D&D: Kazadar Empire

[Toric_Arthendain]

Osbourne perks up at the mention of a diversion. "Yes, that might be the way to utilize you folks. If some of the Kazadar troops can be drawn from that keep into an ambush, it would be a way to whittle down their numbers before the main battle takes place. The question now is, what sort of diversion could you all cause that would draw out enough of them for this plan to be effective?"

 

[maddmic]

Gilbie puts his hand on his chin and taps his finger in thought. He then gets a gleam in his eye and turns to Osbourne, smiling. "Well, there is the watch tower where we killed Alaric. If we could take the tower again and have some 'informant' from town let the Kazadar know, then they can send a force out to deal with us. There is a creek bed that we used to conceal our aproach to the tower. I'm guessing that this same creek bed can be used to conceal a sizeable force of your men. Once the Kazadar show up and try to break into the tower, your men can spring from the dry bed and ambush them. We'd just have to convince them somehow of sending out a decent sized force. Something close to 100 to 500 troops. What do you all think? I really don't like being the bait, but if you're backing us up, then there's not much they can do to us." Gilbie is still smiling once he's done pouring his thoughts out. He then seems to shrink a bit and adds. "That is as long as you're in agreeance with that your highness." Witht hat, he makes a bow realizing that he may have talked out of line.

 

[Dolfuur]

[OOC: Goodness this site is slow]

Dolfuur dismisses Gilbie's proposal with a gesture. "Bah," the Dwarf rumbles. "No force in their right mind'll send hundred's o' troops jest to kill a few."

He turns to Osbourne and levels the would-be-King an angry look. "If ye truly want er help, then take us te yer war table. I'd 'ave a look at yer maps and how ye plan te put yer forces, before speaking on where I'd like te be in the fighting."

 

[maddmic]

Gilbie seems taken aback by Dolfuur's comments. "No, no, no. That's mymistake. I meant that perhaps it could be leaked that we, the wanted ones, have amassed a group of 20 or so and taken the tower. Truely, I'm not a master tactician, nor do I know too much about the Kazadar's strategies. But they did seem to be a little on the cautious side when they tried to capture that one fellow at the tavern. How many guards did they send for just one individual? I'm just thinking that maybe they'll send out more of a detatchment than would truely be needed for our ruse. That's just my idea though..." Gilbie continues to mumble incoherantly under his breath, working out the details in his head.

 

[bkmanis]

"Warfare is not my area of expertise so I'm not sure how helpful I will be." Trent interjects. "But if surprise is what you want perhaps we can help in a different way. Since most of the troops are held up in the fort perhaps a night assault would be best." Trent suggests. "If we could sneak in and open the gate while most of the troops are asleep a small force of men could rush in to hold the gate. Another group could rush in and barricade the barracks locking the sleeping troops in until the rest of your army can storm the fort." Trent suggests. "If we are quick enough we could take the fort without too many casualties. Of course this all depends on the layout of the land and the fort." Trent says meekly.

 

[Faehlle Cennaire]

Faehlle nods quietly as Dolfuur asks to see what maps this upstart Lord had of these lands, grinning as he demands admittance to the war tent. An attack of any kind could not be planned effectively without knowledge of the local terrain, she reminded herself, and she wanted to learn what she could before agreeing to a course of action.

"Taking the fortress by surprise would be crucial, on this point I agree with Trent. Otherwise they could simply shut themselves in until reinforcements arrived, and we would need to lay seige; neither a quick nor an easy task, so I've heard. It would be easier to attack a town at the ready rather than a fortress: the town is more open, with fewer defences. Futhermore, toppling the fortress first would not only give us a position of strategic prominence, but would surely boost the morale of any resistance within Taran to help us overthrow the Kazadars and eject them from this part of the land."

"It would be, however," she cautioned, "a most difficult and dangerous mission. Attacking and holding the town would surely be easier and cost fewer lives, while still giving us some kind of defencible ground against a counterstrike by the enemy."

{ooc: Aren't there two forts? The tower we attacked and a larger one south of town where half their troops are garrisoned? I agree strongly with Dolfuur, we need to see some maps (or at least, a good description), what kind of numbers we're dealing with on each side and what kind of objectives there are to be taken before we start making too many plans.}

 

[Faehlle Cennaire]

"I too ask that you would lead us to your war council," Faehlle requests of Lord Osbourne as diplomatically as she can. She supported her friend Dolfuur, and said so, "I side with my friend in this. I have for many years driven human incursions from the forests of my mother and know something of the arts of war. I would know what you know so that I might offer you the sagest of councils, Lord," she finishes politely, bowing with a courteous bob of her golden head.

 

[Toric_Arthendain]

Osbourne chuckles. "Of course! I didn't even think to let you see our maps. There is however, no war council. Nothing so elaborate as that."

He gets up, walks to another table and rustles through some papers, returning to the table with them. He spreads them on the table where you all sit and they do indeed show maps of the local area, including a fairly detailed map of Taran itself.

Osbourne points to one of the maps showing the surrounding area around Taran. "This here is the tower where you all killed Alaric," he says pointing to a spot on the map just north and east of Taran. "And this is the keep that has been mentioned," he says sliding his finger down to a spot marked on the map to the south and west of Taran. "This keep is supposedly contains roughly 2,000 to 2,500 Kazadar troops. Maybe another five or six hundred are in and around town. So we are talking about 3,000 troops total. Lodren has assured me that there are no more than this arrayed against us. My own force is nearly that strong at roughly 2,500 men."

Osbourne grows quiet, sitting back down and letting you look over the maps in silence for a few minutes. He then clears his throat and speaks again. "My men can probably take the keep. Maybe you all could be involved in dealing with the other 500 Kazadar soldiers in and around town? If I gave you several hundred of my men to lead, you might be able to approach Taran from the north, drawing those troops to you while the rest of my men surround and put siege to the keep to the south. What do you think of that idea?"

OOC:
Everyone please go check the OOC thread for some important information!

 

[maddmic]

Gilbie is pulled away from his planning with a jolt. 'He said what?' "Excuse me Lord Osbourne, did you say LEAD some troops into battle? It would be a great honor to do such a thing, but I admittidly have no experience in this matter. Perhaps Dolfuur would be the one who is more suited for this." He ponders what he's said for a moment and then continues. "This is not to say that I won't participate in the assault on the ones who control the town. Just that I don't believe myself one to be able to lead a band such as you're willing to give us. Perhaps if Lodren would share some secrets of the town with me, then maybe I could assist a group of some of the more sneaky soldiers getting in to create trouble from within the town. Y'know, kinda sneak up from behind them and from within their midst?"

 

[Dolfuur]

Dolfuur wrinkles his brows thoughtfully as he looks the maps over with several "harrumphs" and "humphs".

He isn't sure what kind of army Osbourne has, but usually one needed better that one-to-one odds to win a seige against a Keep. Outnumbering stronghold defenders by five to one or more usually did the trick, if one didn't care about losses. As a Dwarf, Dolfuur knows all about holding areas with a mere handful of allies against swarming hordes. But all his knowledge of large battles is limited to underground affairs, and then only from stories and histories. And fighting Goblins was not the same as well-equipped, well-led and well-trained professional soldiers.

He scans Osbourne again. Perhaps the man had better troops who were fanatically loyal, and had resources such as mages or monsters to help him get past the walls of a tower despite such special troops not being in evidence. Dolfuur chews his lower lip, wondering if Osbourne's men really knew they might all be slaughtered in a few hours.

Dolfuur rumbles his own thoughts after thinking things over. "Takin' the town like ye say might be right difficult. If I were te Kazadars, I'd not meet attackers in te field if I 'ad a whole town te use fer splitting the attackers and fer cover an' ambushes. Goin' frem building te building like that, it'd be a massacre fer attackers unless ye fire the whole town." The Dwarf's voice is grim over the prospects of urban warfare.

"As fer taking the tower like ye say; how in the name of the Gods er ye gonna win a seige with so few men? Ye'll need a few tricks, I say." Dolfuur declares.

Dolfuur adds in a worried voice, "But no plan is complete without tinking ahead. How many Kazadar forces are within a day's march o' this area? Unless the ones in the town and tower flee, ye better be prepared te get stuck in, and then ye'll 'ave te fight them too. Will ye be keeping any o' your men in reserve te protect yer flanks?"