[WFRP] The Bloody Crown XIV

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard shrugged. "Let them come in," he replied "If the food's hidden where they can't find it and no one gives them reason to get violent, what's the worst they're gonna do?"

Sussman posed a greater problem. "I suppose it would be his word against what the soldiers can actually see. Did he actually take stock of everything? Who has how much?"

[LCP]

Bardhyl, 16th Sommerzeit

Roza's home was a long, low hut near the wall, much like all the others. Inside it smelt of smoke and wool grease. An old woman sat close to the fire, her knees drawn up in front of her chest.

"Who's that?" she called out. "Roza? Who's that with you?"

"His name's Bardhyl, grandmother. He's - he's a friend."

The old woman squinted at him in silence for four, maybe five seconds. Then she chuckled to herself.

"Bardhyl! I've seen yer. I've seen all of yer." She turned back to the fire, ladling some thin porridge out of the pot that was bubbling there, and offered it to him. "Nice that our Roza's making friends."

Roza gave the old woman a look, and she said no more. Looking around, Bardhyl could see from the sleeping arrangements that at least six people lived in this little house. Two children were sleeping in the corner. The other adults - if adults they were - must have been out.

Finding the quietest spot they could, he and Roza sat down to talk.

OOC:

Spoiler

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1. Do any of the women working for the Tileans stay the night? Bardhyl's heard there are six of them, but only three left the building at sundown.

They don't all work there every day. Roza doesn't know of anyone working a night shift. She won't say if anyone stays the night for other reasons - she's being protective, because people get abuse for sleeping with the occupiers. You can test Charm at -20 if you want to try to get past that.

2. Are the doors to the hall barred and/or locked at night?
[...]
4. Do the Tileans keep watch at night or does everyone not on duty outside the hall go to sleep?
5. Do the Tieans keep a fire going during the night?

Roza's not there at night, she doesn't know.

3. Are there any entrances which aren't barred or could at least be more easily be opened from the inside?
[...]
6. If Bardhyl gets her some drawing materials, can Roza draw a map of the inside of the hall, showing where the Tileans eat, sleep and keep their arms and armour?
[...]
8. Where do the Tileans keep their own food and water supplies? Is everything kept inside the hall or is some of it kept in a separate building outside?

Bardhyl's almost certainly been inside the hall himself (albeit a long time ago). Roza can help refresh his memory, but the layout is not complicated. There's one massive room up front, and a single corridor with a few private rooms at the back. The Tileans sleep in the main hall, where they also keep their kit. Their stores + the goods they're collecting as tax they keep in one of the back rooms.

7. How are things during daytime? What do the Tileans who aren't patrolling the town do? Are they alert or relaxed? Are the entrances to the hall open or are they locked/barred?

Orso has his 30 men split into 3 squads, with 2 on-duty at any time. The on-duty squad that is not on patrol handles incoming stores and any other manual labour Orso needs, and spends the rest of their time in drills and training. The off-duty squad is off-duty; they come and go as they please, doing personal errands or finding ways to entertain themselves. Often they hang around the hall, but they also go out into the town.

9. In her estimation, how difficult would it be to bring in and conceal some extra supplies?

Something small (like a knapsack) would be easy. A large amount of stuff might catch the Tileans' attention, but if you were happy with them looking at it you could say you were bringing taxes for collection.

10. How long would the Tileans' food and water supplies last if they were locked in the hall and unable to leave?

Their tax collection activities mean they have a lot of stored food, waiting for transport. Nobody pays their taxes in water, though. There might be some beer or kefir in the stores they've collected. Roza doesn't know for sure.

11. How did the Tileans recruit the serving women?

The normal way, with money.

12. Roza seems like a tough cookie. What would it take for her to take practical action against the Tileans?
13. Does she believe any of the other women would be prepared to do so? If so, who?

Roza won't endanger herself unnecessarily. She'll help you if what you're asking doesn't put her in danger of being caught and punished. If you want her to do something more, you can give it another Charm test. Even with an 01 on Charm, though, she won't do anything suicidal - her upper limit is doing something risky if she believes that it will bring about the downfall of the Tileans before they can punish her.

She hasn't sounded out the other servants; planning an uprising isn't something they've talked about.

14. Has she observed any friction between the Tileans? Do any of them seem dissatisfied with their posting, comrades or leadership?
15. Have any of the Tileans displayed any particular weaknesses, e.g. drinking, gambling, drugs, women?

Orso and his troop arrived as reinforcements for the first group of Tileans who came here. That squad was smaller (~10 men), and lost their sergeant to a coughing sickness. They behaved with less discipline and were living it up at the locals' expense. Orso's arrival has clipped their wings a bit - he's not a bleeding heart, but he understands that giving his men free rein to take advantage of the locals makes it harder to do his job. The member of the old squad who assumed informal leadership after their sergeant's death is a younger Tilean called Bartolomeo. He appears to have knuckled under for now, but he and his cronies would presumably still be drinking and womanising if they thought they could get away with it.

Orso also brought a number of non-Tileans with him - recruits from the Shepherd's Valley. They are worse equipped, made to train longer and harder, and generally treated as junior to the Tilean veterans. They have much more local antipathy to the vrani than the Tileans do, and so tend to vent their frustrations by throwing their weight around when the Tileans aren't present.

---

Sieghard, 20th Sommerzeit

"It's food we're talking about, not..." she trailed off in search of a comparison, shaking her hands expressively "...not... jewels or something. Everyone needs it! Every day! You think everyone here's got a, a secret pantry under the floor? Or that your soldier friends aren't going to notice that people with no food are still eating somehow?"

"I don't know what Sussman knows, I just know that he knows. I don't know 'who has how much' either. Go ask, if you want. You'll be here 'til Sonnstille - it's practically the whole Vale that's turned out." She sounded proud of that. "And I think we're stronger together than we are apart."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Are you stronger than the Iron Company though?" Sieghard asked "Because if you want to talk about it in terms of strength, that's what it comes down to."

"Look, Lottie, I know you don't like me, but I'm trying to help. I don't want people starving and I don't want people getting killed for their food either. If what I'm saying wont work, then work with me and try to come up with something that will."

Spoiler

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Charm roll to try to get Lottie to see reason on this and be less confrontational about the whole thing.

(1d100)[23] vs 54
(1d100)[15] reroll

[LCP]

Sieghard, 20th Sommerzeit

Lottie tensed, setting her jaw - then seemed to deflate. Something in Sieghard's words had got through to her.

"Look," she said, lowering her voice. "I remember what you did with Armin, in the hills. I believe you, that you're trying to stop people getting hurt. But you're living in a dream world - your dream is that there's some way out of this that doesn't involve telling your Prince 'no'."

She turned to gesture to the camp at large. "Suppose you did have some trick. Some way to stop them taking what they came for, that you could get... hundreds of people who don't know you from Ranald to do right. Suppose it works perfectly. Is the Prince just going to get bored and give up? Or is he going to keep squeezing until he gets what he wants?" She shrugged. "You know him better than me, but is he really the kind of man to give up that easily?"

"The only way this stops - the only way most of these people live through the winter - is if he understands it has to. And if that means facing down his soldiers, that's what people here are prepared to do. There's more people turning up here every day. What are they going to do, kill half the Vale?"

[rax]

Bardhyl, 16th Sommerzeit

"You and half of Morr's Seat, grandmother! Hope you enjoyed the show!" Bardhyl laughed.

OOC:

Spoiler

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They don't all work there every day. Roza doesn't know of anyone working a night shift. She won't say if anyone stays the night for other reasons - she's being protective, because people get abuse for sleeping with the occupiers. You can test Charm at -20 if you want to try to get past that.

I'll give that a pass for now. Bardhyl already suspects some of the women may be sleeping with the soldiers and he doesn't hold that against them. He thinks that trying to involve any women who've gotten that close to the soldiers would be too risky.

Orso has his 30 men split into 3 squads, with 2 on-duty at any time. The on-duty squad that is not on patrol handles incoming stores and any other manual labour Orso needs, and spends the rest of their time in drills and training. The off-duty squad is off-duty; they come and go as they please, doing personal errands or finding ways to entertain themselves. Often they hang around the hall, but they also go out into the town.

Okay, then it might be worthwhile to track the off-duty soldiers for a day or two to see who tends to leave the hall and where they go. If the vrani attack during the day, it will be important to take them out in order to prevent them from reinforcing the on duty soldiers or escaping from town.

Something small (like a knapsack) would be easy. A large amount of stuff might catch the Tileans' attention, but if you were happy with them looking at it you could say you were bringing taxes for collection.

I'm coming round to the idea of causing food poisoning. Bringing some rancid meat to put in a stew should be doable then. Are the Tileans taking any meat as taxes or only live animals?

Roza won't endanger herself unnecessarily. She'll help you if what you're asking doesn't put her in danger of being caught and punished. If you want her to do something more, you can give it another Charm test. Even with an 01 on Charm, though, she won't do anything suicidal - her upper limit is doing something risky if she believes that it will bring about the downfall of the Tileans before they can punish her.

If Bardhyl goes ahead with the food poisoning gambit, then he'd want her cooking or at least supervising the meal in question. Actually bringing in the meat could be handled by whoever's usually responsible for that, assuming they're vrani who'd be willing the help out.

She hasn't sounded out the other servants; planning an uprising isn't something they've talked about.

Fair. I was thinking she might have overheard someone's honest opinions about the Tileans, but I could understand if they're not that open with each other.

Orso and his troop arrived as reinforcements for the first group of Tileans who came here. That squad was smaller (~10 men), and lost their sergeant to a coughing sickness. They behaved with less discipline and were living it up at the locals' expense. Orso's arrival has clipped their wings a bit - he's not a bleeding heart, but he understands that giving his men free rein to take advantage of the locals makes it harder to do his job. The member of the old squad who assumed informal leadership after their sergeant's death is a younger Tilean called Bartolomeo. He appears to have knuckled under for now, but he and his cronies would presumably still be drinking and womanising if they thought they could get away with it.

Orso also brought a number of non-Tileans with him - recruits from the Shepherd's Valley. They are worse equipped, made to train longer and harder, and generally treated as junior to the Tilean veterans. They have much more local antipathy to the vrani than the Tileans do, and so tend to vent their frustrations by throwing their weight around when the Tileans aren't present.

Hmm, not much there that could provide Bardhyl with leverage in the short term. Probably best not to waste time trying to cultivate one or more soldiers as a source or double agent.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo, 21st Sommerzeit
Ludo fretted most of the way back to Painford. At about four o'clock in the morning he had woken in a panic and scurried outside to stare up at the moon - but there was no sign of Morrslieb in the sky. He had slept fitfully from then on, and although leaving Arrow Heap to Sforza's mercy - without even looking any of the people in the face - felt bad, he couldn't have forgiven himself for not being there if something else had happened in Painford. He rode as hard as Lumpin could manage back to town, even though he knew it wouldn't be a full moon until it was the night, and ended up there early in the afternoon, confused to find Jarla present and not Sieghard.

"You tipped Rudi off, right?" he asked her that evening, quietly. "Thank you. It's maybe made things a bit more complicated but... I thought he'd never come."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard thought back to the last conversation he had with Elsa. There's nothing green left in the Downlands... Prince Sforza is more concerned with finding people to scapegoat than feeding everyone... That was what she had said.

"Yes," came the blunt answer Sieghard gave to Lottie's rhetorical question. "Either with swords or starvation, they'll do what Sforza orders and in the end, that'll be what happens. The man is blind to anything outside of his own goals and if he has to starve the entire Reaches just to stay Prince over a wasteland, he'll do it without a second thought."

"You say it like it's so simple," he said. "Just tell him 'no'. If you tell him no, he has you beaten or killed and he takes what he wants. If I tell him no, it starts another war. One that I'm not likely to win and even if I somehow did, one that'll end in a lot more dead and no end to the famine."

"Strength is his strength, not yours. Oppose him by being 'stronger together', and he'll crush however many people he has to until the rest submit." Sieghard eased his tone a bit. "To get these people through this, you need to play to your strengths, not against his."

[LCP]

Sieghard, 20th Sommerzeit

“He’s just a man!”

So far, no-one had been paying the two of them much attention - but as Lottie raised her voice in frustration, several people turned their heads to see who she was talking to.

“You talk about him as if he’s a giant! The only strength he’s got comes from people like you! And if you won't say no when he orders you to, to rob people and beat people and kill people, then what's the point of acting like you care?” She held Sieghard with an accusatory stare. “If no-one ever stands up to him, then what are we supposed to do? Pray for Shallya to give him a change of heart? Or wait for him to die of old age?”

She paused for a while, catching her breath. When she spoke again, it was at a more normal volume.

“I don't know why you're bothering, anyway,” she said. “I’m not in charge. No-one is, really.” Finally breaking eye contact, she looked around. “But people here will starve if he gets what he wants. If it's death either way, we might as well die standing up for something.”

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Because I talked to them and they trust you," Sieghard replied, wincing at the unwanted attention Lottie's outburst had drawn. "That's your strength and it's not one you should sell short. Maybe no one made you their leader, but I'd wager a good number of them would follow you anyways. There's other options than fight or starve and a lot of lives could be saved if they could be convinced of it."

"And for what it's worth, I don't want you to give him what he wants," he continued. "If he ordered me to take it, I wouldn't do it. I'd find another way that leaves people with enough to eat... Lie about how much there is... Fob him off and waste his time to keep as much as I could out of his hands... Mix sawdust into what flour I had to give him... If I ran out of options, then yes, I'd refuse him to his face, but only when I was out of options. And if it did come to that, I'd make sure I could deal with what comes after on my terms and not his."

Spoiler

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Would another charm test matter here? If so, let me know and I'll roll it OOC. She's been stubborn to the point where I'm not sure there's much more I can say to actually convince her. I've not given up, but if she's a dead end, I might have to see if Marien or Gerhardt are more open to taking a third option.

[LCP]

Sieghard, 20th Sommerzeit

Lottie gave Sieghard a certain look when he told her she was 'selling herself short'.

"You think he's so hard to fight, but so easy to fool?" she said. She shook her head. "Like people wouldn't be punished for lying just the same."

OOC:

Spoiler

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Sieghard's Charm test has succeeded in convincing her that he is on her side. To convince her that his plan is better... yes, you've chosen someone with strong convictions, but also Sieghard's plan is hella vague.

You have two fundamental problems here:

1. Sforza's tax is an absolute quantity. He did not say 'give me x% of your grain', he said 'give me x tons of grain'. That's very difficult to defraud. The only way 'we don't have enough to pay you' works is by depending on the humanity and discretion of the tax collector. That is pretty much the same calculation that the picketers are making (that the soldiers won't resort to murder when confronted with peaceful demands).
2. This is not a regiment of soldiers, this is a bunch of loosely-connected farming communities. Coming together like this is pretty much the only way for them to act in a coordinated fashion. Asking them to all go back to their respective homes and then execute some kind of collective fraud is asking a lot.

The person who could execute this kind of fraud and have a decent chance is not the peasants paying the tax, but the guy doing the counting.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Certainly easier to fool than fight," Sieghard said, "And any punishment for it would certainly be less than for open defiance."

"There's still plenty of ruined farmsteads in the south from when the orcs marched on Manaan's Keep. They'd be little interest to soldiers trying to collect the Prince's tax and I'm sure some of them have cellars. Suppose the food stores were hidden among them and a small group of trustworthy men could distribute it as needed... Just a week or so's worth at a time so even if the food was seized, they wouldn't be able to take all that much. The only ones at real risk would be the ones distributing the food and I'm sure the farmers taking it would do everything they could to keep them hidden and safe."

He let her consider that and then added "I could also try to sway Sussman. He might take the prince's orders, but if I'm right about him, he's more interested in protecting his own skin than anything else. He won't be able to get away with giving Sforza nothing, but he might be convinced to lie about the amount if he thought things would be worse for him otherwise..."

[LCP]

Sieghard, 20th Sommerzeit

"There's still plenty of ruined farmsteads in the south from when the orcs marched on Manaan's Keep. They'd be little interest to soldiers trying to collect the Prince's tax and I'm sure some of them have cellars. Suppose the food stores were hidden among them and a small group of trustworthy men could distribute it as needed... Just a week or so's worth at a time so even if the food was seized, they wouldn't be able to take all that much. The only ones at real risk would be the ones distributing the food and I'm sure the farmers taking it would do everything they could to keep them hidden and safe."

Lottie squinted at him.

"It's thirty miles from here to the north end of the valley," she said. "Your trustworthy men, they're going to do that twice a week? Visit every house? And the Prince's men won't see them? Or say" - she put on an outrageous Tilean accent, shrugging and gesticulating wildly - "eyy, dese-a people say-a they 'ave no food, but some'ow dey are-a still eating!" She grimaced and raised her eyebrows at Sieghard. "Come on, big man. We've been here for days. Do you think we haven't talked about what we're doing? That if we thought something like your silver bullet existed, we'd be trying it? Most of the people here have lived in the Vale their whole life. They know where those ruins are."

"I could also try to sway Sussman. He might take the prince's orders, but if I'm right about him, he's more interested in protecting his own skin than anything else. He won't be able to get away with giving Sforza nothing, but he might be convinced to lie about the amount if he thought things would be worse for him otherwise..."

Lottie seemed less immediately sure about that.

"He just seems like a slippery sort of weasel to me," she said. "But I'm not who he's been talking to. Maybe he'd listen better to someone like you." She shrugged. "I don't know."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"It's thirty miles from here to the north end of the valley," she said. "Your trustworthy men, they're going to do that twice a week? Visit every house? And the Prince's men won't see them? Or say" - she put on an outrageous Tilean accent, shrugging and gesticulating wildly - "eyy, dese-a people say-a they 'ave no food, but some'ow dey are-a still eating!" She grimaced and raised her eyebrows at Sieghard. "Come on, big man. We've been here for days. Do you think we haven't talked about what we're doing? That if we thought something like your silver bullet existed, we'd be trying it? Most of the people here have lived in the Vale their whole life. They know where those ruins are."

"You're-a right, Luca," Sieghard said in the same sort of ridiculous fake Tilean accent. "We should search-a the houses. What do you mean there's-a only a loaf of bread and two sausages?"

"What are they going to do? They don't know where the food is coming from and if it's only a small group delivering it, no one can tell them if they don't get caught. It's a big forest and the Iron Company only has so many men it can spare... They have Alvarran and the Shepherd's Valley to worry about, and because I couldn't talk one fool out of it, there's likely to be much bigger problems in the north than some farmers in Vale for them soon. Just so long as those farmers don't do anything to draw the Prince's ire, that is."

"Maybe you'll need safe hiding places further north as well, but you know the land better than the Iron Company does. And the few men Sforza can send are a lot less likely to draw their swords if no one gets in their way."

"He just seems like a slippery sort of weasel to me," she said. "But I'm not who he's been talking to. Maybe he'd listen better to someone like you." She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Weasel sounds about right. But that might not be a bad thing," he said. "I'm willing to try."

[LCP]

Sieghard, 20th Sommerzeit

"What are they going to do? They don't know where the food is coming from and if it's only a small group delivering it, no one can tell them if they don't get caught."

"They can hurt people!" Lottie burst out so loudly that again heads turned their way. "Or, or bribe people! Ranald's fingers, how hard do you think it would be to make someone talk, if everyone's in on it? This isn't a heist! You can't feed a whole valley in secret!"

Catching her breath, she took a moment or two to calm down. She looked distracted, like she was still processing something Sieghard had said.

"What do you mean," she asked, slowly, "bigger problems in the north?"

[rax]

Bardhyl, 16th Sommerzeit

"Listen Roza, you said you're a survivor, right? Well, that makes two of us. I've been surviving among the lowlanders for the last ten years, taking them for whatever they're worth whenever and wherever I can. One thing I've learned is that fewer people get hurt when the people who should be fighting you are too busy doing something else. Sometimes you can do that by scaring them, and sometimes by buying them off, but I don't think either of those options is going to work on Sergeant Orso."

"But Orso and his boys won't be putting up any kind of fight if they're too busy rushing to the latrine. Stick something nasty in their stew, wait for it to start working, and then we bring the whole town down on them. They won't know what hit them and they certainly won't have time to sit around working out what happened. All I need is someone brave and smart enough to cook them this special meal, and savvy enough not to get caught doing it. A survivor - like you," Bardhyl pitched his case to the young woman.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Would you keep your damn voice down?" Sieghard hissed. He glanced around to make sure Sussman was still out of view. "The weasel's up here today too, you know. He hears you shouting like that and it makes things all the harder." He took a moment to calm himself. "If you keep the food hidden, they might hurt people. If you keep doing what you're doing now, they will hurt people. And there's not much they could bribe them with that's worth more than the food right now. Maybe it's not perfect but it's better than hanging around here and having them come in to butcher you."

"I mean this isn't the only place where folk aren't happy about the Prince's tax. There's a man I know of whose set on causing trouble. He's got more than a bunch of farmers with him, but still not enough for it to end any different than him getting a bunch of people killed. I tried talking sense into him too, but he wouldn't have it."

[LCP]

Bardhyl, 16th Sommerzeit

Roza listened to Bardhyl's proposal with careful consideration. She didn't seem frightened by the idea - that was a good start.

"You're going to bring the whole town down on them," she repeated. "Does the whole town know?"

---

Sieghard, 20th Sommerzeit

Sieghard couldn't catch sight of Sussman through the others surrounding them in the camp. Lottie, however, didn't seem to be listening to his rebuke about keeping her voice down. She'd latched onto something in what he'd told her, and her eyes shone brightly as she spoke.

"So what you're saying is," she said, "this is the best time for us to make a stand. When they're distracted, when they've only got so many men they can spare." She raised a pointing finger towards him. "That's what you said! And you tried to talk them out of it too?" Her voice curdled with an edge of contempt. "How many people have to stand up before you stop telling them to sit down?"

OOC:

Spoiler

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The camp around the mill is pretty large - >100 people as has been mentioned. The risk of being overheard is more from people inside the camp than from Sussman who was lingering some distance away from the edge.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Enough that it would do more than get people killed picking fight they can't win," he replied. "Have you listened to anything I've been saying? I've seen the Iron Company fight and I know what they can do. They're veterans. Well trained and well armed. Give them a reason and it wouldn't take any more than fifteen of them to deal with this whole camp. You don't beat that by trying to match it in strength, you beat it by being smarter than them."

[rax]

Bardhyl, 16th Sommerzeit

Roza listened to Bardhyl's proposal with careful consideration. She didn't seem frightened by the idea - that was a good start.

"You're going to bring the whole town down on them," she repeated. "Does the whole town know?"

"Not yet, but a certain one-eyed man has been gathering support for the idea since I last left town. When the time comes, they'll be ready, but for what exactly? That depends on whether you're willing to risk this or not," Bardhyl answered earnestly.

[LCP]

Bardhyl, 16th Sommerzeit

"I want to see who you have," said Roza, doggedly. "Hear it from their own mouths. Those lowlanders are tough. Even if you give them the squits... I don't want to stick my neck out just to see your head mounted over the gate in the morning."

Sieghard, 20th Sommerzeit

"They're always going to have the sharper swords,* said Lottie, shaking her head. "That's not a reason not to try."

Backing away from Sieghard, she spread her arms wide to encompass the camp around them. "Talk to anyone you want, your lordship. They'll tell you the same thing - we're not scared of your soldiers. We don't have enough left to lose!"

She turned and darted off into the crowd. Sieghard found himself the centre of a circle of unsympathetic faces - she'd made sure that your lordship was loud enough for all around them to hear.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Rotten little runt

Sieghard might've gone after her if not for the crowd now staring at him. "She's a stubborn woman," he remarked loud enough for them to hear. "I came south to try to help you. To try to find a way to keep you fed without putting you against the Prince. She won't hear it though." he shrugged. "To her, any soldier is the enemy, even the man who stopped the orcs overrunning your land."

Spoiler

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Public speaking go! Let's see if Sieghard can convince them primarily that his intentions are good and maybe secondarily that Lottie's judgement might not be the best.

(1d100)[64] vs 54 Charm
(1d100)[36] reroll

[RossN]

Ludo & Jarla, 21st Sommerzeit

Ludo, 21st Sommerzeit
Ludo fretted most of the way back to Painford. At about four o'clock in the morning he had woken in a panic and scurried outside to stare up at the moon - but there was no sign of Morrslieb in the sky. He had slept fitfully from then on, and although leaving Arrow Heap to Sforza's mercy - without even looking any of the people in the face - felt bad, he couldn't have forgiven himself for not being there if something else had happened in Painford. He rode as hard as Lumpin could manage back to town, even though he knew it wouldn't be a full moon until it was the night, and ended up there early in the afternoon, confused to find Jarla present and not Sieghard.

"You tipped Rudi off, right?" he asked her that evening, quietly. "Thank you. It's maybe made things a bit more complicated but... I thought he'd never come."

Jarla had been waiting anxiously for Ludo to reappear and smiled with relief when he finally did so. The noblewoman was evidently not finding her stay in Painford too comfortable.

"Yes, well I admit part of the problem was my fault. I hadn't known your connection and once I did I had to get him out." She explained, then let out a sigh. "Irene has stepped off the deep end and she's determined to kill you and Elsa. I don't think we can afford to wait, we'll have to deal with her very soon... which means we'll have to deal with her husband too."

Jarla felt her stomach turn even just saying it in this private room. Irene was plainly mad and dangerous and responsible for murder and Sforza was turning tyrant far too readily but she'd never been one for actual murder.

[LCP]

Sieghard, 20th Sommerzeit

Sieghard's unsolicited defence drew nothing but silence from the circle of people around him. If they recognised his face, they didn't show it.

[rax]

Bardhyl, 16th Sommerzeit

"I want to see who you have," said Roza, doggedly. "Hear it from their own mouths. Those lowlanders are tough. Even if you give them the squits... I don't want to stick my neck out just to see your head mounted over the gate in the morning."

"My head? How very solicitous of you!" Bardhyl grinned.

"You want to see who's with me? Shall I put on a parade? Have everyone come to pay their respects at your house? Listen, you're right not to rush into a matter like this on my say-so, but think for a moment what you're asking of me. You want the names and faces of those who would stand against the Iron Company. If you decide that survival is the better part of valour, what's to stop you from marching off to the Sergeant and letting him know all about our conversation and who besides me is thinking seditious thoughts? No Roza, if I let you in on that already, I'd be gambling not just my pretty head, but everyone else's as well. What sort of a leader would that make me, hmm?"

"So, I'm asking you to take a leap of faith and make your decision based on what I've told you - I already took mine in coming to you. Take a few days to think about it if you like, but trust me that I don't want to die, nor do I want any of our people to die, including you. Even if you know nothing else, you can be sure of that," he finished.

[LCP]

Bardhyl, 16th Sommerzeit

Roza looked unimpressed.

“The people you’re asking to fight, they’ll know who’s going to be fighting beside them, won't they?” she asked. “You want my help, then I’m just asking to be treated the same.”

Her words were firm and determined. “That's my answer. You don't like it, you can find someone else. Though I don't see what the point is, when you told me your name. If I wanted to sell you out, you’d already be screwed.”

---

Sieghard, 20th Sommerzeit

With the eyes of the camp on him, Sieghard could no longer pass unnoticed as he had before - but at least no-one blocked his way. Running the gauntlet of their unfriendly stares, he went in search of the others whose names he had heard bandied about as leaders.

~

Marien was a woman in her middle years, with the look of someone used to long hours working out in the sun. Two shaggy herding dogs lay sprawled in the shade behind her, their long tongues lolling out over their teeth.

“Who are you?” she asked. “I don’t know your face. Did Sussman send you?”

When Sieghard had introduced himself, she listened to what he had to say - but he could tell that she wasn’t convinced.

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked. “You think it’s news to us that the Prince has soldiers? You ought to get a new line. Herr Sussman’s been trying to scare us off just the same since the first day he came out here.”

Cracking her knuckles, she looked Sieghard square in the eye. “You care so much about keeping the peace, then here’s what you do. Go back to the Prince and tell him what’s happening here. Tell him we’re not just the waifs and strays you herded onto our land. We are the Vale, and without us there’s no harvest, this year or the next. Tell him he can send as many soldiers as he wants, but swords and spears won’t plough the fields, and no man or woman worth the name is going to give up the food they need to keep their own kids from starving because some lord or lady tells them they must.” Her voice had become hard and grim. “So he can keep trying to squeeze blood from a stone, or he can see reason. We’ll be here until he does.”

~

Gerhardt was a different kettle of fish. Old and wiry, with a white beard down to his belt, he looked like a strong breeze might blow him away. Two younger men with the look of blood relatives stuck close to him while Sieghard spoke, eyeing the outsider with suspicion.

“You’ve got us all wrong, sir,” said Gerhardt, gently. “We’re not here to fight. We’re just here to make our voices heard.” Raising his stick, he waved it at the camp around them. “You look around, you’ll see - we haven’t come here armed. And if the soldiers come, that’s what they’ll see too.”

“I walked sixteen miles to be here, you know that? And that’s not the furthest folks here have come, not by a fair way. If I told ‘em, enough’s enough, it’s time we all went home - how many do you think would be ready to come back?”

He let the question hang in the air for a moment or two.

“This is the one chance we’ve got to stand together,” he said. “We go our separate ways, and we’re all standing alone.”

[rax]

Bardhyl, 16th Sommerzeit

"Morr save me! They know because they're already committed to the cause!" Bardhyl retorted, throwing up his hands in despair. "Grandmother! Are you sure your girl's not half goat?!"

"Alright, let's try this one last time. I realize it's no small thing I'm asking of you, and I don't expect you to make your decision here and now. But just speaking to you about this is a risk - like you said, you could sell me out any time you want, so I'm not going to sit here and give you even more people you could sell out."

"What I can do is walk out this door, and in a few days time, someone will knock on your door and offer to take you for a walk. If you go with them, you'll meet the others, but you'll also have to decide then and there whether you're in or you're out. If you're in, you get to stay and hear the plan. If not...well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Deal?" he said, extending his hand to Roza.

Spoiler: @LCP

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Tough call here, but I can't really see Bardhyl just handing over a list of names of his co-conspirators to get Roza on side. If she's not just an extremely stubborn and/or scared young woman, he'd be signing death sentences for everyone by naming names. Roza's point that he's screwed if she wants to sell him out just reinforces his opinion that she doesn't need to know anything more.

FYI, I originally had a far more threatening ending written up for this post. Basically, Bardhyl was going to make it clear to Roza that she can try and sell him out, but that will lead to things ending very badly for her and/or her family. I decided against it, but after leaving her house, he's definitely going to have her closely watched and set things up so her family can be used as leverage if there's any indication that she's not going to keep quiet.

...and aside form the IC motivations for not telling Roza who else is in on the coming revolt, I realized I don't actually have any names to share other than Wadim!

Spoiler: Edit

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Re-wrote Bardhyl's response based on our OOC conversation. I still don't feel Roza has actually been very clear about what she wants. Reading through the conversation it still reads to me like she's demanding to know "everything" before she'll say if she'll even consider joining the revolt. There's nothing along the lines of "I'll do it, but I need assurances first" or "I'm not saying no, but I want to meet the others first". Therefore, Bardhyl is still responding as if that's what she's saying, but now at least he's directly offering her a meeting if that's what it takes.

[LCP]

Bardhyl, 16th Sommerzeit

Roza thought for a moment, before firmly clasping Bardhyl's hand.

"Deal," she said.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard with Marien

"I'm teling you because here's a rather big difference between saying at some point soldiers will show up and saying they're likely to be here within the week," Sieghard said. "And because I'd hoped we could use that time to find a better way than tell the soldiers to not do as they've been ordered and hope they don't draw their swords. I might not agree with Sussman about what he wants you to do, but the man is right about what the soldiers'll do if things stay how they are now."

“You care so much about keeping the peace, then here’s what you do. Go back to the Prince and tell him what’s happening here. Tell him we’re not just the waifs and strays you herded onto our land. We are the Vale, and without us there’s no harvest, this year or the next. Tell him he can send as many soldiers as he wants, but swords and spears won’t plough the fields, and no man or woman worth the name is going to give up the food they need to keep their own kids from starving because some lord or lady tells them they must.”

"It's clear you don't know the prince," Sieghard said, now sounding more tired than before. "For as much as he cares, the fields grow because he orders them to. I could tell him he's wrong and if he has his soldiers take the grain by force, it'll mean there'll be none in years to come but all it would mean is he'd have me replaced with someone willing to tell him he's right. I can do better for the people in my care where I am. Work with me to find a better way out of this and I can do better for you as well."

Sieghard with Gerhardt

"That's well and good," Sieghard replied, "But I fear that the prince will see things differently than you or I. I'm happy to let you be heard, but he's the sort more likely to see it as his authority being challenged. It's just not likely to end well for anyone involved."

“I walked sixteen miles to be here, you know that? And that’s not the furthest folks here have come, not by a fair way. If I told ‘em, enough’s enough, it’s time we all went home - how many do you think would be ready to come back?”

He let the question hang in the air for a moment or two.

“This is the one chance we’ve got to stand together,” he said. “We go our separate ways, and we’re all standing alone.”

"I do agree that you need to work together," he said. "People are more likely to get through the winter supporting each other. It's just that getting in the soldier's way that's a poor idea. The people here look to you for guidance. You can protect them from that."

Spoiler

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I'll throw a charm test (still 54 at each of them to try to convince them that Sieghard is on their side and they should look for better options than outright defiance. If they seem responsive, Sieghard will elaborate on the idea that Sforza can't sieze what he can't find.

(1d100)[50] Marien
(1d100)[70] Gerhardt

[LCP]

Sieghard, 20th Sommerzeit

With Marien

Marien looked extremely unimpressed. “You're telling us your lord is a robber and a fool,” she said, “and then asking us to follow you? What makes you so different from these others he's sending?”

She shook her head. “We’re not going to be bought off,” she said. “You can plead and threaten all you like, we’re taking a stand now, while we’ve still got something worth keeping.”

With Gerhardt

“Hrm… in normal times, sir, I’d agree with you. There's little in this life worth losing it for, when men with swords come knocking.” The old man’s voice sounded faraway, as if dwelling on some painful memory. “But these times aren't normal, are they? The choice we’re offered isn't living or dying, it's dying fast or slow.”

“Force alone can't rule the Reaches. Never has, never could. Old King Pieter learned that too late, and the Mad Duke after him died a’cause of it. The longer this goes on, the more folk’ll die, until someone makes a stand. If no-one else’ll do it, it might as well be us.”

OOC:

Spoiler

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I don't think it's worth your time to repeat Sieghard's secret food smuggling suggestion - unless he has something concrete to add to it that wasn't available to these people before he turned up, they’ll find it as unconvincing as Lottie did.

[Thragka]

Elsa and Urgrim, 18th Sommerzeit

Urgrim listened to Elsa's explanation thoughtfully, carefully following along her written instructions with his finger on the parchment as she ran through them. Concentration was clear on his face as he put his limited literacy to the test. It was interrupted by a flash of annoyance at Elsa's mention of a loan for the Dwimmulsons.

"Look here," he said, holding his hands up "I'm not going to try broker a loan from the Dwimmulsons for you. They'd laugh me all the way down the Rock. Alright?" He took a breath, and composed himself. "But everything else ... well, if you say you need it, I'm sure they'll want to assist. I only hope Sieghard and Ludo's finances can support it, what with the season the Reaches are having."

"I can set out to do this, aye, and I see the clear sense in bringing Tatiana, since I can't make head nor tail of witchcraft. But that leaves you here with just the Prince's men, and no other expert in your craft to assist you. You're sure that that's something you can take on? Safeguarding, let alone investigating, the Book, without us?"

But it was clear that Elsa had thought hard about the next steps, and Urgrim was keen to do his part to assist. "We can go east, to begin with," he suggested to Tatiana as the conversation continued. "See if we can touch base with friends in Manann's Keep first of all. And that puts us on the skirts of the Dead Hills. If we need karag glass, 'obsidition', it may be nearer than we think. Might as well try to knock that one off the stele straight away."