The Tarantula Faction run a short newsletter that is released prior to events. The purpose of this newsletter is to provide a brief amount of recent information about the faction. To try and leave intrigue within the game, we limit it to major information – the sort of things you might pick up in your classic table-top tavern scenario. Major leadership changes, wars, notable deaths, etc. We also try and include some “fluff” or flavour pieces, nonsense items just designed to give the world a little more scope than just what happens at events.
You can downlaod the latest, and past issues here!
Below follows the history of the year 1119 Third Founding
This weekend I attended the Incantor Social they held inn Dyur’turic, along with Marcus, Solitaire, Kalina, Culfich, Ingrid and Alanna of the dragons.
I liked how they decorated the guild and it gave me ideas on how to redo one of the rooms in the Main citadel once it is finished being repaired. Whilst we were there it became apparent that some beings were trapped in the guild house, there were five of them and it was explained to me that they were connected to some crystals, like how a lich is connected to its phylactery. Turns out that they were Ancestral beings, (I lost interest at this point and if you want to know more I suggest you speak to one of the others that attended). I do know that only one of the beings was freed and it was a Drow who is now wandering around the Underdark.
I did meet some interesting people there and found out the following information.
1) A follower of “Lord Cube”- This person told me that he came to the guilds to ask for help as his friend had gone missing and he was sent to ask for help in finding him. I did ask who sent him and were he was originally from he told me he was from Dobluthe the same place as his friend. He was sent by the lord Cube who everyone in Dobluthe now serves/Worships. I was intrigued as to how he received his orders and he told me he does not have direct communication with the cube but someone called Sefhron sent him. When I asked if the House Karrash-moor, follows the cube he said everyone in Dobluthe follows the cube. (I do not believe this statement) He was speaking heresy so I took action. After knocking him to the floor Solitaire was very kind enough to finish him off and clean up the mess. (This did get us in to a little trouble with the guild but I believe it has all been sorted. I was asked to not attack anyone else).
2) A Fey from arcadia – a messenger came to basically and not so long winded announce that any fey who does not swear an oath to the Silver throne will be considered an Enemy of the throne. I very kindly informed the messenger that no Tarantula Fey will bend the Knee to any throne except that of the Throne of Telantiwar. I informed her that any Tarantula fey that does swear to the Silver throne will be declared as a heretic. And we do not take threats lightly. The throne of telantiwar is where the Valshiress sits and she is the embodiment of Lolth. That is the only throne we will bend the knee too.
3) Hornswoggle – The Halfling turned up to pass on some information that we have been waiting for. He told me he knows the location of Kayliths Phylactery and that she SHOULD be away in about 12 weeks’ time (first weekend of April). It is on an Island where it seems that if she wishes for something it appears. I suggest who ever goes be careful what they wish for.
He did tell me that at the moment there is a Troll Mummy Lord, a Dwarfen Barrow Wright, and some Cymrians who use to work for a man called Hadrian. (The dragons are very interested in this bit). The Dragons who were at the event have asked that if none of these people are able to make the exploration then would we be willing to lay them to rest. I did tell them I couldn’t make any promises but we could try. I also told them that any dragons that chose to join us would be given hospitality and the same protection as anyone who goes on the expedition.
Hornswoggle did not want to stick around for long as he was afraid Kaylith would catch up with him. Before he left he did tell me that if any who want to go to the island they will need to meet at the city of Souls, and he will make sure there is a beacon to the island called Brotherly Love.
Hornswoggle Was smart to move on as after about 2-3 Hours of him leaving one of Kayliths Dolly’s turned up. It only had two messages and they were “Hornswoggle was Noted” this suggests that she knows he is up to something. The second message was “No one hurts my Maliki but me” Or something along those lines. Ingrid interacted the most with this dolly and did an excellent job handling it.
Apart from these it was a quiet evening, I did have to convince a vampire I would not taste very nice but that is another matter.
Dal'haril Briseis Maelthra
House Maelthra
Research Article
The information contained in this article is the result of research done by players from within the Game World. The contents are only as factual as the original author intended and should not be unduly modified.
Congratulations, by some deed of politics, diplomacy or arms you have been granted an officer position in the Tarantulas faction. This document seeks to instruct you in the virtues, privileges and duties of a military officer in our glorious faction. May Araushnee guide your steps and bring you victory.
The Tarantulas is a warrior based culture. This means that we do not have a paid standing army. The denizens of our faction who have sufficient resources equip themselves with arms and armour best suited to their skill set, or group disposition and utilise these as best they can in the fields of battle to which they are sent.
We have five distinct groups of warrior class:
Heavies
lights
mages
incantors
healers
This is of course a generalisation and we have a number of subsets or persons of mixed ability in between, but the generalisation is good enough for the purpose of military organisation. It is very important that you as an officer understand the different types of characters who make up these five classes and how they operate currently and how to improve them (if required). A word of warning here, some people have a very "pointed" resistance to being improved so diplomacy is called for.
You will have been selected for your post for one of three reasons
1. Your skill at your chosen arms
2. Your knowledge of military matters
3. Your leadership skills or position within your warrior class
You may excel at one of these but the best swordsman in the world is useless as a commander if he does not know how to move his men or lead troops into battle. A balance of all three is required for success and this document seeks to help you develop all three.
Hierarchy
The faction uses a simple chain of command
Faction command
Who rule the faction.
War commander (1 of)
Has overall responsibility for the faction military organization and disposition
Generals (2 of)
Have responsibility for organising and motivating the major faction blocks of troops. A generals place is not in the front of battle but in the third rank or so and is expected to keep an eye on the battle progress.
Captains (5 of)
Have responsibility for running the individual units in a battle situation. Captains are expected to lead by example from the front
Privileges and Duties
As a military officer you have the following privileges
To command a section of the Tarantulas war host
To attend war council
To assist in shaping military policy
To hold rank in the faction.
K'lyth Mlezzir is a powerful Olog Lich that was previously in the service of Dracos.
Following the death of Dracos, K'lyth was discovered outside the City of Nakkiga. She had set up a home/shrine where she had taken to collecting a huge number of items that she had decided were of value. Many were little more than trinkets, some were powerful items of war. The only connection was that she had decided they were her "presents", although many had been taken from their corpses...
During that first meeting between K'lyth and the Tarantula Faction, it became apparent that her chaotic nature had been enraptured by Kiransalee. This chaotic nature is often described as psychotic.
Due to her nature as a Lich, the faction was faced with a problem. Any attempt to kill her, would allow her to simply reform at her phylactery, and so finding that was a priority. In an attempt to distract her whilst our scouts worked, Malakai Mlezzir attempted to converse with her. However his efforts left the powerful Lich somewhat smitten with our Lord Arcane.
This would have worked to our benefit had our scouts been able to location her phylactery, unfortunately she grew wise to the efforts to distract her and allowed herself to be killed, and as such instantly ambushed our scouts. Unfortunately, she didnt attribute this act as being anything to do with Malakai, as such her desire became a continued problem. It is not currently known where her phylactery is stored, however we believe it is hidden somewhere other than her own home island of "K'yltheria" in the Glimmersea.
Her desire came to a head at the Gathering of Nation's 1116 when K'lyth decided she was to wed Malakai. With her phylactery hidden, and no way to absorb the sheer power she can deliver, there was no option but to play along.
The magical ceremony was officiated by Seneschal Morgullion (who was under K'lyth's control at the time), whilst the floral arrangements were organised by Briseis Maelthra. The wedding itself, and the entertainment, was organised by Malakai, in an attempt to placate his soon to be bride.
The day was complicated further with the arrival of several of K'lyths guests, who unfortunately brought with them rather sizable numbers of powerful unliving just itching for a fight. Luckily for us all, one of them accidentally hit the blushing groom, at which point the newly wed K'ylth Mlezzir took offence to other people trying to play with "HER Malakai".
Research Article
The information contained in this article is the result of research done by players from within the Game World. The contents are only as factual as the original author intended and should not be unduly modified.
(Such as surface visits)
Being pinned into a small space negates much of our scouting. So we need to be very pro-active here to make sure we know as much about what's happening as we can.
We need scouts outside the camp to be able to warn us of any mass troop movements towards us, and then stay outside to warn us of reinforcements.
Once under siege, we need eyes constantly on the walls. There will be surprise attacks, not to the overwhelming standards of the Tarantulas, but there will be people coming over the walls and we need to know as soon as they do. ((10 seconds to shout the warning and get someone there to react to it, before they're safely in and causing damage))
The gatehouse is where the main muscle will try and break in. Under no circumstances can this be allowed to happen. The gates themselves will not hold long and merely buy time for us to get into position. The main defense comes from the shields. They need to counter crush, shatter, fumble, mass fear, everything that can be used to try and break them apart.
They will need a very solid group of mages and healers backing them up to make sure the shields and the fighters are kept in good shape.
Make sure that people know their roles, if all those able start casting Rally ((healing 2)) it will be a rapid waste of power, nominate for special roles.
Siege is a matter of time, so as defenders start to tire, they will need to be replaced. The gatehouse is only four to five people wide. So don't be in a rush to get in and hit someone, your chance will come to be swapped in.
Those not in the fight, be ready at the sides to slide in and keep the fighters fresh. The enemy will only have four to five wide fighting, and hundreds of people getting bored. If they get bored and leave because they can't break us, the siege is over and we win.
Reaction
While the main fighting is at the gatehouse, at least one self sufficient unit inside the camp has other duties.
As soon as a scout reports an attempt to breach our walls, this roving unit goes to attack.
If half a dozen scouts come over/through the walls, one unit of warriors/healers/mages can deal with them. If everyone looking for some action rushes over then the gatehouse will lose it's vital support roles and reinforcements.
Scout attacks over the walls are to cause confusion, damage, and panic, hopefully to weaken the gatehouse defense.
To recap...
Scouts call a warning (in this case most likely non-com's positioned around the camp)
Roving unit reacts
IF roving unit cannot deal with the attack THEY will call for reinforcements.
In case of simultaneous attacks over the wall a backup roving group will be dispatched.
Best defense is a good offense and all that...
A preferable situation would be that as soon as forward scouts report a movement of troops towards us, certain groups (you know who you are), will leave the faction camp and hide outside of the battle, free to do what they do best without being confined to the camp.
If that is not possible, then we need to sally out from the camp.
This can either be a rapid charge to do minimal damage, cause confusion, and then return to the safety of the camp, or a case of sneaking out unseen, and biding time for the perfect opportunity.
In a perfect battle, the sallying troops outside the camp could attack the enemy in perfect timing with the gate defenders pushing out, moving the fight into the open and then ending with a rout of the enemy.
More likely we defend until the siege is broken by boredom or the arrival of allies.
In summary, like any other battle. know your place, do your job, have more patience than the enemy.
{text}
{text}
{text}
{text}
The following is a list of articles that will help guide you through how this system works