Known actions of one George Longcloak, Peltarch Defender Captain
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Loose lips sink ships.
A saying known well to sailors of all ages and all walks of life. Drilled into mariners and merchantmen from day one, as keeping sea routes and departures secret is one of the easiest ways to maintain ownership of their vessels.Of course, not all sailors are infallible. Nor are the city's clerks. As such, interactions written here can be considered known about by any who bother to know, likely gossiped about in the corners of City Hall, or in the taverns after a long day.
"Alright, here's what I need."
"Moonreach. Who was the last Captain or noble lord that held it in Peltarch's name, and when?
Are they still alive and available to contact? Were they loyal?""Find any reports into actual combat the tower has seen, whether in defense under our control, or our reports on taking it. Were looking for the amount of men it can hold, the mundane defenses present and witnessed magical defenses. Tactics to hold or take it that were used, and especially, failed before.
No, rumoured and unknown magical defenses and properties will not be needed. We all have our area of expertise, and I trust the Ceruleans along with Garibaldi to get to the bottom of that.""Building plans. I know it's a long shot, but anything from the original schematics, to the locations of long since rotten wooden ramparts, to a doodle of a postern given to some lord or captain's sidepiece can be of use. That and maps of the surrounding area, both of the lake and the land."
"Next is reports on Rixx and by Rixx. He is one officer we know they'll have. Let's get into his head and see how the man would defend a place like this. Bennek? No. He'll likely outrank Rixx in this marry band, but as with the magical defenses, I'll rely on the Princess Consort and the Far Scouts to ferret out what they can about that one."
"Speaking of, get me one of the Scouts in here. I have a task for them, too.
Hm? I'm curious as to why you'd think it matters which Scout. Best you find one before I ask.""When that's all done, gather my Lieutenants. Let's see what plans we can formulate to deal with this place, then share it with Captain Jorino and the General.
No, we're not officially at war, nor do we have any orders. I'd just rather have this in my backpocket."
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Writing away in his office, George tends to the day to day of his position.
Decorated with dozens of magical trinkets he's picked up over the years, the light in the room comes from a Radiant Amulet, cast about the place by mirrors and carved glass as opposed to candles or hearth. An amulet he wore for months through the nights after encountering the Reachful Hands. A time when Asha told him the light of the moon would keep him safe.
Some of the wood in the room still carries the subtle signs of a fire, as does the man himself, shining faintly purple beneath his shirt.
Such a very long way from the magic sparse home he knew.As he finishes the last of his reports, the responses to other reports and commands for the next day, he sits back in his chair and dares a glance at the night sky. He gives a resigned sigh, then calls Dana in.
"Kindly inform Lady Celine that I wish to speak to her." he hesitates a moment, then adds "Inform her respectfully. This is a request, not a summons."
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The young man runs his fingers through his beard as he looks over the maps of the Icelace, considering the task that lays before him. As the plans begin to formulate in his mind, he looks to his lieutenants Miller and Grant.
"Plenty of plates to spin, and precious few hands to keep them there. There is the day to day, and now we've been tasked with reestablishing the city's old arbalester division. I'll have to split up your efforts."
"Grant, I need you to keep up the combined arms exercises. For one, they are paying off, and will continue to do so regardless of our opponent. For another, I don't need anyone to start thinking our situation has changed.
Still, lower the intensity. Most of it should be rote, by now, and I will have no wounds that take more than two days rest or First Circle to recover from. Incorporate training against aerial attackers, ask the Ceruleans to provide illusions for it."Miller, get a recruitment drive going. Focus your efforts on finding two sorts of people. Good hand-eye coordination, and mechanical aptitude. Start them on the basic use and maintenance of crossbows, which should be easy, then get them in fighting shape.
Include ballistae, three man teams. Two with high endurance, one with mechanical skill.
No ranks or hierarchy yet. They will remain recruits, subject to our sergeants who will temporarily command more than their eight rank and file until they are enough to form an auxiliary division, whos heirarchy I will determine at that time."Dana, I have need of your administrative skill, as well. Allocate my wages from the extra healing and rations to the recruitment drive and find out how much building this division from scratch is going to cost. Then I need the full numbers on our ships, our ballistae, both ship and land bound, and our cannons, if any. After that, the full numbers or near enough of Seafarer, Wavebreaker and Black Sails ships, along with their assumed number of armaments. Lastly, the assumed and known locations of groups of lake pirates.
When that is taken care of, I need a smith and a carpenter to help create a ballista design of my own.
And lastly, I should wish to speak to Renius and my Queen. Can you inquire when they will be available?"
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With Dawn, George is more discrete, explaining out of earshot that he needs the Scouts to look into smuggling routes that were known into and around Moonreach, preferably through unaffiliated smugglers. Before dismissing the man, he also asks him to identify the Far Scouts that most often cooperated with Rixx. Awaiting word on that, he turns to his lieutenants.
"Rixx was a burr and an ingrate, but he was capable. His combined arms tactics were bold, clever and effective. He took his men and joined up with a hundred odd soldiers under Bennek Sepret that have, if I heard right, ten dedicated mages among them. I expect he and his men will be both teaching and learning from that lot, then passing their skills on to the rest of the Cleimants' forces."
"I will be sending a request to Baron Aelthasson to provide us with some of his junior Ceruleans for now. We will also coordinate with the Scouts. Study these tactics. Learn them well. Set up exercises that mimic them and take your men through them with the help of the Scouts and the Ceruleans.
As they familiarize themselves, I will request the aid of stronger Ceruleans, and once they have reached an operational level, I want you to start wargaming against one another. Find defenses and new avenues of attack. The three best performing squads weekly will make up the twelve that guard Her Majesty the following week. To the winners it will be both and honour and a bit of a breather. To the others, it is a chance to catch up to the winners.
No wounds that take more than a Second Circle spell or week's rest to mend, we will need all hands before long.""I have no doubt Rixx will come up with more of these ploys. Unless his 'enthusiasm' is curbed, I fully expect them to be more underhanded and vicious than ever before.
While we cannot predict everything Rixx and Bennek will come up with, we will not be caught with our pants down. I want their line of thought to be known intimately by the Marines, so they know how to react by instinct.
Any questions?"As they formulate their replies, George turns to Dana
"File the requests for Cerulean and Scout support in these exercises. Allocate my full wages to healing for the men. If anything is left, allocate it to extra rations. We'll be working them hard, and it won't do to have them tire out. If you come up short, let me know, I will pay out of pocket."
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George's military clerk, one Dana, organizes the questions and delegates the tasks. Eventually, she reports back.
"The keep was held by Far Scout Captain Jurran, during the Eastlander Bandit wars. He is long dead, sir. He has no descendants that we are aware of. He was not a noble. It was a strategic military holding."
"According to the records that weren't lost or destroyed, keep held an estimated 300 to 500 troops. Mundane defenses included the natural cliffsides, the harsh coastal approach, the somewhat narrow upper cliff approach, as well as the two layers of walls, plus the central scouting tower."
"We have nothing on how the tower was initially taken. And it was deliberately abandoned after the Eastlander wars."
"For building plans, in addition to the previously mentioned walls, the keep included ten to fifteen interior stone rooms, three of which were large enough to serve as barracks, mess hall, and so forth. Smaller rooms lined the deeper interiors. There is also an outer courtyard within the first wall perimeter."
"Moving right along to maps of the surrounding area then. There they are. As you can see there is the coastal approach through the water, the beach approach on land facing the high cliffs, and the cliff-top approach."
"There are no reports on Rixx. Here are the written reports by Rixx."
The clerk hands George a large stack of reports. After reading them, George determines that Rixx has a peculiar approach to warfare. He is detailed and meticulous. He was also surprisingly collaborative insofar as he worked frequently with Far Scouts and with Ceruleans to set up combinations of stealth and magic to supplement his troops via coordinated ambushes, traps, retreats, and other more clandestine tactics. Rixx's greatest strength seems to be his creativity and adaptability to different situations. George sees no clear and obvious weaknesses on paper, though he may yet recall Rixx's demeanor and personal attributes on that front.
Far Scout Dawn reports. His face is masked and his voice is scrambled. "Captain. I'm at your disposal."
George's Lieutenants include one Lt. Grant, and one Lt. Miller. They stand by and await his plans and suggestions.
[DM Xanatos Gambit]
