Battle based on Blanchetaque (was: Scouting Missions)

[Brother Oni]

The thing with the Vikings is they're the same group of people--they don't change who they are when they're acting as bandits from when they're acting as an army. If the Vikings are brave and loyal to each other when they're fighting a war, you can bet the same when they're fighting a raid.

Which is why I don't really think of them as bandits even when they're engaging in banditry, due to their external bonds and chain of command.

Checking up some descriptions of bandits, one phrase that comes up is 'proscribed or outlawed'. Vikings didn't belong to any of the saxon kingdoms, thus aren't really outlaws - they're just plain raiders and foreign warriors.

I'm afraid the point about ships and discipline went over my head.

Pirate crews have strict discipline because it's the only way to function in an enclosed environment like a ship without descending into complete anarchy over unresolved grudges.
Pirates were democratic because their own code said they were: pirate code examples. This freedom to vote was probably intentional to lure men away from military service for national powers.

Bandits on the other hand have considerably more space to roam when they get fed up of each other, so discipline didn't need to be as strict - at least I can't find any examples of a large bandit gang's code of conduct.

Vikings and other raiders had their own culture, with their own system of laws to enforce order and discipline, thus why I don't think of them as bandits.

I'm of the opinion that for a large bandit gang (more than a few hundred members) to survive without fracturing into lots of smaller gangs, there needs to be a code of conduct or some other unifying cause to hold them all together.
Whether that evolves organically or is in place already doesn't really matter, but when it does, are they really bandits any more or are they something more akin to freedom fighters/rebels?

Ha ha, no, Nick isn't your brother by blood. You were adopted. He's older than you by a couple years, and while the MC considers him her brother, he doesn't really see her that way.

Oh good, that means I can play this game in front of my children without them asking awkward questions.

A harem ending would be pretty difficult when the romance options are such high ranking individuals. It could work if there are precedents within the setting, similar to how some of the generals of China were wives of the emperor--but unless that's already the way the culture works you're unlikely to be able to get away with it even if you are Queen (if you had a really strong position you can do basically anything you want--but your position isn't likely to very strong).

It depends on how Marcus has a claim to the throne, the strength of it and whether she is able or willing to usurp it from King Kendrick's line.

Assuming that she's also not related to Alastor (and we're back to the squick), Orthera becoming a Queendom like Sylgardia might help to smooth over relations.
Depending on how Orthera views polygamy, as Queen, Marcus could choose to take any number of Prince Consorts.

Edit: Ooo, sneaky backhanded political trick:

Spoiler

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As part of the negotiation, King Kendrick would abdicate and his successors would swear fealty to Sylgardia.
Played correctly, that's a massive concession that could net some very nice ones back from Sylgardia. After the treaty is signed, King Alastor abdicates suddenly with no heirs, thus an alternate line must be found... who is Marcus.

Since the treaty was for King Kendrick's line only, it's no longer valid for Marcus, who now rules Orthera.

Whether Marcus knows about this plan is entirely optional.