The Parade - Preparations:

Azlanek: All your (extended) preparations come in here, please.


Info on the parade:

1. The parade will follow the main road from the castle to the western gate. It will pass the big marketplace as well as 4 big intersections along the way, not to mention countless smaller alleyways.


2.Today, the city had other its mind, though. The streets were bustling with activity as the western main road is prepared for the parade. At almost every house people are busy with hanging up pennants and banners. Other servants unload several wagons full of flower arrangements or set up improvised shelter from the rain in form of oiled cloth stretched on poles. The preparations proceed as planned. Everything should be ready by noon.

-This is making it hard to watch things from the rooftoops at some points. You can expect the Duke to bring his own shelter, so that himself and the heros of Laria do not get wet during the parade.

Theo; first actions (the others come tomorrow or Friday)

Assuming that it's morning and we have a few hours until the parade:

Send immediately 43 silvermists to check the path the parade will take. They will look for:

- Spots and windows particularly good for further assassination attempts by arrow. They will pay attention to them during the parade.
- Map the place in order to better position themselves during the mission. They will also look for rooftop spots with better sight of the intersections and dark alleys.
- They must all report back to the chapterhouse before departing for the parade.

- Make the 2 remaining rangers prepare all banners of the Silvermist order we have available at the chapterhouse. Have them ready for use as soon as possible.

- Have 10 Clarion rangers wait at the chapterhouse. They must be their best at close combat. The remaining 25 will proceed with Iskar's orders, which include intercepting any messenger or suspect around the city.

Sir Orlando and at least a dozen Knights of the Griffon will be present with the Duke.
The other 38 Knight will be split into two groups at ground level.
19 will continue along the left flanking streets and investigate houses ahead of the Duke. They will maintain a constant rotation from before the Duke arrives to after he has past. Sir Azrael will oversee this flank.
The other 19 Knights will do the same along the right flank overseen by Sir Ibram.
I will follow in the procession behind the Duke and delegation to make sure neither flank stays to long behind the Duke.

Definitive orders for the parade.
This is my formula for the whole scene. From that, feel free to work out the details according to what you have in mind.

Theo + 45 rangers
Priority: protect the royal family from further assassination attempts.
Orders: stay on the roofs. Jump/move from one to another in accordance with the progression of the parade, in a manner that the royal family always remain in the center of the protected area. Rangers in the rear will therefore move quickly to the front. Pay special attention to windows and alleys.

IF trouble arises within the crowd, THEN do not interfere. Let the ground knights deal with it. Instead, treat it as a a decoy/distraction and be alert for the real assassin moving around.
IF a crossbow or bow pops up at some window, THEN shoot the guy. Make sure that it’s not a Gauntlet.
IF identify suspects among the crowd. THEN use sign language to inform the ground knights.
IF a major fight ensues, THEN shoot to kill. Protect the lords, griffon and silvermist officials at all costs.

10 Clarion rangers
Priority: provide additional ground protection to the royal family; teamwork with rooftop rangers.
Orders: will work together with the rooftop rangers. Rangers on the roofs will watch and identify danger, and communicate with the ground knights. The knights will accordingly check suspects and act based on the rangers’ information. It will be too crowded for the soldiers on the ground to have a clear view of the situation.

Since the griffons will be there en masse, the clarions’ main purpose is NOT to defend the family personally, but only, if something bad happens, to pursue the killers around the city while Griffons deal with the lord himself OR to stay alert for decoys.

IF trouble arises within the crowd, THEN do not interfere.
IF armed attack against the lords, THEN interfere only if very necessary; if it’s not, THEN consider it as a distraction and look for more attackers among the crowd.
IF informed of suspect by rooftop rangers, THEN get closer and evaluate real danger (weapons, quality of weapons, demeanor, posture, etc.). Answer the rangers about the degree of danger.
IF a major fight ensues, THEN move away from the crowd so that rooftop rangers can help by shooting.

To all

Body language is important here. The will keep their bows down and their hands away from their weapons.
If any ranger draws his bow or any knight draws his sword, Theo will consider it as meaning “a dangerous situation has arisen” and issue the appropriate orders.

Since they will be too spread out to communicate properly, they all have my permission to shoot the legs and arms of anyone who behaves too aggressively, draws a bow, a crossbow or a javelin (the lord’s soldiers and the gauntlets excluded). Unfortunately, knives and axes are too small and too common for that. Ground knights may use lethal force against major threats.

Theo
Will oversee the mission and issue extraordinary orders if the need arises.

I guess this is it. May Alzanek's dice roll favourably!

Regarding the issue with the line-of-sight obstruction by the oiled-cloth shelters:

Order them to be constructed in such a way that they form an acute angle with the upper part of the walls they stand against. Iskar has done a quick drawing to clearify this:

Spoiler:

If we do it this way, the ranger on the opposite rooftop can still watch all the people under the shelter.