Ask Sigurd if there are any surrounding non-allied tribes who could be coaxed into alliance by marriage, and persuaded to give soldiers.
[6] With the recent duel, you both proved your skill as a fighter and your worth as a Haegar, and you elevated yourself to the rank of a powerful lord by haegar standards. Numerous tribes would be interested in organizing an alliance by marriage. However, Haegars are monogamous; you will have to choose only one if you wish to respect their culture. You could also try to convince them to adopt the Adranic tradition of polygamy; while this could in theory secure up to four alliances (or more, but that would start to be indecent even by Adranic standards), it may backfire heavily if some tribes decide that you're corrupting their culture. Then again, women and men have equal rights in Haegar society; if you can convince a few influential ladies to marry you, their political support may protect you from potential challengers.
Adrien heads to the nearby villages, asking if they have any work that the Drakefangs can do. Adrien also gets a courier to send a message to the ducal capital, offering his services to the ruling noble of the duchy.
[2] The peasants have no need for mercenaries. Spirituaser is reasonably far from the coast or the north, and there are rivers between them and the enemy; they do no see themselves as in danger.
It would appear the current ruler of the duchy is Duc Rakon of Lorvese (who also happens to be, thanks to the Lord Regent's policies, the most powerful noble of the kingdom). You will have to contact him personally to check if he has need of you; he is currently in Spirituaser.
Pull back all scouts from the border and have them follow above scouting orders.
Order the Band to carry out the above work regime.
Order the creation of the Venture Defense Edicts as outlined above.
Trent shall Train Archery.
[GMs do not roll orders which are not in bold at the bottom of the post.]
[5,3,5,3,5] +100
Rakom heads back to Spirituaser heavily escorted and asks for a report on the duchy's status, both official and extra-official. Do the same for Lorvese.
[4] Officially, the duchy has no problems whatsoever. Far from conflict and relatively untouched by the war, it is mostly peaceful and it's economy is as good as it can get in a winter like this one. [1] Unofficially, however, the matters are different. The nobles of Spirituaser are angry, and from what you can tell they're all either raising all hell in the capital about your assignment or sending messages to Richard, protesting about the Lord Regent's gross overstepping of his powers.
The thing is, the Lord Regent of the kingdom cannot grant land to nobles. He can assign stewards and palatines responsible for administrating the land while it has no lord, but he cannot give it to someone. That law has been in place ever since the War of 646-659, when the Regent of the time tried to redistribute land to his followers to organize a coup against the young king, and its violation is a very grave crime. Although the times are harsh and Edgard may have gotten away with it by presenting the fact that the kingdom needs an organized nobility and that the lords of Dechire have had claims on Spirituaser for nearly five centuries, the fact that you agreed to pay five ducats to the treasury is not helping at all. Since Edgard is in charge of the treasury, both as Regent and as Treasurer (thus ensuring that only he can check what's going on in there), that implies you either bought land from Edgard even though it was not his to sell, or you bribed him so he could grant it to you.
Besides, some people have started pointing out that there would have been no need for a new Lord of Spirituaser if you hadn't killed the last one... And his son. You killed the previous Duc and his heir in battle, before annexing the duchy through military actions and bribing or buying the land from a man who had no right to give it away.
Needless to say, it looks bad. It looks extremely bad.
Go to Lovrese and cross the Arendalis there.
Hunt the warbands in Arbovent after that.
[3 vs 6] You manage to make the travel in a good time, all things considered, but it is futile. by the time you arrive, Parnoth has already made his move. [5] Choosing not to confront the garrison of Altaregia or Arborvent, he leads many coastal raids between the two cities [-1 ducat in spring for both], but he eventually becomes apparently too confident and moves too far inland. You manage to cut him off from his fleet, blocking him in the south; however, he has more troops than you do. While you can keep his ships of the shore if you follow them, engaging Parnoth himself would be nearly suicidal. You will have to tread carefully.
Status update; how fares Northwatch? How much do I have now? [Don't forget that 180 crowns from the Cold Drake Hunt earlier]
[3] Northwatch is unscathed for the most part and ready to repel any offensive force. However, you are a little lacking in troops... You have yours and Trent's, and you could probably call you levies, but apart from that you stand alone between the kingdom and the Haegars.
[?] Richard did not go in the south like Theor; instead, he moved north and disappeared into the countryside. His last message to the capital informs Edgard the he fears someone infiltrated his intelligence forces (Parnoth knew of his arrival in advance) and that he will stop sending messages for a time.