Prologue: The Mad Scientist

[Adamah]

The cadets made their way to one of the rooms set aside for the alchemy department. In it, an aged man in a smock was bent over a cannon. Straightening suddenly, he turned around and looked towards the cadets.

"Is it really time yet?" he asked quizzically.

Suddenly hearing steps behind them, the cadets turned to see a kilt wearing sergeant walking towards them.

"C'mon Iggy, I reminded you this morning over breakfast," he said with a smile on his face.

"It's the morning?" the elderly man replied.

Shaking his head, the sergeant introduced himself to the cadets, "I'm Sergeant Joseph MacKenzie, this is Professor Ignacio Jericho. We're here to teach you the ins and outs of trench warfare. Take a few minutes to introduce yourselves, then let's get started. We have a lot to cover and not much time to do it in."

[MundayKnight]

"Hello everyone, I am Hurin Alder for those who don't know me, I am skilled in mounted and unmounted combat and I am particularly skilled in ranged combat." Hurin sets a somewhat shy grin on his face, he was fairly certain they all would have at least an idea of who he was but he still found himself to be shy in small group situations.

[Xbow]

Most, if not all of you know me. I am Akoragh Barri'ath, when do we start. this guy does not look right.

[jalroy]

The tall Half-Orc was silent through all of the introductions, only half paying attention like he often was. The day of speeches and ceremony had ended without trouble and this next class or assignment was just like most of the others from what he could tell. Dracknor had been quiet and yet apt to paying attention to most of the proceedings. Yet when they'd arrived at this new class room, he could hear weeping in the corner of the room which he knew no one else besides him could hear or address. When the room had a moment of silence, he finally stood up to attention that he was next in line to introduce himself. Any spirits in the room would have to wait.

"I am Gnar... Oracle."

[Adamah]

"Alright then boys, it looks like we're all acquainted now. So let's get to it." He then reaches in a bag and pulls out a large map, which he unfolds on one of the tables. "Gather round now, you can knock off all the formal crap, this is important."

"This is a map of the town of Trunau."

"Some of you may or may not know it's history," he said, with a pointed look at Gnar, "but I'll recount it anyway so we're all on the same page."

"Trunau is located in the Hold of Belkzan. As you may know, the Hold became a haven for Orcish tribes many many centuries ago, and since that time they've been gradually expanding their borders. You may have heard of Lastwall, the crusader country, which was pretty much founded to help prevent Belkzan and the Worldwound from expanding."

"Trunau was once one of the border towns to the Hold. Then when the orcs pushed out again, instead of fleeing, the citizens decided to stay and fight."

"They're tough, honest, people. Unfortunately for them, they don't have much that the rest of the world wants, so for the most part they're on their own. Andoran and Lastwall try to aid them as best they can, but between orcs and demons, generally the firebreathing abyss dwellers get more funds and troops devoted to them."

"However, the Academy has found Trunau to be a great place for a final Exam for certain stalwart cadets, as the Orcs almost always mount a large attack on the town in the early spring, and we use the Exam as an excuse to funnel a few platoons of troops in every year to help them out."

"Don't worry," he said, with a roguish grin on his face, "we're not just hijacking your Exam, by the time this is all over I guarantee you'll come back with more combat experience than the rest of your classmates.

His face then sobered a bit, "we've lost a lot of cadets doing this over the year. But it's a job that needs doing, and I know you won't disappoint me."

"The town is heavily fortified, as you can probably tell from the map, so we will be giving you a crash course in fighting from behind fortifications. You may be wondering what he's doing here," Sergeant MacKenzie said, gesturing towards the crazed looking Alchemist.

"Over the last decade, cannon has begun to make a transition from an oddity, to a battlefield necessity. He and I both believe that cannon will become a deciding factor in future wars."

"It seems that Andoran agrees with us, as they've been producing and buying a number of them in recent years. Unfortunately that makes them hard to get ahold of. Lucky for us Professor Jericho here happens to be one of Andoran's leading expert in cannon, and he has managed to refurbish some broken pieces that I've 'acquired' and make the necessary powder and shot for them."

"So not only will you folks be helping Trunau, but you will get to be involved in one of the first real tests of the the power of cannon on a modern battlefield." With that the Sergeant grinned.

"Any questions?"

[Xbow]

Just one question, Sir, May I be the one to pilot the cannon?

[MundayKnight]

"Trunau, that is where Radisa died." A silence descends upon the young warrior before he reopens his eyes, a new fire in them. "This struggle will end with us. I would prefer to talk with the Orcs but if they refused I will hunt each and every one of them down and set them to the sword."

[jalroy]

Gnar had never been to the town of Trunau but had heard of it. He was third generation Half-Orc on his father's side, second generation on his mother's. He only had limited first hand experience with true Orc's, and had never actually done battle with one before. Dracknor had of course more experience with fighting Orcs, and would relish the chance to do so again. He glanced to the Drow and Human, and Gnar still ignored the weeping in the corner of the room which was now progressing to moaning, before addressing Sergeant MacKenzie.

"Are we the only reinforcements you are sending to Trunau?"

[Adamah]

Still grinning, MacKenzie replied to Akoragh, "I like your attitude, part of your training will be familiarization with the operation of the cannon, but we have another task in mind for you three, and it plays into the answer to your question." He nodded in the direction of Gnar.

"We'll be sending two platoons of regular army troops into Trunau along with you all, as well as a platoon of engineers to operate the cannon. Effective cannon use, especially when firing at targets that that cannot be seen, relies on efficient spotters who can relay targeting information back to the cannoneers. Regular troops don't have the necessary skills or magic ability to successfully communicate this information over distance, you cadets do. So we'll be training you in the proper spotting techniques, as well as fighting from behind fortifications."

He then looked at Hurin.

"Your heart's in the right place, but don't get yourself killed trying to be a hero. I got to know Cadet Radisa very well before she died and she spoke well of you. It's one of the reasons I had you selected for this task. She would want you to fight smart. You can't protect Trunau, or her memory, if you die trying to take on the whole Orc horde yourself. I cannot promise that we will end the threat this spring, but we will make them think twice about it next year! Anything else?"

[Xbow]

Hmmm, Im interested on how you will be wanting us to be spotting other than calling out their locations. Will we be using any sort of items to help the spotters ?

[Adamah]

"Yes, the other part of your training will be in the use of magical items which will allow you to communicate at long range. You've already received a majority of the instruction already at the Academy, we just need to teach you certain command words and procedure for effective guidance of cannon fire. If there isn't anything else, I'd like to begin that now."

He then spent the rest of the day instructing the cadets on the activation and use of magic items. When the broke for dinner he ordered the cadets to meet him at a field on the far end of the Academy grounds after breakfast the next day.

 

Everyone add Use Magic Device as a class skill and give yourself a rank in it. This should make up for a lack of arcane magic user in your party. Everyone's welcome to make any last minute changes they want to their character. When ready post a reply describing anything of note that occurs before reporting tomorrow. I'll take a look at everyone's character sheet then one last time. Then we get on to some action.

[Xbow]

After a good night’s rest and a hearty meal, Akoragh is the first to arrive at the location awaiting instructions.

[MundayKnight]

The night passed slowly for Hurin, he couldn't sleep and he found himself at the archery range until the wee hours of the morning, then caught a few hours of sleep before heading toward the field, somewhat surprised to see Akoragh there before him.

[jalroy]

Gnar had breakfast alone, or at least it appeared he was, between mouth fulls of food he would mutter or argue with someone who no one else could hear. It wasn't uncommon for him to do this of course, if it wasn't his constant companion Dracknor he would speak to, it was some other spirit that would follow him around and disrupt his daily routine. As he finished breakfast, he cleaned himself up and headed down to the field as instructed.

Gnar nodded to his two fellow cadets and awaited for their commander to arrive. Thankfully he wasn't hearing anything out of the ordinary in this location.

[Adamah]

A few minutes after arriving at the field, the three heard, "Over here!" from their left, near the tree line. Upon approaching, they saw that a cannon was set up with the crazy looking professor and Sergeant McKenzie standing adjacent.

"You're gonna get your wish today," he said Akoragh.

Looking at Hurin and Gnar he smiled and said, "You two follow me, he's going to shoot over our heads!"

 

Ok, describe each of your actions as follows.
Akoragh, you will wait until you receive a fire order from the other two, then attempt to shoot at a rather large target 100 yards away that is blocked by the terrain of the field. Once you receive the order you will be at a -9 to hit it (-6 for not in line of sight, -4 for range, +1 for observers providing you target information). The cannon is ready to fire now. It takes 3 full round actions to load it and 1 full round action to aim and fire it (generally a multiple person cannon crew can do the loading actions simultaneously, you will do it yourself) You will make a ranged attack roll to do it. If you miss, every successive shot that they provide feedback for will give you an additional +1 to hit. It's AC is 10.

Gnar and Munday. You will need to make DC15 Use Magic Device Check to communicate using the wand you're provided. You can both attempt to make it. Go ahead and role play out your guidance, using whatever appropriate military sounding firing information sounds good.

You are all also welcome to embellish whatever else you may think of (particularly your reaction to Akoragh shooting over your head).