Lilandria smiles at that last part, a typically unnerving sight. She has that man taken to her personal dungeon for interrogation. "I'll see to him right away. He doesn't look like this will take long."
Grigori looks frightened as he tries to figure out what is happening and what is about to become of him. At first glance, the Lady doesn't inspire the amount of fear that she is due, but he will find out all about that soon.
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You all have been given a tour of the prison that has been constructed of the old Keep. Walls that you went though previously have been repaired and much of the vegetation has been cleaned up. The Lady has even started a small garden, but you aren't sure you want to know what those little seedlings will be growing into...
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Later on, after you have been served dinner after being at the prison for roughly four hours, the Lady returns. Judging from her damp hair and change of clothing, she has likely bathed before coming to you. You can only guess as to what stained her earlier clothing.
"I believe that I have uncovered the information that you were seeking. The foolish bard Grigori is an agent of an even more foolish ruler, Irovetti, the Lord of Pitax, also a bard in his own right. Irovetti sought to spread chaos and dissent in your town with the aim of potentially overthrowing you and possibly paving the way for Pitax to annex the town and parts of your countryside. It seems Pitax is rather small and has no room to move to the north and the fledgling nation to the south appears too strong at the moment. Though Grigori does think that it is likely that agents were sent to that nation as well. It seems that Irovetti may simply move on whichever nation can be distabled first."
Othniel smiles broadly. "Many thanks, my dear. I'm glad you enjoy your work." Then, turning to Alexander, he says "My Lord, it seems we have several options. We could strike at Pitax immediately for their perfidy, but I think waiting might be better. On the one hand, we could strengthen our relationship with our neighbor by tipping them of to Pitax's machinations, or perhaps riding to the rescue when Pitax does invade. Of course, if they are not strong enough to fight Pitax off on their own, it might be better to offer our own protection to their citizens, once they see that their lords and ladies are not capable of defending them."
Alexander nods, I agree with your assessment. We'll sit on this information until you and Eduard think it might be put to use. Perhaps we should send some spies of our own to look for signs of future attacks.
Ok no more snacks, Alexander is going to be grumpy with a chubby owlbear.
Shmooples is sad...
Radomir narrows his eyes at the woman's words. He looks like he desperately wants to hurt someone. A lot.
Finnegan shakes his head at Andrea. "We should probably see if we can find any more cultists of Gyronna - Alexander and Radomir will handle training the owlbear."
Andrea will work with Finnegan to send spies such as the kobolds to other settlements to checks things out. Any midwives will also be interviewed before their services are accepted in a settlement.
"If that is where my skills are best suited, then yes, of course, I will train the owlbear."
Andrea taps her chin. That is a way we can both weed out potential spies and make sure of the quality of our people. The midwives must be interviewed and demonstrate their knowledge of their craft. Hmm...Magical truth spells to help detects the liars..
"We could ask Eduard to make some sort of magic item for our interviewers that will detect lies."
That sounds good, plus it can have other uses such as meeting with other nobles.
After you all have spent some time seeing to the upkeep of your kingdom, a messenger arrives from Restov.
The message reads that a band of trolls has been spilling out of the Greenbelt at the edge of your area and the Swordlords are willing to pledge more money and resources for your fledgling kingdom if you put an end to the threat.
If you question any of your allies in that area, the Lizardfolk will corroborate that trolls in that area are becoming more of a problem. Their numbers seem to be increasing and they are more willing to pillage any settlements they come across.
Andrea reads through the reports of the troll raids. Hmm... Do we have any information on numbers and any lairs of the trolls? Might this be another attempt by Grigori's patron to destabilize us?
"We shoudl take the torch to the lot of them. Disobedience and chaos cannot be tolerated within the bounds of this kingdom. Then, we should find Grigori and put him to the same end as his servants."
Trolls, Alexander says, with a sneer. A torch, indeed. We'll need to prepare. Mr. Rook, direct our scouts to learn their numbers.
"With pleasure. We need to get rid of such monsters before they destabilize the kingdom."
Finnegan directs the scouts to look to the South and determine the Trolls numbers and locations.
I doubt we have to worry about Grigori himself, Radomir. We'll need more than torches of course, plenty of fire.
”I doubt trolls could be part of anyone’s plot. They’re not organized enough for that. They wouldn’t stick to a plan without direct supervision and might give the game away for no reason.”
After a few days of scouting by your various allied races, a report is put together with all their gathered information and brought to your council chamber.
The rumor is that an angry nymph-queen has spurred a violent troll fighter named Hargulka to form up a band of trolls and allied creatures to rid these lands of all humans and their allies. They have just begun to send out their own scouting groups, trying to learn where all the human settlements are so that they know where to attack.
Nymph queen, that sounds like fey. I wonder if The Dancing Lady would know of her.
It certainly seems possible.
"Well, her keep is in that direction, so it can't hurt to stop in and ask while we go Troll hunting. I've heard tales that trolls can heal from even being cut up. Does anyone know if that is true, and if so, how to stop it?"
Othniel can ask, she misses you no doubt.
Didn't we encounter a dead unicorn long ago? Hmm... we'll need oil to burn the remains of any trolls, plus a way to make our weapons flame. I have a few flaming crossbow bolts left but we'll need more of those.
Alexander frowns, We don't necessarily need anything so elaborate. As long as something makes them burn, our weapons will work well enough as they are.
"Get some alchemist's fire. Once we got 'em down, we can douse them in that. Acid might be good, too. That burns when it gets on you."
"Scorching them from the earth will send a clear message to the other tribes: obey our laws and serve our will, or suffer judgement. Order will be maintained."
I can also temporarily summon small elementals to burn the remains.
Othniel will gladly do his duty for the country. Besides, it's a good time until you wake up the next morning.
After returning to the others and getting healed... "Our dear Lady says that she does know of one ancient and powerful nymph called Nyrissa, who is said to randomly roam the Stolen Lands working on some grand plan she keeps to herself. Also, supposedly she can kill a unicorn with a single word."
My own fire magics are limited, but I can also summon an elemental to assist us.
Very well, let us supply ourselves with things can can help against the trolls and head out and see what can be done.
Alexander, as usual, isn't as aware of his surroundings as his companions.
Andrea doesn't do stealth real well.
Radomir boldly walks through the underbrush, with his companions, keeping an eye out for threats to his lord.
Eduard will hang back behind in an attempt to compensate his inability to be quiet.
Finnegan quietly moves through the forest, making little noise, keeping an eye out for signs of anywhere trolls have traveled so he can find their lair. He isn't as alert to his surroundings as normal, however, because of his focus on tracks.
Andrea wonders if trolls would make good prey for dragons since parts could be sliced off forever.