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[GreatWyrmGold]

I got called out by name directly and insinuated that I had no grounds for anything, when in fact I was dropping examples throughout.

And we were dropping reasons why your weren't true or were true for both sides of the argument. And you really could have phrased your own points better than I rather than claim Kain called you a dumbarse. You don't really expect me to be able to cite your reasoning as well as I can my own, do you?

Don't give yourself any credit. You never cited one historical example. You talked about police, and demotions, and various other modern concepts, because that's all you had.

1. I used police as analogies, and never actually said or implied anything like them would exist and be useful to my position.
2. Demote =~= Strip of rank, which is a legitimate concern.

[Gervassen]

Kaian did not need to go behind Mlamlah and snarkily insert my name with a FTFY.

[Maldevious]

Executive decision time: I'm going to go ahead and lock the thread for a bit, we're just spinning our wheels here and getting off track. Will unlock when I update, probably tonight or tomorrow morning.

[Maldevious]

... and we're back. I think we were getting a bit out of hand there. Remember, this is a game, and it should be fun. Don't get too worked up about it, and we'll have a good time. And, if I may make a suggestion, it would be to focus more on providing constructive suggestions and less on debating one another ad infinitum.

Year 5, March

With the warrant in hand, you set a few plans in motion. You send a letter to The Rat, asking him to observe the wool merchant's habits, and attempt to arrange a meeting near the Count's docks under false pretenses. You plan on meeting The Rat at the docks in two weeks time, with a small group of soldiers, in order to rightfully imprison the treacherous merchant.

You set your workers to fortifying the area around the mines, putting up some crude earthen berms and sharpened stakes to make the area more defensible. The barracks are fortified in a similar fashion, giving the men some easily defended positions.

The next two weeks, you drill with your men on the arrest, as you see it playing out. You will rush in, guarded by your best Halberdiers and Rangers, and remove the wool merchant cleanly from the city late at night by Felucca. The days tick by, and you find that your skill with a shield has improved due to the constant sparring and drilling.

The set date of your departure comes, and you depart in the morning with eight soldiers on a mild day. Alan and Fin are told to be on high alert at home, and to be wary of any retaliation by the Count. The trip downstream is tense, but you pass the time with simple dice games. The journey would take a day, but you time it so that you arrive late the following afternoon.

You have some pretenses about traveling up towards the Duke's lands for wedding preparations, and you enter a tavern where you agreed to meet The Rat that evening. The man's shadowy figure slips into a booth with you, and he leans in towards you, speaking in low tones.

"The situation has evolved in a most unexpected fashion, M'Lord," he whispers. "It seems as if the Count has arrested the wool merchant on charges of kidnapping. He has... hanged the man without a trial, and his household guard have freed the hostages."

This news takes you aback. The Rat takes you to a nearby square, where the body of the man still hangs lifelessly. Returning to your Felucca, you are left dumbstruck as to how to proceed next. After a few moments, you decide to continue on your stated purpose, journeying upriver to see the Duke.

When you reach the Duke, he has already heard the news. "I am not sure what to tell you, Sir Stone. All of your evidence points towards this dead man, and dead men tell no tales. The hostages have been freed, and I cannot see any other course of action other than to return to your lands and prepare for your wedding. Perhaps this is all for the best."

Slightly unsatisfied, and still uneasy about the events that occurred, you return home. The rest of the month, you dally about in the fields, overseeing plantings and trying to piece it all together. Perhaps it is time to put these shadowy dealing behind you and refocus yourself on being a Lord.

What are your priorities for April?

Spoiler: "Sir Samuel Stone" (click to show/hide)

Age: 23 (February birthday)
Good Health
Elite Fitness
Literate
Natural Archer
Fine Man of the People
Above Average Swordswman
Above Average Rider
Above Average Woodsman
Average Etiquette
Average Lancer
Average Shield User
Novice Legal Mind
Poor Rhetoric

Spoiler: "Equipment and Possessions" (click to show/hide)

Weapons
Militia-grade Short Sword
Fine Longsword
Iron Lance

Armor
Mail Shirt
Brigandine Armor
Fur cloak and leggings
Iron Shield

Transport
Felucca
Mottled Grey Hunter

Housing and Misc.
Brick and Lumber Manor
Falconry Mews
Average Clothing
Silver Sun Necklace with Gold Pendant
Bound New Testament
Book of Laws
Cask of Beer
Stone Weights

Spoiler: "Feroshire (Capital Thown)" (click to show/hide)

Treasury - Low
175 Citizens

Services and Housing
Nice Communal Housing
Mix of Wood and Brick Housing
Nice Inn
Small Courthouse
Small School and Library (to be built in spring)

Defense
Wooden Palisade

Trade and Travel
Brick Roads
Medium Brick Paved Market
Modest dockyard
Two-way Ferry

Industry
Large Clayworks
Smokehouse
Watermill (Lumber Mill and Grindstone)
Growing Shipyard
Brewery
Stables - Large herd of horses
Small Furniture Workshop

Spoiler: "Your Land" (click to show/hide)

Medium (5x city size) population (Loyal)
River Parlon (fertile banks on both sides, light forest to the north)

Farming
Nice parcel farms south of the river (two plantings per season)
Fine Communal Farm
Small Vineyard

Defense
Fortified Average Barracks, Armory, and Obstacle Course with Furnaces and Forges
Jousting practice field

Trade and Travel
Gravel Roads
Medium Warehouse

Industry
Small Fishing Fleet
Fortified Mines north of river (silver, copper, gold, iron, gems)
   * Small community of miners in communal houses

Misc.
Trash Pit
Graveyard

Spoiler: "Your Forces" (click to show/hide)

Ranged - Longbows, iron short swords, fur armor, mounts
Five veteran Archers
Ten regular Rangers
Ten regular Archers

Melee - Iron halberds, iron brigandine armor, iron short swords, mounts
Twenty green Halberdiers

Reserve - Iron short swords, fur armor, wooden shields
Ten regular Watchmen
Mandatory Bow or Halberd Training for Able-bodied Men

Spoiler: "Your people" (click to show/hide)

Skilled Potters
Above Average Jewelers
Above Average Trappers
Journeymen Miners
Journeymen Metalworkers
Journeymen Masons
Journeymen Furniture Builders
Novice Horse Breeders
Novice Weaponsmiths
Novice Armorers

Spoiler: "Nearby" (click to show/hide)

Market Town of Carshire - One day's ride on main road
Folesden - Land of Count Foles - Downstream
   * Curbiston - County Seat of Folesden
Land of Sir Denton - Upstream
Land of Sir Percival - Adjacent to Sir Denton's land, across the river
Hemswood Abbey - Far Upstream - Known for dark beer
Lands of Duke Erran - Across the river to the north - Used for hunting
Duke Erran's Capital - Sprawling metropolis with a bustling port located on a wide estuary

Spoiler: "Known Lords by Rank and Relationship" (click to show/hide)

King Edward Geronos IV, Lord of the Falls, Keeper of the Flame, Seer of the Dawn - Vaguely remembered

Duke Erran - Pleasant

Count Aaron Foles - Your Liege Lord - An angry drunkard - Suspicious
Count Gorgan - A fine fighter - Introduced
Count Zanders - Introduced

Sir Blake Denton - Friendly
Sir Alan Percival - Friendly
Sir Uriel Lope - Count's Marshall - Unsure
Sir Melvin - Lady Marna's brother, Duke Erran's nephew - Polite
Sir Ivanson - A renowned jouster - Introduced

Lady Marna - Infatuated

Spoiler: "Important Citizens by Occupation" (click to show/hide)

Alan Alanson - Squire, Captain of the Watch
Fin - Captain of the Militia
William Dent - Steward, Mayor
Victor Irlof - Master of the Market, Treasurer
Curtis Stumpf - Miner, Councilman
Ian Wood - Carpenter, Councilman
Marge Kannity - Brewer

Shipwright
Architect
Armorer
Weaponsmith
Horse Breeder
Scribe (in spring)

[GreatWyrmGold]

That was...unexpected.

Um. First off, we are probably safe from the Count for a while, because it typically takes a little while to replace a skilled or unique employee, and skilled or unique the merchant likely was given how often he came up. Thus, we can lay easy for a bit.

Aside from that...um...

[jaass]

We should start to just start planning that house for that scribe and getting the materials ready, this should be the same for the library/school.

edit: maybe tour our town seeing as we haven't for a while perhaps visit the mines? Also, we should go check if those bandits are still lurking around our land.

[tryrar]

Welp, looks like the Count realized his minion may have gone too far, and so covered his tracks...for now. I say we have a cask of poisoned ale put aside in case he ever gets any more "bright" ideas, but for now, let's focus on our lands.

1) Definitely start building a house for the scribe, paying special attention to his needs. After all, he's here for our benefit, so we need to make him as comfortable as possible so he can work(plus when not copying books he can perform other duties to the townsfolk)

2) Begin full-swing preparations for our wedding(what month did we plan it for again?)

3) If we have surplus output from the mines, make bars of metal and use as trade goods)

4) Have our metalworkers keep practicing their trade and improving their skills(make more and better tools/weapons/etc.)

5) During planting expand the vineyard and see if we can hire people to assist Marge in winemaking(also check our current vintage of wines)
5a) As a corollary, expand the brewhouse to add a vintner's area

6)....well whatever you guys decide!

[Talvara]

well... this is a problem... its painfully clear that we don't trust the count. We've gone over his head. and haven't kept up appearances with the man at all.
he could have us go on a suicide mission in some godforsaken battleground. he could find a new agent to go after us. and soon we'll have lady Marna with us as well. she and our potential offspring could land in the cross-hair as well the fact that she is related to the duke might just make it too risky for the count to try anything more.

having said that I don't really see any options left to pursue here.

Perhaps we should strive to remove him from power. Keep the rat in our employ (even though I'm not sure we can trust him still. Who knows he could have been the one to tip of the count about how close we were to apprehending the woolmerchant) to dig up dirt about the count?

For the time being, yeah lets focus on being a lord again.

as for tryrar's suggestions, 1 2 and 5 sound good.
3, Metal goods are probably worth more then raw metal. I think we'll be better off stockpiling our surplus rather than selling it at a lower worth.
4, I think they'll be doing that regardless of our telling them, but no real objections here.

I dont remember if it happened already, but our manor also needs to be lady ready. (I want those Mews damnit ;P)

edit:

on page 104. It says "you decide with Lady Marna that you will be married at some point in May"
so thats 2 months from now.

perhaps we could also strive to pay Marna a visit. vent our frustrations about the situation a little. tell her how sorry we are that we were unable to completely resolve the situation and promise her we will protect her with our life. if our relation is going to be healthy we should be open with her.

[Mlamlah]

perhaps we could also strive to pay Marna a visit. vent our frustrations about the situation a little. tell her how sorry we are that we were unable to completely resolve the situation and promise her we will protect her with our life. if our relation is going to be healthy we should be open with her.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. We should also be getting enough of the basic trappings of wealth to keep her comfortable in her spare time.
I do think we should be making stuff out of the metal rather than just melting it down into blocks, that way our metalcrafters get some practice in too.

I think we also aught to spend some time educating ourself, learn history, about the nobility of our country, and the cultures of the people they rule over.

[Gervassen]

That was not too unexpected. We went for a legal warrant, it was written and observed by the Duke's staff, so naturally gossip spreads. Then a month passed.

If we had grabbed the dude abruptly and "illegally" on our way down to the Duke the first month after... whole different story, I think. We'd have been pardoned by the Duke after the fact.

Well... Prepare the wedding entourage's clothing. Contract some pipers and mimers.

[Gervassen]

Also, masters of anachronism, we should look into creating a four-field crop rotation. Wheat, turnips, barley, and clover.

The extra field is clover, and it makes farms much more suitable for livestock, so we can pump up our sheep and cattle raising. Beef for our lads in metal, wool for the gold in our coffers. I hear the wool trade has an opening. Let's talk with Irlof about subsidizing the rise of an ambitious young wool trader and corner this local market.

[Talvara]

... wool for the gold in our coffers. I hear the wool trade has an opening. Let's talk with Irlof about subsidizing the rise of an ambitious young wool trader and corner this local market.

:|... :\... ... I like it !

[GreatWyrmGold]

I say we have a cask of poisoned ale put aside in case he ever gets any more "bright" ideas,

No. Ignoring how illegal it would be to use this, not to mention having high collateral damage and quite possibly being easily traceable, there's the risk of friendly fire if we're not careful where we put it...or if we forget which is the poisoned one...

If we had grabbed the dude abruptly and "illegally" on our way down to the Duke the first month after... whole different story, I think. We'd have been pardoned by the Duke after the fact.

Assuming we didn't get caught by the Cunt, but what's done is done.

... wool for the gold in our coffers. I hear the wool trade has an opening. Let's talk with Irlof about subsidizing the rise of an ambitious young wool trader and corner this local market.

:|... :\... ... I like it !

Yeah, this sounds like an amusing, if somewhat mean, idea.

We should be working on those preparations for the wife, though. Mews, nicer house, etc. Also, we should definitely make excess metal into crafts or something if possible; they sell for more that way.

Finally...let's see if we can attract some more merchants. "Upgrade" the inn, make it more attractive and perhaps larger if it's consistently or periodically full to the brim. Perhaps encourage the opening of another inn instead of enlarging the existing one, now that I think about it; competition encourages quality.

[Gervassen]

Finally...let's see if we can attract some more merchants. "Upgrade" the inn, make it more attractive and perhaps larger if it's consistently or periodically full to the brim. Perhaps encourage the opening of another inn instead of enlarging the existing one, now that I think about it; competition encourages quality.

I think the bottleneck right now might be "modest dockyard" so let's delay the upgrade until those merchants have a place to put ashore.

[kahn1234]

Enlarge the furniture workshop, try to attract more skilled carpenters/tailors and also start producing other wooden things that are not necessarily furniture.

Enlarge the Dockyard.

Maybe set up a small clothing industry.

And set about acquiring the materials needed for a dairy and meat (beef, pork, lamb especially) industry.

Also, cornering the wool market would be a fantastic idea. +1.