The Free Company Tavern & OOC Thread: Book X

[unmerged(10971)]

Well then, I want a new character-

Terrance Steve McQueen
Home town: Beech Grove, Indiana
Age: unkown
Height:5' 9" (1.75 m)
Hair color: Brown
Eye color: Green
Distinguishing marks: He's Steve McQueen for god's sake!

Known as "King of Cool" or "Bandito", Steve is an excellent marskman, as well as a rider, and a great lover. Not only has he robbed a bank in St. Louis, but he has also defeated an army of Mexicans with the help of but 6 other men, and escaped the clutches of the German army...

I don't think that's quite what Voshkod had in mind by captured "over time".

Though, IIRC, the first post of Book VI already established that we're messing around with relativity here...

 

[Lord Durham]

Norge: Good to see you. Hope you stick around and have fun.

Estonianzulu: Sorry, I didn't realize you had prior experience. I like your character, BTW. I have a few subplots in mind for McQueen already. Something about escaping the Turks over the countryside on a camel...

I like the look of the characters so far -- even though everyone wants to be in the artillery.

A couple of things. I'd ask that all dual-character writers keep their characters as separate from each other as possible. It'll improve writer interaction. And speaking of cannon, there will be about 5 or 6. I'll go into detail later about their size and use. It would be useful (actually I'll make sure it's in the OOB) that all writers work with the same cannon. It should make for some tense fun.

The FC will not be struck by a Tsunami, as much as you may want. Their role will be historically driven, but that's all I'll say for now.

I was hoping to have more OOB details ready, but most of my night's been used answering e-mails and PMs. I'll try for tomorrow.

But briefly, they will be organised along the lines of a Musket and Pike tercio. There will be a light and a medium cavalry wing. Heavy is out, as the pikes were proving too successful against them at this time. And yes, there will be Rangers. That old mainstay of the FC is one of the reasons why they've become the legend they are. I have some extensive info on the military organisation of the period, so I hope to provide more info as soon as I can.

I've opened a special e-mail account for any correspondance: the_fc@rogers.com

The old addy was free_company at rogers dot com, but I kept receiving porn spam. Must have been the free company part.

Eventually I hope to re-establish the FC website, too. I won't put a time on that, though. I'm busy enough as it is, and I still have to do a final edit on this particular short story my editor's been waiting on...

 

[von Streusser]

Arpad

Height: 6'1"
Weight: 165 lbs.
Age: late 20's-early 30's
Place of Birth: Hungary
Hair: Black; worn long, usually pulled back into a tight, neat ponytail
Eye Color: vibrant Green
Distinguishing Marks: wears a heavy bandage over his left eye

Arpad is a tall and lanky fellow, slim and sinewy. His clothing favors deep reds and blacks, usually a deep red silk shirt laced up to near his neck, a black vest, pants, and boots, and a burgundy cloak. He wears an elegant swept-hilt rapier loosely across the small of his back, which like his clothes conveys a sense of quiet indulgence in material wealth. At the start of the journey, he wears a heavy cloth bandage over his left eye, which is gradually soaking through with blood, and he leans on a five-foot staff for support. Despite his fairly obvious injuries, he is calm and wears a confident smile.

 

[LordLeto]

Updated Characters:

Bexhet(pro. beh-jet):Tribe leader,
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Age: 30
Place of Birth: On the road
Hair: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks: Dark Skin

Bexhet has a wife(Dika), 3 daugheters, and 1 son Djivan. He was made leader of the Free Company Gypsies just recently with his fathers death, a position he takes extreamly seriously. He and his Gypsy band have fought by the Free Companies side since Belgrade over 100 years before. Weapon of choice are throwing axes but also carries a short sword.

Mozol:Fortune Teller,
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 135 lbs.
Age: late teen's
Place of Birth: On the road
Hair: Black
Eye Color: Deep Blue
Distinguishing Marks: Very Attractive

The sultry fortune teller of the Gypsy band. Oft cryptic in both her fortunes and personal conversations, she doesn't enjoy repeating herself and will walk away from a long or important coversation at a whim. This has alienated her from some of the Gypsy women, but she has yet to notice.

Saip:.Doctor
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 155 lbs.
Age: late 30's
Place of Birth: On the road
Hair: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks: Thick beard, Tall and Lanky

One of the two Gypsy doctors, Saip is the elder of the two and thus senor. No formal training in the art, only years of practical experince with the Free Company.

Vosho:,Doctors apprentance
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 145 lbs.
Age: Early 20's
Place of Birth: On the road
Hair: Amber
Eye Color: Hazel
Distinguishing Marks: Looks Younger then he really is.

Vosho was actually sent away to a formal Medical School in Italy under the claim he was Sicilian to attain atmitance. He returned with knowledge of the craft and a few "Barrowed" Texts from the University.

Nicu:Cook
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 165 lbs.
Age: Mid 30's
Place of Birth: On the road
Hair: Bald
Eye Color: Green
Distinguishing Marks: Short and fat

Gets more food on him(and in him) then on the Company Mens plates. Not afraid to show his displeasure with you thru your meals.

Gimi:Smith
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 160 lbs.
Age: Mid 30's
Place of Birth: On the road
Hair: Black
Eye Color: Green
Distinguishing Marks: Short and fat, Prominent Mustache

The twin brother of Nicu, "the skinny one," Gypsy bands Blacksmith.

 

[Valdemar]

Eh, its alright Voshkod. The more people manhandling the fun the faster we can turn it too shoot at those snotty cavalry types.

A note though, aren't we too early for pipes?I was looking into that but concluded it wasn't feasible.

Indeed Tobacco was found by the Spaniards and cultivated by the french in hte late 1500s, and then only as a thing for kings and high nobles...

V

 

[Valdemar]

Damn. It's a conspiracy, I tell you! I posted my PM about 9 AM. Guess I have to adjust my tinfoil hat; stray thoughts are leaking out again.



It could make for some entertaining squabbles between our characters on the best way to blow something up. And we are too early for pipes, it looks, but not too early for tobacco. Now I have to figure out how they smoked it before pipes. . . .

EDIT: "1561: FRANCE: Nicot sends snuff to Catherine de Medici, the Queen Mother of France, to treat her son Francis II's migraine headaches. She later decrees tobacco be termed Herba Regina (There is confusion in sources: some claim it cured Catherine's own headaches (by making her sneeze))

1564 or 1565: ENGLAND: Tobacco is introduced into England by Sir John Hawkins and/or his crew. Tobacco is used cheifly by sailors, including those employed by Sir Francis Drake, until the 1580s. (Chroniclers of the day took little note of the customs of sailors. Crews under the command of less famous captains than Hawkins would be given even less notice. But Spanish and Portuguese sailors spread the practice around the world--probably first to fellow sailors at port cities. There is no reason to suppose Hawkins' crew particularly advanced in comparison to those on other English ships. In sum, there could well have been a small underground of seafaring tobacco users in England for decades before officialdom took notice. Hawkins and his crew are usually given the credit, but in reality, take this with a grain of sea-salt.)"

From http://www.tobacco.org/resources/history/Tobacco_History16.html

So, I guess I could make him a snuff user, or have him roll cigarettes, which appears to have been the style before pipes.

Not paper cigarettes, paper was far too valuable, paper cigarettes are rumoured to be invented during the Crieman war, by using the cartridges that gunpowder came in for rifles and muscets....

Snuff or rolled into cigar like things... however, if not a sailor in the new world this stuff will be very hard to get hold of, and if your char is a landlubber with a siege train his interaction with sailors would be sparse

V

 

[Valdemar]

Hehe must be the water or the training, never seen so many green eyed wonders in my live

As to the Turkish naval supremacy.. remember that it will be spread out over a lot of sea, and we are only 6 years from Lepanto where Spain defeated the entire Turkish fleet in the Holy leaque of Spain Rome Venice, Knights and Genoa... with out using ANY real ships, only Galleys and Galleasses....

Furhter, a lot of Turkish perceived power were the semi independent Barbary pirates that plaqued the trading, but would stay away from a fighting navy

V

 

[Sterkarm]

Hmm, I'm quite interested. I participated in the Crusader Chronicles early on, wondering if I could step in here?

Karol Chodkiewicz
Age: 25
Height: 5'10"
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue-Green
Weapons: Sword, Lance

Background: Born east of Cracow, to the noble family Chodkiewicz. However, Karol was a third-born son, and looked east for his fortune. He then made his way to the city of Kiev (I'm not sure at exactly what point Poland-Lithuania really merged, but there were Polish rulers long before the Treaty of Lublin in 1569). Here Karol heard news of many rebellions by the Ruthenian nobles; landless, he was interested in seizing an opportunity. So, Karol joined the uprising against the Polish duke. After many initial victories, the rebellion was crushed by royal Polish troops. While most of the Ruthenian rebels were executed, Karol was spared only because of his connection with the Chodkiewicz family. Yet, he was exiled from Poland-Lithuania for his actions.

 

[Lord Durham]

For those of you who haven't had enough of my blatant advertising, I'd like to announce that my first short story is now on-line at Flashing Swords. Follow the link and let me know what you think.

The Marsh God at Flashing Swords.

 

[Amric]

Bruce, I did indeed peruse the new short story of yours over on Flashing Swords. Very well done, kind of reminded me somewhat of one of Howard's short stories.

 

[Lord Durham]

Bruce, I did indeed peruse the new short story of yours over on Flashing Swords. Very well done, kind of reminded me somewhat of one of Howard's short stories.

That was the intent. I was paying tribute to Howard and Lovecraft. Thanks for reading. Another's coming in the summer.

 

[unmerged(10397)]

Apologies for my recent absense, I've been pretty busy.

Anyway, my characters are still being worked on, but basically I'll have two.

The first will be O'Floinn's descendant, a sort of adventuring former pirate, FC vet of only a few years.

The other will be a German knight, an FC vet of many years. He'll be pretty much the same character I wrote in the Crusader Chronicles, but updated for the times.

I'll have some exact details this weekend.

 

[Lord Durham]

Great, Phalanx. Looking forward to seeing what you cook up.

Just a quick note. At this point in 'history' The Free Company is considered 'the' elite merc group. However, for the sake of introducing new characters, they will have taken on replacements before the fleet set sail from Palermo.

 

[Stonewall]

What are the procedures for signing up here? Just posting a character? Do I need to submit a character to LD via PM first? I've got some ideas in mind and would love to share them.

 

[Lord Durham]

What are the procedures for signing up here? Just posting a character? Do I need to submit a character to LD via PM first? I've got some ideas in mind and would love to share them.

Consider yourself signed. Send me a PM with your ideas and we can talk. Thanks for checking us out.

 

[unmerged(6528)]

Oooh 'the' elite. I guess we managed to make a reputation after all . I wonder if the Turk still remembers the black on black banner...

Anyway, I thought I'd offer up a some things to new writers, and even the vets might want to give this a look. I've been mangling text and getting in trouble since I straggled like an exceedingly ugly lost puppy into the early stages of Book I, and I've picked up a bit of knowledge and a couple tricks that I thought I could share.

1. Were all in this together. Don't get standoffish, remember that were here to have fun and to create this thing together. The whole story flows better when the PM's and the ooc thread are running wild. Communication between each other and with the PtB's makes this work.

2. Be careful with other people's characters. Nothing makes people angrier than having someone put words into other people's mouths or having them act in a way that they would never do. The key is to observe how other characters 'act' and to write them into believable parts of your own post.

3. Read other people's posts, and pay attention. No brainer, obviously, but it really helps with both writing people into your own posts and with being aware of the various dynamics going on in the story as an author.

4. You are not telepathic. Really. If the grunts are complaining about the officers, the officers don't always know. If the officers have a 'talk' about a potentially problem grunt, odds are the grunt doesn't know. What you read is not all your character knows, what is revealed in the ooc thread or pm's is not what your character knows.

5. No Free Company member is an island. Remember that x character passes y character probably almost every day. Whether or not your cavalry, infantry, gunner, officer, grunt, etc. If you walk to the latrine, you probably pass at least one or two pc's on the way, write it in. It helps to create a sense of community, a sense of believability within the story, and its a fantastic way to provide hooks for other writers.

6. If your not sure, ask. Don't be afraid to harass the PtB's if your curious about something. They may not answer, but, its better than being afraid to contribute. The same thing goes for character interaction. If you want to know how my character will act in a scene you want to write, ask me. During Book V I was asked to write multiple 'speeches' for my character that another recruit character was going to be listening/responding too. I didn't post them, he did. But he was extraordinarily considerate, and it made things flow better.

I'm sure I left out a couple things, but the key is too have fun with it. Some of these poor guys have been putting up with me going on 4 years or more now, I'm sure they can handle anyone who might want to join up.

 

[Amric]

Redwolf- Which I responded to....

Rath Jones makes a very good point, or series of points. In fact if you are going to end up creating a story arc that is going to become a major plotline you should PM or email Lord Durham to get permission. Such a story arc may interfere with the main plotline and throw the whole thing out of whack. A small minor story arc is not necessarily something you HAVE to get approved, but it might not hurt to run it past the PtB just to ensure it doesn't interfere with the other aspects of the storyline...

 

[Storey]

I'll have at least one character:

Henri Taylor
Norman ancestry
England is home but he hasn’t been there for over twenty years.
Intelligent with some education.
5’10" average build and 40 years of age
Been with the Free Company for over 20 years.
Because of wounds received is no longer involved in the military aspect of the free Company.
Now is chief negotiator for future contracts for the Free Company.
Political advisor to the Captain.
Watches the political situation in Europe so he knows which way the political winds blow and therefore knows which way to piss.

Joe

 

[Stonewall]

Name: Saito Matsunaga
Age: 33
Place of Birth: Kai Province, Japan
Height: 5'7
Weight: 155 lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown

Saito Matsunaga was born in Kai Province in 1532. Following the assasination of his parents by Takeda ninja at age 5, Saito was raised and instructed by Master Meiji Yoshi at Himeji Castle in the martial arts and the Buddhist religion. His sword, the "Golden Dream" formerly belonged to the Samurai Mikito Wannatabe and is widely regarded as the most finely crafted blade in the world. Saito plegded his loyalty to Lord Oda Nobunaga and quickly became his most trusted and efficient Samurai. Following Francis Xavier's expedition to Japan in 1549, both Saito and Oda were taken with Chrtistianity and in 1555, both converted from Buddhism to Catholicism. Saito was then sent as am emmissary to Lisbon to learn the ways of Christianity and study the art of European warfare. 2/3 of the way through the journey from Japan to Portugal, his ship was wrecked off the coast of Senagal in 1562.

EDIT: Corrected spelling of Mikito Wannatabe.

 

[unmerged(31558)]

Name: Frederick Kuhn von Schreiber

Age: 23

Description: Blond hair, black facial and body hair, hazel eyes, 180 pounds, muscular build, 6 feet and 2 inches tall.

Biography: Born out of wedlock to his father Johan von Schreiber, he was a stain on the reputation of the family. With his status of a bastard and not being wanted by anyone, he was sold to an Italian merchant who had business with the Hanseatic League. His master, Cristoforo d'Soriano, was a kind and very intelligent man who educated his apprentice as much as possible. Cristoforo had not been able to produce an heir for his business and so Frederick became that and much more, a son.

Frederick's childhood were two things, travel and learning, both of which he loved and thirsted for. From the diverse communities of Venice and Constantinople to the rising cities of Paris and London. In Arabia he learned how to ride a horse and wield the curved sword of the Saracens. While traveling through Italy, he was taught how mix and create chemicals especially gunpowder. However, it was in the Germany where he learned the art of hand to hand combat and more importantly, the ruthlessness of real politik.

As he, Cristoforo, and Cristoforo's fellow merchants arrived in Berlin, a bad feeling had come to Frederick. Business had been struggling and they were in Berlin to discuss an extension on paying back a loan. However things did not go as planned and Cristoforo's business partners betrayed him. Although he was allowed to live, he was forced to hand over his property to pay off the debt. When they wanted Frederick, he instead gave them his father's jeweled dagger which barely covered the price of a strong, smart, and healthy slave. Frederick was sixteen and Cristoforo, his savior and by all means except blood, his father was fifty-nine.

With the little money his father had, he managed to find a piece of land south-west of Ferrara. There he lived his last days, a poor and broken man who's only light was his son Frederick Kuhn von Schreiber. Finally when time came for his life to end, he spoke to his son and gave him words that Frederick would now tried to live by, "...do not fear death for it is always by our side, for if we do fear it, it will jump at us as fast as light but if we do not fear death, it will guide us into.......infinity".

*Note: Frederick speaks German, Italian, and Arabic fluently. He knows a smattering of English and French but not enough to communicate.

*Note 2: Frederick is intelligent and educated about many things especially with his travels so please dont treat him like he stupid and ignorant. Because of his father, he learned proper manners and how to act polite so he isnt like the average infantrymen. His primary flaw is that he can be stubborn at times and this includes everything he does but he knows when enough is enough.