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[ZBridges]

B

[King Zultan]

B

[Cnidaros]

TURNTURNTURN
Your men pitch a tent out of bowshot from the walls, and you send a single, unarmed guardsman inside to deliver terms. You hope to avoid a conflict, and you've instructed that guardsman accordingly. Basically, you're explaining that your position here outside the walls is in deference to his rulership of Merclefield, and that you'd be happy to proceed inside and discuss terms about the surveying of the land and the release of your Steward once you're offered guest right.

About an hour later, your guardsman returns empty-handed, but mercifully unharmed. The story he tells isn't so good though. "Baron Reece still think you're planning to revoke his lands, milord. Didn't believe me when I said that we were out here 'respecting' his rulership. He says that you're just sitting out here waiting for the rest of your army to appear before you storm the town. Although, he did offer to ransom back the Steward for 2 gold, though."

Your Marshal offers his read of the situation. "The town's surrounded by flat plains and farmland, which favors our knights, but the town itself will be difficult to storm. It's not yet a siege, and we don't have anywhere near the men to make it one. We could call for reinforcements from Baron Axel and Dumedin Throvis, which would take a few days to arrive, and make it a proper siege. If we do so, Reece's got a whole town behind his walls and they can't have stocked up much, so I'll estimate a week or two at most before he capitulates, or more if he's hard-hearted and closes the castle larders to the townsfolk."

"We can camp here and try to cut off any forays they make to gather more food before the real siege starts, but there's always the risk that they'll sally forth and try to capture or kill you. Could get dicey if that happens at night and we don't have enough knights ready. Or we could withdraw a ways, link up with forces from Axel and Throvis quicker if you call for them. We could also try to storm the town now, but I really wouldn't recommend that."

Left unstated is that you could continue trying the diplomatic option, which doesn't seem to have occurred to the Marshal. Either way, you have several decisions to make.

Diplomacy?
A) Go with your entire entourage to the town gate to negotiate
B) Go alone but armed to the town gate
C) Go alone and unarmed
D) Maybe Baron Reece might be more inclined to talk if I have more men outside (Wait)

Summon Reinforcements?
A) Summon reinforcements from Baron Axel
B) Summon reinforcements from Dumedin Throvis
C) Summon reinforcements from both
D) Don't summon any reinforcements

Your Position?
A) Camp here so that we can prevent them from gathering more food
B) Withdraw to link up with any reinforcements faster

Ransom Steward?
A) Yes, pay 2 gold
B) No, we'll get him back some other way

[Nirur Torir]

D) Don't summon any reinforcements
B) Withdraw to link up with any reinforcements faster

Is this an option? My thinking is that we go home and ignore the problem. He initially thinks he wins, but eventually gets word that, yes, we surveyed the rest of our lands and have new prosperity from our records office and whatever we do next. If we start a business next, we can use the data to improve our other vassals, and he gets left out over his own fiasco.

As a newly arrived isekai protagonist, we're expected to be strange instead of holding traditional feudal reputation as important.

[Glass]

D) Don't summon any reinforcements
B) Withdraw to link up with any reinforcements faster

Is this an option? My thinking is that we go home and ignore the problem. He initially thinks he wins, but eventually gets word that, yes, we surveyed the rest of our lands and have new prosperity from our records office and whatever we do next. If we start a business next, we can use the data to improve our other vassals, and he gets left out over his own fiasco.

As a newly arrived isekai protagonist, we're expected to be strange instead of holding traditional feudal reputation as important.

+1 to this.

[Cnidaros]

Edit: added an option to ransom your steward back, or not

D) Don't summon any reinforcements
B) Withdraw to link up with any reinforcements faster

Is this an option?

I'll take this combination of votes to be "withdraw entirely and ignore the problem".

[TricMagic]

ADBB: Explain to him the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy, whereas by letting paranoia drive his actions, he performs actions that necessitate response, which causes the paranoia to be true. And no, paying gold for ransom when you locked you own lord's steward in the dungeon is not an action that says you are loyal.

Granted, it may be possible that something the Steward said didn't match up with what we thought, they've been that way lately.

Either way, force negotiations. Who would we even have take his place anyway? If it fails, leave.

[Nirur Torir]

C) Go alone and unarmed
D) Don't summon any reinforcements
B) Withdraw to link up with any reinforcements faster
A) Yes, pay 2 gold

One last try at diplomacy. Going alone shouldn't be a physical threat to us, as it would be quite bad for him if he publicly executes his liege-lord. He might capture and ransom us back, but he is supposed to be at least nominally loyal to us. Ransoming the steward back is both for trying to preempt being captured, and to let him keep his reputation, without saying "You're wrong and stupid. Stop that."
2 gold to try to buy us out of a war that we can't get anything from is cheap.

[Rockeater]

C) Go alone and unarmed
D) Don't summon any reinforcements
B) Withdraw to link up with any reinforcements faster
A) Yes, pay 2 gold

One last try at diplomacy. Going alone shouldn't be a physical threat to us, as it would be quite bad for him if he publicly executes his liege-lord. He might capture and ransom us back, but he is supposed to be at least nominally loyal to us. Ransoming the steward back is both for trying to preempt being captured, and to let him keep his reputation, without saying "You're wrong and stupid. Stop that."
2 gold to try to buy us out of a war that we can't get anything from is cheap.

+1

[King Zultan]

C) Go alone and unarmed
D) Don't summon any reinforcements
B) Withdraw to link up with any reinforcements faster
A) Yes, pay 2 gold

One last try at diplomacy. Going alone shouldn't be a physical threat to us, as it would be quite bad for him if he publicly executes his liege-lord. He might capture and ransom us back, but he is supposed to be at least nominally loyal to us. Ransoming the steward back is both for trying to preempt being captured, and to let him keep his reputation, without saying "You're wrong and stupid. Stop that."
2 gold to try to buy us out of a war that we can't get anything from is cheap.

+1

+1

[Cnidaros]

TURNTURNTURN
You decide to just ignore the problem entirely for the moment and tell your men to begin packing and withdraw. However, you do decide to take one last stab at the diplomatic option, going alone and unarmed to the town gates to negotiate, along with the 2 gold ransom for your Steward.

You ride up confidently to the town gates, and shout that you want to meet Baron Reece face-to-face. The guards look at you suspiciously. You're unarmed, you add, and that's the signal they're waiting for to swarm out of the gate and drag you inside. You hear a few cries of alarm from your camp, but a shower of arrows from the archers on the wall wards off any attempt to come to your aid before the gate slams shut. The guards drag you inside - not to meet Baron Reece, but to a deep, dark dungeon beneath the castle. To add insult to injury, they also divest you of the 2 gold ransom, and chain you to the wall before leaving you to the darkness.


No more choices!


How long has it been? Days, weeks? You've lost track of time without seeing the sun, and you've grown weak from the watery gruel that passes for meals down here. Despite yelling that you want to meet Baron Reece at the gaoler every time he comes to give you food, no one has come to talk to you yet.

Until you wake up to someone unlocking your chains. He gestures for you to be quiet. "I'm with your Spymaster, see? They've got the town surrounded, but Reece's been threatening to have your head off if they do anything. Well, they're storming the town tomorrow morning, so I was sent to get you out before then."

Wait, you say. Who's they? What happened after you were captured? "Your Marshal withdrew to Tyneton and called for reinforcements from both Baron Axel and Dumedin Throvis, as well as raising his own levies. He linked up with them a week later and laid siege to Merclefield. Baron Axel's here in person, with an additional force of levied peasants. All told, they've got nearly a thousand outside the walls, against two, three hundred for Baron Reece. The dwarves have just finished their stone-slinger, which is why the attack is taking place tomorrow - they're going to breach the walls and take the town. Oh, and you've been down here for almost two weeks."

Your mind reels as you take in this information. Looks like events have escalated quickly in your absence. The man stands up - he's dressed like one of the gaolers, and gives you a cloak with hood to disguise yourself, if poorly. He also presses a dagger into your hand. "Now come on, your Steward is one level up from here. We need to get him and get going!"

A) Never mind the Steward, just get me out of here!
B) Free the Steward
C) Since we're in his castle, why not see if there's anything we can sabotage?

[Rockeater]

B well, that was unexpected, I have to admit.

[King Zultan]

B

[ZBridges]

He was clearly hostile, considering he captured our chancellor.  If diplomacy doesn't work, don't risk everything to keep trying it.  B.

[mightymushroom]

B