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>>39114697
Remember that this is a one-shot that takes place in Gauron.

Date: Mid-morning on April 2nd, 1952

Their armour gleaming with a magic you had only heard of in brief snippets from travellers, the mage-knights strode through the village with surveying glances. You’d have to go talk to them soon, you think. The position of coordinator was an important one in the villages of Darlesia – you were responsible both for the organisation and counting of the crop for the dues owed in rent and tax. That in turn meant that you were the shield for the peaceful villagers, meant to protect them from the travails of their lord. The last coordinator had borne those travails himself, losing an arm after intentionally miscounting the wheat owed to the lord in order to prevent starvation. Ironic, given that the lord’s conscription of the local agriwizard into the military was what led to that in the first place.

Being a shield was all that the position meant now, with Darlesia in ruins. You’d moved north a couple of years back after King Fenix had annexed your homeland, not wanting to live under the rule of such a villain. Now, you wondered whether there was another villain who had followed you.

“You hear the talk about this New Darlesia, Carl?” Pat asks you from where he’s leaning on his hoe.

“Been a bit busy with the harvest,” you reply, pushing off your own hoe and glancing about the field. You hadn’t yet cleared off all the scraps and leftovers but Pat could take care of that.

>continued

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>>39114718
“Supposedly some famous general from the south has rallied the army and is going to build a new nation,” Pat says, nodding emphatically for reasons beyond your ken. “A commoner you say.”

You frown at that. A famous commoner general from the RSK could only be one man, and you can’t imagine why he’d be pissing about this ruined land instead of cavorting with pompous nobles in court. Catching a couple more mage-knights fly in overhead, you notice that Chief Raam is talking with the pair that came in earlier. Maybe you won’t be needed after all. You…

>1. Give the Chief a hand in talking to the mage-knights. Might as well continue pretending you had a position worth a damn.
>2. They’re probably after food. You’d rather not give away the taxable grain crop, lest whoever claims this land has your arm removed. Maybe the potatoes leftover from the small gardens will be useful to them.
>3. Mari is in town and the Chief has things in hand. Might as well spend some time with your fiance.
>4. Custom

I'm going to have this thread briefly go though the quest's history from the peasant's perspective. Then we'll visit Harrowmont. Hope you enjoyed the (very) old map in the previous post.

>>39114732
>>2. They’re probably after food. You’d rather not give away the taxable grain crop, lest whoever claims this land has your arm removed. Maybe the potatoes leftover from the small gardens will be useful to them.

>>39114732
>>2. They’re probably after food. You’d rather not give away the taxable grain crop, lest whoever claims this land has your arm removed. Maybe the potatoes leftover from the small gardens will be useful to them.

>>39114732
>1. Give the Chief a hand in talking to the mage-knights. Might as well continue pretending you had a position worth a damn.

>>39114732
>2. They’re probably after food. You’d rather not give away the taxable grain crop, lest whoever claims this land has your arm removed. Maybe the potatoes leftover from the small gardens will be useful to them.
Ignore waifus, get riches. Or at least a bigger plot of land.

>>39114732
3

>>39114732
>>1. Give the Chief a hand in talking to the mage-knights. Might as well continue pretending you had a position worth a damn.

>>39114732
>1. Give the Chief a hand in talking to the mage-knights. Might as well continue pretending you had a position worth a damn.

Oh man this isn't my happy go lucky farm quest!

>>39114732
>3. Mari is in town and the Chief has things in hand. Might as well spend some time with your fiance.
Oh, Aspiring Peasant Quest? Delightful.

>>39114732
>1. Give the Chief a hand in talking to the mage-knights. Might as well continue pretending you had a position worth a damn.

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Writing 1.

>>39114896
Eh, it only really starts off dark. It's kind of hard to avoid everything being terrible at first and it makes a nice comparison point. Things should be relatively light-hearted after this.

>>39114971
I was mixing up Gauron and Taour. You can imagine where my worries were coming from.

Aw shit son, we peasant now.
In happily committed relationship, how adorable. She's going to die isn't she? Probably by blood farm.

>>39115148
I'm hoping this dude'll get a cabinet position when AEQ is resumed

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Wait, Aspiring Peasant Quest is here!?

I don't know why this has me so pumped!

>>39115148
Plot twist Mari is actually a Nightwalker that Carl must keep secret and feed on his own

>>39115374
Nah, dragon in hiding. That would make 5 female dragon cast members to 0 male dragons.

>>39115374
Deeper plot twist Mari is Perin Blackwater in disguise.

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Sorry this is taking so long. I keep having to cross-reference dates.

>1.

You hadn’t seen mage-knights before but you did at least recognise the Darlesian emblem. It was hard not to feel tense with six heavily armoured soldiers in the middle of your village, and the Chief certainly felt the same way. For their part, the soldiers had removed their helmets.

“Excuse me, I’m the coordinator of the village, Carl Glebe,” you say, trying to take some pressure off the Chief.

Throwing you a thankful look, Chief Raam says, “I’ll be happy to help you with any information you like, but food matters really should go through our coordinator.”

“Inasmuch as the position means anymore,” says a female knights as she turns to you and gives you a smile. “No disrespect meant – it says a lot that you’re still trusted even when nobody grants you the position. I am Lieutenant-“

“Captain,” one of the other knights drawls, garnering a cutting look from the woman.

“Captain Ceres,” she finishes. “Imperator Talon has tasked me to survey the lands and return with what food can be spared for his march. I’m also recruiting, if there’s anybody who dearly wishes to fight tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” you say, surprised. “What’s going on?”

“The army’s already in the province, Carl,” Raam says. “This, uh, Imperator Talon is going to bring the local lords to heel. Return law and order.”

There’s some small talk that occurs before the topic of food comes up, and you notice the way that a number of the men gather in the village square. So do the mage-knights and you don’t miss the way they seem to fiddle with their gauntlets as they eye the dozens of villagers building up around them.

Waving your hands to shoo the busy-body men away, before things get bloody, you move on to the truly important topic. “We do have food, but we do need to worry about tax.”

>cont

>>39115418
Or is Carl actually Blackwater's middle name?

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>>39115445
“We’ll make a note of those villages and towns that pay now,” Nate says. “Not that I think there’ll be any taxation any time soon. We’ll claim what little we need to feed our troops, and what men and women want to fight. It’s going to be a while before anything approaching proper taxation can be resumed.

You blink at that, having expected some more force. No taxation? It’s hard to argue with that – almost as hard as arguing with six soldiers in magical armour. Luckily they’re not complaining about the fact that most of what you have is wheat.

“Food is food, coordinator,” Nate says, holding a bucket of potatoes in one hand and a bag of cracked wheat in another. “Thank you very much for your aid. It will be noted.”

As she flies away you wonder if it’s a good thing for a Captain of this ‘New Darlesia’ to note your contribution. Time passes, and it’s not until you’re harvesting the new potato crop that more of note reaches your ears from patrolling soldiers. You’re…

>1. Hard at work in your garden with Mari.
>2. Working with the chief on this new taxation that you’ve heard about.
>3. Hunting game in the foothills of the province.
>4. Custom

>>39115471
>>2. Working with the chief on this new taxation that you’ve heard about.

>>39115471
>>2. Working with the chief on this new taxation that you’ve heard about.
We hard working peasant!

>>39115471
>>2. Working with the chief on this new taxation that you’ve heard about.

>>39115471
>2. Working with the chief on this new taxation that you’ve heard about.
You thought this was gonna be about waifus? No gonna be about getting Talon's crops up to par. Farmin is serious bzns

>>39115522
Hard working peasant by day, loving husband by night. He is average peasant man!

>>39115471
1

>>39115582
This is gonna be fun

>>39115522
Until we pick an option to meet her she is something crazy magical in my head.

I had forgotten Nate was with us at the beginning as well. Damn how far she's come as well.

>>39115724
>Forgot Nate was with us

;_; Nate my waifu. You are in good hands now at least ;_;

>>39115735
When everyone else was trying to get Vad laid this one Anon sang his sad lonely lament. How truly awful it must be.

>>39115471
>Hard at work in your garden with Mari.

Wheat or potatos?

Let the farmingwar begin

>>39115925
Potato master race

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>>39115680
She gets crazier every time you ignore her.

It’s currently early July.

>2.

“I don’t understand. Who do we pay rent to?” Raam asks, his old voice full of exasperation as he scratches at his balding head.

“The Imperator. He owns all the acreage,” you say. “It’s straightforward, Chief. A quarter of the crop from the acreage goes to the Imperator in Harrowmont each harvest season. That covers all our dues, taxes, tithes, rent, you name it.”

“How can we be certain? Lord Flaxal used to often take from our gardens, despite the king’s tax only being on our acreage,” Raam protests. “What about your potato crop in your garden? Can’t he ask for a quarter of that?”

“I was at Toulon, Raam. We asked all these questions and they explicitly ruled out the gardens and non-acreage land,” you say, taking a swig of ale between arguments. The village ledgers from the past few decades were on the table in Raam’s living room, a fire keeping the room warm as the sun began to set behind the Marnn mountains.

“He’s right, Chief,” comes Pat’s voice from the window. “Gardens are exempt, within reason. Just see you don’t try to abuse it and all’s good.”

Raam snorts, obviously not believing it. You scarcely could, either. It had been strange enough to hear that the Imperator was claiming all agricultural lands under his control as his own, stranger still when he’d set such simplistic rules of taxation. Mind, ‘within reason’ could be used quite easily. You’d heard that there’d be auditors from Harrowmont travelling between the villages, with small tax branches in the larger towns. Still, a quarter was a good rate. If it stuck for a few years, without any of the nonsensical back-and-forth between the nobles and king that had driven you mad in Darlesia, then you’d be a happy man.

>continued

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>>39115948
Maybe you’d make enough from a good harvest that you could finally hold the marriage ceremony with Mari. You’d been saving up to afford something nice enough that it wouldn’t embarrass her, given her tutelage by a local mage.

“Anyway, I’ve got some business with you, Carl,” Pat says, the golden griffin on his garrison uniform visible as he leans in through the window. “One of the General’s patrols gave me word of the east, and gave me a gift to pass on to you. Said it was repayment.”

He slips you a small cloth bag. No, silk. The bag alone was a precious gift but what was inside made you gasp.

“Who the hell gave you this?” you say, staring at the golden talisman in your hand.

“One of those flying knights. Said he was passing it on from a Lieutenant, on behalf of a Captain,” he says, staring at the talisman in wonder. “You could buy a house with that.”

Or get your head chopped off in Vitria, you think. This was a talisman that belonged to one of the famous Golden Bear knights, the greatest knightly order in the region. How the hell could you accept this?

“Guess that proves it. Word was that the great Imperator had conquered Vitria. Hardly could believe it, but how else could one of the knights pass that long? Crazy stuff,” he says.

You shake your head in wonder, trying to decide what to do with it. You…

>1. Keep it as a precious memory. You’d likely never come across something this valuable or important in your life.
>2. Sell it in town, or Harrowmont next time your travels take you there. It’d more than afford your wedding, after all.
>3. Gift it to Mari. It was a gift worthy of her, after all
>4. Custom

>>39115971
>3. Gift it to Mari. It was a gift worthy of her, after all

>>39115971
2

Gotta live that big life son.

>>39115971
>>3. Gift it to Mari. It was a gift worthy of her, after all

>>39115971
>>2. Sell it in town, or Harrowmont next time your travels take you there. It’d more than afford your wedding, after all.

>>39115948
>She gets crazier every time you ignore her.

I like where this is going.

>>39115971
>3. Gift it to Mari. It was a gift worthy of her, after all
Daaaw.

>>39115971
>3. Gift it to Mari. It was a gift worthy of her, after all

>>39115971
>3. Gift it to Mari. It was a gift worthy of her, after all

>>39115971
>>3. Gift it to Mari. It was a gift worthy of her, after all
We are best at being a husband!

All these threes.

I wonder if any of the more assholish Bear Knights survived and will take offense to her having that but they wouldn't hurt her, right?

>>39115971
>>3. Gift it to Mari. It was a gift worthy of her, after all

We finally see Mari.

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>3.

You edge into your home later that night, having gotten a little caught up in celebrating your bountiful luck with Pat, Raam and some other villages. Curled up in a rather comfortable chair of her own making, Mari was busy with one of her tomes, one hand absently stroking her long brown hair behind one ear. You’d hadn’t seen this tome before, and you thought you knew all of her tomes. There were precious few of them. This one looked new.

“Mari, I have a surprise for you,” you say, or try to say. You have a feeling the words didn’t come out quite that well.

Looking up at you with an unimpressed look, Mari screws up her nose and says, “I hope it’s not any of the liquor you’ve been drinking. I thought you were supposed to be helping Raam with the taxes?”

“Done that,” you say, then hold the silk bag out to your fiancé, wobbling a bit as you do so. “Had to celebrate. Take it.”

She looks at the silk bag in surprise, which only grows as she looks at what’s inside. Then she gives you an odd look.

“Where did you get this?” she asks you, her voice full of suspicion.

Frowning at her reaction, you explain what Pat had said about it being a gift. Her look of suspicion fades, even as she strokes the talisman.

“Thank you for the gift, but you really should keep it. If Captain Nate wanted you to have it then you should keep it,” she says, placing the bag back in your hand and closing your fingers over it with a smile. “And it’s true – Vitria has placed itself under Imperator Talon. He’ll march on Taour next, I bet.”

>continued

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>>39116470
You nod at that, absently staring at her new tome. Something in what she said wasn’t right, but then again you’re pretty drunk. It’s not long before you curl up with her in bed, much to her annoyance.

“Well, I suppose you’ll need to be rested enough to work the potatoes tomorrow,” she mutters as you drift off.

As spring approaches you find yourself in consultation with the rest of the village on what to plant. The winter crop was doing well, with the winter having been rather mild, but you wondered if you should focus on cash crops for the gardens. The weather looked like it would keep and there was no chaotic lord to raid your personal efforts. The acreage would provide more than enough food, both to meet the Imperator’s demands and to fetch a fair amount from the processors in town.

>1. Focus on food. Potatoes in gardens, oats, peas and beans in the spring fields.
>2. Go for the money – you didn’t have to grow food crops according to the new laws, you just had to trade for some. Cash crops in gardens, high value crops in the spring fields.
>3. Split it as planned. Cash crops in gardens, food crops in the spring fields.
>4. Custom

This won't impact AEQ proper, by the way. It'll merely affect the scenes that Carl gets.

>>39116487
>3. Split it as planned. Cash crops in gardens, food crops in the spring fields.

>>39116487
>>3. Split it as planned. Cash crops in gardens, food crops in the spring fields.
We are average peasant, not greedy peasant.

>>39116487
>>3. Split it as planned. Cash crops in gardens, food crops in the spring fields.

>>39116487
2
Money money money

>>39116487
>2. Go for the money – you didn’t have to grow food crops according to the new laws, you just had to trade for some. Cash crops in gardens, high value crops in the spring fields.
Guess we still need that money for marriage.

>>39116487
>3. Split it as planned. Cash crops in gardens, food crops in the spring fields.

>>39116487
>>3. Split it as planned. Cash crops in gardens, food crops in the spring fields.

>>39116487
>You nod at that, absently staring at her new tome. Something in what she said wasn’t right, but then again you’re pretty drunk.

I feel like something actually happened and it's bugging the shit out of me

>>39116487
>>3. Split it as planned. Cash crops in gardens, food crops in the spring fields.

>>39116691
I agree.

Carl seems so ridiculously unambitious. Keep a trinket worth a small fortune, go the safe route with his crops. Eh maybe I'll make money.

>>39116487
>3. Split it as planned. Cash crops in gardens, food crops in the spring fields.
Damn, this woman...I'm suspicious and I don't want to be.

>>39116691
Well, she seems to know more than she should. Assuming she's nonhuman the options are Daywalker, Dragon or Aefir.

>>39116787
He has a house, food and a loving wife. What more could a man ask for?

>>39116851
An empire.

>>39116804
I like the idea that Carl is the most oblivious farmer in Gauron.

I'm going to say some sort of vampire. Thinking he'll go straight for Taour seems off. But why wouldn't the local mage tutor say something... Apparently Mari is very interesting.

>>39116860
That is his empire.

>>39116860
Time to annex the neighbors garden.

>>39116860
His house is his castle, his field his empire, his wife his empress.

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>3.

By mid-November the world is an altogether different place. The fields are sown, your garden ready, fertilising went well over winter and everything is shaping up for an excellent harvest. Your new Imperator also conquered Taour, held a grand tournament that Mari talks about endlessly every day, named his empire after himself. Oh, and the new royal knightly order is headed by a dragon of some description and his squire is apparently an elf. Somehow you’re not surprised that Raam said that the world had moved on from his time and ceded the position of Chief to you, especially now that coordinator wasn’t an official position.

There was also the matter of the fluffy tails sitting on the other side of the round table in the village hall. You tried not to think too hard about the fact that the male seemed to keep his better, and gave him a nervous smile in return to his smooth one.

“I had hoped word of our settlement in the mountains had spread,” Shii says, his five bright orange tails lazily shuffling about behind him. “Imperator Talon has given my clan permission to settle along there.”

“The mountains are an odd place to settle. What will you live on?” Rem asks, his withered hands nervously playing with his robes. “Even my magicks couldn’t make crops grow on a mountaintop.”

The other fox, a young woman with four smaller white tails, gives Rem a suspicious look when he talks about his magic. Ever the smooth operator, Shii ruffles her hair, pulling her attention back to him. There was definitely a world of difference between these two, even if they were supposedly married.

Not that you were one to talk.

>continued

>>39116863
>I'm going to say some sort of vampire.
Only daywalkers can pass as human.

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>>39116956
“I’m guessing that’s why they’re here,” Mari says, the only person in the village who had kept her cool when two mystic foxes strode in without any warning. “You can’t grow anything up there, can you?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Shii says, smiling broadly. “We do have a lot of practice in growing plants in inhospitable climates. Still, we need more food than we can easily grow ourselves. Especially with so many kits on the way.”

Avoiding the obvious point about Shii referring to fox children as ‘kits’ you move onto negotiations. Honestly, you wonder what a group of non-humans can really offer you.

“Well, what do you want?” Shii says. “We can offer a surprising variety of services. Or even crafts, if those interest you.”

>1. Good and reliable harvests.
>2. Money. You want a fair rate for the village.
>3. New plants and techniques. You wonder what marvels the foxes might know of.
>4. Custom

>>39116804
She's not necessarily non-human. You didn't ignore her for that long, after all.

>>39116979
>1. Good and reliable harvests.

>>39116979
>>1. Good and reliable harvests.
That's all a man needs.

>>39116979
>3
And 4. Offer an exchange program to help facilitate relations between the two races. The villages patrol will skip by their way every once and awhile and we'll post a rotating guard up there with them. And they can do the same. That way they can coordinate easier with each other easier and quicker should something happen like a freak infernal incursion

>>39116979
>>1. Good and reliable harvests.

>>39116979
>She's not necessarily non-human. You didn't ignore her for that long, after all.
Well, vampire is ruled out with the foxes nearby unless she's extraordinarily talented.

I find it hilarious how content we are with the simple life. Quite a difference from Talon, don't you think?

>>39116979
>4. New plants and farming techniques and their assistance in helping us get a good and reliable harvest will ensure that they get access to a a large amount of varied crops as opposed to a smaller amount of just wheat and potatoes. Their assistance should also bring in goodwill from people who may not like them settling nearby.

>>39116979
>She's not necessarily non-human. You didn't ignore her for that long, after all.

Damn it Carl should have sold the trinket. Particularly talented mage perhaps. But her not being unnerved by the foxes seems to imply she's seen them before. Damn it Mari what are you

>>39117042
Voting for this. Even if it's super metagamey.

>>39117119
>Damn it Mari what are you
Does it matter, she is Carls wife and he loves her. Dose not matter what she is.

>>39116979
>1. Good and reliable harvests.

>>39116979
>3. New plants and techniques. You wonder what marvels the foxes might know of.
Money and keeping the missus interested in staying around here.

>>39117042
>>39117142
I think it'd be great if the peasant was super oblivious, but his crack-pot conspiracy theories were spot on.

>>39116691
Been thinking about this more, and its been hinted a few times about getting money to marry her and we haven't been doing it and its been months by now shes probably going to leave us at some point soon.

>>39117240
Voting for Carl to be slightly off his rocker it is.

>>39117267
Yeah let's lock it down

>>39117119
>>39117143
Blackwater!

>>39117142
If we're going to metagame we might as well go balls deep. Build some advanced watch towers, contact the anything town in Mier to outfit the local militia better. This village is obviously near the Marnn Mountain range, and the infernals tore some of them up pretty bad on their way to Harrowmont

>>39116979
>3. New plants and techniques. You wonder what marvels the foxes might know of.
Progress, man. Progress.

>>39116979
>2. Money. You want a fair rate for the village.

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>1.

“Good and reliable harvests,” you say.

The room falls silent, as the other people in the room stare at you in wonder. Somehow you don’t think it’s in awe at your wisdom so much as a surprise at your simplicity. Honestly, this happened far too often.

With a bark of laughter, Shii breaks the mood. “Yes, yes I suppose you would want that. It deals with everything, doesn’t it? Plentiful food, no problems with money and tools, happy villagers.”

“Isn’t that what the sorcerer is for? Why do you need more?” the woman asks, giving you a cutting look.

“Now, now, Nia,” Shii says, rubbing her shoulder. “To be honest, I’d be very interested in helping you with your harvests. Our race, even my original clan, the Lotus, weren’t much for farming. Something I feel should change. A cooperation between the two of us would be wonderful – we’d be able to explore what our talents can do for your fields and gardens, beyond what your agriwizard can.”

From there it’s easy, with you, Shii and Rem talking late into the night about what the foxes can do and how that might help the crops. Of course, there’s also talk of what you can provide. The foxes have varied tastes, which is why you’re surprised they’re so against the idea of getting potatoes.

“How can you not like potatoes?” you say over a mug of ale, Nia and Mari having slipped away together at some point.

“They are the blandest, most boring foods possible. It’s most of what they grow up north in the Guard,” he says, his tails absently brushing along your back as he gestures emphatically, ale spilling onto the floor. “These horrible lumpy white things. It’s like eating wax!”

>continued

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>>39117571
“That’s just one variety of potato. They don’t have to be like that,” you say. “I guarantee you’ll love them if you try some different varieties. You eat rice, don’t you? That’s no less bland.”

The argument goes into the early morning, and you awake on the floor of the hall, a fluffy mop of white hair and ears above you.

“Get off my husband, please,” Nia says.

You blink, and look around, noting that the comfy pillow you’re on is in fact the enormous orange tails of a sleeping Shii, who collapsed on the floor besides you.

“Honestly, why do all us spies have such strange taste of men. Karise has that brat, Neir that eccentric mage…” she mutters, shaking Shii awake.

As he stumbles off, nursing his head, he mutters, “Don’t worry, I’ll talk to my clan head about setting up patrols. I understand your worries about the monsters of the range – we’ll keep things safe.”

Wait, what?

In the end, fox patrols and even a watchtower are set up in the village. Somehow that results in an expansion of the village, as a few of the neighbouring villages seem to be absorbed into the extra grounds of yours. The harvest goes well, as does the Imperator’s plans. TWord spreads that he plans to march on Shropham. Word from Shii is that there will be more foxes moving in, too. Food is becoming ever more important. With that in mind, for the winter crop you…

>1. Focus on high-yield food crops, even if they don’t offer as much variety as your trading partners might like. Less money for you but The York Empire might appreciate it if food becomes a worry after the campaign.
>2. Begin to try some new varieties of food crops, particularly in your gardens. With Shii’s help you can probably convince the local taxmen to let you plant potatoes in the fields, for an early harvest.
>3. Continue your split between food and cash crops. You need to worry about your village before the empire, after all.
>4. Custom

>>39117595
>2. Begin to try some new varieties of food crops, particularly in your gardens. With Shii’s help you can probably convince the local taxmen to let you plant potatoes in the fields, for an early harvest.
We need to think bigger.

>>39117595
>3. Continue your split between food and cash crops. You need to worry about your village before the empire, after all.

>>39117595
>>2. Begin to try some new varieties of food crops, particularly in your gardens. With Shii’s help you can probably convince the local taxmen to let you plant potatoes in the fields, for an early harvest.

>>39117595
>1. Focus on high-yield food crops, even if they don’t offer as much variety as your trading partners might like. Less money for you but The York Empire might appreciate it if food becomes a worry after the campaign.

Good let's continue to annex more villages until we become a proper town

>>39117608
This is aspiring peasant quest, not aspiring entrepreneur quest

>>39117595
1
Carl you are a simple man and I enjoy that immensely. Though apparently drunk Carl knows how to talk business, probably how he got Mari.

>>39117119
>Damn it Mari what are you
She's obviously an Oni.

1

Carl arguing the wonders of potatoes gave me a laugh.

>>39117595
>>1. Focus on high-yield food crops, even if they don’t offer as much variety as your trading partners might like. Less money for you but The York Empire might appreciate it if food becomes a worry after the campaign.

>>39117699
Didn't Aspir once say those sort of kind of exist in Pharos? Possibly.

Oh! She could be one of the Farloun that escaped Fenix's genocide. Might explain the aptitude for magic.

>>39117749
Maybe she's an Aefir using disguise magic.

>>39117595
>2. Begin to try some new varieties of food crops, particularly in your gardens. With Shii’s help you can probably convince the local taxmen to let you plant potatoes in the fields, for an early harvest.
Majority will still be high yield crops so a little diversity in the gardens couldn't hurt just to see the results. We wont starve since the Foxes are using their potato hating magic.

>>39117749
Well, the name makes me think that she's either from Pharos or descended from someone from Pharos.

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I think this is a 1. Carl is a man of the empire, through and through. Shii will just have to live with the different potato varieties and salads grown in the gardens.

>>39117722
I spent hours reading about potatoes yesterday and I'll be damned if it goes to waste!

>>39117661
I'm aiming for simple without being stupid. He can understand difficult things and talk business if necessary, but he has no real ambitions beyond enjoying a comfortable life.

>>39117699
Oni do exist but I haven't properly fleshed them out yet, so Mari isn't one. Nia gave a big hint, by the way.

I have to admit... I don't really eat potatoes. I prefer pasta.

>>39117802
I bet two whole gryphons shes got Astral

>>39117655
Peasants are entrepreneurs anon. Takes hard work to learn how to farm well and what to farm at what time.

>>39117655
Mari is not pleased, anon.

>>39117595
>2. Begin to try some new varieties of food crops, particularly in your gardens. With Shii’s help you can probably convince the local taxmen to let you plant potatoes in the fields, for an early harvest.

>>39117802
She's a spy!
I'm picturing Carl as Carl Pilkington from an idiot abroad

>>39117802
What, she's a fox in disguise?

>>39117802
I assume Nia was directing the sorceror comment on Mari then. But what kind is the question. I'm still guessing Farlou.

>>39117802
>Nia gave a big hint, by the way.

Her name is Mari. That alone is a big hint. Let alone her going off to talk alone with Nia or Nia talking about spies having weird husbands.

I feel like Mari wasn't suppose to be this interesting, but she suddenly took a turn for the absurd.

Definitely not inhuman, but who else goes by the term sorceror?

It's like you don't want the peasant to grow and marry his beloved.

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>>39117898
Foxes aren't the only spies.

Basically, she was an RSK spy in Neir's stable, which is why she suddenly had a new tome around the point that Talon started settling in with his new spymaster. It's also why she knew what was going on before the foxes even started paying attention to Talon.

The name was a red herring.

>>39117946
>but who else goes by the term sorceror?
That was just Nia showing her origins.

>>39117973
>The name was a red herring.
You have a red herring named Mari?

>>39117973
Sneaky sneaky. Carl is none the wiser of course and that's beautiful.

Theories on what exactly a spy saw in a simple farmer turned village chief?

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>1.

If there was one thing that surprised you about the harvest season, it was how smooth the taxation process went. One of the local taxmen came by in the month before harvest, around the New Year. When he stayed the night, preferring the village with the watchtower to keep him safe given his job, he explained the process. A taxman came around before harvest and guesstimated the harvest from the acreage and surveyed any gardens – they were all former farmers, attracted to the higher wage and living in a town. This let them then determine if there were any strange results that needed explaining.

In your case, nothing of the sort happened. The convoy from the local branch turned up, wagons loaded with wheat, oats, barley, beans, peas and rye. The taxman accepted your count without question, which meant it matched his expectations, and the convoy moved on after loading. If only things had been so efficient or simple before.

Perhaps it was in appreciation for such beneficial change that you decided to focus so heavily on food crops. The winter fields were sown mostly with wheat, after the rye crop of last year, and the gardens filled with potatoes and salads to provide an extra buffer should there be more need for food by the empire.

All of which still left you with a massive surplus of crop even as you sew more. The harvest had been extremely bountiful, especially with the foxes and agriwizard working together to keep the soil in perfect condition. Even after supplying Shii’s village with the agreed upon amounts (and some extra potatoes, grown just for him) you were left with the tax-free surplus of cash crops.

“Plenty to make from the herbs you’ve stockpiled,” comes a deep but distinctly female voice. “I’m kind of surprised you haven’t offloaded them.”

>continued

>>39118138
A dick the size of a shovel and an easy slow paced job

>>39118138
Not much, considering she's not that happy.

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>>39118184
“They’re preserved and I’d rather make the trip to Harrowmont – prices are high there, I hear, between the Imperator’s court and all the construction work,” you say, wiping your brow and turning towards the fence where the unknown woman must be.

“So long as it’s not food, of course. Plenty of villages grew too much, thinking that they’d be catching the middle of campaigns,” says the woman, who is definitely not the sight you expected to see. “You’re Carl, correct? The village chief and the local mage’s husband?”

Staring at you is a figure from legend, if you’re not completely crazy. Wearing several layers of thick leather clothing and with dark brown skin is the Gnome, the Imperator’s personal advisor and familiar. Your mind went blank for a moment as you desperately tried to think on why she might be here.

>1. Potatoes. Clearly it must be all the potatoes you grow.
>2. A construction project of some sort. You remember there was a big one the village was interested in.
>3. The foxes. You remembered that the Imperator had been personally interested in relations with the foxes.
>4. Custom

>>39118203
>2. A construction project of some sort. You remember there was a big one the village was interested in.

>>39118203
>>1. Potatoes. Clearly it must be all the potatoes you grow.

>>39118203
>>1. Potatoes. Clearly it must be all the potatoes you grow.
... Damnit Aspirational....

>>39118203
>>4. Custom
"Uhhhhhh... Yes?"

>>39118203
>2. A construction project of some sort. You remember there was a big one the village was interested in.
The canal would be good storytelling. Plus it's gnome

>>39118203
>2. A construction project of some sort. You remember there was a big one the village was interested in.

>>39118203
2

But god damn it does 1 sound funny

>>39118203
>2. A construction project of some sort. You remember there was a big one the village was interested in.
Hm, wanted the village to prosper a little bit more.

>>39118203
Does our town have a name?

Clearly we must offer her some potatoes with stew or something!

All of you who chose anything but #1, how does it feel to be objectively unfunny?

>>39118203
>>2. A construction project of some sort. You remember there was a big one the village was interested in.

>>39118287
Voting for Carlhold.

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Looks like an obvious 2. Poor potatoes. Their time shall never come in Gauron.

>>39118287
Sure, if you can think of one.

>>39118197
She hasn't featured that much but that doesn't mean she's unhappy. I just haven't focused on her as I'm trying to breeze through the timeline of the quest before visiting Harrowmont.

>>39118343
Well, she didn't seem happy before, so I'm assuming nothing changed. Since Carl hasn't changed much.

>>39118343
Town name shall be Spudley

>>39118343
GriffinMill

>>39118343
York. Hue

>>39118343
Lancaster
Mercer
DuBois

That's all I got.

>>39118460
Lancaster sounds like a nice idyllic village.

>>39118334
I'll second this

>>39118460
>>39118482

I'll third Lancaster.

What shall Carl build next? A school perhaps? A large tavern for the through traffic along the way to Harrowmont?

>>39118343
Blarg I missed the vote or I woulda gone with 1. The more I think about it the more sad I become that it won't be said.

>>39118649
I'm right there crying with you.

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>2.

“Err, there was a big project. Construction,” you say, trying to get your mind back on track. You didn’t expect to meet a legend today. Its times like these that you realise the difference between yourself and men like the Imperator.

“The canal, yes,” she says, looking greatly amused. “Why don’t we go to your house, Chief? There’s no need to discuss things without being comfortable.”

That put you in a difficult spot, as you still needed to have lunch. What could you possibly serve that would satisfy the Gnome? You’d simply planned on reheating a potato stew using the fire charm that Mari had left you. Somehow you found yourself preparing it on autopilot, before realising what you’d done.

“That will do fine for lunch before we get down to business,” she says, continuing to look amused at your behaviour. “I’m surprised to find anybody growing potatoes in Darlesia, however. They died back in popularity after the Great War due to that blight and the lack of mages – only a few regions still grow them.”

Much better, a topic you can actually make sense of. “They were popular near Worremburg. The king even had special taxation measures for them, to encourage their cultivation over just grains. Plenty of anti-blight measures – have to use the seeds from time to time to prevent them from becoming too vulnerable.”

You don’t say much more on the topic, as you realise that you’re explaining recent potato farming to somebody who just casually spoke of the history of potatoes from more than three centuries ago.

>continued

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>>39118800
“Now, to business. A few villages showed interest in a canal extension for transport, which would match your interest in going to Harrowmont. Force the prices of the local processors to equalise with those further abroad, no?” Gnome says, pushing her bowl into the centre of the table. “The other two villages I visited said to come speak to you, as you’d spoken on the topic at the provincial meeting in Toulon. So?”

You remember the canal now. Imperator Talon was building an enormous canal from Vitria to Ahm, passing through Harrowmont and Darlesia on the way. As it was, it would pass only a ways south of the village and you figured it would be good for the village if you could easily use it. The processors in the north of the province hadn’t felt the same way, however. They liked the low prices of the inputs from the plentiful farms and the high prices of the outputs to the hard-working mines.

The question was, what did you want to do?

>1. Try to get the canal connected to the local town, benefitting all nearby villages and the mines. The town would benefit, too, even if some of the current players might suffer.
>2. Get the canal connected to the village – you’ll be required to stump up a lot of effort, you think. On the other hand, you might be able to use it for more – you remember Worremburg had great rice terraces that were irrigated with water drawn from a relatively small canal from the north.
>3. See what Gnome wants done with the canal and go with that. As the Imperator’s advisor she’ll want the best for the empire and the people in it.
>4. Custom

And the village is called Lancaster.

>>39118826
>2. Get the canal connected to the village – you’ll be required to stump up a lot of effort, you think. On the other hand, you might be able to use it for more – you remember Worremburg had great rice terraces that were irrigated with water drawn from a relatively small canal from the north.

>>39118826
>>1. Try to get the canal connected to the local town, benefitting all nearby villages and the mines. The town would benefit, too, even if some of the current players might suffer.

>>39118826
>>2. Get the canal connected to the village – you’ll be required to stump up a lot of effort, you think. On the other hand, you might be able to use it for more – you remember Worremburg had great rice terraces that were irrigated with water drawn from a relatively small canal from the north.

>>39118826
2

Potatoes and rice! We'll make a mint! And with the over stock in food we can easily pony up for it.

Not to mention the amount of through traffic business, and the added protection of the canal in and of itself

>>39118826
>>3. See what Gnome wants done with the canal and go with that. As the Imperator’s advisor she’ll want the best for the empire and the people in it.

I'm voting for 2, bit before Gnome goes can we ask her opinion on our watch towers? Maybe advice on better fortifications, she would know best. Just in case of course

>>39118826
>>2. Get the canal connected to the village – you’ll be required to stump up a lot of effort, you think. On the other hand, you might be able to use it for more – you remember Worremburg had great rice terraces that were irrigated with water drawn from a relatively small canal from the north.

>>39118826
>2.

>>39118826
>3
Muh Lord

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>2.

You explain what you would like to do with the canal to Gnome. It’s a rather long and involved conversation, particularly as the chief architect of the canal is happy to get into the details. She’s also all too aware of the possibility for irrigation.

“It’s been on our minds,” she says. “While water isn’t currently an enormous problem, we’ve had favourable weather. An agriwizard can’t completely offset a drought, after all.”

“There’s rice, too. Worremburg has these grand terraces,” you say, ready to launch into an explanation.

“I wouldn’t call them grand,” she says. “I haven’t visited Pharos but I hear tell of rice terraces that cover entire mountainsides, not just hillsides near a canal. The sort of thing you might do with the nearby foothills. Keep in mind, rice is hard labour.”

“The foxes would certainly appreciate it, though,” you say, thinking out loud.

From there, the topic turns to the mechanics of the construction. The sticking point is that getting the canal to the village is going to require a lock, something which is beyond the easy ability of your villagers to build. You could easily muster up plenty of able-bodied labourers to do the digging, but you’ll need engineers for that part. And the expense of getting the Imperial Engineers to do it…

“Build the canal extension and leave the lock for now. We’ll design the whole stretch but the extra lock will have to come last, after the main canal is done,” she says. “Then we can look into a trade.”

And so passes more than eighteen months. War rages to the north, political instability is apparent all across the continent and you tend to your fields. You’re a married man, now, and you have both a village and a construction project to help organise. Plus the relations with the foxes. The latter, combined with your own paranoia, born of a seeming drunken rant, probably saved the village.

>continued

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>>39119438
“Is it safe now, Shii?” you ask the fox after climbing the watchtower, noting the way the fox is still very alert.

“I think so. I received word from the citadel that the Pride clan has reinforced us. There’s no news that Harrowmont has fallen, so they will hopefully break it of the morning,” he answers.

You nod, looking out over the field of wispy flames that the half dozen foxes guarding the village had erected. They showed a picture of devastation, of fields that been trampled and destroyed. Of fire and magic that had scored the ground during skirmishes between some of the rampaging demons and the local foxes. Lancaster had taken on refugees from two of the other villages bordering the foothills, as the TYE garrison evacuated everybody once news spread. There had been nothing since they had passed further south, but everybody remained on guard.

“What do you plan to do after this, Carl?” Shii asks you.

>1. Focus on the villagers and refugees. Much cropland has been lost, and there are still mouths to feed and shelter this harvest season. You’ll need to dedicate your efforts to restoring the land.
>2. Head to Harrowmont after it is clear, to plead for assistance and aid for the villagers, as well as take what you can to the fortress that you can spare yourselves.
>3. Try to contact the Governor, to work with his local plans for reconstruction rather than your own.
>4. Custom

>>39119465
>3. Try to contact the Governor, to work with his local plans for reconstruction rather than your own.

>>39119465

>1. Focus on the villagers and refugees. Much cropland has been lost, and there are still mouths to feed and shelter this harvest season. You’ll need to dedicate your efforts to restoring the land.

>>39119465
>1. Focus on the villagers and refugees. Much cropland has been lost, and there are still mouths to feed and shelter this harvest season. You’ll need to dedicate your efforts to restoring the land.

Were the best damn Peasant in this country, we don't need people telling us how to do!

>>39119465
>3. Try to contact the Governor, to work with his local plans for reconstruction rather than your own.

>>39119465
>>1. Focus on the villagers and refugees. Much cropland has been lost, and there are still mouths to feed and shelter this harvest season. You’ll need to dedicate your efforts to restoring the land.
And everything is well when it ends well.

>>39119465
>>1. Focus on the villagers and refugees. Much cropland has been lost, and there are still mouths to feed and shelter this harvest season. You’ll need to dedicate your efforts to restoring the land.

>>39119465
2

Drunken rants mitigating the inevitable. Carl you're alright. Also voting on selling/trading the talisman to find the lock for Lancaster.

>>39119465
1

>>39119465
>1. Focus on the villagers and refugees. Much cropland has been lost, and there are still mouths to feed and shelter this harvest season. You’ll need to dedicate your efforts to restoring the land.

>>39119465
>1. Focus on the villagers and refugees. Much cropland has been lost, and there are still mouths to feed and shelter this harvest season. You’ll need to dedicate your efforts to restoring the land.
We've been kicked down but since we are beast peasant we will just get up, brush off the dust and rebuild. Besides others probably have it worse than we do. Someone will probably check in on us at one point or another.

Lancaster will get back on it's feet the fastest thanks to Carl's paranoia. So they'll be able to provide for the other more beat up areas and relieve stress on the Empire. That's how we trade for a lock.

I think Lancaster might need a more permanent fortification soon.

Does Lord Carl have children yet?

>>39119759
I assume not.

Get on it Carl, make some mage babies.

>>39119759
Not sure if we are a lord. We never did bother to set up a nobility system. Or rather, we avoided doing so, which is just going to confuse the matter until we finally have to deal with it.

Hey Aspir is Lancaster actually in the Marnn territory? Or close to it?

>>39119759
Lord? We're a peasant farmer!

>>39119829
>Deal with it

Just tell the governors they can set up whatever they want within reason.

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>>39119870
It's in northern Mier. Right by where the mountains turn into foothills (and before becoming, you know, mountains).

>>39119879
>>39119879
Wouldn't that make it even more complicated?

>>39119920
Yup. Especially since the treatment of soldiers, nonhumans and mages would end up varying tremendously by region. Which is just asking for trouble.

>>39119920
In a way. The biggest thing is just to have the basic system. Then just tell the governors they can set up any position they want.

That way we can have them shuttle people off to useless positions or whatever or create some based on region only cultural traits. I'm pretty sure we already have the basic nobility at least because I don't think Talon has taken anyone's away.

>>39119891
Not a terrible spot for a small fort then. I imagine after the Third Siege people are going to want a better watch on the mountain range anyway. See what I can work up.

>>39120036
>I'm pretty sure we already have the basic nobility at least because I don't think Talon has taken anyone's away.
Well, we probably took away a bunch of Farun's nobility away on account of regicide. Darlesia's was almost wiped out, Taour never had any to begin with, Companion was apparently some sort of merchant hybrid who may or may not have been actual nobles (Lyph probably denied nobility to anyone he could get away with). Vitria is a special case, and Shropham are a bunch of assholes. And we probably want to set up a basic model before we absorb the Mage Guard, because they don't have any, and no one wants them to use Shropham as a base.
Its a mess really

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>1.

A sending comes in of the morning, bringing news that Harrowmont has held. The cost is said to be great, however. The demonic horde has been banished to whence it came but much of the fortress city is in ruins and thousands of soldiers lay dead. The death toll of the demonic advance on towns of villages is still unknown, but estimated to be in the tens of thousands.

“Can it truly be that bad? You evacuated us in time?” Lucy, the chief of one of the now destroyed villages, says.

“We were in a nearby fort and a fox assigned there warned us,” Commander Herles says, looking grim. “The market town of Merlou is reportedly razed to the ground, having been swept through after Fort Trienne was hit within receiving hours of the report of demons. We’ve escaped the worst of it.”

The atmosphere is grim, especially with the news of so much death and destruction. You don’t have the time to dwell on it, however. Squeezing Mari’s hand beside you, you move on.

“We need to take stock of the situation,” you say, raising your voice so that everybody pays complete attention to you. “What are our numbers and food stocks like?”

“A rough headcount gives us a little over two thousand in the village limits,” Herles says. “The total estimate for refugees is more than a hundred thousand, perhaps two hundred thousand. Most everything between Harrowmont and the mountains was evacuated or destroyed.”

“We lost about a third of Lancaster’s crops,” Nia says, reading off a little scrap of paper. “The demons destroyed most of what they passed, but weren’t tremendously thorough, so almost a third of the crops of nearby villages remain and many of the gardens are untouched. They simply didn’t take the time to stop and destroy everything in a village – though they did destroy storehouses where possible.”

Shii spits. “Monstrous bastards. How are the stores?”

>continued

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>>39120179
You think on it for a moment, trying to remember what was left. You’d had a bumper year last, and the expected campaign never eventuated which kept food prices down. As a result, you’d simply stored much of the excess grains and ate that which wouldn’t last as long. Combined with the winter harvest of potatoes and salads, you had enough in your stores to feed the village for another year.

“We gave enough to feed a thousand people until the next harvest,” you say slowly. “That’s just in stores plus what we would normally grow over winter.”

Looks of surprise greet you and you shrug in return. “We didn’t need to trade much and we’ve focused on producing food lately. If we harvest that which is still viable in the fields then we should be able to feed another thousand. We’ll need to get to work immediately, though. There will be long distances to travel.”

“We’ll need shelter, too. And to restore the damaged soil,” Mari says, looking concerned about the latter. “I can help with shelter, and so can the foxes, but to restore the soil.”

“We’ll need to carefully look after it, and hope for a good winter if we hope to do a spring planting. I fear that a winter planting is out of the question,” Rem says. “Not to mention how we till the fields of the other villages.”

>continued

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>>39120195
“We do what we can, providing for ourselves as best as possible while the Empire acts for all. One less burden on the Imperator is one less worry for him,” you say.

The others nod, some looking grim, others looking determined. You expect things to go well, and the camaraderie and support everybody shows for one another proves you right. Which is why you feel it’s such a surprise when you receive a summons from Governor Glynn himself to come to Harrowmont.

“You can’t refuse, Carl,” Mari says, curled up against you in bed the night before you’re to leave. “The question is, what are we going to aim for while we’re there? You’ll be expected to represent the villagers here that were affected.”

>1. No agenda. You’ll simply provide an account of what happened and what you’re doing. You’ll leave it to wiser minds than yours.
>2. Support the village. The village is taking care of itself, but with more support it could be doing much more and could be a role model for many new villages.
>3. Support the reconstruction effort in general. Lancaster doesn’t need more people or ‘glory’, and so it can spare so much more to restoring the province.
>4. Custom

We’ll be visiting Harrowmont, though things will cut off before we get to the important decisions phase. That will be for the next thread as Talon.

So make your decision along the lines of Carl, not what you want Talon to do.

>>39120225
>>2. Support the village. The village is taking care of itself, but with more support it could be doing much more and could be a role model for many new villages.

>>39120225
>2. Support the village. The village is taking care of itself, but with more support it could be doing much more and could be a role model for many new villages.

>>39120225
>>1. No agenda. You’ll simply provide an account of what happened and what you’re doing. You’ll leave it to wiser minds than yours.

>>39120225
2

Sometimes a simple farmer must stand up for himself and his village

>>39120225
>2. Support the village. The village is taking care of itself, but with more support it could be doing much more and could be a role model for many new villages.

>>39120225
>>3. Support the reconstruction effort in general. Lancaster doesn’t need more people or ‘glory’, and so it can spare so much more to restoring the province.

>>39120225
>1. No agenda. You’ll simply provide an account of what happened and what you’re doing. You’ll leave it to wiser minds than yours.
This is way out of our scope now, let them do the thinking.

>>39120225
>>3. Support the reconstruction effort in general. Lancaster doesn’t need more people or ‘glory’, and so it can spare so much more to restoring the province.

>>39120225
>2. Support the village. The village is taking care of itself, but with more support it could be doing much more and could be a role model for many new villages.

Crops can't be grown in bad soil. A good plot of land to start makes for a greater harvest, thus we need to be the strong foundation.

>>39120225
>>2. Support the village. The village is taking care of itself, but with more support it could be doing much more and could be a role model for many new villages.
Best peasant takes care of his own when it is needed.

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Okay, before I start on the Harrowmont part (which will go for a few hours, I figure) I'm interested to know whether there's areas that people want to visit as Carl or things to do. Keeping in mind that all of Lower Harrowmont (i.e. outside the Crown Wall) is being reconstructed.

>>39120435
I want to see how the local elves are settling in. Running into Ersa not knowing who she is would be fun.

>>39120435
The mage academy could be interesting. Mostly just to hear a peasants thoughts on how that would work. Doesn't seem an idea that most know of.

>>39120435
Running into the new local Elves. Maybe run into some vampires or worlds best nine tails because she wants to take a god damn walk that's why.

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>>39120480
>Peasant's mind

>>39120435
Carl has to see how tall Talon is. That's it. Just see how big Talon got after his latest growth spurt.

>Carl: "Who's the big guy?" For Carl
>Commoner: "Oh, that's Imperator Talon!"
>Carl: "Ffffuuuuuck?"
>Commoner: "I know, right?"

>>39120435
You may want to post the harrowmont pdf. just to jog memories.

>>39120435
Imperial Academy and the Noble Manors. Both seem like they would be interesting from Carl's point of view. Maybe a quick jaunt through the market district to buy something silly.

>>39120544
Be more amusing if it went

>Carl: "Ffffuuuuuck?"
>Commoner: "I heard he does that a lot too actually."

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>>39120584

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>>39120559
Harrowmont pdf for reference.

>>39120584
I half expect Sala to show up at that point and crack all the jokes.

>>39120435
Thinking on it I think we should get a look at the Ruined lower secations before hitting the higher upper class regions to show the damage differinces between the two. Maybe to give a better sense of scale for the battle.

Gnome need to show up and talk to us about potatoes again

>>39120435
Finn being Finn? Maybe running into him taking Anisette shopping? Finn is totally lost and needs our help.

Honestly if it was possible I would like to see his reaction to seeing a nightwalker. Maybe one of the ones that fought in the battle

>>39120800
Another thing is maybe him entering the keep if that can happen and noticing that things are weird due to it being larger inside then out.

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>2.

Getting to Harrowmont was far easier than it had been when you’d last made the trip almost two years ago, when you’d travelled by wagon with all the cash crops you wanted to sell. Now you simply followed the road along the canal bed until you reached the section where the lock needed to go, at which point there was a small ferry available. Although it was smaller than those along the main canal, it still had a small magitech engine in the back and cruised along the water at a slow jogging pace. At the junction where a lock joined this smaller canal with the main flow, you then boarded a much larger ferry that passed through Harrowmont on its way to Vitria. All in all, you arrived in the fortress of Harrowmont the morning after leaving, far faster than the two and a half day trip you’d once taken by cart.

By contrast, the fortress city was much worse off. Like before, it was a maze of construction workers and materials. Unlike before, the shells of the structures weren’t scaffolding or half-finished structures but burnt out wrecks and collapsed ruins. You and Mari were the only people arriving that weren’t construction workers, it felt like. At least the main roads were clear of debris, though they were clogged full of people. Wagons were queued up all the way to the second terrace along the merchant gate and the main entrance was filled with a crush of people as people filtered in of the morning from the surrounding construction camps. It was firmly mid-morning by the time you had gotten to your destination, while Mari slipped away to purchase some breakfast for the two of you.

“I’m Chief Carl, here to see Governor Glynn,” you say to the official at the Governance Administration Office, having filtered past the crush of merchants and nobles seeking redress and making complaints.

>continued

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>>39121199
“Yes, yes, take a ticket and wait to be called like the rest,” he says, without pausing in his desperate scribbling on a ledger, reading something off a sending crystal that could probably purchase enough food to feed you for a year.

“Um, I’ve been summoned to see him. It’s different,” you say.

“That’s what they all say- Hold on, did you say Chief Carl?” the man says, suddenly looking at you. “My apologies, you’re one of the advisors summoned for the relief conference. Go upstairs, fourth door on the right on the far right-hand hallway.”

You don’t get a word in before a woman, dressed in merchant clothes steps forward and begins spluttering about taxes on her pack animals for the construction. Nodding his head towards the stairwell behind him, the official plasters on a fake smile while he tries to deal with the woman.

Glynn’s office isn’t what you expected, but then it’s not his actual office. It’s still quite overwhelming to be here, as the quality of the furniture alone far surpassed anything you’d seen even in the noble manor of Lord Flaxal back in Darlesia.

“Carl, right? It’s good that one of you made it,” the Governor says, pouring a small glass of ale out of an enchanted pitcher. “There were three chiefs I wanted here. One’s dead, the other’s too busy trying to find accommodation and food in Toulon and that just leaves you. I’ll be blunt: how are you and your village doing?”

You explain the situation as briefly as possible, before making your pitch, “I think we can do more, Governor. We came out of it just fine. We’ve got food, land, the canal just needs a lock. We can be the centre of the reconstruction – help bring people back. Resettle the land and make it right again.”

>continued

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>>39121216
Nodding, Glynn says, “I see. I’ll make a note of it – to be honest, I like it. We need that sort of approach. I don’t think I’ll have much trouble selling the Archduchess and engineers on it.”

You blink, finishing off your ale. “Is, uh, that all, sir?”

Glynn chuckles. “No, not in the least. I just don’t know when I’ll need you in person to talk in detail. Right now we’re doing preliminary meetings, establishing what we can so that we can brief the Imperator on it. He’s a bit swamped right now – reconstruction work, finance issues, thousands of dead soldiers, every world leader wanting a conference, negotiations with the dwarves over these artifacts, the Archangel wants soldiers, near civil war in the Guard territories. The last thing he needs is a hundred people all blathering each and everything they think they know about their patch.

“I’ve organised some accommodation for you and providing some spending money. Enjoy your time here, as some relief from your hard work. I’ll contact you when I need you.”

And with that, you’re back on the street with a purse full of coins and nothing to do. You…

>1. Visit the Imperial Academy. You’ve been given permission to enter the Inner Courtyard after all.
>2. Walk the walls – you saw a few tourists wandering around between the guards earlier near one of the outer bastions.
>3. Visit the Garrison bastions, to see how the soldiers are coping.
>4. Custom

>>39121232
>>2. Walk the walls – you saw a few tourists wandering around between the guards earlier near one of the outer bastions.

>>39121232
1

>>39121232
>>3. Visit the Garrison bastions, to see how the soldiers are coping.

>>39121232
>1. Visit the Imperial Academy. You’ve been given permission to enter the Inner Courtyard after all.

>>39121232
>>1. Visit the Imperial Academy. You’ve been given permission to enter the Inner Courtyard after all.
East coast here, goodnight.

>>39121232
>>1. Visit the Imperial Academy. You’ve been given permission to enter the Inner Courtyard after all.

...Captcha made me look at pictures of cake...

>>39121451
Only just now? It's been doing that to me for at least a month. I don't know how long for certain, time blends together for me.

>>39121232
>>1. Visit the Imperial Academy. You’ve been given permission to enter the Inner Courtyard after all.

>>39121232
>1. Visit the Imperial Academy. You’ve been given permission to enter the Inner Courtyard after all.

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>1.

“Wow, I wish my master’s tower had been anywhere near as grand as this,” Mari says as she looks up at the towering structures that make up the Imperial Academy. “I can only imagine learning magic in a place like this.”

While Mari wonders at the grandiosity of the building, you can think only of one thing. “How does it not fall over? I have trouble making a tall pole not fall over – these towers go above the cliffs behind it.”

You fundamentally could not grasp how these enormous structures could be stable. Enormous cylindrical towers of stone that towered twenty stories or more into the air, sometimes with balconies. Walkways bridged them at various levels and great walls spanned the outside of the building. You’d seen the towers of Worremburg and Darlesia at a distance before, but you hadn’t thought them this big.

“Mmm, magic, I think?” Mari says, shrugging as if it’s not something to think much on. “I’ve heard tell that the angels built a tower that goes so high it vanishes into the clouds and that the dwarves have spires that literally hung upside down on cavern ceilings. Surely we can do some amazing stuff, too.”

Perhaps this is the sort of thing that Gnome meant when she dismissed your comment about Worremburg’s rice terraces being grand. What you saw and knew was only a small part of reality – there could be so much more. To an extent, you admired those like Imperator Talon who could aspire to best that even though it was beyond you. Expanding your farm and trying new crops was about your limit.

Mari’s focused on the Academy but you…

>1. Decide to join her. You can’t enter, but you can explore the enormous plateau around it.
>2. Look over the fortress city. It’ll be a grand sight, even with the ruins below.
>3. Venture into the Inner Courtyard. You’d seen some gardens near the cliff face by the keep. Perhaps they’re growing some things of interest?
>4. Custom

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>>39121688
I actually meant to post the Academy close-up.

>>39121688
>>2. Look over the fortress city. It’ll be a grand sight, even with the ruins below.

>>39121688
>>1. Decide to join her. You can’t enter, but you can explore the enormous plateau around it.

I was really hoping Mari would turn out to be really crazy stuff, like a pile of snakes wearing a human suit.

>>39121688
>>3. Venture into the Inner Courtyard. You’d seen some gardens near the cliff face by the keep. Perhaps they’re growing some things of interest?
Undine encounter?

>>39121688
>3. Venture into the Inner Courtyard. You’d seen some gardens near the cliff face by the keep. Perhaps they’re growing some things of interest?

>>39121688
>>1. Decide to join her. You can’t enter, but you can explore the enormous plateau around it.

>>39121688
3

Magic is some bullshit.

>>39121468
I don't tend to post very often so its a new experience for me.

Now I got to pick out beer this new captcha is neat

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>3.

While the academy had drawn your eye at first, being the single largest and tallest structure in the fortress besides the keep itself, now your attention was wandering to the large gardens you’d seen on either side of the keep. You wonder what sort of plants and trees that the Imperator grew. Or had grown for him – somehow you couldn’t picture Imperator Talon tending to a garden. Or cooking. Or doing a lot of other things.

It must be awfully frustrating to always have other people do things for you, you think. What would you do all day?

As it is, the gardens are… chaotic. It’s clear that they’re not tended to by the one person, with a broad spread of different plants and trees. Then again, it was a couple hundred metres square of garden. The trees and plants facing out had all been perfectly trimmed and consistent, but as you wandered along the disjointed paths within you begin to see different sections that probably belong to different people. You wonder if some of the elementals that reside here have their own areas.

Suddenly on guard for geysers of flame that might represent a fire elemental, you instead spot an old woman collapsed against a tree. You rush over, worried that she’s fallen here and remained unnoticed then for some time. Then you see the truth of the matter – a young woman, actually. Her hair has turned grey early, or was always that colour, but she looks fit and healthy otherwise – and very beautiful.

Then her eyes snap open and lock with yours and you realise she’s blind, pale red irises with off pupils.

“Is there something I can help you with?” she asks you, not moving from where she’s resting against a tree.

>1. “Yes.”
>2. “No.”
>3. Talk to her about the garden.
>4. Custom

>>39122073
>3. Talk to her about the garden.

>>39122073
>"You seemed hurt, so I came to help. But you are not. Why do you look old?"

>>39122073
>3. Talk to her about the garden.
Where Talon is a whiz with the ladies, Carl resorts to talking about farming.

>>39122073
>>3. Talk to her about the garden.

>>39122073
>3. Talk to her about the garden.

>3. Talk to her about the garden.

>>39122073
>3. Talk to her about the garden.

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>3.

“I was just exploring this garden. Do you work on it? It’s really amazing,” you say, smiling as you look around at the exotic plants and trees.

“It is nice, but I don’t have much of a green thumb,” she says, sounding untroubled. “I simply take advantage of the work of others while staying away from the vegetable patch that the foxes have at the back.”

“The foxes? You mean the ones in the bastions? I’ve heard about them but why would they come all the way here?” you say, sounding more confused with every sentence.

“No, the ones that reside in the keep. There’s quite a few, and they grow a number of their own foods near the cliffs,” she says. “I take it you’re not a new servant if you’re asking that. They get briefed about the various… inhabitants of the keep. May I ask what your purpose here is?”

“Erm, Governor Glynn invited me here about the damage done to villages by the demons. I’m just exploring while I wait for a summons,” you say, scratching the back of your head.

“In that case, you should make ready. My understanding is that Talon is holding the conference tonight, before he dines with the Archmage,” she says.

That puts a fire beneath you and you thank her for the warning, having never gotten her name. It’s a lucky thing, too, as you barely reached your room when a sending arrived from the governor to be ready for the conference in less than an hour’s time. You’d spent a little too much time exploring, and losing track of time with all the traffic in the fortress.

>continued

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>>39122585
Your only good clothes had been your wedding clothes, but they’d have to do. As it is, you still feel woefully underdressed next to Mari in her resplendent robes that glitter with runes along the edges. Compared to the lords and ladies within the Great Hall, even she looks underdressed by an order of magnitude. Knights in gleaming magical steel plate, with golden glowing griffins embossed on their chests, stand guard. The governor and other nobles seem to wear clothes of colours so vibrant they all but radiate light. The mages of the Imperial Court, the elementals and other elite soldiers all stand at one end, fanning out from the throne itself. Foxes of many tails also filled the hall, including one with what you’d been told was a near-mythical golden nine-tails right by the throne itself.

You spot Gnome and the woman from the garden standing next to each other, the latter having gotten changed into a suit of resplendent magical plate. The two wave at you as they spot you looking their way, and you barely muster the will to wave back, to their amusement. You wish you could feel as carefree as they seem, surrounded by such people. Confronted by such a man.

There was a pressure in the room, one that seemed almost oppressive in its grimness. It didn’t muster fear within you, but instead made you feel a seriousness and respect for what was happening that you didn’t quite understand. A primal feeling deep within you responding to the aura of a man you didn’t quite understand. He sat in the throne, leaning his head against one fist as he spoke with the nine-tailed fox by his side. Unlike the others, he didn’t wear armour but instead some simple but well-tailored clothes bearing the griffin of the empire.

>continued

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>>39122611
His dress meant little, because there was little to mistake about the man. As he stood, raising his arms to draw attention to himself, the hall went silent and still in an instant. More than two metres in height, and with a stronger build than even the strongmen you saw in the competitions in town, he held power beyond your imagination.

“Although I trust you all know why you’re here, I’m told it’s a necessary formality to tell you all anyway,” Imperator Talon York says, his voice reverberating throughout the hall like a powerful drum despite his levity as he begins this ‘conference’.

>That’s the thread

This played out a little differently than I expected. I keep finding it difficult to break individual posts down into smaller parts. A lot of the time there’s just all these little details that don’t warrant choices (or else it’ll be these pointless choices that just bog down the quest). I think it showed up a bit when you got to Harrowmont, as I don’t think it was as bad earlier. My writing style has really changed a lot, I suppose.

In any case, I hope people enjoyed it even if it was different to what was expected. I tried to make a one-shot that could tie into the quest proper whilst still having a sense of progression independent of the quest (hence all the decisions about where Carl would position himself and the village relative to the foxes, the empire etc). I may end up revisiting Carl and Lancaster in a follow-up down the track.

Next thread on the 10th April at 6pm EST (DST ends in Australia, so the timezone gap is changing).

I’ll be here for questions and feedback as usual.

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>>39122653
Thanks for the thread bro.
It was a lot different than I was expecting but, was still neat to see things from a different perspective.

>>39122653
Thanks for running! I found it quite interesting.

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>>39122653
Oh, and the final character sheet for Carl. It's a little different to the one I teased with a while back.

Name: Carl Glebe
Class: Peasant
Title: Village Chief
Magic Type: NA
Equipment: Cheap clothes; Golden Bear Talisman

STATS

Strength [2]
Endurance [2]
Speed [1]
Intelligence [1]
Magic [0]
Resistance [1]
Charisma [1]

SKILLS

Farming II – the ability to maintain a large amount of farmland effectively. Can provide for a village of a thousand with good management beyond their individual abilities.

>>39122653
That was fun, I enjoyed seeing the perspective. Almost felt like a Civ thread lite, but still had all of your details. Carl and Lancaster should make some appearances down the line for sure. It would be cool to see Lancaster become more then a little farming village.

I enjoyed how generic Carl's name is. A simple man of simple pleasures. How he got Mari is beyond me.

>>39122653
>two metres

God damn. Talon is going to need to make all the buildings in harrowmont a few feet taller.

>>39122719
Carl is one strong and durable man.

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>>39122653
>Next thread on the 10th April at 6pm EST (DST ends in Australia, so the timezone gap is changing).
Also, I think I missed DST starting in the US.

Next thread is 7pm EDT on April 10th. That's still 9am for me, incase you're wondering why I'm putting things back as DST starts/ends.

>>39122828
I think gained a solid 6 inches from that last spurt. So a 6'6" mountain of muscle wrapped in a ton of metal carrying a steel beam, damn Talon you scary.

>>39122879
Yet children love the shit out of him

>>39122912
He's a big teddy bear.

>>39122925
This is how Gnome should refer to him

>>39122873
If we had a cloning machine that instantly made a copy of Carl each time it was used. Then how many Carls would it take to fight off Talon using only one arm? Each time Carl dies the machine makes two times the same amount as last time.

>>39122912
To be fair, Talon is the best Uncle to ever live. The kits are spoiled rotten too.

>>39122653
It was great. Harrowmont tour was fun, gave a bit of perspective on the characters relative to the world, they seem a lot less awe inspiring after we've been desensitized to them.

Was this fun for you? I really enjoyed it

I thought the plan was for the peasant to end up in Harrowmont permanently after this. Being able to somewhat save Lancaster was a nice surprise, even if it was a bit metagame-ish.

>>39123038
I honestly found that part hysterical. Just for the mental image of Carl just thinking "What the fuck did I say last night that was so persuasive that I convinced a fox to bring a watchtower here?"

>>39122653
That was great as always! Carl was neat

I liked this thread, thanks OP.

I still wished we had gotten a conversation with Talon about potatoes.

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>>39122953
Carl would be around the level of a green men-at-arms if you equipped him properly. As such, it's not really possibly for any amount of him to threaten Talon. Talon is Strength 8 with empowerment, which is between 8x and 64x stronger than Carl (it's a bit vague). Plus all his other powers like regen, ignoring pain, flow animation, forming barriers etc.

>>39123038
Err, Lancaster wasn't going to be destroyed anyway. That's why I introduced the foxes early on. Unless you had insulted them all or something through write-ins. Things may have been a bit worse afterwards, but can you honestly tell me that even without meta-knowledge of an invasion that people wouldn't push for increased defense of their village in a fantasy world like this? I wasn't too worried.

And no, the peasant was never gonig to end up as a permanent member of the retinue though a few people mentioned they were interested in it. I'd rather have a low-level side-character that could be used for threads like this.

>>39122969
I enjoyed it. The push for Carl to be so forthright as a peasant was amusing and I enjoyed the potato nonsense. It was especially good because I didn't feel like I had to constantly second-guess myself, too.

>>39123159
>and I enjoyed the potato nonsense
I'm still bitter that the anons didn't choose potatoes in the Gnome discussion.

>>39123159
>Carl would be around the level of a green men-at-arms if you equipped him properly. As such, it's not really possibly for any amount of him to threaten Talon.

Okay this gives me the hysterical to me image of something like 7 billion Carls all piled up on each other. With Talon just laying around next to a wall of bodies higher then harromonts walls.

>I'd rather have a low-level side-character that could be used for threads like this.

You know that reminds me if Carl would have stayed at the Imperial academy who would he have met?

>>39122879
I thought he was around 8-9 feet tall.

I dunno, I just feel odd when people say "Giant of a man" then say 6'6" cause I'm 6'5". When I think of a behemoth of a man I think at LEAST 8 feet.

>>39123276
That's because you are already a giant anon. Though technically speaking we really only know he is larger then 6'5

>>39123323
Oh please, both of my brothers are as tall as I am, I'm tall, not a giant. Shaq is a giant. Yao Ming is a giant. That guy who set the world record for height and died from that cyst in his foot was a giant!

Of course Talon probably weighs around 330 pounds of muscle so he probably looks like nightmares when he flexes.

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>>39123245
>You know that reminds me if Carl would have stayed at the Imperial academy who would he have met?
Probably Neir, with the whole spy thing coming out.

>>39123276
It's all about perspective. I get a lot of people saying I'm tall despite being just 6', but I don't feel that tall because I was friends with a lot of guys my height and I work with people who are taller. To me, very tall is around 2m because that's the tallest I ever really interact with (and they've both developed hunches as a mechanism to hide their height). At the same time, I consider people around 5' or so to be pretty short.

A lot is also just how thickset you are - my branch head isn't much taller than me, but he's built like a tank and always seems like he's much, much bigger than he is.

>>39123619
>A lot is also just how thickset you are - my branch head isn't much taller than me, but he's built like a tank and always seems like he's much, much bigger than he is.

That's true, but being around 5' is actually short (well, maybe not, in the states it is but I don't know about straya [aren't midgets legally midgets at 4'6"?]) but 6' is just on the higher end of the average human spectrum, ideally people fall anywhere between the two

Then again, I'm fucking weird, so I don't doubt that I see things way wrong!

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>>39123619
And because I somehow forgot to post Talon's height:

Talon is 6'7 now. Not super-massive, but still larger than most people (and he's probably got some guards who are taller than him still, though given he tends to have shorter people like Lynn, Undine and Taira near him...).

For really tall, there's the God-Knights at more than 9' each when armoured and the Great Knights get taller still. I think I put Baelrus around 10' in armour?

>>39123729
This honestly kind of make me interested in how the archmage is going to react to Talon being a little taller.

>>39123804
"My, is it hot in here?"

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>>39123726
Looking at ABS survey results (Australia heights, obviously), being a 6' man puts you at just 3 inches more than the average for men but being a 5' woman puts you about 3.5 inches shorter than their average. So it really is about perspective.

>>39123804
Gnome certainly didn't like it, given she liked being around the same height as Talon. I'll probably have Raph (I'm surprised nobody comment on that bit that Glynn said) and Alyce comment on it, as they'll be a bit interested.

>>39123889
>(I'm surprised nobody comment on that bit that Glynn said
What, that he wants soldiers? I just expected it.

>>39123889
>being a 6' man puts you at just 3 inches more than the average for men but being a 5' woman puts you about 3.5

The last time I checked here the average man was 5'10 and the average woman 5'9", I think, but that was years ago. Apparently the U.S. has tall woman.

>>39123889
You know I've always found it interesting that Talon and Gnomes stats have been the same for so long. Could be amusing to see how they differ now that she has leveled.

>(I'm surprised nobody comment on that bit that Glynn said)

It was pretty obvious to me that he would be asking soonish. Especially with Shadow beasts at the gate.

>>39123940
>Apparently the U.S. has tall woman.

It's honestly kind of weird here. Most women in my region are either 5'1 or 5'9-10. No in between.

>>39123889
>they'll be a bit interested.

"I got really angry at some tall demons. So I decided to make myself taller and here I am. Anything is possible if you will it really hard."

Though this does make me wonder now how many of Talons allies know he is astral. He tends to keep that a secret by his allies are helldragon and Archmage and things like that.

>>39123973
Actually, yes, that is pretty accurate. Damn.

>>39123973
here in PA everyone is dwarves since I am seen as tall for being 5"10 while most men are like 5"8 and most women are 5"1 to 3