The War for the Rose: Book One Complete

[Cadorean]

The only consensus I think we've agreed on is to put the Sages to Burying the prison and aiding the Granites. If we need a city patrol, I think they'd be good for that, too.

We can put Spire to the Waterfront, but I'm thinking that'll be an easy enough capture that keeping our second best fleet only doing that isn't a good idea. Motion for a three stage assault on the barracks- stage one: using the cover of night, drop corpses and rubble and waste onto the barracks. Stage two: following night, drop firepots and simple flak grenades into the barraks, and if there are tunnels below, destroy the tunnels. Stage three: following night, launch a ground-based assault on the barracks, using their anticipation of another aerial assault to your advantage. We'll call it Operation Shitstorm.

[OnBackorder]

@Cadorean, The tunnels are a twisty twining confusatorium. It would take a thousand men searching aimlessly to even find the right path underground. That said, I remember Granite has a map of those tunnels so maybe only twenty people. Are we talking a massive man-made quake to bring down the walls, or going in with silent walkers because I'm fine with either one. Note, due to all the fighting and general disuse, the tunnel system may be totally FUBAR. This can be Plan A because it's nice and clean - especially the slitting throats version.
I'm assuming Operation Shitstorm is Plan B, or possibly D. It's counter productive to destroy the tunnels needed for the sneaky plan to work, but everything else if perfectly fine. We can just scoop corpses from the waterfront and drop them on in, much more shock and vomit if it's men in your uniform being flung in right?

@Koffie In Blik, That sounds rather doable. Rose and Sage have plenty of troops for a Blitzkreig or similar destructive assault. As long as the Spire fleet is covering suppression it won't be spread that thin, but there will be no ships to spare assuming part of the fleet rests while the other fights. Spires protecting the Prison surface is simple enough, as is aiding Granite keep, and with most of the attention focused on the waterfront we'll have a secure landing zone by sunset. As for information gathering, how about sending a handful of tens to each location for recon or maybe a twenty dropping troops to gather information from anyone still alive down there.

-
Who thinks Mud is enough of a man to show up for negotiations before battle? How about day two? I'm a fan of day two, when swaths of his men are dead and he has very little sway in the negotiation. If he's dumb enough we can convince him of some free territory elsewhere in Whitesky that just lost its lord. He will be so thrilled about the prospect of bloodless ascension that he will jump at the chance, and that is when he will die. No, but seriously I've got nothing. Most of my plans right now are how to get bombs into places they don't belong. On an unrelated note, are there any operational whorehouses left in the city and what is their proximity to the Barracks.

[Cadorean]

A team of twenty or so silent walkers doing a night of mass assassination should definitely be plan A. Let's have Koffie in Blik's plan be Plan B, and save Operation Shitstorm for plan C. If all those fail, kill Obsidian and flee the city silently in the night try diplomacy, because by then we'd have killed a majority of the Mudmen..

[alexthewhite]

ONBACKORDER'S PLAN, SIMPLIFIED: Team up the Northerners to hit the barracks or prison with a big rush of men. The priority is neutralizing the cannons at the barracks.

KOFFIE IN BLIK'S PLAN, SIMPLIFIED: Send Spiremen to take the waterfront while the Sages trap the Mudmen in the prison.

CADOREAN'S PLAN, SIMPLIFIED: Send silent walker assassins into the barracks, and failing that, hammer them with corpses and waste, then an air assault, then a ground assault.

You take some time to compose your thoughts, then decide to list some things that you feel like are pretty good ideas.

• Bring a convoy onto the roof of Granite Keep to feed the starving people trapped inside.
• Have a fleet, probably the Sages, bomb the prison so thoroughly that the entrance is destroyed and the legions of men inside are trapped.
• Send a team of silent walkers under the barracks to assassinate the cannon teams, then begin a three-day campaign to demoralize and destroy the Mudmen.
• Bring as many Spire ships as necessary against the waterfront gate and capture it, while the rest of the Spire fleet gathers information about the status of the city.

These are all good ideas, you think, and Setting Sun agrees with you. If there's anything you want to add, remove, or modify, now would be the time to do it; you can then send your priests off to deliver the message.

[Koffie In Blik]

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Hm. I posted something earlier but it seems the forums ate it or something.

>Have the message call for a meeting between the commanders. Nobody'll like it if we just barge in and start spouting orders, and the others probably have plans of their own that we'll need to hear.

[Cadorean]

I hear you Koffie in Blik, but at the same time a solid chan of command is one of the things OnBackorder has been fighting for. To submit to battle plans forged by others is destroying any hpoes had for a strong leader. The meeting is a good idea, I don't deny that, but we need to be firmer in our upholding of the chain of command. Take a page out of Machiavelli's Prince, and say a weak tyrant will spark more action than a strong diplomat. We need to collectively grow at least six more balls, and go in there and fuck shit up and prove our value to everyone else.

Also I think we forgot something in our discussions: the Knives and Malamarans. I say we send Hiding to get in contact with Ten Knives, and try to convince her to focus her forces on the Malamaran problem. Forging wartime treaties can be difficult, but we can cross that bridge once we get to it.

Anxiously waiting to hear what you have to say on the matter, OnBackorder.

[Koffie In Blik]

To clarify, the meeting wouldn't be taking place to facilitate our bowing down to Granite's wishes. I'd have Laughing Spire defend our plans of attack and win over Parsley and Granite. A clear demonstration of our leadership skills would go a long way to proving our value. This involves mounting support for our cause. We furthermore have to keep in mind that this remains a joint operation. It might not be optimal for combat performance, but it is how it is. We'll simply have to make do. As such, call for meeting, discuss plans of attack, show some backbone.

[Cadorean]

What discussion? This guy thinks so little of Southerners that if we so much acknowledge that he has battle ideas, he'll take it as a demonstration of subordination to him. To gain support for the plan, I suggest we use a Genghis method: state the plan, let generals argue why we shouldn't, then calmly punish insubordination with replacement. Fear for your voice being heard is a strong driving force to humans. If we make a demonstration out of one, the others will quickly fall in line with your views. If not fully, than at least enough to follow a plan.

Don't argue military strategy with me, I'm from Georgia.

[alexthewhite]

>Have the message call for a meeting between the commanders. Nobody'll like it if we just barge in and start spouting orders, and the others probably have plans of their own that we'll need to hear.

SETTING SUN: This isn't just to show how much better you are than Leaping Granite, is it?

LAUGHING SPIRE: No, no, of course not! It's also to show how much better than I am than Commander Parsley.

SETTING SUN: Right, well, let's go sell our own lords on the plan first. I hope you're ready to navigate the tangled web of ambitions and motivations that is the war council.

LAUGHING SPIRE: When aren't I?

You are now Hiding Spire.

One day later.

Southflight is finally back in view, and...wow.

Several ships, most notably a couple fifty ships, are lying devastated and abandoned in the sand. One, a shade of (what else) hot pink, looks utterly out of place half-buried in the white sands.

Those huge, thick walls that once stood with a sort of pride are now a smoldering mess that has collapsed in several sections. Over the gate hangs a gigantic banner bearing the stylized flower that is the sigil of House Rose. Hundred ships hover above the city, and you could name all seven from here: The Crimson Thorn, as well as the Smell of Death, Blooming Ambition, Palegarden's Pride, and The Overgrowth make up the Rose's five, with the Sage's Spade of War and Strangling Slumber rounding the ships out.

The walls also bear numerous multi-colored ships and what looks to be patrolling groups of guards. The walls of Southflight seem to be firmly controlled.

If the city isn't under Northerner control, it sure looks like it.

You hear footsteps behind you and turn to look. It's Whispering Dune and his father.

FLYING DUNE: And remember, head low. Archers love to pick off boys in their first battle, because you always assume your biggest concern is the giant with a sword as thick as your leg, not the sharpshooter two hundred yards away.

WHISPERING DUNE: Aye.

FLYING DUNE: I know it looks like the helmet will protect you, and it will stop an arrow most of the time, but that thing is so hot and uncomfortable I know lots of men who go into battle without it. Archers aim for the chest anyways, it's a much bigger target. Your chainmail won't stop an arrow. If you get hit, you find someplace to hide and, whatever you do, don't pull the arrow out.

WHISPERING DUNE: Aye...father, I think Setting Sun was looking for you.

FLYING DUNE: Was he? I'll go find him, then.

Dune walks up to you and leans on the railing of the Spire's Revenge. He pushes his thick light hair out of his eyes (he needs a haircut, you note.)

WHISPERING DUNE: ...Bigger than I thought it'd be.

HIDING SPIRE: Southflight? Ah, yeah, it's rather huge. I should know, I was lost in it for about three days. Oh, and I was with Setting Sun an hour ago. He wasn't looking for your father.

WHISPERING DUNE: I know. I just said that to get rid of him.

Dune gives you a small smirk, then keeps looking out at the city.

Airwalker alive, is it hot up here. You didn't even notice until just a second ago.

[Cadorean]

YOU KISS THAT BOY THIS INSTANT

[Jonaristotle]

THIS IS IT RUNT
HERES YER CHANCE
KISS HIM
KISS THAT BOY YOU WIMP

[mellifluousMastermind]

DAMMIT
IF YOU DON'T KISS THAT BOY
ALL US DISEMBODIED VOICES ARE GONNA BE SO MAD
DON'T MAKE US MAD WIMP
DO IT
KISS 'IM
KISS THAT BOY

[Cadorean]

DAMMIT GIRL I SEE NO SNOGGING
YOU KISS THAT BOY NOW DAMMIT

[OnBackorder]

Just apologize and make small talk.

[Koffie In Blik]

^Apologise, smalltalk, and then ask him what he did mean.

[alexthewhite]

YOU KISS THAT BOY THIS INSTANT

That would be very forward of you! You're a good Southern girl, you know when to keep your lips to yourself. Besides, you're not even sure if you like Dune like that or not!

THIS IS IT RUNT
HERES YER CHANCE
KISS HIM
KISS THAT BOY YOU WIMP

But-

DAMMIT
IF YOU DON'T KISS THAT BOY
ALL US DISEMBODIED VOICES ARE GONNA BE SO MAD
DON'T MAKE US MAD WIMP
DO IT
KISS 'IM
KISS THAT BOY

That's...you aren't-

DAMMIT GIRL I SEE NO SNOGGING
YOU KISS THAT BOY NOW DAMMIT

...

You cannot do it. You cannot kiss the boy.

Just apologize and make small talk.

This sounds much better than...whatever that loud ringing noise was.

HIDING SPIRE: Look, Dune, I think I owe you an apology.

WHISPERING DUNE: Mmm.

HIDING SPIRE: I was, uh, a little freaked out and confused. I don't really know what to do when people touch me.

WHISPERING DUNE: You gave your brother a hug. And Shrinking Spire.

HIDING SPIRE: That was a little different. They're family. Also, it was me doing the touching.

WHISPERING DUNE: ...I see. So you thought I was going to try and hurt you.

HIDING SPIRE: No, no! I just...I didn't think about what I was doing. I'm sorry. Am I forgiven?

WHISPERING DUNE: Yeah. Yeah, I guess you are.

Dune sighs and flexes his fingers.

WHISPERING DUNE: My father wants to go back to Goldplateau. Says Lord Dune wants his entire family close while war brews.

HIDING SPIRE: Your father is...

WHISPERING DUNE: Sixth son of my grandfather. He's a knight, and his older brother, the Dunelord, is a war mate of your father. I think Lord Spire sent somebody up...Sir Tower, I think.

HIDING SPIRE: So you're going back north after this?

WHISPERING DUNE: I might. I don't want to, though. I want to stay here.

HIDING SPIRE: Why's that?

WHISPERING DUNE: I hated Goldenplateau. Smells like copper there, and the Etonsian merchants practically control the city. I was always much happier in Tritower, even if nobody tried to break my nose up north.

HIDING SPIRE: Heheh. I dunno, Dune. You do whatever you think is right.

WHISPERING DUNE: Think I shall. You do the same.

The two of you stare at the approaching city. In the distance, there is a loud series of sharp cracks.

One of the fifty ships hovering over the city explodes and falls to pieces.

WHISPERING DUNE: ...And that must be the cannons at the barracks.

HIDING SPIRE: Airwalker alive...hey, what's that?

A pair of ten ships float upwards and begin to approach your fleet. One is a bright red Rose ship, the other a green-and-blue Sage ship. Those must be the emissaries for the conference Laughing Spire suggested.

WHISPERING DUNE: Your brother amazes me.

HIDING SPIRE: I know. Sneaking a whore onto the Spire's Revenge...

WHISPERING DUNE: Not that. Okay, partially that. But he's just a year older than me, and he's been commanding this entire fleet. A thousand lives in his hands, and he doesn't even seem to notice.

HIDING SPIRE: I guess he's just great.

WHISPERING DUNE: Your entire family, Hiding Spire. Falling Spire is brilliant, Shrinking Spire knows everything, and you're...you.

HIDING SPIRE: Don't forget my sister, either. She's got an entire Northern city eating out of the palm of her hand.

WHISPERING DUNE: And what do I do? I, uh, hit stuff pretty hard. Not fair. Not fair at all.

[OnBackorder]

I see this going a few ways, Hiding could:
1. Give him the compliments he is fishing for. Say he very good at giving complements, and easy to talk to. I kinda suck at this, so you do better.
2. Blame it on his father for treating him like a child. If he was given greater freedom he could be great too.
3. Tell him that fairness is subjective; people fear Hiding for being herself. There is a trade off and he should be glad to be normal.
4. Say, "Courage, prove yourself here. If hitting hard has any value it's on a battlefield."

[mellifluousMastermind]

>"We've still got a lot of growing up to do, and in time people will see our merits just as much."

[alexthewhite]

1. Give him the compliments he is fishing for. Say he very good at giving complements, and easy to talk to. I kinda suck at this, so you do better.

WHISPERING DUNE: Thanks, I guess, but being easy to talk to isn't a good quality for a soldier. Which is...basically my future, unless I die in the near future.

HIDING SPIRE: Stop saying you're going to die.

WHISPERING DUNE: I'm not saying I'm going to die, just that I might. Why, aren't you afraid of death?

HIDING SPIRE: Sure, but...I don't think I'll die. Somebody loves me, I guess.

WHISPERING DUNE: Must be nice.

2. Blame it on his father for treating him like a child. If he was given greater freedom he could be great too.

WHISPERING DUNE: Yeah, I...don't much care for him. My father's a fair, honest man, but we have nothing in common.

HIDING SPIRE: You're speaking my language right now.

WHISPERING DUNE: You and your father are really alike, Hiding Spire.

HIDING SPIRE: How so?

WHISPERING DUNE: Terrifying.

3. Tell him that fairness is subjective; people fear Hiding for being herself. There is a trade off and he should be glad to be normal.

WHISPERING DUNE: I guess. It's just kind of embarrassing. How I could lift two of you without very much of a problem, but I still live in constant fear of you.

HIDING SPIRE: Constant fear? That's an exaggeration.

WHISPERING DUNE: I woke up screaming several nights when you were away because the wind touched my neck and I thought it was your knife.

HIDING SPIRE: ...Really?

WHISPERING DUNE: No.

4. Say, "Courage, prove yourself here. If hitting hard has any value it's on a battlefield."

Whispering Dune nods and cracks his knuckles some.

WHISPERING DUNE: I think you're right. Bravery is all I've got...let's hope I've got enough of it.

>"We've still got a lot of growing up to do, and in time people will see our merits just as much."

WHISPERING DUNE: I guess we'll see.

HIDING SPIRE: I guess we will. Come on, let's get to the lower decks, I want to see Laughing Spire and Leaping Granite butt heads.

You are now Laughing Spire.

You are about to butt heads with Leaping Granite.

He and Commander Parsley, the leader of the Sage forces, have both entered the Spire's Revenge and have met you and Setting Sun in the war room. To make them feel less persecuted, Setting Sun suggested it only be the two of you and the two of them.

Granite immediately sits opposite you, and Parsley takes a seat halfway between yourself and Granite. That's good, you guess; you were afraid they would bunch together.

LEAPING GRANITE: So let me guess this straight...you want my men to throw ourselves at the most heavily fortified spot on the map while yours do some cleaning up at a waterfront that is four fifths destroyed.

LAUGHING SPIRE: You have the largest, best fleet of the three of us. And it's a series of strikes to weaken and-

LEAPING GRANITE: These are mercenaries and commoners. The former is perennially in piss-stained clothes, and the latter is used to living among shit and death. What are the corpses going to do? Make them sick? They're already wasting away. Upset them? These men either watched their fathers die or they killed him themselves. We annihilate them fast, before they can respond. Hit them with so much force that there won't be a barracks left when we're done.

LAUGHING SPIRE: That'd take all three fleets at once.

LEAPING GRANITE: Very astute observation, boy. Why, what's wrong with actually using the forces we came here with?

((Please use Laughing Spire's exact words for the response.))

[alexthewhite]

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Or, y'know, I can just update without suggestions. That's good too.

LAUGHING SPIRE: Don't be an ass, Granite. We focus all our troops in one spot, that means all the other spots go to our enemy. Besides, the barracks aren't big enough to attack with that many ships at once. We'd end up hitting one another just by accident.

LEAPING GRANITE: Maybe your men would, but mine are good enough shots to avoid hitting anything they didn't want to hit. We hit the barracks with everything we've got, overwhelm the cannons, then pick our shots and wipe out the Mudmen.

LAUGHING SPIRE: Oh, and I assume you've got some way to make it so the cannons won't take out a dozen of our ships?

LEAPING GRANITE: Yeah, actually. There's a whole army of Granitemen just waiting in that Keep. We bring them out, they rush the cannons simultaneously with our ships. Cannons can focus on one, but not both. My guess is they'll go for the horde and not the ship flying over their heads.

LAUGHING SPIRE: And what about the Granitemen that get massacred?

LEAPING GRANITE: They're soldiers. They can deal with it. Why do you care? They're my people, I can do what I like with them.

[Cadorean]

The entire reason we're fighting in the first place is because the last Granite lord didn't do a good job managing troops. What do you think would happen if one of the men you sentence to die fails at their job and lives through the battle? What stories would they tell to everyone who had the stomach to listen? If you disregard the human life you are in charge of, the only thing you should expect is yet another rebellion. Besides, how useful would those troops really be, given that many of them have starved to death and the rest are well on their way? Those men need lots of food and rest before they go into battle for the purpose of winning.

[OnBackorder]

Sorry, I don't want the guy leading suicide troops anywhere near my soldiers.

[alexthewhite]

The entire reason we're fighting in the first place is because the last Granite lord didn't do a good job managing troops. What do you think would happen if one of the men you sentence to die fails at their job and lives through the battle? What stories would they tell to everyone who had the stomach to listen? If you disregard the human life you are in charge of, the only thing you should expect is yet another rebellion. Besides, how useful would those troops really be, given that many of them have starved to death and the rest are well on their way? Those men need lots of food and rest before they go into battle for the purpose of winning.

LEAPING GRANITE: ...You've got no idea how these people think, do you?

LAUGHING SPIRE: Pardon?

LEAPING GRANITE: Biting Mud rebelled on Blocking Granite because the old man gave him the power and money to do so. I am going to crush the Mudmen so brutally that no guardsman will ever entertain the notion of rebelling ever again. The guard isn't a dog that can bite you back; it's a sword. It only hurts you if you're stupid and handle it improperly.

LAUGHING SPIRE: And the fact that these men haven't eaten in a week or more?

LEAPING GRANITE: You go to war with the army you have. They're my soldiers, they'll do what I say. If they don't, I'd be just fine with hanging them for treason. I don't expect them to be an effective killing machine; I expect them to be a big, loud distraction. That's what they'll be.

[Cadorean]

...If you're dead set on using the Granite soldiers you needlessly inherited, there is a place where they will be useful. Sabotage of Mudmen supplies. Have some of the physically weaker ones surrender themselves or "join" Biting Mud's ranks, and have them poison water and food and dull blades. They aren't going to be a fighting force; that's rediculous. But you could use them to give everyone else a better chance.

[OnBackorder]

So you plan to wipe out the guard, and the soldiers of Southflight. Start from square one and rebuild the city from ruin, because Airwalker knows the people are dead. Yes, I quite like this. Better still, lets build a ruin and forget the rebuilding part, that way you'll be back to fighting Honit sooner. No guard will dare cross a Whitesky lord again, and no militia will ever fail it's city under penalty of death.

They're your men and I won't argue that, but don't assume starvation gives men the will to walk to their graves. Has anyone seen the state of the keep? Are there even enough men alive to be noticed on the battlefield? It may take a week before they'll be able to walk if they still breath. In the meantime, lets try sabotage using the tunnels under the city.