Year 488 - War on the Continent

[Artaigne]

ooc: we should have traded rolls, Shasha.

Hunting roll 11 vs 10, fail

[Cedwyn]

[OOC: Assuming Arne translates from here on in.]

"My lord is Dagaric, son of Audomar."

Cedwyn frowned, not entirely helpful, and so he asked, "And where is Dagaric, son of Audomar, mustered at this time? Or more precisely to where did he go when his lord king called for his Aid."

[GM Craig]

Circling the clearing, Artaigne cannot tell which direction the fleeing knight went, and the unconscious Northman on the ground is not much help.

He is trying to get a sense for which direction he should go when Valka and another Northman ride up.

[One more hunting roll from Artaigne and Valka please.]

Back at the manor, Sir Cedwyn's troops have already started moving through the house and environs, identifying goods and items for looting.

The footman responds to sir Cedwyn, "We do not know where out lord has gone. He was south three weeks ago, at Rouen, but my Lady has not heard from her husband since."

[Artaigne]

Hate hunting...

12 vs 10, failure

[GM Craig]

Valka and Artaigne try to find any trail in the wood, but are unable to locale any clues. The chase, it seems, is over. One knight and the person he was guarding escaped.

With no further leads, Valka and Artaigne round up the somewhat scattered Northmen and return to Sir Geoffrey with two knightly prisoners and one corpse. There is their equippage as well - arms and armour from the knights - which would be worth something, and the captured mounts, so it is not a total loss, but the prize escaped.

Meanwhile, Sir Cedwyn's forces have looted the manor. It is early in the season, so the larders cannot be said to be full, but there are supplies there.

There is also the question of looting - the manor is that of an enemy of your ally. Looting would certainly be within the realm of acceptable behaviour. And there is the ransom - the foot soldiers are worth little - probably little more than their care and upkeep if you take them hostage - but the lady of the manor could fetch a sum. There are other treasures - furniture, tapestries and other objects - as well as the strong room where there would be coin and jewels.

How far does Sir Cedwyn take the plundering?

[Geoffrey]

Geoffrey saw Artaigne, Valka, and the others he sent return with captives, and what he initially thought was an unconscious prisoner, but was actually a dead body.  Had they pleaded for the corpse of their fallen comrade be brought?  Then where were the other two?

"Report." he said to neither of them in particular.

[Cedwyn]

[Cedwyn goes for all the plunder...gotta get something outta this. The footmen go free. Knights and the lady are kept for good behavior]

[Artaigne]

"Milord, I fear that two escaped us, knowing the terrain better than we, they slipped through a ford in the river.  But we have brought some small plunder and ransoms.  With your leave, I would give the fallen one a good Christian burial."

[Geoffrey]

Geoffrey's gaze began to harden, but then softened as he took a deep breath.

"Very well," he began.  "See if you can learn the knight's name from these other two and if there is a cemetery nearby where he should be laid to rest.

Take a half dozen men as guards and diggers as well as those two." he indicated the prisoners.

"They can help dig and may wish to have words for their fallen comrade as well."

[Artaigne]

Throwing a salute of respect, the Irishman left to complete his task. 

ooc: want to IC this or have it happen behind the scenes?

[GM Craig]

The looting takes a little time. There is not a lot - being early in the campaign season, the only harvest is fresh or left over from winter, so the stores are thin. However, there are weapons and armour that are recoverable. All in all, there are £10 worth of goods and livestock you can take from the place without being particularly cruel, including horses from the manor's herd. You can probably squeeze them for another £2, but that will leave them with little to live on until the harvest comes in.

In addition, you have the lady and two knights as hostages and ransom, and can recover a possible £3 worth of furniture and treasures from the manor if you want to strip in of anything valuable, and £4 worth of coin and jewels from the strong room.

The one slain knight is buried with Christian honours, and your forces are ready to move on.

[Pausing here for any interaction or reports and decisions on how much to squeeze.]

[OOC: This is in addition to what you recovered from the knights directly. There's a case to be made that loot could go to Artaigne and Valka, as well as the ransoms, but Sir Cedwyn would be within his rights to claim it all.]

[Cedwyn]

[ooc: Cedwyn is not cruel...he takes 10L of goods and leaves them what they need till the harvest. He also leaves the furniture and treasure but takes the 4L in coins and jewels. They shouldn't have fought.]

Sir Cedwyn trotted up to main body with his prizes in tow: the Lady of the holding as well as the cattle, horses, and other supplies.

"Sir Geoffrey, anything to report? We have some 10 libra in goods, plus the Lady and another 4 libra in coins and jewels. The Knight is a Sir Dagaric ap Audomar. He rode south to Rouen three weeks ago. I can only assume the rebels against the Praetor mustered there."

[Geoffrey]

"Artaigne spotted 5 fleeing riders so I ordered he and Valka to give chase.  They returned with 2 prisoners and 1 dead, the last two were lost in the woods."

[Cedwyn]

A flash of vexation crossed Cedwyn's face, for both having lost their prizes as well as what they were fleeing for.

"Have the prisoners been questioned on what they were fleeing for? It seems odd they would vanish when their Lady would need their good arms."

[Geoffrey]

“They have not.  Given their position I do not believe they would speak without threats of harm and proof of a willingness to carry through.  I did not believe you would find the use of such means acceptable. 

Sir Artaigne wished to give the fallen night a burial, they went to assist and speak what last words they wanted to.”