It's time to become the Bannerlord
Freshly defeated, we begin today's episode captured by Tais of the Aserai. A somewhat familiar circumstance for our character, so it's not something that we feel too bad about. After all, a little rest and relaxation is important - and what better way to rest and relax than in shackles, eh?
It does give us time to review our latest skill milestones and pick some new perks, which is nice.
The new Riding perk gives us extra morale when joining a friendly that is already engaged in a battle, as well as providing our governed settlements additional Security for each unit of cavalry we have there. Both are useful to us, though at this point we don't have a settlement. It is a good thing to remember for later though.
The new Tactics perk we choose is Proper Engagement, which provides some bonus speed and damage on plains, steppes, and desert terrains. Most of the fighting thus far has been in these locations, so getting the extra speed and damage in those environments is super handy to us.
This is also an illustration of why I say it's fine that we lose armies now and then. Skills are infinitely more important to me right now. I can afford to replace armies - hell, one good tournament and I could reasonably replace 3 armies just from the sale of a 30,000 denar horse! Money is easy to make and with the Stewardship skills we've acquired, levelling troops is easy as well.
With a minor 2,800 Denars to grease some palms, I'm a free man again! And, handily enough, we're right beside a town to start the re-population of our army. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.
900 Denars later and we've already 11 new fresh-faced troops! Four of whom are already Tier 4 soldiers. That's handy! Saves us a pile in car insurance upgrade costs.
Before you say it - I realize that we could have also saved a pile in costs just by not getting our asses handed to us. Retreat is, of course, always an option.
It's just the coward's option. Never retreat! We take out as many enemies as we can every time, no surrender! Few thousand in replaced horses, food, and troops is a small price to pay to preserve our 'go out swinging' ethos. This world tried to fuck us right from the very first action if you recall. Our parents were murdered, our siblings sold into slavery. We've compromised on nothing in our quest to get revenge and reunite our family, and that will continue.
Speaking of family... we also get to see our very first birth today! On the ninth day of Winter, 1087, a child is born to Nogand and Asela (proving that being on the warpath is not a libido killer).
Nogand is a tank, and Asela is a face-stomping tornado of battle, so this kid is inheriting some good qualities from both of them.
Now, getting back to our army... 9 minutes in and we're already back to 85 units, and are chasing down other mercs for blood and glory.
Fresh recruits or not, I'm pretty dang confident in my ability to smash Polon of the Embers' party. They're good, don't get me wrong, but any of the Embers' cult units barely wear armour so they don't exactly worry me.
They worry me so little in fact, that I have zero hesitation about riding head-first into their main party and tossing down alone while the rest of my forces catch up.
I'm the Oprah of javelins. You get a javelin! And you get a javelin! AND YOU GET A JAVELIN!
Look at that party I'm facing - still alone, I might add. My troops are juuuuust beginning to peek out from behind that hill to the top left.
Half these folks are wearing robes! There's some leather - mostly from the archers, and a shield or two... but most of the force has all the defensive protection of a house coat. This is what I mean when I say that even with brand-new recruits, I'm pretty confident we can take 'em.
As soon as our forces clash, it instantly becomes a slaughter. Half the enemy drops by the time I'm able to wheel my horse around during this maneuver.
When the dust settles, we've lost 3 people. They've lost everyone. Those who aren't dead are captured and ransomed.
One down, but with such a wonderful result from the last battle... we might as well run down the other army that was hanging about. Two fewer armies for our enemies to throw at us!
We chase down another looter or two and do a minor quest while waiting for all of our companions to return to the party (some of whom are only recently released from captivity), and then it's time to actually tackle the big ticket item for today: Assembling the Dragon Banner!
The quest begins at one of two cities, with one of two former spymasters. We choose Epicrotea and Istiana first (the Old Empire's former Spymaster), and she tells us that she's located a piece being held by a conveniently nearby group of bandits. How fortunate for us!
She also tells us the tale of the banner; how it's said that any true son (or daughter) of Calradios the Great will never be defeated in battle so long as they carry the Dragon Banner. A fun little tale with all the vagueness that ancient legends and prophecies rely upon.
Finding out where the actual group of bandits is, requires us to "state our intentions" to each of the spymasters. For Istiana here, she will only tell us where they're located if we swear that we're going to try to unite the Empire again. So, being as we're not stupid, we tell her what she wants to hear. We'll do the exact opposite and swear that we'll overthrow the Empire when we talk to the next guy.
Look at that frown. It's like she knows I'm lying to her face.
Regardless, we take the information she's given us and rush over to clear the bandit hideout. It's a standard bandit-hideout battle and poses absolutely no challenge. Within minutes we're the proud owners of the second piece of the Dragon Banner.
A few minutes later, we pull the same antics with ol' Arzagos.
Again, the battle is absolutely no challenge, and now we have all three pieces of the Dragon Banner!
It's time to put this legendary item back together!
It doesn't matter who we return to, to close off this part of the quest chain, so since he's close we pop back to Arzagos, who tells us that we have some decisions to make.
From here... we can either side with the Empire, side against the Empire, or go it alone and make our own Kingdom.
Thankfully, we don't have to decide right now - so we'll stew on this and see what path we want to take. One thing is clear immediately, however; We are now officially The Bannerlord.
Until next time friends, happy gaming!
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