@BoneyM Some pedantic questions- with what we can roughly call the "constitution" of Stirland missing, how are we recruiting the condottieri/retainers/gentlemen officers who go out and gather regiments in our name? If we're keeping quiet how hollowed out our army is, and if each lord only sees their cut and the grand edifice like with our "bluff and pray" tax system, then doesn't it look like we're outfitting an expansion from the 40,000, building for a campaign of some sort? If so, which should we be more afraid of, a preemptive strike from the Von Carsteins, or the ravenous hoard of cavaliers and irregulars cut from the same cloth as the corrupt 'ghost' soldiers?
@BoneyM Some pedantic questions- with what we can roughly call the "constitution" of Stirland missing, how are we recruiting the condottieri/retainers/gentlemen officers who go out and gather regiments in our name? If we're keeping quiet how hollowed out our army is, and if each lord only sees their cut and the grand edifice like with our "bluff and pray" tax system, then doesn't it look like we're outfitting an expansion from the 40,000, building for a campaign of some sort?
It could be seen as such, yes. Van Hal has been quite open with the fact that his priority is reinforcing the Sylvanian border, he's just been quiet about the fact that the point that he's reinforcing from is an army missing a solid third of it's numbers. Whether he's believed is an interesting question.
Every known Von Carstein has been, for lack of a better term, dead for at least three hundred years. (and the resurrection of Mannfred is still 34 years away as per the original timeline, and don't count on it happening on schedule or even at all)
Sylvania is still a haunted pit of necromancers, undead, ghouls and vampires, but it's been blessedly lacking in that particular breed of vampire for a dozen generations.
A genuine concern, certainly. Hopefully Professor de Verezzo is able to handle any such problems that arise.
Adhoc vote count started by BoneyM on Jan 25, 2018 at 5:18 AM, finished with 44 posts and 8 votes.
[X] Plan Grabbing the necessary
-[X] Self-Improvement: Things have been going well so far, but the skills of a Journeyman Grey Mage can only go so far.
--[X] Combat Training: You're virtually surrounded by armed warriors of various sorts. See if you can convince one to teach you (choose who).
---[X] The Greatswords guarding the castle
-[X] As Per Orders: Perform your current assignment.
--[X] It'd be best all around if von Stolpe just quietly disappeared one night. Attempt to abduct him by stealth.
---[X] Ranald's Blessing on the abduction
--[X] You've also been asked to grab von Stolpe's heir. Ask him nicely, but don't take no for an answer.
-[X] Playing at General: Using and abusing the authority to order troops
--[X] Have some riders on standby to help restrain and escort the von Stolpes' home reduces the risk of an accident or escape along the way
-[X] Backtracking and Side Operations:
--[X] Before you head off to pester von Stolpe, Van Hal has invited you to come along to the Mound. While probably dangerous, it is an excellent chance to make a good impression, and gives you the opportunity to see what is found before a few dozen soldiers tramp through it.
-[X] Home Comforts: Your Palace-Shrine is bursting with potential. And also mud.
--[X] Good Neighbours: The previous owner of the 'shack' is the Innkeeper for the den of iniquity you share a wall with. Recruiting her would give you an information pipeline and an early warning system.
--[X] Castle Doctrine: You don't want just anyone wandering in. Set up locks and fortify the entrances.
-[X] Ask for a regular discretionary budget (moderate difficulty, success will be more expected of you)
He also takes great pleasure in describing the adventures he and Van Hal got up to in penetrating and scourging walled-up chambers found in de Verezzo's charting of the castle. It seems that unlike any proper castle where the secret passages lead to hidden caches of treasures and artwork and the private hideaways of attractive nobles, Eagle Castle's passages contain only horrible creatures that hunger for the flesh of the living.
Professor de Verezzo's mapping of the castle went as well as could be expected, as several more hidden chambers were found and cleared. He reports that he wasn't able to penetrate below the first floor of the dungeon - one stairway down was caved in and a second was flooded.
So the only parts of the castle not mapped and cleared are the subbasement and the East Wing.
Since we've got universal agreement on the plan, I'm closing voting early and beginning writing now.
On the one hand, the flamberge would appeal to her adventure stories reader inner child who has guided her in the search of hidden chambers and the like.
On the other hand, straight edge appears more no-nonsense and professional
... although really, spymaster should learn daggers and short swords. what kind of sneaky spymaster uses a greatsword?
[X] Plan Grabbing the necessary
-[X] Self-Improvement: Things have been going well so far, but the skills of a Journeyman Grey Mage can only go so far.
--[X] Combat Training: You're virtually surrounded by armed warriors of various sorts. See if you can convince one to teach you (choose who).
---[X] The Greatswords guarding the castle
If you wanted the Brave and headstrong girl who's read way too many questionable novels to learn to dagger, that should have been specified before you pointed her at the Greatswords. She's waving around a sword bigger than she is now.
If you wanted the Brave and headstrong girl who's read way too many questionable novels to learn to dagger, that should have been specified before you pointed her at the Greatswords. She's waving around a sword bigger than she is now.
Greatswords sword with great swords, as can be expected. Gandal- err.. the Grey Order has a thing with swords anyhow.
Let's go for a Flamberge because even though it isn't as practical as a regular greatsword, what would the knights from our adventure novels wield?!
Another sexy piece of sword is the Kriegsmesser (hey, it's called a knife, so we technically won't be lying if we say we're a knife-wielding spymaster), we could perhaps have one commissioned at some point.
Huh. Well I don't know if greats words are the most practical weapons for a wizard/spymaster, but I guess using weapons with longer range does make a lot of sense when your main opponent is a magic snake against whom you'd rather Keep your distance.
I wonder if we could find a way to combine our greatsword with a wizard staff somehow. Perhaps we could commission a really big sword-cane where the sword somehow is hidden inside the staff? That sounds Spymastery as shit.
the issue is that we have pretty low martial atm and it should be trainable atleast to 12ish pretty easily as a stat?
we can maybe then train for another weapon after we get good enough ? (sword training was done with heavier stuff with romans so that they could use their real weapons better for example)
Personally, I'm fine with our lady learning how to use Greatswords - sure, she may never become a Master of it, but its good to know if say we're one of the few left alive, our primary weapon is broken, and a fallen Greatsword's...Greatsword is all we got left to use.
Considering how much we're hanging around w/Greatswords, it also develops their relationship with us, and they'll probably consider it a mild complement that the Spymaster of all people wants professional fighting lessons from them. We can exploit said developed relationships in the future.
However, I do agree with everybody else that a Greatsword is kinda...too big for us, and possibly difficult to wield under many circumstances a normal Spymaster might find herself in (ie tight corridors, alleys, narrow confines in general).
I prefer that we should have two primary weapons:
This should be our normal, everyday sword. Rapiers emphasize speed, agility, and to some extent stealth, all traits good Spymasters deliberately seek to cultivate. Also much less Strength training involved, though more STR is of course always a good thing. Just my personal preference.
However, if we know we're going into a VERY dangerous place, perhaps we want something with a bit more heft, more oomph, to it, something that perhaps a rapier might not handle appropriately, or the environment might be wrong for those fighting styles. In which case I would have THIS as our backup weapon:
The bastard sword is a step down from traditional huge Greatswords, but would provide many of the advantages. It would allow for both one-handed AND two-handed fighting, which during combat one never knows what maneuver might work best for the situation. I feel I should also point out the following video, which has further good points on women and fighting weapons:
Shadiversity makes some good point about two-handed weapons and total body leverage when it comes to female physique. I would, however, highly recommend watching the above video in its entirety though, not just the part I cut to at the end.
Honestly, between these two weapons and their respective styles, plus some training in throwing knives, more training in dagger work, and maybe some training in crossbows for a ranged element...not to mention our magical abilities...that would be a well-rounded Spymaster/stealth-oriented Wizard by my standards. IMHO, though. But there ARE advantages to some Greatsword training, seeing as how possibly a good deal of it would also be applicable with a backup Bastard Sword setup.
EDIT: And of course we should permanently enchant all of our weapons, I figured that goes without saying. I figure the rapier would be made out of Estalian steel (bc they make weapons like this), and in an ideal world I would commission the Dwarves to make our Bastard Sword.
Another sexy piece of sword is the Kriegsmesser (hey, it's called a knife, so we technically won't be lying if we say we're a knife-wielding spymaster), we could perhaps have one commissioned at some point.
Mathilde: "People were making fun of me for having a big sword and not a stabbing knife, so I want the biggest knife you can make."
Blacksmith: "Yes Ma'am!"
[x] flamberge
they actually cut deeper than a straight blade IRL, iirc, and have weird effects on parrying
