"I'm sure his lordship would appreciate any help when it comes to the fey, we do try to stay on their good side as much as possible." Tic said quietly "Lord Henry even set up a reserve for them up north." he pauses and looks over at Lord Henry then back to Tobias.

"Maybe your her true love and she will look after you" then gives his fellow halfling a wink.

Theold nods "It shall be done, I'll be glad to show my appreciation." Putting his hand to his chin he continues "Though I find it odd that its just one mad man."

Henry grins at Theold, "Who can tell what you will find in the wild woods?  The Swamp Witch, has been here since well before we came.  There is an old hermit who lives close to Oston, and a tiny village of exiles on the River Shrike.  All of them were here before us.  And, of course, Oleg and Svetlana -  who allowed us to use their trade post as our first base in the region"

"Ho, I'm not the marrying kind", laughed Tobias to Tic's riposte, "And not to one of the fey!"

"We will find what we find in the wild wood, Theold", he continued, sobering, "Let us hope it is one old mad man"

Theold nods at Tobias' answer. Sure they'll find whatever or whoever they'll find.
He himself, excuses himself and approaches the Viscount away from the others. "My lord,I've had a little time to think about it and I think opening a distillery is indeed the best thing for Westgate. Would you happen to know of someone who's renowend in this area for their brewing skills? I know enough about shepperding and a little about farming but distilling is beyond my graps for now."

"Well, the Roths deal with most of the decent drink around here.  I have a brewery for a local ale, but I think they have just about everything else ..."


OOC:  Brewing, and booze making generally, is one of those businesses that have some special rules.
http://rp.baileymail.net/doku....ems2:busorgs:brewing

Shifting his weight on another leg he raises an eyebrow "The Roth's? I've not heard of them before." He thinks about it for a moment before continuing "On a different topic, I've read that Westgate has a fort, manned by some of your own men? Would you be willing to sell it to me and placing my own people there?"

Henry looks quizzically at Theold for a moment, before he responds.  "Well, it is home to troops from the province, rather than my personal troops,  but if you want it, we can come to an arrangement.  If you repay the building costs of the fort (2bp), I will have it transferred to you."

Then he addresses the question of The Roths.  "You should always be able to find one of them at The Dragon's Den, here in Tusk.  Altogether there are four of them.  Dame Berta, Gedd, Wyn and his wife Winnie.  They arrived on the first ship to dock here from Mivon, that was a few years ago now, but they tell me they come from much further afield than that.  Since then, they have built quite a collecting of inns, taverns, breweries, wineries and even a distillery.  Sometimes I think that there would be nothing decent to drink in Midmarch, if it wasn't for the Roths."

Theold nods and looked in surprise at Lord Henry. "Indeed? I'll have to take a look around and talk to the people there." He taps his chin and thinks about it for a moment. "I'm still interested in ownership of the fort. It would not feel right to use someone else's fort. Though would you be willing to lower the price? It's been in use for some time and as a newly appointed lord of Westgate my financial situation isn't exactly rosy."

I believe I still have 1.2 BP which Theold would offer Lord Henry at once. Or maybe pay for the fort in 2 installments

Henry laughs out loud. "No, I don't mind holding on to the fort for a bit longer.  lets face it, I'll just have to build a new one somewhere else, to house those troops, anyway."


OOC:  I have bumped the Dragon's Den thread, so it should be at the top of the threads list now.

Domitius arrived at the Great Hall in his formal regalia, several members of his entourage in tow, he pulled out a scroll and began to read "Let it be known that we have appointed El'indre M'Taro as Knight Commander of the Sunsmarch chapter of the order, further we appoint her as commander of the Sunsmarch forces and grant unto her and her heirs the domain of Lakehold.  Furthermore we grant the M'Taro house the protection of House Solanos for as long as both houses hold true to their oaths. With that he rolls up the scroll and hands it to one of the chambers heralds before taking a seat at the table.

This message was last edited by the GM at 11:04, Sun 08 Jan 2023.

As everyone has returned at the same time, you are all invited to the Chapter Hall to report back on your expeditions.

Andalon rises to address those assembled in the Great Hall, glad that he has had time to bathe and dress appropriately for the occasion.

"Lord Henry, I am pleased to be able to report a successful outcome from the mission to Varnhold that you sent us on. It is not the outcome any of us anticipated when we set forth, for you sent us to go to Varn and make a trade arrangement with them, with Maegar Varn, to allow trade between Varn and Midmarch.

"I am sure that Pipre, Mariam and El have already reported back to you about what we found at Varnhold? All the people had vanished and the fort was occupied by a band of spriggans, who we managed to defeat.

"We found signs that there had been ongoing conflict between the Varnholders and the Nomen Centaurs from the plains southeast of Varnhold. The three ladies decided to report back here after Varnhold while Adoven, Ethankos, Cass, Marik, Kendrick, Jensen and I rode on to meet with the Nomen centaurs in hopes of finding out what happened to the Varnholders and perhaps even establishing better relations with the Nomen in the process.

"I am pleased to report that we were able to meet with their leader, Aecora, and won her trust by returning to them the great bow that the Varnholders had 'stolen' from them, and by the news that we had slain the leader of the spriggans, who were great enemies of the Nomen. By the way, their name, Nomen, reflects the female-dominated nature of that centaur tribe. There were very few males to be seen there at all.

"The Nomen knew nothing of the disappearance of the Varnholders but they did report sightings of a strange figure in a valley to the southwest where their tribe is forbidden to venture. Their legends report it as the burial place centuries ago of an enemy warlord called Vordakai and they are forbidden to go there for fear of reawakening that ancient warlord. The scout who reported the sightings was Xamanthe, daughter of Aecora, and she had gone back and was now missing.

"We followed that report to the valley in hopes of finally tracking down the Varnholders. What we found was an island in a river in that valley, with a maze of tunnels, crypts and the tomb of the ancient cyclops warlord Vordakai deep within that island. The Nomen were right to fear him, for he had ultimately become a fearsome type of undead called a lich, as we discovered when we finally penetrated the defences of his tomb to confront him. I believe we were fortunate to encounter him no more than a few months after his reawakening, for it appears his powers had atrophied somewhat during his centuries of sleep. He was still a formidable foe and stretched us to the utmost limit of our resources before we were finally able to slay him. I am pleased to be able to report that we also located and destroyed the phylactery that protected his soul and would have allowed the lich to regenerate and rise again if not destroyed.

"We found the bodies of a number of the Varnholders there, in his tomb. The lich had somehow captured them and brought them from Varnhold by magical means we do not fully understand. We found a total of 42 enchanted containers called soul jars, which may be the tools he used for that task. Each of those soul jars still contained the living soul of a Varnholder. We have freed those 42 souls and their bodies regenerated around their spirits and they live again as free men and women. Many have returned to their homes in Varnhold. Sadly, Maeger Varn and his household were among the victims slain by the lich.

"I understand that Lord Domitius is taking over control of Varnhold, now. I trust that he will be able to build upon the good relations we have established with the Nomen centaurs, so far. We did manage to rescue Xamanthe from the island, so that should help too."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:54, Mon 09 Jan 2023.

Once the fervor of Andalon’s report died down, Cass urged others to take up pronouncement of latest news. “The mission was quite more extensive than I believe any of us anticipated, and held many of us away for an extended period of time. I would be eager to learn how our compatriots fared on their own expedition in other parts of the land.”
This message was last edited by the player at 22:28, Mon 09 Jan 2023.

"And don't forget that damned eye." Kendrick growls.  Unusually, he is wearing a monks habit, rather than his normal finery, and he has a patch over one eye.

Dom looked concerned at the ob ious changes in Kendrick and determined to seek him out later.

Whilst our own group faced nothing so dore as a lich we did encounter a green drake that had been harassingthe farms near Ringbridge, it had a lair upon a mountain top in the ruins of a tower.

Then we discovered a lair of strange Mudmen on the shores 9f Lake Silverstep.  This was followed by a group of Obsidian Gargoyles before returning to Tusk.

Safiya listened to Andalon's report with great interest. "Indeed, our own travels seem quite mundane compared to what you went through."

Nodding to Safiya's remarks, Tobias commented much the same, "Indeed, the madman we had been tasked with intercepting had been dealt with by local hunters"

"Thank you" Henry responds,once he has heard the reports "lt appears that we will have the tasks ahead of us.  We must destroy that eye, if we possibly can, we don't want that acting as a magnet for anthing that thinks it is strong enough to take it.  I have long promised Adoven that we wil clear Candlemere Island, and I assume that Dom will want to check the area around his new, holdings. I will give some thought to how we can best achieve that.

Does anyone have any thoughts on that?"

OOC: Flying homes later today.  might take a couple of days to get fully back into the game.

Kendrick is the first to speak,  and there is great conviction in his voice.

"I want to help destroy the Eye.  Iomedae grants me the power to turn my Axe into a holy weapon, so I can finish what I started out to do. I have already lost one eye to that damned thing, and would have lost The Inheritor's favour had it not been for those that were with me.  I will sacrifice the rest of my sight, to ensure that I remain in her grace...  and I will not have it restored, unless by a priest of my own faith.  If she thinks I am worthy of sight, she will restore it to me."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:14, Sat 21 Jan 2023.

Cass bowed his head, feeling unworthy to look up at such devotion and sacrifice. ”You have heard Iomedae’s chosen speak. As harsh as a sacrifice is being offered, I think we would be wrong to pass by on the solution that it provides as well as a bringing one to such closeness to his deity in the process. I would stand in agreement that other solutions be put to the wayside and that Kendrick be allowed to act as he has felt led.”

Cass allowed his words time to take root within everyone present. It was no small thing that was being considered within these great halls. He would let others speak on the matter further if they wished, but he felt that he had had his say in these regards. So after an appropriate period of silence from himself, he spoke on the other matters presented.

“I am sure that Henry is aware that I am rather pliant to move in the direction that he feels is best for the realm as a whole. But I would like to suggest that in addition to the efforts to be put forth to solidify the various strongholds in the region that there are a number of diplomatic opportunities to be pursued with our neighbors.”

Henry looks up, interested in Cass's proposal.  "What do you have in mind?  I am always interested to hear proposals.  From any of you.  But as leader of the largest city in the region, the Lord Mayor's suggestions are particularly welcome."

“Our borders grow ever closer to the borders of others.” Cass explained. “Adoven’s establishment at the island tower and what I consider his burgeoning admiralty of the waterways bring us closer to Mivon and particularly Jovvox. Another diplomatic trip to those areas could prove beneficial. Senior Swordlord Domitius is establishing himself ever closer to his Aldori counterparts in Rostland as well as nearer to our honorable neighbors the Nomen. Le Maistre, Vallani, our good friends the Roths, and others have expanded north near New Stetven and Forts Drelev and Sarenko. And I think that there are serious matters to discuss with the River Kingdoms lest blades be our next form of interaction. I have also put consideration that it might be a good idea for representatives of our great free city of Tusk to meet with the representatives of the great free city of Restov. There may even be a chance to sit down with other august personages of Brevoy.”
This message was last edited by the player at 21:52, Sun 22 Jan 2023.

"is there anyone that you don't want to talk to?" Henry asks with a smile.


OOC: I will run, AT MOST, one diplomatic mission at a time  :)  I really can't handle more threads than that  :)
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 22:37, Sun 22 Jan 2023.