Age of Ice and Blood: A Pathfinder System Heroic Fantasy Quest

Fourth Day of Ikomi-hamba (Ikomi Descendant) 1348 A. L. (After Landfall)

You have never raised a keep before, but you do know the basics of how it aught to be done, as much part of a knight's education as knowing which end of the lance to hold, for what use be it to claim land that you cannot hold? It is almost as though you can hear Sir George's voice again and you a wide-eyed boy still dreaming of far off shores. 'First, raise up the motte at the height of at least four or five feet, though five or six would not go amiss if the land is restive and easily raised to blood against you...'

Well the land here is not filled with quarrelsome folk who will burn down the work of your hands at the drop of a hat, but that is mostly because you are not taxing them so. Still, there might be other causes why folk would come against you with sword and fire, be it if they had taken ill to Zaia's studies or to Antonio's shrewd bartering, the motte alone will not do without a wall of wood all about it to enclose the stables, the aforementioned house of sorcery and smoke, a guard post at the gates, with one side opening to the sea with a dock to allow Marcella to sit at anchor here rather than be left in the city and the keeping of such guards as you do not know the oaths and pledges of.

As to the tower itself and place of last refuge, well many would no doubt call it rustic, a thing your grandfather might have recognized from the days when he rode in the wake of the Conqueror, but such are the limitations of the purse which Antonio is insistent on that he might keep enough coin to trade on in the spring. The first story is to hold cellars and granaries, and great boxes, tuns, casks, and other domestic utensils as well as such goods and provisions as cannot be held aboard ship. Here also would be the kitchen whence hearty meals could be cooked for all high and low and water warmed for the baths near at hand, though here Zaia interjects himself into the design, saying that rather than tubs of wood, which are the mark of poor lordlings with splinters in 'unmentionable places', you could instead sink the baths into the earth and line the place with stone as the Romans did of old. Of course, unlike the great baths of yesteryear whose decadence the church had railed against, these baths shall have the bathers pay for luxury with the arduous task of carrying water to and fro. The dining hall as well would share a wall with the kitchen and borrow of its warmth through the winter and so would the barracks where most of the men would be housed in far more space and comfort than the hold of a ship would allow. Why it is almost enough to silence the groans and grumbles when they hear that they should also help with the raising of the walls and of the keep.

The second story should hold such storage as would contain the more precious things Wayfarer's Respite would guard; gold, silver and the like as well as the horn you had taken from the pirate lord, which might in time of great need even be used in its protection, though among your men only Wanderer is willing to have such magics worked upon him. There also would be all the bedrooms of the keep fit for yourself, Inge, Antonio, Esha, Zaia and, much to his surprise, for Tom also. Indeed he had tried to argue against it, saying that he would be perfectly content to sleep with the rest of the men, but you would have none of it.

"To you it falls to lead the Fellowship in battle should I be away or should I fall and need reviving as indeed I have done before..." A fact which Tom had reminded you of with as much reproach as deference would allow. "With the weight of that responsibility aught to come the privilege of a good night's sleep at least."

To that he can find no easy argument and so it is settled and laid down in the plans, along with a study for Antonio where he might keep his ledger and his books, windows looking out towards the sea and his beloved ship.

Last, though surely not least among your plans, comes the suggestion from Inge that perhaps Swift Pebble and her kin would like a dwelling place akin to those which they had been familiar with, and to that no one can find fault. Not only have the river-folk served as unmatched interpreters in strange lands, but you have known knights who would give up an arm and an eye in the bargain for sentinels who can see in the dark and call an alarm with a thought. It would not take much in the way of digging either for they are small of stature and easily fit into hidden nooks with an opening in the courtyard between the main keep and the outer walls.

Looking over the final plan and the list of supplies he had compiled as you had added onto it Antonio shakes his head and sighs, the sorrow only half in jest you would judge. "That is two thirds of all the goods and coin I have on hand. I now have a new appreciation why lords are so hungry for tax."

As Antonio gathers up the supplies and workers to begin the construction of Wayfarer's Respite what do you do?

Choose three:

[] Visit the Temple of Ikomi again to seek what secrets the skulls of your vanquished foes might hold

[] Visit the temple of Olweje, presenting the weapon and the horn of the pirate lord for them to judge

[] Speak to Serik Priest of Ashinu about the curse upon your men

[] Visit the market to buy, or to sell
-[] Write in (Armory and unassigned magical loot eligible for selling)

[] Visit your neighbors, though House Koire holds the lands immediately around your new keep even more distant lords would likely be interested, perhaps even wary of who is raising a keep on their doorstep

[] Keep an ear out for potential mercenary contracts

[] Get to know Hengo Perys, the man willing to wager eight thousand Icari on raising horses

[] See if that Silverbow is still in the city, you would like to know where you might find a skilled bowyer, perhaps even one who can make a longbow

[] Look for Anisi and her fellow hunters, they would likely be most interested in what you had seen in the north and might put the knowledge to good use

OOC: I thought about Zaia taking this time to carve up the dragon, but on second thought it makes sense for him to work for the workshop so he would have the best chance to get as much as he can out of it. It's not like dragon corpses are common.
[/SPOILER]

Fifth Day of Ikomi-hamba (Ikomi Descendant) 1348 A. L. (After Landfall)

The day dawns bright and cold, though not as much as some of the ones you had passed through on the deck of Marcella sailing north, and the lack of swaying and lurching of a ship more than makes up for the few drops of rain that trickle down from among the leafless branches, and yet this day is not quite as the one before nor the one after. When you had asked Inge for her age she had told you the date of her birth also, in the Black Months when rain and god sweep in upon the islands and the power of Ikomi is at its zenith. As you had grown ever closer to the girl and even taken her in as your ward the notion appeared in your mind that you aught to somehow mark the occasion. Though her tenth year has no special significance on its own it does mark the first such date of her new life. A year ago she had likely already been in the care of her ill-fated former master and that you do not wish her mind to linger on.

Perhaps, you think looking up at the fading stars, it is a strange thing to be concerned over the anniversary of one's birth among the hustle and bustle of trying to raise a keep from a camp, organizing workers, materials and money, when in the first you do not know the languages most of them speak, the second are in the keeping of merchants who are probably trying to cheat one on purpose and the third depends on a foreign sets of weights and measures that could end up costing you more. Indeed your lady mother would probably look in askance at the notion. Your lady mother probably would not approve at all to give such a remark to the anniversary of a girl's name, a new custom come out of Aquitaine, which she had found to be immodest.

A wistful sigh passes your lips, which much to your surprise are bent into the smallest of smiles. She would probably approve of all the times Inge had saved you from spilling your heart's blood on the field to make up for it. So in the wee hours of the morning before any of the others had woken you prepare your surprise for the day.

As far as you have been able to tell Anwa fisherfolk do not have any special custom to mark the days of their birth, no more than would the common folk of Verley, and so you had made up your own mind as to how you might best celebrate the day:

[] A Feast: You cannot manage anything too elaborate, but you had done the best that winter markets could when last you were in Orinilu
-[] Write in what foods you packed for the day (optional)

[] A Gift: Inge does not lack for anything, that much is your responsibility as her guardian, but children have wants as much as needs that aught not be forgotten
-[] A fine ivory comb
-[] A puzzlebox from the east
-[] Write in

[] Write in

OOC: Don't worry about spending too much if you go gift, anything you buy here will not cost more than 50-100 gp since this is not an important purchase or anything and as it says above Inge is not expecting anything. Incidentally that part about Roland's mother not approving of birthdays for girls is historically accurate. We do not hear of birthdays for girls and women among the nobility in England until the 12th-13th century and there were theologians who argued that celebrating birthdays was vain and sinful, though never with any great vigor. At the time birthdays were more common in the south of Europe hence why I said the custom had come up through Aquitaine since political links would be there just through the fact that the king had lands there.