Marcel D' Anjou's page

No worries, it's been fun. Let us know when you're ready to come back.

I am good. I'm sure I could think of a dozen things, but we should move ahead.

Been busy all week, will catch up tomorrow.

Kn Local: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28

"And where would that be? What is this ruin?"

Marcel, I would need an appropriate roll. Intimidation?

Ok, I was really just going with an RP thing, because this is not in Marcel's wheelhouse. Was hoping someone else jumps in on this. I'll pick Diplomacy because I'm trying to show her we've given up quite a bit already, and we're better friends than Pitax; and because the Kriger comment is more of joking 'nudge nudge wink wink' than a threat.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Marcel watches the exchange between Nico and others carefully. The Sczarni can be useful allies, but they are not all powerful. The crime families do not operate openly. To do so in most law-abiding countries invokes unwanted attention - and that's bad for business.

"I would think the fact that Lord Kalsgrim allows you to operate in Frieland at all is worth the price." Marcel says quietly. "We negotiated this before this war - you provide information, I allow you to do business here. Your opportunities will only broaden when the merchant houses of Pitax are out from Irovetti's rule. AND we agreed to your initial terms regarding pieces of his personal wealth plus a say in who rises to power in Pitax."

Marcel moves around to make sure he is facing the Sczarni Mistress. "Very few Sczarni have ascended to such heights openly, Nicoletta. Don't push it." With a wry smile, he leans and says in a low voice:

"În plus, a avea un Kriger fericit și plin de viață este mai bun decât un Kriger supărat."

No wonder Kriger is angry all the time, carrying around a platinum prosthesis. I'm sorry for your accident, but a platinum 'bar' should get all the ladies.

Marcel grins. "You can try. Based on that look, you probably will. But do yourself a favor and leave everything behind: wallet, valuables, weapons, expensive clothes. All of it. Take enough money for an epic party, Spend all of it. You're going to wake up hungover, sore, and broke; maybe even believe you're in love."

He chuckles. "May as well not be robbed of everything too."

I'm fine with that, I was under the impression we didn't have the armies defined and the stat sheets for them with the kingdom-building being hand-waved.

Marcel ponders the information. "We should hit the trolls and the wyverns. That's more in our area of expertise, and we don't have to risk any of our people. We should focus on finding them, most likely the wyverns first as they move fast and can cause a lot of havoc in a large area. Nico, do you know how many there are in these groups?"

There's no doubt we should strike at select targets like monsters and leaders.

The benefit, Oberlin, of being high-level is we have the ability to strike hard and fast. I wouldn't worry about the 'best' solution, let's play to our strengths.

"Where are they now? The forces and the leaders?"

Marcel nods at Kalsgrim's statement without taking his eyes off of Nicoletta.

Marcel waits for Kalsgrim. The Duke should speak first.

Now we're rollin'!

"Kriger." Marcel lays a hand on the ranger's shoulder just before he leaves. "Hit and run. The Tiger Lords should use their ability to move fast and live off the land to keep just out of reach of Irovetti's armies. Don't get pinned down. They are far more useful to us as a constant threat on the flank of Pitax. Until we need them to drop the hammer blow, that is."

He looks at the rest. "I suppose it's stating the obvious that all of this will cost us in the end. Gold, favors, land, who knows? The Szcarni have stated their price, still to be negotiated. But there will be others looking for something in exchange for their assistance. Be prepared to say yea or nay, and remember that while Freiland's independence may hang in the balance, it does no good to save it if we give everything away to do so."

Good stuff, Mal! Run with it!

I was angling for 2.

Followed by a 1c which is attack his army's leadership, THEN 1b.

There are. The problem is the kingdom stuff was handwaved, and that is a part of kingdom development. The same goes for resources for things like border rangers, spys, etc.

You allocate resources (BPs, or Build Points) to your army. You can build it however you want. You can have ranged troops, mounted cavalry, caster forces, monster forces etc.

As I said above, my players had three forces: a barbarian horde, a centaur fast flanking force, and the main army from Oz (yes, that was the kingdom name). Each had a stat sheet and we played out several battles.

In my mind, OM may want to handwave the army battle thing based on our general actions, and move to the specific actions we do as PCs.

So... Marcel begins, pouring over the map of the Kingdom on the table. We have one of those, right? "This is what we should do."

"Mal and Oberlin. We need to know who and where the Pitaxians are. Their army, the leadership, Irovetti. Who are their leaders. Any persons of note. Do they have planar allies, evil or otherwise. Use whatever spells you can to get as much as you can. Don't overthink it, the information will change as the situation develops, but we need a base level."

"Kalsgrim. We are going to need a message to the people. Of war, of the wrongs done to Freiland by Irovetti, etc etc. A rallying call to the people, as it were. At this point, we need to be in a form of martial law, meaning anyone caught as an agent of Pitax is jailed immediately. We can work out the details when this is over. We also need to reach to whatever allies we have on the borders to keep an eye out and report back. Do NOT engage. Just report. Maybe reach out to the Swordlords and see what they can do to help."

"Kriger. Find the Tiger Lords. Time to get them fired up for war under their new chief. We should have them move south into Pitax, stirring up trouble. Nothing sneaky, we want them to make a show of invading. Get the refugees moving into Pitax proper. I can sow agents among the refugees to provide information."

Marcel summons a page and gives her a note to find Nicoletta and invite her to the keep. "We will make our deal with the Szcarni as a group tomorrow morning."

"It's going to be a long night. We don't have time to waste. Once we know have more information, we will chose our place to strike. My first thoughts are eliminating the leadership of the enemy army, but we shall see."

"Any questions?"

I'm sorry. I do know what to do, but I don't have enough history about what we have to work with. When I ran this, my players had an army, plus alliances with the centaurs and the tiger Lords that they used. They stomped the army of Pitax pretty handily, leaving the exciting part for the PCs vs Irovetti.

That being said, I'll post up next steps so we can get moving.

Going to be out of town until Monday, will be back online then.

Good stuff, Oberlin. We should also figure out scry defense as well.

"So..to the question at hand from me...I will meet with Nicoletta tomorrow. Armed with Kalsgrim's authority," he holds up the signer ring, 'I will make a deal to get the Szcarni's help without costing us too much."

That will be my next step.

I didn't have a choice, Kriger was here first. And if it wasn't for him, Marcel wouldn't even be here.

I'm fine with some railroading here. Having run this AP, this can be a tough part for a group without military experience even with maps and such to plan over. Through pbp it's even tougher.

<Checks if Kriger is listening>

<mumbles> I wish we were as selective about the psychos WE deal with...

Anyway, THAT ought to come in handy.

Ya think? The ogres were always out of the picture. No way Marcel was going to ally with them. If Kalsgrim was going to force it, those ogres would've died one by one...

Isn't Kriger the chief of the Tiger Lords via combat?

I do have a military background. There are two paths we need to consider: the large and small scale conflicts.

On the large side, we are concerned with troop movements. It's very difficult to secretly move armies and their supply trains. Even if an army 'lives off the land' as they move, that kind drain on the region is hard to conceal. In a world where magic can a long way toward hiding things, it's still very hard to do. I would concentrate on ways to find out where they are moving. This is my goal with the Szcarni as an information network, they would know where the opportunities are.

On the small scale, we need to make sure that Pitax is not sending assassins at us - although I pity them if they do. Also watching for scrying attempts/spying on us.

I hope we have some sort of military force and/or allies that can put troops in the field. I wasn't here in the campaign where this should have been set up. This part of the campaign will be difficult without them. The book isn't called 'War of the River kingdoms' for nothing.

"This isn't an orc invasion. I doubt Irovetti will do anything to the people other than to exploit them like he has his own in Pitax. Evacuating will only stir up panic at this stage." Marcel replies. "As far as our allies, 'overtures' is a tame word. Time to call in our markers. Or they will be next."

"Perhaps we agree to her deal with the caveat that we have first choice? That way we can keep any item of great power for Frieland. As far who to choose, I believe Nicoletta already has someone in mind, and it's one of the ruling houses that were in Pitax prior to Irovetti's takeover. It's said he blew in and was king before anyone knew what was happening. There are some old families in Pitax, and they must not have been happy to be ousted like that. I'm sure at least one is friendly to the Szcarni." Marcel pauses in thought.

"I don't think it matters who they pick to rule. The value of their help on the inside is worth it."

To Oberlin, Marcel replies: "Without a force of any note of our own, you are correct. I would think surgical strikes against their leadership would be right up our alley." he looks at the others. "I have no moral compunction about assassinating anyone who works for Irovetti. I don't believe Kriger does, either. If it's a problem for anyone else, pretend you didn't hear this."

"Ummm....yes." Marcel says quietly after Kriger's outburst. "Good input. I think first we need to decide if we want to agree to the Szcarni's deal. We need the information, and the help afterwards. Is it worth what she's asking?"

"Agreed."

Marcel nods, and takes his leave from the table. He gives ERinn a nod and a grim smile as he passes.

Out on the street, Marcel heads with all speed to the castle. He needs to gather everyone and let them know what's happening.

I'm going to relay the details to everyone at once.

I can't make promises of that level without talking to everyone. The goal is present her offer and make a counter depending on what she brings in two days.

"Irovetti's personal effects are one thing, Nica," Marcel replies slowly, "but allowing the Szcarni to pick the new ruler of our closest neighbor? That's something I can't make a promise on."

Marcel sips his wine. "For now, I am only looking for information...intelligence is the word the generals use I believe. I can hardly make promises without knowing the value of the information you provide."

He looks hard at the powerful woman across from him. "What I can promise...personally...is that it will be worth your while to help us. I propose we meet again in two days. We each bring something of value to gage the level of the agreement: you - information; us - a commitment as to the level of our appreciation."

Marcel waves a tired hand. "I'll see what I can find out. There may be a price for information, can we commit to paying it?"

Assuming so within reason.

Marcel spent a quiet night at Erinn's flat. She was working when he came in, and knew enough to let him sleep when she came home from work. He retuned the favor in the morning, letting her get her rest from working nearly all night.

---------------

Later that evening, Marcel was in his usual place at the River Queen, table in the corner and feet up. He had promised 'rinn they could talk later, and gave her a heads up as to his meeting today - mostly to avoid incurring her wrath.

Nicoleta was no less impressive entering the Queen this time. The woman simply dominated any room she walked into. One could see how she maintained her hold over the Szcarni in the region.

"Buna seara, maestra Marcel." she said with a smile, easily sliding into the seat across from Marcel. As if on cue, a glass of wine appeared before her, delivered with a sly wink by Erinn. The Szcarni mistress raised an eyebrow.

"4702 Taldan, the very best." Marcel answered her unspoken question.

She eyed him for a moment, then raised the glass. Marcel did likewise. "Good evening to you as well, Mistress Nicoleta." It was her favorite, Marcel knew, a weakness for the finest wines he had discovered during his research of Nicoleta. It had taken him this long to get some. A bottle he brought here, the second he kept for himself and 'Rinn. It really was a most excellent vintage.

Nicoleta stopped to sniff the aroma, swirl the wine a bit in her glass, then took a polite sip. Her eyebrows showed a split second of surprise, then she set the glass down with a smile. "So and so, Marcel. You request a meeting again, treat me to this fine wine. Perhaps I am imagining things, but it would seem you are sending me two messages here. One, this is a meeting of business, and an important one. Two, you know enough about me to know this my favorite vintage, nearly mpossible to find, nearly priceless." Her smile never wavered, but it was dangerous. It was like looking at a predator that had you caught and wounded.

Marcel feigned surprise. "Always so suspicious, Nica! I may call you Nica, yes? We are close friends these past months, yes? Friendship like ours has no price!" It was true, as far as it went. Their deal meant Frieland had eyes and ears on the roads and in the seediest parts of the realm, and the Szcarni had - more or less - free reign to make money. He shifted to a mock guilty tone. "Guilty as charged, on all counts."

The Szcarni Mistress looked at him for a long moment, weighing her next statement.

"I know why you have me here. Pitax is on the move, and you want me to help you know where and when."

It was Marcel's turn to take a long look. Of course she knew. Already she would be making plans on how to deal with the winner - and profit from the remains of the loser. He happened to glance at the bar where Erinn was pretending to work. She gave him a meaningful glance.

"The Wandering People see and hear much, Nica. They travel the roads that armies move on, move their supply trains on. They even provide supplies for a price, supplies that 'fell off a wagon' as it were. Yes. I need your help."

"Irovetti is strong. Pitax is larger than Frieland. He would be a powerful friend." Nicoletta said quietly. She looked down into her glass, swirling the wine again. "You are a friend, Master Marcel, but my help does not come cheap."

Marcel looked at Erinn again, this time not even pretending to work. "Name it."

Some things had no price.

There's only so many ways you move an army across country. You find the easiest access points: mountain passes, roads, etc. You do NOT take an army through the swamp (or even heavy forest) unless absolutely necessary. We should cover those routes into Frieland first. They are also the easiest to monitor.

It's not the soldiers that are the concern in cross-country travel, it's the supply train.

It's more of an RP thing, he's been sneaking around for days with minimal rest. If we are going to have a leadership planning meeting right now, then yes.

Marcel breathes a sigh of relief when they arrive back home. Suddenly he realizes just how tired he is from the events of the past two nights. With a nod to the others, he heads out to catch some sleep.

Unless some conversation is necessary immediately.

"He has every right." Marcel admonishes Kaslgrim, maybe a bit brusquely. "The Third River Freedom. I've only been talking about it since we were invited to this farce of a festival. We are within his lands, he has whatever rights he deems appropriate. Just as you do within Frieland's borders."

He nods toward Jamandi. "The Swordlords know this, as do the rest of the Kingdoms. But having the right doesn't mean he can make it stick if he doesn't have the strength. But we need to leave Pitaxian soil now."

'...courts are for kings...' Marcel mutters under his breath.

"We are in grave danger here. As Lord Jamandi has said, here in Pitax Irovetti's word is law. Whatever law he wants it to be."

He turns to Kalsgrim. "If you are certain about not giving up the children, then we should leave now and prepare for war. Should we prevail, history will judge us in the right."

I would think as part of the spying-thing I would have gotten to at least meet her once during the down time we've had. The question I have is did I miss her being mentioned as being at the Festival before this? Are the Swordlords our allies? If I am assuming, i apologize, I have multiple iterations of Kingmaker all twisting together: GMing, playing, the PC game...

'...Jamandi? Here? How is it she didn't make herself known before all of this? And how did Marcel miss her presence?...' Marcel thinks to himself, suddenly concerned he may have started an international incident.

"Do any of you remember seeing our closest ally ever...at all...while we've been here at the Festival? Because I have my doubts as to why she would suddenly appear here at this very moment. More importantly, would our ally have to add she was 'of the Aldori', I'd think she would know we'd know who she was."

I missed the beginning of the campaign, so I'm sorta out on a limb about Jamandi being our ally...

"Irovetti and Nunzio are waiting for for us outside with fifty armed men. These were troops that were hidden in a nearby cave until this morning." And Marcel quickly relates the story of the food convoy, the encounter in the cave, the big Ratfolk, the fire and this servant.

Basically, read the spoilers if it's ok with GM OM.

"I may or may not be paranoid and played into Irovetti's hands, but my gut tells me the time for peace has passed."

He looks at Kalsgrim. "I distinctly remember talking about the River Freedoms and the danger we were in coming to Pitaxian soil. I hate being right."

Going to post this in the open, as if they see it just as they arrive.

Marcel moves like lightning, cutting off the servant before he can get to the opening, drawing a dagger in the process. move action He grabs the servant by the collar with his left hand, and with his right, presses the dagger against the man's ribs. standard action "Going somewhere? Say quiet, and you might live through this..." his face is blank behind his balaclava, but Marcel's eyes are those of a killer. free action

I'm really sorry, I feel like I'm holding the whole campaign up. Trying to get us so more information on what's going on, but it's making everyone else wait and see...