Lords of War

[Iandude0]

Here you stand, two weeks before the Vytal tournament is scheduled to start, facing a new challenge

The world around you is encased in a pure darkness meant to keep the outside world from bleeding in. There is silence, though you know that your team is just a room away, waiting nervously to hear the news of this strange new experiment. No smells permeate the space. You cannot taste anything, though you are being fed through a tube inserted into your mouth. The only thing you can do is feel, and even that begins to fail you as the world you knew faded away.

Soon, seconds would blend into minutes, hours into days, and weeks into years. You waited there patiently, eyes drifting to a peaceful close as your mind wandering back to the offer General Ironwood had extended to you all.

A two week test of your leadership capabilities, set in an experimental combat simulator Atlas had been developing. They said it would feel like the same amount of time, but only hours in the 'real' world.

You didn't quite know how close that was to the truth, until a light came into view from the front of you. It wasn't the harsh blue light from a machine like you would have thought, but instead the orange glow of a lantern near the door. Slowly, sounds began to bleed in. The thud of metal against a stone wall, wind passing through the leaves of nearby trees, and the sound of conversation nearby.

You weren't alone. People, guards maybe, were standing near a stone wall behind you. They motioned you on toward the door when you noticed, smiling lazily as they leaned upon spears.

It was enough to begin walking. No reason to keep things waiting, after all! As you moved closer, the smell of smoke and melted wax began to fill your nostrils. The metal know of the door was cool to the touch, the wooden frame creaking as you pushed it open.

The room was well lit, with small alcoves carrying torches to shed light on every crevice. There was a table in the center, with a man sitting on the other side. He was idly fiddling with a small quill before he noticed your shadow playing against the wood. As his eyes met yours, he shook his head.

"Times have been tough if we're letting children have the run of things." He looked up at you with a weary smile. "Still, it can't be helped. I heard you're pretty good. I hope that's true. Things are looking grim out there, and not just because of the monsters coming to kill us."

He seemed to be waiting for a response, but your confusion was clear enough. The man shook his head, muttering softly.

"The colonial board is worried war's on the horizon, and they want people in charge of the settlements in contested areas." He sighed. "Even if they're wrong, tensions are attracting the Grimm. The last few attacks left quite a few spots open for rising stars to take the reins and guide things back to normal. Mistral and Vale have been pretty keen on poaching talent for these ventures, and they're contracting me to find them. You just might have the skills required to keep one of these places afloat."

He punctuated that statement by pulling out a sheaf of papers, which he handed to you. He set the quill down into an inkwell near his fingers, and slid it towards you.

"Once you sign off, we'll get a transport set to carry you to the settlement. If you need some time to look the contract over, feel free. This is a pretty big commitment, after all."

Right, well, guess you should do that. It would be best to know who you would be interacting with.

Select your benefactor. (On moratorium for 48 hours)

[LOCKED] [Nation] The Kingdom of Vale
+ Local Military forces
+ Natives to the Area
- Heavy Oversight

[LOCKED] [Nation] The Mistrali Empire
+ Imperial Coffers
+ Ties to Mantle
- Distant Overlords

Yeah, that one would work. Next, of course, would be the type of settlement you were supposed to run.

Select your settlement type. (On moratorium for 48 hours, see A/N at the bottom)

[LOCKED] [Settlement] A Logging Town
+ Forester traditions
+ Cheap Materials
- Not Self Sufficient
- Isolated Community

[LOCKED] [Settlement] A Farming Community
+ Fully Self-Sufficient
+ Ranch tenders
- Grazing grounds needed
- One of Hundreds

[LOCKED] [Settlement] A Fishing Village
+ Seafaring Capabilities
+ Walled Settlement
- Close to Conflict
- Two Fronts

[LOCKED] [Settlement] A Military Outpost – VALE ONLY
+ Army Presence
+ Fortress Base
- Designated protectors
- Short Leash

[LOCKED] [Settlement] A Mining Post – VALE ONLY
+ Dust access
+ Far from Conflict
- High Value target
- Production Quotas

[LOCKED] [Settlement] A Trading Port – MISTRAL ONLY
+ Far from conflict
+ Naval Power
- Cutthroat business
- Northern Oversight

[] [Settlement] A Bandit Clan – MISTRAL ONLY
+ Paid Mercenaries
+ Hidden Lair
- Hunted by man and beast
- Tolerated at best

And now, all you needed to do was sign your name.

Select your player

[] [PC] Jaune Arc
Strategic Aptitude
Lied his way into Beacon

[] [PC] Ruby Rose
Leads by example
Generally straightforward

[] [PC] Penny Polendina
Combat Ready!
Trained for battle and nothing else.

[] [PC] Sun Wukong
Love-able Scoundrel
Unreliable Ruffian

A/N: Good to be back, after a while of developing this spiritual remake/successor behind the scenes. This takes place in the lead up to the great war in RWBY. Once again, I'm splitting this between SB and SV. As such, to facilitate character generation, I am allowing one half to vote on PC first, and the other to vote on starting position. You are doing the former first, and there is a 48 hours wait before the first half closes and the other opens.

 

[Iandude0]

Penny Polendina
Age: 17 (?)

Spoiler: Penny

Personal skills
Combat: 4
Tactics: 2
Guile: 0
Charisma: 0

Leadership skills
Military: 0
Logistics: 2
Espionage: 0
Diplomacy: 0

Unique resources
Reputation: Vale- 1 While you are new to the post, you did manage to successfully repel a decently sized horde of Grimm without too much difficulty.

 

[Iandude0]

Part one of the vote is now closed. Penny has been selected as the MC for SV. Sensational!

Now, then, to the second part of the vote. Time to determine what type of colony you are!

You guys also have half an hour or so to determine what 3 OoC questions you want me to answer.

Select your benefactor.

[ ] [Nation] The Kingdom of Vale
+ Local Military forces
+ Natives to the Area
- Heavy Oversight

Spoiler: Valean Penny

[ ] [Nation] The Mistrali Empire
+ Imperial Coffers
+ Ties to Mantle
- Distant Overlords

Spoiler: Mistrali Penny

Select your settlement type.

[ ] [Settlement] A Logging Town
+ Forester traditions
+ Cheap Materials
- Not Self Sufficient
- Isolated Community

[ ] [Settlement] A Farming Community
+ Fully Self-Sufficient
+ Ranch tenders
- Grazing grounds needed
- One of Hundreds

[ ] [Settlement] A Fishing Village
+ Seafaring Capabilities
+ Walled Settlement
- Close to Conflict
- Two Fronts

[ ] [Settlement] A Military Outpost – VALE ONLY
+ Army Presence
+ Fortress Base
- Designated protectors
- Short Leash

[ ] [Settlement] A Mining Post – VALE ONLY
+ Dust access
+ Far from Conflict
- High Value target
- Production Quotas

[ ] [Settlement] A Trading Port – MISTRAL ONLY
+ Far from conflict
+ Naval Power
- Cutthroat business
- Northern Oversight

[TAKEN] [Settlement] A Bandit Clan – MISTRAL ONLY
+ Paid Mercenaries
+ Hidden Lair
- Hunted by man and beast
- Tolerated at best


Vote Tally : Lords of War | Sufficient Velocity [Posts: 5-54]
##### NetTally 3.1.0

Task: PC

[X][PC] Penny Polendina
No. of Votes: 14

Spoiler: Voters

[X] cheesyme
[X] Adventwolf
[X] Burn-The-Candle
[X] Chronobreak
[X] Gaminglord99
[X] giodan
[X] Hikari
[X] kadehex
[X] Neo-Chan
[X] Nox
[X] Random Member
[X] ReaperOfShadows
[X] Sir LagsAlot
[X] Yzarc

[X][PC] Ruby Rose
No. of Votes: 10

Spoiler: Voters

[x] SailorOfMyVessel
[x] Darik29
[x] darkgamer
[x] kellanved
[x] King Ofheros
[x] Lightning_Strife
[x] lockdownspartan
[x] OneirosTheWriter
[x] Sangn123
[x] Yun

[X][PC] Jaune Arc
No. of Votes: 3

Spoiler: Voters

[X] TmDagger
[X] rex754
[X] Warper6

[X][PC] Sun Wukong
No. of Votes: 3

Spoiler: Voters

[X] Theaxofwar
[X] Blonddude42
[X] Valerian

Total No. of Voters: 30

 

[Iandude0]

It was really wonderful, this simulation. While General Ironwood had been a little hesitant to let you in for the test run of the machine, you'd managed to sway him by asking really, really nicely. Everything felt so fresh and new, but it was tainted with the bitter feeling that it would all be going away soon.

It was nice to have a normal body, for however long that lasted. Getting back to Beacon would be nice, though. You'd be able to tell your friends about everything that had happened! You could even point to everything in the cafeteria that you now knew the taste of! There was so much more to learn, though, so you'd use what little time you had left to try whatever was in the Fort's mess.

It was something called pan-cakes this morning. While you weren't sure why the men were trying to turn the dark iron skillets into edible cakes, they promised to be delicious. Someone even commented that a small shipment of sap from the forests of forever fall had come in, as a reward for fending off the attacks for two week straight!

You'd done a fair bit of work there too, so it was only fair that you got to taste these wonderful new things with your new friends! A last meal as the seconds ticked down.

By your calculations, though, it should have ended a few hours ago.

The call of birds outside and the clanking of steel boots on the ground remained. Maybe something had gone wrong, and you were going to remain here, experiencing new things for a little longer?

You couldn't complain about that. Maybe you'd even be able to find Ruby. She was in here too, and you could share some of the fun experiences with her!

Oh, that was a most excellent idea.

Soldiers saluted as you skipped your way to the fort's kitchen. They were all really nice people, even if you weren't sure they fully trusted you yet. You could understand it, you'd really only been made a leader of anything a month ago when the General wanted to show the world how ready you were.

The last few weeks had been very enlightening on that. While it was nice to have a human body, the computers running the thing decided to change up your weapons. Instead of the backpack your father had made for you to fight with, you'd been given a pair of blades with wind dust strings extending from the hilts to gauntlets on your arms.

It hadn't been too difficult to learn how to use them, even though the first few attempts were a little stressful. You weren't back to full fighting capabilities without your normal gear, but you could make do.

Especially when there were still reports of Grimm attacks on the outlying settlements. If this was going to keep up, you'd need to start dealing with them soon. That would mean meeting with the commanders and seeing what you could do to help your fellow humans.

...But that could wait until after breakfast. You were hungry, and that meant food needed to be eaten!

Community Overview.

Defense modifier: 15. You currently reside within one of the most well-fortified areas in the colonies of Eastern Sanus. Even if the garrison has taken a little bit of a beating over the past few weeks, they're still standing strong. Now you need to focus on the rest of the area. - Any units not assigned will add to defenses in case of a Grimm attack.

Income: N/A. You do not earn any money here, as a fortified position directly related to and paid for by Vale. The soldiers make their money, and spend it on themselves. There's probably not a good way to actually make money here legally, though you wouldn't need it.

Supplies: N/A. Vale will grant any reasonable request you make as one of the perks of being a military base for the country. So long as your requests fall within whatever their definition of reasonable is.The downside of being a military base for a country.

Morale: 6/10. The men are tired, but currently determined. They pushed back the grimm well during the attacks, and now their gaze lies outward. The men are ready to start pushing back out, and are just waiting for your word.

Food situation: Starvation/Hungry/Rationed/Normal/Surplus/Bountiful (moves 0 steps down a turn). You are supplied by Vale, directly from a fortified mountain pass. Your food stocks are prepared for a small siege, or disruption of supplies for whatever reason. Nothing to worry about for now, but it is something to keep in mind.

Military Overview.

Valean Infantry 1 - Status: Fresh (0), Uninjured (0). Quality: 15 Special Traits: None.

Valean Infantry 2 - Status: Fresh (0), Uninjured (0). Quality: 15 Special Traits: None.

Valean Garrison - Status: Tired (-5), Uninjured (0). Quality: 15 Special Traits: Garrison Unit (gains +5 fighting defensively, changes to +15 when fighting in a fortified location, but gains -10 when fighting offensively.)

Votes- PLAN FORMAT ONLY, 24 HOUR MORATORIUM

Village Actions (2 available): The spring is looking to be a calmer than the last few weeks have been. Even if this is ending soon, there is no reason not to try helping the people here. It is your job, after all!

[ ] Patrol the Immediate Area- While Grimm attacks should be lower over the next stretch, that doesn't mean they'll stop entirely. There are likely some undiscovered groups around the area, and they'll hurt people unless you manage to deal with them. Military roll, DC 20
-[ ] Designate which units you'll send on the mission.

[ ] Canvass for threats- While you are poised to receive information about new enemies as soon as they arrive, sometimes that just isn't good enough to save people. Send out search parties, and try to keep tensions low while you do it. Espionage roll, DC variable.
-[ ] Near the base- Everything close to you is an issue, and needs to be dealt with swiftly! Even if you don't find anything, knowing that is half the battle!
-[ ] Outlying Farmlands- People North of the fort are ones who provide food for the soldiers, and are very nice people! Keep an eye out to make sure they're safe.
-[ ] Nearby Forests- There have been reports of hostile activity out there, so it'd be good to do some investigating once everything nearby is sorted out!

[ ] Reaching out- While there are a handful of other forts around the mountains, you don't actually know who runs them and how they view you. Send some of your people to make contact and, hopefully, make some new friends! Diplomacy roll, DC 30

[ ] Drill the Troops- Your soldiers could use a bit more training. They're already rather good, but every little bit they improve is another step in keeping people safe. Military roll, Progress Variable
-[ ] Designate which units you'll have training. Max 2

Personal Overview

Penny Polendina
Age: 17 (?)

Spoiler: Penny

Personal skills
Combat: 4
Tactics: 2
Guile: 0
Charisma: 0

Leadership skills
Military: 0
Logistics: 2
Espionage: 0
Diplomacy: 0

Unique resources
Reputation: Vale- 1 While you are new to the post, you did manage to successfully repel a decently sized horde of Grimm without too much difficulty.

Personal Actions (1 Available): You may not have a long time in this body, but it will be a spectacular one! With the free time you have, there are so many things for you to try! Maybe you'll even be able to make some new friends!

[ ] Train- Nothing is better for testing the limits of your new body than learning new things!
-[ ] Combat- You're combat ready, but you could be more combat ready! 0/100 Progress
-[ ] Charisma- If you can learn to talk around the soldiers better, you might be able to make new friends! 0/20 Progress
-[ ] Tactics- Drilling the soldiers in new scenarios might not help them as much as it helps you, but that might be good enough! 0/60 Progress
-[ ] Guile- Learning fun new things is great, but why do you keep hiccuping when you say certain things? 0/20 progress

[ ] Personal Intervention- Hey, some things you need to do can only be completed by you! Adds (d20+the relevant stat)/2 to the action you choose, chance for leadership improvement.

[ ] The search for new friends!- If this simulation is going on for longer than the General had told anyone, then maybe it would be a good time to start looking for some of the other students. They'll probably be as excited about this sensational experience as you are!
-[ ] Ask around the forts- If you are lucky, one of the other players got assigned to the same job you did! Ask around to see if that is true.
-[ ] Look around the local area- While it isn't likely in the immediate area around you, the mountains might still hold another player.
-[ ] Look for Ruby, specifically- Searching for random people sounds good and all, but nothing beats knowing your best friend is here! Keep from looking for anyone but her!

A/N: On a small note for mechanics- Personal actions use a d20, and Village ones use a d100.

More importantly, though, is that I am enforcing separation between the two threads. While you might, or might not, have intended it, the current starts are diametrically opposed, and thus likely to run into each other at some point. As such, I ask that you keep current on one quest, and leave the other an update behind for the fairness of the game.

It is mainly a gentlemen's agreement, but know that anyone trying to skirt around the edges of decency here by using knowledge from the other thread to guess the opponent's moves will be immediately threadbanned from both sides and the discord if caught.

 

[Iandude0]

You were starting to suspect something less than good had happened to the experiment. You'd been planning to do things for an entire season, since that was what they men wanted, but you didn't actually expect to be around there for months. Then again, the contract you signed did say you would be leading the Outpost here for fourteen years, and the sim was meant to last fourteen days.

Maybe one of the scientists had made an error in the coding? Regardless, it was a lot longer than you had anticipated.

Not that it was a problem! You didn't want to sound ungrateful about being able to be a real girl for longer than expected. You'd been able to try so many new things, and the men seemed to like you. It only took planning some extensive patrol routes around the fort such that most local grimm had been either killed or driven away, but it was progress!

Some of them had even tried teaching you fun new games, like a thing called poker. It was not the thing that shifted around logs in a fire, but instead some sort of card game! You played by betting chips on what card you received, and trying to outwit the other players to figure out what they had.

You were decent at it. Much of the time was spent trying to figure out what other players had, and though you could figure out what cards remained in the deck, you never really understood how the soldiers managed to trick you into thinking what they possessed was different.

There was another truly splendid development. You had managed to get word around the majority of the other military outposts, to at least let them know who you were. The string of forts ran up along the mountains that lead to Vale.

These fortifications, 5 in total, guarded various passes into Vale's heartland. You controlled the Southern and Eastern most one, near where a lot of Mistrali and Valean colonies were. As you continued along, each of the leaders seemed cordial to talk with you, if somewhat distant.

The real change was when you went to the last of them, up in the position most north and west from you. It was led by another student! His name was Cardin, and he seemed nice.

You didn't get much time to speak with him, the trip had taken a good while and you were needed back at the fort, but you did get a few days of interaction with the man. He was a very different person from Ruby, and seemed impressed by the fact that your men had managed to be so efficient. He said he was busy training them himself, though you did not see him try drilling the troops for the few days you were there.

He did seem to enjoy playing this poker with you, though he mentioned you were not a very good player. Despite that, he seemed to smile a lot as you interacted. If anything, he seemed relieved to have company, and invited you to come around again when you felt like it.

Maybe you'd take him up on it.

Spoiler: turn results

[x] Patrol the Immediate Area- While Grimm attacks should be lower over the next stretch, that doesn't mean they'll stop entirely. There are likely some undiscovered groups around the area, and they'll hurt people unless you manage to deal with them. Military roll, DC 20
--[X] Valean Infantry 1
-d100+15 (Valean Infantry)=106 You men came out from their extended siege, and proceeded to murder basically any grimm around the few outlying villages. You'd left the planning mostly to them, given you had a trip to plan, but came back without any disappointment! Grimm presence in the area is now negligible, and will likely remain so for a few months. Moreover, the soldiers are glad to help the people. +1 Morale, +1 Reputation with Vale
...However, the unit sent is now tired (-5).

[x] Reaching out- While there are a handful of other forts around the mountains, you don't actually know who runs them and how they view you. Send some of your people to make contact and, hopefully, make some new friends! Diplomacy roll, DC 30
-d100=34 It isn't anything exciting, but you have officially managed to make your way through the mountains' fort chain. You have basic information on them, and can now establish more substantial ties with the others.

-[X] The search for new friends!- If this simulation is going on for longer than the General had told anyone, then maybe it would be a good time to start looking for some of the other students. They'll probably be as excited about this sensational experience as you are!
--[X] Ask around the forts- If you are lucky, one of the other players got assigned to the same job you did! Ask around to see if that is true.
-You have met Cardin, leader of the northernmost fort. Relations with him are established and positive, opportunities to expand in interactions with him unlocked, 5/20 Progress on Charisma.

Village Actions (2 available): The summer is coming, and with the area around you clear it might help to search for new threats, or train the men more.

[ ] Patrol the Immediate Area- Though the area is clear, nothing is more necessary than due diligence when dealing with the Grimm. Even if they're gone, you can make sure they stay gone for a little longer. Military roll, DC 10
-[ ] Designate which units you'll send on the mission.

[ ] Mapping it all out- You have established contact with the other forts in the Mountains. While nominally you are independent of each other, a closer working relationship would truly help everyone involved. It would be a good start to pitch the idea of joint patrols to them, but you don't have functional knowledge of how to cover the mountains! You wouldn't want to put this forward without fixing that! Logistics roll, 0/150 Progress

[ ] Canvass for threats- While you are poised to receive information about new enemies as soon as they arrive, sometimes that just isn't good enough to save people. Send out search parties, and try to keep tensions low while you do it. Espionage roll, DC variable.
-[ ] Near the base- Even with the clear threats dealt with, there are always more problems on the horizon. Make sure you know what is coming before it arrives.
-[ ] Outlying Farmlands- People North of the fort are ones who provide food for the soldiers, and are very nice people! Keep an eye out to make sure they're safe.
-[ ] Nearby Forests- There have been reports of hostile activity out there, so it'd be good to do some investigating once everything nearby is sorted out!

[ ] Drill the Troops- Your soldiers could use a bit more training. They're already rather good, but every little bit they improve is another step in keeping people safe. Military roll, Progress Variable
-[ ] Designate which units you'll have training. Max 2

Personal Actions (1 Available): While it is concerning that you are going to be stuck here for a while, you trust the General knows how to get you out once it is apparent something is wrong. Until that happens, you should take some time to enjoy life to the fullest!

[ ] Train- Nothing is better for testing the limits of your new body than learning new things!
-[ ] Combat- You're combat ready, but you could be more combat ready! 0/100 Progress
-[ ] Charisma- If you can learn to talk around the soldiers better, you might be able to make new friends! 6/20 Progress
-[ ] Tactics- Drilling the soldiers in new scenarios might not help them as much as it helps you, but that might be good enough! 0/60 Progress
-[ ] Guile- Learning fun new things is great, but why do you keep hiccuping when you say certain things? 0/20 progress

[ ] Just normal girl things- You now have a new friend! While you do not know much about him, he was a generous host. You should reciprocate by inviting your new friend over to your home, and have some fun!

[ ] Personal Intervention- Hey, some things you need to do can only be completed by you! Adds (d20+the relevant stat)/2 to the action you choose, chance for leadership improvement.

[ ] The search for new friends!- While Cardin is nice, and you certainly are glad to have a new friend, you could always look for more of the students to talk with. After all, if your presence could help them, there is no reason not to reach out!
-[ ] Look around the local area- While it isn't likely in the immediate area around you, the mountains might still hold another player.
-[ ] Check the Farmlands- If anyone was set to defend a position for the general's sim, then it is likely one of the farming communities holds another student. Searching there might yield results.
-[ ] Navigate the Forests- The Woods in Eastern Sanus are dense and filled with many isolated settlements. Maybe a new friend awaits there?
-[ ] Look for Ruby, specifically- Searching for random people sounds good and all, but nothing beats knowing your best friend is here! Keep from looking for anyone but her!

A/N: 24 Moratorium is still in effect.