JA's - The Borderland Keep

[J. Alexander]

It has been almost a year since you applied for a position as Steward for the Barony of Rosedown. In fact you had almost forgotten that you had applied for the position at all until one brisk morning a bonded courier appears with two letters. The first letter is on fine vellum but the signature is very shakey and reads as follows:

29 Day of Harvest

Sir,

Upon the advice and with the consent of my fellow barons, the barony council and various others I wish to offer you a position as Steward in the Barony of Rosedown.

In compensation for your services for no less than 7 years, I offer you a land grant in the amount of 600 acres to be fully titled to your after the contract has been concluded.

Should you desire to accepted this offer, please present yourself at the Baronial Council Meeting to be held exactly 60 days from your receipt of this letter.

Tyler Sky
Baron of Rosedown
Grand Knight of the Order of the Thistle
Champion of Barkon

The second letter is of much finer quality and is heavy with sevearl pendants and seals and reads as follows:

Sir,

With the consent of Baron Rosedown, you are herewith appointed as a Steward of Rosedown and shall upon your physical presence in exactly 60 days take up the day to day goverence of said Barony with your fellow stewards.

In compensation for your acceptance of this charge you will be granted a monthly stipend of 500 gold pieces payable on the first of each month for a period of seven years.

Further as it is our desire to maintain and further the Barony, you shall be granted the services of squad of your choosing consisting of five men and one seargent to help you in your mission. In order that they may be of immediate assistance to you, we will cover the cost of their intial equipment up to the value of 6000 gold pieces and will stand surety for an additional amount should it be necessary.

In order to help support these men at arms and to further the development of the Barony, we grant you two heavy wagons, three draft teams of 2 horses each, and supplies/foodstuffs to the value of 2500 gold pieces.

We fully realize you are being required to uproot your current live in order to accept this charge and in recoginiton of your sacraifce we hereby grant you a one time stipend of 10,000 gold pieces to settle all of your current affairs and to cover the cost of builiding and setting up a new homestead.

It is required that you forward to us the nature of the men at arms you desire so that we may assemble them with your wagons in the town of South Lake exactly 30 days from the receipt of this letter so that you may proceed on your journey northward to take up your post.

Please find enclosed a warrant in the amount of 10,000 gold pieces to cover your to settle your affairs.

Respectfully,

Silas Mainchance
Factor to Their Graces Duke Norfleet, Duke Manchester, Duke Hampton, Baron Destery, Earl Beechwood and the Marquis's of Montreaux and Deveaurix.

 

[DistractingFlare]

Aldin Stonehallow receives his letter at a tavern, and he drinks deeply from a stone mug of ale as he reads. The dwarf smirks at his good fortune. Finally, a break! He slams his mug onto the table and swaggers to the barkeep.

"A pen! Now!" The barkeep obliges, and Aldin makes his way back to the table to formulate his response.

"I'll have my men be from rough stock. No professional soldiers. Give me a team of decent hunters and brawlers, good men, pragmatic men. And it would please me if any of them be dwarves." He makes his mark at the bottom of the sheet, the folds it up and slips it roughly into a pocket.

The next morning, Aldin pays his tab and hires a courier to carry his reply out beyond this misty vale.

"Turning over a new stone," he thinks.

 

[Kaodi]

The Sage Tetke is pouring over a religious tome on loan from the cathedral library when the courier finds him and delivers the letters. He tips the courier, but this elf is not so easily distracted from his work. It is late that night before he finishes his study and finds the time to examine the letters. The news that he has been appointed as Steward at last brings a small, smug smile to the face of the Sage. " I knew it was only a matter of time until they came to their senses. "

Gathering a quill and parchment, Tetke begins composing his reply:

My Lords,

In regards to the nature of the men-at-arms to be raised for my service, I would like to stipulate a number of preferences: That these men be professional fighters, heavy infantry capable of warding me while I muster my own arcane resources. In addition to heavy arms and armour, I would also prefer that they be outfitted with bows as secondary arms. And while it is most important that these men be solid and dependable, I would consider it most kind if they also have a good measure of wits about them; that they be capable in conversation and not adverse to spending time with a book in hand.

As important to me as the recruitment of suitable protection, however, is that some effort be made to make sure that the Rosedown records and collections are in some semblance of order when I arrive. This will ensure that I may get up to speed in the shortest time, and thus that I may provide the highest quality of advice to the Baron.

Sage Tetke
Steward of Rosedown
Your Most Knowledgeable Servant

Quite satisfied with himself, Tetke sends for a courier to deliver his reply before he begins drawing up a list of the research materials on Rosedown for an assistant to procure.

 

[kinem]

Heinz slept in this morning after a late but ultimately disappointing night.

To get his mind refocused and his blood flowing, he practices the flare pattern. Though he has long since mastered the technique, it wouldn't do to get out of practice. Cast and swing, cast and thrust. It had taken him a year to be able to do both simultaneously.

Knock, knock.

Heinz sheaths his sword and answers the door. "Hello."

"Hello? Are you all right? I saw flashes of light!"

"Fine, thanks. I was just getting some exercise. Ah, a letter!"

This is just what I needed. Soon, at his desk, he is composing a reply.

"My lords,

I accept your offer of employment, and look forward to it.

My squad should consist of loyal men well trained in the bow, able to shoot quickly and accurately, as well as accustomed to fighting from horseback."

He adds a list of equipment for the men. (ooc: see OOC.)

"Respectfully,

Heinz Walker
Steward of Rosedown"

 

[ghostcat]

Catylina establishes that the courier is staying the night and has been authorised to accept a reply. Although she knows her letters and has a basic understanding of etiquette, Catylina wants to make a good first impression. She knows that she does not have the depth of knowledge of etiquette and so goes to find a scribe to help her draft the response.

Next morning she looks up the courier and gives him the following reply:

Sir

Thank you for honouring my with an appointment as a Steward of Rosedown. I am pleased to accept the offer and I will be leaving for town of South Lake within a few days.

With regards to men-at-arms. While I would prefer females, However, I am not pedantic about this and males would be equally acceptable. As for skills and equipment; light cavalry equipped with light war-horses, light repeating crossbows and a melee weapon of their choice.

Respectfully

Catylina
Steward of Rosedown

 

[J. Alexander]

Once we arrive you may take a look at your men at arms.

Heinz Walker
[sblock]Directions are giving to a small in where you find your squad waiting for you. Each man is dressed in a simple chain shirt with studded leather pants and is armed with a long sword, a small hunting bow and is mounted on a light war horse[/sblock]

Catylina
[sblock]Directions are giving to a more secluded in where you find to your delight a small squad made up of females. Each is equipped with a light reapting crossbow with 6 extra clips, a short sword and are all dressed in mithril chainmail[/sblock]

Sage Tetke
[sblock]A squad of heavy infantry await you. All are dressed in plate armor and are carrying a tower shield. Each is armed with a heavy mace, a spear and a quiver of 5 javelins.[/sblock]

Aldin Stonehallow
[sblock]to your great delight you find yourself introduced to a squad of dwarven hunters. Each is wearing a chain shirt over leather armor so as to provide maximum movement. Each seem to favor a short nasty dwarven ugolish but are also equipped with a improved version of a heavy crossbow[/sblock]

 

[kinem]

This is not the equipment I asked for. Heinz looks over the men, putting aside his initial disappointment. Not their fault. I'll just have to make the best of it.

ooc: I'm switching Heinz' color to a lighter blue as it is easier to read.

"Good morning. I am Heinz Walker, Steward of Rosedown, and will be your commanding officer. I assure you, I am not the sort of commander who leads from the back. On those occasions when we ride out to face a foe together, your main job will sometimes be to soften up the enemy with arrows before I make contact. But make no mistake, this is a dangerous job and if you are not willing to risk death in defense of the town, the time to leave without shame is right now.

You should also know that I am a magus, a spellcaster warrior. I think you will find that it's an effective combination."

Heinz then speaks personally to each man for a few minutes, getting their names, and handing each a signal whistle. He spends a bit longer talking to the sergeant.

He then asks them to lead him to an archery range (assuming they've been in town longer than he has), where he can assess their skills and teach them the whistle signals.

 

[DistractingFlare]

As he arrives to find himself greeted by a band of merry dwarves, Aldin smiles with glee. "By the voice of the mountain! Come here, lads!" The crew assembles around him, and he gives each a brief inspection, then introduces himself. "Aldin Stonehallow, Steward of Rosedown, heir to Bronzebarrow Manor, killer of many, many goblins. Now, my boys, take me to the nearest tavern. We'll drink them out of ale today!"

The group gives a rowdy cheer, but the hunter who seems to be the leader looks on in consternation. He puts his hand on Aldin's shoulder and leads him away from the group. "Sir, with due respect. There's a line between friend and commander, and I think ye're blurring it."

Aldin looks this man in the eye, all traces of joviality gone. "Aye. Ye're right. Because I've seen firsthand the difference between discipline and loyalty. I don't want trained soldiers. Soldiers can be bought and paid for. Soldiers fight because they're told to fight. Friends fight to protect what they love. Now tell me, which bleedin' one would ye rather have?"

The sergeant returns Aldin's stare, then nods and extends his gloved hand. "Friends, then. I'm Pendleton Deepcutter. Now about that ale..."

 

[J. Alexander]

UMMMM not to be snippy but we have not yet started gentlemen were still waiting on the others...

 

[Rhun]

The huntsmaster returned to Lord Bainard's keep, tired and sore from the hunt. But the cleaned and dressed carcass of the boar was strapped to his horse, and he knew his lord would be happy to have boar for dinner. Dismounting and unstrapping the package, Edoryan smiled and called out to two of the youth's in the yard. "Markos! Mattos! Hail! I've got a job for you boys. Get this boar to the kitchens, and we'll have a nice feast this night." The ranger chuckled as he watched the two boys carry the heavy load across the yard, and turned to head to his rooms.


Pausing before the entry, Edoryan turned his eyes skyward. "Nonios, here," he called, and with a shriek and flap of wings, the eagle descended to perch upon his arm. The ranger scratched the bird's head and entered the keep, making way to his room. Outside the door he met a bonded courier, thanked him graciously, and retired to his room to pour over the letters.

"Looks like I am to be appointed as one of the Stewards of Rosedown," he says to the eagle, smiling. "A new land to learn and love, new game to hunt...it should surely be an exciting adventure."

Taking a seat at his smallish writing desk, Edoryan took quill and ink, and quickly penned an answer to his letter.

"I would prefer men trained in skirmish tactics, and accurate with the longbow. Men that can survive off the land, and know how to hunt. Men of stout heart, that will not break and flee with faced with a rabble of goblin raiders. Mobility is key, and thus they should have chain shirts and bucklers for protection. Composite longbows crafted to suit each man, longsword and warhammer for close combat. Light horses, trained for war, are preferable as mounts."

The letter written, the ranger again turns his gaze to the eagle. "Well my friend, I believe it is time to discuss these events with Lord Bainard. He'll be sad to lose us, I'm sure...but since it was his idea to apply for the position, he'll be happy as a lark tonight. I see far too much wine and ale in the near future..."



[sblock=Gear]Masterwork Chain shirts
Bucklers
Masterwork Composite Longbows (mighty, if the men have the STR for the bonus)
Longsword
Warhammer

If warhorses aren't doable, that is fine...Edoryan has handle animal, and can train them himself if need be.[/sblock]