Lord of a Fief Quest [Xianxia/Western Fantasy Fusion, CK2-ish]

Advisers chosen, ministers replaced. It was good to have reliable people backing you, honest people of who had freely given you their loyalty. However, you had an entire province to rule and that meant you needed to look beyond the people who would call your palace home. The people of the villages, the people of Toril, and the resources they could harvest on your behalf.

A Lord's Tour was a staple of lordly routine for a reason. It gave a Lord the chance to get to know his more powerful subjects and it gave him a chance to survey the terrain he called home. Toril itself would be left for last since it was something you could handle at any time given your palace was set within its domain. So your eyes turned outward, to the fields, gardens, and villages within your domain. Places you would need to spend many days of travel to visit. A quick examination of the map your ministers possessed made you estimate it would take 45 days if you just stuck to the villages and well trod paths between them. However there were other things, potentially valuable things in the mountains beyond your people's heartland. Investigating those might take time but it might be worth it if you found a valuable source of spirit stones or materials to forge spirit treasures. Bloodthorn Valley's economy was a one trick pony at the moment, focused on agricultural products and the alchemical products that could be refined from them. It was a strong economy to be sure, but one prone to disruption if there was a bad harvest.

You called up the Bloody Hand to serve as your escorts during this journey, normally a Lord would travel with a larger retinue but the Bloody Hand had served you loyally for years now and their fighting skills made up the difference in numbers. Of course, you could call upon additional troops which might be useful if you ventured beyond the civilized parts of the valley and into the mountains. It also might be useful to have a large force given the fact it was about 120 days until the Orcs raided Bloodthorn Valley. Then again, you may want to be done with your tour by then so you could command the defense from Toril.

A part of you wondered if your predecessors had bothered to explore the fief fully or if they had done the minimum as you contemplated. There might be hidden dangers that would be important to discover.


You left Toril with your retinue in tow for the village of Mors. It was one of the closest to the Orcs and was raided every summer without fail by their kind. The certainty of the raids could be seen in the way the peasants looked over their shoulder in the fields, even when they had nearly four months before raiding season. The danger felt near anyway. It also showed in the villages fortifications, a solid stone wall surrounded the village of Mors, the wall itself twelve feet tall but that would not be enough to stop the Orcs. The average Orc was seven feet tall and they could lift another Orc up to climb over the wall. But it was the best that the poor villagers of Mors could manage.

You probably would dispatch a company of Bai infantry to defend this village when raiding season came, it was the standard lordly response to such events. Lords cultivated and fought spirit beasts, not common monsters that peasants could handle on their own. However, there was a part of you that wanted to be seen as the benevolent father figure who protected his people against all threats. With a squad of Bai Knights, your own advisers, and yourself you would be a force to be reckoned with.

Once you passed through the wooden gate, without the protection of arrays carved into the wood, the village itself was all mud and stick huts with the exception of one stone house. The manor house which served as the home of Knight Mors Jun-fan and his family. It was also your destination after such long travel. You would be feasted at your vassal's home while your men camped outside the village's walls. It was how things should be.

The feast itself was unremarkable beyond the basic competence of having it ready on such short notice. The Knight himself seemed quiet but competent, yet not the sort you personally would favor. More of someone who met your expectations and therefore had a use in the world you intended to build.

Retinue size

[ ] Bloody Hand plus a few servants and guides
+ Fast (45 Day Tour)
+ Powerful (Likely to be underestimated for its size)
- Vulnerable to powerful spirit beasts and/or large groups of Orcs that might raid during your tour. But then again, you might finish the tour before the raids begin.
- Elite troops are difficult to replace if you lose any.

[ ] Bloody Hand, your critical advisers (Rank 2 Cultivators), all 15 Knights (Rank 2 Cultivators; 1500 Combined Power), and a full company of regular horsemen from Bloodthorn Valley's army.
+ Better able to handle the dangers of the Mountains, should you look for sites of value there
+ Numerous (Likely to be to survive any attack you might encounter)
- Slow Tour (90 Day Tour)
- More likely to encounter raids while traveling unless you choose not to explore.

Explorations

[ ] Do not explore.
+ Safe (No raid chance)
- No benefits

[ ] Explore the rural areas between villages but do not venture into the mountains.
+ Roll 6d100 for fief features (good, bad, or nonexistent)
+ 2 Encounters which may be good (or bad) are added to the Tour.
+ Divine Luck provides a bonus to all related rolls but also upgrades the danger involved in failed rolls.
- Adds 60 days to the tour (Slow + this option guarantees raid encounters without your full military force)

[ ] Explore the rural areas and the mountains. You wanted to know what was out there.
+ Guaranteed 1 Spirit Stone Mine site of random rank/quality that will require the construction of a fortress to hold against Orcs.
+ Roll 6d100 for fief features (good, bad, or nonexistent)
+ 4 Encounters which may be good (or bad) are added to the Tour.
+ Divine Luck provides a bonus to all related rolls but also upgrades the danger involved in failed rolls.
- Guaranteed 1 Bad Feature of equal rank to the Spirit Stone Mine that is located near the spirit stone mine and will disrupt shipments until dealt with permanently. (i.e. Rank 6 Mine = Rank 6 Spirit Beast Pack)
- Adds 120 days to the tour (Guarantees raid encounters that will whittle down your force)

Note: If you choose not to explore the 6d100 will be rolled secretly and the sites (good, bad, indifferent) will still exist in the province. This might result in unknown threats or unknown treasures that are discovered by adventurers.

Personally Defend Mors

[ ] Yes - Guarantees an additional raid encounter with your retinue in addition to any encounter(s) you may roll from exploration. Adds 15 Days to Tour. Gain the title: Protector (+2 Martial, upgradeable). Also, encounter Orc cultivators for the first time and gauge what they can use.

[ ] No - That was a peasants job and you had plenty of them to throw at the problem. Focus on cultivation instead. The expected response. Gain the trait: Focused (+1 to Cultivation rolls, upgradeable)

Note: Please vote by plan as the combination has synergies and/or effects in terms of raid risk. Also note the longer you spend on the Tour, the longer it is before you can use personal actions for cultivation.