Italian Quest: A Mercenary Boot

--
You head over to your lesson with your tutor. Giuseppe stalks behind with a complement of crossbows, as if paranoid that you would get into another altercation like the one with the robbers who wounded Piero. You imagine Giuseppe is just spoiling for a fight.

Your tutor draws up elaborate plans on a chalkboard, a lesson on the Roman Empire's most famous victories and defeats. The tutor runs through a number of famous battles, some you already know, others you have never heard of. As the lesson comes to a close with a discussion on the strategy of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus and his dogged pursuit of Hannibal of Carthage. You feel the reading and discussions you and Johannes had, as well as your earlier digging in the library, fall into place. Like the final pieces of a puzzle, they complete a picture that was missing something vital.

[Gained Skill: Skilled Skirmisher]

--

"Oh, I had an interesting man come up to me on the street the other day."
You swirl the wine in your glass, steeling your nerves in case you have upset da Montefeltro

"I'm slightly worried by the implications of those words." Da Montefeltro's tone is dry, and his pursed lips tells you that his worry is more than just slight. You chuckle in response and explain the odd encounter you had with the man who wanted a pardon in exchange for information.

Montefeltro considers your words for a moment, before asking a number of questions about the man's crimes. Having decided that the man could reasonably be pardoned, the Duke hands you a stamped letter, officially pardoning the man for crimes committed.

After finishing your discussion with da Montefeltro, you head for the pub you know the man is waiting for you in with Giuseppe and his crossbows in tow. You make your way through the doors and greet your soldiers on the way in, before eventually finding the man you are looking for. Giuseppe orders the crossbows to take up positions guarding the door, and settles down outside of earshot but still within sight.

"Good news. I've got your pardon." You flash the letter with the seal, and the man nearly bursts into tears, grabbing the letter and running his fingers over the wax seal to make sure it's real.

"Now, you said you've got some information for me as well…"
--

"Iacopo! How did it go? Was this pardon worth the paper it was written on?" The Duke greets you with a gesture towards an armchair by his desk. On the other side, Maximillian raises his wineglass in greeting.

"I'd say so, sir. We've got ourselves a man with good memory. He says Borgia is planning to break camp in early March. He knows that d'Aragona has a vicious grudge against him and wants to avoid an engagement if at all possible. Cesare plans to march around Urbino, even with us in the way, to avoid being harassed. D'Aragona's troops in Pesaro has the other route locked down otherwise, so he doesn't have much of a choice."

Da Montefeltro sighs, and motions to the map on his desk with the wineglass.

"I'll have a missive sent to d'Aragona, then. We should concentrate our forces here if Borgia tries to take the western route."

"I assume we can count on Pesaro to aid us in this endeavour?" Maximilian asks, frowning down at a wooden token representing pike units that has been placed next to the crossing by Montecalvo.

"Yes, d'Aragona's grudge against the Borgia won't let him stay out of this." Da Montefeltro gives Maximilian a brief explanation of the various incidents between Giovanni Sforza d'Aragona and the Borgia family that laid the foundation for the grudge, and Maximilian visibly winces when the impotency charge and marriage annulment is brought up.

"Small wonder he's got an axe to grind…"

"Quite. Now Iacopo, please continue."

"Right," you say. "On the matter of crossing the rivers between us and San Marino, we know that a stop is intended near San Giovanni, to determine whether to cross Foglia River in the east, by Montecalvo, or in the west, by San Donato."

"Not by Ca Mazzasette? I assume they know of Torre Cotogna already, then?" The Duke's watchtower by the river is something that you know Borgia has already accounted for, and you say as much.

"Yes, Cesare will make sure to keep out of view of the tower."

"Shame. Well, that will keep him off the biggest crossing at least."

Maximilian weighs in on the matter by moving wooden tokens across the map, placing them at the two most likely crossing points.

"Hm. I think these are the only expedient routes then. Unless you locals know of another way across?"

You chuckle, mentioning that Rome is hardly local to Urbino, and both you and the Duke admit to knowing no other way to cross the river without taking unfeasible risks.

"Speaking of expediency, now that the two of you are both here, I would like to extend an invitation to the Carnival Ball here at the palace, two weeks from now, to the both of you."

You and Maximilian share a look. A Carnival Ball is a big occasion, and although masks are worn, it's usually a fairly open secret who is behind which mask, and the opportunity to make connections at a ball hosted by the duke himself is undeniably a great boon.

"Of course sir, we'd be honoured to attend," the two of you chime in unison.
"I have some ideas," Montefeltro says. "A force placed at San Donato can intercept Borgia's forces as he crosses the river, and should he decide to go through Montecalvo our scouts can report back and we can reposition, catching Borgia before he can reach Urbino."

[X] You have nothing to add.
[X] Write-in Suggestions

--

"There's no question. The Pyrrhus should have continued." Giuseppe's voice is noticeably agitated, but he's not yelling.

"Oh? Overstretched, far from home and friendly territory? With no safe harbour and no place to sleep without a nightwatch?" There's a certain smugness to your tutor's voice as Giuseppe's mien grows steadily more annoyed.

"But he was victorious! He had won the battle and had an excellent opportunity!"

"Ah, but the Romans had him by the balls. Continue to attack, and face irreplaceable losses, or admit that discretion is the better part of valour, and fight another war, another day."

"Bah, stop being right you bastard."

Your tutor scoffs at Giuseppe, and strides off past you imperiously but you hear his soft chuckle. You get the sense he enjoyed the banter more than Giuseppe intended him to.

"Having some intellectual sparring, Giuseppe?" You hear a crossbowman snicker in the back, and Giuseppe shoots a sharp look at his subordinate.

"Where to next, boss?"

--

"Johannes! Johannes, sir, someone's walked off with our wagon!"

Your eyebrows rise in surprise as you overhear the report your second-in-command gets in his office.

"Eh? What was in the wagon when it was taken, and under whose watch?"

"During the unloading of the food supplies, sir. Ulrich was responsible, but thought the wagon wasn't worth stealing since it was empty, and focused on getting the grain into storage."

"...Someone stole an empty wagon?"

"Yeah, we didn't expect that either."

"I can't really blame you for that. Ulrich will be reprimanded and asked to keep a better eye on his wagons, even if they're empty, in the future. I'll go report it to the commander."

You knock on the open door and make your way in after receiving an affirmative. "No need for a report Johannes, I think I got it. You left the door open."

-20 Supplies (Missing Wagon) Pick 1
[X] "We'll need to replace the wagon as soon as possible." (-20 Coin, +20 Supplies)
[X] "We'll track down the wagon." (one of your commanders will be busy next turn)
[X] "We'll increase the patrols and find the wagon that way." (-10 Coins)

Giuseppe, Ludwig and Louis are all watching the men with wide eyes, as the drill they had planned has now turned into "yes, but drill the rooster". A dozen or so men have trained the rooster by this point in time, and you grow more amused by the second as both Giuseppe and Ludwig are drawn into the training of the rooster.

Soon enough, the pike square moves with a solid rhythmic beat of boots on the ground, the rooster's head bobbing along to the beat as it marches alongside. When the regiment comes to a halt, Johannes lets out a shout of glee as the rooster flies up and sits on the banner's crossbar, mirroring the image of the rooster below it.

You are not exactly sure how it happens, but sooner or later, you are informed that the rooster's name is Augustus, because of its regal and commanding presence.

[Augustus gains trait: Regal]
[Augustus gains trait: Disciplined]

--

Your day in the library is surprisingly fruitful, and you stumble on two separate Greek texts translated to Latin, a Latin text and an Italian manuscript left behind by one of Borgia's engineers (judging by the fortress drawing), one "L. Davunc", or something to that effect. A surprisingly insightful medical text for an engineer, you think, especially considering the detailed diagrams of anatomy.

You take notes and draw some interesting conclusions yourself regarding the usage of alcohol to harmonise otherwise unclean water by mixing the two well, before corking the container and waiting a full day.

[Gained Skill: Superior Surgeon II]




At the end of the fortnight, Ludwig reports that he has recruited 50 soldiers to his company, bringing him up to 400 total. (-18 Coins)

[X] Resupply (Gain 978 Coin)
-[X] Arms
-[X] Food (-30% cost)
-[X] Support
[X] Write-in
[X] Time Skip until Borgia arrives, or Spring (or Write-in)

Fair Warning: If you decide to timeskip, you would not be able to react to things like random event rolls. Most of the time, this won't be a problem, but should it become clear that you need to react (i.e. something like a crit-fail), I will drop you out of the timeskip.

The coin sums listed in parenthesis are not included in the table's calculations.

Notice a spelling or grammar issue? Let me know, and I'll edit.