Your army

Valdash recommends organizing the army as follows. Naturally he will re-organize things according to any plan that Lord Grim and his advisors have in mind.

Maneuver elements
Commando squad / free agents
Grim, Ug, Verschoyle and Zumm

Infantary unit (18)
1 sergeant (goblin 2nd-level warrior, Thurzar, or orc warrior)
13 or 14 goblin warriors

Artillery unit (2)
Infantary unit, but also armed with crossbows

Elite infantary unit (2)
Valdash or Kardash
10 goblin elite guards (4th-level warriors armed with halberds)

Ogre unit (1)
4 ogres

Ballista unit (1)
Light ballista
Gnoll siege engineer
Goblin blacksmith
4 goblin 1st-level warriors
1 min to set up or take down. While carrying the parts of the ballista, the team can move at its normal speed. While set up, the ballista can fire once every other round. It has 20 bolts.

Cavalry unit (1)
2 2nd-level goblin warriors riding worgs

Non-combatants
Tlagnak, goblin holy man (Valdash assumes he will stay out of combat and only attempt to heal people he can get to safely)
Zurga (Valdash assumes that since Zurga is a woman she will not be in combat. For her own part, Zurga is scared of combat but is confident that Verschoyle would keep her safe if she stuck with him.)
The battle-wagon (although the wagon itself is resilient, the horses are not trained for combat)

Infantary sergeants
Thurzar (2nd-level goblin rogue)
3 orc warriors
16 2nd-level goblin warriors (Valdash's 20 trainees, minus the two worg-riders, Skardash, and Thurzar)
Each of these sergeants commands a squad of 13 or 14 goblins. (Most squads have 14, but four of them only have 13.)

The army has enough crossbows to equip two of the infantary units with them. (That's 30 crossbows; there were some in Garduk.)

Valdash and Kardash will each take command of half of the Garduk elite guards.

All the units above can move at the same speed (30ft), except the worg-riders who are faster (50ft).

Valdash assumes that Grim and his assistants will not want to be tied down by directly commanding infantary units. They could of course take some of the army personnel with them, either collectively or each having an individual squad. Valdash will re-organize the rest of the army accordingly.

Zurga is 2nd-level

En route to Stoneskull, Zurga excitedly tells Verschoyle that she thinks she has become more powerful in magic. She can cast an extra spell per day, and had worked out how to cast two additional spells: Comprehend Languages and Sleep. She also, for some reason, thinks she could withstand a little more damage than before.

For reference, Zurga's spellbook now contains:
All level 0 spells
Disguise self
Mage armour
Magic missile
Reduce person
Summon monster I
Comprehend languages
Sleep

Zurga in trouble, and the march to Stoneskull

Before I forget, here's what happened in tonight's session.

Grim learned from the captured ogre lieutenant that Jalahand had sent an envoy to Graywall to hire an unknown number of gnoll mercenaries. Grim decided that it was best to strike soon, before the gnolls arrived.

Zurga fled from an attempted forced marriage and hid in a cave that, unknown to her, was the lair of two behirs. By the time the party found out about this, the behirs had returned and were blocking her exit, so the party had to kill the monsters in order to rescue her. The party (minus Ug, who had caught a disease from his horrid rat) defeated the behirs, but Zumm and Grim both got swallowed whole and nearly died in the process. (In risking his life to rescue her, the evil Zumm may have accidentally committed a Good act.)

The next day, Grim set in motion his plan to topple Jalahand from power. The party (minus Ug again) first went to Garduk, where they defeated Kardash with very little violence and installed Valdash as chieftain, promising Kardash that he would be chieftain of Jalahand's village when Jalahand was defeated. The goblins of the region all support Grim as aspiring warlord of the region and will help him in his plan to depose Jalahand.

The party, along with a large proportion of the warriors from Garduk, then joined with the army from Castle Granis on the way to Jalahand's village of Stoneskull. The army from Castle Granis included the battle-wagon, which had returned from Graywall; but it had returned from Graywall without the cleric Merred Nastor, who disappeared mysteriously in Graywall.

The session ended with the massed armies of Castle Granis and Garduk one more day's march from Stoneskull.

Timeline update

Sypheros 1	Party encounters and defeats an Athach. Party attacks one of Jalahand's trading parties, killing most of it and taking some prisoners.
Sypheros 3	Party arrives back at Castle Granis with prisoners. All of the 20 original trainees are now 2nd-level Warriors. The trench in front of the castle is complete.
Sypheros 4	Zurga escapes a forced marriage and shelters in a cave. The party defeats two behirs in order to rescue her.
Sypheros 5	The party sets off for Garduk in order to depose Kardash.
Sypheros 6	Thurzar arrives back at Castle Granis in the battle-wagon with all the goods he was sent for and a gnoll siege engineer but without Merred Nastor.
Sypheros 7	The party arrives at Garduk, defeats Kardash and begins mustering an army to attack Jalahand.
Sypheros 8	The party leaves Garduk, leading a large army.
Sypheros 10	The party and goblin army arrives at the rendezvous point but the army from Castle Granis does not arrive as scheduled.
Sypheros 11	The army from Castle Granis arrives, having been delayed because Thurzar spent an extra day in Graywall looking for Merred Nastor.
Sypheros 12	The party attacks Jalahand's village of Stoneskull...

Your army
Grim, Verschoyle, Zumm and Ug
Zurga, goblin wizard
Valdash and Kardash, orc fighters
Tlagnak, goblin adept (Garduk's holy man and healer)
Hrogar Longarm, gnoll siege engineer
Thurzar, goblin rogue
Boruk, goblin blacksmith
1 ballista with 20 bolts
2 worgs with riders (2nd-level goblin warriors)
3 orc warriors
20 goblin 4th-level warriors (Kardash's elite guards from Garduk)
16 goblin 2nd-level warriors (Valdash's trainees from Castle Granis)
280 goblin 1st-level warriors (masses armies of Castle Granis and Garduk)

Skardash has been left in charge of Castle Granis. One of Valdash's young orc cousins has been left in charge of Garduk, along with the 30 remaining goblin warriors from that town.

(There are 16 2nd-level warriors from Castle Granis, not 20, because Valdash's 20 trainees included Skardash, Thurzar and the two worg riders.)

Grim the Legendary Leader

The Legendary Leader prestige class has two feat requirements, Leadership and Iron Will, neither of which Grim has. He will get a new feat the next time he advances a level (to a total character level of 9), and another at 12th level, so the he could enter the Legendary Leader prestige class as his 13th level. By this time his leadership score would be 11 (it's character level + Cha modifier, and Grim's Cha modifier is -2), so he would meet the Legendary Leader's leadership score requirement without needing any more Cha points.

Although there's no problem with it mechanically, Legendary Leader and Warforged Juggernaut are an interesting combination, especially since the Juggernaut has a penalty to checks such as Diplomacy.

Heroes of Battle commander auras

Heroes of Battle provides an extra game mechanic called commander auras, which grants bonuses to allies within 30ft of a powerful commander. So that we can decide as a group whether to use this rule or not, I have summarized the possibilities below.

Characters have commander ratings based on how many troops they command. Because the PCs are jointly in charge of Castle Granis, I will give them each a commander rating of 4; Valdash has the same rating, even though any of the PCs is considered to out-rank him for the purposes of giving orders. Any NPC you put in charge of a squad will also acquire a commander rating (a rating of 2 for a squad of 10, for example).

You can pick a commander aura from those for which you qualify (they mostly have alignment and commander rating restrictions, and some have additional restrictions). You can't change it unless your commander rating increases (which it probably won't in the near future of the campaign).

Allies within 30ft who are of a lower commander rating than you gain benefits from your commander aura. Allies of the same commander rating don't benefit, and you don't benefit from your own aura.

The auras for which each character qualifies, and their benefits, are:

Grim
Mobile commander (allies get +5ft speed)
Opportunistic commander (allies deal +1d6 damage on attacks of opportunity)

Ug
Animal commaner (animals and magical beasts get +2 on saving throws)
Feral commander (animals and magical beasts get +2 on attack rolls)
Healing commander (when you heal, you can also rally as a free action)
Spellslinging commander (spells cast by allies deal +1d6 damage)

Verschoyle
Spellslinging commander (as above)
Healing commander (as above)

Zumm
Bloodthirsty commander (allies get +1 on attacks against wounded foes)
Goblinoid commander (goblinoid allies get +2 on attack rolls)
Melee commander (allies get +1 on melee attack rolls)
Orderly commander (allies you rally get +10ft speed for 1 round)
Protective commander (allies get +1 on saving throws)
Pursuing commander (allies deal +1d6 damage against frightened or panicked foes)

Zumm has rather more options than the others because the alignment restrictions to auras seem to favour characters who have an extreme alignment rather than one with a neutral part. If the rest of the group thinks this is unfair I could house-rule a relaxation to the restrictions, e.g. you've got to be within one step of the listed alignment rather than match it.

Valdash would have the bloodthirsty commander aura, because it's the only one for which he qualifies.

Naturally, if we start to use this rule, villains will start to have commander auras as well. Those ogres in your prison cell are starting to look a bit more confident for being in the presence of one of Jalahand's elite ogres...

In-character e-mail discussion dramatized

Sypheros 3. The party has rested after returning to Castle Granis, and as the sun sets beyond the craggy hills of central Droaam and the goblin work-teams finish the day's work on the trench, the party gathers in the meeting room to discuss strategy.

Grim
Whilst we will be paying the blacksmith his 1sp / day, there is absolutely no way that we will be paying Kardash. Actually I'm toying with the idea of taking such umbrage at his insulting dealings with one of my representatives, that I may well remove him from power in Garduk.

How many goblins is Castle Granis capable of accomodating as a standing army, without conditions becoming too cramped? If I were to deal with Kardash I would need somebody to take his place - Valdash, would you prefer to remain at the castle or return to Garduk and be Chieftain there?

Valdash
Goblins are small and don't much mind cramped conditions, but if we had many more warriors we'd need to start buying in food to support them.

As much as I like living in a castle, I am the rightful ruler of Garduk. If you can help me defeat Kardash and let me become chieftain there, then my father will rest more easily in his grave.

Grim
And finally I want to decrease the amount that we are taxing the village tojust 2 goat. One fifth the amount they were paying under Jalahand. Life should be more comfortable for them than it was previously as I want them to have a reason to fight for us.

Valdash
They'll certainly be pleased about that.

Ug
As nice as all of this castle building is, I don't feel that it is anything other than temporary. What is really needed here is to start bringing nature to this desolate land. To do this I will need to start investigating why Droam is so barren. I suspect that the land is magically scarred. I know nothing that could have caused it and its position between two verdant lands (Breland and Eldeen Reaches) makes me suspect that it was once far more pleasant.

I'm sure the rest of the party will understand this, after all, even blessing the land and converting large patches of rock to clay has not yet yielded even a tangible benefit in the life in the area (something I'm acutely sensitive to). How does Grim propose to keep a standing army without an increase in the productivity of the land? As a gatekeeper I am not averse to fortifying the land against Xoriat or training up an army to suppress aberrations in the area, but all this will come to nothing if the very ground we are building on is dead.

I am also beginning to think that Grim's approach to training goblins into a traditional army to defend us is probably misguided. I agree with martial training, but I think we need to start spreading our goblins out. Once those under us become proficient they should leave the castle in groups. They will then find other goblin groups, who they will direct to our castle, whom we will train up and then send out. This way we should be able to increase the martial proficiency of the entire population far quicker. Into these goblins we must instil the Gatekeeper knowledge: that is the awareness of Xoriat, it's threat and a martial way of life. This way we increase the theoretical size of our army, strengthen the entire area against the threat of aberrations and give the goblins a sense of power and community which will directly undermine other warlords. It also reduces the strain on the land of having one army in one place.

I expect that most of the groups we send out will fight new groups of goblins they meet, which will be an ideal way to show them what our training can do for them. We will stress to the groups that they are only to kill when not doing do would endanger themselves, that they must always ensure that survivors will know to whom they owe their prowess and to seize the best land and women for themselves. The latter may sound evil, but it is entirely as nature intended Goblins to function.

That said, I will immediately start taking goblins on regular ventures out of the castle, to practice raids against stray animals and small threats, start teaching them about the gatekeeper way and look for promising ones to send off to train as Druids or Rangers. Any useful animals I find I will attempt to persuade (or failing that dominate) to return to the castle with me. The secondary aim of these raids is to help me get a better idea of the land, the location of particularly desolate or verdant patches and old dhakani ruins. I stress to all goblins the importance of the nature of the world through a Druid's eyes: the fragility of civilisations, the brutality and beauty of nature. Naturally I expect most of them to latch onto the unforgiving and crueller sides of the natural world, but as a Druid I endorse this.

Grim
It's quite simple really; I'm planning on removing Kardash from power in Garduk and instilling Valdash as the village chief. I will then take X number of goblins back to Castle Granis to bolster our small force there. The food for them will come from Garduk - after all the area has been supporting them until now. I'm not planning on increasing the numbers of goblins we have available to us, just moving them around so that they are of more use to us.

Sorry, I don't agree with you on this. When in a position of weakness, make sure you fight your battles from positions of strength ~ Tsun Tsu - The Art of War. How long do you think a group of say 10 goblins would last wandering around this area by themselves? That wandering monster that we fought last night would have slaughtered a group like that in about 3 rounds (after all it had 3 arms and a bite attack.) We know that our enemy vastly outnumbers us, no matter how much more powerful we are than the average goblin, enough of them will simply swarm over us. It's hard to cast spells when 50 goblins are sitting on top of you, holding your arms! Once we've dealt with Jalahand then we can start spreading our forces - before would be stupid. Speaking of Jalahand; if we take command of Garduk we will have a larger "army" at our disposal than he has. So we could theoretically take the fight to him.

And, only kill when not doing so would endanger themselves? That's rich coming from the druid who killed an ogre unnecesarily and who keeps a rat that infects anybody it bites with a slow, lingering death. Nice.

The argument lasts long into the night but no agreement is reached. The goblin blacksmith tinkers with the ballista. Zurga practices magic and accidentally makes her familiar glow in the dark. Down in the dungeon, Jalahand's ogre lieutenant plots bloody revenge on his captors. Far to the south a battle-wagon laden with doors stops for the night. Eventually all those who need sleep decide to get some. Somewhere in the distance an owlbear hoots. What plot hooks will the next day bring?

Report of tonight's action

Before I forget, here's the report of tonight's action.

Rhaan 19	Zumm, a goblin monk of the Mockery, arrives and suggests he join forces with the party as they share a quarrel with Jalahand.
Rhaan 20	Zumm and two hand-picked goblin spies set out to reconnoitre Jalahand's village and size up his forces.
Rhaan 21	Verschoyle finishes translating the tomb inscriptions and sets off back to Castle Granis.
Rhaan 23	Verschoyle arrives back at Castle Granis. Zumm, along with two goblins called Skardash and Thurzar, arrive at Jalahand's village. They cause short-lived chaos and manage to kill the village's seer, a goblin bat-rider, and two ogres. They also free Merred Nastor, a human Silver Flame missionary.
Rhaan 25	Zumm, Skardash, Thurzar and Merred Nastor arrive back at Castle Granis.
Rhaan 26	Ug goes to Garduk in the form of a hawk to summon the blacksmith, and agrees to pay 1sp/day to both the blacksmith and Kardash. Merred Nastor, Skardash, and five goblins (if I recall correctly) set off in the battle wagon to Graywall to buy stuff for the castle. The party sets off towards Stoneskull in order to abmush supply lines.
Sypheros 1	Party encounters and defeats an Athach. Party attacks one of Jalahand's trading parties, killing most of it and taking some prisoners.
Sypheros 3	Party arrives back at Castle Granis with prisoners. All of the 20 original trainees are now 2nd-level Warriors. The trench in front of the castle is complete.
Sypheros 5 (estimated)	Merred Nastor returns from Graywall with supplies and stuff.

Supplies
The supplies that Merred Nastor is going to fetch are:

* 1560 sacks for use as sandbags @ 1sp each
* 29 wooden internal doors @ 4gp each
* 1 thick double wooden door @ 8gp
* 4 trapdoors @ 4gp each
(Total: 296gp)
* 1 siege engineer @ 5sp/day

Monthly expenses
Incoming:
Goat tax: 10gp (this is the amount the village had been paying to Jalahand)
Outgoing:
Blacksmith: 5.6gp (1sp/day to each of the blacksmith and Kardash)
Siege engineer: 14gp (5sp/day)
Total
-9.6gp / month

Prisoners
* 15 goblins, who are being forced to work and are under guard, but are otherwise being treated as well as the other goblins of Castle Granis.
* 4 ogres, including one especially powerful one, who are in a makeshift prison in the castle vault (formerly the vampire's lair).