Over the course of the day the village quickly fills up with soldiers. A unit of cavalry have arrived and seem to be milling about. Their standards mark them as disbanded units that once served Lord Spire. When Saxton came into power the loyal nobles were dismissed and their units scattered but it seems that the whispers of the thieves guild have brought them out of retirement. It seemed a bit unusual that so many soldiers could arrive so shortly but being mounted on horseback meant they could pour in from all over the barony.
In addition the hunters and farmers of Ashford offer themselves up as archers to man the walls. They might be green but thanks to the heroes saving the town several times over, they are willing to help without any coin.
In addition there are early riders from three mercenary companies.
The first, called the Band of Ash, are known sellswords in the area. They're known and nothing flashy but they're close and they can hold the line for 175gp a battle.
The second is one that nobody is familiar with calling themselves The Blood Rain. It seems likely they formed from the remnants of some other mercenary company. They're a sizeable force of professional archers who will man your walls and towers for 300gp.
Third is Voland's Venators. Light cavalry that is notorious for their drunken debauchery but they have been in the bard's tales for hundreds of years and despite their unprofessionalism they have the reputation of getting the job done and are offering a small detachment for 250gp.
Finally the various farmhands and laborers in Ashford could be assembled into a levy fighting force. It wouldn't be the greatest unit to hold the line but they would be dirt cheap and would provide bodies on the battlefield for 100gp.
OOC: The end result is that you will have a medium unit of Regular Cavalry and a small sized unit of Green Archers.
So that puts the force composition at:
You | Saxton |
---|
1d4 Light Archers | 1d4 Regular Cavalry |
1d6 Regular Cavalry | 1d4 Light Archers |
- | 1d6 Medium Infantry |
- | 1d4 Gnoll Light Infantry |