RE: Cock-ups in command

From: Jane Williams <janewilliams20_at_...>
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 08:05:12 +0100


> >"The king must protect the weak. He must lead in
> >dealing with all issues of justice through the force
> >of law and arms. He must choose a tribal council. He
> >must muster the people against enemies, and divide all
> >plunder among the clans. He must employ a master smith
> >and a master brewer."
> >- Andrin's Words
>
> The big one in this situation is the second sentence. Broyan
> will have to resolve disputes and the clans will look to their
> king to support their case in front of him. Both Kallyr, Leika
> and others are going to need a lawspeaker for this.

And that lawspeaker had better be a permanent WW resident in Kallyr's case. He'll be handling this whether she's there or not. Assuming that there's a sizeable number of the Kheldon tribe in WW who don't just follow her around all the time, and I expect that's true. She'll have another back "home", of course. I wonder - is her compulsory Master Smith back in Sartar, or is he in WW? If any of his output is going to go anywhere other than the Lunars, he may be more use based here. The brewer will be in Sartar, though.

I "need" to get to know these people. The only ideas I have so far are stereotypes

> Even if the
> clan has been stupid I don't think there's much way of
> quibbling out of that obligation.

Yes, I was thinking of misfortune that isn't down to squabbles between clans, and doesn't have a legal argument. More the "we got mugged by trolls" sort of level. Or Lunars, of course. Outside WW, so it isn't Broyan's problem.

> Kallyr's problem is going
> to be handling this obligation to the Kheldon clans where
> they conflict with other Sartarite clans.

Tricky! And that was a problem she had back in 1613, too, everyone expecting her to be biased in favour of her own tribe (well, she was, if not quite as badly as they imagined).

I'd guess that she'd hire a good lawspeaker for both sides and then stand back. Try to find compromise no-lose solutions, perhaps. But she's never going to satisfy everyone in a situation like that. And how many spare wandering lawspeakers are there, anyway? Wait till the next time Minaryth drops in, and ask him for a favour?

Oh. No. Wait for the next group of PCs who include a lawspeaker.....

> I get the impression that Rigsdal is "the watchman" rather
> than "head of the watch". A solitary figure who does the
> job well but expects too much of ordinary folk.

Probably right. Mind you, Kallyr combines expecting a lot from people with giving them a +5 augment from inspiration, so it tends to even out.  

> I don't see Starkval as an inspirational cult, rather he's
> the fyrd leader who spends his time checking equipment,
> organising drills and making sure everyone knows their
> place and what they're supposed to be doing. If anything
> he imparts a quiet confidence that if everyone does what
> he's told them they will win.

That sounds more Elmal to me, but we're along the right lines.  

> >I'd also guess that Kallyr respects him, but that it
> >isn't mutual. He thinks she's irresponsible. In
> >comparative terms, he's right.
>
> Well he has to cope with his king emulating Vingkot so another
> hero will be at least one too many.

All that flashy showing off.... And it makes the youngsters in the fyrd want to run round being heroic instead of useful, too!

> >Another area for leadership failure - she's needed to
> >make a decision, or explain what's been happening, and
> >she isn't there.
>
> That missing explanation is going to be the key - something
> goes horribly wrong because Broyan didn't know it.

Sounds promising, doesn't it?

And that perhaps brings us on to another area of strategy in WW. Information. We touched on this earlier, with that comment about when they were still treating it as cattle-raiding. If you're off to raid some cattle, you start off with a lot of boasting in the mead-hall about what you're going to do, with who, where, and when. Do that in WW, and surprise, surprise, the Lunars are waiting for you. But sneaking out *without* boasting and ritually asking permission as per the myths is dishonourable and bad luck.

Kallyr's been doing guerilla warfare for years, she knows better than to do that sort of thing. But total secrecy and small groups is fine out in the open, raids in the Far Place or in Sartar, it won't work so well in the more confined arena of WW.

By 1620, I think we need to assume that WW is riddled with Lunar agents. And the Lunar camp is of course riddled with Orlanthi agents. In fact, they're playing counter-intelligence games, double-bluffs, triple agents, all sorts of fun!

To what extent do they move towards total secrecy and a need-to-know attitude? How fast? How much do they over-do it? How many people object?

I'd expect you'd end up with one person at the centre coordinating all sorts of different raids where the warbands don't know about each other - and if that central command point makes a mistake, vanishes back to Sartar, or just gets taken out temporarily, things will go horribly wrong and probably result in "friendly fire". It's the sort of job Kallyr would be very good at - but when she hands over to whoever does it when she isn't there, what vital information gets missed out?  

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