You quickly fall into a routine not all that different from what you had done as you had earned your own lands for the first time. Even your current squire was similar, even if only in name. The lumbercamp is set up quickly and soon after supplies the wood needed to build a small mine where you found the gold.
The villagers are more than a little astonished as they learn what riches they have been literally sitting upon without them knowing. As it goes into production you seen see money entering your treasury, which you are grateful for. Before the mine opened you had to keep everything up and running on your own expense, which decreased the coin you had accumulated worryingly fast. The road also hadn´t been cheap and you had winced every time you had to make the down payment for yet another few hundred feet through the woods until it finally finished. The result was far from the dwarven roads you had grown accustomed to but it would do...for now.
Also being finished had been Dragonfall castle, after the stonemasons and workers send by Lord Forrester had worked hard for nearly six month. The castle would still need some upkeep and was pretty much empty of anything right now but at least it was again livable and would keep out unwanted guest even with a small garrison force. As the stonemasons renovated the castle they completely missed the empty well and what was hidden within. No one ever asked why buckets lowered into the well didn´t come up again filled with water half the time or why the sound of a small river echoed from below instead of the silent echo usually filling up the black holes wells tended to be. You chose not to point it out to them or the maester that would be arriving soon enough, feeling in your very soul that something down there was just waiting for you to discover it.
As soon as the stonemasons had left you moved in with Rikkard and your newly equipped men at arms. The armour and weapons Lord Forrester came in handy here as you wouldn´t have to buy it as well, leaving your strained finances to other tasks. Sadly the stored equipment would only last you for twenty men, half of that you had now already used. You would need to find a ready source of armour and weapons soon or start to produce it yourself, neither which currently seemed all that likely.
The youth that your squire had taken to training were shaping up to be solid fighters, if still very much inexperienced...not that you could do much but sparring to counter this for now. You continued to train Rik and the new men at arms whenever you had times and were seeing some improvement but it would be at least another season before you would notice measurable results.
Still, you had the inkling that they would gain experience before too long. If your old home taught you anything than that war was human nature, as much as you might wish for it to be different.
As long as there was humanity, there would be war.
+ 10 Men at arms
Men at Arms
Stats:
Movement: 4
Weapon Skill: 3
Ballistic Skill: 2
Strength: 3
Toughness: 3
Wounds: 1
Initiative: 3
Attacks: 1
Leadership: 6
Special Rules: (Proficiency limit 3)
Shield Proficiency: +1 ASV when using a shield
Sword Proficiency: +1 to hit while wielding a sword.
Equipment:
Chainmail , Steel Skullcap, Sword, Spear, Wooden Shield, Surcoat
The men were only missed in the village for a short few weeks as news of the gold you found traveled fast. As far as you knew the mindbogglingly big extent of the gold vein you found had remained a secret but that it had been found was slowly making the rounds.
Six weeks after you had started constructing the goldmine those down on their luck had started to arrive in small numbers, hoping for a better life. All of them would be considered part of the unwashed masses by any self respecting Bretonnian Lord you cared to name in the world you left behind. All of them would not have been welcomed by Lords in Westeros as they brought no particular skill set with them. Only very few could write even a single letter and none had learned a craft that would make them valuable to any other lord.
You welcomed them with open arms, knowing well that you could use every hand...as unskilled as it might be.
+ 160 peasants (80 male, 50 female, 30 children)
The Maester that arrived just before you were set up to head for Ironrath was a rather young man named Pylos, bringing with him a group of ravens trained to head for the most important castles of the north, the citadel and Kingslanding itself. You didn´t quite know what to think of him, having watched him twice as he asked around the townsfolk regarding the abilities you had shown. He never asked you anything direktly in the week you had known him and did not let what he learned affect him. You had the suspicion that he had some goals on his own beyond the service to you. You weren´t quite sure if you should leave him alone in your castle or take him along to Ironrath as you attempted to smooth over some of the waves your sudden reveal of magical abilities had caused.
[x] General Questions and topics
-[x] Talk about current events going on within and without of the Seven Kingdoms
-[x] Talk about our upbringings and homelands, with us sharing about our home with the human powers and Pylos about his.
-[x] Talk about the maester order, what they do, what kinds of goals they and where they place is in the seven kingdoms.
-[x] Ask about his chains and talents.
-[x] Talk about the faiths of the Seven Kingdoms.
-[x] If he says he has an interest in our goddess, tell him all about her, her values and what she expects from those that follower her.
[x] Truth Sense Questions.
-[x] Ask about what he thinks of the north and our lands.
-[x] What made you want to take the path of the maester?
-[x] What do you think of us Pylos and do you think we could be friends?
-[x] Ask him what he what his dream/goal is in life.
-[x] Would you like to know more about our Goddess?
You leave Dragonfall behind in the capable hands of Harre, who by accident had developed to something like your second in command when you weren´t looking at it. He had been a person of some influence in the village for a while and this had translated well into a position of power below you. You hadn´t yet named him castellan but doing so was more a formality by now.
Already you can see the results of the money you invested into your budding fiefdom, the freshly repaired small castle overlooking a fortified settlement and the busy construction site of the harbor while others toiled away on the fields. As you start to Ironrath you also pass the newly opened mine, four of your men at arms keeping a careful eye on the operations all the time. You knew that their low number meant that only the smallest of attacks might be diverted but you just didn´t have the men necessary to guard it better just yet.
Continuing on you strike up a conversation with Pylos while Rikkard brings up the rear and keeps watch. You learn a lot from your talk, as does he. It seems there would be a great tournament at Harrenhall, even the royal family itself being rumored to be in attendance with many great prices offered to all those daring enough to participate and able enough to actually claim them. This tournament had been called by Lord Whent of Harrenhall to celebrate the nameday of his daugther even if Pylos told you that there were likely other reasons as well. Tourneys were costly business and the prices offered alone would have flat out broken many smaller houses.
As you tell him about your homeland, which he obviously never heard of before, he listens with great interest and commits to memory a great part of it. You keep your tales to the human powers and leave out dwarves, elves, greenskins and other creatures inhabiting your home. Most of all you do not even hint at the existence of the four and their servants. In turn he tells you more about the wider world, from the horselords roving through the Dothraki Sea to the pirates often sailing from the stepstones or the always warring free cities. He also isn´t averse to sharing some gossip as he tells you about the kings often erratic behavior, the Lannisters search for the ancestral sword Brightroar or the intrigues always worming their way through the cesspit that is Kingslanding.
During the trip he tells you that the maester exist to further the knowledge of men and serve those in power to enable them to make better decisions. You glean that he believes in this creed but cannot help to suspect that there was more to the order than what Pylos told you about even if you could not discern if he was hiding something or just not knowing something himself. Pylos chain actually embarassed him as you asked him about it as he could only claim a few rings, far less diverse than nearly any other maester send out to serve a lord. He had a single ring of black iron for ravenry, a golden one for economics & math and other three silves rings for the healing arts. Prodding him you learn that he was a specialist and an outcast of his order because of it as he spurred nearly all of the arts but those interesting to him.
Before long your discussion turns to the matter of faith where you regale him with tales of your goddess and her tenants. He listens respectfully but you can see that your words, while interesting to him, have yet to gain any hold on him. As he didn´t reject Verena outright even as he tells you about the Seven, the old Gods, R´llhor, the drowned Gods and others causes you to believe that Pylos is more a man of science than of faith...believing only what he could see and grasp with his other senses. You were curious how his worldview would hold up to you using magic but you refrained for now.
At least you refrained from any outright visible uses of magic, once a day gaining the ability to judge his answers for their truthfulness. The only outward expression of the active spell was a bluish gleam in your eyes that you could easily hide from those not looking for it in particular.
Pylos was born in the Westerlands as fifth son to a minor noble house so his opinion of the north isn´t particularly charitable, calling the northmen stubborn babarians as he thought you weren´t listening. He nonetheless sees potential in your lands, mostly through the fact that you literally struck gold, and would do his part to see it flourish. He didn´t want to become a maester but else could he expect to be as a fifth son? It was pure luck that he found his calling in the healing arts more than anything, proving that his path was actually his even though he didn´t chose it initially.
On the fifth day of your journey he tells you that maesters and their lords often became close confidants and even friends and that he would try to go that way as well, if you allowed it. He would live in your castle for the rest of his days and a friendship would make it easier on everybody. You didn´t quite know what to think of this cold pragmatism. He didn´t have any clear goal for his life but to make most of every day, whatever it may bring...and yes, of course he wanted to know more about Verena. The last sentence was actually the first lie you caught him in. He was obviously bound by duty to learn more about anything but didn´t very much care about matters of the faith...yet.
Arriving at the settlement close to Ironrath as the sun sinks behind the horizon again you consider what to do.
[X] Stay in the village inn and continue to the castle on the next day
Renting a room is done quickly and you´re asleep before you know it, only to be shaken awake by Rik a moment later. At least it felt that way to you even if the moon shining brightly through the window told you differently. And wait….was that smoke you could smell?
"Up! The inn is on fire!", Rikkard shouts at you while unceremoniously throwing your stuff outside. Shaking yourself out of your stupor you move for the door only to shy back as you try to open it, the heat already radiating of the wood as it starts to slowly smolder. Cursing the fact that you were no longer invulnerable to fire you quickly climb after Rik out of the window, screams rising all around as the other patrons of the building notice the flames.
Landing hard on the street below you´re dazed for a moment, Rikkard dragging you out of the danger before recovering your armour, weapons and other equipment which you quickly put on. Finally being able to take a look at the situation you see nearly the whole inn covered in roaring flames while a steadily growing number of people tries to put the flames out. Soon enough it becomes apparent that the building was lost and the efforts turn from dousing the flames to keeping it contained, least other buildings caught fire as well.
For two hours you fight with the others against the flames until the fire was under control but you could not take a breather as the innkeeper, distraught at the loss of his livelyhood turns to you with wild eyes.
"You! This is your fault!", he screams and draws a dagger, all but quivering in place as he the desire to attack you warres with the last shreds of his remaining sanity. Glancing around you see the townsfolk turning to look at you with murder in their eyes, their homes nearly having gone up in flames as well.
X] Bring our hands away from our weapons, showing them in a peaceful and calming gesture as we speak.
-[x] "Good innkeep, why do you blame a man who paid you honest coin, stayed in your Inn and then fought the flames with you to save what we could all in the same night. Would not blame lay with those who lit your home aflame with malice? Would not real justice be to find those who did this and see them punished rather then to lash out at another?"
[X] If our words work to sway things, work with the people here to find out who did this through searching and questioning.
-[X] Use our truth spell to help get to the bottom of things when needed.
[X] After all this is done, find the innkeeper and offer aid to the man for his lost livelihood with a place in our lands with a promise of another inn/traven he can run. Since he shouldn't be forced to the streets by the unjust.
-[X] Also, if any were injured during all this, offer healing.
2d6=11
"You arrived and a few hours later my inn goes up in flames!", the enraged man hollers, swinging his dagger wildly. "A sorcerer like you wants to deny any part in this crime! No, I will not fall for it!", he continues to scream and attacks, cold steel seeking to sink into your guts.
Rikkard steps between you in a flash and knocks the innkeeper out with the flat of his blade, the man falling face first into the mid with a wet splashing sound. You hide a wince at the impact, knowing that he likely would wake with a broken nose next to a ringing head from the initial blow.
The surrounding crowd does not take the action well and surges forward roaring in anger, small blades, clubs and other makeshift weaponry appearing from seemingly nowhere. Cursing you weight your options knowing that Lord Forresters guard was bound to arrive at some point...but they might be too late to do more than clean up.
X] Fight to disable (-2 on every roll to wound)
--[X] Though tell Rik to go and get the guard while we deal with the mob.
[X] Use healing if needed.
2,5,6,1,6
4,2
"Go!", you shout at Rikkard who was preparing himself to protect your back, "Get the guards!". Rik looks indecisive for a split second before dashing off in the direction of the castle, clubbing two peasants into unconscious with his sheathed sword as they tried to stop him.
Taking a stance you smile even as you duck the first pitchfork trying to spear you through. You had not been in a proper fistfight for quite some time and would enjoy putting an end to this nonsense. Deftly sidestepping a thrust dagger you twirl around and smash your armoured elbow into the face of a man in his mid thirties, who goes down in a shower of broken teeth as his limb body bowls over three others before he comes to a stop in the mud a few meters away. Another dagger glances off your plate as you backhand a youth wielding a crude club hard enough to smash him through the thin wooden wall behind him, enraged female screams echoing from within a moment later.
Two men jump at you at the same time, trying to pin you down for the others to gang upon. They didn´t take your strength into account as you take both off their feet and smash them together with a roar of effort, the sound of bones breaking stilling the mob for a moment as the men go down with pained groans at your feet.
All the while you made it very obvious that you didn´t intent do draw your swords.
2,2,3,2,4
5,2
You intend this to be a sign that you didn´t intent the fight in the first place but the northerners seemed to take it as an insult as they continue to rush at you with murder in their eyes. Now knowing what they have to expect the attacks start to grow more coordinated and you have to use every ounce of hard earned skill to keep ahead of them. Additionally you did not want to kill anyone and had to hold back a lot in consequence, two of the men you hit only staggering back instead of going down as you misjudged the strength needed to knock them out.
One of them actually managed to find a way past your plate and ram his pitchfork through a weak part of your armour at your left knee. (take a wound)
2,5,4,4,4
3,4
You hiss in pain and rip the pitchfork out before twirling it once and shattering the shaft over the head of the peasant that dared to wound you. The wooden beam vanishes into splinters and the man goes limb, down for sure this time. Two more follow the first one as you fist breaks one shoulder while a kick shatters the knee of the second man a moment later.
By now you´re forced onto treacherous ground as the wounded piling up all around you try to trip you whenever they are not moaning piteously in the mud or busy being knocked out or trampled by the other peasants. You leg wound still bleeding freely you nonetheless manage to keep blades, clubs and other instruments of murder away from you long enough to withdraw a little and get more secure footing.
3,6,2,1,2
6,6
By now the mob had lost most of its momentum, the remainder turning to flee as you send two more to the ground with shattered yaws. You had proven quite aptly that you would not fall to your attackers, driving the fight out of those that were left as they scurried back into darkness. You are left standing next to a smoking ruing in the middle of a muddy road with nearly a dozen moaning or knocked out peasants all around you.
Shaking your head you mutter a healing spell under your breath and sigh in relief as the blood stops flowing from your knee and the wound heals over without leaving a mark but the rent in your armour. (Regain a wound)
Rikkard arrives a moment later with half a dozen men in Forrester colours, lead by Thorren himself. The lord takes one look at the situation and growls in anger.
"Attacking you on my lands...this will have consequences! They are bound to the wall all and one! I will find the others as well...they won´t be far behind!"
X] Propose a different solution (8)
-[X] before punishment ask to interview the rioters this attack feels off as if it was planned.
-[X] Before interview Pray for guidance to see justice done in private.
-[X] Use Truth spell an own experience to find out who the main ringleaders are and who set the fire.
-[X] Find the true culprits and send them to the wall.
"If I may", you ask before stepping forward as Thorren waves you on, "Somehow this does feel off to me. Why would I be pointed out at the culprit as fast as I happened without me being at any fault? There is more to this than meets the eye."
Lord Forrester stares at you for a long moment before nodding decisively. "Very well, they are yours to do with as you want."
Sending a quiet prayer to Verena you are soon enough sequestrated in a building nearby and...waiting. You had knocked out most of your attackers and even those that still had their wits together were in too much pain to actually answer any questions. Night turns to day before you can actually start and what you find out is interesting indeed.
Most of your attackers had been in the inn until shortly before the fire, a man they had never seen before having thrown one round after another because he had to celebrate...something. Asking around you find, much to your curiosity, that no one could remember what was actually being celebrated...if it had ever been stated in the first place. The fire had drawn them to the inn again, most still somewhat drunk and they had attacked you the moment they had seen the innkeeper and the man that had financed their evening attacking you.
Glancing around the captives you are quick to learn that the man in question wasn´t one of the captured and likely long since gone from the village. The innkeeper, the second person to "motivate" the crowd to attack you, never woke up again. It seems that Rikkard damaged something vital in stopping him and the man expired before dawn. As there was no outward sign of his nearing death you didn´t think to heal him, losing yet another possible source of information.
Having asked your questions ask Lord Forrester to…
[ ] send them to the wall as initially intended
[ ] send them to your fief with their families...you would set them straight
[ ] something else
Having cleared up the situation at least somewhat you find yourself in Lord Forresters hall as the sun rises high over the land. Thorren had thrown out everybody but his son as he sits down with you and leans back in his chair. Glancing at him he signs, "Be quiet and watch...learn.", before turning to you. "After the sorry business with the men I left you now this...incident...how you do you intent to correct what might turn out to be a problem for years to come?"
[x] Punishment
-[x] Give healing and treatment to those that transgressed so that they can be of sound mind and body. Also explain to them if they need it, that our magic is no one they need fear comes with some dark cost. But one bestowed to us by our goddess and those strong in her blessings to help bring more justice into the world.
-[x] Explain to the people while we are treating them what caused all this, how they were made a pawns of another that set them up for a dark deed and then fled after muddling them drink and word that plied on old fears to follow their will.
-[x] Then once they are all able of mind and body, offer them a choice of the wall or 10 years hard labor in our mines.
[x] Plan
-[x] By showing through deed, judgement and word that I'm not what they fear. That what I bring is not a blade without a hilt, but a sword well tempered and forged to be used against the long night and it's ilk.
-[x] To do that, I plan to make my fief a place of safety through fair rule and strong leadership to show my wisdom. For my strength, I will prove my worth against my enemies be they ironscum or the like and test my skill against those of renowned ability. An for my gifts, I will show all through my divinely bestowed healing and my sense of truth what a agent of my Goddess stands for and brings. This way those who would know of my worth would spread the truth of it, since lies and rumors cannot hold real sway when compared to such.
Every last one of the men chooses to work the mines, some grudgingly and some with a lot more motivation you expected due the task being intended as punishment. You healed the worst of the injured, your magical reserves running dry for the first time in a long while and you feel somewhat drained afterwards...not not a nice feeling at all. One of the guards Lord Forrester brought takes the names of the men that assaulted you earlier and sends them off to gather their families to meet you come morning, adding a dire warning that they would better be there or else…
You do not think that any of the accused would be missing the next day. Too much the equally feared and respected how efficiently you put down their attacks, not to speak of your actions after it...yes, they would be there, as would be their families.
Gained!
57x Peasants
1x blacksmith
Thorren Forrester watches the proceedings in silence, a frown on his face that lessens some at your explanation but stays nonetheless even though he does nothing to counteract your decisions. You follow him into the castle, where you will spend the night before returning to your lands and find yourself in his solar before you know it. After the door has been closed he emits a long sigh and falls heavily into his chair, rubbing his temples.
"Sometimes, Hadrian, you are trouble, just...trouble."
"I aim to please", you drily reply and get a tried chuckle in return.
"So you do...but no matter. This has been handled and what you did after the ambush will lessen the animosity of some people, even if will not change a majority...or even most. We will see what the next month bring."
"They will bring gold, for once.", you answer with a smile, "the mine is up and running...and already turning in a tidy profit."
Thorren closes his eyes for a moment, his face working. "Back to business then. You owe me the usual taxes and as I helped you start out and granted you the fief in the first place...20% of the profit the gold vein yields will be forwarded to House Forrester. More than fair, I would say."
[X] Agree
-[x] Though just to clarify, will that be 20% of all mine income or just the gold ones? As we will likely find more sites of rich ore, once we further investigate our lands.
[X] After working things out with our lord, do some shopping in town to import more food into your lands for your increased people until you can up your production of such.
-[x] Also see if there are any prospectors, surveyors and cartographers you could hire to help fully explorer your holdings.
-[x] An be on the look out for any skilled travelers or mercs for possible hires too.
[X] Lastly also look into what happen to your maester and local and kingdom news.
"20% of the income gained by the gold mines...in addition to the tithe you pay anyhow that is, of course", he smirks with some humor.
"Of course", you agree a little woodenly as you mentally calculate the results of the deal you just struck. Well...you were still better off than before by a lot and got a good deal even if it was not quite as good as you initially anticipated.
After taking your leave not much later you return to the adjunct settlement, looking for a multitude of things you could not get at home...at least not in time. Before long you find a single merchant willing to sell food in a magnitude actually useful but he sadly also turned out to be somewhat greedy.
Offer: 500 units of food, enough to keep an equal amount of people feed for one turn or half for two.
Cost: 75 Golden Dragons
Do you…
[ ] take the offer
[ ] decline, your subjects will survive...hopefully
You have much more look in your quest looking for people, more than you could actually use now that you thought about it. A nearby village had been razed to the ground by a raiding party of wildlings that got put to the sword not long after. Nobody could explain how they managed it this deeply into the north without getting caught earlier but no matter how it happened, it left a lot of people adrift and without a home.
"Adrift" People:
250x Peasants
1x Blacksmiths
2x Carpenter
1x Herbalist
1x Leatherworker
Do you…
[ ] take them in
[ ] leave them where they are
You do not manage to find any surveyors but are told that you might have further luck if you ever visited White Harbour...or Last Hearth. Both settlements were said to have people knowing the trade you were seeking even though they were likely to be employed quite comfortably right now.
A little more luck you have as you search for people able to reinforce your armed forces, finding half a dozen hedge knights with medicore equipment that were up for hire. The six men had had tried their luck in the north only to find that knights did not count for much in Lord Starks lands. Disappointed they were waiting for a good chance to move south again as the guards of traders that moved through Ironrath from time to time but were willing to give employment in your service a chance...if the offer turned out to be "the right sort", whatever that might mean.
Do you…
[ ] make an offer (details?)
[ ] do not make an offer
Having taken care of the material things you turned to information, only to find that little had changed since you last turned your ear to the wind. The great tourney of House Whent was talked about by everybody, overshadowing nearly everything else. It would be a grand thing for sure, even attended by royalty if the rumors turned out to be right. Next to it you also glean that House Whitehill was still smarting at the last blows the Forresters struck against them, taking the grudge to yet another level. Things only didn´t escalate as the Boltons and Glovers got involved and more or less told both houses to stop...or else.
You also heard a lot of uncharitably things about Lord Forrester, which you couldn´t quite disbelieve after having gotten to know him a little more than most. Thorren was a hard man and you could not tell what was happening behind his often cold eyes the most time...still, he had done right by you and you would reserve your judgment.