Arkady Medvyed's page

It's quite possible for medieval administrators to live outside the capital and do a lot of stuff (e.g., dukes are frontier generals, people like the Warden of the Cinque Ports handled taxes and naval adminstration). You might make them spend some extra time doing stuff (two weeks/month instead of one week/month) to allow for communication difficulties, unless they set up some kind of fast communications network network (pay BPs for a bunch of semaphore towers, and some to maintain them regularly; start up the Pony Express; the party wizard spends a week every month casting sending spells or something; set up some teleport gates; have a bound outsider teleporting around with messages; whatever their fertile little brains can come up with).

If they're interested in running their towns and doing their thing, run with it. If they just want to skip all the boring kingdom stuff -- then ignore kingdom-building and run with "kingdom in the background" rules. As long as they're having fun, all is well. Give them some advantages (they hear about problems faster so can act faster, +1 to Stability rolls or maybe -1 to Unrest occasionally) and disadvantages (-1 to Economy because they're messed up on tax rules, or -1 to Loyoalty because local people like the local guy better than the guy off in the capital, from time to time.) Run some adventures where they get advantages, and some where they have disadvantages, from being split up.

Titles are really up to you; the game gives "baron", "duke', and "king" as rough examples of levels of power for growing kingdom size, but whatever title works is fine.

A level of monk would be nice for your saves (+2 to all of them, and with the right archetype you might get some interesting abilities), but I agree that it needs to be a very good dip indeed to be better than another level of paladin.

Boost Will saves. Some demons have very powerful mental attacks.

A lot of demons are melee brutes. The advanced rogue talent that does 2 points of Str damage on each sneak attack may be very useful in surviving going face-to-face with them.

I think there's a point where torture breaks free will, but that's probably a GM call. Drunkenness or drugs ditto. Certainly there's a potential adventure seed here -- "help, I got sorta-forced into signing this contract, can you bold adventurers track down the copy on file in the eighth level of the Nine Hells and destroy it". Or "courtroom drama in the Boneyard with the devil waving the contract and the signee arguing it wasn't under his full free will".

But generally I'd say that, yah, if you weren't directly forced to sign the contract, you chose to sign it. The other side can offer threats or inducements or various forms of pressure, and that's par for the course. On the other hand, a wise devil would probably prefer trickery rather than force -- force may get the mortal twigged to what's going on:

<scene: diabolical torture chamber>
<devil, twirling mustache: "Sign this or I start the Machine up! MWA-HA-HA!">
<mortal: "Out of the depths, O my God, I cry unto thee!">
<devil: "Hey! Stop praying!">

<scene: prayer monitoring board in heaven>
<junior angel: "We have a Code 7 from Sandpoint in Varisia">
<senior angel: <coded trumpet call>>
<senior-er angel: "A vision of what's going on, please...">
<quick telepathic briefing>
<SFX: plane shift>
<SFX: lots of simultaneous greater teleports>

<scene: suddenly very crowded diabolical torture chamber>
<devil: "Oh sh--!">
<SFX: FLANKING AIDING FIVE-DIMENSIONAL GLORIOUS SMITE OF HOLY DISPELLING WRATH OF GOD!>
<grateful mortal: "Thanks for the rescue! May I please have a level of paladin so I can do some of that myself and help others out?">

First, kudos for working with the other player on this one!

Second -- what sort of evil do you want? Much advice will depend on whether you want him to willingly turn evil all the way, or if you just want him to unknowingly serve your evil ends.

Precautions: mask your alignment so he won't detect evil in your direction.

Philosophical argument might work ("your Iomedae is right from a certain point of view, but can't you see that greater good can be accomplished by the greater power of the Dark Side?" -- obviously it would have to be dressed up a bit, but that's why your INT is higher than his WIS.)

Revenge for a lost loved one might work -- does he have a relative or a cause for which he'd be willing to give up much? Dupe your enemies into going after something important to the paladin, then encourage him to go overboard in pursuit of vengeance.

Deception is classic -- give someone important to him an artifact that makes him scan as evil, plant some rumors, then get the paladin into going after him. When the paladin falls for killing an innocent, explain to him that obviously the gods aren't "really" good if they don't support his attack on an obvious evil, and then mention that you know some beings who would help him punish the guilty and thereby bring about justice (just ignore the bat wings and demonic tentacles...)

Putting a geas on him might work, or modify memory to back up some crucial parts of the plan (like, say, the exact wording of the geas).

Paladin very definitely. Halflings get a CHA bonus and a racial save bonus, which works nicely with paladin +CHA to saves. Also, weapon bond -- besides smite, your weapon can be a number of useful things as you need them.

Bad side: against non-evil foes you are much less effective. Then again, most parties spend a lot of time fighting evil ;)

Ranger with archery combat style could work, with favored enemy + spells boosting damage (but sometimes your enemies are not favored), and gives you a lot more skills to work with (including stealth!)

Erastil, because someone needs to be responsible.

Abadar, because cities and civilization are awesome.

Shelyn, for all the reasons listed above.

(Yes, I often play LG characters. Does it show?)

Erastil even could count for a kind of boring, conventional, settled down form of love.

Ah, but that's the richest, deepest, most fruitful kind of love... if you persist at it, and have patience as well as passion.

Most importantly, you and your GM need to be on the same wavelength with regard to your paladin's code. You need to have a roughly similar understanding of what good and evil are, and how they are dealt with, and where the process of falling begins and ends.

Let the PCs worry about that. Remind thm, if necessary, but let them come up with a solution. You'll be amazed.

And great paladin move. :)

Think of it this way:
Gallant inspiration helps you or other party members when you fail a roll, but takes an in-combat action (immediate, but that still means you can only do it once per turn and can't follow up with a swift action.) And you can only do it at most once a round. It's a higher bonus but it works better for nova builds since you run out of spell slots very fast.

Heroism makes you less likely to fail in the first place, and you don't have to cast it nearly as many times. It's not as high a bonus, but it affects you a lot more often. People won't remember the "made it by 1" as much as they remember the "saved by inspiration at the last minute", but I think overall it's more effective.

Casting in armor is an issue, but (a) you can get a still spell metamagic rod for not very much, and (b) you can cast it before putting on armor (maybe an extend metamagic rod for longer duration -- both rods are fairly cheap in their lesser form.)

Well, if its a problem, it's a proble. I still think that heroism, which covers a much wider range of situations, is probably better for a dragon disciple.

I like heroism. It boosts lots of things for a long time, and so doesn't cost actions in combat. Flexible and powerful. Also you can cast it on allies who might benefit, as well as yourself.

Tongues is the sort of thing you carry a scroll of, not use one of your extremely limited selection of spells on. How many times in your career so far have language barriers been a problem?

If you're playing a mounted paladin, then Mammoth Rider has potential.

But really, the best paladin prestige class is: Paladin.

A lot of the classic heraldy stuff is based on the Anglo-French tradition. Since Brevoy has a more "eastern Europe" feel to it than that, you might look at some Polish heraldry.

I'd probably start by asking them why they are summoning evil outsiders instead of, you know, GOOD ones. Which have, often, much better abilities against evil creatures and would love to fight them, instead of having to be bribed or forced with unholy acts that endanger your own soul.

If I were a paladin of Sarenrae, I'd probably try to convert the fiend. Engage it in conversation. Find out if there's any chance of getting it to switch sides. And if it doesn't, then I can smite it with a perfectly clean conscience.

Arkady looks up quickly from his seventeenth frustrated sketch-plan. "Indeed, a kobold. Scaley one, dragonson, do not lent Anton alarm you. We hear you speak, we have peace for now. Come and share our food and fire."

Diplomacy to welcome and befriend the kobold: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

And my apologies for my delay...

"Better a sentry with bruises than a sleeping company with cut throats," Arkady observes dryly. "Or so my father said. The Stag Lord may have good reason for beating the man, but he seems to enjoy making them suffer. That is more than duty demands. Discipline enforced by such fear is brittle, and it may be if we can kill him, his men will scatter. I am thinking that we watch for another day to see if anyone else arrives, and if not we consider trying to gift him the wine we have. Can we come up with a good way to do that?"

Arkady thinks a little more. "Usually there are more night watchers than day watchers -- two men at opposite corners of the fort could watch in day, but they would need more than that at night. Do they have sentry dogs of some sort? Or geese? Or some other watcher that is not visible at night? Perhaps, but most likely they are just careless. If they have no sentries on the back wall at night, it might be a route in. I am afraid that neither Anton nor I are good at climbing or sneaking, but perhaps we could wrap ourselves in blankets and rig a rope ladder for the back way? I wish I knew how many men were in the fort, though. It cannot be many, or at the least they would have hunted for game today. I still think he is bluffing. And if not, his men have not yet arrived, and a swift strike now might be successful." He sits down to think about it, gnawing on a cold sausage and occasionally sketching plans of the fort in the sandy ground.

Glad to hear you're better!

Still on vacation for a few days.

"Let us set them up, then, and find a place where we can both be near them and keep an eye on the water. It would be good to see if there is any boat traffic."

Arkady cleans himself off and stows what's left of the head in a sack.

"Oleg wanted the head. Maybe some of the hide and bones. I seem to recall it was a poisonous beast so I would be careful about anything else.". Arkady pokes around a bit, running over his memory of hunts and legends and recent conversations. He proceeds to sever the head and pack it in his saddlebags, as well as saving anything else useful.

Survival check to process the beast, probably taking head and hide. 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7 assuming Devlin is helping.

I hope Oleg isn't too picky about condition

Arkady, standing on the other side of camp looking into the darkness away from dawn, whirls at Kesten's shout. He races across the campsite, drawing his sword and bringing it down in a quick arc across the serpent's neck.

swordstroke, two-handed but not Power Attacking because I don't know how tough it is 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16 plus any flanking bonus I might get for 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

We have enough non-wizards to set a double watch, and we should set one this close to the Stag Lord. Kesten can watch with me, Devlin with Marcus, and Linier with Anton. I'll persuade Kesten if necessary.

"No fires tonight, or tomorrow," Arkdy says as they make camp, a couple of miles from the Stag Lord's fort. "We cannot risk light or smoke to give us away. A cold camp, I fear, but if anyone can cook or warm us without light, we can avoid that."

"A hill with no vegetation, and yet no tracks. Something is very wrong there - at the minimum, it should have long grass growing on it. I would be very careful. Did they poison the ground, or curse it with magic?". Arkady frowns, thinking hard. "I agree that capture of a bandit would serve us best. There are no tracks, though. Could they be meeting somewhere else? Or could we have outpaced any reinforcements he has called in? A few fires, again it points to not so many in the fort. I doubt they have the discipline to crowd together and eat cold food for days on end merely to surprise us."

As the sun rides downward, Arkady thinks again. "Might we put someone near enough the fort to watch the gate, hide for the day, and see how many go in and out? A day's watch might tell us more. The rest wait in call from the watcher, where we can ride against a sortie, or retreat with him if there are too many. Marcus would be ideal."

Also, some of us have to sleep, while the 40 could pick their moment for attacking, and attacking with (say) fire arrows in darkness might be very bad for us.

Mostly Arkady wants to find out if the Stag Lord really has those numbers (in which case we would be well-advised to send a messenger to Restov asking for help), or he doesn't (in which case we can fort up and hold them off till they melt away, if we have enough food inside). In either case, we might be able to ambush or defeat some small groups of bandits and so tilt the odds.

We're not planning to assault the Stag Lord, we're planning to scout him out, with the awareness that things could go bad any moment. Arkady, at least, is not planning an immediate attack, though he might take advantage of a weakness if it's revealed. I thought I had made that clear earlier. If not, sorry.

Forty guys would be a bit much even for all of us in Oleg's fort. If he has less than that, then forting up becomes a viable strategy for us, assuming we have enough supplies to outlast them. (Another question Arkady didn't get the answer to, IIRC.)

"I know little of castle-building," Arkady says as the party rode slowly through the brush, "but secret passages are not unknown. Still, we might look long before finding an exit. A route for escape must be secret, and so grass might grow over the entrance for years. A sortie route is likely to be larger, but still well hidden. And even if there is such a tunnel, it may have collapsed or filled with water over the years. Particularly if the bandits do not know of it, or do not care to clean it out. Very much worth searching for, though. A pity we have no gnome to ask the moles and badgers what they know of under-earth. Marcus might know more."

i am nervous also, but the Stag Lord is forcing our hand somewhat with this threatened gathering of forces. Hopefully we can ambush some in isolation, or find out something useful. He may be bluffing.

"'Night is the friend of scouts', my father says. Perhaps one of us could sneak near in the darkness and listen, or find what watch they keep?". Arkady glances at the others, inviting them to comment.

He looks around at the countryside. "Let us keep out of sight of the fort as we search for trails. We are near a lake and a river here. The ground should be wet and leave good impressions, if no rain has washed them out. And there will be mist in the morning, making Kata's small patch of fog less obvious. We might try an arrival in the early morning fog, knowing the password to enter the gates. Or a late night arrival, hoping to catch many of them in bed or unaware."

"Finally, they must be getting food from somewhere. We have seen no farms, no markets in these lands, and this is early spring, the hungry time with no fruit or berry ripe. They may get goods by water, but more likely they hunt, and hunt often with many mouths to feed. Let us keep careful watch for hunters, and drive away any game if we come across it, or rustle any hidden herds of cattle. They cannot keep many animals on that hilltop."

Survival to find tracks, Devlin rolling and Arkady taking 10 to aid another: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 8 + 2 = 12

Arkady's Perception roll 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3
Devlin's Perception roll 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21
Linier's Perception roll 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Arkady reins up as the fort comes in sight, "We are scouting, for now. Let us not approach so closely that they see us in turn. The Thorn River camp had watchers posted; we must assume that the Stag Lord is no less capable than his lieutenants. I suggest we ride a wide circle around the fort, seeing if there are any tracks of incoming bandits. We may be able to estimate their numbers so."

Do we see any boats near the fort, or any sign of a dock? If the place is on a river or lake it's possible they'll have a fishing boat or two, but they might have more transport.

As we approach closer to the fort. "They have cleared the brush and grass from around the fort. Someone there knows what he is doing. A pity they were too lazy to clear the boulders as well, but perhaps they have no engineers. We might be able to make use of those, if we have no other way to get inside the fort. Speaking of which, do any of you have any ideas?"

Can we see anyone on the walls? Any smoke from cooking fires? Any way to estimate how many people might be inside?

Welcome back!

"I doubt the mites will assail if we let them alone for a time", says Arkady, "but the Stag Lord gathers men to strike us now. The more urgent threat must claim our swords. And I doubt mites know the Stag Lord's plans."

Arkady marks the location on our map, and cuts a blaze on the tree to be sure of identifying it again.

Arkady frowns at the setting sun. The weather is apparently kind, but that may not last.

"They will likely be gathering at the Stag Lord's fort before heading out, so any he has north should be heading south. I doubt there will be much danger until we reach near there, but we must be careful nonetheless."

"Some things offend the gods," Arkady says shortly. "If Anton wishes to fight the Stag Lord, I will not stand in his way, but I would rather not fight the Stag Lord and his men all at the same time. The more we can convince to flee or surrender, the better, and men do not fight as well if their leader is not with them."

He steps into the stirrup and heaves himself into Gildas' saddle. "Time to ride. While we head south, Kheldor, do you have any ideas for getting into the Stag Lord's fort, or surprising those who dwell inside?"

One of the jobs of a paladin is to see the goodness in everyone else, in hopes that they will eventually come to see it too ;)

"Drugged, not poisoned," Arkady says. "Perhaps Katarina could supply something non-poisonous but disabling? But perhaps all of it at once will make him drink himself unconscious. I do like the mule idea, though. Let us put gear on it, seeming rich, so if we must abandon it they will be more likely to take it as a prize."

checks to see if Oleg has any rich cloth or finely decorated saddlebags, and purchases them for the mule, if there is a mule.

Arkady nods soberly at Anton's firmness, and clasps him on the shoulder. "If it comes to that, I will honor your sacrifice, and write your family of your valor. But let us hope and work so it does not."

"As for our route, perhaps not quite in a straight line. The dog returns to his vomit -- and perhaps the bandit to his lair. Let us check again the site of Kressle's camp, in case more are gathered there, then ride south along the edge of the forest hoping to cut some bandit's trail, and then, if I remember correctly, eastwards toward the Stag Lord's lair. We may perhaps come on him with more surprise that way than if we ride straight towards him."

We probably won't have time to hunt on this scouting trip, so let's say a week's worth of food for six people (Anton, Arkady, Kata, Kheldor, and the two retainers). That should take us down there and give us a couple days to work, and then either we can hunt on the way back from success, or we'll be riding too fast to need food anyway.

Arkady turns to face Anton in the darkness outside, lit only by the faint glow of firelight coming through the door. He beckons the other farther out into the darkness until they are near the stable, with a slight whinnying of horses. When he speaks, it is slowly and thoughtfully, obviously puzzling out the issues.

"If we can find and ambush small parties of bandits, of course we should do so. But I do not think it very likely. We have already killed a dozen or so in the north, and I cannot imagine he has so many more than that up here. There is little traffic on the road, and few dwellers. If he has strength at all, he must be summoning them from farther south or deep in the Greenwood. We are unlikely to run across such as those travelling south. If we knew of any river fords, we might lay ambushes there -- but that is a waiting game, and time is against us."

He smiles at Anton's suggestion of 'live to fight another day.' "Again, you confuse me with Iomedae's glory-hounds. We cannot protect this place, and the other dwellers here, if we die in foolish charges. If we are outmatched or outnumbered, of course we retreat. We will need keen eyes out for danger, though, and with Marcus staying here to root out local infiltrators we have fewer good scouts. Devlin is a good hunter, but not of men. Linier has keen eyes, but little stealth. Kata or Kheldor might do something at need with their magic, but they cannot use it all day long. Riding south is dangerous -- but staying here is more dangerous, which Kheldor does not see."

"Kheldor... I do not understand the man. I thought I was plain enough, but he seems deliberately to have mis-read me. Some men make trouble for the sheer joy of it. I hope he is not one. I agree that a unified plan would be best."

He moves back into the common room, pulling out the maps the company has made so far. "If we have heard right, this fort lies roughly to the south of us, but we do not know where. Let us move a little west and ride down the edges of the forest, scouting as we go. We may catch tracks of messengers moving into the forest, or bandits coming out, and then we can follow their trail. Then we turn east toward the fort; we might catch someone crossing the river. That path will not delay us enough to matter, and perhaps we can reach the fort before the Stag Lord's reinforcements arrive. If they exist at all; I still doubt that."

Arkady thinks about supplies for a bit, then adds, "We must take extra horses if any can be found, so we can outride bandits without remounts. You... if we are forced to retreat, you might have to abandon your armor if we are to make speed. I doubt you much care for that idea, but I see no alternative save finding a truly enormous horse, and again we have no time."

He draws a deep breath, looking Anton full in the face. "I confess I am not sure how to handle the fort. Much will depend on what we find and how strong it is. I could likely plan a formal attack, but we have not the force for that. Unless you have ideas, we must hope either that we can approach and retreat undiscovered, or that one of the others has a good plan to get us in the door. We had thought of using that fine wine, suitably drugged, as a gift for the Stag Lord, but how to present it to him? Particularly if any of his men know who we are. We slew the ones we encountered, but gossip will spread, and more folks than one at Oleg's know who we are. Your thoughts? Perhaps we might ask Kata and Kheldor to plan the entry to the fort? By ceding them that, we get their agreement for the route south and the need to strike swiftly if we can."

Do we have a chance to do a bit of shopping and grab some more supplies from Oleg's before setting out? I realize we won't have time to commission stuff or order anything from Restov, but I'm presuming there's some stuff available, yes?

Arkady investigates the defenses before going to bed. How is the food supply? (Talk to Svetlana). Did the dwarf engineer finish repairing some of the catapults? Has brush near the wall been removed so enemies can't sneak up under cover? Is there a decent supply of arrows and catapult ammo? Et cetera.

If the Stag Lord does assault the place, is there a reasonable chance it could hold out until we got back? I know Kesten's professional opinion, but Arkady learned from his father to always check for himself when there was time. That way, you know how much weight to put on the judgement of particular people when there isn't time to check.

Arkady stares at Kheldor. "Are you deliberately mis-hearing my words? I did not say we must fight, only that we must be prepared to. Scout, yes, but no scout wears a flag saying 'Do not hit me' if the enemy discovers him." With an effort, he pulls himself together and continues. "There may be a bandit scout in the area, but I suspect Oleg and Kesten would already have had some warning if one was close enough to see travellers riding in and out the gate. Still, you raise a good point. Perhaps if we departed before dawn, and rode east a little along the road before heading south, so any if any spy saw us he might think we were fleeing?"

He looks around at the others. "Marcus seems to have some skill in stealth. Perhaps he could try and track down any spies or scouts hiding near the fort? Blinding the enemy would help us immensely." He looks at Kheldor again. "I do not go because I desire to throw my life away; I go because sometimes one must do a dangerous thing, because the alternative is more dangerous. To wait and let the Stag Lord muster such a host as he claims, without scouting to see what we may, is unwise."

"Scouting is dangerous," Arkady says firmly. "If we go, we must be prepared to fight and strike quickly, even if we do not seek blows. If the Stag Lord is not bluffing, we will have only a short time before he has gathered all his followers. Let us ride on the morrow, and see what may be seen."

Arkady will bring Devlin and Linier along, if mostly to guardthecwmp, but extra eyes are useful, and they may have heard something of the land between.

Arkady is kind of thinking about taking Skill Focus (Diplomacy) as his next feat, just because it looks like he needs it so badly :(

Arkady moves after Katrina, catching her near the door. In a low voice he says "Are you going to abandon your sister, then? Even if he has 40 men, the Stag Lord will take time to gather them all. A swift strike could interrupt his gathering... and it seems to me that you might be able to play a vital role in this. Will you at least listen to our plans, and give us your wisdom in this matter? I can guarantee you that Kesten will not be in charge."

Diplomacy roll to convince Katrina to stay and help 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Whether or not that works, at dinner Arkady gives a full report of the Temple of the Elk to Jhod, and asks if the priest might be willing to accompany them to strike against the Stag Lord -- perhaps staying back out of combat and casting spells beforehand, or healing the injured if they have to retreat. "After all, the Stag Lord will likely try and seize this ancient place for himself if he ever hears about it, and with the guardian bear dead, what will stand in his way? Or the local inhabitants -- should they not be defended against such foes as this?" Even if you cannot travel so far, are there other ways you might aid such a worthy goal?

Diplomacy roll to convince Jhod to help 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

"How long do we have supplies for?" Arkady asks. "Feeding 40 men at once in the field is no small thing, even if he can call in so many at once, which I take leave to doubt. Meanwhile, let us consider this calmly. Differences among friends serve but to strengthen foes. Whatever we may choose to do, scattering before a mere threat will surely give the Stag Lord a victory he might otherwise have lost."

Diplomacy check to calm everyone down 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10 with perhaps a bonus for Kheldor's assistance... Probably Arkady put his foot in it again somehow.

Once that is done, Arkady returns to considering the situation. "We have a wall, and catapults, and a clear field of fire. With this wet spring, the wood is soaked so we need not fear being burnt out. I doubt they will assault us straightaway. So, how much food can we get within the walls, and how soon need we fear the enemy's arrival? Can we ambush them on the way, or strike their camp by night? I do not believe he has so many men as he claims; there are too few out here for so many to prey upon."

"Troops? They? Is someone other than the Stag Lord presenting a threat? Or has he finally got his minions organized somewhat?"

Arkady was not expecting this. He looks from face to face. "Kesten. Katarina. What do we know about this foe? What are the numbers, and how sure are they? Oleg, I am with you in defense of this place, as long as it can be defended. Who is it who threatens you?"

He tells Linier to join the watch Kesten Garess no doubt has set up, as long as he is here, and Devlin to do likewise. Especially at dawn and dusk, the critical hours for an attack.

"Of course, but any information is better than none."

"Perhaps we could use them as scouts. Persuade them to tell us what the Stag Lord's fort contains. The little dragon can fly over the walls easily enough."

Arkady's ears perk up at the mention of allies. "These fey seem eager to play tricks. But will they go far enough from their nests to play tricks on the Stag Lord? Or are there others farther south? In any case, let us keep an eye out." He considers again. "I know some tales that might help in negotiations with them. But be sure to wear holly when we do. My mother always told me it was good courtesy when dealing with the Fair Folk. I could wish for more human allies, but so few live in these lands we would all have gray hairs before we found enough to train an army from."

"Kressle was a brave, quick leader -- the other two, not so much. I think we should assume that the Stag Lord has at least some others of her ilk. Fast, deadly, brave, ready to go into battle. I think we may have to take him down before the others will break, though. But I agree that we need more. Perhaps we should next swing south and see if we can find out more about his main base and how many men are there. I wish we had someone who could infiltrate it and ask questions, but I do not see how it can be done, so we will have to watch, carefully, from outside."

"Unless someone has other ideas. I... confess myself at a loss. I have not commanded in the field before, and my father usually arranged the scouts, so I do not know all the tricks of the trade."

"Well, let us consider how best to make those battles easy, then."