The War in the Core

[thekristhomas]

The Axis Attacks

1. Following the assassination of Ivana Boritsi, Mallochio Aderre sends troops to attack Levcharest

2. At the same time Vlad Drakov sends troops to lay siege to Pont-a-Museau

3. Both men meet in Aerie

4. After successfully guiding Vlad Drakov across the border into Richemulot, Aderre leads his mercenary army into Borca

5. Drakov's army pushes cross country to Mortigny, it falls easily, a forest of impalments results

6. Invidian forces push on to Ilvin, Ivan Dilisnya fails to make use of this choke point and flees north

7. Vor Ziyden is put to siege

8. St Ronges falls, the feast that follows is memorable for the genuine joviality of it's host Vlad Drakov, he hasn't felt this good for decades.

9. Aderre takes Lechburg and captures Ivan, he plans to keep him alive

10. Vlad Drakov reaches Pont-a-Museau and prepares to reduce the walls

does anyone have any issues with this progression?

[jamesfirecat]

The Axis Attacks

1. Following the assassination of Ivana Boritsi, Mallochio Aderre sends troops to attack Levcharest

2. At the same time Vlad Drakov sends troops to lay siege to Pont-a-Museau

3. Both men meet in Aerie

4. After successfully guiding Vlad Drakov across the border into Richemulot, Aderre leads his mercenary army into Borca

5. Drakov's army pushes cross country to Mortigny, it falls easily, a forest of impalments results

6. Invidian forces push on to Ilvin, Ivan Dilisnya fails to make use of this choke point and flees north

7. Vor Ziyden is put to siege

8. St Ronges falls, the feast that follows is memorable for the genuine joviality of it's host Vlad Drakov, he hasn't felt this good for decades.

9. Aderre takes Lechburg and captures Ivan, he plans to keep him alive

10. Vlad Drakov reaches Pont-a-Museau and prepares to reduce the walls

does anyone have any issues with this progression?

All depends on how you define St Ronges and Mortigny having "fallen". I would imagine that it means Vlad's cronies in control can hang their flags, conduct their parades, and hope desperately that Vlad doesn't realize that their "control" probably runs no deeper than wherever their looking at the moment and the sewers /abandoned buildings are probably still teaming with wererats, rebels, and of course rebellious wererats....

Unless Jacqueline gave the order for her lycanthropic servants to pull back to the capital to further lure Drakov in, and rope and a dope the Falkovnians in before she releases the plague...

[thekristhomas]

The Axis Attacks

1. Following the assassination of Ivana Boritsi, Mallochio Aderre sends troops to attack Levcharest

2. At the same time Vlad Drakov sends troops to lay siege to Pont-a-Museau

3. Both men meet in Aerie

4. After successfully guiding Vlad Drakov across the border into Richemulot, Aderre leads his mercenary army into Borca

5. Drakov's army pushes cross country to Mortigny, it falls easily, a forest of impalments results

6. Invidian forces push on to Ilvin, Ivan Dilisnya fails to make use of this choke point and flees north

7. Vor Ziyden is put to siege

8. St Ronges falls, the feast that follows is memorable for the genuine joviality of it's host Vlad Drakov, he hasn't felt this good for decades.

9. Aderre takes Lechburg and captures Ivan, he plans to keep him alive

10. Vlad Drakov reaches Pont-a-Museau and prepares to reduce the walls

does anyone have any issues with this progression?

All depends on how you define St Ronges and Mortigny having "fallen". I would imagine that it means Vlad's cronies in control can hang their flags, conduct their parades, and hope desperately that Vlad doesn't realize that their "control" probably runs no deeper than wherever their looking at the moment and the sewers /abandoned buildings are probably still teaming with wererats, rebels, and of course rebellious wererats....

Unless Jacqueline gave the order for her lycanthropic servants to pull back to the capital to further lure Drakov in, and rope and a dope the Falkovnians in before she releases the plague...

Yes, the wererats are hanging back waiting for the signal.

I was thinking that Jacky might sacrifice a few militia units to Drakov's advance, so as not to tip him off that something's up. For Drakov's part, he's mostly just delighted that the Richemulotese are facing him in open battle "like men" and isn't reading in.

[jamesfirecat]

Yes, the wererats are hanging back waiting for the signal.

I was thinking that Jacky might sacrifice a few militia units to Drakov's advance, so as not to tip him off that something's up. For Drakov's part, he's mostly just delighted that the Richemulotese are facing him in open battle "like men" and isn't reading in.

Sounds perfectly in character for her, do you also want her to be faking some kind of conveniently timed illness/assassination attempt to explain why she isn't helping Richemulot win the way it did during Drakov's two previous invasions?

[thekristhomas]

Yes, the wererats are hanging back waiting for the signal.

I was thinking that Jacky might sacrifice a few militia units to Drakov's advance, so as not to tip him off that something's up. For Drakov's part, he's mostly just delighted that the Richemulotese are facing him in open battle "like men" and isn't reading in.

Sounds perfectly in character for her, do you also want her to be faking some kind of conveniently timed illness/assassination attempt to explain why she isn't helping Richemulot win the way it did during Drakov's two previous invasions?

I think some excuse for inaction is needed, I'd lean away from assassination attempt as Drakov might realize that he hadn't sent any

[jamesfirecat]

I think some excuse for inaction is needed, I'd lean away from assassination attempt as Drakov might realize that he hadn't sent any

Sounds good, you can feel free to keep going with the plot/I don't have any more obvious feedback at the moment...

[The Lesser Evil]

This thread is going a little bit too fast for me to keep up, but a few posts ago Bakholis was mentioned. In Gaz IV (p. 46) there is a legend of Bakholis wandering forever as a ghost and being chased by the spirits of those he killed. If you needed a wild card or another darklord placeholder for some domain, it might be possible somewhere in all the chaos for Bakholis's ghost to escape from his pursuers enough to become an unexpected power in the carnage.

[thekristhomas]

This thread is going a little bit too fast for me to keep up, but a few posts ago Bakholis was mentioned. In Gaz IV (p. 46) there is a legend of Bakholis wandering forever as a ghost and being chased by the spirits of those he killed. If you needed a wild card or another darklord placeholder for some domain, it might be possible somewhere in all the chaos for Bakholis's ghost to escape from his pursuers enough to become an unexpected power in the carnage.

I might be wrong, but a ghost werewolf seems like the kinda thing a werewolf priest might have an interest in, does Alfred have access to Necromancy, does anybody know?

I don't recall the bit about Bakholis' ghost, by any chance is he ghostly human and his pursuers ghostly wolves? cos that would be awesome.

It might be cool if Loupet ended up being haunted by Bakholis, and maybe even Gabby. Have them constantly criticize Alfred, tell him what a "real Darklord" should do etc.

[thekristhomas]

Speaking of criticising Alfred, what do we imagine Nathan's part in all this is? I've already suggested that Alfred might be hoping for a confrontation with his father by attacking Karina, where Nathan has several business interests, would that work? Or would Nathan move on, possibly for fear of becoming trapped as a DL again.

Or would Nathan finally become bothered by his upstart son's constant nipping and his own Alpha instincts, and welcome the fight? You've got to think that in a one-to-one confrontation, Nathan would win easily, but while Nathan has never been fatherly, actually killing his son might be a step to far (YMMV) and he might be thusly hampered, he is fighting to embarrass Alfred, Alfred is playing for keeps.

At least that's what Alfred thinks when he starts the fight, I can't help but think Alfred may become equally conflicted as the fight progressed. That being said, I can't imagine Alfred going into a fair fight with his dad, he's too cowardly, so it might be that even if Alfred wanted his father to survive the fight, whatever precautions he had taken before hand might have taken the decision out of his hands, suitably tragic if you wanted Alfred to win

If Nathan won and in winning killed Alfred/became DL of Verbrek, then you could expect to see a change in the expanded Verbrek, with maybe a brief civil war to establish the dominance of the sheepskinners and the Arkandale Trading Company, with new settlements being founded, paid for by loans from the river boat captain. Nathan, for his part would have had to have made a conscious decision to regain his domain, so you would have to think he had some kind of plan for it.

Assuming Nathan refused to fight and just moved on, quite likely if we think that he doesn't want to become DL, would he side with the Invidian/Kartakan alliance? Seems unlikely as, you know, wolfweres. Once Kartakass turns on the Invidians though, might Nathan step in and help the surviving humans? If only to spite both his son and the wolfweres?

[jamesfirecat]

Speaking of criticising Alfred, what do we imagine Nathan's part in all this is? I've already suggested that Alfred might be hoping for a confrontation with his father by attacking Karina, where Nathan has several business interests, would that work? Or would Nathan move on, possibly for fear of becoming trapped as a DL again.

Or would Nathan finally become bothered by his upstart son's constant nipping and his own Alpha instincts, and welcome the fight? You've got to think that in a one-to-one confrontation, Nathan would win easily, but while Nathan has never been fatherly, actually killing his son might be a step to far (YMMV) and he might be thusly hampered, he is fighting to embarrass Alfred, Alfred is playing for keeps.

At least that's what Alfred thinks when he starts the fight, I can't help but think Alfred may become equally conflicted as the fight progressed. That being said, I can't imagine Alfred going into a fair fight with his dad, he's too cowardly, so it might be that even if Alfred wanted his father to survive the fight, whatever precautions he had taken before hand might have taken the decision out of his hands, suitably tragic if you wanted Alfred to win

If Nathan won and in winning killed Alfred/became DL of Verbrek, then you could expect to see a change in the expanded Verbrek, with maybe a brief civil war to establish the dominance of the sheepskinners and the Arkandale Trading Company, with new settlements being founded, paid for by loans from the river boat captain. Nathan, for his part would have had to have made a conscious decision to regain his domain, so you would have to think he had some kind of plan for it.

Assuming Nathan refused to fight and just moved on, quite likely if we think that he doesn't want to become DL, would he side with the Invidian/Kartakan alliance? Seems unlikely as, you know, wolfweres. Once Kartakass turns on the Invidians though, might Nathan step in and help the surviving humans? If only to spite both his son and the wolfweres?

"Or would Nathan finally become bothered by his upstart son's constant nipping and his own Alpha instincts, and welcome the fight? You've got to think that in a one-to-one confrontation, Nathan would win easily, but while Nathan has never been fatherly, actually killing his son might be a step to far (YMMV) and he might be thusly hampered, he is fighting to embarrass Alfred, Alfred is playing for keeps."

You know the great irony is here?

Nathan is fighting like a wolf, he's fighting to display Dominance.

Alfred is fighting like a human, he's fighting to kill his opponent.

Yet more proof of just how hypocritical Alfred is, in that all the dark desires/emotions/urges he has, while he claims them to be lupine savagery, are in reality nothing more than human sadism/bullying.


Nathan probably would not kill Alfred and what Nathan would probably do is do the obvious thing for someone with a boat that no one will ever dare to try to board/sink... he'll run weapons/magical items/supplies to whoever is willing to pay for them at well players guide prices.

"There are over 5 million firearms out there across the entire Core. That's roughly one firearm for every hundred people. The only question is... how do we arm the other ninety nine?"

[thekristhomas]

You know the great irony is here?

Nathan is fighting like a wolf, he's fighting to display Dominance.

Alfred is fighting like a human, he's fighting to kill his opponent.

Yet more proof of just how hypocritical Alfred is, in that all the dark desires/emotions/urges he has, while he claims them to be lupine savagery, are in reality nothing more than human sadism/bullying.

That is almost exactly what I was thinking

Nathan probably would not kill Alfred and what Nathan would probably do is do the obvious thing for someone with a boat that no one will ever dare to try to board/sink... he'll run weapons/magical items/supplies to whoever is willing to pay for them at well players guide prices.

"There are over 5 million firearms out there across the entire Core. That's roughly one firearm for every hundred people. The only question is... how do we arm the other ninety nine?"

So Nathan succeeds in humiliating Alfred, and refrains from killing him, that in itself would probably trigger a civil war in Verbrek, the the werewolves losing confidence in Alfred's leadership.

It seems to me that if we want to turn Nathan into the south western cores version of the Lord of War, it would be advantageous if that happened early enough for him to take full advantage, selling arms to all parties.

Also if it happens early enough it might be a contributory factor in Alfred's invasion of Invidia, an attempt to regain prestige (although, if the confrontation happens before the invasion, then the invasion didn't happen to force a confrontation, so it depends what you prefer)

[jamesfirecat]

So Nathan succeeds in humiliating Alfred, and refrains from killing him, that in itself would probably trigger a civil war in Verbrek, the the werewolves losing confidence in Alfred's leadership.

It seems to me that if we want to turn Nathan into the south western cores version of the Lord of War, it would be advantageous if that happened early enough for him to take full advantage, selling arms to all parties.

Also if it happens early enough it might be a contributory factor in Alfred's invasion of Invidia, an attempt to regain prestige (although, if the confrontation happens before the invasion, then the invasion didn't happen to force a confrontation, so it depends what you prefer)

My thoughts are the fight happens before the Verbrek invasion of Invidia, it happens more by chance then anything else /just because Nathan is headed down that way to see what is going on all of a sudden, and it happens in privatish with Alfred managing to kill all the witnesses.

Nathan doesn't even feel the need to talk about what happens, as far as he's could care, it wasn't the first time he's needed to take his belt to Alfred for being a impudent young pup who does not grasp how the world works.

But it lights a fire of even greater hatred in Alfred which is why he's determined to try and prove himself by conquering as much of Invidia as possible.

As for the entire Lord of War thing (was wondering if you would get that reference) what's important to remember is that it's not about the money for Nathan at this point, it's about the love of ripping people off/extortion, or he would say it "I like to go new places and meat new people. I like to help people, especially if it is to help people kill other people." He's doing this because he's bored and he can't take part in the main warfare because of the entire "no going any major distance away from the river" section of his curse, so he's going to make as much of a name for himself as he possibly can.

[thekristhomas]

So Nathan succeeds in humiliating Alfred, and refrains from killing him, that in itself would probably trigger a civil war in Verbrek, the the werewolves losing confidence in Alfred's leadership.

It seems to me that if we want to turn Nathan into the south western cores version of the Lord of War, it would be advantageous if that happened early enough for him to take full advantage, selling arms to all parties.

Also if it happens early enough it might be a contributory factor in Alfred's invasion of Invidia, an attempt to regain prestige (although, if the confrontation happens before the invasion, then the invasion didn't happen to force a confrontation, so it depends what you prefer)

My thoughts are the fight happens before the Verbrek invasion of Invidia, it happens more by chance then anything else /just because Nathan is headed down that way to see what is going on all of a sudden, and it happens in privatish with Alfred managing to kill all the witnesses.

Nathan doesn't even feel the need to talk about what happens, as far as he's could care, it wasn't the first time he's needed to take his belt to Alfred for being a impudent young pup who does not grasp how the world works.

But it lights a fire of even greater hatred in Alfred which is why he's determined to try and prove himself by conquering as much of Invidia as possible.

As for the entire Lord of War thing (was wondering if you would get that reference) what's important to remember is that it's not about the money for Nathan at this point, it's about the love of ripping people off/extortion, or he would say it "I like to go new places and meat new people. I like to help people, especially if it is to help people kill other people." He's doing this because he's bored and he can't take part in the main warfare because of the entire "no going any major distance away from the river" section of his curse, so he's going to make as much of a name for himself as he possibly can.

The thing is I always imagined that Alfred would want to engineer it so as to create the maximum number of witnesses to his victory , he needs to prove himself as much to his followers as to his father IMHO

Might it be possible for Nathan to win, but in such a way that Alfred could spin it so the victory seems his? Or perhaps Alfred does win, but relents from killing, enough to satisfy his followers but it feels like a moment of weakness to him,which is what spurs him into Invidia

[jamesfirecat]

The thing is I always imagined that Alfred would want to engineer it so as to create the maximum number of witnesses to his victory , he needs to prove himself as much to his followers as to his father IMHO

Might it be possible for Nathan to win, but in such a way that Alfred could spin it so the victory seems his? Or perhaps Alfred does win, but relents from killing, enough to satisfy his followers but it feels like a moment of weakness to him,which is what spurs him into Invidia

I think Nathan would probably insist that Alfred has to fight him on his ship, and probably start sailing the ship/set up the ship to automatically sail itself down a river, so as to limit Alfred's ability to force him anywhere that he would not have access to his regeneration/keep Alfred from deciding to call in friends in a fit of pique when he starts to loose.

That could be why few people see the end results of the fight.

If you want Alfred to loose in front of a lot of witnesses, then can't really offer any good criticism /advice on how to have that play out at the moment...

[thekristhomas]

The thing is I always imagined that Alfred would want to engineer it so as to create the maximum number of witnesses to his victory , he needs to prove himself as much to his followers as to his father IMHO

Might it be possible for Nathan to win, but in such a way that Alfred could spin it so the victory seems his? Or perhaps Alfred does win, but relents from killing, enough to satisfy his followers but it feels like a moment of weakness to him,which is what spurs him into Invidia

I think Nathan would probably insist that Alfred has to fight him on his ship, and probably start sailing the ship/set up the ship to automatically sail itself down a river, so as to limit Alfred's ability to force him anywhere that he would not have access to his regeneration/keep Alfred from deciding to call in friends in a fit of pique when he starts to loose.

That could be why few people see the end results of the fight.

If you want Alfred to loose in front of a lot of witnesses, then can't really offer any good criticism /advice on how to have that play out at the moment...

What you're saying makes sense , Nathan is unlikely to be lured off his boat anywhere that Alfred might try to confront him,ie. Verbrek so the fight wouldn't give Alfred anything that he wanted from it .

So, for the moment, let's say the fight doesn't happen yet. Nathan is just going to take the opportunity to trade arms and supplies to whoever will pay. IIRC he is stuck on the Musarde river system, which, I think, still gives him access to most of the south and the west as far up as Lamordia (I could be wrong about that) so, who does that leave for him to trade with?

Both sets of Invidians would probably require arms, Malochio to supply his mercenaries, and Gabby to keep her rebellion going

Kartakass would likewise need arms for their KEF but would Lukas and Nathan be able to trade? Or would Lukas send only humans to trade with the werewolf?

Once Lamordia invades Dementlieu til peace is declared and an accommodation reached with the remaining Towers , I would assume that the supply of guns would stop. I would further assume that when Falkovnia falls to Richemulot the supply of grain would likewise be interrupted .

I'm thinking that a canny businessman like Nathan has planned for this, and has been stockpiling both grain and guns ready to control the marketplace. So, his warehouses up and down the river, will be loaded with supplies, supplies that Alfred might think would be better used to fuel his own ambitions.(and there's something about primatives in warpaint wielding seized guns that appeals)

Given that the bulk of Nathan's business interests are within Verbrek, they would probably be quite easy for Verbrekan raiders to access , plus from Alfred's point of view, every raid is a prick against his father. So the Verbrekan raids not only fuel Alfred's expansionism, but starve the south of resources. When Alfred decides to seize Nathan's assets in Invidia , this would be the point where Nathan decides enough is enough and heads into Verbrek to face his son.