What a Bych [Dragonpit Contract]

[LillyanaKabal]

Elis pulled up to Bych hall, and stared at it for a while. It was a nice enough place, as places go, but it was owned by a Southern lord of unknown repute. But, she wouldn't really know about their repute until she went up to them and spoke about this situation. Giving her Reavers and Outriders orders to scout the surrounding area and find the best place to make camp, and see what tracks they could pick up, be it animal or bandit, he walked up to the guards at the gate, withdrew her royal decree, and handed it to him. Hopefully that would have been enough to get an audiance with whoever was inside.

[Poach]

After being kept waiting longer than was probably reasonable, Elis is eventually brought before Lord Byrch.

"How came a woman by such a document," he asked condescendingly.

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

[LillyanaKabal]

Elis was irate by the wait. It wasn't as if this was King's Landing or Winterfell, and the guy had a backlist a mile long. This was Bych hall, in the middle of butt-fudge nowhere. But, she put on her friendly game face when she was finally taken to the guy. Instead of reading it and welcoming her politely, he sneered at her and questioned her ability to obtain such proclomations. In no mood to be polite anymore, she just gave a smirk.

"Well, I was out in the wilderness one day, and saw a Dragon that looked surprisingly like The King, only you, know, more scaly and slightly bigger teeth. So I shot it in the face - It turned out to be deathly allergic to arrows - and dragged it to the King. it was really hard to get the carcas through the door, but I managed it, and laid the thing at the foot of the Iron Throne. The King immidiately jumped from his seat, did a little dance, and gave me that. So I thought I'd come here and talk to you about it" Clearly, not a word of it was true, but she didn't care for him anymore. And then, it was right into business, without any small talk, or obligatory flirting.

"Now. It's going to take quite a while to get the scope of the land, longer still to track down the bandits, and then there is the time to plan stratergy, make supply lines, inspect gear...you are look about four years before we are ready to start clearing this place out. And that four years these bandits are going to be pillaging and burning, raping and murdering. The blame of which lands on your head. I'm guessing you want to avoid all this, so I could push the men harder than is expected, persue results with an iron fist, but without motivation, I'll be getting nowhere. About, ten thousand Dragons would work as a rush order. Half now, and half when the bandits are all dead and gone"

[Poach]

(Did a roll.)

Lord Byrch looked angered, his hands curling into fists around the arms of his chair.

"You, a woman, come here on royal warrant, obtained by who knows what means, when I ask the Crown for support, and have the audacity to demand I pay you?!" he roared, "I should have you arrested right now! I should bar the gates to your rabble and hang you from the ramparts for them to see! You are nought but a bandit yourself!"

He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"You were tasked by the Crown to do a job, so get out of my sight and do it lest I inform King's Landing of your attempt to extort a Lord of the Crownlands."

Elis' attempt to talk her way into double payment seemed to have failed. Lord Byrch must have known the Crown intended to foot the bill.

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

[LillyanaKabal]

Elis cocked an eyebrow as the man went off, like all men usually did.

"Demand? Where is the demanding here. It's simply informing you of the facts. I'm neither extorting, nor demanding anything. Just telling you it will be a long while before anything gets done at the usual rate. If you prefer not to pitch a little motivation to speed up results, and instead rely exclusively on The Crown to clean up the mess you have let happen in your own realm, than that's fine. But don't try to brush this one off on me, Lord. So, if you'll excuse me, I've work to be about" She then turned on her heel and moved to exit the hall.

[Poach]

She is allowed to leave, overhearing faint rantings from the Lord's hall as she makes her way to the exit of the keep.

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

[LillyanaKabal]

Elis kept an eye out for anything shiny or looking expensive while she was exiting the keep, to add to her tresury, but saw nothing by the time she had finally gotten out of the place. The host she had brought had clearly found a good place to hold up, and had dispersed from outside the castle, leaving not even a single man to guide her to their new camp. Not that she really needed it, her ability to track a person was pretty considerable, and there was no real way to make nearly three thousand men pass subtly, espeically with three hundred horses in tow.

Arriving at the camp, she got her bow and sword, and then was approuched by her sargents.
"Right. Big place, so we are going to need to split the men up into small parties. Have the Outriders scout around the farms and villages, see if there is anyone who will help us on that front. Reavers should split into fists and scout the woodlands and less accessable places for any signs of passing. Engage at discression, and report back here" She ordered, before heading to her camp, pulling out some maps of the Crownlands, and working out where they were in relation to Bych Hall, the closest landmark.

[Poach]

After some days of scouting a picture had been built up. Multiple villages just inside the Riverlands were ruled by gangs of outlaws and other groups of rogues were using these settlements to mount their own raids, with the self-styled rulers of the oppressed settlements taking their cuts.

It seemed these settlements were the cornerstones of the bandit troubles.

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

[LillyanaKabal]

A few days into the campagin, Elis looked over her maps, now marked and scrawled, writing and rings surrounding certain parts of it, denoting their importance based on the number of bandits, and their percieved rank in the hierarchy, based on observation. Eventually, she decided to hit what appeared to be a central hub. It wasn't the largest of villages, but it did seem to be were a lot of the bandits came and went from, as well as having men who, from the infiltration the Reavers had achieved, looked to be in control. If they could reduce the cohesion of the bandit horde, and make every one of them look out for themselves rather than hail to a superior athourity, then they would be easier to pick off.

She moved the majority of her men to a closer position over the next few days, and then when the time felt right, she struck. Night fell, and what few sentries the bandits deigned to post were easily removed, the half-awake, fully drunk men who were posted to the outskirts as more punishment than protection did not even see the blades that stole their lives, nor did their compaions see the bodies dragged away and hidden. And then, when the die were set, and the playing field readied, the night came alive with Fire. Over a thousand glowing lights ascended into the sky, making a beautiful show, before decending with precision, and setting half the village alight with a single stroke. Outriders were positioned in small groups around the village to catch anyone who tried to run, and the archers kept the small number of footmen for their own, in case any decided to charge their position.

[Poach]

I'll roll the battle this evening when I'm back on my desktop with the calculator tool.

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

[Poach]

The small force of brigands present in the village, numbering perhaps a few hundred all accounted for, were unprepared for the barrage of arrows falling on their position and setting the village ablaze, causing massed confusion and many deaths.

The small force of infantry and cavalry fought running battles with the bandits, who largely elected to flee due to the sheer weight of arrows falling on their position: it wasn't hard to tell they were outnumbered in this fight.

By the end of the short battle 46 of the Reavers lay dead, 24 of the night watchmen, 16 of the light infantry and 6 of the light cavalry. In return were near 200 dead bodies, though more were seen fleeing into the night, with the Reavers' catching parties only able to intercept so much. It was likely that they would flee towards other known dens of banditry, granting both a boon and a curse: they could be tracked, but word had now got out that the law was responding in force to the crime wave in the area.

[LillyanaKabal]

Elis stood in the ashes of the village and smiled to herself. Sure, the whole place was wiped from the map, near enough, by her firestorm, but there were nearly two hundred bodies, for less than a hundred on her side. Most of the damage was taken by the Reavers, in the action and thus in the danger. But now, was a good time. The bandits would cower in their camps, of which she could send fists of Reavers following the panicking drunkards and accurately mark them down, or they would strike out, trying to take out Elis' war band before she took them apart one by one. Personally, she hoped they would send out their forces to hunt her down. That way, she could hunt them down and kill them in the dark of the night, rather than having to hit them in a fashion like this. Open combat was only needed to start the spooking, and now they were spooked, she hoped to avoid it.

She'd leave this place soon, but first she needed to send the right message for anyone who tried to come back here. The bandit bodies where looted down to their underwear, and then...uterlized. Heads on spikes, guts across tree branches, and the rest of the body burned. Anyone who came here would know this was what happened to bandits now, and that would cripple the morale faster than a hundred night raids.

"Alright, Reavers. Split to fists and track the survivors. Pick off any stragglers in the camps, but don't engage if you are spotted, or there are more than you can take out in a single volley. Try to infiltrate if you can, and sabotage their food stores. Outriders, see if there are any villages that have not been hit by the bandits yet. If there are such villages, arm them with our liberated weaponry, and set about training them in the basics of fighting. Get a sort of self-defense force going, so if the bandits try to attack, the villagers can hit back. It'll make our job a lot easier, and go towards starving out the bandits. Strip this place of anything that can be salvaged, and then move out"

[Poach]

It took longer this time, closer to a week, before a picture had been built up. Most of the villages ruled by bandits nearby had already been abandoned once word of Elis' force got out: bandits weren't soldiers, they were opportunists, looters, vultures. They scattered before an organised military response.

It seemed some had stuck around, acting in small groups and hiding within the forests, striking targets of opportunity like wagons and poorly armed groups of travellers.

It seemed one of the groups were either more determined or had dismissed the news: located in an abandoned holdfast a larger group of bandits had set up a quasi-fiefdom of their very own, seemingly ex-sellswords themselves and thus better organised and equipped. With the Riverlands still recovering from their own turmoil, the local Lord had yet to summon the strength to strike out at this position, even though it surely represented a major centre of criminality. Breaking this stronghold would likely end organised banditry in the area which, though still a problem for the Riverlands, would perhaps mean the Crownlands territories would not be subject to organised raiding.

[LillyanaKabal]

Seven days of swift, subtle movement through the Crownlands and close bordered Riverlands. Each village abandoned by the bandits had a cross through the circle that denoted it a nest of bandits. Inital observation of the villages showed that the bandits had left in a hurry, and only a few of the fleeing creatures were caught by the Reavers. It would still be a problem for the Riverlands, since that was the most obvious place to flee, but here and now, the threat had diminished. A few small groups remained, but several fists of Reavers, working in tandum, would clear those from the land in time.

When she was told about the holdfast that held the larger group of honorless pigs, she did not set out to march right in and put everyone to the sword. She lacked any sort of seige equipment, for one. And while it was not as well kept as most holdfasts, she'd prefer more holes than there already were. However, such a thing was inspiring, so while she set up what amounted to a Blockade, to keep the bandits in, supplies out, and eventually starve them all to death - there would be no surrender here - she sent those with the sharpest eyes around the Holdfast, to see if there was any merit in finding more holes in the abandoned defenses, or even if there was a point delapadated enough to create such holes. Trusting her Night Watchmen to keep the camp secure from anyone who would try to sneak in, she deployed the Reavers and Light Infantry companions further afield, to catch anything trying to sneak around her camp and get into the Holdfast.

[Poach]

Scouting the holdfast revealed that it was a simple tower keep, built of stone, with a crumbling stone curtain wall thrown up around it. The gaps in the wall were plugged with palisade ramparts and the gatehouse had been somewhat repaired with what amounted to a palisade rampart on hinges and wheels.

Though it would be no match for a conventional army equipped with the means to lay proper siege lines and construct siege towers, to Elis' lightly armed and equipped force it was a solid position, clearly designed with the intention of dissuading attack from both rival bandit gangs and local forces whose ability to conduct a siege on their own wouldn't be much better than that of the Reavers' own.

Thus Elis was presented with multiple options: besiege it herself, though the small fort could last anywhere up to six months if well provisioned before the Reavers cut it off completely; besiege it and attempt to summon more heavily equipped forces to free her own troops up to return to hunting other groups; bypass it entirely and either inform the authorities or not; or attempt to seize the position herself by storm.

Scouts estimated a garrison of perhaps four to six hundred, with some of that number looking heavily armed, lending credence to the reports of her scouts who first found the holdfast that some within it were former sellswords.

[LillyanaKabal]

Wood. They shored up their holes with wood. Elis found it a trifle disrespectful that they would ever believe that it could hold her off. She didn't consider herself a pyromaniac, she just.....liked to see things burn. And as a result she kept a decent supply of accelerant around for such an occasion. When she was told that the holes in the back were shored up with wooden trunks, she grinned. Sending three dozen Reavers, and a hundred and fifty light infantry to the back, along with a decent supply of oil, she ordered the Reavers to ignite this defense and then lose an arrow across the Holdfast. When that was done, the rest of her archers, standing by with oiled rags on their arrows, would light up and fire. The Reavers would shoot over the walls, into the holdfast itself, and hopefully catch something alight. The remaining archers would fill the gatehose palisade with a thousand burning arrows, to bring it to it's knees. Once the gate was destroyed, she would send in the pikemen first, and support them with archers in the rear, followed by the remaining light infantry and half the nights watchmen. Then, when the battle was in full swing, the Reavers and their infantry would smash through the back and catch the bandits in a pincer, hopefully using what burning buildings there would be to add to the confusion and dispear. If all went well, this would be a massacure. And if not, she still got to burn things.

[Poach]

The appointed night came and the archers began their rain of fire, attempting to cause the gatehouse to burn. At first the fire arrows stuck, threatening to catch the log fortification on fire and burn it all down, but the garrison were swift to act. Using buckets and water, evidently sourced from a well inside the walls, they began dousing the gatehouse and attempting to put the flames out.

The gatehouse, though damaged, did not collapse.

[LillyanaKabal]

Elis swore softly as they had a well to protect themselves from her attempts at enflaming the place. However, the gatehouse was damaged, and here, she could harrass them until victory came. She drew up a plan of tormenting the men in the holdfast, attacking at night and at day, irregularly sending burning arrows at the gate and trying to capitalize on the moments it took them to react. She would spread four attacks on the gate over a period of five days, and if the gate still stood, she would wait a full week, letting them be tense and waiting for an attack to come, but it would not. On edge, skittish, and unable to get any sleep, she'd launch another attack on the gatehouse when they would believe that the men had given up their attacks.

If everything went to plan, after all. Best laid plans of Mice and Men, after all....

[Poach]

Ooc: We're reaching the stage the holdfast would surrender due to no food since its been 3 RL days. By attack do you mean an assault on the place with ladders and battering rams? That's more or less the only way you're going to be able to take a fortified position by force.

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

[LillyanaKabal]

OOC: Elis would not accept a surrender. They can starve. And, no. By attack I mean shooting the gatehouse with firey arrows at all times of the day so they never get any rest and are constantly on edge.