Lordling Quest: Warfare and Mis-rule in Renaissance Not-Europe

[NauticalMongoose]

We must stock up on Holy Hand Grenades

[Cataphrak]

Hand Grenades haven't been invented yet.

[TurtleClaw]

Invent hand grenade

Rolled 1d100 : 20, total 20

[Cataphrak]

You don't have access to the Imperial Armsworks... mostly because they are in Feuerburg, 35 leagues away.

[Cataphrak]

The Emperor's men see you bathed and changed into new clothes befitting of your rank, gifts from his Imperial Majesty. In addition, you are presented with a magnificently forged arming sword, stamped with the mark of the Imperial Armouries at Feuerburg.

With several hours left in the day, you prowl the palace and the better districts of the city for worthy members of your new task force. You find:

-Brother-Captain Ingmar Johanesson, an officer of the Holy Brigades, the missionary and exploratory arm of the Mother Church. He is willing to join you for room and board, in exchange for being allowed the privileges due him as a representative of the Church.

-Josef Paranoszkyi, an expert horseman and scout from the Kingdom of Zytosuzkyi. Having fought in the Emperor's wars for two decades, he knows his way around your new lands and can act as an able bodyguard or courier. He demands 60 Troner a season for his salary.

-Ahmed ibn Arsule, an "inventor" and exile from the Abdhullad Empire. He promises to design you weapons of war as well as offer advice and his intimate knowledge of the heathens to the east. He asks only a salary of 150 Troner a season and tolerance for his beliefs.

-Francisco de la Alomar y Rivas, an "adventurer", swordmaster, bodyguard, assassin and otherwise ne'er-do-well. An excellent man with a rapier and a talented musician. His blade and honeyed voice are yours for a mere 100 Troner a season.

-Artemesia and Ursula d'Arondi, the twin daughters of a prominent banking family, both young women are educated and good with numbers. They offer a long list of references and letters of introduction, describing them as administrative prodigies. Hiring one of the sisters will cost 150 Troner a season, but hiring both will cost you "merely" 250 Troner a season.

-Sir Alexander von Harkenmeer, a legendary mercenary commander with more famous victories under his belt than you have had hot baths. An excellent swordsman and a brilliant military tactician, Sir Alexander now seeks to retire from his career as a sellsword. For the exorbitant salary of 400 Troner a season and lands enough to make him a petty lord in his own right, he will offer to lead, organize and train your soldiers.

By the way: You have approximately 200 Troner in personal funds. The last time you were home, your family's funds stood roughly at 1500 Troner. As a Freiherr of the Empire, being given a fiefdom worth any less than 250 Troner a season would be considered a grave insult.

A Troner is a large gold coin. By comparison, it costs approximately 5 Troner to maintain a single soldier with his equipment and arms for a month.

Who hire?

[greencloak]

Withdraw another 660 Troner, hire everybody but the last guy, gather a task force of 50 men, and prepare your company to march on the godless heathens!

[Cataphrak]

I would like to note that these are your total savings, and that you'll probably have a few seasons before you start drawing enough income to offset salaries for your retainers. Also note that you'd probably be better off conscripting peasants (because mercs are a lot more expensive) when you get to your new fief.

[greencloak]

Hmm, good point.

With that in mind, you shall not hire any of these mercenaries, save Johanesson, as the benefit of God himself will prove useful in the war against the heathens. As well as the missionary, a contingent of 20 men will prove useful as a small attack force. With this in mind, you make the arrangements and prepare to depart!

[Cataphrak]

Remember that the Emperor is giving you a company of heavily armed cavalrymen/babysitters for a year as well.

[kultz]

This is not homoerotic adventures, this is MOOR MARCHES QUEST.
I basically have a year of military protection, time enough to drill a new army. To this end, we grab the Mercenary. He wants land? Carve it out of the heathens. He wants pay? I expect nothing less than legendary Shepard level training of conscripts for the amount I pay him.

I am woefully under-skilled in administration, plus boobies. Having well-trained administrators are a godsend. Also boobies. Two pairs you say? Hired!

Heathens are insidious. So are technology. Grab the shifty 'inventor'. We require the ability to understand our enemy.

Everything else can suck it.

Edit: Grab the horseman. A bodyguard is helpful, and he's cheap.
Editedit: I AM UNWILLING TO AFFORD MORE BECAUSE THEY ARE EXPENSIVE. IS THIS INTENDED?

[Cataphrak]

YES. GOOD RETAINERS ARE VALUABLE AND YOU'RE NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE NOBLE HIERARCHY.

For reference:

IMPERIAL FAMILY (Voted in for life by Electors)
Emperor
Empress
Princes/Princesses Imperial

ELECTORS (Can vote in the Emperor)
Elector-Prince (Kurfurst)

INTERMEDIATE LORDS
Duke (Herzog)
Margrave (Markgraf)
Count (Graf)
Viscount (Burggraf)
Baron (Freiherr) <- YOU

PETTY NOBILITY
Imperial Knights (Reichsritter)
Esquire (Edler)

[Cataphrak]

((Okay, I think that's long enough))

You return to your rooms in the University and begin packing for the journey. You weren't allowed much as a student, so your portable belongings are barely enough to fill a single pack. You call in a liveried university steward to request the presence of your chosen retainers.

You send for the d'Arondi sisters immediately. They arrive promptly, and happily sign on for the agreed-upon price. However, they also make it clear that they are solely there to administer your fief: they are not there to be your friends, they will expect their pay on time, and that any unwelcome advances will lead to them leaving your service immediately.

Ahmed ibn Arsule takes longer to arrive. When he does, he is disheveled, his beard singed and his clothes smelling distinctly of gunpowder. His conditions are simple: leave him alone, give him a place to work, and don't have him burned at the stake. It is clear that the man is desperate for a refuge. He gladly accepts your offer the second you swear to offer him your protection.

Josef Paranozskyi arrives next. As he steps through the door, the reason for his late response is clear to see: he has alreadypbacked up his meagre belongings. By the sabre at his belt, he swears to guard you with his life and make himself useful to you as a loyal vassal for as long as his pay is forthcoming. As soon as he is officially "hired", he takes position outside your rooms. It is clear he takes his new position seriously.

Last to arrive is Sir Alexander von Harkenmeer, the famous Hawk of Aenglys is an irreligious man, and fighting the Abdhullad heathens does not give him especial joy. However, the right to carve out a fief of his own from the rich lands to the east is enough to make him accept. He pledges himself and his small, but veteran warband to your service.

You currently have 1700 Troner
You will spend 860 Troner on your new retainers upon your arrival at your new fief.

With your new entourage hired, you take dinner at the university kitchens, devouring a large portion of a beef roast and a stein of beer. Thus fortified, you go to sleep.

---

You rendezvous with your assembled entourage at the gates of the Tronerburg Palace an hour after dawn, with the belongings from your dorm room packed. Your belongings from your old estate will join you at your new castle.

Your entourage consists of:
Yourself
Artemesia d'Arundi
Ursula d'Arundi
Ahmed ibn Arsule
Josef Paranoskyi
Sir Alexander von Harkenmeer

Sir Alexander's Warband:
4x Veteran Reiters (Heavy Cavalry)
10x Veteran Doppelsoldners (Men with two-handed swords)
5x Veteran Dragoons (Mounted Infantry)

Von Eschonbach's Company of Horse
Captain Albrecht von Eschonbach
80x Veteran Pistolers

Thus accompanied by your retainers and a small army, you proceed out of the palace gates in good order. A few of the common folk line the streets to cheer or gawk. As you pass the square in front of the great Cathedral of Saint Constance the Red-Haired, the Archbishop of Tronerburg himself comes out and gives you his blessing. He prays that you will beat back the heathen hordes, and safeguard His Imperial Majesty's Lands. of your obviously Abdhullad retainer Ahmed, he makes little comment save for a sour look.

Thus blessed and anointed, in the company of talented retainers and ranks of good soldiery, you ride out of the eastern gate of Tronerburg, to forge your destiny on the frontier.

Introduction END

((Alright, I'll wait a day or two before we start the next chapter and begin the administration stuff. Any questions on the setting or mechanics?))

[kultz]

More information on what is known of the heathens and their ways would be nice, and a little detail on the situation of the front. Just common knowledge.

Also, is it safe to assume that I am incompetent in most tasks?

[Cataphrak]

1: The Abdhullad Sultanate is the primary military threat facing the Holy Empire, the size of their territory  is roughly equivalent to the size of the Empire, though their regular army is much larger. They also have one of the best navies in the world, though the Empire has been able to keep them bottled up in the Eastern Sea so far. Their armies' strengths are gunpowder infantry and light cavalry, while the Empire has the edge in fortifications, pikemen and heavy cavalry. While the Abdhullads are capable of raiding with near impunity, they usually require a significant numerical advantage to best an Imperial army in the field.

Tech-wise, their gunpowder weapons, horses, medicine and administrative systems are superior, but their armour, fortification tech, naval tech and knowledge of the natural sciences are markedly inferior.

The Abdhullads have already swallowed up several smaller kingdoms to the East of the Empire over the past century. The only other military power which has managed to stop their advance is the Kingdom of Zytosuzkyi, who are shielded from the Abdhullads by their own line of fortifications and the Carridian Mountains.

The Military Frontier is a recently instituted initiative by Emperor Maxim II in an effort to ready the Eastern border of the empire for the inevitable war with the Abdhullads. In exhance for tax exemption, the lords of the Military Frontier are expected to maintain garrisons, fortresses and logistical infrastructure in case of war. They are also required to maintain the ability to field a body of fighting men to aid the Emperor if the Imperial Army is to to take the field.

2: Assume that you can read and write the Common Tongue and Old Imperial. Also assume that you are a competent horseman and a well-trained fighter.

[NauticalMongoose]

Zytosuzkyi=Hungary?

[Gaming]

Summer 2013:

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