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>>6111138

The short break had been lengthened as officers and men all returned back to their camps. The reason for this was quite simple, Blackmoore had gone to talk with Garithos in an attempt to get him to be reasonable and not do anything drastic like abandoning the campaign or trying to bog it down. And so as the meeting was adjourned till the evening, you had returned back to your camp to rest and discuss the events with your officers.

“I won’t lie to you Prince Alric, but you are going to have hundreds of men under your command and most of them probably don’t like you.” Lieutenant Beckston said to you. “Quite mercenary business, everyone having their own agendas and goals.”

“Speaking from experience?” You asked him back.

You and your officers were gathered in your tent, now the large size of it was quite useful. Malevus had brought all of you some tea and a bowl of broth for you. You needed that energy after last night's revelry.

“There’s sometimes quite strange bedfellows with whom you have to fight with when you are a mercenary.” Beckston said to you. He and his Kul Tirans had been mercenaries for some time before you hired them and they decided to stick around permanently. “You just have to make do Prince Alric.”

“Our men are staying in the camp just in case.” Captain Cromwell said.

“There are reasonable men in Regional Defenders, Captain Reginald for example. But we shouldn’t push and probe them more, I got what I wanted.” You said to them.

Cromwell, Beckston, Gravis and Radan all who were in the tent with you seemed to agree.

“But uhh… Prince Alric, what will the people call you?” Malevus asked you as she picked the empty bowl off the table. “I mean are you a general or a commander or what?”

That actually was a good question, no one had said what your official position was to be called. Were you just Prince Alric in command of this campaign or should the history books call you something else? Was it even that important?

Suddenly there was some commotion outside the tent and with little warning one of the Royal Foot Guards stepped into your tent.

“What is it?” Cromwell asked the man.

“My Prince, the Dark Irons are here. Their caravan has been spotted approaching Durnholde from the east.” The Royal Foot Guard greeted and spoke to you.

“Finally, how far are they?” You asked.

“Maybe an hour's ride away, but their caravan is a large one.” He replied.

“Quite a timing.” Lieutenant Gravis said to you.

Yes, it was. They were already several weeks late from the original schedule, but what was important was that they were now here. Whatever had slowed them down hadn’t managed to fully stop them. Or something worse hadn’t happened.

“Thank you.” You said to your guard who then left your tent. “I wonder what the others will think, an Alteraci dealing with those suspicious Dark Irons…”

Your officers didn’t reply to your musings.

“Shall I prepare the horses?” Malevus asked you. “Or will you receive them here?”

1/1

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>>6111141


>Ride out and meet them on the road. Escort them to Durnholde personally.
>Wait in your camp and meet the Dark Irons here. Better not to disturb the rest of the forces here with their presence.
>They have travelled a long distance, receive them in the Durnholde Keep. That is more suitable for your and their status.
>Other, write in.

Name of your official position at the command of the campaign:
>Write in

QM: New thread! As always if you have any questions or anything regarding the Quest, characters, events or something else, please go ahead and ask them. I will try to answer them as well as I can.

>>6111141
Commander-in Chief of the Expeditionary Force would be a fair way to refer to Alric. He didn't do all the ground work to assemble it, he's just in command by consensus of all in attendance, heh. And whom he is subordinate to is...himself and his duty to the kingdom of Alterac.

>They have travelled a long distance, receive them in the Durnholde Keep. That is more suitable for your and their status.
A prince speaks with whomever he wishes to and wherever he wants, circumstances permitting.

>>6111144

Arch General Alric has kind of a nice ring to it.

Unless we wanna go for something like The Hawk Prince. Though with all the dragons on his armor, The Dragon of Alterac might be fun.

Overlord to imply it's his land, which it technically is, so it's fun to make them almost recognize it.

Defender General. Snub Garithos even more.

First Sword of the Darrowmere League. Or First Sword for short. If we see it as more of a first of equals gathering. Also advertise our little league to the neighbors.

>>6111144
>>Ride out and meet them on the road. Escort them to Durnholde personally.

>Write in
Prince Commander

>>6111170
>First Sword of the Darrowmere League
Okay, I am liking this. But we're gonna need more swords than just one if that's the case. Perhaps we should hold a contest of arms between the members of Darrowmere League and kind of kickstart aspirations of knightly orders? Let each region send their representatives and have each emerge with a champion in a tourney? I think it would be good to have after we win the gnoll campaign. Organizing some jousts or melee where men at arms and knights both could earn some glory and renown? It is how Alric won his.

>>6111144
Addressing any prince in English is done as "Your Highness" but Lord-Commander also works for me.

>Ride out and meet them on the road. Escort them to Durnholde personally.
>Send a runner to Langston and Blackmoore informing them
There might be visiting dignitaries in the convoy, finding out information in advance will help us plan properly in receiving them.

>>6111275
I think a tourny arc for the men and neighbors would be quite nice for that. Some purses for winners wouldn't be bad either if we have or can gather the cash by the event. If it goes well do it again once in a while. Tarren Mill fc, or rather ko, and so on.

"We will ride out and meet them. Lieutenant Gravis, please prepare the horses and send someone to inform Blackmoore and Langston." You told your men. Momentarily with these good news, your tiredness lifted itself away. "We aren't exactly in a hurry, so I am going to finish this tea in peace."

"Of course my Prince." Lieutenant Gravis replied to you.

"Rest of you are dismissed." You said and watched as the men left, leaving you alone in your tent with Malevus.

As she poured more tea for you, you took off your dark glasses and leaned back on your chair casually. She was wearing her usual grey trousers and tunic, very mundane, but very practical outfit. With her long red hair pulled back behind her elven ears and tied together with a short string, she could have been easily seen just as a servant. Except well she's an elf with naturally red hair.

"You seem to feel better." Malevus said to you.

"Dark Irons finally arriving here is good news and making Garithos show his ass, proverbially thankfully, did feel rather nice." You told her and smiled.

"Don't get too cocky Alric…" She lamented.

"Me cocky? Never. Banish those thoughts!" You replied and waved her words away.

You couldn't get your eyes off Malevus as you watched her do menial tasks. It didn't take long for her to notice you staring at her.

"What are you looking at?" Malevus asked you. "I'm not exactly presentable right now."

"Yeah, but does that matter? You are beautiful either way." You said to her and finished your cup of tea.

"Don't just say that…" Malevus said as a slight blush crept up on her cheeks.

You stood up and walked to her, carefully brushing her cheek. You smiled faintly.

"Really I was thinking about taking you out for a date… just the two of us… but it will have to sadly wait." You said to her and touched her cheek where the scar from the kobold blade was.

"Well you have a whole campaign ahead of you. Plenty of time to think." Malevus replied and looked into your eyes.

"Yeah… I can't really drag you knee deep into gnoll guts and call it a day." You said and chuckled.

"Wouldn't fit my definition of a romantic date." It was now her turn to laugh.

She leaned a bit closer and hugged you. The scent of her hair filled your mind and made you feel good. Oh how you wanted to just lounge casually with her and whisper sweet things into her ears. But today wouldn't be the day for that, nor would the coming days and weeks.

Carefully separating yourself from hers, you smirked and spoke.

"Lord Commander of the Expeditionary Force, that will be my title." You said to her.

"I like the sound of it." Malevus replied.

"It's simple and it works. But now I need to go, Gravis is probably already waiting for me." You told her.

"Ride safely." Malevus said.

You would, you would. Just you had one question in mind. What sort of a date would you take her to? Damn it, why is dating so difficult!

1/2

>>6111419

"I wouldn't miss the chance to see the Dark Irons." Langston said to you. Having heard about their arrival, he had wanted to join you and the knights.

"They have come a long way." You said back to him.

The day had turned late afternoon and the hot summer sun scorched the fields around you. To not get awfully too hot, you had taken your leather jacket off.

"What exactly is their business here, if I may ask Prince Alric?" Langston said to you and continued. "Very little news has reached us here in Durnholde."

You had ridden some distance ahead of your knights so technically you had some privacy. Maybe you could talk about some private matters with Langston as you were riding?


>Has Langston heard anything about Lady Edith Imswit and her daughter Hilde? They were supposed to visit Dawnholme.
>Tell him about the oil. The Dark Irons are here to drill it for you.
>They are here because you need every advantage and ally you can get, even if their reputations can be suspicious.
>Let Langston know about what you had heard about Garithos and his plans when it comes to Durnholde.
>Other, write in.

QM: A nice little compromise for the title name.

>>6111420

>>6111159

Yes the rescue mission and this campaign are going to overlap. They should leave for it in a couple of days if everything goes well.

Garithos trying to mess with Malevus would be very foolish thing to do. He is smart enough to not try it. I hope.

>>6111420
>Has Langston heard anything about Lady Edith Imswit and her daughter Hilde? They were supposed to visit Dawnholme.
>ask if he would think about creating a small port town for river trade. It could be quite lucrative if we can push the gnolls out and get trade to that one city andorhall? Idk the undead city in western plague lands.
>They are here because you need every advantage and ally you can get, even if their reputations can be suspicious.
>Let Langston know about what you had heard about Garithos and his plans when it comes to Durnholde.

How many people know about the oil at this point? Our officers, the parties involved, the Barovs. The syndicate is either too busy with their issues, doesn't have enough leaks in our camp, or doesn't know. So I guess it really will look like Alric has allied with some Dark Irons, the equipment could be seen as mining stuff, and maybe he invited them to live in the hills for some gains. At least until the oil starts flowing.

Eventually the oil will be known but I suppose keeping it close for a bit longer is fine. Langston might let it slip and spread it, which might help improve our situation in politics. Finding Oil in Strahnbrad hills is quite a boom and good fortune for Alric's unlikely venture. It should help Dawnholmes standing as a fledging city state, might help convince the neighbors to join the Darrowmere League for when the oil money starts flowing and we need supplies and manpower and trade. So letting Langston know might be handy, plus I think we do want him to push Blackmoore to join the League. Then we use that as leverage to get Hillsbrad. Work South shore and the navy base a little. Might want to tell him for that, and to keep him friendly.

I wonder if the delays were because he brought a considerable chunk of the clan, not just the workers but their families too.

>>6111420
>>They are here because you need every advantage and ally you can get, even if their reputations can be suspicious.
>Has Langston heard anything about Lady Edith Imswit and her daughter Hilde? They were supposed to visit Dawnholme.

>>6111420

>Has Langston heard anything about Lady Edith Imswit and her daughter Hilde? They were supposed to visit Dawnholme.
>Tell him about the oil. The Dark Irons are here to drill it for you.
>They are here because you need every advantage and ally you can get, even if their reputations can be suspicious.
>Let Langston know about what you had heard about Garithos and his plans when it comes to Durnholde.
Its pointless to hide the oil project not like people wont notice it. Better to show some trust to langston and generate some good will than be coy about this. And dark irons having good reasons to be here will prevent any undue speculation.

"Oil." You said and watched his reaction. Langston seemed genuinely surprised.

"There's a valley in Strahnbrad Hills with oil seeping to the surface. I have hired the Dark Irons to build and handle the machinery with some goblin help." You told him.

"We had heard about the goblins and their business in Tarren Mill, but Dark Irons?" Langston seemed to not know what to think about this.

"I know their reputation is not ideal, but they are willing to work with me and I need all the allies I can get." You told Langston. "If we can get this to work… I can't put a big enough emphasis on the importance of this."

"Oil… not going to lie, that did surprise me Prince Alric." Langston said to you. "Nowadays very little surprises me about you."

"I will take that as a compliment Mr. Langston." You said back to him and laughed.

The ride through the countryside continued. Passing farms and the toiling workers, the lands here didn't really differ from the lands elsewhere.

"Prince Alric." Langston started to speak, but caught himself for a second before continuing. "How is Taretha doing?"

You gave him a questioning look which he could recognise as one even while wearing the dark glasses, which by the way were really helpful during these bright summer days.

"Tired, but healthy." You gave him a short answer.

Langston had been interested in Tari while she had been Blackmoore's mistress. Then she had left with you and Blackmoore had taken Annabel in as the replacement, snubbing Langston yet again.

"That's good to hear…" Langston replied. "The kid will have a good home."

Does he believe that the child is yours or is he in the know? How much has Blackmoore told him, you weren't sure and you didn't really want to know.

"There's one more thing I want to talk about." You said and switched topics, not wanting to talk about Tari with Langston.

"What is it?" He asked.

"About Garithos, there's something you need to know." You said and continued.

You told Langston what you had learned about the rumours surrounding Garithos. About his potential plans and what goals he had. You explained that being the reason why you had pushed for the position of the leader of the campaign. If Garithos can't get the renown or glory, his position to pull his plans through doesn't exist.

When you finished, Langston had lost all of his colour. He was all pale, like he had seen a ghost.

"Have you told Lord Blackmoore!" Langston immediately replied.

"No, I haven't. If I were to tell him, what would you think would happen?" You pointed it out to him.

Langston was silent for a couple of seconds.

"Good point. He would be furious. Thank you Prince Alric." Langston said and continued after another moment of silence. "What will you do next? Are you going to undermine him more?"

1/1

>>6111832


>Taking the command of the campaign should be enough. Pushing your luck too much could backfire.
>Garithos will find himself in a position where he can't find personal glory. Away from heaviest fighting.
>If Garithos wants to fight, you can have him in the toughest battles. Gnolls are dangerous, who knows what will happen.
>Other, write in.

QM: Lady Imswit will come up in the next update.

>>6111833
>>If Garithos wants to fight, you can have him in the toughest battles. Gnolls are dangerous, who knows what will happen.

>>6111833
>>Taking the command of the campaign should be enough. Pushing your luck too much could backfire.

>>6111833
>Other, write in.
They should have brought about 400 men so I was considering splitting his forces, hopefully keeping them on their toes. Captain Reginald is a good man so with half the Defenders I'll put him where he can earn some glory on the Right Flank, I'll frame it as a conciliatory gesture towards the Defender Officers so we can keep the peace. Then keep Garithos at a distance. If we are fortunate maybe the good Captain can replace Garithos one day.

>>6111845
I support this, the four column plan is perfect for this.

Alright, that sounds doable. Could I have a roll for the Dark Irons, because one of the anons was right, Blacksteel didn't come alone. He has some company, but what exactly? Let's find out!


>1d10
>Best of three, taking the second roll

>>6111939

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>6111939

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>6111939

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>6111939
oh God please

>>6111966

Imagine the triple 1! Imagine! I would have had so much fun with it.

Update later today!

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>>6111950
>>6111956

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>>6111974
"Alric your pauldrons are looking so big today"
"It's Felric now."

>>6111939
Is it really best of three if you specify your taking the second roll?

>>6111988
lol

>>6111423

Trying to catch one of Radan's rogues doing something suspicious as a reformed bandit hes one of the more vulnerable.

Sending men away to go reclaim the regional defender barracks in dawnholme while we are away. Which could get interesting with whatever part of our patrol, the town guard, and the Stonemason mercs there. Plus the townspeople who are living there in the barracks. It would be quite risky with how badly it could escalate and who would take the blame so I wouldnt expect it, but Garithos may not know that the Stonemasons have mercs with several officers including a mage.

If he could have Madam judy tried for witchcraft, though actually apprehending a mage who has two mage friends nearby is another matter entirely lol.

Beric did have some legal troubles recently which I presume Garithos or people aligned with him might have had a hand in.

Targeting Alric's men with taunts until they act out, blaming Alric as their commander for brawl breaking out presumably with casualties.

“I am planning on deploying us in four columns. Durnholders to the left, then Regional Defenders under Garithos, then my Alteracis and then Regional Defenders under Captain Reginald to the right. I plan on deploying us as a wedge with Alteracis in the vanguard, pushing into the gnoll territory, catching any ambushes they have and then deploying the flanks to deal with the gnolls unprepared for larger than expected numbers of our soldiers.” You told Langston, going through your strategy briefly.

“You have thought nearly all of it out already.” Langston replied.

“Minute details need to be handled, but yes, I have most already planned in my head.” You said and continued. “Garithos won’t be in the vanguard, but his men are going to hold the right flank, that way the Regional Defenders won’t feel all snubbed and pushed aside.”

“You make it sound all so simple…” Langstons and sighed.

“But we both know that it isn’t so, no one knows how fast all of this falls apart the moment actual fighting starts.” You said to Langston. “Either way, have you heard anything about Lady Imswit? They were supposed to visit Dawnholme come summer, but they haven’t done so.”

Langston gave you a look due to the sudden change of topic again.

“Lady Imswith didn’t send you a letter? Well they did visit Durnholde Keep during the spring and uhh… Lady Imswith is carrying a child, probably that is why they haven’t visited.” Langston told you.

Oh… so she actually got pregnant. She had asked you, but you had shot the idea down as it was quite stupid, but she had then succeeded to seduce Lieutenant Gravis and well… that man is going to be sweating a bit when he hears the news.

“Pregnant? Who's the father?” You asked Langston and feigned surprise.

“Her old man-at-arms, Lady Imswit married him shortly after returning back home.” Langston said to you and shrugged. “I thought the man was a sodomite, but I guess not.”

“Stranger things have happened.” You replied and joined his shrug.

“Lady Imswit visited us during the spring with Hilde, they stayed for a couple nights before leaving back home. After this whole campaign is over, we are going to have a feast and I hope both of them can come then.” Langston told you.

Last time you were in Durnholde you got to play a bit of a matchmaker. To ensure that the House Imswit could continue and not disappear due to lack of a male heir, Lady Edith Imswit had been trying to find a husband for young Hilde that was alright with a matrilineal marriage. Unsurprisingly the list of potential candidates was a short one, the request wasn’t exactly what most men were ready to accept. But you had found two candidates, Lieutenant Gravis of Knott, leader of your bodyguards, was open for marriage as was Langston. In his case he didn’t want his line to disappear and so the future House would be called Langston-Imswit.

1/2

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>>6112141

But the decision hadn’t been made back then and the plan was for Imswits to visit Dawnholme before the potential husband for Hilde is chosen. Maybe the feast would be the right time for it?

“Well I hope she chooses a proper husband for young Hilde.” You said to Langston. You remembered her to be a nice young woman, a friend of Malevus as well. Though Malevus befriends nearly everyone.

“I hope so too…” Langston said and was somewhat nervous.

“Alright, let’s stop talking, we have the Dark Irons to reach.” You said with a laugh. “I don’t want to keep Lord Blackmoore and others waiting as I am handling my own business.”

…

>8
>1


It thankfully didn’t take that long for you to see the Dark Iron caravan in the distance. Allowing your knights to catch you, you approached them with a slow walk and observed what you saw.

A squad of Dark Irons in their typical heavy armour carried sharp blades and hammers as they marched ahead of the many ox carts. When you got closer, they signalled for the caravan to stop. You in return greeted them by raising your hand and speaking with a clear loud voice.

“I am Prince Alric Perenolde, I wish to meet Master Blacksteel if he is with you.” You said to the guards.

The Dark Irons didn’t know how to react immediately as they most likely hadn’t expected to meet you now and so one by one they gave you their stiff bows before one who was probably their leader spoke to you with his very heavily accented Common.

“Prince Perenolde, please follow me.” The Dark Iron said to you and started walking past the ox carts.

You did as you were told and rode behind the dwarf. Looking at the carts, you noticed something. Many of them were in disrepair and the tarps covering them had patched holes and other clear signs of repair. The oxen used to pull the carts looked tired and exhausted as well and the Dark Irons themselves all seemed very wary. Amongst them you did spot several women too, well it seemed to be true, dwarven women don’t have beards. Several of the oxen pulled larger carts carrying what looked like heavy tools and equipment, those seemed to be the pumps and drills used at the oil rig.

“Here, Master Blacksteel is inside.” The guard said to you as he stopped next to a familiar looking covered ox cart.

“Thank you.” You replied and turned to Langston. “Are you coming?”

“Of course Prince Alric.” Langston replied.

You jumped directly off your horse on the cart and opened the door. You had to bow quite a lot to get inside and when you raised your head, you saw a familiar face.

“Greetings Master Blacksteel.” You greeted him and realised that you had inadvertently bowed to him.

“Greetings Prince Alric.” Blacksteel said back to you. “I am sorry for we are late.”

2/3

>>6112142

You found the dwarf sized cart to be a bit too small for you so you had some difficulties taking a seat on a pillow. Langston meanwhile had even more difficulties as he is somewhat taller than you are.

“This is Karramyn Langston, aide to Lord Blackmoore.” You said to Garrick Blacksteel.

“Pleasure to meet you Master Dark Iron.” Langston greeted Blacksteel.

“Pleasure to meet you too.” Blacksteel said to him and turned to look at you disregarding Langston's presence. “Pipe? We have a lot to talk, don’t we?”

Blacksteel passed the hookah to you and you took a long inhale. The scorching hot smoke filled you and you knew that the relaxation would come in just a moment. As the door behind you was closed, you felt the cart moving again. It would take some time for you to reach Durnholde Keep so why not to talk a bit, you did have a bunch of questions in mind already.


>Business talk can wait, just smoke the hookah and enjoy the moment. They have travelled a long distance, business can wait.
>Express your happiness to see them. Even if they are late, the fact that they are here is the most important. Being late isn’t an issue.
>Ask if they had any issues getting here. Everyone you saw seemed so tired and the carts looked raggedy.
>Let Blacksteel explain to you how many of them are here and what did they bring with them?
>Explain why you are in Durnholde, there’s a campaign against gnolls that is going to happen.
>Have Langston try the hookah, see if he chokes on the smoke or can handle the heat?
>Other, write in.

QM: They were in remarkably good condition considering the travel.

>>6111990

With these rolls I take the both best of three and the second roll.

>>6112145
What were the other options for dark iron guests I wonder, and their condition.

>Explain why you are in Durnholde, there’s a campaign against gnolls that is going to happen.

I figure we hit all these questions but start here. I wonder if they'd like to join the campaign while they resupply and fix their wagons for the last leg? Could be solid to see dark irons in combat, I bet they hit like a truck. Maybe even some of their powder guns. Might be a good way to earn favor for more business if they fought alongside the people here. That said, don't risk the engineers we need lol and it might be a slight delay but worth it.

Smoke and get Langston to smoke. Maybe Garrick brought his wife along too unless he's holding out for some kind of clan political marriage.

>>6112169

They would have been different varieties of troops, specialists, spicy specialists or named characters. Also corresponding amount of more Dark Irons.

>>6112192
tfw missed out on the dark iron riflemen and grenadiers or something

>>6112145
>Have Langston try the hookah, see if he chokes on the smoke or can handle the heat?
Trial by fire.

>>6112145
>Express your happiness to see them. Even if they are late, the fact that they are here is the most important. Being late isn’t an issue.
>Ask if they had any issues getting here. Everyone you saw seemed so tired and the carts looked raggedy.
>Let Blacksteel explain to you how many of them are here and what did they bring with them?

>>6112192
If we got a 10 would Dagran himself have come along?

>>6112145
>Business talk can wait, just smoke the hookah and enjoy the moment. They have travelled a long distance, business can wait.
>Have Langston try the hookah, see if he chokes on the smoke or can handle the heat?

>>6112145
>Express your happiness to see them. Even if they are late, the fact that they are here is the most important. Being late isn’t an issue.
>Ask if they had any issues getting here. Everyone you saw seemed so tired and the carts looked raggedy.
>Let Blacksteel explain to you how many of them are here and what did they bring with them?
>Explain why you are in Durnholde, there’s a campaign against gnolls that is going to happen.

>>6112145
>Express your happiness to see them. Even if they are late, the fact that they are here is the most important. Being late isn’t an issue.
>Ask if they had any issues getting here. Everyone you saw seemed so tired and the carts looked raggedy.
>Let Blacksteel explain to you how many of them are here and what did they bring with them?
>Explain why you are in Durnholde, there’s a campaign against gnolls that is going to happen

No update today, it is half finished, but I am too tired to finish it today. I don't want to put out half-assed writing.

>>6112358

Not Dagran or people on his level, but I had a character in mind who could have been an interesting addition to the people Alric has been involved with.

>>6112848
Me watching the dark iron officer vanish like the wealth we briefly had possession of for the deal. If 70? wealth investment can't buy them an officer and some specialists idk what will.

Alric knows Thrall is planning to bust open the camps. Alric basically knows the Warsong Clan is in contact with Thrall over war plans after we captured Astu. The Warsong Clan is somewhere in the Hinterlands, along with Syndicate that Astu or his fellows have talked to, and perhaps Gnolls before they got moved south by ??? The timing is obviously suspicious to be making and communicating war plans, while gnolls having been seemingly forced or herded into migration south.

The Northern Hills are presumed where the gnolls came from, and my guess is the Warsong Clan wanted it as a war staging ground so they pressured the gnolls to move south. Perhaps Alric has enough to mentally make a leap for that, if he was in their position and was planning to invade with a neighboring force from the north what would he do etc.

If we do end up pushing to take a look, as I think its reasonable Alric wants to know what has caused them to migrate incase its some syndicate operation or something else. If we find a warsong camp that could complicate how things go forward. Might be useful tho.

Exhaling slowly, you wiped the tube on your sleeve and handed it to Langston. Hesitating slightly, he took it and looked at you.

“Word of caution, it can feel a bit hot.” You said to him and watched as Langston carefully inhaled.

And then he started to cough nearly immediately. His eyes were watering and he struggled to breath as his face turned red. Clapping on his back several times as you laughed, he finally caught enough breath to hand the tube back to you.

“I told you it can be a bit hot.” You said to him as Blacksteel seemed to be amused as well.

“But not that it will try to kill me! What the hell was this stuff?” Langston replied between breaths.

“Just your usual Dark Iron blend.” You said.

“I will pass! No idea how you can stand this stuff.” Langston replied to you and then glanced at Blacksteel. “No offence Master Dark Iron.”

“None taken Mr. Langston.” Blacksteel said back to him and then looked at you. You took that as a signal to start talking.

“I am glad to see you here Master Blacksteel.” You said and used the hookah again before handing it to Blacksteel. Exhaling slowly, you continued. “It doesn’t matter that you are late, the journey must have been a difficult one by the looks of your comrades. They all seemed quite tired. But what matters is that you are now here and we can get to work.”

“So eager Prince Alric.” Blacksteel replied.

“I think all of us are, but if you need to rest, what will a couple more days of waiting mean after a couple weeks?” You asked him and smiled a little. “But if I can ask, what happened? Why are you late?”

“Everything.” Blacksteel replied and passed the hookah to you as he let the smoke leave through his nose. “The whole journey was full of issues, bad weather, bandits we had to fight off. Then Stromgarde held us due to irregularities.”

“Stromgarde? What irregularities?” You had to ask him.

“Nothing they ended up finding, they just wanted to have some lubrication to allow us to proceed.” Blacksteel said.

“Did you give them any?”

“No, they didn’t understand what we were carrying so they let us go.” Blacksteel explained.

“Alright, thank you for telling me that.” You said and savoured the scorching feeling inside you.

You had the Stromgarde soldiers here, maybe they know something about this? But most likely they do not, so maybe keeping the Dark Irons and them apart would be for the best.

“Master Blacksteel, how many of you exactly are here? How many did you bring with you?” You asked him and continued. “We have room for some in Tarren Mill, but probably not for everyone without some arrangements.”

“There’s dozen of us engineers and metalworkers, nearly fifty others and twenty guards.” Blacksteel told you and continued. “I couldn’t bring more, the Clan sees this venture… unreasonable.”

“Unreasonable?”

1/2

>>6113502

“Unprofitable.” Blacksteel corrected his own words. “The Clan doesn’t see this venture to be worth the effort so for them what you see is the minimal level of investment.”

How Blacksteel said it, you could hear the resentment and disdain in his voice.

“Well… shall we prove them wrong then?” You asked him and smiled.

Langston who had been just listening to the two of you speaking and passing the tube between each other, chose to speak.

“Prince Alric, how big of a project are you expecting this to be?” He asked you. “I mean, how profitable?”

You thought about what to say as you did some basic mathematics in your mind. What would you answer, should you speak the truth?

“Double the revenue we make now.” You told him. That was relatively close to the truth.

“Of Dawnholme?” Langston asked you.

“Whole Alterac.”

You could see Langston’s eyes open as he processed what you had told him.

“But to get there, there’s a lot of work ahead of us and even then the revenue is not a certain thing.” You explained and continued. “But if it works out, I will be rich and Master Blacksteel… well he has done a great deed for his Clan.”

“Indeed.” Blacksteel replied to you.

“I can’t really do anything more than say good luck.” Langston said to the two of you.

“Thank you, because we are going to need it.” You said back to him.

…

As the ox cart slowly made its way back to Durnholde you continued to speak with Garrick Blacksteel. You had explained to him the reason why you were here, the campaign against the gnolls and how you were going to command the combined forces. If not for the campaign, you wouldn’t be here. You would be in Dawnholme doing something else.

“There is honour in defeating one’s foes.” Blacksteel said to you.

You gave him a nod in agreement.

“How long will you be out campaigning?” Blacksteel asked you. “Shall we wait in Tarren Mill for your return?”

“Couple weeks most likely, so when you travel to Tarren Mill, it will be better if you don’t wait for me. My own engineer, goblin Krix Wiklish should be waiting for you there.” You told Blacksteel. “He knows what to do.”

“Of course, we shall stop in Durnholde Keep to rest for the night and then make our way to Tarren Mill.” Blacksteel told you and continued. “That should be the best option for all of us.”

“But you have something else in mind, don’t you Master Blacksteel?” You asked as you could see him mulling words in his mind.

“Yes Prince Alric, I have my guards with me. Can they be useful to you during the campaign?” Blacksteel asked you.

2/3

File: Blacksteel Footman.jpg (77 KB, 427x625)

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>>6113504

“Are you offering them to me?” You asked him. “Strahnbrad Hills might be a dangerous place.”

You had told him about your effort to reclaim the lands and how you had left just a small force to guard your holdings there.

“I am offering their services, the faster you have dealt with the gnolls, the faster you can return back home. Right?” Blacksteel said to you.

It was a solid offer, but those guards were supposed to defend the caravan and then the oil rig. What if someone attacks them while you are out campaigning? Should you accept the offer or ask something else instead? Maybe the best fighter amongst them as a token support? Or someone else?


>20 Veteran Blacksteel Footmen, all of them
>10 Veteran Blacksteel Footmen, half of them
>A Champion to act as your bodyguard
>A single specialist from amongst the workers
>None, they should all stay with the caravan to protect it and the equipment.
>Other, write in.

>>6113506
>>A Champion to act as your bodyguard

We need to stop dying.

>>6113506
>Other, write in
Well if there's not room for everyone in Tarren Mill there's another solution.
Just stay safe here at Durnholde until the campaign is over in a few weeks then we go back together. We can take the vets, the Champion, a specialist.

They could probably use the rest and the chance to speak with men to get used to it. A good chance to offer some trade, use their skills here at the forges, or for some of the buildings.

I wonder if a few weeks would be enough to get a good look at the Durnholde cannons.

>>6113506
>>A Champion to act as your bodyguard

>>6113506
>10 Veteran Blacksteel Footmen, half of them

>>6113506
>>10 Veteran Blacksteel Footmen, half of them

2 votes for Champion, 2 votes for 10 Veteran Blacksteel Footmen and 1 vote for they stay in Durnholde and lend everyone.

I would like to have a tiebreaker between the Champion and 10 Veterans.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

Alright, executive decision. I will do the tiebreaker with a roll, I won't give you both.

1 is Champion and 2 is the Veterans

>>6113991
As Cao Mengde once said "one good warrior is worth a 100!"

>>6113991
Dang vote happened at 4am. Ffs. I would of said half. Gives us a honor guard of super elites with them and our royal guard we'd of punched through to the gnoll leader and ggwp.

>1


“I cannot take all of your guards. As much as we have patrolled Strahnbrad Hills quite thoroughly, I cannot guarantee the safety of the oil rig.” You told Blacksteel and continued. “I have my men and local warriors there, but your guards should stay with you.”

“I understand Prince Alric.” Blacksteel replied and nodded approvingly.

“But, maybe token support could be provided. One of your fighters could join my retinue for the campaign?” You asked him. “I am missing one of my knights and I could use a temporary replacement.”

Blacksteel seemed to mull the idea in his mind for a couple seconds before nodding.

“To show unity Prince Alric.” He said to you.

“And political cooperation.” You replied.

Blacksteel nodded again in favour of your words.

“I will lend you my best warrior. He will protect you or die trying.” Blacksteel said to you.

“I am eager to see him in combat then.” You said and smiled. The hookah had alleviated your hangover somewhat and now you felt rather good actually.

“I am not eager to be in combat.” Langston said to you. “The last time… it is not my place.”

He realised what he had said to you, not the most encouraging thing to say. The Durnholders had gotten trounced quite badly during the Uther’s Expedition and you remember seeing Langston quite shaken up.

“Karramyn, the difference between then and now is nearly two years. A lot has changed for the better.” You told him and glanced at Blacksteel. “Let’s not delve into fighting before the fighting actually starts.”

“You are right Prince Alric.” Langston said to you.

“Now are you sure that you don’t want to try the hookah again?” You asked and smiled.

“Positively sure. I still don’t know how you can handle it.” He said and looked again at Blacksteel. “No offence Master Dark Iron.”

“None taken Mr. Langston.” Blacksteel said back to him.

Well Langston had gotten a brief, but good look into your business with the Dark Irons. You were sure he would tell everything to Blackmoore which to be honest isn’t a bad thing. Him learning about the oil and the potential profits should strengthen your status and bargaining power. Durnholde wouldn’t be the stronger partner for that much longer, it would be you and Alterac. And as long as Blackmoore thinks that he is the one pulling the strings, that is just good for you.

…

“Have you been smoking the hookah?” Malevus asked you somewhat disappointingly.

“Yes I have, socially acceptable situation.” You tried to explain.

“And now your clothes smell a bit…” She lamented.

As much as the two of you enjoyed sharing the hookah from time to time after the music practice, she never got used to the smell of it.

1/2

>>6114158

The Dark Iron caravan had arrived at Durnholde Keep and you had ordered your men to help the Dark Irons to set up their camp next to yours. Langston of course had quickly gone to tell the news to Blackmoore who most likely was anxious to learn about the visitors. And as some of the Dark Irons looked the worse to wear, Malevus had come to see if any of them needed any medical help. Thankfully most of them were fine, just in need of a bit of rest, food and a proper bath.

“Prince Alric.” Blacksteel greeted you with his thick accent. Next to him stood a Dark Iron warrior wearing a suit of Dark Iron plate.

“Master Blacksteel.” You greeted back.

“This is Bakhtet.” Blacksteel said to you. “My finest warrior, he will serve you with loyalty and honour.”

“It is my honour to serve you Prince Perenolde.” Bakhtet said as he greeted you with a very deep bow. Taking off his helmet, you saw his face. The eyes that glowed like burning charcoals looked like two dots on the otherwise near pitchblack skin that had several large scars on it, one across his bald scalp. He had a bushy moustache and a surprisingly short grey beard that you noticed. “A trogg went for my throat, only got my beard.”

Bakhtet spat on the ground. He seemed like a proper warrior.

“It will be my honour to see you in battle Master Bakhtet.” You greeted him back and turned to Blacksteel. “Thank you for lending his services to me.”

“It will be our honour.” He replied.

“Prince Alric, the rest of the officers are gathering in the Keep.” Captain Cromwell who had arrived at the scene said to you before bowing to the Dark Irons.

“Thank you Captain.” You replied.

Well then, it looks like it is time. Though turning to look at the Dark Irons for one more time, a thought appeared in your mind. You could ask Blacksteel to join you. Having a Dark Iron by your side as an aide or assistant could be useful, but how would it look politically? Alteraci working with a Dark Iron? Lesser things are called suspicious and given bad looks. Still what a political message it would send to your neighbours and to Blacksteel himself to be invited to such a meeting?


>Ask Garrick Blacksteel to join you in the meeting.
>Don’t invite him. Leave them here at the camp and allow Alteracis to provide aid to them.
>Invite Malevus to the meeting. She is your squire and this could be educational for her.
>Other, write in.

QM: Sorry, took me a moment to get this update out.

>>6114160
>Invite Malevus to the meeting. She is your squire and this could be educational for her.
>Invite Bakhtet to the meeting as a bodyguard joining the campaign with an introduction to everyone.

Don't invite Blacksteel, as he is not joining the campaign. Lets keep things relevant and professional.

>>6114166
I'm in support of this. I like how it's kind of set up to be our replacement knight. Who says it cannot be a dark iron?

I was hoping the champion would be a named character and was not dissapointed

https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Bakthet

>>6114160
>>Don’t invite him. Leave them here at the camp and allow Alteracis to provide aid to them.
>>Invite Malevus to the meeting. She is your squire and this could be educational for her.

>>6114160
No worries Medivh. Too bad anons didnt want the whole bundle. To feel the princely greed of wanting -all- the nice new soldiers. Though atleast having a dark iron champion will have some more opportunity for interaction, Bakhtet seems fun.

Thinking about it. How does Blacksteel or Bakhtet being there change Alric's political look? I think people know he trades with them regularly for quality arms and armor, plus riding out to meet them here. If I recall Blacksteel did actually manage to do a little trading at the other towns, and more with the individual knights/minor nobles who want some good quality stuff. The Barovs and Tarren Mill know he took their deal for the oil, and so does Langston, plus Blackmoore once they can chat. Then it'll come out eventually.

Though trade is a bit different from a dark iron being in a leadership military tent where he will hear numbers of troops these lords can field, supplies, the names of officers. The attitudes or personalities of the lords. The kind of intel his clan leaders back home would appreciate, though I don't think Blacksteel would sell that info unless his clan was still in danger of losing their status? The view of dark iron politics that Blacksteel gave was pretty cutthroat, not surprising since a clan that loses enough could become a clan of slaves. Blacksteel would appreciate the trust tho, and that is quite nice. Eventually I do think theres a path where his Clan could migrate over which would be pretty sweet.

That Alric trusts him in there will make them question Alric's judgement a bit just from the stigma of dark irons. Though if we want to get more dark iron technology and specialists, which I do, its inevitable that eventually we would have to introduce them. It could wait until after we grab more people into our League just to avoid another bother people will have, and for when we have some fancy dark iron units we can really show off lol.

Actually we could have the Royal Footguard enter with Alric since they look damn impressive especially in the dark iron plate. Underline that Alric is now in control and he has benefitted from the trade with them considerably. It will also be rather intimidating and put them even more on their toes I think.

There goes Alric the eccentric soon to be oil baron-prince is collecting more oddities again. Maybe a bit naive, or garithos could see it as malicious, to invite a dark iron into a tent with sensitive info.

>>6114160
>>Invite Malevus to the meeting. She is your squire and this could be educational for her.
dont need our body guard there.

>>6114329
I doubt dark irons having a culture of slavery is that big of a deal when discussing the possibility of cooperation and trade, since intelligent rulers realize the limitations of the economic outputs of their societies and the necessity of these practices (to a certain extent). All of the city-states of humanity in Warcraft employed landed serfs and peasants which were basically slaves as well, although dark irons take it to the next level, in no small amount dictated by the harshness of their life in the Blackrock Mountain. And what dwells beneath it.

>How does Blacksteel or Bakhtet being there change Alric's political look?
Alric seems to have a reputation for being merciful to his enemies and unforgiving of traitors and those that want to view Alric unfavorably will always find a reason to do so. This will piss off the Dwarves of Ironforge of course, but perhaps they should have been the ones to send a trade ambassador first. Unless they did and the dark irons made him disappear.

"Now I must make my leave, I cannot have others wait." You said to Blacksteel and Bakhtet. "Master Bakhtet, please talk with Lieutenant Gravis, he is in charge of my knights and bodyguards."

Bakhtet saluted and gave you a bow.

There was no need to invite either of the Dark Irons to join you, but you could have someone else there who could find it educational.

"Alright Malevus, let's go." You said to her and turned to walk towards your tent. "I need some water and you need to dress up for the meeting."

"Wait, me?" Malevus asked you.

"Yes, you. You are my squire and watching the meeting and all the moving pieces could prove educational to you." You said to her.

"I guess…" Was her reply as she sounded rather unsure about herself.

"Don't worry about them, besides I'll be there." You said and chuckled.

"That's what I am worrying about. Just promise me not to start anything." Malevus said to you.

"No promises!" You laughed.

…

Blackmoore's study was full of people. The men had been talking with each other, but the chatter had stopped when you had entered the study. The clack of your cane on the wooden floor had been the only sound in the room until you had taken your seat, this time next to Blackmoore's seat. You didn't need to say a word as the officers took their seats and then you just waited for Blackmoore to take his seat.

The break you had and the hookah had really helped you. You felt surprisingly fresh and energetic. Giving a glance to Malevus who was standing a short distance away from the table, she had changed into a bit better set of dark grey and blue trousers and tunic and had thrown her Alteraci cloak on her shoulders.

"Alright let's get this over with." Blackmoore said as he sat down next to you. He seemed annoyed about something, probably due to Garithos or maybe because of the Dark Irons or you. "Prince Alric, the campaign is yours."

"Thank you Lord Blackmoore." You replied to him and looked around.

Langston was there to your left with Captain Cromwell. Next to them sat Sir Foecourt and Marshall Redpath. To the right of you was Blackmoore, Colonel Garithos, Captain Reginald and Jon Maxwell. Rest of the table was filled with various officers and knights.


>Present your plan of four columns to the officers.
>Go through the exact troop numbers available.
>Ask if the officers have any suggestions or things to say?
>Make a point about unity. There are people who disagree about things around the table. Tomorrow those disagreements need to be put aside.
>Other, write in


>>6114307

No picture, mentioned just couple times side character from the RPG books? Sign me up! Bakhtet by the way wasn't the named character I had in mind earlier.

>>6114490
>Present your plan of four columns to the officers.
>Go through the exact troop numbers available.
>Ask if the officers have any suggestions or things to say?
There's no point to make platitudes about unity, it's painfully obvious to anyone that this is the farthest thing from anyone's minds. The soldiers need to carry out their orders, that's all there is to it.

>>6114490
>Present your plan of four columns to the officers.
>Go through the exact troop numbers available.
>Ask if the officers have any suggestions or things to say?

Thankfully the general idea of the plan was outlined last thread. Then the bit about putting Captain Reginald on the right flank came about nicely. That should hopefully fly pretty well, arguing against it would argue against Reginald and those officers getting their glory.

Also Jon Maxwell sitting on that side with the RD, not surprised, unless it was something Blackmoore did to show them some favor?

Now or later do we get into some details like putting more of the Durnholde cav and lighter troops with us in the Vanguard. The units capable of executing the moves we will need to catch and pull the gnolls where we want them.

I wonder if we could get them to leave the ballistas at the interment camp that would be in danger of gnolls, or in defense of the farms since that was a Durnholde priority. I figure they would just slow things down in the hills anyways unless we stick them with the supply train columns.

>>6114484
Not about having slavery, its more I recalled Blacksteel was worried that his own Clan would become slaves if they didn't make enough money in trade, but we put together the oil deal so it should have kept them out of danger for a while. Though rolling that 1 and hearing him talk about how the elders view it as unreasonable, unprofitable, I wonder if hes still worried or just understandably bitter about it. If they pressure him for intelligence if he hasn't done enough to secure their position would he have to offer up stuff he saw while he was out, or perhaps that was part of his duties anyways. Merchant trading were sort of a traditional sort of spying on enemy activity anyways I think.

It would be pretty funny if they did kill some iron forge ambassador lol. I think they have bigger things on their plate, or under it rather yeah. I do wonder about that isolationist dwarf spot in the bottom right corner of the map. Might be an interesting spot to visit atleast once.

>>6114490
>>Present your plan of four columns to the officers.
>>Go through the exact troop numbers available.
>>Ask if the officers have any suggestions or things to say?

>>6114490
>Present your plan of four columns to the officers.
>Go through the exact troop numbers available.
>Ask if the officers have any suggestions or things to say?

I would wonder how many of them have fought gnolls before. Beside our troops.

"Malevus, you have the papers?" You asked her.

"Of course Prince Alric." She replied as she walked to you and handed a pair of scrolls containing information on your own troops and supplies taken with you.

You could see the eyes following her which felt like they made her somewhat uncomfortable.

"You haven't seen an elf before?" You asked the knights who had looked at her before dropping the topic completely. "I have spoken with Lord Blackmoore and with Mr. Langston when it comes to the strategy. We also argued briefly about it before the break."

You didn't look at Garithos as you opened your scrolls and took out the quill and ink.

"Keeping all of our men together is too rigid a choice and covers too little ground." You said and held your hand up in a fist. "The gnolls will just dance around us and choose when to attack."

Opening your palm and spreading your fingers, except your thumb around. You flexed them and started to explain your plan to everyone.

"Instead we will be in four columns. This way we will cover most territory, force the gnolls to engage us on our own terms, allow us to lend support and cover our neighbours." You spoke to them and continued going through your fingers. "Durnholders will be in the left flank, Regional Defenders led by Colonel Garithos to their right, Alteracis in the middle as the vanguard and the second force of Regional Defenders led by Captain Reginald holding the right flank."

Couple of the knights whispered something to each other, but you didn't hear what exactly. Garithos leered at you, but didn't say anything.

"Prince Alric, I appreciate the honour, but…" Captain Reginald started to speak. "Why do you split us? We Regional Defenders are the largest and strongest force, so why halve our strength like this?"


Why?:
>Write in

QM: Shorter and precise answer could be the best. Long and rambly one probably not.

>>6114726
>Write in
"I split you to give the gnolls an illusion of weakness for them to exploit. Otherwise they will not make the first move and pointlessly chasing them will not get us any closer to our goal."

>>6114726
"It is because you are the largest and strongest force that I was able to split you. This is not like a conventional battle with lines drawn on each side. As I said earlier if we tried that the Gnolls would not give a fight. Instead they'd lead us all on a merry chase. The way the plan is set now is so that each group can react to the other if they are engaged."

>>6114726
>Write in
"The largest force will never be able to properly engage this enemy in this terrain. We need quick blades not two-handed Warhammers."

Alternatively 'To hunt game we need bows and arrows not ballista shots.'

>>6114726
How about just a hint of who it was going to be?

>>6114726
>Write in
"Gnolls attack with speed, aggression and brutality. And we go in their home. We need to be fast, for cover more ground, and small, so that the Gnolls bite our bait."

tfw havent gotten any tricks we can do with the dragon magic yet

No update today. I am not on my PC or have my laptop with me, next update would have the troop numbers and I am not going to write it with my phone. So that will have to wait till tomorrow.

>>6115048
>>6115250

Nope and learning a new language is hard!

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>>6115287

You know what, today was a pretty good day for the QM outside of being unable to do the update. So I am going to reward you lot with a chance to ask meta or QM related questions. Now I might not answer everything, especially if they are too spoilery, but I will try to stay more open than usual.

I will write the answers tomorrow at some point if you have the questions for me. Let's see how horrible mistake this ends up being.

>>6115316
What are the dwarves of Ironforge currently up to? Do they even know we're cavorting with the Dark Irons? This seems to be on everyone's mind lately.

>>6115316
What does the Burning Legion and Kel Thuzad think of us?

>>6115322
I think Kel sees us as a golden opportunity. We're not too tightly organized as far as civilizations go and most of our healthcare is on the level of "Talk to the local herb woman" and most of our goods and food are locally sourced. Originally the plague came from the Northlands, which is where we are. I expect us to be hit first and hit hard and the only thing that could perhaps slow it down is the presence of several paladins and being able to cut off the head of the snake. But let's be real, there's no surviving the scourging by staying and fighting. We will have to probably join Thrall in Kalimdor later unless we manage to completely derail the narrative with bullshit rolls.

>>6115325
Well let's cheat and get a fuck load of paladins. Don't the blood elves have that? (Or in cannon that not exist yet)

Build our own paladin order. We should get some anti disease and vermin wards put in dawnholme.

>Has Sylvanas heard of the Uber chad Alric?

>Does Arthas have a inclination that we banged his sister?

>Is his sister pregnant? She was "sick" when she left? ( I know she's supposed to be sickly n shit but that would be hilarious if true qm)

>>6115367
>>6115316
Oops meant to tag this for my

> le posts

>>6115367
Blood elves aren't even a thing yet. And we should not cheat, people specifically do not take meta choices, because the objectively correct meta choice would have been to go after Kel'Thuzad when Kael had sent us a letter to find and track down the necromancer. It wouldn't have been guaranteed that we'd get him, but from Alric's point of view chasing after some Dalaran mage that did some no-no stuff is way on the backburner. And QM punishes cheating quite heavily, so, no, let's not. Paladins are geopolitically dogs of Lordaeron and we have no reason to house them or tolerate them as they are enforces of the will of a hostile government.

>>6115316
Dont mind if I do

Will there be a Nalice segment or pdf adventure to see what shes been up to? I want my Lady Nalice back.

Any hints on what the next Wiklish invention could be? A glance at some of his blueprints and notes, a background workshop scene to get the mood of the shop workers and their everyday lives?

What did you think of the four column plan and how the Campaign start is shaping up? I thought it felt like the kind of riskier higher mobility strategy Alric would like for himself. Thoughts so what happened with Astu? The Pai and Eligius adventure?

I'm pretty confident that we won't be dueling Garithos anytime soon, especially not after he saw Alric ready to rumble like a western gunman, his hand caressing his six shooter like a long lost lover. Anything to say on how badly would the fel giving a little push into maiming or killing Garithos have gone lol

I do wonder how powerful lighting the Cinder Sword up with Fel would be.

How hard would it be to start up a magic item workshop that could produce something like the Cinder Sword or Rondal Dagger, perhaps lesser copies or variants for a fun little knight order. Jan did mention that Dalaran would eventually crack down on such magic items before it got out of hand, but perhaps a small workshop could go unmolested. Or maybe we make a deal with Dalaran to not open anything big up, and get some benefits in return.

What characters might we have met if we took up Kael's offer, did he have something specific in mind for his favor or just wanted it for a rainy day? I for one understand why anons didn't take it fearing the favor ask, but I think taking it would have been better. Getting a real working favor-for-favor relationship with Kael and growing closer with Kael even if we have to work for it seems like the real benefit for me. Extra troops are always nice tho. I don't think he would have done us dirty. Plus we could have met with a Windrunner sister....Maybe we can ask him for one or both of the Troll Extermination campaigns we may or may not need. I don't imagine Kael will give up on working with Alric anyways.

Is there much pirate activity around the waters these days? I wouldnt mind a pirate adventure once Alric gets the first ship of the new alterac navy. Might be a nice way to get favor with Kul Tiras.

How many suitable princes are around if and when we do save Alric's little sister?

What kind of character was the Dark Iron we didn't manage to roll up this time?

What was the scene we missed with Malevus, or might it still come up?

Have you decided on the odds of Alric and Malevus conceiving a child? Considered how it might change things between our Alterac and Quel'Thalas? Or would it not really shake things up much for such a potential marriage to happen?

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>>6115316
There's some QM related stuff I've been meaning to ask.
This is actually the very first quest that I've started following. I've always been a fan of Warcraft(some versions of it at least) and this one immediately caught my interest.
What I would like to ask is how do you do it? Did you prepare an outline of how the story could go or were you making things up along the threads? Was it a mix of both?

What advice would you give to someone who would like to make a quest? Reading this quest gave me ideas about doing a Warcraft quest of my own but I'm not certain if I'm cut out for it.
I did try making an unrelated one to test the waters but I found out that even maintaining a single thread requires dedication. Not just in writing skill but in time. I really admire your (and other QMs') dedication because I honestly can't imagine myself doing this for weeks, much less entire years.

>>6115316
There is a lot of gnolls out here in this ancient forest ? Like a lot, lot or a bit less ? Just want to get a vague idea of how big the butcher bill will be, when the campaign is done (no precise number).

Can we ask Blacksteel, to give us Bakhtet permanently ? I wouldn't mind growing our retinue with another fine warrior and Gravis certainly wouldn't mind either. Better protection for us means he can do is job properly. Thats why i jumped on getting Sir Cyrus in the first place. Are we going to see soon what Bakhtet is like ?

Whats the master plan of Voren'thal with Alric ? Or was it really as simple has throwing Malevus for give her a new start while also keeping an eye on Alric, the good old "two birds with one stone" move, and whatever happens happens ? If you can't answer i am fine with that.

How much can we bombard Van Cleef with letters to convince him to get up here ? I recon there is a limit even with the respect they have for one another, at the same time though i don't think Alric would want to give up the chance to get them out from there. Yeah i know, Varian will not like this at all, but he doesn't like what we did already so eh.

was Ulmo just an unfortunate encounter or the sign of future things to come ?

Its Raleigh having a religious crisis or he is 100% fine with what is happening to the Prince he is serving ? Its a bit more complex than that isn't it ?

Why the Silver Hand didn't send anyone in this campaign ? Is Uther and everyone else there just not a fun of the combo* of Blackmoore, Garithos and Alric ?

Is Wilkish still processing what we told him ?

How are outsiders going to look at the squire/paladin getting married with Alric ? Are we breaking some society rules with that ? I don't mind lol. I know Katrana might go nuclear.

Are we going to ever encounter that distant cousin ?

Where is Kris Legace ? Didn't see her for quite a while. Syndicate stuff or other reasons ?

Will Garithos jump immediately on the hate and resentment that is growing toward us across the Alliance (Varian for name one), for gain more support ?

Whats Normand doing right now ? Taking a nap :) ?
*disaster waiting to happen

Also just how much at risk is Langston going to be when the orcs arrive in Durnholde ? High or low ? i wouldn't want him to die.

>>6115376
all of this is true. And i will always fully support this mindset

Alright, let's do this.

>>6115321

Dwarves of Ironforge are minding their own business. Both First and Second War struck them hard so they have been rebuilding ever since. They do know about your dealings with Dark Irons and boy they aren't happy.

>>6115322

Burning Legion doesn't have agents at hand who would be interested in you right now. Now there are some who are affiliated, but don't know about it, who know and recognize you.

Now Kel'Thuzad is interested in you. In fact if you had asked for his help early after the Incident, he could have restored you. But nowadays, his interest in you is just professional. At this point he has heard the whispers of the Lich King, but haven't directly acted upon them yet. To make a silly comparison, he is very much a "bicurious" when it comes to necromancy and serving Lich King right now.

>>6115367

>Has Sylvanas...
Yes
>Does Sylvanas...
No, she doesn't care about you

>Does Arthas...
He is speculating, but has no proofs

>Is his sister...
No, people would have noticed and Arthas would have travelled to Dawnholme with a bunch of angry knights with him.

>>6115434

>Will there...
Nalice is doing Nalice business, maybe after the campaign you will hear what she has been doing. I am planning on returning her back into as a regular character relatively soonish. But a standalone Nalice sidestory, I am ot sure.

>Any hints...
Miniaturizing the K.W.G.S.R

>What did you...
Riskier option definitely, but the option to take if you want to have the initiative in combat.

>I'm pretty confident...
Corpses

>I do wonder...
Very

>How hard...
Rather difficult. First you need proper master blacksmiths and then you need mages who are familiar with enchantments to combine these two things. Magic items are becoming more common, but they are still work of quite small amount of artists. Dalaran is just getting angsty about these things really early.

>What characters...
Trusted officer would have been Raethan. Elven specialists would have had old man himself Voren'thal the Seer with them and priests and non-combatants would have had Kael'thas and one other unnamed character with them that I might use on a later date. For the favour, Kael'thas wouldn't have fucked you over with it. He is a fair dude, basically a bro when you get to know him. Now Windrunners, how much competition do you really want Malevus to have?

>Is there...
Not much, pirates aren't a common occurrence here abouts.

>How many...
Of her age? None. Being flexible, maybe Tandred Proudmoore. There's a terrible lack of suitable Princes around.

>What kind...
Magical

>What was...
If you had left Alric be, he would have had a Fel dream. Malevus would have had to calm him down.

>Have you...
The odds are the second lowest amongst the potential partners/companions Alric can/have had. Impact depends on if Alric and Malevus makes noise on Malevus actually being an important noble in Quel'thalas. Now what will her parents think of Alric, marrying upwards?

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>>6115955
>They do know about your dealings with Dark Irons and boy they aren't happy.
Too bad! BEHOLD! RAGNAROS!

>>6115955

>>6115592

Not wanting to let you, my beautiful anons down. That's really it.

Now when it comes to this Quest, this is not my first jomp at questing. I had one before this back in the /tg/ days that didn't last that long. But for this and other Quests, it depends on the type of a quest.

A Quest based on existing IP has the benefit of pre-existing material, be it Warcraft, Fallout, Starcraft or maybe Naruto, you can use the existing canon as a timeline to work with. One of the first documents I made to help with this Quest is a Timeline document where I wrote down existing WC2, WC3, Lord of the Clans, Rise of the Horde etc book events that could impact Alric. Adding to it things like what Syndicate has done and what some side characters have done, and I have a document outlining most of the events up to Third War.

Now that isn't the only thing guiding me, I have had a lot of ideas in my head that I have added on to the Timeline on later dates, for example the annual Alliance meetings came up way later and it is one of the things that are just going to happen. But I can't say that I don't just invent stuff from time to time, sometimes I need a chance in pacing to avoid a long 10k characters update. Sometimes my sudden ideas have led into side-character storylines that haven't been that important in the grand scheme of things. That can be blamed on my want to just explain some things too well.

But to make a Quest, the biggest suggestion is just to read the existing well received Quests and then just good English literature. That way you have the knowledge of how Quests in /qst/ work and how storytelling works. But to make a Quests, be it OC or based on existing IP, having the idea of what do you want the story be helps a lot. For example a simple DnD adventure party vs BBEG can work, as can Alric's semi-civilization semi-visual romance novel Quest. What you need is to stick with your idea and to be able to push it forward on timely manner, with that the Timeline or plot trainline can help tremendously. For example a Naruto Quest has the manga as a baseline to follow and guide you along, meanwhile a completely OC setting, the timeline is something you need to invent. You shouldn't have the MC to exist in vacuum, the world evolves and moves forward without the actions related to the OC content.

How to make the daily updates? It is what I said, I don't want to let you my beautiful anons down. This is my hobby, way too much time consuming hobby, but I want to see the story unfold with you. How things go, what options do you choose. I try to throw hooks and more extreme options at you from time to time to break the Timeline I have build, but you don't want to catch them. And at this point 32 threads in, the weight of stopping is just too much.

We are on this journey together my dear anons.

>>6115976

>>6115674

>There is...
Plenty, it won't be easy

>Can we...
Yes, but he won't be on horseback

>Whats the...
"Two birds with one stone" and he is not called a Seer without a reason. Though as much as he might see things ahead of time, what stops him from influencing thing before hand?

>How much...
He wants his revenge, how much can letters achieve in the end?

>Was Umo...
Yes!

>Is Raleigh...
Don't worry about him, Nalice has things sorted out.

>Why the...
Garinthos didn't ask Uther.

>Is Wiklish...
He is too hyped up about the funding and the oil rig to care about much anything else.

>How are...
You are breaking plenty of rules. Human and an elf? A Prince and his squire? That's quite a power difference. How will succession work, what will the Alteraci nobles think about having a ruler that will outlast of of them? Now Katrana, do you think this is going to stop her?

>Are we...
Yes

>Where is Kris Legace?
In Stromgarde doing stuff for your sister. Kris moved there for her own safety.

>Will Garinthos...
Is water wet?

>Whats Normand...
Having tea and biscuits with Tari, completely oblivious to you and Malevus being an unit or about the details of the plans you have regarding Pai, Eligius and Alicia Perenolde. Though Maura pester him about grandchildren all the time.

>>6115688

He survived in canon!


Now though, back to writing the actual update. But if you have questions regarding what I posted or if you need clarification, please ask, because I will answer! Be smart about what you want to ask, you don't get this opportunity often!

>>6115955
Thanks Medivh you're the best. I liked Alric having to recover as he did anyways, there were some nice lessons in there. Having Nalices life energy converted into high grade fel then injected is cool too. One day perhaps FelMalevus will surrender and Alric can develop some of those powers.

Oh right I forgot to ask if Alric could try by himself on instinct to make the physical Fel Boost work, and what the immediate or long term dangers would be abusing it.

Would have been fun to use that against Garithos. Alric just grabs his neck and lifts a fully armored knight one handed.

>Malevus parents
I suppose they'll presume Alric is just that good in bed lol. Call him an elfaboo. Accuse him of trying to larp as a scion of the old Arathi Empire from the troll wars with wanting an elf wife.

>>6116002
>Accuse him of trying to larp as a scion of the old Arathi Empire from the troll wars with wanting an elf wife.
I didn't even think of it. We'll have our chance at that Arathi Empire a few years down the line...

"It is because you are the largest and strongest force that I was able to split you. This is not like a conventional battle with lines drawn on each side. As I said earlier if we tried that the Gnolls would not give a fight. Instead they'd lead us all on a merry chase. The way the plan is set now is so that each group can react to the other if they are engaged." You told Reginald and continued keeping your hand up and fingers spread. “Each finger can support each other when attacked, none of them are strong enough to push the gnolls away alone. Instead they will attract them and then together we will deal with them.”

Captain Reginald looked at you for a second and then for a moment, then he nodded in agreement.

“You are right Prince Alric, gnolls aren’t what we would consider common enemies.” Reginald said to you.

“By spreading our forces, we will cover more land. Sure it can be a bit more risky of an option, but it is the option we should take.” You said to him. “Gnolls aren’t tacticians like we are, but they aren’t stupid. They know that they will have to react to us, especially if we cover too much terrain for them.”

Langston and Sir Foecourt nodded to you, while Garithos just stared at you.

“Not though, my plan is clear to you, but we should know about the troops involved.” You said to everyone and continued. “Langston, can you please tell us what you are bringing to the campaign.”

“Of course Prince Alric.” He replied.

The talks moved into what troops each of you were bringing to the table. Four columns meant that the troops available would be spread and the options of reinforcing the columns with the mercenaries or the not affiliated troops was a lot more difficult. But it was all quite doable at the end of the day, you just needed to make the decisions necessary.

As you spoke with the officers, you learned about the troops available and what the bases for the columns were. You just needed to make the decisions on where to deploy them.

1/1

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>>6116104


1st Column (Durnholde, Langston)
-50 Regular Footmen
-30 Regular Archers

2nd Column (Regional Defenders, Garithos)
-30 Veteran Footmen
-50 Regular Footmen
-50 Regular Archers
-4 Ballistae and crew

3rd Column (Alterac, Alric)
-4 Regular Knights
-10 Elite Royal Foot Guards
-30 Veteran Footmen
-40 Regular Pikemen
-10 Elite Archers
-10 Veteran Archers
-15 Regular Archers
-20 Veteran Crossbowmen
-25 Regular Bandit Rogues

4th Column (Regional Defenders, Reginald)
-100 Regular Footmen
-50 Regular Archers

Deployable troops:

Durnholder Cavalry, Sir Foecourt
-10 Regular Knights
-10 Regular Mounted Sergeants

Durnholder Infantry, Marshall Redpath
-20 Regular Footmen
-20 Regular Archers

Durnholder Mercenaries
-10 Veteran Footmen
-10 Regular Footmen
-10 Regular Archers

Regional Defender Knights
-30 Regular Knights

Regional Defender Cavalry
-20 Regular Mounted Sergeants

Stromgarde Infantry, Jon Maxwell
-20 Veteran Footmen
-20 Regular Footmen

Alliance Forces
-20 Regular Footmen
-20 Regular Archers
-20 Regular Bandit Rogues


QM: Alright so, deploy the available troops to the columns as you want. You can stack a single column or have them spread. Basically designate the troops to columns you want.

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>>6116002

>One day...
Anons have been voting against it!

>and what...
Felric

>Would have...
Half Life Gib Sound.mp3

>I suppose...
It is more about them thinking long term and Alric as a human is relatively short term. Alric and his bed manners have nothing to do with this, political marriages don't care about such things if there is something to be gained.

Alrighty, I will take comments to my posts and I will answer to them.

>>6116106
>Voting against it!
Sometimes the hand of fate must be forced...Do what you must.

I'm sure anons will come around once FelMalevus's submission is clear, when they realize we need that power, or that it would be really cool to supplement our skills with properly controlled fel powers.


>>6116105
1st Column (Durnholde, Langston)
-50 Regular Footmen
-30 Regular Archers
Durnholder Infantry, Marshall Redpath
-20 Regular Footmen
-20 Regular Archers
Durnholder Mercenaries
-10 Veteran Footmen
-10 Regular Footmen
-10 Regular Archers
Alliance Forces
-20 Regular Footmen
-20 Regular Archers
-20 Regular Bandit Rogues
110 Footmen, 80 Archer, 20 Rogues

2nd Column (Regional Defenders, Garithos)
-30 Veteran Footmen
-50 Regular Footmen
-50 Regular Archers
-4 Ballistae and crew
Stromgarde Infantry, Jon Maxwell
-20 Veteran Footmen
-20 Regular Footmen
120 Footmen, 50 Archers, 4 Ballistae

3rd Column (Alterac, Alric)
-4 Regular Knights
-10 Elite Royal Foot Guards
-30 Veteran Footmen
-40 Regular Pikemen
-10 Elite Archers
-10 Veteran Archers
-15 Regular Archers
-20 Veteran Crossbowmen
-25 Regular Bandit Rogues
Durnholder Cavalry, Sir Foecourt
-10 Regular Knights
-10 Regular Mounted Sergeants
80 Foot and Pike, 35 Archers, 20 Crossbows, 25 Bandit Rogues, 14 Knights, 10 Sergeants

4th Column (Regional Defenders, Reginald)
-100 Regular Footmen
-50 Regular Archers
Regional Defender Knights
-30 Regular Knights
Regional Defender Cavalry
-20 Regular Mounted Sergeants


I think this arrangement would work. Gives the flanks a good presence so it pushes the enemy inwards a bit. Good balance and size on Langston to protect the farms. Plenty of cavalry for Reginald so we can have him come in swinging, or pin the enemy first so we can swing in. A solid 50 vet footmen with Garithos including Maxwell so if he gets targeted it should hold pretty well. With our mages, veterancy, the Alric Kill Squad, and Foecourt I think we should be a formidable Vanguard.

>>6116138
I'm strictly against using fel personally because throughout the history of Warcraft there hasn't been a single fel user that lived to have a "Happily ever after" ending. The energy not only is extremely volatile, corrupting the user worse than all known drugs combined physically but it also draws trouble to itself like flame draws moths. A powerful fel user will be beset by others of his kind for the rest of his life, batting away challengers and demons, or being forced into a situation where he will have to dominate them with brute force to maintain his power or do nothing but kill to ward off attempts on his life. And the problem with demons is that you can't kill them permanently. Fel would have been a fair path to embark upon if Alric was a lone warrior facing insurmountable odds with no hope or rest, but he has delegates and capable subordinates, he doesn't need that much personal power, especially power that is paid for with such high a cost.

I do like your troop deployment. The best scenario we could possibly have is to reenact the battle of the Carrhae, where our "wings" encounter gnolls and withdraw in good order, while the center establishes a battle line, and gradually we will go wide and "deep", encircling the gnolls and leaving them no chance to escape as the flanks reform and come upon them from behind as they engage the center.

>>6116106
I just remembered something if I can have a couple more questions. What would Alric's magical nature have been if we hadn't accepted the seed of Nalice's dragon fire? Wind, Earth for the mountains, Lightning, some kind of mental will magic, metal? etc.

Are there any features to Alric's dragon fire we haven't discovered yet?

As for comments on the political marriage I will have to think. Typical noble things like royal privilege in lordaeron legal system, building alliances, land, oil, wealth, technology we are gaining, contacts with powerful allies and friends like Katrana or Jaina or Jandice. A chance to have more influence in a human kingdom.

Maybe Ill play with the Arathi Empire joke from earlier. The Elves made an alliance and pact with humans to win the troll wars. That was more or less passed down to the successor Kingdoms of today and honored by joining the Alliance to fight together. The Alterac Kingdom, or atleast Aiden, broke that pact. It could be mended again by way of marriage, there could be considerable Honor in being the family that has mended that pact. Kael obviously values working with humans and is interested in Alric and his works, so the sentiment of wanting to honor that pact I think is fairly prominent for elves. If we frame it to Kael as wanting to solidify an alliance between him and Alric, between the kingdoms they will inherit and make, then Kael could convince Malevus's parents.

>>6116154
Thats understandable. When I think of someone with fel enhanced strength having a 'good' ending I think of Grom killing his literal demons in Mannoroth and dying with honor lol. That said I consider it almost inevitable for Alric. He does have fantastic subordinates who he cherishes, even loves, and thats precisely why it will happen. I believe he would be so loathe to lose them he would absolutely reach and accept having to beat his demons into submission for the power to prevent their death in battle.

Can he tell Malevus to give up her dream of Guardian which will take her to the battlefield, I doubt it. Malevus gets knocked off her horse again as a swarm of enemies start cutting into her? Or an enemy Champion with a runeblade? He'll snap and go full throttle. Summon some dragon wings made of fire to zoom across the battlefield, light up the cinder with Fel to just cleave through the enemy. Write some dragon language runes in the air and breath fire like Uncle Iroh. Every fancy loveable subordinate is another string tying him to this fate.

>>6116344
All of that can be avoided by planning for such situations and not running head first into trouble. And there's a very big difference between smoking demon crack and following your dreams of being an honourable warrior.

>>6116138
>>6116154
The blood elves that were sustained by the sunwell that were then deprived were called the crackelves by Blizzard when they made TBC WoW. That's what we're looking at - an addict that looks like a god briefly then gets consumed from the inside. Gul'dan survives by burning every single bridge he encounters, even with fucking Sargeras in Legion WoW.

>>6116105
Support deployment, looks good enough. I am thinking Garithos with the ballistae scaring the pants off me, rather than Reginald, but Garithos wouldn't part with them.

>>6116360
That could be tough. Alric loves running head first into trouble AND loves making plans where he is first to run into trouble. Lets take a hit of this life saving green powder off the ear of an elf, take a few puffs from the dark iron hookah, then contemplate how future Malevus is also going to have to wrestle with the intense need to smoke demon crack while following her dream of being an honorable warrior.

No update today, my apologies. Just too tired from work to think about writing an update. But I will answer the few questions and because of no update, go ahead and ask few more if you have anything in mind.

>>6116344

>What would...
It would have started as perfectly vanilla baseline arcane that could have evolved into something else.

>Are there...
Yes

>>6116381
Ideally she won't have to do that because we'll have Arthas never get the sword.

>>6115988
Thanks for answers

Thats fine, Alric isn't always on horseback either. He is ready to go on foot when needed.

>what stops him from influencing thing before hand?
True enough.

>Vengeance
Thats rough. But I guess it makes sense, after what they had to suffer through. Vengeance sounds better than a fresh start. I can only think of one way for press him....

>Nalice has things sorted out
She remains active, cant complain. Is this one of the safety measures she made for ensure we are fine, when she isn't around ?

>Garinthos didn't ask Uther
Wow, really ? There is people in the order that wouldn't have mind from what we have seen. They dont like us or trust us. Also Uther still has his orders when it comes to us, Garithos asking for a paladin or few wouldn't be that hard no?Garithos didn't even thought to check on them... or did someone else just told him to not ask for Paladins, or to not ask Uther or any other important Paladin ?


I guess we will have to revise the rules in the book of law, and probably change a few more things around. The kingdom doesn't exactly exist at the moment, so we could do it. Ultimately i think on the inside we have the power, respect and influence to pass through this, we are going to have a nobility but it will be the one we create from our men. And most Alteracis nobles are not in our ranks, what remains of them is in the ranks of our foes. Which if they ever surrender, i am not sure we can pardon them and accept them. Or can we, we could ? That might be a problem with the Alliance. It does help that Malevus is also creating some good rep for herself, creating a solid image for our Alteracis both civilians and soldiers alike. No, Katrana is not going to stop because of this and that will be a problem. I dont have any solution for that, beside to appeal to reason and hope Katrana is occupied by an avalanche of demanding and urgent business !

Good thing that we are going to put, Garithos rep even more in the dust in this campaign. If he dies by Gnolls i also wouldn't mind ! Not going to solve this issue in the long run (powerful people that hate Alric because he is a Perenolde, and an Alteraci), but in the short run it can be made less of a problem

>Having tea and biscuits with Tari
Perfect
>completely oblivious to you and Malevus being an unit
Ah, yeah. It will be good when they learn of it.....
>Plans
Secrecy and all that jazz. If the mission manages a win we will tell him.
>Though Maura pester him about grandchildren all the time.
Perfect

Good i wouldn't want for him to die.

>>6116138
>>6116105
Support this troops decision

>>6116656
I think we could pardon them should they surrender if they demonstrate their willingness to make up for their past transgressions in the same fashion as the syndicate regular troops. Hard labor/house arrest/jail. If you join with the Syndicate, you relinquish any pretenses of nobility of Alterac and to prove your loyalty and willingness to the state, you need to undergo a period of trials that will test your resolve and condition you to be an actual civil servant and not a useless wretch good only for spending money and wielding his influence for personal gain. Should one succeed and should people accept him or her, then the noble should have his privileges restored, have a ceremony held to commemorate the event and then be granted lands and servants to command. I think it is an excellent way that will weed out the overtly prideful and self absorbed and will only ensure the people that joined the Syndicate that had no other choice because Lordaeron had declared all of Atleraci nobility criminals and issued a headhunt, will end up getting into positions of power and influence. Some might view this as browbeating, but if they think that way, they can go and wear their bandanas, see where that gets them.

You know thinking about all the attempts on Alric life, I cant help but wonder if Alric shouldn't ask for Eligius and Nalice to knows some of their craft in that regard. Just to be a bit safer. Call it safety lessons in case of more ambushes, assassinations or poison.

Thankfully when the blessed town hall (hurrah !), is done and we found the people to put there to work, Alric can do more things. Can be anything. Double down with Normand on any useful subject, double down on training (far more sparring partners now), double down on magic (even if i am good with the current pace), or even try and learn other languages (wilkish and bakhtet).

I am a bit optimistic with the current situation, some money and supplies coming in if we manage to win the campaign. And if the mission goes well, a sister saved and the Syndicate having more issues. And once the oil rig is completed more money and trade. Possibly enough to get more armors for our subordinates and soldiers, pushing their quality further up. Maybe we could even buy a new horse in the future. Epona is very good, loyal and wasn't afraid so far. But i am afraid for her since she is not a warhorse.

>>6116671
I wouldn't mind that solution. It worked out so far with the Syndicate regular troops now under us. Radan is a prime example of this, and shows to everyone we would in fact follow a process like you suggested. He proved himself, he risked his life. If a minor knight like him could do it, the nobility of Alterac should be able to do the same.

>they can go and wear their bandanas, see where that gets them.
If they want to go that way, then they best be ready for what they will get by us. Executions. Death in battle. Whatever works for send a clear message or just for clean up.

>>6116583
No worries M, and thanks. I'll have to think on what questions I might have forgotten.

Just thinking on it Nalice's dragon fire was the most kino option anyways, not to forget personally rewarding for a deeper bond between Alric and his mentor. Wind might have been handy for being harder for people to spot and is a pretty flexible theme. Enchantment would have been handy too, but with how dragon language can be used as the tattoos on Alric's chest that seems to be an option.

Though the idea of more esoteric or specialized ideas would have been fun to play with. The Sun and Moon, does such a connection end up invoking Elune or other surviving natural Gods in some subtle way. If we expand on the Slow arcane spell as being a Time spell, that can be a fun theme to play with until Nozdormu's brood decides to show up lol...Though that would open up the door to some rather amusing side quests perhaps meeting up with a certain red haired wizard as they get sent into a distant place and time to partake of history. But thats a whole other can of worms way way off the rails.

>>6116656
I presume he didn't invite Uther and the Silver Hand because their presence would overshadow him while hes trying to earn that promotion.

Thought its probably a fair point that if there is a monster threat in a region that someone in his position is supposed to petition the Silver Hand for aid. I thought Turalyon might have been attached to the RD in this region and so it could have been his responsibility. Unless he just happened to be around back then, or to help officiate what was going on in Southshore? Either way he could just say he didn't want to bother the Silver Hand when they have other problems on their hands.

>>6116671

The Alteraci nobility is an interesting question. At this point after so many years they've all cultivated atleast some skills and experience in intrigue that if not used would rather go to waste. Though perhaps its more like adding a bit of colour to their courtier and warrior lifestyles. So much of their skills would have been put to use in ways to undermine the other kingdoms, and they've been fighting the fight that VanCleef is only just starting for some time. I imagine they aren't prone to lavish spending unless its uncover and in the interest of corrupting some noble and his assets, but to be fair they are coping with the loss of everything they had so yeah. I do think any who are really active in their organization are fairly lean and mean, but after so many years it does seem paranoia and distrust has set in.

Life goes on though and so there will be nobility who are not active as old men, women, and children. Sort of like those of the Stonemasons, have they taken measures to protect them from the dirty fighting duties. To what extent can the nobility of those more vulnerable be kept or tested. A tested and proven noble getting to bring the rest of his family with him seems suitable.

>>6116753
We will absolutely have to rewrite Alteraci penal code and the code of law, this goes without saying. Eligius is going to be our lawmaker and he will do it once we retake the capital. He will absolutely hate the job and that will ensure that he will do it well. Remember, that civil legislative power should only reside in the hands of those that fear it or do not want it.

>>6116822
>Eligius has to be Spymaster, our Magic Handler, our numbers man, AND Lawmaker for a remade Kingdom?

As much as a comically overworked but superb subordinate is funny, atleast get the man an excellent wife who can help handle some of this.

>>6116829
Task delegation will continue until morale improves. And obviously he eventually will cease having to be our magic handler, I doubt he'd want to be a court mage, since that'd put him within the public eye. I do agree with the wife part though.

>>6116838
I dont know if I missed any suitable ladies but this seems like the list, though Beve is obviously distant it kind of felt like a strong power couple option if Alric could ever convince Beve to come home.

Pai, spy and courtier skills
Surena (Stonemason Mage/Warlock Woman), magic
The Witches (Elise, Josephine, Maria and Lisa), unusual magic
Beve Perenolde, spy and courtier and magic
Untapped Reserve - The Underbelly pops and characters we haven't gotten yet.

Plenty of mages just take apprentices whenever they find someone with talent, or live in Dalaran, but I'd guess a strong magic bloodline is still pretty valuable if they can do so? Even more so for independent and secretive magic users who want to settle down. Unless they prefer to try for some weird alchemical or magic ways to enhance their bloodlines and personal affinity for magic, which could be all sorts of FUN. Something tells me Nalice might have some notes on magic eugenics somewhere.

He won't want anyone very showy, though if love blooms then it blooms. Though it'll probably be the pretty witch who they are trying to pair him with anyways lol. Atleast then he could live more comfortably with all the witches pitching in at various stages of home and coven life so they can secure heirs to their witch traditions.

>>6116583
The Witches asked Eligius to help with some harvest ritual a little ways back I think, perhaps earlier this year, how did that go besides Eligius having a good hazy time?

What other sorts of rituals do they have in their unusual tradition? Anything that they could now attempt to do with the resources and confidence now available? Any combat spells or skills that Eligius could have picked up? Do they have anything they might lend to Eligius once he tells them hes going out on a rather dangerous mission?

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1st Column (Durnholde, Langston)
-50 Regular Footmen
-30 Regular Archers
Durnholder Infantry, Marshall Redpath
-20 Regular Footmen
-20 Regular Archers
Durnholder Mercenaries
-10 Veteran Footmen
-10 Regular Footmen
-10 Regular Archers
Alliance Forces
-20 Regular Footmen
-20 Regular Archers
-20 Regular Bandit Rogues
110 Footmen, 80 Archer, 20 Rogues

2nd Column (Regional Defenders, Garithos)
-30 Veteran Footmen
-50 Regular Footmen
-50 Regular Archers
-4 Ballistae and crew
Stromgarde Infantry, Jon Maxwell
-20 Veteran Footmen
-20 Regular Footmen
120 Footmen, 50 Archers, 4 Ballistae

3rd Column (Alterac, Alric)
-4 Regular Knights
-10 Elite Royal Foot Guards
-30 Veteran Footmen
-40 Regular Pikemen
-10 Elite Archers
-10 Veteran Archers
-15 Regular Archers
-20 Veteran Crossbowmen
-25 Regular Bandit Rogues
Durnholder Cavalry, Sir Foecourt
-10 Regular Knights
-10 Regular Mounted Sergeants
80 Foot and Pike, 35 Archers, 20 Crossbows, 25 Bandit Rogues, 14 Knights, 10 Mounted Sergeants

4th Column (Regional Defenders, Reginald)
-100 Regular Footmen
-50 Regular Archers
Regional Defender Knights
-30 Regular Knights
Regional Defender Cavalry
-20 Regular Mounted Sergeants
100 Footmen, 50 Archers, 30 Knights, 20 Mounted Sergeants


It would be a matter of deploying the troops next. Four columns marching maybe quarter, half a league from each other, taking direction from the sun if possible through the forest canopy. There would be runners on horseback between the columns, slightly staggered to allow your Alteracis to be ahead of everyone else in the vanguard.

“Mr. Langston, can you please tell us of how we will march into war?” You asked him.

“Of course Prince Alric.” Langston said to you. “We shall follow the Internment Camps, first the one closest and then through two more before we reach the northmost camp around Durnholde.”

“Which is the camp with the pre-moved supplies?”

“Yes Prince Alric.” Langston replied and nodded.

Good, things were a lot clearer then. You knew the columns, now just to decide what was to be the direction you would enter the gnoll territory. Would you charge the gnolls directly or go for their flanks, dealing with them that way and finding their weakpoints to charge through?


>By the river, sweeping through the South Durnholde Hills into their rear
>Past the farms securing them and then into gnoll held territory
>Straight into their midst, bring the battle to them and take the victory to humans
>Right flank, past the mountains and cut off their route of escape before striking into them

QM: Got the update out, rather simple one, but I think you have the necessary information to make the decision.

>>6117504
>>By the river, sweeping through the South Durnholde Hills into their rear

>>6117504
>>By the river, sweeping through the South Durnholde Hills into their rear

>>6117504
Hmm the river route should let us get a nice look at those supposedly empty south and north areas, at what forced the gnoll migration south. Protects our flank with the river and lets us hit them in the rear where they probably haven't prepared as many ambush groups, which they should call back to deal with the unexpected invaders.

The gnoll survivors from the last expedition wouldn't have rebuilt the main camps in the same spot, naturally they would move it north to be further away buying themselves more time when the humans come again. So any gnoll preparations would likely be around routes 2 and 3, we can preserve more men for the decisive battles.

>>6117792
That said if they decide on raiding theres nothing between the gnolls and the farms, but would they do that when the enemy is already behind them?

If retribution raiding was more important then survival they would have started raiding after the uther expedition had left. So it should be they are more interested in the strategic reasons, to make an enemy devote resources to turning around and hunting down some very skittish raiders.

But with the enemy already behind them it wouldn't divert any enemies away, as the fastest way for our guys to get to the farms and the raiders would be going right through the gnoll main camps anyways. Atleast thats my thinking on it.

>By the river, sweeping through the South Durnholde Hills into their rear

“Our immediate goal is to make sure that the farms are secure, this is what Lord Blackmoore has told us.” You said to everyone and continued. “And to not underestimate our opponents, we need to presume that they have an idea where we are going to march to.”

You reached over the table and tapped the map by the Darrowmere River.

“But if the South Durnholde Hills is empty, they won’t have anything that can react to us or see where we are exactly going. So we will march past the farms, if they are smart their scouts will see us and then we enter the South Durnholde Hills and they won’t know what we are doing.” You told them and continued explaining your plan. “The gnolls either think that we are preparing to attack directly from the south, so I want Captain Reginald and his cavalry to make as much noise as possible and be as visible as possible around and near the farms to fool them. Or they follow us into the South Durnholde Hills and we can fight them in terrain not familiar to them.”

“We will also have the river guarding one of our flanks.” Captain Cromwell was smart to point out to everyone.

“Precisely, and if needed I have men across the river and they have rowboats. We can deliver messages or personnel across the river.” You replied to your Captain and then looked at the rest of the officers. “Our plan is to go through the hopefully empty South Durnholde Hills, sweep it free of any potential opposition and bring it back under human control and then turn around into the gnoll rear. If the gnolls think that we are coming from the south, they are in for a really nasty surprise.”

You traced the path on the map with your finger and tapped several times in the gnoll rear. Though this made you wonder, why doesn’t anyone ever comment about your black fingernails? It is always just the eyes, do they think that you are just going through some phase and like to dress in black?

Either way, there was no point in going into particular tactics right now. The main strategy and plan was out and you could go through the battlefield tactics closer to the fighting. After all, all plans are thrown out of the window when fighting starts.

“Mr. Langston, you will be in charge of the supplies. Durnholders have done a great deal of work in preparing them for all of us and you know how much and where they are stashed.” You said to him and then looked at Garithos. “And Colonel Garithos, with the Regional Defenders being the largest force, I want your men to be the ones escorting the baggage train to the Internment Camp.”

1/3

>>6118217

It was a carrot, a small and reasonable one, but the Regional Defenders needed something to not feel left out.

“Understood Prince Perenolde.” Garithos replied with disdain in his voice.

He and the others had acted nicely, you wondered what Blackmoore and him had talked about, but it was probably bad manners to ask him in private.

“Good, then we all should be on the same page. We will talk about the tactics after we reach the Internment Camp and prepare for the actual battles, before then it is quite pointless.” You said to them and looked at Blackmoore. “Lord Blackmoore.”

“Are you finished Prince Alric?” He asked you back.

“I am.” You said to him and smiled as you fixed your glasses. “As the Lord Commander of the Expeditionary Force, as much as we have our differences, we have one singular goal for this campaign. To defeat the gnolls and end their threat. So in the name of the Holy Light, let us all do our duties for the greater good.”

From your side of the table there were several nods and ayes. Sir Foecourt and the knights seemed quite enthusiastic, but on the side of Garithos just Jon Maxwell gave you the approving nod.

You closed your eyes for a second and avoided sighing. You were quite done. Hopefully tomorrow you would feel better.

“Mr. Langston, tell us when we leave tomorrow.” You asked him.

“Early Prince Alric, as soon as possible after the sunrise.” He replied.

“That will be our timetable then.” You said to everyone. “Tomorrow we will march into war.”

…

You slumped over the table in your tent. You were spent. Done. Finished. Whatever energy smoking the hookah and the Dark Iron blend had given to you was gone and you now felt like your soul had drained out of your body.

“Are you alright?” Malevus asked you.

You gave her the look of ‘are you serious?’ as a response.

“I feel like shit.” You said and were blunt. “At least Captain Cromwell knows what we need to do so I don’t need to herd our men.”

Your hungover had gotten the win over you. You should have just rested through the day and not handle any of the campaign business, but you had to. So you had just postponed your energy crash.

“Well, at least you have learned a good lesson.” Malevus said and crossed her arms. “Don’t…”

“Drink the day before an important meeting, I get it.” You interrupted her and continued. “Call it advanced diplomacy.”

“I hope I never have to do it…” Malevus said and laughed.

You gave her the look.

The Look.

Of Inevitability.

“You know very well whom you fell for, one day I will drag you with me and the day after you are going to feel just as bad as I do now.” You said to her and smirked. “And in return we have managed to avoid some big diplomatic crisis.”

2/3

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>>6118218

You had to take a deep breath before you continued.

“Or something…”

“I seriously doubt that…” Malevus responded and smiled.

“I will take that as a bet.” You said to her.

“You need to rest Alric.” She said to you. “Or take a bath because you stink.”

“Is that a threat or an offer?” You asked, trying to be both funny and coy at the same time.

Malevus blushed slightly when you said that and looked away momentarily.

“Y-yes…” Was her reply.


>There is a sauna tent, a tent with a sauna stove. It was an idea by Malevus and somehow the men forced to carry it agreed to it. Go test it out.
>Just go to sleep, you need to be well rested come tomorrow and you are fairly sure that you will sleep like a baby.
>Go see Astu the Laughing Skull Orc with Malevus. Because you aren’t going to see him after this outside of handing him to the Internment Camp guards.
>Other, write in.

Allow Malevus to be nice to you:
>Yes, you wonder what she has in her mind.
>No, this is too public. You can’t be seen together as your relationship isn’t public yet.

QM: One more social update with all three of the updates having special event planned behind them.

>>6118217
>why doesn’t anyone ever comment about your black fingernails
I imagine it's because people think that Alric is some sort of a hedonist that sleeps with multiple women at once and has personal assistants paint his nails black for him or something, but they also respect him because he's an absolute beast in fighting and good at management, so people let it slide and think to themselves "All capable leaders are eccentric to some extent". It'd be funny if he started a fashion movement in Alterac, or if Nalice showed up with her nails painted black.

>>6118220
>Go see Astu the Laughing Skull Orc with Malevus. Because you aren’t going to see him after this outside of handing him to the Internment Camp guards.
We can always find time to flirt and be inappropriate, but every important character must have an orc bro. A debt of honor for an orc is a very serious deal and we have held our word, so maybe sometime in the future when the opportunity presents to repay it, he will. Call it an investment into the future.

>Yes, you wonder what she has in her mind.
Everyone already thinks what they want to think, not much of a point holding back, besides Malevus seems to be rather proper anyway.

>>6118220
>>There is a sauna tent, a tent with a sauna stove. It was an idea by Malevus and somehow the men forced to carry it agreed to it. Go test it out.
>Yes, you wonder what she has in her mind.

>>6118220
>>There is a sauna tent, a tent with a sauna stove. It was an idea by Malevus and somehow the men forced to carry it agreed to it. Go test it out.
>Yes, you wonder what she has in her mind.
I wish some anons were less suicidal.

>>6118220
Im finally back, wish I had been here for some votes but oh well.
>There is a sauna tent, a tent with a sauna stove. It was an idea by Malevus and somehow the men forced to carry it agreed to it. Go test it out.
>Yes, you wonder what she has in her mind.

>>6118242
But what is there to talk about with Astu? Everything that needed to be said has already been said and I don't think he's one for small talk.

>>6118513
What do you mean by that?

>>6118242

I wouldn't mind seeing Astu again, but ya know he still only speaks Orcish and we didn't bring Wiklish.

>>6118674

You know, you have a bunch of Dark Irons mucking around...

That being said, sauna won the vote! Writing!

>>6118677
And yet you put it up against the Malevus sauna episode I had suggested in the past, so I am torn.Though it would still be 2 to 3 anyways. Any comment on the witch questions from the other day?

>>6118681

Did I miss a question? Please repost it.

>>6118684
Righto

The Witches asked Eligius to help with some harvest ritual a little ways back I think, perhaps earlier this year, how did that go besides Eligius having a good hazy time?

What other sorts of rituals do they have in their unusual tradition? Anything that they could now attempt to do with the resources and confidence now available? Any combat spells or skills that Eligius could have picked up? Do they have anything they might lend to Eligius once he tells them hes going out on a rather dangerous mission

>>6118686

Eligius had a hazy good time. There are many things he deny that had happened. For other unusual with traditions, I have some planned for later dates, but things like fertility and harvest rituals are in minority. The witches are still learning the basics of arcane magic so their base powers are still growing. But what they could lend to Eligius is a bit of a question as Eligius sees them beneath himself, they after all are witches with half-assed training while he is a proper warlock.

But if you were to get Eligius to understand their worth, or maybe have Alric to join the Coven and/or make it a bigger thing, would you say no to a bunch of loyal witches willing to participate in rituals?

“Well what do you have in mind?” You asked Malevus with a tone that was a bit exaggerating your interest.

“Well… if you take the bath… because you stink and I don’t want to have you around all smelly…”Malevus started to say and after a pause continued. “And you get through the campaign without major injuries… I am going to allow you to touch my ears.”

That piqued your interest and made you give Malevus a curious look. She hadn’t allowed you to touch her ears when you had cuddled with her, every time you tried, she swatted you hand away.

“How can I say no to that?” You replied and smiled.

“Good, then let’s go and have you take a bath.” Malevus said to you, proud that her bargain had worked. “How can I give you a good night's kiss if you smell like stale alcohol and sweat?”

“You are right… help me get up then.” You replied. “Can’t wait to have my bath.”

“Did I succeed giving you motivation?” Malevus asked you.

“A world for those ears! A World!” You replied and laughed.

Malevus realised her mistake and blushed hard.

Alright, that felt like a confirmation. The deal was done.

…

Walking through the camp with Malevus by your side and your cane making soft thud sounds as it dug itself into the soft mud that made the field where the camp was, you quickly reached the tent that had been turned into a sauna.

It was one of the older tents used to house supplies and other goods during the Strahnbrad Hills campaigns, hence it still being all white and beige in colour. It was one that was okay to be turned into a sauna and apparently it had seen plenty of use already by your men. They enjoyed the chance to bathe and get themselves clean away from the rivers and ponds where they could take a dip in. And with cleanliness and hygiene being an important aspect of having a professional army, there was no need to curb the enthusiasm for sauna culture. Even as Malevus wanted to praise the gospel of it to everyone who was eager to hear about it nearly as much as she praised the Holy Light.

A Paladin of Saunas and Holy Light she really was.

The tent itself was split in two with a cloth curtain, one side having the sauna and the second the washing barrels and benches to sit and change clothes in. When you entered the tent there was no one there, the Royal Foot Guards had politely asked the users to leave before you entered it. Removing your clothes and putting them into a neat pile, you took a towel and entered the sauna portion of the tent. A couple rows of folding benches lined up the tent, a simple stove made from riveted steel plates and piping heated up the sauna. A tray full of stones was placed on top of the stove for you to throw water at.

1/2

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>>6118762

And so you did so.

It didn’t take long for you to get a proper sweat on your skin, even after checking the fire in the stove and adding a couple pieces of firewood reserved nearby, you continued to enjoy the heat without any problems. You don't exactly remember when you got used to the heat, but the sauna didn’t bother you as much as it did some others. Frankly you enjoyed the heat, so you threw more water on the stones and allowed the hot steam to caress your body as you remembered to hydrate yourself by drinking water.

But when it was time to wash yourself, a surprise struck you. With a towel around your waist, you stepped out of the sauna portion of the tent to find Malevus waiting for you.

“Malevus…”

“Alric, I am here to wash your hair and back.” Malevus said to you. She had changed into a simple long grey dress for the occasion.

“This is too…”

“Public? Maybe…” She answered, blushing too hard.

“Still..”

“Just take a seat Alric.” She said to you.

You took a deep breath and after looking her for a second took a seat next to the barrel with lukewarm water in it with just the towel around your waist.

“So just the hair and back or something else?” Malevus asked you, she seemed nervous about this. Should you ask for more?


>Just your hair and back.
>And your upper torso.
>And your lower torso and legs.
>Everything.

QM: How far are you willing to go? Next update back to the campaign.

>>6118763
>(Wash) Everything.
Now this song and dance is getting too ridiculous. I only say to keep it as only a wash because it's not the right place and I find the concept of Alric blueballing Malevus harder than she can can do it to him funny.

>>6118768
>>6118763
>support

>+pull Malevus into the tub... leave her nice and wet while we get out and dry off and change. Maybe splash her once too. Ultimate Chad Alric tease.

>>6118762
>“Did I succeed giving you motivation?” Malevus asked you.
>“A world for those ears! A World!” You replied and laughed.
Too wholesome and cute.

>>6118763
Everything, sure.

You looked at her as she fidgeted around with her hands. She was so nervous about it.

Lady Malevus Silverthread seemed so unsure of herself. Fidgeting with her hands, her long dress hugging her body and long red hair done in a ponytail to keep her hair off her face. Her long eyebrows moved as did her ears as she looked at you. By the Light she was beautiful, yet you would love to tease her like this till the end of her life, because by the Holy Light you would outlive her elf life or die trying!

“Everything.” You said to her and smiled.

“Everything?” She asked.

“Did I stutter?” You asked her and gave her a look she couldn’t mistake. Your Fel green eyes looking deep into hers.

“N-no..” She said and then nodded. “If you asked for everything…”

She stepped forth, taking the soap from a tray and then a bucket with warm water to wash you with.

And then she ran her hands through your black hair. She worked through every strand, strengthened by your work with magic and by your heritage as a Perenolde, pulling them free from each other and with her gentle touch and a bit of soap, made them free of any dirt and oils. Having let your hair grow, it reached nearly to your mid back and the fringes on the front to your chest.

Then she moved down on your neck and shoulders. From there to your back and lower back till she reached the towel guarding your private parts. That was enough for her as her hands rubbed through muscles, returning back up on your arms and hands. Arm by arm she worked through you, washing every bit of you and making sure that the soap had been washed away.

And then she knew she had to move to your stomach and legs. Swallowing hard, she knelt in front of you on the planks that kept you clean from the dirt underneath the tent and started washing your feet. Moving upward, she worked her hands up your thighs as she reached the towel around your waist. She looked at you, certain uncertainty in her eyes.

You didn’t say anything to her. Instead you let the atmosphere linger.

Then there was a knock on the door to the tent. As much as there was a door to knock on.

Before you could answer, Lieutenant Gravis entered the tent and saw you sitting on a small bench with Malevus in her quite wet dress kneeling in front of you fixated to your lower abdomen.

He looked at you, then at the kneeling Malevus, and then back at you. Gravis without his usual black plate mail looked quite vulnerable as he didn’t dare to say a word, until he did.

1/2

>>6118904

“I am going to let the two of you be…” He replied carefully and retracing the same steps he did to get into the sauna tent, he walked back and exited the tent.

You looked at Malevus.

She looked back at you while still kneeling.

Then she quickly got back up and brushed some of her errant hairs back behind her ears nervously.

“I-I think that’s enough… you are clean now I think.” She said to you.

“You sure?”

“I am quite sure.” Malevus replied hurriedly.

She went for her robe and threw it over her shoulders and wrapped it around her.

“Good night Prince Alric.” Malevus said to you while giving a nervous look to you. “See you tomorrow Prince Alric.”

As quickly as she said that, she turned around and walked out of the tent.

You reached out for her and found nothing. She had already left. Sighing deeply, you picked up the soap where she had dropped it and knew that you needed to finish the work.

But boy was she so lovely… Malevus… you could imagine yourself being with her till the sun stopped shining and the moons disappeared from the sky. That would take quite a few years, but you were ready to wait for it. You would be ready to do whatever was necessary for it.

…

The next morning came soon. Malevus had retired to her side of the tent when you returned and you hadn’t bothered her. When the call for the wake up came from the camp and your soldiers started to tear the tents away before the sun was up, you woke her up and asked for her help.

Half naked, just wearing your braies, you dressed up and asked for some help from her. Piece by piece in silence you got the Aurvan’kal on you until the helmet and shield remained.

“Remember what you promised.” You said to Malevus. “Those ears of yours… they are mine.”

She blushed and looked away.

“Just don’t get hurt… what if I am not there to heal you?” She asked you.

“I won’t get hurt.” You said to her stood up from the chair you were sitting on in your tent. “I am Prince Alric Perenolde, a boyfriend to Lady Malevus Silverthread and I don’t get hurt.”

Smiling wildly to her, she passed your helmet to you and looked away. She was so cute while embarrassed, Malevus your loyal yet quite cute squire.

…

“The first Internment Camp.” Langston said to you as the column stopped to have a first break.

It was midday and you knew that you would be marching till the evening to reach another camp. Then one more day till you reached the Internment Camp that was supposed to be your base and camp for the campaign.

Langston turned to look at you as you rode to the barracks next to the palisade.

“Are you going to throw your orc here or not?” He asked you.

That was a good question.


2/2

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>>6118905


>Yes, Astu would stay in this camp. You could maybe speak with the old orc here to make sure that Astu knew to stay put, but that could be a tricky endeavour to you.
>Yes, throw him here and forget about him.
>No, you are going to throw him into the northernmost camp. He will be secure there, until Thrall comes and rescues him.
>Other, write in.

>>6118904
Motherfucker knocks but comes in anyway? Gravis better get a smack on the side of the head for this later. Alric isn't embarassed but it's both about the principle and for Malevus' sake, only her prince is allowed to embarass her like that.

>>6118907
>No, you are going to throw him into the northernmost camp. He will be secure there, until Thrall comes and rescues him.
I guess say yes to Langston but put him in the other camp? Saying no to him would be weird since why would we prefer one camp over any other?

>>6118905
>>No, you are going to throw him into the northernmost camp. He will be secure there, until Thrall comes and rescues him.

>>6118916
>>6118997
What would be our excuse for that though?
It seems weird that we'd care which camp we'd want to drop him in.

>>6118907
>>Yes, throw him here and forget about him.
Please dont pay any special attention to the orc.
Going out of our way to have a orc placed elsewhere is both suspicious and weird.

I wonder if Astu would assassinate Blackmoore or open the gates from within when Thralls invasion hits.

>>6119024
I'm in support of this. We ought to lay low, especially before a military campaign. Everyone is on edge and their attention is more focused.

>>6118905
>Other, write in.
If this camp should be reserved for the most energetic orcs who make better gladiators then it seems better to put this one somewhere else to save space. The northern camp is on the way, two birds with one stone. If thats not the case then just put him here.

Alric offers some thought for the gladiator setup, and offers to save them the effort.This seems like a reasonable excuse, and puts Astu a little more in debt honorwise I suppose. Also gives a chance to speak with him again with our new dark iron buddy Bakhtet? I do rather wonder what he might have to say.

>>6118907
>Yes, throw him here and forget about him.
Not much i can't think on this beside "Should i throw him in another camp ?" to Langston answer. Astu is on his own, and we have too many people here watching, Alliance especially. Maybe we will see him another time. Or no.

>>6118916
He probably just expected Alric inside or no one with the silence. Its mostly used by other soldiers after all. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Gravis the first to know, hehe.

>>6119013
My point there was to give no excuse and just say one thing and do another. Langston is a busy man, why would he pay special attention to a matter that is apparently resolved.

>>6119086
If that was the case then he wouldn't have knocked. He deserves a smack for doing so and then coming in anyway, who does that?

>>6118761
Yeah I didn't think about Eligius's pride on that, I could see that being an obstacle. I wonder if his pride at being a warlock is what triggers Lady Nalice staring his ass down to put him in his place, since she did offer to teach Alric warlock magic without seeming bothered by it as she learns about him. Teacher and apprentice is a two way street, even with the witches, and maybe his pride is hampering himself a bit.

For their worth I guess I would point out that he and Alric have been using the gnoll necklace, and I've seen the rolls for magic where it clutched. Theres also the bloodstone, or even the silver rondal dagger. Obviously some hidden or lost traditions have, or had, the power to create some very useful tools even with bare resources. Is there something in the gnoll grimoire of that? Can he really look down on it while benefitting from it?

Could also frame it as an archeological challenge for his prideful intellect, to piece together some lost techniques and traditions hinted at in witch mysticism. Recreating the original human magic as one might a dead ancient language from hieroglyphs. Think of it as an inheritance from rather distant and cryptic relatives.

I wouldn't turn down such rituals or a bigger Coven out of hand. I'm sure theres some cool and neat stuff born out of the times and needs these traditions were born in, those almost prehistory years before and during the trolls wars. Maybe more of an Arthurian magic where the King was bound to the land, and the land to the King, through ancient forces and covenants.

For instance conceiving with Malevus or Nalice is a real issue after all. Just need to be sure they don't borrow Alric's seed and accidentally create a Morded to Alric's Arthur.

>>6118907
>Yes, throw him here and forget about him.
>"Sure. Any problem with putting the orc here?"

>>6118905
Meet with Gravis as he clearly wanted something, and it was important enough to interrupt ablutions.
Did he walk in on Blackmoore taking a dump or vomiting up the earlier night's drinking too?

>>6119155
Eligius already has the challenge of his life learning state diplomacy, administration (his official position) AND spymastery (and his unofficial position) from the wildcards of a loose cannon prince and a dragon of all things.
Then the loose cannon prince nominated him for Pai's wild ride. Have some pity, please.

>>6119314
Soon we will have that which was spoken of in legend and myth, that most sought after of glories, the Town Hall.

Then he can offload some of that. Which we immediately replace with more important duties. I'm sure the witches can make him some vitality reinforcing teas, and some domestic duties.

Or maybe he achieves some kind of warlock ascension just so he can manage the increased workload. Whatever works.

Alrighty, I will try to update later this evening. But before it, could I have the fan favourite. The weather and random event roll! I could have asked this earlier, but real life super busy!

Also will you go and have a talk with Lieutenant Gravis or not about what he saw?


>1d10
>Best of three, taking the second roll

Talking with Gravis:
>No, there is no need as he won't spread rumours
>Yes, write in what to say or what to do

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>6119652
>No, there is no need as he won't spread rumours

If anons hadn't asked Malevus to polish everything including the family jewels the bath wouldn't have lasted long enough for this little slip lol. I don't see any need to reprimand our friend and bodyguard. Besides atleast this way both sides are keeping a little secret for the other with that noblewoman actually getting pregnant.

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>6119652
>Yes, write in what to say or what to do
Go have a talk with him so he doesnt spread rumours. And that We will make our relationship with malevus public when shes more comfortable with it.

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>6119652

>>6119652
while i fully trust Gravis (what he did for us and loyalty shown multiple times, say enough already) just get this out of the way for the sake of being clear.

>Yes, write in what to say or what to do
"Sir Gravis, i trust you already to keep secret of yesterday. But just for be clear do not mention around what you have seen. I think you already realized that, but is not a public relation yet. I have intentions for it to be public in due time, but i will do so once Malevus is more comfortable with our relation and Alterac obtained a stronger position."
"I also want Malevus to be more protected. I have many enemies after all, and i will not allow harm to happen to her. Keep it discreet when doing so, until things are official."

>>6119652
>Yes, write in what to say or what to do
"Gravis, it's clearly important enough to interrupt bathing, what's going on? And you should know that you saw Malevus in the middle of washing me, I can see how it would have looked, and I want you to be discrete about this."
Straightforward enough for me.

>Eligius ends up summoning a maxwell's demon to help him keep track of the paperwork

>>6120096
Lol

>>6119652
I wouldn't tell Gravis to not speak of what he saw, that goes without saying, I WOULD instead chastisingly rib him for knocking and then coming in anyway.

>>6120096
That said, which warlock summon would be the best at paperwork?

Sorry, no update today. Work busies yet again. Good dry weather will continue and you are going to speak shortly with Gravis after having Astu moved into the camp.

>>6120270

Succubus

>>6120270
>>6120306
I think a Shivarra would be more handy.

"Is there room in the camp?" You asked Langston.

“Couple orcs died during the winter, so the answer would be yes. Though it would have been yes even before it.” Langston replied to you.

“Then I will have my man to move the orc into the camp, it will be under your care then.” You said to him.

“Good, I will let the guards know.” Langston said back to you.

“Langston, just make sure that the orc is watched. He wasn’t exactly lethargic when we caught it, sure it didn’t fight that hard against us, but still…” You warned him.

“I will take that in mind Prince Alric, the men will be informed.” He said back.

“Thank you.” You replied.

That would be the end of you and Astu. You didn’t have any plans to watch him be manhandled into the camp as you had done your duty as the Prince of Alterac, but you had also done your duty as a man with honour. You had made sure to have one of yours to deliver the messages he was carrying without looking at them.

Would that be a mistake?

Could you trust Thrall? Could you trust Hellscream?

“Prince Alric, a copper for your thoughts?” Langston asked you.

“Orcs.”

“Orcs?” He asked.

“What if it is the orcs who have pushed the gnolls this south?” You asked him.

“Then we have to fight the orcs next.” Langston replied and continued after a pause. “Prince Alric, you aren’t looking up to that?”

“Are you?” You asked and allowed the question to stand. “They are veterans, and when we fight many of us will end up dying.”

That seemed to rattle Langston somewhat.

“So no, I am not looking up to fight the orcs. Not because I would be afraid of doing it, not at all, it would be a great honour to me. But because… because it would cost many valuable Alteraci lives to me.” You said and took off your dark glasses. Then you looked at Langston. “You see the dilemma, don't you? I want to save Alteraci lives, yet if I fight the orcs that will cause them. But if I don’t fight the orcs, how will the others see me?”

Langston momentarily looked at you and found your eyes.

“I will fight the orcs if we have to, that is my duty as a human and as an Alteraci.” You said to him. “But I don’t want any meaningless wars.”

“The wars you have fought have been meaningful?” Langston replied to you.

“Of course they have been, they have been for the survival of Alterac!” You spat back at him and continued. “But it is not just me and twenty men in our armour anymore is it? I have three thousand souls in Dawnholme!”

1/3

>>6120914

You had raised your voice slightly. Now others than just Lanston heard you. It didn’t help that you were pointing at things with your arms.

“That is why I need to be careful, this is not just a journey for me, but for so many more.” You said to him.

“I understand Prince Alric… I don’t want to fight the orcs either.” Langston replied and leaned towards you.

“I know.” You said and didn’t elaborate further.

Langston didn’t say anything more to you and you had already said too much.

In a couple moments you reached the first Internment Camp and the matter was put past you.

…

Astu had been escorted out of your column by your men and by the camp guards. You hadn’t been there to follow it as you had some other duties.

Some more important duties…

“Lieutenant Gravis…” You said to him as you walked to him with your cane sinking on the soft forest floor. To play a part, you needed that cane. Let people think you are weak.

“Prince Alric.” He replied and gave you half attention. “Men continue your works!”

Lieutenant Gravis turned to looked at you as your men prepared to have a break.

“What is it Prince Alric?” He asked and turned properly towards you.

“May we talk in private?” You asked him.

Face of Gravis lost some of his colour as he looked at you.

“Of course Prince Alric.” He replied.

Gravis in his black armour walked to you and you placed your hand behind his back you walked some distance away from others.

“Lieutenant Gravis, I trust you already to keep what you saw a secret.” You said to him and removed your gauntlets that you ended up holding under your left arm. “But you must have seen, you must have realised to not be a public knowledge, it is not public knowledge. I have an intention to make it public when it is the time, for when Lady Malevus is alright with it being public. When she is comfortable with it.”

Gravis gave you a curious look.

“I won’t force it upon her and I need Alterac to be in a stronger position to allow me to have… her as my… you know…” You said and embarrassment crept up your face.

“I understand Prince Alric.” Gravis replied to you.

“I want her protected. I have many enemies after all, and I will not allow harm to happen to her. Keep it discreet when doing so, until things are official." You said to Gravis and prodded his plate with your finger. “Also Lieutenant Gravis, don’t barge in when not told the permission.”

“Of course Prince Alric, understood Prince Alric.” He replied to you. Giving you a smirk and a half serious salute.

“Good, do understand that my squire is dear to me.” You replied to him and looked at your knight.

“I do Prince Alric.” He said to you.

“Good, also congratulations.” You said and clapped his shoulder. “Your seed is strong.”

2/3

>>6120915

It was the time for Gravis to lose all the colour on his face this time as he realised what you meant.

“Secrets for all of us.” You said and smiled as you turned away.

A proud father Gravis was, maybe even a proud husband if it came to you. Marriages, weren’t they a complicated thing?

…

>8
>8


The weather had stayed clear and steady. The sun was shining and just a bit of clouds were up in the sky.

You had stopped at the first camp to rest a bit and to have all of the forces to catch up. Now you had reached the second camp and with the evening pushing on you, the camp had been made. Surrounded by the Durnholders and the Regional Defenders, Alteracis were at the centre of the armed camp next to the palisade and the armed men surrounding the Internment Camp.

“Prince Alric.” A soldier from the camp greeted you before correcting himself. “Lord Commander, the commander of the camp, wishes you to join him and the others for dinner.”

“Thank you soldier.” You replied to him. “Have the others been invited?”

“They have.” The guard gave you a deeper than needed bow and backed away.

Well, it sounded like you could exactly say no to. But maybe you should? You were to Lord Commander of the Expeditionary Force, you had the final say. No camp commander had the power over you. Maybe you should have your own dinner? Maybe you could have a good impression on them?


>Have your own dinner, invite the rest of the commanders to join you Alteracis for talks and for good food.
>Allow the commander of the Internment Camp to hold the dinner, he would be the neutral party in this.
>Decline, we have passed the need of dinners. You are ar war, not at dinner parties.
>Other, write in.

Whom to ask as your second:
>Malevus
>Gravis
>Cromwell
>No one, you are a Prince, you don’t need anyone else

Also give me a 1d100


>1d100
>Best of three

>>6120858

Shivarra would definitely be quite handy, especially based on the amount of arms they have, but would they be the best choice for Eligious?

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>6120927
>Allow the commander of the Internment Camp to hold the dinner, he would be the neutral party in this.
>Malevus

Curious I wonder if something is a afoot. Otherwise if its to make a good impression Malevus all the way, plus we didn't invite her to the last one. I suppose this means Alric won't get to drink very much.

I do like Gravis but do we want out bodyguard as our second?

But we don't get to hang out with Cromwell very often so there is that.

>>6120950
Eligius I think is more of a Voidwalker kind of guy, but as Spymaster I suppose Succubus has a lot of utility. Can warlock pets disguise themselves as little animals or other creatures? In lore it just seems like something that should work, but I suppose we haven't really talked too much about what warlocks can do.

Rolled 69 (1d100)

>>6120931

>>6120927
>Allow the commander of the Internment Camp to hold the dinner, he would be the neutral party in this.
It would be impolite to boss people around over such a matter and I wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to make friends when we have so many enemies.
>Cromwell
Second as in "second in command" right? I don't think I'd change my answer either way.

>>6120958
>69
Nice

>>6120927
>>Allow the commander of the Internment Camp to hold the dinner, he would be the neutral party in this
Sure, a dinner is fine. Maybe one glass of wine, and thats it. When we march north, we arent going to have them likely.

>Cromwell
Malevus was in the previous meeting, lets go with someone else. I was thinking of Gravis but we need him ready all times, this event will bother us a bit. I smell something. Unless the camp commander really just wanted to see the expedition going away and provide a dinner for the ones in charge.
Whatever it is, we arent changing the plan and i'll have Garithos drown in a barrel of ale if he tries something.

>>6120957
I'll flip to Cromwell, it'll be nice to spend some time with our best officer

>>6121014
Don't forget to roll anon, though hard to be a 69

Rolled 72 (1d100)

>>6120927
>Allow the commander of the Internment Camp to hold the dinner, he would be the neutral party in this.
There's little reason for us to antagonize them and the things still haven't kicked into high gear. We could also learn some new things.

>Cromwell
Just like others, I think we ought to give the man a turn.

>>6120927
>Allow the commander of the Internment Camp to hold the dinner, he would be the neutral party in this.
>Cromwell

“I shall join him for dinner then.” You said to the guard. “Just tell me when it will happen.”

“In three hours my Prince.” The guard responded.

“I will be there then.” You said.

A dinner with everyone involved? You really shouldn’t miss it out.

Now though, whom to invite there?

…

You stepped into the second floor of the wooden barracks and found some of the officers there already. One of the poorly dressed guards had been pressed to act as a servant and he guided you to your seat. While wearing your armour, you found yourself not underdressed, everyone else was wearing theirs too.

“I am Major Thomas.” A man said to all of you and bowed. “Commander of this Internment Camp.”

The man was well dressed yet you thought very little of him. He was clearly putting up a show to make a name for himself.

“Major Thomas has been a good commander.” Langston replied to everyone without asking.

Well he might be, but when you leave the camp, he won’t be in your mind.

As food was brought to the table, some of the remaining officers did arrive. Colonel Garithos, Captain Reginald and Jon Maxwell amongst them. Garithos just gave you a quick glance before taking his seat.

“Prince Alric.” Cromwell whispered to you as he leaned close to your ear to speak. “I spoke with Maxwell, he wishes to talk with you as well.”

You gave your Captain a nod in response.

“...as I was saying it is my honour to have you all here.” Major Thomas finished his speech that you hadn’t listened to a word.

“Great speech.” You replied laconically.

Couple other members around the table did join you in similar remarks.

“Well, all the food will be here in just a moment.” Major Thomas said to all of you and sat down. That was the signal for all of you to start talking and mingling with each other.

As you filled your platter with roasted boar and some vegetables, you gave a look around on who was around. Langston was here, of course he was, talking with Major Thomas and other Durnholders. Garithos was here as was Reginald next to him, they had realised to act well and not cause any issues. You wondered what Blackmoore exactly said to Garithos to make him behave so well. Of course Maxwell was here and then… why were Boyd, Williams and Martin here? They weren’t officers, yet they had gotten an entry here.


Choose Two:
>Go speak with Maxwell, he apparently wanted to speak with you.
>Talk with Garithos, this is a semi-serious situation so you could maybe exchange a word or to.
>Have a talk with your officer Captain Cromwell. You brought him here as your second for a reason.
>Why are your mages here for this dinner, speak with and and find out.

QM: What are the two best choices?

>>6121250
>Go speak with Maxwell, he apparently wanted to speak with you.
>Talk with Garithos, this is a semi-serious situation so you could maybe exchange a word or to.
Maybe we could soften his animosity towards us if just for a slight bit? He did put on a good word for us back when we first met ages ago.

>>6121250
>Why are your mages here for this dinner, speak with and and find out.
Magic magic magic magic.
>Go speak with Maxwell, he apparently wanted to speak with you.
And business.

>>6121253
I don't think there's any point to trying to play nice with Garithos anymore, the man is obstinate to the point of death. He's not Arthas, whose hatred of us was born of jealousy or insecurity because he got snubbed during his big day, both of which could be resolved with time. Garithos is just an asshole that hates everyone that disagrees with him and views those he cannot sweep aside as nuisances to be dealt with whenever the opportunity arrives.

>>6121250
>Go speak with Maxwell, he apparently wanted to speak with you.
>Why are your mages here for this dinner, speak with and and find out.

>>6121250
>>Go speak with Maxwell, he apparently wanted to speak with you.

>>6121250
>Go speak with Maxwell, he apparently wanted to speak with you.
>Why are your mages here for this dinner, speak with and and find out.
Obvious choices.

>>6121250
>Go speak with Maxwell, he apparently wanted to speak with you.
>Why are your mages here for this dinner, speak with and and find out

How did he know about our mages to even invite them, unless they just decided to pop in

>>6121250
>>6121255
curiosity abounds

I'd like to figure out which, if any, of our mages is a dalaran plant. Not that I think they plan to do anything, mostly just listen for whatever is going on. I don't think its Madam Judy even though she learned about the witches, though it would be really funny if the 'plant' was a plant magic naturalist expert. I'm kinda thinking the guy who got his tongue cut out by orcs if we can get his story on how that happened. Spying on the orcs during the second war and got caught and interrogated. Plus a spy who cant talk won't slip up I suppose lol. I wonder if they can channel their magic into one person for a really big spell or two?

Anyway if we can figure out which is a plant, it might be nice to get a few magic tips and spells from the pyromancer guy. I bet hes got some neat spells he personally made.

Taking another look around the room, you realised that this dinner wasn’t going to be that strict in etiquette. Maybe it was just the barracks you were in, it was a simple two floors having log barracks. First floor had the kitchen, storage rooms and the rooms for the soldiers and this second floor had this large open room for events like this with Major’s office, personal bath and bedroom at the other end. Major Thomas had tried to make this room look more fancy with carpets and wall cloths, but it didn’t hide the fact that this was just a log barracks. And based on his accent, the Major was just a common soldier having been promoted into this position, he most likely wasn’t even a knight.

So with the room full of actual knights and officers, they clearly didn’t think that much about this upstart and this suited you well. A stuffed up dinner was something you didn’t really want to go through right now. So having filled your platter, you just stood up and walked to your mages to ask them what they were doing here?

“Prince Alric.” Jon Boyd greeted you and was followed by the mute Luke Williams giving you a bow. Similarly Madam Judy Martin greeted you with a curtsy.

“Well hello, you came here to enjoy the dinner?” You asked them and started to eat in front of them.

“Yes, it does look like a lovely dinner.” Boyd replied to you and nodded. He was clearly lying to you.

“You are just here to eat, aren’t you?” You asked them and gave them a knowing look.

“Well now that you said it…” Boyd said back and Madam Martin continued. “Prince Alric, the food here is free and better than our usual rations.”

“Were you even invited here?” You asked them again.

“No Prince Alric.” Madam Martin replied.

“Good, then make sure to eat as much as you can.” You said to them. “Just don’t make a scene.”

Williams laughed, it sounded just as hollow as always.

“I do need to ask, what do you think about what you have already seen? I mean about the campaign?” You asked between bites.

“A lot of men Prince Alric.” Madam Martin said to you and shrugged, she wasn’t that well-versed in military matters.

“The logistics have been well thought and the terrain hasn’t been that bad, at least not yet.” Boyd said to you. “That is one thing the Durnholders know how to do well, but the rest…”

Boyd shook his head in a dismissing way.

“Luke here motioned to me to look at their footmen, they might look well trained and equipped, but notice how they keep looking around.” Boyd told you and you gave a curious look at Williams who pretended to look around him, like he was afraid of his own shadow.

“I get it, they are jumpy.” You said to him and Williams nodded in response. “Thank you, I will keep that in mind when dealing with them.”

“Pleasure to be of help Prince Alric.” Boyd said and gave you a slight bow.

“Good, now go and eat. Don’t let me stop you.” You told them and let them go and enjoy the dinner.

1/2

>>6121771

Jumpy Durnholders. They seemed to be well-trained, but how many of them had been in a real fight before? Probably not that many.

…

Having restocked your plate, you chose to take a seat opposite of Maxwell who was sitting there surrounded by some of his men.

“It has been a while.” You said to him. “It is nice to see you… you aren't a Sergeant anymore?”

“Prince Alric.” Maxwell greeted you back with a deep nod. “And no, I am Captain nowadays.”

“Congratulations. So you have left the mercenary life behind you?” You asked him.

“Serving my nation and my King is a much more stable way of earning a salary.” Maxwell said to you and continued. “And it looks like you are doing well, rumours of your health aside.”

“Thank you Captain.” You said and nodded, sharing a slight smile.

The men that accompanied him gave you curious looks that you noticed and Maxwell noticed you noticing them.

“Can you please leave for a moment, I want to talk with my previous employer.” Maxwell said and ordered the Stromic footmen that were with him to leave. “Not exactly a private occasion, but this will do.”

One of the local guards pressed to act as a servant came to fill his and your cup with wine. With a fresh cup of wine, Maxwell was the first to speak.

“What did you want to talk about? I don’t think we are going to get that many chances to talk like this.” Maxwell said to you.

Maxwell was right, he was going to be deployed with other troops and he was also right that this wasn’t exactly a private occasion. You probably shouldn’t talk about anything too private or sensitive.


>Ask about the Stromgarde Guards, what happened to his remaining mercenaries after returning back to Stromgarde?
>He got promoted into a Captain, that’s quite a leap forward for someone who was a Sergeant previously.
>Why is he and the Stromgarde detachment here? Who invited them here?
>What does he think about Garithos and the Regional Defenders.
>What are the news in Stromgarde, you hear awfully little about the events there.
>What sort of things has he heard about you?
>Or about your health and rumours surrounding you.
>Other, write in

>>6121774
Huh? He's the one who wanted to talk to us. Is this QM error or did Cromwell lie to us for some unknown reason?

>>6121797

QM not being clear and concise enough. He wants to talk with you, but he is going to allow you to be the one asking questions first. Maxwell is just polite like that, after all you are a Prince.

>>6121824
Well, if what Cromwell said is as it was written then think Alric would have the same reaction I did. Like:
>"You tell me. You're the one who wanted to talk."
THEN Alric could move the conversation to these prompts. The ones I vote for being:
>Ask about the Stromgarde Guards, what happened to his remaining mercenaries after returning back to Stromgarde?
>He got promoted into a Captain, that’s quite a leap forward for someone who was a Sergeant previously.
>What are the news in Stromgarde, you hear awfully little about the events there.
These three synergize well, then pivot to:
>Why is he and the Stromgarde detachment here? Who invited them here?
>What does he think about Garithos and the Regional Defenders.

There's no point to ask about rumours imo, these are actually relevant.

>>6121774
Just give me the bundle chief, I like a nice long update I could read beside the fire.

>Ask about the Stromgarde Guards, what happened to his remaining mercenaries after returning back to Stromgarde?
>He got promoted into a Captain, that’s quite a leap forward for someone who was a Sergeant previously.
>Why is he and the Stromgarde detachment here? Who invited them here?
>What does he think about Garithos and the Regional Defenders.
>What are the news in Stromgarde, you hear awfully little about the events there.

I'm guessing Maxwell found a patron of some kind. Or maybe its Syndicate influence in the Kingdom favoring mercenaries, who are obviously more inclined towards whoever pays the best.

>Other, write in
The incident that Garrick brought up at the Strom border. Though accusing some of their border guard of being corrupt might be a tad sensitive so perhaps they could find some occasion to speak later.
Here I was thinking the Regional Defenders would be the greenest troops on the campaign but it turns out its the Durnholders whose only veterans are mercs. Atleast they still have Marshall Redpath. The battlefield messengers better not spook the Durnholders or they might get pin cushioned lol. Atleast the left flank should be relatively safe, and its composition should make it pretty strong.

So the pyromancer Job Boyd has some military experience, Madam Judy has no such experience, also Jon might be a bad liar unless he was just making it obvious. But it was the mute Luke Williams who noticed how the Durnholde soldiers were acting first, so hes very observant but I guess considering he specialized more in bodyguarding that would make sense. I imagine spies should as a rule be rather observant and not bad liars.

>>6121774
>Why is he and the Stromgarde detachment here? Who invited them here?
>What does he think about Garithos and the Regional Defenders.
Let's cut through the bullshit. He is probably here as a representative of Stromgarde's interests in Durnholde.

>>6121853
I support this, we should mention the held up Dark Irons.

I forget but I wanna say his Stromgarde Guards were knights weren't they? Or am I thinking of another merc group? Would have been nice to offer Maxwell to come over after the campaign, but if they made him Captain that would probably be a hard sell unless we save his life or something.

>>6121774
>>Ask about the Stromgarde Guards, what happened to his remaining mercenaries after returning back to Stromgarde?
>>He got promoted into a Captain, that’s quite a leap forward for someone who was a Sergeant previously.
>>Why is he and the Stromgarde detachment here? Who invited them here?
>>What does he think about Garithos and the Regional Defenders.
answers

Sorry for the lack of update yesterday and also today. I am somewhat under the weather right now. Combined with work being busy, I have ended up being bit unsteady when it comes to usual schedule. The update is half-finished and I will try to get it out as soon as possible.

>>6122424

They were veterans from the Second War. Not knights at all, just experienced men.

>>6122961
Hope you feel better Medivh.

"You tell me, you were the one who wanted to talk with me.” You said back to Maxwell.

Then you smiled and smirked.

“But if you are the one asking… then…” You said and shrugged. “What came to be of the Stromgarde Guards? I haven’t seen any familiar faces with you?”

“Few of them have retired Prince Alric.” Maxwell answered. “Remaining moved to other posts when it comes to soldiering… and me… well it was a steady job offer.”

“Made a Captain though.” You replied.

“They wanted someone experienced and well service under you, it was enough to convince them. They made me a Lieutenant first and then promoted me to a Captain before this.” Maxwell said to you. “Stromgarde values skilled officers.”

“Nice to hear that I was of service to you Captain.”

“Thank you Prince Alric.”

“How much did you tell them though, about me and things you have heard?” You asked him.

Maxwell seemed a bit troubled for a second.

“Just what we had done and… how many troops you had. No secrets or anything, those stayed with me.” Maxwell replied.

“Thank you Captain.” You said back to him. “I needed to be sure, nowadays… I can’t be more careful.”

“I understand Prince Alric.” He said to you.

“But what are the news from Stromgarde? We hear so little about you nowadays.” You asked him and sipped your wine.

“Well what can I tell you…” He said back to you.

“I don’t know, politics? Military? What is the Royal Family doing?” You asked and leaned forward. “Syndicate?”

“No trace of the Syndicate there.” Maxwell said to toy. He had no idea what Kris Legace and potentially other Syndicate agents were there. “But outside of that it is taxes, taxes and more taxes. The Internment Camps are causing quite an issue, they are very expensive.”

“As always.”

“As always Prince Alric… and for the Royal Family, King Thoras has been leaving more and more duties to his son Galen. The talk is that the King is ready to step aside and allow Galen to take the throne.” Maxwell told you.

That would be a quite big move if it were to happen.

“But that is years ahead, King Thoras is just as strong as always.” Maxwell said and smiled.

“I will take your word for that.” You said to him and continued. “But why are you here then? Who ordered or invited you here? Prince Galen? Colonel Garithos?”

“It would be Colonel Garithos, he sent an invite and King Thoras agreed to it. My King then ordered me and the soldiers underneath me to join the campaign.” Maxwell told you.

So it was Garithos and his plan to invite them. Makes sense why they would be aligned with his troops then.

1/2

>>6123876

“Thank you Captain, you have been quite help to me.” You said to him and continued as you finished your cup and ate the last of your platter. “Though I do have a single question.”

“What would it be Prince Alric?” Maxwell asked you back.

“I spoke with the leader of the Dark Iron dwarfs, Garrick Blacksteel is his name, and he told me that his people were stopped by the men of Stromgarde.” You asked him and continued. “Do you know anything about that?”

Maxwell looked at you and gave you a curious look.

“Matters of national security… they are not to be talked upon.” He said to you.

So he was ready to say that no Syndicates had been sighted, but the Dark Irons were too much? That was quite peculiar. Maybe you could ask more or let it be his turn.


Choose one:
>Press on the Dark Irons.
>Ask what he wanted to ask you.

QM: Choose one, you can’t have both for reasons.

>>6123139

Under the weather turned into actual illness, a bit of fever and irregular sleeping rhythm due to that.

>>6123877
>Choose one, you can’t have both for reasons.
Those reasons being?


Either way, he clearly doesn't want to talk about it so I'll vote:
>Ask what he wanted to ask you.

>>6123877
>>Ask what he wanted to ask you.

>>6123877
>Ask what he wanted to ask you.

>>6123877
>Press on the Dark Irons.

Looks like I might be outvoted but oh well. Just have to get a hold of him before he leaves at the victory party, or invite him for a visit as an official of Stromgarde so we can ask it later. Though Kris Legace might know so we could also just ask her then wait for a response. I wonder what this matter of national security could be? Ogres or trolls or tax evading citizens or something in some dark corner of Strom? Or did they worry it was some kind of equipment that could have been used on the Thandol Span? Just wanting to stop Dawnholme from possibly buying dark iron cannons lol.

So the taxes for the camps are a big deal for a number of people. I wonder if we could buy some good favor or some tangible beenfit with promises to help pay for the camps? Use it as leverage to help make some deal somewhere, with a neighbor or perhaps at the big Stormwind meeting? Get something we can use and keep, or a foot in the door somewhere, but since Alric knows the camps probably won't last with Thrall's invasion we won't end up having to pay anything into them.

Hope you can take a couple sickdays to recover Medivh

>>6123877
>Press on the Dark Irons.
Whoever is within Stromgarde clearly knows enough about what goes on with Alric's economics to know where to strike to slow down his progress. There is absolutely a Syndicate plant there, so pressing on this would be killing two birds with one stone. At least I think so.

>>6123968
>>6123996
I agree that this matter is of interest to us but how would pressing him on it get us something? I doubt he would respond well to the pressure, better to do it some other time.

>>6124188
"Its important to me if every caravan I try to send or receive through the Thandol Span is going to get stopped for months. The alternative is me having to stick my nose where it isn't wanted when I have bigger fish to fry." (hopefully mentioning it gets a reaction cause I think that is what the concern is about.)

Stromgarde Surfer response- "Far out Alric you sure are a swell and righteous dude. Alright."

If its a real problem I'd prefer to know sooner then later. Though if saying it HERE was the the issue I'd imagine he could have just said so. Then its pressing him one way or another since I doubt it becomes a non-issue or his loyalty shifts. Its hopefully unlikely but he could get killed or wounded in battle before we could get answers. But if we gotta do it later we do it later.

>>6124281
That's a good way to put it, though I fear his answer would be: "It'll be a one time thing, don't worry about it."

I think perhaps inviting him to have a drink with us in our tent may be a good alternative since he even if we do convince him, he clearly would want to be discreet about it.

>>6123877
>Press on the Dark Irons.

We need the info for why.

I was going to start writing, but it looks like there is now a tie between Dark Irons and what he wanted to ask from you. I am going to ask for a tiebreaker and I will write the update later this evening. If there is no tiebreaker, I will make a roll to decide the winner.

>>6123886

Matter of time, Alric is going to get interrupted soon.

>>6123968

Couple sickdays, still feeling proper shit. Got antibiotics as fever doesn't want to go away and now I have upset stomach as well. Go me!