Warm lamplight pools over the armory table as King Hammon and General Rovan bend over supply marks and beast tallies. The clang of the hall feels far away, replaced by oil, iron, and the scratch of charcoal on parchment.
King Hammon
Our troops need more reach than simple bows give. Some should train harder with bows, and the rest should move to crossbows sooner.
General Rovan
Aye. The cliff paths and the wild edges ask for range, not courage alone. Better tools would spare lives.
King Hammon
And the forest folk nearby, the elves, have been friendly enough at times. If they can spare bowyers or old techniques, I would hear it.
General Rovan
That is sensible. Their craft may suit our grain of wood better than our own habits do. I can send a careful request.
King Hammon
We should also strengthen the beast patrols. If Getrin's gold can buy a breeding pair of dire moose, or a dozen dire goats, I want the castle to keep them.
General Rovan
Moose for burden and road, goats for numbers and bite. I like the shape of it. The lower stalls can be fitted for both, if the gold truly covers the purchase.
Rovan taps the empty stall sketches with one knuckle, already imagining lines of mounted bows and wary beasts under the cliff walls. The table grows quiet for a moment, waiting on Hammon's next word.
✓ Quest Accepted
Acquire stronger bows and crossbows for the castle
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure dire moose and dire goats for the castle
“I say, were on good terms with the elfs of the forrest so we should not take from there deep trees for bows, we should buy them instead. What do you think would be better way to spend the gold, on bows or dire beast, or a bit on both”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +0)
King Hammon
If we are on good terms with the elves, we should not cut deep forest trees for bows. We should buy them instead. What is the better use of the gold, bows, dire beasts, or a little of both?
General Rovan
Both, if the purse allows it. Bows sharpen our reach at once, while beasts multiply our strength over roads and ridges. I would spend first on bows and crossbows, then set the remaining gold toward a breeding pair or two.
General Rovan
Elven craft is worth paying for, and safer than stripping the hold's own forests bare.
Rovan slides one manifest aside and marks the bow line with charcoal, then circles the lower stalls for beast stock. The plan begins to take a cleaner shape, one part trade, one part stockyard.
General Rovan
If the elves can spare bowyers, I will send coin and a formal request. For the beasts, I would not overreach. Dire moose first, for hauling and road work. Dire goats can follow if the price stays honest.
General Rovan
A small, sure purchase is better than a grand promise that starves the hold later.
He taps the stall diagram again, then looks up from the papers, waiting for Hammon to settle the balance of the gold.
“I say, the elves dont mind if we take normal trees in a moddest amount but those dont make powerful bows that pierce dense armor for war, they make hunting bows we already have plenty of.”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled -1)
King Hammon
Normal timber is fine for hunting bows, but not for war bows that can bite through heavy armor. We buy the stronger work from the elves.
General Rovan
Just so. Local wood serves well enough for ordinary arms, yet elven bowyers shape stiffer limbs and truer draw. If we want armor-piercing weight, we pay for craft.
Rovan drags the charcoal from the bow line to a separate note, then writes a second tally beside it for elven purchase. The difference between common hunting gear and war-grade bows stands plain on the page.
General Rovan
Crossbows, too, if we can get them. Fewer made, slower to load, but hard-hitting. Better to buy a small number of real weapons than waste gold on timber that only repeats what we already own.
He shifts the stall sketch lower and circles the beast pens again, as if setting weapons and livestock into the same ledger of need. The plan is no longer vague, it has a route: coin for bows, then whatever remains for beasts.
General Rovan
I will send the formal request for elven bowyers and price the crossbows beside it. If the roads and purse both allow, the hold can take the stronger tools first.
Rovan sets the charcoal down and waits, the manifests held open between them, the next choice resting on the costs rather than the idea.
“I say, the young need a motivation to train range and master a bow early, what can we motivate them with, extra eggs, food, milk. If our youth can learns to fire bows at a young age they will be skilled at it by the time theyre strong enough to fire a war bow”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
King Hammon
The young need reason to train early. Give them better food, eggs, milk, something worth earning when they prove their aim.
General Rovan
A fair lure. Boys and girls will bend a bow longer if the reward is plain and the work is proud.
General Rovan
He taps the manifest with the charcoal, already sorting the idea into ration lines and training days.
General Rovan
We can post it by the yard, first clean shots, then a fuller share at supper. Eggs for the youngest, extra bread and milk for the steadier hands.
General Rovan
That will build habit before strength. By the time they can draw a war bow, the motion will already live in them.
Rovan nods once and turns the charcoal to a fresh corner of the page, writing a reward line beneath the bow orders. The plan settles into something the hold can actually feed and announce.
General Rovan
If you approve it, I will have the stores and quartermaster set the measures at once.
“I say, now that ethrosise has chosen intrest in this coast he will no doubt attract a lot more travelers. I can see many and many showing up, to view him. We should set up a public grounds outside our walls for viewing ethrosise and a new large outside inn and tavern out their in their own designated area”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +0)
King Hammon
If Ethrosise draws more travelers, we need a place for them outside the walls, with grounds to view him and a larger inn and tavern set apart for them.
General Rovan
A sound partition. Keep the curious beyond the curtain wall, where coin and mud can be managed together.
General Rovan
I will mark the outside yard for viewing and set the inn grounds beside it. Separate lanes, separate fires, less traffic at the gate.
Rovan drags a fresh line across the sketch, then splits the supply list with a hard stroke. The plan stops being a notion and becomes a worksite.
General Rovan
We will need stone, timber, and a road team first. The hold can host the traffic, but the terrain decides how quickly.
He lays a finger on the narrow approach outside the walls, where the ground must be leveled before carts and visitors can pass cleanly.
General Rovan
I can have the quartermaster name the labor and the first quarry runs today, if you give the word.
“I give rovan the okay on ranged and dire animals”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled -1)
King Hammon
Rovan, proceed with ranged arms and the dire beasts. Put the purchases on the hold's account.
General Rovan
As you command. I will write bows, crossbows, dire moose, and dire goats into the order.
Rovan’s charcoal pauses, then bites hard into the ledger. The weapons column swells, and the beast line gains its own careful marks.
General Rovan
Ranged patrols first, beasts after. The roads and stalls will have to answer to that sequence.
He flips the manifest and stamps the revision beside the quartermaster’s note, making the choice official for the hold.
General Rovan
With your leave, I will send for the bowyers and the beast buyers at once.
Quest Complete
Acquire stronger bows and crossbows for the castle
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Great→Superb
Quest Complete
Secure dire moose and dire goats for the castle
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Superb→Legendary
“I discuss the public ethrosise viewing grounds, i mention the large inn-tavern, stone or wood cavea to view ethrosise, walls and troops around the inn to keep it from being pillaged and crime kept under control and finally tent camping areas around the inn for the cheapest cost to visitors”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
King Hammon
I want the viewing ground raised in stone or heavy wood, with walls and watches around the inn. Keep it secure against pillaging and common crime. Set aside the cheapest tent ground beside it for those who cannot pay much.
General Rovan
Then the plan splits cleanly, noble seats, paid shelter, and camp plots under guard. I will set the stone and timber counts to match.
Rovan drags a fresh line through the sketch, boxing the inn yard behind a wall ring and marking a raised platform toward the sea road.
General Rovan
The cheapest tents go outside the wall but within sight of the gate. A watch line there will keep thieves honest.
His charcoal taps the margins, adding troop posts at the gate, the inn door, and the path to the viewing ground. The whole layout settles into a real fortress plan.
General Rovan
This is enough to begin ordering stone, wood, and posts. Give the word, and I send the requests to the yard masters.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the outer-yard construction orders
“I secure the order. I say this inn being outside could be pillaged easier if were ever sieged so dont use much of our absolute best lumber on it, or best decor”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
King Hammon
Keep the inn practical. Use stout, common timber and plain stone, nothing finer than it needs.
General Rovan
As you command. Strong enough to stand, humble enough to replace.
Rovan scratches out the richer notes and replaces them with a leaner tally, the price line dropping at once.
General Rovan
That frees coin for guard posts and road stone, which serve the hold better anyway.
He presses the amended order flat with one hand, then dots the stone, timber, and labor marks with final, certain strokes.
General Rovan
The request is ready. Your seal will send it to the yard masters now.
Quest Complete
Secure the outer-yard construction orders