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The Free Company Tavern & "OOC" Thread for Book VII

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Comagoosie, your embittered new mentor is hobbling your way... ;)
 
There's some great reading going on here :).

I'll get to what hooks I can tomorrow, assuming someone else doesn't take them.

Amric, to answer a question in one of your posts, St. Malo is completely walled, so any training will have to be done on the mainland. Something else I should mention is that the surrounding mainland is prime beach. I have a plan of the town. I'll post it in this thread later today. It's from the Vauban era, but it will suffice.
 
Nice work, folks. I should have some stuff tomorrow.

LD, e-mail in your box re: antagonist. Let me know if that'll work. If not, I can do whatever else.

redwolf, PM in your box re: Cyprus.
 
Lord Durham said:
There's some great reading going on here :).

I'll get to what hooks I can tomorrow, assuming someone else doesn't take them.

Amric, to answer a question in one of your posts, St. Malo is completely walled, so any training will have to be done on the mainland. Something else I should mention is that the surrounding mainland is prime beach. I have a plan of the town. I'll post it in this thread later today. It's from the Vauban era, but it will suffice.
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I'm interested in the training aspect too so be pleased to see how we're goingto beat all these new recruits into shape

Where is the Company OOB LD?

Hope the post wasn't too long - if you check back to the early books, Frederick did indeed set up a foundry in St. Malo. From the start of book III

Derek Pullem said:
On the move again mused Frederick Pohlman, master gunner of the Free Company. As he walked down the lines of guns in the artillery park, he considered how far he'd come in the time he'd joined the Free Company. The last two years had been relatively uneventful compared to the chaos that had accompanied the birth of the Free Company back in Dijon in ’19. The English had been kind to them when they had assigned them to St. Malo. With the town’s defenses in good order for the first time in years and the new coastal forts well stocked with cannon, it would take a determined assault from the French to take the town. And determined assaults had been conspicuous by their absence on both sides since King Henry had died. The war has literally petered out and so they found themselves waiting on a slow boat to Tuscany for gainful employment.

Still the new foundry built back in St. Malo was proving it’s worth. Otto had visited Brabant and the other Duchies in the Low Countries to recruit some good smiths in ’21 and had also made it across the Rhine to Southern Germany. The news he brought back from Bavaria was not good. The whole province was turned upside down by the foolish crusade against the Hussite in Bohemia. Every able bodied man was being pressed into service against the heretics, who despite having the entire Empire lined up against them seemed to have fun decimating every Imperial attack against their strongholds.

‘I was right’ Frederick thought to himself. ‘The Hussite war will be a meat grinder and one that I’m well away from. Still it’s a shame some of those bright lads from Prague couldn’t ply their trade for the Company. Good gunners were always hard to find’. Otto had brought back 20 or so smiths to serve in the foundry, including one Job de Brouwer from Utrecht who had cast guns for the late Duke of Burgundy. A steady stream of cannon, armour and weaponry flowed from the foundry together with other more peaceful items, such as ploughs, scythes and cooking pots. All together the venture was proving a profitable one for all concerned. Even the people of St. Malo had come to accept that the initial cost was worth the cheaper goods they received. With the peace the markets of the French provinces would be more open to them as well, increasing the profits still further.

The arrangement with Milton’s Marauder’s had worked out well too. The “privateers” had grown rich in the service of the English and were more than capable of garrisoning the town in the Free Company’s frequent absences. Their carracks were also beginning to mount some small cannon produced in the foundry.

Spiros had led a recruiting drive in ’20 and ’21 after the Second Siege of Orleans to expand the Artillery Guard. The handgunners had increased from 20 to 50, mostly due to the reputation that the Company had gained as a leading exponent of artillery and guns in general. The other element of the Guard had increased as well with the archers increasing to 80 and the other foot (mainly halberd and bills) to 80. Most of the handgunners and archers were now mounted (although the quality of their nags left much to be desired) whilst the foot and the gunners tended to ride on the war wagons. The standard Company artillery train was now 10 guns mounted on purpose built wagons with heavy wooden mantlets to protect the crew. The guns had served well in the last campaign against the french in Provence.

“Frederick!” Pohlman jumped as Spiros roused him out of his reflections. “Otto has a problem with the new batch of powder we received. Can you have a look at it?”

“Yes of course, Spiros.” Pohlman looked at the Greek. He’d grown so much more confident of his position after the Orelans battles in the defile. He’d even made his peace with Guillaume before he’d taken his leave of the Company’s day-to-day business. Frederick wasn’t too happy with Spiros’ frequent disappearances after his rapprochement with the Italian (or whatever he regarded himself as) but he accepted that the Greek knew his job and whatever “errands” he was doing did not affect his day job.

“Looking forward to returning to Italy, Spiros? It’s been a few years hasn’t it?” asked Frederick

“A few years…..oh, yes. A few years indeed!” Spiros replied hesitantly.

‘Odd?’ thought Frederick ‘I wonder what that means?’
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@ The_Guiscard

Jacques and Otto should be competent of casting moderate sized cannon. Dieter isn't exactly overjoyed at the prospect of managing the foundry but Jacques and Otto are more than capable.

Have fun!
 
Derek Pullem said:
@ The_Guiscard

Jacques and Otto should be competent of casting moderate sized cannon. Dieter isn't exactly overjoyed at the prospect of managing the foundry but Jacques and Otto are more than capable.
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Will you be around to do some writing with me once Jean d'Aulon arrives at St. Malo? An inspection of the guns and a revision of the personal will of course be among the first things he is going to undertake.
 
The_Guiscard said:
Will you be around to do some writing with me once Jean d'Aulon arrives at St. Malo? An inspection of the guns and a revision of the personal will of course be among the first things he is going to undertake.
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The guns now consist of two falconets (1 lb shot) and a demi saker (6 lb shot).

With only 200 men (but rising fast!) plus the cavalry in the company we don't even really have the manpower to service these. The foundry is probably capable of casting anything up to an 18 lb culverin but

a) They are expensive if bronze
b) Not entirely reliable if iron / iron bound.

But yes - I'll be around. I imagine Hvild will be introducing you to Dieter / Otto with the Captain
 
The_Hawk said:
Comagoosie, your embittered new mentor is hobbling your way... ;)
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Great :)

Also Tylo's next update should be soon, and there is a mighty big hole I left open for a potential subplot if any shall pick it up.

Furthermore, I have a snow day, so technically I can write/read all day :D

Updates have been great, everyone, let's continue!
 
casb1965, I picked up on your hook and sent your character back to the Twisted Sole. A pity Thomas caught Milo in a not so good mood. :D

Comagoosie, Lochlan is not the Captain of the Free Company. He's the second in charge.
 
redwolf said:
Comagoosie, Lochlan is not the Captain of the Free Company. He's the second in charge.
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errr...did I write that? :eek:o

heading to change.

It is impossible to read and write at the same time.

EDIT: Sorry to have caused the confusion. I guess for a minute I actually thought Lochlan was the captain, Lochlan sounded a lot like John, or John went through a time machine and came back under 18. :eek:o
 
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redwolf said:
casb1965, I picked up on your hook and sent your character back to the Twisted Sole. A pity Thomas caught Milo in a not so good mood. :D

Comagoosie, Lochlan is not the Captain of the Free Company. He's the second in charge.
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I actually liked it, gives me a hook into talking to some of the others in the Inn.
 
The_Guiscard said:
A question to the knowledgeable ones:

Is it ok to post a pictorial character portrait in the main FC thread or is this scoffed upon?
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Anything that truly moves he story along (and doesn't screw up the page formatting like LD's picture of St Malo did :D) is ok in my books.

See post #8 in the main thread for an example.
 
I'm in the process of catching up.

von Streusser, love this line: ...a peculiar aspect of the Free Company is that it never seems to attract more than two people from any one corner of the world. How true. :)

Derek, you using a 12" monitor too? :) How does the pic look now? I suppose I could crop it some more.
 
Agreed with Valdemar, but it's an early post and might not cause any more trouble.

Everybody is doing a great job with the writing. I can't wait to see what goes on when the training starts. I foresee moments of awestruck humbling, and absolute disaster. :rofl:
 
OK - I'm finally in. My two characters right now -

Nigel Hawkins - Short and slight of build but quick. Good with knives and stealth and can use a sword. I figure he'd be a good ranger.

Ox - No last name as of yet. He's huge, likely taller than anyone in the room. Bald and very heavy set. He does not speak much and is not entirely bright, but he is very strong. Does have some medical training having served as an executioner. Can use a sword if asked to, but not particularly well.

Both men are in their 30's and from England.
 
Alfred Packer said:
Wow, great follow-up Merrick - well done!
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Glad you're OK with what I did with Gunther. And now LD himself has given the cue, I think he deserves an intro. :)
 
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