You decide that people's happiness and full stomaches are more important than your Treasury. The Advisor rejoices, the Treasurer does not.
508 AD, Mid-Autumn
You soldiers have return in nearly full complement, with only a dozen unlucky ones having fallen to disease or elements in Rycht. They bring enough money to fill your abyssmally empty Treasury to some degree. The letter of thanks is written in flowery terms, and you wonder if your father-in-law had a poet write it.
508 AD, Late Autumn
2
Your youngest son, Vati, has perished of fever a few days ago. Your wife has been bawling her eyes since then and you feel a terrible pit in your stomach that will take months if not years to fill.
But such is life: oft fragile and short.
508 AD, Winter
It has taken a year to replace the old stones and put in new ones and clear up the ground and adjust the monoliths, but the Great Stone Circle is complete.
On a chilly, but sunny, day, the Archdruid leads a procession of horn-players and chanting, nubile women in a circle around the Circle, with you in attendance as the honored sponsor. The stones look as majestic as they are foreboding. No matter where you go, the sun is obscured and its sunlight causes the otherwise ordinary grey rock look like blackest of pitch. The stone gates and columns play tricks on your eyes and you cannot fathom how many circles are there - five, or nine, or thirteen?
The Archdruid concludes the ceremony in the evening, right before the sunset; it is then that a young goat is cut open upon the altar whilst still alive and bleating for mercy. Its blood and innards are left sacrificed on the dark slab, while the remainder of the animal is roasted and each of the attendees, including you, eats a thumb-sized piece of its meat. It was sweet, crumbly and you wish you could gorge yourself upon more of it.
When the night comes, the Archdruid leads you out of the circle in the same spin, accompanied by wolves, owls, and some less natural beings howling, booing and shrieking amidst the darkness of the forest trees.
You return home, humbled by the majesty of the Creator and the spirits of the Circle.
508 AD, Midwinter
"What we need is not taxes, sire, but some proper mineral wealth." Says the Treasurer to the other courtiers of importance.
"There are the mountains in the east, and rarely has anyone prospected them. Sure, some villages dig out iron ore to make tools out of it, but suredly the bounty of the rock and earth ought to be greater? We need to send an expedition then, my lord, and find copper, or silver, or maybe even lead or tin."
"The profits from raw lumber do not satisfy you?" The Advisor asks, and the Treasurer scoffs.
"Bah! These are enough to cover any great expense or mitigate a disaster, leaving us with not much of spare coin. And we cannot burden the people with heavy taxation year by year either, or our great King Cyrus will end like the Usurper did." Courtiers murmur and seem to agree with the Treasurer.
But do you?
A) "Agreed, we need precious or useful metals! Find some miners and prospectors and have them scour the eastern mountains for wealth!"
B) "We might have received some cash from King Herykk, but I would rather spend it somewhere else."
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Topic: SPAMKINGDOM Z-th! King Cyrus of Surinthomus! (Read 19738 times)