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>>6011182

PROLOGUE : Some days ago in Someplace

Elana was sceptical, she did not understand why her companion, Ancel, was so evasive. Maybe it was because she punched him after he tried, three times, to grope her when they were travelling together ? Whatever, he disappeared when she refused his strategy, simply going into transe, using her disguise skills and entering. It was during this time that she understood something, the man was not an adventurer. And could not climb walls like a trained assassin, silently and skillfully. Why was he so precious to lord Charles ?
How to say it, with his accent he was unable to not be recognised, and he did not have the ability, by going into the "transe of disguise" to quickly disguise himself with stolen clothes and be seen by those around them. How did people infiltrate without these skills ? She thought about it while smiling to a guard who tried to wink at her and mounting in the tower, searching for the imprisoned Becky. She sometimes thought how did people who were not marked by fate lived. She had always grown up in the assassin's school, and never met other people, only for infiltration and spying missions, until she got back her soul at least, she wondered sometimes how they lived. How could they not enter communication with the energies of the earth to accelerate their bodies ? Or to look far less suspicious with a disguise.
When she asked it to Father François, the kind priest, he told her that such things did not exist, and she was too wounded to demonstrate her abilities. But on the other side when she wanted to use her abilities against Lord Charles it simply did not work, he saw through her disguise and when she tried to enter in transe before their fight she could not. She was sincerely glad for it, since it was because of her defeat that she kept her soul and was saved. Maybe it was God himself that intervened on her behalf. She wanted to ask Ancel but his answer would probably be "Eh pffffft".

Finally she came towards her destination, she had watched two nights before in what door there was a light at night and had overheard servants at the tavern talking about an imprisoned maiden at the last story of the great tower. The fact that a guard stood before the door confirmed her suspicions. To be sincere she found it funny that she had to save people instead of killing them now, but it was better, killing was a sin and she was determined not to sin. To be sure she smiled and told the guard, an average looking human.

-Hello sir, I am sorry but I must change the bedsheets of the prisoner.

The man answered something like.

-But the maid already has...

>>6011184

He couldn't finish his sentence, she feinted a punch and he protected his face as a reflex, while he had a helmet and she would probably not have hurt him very much because of their difference in size. But by doing this he didn't see her boot pounding his groin, while he clutched it she ripped off her disguise and punched him in the throat then kicked his knee to put him down and passed a small rope that she had hidden in her sleeve around his neck. She then pressed her foot to his back to maintain him in place while he struggled. She waited until he was put to sleep. She didn't want to kill people, it was forbidden by the scriptures, and besides she never liked it.
Once the guard taken care of and his keys stolen she opened the door leading to the chambers where the lady was taken prisoner and saw a young brown haired maiden in a red dress looking at her. She had heard the door opening and was quite surprised to see her. Elana was quick to say.

-Lord Charles de Villeroi and Lady Takable send me, you are Becky I suppose, come, we need to escape from here.

The lady seemed to be afraid, but surprised. She told.

-Lord Charles.. But we must take Bohémond, he tried to help me too and...

-Yes, yes, we will, but first I shall secure you and put you out of danger, follow me.

It is at this moment that a cry was heard in all the place, a cry that forced Elana, who since she has removed her dress and was in her black leather armor could outrun Becky, to go to the window to see what the problem was about. The cry of.

-FIRE ! FIRE !

Effectively the stables were burning, it was dusk and the place was burning while people began to try to run to put down the flames. Not understanding what this stroke of luck meant Elana took Becky by the hand and began to try to go down the tower, it was near the river.
She had to push her against a wall in the corner of a corridor to hide her when a patrol of guards passed by. Servants ran too, everybody was trying to put down the fire at the stables. Elana thought that it was the work of the Lord to have such luck and continued, when Becky tried to talk to her she told her to be quiet, quickness and quietness were the best ways to flee. They would go to the place where the wounded knight and the Local Guardsmen were imprisoned and then she would take a rope and they would climb down the wall.
It was then that she smelt a despicable odor, like a huge pile of manure, and saw that around the corner in the staircase of this tower four men where climbing when they were descending. The two ladies whispered loudly, seeing their astonishment.

-Bohémond !

Told Becky.

-Ancel ?!?

Told Elana who was understanding that he was the cause of this odor. He smelt even worse than normally. While the two lovebirds were hugging eachother, Elana noticed that the local men and the wounded knight who had to limp. Elana had to whisper.

-B...but how do you entered here ?

>>6011185

Ancel answered, in his typical speech that marked him as a foreigner like his master. Unfortunately unlike Lord Charles who had a deep baritone voice that she liked he had not been given the same gift.

-Hah, it is nenny forre you to nowe. Butte aïe shalle tell you that they dide notte give me ze nicknayme of Purineur fore nofing ! Honhonhon !

She raised an eyebrow and he continued.

-The Purineur iz ze man who recolts the purin, the manure, I entered by the tunnel of ze latrines in ze tower ! Zey never sawe itte comingue !

At least it explained the smell. She then began to realise and asked him.

-It is you who set the stables on fire ?

He nodded and laughed stupidly, before telling that fire was the best distraction. And, even if Elana had trouble to admit it, it was completely true. And since you must always thank someone when he did something good, said Father François, she told him while they climbed down the stairs.

-It was a very clever idea that you had, especially since they lost their frost mage and never had a water mage.

Ancel simply frowned.

-Froste ande Vater vat ?

She sighed when she saw the imprisoned local guardsmen, who had been beaten by torture and imprisonment gasp when he opened the door to the walls. And a voice told them.

-Hand's up and drop your weapons. You thought that I wouldn't understand your tricks ! I knew this fire could not be an accident.

Unfortunately being five feet and one inch tall was not the best way. To see what was happening when everyone got out of the remparts. While the freed prisoners dropped their weapons and got one by one out of the place they whispered about archers. She saw that Bohémond, the beautiful knight, wanted to resist but with his wounded leg he would simply be killed. So she had to act. Entering in transe and being one with the world she decided to show these bastards what a rank seven assassin was worth.

In an instant while passing the door of the tower to the battlements she jumped, flipping impossibly high over Bohémond and Ancel and while in the air unsheathed two hidden daggers that she threw at the two archers who were around a small gnome and ready to shoot their bows at her friends, she counted five other guards, one of them a tiefling.
Her two daggers with an uncanny precision found their marks : the ropes of the bows.

>>6011186

She was still in a strict "no killing policy" wanting to cease her life as an assassin. Then after a few punches, chops, kicks, throws, strange dodging manoeuvers involving cartwheels and gymnastics seven armoured men and women of the Someplace guard laid at her feet in a various state of unconsciousness, or with some broken bone, or having been thrown from the walls, fortunately on a pack of hay, she had calculated it to be non lethal, from the walls. To be sincere it was not even a challenge, they moved too slow for her to be in any danger. After leaving her transe she aknowledged that the last person standing besides her was the gnome, probably a councillor of this evil baron of Someplace, who was now trembling from all it's limbs and looking at her. He tried to tell, between the clacking of his teeth.

-P...P...please I am j..just an accountant, spare me and...

She did not let him finish, she slapped him strongly. Telling in the angriest tone that she could manage with her somewhat high pitched voice.

-This is for intriguing against Lord Charles.

She then roundhouse kicked him in the head with all her strength and added in an as venomous tone.

-And this is for imprisoning lady Rose's friend.

She then looked at her companions to tell them to go try to climb down the wall and get into the boat leased by Ancel since her companion had a rope. They all looked at her as if they had been impressed by the scene but not for the same reason. The two Local guardsmen were looking at her a lot like many young men when she was fighting or doing something in her thight fitting black leather armour. She was accustomed to it, even if she sewed it better since her conversion, masking her cleavage for modesty, she never wanted too much attention. Becky looked with fascination, and a bit of interest, saying.

-You are a high ranked adventurer are'nt you ? Some kind of rogue, an assassin, or even one of those masters of stealth trained in the far east.

Elana smiled, Rose had always told her that her friend Becky was clever as a fox and very observant. She hoped that they could be friends too, she wanted to have true friends, not those in the assassin's school where everyone saw eachother as a concurrent.

-You are well read and very observant indeed, I am a rank seven assassin. And I trained a bit in these eastern hand to hand techniques, the Waif-Fu of master Ki Nematic can help a girl in times of need. Hihi..

The strangest reaction was the one of the Frenchmen. Bohémond and Ancel observed her with huge eyes as big as bowls and looked at her, then at eachother. As if they saw something absolutely unbelievable. The knight asked Ancel.

-Is itte some kaind of sorcellerie ? Or my minde as become delirious because of my wound. Pinche me Ancel... Ore better notte, you are stille halfe covèrède in chitte.

>>6011187

Ancel was in an even bigger disbelief. He asked, as if speaking to himself.

-She ase notte even broken a sweatte... And she has no bloude on her...

She had to laugh at that, yes, it could appear strange to have chosen this for an assassin but as she said, she never was too much keen on murdering, even before.

-I have taken a course at the academy of how to avoid to have blood, sweat or hair out of place after a fight. Almost all the girls took it. Being covered in it is yucky... And I do not tell you about washing it off your clothing.

Not letting the others time to answer, and seeing that other guardsmen were probably coming, Ancel mumbled something like "zat's even bettère" and threw a rope under the walls, on the side near the river. Elana looked and saw that a boat was nearby, one of the guardsmen, who knew how to swim, got first, then Becky, then the knight who, despite his wounded leg, descended only with his arms in a display of strenghth that was quite impressive, then, finally, the other guardsman.

And it was done, everyone was safe, the prisoners were put on a boat to flee by the river and after a forced bath for Ancel, who protested and told that he had fallen in a river back when he was in France, Elana and him were fleeing near the riverbank, searching for their horses to make the guards of Someplace pursue them instead of their companions. Speaking of horses, Elana asked.

-Ancel, you told me that you had agreed with the two men who gave you the boat to keep our horses as a pledge until we pay. Do you have our lord's gold on you ?

He told.

-Nah, I buriède itte under a tree for my bastards ! Haha !

She did not think Ancel to be a family man but it was not a good reason to steal from the treasury some money that was given for a purpose.

-It is theft Ancel ! And how to you suppose to pay these men ?

He simply laughed stupidly and continued to run, until their meeting point. She cursed him and his stupidity. She would have to explain herself to these men and since she had not enough on her she would probably have to negotiate for a future payment, all while the guard was searching for them. Why did Lord Charles give the responsibility of the finances to this man ? It was in this frustration that she saw, hidden near a shack their two horses and the two boatmen. The bigger one telling him roughly.

-So you have brought the girl ?

Elana thought that he had spoken about her. What a lack of professionalism ! But then they should have asked questions about why there were two horses. Ancel seemed not to be surprised and showing Elana he told.

-Aye, she is right 'ere ! Young and fresh as promised.

The men had some laughs and Elana had to roll her eyes, she got towards the horses while saying to her companion.

-You will laugh later. Now we must go.

>>6011188

But before she could untie the knot made from the reins of her horse one of the boatmen had got a torch and agitated it before them, far too close to her face for her pleasure.

She had to turn from the sudden source of light and heard the man saying.

-Hah, young and pretty, and even hot in this black leather, I see that you held your word.

Ancel simply laughed stupidly while going towards the horses. Held his word ? What did that meant ? And why these two guys had for one a knife and the other a club attached to their belts ? They did not look like boatmen at all. And when one tried to grab her telling "come here pretty lass" she had to dodge his clumsy attempt and look at Ancel with an insisting view. The biggest man told.

-Hey, we beat the crap of those assholes with the boat, and she does not want to come, what is this shit ?

Ancel, who was already on a horse, answered him.

-Heh, I ade tou get her here, I did not tell her zat you were planning to sell her to a pleasure house. She would not have been cooperative, but now zat zere ise two of you you can easily subdue her. I did my part.

-Fair enough...

While Elana slowly realised what it meant she could only breathe angrily and almost scream.

-ANCEL !

She could already imagine his smug face behind her.

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>>6011189

MEANWHILE IN PLEASANTVILLE :

You were walking in the garden of Pleasantville with the beautiful Lady Takable your fiancée, holding her arm and gently listening her talk about the flowers. The garden itself was a marvel, you first doubted that you would see many flowers in winter but by some magic, or exceptional glasswork since they had many big windows, the Indians managed to have glass panels covering a part of the garden to keep the plants warm inside ! What a prodigy ! You asked if it was some devilry or magic and were only answered by the laughter of your lovely Rose and of the quite grumpy second son of the Count of this place, Isnott Careless, who was still sad that she preferred you over him.
You saw that there was roses in the garden and many other plants. To be very sincere you were, even if you lived in the countryside, far from it. Yes, you knew the symbols of the main plants and knew how to recognize a bunch of lilies but you never passed too much time in the garden during your youth and had to consider all the savage flowers on the fields as more or less the same. And, of course, not being a healer or an alchemist you had no idea of the medical properties of some plants. So when Rose, with an adorable facial expression, got to smell some flowers and then asked if they were "huaiweis", Isnott answered proudly.

-Yes, of course they are, imported from the far east. These red flowers are said to open your heads and your five senses if you burn them and you can manage to communicate with spirits, a probably false rumours but they can relax someone.

She then answered, giggling.

-It is said that it helps you find an inner peace and communicate with your kindred souls on a long distance.

You looked at the big red flower in a small pond with a strange shape and doubted it has anything special about it. You never saw it before. It was probably when he saw you with a clueless expression that Isnott said.

-What do you think about it, Lord Charles ?

Your answer was, as was expected, quite neutral, simply telling.

-Such plants do not grow in my country, but I hope to discover more of the Indian flora in this wonderful visit.

Rose looked genuinely interested, asking you.

-And what plants do you use to represent love dear lord Charles ?

You had to think a small moment about it before finding a poetic reference. You remembered that some Marie wrote something, in French in the last century and that you heard it from your mother when she talked about courtly love but you could not remember the last name of this Marie.

-It depends, my sweet lady, it depends on the poet, a poetess wrote that she saw love between a lady and her knight in an honeysuckle flower wrapped around the branch of an hazeltree. Since they needed to be close to eachother to live and would die if they were separated. She writes about it in her lai about Tristan and Isolda. But for me it is roses that symbolize love the best, for obvious reasons...

>>6011191

You knew your words found their mark when your lady reddened while Isnott shighed. She then told you.

-Your poetic tradition is so rich, I would love to read something from this poetess... Do all ladies write poetry in your lands ?

Isnott interjected before you could answer.

-How so if even the lords cannot read....

You answered quickly.

-Not everyone but there have been some, and after all, I think that I even saw my little sister trying to write something.

It was Isnott who answered you.

-Your little sister knew how to read and not you ?

-Yes of course, she had to learn something like doing embroidery and reading, we would not put the poor girl in armor and throw her on a battlefield.

You smiled at it and Rose smiled too. She then told you.

-I always feared writing my thoughts in verses and composing songs...

You told her.

-I am sure that you could, you are a talented musician, and you have a great knowledge in the matter, I am sure that you should write.

She seemed happy to be encouraged like this and she took your strong hand in her delicate one and she fixed her eyes on yours when you heard Isnott tell loudly.

-Ah, master Aislop, I am glad to see you, I didn't thought that you would be here...

You turned towards him and saw a strange man in a floppy hat sitting on a chair. He had brushes and pigments, was on a chair and was obviously painting, but not on a piece of wood like any normal painter, no, he was painting on a strange white thing. He told all of you.

-Salutations, master Isnott, what a pleasure to see such an intelligent man nearby.... And you..

Isnott introduced you.

-This is lord Charles de Villeroi and Lady Rose Takable, they are here for the nomination of the new baron of Someplace.

The artist bowed towards you and your lady, always happy to see artists, smiled and saluted him politely. You were yourself skeptical of the use of painters in not religious purposes. And wondering what kind of plant he tried to draw you saluted him and told.

>I am glad to see that the court of Pleasantville is a haven for artists, maybe one day we will be able to command a painting from you.
>I never saw an indian painter in action, good sir, may I ask you what is this white contraption that you are using in your craft ?
>Are you painting the technological marvel that we are in ? This garden that can be used even in winter. I must say that I never saw such wonder in all my life.
>Other (write in)

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RAISE THE BANNERS FOR OUR LORD HAS RETURNED

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>>6011192
>I never saw an indian painter in action, good sir, may I ask you what is this white contraption that you are using in your craft ?

Welcome back, milord! And speaking of artists, please enjoy this piece by Olympus QM, which was shared in the King & Queen of /QST/ tournaments. Sadly, Lord Charles was eliminated in the qualification rounds.

>>6011192
>>I never saw an indian painter in action, good sir, may I ask you what is this white contraption that you are using in your craft ?

>>6011192
>>I never saw an indian painter in action, good sir, may I ask you what is this white contraption that you are using in your craft ?
Welcome back m'lord

>>6011192
>I am glad to see that the court of Pleasantville is a haven for artists, maybe one day we will be able to command a painting from you.

>>6011182
Welcome back my lord!
>>6011189
Fucking Ancel
>>6011191
>I never saw an indian painter in action, good sir, may I ask you what is this white contraption that you are using in your craft ?

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>>6011193
Thank you brave bannerman ! May God Bless you !

>>6011255
Marvelous ! A second art of Charles ! He looks dashing ! And about his unhorsing in this tournament, what to say, jousting isn't always about winning. But I am glad that he was drawn, many thanks to lord Olympus even if judging by his name he is a schismatic greek.

>>6011654

>>6011722
Thank you good sir, I am glad to write and see you all again too.

>>6011794

>>6012331
Thank you good sir. And Ancel is... Well Ancel, he is not very gracious or accompagnable but he is crafty and smells tracks well.

By the way, this first post and answer was of course a veiled, and RP question, to ask you if you wanted AI slop in the quest, if I understood well you are against, at least for now. But know that, if I lack any skill in drawing, I could eventually generate images sometime.

====

You decided to follow your curiosity and asked the man.

-I never saw an Indian painter in action, good sir, may I ask you what is this white contraption that you are using in your craft ?

He looked at the contraption and showed it on the other side, it was indeed no more white, he was painting on it !

-This ? It's a canvas ! You seem to be a stranger judging by your accent, my lord, with all due respect, what do painters use in your lands ?

-Generally wooden panels... May I see this closer ?

He let you do it and you inspected the canvas with attention. It seemed to be made of woven fabric and ingeniously expanded on a wooden frame. Meh... It seemed to be cheaper than a wooden panel, and so it was probably of low quality, for sketches or other things. You looked at the pigments and they seemed to be different than those that you saw in France but you were completely ignorant in the matter so you let it go.

-Very interesting, painting on fabric... I never thought of it...

-My lord. It has been done here for centuries...

You nodded, well it was interesting to know, but still, you did not like the idea of being painted on a fabric by some Aislop, or painting saints on it. If they wanted to use fabric so much they could do a tapestry ! Oh, by the way, maybe lady Takable liked tapestries or wanted even to work on one like Mathilde of Flanders, wife of Guillaume the Conqueror, that the uncivilised saxons called William.
So you quickly moved the topic about tapestries when you heard that it was time for you to go to dinner.
By tradition as in any good banquet there would be a main table and many lower ones. They would be used in this small celebration before tomorrow, when the new baron would pledge his allegiance to the count.
Every nobleman had to be sat somewhere. Apparently it was decided to sit all the barons and future barons on the main table perpendicular to the rest and elevated above the others.

>>6012370

But the Neutral Lord was granted a place on it, a pale compensation for not being given the barony.
So the local nobility was sat by importance at one of the tables, and you ended right between lady Sue and the lord of Darkplace that tried to murder you. In front of you were some guelphs who probably were less important parts of the guelph delegation. The most important were the future councillors of the new baron, a very beautiful blonde lady who was still in her white dress, there was the man with dirty blonde hair and less guelvish features dressed in green, then a woman, beautiful too with white hair and deeply golden eyes but with her cheek marked by an ugly scar. Then another Guelph with brown hair and a blue dress was sitting next to them.

Since you did not want to particularly speak to someone who tried to murdered you, or for now, to lady Sue, you simply asked who was who. Someone had to do the presentations.
You learned that the first woman, the very beautiful one was mistress Cristmasel, a mage of great renown in, then you failed to understand the latin word used, but did the sign of the cross. A WITCH ! Once more the place would be full of witches ! And saying that you were, two hours earlier looking at her backside in this very tight dress, she clearly was trying to trick you. Then there was the man with short dirty blond hair and a green tunic, he said that he was Demisel, and was was to be the Baron's councilor in many matters and chancellor, he explained that "he has had to deal many times with humans, since his mother was one of them", well of course it was visible that his mother wasn't a horse ! But maybe he had to explain this because of the huge numbers of intercourses between humans and animals that you witnessed since you arrived in India. Then came the white haired woman with a scar, she explained that she was an officer in the royal guard and probably the next guard's captain of Someplace, she was called Lynddien.
Then the last one, the brown haired man in rather simple blue robes explained that he was called Tel-Salaad and probably the next man in charge of the finances of the barony. Well, a lombard banker in other words. Right next to him was Sir Up of Maple, a sympathetic knight in the service of the count that was probably there because he had to be put somewhere.
Since you could not directly speak to your sweet Rose you decided to.

>>6012371

>Keep an eye on the Lord of Darkplace to see if he will not try to poison Rose or you.
>Engage a pleasant conversation with Lady Sue, telling her that the new baron and guelphs in general seem to hold her in high esteem.
>Tell to Demisel (who is not a Damsel, hah !) why did "having to deal many times with humans" made him particularily competent for the job, any person who was not an ermit living far away from civilization in some forest had to deal with humans on at least a semi-regular basis.
>Ask the lady right in front of you, Lynddien, how a woman managed to have such a high position in the permanent host of your queen.
>Explain the Lombard banker Tel-Salaad that it is good that one of his kind is now in charge of the finances, of course you consider Lombards are greedy men doing ungodly work but they are properly baptised Christians or in India descendants of them unlike the small jew that actually holds the office.
>Other (write in)

In plus of choosing an option, roll me an intrigue roll on a d100 please with a bonus.

>>6012370
>if I understood well you are against
That flew over my head
>>6012373
>Engage a pleasant conversation with Lady Sue, telling her that the new baron and guelphs in general seem to hold her in high esteem.
Our political manoeuvrings last thread were not the best considering the count is somewhat upset at us so let’s not do something dumb (for now)

Rolled 86 (1d100)

>>6012370
I also failed to understand the undercover AI vote.

>>6012373
>Keep an eye on the Lord of Darkplace to see if he will not try to poison Rose or you.
>Engage a pleasant conversation with Lady Sue, telling her that the new baron and guelphs in general seem to hold her in high esteem.
Charles may not be bright, but I suspect he has come to understand that the barbaric and pagan Indians elevate women to warrior positions with alarming regularity, and consider man people subhuman because they do not comprehend the true nature of the soul. Meanwhile, they consider demon 'tieflings' as equal to men. Ha!

Rolled 3 (1d100)

>>6012373
>Engage a pleasant conversation with Lady Sue, telling her that the new baron and guelphs in general seem to hold her in high esteem.

Rolled 32 (1d100)

>>6012373
>Explain the Lombard banker Tel-Salaad that it is good that one of his kind is now in charge of the finances, of course you consider Lombards are greedy men doing ungodly work but they are properly baptised Christians or in India descendants of them unlike the small jew that actually holds the office.

>>6012373
>Engage a pleasant conversation with Lady Sue, telling her that the new baron and guelphs in general seem to hold her in high esteem.

>>6012373
>>Keep an eye on the Lord of Darkplace to see if he will not try to poison Rose or you.

>>6012373
>>Engage a pleasant conversation with Lady Sue, telling her that the new baron and guelphs in general seem to hold her in high esteem.

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>>6012399
Oh, it happens, since both you and another fellow bannerman did not understand I shall ask more openly, in the way of our Frankish ancestors and not like some sneaky toscan, do you want AI slop in this quest ?

>>6012543
To be sincere I saw this option with Lynddien not as something mocking her but more about asking her about her military career. Then about the subhumanity and the concept of "man" in India Charles does not understand, nor any good Christian would : they do not consider cagots human, yes, but not Scotsmen too because they are short ? But what to do of short men and dwarves born of normally sized parents ? They tell that they are human ! Hah ! They consider too that Guelphs with pointy ears are not human, while saracens with completely black skin and like in the song of Roland the only white on their face being their teeth as human while they are far more different to a Frenchman than these pointy eared italians, and what about the hooveless mongols ? Humans too ! But the small jews are apparently not human while in the Bible they were given the first Alliance. And what argument do they use ? That humans can reproduce with each other, that compose a "specy" according to their learned men ! But the same learned men tell that Guelphs can reproduce with humans, and apparently since you were in India you saw that at least wolves, cats, horses, goats, lizards and cows have reproduced with human and heard of bird men. Are all this beasts human too since we can reproduce with them ? How, tell me good sir, how a normal man who has not studied the question in a monastery for a lifetime can even begin to understand it ?

>>6012964
A critical roll, with the bonus and other roll it makes it a success, well played, this critical roll will even enhance the success.

>>6012975
>>6013180
>>6013493
>>6013527

You decided to speak with Lady Sue, after all you didn't knew the Guelphs still and mending some bridges with the lady who will be your neighbour soon should be necessary. Disregarding the fact that your last conversation together consisted on mocking her and telling her that you will never pay compensation to the families of the killed adventurers that she defended. And disregarding too the fact that she and your lady Rose hated eachother while she was sorry. You began to tell her, remembering that even if she was bastard born she was of princely blood.

-From what I have seen, your highness, our new baron seems to like you particularly and you have an impressive reputation among those Guelphs.

She looked at you, as if she was weary.

-You say it because I shall have a good reputation with our new baron ? You want to enter in my "good graces" after mocking me ?

>>6013611

You sighed, of course it would be difficult, but you answered honestly and kindly.

-No, your Highness, have I tried to cosy to the last baron ? I always said what I thought. I am not a man of intrigue and daggers in the dark. I am genuinely impressed. And if we still disagree on some topics be sure that I talk with the utmost sincerity. I ignored that you were so respected for your deeds.

She reddened a bit, your charm always worked with women, even those who tried to act like men. She then answered.

-You are kind Lord Charles, but I have told you that I was a rank 20 adventurer, you know that it is quite rare...

To be sincere she was always talking about it, about her exploits and her opinions, but since you never took care to listen to it you considered it utter nonsense. But since learned men seemed to consider her truly as a hero you should maybe listen. You were about to answer when the Guelph Lynddien intervened in the conversation, trying to explain you something.

-Lady Sue's victories have been recognized by all, there is maybe less than half a hundred adventurers of her rank in Bifuria.

You never imagined it, you knew that adventurers were organised in ranks, and that one of rank seven, like the assassin that you killed, was considered more dangerous than you. But you killed him, and won when Elana, who as ranked as him too, tried to gut you with a dagger. And if Lady Sue had, allegedly killed "hydras" whatever they were, you saw her fighting. Rank 20 or not you had to say that she was a pretty good fencer, but too thin to have a chance against a fully armoured knight. Still, you wanted to compliment her so you told.

-Yes, I have seen her fight, we defeated some wolf-men and witches together, and we managed to win even if they captured us.

The future guard captain seemed to be a bit disturbed, not believing your story.

-Captured ? By wolf men ? And some witches ?

Lady Sue nodded.

-By werewolves and hags yes. And yes you will say that I could have killed maybe one hundred of them, but these were some special kind of hags. I did not manage to connect with the power of the earth, or use my abilities. I had to fight it, as we would say, old school.

All the Guelphs, and even some others persons on the table turned towards you. Lynddyien said.

-What do you mean without abilities ? It is impossible to disconnect someone from the land.

Lady Sue nodded.

-I thought it too, but it was how it was I feared that I had lost them. Then, one day after I tried to use them again, in training and they worked. It is very strange. Lord Charles was there too. He had witnessed it.

The lord of Darkplace, who was a clever and vile man, and who had sent assassins after you, added.

-Many strange events take place around lord Charles. Let us remember the duel with our late lord Hostil.

>>6013612

The look of lady Sue towards you hardened, it was rumoured that the two redheads had been close. A bastard born and a sorcerer, what an horrible couple. But you disliked these implication. You remembered the words of Praetzel, the daughter of the Guelph merchant.

She had explained you that you had an ability, that you had demonstrated many times after, and that the your dear Oldfossil considered as born of your faith, to be able to avoid magic. She had told too that many Guelphs and mages would want to kill you for it as they killed those who dispelled magic long ago. You heard from the writings of Rollarion, your late court mage, that these knaves had "shattered the gods" too into many divinities for political power and to ensure the supremacy of their horrible magics. They would do everything to kill you and your faith as a symbol of a strong God who protects against sorcery. So when you heard the witch Cristmasel ask.

-What happened with lord Hostil ?

And the lord of Darkplace answered.

-He conjured flames that were unable to burn lord Charles who won a duel. While he did not seem to have any magical trinket. Perhaps you used runes...

You understood perfectly what the bastard wanted. To have you murdered by this vermin. You had to find an answer and told.

-A man with a just cause always triumphs, it is the principle of the Judgement of God.

The witch seemed satisfied, answering.

-We are not talking about deflecting the spells of a mid ranked Spellcaster. Or protection against magic, there exist amulets, armors who can be imbued with antimagic too. There were antimagical bloodlines too but they went extinct.

Well of course, they exterminated them it is why they were extinct. You let her continue.

-But severing the connection between the powers of the earth and those marked by fate, the adventurers. It is something that was never seen.

One of the Guelphs, Tel-Salaad, supposed.

-Maybe it is a new weapon of evil. But is is very unlikely that some simple hags would have it.

Your sweet lady Takable tried to take part in the conversation.

-Maybe the hags had made something like this by error. I have read that they like to experiment.

You added.

-Then we can rejoice in that we destroyed such experiments.

The Guelph witch shook her head, answering.

-I think that... That this is very unlikely to be a mere coincidence. Lord Charles, tell me, there have been a magical disturbance in your lands, I heard, and I heard that paladins had been sent to investigate.

Ah yes, the Saracen, the demon worshipper full of smoke and sulphur and the woman in armour that you had killed. Better not to be too loud about it. You answered evasively.

-Yes... I heard of their death. Some adventurers that were very uncouth and tried to steal on my lands claimed to be searching for them. My men had not found anything I am afraid. They probably got lost in the forest of Gump if you want my opinion. The place is old and dangerous.

>>6013613

The witch told.

-They were highly ranked paladins, all touched by fate and able to survive even against the greatest ennemies....

Demisel finished her sentence.

-If they were not first ambushed by something able to destroy their advantage, their connection to the land. Then they would be simply armoured warriors. Good armoured warriors but easily defeated by a dragon.

Hah ! A dragon ! You had killed one ! They were clearly weaker but... Stop... Something able to... It was you who killed them. And you who vanquished two persons who had these "abilities", all seemed surprised when they could not use them. And lady Sue. The conclusion was obvious. You took your best neutral face and understood that you were in a very grave danger. You ignored why, and how it was possible, probably with divine intervention, but you were shielded too against such maléfices who were not of sorcerous nature according to the Indians. Or maybe they were ? And they were trampled under the glory of God like the ancient pagan cults of the divinities of the earth ? Like your Frankish ancestors pulled out the roots of Irminsul, the tree that pagans worshiped, you pulled out the roots in the land of these armed vagrants. But still, it was best to be quiet about it.

The magnitude of the revelation was colossal. Especially when the Rival Lord told.

-You think that there is some monster able to do it in the Forest of Gump ?

Cristmasel disagreed.

-No, it was more probably linked with the magical disturbance, the Mage's Guild wanted to know more about it. But from what we can understand, it could have very well been the forging of a weapon, or the creation of a creature able to do it, or even more probably a potion, this potion could have been given to the hags. We are probably in a zone of experiment by a terrible evil, a weapon, or a potion able to change the very foundations of the world. Imagine if we did not have adventurers : who would fight dragons ? Who would be able to vanquish the most powerful creatures ? It is... it is beyond our imagination... What do you think about it ?

She seemed really frightened by the prospect, everyone was, even the lord of Darkplace, who looked at you suspiciously for a short moment. Hah, he feared you now, good. The only one to speak was Sir Up of Maple who told.

-It is mad that we discover the next plot of some Necromancer or even of B'beg the Terrible or one of his rival in a secondary table of an informal countly dinner of a small provincial town.

There were some smiles but lady Mary Sue genuinely answered.

-I do not know, when I am around a lot of strange conspiracies seem to be revealed by dumb luck. Who knows...

An enigmatic sentence indeed, but you could not reflect on it before Cristmasel asked you.

-Tell me, lord de Villeroi, what is your opinion on the matter.

Yes, of course, a difficult moment. You thought about a strategy to adopt.

>>6013614

>Tell that you have no clue, there was no such thing as "adventurers" or "people touched by fate" in your lands.
>Swear to send some knights in the woods. After some exploration they should see where the evil would be nestled. Offer maybe to send some baronial troops there.
>Tell that this Forest of Gump was full of strange things, you saw old forest spirits and even a band of Ghibellines (Guelphs must hate Ghibellines) who were all small and green and organised by a difformed small green german called Schamann who was obviously "possessed" for lack of a better term by the spirit of Conradin von Hohenstaufen, a powerful pretender to the throne of Sicily dead fourty years ago, if you talked about necromancer it was necromancy. You captured this Schamann to interrogate him but he fled, with the help of Beau, a bard, the bard then tried to accuse you of misconduct against adventurers before Lady Sue but this escape with such a despicable individual explains his vileness. You should search this Schamann in all the realm to have an answer.
>Put all the blame on B'beg the Terrible, tell about your encounter with one of his lieutenants, Lady Takable could be a witness. It seemed that this blood Guelph, Abovyourlevel was one of his must trusted men, if he was in a lost place like Local it was probably because he plotted something like building the weapon that they all described.
>Other (write in)

>>6013611
AI slop is fine, as long as it isn't disingenuously presented or monetarily compensated, IMO.

>>6013616
>Tell that you have no clue, there was no such thing as "adventurers" or "people touched by fate" in your lands.
>>Hint that it is the protection of your patron god, Jesus Christ, which and his 'paladin-like' crusading knights who keep peace there, and describe some of their heroic deeds from legend

Maybe we can subtly sway them to come to us and the One True God in times of trouble, and not soil-worshiping vagrants 'of the land'? Though we sadly should be quiet just now about our monotheism.

>>6013611
I cant in my heart accept AI slop. maybe in ten years when its better, but not now.

>>6013616

>Tell that you have no clue, there was no such thing as "adventurers" or "people touched by fate" in your lands.
>>Hint that it is the protection of your patron god, Jesus Christ, which and his 'paladin-like' crusading knights who keep peace there, and describe some of their heroic deeds from legend

>>6013611
Use it however you wish
>>6013616
>Tell that you have no clue, there was no such thing as "adventurers" or "people touched by fate" in your lands.
Let’s try not to attract any attention to ourselves but perhaps we can bring up some other random events to throw them off our trail?

>>6013616
>>Put all the blame on B'beg the Terrible, tell about your encounter with one of his lieutenants, Lady Takable could be a witness. It seemed that this blood Guelph, Abovyourlevel was one of his must trusted men, if he was in a lost place like Local it was probably because he plotted something like building the weapon that they all described.

>>6013611
I prefer real art. There's still plenty of it you can find online.

>>6013614
>>Tell that you have no clue, there was no such thing as "adventurers" or "people touched by fate" in your lands.
>>>Hint that it is the protection of your patron god, Jesus Christ, which and his 'paladin-like' crusading knights who keep peace there, and describe some of their heroic deeds from legend
Every good Christian should spread the good news where it is possible!

>>6013616
>Tell that you have no clue, there was no such thing as "adventurers" or "people touched by fate" in your lands.
>>Hint that it is the protection of your patron god, Jesus Christ, which and his 'paladin-like' crusading knights who keep peace there, and describe some of their heroic deeds from legend

File: Saint Leu of Troyes vanqu(...).jpg (345 KB, 800x1195)

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>>6013628
It is a wise decision, a very wise one, I shall give you +5 xp for this great idea.

>>6013684
I will be sincere, I used it a couple of times when I needed specific images in this thread, I was not impressed by it's quality (I think I used it for a forest landscape and the portrait of Elana), but I share your conclusions on it's lack of beauty, I shall not generalise it and first use real images if possible.

>>6013795

>>6013819

>>6013821
I agree, I always use it in priority. And even then, I think that if we use it it would be in a "RP manner" like if you had asked Aislop to paint your portrait or the one of your lady you would have had an IA image of Charles de Villeroi or lady Rose Takable.

>>6013872

>>6013996

You then answered, with your experience.

-We do not have such warriors in France, at least I never heard about a connexion with nature. Or adventurers. Or something as someone "touched by fate".

The people seemed to be disturbed by it and Sir Up asked.

-But how do you beat dragons ? I mean if a dragon attacks what do you do ? You use magic ?

-Magic is illegal in your lands, and the dragons... Well we charge it, I killed one in the forest of Gump once.

They all looked at you, even lady Sue seemed to be genuinely impressed.

-You killed a dragon ? Like ? Like the one in someplace ?

Rose smiled a bit and answered.

-Charles, it was not what we call a dragon, it was a river drake, it was very impressive when you charged it but a dragon is far bigger.

Lynddyien smiled a bit mockingly and told.

-Yes, and it flies, what could you do with a lance against it ?

You answered, understanding that, if you looked at the skulls at Someplace, the dragons were far bigger there.

-I agree, yes, I thought it was a young dragon, we do not have many in our lands, but the one that killed a dragon was Saint Georges and he charged it with a lance. He did not need magic or fate, simply the help of the Lord. He is the patron saint of Chivalry and all knights.

They all began to discuss. The Guelph guard's captain objecting.

-How could he have charged it if it flew high in the sky ?

-It didn't, the dragon was protecting a cavern where he kept a princess prisoner. So Saint Georges charged it and slew it, piercing his heart.

They all seemed to discuss and lady Takable reddened a bit, remembering maybe why you screamed the name of Saint Georges when you protected her from this "river drake". Then the Rival lord asked, interested even if he was your enemy.

-And those dragons in your lands, you still wait for them to capture maidens to fight them ?

-No, no, they are all dead now. I know that a German called Siegfried killed one once as for the rest...

>>6014224

They all continued to ask some questions, interested by this topic, and soon questions flew. Demisel asked.

-And what about other beasts ? Wyverns ? Basilisks ? Tarrasques ?

And the Rival Lord had to add.

-And are you sure that any of this is true ?

You had to answer to both of them, and so after some time to reflect on it you explained.

-You know, all these stories were several centuries ago. Some are true, for exemple my late uncle Robert, who travelled near the Rhine saw the mount Drachenfels, were the hero Sigfried must have defeated the dragon, he even saw an imprint, preserved by local men, of the beast, it was massive according to his words. But some stories are unbelievable, I agree, king Arthur is said to have killed the dragon Chapalu, but it is not very serious, he is an invented character, by the celts, to try to have "their" Charlemagne. Likewise the story of the enchanter Maugis, sorcerer at the court of Charlemagne, who killed a dragon to obtain the magical horse Bayard is a pure fiction in a chanson de geste to make the tale interesting. Charlemagne was a most Godly man and he burned witches as prescribed. Of course he had 300 concubines but such were the mores of our Frankish ancestors, heh, they even stole their women, one of my ancestors wrote an answer to Bishop Hincmar of Reims about it when he condemned this as unchristian... But it was a long time ago, we are courteous knights now. But the Dragon is always an absolute evil, and the Church did a lot to fight it and there are many victories against them, and against all monsters. You were talking about the Tarrasque ?

Demisel nodded while you took more wine.

-Yes, did someone charge it with a lance too ?

You laughed at it, and people laughed too.

-No, Saint Marthe, disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, sister of Lazarus, who was risen from the dead by our Lord himself, and of Mary of Bethany who broke a perfume jar to perfume the Lord tamed it.

They all looked at you.

-Tamed it ?

You nodded.

-Yes, she used blessed water to tame the beast that terrorized the region then she took her belt and used it as a leash to tame it. Then, if I remember well, the villagers attacked the beast and killed it.

They all seemed not to believe you.

-It is one of your tales...

-No, no, it has been verified by learned ecclesiastical men.

-Do you have any idea of the size of a tarrasque ? It is higher than a house, and bigger than a dragon, there is no more dangerous beast in the land. How could someone use his, or her belt, as a leash around the neck of something that is the size of a house ?

>>6014226

To be sincere, it was hard to believe, and from what the guelph, Tel-Salaad, said, your story seemed to be not very believable. You always remembered the Tarrasque as being quite small in illustrations. But then you answered.

-And what do you know about tarrasques ?

-I saw one ! Five centuries ago, eleven heroes from all the realms of the Empire managed to bring it down !

Rose tried to tell.

-Maybe what you call a tarrasque is not the same thing as us. It is a huge monster not vulnerable to magic.

Well... That was good, but you had still an argument.

-Then tell me where do the name of Tarrasque comes from, wise lords and ladies...

And then, seeing their absolutely clueless faces, while they tried to explain it, and the fact as nobody had an answer you smiled proudly. When irritated, lady Sue, told you.

-And I am sure that you know.

-Of course, it comes from the city of Tarascon, where Saint Marthe was, and I have been there. The monster was named after the city, who was only a village at that time. Do you have another explanation ? No, it means that this monster comes from France, so we exactly know that it was first vanquished there.

This, of course, created great debate, but your explanation made sense, even those who seemed learned had to agree that the monster was "of foreign origin". But still Tel-Salaad asked you.

-And how do you explain that your Saint managed to tame it with a leash ? If it is so big ? And simple peasants managed to kill it.

You then told.

-To be sincere it was several centuries ago, twelve centuries ago, but I remember that they represent the tarrasque as a rather small beast, but if it was so small it seems to be unbelievable that it would manage to terrorise a village and even a region. Maybe the Lord has, by his power, reduced it's size to make it tamable, just like He multiplied the bread and fish.

Lynddien tried to say.

-But it is invuln...

But Cristmasel cut her and agreed with you.

-Maybe it was some other kind of powers given by fate... But it is very interesting, tell me, Lord de Villeroi, do you have other, more recent stories, of heroes vanquishing dragons ?

You tried to think about it and fortunately, since you had not passed your times reading books you had a good memory, having to know by heart many important things. It was one of the main reasons that books were dangerous, they made people dumber. You then told.

-Everything was a long time ago, my lady, they are extinct now, but we have many stories, not so much in Champagne where I came from, our region is a region of plains and dragons do not like it so much, well, we had a Cocatrix in Troyes that Saint Leu had beaten, but I have traveled a bit around the realm and heard tales of saints victorious against dragons. All being approved by the church and true.

>>6014228

And then it began you began to explain the stories that you heard everywhere during your travels. How one millenia ago Saint Clement vanquished the dragon Graoully in Metz and threw his body in the river Seille, how Saint-Dyé bishop of Nevers had beaten a dragon seven centuries ago and now the town where his victory took place was called Saint-Dyé-sur-Loire. How in Provence, on the gorges of the river Tarn six centuries ago, Saint Ilère, bishop of Gévaudan and Saint Enimie, daughter of king Clothaire the Second vainquished the Drac together, then you had to explain that the Drac was not like their "drakes" it was more a huge demon that took the form of a dragon. Since Lady Sue insisted on hearing about this female adventurer, and that lady Takable agreed, wanting to hear about a princess you had to promise to recite tommorow the bad translation from occitan to French of the Vida de San Enimia of Bertran de Marseille. You then explained how six centuries ago Saint Géry had beaten a dragon in Brussels, freeing the city from it's grasp and building a chapel where it had been slaughtered. Then there were many others, Saint Florent had killed the dragon of Saumur, Saint Germain the Scotsman in Normandy, near Flamanville, killed the dragon of the Baligan hole eight centuries ago, just like Saint Marcel in the IVth century had beaten the dragon of Paris their battle taking place in the Bièvre valley. You then, since you were talking about Normandy, talked about Saint Vigor, a man from Arras who became bishop of the city of Bayeux seven centuries ago and had to fight a dragon that terrorised the lands of a lord named Volusian, Saint Vigor managed to lead the dragon to him and then to imprison him with a scarf of wool representing the domination of Christendom over paganism, and his deed made the local pagans convert. Volusian then offered him the lands of Cerisy-la-Forêt where he built an abbey that still stood today and contained his holy relics preserved from the vikings.

You had not time to tell about Saint Samson of Dol and his fight against the Theomaque witch and the Dragon of the banks of the Seine but everyone agreed that frenchmen had great experience in dragon fighting and that apparently what you called saints they called "persons touched by fate" nonsense, their power came from the Lord but you had no time to think about it. Since you had drank well you got to sleep and had to decided what to do tomorrow before the ceremony of homage of the new baron.

>Try to remember with the help of Brother Louis all the poem about Saint Enimie, it would be useful since the ladies wanted you to recite it to them tomorrow.
>Spar with the men in the courtyard, it had been a too long time that you only spared with your knights, better test your steel against some Indians.
>Try to speak with someone, maybe for some intrigue or simply for a pleasant conversation (whom)
>Take a stroll in the streets of Pleasantville.
>Other (write in)

>>6014231
>Take a stroll in the streets of Pleasantville.
Let’s see what the average Indian town gets up to and perhaps we can learn what not to do

>>6014231
>>Take a stroll in the streets of Pleasantville.

>>6014231
>>Try to remember with the help of Brother Louis all the poem about Saint Enimie, it would be useful since the ladies wanted you to recite it to them tomorrow.

>>6014231
>Try to remember with the help of Brother Louis all the poem about Saint Enimie, it would be useful since the ladies wanted you to recite it to them tomorrow.
Maybe we can stroll and speak at once?

>>6014231
>>Try to remember with the help of Brother Louis all the poem about Saint Enimie, it would be useful since the ladies wanted you to recite it to them tomorrow.

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>>6014245
A very pleasant idea indeed good sir.

>>6014468
>>6014489

>>6014503
You know good sir, you are absolutely right, I merged both of the options.You have the wisdom of king Solomon.

>>6014705

You took the wise decision to take a stroll with Brother Louis while remembering about your poem. You shall see Pleasantville a little bit and have the occasion of comparing the indian town with a French one without being totally drunk and then captured by some magical burghers who would ask a ransom. No, you decided to go out and enjoy the place, expecting to buy something pleasant maybe for your lady or simply bask in the ambiance of the small town. So it was in your best doublet that with your knight templar you decided to visit the place in the morning. But where to go ? You tried to ask Sir Up of Maple about the town, the man was a jolly fellow and was always happy to answer your questions. Once it was done you had at least an understanding of how the town was build, to be sincere it was more or less like a French town, well, without a church in the middle.
Should you stop at a tavern ? Visit the commercial quarter, or more exactly the only commercial street that was there. See what did the pagan temples looked like, Brother Louis, even if he was a staunch Christian seemed interested in it, you were probably not very popular at the so called "Adventurer's Guild" and the "Mage's Guild" both having lost some members because of you so you better not go visit them.

While you decided to take a stroll you tried to remember all the story of the saint, and it's verse, on it the brother Templar had a better memory than you. You remembered that she was the daughter of king Clothaire II and sister of King Dagobert I. She was very beautiful and took care of the lepers, the infirm and the poor. Her father wanted to wed her to some nobleman but she told that she was married already to God and Christ. Since her father insisted she implored God to save her to keep her purity, God accomplished her wish and gave her leprosy that disfigured her. Some would say that it was harsh but hey, it is a method like another one and a radically effective one at that.

>>6014771

She was sick during several years and when she was almost dying of sickness she asked for help and an angel told her to go to a miraculous source of water, a place called Burlatis in the province of Gévaudan, so she traveled with her escort toward this place, helping people on the road. Once in Gévaudan a woman tried to tell her where Burlatis was but the angel appeared again, telling that it was not the place and that she should go to the gorges of the Tarn. It is where her corpse in the cold water could finally be healed. But once she was miraculously healed she became sick again once she left the place, so she was carried back, and then she became sick again. It was only after the third "bath" that she understood that she had to stay forever in the region. She did it by founding a religious community in the hamlets near the river Tarn with her court.

Brother Louis adding historical details to the poems reminded you that the Saint was named abbess of a mixt monastery by Saint Illère, bishop of Gévaudan, and they fought the Drac, a demon in the form of a dragon, together, he himself saw the old monastery and the place of the battle with flattened rocks that showed it's violence. When Enimie died, living in a cave where she retired to meditate, her bones, as by her wishes, were placed near those of her goddaughter, since she did not want them to leave this holy place. So she ordered her servants to inscribe the name of Enimie on her goddaughter's grave and leave hers empty. When her brother Dagobert, who was now king, came in pilgrimage and decided to transfer her relics to the basilica of Saint Denis where all the French kings and their relatives are buried, he took the remains of her gooddaughter and not hers. This legend was forgotten until a benedictine monastery was founded on the ruins of Saint Enimie's community. The monks had a vision explaining them this trick. They keep her bones in this Saint Enimie monastery since.

Still, after having talked so much during breakfast and having gone, without looking too much at it, in the center of the town in a kind of main square where some acrobats and jugglers performed for the satisfaction of the crowd, one of them was even a cow man who threw balls and caught them with his horns, while others displayed an astonishing agility. Where shall you go ?

>Let us see the main merchant street, maybe lady Rose would want some jewellery.
>Let us see these artists performing, it seems that some of the acrobats are pretty lasses ?
>Let us see what the pagans worship and their idols.
>Let us drink at the tavern and try to remember those verses.
>Other (write in)

>>6014772
>>Let us see the main merchant street, maybe lady Rose would want some jewellery.
Jyhmm

>>6014772
>>Let us see these artists performing, it seems that some of the acrobats are pretty lasses ?

>>6014772
>>Let us see these artists performing, it seems that some of the acrobats are pretty lasses ?

>>6014772
>Let us see what the pagans worship and their idols.

>>6014771
I am learning a lot here
>>6014772
>Let us see what the pagans worship and their idols.
Let’s see what we are up against

>>6014772
>>Let us see these artists performing, it seems that some of the acrobats are pretty lasses ?

>>6014772
>Let us see these artists performing, it seems that some of the acrobats are pretty lasses ?

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>>6014824
>>6014924
>>6014950

>>6015010
I always try to do some research before posting, especially about information about the Middle-Ages, I already research about it quite a lot, as much for work as for pleasure, but this quest helped me much in the domain. I try to squeeze sometimes some subtle "medievist jokes" in the updates.

>>6015183
>>6015564

You decided to stay on the main square and see the acrobats. Telling the brave Brother Louis.

-Let us see the acrobats Brother Louis, some seem to be terribly agile.

-And lightly clothed... Monseigneur you are soon to be wed, it would be improper to look at these lasses.

Effectively, you saw three lightly clothed guelph and half guelph ladies doing some evocative dances, then climbing on each other, flipping and carthweeling. Since you were quite tall you had a solid view. You saw one of these demons too, that the locals called Tieflings, breath fire, you saw men do it but knew that he did it naturally, and so you did the sign of the cross. Then you looked at the cow man when he juggled. Answering the grim warrior-monk you told him, quite teasingly.

-Dear Brother, I know that you are a pious man, but do not tell me that you do not appreciate the flesh.

-I have sworn a vow of chastity monseigneur...

You knew that he was respecting it, even if you saw him glance at some girls sometimes he always did the sign of the cross after or mortified his flesh. You still laughed.

-You were at the crusades after all, and we all know that at this moment clerics raised their cassocks, and not only to fight more effectively hahaha !

The man had a small smile but stayed stoic, answering.

-Monseigneur, I have never, but I am an old man and have more control over my basic impulses.

It made you laugh, while you saw how one of the girls, a pretty blonde guelph jumping inhumanely high after doing a hanstand and finishing right on the shoulders of a huge burly acrobat who then threw her on a rope that served to attach clothes between two houses that she climbed on with agility and then, astonishingly walked on it. You saw it sometimes in France but it was impressive, and the girl... By Saint Denis, you loved supple girls, you should too dear listener of this chanson, just imagine what could they do in bed.
You remembered Bohémond having an affair with a gipsy acrobat from a travelling band of performers, she was called Esmeralda or something like this. You never tried, fearing the diseases that come with gipsies, but here this Guelph beauty was not one of them, she was clearly of pure frankish blood and with some hygiene. You were thinking about definetely not christian thoughts when you saw a blur of movement, and Brother Louis taking the hand of a small red haired boy. The boy tried to protest but the Templar had his wrist in an iron grip and told.

-You vile thief, you were trying to cut purses.

>>6015795

The people around you looked at him, and as the young boy was trying to protest some gold flew from his jacket ! Damned thief ! The maybeten or eleven years old boy had freckles on his face and big innocent brown eyes. But trying to steal from a Lord. How dares he ? Should you cut off his hand or simply have him whipped ? Or maybe ask your brave Count how to punish him, since the crime took place in his lands. The boy tried to tell.

-I waznot trying to steal you sir paladin, but the blond guy, his servant has stolen from us and...

First if you were blonde and he talked about you since he designated you, you were not called Guy. Definitely not, your given name was Charles, Guy was your maternal grandfather. But your servant, a thief ? How dared he. You told him in a severe tone, while a small group of people looked at the spectacle.

-How dare you, you small parasite ? Do you not know that I am a nobleman ! How could you accuse my household of being thieves ? Do you know that I could have your tongue removed for it.

This was reacted by protestation from the vile burghers, hah, what, did they let people lie here like nothing ? What kind of leniency was that ! If you stop cutting tongues right and left lies would become prevalent, it would be as barbaric as to not cut the hands of thieves or the ears of those who start tavern brawls. Whatever, the boy seemed afraid, good, this would teach him. But the small brat, probably pushed by the redness of his hair, that was the mark of a bad character told.

-That's not a lie, your servant, a red haired guy with a ratlike face, tried to borrow some money from da guild ! He said you would give it back, you never gave !

Brother Louis answered, while frowning.

-Do not throw accusations at Lord Charles of taking loans. And speak to him with respect.

One thing was certain, Ancel had done something. You knew that Ancel had done something, the crafty bastard, and what guild ? The problem with burghers was that they organised themselves together and thought that they were your equals, but if they were as stupid as to trust Ancel when he asked a loan they were clearly not. You explained then.

>Tell me this story in a more detailed manner, villein child.
>Enough, young child, you shall be given to the castle guard. Since you are young I think that twenty lashes should suffice to teach you manners, I shall not request mutilation against you.
>Can you show us some people of this "Guild" that you speak of, little manant ?
>Throwing accusations, especially false ones, against noblemen, is a grave offense. I should have your tongue removed for that, just like your hand should be for trying to steal from the honest people around. But since I am a generous lord I shall let you go freely.
>Enough Ishall give you to the Guelph sergeants, it will be a wonderful occasion to see them again. (You had unfinished business with them, they lacked respect towards you the last time after all).
>Other (write in).

>>6015796
>>Tell me this story in a more detailed manner, villein child.

Ancel has a good whipping coming his way by the sound of it

>>6015796
>Tell me this story in a more detailed manner, villein child.
In a private place

>>6015796
>Tell me this story in a more detailed manner, villein child.

>>6015796
>Can you show us some people of this "Guild" that you speak of, little manant ?
>Tell me this story in a more detailed manner, villein child.

>>6015796
>Tell me this story in a more detailed manner, villein child.
>Can you show us some people of this "Guild" that you speak of, little manant ?

>>6015796
>Can you show us some people of this "Guild" that you speak of, little manant ?

File: Red Bearded Man.jpg (47 KB, 803x1000)

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>>6015898
Ancel is simply being Ancel. Can we expect him to be honest ?

>>6015920
Indeed.


>>6015971
>>6015983
>>6016003
>>6016401

You ordered the kid to tell you more and brought him to a secluded place. You tossed a coin to the acrobats while leaving the place, ordering the populace not to follow you.

-Tell me the story in a more detailed manner, villein child.

The kid seemed to be a bit lost when you told it and Louis brought him behind you to a back alley, he said.

-M'lord, I.. I don't know exactly, I know that the higher ups in tha guild said dat the rat-like guy...

-He is not called Guy either.

-The man, well, your servant took money from them it was for... Betting on a tournament that you...

Hah ! A tournament ! You held no tournament ! The bastard was lying. Or Ancel had lied, but whatever. You spoke to the kid.

-That is simply not true and..

You then heard Brother Louis clear his throat while saying.

-Monseigneur...

You then looked around and saw that five individuals had approached you. They wore leather and had hoods so you thought about some murderers and wanted to laugh, even if the Indian assassins seemed more skilled than the french ones sending only five on a back alley was an insult. To be sure a man had to send twenty. But now... It seemed that they were not equipped all in black like the other assassin's that you saw, there were greys and browns thrown into the mix of a quite eclectic equipment and they seemed not to have hostile intention. You looked at them, in the middle a man with a red beard, near him a lady with slightly pointed ears, then a Saracen, then a cat man and finally a burly individual who had a scar on his face and a big club on his back. The red haired man bowed his head and told.

-My lord, I think that I can give better explanations.

Before he could introduce himself brother Louis seemed to recognize them and told.

-As Salamaleykum.

And they all recoiled, fearful of this tongue that you did not knew. The man with the red beard told.

-My lord, please, tell your paladin not to curse us...

Brother Louis protested.

-It is not curses, it is arabic, I tried to tell it to the Saracen here but he fled the last time.

-You already saw them brother Louis ?

-Yes, they pursued Ancel with weapons drawn and fled when they saw me.

They all looked at eachother and their red bearded leader began to explain.

-My lord, it is not what it looks like, we had a good reason.

-What reason ?

You snapped back. The man spoke quickly.

-This servant of yours damaged some property belonging to people under the protection of our Guild. Plus he tried to gut me.

You answered neutrally.

-I am sure that he had a good reason.

>>6016427

The man then tried to look at the kid who tried to spell him something but you caught him and got right between them, so that the kid could not tell his guildmaster the story who looked more and more as a brazen lie. Hah, one more burgher plot against the nobility foiled ! The right and proper feudal society should thank you for it. The red bearded man told.

-He had not, I had only engaged a conversation and doubted that, unclean as he was, he was fit to be the servant of a lord.

You answered understandingly.

-Ancel is not very gracious or presentable but he is crafty and smells tracks well.

The red haired man bowed and smiled. Then you told.

-But then, as you can understand my lord. We had a misunderstanding. I am ready to forget this incident with this Ancel of yours if you give us back this young boy who had done nothing wrong.

What ? They insulted Ancel, then tried to steal from you and asked to forget their little thief ? What were they doing. Threatening you ? You looked at them, outraged, and asked.

-Are you expecting ME to bow to your orders ?

They all looked at each other, they were very sure of themselves first but your answer seemed to make them hesitate. The red haired men tried to tell politely.

-My lord, I shall never try to order someone of your high status, but if this high standing of yours is useful in a castle these back alleys can be dangerous.

You put your hand on the top of your sword. And asked.

-Is that a threat ?

They all tensed, the red haired man seemed still to want to avoid violence and told.

-My lord, my lord... I simply mean that you see the poverty of the people here, and you might be inclined to mercy. To keep your honour intact...

What was this wretch saying about your honour. You looked at Brother Louis, he nodded, to be sincere a Templar never refused a fight when the enemy was three times as numerous and here they were only five against two. And even if you weren't in armour you were a knight and a warrior and from what you saw they were not, they were street thugs and a woman. You told him.

-My honour intact ?

-Y.. yes it will be dishonourable to have a small child punished don't you think ? I think that we can get to a profitable agreement.

>>6016429

>I think that we can have an arrangement, I want 200 ducats, or how do they call them, gold coins here, since you tried to arm my servant, and I shall spare the child, I am a most generous man. (Rulership roll)
>I think that you should be hanged for threatening me, but we can be in agreement that running you through with my sword will be more practical. (Combat roll)
>Brother Louis, why should we always kill people when we stroll through an Indian town ? (Combat roll)
>Good sirs, if you want a favor from me you should give me one that is only fair. (Intrigue roll)
>I shall let the kid go. He does not deserve to be punished, but it is only because I am merciful that I will let you a chance to leave quickly before your demands cause my anger.
>Other (write in)

>>6016430
>I think that you should be hanged for threatening me, but we can be in agreement that running you through with my sword will be more practical. (Combat roll)
If you let burghers believe that they can buy their way out of rudeness to the nobility, they will take this lesson to ehart and think wealth and chivalry are equivalent virtues.

Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>6016430
>>I think that we can have an arrangement, I want 200 ducats, or how do they call them, gold coins here, since you tried to arm my servant, and I shall spare the child, I am a most generous man. (Rulership roll)

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>6016430
>I think that we can have an arrangement, I want 200 ducats, or how do they call them, gold coins here, since you tried to arm my servant, and I shall spare the child, I am a most generous man. (Rulership roll)

>>6016430
>>I think that we can have an arrangement, I want 200 ducats, or how do they call them, gold coins here, since you tried to arm my servant, and I shall spare the child, I am a most generous man. (Rulership roll)

Rolled 72 (1d100)

>>6016519

File: It always ends like this.jpg (660 KB, 2500x1764)

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>>6014224
I gave +5 xp here.

>>6016435
I entirely agree, they use words and money because they do not carry the sword. In truth they only deserve the baton.

>>6016467
>>6016499
>>6016519
>>6016522

Unfortunately your rolls are a failure. It happens. You gain +1 mudcore for trying to ask a bribe from a bunch of thieves, it is amusing.

====

You tried to answer sincerely to this individual, expecting a normal compensation.

-I think that we can have an arrangement, I want 200 ducats, or how do they call them, gold coins here, since you tried to arm my servant, and I shall spare the child, I am a most generous man.

The man seemed to not understand you, as if you had lacked respect towards him. He said.

-200 ? Nobody robs people in these back alleys but me ! Get them lads !

So when words failed, swords worked, the slightly pointy eared lass threw a dagger at you and you had only a very short time, honed by years of reflexes, to dodge, before you drew your sword like Brother Louis. The kid fled the scene since your Templar had to release him. You understood that in these moments, when the enemy was more numerous it was best to be the most violent to kill a maximum of people in the shortest amount of time. But who should you kill first. Since at your left the saracen and the woman were closer to Brother Louis you had three choices.

>The red haired man, he is obviously the leader but he is trying to back off and let his men do the work.
>The cat man with a scimitar, his ancestors had not to try to sleep with a cat.
>The burly man with a huge club, he is the biggest one, killing him shall demoralize the rest.

And roll for combat good sirs, please. It seems that violence will solve what words failed to resolve. You have a bonus of +10 by the way.

>>6016586

Your new stats :

Charles de Villeroi

Class : Local Lord
Level : 5
XP : 755+5 = 760 xp (next level at 1000)

Stats

Combat : 51%
Intrigue : 30%
Rulership: 36%

Piety : 77
Mudcore : 64+1 = 65

With 65 Mudcore you have a strong field of gritty realism around you (150 meters), in this field heavy magic will not work and supernatural abilities will not work, oh, and women will lose 4 pounds of strength of course, plus in the field the people that obey you will act more like they would be in a dark fantasy setting. You have chosen Blood of Mud and so your mudcore field will become a bit bigger and stronger but could be transmitted to your children. Magic, even restorative, will become considerably weaker near you. Weak practitionners of magic (less than rank 5) are unable to cast in your mudcore field.
Next level at 70, your field will become 200 meters wide, magical objects will lose their properties in your mudcore field just like potions, crops who came from the columbian exchange will lose their taste and a medieval disease will enter your world.

Talents
-Cavalry Commander : +20 to martial when you have to lead a cavalry charge or a cavalry attack. Works only when commanding shock or melee cavalry mounted on horses.
-Foreign Etiquette : You focus on learning Indian etiquette with Oldfossil, you gain a +10 bonus in intrigue in your interactions with the nobility of your duchy.
->Basic Literacy : Your lessons with Oldfossil and Lady Takable finally paid off and you can read and write, even if you write with errors and move your lips still when you read it is a great leap forward.

Traits :
Leader : Your magnetism on the masses is glorious and your learning of speech could encourage many men to follow you. You may choose the best of 3 rolls when you try to speak in public to convince an audience, be it the Council of Many or angry peasants.

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>6016586
>>The burly man with a huge club, he is the biggest one, killing him shall demoralize the rest.

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>6016586
>>The cat man with a scimitar, his ancestors had not to try to sleep with a cat.

Rolled 33 (1d100)

>>6016587

>>6016586
>>6016828
Oh, and
>The burly man with a huge club, he is the biggest one, killing him shall demoralize the rest.

Rolled 69 (1d100)

>>6016586
>>The burly man with a huge club, he is the biggest one, killing him shall demoralize the rest.

>>6016586
>The red haired man, he is obviously the leader but he is trying to back off and let his men do the work.

>>6016620

>>6016676
One part of me can swear that I saw a 97 disappear... But still, it is not a failure.

>>6016828
>>6016831
>>6017355
>>6017382

This was, honestly, over quite quickly, the cat man tried to jump on you with a scimitar, a quicky weapon, yes but you parried it and slashed at him, he dodged, jumping backwards very far, like a cat. And you ducked under the club of the burly man, you then slashed at his hand, cutting it, and at his torso, slaying him while maintaining the body between you and your two other opponents. Seeing that brother Louis killed the Saracen the three remaining thugs decided to flee, it was probably for the best because a squad of guardsmen, led here by one of the acrobat ladies, the blond one that you watched, was coming. Good, more explanations to give.

You quickly were saluted by the sergeant, a man with a double chin in his thirties who began to explain you.

-My lord, I am sorry to come so late but we were just called by Spineria and I...

You told him.

-Do not worry, my good man, we had the situation well in hand. You then addressed to the pretty guelph girl who had called the troops.

-Yous sollicitude touches me, my sweet lady.

She answered with an enigmatic smile, an answer that automatically calmed you and reminded you of your duties, to the great satisfaction of the brother Templar nearby.

-Thank you, my lord, I would not have wanted to make lady Rose a widow before she was even married.

You answered, quite surprised.

-Y... You know who I am ? And you know lady Rose ?

The acrobat lady with her beautiful deep blue eyes and sweet demeanour, and very few clothes on her despite the fact that we were in winter, nodded.

-Lady Rose Takable described you as "a tall handsome knight with an adorable accent who always gets into the most strange situations". I think that I found you out, and yes, I know her, just as I knew her mother and father, and her grandparents and her great-grandparents. I know the Takables, and most of the noble families of the county since two centuries ago. Who do you think that she learned to dance with such grace and such balance ?

You tried to say something, you ignored what to say, that you were staring at the tits, and legs of someone that your fiancée knew or that you were doing it to someone who was older than your great grandmother. Damned Guelphs. You tried to tell.

-I... I am sorry, she never told me about you...

She smiled lightly, seeing you reddening. And explained.

-It happens, my lord, she has not always told what troupe of acrobats and other performers she liked but I can tell you that we were entertaining her every birthday before her father's death and that horrible baron Crook took over her education. Thank you from riding of of him, from all the performing troupes that were not "Taterell's butchers" or "Tantalia's circle of hell"... Damned Tieflings, they ruined us, we even had to disband our old troupe and travel with some of them for a while...

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>>6017888

You wondered loudly why.

-Why travelling with demons ?

-They are not demons, my lord, but they are terribly annoying and they became far and far more popular in entertainment over elves for a time. I do not know why. It is almost as having a tiefling somewhere is mandatory now... But then I do not understand your human fashion that changes every year, I am a quite young woman, under three hundred, and I cannot understand.

You told her proudly.

-Rest assured that I banned such demons from my lands and that you, and your friends, will always be welcome at Local if you want to perform, I am sure that your... Skills shall distract us as much as the people.

She bowed very gracefully and asked you.

-I shall, and I shall stay out of Pleasantville for a moment, we had to pay protection money to the thieve's guild and now they will probably not appreciate very much the fact that I called the guards to protect you from them...

She lost revenues because of you, while not even knowing you ? And all because she knew Rose when she was a little girl ? It sincerely touched you.

You generally saw poorly the troupes of travelling jugglers, mummers and acrobats but such act of kindness from someone of the people, even if it proved not to be useful, showed that some of them had nobility in their hearth. Maybe her age made her realise that she should act justly even in difficult times. You decided to tell her.

>Dear Spineria, know that I appreciate your kindness and if someone tries threatening you you shall simply ask for me or one of my men while we are there.
>Dear Spineria, know that I appreciate your kindness and if someone tries threatening you you shall simply ask for the city guard, I shall speak to the count and tell of your actions, I am sure that he will understand.
>I do not know if you will perform during the banquet to celebrate the hommage of the new baron but if not I shall talk to count Careless to invite you. I am sure that you will rejoice the guest and the gains shall compensate for your losses for helping me.
>Know that you will be invited in Local when lady Rose and I will marry, I am sure that she would be very happy to see you and all the guests will be glad to see your performances.
>Is it not dangerous, or monotonous to roam the county as a performer for centuries ? How did you came to do this ?
>I must say that your skills amazed me, you must be considered here as a master of your art.
>It is madness that such a small town has an entire guild of cutthroats in it, Paris with it's court of miracles I can understand but here...
>Other (write in)

Choose maximum 3 choices please.

>>6017890
>Dear Spineria, know that I appreciate your kindness and if someone tries threatening you you shall simply ask for me or one of my men while we are there.
Favour repaid
>Know that you will be invited in Local when lady Rose and I will marry, I am sure that she would be very happy to see you and all the guests will be glad to see your performances.
And for Rose

>>6017899
>Dear Spineria, know that I appreciate your kindness and if someone tries threatening you you shall simply ask for me or one of my men while we are there.
>Know that you will be invited in Local when lady Rose and I will marry, I am sure that she would be very happy to see you and all the guests will be glad to see your performances.
>I must say that your skills amazed me, you must be considered here as a master of your art.

>>6017890
>Dear Spineria, know that I appreciate your kindness and if someone tries threatening you you shall simply ask for me or one of my men while we are there.
>Know that you will be invited in Local when lady Rose and I will marry, I am sure that she would be very happy to see you and all the guests will be glad to see your performances.
>I must say that your skills amazed me, you must be considered here as a master of your art.

>>6017890
>Dear Spineria, know that I appreciate your kindness and if someone tries threatening you you shall simply ask for me or one of my men while we are there.
>Know that you will be invited in Local when lady Rose and I will marry, I am sure that she would be very happy to see you and all the guests will be glad to see your performances.
>Is it not dangerous, or monotonous to roam the county as a performer for centuries ? How did you came to do this ?

File: Lady Rose Takable.jpg (69 KB, 564x836)

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>>6017899
>>6018335
>>6018828
>>6018873

You decided to begin with some kind words towards the lady, telling her.

-Dear Spineria, know that I appreciate your kindness and if someone tries threatening you you shall simply ask for me or one of my men to help.

She smiled kindly at you but answered.

-My lord, I do not doubt your eagerness to defend the widow and the orphan, or a poor group of elvish dancers and acrobats but let us be sincere. You will be here for a few days, while I intended to stay for some months. And you will not always be where I am...

You wanted to answer but she reassured you.

-But thank you very much for helping.

Well, it was your time to feel not useful. You still tried to tell her.

-Know that you will be invited in Local when I shall wed Lady Rose. I am sure that she would be very happy to see you and all the guests will be glad to see your performances.

She then smiled kindly and bowed with much grace. It made her breasts more visible but you tried not to watch. It was terrible, those guelves, you slept with a lady probably older than your bloodline once, and she looked not so old (only being 25, that was old for a woman but they were still beautiful at this age).

-Thank you very much my lord, you are too kind.

She had a half smile while saying this and so when you asked her.

-I must say that your skills amazed me, you must be considered here as a master of your art.

She warmed up to you completely, reddening even a small bit and telling.

-I try to master my art, my lord, but I shall still need a millenia to practice it, I want to be the first elf to be able to spin eight times in the air after a jump, I can only manage to do it six times and a half now. I have still a lot to learn.

Six and half, you were not an expert but you saw how guelphs moved here and you understood that they were very light footed people and able to amaze you in many ways. You wished her good luck on it, everyone needed to pass time.

>>6018942

Soon, seeing that you had blood on your doublet, a bad consequence of killing people when dressed for a banquet you decided to go back to the castle. You quickly found here the brave Veryon Careless, son and heir of the count who apologized on his behalf and offered you another doublet, you accepted joyfully, giving your last one to the maids, and told him that it happened even if, in truth you did not expect to be attacked in this small town.
Whatever, now instead of being dressed in red you were in green, not bad, it was very hard to have a good green in France and here it was perfect, the Indians knew their work about dying and clothesmaking, you had to give them that. You looked dashing indeed and when you came downstairs you saw that all the nobility of the place looked dashing too. You saw some of the local nobility, and saluted an old man called Gamergatek, who was the Castellan of the Gates of Pleasantville, he remembered you, you then saw the count, many unknown noblemen and noblewomen but they all paled in your eyes before your sweet lady Rose, you decided to get her. She was splendid in an elegant turquoise dress with golden trims that accentuaded her slim figure. Her full, girlish cheeks, made you want to kiss her right here and now but it would be improper. You never saw her dressed so well, she had a knowing half smile when she saw you and came quickly, her heels sounding on the stone floor. She told you, clueless about your adventures.

-Charles ! I am so glad to see you, I learned that you were in the town. I am sorry I had to stay, I wanted to finish my last touch to this dress, do you like it ?

-Indeed my lady, you look ravishing, as Guinevere about whom Chrestien de Troyes sings.

She smiled, not understanding the reference but knowing that it must be sweet, she said then.

-You have a new doublet to, have you bought it ?

Oh, she was not informed of your altercation in the city. Well, what shall you answer.

>I had a small altercation with bandits that left my red doublet even more red, with blood. Fortunately not mine.
>I saw your dance teacher, Spineria, and invited her to perform at our marriage. She is a charming woman.
>Nothing to worry about my Lady. I just had some unexpected adventures, as always.
>How has been your day my lady, I see that you are as good as sewing dresses as in musical pursuits and embroidery. You are a model of womanly virtues Rose.
>I see new faces here, do you know who all those noblemen are ?
>Other (write in)

>>6018944
>Nothing to worry about my Lady. I just had some unexpected adventures, as always.
And then we can quickly change the subject with
>I saw your dance teacher, Spineria, and invited her to perform at our marriage. She is a charming woman.

>>6018944
>>I had a small altercation with bandits that left my red doublet even more red, with blood. Fortunately not mine.
>>I saw your dance teacher, Spineria, and invited her to perform at our marriage. She is a charming woman.

>>6018944
>>I saw your dance teacher, Spineria, and invited her to perform at our marriage. She is a charming woman.
>>Nothing to worry about my Lady. I just had some unexpected adventures, as always.

>>6018944
>>I had a small altercation with bandits that left my red doublet even more red, with blood. Fortunately not mine.
>>I saw your dance teacher, Spineria, and invited her to perform at our marriage. She is a charming woman.

So what were Cagots really? Just Basque cavemen? European pygmies?

>>6019587
Nobody is actually sure. They were present in France and Spain, formed an underclass or lower caste, but sources offered differing origins and justifications for their status. Their short stature could have been ethnic, or could have been due to childhood malnutrition or poor health, or even just an arristic reflection of their lesser status. They existed in some form in some places as late as the 1950s, byt by that time the distinction seemed to be cultural/eocnomic. These days, they're held to have just been assimilated.

>>6018944
>Nothing to worry about my Lady. I just had some unexpected adventures, as always.
>I saw your dance teacher, Spineria, and invited her to perform at our marriage. She is a charming woman.

File: Five races of France.png (378 KB, 1080x832)

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>>6018951
Habile !

>>6019283
>>6019292
>>6019454

>>6019587
Sincerely, I learned about them some years ago, from a girl who lived near Toulouse that I knew that pretended to have cagot ancestors (she was not deformed and of a normal size). For a Frankish Norman like me knowing that there was a race of small people in France like this seemed like deep lore from a faraway part of the country. I then researched a bit about it and it seems that their origins are still legendary : where they descendants of lepers, of cathars, of Wisigoths practising aryanism ? We still do not know exactly.
Pic related when you wrote about basque cavemen, it reminded me of this meme.

>>6019619

You decided not to worry Rose, she needed to be full of joy and happiness on this day. You simply told.

-Nothing to worry about my Lady. I just had some unexpected adventures, as always.

She looked lightly worried but before she could press on you told her.

-By the way, I saw your dance teacher, Spineria, and invited her to perform at our marriage. She is a most charming woman.

She told you joyfully.

-Really, you saw Spineria, she is very kind yes, she taught me to dance when I was little, and to exercise sometimes, a lady should always look good after all. And thank you for inviting her, I had already done it but I feared about telling you, maybe you would have disapproved since.. she is from the forest elves and they perform on squares quite lightly dressed sometimes. But she can be far more proper if need be.

You seemed surprised.

-Y.. you already invited her.

-Of course, I two days ago and seeing her was one of the first things that I did.

You were astonished.

-And she thanked me.

Rose smiled at you and since you were in an alcove and nobody was watching she kissed you on the cheek. She then took her most sweet face, with huge eyes, and took a mischievous smile that made her adorable.

-My lord Charles, isn't it the role of a good wife to give her husband the impression that he decides about everything while she has already decided it. I wanted to tell you it during the banquet explaining you, but there was no need...

She smiled at you innocently, and you smiled too. What she said was completely true, and the fact that she understood it at 17 years old was terrifying, but maybe good too, it made these explanations not necessary. You remembered your lord father and your mother, and if he truly ruled the house she could convince him of anything. What to say. You answered, clearly amused.

-You have, my dear lady, the genius of intrigue.

And took her small body in your arms, she pressed against you and you decided, after a short moment to kiss her.

>>6019877

Unfortunately it was too quick (but what moment is not too quick when you are with the woman that you love ?) and you had to join the procession of many, many, many persons coming to see the homage in the great hall. Some priests were assembled, some of Monsanto that you recognize with their vines, and some of other, obscure deities that you were not interdested in anyway. You looked at the high nobility of the region, the count was near a chestnut haired man, built like a warrior, with short hair and a huche mustache who was dressed all in red. He looked very proud of himself. Near him, dressed in dark red and black, there was a very pale man with a calm and serene demeanor and jet black hair. You did not see all the other noblemen because at this moment the baron entered.

You looked at this vaulted hall where more than fifty people were present and saw how the new baron to the sound of three silver trumpets, Endoftutoriel entered the hall with his councillors, dressed in white. He knelt before Count Careless who looked like a golden peacock in all his finery, and swore him an oath of allegiance. The count gave him his hands and he took them, it was the immixtio manuum, to show their closeness. It was quite amusing since the Count seemed to not like your new baron very much.
Then there was the osculum, the kiss of peace, and they kissed together. Then Count Hapyon gave some dirt to the new baron, representing his new fief and it was done. People cheered and you knew that it would be your time to swear.

It was at this moment that a very thin and tall man with pale skin and small vicious eyes, dressed in a doublet adorned with black fur bowed and asked you a question. You recognized him as Backstabber Mac Traitor, a sympathethic scostman who was the count's chancellor. He had no accent and was in general a well mannered fellow. He told you and Rose.

-Lady Takable, Lord de Villeroi, it is a pleasure to see you here. As you know, you will have to swear allegiance to baron Endoftutoriel of the house of Dobii, your new baron. But on what holy relics do you want to swear ?

Oh, that was a true question, you were a pious man and would have wanted to swear on the Holy Bible but it was in Local, you remembered that you had sworn on the relics of some Monsanto pagan to the old baron. Technically swearing on pagan things would make the oath not valid, but still. You asked.

-Tell me good sir, what relics are there, I am not from the region.

He nodded, showing you some different priests.

-We have assembled five different relics, first those of Monsanto, we have here a part of the toe of the halfling Queeny, who is said to have first compiled the holy texts of the goddess.

>>6019878

He then showed a fat priest in red and gold robes.

-Then we have a priest of Happymil, the favourite deity of our count, the spirit of the innkeepers and chefs who brings great management practices and joy to millions of families across the Empire, we have here a part of the hair of the great prophet Ronald Mac Donald, who spoke their words.

What ? Another scotsman and an apostate ! You heard about the MacDonald clan, they were a powerful highland family but to know that one of these knaves had gone to India to serve some pagan spirit, what a shame ! You made sign to the other scotsman to continue, you should ask him one day about the importance of scottish immigration to India there seemed to be a lot of them there, some normally sized, some smaller than the average. Whatever, Backstabber showed you a saracen in grey and silver robes and a cowl, holding a sword.

-We have here the sword of Brightpure Bravetrue, paladin of Edos, held by priests of the temple of Edos, God of Justice, in our small town.

He then showed you a beautiful brown haired woman dressed in all white with a cowl and a kind of sun and lightning embroidered on it, she was carrying a golden disk.

-Our priestess of the Fey Eleck-Tricity, goddess of light holds the tablets of EdeefFacture. A most costly relic.

Finally he showed you a powerfully built half man half bird with an eagle head, it was very disturbing to see, but he was dressed in ornate orange robes. It seemed evil, orange had the worst aspects of yellow, that was a false gold, and red that symbolized violence. Backstabber told.

-Then we have packages belonging to Bezos, the god of Trade and transportation.

Hah, a god for burghers, just like this inkeeper god, all burgher gods. You wondered on what to swear. Lady Takable, being quicker and more accustomed to the region told.

-I shall swear on the relics of the goddess of light.

The chancellor nodded, and looked at you. What do you say ?

>"We have no Bible but my brother Louis is a monk, as a Templar, and so I can swear on his monk cross, even if it is not a relic I would nevere defile it.", let us try to make Christianity acceptable here
>"I shall swear on the relics of the goddess of light too", trust Rose on this matter
>"I shall swear on the relics of this Bezos", it seems to be the most worthless idol of all since transportation is so bad in India.
>"I shall swear to respect my oath on this paladin's sword", since you killed pagan warriors of Edos it could be funny.
>"I shall swear on the relics of Monsanto", since you killed priests of this idol and transformed her temple into a church it would be amusing
>"I shall swear on this Happymil relics, eating well is important especially before a banquet", and it would maybe please the baron too.
>Other (write in)

>>6019877
Kek, solid info there
Aren't Basque legitimately descended from Western Hunter Gatherers (WHG) more than most Europeans according to genetics? It just adds up.

>>6019879
>>"We have no Bible but my brother Louis is a monk, as a Templar, and so I can swear on his monk cross, even if it is not a relic I would nevere defile it.", let us try to make Christianity acceptable here
Never do as the pagans

>>6019879
>"We have no Bible but my brother Louis is a monk, as a Templar, and so I can swear on his monk cross, even if it is not a relic I would never defile it.", let us try to make Christianity acceptable here

>>6019935
Y-haplotype and mtDNA sequencing currently suggests they're pretty much typical Europeans, albeit more closely tied to early Neolithic farmers (distinct as of 3500-5500 year old population, long after the early hunter-gatherer groups were supplanted) than most of their contemporaries... Well, prior to just being absorbed into the general population. Now, whatever Cagots still exist are just regular old Europeans.

>>6019935
*basques and whatever Cagots still exist

>>6019879
>>"We have no Bible but my brother Louis is a monk, as a Templar, and so I can swear on his monk cross, even if it is not a relic I would nevere defile it.", let us try to make Christianity acceptable here

>>6019879
>>"We have no Bible but my brother Louis is a monk, as a Templar, and so I can swear on his monk cross, even if it is not a relic I would nevere defile it.", let us try to make Christianity acceptable here

>>6019879
>"We have no Bible but my brother Louis is a monk, as a Templar, and so I can swear on his monk cross, even if it is not a relic I would nevere defile it.", let us try to make Christianity acceptable here

>>6019879
>"I shall swear on the relics of this Bezos", it seems to be the most worthless idol of all since transportation is so bad in India.
I don’t want to insult the cross for when we eventually betray the E*f

File: Jean Lassalle.jpg (118 KB, 1200x1200)

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>>6019935
>>6020076
I think that the basques are (somewhat) human looking, Cagots had many deformations caused by inbreeding. If you look at basques they have some "basque phenotype" just like us Normans have a "norman phenotype" but in truth they are not very far away from the other peoples of the region if you exclude the language. Then I am not an expert in genetics so I shall believe you on the subject of Neolithic Farmers.
Here is a pic of Jean Lassalle, a powerful Basque politician and a French presidential candidate, I think that he is the only guy who has the charisma to be the King of France today. As you can see he looks like a human being but with a quite particular "gueule". I shall use his face in the quest I think, when we will need someone to figure an ogre or a giant.

>>6020073
>>6020394
The duality of Man.

>>6020369
>>6020108
>>6020101

You decided to ask the man.

-We have no Bible but my brother Louis is a monk, as a Templar, and so I can swear on his monk cross, even if it is not a relic I would nevere defile it. I am a pious man but I prefer to swear on a relic of my faith, as a sign of goodwill.

The man seemed to be quite disturbed by this. And told you.

-I will have to have the agreement of the count and of the baron. But if you let me a minute I shall do it.

He said this and left, you hopped that this Backstabber MacTraitor was a thrustworthy man to do your bidding but you never had to doubt the honor of any normal sized scotsman before, and a people who fought englishmen could not be evil. You profited of the moment to see how the count began a short speech, he had a bellowing voice deep and strong and it easilly filled the vaulted hall. Count Careless spoke shortly.

-And let this vasselage bring a new era of prosperity to the Someplace Baronny, and a new alliance between the crown of Bifuria and the County of Pleasantville. Let us raise our cups and drink to this. Before the nobility of the baronny shall swear allegiance. Then we will take the control of the castle of Someplace.

Some servant brought some excellent red wine that reminded you of a Bordeaux and even if you preferred burgundian viticulture you had to admit that it was good. You then decided to wait until the first vassal, by order of importance, the Neutral Lord, swore allegiance, he did it quickly on the relics of this MacDonald scotsman and without showing his displeasure. Then came the Rival Lord, the powerfully build man choose to swear on the paladin's sword, then came lady Sue, and the Osculum was strangely longer than with the others. Well, you would have kissed her on the mouth longer too if you were her liege lord, and if you weren't in love with another woman. You noted that lady Sue looked ravishing in a blue dress, she really should stop wearing manly clothes.

File: Baron Endoftutoriel, your(...).jpg (63 KB, 828x1093)

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>>6020735

You then smiled when she almost stumbled in the dress, not accustomed to wear it, to the discreet but great amusement of your sweet lady Rose. But the baron took her and helped her to get to her feet. Then it was your turn. Fortunately you saw that Brother Louis was here, to the great displeasure of the other priests who protested but a word from the count calmed them. You then advanced, your head held high, towards the elegant Guelph who looked very regal in his manners but was still dressed in a king of strange robe that was not cut according to the French habit and as such looked ridiculous to your eyes. Your new baron, while you knelt, told you.

-Lord Charles de Villeroi, do you want to become my man without reserve and serve me with loyalty, give me counsel when I ask for it and fulfill your service of host for forty days of the year if it is necessary or more if I have to defend my domain ?

-I want it.

He then took your hands in his and asked.

--Will you serve me loyally.

You answered in a clear voice, not having plans to betray him for the moment. Call yourself naive or not but even if the man was a lombard you were a man who took his oaths seriously, they were the cement of a right and proper feudal society.

-I will.

Then came the Osculum, the kiss of peace. Of course this would be preferable with a woman liege lord but the fact that your baron had a very smooth skin, like the one of the guelph's merchant's daughter that you had slept with was a bit disgusting. Soft skins belonged to beautiful young women like your Rose. This was probably a symbol of a lack of manliness and of a treacherous nature, or a simple consequence of Italian blood, that meant more or less the same.

Then the guelph witch that you saw before, Cristmasel, advanced with a strange relic, an amulet in the form of a leaf. You were shocked, a witch ! In a holy ceremony ! Woe to all of those who did this ! This is not a joke this is satanry ! But you remained calm while she asked.

-Baron Endoftutoriel of the House of Dobii, do you swear, on the leaf of Canad-Athread that your ancestors received from the old kings of the forest, that you will be a just lord, and give justice and protection to your vassal ?

-I swear it on the leaf of Canad-Athread.

A leaf, a fucking leaf and a witch to swear. What a scandal ! (I am, dear readers, sorry to translate with such crudeness the thoughts of Charles, but they were such. I ask the women and children who could see this to not read it, or even better if they are children, to not learn to read, nothing good comes out of reading. Let the priests read the Bible for you and minstrels tell you the chansons de geste that you like) And bards that shall repeat it to forget the word.

>>6020737

Whatever, the old baron had at least the decency to swear on the bone of some dead dragon. It was the turn of Brother Louis to come, he was dressed in his white tunic with a cross and you nodded that the lucky man did not even had one spot of blood on it even after killing a saracen, he was really lucky this Louis de Pierredargent. He told you, while brandishing a crucifix.

-My lord, Charles de Villeroi, do you swear on our Lord Jesus Christ and our Holy Church and on this Cross, that represents the Cross where He was crucified, that you will be a loyal vassal, and to keep against all your loyalty with good faith and no treachery ?

You answered sincerely.

-I swear it on this Cross, and on my Faith.

Then the baron came back. He said in his more tenor voice compared to the barking of Brother Louis.

-Then let it be known that you will be the Lord of Local, you will hold the fief in my name, I will protect you against any menace and you will serve in my host if I call you. If you betray me I will take back the land but if you serve me loyally I will provide you justice.

The baron gave you a stick to represent the fief and you were now his vassal, his loyal man. Good. You rose and saw how the bastard "lord" if you could call this upjumped commoner a lord, Creepy Bitchson swore fealty.

Last but not least came Rose, she was impressive in her turquoise dress and regal in her manners, she truly embodied, at a very young age, what a noblewoman should be. If we excluded her rather original pastimes at least. She advanced towards the baron, repeating the formulas and then swore allegiance, her high pitched voice resonated when she swore on this light fey and then when the Osculum came you were unhappy that the guelph took his time. But what was done was done and she was quickly at your side. Count Careless then ordered to begin the banquet and you joyfully were all seated at the main table since the nobility of the barony of someplace were honoured guests on this day. And, happily, since the placement of guests was by importance at the left, then the right of the Count, you ended right between the Neutral Lord and Rose, far away from the most important people, the other "far" side of the table was composed of the Rival Lord, lady Sue and the lord of Darkplace.

>>6020739

This was quite amusing, and even poetic, the two political blocs had their wildcards, lady Sue and the Neutral Lord since you had stopped following him, but they were, by necessity the two blocks of power of the barony. You wondered who the new baron would advantage more. After a short speech by the Count that he will send guardsman with the guelph royal troops to take possession of the Castle Someplace for his vassal the first course of the banquet was served. Since you had more or less provoked the Neutral Lord maybe it was now the time to mend the bridges with him, he was if something, highly pragmatic and understood that you needed to be allies. On the other side you could let him try to do the first step.

>Try to start a conversation with the Neutral Lord about the future of the Barony.
>Drink some wine and stay silent, trying to listen to what the Count and the Baron are talking about. (intrigue roll with a bonus but a roll still because they are quite far away).
>Whisper some compliment to Rose about her dress, compare her beauty to Eleanor of Aquitaine.
>Other (write in)

>>6020735
He looks like a troll
>>6020740
>Try to start a conversation with the Neutral Lord about the future of the Barony.
Nothing too fancy, just spark up a simple conversation about something else then slowly get into it
Also
>Whisper some compliment to Rose about her dress, compare her beauty to Eleanor of Aquitaine.
When we can.

Also, how much longer until we can marry Rose?

>>6020766
+1
I also want to know when we can marry our lovely Rose.

>>6020740
>>Try to start a conversation with the Neutral Lord about the future of the Barony.

>>6020766
+1

>>6020766
+1.

Don't suck up to him, though. Make it clear we have big plans, and we will be a big player in the new order. Encourage him that he should follow our lead, and things will fall into place for loyal friends. Be vague, and mysterious, but certain. With Christ our Lord on our side, it is surely true!

>>6020740

>>6020766
Normally two or three months before marriage.

>>6020943
>>6020956
>>6021464
>>6021509

Of course, let us simply open the négociations.

====

Good Sirs, by the way, I have a question. From the country that I am in, 4 chan is blocked, I need a VPN, I have one and I can use it (I have the 4chan pass) but it is blocked or broken now and I have a lot of trouble to find a new one. It is the reason of my lack of update yesterday, everything is written but I need a VPN to stop phone posting. Do you know a good one, preferably a free one. Thanks in advance dear Bannermen. Consider it as a convocation to the host of your local lord and your 40 days of yearly military service.

===
You tried to start a conversation with the Neutral Lord, trying to be kind and polite.

-Our count has never lost his sense of hospitality.

-Indeed, lord Charles, indeed.

-And maybe I shall give you my hospitality too, when I will marry Rose I would be glad to have you at the ceremony.

He raised an eyebrow, understanding that it was a peace offer of some sorts, he answered even before.

-Yes, and you shall be welcome too, I fear that there would be no pegasuses on the return and that you would be better to stop at my castle. Not on my secondary fortress but at the Neutral Castle itself. We will have many things to talk about.

You nodded, glad that he was so comprehensive, but then it was not something strange, he was a very comprehensive man. He tried to do the best with whatever he had. And you tried too, thinking about the Local politics you had a theory. Supposing that the new baron will be wary of the followers of the old one you will be advantaged. Unfortunately he seemed not to trust you completely because of your difficult relationship with some guelphs and lord Neutral because he was the other candidate to the baronial throne. So only lady Sue and lady Takable, the last one being your wife remained as potential most trustworthy vassals. But since Rose would marry you the Baron will have to offer something to gain her loyalty, and yours by the same occasion : the lands of her father ! Then you shall be the most important vassal in the barony, and the most loyal too, of course. This thought made you full of joy, but still, you wanted to keep the alliance with the neutral lord, not wanting to speculate about the new ruler.
Still, the rest of the conversation with the Neutral Lord was not about politics, he was too careful, or fearful, to speak when other people were nearby, so you decided to turn towards your lady.

-Lady Rose, I wanted to tell you once more that your beauty eclipses all the others in this room and reminds us of Aliénor d'Aquitaine.

>>6022145

She seemed pleased but asked you.

-And who was this Aliénor ?

-The duchess of Aquitaine, the most beautiful woman of the last, and our century, according to the troubadours. She was queen of France, then of England since both the kings wanted to marry her.

It was a very short version of the story but she got the general idea. She then, while you cut her meat as any polite man, since normally the man at her right should do it but she was at the end of the table, tried to explain you.

-For our wedding. I heard what you told to lord Swiss Neutralsson, how do you want to organize it ? I will be eighteen in three months.

You told her.

-Definitely after winter, if we want someone to come, and have a good weather. We should do it next spring.

-Yes, of course, it is necessary, but I thought, how to organize it ?

You then thought, it was a true question, should you do it in a grandiose feast or something smaller. If it is too small people will laugh, noblemen should uphold their rank, then of course a too huge feast and you will have to borrow money. It happens. Fortunately this was the privilege of aristocraty, those wo are born and who spill their blood have a natural right to live very well with other people's money. You could always borrow money to some jews or lombards and then remember that they are jews or lombards and expel them from your lands. With an Italian at the head of the barony expelling the lombards could be hard though, so you will have to expel the jews. Or maybe the small bearded scotsmen ? You never hated them but they were very annoying... No, one of your servants who was a short scotsman saved your life, and Orin and Florin, your deceased guardsmen were from their people too, no expulsion for them, you were an honourable man, you never expelled people who did not deserve it. So your answer was.

>We will try to keep it quiet, a small banquet for about sixty or seventy people
>I want a normal sized wedding with maybe one hundred or more guests of their nobility.
>I want a great feast with 200 guests, and a tournament, at least the Inn at Local will be useful for something. And we shall give the most beautiful wedding for the most beautiful woman in the realm !
>I think that we shall wait to know if your lands will be returned before organizing the feast. The tax revenues of these lands will change our finances drastically.
>Other (write in)

Whatever was your answer the sweet lady Rose asked you.

-Yes, and as for the guests, who shall we invite, because you tell numbers but we shall know...

-First all the Someplace Nobility, even if we dislike some of them it is our duty to invite them.

She nodded.

-Of course, it makes us the Baron, five councilors, the Neutral Lord, his two brothers, his wife, his son, his daughter, three councilors, the Rival Lord his wife, his sister, his two sons and his daughter, Lady Sue, unsurprisingly unmarried, and three councilors, the lord of Darkplace...

>>6022147

You almost choked on your meat.

-This upjumped commoner ! No ! Only proper noblemen shall be allowed in our halls. If we allow this what we will do next ? Sell places to some merchants to attend a lordly wedding ? Sit here surrounded by sons of butchers or daughters of shoemakers...

She seemed to find you very amusing in your righteous outrage.

-Charles, he is still a nobleman of the region even if his ancestors were not... And it will be impolite to not invite him, even if I dislike him as much as you.

-But my lady, he tried to murder me twice !

The Neutral Lord turned his bearded head towards you, as if to signify you to speak softly. You looked at him, what could you say, you raised your shoulders. Then, as to try to inflect on your decision your soft Rose took your hand and whispered softly into your ear.

Her breath smelt of tasty wine and her hair of strawberries, and her voice was so soft, the voice is an important part in a woman and you could not marry a woman who would speak like a cart driver. Rose had a soprano voice, sometimes girlish and high pitched but very cute, and she knew how to whisper sweetly. She then told.

-Do not worry my love, when in our castle I will be doing the murdering and I will not need to do it twice. Take it as a marriage present.

You opened your eyes greatly and looked at her, she looked at you with her big blue innocent eyes that made you think of ponds where you could drown yourself. But even before this vision of sweetness you were categorical. First marriage was a sacred ceremony, no murders in it, secondly murders were the instrument of weak people. Who sent assassins or used poison when you could simply duel them and bash their head with a warmace or an axe to prove your superiority ? And secondly if your lady was terrifying the lord of Darkplace was terribly dangerous, lead a school of assassins and was the spymaster of baron crook. She would not be up to the task. So you took your authoritarian tone, a firm but just tone, not too harsh as not to make the girl afraid, the tone that you took with your little sister. And you told.

-No, there will be no such things during our marriage. Because there will not be commoners or other scum allowed in. No vulgarity of any sort.

Seeing your tone she smiled and looked at you with adoring eyes. Saying.

-Charles, you are really a knight in shining armor from a story. Never change please.

-Why changing what is good ?

You answered in a witty remark. But then Rose asked.

-So we have 25 people, plus Becky, your Brother Louis, Father François, Godefroi, Oldfossil, Captain Crumbling and Bohémond. So 32 people. We need 30 more to not appear indigent. Of course we will need to invite our count Careless. And his sons Veryon and Isnott, plus the councillors and knights of their escort.

>>6022148

You then asked.

-Do you count Sir Up of Maple in ? He was always a jolly fellow.

-Yes, of course, he is always near the count. But even with all this people it will be 12 people more, so we have 44 people.

You thought a bit.

>Don't you have some friends from the nearby nobility that you would want to invite ?
>I met the sister of the Red Baron, lady Scarlet Red, we could invite him and her brother, not forgetting her husband. She is a most charming woman.
>I met once the old Gamergatek Iper, lord of Eljies and Castellan of the Gates of Pleasantville, and his uncle Lord Grognargatek of the Gammer Gates, a funny old man. We could invite them and their close family.
>I once met lord Ulrich Notalich, representant of the baron Notavant Pyre in Pleasantville, we could invite him. And maybe his liege lord and their family.
>We have neighbours on the other side of the plains, the rulers of Podunk, I do not remember who they are but I think that we should invite them, it is a question of principle.
>Maybe a new lord will be named for the lands belonging to Lord Hostil during the winter, it will make for new guests.
>We have a room full of important nobles, I think that we shall meet some of them and if some are sympathetic we could invite them.
>Other (write in)

>>6022147
>I want a normal sized wedding with maybe one hundred or more guests of their nobility.
>I think that we shall wait to know if your lands will be returned before organizing the feast. The tax revenues of these lands will change our finances drastically.
Don’t tell her the second part though. If we get her lands back then we can easily go for bigger without needing loans but if we don’t then nothing changes since we were always going for a normal sized wedding (according to her knowledge).
>>6022149
>Don't you have some friends from the nearby nobility that you would want to invite ?
She may know some people
but otherwise
>I met the sister of the Red Baron, lady Scarlet Red, we could invite him and her brother, not forgetting her husband. She is a most charming woman.
>I met once the old Gamergatek Iper, lord of Eljies and Castellan of the Gates of Pleasantville, and his uncle Lord Grognargatek of the Gammer Gates, a funny old man. We could invite them and their close family.
>I once met lord Ulrich Notalich, representant of the baron Notavant Pyre in Pleasantville, we could invite him. And maybe his liege lord and their family.
Just go from top to bottom until we fill out the roster but also:
>Maybe a new lord will be named for the lands belonging to Lord Hostil during the winter, it will make for new guests.
Since it would be rude not to

>>6022147
>I want a great feast with 200 guests, and a tournament, at least the Inn at Local will be useful for something. And we shall give the most beautiful wedding for the most beautiful woman in the realm !
Everything and anything for love! Always!

>>6022149
>We have a room full of important nobles, I think that we shall meet some of them and if some are sympathetic we could invite them.
>I met the sister of the Red Baron, lady Scarlet Red, we could invite him and her brother, not forgetting her husband. She is a most charming woman.
>I met once the old Gamergatek Iper, lord of Eljies and Castellan of the Gates of Pleasantville, and his uncle Lord Grognargatek of the Gammer Gates, a funny old man. We could invite them and their close family.
>I once met lord Ulrich Notalich, representant of the baron Notavant Pyre in Pleasantville, we could invite him. And maybe his liege lord and their family.

>>6022265 is right, about the order of operations here.

>>6022147
>I want a great feast with 200 guests, and a tournament, at least the Inn at Local will be useful for something. And we shall give the most beautiful wedding for the most beautiful woman in the realm !

>>6022149
>Don't you have some friends from the nearby nobility that you would want to invite ?
>I met the sister of the Red Baron, lady Scarlet Red, we could invite him and her brother, not forgetting her husband. She is a most charming woman.
>I once met lord Ulrich Notalich, representant of the baron Notavant Pyre in Pleasantville, we could invite him. And maybe his liege lord and their family.
>We have neighbours on the other side of the plains, the rulers of Podunk, I do not remember who they are but I think that we should invite them, it is a question of principle.
>We have a room full of important nobles, I think that we shall meet some of them and if some are sympathetic we could invite them.

>>6022147
>I want a great feast with 200 guests, and a tournament, at least the Inn at Local will be useful for something. And we shall give the most beautiful wedding for the most beautiful woman in the realm !

>>6022149
>Don't you have some friends from the nearby nobility that you would want to invite ?
>I met the sister of the Red Baron, lady Scarlet Red, we could invite him and her brother, not forgetting her husband. She is a most charming woman.
>We have neighbours on the other side of the plains, the rulers of Podunk, I do not remember who they are but I think that we should invite them, it is a question of principle.
>Maybe a new lord will be named for the lands belonging to Lord Hostil during the winter, it will make for new guests.
>We have a room full of important nobles, I think that we shall meet some of them and if some are sympathetic we could invite them.

>>6022147
>I want a normal sized wedding with maybe one hundred or more guests of their nobility.

>>6022149
>Don't you have some friends from the nearby nobility that you would want to invite ?
>I met the sister of the Red Baron, lady Scarlet Red, we could invite him and her brother, not forgetting her husband. She is a most charming woman.
>I met once the old Gamergatek Iper, lord of Eljies and Castellan of the Gates of Pleasantville, and his uncle Lord Grognargatek of the Gammer Gates, a funny old man. We could invite them and their close family.
>I once met lord Ulrich Notalich, representant of the baron Notavant Pyre in Pleasantville, we could invite him. And maybe his liege lord and their family.
>We have neighbours on the other side of the plains, the rulers of Podunk, I do not remember who they are but I think that we should invite them, it is a question of principle.

>>6022265
Habile and even if the people decided to live like true lords you have a great knowledge in economy.

Since I am still in a terrible battle with my computer over connection I am not able to post much. But I have answered, good sirs. Phone posting is better than no posting. But it is as horrible as going into battle on foot.

>>6022309
This is spoken like a true knight. And since you voted for 200 people you shall need to invite everyone anyway.

>>6022565
>>6022676
>>6023011

You decided to tell your beloved.

-We shall do things in great, a marriage is for life my lady and for the sake of love I shall offer you the most beautiful one in the realm. 200 guests and a tournament, of course.

She was impressed, her face brightened up when you said this and she told "Oh Charles you are greatness incarnate". Well, of course, you were French. Hai hai ! Then you needed guests, so you told that you will have to invite everyone. You told her to invite the Red Baron and his family and vassals, Gamergatek and Grognagatek and even the old Ulrich Notalich. Absolutely everyone. But before you asked her of course.

-Don't you have some friends from the nearby nobility that you would want to invite ?

She tried to remember and told.

-Charles, I had to grow up in an isolated tower... But before my father died we sometimes visited family, I have an uncle and an aunt. But I haven't seen them in ten years... And several cousins.

You were genuinely interested.

-You have cousins ?

-Yes, and your dear Oldfossil has cousins, and Becky too...

-Yes, yes I understand but I meant, where do they live ?

-My aunt married a nobleman from the Northern March while my uncle serves as a knight in Tradnod, the capital of our regional duchess. He has quite a few children.

Interesting to know, so you will have some cousins in law here, and since you had to give back her locket to the duchess you will have a good occasion to meet them. You wondered what to do next. You looked at some jugglers, apparently not those of the merry girls of Spineria, but they were good. And you looked at a jester doing acrobatics and fart noises. It made you smile but since there were ladies the wise count Careless asked.

-My dear Red Dit, could you tell us some jokes ?

The jester with it's hat full of bells agreed and told.

-Yes, I shall tell you a story since the castellan of the gates is here.

>>6023746

He cleared his throat and began to tell his tale.

-A young man was made a border guard, who was charged with search and seizure of illegal trade coming across the border. Anything of value had heavy tariffs, so the guard had to be wary of smugglers. On this new captains first day, a man approached to cross, who had a horse drawn cart with a mountainous pile of hay. The guard searched every straw, but fond only hay. The cartman gladly payed a paltry fee and went on. The next day came and the man with the horse and cart arrived again with a mountainous pile of hay. The guard thought, "He thinks because yesterday I searched and found nothing, that today I will not search." So he searched through every straw, and found nothing but hay. Again, the cartman gladly paid and continued on. The guard met the cartman again, same as the day before. He thought "I know that the day I don't search his cart is the day he will have smuggled something." And so the guard searched every straw, and found only hay. This continued for week, week became years, years became decades. Finally, the guard grew ill, and on his death bed called the cartman to him. The guard swore on his honor and soul, he would not tell another, but he had to know, was it only hay this entire time? The cartman confessed that it was more than hay, for every day he had driven a different horse across.

It made the audience chuckle a bit and then he juggled with some taumatoes and ate them, it was messy, a true explosion of red. It made the count laugh, you decided to eat some of these Pautatoes and Taumataux, too since they served some and it tasted awful, you did well to not have them in your lordship, they died easily and were awful, even the pigs should not want it. Then a minstrel began singing with a lute something about love and a city, as if burghers were interesting. But the ladies seemed to enjoy it so you acted as if you liked it.

You had finished the first service of fruits and the second of "rôts" or roasted meat, then the third one with a huge choice of poultry was delicious, you were helping lady Takable cutting her swan with your dagger when Godefroi told you, from one of the secondary tables, screaming over the people who screamed like it.

-Monseigneur, look what we found, they have giant birds here, as big as a boar !

>>6023748

He showed you a part of a gigantic bird and cut a piece with his dagger, throwing it to you on the other side of the hall. If the man was a good swordsman his aim with poultry was maybe not so good because he almost touched the Neutral lord who looked terrified, fortunately, swift as wind you caught the poultry mid air and bite into it. It was indeed very good, as a big chicken. You proposed some to lady Takable who was chuckling after this and she refused, then to the Neutral lord who looked not too keen on it. Well, if they do not know what is good. You remarked that your men and you ate with appetite, while the rest of the population if you excluded the count and his son Veryon were not as prolific. It was probably why these people liked burgher so much, they loved to save money, even on food, live poorly and to not have strenghth to exercise. The guelphs were the worst, they ate almost only greenery. How could you trust someone who would not eat meat ? Look at the saracens and the jews, they did not eat pork and were already heretics, imagine not hating beef and mutton too, it was an ill omen. You then listened to the guelph witch singing, very well, a love song in a foreign language. You decided to liven up the banquet before reciting some poetry with a conversation concerning more than banalities or your lady Rose's particularly witty commentary on how lady Sue looked in her dress.

>Ask lady Rose if one of her cousins was a boy of 12 to 14 years of age, you needed a squire and what is better than family in this case ?
>Ask the Neutral Lord why did the Indians ate so little.
>Try to reach for someone else on another table. (who ?)
>Try to reach someone on the lordly table. (who ?)
>Other (write in)

>>6023749
>Ask the Neutral Lord why did the Indians ate so little.
>Try to reach someone on the lordly table (a Guelph, to ask the nature of their dietary restrictions)

>>6023746
Phone posting this much is probably about one of the worst things you can suffer through, proud of you QM!
>>6023749
>Ask lady Rose if one of her cousins was a boy of 12 to 14 years of age, you needed a squire and what is better than family in this case ?
>Ask the Neutral Lord why did the Indians ate so little.
A squire would be nice but I would prefer if it was another noblemen’s child to build relations.

>>6023749
>>Ask lady Rose if one of her cousins was a boy of 12 to 14 years of age, you needed a squire and what is better than family in this case ?
>>Ask the Neutral Lord why did the Indians ate so little.

>>6023762

>>6023851
Yes, especially since I cannot give funny names to the pictures or even post them. But still, I updated it.
And about a squire it depends already on whom should we try to build relations with.

>>6024096

You asked Rose, during the banquet.

-Tell me, my sweet Rose, is one of your cousins a young boy of 12 to 14 years of age. I will need a squire and I think that I could teach him chivalry. It would be a good idea to get closer to your family again.

She seemed really joyful at this idea, supporting it completely, she even told.

-Charles, if I had to decide you would educate all the young men in the land, there is no more true knights like you. Of course, I shall write them. I think that my cousin Billy..

-Billy ?

-William.

-Ah, Guillaume.

She looked at you, raising an eyebrow, telling.

-Yes, I remember that he was only two years old when my father died, he must be twelve now. But I haven't seen him in a long time. But whatever, I shall be happy to see my aunt and uncle again.

You were happy about it and after some encouraging words you turned towards your other neighbor, while finishing your third pheasant.

-Tell me, monseigneur Neutralsson, tell me... Why do I have the impression that nobody eats very much here. Look...

The lord answered, in a half ironic tone.

-Don't you have the impression, my lord de Villeroi, that you and your companions, have a tremendous appetite ?

-Why ? I am only eating my third pheasant. You did not even finish one.

-Because people do not eat three pheasants after having eaten so much boar before, and soup before that, and I do not know how many fruits. People do not want to die of gout.

-Gout ? My grandfather died of gout... But you need some strenght to exercise, look at our count and his son, they eat normally and with appetite. And this small cagot court witch she eats too even if she is half my size.µ

-She is a halfling, and our count and his line are reputed for their tremendous appetite. µ

-So you call tremendous "normal".

-You almost ate half your weight !

-It is surely an exageration monseigneur.

>>6024995

It was true, nobody was able to eat half his weight but you had the normal appetite of a nobleman that the Indians had forgotten. You supposed that it was a fasting time or something like this but no, they were really unable to eat normally. It is very sad. You had to eat well in banquets when there was no fasts because of all the days of fasting and the days where you were in campaign and cut off from supplies. But yet, you decided to drink more wine and to continue the banquet, understanding that finally and very sadly you would probably not be able to tell your horrible translation of the chanson about Saint Enimie. So you had time, and what is the better way to pass time than to invite your lady to dance when some musicians proposed it.

Oh and dance she did, when, after seeing the teacher you saw the pupil and it seemed that Spineria had taught her all the proper courtly dances very well. Rose was grace incarnate. She spun around while dancing the estampie and seemed to do as one with the rhythm of the music. Her dress and her grace made you think that she was flying and not simply dancing. You felt even a bit ashamed, of course you knew how to dance as any gentleman, but you were never very good at it. You were amazed too that the locals in faraway India knew French dances like the Estampie, one more proof that France is the center of the Christendom and so the center of all culture in the world. Who could compete after all ? Divided and half barbaric Germans ? Spaniards half invaded by moors ? Squabbling Italians who were Lombards for the most part ? Or the Englishmen whose noblemen, as any normal and intelligent person, spoke French. But still, despite this cultural prowess you vowed to yourself to dance better the next time.
You complimented Rose greatly on her dancing and she became all red, thanking you and telling you that it was nothing. You insisted.

-My lady, I must insist but you are as much as skilled dancer as you are an harpist.. and I fear that my pitiful talents do not honour you.

She had a small and kind girlish laugh and took your hands.

-Charles it is not so important. You have slayed a dragon to save me and have managed to avenge my family and free me from years of captivity. I will allow you to not be the best in these arts. And you are too harsh with yourself, you have a good posture and precise gestures, probably from all your battle training, you simply need to practice.

What to answer, she was really kind as an angel. So you told.

-Then let us practise now.

>>6024996

You then danced once more, and continued, she even tried to teach you some strange indian dances with strange names. She seemed happy to finally be in a banquet with people that liked her and did not mock or berate her and so enjoyed herself a lot. After some time since you were tired and the custom wanted not to dance with only one person (it would be rude for the other ladies in the room) you let her dance with Sir Up of Maple (you saw Isnott trying to get the courage to invite her but he seemed to not have gathered it yet) and you decided to invite someone else. But before you could choose amongst the many ladies you were hailed by Godefroi and an old man, Grognargatek ! Hah, you decided to come again towards them to discuss.

You saw that they were six men in a deep discussion. First there was Grognargatek lord of the Gammer Gates and his nephew Gamergatek Iper, lord of the lands of Eljies and castellan of the gates of Pleasantville. Then there was lord Ulrich Notalich, chancellor of Notavant Pyre, and of course your two knights, Godefroi and Brother Louis, you knew all this gentlemen. Then there was a last man with a short and well kept beard and costly clothes. Grognargatek told you, in his very slow tone.

-Lord de Villeroi, I am glad to see you, we need your opinion on an important matter.

You looked at him, interested about what he would say. Showing the new man that you did not knew, a bald man with a strange glass contraption on his eyes, like two of the "reading stones" of dominican monasteries enchased into a wooden contraption to be over his head. It was very interesting and fascinating. He was introduced by Gamergatek, when everyone saluted each other as "Lord Nerd of Pomp and Ous", a vassal of the Red baron. Lord Grognargatek explained.

-My lord, we have here a great debate and I wanted to be sure, are your people calling Phoenixes Pelicans ?

You frowned, answering.

-No, it is absurd why would we call Phoenixes Pelicans, a phoenix is a phoenix...

Brother Louis explained.

-Yes, I am trying to explain them this.

Gammergatek helped his uncle, explaining.

-Your dear knight is explaining us that when young pelicans grow, they begin to strike their parents in the face with their beaks. After three days, the mother pierces her side or her breast and lets her blood fall on the dead birds, and thus revives them.

Brother Louis corrected him.

-We are not sure, some say that it is the male pelican that kills the young and revives them with it's blood. But it is a symbol of God's creation, just like the dead are saved by the sacrifice of Christ the little Pelicans are saved by the sacrifice of the blood of their parents.

You nodded, you were not an expert but Brother Louis was a specialist. Lord Nerd spoke, trying to tell.

-I think that we do not talk about the same Pelicans...

You nodded.

-Yes, of course, just like you call turtles by a strange name... Trolls is it...

>>6024997

They seemed to discuss between themselves as it was a huge revelation. Then Ulrich Notalich asked.

-And could you tell us more about the exotic flore and fauna around your lands, about some extraordinary animals.

You thought about it a moment, it was interesting, what animals were not seen here.

>Tell about the mighty eagles who stare into the sun and cast out their children who cannot stare into it.
>Tell about the unicorns, you even saw the horn of one one day.
>Tell them about the mighty elks of the north, but how they cannot rise themselves so they sleep while leaning on a tree.
>Tell about the emtras in Germany.
>Ask if what they say about peridexion trees is true in India. You did not see many doves and it would be logical that without these trees they would en up eaten by indian dragons.
>Other (write in)

>>6024995
Here is hoping you won’t have to phone post for longer
>>6025000
>Tell them about the mighty elks of the north, but how they cannot rise themselves so they sleep while leaning on a tree.
Mighty woodland animals

>>6025000
>Tell about the mighty eagles who stare into the sun and cast out their children who cannot stare into it.
>Ask if what they say about peridexion trees is true in India. You did not see many doves and it would be logical that without these trees they would en up eaten by indian dragons.

>>6025000
>Tell about the emtras in Germany.

>>6025000
>>Tell them about the mighty elks of the north, but how they cannot rise themselves so they sleep while leaning on a tree.

>>6025000
>>Tell about the mighty eagles who stare into the sun and cast out their children who cannot stare into it.
>>Tell about the unicorns, you even saw the horn of one one day.

File: d5d19c6e115ea2527aa1d1f02(...).jpg (77 KB, 621x620)

77 KB JPG

>>6025029
I think that it is truly a penance.

>>6025060
>>6025505
>>6025964
>>6026401

You then decided to tell them a story about a beast.

-There was a powerful beast in France once, today we can only find it in the remote corners of the Holy Roman Empire. But I saw the head full of horns of one of them. The merchant who showed it called it an elk. He said that it was huge. According to him, and Brother Louis who read the bestiaries will probably confirm, the elks cannot raise when on the ground so they have to sleep by leaning near trees in forests. It is why they can only live in forested area. They are said to be very tasty too, they are very majestic too. They prefer northern regions.

You explained it and the people seemed to be fascinated, brother Louis confirmed the funny fact about the trees. They told that what they call elks could raise alone but they never saw one of them themselves. They said that they live in the north march. Good to know. Since the elder gentlemen were talking about some philosophy books and you were quasi illiterate you excused yourself and decided, for the end of the evening, to dance with a beautiful woman. Rose was still dancing with Sir Up, after Isnott had finally invited her, and politeness asked you to invite someone else before going with her again. So you had a choice. You looked at the room. You saw lady Scarlet Red, a charming woman that you knew, she was not with her husband, Insign Ificant, the baron of Podunk. You never saw the man by the way.
You then looked at lady Mary Sue, inviting her might upset Rose, but maybe it could smooth your relations. You then saw the guelph councillors of your new baron, since you could not really dance with a witch you thought about inviting the guard's captain. It would be amusing to tell it once back in France that you danced with a guard's captain. She was beautiful despite her scar on the cheek and her white hair, while having a youthful appearance gave her exotic features that you would call "typically indian".

>>6026636

Speaking of beautiful women you looked at the lady near Rose, a pretty brunette in a yellow dress. You had your reservations about yellow dresses, but it suited her perfectly. She was a very beautiful woman, probably eighteen yers old with dove like eyes nice breasts and good birthing hips. She was dancing with Veryon Careless, the count's son but he had to leave after the dance, his father asking him something while discussing with his barons.
You looked at the lady, she was beautiful, danced well and had gracious manners but somehow she paled in comparison to your Rose. She was not only pretty and gracious but you understood her despite her flaws, when she laughed you felt joy, when she looked like she was sad you felt it. You looked at her dancing with some other old knight (since in this dance we swapped partners) and you caught her blue eyes looking at you, she immediately smiled. Was it this ? Love ?
You remembered when you were together on the grass. You remembered these evenings at Local when she played the harp, how her soft voice echoed through the halls and her pale hands played on her instrument with dexterity. You remembered when she gave you her favor when you defended her honour in single combat against the Hostil Lord. You remembered how you raced horses together in the plains around Local, and how before the river she told you, crying that she was not as a lady from a song of fin' amor as you thought. You liked her only more. She could be resolute, sometimes maybe naive, but always passionate when something was important to her.
Marie de France and their ladies maybe had told in her court of love that love was impossible between married couples but you were the exception to the rule. Whatever, you finished your wine and decided to choose to invite some lady that was not your wife as per custom.

>Invite lady Sue to a dance, you wonder if she dances well.
>Invite Lynddien the guard's captain it would be an amusing story.
>Invite lady Scarlet Red to a dance, she is maybe a bit old at thirty years old but very kind.
>Invite the lady in yellow near Rose, it will be a good occasion to make her acquaintance.
>Other (write in)

And roll me an intrigue roll with your legendary charm you shall have a bonus, depending on the lady of course

Rolled 64 (1d100)

>>6026637
>Invite lady Scarlet Red to a dance, she is maybe a bit old at thirty years old but very kind.
There's no way we won't spill our spaghetti with Sue. We always do. That she isn't pur enemy in earnest is remarkable, but it is a delicate dance and we do better when she does not talk with us at length.

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>6026637
>Invite the lady in yellow near Rose, it will be a good occasion to make her acquaintance.
I have low rolls in other quests so if I get a high roll I am going to be absolutely furious

Rolled 36 (1d100)

>>6026637
>Invite the lady in yellow near Rose, it will be a good occasion to make her acquaintance.

>>6026637
>Invite the lady in yellow near Rose, it will be a good occasion to make her acquaintance.

>>6026637
>>Invite lady Scarlet Red to a dance, she is maybe a bit old at thirty years old but very kind.

File: Banquetons mes amis !.jpg (125 KB, 500x565)

125 KB JPG

Hosanna messires ! Hosanna ! It works ! No more phoneposting !

>>6026649
She is obviously under the charm of Charles, but yes, her red haired nature makes her prone to conflict, just like her bastard blood.

>>6026663
You got a not so bad roll.

>>6026818
>>6027340
>>6027990

You decided to meet this lady in a yellow dress. So you came and introduced yourself after the last dance.

-My lady, may I ask you your name and your accordance for the next dance ?

She giggled lightly, you probably thought that it was your accent but she agreed. Telling.

-I am Estidie, daughter of the baron Motel of Lostville. And you, my lord ?

-Charles de Villeroi, lord of Local.

You introduced yourself politely. Wondering where this Lostville was. She answered with enthusiasm.

-Oooh, so you are from the baronny of Someplace, where there is a new baron.

You nodded. And you asked.

-And I suppose that you are from another of the vassal baronnies of our count.

She seemed amused by your remark.

-Of course, my father was unable to attend, he serves in the council of the Duchess. So only the other three vassal barons of the count are here.

You told her, quite impressed.

-So he sent you to represent him ? It is a great proof of trust to give such responsibilities.

She had an amused expression while you danced together, she was skilled in it and was one with the music.

-No my lord, I am too young, my uncle Epidemius is here, he represents us and rules our demesne in the absence of his elder brother.

She showed you a powerfully built bald man who had the demeanor of a knight, that was normal from a second son after all. It was good to know him by sight. You continued to discuss while you lightly touched hands with the young Estidie during a dance. You complimented her.

-You dance with the grace of a lady that has known many feasts, and thank you once more for explaining a stranger who is who in your fair land.

She then seemed to realise something.

-Oh, yes, the accent, I was too shy to ask you, you are this lord that came from a faraway land.

-I am glad to know that my reputation precedes me.

She seemed amused, smiling a little bit.

-I remember you from the last time when you came, I was not here but my uncle told me about it.

You tried to remember your last time here and feared that it would be unpleasant.

-Yes, he told that you told about a fat king in your lands that humiliated his unruly vassals with costly banquets, showing his wealth and superiority. It displeased him since we came from a poor barony, and many others... But the count loved it.

Yes, you remembered this blunder, it was not your best moment, since you had done it perfectly innocently, talking about Louis VI the fat. You tried to tell something but she waved your answer off and told.

-I personally found it amusing. At least something happened during the banquet. Can you do something funny in this feast please ?

>>6028481

You told her, seriously.

-My lady, if I was of your age I would have surely, but I am now a 27 years old man who tries to rule a lordship, and if pleasing you is very important to my eyes the well being of my subjects is of paramount importance too. And, what funny thing do you want me to do ?

-I do not know, something mischievous. You could ask Baron Notavant Pyre why he is so pale, or try to sing with this funny accent.

Now, this was too much, almost insulting, you were proud of your singing voice. So you told.

-My lady, I am not a beast that we parade on some fair at Troyes or Provins nor a juggler and...

You remarked that since you were too scandalised to look at what was behind you you recoiled into a small cagot that served as a servant and almost fell, making him spill all the wine that he was carrying on the corset of some lady and under her feet, she slipped on it and a young knight, like any gentleman, caught her before she fell but her high coif fell into a candlestick and began to burn. There were cries right before you could curse someone to have engaged such small barely visible cagots here. You wondered if the servant would be beaten with sticks for his clumsiness. Whatever, instead of throwing the lady in the moat when her coif was on fire like your aunt when the same happened to her a witch acted.

It was Cristmasel, she pointed her finger towards the coif and a strong wind, as if to blow the fire off without soaking the lady's dress by the use of water, was used. Unfortunately it seemed not to work, to the great astonishment of the witch, the wind made the fire spread to a napkin and servants had to throw buckets of water at it. You saw the young mischievous Estidie laughing lightly at this while on the other part of the room the guests tried to see what was happening. The count told "It is not important, let the banquet continue" without even ordering to beat up the servant responsible for it with batons, no wonder that India is so poorly organised. And the lady seemed to be satisfied while you continued your dance with her. Estidie told.

-My Lord, I must say that you have a gift to make improbable situations happen.

You told her, in a tone that supposed that you had done all of it to please her but claimed to be innocent.

-I do not know what you are insinuating my lady. But it is my turn to ask a favor. Or at least, the permission to know you more...

She smiled kindly.

-Of course my lord.

So you asked her.

>>6028482


>May I ask you, if it does not break some secret, if you are engaged to the eldest son of our count, Veryon Careless ?
>I am glad to dance with a lady of your lineage, and you say that many banquets are boring, are you feasting much in these lands ?
>Do your father know more about the duchess ? I think that when I fought some wooden creatures I found a locket with her crest and her portrait, I would want to give it back to her.
>If you want to see a more rejoicing feast can I invite you, and your family of course, to my marriage with lady Rose that will be celebrated at spring.
>May I ask where is your barony ?
>Tell me more about yourself, did you came here by the will of your father or of your uncle.
>If your father lives in the capital of the Duchy why are you not with him ?
>Other (write in)

Maximum 3 questions please good sirs.

>>6028481
You can finally post pictures again
>>6028485
>May I ask you, if it does not break some secret, if you are engaged to the eldest son of our count, Veryon Careless ?
>Do your father know more about the duchess ? I think that when I fought some wooden creatures I found a locket with her crest and her portrait, I would want to give it back to her.
>May I ask where is your barony ?
If she is marrying the heir it is probably good to get in her good graces

>>6028520
All good questions!

>>6028485
>May I ask you, if it does not break some secret, if you are engaged to the eldest son of our count, Veryon Careless ?
>Do your father know more about the duchess ? I think that when I fought some wooden creatures I found a locket with her crest and her portrait, I would want to give it back to her.
>May I ask where is your barony ?

>>6028520
>>6028701

Support

>>6028485
>May I ask you, if it does not break some secret, if you are engaged to the eldest son of our count, Veryon Careless ?
>Do your father know more about the duchess ? I think that when I fought some wooden creatures I found a locket with her crest and her portrait, I would want to give it back to her.
>Tell me more about yourself, did you came here by the will of your father or of your uncle.

>>6028520
+1

>>6028520
Yes... But then the VPN broke and I am phone posting again. It is the cause of the delay. Really, this was the moment in the good old days when you could order the execution of some cabbage stealer but now we have to endure such things silently.

>>6028701
>>6028911
>>6029101
>>6029262

You decided to ask her some questions for conversation, beginning by.

-May I ask you, if it does not break some secret, if you are engaged to the eldest son of our count, Veryon Careless ?

She chuckled lightly at the evocation and reddened a small bit, she then agreed, explaining you.

-Yes my lord, I am engaged to him and I hope that we will marry on the end of the next spring.

What a joyful news, you congratulated her.

-Congratulations, I hope that it will be the beginning of a fruitful and happy mariage.

She answered.

-I hope so too, Veryon is brave, beautiful and charming, a true knight. And being a countess is a nice addition.

You smiled with her while you continued to dance and told.

-Speaking of the higher nobility, do your father knows more about the duchess ? I think that when I fought some wooden creatures I found a locket with her crest and her portrait, I would want to give it back to her.

She seemed pleased by the news and answered.

-Oh, it is very kind on your part, you really seem to be a true knight. And about the duchess she is very young and there is still a regency. I know that my father serves her and knows her more than me but I met the duchess Naiv of Tradnod many many times and I can tell you that she is very kind. She likes flowers, little animals, dancing, feasts, seeing beautiful knights fighting in tournaments in her honour, poetry, tapestries and music. She dislikes ruling her duchy or attending to her duties generally. Fortunately she has a regent, lord Behinthethron. An elf, he is so elegant and full of humour, and is very beautiful too. But wise. Our count dislikes him because he wanted to be the regent but to be sincere the banquets at Tradnod are far better than here so she made a good choice.

Yes, Oldfossil already told you that the duchess did nothing important and that Guelphs controlled the place, they probably helped the queen put another Guelph as your baron. They were definitely powerful.

>>6029790

And what about these "beautiful" their women were beautiful yes, but the men were effeminate. Yes, of course the baron looked like a fine lord but the way he dressed and smelt of perfume. By Saint Denis a knight should not be like this. You remembered how your Frankish ancestors (especially monks) criticised and then beat up occitans who came at court for the marriage of their duchess with the King of France because they had long hair, no beards and played musical instruments like women and that was for them satanry. You always mocked it as a relic of less enlightened times than your thirteenth century since you had yourself long hair and were beardless even if you did not play music but after some reflection you agreed more and more with them seeing the Guelphs. Fortunately your Rose was not of this ilk, but how could young ladies prefer some perfumed Italians to perfectly strong and virile Frenchmen ? Was it a problem of the Indian male ? Maybe he was too occupied by book reading and listening to the "people" (it was already scandalous that the people had an opinion at all, so imagine listening to it) instead of ruling and doing chivalric deeds. No, clearly, something should be done about it. You should talk more about that. But whatever, you continued your inquiry.

-Thank you very much my lady. But I speak I speak and I ask, where is your barony ?

-Oh, in the west of the duchy, it is a bit isolated because there is a lot of marshes there but we are neighbours with the baron Notavant Pyre. There is two baronies in the East : the Redneck barony and yours and we are two of the western ones.

-Thank you very much for this geography lesson my lady.

And since it was the end of the dance you decided to kiss her hand and to begin to dance anew with your sweet Rose. The banquet was nearing it's end and you decided to pass it of course with your love. She was telling you kindly.

-How were these dances lord Charles ?

You answered with poetry.

-Very pleasant but they were like the light of a torch near the one of the golden sun.

She became red and quickly melted. Comparing a blonde's hair to the magnificent rays of the sun always worked. By politeness she asked.

-And you, I saw that you had many fine gentlemen asking for a dance. Nothing surprising to be sincere.

She took a tone of fake reproach.

-Charles ! It was only Sir Up and Isnott. You flatter me too much. And besides yes, they were good dancers and of very pleasant company. By the way would you not want to eat something sweet. There are fruits near the table. Oooh, pineapples imported from faraway lands by magic means... I adore them.

You looked at a strange think looking like something between a weapon and a plumed helmet.

-Stop, you mean that this contraption is a fruit ? I thought that it was a sculpture representing the head of some warmace.

>>6029793

She almost missed a step while laughing. Answering you.

-They are very good. Let us confiscate it, and eat it somewhere less crowded.

You smiled and agreed, taking the thing and finding some corridor with a view of the city and river. The moonlight reflected on this one forming a white path and the fires of the torches and lanterns of the city balanced with the wind behind the windows. Behind you the endless plains were broken by some hills and forests where the count loved to hunt some rare beasts. Rose took your hand in hers and while you tasted this strangely pleasant yellow contraption (even if she told that the shell was not edible) and she told.

-Charles, I do not know how to thank you so much...

-Mmmh ?

-For letting me go to banquets, dance, laugh, to know that there is not anymore someone who will try to kill me, to not see the murdered of my father in all the faces around me. To... To be able to marry, live and to do everything for me like a knight in a song... You are truly a gallant hero from a ballad.

By Saint Denis, what to answer. You were not prepared to be complimented, generally you were the one doing the complimenting. And from Rose it was going right to your hearth. You looked once more at the beautiful view at the window and how beautiful she looked under the rays of the full moon.

>"Being able to contemplate is a sufficient reward for this life and the next"
>"I know" (Take an amusing smug face)
>"Rose, you gave me a purporse, I was wasting my life in wars and taverns, not doing anything as a third son, and now when I see you I know that being in India is not a curse but a blessing. For I found a woman that found a place in my hearth, a true lady worthy of the songs that our trouvères sing about love."
>Kiss her. (You are a man of deeds not words)
>Other (write in)

>>6029790
I believe you can still execute ISP employees
>>6029798
>"I know" (Take an amusing smug face)
followed by
>Kiss her. (You are a man of deeds not words)
All these options are good in my eyes either way

Now I think its probably a good time to discuss when she shall become a Catholic

>>6029921
+1

But also...
>"I would very much love to spend this life with you, Dear Rose, but also the next..."

Is now not a good time to talk about her immortal soul, in the context of an undying love beyond our mortal bonds?

>>6029958
it is a romantic moment so I think we should save the religious conversion for later

>>6029975
It is always later, later until it is TOO late!
I get you, I just want to plant some seeds at least and get her to consider the idea.

>>6029798
>"I know" (Take an amusing smug face)
>Kiss her. (You are a man of deeds not words)

>>6029921
I will try to send my men and my hunting dogs to catch these ISP burghers, thanks. It seems to be the only solution.

She will, you plan to marry in church after all.

>>6029958
>>6029975

>>6029977

>>6029977

You took your smuggest smile and answered, sure of yourself.

-I know.

And before she had the time to laugh you kissed her. Sometimes being bold and having élan could work. You knew that women loved compliments and ladies like Rose loved to have poetry dedicated to them but today was a time of actions, not deeds. So you kissed under the moonlight, your tongues danced together in joy. You stroked her hair and began to pull her a bit closer, knowing that nobody was there. But, very strangely she pushed you back, taking a smug smile Rose answered.

-Tsk tsk tsk, you are too quick and too sure of yourself young lord...

-What young lord ? I am ten years older than you !

-Do you want me to call you old lord ?

You both laughed, and kissed again, more chastely this time and then some old men passing by stopped your tender moments. So you simply took her in your arms, talking about everything and nothing and looking at the balancing lights of the town's lanterns.

It was a pleasant memory that you recalled the next day when you travelled in the company of a mass of Guelphs who were marching on Someplace and of your lady of course. You had been invited by the Neutral Lord to travel to his castle and once there to discuss but maybe you would want to try to request to see your baron in private during the travel ? With a company of 300 soldiers travelling could be slower but they marched fast and in good order. These guelphs were quite well disciplined and the woman who led them, and the baron who seemed to be knowledgeable in military matters, led them well and did not let them pillage the countryside. You knew that you would have to travel two weeks to get back to your dear Local, and swore to not leave it for the next winter. You had travelled too much and without you your people must feel as orphans. Well, the opinion of your people was not very important but you did not want to be an absentee lord.
A ruler must be among his people. During the travels you spoke with your love of course about poetry but you exchanged on military matters with Godefroi and brother Louis too and you admired the armors of golden metal of the guelphs, they seemed to be lamellar in nature and very well kept. All of them carried a sword and a bow and you concluded that they must be some elite troop, since they were from the royal guard you concluded that they were probably better than the permanent ost of the king of France.

>>6031397

After all here all the men received their armors, probably from some Tuscan armorers who manufactured them in great quantities. But even if they were good infantry they remained infantry and you did not doubt that these 300 men would fold if 50 knights charged them. They would maybe kill ten horses with their bows but then it would be a slaughter in melee, especially since some guelphs were women, and all of them were frail, they would not survive in melee. Fortunately the old baron's troops were composed of poorly equipped guardsmen and would probably capitulate anyway. Whatever, what do you decide to do ?

>Request to speak with the baron on the way.
>Directly skip to your meeting with the Neutral lord.


PS : You gain 10xp for all this banquet, I shall write it down once I will no more bE phone posting.

>>6031398
>Directly skip to your meeting with the Neutral lord.
There is nothing we need to speak of however I would like to see the siege of someplace if there is one to see how war is done in India

>>6031398
>Directly skip to your meeting with the Neutral lord.

>>6031398
>>Directly skip to your meeting with the Neutral lord.

>>6031398
>>Directly skip to your meeting with the Neutral lord.

>>6031398
>Directly skip to your meeting with the Neutral lord.

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>>6031417
>>6031481
>>6031661
>>6031789
>>6032261

After a bit more than a week of pleasant travel you said goodbye to your baron and his troops and followed the Neutral Lord into his lands. It was a rich Lordship nestled between the Forest of Thorns and the Hills of Benny. The Neutral Lord had, as you learned, ten village wherever you had four, and a mine and an entry to the underworld defended by a fort plus some watchtowers and his lordship had a central position between Countal lands and the baronial demesne of Someplace. Travelers from all the barony had to pass by his lands and his tolls to get to Pleasantville and his lordship controlled both banks of the Queste river. It was logical that his family had become the most powerful vassals of the Baron if we excluded the Takables before confiscation of their lands. As Rose pointed out her father's demesne had fourteen villages, now she had only one, and it controlled the junction of the rivers Queste and Waifue and the waterways towards the Northern March, having access to woods, hills and fertile plains.

The Neutral's castle was a powerful fortress on the bank of a river, just like yours, but bigger. It's dungeon was higher, and it had a strange "living tower" in plus of the lord's quarters with huge windows, one of the eight towers of this castle, surrounded by a circle of walls and a moat. It was a good place for a good lord, not as strong as Someplace, who was on a hill near the river, or Pleasantville who was simply much bigger and in a city surrounded by walls but a good place to live and easy to defend. It's white stones were pretty too, like the stone that they loved to use in Île de France and the Royal Demesne. Of course it had'nt the greatness of the Vincennes dungeon but this was great.

The Neutral Lord explained the history of the place, how his ancestors peacefully integrated new lands and exploited their riches to build this castle. He said that he planned to build a new one in the north of his lands.

You found it charming until you saw the interiors. And there you had to cry, of course there were, in plus of the torches, some of these magical glowing stones, but what made you angry was the red wood, seriously, furniture made of a strange indian "Red wood" and interiors were awful. And others from yellow wood... Yellow, color of treachery, on a negociating table, what a bad taste. But you had to sit, despite all of this poor choice of interiors, under the statues of strange heroes and pagan deities, to discuss (while drinking an excellent wine) with Lady Takable, the Neutral Lord, and his son. His councilors were not here, he wanted it to be done in a very little committee.

After some polite exchanges and compliments, where the Neutral Lord showed that he could be polite and his son was, as always, a charming lad, you began to discuss important matters. The Neutral Lord telling you.

-So, what do you plan to do ?

>>6032404

You answered for Rose and yourself.

-We will try to ask for Rose's ancient lands, and marry to join our lines, you will be invited of course like all the local nobility. And we will see what is the nature of this new baron. Try to win him over to not let the rival lord and the other lord.

The neutral lord answered quickly, clearly unhappy.

-What he is ? He is a snake ! A vile serpent ! Worse than the last... With all due respect for the loss of your father lady Rose, but this new baron had simply no time yet to do such ills but he will do.

Rose then retorted.

-Then better that he does this to the Rival lord and the Lord of Darkplace, or even Lady Sue but he seems to like this empty brained creature. Let him be a serpent to them, and to be on his good side.

As always she had wise opinions, but the Neutral lord objected, while his son listened to his father.

-My lady, he will not be, why do bad lords need to please their vassals ? To not get betrayed ? But he does not need to fear betrayal my lady. What can we betray him with ?

She tried to guess.

-Well, levies or not paying taxes... And we could complain to the count.

The Neutral Lord told.

-It is why he is polite to the count, but who need feudal levies when he has 300, soon to be 200 since a centuria will go back to the capital according to my information, professional elven soldiers ? And high ranking mages, there is only two things that he can fear.

You were still wondering if this was all a plot to discredit the new baron, who was weird but stil hadn't done anything bad, from the Neutral Lord who wanted his post and asked.

-What ?

He cleared his throat.

-Once the baron will have raised new guardsmen in plus of his elves only two dangers will remain for him. A dagger in the dark or a very powerful adventurer. He is winning over the only very powerful adventurer that we have in this barony, and in the county, Lady Sue. And he has remained open to the lord of Darkplace who could actually send someone to kill him in his sleep, even if maybe he will eliminate him too to destroy the menace. I still do not know what he will chose to be sincere.

You began to answer.

-This.. This would be outrageous to all the good feudal customs ! Governing with... With bastards and commoners ! Why not with dogs and horses while we are at it ! Woe to this Guelph if he does it ! Nobody will accept this !

The Neutral Lord raised his shoulders, taking more wine that he sipped slowly from his goblet while his son remained silent but approved your words with a movement of his head. Near you, lady Takable seemed in deep thought. Despite all the righteousness of this demonstration you could not but feel something, as if maybe, perhaps, the man was lying to you and painting you a bad portrait of the new baron to usurp his throne. After all he always desired the barony. What shall you say.

>>6032406

>Try to guess the Neutral Lord's motives (intrigue roll)
>Listen, we will see what is this baron, if you are right we shall meet again, if not then it will be a good surprise.
>You know, if this new baron, Endoftutoriel, is so keen on choosing how to deal with the murderers of the Lord of Darkplace we could maybe have a hope of validating a feudal war against this scum who tried to murder me. In his logic, I will either win and eliminate a threat, or rather lose and be killed so he will have one less obstacle to this kind of "anti-feudal" rule or whatever it is called.
>If there is such a danger to the Someplace Nobility, to our right and proper feudal order, we will need to compromise. Perhaps we should try to come closer to the Rival Lord. He is maybe a scoundrel and we have family quarrels with him but he is at least a proper nobleman.
>If there is such a danger to the Someplace Nobility, to our right and proper feudal order, we will need to compromise. Lady Sue has strange ideas, and is bastard-born but she is of princely blood and even if I disagree sometimes with her and Rose dislikes her I am sure that we could try to smooth our relations together, or at least discredit the baron in her eyes.
>My dear lord Neutralsson, even if I do not doubt your honor, some less trustful men like me could say that you would smear the baron for your own gains, to be the new baron of these lands as you wished to be. I am an honest man, and I keep my oaths and for the moment baron Endoftutoriel was very polite, if somewhat too polite to the ladies. He even invited me to see the queen, what an honor !
>I think that if this threat is true we should establish a closer alliance with forces outside the barony, perhaps with the baron of Redneck ?
>How would the baron be able to establish the kind of tyranny that you described while our good Count Careless rules from Pleasantville and dislikes him. He shall surely bring him to justice.
>Other (write in)

PS : since I am forced to phone post I shall now send funny strange creatures to haunt the dreams of the scoundrels of this VPN company. Unfortunately my levies and hunting dogs cannot cross the Atlantic yet so I have to resort to these less effective measures.

>>6032407
>Listen, we will see what is this baron, if you are right we shall meet again, if not then it will be a good surprise.
>If there is such a danger to the Someplace Nobility, to our right and proper feudal order, we will need to compromise. Lady Sue has strange ideas, and is bastard-born but she is of princely blood and even if I disagree sometimes with her and Rose dislikes her I am sure that we could try to smooth our relations together, or at least discredit the baron in her eyes.
>I think that if this threat is true we should establish a closer alliance with forces outside the barony, perhaps with the baron of Redneck ?
I can tell his intentions without needing to roll that he wants the baron position again. We want takeables lands back and we both hate elves so there is no reason to not team up again.
For now, though we should be patient as there is no gain in being hasty so just get some more support for now.

>>6032407
>Listen, we will see what is this baron, if you are right we shall meet again, if not then it will be a good surprise.
>You know, if this new baron, Endoftutoriel, is so keen on choosing how to deal with the murderers of the Lord of Darkplace we could maybe have a hope of validating a feudal war against this scum who tried to murder me. In his logic, I will either win and eliminate a threat, or rather lose and be killed so he will have one less obstacle to this kind of "anti-feudal" rule or whatever it is called.
>If there is such a danger to the Someplace Nobility, to our right and proper feudal order, we will need to compromise. Lady Sue has strange ideas, and is bastard-born but she is of princely blood and even if I disagree sometimes with her and Rose dislikes her I am sure that we could try to smooth our relations together, or at least discredit the baron in her eyes.

Assuming he is a good Baron, then we will still eliminate an assassin. If he is not, we will use him to eliminate an assassin anyway, and then Darkplace cannot be wielded against us. And Sue is an impressive warrior worth having on our side regardless, even if she is a redheaded crossdressing bastard.

>>6032407
>Listen, we will see what is this baron, if you are right we shall meet again, if not then it will be a good surprise.
>If there is such a danger to the Someplace Nobility, to our right and proper feudal order, we will need to compromise. Lady Sue has strange ideas, and is bastard-born but she is of princely blood and even if I disagree sometimes with her and Rose dislikes her I am sure that we could try to smooth our relations together, or at least discredit the baron in her eyes.
>I think that if this threat is true we should establish a closer alliance with forces outside the barony, perhaps with the baron of Redneck ?

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>>6032500
Of course, of course. You said everything with wisdom.

>>6032526
An impressive reasoning. And yes lady Sue is redeemable after all.

>>6033031

You decided to answer the man.

-Listen, we will see what kind of man is this baron, if you are right we will meet again, if not then it will be a good surprise. I do not doubt that you are well informed, lord Neutralsson, but the best informant is always direct contact.

The lord agreed, even if he said.

-I can tell you that all my informers only had bad things to say about this man. He is an elven hardliner, or at least he associates with them at court, as an ancient captain of their military it is not strange. So I suggest you to take some, non hostile actions, directly.

You tried to tell.

-I think that if this threat is true we should establish a closer alliance with forces outside the barony, perhaps with the baron of Redneck ?

After all the man was a neighbour and with his flying mount he must be a great warrior and even if you ignored how much men he had he must be far more powerful than a simple lord, and he was a neighbour. All good points to support him. And having close relationships with neighbours was always useful. The Neutral Lord slowly agreed while Rose added.

-We could invite him to our wedding, so we will be able to speak to him, or maybe you can meet him in winter, during a winter hunt.

You liked hunting wolves in winter, it would be a good occasion to meet the other baron, it was said that he loved to fight monsters in the forest of Gump. Or you could write to his sister. Whatever, you needed to see him. You agreed and the Neutral Lord said.

-It is a very good idea indeed. I can only encourage you to see him.

You asked.

-Is he a powerful lord ?

The Neutral Lord told.

-The barony of Someplace is a bit more populated and strong than the barony of the Red Neck but people from there especially those of the hills are known to be hardy and though and their guardsmen if they do not know war know some actions against the beast.

You agreed.

-Yes infantry of hillmen like Navarrese can be very solid indeed.

Then you proposed a bold move.

-But we need allies in our own lands, it pains me to say so, even for Rose but if there is such a danger to the Someplace Nobility, to our right and proper feudal order, we will need to compromise. Lady Sue has strange ideas, and is bastard-born but she is of princely blood and even if I disagree sometimes with her and Rose dislikes her I am sure that we could try to smooth our relations together, or at least discredit the baron in her eyes.

The Neutral Lord agreed while Rose told.

-WHAT ?

Her sharp tone called you to say.

-My sweet lady, you are perhaps overreacting a bit...

She answered with dignity.

-She mocked my dead father. She called be a bitch, and a tart ! And you were right before us to witness it Charles !

>>6033624

You answered.

-Yes and I intervened, but...

-But what ? We should forget these insults...

You naïvely answered her.

-But you wanted to invite her to our marriage.

-Yes, so she would be green of envy and die of it.

Well, of course, if feminine spite became involved in this you could do nothing. Even clever and lovely women like your Rose were, in the end, mere women, and spiteful and unwise as their sex. You would not blame your sweet lady of course but there was a reason besides the fact that he knew how to wage war why the husband ruled the lands of his wife. Of course it was delicate, convincing a woman who wanted to do something stupid was very hard. You could of course prove her that her course of action was wrong, but the woman, not receptive to reason and logic, and using argument like "I know to read and not you why are you telling me something about wisdom" when it has nothing to do with the subject she would close up like an oyster. A knight should never be vile towards a lady. You could raise your tone, but you did not want it, a good husband should never need to raise his voice to be obeyed in his home. Your lord father, once you were seven years old, the age of reason, never needed to raise his voice to be obeyed.

You could of course subtly manipulate your wife to give her the impression that she had the idea first and that she is convincing you to accept, but you were not very good at it. You could try to bring the subject in a pleasant day, women being slaves of their moods after all, but you could not in this situation. Unfortunately, before you could say anything Rose, proving that she was clever and that made you love her even more, looked at you and talked first while you were thinking and looking at her.

-Listen Charles... I... Would not have anything against you if you pass over my honor for the good of the lordship. I am ready for this sacrifice.

Here came why many young knights, without your considerable experience at 27 years old, failed to understand women. If a man says this it means that he is ready to sacrifice himself for the good of the lordship, if a woman tells the same thing it means "I am very disappointed in you, I saw you as a legendary knight from songs but you are a meagre intrigant". Everything in her tone and expression simply screamed it. Saying the countrary of what to do was already explained in Chrétien de Troyes and many authors, be it Guinevere or Isolda, every lady always tells her knight "Do not go fight this beast in the forest, it is too dangerous please" to tell him "Yes, go for me and I will love it" it is self evident. And of course here Rose had the cleverness to look like the kind party who offers a compromise. And knew how to look innocent here. You looked at the Neutral lord and his son, as to explain them that you would have to "think about this idea of yours".

>>6033626

You did not want to look like someone who was controlled by the whims of his future wife. Fortunately the Neutral lord smiled sympathetically, he was married after all, and looked at his son, Swede, who said.

-Perhaps I could be the one who would become closer to lady Sue.

You both looked at him, and before Rose could complain you told.

-It seems to be a good idea. As you can understand we have a difficult relationship with her but you have not. And besides we are closer to the red baron's lands. I am sure that you could find a common ground and perhaps if you could marry this woman if will calm her a little bit. And it would safeguard my lady's honor that is very dear to me.

Since Rose already said that she was ready for this she could not complain and agreed, without enthousiasm. The Neutral lord then raised his goblet. And told.

-Then let us drink to our alliance ! And hope that it will bring a fruitful cooperation and protect our right and proper feudal society.

Hah, he even used your terms now, you drank and spent the rest of the time in a comfortable dinner with the Neutral lord and his wife, it was very pleasant and while the ladies talked about flowers and Lady Austriana Neutralsson, an old lady of 35 who was still beautiful and had exquisite manners, shower her some tapestries the Neutral Lord asked you.

-Lord Charles, may I inquire about something.

-Of course...

-I mean.. I know that you still have hope that everything will be right and there will not be any confrontation with the baron, but... if it gets from bad to worse... Do you know how to lead an army ?

Hah, in truth you had sometimes lead a detachment, or some soldiers, or warred as a simple knight. You knew the theory of course, and seconded commanders, but never had a command yourself, as a third son. You knew war of course, more than any indians. And they seemed to wage war worse than Frenchmen. Of course you led your troops against ghibellines in India but it was a skirmish. So you answered.

>Of course lord Neutral, I have led many troops, and if we shall need a commander you can count on me.
>I have never been a general of several hundred troops but I had sometimes to command groups of soldiers.
>I have known war, Lord Neutralsson. I have seen war and waged it.
>Other (write in)

>>6033628
>Of course lord Neutral, I have led many troops, and if we shall need a commander you can count on me.
Bah, as if Indians wil know any different.

>>6033628
>I have known war, Lord Neutralsson. I have seen war and waged it.

>>6033628
>I have never been a general of several hundred troops but I had sometimes to command groups of soldiers.
Best be truthful but if push comes to shove I think we would be fine

>>6033628
>Of course lord Neutral, I have led many troops, and if we shall need a commander you can count on me.

>>6033628
>Of course lord Neutral, I have led many troops, and if we shall need a commander you can count on me.

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>>6033715
Of course, a bold move.

>>6033733
>>6033788
>>6034704
>>6035444

You decided to reassure the man, after all you knew war more than any of these Indians who lived in peace for far too long. And you said.

-Of course lord Neutral, I have led many troops, and if we shall need a commander you can count on me.

These were powerful words and it convinced him, he simply nodded. You were naturally sure of yourself and here it has managed to convince the man, so you passed a good day in the Neutral keep and then continued towards your lands with Rose and your men. But still, to get there you had a choice.

You could pass, of course, by the road near Someplace, and see the baron during your travels, he maybe already has taken possession of the castle, or it is besieged, normally he will not have reached it. Or if you passed by another road, a bit longer than the one by Someplace you could avoid any risk of being near a siege battle and keeping quiet when you came back in your good old lands of Local. It was an important choice.

>Let us pass by the main road through Someplace
>Small roads will be used, no need to be seen.

Whatever you choose, quite quickly when you left the neutral castle and you were travelling on horse Rose rode near you on the horse that the Count lended her with a very worried expression. She told.

-Charles...

-Yes my lady ?

-I... I feel quite stupid ?

This was strange, she was an intelligent person and if she told this it meant that she had remarked something that you had missed.

-Why ?

-How to say it... We had more or less wrestled the leadership of this coalition from the Neutral Lord, but now. Now because of me..

She looked very sad.

-He will have the initiative in a allying with lady Sue and so he will be able to lead, being the only one to be able to speak to all the parties. And, and we have not even spoken of speaking with the Red Baron before our marriage, so he will be able to write him first too. He...

She sighed.

-How could I have been this stupid.

You felt bad for her, especially since you would not have guessed it yourself but once she told it it made completely sense, you had agreed to something and at the end, even if you had this will of leading a coalition of powerful vassals, having a "clientèle" like Charles de Valois or other great noblemen you will have to follow. Then it would maybe be for the best, the Neutral Lord was already to be the next baron, maybe he should not see you as too dangerous for his rule. Or in the contrary he should. The man was not bad, simply terribly prone to scheme. If you had your dear Oldfossil with you he would have understood it already but with your lack of education in intrigue, and Rose's youthful naivety you were not very good at this game. Speaking of Rose she looked at you with her great and sorry blue eyes and you could not blame her. So you decided to answer.

>>6035471

>Do not worry my lady, I haven't foreseen this myself. Do not blame yourself for all of it.
>Do not worry my lady, I have spoken with the Neutral Lord, he will maybe lead all this ball of intrigues but once the sword will be unsheathed and we will see a beautiful feudal war I shall probably lead the armies.
>My lady, you should not blame yourself, I understand that it is hard to make peace with your enemies, but Christ teaches us this.
>What stops us from trying to contact the Red Baron ourselves, we never said that we could not do it behind the back of the Neutral Lord.
>I shall speak to Oldfossil about all of this once back in Local.
>Other (write in)

>>6035471
>Small roads will be used, no need to be seen.
Warfare is for when Rose is safe at home.

>>6035473
>My lady, you should not blame yourself, I understand that it is hard to make peace with your enemies, but Christ teaches us this.
Good time to start her conversion yet, anons?

We will also lead armies, and thus take command by steel and faith.

>>6035471
>Let us pass by the main road through Someplace
Obviously keep Rose out of range of things but otherwise I still wanna see some Indian warfare
>>6035473
>My lady, you should not blame yourself, I understand that it is hard to make peace with your enemies, but Christ teaches us this.
Time to sow the seeds of faith
Also we can just remind her that just because he initiates the conversation doesn’t mean we won’t be able to do anything with them

>>6035471
>>Let us pass by the main road through Someplace
>My lady, you should not blame yourself, I understand that it is hard to make peace with your enemies, but Christ teaches us this.
>write in
"besides, it is better to learn from our mistakes then be brought down by them, as some great generals were."

>>6035473
>>My lady, you should not blame yourself, I understand that it is hard to make peace with your enemies, but Christ teaches us this.

>>6035476
Wise words, warfare is no place for women.
And yes, your sweet lady should be ready to talk about the Lord now.

>>6035485
Yes of course. If you lead the conversation to this place indeed.

>>6035724
Wise words, as always unfortunately not voted upon.

>>6035768

You took the decision to pass by the main road through Someplace, you wanted to see how the Indians waged war, if waging war was needed indeed. A part of you thought that a demonstration of force shall suffice for the defenders to comply. Whatever, you were in a conversation with Rose after all. So you tried to tell her.

-My lady, you should not blame yourself, I understand that it is hard to make peace with your enemies, but Christ teaches us this.

You smiled to her while saying it, she smiled too but answered.

-You are very generous Charles, but I am not, making peace with my enemies... The baron... He killed my father, even when he is dead how can I forgive him ?

-He has been judged for his crimes and executed in this world, then he will burn in hell for eternity in the next, it is no more our work... We will not excavate his corpse like in the Cadaveric Concilium. Let the dead rest.

She then answered, not without some spirit.

-Then when lady Sue will be dead I shall pardon her. Better soon enough.

You smiled a bit, but were afraid that she was completely serious. You tried to tell her.

-It is... Well, her crimes were not so grave as those of the baron, she of course deserves to be burned for wearing men's clothes and...

She answered in her more high pitched voice that she had when she was angry. She already spoke in a girlish tone but when she was angry she had this very cute tone that made you want to kiss her right now. And she frowned adorably to. Still, even if it was hard for her to terrify someone as a 5'2" woman you knew that she could be dangerous in her own ways. And you hated to think that she was upset, after all she had gone through she deserved to live a life of calm, sweetness and courtly love.

-I do not care about her clothes Charles, well you do because you look at her behind...

-I...

She became red at this, and you became red too. Well, she had seen you, what to say... She continued.

-But she belittles me and insults me.

You tried to answer her simply.

-I... I understand but know that I have not...

She took a more playful tone meaning "Do not try to deny it".

-Charles..

You then raised your shoulders. What to say, she was probably a bit jealous, or unsure of herself, of course she was still young. You told.

-I shall not deny it. I am a man, as any man when I see a beautiful woman I react as when someone see anything beautiful, be it a castle, a tree or a horse...

She raised her eyebrow. And you realised that this needed some cultural context.

-A horse ?

File: ten-strange-medieval-animals.jpg (42 KB, 654x380)

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>>6036190

-No, no, Rose... I... Do not mean in an Indian way with your how do you call them, centaurs ? But people like beauty, you too, I am sure that you have some fantasies when reading one of your books about love and these... Blood sucking undead things... But you do not plan to fall in love with one, no ?

You used the words falling in love because you were a cultured gentleman. Falling in love and sleeping with meant two very different things. You loved only Rose, she was the only one worthy of having poetry declaimed in her name or songs dedicated to her. Only Rose could give you her favour during a tournament. This was sacred, but a man had needs, of course it was sin after marriage and you planned not to seen but it had happened that you had to have some adventures. You tried to recount, Stacy the maid, then the red haired Guelph merchant daughter, Spotifia the bard, but all of it was before you knew Rose. Then you had these two prostitutes and again Stacy... And.. And if you remembered well that was it. You were surprised by your chasteness. But still your lady looked at you, and took your huge warrior hand in her cute one.

-I... I am sorry, but... Understand, I hate to look like I am jealous, especially since you always are a gentleman and never raised some questions about it with me.

She squeezed your hand a little bit, has to thank you. It was only normal, you trusted her, and you knew that she loved you and you loved her.

She then continued.

-I... Still, when someone that always mocked me when I was de facto imprisoned tries everything to steal my fiancé from me I have trouble pardoning her.

You frowned. What ?!? Lady Sue ? But she hates me ! She always criticizes me !

Rose rolled her eyes.

-It is her way of trying to be remarked by you. Trust me, we ladies know how to read each other.

Thinking about your interactions with the redhead it is true that sometimes she seemed to be a bit more tenderly than needed. But still, she always criticizes you and was an uncouth woman and a bastard. And the fact that Rose needed to be reassured was adorable. So you told her :

>>6036191

>Rose, do you sincerely think that I could have chosen her over you ? I loved you since I first saw you. You are far more beautiful, have far more wit, sing better and are far more gracious and elegant than she will ever be. So do not worry about it.
>My lady, the day were lady Sue learns to speak less about herself during banquets, dresses normally, becomes a polite person, stops screaming and has a complete change in ideas and behaviour you will perhaps have to worry about her. But i would not bet on it.
>My lady, you are beautiful, sweet, play the harp perfectly and even your ruthless side is adorable in my eyes. Never think that I shall prefer another woman.
>Rose, I love you, not another person. She had maybe more lands than you but I would not even for half the kingdom marry another lady.
>Other (write in)

Roll an easy rulership roll, the bonus will depend on your choice)

(PS : I forgot to post my diabolical image in the first post so I put it in the second one but it resumes more or less my thought on VPN technicians)

>>6036192
>My lady, you are beautiful, sweet, play the harp perfectly and even your ruthless side is adorable in my eyes. Never think that I shall prefer another woman.

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>6036192
>Rose, do you sincerely think that I could have chosen her over you ? I loved you since I first saw you. You are far more beautiful, have far more wit, sing better and are far more gracious and elegant than she will ever be. So do not worry about it.

Rolled 49 (1d100)

>>6036192
>My lady, you are beautiful, sweet, play the harp perfectly and even your ruthless side is adorable in my eyes. Never think that I shall prefer another woman.

Rolled 37 (1d100)

>>6036192
>Rose, do you sincerely think that I could have chosen her over you ? I loved you since I first saw you. You are far more beautiful, have far more wit, sing better and are far more gracious and elegant than she will ever be. So do not worry about it.

File: BadRabbits1.jpg (77 KB, 746x418)

77 KB JPG

>>6036199
>>6036535
>>6036896
>>6037172

You turned towards her, thinking about her insecurities and her fear of losing you. Of course if she was looking very self assured it was often a facade. So you decided to reassure her.

-Rose, do you sincerely think that I could have chosen her over you ? I loved you since I first saw you. You are far more beautiful, have far more wit, sing better and are far more gracious and elegant than she will ever be. So do not worry about it.

She mumbled something like thank you and approached her horse from yours and with skill threw her armes around you. She was a good horsewoman too to be sincere. You kissed her too but when you saw Godefroi, who was behind, looking at you two you both became red and acted properly again. You then reached the army of your baron just one day before it came to Someplace and your baron was a bit surprised to see you but you explained that you wanted to support him and pass by the main road. He agreed and when you offered him your sword in case of violence he told you kindly that he would not need it and that he planned to take the place without violence. Hah, that was truely a sign of his italian nature, but the man was courteous and you almost forgot the words of the Neutral Lord when he invited you to feast in your tent with lady Rose.
He was maybe a bit too trying to get close to her, even if it stayed in the proper boundaries of courtesy, but distracted you with stories while his witch sang some pretty songs, you drank fine wine and in general it was a pleasant evening right before coming to Someplace.
Before the next day he ordered all his soldiers to polish their armors to look more impressive and ordered his female guard captain to form them in a line formation under a "magical shield" before the city, some men on the wooden walls of the town spotted them and quickly sent a man to negotiate. Thirty minutes later all the garrison had surrendered.

>>6038122

To be sincere it was logical, the baron offered a job to some guardsmen of the old and amnesty to the others, it was normal, you could not blame a soldier for serving his liege lord even if he was a vile man. Only the church, not existing here, could release someone of his vows, like for example by excommunicating someone. But now it was better. The very small jew who was a councilor of the old baron began to bow, say that the town belonged now to a new baron, and said that he was ashamed of the acts of his old master. He told that he was at the disposition of the new and if his services as a steward and tax collector were not needed he would simply leave. You wondered if your brave Bohémond was still in his jail with Becky and your men or not. The Baron Endoftutoriel explains in the meantime that he will release the councillor and let him leave the demesne gracefully. You wonder about the fate of your friends, as you are on your horse near the baron, this councillor of Baron Crook points at you and tells.

-Your excellency ! This lord Charles de Villeroi, he broke the law, he sent killers to free criminals who had attacked me ! I recognised them, an assassin woman, and a kind of red haired rogue with an horrible smell and the same horrendous accent ! They freed a criminal who had killed some of our guardsmen !

The baron seemed to be quite distraught, and you quickly recognized the description of Elana and Ancel, and learned with pleasure that Bohémond was free, Rose's eyes brightened up but she showed nothing. After all, even if the baron was no more your official ruler sending assassins to free people from prisons was maybe not very well seen. What will be your answer ?

>Glare at him with your signature look of superiority. You do not have to answer to commoners.
>"Jew that talks, mouth that lies. I do not know what this man is talking about but the small size of this man shows that he is not only a coward but a traitor as well, I would not believe him at all"
>"I did nothing of this sort your excellency, I absolutely do not know what this man is talking about"
>"Yes your excellency, the lady in waiting of lady Rose was indeed imprisoned by baron Crook, then my knight, who loved her, tried to free her, I sent specialists to free both of them. Judge me as you see fit, but I shall always help those in need."
>Other (write in)

Since you calmed Rose and I had to give you your xp you gain +20 in total so :

>>6038123

Your new stats :

Charles de Villeroi

Class : Local Lord
Level : 5
XP : 760+10+10 = 780 xp (next level at 1000)

Stats

Combat : 51%
Intrigue : 30%
Rulership: 36%

Piety : 77
Mudcore : 65

With 65 Mudcore you have a strong field of gritty realism around you (150 meters), in this field heavy magic will not work and supernatural abilities will not work, oh, and women will lose 4 pounds of strength of course, plus in the field the people that obey you will act more like they would be in a dark fantasy setting. You have chosen Blood of Mud and so your mudcore field will become a bit bigger and stronger but could be transmitted to your children. Magic, even restorative, will become considerably weaker near you. Weak practitionners of magic (less than rank 5) are unable to cast in your mudcore field.
Next level at 70, your field will become 200 meters wide, magical objects will lose their properties in your mudcore field just like potions, crops who came from the columbian exchange will lose their taste and a medieval disease will enter your world.

Talents
-Cavalry Commander : +20 to martial when you have to lead a cavalry charge or a cavalry attack. Works only when commanding shock or melee cavalry mounted on horses.
-Foreign Etiquette : You focus on learning Indian etiquette with Oldfossil, you gain a +10 bonus in intrigue in your interactions with the nobility of your duchy.
->Basic Literacy : Your lessons with Oldfossil and Lady Takable finally paid off and you can read and write, even if you write with errors and move your lips still when you read it is a great leap forward.

Traits :
Leader : Your magnetism on the masses is glorious and your learning of speech could encourage many men to follow you. You may choose the best of 3 rolls when you try to speak in public to convince an audience, be it the Council of Many or angry peasants.

>>6038123
>Write in
>"Yes your excellency, the lady in waiting of lady Rose was indeed imprisoned by baron Crook, then my knight, who loved her, tried to free her against my wishes, I sent specialists to free both of them but they were not assassins. Judge me as you see fit, but I shall always help those in need."
Simply rewording this to be more 'truthful', because there is nothing we are at fault for here. The Baron had imprisoned Becky, Boehmond went to free her on his own whim and then when he was captured, we sent people to rescue him and anything that happened was just par for the course. What is he gonna accuse us of here exactly? If he tries to push the issue remind the councillor and the new Baron what Crooked did to most of Takeables court when they were brought here, that should shut the small jew up.

>>6038123
>"Jew that talks, mouth that lies. I do not know what this man is talking about but the small size of this man shows that he is not only a coward but a traitor as well, I would not believe him at all"

>>6038148
+1

>>6038123

>>6038123
>>"Jew that talks, mouth that lies. I do not know what this man is talking about but the small size of this man shows that he is not only a coward but a traitor as well, I would not believe him at all"

>>6038123
>>"Yes your excellency, the lady in waiting of lady Rose was indeed imprisoned by baron Crook, then my knight, who loved her, tried to free her, I sent specialists to free both of them. Judge me as you see fit, but I shall always help those in need."

>>6038148
+1