[OOC] The Band of Fools

[Kassarock]

The Band of Fools

A Medieval Mercenary Company Roleplay

"King Adalmar II of the House of Northall peacefully ascended his father's throne in the year of our Lord 817. The chroniclers of his reign note it as one of harmony and contentment. His Grace was well known for his charity and piety, founding Colleges at Innsmouth and Edmunton and rebuilding the North Chapel at Kingsbury Abbey. In the year 819 he took Elise of the House of Ordoth, daughter of the Duke of Forlinger, as his Queen. She would bear him two sons, the Princes Edmund and Osbert, neither would ascend the throne.

King Adalmar II and his sons fell victim to the spring sweating sickness that struck the capital in the sixteenth year of his reign, leaving no clear heir. Thus the Kingdom of Westar was plunged into one of the darkest periods of its great history, the Anarchy of Adalmar."

Deacon Malcolmson, Chronicle of the Kings of Westar

The King and his sons are dead. The plague that swept through the capital is past and in the chaos of its wake four principle claimants to the throne of Westar emerge. Godfrey of Innsmouth, cousin of the former King through the female line and a powerful courtier, has seized the capital and crowned himself. Across the great river Wasser to the east, the Prince of Taratio gathers his own armies and those of his Bordian allies to press his own more senior claim of decent. In the wild north of the country the old Lord Howard of Northall, a remaining cadet branch of the Northall dynasty, hosts his bannermen and the local nobility in preparation for revolt. And most worryingly of all, across the Western Strait is the King of Blancia, Raynaud de Alecion, he remembers his grandfather's attempt to take the Kingdom of Westar almost a hundred years previously, not through right of descent - but by right of conquest.

The board is set and the pieces are in motion. Between them these men shall unleash a tide of blood across the country. They will do it for their pride, they will do it for their honour, they will do it for their greed, and most of all, they shall do it for power. Kings will rise and fall, men will die, and the fate of nations hangs in the balance.

But you will have no say in it.

You are not a King, nor even a great Lord. You are a mercenary, either one step above a common peasant, or so disgraced a noble it might have been better for you to be born that way. You have the dubious honour of serving in one of the Kingdom's oldest Free Companies, the Band of Fortune, or as it is better known: The Band of Fools.

Many years ago they were a powerful and respected fighting force numbering over a thousand. Now they are but a shadow of their former selves, barely being able to muster a quarter of their previous strength. The relative peace of Adalmar's reign meant that the mercenary companies that did not leave Westar atrophied. With work scarce they became little more than glorified thugs and many even turned to banditry when hard times struck. But now this new war has made their services back in demand, and some in the company still hold onto a notion of the glory and the wealth that could be theirs if they play cards right in the coming conflict.

So welcome, brothers and sisters in arms, to the Band of Fools!

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World Map - Subject to Change

Map Key

1 - Kingsbury, the capital of the Kingdom of Westar.
2 - Edmunton, a major population centre and port in Westar.
3 - Innsmouth, a major population centre and port in Westar.
4 - Tradeforth, the provincial capital of Northern Westar.
5 - Northall Rock, fortified seat of the Dukes of Northall.
6 - The Skerry Isles, annexed from Ragmark by the Kingdom of Westar 200 years previously.
7 - Forlinger, major population centre and seat of the eponymous Duchy, sat on the shores of the Loch Forr.
8 - Old Neystead, former capital of Westar.
9 - Greenwick, a famously rich agricultural town on the shores of Loch Lantris.
10 - The Grey Drum, a Westar border fortress across the River Wasser.
11 - Port Layton, a trading hub on the border with the Bordian Republic.
12 - Artaeis, the Tranquil Isle, seat of the Patriach of the Westar Clerisy.
13 - Bordia, capital of the Princely Merchant Republic of Bordia, also known as the City-on-the-Isles.
14 - Filante, capital of the Principality of Taratio.
15 - Arlan, capital of the Kingdom of Avaria.
16 - Durranheim, capital of the Kingdom of Ragmark.

Notes of the Wider World and History

Religion and the Clerisy

The predominate religion of the region is the Faith of the Blessed, whose Church is commonly known as the Clerisy. It is headed by the Arch Patriarch in the city of Great Litan, which lies south of Taratio and Bordia. It is monotheistic and believes in a messiah figure that was an incarnation of God who appeared in what are town as the Blessed Lands to the east over 800 years ago - the calendar is taken from the date of their first miracle. The Faith of the Blessed was originally a heretical sect from the the Faith of the Daewa (literally Faith of the People) a religion focused around a series of prophecies about the coming of a future messiah.

The Blessed were initially persecuted in the east and many believers emigrated west to the Kingdom of Litan, where the religion eventually became enshrined as the dominate state religion and a formal church would form under the Arch Patriarchs. After the collapse of the Kingdom of Litan by the Avari invasions, the ancient city of Great Litan has been ruled by the Arch Patriarch as a distinct political entity. Each nation has its own autonomous Patriarch who acts as the head of the Church in that state and is answerable to the Arch Patriarch.

In recent centuries the Arch Patriachs have called for great holy wars and crusades against those still following the Daewa faith in order to recapture the Blessed Lands and the cities of the first prophets. The early attempts to do so were largely successful, but recently the crusades have lost their momentum and their religious motivations have been co-opted by economic and political ambitions.

The Faith takes the symbol of three vertical bars through a circle as its emblem. This represents the spines of the three holy books: The Book of Prophecies, The Book of the Blessed One, and The Book of Interpretations - all connected through the Oneness that is God. However, reform movements have recently plagued the Faith of the Blessed, with many believing the Book of the Blessed One to be the only true teachings of God - the Prophecies being part of the Daewa faith and the Interpretations being set down by the first Arch Patriach long after the Blessed One's death.

World History

For hundreds of years the major power in the region was the Kingdom of Litan, with its warm climate and long stable history it easily dominated the petty kingdoms to the north west that would eventually become Westar. The Litan Kingdom collapsed when the Avars, a nomadic people from across the steppe, invaded over 500 years ago. The peninsula which served as the heart of the kingdom is to this day divided into fractious city states and principalities, such as Taratio and Bordia. The Avars receded to the plains to the north east and eventually intermarried with the local population. Many adopted sedentary lifestyles thus creating the Kingdom of Avari. Tensions between Avars and Litani peoples still run high because to these long ago events.

The collapse of Litan however precipitated shift in the balance of power in the north. Westar, an inland petty kingdom centred around the wolds to the north of Old Neystead, grew through marriage and conquest over the next hundred years or so until it was the dominant political entity. After its initial rapid expansion, its borders would remain relatively stable until the accession of the House of Northall to the throne 200 years ago.

The Northalls were one of two claimants to vacant throne, the rival claimant was backed by the Kingdom of Ragmark. In retaliation to for this the Northalls seized the Skerry Isles from Ragmark in the years following their consolidation of power. The political status of the isles is still a sore subject for both Skerrymen and the people of Ragmark.

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OOC information

Welcome to the Band of Fools, a reboot of an RP that my friend Danimal ran on the old guild site, albeit in a much edited form. For those of you who weren't in the Interest check I'd like to quickly law down a few rules/pointers about this particular roleplay:

• Most people should no this by now, but the usual suite of roleplaying rules apply: Listen to the GM, don't be a massive prick, no meta gaming, no god modding, you know the gist.
• High-Casual' level RP, which for me means I expect advanced levels of spelling/grammar/writing, but without the expectation of writing walls of text every post - although I will probably do these from time to time. Give me a well written paragraph or three and we should get on fine.
• I'll be aiming for at least one post a week, possibly more, possibly less, we will see. Important thing is to stay active in OOC chatter etc, so that people know you're still planning to respond.
• Low-Fantasy. No magic (although your characters might believe in magic), no non-human races, no ridiculous anachronistic stuff for a period equivalent to the High/Late Medieval. In terms of technology levels, I'm aiming for the late 13th - 14th century Europe. If you don't know what this means or really want to do something you're not sure about, PM me, we can chat (or have a look at this handy guide). Realism will also extend into how these wars will be fought, there will be a lot of sitting around at sieges, people dying of dysentery, and marching in the rain - not just heroic battles.

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Character Sheets and Submissions

Please find the C.S skeleton for this RP below, post your character here in the OOC for review when you're done, please put it in a hider so it doesn't take up too much space. DO NOT post it directly into the character tab without my prior approval, there are likely going to be more submissions than available spaces so there will be some kind of selection process. Feel free to edit the character sheet to your personal aesthetic, but do take note of an specifications I put in the fields.

There will be a number of roles and positions available to your character in the Band of Fools. These include:

• Leftenant x 1, one of the two second in command of the Company.
• Men-At-Arms/Knights, leader of single Lance (3-10 men) served by a squire/serjeant and supported by infantry/bowmen
• Squires/Serjeant, a junior man-at-arms in service to a Lance leader
• Infantry
• Crossbowmen/Bowmen

There will also be some unique positions, such as the paymaster, quartermaster, armourer, and perhaps even a battlefield surgeon. Some of these can be jointly held with command roles. You could potentially play a non-combat role such as a camp servant if you so desire. If you have something a little outside of the box, go for it, although I can't promise you'll be able to play whatever you want.

Character Sheet

Name:

Gender:

Age:

Role/Position: Do you hold any special position in the company? (see above for details)

Appearance: Pictures are optional, descriptions required. Keep your pictures relatively realistic if you please could, yes, that means no anime.

Personality: Keep it relatively brief, feel free to hold some stuff back for organic character growth and reveals. But please check with me if its a major difference what has been put here, i.e. your happy go lucky character is secretly a manipulative sociopath.

History: Same with personality, keep somethings back for surprises later on, again check anything big with me i.e. secretly a descent of powerful nobility.

Skills and Abilities: Give me three things your character is really good at.

Weakness(es): Give me at least one thing your character is really bad at, or a trait hinders them. If you are worried about metagaming or someone using it against you, you can PM this to me too.

Equipment: Tell me a bit about your equipment, primarily armour, weapons, horses etc. (handy guide)

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I think that's pretty much everything I can think of at the moment, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them below, PM me, or join me in the discord server - I don't bite.

[Mattchstick]

If it's allowed, I'd like to reserve the bowman position, as I am no good at being a leader and would be much happier having orders than giving them. I'm busy right now, will work on a CS in a bit.

Don't suppose I could be Sir Shmoopy of Awesometon, the dual-wielding Canadian lumberjack.

[Silver]

Still got room, or are you full?

[Gunther]

If it's allowed, I'd like to reserve the bowman position...

@Mattchstick

In an RP like this, I think it would be safe to assume there are multiple archers and infantry. I intend to leave that slot open. If someone is willing to promote my character, then by all means, I will step up. If not, I don't care. I've been a grunt, a platoon leader and a company commander in real life. I can write for either position effectively.

[Enigmatik]

I’d like to reserve a coporal or knight for my d00d. If we can make multiple characters, then I’ll take quatermaster too.

[Mattchstick]

Please feel free to correct me on what you may consider "historically inaccurate" information. I am not all that good with medieval etiquette and behavior.

How much freedom is allowed for clothing and weapons? Are characters clever enough to improvise things, or are we simply filling "Head, Chest, Legs, Gloves, Boots" slots? Are they intelligent enough to, say, wear the knife sheath horizontally on the back of his belt? Create a makeshift flaming arrowhead? Use tree branches as camouflage? Innovate and improvise in general?

Cedric Amberstone

Name: Cedric Amberstone

Gender: M

Age: 25

Role/Position: Longbowman

Appearance:

My Hider

Cedric stands at 5'11" and weighs 190 lbs, much of which is lean upper-body muscle. He is surprisingly pale for someone who should have spent so much time outdoors. His hair, which is straight and nearly shoulder-length, is a dark brown, with equally dark eyes and furrowed eyebrows that suggest he is constantly in thought. Though he bears no blatant scars, there is an ugly red burn along his left forearm, reminding him of the time he gripped his bow incorrectly and the bowstring raked a good six inches of his skin. The mark is now covered by a long glove (see Equipment) that he refuses to take off.

Personality: Cheerful and optimistic, Cedric tries his hardest to find some good in whatever the situation. He has a great deal of respect for those older than him, as they are more experienced and hardened than he is, and trusts them to make the difficult decisions. He never shows a great deal of enthusiasm or excitement, as his time with the Fools has taught him that the world is a bit dimmer than he had initially believed, but he does his best to enjoy his work, and will always manage at least a grin.

History: If one were to look up the definition of "common peasant," they would find an excellent description of the first twenty years of Cedric's life. He was a farm boy, raised on a small farm that provided just enough of a profit to keep him from severe poverty. He took to archery at a young age, since wild game was a major source of food. He learning how to string, unstring, draw, and maintain a bow, as well as craft and carve arrow shafts and forge arrowheads (given the proper tools, of course). Survival was nearly as critical, since wild animals did not have a habit of sitting about, waiting for you to shoot them, and no one else was going to clean and cook your kill for you.

Two days after his 20th birthday, Cedric left home. The reasons for this are an absolute mystery to anyone else, since it is the one and only subject Cedric refuses to expound on. The location and health of his parents and siblings (if he had any) is a well-guarded secret to him. All that is known for sure is that he has not returned to his home since he left five years ago.

Cedric had never much liked the idea of roving, moving from down to town and taking anything a stranger would hand out, but that is where he found himself. It was not a pleasant life, but there were always farmers looking for a good set of hands to help with work, so he always managed to find a reasonable place to sleep. He worked any odd job he could find, including a few months as a blacksmith (from which he learnt almost nothing and enjoyed none of it). He saved up a good bit of money by choosing to hunt rather than buy food and sleep at his place of employment rather than an inn.

His luck expired during the second winter, at which point the work seemed to dry up and he found himself paying out of pocket to stay somewhere warm. Desperate, he took a try at gambling, where he discovered that he was absolutely incapable of bluffing and lost every coin within an hour. One of the gamblers felt a faint tug of remorse and return a single gold coin to Cedric before he left. It was a hard lesson, one that he would never forget.

On his way out, he encountered another archer who looked surprisingly similar to him. Cedric recognized the other man's longbow and kit and struck up a loose conversation. Cedric asked if he was some sort of guardsman, as he had seen no other guards armed with such a weapon. It was here that he learnt of the existed of the Band of Fortune and the benefits that came with it. Cedric had never dealt with mercenaries before, though he had heard both good and bad stories of their behavior. Curious, and completely out of other things to do, Cedric asked around the town for information.

"Oh, I've heard of them," a stranger said, whom Cedric later realized was an existing member. "But these days, they're called the Band of Fools."

Cedric couldn't resist a smile as he tossed the man his sole remaining coin and asked if they could use one more fool.

Skills and Abilities: Many years hunting wild game has given him tremendous skill with a longbow, though a normal bow will do if he has no other option. He is an excellent hunter, a skill that includes tracking, cleaning, and cooking. His strongest trait is his eyesight, and he has the ability to see small movements at a considerable distance, though his sense of hearing is nearly as sharp. He has a peculiar habit of cocking his head to the left and narrowing his eyes when he hears something.

Weakness(es): Though he has some skill with a hand ax, Cedric is completely untrained in using his fists or his knife as anything but a tool. He does not have poor endurance and stamina and cannot run at full speed for very long. In the realm of war and death, he is still very ignorant, having never set foot on a front line. He is also incapable of bluffing or lying in the sense that he just cannot keep a straight face.

Equipment: Steel-plate brigandine, steel greaves, and a studded leather bracer on his right forearm, with the left sporting a leather arm guard shooting glove. He totes along a steel sallet on a leather strap for actual combat.

He carries a longbow (120-lb draw weight) and reverse-draw quiver for combat, along with a small one-hand ax with a hook on the opposite side. For cleaning and skinning animals, he carries a large hunting knife in a sheath on the back of his belt.

His horse is an even-tempered thoroughbred mare with four white socks and a wide white blaze.

[KazAlkemi]

Kade InAker

Name: Kade InAker

Gender: M

Age:24

Role/Position: Infantry

Appearance: 5'11"; light brown hair; chocolate brown eyes; olive skin tone; built, not huge but military strong.

Picture

Personality: Loyal; strong-willed; sarcastic; fun. He likes to work hard and tends to push himself along with others to their limits. Can always be found cracking a joke or layering any situation with sarcasm or dry humor; which one needs when surrounded with war. Always listening to a situation, sizing it up before he jumps in to say his two cents.

History: Comes from a large family; father passed when he was a young teen; two older sisters. One younger brother and three younger sisters. His younger brother now watches over the family but all of them pitch in to keep the farm running. Kade joined the band in order to support his family and bring honor back to them after it was lost due to his grandfathers fall in the band and his fathers less than perfect behaviour. His grandfather was involved with The Band of Fools before it fell from its once high standards.

Skills and Abilities: Hand to hand (brawling), archery; as a modern look so he's able to blend in.

Weakness(es): Hot-headed; tends to get in his own way, pushes himself too much and tends to overstep his bounds or questions why things are done a certain way.

Equipment: Leather and chainmail armor??? Uses composite bow and good ol' fashioned fists.

[POOHEAD189]

Present

[Carlyle]

Just wanted to say that I'll be watching this. I was hesitant with the number of people expressing interest in the interest check, as well because I already have my hands full with 7 RPs (possibly 9 soon), but as one interested in medieval-esque settings, I must say that I'm heavily intrigued and will most likely stop by in the future if I have more free time and if there are still spots open.

[Enigmatik]

WIP

Name: Sir Geoffry Halter

Gender: Male

Age: 33

Role/Position: Corporal, 33 men.

Appearance:

Personality:

Normally taciturn and morose, Geoffrey shows all the signs of long term depression and PTSD. He finds difficulty in enjoying the same things he once loved, and motivates the men under his command more by actions than flowery words or great soliloquys and speeches. Within combat, he fights recklessly and with a touch too much open- his shield kept up more as an afterthought rather than around his main style. He is always on the lookout for ambushes and traps, and his tendency to go without sleep for long periods of time means that he is almost always found on watch.

History:

WIP

Skills and Abilities:

Geoffrey is an excellent fighter- capable with handaxe, mace and sword. Personally, he prefers a good shield and an axe, but he can also work with any number of polearms or makeshift weapons. He’s also incredibly durable, feeling the effects of hunger, and his wounds, less keenly than a lesser man does. Finally, Geoffry is a man without something to return to. His wife is dead, he sold his lands, and his title of knighthood rings hollow. Combat holds no fear for him.

Weakness(es):

Cannot have a proper night’s rest. Geoffrey suffers from serious PTSD and has vivid and horrific nightmares when he does sleep. Hates sleeping and prefers to go as long as possible without, relying on the adrenaline from combat to sustain him in a fight.

Equipment:

Geoffrey owns a full set of plate armour, including helm, as well as chainmail, a gambeson, and three surcoats. His armour is kept clean mostly thanks to his squire and liberal amounts of sand and vinegar- meaning that it is clean of rust, if slightly dinged and banged. One of these surcoats is his old crusading wear, one has his personal coat of arms, and the final one is the banner of the Band of Fools. Weapon wise, he has a longsword, greataxe, handaxe, flanged mace, flail mace, arming sword and a number of daggers. He obviously does not carry most of these into battle, instead choosing based upon his foes. He also owns a number of shields, although this is more to ensure he is never caught without should one be damaged.

Finally, and curiously, Geoffry does not ride a horse. Instead, he uses a mule to carry what he needs, and walks beside it. He has never revealed if this was personal preference, or something more.

[Dziady]

Interested, but how historically accurate will this role play be? Meaning in terms of equipment, combat and such I understand it is fictional settings.

[Kassarock]

@Mattchstick No set numbers for bow men/infantry/men-at-arms, only officer positions and the unique ones below.

@Silver Feel free to put up a C.S. can't guarantee anyone a place however

@Irredeemable I'm not going to be allowing multiple characters for this, too many potential players

I'll sit down and go through everyone's characters at another point in time

[POOHEAD189]

I'm not the GM, but I suggest we put characters in hiders to keep the OOC clean.

[Kassarock]

@POOHEAD189 Actually yeah I should have mentioned that, cheers Poo

[Forgiveness]

I'm interested although I am not all that good with medieval etiquette and behavior.

[Kassarock]

@Forgiveness@Dziady It's more about plausibility than actually being 100% historically accurate, as long as something does not violate the technological limits and has some kind of precedent I will most likely be okay with it. For example, full plate harness is going to be incredibly rare and expensive because of the tech limit, however I am fine with the use of later helmets i.e. Sallets or Barbute because these are largely more stylistically different than technologically superior to earlier forms of enclosed helmet.

One thing I think I should stress however is that we are not at the high end of what kind of armour and equipment will be available, we will be using the old, the dinted and dented, the out of fashion. Keep this in mind when making characters.

[Forgiveness]

Understood mister guild master sir. I'll have CS wrote up sometime soon.
@Kassarock

[Dziady]

@Kassarock I was asking because I will most likely not enjoy something where people step too far outside the bounds of realism, in this setting, I will wait and see what caliber of character you attract and then present mine if there is still space. Thank-you.

[Forgiveness]

Kaine.Just Kaine

Name: Kaine. Just Kaine.
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Role/Position: Crossbowman

Appearance:

[+]

(substitute bow for crossbow.). Kaine has light amber hair and golden brown eyes. His “armor” is well-worn and has a faded look to it. He generally wears a sunken expression,partly from lack of sleep but also due to his minor but constant depression. Roughly 5’11 and maybe a little thin but well toned.

Personality: A very laid back individual,always cracks a bad joke or two,even in the midst of battle. Often keeps to himself but those who get to know him find his kind side,which explains his random acts of kindness,like paying for a stranger’s drink and giving money to random beggars.

History: Like most of the people of the time,Kaine was born on a small farm and into a large family of six. His father used to be a member Band Of Fools but retired after his wife was pregnant with their first child. From a early age he had a strong affinity for bowmanship(or marksmanship?), competing in local shooting competitions and often beating the competition effortlessly. Due to this, many of the local kids didn’t like him, eventually going as far as to chop his bow in half. His family was poorer than most which left him with two options: give up bows or switch to the crossbow. He chose the latter,quickly mastering the craft,which earned him the nickname “Deadeye”. At the age of 26 he left his family’s estate and went to join his fathers old guild.(been with them for a year now).

Skills and Abilities: Skilled crossbowman-Excels at using the crossbow, averaging about three shots a minute.
Hunting- A skill he hadn't obtained until he joined the guild. A kind fellow named Cedric taught him what he knows and over time Kaine became a decent hunter.

Weaknesses: Newbie-Not used to battle,In fact,he has only killed two people. One was pure luck,a lucky strike with falchion and the other with his crossbow.
Ranged specialist- Not great at close quarters, his falchion has rarely seen action out of its sheathe. Currently seeking some kind of sword training.
Equipment: Arbalest- Worn but reliable,his go-to weapon.
Falchion- More for show than actual action,collecting dust on his hip.

Apparel- Light and quick movement is preferable for Kaine so he tends to be lightly armored. A simple leather jerkin,covered by a brown cloak makes up his upper attire. Simple brown trousers and all black jackboots make up the lower.

[Mattchstick]

@Forgiveness

.(Maybe Cedric taught him)

Yeah, maybe because he's, like, almost identical to Cedric? The two of them are almost interchangeable, especially in Skills and Abilities. And Equipment.