Well, anyways, I'll share what I've got. This is a sort of 'tales from the front' thing. Govannon, Flauros, and Cardith are the recurring characters here, though minor ones will crop up from time to time.
Next time we kill a barbarian warrior
[unit namesake] leapt up on a great stump, waving his club about. "Men of Terasvin, now is the time! We have shadowed this band of brutes for days. Too long have we suffered them to be marauders in our land. Now, once and for all, we fight!" The cheering was cut short by the brutes themselves, who had seized the opportunity of the little speech to close the gap unnoticed. [unit namesake] was struck from behind before he noticed a thing. He fell heavily.
Now the chaos of battle reigned. The sound of splintering clubs and bones mixed with roars of fury and shrieks of pain. Soon, though, order began to reassert itself. The brutes fell one by one. Soon there was but one left. He ran, but was felled by a club thrown to the back if his head.
A huge man came roaring madly out of the trees. Those men who were still standing tried to arrange themselves into a defensive formation, but their stumbling was interrupted by a shout of "HOLD!" For it was Flauros, [unit namesake]'s bodyguard, who had been relieving himself in the bush. He stopped. The look on his face was almost comical, asking, "Did I miss all the fun?" But then he became serious.
"Where's [unit namesake]?"
"Follow me," Govannon, who had yelled "hold", and who as a result was being looked to to act, said gently, and led Flauros to the stump. Flauros' face was like stone.
When we train a mounted unit
Cardith approached the horse. He looked at the stirrup with great unease.
"Oh, come on, little one," said Govannon, striding forward. He quickly put a foot in the stirrup, hiding his own unease, and hoisted himself up. So successful was he that he kept right on going and tumbled off the other side. Flauros was beside himself with laughter.
Govannon leapt to his feet, summoning what remained of his dignity. "Now you try," he said to Cardith. Cardith looked at the horse, and back at Govannon's desperately straight face. It was too much. He burst out laughing. So did Govannon.
"Listen," Govannon aimed at Flauros, "you so much as breathe a word of this to the men later..." And he trailed off, snorting. He didn't bother to tell Cardith the same. He knew he wouldn't.
Flauros had regained his composure. "It is a fine first day in the career of the Terasvin Riders," he pronounced solemnly.
Govannon looked at him. "I'll have you know we are still the Terasvin Raiders."
"Oh, with your accent, there's not an inch of difference," Flauros shot back.
"There very much is, though to the untrained, boorish Indirian ear..."
"Listen," began Flauros. He screwed up his face in preparation for what was sure to be a horrendous distortement. Govannon smacked him.
"You southerners are so touchy," chuckled Flauros.
Another storyline (though I haven't any stories finished yet), would follow a Whisperer named Capria in one of the other teams' capitals. Probably Adventure One. This would take the form of reports to the Master of Whisperers.
What might interweave the three lines (Mansa Musa, Three Amigos, and Whisperer Tales) would be the introduction of yours truly as Guildmaster of the Veil of Night. The Veil would serve the in-story purpose of active espionage (i.e. Spy units) versus Whisperer passive espionage. Flauros would become a member (though no one in-story would know, and his reports would not include his name for a while). I would also plant a Veil spy in Capria's town, and a Whisperer in the army. The Veil and Whisperers would build mutual distrust until they both have active and passive branches and are more at war with each other than with the outside. Figure plenty of snarking between Yossarian and meself (in-story, of course. We're totally cool outside).
At the dicovery of Alphabet
A visitor was shown into the throne room. Tall and absurdly thin, with his mouth permanently etched into a secretive half-smile. He bowed obsequiously.
"Hail, my lord King." He paused. I waited. Uncomfortably, he continued. " My name is Talonschild, my lord King, and I represent the Veil of Night."
At this Yossarian bent to whisper in my ear. "The Whisperers know them. They are saboteurs, thieves, assassins. They pass unseen and work havoc upon their unfortunate victims." Only now did I notice the two of them were intensely distrustful of each other.
"As Guildmaster of the Veil," Talonschild continued, cutting Yossarian off, "I offer you our services, to be your hidden hand, to act on what information your eminent Master of Whisperers is able to provide. The Whisperers and the Veil complement each other, I think. The Whisperers learn, and the Veil strikes."
"And what is the cost?"
The smile broadened ever so slightly. "Truly, no man could best you in a deal, my lord King. We need your funding to properly act. No more than to share what you already give the Whisperers." I glanced at Yossarian. He reluctantly nodded agreement.
"Then we accept, Talonschild. Go."
Thoughts?
well done RB.
What they said. Plus revealing that we met another team also is borderline breaking the rule of no diplo before contatct. Before we have contact with everyone we should stick to the safe info (i.e. trivial or something everyone already knows e.g. info of Wonders or GP). After contact with everyone it's all about what we want to reveal.
They will. ANd just as I said, the stories can be two-sided weapon. It can reveal something which our enemies to use, and also can be used as a tool for propaganda.
