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With your "morning meal" done you go out to meet your staff and survey the state of your army. Amidst the green-covered canopy, your tired officers , your captains, line up amidst the greenery, ready to give out their reports on the state of their companies. It does not escape your sight that some amongst these are new faces - men hastily promoted after the previous officers, well...died. And that is not to say of those lacking entirely, their units brought down to the last. Though a full report of your casualties would have been ideal, you've no time for such things - indeed, you don't so much as have the time to check which of those amongst the officers that you no longer see are wounded and which are perished. You'll have to leave such matters to the post-battle procedures...if there is one, that is. To your good fortune, Hugues Regnard, your Sergeant-Major informs you that almost a quarter of the men wounded in the previous day of battle were able to be saved to such an extent they could still fight today. Certainly, no greater proof is there of the blessings of the Brotherhood of the Santo Cor, who had loyally accompanied you through this campaign as field doctors.

Despite this bit of good news, however, your situation is none the better - although you had destroyed many a company of the enemy, and indeed brought down the most fearsome of their advances through your slaying of the giants and the Cavalieri of the Famiglia, you had, ultimately, done little towards the full force of the enemy. Though you had slain hundreds of knights, a thousand more still remained. Though you had exterminated several companies in your destruction of hte bridge, several dozen more had remained out of battle the entire day. You were, by all means, surrounded, outnumbered, and thanks to your choice to remain in the forest, your men had spent the night underfed and ill-rested.

"Can the men fight, still, Hugues?" you ask your loyal advisor.

"Certainly, they may, sire, but I do not reckon they'll give such a spirited showing as they had yesterday." he reponds.

"Perhaps it may be wise to retreat, then? Avoid a slaughter." you say.

"I doubt it, sire. Their knights would catch up with us far too quickly, and in open ground, without defences, we would be run down with ease."

"And their way to Montechia would be unbarred, would it not? Damnation." you exclaim. You've got no plan. You had spent the entire night attempting to think. The back of your eyes hurt with a great burning sharpness, and your head ached greatly. You've read enough of modern medicine to know that a lack of sleep disturbs the humours on one's body.

"If I may, your lordship..." interrupts Hugues once again. "There is certain to be some manner of time until the bulk of the army arrives. We could perhaps move onto our camp and secure some provisions for our soldiers in the last minute, to raise their fighting spirits."

Well, certainly that is an idea that could work, but dare you risk the chance of being caught unprepared? And lest you forget, hundreds of the most dangerous horsemen of this continent stand not too far from your location, sitting upon the field, waiting. Shall they simply allow you to do as you please? You cannot say, for sure.

"Regardless, Hugues, we must strive to think of an strategy for the day. We cannot remain here, in this forest, lest the enemy simply march past us westwards and onto the backs of our colleagues. If they've not sent us a courier, the city must not have fallen yet."

"Very well, sire..."

CHOOSE YOUR OPTION - SUPPLIES
>Make a stop to gather some supplies before battle
>Don't risk it, just go straight to battle formations

CHOOSE YOUR OPTION - ORDERS
>Form a defensive line on the river bank, using the forest and the water as natural walls
>Fortify the area around you camp while having some of your troops in the forest still
>Catch them by surprise - charge out in an offensive to attack their forces while they least expect it!
>Write-in

Thread I - https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2025/6153604/

Thread I (Conclusion) - https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2025/6189036/

Thread II - https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2025/6231466/

Thread III -
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2025/6275844/

Field Handbook - https://rentry.org/TercioQuest

Welcome to this not-quite-full thread of fog of war. I had hoped to simply make this a quick conclusion to the last one, but alas, I was rather busy. While this will not be a full thread, I have decided to extend the ending of the act for a little.

>>6326515
>Make a stop to gather some supplies before battle

>Form a defensive line on the river bank, using the forest and the water as natural walls
Remaining in the forest is dangerous as long as those fuckers have their fire arrows

>>6326530

Supporting, we have to at least try to gather supplies.

I have to say, it’s a very grim situation. We can only pray that Montechia has already fallen and Don Charles comes looking for us today…

>>6326515
>Make a stop to gather some supplies before battle
>Form a defensive line on the river bank, using the forest and the water as natural walls

>>6326515
>Make a stop to gather some supplies before battle
>Form a defensive line on the river bank, using the forest and the water as natural walls

Objective remains the same, hold until relieved.

>>6326515
>Make a stop to gather some supplies before battle
We do have the approaches able to be covered by the musketeers, who have the range to ensure some safety. The swiftness of the horsemen will be of better use too.
>Form a defensive line on the river bank, using the forest and the water as natural walls
It is presuming that they haven't left anybody on the other side of the river, but for several obvious reasons I doubt they have any reason to have done that.

I'd wonder if we could try to be cute and retrieve the cannon barrel from the forest now that the fire's burned out. I'm no metallurgist but a fire that burns down trees isn't necessarily enough to permanently deform metal if we're lucky enough on the position of it, especially if the gun is iron and not bronze. How we'd move even a small cannon without its wheels in any timely fashion is another question entirely, since our wagons are pretty valuable at the moment. Any advantage we can squeak out might be worth pursuing.

>>6326593

>retrieving the scorched cannon barrel

That’s not a bad idea, surely there’s a chance it could be recoverable?

>>6326516
What happened to our wagenburg?

>>6326515
>>Make a stop to gather some supplies before battle

>>Form a defensive line on the river bank, using the forest and the water as natural walls

Hopefully we can implement the modified version of plan blue that i proposed in the last thread.

And yes, the wagonburg, we're able to relocate it, right?

As to retrieving the possibly salvageable canon, why not consult the artillery lads and make the attempt?

Welcome back!

>>6326515
>Make a stop to gather some supplies before battle
>Form a defensive line on the river bank, using the forest and the water as natural walls

I also support the idea to see if the artillerypiece is salvagable

>>6326515
>Make a stop to gather some supplies before battle
>Form a defensive line on the river bank, using the forest and the water as natural walls
+1 to retrieve the cannon

>>6326515
>Make a stop to gather some supplies before battle
>Form a defensive line on the river bank, using the forest and the water as natural walls

Can't just hide in the forest because there are still giant archers and they can just burn us out again.

Support sending some scouts to go and check if the cannon is salvageable.

QM did we have some forces sent south to the southern bridge? Do we assume they died from the knights since they didn't come back last night?

>>6327053
>QM did we have some forces sent south to the southern bridge?
Yes.

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You cannot deny it would please you greatly to have some additional manner of sustenance yourself. Some pitiful portion of brown, hard bread and shallow poor rum is by no means what you are accustomed to even in the field. And given that an army of the size such as your enemy must spend some good manner of time lifting their night camp, you reckon you've some manner of time. You shall go forth with the idea. Yet to do so, you must take some precautions...

Readying your musketeers as quickly as possible, you post the men on the edge of the forest, ready to fire, watching the Famiglia on the horizon. Even now their tents stand still, threatening you in the distance. Yet they make no movement, show no signs of preparation for battle, even as you send in your cavalrymen to secure the camp. After some minutes of scouring, it becomes clear they shall not stop you, and you allow the men to go in their entirety! You had thought to send them in groups, but to do so would have certainly led to theft and discord amidst the troops...though you do keep your horsemen at the ready, once they have had their fill. As for the rest of the army, they eat with gusto. Knowing their time to be short, the hungry men quickly shovel down whatever ready made foods they had. Salted meats, bread, hardtack, alcohols and spirits, anything they hold which can be eaten directly or quickly cooked. You yourself cannot help but partake in some of your own supply - wine, smoked venison, cheese and your good bread, the white kind made of fine flour, the ones that had been baked before the battle for the night but left abandoned. At one day of age, it is a bit stale, but compared to the one you were forced to gulp down a short time before, it is heavenly.

Your short albeit mirthful early luncheon does soon end, however, and with your stomachs filled and the weariness of your sleepless night somewhat abated by the drink, your men look all the readier for battle - and of course, the enemy, standing in the horizon, continues to not move. Quickly, you begin to think of some manner of plan to deal with your situation - of how to defend from the onslaught of soldiers that shall reach you so this very day. Immediately, your mind springs to the riverbank, the very same you had formed upon yesterday. With the bridge destroyed, certainly, you've no risk of attacks from the eastern bank now. Without the threat of a charging horde, it is all the easier for you to form a proper defensive line as you had, unsuccesfully, planned the previous day. Of course, with an entire company of pikemen lost, and your other footsoldiers severely depleted, you've not the sufficient numbers to create a line from river to grove - and so, you quickly set upon making some makeshift defences.

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There are, of course, the wagons which had served you faithfully the last day. Wheeling them out of the forest where they had remained for the night, you set them up in a line, not too far from the trenches you had dug which, although somewhat filled with mud, still remained as a natural obstacle. Yet that too is not enough - and so, you turn to more...creative tools. In the past day, Capitán Bonino had saved his company from certain death by making a stand upon the corpses of the Gigantes. It cannot be denied that, with their size and armor, they serve as rather decent barricades. Luckily, their bodies are fresh enough that the rotting stench of death has not quite entirely set in - though your men certainly do not smile as you order them to line up the corpses in a manner of wall besides your warwagons....

With your "defenses" set up, you at last have the men take battle formations. The pikemen, of those that remained, form up on the gaps in the wall, closing the line between the forest and the river. Your musketeers, of course, take their place in the wagon, as they had in the previous day. Your arquebusiers are split up - some are sent to the forest, to watch your flank and rear, while the rest remain at reserve, to be deployed when you please. Your horsemen, too, remain at the wait, and so does your reserve. You had thought of simply putting them at the rear, in the gap between the forest and the river that remained undefended...but you do not reckon they would have done much, depleted as they were - better to keep them at the ready to render some aid when necessary. Your force, however weakened, was within a good position, a defensible position, one which would cost the enemy tenfold your number to dislodge! Yes, with this formation, you would hold! You held your sword in your hand, ready for the day's fight - all that was left was for the Fortelli to arrive! And so, you waited.

And waited.

And waited..

And waited...

...

It was midday when you had begun to question whether they would arrive at all. Certainly, you should have seen some maner of movement by now? The Vanguard, at the very least, to reunite with the Famiglia that had been left here to hold you down. Yet there was no such presence. no such force. The Cavalieri had, at the very least, taken leave of their camp and properly readied for battle, but they did not move. Just what was happening here...? Unless...but wait, no!

"A small party! I see a small party!" you yell, before even Joan was able to spot it. The small group is quick to approach the Famiglia, bearing what is sure to be the orders for their attack. Certainly, the enemy regiment must be approaching you even now! Yet you are denied yet again - for some moments after the party approaches the knightly forces, they begin to move out! Southwards, abandoning the field of battle entirely. But why? There was no need to tire their horses in order to unite if the Fortelli intended to come towards you...

Which meant they did not.

Damnation - had you misunderstood them entirely? Had they no plan to engage you at all? Was it their intent to simply circumvent you, keeping the horsemen of the Famiglia as a mere threat to watch their flank while they marched towards your unsuspecting allies in Montechia? Had you been taken for a fool all along?! That could not be, could it? They would not have spent so many men if they intended to merely avoid you. And to remove that which stopped you from striking at their rear? It could not be! Yet still, you cannot help but feel as though you are missing something...you must take action! It is a good thing you've still some light horsemen in your numbers.

CHOOSE YOUR OPTION
>Send a scouting party to the south, find out what is happening
>Send a scouting party to the north, find out what is happening
>Send a scouting party to the west, find out what is happening
>Send out multiple scouting parties (Specify which units where)
>Do not send out any parties - just wait instead.
>Write-in

>>6327793
>Send a scouting party to the south, find out what is happening

>>6327793
>Send a scouting party to the south, find out what is happening

>>6327793
>>Send out multiple scouting parties (Specify which units where)

South and west

Surely they wouldn't risk leaving a force in their rear?

>>6327895

We should pick two directions to maximize our intel gathering, supporting - what the fuck is happening? Did Montechia surrender or have they decided that we aren’t worth the trouble?

Why would they leave their baggage train undefended?

>>6327793
>Send a scouting party to the west, find out what is happening

I'm more interested in finding out where the Famiglia is going. I mean, I cannot imagine anything is to the south except a ford of the river

>>6327793
>Send a scouting party to the south, find out what is happening

>>6327895
+1

>>6327793
>>Send a scouting party to the west, find out what is happening
I think directly pursuing them southwards might result in them turning back just to punk our scouting party if we're not careful. I doubt they want to be followed and for us to know anything beyond the "walls" of our fort, though on the other hand, this could very well be a ploy to lure us out into the open.
The most dangerous short term thing would be if they managed to sneak a force directly west of us, aiming to use the forest as cover for the advance. Though I'm thinking this is unlikely, if their true objective is to march for our allies. Though they would still take about a day to do so, if I have the distances assumed right, since that's about as long as it took us to get to the bridge here in a forced march posture.

In turn, the absolute worst thing that could happen to the enemy is if we fell upon their rear while they drew up lines to fight our allies. It would require the best timing possible to not just be turned about upon and destroyed though.

Alternatively, a relief force might have been sent ahead to us, and they just rode off to destroy them. Any other regiment tragically does not have the strength we had to resist the army we just delayed.

>>6327793
>Send a scouting party to the west, find out what is happening

Following cavalry like that doesn't seem like a good idea. We need to see if we're getting help.

>>6327838
>>6327861
>>6327895
>>6328005
>>6328072
>>6328159
>>6328179
It seems like we've got a tie between South, West, and South + West. I'm just gonna unite it for doing both South and West to save some time.

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Though the possibility of a trap certainly exists, you cannot help but doubt it somewhat, given the necessity of speed of which your enemy is bound by should they wish to arrive to their goal before it is fallen by the hands of your allies. You've also great doubts of the chance they've found something upwards on the river - had they done so, would they not have sent their knights northward? Knowing so, you leave an order for your horsemen, your skirmishers and your knights to be divided in equal groups and sent both southwards and westwards, that they may find out just what exactly has happened with this army of the Fortelli. You watch their forms disappear into the distance as you continue to ponder just what exactly hath transpired in this early morning.

It, of course, takes time. For another hour or so still, you continue to maintain your men in formation, but when it is most abundantly clear that there shall be no such thing and the men begin to complain of the foul smell of your "wall" of corpses, you finally allow them to break formation - though you do keep some rotating sentries to ensure no force is sneaking upon you. The men, of course, are happy as they always are to finally have a moment of rest, and you take the opportunity to properly bury those of your force that had fallen in battle, your chaplain giving them the proper rites of burial as all good men of the splendour deserve. You also bury the Cavalieri of the Famiglia and the Himmerian Giants, though not before your men have stripped them all of the valuable plate armor on their bodies - you will certainly have one of those swords kept by you as a memoir of your victory, at least. As you oversee the effort, you cannot help but also notice a great many pieces of wood floating down the river, though you pay it no mind...

It is into what you would guess to be the midst of the afternoon when some of your men finally arrive - specifically, the party you had sent to the south. They had certainly found no trap waiting for them - indeed, they had found nothing at all, save for the village in the river crossing. The locals, of course, refused to say of what had happened to the Fortelli and whether they had passed through - though they did point you towards another dicovery...it being the burnt remains of the skirmishers you had sent southwards. Your men have no idea of what had transpired to them, but yes, they can confirm - your skirmishers were slain to the last. Mercenaries as they were, their symbols were easily found. Perhaps you should have expected such, given the flanking strike on the past day...but at the very least, you are glad it was not a matter of betrayal.

With nothing else to report on, you allow the scouts to join your troops in their rest, and continue to wait for the arrival of news from the westernly group. Though, with the distance they've to cover, there's no surety they shall arrive before dusk, or indeed, even tomorrow as well - though you can certainly hope they shall do so quickly, at the least. Even if it was not for the importance of your mission, you've not enough supplies to stand out here in this field for another entire week. Be that as it may, however, you continue to wait...

And wait...

And wait...

It is nearly sunset when you are told, at last, of a rider approaching in the horizon, escorted by a small group that is most certainly not of your own regiment. Approaching you, they are quick to idenfy themselves as messengers of your most honorable liege, and transmit a message which you had waited greatly to hear.

Montechia has fallen.

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You erupt in a roar when you hear it, and are none too slowly followed by your men. You have done it! You have held out long enough! If the army has crossed, if the enemies had truly tricked you, it matters not. Their goal has been vanquished, their hopes of preventing the fall of the city dashed. With the city in your control, the entire region, nay, the entirety of Tilano has fallen to your control. And with the damage you had inflicted upon the foe, killing so many of their shocktroops, destroying their Himmerian Mercenaries, there is little chance they would be able to take the city by assault still. Though you've not seen it yourself, the fate of this western theater of conflict has been solved. Against the odds which you had been given, against such perilous foes and great disadvantage, against the very inexperience of your post, you have won the battle of Vessena Bridge.


>NO CHOICE FOR NOW
>UPDATE CONTINUES AS USUAL

Hell yeah.

YAY!

Fuck yeah!!!!

Victory!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WE WON! This is our victory, that belong only to us and our men! Holy shit, we killed our number in men while outnumbered by a factor of 3. Yeah, we lost a lot of men, but considering we're still intact I'll take that as a win. Again, we faced some of the best troops the enemy had while horribly outnumbered. We earned this win, and the fame, glory and wealth that come with it.

>>6328703
Hell yeah lads, we did it.

My bet is that they went back across and destroyed their own bridge.

>>6328703
Mission accomplished. We did it lads.

>>6328813
They very well might have, good call.

>>6328703
Maybe it's a bit early to plan out a whole park full of war memorials and commemorative medals for this battle and campaign but I think our men at least deserve a parade for their hard work in facing this down and surviving.

>>6328984
I think it's fair to say that we have by and large overperformed for our liege during this campaign, from bringing an army capable of independent operations that numbered well above the minimum to fighting this battle, and winning against the odds.

Being fairly rewarded should likely come with raised expectations, I'm afraid. Whatever his ambitions may come to be, I'm sure that we will continue to be called upon.

As the saying goes, hard work is rewarded with more work.

>>6329349

This is all true, I have to imagine that Don Carles is going to treat us differently. I have to imagine that our status will rise and give us an opportunity to finally dump Joan, why are we still pretending that she's an option for us, ridiculous

>>6329368
I fear that doing such runs the risk of finding out that Joan is not an owl but a cuckoo.

>>6329368
Fie on you, anon

>>6329368
It would be for the best.

>>6329368
No, no that's simply not an option. We were made for Joan, the owl monster romance is mandatory

>>6329532
Nerdy twink princelings BELONG to Coruuni women

>>6329532
At the very least any competition would have to be willing to campaign with us. Otherwise the optics alone would make any rumor as good as truth.

As much as I would love for Ale to make Half-Owl Mestizos with Joan, what exactly is our plan for inheritance here?

>>6329579
What do you mean?

>>6329582
>We need an heir since we don't have any relatives and our brother was thrown out of the inheritance line
>We cannot legally have a legitimate child capable of inheriting with Joan because she's a furry and a peasant
So how do we solve the issue of wanting to give Joan owlets but needing someone to inherit our stuff?

>>6329588
Siring then recognizing bastards is a time-honored tradition. Even so, I would prefer obtaining enough influence to make a marriage to Joan respectable.

>>6329603
Isn't the main issue race? Like, they wouldn't just be bastards, but half-human bastards.

>>6329606
We've seen a respectable Straccian merchant in the first thread, so I don't think Straccians are considered inferior

>>6329606
This would be the primary problem, yes. We have to remember that it's not just the people above us but below us too that care a good amount about who's lording over them.
Frankly speaking the only option that wouldn't cause trouble might be to two time and try to keep it secret as best we can, but that would be IMMORAL and DISRESPECTFUL to our owl.

>>6329620
Straccians are the omega mutt 1/16th elf endpoint of a degenerated knife ear gene pool and are basically completely human, the beast people are a lot fresher in their interbreeding I think.

>>6329620
Merchants /=/ Nobility.

>>6329625
>Frankly speaking the only option that wouldn't cause trouble might be to two time and try to keep it secret as best
I'm fairly certain taking a "Mistress" would hardly be abnormal for a powerful noble. Of course, I'm. Not quite sure that that's how we want to treat Joan

Waifufags and furfags are obnoxious.

>>6329643
>play a quest where you're a noble without kids
>there's talk about having kids
Gee, what a surprise

>>6329644
>acting disingenuous

Ok.

>>6329606
TercioQM said in Act I's thread that
>Although a theoretical child between you and Joan would indeed be unable to inherit Portblanc (If only because she is a serf and thus inelligible for marriage for a noble) it is technically not impossible for a Meio to inherit - in the right place. While the Mainland Imperial Territory of Mirevale would indeed never allow such an event, in the Imperial colonies in the continent of Samica, there is a considerable amount of Half-Beastfolk who were elevated to a "Regional" nobility in exchange for the surrender of their kingdoms and tribes into the Empire.
But in the Overture thread it was also said that
>Any child between you would be a bastard, and to officiate a marriage between you would be all but impossible. You remember reading, in books, stories of men of the peasantry, bastards, who would be 'legitimized' by their fathers and risen to a throne..., but you've not the power or influence to achieve such a goal.

I guess there's two things to keep in mind then
>see if there's a precedent for freeing and potentially ennobling a serf
>see if the prohibition against marriage with meios actually exists in law for the mainland empire of Mirevale

>>6329645
Disingenuous what?
>The MC needs a heir (kid)
>The only woman we have been introduced to is Joan
>people therefore discuss the idea of having kids with Joan

>>6329647
And in thread III we learnt Alessandro's brother (who cannot inherit himself due to his condition) received a marriage offer and that
>Though your brother had been removed from the line of inheritance due to his ailment, any son of his born healthy enough to avoid a similar decree would, by virtue of being the grandchild of your father, the previous Viscount, a perfectly valid heir to the title. The House of Galliota would, should you be unable to bear a heir of your own, be secured. Though you certainly wish to have a son of your own, as any man in his right mind does, perhaps he need not be a 'valid heir', if that is the case?
So currently Alessandro doesn't seen to be in dire need of a heir, assuming Jonatan can have a potentially healthy one in the future

With regards to this, now I can't recall if daughters can also inherit in Portblanc or in Mirevale in general?

Just get a normal noble wife, fuck her, then fuck our maid on the side. Literally who gives a shit. Everyone's doing it.

>>6329579
>>6329588
I don't think our brother was actually taken out of the line of succession, he was just deemed unfit to rule as a cripple. The hope is that his marriage will be fruitful and our title will pass to our future nephews

>>6329655
I get that there are furries or whatever people who like birds are called (featheries??) and they'd be happy with that, but our love for Joan is pure and unsullied and she's got to be our one and only or we lose the star-crossed lovers aspect that makes it beautiful and romantic

>>6329663
Alas this is the real world. There's no one hero who can solo a giant company on his own, just like how we can NOT abandon our rule for a peasant birdgirl. Best we'll get is tragedy as true love is prevented by the rules - and that's good too!

>>6329668
>real world
You mean the world where one of the most powerful byzantine emperors married a literal prostitute?

>>6329674
Justinian was an emperor though
I suppose Don Carles could try pulling some strings for us, especially if he does assume the role of emperor someday, but that also depends on him seeing it as a reasonable choice or not for his PR

>>6329686
We just have to become the Emperor then

>>6329674
when you're Emperor you can do what you want. You can even marry multiple people who gives a shit - but we're not. Normal nobles just have affairs and bastards.

My apologies for the lack of an update today. I'm in a very busy period, so I don't have as much time as I want sometimes. I will try to get it out tomorrow.

>>6329625
>Straccians are the omega mutt 1/16th elf endpoint of a degenerated knife ear gene pool and are basically completely human
I will comment on this, and basically, while I may have perhaps not focused as much on the Straccians as I should have, it was always my intent to be very heavily human-like. If I were to put a comparison, their immigration and conquest of the Straccian Peninsula is more akin to the Normans or the Lombards than it is to, say, the Turks or the Magyar. They were a very much outnumbered group that intermixed heavily with the local human population, though at the same time they very much "absorbed" their culture

>>6329774
QM, I'll just post these questions here in case you didn't see them earlier since they'd be useful information for the quest

>can noble women inherit and rule fiefs in Mirevale/Segoma/Portblanc?
>Can women act as regents?
>Is the position of emperor restricted to men?
>are marriages between humans and meios forbidden by law in Mirevale?
>can meios become free persons by Mirevale law? Can they be ennobled?
>Are meios forbidden by law to rule or inherit fiefs in Mirevale?

With your hard-won victory on your backs, your regiment began to make the way westwards, towards the now-captured Montechia, where your rewards surely awaited you. Your men, though weary, held themselves with a great and proud air, and in the first night which you rested alongside the road on the path to your objective, the night was filled with the cheering of the living and the morning of those who were lost. But most of all, they were filled with bragging - at the very least, such was the case in the noble quarters of the camp, where those amidst your noble cavalry commemorated their great deeds against the foe, calling themselves "Giantslayers" and extolling the victory of the regimant against the Famiglia. You've no less doubt that the common soldiery shall say much the same, though perhaps less so the ones from your homeland who know not of the frightfulness of the Amazon Knights.

Truthfully, you yourself find some good deal of pride in your deeds. Where even those who were experienced in war and far older than you had not dared to sally forward in an attack, you had done so on your lonesome. Where many others might have lost, you acquired victory, and against a foe of such greater power as well! You had almost perished multiple times, but in the end emerged the victor. Certainly, the Fortleli could have crossed the river...but because you had held that very day, they were not able to send forth their forces in an forward attack. By now, they will certainly have no choice but to retreat to their holds in the east. Of course, for some time now you've begun to wonder whether they are in these territories still. You remember seeing some driftwood floating alongside the river...perhaps, they had left that very morning, and the wooden chunks were the remains of a pontoon bridge they had brought down as they left.

These thoughts, amidst others, easily leave your head as you lay down on the bedding in your tent - your own tent - and finally allow slumber to take your weary mind...

The following day, your regiment finally arrives at Montechia, that city you had fought so viciously for. In the approach to the city gates, the effects of the siege can even then be easily seen. In the western wing, a great portion of the wall is fallen, a mark of the success of the sapping plan - yet even now, you see men labour towards rebuilding some manner of defense, rocks piled on the broken aperture. As you march through the city gates, opened for you by your countrymen, it is not a parade that awaits you, nor the cheering of soldiers, nor the chatter of civilians, but an eerie silence, and the stench of ash and blood. At the very outfront, you are divided from your soldiers as an captain of your lord's army bids you to follow him towards the castle wherein you shall reconvene with his highness while your men are taken to that place which has been cordoned off as quarters for the men.

In your way there, you look upon the state of the city, and you understand quite clearly why it hath taken so much time for this conquest to be won. In every street which you pass through, the signals of fighting remain visible. Many a building are burnt down, partially or completely, leaving you to wonder just how it was the city had not taken to a full blaze. The citizenry, whichever few you see out in the streets, seem deathly afraid more than anything, quickly diving back into their homes as soon as they take notice of your presence. You are quite certain you spot more than a dozen bodies, both armored and not, as you make your way to the central castle, as well as the remainders of barricades upon the streets. It is clear to you that whatever fighting had occurred in the taking of this city, it was far from gentle or swift.

Nonetheless, you do arrive at the center of the city, where the citadel, and presumably the seat of power of this occupation force, stands. The men at guard wave you by as you pass through the gatehouses and into the castle proper. The utterly barren walls which permeate it, however, tell you of the sacking which must have ocurred. Into another room you are taken, and there, you see Don Carles, Don Fadrique, Don Salazar and Don Octavi. The four men, the four commanders of this expedition, stand there as you bow in greeting.

"Your highness, I have returned from the field victorious." you say.

"Phsheh. I knewv itch hadh been in yewr cafavilities, lhad!" says the Count of Zaroza, almost unintelligibly. In his face, a tightly woven piece of fabric holds his jaw together shut. Whatever your reaction is, it is certainly visible, for it is the old baron Salazar which is next to speak.

"Mind him not, Don Alessandro. The Count had suffered a wound in the assault, but it is of little gravity. His jaw has been dislocated, I am told, and is held shut to heal tightly."

"Vound? Psheh. I vahs shotch in the fashe vy some damhnavle mharskaman. Dhe armhor shaved me, butch vhe dhentch vhroke me deedh and jhaw itch didh" continues the man, still yet unintelligible yet clearly not down in spirits.

"Enough." interrupts his highness, holding up his hand. "Don Alessandro." he begins. "It is good to see that you are well, but before all things, I would have you tell me all that transpired in this battle of yours."

And so, you do - you tell them of your approach towards the Carsa, of your burning of the bridges, of your contact with the enemy, of the vast army that attacked you and of the hard-won victory you had drawn from them. You certainly do not forget to tell them of your victory over not only their Himmerian mercenaries, but of the Famiglia as well. As you do, you can see the look of surprise dawning upon the faces of the nobles as they hear your retelling - save, of course, for the Prince, whose visage remains as cold as it ever is. When you finish at last, you are met with some silence, as though they know now what to say.

In following, the Count Zaroza breaks out in great (but clearly pained) laughter, slapping you on the back in a friendly manner. "Vhahahah! Ghshess dhose Amhazohn vhonies wheren't ash goovh as vhey hoffed, huh! Yew sentch dhose merchants well phacking, lad, you shertainly didh!"

In his part, Baron Salazar is no less friendly, though certainly a lot more proper. "It is certainly an impressive feat, Don Alessandro. To see one as young as yourself lead your men to such a victory is no small feat

Don Octavi, on the other hand, does not seem as pleased. "You lost one of the guns, then? I knew it a possible loss, but certainly, it shall not come cheap..."

Ah, the gun! Yes, the Saker that you had left in the forest with the blaze. The day after the battle, you sent the living artillymen to check on the piece to see whether it had hoped. When you saw it dragged towards you along the ground you had gained some hope, but it was short lived! Though the gun had not melted in the fire as you perhaps ignorantly feared, the artillery master was quick to tell you that he could no longer confide in the abilities of this weapon to fire. Even the smallest warping - he said - could be enough to set the entire thing exploding. The piece would have to be sent back to the Guild, where it could be smelted for the material, and shaped back into form. Well, perhaps it truly is a good thing that these Sakers were contracted out in Don Octavi's name.

As for your liege, he is the last to break the silence - not by speech, but by a slow clap of his hands. "Congratulations, Viscount." he starts. "Your deeds are worthy of respect. I shall certainly take them into account when the time to give out the honors upon the end of this war. For now, however, I shall award you in another way - the portion of this city's sack that was promised to you. I have taken the liberty of assessing the goods and converting them to the currency to save you the trouble of having them sold. In total, the sum is 14,000 Spadas, which I believe amount to around a thousand less Imperii of the same number."

You almost choke - thirteen thousand Imperii? You've managed such great amounts of money, sure, but to gain such a sum from but a portion of the sack of this singular city? Just how much wealth had been extracted from this city? "My gratitude is deep as always, your highness." you quickly answer.

Of course, before you are able to consider whatever it is you shall use this wealth on, there is another matter - your own rewarding. That is to say, the rewarding which you yoruself must give to your soldiers. Certainly, they shall expect some manner of monetary prize, having left such a lucrative venue as the sacking of a city to fight, and especially so after such a hard-won victory. Yet the question remains, how much shall you give?

CHOOSE YOUR OPTION
>Reward them with half of the prize
>Reward them with three fourths of the prize
>Reward them with the entirety of the prize
>Reward them with only a quarter of the prize, keep the rest to yourself
>Write-in

Apologies for the lack of images, but I was in a bit of a rush.

>>6330042
>Reward them with three fourths of the prize
We have 3,130 men surviving that battle. As much of a nice guy move as it would be to provide any next of kin with monetary relief from the passing of a son, father, or brother, we're frankly about one enlightenment and an entire century of industrial revolutionizing away from care packages and death compensation being of any expectation or obligation whatsoever, especially for mercenaries. Which does make the rest easier.

The monthly wages of the average foot soldier seems to be around 2 Imperii, though I'm highballing that since there's a smaller amount of men with the significantly higher wages of specialists, knights and such. So parting with half is basically a month's worth of advance pay being doled out to the men. Personally speaking, I think a bit more is justified, so increasing things to three gold coins per man should be sufficient, even without factoring the prizes we took ourselves from the battle.

Our warchest could do with some padding, so stuffing another three thousand or so gold into it would do quite nicely. We can't go around looking overly generous just in case that leads to expectations. Though we did buy a lot of soldiers their war kit for them, and we did inspire enough loyalty that a company of pikemen made up of conscripted prisoners and debtors fought to the death to hold the bridge.

TLDR: Everybody's getting around about one and a half times the cash they make over a month in advance including us.

>>6330041
>Don Octavi, on the other hand, does not seem as pleased. "You lost one of the guns, then? I knew it a possible loss, but certainly, it shall not come cheap..."
Boo hoo. We can write him a check later if he's upset that he got to run around and sack a city instead of having to fight combine harvesters and ford f-150s in hand to hand combat.

>>6330047
I agree with this

>>6330042
>Reward them with three fourths of the prize

>>6330047
That makes sense, supporting

>>6330047

Also supporting generous compensation as described here. Our boys bled and died for this, we need to honor that financially

>>6330042
>>Reward them with three fourths of the prize

>>6330042
>Reward them with three fourths of the prize

Men just went against some of the best the enemy had and made them pay, we owe them this much at least.

>>6330041
>Don Octavi, on the other hand, does not seem as pleased. "You lost one of the guns, then? I knew it a possible loss, but certainly, it shall not come cheap..."

Alright bitch I like to see you do better when you have several units of giants lumbering towards you while that monster cavalry is about to shish kabob you.

>>6330042
>Reward them with three fourths of the prize

>>6330042
>Reward them with half of the prize
Going against the grain but the way I see it is that we can use this money later down the line to purchase more equipment and troops.

>>6330042
>Reward them with half of the prize
Let's not set too many expectations. What's left will be a bonus at the end of the campaign...

>>6330035
>can noble women inherit and rule fiefs in Mirevale/Segoma/Portblanc?
In accordance with Agnatic-Cognatic Law, Women are able to inherit only when there is no other male heir able to do so.
>Can women act as regents?
They can, though as before, it follows a model of male preference. It is stated in Overture (Thread 1) that, were it not for your brother, it would have been your mother who would have been the Regent of Portblanc while you were away
>Is the position of emperor restricted to men?
It does not necessarily do so, but the way that the succession works very much makes it supremely unlikely for there to be a female emperor, as the office of Emperor is essentially "elected" from the pool of Imperial Heirs by the Electorate.

Fun fact, despitre being important enough to be an honorary "Cousin" to the Emperor (That is, a Grandee), Alessandro (and by extension, anyone holding the title of Viscount Portblanc) is non-eligible to participating in the Imperial Electorate due to being a noble from a Princely State since your liege lord is literally one of the candidates.
>are marriages between humans and meios forbidden by law in Mirevale?
Not at all, though this is where a discrepancy begins to pop up. In Mirevale proper, the population of Meios is very low, restricted almost entirely to "serfs"

However, in the Colonial Territories in Samica (That's the continent in the southern edge of the continent map), marriage with Meios is not only accepted but outright encouraged (So long as the male is human, of course) in order to create a mixed class to serve as "Regional" Nobility, being favored over the local Full-Beastfolk.

>can meios become free persons by Mirevale law? Can they be ennobled?
They can become free, through Manumission. They cannot, however, be ennobled - at least, that is, in mainland territory. Mainland Nobles are required to be "Pure of Humanity" in this regard, and thus not holding traces of any other race. But as before, this is different in colonial territory.
>Are meios forbidden by law to rule or inherit fiefs in Mirevale?
See above

>>6330304
So what I'm understanding we need to make a name for ourselves in the colonies

>>6330304

Very interesting and helpful, QM.

I’m still 100% opposed to Joan-romance but the setting is very fun

>>6330309
To me, giving up the crown out of love is what makes this all so romantic. >>6330333

>>6330333
Agreed

>>6330042
>Reward them with three fourths of the prize

>>6330047
>Reward them with three fourths of the prize

>>6330047
>>6330050
>>6330053
>>6330074
>>6330076
>>6330089
>>6330126
>>6330260
>>6330270
Overwhelming results for three fourths, update incoming

File: Monthly Report, 4.5.png (682 KB, 1057x767)

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In the end, you decide to award your soldiers with three fourths of your share. Some might call it a waste, perhaps. This regiment of yours, a good quantity of which are made up of mercenaries, will not be yours to lead through the decades. You are not a career commander, dependant so on the loyalty of his men throughout the years. The mercenary companies shall not even remember this act beyond another addition to their profits, being adepts of a trade wherein loyalty does not exist. And even one of your wealth cannot balk at such amounts - you had, after all, invested over twenty thousand Imperii into this entire conflict.

But even so...

You thought it fair. You thought it deserved - after all, through day and night, your men had not surrendered, not broken into rout, not turned against you even through the harshest of circumstances. They charged at goliaths whose swords were like towers, whose armors were like walls. They held still as knights who felled entire armies crashed upon them like waves upon the shore, and beat them back. They risked death, yes, for your orders, and all for a pitisome pay. No, it was not that you willed yourself to pay them such an amount - it was that you could not bear to pay them any less!

The matter of the payment, of course, is a lot less simple than one might expect - to divide the spoils fairly, one must, of course, find out the numbers of your force in its entirety. Throughout the next days, your army rests up from its wounds and begins to partake in the supplies "taken" from the now occupied warehouses and granaries of Montechia. As they do so, they are also counted, every last one of them, in a sort of military census. You, of course, also remember to include in the heads of the Bluefeathers Musketeers - although not part of your army so much as that of the mercenary regiment formed by Don Carles, their presence was without a doubt the most invaluable of all those in your battle. You could not have defeated the Gigantes nor the Famiglia without their aid. You will pay them as you would any other of your regiment.

Intent set well in mind, you wait for the results of the headcount. According to the search, your force's current numbers to be about 2,530, turning into 3,130 when added to the numbers of the Bluefeathers. As for the cash itself...the total of the spoils you had allotted to the men was 10,500, all in the local currency, the Spada. You quickly went on to make a plan to distribute such wealth amidst the regiment fairly.

In the next day, the giving of spoils was done at last. You, of course, made some manner of show out of it - gathering the men in the drill square of the city's military quarters, your depleted companies lined up one by one to receive their reward. Some might have chosen this as an opportunity to make some manner of speech, but screaming out like a drill sergeant did not suit you. Instead, you watched on from above a podium as the quartermaster's staff distributed the coins - and with each delivery, the simple phrase: "With his Lordship's regards." The distribution of coins was a simple one - Footmen, from the highest to the lowest, citizen or mercenary, corporal or sergeant, all received 3 Spadas, all glittering in their gold. Your Knights, in their part, whittled down to a mere 70 yet still noble, received 12, a fair sum for their higher stature and bravery in the field of battle. And finally were the captains, who had led these forces in your name in the midst of battle. Many of the number that had first joined you in your campaign had perished; Étienne de Valmoré, José Vesquetas, Bernal Carmentel, Gilete Banguila and even Bartolomé Pardain, a Hidalgo of Portblanc and the leader of your own retinue. In their place were other men, the next ones in line for promotion. For their skill and importance, they received no less than 30 coins each.

With the gifting of the coins finished, the soldiers were left to their own desires - and upon such freedom, there was much cheering and clapping indeed. Battered and burned as it was, Montechia was a city still, and the traders and sutlers which had so far supplied your siege camp with all manners of services and goods remained took no issue with bloodied money. Though the more frugal would perhaps save for their return, many more of the men would take this gift as a windfall to indulge on, to spend on fine wines, fine meats and fine women...though you greatly doubted the quality of the latter. To the lowest of your rungs, this reward, however little in the greater sense, was their payment's worth of multiple months. To those who had managed to nab for themselves some good deal of loot from the remains of the Cavalieri or the Giants, and more so found one willing to buy them, their wealth increased only further! Yes, certainly, war is a profitable venture for those blessed with the fortune to overcome death and disaster - and though it be far from what you had spent, you yourself have not walked out of this entirely empty handed - 3,500 Spadas, or roughly 3280 Imperii have remained from your share of the loot to be added to your own warchest.

Irregardless of such discussions, however, one thing is certain: the morale of your men shall certainly appreciate this reward, And you shall even more certainly have need of it to do so, if you are to win this war!

In that regard, however, you are not certain what shall be the next move. Your liege, Don Carles, declared that you would remain in the city for a few days more before embarking, but in what manner he planned to defeat the remainders of the still yet rather mighty Fortelli Army, you were not so certain. "The plans of his highness have shown themselves greatly effective so far - there is little left but to follow them loyallty", is what you tell yourself, but you are not entirely certain. In the meantime, however, you've some free time to spend on this now-conquered Montechia.

HOW WILL ALESSANDRO PASS HIS TIME? CHOOSE ONE.
>He shall remain in his quarters and read his books
>He shall fraternize with one particular person (If so, who?)
>He shall write a letter home once again
>He shall reorganize his regiment to deal with depleted units
>Write-in

>>6331236

>He shall write a letter home once again

We should write our brother, he should hear of our success!!

>>6331238
>>He shall reorganize his regiment to deal with depleted units
Even if we meet the Fortelli's same force in the field again, I think we can leave the others to bear the brunt of conventional battle. But since we don't know what Don Carles' plans are and we may have distinguished ourselves in his eyes enough to suffer from success when time comes to pick somebody with a special task in mind, it might be time to prepare our battered regiment to better face tomorrow.

I am not opposed to any of the other options for aforementioned reasons though.

>>6331238
>>He shall reorganize his regiment to deal with depleted units
Alas, the work is never finished. If fortune favours us, Alesandro will have another opportunity to pass his time after this one. As it is, getting the army sorted is the most pressing matter.

>>6331238
>He shall reorganize his regiment to deal with depleted units

>>6331238
>He shall write a letter home once again

We may not get the chance later, and now is the opportune time, fresh from victory!

>>6331235
>He shall write a letter home once again

>>6331238
>>Write-in

Let us confer with the captains of our volunteers about replenishing our losses with locals friendly to our cause, and perhaps we might take it to the Prince if we find success.

I still think we should try and bring captain Bonnino into our direct employ, if we can.

>>6331238
>He shall reorganize his regiment to deal with depleted units
Always need to prep for the next battle after all.

>>6331290
I think this is worth consideration in terms of manpower replenishment but I'm not sure how trustworthy the locals will be, even though I doubt the average individual of footsoldiering class here has any loyalty to the Fortelli, I think they might take the actions of our allies more personally, even if we have pay to offer in a new time of leanness and we weren't the ones who did any sacking (we may as well have since we took our share of that anyways).
Though if any of the former defenders were formerly bonded mercenaries as would be typical of condottieri anyways, they might not be from here and certainly looking for a new employer.

>>6331238
>He shall fraternize with one particular person (If so, who?)
What are we going to do with that giant prisoner? Keep carting him (and feeding him) around with us?

>>6331305
Oooh I definitely think we need to talk to him asap

>>6331238
>He shall write a letter home once again

>>6331238
>He shall reorganize his regiment to deal with depleted units

Work first.

>>6331293
Switching to this
>>6331305

>>6331305
I suppose I could have made that clearer, but Don Carles already took over the watch for the Giant, remember? It's not your problem anymore, if that's what you're worrying about.

Of course, you can try to talk to him if you so wish, but it's not necessary.

>>6331238
>He shall reorganize his regiment to deal with depleted units

>>6331296

Well, not only Montechia, but the towns we passed through on the way to the siege might yield some recruits, if we have the time of course.

>>6331462
Anon, I don't think people will be clamouring to sign up after we burned half their city down.

>>6331462

We’d probably have better luck hiring more mercs from back home, although I wonder if Don Charles might have already sent for reinforcements to spread out?

>>6331409
Ah thanks, I must have forgotten. Yeah I was just thinking we should "talk" with the giant to wrap up that plot thread, but if that is already sorted then no need to waste time on it.

I'll switch:
>>6331305
To:
>He shall reorganize his regiment to deal with depleted units

Not sure if other anons want to reconsider
>>6331311
>>6331408

>>6331241
>>6331246
>>6331264
>>6331293
>>6331388
>>6331456
>>6331732
Reorganizing the Regiment is the Winner - Writing

>>6331878
I still intend to update today, but this might take a while longer since I have to wait until i come home to post.

File: Reorganized.png (454 KB, 1054x767)

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The allure of leisure might convince you ever so slightly towards spending this time to rest and recuperate from the hardships you had faced in combat, but you've no time for such things, for your regiment itself stands at the brink of coallpse! In a way, that is. Victor you might have been, you certainly lost a good portion of the soldiers in your force. Amidst your companies and troops, some had been wiped out entirely, and some were at a mere fraction of their full capabilities. Such units would be of little use on their own in a battle. Nay, your task for the next few days ahead would be to reorganize your regiment to the extent of your capabilities.

Your first thought, of course, was to simply find a way to replenish your units, but you found little ways in which you could do so. Whatever mercenaries were been in the region had already been hired by Don Carles. Perhaps more would come as tales of the war spread throughout the land, but certainly not before you were to set off. To hire locals, of course, was not so much as a consideration. Who would enroll themselves within the army of the ones who had laid waste to their town? A foolish concept that would only be entertained perhaps by the lowest of ruffians and spies. No, you'll have to simply shuffle around your numbers and see to it that soldiers are sent where they can best be used. Your first target is the 5th of Shot. Although Capitán Guillen de Costa survived the battle, his unit is at a mere quarter of its strength. You shall, instead, have his men distributed across the 4th and the 6th, bringing them to full strength while Guillen himself is kept as a 'reserve captain' of sorts.

After that, there is the matter of your knights. Towards the end of the battle, when your very life was at risk of the speartips of the Famiglia, you wagered your very survival on a close quarters musket volley against the knights. It worked splendidly, slaughtering them to a men - yet it also took out your own Retinue with it, including their captain. You've no retinue of your own as an result of it. Your other troops are little better, their numbers whittled down to a mere seventy in total. To fix both problems, you forward a dozen of the knights into your 1st Troop, and keep the rest as your new, decreased retinue of sorts. Upon receiving the knews of his new duty, Senor Fulgencio de Valejo swears to protect you with his utmost efforts. You only hope you'll not have need of it...

Although it had crossed your mind to perhaps also do something about the rather depleted skirmishers and cavalrymen of your force, it is doubtful that the Jinetes who made up your cavalry unit would accept outsiders so easily, being an organized mercenary company rather than a mere assemblage of independent sellswords. So far, it would seem as though these few changes would have to do.

With your changes made ready, there was nothing left to do but wait, and in the 19th of March, the day for your departure arrived! Yet where you expected a depatrue throughout land in a march to the east, what arrived were orders to board the transport fleet that had first carried you to this foreign land. In the following hours, your regiment began the process of loading into the seabound vessels, and you began the process of wondering just what exactly were the plans of your liege. To your good luck, you were to travel amidst the same ship as his, the Mélia Marsana. As the afternoon began to crawl towards the dusk, your fleet left port, leaving behind only the wounded Don Fadrique, whose regiment was to serve as the guarding force for Montechia.

From the deck of the ship, you watched the dock shrink in the distance as your fleet began to inch eastward, shadowing the coast as it began the climb towards what you can only assume to be the heartlands of the Republic of Nera. And as you do, you are yet again set ablaze by curiosity over the plan of the crown prince. To travel by sea would certainly allow you to dodge whatever armies remained still in the passage between Tilano and the mainland, but had a landing close to their capital been possible, would you not have done so at the very start of this war? Shan't his highness inform you of such matters? You decide to use this opportunity to talk to Don Carles, and ask him so. You approach his highness as he is pouring over some papers in his quarters in the ship, bowing in the usual deference one must show before a member of the Imperial House. Yet before you are able to ask about the plan, you find yourself being asked a question first.

"Tell me, Don Alessandro." he begins, looking at his documents as he does. "You've been in this land for some deal of time by now. What would you make of it, this Straccia?"

You'd better think of a good answer.

CHOOSE YOUR OPTION
>I like it
>I do not like it
>I hold no strong opinion of it
>I do not have enough knowledge to judge it
>Write-in

>>6331993
>I do not have enough knowledge to judge it

We've seen little, and that time is spent between boredom and terror.

>>6331993
>I do not have enough knowledge to judge it

>>6331993
>Write-in
>I don't see much of the difference, sire. The sun goes up and down, and men quarrel, as I suppose happens in all of this earth.
>But what do you think the Straccians will make of *us*, sire?
let's see what Don Carles has to say on the future plans for this campaign

>>6331993

>I do not have enough knowledge to judge it

“A shame we must hurry through the countryside, I should like to return under different circumstances in the years to come.”

>>6332024
>I do not have enough knowledge to judge it
But I suppose we'll be seeing more of it soon...

>>6331993
>>I hold no strong opinion of it
We haven't spent much time with the local population. We've either been travelling and looking at the countryside, or in war.

The lands seem fertile, but the heavy rains aren't to our taste.

As for the people themselves, all common folk seem the same when dealing with a noble such as ourselves and we haven't exactly been on good terms with what passes for local nobility/merchants.

>>6331993
>>I do not have enough knowledge to judge it

A shame it is all blood, fire, and ash for us, at this time.

Though I'm sure we could appreciate the beauty and history of this land, under proper circumstances.

Think of the bountiful orchards we have sadly had to loot, a shame.

>>6331993
>I do not have enough knowledge to judge it

The character of the land is in its people and I have had precious little intercourse with them

>>6332024
+1

>>6331993
>I do not have enough knowledge to judge it

File: Jacob Adriaensz Bellevois(...).png (1.19 MB, 1114x657)

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"...I do not believe I've enough knowledge to judge it so, my lord." you reply, after thinking for a moment. Certainly, you've experienced quite a lot of this land. The warm weather of the northern regions, so bothersome in full armor. The torrential downpours, as well as the frequence which with they happened. The plentiful harvests which you 'seized', full of fresh fruit and produce and other things you had not seen that often save in the shape of preserved products such as jam. The wealth which even the common peasants seemed to hold. Truthfully, there is no denial that Nera, and perhaps the entirety of Straccia, if it is similar to it, is a bountiful, plentiful land. Yet what does that leave of its people? What of the character of these Straccians, these odd men with ears like almond nuts or a drop of rain upon a glasspane? That, you cannot tell. You have not interacted with them greatly, save for ordering the slaying of their men. It would be easy to call them triflesome and greedy as befits the nature of one whose very blood is controlled by merchantry. Yet you cannot believe such an answer is what your liege seeks of such a question.

"I've had little interaction with these folk, sire, save for seeing them in battle. In that regard, I can attest to their fierceness, but no more, were I to speak of objective matters." you repeat. As you do, Don Carles continues in silence, browsing through the documents in his desk before replying. "A fair answer. It is clear to me you are one of clear judgement, Viscount...of the unsure kind, perhaps."

He sets down his pairs, before crossing his hands.

"I presume you've come to ask me of this attack plan of mine, as have your fellow colonels, and I shall tell you the same I had told them: I seek to sail into their capital, and oversee the restoration of our allies. You may trust my word in that regard." he continues, his every word spoken as though thought of a hundred times before uttered. As for your own answer,

"Very well, your highness." is all you say. It would seem that he is intent on not telling you so. To press any further would be to insult his word, and to insult his word would be to insult the very Empire and their rightful stewards, the House of Brascarams. You bow yet again, and take you leave.Though you have spoken with him much, you can never quite tell what goes on in the mind of the Prince. You are beginning to believe you never will. Whatever schemes he holds, you shall have to see it through your own eyes.

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The path to the capital by sea is quite fast. Though you followed the outline of the coast for a while, the night and following day saw your fleet head onto open sea for a while, no doubt to avoid any coastal fortifications. Nonetheless, it was the 20th (If your memory served you well) when you saw land again. A bay, leading inwards, holding within its coast a city of size you had not seen since your days as a student in the Imperial Capital. It was Montellegaria, the beating heart of the state you knew as Nera. You could not see the city itself from such a distance, but its width was such that even by the seabound coast, many outlying burgs stood still. And though you had not approached them, you knew, even from your ship, what trade they practiced, for it was visible to you as well: coastal fortresses, of the most modern kind, standing at the mouth of the bay which led to the city. And in the waters themselves were the threat which had for so long ignored you, that which may have dealt you an early defeat - the Neran Navy, already in formation, broadsides presented as if challengiong you to move within their range.

It is an imposing sight, indeed, for compared to your own fleet, their numbers are four, perhaps even five times greater. In a line that stretches across your horizon, what must be hundreds of galleys and carracks stand ready to engage you. You also see some galleons , though in numbers smaller than even yours. In addition to the coastal batteries, their firepower dwarfed yours so utterly that you could not possibly see how you you could ever defeat it. Yet nonetheless, you watched as your fleet began to enter battle formations, a good deal of distance away from the enemy, under the orders of your liege. Yet rather than going forward, they form a firing line: as if to let off a barrage in such a distance that even you know is too far.

And then, they do.

If the firing of a cannon was like a thunderbolt, then the barrage of a navy is like an storm unmatched. You hear dozens, hundreds of guns firing uselessly into the distance, the sounds rattling your very skull. In the distance, great splahes of water rise from amidst the waves, marking the points where the cannonfire hit. This orchestra of gunfire continues for a few minutes more as every cannon in the fleet lets off a shot. In the distance, the hostile navy stands proudly, entirely unharmed. After the gunfire stops, there is...silence. You can only hear the sound of the waves. There is no second barrage, no continuation of the fire, no further movements - only silence. You ask Don Carles the purpose behind this attack, as the two of you stand on the ship deck.

"It is a notice of our presence to this city." he says, before going back to back to his quarters.

For the following hours, nothing continues to happen. Sometimes, you almost faintly hear what seemed like gunfire in the distance, yet it seems more as though a trick of the mind. You continue through your day, with nothing to do but wait or look through your own books as you do so.

It is in the afternoon when something finally happens. From within the bay, departing from the fleet, a lone ship begins to fly towards your fleet, flying the white flag of peace. The ship, approaching you, is directed towards your very fleet, where Don Carles, now on the deck yet again, stands in his battle dressing. From the ship, a small party, in the distinct clothings of the merchant class, appproach him with deference on the deck as they are brought inside. Dropping to their knees, they announce, in a loud yet poorly learned accent.

"Montellegaria surrenders...we have ousted the Fortelli, and took them prisoner, that they may be delivered to you. We shall accept the stewardship of the Spisa once again."

>NO CHOICE FOR NOW
>UPDATE CONTINUES AS USUAL

A coup?

>>6332963
Very good result, congratulations to the Prince for whatever it was he did

>>6332965
>do nothing
>win
I see we’re following the Xi Jinping school of thought.

If I were to guess, it turned out that sending the Famiglia after us and having the veritable Republican Guard abandon the capital turned out to be a short sighted decision.

Italian politics of this era were as cutthroat as this. Allies could turn into enemies after one bad day. Considering we sent their best running AND killed many of their very, very expensive mercenaries, as well as looting a provincial capital, the Fortelli had many bad days. Enough that they lost the confidence of enough allies for the Spisa could stage a counter coup. Well, looks like this campaign is over. Now to head home.

>>6332965
All according to keikaku...?

Seems our constant success has forced a change in whose in charge.

>>6333207

I hope you’re right and not that some third faction of Nerians has wrested power from the Fortellis

Just a heads-up, I decided I didn't want to leave you with another "no choice" update, but this next stretch is quite a big one, so I'm going to push it back to tomorrow to get something good out. Hopefully it will be worth it.

Sort of wonder if old Barbagris thinks he'll get back in the game again after this or if he'll count this as the last hurrah for his company and settle down.
Think we might have some volunteers to fill out his ranks since we'll probably be releasing everybody at the end of the campaign anyways instead of keeping them on retainer.
Not to put the cart before the horse or anything in case of a surprise development or one more big battle on the horizon.

>>6334217
I've been thinking about this some myself.

I'm certain we'll need to raise an army again one day, and it might behoove us to retain a couple companies of veterans.

Specifically, I'd like to equip and train a company of veteran arquebusiers as musketeers.

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If the sight of that vast city had been imposing in the distance, to see it on person is another matter entirely. And as you slide into a harbor of Montellegaria, it becomes very much clear why the suzerains of this borough hold lordship over a nation of such size and wealth. The buildings in the waterfront show in their very facade a deep wealth - ornate palaces of marble and stone, with balconies of gilded gold that shone in the sun. Edifices of lime-plaster and stucco, where men of all manners walked and entered in great quantities. Scattered along the docks, ocean-facing bastions stood eminently across the water, a clear warning and safeguard against those who might wish to take the city by sea. Yet it was not the banners of this own city that these fortresses flew, but your own, for it was your soldiers who controlled these fortifications in that very moment.

After the ever so astounding reveal of the surrender of the city, matters had moved with great speed, such that you had no time to ponder just how it was that Don Carles had achieved this, how he had captured the largest of cities in this entire nation, how he had won this conflict without firing a single shot. Instead, you were tasked with dispatching several of your own companies to move ahead towards the city and take the fortifications. Though the representative had denied the demand, his highness had been rather quick in finding a deal that would ascertain your safeties without putting the city too greatly at your mercy. It was agreed that you and your army would be allowed to occupy the coastal batteries of the city, as well as to enter with a sizeable escort of your own, as you led your delegation, comprising of not only you of the Army of Segoma but of the [Spisa who had apparently been brought with your fleet to parlay with the gentry of this city. It was a measure of safety, to ensure that the fleet of the Nera, who would "leave" the bay temporarily so as to allow you safe passage, could not simply turn around and trap your entire fleet while their batteries tore you to to shreds. With your men in control of coastal fortifications, a breakout would be not only possible, but entirely unnecessary as your forces would be able to land without facing fire from the bastions.

Your armor donned and swords at the hip, you leave the Mélia Marsana as it reaches the docks, dozens of soldiers awating you already, Don Salazar amidst them. Joining you also would be, of course, his highness Prince Carles, escorted by none other than his own Princely Guard of Segoma, their armors emblazoned with the colors and arms of the Brascarams. As they approached, the soldiers saluted you, bowing to the prince. Don Salazar, who had been assigned with overseeing the occupation of the forts, is the first to speak.

"The coast has been secured, your highness. There are still forces in other fortifications in the city, but I do not suspect foul play on the part of these Straccians."

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"However," he adds, "It is my advice that the rest of the soldiery should remain in the fleet until our allies have been properly put into power to avoid incidents"

"I concur." replies Don Carles "It should also obfuscate our full numbers, I suspect we are greatly outnumbered, and our leverage for the Spisa could very well be found lacking should they believe us to be weaker than them. It is in our interest to act..." he looks around, back at the water. "..Quickly. Baron, please see to it that we are guided to wherever this parlay shall take place as soon as the Spisa arrive."

And arrive they do, for a few minutes later, a great barge pulls into the docks, pulled not by sail but by row after row of mighty oars. Its hull was of the strongest crimson, engraved with details of ivory and gold. Though entirely unarmed, the air that surrounded this barque was such that it was as though every vessel in these ports knelt in their presence. This was the Ceremonial Barge of the Spisa Family, and it carried within them the once-masters of the Serene Republic - and if all went as planned, its future ones as well. When exactly they had gotten themselves in this vessel, however, you know not, though you had never seen it amidst your fleet. Nevertheless, they dock gracely on the waterfront, and soon, you are able to see its passengers yourself.

It is curious, how one may fight an entire war in the name of one and yet never see them. Indeed, even the poor soldiery of the common class may yet see their lieges and colonels, their monarchs perhaps, leading them upon the field of battle. Such was not the case with these Spisa, these merchant kings whose thrones you had recovered. You had not so much as seen them until now, and the sight was certainly one to behold. There were over a dozen of them, some men, some women, and some children, but they all wore clothing of unimaginable wealth. The men, in full-skirted tabards and puffy jackets, embroidered with the red serpent that signified their familial ties. The women, in long skirts yet with low-cut décolettés. And all of them, from the children to the women to the men, wore that most bizarre of jewelries: an extension to their ears, glittering so greatly so as to have bene made with gems and gold, the "earring" was more like a prosthetic of sorts, accentuating the natural almond shape of their ears into something entirely inhuman.

They approached you, talking amongst themselves, with little doubt happy to be returned to their homes. Stepping forward, one amidst them, the patriarch and leader you presumed from the horn-like bonnet which he wore, began to speak to Don Carles, not in Straccian but in your own language, the tongue of Mirevale.

"My gratitudes upon thee, honorable prince. It is great to have returned to our city. I shall assure you that we shall not fail in our terms of our agreement. I shall see the treaty signed as soon as we are returned to our power..."

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Had his highness extracted some manner of promise in exchange for this military campaign? You should hope it is a worthy one, given the deeds you and your men, under the leadership of Don Carles, have done in these territories. You also cannot help but notice the oddity in the man's feature, his nose so sharp and long so as to have been likely to cut any who tried to touch it. You had noticed Straccians as a whole to possess some manner of tendency towards such features, but this man, whom you increasingly suspected to be the former Doge of Nera.

You waved away your thoughts of such matters, however, for with his arrival, you were finally able to proceed! With the Spisa in tow, your force marched through the city towards the rising visage of that palace which rose above the rest. The streets, in comparison with Montechia, were busy - labourers and citizens walked around about, gathering at the sides and the buildings to stare at your procession. There were no signs of fighting, no charred houses or piles of corpses left to rot on allewayways. However these burghers had ousted the Fortelli, they had done so without engaging in true battle. And so it continued for several minutes more, until, finally, you arrived at that palace at the center of the city, the home of the Serenissima Signoria, the ruling body of this state. It was the Palazzo di Nera, and upon its courtyard, there was a geat crowd.

Your arrival, upon passing the gates, was met with cheering and clapping. Wealthy merchants, the men of the gentry who composed the farcical nobility of this city applauded your group, hailing them as though they had not been the very ones to overthrow the men which they now acclaimed. From amongst them, one man seemed to signal their silence, before stepping forward, dropping into a knee, and beginning to speak in his own tongue.

"By the grace of The Splendour, Serene Duke of the Nerans, we, the humbled Signoria of this city, do offer our salutations to you, rightful Duke of the Nerans, and to your blessed lineage as well. We, who, in our folly, were misled by the deceit and false promises of the traitorous Fortelli, did not act as we should have during their coup. Now, we, who had finally gathered the courage to oust these betrayers, seek to rectify the grievous error of our ways, and ask you to return to your rightful place as steward of Montellegaria."

It is certainly a good thing you had learnt the language of this land, or you would have missed such a pitiful speech. What wily words these merchants hold. Though you might have felt more strongly about one who had betrayed his own lord, how can one call this assembly of money changers a nobility? Silent still, you watch as the would-be Doge walk forward, ready to muster a reply of his own.

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"Noblemen of the Signoria. It is clear, to me, that your words ring with truth. The treacherous Fortelli, through lies and deceit, had misled you into remaining quiet as they attacked my station and my family. Yet despite their attempts to crown themselves as tyrants of this Serene Republic, my family, with the aid of the honorable Prince Carles of Mirevale," he says, gesturing towards Don Carles "Have frustrated their plots. With the truth brought to light, you have shown your loyalty by ousting them from their seats. It is therefore only just and righteous that, as the re-titled leader of this city, that I should give you all absolution for the crimes which you had committed."

And at those words, the merchants cheer again. It is, as clear as the day, a farcical play. It is clear what hath happened to you now, how events had transpired. It was the victory you had won over their greatest of soldiers, the fall of Montechia and the region of Tilano. It was these events, not some manner of 'revelation of truth', that had eroded the confidence of this assembly into the Fortelli. They had felt the winds of fortune flowing behind your backs, and, in fear of being caught as an enemy by this invading force, they had ousted the leaders themselves, allowed you in peacefully as a "gift" to soothe the Spisa for their actions. The Doge, in his part, was all too happy to accept it, to forge this theatrical illusion of a world wherein they were innocent and misled, to create a lie that would allow them to return to how things had been, and afford these wealthy men the safety of their fortunes and positions.

With their 'return', of course, matters quickly turned to more practical subjects. Though they had forgiven those of the national assembly for their support in the coup, the Spisa still wished to assure their utter control over the city. For the rest of the day, you and the others of the expedition were assigned with the matter of purging the city's guard of the supporters of the coup. Armed with a list of names, your companies marched from fortress to fortress, from wall to wall, from bastion to bastion, given the power to arrest those that had been declared traitors by the Doge - captains, sergeants, entire units of the guard. Many, of course, had already fled - out of the city and well outside your grasp. Others attempted to token of resistance, locking themselves in some fortifications and refusing any offers to surrender. Those your men cut down, taking the fortifications by storm. In this, the remnants of the Banda Grisa, with their halberds and greatswords, were of great use. Some attempted to bribe you still, not knowing you to be far wealthier than what their meagre offerings could muster. In the end of the day, you had arrested or killed several dozen men, and walked through some fair portion of the Montechia. With the final name on the list struck, you sighed in relief, able at last to rest.

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The benefits of partaking in a purge of a city's nobility, you find, is that it liberates some rather sumptuous properties. Your time in the city would see your quarters in an rather ornate city house belonging to some relative of the Fortelli family. Though not a member himself, his was an abode of quality none too dissimilar to your own castle in Portblanc - and in some ways, such as the modernity of the amenities, superior even to that.

"I ought to remodel that ancient castle." you tell yourself.

Tonight, you shall simply rest, but tomorrow, there are matters still to be done! Although Don Salazar has already been assigned control over the lodging of the Army of Segoma, including your own regiment, during the time they remain in the city, there are other matters which you could attend. You have heard that tomorrow, a great hanging shall occur...a hanging of the Fortelli. That they would meet this fate so quickly surprised you so, but you reckon the Spisa intended to eliminate any chances of a third changing of opinions from the city's gentry. Secondly, Don Carles had also told you that the Treaty which had been talked of yesterday would be signed and formalized tomorrow...at the same time of the hanging, as well. Though your presence was not demanded, you are certain you would be well allowed to take part in such an event. Finally, you could choose...neither. Montellegaria was a city of wealth, of beauty, of art and of merchantry. You could simply take in the sights of the art and architecture, or perhaps visit the merchant houses to see if you could find any exotic items to bring home. It was your choice to take.

CHOOSE YOUR OPTION
>Attend the great hanging
>Attend the signing of the treaty
>See the art and architecture of the city
>See the merchant houses of the city

>>6334401
>Attend the great hanging

>>6334401
>Attend the signing of the treaty

>>6334401
>See the merchant houses of the city
Forge connections to increase our power in the future

>>6334401
>See the art and architecture of the city

We are a nerd, we can be a cultured nerd as well.

>>6334401
>>Attend the signing of the treaty

I'm sure we'll have ample time to explore the city after.

>>6334401
>See the art and architecture of the city
Take a sketchbook along and Joan

>>6334401
>Attend the great hanging
Wonder if we'll get to see the guy we fought, or if he escaped.

>>6334401
>>Attend the great hanging
It is brutal and in your face, I would expect hanging children and women. Thus, it is useful for Alessandro to be confronted by it and really understand the consequences of losing. It could be him, his brother and Joan all on the gallows if he fails (given it seems the Don is setting up a power bloc with Montellagria for an attempt at the throne once the Emperor dies).

>>6334401
>>>Attend the signing of the treaty

I'm interested in seeing what price the prince extracted for his aid.

>>6334584
It would be nice to know what we nearly, and many of our men, died for.

Who knows, maybe we'll even wind up in a painting.

>>6334401
>Attend the signing of the treaty

>>6334401
>Attend the great hanging

>>6334401

>Attend the signing of the treaty

No doubt attending the hanging would provide us with some significant insight as to the identities and motivations of the Fortellis, but seeing as their coup has collapsed entirely, it would probably much more important to ingratiate ourselves with the Spisa.

I also wonder if we might identify a lucrative side deal with one of those wily merchants or lower Spisan nobility, given that our recent exploits will have won us some acclaim and our association with Don Carles might win us favorable terms… we’re a merchant nobleman after all!

>>6334401
>Attend the signing of the treaty
I concur with wanting to know the terms rewarded, though I have a strong feeling I already know. Which is basically to not only be the prestigious mark of "I did this without daddy's help" but also to bankroll the Prince's election campaign, as it were, when the time comes.

>>6334538
>Wonder if we'll get to see the guy we fought, or if he escaped.
I feel like the army at his command might have managed to escape even hearing about this turn of events so quickly. Which either means there's a loose end to tie up roaming out there, or the Famiglia will return with Vicenzo Fortelli as their prisoner to curry favor with the new regime. Unless they've done that already, of course, but they'd have done it real fast.

>>6334922
>we’re a merchant nobleman after all!
Okay hold on now we're a noble ruler of a merchant city, the phrasing is important lest certain knife eared moneylender fucks think we're their equal and not their better.

>>6334927
>knife-eared
Almond-eared. Very important distinction

What the fuck exactly that means however I do not know.

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>>6334934
I think it means they're very slightly pointed, like picrel, because the Straccians have a little bit of elf blood but not a lot.

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>>6334934
>>6335006
Alright, so basically, the thing about the Straccians' ears is that I've never quite found a good way to describe them succintly. But the idea is that their ears are kind of like...reverse knife ears? Rather than being long at the top, they're long at the bottom.

The closest thing I can get to a comparison is that they're kinda like a...kite shield, so to say, or a "water droplet", which is how i previously said. I started using "almond shaped" because that's what wikipedia called the shape of kite shields, but it doesn't seem like that's an actual shape.

>>6335008
Oh, fascinating.

>>6335008
Do the ears reach the shoulders?

>>6335015
No, they aren't that big.

>>6334409
>>6334538
>>6334552
>>6334784
Attend the Great Hanging

>>6334410
>>6334418
>>6334584
>>6334710
>>6334922
Attend the Signing of the Treaty

Signing has won for some time already honestly, but post incoming.

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Through the shining of the morning sun, you calmly stroll into the Ducal Palace, admiring the sights of the architecture as you do. For some while now, the land of Straccia was reputable across the entirety of Mauva and even the lands beyond it to the north and south as a place of fine art, wherein the most skilled of engineers oft turned buildings into canvases, using the most modern of methods and materials. Modern tooling from Mirevale, glassware from Bach, gold from Samica and tinctures from the far lands of the west. Plenty of other nations, your own Mirevale included, have begun imitating such artistry of their own, building modern structures that contrast ever so greatly with the dark and crude stonework of old. If you are ever to rebuild your own residency in Portblanc, you should certainly be wise to make usage of this architectural science of Straccia.

Having decided to partake in the signing of the treaty, whatever it may be, you march through the halls of the assembly, wherein the Serene Council may take place. Yet as you enter the great chamber where the members of the Signoria and the other councils and assemblies that made up the Neran government were to vote, you found the room...almost empty. The central seats remained filled, and you had even recognized some of the faces amidst them, such as the man who had led the nobility of the city in their 'apology' to the Spisa, as well as the Doge himself; yet the rest of the room was very sparsely populated, with but a few faces amidst the lot. Looking around, you finallly found Don Carles, waiting upon one of the outermost corners, surrounded by his guard. Approaching the man, you are very quickly recognized, and stand close to the prince.

"Hath I arrived too early, milord?" you ask, somewhat confused. "Or perhaps too late."

"You are right on time, Viscount. The assembly shall begin shortly, though - I suspect the number of occupants in the room shall not change too wildly."

"Is this not the ruling body? From what I hath learned, this assembly holds the power to veto any such law that the Doge may try to pass, no?"

"That may be so, Viscount, yet I am afraid most members of this assembly are...busy, this morning. During the time you had been assigned to arrest members of the military in the city, the Spisa were very hard at work in their efforts towards cleaning the city of the great majority of their rivals. A great portion of this city has woken up to find their leading positions left empty, or that their families have been declared accomplices of the Fortelli and their properties seized. And that, of course, is not to say of all those who will be hanged at this very same time the assembly is occurring. Luckily, there exists no law in their society which requires an assembly to possess the presence of their every elector to function."

Which, of course, means, those who have come are entirely capable of passing whichever laws they may desire in the chaos. It is the exact manner of underhanded deception which one would expect from the merchant class, even if it shall be of good fortune towards the goals of your own party. And just as the Prince hath predicted, the assembly begins with a little more than a few additional representatives arriving. After some short rituals and a prayer to the holy, the Council begins in proper. The first act, as you had expected, was the full re-investiture of all powers befitting the ducal throne of the Doge upon the patriarch of the Spisa, whose name you had finally found to be Ludovico. With his powers invested once again in him, it was the man himself who started the next act - the official seizure of all property of the Fortelli in the name of the state - their vast farmlands in northeastern Nera, their many properties across the cities of the country, even their iron mines close to the eastern borders, near the land of Senucco. All these properties were to be seized by the state, to be sold or used at a later date in order to "garner funds" for the national treasury.

Finally, was the treaty - by then, some two odd hours had passed, and you are certain you could hear in the distance a great crowd, far louder than any market - the hanging of the Fortelli must have begun. With the treaty in discussion, you looked on, rapt, curious to find out the reason, the motification as to why you had partaken in this war, why it had happened in the very first place.

The first term was, as you might have expected, an immediate declaration of peace between the Crowns of Mirevale and Segoma with the Republic of Nera. However brief it might have been, for the period in which they held control, the Fortelli did so with the full 'backing' of the state. The Spisa had been overthrown, as far as you knew, in accordance with their laws, and Iuliano Fortelli, the one who had replaced Ludovico, had been elected just as legally. That conflict which you fought was, by all means, a war both legal and true. And through this treaty, it would end.

The second term was the immediate forging of an alliance - a defensive pact between their houses, of Brascarams and Spisa, of Nera and Mireval. It detailed upon the nations a duty to aid the other in regards to foreign invasions, were they to be called forth to do so by the other, yet most importantly of all that such treaties be applied only to "foreign" invasions. In words, it was an intent of preventing intrusion upon the "local politics" of the Straccians, yet it was clear at first sight that there were but two states whom should apply to such matters...the Sbravani Tsardom and the League of Bach. This term was not merely a guarantee, but a statement, a great move upon the gameboard of the Straccian Peninsula between the superpowers of Mauva. Whatever conflicts broke out over the fate of the continent, Nera would be on the side of the Imperial Throne of Mascaloma - whether it realized it or not.

The third term was of economical concessions, of "encouragements" to trade - more specifically, the great reduction of tariffs and custom fees for Segoman merchants on Nera. In this, your first clenched - you knew how great a change such a matter was. In the scale of great economies, tariffs and fees were what protected one's state from the dominance of foreign traders. To be able to trade without taxes, or at least with reduced ones, did not merely reduce your costs of maintenance, but gave you a great advantage over other merchants. In time, traders from Segoma would be able to outcompete all but the very natives of the nation, driving out the market dominance of those from other states. And as for you? The increased traffic of trade going from your own Portblanc towards Nera would mean far greater taxes for yourself. To say that you have benefitted from this term would be an understatement of great portions. Yet nevertheless, one more term still remains.

The fourth, and final term was simpler than all others. As a reward for his support, for his defense of the rightful ruler of Nera, the Prince himself, Don Carles IV of the House Brascarams, would be given a monthly remittance of 15,000 Spadas for a length of five years, to be paid either as a salary, or as a lump sum. Quickly adding up the numbers, you come at the final number that he would be given. In total, his highness would be gifted an amount of 900,000 Straccian Spadas, or nearly eight hundred thousand five hundred Imperii.

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...

It is certainly clear why the Prince had agreed to participate in this war. It would take perhaps the entire sum of all revenue collected through all manners of taxation, disregarding all the costs and tributes and upkeep of your own that would otherwise take for such a number, from a whole year of your own Portblanc to match this manner of sum. Though the revenues of a nation far dwarfed such numbers, to receive such a sum in pure gold is a reward of considerable might. Whatever amount his highness had spent on this campaign, you are certain that he must have doubled it at the very least.

With the terms read out, the time came for the council to give their judgement over such a treaty. In a normal case, this would have certainly been met with immediate cries of anger, of utter rejection to such an greatly one-sided deal. The scales which dictated the beneficiaries of this deal weighed so greatly towards your own that one may have thought it a terms of surrender, a demand of tribute from a conquering overlord rather than a treaty of peace and friendship made by equals. It would seem that Ludovico and the Spisa at large were very much willing to sacrifice a good deal of their own state for the sake of regaining their power. In normal conditions, such a treaty would have been grounds for revolt, for rebellion of a ruler so cowardly as to dole out the national treasury in largesse to foreign armies as a means of regaining power.

These were not normal conditions.

And so, with their rivals hanging from the gallows, rotting in the dungeons, fleeing from the city with all that they could take, none stood to oppose this accord. The Treaty of Montellegaria was signed, and that war which would come to be known as The Fortelli War ended, one year, one month, and fifteen days after it had begun.

>ROLL 1D100 FOR POSSIBLE EVENT, THREE TIMES.

Rolled 6 (1d100)

>>6335575

Rolled 59 (1d100)

>>6335575

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>6335575

>>6335576
>>6335577
>>6335580

Well, I’m not sure how to interpret this, other than to presume that there will be possible strife even in this “victory”

>>6335587
There's a lot of house cleaning that has to be done with this sort of deal, I imagine. The legislation just pushed through a completely horseshit treaty while most of them were out or being hanged, and the people footing the bill aren't going to be doing so willingly.
Sucks to be a droopy ear, but we're gonna be making out like bandits. We'll be able to make Joan's maidwear out of cloth of gold without blinking or sweating.

>>6335575
Is that seriously half a million civilian casualties?

>>6335592
Ah, shit, I added an extra zero, my bad. Too late to change it now.

Right then, how are we going to exploit this windfall?

I'm thinking build up our own fleet with tradeships would be a good bet.

But, what about investing in our infrastructure? Increased trade means increased traffic, hopefully we can do something to expand our accommodations and profit off of those using our harbors.

>>6335625
Dedicate our time to writing a definitive (and very boring) Codigo Comerçiale to govern civil law in all commercial matters, ushering in a revolution in commerce and the regularity of civil law

>>6335654

This is literally the best thing we could do, in all likelihood. Having a super clear, strictly enforceable and highly predictable civil/trade code would create optimal growth. Preferably we’d keep taxes and tariffs pretty low and then very aggressively build up an anti-piracy fleet to keep our trade routes safe.

The treaty here has the potential to make us ridiculously wealthy, so we should move to convert all that money into military force. This campaign has been a pretty effective real-world demonstration that a big bank account on its own is not enough to keep you from getting deposed

>>6335575

It's always the civvies who get the shit end of the stick. Also, 18k Nera dead means we're responsible for at least a sixth at the river fight.

>>6335625
Buy land in the colonies and create a trade empire

>>6335575
>>6335593
>52.000 civilian deaths
Interesting. Would this be a relatively low number of civilian casualties for a war in this historical context?
I'm also curious about which events led to most deaths.

>>6336377
As far as my references say, for a conflict in such relatively short time and scale, it is a pretty reasonable amount of casualties. Most of the civilian casualties come, of course, from looting and pillaging of villages, and in particular, the Siege of Montechia, which ended pretty damn bad - though you weren't there to see all that.

I suppose I should specify, these types of numbers aren't so much as canonical knowledge as much as general "statistics" I'm making available to the player. Alessandro himself would not know, per sa, the amount of people that died, and indeed it is very hard to find out the full number of civilian casualties during this time period - the only real method would be to have conduct a census both before and after the war.

>>6335576
>>6335577
>>6335580
>6, 59, 28
You were really close to something bad there. Literally just one lower and that first roll would have been a critical failure.

Lucky for you. Writing.

File: Procession of the True Cr(...).png (1.04 MB, 900x443)

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Although the immediate occupation of the city had been carried out and control of the Spisa over the body of the republican state had been reasserted, your job in Montellegaria was far from over. After the hangings of the 21st of March and the singing of the treaty, the city remained in utter disarray. The bureaucratic body of the nation had been riddled with holes, positions left unfilled by those condemned by Ludovico and his house. Though you are certain they were slowly being filled again with those that might find loyalty to their family in their newly granted positions, there was much chaos still. In this, the Army of Segoma remained as a peacekeeping force of sorts, putting down riots and calming unrest in the outskirts of the capital. You are not certain what the effects of the usage of a foreign force upon a city's populace is, but you do not believe it to be a good one.

In the midst of this, you yourself stand, strangely enough, with little to do. With Don Salazar in command of these policing actions and Don Carles journeying off to meet the Neterelli family in the south, there was little left of army matters that was not handled by Hugues or Provençal, leaving you with some considerable amount of time in your hands. To your good fortune, however, you knew Straccian, and more specifically, Neran Straccian, it being that most tutors of this language in the Empire having been born of this very same state thanks to their warm relations with Mirevale. It was so thus, that, for the rest of March and the first week of April, you spent your time experiencing the social life of Montellegaria.

At first, you had acted as though some manner of tourist, visiting the sights and experiences that the city could offer - the churches, the fountains, the palaces and theaters. You tasted of their foods - casserole of fine pork and cabbage, eggs boiled in rosewater, breaded venison drizzled in olive oil - all accompanied by the finest of Straccian wines. And it was in these eateries, these elaborate dinners and banquets, that many news made their way to you, informing of the events in that peninsula of theirs and the wider continent in its whole. It went without saying that the end of the Fortelli War had made waves across the region; it was entirely unexpected. When the dethronement and exile of the Spisa had been first learned of, many had presumed that such would be their end, another political house banished from their land and left to languish in obscurity in the lands of some distant ally of theirs, reduced to the gutters of history. When your army had made landfall on Tilano and begun the siege, opportunistic neighbours made their moves - the Avonnese, the Senuccans and even the Santulans to the west. Of the latter, they seemed to have given up their prospects of taking the island of Guiverni when the peace was announced and the Neran Armada was no longer bound to the protection of their shores.

File: Conquest.png (7.6 MB, 4370x2815)

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In the past, Don Carles had mentioned of the Despot of Senucco striking some sort of deal with the Fortelli, and the terms of this deal had soon become clear. After an past attempt to acquire for himself the secrets of cannonmaking, the Despot of Senucco had been forbidden business entirely by the Artillery Guilds of the peninsula. This matter had greatly damaged his warfare capabilities - until, of course, the Fortelli offered them the services of several artillery masters that were under their employe, "bypassing" the guild ban. It had been enough to strike a peace between the two, and now, their target had been revealed at last - the Republic of Antinia, the city of blacksmiths and armormakers. The plate produced by the Antinians was known throughout all of Mauva, yet it did little when faced with a force of overwhelmingly greater size. Although unssucesful attempts to invade Senucco or break the siege had been made by neighbours, sources claimed that even now the city remained still at siege.

What surprised you the most, however, were what news had spread of yourself. After the Famiglia had completely slaughtered the Avonnese Army at Edroa, a great fear had taken the peninsula over the Serene Guard. Never before since the fall of Allegro had such a great number of Amazonian Knights been gathered under one banner. In Montellegaria, there had been boasts of the revolution of warfare, of the undefeatability of such a force in the field. Some had worried that the eastern states who supplied them with the Wetgrain needed to feed the horses such as Chiantia and Genatta would stop their exports entirely out of fear of their power.

The news of the attack had not even managed to finish it's spread when you defeated them at the Vessena Bridge.

Of course, you had not defeated them entirely. In fact, you had not even fought their whole numbers. Yet the effects were the same nonetheless - hundreds of what had seemed to be the finest knights of the continent were slaughtered and an entire army was halted at their most desperate by the singular regiment of some little-known colonel from a vassal state of Mirevale. Such events, all so enticing to the common man, had made their rounds by word of mouth and by messenger, by trader and by pigeon, such that when you had begun your entry into the social world, there was much surprise indeed on their part when they had heard you were the one that had done so. Although many had simply judged it a great blunder on the part of the Fortelli leader, many more had called it a great feat on your part, such that it had been even expected that Don Carles himself, as one of the heirs of the great empire, was the one to lead the force.

It would be a lie to say you did not feel greatly about the praise which was thrown upon you.

Regardless of your feelings about the newborn infamy of your name that had begun to spread in the peninsula, your time on it would soon end - as soon as Don Carles returned from the Neterelli territories, you would embark on a ship to Segoma and return to your beloved pale shores. Until then, however...

CHOOSE YOUR OPTIONS
>Engage in correspondence with your homeland
>Finally claim that bank note you had gained in the midst of the war
>Continue to socialize with the gentry of Montellegaria
>See the merchant houses of the city
>Write-in

>>6336580
>Engage in correspondence with your homeland
Much as I'd like to cash that check, I doubt that the Grand Duchy of Bagra is going to suddenly be incinerated to ashes in a few days, so I think it can wait.
I think it'd be responsible to let our household know that we won, and that we'll be returning soon. Also that the Avonnese Army is manned and commanded by chumps, though they likely didn't have the terrain advantage we did.

Is there any chance that we could get a brief summary of how that went, if we've heard tell of the event? It's hardly necessary to have some illustrated blow by blow, but a little summary would be neat, even if it's as simple as "local commander leaves his flank exposed and gets rolled up like a scroll."

>>6336580
>See the art and architecture of the city, make note of the infrastructure.

>>6336603
Support
Yeah, let's nerd out a bit more

>>6336580
>Continue to socialize with the gentry of Montellegaria
Connections are everything! We ought to think of our own fortunes!

>>6336580
>Continue to socialize with the gentry of Montellegaria

More friends!

>>6336577

>See the merchant houses of the city

Guys, guys, we speak the lingo, we’re popular, we’re victorious, we simply MUST set up trade routes between our province and Montellegria, we’d be CRAZY to let this moment slip by

>>6336719
You know, I'll switch to this, especially since right now the only guys in town are the ones who are going to be staying a while, and also having a lot of influence over what's left.

>>6336580
>See the merchant houses of the city
$$$$$$$

>>6336719
Actually, yeah, switching to this

>>6336580
>See the merchant houses of the city

>>6336580
>See the merchant houses of the city

So that's the broader geopolitical context... And dang, no wonder our name is spreading, handling the Knights a defeat after they just BTFO'd another army is the kind of thing stories are made of. And now, it's time to make some more money!

>>6336803
>handling the Knights a defeat after they just BTFO'd another army is the kind of thing stories are made of.
Hard to talk your boys up after somebody responds to your story of riding down the Avonnese at Edroa by telling the story of how a bunch of city slicker adventurers from Isedia with blickies led by a bean counter beat you because they were hiding in a pile of junk and carrion.

>>6336580
>See the merchant houses of the city

>>6336811

No doubt the old Nerian soldiers are shaking their heads about the merciless degradation of warfare over the years. Why, in their days, such knights had little to fear from such foreigners…

>>6336580
>>See the merchant houses of the city

Surely cashing a bank note wouldn't take very long. And hey, we should pick up some souvenirs for our family and ourselves before we leave. Who knows, might even be some choice stuff being put up for auction after all these confiscations.

>>6336580
>See the merchant houses of the city

>>6336580
>See the merchant houses of the city
yeah lets set up trade connections that will fund our private navy (and then we'll have a bigger force when we fight for the Prince when he makes his play to take the top spot)

No update today. It's the last week before I'm finally free from work until next year. In the meanwhile, here's a few questions if you feel like answering.
>The first war of the quest is finally over - what did you think of it, as a whole?
>What about the battles? What did you think of them?
>Was there something you were expecting that didn't happen in the conflict?

>>6337605
>The first war of the quest is finally over - what did you think of it, as a whole?
I liked it, especially the attention to logistics. Though the siege segment felt a bit like hitting our head on a wall - we had to make decisions, but none of them seemed to matter, and nothing we did made the siege end sooner.

>What about the battles? What did you think of them?
Nail-biting.
My main gripe is me constantly misjudging how far units can shoot.
The last battle with the giants and the amazon horses was absolutely terrifying.

>Was there something you were expecting that didn't happen in the conflict?
Internal discord and jockeying for favor and glory. I was afraid we'd have to deal with this shit.

>>6337605
>>The first war of the quest is finally over - what did you think of it, as a whole?
I liked it. Both sides seemed to have reasonable objectives in mind for the campaign. The war itself felt somewhat akin to the Habsburgs restoring the Medici to power.

>What about the battles? What did you think of them?
Those were good too, especially with your effort on the maps.
The most interesting thing for me personally was actually the moment one of the colonels we sent to scout the river disobeyed our orders and sacked a nearby village. I'd actually look forward to more moments like these where armies don't act like automatons and prove hard to control.

>Was there something you were expecting that didn't happen in the conflict?

Fighting a battle alongside the other generals of our own side. I think it would be interesting having to gauge a battle plan according to how allied generals are likely to act: are their tactics more typical or heterodox? Are they cowardly or brave? Cautious or rash? How trustworthy are they?

I think the Fortelli ought to have been more developed as antagonists. By this I don't mean they need to necessarily be what could be considered as "villainous" or "evil", just more fleshed out. It seems most or all of them were recently executed for instance, but I do not have strong feelings about it because I don't know what they were like. Should I rejoice in their deaths because they might have been horrible human beings? Should I feel guilty of partaking in this war because there might have been innocents among them? I simply don't know because I didn't get to know them. Managing to establish these important character moments is what would make players either determined to get rid of them or even regret fighting them.

Something I don't recall happening so far is much of religious conflict. At least my impression so far is that the Church of Splendour doesn't just differ from historical Christianism dogmatically, but isn't as big a point of contention as dogma was in real life? Right now I'm not sure if this was a choice based on the quest being designed to focus on secular politics and warfare, or on the setting working with a different logic than historical Christianity. Or maybe this could be something covered later on? Idk

>>6337605
>>The first war of the quest is finally over - what did you think of it, as a whole?

It was fantastic, I particularly enjoyed the army management and logistics aspects while on campaign, and the raising of the army. One thing I would have liked to have seen more of would have been interaction with our captains and officers. Barbagris and the leader of our retinue in particular, it would have made already intense decisions about trying to save or send men to their deaths all the more impactful.

>>What about the battles? What did you think of them?

Vessena was fucking anxiety inducing, and I loved it. I've been here since the /tg/ split and I've never been so invested in a battle.

My only gripe as far as mechanics goes would be trying to imagine the range of fire and movement capabilities of our formations, though as far as narrative goes it kind of works out with our own inexperience in war.

>>Was there something you were expecting that didn't happen in the conflict?

I figured we might see some shenanigans from all the various mercenaries one way or another, or perhaps dealings with
treacherous local nobility and merchants.

We never really picked up any companions or retainers to carry back home with us from the war either, which would have been nice. Hopefully we can at least retain some of our officers.

>>6337696
>Something I don't recall happening so far is much of religious conflict.
The Thirty Years War didn't happen until the 17th century though, innit? We're still in the 16th.

We did hear of the Emperor leading some crusades against the infidels, also.

>>6337696
And althought this wasn't asked for, I felt like adding some additional comments on
>things I'd be looking forward to

I think Straccia so far has a lot of potential as a setting for future conflict, with a bunch of unique factions conniving against each other while also being under the looming threat of the "major" factions (Mirevale, Sbrava, Bach), which does resemble the historical italian wars. And besides offering many potential scenarios for intrigue and warfare, at least I'd be looking forward to see how future conflicts could possibly engage with themes of the ethics of war, why are they waged, can they serve a good purpose, how much of your humanity are you willing to sacrifice to win the game, etc.

Besides that I'd like forward to seeing the supporting characters being more fleshed out, layered, etc. Although doing that well isn't easy, I think it's essential to make the stakes matter in a narrative. Make we hate them, make we pity them, make we admire them, make them disgusts us, both friends and foes. Then you will have people really struggling on which choices to pick IMO. On this case I wouldn't mind some degree of railroading if it made for a better story overall

>>6337705
It would be neat to revisit Straccia in future conflicts for sure.

>>6337705
>>6337710
Where are we even going after this anyway? I don't think Carles will conscript us a second time.

>>6337703
>We did hear of the Emperor leading some crusades against the infidels
Fair enough, I had forgotten about that.

>The Thirty Years War didn't happen until the 17th century though, innit? We're still in the 16th.
I mean, we're more specifically in a fictional world that in some aspects mirrors the historical 16th century but isn't the same thing.
But IRL with the popes gaining so much cultural and political prominence, and with Christianity being an universalist and extremely dogmatic religion, the politics of the middle ages and the early modern era always involved some degree of religious contention. I think you could partly summarize the political history of the papacy as a struggle for independence against greater secular powers like the ostrogoths, the byzantines, the emperors of the HRE, the kings of france, the habsburgs, etc. Unsurprisingly that led to the split between catholics and orthodox, the creation of "antipopes" by the emperors of the HRE, and then to the western schism during the end of the middle ages. Religion was so important it was political legitimacy, and as such wars ended up creating the issue of which sides embodied the legitimate political authority: the roman popes against the patriarchs of constantinople, or the roman popes against the popes chosen by the emperors of the HRE, or which of both (or three) popes during the western schism was the legitimate one (unsurprisingly france and england picked different sides), etc. And when the political goals did not align with religion, it didn't take too much for someone like Wycliffe to find political support for instance.

The irl Italian Wars didn't have as much religious contention as the thirty years war, but this doesn't mean they didn't have any. Savonarola lived in this era. Venice was excommunicated by Julius II. One of the French kings (IIRC I think it was Louis XII?) attempted to set up his own synod to make one of his cardinals the pope. And the wars were fought with the prostetant reformation as the background, with the popes jockeying against Luther while trying to maintain their indepencence from Charles V. Monarchs like Henry VIII outright broke with the Catholic Church, but even "Catholic" monarchs were unreliable political allies of the papacy

Of course, this is only relevant assuming the Church of Splendour is similar to the Catholic Church IRL, which it doesn't need to be. I'm mostly saying I don't recall them being quite as involved in politics in this quest as the Catholic Church was IRL

>>6337605
>The first war of the quest is finally over - what did you think of it, as a whole?
Recruitment was fun, with the consequence being we had to use what we choose (and rolled for) throughout the campaign.

Having a series of battles was also fun, lots of different set piece battles that we want to preserve our forces for (in some other PC games you can recruit more easily to replenish forces but here we had to balance immediate objectives with the overall goals of our liege).

The choices of if we wanted to attack a city or not, or path A vs path B (or to rush to get a position or send out scouts). I enjoyed that these choices had impact.

>What about the battles? What did you think of them?
That last one was so tense. So much unexpected (like the forest fire burning one of our cannons, giants crossing the river etc), and yet not unfair.

In general they are all enjoyable and I think the maps provide a lot of value. Thanks for putting in the effort.

>Was there something you were expecting that didn't happen in the conflict?

I was wondering how it would be to NOT be in total command, e.g. when we got to fight under the Prince's command, as a sub-commander. But we chose to fend of the Fortelli so it makes sense.

It might have been nice to spend more of our time politicking with our peers once we arrived, but only if it would matter in a future campaign when we would see them as recurring characters.


>>6337712
>Where are we even going after this anyway
I like the POV changes when we did the battles with some of the scouts etc. I think that enriched the narrative to do it "on screen" rather than just get a report of what happened.

Potentially we could do a POV change and participate in different conflicts using other characters, meaning we're not limited to Alessandro.

In the Panzer Commander Quest there is a PCQN thread at the moment that is exploring a conflict/story on the other side of the continent from the original quest. Since QM has a whole world with different countries fighting each other, then QM can put a spotlight on any specific conflict and flesh out the world (and cross pollinate MCs). For example, the conflicts in Antinia can be explored and don't need to include Alessandro.

>>6337605

As a whole, I really liked the first war. A good intro to some of the mechanics we'll use later.

The battles were incredibly tense. Vessena was fucking epic. I would like some better guides on ranges, so we can better plan on how to use our men.

As for things that didn't happen... Some more interarmy politicking, and just cooperation with other forces will be very interesting down the line. As well as other sieges, where I hope we can be more of an active participant.

>>6337822
I also think the idea of POV changes could be interesting in the future

>>6337617
Thanks for the answers, they really do help.

>we had to make decisions, but none of them seemed to matter, and nothing we did made the siege end sooner.
Truth be told, I just wasn't exactly sure how I could show much more work on your part. Sieges of this time period really just consisted of firing cannons, digging trenches and trying to blow up their walls, and sometimes they'd take entire decades.

Of course, you *would* have probably seen more consequences for your actions if you had stayed for the assault...

>>6337696
>I think the Fortelli ought to have been more developed as antagonists
As for that, I agree. The issue, as usual, it's that it's a bit hard to develop the antagonists when you pretty much never meet them or really hear directly from them due to the constraints of the period, especially when you're supposed to be a foreigner in a distand land who doesn't really know much. If you were fighting, say, in Mirevale itself, you would probably know a lot more about the characters than you did for this conflict.

>>6337701
>My only gripe as far as mechanics goes would be trying to imagine the range of fire and movement capabilities of our formations
That is also something I have problems with, because if I were to make specific ranges and movements, I'd either need to figure out the full scale of the field of battle, or turn it into a grid-based system, both of which have obvious problems. So I decided that just leaving it as a 'general idea' would make things easier and more efficient.

>>6337723
>But IRL with the popes gaining so much cultural and political prominence, and with Christianity being an universalist and extremely dogmatic religion, the politics of the middle ages and the early modern era always involved some degree of religious contention
About that, this is also a sort of consequence of the plot. When I was writing for this setting, I decided that I felt like it would be better if the main religion wasn't just a copy and paste of the church.

So what I decided was that, essentially, the Church of Splendour is a lore more "decentralized" - rather than being essentially built around the orders of bishops and priests and whatnot, a good quantity of the church is instead divided amongst "Orders" who represent different "aspects" of the faith. So for example, you have the Order of the Santo Cor, who are basically medics and physicians who focus the aspect of the sanctity of health and good physique.

At some point, I should probably do a whole thing on the Church of Splendour, but only when it's plot relevant.

>>6337712
>Where are we even going after this anyway?
Keep reading and find out.

>>6338036
>I just wasn't exactly sure how I could show much more work on your part
If we couldn't do any work you could've just timeskip

>>6338073
Skipping through the entire siege would have very much hurt the pacing. Like. A lot. You did a lot of stuff in that time - trading letters, dealing with logistics, researching...

>>6338036
>That is also something I have problems with, because if I were to make specific ranges and movements, I'd either need to figure out the full scale of the field of battle, or turn it into a grid-based system, both of which have obvious problems. So I decided that just leaving it as a 'general idea' would make things easier and more efficient.

I also found getting a sense of accurate range to be difficult in that last battle. I felt that a scale rule would be a helpful addition: a little thing at the bottom of the map showing what 100 meters is or smth like that

To be fair, we also didn't have supreme command during the siege of montechia, in general we were following don carles' plan.

If we're able to conduct a siege on our own later on I'm sure it would be more interesting, but also actually risky

>>6338090
We did have the chance to engage in a siege, but we (wisely imo) passed on it.

>>6338036

Personally, I felt the siege to be rather appropriate, considering our level of involvement.

As to RoM/F, I think that it added to the atmosphere with us not knowing the exact numbers, even if it was frustrating at times. Like I said, I think that we all have a better idea of what we can expect in that regard now, gaining experience as a commander and all.

>>6338079

I don’t think that other anon is wrong, per se, but I personally had no problem with the siege sequence, we did accomplish some useful stuff and it was not “time wasted”.

In terms of overall quest review, I love the quest myself and I am a huge fan of vision in general, but I would push you as a QM to create more off-battlefield conflict for our MC. It would be interesting to see how we confront social/political rivals. I have no notes for your actual army and battle sequences, and in fact, I’ll be taking inspiration from your work in my own quest! Your ability to create a sense of danger and tension is masterful

>>6338036
I thought the siege was fine. We arrived "late" to it, so it makes sense there was nothing to do.

I also think it was fine we didn't get to know the Fortelli. Kind of typical for soldiers who are drafted, sent off to war to kill someone that they personally have no quarrel with. Under different circumstances perhaps he could have been allied with them instead (e.g. a mercenary way of thinking).

Something to consider during a siege to get some narrative and keep pacing could be things like resolving disputes amongst troops (mercenary units vs noble knights vs common conscripts), or disciplinary actions (someone looted when they weren't supposed to, etc), or other profiteering (you did give us the chance to build a road to get supplies etc).

Sometimes war is just a lot of "hurry up and wait"

>>6338036
Something I was curious about, in case you're willing to answer later. Did the worldbuilding of the setting take too long or was it complicated for you?

My apologies for the delays, but I may have hit a bit of a block here. I've been trying, since the past day, to write an update for the trade house visits, since that's what you all voted for.

The issue is, I cannot seem to make it work. There are zero sources for this sort of thing, so without any basis for the cost numbers, nothing seems to be coming out right. I've pretty much wasted all the time I had free today trying to figure out how to make it work, but it's still silly. I'm already over two thousand words into the draft and it didn't get to anywhere that actually mattered, and the whole thing feels really awkwardly worded.

I hate having to continuously delay updates, but until I figure out something there's not much I can do.

>>6338535
Good news, thanks to some help, I was able to find a good enough basis for the price. It might be a rough update, but I'll try to send it out still, just to let you guys have something to do.

In advance, sorry if the prose feels really weird and stilted.

File: Matthäus Schwarz, Christo(...).png (650 KB, 552x657)

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Though it gives you some manner of distastesfulness, it cannot be denied what power of wealth creation the merchant trade holds. It is the existence of merchants, of the travels of their ships and the products that they hold, of the taxes and tariffs and tolls that they must pay when passing through your territory, that Portblanc is anything more than a poor island inhabited by fishers and subsistence farmers. It is why you are a man of the nobility, the scion to a house of such honor that they are counted within The Greats of Mirevale, the Grandees, the "Cousins" of the Emperor of Mirevale himself. Whatever the faults of the merchant class, the act of trade is one which you have come to be quite knowledgeable on in your years as a Viscount of the realm.

It is, then, of little question that you would seek to directly benefit from the lower tariffs before you returned home. Although the increase in wealth from Segoman merchants would benefit you through taxes and such things, there was little reason to not partake in the trading yourself, even more so when one cannot pay taxes to himself. Indeed, shortly before you had left for the war, you had already sent forth a trading expedition to the north across the Meringian, in the territory of the League of Bach. It was meant to fetch you a tidy profit, no great sum on the scale which you act, but a considerable one nonetheless.

It was nothing compared to what you could profit, were you to acquire a good deal with these merchants before others did.

It was for that reason that, on that day, you were walking amidst the coastal district of the city, visiting one of the trade houses with whom you intended to make your offer. It was owned by a man of the name of Vituccio Gaglietti, whom you had met during your short time in the social circles of the city. Having no personal connection with any other tradesman, it was the best he could do. As he entered the building, he was welcomed with the honors which befitted one of his statures, and the balding man in clothes of deepest black was quick to lay flatteries upon him - yet even quicker still so turn the matter towards business.

"There is certainly some uproar about the treaty...most certainly from the guildsmen whose goods shall be forced to compete with those from Mirevale." he begins, pouring both you and himself a small cup of wine to accompany the talk. "Yet there is, of course, great profit to be made from this! I deal, primarily, in the trading of raw wool, to be sold to tailors and weavers." he continues, before taking a sip. "And of course, there is no finer wool than Omieran wool."

Said product being that finest, softest of wools, born of the sheep kept by the men of the Omiera region in western Mirevale, where the flat expanse central plains give way to hills and mountains. It is amongst the most prized of trade goods exported by the Empire, whose origin was kept under such care that the very attempt to steal or export one such sheep was punishable by death. You would have no issue acquiring the wool itself, however; you had done the very same in your mission to Valschen.

"You would be interested in acquiring it, then?" you reply.

"That is so, your lordship...if, of course, the price were to be fair."

You raise your eyebrow.

"You must know, of course, that there are plenty of drapers and woolmen in this city. It had been the tariffs that had kept them masters of the market, but certainly, they've great advantage in the closeness from which their product comes. To be able to sell the Omieran Wool as more than a luxury to the richest of the Signoria, it is necessary to offer a lower price...such as thirty five spada by the stone, the Neran stone of course."

The process of haggling had already begun - that most active parts of this trade, where men would clash with their words over numbers and prices. You knew that offer of the man was but a jest, an attempt at setting the bar low, that you might be willing to settle for a price below average still.

"And how many stone would you buy?"

"I would have you sell me five hundred, to start."

Five hundred? At such prices, you would gain a total of 17,500 Spada. In itself, a fair number, yet far less so when compared to the price you would pay to acquire such wool in the first place - in their coinage, well over twenty! And that was if the price was no different than as it was last year. You'll not accept such prices, of course, not without some compensation of alternative means. It remains to you to use your speech to convince this man of acquiescing to a number numerous enough to reimburse you of the costs you had underwent in this campaign! Yet through which path should it be done so...?

CHOOSE YOUR OPTION

>Attempt to haggle the price normally (Will require a roll)
>Attempt to secure a route contract rather than a single trade
>Attempt to exchange it for another good instead which you may then attempt to sell to someone else
>Write-in

>>6338566
>Attempt to secure a route contract rather than a single trade
Gotta think long term.

>>6338566
>Attempt to secure a route contract rather than a single trade

Go for the gold.

>>6338566
>Attempt to exchange it for another good instead which you may then attempt to sell to someone else

>>6338566
Not putting in my vote yet, just voicing thoughts.
I feel like we have to think more than long term profit potential. Already, this bozo wants us to sell at a loss so that there's wider market availability. This isn't really unreasonable for him to want, since there's been a great wealth upheaval and there's going to be money being given as tribute to Don Carles, meaning that there's even more wealth being drained over time. Selling luxury goods to such a climate over time might not pan out as well as we'd like. Even if Nera remains economically stable, the consumer base for a luxury good may not, especially with the margin being low on our end.
I'd be more comfortable with haggling for a one time payout to take advantage of the wealth upheaval's chaotic windfalls, but if we're going to negotiate something long term, we're going to need to be as harsh and cutthroat to the merchants as we were generous to our soldiery. We have the upper hand here to a massive degree, and we can't let any silver tongues try and make us forget that. Swindling the guy who stopped the Fortelli at Vessena would be a bad look if anybody heard about it, for example.

>>6338566

>Attempt to secure a route contract rather than a single trade

We gotta think big, here - are there other Mirevalen goods that might sell well? How can we make our domain one of the prime export/import hubs between Straccia and Mirevale?

>>6338566

I respectfully disagree with this anon’s take - we can and should haggle with this Straccian guy so we can turn a small profit, but we need to turn him into a walking advertisement for his peers - work with Gallioti and you’ll make money! Our goal should be to set up as many “low profit” trade routes as possible to undercut our rivals! Once we’re swimming in business we can start acting like a cartel to improve our profitability

>>6338566
>>Attempt to secure a route contract rather than a single trade

This seems as though it would be more advantageous.

And now worries QM, update seems fine to me.

>>6338566
the ships from Mirevale with the Omiera wool will need to return back, and obviously shouldn't return back empty. What can he sell us in return. Can we trade like-for-like and then we don't need to exchange money, and simply make our purchases and sales in our own lands?

Also can hint at our city being a good destination for him and his friends. Maybe if he can direct more traffic to our ports then we can give him some sort of referral bonus.

>>Attempt to secure a route contract rather than a single trade

>>6338649
As much as the idiom of catching more flies with honey than shit is a nice idea, it depends on the flies not eating your flesh instead of the meals you prepared for them. These are people who turned around on their heels to toss out their elected government and obliterate the legitimate ruling family, down to a mass hanging of their entire bloodline, and this merchant's one of the survivors of that looking to take advantage of the situation. He came up to us with a deal so lowballed that we'd lose money on the cost of product alone, let alone on shipment costs, and you know his ass is going to take advantage of having a monopoly on low-cost luxury wool. There's a precedent to set, and it's that we're not some naive fresh face on the block to be taken advantage of because we don't know the game. This guy probably gave us a look up and down and is measuring if he can rob us for all we're worth while we walk off smiling thinking we didn't just get ripped off.
Being the guy everybody wants to do business with would be a good thing, but not if everybody wants to do business with us because we're a hopeless mark. Straccians have shown us well enough that being ruthless is just good manners.

TL;DR I just don't trust any Merchant of Montellegaria.

>>6338566
>Attempt to secure a route contract rather than a single trade
I don't think I really understand this option, but it sounds better than getting fleeced on fleece

>>6338566
>>Attempt to haggle the price normally (Will require a roll)
I think we should laugh at the lowball offer. Mr. Gaglietti needs to understand that not every noble is ignorant of the business.

>>6338566
>Attempt to haggle the price normally (Will require a roll)

How feasible do other anons think it would be to attempt to breed some Amazonian mares in the future?

We'd need at least one supplier of wetgrain, assuming it really absolutely cannot grow in the land we have on Portblanc.

I don't think the Signoria would be likely to keep the mares in normal circumstances, but I wonder if their recent defeat would entail to them selling some amazonian horseflesh to make up for their financial losses.

The mares would be both an economic and military investment. They would give us a stronger cavalry arm, and there should be plenty of demand for amazonian horseflesh among the nobility of Mirevale.

>>6339088

>starting an Amazonian herd

This is legitimately insane but I think we should try it, haha.

>>6339088
I think it would be a difficult and intensive project. In addition to importing a breed population, we'd also need to learn about their pasturage, training, common health problems. There is a whole realm of knowledge in husbandry that we'd have to import alongside the animals themselves

>>6339088
>>6339240
This anon makes a good point, still I do believe that there is some merit to this idea, and I would be interested in pursuing it. Unlike cannons, I do not recall there being any 'guild' liable to murdering Alessandro for being a savvy operator

>>6339249
The limiting factor seems to be the exclusivity of the climate wetgrain grows in, and the enormous appetite of the mares that need it to sustain their strength. I doubt we'd have trouble acquiring a few horses, but shipping wetgrain so distantly in required bulk would be a financial black hole.
We'd be better served by finding a substitute relative of the plant in question or attempting to find a closer climate suitable, if we were to entertain ideas of extending our pelvis breaking snu snu with animal woman fetish to our combat retinue.

>>6339088
It would be awesome to do so, though i think our lands aren't exactly suitable to the venture. Perhaps we may yet aquire said lands.

>>6339249
better option than mares is to get ourselves inducted into the guild, then we can sponsor cannon factories, and then outfit our ships for naval warfare.

The sun will never set on the Portblanc empire!

>>6338566
>Attempt to secure a route contract rather than a single trade
Future-cashflowmaxxing

Gotta say QM, I just binged the archives- absolutely terrific quest. Immersive, well-planned, and dramatic in equal measure. The highlights were, of course, the desperate defense against the giants and the Famiglia. However, I also loved the scene of Alessandro and Joan interpreting not!Dido and not!Aeneas. I agree with the anons above asking for more social conflict because I believe you will do a great job of writing it.

Can't wait to ambitionmaxx and marry Alessandro up the aristocratic food chain of Mirevale. There's no way his successes in the field, currying of the Prince's favor, and increasingly profitable domain fail to unearth some excellent prospects.

If I recall correctly, Alessandro's older brother is getting married, no? if so, there may some slight cause for concern if his new family decides to try and use him to usurp Alessandro's title...
If older brother isn't married, do disregard this.

>>6339469
He is getting married to the 8th daughter of some random noble as I recall. However, the brother is also a congenital weakling in an empire where the primary religion holds the healthy body in the highest of esteem. So it should be fine?