Would this dilapidated keep happen to have a maid?

Convert all Peasants to Men-at-Arms, Burn down troll swamps.

I marry my cousin and die of syphilis.

>>7073615
There is a young peasant girl which does the cleaning. However she is hidious and has a few swamp diseases. Which is why she isn't working the fields.
>>7073631
You're lacking in weapons. You can conscript them as militia, and have them use their tools as weapons though.

>>7073639
Unfortunately, neither you or he is gay, and gay marriage isn't an option that any priest in these lands agrees with.

>>7073667
Okay then, I just die of syphilis.

>>7073671
Unfortunately you don't have syphilis. Also, choo-choo ignoring you.

>>7073667
It appears we will need to raid nearby villages for more becoming maids.

>>7073667
Ok, then...

What does Leold know about the Troll swamps? IN the meantime, set my villagers to work on the turnips and start aggressively breeding goats.

Also, what do we have in the Keep Coffers?

First things first, we need moar peasants. To that end, 35 of them are going to work the turnips and tend to the goats. 10 Will chop down some trees and restore the keep and the village. 5 will hunt. After giving those orders, I'll have a talk with Smyatt regarding the state of things. As in how much land can be gained from clearing the forest, while still retaining enough trees for a decent wood supply. Also, trade. All we have is goats, turnips, wood and game. We need to diversify.

enough of this shit. i ask to be transformed into the little girl, and live my life happily ever after.

>>7073694
I immediately set out to acquire syphilis.

After laying with the local brothel girls, I plan to wait thirty years for the bacteria to eat my brain.

>>7073695
Sure. Seakay is made largely of undeveleoped villages, with the central keep several days ride away. Raid with 5 men-at-arms + How many Militia?

Since you seemed uninterested, Smyatt ordered the Peasants thusly:
25 gathering turnips
1 herding goats
1 ugly maid
23 unassigned

>>7073728
Also how are my defenses, as in are there any fortifications besides the keep? If no, build at least a stockade around it, encompassing the most important buildings.

>>7073746
Important. Acquire a pet white mouse. Dub it Sir Pinky.

Build a vespene gas extractor

>>7073802
Alas, thou must erect additional pylons.

I have a cunning plan...

Leold tells that the trolls generally stay inside the swamps, and are fairly dangerous in groups. Lone trolls can be hunted and scalped for bounty.

The keep coffers are all but bare, with very little money. You brought 5 gold pounds (a decent sum) and your personal belongings.

New allocation Febus:
35 working turnips:
- 10 new plots of turnips planted
- 12.5 food yield for first month.

10 chopping down trees in forest, gathering 50 units of lumber in the month.

5 hunting, gathering 5 units of venison.

Febus:

The woods are large, and take up most of your land. You need not worry about retaining trees for a time yet.

Trade: What would you like to look into?

Defences are poor, only the run down keep. How many peasants do you want to allocate to the stockade in the new month?

>>7073786

You find a mouse in the keep walls, and name it Sir Pinky. You feed it and it soon happily adjusts to living in your room.

>>7073815
And this cunning plan wouldn't happen to only be the most monumental waste of time since Lord Smythesdale lead the entire court and army on a wild goose chase, hunting the legendary and fictional red goose of Angincourt?

How is the village & keep restoration effort?
Anyway, new allocation : 25 turnips, 1 goats, 4 hunting. 20 peasants go about improving the settlement, including building a stockade.
As for trade. We need some more sources of food, including luxry foodstuffs. So, I need to buy some seeds, and cattle. Also, the north. Can I, say, herd sheep or goats in those lands? If so, how do I go about claming them? Then, I send some heralds, offering one year free of tithes to every family that settles in my land. Also, get my folks to basic combat training. As in spears. Two hours each friday.

>>7073855
You also talk to it of world domination ambitions, when you are sure no-one is listening.

>>7073864
I think archery would be better suited for the peasants rather than spears. Any idiot can stab something with a spear. What we want is to not have to wait to stab said something.

>>7073902
Its mostly so they can kill a troll if one shows up Spear are sufficient for this task. The reason for spears ofre bows is just that: any idiot can stab something with a spear. Less training required. Archers we shall have, but not yet. Agreed?

>>7073926
over* cat on the keyboard. not good.

>>7073864
The village is in good shape, for a peasant village. It is focused mainly on growing turnips, and has very little other infrastructure.

25 turnips:
12.5 units of food produced, 10 plots of turnips go to weed.
1 goats.
4 hunting
20 peasants building:

A crude stockade is build by the end of febus, and general repairs make the keep (mostly) free of serious leaks in the livable areas. Half of the keep is still but ruins.

You have 5 gold pounds, cattle are 5 silver dollars a head. A gold pound is 10 silver dollars. How many head to buy?

Seakay can sell you many different foodstuffs: Rice, Corn, Maize, Barley, Rye, Oats, Pumpkins, Potatoes, Tomatoes. You can plant 5 plots with a silver dollars worth of seeds, note that most food does not keep long, and either does seeds.

> Also, the north. Can I, say, herd sheep or goats in those lands? If so, how do I go about claming them?

Yes, goats and sheep would live well there. They are unclaimed, take them and they are yours.

PROMOTIONS:
Your peasants all have their milita strength increased to 2 by their training.
10 new peasants grow of useful age, 5 die. 51peasants in the new month.
4 peasants become Hunters, and have h until ability increased to 1.5.

Month: March

>>7073926
Fair enough. Speaking of Trolls... how sturdy are they, anyways? Could we perhaps use them for more than bounties?

I suggest we try and tame one.

>>7073902
>>7073926
Your hunters use crude snares and bows. They are slowly becoming competent bowman at short range.

Also, forgot above. You have 25 units of wood remaining from the other month.

You hear reports from your Hunters that Trolls are congregating within the forest in large numbers. They are clearly drawn to a food source, namely humans and their livestock.

>>7073948
Trolls are crude and cunning, if un-intelligent and generally aggressive. They range in size, the smaller ones are smarter and use simple weapons, and are roughly 5 feet tall. The tallest ones are 15 feet high monsters, but are little more then animals. The trolls use the larger ones as a mix between war animals and beasts of burden. In their home swamps they are formidable, but at the boundaries of the swamps, where many of them lurk, they are less fearsome, and can be run down on horseback. Alas, when your uncle was wounded, his and Leold's horses escaped, likely caught and eaten by trolls.

Hunting trolls on foot is often a dangerous enterprise, even moreso then on horseback. You however are well trained with most weapons, and have in your posession a bastard sword, knife, half a dozen lances, and chain vest.

>>7073991
Trolls eh, tell me, what kind of swamp are dealing with here, wouldn't be a peat bog by any chance?

>>7073991
Not me, maybe I need a tripcode. How does I can do get one?

Trolls generally don't congregate beyond small bands of half a dozen or so, as they tend to squabble and infight. However troll bands outside the swamps are beocming more common, hence the bounty placed upon them. It can be claimed at Triv, an Erondian town not far from your lay, Eastwards.

>>7073991
>>7074006
With this knowledge, I suggest we lure the congregating trolls out of the wood and have the hunters set up traps for them.

>>7074028
Type: Quest Lord##<insert a password here.>

Do not type brackets

>>7073948
We would need some decent soldiers first, in case this proves impossible.
So, we have 50 silver: five heads of cattle, move a peasant from building to herding, also begin breeding both cattle and goats. Only use them for milk, do not slaughter enything yet. One silver goes to rice, as do five peasants form the building effor. Also: religion and magic in the setting. What's the most popular religion? Does magic exist, aside from trolls? What can you do with it. Next order of business, we build some facilities: a decent granary and a smoking house.

>>7074022
You don't know one swamp from another, but Eirk claims that it indeed a peat bog. This means little to you.

Also, the swamps are largely separate from the forest, and thus trolls are rarely but occasionally seen in the forest. They tend to shun areas with people due to a mutual dislike and violence. Although brave trolls occasionally raid and take livestock or lone peasants, they are too outnumbered to gather for more then this.

>>7074053
If that means little to us, we should hang out drinking with peasants for a few weeks, until one of them happens to mention the time the bog burned.

How many units of food does each cow/goat provide? What else can we make from it?

How much land do we actually possess including the woods using the turnip fields as a standard.

How many people live in Seakay? Do they have a Lord of their own? Do they wish to join your glorious expansion?

Testing Tripcode.

>>7074040
One about them gathering in the forest wasn't me.

>>7074043

- More goats born: 2 Kids.
- 10 peasants arrive from Seakay and Surrounding Erondia. No births or deaths this month.
61 peasants:

- 2 peasants herding goats (10 goats plus 2 kids)
- 1 peasant herding cattle (4 cows, 1 bull?)
- 25 peasants on turnips
- 10 peasants on rice (2/plot)
- 23 builders start a grainery

4 hunters: hunting. Gather

You spend your evenings drinking turnip scumble with the Peasants.
You learn:
- Turnip Scumble is strong liqueur and does not agree with you
- Last time the peat burnt it drove the trolls out, and they pillaged the surrounding lands. The trolls showed more co-ordination then usual in this event. It was a massive fire, and burnt stumps still scatter the surrounding areas.
- Peasants approval for lord: +1. Word spreads that you are a kind lord, and not high and mighty.

>>7074074
Butchering or milk?

Each animal creates 1/5th of a unit of milk/month, can be converted to an equal amount of cheese (food). Alternatively can be butchered for 1 unit of meat and leather per goat, and 5 each per head of cattle. Less for immature animals. Also they can be used as draught animals with carts, etc. This will cause them not to be milked.

You are not sure of the exact bounderies of Teajy, only that the river marks your boundry with Seakay and the northward road with True Erondia. Seakay has their own lord, and for the most part the peasants there are happy.

>>7074176
Hunters: Gather 6 units of venison.*

Happy with this allocation for April?

Oh forgot to mention, magic is generally rare, with few pracicioners with the born ability, and some who learn it. Sorcerers only take the richest patron's sons or most promising students as apprentices. Fantasy setting one I have made for other uses, expect most things, but at the same time they're not everywhere. Erondia, and the Border-kingdoms (unofficial Erondian kingdoms, ruled by minor nobility, no taxes) are largely human populated.

>>7074187
Mostly. Again, Religion and magic? Also, we will need a medic, maybe a priest, as long as religion will not intrude too much.

I hereby declare that we refer to hedge knight cousin as DOOOOOOBS from now on.

>>7074176

Use the ten new peasants to cut down trees and repeat the same as we did last month ( minus the buying).

>>7074215
Good. How does one go about acquiring a resident mage? It's a long term goal, but we'll have to work for that. Also: stone. Do we need to buy that, or can we set up a quarry of our own? Other than that, proceed. We'll need a sizable amout of peasants, and a good, steady food supply before doing anything serious.
How good are our men-at-arms?

>>7074176
I think it is time to arrange diplomatic relations. Let's send an optimistic letter to the lord of Seakay and try to arrange a personal meeting for us two lords.

>>7074287

At th moment I think a mage is outside our capabilities. We should focus on getting our shit in order and stockpiling weapons and making a small army.

>>7074226
Pagan, largely non intrusive. Peasants pray to a collection of minor gods to do with harvest and weather. You and Leold are both 'Byron' men. Byron being an easygoing god who demands little obedience and brings good luck in hunting, battle and general rough endeavours.

Priests are often the healers, particularly priests of healing gods, such as Exidaid. Send word that a position for a priest of Exidaid exists? In return for being fed (vow of poverty) they will look after your people happily.

>>7074233
Leold and you take heartily to this deceleration, calling him loudly from all quarters at odd hours. "DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBS!"

Job allocations at start of April:
- 2 peasants herding goats (10 goats plus 2 kids)
9 nanny's and one billy. Create 1.8 units of milk.
- 1 peasant herding cattle (4 cows, 1 bull)
One cow has been impregnated.
- 25 peasants on turnips (12.5 units of food)
- 10 peasants on rice (2/plot)
- 23 builders start a grainery
- 4 New peasants and a game hunter arrive from the surorunds, what jobs will you allocate them.

4 hunters: hunting. Gather 9 units of venision. Good hunt.

A dwarven trader by the name of Urist comes by the town, selling Suncap Mushrooms, a variety of mushroom that grows happy on the land. 1 silver for 10 plots worth will net you 2food/plot, harvestable every month. He has 5 silver worth in stock.

Smyatt wishes to haggle with him. If you agree, roll a d10. Otherwise price is as stated.

Start looking into trade - is there anything in which we can reasonably build up a surplus? Lumber, perhaps?

Are there any market towns nearby? If not, declare a regular market day, depending on the state of trade in the region. Encourage merchants from surrounding regions to come and trade their wares. Depending on price, maybe put a few pennies towards hiring tumblers, jugglers or other entertainers for the amusement of visitors and locals alike.

>>7074315
On the thought of defences, we can't burn the entire bog, because that makes the trolls antsy, but could we at least cut some of the peat from the bog to use as the basis for flammable catapult munitions and pots of fire to drop from the walls of the keep?

How widely available is this turnip scumble, could we perhaps refine it and export it to other lands for profit?

>>7074344

Also, it's a very useful fuel source and can help improve the soil for farming. Putting a few peasants towards peat-harvesting might not be a bad idea, as long as it doesn't put them at risk of troll attack.

>>7074335
Send word for the priest.

>>7074287
Journeyman mages wonder around, honing their skills and offer their services for food and a little money if they're nearby. They won't stay long unless you can find something to interest them with.

Full magus are rare and expencive, and generally are hired by the crown or by richer lords. Out of your leage for a fair while, unless you find something that they're interested in (unlikely)

>>7074287
Stone can be quarried in the northern parts of newly expanded Teajy. It can also be bought, but is prohibitively expensive at this time.

You duel some of the men-at-arms and find that they are capable of handling brigands or theives, but ill prepared for serious fights. You and leold are capable of disarming all 5 of them of their short swords. However with their spears they are somewhat better, and far superior to your peasants.

>>7074293
Letter sent. Lord Sheff of Seakay's reply will come at the end of the month.

>>7074335
Allocate new peasants to renovating the town and making us more hospitable to outside trade. Move the game hunter in with the other four hunters.

4 new peasants join the builders, the hunter goes hunting, obviously, but also we ask him to teach the other hunters as much as he can. Also, he joins the weekly combat drills and will instruct our people in basic archery.

>>7074397
If stone is prohibitively expensive could we open a quarry and use it as a trade good?

>>7074369
Also, and again if the haggling goes well, ask him about maybe providing some crossbows or bits of aromour for our militia.
We don't have armourers of our own yet, right?

Also, what can a journeyman sorcerer do do help our community?

Explore the nearby territory for an ancient viking graveyard. Conduct an evil ritual and become possessed by the spirit of an awesome viking ghost.

>>7074335
Send the game hunter to work with the other hunters, asking that he teach the hunters we have at the moment any tricks of the trade, but ensuring that he does not go overboard and become gloating. Send the 4 peasants to start on plots for the suncap mushrooms that we will buy 20 plots worth of. If the granary is completed soon, have some of them help make the plots with the new peasants. Enough that it will be done by the end of the month. Barring that, next month they will help.

>>7074397
Almost forgot to ask our advisors what they know about this Lord Sheff.

>>7074344
Sure, one unit of peat will take a peasant 2 days to gather, thanks to travel time.

>>7074348
Widely available, it is the drink of choice of most peasants in the area.

>>7074369
First person to roll a d10 on board will have that roll as the haggle roll.

>>7074373
Troll attack is a risk, but at the edge of the swamps it is a minor one. The trolls will generally go after peasants, but not well armed men.

>>7074376
Word sent. Expect one to move in next month.

rolled 7 = 7

Despite personally not wanting to haggle, there seems to be at least one person with the intent to shortchange this dorf, so I will do it.

>>7074452
YES! Now we just need to know if we were trying to roll high or low.

rolled 4 = 4

>>7074441
What exactly can we do with 1 unit of peat? I suggest if we start gathering it, we send 2 men-at-arms armed with spears with each peasant harvesting peat. As we get bigger, we might want to build a separate camp there.

Have Erik take a survey of the surrounding lands, make maps, and look into agricultural stuff to earn his keep. Ideally he'll be able to identify which regions of our domain will support which crops or livestock, and then coordinate with Smyatt to draw up planting and harvesting schedules to make a more effective use of our manpower.

Diversifying our crops will be important, as we don't want to gamble everything on a single crop that could wipe us out with a poor harvest.

>>7074473
This is a good point. We should be focusing on having a decent crop rotation anyway to maintain healthy soil. Having a variety of crops will mean less fallow land when we expand.

>>7074463
Use it as fuel or export it. I wouldn't recommend using it for munitions just yet, we'd be better off making money from peat trading and hiring a few more competent guards.

Can we go off on an expedition or something? This is a magical world so their must be some magical ruins or lootable barrows or shit somewhere nearby. Some genuinely valuable shit would give us a nice cash injection, or we could give it to the king or our sovereign lord and get some favour points.

>>7074416
Sure. However your peasants have no experiance quarrying. Yet.

>>7074436
Correct. He says he can buy some, and depending on how trade goes may return soon.

He is a peaceful lord with an army much bigger then yours. However it is ill trained, as he lives in a safe land. His towns are scattered across Seakay, and his port towns in the south are fishing villages.

The lord himself is a portly easygoing man.

>>7074426
No viking graveyard. Peasant graveyard is available, but you don't know any rituals.

>>7074420
Depends on how much he knows and in what disciplines. Each journeyman will generally focus on a narrow discipline and master it before applying to become a master of his 'trade'.

>>7074494
Or if we find a magical artifact we could attract a mage who would stay to study it. Though now is a poor time to adventure.

>>7074510
Is it? We've got a bunch of tasks queued up - wait for the priest to arrive, have some survey the land, improve the village, wait on the merchant, collect peat. Let's slot in something for glory while we're waiting.

>>7074510
That's right, that might help attract mages who stay for a while.

>>7074507

With regard to obtaining rock, one option is to try clearing some of the land of stones to make it easier to plant things. Designate a plot of land, peasants with picks and hoes move in and break up the ground. Children or otherwise idle peasants collect the stones and pile them on to side of the field, where they can then be used to make drystone walls or whatever.

>>7074507
It seems like quarrying would be the best economic task for our peasants. It provides a trade good and much needed stone for internal use.

What do you think, /tg/, expand into the stone industry? We might even be able to attract some masons once word spreads about our resources.

>>7074507

No better way to gain experience in quarrying than to learn from the experts. I say we take five peasants from the builders and send them to the nearest mason's guild, with a silver dollar each, and try to apprentice for a month or two.

>>7074539
Seems like a fine proposition.

>>7074452
High roll is bad here. You don't manage to talk him down, but he isn't offended. Buy 5 silver worth still?

>>7074463
A unit of peat can be sold for half a silver. Alternatively, can be used to help fallow fields recover more or as fuel for fires.

>>7074473
Sure, he takes one man at arms with him and begins.

>>7074539
>>7074543
Let's use 5 silver to hire a skilled mason for a few months and have him teach on-site, instead. We can assign 3 peasants to permanently learn from him, becoming decently competent themselves and rotate in another 15 or so on shifts to pick up the basics.

>>7074547
Buy 5 silvers worth, remember to remind him to tell his friends about our village.

>>7074552
Agreed, that's a much better idea.

>>7074553
Promise him an extra silver if he gets 3 more merchants to visit.

>>7074547

>>A unit of peat can be sold for half a silver.

Four peasant-days for a silver coin? How does that compare to quarrying, for instance?

Another project to add to the list is roadbuilding - if we're going to be exporting rock, we need to be able to get it from one place to another. For that we need roads, and potentially wagons and draught animals too.

>>7074559
>>7074552
It probably has quite high start-up costs to begin quarrying, though.

Maybe we should send 5 peasants with 2 men-at-arms to collect peat? That's 7 and half a silver every week, assuming they get one day off.

>>7074552
>>7074553
>>7074562

Do all three, we have sufficient funds.

Also we clearly have to promote the most competent peasant in the village to be our lackey, given the OP's choice of image.

rolled 10 = 10

>>7074562
Hey, no pyramid schemes!
>>7074552
Mason is good, but we do need a quarrying expert. Quarrier? Is that even a word?

>>7074593
I just assumed it would fall into their career, but if we need to get a miner or quarryer or whatever, then that's what we get.

Arpil Over May Begins:

70 peasants:

- 2 peasants herding goats (10 goats plus 2 kids)
- 1 peasant herding cattle (4 cows, 1 bull?)
- 25 peasants on turnips
- 10 peasants on rice (2/plot)
- 23 building a grainery 23% done
- 4 peasants renovating town
- 10 new peasants. 7 local come of age, 3 come from seakay. Allocate where?

5 hunters: hunting. Gather 10 units of venison

PROMOTIONS: New hunter teaches some tricks to other hunters, each hunt at x2 units.

Wood remaining – 5. Low on wood.

5 silver of Suncaps aquired. 50 plots of suncaps aquired. Can be stored for up to 3 months before planting, or can be eaten if needed. (50 units food) no need yet.

Letter from lord Sheff states that he will come at the end of the month. He looks forward to hunting the estate. Smyatt notes the keep is shabby, and suggests you spend the time at the huts near the forest.

Urist leaves, happy with his trade. He promises to be back with more goods.

Zeek, priest of Exidaid arrives. He is proficient at healing small injuries and can handle larger ones with time.

>>7074552
You send a letter to the Seakay mason's guild. Exect a reply at end of month.

Erik is still out mapping the land. You expect him back at the end of the month.

>>7074593
Quarrier; 14th century: : a worker in a stone quarry

That's what we really mean by a Mason, though. We want to hire someone who can teach us how to mine. Ideally we'd get someone who can oversee foundation of the quarry, and who might sign on as a foreman - however, their wages and the cost of equipment is likely to be quite high.

Oh yeah, also: Depending on the results of the survey, encourage growth by offering peasants the chance to claim their own farms on the untilled land. We're in a bad location, but we're bound to get some immigrants.

If we really want a mage, we could also consider advertising that we'll offer shelter for a more -dubious- magician, provided he helps us out.

>>7074610
Set 5 peasants to collecting peat (7.5 silver a week isn't shabby) with 2 or 3 Men-at-Arms. Set the rest to making the place look better this month, and reassign them when that's less important.

Also let's go hunting! Or exploring! We need a story to tell when he arrives.

>>7074630
>>7074610
Actually, shit. Set the other 5 to collecting wood. Bloody wood shortages.

>>7074610

We can benefit from making a good impression on the Lord. I say we designate 6 of the new peasants to help renovate. The remaining 4 should probably start chopping lumber; if the swamp is the only forested place around, they'll need an armed escort.

>>7074617
I don't know of any pressing need for a mage that we should go so far as to offer to aid and abet criminal warlocks. However, there is the thought that, since we'll be training miners anyway, it could be worth our time for a mage to scry for precious ores or gem deposits. I'm neutral on this.

Would it be unseemly to take a peasant wife, or does that sort of thing happen all the time? Are there any nobles around to hobnob with/trade for daughters to wed?

>>7074657
Now there's an idea, we could use a strategic marriage to gain some resources and form an alliance.

rolled 10 = 10

>>7074610
It's been a while since I last hunted. Maybe I need to practice. Enough to avoid hilarity, but not too much. I want to show that I'm busy restoring my land and have no time for fun.
Anyway, time to inspect one of those "huts". A little renovating is in order.

>>7074610
5 peasants to chop wood, another 3 to renovate the town and the remaining 2 join the military.

>>7074610

Put the new peasants on building the granary for now - we need to have that ready before harvest time, so it gets priority.

To be honest I think our main focus for this first year should be to get our holdings on a sound foundation, rather than expanding on a half-dozen different projects at once.

>>7074617

This is a very good idea - designate some plots for crofters. They'll be expected to pay a tithe to us as their landlord, but give them an exemption for the first year so they can get established.

I have my doubts on Leold, could he "dislocating" funds, with Smyatt?

>>7074610
Food calculations:

food: 10 from hunters, 12.5 from turnips, 20 from rice (harvests every third month).

Need: 80 people, 16 food needed.

Spare food: 26.5 this month, projected 6.5 next month.

Granary needed to store food.

>>7074569
Quarrying would be about 1 silver per mason day. That's profit to your coffers, the mason will get a cut once he's trained up. Mason quarries and makes stuff with stone.

>>7074592
You find a peasant, of below average intelligence (but high for a peasant) called Baldric. You take him as a advisor: type: lackey. 69 peasants.

>>7074341
Lumber you have much of in your forest.

>>7074711
Have our new lackey fetch us news of any local nobility looking for suitors for their daughters, and local legends involving magic/ rare beasts in the area.

>>7074711

Convert 10 units of turnips into turnip scumble.

Have someone look into ways to make our scumble more delicious and/or potent than the neighbours' brew. Maybe adding herbs or flowers for flavour?

>>7074711
Excellent, so our legion of newly trained masons will be proficient builders too. We can expect the infrastructure to fly up at an amazing rate when they start getting schooled.

>>7074733
Seconded.

>>7074747
Also seconded. Leave off on the peat for now. 5 would-be Masons, 5 lumberjacks.

>>7074741
We'll need a tavern and/or brewery later on if we expand into this area.

How is the peasant's morale? All fairly cheery, I should hope?

>>7074763

True. For the moment this is for domestic consumption - booze keeps longer than its base ingredients, and it'll keep the peasants happy.

NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER

>>7074656
Hunting forest is seperate to swamp.

>>7074679
Your uncle trusted him well, and he seems to be an honest man. Smyatt is less liked, but that is mainly because he is quiet and bookish. Bastard Uncle Erik trusts them all, and he has known you since you were young, on and off.

>>7074677
How many plots? You have much land, but most of it is forest or stoney. The village won't like crofters coming in on their land, which is the best farming land. Village peasants are serfs, they need no money, just to be fed.

>>7074671
You spend some time hunting, practicing. You hunt a wild boar of some size with Leold, who joins you. The commoners marvel at your mighty hunting skills. +1 pride in lord.

>>7074670
No great ladies will want to marry oyu, but a commoner is out of the question. At the least a merchant's daughter wanting to marry into a title is expected. If you build up your holdigns your prospects will improve.

>>7074656
Mineral scrying is a skill that Miner's guilds hire mages for specifically. If you find traces of good ores, they will let you use him, in return for a 50/50 agreement on all produce from any mines.

Is this okay for june's allocation? Also 11 new local lads and lassies to job up.
80 peasants:

- 2 peasants herding goats (10 goats plus 2 kids)
- 1 peasant herding cattle (4 cows, 1 bull?)
- 25 peasants on turnips
- 10 peasants on rice (2/plot, harvest in july)
- 23 building a grainery 26% done – using 23 per month.
- 4 peasants renovating town
-5 gathering wood – 50 per month
-5 Gathering Peat (7.5 silver worth a month)
- 11 new peasants. locals come of age.

5 hunters: hunting. Gather 10 units of venison

5 men at arms
- 1 with Erik
- 2 With peat collectors
- 2 guarding keep and village

Do the peasants have proper waste disposal and/or dedicated space for livestock and people?

Fevers, flies, rats and alike can cause nasty diseases whenever, some lout throws off their remaining poultry to the streets.

>>7074803
7.5 silver a month? I thought it was a silver every four days per peasant?

As far as plots, I'm offering the newly surveyed, unoccupied land that can be used for farming to crofters. The peasants will keep their own, good land.

>>7074733
Baldric comes back with fanciful tales of mighty wives to be who breathe fire, and a young dragon from seakay whom might be a potential bride. The dragon is lord Sheff's youngest daughter, and is currently unmarried and roughly your age. Maybe you might be added to her suitors if you slay one of these wives?

>>7074741
Needs brewery or tavern. Currently peasants make their own from the wasted dodgy turnips in their own homes. They are happy to offer it to you and your advisors, but don't make enough for export.

>>7074747
Indeed. But building in stone takes longer don't forget.

>>7074779
All is well.

>>7074803
Allocate seven peasants to help build the granary, one peasant to renovation, and the remaining three towards training as men at arms (if possible). Agree to the mineral scrying deal.

Alrighty then, lets set about meeting-and-greeting the local merchants. I want to have a good name among the movers and shakers and the movers and shakers' daughters.

rolled 3 = 3

>>7074803
>You spend some time hunting, practicing. You hunt a wild boar of some size with Leold, who joins you. The commoners marvel at your mighty hunting skills. +1 pride in lord.
Still not rusty, I see! Great!

It's about time we got more men-at-arms. Pick three able men that have recently come of age and get the men-at-arms currently guarding our territory to train them. Since our main concern is trolls, focus on spear training and group tactics.
I advise in the future, we keep 10% of our population as men-at-arms, and arm them with spears, crossbows and light armour as soon as possible.

>>7074803

Already-tended land isn't up for crofting, I was thinking more of the currently uncultivated land. Say 20 plots' worth. Crofting families can claim as many plots as they like, though they'll have to clear it themselves - and any land that's not being used by the end of the year will get returned to the pot and reallocated, so it's in their interest to claim only as many as they can reasonably tend.

>>7074803
Put 1 of the new pesants into renovating the town, the rest can train to become town guards/men at arms

>>7074825
At the moment the river is enough, plus just around if they're well away from the village.

>>7074829
Whoops. 56 silver a month. And 25 coppers.

>>7074855
Baldric is clearly not to have any turnip scumble from this point on

>>7074855

I take it Baldric is a bit touched in the head, ask Erik to verify information about local dragons and how one might be slain.

>>7074870
How much food per month can a peasant bring in, fishing from the river?

>>7074870
Holy fuck we're rich.

>>7074870
What are our current holdings?

rolled 2 = 2

>>7074863
Also, let's oversee their training with Doobs, if we have the time. Show them some new tricks, if they show promise.

>>7074803
It's been several months and that herder still hasn't determined the gender of one of his cows/bulls?

>>7074882

Compared to what we started with, yes.

Can we buy some sheep to graze the rocky land that's unsuitable for farming? Wool is a useful commodity.

>Baldric comes back with fanciful tales of mighty wives to be who breathe fire, and a young dragon from seakay whom might be a potential bride. The dragon is lord Sheff's youngest daughter, and is currently unmarried and roughly your age. Maybe you might be added to her suitors if you slay one of these wives?

Once again, is that socially acceptable? Are the peasants going to come knocking in a horde with torches, if I were to slay a fire-breathing wife?

Also: what do we know about this girl? Is she smart? Is she educated? Is she strong? Could she bear more than one heir? Is she beautiful?

>>7074895
"We call 'im Petunia. We ain't quite sure about 'im."

>>7074858
Sending letter to Miner's guild in Kaphights, the capital of West Errondia. May take some time to get there.

>>7074864
Word is sent out

>>7074909
How quickly could we build a medium sized tavern made of wood?

>>7073593
HOW HAVE THERE BEEN NO BLACKADDER/ROWAN ATKINSON REFERENCES OR COMMENTS YET
I'm looking at you, Britfags.

I'm an Amerifag and even I noticed it.

/tg/, I am disappoint.

>>7074935

We've got a stupid peasant lackey called Baldric?

Tell Balderic to get us some hats, very fancy hats. One for us and one for Pinky.

>>7074943
Well, yeah

But no one deliberately mentioned the connection yet

NEW MONTH - JUNE:

80 peasants:

- 2 peasants herding goats (12 goats plus 3 new kids)
- 1 peasant herding cattle (4 cows, 1 bull)
- 25 peasants on turnips
- 10 peasants on rice (2/plot)
- 30 building a grainery 76% done – using 30 per month.
- 5 peasants renovating town.
-5 gathering wood – 50 per month
-5 Gathering Peat (7.5 silver worth a month)
- 3 spear training as yeomen. Won’t be men-at-arms yet, but still much better then militia.

5 hunters: hunting. Gather 10 units of venison

5 men at arms
- 2 With peat collectors
- 2 guarding keep and village
- 1 training yeomen

Wood remaining – 50 + 20/month to stockpile.

50 plots of suncaps will go off eventually. Can be stored for up to 2 more months before planting, or can be eaten if needed. (50 units food)

Lord Sheff is here. Take him out hunting?

Erik returns with survey of surrounding lands. Nothing exciting, yet the temple of Artagus (hunting godess) in the forest is a nice discovery. Heaps of poor quality stoney land, and more forest then you could use anytime soon.

22.5 units of food, 18.4 used. Total Pop'n (you included) 92.

>>7074951
That's because we all get it. There was no need to point out the obvious.

>>7074935
> Also we clearly have to promote the most competent peasant in the village to be our lackey, given the OP's choice of image.

Uhh...

Ask Sheff about his daughter.

>>7074961
take him hunting first

>>7074952
We'll take Lord Sheff out to the temple of the goddess, make a sacrifice and offer a blessing, and then on a hunt.

Need to use the Suncaps this month - offer them to crofters? If we can't use them we'll have a feast to use them up before they go off.

Also you C&P'd 7.5 silvers again.

>>7074952
Ask Sheff if he would like to accompany us to the temple of Artagus before we go hunting.

What would be a suitable offering?

>>7074935
Have some Hugh Laurie and Rowan Atkinson

>>7074952
Take Lord Sheff out hunting, make a prayer to Byron before taking off. Take the map we had drawn up for us and make a path along the forest to the temple and back.

>>7074967
We can talk about her while we ride.

>>7074978
and Stephen Fry

>>7074978

MOAR FRY

>>7074952

I say we use the mushrooms on the poorer land. Granary is almost done. I'm sure we can syphon some of those peasants.

>>7074975
If any of our boar is left we could offer that. Otherwise, I say we kill a deer and burn its heart as an offering in the temple, then go on a proper hunt.

>>7074982
>>7074961
That is just going to piss him off. Wait a bit.

>>7074984
and more Hugh Laurie

>>7074992
We need to ask him at a good moment, perhaps after we make an impressive kill on the way back.

>>7074990

What's the deal with what animals we have left? We need to make sure we keep their numbers in check. We don't want to lose a avenue of good food(ummmm deer jerky.)

>>7074933
At the rate your workers build at, it's 20 peasant month's work. So 20 in one month, or one for 20 months. Your current 30 peasants could put one up, and have 10 to spare, once the granary is done.

>>7074947
Balderic goes looking for fancy hats. However all he can find is a thimble for pinky (it's all clean and shiney) and a pair of old washing basins for you and him. They belong to the village, but no-one there washes. . .

>>7074878
The peasants don't fish in the river. They could learn, but need line, bait and preferably some kind of boat. Shorefishing does nothing with crude rods.

>>7074900
Sheep are 2 silver each.

>>7074992
And we can do it more subtley with general enquiries about his household. We can dig for information while also being politic about it.

rolled 5 = 5

>>7074952
Let's dispense some suncaps (5 units worth?) among the populace to see if they can brew something from them!

Yes. Go hunting with Lord Sheff, take Leold as advisor/bodyguard if that's acceptable. Don't be shy of the state of our keep, we're getting on our feet pretty quickly.
Try to make an impression that we're working hard on recovering this land (We don't really need to try, really. We're doing that), open to new opportunities and the like.
Discuss, among other things, possibility of trade and military help from his side should trolls start acting more aggressive.
Trade-wise, admit that we don't produce anything special yet, but we're open to suggestions. Also, there's always peat.

>>7074952

Take Sheff hunting, with a couple of other hunters to back us up and drive the game towards us.

As a point of interest perhaps we might visit the temple of Artagus - it's not unwise to pay one's respects to the goddess of the hunt, and maybe she'll help us bag enough for a hearty feast tonight!

Offer each new crofter a plot's worth of Sun Caps to get them started - that'll get them planted, at least. Once the granary's complete, assign 10 of those peasants to Sun Cap farming and the rest to building a tavern/brewery.

Are these mushrooms brewable?

>>7074988
and more Fry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNoS2BU6bbQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X8nRxsTgzA
Wait until 0:35 in that last one

>>7075008

Please give us a total of animals on our lands. I'd like to foucs on the resources.

>>7075008

Put the tavern on the build list after the granary. Inquire to Smyatt about when the merchants will return. We need fishing tools, sheep and assorted livestock, new seeds for plants, and so on.

>>7074975
Coppers of food given to priests if there were some (none here) or breaking a weapon. Alternatively after a hunt, you can leave an animal there to thank for a good hunt, or hope for a better hunt next time.

>>7075004
Deers are plentiful, and the forests wide.

Crofters come in, plant all of the of mushrooms. First harvest, next month.

>>7074876
Erik says the rumours are peasants nonsence. Dragons are more likely to live in the mountains far to the north. However, some generations ago, a Hydra was killed deep in the swamp. He advises against looking yet.

>>7074990
Done. The boar's carcass is burnt as an offering to the godess (after Sheff has seen the size of it).

>>7075045
So we should make offering after the hunt.

We should also put finding a priest of Artagus on our to-do list. Their upkeep is low and his presence and the temple can only add to our prestige.

>>7075045
Awesome. Let's hunt.

(Depending on the hunt goes, exactly how we do this will differ, but here's what I propose: Offer to have Sheff a fine sword made, because we were so impressed with his companionship/solidarity/prowess during the hunt. This is both an appropriate gesture of friendship and respect, and a sign that we are a minor lord on the up, who can afford to give a lavish gift.)

>>7075045
Inquire to Sheff about local politics and the lay of land so we may further grasp our place within it. Make a bit of small talk and ask him how he and his family are doing (his daughter). Maybe sponge some trade info off of him, who needs what and so on.

>>7075009
All his well with his household. His daughter is attracting suitors, but he's holding off to see how things go.

Roll a d20 to see how the hunt goes.

>>7075022
- 2 peasants herding goats (12 goats plus 3 new kids)
- 1 peasant herding cattle (4 cows, 1 bull)

1 cow is preggers, and you have 2 billies in your goats. Milk is generally drunk by peasants.

>>7075029
Ok.

>>7075029
Smyatt is unsure, but the dwarf mentioned home being one of the dwarven towns well up the north road. He'd be getting home about now, if he didn't dawdle.

>>7075015
Crofters have planted the suncaps, and yes they are brewable. All dwarven mushrooms are. Suncaps make low quality mushroom beer, but it is an improvement on the turnip scrumble.

>>7075058
Man, I think we should should just put out a call for a priest of Artagus, and describe how we only just found this mysterious temple. We're bound to get some entertainingly crazy druid dude.

rolled 10 = 10

>>7075067

Hope I roll well.

>>7073593

I perform a series of shocking and retarded acts in an attempt to make a pathetic excuse of a comedy.

>>7075072
Not sure if good.

>>7075076
It's okay. We have the blessing, so that should help. If we do: >>7075062
...as well, he will be more friendly even if the hunt wasn't so great.

>>7075076
It's out of twenty so probably went decently.

Hopefully the offering earned us some bonus points to the roll.

>>7075073
nice try
3/10
you get points for dissing Blackadder, but lose points for it not being widespread enough for your trolling to piss off enough people

>>7075067
Dwarves are pretty tough, right? How much would it cost to hire a Dwarven guard or master of arms? It'd be kind of cool to have a dwarf training our guards and yeomen.

>>7075063
Local politics are few and far between. Erondia is technically your soveraign country, but with no taxes the borderlands are out of their politics largely. The downside is they don't have acess to any of the Erondian army, and need to request help in the case of a major invasion. However being in the safer end of the borderlands, you'll have pleanty of time. Borderlands are mostly unclaimed wilderness, with towns and keeps on resources or just scattered here and there on the more arable areas.

His daughter is beautiful, however is not particularly ladylike. She rejoices in alchemy and other odd hobbies for any nobility, let alone a young lady. However she still has many suitors, mainly the richer Seakay merchants. Your breeding is roughly equal, but you own much less land then they do.

The wife is a portly matron who delights in cooking. Not too much, because she is a lady, but it is a fine hobby, and Lord Sheff finds it very agreeable. He is a lover of good food. The older daughters have been married off and have left home to live in Erondia propper and are the scource of most of his wealth. Turns out they were all remarkably good looking.

>>7075058
Noted.

>>7075069
Hm. I was thinking about putting it off until Lord Sheff was gone to not overshadow his appearance. But in retrospect that doesn't really make heaps of sense and we could just have one of our advisors handle it. So, I guess:

Wanted: One Priest of Artagus.

>>7075101

I was refrencing towards a certain 'comedian' by the name of Tom Green, but ok.

>>7075124
Interesting, it sounds like she would make a good match for us. We'll have Erik teach us some alchemy when we return and come up with a way to woo her.

Kill Sheff. Turn to dark and foreign gods. Declare war on Eronia.

Next time he visits we'll have to have a chef on hand to cook up what we hunt.

>>7075085
Hunt went well, and with the blessing and the peasants driving the game towards you, you find much game. You even manage to hunt down a great stag. It has a few of lord Sheffs shafts in it, but you ran it down. Lord Sheff offers to bring some hunting dogs next time he comes. Lord sheff is pleased by the hunt.

>>7075122
Dwarves are tough, but the dwarven town is a merchant town and far away. You keep your ears open for rumours of dwarves-at-arms to hire though.

>>7075069
The word is put out. Lord Sheff pleased with the hunt, and attributing much of the luck to the temple decides to send heralds out also, and finance a modest search for a priest.

>>7075161
That was kind of him. Going to request we offer to commision him a fine sword, again. We've got a while to get it ready and if we deliver it in person it gives us an excuse to meet his daughter.

>>7075134
Not aware of him. I just decided the name's initials were good, and went with that.

>>7075143
Erik knows a little alchemy, but starts instructing you in the basics. You need some more alchemy supplies to continue. You learn how to make peat into coal, but not at speeds to be economically efficiant.

>>7075159
Good thinking. Remind me when he next comes.

>>7075175
Second.

I can't recall if we've given him a tour of our land yet. If not, I'd like to show him our demense and industries. And just generally smalltalk trade/business/regional economics.

rolled 2 = 2

>>7075161
We're pleased, too, and we like Sheff. We should visit him.

Thank him for his generosity and go about showing him our town before he leaves. This will give him an idea of how quickly we can progress and the state of our lands which would hopefully make us appear to be a better suitor.

Next time those dwarves arrive ask them about dwarven culture and general info on ores, we'll probably be able to barter for basic alchemical supplies and find some more in the quarry.

>>7075175
You send home to get a sword made. Your older brother, tells you a good quality sword to gift a noble will be 30 gold, but he can lend you the money if it's to help woo a lady.

NEW MONTH

MONTH: GEMLIE

92 pop’n:

5 deaths, 3 commings of age, and 2 immagrants
- 2 peasants herding goats (10 nan goats, 2 billies plus 3 kids)
- 1 peasant herding cattle (4 cows, 1 bull)
- 25 peasants on turnips (12.5 food/turn)
- 10 peasants on rice (2/plot) (2/3 grown)
- 30 building a grainery DONE
- 20 starting Brewery/Tavern: 0/20 – 20 wood/month
- 5 peasants renovating town.
-5 gathering wood – 50 per month
-5 Gathering Peat (65 silver 25 copper/month)
- 3 spear training as yeomen. Current combat Strength 3.

5 hunters: hunting. Gather 10 units of venison

5 men at arms (Combat Strength 4 + 1 for equipment)
- 1 further training yeomen.
- 2 With peat collectors
- 2 guarding keep and village

50 Crofters work 50 plots of Suncaps. (100 units of food/turn). They’re happy with their new land, as the Suncaps grow happily in the otherwise poor soil.

Wood remaining – 70 + 30/month to stockpile.

Cash: 56 silvers + 25 coppers a month.
Total: 13 gold 1 s 50 c

PROMOTIONS:
Both you and leold improve hunting skill.
Doobs gains skill: Training.

>>7075290
Oof. 30 gold is lot.

>seakay
>C-K
>\ck\
>The lord himself is a portly easygoing man.

>>7075199
He appraises the land, and notes that you've done well with an otherwise poor piece of land. He notes that the fine game forest is possibly the jewel in your crown.

>>7075272
Sure, I'll likely need reminding. Also, it's 11:44pm here, so I'll likely only go for another month or two before calling it quits for the night.

>>7075308
True, but our economy is coming up to speed very quickly. It shouldn't take long to pay back. And what's 30 gold between bros?

Cementing solid relations with our neighbour is worth that I think. I vote go for it.

>>7075313
Can we expect this quest to return? If so could we perhaps get a date/time. Thanks in advance for writing this quest, it's quite enjoyable.

>>7075309
And his wife loves cooking. We know.

>>7075309

A debt of around 20 gold (assuming we chip in some ourselves) could be re-payed within a few months. It'd be worth it in the long run to improve our relations and gain his daughter's hand, the only concern is not getting everything we want from the traders when they return.

>>7075329
>>7075309
Of course, makes you wonder what /mu/, /fa/ and /fit/ are going to be like. /b/ and /d/ are just too much to contemplate.

>>7075290

Are the Suncaps sustainable? That is, do they have enough seeds left over from one batch of growing to plant the next? If so, that's a pretty good deal.

However, having a back-up plan for the crofters would be good. We don't want a sudden mushroom blight to wipe out the Suncap crop and leave our crofters starving.

What methods do we have for preserving food? I think we should definitely build up a stockpile of provisions to tide us over in case of hard times. We can cycle through it to keep it from spoiling, as long as we maintain a buffer.

>>7075346
>>7075324
Well, I guess we go for it, then. Try and pay back our brother ASAP.

>>7075309
Hidden bonus one found. A portly chef that cooked for your uncle returns from seeing his sick sister in Seakay. He signs up under you happily, but notes the kitchen is in poor repair. However he was used to doing impromtu cooking on the hunt.

New "Advisor"
Marcus: Chef.

>>7075308
You send 10 gold, promising the rest later. Who should accompany it from your advisors/people? Note that 10 gold is a large sum of money, particularly to your sworn men-at-arms and peasantry.

>>7075290
We should groom Doobs to become our general or knight-captain when we grow large enough. His skill in teaching should get supplemented with leadership soon enough.

>>7075359

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBS!!!

There wouldn't happen to be any of the mercenary sort out here, would there? Taking on a core of experienced/specialized fighters to supplement our small trained/large militia could be very useful. Men who are trained cavalry, heavy infantry, sappers/siegers preferred in that order.

>>7075359
Erik seems like the best choice to send. It would also give him a chance to spend a few days with our brother. I'm presuming that's something they both might enjoy.

>>7075359
Our uncle, I guess. Bit risky either way.

>>7075290
So, we need us some militia. Assuming the spear training is still on, we'll look for the most competent peasants as of yet, and instruct them in basic tactics. We will also add some basic archery to the regimen. Again, no more than three hours a week.

>>7075309
>>7075328
>Sheff
>chef

I wonder if he's capable of cooking himself?

How about a spot of public relations. Walk around your town a bit and the first young boy you see, you dub him the Jester of the day and give him a funny hat.

Suggest attending the funerals of the peasants who passed away; they were your people, they helped you. It's the least you could do.

Then, maybe hire a veteran merc or adventurer? Retired, preferably, to teach your yeomen-to-be some combat skills. If it goes well and he's good enough, we make him our castellan and master-of-arms.

>>7075354
Yes. They replace themselves, but you don't know enough about them in order to increase their numbers in real amounts.

>>7075376
Mercenaries pass through here to the real borderlands occasionally. If you let the word out you could get a few applying. However many are likely just bandits looking for an easy post.

>>7075367
>>7075377
Erik Or DOOOOOOOOBS or both? Note Erik is wile, yet elderly. DOOOOOOOOBS is a young, fresh knight, but is more skilled at arms then even you. Also, both are related to you and your brother (Erik is your ilegitamte uncle, but of good standing in the family, and DOOOOBS is your cousin, from your father's 5th brother.) Whoever you send will be away for some months though, as Green Hall is a good distance away.

rolled 1 = 1

>>7075359
Can't we come ourselves, and take Doobs with us? It's been a while since we last saw our relatives, right?

>>7075376

Mercenaries aren't really a very good idea right now, as we're not under threat and in a pinch we're on good terms with our more heavily-armed neighbour.

Mercenaries, meanwhile, are expensive and not immediately needed - which means we'd have a bunch of bored but heavily-armed fighters hanging around the village. Not a recipe for happy peasants.

Hiring an instructor or sergeant-at-arms would probably be a better plan for getting our guards trained up. Maybe get DOOOOOOOOOOBS to fill that role.

>>7075428
Months.

>>7075423
We could send both?

>>7075428
We've only been in our new demense for a few months. It wouldn't be seemly for us to leave quite so soon. It would look a touch neglectful despite the improvements we've made.

>>7075423
Which do we need here least at the moment?

>>7075439
Then we lose the use of both our scholar and best fighter. I say we send Doobs because we are under to immediate threat and can call upon neighbors if things get hairy.

>>7075436
I'm just a huge fan of Dogs of War. Also, an ounce of prevention as the saying goes. There's also the potential to "steal" a band of mercenaries. Give them shelter, food, and an outlet for their more wild tendencies and with a dose of good pay they may be convinced to stay on as our own personal force, especially if their leader is a bright enough/easily convinced fellow.

>>7075418
This sounds suitable, it fits our eccentric character and it just sounds amusing.

>>7075453
Alright, Doobs it is. Should we squire the cleverest Yeoman to him and let them go together?

>>7075442

DOOOOOOOOBS has considerable skill at arms, which could make him useful for training the peasants. However, he'd also be good at keeping our gold safe on the road.

Leold is a stout fellow, a good friend of the family, and an able huntsman. He'd be good to have on hand if/when we do any more entertaining, but could possibly be spared for a while. While back in civilisation he could spread the word about the fine hunting to be had on our estate, thus potentially allowing us to curry favour with other nobles by hosting hunting parties.

Erik is handy in that he is wise and learned, and we will likely have need of his counsel in the coming months.

I'd say send Leold.

>>7075474
Sounds like a good idea.

>>7075428
This is the family you left 4 at the end of last year. Also, you are needed to run the estate. If you leave, Smyatt will follow your orders, but you'll have to wait 'til you're back again to offer new orders.

>>7075419
You go to a few of the funerals, and pay your respects. The peasantry are pleasantly shocked, and the crofters offer their best mushroom beer to you at the funeral. It's surprisingly nice, particularly after the turnip scumble.

>>7075421
DOOOOBS is a very proficiant young knight, and performed well in the first and only tourny he entered as a squire, unhorsing some of the full knights there. He earned a laurel from the lords there, and some gold which he spent on a fine dagger of dwarven steel. He may feel slighted if you hire another and rank him higher then him.

>>7075418
You and Baldric walk thorugh a village, and you award one of the holey washing basins, newly shined and polished, as a jesters hat. The boy laughs and runs though the village, telling silly jokes and raising morale. +1 peasant morale.

>>7075459

I'm a huge fan of Machiavelli, and he makes the very good point that it's much better to have your own troops who are loyal to you, rather than hired troops who are loyal to coin.

Mercenaries first drain your coffers, and then when you can't pay them they take your stuff by force. Even when you can pay them they won't fight as well as home-grown soldiers, as they're fighting for money while your own soldiers are fighting for their homes.

>>7075474
DOOOOOOOOOBS and "Shorty", the tallest and smartest of the yeomen go off en route to Green Hall. He takes letters from you and Erik.

PROMOTIONS:
Yeomen -> "Adviser" Shorty: Squire

DOOOBS is put off with having a common yeoman as a squire, but with little else on offer he accepts. He starts training shorty in basic ettiquete, etc. Shorties family is proud, and host a small gathering in the village. +1 peasant morale.

>>7075508
I'm not saying for us to be taken by them, but our military prowess seems quite lacking at this moment. We lack diversity and are now quite vulnerable given our situation. I suggest having them only for as long as needed, that is to say the length of time it takes us to nurture our own loyal soldiers with niche roles.

At the very least, a few men dying for coin is vastly preferable then forcing ourselves to send waves and waves of our own peasants to die in our first encounter with a hostile force.

>>7075549
Oh shi- forgot.

The masons have been delayed, and communication slowed off because of increased banditry in Seakay. However a letter reaches you, sent some time ago, that they would be there at the end of Gemlie.

>>7075556

Our pocketbook is spread a bit thin as it is, we owe some gold and we still need to pay for supplies and goods from merchants.

>>7075547
Could we go about building a decent house for DOOOOOOOBS with a small stable and accomodation for his squire by the time he gets back? It could keep him happy with having a commoner as a squire.

>>7075547
So, now we have a small force, we might go about doing something with the trolls. Take Smyatt, all the hunters and two men at into the forset, hauling a goat or two. Propose to trade meat for pitch and peace. This will free up some peasants and two soldiers.
Might also be the beginning of integration of trolls into our little fiefdom.

>>7075582
I quite like this idea

>>7075582
>>7075586
I am wary.

The larger trolls are basically animals. They wouldn't abide by any deal we struck and the smaller ones don't strike me as particularly trustworthy.

>>7075572
I don't think we own any horses though, we could buy him a horse and build a stable for it. That would probably do.

>>7075556
pfff lay off there's no indication of anything hostile coming our way just yet, its going to drain our limited resources too much...

Besides, we are small and uninteresting. What force that we can't handle would even be interested in our humble little village? We want some more economic growth before we can afford a larger militia, when it becomes necessary to defend our spoils.

I think that the need for an army and the amount of wealth our region has are closely correlated... So for now, with our modest mushroom farming and small amount of livestock, nothing that our few able swords can't handle should pay any attention to us....

nasty GM's not taken into account.

>>7075593
If we just chuck a few goats their way, it could placate them and stop them coming into our territory, hell, they may even kill invaders should they ever encroach on our lands, but I see your point, we should treat them as animals, essentially feeding them to ensure they don't attack us.

>>7075593
Seems worth a shot. Nothing depends on them holding up, we just name a spot and set up an exchange rate. they bring pitch, we bring food, so they don't have to raid. At the very least we can begin learning to communicate with them this way.

>>7075606
They'd kill anything that close enough to them anyway. Feeding them would be like feeding a bear, it might come looking for food in our camp.

>>7075606
I see your point but my concern is that there haven't been any notable incursions to note and well, there's a reason that national parks have Don't Feed The Bears signs.

I worry that we might exacerbate an issue by trying to solve it.

>>7075617
>>7075620
Don'tfeedbearsmind.

>>7075570
Was it not also Machiavelli who said not to rely on a stronger neighbor for aid? That the main concern for a prince should be war, or the preparation thereof?

Our only expense, besides lavish swords, is our development. Surely, some of that might go to a temporary boost in defense while we are weak?

>>7075547
He can have more squires, we just want him to have a bit of protection. When he comes back we will enlist him in a tourney or something. When we can afford it we can even give him a fief.

>>7075620
That is precisely why we do not FEED them. We TRADE with them. And I doubt they're organized or numerous enough to actually fuck our shit up unless seriously provoked.

>>7075627
Mercenaries are not a good idea at this time. We were actually told most at just bandits. We're watching for a hirable dwarf soldier(s) already, we can leave off seeking out a few human might-be criminals.

>>7075617
>>7075620
Man, bears are hella popular. I see what you mean, I was working under the assumption that Trolls were like Orks and, whilst savages, could be traded with, but whilst I agree it would be dangerous, I think it could be worth trying later on, when we have a decent military force that could protect us should anything go wrong. I think we would rather have a savage ally that we give a few cattle to, than have a horde of enemies that can rip a man apart.

>>7075572
Currently he's livign in one of the better rooms in the keep. Once the masons get to work you will be able to do some propper repairs to the place, as opposed to patchwork that your peasants have done.

>>7075593
The trolls aren't known for being trustworthy, however the smaller ones can see a good deal. The larger ones are generally kept in check by the smaller ones. Also, the smaller ones know they would lose an outright fight, due to numbers. They also fear your uncle, who made most of his gold by hunting trolls. They don't know that he is yet dead.

Trolls speak crude Western (one of the two languages of the area, the other beign Erondian, spoken by most nobles and some peasants.) The larger ones know few words in Western (Ug Thok fire), but speak Trollish with more ability.

Erik says that Trolls have been used as mercenaries before, but have no loyalty when pay (meat) runs out, and will desert happily if they think it's a smarter option.

Note the trolls aren't all one factoin, but a collection of bands. Thus, trade with one faction won't assure peace with all.

I confess, trolls seem to be able to get food just fine on their own. To we really want to give them some more and leave them with time on their hands?

If you want to 'do something' about the trolls, then take all the hunters and the two guards, give them all bows and arrows covered in pitch, and start shooting.

>>7075637
>Hirable dwarf

You condemn mercenaries and then suggest one!

>>7075640
Beside, think of the fear factor. A-a-a-attack, sir? They have fucking TROLLS, fuck this shit.

rolled 4 = 4

>>7075606
Don't feed the trolls! If they see easy food appearing near the edge of their marsh, they'll come closer to the edge of their marsh. Eventually, they'll see enough easy food in the form of our village and attack.
We'll be better off just killing the few that decide to attack anyway than put ourselves at risk of a larger attack.

>>7075645
I said we're looking for a mercenary already. Not 'DON'T HIRE THEM NO' but rather, hire one who is more talented, more likely to be trustworthy and concerned with the upkeep of our native troops, rather than some humans looking to fight for gold.

>>7075631

From the description given, I'd guess that the trolls are generally little more than brutal savages - any deal made would be with an individual troll, and wouldn't hold for any other trolls.

I'm in favour of treating the trolls as a natural hazard like bears or whatever, and doing as little as possible to either encourage them or antagonise them. They have their patch of land, we have ours, and that's fine.

>>7075610
>>7075631
Alright, you've convinced me. Attempting to organise some trade might be worth a shot. Hell, it's worth trying to the extent that we might learn a little about troll culture and how trolls think with the added prospect of some economic growth.

I vote that we wait for Doobs and Shorty to get back before we try though. If shit goes south I'd prefer it to go south with our best armsman and all of our yeoman within our demense.

God /tg/ I am disappointed in some of you.

We should sooner send a few people after them to kill them rather then feed them.What are we, a bunch of cowards? Trying to appease and humble ourselves for some filthy trolls?

They might get the idea we are weak and easy and attack us for it.

>>7075642
Oh my god please can we assasinate a troll to start a troll civil war.

We need word of god about the trolls.Can they be traded or communicated with, how many of them are there, are the small ones capturable? What are their characteristics and culture if they ahve one?

>>7075669
>>7075662
Agreed. Let's leave off doing anything with the trolls until Doobs and Shorty return. Anyone see any more puns, btw? Another bonus would be nice.

I'd also rather kill than trade, but we can reconsider it later.

>>7075640
>Man, bears are hella popular. I see what you mean, I was working under the assumption that Trolls were like Orks and, whilst savages, could be traded with,
This is correct, remembering that the trolls are all seperate bands. They're savages, and not noble savages at all, but can be talked to. They're generally distrustful of people hereabouts, as Doobs, Leold and Uncle Andorder did hunt them some. They tend to avoid people herabouts.

>>7075642
So it IS worth a shot. We have a large supply of food, we don't need them to fight, and they can be communicated with. As long as dealing with us is smarter than attacking us, with which I forsee no problem as we grow stronger and the trolls are stagnant. They could help build stuff for example. Or harvest pitch, cut trees etc.

>>7075659
You're making assumptions now. We've had nothing tell us that a dwarf is more trustworthy or reliable when he has no pay. If I am to assume, we'll have to pay dwarfs more and provide for their excessive thirst! I'd go further to assume that none of them would be keen to die for a man when truly called upon. Additionally, I'll assume that the wee-men aren't a valid cavalry option. Am I at least broaching a valid point or are we just to put our trust in a species we now next to nothing about?

Disregard that, I suck cocks

Bump. Thread approved, OP.

>>7075676
>Teajy
>/tg/

>>7075691
I think you're just trolling on the mercenary debate. I think bringing more and more varied advisors is appropriate, and I support bringing in a dwarf only because dwarves are 'tough' and only to train our own military.

>>7075690
Giving food to them is not a good idea. It's just not.

rolled 8 = 8

>>7075676
Other than a dwarf being named Urist? Not really. Urist may or may not be Russian for "laywer", by the way. It better not.

>>7075682
Right. Think how bad it might be for the morale of our own people. I'm sure they won't like their new lord doing anything at all with trolls, other than hunting them.

>>7075704
We caught that one already, broseph.

>>7075670
Trolls operate in bands of 4-8 trolls generally. They CAN be communicated with (speak crude Western) and CAN be traded with. They're crude savages, but aren't animals. The big ones tend to listen to the smaller ones of the band, as size and IQ are inversly proportional. Bands are like somewhere between familly groups and tribes, and each clan is nomadic. Trolls clans that meet may fight other troll bands if they're desperate, but generally, trade information and go their seperate ways. Troll bands that meet humans tend to react agressivly, and versa visa. Lone trolls are usually young, looking for a band to join and are the usual source of troll scalps for hunters.

This is all Erik knows on the topic.

Autosage? New thread? Archive?

>>7075706
Not only that, but if they've avoided us thus far because they were afraid of our late Uncle they might figure out that a chance in policy towards them might be indicitive of a change in leadership.

They might intuit it as a sign that we've become weaker and prime for raiding. If we do trading of any kind it should be when we're much stronger. They're going to figure out that our Uncle has died in time but we don't need to risk tipping our hand just yet.

>>7075705
Or perhaps you troll, sir? I've presented my argument and you've countered with half quoting Machiavelli and "Dwarfs are better" when we know nothing of the sort. The only dwarf we have met is a merchant, the only village of theirs known to use is a described merchant town. What of that describes a warrior society?

>>7075717
We clearly should kidnap a few young trolls and train them to be our vicious shock troops.

>>7075721
Archive.

>>7075705
Justify. We have already established that they cannot wipe us out, and this will continue to be the case as our 'military' increases in strenght and their does not. We have little to lose. What do we gain: free up both peasants and soldiers, gain a deterrent to bandits and hostile invasion, potentailly increase our construction capability expotentially, and in the long term we might get us some murderous shock troops, should we need to.

>>7075734
I'm not the guy who listed Machiavelli. I don't think we should listen to him, either.

I'm the guy who asked if dwarfs were tough and received an affirmative reply.

>>7075710
We caught /ck/, I didn't see the /tg/ catch.

>>7075706
Bonus found. +1 Relations with Urist. (Good dorfy name that)
>>7075704
Bonus found. You find out from Erik that long ago, the swamps were tea-tree farms, but in the thousand year war were left and abandoned. This is the cause of the name of the area. (Small time lore prise for small time detail)

>>7075721
I think so. It's time for me to stack some Zeds methinks (quarter to 1am). How does I can archive this?

I'll be back on from 9pm (East Australia time (+10 GMT)) tomorrow, if not a bit earlier.

>>7075780
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html

>>7075754
Apologies then. I've offered my opinion argument, I won't carry it further if there's no support.

>>7075754
Dwarves are tough. Dwarf fighters are amongst the best fighters around, and almost ever dwarf is proficiant with a weapon. Merchant town dwarves are the minority, who aren't.

Most dwarves live in Mountainhomes far north according to Erik.

>>7075780
I'm doing it now.

>>7075810
>>7075807
Archived:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/7073593/

>>7075790
Thread number is the post number of the first post?

Also consider how dealing with trolls would affect the attitude of Leold, Doobs and the others. I bet they won't like it. Im not even going to say anything about nearby human lands and the dwarves.

>>7075828
Yerp.

>>7075818
Cheers.

Cheers all, this went as well as could have been hoped. I'll be on again in 20 hours, whenever that is for you. Possibly less.

Also cheers to anti-fate, wherever he is, for inspiring me.

>>7075828

Yup. For this one it'd be 7073593

perhaps we can one day use trolls as shock troops.

armed and armoured trolls.

All this troll lust does is serve to illustrate /tg/'s total failure to foresee consequences.