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The Green Rose



During the middle ages, some men were born as lords, satisfied with ruling their lands and waging war in the name of their House.  Some were born as the merchants, satisfied with their monopoly charters and trading items between guilds.  Some were born as peasants, satisfied with plowing the soil and harvesting their crops.

But others were not satisfied.  Some were born behind the plow or in the streets and chose not to till the soil day after day.  Some decided to seize their place in the sun and join free companies.

In an age where one's birth decided their destiny, free companies offered the opportunity to climb the social ladder.  Ranging from respected warriors to savage mercenaries, these companies would fight for God and Glory for whoever offered the best deal in the long run.


This Roleplay focuses on the story of the Green Rose, a historically nonexistent mercenary company hired by France to help beat back the English during the Hundred Year's War.  The arms, armor, and time period will be historical, along with reasonable standards of combat.  The roleplay will take place just before the Battle of Ardres in 1351.

If you challenge a knight who is better equipped, trained, and on a horse to a 1v1 duel, you are going to die.  While I might do some hidden dice rolls in the background to handle the 'maybe' situations, I largely expect for advanced roleplayers to be reasonable about their combat.

On the discussion of combat, I will try and keep it short and sweet.  In general, a small battle might take 2 to 4 post rounds.  I feel the time spent between battle, the politics both inside and outside the group, and character development are more important than people writing about how badass they are.

You might be a company priest trying to spread the word of god to men fighting for gold, a runaway man-at-arms, a woman of the night, or a former peasant seeking greater fortune.  If you want to be nobility, you are going to need a fantastic backstory or documentation, as there is very little reason for a former noble to sign up with what he would consider villains.

This is a loose character sheet, so if you feel like lying or doing it a bit differently I don't care.

Name:
Appearance:
Gender:
Age: 16+
Home: How did your character grow up?  Where did they come from?
Time in Green Company: Why did they leave home, and what have they done in the company so far?
Equipment: Keep it reasonable.
Skills: Former blacksmith?  Incredibly Seductive?

I will fill this in as the role-play continues.  I also include links for those seeking to know more about the times.  If there is something you feel that I should add or that I disagree with and you have documentation, PM it to me.

Currency
http://www.history.ac.uk/richardII/coinage.html
We are going to assume that the pence was worth about $1.50 back then.
A more international currency, the ducat, is worth about $100 a coin.

Finances
Payment: An honest day's work.  Usually expected to participate in the battle more competently than the peasant levies we are replacing.
Raiding: When mercenaries go unpaid, they may raid there former employers lands.  Taking small castles or forts and holding them for ransom to our employer is not overly uncommon.  After the initial raid, it would be common for mercenaries to demand 'protection' money from the towns.
Ransom: When you capture an English Man-At-Arms, A knight, or a warhorse, you don't kill them.  Historical ransoms have made countries go bankrupt, and anyone our company captures we get to sell off. http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/1465

Arms & Armor
During this time period you would see a rise in the popularity of the two handed weapons, and further development of plate.
Budget: On the body, you might see a type of armor known as a Gambeson.  A dagger would be considered essential, and a pike or Halberd would be both cheap, easy to use, and effective against most types of armor.  If you are using a one handed weapon, a large Heater Shield would be considered a popular choice.  A cheap helmet might be thrown on top to protect the head.
An Investment: As your armor improves, you might throw some small plates into the mix.  By now the inventions of the Coat of Plates and Splint Armor had been around for some time (although splint armor was more popular in Germany.  A wider variety of helms would be available to Men-At-Arms, and a cavalryman might have plated lower legs, knee cops, and an all in one great helm if mounted.  If your an eastern character, especially from Muscovy, you might have Lamellar armor.
I'm Invincible! A wealthy nobleman or knight would make several additions as well.  Aside from having better fitted armor, in general the plates would also be made of higher quality materials.  (Except for the absolute best harnesses, in general armor steel was worse than weapon steel).  They would likely throw on mail as well over their gambeson.  You could also expect their armor to feature more plates.  They might have a secondary helm underneath a massive great helm in order to allow the knight to transition between foot and mounted combat more effectively.  Keep in mind that the 1350s knight was not a fully plated figure, the 'knight in shining armor' appeared around 1420.  The cost of this type of set up would be about that of a Ferrari, along with another Ferrari for a warhorse.

History

Stats
Size: 100 Men, 20 women, 5 kids, 4 merchants, 1 Priest
Company Funds: 50 ducats
Shops: 2 Bakers, and a blacksmith and his apprentice

Currently
It is largely expected that one will fund their own lifestyle in the company.  While the loot is expected to be split, one buys everything themselves.  Merchants bring along their own pavilions, but many of the men sleep under the stars under a cloth tarp tied to a tree for shelter.

Battle of Ardres

Some time period detail:

Finances: Mercenaries during this time period were either fighting or raiding, and sometimes both.  During the earlier edge of this time period, it wasn't overly uncommon for them to go un or underpaid.  There were several sources of cash that companies would usually go after:

Payment: An honest day's work.  Usually expected to participate in the battle more competently than the peasant levies we are replacing.
Raiding: When mercenaries go unpaid, they may raid there former employers lands.  Taking small castles or forts and holding them for ransom to our employer is not overly uncommon.  After the initial raid, it would be common for mercenaries to demand 'protection' money from the towns.
Ransom: When you capture an English Man-At-Arms, A knight, or a warhorse, you don't kill them.  Historical ransoms have made countries go bankrupt, and anyone our company captures we get to sell off.

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