Si Deus Nobiscum: A Polish-Lithuanian Scion Quest
- Thread starter Rolman
- Start date
- Mature Historic
- Location
- Your pantry
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] No.
the vote is about his belief about the necessity of war.
I think that's a fairly simple choice.
[X] An inside hire, from the ranks of the family's sworn men.
I'm somewhat undecided on the last option, since I have no clue.
the vote is about his belief about the necessity of war.
I think that's a fairly simple choice.
[X] An inside hire, from the ranks of the family's sworn men.
I'm somewhat undecided on the last option, since I have no clue.
Sertorius on the Family's Army
Sertorius
Rebellious Legate
- Location
- Roma Invicta
[X] Yes.
[X] An outside hire, specifically a mercenary captain.
[X] Trying to make the lordlings neutral again.
Nice update.
The premise of the first question is that some wars are justified and when given no choice (like during an invasion) one has to fight to defend his lands, his home and his family. Only the Arians (Polish Brothers, extremists that broke off from Calvinism) opposed all wars, even defensive ones, the rest was absolutely fine with defense. Fighting the French or Imperials as of now is a doomed venture. Lets stir the waters a bit and see what will happen, taking away the lordlings will leave them open to anyone for grabs later on.
We are a Radziwiłł. We do not need outside help. We have whole regiments, whole private armies merely waiting for our next command and one word would be enough for our dad to give us as many men as we need to lead our own force. We have German, Scottish, Swedish, French, Polish, Lithuanian, Spanish and whatnot officers by the dozens in our employ and finding one to be our second should be an easy task to accomplish. Indeed, there was a tradition, that many regiments were only nominally commanded by their high-born Colonels, when in reality those were purely ceremonial functions and the regiment was lead instead by a competent professional Lieutenant Colonel. While this became massive a bit later, it existed as well during these times.
Fun fact: The Dubinki line maintained a purely Scottish Guard Regiment in later years to protect their residence and Scots were abundant in their private lands. One of the biggest concentrations of Highlanders and Lowlanders in the whole Commonwealth served the Radziwiłłs and gave them plenty of recruits.
One more thing: when it comes to addressing us, there is the important matter of offices, that we will surely gain one day. A proper (and neutral) way of naming would be Prince [insert office]. So for example, Prince Cup-bearer, Prince Marshal, Prince Voivode, Prince Hetman, etc. You do not use this when addressing the man himself however, only when talking about him in third person (and without him present). For instance: I heard that the Prince Hetman (instead of Krzysztof) will lead a new expedition to Muscovy next year.
[X] An outside hire, specifically a mercenary captain.
[X] Trying to make the lordlings neutral again.
Nice update.
The premise of the first question is that some wars are justified and when given no choice (like during an invasion) one has to fight to defend his lands, his home and his family. Only the Arians (Polish Brothers, extremists that broke off from Calvinism) opposed all wars, even defensive ones, the rest was absolutely fine with defense. Fighting the French or Imperials as of now is a doomed venture. Lets stir the waters a bit and see what will happen, taking away the lordlings will leave them open to anyone for grabs later on.
We are a Radziwiłł. We do not need outside help. We have whole regiments, whole private armies merely waiting for our next command and one word would be enough for our dad to give us as many men as we need to lead our own force. We have German, Scottish, Swedish, French, Polish, Lithuanian, Spanish and whatnot officers by the dozens in our employ and finding one to be our second should be an easy task to accomplish. Indeed, there was a tradition, that many regiments were only nominally commanded by their high-born Colonels, when in reality those were purely ceremonial functions and the regiment was lead instead by a competent professional Lieutenant Colonel. While this became massive a bit later, it existed as well during these times.
Fun fact: The Dubinki line maintained a purely Scottish Guard Regiment in later years to protect their residence and Scots were abundant in their private lands. One of the biggest concentrations of Highlanders and Lowlanders in the whole Commonwealth served the Radziwiłłs and gave them plenty of recruits.
One more thing: when it comes to addressing us, there is the important matter of offices, that we will surely gain one day. A proper (and neutral) way of naming would be Prince [insert office]. So for example, Prince Cup-bearer, Prince Marshal, Prince Voivode, Prince Hetman, etc. You do not use this when addressing the man himself however, only when talking about him in third person (and without him present). For instance: I heard that the Prince Hetman (instead of Krzysztof) will lead a new expedition to Muscovy next year.
Last edited:
- Location
- United States
Thank you for the styling guidance! respect is key, after all, and it's the little details that bring a setting to life.
Last edited:
Regarding Private Armies and Recruiting a Second-in-Command (vote-relevant!)
- Location
- United States
Also, in light of my oversight, people may now want to consider the three options to all be "inside hires," but rather, respectively, the following:
- An "obvious candidate" -- someone of good Litwin stock, middle or high-ranking already
- A lower-ranking man of great aptitude, being raised above his station
- A foreign mercenary already in the long-term employment of the family
Sertorius
Rebellious Legate
- Location
- Roma Invicta
Cool!
It may seem strange, but the magnates really had private armies in their employ, some of them more numerous than the regulars of the King. Usually it was a couple of hundred men or 1-2 thousand tops, especially in the border regions of Ukraine, with the constant fear of Tatar raids and Cossack binges. Of course in times of war these forces ballooned many times over, but always within the limits of a couple of thousand. There is only so much a private individual could muster, even a rich one.
- Location
- United States
[X] Yes.
[X] An outside hire, specifically a mercenary captain.
[X] Trying to make the lordlings neutral again.
[X] An outside hire, specifically a mercenary captain.
[X] Trying to make the lordlings neutral again.
- Location
- United States
I certainly knew they had private armies and warred against each other and even against the Crown (though normally never extending past saber-rattling, yes?) but not to the extent of being larger than the Royal force! Good to know and thanks as always.
A Rokosz Rundown
Sertorius
Rebellious Legate
- Location
- Roma Invicta
Not necessarily...
Some Confederations turned into a Rokosz (a sort-of-legal armed rebellion against the King) and if a member was somebody with his own private forces behind him, then he surely would have been a leading member with his army. Examples are Zebrzydowski's Rebellion (Mikołaj Zebrzydowski was a powerful magnate and office holder in the Crown, one of the leading members was Prince Janusz Radziwiłł as well) and Lubomirski's Rebellion (by Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski, hero of the Deluge, when the Commonwealth was overrun by foreign powers). Zebrzydowski was defeated, while Lubomirski trashed the royal forces (and shown no quarter to his brothers in arms from the previous disastrous wars) and forever sullied his glorious reputation with this act of defiance.
On a more bright side, the very first Rokosz was called the Chicken War (from 1537), because no blood was spilled and it ended peacefully. The only casualties were the chickens in the vicinity of Lwów, were it was organized, which have been brutally massacred by the hungry insurgents.
The only standing force in the Commonwealth is the Quarter Army. Organized in 1563 and called that because a quarter of the money gained from the royal lands in the Crown (and only royal lands, private ones were not taxed, mostly) was designated to pay for such a force. The nobles, like it was already said, did not like to tax themselves and were highly skeptical about letting the King have a large standing army so as to not tempt him to use said troops to rid the nobility of their privileges by force. The Quarter Army counted anything from 1 to 6 thousand troops and was used to garrison fortresses in the East and North, but the majority guarded Ukraine against Tatar raids. There was also a regiment of the Royal Guard, paid for and organized by the King, but it was a small troop for his personal protection.
Last edited:
Astra Myst
Do you want a wish?
- Location
- Milky Way Galaxy
[X] Maybe this'll be different.
[X] An outside hire, specifically a mercenary captain.
[X] Attempting to convince Firlej of the Imperial camp's good intentions.
[X] An outside hire, specifically a mercenary captain.
[X] Attempting to convince Firlej of the Imperial camp's good intentions.
- Pronouns
- He
[X] Maybe this'll be different.
[X] An outside hire, specifically a mercenary captain.
[X] Attempting to convince Firlej of the Imperial camp's good intentions.
[X] An outside hire, specifically a mercenary captain.
[X] Attempting to convince Firlej of the Imperial camp's good intentions.
Thanks for the historical context, @Sertorius!
[X] Maybe this'll be different.
[X] An outside hire, specifically a mercenary captain.
[X] Trying to make the lordlings neutral again.
[X] Maybe this'll be different.
[X] An outside hire, specifically a mercenary captain.
[X] Trying to make the lordlings neutral again.
[X] Yes
[X] An inside hire, from the ranks of the family's sworn men.
[X] Meeting with the Archbishop-Primate, the Interrex Jakub Uchański.
Rolman, I appreciate you for running this quest covering an oft overlooked country and historical period.
I sincerely think your quest deserves more attention.
[X] An inside hire, from the ranks of the family's sworn men.
[X] Meeting with the Archbishop-Primate, the Interrex Jakub Uchański.
Rolman, I appreciate you for running this quest covering an oft overlooked country and historical period.
I sincerely think your quest deserves more attention.
I am loving the quest! After a time lurking I've finally decided to make an account and participate with all you lovely folks!
[X] Yes
[X] Lower ranking man of great aptitude (meritocracy ftw!)
[X] Try to make lordlings neutral again
[X] Yes
[X] Lower ranking man of great aptitude (meritocracy ftw!)
[X] Try to make lordlings neutral again
PureEvilProbably
The corruptest of them all!
- Location
- Archbishopric of Cologne, Holy Roman Empire
[x] [] Yes.
[x] [] An outside hire, specifically a mercenary captain.
[x] [] Meeting with the Archbishop-Primate, the Interrex Jakub Uchański.
[x] [] An outside hire, specifically a mercenary captain.
[x] [] Meeting with the Archbishop-Primate, the Interrex Jakub Uchański.
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/They
[X] Yes.
[X] An inside hire, from the ranks of the family's sworn men.
[X] Trying to make the lordlings neutral again.
[X] An inside hire, from the ranks of the family's sworn men.
[X] Trying to make the lordlings neutral again.
Solarstream
It's all in the cards
- Location
- Zombie World
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Maybe this'll be different.
[X] An outside hire, specifically a mercenary captain.
[X] Trying to make the lordlings neutral again.
[X] An outside hire, specifically a mercenary captain.
[X] Trying to make the lordlings neutral again.
- Location
- United States
The Ostrogska story is well in-progress, but since I realized I'd like to have a choice-relevant conversation between you, Pops, and Septimus, I will hereby announce the close of voting in 24 hours! Sorry for the wishy-washiness regarding a due date. And take care, voters -- it's a close race this time!