Cordenata Family/Mielba/Stories

Welcome Tybalt,

I am afraid I cannot offer you much advice. Already you are set up more than I was when I first joined the realm, not a month ago.

A friend in the realm demonstrated ambivalence when I asked which, if any of the estates I should take. So, I did not immediately settle and missed out on tax collection.

Fortunately, my family gave me some money to start with, and they sent more later (I am certain yours will too!), but they did not prepare me much regarding the specifics on how to manage it!

After about a week, I grew concerned. What if my indecision led me to poverty? Would I have to live as a peasant? Maybe become an adventurer?

I realize now that this is unlikely. There are protections in place against such horrors. There seems to be generosity and amicability amongst the noble folk here. I have already witnessed a nobleman ask the Queen for 200 gold and she acquiesced! Albeit, with a warning to be more careful with his finances.

More astounding was the gift I received from a Count Gustav, representing a neighboring realm. After a “bureaucratic mixup”, I found myself in a this other realm- not in Ar Agyr, close to my family.

And of all places, I had joined the terrifying realm of Vordul Sanguinis! If you are not familiar with Vordul Sanguinis, you might want to read up on them. I can tell you that their emperor is a tyrant who wears cursed armour that requires bloodshed. They are cultists. After I took up the estate, they sent a welcoming letter calling me “Foresworn Mielba”!

Oh, I had cursed the bureaucrat who filled out the paperwork for my estate application. Some newcomer or drunk, no doubt- apparently thought that Vordul Sanguinis was the name of the lord.

Even if I managed to get out of the debacle, I was afraid that for sure I had attracted “the evil eye”, so to speak. But, surprisingly, after having explained the mix-up, the only consequences have been well wishes and 200 gold from Count Gustav to help get me established back in Ar Agyr! (He even sent the bonds to Count Bob, the lord of my estate- also the banker of Ar Agyr; he did the exchange to gold for me.)

With respect to other areas which would be of concern, you will want to seek someone else’s advice regarding battles. I am still learning, though I fought my second battle today and did not lose any men! However, this probably has a lot to do with the fact that I fought alongside others with far more experience.

My first battle reduced my company of 25 archers to 10, including those who succumbed to their wounds and the two who deserted. I was told, however, that had I not ordered my men to fight defensively, I might have lost them all.

Beluatera is known to be a harsh land. We are constantly under attack by monsters and undead, and that is not to mention the daimonic invasions! However, it is also a land of opportunity. It has been said that you can easily make a name for yourself here because people could always use the help in fighting off the hordes.

You should know, I like to collect stories. I hope, perhaps, I will someday receive a letter detailing your exploits.

May the Gods smile upon your works.

Mielba Cordenata

Dame of Agyr

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Greetings,

I understand that you've been looking for a little monster hunting advice, so here's the introduction to Bobs guide to shooting up everything...

Against the monsters and undead, since they don't shoot back the goal is to have as much time and distance as possible to deal with them before they get to you. I haven't done the math to know for sure, but with your gold income for Agyr now, it should be possible to field and maintain a unit of some 50-70 archers I'd guess, assuming your honour allows it. If you run short of gold or don't have sufficient income, feel free to ask and we can sort it out. A unit of this size should allow you to be able to deal with ~5-10 monsters and say ~20 to 30 undead on your own with minimal problems.

Monsters and undead usually start in the front or the middle but occasionally appear on the back row too, but not as often. They aren't as easy to predict as they used to be, so now I just assume that either one are as likely to appear on either the front or middle rows.

For range 4 archers which I believe you have, when fighting by yourself I usually suggest to start in the back row. If the enemy starts in the front you should usually shoot them from the beginning and be good to go, if they start in the middle or back then both of you will advance and you start shooting them from round 2 either 3 or 4 rows away.

When fighting with range 5 special forces in the battle, like I have, I usually suggest to start 1 row behind the range 5 forces, that way if the enemy is in a position where they can shoot them but you can not, then you advance to be in line with the range 5 forces before shoot and you protect each other rather than having your soldiers advance in front and be exposed on their own should the enemy reach close combat.

With infantry in the battle you can move up to the middle line and have the infantry deploy up to 2 rows behind you if you wish, this is a little riskier in certain situations but normally this gives the infantry 2 rounds to move up to you before close combat begins. The simpler method is to continue starting on the back line with infantry one line behind on rearguard and everybody advances as they see fit.

If you have range 5 special forces in the future, when fighting by yourself the easiest is to always start on the back row then you're usually able to initially shoot anything from the start unless the enemy starts in the back row, then you'd advance once and shoot from 4 rows away.

If fighting with other forces archers can as stated above start one row behind the special forces and infantry and deploy in another region to stay out of the way ;)

I usually start my special forces on the middle line, this allows me to be able to shoot anything from the start without advancing. This can be a problem for some as an enemy starting on the front line is only 3 rows away and could reach close combat, but they don't usually last that long against me. This also allows me to protect and infantry and archers from our realm that start a little closer than others, as they should only advance up to my unit and not in front of it.

Hopefully that helps as a starting guide, and if you have any questions, as always, feel free to ask.

Bob Baceolus

Chancellor of Ar Agyr

Duke of Agyr

Margrave of Agyr