Carlisle camp

[Blastoise Groudon]

Sir Michael Moody is sitting in his camp at Carlislie waiting for his orders on what to do next. He wonders what his allies are up to.

[Jokern]

The Earl of Surrey, Warden of the Scottish Marches and holder of Carlisle Castle, meets with Michael Moody. The earl was dressed in his armor, his surcoat displaying the proud three lions of England, differentiated by a white border.

"Hail, Sir Moody. I hope you bring good news with you from the south? I can't say the north brings any back, I'm afraid."

[Blastoise Groudon]

I heard London is being defended by Hastings. I heard our army is looking for the enemy, I don't know anymore. How have you been?

[Noytary]

Both of the men are interrupted by the far sound of trumpets. Soon after they start hearing the sound of marching and hymn of battle songs. Beyond the far end if the castle,a great army shows. Almost ten thousand men marching valiantly and sing an irish battle song:

"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone
In the ranks of death you will find him;
His father's sword he hath girded on,
And his wild harp slung behind him;
"Land of Song!" said the warrior bard,
"Tho' all the world betrays thee,
One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,
One faithful harp shall praise thee!"

When the army reaches over the hills they see the rich-colored banners of stafford, followed by many small banners of mercenery groups. They see the red and yellow banner of Talbot, and three more banners that they don't recognize. They march forth, their legs shook the earth with massive numbers, strength and steel. When they reach the camp, they assemble. A herald cries:
"Sir Henry Stafford, brother to the duke of buckingham."Lord John Talbot and Sir Humphrey Talbot of Shrewsbury. King Maggenis, King Burkes, and King Macmurrough of the irishmen.


Sir henry stafford exit the ranks and enters the commander tent, accompanied by lord Talbot. "I am sorry for the delay, we had to muster our forces. I hope we are in time. " said lord Talbot. "Lord surrey" said sir henry stafford "i thank the gods for you are in good health. My brother send his regards. He also captured a lancasterian messanger and we confrimed percy had made a bargain with the enemy. We must prepeare to battle, and with haste. Lord Talbot and i " he acknowledges a nod from lord Talbot " wish to meet the enemy in the field, but it may be wiser to take to the castle." Lord Talbot continues "as for the irish kings, they agreed to support our forces for a peace treaty to be signed between england and the said kings. The formalities will be discussed with the king later on."

[Blastoise Groudon]

Michael stands up in disbelief and looks at Surrey:

My Lord, what a coward! The King will be outraged! I will send a messenger at once to London to be redirected to our main army to informed the King of this betrayal. We must prepare right now, they must be close by. I will send scouts out now.

He looks at Talbot:

Thank you for arriving. And thank you for this information Lord Talbot! We are happy you are here, how many men do you have? I bet Percy even has the Scots with him.

[Noytary]

Lord Talbot straightens and declares:
"My house mustered what he could in this shprt notice. We have over 4,000 men, cavalrymen longbows and militia."
truthfully the house was preparing for an invasion to france as he request from the king, but he heard of the landing of the lancasters and rushed to help the king. In the way he met sir Stafford, who told him the urgent news. Only traitors are worse then the French.
"Our irish allies gathered almost 2,000 men to support us, footmen." he would honor his bargain to the end even if all of england is against him. He cannot allow any stain on his honor.

He signal to Sir Stafford. The two men shared some king of silent agreement, bonded by chance. A mix of respect and common interest for the time being.

"House stafford fields 3,600 men, including 600 handgunners. Cavalry and footmen." this a very expensive bet. He handled the sword and his brother handled the pen. That was their agreement. He only hoped that their forces are enough.
"How many men the scots and lord percy are leading? This is extremely important. If we can, we should find a fortification of some sort. Or retreat to the castle."


Lord Talbot fetch someone to call Sir Humphrey and the irish kings, they should participate in the strategic meeting.
"How many men do you have here?" he bluntly asks.

[Jokern]

Surrey merely nodded, his face strained at the mention of Percy. It was his fault that Northumberland had betrayed his word and joined Lancaster. Now he just hoped that they could hold the north long enough.

"Yes, we must prepare, but will be cautious this time. Carlisle is a strong and mighty castle, and with the amount of men we have now we can easily defend ourselves and wait for reinforcements from the south if they plan to besiege us. I myself have about 4,500 men with me, though I do not know how many Sir Moody brought with him. I do not know how many men the Scots and Percy have, but enough for me to warrant keeping our men here for the time being. If our enemy does not besiege Carlisle we will raid their supply lines and send skirmishers to harass them in the back."

Surrey
450 Light Footmen
1,350 Militia Longbowmen
900 Men-at-Arms
1,200 Heavy Footmen
600 Yeomen Longbows

Total: 4,500 men

[Blastoise Groudon]

My Lords, I have 3,000 men total, 2,700 militia from York and 300 Switzers. My force is small but they can and will fight. We can wait, and if they for some reason continue to push further, perhaps we could sally forth and hit them in the rear.



2,700 York militia (2,025 archers, 675 light footmen)
300 Switzers
Total men: 3,000 men

Traits:
Duel: +3
Survival: +3
Rearguard: +2
Battles: +2

[Noytary]

Lord Talbot face lightened 6,000 plus 3,600 plus 4,500...we should be over 14 thousand!!! "with a force that mighty, we should not have a problem stopping them here! If we meet them in the field of battle, we can guarantee a crushing victory!"

"I certainly hope so" said henry stafford "but we must not take risks". As a seasoned warrior, he knew you need to check every possibility. "First, we need to send scouts and a messanger to the king. We need to know the force we are going to fight. I share your optimism, Lord Talbot, but i also share lord surrey caution. The best outcome would be attacking when they march to london, but i doubt they will just leave us. We need to prepare to a siege. "

Sir Humphrey enters the tent and nods "Aye, we should be wary. There will be plently of fame later, as protectors of the north, right?" he winks and stand beside his lord. With that amount of soldiers and a castle, we can't lose. That said, everything can happen in the war.