I can see Tulo's descendants faithfully serving Fanriel for generations considering human lifespan being a blink of an eye to Elves.
Mercenary Mage Quest: Asur Dogs of War in Warhammer Fantasy
- Thread starter Blackout
- Start date
- Fantasy
Well, let's not count our chickens - we've got to make sure she survives the Great War Against Chaos first! (But yes, Tulo's definitely pulling her weight. I wouldn't be surprised if she's a key factor in Fanriel taking a more positive view on humans, should she come to do so.)
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Blackout
Fed By Comments
- Location
- Who knows?
Based on some quick triangulation and estimating the terrain, Fanriel thinks that you should be able to reach the source of the magic and return before the Ogres are finished, but you won't be able to scout it out, come back, grab the Lightfangs, return to deal with whatever it is, and then come back again, without either making the rest of the force wait on you or having them leave without you.
Fanriel thinks both of those are bad ideas, and that you should make your plans with the assumption that what you bring with you now is what you'll have on hand to deal with whatever is in the forest. You can't get the best of both worlds by scouting it alone and then coming back to grab the Lightfangs for a second go.
Fanriel thinks both of those are bad ideas, and that you should make your plans with the assumption that what you bring with you now is what you'll have on hand to deal with whatever is in the forest. You can't get the best of both worlds by scouting it alone and then coming back to grab the Lightfangs for a second go.
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Well, our options are really then "satisfy the itch" and go by ourselves purely to scout it out and no intention to actually poke it or "Swordmaster the problem" and take the Swordmasters with us while the seaguard play defense.
Somic
It's meow or never
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I honestly think that unless whatever this is comes to attack us (bringing itself towards our Swordmasters and Sea Guard), we have no reason to extend ourselves. We are here to protect the Ogres, and the combined might of the Expedition is here to clear some bad shit outta the mountains, but Fanriel personally is not responsible for killing every single gribly in these places.
So, scout alone, see what's up, bring back actionable intelligence, and don't play hero when you're already responsible for part of the logistics.
So, scout alone, see what's up, bring back actionable intelligence, and don't play hero when you're already responsible for part of the logistics.
[] Write-in - Bring the Swordmasters, and you may be able to deal with the threat here and now.
-[] Scout ahead of the Swordmasters invisibly and soundlessly to ensure that the path is unwatched (or to deal with any such watchers), as well as to get a sense of the cause of the magic and its defences before the Swordmasters arrive so that, if necessary, you can order a withdrawal with the aid of The Wilds Undisturbed before they catch the attention of anything that might be present there.
--[] Note to voters: May tweak the above to use The Wilds Undisturbed on the journey to the cause of the magic pending clarification from Blackout as to its utility, particularly if it can be cast on the Swordmasters exclusively but possibly simply replacing the 'scouting using Ulgu' part of the plan if its utility for the group as a whole avoiding detection is better.
-[] Leave the Sea Guard behind (and Eöl with them). They won't be as suited to the thick woods as the Swordmasters, nor as familiar with Chaos' hidden enclaves and what it takes to root them out, and a group of ten will hopefully be quicker and quieter than a group of thirty.
Any further thoughts and suggestions on this would be welcome (though I worry that this is far too much detail already in comparison to the pre-existing options)! Don't worry about comparing it to going alone for now - best to refine the Swordmaster option to be as good as possible and then to compare it to the alternative!
-[] Scout ahead of the Swordmasters invisibly and soundlessly to ensure that the path is unwatched (or to deal with any such watchers), as well as to get a sense of the cause of the magic and its defences before the Swordmasters arrive so that, if necessary, you can order a withdrawal with the aid of The Wilds Undisturbed before they catch the attention of anything that might be present there.
--[] Note to voters: May tweak the above to use The Wilds Undisturbed on the journey to the cause of the magic pending clarification from Blackout as to its utility, particularly if it can be cast on the Swordmasters exclusively but possibly simply replacing the 'scouting using Ulgu' part of the plan if its utility for the group as a whole avoiding detection is better.
-[] Leave the Sea Guard behind (and Eöl with them). They won't be as suited to the thick woods as the Swordmasters, nor as familiar with Chaos' hidden enclaves and what it takes to root them out, and a group of ten will hopefully be quicker and quieter than a group of thirty.
Any further thoughts and suggestions on this would be welcome (though I worry that this is far too much detail already in comparison to the pre-existing options)! Don't worry about comparing it to going alone for now - best to refine the Swordmaster option to be as good as possible and then to compare it to the alternative!
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Boodlesnoop
Never entirely sure what I'm doing
Great rolls this time. Twelve goblins is about 20% of their estimated force lost with nothing to show for it but some well made arrows. Hopefully between the losses and going into nondescript Chaos territory they will decide to cut their losses and not return. So long as they don't shoot anyone important with those arrows we should be golden.
I am in favor of taking the Swordmasters with us.
I am in favor of taking the Swordmasters with us.
Yeah, I think if this isn't something we can do by ourselves, we shouldn't bring the swordmasters with us b/c if we have to run, the Swordmasters are gonna be stuck trying to hoof it when the Average Beastman should be at least as fast as them. And even if they do manage to get away, we'll be leading them right back to our group.
We should go in, find out what fuckery is happening, then go report back so we can get an appropriate force sent to clean it up. And if we're lucky, we could be a part of said force if the Elector Count is impressed with us and we're still relatively fresh.
Sertorius
Rebellious Legate
- Location
- Roma Invicta
Nice, this went as good as we could have hoped. May the return trip go just as smoothly.
As for checking out the thing in the woods... Fanriel should go alone. She can do it quickly, stealthy and if it is something that she cannot handle, she can make a quick getaway. Not so, if we will have foot troops with us and shall be forced into an unfavourable engagement. This is our Dark Curiosity speaking, by the way. Do we really wish to risk the lives of our friends for our own little ego?
As for checking out the thing in the woods... Fanriel should go alone. She can do it quickly, stealthy and if it is something that she cannot handle, she can make a quick getaway. Not so, if we will have foot troops with us and shall be forced into an unfavourable engagement. This is our Dark Curiosity speaking, by the way. Do we really wish to risk the lives of our friends for our own little ego?
Going alone concerns me. There's a bunch of goblin wolf riders about, no need to assume that whoever is doing magic is alone. It might still be the best option, though.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I am inclined to bring only the Swordmasters (minus Eol). They are 2x more agile than the Seaguard, 10x more than humans, and 100x more than Ogres. All the more because we campaigned in the Jungles of Ind together.
Otherwise we might step on a net-trap that brings us trapped in ropes at the top of a tree and wrapped full of sleepy thorns.
Otherwise we might step on a net-trap that brings us trapped in ropes at the top of a tree and wrapped full of sleepy thorns.
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K von Carstein
Likes to go for a walk
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He
Our goal isn't to neutralise whatever is in the forest, it's to bring back our troops and their cargo to the camp. If it's a force strong enough to need both Fanriel and the Lightfangs to defeat, I'd rather also have the humans with us if it comes to a fight. Going alone affords is the best chance of not getting caught and of escaping if not. We're not supposed to solve every problem by ourselves.
By going alone, we would be much more difficult to spot, especially by combining our Intrigue of 30 and Invisibility. If we're found out, we can just use a combination of teleporting and shadow steed to run away back to our troops faster than the enemy can pursue, then fight it with all our troops available.
We can just teleport out of any such trap. And 11 armoured people are less stealthy than 1, who can also turn herself invisible.
Nice to see that we fended off the Goblins without problems.
We didn't summon any Elementals, but i suppose they weren't necessary.
Yethis is proving herself very valuable for the company for interactions with other races. I like her a lot!
I knew the Silver Compass would be useful!
Now, i think Nimbus Plan is the best option.
[] Write-in - Bring the Swordmasters, and you may be able to deal with the threat here and now.
-[] Scout ahead of the Swordmasters invisibly and soundlessly to ensure that the path is unwatched (or to deal with any such watchers), as well as to get a sense of the cause of the magic and its defences before the Swordmasters arrive so that, if necessary, you can order a withdrawal before they catch the attention of anything that might be present there.
-[] Leave the Sea Guard behind (and Eöl with them). They won't be as suited to the thick woods as the Swordmasters, nor as familiar with Chaos' hidden enclaves and what it takes to root them out, and a group of ten will hopefully be quicker and quieter than a group of thirty.
Since Fanriel is scouting ahead, if she sees a enemy that the Swordmasters can't defeat, we can retreat and come back with more troops.
Instead if she is alone, she has less options. And if she is discovered she has no back up.
We didn't summon any Elementals, but i suppose they weren't necessary.
Yethis is proving herself very valuable for the company for interactions with other races. I like her a lot!
I knew the Silver Compass would be useful!
Now, i think Nimbus Plan is the best option.
[] Write-in - Bring the Swordmasters, and you may be able to deal with the threat here and now.
-[] Scout ahead of the Swordmasters invisibly and soundlessly to ensure that the path is unwatched (or to deal with any such watchers), as well as to get a sense of the cause of the magic and its defences before the Swordmasters arrive so that, if necessary, you can order a withdrawal before they catch the attention of anything that might be present there.
-[] Leave the Sea Guard behind (and Eöl with them). They won't be as suited to the thick woods as the Swordmasters, nor as familiar with Chaos' hidden enclaves and what it takes to root them out, and a group of ten will hopefully be quicker and quieter than a group of thirty.
Since Fanriel is scouting ahead, if she sees a enemy that the Swordmasters can't defeat, we can retreat and come back with more troops.
Instead if she is alone, she has less options. And if she is discovered she has no back up.
Imperious
Without the sun of my life
If whatever is there is something we can't take on alone then even with the Swordmasters what ever is there is going to be a difficult fight, of the sort may well get some of them killed. Meanwhile having the Swordmasters with us both makes it far more difficult to commit a quick get away, since they don't have Shadowsteed, and makes the approach much less subtle, since they don't have invisibility like we do.
Even if we find that the force there is too much for us and for whatever elementals we can summon and have to go back to get reinforcements what is the count going to do? Our mission was to get the ogres to bring back some lumber, not take down whatever this is.
Even if we find that the force there is too much for us and for whatever elementals we can summon and have to go back to get reinforcements what is the count going to do? Our mission was to get the ogres to bring back some lumber, not take down whatever this is.
While I hear and understand the 'mission creep' concern, I would note that if we don't solve whatever this is, someone is going to need to come out and solve it in future - that's what the campaign as a whole is for, after all. Said someone will have to make it past the Wolf Riders, who'll be watching the route more closely now that they know people are travelling this way, which means that either a) it'll need to be a force of some strength, like our own detachment, b) it'll need to be a formation stealthy enough to avoid the Wolf Riders' notice, like Scarloc's lot, or c) it'll need to be flyers that can bypass them entirely, like the gryphons. Each would be valuable elsewhere and the Count won't thank us for having to divert them if the problem is something minor that we could have solved in the moment, which bringing the Swordmasters gives us the greatest chance to be able to do.
On the other hand, if it is a threat large enough to require a greater response, I am confident in the Swordmasters' ability to withdraw quickly and quietly through the forest, either before being spotted or, at worst, as a fighting retreat. I wouldn't normally say that about heavy infantry but this is what Elven Grace, ithilmar armour and discipline born of decades of training are all very good for! The Wilds Undisturbed would be similarly useful in this regard - to the point that I almost want to recommend using that spell on the journey there as well and keep Fanriel with the Swordmasters rather than using Ulgu spells to scout ahead. May be worth asking Blackout about it to see whether Fanriel would reckon it would help in avoiding the notice of, say, the Beastmen in the area - certainly leaving no trail at all would be valuable and it's possible that this is a 'use and forget' spell like Silver Compass rather than a sustained spell that would preclude those Ulgu spells.
Edit: Hmm. Consulting Avoiding Dhar 101, it may be possible to use The Wilds Undisturbed alongside Ulgu on the way there without 'crossing the steams' if Fanriel only casts it on the Swordmasters. This would be bending the spell a touch, since it explicitly includes 'you' in the description of what it targets, so I'll leave it as a possibility in the extended version of the write-in until getting clarification from Blackout.
On the other hand, if it is a threat large enough to require a greater response, I am confident in the Swordmasters' ability to withdraw quickly and quietly through the forest, either before being spotted or, at worst, as a fighting retreat. I wouldn't normally say that about heavy infantry but this is what Elven Grace, ithilmar armour and discipline born of decades of training are all very good for! The Wilds Undisturbed would be similarly useful in this regard - to the point that I almost want to recommend using that spell on the journey there as well and keep Fanriel with the Swordmasters rather than using Ulgu spells to scout ahead. May be worth asking Blackout about it to see whether Fanriel would reckon it would help in avoiding the notice of, say, the Beastmen in the area - certainly leaving no trail at all would be valuable and it's possible that this is a 'use and forget' spell like Silver Compass rather than a sustained spell that would preclude those Ulgu spells.
Edit: Hmm. Consulting Avoiding Dhar 101, it may be possible to use The Wilds Undisturbed alongside Ulgu on the way there without 'crossing the steams' if Fanriel only casts it on the Swordmasters. This would be bending the spell a touch, since it explicitly includes 'you' in the description of what it targets, so I'll leave it as a possibility in the extended version of the write-in until getting clarification from Blackout.
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Imperious
Without the sun of my life
Okay, but the count has griffons and has scarloc and has large detachments that can make it past wolf riders. Let him send them at whatever this is if their skills happen to be more suited to taking care of that issue then ours are.
The count gave us a mission to collect lumber, not to confront what ever this is. If he wanted us to take on that kind of mission creep in addition to the lumber then he could have sent with us an appropriate force to deal with it. As is sending Fanriel by herself might still be enough to deal with it between our stealth spells and elementals. We haven't lost our ability to sly marbo things. But if not we can just come back and give the count the intelligence we obtained, in addition to having completed the mission objective.
[X] Go alone, you can slip in and out invisible and soundless with minimal risk.
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As I say, all of those are resources that the Count will be loathe to expend, especially if, in hindsight, we could have resolved it ourselves. We have troops that are good at this kind of thing right now, close to the problem - Fanriel and her Swordmasters - and going with them gives us the best chance either to respond to it or to report confidently that we wouldn't have been able to.
[X] Write-in - Bring the Swordmasters, and you may be able to deal with the threat here and now.
-[X] Scout ahead of the Swordmasters invisibly and soundlessly to ensure that the path is unwatched (or to deal with any such watchers), as well as to get a sense of the cause of the magic and its defences before the Swordmasters arrive so that, if necessary, you can order a withdrawal with the aid of The Wilds Undisturbed before they catch the attention of anything that might be present there.
--[X] Use The Wilds Undisturbed on the Swordmasters on the way, too, if it's possible to avoid creating Dhar by casting it on them but not yourself.
-[X] Leave the Sea Guard behind (and Eöl with them). They won't be as suited to the thick woods as the Swordmasters, nor as familiar with Chaos' hidden enclaves and what it takes to root them out, and a group of ten will hopefully be quicker and quieter than a group of thirty.
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Imperious
Without the sun of my life
Also as a note, the reason why we're obligated to check this out to begin with is because of Dark Curiousity, not necessarily because of some strategic necessity. Gathering intelligence on this is already going above and beyond our mission statement, to the point that with the exception of the Lightfangs none of the troops with us would even agree to come with us to see what this is. If the count wants us to be able to take on this kind of mission creep then it may be behoove him to start sending with us troops that are actually willing to do so.
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Does this version of the plan exclude the part abaout Fanriel scouting with invisibility.
Hopefully not... And, you know, I was going to make a point about avoiding confusion and vote-splitting depending on Blackout's response concerning The Wilds Undisturbed but the gains are sufficiently marginal that I think we can afford to just put the current version of the plan in. My apologies - proper version coming up!
Edit: And done. Slight tweak to include The Wilds Undisturbed on the Swordmasters on the way there if it's possible but Fanriel will still scout ahead with Ulgu whether it's possible or not.
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- Location
- Washington
[X] Go alone, you can slip in and out invisible and soundless with minimal risk.
Frankly as far as our reputation with our employer goes as opposed to "the good of the campaign" would, giving good info about the threat seems to me to be actually BETTER than taking care of it ourselves, because otherwise he's quite possibly just taking our word for how big that fish we caught totally was.1
Frankly as far as our reputation with our employer goes as opposed to "the good of the campaign" would, giving good info about the threat seems to me to be actually BETTER than taking care of it ourselves, because otherwise he's quite possibly just taking our word for how big that fish we caught totally was.1
Sertorius
Rebellious Legate
- Location
- Roma Invicta
[X] Go alone, you can slip in and out invisible and soundless with minimal risk.
Fanriel will prepare orders beforehand for the group, she is not stupid and knows her job. We are not paid nor ordered to check out the source (and the Count won't be as generous as our previous employer if we start smashing skulls needlessly). We do it, because of Fanriel's Dark Curiosity. Therefore I prefer to avoid combat, simply scouting out the thing is enough.
This is a test of our capabilities as a commander and I would prefer not to screw up. If we do well, we might get a bigger command later.
Fanriel will prepare orders beforehand for the group, she is not stupid and knows her job. We are not paid nor ordered to check out the source (and the Count won't be as generous as our previous employer if we start smashing skulls needlessly). We do it, because of Fanriel's Dark Curiosity. Therefore I prefer to avoid combat, simply scouting out the thing is enough.
This is a test of our capabilities as a commander and I would prefer not to screw up. If we do well, we might get a bigger command later.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I will propose an alternative write-in, specifying that the Swordmasters are not there to fight at all, but only to follow our primary scout (Fanriel) and provide a discreet, distant backup.
[] Write-in - Bring the Swordmasters, as bodyguards following the trail of the primary scout (us)
-[] Scout ahead of the Swordmasters invisibly and soundlessly to ensure that the path is unwatched (or to deal with any such watchers), as well as to get a sense of the cause of the magic and its defences before the Swordmasters arrive so that, if necessary, you can order a withdrawal before they catch the attention of anything that might be present there.
-[] The Swordmasters are not there to fight anything, nor are we. They are there to follow our trail. Even if we are jnvisible, we will be inevitably leaving a trail, so let us use it to have them close, at the edge or just out of visual range, in case we get trapped.
-[] Leave the Sea Guard behind (and Eöl with them). They won't be as suited to the thick woods as the Swordmasters, nor as familiar with Chaos' hidden enclaves and what it takes to root them out, and a group of ten will hopefully be quicker and quieter than a group of thirty.
[] Write-in - Bring the Swordmasters, as bodyguards following the trail of the primary scout (us)
-[] Scout ahead of the Swordmasters invisibly and soundlessly to ensure that the path is unwatched (or to deal with any such watchers), as well as to get a sense of the cause of the magic and its defences before the Swordmasters arrive so that, if necessary, you can order a withdrawal before they catch the attention of anything that might be present there.
-[] The Swordmasters are not there to fight anything, nor are we. They are there to follow our trail. Even if we are jnvisible, we will be inevitably leaving a trail, so let us use it to have them close, at the edge or just out of visual range, in case we get trapped.
-[] Leave the Sea Guard behind (and Eöl with them). They won't be as suited to the thick woods as the Swordmasters, nor as familiar with Chaos' hidden enclaves and what it takes to root them out, and a group of ten will hopefully be quicker and quieter than a group of thirty.