Call a feast for the whole of the town. Invite everyone (cep't the slaves of course) from the poorest to the richest. Allow them to petition me and state their grievances. Pretty much a more drunk and nordic court session.
The feast begins on a day with relatively good weather for the season. There is much laughter and noise, and you have a hard time hearing those who wish to talk to you at first, but you get used to it. Your vassals are pleased with your restoration of the old traditions (and with the free wine) and so you get to speak with them personnally, like the Haegar clan lords of the raiding years. After a few hours, you get a good idea of who are the men under your command, what are their needs and their thoughts, and what they think of you as their lord.
The Commons[2] Osport is a poor land for peasants. It was always poor, and it will probably always be. Perhaps your ancestors would have done well to settle somewhere else - after all, freezing marshes make for poor arable land, and there isn't much fish in the bogs. When you add the marsh trolls and the rampant disease, you get a hard land that breeds a hard, if poor, people.
[6+1] Despite the hardship of their lives, your peasants are loyal to you. Indeed, they are only loyal to you and your nobles, and have a tendency to despise outsiders - both from Haegar lands, or from Windheath. Although they do respect the authority of the king, they don't respect much else, and this has often caused strife along the borders of your land as your commoners attempt to settle in the parcels of other nobles and refuse to obey to them.
[1] As you listen to your people, you realize that this is the first time they've had a real diner in months. The land is devastated by famine - last winter was extremelly harsh and the bog ate some more of the few arable lands. Your people are hungry, even though they do not really wish to bother you with these details. The problem in itself is that there simply isn't that much space to farm around your holdings, and the peasants cannot stop the marshes from flooding their lands in spring. [Peasantry power: 1]
Steward's comments: This could be a problem. Your people are poor, but loyal; however, their loyalty won't help them if they starve. I can see multiple ways of dealing with this problem - you could spend some crowns to buy food [0,5d] for your commoners, or build a few granaries for a ducat... But if you do not fear large expenses, then you could hire workers from the south or buy slaves from Altaregia to fight back the marshes and create more arable lands. This would cost you dearly [3d] but they won't forget that, and you should truly help the people to climb out of their misery [the commoners would go from poor [2] to average [3]]The nobility[4] The nobles are surprisingly wealthy, compared to the peasants. They do not get their money from lands, but from hunting; they will often form small warbands with their knights and go hunting cold drakes up north, selling their hides and bones for reasonable profits. They do not care much about their peasants, in good Haegar tradition, but they do keep the taxes at a reasonable level, in order to avoid making the famine worse. [Nobility power: 4]
[4+1] The nobles are generally respectful of your authority, which is surprising for their culture. They have a long tradition of "live and let live" with your family, based upon the unspoken rule that as long as they pay their taxes and do not break any laws, their liege leaves them alone. They took it very well that you invited them for a feast and spent money on wine, and they promise you to invite you to theirs every so often. You feel like you've made friends and loyal followers today.
[3] The nobles have nothing but minor details to report. They're quite independant minded, if loyal, and you doubt they'd complain about anything that isn't very major.
Steward's comments: loyal and robust men, who have stood by your family for a long time. It was a good idea to spend money for good wine - you built a few friendships there after the first cups. They'll follow you to hell and back... As long as there's some good loot in it for them, of course.
1. Hold Court for Everybody and find detailed information about the situation in the Crown Area
2. Send out Prospectors to find out what except for even more Gems can be found in the Crown
[6] The people of crown are wealthy. They do no miss anything - there are woods to the east and west, rivers for fishing, plains for farming, lands in the mountains for cattle and sheep, and the mines. The peasants have money like no other peasants in the kingdom - most of them don't even work the fields anymore, and have slaves doing it for them. [Commoner power: 4]
[5] Luckily, the people love you and your family. They consider that they are wealthy mainly because of your efforts - which is false, but there is no harm in letting them adore you - and as such will probably obey to your demands as long as you remain reasonable.
[1] They do have some problems, though. A plague has infiltrated their lands, and causes the death of many a slave and often a few peasants, and they cannot identify the source of the problem. They decided to turn towards you in this time of need, and they show you a drawing of an infected slave. The plague seems to cause individuals to turn very pale, and their eyes to slowly become grey; in their last days they start coughing alot, and eventually they simply fall down and die. They want you to do something - anything - to help them, for they fear for their young ones and the investment they spent on the field hands.
Steward's comments: This could become problematic. The disease does not spread too quickly, but it could wipe out a few hundred peasants and thrice that number of slaves, which would affect your economy and their loyalty badly. Of course, there's not much you can do, but doing anything would help their moral. Perhaps hiring doctors or priests from the big cities, or even as a last ressort doing a witch hunt to help their spirits?The nobles[5] The nobles reflect their peasants in term of their wealth. They are few, but rich, and for years now they have never done anything about their lands except building mines and collecting taxes. They are all from old and proud families, descending from the days of Adran IV (or so they say) and refusing to bow their heads to anyone who is not their de jure and de facto liege. [Nobility power: 3]
[5] Since you are both of those, they are extremelly loyal to you. Of course, some would prefer to be independant, and of course, some want your title, but as a rule they will obey to your orders and demands, and bend the knees whenever you request it of them. Perhaps not with enthusiasm, but certainly with speed and modesty, and that's what you currently need and have always needed.
[4] They have seen your prospectors explore the mountains, and this has given a baron an interesting idea. He pretends there is some [5] gold in his land. Enough to open trade with the capital, to be sure, but he lacks the money to open it by himself. He would share the profits with you, if you would financially help him to build a mine and send caravans to the capital.
Steward's comments: Nothing very important here. Spend two ducats to open a trade route would help you in the long run, but the nobles will probably forgive you if you're not interested. Besides, there will never be enough for the kingdom to do international trade, but it can still get you some nice profits every year.
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Topic: You are King III: Spring 938 AAL (Read 132566 times)