Stage III: Improving the Barreny; Turn 47: Seeking Council
This marks the beginning of Stage III: Improving the Barreny, in which our heroic peasants try to turn the barony into something other than a lost collection of starving peasants with minimal skills and resources.~Tradebridge Castle~
Rabble walked back to the castle, giving off green light from his hand. He was concentrating on making others see it, and was unsure if it was working until a flash of his light scared away some birds nesting in the tall grass nearby. It was the best evidence he could get without demonstrating it in front of people, so it would have to do for now. When he arrived he gathered those remaining in the castle to discuss the pressing matter of not having anything of economic value, and their various ideas to change that. The report of the state of the castle was thus:
The castle has survived off of taxes from the barony, and has made no money off of it but rather has just barely found enough to eat. There are hives rich in honey in some of the trees in the oak savanna around the castle, but that is the sum total of the resources immediately available. The grassy rolling hills could be farmed or turned into a forest which could be used for lumber, though either project would take substantial cultivation. It could be used to graze animals, should any become available, and in fact wool was a product of fair demand. The river could yield enough fish to feed the castle, but economic gain was unlikely. It was unclear what another market day could do for the castle, because it wasn’t clear what would draw anyone to
their market.
All of this was related to Rabble by the young scullery maid, who looked vaguely embarrassed for having known anything at all about the state of the castle, and was corroborated by the guardsmen present.
Light (Autoillusory) --> Light (Illusory), -4 ValorLoyalty: Rabble Rall (Content)
Occupants: 3 Castle Staff, 1 Mason, 4 Guards, 5 Guard Recruits, 1 Initiate, 5 Men, 10 Women and Children
Hostages/Prisoners: The Baron, 1 Guard
Food Stores: 16 Barrels of Beer, 4 Sacks of Coarse Grain, 8 Sacks of Coarse Flour, Three Quarters a Crate of Hardtack (Ration length: Unknown)
Assets: Marketplace, Armory, Guard Barracks, Small Temple
~A Mountain Path to the East of Barkamsted~
Lork walked off looking for a cave, with
Eliza close behind, but was quickly losing the ability to spot anything that wasn’t immediately in front of him. He was to the point of nearly running into trees when Eliza spotted a large tree that was partially torn up, it’s dense weave of roots offering a roof under which two could sleep. She rolled a large rock under it, vaguely worried about it tipping back, but it had that look of a tree which had been in that position for a long time, and was unlikely to move anytime soon. Lork found himself in control of his dream, but he couldn’t push his abilities much farther than before. He could control his body, and influence his surroundings to a great degree, but wasn’t able to bring about radical changes. Eliza, on the other hand, had a dream which entirely recapped the previous day’s events. She awoke hoping it wasn’t prophetic, because if so it would be an uninteresting day.
~In the Mountains in the South-West of Brisland~
Zane,
Jase, and
Kurn pushed ahead in the waning light, and the others followed passively, still in shock over their condition. They were able to make some distance into the mountain before it became dangerous to continue forwards; the trail held mundane dangers of steep drops and loose rocks which could catch a traveler unaware in dim light, and Zane lost confidence that he would be able spot any of the more exotic threats which might lie in wait. He did, however, find a small outcropping. Not a cave quite; it was hardly a man’s height deep. But it would keep them out of the elements for the night and it was empty. Meanwhile Jase found, worryingly close, scratches in the bark of the trees, longer than his hand and deep into the bark. Kurn found for the group two sticks which were sizable and solid, and a collection of tinder which consisted of twigs and dry bits from larger rotting logs. The problem lay in lighting the fire, which proved elusive. The group had shelter, of a sort, but lacked the comfort of a fire.
+1 Scavenging (Kurn)Character SheetsI’m not sure I like my system for non-combat rolls. I don’t know that rolling a d4 is really that good for every action, since there’s a limited possibility of succeeding at anything unless your character has devoted all of their time so far to developing that skill. What do you think?