Vampire civ quest #2

>>1599016

old thread
>>1579840

>>1599016
Stats
Heroes
Sigmund- Turned Knight
Gellen- Your loyal right hand man, currently unskilled can be trained in a number of areas
Crall- Turned Orc raider

Population
50 Vampires(Human)
153 Human thralls
3 Orc Thralls

Military assets
5 Mounted Warriors- Equipped with studded metal and light mail armor as well as a sturdy wooden roundshields, armed with swords, axes and bows

Other
50 Horses

We recently looted enough weapons to equip 5 more warriors and enough food to last through the winter until the next planting season

>>1599032
Also here is some information about the world

Other Known Factions
The Gnomish City-States-Wealthy, multicultural and technologically advanced, dominating seaboard trade with their massive navy and merchant fleet.The City-States were once an autonomnous region within the Dwarven Empire at the Zenith of its power 3 centuries ago. They suffered badly from the great plague, but have covered their losses with an influx of immigrants from all over the continent, including humans, elves and even the occasional civilized orc. Tend to squabble amongst themselves a great deal, heavily reliant on mercenary forces for their armies, they are not to be messed with.

Palma- Known for their explorers and worldwide holdings, the Palmese are the best seamen in the world, their galleys and merchantships traveling the known world and beyond with impunity

Roya- Famous for the final silks sold from the city, as well as their cloth and weaving industries, nobility from the known world come here to purchase the greatest in fashion and luxury goods. They lead the world in manufactories and have a strong, professional and innovative army.

Middras- The most multicultural of the City-States, one could argue that they are no longer a true City-State as they have significantly expanded their borders on the continent itself, drawing ire from the Dwarven Empire, who frown upon expansioninist nations and are concerned by the growing boldness and power of the City-States

The Dwarven Empire- Opulent, Stagnating, and still very powerful, the Dwarven Empire still dominates much of the politics of the northeast of the continent. Wealthy from plentiful gold and gem mines, they overcome their lack of mages, by recruiting outside mages to work for the Empire and equip large numbers of their troops with nullsteel. The Dwarven Empire suffered extensively in the great plague, losing almost a third of their population. Even today whole wings of mountainholds lay empty.
Further they are plagued in the present by internal struggles that threaten to split the Empire in civil war, weakening it and making it ripe for invasion by an ambitious rising power....

>>1599044
The Human lands- Split by geography, cultural and religious differences, the Serathi and Karelians are bitter rivals, always at odds with another over ancient claims to each others thrones. They survived the great plague relatively intact, due to geographical isolation and sealing their gates to outsiders for the 4 years the plague reigned terror. If they could ever come together, man would be a formidable enemy indeed....

The Westerlands- Covered in low hills and the occasional copse of trees, the Westerlands are populated by primitive savage human clans, slaying each other over ancient feuds and small scraps of land and resources, they are often raided for slaves by the Dwarves, City-States and the Northern human kingdoms

The Kingdom of Serathas- Known for their strict hierarchy and extremely entrenched and powerful nobility, the Serathi keep the majority of their population under brutal serfdom, serfs born into a life little better than slavery... Their noble class also make up a deadly force of hussars, heavily armored lancers, accompanied by lighter equipped retainer cavalry, armed with bow and blade, drawn from the lesser nobility. The serfs are levied and used as cannonfodder, given little to no training and poor quality equipment to distract and hold enemy troops in place for a devastating cavalry charge on the enemy flank or rear. The king is elected by the Nobility in a great meeting known as the Sbor, they are often little more than a puppet, under the influence of one or more of the major noble houses. The land is known for its wide open fields, filled with the golden colored wheat as far as the eyes can see...

The Grandy Duchy of Karelia- Famous for its arcane college and interest in the arcane, arts and sciences. Without access to the sea or much in the way of natural resources and food, Karelia has made a new industry of selling the magical arts out to the highest bidder. Home to the greatest mages around the world, they specialize in the creation of potions and enchanted items. They are more egalitarian than other nations, with the average citizen having some limited rights and say in local politics as mayors and some high ranking positions are elected by the people. Their army demonstrates this by being made up of diciplined heavy infantry, rangers and potent battlemages, all generally fighting on foot, with common men allowed to rise to positions of command.

>>1599056
The Orc tribes- South of the dead marches lie the foothills at the foot of the Blue mountains, a difficult place to live for sure, but home to most of the Orcs on the continent. Made up of warring tribes the orcs are extremely bloodthirsty and capable fighters, overwhelming even diciplined troops as they did in the climactic battle of Clyath over 3 decades ago, when the last Orc King to unify the tribes and lead them against the combined forces of the Serathi and Karelians, heavy orc infantry shock troops broke through the human battle line in several places, threatening a route, the tide only turning due to a devastating last minute cavalry charge by the Serathi Hussars slaying the King and most of his honor guard, breaking the orcish army and putting it to flight. They are also known to infest the dead marches in small raiding parties and the occasional larger warband, seeking glory and plunder, attacking caravans and parties travelling through the region.

The Elven Colonies- Located in the southeast, on the coast. The Elven settlements are the legacy of a failed invasion a century ago, with the Elves guided by their arcane vision and capitalizing on the weakness following the great plague, launched a war of conquest against the Dwarves, City-States and Human realms eventually being pushed back to the Sea by the combined alliance and forced between living in a disarmed protectorate under the rule of a Governor from the Dwarven Empire or exile back to their homeland. Most left but several thousand stayed, forming several settlements along the coast. Lacking in manpower and resources, they rely on their skilled shipbuilders and merchants to bring the Elves the things they need. They were able to break off from the Dwarven Empire after the great plague, as it did not affect Elves. There is a current high level of enmity between the Elven colonies and the Dwarven Empire and the Elves have forged alliances with the City-States, granting them sea control in the event of a war with the Dwarves and a total blockade of the Dwarven ports. Their army consists of battlemages, Cataphract elite cavalry, often with decades and occasionally centuries of experience, they use their long lives to train and master the art of war, able to effectively use the javelin, bow, sword, lance, axe, spear and move effortlessly in heavy armor. They also have a deadly and elite ranger force, known for their ambush skills and lethality, even in close combat.

South of the Blue Mountains in an extremely xenophobic and cruel race of avians, who often return individual trespassers mutilated and with warnings to others not to enter their lands...

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>1599016
We had just checked out the abandoned town to our west, where we found farms that had laid fallow for many years, as well several intact houses and signs that other people had stayed in the town sometime in the last few months, travellers or possibly bandits, its impossible to know for sure

Whats our next move?

A. Survey the plains to the north
B. Corrall the wild cows into pens for domestication
C. Survey the land along the river to the east
D. Dig a defensive ditch around the settlement and place sharpened stakes, providing a basic defense
E. Establish a mine on the iron deposit
F. Set up a lumber camp near the forest
G. Set up a hunting camp near the forest

>>1599076
dig a ditch

>>1599103
My bad, forgot to take that out of the options list, please ignore D

>>1599044
>>1599056
>>1599066

Put this in a pastebin mate

>>1599076
Coral cows.

>>1599076
>B. Corral the wild cows into pens for domestication

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>1599327
>>1599226
Sigmund orders the thralls to corrall the cattle into a large fenced off area, near the settlement, where they can graze and be watched over....

After spending the better part of the month getting all of the cows into the enclosure, several old dairy farmers have already produced the first buckets of milk and we can now slaughter the cows to feed our thralls if necessary....

A. Survey the plains to the north
B. Train 5 more vampire warriors
C. Survey the land along the river to the east
D. Establish a mine on the iron deposit
E. Set up a lumber camp near the forest
F. Set up a hunting camp near the forest
G. Other(Write-in)

>>1599367
We also have a tech roll I didnt give you a choice on from last thread...

A. Improved construction(required to fix the tower)
B. Improved metallurgy
C. Improved Agriculture
D. Improved military tactics
E. Advanced mining
F. Improved logging

>>1599371
>C. Improved Agriculture

>>1599371
E.

C.

Both good options

>>1599367
E.
>>1599371
C

Is what I meant to do

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>1599429
>>1599662
A group of thralls are sent to the south to set up a small lumber camp near the forest, where several lumberjacks will live with their families throughout most of the year, people walking nearby can hear the gently clacks of axes on wood from almost a mile away... We now have a supply of wood for construction, as well as making wood products

In addition on of our vampires recalls reading old text about the practice of crop rotation, where you divide a field into 4 quadrants, allowing one to lie fallow each year to refresh the soil, rotating the fallow quadrant every year.... This should increase long term harvest yields....

Several days pass fairly uneventfully when a small boat is seen coming down the river from the north, unfortunately your settlement near the watchtower is highly visible from the river, and boat seems to have stopped and 2 men have disembarked and are walking toward your settlement. They have no way of knowing that we are vampires, but it would be best we make every effort to conceal this fact....

What should we do? (this is a write-in)

>>1600493
Cover up the fact that we are vampires and then go meet with them. Hopefully, they are traders and we can set up some trade routes.

>>1600608
we were hiding out in a city for many, many years it should be easy to conceal it

>>1600608

Agreed, conceal our true nature.

I think we could perhaps assume the identity of settlers/refugees come to make a new life in this desolate region.

>>1602401
>>1600648
>>1600608
Sigmund and 2 men ride out to meet the men, concealing their vampiric nature and introducing themselves as recent settlers to the area.

The 2 men introduce themselves as Markus and Garrette and say they are traders that ply the river on their barge, trading with the settlements in the region, of which they claim there is a settlement a days ride north of us, as well as a small Palmese trading post a days ride south of us along the river....

They claim to have high quality steel tools from the city states as well as cloth products in their holds....

They are looking to trade their items for foodstuffs, lumber, metal ores, slaves and horses

For trade we currently have some excess food, a small number of horses and lumber

Would we like to trade for something? What would be willing to trade for it? We can also pass for now....(This is a write-in)

>>1602899
They can also bring goods as requested for us from the various nations around us, Markus assures you he can get almost anything you want for the right price of course....

>>1602899
See what they have available, decide pass the offer if its nothing of interest as we're just consolidating this area. Also I think we shouldn't go the villager route and instead build a crypt-like pseudo settlement.

>>1602899

Could probably go for trading some lumber for a few tools

>>1602986

I'm in favor of blood knight with some old fashioned vampire count mixed in.

>>1603055
Support the notion of vampire count, possibly vampiric conqueror if we can develop enough.

We should cconsider getting some weapons to defend ourselves

>>1603055
>>1603794
You agree to trade a shipment of lumber for a shipment of tools and ask Markus to bring weapons for a future shipment, he assures you he has a connection within the dwarven empire that can provide us with the highest quality.....

Also we have a tech roll

A. Improved construction
B. Improved metallurgy
C. Advanced agriculture
D. Improved military tactics
E. Advanced mining
F. Improved logging

>>1604217
military tactics

>>1604217
>A. Improved construction

Lets get our tower nice and set, perhaps expand it to be worthy of being called the keep within our future castle. I mean, we can't vampire count without a castle, and we can't start our own order of blood knights without a castle to call home.

It's just necessary.

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>1605465
>>1604434
Just to keep things moving Im gonna go with Improved construction

After studying some old scrolls and gaining some practical experience building houses for our people, one of your vampires believes we can now build taller more complex structures, we can also repair the ruined tower, now all that is required is stone, wood and some labor

Our thralls gleefully use their new tools to chop more wood than they have in the past, increasing our yields and the tools we got from our trade should help with mining and farming as well....

A. Survey the plains to the north
B. Train 5 more vampire warriors
C. Survey the land along the river to the east
D. Establish a mine on the iron deposit
E. Make contact with the settlement to our north
F. Set up a hunting camp near the forest
G. Other(Write-in)

>>1608131
get iron for making stuff

>>1608131
>D. Establish a mine on the iron deposit
Ill be going on the road in a short bit for an hour or two but hopefully Ill be back later.

>>1608131
>D. Establish a mine on the iron deposit

>>1608131
>D. Establish a mine on the iron deposit

>>1608683
>>1608533
>>1608265
Your thralls labor hard to dig a tunnel and set up the supports deep under the cave, uncovering potentially thousands of pounds of iron, now it's just a question of getting it out of the ground.....

Alright guys I'm gonna be busy the rest of the night but I should be running all day tomorrow

>>1609201
With the mines now running at full production, iron ore has begun to flow to our settlement.

We should set up a mine if we want to start crafting our own tools, weapons and armor....

A. Survey the plains to the north
B. Train 5 more vampire warriors
C. Survey the land along the river to the east
D. Set up a forge in the settlement
E. Make contact with the settlement to our north
F. Set up a hunting camp near the forest
G. Other(Write-in)

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>1612338
Forgot tech roll, also bump

>>1612345
Looks we got another one....

Well choose it after the next choice....

>>1612359
survival bump #1

>>1612338
Train squires

>>1612891
Are you trying to do B or a write-in, also since 5 seems like a low number im going to bump up option B to train 10 warriors instead

>>1612916
doing B
just trying to be knightly in my turn of phrase

>>1612338
>B. Train 5 more vampire warriors

I think only training 5 is plenty considering our scale really

>>1613256
>>1613010
Sigmund leads the 5 aspiring warriors out to a field near the settlement to train, conditioning them in running and lifting barrels filled with water, large pieces of lumber, later focusing more on weapons skills and battle tactics

After a few weeks of intense training Sigmund believes they are ready....

A. Advanced construction
B. Improved metallurgy
C. Advanced agriculture
D. Improved military tactics
E. Advanced mining
F. Improved logging
G. Basic magic understanding

>>1613998
>E. Advanced mining

gotta get dem stones

>>1614195>>1613998
sure second

>>1614195
>>1614369
Mine outputs are further improved by development in new techniques, using water pressure to separate ore from the rock around it, given this new design, we will soon be sitting on a massive supply of iron ore....

Whats our next move?

A. Survey the plains to the north
B. Gather stone and rebuild the watchtower
C. Survey the land along the river to the east
D. Set up a forge in the settlement
E. Make contact with the settlement to our north
F. Set up a hunting camp near the forest
G. Other(Write-in)

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>1614649
forgot tech roll

>>1614649
>C. Survey the land along the river to the east

>>1614649
>C. Survey the land along the river to the east

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>1615018
>>1614672
Sigmund and 2 warriors ride the land along the eastern river, searching for anything of value, dismounting from his horse, Sigmund grabs a handful of dirt, it appears to be rich soil good for farming, another few miles of riding reveals a nearby dried out lakebed, with easy access to stone at the bottom, a potential stone quarry in the future....

Whats our next move?

A. Survey the plains to the north
B. Rebuild the watchtower
C. Set up a stone quarry in the old lakebed
D. Set up a forge in the settlement
E. Make contact with the settlement to our north
F. Set up a hunting camp near the forest
G. Other(Write-in)

>>1615723
rebuild the watch tower

>>1615892
>rebuild the watch tower
>>1615892
upvoted

>>1615954
>>1615892
The thralls labor for many days to rebuild the massive old watchtower, the structure casting a large shadow ono the surrounding countryside....

A sentry is permanently posted at the top, making it impossible to get the jump on us and giving vision of a large area around us.....

What's our next move?

A. Survey the plains to the north
B. Set up a stone quarry in the old lakebed
C. Set up a forge
D. Make contact with the settlement to our north
E. Set up a hunting camp near the forest
F. Other(write-in)

>>1615978
forge so we can turn our ore into gear for our KNIGHTS

>>1615978
>C. Set up a forge

>>1615978
>C. Set up a forge
Can't do anything with just the ore

>>1615992
>>1615989
>>1615987
The forges fires run red hot as the first metal implements are made in our settlement, it will take some time but soon enough are people will be producing decent quality products for trade or our own use....

Coincidentally Markus and his trade boat arrive with several shipments that may interest us he had with him, a shipment or finely crafted dwarves weapons and armor designed to be exported to human lands, a scroll containing basic elemental magic spells, and a shipment of 20 human slaves from the wearer lands

He is interested in acquiring raw materials such as lumber, food, animal skins and ore as well as our horses, beware that trading a shipment away means we won't be able to build (wood) make our own equipment (ore) or rely on our food supply as much....

What do we want to trade? We can also ask him about things going on in the outside world and surrounding area....

This is a write in

>>1616008
Does this just take away our reserve?

But we should not trade with our food till we get the new farming setup going. We do, however need to trade for the slaves(We can use the wood for this) as well as in the iron ore. We should buy some elemental magic scrolls though as that will come in extremely useful. I don't think the weapons and armour would be of great use right now as we can make our own, albeit inferior(for now... if the dead have anything it is time), products

>>1616013
Yea it would basically wipe out our reserve, I will comment on the superior quality of dwarven gear as it is enchanted, lighter, stronger and less prone to rust and breakage and is often given as gifts and used to equip nobles household guard troops. The shipment would be enough to equip 20 warriors. The scroll contains spells but we would still need to find magic sensitive people on our population and train them to make use of the scroll

>>1616008
Gear and slaves for ore and lumber i say.

We'd be using the ore to make gear as it is, and we can spare the lumber i think. Scrolls sound good but dont have much in the way of immediate use. We can put slaves to work gathering more resources and outfit our men better right now.

>>1616034
Makes sense... Yeah it would be better to get the gear and slaves and leave the scrolls

>>1616070
>>1616063
You agree to trade ore and lumber for the slaves and dwarven gear, and can request items for future trading runs, although markus tells you that the royan trading post down river has started charging him protection payments, thus future runs will be more expensive

Also what should we do with the slaves? They are a mixed group of families from the westerlands, we could enthrall them or alternatively free them, and offer them land and freedom in exchange for loyalty, enthrallment will likely halve their numbers and reduce their ability to think independently leaving then suitable only as manual laborers

Also we should figure out what we want next from the trader

This is a write in

>>1616196
However thralls are slavishly loyal and will not be unnerved by our true nature, it's a trade off

>>1616196
I mean we could just keep them as slaves right?

>>1616390
Yes

>>1616400
Freeing slaves just seems like a pretty unvampire thing to do, but then again having serfs is pretty standard for nobility vampire or not.

Roll a d3 on it i say

>>1616422
upvoted

>>1616422
>>1616196
we are vampire feudalists
make them serfs sounds good

>>1616499
Sure, im game for it

Rolled 5, 5 = 10 (2d6)

>>1616508
>>1616499
>>1616444
>>1616422
You decide to keep the slaves in a state of serfdom, tying them to the land with limited rights, compared to their superior vampiric brethren....

Also as an aside, you guys should start thinking about the culture and how it should be structured for our civ, I recommend a three class system for now, with Vampires on top(naturally), a class of non-thralls heavily indoctrinated into a vampiric cult, and a class of thralls

Its worth noting that children born of thralls are not enthralled
What's our next move?

A. Survey the plains to the north
B. Set up a stone quarry in the old lakebed
C. Make contact with the Royan trading post to the south
D. Make contact with the settlement to our north
E. Set up a hunting camp near the forest
F. Other(write-in)

>>1616562
>B. Set up a stone quarry in the old lakebed

Be good to go ahead and start building up a stockpile.

The caste system sounds good.

Once our ore surplus builds up id say we should start churning out some weapons for our thralls, crossbows and halberds sound good to me

>>1616562
>E. Set up a hunting camp near the forest
Gotta get a stable supply of food, even if we are going to be ok for the winter, never hurts to prepare

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>1616631
Im gonna go with this one just to keep things moving....

You send a group of thralls to set up a small camp near the forest, where they can easily leave early in the morning to hunt the deer and wild boar that inhabit the forest....

Within a few days venison and boar adorn the cookfires, filling our people....

Sigmund is alerted from his meditations by a sentry calling an alarm, as a dozen mounted soldiers, a mix of dwarves and men approach the settlement from the south....

They ride up to the protective ditch and demand an audience with our leader.....

Sigmund has the warriors prepare for battle as he addresses, the leader of the riders, who identifies as Captain Giuseppe, a soldier of the most serene republic of Roya...

He claims that we have settled in the Royan economic protection zone, and that the only way to ensure our continued safety is to pay Roya 20% of our yields from all sources....

They expect a response soon, and that our first annual payment be paid up front within the next week, at their trading post a days ride south along the river....

What should we do here?(This is a write-in)

>>1616827
How dare this up jumped peasant speak to us in such a way? Some merchants and their lackeys have no authority over us.

Telling them to fuck off will bring more heat on us unfortunately, but I should think we could easily dispose of whatever brigands they send at us.

Matter of fact, that might just bring us some fresh thralls.

>>1616827
Survival bump, I will not be able to really do much tomorrow until the evening, I will make a map and start a new thread probably around 6 or 7pm eastern time

>>1617289
One more bump, try to get a couple more responses on this before starting a new thread

>>1616827
Ask him what happens if we were to decline his offer, insult him for his poor manners and then contemplate the merits of paying them these taxes.

I am not opposed to paying the taxes desu but i want to see what anons think

>>1618278

Bandits paid to harass us, probably get fucked around on trade, the usual

>>1618314
That sounds more like an opportunity than anything else, we can grow off of the bandits.

>>1618317
Right, thats what i was saying, but we do risk being discovered.

But we do have an inroad for organizing an orc raid on the trade post, or even infiltrating it with entrhalled survivors.

>>1618360
That is very true... it could work but we would need more Orcs. How about this: We stick it out with their taxes and build up our forces in such a way as to allow us to assault the settlement and enthrall them while removing the burden of taxes

>>1618406
Infiltration is pretty vampire like i have to agree.

With our turned orc Crall im pretty sure we could use him to recuit a few more orcs for a decent little raiding party that would keep our hands clean. Could be a useful way of catching some thralls.

Could also be used on surrounding areas in the future to weaken the hold the merchants have on them.

>>1618415
Agreed! Plus given how bloodthirsty they are, it shouldn't be too hard for Crall to hide his true nature.

>>1617070
>>1618278
>>1618314
Sigmund tacitly agrees to the protection payments, while contemplating a way to deal with the Royan trading post and the mercenaries guarding it. As soon as the mercenaries are out of sight he orders a pair of warriors to follow them and place their trading post under observation....

Alright guys feel free to discuss I'm at work posting from my phone but I will post again in a new thread around 7pm eastern time with a map

>>1618955
new thread