Across the Mountains (discussion)

[Alusq]

Thread here! Feel free to join if you still want to; we can pick anyone up along the way.

Deep in the southwest of the Lycian Empire, a horse's gallop from both the wastes of Nabata and the mountains demarcating the commonwealth of Etruria, lies the city of Tyrol. Formally considered Ostian territory, Tyrol has acted as a nexus for travelers between Lycia and the lands to the west. Quietly and slowly growing in the shadow of the Western Mountains, home to lucrative mines that export their bounty of salt and silver straight to Ostia, Tyrol is an obscurity to all but those who have business traveling through the area.

Following the conquest of Etruria, a grave threat appeared on Tyrol's doorstep: the western Lycian heartland was overrun by disgruntled mercenaries who had augmented the Lycian Army in the past to ensure that the massive invasion happened as quickly as possible. The mercenaries, insisting they had not been paid their proper dues in both money and feudal land ownership after the war resulted in total Lycian victory, refused to disperse and return to their homes and instead began an occupation of the countryside, removed just far enough from Ostia and the rest of the marches that no one has bothered to chase them out. It was simply more logical to let the mercenaries fester, with the Imperial leadership having the option to pay them to flock back to Lycian banners should their numbers be needed in future wars (never mind the potential cost in manpower that crushing the mercenaries might bring).

Even with this in mind, no one would have predicted that the massive host of landsknechte would grow organised enough to knock down the gates of Tyrol. The syndic of Tyrol, a glorified mayor with a cabinet of advisers nostalgic for the days before the Empire, decided on a clean surrender and allowed the takeover of the city by the mercenaries. The city is now headed by a mercenary captain who styles himself "grand commandant" after having removed fellow guild leaders who also jockeyed for the position of leader.

A few months following his takeover, the commandant now conducts a quiet search for daring souls who might undertake a perilous mission. Distrustful of the men within his own ranks, mercenaries who originally pledged allegiance only to gold and now grow restless behind the walls of Tyrol, he begins recruiting patrons of the Black Bear Inn, a cheap establishment known to be a favourite of rough-and-tumble glory-seekers. The inn's barkeep talks in riddles hinting at mountains, magic, and messengers, only revealing his benefactor's mission to those who press him for answers, for only the most eclectic and adaptable group of travelers can hope to succeed in this quest for wealth, power, and perhaps even a chance to strike against the Lycian Empire.

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In this RP, we'll be traveling across some Ostian-held highlands in western Lycia in search of mages to bring into the country from Etruria and running into plenty of trouble along the way. Nichol has had a change of heart since the last RP he was in and will be joining the expedition. Post if interested!

Characters:

Nichol - Alusq
Idalius - dreams
Ambrose - Andy

[dreamsleever]

You can bet I'm interested in this!  My character would be Idalius, my very clueless manakete.  I'm quite excited about him getting thrust into things he doesn't understand.

[Andy]

I can toss in Ambrose for this.

[Alusq]

I was originally going to give things a month before we got started, but looking at other sign-up threads that wouldn't actually do a whole lot; besides, there's no need to close sign-ups when the roleplay's up and running because any other characters can always run into our group while traveling through Lycia/Etruria/fleeing the mines/etc. As such, I'm thinking I'm going to start up the thread proper sometime this week.