The following is my AAR, inspired by Floris' own. As such, this AAR was started in the Warlord's Den section of the Warband forum and the first 37 chapters take place in Calradia and the Floris Expanded Mod Pack, not Prophecy of Pendor. However, I decided to migrate the character here and with the permission of the Mods here am now porting Evangeline's entire story over. When all conditions are met I will be continuing Evangeline's story in both threads and in Pendor.
If you want to know my tactics, strategies, or settings you will find most of your answers if you read carefully. For those you don't find, shoot me a message. Feel free to ask questions or leave comments in this thread or in a PM. I read other AARs only sparingly as I am very susceptible to subconscious imitation and don't want to accidentally mix styles so please don't be offended by my apparent disinterest.
I am writing this as I play through the game so please excuse any delays between posts. None of the gameplay is embellished, all of the numbers are accurate though the occasional dramatic device is employed to allow room for the character of Evangeline to roam.
I am ALWAYS interested in critique and LOVE to hear what you liked or your favorite parts so please feel free to comment. Also, I will be updating this first section of this first post as I feel it is necessary so it's best to check in here first every time you come back.
Before you become concerned that I have quit please note that I wrote and posted the first 20 chapters in 25 days. Chillax, my little adventurers. I will post a final comment if I ever quit.
Additionally, as a little bonus, I will be going back through my chapters and adding author's notes telling some of the true stories of how some things came to be in Evangeline's life. I will mark them with some bright color and leave them behind spoilers. I DO NOT recommend reading a chapter and then the author's notes right after it for the sake of continuing the suspension of reality for enough time to appreciate the story before seeing behind the curtain; I promise you it really ruins the magic sometimes.
The exact origins and history of the most controversial Evangeline, often called the Nation-Breaker, are unknown as are her motivations to seek the reconstitution of the Calradic Empire. Her legacy is tainted by interpretation as those close enough to most accurately record her history are also too close to maintain objectivity, hence the wild variations in the descriptions of her as a person, a warlord, and a ferocious battle queen. With thanks to these contemporary and therefore untrustworthy accounts for their creativity and telling personal bias, I most humbly present the surviving contents of her lost and now found personal journal.
The pages have not weathered well the wears of a long life in saddlebags. Besides damage from water, age, and even a few mild scorch marks - though they seem more the type gained from a careless candle than more traumatic events - clearly to be seen are two distinct arrowhead piercings, one a simple wound in the leather and first dozen pages in very nearly the center of the upper left quadrant, the other a vicious tear at the bottom right corner. This second wound is almost definitely that of a 4-point broad-headed arrow, an invention out of time with the journal's author - and yet, there is significant blood soaked into the rear pages of the book from that arrow, testament to the violence through which this journal was forged. The gouge indicates a path by the more modern arrow of nearly sticking in the book like the first one but instead being deflected to the flesh behind it. This blood makes the words chronicling the years beyond completion of her empire unknown, at least in her own words. The campaigns overseas, failed colonies, and final gift of self-governance are known facts and less subject to interpretation so yes, if one had to pick one time or the other - her rise or her retirement to a very different obscurity than that from whence she came - to hear of it through her own words, this one would prefer her beginning.
Is it appropriate that the rear of the book be obscured by blood? More blood was shed in her name and less by the battle-queen herself in that time - even her journal shows grievous protection long after her death - but towards the end of the legible sections I found her mind to be... wandering from the paths of war. I don't know, perhaps you will see what I did or something else. With that, I leave you to make your own decision. Her first legible entry is mysterious in its subject...
"Ugh, this place, this godforsaken place... When I am free of it my first action will be a bath; my second will be to burn it to the ground. They never should have thought to keep me here, they never should have tried this way when remaining where and how I was had not yet been seen to be a failed option. Frustration mounts but I have my out already: the large horse called Winston; he can take me out of here... He can carry a bag or two as well..."
My own interpretation from reading the rest of the journal indicates a sinister tone in her last line of that first passage. I cannot be sure of course but my gut tells me that the 'bag or two' would be filled with something worse than just idle possessions. Somebody else's possession if they were lucky, them or part of them if they were not. An angry, vengeful tone permeates much of the early journal and I cannot put it out of my mind that Evangeline, Eater of Armies and Nation-Breaker, was fully capable of murder, not just battlefield violence. I... have no proof, I have only the sense that she was dangerous long before she commanded armies.
Author's Notes:
I didn't like the dry approach of describing the character formation decisions I had made to start Evangeline (I don't even remember them now but that her father must have been an impoverished noble since she has a banner - a banner chosen because it looked so cool above the troops of a Khergit lord once upon a now erased game...) and didn't want to follow the same formula repeated so many times of contriving a backstory for her. This has actually served me rather well as it leaves some fluidity to her roots.
In all honesty, I don't really know what she is talking about in that "first legible entry." It just sort of spilled forth and so I went with it. I think it was a good start to her, showed a little madness early on... As for the picture, obviously it was added later. I saw her and just thought she looked so pleasant, cute even and that it would make a good visual introduction.
After having read some other AARs I decided that I didn't want to dilute mine with too many comments from me or too much off-topic discussion. I wanted just the story as much as possible so that readers catching up on chapters didn't really get to see just how fake everything is: A fictitious story based on a video game written by an amateur. To that end this OP originally just launched into the story, starting with "Chapter 1". Since then I have added to it extensively and wished that I had reserved another posting above "Chapter 1" for the mood-breaking instructions/details. Additionally, after taking a few days off of my extremely fast pace I started to get questions about whether the thread was dead or not so I felt like I needed to address all of the when's, how's, and where's that were coming up, sort of an FAQ because I still didn't (and don't) want to lay out all of the real world details like what mods I'm using and so forth - though that information might be useful to some.
"'A pretty girl' they say, 'a pretty girl' they have said too many times. I swear, if this ridiculous brother of the merchant has not been suitably humbled by his captivity and feels as though he has something besides thanks to say to me he may just feel my blade - as his captors will. First I just have to find the reticent bastards...
I wonder if the scum that attacked me in Praven's early morning streets fresh off the caravan had intentions to say something about this 'pretty girl?' We, sadly, will never know unless the pained 'hoomf!' from the first crossbow bolt in the chest and the sick 'crack!' of his head smashing back on the pavers of the alley from the second to his cheek were his way of expressing lasciviousness... Although terrified - that everything I was and hoped to be would end in the next seconds - and excited - at my first true combat with arms - I remember thinking that it was an amateurish and disrespectful to lower one's shield in preference to readying a killing blow whilst a dozen yards away - especially with a crossbow aimed directly at oneself. Crossbows are simple and dangerous in anyone's hands and as such I prefer them to bows. Scared, exhilarated, and noticing that my attacker displayed stupidity, arrogance, and a serious lack of discipline: that's apparently me under attack and I approve.
It really is too bad that merchant arrived to hustle me inside as I would have liked to search the cretin for anything of use. As it is, the merchant himself nearly received a third bolt but as I looked to raise the bow I realized I had not loaded it. Again, however, I approve of my instincts as I only noticed I had picked up the battlefield cleaver that had so recently been raised against me when the merchant firmly slipped it out of my hand to replace it with the body. Despite his conspiratorial tone I trusted him immediately though I am still unclear as to the cause for his caution.
On my way to a near village with the merchant's money - of which I am quite sure there is much more I can find as mine - I feel quite fast and free on a horse by myself but it is clear I will need companions and subordinates to rise to a place more suitable for my abilities. I saw the nervous body language of some travelers as I approached quickly and relished the fact that though I may not be a bandit as they had feared, there are few bandits who would bother to find a horse to chase me. Clearly I will have to choose my companions and troops carefully to maintain mobility; that which is slow is always vulnerable in some way to that which is fast. Do not flies eat away a horse's eyes in time without care? That is perhaps a poor example as I have no intention to be a mere fly.
I have heard that the Swadians enjoy terrific battlefield advantages on their heavily armored warhorses as they are heavily armored themselves as well. The ability to do damage simply on contact and to disrupt formations through a mass of horse flesh and steel are certainly welcome advantages. I will seek out, then, mounted troops to observe. Perhaps I can learn from my enemies as I go. As yet I have no enemies but in this land so torn by war and shifting loyalties I have no doubt such will not long remain the case.
When requesting information on and traveling to these little towns I see that it is clear the wars have sapped the population to nearly unsustainable lows. There is so much rich land and so many delicious animals! Calradia would be well-served by peace-time prosperity and her people would see a massive boom in population simply from a lack of people dying in war and then another boom from dispersed fear of untimely death for a child by a raid. Villages would suddenly become prosperous and the fertile and uninhabited lands in between would be settled. Resources would flow, craftsmen emerge, and Calradia would surge in strength. A wise ruler would put in place the frameworks of sustainable Calradic greatness on the way to the throne; and greatness this land could have! But I must concentrate simply on feeding myself first, outrunning those who would prey on a 'pretty girl,' and learning to kill those who my apparent charms disarm first."
Author's Notes:
I prefer crossbows to draw bows because they require fewer skill points and do so much more damage. The faster rate of fire might be nice but isn't enough and I NEVER use a bow on horseback if I can avoid it, again because of the number of skill points needed. I just tank usually...
You careful readers might notice the dead man in the picture has a mace but I say he pulled out a "battlefield cleaver." First, the cleaver is a real item in the Floris Mod Pack (version 1.0, no longer available as it has been updated to 2.3 and is continuing on...) I was using and Evangeline really did face one from that first bandit. However, I didn't take a screen shot of this pivotal first victory so to answer demand for more screenshots I had to recreate the event by starting several (6 or 7 I think) female characters (with the same initial decisions so that they would have the same gear) until I finally got a good screenie. You may also have noticed that according to the ammo count, no bolts were used... I killed that particular man with sword, switched weapons quickly and took the screenie. Evangeline really did, however, kill the first man with one shot to the head at point blank range. All the other doubles were deleted upon failing or completing their task.
When Evangeline is talking about feeling fast and free and the Swadian knights I am hinting at my preference for heavy cavalry.
The rant about future prosperity comes from noticing that there is often a lot of open space between villages on the map.
"Of my first real battle I can only say just now that my hands are still shaking! My heart thunders in my chest and I care little that I care even less about my man who died! 11 looters! 11! I killed them ALL! We were moving from a little village to the next attempting to gather a mere handful of willing men to take on the kidnappers of the merchant's brother when they burst out of the underbrush where they were hiding like little squirrels, no doubt! I couldn't imagine 11 men and TWO horses ever hiding in a space so small! Sophisticated looters, these! Two horses but raiders can they call themselves to be? I'm afraid not for I was the only one present with an idea of how to ride and fight, taught to me by my father and brothers...
The looters came on and at first I was nervous for my 3 mere peasants so ordered them to stay back. I shake my head at the stupidity of thinking I could protect them but then remember exultantly that though I protected them not, I rightfully have blood from head to toe, little of it mine and what IS mine I am unsure of the source yet. I rode hither and yon, thinking nothing of the numbers I faced except to avoid large clusters for though I know my faithful Winston is a tough young man of a horse, too many hits or one in just the right place and he'd have left me to my feet which I doubted would outrun theirs. My rusty old sword sang a horrid little song as new sounds of such a blade crashing into and tearing through flesh filled my ears and added to my horror at the dire situation I was in. Had Winston been struck a deadly blow?! Would they slice those large muscles he needs to move me to, through, and beyond them?!
But no. They all died one by one with my blade through their heads, shoulders, faces, necks, upraised arms, and even a couple of shields. Though I knew it not at the time, upon inspecting the wreckage I wrought I see I broke two shields with my attacks! To be fair, there WERE two survivors in the looters' party, one apparently knocked out by one of those broken shields as part of it was driven directly into his face. But truly! What am I to do with surviving looters? Set them free, keep them, or kill them? So, by the time my two men recovered their wits there were no survivors and more fresh blood mingling with the rust down my blade... I love to watch it run, even now, bumping along on the uneven surface...
I sit by our fire in the looters' hiding hovel, our only fare - smoked fish - untouched beside me, and ignore the two men who chose to follow me as they assist each other with their wounds. Any thoughts that they might receive their healing care from one such as me, the woman, were never uttered and likely banished as they woke to find me slashing and dancing in victory and practice alone, stilled stained with the blood of the brave or foolish. I replayed as much as I remembered through my arms and legs, imagining the battle on foot as Winston chewed grass by the stream were there was no blood or emptied bowels to color it... A brave and reckless moment that might have been wise and bold was riding directly at the looters' only archer - the last one alive due to the distance allowed by that bow and the mobility of his mule - and waiting for his inevitable arrow to hit my old round shield before swinging again on his companions below. I ran him out of arrows it seems... after the last looter on foot ran from me - unsuccessfully - with blood around his ears, I faced off against my final foe but mostly, his horse. I had no interest in an equal battle now that I had reduced the odds to 1 against 1. His horse took more slashes to its face than I expected but, of course, fell. Then the man was killed with my next blow as I rode by screaming my victory within, maintaining frenetic concentration without.
I must say, if I am to have mounted troops they will need to know of the tactic I improvised to win against that last foe. In words, one need only have a determined enemy who is a bit slow-witted, a combination I am sure will be found aplenty on battlefields to come. When riding away from said enemy, turn to one side for a few counts then turn back and ready a slash to that side. A simple enemy will have the head of his horse there waiting as you have just wasted your lead but presented your side and blade to his mount and... mount versus blade... too many times and the blade will win. To bring oneself around for another attack simply continue that second turn until heading back the way one came and repeat when the enemy is positioned to fall for the confusion swivel again.
It only occurs to me after the fact that the two horses I killed to better have their riders at my mercy could have very conveniently served to carry all of my remaining troops instead of riding along myself and getting to watch them hobble in the dirt and mud...
In the aftermath I took a green hood and old kite shield for my own, stored a few other hoods and weapons that seemed like they could be used in the future, and promptly realized that I would need a lot more space to store a lot of new and unexpected items. Also, in the aftermath I realized that that second horse was actually a donkey! I thought it looked a little funny when I cut its nose nearly off!"
With this detailed battle description, we first see the exuberant bloodlust the young woman named Evangeline would display through much of her early journal. It is clear from this entry that she is a capable cavalry woman even early on, a trait completely synonymous with her as we know her now. Never have I seen a representation of her without being mounted on a horse, a mighty blade and large shield in hand. It is refreshing to hear of her describing her early equipment as rusty and old: Evangeline too, was once a mere girl on a (likely) stolen horse.
Author's Notes:
I started Evangeline once I thought I had a pretty good grasp of the game mechanics and how those early decisions affect everything thereafter but while I was still relatively new to the game so taking on 11 looters and killing them all was a HUGE event for me, personally. My hands literally were shaking afterward and I was extremely happy/energetic. As for the mention of horses, they were actually mules, another thing added with the mod pack along with bows for the looters too. They have since been returned to their feet and rocks...
"rusty sword" and "new sounds" are both hints: the first to some creation decision or another and the second to the new sounds in the mod pack that really did startle me and caused the thoughts you see above.
The talk of two survivors exists because two were knocked unconscious but I couldn't take prisoners yet.
The "confusion swivel" served me well for a long time but was replaced by its big brother, the "slash n weave." Instead of all that set up for a single blow - though the swivel works great to lose a tailing enemy - I turn to one side more than 90 degrees and slash a horse-face then turn back about 200 degrees to do it again. You'll be riding slowly enough that a pursuer can't effectively use a lance (too close too) and too far for him to use his sword as you are trying to hit the nose of his mount with the tip of your blade. After some carefully executed slash n weave you can reduce a half dozen enemy to walking on their own feet pretty easily.
As for the picture... It too is a reproduction from one of Evangeline's doubles. In the real battle there were 11 bodies and two mules laying pretty much in a line through some trees and both Evangeline and Winston were nearly dead. In this reproduction she fought only 4 looters but I was pretty far off my game at the time so she kinda took a beating... The end result is pretty similar though: blood and arrows everywhere, bodies in the field... Also I seem to remember the real Winston being grey...
The following is my AAR, inspired by Floris' own. As such, this AAR was started in the Warlord's Den section of the Warband forum and the first 37 chapters take place in Calradia
Well, I have 37 chapters to port over in the next month or so, so I figured I'd do 2-3 chapters at a time when they are relatively little and then only 1 at a time when they are freaking huge. I'm talking 3500 words or more.
Edit: posted 4200 words up there, just to give you a reference regarding my larger chpaters... Though, I guess if you count all 4 parts of Chapter 27 together then that one is... 10,665 words.
btw, Ogrecorps, maybe after a week or so I will do an AAR (depending on Calradia, PoP) if i feel like it. I am inspired by yours .Mine will probably about Nords if Calradia or Fierdsvain if PoP as i love Huscarls
btw, Ogrecorps, maybe after a week or so I will do an AAR (depending on Calradia, PoP) if i feel like it. I am inspired by yours .Mine will probably about Nords if Calradia or Fierdsvain if PoP as i love Huscarls
My advice would be to take a quick look at the other AARs in the Warlord'd Den here first; there have been many Nord footmen, almost all of which have been abandoned for hatred of horses. Fierdsvain though, I don't know. Before I ever started moving Evangeline into Pendor I checked and there have been several PoP AARs but none are anywhere near the front page anymore. So do a good job.
Thanks for reminding me SS and DD: Succession games!
Here's the concept: someone starts a character, plays it a bit, uploads the save, and someone else continues it from there! If you want to say a few things about what you did then you do but otherwise it's just a bunch of people taking the same character through his/her life one at a time - pretty simple.
When I get home I'm not only going to revive my old succession game but start a new one too. We'll see how it works since you PoPers seem pretty active and interesting!
It seems that Evangeline quickly developed a love for battle as she is disappointed that she "only split one skull" in her second battle but felt great pride at the eagerness her new recruits showed in "bludgeoning and blading" the other 3 looters. The entry that describe this is, unfortunately, almost impossible to read else I would gladly include it here. She seems to express frustration that the invasion of the aforementioned kidnappers' hideout was delayed a full 2 days by the injuries sustained by one of her recruits in the previous battle. Though giddy and eager from her previous victories, she was not about to risk all and lose a vital battle for want of one peasant with a club. The attack was successful though apparently not the dead-of-night surprise she had hoped for. There are indications she had archers to contend with but no loyal Winston with whom to ride them down. Instead she commanded her men to stay close and moved methodically through the little camp. Seeming suitably pleased by the rescued man's thanks, there appeared no need to run him through as she mentioned that she might have done.
At this point it also seems that she had become embroiled in a plot against the captain of the watch in Praven with the same merchant that had already employed her for the above rescue. What precisely her role was no one knows as both the merchant and captain disappeared shortly after her involvement. Speculation abounds and ranges from Evangeline killing both to take their possessions and positions to her being employed as the merchant's spy to gather information. Her journal is mum on this point but my assessment of her personality concludes that her holding a blade to the throat of the captain or even ambushing him with a rock to stave his head in is entirely within reason. I dismiss out of hand any talk that she betrayed the merchant to the captain or the king as none of her actions thereafter indicate a penchant for such treachery. Well, except for her treatment of the little-known wanderer Marnid who she apparently accepted into her company then stripped of possessions and ran off in preference to two warrior companions instead. His trade skills were eventually replaced by a woman, Ymira - though I am getting ahead of myself.
Traveling amongst the villages and cities first in Swadia then through all the lands of Calradia, Evangeline seemed surprised to find that nearly everywhere she went there were those willing to join someone, anyone and fight somewhere for something. This lack of direction appears to have annoyed her and tongue lashings were common when new recruits displayed unconcern toward their ordered actions. It seems as though she demanded obedience on the battlefield but encouraged independent thought off it. Alas, even in the end she remained despairing at the lack of individualism and purpose in her subjects but still forwarded her gift to us despite little hope that it would succeed. Also during her travels she seems to have met a man calling himself Nizar. He is mentioned only briefly at first and said to be "a complete ass, untrustworthy and excessively self-satisfied." Though undoubtedly a superior warrior to herself she felt strongly that she could make do without him, his "ridiculous self-aggrandizement, and his inevitable betrayal."
Funds running low, it seems Evangeline began hunting looters around the city of Uxkhal for a bounty offered by the local guild master. Accumulating throughout her encounters with them she expressed frustration at their foolish tactics: sending their mounted troops first to get overwhelmed then the infantry streaming in, entirely uncoordinated. Having no way to track the looters, Evangeline found the inability to get any information from other travelers to be an annoyance. After sending "a new companion skilled and equipped with a bow, Baheshtur, out to forage for some fresh meat and having him come back less all of his arrows on a previously-just-stubborn-but-now-also-limping donkey" she gave up on foraging altogether.
During a few battles she fondly harkened back to that first glorious slaughter as she rode about "staving-in faces and whatnot," untouched by the enemy. At one point she describes a battle with a mounted looter: "I was sure he meant to run - which I certainly will not abide when I'm being paid for heads; wait, am I? I'm not sure he actually mentioned bringing back any trophies... Hmm. I will need to lose some baggage then. Anyway, I thought he meant to flee so I attempted to cripple his mount but he turned to look at me just then and took the hit in his arm. Strangely enough, this caused him to rein the donkey in and give me time to swing again - a blow that nearly missed altogether thanks to my being slow to slow down. That blow convinced the donkey it did not want to continue and the next convinced him that slumping out of the saddle was preferred to continued resistance. I agree that it was." She also makes mention that that very battle was the first in which her company received no serious injuries, though Baheshtur was still out of combat from "riding directly at a tree and wondering about the weapons that sprouted up around him while stopped" during a previous battle.
She had some words of praise for her "fast-learning and increasingly reliable troops" though she also stated that "the newly-instated Evangeline Protocol consists of one simple directive: If I'm coming to kill it, MOVE. This stems from an awkward moment when I crashed Winston into the spear freshly thrust by one of my men into the last looter whilst my saber - thanks Baheshtur! - descended on that looter's skull. Unfortunately Winston was only going fast enough to flip me out of the saddle instead of breaking the spear or knocking them both down.
I rolled with grace that surprised even myself, throwing my shield and saber to each side as I came out of it. Turning, I spied the militiaman at fault inspecting the looter's corpse to see if he had earned my fast-becoming-traditional reward for making the last kill - which he had not - and stormed towards him. A comrade alerted him to my approach and his eyes widened. I remembered this man from that very first battle so he was wise to fear me - and wise to instinctively drop his weapon though he kept the shield. I ripped the club from a soldier's hand and continued my approach, unsure of what I intended to do but thinking it had something to do with making him hurt... I raised the club and warned him with 'shield up!' then took a running step and kicked him square in the abdomen as he blocked his head. Though a grown man and wearing significant armor, he had the good sense to fall over and gasp for breath. I shouted some things I don't rightly remember at him then turned to find I had my first suck-up: a new recruit with my saber and shield in hand while he struggled with Winston's reins. It was adorable and he wasn't wearing a helmet so I might have broken a knuckle punching his lights out."
Sometime soon after the Evangeline Protocol was instated she made a near-fatal misstep, eagerly mistaking a group of 18 mountain bandits for mere looters. She and her 18 soldiers were alerted to this distinction by the war darts and military scythes they suffered through. Unfortunately, Evangeline was possibly the most surprised when, after ending two lives, she took the butt of a dart straight to the chest, knocking her from her Winston and taking a blow to the head from the next passing bandit. Luckily, her troops fought on and won despite grievous loses: 7 killed including her first hobilar, 8 wounded. The loot was apparently good though... At this point the someday-to-be-queen had had enough of hunting looters and enough money to move on in search of others to join her group but believed in following the contract through - despite the numerous Rhodok armies in the area that were undoubtedly scattering her prey to the winds.
Continuing to scour the area for what could only be 1 or 2 more bands of brigands the company came into battle with a group of forest bandits, quite skilled with their bows. Unfortunately for them, Evangeline held her line just below the crest of a hill. Fortunately for Evangeline they were not smart enough to sense the trap until too late. "Cantering Winston forward from sheer impatience to spring my ambush I found myself over the top of the hill facing a dozen bandits drawing their bows and looking down their arrows directly at me, some even smirking at the pin cushion they would make of me, I think. I kicked poor Winston hard in the sides and ducked behind my shield as we took off, screaming 'get 'em!' or something to that effect. I heard a flight of arrows pass through the air behind me and peeked my head out turning Winston to circle them so as not to provide a steady target growing smaller as I fled but instead continue testing their aim as a laterally moving target. My men swarmed over the hill and plunged blades into the idiotically turned backs of my most recent band of enemies. This is a tactic I must use again and really could have helped with those deliciously well-armed but tough mountain bandits..."
The final band of 3 looters became Evangeline's test to herself to see if she still had what it took. She ordered her men to stay put and rode out herself to fight them. Again, a man on a donkey with a bow was the last one of them standing and standing he was until her "saber caused him to slump across his similarly dead former mount." She expressed relief that the 3 arrows in her shield were not any higher else she'd have "eaten" them instead. It also appears that the lady's investment of time and effort to teach the less experienced of her group paid off as after that battle one young man managed to pass his trial for militiaman.
Author's Notes:
In choosing the narrative style of my AAR I looked around at others and found 3 different approaches: 1st person (the character writing the story), 2nd person (someone writing about the character from their perspective), and 3rd person (a non-entity with no fixed perspective telling the story). I have never been fond of doing the same thing as everyone else so all three of those options by themselves were out. So I combined the first two. Additionally, sometimes I slip into the third as well. Chapter 27 is a good example of that and I knew I couldn't write it any other way so I had to figure out a way to explain how someone, the Historian in this case, would know what Evangeline thought and felt in the dungeons of Dhirim. That explanation is that he extrapolated all of that from the facts and accounts he had on hand. As to the exact time period the Historian lives in, I have left that as nebulous as Evangeline's past because it has not yet had to be addressed.
As for the usefulness of this mixed story-telling method, sometimes I need to brush lightly over large swathes of gameplay and Evangeline's journal being unreadable helps greatly because then I can use the Historian to paraphrase. He also allows me to change the meaning of in-game events like the simple little merchant quest above.
In choosing my companions I first looked at what party skills I needed: Looting, Engineering, tracking, spotting, pathfinding, first aid, wound treatment, surgery, trade, and tactics. Then I looked up who already had them. Jeremus was a shoe-in as the doctor, Borcha to take on the 3 scouting skills, Ymira for her trading and Artimenner as the engineer. I ignored tactics for a while because I didn't understand it but later assigned it to Baheshtur since he was by then a very smart fella. I don't remember how everything sorted itself out but the first 4 listed above got priority and everyone else got sorted out around their likes and dislikes so that my final list included them, Firentis, Rolf, Lezalit (he also got special consideration for being a trainer but that was undue) and Alayan. I didn't pick the rest because of personality conflicts but couldn't write them all off as that so had to come up with some other reasons throughout the story, some better than others. Nizar, for example, could not be included which was fine with me because I never liked him and before I fully understood how companions work I really DID think all the things Evangeline voices above including that he might betray me somehow. Once again, this was when I FIRST met him, before I started Evangeline.
The bit about Basher being sent to the woods to forage was my way of saying I wanted a foraging skill - WHICH I HAVE! Thanks to Floris' Mod pack.
