The scouts eventually make it back, with the following reports of the nearby castles:
1 is occupied by minor amounts of monsters. Usually this would be 'significant monsters', but you took over a place with far more of them in it.
2 of them have been claimed by dragons. Theres a chance they might be able to be bribed into leaving them though, if they aren't
too old. The old and polite ones will throw the bribe messenger far enough that they are solidly unconscious, while the just plain old dragons will kill the messenger over the insult and claim the bribe for themselves anyway. The potato golem was eaten by one of the dragons for its mana, so perhaps sending it out with the scouts was not the best idea.
1 of them is 'claimed' by bandits. They're probably just hiding.
Lastly, the rest are actual claims by would-be kings. They shooed away the scouts before they got particularly close to the castle. In the meantime your main man (or possibly woman) of fightery and metal hats, Plated Helm, went to recruit some more people for the cause, preferably not additional undead, though they wouldn't be bad either. You go and see if you can find that cartographer to make a third map to label with the scout info while he is away, and to see if they've tested the beholder cloak yet.
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The town appears to be fairly well-built, but not especially big. Its otherwise a fairly average looking town for the land. Where should you go to first for recruits?
The Angry Goat, the tavern?
The Council Building, to ask the town leaders first? Or should you be direct about things and just go
Shout In The Market and see if anyone walks up to you?
Major members:
His Splendiferous Grace Sirrah Jerrah Ferdemont VI, Leader and Bard.
The Arch-magus of Bureaucratic Affairs (Second in command/QM/CLO).
The Honorable Head of HR/NHR.
General Crack/Full Helm/Armored Hat/Metal Helmet/Plated Helm, Expert warrior and instructor. General of tactical acumen and head-bashing.
Holdings:
Ancient Castle (intact, if in need of improvements)
Loot:
-Currencies:
--Lots of gold (ingots)
--A fair amount of Gnokian currency.
Lots of upholstery (old and fancy-looking)
Lots of general loot (split between the surviving members, includes coats, armor, candlesticks, etc.)
Some weapons (in usable states)
Lots of broken weapons
Known Staff:
Some large number of undead
A smaller number of unreundead
'Not many' crack commandos
Some necromancers
At least one novice cartographer
A number of scouts
Zero potato golems left