Recent content by Vasileus

  1. Vasileus

    Beta Patch Notes v1.1.0

    Noted a new major bug

    Under certain circumstances, destroying the siege engines in the "siege ambush" battle won't destroy them on the overland map. If that is the case, the game will crash to desktop if you try to load the enemy assault.

    Since you won't be able to exit out of the settlement (and the enemy immediately assaults the settlement after the ambush), this one has the potential to be game-breaking.
  2. Vasileus

    In Beta v1.1.0 you can recruit the Minor Clans as vassal, I actually think this bug should be added though.

    I've done this with the Ghilman and some other one on version 1.03; it's not permanent. Eventually they'll defect to another faction as mercenaries (you won't lose any territories--all ones they have get voted for afterwards) so I don't recommend doing this normally.

    However, I do agree that it'd be great if we could recruit minor factions and mercenaries as permanent nobility. That's kinda how many players become nobles in-universe after all lol.
    It would also be cool to see new minor factions generated over time led by unhired wanderers in the same way the game generates new nobles to keep clans from dying out. The wanderers already have unique backstories based on their surnames, and I'm guessing most players would be fine if they simply generated troops from their troop trees vs. having to create custom troops for each one.

    Keeps Calradia feeling like a living, breathing entity for multigenerational playthroughs (and makes things less lonely since it would mean the player isn't the only adventurer out there).
  3. Vasileus

    In Progress General [1.8.0] Color grade options in photo mode are missing when any module is loaded before Native

    Despite the hotfixes, I can confirm this is still a bug on 1.03 and 1.1 Beta. Extremely annoying since it precludes you from ever using photo mode if you have any mods like Diplomacy installed.
  4. Vasileus

    What kind of new faction(s) would you like to see added to the game in the future?

    I think BL is early medieval looking a good 75% of the time in actual gameplay, and that if you want to add DLC factions there are plenty of reasonably interesting options that can be added in a way that makes sense with the Europe/MENA area, there's no reason to ruin it for those of us who still have some immersion.

    Also, what do you think general public reaction would be to an Aztec expansion?

    Most likely to be highly negative. Even if most players are working off of a pop culture understanding of medieval armor, there’s still lines that can’t be crossed. The Aztecs are always seen in a completely different context from the Middle Ages, and once you add them in then you might as well start handing out muskets and cannons. It’s also worth mentioning that the Sunset Invasion DLC for Crusader Kings was negatively received and has the lowest rating of any CK2 DLC out there.

    Personally I’d be pissed as hell since it would’ve been a giant waste of resources and time that could’ve been spent fleshing out minor factions that actually have a lore presence (like Darshi or the Nords). I’d buy a Darshi, Nord, or Vakken DLC but wouldn’t bother with an Aztec one.

    That being said, if it was a total overhaul like Viking Conquest except set in the Age of Exploration (with gunpowder weapons and conquistadors), I’d absolutely buy it.
  5. Vasileus

    Beta Patch Notes v1.1.0

    ... in what part did I said that the beta should be the main branch? What I mean is that the beta work shouldnt be out, they should work on it in house.

    I don't get your logic here. Nobody is forcing anyone to play the 1.1 Beta, and if someone else enjoys playing the beta and finding the bugs, what gives you the right to say, "no, stop having fun"?

    The whole point of a beta is letting the community test it at scale and find everything that the internal playtesters couldn't (as well as give modders a grace period to update everything), and if other players want to opt-in and test it out, who cares?
  6. Vasileus

    What kind of new faction(s) would you like to see added to the game in the future?

    I think the indigenous population of the eastern countries are the Palaic? Don't know much about them beyond them not really existing anymore. But I'm also pretty sure the Khuzaits are themselves from some far eastern land because it says in their cities that they essentially conquered the region from the Darshi Padishah while fleeing some "great conqueror of the east," but it also makes clear that the Khuzait-culture people are basically a mixture of indigenous and colonist populations. The clan chiefs are even called "begs," which I'm pretty sure isn't a Mongol-inspired title.

    You are correct about the title of "Beg", which is actually a title that originated from Old Turkic. Taleworlds have openly said in the past that the Gokturks were a source of inspiration for the Khuzaits, and if we're going by the late-Roman setting of the game then the Turkic Khaganates is a way better match than the Mongol Empire.

    There are also Khuzait settlements with names like Akkalat and Karakalat using the "Kara-" (Black, meaning northern) and "Ak-" (White, meaning southern) prefixes of the Turkish language, and the "Karakhergit" minor faction is roughly translatable to the Black Khergits/Northern Khergits.

    I like your ideas and I think they could be fitted in neatly, especially the Darshi and "Jumne" (I can't recall, but is that the "Nordland" they are said to originally come from?) since we can already see some of that territory when we pan the camera around so it wouldn't require a massive expansion. As for Greek-inspired, yeah, the Calrad factions already fit that niche while combined with Roman characteristics, especially notable since all their names have a Greek-sounding ring to them rather than ancient Latin, obvious examples being the three emperors.

    Still, I've love to see a little China somewhere lol, and I always like establishing a Liao Dynasty in northeastern China in Romance of the Three Kingdoms games so it'd be cool if I could import that here lol. Maybe it'll have to be M&B 3, if at all, but I'll dream of it at least. :razz:

    Even if the Liao or China proper isn't an option, the Liang vassals on the map look close enough on that map for players to do a Western Liao-style campaign with a capital based around Ortongard or Odokh. Add in the mod My Little Warband so you can create a properly sinicized Khuzait troop tree armed with crossbows and Chinese weapons, and go civilize/pacify the barbarian Emperors to the west as the exiled Son of Heaven :smile: (I'm planning to do this for my next run once 1.1 releases into the main branch)

    Liang surprisingly works as a name for a Tang Dynasty stand-in since the Tang Emperors traced their patrilineal descent to the tiny kingdom of Western Liang during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. It's an esoteric fact of Chinese history, but the kings of Western Liang ended up being posthumously honored by their descendants as the first Emperors of China in the Li clan.
  7. Vasileus

    What kind of new faction(s) would you like to see added to the game in the future?

    Here's some of my thoughts revolving around factions that could keep with the setting of the late-Roman/early-Byzantine period:

    Darshi: Definitely should be added. They already have a minor faction (the Ghilman clan), have terrain features through their side of the map, and would fit as a stand-in for the Sasanian Empire. If war elephants are too much, I'd have no problem with them being a blend of the Imperial/Khuzait/Aserai fighting styles with cataphracts and horse archers of their own.

    Nords/Jumne: Can see them getting added to the massive peninsula above Sturgia. Even if there's no sea travel, adding ferry points for them to interact with the Sturgians would be nice, or adding in more minor clans of Nordic mercenaries that you can hire.

    Greeks: Ancient Greece makes no sense with the setting of the base game, and the Empire already represents the Byzantine Greeks of this period.

    China: Would either add way too much complexity or be significantly overpowered, but maybe a minor Chinese kingdom or sinicized Khanate like the Guiyi Circuit or Liao Empire. If we follow the early-Byzantine/late-Roman period of the setting, a Guiyi or Western Protectorate-style kingdom would fit right in without breaking the faction balance.

    That would be interesting. I'm not familiar with how ancient naval warfare was conducted except a little bit of China thanks to my love of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so it'd be all new territory for me!

    As for the Vlandians, I believe the implication is they come from the mountains around Ocs Hall and expanded westward from there. They may be related to the Battanians, to some degree at least.

    I'm curious if he or anybody knows what workshop levels do and how to raise them. I get the impression they'll remain level 1 forever lol, or that it's an unfinished gameplay mechanic that may be scrapped since a serious problem with workshops is inundating the marketplace so higher grades maybe ought to produce higher quality (but higher price) goods to avoid devaluing the stuff that's already in the game.

    Vlandians are supposed to have sailed to Calradia, and Ocs Hall didn't become Vlandian until after they rebelled from the Empire (which happened only four generations before Bannerlord, seeing that the first Vlandian king, Osric Iron Arm, is the great-grandfather of Derthert). Ostican and Rovalt are supposed to have been the first Vlandian settlements, with the first Vlandians arriving in Calradia as mercenaries in service of the Empire.

    If interested, here's a map of Calradia before Bannerlord assembled using the in-game lore descriptions for cities and villages. The only thing on here that's not mentioned in-game or in the lore descriptors is the Great Liang, which is supposed to represent the Chinese Tang Dynasty that defeated the Gokturk Khaganate and pushed them westwards towards Byzantium and Persia (just as how the Khuzaits were pushed westward by a "distant conquerer").

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  8. Vasileus

    Any chance we will see assassins hunting the player?

    Yep, I totally concur with your statements. Both in terms of the appeal of Bannerlord and the ways Warband handled getting jumped.

    Bannerlord's loads of fun for me as both a role-playing game and a unique generational/dynastic game. It was extremely gratifying when I had my first child and then, later, died and played on as her for the second generation of my playthrough. It was really profound to look back on what had happened over the course of my playthrough and see all the faces of those I had known, those that had died, those who still lived, and the new generation coming up to become the leaders and movers of the world.

    I'm curious how the fog-of-war on Encyclopedia info will affect gameplay since I'll miss being able to check out the new monarch of a country and see how they got there. I suppose it'll just pay to talk to everybody you meet at least once. I certainly enjoyed handling the increasing difficulty of managing an increasingly wide-spread country and trying to expand without contracting. A little trick I used for dealing with enemies who could outrun me was to wait for them to try to raid a village and then just jump them while they're vulnerable, for example. Diplomacy's simple but plenty tough and fun for me to deal with. I'm not sure how TaleWorlds can expand upon it while still keeping the core challenge. For example, if I could cement long-term alliances, what's stopping me from doing what I do in most strategy games (ally with everybody I'm not fighting, and then fight my allies one at a time without fear of dealing with them as a coalition)? And if they're too hard to establish or too unreliable, they practically don't exist. As it stands, coalitions naturally occur as a result of one kingdom (usually one too big) getting ganged up on, while alliances and interventions naturally occur when two kingdoms share a common enemy and don't fight each other. The lack of formality in these things does stir me and keep me tense. As long as the foundational A.I. is solid enough, I think it will continue to work well and could become better with smarter tinkering.

    The fog-of-war system in the beta actually doesn't really affect gameplay that much. The player starts off with faction rulers fully discovered and you also discover any hero that becomes a faction leader. Plus, you still have full access to map events (enabling you to see the various battles and marriages going on), and the player character discovers all of the participating lords every time you pop into a keep, fight in a tournament, or join a battle without needing to meet all of them on an individual basis.

    By mid-late game, you'll usually have discovered all of your neighboring lords by joining tournaments and visiting keeps. The only big annoyance I've had so far is getting a marriage offer and being unable to get more details on the potential match - but yet again, I prefer to proactively arrange dowries and marriages for my relatives.

    Although some might argue otherwise, marrying a complete unknown isn't realistic as portraits and messengers often went back and forth multiple times between medieval nobles trying to arrange a marriage, so letting you "discover" the proposed match should definitely be added to the game.
  9. Vasileus

    Beta Patch Notes v1.1.0

    Some issues I've found in my latest sandbox run:

    1) Attacking caravans as an independent clan does not give any relation penalties, nor does attacking villager parties (only if you get into the actual combat screen. If they surrender, then you'll still get a criminal rating and lose relations)

    2) Making peace with an enemy faction as an independent clan while having their lords as prisoners in your party will sometimes cause the game to crash. Upon reloading the game, you'll be at peace with your former enemies, but their lords will still be prisoners in your party. You can put them in settlement dungeons but interacting with these prisoner lords only gives the default peace-time dialogue without the option for them to go free (they also won't escape and will happily sit in captivity until you find another lord of their faction and release them in a bargain offer).

    3) Lords are still being listed as taken captive by their faction whenever they're captured in a settlement after a siege, but iirc this is an old bug from 1.03.

    4) No relations increase after freeing a lord from captivity but no sudden drop to -100 relations either.

    5) Forcing a village to give you recruits doesn't remove the available recruits from village notables and will never yield noble recruits, even in castle-bound villages. This makes the action worthless (unlike in the past when it was a viable tactic to prevent the enemy from quickly replenishing their forces).

    6) Local notables seem to be dying off at the same rate as companions.
  10. Vasileus

    Any chance we will see assassins hunting the player?

    Being able to have bodyguards would change my tune on the matter; after all, not every player-character is designed to be a warrior, and I think it'd be good for squishier builds to be given leeway since a scholar/"theoretician" type would probably not be traveling in dangerous places alone. And any notable who feared their life might be in danger would likely take some bodyguards. I think Bannerlord having at least your topmost companion follow you around is a good start for this sort of thing.

    Agreed. The beauty of playing Bannerlord is that you can be whatever you want. If you wanna be a meathead knight that can take on a whole army and win - sure. Want to treat it as an immersive Total War game and direct your troops from the rear? Cool. Medieval merchant roleplay? Why not. The challenge in Bannerlord shouldn't only rely on fighting, but come from more strategic factors like fog-of-war, enemy AI, and diplomacy.

    To be clear: I also disliked the ambushes in Warband because they made no sense story-wise for people who weren't doing an "adventurer/fighter" build or once you got past early-game.

    Why would a ruler walk down alleyways alone (and not with a retinue of guards and servants)? Why am I getting ambushed in a village with thousands of my own troops encamped literally a few yards away? If I have a thousand men garrisoned in a city, why would I get attacked if I have enough troops to guard every corner? Stuff like this makes no sense and only ruins the immersion.
  11. Vasileus

    Beta Patch Notes v1.1.0

    I'm loving this patch, but the fog of war should be adjusted for the player's culture and background to make it more realistic (or optional). Being a character from a family of urban merchants should lift the fog for factions of your culture, while a nomad or a farmer should only have it partially lifted.

    For example, it makes little sense for an Empire-culture character from a merchant background not to know the familial status of members of the Pethros and Nereztes clan when they were the ruling Imperial dynasties over the Empire for the past few decades. Historically, such info would be common knowledge; so-and-so is the ruler's brother, so-and-so is the ruler's nephew, so-and-so is the former ruler's son, and so on.

    Likewise, suppose that you're a Khuzait-culture character from the parental background of a noyans kinsfolk. In that case, you should likewise know the family relationships and fiefs for the other Khuzait lords off the bat - after all, your parents probably feasted and fought with them on campaigns. That information would probably make its way to the player character by the time the game starts.

    Caravans should also assist in information-gathering. Rulers historically employed merchants as spies along routes like the Silk Road, so if I'm a Vlandian lord and sending a caravan eastward, I should also be getting information back about who owns what fief and "discovering" the governors and notables of each town it stops in.

    I wonder if TW is already planning this, but fog of war should also be placed to some extent over the map events. Even though rumors about battles and sieges still traveled through the medieval world (esp. in more centralized regions like the Byzantine Empire), you wouldn't know specifics like "XYZ lord got captured by ABC lord" .etc.

    Since you're running around the place, there should still be details popping up like "Amprela is under siege", "four Vlandian lords got captured by the Sturgians, and one of them died in battle", or "a member of the Khergit clan has married a member of the Neretzes clan" but not to the extent that you get now. Still, fantastic job!
  12. Vasileus

    Annoying glitch/oversight when freeing lords

    When breaking lords out of prison, you lose a point or two of relation with any faction that was at war with the faction from which the lord you just freed came from.  This is understandable; if someone else just walked in and freed a enemy vassal, you would be upset.  But the game doesn't...
  13. Vasileus

    The Dragon of the West: An AAR

    ________________________________________________________

    Chapter 4: Recruitment

    After leaving Halmar, I decided to earn my living by fighting in tournaments.  Both Tugla and Curaw were holding feasts, and the promise of sea raider loot near Rivacheg was simply too good to pass up.  In Tugla, I was invited to a feast at the local castle to celebrate my victory in the tournament there.  Hoping to find Sanjar Khan to ask for his support against the Great Horde, I attended.  Sanjar Khan was nowhere to be found, though - I was told he was meditating a tribal dispute near Asugan castle.  Nevertheless I made acquaintance with a great deal of their tribal heads who promised to recommend me to Sanjar when the time came. 

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    Pressing on, I entered and won the tournament at Ichamur.  With around 10,000 dinars in my pocket, I began to feel financially safe again.  No longer would I have to go hungry - in fact, if I wished, I could easily retire and purchase some land.  At the tavern in Curaw I bumped into a woman named Matheld.  Claiming to be a noblewoman from the “northern lands”, she made a fine addition to my non-existent army.  I found her attitude abrasive at times, but her fighting spirit and the fact that she riled the tournament audience into chanting my name more than compensated.

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    After the tournament in Uxhal, however, I was duly informed that there would be nothing for the foreseeable future - Calradia had exploded into a series of wars, and it was simply too dangerous to host further events.  And so began phase two of my plan; building an army.  In the Uxhal tavern I recruited a band of mercenaries called “hired blades”.  Heavily armored and armed, they were excellent for close combat and would form the core of my infantry.  My calvary would be different; instead, it would be formed of Khergit recruits and Imperial loyalists - old veterans who had outrun the Great Horde and reached Calradia. 

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    On April 12th, I met ‘King’ Harlaus near the city of Dhirim.  The leader of Swadia, his nation controlled the greatest amount of territory in Calradia - as such, his aid would greatly help my cause.  Since I was headed north anyways, I agreed to his request to deliver a letter to King Yaroglek, whom he said was at Reyvadin.

    Arriving at Reyvadin, King Yaroglek was nowhere to be seen.  However, one of the lords of the Vaegirs, Boyar Bracha told me that Yaroglek had gone north to lead a campaign against the Nords.  With nothing better to do, I decided to go for a round of drinks with Matheld at the tavern, where I met Ymira, the daughter of a merchant.  She had accidentally ran into Matheld and caused her to spill her drink, and it was only with my intervention that Matheld backed off.  Ymira soon proposed that she join me.  At first I saw Ymira’s proposition as absurd and urged her to reconcile - after all, what kind of daughter defies their fathers will to join a band of mercenaries?  But eventually I had one too many drinks and by the end of the day, Ymira came with us to our camp.

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    I finally found Yaroglek near Sargoth, handed off the letter, and proceeded south again to Tugla.  On my way there, I was ambushed by a group of bandits near Sargoth.  This tough fight finally persuaded me to purchase a new set of lamellar armor, a large shield, and a powerful scimitar.  Arriving in Khergit territory, I made rounds to Dashbiga and Dustril to recruit Khergit peasants, whom I then trained to become lancers.  In Dustril I was informed by the local chieftain that the village was suffering from bandit attacks, and out of pity I agreed to train them.  I lived with the villagers for about a week to help them with their defenses - at the end of the week, the bandits attacked and were soundly defeated.  Feeling confident about the performance of my forces, I left Dustril and headed to the heartland of Khergit territory.  I knew my army could take on bandit gangs, but the question remained - could it fight the Great Horde? 

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    I knew that finding this answer too soon could lead to my ruination and throwing away everything I’d worked towards, so I decided to go for the next closest thing and probe my strength against the Khergit army.

    _________________

    Darbai Alchigh watched lazily as a party of men rode towards his camp.  He wasn’t worried.  The newly-promoted captain of the Narra patrol, he had sent out a group to gather food from the local villages.  He knew that they would comply with their demands for food, since after all they were the subjects of the Khan.  Occasionally they would be unruly enough to loot from the villagers, but what could a few villagers do against the might of the Khergit army? In the land of the Khan, the nomadic warrior class reigned supreme.

    One of his lieutenants rushed to his side.  “Sir!  The scouts are back!”, he reported.  Darbai nodded.  “They haven’t responded to our commands to identify themselves, however.”

    “Huh.” That’s strange.  Each Khergit warrior knew the phrases needed to confirm their identities as a security precaution when entering a camp.  For the men he just sent out to forget so quickly was unusual indeed.  “Ah, **** it.  I’m hungry.  Let’s see what they got us this time.”

    As the warriors drew closer, Darbai could sense that something wasn’t quite right.  His subordinates sensed it too; dropping what they were doing, they gathered at the front of the camp to watch their comrades approach.  They looked limp as they rode their horses, as if they were nothing but corpses.  Darbai felt a sense of dread.  Something out there had killed his men.  But who?  They were in the heartland of Khergit territory, and the nearest Sarranid, Vaegir, or Swadian army was hundreds of miles away.  Who would dare attack the Khan’s men so close to the capital of the Khan himself?

    As if to answer the question, a shower of arrows fell from the sky.  Gathered together in an open space, his men were easily targets for whoever was shooting.  Looking towards the edge of the clearing, he could see another group of men emerging.  Their weapons and armor looked like those of the famed Khergit lancers, but something was off.  Around them were gathered infantry who were dressed like Swadians.  Who the hell even are these people?!

    “Get into battle formation!  Battle formation!”, he yelled.  Most of his men were raw recruits, and they had no inclination to listen.  Instead they ran towards the woods.  “You cowards!  You goddamn cowards!  Get back here!”

    Across the field, a shrill whistle blew.  There was a momentary silence, and then the mystery lancers began to charge.  For the first time in his life, Darbai felt panic as the calvary closed in.  Looking at their banners, he could feel a sense of deja vu, as if he’d heard them described before by a veteran of the Great Horde war.  …these men from the lands of the dynasty in Khatayad, they bore a banner with symbol.  On one half of the symbol was a rectangle with two lines, the other half bore a double cross of some sort, and on the bottom was two curved lines.  They called this Zhao, and that was the name of their nation, and it had conquered a quarter of the known world…

    _________________

    I walk through the ruins of the Khergit encampment.  The patrol had been caught off guard and unprepared, and those who did manage to get onto their horses were quickly cut down by my Imperial calvary.  There were no survivors and I had ordered it to be as such.  I had to make sure nobody beyond my men would ever know who committed the attack - no, it was a massacre.

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    “What shall we do with the bodies?”, asks Matheld.  As of right now, she’s the only one with me - I had sent Ymira away to build a spy network in Tugla, and although she will find out what I did eventually, it’s better to ask forgiveness than it is to ask permission. 

    “Bury them, burn them, cook’em.  I honestly don’t care.  As long as Sanjar Khan never finds out about this act.”  Matheld glances at me with an eyebrow raised, surprised by my casual tone.  I too am surprised.  Those are dead men you’re talking about.  Men you murdered in cold blood.  Men who did you no harm. 

    “What about the weapons and loot?” 

    “Leave them to me.  I’ll distribute any money I find amongst our men equally, but I’m going to have to keep the equipment.  Listen, Matheld, do you know anything of Sanjar Khan?”  Matheld frowns and shakes her head. 

    “No?  I’m a noblewoman of the north, mind you.  I don’t care for the people of the steppes.  And if you’re wondering what I’m thinking, I’m thinking this whole affair is stupid.  When we finally meet the Khergits in the field, they aren’t going to be wandering around their camp, roasting birds and pastries and drinking to their hearts content.” 

    “When did you become commander, General Matheld?  Our hired blades were dismounted and still killed many of them when they attacked from the other end.  These Khergits are poorly armored; we can easily fight them in a siege if we’re outnumbered.  Horses can’t climb walls, you know.” 

    “It’s not the walls I’m worried about.  They’ll ruin us in the field.  Our infantry is useless and our calvary, while superior to their horseman, will be outnumbered and swarmed.  We’ll be stuck in the walls of the fief, slo-“ I cleared my throat.  Matheld looked at me with annoyance as our conversation grew silent. 

    “We were talking about Sanjar Khan, ” I said.  “I might’ve killed his patrol here, but he and none of his lords will ever know that.  This place is infested by steppe bandits, and I’m going to drop some equipment to make it seem as if it was their doing.  Anyways, I’m going to offer him our services as a vassal in return for his support against the Great Horde.  Our army may be small, but man for man we can easily fight a force thrice our size.”

    Matheld frowned again.  “Why do you think he’s going to give you that?  If that Great Horde is as powerful as you say it is, no sane monarch in Calradia will support you against it.”

    I grinned.  “It’s worth a shot.”

    ________________________________________________________
  14. Vasileus

    The Dragon of the West: An AAR

    Chapter 3: Way of the Sword

    I reached Rivacheg around three days after the fight at Curaw.  It’s a port city, with a sea extending even further north.  Few know what lands lie behind the sea, but common knowledge is that well-armed raiders called “sea raiders” do come from these lands to pillage the northern coast of Calradia.  The spices bought from Tugla sold for a decent price, but the profit simply wasn’t as alluring as I’d hoped it would be.  With only 200 denars earned, it didn’t seem like it was truly worth the trouble of traveling this distance or fighting off those bandits.

    Nevertheless, one thing did surprise me, and that is how easily I was able to sell the things I scavenged from the three looters.  From their weapons to even the their woolen caps, I sold it all and earned a tidy profit of almost 100 dinars.  Not a bad sum for a single night of work. 

    After collecting my money, I resolved to halt my mercantile career and instead focus on something much more lucrative - scavenging.  Of course, such thing requires the subject to be dead, and despite my minor concussion from the hammer, I was still able to fight.  Hearing some rumors that a band of raiders had landed near a local village, I slipped from Rivacheg during nightfall and made for the coast. 

    I finally stumbled upon a advance party of five of these raiders near a clearing.  These people, the “Sea Raiders” fight in a way I’ve never seen before.  They do not use their axes or spears, but throw them.  While they could be devastating to men on foot, like those employed by this “Vaegir” or “Nord” kingdom, they’re easily dodged on horseback.  Once they run out of axes, you may do with them as you wish.  Within the hour, all five sea raiders were dead and I was scavenging their bloodied corpses.  And what loot!  Their purses are overflowing with stolen coins, and their swords were much superior to the falchion that I carried.  Finally sastified with my pickings, I retired to my inn before sunrise.

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    Borcha Noyan watched with curiosity as a fighter in yellow grab rode from the gates of the arena.  It was not uncommon for women to take part in the tournament games (Xerina was a well known example of this), but something about her set her apart from the rest of the rabble.  Is it the solemn, noble way she carries herself? he wondered, or her ability in combat?.  He shook the thoughts out of his head.  He was a nobleman, the son of the ruler of Halmar, and thus he could not ever associate with a commoner, especially a woman.  One could only imagine what scandals the rivals of his father could spin from such an act.

    There were two fighters at the center now.  A hired blade clad in green, the other in yellow.  The mercenary raised his sword and rushed at his opponent.  There was a quick clash as the two swords met, and both fighters rode to the opposite sides of the stadium as the crowd went wild.  Bringing their horses to face other, this time, it was the yellow fighter that charged first.  The mercenary raised his shield, but it was too late - his opponents blade slashed his into abdomen and he fell off his horse. 

    “Myris!  Myris!  Myris!”, chanted the crowd.  So that’s her name.  The mercenary, struggling to get back on his horse, was struck again in the back by his opponents sword.  He fell to the ground unconscious as the crowd cheered once more.  Looks like we got a victor.  Rising from his seat, Borcha grabbed a sack containing the prize money and headed down to the arena.  Time for the closing ceremonies

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    4,180 denars.  I count my money feverishly.  4,180 denars.  The tournament of Halmar is long over, but the celebrations still linger in my mind.  The cheering crowds, the thrill of combat, but most of all, the rewards.  The tournament paid five times the profit of a single merchant trip, all without the trouble of fighting bandits or hauling goods from town to town.  The amount of money earned was the equivalent of the lifetime wages of a laborer. 

    Why take the risk of changing prices and banditry, I wondered.  If there was any way to get the cash I needed, this was it.  A life of scavenging the corpses of bandits and fighting in arenas might’ve seemed like madness before, but in Calradia, the way of the sword was a way of life. 
  15. Vasileus

    The Dragon of the West: An AAR

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    Chapter 2: Trading

    I returned to Tugla, this time without incident.  It was surreal walking through the city gates, and for the first time in my life, I realized that I was no longer a member of the nobility.  There were no trumpets, no guards, no parades, no feasts.  But in a way, it felt liberating.  No longer did I have to act and speak in a certain way. No longer did I have to take part in the time consuming court ceremonies that dominated my previous life.  No, for the first time in my life, I was truly free.

    I knew where to find my next contact.  A close business associate of Atabar, Yelu Borcha was a former official in the Xizhao bureaucracy - he had made the mistake of openly criticizing the policies of my half-brother during a feast, and was thus forced to flee west to escape punishment.  There, he made himself one of the richest men in Tugla through the spice trade.  Having heard that he was in town, I asked Atabar to arrange a face-to-face meeting before I left.  If anyone can help me now, it's him.

    I'm told that the merchants quarter of Tugla is a bustling place, with people from all over the world.  But I must have arrived during a slow day, for the merchants quickly jumped upon me as starving wolves do upon a deer.  They offered velvet from the south, iron from the north, dates from the ‘Sarranids’ and even weapons and armor of designs I’d never seen before.  But I'm not here to shop.  Guiding my horse through the market stalls, I try my best not to make eye contact with any of the vendors, lest I be guilted or persuaded into buying something.  Besides, I can't even afford half this stuff anymore.  But as always, the merchants see through my attempts. 

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    "Hello madam!  Would you like some fine silk, imported from Wercheg?"  I glare at the merchant and he backs down. 

    "Madam!  You like jewelry?  We have the best jewelry, imported from the gold mines of the Rhodok mountains!"  Ignore them, I repeatedly think. 

    “Would you like to purchase a new bow, madame?”, shouts a weaponsmith.  I glance at his stall for a second, contemplating the purchase.  500 denars.  Can’t afford it, especially now. .  I pick up my pace and head towards the tavern, praying that Atabar passed on my request for a meeting.

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    Yelu’s diary, April 1257

    Zhaifeng has fallen to the Great Horde, and the Xizhao Dynasty with it.  I know this, for I have met the last survivor of the Imperial family today.  I do not know how Princess Daxia survived, or how she ended up here, or even how she met Atabar.  All I know is that there will be no return to my homeland.  Whatever the case, Daxia met me today, begging for financial assistance.  Although I cannot spare much in the terms of gold due to the recent loss of one of my caravans, I can tell her what I know of Calradia. 

    I have informed Daxia of the lucrative trade routes here.  Spices from Tugla can be sold at great profit to the northern cities of Wercheg or Tihr.  Iron from Reyavidin can fetch a high price in the south, like in the Rhodok cities of Veluca and Yalen. 

    I also informed her of the political situation in Calradia.  Calradia is much unlike the Xizhao in that it is a feudalistic and divided society.  The Xizhao system of government simply does not exist here, for there is no examination and the nobility are all-powerful.  The Rhodoks may be the exception, but with Prince Graveths coup, this has greatly changed.  This is a treacherous land, but also one of great profit if you play your cards right. 

    Princess Daxia left Tugla today with some spices that I helped her purchase.  I directed her to Rivacheg, in the land of the Vaegirs, and instructed that she stop to purchase iron at Curaw on the way.  I do not know what fate has in store for our people, but we truly do live in interesting times.  Quite a blessing - and a curse.

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    The northmen are a strange race.  Their homeland is cold and dark for much of the year, and to warm themselves, they drink a liquid made from fermented barley.  Their warriors do not ride horses, but instead rely on expert swordsmanship and archery to disperse their enemies - and as a result, I am told that a single one of their “huscarls” can fight off ten men at once.  These huscarls sometimes also carry massive battle axes, the size of which can kill a horse with a single strike. 

    Anyways, I arrived in Curaw without incident, and purchased three bags of iron as Yelu has instructed.  If all goes well, I’ll reach Rivacheg by tomorrow and make a tidy profit.  Unless…

    “I’d slit your throat for a trinket.”  The man’s voice is gruff and tired, as if he was reading a script.  But there was a tone to it that put me on edge.

    “Excuse me?” I lowered my bow and slid an arrow onto it.  I glance around for my axe, only to realize that I’ve left it in the local inn.  Dammit

    The man didn’t respond as he strode towards me confidently.  I raised my bow at him.  He didn’t flinch, and I saw the gleam of moonlight reflect off his knife.  I fired the arrow, watching as it streaked through the air and struck him between the eyes.  He stood still for a second before falling to the ground.

    As if on cue, two more men rush from the shadows.  Ready, aim, fire.  The one to my left stumbles, clutching at the arrow sticking out of his chest.  I fire again at his thigh and he falls to the ground.  I turn to the last man Ready, ai-.  A hammer smashes into the side of my head and I hit the ground.  Something wet rolls down my neck.  Blood.  I begin to feel dizzy and warm.  So this is what dying feels like.  The man raises his hammer again.  Feeling a burst of energy as my survival instincts kick in, I look frantically for something, anything to fight him off.  Then I see it.  A falchion, lying by the corpse of one of the thieves.  I scamper away as the hammer falls. 

    “Afraid to die?  That’s a shame” This man is different from the others.  He sounds young and inexperienced, probably new to the life of banditry. 

    I’m silent as I slide the falchion from the sheath.  Grabbing the rim of a barrel, I pull myself up as he approaches.  Within seconds, the thief is towering over me now like a colossus. 

    “Everything has a price - even your life”  He is almost halfway to raising his hammer when I plunge the falchion into his groin.  “You bitc-“ The falchion strikes him again, this time in the thigh.  He falls to the ground.  For a second, our eyes meet as I pull back my arm.  Then the blade thrusts deep into his throat and his body goes limp.  For my trouble, I'm showered with blood.  Wiping my face clean on his woolen tunic, I grab my bow and head back to the inn to lick my wounds. 

    “Screw going to Rivacheg tomorrow, I need a drink.”

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