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>>5482107

“Are you sure everything looks tidy?” You asked Tari as you had returned to your room for a quick break and a bit of rest.

“Not a wrinkle on your clothes or stains.” Tari said back to you as she checked your clothes.

“Hair?”

“Let me get the brush.” Tari said to you.

You sat down and let Tari begin her work. You had started to appreciate having straight well combed hair recently as it had grown past your shoulders.

“I briefly talked with Blackmoore.” Tari said to you. “He seemed content, the welcoming ceremony seemed to have gone well.”

“That is good to hear.” You said back to her. “But him being just content probably isn’t enough.”

“Then what are you going to do?” Tari said and asked you. “I am still sceptical if your plan even works.”

“I have to tread carefully, the man can change his mind really quickly.” You said to her. “But I think as long as I don’t cross him, he doesn’t have a reason to do it.”

“I hope you are right…” Tari said back.

You had to play your part well if you wanted to make Blackmoore think that the feast was a grand success and that he was in the spotlight. You wanted him to see you in as good a light as possible, as a reliable partner and as someone with whom he can cooperate with. Of course achieving that alone would be great, but you wanted to achieve that to ensure you can get your friend Taretha Foxton out of Durnholde and away from Blackmoore.

If that requires some asskissing, then so be it.

…

The grand feast was just starting as your knights and Malevus escorted you to the hall. Stepping in, the knights dispersed around the hall and Malevus followed as you walked past the rest of the guests. As you sat down next to Lord Blackmoore, she took her position behind you next to the wall. You had the room under a clear watch if something was to happen and Lord Blackmoore noticed it.

“Prince Alric, you brought your knights and you have your elf standing behind you.” Lord Blackmoore said to you as he watched the guests mingling with each other.

“I have to take my own security very seriously, after all I have a number of enemies that want me dead.” You said back to him and turned your head as you spoke. “I hope that doesn’t cause any problems?”

“Not at all.” Blackmoore said and waved your concerns away. “I understand your concerns, everyone who is at least modestly successful has enemies.”

“You are right Lord Blackmoore, but I don’t think everyone has someone who wants them dead and is quite serious about it.” You said to him as the band started to play.

This caught Blackmoore’s attention, he seemed to take your words quite seriously.

“Are you implying someone might have sent assassins after you?” Blackmoore asked you and continued. “Not might, they have sent.”

You didn’t know if Blackmoore knew about the Syndicate, if he was amongst those who were either told or if he had found out about it. Confirming his suspicion probably should be done, but should you give him anything more?

2/2

>>5482110

>Tell Lord Blackmoore about the Syndicate and your brother. Tell him that someone in the organisation wants you dead and that one assassin has already been stopped.
>You want to reclaim Alterac, the list of people who don’t want you to succeed is a long one and one of them is quite serious about wanting to stop you.
>The bandits you defeated are part of a larger organisation with deep roots. Partial truth, but Lord Blackmoore doesn’t need to learn about the Syndicate.
>Confirm the assassin, but don’t tell him anything else. Apologise for not telling more.
>Other, write in.

QM: Thread 18 of this quest starts here and as always if you have any questions about the setting, the quest, the characters, events that have happened etc, go ahead and ask them. I will try to answer them as well as I can without spoiling anything.

>>5482112
>>Tell Lord Blackmoore about the Syndicate and your brother. Tell him that someone in the organisation wants you dead and that one assassin has already been stopped.

Honestly I don't see much point in not telling him. Either he knows and us lying to him will not go well with him, or he doesn't and then it's better if we're first to tell him.

>>5482112
>You want to reclaim Alterac, the list of people who don’t want you to succeed is a long one and one of them is quite serious about wanting to stop you.
>The bandits you defeated are part of a larger organisation with deep roots. Partial truth, but Lord Blackmoore doesn’t need to learn about the Syndicate.

>>5482112
>Tell Lord Blackmoore about the Syndicate and your brother. Tell him that someone in the organisation wants you dead and that one assassin has already been stopped.
>You want to reclaim Alterac, the list of people who don’t want you to succeed is a long one and one of them is quite serious about wanting to stop you.
We know of the syndicate assasination plot. But ofcourse there could be more for instance the gilneas might want us out of the way.

>>5482112
>The bandits you defeated are part of a larger organisation with deep roots. Partial truth, but Lord Blackmoore doesn’t need to learn about the Syndicate.

>>5482112
> The bandits you defeated are part of a larger organisation with deep roots. Tell him that someone in said organisation wants you dead and that one assassin has already been stopped.
> You want to reclaim Alterac, the list of people who don’t want you to succeed is a long one and one of them is quite serious about wanting to stop you.
This information is new to neither the Alliance nor the Syndicate and it doesn't reveal any of our connections, the only inhibition I can think of is Alric's reluctance to talking about how this involves his family so I've combined the first and third prompts to display that.

>>5482112
>> The bandits you defeated are part of a larger organisation with deep roots. Tell him that someone in said organisation wants you dead and that one assassin has already been stopped.
>> You want to reclaim Alterac, the list of people who don’t want you to succeed is a long one and one of them is quite serious about wanting to stop you.
new thread good

>>5482112
>>Tell Lord Blackmoore about the Syndicate and your brother. Tell him that someone in the organisation wants you dead and that one assassin has already been stopped.

“The bandits I defeat in Strahnbrad Hills are part of a larger organisation with deep roots, and someone in that organisation wants me dead.” You said to Blackmoore with a voice barely above a whisper. “We have already caught one assassin and I know another one has been sent.”

“Who would do it then?” Blackmoore asked you as he thought about what you had said to him.

“I don’t know, but the list of people who don’t want me to succeed is a long one. There are people who oppose my goal of reclaiming Alterac.” You said to him.

Blackmoore seemed to continue to think what you had said and nodded then once.

“Stromgarde has wanted the lands of Alterac before and we haven’t heard about your relatives either.” Blackmoore said back to you. “Could it be one of them?”

“I cannot say, because I do not know.” You said and shook your head. Telling Blackmoore about the Syndicate and how your big brother was running it was something you didn’t feel comfortable telling him.

But he had the point regarding Stromgarde, they wanted Alterac and only King Terenas not agreeing on partitioning the land had saved it. That and Gilneas supporting the claim of your uncle Isiden Perenolde, who fled there and got the support of King Genn Greymane. You hadn’t heard about him at all in the nearly two years you have been on this journey, but you were fairly sure that he will at some point make himself known to you.

“I hope I don’t cause any problems to you Lord Blackmoore by telling you this.” You said to him.

“Prince Alric, It is not a problem at all. And if you want, I can alert the guards and make sure that they keep their eyes open.” Blackmoore said to you.

“If you feel that it would help, then please go ahead, but please avoid making a scene about it.” You said back to him and continued. “The guests don’t have to know or suspect anything being wrong.”

“You are right, I will let them know to be discreet about it.” Blackmoore said to you.

You gave him a polite nod and let the topic fade away as you watched as the rest of the guests arrived into the grand hall. Many of them had switched into more finer and elegant clothes and as the wine started to flow, the atmosphere had turned immediately more festive. And when Karramyn Langston did a quick pass past the table you and Blackmoore were sitting at, you knew that the feast would start properly.

"Thank you again to all of you for having come here." Blackmoore said after he had asked the band to stop playing. "I wish that everyone has a good time and that we can all celebrate the successes of Durnholde and Alterac."

1/2

>>5483475

There was a chorus of polite clapping as Blackmoore sat down and prepared to dig in on the food the servants had brought. As the band started to play again, he and you were constantly interrupted by guests who came to greet you one by one. Those who knew you or were more dignified stayed put, but many petty nobles did come to pay their respects.

You observed the crowd and tried to find where everyone was. Magistrate Maleb and Mayor Fowley were again together, Magistrate Burnside was talking with Lady Imswit while Langston was with the naval officers. Tari meanwhile had her hands busy with serving food and drink. You had promised to be with Blackmoore for a moment before you go to socialise with the guests, but should you stay a bit longer sitting next to him?


>Stay with Lord Blackmoore and engage in small talk about the feast and the gladiator games. If you can learn what to expect, it could help you to plan the coming days.
>Go speak with Maleb and Fowley. You could continue where you had stopped earlier today.
>Langston was with the unknown naval officers. Maybe go and learn who these men are.
>You hadn’t talked with Burnside yet. He is your neighbour and you could have a better relationship with him.
>Mingle with the petty nobles and save Blackmoore from being interrupted by them constantly. Maybe you could learn something useful.
>Other, write in

>>5482112
>Tell Lord Blackmoore about the Syndicate and your brother. Tell him that someone in the organisation wants you dead and that one assassin has already been stopped.

>>5483481
>>You hadn’t talked with Burnside yet. He is your neighbour and you could have a better relationship with him.

>>5483481
>>Langston was with the unknown naval officers. Maybe go and learn who these men are.
see what the officers are and have a chance at speaking nicely of blackmoore's operation in front of langston...

>>5483490
Please ignore this post.

>>5483481
>Langston was with the unknown naval officers. Maybe go and learn who these men are.

>>5483481
>You hadn’t talked with Burnside yet. He is your neighbour and you could have a better relationship with him.
Having that trade would be good

It is 2-2 between the naval officers/Langston and going to talk with Burnside. Could I have a tiebreaker or a new vote, I will write the update later today.

>>5484229
>>5483481
>Langston was with the unknown naval officers. Maybe go and learn who these men are.
Mystery box.

As you finished eating the small piece of boiled beef you had taken on your plate, you put away your cutlery.

“Lord Blackmoore, if you don’t mind, I will now go and mingle with the guests.” You said to your host.

“Well it is what we agreed Prince Alric, don’t let me stop you.” Blackmoore said back to you.

You stood up and gave him a slight bow. You didn’t have to do that, but maybe someone notices it as he definitely did. When you walked away from the table, you took a glass of wine from a passing servant. Blackmoore had invested in some high quality wine and drinking a few glasses of it wouldn’t hurt.

You passed Magistrate Maleb and Mayor Fowley and gave them a respectful nod before you sat down next to Langston facing the two naval officers.

"Prince Alric, nice for you to join us." Langston said to you.

"I have to introduce myself, I am Prince Alric Perenolde." You said to the officers.

"We know who you are Princrme Perenolde." The first of the two officers said to you. He was a short, round man with a bushy moustache.

"What my colleague is trying to say is that he is Captain Alphonse and I am Commodore Troubridge." The second officer said to you. He meanwhile was a tall, lanky man with a long beard.

Did someone send two officers who were complete opposites of each other here ad a rib? You wouldn't know.

"Pleasure to meet both of you." You said back. "I presume you would be from the Alliance Naval Base?"

"Precisely. I am going to command the ships there, while the Commodore commands the base." Captain Alphonse said to you. "It is good that finally Lordaeron has a military port on its southern shores."

"Lordaeron cannot rely in Kul Tiras forever." Commodore Troubridge said. "We have to have our own fleets and harbours."

"Challenging Kul Tiras? Is that your plan?" You asked them.

"With a trio of frigates? No, but it sends a message. Lordaeron will share the burden of keeping the seas free." Commodore Troubridge said. "Though it is not cheap."

"We were just talking about it. The amount of lumber you have bought." Langston said.

"Yes, the men need housing, palisade walls and towers must be raised, piers and warehouses had to be built." Commodore Troubridge said back to him.

"Terribly profitable for the traders." You said.

"It is, but the initial investment is worth it Prince Perenolde. Shipyards in Southshore are going to be building battleships in a couple of years." Commodore Troubridge said to you.

"And our job is to make that happen. I training the sailors and marines, while Commodore Troubridge handles all the logistics." Captain Alphonse said proudly.

"Battleships? Seems like Lordaeron is quite serious about this." You wondered aloud.

"We are and we were just talking about how Durnholde might be able to help us." Commodore Troubridge said back.

"Nothing major yet, but the sailors always need food." Langston said to you.

1/2

>>5484613

If they were this serious about the Alliance Naval Base, it could be another source of trade for you. Same time it was a sign of a stronger Alliance and Lordaeron presence in Hillsbrad. A strong Alliance could be a boon for you, but that would mean more soldiers around here that weren’t yours.


>Ask them about shipbuilding. Who owns the shipyards in Southshore and could Alterac use them?
>Trade is always a thing that interests you. Ask them what they require and see if Alterac could help them.
>How big of a garrison will be deployed into the naval base? How big will the base end up being?"
>Ask them what they have thought about Durnholde Keep? Hopefully the visit hasn't been a disappointment yet.
>Other, write in.

>>5484617
>Trade is always a thing that interests you. Ask them what they require and see if Alterac could help them.
>"Dawnholme has been exporting lumber for a while now, so chances are that you already used some of our goods."

>>5484638
>>5484617
support

>>5484617
>>5484638
Support.

>>5484638
Support
Money

“If Durnholde could help you, maybe Alterac could as well. Probably cheaper to source the supplies and materials you need from Hillsbrad instead of importing them from afar.” You said to the naval officers. “We have been exporting lumber for a while now, so chances are that you already have used some of our goods.”

“Interesting offer Prince Perenolde, we did realise that some of the lumber we bought from Tarren Mill came from Alterac.” Commodore Troubridge said back to you. “But we have bought more than enough lumber, what could Alterac provide us?”

“What does the Alliance Naval Base require?” You said back to him.

“Food, supplies for the ships. Can Alterac sell us rope and tar?” Captain Alphonse said to you. “The men need weapons, the cannons require powder and shot. Do you have them?”

While you didn’t really have food or basic supplies in excess, neither did you have rope or tar, but you knew who could provide them. Your trader Beric of Strahnbrad had been talking with the traders of Lady Katrana Prestor, the preliminary idea was that they could sell all sorts of naval supplies to Southshore and for the Alliance Naval Base.

“No, truth be told no. But I do have contacts and my personal trader Beric of Strahnbrad could source some of the things you need.” You told them and continued. “As much as it would be best for all of us, I don’t think Alterac or Durnholde can fill all your needs.”

“I came to the same conclusion Prince Alric.” Langston said to you. “Lumber, food and small-time trade yes, but anything else?”

“We will keep that name in mind Prince Perenolde.” Commodore Troubridge said. “If we could get what we need from here, we wouldn’t have to ship them from our own stores elsewhere.”

Your discussion with the naval officers and Langston continued after this point mainly on the smaller things the Alliance Naval Base requires. With so many marines and sailors going to be stationed there, the need for basic things like candles and lamp oil was quite immense. While you couldn’t really provide food for them, the cottage industries of Dawnholme could maybe find some profit attempting to sell their goods to them.

Nothing was agreed upon in the end, but this had given you a one more alternative and a potential source of income. You would have to write a letter to Beric telling him about all this and what you had learned about the naval officers and the needs of the base. Telling him that information could give him an edge in the future discussions.

1/2

>>5485511

As you talked with the officers and Langston, you kept making observations about what was going on around you. With the wine and food flowing, the surrounding chatter had intensified and you saw that Blackmoore had left his seat to talk and walk amongst the guests as well.

Mayor Fowley was nowhere to be seen, maybe his stomach problems had flared up again, and Magistrate Maleb had moved to talk with some of the petty nobles. Magistrate Burnside meanwhile was talking with Blackmoore. As the band had started to play music more suitable for dancing, some of the guests had gone to invite the ladies for some dancing. As the knights and nobles went to dance, both Captain Alphonse and Commodore Troubridge excused themselves. Dancing and feasting weren’t their cup of tea.

“Prince Alric, do you think Alterac and Durnholde could provide them what they require? You seemed so confident when you mentioned your trader to them.” Langston asked you and took another glass of wine. You had noticed that he had already downed a pair of glasses, he was drinking a bit too fast.

“As I said, I have my contacts and even if I can’t help them, it doesn’t hurt attempting to help them.” You said to him and shrugged.

“Well, what next? Dancing?” Langston asked you and he gave a look towards some of the ladies and maids waiting for someone to invite them for a dance.

Well you liked dancing and now you had a chance to dance a bit. It was a fun way to spend time and you had time to spend. There were three more days to spend in Durnholde and the second grand feast on the last day, you could take it easy for one day. Or you could go talking with someone else.


>Dancing, it is fun. Go invite someone for a dance and take it easy. You could take the rest of the evening off and relax a bit.
>Go talk with Magistrate Maleb and the petty nobles. Mention the Alliance Naval Bases need for supplies to him and that maybe you could help with that.
>Magistrate Burnside was talking with Lord Blackmoore. Go see what they are talking about.
>Decline about dancing and keep talking with Langston. Maybe Alterac and Durnholde could have a closer relationship?
>Other, write in.

>>5485515
Let's go see Blackmoore and Burnside.

Making a deal with Langston could maybe lead to something substantial but I'm not sure if it would have required impression on Blackmoore in timeframe we require.
(I wonder if we were feeling particularly perfidious we could convince Langston to back us by implicit promise we'd "share" Taretha if he came visit. But that doesn't seem like something we'd offer even as a lie.)

>>5485515
>Magistrate Burnside was talking with Lord Blackmoore. Go see what they are talking about.

>>5485515
>Magistrate Burnside was talking with Lord Blackmoore. Go see what they are talking about.

>>5485515
>>Decline about dancing and keep talking with Langston. Maybe Alterac and Durnholde could have a closer relationship?

>>5485515
>>Magistrate Burnside was talking with Lord Blackmoore. Go see what they are talking about

“Maybe later, I can’t exchange business with fun yet.” You said to him.

"It is your loss then." Langston said and shrugged. "Who knows how this night will end."

Langston left you and you didn't stay put for long. You had talked with nearly everyone, but not with the leader of Hillsbrad Fields. And as you noticed Magistrate Burnside be with Blackmoore, you could talk with the both men at the same time.

As the guests started to dance, you joined the two men and interrupted whatever they were talking about.

"Prince Alric, it is nice to talk with you." Burnside said to you.

"Magistrate, the same applies to you as well." You said back and continued. "But I hope I didn't interrupt the two of you."

"Not at all Prince Alric. Lord Blackmoore was just telling me how important this feast is to him." Burnside said to you.

"Really?" You asked.

"It would tarnish my reputation as a host if it were to fail." Blackmoore said, his voice carried a tint of slur as the man was getting drunk. "Isn't that right Prince Alric?"

"It would be a mistake to make oneself a fool when surrounded by a lot of important people." You said to him. "But I don't believe the feast to be a failure, when I say that Lord Blackmoore has been a good host to me, I truly do mean it."

Blackmoore laughed and clapped you on your shoulder.

"I try not to disappoint my guests." He said and grinned.

"While we might have our differences and disagreements, I have no reason to lie about how good of a host he is." You told Burnside.

"And I won't deny that, clearly Lord Blackmoore has put some effort in this, the wine isn't cheap at all." Burnside said to you.

"I will leave you two to talk, I think the two of you know each other from before." Blackmoore said and finished his glass of wine. "It was nice to talk with you Magistrate Burnside."

"As it was to talk with you Lord Blackmoore." Burnside said to him and gave him a respectful bow. The two of you watched as Blackmoore picked another glass of wine and went to talk with someone else.

"The flattery towards him doesn't suit you at all Prince Alric." Burnside said to you. He had dropped his polite and cheerful tone he had been using when talking with Blackmoore.

"I didn't say a single lie." You said.

"A truth can be as flattering as a good lie can be. I do not know what you are planning Prince Alric, but I wouldn’t flatter that man." Burnside continued as he watched Blackmoore talk with someone you didn't know. "Do you know what you are doing?"

Burnside clearly didn't like or respect Lord Blackmoore. Neither did you, but you had a role to play and flattering Blackmoore was part of it.


>There is no harm in telling the truth and you didn't tell any lies.
>Drop your act for a moment to confirm that you have a plan. Burnside should be able to catch that.
>Ask Burnside why he thinks flattering Blackmoore is inadvisable?
>Tell Burnside about the market fairs and the on-going trade between you and Tarren Mill.
>Other, write in

>>5486018
A flattering truth is certainly preferable to a slanderous lie. Former can help build bridges, the latter can only foster strife and misunderstanding.

>>5486018
>"I'm not flattering him for personal gain, if you are worried about it. Just trying to a help a friend get out of a bad situation."
>Tell Burnside about the market fairs and the on-going trade between you and Tarren Mill.

>>5486018
>Drop your act for a moment to confirm that you have a plan. Burnside should be able to catch that.

>>5486018
>Drop your act for a moment to confirm that you have a plan. Burnside should be able to catch that.
He should get it as hes doing basiclaly the same thing.

>>5486018
>>Drop your act for a moment to confirm that you have a plan. Burnside should be able to catch that

>>5486018
>Tell Burnside about the market fairs and the on-going trade between you and Tarren Mill.

Invite Hillsbrad to participate.

Check

>>5486018
>>Drop your act for a moment to confirm that you have a plan. Burnside should be able to catch that
>Tell Burnside about the market fairs and the on-going trade between you and Tarren Mill.
Both of this We need that trade

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"Truth is a powerful tool, but the effect of it depends on who is listening." You said to Burnside. "I think he likes to hear this kind of truth, don't you think?"

You had kept quite a neutral expression through this discussion, but you let it drop briefly as you spoke to Burnside. For a moment a frown could be seen on your face.

"I hope Lord Blackmoore can be as good of a host to you, as he has been to me." You said to Burnside and gave him a slight smile.

"I see, well I hope you succeed in whatever you are planning." Burnside said. "But enough of that, I need to ask how have the Lyion and his men have fared in your service?"

"Well enough, they missed the battle, but they have been very useful at keeping up the patrols." You said to him.

"Good. It is good that he found employment." Burnside said.

"How are the rest? I spoke with Sir De Tomas, he told me that the forest bandits had returned back to the farms." You told him.

"That is correct Prince Alric, most did return, but some had too much bad blood and decided to not return. Lyion found employment as a mercenary, some moved elsewhere and well… some decided to stay as criminals." Burnside said to you.

"Have you caught them?"

"They act as a reminder to the others by hanging by the road." Burnside said back.

It was good that Hillsbrad Fields had managed to solve their issues with the forest bandits, but you still had your doubts. The death of Baron Haart and his weapon shipments to F.C were still unsolved and if Magistrate Burnside couldn't provide enough work for the forest bandits, the problems could flare up again.

The discussion shifted towards trade and business. You told Burnside about the increase in cooperation with Tarren Mill and you told him about the market fairs. While he didn't agree on anything immediately, he did think that the idea was worth investigating. Maybe if you could present him with some hard numbers, maybe he could be persuaded to join you and Tarren Mill.

…

Magistrate Burnside was a polite man and a really pleasant partner to have a conversation with. Which is why it was a shame when he decided to retire for the night. You bid him good night and after he left, you took a quick look of what was going on.

Some of the older guests and those who didn't care about dancing, drinking and eating had already left. Even with fewer people in the grand hall, it didn’t harm the atmosphere at all. Far from it, it felt like people had started to loosen up more.

You took another glass of wine from a random passing servant and thought about your possibilities. The band continued to play and more guests joined the dancing. Taking a sip of the wine you thought about joining in as well, but you could also stay out and let other's dance as you watched them.

1/1

>>5486957


>Join in with the dancing and have fun. You feel like you have talked enough for the evening.
>Lady Imswit is having a conversation with Sir Gravis about something. Go see if she has had any luck yet?
>Miss Elizabeth Maleb seems to be alone. Go ask where her father is and what she has thought about the feast?
>Lord Blackmoore has taken a break in talking with the guests, go talk with him and see what he thinks about the coming few days.
>Other, write in.

>>5486960
>Lord Blackmoore has taken a break in talking with the guests, go talk with him and see what he thinks about the coming few days.

>>5486960
>>Join in with the dancing and have fun. You feel like you have talked enough for the evening.

>>5486960
>>Lord Blackmoore has taken a break in talking with the guests, go talk with him and see what he thinks about the coming few days.

>>5486960
>Lord Blackmoore has taken a break in talking with the guests, go talk with him and see what he thinks about the coming few days.

The dancing can wait, you have a task to accomplish and a plan to pull through. As much as you would have wanted to stretch your legs and have some fun, you had something else to do.

Approaching Lord Blackmoore who had taken a seat near the wall, you gave him a nod and took a seat next to him.

“Lord Blackmoore.” You greeted your host.

“Prince Alric.” Blackmoore said back to you. You easily could hear in his voice how he was drunk, but he was still in remarkably good shape and condition. “I thought you would be already dancing with the others.”

“I did think about the dancing, but then I saw you and decided to come to talk with you.” You said to him and sipped your wine.

“Then what is in your mind?” Blackmoore said and insisted. “And don’t let me keep you from having fun.”

“There is the Internment Camp visit tomorrow and the day after are the gladiator games. I just wanted to hear about them, what to expect?” You asked him.

“We always show the nearest camp to our visitors and Langston is handling that.” Blackmoore told you. “I have seen the camp so many times that I don’t bother going there this time.”

“And the games?”

“Gladiators and fighters from all around the world, some beasts, a few surprises and so on.” Blackmoore said. “With our ‘special attraction’ unavailable, we have had to put a bigger emphasis on the undercard. And of course there is gambling, bets and wagers.”

Blackmoore didn’t seem that enthusiastic about the next two days. The loss of Thrall as his prized gladiator must have hurt the attendance and therefore the profits. He would probably have to find a new headlining act or go for something else that could be the big draw.

“I am waiting to see the gladiators. It’s something you don’t see everyday after all.” You said to him and took a sip of the wine. “Alterac never had a tradition for gladiators either, there were no arenas built for it.”

“Gladiators are a very regional thing. Stromgarde, Durnholde and Stratholme being the big three.” Blackmoore explained to you and finished his glass of wine. “And they can be very profitable.”

Blackmoore looked at his now empty glass and put it aside as he looked at his guests who were dancing, talking to each other and drinking. They are having a merry time. And amongst the crowd he spotted Taretha and it gave him an idea.

“Prince Alric, come to my study and let’s drink together until we are done and bring Taretha with you.” Blackmoore said to you enthusiastically. “I think that could be fun. Or do you have something else in mind?”

1/2

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>>5487643

Blackmoore stood up as he said this to you. He had a wide drunken smirk on his face and he was pretty drunk, but seemed still to be in relatively good shape. Being a high-functioning alcoholic seemed to work in his favour. You too had managed to garner a good buzz thanks to the wine and while you detested that man, drinking with him could get you his trust. You just wondered how Taretha would fit into all this? Was Blackmoore suspecting something? What if you didn’t take Taretha with you, would he suspect that something is wrong then? It did seem to be an innocent idea from him, but you couldn’t be completely sure about it.


>Accept his offer and go invite Taretha to join the two of you. This could be the way to win his trust.
>Take his offer, but let Taretha continue her work as a servant. You and Blackmoore can drink in private, just the two of you.
>Decline, you are going to go and dance now. You can drink with him some other evening.
>Other, write in.

>>5487644
Hmm... this could be an opportunity to negotiate with him, but a risky one. And if he proposes something particularly lurid, what then? Turning him down probably throws our original plan down the toilet.

Oh well, no way to go but forward.
>Accept his offer

only question is, what manner of precautions we take. There's non-negligible risk of treachery.

>>5487644
>Take his offer, but let Taretha continue her work as a servant. You and Blackmoore can drink in private, just the two of you.
I'm worried he might want to share her.

>>5487684
+1

>>5487644
>>Take his offer, but let Taretha continue her work as a servant. You and Blackmoore can drink in private, just the two of you.

>>5487644
>Take his offer, but let Taretha continue her work as a servant. You and Blackmoore can drink in private, just the two of you.
There's no need for Taretha, let us enjoy our company through cards, chess and other games.

No update today and probably not tomorrow either. I am way too busy to sit down and write currently

>>5489041
cool
thanks for the update appreciated

“Not a bad idea Lord Blackmoore, but do we need Taretha or anyone else to pour the drinks for us?” You said to him. You didn’t want to get Taretha involved in this.

“I guess you are right.” Blackmoore said back to you and seemed to be a bit disappointed.

“And besides, it is better if we can drink in private. Why would we need anyone to disturb us?” You continued.

Blackmoore thought about your words and then shrugged.

“You are right, do we truly need women to pour us the drinks?” Blackmoore said. “I will ask someone to bring us beer, I have had enough of this wine.”

Blackmoore walked away from you and somehow managed to walk in a straight line. You took a few deep breaths and stood up as well. It seems that it is time to drink.

…

After having excused yourself from the feast, you only had Malevus and Empleton to escort you to Blackmoore’s study. They would stand guard and make sure no one would interrupt the drinking.

“Good, you came.” Blackmoore said as you stepped into his study.

“I had to organise my escort first.” You said and gave him a smile.

“Ahh yes, the threat against you.” Blackmoore said and went to pilfer a shelf of his.

It took him a moment, but he found what he was looking for.

“Rum from Stromgarde.” Blackmoore said and poured two small cups of it and gave one cup to you. “To Durnholde and Alterac.”

“To Alterac and Durnholde.” You said back and watched as Blackmoore downed it in one go. You followed his example and did the same.

The rum made you grimace, it was really strong stuff, but you managed to avoid having to cough.

“This is really strong, by the Light.” You said to Blackmoore.

“Good stuff isn’t it?” Blackmoore said and refilled the cups. He then downed his cup just as fast as he had downed the first one. “There, appetisers are over.”

Blackmoore went and sat down by the table with a keg of beer on it. He then poured a pair of mugs of beer and pushed the second one across the table. He didn’t have to say anything as you sat down opposite of him and took the mug before drinking the second cup of the rum. You were sure that the rum would hit quite hard in a few moments.

“So are we going to just drink beer?” You asked him.

“Yes and you can tell me how your battle against the bandits went?” Blackmoore said to you and leaned forward. “You know I have four orcs in my name and I would like to hear your stories.”

1/2

>>5491829

Well telling him about your battles or going through the multitude of enemies you have defeated wouldn’t be hard. It has been only two years since the start of your journey and the first battle against the kobolds was still fresh in your mind. One thing though you had to decide was how much would you be drinking? You presumed that Blackmoore expects you to match him in the beer after the two shots of rum, but would you do it? Blackmoore was way more drunk than you were, so you could match him and outlast him, but would it be smart to drink yourself silly in an attempt to one up Blackmoore? Or would a drunkard like him think less of you if you drank less than he did, think that you are no fun, not manly enough and unsuitable drinking partner?


>Match Blackmoore in drinking the beer while telling your war stories. Drinking can be fun and you are somewhat sure that you can outlast him.
>Drink at your own pace while telling the stories. You aren’t trying to get completely hammered while attempting to keep up somewhat with Blackmoore.
>Consume the beer in moderation. This isn’t a competition and you don’t want to be wasted or have a killer hangover tomorrow.
>Drink way less and keep your wits about it. It is not wise to lose control of yourself.
>Other, write in.

QM: Sorry about that. Wild times at work with long days, the bane of free time.

>>5491833
>>Consume the beer in moderation. This isn’t a competition and you don’t want to be wasted or have a killer hangover tomorrow.
besides we're gonna be talking so we can get by with occasional sip

when we win glory, we want to be sober to be able to properly appreciate it after all.

>>5491833
>Drink at your own pace while telling the stories. You aren’t trying to get completely hammered while attempting to keep up somewhat with Blackmoore.

>>5491833
>>Consume the beer in moderation. This isn’t a competition and you don’t want to be wasted or have a killer hangover tomorrow.
Never know....

Everything in moderation, and that includes beer even in situations like this. You had told Malevus to drink in moderation and you should avoid having double standards.

So as you went through your journey to the present day one battle and fight at the time, you didn’t attempt to keep up with Blackmoore. Instead you drank with a steady, but deliberately slow pace. A sip here and there between the events you told him.

Still it didn't save you from getting even more drunk. The rum hit your head really hard and while attempting to drink in moderation, you ended up being drunk. Though not as drunk as Blackmoore was. He was properly sloshed.

"So we took them all as prisoners." You said to him slowly in an attempt to keep your words straight.

"All of them?" Blackmoore asked in pure dismay.

"Well not those who were dead." You pointed to him.

Blackmoore looked dumbstruck for a moment before he exploded into laughter.

"Can't take… dead bandits…" He managed to say between his laughter.

"Well you could, but what's the point?" You continued.

"Exactly! What is the point!" Blackmoore said back and raised his voice. "That… that was a good story."

"It was a battle." You said back as you didn’t know what to say to him.

Blackmoore filled his mug and topped yours to be full again. You were astonished how the man was still operational and not passed out.

"Modest. You are too modest Prince Alric." He managed to say to you as he slurred the words somewhat. "It was a great victory! Victory worth celebrating! So celebrate it, drink drink!"

You did as told and took a long sip of the beer. Blackmoore laughed and slapped the table hard which nearly startled you.

"You...you drink carefully. When we fought the orcs… we celebrated each victory." Blackmoore said to you. "But you keep things… under… control."

"Everything in moderation." You said back to him.

"Except the battles and women!" Blackmoore said and laughed. "That many battles… yet you are so young. And the women… I have heard the rumours, one in every town!"

You gave him a polite smile and sipped your beer as you waited for him to continue.

"When I was of your age… I had wenches. With gold and glory from battles… you could get them. Those were good times." Blackmoore told you after having regained some composure. "But you, you are a Prince. I bet you could have anyone you wanted."

Blackmoore leaned forward and he had a wide grin on his face.

"How have you liked her? Filled your needs… satisfied you every night?" Blackmoore asked you.

He was talking about Taretha and the way Blackmoored looked at you, he expected an answer of some kind. He really thought the rumours were true and him giving Taretha to you had ended up with the two of you becoming lovers. Maybe you should confirm his suspicions and lean in to them as he seems to keep your supposed reputation as a lady killer as a good thing. Or would that be smart, giving fuel to the rumours?

1/1

>>5492392


>Thank Blackmoore for sending Taretha to you and tell how good she has been. You have been thoroughly satisfied.
>You do like her and your needs have been filled. Leave the details to his imagination.
>Taretha has been lovely, but hint that you have someone else you love more than her.
>Keep things vague enough, but tell Blackmoore that you like Taretha a lot.
>Decline from answering. One shouldn't brag about things like this.
>Other, write in.

>>5492395
>"She is beautiful, and lovely company. She always makes sure that the nights spent in Durnholde are refreshing."

>>5492395
>>You do like her and your needs have been filled. Leave the details to his imagination.

>>5492395
something along those lines, >>5492483
which I suppose amounts to leaving things to his imagination.

I wonder if we'd make a good warlock with contracts heh

We need Blackmoore to be convinced that his plan is working and he has an advantage (in a way, it's true although not in the way he imagined...)
Problem is, how do we get him to let us take his toy away? We'd need him to believe it's to his advantage to let us move her family out of his physical control.
He already knows we take value of our word seriously which means it may be enough of an assurance for him, but by the same token he could use this to try and wrestle a promise from us we cannot give him.

You knew you had to answer and after you took a sip of the beer, you gave Blackmoore a faint smile and talked.

"She is beautiful, and lovely company. She has always made sure that the nights spent in Durnholde are refreshing." You told Blackmoore and continued. "She is lovely, I don’t have a single bad word against her."

You could see Blackmoore’s grin widen before he laughed and leaned back on his chair. He seemed to accept what you said completely, believe it all. The funny thing was that technically you hadn’t lied to him. Taretha was beautiful and you had always enjoyed his company. You liked her a lot.

"She is special… someone worth having around. She is ob… obed… obeying." Blackmoore succeeded in saying to you.

"Obedient." You helped him.

"Yes, obedient!" Blackmoore said. "She won't complain… not a bit. You just take her when you want."

Blackmoore filled his mug and topped yours again before he stood up and took a few shaky steps away from the table.

"Stand up, let us toast." Blackmoore said to you.

You followed his example, pushed yourself up and took your mug.

"Let us toast… for Taretha who is lovely." Blackmoore said and nearly finished his mug.

"For Taretha who is very lovely." You said and sipped your beer.

Blackmoore started leaning slowly towards left, but caught himself before falling on the floor. Though his mug wasn't as lucky and it fell, spilling the remaining beer on the carpets.

"I… I think this is enough for today." Blackmoore said with a tone of defeat in his voice.

"It was fun to drink with you." You said to him. It really was a good time to stop, you weren’t sure if you could have continued drinking for a much longer. The combination of alcohol and it already being late started to be a bit too much.

"Yes… you told good stories, but go now and have Taretha to… keep you and your bed warm." Blackmoore said to you and grinned. It was easy to see what he meant. "I will now go to sleep."

Blackmoore waddled away from you towards his bedroom. You took one more sip of the beer before putting the mug down. The walk to the door out of the study went quite well. You were drunk, but not that drunk to wander left and to right.

When you opened the door, you found Malevus and Empleton standing guard and waiting for you.

"Prince Alric, you look…" Malevus started to say.

"Tired and drunk." You said to her and let your act that you had kept up with Blackmoore to drop. "I am going to have a hangover tomorrow."

"How much did you drink Prince Alric?" Malevus asked you.

"In moderation, but maybe a mug or two too many." You said to her and let your shoulders to drop. "Alright, escort me to my room. I need to sleep."

…

You let them to walk ahead of you while you concentrated on walking straight and not having to use the walls for support. When you reached your room and waved away the concerns Malevus had on your well-being, you let your escorts go and entered your room. It was past midnight.

1/2

>>5493217

"Evening Tari." You said to her as you closed the door behind you and locked it. "You are still up?

"I was waiting for you Alric." Tari said to you as she walked to you and gave you a light hug. "I heard that you had left with Blackmoore."

"Yes, he asked me to drink with him." You said to her. "You had kept the hearth warm?"

"I did, it is very cold outside." Tari said. "But how did it go? The drinking that is?"

You went through the events of the night and told Tari what Blackmoore had asked you about her and what you had replied. Same time as you told her all this, you threw off your finer clothes and put on a normal shirt. You also drank plenty of water, to prevent the worst of tomorrow's hangover.

"I cannot believe it. You told him that and he believed it." Tari said and was a bit shocked as she sat down on the bed and covered her face with her hands. "I can’t believe it, your plan is working."

"I asked you for a chance to try." You told her.

"And I didn't believe you…" Tari said and let herself fall on her back.

You let Tari to lay there in her own thoughts as you sipped water for a moment.

"But shouldn't we sleep, otherwise I am going to fall asleep on this chair." You said to her.

Tari gave you room to get into the bed and after you successfully managed to get under the blanket, you closed your eyes.

"Good night Tari, we can talk more tomorrow." You struggled to say to her.

"Good night Alric." Tari whispered back to you.

Moment before you fell asleep, you felt Tari reach for your hand. Then you fell asleep, holding her hand.

…

You woke up early, maybe a bit too early. Tari was still asleep and you didn't feel that good. A bit of light came into the room from a window which made you to realise that those who want to go see the Internment Camp would be leaving in a couple of hours if not sooner.

You sighed deeply. You had no idea who would join Langston on the tour of the camp, but being there could be beneficial. But at the same time you just wanted to sleep the hangover away. Besides you could then talk with Tari and take the day easily, maybe you could talk with the guests who remained in the Keep?


>Get up and clear the hangover away by joining the tour of the nearest Internment Camp. Fresh cold air should help you a lot.
>Sleep the hangover away and talk with Tari. Then go and see who have remained in the Keep.
>Other, write in.

>>5493219
>Get up and clear the hangover away by joining the tour of the nearest Internment Camp. Fresh cold air should help you a lot.

>>5493219
>Get up and clear the hangover away by joining the tour of the nearest Internment Camp. Fresh cold air should help you a lot.
Air is good, stretch our legs n' all.

>>5493219
>>Get up and clear the hangover away by joining the tour of the nearest Internment Camp. Fresh cold air should help you a lot.

>>5493219
>>Get up and clear the hangover away by joining the tour of the nearest Internment Camp. Fresh cold air should help you a lot.
Good

>>5493219
>Get up and clear the hangover away by joining the tour of the nearest Internment Camp. Fresh cold air should help you a lot.
Remember to also eat some food.

You groaned as you sat up. The sudden movement made a throbbing pain hit your head and you just wanted to fall back into the bed. But you had to get up if you wanted to join the people leaving for the tour of the Internment Camp.

You stood up and tested your legs as you stretched your back. The sudden activity forced you to close your eyes as the headache was a constant reminder of the drinking of last night.

Tari shuddered as the cold air in the room touched her as you had managed to pull the blanket off her when you stood up. She looked so serene and innocent sleeping right there and you carefully covered her before you started to eat a light breakfast of whatever you could find in the room.

You didn’t dare to wake Tari up and you let her sleep as you pulled on your clothes and took your winter jacket with you. The headache and generally not feeling that well pushed aside the idea of wearing your armour for the day. Sure you were more vulnerable without the armour, but your winter clothes were just a way more comfortable right now.

"Alric, where are you going?" Tari asked you as she had woken up.

"The tour of the Internment Camp." You said to her as you made sure you had everything with you. "You should sleep Tari."

"But you are the one with the hangover?" Tari asked you and pulled the blanket off her. "Shouldn't you be sleeping it off?"

"Nah, it will be fine. A bit of fresh air should clear it away." You said and waved her concerns away. "We can talk later, after I get back from the camp."

"Alright." Tari said and pulled the blanket back over her. "I'll be waiting then."

Have a nice day Tari."

"You too Alric."

…

"Good morning Malevus, Sir Gravis." You said to them as you sat down with a plate of bread, bacon and eggs in front of you.

"Good morning Prince Alric, we didn't expect to see you up this early." Sir Gravis said to you. They just like you had arrived in the mess hall to eat a proper breakfast.

"There is the tour and I need to be there." You told them as you dug into the food. Princely manners were thrown away for a moment as you started to gobble the food down.

"I will gather the knights." Sir Gravis said as he stood up and left the table, leaving you and Malevus alone.

"Did yesterday evening go well for you Prince Alric?" Malevus asked you after a while.

"It did." You said to her, keeping the explanation short on purpose.

1/2

>>5494148

"But was it worth the hangover Prince Alric?" Malevus continued.

You gave her a curious look as you chewed the food.

"Hopefully it was." You told her.

Malevus shrugged slightly. She would probably learn about your plan at some point as she already knew about you and Taretha.

…

The cold winter air brushed your skin forcing you to pull the silk scarf you had gotten from Calia higher. The courtyard of the Keep was full of sleighs and horses with the guests and their escorts preparing for the ride to the camp.

Your knights had prepared your horse Epona and having mounted her, you gave a look if you could spot anyone familiar. On horseback you could see practically everyone and instantly you spotted a few familiar faces having joined the tour. Langston of course was the one leading it, but you also spotted Sir Foecourt amongst the guests. The two naval officers had also joined the tour as had Lady Jandice Barov, who you hadn’t seen yesterday at the feast. The ride to the Internment Camp would take a while and you could join with someone and escort them. It would be a good chance to talk about issues or about business.


>Langston, join him and make yourself seen by everyone. You and him probably have a lot to talk about.
>Sir Foecourt, a petty noble like him could give you more insight into the matters of Durnholde.
>Lady Jandice, she hadn't yet presented the new terms of Strahnbrad Hills to you and she could be pleasant company during the tour.
>The naval officers, you could continue your talks with Captain Alphonse and Commodore Troubridge about the naval issues.
>Ride alone surrounded by your knights and try to defeat your hangover. That is what you want to achieve.
>Other, write in.

>>5494149
>Langston, join him and make yourself seen by everyone. You and him probably have a lot to talk about.

>>5494149
I suppose
>Langston, join him and make yourself seen by everyone. You and him probably have a lot to talk about.
is for the best both for business and because he's probably used to talking to people with hangover.

>>5494149
>>Langston, join him and make yourself seen by everyone. You and him probably have a lot to talk about.

Waving your hand as a signal for the knights and Malevus to follow you, you rode past the other guests to the front of the line where Langston was waiting for everything to be ready.

"Good morning Prince Alric." Langston said to you and seemed particularly miserable within his heavy wool coat. "A long night?"

"Hmmh." You sighed as a confirmation. "It was, I was drinking with Lord Blackmoore."

"Ahh, that does explain why you look tired." Langston said to you. "Lord Blackmoore can be a heavy drinker."

"Tell me about it." You said and chuckled. "How did your evening go?"

"Ehh, it was fine." Langston said and immediately deflected away from it. "We will be leaving as soon as everyone is ready. Will you ride with me Prince Alric?"

"I can ride with you. Maybe we can talk about something." You said back to him.

Seems from the way Langston deflected away from the last evening that whatever plans he had, they didn't bear any fruit. You wondered if he had attempted to woo someone over and the end goal of him bedding a servant girl hadn't worked out? Whatever the truth was, this did bring a bit of joy to you.

…

Having left Durnhold Keep, the caravan of sleighs and people on horseback turned towards north. The cart path was somewhat clear so the horses didn't have to trek through heavy snow which made the pace you were travelling faster than what you had expected.

As you rode with Langston next to you, he continued talking with you about quite mundane things. Basic comings and goings, what small time rumours there has been, how the trade has been and so on. Langston was the one who spoke the most as he had realised that you weren’t in the most talkative mood today.

"Prince Alric, if you don’t mind, could we talk in private?" Langston asked you suddenly. "We can ride a short distance ahead of the rest."

"We can." You said and signalled your knights to not follow you.

"Good, then please follow me." Langston said to you.

He took his horse and rode a short distance ahead of the rest. You followed him and caught up when he slowed back to the normal pace.

"What do you want to talk about? What is so private that my knights can't hear it?" You asked him as you had no real idea what it could be.

"I need your help Prince Alric." Langston said to you.

"Help? In what?" You said back to him.

"I want to marry Lady Imswit's niece." Langston said to you. "But Lady Imswit wants a matrilineal marriage and I can’t accept that, I won't throw away my family name."

"You want to marry Hilde Imswit and you want my help in that?" You asked Langston as you were quite baffled about all of this.

"Yes, well first the betrothal and then the marriage." Langston said to you. "Prince Alric, I am asking if you could talk to Lady Imswit about it and try to turn her head."

"I am not sure about that, would that even work?" You asked him.

1/2

>>5494540

"Probably not, but that is why you could talk with Lord Blackmoore as well, get him on board with the idea." Langston said to you. "And of the two of us, you are the Prince and… you are better with women."

"Why haven't you asked him, he is your liege and you are his right-hand man?" You asked him as you couldn’t see why Blackmoore wouldn't listen to him.

"Because he doesn't always listen to me." Langston said and was frustrated. "But you Prince Alric, Lord Blackmoore has been speaking how reliable you have been and I think you have his ear. So he probably listens to you and takes you seriously."

"You want me to talk first to Lord Blackmoore and then ask Lady Imswit if she was willing to marry her niece to you?" You asked Langston and continued. "And why Hilde Imswit, why not someone else with whom you don't have to go through this hurdle?"

"Yes, in that order preferably." Langston told you. "And because… I like Hilde, she is shy, but very polite. Besides, she is a future noble lady and while I could marry one of the servant girls, it isn't politically advantageous."

As strange it did seem, Langston actually liked Hilde Imswit from the way he spoke about her. The big issue here was that Langston wouldn't agree to marry her matrilineally, without which Lady Imswit wouldn't agree to proceed with it. Her mission was to ensure the continuation of her family and not to marry off the current sole heir without making sure the future children are born as Imswits and not as Langstons. You weren't sure about this at all, why would you help him?

"I can see that you are hesitating so I wish to offer my favour to you. Not one, but two favours if this succeeds." Langston bargained with you. "I will speak with Lord Blackmoore and use all my power to make sure Durnholde and Alterac will be friends forever."

Would you do it as that was a quite big reward? Attempt to get Lady Imswit to turn her head and agree with the proposal with help of Lord Blackmoore? Or was this just something that wasn't your concern and not your thing to meddle in?


>Agreed to speak with Lord Blackmoore about Lady Imswit and then attempt to have her agree to marry her niece to Langston.
>You can speak with Lady Imswit about it. You can try, but you won’t guarantee being successful.
>Decline politely, this doesn't concern you and political marriages in Durnholde aren't your thing to solve.
>Other, write in.

>>5494546
>You can speak with Lady Imswit about it. You can try, but you won’t guarantee being successful.
>Could you not propose to create a new branch family, Langston-Imswit? Unless you also are your family's scion, of course.
I think that's a thing that happened, but I don't know much about it.

>>5494546
supporting >>5494554
We can talk about it and maybe spitball some ideas but at the end of the day we can't coerce them.
And there may be merit to the idea of a Langston-Imswit family. It's undeniable that children look to both their parents, and in the end may yet decide to feel closer to one line or the other no matter what their parents agreed on in the first place.

>>5494546
>>Agreed to speak with Lord Blackmoore about Lady Imswit and then attempt to have her agree to marry her niece to Langston.

>>5494554
>>5494546
support

>>5494554
sure support

You were a bit sympathetic towards Langston. You had a pretty good idea how difficult it would be to get a permission to marry someone, and Langston now was facing those same hurdles. You thought how talking to Blackmoore could help you, but it could also give the idea that Blackmoore was getting involved in business that wasn't his. That was better to be avoided, a Lord having his fingers in the private businesses of his vassals wasn't the best look.

Inadvertently your thoughts went to Calia, how would the marriage between you and her go? How could you get the permission from King Terenas or would you just have to marry her without the permission? You didn't know.

"Prince Alric?" Langston interrupted your thoughts.

"Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts." You said to him. "It is not an easy situation."

"It is not, but it is worth trying." Langston said back.

"I will talk with Lady Imswit, but I can't guarantee being successful in getting her to agree." You said to Langston.

"Thank you Prince Alric." Langston said and gave you a deep nod.

"Though have you thought about combining the two houses? Langston-Imswit, this way neither of the families would disappear." You asked him.

"That is actually a good idea! Why didn't I think about that." Langston said back and seemed enthusiastic about the idea. "That way Lady Imswit maybe could agree to this."

It wasn’t a bad idea, a bit of a compromise, but maybe something that could work. You thought about the role of Hilde Imswit in this, she would have to marry Langston if her aunt agreed to this and while you were sure that she wouldn't have to live in poverty, you weren't that sure of the quality of the husband. You disliked Langston, he was a hard worker and someone who kept Durnholde Keep running, but he also spread rumours and was jealous towards you for having Taretha offered to you. There was an air of unworthiness around him.

Maybe you could just tell Lady Imswit about these plans and not take Langston's request seriously, but on other hand the rewards he promised were tremendous. But were they worthy of tying the life of a young girl to a man, whom you disliked?

You would have to think about it later.

…

The Internment Camp was full of activity as the guards and other servants raced to help and escort the guests into the barracks and the commander's house upstairs of the large log house.

Hot mulled wine was served and even though your hangover was receding, the warmness of the drink made it worth it. As you sipped the wine, you walked across the room and looked at the hearth where Major Remka had thrown the letters Tari and Thrall had exchanged. You thanked the Light in your mind for their illiteracy, because otherwise Tari would have been caught.

1/2

>>5495285

Walking to Langston who now was in high spirits, you stood next to him and allowed him to handle the specifics of the tour. Langston explained that as he was speaking, the guards were counting the orcs and then the guests could move in and see them.

Truth to be told, there wasn't much to see about them. Lethargic green brutes who sat on their own faeces and didn't attempt to do much at all. Frankly you felt a bit sorry for them in a strange way. The mighty enemies of the whole human race having ended up like this?

…

The smell wasn't as bad as the cold and snow had frozen the excrements and piss. Still some of the more finer guests turned around and headed back after seeing the orcs milling lazily about and smelling the awful smell.

You continued walking through the camp with Malevus right behind you. Snow had covered the huts and faint traces of smoke came out from them as orcs huddled next to each other for some warmth.

"You human." Came a deep soft voice by the one of the huts. "Can you tell me something?"

You turned to face the one talking and recognised it to be an older bearded orc, with deep red eyes. The old orc was sitting on a small log and was shivering from the cold.

"Have you heard any news of the orc who escaped?" The old orc asked you. "The one who was here."

Why would the old orc know about Thrall? Did the old orc talk to him before Thrall's escape from this camp?


>Tell the old orc that there has been no news, no sightings, nothing about the escaped orc. Thrall had disappeared somewhere into the mountains. There is no harm in telling the old orc this.
>No news of the escaped orc and then continue walking. It is better to not talk with the orcs.
>Just keep walking, the old orc doesn't need to know anything about Thrall.
>Other, write in.

>>5495287
>No news of the escaped orc and then continue walking. It is better to not talk with the orcs.
We are in public, and given our family and speech about Thrall, it's best to not be seen talking with orcs.

>>5495287
>>Just keep walking, the old orc doesn't need to know anything about Thrall.

Telling them anything about Thrall would encourage them to escape themselves.

>>5495287
>Not that I heard. Why are you asking? Was he important to you, or just that he escaped?
Guiltily scurrying away could be worse optics than actually trying to get some information back from the old orc.

>>5495287
>>5495382
support.

>>5495287
>>5495382
Support, sounds good

"Not that I heard. Why are you asking old orc?" You asked the orc back. "Was he important to you, or just that he escaped?"

Malevus gave you a curious look as you decided to speak with the orc.

"No news? No one ever has anything." The old orc said to you.

"I asked you a question old orc." You said back to him.

"Curious, I am just curious." The old orc said to you. "Now leave me be."

"No, you are hiding something and I would like to know what. So humour me, just like I humoured you." You said and crossed your arms.

The old orc stared at you with his deep red eyes before letting out a sigh.

"I met the orc, Thrall, when he was brought here." The old orc said to you.

"So you met with Thrall? That is why you were interested in him." You said.

"Yes, you seem to know Thrall." The old orc said.

"I know his story." You said back and you saw how the eyes of the old orc flared up.

"Thrall asked questions regarding us the orcs." The old orc said. "So I told him what he wanted to hear."

"What did you tell him?" You asked.

"Human, why do you want to know?" The old orc asked you.

"Curious, I am just curious." You said back and smiled.

The old orc snorted and straightened his back.

"Alright, I will tell you some of what I told Thrall." The old orc said and started to speak. "Once before we were the proud battle-hungry Horde, we were individual clans. And in those clans were those who knew the magic of wind and water, of sky and land,of all the spirits of the wild, and they worked in harmony with those powers. We called them ‘shamans’ and until the emergence of the warlocks, their skills were all we knew of power.”

The old orc spat on the ground and with the first rousing of any kind of passion in his voice, he spoke.

“Power! Does it feed our people, raise our young? Our leaders held it all themselves, and only the barest trickle dripped down to the rest of us." The old orc snarled. "They did something. I do not know what, but once we were defeated, all desire to fight bled out of us as if from an open wound.”

"And now you are in the camps sitting in your own piss and shit." You said to the orc. "Except the ones hiding in the mountains within caverns and lairs."

“The only one I have heard tell of is Grom Hellscream." The old orc said. “He remains undefeated. His people, the Warsong clan, are somewhere north of us in the mountains. That is all I can tell you. Grom has eyes like me, but his spirit still resisted.”

You knew the stories of Grom Hellscream and of his clan that has successfully avoided getting found and caught by the Alliance. It seemed very likely that Thrall decided to try and find the Warsongs to join with his race, the small portion that is still free.

"This is what I told Thrall." The old orc said to you. You were quite sure that it wasn't everything he told Thrall, but it was better to not pry too much.

"Hmmm, thank you." You said back.

1/2

>>5495692

"Now human, leave me be." The old orc said and put his head down. He wasn't interested in talking to you anymore.

You left the orc alone and started to walk away from him. Malevus seemed to want to talk about something, but didn't say anything. Maybe later she would tell you what was in her mind.

…

"You talked with the orc for quite long time." Langston said to you.

"The orc complained of cold." You quickly lied to Langston. "Asked if they could get more firewood."

"The cold is good for those brutes." Langston said back.

"But if they freeze to death, you are out of work." You said and chuckled.

"Good point Prince Alric." Langston said and laughed. "I will have the guards throw a few more pieces of firewood for them."

The tour had finished and the guests were eating sandwiches. The orcs had been presented to them and the guests had seen how vigilant the guards were. The tour seemed to be a success, at least Langston was happy about it.

When you were ready to leave back to Durnholde Keep, you thought with whom you could ride back. There was plenty of land to cover and it was a perfect time to talk with someone.


>Langston, stay with him and talk about the Internment Camps and orcs. Continue showing yourself next to him.
>Sir Foecourt, a petty noble like him could give you more insight into the matters of Durnholde.
>Lady Jandice, she hadn't yet presented the new terms of Strahnbrad Hills to you and she could be pleasant company during the tour.
>The naval officers, you could continue your talks with Captain Alphonse and Commodore Troubridge about the naval issues.
>Malevus had something in her mind. Talk with her and ask what she has thought about Durnholde this time.
>Other, write in.

>>5495694
>>Malevus had something in her mind. Talk with her and ask what she has thought about Durnholde this time.

>>5495694
>The naval officers, you could continue your talks with Captain Alphonse and Commodore Troubridge about the naval issues.
We can talk to malevus later.

>>5495694
>>The naval officers, you could continue your talks with Captain Alphonse and Commodore Troubridge about the naval issues.

Jandice would be better handled apart, and with Malevus we can talk in private as well.

>>5495694
>>Sir Foecourt, a petty noble like him could give you more insight into the matters of Durnholde.
Why not, perhaps we can learn something more useful. Or have his respect ? Then again rumors might create problems, even for relationships or talking.

We will have to arrange to travel with Jandice, once the feast ends. Invite her sometime in Dawnholme, so we can talk and discuss the new deal her family made. Preferably we should say it before the feast ends.

I am going to let this vote to continue and I will write the update later this evening. But meanwhile I would like to have a roll.


>1d10
>Best of three, taking the second roll

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>5496598

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>5496598

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>5496598
Light bless you alric.

Rolled 4 (1d10)

the happening draws nearer...

>3

Give me a roll regarding it.


>1d10
>Best of three

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>5496974
Oh boy

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>5496974
ho boy light please bless alric

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>5496974

The return journey back to Durnholde Keep had started and you excused yourself and left Langston alone in the lead of the caravan as you wanted to talk with the other guests and now would be a really good chance to do so. And you found Captain Alphonse and Commodore Troubridge chatting with each other when you rode to them.

“Prince Perenolde.” Commodore Troubridge said and greeted you. Captain Alphonse opted to just give you a nod.

“Gentlemen.” You said. “Did the tour entertain you?”

“It was Prince Perenolde, it had been awhile since I had seen orcs.” Troubridge said back. “To see them like this makes our sacrifices worth it.”

“They should have been executed after the war.” Captain Alphonse said. “Though seeing them helpless like this, does bring a bit of joy.”

“That is good to hear, Lord Blackmoore has put a lot of effort in keeping the camps operational. And the audit didn’t find anything either.” You told them.

“Can’t disagree with that, King Terenas was thorough in ordering the audit.” Troubridge said to you.

Now that you had kissed a bit of Blackmoore’s ass, it was time to talk about something else.

“As you might know, I recently campaigned in Strahnbrad Hills and I claimed a sizable portion of it. And that portion borders the Darrowmere River.” You said to them. “Alterac once had a navy that patrolled the river and the lake.”

“And now you are thinking of building a new navy.” Troubridge said.

“Well, let’s not get that far as I know building a navy is a very expensive business.” You said with a smirk. “Mostly I am interested in knowing where you stand in this and how difficult would it be to traverse the river?”

“The bridge over the river is your biggest obstacle.” Alphonse said back. “Firstly you need a ship whose mast can be unstepped, and then the ship's draught must be shallow enough to not hit any rocks.”

“Captain Alphonse is right. Our ships can’t travel upstream, but we don’t need to. Our frigates and battleships are ocean going vessels.” Troubridge continued.

“So small ships only and you or the Alliance wouldn’t have anything against it?” You asked.

“Anything smaller than a frigate is not a threat to us." Alphonse said.

"Prince Perenolde, acquiring naval vessels, ocean-going ones, could start an arms race which you wouldn't win." Troubridge continued. "The Alliance takes its naval supremacy really seriously."

"Is that a warning?" You asked.

"No, just a matter of fact." Troubridge said and continued. "I don't mind telling you Prince Perenolde all this because I want you to know your spot and limitations. The moment Alteraci navy is reborn, expect it to be countered by us or by Kul Tiras."

1/3

>>5497025

It was a warning, but a good one. Acquiring frigates or battleships would attract attention, but anything smaller than that wouldn't be a threat to the Alliance. Pair of small riverine ships could be useful to have to patrol Darrowmere River, maybe that could be the way to go around the mountains and approach Strahnbrad from the north or to open a direct trade route to the north?

…

>7
>3

You had continued talking with the naval officers for a while, but you had left them midway to Durnholde Keep as you had plenty to think about.

You could talk with Malevus later and you thought about inviting Lady Jandice to visit Dawnholme. It would be better to talk about the terms there and not here in Durnholde. It would also be beneficial to show her your accomplishments and make it sure that Lady Jandice and the Barovs treat you as a strong partner and not as someone they can toy around with.

You had also thought about what the old orc had said. The orcs had 'shamans' who could control nature? You would have to consult Eligius and Lady Nalice about it, they probably knew more about the subject.

It had started to snow and the wind started to pick up. At first it was just a light breeze that shook snow from the trees, but the closer you got to Durnholde Keep, the more the wind picked up. And when you could see the Keep, the wind was already so strong that it made travelling on horseback difficult, the cart path had started to be filled with snow and everyone huddled inside their robes and coats to stay warm.

A proper snow storm had suddenly enveloped you.

Langston was first inside the gatehouse, but you opted to stay behind and watch as the sleighs and rest of the riders got in. When the last sleigh was in and you were the only one outside, you rode in and the guards pushed the heavy gate closed.

The walls protected the courtyard from the worst, but the wind and snow still got in. Servants and guards frantically guided the guests in and moved the horses into the stables. When you got in, you found many of the guests being tended by servants as they stripped wet cloaks and coats off.

"That was sudden, the weather was so good earlier today and then suddenly." You said to Langston and Blackmoore who had come to see the commotion.

"Prince Alric, did everyone get in?" Blackmoore asked you. He seemed to have recovered from whatever hangover he could have had and looked quite fresh.

"I was the last one in before the gate was closed." You told him.

"That is good. Langston, make sure that the guests are all fine." Blackmoore ordered him. "I will see that the Keep is ready for the storm."

Blackmoore cursed the storm as he walked away, leaving you to stand there with Langston.

"Well, let’s get to work." You said to him.

"Wait, you too Prince Alric?" He asked you.

"Yeah, I won't be idle. Now come, we have work to do." You said.

2/3

>>5497027

>9

The guests that were with you on the tour had all been moved into the grand hall where it was warm. Amongst them were some guards and servants that had been helping you at the courtyard, but had lacked proper clothing. Even though most had their winter clothes, they weren't ready for a snow storm and the freezing winds that had felt like they could strip flesh off bones.

Frankly neither were you ready, but you could wait. You passed them blankets and served them hot tea or mulled wine. Those guests who had stayed in the Keep and more servants, Taretha included, had come to help you. As you poured hot mulled wine into cups, Taretha passed them for those who needed them.

It took you a while, but in the end everyone had something warm to drink and they had blankets given to them so that they could warm up. The guests seemed happy and understood the situation. A snow storm could hit suddenly and they were lucky to get inside into safety and warmth.

You could sigh in relief as it wasn't an easy job tending to all the guests and soldiers. There were maybe over one hundred people in the grand hall that had required some help. And now you can concentrate on yourself. Your clothes were damp from the snow and sweat and freezing wind had taken a toll on you. You could feel slight tingling on your cheeks, nose, ears and fingers. A clear sign of a light frostbite, but thankfully it wasn't a serious frostbite.


>Look for yourself. Go change into a fresh, dry set of clothes and get yourself warm. You can talk with Taretha at the same time.
>Go talk with Lord Blackmoore about the snowstorm. In your experience, a snow storm in Alterac can last days and it has been a strong winter already.
>Make sure that the rest of the guests are alright. Stay in the grand hall and talk with them.
>Other, write in.


QM: The rolls now were reversed from the usual. 7 was how well Blackmoore had recovered, 3 was the weather roll and 9 was how successfully did everyone get in.

>>5497032
>Make sure that the rest of the guests are alright. Stay in the grand hall and talk with them.
Princely duties

>>5497069
>>5497032
Actually, if we get sick it's probably going to be a whole seaon of us sitting in a bed.
Changing to
>>Look for yourself. Go change into a fresh, dry set of clothes and get yourself warm. You can talk with Taretha at the same time.

>>5497032
>>Go talk with Lord Blackmoore about the snowstorm. In your experience, a snow storm in Alterac can last days and it has been a strong winter already.

>>5497032
>Make sure that the rest of the guests are alright. Stay in the grand hall and talk with them.

>>5497032
>Look for yourself. Go change into a fresh, dry set of clothes and get yourself warm. You can talk with Taretha at the same time.
Staying in wet clothes is not conducive do good health.

You have to look after your own well-being, having damp clothes is a sure way to catch a cold and be bedridden for several days if not for weeks if the illness is a bad one. And you really wouldn’t want to catch the cold here in Durnholde. So you told your knights where to find you if someone was looking for you.

Malevus escorted you and Taretha to your room and stayed outside as you locked the door.

“Tari, can you start the fire while I take these off?” You said to Tari as you started to take off your coat.

“I can, just a moment.” Tari said to you. “I washed your clothes, I was extra careful and they should be dry before the evening is here.”

She was right, your clothes that you had bought in Stormwind were hanging on a line across the room.

“Thanks Tari.” You said as piece by piece you took off your clothes and hung them next to your finer clothes on the string Tari had strung across the room. Thankfully your braies were dry so you didn’t have to be completely naked while you dried yourself with a towel, while avoiding rubbing the skin with the frostbite.

Tari was quick and soon there was a fire in the hearth and you sat down in front of it as Tari sat on the bed. You noticed that she was avoiding looking at you, but from time to time her eyes went through you, stopping by your chest and the scar.

“A gnoll caused it, a spike went through my cuirass and into my chest.” You said to Tari, otherwise she wouldn’t stop staring at the scar. “Malevus then stuck her fingers into the wound and healed it. That is why it looks like it does, the flesh knitted itself back together.”

Tari was shocked and she couldn’t avert her eyes from the scar.

“How can you be so nonchalant about it?” Tari asked you and couldn’t believe what you said to her.

“Well, because I am alive? Malevus saved my life and I am eternally grateful for her because of it, but do I have to be worried about wounds of the past?” You said.

“No, but… forget about it.” Tari said and sighed.

“I can’t worry about events that have happened, they are in the past. What would I gain from dwelling on the battle where I nearly died other than a muddled mind?” You said as you stood up and went to pick a fresh shirt. As much as you would have enjoyed letting the warmth of the hearth warm your body, with Tari staring at your chest, you thought that not letting her see it could get her to think about something else.

“How did your day go? Anything other than just washing my clothes?” You asked Tari.

1/3

File: Taretha_Foxton.jpg (62 KB, 434x826)

62 KB JPG

>>5498038

“Not much has happened. After I got up, I washed your clothes and then returned to my other duties.” Tari told you as you returned back to the chair, now with the shirt on. “And I talked with Blackmoore.”

“Oh, what did you talk about?” You asked.

“Well he was hungover, but he seemed pleased. He asked the usual pleasantries and asked if you were… satisfied and comfortable last night.” Tari told you. “I just nodded as I didn’t know what to say and he just accepted it.”

“That sounds good, Blackmoore seemed to be pleased and content just like you said.” You said back.

Tari nodded and stayed silent for a moment as you threw more logs into the fire.

“Alric, I need to apologise.” Tari suddenly said to you with a sad tone in her voice.

“Apologise for what?” You asked her.

“I have been so wrong about this… I didn’t trust you or accept your help before or even a couple of days ago.” Tari said and continued. “And now I see that your plan is working and I didn’t believe it.”

You didn’t say anything as Tari took another chair and set it up next to you before sitting down. You waited for her to continue as the two of you just watched the flames eat the wood away.

“After I talked with Blackmoore, I just came here and thought about everything.” Tari said and turned to face you. “I have been so wrong about everything. I am sorry Alric, I am sorry for causing you to go through all this. Instead of trying to help Alterac to grow, you have been helping me.”

“There is no need to apologise, because I am doing this as it is the right thing to do. One should help their friends and those who they care about.” You said to Tari and looked into her eyes. “And I care about you, I care about you a lot and I want you to understand that as much as I hate this, I hate it even more to see you sad and suffering.”

You took hold of her hand and continued.

“I have already talked with many of my neighbours and started talks with others and given ideas for the future.” You said. “Those talks can help Alterac, but that doesn’t happen overnight. And most importantly, I want to help you and as you said, my plan is working. Blackmoore thinks his plan is succeeding, but not in a way he is imagining it.”

“I… I will trust you. Please by the Light let your plan work.” Tari said and squeezed your hand. “I won’t say a word against it anymore.”

“Thank you Tari.” You said.

“No, no. Thank you Alric.” Tari said and tears started to appear in her eyes.

“Come here.” You said and pulled her closer for a hug.

Tari wept softly on your shoulder as you caressed her hair. She was a troubled woman, someone who was a victim of a horrible man and who through abuse couldn’t see a way out. But now, she had realised that she had a way out and she would just have to trust her friends to help her.

2/3

>>5498043

You had to untangle yourself from her to throw a few more pieces of wood into the fire. Tari wiped away her tears and she seemed relieved.

“Blackmoore thinks that we are lovers, that I am your mistress. The rumours and the talk will spread, so I need to ask you something.” Tari asked you.

“What is it Tari? We can’t do much to stop the rumours.” You said to her.

“We can’t, but I need to ask if you have a lady friend or if you are in a relationship? What will they think about it, what will they think when they hear about the rumours, that you have a mistress?” Tari asked you and continued. “I don’t want to cause any more trouble to you or to your friends Alric”

That reminded you, you hadn’t told Tari about you and Calia. Tari didn’t know about your relationship with her and how much you loved Calia. You were sure Calia would understand when you tell her the truth and most of your friends probably wouldn’t believe the rumours in the first place. But what if you have to keep up the appearance of having Tari as your mistress, would their opinions change if you don’t tell them?


>Tell Tari about you and Calia. Calia would understand the situation you are in and Tari doesn’t have to worry about it.
>You have someone special, but Tari doesn’t have to worry who it is. Your relationship with Calia is supposed to be a secret and the less people know about it, the better.
>You don't have anyone at the moment. It is a lie, but it should avoid getting Tari to worry even more about the rumours and the situation.
>Tell Tari about your other friends as well, Tari doesn’t have to be worried about them either.
>Other, write in.

>>5498046
>>You have someone special, but Tari doesn’t have to worry who it is. Your relationship with Calia is supposed to be a secret and the less people know about it, the better.
we're already liberal enough with the secret and Taretha has enough to burden herself as it is.
I wonder if there would be harm in telling her that we're on good terms with Jaina as well, though it would probably be of little benefit to her.
And Uther was also sympathetic to her plight but was impotent to do anything about it iirc.


huh... by the way, wouldn't it be funny if the storm was Thrall's diversion? We did just learn he was interested in weather control... nah, that would be absurd. He was a fighter, not a magic user.

>>5498046
>You have someone special, but Tari doesn’t have to worry who it is. Your relationship with Calia is supposed to be a secret and the less people know about it, the better.
>Tell Tari about your other friends as well, Tari doesn’t have to be worried about them either.
>"I do love someone, a person I plan on marrying, but it's a complicated situation because of politics. While I trust you to keep not tell anyone, I'm pretty sure Langston is one of the rumormongers, and I don' want to shackle you with yet another secret."

>>5498046
>You have someone special, but Tari doesn’t have to worry who it is. Your relationship with Calia is supposed to be a secret and the less people know about it, the better.
>Tell Tari about your other friends as well, Tari doesn’t have to be worried about them either
"The rumors will end with the passing of time, and in comparison to what I accomplished they mean little. My friends and my people, don't consider any of them true. The ones that are spreading them are fools, or my enemies. If the rumors become more than a nuisance, i will make sure they end."
"For now i have only tolerate them, same for their rumormongers."
"Let's talk about something more happy, what you want to do in Dawnholme ? Blackmoore will not be able to hurt you there, and your family will be safe."

>>5498065
>the way, wouldn't it be funny if the storm was Thrall's diversion?
The weather in Alterac is fierce and harsh in winter. But natural storms could still be influenced by powerful magic users perhaps ? Still winter is the no warfare season for a reason, and i doubt influencing storms is easy.

>>5497032
>You have someone special, but Tari doesn’t have to worry who it is. Your relationship with Calia is supposed to be a secret and the less people know about it, the better.
>Tell Tari about your other friends as well, Tari doesn’t have to be worried about them either.

I enjoyed the two write-ins, so I've combined them whilst making some alterations and grammatical corrections.
>"I do love someone, a person I plan on marrying, but it's a situation made complicated by politics. While I trust you to not tell anyone, I don't want to burden you with yet another secret."
>"The rumors, however, will end in due time. Those who know me wouldn't believe any of them and, as far as I've heard, the ones spreading them are merely foolish gossipmongers like Langston and the like."
>"Anyway, let's talk about something more happy instead. What will you do once you're in Dawnholme?"

Don't know where to put the talk about Alric's friends but Im sure Medivh can fit it in here somewhere.

"I do love someone, I truly do. Incredible woman, a person I plan on marrying when the time is right, but it is a situation made complicated by politics.” You told Tari and continued after a brief pause. “While I trust you to not tell anyone, I don't want to burden you with yet another secret. It is better that way."

Tari smiled and nodded in agreement.

“We decided to keep our relationship a secret, only a handful know about it.” You said to her. “It is not easy, I wish everyday to be with her, but it is not possible.”

“You really love her, don’t you.” Tari said. “It is tough, but love will win in the end.”

"The rumours though will end in due time. My friends and those who know me wouldn't believe any of them and, as far as I've heard, the ones spreading them are merely foolish gossipmongers like Langston and the like." You said to Tari. “At first people will talk, but I won’t let that cause any trouble or slow me down.”

“I hope you are right, sometimes rumours can stick.” Tari said.

“I know, but as long as I am consistent in my actions, the rumours won’t matter.” You said and continued. “And my friends know what kind of a person I am, they won’t believe the rumours and they will tell others that as well, I am sure about it.”

You told Tari about your friends and family. You told her how Garsides, your foster parents, have supported you through these years. You told Tari about Monica, how she is one of your best friends and you even told her how Monica had a crush on you. Tari laughed when you told her about Kris Legace and how you had to ask her if you were a bit of a lady killer. You had been so dense with women, so inexperienced, but that was behind you now. You have learned. Feelings have been confessed to you and you have confessed yours, you have received and felt love, there even was an attempt to seduce you.

You probably told Tari a bit too many details about how glueless you had been about women, relationships and love, but it did make Tari smile and laugh. Seeing her laughing made you happy and if Tari was happy, then it was fine. During these brief visits to Durnholde you had learned to like her, to like her a lot. Tari was a smart, beautiful, incredible woman and being with her, when she didn’t have her worries foremost, gave you this warm fuzzy feeling inside.

And the feeling was familiar, it was the same you had when you were on the date with Jaina in Stormwind City, or when you got to be with Calia and spend time with her. You have feelings toward Tari, you have a crush, you are fairly sure about it.

1/2

>>5498933

"Anyway, let's talk about something different instead. What will you do once you're in Dawnholme?" You said to Tari and steered away from yourself.

“You are awfully sure about that?” Tari said and smiled. “But I think it is fine to imagine for a moment.”

Tari closed her eyes and thought what to say.

“I want to see the mountains, I want to see what you have accomplished, I want to travel with you and see the world outside Durnholde. There are so many sights to see.” Tari said back as she opened her eyes. “I want to experience the world.”

“Those are good goals Tari, the mountains truly are beautiful.” You said to her. “And you are right, there is so much to see in the world. Those are fine goals.”

You felt warm and dry, the hearth had done its work and your cheeks and nose didn’t tingle anymore. The room had warmed up as well, it wouldn’t take long for your winter clothes to dry, but when they dry, you still had plenty to do. But what should you do next?


>Go visit Lord Blackmoore and see how bad the snow storm is. What does this mean for the gladiator games, for the feast?
>You had promised to visit Lady Imswith and talk about the marriage of her niece. You probably want to get that done sooner than later.
>Find Lady Jandice and invite her to visit Dawnholme after the feast is over. It is better to talk about the terms there than here.
>You should gather your neighbours together to talk and discuss the market fairs and trade. Maybe you could start something that could benefit all of you.
>Other, write in.

>>5498934
>You had promised to visit Lady Imswith and talk about the marriage of her niece. You probably want to get that done sooner than later.

>>5498934
>You had promised to visit Lady Imswith and talk about the marriage of her niece. You probably want to get that done sooner than later.

>>5498934
>>You had promised to visit Lady Imswith and talk about the marriage of her niece. You probably want to get that done sooner than later.

"Tari, I need to get going." You said after a while and stood up. "I have things to do."

"What are you going to do?" Tari asked you.

"Well you aren’t going to believe what I say but I promised to help Langston in asking for the hand of Lady Imswit's niece." You told her as you started to dress your now dry clothes back on.

"You what? Alric, you are joking, aren't you?" Tari asked and didn't believe what you just had said.

"I am not joking. Langston wants to marry Hilde Imswit, but Lady Imswit won't allow it unless it is done matrilineally which Langston doesn't agree on." You said. "And a… Langston promised a lot if I am successful… it might be worth a shot to try."

"Langston promised what? What did he promise?" Tari asked you.

"Two favours and the support of Durnholde." You said back to her.

"Langston would then support you, when you start bargaining with Blackmoore. Is that what you are thinking?" Tari asked you and was now completely serious.

"It came to my mind." You said.

"I don't want Hilde or anyone marrying Langston." Tari said. "He is a slimy, envious man. I don’t want anyone to end up being married because of me, so don't do it for my sake. Do what is best for Imswits."

Tari was serious about it and you had your reservations as well. You disliked Langston and would Hilde marrying him be worth the favours? Or does it really concern you what happens to Imswits in the end? They are not your vassals.

"Alright well, see you later Tari." You said and gave her a smile.

"You know what is the right thing to do Alric." Tari said as you opened the door and smiled. "See you later."

…

Malevus and Joe escorted you through the Keep. Lady Imswit wasn't in the grand hall or in the mess hall, so you opted to go find her room. After having asked several servants, you found the room in one of the residential wings. You knocked on the door and took a step back, it didn’t take long for the door to be opened.

"Prince Alric, what a pleasant surprise." Lady Imswit said to you. "Please come in."

"Lady Imswit." You greeted her as you stepped in and when you saw Hilde, you greeted her as well. "Young miss."

Both Lady Imswit and Hilde did a curtsy when you stepped in.

"Is there a reason for your visit Prince Alric?" Lady Imswit asked you.

"A bit of news and then something more private." You said to her. "The news is that I told Langston about the issues you are facing."

"That is good, maybe Durnholde will act then." Lady Imswit said and pulled her niece closer to her and whispered something in her ear.

1/2

>>5499454

Hilde nodded and did a second curtsy before walking past you and going for the door. When she left, you quickly told Malevus to keep company for her and watch over her. When the door closed and Lady Imswit went to lock it, she dropped all pretence about herself.

"Now we can talk in private Prince Alric." Lady Imswit said to you. Her long smooth black hair flowed past her shoulders and mixed with the black colour of her robe. Underneath it she wore a deep blue dress with golden embroidery. "You may call me Edith."

"Thank you Lady Edith." You said. "Did you have any luck last night?"

"Regarding me not at all, but for Hilde? Yes and no." Lady Edith Imswit said to you. "There are no proper unmarried candidates that are willing amongst the nobles or knights of Durnholde. And those few candidates that are suitable don’t agree with my terms."

Lady Edith sighed and continued. She looked tired.

"This snow storm might be helpful if we are stuck in here for a couple of days, more time for me, but I do not like our chances." Lady Edith said and continued. "You came to talk about marriage didn't you, you have an offer or you are going to talk for someone?"

Lady Edith knew that she was right. Now to just present your case to her.

"Karramyn Langston, he asked me to talk with you." You said to her.

"And you are trying to make me agree? Well then, what is your argument? Remember, I won't accept anything else than matrilineal marriage." Lady Edith said back.


Choose as many you want:
>Langston's position as the right hand man of Lord Blackmoore makes him the second strongest man in Durnholde. He is a worthy husband from wealth and prestige alone.
>Combining the two houses into Langston-Imswit would preserve your family name and Langston is agreeing with that idea.
>Through Langston, the Imswits can be sure that their lands are secure. Durnholde would make sure enough resources are used to help Inswit lands.
>Marriage would be the best option. As Lady Edith said, no other proper candidates exist so sometimes you have to choose the lesser of the bad options.
>Other, write in

Choose one:
>Be completely serious, you are attempting to help Langston and get his favours.
>Present your arguments as is, but don’t argue them further. You have then done as you were asked.
>Tell Lady Edith to not marry Hilde to Langston, there must be some other available options.

QM: Please vote on both, the next update comes tomorrow evening so you have plenty of time to vote. Social and Stats pastebin updated.

>>5499455
>Langston's position as the right hand man of Lord Blackmoore makes him the second strongest man in Durnholde. He is a worthy husband from wealth and prestige alone.
>Combining the two houses into Langston-Imswit would preserve your family name and Langston is agreeing with that idea.

>Present your arguments as is, but don’t argue them further. You have then done as you were asked.

>Tell her that would be best for Hilde to meet any suitors as well, and for her to think beyond politically. No matter how good the deal ends up, if she dislikes the them, it will only bring more ruin to the house, sooner or later.

>>5499455
>Langston's position as the right hand man of Lord Blackmoore makes him the second strongest man in Durnholde. He is a worthy husband from wealth and prestige alone.
>Combining the two houses into Langston-Imswit would preserve your family name and Langston is agreeing with that idea.

>Present your arguments as is, but don’t argue them further. You have then done as you were asked.

Heres a personal pet peeve with this quest is that QM makes some things canon to alric from the get go such as alrics infatuation with Calia so it felt weird to go against in any way for it and now its happening again for langston That alric canonically doesnt like langston even tho i personally like him. This ofcourse recontextualises every interaction and decision if say alric canonically liked langston it would be like helping a friend but right now it just seems we are doing it as nothing more than a political maneuver.

>>5499477
That's true, I didn't dislike Langston and didn't care for Calia, and it makes it feel weird when Alric wants something different.
On the other hand, it helps with the whole roleplay part of thinking like another character, so it's not the end of the world. Just somewhat annoying or odd.

>>5499455
>Langston's position as the right hand man of Lord Blackmoore makes him the second strongest man in Durnholde.
>Combining the two houses into Langston-Imswit would preserve your family name and Langston is agreeing with that idea.
>Through Langston, the Imswits can be sure that their lands are secure. Durnholde would make sure enough resources are used to help Inswit lands.
I edited the first one since I don't think Alric would ever call Langston a worthy husband, the fourth one just goes without saying.

>Present your arguments as is, but don’t argue them further. You have then done as you were asked.

> Ask for her permission to speak your mind. If granted, tell her that you would, if in her position, think beyond the political benefits of the marriage. That you would consider the thoughts and feelings of your niece on the matter, if not for her sake, then for the sake of the practical reality that comes from such a marriage. If she dislikes them or worse, hates them, then it will likely bring only further ruin to the house and it's legacy. One way or the other, sooner or later.

>>5499477
Calia was more a result of anon's choices. I remember quite vividly from the archive that she was chosen over and over again. My only hang up was with Medich pretending that there was no route lock once Alric kissed Calia since, for all intents and purposes, it was one.

As for Langston, I never really liked him since he just seemed like a spineless snake and his gossiping only confirmed my impression of him. Im not surprised that Alric doesn't like him either.

>>5499486
Go and read the first time alric sees calia.

As for langston he seems the only competent person in this whole place as for gossiping it is inevitable considering our own actions with Tari People are gonna talk one of the consequences of letting people think that were involved with tari like that.

>>5499486
>Calia was more a result of anon's choices.
Alric was described as having love at first sight with Calia.
In the votes to pursue the relationship, some anons said that tehy were voting for it because it's what Alric wanted to do.

>>5499490
??? It's exactly as I remember, he thinks to himself that she's the prettiest woman he's ever seen. Don't see how that counts as "infatuation".

And competent does not equal being of good character. Being a spineless snake does not prevent him from being good at his job.

>>5499496
Where and when?

>>5499455
this >>5499464

present the arguments without trying to apply pressure; then we can relay to Langston her reaction.

Personally I used to be okay with Langston as an alright officer though my opinion of him dropped as he was further revealed as blackmoore's toady sharing in his perverse tastes. But in fairness aside from the rumours at least he can be worked with and as far as we know is not actively seeking our death.

Calia I believe started with Alric having been written as to have felt immediate attraction to her, luckily reciprocated it seems, myself and I think other Anons have rolled with it because she's a good girl and she spared us of bitter waifu wars.
Now if only we could get Jaina to tame Arthas...

>>5499498
>he thinks to himself that she's the prettiest woman he's ever seen.
>Don't see how that counts as "infatuation".
Anon...

>>5499504
in·fat·u·a·tion
/inˌfaCHəˈwāSH(ə)n/
noun: infatuation
an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone or something.

Thinking someone is really pretty, the prettiest you've ever seen, is not sufficient to be an "infatuation".

>>5499511
Thread 9
No.5081389
>In addition you thought about Calia Menethil. For just a brief moment you had seen her, but you just couldn’t get her out of your mind. There was something in that woman that made your mind and heart spin around her.
>Sinking deeper into the hot water you made a promise to yourself. While you are here, you would talk to her.

>>5499515
Also this
No.5078703
>And so two of you continued to stare at each other without blinking.
>But most importantly, you now knew her name.
No.5087657
>the faint smile of hers brought fire to your heart. You couldn't help but smile back.
For me it does seem to be very intense passion or admiration for someone.
It just ended up not being short lived.

>>5499515 >>5499521
Now THAT is more like it. It wasn't in the first time Alric sees Calia like that other anon asked of me but it fits the bill. I remember them now, still... I don't think it's enough to warrant the complaint of railroading. Alric thinks girl is really pretty so he promises to himself to go talk to her and find out more. It is not an unreasonable thought, the fact that anons kept choosing her over Jaina (which was the one I wass voting for) is on them.

And maybe this in this very thread too
>>5498933
>And the feeling was familiar, it was the same you had when you were on the date with Jaina in Stormwind City, or when you got to be with Calia and spend time with her. You have feelings toward Tari, you have a crush, you are fairly sure about it.
Although this one makes it seem the crush Alric felt was after developing the relationship with Calia, instead of being since the first moment he saw her.

>>5499523
My pet peeve complaint was that anons will just go along with whatever alric is canonically attracted to rather than letting opinions on things develop naturaly from the characters or theyre interactions. Calia from my memory was just the worst about this.

>>5499523
Understandable, had to dig a little bit further to get those phrases.
It's just that Alric got a crush on Jaina and Tari after interacting a lot with them, while Caria got a head start. Although in that post of him thinking of Calia, he also thought of his dance with Jaina, so maybe the love had been started already.
Honestly, I don't know why I'm complaining, I was a lurker/archive reader back then. I didn't even vote for this.

>>5499455
>>Langston's position as the right hand man of Lord Blackmoore makes him the second strongest man in Durnholde. He is a worthy husband from wealth and prestige alone.
>>Combining the two houses into Langston-Imswit would preserve your family name and Langston is agreeing with that idea.
>>Through Langston, the Imswits can be sure that their lands are secure. Durnholde would make sure enough resources are used to help Inswit lands.

>Be completely serious, you are attempting to help Langston and get his favours.

>>5499523
Actually
>And so two of you continued to stare at each other without blinking.
>But most importantly, you now knew her name.
Was in the same post of first seeing her
>And so two of you continued to stare at each other without blinking.
>But most importantly, you now knew her name.
These ones were in the night after first seeing her, before talking with her more
>the faint smile of hers brought fire to your heart. You couldn't help but smile back.
This was after the dance.
There was also the whole favor during the tournament thing.
>>5499501
But this anon is right, she did stop any waifu wars, and she is very sweet. So in the end it was for the best.

>>5499537
I copy pasted the wrong one
>In addition you thought about Calia Menethil. For just a brief moment you had seen her, but you just couldn’t get her out of your mind. There was something in that woman that made your mind and heart spin around her.
>Sinking deeper into the hot water you made a promise to yourself. While you are here, you would talk to her.
It was this one the night thoughts.
Now I'm going to stop posting

No QM is perfect and I am far from it, I have my own faults, mistakes and things that rub anons up the wrong way. But it is good that these things are brought up, because otherwise I wouldn't probably realise my mistakes. This is why I always ask to comments or to ask questions.

With Langston I have tried to keep him somewhat close to what he was described to be in the books and Alric's in character dislike of him comes partially from that. Rest coming from how he has talked about Taretha, Langston being envious and him being a rumourmonger amongst other things. But Alric also recognises how Langston is a hard worker, at least someone who keeps things moving and someone with whom he can cooperate and work with. Because Alric is a good person, well taught how to act and behave, I can see why Alric would dislike him and it would be uncharacteristic to like or accept Langston's behavior. Both Alric disliking Langston as a person and Alric appreciating him as someone with whom he can work with can be true at the same time.

Now can I improve and try to describe Alric and other characters better and how they see each other? Of course. Can I try to avoid things that seem railroady, definitely. But there are also things happening in the background that are either canon or influenced by Alric's actions of which you have no real control off. That is why the Leads and Threats section of the Stats and Social Points pastebin is that big and it doesn't mention things Alric doesn't know off.

But it is good that this discussion happens from time to time, because it is a great reminder for me to go through my notes one more time and refresh my ideas. So as always if you questions or comments, go ahead and ask them, I might remember something or get a good idea from them. I will try to answer them as best as I can. The update will come this evening.

“Karramyn Langston is the right hand man of Lord Blackmoore, which makes him the second most powerful man in Durnholde. He handles the day to day business, handles the coin and makes sure feasts and other events like this go without issues. He is a wealthy man and holds a prestigious position.” You told Lady Edith. “I don’t see any reason for him to be sent away, Lord Blackmoore is his mentor and as long as Lord Blackmoore reigns here, which after the audit is quite sure to be a long time, Langston is going to be here as well.”

“There is no denying his stature and position Prince Alric, but the issues lie elsewhere.” Lady Edith said back to you.

“Yes and I think we have found a solution. Langston-Imswit, combine the houses. This way neither family goes away or disappears. Langston agrees with this, he thinks this is a good idea. Such union could be the answer to the problem.” You said to her and let her think about it.

“But it would be best for Hilde to meet Langston or the other suitors before any decision is done. Hilde knows her duty, but allow her to think about it outside politics. No matter how good the marriage ends up to be, if she dislikes her husband, it will only mar your house sooner or later.”

Lady Edith looked at you and walked to look outside through a window. The snow storm made seeing anything quite impossible, but she stayed there for a moment as you waited.

“You speak the truth and you are not wrong. This is a marriage of politics, to ensure the continuation of our ancient family.” Lady Edith said. “I know my own duty and purpose and so does Hilde.”

Lady Edith turned to face you again. She did look tired and uncertain of the situation.

“My neighbours are hounding and wanting to partition our lands, they could petition for more farmland that we can’t use at the moment and we couldn’t do much to prevent that. But marriage, marriage to the right person with power, influence or connections could prevent that.” Lady Edith said as she brushed her black hair with her hands. She was still hesitating to say yes. “Prince Alric, what you said about letting Hilde meet with her suitors is correct. An unhappy marriage will lead to problems.”

Lady Edith was hesitating, she was attempting to deflect away from making the decision. But you had told the arguments and now the ball was in her hands so to speak. Maybe if you had been more forceful, she could have made the decision?

“I am over forty years old and I won’t be finding a husband, but I do plan on marrying and I can still carry a child.” Lady Edith said to you. “It should hold the hands of my dear neighbours, at least for a bit.

“How does that even work?” You asked back. Not finding a husband, but still marrying?

“I have a loyal retainer, a man-at-arms who has served our family for decades. I will marry that man when we get back home.” Lady Edith said.

1/2

>>5500279

“Alright, that should solve your problem then? To get children?” You asked her again.

“No, Light forbid, the poor man is a sodomite. Completely freezes if even touched by a woman. He will agree to marry me to protect the house, but anything further than that is impossible for him.” Lady Edith said and shook her head. “Believe me, I have tried.”

“Ahh yes, that would be a problem.” You said back. Frankly it was a bit embarrassing problem to have.

“This is why finding the right partner for Hilde is so important to me.” Lady Edith said back. “Marriage now to protect her and then in a couple of years to produce a new heir to the house of Imswit.”

Lady Edith sighed while thinking about something before she walked to you. She looked younger than she was and seemed quite vivacious and not as someone who would back down. Determined to fix the problems and get her house to flourish again.

“I will have Hilde to speak with Langston and with the few other candidates, before I will make my decision.” Lady Edith said to you after a pause. “But before that, I have two questions or requests for you Prince Alric.”

“What would they be Lady Edith?” You asked. It was good that she had at least made some decision.

“Do you know anyone who could marry Hilde? Any of your knights or officers or someone else?” Lady Edith asked you.

She was asking if one of your men would marry Hilde? Only one around was Sir Gravis and you aren’t sure if he would agree. It could be worth trying. Back in Dawnholme was Sir Radan, but how would a former bandit be seen as a worthy husband? Chief Ragis of Stonedon wasn’t married either, but you weren’t sure if he would agree. They had their own traditions regarding marriage.

“Only one who is here is Sir Gravis and then there is one other.” You said to Lady Edith.

“I know Sir Gravis, if you could give me your permission, I would love to talk with him.” Lady Edith said to you.

“And what would be the second question?” You asked her.

Lady Edith hesitated for a moment as she took a deep breath before putting her hands on your shoulders and looking you into your eyes.

“I am this desperate for Imswits to have an heir and I don’t mean to dishonour you with this request. I have heard about your reputation and the wretched idea came to my mind.” Lady Edith said to you with a steady voice. “Put a child in me and I will agree to marry Hilde to Langston and you would have eternal gratitude of house of Imswit.”


>Agree with the proposition.
>Disagree, you are not angry, just very disappointed. Your reputation as a womaniser is unfounded.
>You are angry and disappointed, but you are allowing her to attempt to explain herself and to fix her error.
>You are very angry, you won’t be helping her anymore. Walk away.
>Other, write in

>Agree to talk with Sir Gravis about potentially marrying Hilde Imswit. It is something worth looking into.
>Disagree, you can’t trust Lady Edith after her proposition.
>Other, write in

QM: Please vote on both

>>5500280
>Disagree, you are not angry, just very disappointed. Your reputation as a womaniser is unfounded.

>Agree to talk with Sir Gravis about potentially marrying Hilde Imswit. It is something worth looking into.

>>5500280
>Disagree, you are not angry, just very disappointed. Your reputation as a womaniser is unfounded.
>Disagree, you can’t trust Lady Edith after her proposition.

>>5500280

>Disagree
>you are not angry and only slightly disappointed
I mean we're aware of the rumours so the only surprising fact would be that lady Imswit is willing to act in this manner on it.
We can laugh it off and tell her we're flattered but no thank you.


>Agree to talk to sir Gravis
not like we have anything to lose by humouring her with this.

>>5500280
Oh my.
>Disagree, you are not angry, just very disappointed. Your reputation as a womaniser is unfounded.
>Agree to talk with Sir Gravis about potentially marrying Hilde Imswit. It is something worth looking into.
Well, poor woman. There is really no one else besides that man at arms ?
Eitherway in regard to Hilde, we can consider Ragis if Gravis prefers someone else. Ragis would be above a knight, so it's not a bad proposal for the Imswit. Lady Edith might still decide to accept the marriage proposal of Langston, who knows.

Radan unfortunately cannot marry with nobles with his background, but perhaps with a friend in Tarren Mill.

Update comes tomorrow, but before that could I have a roll please.


>1d10
>Best of three

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>5501566

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>5501566

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>5501566

"Frankly I am disappointed in you for believing rumours that easily." You said to Lady Edith and put emphasis on how false the rumours are. "Very disappointed as the rumours and my supposed reputation are completely unfounded."

The sudden realisation of being extremely wrong appeared on Lady Edith's face and she quickly pulled her hands away and took a few steps back.

"Am I flattered? No, I am just very disappointed so my answer to your request is no." You said and crossed your arms. "I won't put a child in you."

"I'm so sorry, so terribly sorry." Lady Edith said back to you frantically. "I shouldn't have asked you that, I shouldn't have believed the rumours. Will you forgive me?"

"Who told you those rumours?" You asked her sternly.

"It was the ladies in here, they are awful at gossiping. No idea who told them." Lady Edith said back. You thought that it could have been Langston.

"Then I will forgive you, because neither of us will gain anything from pointless feuding, but remember I could have walked out of that door and then tell Langston that the marriage is unwise." You told her.

You understood why Lady Edith would be this desperate. A house without an heir lacks a stable foundation and everyone knows about it. There were only two Imswits alive and both happened to be women. It was a tough spot to be in.

"Now what? Prince Alric, what will you do next?" Lady Edith asked you. "Will you tell others about this?"

"No, it doesn’t do anyone any good if what happened leaves this room." You said and sighed. "What happens next depends on you, I will talk with Sir Gravis, but it won't be me who makes the final decision."

"Thank you Prince Alric, thank you." Lady Edith said and was relieved.

All of this had made you annoyed, but such was politics and petty nobles. You could now understand why your father was so tired when dealing with them. Though you as well had your own issues regarding heirs, your big brother is the first heir, uncle Isiden was in Gilneas and hadn't revealed himself yet, your older sister hopefully was alive. While you had a strong claim to Alterac, your brother still was legally the first heir.

Not forgetting the fact that you are going to need your own heir as well. If you were to die or something happens to you, your people needs someone else to follow and to continue your work. You would have to bring it up with Calia at some point as well as marriage, with the marriage probably not being an easy thing to accomplish.

…

>9

You had left Lady Edith and went to find Malevus and Hilde. Malevus had brought the girl to the mess hall and they were in the mids of something fun as you interrupted them. Malevus had been telling stories from Quel’Thalas and Hilde had been listening in pure fascination. And while it looked like Hilde had made a new friend, it was time for her to return back to her aunt and you let Malevus to escort her back.

1/2

>>5502222

You meanwhile hadn't eaten that much since the visit to the Internment Camp in the morning. With the Keep returning back to normalcy, you went and retrieved some hot food before settling down and starting to eat it.

Most importantly you kept your ears open and you listened to what the servants were talking. The guests that had gotten cold had started to return to their rooms without much issues. Some had gotten a frostbite or two, but nothing serious had happened. Everyone had gotten in fast and the work done to help them had helped to stave off catching a cold or something more worse.

Those were good news, a sudden snow storm or a blizzard is an easy way of catching a cold or in the worst case get lost outside and freeze to death. But you also heard something else quite interesting, something very interesting and very relevant to you.

Apparently one of the servant girls had entered Blackmoore’s study shortly before you had returned, and when you had returned, the girl and Blackmoore had come out of the study with their clothes all wrinkled and messy. And the servant girl had a blush bright red.

The kitchen servants talked in hushed tones and it wasn’t easy to hear what they were saying, but you got the main points. Did Blackmoore have a second mistress or was this just a completely unrelated event? You had no idea and neither seemed the servants. But it did give you the thought, was Blackmoore replacing Taretha with someone else as she was now your 'mistress'? Could you trust this rumour?

Well, you had to keep your ears open. Maybe you could hear something new later.

Now though you had more stuff to do. So much things to accomplish.


>Talk with Sir Gravis about potentially marrying Hilde Imswit. Lady Edith showed some interest in the idea and tying the knot with a noble family would be a great honour to a landless knight like him.
>Go visit Lord Blackmoore and see how bad the snow storm is. What does this mean for the gladiator games, for the feast?
>Find Lady Jandice and invite her to visit Dawnholme after the feast is over. It is better to talk about the terms there than here.
>You should gather your neighbours together to talk and discuss the market fairs and trade. Maybe you could start something that could benefit all of you.
>Other, write in.

>>5502223
>Talk with Sir Gravis about potentially marrying Hilde Imswit. Lady Edith showed some interest in the idea and tying the knot with a noble family would be a great honour to a landless knight like him.

>>5502223
>>You should gather your neighbours together to talk and discuss the market fairs and trade. Maybe you could start something that could benefit all of you.

>>5502223
how many days we still have medivh ? just for get an idea, on what to do first for us.
>Find Lady Jandice and invite her to visit Dawnholme after the feast is over. It is better to talk about the terms there than here.
i think blackmoore will need to think of something else with the storm outside. Not sure if gladiator games can be done with that cold or inside.

>>5502350
Evening of today, tomorrow when there was supposed to be the gladiator games and the day after with the second grand feast. Guests are supposed to leave the day after that. Of course the snow storm is the wrench in these plans.

Sir Gravis, neighbours and Lady Jandice are in a three-way tie. Could I have a tiebreaker for when I start writing this afternoon.

>>5502223
>Talk with Sir Gravis about potentially marrying Hilde Imswit. Lady Edith showed some interest in the idea and tying the knot with a noble family would be a great honour to a landless knight like him.

Finding Sir Gravis was easy, he was resting with the rest of his knights and some Durnholders. They just like you had been caught in the snow storm and unlike you, they had their armours on. You just had to get your clothes warmed and dried up, but they had to clean and dry their armours as well to avoid rust.

So you found Sir Gravis in the middle of cleaning his armour and telling Malevus to continue his work, you took your knight for a short walk.

"I will get straight to the point, Lady Imswit has been talking about marrying her niece to someone and she wanted to know if I had potential candidates in mind. Knights, unmarried officers or others." You told him.

"Prince Alric, are you suggesting that I should marry young Hilde?" Sir Gravis asked you.

"No, just that Lady Imswit sees you as one worthy to be talked to about it." You said to him. "You are in late twenties, unmarried and a landless knight. Lady Imswit thinks that you could be a suitable husband to Hilde."

"Well that is quite nice for her, I am flattered, but I am your bodyguard. My place is in Alterac and not in southern Durnholde." Sir Gravis said back and pleaded. "It wouldn’t bring me much honour to marry Hilde if I can’t make my name in the battlefield or by serving you Prince Alric."

"That is why I won't force you to marry anyone, I just want for you to talk with Lady Imswit and weigh your options as words are free." You told your knight. "I don't wish to lose you either, but it would be unwise to not think and explore the possibilities."

"You are right Prince Alric, I will talk with Lady Imswit when I get the chance." He said to you.

"Good, let's go back and see if Malevus has finished the work Sir Gravis of Imswit." You said and laughed.

Sir Gravis meanwhile just opted to grumble thanks to your jest.

…

Evening had arrived and you had continued your talks with Sir Gravis, his knights and the Durnholders. It was nice to get your thoughts elsewhere as you listened to the Durnholders and vice versa told them your stories. The past few days had been just all about politics, having an act up and trying to present Alterac and yourself as best as you can that it had started to become a bit of a drag and tiring.

As you talked, the news reached you that the gladiator games for tomorrow had been cancelled. The arena was filled with snow as were the stands and even if it could be cleared away, the strong winds had broken the wooden roof and fixing that under these conditions was just impossible.

Understandably some guests might be disappointed about the decision, but with the snow storm outside, this was the wisest decision. Blackmoore though must have been really disappointed. He just lost a lot of wealth thanks to no gambling and having to pay the gladiators and all the servants who came with them.

You hoped that it wouldn't sour his mind too much. And if he did sour his mind, you hoped that you wouldn't have to kiss his ass even more to get him happy again.

1/2

>>5503311

"Hi Alric." Tari said to you as you entered your room.

"Hi Tari." You said back as you took off your coat and hat before throwing them to hang from the stand in the corner. It was pleasantly warm in your room, Tari had kept the fire up in the hearth to keep the cold away.

"You sound tired? Did anything happen?" Tari asked you.

"I am tired, it has been a long day." You told her and opted not to tell her about the events with Lady Imswit. "In fact it has been a long few days."

"Yeah…" Tari sighed. "I brought some pastries and mulled wine from the kitchen if you want some."

"Thank you, I could use a snack." You said.

As you ate, you and Tari continued talking. The wind howled outside the window, shaking it from time to time. You asked Tari about the rumour you heard earlier about the servant and Blackmoore. Tari hadn't heard it yet, but she knew who the servant was. It was a new girl, and she had entered Durnholde Keep just this summer. Tari would have to hear the rumour by herself before she could say anything, but it was plausible. Maybe Blackmoore was looking for someone new and younger to replace Tari?

You felt tired and yawned as you stretched your back. Even if it was a bit earlier than usual, you just wanted to go to sleep. Throwing off your excess clothes and throwing a few more pieces of firewood into the hearth, you climbed into the bed.

Again you were side by side with Tari and with how the bed wasn't properly wide enough, you were awfully close to her.

"Good night Alric, let's hope that the snow storm has calmed down during the night." Tari said to you.

"Yeah, good night Tari." You said and yawned. "Let's hope for that."

The flames from the hearth created shadows that danced around the room. You could have watched them for a longer time, but your eyes wanted to close on their own. And just as you were going to fall asleep, you felt Tari reaching for your hand and you took hold of hers.

In an instant your heart started to race and the now familiar fuzzy feeling appeared in your stomach. You weren't tired anymore and you could just think about your feelings, Tari and Calia. You had a crush on Tari, but you loved Calia. How are you going to solve this, can this be solved? Should you tell Tari about it, what if she has a crush on you as well? What then? You had learned some things about relationships and love, but you were woefully unprepared for this.


>Tell Tari that you have a crush and feelings towards her. Sooner she knows about it the better.
>Ask Tari if she has feelings towards you, if she says yes, then reveal your feelings as well.
>It is better to keep it to yourself, you don’t want to give more things to Tari to think about.
>Other, write in.

>>5503315
>It is better to keep it to yourself, you don’t want to give more things to Tari to think about.

>>5503315
>It is better to keep it to yourself, you don’t want to give more things to Tari to think about.

>>5503315
>>It is better to keep it to yourself, you don’t want to give more things to Tari to think about.
a lot of time passed, we can think on it when we are done with the feast.

>>5503315
>It is better to keep it to yourself, you don’t want to give more things to Tari to think about.
We’ve made our choice and no force on Azeroth, above or below, shall sway us. We’ll follow Calia to the end of the earth if need be.

Although let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. It might be pricey to negotiate the sensei to give us a ride.

You let out a sigh and took a few deep breaths. It wouldn’t help Tari at all to hear about you having a crush on her. She has been in an abusive relationship for the past few years and getting her mind away from it should be the way to go and not to give her more things to think about. You really did like Tari and for her best you should keep this to yourself, at least for now. After the feast is over the two of you can talk about it or maybe you will just keep your feelings to yourself. You didn’t know it yet.

You took another deep breath and thought about Calia. You loved her and missed her so much. By the Light you wanted to be with her and not let go of her, but life had to be what it is. You couldn't see her, only through letters could you talk to her. It was unfair that you couldn't court her publicly.

But don't get heated right now, it doesn’t help you at all. Life will find a way and one day you will get to be with Calia and no one can stop you.

You gently squeezed Tari's hand and got a reaction from her.

"Let me sleep…" Tari mumbled.

"Good night." You whispered back.

Tomorrow will be a long day.

…

You had woken up early, earlier than Tari. After having made a fire into the hearth and eaten a light breakfast, you put on your clothes and left your room.

To your surprise you weren't the only one up early as you bumped into Langston.

"Good morning Prince Alric." Langston said to you as he was walking and eating a pretzel.

"Good morning Langston." You said back to him.

"Tremendous… tremendous that I saw you, Lord Blackmoore woke up early and asked me to find you and then come talk with him." Langston said to you.

"Oh, what for?" You asked.

"It is about your men. And potentially something else." Langston said back.

The two of you walked in silence for a moment before he spoke again.

"Prince Alric, did you talk with Lady Imswit?" Langston asked you.

"I did." You said back.

"Well?" Langston asked nervously.

"If she hasn't talked with you yet, then she will today. Lady Imswit wants Hilde to get to know potential husband candidates first before making the decision." You said to Langston.

"That sounds… good. I will be waiting for that then." Langston said.

"I did what I could, the ball is in her hands now. So good luck." You said to him.

"Thank you Prince Alric. You are a good friend of mine." Langston said back and smiled.

A friend? You were a bit taken back by it. You didn’t like the man, actively disliked him even, but he had called you a friend? You wanted to sigh, maybe your attitude towards Langston was wrong one or do you have to start treating him like a friend from now on?

...

Blackmoore was in his study eating breakfast as you entered. You greeted him and sat down before taking an apple and starting to cut it into small slices.

1/3

>>5503757

"It is good that Langston found you because I want to talk with you." Blackmoore said. He looked and smelled like he had been drinking last night.

"About my men?" You asked.

"Yes, we won't be needing their services anymore. With Thrall gone, I don’t need as many guards here so they were relocated into the camps." Blackmoore said to you as Langston poured hot mulled wine into his cup before filling a cup for you as well. "I hope you understand."

"I do, then when will the soldiers return?" You asked him.

"In a couple of weeks Prince Alric, we have to shuffle the troops around a bit first." Langston explained.

"Well then, till now our deal has been a good one and it is a shame to see it end. But I completely understand why it is ending." You said and smiled. "I will be waiting for my men."

"Thank you for your understanding Prince Alric." Blackmoore said to you and continued. "Langston, could you please explain the second thing we wanted to talk about?"

"I will. Prince Alric, your words about applauding the effort Lord Blackmoore had in trying to get something out of the orcs stayed in our minds. And after a lot of thinking, we had an idea." Langston said and stood up from the chair he was sitting on. "Thrall was a great help in training our guards and we think that other orcs in the camps could be used in similar ways."

"You want to train your men with the help of the orcs?" You asked.

"And we want to offer this to our neighbours and everyone interested. Training the troops or maybe acting as servants like the orc woman former Major Remka had." Langston said to you. "Thrall was a success, but could it be repeated?"

"We are asking if you have interest in participating in our project." Blackmoore said to you. "We understand the connection of Perenoldes with the old Horde is an obstacle and we understand if you don’t want to be part of this, but think about the potential, prestige and positives in this."

"Prince Alric, you could train your men to fight against a real orc before fighting the orcs and ogres in Alterac. They would learn and this would save lives." Langston told you. "Or you could have an orc servant, an item of prestige and evidence of our victory over them."

2/3

>>5503760

It was an interesting idea. You had applauded his efforts with Thrall back in the Capital City, but having your own orc to either serve you or to act as a training opponent for your soldiers could be really useful. Showing your doubters that you weren’t an orc lover and instead you were using an orc and showing your superiority could be a great boon. But on the other hand, you are a Perenolde and some people don't want you to deal with the orcs at all.

Still this was a test run of some sort. If this works, Blackmoore might have found a way to get richer and gain prestige at the same time. Accepting the offer could help you to forge an even closer relationship with Durnholde and if this works, you could get a fair share of prestige and renown for being part of the project. But this was a test run, what if it failed, what if something bad happens? What would your neighbours or your own people think about then?


>Accept and take a warrior. You want a strong, resilient orc to train your soldiers.
>Take a servant, an orc woman or a more timid orc. Show everyone how the orcs do your bidding.
>Choose someone else, like the old orc who had spoken to you in the camp. He seemed talkative and smart. If he doesn’t cause trouble, then it is a sign that any orc could be 'domesticated'.
>No, the risks are too high and you want to avoid connecting your family name with orcs again.
>Other, write in.

>>5503764
>Choose someone else, like the old orc who had spoken to you in the camp. He seemed talkative and smart. If he doesn’t cause trouble, then it is a sign that any orc could be 'domesticated'.

Oh boy. A pet orc of our own. What could possibly go wrong?

First up, although we spoke well of Blackmoore's efforts, we did in no confusing words criticize his pet project. Going back on this now would seem suspicious, on top of our family history.

Whoever we'd take we're likely going to end up treating them as another retainer. Also Garside will have an aneurysm. Even though learning more from the old orc might be very valuable. Taking on a femorc would cement our reputation as a 25th century man.

Maybe someone else will find a way to justify going along with the plan but I cannot.
Maybe that we believe the "domestication" would work if the domesticated orc would have less incentive to escape? A dangerous proposition for us.

>Although we recognize the potential benefit of the offer, the political costs would be too great not just for us but likely to bite our Durnholde partner as well.
>Furthermore, we are concerned with the hazards. Making more active use of the Orcs means actively working to get them out of their lethargy which in turn elevates risks. Are you prepared to avoid such scenario?

As for Langston, if he's earnest maybe we could try to set him straight at some point. Maybe he'd be willing to reflect on some criticism from a friend. But now's not the time.

>>5503760
>>5503764
I'll change to
>No, the risks are too high and you want to avoid connecting your family name with orcs again.
>"I'm afraid merely involving a Perenolde in your project would be used as ammunition against it."

>>5503764
>>No, the risks are too high and you want to avoid connecting your family name with orcs again.

>>5503856
Support

>>5503856
>>5503764
support
although id love a orc especelly the old one.

>>5503764
i am somewhat divided on this too. We did take risks in the past, and we still do. But could this be too much ?

>>No, the risks are too high and you want to avoid connecting your family name with orcs again.

The old orc in the came to your mind, he knew about the past and who the orcs were before the Horde was formed and assaulted Azeroth. It would be valuable to learn more directly from the orcs, but the time for this was not now.

“No, I’m afraid merely involving a Perenolde in your project would be used as an ammunition against it.” You said to Blackmoore and Langston. “My family name is too big of a risk and I can’t be involved in this.”

“I understand.” Blackmoore said back to you. “We thought that if you were to decline, it would be because of your family.”

“I hope I didn’t disappoint you Lord Blackmoore.” You said to him.

“No Prince Alric, you didn’t.” Blackmoore said. He seemed to have expected this. “Though the offer will stand, if you ever change your mind."

"The idea might have merit, but have you thought about the lethargy? Thrall wasn't lethargic." You said and asked him.

"We have Prince Alric, the orcs are lacking the will, but we think that we can push them and get them to train our men." Langston said. "Not all orcs are suitable, but amongst the hundreds and thousands in the camps we can find a few suitable ones."

"Then I must wish you good luck." You said to them.

"There is no need for luck, just hard work. We trained Thrall, we civilised a brute. We can do it again." Blackmoore said and grinned.

Blackmoore was quite confident about it. Maybe it can work and he has found something big, but you would want to see it first if it does work.

…

The discussion had moved on from orcs and your soldiers that had been serving here in Durnholde to the snow storm.

Neither Blackmoore or Langston remember the last time the winter had been so cold and strong, and while storms come and go, this storm was stronger than any they had experienced before. But Durnholde Keep would hold, it was a fortress and the roofs were built with a siege in mind. Nor will there be a problem with the food running out. The stores were full and Blackmoore could throw a feast after a feast if required.

But he had to cancel the gladiator games, the gladiator arena while a part of the Keep wasn't as strongly built and it wasn’t possible to fix the roof. That is if it stopped snowing which it hadn't.

Langston had excused himself as he most likely wanted to go to talk with Lady Imswit and that left you and Blackmoore alone to continue the talks.

"Have you liked the time here in Durnholde?" Blackmoore asked you.

"I have Lord Blackmoore. I can’t complain how I have been treated." You said back to him.

1/2

>>5504919

"Then is there anything Durnholde or I could do for you?" Blackmoore said and finished a cup of wine he had poured to himself before filling his cup again and pouring a one for you as well. "Some compensation for ending our deal? Does Alterac require help in any way?"

Blackmoore seemed genuine with his offer to help you, previously he had been a bit of an unreliable partner due to how volatile he had been, but now he seemed to have things in control. You weren't sure how much and how far you could trust him, but if he offered his help, maybe you should take it? After all from his point of view, you didn’t have a reason to say no.


>Ask Lord Blackmoore to mediate or call up a meeting between you and your neighbours. You could discuss trade and cooperation and maybe Durnholde could be part of it as well?
>Alterac needs more food and supplies. Could Durnholde Keep help you with that in either providing them or finding a good source from which you could buy them.
>Invite Lord Blackmoore to join your campaign to secure Strahnbrad Hills, especially the Durnholdes side of Darrowmere River.
>This is maybe a bit premature, but ask Lord Blackmoore if you could take Taretha with you to Alterac? What does Blackmoore think about it, what are his terms?
>Other, write in.

Total Resources:
0 Wealth, +18 per season
22 Supplies, -6 per season
5 Peasants

QM: Total Resources updated to reflect the ending of the deal with Durnholde.

>>5504920
>This is maybe a bit premature, but ask Lord Blackmoore if you could take Taretha with you to Alterac? What does Blackmoore think about it, what are his terms?

>>5504920
>Ask Lord Blackmoore to mediate or call up a meeting between you and your neighbours. You could discuss trade and cooperation and maybe Durnholde could be part of it as well?
Call a meeting together, mediation maybe no. This should interest him because he can also benefit, it's a win-win.
>A gift of supplies and wealth, for ensure Alterac can remain stronger and keep at bay our enemies.
If he wants to make a great gift, he can also include something else he knows we like. We did make comments that we appreciated and liked Tari, in the past for make it believable.


///
I am not sure if he can do more. He could throw more money to us if we wanted, honestly good. A chest full of money, and then we wait for the new season ? Not bad at all. Or a combination of wealth and supplies.
For the campaign i guess mercenaries, because his own soldiers are needed for guard the camps. And having more men can definetly help us. If we don't need to pay them it s even better.
About Taretha, the feast is not yet done. So is a question if we want to do it at the end of the feast (after a few more days of being a good ally and praising the feast, for max effect) or now. We still have those favours with him too

I'd say if we want to get Taretha out we can't really make any bold demands of him now; rather we could come up with some arrangement where he'd be convinced that the deal is so beneficial to him that giving his fucktoy to us would seem a good value for ensuring it's kept up.

From options given the trade and cooperation discussion might be it, though he may consider that too boring.
Maybe inviting him to a joint campaign might be better given his track record of valuing glory earned over lives of his men.

However there's another aspect to consider - we shouldn't entirely compromise Alterac's position just because we want to ingratiate ourselves with him for what amounts to personal reasons, even if of different nature than what casual bystanders might assume.

I see one clear vote for Taretha, one for a gift and two for a meeting between you and your neighbours. The meeting wins, but I would like to have a second vote about it.


Choose one:
>Ask Lord Blackmoore to call the meeting, but don't expect him to stay in the meeting. It will be a honour for you to run this meeting through him and for him to facilitate it. You would appreciate it a lot if he would do it.
>Ask Lord Blackmoore to call the meeting, and invite him to be part of it as well. A strong Hillsbrad could have a good partner in Durnholde.

>>5505710
>Ask Lord Blackmoore to call the meeting, and invite him to be part of it as well. A strong Hillsbrad could have a good partner in Durnholde.

>>5505710
>>Ask Lord Blackmoore to call the meeting, and invite him to be part of it as well. A strong Hillsbrad could have a good partner in Durnholde.

>>5505710
>>Ask Lord Blackmoore to call the meeting, and invite him to be part of it as well. A strong Hillsbrad could have a good partner in Durnholde.

Maybe suggest he sends Langston in his stead if he feels the regional politics are not glorious enough seeing as he's likely to end up handling the minutiae anyway.

>>5505710
>>Ask Lord Blackmoore to call the meeting, and invite him to be part of it as well. A strong Hillsbrad could have a good partner in Durnholde.

"In the spirit of the Winter Feil a gift of maybe something that I enjoy would be nice." You said with a laugh to which Blackmoore chuckled. "No, but seriously there isn't much outside of our continued cooperation."

"Surely there must be something? Something in which we can help you Prince Alric?" Blackmoore asked and sipped his wine.

"Well…" You said and tried to think about something. "There is one thing."

"What is it Prince Alric?" Blackmoore asked you.

"I would like to call up a meeting between Alterac and our neighbours. To discuss trade, security and overall cooperation." You said to Blackmoore and continued. "And if it was possible, could you be the one organising it and getting us in the same room?"

"I can lend you my study." Blackmoore said back. "And I will have my people send the invites. Trade, cooperation and security wasn't it?"

"That is tremendous." You said and smiled. "And yes, it was those three. And speaking of them, why wouldn't you join us? A strong Hillsbrad could benefit from having a good partner in Durnholde?"

Blackmoore thought about your offer and words and sipped his wine.

"Next time when gnolls or something else causes problems, we wouldn’t have to wait till Lord Uther comes and saves us." You said. "Not forgetting the trade."

"It is a good idea Prince Alric. So I will be there, but I will leave the job of talking to Langston." Blackmoore said back to you. "Does late afternoon sound fine?"

"It does, thank you Lord Blackmoore." You said and gave him a respectful nod.

"Having a meeting is the least I can do for you." He said back and stood up. "Now though, what will you do in the meanwhile?"

"It seems you have something in your mind?"

"Drink with me, dine with me. We can talk and I can show you my collection of curios." Blackmoore said to you.

"Drinking this early? It is only a morning Lord Blackmoore?" You had to ask him.

"Bahh, day drinking is the best drinking. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. And besides, we don't have to drink that much." Blackmoore said and continued. "So what do you think?"


>Accept the offer and spend time with Blackmoore.
>You had planned on spending time with your squire. After all it is your responsibility to train her.
>Mention that you thought about returning to Taretha, taking a bath and preparing for the meeting.
>Other, write in.

You are going to invite Mayor Fowley of Tarren Mill, Magistrate Maleb of Southshore and Magistrate Burnside of Hillsbrad Fields to the meeting. With Blackmoore and Langston joining you, who else would you like to invite or would more participants cause issues?

Choose none or as many as you want:
>Lady Jandice Barov
>Lady Imswit
>Sir Foecourt
>Captain Alphonse and Commodore Troubridge
>None

QM: Please vote on both.

>>5505975
>You had planned on spending time with your squire. After all it is your responsibility to train her.
She wanted to talk with us
>Lady Jandice Barov
>Captain Alphonse and Commodore Troubridge

>>5505975

>Mention that you thought about returning to Taretha
although I'd prefer to hear what our dependable squire has been up to we have a quest here

...

Hmm inviting too many might get the room too crowded and debate bogged down. On the other hand anyone excluded may feel offended, especially if they are singled out as superfluous.

Jandice may have ambitions that could make her fit well on that meeting, whether her presence would actually be a benefit being another matter.

For me I'd extend offer to the officers if they wish to represent Alliance military as anything we agree could impact, presumably beneficially, their logistics. Although maybe not pressure them into it since they may not care for the civilian arrangements at all.
>Captain Alphonse and Commodore Troubridge

Imswit's and Foecourt's issues as we learned them are probably not too relevant for the bigger picture, although we can keep them in mind...

>>5505991
>She wanted to talk with us
right she wanted that didn't she. Damn, another point for a spar session...

>>5505975
>>You had planned on spending time with your squire. After all it is your responsibility to train her.
>Lady Jandice Barov

File: Malevus.jpg (218 KB, 641x1136)

218 KB JPG

“Sorry, I will have to decline. Now a drink or two would be fine, but I have my responsibilities towards my squire and I haven’t put enough time in.” You said to Blackmoore.

“Ahh shame, but a valid reason.” Blackmoore said back to you.

“But meanwhile can you send the word for Mayor Fowley, Magistrate Burnside and Magistrate Maleb. In addition could you please invite Captain Alphonse and Commodore Troubridge, they should represent the Alliance military. Finally, could you extend the invitation to Lady Jandice Barov, her family who after all own a lot of land in Hillsbrad.” You told Blackmoore.

“Quite a list of invitees Prince Alric, but I will do as you ask.” Blackmoore said and downed his cup of wine.

“Thank you Lord Blackmoore, late afternoon it is.” You said and finished yours.

“I will send someone to you then.” Blackmoore said. “Till then.”

…

You found Malevus in the mess hall and after retrieving more breakfast to eat, you returned back to your room. You would have wanted to spar with Malevus, but with the snow storm still going strong, going outside to the yard would be foolish and there wasn’t enough room in the Keep.

“Lady Malevus.” Taretha said and gave her a gentle curtsy.

“Lady Taretha.” Malevus greeted back with a nod.

“What were you doing Tari?” You asked her as there were bedsheets and blankets all over the room.

“Cleaning and we have to change the bedsheets into new and fresh ones.” Tari said to you. “I couldn't sit still so I had to find something to do.”

Malevus gave the two of you a curious look, but opted to say nothing.

“After you have finished, could you give me and Malevus some privacy?” You asked her.

“Can do, this won’t take long.” Tari said back.

Malevus sat down and watched as Tari changed the bedsheets and collected the old ones. She gave you a gentle smile when she left, leaving you and Malevus together in your room.

“You wanted to talk?” You asked Malevus.

“Yes Prince Alric, about the old orc.” Malevus said to you. “He spoke of the old ways, ‘shamans’, winds and spirits.”

“I can imagine how Thrall reacted when he heard about that.” You said back.

1/2

>>5506797

“Yes, he is going to go and try to find this Hellscream.” Malevus said back and continued her musing. “Since yesterday I have been thinking about it. If warlocks and the strange power in the orcs was the reason for their strength and now for their lethargy, what happens if the orcs return back to the old ways?”

“Have you been thinking a lot about this?” You asked Malevus, she hadn’t really shown interest about the subject before.

“A bit Prince Alric, but doesn’t it make sense. Thrall was rescued as a baby, he didn’t have the connection to the warlocks.” Malevus said to you.

“You are right.” You said and thought about it. “The Blackrocks I fought weren’t lethargic like the ones in the camps, they probably have substituted whatever the power was with human sacrifices like stories tell us.”

“So it is either return to the old ways, or by serving their warlock lords.” Malevus said to you.

You thought that she was right, there weren't that many other possibilities, at least not ones that came to your mind. Dalaran had studied lethargy, but they didn’t continue or were allowed to continue with the studies. If they had interviewed the old orc, would Dalaran have come to the same conclusion as you and Malevus.

“This got a bit philosophical, didn’t it.” You said with a chuckle. “Maybe it is for the better if our musings don’t leave this room.”

“I think you are right Prince Alric, thank you for listening to what I had to say.” Malevus said and gave you a slight bow.

You just waved her bow away, you would have probably come to the same conclusion if you had started to think about the subject. Though this was something you want to talk about with Lady Nalice and Eligius. Lady Nalice knows about magic and Eligius as a warlock, as the bad guy in this story, could help by explaining this to you.

“Prince Alric, what will you do if you end up meeting with Thrall? The Alliance expects him to be caught, but you… you helped Taretha who helped Thrall to escape.” Malevus asked you. “And I threw the dagger into the river.”


>You don’t know, you really don’t know what you will do if you end up meeting Thrall again.
>You will let him go, you have no reason to try to capture Thrall. Life in a jail for the crimes of your father is not right.
>You will attempt to capture Thrall, the Alliance expects it. The orcs still have to pay for their crimes towards humanity.
>Other, write in.

QM: Tomorrow is Christmas Eve so don’t expect a full update then or the day after. I still might do a short update, but not a long one.

>>5506804
>that would depend on the circumstances.
>if he stays in the mountains, I have no quarrel with him.
>if he threatens my people, he will need to be dealt with
>if alliance asks for our support against him, as absurd as it seems against a single orc, however exceptional… I suppose we’ll burn that bridge when we reach it.

>>5506804
>You don’t know, you really don’t know what you will do if you end up meeting Thrall again.
>It all depends if he stays peaceful or turns violent. I won't punish a man for the crimes of their father, but I will for their own.

>>5506804
>>You will attempt to capture Thrall, the Alliance expects it. The orcs still have to pay for their crimes towards humanity.

Our father was an Orclover, where is he now?

>>5506891
Our father’s sin was not affection for orcs per se but treachery and assortment of crimes that followed it.

>>5506804
>>5506853
support

>>5506804
this >>5506853

It was the principle that we laid out on that hearing on Thrall's escape. If he were to approach us publicly then we would have no choice but to capture him since not doing so would jeopardise the survival of our fledgling nation state and therefore the resurgence of Alterac. However, Thrall would have to be the dumbest orc to ever live to even think of doing such a thing so this scenario will remain purely hypothetical.

“I don’t know, I really don’t know. If Thrall was to approach me publicly, then I have no choice but to capture him since not doing so could endanger Alterac.” You said to Malevus and continued. “But I don’t think he is that stupid.”

You sighed and continued.

“It all depends if he stays peaceful or turns violent. I won’t punish a man for the crimes of their father, but I will for their own.” You said.

“Prince Alric, I hope it doesn’t come to that.” Malevus said to you.

“So do I, so do I.” You said.

…

You had started to write a letter to Monica about the rumours circulating you. It was better to get this done and warn her so that the rumours don’t come as a surprise to her. You didn’t know when you could see her next time so it was better to send her the letter.

Malevus had started to clean her sword and as she was doing that, you continued talking with her about quite mundane things. You wondered how long the snow storm could last, if you could get back home on schedule or would you have to stay longer in Durnholde than you had expected? Malevus didn’t mind if she had to stay longer in Durnholde than expected, she was only worried if the snow storm would make organising the Feast of Winter Veil more difficult. You hadn’t known that Malevus liked the Feast that much.

A servant had brought more firewood for the hearth. The Keep probably goes through huge quantities of firewood during the winter and now with all the guests and the snow storm raging outside, you continued your wondering if there was enough firewood reserved within the walls of the Keep?


>3d10, best of three
>DC 16, Crit 22

Rolled 10, 10, 4 = 24 (3d10)

>>5507398

Rolled 1, 2, 5 = 8 (3d10)

>>5507398

Rolled 9, 8, 8 = 25 (3d10)

>>5507398

That will do, that will do nicely.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to my all dear Anons! Update will come when I have survived from the self-inflicted food induced coma that will surely come.

>>5507429
Merry Christmas to you and everyone as well OP, may we find and retain the spark of hope amidst darkness

>>5507429
Merry Christmas to all !

>>5507429
Merry Christmas

>>5507429
merry chirstmas everyone !

>>5507429
Merry Christmas!

>25, Crit Success!

You heard the sound of a chair moving on the wooden floor and then it sounded like Malevus was attempting to lift something heavy.

You turned around and jumped up with your hand on the hilt of the Cinder Sword to see Malevus throwing the servant with a shout, who was carrying the firewood, on the floor while grabbing him by the neck and the collar of his jacket.

The servant smashed on the floor hard and as he tried to immediately get back up, a quick kick from Malevus stopped him. The toe box of the boot connected with the servant's face with a crunch and the servant dropped back on the floor.

"What the hell!" You shouted as Malevus this time stomped the servant's face with her heel for a second crunch. The servant laid still and didn't move anymore.

"He had a dagger!" Malevus said back to you. "He tried to kill you."

Malevus prepared to kick the man for the third time, but as blood trickled from his ruined face and he didn't move, she held herself from kicking him again. The man was out.

"Dagger?!" You asked and looked down searching the floor. Next to the bed you found what you were looking for, a simple pointy dagger and not an usual utility knife carried by more or less everyone.

"I saw him take it out and take steps towards you." Malevus said as you sheathed your sword. The immediate danger was gone. "So I grabbed him from behind and threw him on the floor."

"Good work Malevus." You said as the door to your room was pulled open.

"What happened, is everything alright?" Joe, the knight who was on guard duty asked you.

"Yeah we are alright." You said back to him. "But that man tried to assassinate me, so go tell Sir Gravis, but don’t make a scene out of it."

"Will do Prince Alric." Joe said and left the room as fast as he entered it.

"Alright what will we do with this guy?" You asked particularly no one. "Malevus, take your sword and keep him under the sword point."

Malevus did as told and lowered the tip of her sword on the assassin's throat as you took your gloves and put them on just in case.

The dagger wasn't a rondel dagger like yours, but still pointy enough to punch through cloth, leather and ribs. A suitable tool for an assassin. The man himself was very nondescript and wore usual clothes for servants or for workers. Was that how he had blended in here, pretending to be one of the staff members?

But inside his robe that he had thrown over his clothes to stave off the cold, something interesting was found. A pair of daggers, a vial of something you couldn't recognise and an orange bandana.

"Syndicate, of course it was fucking Syndicate." You said aloud. "Who else could it have been."

Stashing the bandana into your pocket, you took the rest of his stuff and put them on the table.

"Are you alright Prince Alric?" Malevus asked you, she was clearly concerned.

1/3

>>5508449

"Yes… no, I am not alright. That man tried to assassinate me on orders by someone in my big brother's organisation." You said to her and continued. "And I can’t do shit about it other than wait till they again try to kill me. So no, I am not alright."

In frustration you kicked the unconscious assassin into his ribs. The kick did no good, it didn’t even properly vent out the frustration or clear your mind.

"In a battle the success or failure are all mine, I have the control of what I do. And if I fail and get hurt or die, I don’t fear it. They were my decision that led to it and I faced it directly." You said and raised your voice. "But Light be damned, I can’t face an assassin. I can just surround myself with bodyguards and be paranoid about every step I take or piece of food I eat."

You pulled your hair behind your back and let out an angry sigh. The unconscious assassin started to gurgle with its own blood and both you and Malevus noticed it.

"Help me to turn the man on his stomach so that he doesn't choke on his blood." You said to her.

Moving a limp man wasn't easy, but you got him around and you pulled off his robe in the process. You sat down while Malevus stood guard over the body with her sword drawn.

"I am sorry, I shouldn't have raised my voice." You apologised to her. "It is just…"

"I understand Prince Alric…" Malevus said back.

"Thank you, thank you for saving my life… again." You said to her.

Malevus flashed you a quick smile of hers.

"That is my job Prince Alric." She said to you.

There were several knocks on the door before Sir Gravis stepped in.

"Prince Alric, Joe told me everything. Are you alright?" Sir Gravis said to you. "What will we do with the man?"

"Move him into the dungeon and lock him there." You said back.

"Understood, but what then? Should we tell Lord Blackmoore?" Sir Gravis asked you.

2/3

>>5508450

That was a good question. You were in Blackmoore’s Keep and you thought he should know about this and that you had captured an assassin. The assassin hadn't been very smart, trying to kill you while Malevus was in the room. And you knew that someone more experienced had been sent after you after the previous failure and this man it can’t be.

This only meant that there were more than one assassin in here and due to the snow storm, their chance to flee successfully wasn't great. They would probably attempt again to kill you or stay put and avoid further action to preserve their sorry hides. This gave you two things to think about. The previous assassin had been killed in Dawnholme and you were fairly sure that this one would face the same fate, unless he was well guarded. To guard him properly, you would require help from Blackmoore as Sir Gravis and the knights alone cannot guard both him and you. You also had the death of Nogelman in your mind and while you didn’t find anything fishy about his death, the concern of what if you missed something did come to your mind.

The second thing was what would you do about the remaining assassins and how much would you spread the news that there had been an assassination attempt on you. Could you smoke the assassins out by luring them to their captured compatriot or could you maybe force an investigation and find out who amongst you is a stranger and the likely assassin?


>Have Blackmoore put double, no triple amount of guards into the dungeon. You won't allow the assassin to be killed.
>Minimal guards, you are fairly sure that the assassins want him dead before he talks. You could maybe succeed in luring the remaining assassins and confronting them.
>Drag the assassin out into the courtyard and execute the man on the spot. Everyone will see this, but this removes the need for him to die by the remaining assassins. Remaining assassins might feel safe then and won't continue their plans.
>Other, write in.

>Bring brimstone and hellfire. You are going to turn the whole Durnholde Keep upside down if required and you are going to find the remaining assassins with force if necessary.
>Have the news spread freely and don't attempt to hide it. See how the assassins react when everyone starts pointing fingers at each other.
>Keep things silent on purpose. If the assassins don't know what exactly is going on, it will be harder for them to act and make them probably unlikely to act.
>Other, write in.

>Wear Aurvan’kal, you want all the protection you can get. Everyone will notice it.
>Don't wear it, normal clothes are a signal that you aren't afraid.


QM: Please vote on all three. Different voting combinations will have different effects on the situation. There is no right answer.