Post by Nicholas Miller on Oct 8, 2017 9:20:46 GMT -5
Getting four score men under arms into a small walled town and capturing it and the castle that was at one end of the circuit of its wall - built into it, really - was a non-trivial challenge. However, it had been one Sir Nicholas Miller of the Clavigers, Captain of the company that had taken Donau without losing a man, had been prepared for.
He knew that Sir Pierre would not have approved of the methods he had been using; firstly, he had not hired respectable vessels to make the crossing, but smugglers and other disreputable types. And, given the need for more manpower than he had within his own ranks to make the plan work, the cost of letting them pick the warehouses and wharves belonging to one of the great merchant houses was well worth the added men. And the plan had worked.
For all the castellan knew, the man who presented himself was a merchant, seeking to secure some timber in Lindblum; and it was a role Nick could play well enough; a peasant-born merchant, seeking to buy some of Lindblum's timber as to have a supply that would not be subject to the Crown's scrutiny and taxes... for a finder's fee to the castellan, of course. The initial meeting had gone well enough, and when Nick and his small entourage retired to the inn he'd taken rooms in, no one noticed that some of the labourers that had entered the castle's bailey had not come out...
Nor had they paid much attention to rough-looking men entering in ones and twos. After all, they were but commoners, entering the city over the course of the day. There were always vagrants coming in for work, after all. And certainly, no one in the city knew of the mailed fist of twenty men-at-arms hidden in one of the incoming ships' hold, waiting for the word.
The word, as it was, was the bell indicating the city's gates would be shut for the night, and that was when the plan came into action.
From within the castle, the half-dozen labourers that had been in hiding made their way to the parapets, and with fists, feet and knives they made short work of the handful of guards on the wall. Donau and its castle were minor enough that the garrison was hardly large nor first-rate. A dozen or so worn-down men-at-arms and some peasants and townsmen doing their yearly service as part of the city watch, with a small core of full-time soldiers among them; oh, there was a guild militia, but it was hardly organized, poorly trained, and somewhere below the minimum strength that was required of them. They would hardly be a problem, especially since the only militiamen worth the name were permanent guards to the great trading houses and local guild leaders... and none were particularly liked by the bulk of the population.
And those six men, they wasted little time in tossing a single torch over the side, and then a few ropes; ropes another dozen archers scrambled up, laden not only with their own arms and armour, but that of six men who'd led them in. Taking the castle was then simply a matter of taking down the pair of guards at the gate and the roving patrol, then to rouse those men still in the barracks with shouts and drawn bows. Taking the castle itself took less than twenty minutes.
Those poor bastard labourers who had come in throughout the day, they had gathered near the inland gates, and they had fallen upon them with clubs and stones and knives, and the brief bouts of violence ended when the last man at the gate, who happened to be the garrison's captain, surrendered to Cuddy, Sir Nicholas' senior archer.
Within the town, Sir Nicholas Miller, who had donned his own harness, led his men to the city watch barracks, and there had been no so much a fight as a mass surrender. Men separated from their weapons and armour, in a long low hall that had its doors chained up from the outside, threatened to be burned alive tended to become rather cooperative. The harbour gate, on the other hand, had involved bloodshed, but very little. A pair of clothyard shafts from deeper in the street had settled the hash of the two guards there, and then the gates were opened, and Nick Miller's raiders were free to enter from the ship. What followed was almost like a sack, save that it was carefully targeted.
The homes and offices of the great trading houses and various guilds were hit by men in harness. Rich men were dragged from their beds, and treasuries were opened and emptied, and, by midnight, the leading citizen of the town of Donau were all safely ensconced in a storeroom in the basement of the castle, they and their families suddenly impoverished as their assets were forcibly taken from them.
And by dawn, the lotus flag of the Crown of Archades flew over the castle and armed men wearing the badge of their captain, that of a bow and hunting knife crossed, were at the gates and the castle battlements. And an announcement was made in the square before the castle, where curious townsfolk had started to gathered.
The gaunt man in a brigandine who stood before them did not have the look of a nobleman, nor that of someone born to knighthood; he had the raw look of someone who'd known a hard life from birth. "I am Sir Nicholas Miller of the Order of Clavigers. As of this moment, the town of Donau belongs to the Crown of Archades. Save for your... leading citizens, your possessions and persons will be safe, and I have no intention to sack this town. Effective immediately, guild fees, dues and levies are suspended; taxes to the Crown of Lindblum and your local lord are suspended. You may continue to work as you please, trade as you please. My men will need stores and supplies, and we will purchase them from you at honest prices, and any man of mine who harms any of you without cause will; be; punished. "
That had been a few days past, and save for a few scuffles the change in management had been surprisingly smooth. Oh, the castellan had uttered plenty of threats, even tried to bribe his captors with money from a treasury he no longer controlled. But in the end, he and his family were still secured in their apartments, safe and in relative comfort.
And now that the time Lady Aneira had requested he gives her had passed, Sir Nicholas Miller and half his force were ready to start into the countryside. There was a large tract of land they would hit, one belonging to a relative of some lord Guildenstern, that was said to be rich; oh, certainly a third of the take would be set aside for the Lord Marshall, but half of what would be left would be Nick's and the remainder would be shared among the men, after expenses. Oh yes, that raid alone had the potential to be more than lucrative, as well as seriously kick the hornet's nest.
He knew that Sir Pierre would not have approved of the methods he had been using; firstly, he had not hired respectable vessels to make the crossing, but smugglers and other disreputable types. And, given the need for more manpower than he had within his own ranks to make the plan work, the cost of letting them pick the warehouses and wharves belonging to one of the great merchant houses was well worth the added men. And the plan had worked.
For all the castellan knew, the man who presented himself was a merchant, seeking to secure some timber in Lindblum; and it was a role Nick could play well enough; a peasant-born merchant, seeking to buy some of Lindblum's timber as to have a supply that would not be subject to the Crown's scrutiny and taxes... for a finder's fee to the castellan, of course. The initial meeting had gone well enough, and when Nick and his small entourage retired to the inn he'd taken rooms in, no one noticed that some of the labourers that had entered the castle's bailey had not come out...
Nor had they paid much attention to rough-looking men entering in ones and twos. After all, they were but commoners, entering the city over the course of the day. There were always vagrants coming in for work, after all. And certainly, no one in the city knew of the mailed fist of twenty men-at-arms hidden in one of the incoming ships' hold, waiting for the word.
The word, as it was, was the bell indicating the city's gates would be shut for the night, and that was when the plan came into action.
From within the castle, the half-dozen labourers that had been in hiding made their way to the parapets, and with fists, feet and knives they made short work of the handful of guards on the wall. Donau and its castle were minor enough that the garrison was hardly large nor first-rate. A dozen or so worn-down men-at-arms and some peasants and townsmen doing their yearly service as part of the city watch, with a small core of full-time soldiers among them; oh, there was a guild militia, but it was hardly organized, poorly trained, and somewhere below the minimum strength that was required of them. They would hardly be a problem, especially since the only militiamen worth the name were permanent guards to the great trading houses and local guild leaders... and none were particularly liked by the bulk of the population.
And those six men, they wasted little time in tossing a single torch over the side, and then a few ropes; ropes another dozen archers scrambled up, laden not only with their own arms and armour, but that of six men who'd led them in. Taking the castle was then simply a matter of taking down the pair of guards at the gate and the roving patrol, then to rouse those men still in the barracks with shouts and drawn bows. Taking the castle itself took less than twenty minutes.
Those poor bastard labourers who had come in throughout the day, they had gathered near the inland gates, and they had fallen upon them with clubs and stones and knives, and the brief bouts of violence ended when the last man at the gate, who happened to be the garrison's captain, surrendered to Cuddy, Sir Nicholas' senior archer.
Within the town, Sir Nicholas Miller, who had donned his own harness, led his men to the city watch barracks, and there had been no so much a fight as a mass surrender. Men separated from their weapons and armour, in a long low hall that had its doors chained up from the outside, threatened to be burned alive tended to become rather cooperative. The harbour gate, on the other hand, had involved bloodshed, but very little. A pair of clothyard shafts from deeper in the street had settled the hash of the two guards there, and then the gates were opened, and Nick Miller's raiders were free to enter from the ship. What followed was almost like a sack, save that it was carefully targeted.
The homes and offices of the great trading houses and various guilds were hit by men in harness. Rich men were dragged from their beds, and treasuries were opened and emptied, and, by midnight, the leading citizen of the town of Donau were all safely ensconced in a storeroom in the basement of the castle, they and their families suddenly impoverished as their assets were forcibly taken from them.
And by dawn, the lotus flag of the Crown of Archades flew over the castle and armed men wearing the badge of their captain, that of a bow and hunting knife crossed, were at the gates and the castle battlements. And an announcement was made in the square before the castle, where curious townsfolk had started to gathered.
The gaunt man in a brigandine who stood before them did not have the look of a nobleman, nor that of someone born to knighthood; he had the raw look of someone who'd known a hard life from birth. "I am Sir Nicholas Miller of the Order of Clavigers. As of this moment, the town of Donau belongs to the Crown of Archades. Save for your... leading citizens, your possessions and persons will be safe, and I have no intention to sack this town. Effective immediately, guild fees, dues and levies are suspended; taxes to the Crown of Lindblum and your local lord are suspended. You may continue to work as you please, trade as you please. My men will need stores and supplies, and we will purchase them from you at honest prices, and any man of mine who harms any of you without cause will; be; punished. "
That had been a few days past, and save for a few scuffles the change in management had been surprisingly smooth. Oh, the castellan had uttered plenty of threats, even tried to bribe his captors with money from a treasury he no longer controlled. But in the end, he and his family were still secured in their apartments, safe and in relative comfort.
And now that the time Lady Aneira had requested he gives her had passed, Sir Nicholas Miller and half his force were ready to start into the countryside. There was a large tract of land they would hit, one belonging to a relative of some lord Guildenstern, that was said to be rich; oh, certainly a third of the take would be set aside for the Lord Marshall, but half of what would be left would be Nick's and the remainder would be shared among the men, after expenses. Oh yes, that raid alone had the potential to be more than lucrative, as well as seriously kick the hornet's nest.