Kaspiyan
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Post by Kaspiyan on Jul 4, 2017 22:31:51 GMT -5
She really intended to seduce a badger lord? Certainly that wasn't the typical behavior he expected from chiefs or warlords, though he'd also never met a rogue badger like this before. And if this was the plan, where did his soldiers come into play? In any case it sounds better than besieging the place. He'd heard many tales about would-be conquerors of the fire mountain, only one had ever succeeded for a short time, and even he didn't last long afterwards.
"... I’ll slip in under the cover of a poor victim of vermin attacks, an’ within three days I’ll have all I need to know about Salamandastron’s defenses. Then I’ll leave with none the wiser, till we’re ready to make our move.”
Interesting. Such a tail would likely provoke patrols out from the mountain to flush out Luna's pursuers, but the Cradle was small enough to move quickly. That said, he wouldn't mind a small clash with the Long Patrol, it would be useful to gauge to the fighting quality of the mountains garrison.
"I'd be in favor of this. What would you have me and my beasts do?" He asked.
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Post by Luna Broadblade on Jul 5, 2017 14:45:43 GMT -5
"I'd be in favor of this. What would you have me and my beasts do?"
Luna sat back from the map for a moment. What did she want Kaspiyan to do? There was the plan with the honey trap they could go over, but that was only a small part in her intelligence gathering scheme. A part she’d rather save till the end in case Kaspiyan proved himself an enemy rather than a friend. Luckily there was plenty of work to do, though most of it she’d planned to do solo. Multiple beasts working on it would make things go faster though…
“What I want to do first before we gather information on the mountain is do a thorough scouting of Mossflower. I want to know where everyone’s at; local swords-for-hires, retired soldiers, farmers and old spinsters. Everyone. I also want to know what the alliances look like in the area. I wanna know who’s gonna come runnin’ when we start our war on either of the places. There are Kingsdoms North and South of Mossflower. Wouldn’t do to get blindsided by them. Or by some rag-tag bunch of misfits with a legendary sword.”
That about summed up part one of her overall plan. Get information, update what she already knew.
“There’s also recruitin’ an’ trainin’ to be done,” she added, almost as an afterthought. “I tend to lose a percentage of my horde with every victory as some choose to retire from the campaign trail. My captains are handlin’ that, though I usually send anyone I meet their way. You I suspect have enough trainin’ for now. When we rejoin the main force, we can test each others’ mettle there.”
As much as Luna enjoyed sparring, it wouldn’t be productive in fostering goodwill between them. Challenges of strength could come another day.
“What do ye think Kaspiyan? What did ya have planned ‘fore runnin’ into me?”
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Kaspiyan
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Traveler
Posts: 20
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Gender: Male
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Post by Kaspiyan on Jul 7, 2017 2:08:31 GMT -5
Kaspiyan was feeling more sure about his new commander with every word she spoke. She wanted to make sure her flanks were secured, to gauge the strength of potential resistance on all fronts, she was actively recruiting and training. That spoke of a mind that made sure to nail down details and handle the strategic realities of operating a large, conquering army. Many various chiefs and warlords he'd known had a much simpler outlook on such things, and just dealt with it all on a case by case basis. He nodded approvingly.
"I can work with this. My company is used to breaking apart and meeting up for scouting purposes, which is what my plans have been as of late anyway. I have paws inside Redwall, and have been preparing to send out patrols down the river Moss, where I understood most major settlements to be near. If you'd like, I can dispatch half of them on this errand, whilst we investigate Salamandastron." He said.
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Post by Luna Broadblade on Jul 10, 2017 23:10:23 GMT -5
“…If you'd like, I can dispatch half of them on this errand, whilst we investigate Salamandastron."
“Aye, tis a solid plan,” Luna agreed. Scouting the river and seeing what those otters were up to was a good idea. “I trust your men are… discreet and will not run into trouble sooner than expected. I don’t fancy havin’ to dodge patrols lookin’ for a rovin’ band of murders. Not yet anyways.”
That perhaps was a touch unfair. Kaspiyan and his lot seemed dependable, and looked like they knew their heads from their asses. Still, it couldn’t be stressed enough that the intent was to scout and not engage. That would come later.
Luna eyeballed the map for a moment.
“We’ll have to keep in mind good places to set up a large camp. I like to have two spots at least earmarked: Somewhere to retreat to if the first one’s compromised. May have to consider supply routes if we’re lookin’ at a long siege. Armies march on their stomachs after all…”
Part of this was of course just Luna thinking out loud. This was a legendary kind of conquest: Her swan song, so to speak. She wasn’t about to skimp on the planning.
She shook the thoughts from her mind. There was still time yet for that fun.
“We should take the long road to Salamandastron, an’ limit our interactions with each other while strangers are present. Might ruin the surprise if word gets out that we were chummy before we reach the mountain. After that though, there will be no need for hidin’ our association. But by then we’ll be just about ready. Do you have a predetermined spot to meet your spy?”
She watched him closely, gauging his reaction. They were still strangers in all the ways that mattered: Would he trust her with this information just yet? She certainly didn’t trust him enough yet to divulge the location of her camps.
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Kaspiyan
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Traveler
Posts: 20
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Gender: Male
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Post by Kaspiyan on Jul 25, 2017 7:15:58 GMT -5
A thin smile broke Kaspiyan's muzzle. Here he had came to Mossflower, no plan, and only hoping to find some low-level skirmishing to keep his crew occupied. Instead he found himself on the cusp of spearheading one of the most ambitious plans of action he had yet to take part in.
"I’ll slip in under the cover of a poor victim of vermin attacks, an’ within three days I’ll have all I need to know about Salamandastron’s defenses. Then I’ll leave with none the wiser, till we’re ready to make our move.”
"I approve. I will divide some of my soldiers up and spread them up and down the Moss to scout things out, while I and the rest shall come to the mountain with you. We'll be able to make enough of a fuss to keep the garrison wondering while you scope things out."
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Post by Luna Broadblade on Aug 4, 2017 18:37:51 GMT -5
"I approve. I will divide some of my soldiers up and spread them up and down the Moss to scout things out, while I and the rest shall come to the mountain with you. We'll be able to make enough of a fuss to keep the garrison wondering while you scope things out."
“Sounds like a good plan,” Luna agreed. The part about making a fuss was particularly intriguing. They could test reaction times, and she’d be able to see how they dealt with threats from both sides of the proverbial fence. “Have to determine a meet up place an’ date. Salamandastron’s a week’s journey from here. I’d say no more than a moon to gather information, if we wanna be extra thorough. Three weeks should be enough though. Then, we can set about gathering my captains.”
For a moment, Luna eyed the map. Where would be a good place to meet, where there were unlikely to be eavesdroppers. After a moment she grinned.
“St Ninian’s Church would be a good gathering spot.”
Luna always did like the odd touch of irony here and there when planning a campaign.
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