Okay.

Part of my preliminary notes...


Volantis has a total of 80k men under arms split thus:
  1. 10K Veteral elites from the conquest of the Rhyone
  2. 25K Veteran Men at Arms which also participated
  3. 45K Levies mostly from the subject cities and the hinterlands
The Volantine fleet is made up of
  1. 9 Great Galleons like Saan's Valyrian
  2. 19 Large Galleons
  3. 26 Medium Galleons
  4. 15 Small Galleons (in poor repair)
Braavos has only 32K men under arms:
  1. 6K are elite marines
  2. 8K are men are arms quality (Citizen Soldiers who took up a semi-permanent role)
  3. 18K are levies
The Braavosi fleet on the other hand is made up on:
  1. 6 Great galleons
  2. 23 Large Galleons
  3. 39 Medium Galleons
  4. 47 Small galleons
  5. 55 Sloops

Military forces we gained in the 9th Month, with the Volantene forces sort of in an inbetween state--but if we end up Annexing them at the start of the 11th Month we're going to end up paying all of their expenses, wages and so on anyway, so it's a mere formality to have Zherys do something "natural" in response to a dual conquest-annexation of the newly formed superpower next door, and he's in control of the rest of the Province actions anyway... D I R E C T R U L E F R O M S O R C E R E R S D E E P, amirite?

The Braavosi Fleet will stay together and prepare / militarize this month with aid from Extraplanar markets, local fey enchanters, and whatever else while we plan upgrades of some sort (aquatic forge creatures, etc.) Once we've done that we'll have them patrol the Shivering Sea in the 11th Month to complement our diplomatic efforts toward Ibben. Isolationist as they are, they won't stay that way for long once we prove they're about to get farmed by hungry monsters in short order without the support.

Volantene Fleet will start repairing their smaller ship complement in preparation for some posturing. They will need to be ready for when we start seeing Jade Sea city states become part of the our realm and Qarth and Ghis start getting antsy.

13,000 Levies will remain in Braavos for 6 months, gradually being trained into Legionnaires. This is so that they're constantly doing something useful each turn for our militarization phase. 8,000 Braavosi Men-At-Arms will go on to form garrisons for Pentos and their own region, with some newly trained reinforcements from the Disputed Lands.

5,000 of those remaining Levies will be sent on to Westhaven immediately. 23,000 Levies will be sent over from Volantis next month, not interfering with the schedule. That's enough to form three Legions in six months.

6,000 Men-At-Arms will be retrained into Legionnaires in Volantis this month, leaving a remaining 19,000. These will go on to form more garrisons, both for what we have now and territories we intend on annexing in the future. Though considering that already takes up 14,000 of them, that's basically just enough to form garrisons for one more Free City at best... good thing the Disputed Lands will be training another 2,000 MAA every month for the next six (with what we have currently that should give us coverage for the rest of Western Essos without issue, Westeros is another story). Volantis will have 22,000 Levies remaining after all this shuffling of troops, which it will retrain starting next month into Legionnaires. It should actually be done with that within five months, providing us with a total of three Legions with the addition of 10,000 Elites they already have who need minimal drilling, per DM.

We would end up with... nine and a half Legions of troops for sure. Ten with those Sellswords still in Pentos which we'll recruit this turn, as Volantis will have a whole month to handle that throughput for another 6,000 MAA.

Tl;Dr We'll have a minimum of 118,000 elite soldiers, or more troops than the entire Reach, and enough troops to match blow for blow any three other Kingdoms... combined. Oh, and they're qualitatively better in every manner, would have had years of drilling put into them, and over half of them would be recently blooded troops, relatively speaking, instead of war veterans at best in Westeros.

RIP enemies.

RIP treasury.
 
@DragonParadox How many sellswords did Pentos hire? And how do you want to frame that action? Diplomacy from a hero unit? How much progress? I'd guess that the Captains would want to try negotiating for something but honestly there's not much bones there, the lower ranks would flock to Legion recruitment tents in a second if they're basically told their options are to try their luck in the Slaver States who have had ZERO thus far for two years, against a new superpower that is rapidly making their profession unviable. So if it's positions as officers they want, for the best of them Imperial High Command can discern who's actually useful and send the middling or mediocre (but still learned) to SD to apply for the Officer's Course Beryl is going to prepare next month (this month is Healers).

So I hesitate to say this actually needs to be delegated to even heroes. An NPC could have handled this (those Legion recruiters have probably gotten their pitch down by this point :V) and probably has.
  1. I'd say they managed to gather about 30,000 Sellswords by not asking about the quality
  2. Good point on the lower ranks, but the officers are the ones who would in many ways be most useful to the expanding legion and they would try to negotiate as a block.
  3. The action would be diplomacy if you are trying to work with the officers and intrigue if you are trying to undermine them and get the soldiers
Okay, well, this is Planetos, so por que los nos dos?

What is the actual qualitative difference in unit tiers? MAA? Or all levy grade?

And in percentage of the troops or roughly speaking number of companies, how many of them have a reputation for competence and trustworthiness?

Here's what we'll do. We will negotiate with the useful ones, and assassinate all of the rest with their cooperation while distracting them with formal negotiations. Memory Modification and Brain Spider-backed interrogation will help ferret out who will snitch in the middle of negotiations.

Once we have everyone we want, we'll kill the rest and the other officers will achieve the posts they were actually qualified for.

The reasoning being that we could eventually replace them. We have enough NCOs and Officers for our current needs for expansion, and we could only really use enough of their own for an additional 6,000 troops, so their bargaining position is poor.

Call it an intrigue action, how much progress?

Numbers are

3000 elites
11000 MAA
16000 Levies

I don't really want to break them down into companies since that just seems like wasted details given the plans you guys have to them,

As for the action progress I'd say 16 progress on that intrigue action and you need someone with the spells mentioned above of course

Let's say we're stalling negotiations a bit, but in light of the fact delaying the action while not putting them on their guard should be worth something, let's say during my Strategic Proposal that I assign Hero Units to negotiate with them formally, let's say using the month to feast and get their measure, but mostly just so that they will remain where they are until Garin and Tyene are free either at the end of this month if they finish early or the start of next month. Does that work? If they get free, most of the grunt work like "who do we bother with? How do we get them to let their guard down/gather together for clean disposal and no 'battle in the camps' as people try picking sides?" Will be done.

 
Last edited:
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jun 27, 2019 at 3:39 AM, finished with 51 posts and 13 votes.

  • [X] Bring Yohn in on at least part of the things we have been doing to counter Mammon's works on our Plane, while withholding the key fact that Heaven is broken. Until such a time that we have made tangible progress in plugging the outflow of souls leaving the realm only to be lost on twisting paths with no hope of salvation, revealing the latter portion does nothing but make what we say ring a bit hollow, and while Yohn's faith in us has been steadfast and touching, you are no god and have no wish to be given patronage like one, having one place hopes that you will right all wrongs or correct all ills is tantamount to claiming the mantle for yourself.
    -[X] If amenable to the notion introduce him to a few Erinyes who you will assign to Runestone on rotation to secure them against illusions, glamours and veils. We slew an Aspect of the Lord of Third, a deed his own son played a pivotal part in, and in return we have not just convinced a few devils to contract with us, but sundered all pacts that bound them but ones they took on anew in service to us.
    -[X] Actual contents of the detail would include one Erinyes, two Greater False Ravens, a Plane Shift charm and a Sending Stone. The charm can be used to transport themselves to Armun Kelisk in a situation where their protector can't defend them from what they face, and the Sending Stone to be used to contact us to arrange their retrieval. In addition describe the Imperial Embassy and which ward of the metropolis it can be located, what to look out for in terms of taboos and a few points of contact if for some reason their retrieval cannot be performed in a timely manner. Embra would not mind the company of any of the family related to the Knight who rescued her for 'durance vile', at the least.
 
Hank brushes back his hood revealing scared the face of an Ork.
the scarred face*
Magpie replies, leading Ork into a
leading the Ork*
Inconsistent spelling and case.
There's no one anywhere named Ysandrix anywhere
Repetitive.

And not who I thought we'd see, curious corp Crimson Scales Industries here too, I wonder who else is around.

Is bold speech a Shadowrun thing?
 
Not really.

Arranged properly, a Refusal spell would force her to make a Will save to move out of the killbox, while our people would be unaffected. At worst, it doesn't help but also doesn't hinder us. This is an Abjuration, and one that becomes actively more difficult to resist as your spellcasting ability increases.

Summoning her into an area affected by Transfix would force her to make another Will save or be Paralyzed. Again, at worst it has no effect, while leaving our people unhindered. A Mind Blank can defeat this one, too, so she might outright ignore it.

So possibly useless but in no way counterproductive.

Are there also a dozen Ghoul Glyphs to screw her 12 ways from Sunday?
 
@egoo, @DragonParadox, I will add those Scholarums to the sheet. Just tell me the relevant info about their teachers, and the magelings that they already have.
They'll start multiplying at the end of the current month, but whatever.
 
@egoo, @DragonParadox, I will add those Scholarums to the sheet. Just tell me the relevant info about their teachers, and the magelings that they already have.
They'll start multiplying at the end of the current month, but whatever.
Well, before the new system's implementation, if I'm not wrong, we were sending out Druid Advanced Lotus Leshy as teachers..?
They aren't such a good choice anymore (low-ish CL mostly), but still should work.

I am still searching for any and all Outsiders we can summon up and have them teach our people magic (with DIplo 12+ and CL over 6-8). Am still failing.
 
Last edited:
@egoo, @DragonParadox, I will add those Scholarums to the sheet. Just tell me the relevant info about their teachers, and the magelings that they already have.
They'll start multiplying at the end of the current month, but whatever.

I'm still not sure on Volantis and braavos. I'll get to it in a bit

About the update, I just came back from a internet outage. Iyt should be done in 30-50minutes since it's half done.

Winning vote
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jun 27, 2019 at 3:39 AM, finished with 51 posts and 13 votes.

  • [X] Bring Yohn in on at least part of the things we have been doing to counter Mammon's works on our Plane, while withholding the key fact that Heaven is broken. Until such a time that we have made tangible progress in plugging the outflow of souls leaving the realm only to be lost on twisting paths with no hope of salvation, revealing the latter portion does nothing but make what we say ring a bit hollow, and while Yohn's faith in us has been steadfast and touching, you are no god and have no wish to be given patronage like one, having one place hopes that you will right all wrongs or correct all ills is tantamount to claiming the mantle for yourself.
    -[X] If amenable to the notion introduce him to a few Erinyes who you will assign to Runestone on rotation to secure them against illusions, glamours and veils. We slew an Aspect of the Lord of Third, a deed his own son played a pivotal part in, and in return we have not just convinced a few devils to contract with us, but sundered all pacts that bound them but ones they took on anew in service to us.
    -[X] Actual contents of the detail would include one Erinyes, two Greater False Ravens, a Plane Shift charm and a Sending Stone. The charm can be used to transport themselves to Armun Kelisk in a situation where their protector can't defend them from what they face, and the Sending Stone to be used to contact us to arrange their retrieval. In addition describe the Imperial Embassy and which ward of the metropolis it can be located, what to look out for in terms of taboos and a few points of contact if for some reason their retrieval cannot be performed in a timely manner. Embra would not mind the company of any of the family related to the Knight who rescued her for 'durance vile', at the least.
 
Last edited:
Part MMCMXVII: Devil's Ward and Moral Troubles
Devil's Ward and Moral Troubles

Fifth Day of the Tenth Month 293 AC

You do not for a moment consider lying, of course, but you weigh how much truth to tell just the same. Not all of it, not yet, not until you have some hope to grant regarding the path of lost souls. To do otherwise would do naught but burden him with despair he can neither battle nor lay aside. But as to the heart of his request you cannot bring yourself to deny it out of hand. Beyond being a Great Lord and valued bannerman, Lord Yohn Royce is Waymar's father and here his family dwells. "Something like what you ask can be arranged, my lord. If you will pardon me for a moment to bring Waymar and one of the prospective watchers here. This will take some more explaining..."

"Of course, Your Grace," Bronze Yohn replies, startled and perhaps a touch wary at the thought of yet more explanations of the sort you had this evening.

When you return it is in the company of both Mereth and Waymar, your friend standing at ease and even unarmed beside the Fallen. Mereth herself is still veiled in a glamour, though not for long.

And so together you explain the second part of the tale of Mammon's folly, from the day Mereth pledged her sword to the duel against the Aspect of the Lord of the Third and what that truly means.

"I do not claim any moral rectitude in my choice, nor make any pretense of restored grace," Mereth explains, meeting the lord's gaze unflinchingly as black wings unfurl behind her. "But to lord and oaths I shall hold for much the same reason any... bannerman would." The Westerosi word lies strangely upon the tongue, but she uses it with a purpose. "I have found a just lord whose vision for the future I trust and count worth fighting for however it is asked of me, to drive back chaos and madness from the world, to mend what was set askew."

That these are likely the same words she would have used to describe the reasons for her Fall does not escape you, but the realization does not trouble you, for therein lies heart of who Mereth is and you do not begrudge it.

For a long moment Bronze Yohn is silent, looking from you, to the renegade Devil, and finally to his son. "I am no sage or sorcerer to wholly understand what you have said of ancient pacts and falls from Heaven's fastness, but..." He hesitates a moment upon the cusp of accepting.

"I would trust Lady Mereth or any of her sisters at my back in any battle," Waymar says firmly, throwing an apologetic look to the Fallen for even implying that things could have stood differently by saying so aloud.

"It's understandable," Mereth sends silently in reply, heard by you and Waymar alone. A moment later she adds: "Thank you."

Unaware of the byplay Bronze Yohhn nods, resolved to his path once more. "These are strange times we live in. I would be lying to say I would not prefer that the world could turn as it has for these many years with magic fallen into legend, Hell and Heaven both the concern of septons not lords, but we do not choose the world we live in it, only what we choose to do within it... and who we spend it besides." So saying he turns to Mereth directly, addressing her as he would another knight. "My lady, I would be honored by the aid of any among your kin whom you would choose for keeping watch upon my keep and family."

"A rotating post would probably be best," she responds, the hard lines of her face softening ever so slightly at the blunt sign of respect. "One of my sisters besides besides two Messenger Ravens should be guard enough to stand against lesser threats and vigilant to call for aid against any attack in force."

"Should such come forth you can also withdraw for a moment beyond the boundaries of the world," you add, relieved, handing over a Djinn token and a sending. You go on to recount how they might find the embassy in the city as well as something of the customs of the city that they may safely find it.

"I... thank you, Your Grace," the Lord of Runestone says, taking the gilded feather and plain polished stone from the desk in front of him. You suspect that were it only his safety imperiled he would refuse to leave his keep in an attack, but with his family to consider he cannot refuse.

Items
  • 1 Sending Stone
  • 1 Plane Shift Token
Guards:
  • 1 Advanced Erinyes
  • 2 Greater Ravens

***​

Sixth Day of the Tenth Month 293 AC

The next morning sees you in Dorne, though not in Sunspear where you have most often met with Doran Martell. Instead the Prince of Dorne greets you amid the gentle splash of water and the scent of lemon trees hanging in the air with only a hint of the salt breeze. Pale columns stand in silent testament to the arts of the Rhoynar brought onto sunset shores and mingling with the native stonework. The fountains are not of course the grandest in this secluded corner, nor yet the sculptures the most refined, but looking upon the scene with the eyes of power you can see the arcane wards at least are the best that Dorne can weave.


Though Prince Doran greets you not only with the respect due a king but cordially as the goodbrothers you might have been had fate turned differently, you can read in the stiffness of his walk and the crease upon his brow that he is troubled. Not from your visit at least, this is something more persistent.

"Is there anything I can help with?" you ask with the bluntness that the trust between you affords. "I had heard from Ser Denys that the Vulture King of yore may not be as dead as he aught to be, and I have some skill in setting old bones to rest one way or another."

"My thanks for the offer, Your Grace, but that is not the first worry upon my mind, nothing so simple as can be dealt with by the spear," Doran sighs. "Arianne has just come to me with troubling news."

"I'm certain it can be handled discretely," you reply diplomatically, wondering what the heir of Dorne could have done to trouble her father without Tyene getting any hint.

Doran shakes his head firmly. "You misunderstand, Ari is not the cause of my concern. Rather she is the one who brought it to my attention before it could grow far worse." There is an edge of pride in the words that you are glad to hear. One should always trust one's heir, but better still when they are also valued for their skills.

He goes on to explain that the trouble has to do with House Toland of Ghost Hill, one of the Houses that holds one end of the intact Wind Path that Velen had discovered. It had all begun when along growing suspicion of the Citadel, Doran had quietly advised Lady Nymella Toland not to ask for another maester after her current one died, but instead to take one of the more learned and skilled mages of the Order of the Cauldron instead. It took some persuasion and a few minor concessions from Sunspear, but the matter was thus settled and for over a year things seemed to go quite well, until about two months ago Valena Toland, heir to the House, chose to step down from the position in favor of her younger sister Teora.

Such an arrangement while unusual is hardly unheard of in Dorne, and so other than the expected gossip Doran did not make much of it. He of course welcomed Valena to Sunspear and offered to at least help her start along the path of a explorer and venturer which she claimed to desire. With so many ancient treasures uncovered little wonder that the young, even those with lordships ahead of them, might be lured to such a life, he had thought.

Arianne, however, had found something odd about the former Toland heir, calling her 'aimless and determined all at once'. After several weeks in her company she became convinced there must be some strange influence upon the girl. In that she was proven right. Though there were not present enchantments upon Valena when she arrived in Sunspear, foresight showed that small, weak compulsions had been layered on her for months, pushing her towards a life away from home. Further investigations showed that Wisdom Uron, the mage Doran himself had sent, had been responsible, having conspired with the younger Toland sister whom he had also taught magic in secret.

"Teora would not make a terrible Lady of Ghost Hill," Doran admits. "All other things being equal I would secretly kill Uron and let the matter lie. However there remains the matter of foresight. What I commanded done any mage of the Golden Shields could do. Indeed, if one asks what is the greatest transgression committed by a member of the Three Orders, this is the thread they are set upon. I would appreciate any advice on dealing with the matter with the least amount of scandal."

What do you advise?

[] Write in

OOC: And here we see Arianne being competent, which she can be as long as she takes the time to act thoughtfully.
 
Last edited:
Hmm what I would suggest is simply to kill the mage and have younger sister step down due to illness, calling her sister back to take the lordship. This is a fabrication of course. She dies, not to illness but something else. Poison?
 
[X] "The former Toland heir--she is unlikely to get into much danger before the end of next year, yes? If she should prove amenable, and wishes to venture beyond the safety of Sunspear, send her onto Sorcerer's Deep where her 'wanderlust' can find proper patron.
-[X] "As for Uron, he may be removed. If the concern is to avoid scandal then revealing either his or the sister's misdeeds would be counterproductive, but removing a source for future wrongdoing could be used to warn the Lady that her chicanery has not gone unnoticed, and only goes on 'unchecked' with Sunspear's approval. The scandal would do equal harm to her as to you, after all."
-[X] "I would personally vouch to have the conspiracy be unraveled by mages renowned to be vastly more skilled than either Lady Toland or her pet enchanter instead, were I given leave to handle this on my own judgement, and pass sentence down upon her and him both as would be my remit as a Sorcerer and a King. I drafted a little set of legal codes forbidding the use of compulsion in contrivance of the law in order to make a more just society. While I am sure there might be one or two Lords of Dorne willing to forgive Lady Toland for not having read them, none shall be willing to gainsay a King. But as you are the one who brought this to me, the choice is yours to make."
 
Last edited:
Hmm what I would suggest is simply to kill the mage and have younger sister step down due to illness, calling her sister back to take the lordship. This is a fabrication of course. She dies, not to illness but something else. Poison?

The problem with that is that any mage with divination can still start digging up the secret with a simple general question. That above all else is what has Doran worried. Secrets are not as secret as they aught to be anymore.
 
[X] Crake

@Crake you beat me to it, but left off one important point. The Teleportation Circle is too valuable, strategically and economically to leave it guarded by such an untrustworthy individual. Doran should consider installing a more substantial guard, while removing House Toland's responsibility for it entirety.
 
[X] "The former Toland heir--she is unlikely to get into much danger before the end of next year, yes? If she should prove amenable, and wishes to venture beyond the safety of Sunspear, send her onto Sorcerer's Deep where her 'wanderlust' can find proper patron.
-[X] "As for Uron, he may be removed. If the concern is to avoid scandal then revealing either his or the sister's misdeeds would be counterproductive, but removing a source for future wrongdoing could be used to warn the Lady that her chicanery has not gone unnoticed, and only goes on 'unchecked' with Sunspear's approval. The scandal would do equal harm to her as to you, after all."
-[X] "I would personally vouch to have the conspiracy be unraveled by mages renowned to be vastly more skilled than either Lady Toland or her pet enchanter instead, were I given leave to handle this on my own judgement, and pass sentence down upon her and him both as would be my remit as a Sorcerer and a King. I drafted a little set of legal codes forbidding the use of compulsion in contrivance of the law in order to make a more just society. While I am sure there might be one or two Lords of Dorne willing to forgive Lady Toland for not having read them, none shall be willing to gainsay a King. But as you are the one who brought this to me, the choice is yours to make."

An option of letting Doran handle this in house or to use this to make an example of flaunting the laws of the realm.
 
[X] "The former Toland heir--she is unlikely to get into much danger before the end of next year, yes? If she should prove amenable, and wishes to venture beyond the safety of Sunspear, send her onto Sorcerer's Deep where her 'wanderlust' can find proper patron.
-[X] "As for Uron, he may be removed. If the concern is to avoid scandal then revealing either his or the sister's misdeeds would be counterproductive, but removing a source for future wrongdoing could be used to warn the Lady that her chicanery has not gone unnoticed, and only goes on 'unchecked' with Sunspear's approval. The scandal would do equal harm to her as to you, after all."
-[X] "I would personally vouch to have the conspiracy be unraveled by mages renowned to be vastly more skilled than either Lady Toland or her pet enchanter instead, were I given leave to handle this on my own judgement, and pass sentence down upon her and him both as would be my remit as a Sorcerer and a King. I drafted a little set of legal codes forbidding the use of compulsion in contrivance of the law in order to make a more just society. While I am sure there might be one or two Lords of Dorne willing to forgive Lady Toland for not having read them, none shall be willing to gainsay a King. But as you are the one who brought this to me, the choice is yours to make."

The plan works fine as written, but just to make things clear the conspirator in this case is not Lady Nymella Toland who is still alive though oblivious to the whole matter but her younger daughter Teora Toland.
 
I thought I wrote something which wouldn't conflict with that, since that's what I knew what happened? "Lady >House" is generally the current ruler address, yes, but most noble heirs are still referred to by title as lord or lady.

Also, to expound upon Viserys' thought, if Doran passes it into his hands, it shows that someone who is the foremost sorcerer... anywhere, considers what Teora did to be unconscionable. It shows that things are working as intended--King large, in control, and willing to pass down judgement against other mages, not considering their talent any excuse for breaking the law. It shows mages--this is not behavior condoned, nor will it be missed, and lords the same.
 
[X] "The former Toland heir--she is unlikely to get into much danger before the end of next year, yes? If she should prove amenable, and wishes to venture beyond the safety of Sunspear, send her onto Sorcerer's Deep where her 'wanderlust' can find proper patron.
-[X] "As for Uron, he may be removed. If the concern is to avoid scandal then revealing either his or the sister's misdeeds would be counterproductive, but removing a source for future wrongdoing could be used to warn the Lady that her chicanery has not gone unnoticed, and only goes on 'unchecked' with Sunspear's approval. The scandal would do equal harm to her as to you, after all."
-[X] "I would personally vouch to have the conspiracy be unraveled by mages renowned to be vastly more skilled than either Lady Toland or her pet enchanter instead, were I given leave to handle this on my own judgement, and pass sentence down upon her and him both as would be my remit as a Sorcerer and a King. I drafted a little set of legal codes forbidding the use of compulsion in contrivance of the law in order to make a more just society. While I am sure there might be one or two Lords of Dorne willing to forgive Lady Toland for not having read them, none shall be willing to gainsay a King. But as you are the one who brought this to me, the choice is yours to make."
-[X] "Also, I urge you to leave a stronger guard at the translocation passage and assert formal control over it in either case."
 
Back
Top