You start a friendly dialogue with the negotiators, hoping to win over these representatives of your subjects. You plainly state that you've heard of some of the issues caused by the administration of the former Governor, and mention that your first act as the new Governor has been to repeal the more cruel laws instituted by your predecessor. You also ask for the testimony of the prominent members of the community in learning of Walder's general doings, testimony that some of the community leaders are eager to provide.
Walder apparently administered these lands for over two decades, shortly after the lands were signed over to Velgar in a peace treaty. There is some disagreement about what he was before he became governor, a caravan merchant some think, others contend he was a failed scholar. For the first half of his rule he was lax, slow to respond to problems or administer justice, but he was also quick to provide asylum, and rarely interfered in the affairs of his subjects. After a particularly short and brutal war years later however Walder returned from the front with a tenth of the men he had set out with, wounded and changed. He became angry and spiteful, and alienated nearly all of his former allies, bullying his own subjects and shutting himself within his castle, rarely to emerge. Eventually he so antagonized Sir Madagor that there grew a fear that the province might see war among it's own countrymen, but he died before that could happen.
Other affairs you ask of too, things like trade, food supply and and the local dangers of the land. There is little to speak of on matters of trade, mostly the community produces food crops and grain, with cheap beer being the primary export, food the primary import. The winter had been harsh on some, but recently the Bleakwatch families managed to scrape together enough coin to have a merchant start bringing them the foodstuffs they needed, mostly things like beans and pickled vegetables. There is a sentiment expressed that it might be worthwhile to begin harvesting raw lumber in some of the nearby forests, but that those places are currently too dangerous to approach suchly without protection that Bleakhaven itself cannot provide alone.
Finally you settle on one of the primary purposes of this visit. The reclamation of your own property. While the local community leaders have not exactly warmed to you, you have at least demonstrated a real interest in their affairs and wellbeing, so you feel it safe to brook the topic. You mention that some of your troops have been deserting, and that you are aware that much of your own property has been redistributed among the local populace, and that you would like these things returned to you, not to mention that you want deserters brought to you for judgement. For this the negotiators confer privately with the family heads for several minutes, before returning to speak with you. You get the definite impression that no one is surprised to hear you bring this up.
The negotiators are very quick to tell you that eight deserters in total have been killed since Walder's death, each for crimes considered unforgivable by the community. As far as anyone here is considered any and all property they may have had on or off their person is the rightful due of the crown under these circumstances. They also assure you that whatever horses, arms and armour that may have been "misplaced" and which can be easily tracked down will be sent to the castle as soon as possible. It is also noted that there are at least three known deserters who could easily be gathered and delivered to you, deserters whom are totally unimportant to the community, a drain even. Certain compromises however, are being asked for. Some of those who deserted had been forced into service, in peactime, at swordpoint, and for these it is wished that their service to the crown be stricken from the record, leaving them neither with the privileges or responsibilities of military service. Some items which also might be considered the rightful property of the crown are currently beyond the ability of the community leaders to easily have delivered to you however, in lieu of these they might be willing to provide you with casks of beer, some food and the gathering of free labor for works that you may have in mind. It is also being asked that you consider taking the second son of one of the family leaders as a lowborn courtier in your service, and that you consider allowing a few of the landless, jobless folk in the community to petition you for work as servants.
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Topic: Delegation: A fief management suggestion Game (Read 25597 times)