Welcome to Gaia! ::

yo, totes smile
haha
I'm so glad both ends came out very differently. The south is far more ceremonial and far more pomp and natural money, while also likely relying on politics a lot more. North is far more brutish, but I do think that while they lack the espionage they don't lack all the tactical prowess.
I think Lord Eyre has it in his original background that he's got a strong tactical mind, as I also included that as Garan's one good trait.

Obviously, politics are very different and as you said, strength is far more prided in the North than the South, but in that same vein I think that while they might not have the best advancements and such, they might also have a more tried and tested method of fighting (more skirmishes, also more brutality and willingness to go to that level of brutality).

South def. has more organization and discipline, though. That's clear. They might also have far more technology (we already established they might have damascus steel) and obviously more charisma haha.

So it will be nice to see how it all works out biggrin

haha
Yeah, I know bits and pieces here and there, but while I have a pretty firm grasp of how to maneuver with a weapon (given a certain amount of strength and speed and training), as well as various weapon types, I'm not as super knowledgeable about tactics aside from common sense stuff that I know about, or from what I've played in videogames.
So...
I took to researching a group I knew to have decent tactics, is good at making their numbers truly count against a much larger force, who don't necessarily have the best equipment or the most technology, but still managed to win in amazing ways.
Hence: I just started researching mongol battle tactics, along with a few others, considering this is kinda how I would assume the Latham side is more equipped to use.

Romans and Egyptians and Middle Eastern groups are used to flat plains, lots of space, heat, and wealth and technology.
Mongols are used to hills, some plains, but mountains and in the freezing cold and in harsh weather conditions. They also had smaller numbers, and so they used deception more often than not to make themselves appear more powerful. They are also very good at using the fierce loyalty that people had to their various leaders to their advantage. On top of that, they had a very fluid battle-system which they used to work around various situations that might arise, fighting in lots of weather types, under many scenarios, etc. They were also masters of using elevation to their advantage.
Most of these things, I could assume, the Latham side would be adept at using. idk the loyalty part, but definitely the smaller numbers, less equipment, cold and weather resistance, and elevation fighters (also probably guerrilla warfare sorts).

I haven't started looking into Irish or Scottish tactics as of yet, but that's what I would assume the Eyre are more used to using. Again, less equipment, fierceness, loyalty, and more guerrilla tactics than full frontal assaults.

Though we don't really have "spy" characters, I can assume we would still have "scouts" or some similar vein from which to use during the war, simply because ******** everyone uses that. Spies are more or less put into place for assassinations, or really specific information gathering or getting close to one person or another. scouts were like the level lower, and tried to find out battle plans, or see the battle formations from a distance whilst they were practicing and such.


ahhh
but enough of that for now. haha.
I've just been doing this stuff all day now and it's fun in it's own way. ;3


Pace!

So... in Book 1 we established that there were some peace meetings that took place in which the various families gathered together to celebrate stuff. That's when Old Calember Latham died and the whole s**t-storm started. Daven was certainly there, but it's up to you whether you think Pace should have gone or whether this is his first exposure to the court in his recent memory.

Pros toward him being there: He kinda knows people from that. Kinda has an idea of what went on during the meeting. Also was already in pseudo-training for taking up the Lord's title for when his father dies. Ostadar was pretty much ready to disown Daven, he just wasn't sure if assigning the responsibility to his 12 year old (I think that's Pace's age?) was a good idea or not, or whether the kid was going to be a disappointment like his older son.
Hand was forced, however, when Daven drew the last straw and Ostadar finally disowned him.
Pace would likely have stayed in the Yate lands, then, with his father, as he was hammered down with stuff about wartimes and protecting the king and all that bunk.

Pros toward him not being there for that one: He gets to meet people for the first time and have fun pestering them. Perhaps didn't see what happened or went down, so he didn't see that s**t go down. Also, he likely had less of an inkling that he was going to be the next heir, so despite already being badgered and put through some training, the reality hadn't quite hit home until just after Daven was disowned and he was summoned to court.
So... shock aspect there. He has had time away from Ostadar and is only now coming back under the thumb, and now it's in full force.



Hopefully that helps work his character in?
That's at least how I was looking at it. haha.

haha
Oh, don't you worry about him. He's blathering nonsense to the king and thinking even more arbitrary thoughts. haha.

also, yeah. Let me know if any chat service or whatever works for you too. One that potentially requires less than skype?