House Coldbrook Event - Extinguish the Faith Militant!

[Reader]

Coldbrook
Tests:
Status (Stewardship) TN 12
- Critical Failure: -2 to one resource
- Failure:-1 to a resource
Success: No loss
Two degrees of success: +1B Stewardship
[One assist at TN 9 permitted]

Persuasion/Deception (any) TN 12
- Critical failure: -1 power
- Failure: no consequence
- Success: remove one equipment upgrade from opposing force (most of these have been stripped already via Ser Jorah and Daveth's offseason efforts)
[One Assist at TN 9 permitted]

Allied troops:
House Darry Infantry
Fighting 3, Athletics 3, Endurance 3
Ser Damian Piper (House Darry’s Master at Arms, attached)

Opposing leadership
Coldbrook Faith Militant - Warfare 3: Ser Steffon the Warrior’s Son. The Faith Militant was once expertly led with Ser Duncan Darry the brains behind Ser Lionel’s sword arm, but has been stripped of its most capable leadership by Ser Jorah’s offseason efforts. Ser Steffon the Warrior’s son is a veteran member of the band, a devout man and able aide. In happier times he’d have served a noble house as a sworn sword, with hopes of raising his sons as squires to reward his loyal service. However, these are unhappy times – his sons slain long ago when House Coldbrook took Castle Grenward. With no future to fight for, Ser Steffon lives only for vengeance.

Champion [can be challenged to 1v1 combat before the Warfare rules kick in, if not he attaches to a unit, giving it +1D to Fighting/Marksmanship tests]: Ser Kyle Darry, the final surviving Darry of the rebellious line. Agility 3, Athletics 4, Endurance 4, Fighting 5, Will 3. Weapon Mastery (Battleaxe). Brigandine Armour, Shield.

Opposing troops:
Archers: Trained – Marksmanship 4, Agility 3 [upgraded Marksmanship weapons]
Cavalry: Trained – Fighting 4, Animal Handling 3
Infantry: Trained, Athletics 3, Fighting 3, Endurance 3
Peasant Levies: Green – Awareness 3

[Daveth Coldbrook]

[url=Extinguish Faith Militant - Status (Stew) (TN12)][/url]: 4d6k3 16 1 DoS - No losses (Gaining 2DoS is actually impossible without a DP, when it rises to 1.2%. So, not happening.)
[url=Extinguish Faith Militant - Persuasion (TN12)][/url]: 4d6 14 1 DoS - 1 equipment upgrade removed.

Daveth was not resting as the war against the clans went on. Following up on the information he received, he meticulously tracked down their supply routes and dug up sympathetic merchants and blacksmiths who could replace the losses Ser Jorah inflicted on their equipment.

Once the true face of the Faith Militant was made clear to them, it was amazing how few of them were genuine fanatics, rather than misled pious men. A few mentions of some of their more zealous acts was usually all that was required, and they were more than happy to reveal the next link of the chain, and swear to have no further dealings with them.

By the time he was finished, the Faith militant were almost completely cut off from resupply. Time for the rest of the house to finish the job.

[Baelon Drakeson]

OOC: I think you might have jumped the gun a bit on those rolls. Given that I can see this and I can't see any other houses' events, I'm assuming that House Drakeson is fulfilling our duties as a banner house and assisting House Coldbrook rather than having a separate House Event.

Thinking about how to split the parts up to maximize player involvement and specializations, this is what I have come up with:

Players
Coldbrook: Daveth, Jorah, Loreia
Drakeson: Baelon, Gwyn

Tasks
Status(Stewardship): Primary &
Assist
Persuade/Deception(any): Primary &
Assist
Warfare: 1 commander, 1-2 subcommanders
Champion: 1 champion

The Stewardship tests are best handled by Daveth &
Gwyn, and the Persuasion/Deception tests by some combination of Daveth, Baelon, and Gwyn.
Jorah is the natural choice for Commander, with Baelon and/or Loreia as subcommanders, depending on how many units we can muster.
Jorah, Loreia, and Baelon would all be good choices for champion.

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

My rolls to assist

[url=Stewardship in Coldbrook House Event][/url]: 5d6k4 14

That's vs TN 9 to assist.

And Persuasion

[url=Persuade (Charm) in Coldbrook House Event][/url]: 6d6k4 18

So there we go.

[Daveth Coldbrook]

...you know, it never even occurred to me that we would *share* an event.

[Baelon Drakeson]

...you know, it never even occurred to me that we would *share* an event.

We're all still getting used to the new house setup. I wasn't sure at first or I would have posted sooner.

I'd like to take on the champion... or I suppose I could try to garner favor/funds by offering to assist someone else.

[Daveth Coldbrook]

(Sorry, I cross-edited this into my previous post while you posted, and didn't have time to sort it out then. Moving this into its own post for clarity)

Our troops:
Riverroad Riders (Elite Cavalry with upgraded weapons) Agility 4, Animal Handling 4, Fighting 5
Siege engineers who'll probably be staying home as they're pretty useless here, except maybe to tie up the peasant levies.

Edit: Wow. I just looked up the details. So, assuming they're on coursers, they're doing (4+5=) 9 damage per DoS base, going up to 11 on a charge. And have a base of -3 discipline. Glad they're on our side!

What troops can/will House Drakeson provide?

We can call on House Blackwood if we absolutely have to to get 1 unit of green cavalry (Daveth is not a fan), and House Marsten, though they'd be helping purely out of friendship, as we have no formal alliance. I'd still sooner turn to them than the Blackwoods, though - I trust them to not fuck us over at a critical moment, which I can't say for the Blackwoods. (For reasons which Lady Gwyneth will probably discover soon/8 months ago.)

I'd like to take on the champion... or I suppose I could try to garner favor/funds by offering to assist someone else.

Well, Ser Jorah has already got the 'kill religious fanatic in single combat' box ticked, so I think your only competition is probably Loriea, who may well want to do it herself. But I don't want to speak for her.

[Baelon Drakeson]

Don't you hate it when you have a long post typed up, then accidentally close the window? I know I do.

Our troops:
Riverroad Riders (Elite Cavalry with upgraded weapons) Agility 4, Animal Handling 4, Fighting 5
Siege engineers who'll probably be staying home as they're pretty useless here, except maybe to tie up the peasant levies.

Siege engineers are mostly useful for setting up temporary fortifications in the field and for operating siege engines. However, they *do* count towards the total unit count so they may be able to eke out another sub-commander, which is always useful.

The Marsten event has been declared to be a home defense, so I assume this is as well - which means all of your (non-clan war) troops would be there, plus the huge benefit of having Castle Grenward to defend troops (at least a +6 defense bonus to at least 3 units).

Edit: Wow. I just looked up the details. So, assuming they're on coursers, they're doing (4+5=) 9 damage per DoS base, going up to 11 on a charge. And have a base of -3 discipline. Glad they're on our side!

There is an errata on upgraded cavalry damage - it is animal handling +5, not athletics +5. No change in this case... however be aware that the cavalry only have a 7 defense and 5 AR, so be wary of counter-attacks and arrows on the way in.

What troops can/will House Drakeson provide?

Well, assuming we don't have an event of our own (I can now see the Marsten and Dulver events, so that eliminates the evidence I was basing my earlier thoughts on), we are kind of in a sticky situation. Either I send some nigh-useless green garrison or I send my quite useful veteran archers and leave Drakeson lands virtually defenseless until my cavalry returns from the war. That's even assuming that House Drakeson units are exempt from the 'only cavalry' stipulation.

We can call on House Blackwood if we absolutely have to to get 1 unit of green cavalry (Daveth is not a fan), and House Marsten, though they'd be helping purely out of friendship, as we have no formal alliance. I'd still sooner turn to them than the Blackwoods, though - I trust them to not fuck us over at a critical moment, which I can't say for the Blackwoods. (For reasons which Lady Gwyneth will probably discover soon/8 months ago.)

House Marsten has no troops to offer - their only cavalry unit was involved in the clan war. They also have a battle of their own to fight, so even if they had a unit available they would probably need it themselves.

Well, Ser Jorah has already got the 'kill religious fanatic in single combat' box ticked, so I think your only competition is probably Loriea, who may well want to do it herself. But I don't want to speak for her.

Yeah, I was thinking about Loreia primarily, more from the angle of player involvement (Ser Jorah has the battle to lead) than from in-character motivations.
However, I also see that House Dulver is being assaulted by the escaped Benjen Frey, so they might be willing to hire me on as a champion to take down the Furious Frey... again, assuming that I don't have an event of my own to be dealing with.

[Daveth Coldbrook]

What troops can/will House Drakeson provide?

Well, assuming we don't have an event of our own (I can now see the Marsten and Dulver events, so that eliminates the evidence I was basing my earlier thoughts on), we are kind of in a sticky situation. Either I send some nigh-useless green garrison or I send my quite useful veteran archers and leave Drakeson lands virtually defenseless until my cavalry returns from the war. That's even assuming that House Drakeson units are exempt from the 'only cavalry' stipulation.

Answered [url=here][/url].

Answering some questions received via PM!
4) Non-cavalry from your bannerhouses are available.

[Baelon Drakeson]

Ah, right;
I also got it clarified that we do not have an event of our own.
I think that the best course of action would be to deploy the Caladan Longbowmen (veteran archers, 5 Agility, 4 marksmanship;
discipline 6) to take up position on the battlements of Castle Grenward.
That would put us at 3 units, 4 if you get some Blackwood cavalry. That's the threshold point from 1-2 sub-commanders so it is probably worth it to take the risk on them. I doubt they would betray us at the cost of not defeating the Faith Militant... though they might delay at a crucial moment that allows some nastiness to befall one of our units.

As for Baelon himself, it might be more beneficial for me to assist some other house - for a cost, of course.

Don't forget we have NCs we can draw on, too - I have to imagine that Lord Tomas would want to take an active role in the defense of his lands, and no doubt is quite the skilled war leader (run by a player of course)

[Loreia]

I don't understand why House Blackwood would bare us any ill will. Since one of the four enemy units are Green smallfolk with 3 in Awareness and 2 in everything else, I wouldn't bother matching their numbers. We should secure a unit from Blackwood and lend a Trained unit to support another house. While we're there, House Dulver may be in more dire need, depending on what units House Dulver has.

I would wait and see what Gwyn and Baelon's house event is and what troops Arlyn needs before deciding who to aid, but ultimately I think we are obligated to prioritize our bannermen first. It would reflect poorly on us if House Drakeson suffered outnumbered without our help.

If Baelon won't be joining us, I would happily skewer Kyle Darry for House Coldbrook. Unless I could take control of Damian Piper... wonder what his stats are.

[Baelon Drakeson]

I don't understand why House Blackwood would bare us any ill will.

I suspect Daveth has been doing something covertly that might cause some trouble... I guess we'll find out eventually.

Since one of the four enemy units are Green smallfolk with 3 in Awareness and 2 in everything else, I wouldn't bother matching their numbers. We should secure a unit from Blackwood and lend a Trained unit to support another house. While we're there, House Dulver may be in more dire need, depending on what units House Dulver has.

That's true, House Coldbrook is one of the few houses with cavalry to offer to other houses;
with the defense bonus provided by Castle Grenward and the combined offensive power of the Darry Infantry and the Drakeson Archers we would probably still be able to defeat them, though we would suffer more if the dice are against us. Still, depending on what House Coldbrook can get for them it might be worth it. There would be a much higher risk of troop loss/weakening though, so it should be a significant offer.

I would wait and see what Gwyn and Baelon's house event is and what troops Arlyn needs before deciding who to aid, but ultimately I think we are obligated to prioritize our bannermen first. It would reflect poorly on us if House Drakeson suffered outnumbered without our help.

It has been confirmed by Reader that we will not have our own event, so while I appreciate the thought, we needn't worry about this.

If Baelon won't be joining us, I would happily skewer Kyle Darry for House Coldbrook. Unless I could take control of Damian Piper... wonder what his stats are.

Probably a typical Knight of Quality - maybe with higher warfare and/or specialties.

[Daveth Coldbrook]

I don't understand why House Blackwood would bare us any ill will.

I suspect Daveth has been doing something covertly that might cause some trouble... I guess we'll find out eventually.

Nope, this is an oooold grudge on Daveth's part, based on this:

The [Blackwoods] assume that since Lord Coldbrook has no family outside his son that the house will be wiped out soon by one curse or the other, giving House [Blackwood] a claim to the house’s land....

(It was confirmed by Reader that they meant Blackwood here, rather than Bracken as they said.)

Put another way: all that House Blackwood wants from us is for us to *die*, so they can claim the castle. And I doubt they have any real objection to giving the curses a bit of a helping hand if they think they can get away with it. *That's* why Daveth doesn't trust them.

[Baelon Drakeson]

I wouldn't be too worried then - they would be outnumbered and fighting on two fronts if they betrayed us;
and the Blackwoods like Gwyn and I. They might welcome the demise of House Coldbrook, but I doubt they would openly betray us, given the likely retribution from other parties - the North, possibly the Prince, and no doubt we would find ourselves suddenly friends with House Bracken, too.

[Loreia]

They can still refuse though, so it's up to the heir of the house to make a convincing argument in an intrigue(simple?) via raven. No pressure.

[Reader]

Some in House Blackwood will shed few tears if your line falls - they're confident they can hold your lands, so no net loss in Old Faith lands.

Other among House Coldbrook see an advantage in having two Old Faith houses strong, as they would be able to support one another with distinct voices rather than having one strong but isolated voice.

Which Blackwood is which is another question!

House Lyras also worth looking at as a future ally, given Ser Kevan Lyras's recent marriage to Sofia Lyras (nee Blackwood).

[Daveth Coldbrook]

Amusingly, isn't Lady Moraine Tullison also a nee Blackwood, or am I making that up?

So that Drakesons are in the loop, our Master-at-arms is just deciding on something - we realised that after month 6, we have the power to train a new unit, so Ser Jorah is just deciding exactly what.

Afterwards, we will have available:
Trained Darry Infantry
Veteran Drakeson Archers
[New Veteran Coldbrook unit]
Elite Coldbrook Cavalry (upgraded weapons) - may wish to loan out instead, if the price is right
Coldbrook siege engineers - only if it will get us an additional subcommander, will lurk at the back.
Green Blackwood Cavalry - only if requested &
paid for. Daveth will probably need convincing of the military necessity to overcome his dislike of giving them money or owing them a favour (convinced they'll use it to totally screw us over somehow).

Against:
Archers: Trained – Marksmanship 4, Agility 3 (presumably the upgraded Marksmanship weapons have now been stripped)
Cavalry: Trained – Fighting 4, Animal Handling 3
Infantry: Trained, Athletics 3, Fighting 3, Endurance 3
Peasant Levies: Green – Awareness 3

Oh, and

Given Loreia's informaiton and Daveth &
Jorah's offseason activities, it seems reasonable to allow you to choose where to strike and dictate the terrain.

So, I suggest we wait a day or two, see if anyone requests our cavalry, let Ser Jorah decide on our new unit, and we'll be ready.

[Reader]

Lady Moraine Tullison's ancestry is indeed why the Tullisons have recently fought for the Blackwoods, despite their religious ties to House Bracken.

[Baelon Drakeson]

So that Drakesons are in the loop, our Master-at-arms is just deciding on something - we realised that after month 6, we have the power to train a new unit, so Ser Jorah is just deciding exactly what.

Might I suggest archers? I note that House Coldbrook does not have any of their own and they can be quite useful.

Afterwards, we will have available:
Trained Darry Infantry
Veteran Drakeson Archers
[New Veteran Coldbrook unit]
Elite Coldbrook Cavalry (upgraded weapons) - may wish to loan out instead, if the price is right
Coldbrook siege engineers - only if it will get us an additional subcommander, will lurk at the back.
Green Blackwood Cavalry - only if requested &
paid for. Daveth will probably need convincing of the military necessity to overcome his dislike of giving them money or owing them a favour (convinced they'll use it to totally screw us over somehow).

Given Loreia's informaiton and Daveth &
Jorah's offseason activities, it seems reasonable to allow you to choose where to strike and dictate the terrain.

Three or four units defending Castle Grenward (+6 or more defense to 3 or more units) would be plenty - especially if two of those units are skilled archers. Alternately, out in the field somewhere having the engineers set up temporary fortifications (+2 defense) would be the next best thing.

[Reader]

I'll probably draw the line at a siege - they don't have the numbers for it. Sorry!

[Daveth Coldbrook]

I'll probably draw the line at a siege - they don't have the numbers for it. Sorry!

Awwww. But what if the Riverroad riders ride off very noticably, and I use my knowledge of the Faith Militant's support network to place the rumour that all that remains in the castle is the engineers, and we have our new unit and our allies arrive in secret, thus tempting them with a very, very juicy target, which they believe is nearly undefended? Might that be enough to lure them in?

[Reader]

Feigned retreats are risky, but the work you lot have put in on their network should allow this kind of thing.

Warfare (Command) TN (9) for somebody to pull this off convincingly from a command point of view.

Warfare (Command) TN (9) for Riverroad Riders to carry out the maneouvere at a unit level (unit commander takes the test, can be same as overall commander).

If either roll is failed, their whole force mobs your elite cavalry.

[Ser Jorah Holt]

To get things moving, both tests were successful with Ser Jorah in command

[url=Tactics Command][/url]: 4d6k3 13
[url=Tactics Command - Captain Atell][/url]: 4d6k3 11

[Baelon Drakeson]

Feigned retreats are risky, but the work you lot have put in on their network should allow this kind of thing.

True. In this case it may not be feigned - if we indeed merc out the cavalry - still just as risky though.

[Loreia]

To get things moving, both tests were successful with Ser Jorah in command

Not bad rolls. Glad you didn't need my +1 assist.

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