The Siege of Javiksholm (Reports/Development/Official Orders)

In this thtread I will inform you about events during the siege, developments, news, the outcome of your orders and the tasks I want you to fulfil (organization/planning-wise).

You are supposed to use this thread only to issue orders. So only Aranor and people either given the command of troops (ic), or authorized to speak on his behalf (ooc) should post here. For the discussion of the events, please continue to use the general ooc thread.

As agreed on, once we start with day I of the siege, plans for the next day must be issued within 3 days. Remember that you will have to plan for the whole day ahead. Each day is divided into morning afternoon, evening and night. Also keep in mind to include your reactions for both the success and the failure of each plan (if you have reactions you can think of).

I will of course try to adhere to my own rules and reply within 3 days as well. I have set my forum to UTC +/- 0. I suggest you do the same. This time will then be the one we use for the event. If this is a problem for anyone, please let me know soon.

The way I imagine the orders to look like is roughly like this:

1. Time of Day:

2. Part of Town/Wall section: (try to describe it by telling me its position within the district it protects. Alternatively I will have to number the wall sections)

3.Orders: What you want to do.

4. Troops involved: The exact numbers of men you want to participate in each operation

5. Player Characters involved:

6. Following reaction(s) to success:

7. Following reaction(s) to failure:

8. Reaction(s) to certain events: for example to retreat after the loss of x men

9. Additional remarks: (only if necessary)

In accordance with your plans, we start one day before your assault on the city. If there have not been any changes I am unaware of, the first thing your are planning to do is to infiltrate the city disguised as mercenaries.

As this obviously is a scene in which the words spoken are way more important than when you are just bashing heads, I want some additional input here. So in addition to the formula above, I would like to know what you are going to say to the guards at the gate. The guards will of course want to know some things before they let you into the city.

What is your business in the city?

Who are you?/What is your group called, who is your commander?

Where do you come from?/where were you before you came here?


As already mentioned before, I would like to have this by Monday, so Sunday 23.59 UTC at the latest. I think this should be manageable. If you want to change your plans and do other things before hand, you have the same amount of time to issue those new orders properly.

1: TIME OF DAY:

The men are to approach the city in column formation at aproximately 7:00 A.M.
The reconnoiter patrols shall start at approximately 7:30 A.M. and end at sunset, which i think should be 7:30 P.M (just to keep it at a simple 12 hours.)
2: PART OF TOWN/WALL SECTION:

The men will approach the city gates of district 7 (Average residential).
The Men throughout the day will however come into contact with the following districts:
3,2,10,11,6,7,15,and 16
The actions at night will take place near the walls of District 7, the northern walls near the gate.
3: ORDERS:

Outside the gates (morning)

They are to infiltrate the city at district 7- as before mentioned.

When they come up to the gate guard, they shall be in column formation with weapons sheathed

Laralthir will tell them these things for the following questions

"What is your business in the city?"

LARALTHIR: "We are here to rest for perhaps 2 days, our company came under attack by a band of rogue knights, perhaps 20 of them, near Ansen Lodge, we lost half of our company, but those villains got away, and the men wish to rest, they can march no longer. We have coin to spend, and my men have never caused trouble in a city before. They are mostly from the empire, they do not drink ale like you fierds do, I keep my men under strict discipline.

"Who are you? And What is your group called? Are you the commander?"

LARALTHIR: I am Laralthir Walban. We are known as the Iron fist mercenary company. I am the commander, have been for about a year now.

"Where were you before you came here?"

LARALTHIR: My company usually operates in Ethos, work dried up around there, has been all across Pendor ever since the reunification, we heard from the Master Rhal in Ethos that there may be some work around here in the Fierdsvain. So we journeyed here, alongside the D'Shar route, we were near Ansen Lodge when we were attacked by the rogue knights the other night.


AFTER GUARD MEETING: (Morning to Sunset)

Laralthir shall check into the Sleeping Fox Tavern in district 7, and secure lodgings for the night, the innkeeper is favorable to our cause due to his hurt business from the Red Dawn affair. The company shall then split up into groups of 3, except for Laralthir, who shall instead be watching guard movements at the gates be following leads by the innkeeper about potential supporters of the Dawn, the company shall reconnoiter districts 3,2,10,11,6,15,and 16. They shall not only try to find major key buildings (guardhouses and such), but they shall also try to find public opinion, and see if there's any possibility of the public aiding our cause (mobs or sabotaging of key areas).

NOTICES:
The men are given the following special orders by Laralthir,
1. Do not consume any alcohol
2. Do not venture to close to any Red Dawn knight
3. Steer clear of execution squares
4. Do not give away any indication of true purpose
5. Always stick to the story given
6. Pretend to not know of the Dawn or of recent events
At sunset the company shall return to the tavern.

(There shall be no actions until 4:30 A.M. even though it is night i consider it to be part of the next morning.

4. TROOPS INVOLVED:

There are 31 men involved in this.
Laralthir shall command this operation.
Thaddeus shall be second in command.
and there shall be 29 Ebony Gauntlets

5. PLAYER CHARACTERS INVOLVED:

1. Laralthir (commandeered by me, permission given by Gamemasters)
2. Thaddeus (controlled by Daedr0th)

6.Following Reactions to Success:

-If any substantial amount of citizens are found to be able to aid us in the siege, they are to be told the following
1.That there will be a strike of the dawn soon.
2. to only tell it those who are trustworthy
3. To hold whatever strategic buildings possible, and to cause as much as a distraction as possible

-If any guards are found that can be trusted the same shall be told to them as to citizens but with one exception
1. That if possible, for the next day's (night sort of) actions, to be able to perhaps open up access to the gatehouse or watchtowers near them.

7.Following Reactions to Failure:

If none are to be found that are trustworthy, oh well then.

8.Following Reactions to certain Events:

If an execution takes place it is to be left alone

If either Red Dawn leader is seen, the group that witnessed them must follow them (not obviously of course), to see if they leave the city or not.

If anyone is approached by the Red Dawn, they must have the following reactions to these questions
(In case any of them try to confront any of us.)
RD: "Do you worship Astrea?"
Answer: Not only do I worship her, I try everyday to help rid this world of it's evil, in any way I can.
RD: "What do you know of the Dawn?"
Answer: "I am only a simple soldier from Ethos, I do not know much of the Dawn other than odd rumors in taverns."
"Why were you not at the execution?"
Answer: "I came to this city to get my mind off of death, not watch more of it. Also, to crowded.
RD: "What do you think of Gregory?"
Answer: "He is a mighty fine man, he stands for what he believes in, an admirable trait in any man. Men like him are hard to come across these days"
RD: "Have you thought of joining our knighthood?"
Answer: "I have a family back home, and there are greater men than I who are willing to answer the call."
RD: "What can you tell me of the rogue knights you encountered?"
Answer: "Their heraldry was unknown to me, as I have never been around these parts, but I can tell you that they rode south, in the direction of Nal Tar, the attack was to quick, I am sorry I can not tell you more, please m'lord, I lost some of my best friends, and I would like to be left in peace, please understand."

The men must make sure to show no fear, and must try as hard as they can to give off the image of just being simple soldiers, humble and pious men.

(the above is only a precaution.)

Other remarks

I hope this suffices for a first report.

A guard at the gate will inform you that if you have come looking for work, you have come to the right place. There should be plenty of it soon. A recruitment camp has been erected in district 12, near the barracks, and all men willing to fight for the city are required to go there to discuss payment and lodging. A certain Sir Alfons is in charge of the mercenary troops. The guard even offers to supply you with a guide to take you there, although it is not far.

Laralthir's response is

"Thank you for the offer sir, but first let me and my men get a breather, after I secure them some lodgings I'll go check it out."

So this means after Laralthir checks everyone in the sleeping fox inn, and gives them their orders, he goes to the recruitment camp. If he can, he will try to dodge any Red Dawn knights, but if Sir Alfonso catches him. Here are the following reactions.

Laralthir shall be checking for the following things-
1. Numbers of Mercenaries, and their specializations.
2. The numbers of the garrison.
3. Current Morale of the garrison. (Can range from Zealous to distressed)
4. Listen for any chatter about the Red Dawn
5. Listen for any chatter about the loyal dawn/new dawn
6. Quality of the garrison, (are they new, battle hardened, un-tested?)


This event take only from 7:30 to 9:30 A.M.

Sir Alfonso: "Hello sir, you have the looks of a merc captain, do you wish to join us, my order has much gold to offer to people like you."

Laralthir: "My sword at the moment is not for hire sir, I must rebuild my company, we suffered a devastating attack by some rogue knights near Ansen Lodge."

Sir Alfonso: "What do your troops specialize in?"

Laralthir: "My boys are mostly Empire boys, so they are all pretty much crossbowmen. They also have swords for close-quarters."

Sir Alfonso: "Who do you worship?"

Laralthir: "I used to worship Damia Provideo, but a year back I started my worship of Astraea, I do my part to try and rid the world of evil."

Sir Alfonso: "Are you sure I can't change your mind?"

Laralthir: "I shall think upon your offer Sir Alfonso, Ill get back to you in the next few days, I'm sure you'll still need mercenaries in the coming weeks."

DAY 1 MORNING:

I will use military time and I'm guessing Dawn will be at 6:00

Orders:

Section: North
Timing: 6:00
Troops Involved:
Dragon:
30 Knights
37 Rangers
32 Retainers
Dawn:
50 Retainers
40 Militia
Action: At the first light of Dawn, the 50 Retainers, led by Merzinas and accompanied by Belethor, shall charge with their fake horsemen towards the walls. They shall be blowing their horns and screaming and yelling and doing whatever they can to draw attention. 20 Militia shall take the ram and march towards the gate while another 20 defend it with larger shields. The Rangers of Rane shall try to clear the walls of any soldiers (archers being the priority). The Dragon's knights and retainers shall stay back to make sure they don't get surprised from behind. Boar shall stay with the dragon knights. Fabien shall be a tad closer, accompanying the militia and Rangers to shout orders. The ballista shall be firing at the walls.

Section: South
Timing: 6:05
Troops involved:

Dawn:
18 Knights
50 Retainers
50 Militia as reserves

Silvermist:
45 Rangers (5 are maintaining the ballistas.)

Dragon:
35 Knights
50 Rangers

Action:

The attack shall start with the Dragon knights dismounting and forming a shield wall. Behind them shall be the Rangers of Rane, and behind them will be the Silvermists. The Ballista will be firing at the wall. The Dawn knights shall be staying off at a distance to stay out of range and to respond if the Red Dawn sally out. After the forces on the wall have been cleared the Silvermist will sprint up to the western wall. The Ballista shall keep firing at the southernmost gate. Should the gate break , the Dragons shall remount and charge with the Dawn knights and militia to secure that gate, and not to move until further orders.

Section: West
Timing: 6:20
Troops involved:

Dawn:
155 Knights
596 retainers
150 Militia
100 Wyverns

Gauntlet:
34 knights

Action: At 6:20, when the Dawn's rays are fully present, the attack shall start. The Militia shall carry the siege equipment and begin marching. The Wyverns shall march as a shield wall with the Berzerkers behind them. The Gauntlets shall use the mantlets to advance. The Gauntlets will start picking off the troops on the walls. At this time, the Silvermists should arrive and be able to finish off any resistance on the walls. The Wyverns shall then climb the ladders and provide a defense with their shields on the exposed side of the wall. The Gate shall then be taken. The smaller mantlets shall be carried up the ladder and the Silvermist and Gauntlets shall take to the walls. They shall open the gate, and the charge will start.