Grush has informed me that the Orc Alliance has started their offensive. They have attacked our loggers. Grush, please give the Lord's Captain here the details of the attack."

The Lord's Captain turns towards Grush who speaks, "Orcs attack loggers, loggers fight off orcs and come back across ford, no more logging, black spiders too close."

The Lord's Captain of course is not satisfied, "How many were there? Did you take casualties?"

Grush shrugs, "Not many, eight... Bearclaw fight good, better now Derbin teach them. Black Spiders die, Bearclaw leave forest. One hurt, Black Spiders strong," he starts to spit then glances at you and doesn't, "But Bearclaw stronger, smarter!"

The Lord's Captain nods, turns back to you, "Sounds like a scout patrol ran into them, I'd say we've got a week, maybe two, before the main force arrives."

"Make the necessary preperations. Send runners to Hippotis Trak, Marinos and Komis Magelos, let them know to prepare defenses or to move thier people. We will conviene a war council in 3 days."

"Yes m'lord!" The Lord's Captain salutes and departs to carry out your orders.

Grush grins at you, "Now we fight, now we kill many black spiders!" he's clearly excited by the idea of killing the ones that drove his people from their homeland.

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Ok so who is coming to this war council?
Lord's Captain Dermont
Lord's Sergeant Derbin
You
Hippotis Trak, Marinos, Grush
Komis Megalos

anyone else?

That should do it...maybe essen and anthony and tessa if she's there

He will open the meeting by greeting everyone, then explaining the situation with the logging attack.

"We expect an attack soon. We need to decide how we're going to fight this war, and mroe importantly whant we'll do to keep our civilians out of the way. Suggestions?"

Lord's Captain Dermont will speak first, "We place archers along the river to stop the orcs from crossing anywhere but the ford, then we choke them at the ford. We have the defensible position and the ability to resupply indefinitely, there's no reason for us to take the offensive."

Derbin nods, "Many of the civilians have received some training, they can be used as couriers and scouts on this side of the river."

The young lord Marinos waits his turn before speaking, "My estates are excellently suited to housing the wounded and my wife is the best healer in all Andronica." The last would seem like bragging if you hadn't met Megalos' daughter and seen her skills for yourself.

Megalos nods his approval at his son-in-law's suggestion, "I'll lead the runecrafters in strengthening the defensive wall against fire and force."

Grush grins at you, intensity in his voice "I kill black spiders." which causes everyone to smile.

Trak shrugs his massive shoulders, "The wall will hold, especially with Megalos' help. It's solidly built and complete. The weakness is if they do get past the wall, there's no second line of defense at all."

Having given you all their information and suggestions, they look to you for final decisions...

"Fear of water or no, I doubt they'll limit themselves to one avenue of attack. We'll need contingencies, but what you've brought up so far is excellent. We'll go with that for now.

I can't help but wonder though, if we were to draw them into an open field of battle, using our tactics, if such a display of strength from such a smaller force wouldn't give them pause as well."

Even Grush shakes his head at that, Lord's Captain Dermont replies, "our 500 men vs. their ten thousand m'lord? They'd overrun us easily no matter how good our tactics are. Sure they'd respect our corpses... but this is about winning, not simply giving them pause."

"Ah, well it was a thought. Crushed against our walls is good enough.
Make the preperations, keep me in the loop. Dismissed."

Everyone pays their respects and departs to their tasks.

The next day you get a request from a Dominus who's currently in the castle to oversee the arrival of his food stores. He's a middle aged man with a bit of an overconfidence streak, but he's managed to pay his taxes on time since you've taken over and he didn't side with the rebellion... course the location of his estates may have had something to do with that.

"M'lord Komis I have a serious concern. I am told you ordered every woman and child from my estates to report to the castle immediately. The men will not work without their families m'lord... I mean, unless you want me to force them to work harder to keep their families safe. Is that your goal?" He looks as if he considers the idea dubious, but the very fact that he'd think it an option is a little frightening.

"Magister Magelos is Komis now, I am Baron. He will explain what is going on. In short, it is in preperation for a conflict, and for their protection, not to extort labor from your workers, Dominus. Komis MAgelos will have the details."

He blinks at you in surprise his face paling, "Oh um... ok m'lord, I am sorry to have taken your time." and he bows and leaves quickly.

A few hours later you get a knock on your door and Komis Magelos enters, he doesn't waste time getting to his point, "M'lord you ordered all the women and children to the castle?"

"Well no, not directly. That was a contingency plan when we are attacked. Someone asked me about it yesterday, I told them you would tell everyone what the plan was."

if your referring to the Dominus, it's the same day

Megalos looks confused, "This is news to me m'lord, I didn't give any such order, and if I had I certainly wouldn't do it in your name. What IS the plan?"

"I certainly did not either. Would seem there is a rumor mill afoot.
I would think the plan would be to get all civilians into the castle or to the port for safety in case the war spills over onto the dominii's lands. Isn't that what was agreed upon?"

Megalos seems a bit flustered, "Well that's certainly a good plan, but I don't recall that having been discussed. If you didn't give the order... and I didn't give the order..." He holds his hands out, "Who did?"

Titus will do the investigation and find that Alli did it. He'll have a brief conversation with her regarding although he loves and respects her, and wants her for his wife, she does not get to use that authority as she sees fit. Then he will ask her to go to Megalos and clear it up.

She pouts and gives you the cold shoulder for half a day or so, then she'll come and apologize. Apparently Derbin's wife talked to her and told her she was wrong...

Megalos confirms that her plan was a good one and he'll assist her in carrying it out.

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Over the next two days the tenor of the castle changes from a happy and hopeful place to something solemn... Servants and militia bustle about preparing for the civilian families, sending supplies to Trak and generally preparing for war.

The Lord's Captain Dermont comes to you, "Orcs sighted m'lord, it's time. I'm headed to the ford gates now."

"Understood. Let me grab my armor, and I'll go with you..."

He nods, a look of respect on his face, I'll meet you in the courtyard m'lord.

anything outside the normal gear that you want to bring, this would be the time to declare it
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Ten minutes later, it's amazingly easy to put your armor on it almost cinches itself up, you find yourself in the courtyard with a Dermont, Tertius, Derbin, and eight soldiers. The trip to the ford seems a blur as the men talk about the upcoming war. Derbin and Tertius are rocks of stability that the inexperienced men lean on and Dermont spends each evening in discussion with you on tactics and strategies. It's clear that he has a keen mind. Given the choice between two strategies he'll choose the one that best protects his men every time, even if the alternative could provide a bigger advantage strategically.

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You arrive at the old sawmill and it's abandoned, all the bearclaw orcs are at the ford now. You can see the smoke of a hundred campfires across the river as you leave the sawmill. The road tops a tall hill rise and you'll get your first view of what your up against. A thousand or more orc tents litter the south side of the river, disappearing into the forest. On your side a considerably smaller force of about 300 militia, orcs, and civilians prepares to defend the ford with their lives. A single wooden wall stands between them.

The orc forces are not orderly and you see several large banners, you'll recognize the black spiders flying highest, as well as a dozen more your not familiar with. Large logs are being cut down and dragged to the water's edge, not too close and you'll see some arrows on the beach and a handful of dead orcs. Orcs generally move about the camp like little ants at this distance, occasionally picking fights with each other, regularly shoving each other out of the way.

Your own forces are well organized in neat rows, even the orcs moving about are disciplined and well mannered.

As you arrive your met by Trak who salutes you in militia fashion, his deep rumbling voice carries well, "M'lord your men are prepared to give their lives in defense of your realm." and a loud HUZZAH erupts from your troops.

I brought the little statue of Zakryndel...the armor his dad made him, his 2 hander...

"As am I, Hippotis, as am I. I think they should have brought more orcs!"

He looks across and sees the ordered chaos of the orc army.

"Do we have any reconaissance? Where the leaders are, etc etc.?"

Trak shakes his head, speaking formally, "No m'lord, best guess they are holed up somewhere in the trees out of sight. They've made no move to attack as of yet, but they are preparing something."

Trak gestures towards the command building, "We have a map inside, as well as an office for you m'lord."

"Alright, lets go have a look..."

The room is large with a desk on one side and a large table with a map on it on the other, it looks very similar to the one you met the Doukas and LC Dermont at Port Haros. Grush is talking to a young Caratosian girl at the desk and there's three civilians handling paperwork and writing orders.

Trak leads you over to the table, "As you can see m'lord they've grouped themselves by banners, with the largest camp the black spiders." Before you is a map, the river and wall are clearly defined and your soldiers are placed well, though not exactly as you and Dermont had worked out. The enemies are also placed on the map as best you can tell according to how they've set themselves up.

Titus looks at the map.
They all strategize brilliantly and we win.

LOL I don't think so!

Titus looks at the map.
They all strategize. The people he put in charge send out orders to do stuff, as he is not a micro manager. If anyone has suggestions/concerns he listens, but for the most part his LC commands the troops.

He waits for something to happen he can react to.

Ok that's something I can work with :)

You'll make some minor adjustments to the plans you'd made with the LC during the trip because of the terrain, but for the most part the current strategy is adjusted to match your plans. Grush will join you later, having completed the task of giving names to all the banners across the river. He also gives his input.

Then the waiting game begins...

It'll be afternoon the next day before anything happens, the orcs bring forward some large logs to try and ram open the doors, but they don't get the logs even to the water's edge before goblin archers shoot enough of them that they can't carry the logs anymore. The next day they try again to the same result.

The third day they try again but this time they have orcs with shields to protect against the arrows and they manage to ram the gates for about an hour but Megalos' protection runes hold solid...

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more to follow

The orcs pull back and three days pass before another assault...

The morning of the fourth day since the last assault you hear orc chanting in the forest. The chanting grows louder and louder and sounds very violent, aggressive. After about two hours the chanting is a roar that deafens even your camp... then suddenly it stops and the silence is stunning... A cheer rises up from the orcs across the river, and Grush glances at you nervously, "No feel good Titus"

"M'lord they're assaulting the gates again!" a young civilian runner says as he skids to a stop in front of your desk.

You hear the first slam of the battering ram hit the gate as your crossing to the wall, you see the entire wall shake with the hit! Derbin stands in the courtyard readying the men for the potential breakthrough, same as he's done every time, but he glances at you with a look of concern as well.

You get to the top of the wall and Megalos is there, carving complex runes in the air, his concentration never wavers even as the wall shakes beneath his feet. You look down and you see a large log covered in runes with orcs protected by shields heaving it at the gates! Off in the distance you see a dozen orc shamans weaving runes.

Are they in range of my magic missile equivalent?

"We need to eliminate those shamans. LC?"

no the range is the same as a normal thrown dagger, they are well outside the maximum range you can throw, even with the boost

He nods, frowning, "It wouldn't hurt m'lord."

The ram hits the gates again and several soldiers loose their balance, none fall over the wall though.

Ok...what I'm wondering here is...LC is in command of the cohort. I know tertius and others have been trained for clandestine operations.
Aren't I overstepping LC by asking for that to happen? What are the archers doing? Do we have boiling oil to drop on the shieldmen? Are all of my underlings going to make me micro manage them? Is Titus supposed to come up with everything? I realize this doesn't allow for much input from me as a player, but Titus has the utmost confidence in his men, and won;t get in their way.

Here's the thing... you can sit back and I can write a battle scene like in a book, or you can be involved. I understand that Titus doesn't micromanage, but he's the leader, it's his job to make final decisions for his people to carry out. There's a line between having confidence in others ability to do their jobs and being too hands off. As to the boiling oil, I should've thought of that.

Okey dokey...I'm ok with you doing the scene like a book and only pausing where necessary...it's not like I'm looking at a battle mat or rolling dice :) But, in the spirit of involvement:
"LC let's see about getting some scouts to see how well guarded those Shaman are, and a possible hit team to silence them."

The LC nods and immediately begins putting together a scout team.

Boiling pitch is poured over the orcs working the ram, which stops the ram for a minute, but more orcs come forward and the ram begins again... more pitch is poured and orcs rush up to replace the ones that die. This keeps up until the sun sets and the orcs break for the night.

Megalos staggers as the Shamans finally stop, he looks as if he's aged five years today alone.

Soon as the last of the sun's light is gone the scouts, consisting completely of the bravest of Bearclaw orcs lead by Grush, cross the river in a small dingy boat. Though they were expected to return the same night, as morning arrives they haven't returned...

any orders, changes, or commands you want to give for the next day?

no.