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<blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 5981553" data-attributes="member: 6669384">We have a grudging partnership/sponsorship by the ruler of a neighboring city.&nbsp; The two cities have been in an on again/off again war for years.&nbsp; The neighboring city's spell casters tried to summon a Devil and use him as a weapon against our sponsor's city.&nbsp; It went wrong, the Devil wasn't contained or controlled, and the city got evacuated.Our sponsor took in many of the refugees from this neighbor, and once it was confirmed that some of the lands around that city were safe, he extended the protection of his guard to the people living there.&nbsp; And his tax collectors, of course.We cleared the city of the forces that occupied after the Devil took over, and have been burning and burying bodies for a week.&nbsp; Our sponsor sent a small number of troops to help us secure the place until the population is ready to move back in.&nbsp; He wants to unite the two by placing his son as regent there.&nbsp; It's a long term investment in peace.&nbsp; Plus a larger tax base.The Barb/Wizard is his son.&nbsp; Letting him kill himself really isn't an option.The &quot;why&quot; of it is that gaining an entire city, with the associated lands, is a huge thing.&nbsp; While we won't personally hold it, we'll almost certainly be rewarded with lands and titles.&nbsp; In terms of stabilizing the local economy, it's hard to describe the impact.What the Barbarian Prince needs to do is hold the place until we can ensure it's safe for people to return to (we're slowly closing hell pits, removing curses, exorcising hauntings, etc.), then see it repopulated.&nbsp; Once it has a population, the trained soldiers we're working with will become the new royal/city guard.&nbsp; They'll have a population base they can recruit more from to make the place defensible, long term.This isn't the typical PC adventure stuff, where the player characters roll into town, smash, burn and blow things up for a few days, then ride into the sunset.&nbsp; It's a longer term project, with longer term rewards.Also, since this is the DM who buried us in loot (including a woodpile worth of magic wands), I suspect that he plans to burn that excess right back off again.The problem, of course, is that most of the wands aren't that well suited to facing an army.&nbsp; Burning them to win really isn't an option.&nbsp; It won't work.&nbsp; We're too thinly spread to try and brute force our way through this challenge.&nbsp; Elegance is called for.One clue is that we keep hearing about &quot;The Four Sisters&quot;, and suspect that these forces are being lead by them, or their puppets.&nbsp; Eliminate the sisters or cut the puppet strings and life gets a lot easier.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Greenfield, post: 5981553, member: 6669384"] We have a grudging partnership/sponsorship by the ruler of a neighboring city. The two cities have been in an on again/off again war for years. The neighboring city's spell casters tried to summon a Devil and use him as a weapon against our sponsor's city. It went wrong, the Devil wasn't contained or controlled, and the city got evacuated. Our sponsor took in many of the refugees from this neighbor, and once it was confirmed that some of the lands around that city were safe, he extended the protection of his guard to the people living there. And his tax collectors, of course. We cleared the city of the forces that occupied after the Devil took over, and have been burning and burying bodies for a week. Our sponsor sent a small number of troops to help us secure the place until the population is ready to move back in. He wants to unite the two by placing his son as regent there. It's a long term investment in peace. Plus a larger tax base. The Barb/Wizard is his son. Letting him kill himself really isn't an option. The "why" of it is that gaining an entire city, with the associated lands, is a huge thing. While we won't personally hold it, we'll almost certainly be rewarded with lands and titles. In terms of stabilizing the local economy, it's hard to describe the impact. What the Barbarian Prince needs to do is hold the place until we can ensure it's safe for people to return to (we're slowly closing hell pits, removing curses, exorcising hauntings, etc.), then see it repopulated. Once it has a population, the trained soldiers we're working with will become the new royal/city guard. They'll have a population base they can recruit more from to make the place defensible, long term. This isn't the typical PC adventure stuff, where the player characters roll into town, smash, burn and blow things up for a few days, then ride into the sunset. It's a longer term project, with longer term rewards. Also, since this is the DM who buried us in loot (including a woodpile worth of magic wands), I suspect that he plans to burn that excess right back off again. The problem, of course, is that most of the wands aren't that well suited to facing an army. Burning them to win really isn't an option. It won't work. We're too thinly spread to try and brute force our way through this challenge. Elegance is called for. One clue is that we keep hearing about "The Four Sisters", and suspect that these forces are being lead by them, or their puppets. Eliminate the sisters or cut the puppet strings and life gets a lot easier. [/QUOTE]

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