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>>5009747

The weather has stayed good for the past two days with no rain coming. The forests of Sofera’s Naze had grown more sparse as you had made your way towards the Strahnbrad Hills with large stones and rocks becoming more and more common.

You, Rover and the five archers moved forward carefully and kept watch for anyone else and to see if any potential game could be found. To save some of your supplies you were carrying, you had managed to catch two rabbits that then were cooked instead of eating your salted pork and rest of the supplies.

…

On the third day it had started raining slightly and all seven of you had put on your hoods and carefully tucked yourself inside your large cloaks. Knowing that you were already somewhat known and people could recognize you, you had pulled your hair into a ponytail and allowed your stubble to grow instead of shaving it regularly. It could be a bit foolish to think that this would fool people, but at least you had tried.

The highlight of the day was when one of the archers had spotted several deers and managed to take one down with his bow. It took seven of you the rest of the day preparing the deer and taking its leather, but now you had enough meat to last several days without a need to hunt for more.

On the fourth day it was clear that you were in Strahnbrad Hills. The continuous forests of Sofera’s Naze had turned just into copses and the terrain had opened a lot, but at the same time it was really hilly and between the hills the land was quite swampy and wet. If the terrain was like this through the Strahnbrad Hills, you could see why previous kings of Alterac had difficulties at conquering the land and policing it.

Early you reached the top of a hill where to your pleasant surprise you could see quite far. The copses and lonesome trees grew between large rocks and stones. The hilly landscape continued as far as you could see, but there was one thing that caught your eye. Behind the next hill came some smoke. Wondering if it was just a camp or an actual hut, you first went down the hill and then sent one of the archers to have a look.

Moments later the archer had gone up the hill and carefully crouching down sneaked on top of it before coming back to you to report what he had seen.

What he had seen wasn’t exactly what you had waited to see. The archer had seen a small farmhouse made from logs and turf with a fenced yard and a tiny barn. The problem was just that the barn had burned down and in the fenced yard the archer had seen a corpse being eaten by a pair of pigs.

Approaching the farmhouse could mean trouble and you weren’t here exactly to fight or be recognized, but seeing what has happened to the farm could be useful.


>Approach the farmhouse and see what has happened.
>Stay clear of the farmhouse and avoid it.
>Camp near the farmhouse and have someone watching it if they can see any movement.
>Other, write in.

>>5009748
>investigate
Time to get involved into another mess.

Let’s try to determine how the person died, who the farm belongs to and where to look for next of kin if they don’t show up by themselves.

>>5009748
>Approach the farmhouse and see what has happened.
See first if in the surroundings there is anyone or if something makes a sound beside the pigs. Then go.

>>5009748
>Approach the farmhouse and see what has happened.

>>5009748
>Approach the farmhouse and see what has happened.

>>5009748
>Approach the farmhouse and see what has happened.

You know what they say. The battle between good and evil is eternal and that evil will always win if good men do nothing. So its time to get to work.

>>5009748
>>Approach the farmhouse and see what has happened.

You decided that approaching the farmhouse would be the smartest thing to do. You were here to scout the area and if you can’t find anything then this trip would be somewhat of a failure. Ordering your men forward, all seven of you climbed on top of the hill and you now saw the same as the archer had seen.

The farmhouse was there as the archer had described and you saw the corpse. Waving your hand as a signal, you drew your sword and started to approach the house. Closer you got, the better you saw the place. The barn was still smoldering so the fire had happened maybe a day or so ago after the rain.

One of the archers opened the fence door that led to the farmhouse and you followed right behind him. Behind a fence to your left, a pair of pigs have had a feast on the corpse. Just looking at the half eaten body made you sick and you had to turn your head away and concentrate on the farmhouse door. Ordering two men near the door, you approached it and knocked it several times.

There was no reply so you knocked again. The door moved slightly so you carefully pushed it open with the tip of your sword before standing aside. There was no reaction from the inside of the house and when one of the archers was ready to move in, you stopped him and decided to go in yourself. After all you had armour and they didn’t.

Stepping into the farmhouse, you didn’t find anybody. No one attacked you or was hiding under a bed. But all the furniture and belongings in the farmhouse were thrown around, out of place or broken. With a closer look the lock on the door was busted too. It was clear that someone had attacked the farmhouse.

Now to search the place for any clues or tracks. The people of the farmhouse couldn’t just disappear into thin air.


>1d6
>Best three of four

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5010636

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5010636

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5010636

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5010636

>>5010636
Watch out from above!

>15

You gave quick orders for your men to start searching for anything useful. The place would be turned upside down a second time if needed.

Soon Rover came back as he had found some tracks in the muddy dirt. Several large boot prints could be easily seen on the ground, but as the land turned into more swampy and having more undergrowth, the tracks seemed to disappear for a moment before Rover caught them again. Following the tracks could be done if you wanted to follow them.

The archers meanwhile had searched around and inside the farmhouse without finding anything specific about what had happened, outside of someone having taken most of the bread and foodstuffs with them. They also confirmed that in the farmhouse lived more than just one person from the clothing found in the dresser. At least four people lived here.

The more somber business that the archers wanted to do was to get the body from the pig pen and bury it. At first you thought that this could take too long, but you couldn’t leave the body to the pigs.

…

The body was that of an older man and now having been taken out of the pig pen, you attempted to have a closer look. The pigs had dug out and eaten the man's innards so you wouldn’t find anything from that part of the body, but there was an interesting wound on his head. Rectangular print near his hairline that could be from getting hit by something that knocked him down.

It just seemed strange that whoever had attacked here had taken the rest of the people living here, but not the pigs. They had taken the bread and other foodstuff, but not the much more useful pigs.

It did not take that long for the grave to be dug and soon the man had been buried. Now there was just the decision to make if you were to follow the tracks and attempt to catch the people who attacked the farm and if Rover could even follow tracks that old and party that already had a days worth of distance between.


>Follow the tracks even if it is hard and they have a big head start
>You can follow the tracks for a moment, but if it seems that there is nothing you can do, then continue the scouting mission as usual.
>You have to accept the fact that you cannot save everyone and you are here to scout the Strahnbrad Hills.
>Other, write in.

>>5011158
>You can follow the tracks for a moment, but if it seems that there is nothing you can do, then continue the scouting mission as usual
Worst case we at least get some vague indication which direction to scout in the future.

>>5011158
>>You can follow the tracks for a moment, but if it seems that there is nothing you can do, then continue the scouting mission as usual.

>>5011158
>>Follow the tracks even if it is hard and they have a big head start

>>5011158
>You can follow the tracks for a moment, but if it seems that there is nothing you can do, then continue the scouting mission as usual.

>>5011158
>Follow the tracks even if it is hard and they have a big head start

>>5011158
>>Follow the tracks even if it is hard and they have a big head start
Don't want them to be a problem in the future.

Following the tracks. If it is successful, you will continue following, but if not then continue with the mission.


>1d6
>Best three

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5011973

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5011973

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5011973

>9
>Failure

If you can follow the tracks, you have a chance to catch whoever had attacked this place, but it wouldn’t be easy. When Rover started to lead you and the archers, he nearly immediately started to have difficulties. The terrain wasn’t the best, but thankfully when Rover momentarily lost the track, he found the large boot marks and the chase continued again.

To make the situation worse, it started to drizzle.

…

You had trekked through the marshes, hills and small copses of trees. Rover started to have more and more difficulties at following the tracks, but he adamantly always found them if he accidentally lost them.

When the evening arrived and it started to be too dark to continue, you were forced to stop. Rover used all the light available and found the tracks that you could follow next morning as you stopped to camp next to a large pine in a small forest.

The drizzle continued through the night and sometimes turned into heavier rain. Huddled inside your cloaks, you attempted to stay dry and warm.

…

When the next morning came, none of you had managed to catch enough sleep to be fresh and after cooking some of the deer meat and eating a quite heavy, but good breakfast.

But when it was time to continue tracking, Rover couldn’t find the tracks anymore. The rain had made them disappear. He knew where they were and to what direction they went, so you trusted that Rover could find the tracks again.

This wasn’t the case. Rover attempted to find the tracks again, but just couldn’t do it. At one point he returned back where you had started and went into another potential direction. When he couldn’t follow the track for a second time, Rover had to give up. You could try to blindly start traveling to one direction, but then you wouldn’t know if you were actually going in the right direction. A wild goose chase right now, wouldn’t be exactly what you wanted. So you had to say no to him and call off the tracking.

While Rover and frankly all of you were disappointed, this was the right decision to do. But it was not completely without waste of time, you had kept following the tracks north nearly in a straight line. You were traveling towards Alterac and the mountains. Maybe that is where they were heading, or it is just a ploy to fool anyone trying to follow them.

1/2

>>5012132

You decided to continue the scouting and headed towards where you were previously going. You hadn’t yet learned much about Strahnbrad Hills other than it had quite difficult terrain to move in. No idea of who the attackers were or what else you could be facing in the future.

In the afternoon you reached a large hill which could work perfectly as a landmark and you could see quite far from the top of it. If the weather was clear, you could probably see quite far, but now what you saw didn’t reach that far. North of you in the distance were the Alterac Mountains and the direction towards Strahnbrad. To the east of you, you saw more rocky hills and you knew if you were to walk long enough, you would end up finding the Darrowmere River. To the south you saw more trees and forests. If you were to go that way, you would end up looping back towards Sofera’s Naze or Tarren Mill.


>North, see how difficult it would be to find a path through the mountains to Strahnbrad.
>East, go through the rocky hills and try to reach the Darrowmere River
>South, loop back towards Sofera’s Naze and Tarren Mill through the woods there.
>Other, write in.

>>5012134
>North, see how difficult it would be to find a path through the mountains to Strahnbrad.
Although we will have to make a more thorough sweep later, finding route to Strahnbrad was the principal reason for this venture.

>>5012134
>>North, see how difficult it would be to find a path through the mountains to Strahnbrad.

>>5012134
>East, go through the rocky hills and try to reach the Darrowmere River

>>5012134
>>North, see how difficult it would be to find a path through the mountains to Strahnbrad.

Going north it is. Give me a roll


>1d10
>Best of three

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>5012994

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>5012994

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>5012994

>8

You were going to head north and towards Strahnbrad. If you can find a way to the mountains and especially through them, you could have an alternative route that avoids Gallow’s Corner and Alterac proper.

With the order given, you headed towards the north.

…

The fifth day turned into night and you camped next to a group of large rocks. Seven of you had nearly eaten the deer you had caught a few days ago. Knowing that it would either go bad quickly and you didn’t have time or ways to preserve it that long, you had eaten really good breakfasts and dinners. Trekking through this land was hard, especially as you hadn’t found an easy route through it so you were using a lot of energy just to move forward.

The terrain and land of Strahnbrad Hills, while harsh and difficult, was also beautiful in its own way. Sure whatever was growing here struggled, but the plants and trees that survived were the strongest. The copses of trees, be it birch of spruce dotted the land, the land was full of heaths and other swamp plants. Through this you trekked through the sixth day and camped near a small group of trees.

Within your sight was the Alterac Mountains, tomorrow you would reach the mountains and find the way in.

…

It was early morning, maybe an hour or two before you were supposed to be awoken, you found Rover shaking you awake.

“My Prince, we are being watched.” He crumbled beneath his beard.

“What are you saying? Being watched?” You asked him as you were quite confused and still not yet completely awake.

“Aye, the shadows move. There is someone out there.” Rover said to you with a whisper.

“What do you suggest we do?” You asked him as you shook the archer next to you awake.

“Withdraw.”

Unknown people watching you and Rover asked you to withdraw. You could approach them and potentially fight them and you knew that you could easily do it, you trusted your skills. The mountains were just there.


>You will take the initiative, gather your men and attack the people watching you.
>Prepare yourself, but do not do anything. See how the people watching you react.
>Withdraw carefully, trust in what Rover had said to you.
>Other, write in.

>>5013113
Hmm... Rover knows his game so it's probably best to heed his advice, especially since we're at a disadvantage now.
let's

>Withdraw carefully, trust in what Rover had said to you.

and see how the 'shadows' respond to our movement.

>>5013113
>>Withdraw carefully, trust in what Rover had said to you.

>>5013113
>Prepare yourself, but do not do anything. See how the people watching you react.

>>5013113
>Prepare yourself, but do not do anything. See how the people watching you react.

>>5013113
>Withdraw carefully, trust in what Rover had said to you.

You are going to trust Rover with this. Give me a roll!


>1d6
>Best three of four

QM: Very busy this weekend, not sure I can update this weekend until Sunday evening.

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5013899

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5013899

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5013899

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5013899

>10
>Success

"We will leave then. Wake up everyone and then we will go." You said to Rover who nodded to you.

In a moment everyone is up with their backpacks and bows ready. Moving in a close group and without a light was painfully slow, but at least it was quite silent and you didn't get lost.

Rover kept his eyes open keeping a watch behind you as you made your way back where you came from as the first shades of morning light started to appear in the sky. If the morning and the light comes, your stalkers couldn’t hide in their shadows anymore.

…

You had slowly progressed away from the mountains until finally the morning light arrived. The morning dampness shined brightly on the leaves of swamp plants and you stopped to look behind you.

Rover stood next to you as both of you scanned the landscape.

"Did you see who the people were?" You asked him.

"Nay." He answered.

"Any ideas who they could be?" You asked him again.

"Trolls." The answer came.

"You are serious?"

"Aye, they know how to move slowly."

If they were trolls it was a good thing they didn't attack. They are faster, stronger and most likely way more experienced than you and your archers were. If you had to fight them, it wouldn’t have ended without casualties if not for a miracle.

…

Just in case you moved further away and stayed in the open. A quick breakfast was eaten and you were now again going through your supplies.

It was the sixth day and if you can hunt for more food, you could easily stay here for another six days. Alternatively you could return back home and report what you had seen. Avoiding more troubles could be the right thing to do.


>North, try your luck to go around the trolls and find the way to the mountains.
>East, go through the rocky hills and try to reach the Darrowmere River
>South, loop back towards Sofera’s Naze and Tarren Mill through the woods there.
>Home, return back and report what you had seen.
>Other, write in.


QM: Found time for a short update.

>>5014819
>>East, go through the rocky hills and try to reach the Darrowmere River

Now we know there's trolls near the mountains.

>>5014819
>East, go through the rocky hills and try to reach the Darrowmere River
Although with caution as that might be where more trolls dwell.

>>5014819
>East, go through the rocky hills and try to reach the Darrowmere River

>>5014819
>>East, go through the rocky hills and try to reach the Darrowmere River

East and towards Darrowmere River.

>1d10
>Best of three

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>5015990

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>5015990

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>5015990

>>5015990

>8

Going back towards the mountains would be a mistake now. The trolls most likely are still looking out for you or otherwise on guard for having someone trespassing their territory. Attempting to try again could lead into a disaster and you definitely don’t want to deal with that right now. Going north would be off the books for now, but you did make a mental note that the trolls should be dealt with in the future before they will end up causing trouble to you.

So you decided to go east, crossing the rocky hills and trying to reach the Darrowmere River. When your father ruled Alterac, he had built a modest navy into Darrowmere Lake and had used the river to transport goods up and down his realm. The shipyards had been located far north beyond Strahnbrad and reaching them now would be impossible, but seeing the river this far upstream could help you to give an idea if boats or barges could be used to traverse it in the future.

…

For the better part of the day you trekked through the rocky hills without issues. The travel had been slow due to all of you being alerted and watching all the directions for any potential threat. It didn’t help at all that this part of the Strahnbrad Hills was quite rocky and you had to watch your step unless you wanted to twist your ankle.

It was the late afternoon when something happened. One of the archers that walked some distance ahead of you suddenly threw himself down on the ground and waved to you to stop. The archer carefully peaked over the rocks before waving to the rest of you to come to him as he kept watch.

Slowly creeping up to the archer, you then saw what he had seen. There was a group of three people in furs around a small campfire. They had their bows with them and it did look like they were roasting something on the campfire.

You crawled back a small distance after ordering the archer to keep watching them and called Rover to you. Seeing some locals could gain you information, but approaching them maybe wouldn’t be safe as they could be aggressive towards you.


>Approach the hunters while pretending to be a group of hunters yourself.
>Take out your bows and swords and approach them armed. You don’t know if they are aggressive or not.
>Go past them and avoid being seen. You don’t need any potential trouble with the locals.
>Other, write in.

>>5016986
>>Take out your bows and swords and approach them armed. You don’t know if they are aggressive or not.

>>5016986
>Approach the hunters while pretending to be a group of hunters yourself.

>>5016986
Take one or two men with you and approach peacefully while Rover and the rest keep watching from distance in case things go sour

>>5016986
>>Approach the hunters while pretending to be a group of hunters yourself.

By your clothing and gear you were carrying, you could be seen as hunters or poachers and this would be your plan. You would approach the hunters while pretending to be one yourself. You whispered to Rover that he should wait with half of the hunters behind the hill for a moment before joining you. Maybe if not all seven of you arrived at the same time, the hunters wouldn’t see you as a threat.

So it was you and two archers that carefully climbed back to the hilltop and crossed it walking down the other side towards the hunters and their campfire. The hunters quickly reacted to your presence and brandished their bows, but you immediately raised your hands slightly up showing that you weren’t carrying anything nor you were a threat. The archers with you did the same by showing that they weren’t carrying any weapons either.

“Who are you!” A shout came from one of the hunters.

“A hunter, just like you seem to be.” You answered back without raising your voice much. “We noticed your camp and came to see if there was room for a few more hunters.”

The hunters whispered with each other until they put their bows away.

“Alright you may come.” One of the hunters said. “You cannot never be sure who you end up meeting in here.”

“Better safe than sorry, isn’t it.” You said back to him. “I am Alric.”
“Thomas.” The leader of the hunters said. “I know most of the hunters in these parts, but I don’t recognize you.”

“Well we aren’t exactly from these parts.” You said back to him as you walked to the campfire, sat on a rock and thought a lie to tell him. “We come from the south, from near Tarren Mill.”

“So newcomers to Strahnbrad Hills, what brings you here, not enough to hunt in Tarren Mill?” Thomas asked you.

“Not that, but they now have more guards and after the local bandits were destroyed and driven away, the woods aren’t safe for us to be there.” You said to him and continued. “We had to leave or risk getting caught.”

Thomas the hunter looked at you and after a pause nodded.

“True, we have seen more strangers here lately. People coming from the south, getting pushed away by the law. It is not easy living.”

“Agreed, it is not easy living when there is someone above you ordering what you can do, or cannot do.”

1/2

>>5017708

Rover and three other archers now climbed over the hill and started their walk down to you. Thomas and the two other hunters saw them and then their heads turned to you as you again raised your hands and put them on your knees.

“Rest of my men, no need to worry about them.” You said to Thomas before turning around to face Rover.

“Bill, come here. There is no risk.” You shouted to him and used his first name.

Rover and the remaining archers walked to you and sat down near the campfire and put away their backpacks.

“So have you had any luck lately with hunting?” Thomas asked you.

“Not in a few days, we got a deer, but after that no luck.” You said to him. “We tried going north, but ended up bumping into trolls.”

“You were trying to catch a mountain lion?” Thomas asked with a surprised voice.

“The pelts bring good money.” You said back and was lucky that Thomas didn’t ask you what you planned to do or catch as you had no idea of the mountain lions.

“But you were lucky that the trolls didn’t get you, because of them we don’t venture north. Too dangerous.” Thomas said to you.

You took out some of the dried meat you had in your backpack and started to chew on it. Looking around you, your men had started to do the same or otherwise resting in their own ways. After all, you had been on a move for six days already and every chance to rest should be taken.

It felt to you that Thomas and the hunters had relaxed somewhat, so you had a chance to ask some questions.


>Keep talking about hunting and ask directions to Darrowmere River. Don’t push him with too difficult questions.
>Ask him more about himself, about other groups here and where they are living.
>Strahnbrad Hills is a dangerous place, ask him about any potential risks and dangers here.
>Other, write in.

>>5017709
Well we introduced ourselves as strangers to these parts so asking if there’s something apart from trolls to look out for should not be suspicious. Maybe we could innocuously prompt Rover to ask a question or two so we’re not too obvious about being the only one talking for our group. Plus his expertise might let him fish out a valuable information or two.

>>5017709
>Keep talking about hunting and ask directions to Darrowmere River. Don’t push him with too difficult questions.
Offer some jerky.
>>5017723
+1

>>5017723
Also we should probably avoid namedropping him as in his position he might be recognizable by an older poacher

>>5017709
>>Keep talking about hunting and ask directions to Darrowmere River. Don’t push him with too difficult questions.

>>5017709
>>Strahnbrad Hills is a dangerous place, ask him about any potential risks and dangers here.

“We plan on going towards Darrowmere River, what are we expecting to see there?” You said to Thomas. “I wouldn’t want to walk into a troll camp.”

“Thankfully not trolls.” Thomas said and continued. “After you have crossed these rocky hills, you should reach the river soon. But in the past year or so, all kinds of people have been crossing the river.”

That sounded quite intriguing to you so you pressed Thomas on that.

“What kind of people? Should we be on watch for them?”

“Bandits and people like them. People no one should work with.” He told you. “Lately Strahnbrad Hills have gone through a change, things aren’t like they were a few years ago.”

“I see, well I hope me and my men can make a living here.” You said to him. “What do you think Bill, what have your eyes seen?”

Rover hadn’t really been listening that much so you calling him got his attention, but saying his name got his attention.

“Well, the land is barren. Not much grows here. To the south and west we have more game to hunt.” Rover said to you.

“The old man isn’t wrong.” Thomas said and continued. “In these parts you have to be lucky, if you want to catch something, you either go south where you came from or follow the river upstream. Otherwise you aren’t catching anything.”

Rover gave the hunter the look that basically said watch what you are saying whelp, before he nodded.

“Do you think of anything we should be worried about?” You asked Thomas.

“There are the trolls up north in the mountains of course, all sorts of shady people around here and to the south more civilized lands.” Thomas said to you. “Just keep your eyes open, that is how we have managed to make our living.”

Thomas smiled at you as he said that.

You offered him a piece of your dried meat which he happily took.

1/2

>>5018823

You rested at the camp for a moment and continued to talk about more mundane things before you left Thomas and his hunters. They would head further north, avoiding the troll territory and going to see if they could catch a deer or two there. You meanwhile headed east towards Darrowmere River.

Rest of the sixth day went without any issues as you walked towards the river. Camping next to a large rock, you slept through the night and in the early morning just as the sun was rising, you got up and continued your journey.

Reaching the river before midday you saw that the river was quite wide here. You could see how a large ship under sails or by having a large number of rovers could easily travel upstream, while the journey downstream could actually be quite easy. You imagined how in the heyday of Alterac, you could see numerous ships going up and down the river, transporting the goods and wealth of Alterac to lands beyond.

With the river opening in front of you, the land on the otherside of the river looked to be so far from Alterac while it actually wasn’t. Originally the lands of Durnholde were part of Alterac a long time ago and when your father ruled, the western portions of Arathi Highlands were considered to be part of the realm.

Standing here made you feel like you had reached an impassable border, but you were sure that one day this all would be yours.

…

After eating some of your supplies, the decision came where you should go next.


>South towards Tarren Mill and Sofera’s Naze, there should be more game to hunt and you haven’t been there before.
>West to Sofera’s Naze and back home, backtrack somewhat and see if you could any of those shady people Thomas mentioned.
>North, follow the river upstream and see what can be found there.
>Other, write in.

>>5018825
Hmm… trying to confront the presumed syndicate presence without military backup is too risky so west is out. North is probably where we could find something interesting but we might be overextending ourselves pushing that far, with a lot of ground to cover if we need to return in a hurry. Plus we could run into the hunters again which might be suspicious.
I guess we could go

> South towards Tarren Mill and Sofera’s Naze, there should be more game to hunt and you haven’t been there before.

>>5018825
>>South towards Tarren Mill and Sofera’s Naze, there should be more game to hunt and you haven’t been there before.

To south it is!


>1d10
>Best of three

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>5019690
For adventure and discovery!

Though we will still need to stake out the Strahnbrad route later.

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>5019690

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>5019690

>8

On the seventh day you started your journey to the south and towards Tarren Mill and Sofera’s Naze. Following the Darrowmere River south, your journey was faster than expected. The terrain slowly turned into more passable with less rocky and marshy landscape. Instead more and more trees and shrubberies started to appear.

Rover noted at one point, few hard to spot footpaths and other signs of movement could be found. Remnants of old campsites and discarded items littered these sites, but searching them would be a waste of time as these sites were clearly old and not recent. Still it was a sign that people have moved up and down these lands, following the river for ease of navigation.

…

It was late afternoon as the archer walking ahead of you suddenly stopped and dropped on his knee. He waved at you and you followed his example. The small forest you were in gave you cover so you carefully approached the archer while staying down and going from tree to tree. The archer was scanning the forest left and right as you reached him and as you were going to say something he shushed you to stay silent.

As he raised his finger and got your attention, you heard something maybe fifty yards in front of you. Listening more carefully it was quite clear that what you heard was talking between a few men. You couldn’t really make out what they were talking about, but the people weren’t coming to your direction thankfully. If you stayed down and silent, they most likely wouldn’t hear or spot you.

The voices started to become harder to hear and as they walked away from you. When you couldn’t hear them anymore, you waved the rest of your men to you. You had no idea who the men could be, but you could attempt to follow them silently. If you could find out who the men were, you could learn something new and important, but at the same time if you get caught following them, it could be dangerous. After all you weren’t here to fight, but just to scout the Strahnbrad Hills.


>Order Rover to follow and track the people ahead of you. Follow them at a safe distance.
>You can catch them easily. Go and intercept them so that you can talk with them.
>Avoid the people and let them pass, you don’t want trouble right now.
>Other, write in.

QM: Prince Alric pastebin has been updated with some small things.

>>5019830
>>Order Rover to follow and track the people ahead of you. Follow them at a safe distance.

>>5019830
>Order Rover to follow and track the people ahead of you. Follow them at a safe distance.

We are not here for any trouble. We are just looking around to see whats what out here.

>>5019830
>Order Rover to follow and track the people ahead of you. Follow them at a safe distance.

>>5019830
>Order Rover to follow and track the people ahead of you. Follow them at a safe distance.

Any chance they could be related to the ones who ransacked the farm earlier?

>>5019830
>Order Rover to follow and track the people ahead of you. Follow them at a safe distance.

Rover will follow them as well as he can.

>1d6
>Best three of four

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5020602

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5020602

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5020602
Let's see if I can't recover this

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5020602

>13
>Success

You gave the order to Rover to follow and track the men from a safe distance. With the unknown people really not doing anything to stay silent or avoid footprints or cut branches, it would be easy for Rover to follow them.

As Rover disappeared into the bush without making a sound, you waited for a moment before following him. You and the five archers weren’t as good at sneaking around or tracking people, so following the unknown people was best to leave for Rover and it was best to keep a good distance to these unknown men. For if you went stumbling through the woods, you could alert them to your presence.

…

It wasn’t difficult for Rover to follow the unknown people as he carefully twisted branches off trees for you to follow. You noticed that you were moving again towards the north and the more open terrain as you left the forest. Rover had left one arrow on the ground to point towards the direction to go.

It actually did not take that long for you to catch up with Rover who was laying down near a hilltop and peaking through a shrubbery. He clearly had seen something and after you ordered the archers to lay low and hide for a moment, you carefully approached him without trying to make much sound.

As you crawled next to him, you saw the same thing he had seen. There was a camp between the two small hills. Four tents and two small wooden huts were built next to a few large rocks, a wicker fence had been made around the tents and huts, most likely to keep wildlife away. In the middle of the camp you saw a few men walking and doing their things around the campfire. It did look like the men there were hunters as there were pelts and hides being cured with what looked like rabbits and a deer carcass hanging from a stand.

But then you saw the most interesting thing, there was a pole on the other side of the camp between two tents with a man tied to it. You couldn’t really see what kind of a man it could be, but he definitely was tied to the pole quite well, you could see the thick rope that was spun around him and the pole.

Rover gave you the questioning look of what should be done. It did come to your mind that maybe these men were the ones that had struck at the farm and taken those people, but their footprints weren’t big enough and this camp was in the wrong direction compared to the farm and where those tracks had gone. You counted at least nine men that you could see walking around the camp and there could be more inside the tents or the huts or completely outside the camp.

But the tied man concerned you, who would have a man tied? Could it be just a bandit they caught, one of their own being punished for something or an actual prisoner taken from somewhere.

1/1

>>5021416


>The men seem to be hunters, carefully approach them as fellow hunters and ask to be allowed to rest through the night within their wicker fence for protection.
>Watch the camp carefully through late afternoon and early evening if you could see or spot anything that could give you some tips.
>This place feels like trouble, just avoid it and go back where you came from.
>Other, write in.

>>5021416
>Watch the camp carefully through late afternoon and early evening if you could see or spot anything that could give you some tips.

We could snatch someone and interrogate them. Then decide on course of action, jsut saying.

>>5021418
>>Watch the camp carefully through late afternoon and early evening if you could see or spot anything that could give you some tips.

>>5021418
>Watch the camp carefully through late afternoon and early evening if you could see or spot anything that could give you some tips.

Watching the camp. Give me a roll for looking around.

>1d6
>Best three of four

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5022403

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5022403

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5022403

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5022403

>12

You sent the order down to your archers to rest and eat as you would be staying in the hillside and watching the hunter’s camp till the evening. You wouldn’t act yet until you would have learned more about the camp and the people staying there.

As you and Rover stayed hidden in the shrubbery, you kept constant watch over the camp. Chewing through the salted meat, the camp was kept under constant watch between you and Rover. When he wasn’t watching, you kept a close eye on them and while you rested, he watched over the camp.

…
It started to rain during the early evening, but thankfully it did stop relatively fast, but not fast enough for you to stay dry. The rain got through your cloak and clothing and made you damp and wet. Your archers downhill weren’t safe from this same condition and they huddled together to stay warm and not get any more wet.

The hunters in the camp weren’t that lucky either. They took cover in the tents and huts, but as they moved around their camp, you noticed twelve different individuals there. When it didn’t rain, the men in the camp did their jobs and milled around the place.

The man tied to the pole did move a bit and when it started to rain, the man shouted something to the hunters. You don’t think the tied man got what he wanted as one of the men in the camp walked to him and kicked him several times in the chest to stay silent. The tied man didn’t attempt to gain the attention of the people in the camp after that.

You and Rover also noticed that compared to Thomas the hunter who you had met earlier, these hunters had more weapons around them. All of them carried axes or swords with their bows and you noticed one of the people in the camp working on a number of weapons before the rain sent him inside one of the huts.

…

The evening slowly arrived and with that the rain continued. Several lanterns were lit around the camp to provide some light as the men stayed inside their tents. A single guard stayed outside in the rain, he stood mostly near the centre of the camp, but did walk around the place somewhat regularly.

You frankly didn’t know what should be done. Sure the tied man seemed quite interesting, but was it really your job to go snooping into their camp? You weren’t that sure it would help your mission of scouting Strahnbrad Hills and going into the camp could mean that you would have to fight the people in it and maybe kill them. But at the same time you could learn something from the place.


>You are not here to fight or shed blood. Leave the camp alone and withdraw to a safer place to spend your night. You have seen enough.
>Attempt to free the man tied into the pole, preferably without being seen or being forced to fight and shed blood.
>The weapons spotted on the men are clear proof that the men are bandits, attack the camp and kill those who fight against you.
>Other, write in.

>>5022590
>Attempt to free the man tied into the pole, preferably without being seen or being forced to fight and shed blood.
>Other, write in.have distractions ready to go, fires, loud noises, having men appearing over the hill so they look the other way....

We can use hand signals to communicate.

>>5022590
>>Attempt to free the man tied into the pole, preferably without being seen or being forced to fight and shed blood.

>>5022590
>Attempt to free the man tied into the pole, preferably without being seen or being forced to fight and shed blood.

>>5022590
Try to incapacitate the guard and drag out the prisoner. Take the guard as well to get their version, if possible. Have most of the archers stay behind to provide support fire in case we mess up and allow alarm to go off. Maybe set up a defensive position with a few traps if time permits for the archers, non lethal traps preferably since we don’t know yet who’s in the right here though the way they treat prisoner don’t inspire much confidence.

Freeing the man, sneaking closer.

>1d6
>Best three of four

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5023473

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5023473

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5023473
oh boy

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5023473
we're going in all sneak beaky like

>11
>Success

You do not know who the man tied into the pole is, but saving him felt the right decision to do. There has to be a reason for being tied up and if you can get him out of the camp in one piece, that man could end up being a very useful source of information.

You told Rover about your intention of sneaking closer and then finding a way into the small camp to free the man. Rover at first didn’t like the idea, but it was raining and if you waited for a few more hours, it would be even darker and everyone in the camp would be deep asleep.

Rover went down hill to your archers and told them about the plan as you kept watch over the camp. Soon your archers joined you on the top of the hill and they too creeped forward to see the camp and to make mental notes about it. If things go awry, then you would have the archers covering your retreat with their bows. You also did think about attempting to make traps or something similar, but that would be way too noisy and you only had five archers and Rover with you.

…

As you waited a bit longer, the rain continued to soak you through and through. You checked your gear and left everything that you didn’t need. You thought about taking the bow with you, but you thought it would be on your way and make things more difficult for you.

With Rover following you, you headed down the hill towards the camp. You had to walk really slowly and crouched down to make sure you weren't heard or seen as you approached the camp by the guard.

The tied man was on the other side of the camp so you had to approach the camp from that side. It was excruciatingly slow progress, but you took no chances of getting heard or seen. Constantly you had to either look down on your feet to not accidentally trip on anything or towards the camp just in case of seeing movement in there. They had changed the guard some time ago and this one was more content at sitting on a log and keeping watch that way.

Reaching the wicker fence, you raised your head just enough to see over it. Pair of tents were just a few yards away from you with the man tied into the pole between them and one of the wooden huts. Moving a bit more you saw that the guard sitting on the log wasn’t facing the prisoner and there was a bit of distance and cover between them so cutting the ropes and getting the man out of the camp could be done without alerting the guard. But it wouldn’t be easy and if you made too much noise, the guard would notice and he would sound the alarm.


>Attempt freeing the man without making noise or dealing with the guard.
>Choke the guard out so that you can cut the prisoner free without the guard or others being alerted.
>You have to eliminate the guard to be sure that he won’t notice you, cut his throat to be sure.
>Other, write in.

QM: The first two rolls looked quite worrisome, but thankfully the situation was saved.

>>5023762
>>Choke the guard out so that you can cut the prisoner free without the guard or others being alerted.

>>5023762
>Choke the guard out so that you can cut the prisoner free without the guard or others being alerted.

>>5023762
>>Choke the guard out so that you can cut the prisoner free without the guard or others being alerted.

we're not out of the woods yet, literally or figuratively both

>>5023762
>>Attempt freeing the man without making noise or dealing with the guard.
The rain will help cover most of the noise we make.

>>5023762
>Attempt freeing the man without making noise or dealing with the guard.
If we're noticed, we won't be caught right by their lodgings at least and should be able to make a run for it without engaging whoever these guys are in combat.

>>5023762
>>Attempt freeing the man without making noise or dealing with the guard.

I will call for a roll later on the afternoon as now we have a tie. 3-3 between choke out the guard and being extra quiet. Can I have a tiebreaker.

>>5023762
>Choke the guard out so that you can cut the prisoner free without the guard or others being alerted

Choking the guard it is.


>1d6
>Best three of four

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5024649

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5024649

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5024649

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>5024649

You must take the guard out, it is way too big of a risk to leave him be as one wrong move and too much noise happens, he is going to notice it. Not forgetting the chance that he just stands up and decides to check on the prisoner while you are there.

Cutting his throat came to your mind, but you didn’t want to kill the man. It felt wrong to do that. Only other option that came to your mind was that you had to choke the man out and drag him away before you could cut the prisoner free.

You asked Rover to boost you over the wicker fence and after taking support from it, you dropped down inside the camp. You managed mostly to avoid making noise and the constant rain helped to mask whatever could be heard. The man tied on the pole looked like he was sleeping, the rope tightly wrapped around him and his head hanging down. You couldn’t see his face due to his hood, but his body was still slightly moving. He was clearly sleeping and breathing.

The guard continued to sit on the log and face away from you. You would just have to walk past the tied man and wrap your arm around the guard's throat.

Crouched down, you watched every single step you took. Carefully one step at a time you approached the guard. Every time he moved or looked into the darkness, you stopped and stood still. When it seemed that you could move forward, you even more carefully took the steps forward.

With just a few yards between you and him, you finally lunged and wrapped your right arm over his throat and pulled it tight with your left.

1/2

>>5025117

>9
>Failure

The guard was caught in your chokehold as you pulled back. His hands tried to pull your arms back to allow him to catch some breath, but when that failed his hands tried to reach your face to claw on your eyes.

You tightened your grip as you leaned back and started to pull the guard away from the log. The struggle made some noise, but there was no reaction from the tents. For a moment it felt that you would succeed, but then a disaster struck.

As the guard was just losing his consciousness in your chokehold, he kicked around with his legs probably attempting to release some pressure in your hold and one of the kicks knocked down an oil lantern.

The lantern broke apart next to a tent, spreading the oil all over the ground and lighting it on fire. The flames suddenly illuminated the camp before the rain started to put them off.

The guard kicked with his legs one more time and his hands lost their strength, falling down to his sides. The guard was out.

With the sounds of the struggling guard ending, you heard the new sound. People were starting to wake up in their tents and huts. You would only have a moment to do things, before the first man gets out to see what is going on.


>This did not go as planned, just leg it and leave the man tied into the pole.
>You can cut him free, carry him to the fence and dump him over it. Then you run.
>Take initiative, draw your sword and attack the first man you see. Surprise them and deal with them.
>Other, write in.

>>5025120
>You can cut him free, carry him to the fence and dump him over it. Then you run.

well, at least we already dealt with the guard.

>>5025120
>You can cut him free, carry him to the fence and dump him over it. Then you run.

What if we tried propping him up but slumped over as if he fell asleep on guard.

>>5025120
>You can cut him free, carry him to the fence and dump him over it. Then you run
Well the good thing is they have no way of knowing how many of our men are out so if it comes to worst our men can break us out.

Maybe we should start carrying a syndicate bandana to put on for subterfuge purposes? Could be fun to mess with the bandits. But probably safer to just keep that knowledge just as means of identifying conspirators.

>>5025120
>>You can cut him free, carry him to the fence and dump him over it. Then you run.

Freeing the tied man.


>1d6
>Best three of four

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5025659

For Freedom! (of someone who totally doesn't turn out to be some sort of worst scum)

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5025659

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5025659

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5025659

>11
>Failure

The men in the camp would be up and on you in just a moment. You felt like you wanted to curse aloud, but managed to keep the words in your mouth as you dropped the guard to the ground and took several quick steps towards the tied man. You would cut him off and dump him over the wicker fence.

The tied man hadn’t woken up or at least didn’t look like he hadn’t. You went around him and drew your sword. Thankfully the man’s hands were tied to his sides so you didn’t have to avoid them as you sliced through the ropes with the sword. The rope fell into pieces and the man slumped over and fell with a thud.

Quickly you sheathed the sword and went to pull the man up. Now at least he was awake, there was some movement and groaning.

“Now get up!” You said to him between your teeth and grabbed his arm to pull him up.

The man groaned a bit more loudly as you pulled him up. It was clear that his legs couldn’t hold his weight so grasping his right arm with your left, you pulled him on your shoulders. The man thankfully wasn’t that heavy, but having to carry a grown man wasn’t something you liked to do.

The fence wasn’t that far from you and reaching it you unceremoniously dropped the man over it to Rover who attempted to catch him. At that moment you felt a thud and heard a clang as something impacted the backplate of your cuirass.

An arrow flew past your head into the darkness as you pushed yourself on top of the fence to boost you over it. Suddenly a stinging pain struck your left shoulder and you fell over the fence with a mighty crash.

“Shit shit shit!” You cursed as you pushed yourself up and again pulled the man to your shoulders with the help from Rover. You heard an arrow flying past you, but then number of faint thuds could be heard from behind you and no more arrows came to your direction. A lot more shouting started to happen in the camp as more thuds were heard.

Your archers had started to provide cover for you and were aiming at the tents and moving sources of light. You didn’t look behind you as you started to jog away from the camp with the man on your shoulders. Every step made your shoulder hurt like hell, but you knew that you shouldn’t stop now. You had to make some distance between you and them.

1/2

>>5026195

The next few minutes felt agonizingly long with the arrow still stuck in your left shoulder. Your archers had found you and you could hear the people of the camp shouting. It was quite probable that they were going to follow you.

You gritted your teeth as one of the archers took hold of the arrow and carefully pulled it out. It hurt like hell, but it had to be done. As he stuffed bandages into the wound and started to wrap the bandage tight, the man you had saved spoke for the first time after having received some water to drink.

“Thank you.” He said with a raspy and weak voice.


>You have to leave now, make a lot more distance between you and the camp to make sure that you aren’t followed.
>It is dark, following you will be difficult. Just make a little distance and then check your wound.
>Set up an ambush here, if the people in the camp follow you, the ambush will get them.
>Other, write in.

>>5026196
>You have to leave now, make a lot more distance between you and the camp to make sure that you aren’t followed.

let's get the hell out of dodge before more stuff goes wrong.

>>5026196
>>You have to leave now, make a lot more distance between you and the camp to make sure that you aren’t followed.

>>5026196
Drink from the blessed canteen, also share with the prisoner maybe - he probably needs that - and move out!

>>5026196
>You have to leave now, make a lot more distance between you and the camp to make sure that you aren’t followed.
>Other, write in.
give him a quick gulp of water or wine.

>>5026196
>>You have to leave now, make a lot more distance between you and the camp to make sure that you aren’t followed

“We have to leave.” You said and winced from the pain as your left arm was lifted and the bandage properly tightened. “Longer we stay here, the better chance for them to find us.”

You stood up and searched your belt for a pouch. You had a remedy for situations like this. The vial of blessed water was there and after drinking half of it, you passed it to the tied man. With the help of one of the archers, the man drank the rest of the vial. Even with the help of the vial, the man most likely wouldn’t be able to walk and had to be carried.

With it continuing to rain and darkness of the night, it wouldn’t be pleasant at all to trek over the hills and through shrubberies.

…

The man had to be carried by one of the archers and you had to make quick stops after every hill to rest a bit and change who was going to carry the man.

Thankfully as soon you couldn’t hear any sounds or see any light coming from the direction of the camp. It seemed like the potential pursuers hadn’t pursued you, but you couldn’t be sure so you pushed through the several next hours.

With your wound aching and your men tired, you had to stop to rest in a small copse of trees. Your bloodied bandage was changed as people quickly ate something, or helped to eat as the tied man lacked any real strength to do so. From this copse a very simple stretcher was made and the man was helped on it. You wouldn’t stop yet as you wanted to make as much distance between you and the camp.

The first rays of sunlight started to appear from behind the forests and hills as you reached the edge of the more forested area of Strahnbrad Hills. Through the night you trekked west towards these forests and Sofera’s Naze.

You and your men were tired. Dragging the stretcher behind you had drained them from any energy they had and it was now time to stop. All of you were too tired to continue any further.

In a more covered portion of the forest within a thick shrubbery, you made a camp under a large linden tree. With the rain having ended, this place was at least somewhat dry and so when your men sat down and leaned on the tree, one by one they all fell asleep. You felt like you wanted to sleep, but your shoulder kept you awake.

“Thank you.” Said the man who you had freed as he laid down on the stretcher next to you. “Thank you...for saving me.”

The man had been asleep for most of the journey and was now awake. You hadn’t really looked at him that closely, but now you saw that he wasn’t an old man. He had black shaggy hair and a scruffy beard. The brown to black clothing he had were all torn up and dirty. All in all he looked terrible.

“My name is Eligius.” He said to you with some effort. “Who are you…why did you save me?”

1/1

>>5026722


>You are the one asking questions. Ask him why he was tied up and in the camp? Who were the people that had caught him?
>Tell him who you are and tell him because it was the right thing to do.
>You saved him from the camp because you want to know what he knows of Strahnbrad Hills. A man tied to a pole must know something.
>Other, write in.

>>5026722
>You are the one asking questions. Ask him why he was tied up and in the camp? Who were the people that had caught him?

>>5026722
>All will be made clear in due time. First, tell us your recount of the events. How did you get captured, what did they tell you and what did you tell them?
Let’s see what his assumptions are before we reveal who we are. Then we can ask for rest of the story.

>>5026775
Support, I was going to make a similar write in.

>>5026725
>>5026775
Support.

“All will be made clear in due time. First, tell us your recount of the events. How did you get captured, what did they tell you and what did you tell them?” You asked Eligius.

Eligius shifted slightly on the stretcher before taking a few deep breaths.

“I have been living here for a few years. Being a hermit...studying my books. Never bothered anyone. People found me...tried to make me leave.” He said to you slowly between taking deep breaths.

“And you didn’t leave?” You asked him.

“No...I stayed, I couldn’t leave my belongings. The men then came during the night...burned my house...beat me and took me into their camp.” He said and continued. “They would have killed me soon...first just to suffer being tied. They never asked me things and I was too afraid to speak.”

“Why did they take you?” You pressed him.

“The men were woodsmen...ruffians...bandits. Whatever you want to call them. Lawless men.” Eligius told you.

“You are not telling me everything.” You said to him. It was pretty clear that he wasn’t telling you everything. “Why would bandits first tell you to leave and then kidnap you and tie you into a pole?”

He was silent for a moment before he closed his eyes and spoke.

“I study things...that shouldn’t be studied. I am a warlock.”

That was a revelation, but also explained why the bandits would want to drive him away and when that didn’t work, kidnap him and plan on killing him. You weren’t that well versed about magic, but you remember learning from your big sister and the books you had read that some arts of magic are better to not work with. Wizards not from Dalaran or other respected places were always questionable, but this was even above that. Practitioners of dark magics had very bad reputation amongst the common folk and they had a link to the Orcish Horde because of the warlocks they employed.

“Warlock? The same thing the Orcish Horde had?” You asked him.

“Yes and no. The orcs weren’t the first to learn about this...the powers and art have always been there. We have studied these things far longer than the orcs did.” He told you.

You had risked life and limb to save a warlock and suffered an arrow wound to your left shoulder because of it. The question of whether this was worth it came to your mind as you thought about it. If the news of you having saved a warlock gets out and if rumours spread that you are harbouring a practitioner of dark magic, it wouldn’t be a good thing at all. But you had saved the man and having someone who knows about magic and other things like that could prove to be useful, especially if one is indebted to you.


>Having him around is too dangerous. When the rest is over, you will leave him here. Saving him was enough.
>Tell him who you are and tell him that he is lucky. You will decide his fate on a later date.
>It doesn't matter who he is and what he has done, saving him was the right thing to do. He can join you in Alterac.
>Other, write in

>>5027715

>Interview the man further. Ask him more about what is he studying, try to gauge how long he's been doing this, how dangerous he may be. How did he get captured by the bandits if he wields the dark arts?
If he's a disciplined enough warlock we could benefit from having him around if we needed to deal with sinister shit ourselves.
>Ask about nature of rituals he is using and limits he's placed upon himself. As in, human sacrifice or demon summoning and the like.

We should probably not be seen associating with him but I think we can tolerate him in our lands if he behaves but I'd like to hear more before we decide.

>>5027717
Also we might want to introduce ourselves and explain we rescued the man because we surmised rescuing him would be right thing to do and because we wanted to know what's up.

>>5027715

>>5027717
>>5027777
support, better than anything i could think of

>>5027715
>>Having him around is too dangerous. When the rest is over, you will leave him here. Saving him was enough.

It is a very bad idea to have a Warlock work for us, it would highly damage our relationship with Dalaran.

>>5027715
Well, here's a man you wouldn't want to have assosiated to you. Sheesh. His knowledge would certainly be useful, not least of all with eventually dealing with the ogres that might have warlocks among them. I just don't know if the reputation hit would be worth it if he is discovered (which is almost guaranteed while we have a paladin within our midst). Trying to think of a way to spin it like us having a tight leash around him and using him to combat practicioners of dark arts, but it's hard.

For now I guess I'll support >>5027717 and if he resists, just tell him that the more he's willing to work with us, the more we have to argue against any of our men that might demand his head.

>>5027715
>Tell him who you are and tell him that he is lucky. You will decide his fate on a later date.
>Other, write in
Ask him if he lived with anyone else, I wonder if he living at that house we found burned down with the dead guy being eaten by pigs.

Ask if he could act as a wizard instead for the time being, maybe create a fake persona.

>>5028049
I don’t think having him pretend to be a mage is a good idea. Sooner or later he’d be found out and in best case we’d be able to deny the knowledge. I’d say it best to let him continue on as hermit - assuming he can be trusted not to cause a demonic incursion. If we know where he is we can approach him if situation calls for it.

Case can also be made for keeping watch over his abode - he is a potential security risk after all.

And we could discuss the matter with Jaina at some point if we get a chance for private chat. Obviously not over mail.

>>5027715
>Having him around is too dangerous. When the rest is over, you will leave him here. Saving him was enough.

“How long have you been studying...the dark arts?” You asked him carefully.

“Seven years...I am from Stormwind and arrived at Lordaeron with other refugees. Moved to Stromgarde...and found my master there. He needed a helping hand and I needed something to eat.” Eligius told you.

“How did you then end up in Strahnbrad Hills? Where is your master?” You continued asking questions.

“A number of my master's coven were targeted and murdered. The decision was to disband...and leave Stromgarde for elsewhere. We travelled from town to town, but found out that we were being hunted constantly. Silver Hand had grown strong after the Second War.” Eligius said to you and continued. “We found these hills safe. Alterac is a lawless place...controlled by ogres so outskirts fall between being hunted and killed by ogres.”

“Your master?” You pressed him.

“He died last year. Fever took the old man during winter.” He answered. His raspy and weak voice sounded even more painful when he said that.

“Then what are your skills? What kind of magic do you know?”

“I was an apprentice, not a full warlock. My master was strict with what I was allowed to do. But I have read all his books...learned the theory, just have to practice.” He told you and continued. “I can throw bolts made from pure shadow, I can make a man either curl up in damaging agony or make him feel weak and unable to act. But compared to my master, I am just a weakling.”

He sounded proud when he spoke about his own skills and how strong his master was. You had heard stories of things warlocks can do so you knew how dangerous he could be with his magic when he would learn more and hone his skills.

“I do need to ask, how far are you willing to go?”

“Warlocks draw their powers from the Void...if you mean sacrificing things for power, we don’t have to do that.” Eligius answered you.

That was somewhat of a relief, but after these questions it was clear that Eligius was a dangerous spellcaster with knowledge over things that are seen as forbidden. The news of SIlver Hand having hunted warlocks in the past aren't surprising and due to that Eligius could attract their attention if he uses his magic publicly. But at the same time he could prove very useful for the reclaiming of Alterac and providing aid in things that are becoming more and more common in this dangerous world.


>Allow him to stay in Alterac as long as he keeps his studies and magic hidden
>Allow him to stay in Alterac, but he has to live in the woods as a hermit away from the common folk.
>He cannot stay in Alterac, but allow him to heal and rest before he is sent away
>He is too dangerous, saving him was enough so you will leave him here when you leave
>Other, write in

>>5028549
>>He is too dangerous, saving him was enough so you will leave him here when you leave

We have learned our lesson about rescuing random people without knowing the context.

>>5028549
The man did nothing wrong as far as we’re aware. He can stay or go as he pleases as long as he doesn’t give rise to danger to our people. If he does stick around we want to know where to find him and send a patrol to check on him periodically to ensure he’s not opening dark portals or shit (and at the same time that he isn’t getting pitchforked).

Also warn him we have a Paladin in our retinue so if he is considered valid for smiting he should leave this area.


(We’re not in position where we could outright hire him as a consultant although his knowledge could prove invaluable, if his own loyalty could be relied upon.)

>>5028549
>Allow him to stay in Alterac as long as he keeps his studies and magic hidden

The more the merrier.

>>5028549
>Allow him to stay in Alterac as long as he keeps his studies and magic hidden
>Allow him to stay in Alterac, but he has to live in the woods as a hermit away from the common folk.
A little of both.

>>5028549
>>Allow him to stay in Alterac as long as he keeps his studies and magic hidden
>>Allow him to stay in Alterac, but he has to live in the woods as a hermit away from the common folk
This is too good an opportunity to pass on. Let him live in our city, but he can practice his art in an out of the way hut.

Allowing him to stay seems to be the choice, but before that can I have a random event roll.


>1d10
>Best three

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>5029243

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>5029243

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>5029243

“I see, thank you for answering my questions.” You said to him and continued. “When this rest is over, I will take you with me and I will have you healed. As long as you don’t practice your magic publicly, but keep it and your studies hidden, you can stay with me.”

You could see confusion in his tired face. He did not understand what you were saying.

“Who are you?” Eligius asked you.

“Prince Alric Perenolde, the second heir of Alterac.” You answered with a smile.

…

>9

You spent the rest of the morning mostly sleeping before you ate some of your remaining supplies and got your bandage changed. The arrow wound was cleaned again and fresh bandages were applied. It did look that the wound was clean and when you return back to Dawnholme, you would have access to the healing magic of Raleigh the True. As long as the wound stays uninfected, it should heal properly.

Eligius had fallen asleep after your talk and after having woken up managed to eat and drink a bit. His body was still too weak to properly walk so he would have to be carried to Sofera’s Naze with the stretcher before a cart could be acquired.

The walk towards Sofera’s Naze went relatively well. You had to have numerous short rests as carrying a stretcher for a long period of time wasn’t easy and it tired out the already quite tired archers. Thankfully, when you reached Sofera’s Naze and one of the farms that were being built, you knew that all of you would get to rest shortly.

The farmers were surprised to see you there, but they did their best to make you and your men comfortable by making proper food and preparing a place for you to sleep. It was bit too late for leaving to Dawnholme, so you rested at the farm through the night.

…

“Are you out of your mind?” Normand Garside asked you as you ate dinner.

Raleigh the True had healed your wound, but it would still require a week or two of rest for it to properly heal and you had to wear a sling to keep it steady. The bandages would have to be changed daily and Raleigh has to perform his healing magic again too. Thankfully the wound should heal properly.

“I did what was right.” You said back to Garside. “Even without knowing who Eligius was, it was the right thing to do.”

“You got hit by an arrow and got wounded because of it. You cannot take risks like that. It was foolish for you to go into the camp alone and I can’t believe that Rover didn’t talk you out of it.” Garside said to you. It was quite clear that he wasn’t happy. “And what you got from it was the wound and now we have a warlock in our town. A warlock!”

“Eligius is allowed to stay in the town as long as he keeps his studies and magic hidden.” You said to Garside adamantly. “I do realize the threat his presence can be, Silver Hand getting to know about him would bring a lot of trouble over our heads, but he knows about things we might end up facing in the future.”

“Alric, I hope you are right and this doesn’t blow up in our faces.” Garside said back to you.

1/2

>>5029768


The next two weeks went without any troubles. Your shoulder healed up properly and nothing special or dramatic happened during this time. No raids, strange people or anything similar was spotted.

During this time you continued your studies and helped with whatever Garside was doing. With your left arm in a sling you couldn’t really do anything physical, but thankfully reading a book or making notes wasn’t that physically taxing.

Several days after you had received the stern talk from Garside, you went to visit Eligius who was still being tended to and in the bed. He was stronger than when you saved him, but couldn’t really walk that much yet. It would still take several days before he could be up for the whole day, but with the good care and the food given to him, he had already gained back some weight that he had lost. Eligius expressed how thankful he was for this all and said to repay you all this somehow.

…

With your shoulder being healed and your arm out of the sling, you still avoided doing anything too heavy with it. As you watched the summer to arrive, you thought about things to do. The men would soon come back from Tarren Mill, the projects you had started at the start of the spring were nearly finished and the first profits from the sold lumber to the Alliance Naval Base should soon be delivered to you. You had a feeling that the summer would be a busy time for you.

Still it wasn’t summer yet and you could probably do something personally and not just wait for things to happen.


>Visit Tarren Mill and personally see the return of your men there. This is also a good chance to talk more about the lumber deal and relationship between Alterac and Tarren Mill.
>Be the man of the people and spend this time amongst the common folk to see how all the work is being done and if they have some worries they would like you to know.
>Concentrate on your studies and help Garside with all the projects and paperwork. You still have a lot to learn about proper governance of the realm.
>Other, write in.

>>5029770
>>Visit Tarren Mill and personally see the return of your men there. This is also a good chance to talk more about the lumber deal and relationship between Alterac and Tarren Mill.

>>5029770
>>Concentrate on your studies and help Garside with all the projects and paperwork. You still have a lot to learn about proper governance of the realm.

>>5029770
>Visit Tarren Mill and personally see the return of your men there. This is also a good chance to talk more about the lumber deal and relationship between Alterac and Tarren Mill.

>>5029770
>Visit Tarren Mill and personally see the return of your men there. This is also a good chance to talk more about the lumber deal and relationship between Alterac and Tarren Mill.
Tempted by the Man of the People option, but continuing to further strengthen our ties with Tarren Mill will no doubt prove beneficial in the long term. If we have the option though, I suggest we see about talking with our people at the next opportunity we get

>>5029770
>Be the man of the people and spend this time amongst the common folk to see how all the work is being done and if they have some worries they would like you to know.

>Other, write in.
Build an out of palce area for the warlock with a basement.

We should also consider hunting down that camp of bandits to wipe out.
They know too much.

>>5029770
>>Concentrate on your studies and help Garside with all the projects and paperwork. You still have a lot to learn about proper governance of the realm.

Need to become better.
Is everyone fine if we use the next income that arrives for buy better equipment for us ?
What we have is still basic, so an upgrade is in need. I was thinking either only one or all three (armor, sword and shield), but it depends on how much money we make.

>>5030697
Well I think our priority should be investing into economy and military as we currently have some available peasants. And we can find some upgrades adventuring as we venture into strahnbrad hills in force. But if we can afford it, I’d go straight for the Dalaran master’s armour set. But only if we can find jobs for all our free peasants.

>>5030697
I agree that we should buy better armor when we can afford it. We'll need it if we intend to fight alongside our men again in the future.

With your men returning from Tarren Mill shortly and the profits from the lumber deal coming, visiting Tarren Mill personally seems like a solid plan. Visiting Tarren Mill would also finish your diplomatic tour in one way. After that you have visited all towns and cities west of Darrowmere River. If you can make the economic and political ties to Tarren Mill stronger and binding them closer to Alterac, you would have a close ally in the region who is part of the Alliance.

Next day you left to Tarren Mill early with Sir Gravis and the knights as your escorts. Riding through The Headland you saw your people already at work with farmers working near their fields and gardens with some travelers and traders moving to sell or buy goods here. The recent growth of Dawnholme and all of your holdings had been very fast and you expected to be spending even more wealth when the summer comes.

Tarren Mill was buzzing as well. The farmers tended their orchards and the large gate into the town was open to allow people and goods to move through without problems. It felt like you had arrived in a completely different town than the Tarren Mill you knew from last year.

It didn’t take long for you to see some of your men standing guard and they quickly approached you and the knights to get your horses into the stable and tell Mayor Fowley that you had arrived. In just a few moments one of the clerks of the town hall approached you and guided you in. Mayor Fowley was already waiting in his office and by Light you saw that he was a happy man. He was practically glowing with happiness.

“Good afternoon Prince Alric. What brings you to Tarren Mill?” Mayor Fowley asked you.

“Good afternoon Mayor Fowley, I had time so I came to talk about business and see how my men are faring here.” You said back to him and sat down.

“Business, well it is going really well. The lumber deal you see has been profitable and our farmers are predicting a good harvest. Tarren Mill has recovered.” He said to you with a wide smile.

“That does sound very good. Regarding the lumber deal, when can I expect to get my share of profits?” You asked him.

“Prince Alric, if you want to receive them now, I can get my clerks to prepare the profits for you.” Mayor Fowley said with a smile. “I presume you will be happy with the profits and the fact that the Alliance Naval Base is going to require more lumber through the summer and maybe even through autumn.”

So there was a lot more money in the deal and for you to make. This was good news as you need all of it for development of your holdings and recruiting more troops for the inevitable push into Alterac proper.

1/2

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>>5030800

“That does sound good.” You said to Fowley with a smile as one of the clerks came into the office and delivered tea for both of you. “Also regarding my men…”

“They are ready to return if you are asking about that.” Fowley interrupted you. “We have managed to recruit nearly thirty men to replace our losses from last year and to bolster our militia. Your men were an important part of providing security for us and training our men. I am happy that we got the chance to hire them.”

“Thank you Mayor Fowley, I will make sure my men will hear your words.” You said to him and sipped your tea. “It is very good to hear that they have served you well.”

…

You and Mayor Fowley talked about the business and other things that had been going on in the region. He had heard rumours of you being part of the death of Baron Haart so he had some questions to ask, but after you told him what had actually happened, Mayor Fowley seemed content with your explanation and immediately went into thinking how he could take advantage of the situation. The orchards of Tarren Mill could have a chance to compete with Hillsbrad now.

You found your talk with him quite pleasant and after everything important and not that important had been talked about, Mayor Fowley said that he would prepare the profits and you would receive them tomorrow after everything is checked and then double checked.

It was late afternoon and you had time to spend in Tarren Mill and visit different people or places.


>Go visit the church and priest Hampton. He is a wise and practical man so he could have something enlightening to say to you.
>Your men in Tarren Mill could find it nice for you to visit them before they leave back home, go see them and hear from them directly how this visit to Tarren Mill has gone for them.
>The tavern has always been quite an active place in Tarren Mill and it feels that every time you have gone there something interesting has happened. Go visit the tavern and sleep there through the night.
>Other, write in.

>>5030801
>Go visit the church and priest Hampton. He is a wise and practical man so he could have something enlightening to say to you.

>>5030801
>>Go visit the church and priest Hampton. He is a wise and practical man so he could have something enlightening to say to you.

>>5030801
>Go visit the church and priest Hampton. He is a wise and practical man so he could have something enlightening to say to you.

>>5030801
>>Your men in Tarren Mill could find it nice for you to visit them before they leave back home, go see them and hear from them directly how this visit to Tarren Mill has gone for them.

Previously when you had met with Father Hampton, he had been quite friendly and always gave you good advice when you had talked with him. So you thought about meeting him again and probing his mind.

The walk through the town was fast with you having only one of the knights as your escort. Having learned from what happened in Hillsbrad, Sir Gravis and later Captain Garside had demanded that you would have an armed escort with you always when moving in public places just in case something happens.

The church of Tarren Mill stood just as tall as before and walking in through the open door you saw that the place was just as empty as before. Just one of the assistants was tending the candles. The assistant saw you and bowed deeply before he said that he would bring Father Hampton to you. You declined this politely and just asked if he was in his office or elsewhere.

Apparently Father Hampton could be found behind the church tending the small herbal garden the church had.

…

You found the one armed priest kneeling down next to a patch of herbs that you couldn’t recognize, but were most likely some sort of medical herbs.

Approaching the priest, he noticed you quickly and stood up wiping his left hand clean of dirt on his robe.

“Prince Alric, what brings you to our small garden?” He said to you and bowed.

“I was in the town and wanted to see you.” You said to him.

“Just to see me? I am flattered that a member of royalty visits me so often.” He said with a slight smile. “Is there something you want to talk with me about?”

“Maybe, when we have met previously, you always have had good advice for me. I wish that would continue.” You said to him.

“Thank you for those kind words Prince Alric, but I am just a priest, not a political advisor.” Hampton answered with a polite nod before sighing and continuing. “But if you insist, I can say my opinion.”


>Tell him about the events of Hillsbrad, death of Baron Haart and what you saw about the forest bandits and how they were pushed into banditry.
>King Terenas and his edict to prevent you from pushing into Alterac proper. See what his reaction is when it was Uther who was the middleman in this.
>Tell him about the growth of Dawnholme and the large influx of population you have had recently and how you expect it to grow through this year.
>Other, write in.

QM: Choose how many you want or write something in.

>>5031780
>Tell him about the events of Hillsbrad, death of Baron Haart and what you saw about the forest bandits and how they were pushed into banditry.
>King Terenas and his edict to prevent you from pushing into Alterac proper. See what his reaction is when it was Uther who was the middleman in this.
>Tell him about the growth of Dawnholme and the large influx of population you have had recently and how you expect it to grow through this year.

Ask him about how he has see or would have handled potentially dangerous individuals who have not done anything wrong to your knowledge but engage in a dangerous lifestyle that could bring harm to other people.

>>5031780
>>Tell him about the growth of Dawnholme and the large influx of population you have had recently and how you expect it to grow through this year.
>>Other, write in.
Our town is growing, it would be good to recruit a priest of our own so he can tend to the spiritual needs of the people. Maybe we can ask the father if he can recommend someone to us, or even better write them a letter on our behalf.

>>5031780
>>Tell him about the events of Hillsbrad, death of Baron Haart and what you saw about the forest bandits and how they were pushed into banditry.

>>5031780
>>Tell him about the events of Hillsbrad, death of Baron Haart and what you saw about the forest bandits and how they were pushed into banditry.
>>King Terenas and his edict to prevent you from pushing into Alterac proper. See what his reaction is when it was Uther who was the middleman in this.
>>Tell him about the growth of Dawnholme and the large influx of population you have had recently and how you expect it to grow through this year.
>Write in
We are in a need of a priest

“I do have a lot to talk about.” You said to Hampton.

“Then we should go to my office.” He answered and continued. “Please follow me.”

A moment later you and Hampton were sitting in his office with your knight staying outside the room. Hampton cleared his desk from some papers before turning towards you.

“Tell me what you have on your mind.” He said to you.

And you told him everything.

The visit to Hillsbrad and the death of Baron Haart had been on your mind lately. You were familiar with the machinations of the nobility and you had learned to expect them, but this was really the first time you saw it happen and how it caused the common folk to suffer. Sure your father had betrayed the Alliance and through that all Alteracis suffered, but you hadn’t seen the nobility prospering while the farmers being forced into banditry.

King Terenas had forbidden you from pushing into Alterac due to pressure from the lords and kings of the Alliance. How this edict of his prevents you from reclaiming which is rightfully yours and the homeland of your people. How you and Alteracis are seen as a threat and how everywhere you go, you first have to get their approval. Not forgetting how Uther was the middleman in this as he knew you best didn’t feel right at all.

And in the light of this all, you had seen Dawnholme grow and prosper. A home for the Alteracis that were pushed from their homeland and a place for the diaspora to return and start again. Seeing all the houses built, industries set up and people arriving, what you had seen in Hillsbrad had raised the question. Could it happen in Dawnholme too? Could you fail at providing for your people, leading to them leaving or being forced to steal for their survival especially after moving there in the first place. The edict of King Terenas on top of this makes achieving the dream of getting back your homeland even more difficult.

Frankly, you fear that you will fail. It is as simple as that.

All this time Hampton had listened to you carefully and when you finally stopped speaking, he nodded a few times and thought for a moment what to say.

“Life of a man is a life full of ordeals. And it is natural to fear failure, but it shouldn’t dictate your life. If you only fear that you will fail, then you cannot accomplish anything.” Hampton told you. “I understand that you have immense pressure on you and I cannot relate to it personally. But I have seen men way greater than you act under mighty pressure and succeed because they trusted their people to support them.”

1/3

>>5032419

“I fought alongside heroes like Lothar or Turalyon and they couldn’t have succeeded in defeating Doomhammer and his Horde without support from us and they knew it. There were many failures during the war, but in the end we won.” He continued speaking to you and gestured towards his old plate mail that was in the corner of his office. “I failed during the Siege of Capital City and I paid for my failure with my right arm. But did I stop believing in the Light or in Lothar?”

He directed the question towards you.

“I think I understand what you are saying.” You answered back.

“Do you really?” Hampton asked you with a doubting tone in his voice.

“I think I do.”

“Good, for I cannot give you advice on how to reclaim Alterac. But I can say encouraging words and push you towards good things.” Hampton said to you. “You have done a lot of good in the year I have known you and I think I will see more good in the future.”

…

You and Hampton continued talking about the events that had happened. He knew that Uther did not like being the middleman in diplomatic affairs and preferred to be the one acting. So Hampton felt that Uther knowing you was used as a tool against him by the lords and kings in an attempt to prevent him from getting too friendly with you.

You mentioned the growth of Dawnholme and how Raleigh the True was really the only priest in the land. You asked if having a proper priest in Dawnholme could be possible and if it was a good thing to acquire to serve your people. Hampton said that most of the time decisions like that are done elsewhere and a priest is sent to you, but he can bring this up in the next letter to his superiors that maybe you should receive a priest of your own. Just not all priests are equal and some are more loyal to the church than to the people they are serving.

…

The talks had continued quite long and finally when you were finished, you realized that it was already evening. It had been really pleasant to talk with Father Hampton about things that you had faced and will be facing and it felt that he had been honest with you. You had thanked him for the time he had spent with you and expressed that talking within had been helpful to you.

The knight escorting you had faithfully waited for you and leaving the church you knew it was too late to do anything else really. The market had closed and only few people were seen walking from place to place. You thought about going to ask for a room from the town hall, but why break the streak of staying in the tavern while you are in Tarren Mill so you headed there.

And previously all kinds of interesting things have happened while being there, so you had a small hope that you could meet someone interesting.

1/2

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>>5032421

Pushing the door of the tavern open, you saw that the place was empty. The locals weren’t there and no travellers were seen either sitting around the tables. With no one around, you send your escorting knight away and told him that you would leave Tarren Mill tomorrow.

When the knight left and he closed the tavern door behind him, you heard the familiar voice coming from behind the counter.

“Good evening Prince Alric, what brings you to Tarren Mill?” Monica said to you with a smile when she saw you and did a curtsy.

“Good evening Monica and it is mostly business.” You said back to her as you took a seat next to the counter. “Do you still have anything to eat? Leftovers?”

“I think I do, a moment please.” She said and headed into the backroom.

It did take a moment for her to come back, but she was carrying a serving tray and placed it in front of you.

“I am sorry it took so long. I had to reheat the leftover carrot soup and I thought it wouldn’t be enough so I cut some bread and butter to go with it.” She said with a smile.

In front of you was a nearly full bowl of carrot soup, white bread with a bit of butter on top of it and an empty cup that Monica filled with wine.

“Thank you Monica, I did not expect to receive a dinner worthy of a prince.” You said and laughed a bit. “This is completely fine.”

Monica laughed at your slight jest as you tasted it and started to eat the soup. She allowed you to eat in peace before she came to refill your cup of wine.

“More wine?” She asked.


>Decline, you are planning on waking up early and you have plenty of things to do tomorrow.
>You can drink one cup. Ask her if she has seen or heard anything special or noteworthy.
>While you have a busy day tomorrow, staying up late won't be a problem. Drink a few cups and talk about what has been going on in Tarren Mill and all the rumours and gossip.
>Other, write in.

>>5032425
>You can drink one cup. Ask her if she has seen or heard anything special or noteworthy.

Let’s not lead the poor girl on though.

>>5032425
>>Decline, you are planning on waking up early and you have plenty of things to do tomorrow.

>>5032425
>>You can drink one cup. Ask her if she has seen or heard anything special or noteworthy.

>>5032425
>You can drink one cup. Ask her if she has seen or heard anything special or noteworthy.

>>5032425
>You can drink one cup. Ask her if she has seen or heard anything special or noteworthy.

“Yes please, I can drink one more cup.” You said to her and allowed Monica to fill the cup.

She poured the cup full before taking out a cup for herself and filling it too. You gave her a questioning look as you started to finish the carrot soup.

“It is quite late so I am closing the place.” Monica said to you as she walked past you and went to close the door.

You finished eating the soup as she walked back behind the counter and took her cup.

“Drinking on a job is unprofessional, but now that the door is closed.” She said and took a sip.

“How do you handle running the inn all alone?” You asked her as you had no idea of how to run an inn or tavern.

“There is a lot of work, but the secret is to try to have everything as ready as possible. Don’t let the rooms be unclean, prepare and plan what food you are going to make tomorrow, order more wine and beer before you run out of it.” She told you.

“That does make sense.” You said back, took a sip from your cup and continued. “Have you seen or heard anything special?”

Monica raised her right hand on her chin and looked very thoughtful.

“I don’t think so? What kind of special do you mean?” She asked you.

“Well every time I am here, there are either bandits or shady people around here doing their things. Anything like that or something worth mentioning?” You tried to clarify.

“Well not really.” She said back. “I try to watch over my customers if they look like people that will cause trouble, but outside of a few drunkards I haven’t seen anything. Sorry Prince Alric, I don’t think I am of much help now.”

She looked a bit disappointed when she couldn’t really help you.

“Well how has Tarren Mill been lately? I think Mayor Fowley mentioned that farmers predict a good harvest already.” You said to her.

“Your men that were hired to guard us have behaved well. They haven’t caused any problems and we now have our own guards.” She said and thought about what to tell you about. “The market has been bustling lately with the goods from Stormwind, apparently some merchants have been flooding Hillsbrad with goods produced in the south.”

It was good to hear that your men had behaved and that they have been well received.

1/2

>>5033304

“Outside of that I don’t really know what to say. It does feel like Tarren Mill has finally gotten back to its feet after everything that happened to us last year.” Monica said to you and smiled. “I think I will have to thank you for it.”

“Well I only did what was right.” You said back and tried to be modest. What Kris Legace had said to you came to your mind, how Monica looked at you and all other small things you now noticed, it was quite clear that Monica was head over heels for you. At some point you should probably talk to her about it and not leave her hanging.

Drinking the last wine in the cup, you stood up and stretched your back.

“Do you have a room for me? I have a lot of things to do tomorrow.” You said to Monica.

“Prince Alric, I do have several free rooms. Please follow me.” Monica said and smiled.

She guided you upstairs where the rooms were located and opened one of the doors. The room was ready with clean bedsheets and Monica only carried a jug of water and fresh cup on the table.

“Good night Prince Alric.” Monica said as she left the room and closed the door.

“Good night.” You said to her after she had already closed it.

…

After eating the breakfast you left and joined your men and knights in the barracks. The ten footmen and ten archers were checking that they had everything with them as they packed their meagre belongings into backpacks. They would be ready to leave in a few hours and as they were doing that, you would visit the town hall and collect the profits from the lumber trade.

As Mayor Fowley had said, the coins and wealth were ready and placed into a small chest for safekeeping. Fowley was there and he explained how the profit split went. He had prepared all the notes and copies of the transactions between him and Alliance Naval Base. By all accounts everything looked good and after shaking hands with the Fowley, you left Tarren Mill with your men and the wealth from the deal.


>2d3
>Best of three

QM: Roll to see how much you made from the lumber.

Rolled 1, 3 = 4 (2d3)

>>5033305

Rolled 3, 1 = 4 (2d3)

>>5033305

Rolled 3, 3 = 6 (2d3)

>>5033305

>6

The last days of the spring went away fast as you worked through a pile of papers and rechecked everything to be ready for the summer and your seasonal meeting with your closest advisors and officers.

During these days you received a pair of letters. First came from Jaina Proudmoore who wrote that she was happy to receive your letter and how exciting the events with the forest bandits in Hillsbrad must have been and that she wishes that Southshore and you could amend any problems the two of you are having. She also mentioned in the letter that the gnoll artifacts which you had brought to Dalaran were nearly finished being studied and at some point during the summer she would send them back to you with a copy of the study.

The second letter came from Kris Legace. She reported that the situation in Strahnbrad had mostly stayed the same, but her Syndicate contact had spoken how the status quo in Alterac had changed with the Bloodhill Bandits controlling Gallow’s Corner and how you had built a small army that couldn’t be defeated easily. Legace wrote how there was talk in Gallow’s Corner about someone attacking them during the winter which made them start building stronger fortifications around the tower when spring came. Legace also wrote how ogres had apparently been more active recently and due to that the Bloodhill Bandits had purchased a bolt thrower to deal with their probes and installed it to their fortifications.

Outside of that nothing new came up. No attacks from Strahnbrad Hills or elsewhere, no suspicious tracks or wanderers amongst your people or seen by the patrols. Things had stayed peaceful in Alterac, in your holdings.

During the last weeks of the spring only a small amount of people had arrived to Dawnholme with a minority of them being Alteracis and majority of being people who wanted to start again or move to a place where they could get a job. With around twenty people arriving, you still had a quite large amount of the Alteracis that arrived at the start of the spring unemployed so you have to think of some jobs for them.

1/3

File: Map of Alterac and Hillsb(...).png (1.21 MB, 1002x668)

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>>5033571

Your officers all sit around the table in the farmstead with only Beric missing. He had sent a message that he wouldn’t be here, so you would be starting the meeting without him. The meeting before the summer would happen without him.

“With the profits from our industries and the lumber deal with Tarren Mill and Alliance Naval Base, we again have a good amount of wealth to use and we still have a number of Alteracis without jobs. So we should spend our wealth well and get our people some work to do.” Said Captain Garside who had started the meeting.

“I will have to agree, idle peasants could lead to some trouble if they are idle too long. Or they might leave elsewhere.” You said back to him.

“Very much true, we should employ them and get as much out of our workforce.” Garside said to you.

“Sire, we do need to think about our military too. Even with the edict practically banning us from advancing into Alterac, we should grow our military.” Sergeant Cromwell said back.

What Cromwell said was true. With your men having returned from Tarren Mill, you had twenty more soldiers under your command. In addition after going through the drills and reading the after action report, it was clear that those men hadn’t been just standing around and sleeping. They had been training and by all accounts they would perform in the field like veterans.

“My Prince, I have looked at our supply situation and we are going to have a problem. Not yet, but in the future. We have weapons and food in stock, but we are using more than we are producing ourselves.” Said Lieutenant Beckston and continued after shuffling some of the paper. “Of course we can buy more supplies if we need to in the future.”

It was true, you had covered your land with farms and herbalists and you were getting most out of the current territory you controlled. But you wouldn’t have to worry about supply yet as you had a considerable amount saved and you could always spend more wealth to make your farms more efficient.

The talks about building the Barracks came up again. The Scout Tower in the mountains should be upgraded to Guard Tower to defend against potential ogre attack and building Scout Towers around all of your territory to warn about attacks was also suggested.

“Our plan should still be to attack Alterac sooner or later and for that we need more men.” Sergeant Maxwell said and continued. “Whatever we spend on our holdings, we should save enough for recruiting more men.”

File: Typical_Peasant.jpg (24 KB, 241x306)

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>>5033573

Gained:
>20 Peasants

Troops returning from Tarren Mill are now Veterans instead of Regulars.

Total Resources
19 Wealth, +12 per Season
14 Supplies, -2 per Season
135 Peasants


>Herbalist’s Hut, +1 Supply, costs 5 Wealth and 5 Peasants, Sofera’s Naze
>Lumbermill, +1 Wealth, costs 4 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Darrow Hill
>Leatherworker’s Workshop, +1 Wealth +1 Supply, costs 5 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Darrow Hill
>Leatherworker’s Workshop, +1 Wealth +1 Supply, costs 5 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Gavin’s Naze
>Leatherworker’s Workshop, +1 Wealth +1 Supply, costs 5 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Sofera’s Naze
>Improved Blacksmith, +2 Supply, costs 10 Wealth and 5 Peasants, The Headland
>Improved Farms, +2 Supply, costs 10 Wealth and 5 Peasants, The Headland
>Alchemist’s Hut, -1 Supply, costs 12 Wealth and 5 Peasants, The Headland
>Barracks, Costs 10 Wealth and 10 Peasants, The Headland
>Guard Tower, Costs 10 Wealth and 10 Peasants
>Scout Tower, Costs 4 Wealth, Sofera’s Naze
>Scout Tower, Costs 4 Wealth, The Headland
>Scout Tower, Costs 4 Wealth, Darrow Hill
>Scout Tower, Costs 4 Wealth, Gavin’s Naze
>Other, check the pastebin

Prince Alric Stats: https://pastebin.com/rysxdRsv
Quest Mechanisms: https://pastebin.com/CyD88qqf

QM: Summer update! Both pastebins have been updated. Total resources have been updated. Economic portion first. You have a good amount of Wealth, you could choose a lot of options, but at the same time the balance between that and recruiting more troops needs to be found. As always, if you have questions please go ahead and ask.

>>5033574
>>Lumbermill, +1 Wealth, costs 4 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Darrow Hill
>>Leatherworker’s Workshop, +1 Wealth +1 Supply, costs 5 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Darrow Hill
>>Leatherworker’s Workshop, +1 Wealth +1 Supply, costs 5 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Gavin’s Naze
>>Leatherworker’s Workshop, +1 Wealth +1 Supply, costs 5 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Sofera’s Naze

Guess that equipment will need to wait, and in regard to military units, we are good for a while. If we can t support them it would be a problem to just have them raised. So i think is better if we increase our wealth and supplies.
Beside we can t do much with the Alliance on our neck. One day we will see that new equipment for our prince, one day.
Mention to our council that we could pay a visit to the dwarfs of Dun Garok (the Dwarven Hold in 16). They are relativibly nearby, and we can attempt to talk with them and perhaps create trade between us. We could even visit Southshore and Hillbrad again for improve relations.
If we don't do this, we can dedicate this year fully to our education and training. With no one bothering us it would be perfect.

>>5033574
Can’t think of anything better than this. >>5033670

Maybe we could squeeze some wealth from our dwindling stock of supplies to bolster our military but that would probably be a vain and risky gesture at this juncture. And we won’t have anything to offer the dwarves save for good will regardless…

>>5033574
>Lumbermill, +1 Wealth, costs 4 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Darrow Hill

Can we get Improved and Advanced lumbers mills for upgrades?

>Leatherworker’s Workshop, +1 Wealth +1 Supply, costs 5 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Darrow Hill
>Leatherworker’s Workshop, +1 Wealth +1 Supply, costs 5 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Gavin’s Naze
>Leatherworker’s Workshop, +1 Wealth +1 Supply, costs 5 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Sofera’s Naze

>>5033728
Yeah I can into the same conclusion, does most options and eats up the most amount of unused Manpower.

I really would like to build 3 scout towers in our periphery region and a barracks but we simply lack the funds.

Perhaps we should seek a loan?

If only we could take on a bit of debt.....

>>5033574
>>Guard Tower, Costs 10 Wealth and 10 Peasants
>Lumbermill, +1 Wealth, costs 4 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Darrow Hill
>Leatherworker’s Workshop, +1 Wealth +1 Supply, costs 5 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Darrow Hill

We gain +12 wealth per season, we can afford to spend all our wealth here.

>>5034031
>>5033574
Support! We really should fortify the southern mountains, this way we can send less patrols in the area and use the troops to expand into Strahnbrad hills. As for troop recruitment we have enough right now, we can recruit more next season when the income from the farms comes in.

File: knight2.jpg (169 KB, 800x772)

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>Lumbermill, +1 Wealth, costs 4 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Darrow Hill
>Leatherworker’s Workshop, +1 Wealth +1 Supply, costs 5 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Darrow Hill
>Leatherworker’s Workshop, +1 Wealth +1 Supply, costs 5 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Gavin’s Naze
>Leatherworker’s Workshop, +1 Wealth +1 Supply, costs 5 Wealth and 10 Peasants, Sofera’s Naze

“We have to get as much out of our forests as possible. If we really ramp up our leather production, I think we can get a good hold on that market.” You said to the people around the table. “Sadly that means that our coffers will be empty and we aren’t going to be training more troops during the summer.”

“Sire, I do not like that we aren’t training more men, but we do now have a considerably sizable force.” Cromwell said back.

“Neither do I like it, but we can now concentrate fully on patrolling and larger exercises.” Beckston mentioned.

“We should do something about Strahnbrad Hills, at minimum continue patrolling Sofera’s Naze more heavily.” Garside said and continued. “What Prince Alric saw there during the scouting makes it clear that conquering the place won’t be easy, but a limited excursion could be done.”

“Keeping up the patrols to prevent ogres from surprising us should be continued. “Maxwell said.

“But that will tire the men, if we keep up the patrols then mounting a bigger attack or an excursion will be more difficult. “Garside said to Maxwell. “It can be done, but tired soldiers can’t effectively.”


Total Resources
0 Wealth, +16 per Season
14 Supplies, +1 per Season
95 Peasants

Current Troops
-30 Veteran Footmen
-15 Benedict’s Veteran Footmen
-20 Regular Kul Tiran Swashbucklers
-20 Regular Pikemen
-10 Veteran Stromgarde Guards
-5 Knights of Gravis
-20 Veteran Archers
-20 Regular Archers
-20 City Guard, cannot be deployed outside Dawnholme

Troops on deployment:
-10 Veteran Footmen and 10 Regular Archers in Durnholde. No upkeep required, +1 Wealth per season


Military actions during the spring:
>Scout Gallow’s Corner again.
>Mount a small-scale attack into Strahnbrad Hills with the goal of destroying the bandits who had taken Eligius their prisoner.
>A full invasion of Strahnbrad Hills with the goal of conquering the land and driving away bandits and trolls.
>None, let the men rest

Patrols:
>Keep the increased patrols to prevent the ogres or bandits from surprising you if they come.
>Ease up with the patrols to allow the men to rest. Trust that the Scout Tower gives enough warning if the ogres attack.
>Concentrate your defences and patrols around the Silver and Lead Mine. This leaves the rest of your holdings less defended, but then there is no way the ogres can’t then slip past you through the mountains.

QM: Total Resources updated. Without wealth to use to recruit soldiers, we have the military decisions. After this update we have passed the start of season stuff and go full speed into summer. So please vote on both military actions and patrols.

>>5034277
To have the men rested we need to both refrain from making incursions and ease up the patrols? Or would keeping up patrols with rotation to allow everyone to recuperate be enough?

>>5034277
>>None, let the men rest
>Keep the increased patrols to prevent the ogres or bandits from surprising you if they come.

We have to start focusing on military and defence buildings soon, we can't just keep building economy buildings forever. Dawnholme is not our permanent home, but a stepping stone to reclaiming Alterac.

>>5034295

Your men are currently doing increased patrols which cuts into their rest times. Easing the patrols allows the men to rest and not be too tired. Optimally the men participating in incursions and attacks perform best when not tired.

>>5034277
>>None, let the men rest
>Keep the increased patrols to prevent the ogres or bandits from surprising you if they come.

>>5034320
We don t really have much justification for conquer Strahnbrad Hills for the Alliance right ?
Since the hills where part of the kingdom in the past, taking them would be like taking the kingdom land isn t it ?

>>5034334
Yes, Strahnbrad Hills are counted to be part of Alterac. And with the place being outside the Alterac Mountains, the edict by King Terenas will not restrict you.

>>5034277
>>A full invasion of Strahnbrad Hills with the goal of conquering the land and driving away bandits and trolls.
>>Ease up with the patrols to allow the men to rest. Trust that the Scout Tower gives enough warning if the ogres attack.
We have enough men to pull it off.

>>5034277
>>5034320
If that is so, let’s go with the conservative option. >>5034300

As tempting as it is to push ahead, I’d rather not have us overextend while we are building up our economy. If anything went wrong, we’d be left too vulnerable and what we managed to build up would be exposed.

>>5034341
Would it be possible to do multiple conquests during a short season? I worry that we should grab as much as we can in one go with a larger force, basically steamrolling the map before we get locked out of taking anymore land.

>>5034341
Can we take land and not claim it? Basically having our men control in as bandits in disguise or some new criminate syndicate or organization?

>>5034456
>>5034460

Conquering more than one location is doable, but it will be way more time consuming and requires a much bigger effort from the troops. To properly say that you control a place, you need to be sure that the place is free of enemies and for that to happen, there has to be a lot of patrolling and looking out for potential threats.

Having your men in disguise is doable, but it would be somewhat difficult to pull through. It might also attract unwanted attention as other bandits might not want a new group of bandits as their neighbours.

>>5034277
>A full invasion of Strahnbrad Hills with the goal of conquering the land and driving away bandits and trolls.

>Ease up with the patrols to allow the men to rest. Trust that the Scout Tower gives enough warning if the ogres attack.

we can't sit on our asses while bandits roam through the land, better attack the hills before they consolidate and fortify it like gallows corner's bandits did.

>>5034277
>None, let the men rest
>Keep the increased patrols to prevent the ogres or bandits from surprising you if they come.

A tough choice.

As much as I want to retake the land, I want more manpower and defenses before moving out. I don't like being stretched out, and we need some early warning in the form of towers before we leave our main territory under defended.

None, let the men rest and keeping the increased patrols seem to win. Please give me a random event roll


>1d10
>Best of three

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>5034914

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>5034914

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>5034914

>10

While the idea of invading Strahnbrad Hills felt intriguing and accomplishing in taming the region in which your predecessors had failed would have been a great feather in your cap. The operation would have been way too taxing for your forces. You had to put preserving your manpower and equipment ahead of a nice feather.

The decision was made that your men would concentrate on patrolling and defending your holdings. The threat coming from ogres and bandits in Alterac and potentially from Strahnbrad Hills still exist and you have to put priority in defending your people. Thankfully with Tarren Mill having replenished their guard numbers, you can trust that they can defend themselves and keep that direction a bit more secure. And with in total 55 men having finished the training and the men sent to Tarren Mill having returned, you now had way more men patrolling than during the spring which helps a lot.

Your officers were happy about this as it allowed your men more rest, but there was still that feeling that they would want to do something about Strahnbrad Hills. Sooner or later you have to deal with the region.

…

A few days into the summer you received a second letter from Jaina Proudmoore. She apologized that she hadn’t heard about the news sooner and couldn’t include them in the first letter, so hearing them she decided to send a letter to you as fast as possible.

Prince Arthas Menethil would be made into a full paladin and a Knight of the Silver Hand. It would happen in Stormwind and all the rulers and lords of the Alliance would be there. Events like this won’t happen that often.

And Jaina wanted you to come too. She was willing to use some of her minor political power and status to vouch for you and allow you to accompany her to Stormwind to be part of the event and to allow for you to have a chance to meet with all the important people. This could be the chance for you to talk with King Terenas and other rulers regarding Alterac and have the edict lifted.

She mentioned in the letter that she would be travelling to Southshore in three weeks and she was going to travel through your land. So if you wanted to come, this was your chance to join her.

This was frankly tremendous news. A chance to travel to Stormwind and potentially talk with the lords and kings of the Alliance shouldn’t be missed, but at the same time it would mean that you would be away for several weeks due to travel and the actual stay in Stormwind.

1/2

>>5034995

Day after the letter from Jaina came, a rider came from Gavin’s Naze. One of your soldiers had loaned a horse and ridden here as fast as possible carrying a message. Orcs had attacked from the mountains, evading the patrols and kidnapping the people from one farmstead before retreating back into the mountains.

The soldier told you that after having taken those people, the orcs were nearly caught by one of your patrols who then decided to follow them. The good news was that leading the patrol was Rover who could follow the orc tracks without much effort.

It was clear, you chase those orcs and save those people, but you had to choose how you would react. Take the men available right now, or gather a stronger force. Either way the more time you spend in Dawnholme, the more distance the orcs can make.


>Take the men who are available right now and go to Gavin’s Naze to join with Rover and the patrols.
>Gather more men and then leave to Gavin’s Naze. Exchanging time for more soldiers.
>You are going to have an army with you. You are going to make sure that nothing will exist of those orcs after you are done with it.
>Other write in.

QM: Choices go from fastest and smallest force to slowest and biggest force. Think what is most beneficial for saving those people.

>>5034996
>>Gather more men and then leave to Gavin’s Naze. Exchanging time for more soldiers.

>>5034995
Stormwind? Why not Lordaeron? Who is in charge of Stormwind currently anyway? Is it before the stonemason revolt? Imagine being able to save Tiffin… ah well.

>>5034996
Time is of the essence. Let us move out immediately with forces available and instruct our officers to assemble a larger force to follow as soon as they can muster.

>>5035017
> Arthas was inducted into the Knights of the Silver Hand at the young age of 19. The ceremony was held in the Cathedral of Light in Stormwind City, and was attended by prominent figures such as Genn Greymane, Thoras Trollbane, Daelin Proudmoore, and Jaina Proudmoore, whom Arthas had not seen since childhood. Archbishop Alonsus Faol led the initiation process, which included four of the five original paladins: Uther, Tirion Fordring, Saidan Dathrohan, and Gavinrad the Dire. Arthas was presented with the holy warhammer called [Light's Vengeance] by Gavinrad and had the ceremonial silver plates placed upon his shoulders by Uther. While in Stormwind, Arthas visited the newly crowned king, Varian Wrynn, and sparred with him while recounting old memories. He also met the recently born prince, Anduin Wrynn, who gripped his finger.


https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Arthas_Menethil

>>5035020
Huh, I guess we’ve quite a voyage ahead of us then. Unless Jaina is going to portal us there.

We go by boat, I presume? Land trek would take longer, especially if the tram is not yet operational.

>>5034996
>>Take the men who are available right now and go to Gavin’s Naze to join with Rover and the patrols
It'll be a lot easier to save our people if we catch them before they reach their camp. But we should let one or two of the orcs escape so we can follow them to their camp

Do you guys think the orcs are frostwolfs or warsong? We are closer to alterac so it might be frostwolfs but on the other hand the warsong are the ones that are much more likely to attack.

>>5034996
>Take the men who are available right now and go to Gavin’s Naze to join with Rover and the patrols.

>>5034996
>>>Take the men who are available right now and go to Gavin’s Naze to join with Rover and the patrols

Those orcs will be killed to the last for having touch our people. We need to save them, not one can die.
Our objective should be too intercept them as fast as we can and strike them.

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You immediately send the soldier who delivered the message to find Cromwell who to your knowledge was in Dawnholme and not on patrol to gather all the men available and prepare to move to Gavin’s Naze. Meanwhile you told Captain Garside to gather the men who weren’t ready yet and prepare to come in as reinforcements.

As you quickly put on your armour, Maura Garside packed you some food for several days and Sir Gravis arrived with his knights ahead of the men Cromwell could gather. Not long after you had put on your armour and walked outside the farmstead, Cromwell was waiting there for you with the men prepared. Ten footmen and ten archers stood with Cromwell, the twenty men that had returned from Tarren Mill and of which most were with you over a year ago when you started this journey.

Seeing that the men were ready, you set towards Gavin’s Naze with the knowledge that Captain Garside would follow you with reinforcements and more supplies.

…

It was evening when you reached Gavin’s Naze and the location of the orc attack. A single soldier was stationed there to wait for the arrival of reinforcements. You ordered a break and your men rested after the force march as you talked with the guard posted here. He told you that Rover and the rest of the patrol had followed the orc tracks. Rover had told him to tell you that they wouldn’t attack the orcs, only follow them and stay away from them.

With this information available, you had to make the choice. You could rest through the night and start following Rover and the orcs in the morning or leave immediately after allowing your men to rest for a moment.


>Leave after a short rest. Less time you spend resting, less distance the orcs manage to make, easier catching them and freeing the kidnapped people will be.
>Your men need a bit longer rest. Allow them to rest for a few hours and leave in the middle of the night. The orcs must require rest as well.
>Orcs are formidable enemies and your men must be rested and ready. Rest through the night and start following Rover when you are all fresh and ready.
>Other, write in.

QM: I will be busy come weekend and next week, but I will try to do at least one update a day.

>>5035310
>>Leave after a short rest. Less time you spend resting, less distance the orcs manage to make, easier catching them and freeing the kidnapped people will be.

>>5035310
>>Leave after a short rest. Less time you spend resting, less distance the orcs manage to make, easier catching them and freeing the kidnapped people will be.

>>5035310
>Leave after a short rest. Less time you spend resting, less distance the orcs manage to make, easier catching them and freeing the kidnapped people will be.

>>5035310
>>5035330
Also take a drink from our blessed vial of water and share it with our troops before continuing.

>>5034996
>Take the men who are available right now and go to Gavin’s Naze to join with Rover and the patrols.
Well fuck, I'm starting to worry about not taking the Hills. Extremely worried about going to the meeting. As he might just tell us we aren't leave 5 steps outside our home.

>>5035310
>Leave after a short rest. Less time you spend resting, less distance the orcs manage to make, easier catching them and freeing the kidnapped people will be.
>Other, write in.
Drink from our vial of magic water and share some with the troops.

Short rest. A roll to see how well following Rover goes


>1d6
>Best three of four

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5035707

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5035707