Anyway my least favorite option is probably Inneryl, simply because barring getting pardoned by Ulthuan at some point, if we start having a logistics chain large enough for us to need someone with a head for it, then its probably because we've started hiring a large number of humans, in which case we may as well go with Yethis. Thevan would probably be the best officer if our company remains largely being made up by elves, in which case being a better field commander would do us more good then having a good rapport with humans.
And of course if any of them are Aislinn's agents then Eol would be best since treachery could really mess us up right now.
Anyway my least favorite option is probably Inneryl, simply because barring getting pardoned by Ulthuan at some point, if we start having a logistics chain large enough for us to need someone with a head for it, then its probably because we've started hiring a large number of humans, in what case we may as well go with Yethis. Thevan would probably be the best officer if our company remains largely being made up by elves, in which case being a better field commander would do us more good then having a good rapport with humans.
And of course if any of them are Aislinn's agents then Eol would be best since treachery could really mess us up right now.
Of course the biggest problem with Eol would be that it would put us down a swordsmaster in favor of a seaguard. We would be taking him out of the formation that does the thing he's best at and putting him in a less directly useful position. I would rather have 10 swordsmasters and 20 seaguard than 9 swordsmasters and 21 seaguard.
Not necessarily. This is an era of leading from the front, especially at our small scale for a long while, personal combat strength is not unrelated to leadership.
If this were a unit of spearmen, or any other melee unit, I would agree with you. However, the thing which makes seaguard shine is their nature as a hybrid unit which can switch between a ranged threat and a melee threat in an instant. Meanwhile, Eol is primarily specialized at melee combat. Therefore, whenever the seaguard are using their ranged speciality (which is likely to be quite often) Eol would be twiddling his thumbs.
I'm also not too terribly convinced of the necessity of having Eol in charge of the seaguard to root out spies. Yes, Eol doing so would provide for the greatest amount of detection, but it wouldn't be the only amount of detection. This group isn't big enough to really have no interaction between the swordmasters and seaguard over the long run. (And if they are avoiding each other to that degree, I feel like that's a bit of a warning sign on its own). So, given that all of our swordmasters have the anti-spy training, there's going to always be that baseline level of detection we have. At least until the company grows larger.
With that in mind, the main thing to worry about would be not putting a spy directly in charge of the seaguard. In that scenario, where spies are our main concern, I think simply leaving the unit without a sergeant for the moment would suffice.
If this were a unit of spearmen, or any other melee unit, I would agree with you. However, the thing which makes seaguard shine is their nature as a hybrid unit which can switch between a ranged threat and a melee threat in an instant. Meanwhile, Eol is primarily specialized at melee combat. Therefore, whenever the seaguard are using their ranged speciality (which is likely to be quite often) Eol would be twiddling his thumbs.
I'm also not too terribly convinced of the necessity of having Eol in charge of the seaguard to root out spies. Yes, Eol doing so would provide for the greatest amount of detection, but it wouldn't be the only amount of detection. This group isn't big enough to really have no interaction between the swordmasters and seaguard over the long run. (And if they are avoiding each other to that degree, I feel like that's a bit of a warning sign on it's own). So, given that all of our swordmasters have the anti-spy training, there's going to always be that baseline level of detection we have. At least until the company grows larger.
With that in mind, the main thing to worry about would be not putting a spy directly in charge of the seaguard. In that scenario, where spies are our main concern, I think simply leaving the unit without a sergeant for the moment would suffice.
Well, the best field commander is obviously Thevan, yet Yethis is far more open minded towards humans. Inneryl and Eöl are better used elsewhere, the first one when we would need a Quartermaster, while the latter as part of our battle line.
In that case then Eol does sound like he'd be rather wasted as an officer for the Sea Guard with regards to his combat capabilities. So its either Thevan as the better field commander, Yethis as the human sympathiser or no one in case we're too worried about betrayal.
Thevan is probably the more immediately useful given the Lightfangs are more then 90% elves right now, but Yethis would become more useful if we start hiring more humans, but less so if we stick to elves like we've had so far.
Pick none of them, let them prove themselves in battle and alongside allies first. If we don't have to make the decision now, it's best to stress-test them in a major campaign like this first.
You rendezvous with the Sea Guard at the Ostland-Kislev border, the tollkeepers watching the heavily armed elves warily as they march across to your side.
-20GC spent on border tolls.
There is a short pause as the Lothernites load their packs onto the mule-drawn cart you purchased from Erengrad, before you begin the march southward. While that, of course, leaves little in the way of room for supplies, you do not need much: you may not hold the title of Verdariounar, you can support a small group of individuals on Ghyran practically indefinitely.
While you are uncomfortable asking your companions to subsist on a diet of magic outside of campaign, on the march it is simply something that is expected of an elven soldier when the situation calls for it. While Asur warhosts rely on a robust system of logistics codified by Tethlys the Slayer, ships cannot deliver supplies inland whilst horses and donkeys have limited range before the supplies they consume during the trip exceed their own carrying capacity.
Hence the Verdaniounar, a title obtained by Mages that have obtained a sufficient proficiency in life-sustaining magics that allow them to keep large numbers of troops in fighting condition with little or no supplies. Whilst this of course exhausts the Mages and leaves them in poor condition to fight the enemy once the host reaches the battlefield, it is a decision that the commander must make: is the advantage gained worth the lessened magical support?
But even for you, less than two score souls is nothing, though should you expand the Lightfangs further that will change. Nor, for that matter, are any potential human recruits you pick up necessarily so sanguine about magic.
For now, however, the Sea Guard, not often called upon for long marches in their old role, seem grateful enough for the chance to stow their packs onto the cart.
It also has another useful side effect, which is that unburdened by their packs and carrying only their arms and armour, the Lightfangs are ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.
Which is a real concern, as you pass by the Bullskeep and enter into the interior of Ostland. The first hundred or so kilometers of your journey are across relatively open farmland, dotted with small forests and villages, very different to the barren oblast of your previous overland journey, but no less dangerous for it. More than once you spot smoke rising from the distance, in far too much abundance to come from any settlement in the region, or come across the sight of a wrecked wagon at the side of the road, surrounded by massive pawprints- giant wolves favoured as mounts by goblin raiding parties.
Tulo ranges ahead of the party on her new horse, though you take care to impress upon the Ropsmann woman that she is never to stray from direct line of sight from the rest of the group. You could join her, but the peasants and travellers along the road give enough dirty looks to you already that you see no reason to provoke them further by summoning a Shadowsteed.
Tinuthal leads the Swordmasters behind you, marching in a double column, their greatswords resting against their shoulders. Cothaerion leads the mule by a short rein, at the center of the formation, followed by the Sea Guard in double column, ready to form a flexible rearguard depending on the direction of the attack.
For the most part, however, you make your way unmenaced. It seems that even the Greenskins have respect for a group of heavily armoured elves marching down the road, and if they observe your party they judge it too tough to take on.
With your packs stowed away on the cart and your only human mounted on a horse you could make an even better time eastward, but the Erengrad Road is dotted with small settlements and fortified taverns a day's march (by human standards, that is) from each other, and you are not so overconfident or in such a hurry as to sleep on the side of the road.
That is where you run into the first complications. This is not Erengrad anymore, and you are not travelling in the company of a respected priest of the God of Hospitality. Most of the Ostlanders you encounter have never so much as seen an elf before, let alone talked to one, and you suspect a good chunk of them thought you little more than myth and legend before you stood in front of them.
You are treated with near-universal suspicion and fear that is rarely far away from hostility. Many cite you exorbitant prices that you know for a fact cannot be what they charge their regular customers- when they let you through the gate, that is.
So you make do- you have little need for food save for purposes of morale, and camping with your backs against the palisade is still better than sleeping in the open.
It is little more than what can be expected of Ylvathoi.
On one such night you catch sight of Tulo circling the outer perimeter of the camp, pausing every so often to crouch low to the ground. She digs into the soil slightly, dropping something into the hole in the ground before spreading the dirt back over it.
"Couldn't sleep?" you speak up, looking intently at her.
Tulo startles at your voice, half-turning to look up at you. She shifts uncomfortably, but opens her palm to show you a small piece of glass-like stone, carved in the shape of an axehead with a jagged, zig-zagging shape cut into its side.
"This is Torvaaja, lightning-stone," she whispers quietly. "Sacred to the God of Thunder. It will protect us from danger."
You observe the charm with a scholar's eye- it is made from fulgurite, stone formed when lightning strikes the ground. It has been carved with crude tools, but with obvious care and effort.
"I was given to understand Tor was the god of battle and little else," you observe in a neutral tone, inviting her to respond.
"That is what he is to the men of Kislev, after the Ungols gelded him," Tulo mutters angrily. "But Tor was the god of the Ropsmenn first, our protector and lord."
You blink in surprise. You had never given much thought to the god's origins, or the reason for his… limited portfolio.
"He is our patron in battle, yes, but he also blesses our fields with rains and plentiful harvests. He watches over us from the skies, sending thunder to warn us of evil afoot. But there is only room for one king in the heavens, and the Ungols already had their fiery prince."
"Ah." You suppress a grimace. It is one of the most thorny theological topics debated within the halls of the White Tower.
The Aethyr is a reflection of reality and mortal belief. It stands to reason, then, that as gods are empowered by faith, so may they be… changed by it.
And thus it also stands to reason, that it may be possible to deliberately engineer such changes.
"It was not as though the Ungols got the last laugh," Tulo shrugs her shoulders as she buries the amulet into the ground, completing the ring around the campsite.
"In time, they were conquered in turn, and now there is no king in Kislev but the king in the woods whose shape is Bear."
-New Downtime Action Unlocked: Write a paper to the White Tower about pre-Ungol Ropsmann cultural and religious practices.
-----
You also spend time getting to know your newest recruits in the Sea Guard.
The infantry arm of the Royal Navy are recruited exclusively from Lothern, owing to their origins as the warrior-retinue of the Crown Princes of Eataine, earning their fame in the fires of the Sundering. One of the few standing military forces on Ulthuan that had survived the long peace of Bel-Shanaar, they were among the first to rally to the Conqueror's banner, and proved instrumental in several key battles such as the Liberation of Tor Anroc and the final Battle of the Blighted Isle.
They have served the Phoenix Kings ever since, though a portion of them remains as the personal guard of the Crown Prince of Eataine, at least in such times when they are not the same person.
Though recruiting only from Lothern, the city is the great melting pot of Ulthuan, and many of the Sea Guard are the descendants of immigrants, if not immigrants themselves. This lends them a cosmopolitan aspect that many of Ulthuan's more insular warrior-orders lack, with a wide range of backgrounds and rich personalities.
In conversations over the campfire, you find out that they are not the only ones to have left the Griffon Fleet over Wavestrider's reassignment- merely the ones that decided to seek you out. Others returned to Ulthuan, found some other manner of employment or were able to arrange a transfer to one of the other four fleets that comprise the Royal Navy of Ulthuan.
Of the score that chose to seek you out, fate transpired that none of them held an officer's rank, customarily called Sea Masters. Not having needed one in their journey so far, the Sea Guard are currently leaderless.
It is not necessarily a pressing concern- you are more than qualified to command a score and a half of highly-trained elven soldiers by yourself, without needing to delegate leadership further. But if the Lightfangs grow further, there will come a point when your attention is being pulled in too many directions, and it would allow them to operate while you are incapacitated or even absent. Selecting a leader will also shape the attitude and qualities that the Sea Guard take on over time, as all units eventually begin to reflect their commander, whether in contrast or in alignment.
You've identified three potential candidates from amongst the Sea Guard, based on the respect their peers hold them in as well as their personal qualities.
Thevan Starspear is from an old and proud family- but not so old and proud that they can make people forget that they once came to Lothern penniless and destitute, their ancestral holdings in Caledor sold off to pay their mountainous debts. Thevan believes that just as the Great Phoenix is reborn in fire, just as her house rose once more to greatness from its slump, so too shall the Asur return to their golden days. The Chosen of Asuryan have the duty and right to shape the world for the better, to not just meekly waste away the years but boldly confront the evils that befoul the world around them.
It is a flame that burns at the breast of every trueborn child of Ulthuan, but it roars especially brightly in Thevan, and she has dedicated her life to it. She is a fiery orator that people listen to when she talks, and an apt soldier- by your estimation the one most suited to field command.
Inneryl Cloudlight, on the other hand, is everything you would expect out of a Lothernite. Youngest son of a merchant family, ran off to sea as soon as he could to chase glory and escape the shadow of his older siblings. Patriotic, follower of Mathlann, thinks Lothern is the center of the universe, and has a good head for numbers. Apparently he ran a bit of a market onboard the Splendid Pinion, buying spare equipment with his own money during shore leave and then selling it at a markup right before inspection day to whoever managed to displace theirs from their kit. You suspect he would have been destined to the Quartermaster corps in a couple of decades, once he'd proven himself to his superiors.
Lastly, Yethis Wildrunner strikes you as a wide-eyed idealist: apparently she'd been born in Druchii captivity, but her mother and she had been rescued by a counter-raid when she was a young child. You would think that it would have embittered her and filled her with hatred towards the Dark Ones, but apparently it has given her perspective- perspective that the divisions between the civilized peoples do not seem nearly so vast when measured against the kinds of monstrosity she has borne witness to.
Besides yourself and Tethildur, Yethis is the only one to have exchanged more than a handful of words with Tulo- the only one of the Sea Guard to have spoken to her at all, in fact. If you are to recruit more humans to the Lightfangs in the future, she would be the ideal Sea Master to smooth out any difficulties that may arise.
The final candidate that comes to your mind is Swordmaster Eöl. He is a Lothernite and trained to become a Sea Guard in his youth, but most importantly, he is the last elf you believe would ever betray you. Even Dorial, the absolute rock that he is, is loyal to you as a Bladelord must be to his Loremaster. Eöl, you suspect, would defy even the Phoenix King should you ask that of him.
There is a nontrivial chance that one or more of the Sea Guard are disingenuous in their professed dislike for Aislinn's actions, and are in fact here to prosecute the Sea Lord's agenda. Placing Eöl at their command would make it easy for him to keep an eye on them, and intervene before they can execute whatever sabotage they intend to commit.
Or… you could put off the decision for now. Let them prove themselves to you, give yourself time to measure their mettle. They hardly need a leader while the Lightfangs remain so few in number, and your deployments tight-knit.
-Decide who (if anyone) you wish to name as the leader of the Sea Guard.
-Moratorium is six hours.
Thank you for the update! Ooh, decisions, decisions...
First question: do we want an officer for the Sea Guard yet or not? Answer is probably yes - there will be situations in which we want to detach them from the Swordmasters and that kind of tactical independence demands at least one intermediate officer.
On the other hand, we also want them to be able to work in concert with the Swordmasters (which I will get to when I have time) and our Swordmasters are tactically more valuable than our Sea Guard, soldier for soldier, so I agree with what people have said about Eöl: while it might be helpful in the short term to have someone who understands how Swordmasters fight in command of the Sea Guard, in the long term we should be aiming to keep him as a Swordmaster. In terms of guaranteeing that we don't have any of Aislinn's agents in our ranks, meanwhile, the Swordmasters are trained to hunt down Cults of Pleasure and other Chaotic influences on Ulthuan; I'd hope that they'd be attentive to countering any sabotage anyway, particularly if we ask them to keep a light and subtle eye on it.
That said, if Blackout would be willing, I wonder whether we might place Eöl in command temporarily to allow him to do some more thorough checks on the Sea Guard's backgrounds, activities and how well they take commands from one who might be considered a traitor, then promote someone else afterwards on the basis of what he learns. Fanriel could easily justify it to the Sea Guard as wanting a familiar face in command while everyone gets used to one another, as well as the aforementioned aspect of tactical integration with the Swordmasters, and it seems to me that it'd be strictly superior to the 'wait and see' approach. (Edit: Imperious beat me to the punch with this suggestion, it seems!)
If not Eöl... I'd be interested by the idea of giving Thevan the command and making Inneryl her second (possibly as a standard bearer if we want to commission said standard). We ought to have some redundancy in command in case the Sea Master happens to fall in the middle of combat and the concept of a senior officer handling drill and morale while a junior officer deals with pay and paperwork is time-honoured!
In terms of Thevan herself, we also happen to have some of her background - and I like what I see. She also comes from a place of weakened social standing (albeit far less severe than Fanriel's) and her professed ideals align perfectly with what Fanriel is hoping to accomplish both for herself and for the Lightfangs as a whole. I think Thevan has potential to become very loyal, both to Fanriel and to the Lightfangs as an institution. We also know that she's competent - and a competent, loyal officer is exactly what we want! (Of course, there's the concern that those professed ideals are suspiciously well-aligned with Fanriel's intent - but then, that's what we might want to install Eöl temporarily to figure out!)
As for Yethis, let's keep an eye on her. It's Fanriel, not a human, that our Sea Master will be taking commands from for the foreseeable future, so pragmatically I don't think there's much advantage in giving her the position - but at some point it might be handy to appoint her as a liaison, or perhaps a recruiter.
I do think we should eventually try to have an officer among the Sea Guard. If nothing else we're going to want to eventually have a second in command we can delegate command and tasks to when we're not available to do so, and the more military esque Sea Guard seems likely to produce better candidates for such positions then the more monastic order esque swordmasters. However perhaps it is better if we wait a bit with appointing an officer. Give our swordmasters some more time to inspect the Sea Guard for spies, and see how the Thevan and Inneryl handle being in the company of humans when we're part of the count's campaign.
That said, if Blackout would be willing, I wouldn't mind placing Eöl in command temporarily to allow him to do some more thorough checks on their backgrounds, activities and how well they take commands from one who might be considered a traitor, then promoting someone else afterwards on his recommendation. Fanriel could easily justify it to the Sea Guard as wanting a familiar face in command while everyone got used to one another and it seems to me that it'd be strictly superior to the 'wait and see' approach.
A Sea Master is a low-ranking officer that commands a flexible number of Sea Guard, typically around fifty but can be as low as a dozen or as many as a hundred depending on the task they are assigned. The Sea Guard, being centuries-old elves with incredible discipline, do not hold to rigid unit sizes, splitting apart and combining together in a very fluid manner.
A Sea Helm on the other hand has multiple Sea Masters and hundreds of Sea Guard under his command, and in many cases even entire warships and their crews as they are commonly put in charge of Asur Sea Patrols.
Commander Wavestrider from the Jaarpen Raid was a Sea Helm, for an example.
In that case maybe we should put Eol in charge of them for this campaign also so he'd be able to tell us what he thinks of each of the three so we can make a more informed decision on who to make an officer after our contract is over.
A Sea Master is a low-ranking officer that commands a flexible number of Sea Guard, typically around fifty but can be as low as a dozen or as many as a hundred depending on the task they are assigned. The Sea Guard, being centuries-old elves with incredible discipline, do not hold to rigid unit sizes, splitting apart and combining together in a very fluid manner.
A Sea Helm on the other hand has multiple Sea Masters and hundreds of Sea Guard under his command, and in many cases even entire warships and their crews as they are commonly put in charge of Asur Sea Patrols.
Commander Wavestrider from the Jaarpen Raid was a Sea Helm, for an example.
Mental wires getting crossed, it seems; thank you for the correction!
(On a similar note, I realised a few days ago that I'd missed a really obvious tactical opportunity with the Mountain Movers - all that time talking about cover for missile troops and I didn't identify that earth manipulation would make for some very useful defilading positions for crossbowmen or handgunners! Going to put a note in their profile about them wanting to bring in troops to do so but never quite managing it...)
One thing I'd hope for is that if we put Eol in charge of the Sea Guard that by the end of the contract we'll have a stat and trait for all three of the candidates owing to Eol's improved understanding of the three. We got a prowess stat and trait list for the Sea Guard and recruitment options last turn, so Blackout doesn't seem to view getting us those as verboten. Would be interesting to know what traits they have before making our choice if we could.
One thing I'd hope for is that if we put Eol in charge of the Sea Guard that by the end of the contract we'll have a stat and trait for all three of the candidates owing to Eol's improved understanding of the three. We got a prowess stat and trait list for the Sea Guard and recruitment options last turn, so Blackout doesn't seem to view getting us those as verboten. Would be interesting to know what traits they have before making our choice if we could.
Also Eol is a member of the elf FBI. If we, temporarily, put him in charge with instructions to vet them for leadership I give good odds he determines if someone is a plant or not.
It's perhaps somewhat unoptimal in terms of combat potential, but having someone we know to vet and examine the Sea Guard so we can make a more informed decision later about who to make an officer long term as well as flush out any spies that may be there sounds really useful. Even if none of them are spies, Eol spending so much time with them should at least let us know more about each of the three options.
With the intent to replace him with one of the other candidates after vetting work is complete, as outlined above. A minor hit to our combat capabilities now for some payoff in tactical integration and confidence in leadership later!
