Heroica RPG - Quest #17: The Lion's Share

[Flipz]

Putting holes in the wall for me to shoot out of, seems difficult

"Not at all, William has a pickaxe he purchased just before we left Heroica Hall. Now, does anyone in the party have a shovel? My idea of tunnels around the fort may be a bit too ambitious, but I'm certain we could dig a number of pit traps, perhaps adding a few of those sharp wooden sticks William mentioned to the bottom, and then cover them with foliage. If the elves fail their spot checks aren't using a magnifying glass (and why would they use one?), they could walk over them and get hurt and trapped.

"Also, the list should mention that we only have one rope and one wheel."

[K-Nut]

"I'm not going for the tunnels idea. One, I have bad memories of shovels, () and two, the Elves might be able to infiltrate them. We should set up most of our defenses before the waves. I don't want to be running round every free minute strengthening walls and towers,"

[Kenghis Ghan]

"Damn! Knew I shoulda bought that shovel..."

"Wait, how could anyone possibly have bad memories of shovels?"

Edited December 15, 2011 by Kenghis Ghan

[Flipz]

"I'm not going for the tunnels idea. One, I have bad memories of shovels, () and two, the Elves might be able to infiltrate them. We should set up most of our defenses before the waves. I don't want to be running round every free minute strengthening walls and towers,"

"But what about the pit traps I just mentioned? They've been used forever, and they're still effective. Heck, I imagine similar traps will even be used hundreds of years in the future, and they'll be just as effective against unwary opponents then as they are now. I really like William's idea of sharpened sticks, they can be used for many things."

"Also, I don't think the elves would be using fully iron ladders to scale the walls, would they? Those would be incredibly expensive to create, and incredibly heavy to carry. no, they'll be using wooden ladders...which means that we can set them on fire using torches, we wouldn't even have to use magic! What do you think?"

"You know, I think I might have a book with old ideas for castle defense...I hope I didn't leave it back at the hall..."

OOC: That means I've found a useful website for us, I'll pm the link. Actually, no, I'll post it here:

http://www.medieval-castles.org/index.php/castle_defenses

http://medieval-castles.org/index.php/medieval_castle_traps_to_prevent_invasio

And, an article on the ways they'd be most likely to attack us (so we can develop counters):

http://www.medieval-castles.org/index.php/attacking_a_castle

[Fred Daniel Yam]

"Ok, if we had any scrap timber here, combining that with the nails, I think I can fashion a nail shooter of sorts. Arthur, to quote from you; Let's make holes so Alexandre and any archers they have can shoot. Hello?! Ranger here..."

OOC: Is the wheel in my inventory?

[Brickdoctor]

OOC: Is the wheel in my inventory?

QM Note:

No, it'd be messy and confusing if all the items you acquired in the fort were in your inventory. Just remember what you know the party has.

[Flipz]

"Ok, if we had any scrap timber here, combining that with the nails, I think I can fashion a nail shooter of sorts. Arthur, to quote from you; Let's make holes so Alexandre and any archers they have can shoot. Hello?! Ranger here..."

OOC: Is the wheel in my inventory?

OOC: I think you need to say you want it in bold.

Arthur conjures one of his goblets, scoops up a bunch of nails, and magically stores it again for later use. He then turns to William.

"Sorry, friend, for some reason I keep thinking you're a rogue. So, perhaps when we go into the forest you could explain our plight to the local wildlife, see if any of them would be willing to help us fight, or at least help us divert them into our traps?"

[Capt.JohnPaul]

My idea of tunnels around the fort may be a bit too ambitious, but I'm certain we could dig a number of pit traps, perhaps adding a few of those sharp wooden sticks William mentioned to the bottom, and then cover them with foliage.

William?? I thought I mentioned the sharp sticks!

Updated list:

Supplies:

Water

Wood/trees

Household items

Rope

Nails

Wheels

Fire

Oil

Wheel

Ideas:

Catapult, we could make after finding more supplies

Stakes and throwing spears, easy, all the wood.

Pots and cauldrons to pour flaming oil and boiling water, easy

Putting holes in the wall for me to shoot out of, seems difficult

[Flipz]

William?? I thought I mentioned the sharp sticks!

Updated list:

Supplies:

Water

Wood/trees

Household items

Rope

Nails

Wheels

Fire

Oil

Wheel

Ideas:

Catapult, we could make after finding more supplies

Stakes and throwing spears, easy, all the wood. and we should put some at the bottom of concealed pit traps

Pots and cauldrons to pour flaming oil and boiling water, easy Yes, and digging small holes in the floor makes it even easier

Putting holes in the wall for me to shoot out of and in the floor for boiling oil/water, seems difficult Not really, William has a pickaxe

*COUGH*

"Not at all, William has a pickaxe he purchased just before we left Heroica Hall. Now, does anyone in the party have a shovel? My idea of tunnels around the fort may be a bit too ambitious, but I'm certain we could dig a number of pit traps, perhaps adding a few of those sharp wooden sticks William mentioned to the bottom, and then cover them with foliage. If the elves fail their spot checks aren't using a magnifying glass (and why would they use one?), they could walk over them and get hurt and trapped.

"Also, the list should mention that we only have one rope and one wheel."

"I think Alexandre is Mafia, but Althior seems to be trying to fly under the radar, so that's kind of scummy...I mean, what?"

OOC: Seriously, I feel like I'm in a mafia game, and we're falling under the standard Day One confusion.

[Fred Daniel Yam]

"Good sir, do you have any hay?"

[Brickdoctor]

"Good sir, do you have any hay?"

"Of course; we have plenty. Take as much as you need."

[Fred Daniel Yam]

"Well, we can line the fronts with hay, all arrows shot directly will get stopped by the hay."

OOC: This is a real military tactic used in Ancient China

[Dharkan]

"by the way, after we are done here, I think we better go to well and spread some buckets of water around the castle just in case. You know, elves are good archers usually. We may never know if they are going to use flaming arrows or not...."

[Capt.JohnPaul]

"by the way, after we are done here, I think we better go to well and spread some buckets of water around the castle just in case. You know, elves are good archers usually. We may never know if they are going to use flaming arrows or not...."

"Perhaps, though it will be hard since the castle is stone. I think maybe we could use water and dump it on the ground to make it muddy. Then the elves can't maneuver there siege equipment, and then we have stakes behind the muddy field." considers Alexandre. As an after thought- "Wait, did hear someone say I was in the Mafia?"

[Dharkan]

"A ha, you are right about that I'm sorry. So there's no wooden roof or something? If not then it's fine." Isabella was kinda ashamed because of the stupid idea he came up with.

[Flipz]

"Well, we can line the fronts with hay, all arrows shot directly will get stopped by the hay."

OOC: This is a real military tactic used in Ancient China

"Perhaps, though it will be hard since the castle is stone. I think maybe we could use water and dump it on the ground to make it muddy. Then the elves can't maneuver there siege equipment, and then we have stakes behind the muddy field." considers Alexandre. As an after thought- "Wait, did hear someone say I was in the Mafia?"

"Those are both excellent ideas, and quite simple to set up. Let's add them to the list:

Updated list:

Supplies:

Water

Wood/trees

Household items

Rope

Nails

Wheels

Fire

Oil

Wheel

Hay

Ideas:

Catapult, we could make after finding more supplies

Stakes and throwing spears, easy, all the wood.

Pots and cauldrons to pour flaming oil and boiling water, easy

Putting holes in the wall for me to shoot out of, easy with William's pick

Pit traps (possibly lined with stakes)

Hay along the walls to pad arrows (we'll need water handy just in case fire breaks out)

Turn the dirt near the castle walls to mud, and possibly add stakes

William can ask the forest creatures and monsters to help us fight

"A ha, you are right about that I'm sorry. So there's no wooden roof or something? If not then it's fine." Isabella was kinda ashamed because of the stupid idea he came up with.

"I don't think so. But it's always good to be cautious. With William's great idea about the hay, we'll also have to watch out for fire. There is no such thing as a stupid idea, all ideas allow you to examine the situation from another perspective. It is only when one acts on an idea without examining it that it becomes foolish, and even a brilliant idea can become 'stupid' in this way."

EDIT: OOC: Doc, I hope you don't mind me stealing that "profile image to talk" thing you do with the NPCs, I just like it too much, and it makes it a lot easier (for outside readers of the game) to know who's talking.

Edited December 15, 2011 by Flipz

[Brickdoctor]

EDIT: OOC: Doc, I hope you don't mind me stealing that "profile image to talk" thing you do with the NPCs, I just like it too much, and it makes it a lot easier (for outside readers of the game) to know who's talking.

QM Note:

I don't mind, though I don't know why it would be needed when you're only playing one person. I only do it so that you know which NPC is talking. (I've already spoken for four NPCs in this Quest)

[Flipz]

QM Note:

I don't mind, though I don't know why it would be needed when you're only playing one person. I only do it so that you know which NPC is talking. (I've already spoken for four NPCs in this Quest)

OOC: when I was reading through the older Quests, I kept getting player characters confused with each other--at one point, I had Althior and Ad-hoh completely crossed in my mind. Plus, as I said, it looks AWESOME.

-==IC: Arthur==-

Arthur suddenly remembers his enchanted book. He decides to write down the list of ideas in it, to see if his friend had any more, when he saw a note already there.

Listen, there is something you should know. When we fought the elves at the end of Quest 4, all of them had resistance to spells. The civilian elf could only half elemental damage of foes, but the two elites were completely immune. I am not sure if this will hold true for the elves you face, but you might want to be aware of this, being a Mage and all.

Arthur calls to Althior and Arasmyth to come see this important information. While he waits for them, he inscribes a short summary of the situation.

Thanks for that heads-up, De'kra, we would have been blindsided without your help! We've arrived at the fort, and things are looking grim. We have to defend this huge fort with just 20-odd Lion Knights, and we have to improvise any traps and fortifications we need. I'm drawing a map of the fort on the next page, so you can get a good idea of what we're up against. The western wall is weakest, but we can't leave anything undefended. Here's a list of our supplies and our ideas, if you or any of your friends have any more, don't hesitate to let us know! I will likely not be able to check this book once the battle gets underway, so in case we don't make it back, I want to thank you again for all your good advice. You are a good friend, and a great Hero, De'kra.

Updated list:

Supplies:

Water

Wood/trees

Household items

Rope (only one, though.)

Nails

Fire

Oil

Wheel

Hay

Ideas:

Catapult, we could make after finding more supplies

Stakes and throwing spears, easy, all the wood.

Pots and cauldrons to pour flaming oil and boiling water, easy

Putting holes in the wall for me to shoot out of, easy with William's pick

Pit traps (possibly lined with stakes)

Hay along the walls to pad arrows (we'll need water handy just in case fire breaks out)

Turn the dirt near the castle walls to mud, and possibly add stakes

William can ask the forest creatures and monsters to help us fight

I hope all is well at the Hall. May we meet again soon!

--Arthur

[Kadabra]

OOC: when I was reading through the older Quests, I kept getting player characters confused with each other--at one point, I had Althior and Ad-hoh completely crossed in my mind. Plus, as I said, it looks AWESOME.

-==IC: Arthur==-

Arthur suddenly remembers his enchanted book. He decides to write down the list of ideas in it, to see if his friend had any more, when he saw a note already there.

Arthur calls to Althior and Arasmyth to come see this important information. While he waits for them, he inscribes a short summary of the situation.

Arasmyth looks over Arthur's shoulder at the book. "Magic resistance? Bah! This'll throw a wrench in the three of us's usefulness. We'll have to get down and fight hand to hand with them once they trigger that."

[Fred Daniel Yam]

"I believe we are done here, let's go to the barracks."

[K-Nut]

"Well, from what I remember, the spell resistance should only be with the elven lords, so we'll be fine." Althior looked to William, "To the Barracks!"

[Flipz]

"I believe we are done here, let's go to the barracks."

"I agree. Let's go to the barracks. Also, as another idea, if the elves try to use ladders to climb the walls, we can set thee ladders on fire using torches."

While he's waiting for the others, he sees De'kra's latest reply.

In truth I worry that I will not be of much help, my memories are very...incomplete of war. I will see what I can suggest, it won't be much though.

Do you know if the elves are attacking all at once, or if they are in waves? If the latter, perhaps you could loot the Elves after the first attack for more supplies. Especially if they have siege weapons. But that won't help you immediately.

I believe that at least one of the mages with you has power over earth. Perhaps he could strengthen the weakened wall. If the elves you face have resistance to spells like the three the heroes of Quest 4 faced, it might be a good idea to use your spells in unique ways.

Keep in mind however that in the Quest we traveled with a Brobic Elf briefly, and he had no immunity. He was a low ranking elf who had not seen much combat, only level 2 when we met him. I don't know that if he had possessed greater skill and experience then he would have had immunity, or if some Brobric Elves just don't have resistance. Just be aware that some elves might be vulnerable to your spells and some might not be. It might be tied to levels.

Have you considered freezing the forest slightly? If you turn the ground into mud over by the western wall, there still is a chance they they could navigate the mud through the branches. But if the trees had a layer of icy, they might loose their grip. The fall at least should do some damage. You don't have to freeze it solid, just enough to make it slippery. Hopefully some of this is useful.

By the way, what was the story behind the Lion Knights anyway? We found out that they were purchasing a field from the Hinckwells, and we suspected that they might be farmers, but we never got direct confirmation. The fact that the Lion Knights seemed to be here solely for agriculture was the reason we deemed them and the Hinckwells innocent, and instead attacked the elves at the Quest's end

Arthur shares this information with the others, then finds a quiet corner in which to write his reply.

Those are good ideas, thanks. The Lion Knight commander say he thinks the elves will attack in waves, but we can't be certain--we have no spies or saboteurs in their camp, so all we have to go on is guesswork.

The Lion Knights are experts in agriculture, reknowned for their prowess. The Hinckwells hired them to develop their fields, and they apparently chose to keep it secret so the higher-ups in the Hinckwell family could secretly gain a monopoly on food production for Eubric. It sickens me to think that were it not for the Hinckwells' greed, which prompted their secrecy, the Lion Knights might have been publicly welcomed as peaceful agriculturalists, their knowledge shared with all of Eubric, and this entire war averted.

And yet, I'm not certain I entirely believe the Hinckwell commodore's excuse for his superiors. The Lion Knights are good men, it's true, but I'm not so certain about the Hinckwells. I think that they really wanted the Lion Knights to come here to help them take over all the farms of Eubric--not by forcing them out of business, but just by force. The Lion Knights are formidible fighters, and if some event prompted their men to summon their land's standing army, they could easily wipe out any force on Eubric. It is my belief that either the Shadeaux got the jump on the Hinckwells, trying to ruin their plan and making themselves a profit at the same time...or, the Hinckwells wanted this war, and they purposely led the Shadeaux into inciting the Brobric Elves. A simple raid would have provided an adequate excuse to summon the Lion Knights' full strength, but the Hinckwells and the Shadeaux both underestimated the strength and violence of the Brobric. Neither the Hinckwells nor the Shadeaux are necessarily trying to overthrow Eubric through this war, but both are guilty of wrongdoing.

After reading of the Hinckwell and Shadeaux children at the school in Eubric, and seeing the way the common workers and noblemen of these Houses operate, I have come to the conclusion that the Houses themselves are not bad--it is simply the greedy, power-hungry leadership that causes the problems. Perhaps it is time for a regime change at the top--but that is a Quest for another day. In any event, take heart in the fact that you are not at fault for this war--no side is or was fully right (even the Lion Knights, honorable as they are, have put their trust in a greedy, corrupt House), and you were bound by your duty as a Hero to complete your Quest. You were in a no-win situation, and you did an admirable job of correcting the wrong as best you could.

Live long, and play well, De'kra!

--Arthur

OOC: I will be gone from 2 PM Pacific time until at least 7 PM, possibly later. Kadabra has control of my character while I'm gone, or K-nut if Kadabra isn't online.

[Kadabra]

Arthur jumps off a wall and kills himself

[Brickdoctor]

As you lead the party to the Barracks, the sun is beginning to rise over the horizon and the cloudy blue-grey sky coupled with the mist enveloping the fort are ominous reminders of the dreary situation you find yourself in.

You can see that the barracks are built right into the North Wall. Arrow loops are present in the outer wall of the building, near which a loaded crossbow has been conveniently placed. You move quietly throughout the structure, for there are a few soldiers still asleep in Bedrolls on the floor. You can see that this would be a safe place in which to regain Health and Ether between battles, though only those with Bedrolls will be able to take advantage of that.

[Fred Daniel Yam]

"Let's not disturb them, want to go to the Kitchen?"