by badams30 » Tue Mar 06, 2012 3:26 am
The evening quietly ends, and Owenden bids you all good night as he closes down the inn for the night. He shows you to your rooms, where you find hot water and towels waiting for you as promised. (make sure you deduct your room costs for the night)
The rooms are spartan, but comfortable and quiet, and you drift off to a peaceful, very restful sleep.
You awaken in the moring, to the muted sounds of activity coming through the windows, and from downstairs. You find pitchers of water and clean towels at your doors, and you can smell the aroma of food cooking below, and hear the chatter of a handful of patrons eating. As you make your way downstairs, you see a pretty red haired human woman of about 25 in a plain blue dress with a white frilly apron tending to the guests. As she sees you, she smiles and says "Ah, good morning! Owenden said to expect you all. Please, sit down and eat. He said you'd probably be heading to the barracks this morning." At your table you find a light breakfast meal of breads, some fresh cuts of lean meat, and some fruits, along with some milk, and to Han's delight - a fair sized plate of some nice looking cheeses. "Help yourself, it's included with your room rate, you know..."
The 10 or so guests of the inn appear to be boatmen and commoners, briskly eating and heading on their way. The guests are polite and nod/smile, but don't take much time to stop and say hello. Such is the bustle of a busy frontier farm town.
Assuming you finish your meals and head to the drill field and barracks, you leave the inn and enter the streets of Daggerford. While it certainly isn't the same level of busy as Waterdeep, for the size of the settelment, there is much activity going on. As you leave the inn, you see your new friend Dak waiting out front to meet you, killing time by handing some bits of carrot to a donkey tethered nearby. As he sees you leaving the inn, he hands the last bits of food to the animal, gently pats its head and starts walking towards you all.
You follow the wall to the right, and come into a large open area, where you see a formation of about 20 militiamen attired in the same studded leather armor you saw them in last night, all drilling with spears and doing some skirmish line drills. As you observe, you see a familiar face, Sgt Schultz, smiling and approaching you all from the barracks, a large two story building directly ahead. He approaches you all and says "Good morning! Glad to see you all. Have you had time to think about my offer? Here quickly summarizes the Daggerford militia duty to you all, in addition to the compulsory service of residents that you'd already heard of, he shares these facts:
- Not just city dwellers are in the militia, but outlying areas have muster as well. Often we dispatch officers to train these outlying bunches.
- All new recruits get a suit of studded leather and a spear. If you damage or lose the armor, you are responsible for replacing it. Spears are replaced free of charge at any time. Of course, if you have armor, you are welcomed to wear it, so long as it isn't lighter than studded leather (for those who wear armor)
- You must show up for training at least once a month. The militia is split into two troops, so while one troop may train, the other is on duty.
- You must stand guard three days out of the month, acting as street patrol and/or guard. Usually at least two veteran troops are on guard at any given time, to assist the newer recruits.
- Not just fighters are militia members. Daggerford takes great pride in integrating clerics and wizards into the ranks.
- The Duke's master at Arms, Sir Lord Llewellyn Longhand oversees training in more advanced weapons such as maces, swords, and the like.
- The Dukes' master of the hunt, Kelson Darktreader provides training to archers.
- You have the use of the town's medium riding horses for your duties, but the town must be repaid for the loss of a horse (within reason, of course)
- Those who die in the line of duty will be raised from the dead if possible, priority going to higher rank and nobility first.
- If you participate in hazardous missions you are entitled to split the loot you find amongst yourselves. The town is entitled to buy any magic items deemed necessary for the well-being of the town.
- If you train other militiamen, you can earn 5SP per day.
- This isn't normally a benefit or available, but at the current time, the Waterdeep troops normally stationed here are at 1/3rd strength, so the entire upper floor of the barracks is open, and you may stay here for at least the next couple of months at no charge, even when not on duty. You may share the floor with occasional militiamen on duty, but this is usually 2-5 men at most.
Sgt Schultz smiles at you and says, "Well men, if you are in, then come with me, Sherlen is anxious to meet you!"
Actions? you may ask questions about the terms, or anything you wish. In case you are wondering about the pace, we'll probably have a couple more of these longer background, set-the-stage series of posts, then we'll start things moving a bit. Also, start to think of any housekeeping or general needs you need taken care of while in the relative peace of Daggerford, as once you get settled into the duties of militia, we will probably fast-forward a couple of weeks in summary post, and then you'll see some action.