Well, I guess I can try to post it here although it shows a reasonable part of my game i have kept out the demo.
So the three options that should show according to me are: #insulting him, #pretending to fight him., #charging them. But only the first one shows up in the game. So i was wondering if that’s because of the distance of the choices or something else.
Well, that is very kind indeed, but also the complete opposite of your intentions. Guess you have no choice but to change his mind by
*choice
#insulting him.
It isn't very nice, but you have your planned strategy to follow. And luckily for you, you know enough from the information you received to know what kind of insults will hurt him the most. It only takes a few lines to get him steaming, but still he doesn't attack. That is till some of his legionaries almost beg him to teach you a lesson.
For a split second Brianus seems to keep his head cool, but in the end his temper overcomes him and he orders the attack. And so you are now running away from a group of very angry legionaries. Still, the adrenaline surging through you makes the whole experience quite fun. That is till you notice Brianus' troops are getting closer and are still looking rather angry. And that isn't the only thing working against you. With all the commotion you are making you have drawn the attention of the civilians. It's a rough area you are going through and people aren't used to the large number of legionaries here, which in turn means that some are slow to make way. So it isn't that much of a surprise when you hear cheering coming from behind. From the sound you know it are Brianus his people. Sparing a second to look over your shoulder you see that one of you legionaries must have bumped into someone and Brianus people just "killed" him.
If it goes on like this you will all be taken out before you even get Brianus in the right street. In your mind you draw the map and look at the route you still need to take till your reach your destination. Just three more streets. You keep running, every once in a while shocked with the sound of one of your legionaries being killed. Your heart is beating wildly as you only need one more corner to reach your destination. At least you are there, but seeing your legionaries in the distance you realise you still need to make it till the end of the street.
As the waiting legionaries make room for you and the other legionaries who made it you hear Brianus giving an order to stop and form ranks. And with that the sound of running feet suddenly stops. already make room to let you pass and hold back Brianus troops. You feel like throwing up or blacking out after all that running, but somehow you manage to pull yourself together. Instead you try to take your mind of the feeling by looking how many legionaries made it with you. A quick count shows that almost half of them are still with you, most of them feeling a lot better than you. Well, at least there is that.
*page_break
Then you realise that if you are feeling like this, Brianus his legionaries might be feeling out of breath as well. A quick look at his legionaries tells you that they are fine. Some look winded, but all of them are fully trained legionaries and as such used to the weight of their armour and weapons. Having formed up Brianus orders a part of his legionaries forwards. A quick count of shields show that there are sixty legionaries marching towards you. Your fifteen surviving legionaries and the thirty that were waiting for you makes forty-five. So they have the numbers here. Well, that only means that you will have the numbers elsewhere. Sixty legionaries will attack Brianus from behind any minute now. Most the forty legionaries guarding the the small alleyways are recruits so they most likely won't show up even though it's clear they should be able to, since Brianus hasn't even made the consideration to leave. So that leaving your trump card, sixty-three legionaries hidden inside buildings, ready to storm out once Brianus his troops are split up fighting you and the rear group, both of which will slowly back away, causing the gab.
Just before Brianus his legionaries clash with you there is commotion in Brianus his ranks. Your other group must have started their advance. So far so good. Now both you and the rear group just need to hold on long enough for that gab.
But it becomes clear that Brianus has placed his best legionaries in the front line. It isn't sixty of his legionaries against forty-five of yours, it are his best fighters against a handful of regular legionaries. It doesn't take long before your first legionaries are beaten. Feeling the flow of battle turning against you you decide to
*choice
#take fate in your own hands and fight.
It is clear your legionaries are losing heart and with that the ability to buy enough time for the rest. Well, after all you have accomplished today you aren't going to giving up that easily. And so you take the place of the one of the legionaries fighting in the first line. With trained ease he switches position with you, giving him a moment to catch his breath in relative safety and gives you your chance to show the rest how it's done.
The fighting is hard, serious, even though it are just practise weapons, the feeling is that of a real fight. The air is heavy and the noise deafening. And not just of shield slamming against each other or shouts from legionaries. Your public looking from there windows are almost making as much noise shouting and cheering. The legionary you face right now has plenty of red strips on his shield but clearly is still untouched on his body. Well, lets see if you can make a difference there.
A quick stab leaves another clear strip on his shield while his neighbour tries to stab in since you are to focussed on your direct opponent. If it wasn't for the legionary next to you, you would already been taken out. But everyone is save this moment. But you are pressed into defence only. Blow after blow rains down on your shield. But somehow you manage to hold out. Then your opponent, obviously feeling tired switches place with someone else.
*page_break
*if fighting <5
Finally you have an opening to take someone out. You reach out with your short blade. For a second you don't release that you have been hit on your arm. The legionaries next to your target saw you reaching out to far and has left a red strip on your arm. Your dead, well technically your arm would be bleeding, but in this exercise you are dead. You fall back to stand with the to other "dead".
A little while later there aren't enough legionaries left to hold the line and Brianus his troops flow through the holes in the line, despatching the remaining legionaries with ease. Since you aren't in the game any more you try to look if your trap has worked, but it seems that your legionaries were to late in springing the trap. Instead most of your legionaries are now trapped inside of the buildings, unable to help.
Ten minutes later the officers call a stop to the fight. Your instructor looks you up. A shame to see you lose, worse, I shame I lost. Oh well, guess that's why you got such nice odds. Anyway, did you accomplish what you set out to do?" Well, you just lost the fight, so you tell him you didn't.
"I didn't mean the fight, I mend whatever business you got here. You are to smart to pick this place without a good reason. And that reason wasn't tactics, that's for sure. So did you succeed." You want to answer him but it seems he has already read your expression. Well, at least something good has come from all of this. And with that he leaves.
*set lostchallangethree +1
*goto endofthischapter
*if fighting >=5
Finally there is a break in the constant attacks. You suddenly realise that you have been focussing only on the foe right in front of you. But there are enemies next to him, enemies you have ignored to last few minutes. And because of that they are paying less attention on you than they should have. With a simple stab you get the one on your right in his ribs as he as hitting the shield of your neighbour. You took one out. Feeling pride you look at the foe on your left, but the legionary facing you is preventing you from taking out anyone else. Still, your line is holding. Then a sudden chaos. The hidden legionaries finally have come out of the buildings. Of course they are discovered shortly after that, but many legionaries were facing them with there back and so a fair number is taken out before they have time to respond properly.
In the end your battle line is broken. Well, it were Brianus his best legionaries so it wasn't that much of a surprise. As the officers stop the fight your instructor walks over to you. "Well done, that was impressive. Although if it were real life you would be dead right now. So a bit more planning couldn't hurt next time. Did you complete all you came to do here?"
Well, you won, so you tell him you did. When he asks about your private meeting early in the morning you feel to much relieved to keep a straight face. But before you can answer him he tells you he know you would manage and leaves. It's almost scary just how much he knows.
[b]leadership +1[/b]
*set leadership +1
` *set closewonchallangethree +1
*goto endofthischapter
#speed up the retreat.
You just need to get enough distance. And right now to pace in which you are losing people is to high. You order your legionaries to properly retreat instead of the slow and steady pace. But it only causes more chaos in your ranks. Then one of your legionaries is taken out and the gab isn't filled quickly enough, splitting your battle line in two. Brianus his fighters pour through. You do your best to keep the legionaries from attacking your line in the back but there are to many, all of them either as good as you or better. It takes only a few moments before you and your legionaries are taken out. As soon as you are defeated the legionaries turn around to face your group attacking there rear. As the march quickly the first of your legionaries comes out of the building. But there is little surprise and Brianus legionaries meet the threat head on. What is worse, because they are found out so quickly many of your legionaries are still inside as Brianus his troops convert on the door, giving your men no way to switch position when tiring from fighting or even having a good chance to cover each other.
And so you lost. A little while later the officers stop the fight. A small bright note, although you can't laugh about it without some form of punishment, is that the first officer exiting the building they were in to watch the fight immediately gets a red strip on his uniform as a nearby legionaries from Brianus assumed they were your fighters. Feeling low you see your instructor approaching you. "Well, that was a shame. Did you at least succeed in your other task?" For a second you wonder what he means but than remember the talk you had earlier today. Wow, it feels like it was a lot longer ago.
Thinking back how well that went you must have shown a smile because the instructor seems to know you succeeded, although you can't be certain he knows what you goal was. "Well, I know you had it in you, just be careful in the future, you did die today." And with that he leaves.
*set lostchallangethree +1
*goto endofthischapter
#pretending to fight him.
You order your troops to get ready and form up a proper formation. Although there are only thirty of you, the street is small enough for you to block with ten legionaries standing next to each other, leaving Brianus no way to get around you.
It's a very clear statement and Brianus responds in kind. You might be able to hold him of for a little while, since fighting like this it's almost a one on one fight instead of thirty against one hundred and eighty. But since you have no advantage in training or equipment and a perfectly fine trap waiting for him further in the city you wait for Brianus to orders his legionaries to form up for a fight. As soon as they are formed up you tell your legionaries to fall back as quickly as possible. Because legionaries don't just rush ahead without orders you have gotten some distance between yourself and Brianus by the time the order is given to follow you.
And so now you are running, being the first person in a chase in which more than two hundred legionaries are participating. So civilians are smart enough to make room, others just stare at the spectacle and you have to swirl around them. Still, because of the head start you got you manage to stay ahead of Brianus and his legionaries. In your head you keep calculation how much longer you need to keep this up. Just three streets more street. But running like this has shifted one of the plates and it's now digging in your shoulder with every step you take. It hurts, and you are certain you will be bleeding when you reach your destination. Luckily with all that is going on the pain is but a secondary thought right now. Instead you take a fraction of a second to look what is going on behind you.
You look at your legionaries, some smiling with excitement, other having the clear signs of exhaustion. Fully trained legionaries shouldn't be effected to much from a run like this. But it's the capital and there haven't been a proper threat for so long training is perhaps a bit to lacks. As you reach the place of your ambush there are no longer any confused civilians, at least not on the street itself, you are certain there are plenty still watching from there windows. The feeling of triumph makes room for that of realisation when you realise you don't just have to make it to this street, you have to make it till the end of the street. At the end of the street you can see several legionaries cheering you on. And with that you make a last sprint. The waiting legionaries make room for you and your man to pass after which there rank close again. Safe. Again the mixed feeling of excitement, accomplishment and pride wash over you. You got them here, and you still got all your troops. Now you just need to defeat Brianus.
*page_break
As you turn around you see that Brianus has order his troops to a stop and are currently forming up into battle formation, in this case just forming rows of shields till there is no way to bypass them. His lines look steady, which is to bad. Somewhere in the back of your mind you had hoped that they would be out of breath like you. Of course, they are all fully trained legionaries and as such a lot more used to running around in full armour. Instead of marching Brianus starts talking towards you. "Done running or just out of breath? I don't know what you are up to, but we will take care of you before you have a chance to do it. First cohort, march"
With that command sixty legionaries march towards you. They are easy to count, fifteen shields wide, four lines deep. A cohort officially should be exist out of eighty legionaries, first cohort double that, but Brianus must have divided his legionaries into these groups so it would be easier for him to command them. Not that bad an idea.
Well, now you just need to hold them back with your sixty legionaries while Brianus will be attacked from behind, and when he splits his forces they will be attacked by the troops hidden inside the buildings. As you catch your breath
*page_break
Just before your legionaries clash you hear a commotion coming from Brianus his legionaries. It seems they have noticed the legionaries that are approaching there rear. Since Brianus thinks himself safe between the buildings part of his group is sent to fight of those legionaries while his front line keeps moving on towards you. Perfect. Now both of your groups just need to keep fighting and slowly falling back till there is a gab large enough for your hidden legionaries to take advantage of there misplaced safety.
But the moment the fight starts it's clear that these aren't your average legionaries. If you were to guess it would seem that Brianus had his best people marching in the front, meaning that you will need to hold back his best fighters. Well, not you personal. You are currently in the forth line, safely catching your breath. But it isn't long till the first legionaries are beaten. It's a good think you got everyone back here or who knows how fast they would have broken through.
Still, as there leader it is your job to set an example. You could fight in the front, perhaps inspiring the rest to fight harder.
*choice
#Join the fight.
With the fight going on in earnest there isn't any command you can give that will have effect. Nor is there anything you can do should this line be broken. You have ran from them, now it's time to show them you can take care of yourself. Up push yourself from the back row to the front and tab one of the fighting legionaries on his shoulder. With ease he switches places with you, leaving you to face your foes while he move to the back getting some rest till he needs to fight again.
The foe you are facing is getting tired from all the fighting so far, but is even so a good match for you. Switching between stabs and blocks you do your best to beat this man but he isn't making it easy for you. But slowly he starts the strain of fighting is making him sluggish. And then, just as you are certain you can beat him his place is taken over by the legionaries behind him. In quick succession blows rain on your shield but you manage to keep yourself safe.
*if fighting >=4
Still slowly pulling back so your hidden troops will have enough space to attack Brianus his troops in the back your sandal suddenly gets caught on something. For a second you feel like looking what it is, but luckily manage to keep your attention focussed on the job at hand. Looking like a faint to the rest, your opponent sees an opening that isn't there and the legionaries fighting besides you manages to quickly take him out.
Feeling tired and having the others think you are a better fighter than you actually are you switch position again. It isn't much later that you hear shouting. Your hidden legionaries have finally come out of there hiding places and have started there attack. The chaos is to big in Brianus is ranks while your legionaries are finding renewed energy from this turn of events. Brianus his troops get slaughtered. Or they would if is had been a real fight.
A little while later the officers watching the fight come down and order everyone to stand down. It's clear to pretty much everyone that you won and soon you are receiving congratulations from friend and foe. Even a good number of officers come over and tell you that they were impressed with you.
But to all good things come an end you everyone gets ready to head back to their barracks. Just before you have to leave your instructor head over to you. "Well done, very impressive. Tell me, did you win all your battles today or just this one right now?" For a moment you don't really know what he is talking about. That is till you remember your conversation this morning. Your expression must have said enough because your instructor leaves before you can even give him an answer. Today has been a great day.
[b]fighting +1, leadership +1[/b]
*set fighting +1
*set leadership +1
*set wonchallangethree +1
*goto theendofthefightfighter
*else
That is for a little while. But no matter what you have learned these last weeks, you are no match to a fully trained legionary. Your dead would have been a sword wound in the gut. Although how he managed to get his blade there is not entirely clear to you. Still, your dead is to late. Your plan works as a little while later your hidden legionaries rush forward from the buildings they were hiding. The confusion is to great for Brianus to maintain order in his ranks and the battle turns into a massacre for his legionaries.
It isn't long after that that the officers watching the fight come down and order everyone to stand down. It's clear to pretty much everyone that you won and soon you are receiving congratulations from friend and foe. Even a good number of officers come over and tell you that they were impressed with you.
But to all good things come an end you everyone gets ready to head back to their barracks. Just before you have to leave your instructor head over to you. "Well done, very impressive. Tell me, did you win all your battles today or just this one right now?" For a moment you don't really know what he is talking about. That is till you remember your conversation this morning. Your expression must have said enough because your instructor skips to another subject. "Just remember ${firstname}, and victory is empty if you aren't alive to enjoy it."
Well, that is a little bit depressing to hear, but you are alive, managed to win and settle things before you have to leave the capital. Today is still a win.
[b]leadership +1[/b]
*set leadership +1
*set wonchallangethree +1
*goto theendofthefightfighter
#Wait and see how the fight goes.
Sure, you could join the fight, but there isn't any need. Everyone here is a full legionary, you are not. There is no need to fight right now. Just gather your strength so that, should it be necessary you can jump in. But right now everything is going just fine.
And you are right. If it was a real fight to the dead, you would have lost quite a few people this day as Brianus and his man are taking out your legionaries at a steady pace. Although, to the credit of your man, they don't go down easily and Brianus loses a fair number to. After some time there is again confusion amongst Brianus his troops as your hidden legionaries charge out of the building. Well, not charging, there order were to remain as silent as possible for as long as possible so they could take out as many unsuspecting legionaries as possible.
The chaos is to much for Brianus his man and there orderly lines disappear as they don't know from which side they are being attacked. The day is yours. Besides congratulations from your own legionaries and even some of the enemies the officers who have been watching from above seem very pleased with the outcome. At least the once you speak. There were some big bets amongst them, so you doubt everyone is happy with you.
As everyone is forming up to march back to there barrack your instructor walks over to you. "${firstname}, a fine show if I say so myself. Did you manage to win all your battles today or just this one here?"
With all the excitement it takes a moment to think back about the conversation you had this morning. There is no way he could know about what happened. Could he? But as you think about it your face must have given you away and the instructor leaves you alone with a smile on his face.
[b]Wit +1[/b]
*set wit +1
*set wonchallangethree +1
*goto endofthischapter
#charging them.
They aren't expecting you to do anything, so you will just attack them, perhaps take one or two out and retreat. They are certain to follow you than. With a short shout you order your legionaries to attack and judging by the confused reaction you were right that Brianus his troops didn't expect that. Unfortunately your own troops didn't expect that order either and are slow to follow you. Still, they are legionaries and they do follow you.
But the distance between you and Brianus is to large. By the time you arrive they have closed ranks and are ready for you. You try two stabs but both are easily blocked. The rest of your legionaries aren't doing any better. Guess you won't be taking anyone out right now. Still, your plan can still succeed if you make it back to the right street. And there is no doubt that Brianus will follow you now. And so, within a minute you have given both the order to attack and retreat.
Since you know when you give the order to retreat you managed to get away. But many of the legionaries are less lucky and are taken out by Brianus his troops as they turned around. What is worse, your lead isn't must more than two steps. Feeling adrenaline surging through your body you run like you have never run before. And you finally get some distance from Brianus. Unfortunately, the street you need to reach is still some distance away and you newly found energy burns away quickly. With less of half the distance travelled and only a handful of troops left you are stabbed in the back. Your other legionaries just seem to give up right after that. And so you face a amused Brianus. "Well, that was just plain stupid of you. Don't know what it is you tried to do, but you failed big time. But hey, better luck next time."
Cursing yourself for the stupid approach you see no other way but to tell Brianus about your plan since it's clear that he isn't going to wander in your trap by himself. As he listens to you, you can't help but noticing the amusement on his face. Once you finish your explanation he gives you a pat on your shoulder, slightly harder than you would have liked, and tells you to go and inform the officers what has happened.
*page_break
It's with a horrible feeling that you enter the building where the officers are waiting for you. When you tell them what has happened some of the officer see the humour of it, others less so. But that is what happens when there are high bets in play.
As the leave the building with you they tell you to break the news to the legionaries still waiting, unaware of what has happened. The legionaries aren't to happy about it either, and although you haven't spoken to Vitus or Prisca, they won't be to happy about all this either since you picked this place.
As everyone is lining up to march back to the barrack your instructor calls you over. "To bad about all of this, but did you complete your other objective?" You have no idea how he could have known you had something else going on. Perhaps it was just a guess from his side, or perhaps he deducted it form the place you picked. But before you can give him an answer it seems he managed to read your expression which must have lightened up for a second. Anyway, he leaves telling you that he know you wouldn't fail without winning something. Somehow you feel better about yourself after that.
*set Prisca -5
*set Vitus -5
*set lostchallangethree +1
*goto theendofthefightfighter
