Burghers of Frye

[Sassy Cassie]

Is there, like, an official title name for the U'debbhaian equivalent of an Arch-Bishop? Like, a religious leader over all of the Duchy and possibly more, not just a small fry religious leader h

[BakedToast]

This is common knowledge to the even the commoners, since the U'debbhaian religion is the oldest religion in the world.
The leaders of the individual U'debbhaian Churches are the preachers and the clerics (they dislike being called priests, since that is a Dabalian title), who are involved in the running of the church at the simple level. There is only one hierarchical level above that, since most U'debbhaian churches are almost autonomous, and that is the Head Instructor, of which there is usually one in each major town in a county. In this case, Traye has a Head Instructor, who presides over the U'debbhaian Churches in Traye, Frye, Shaake, and Donu. Head Instructors occasionally meet if there are major issues, but there are no scheduled annual meetings or anything.

OOC: I will say this: it's ok to ask questions like you just did in the forum, 100%. But if at all possible, I'd prefer to not have to manually add canon to the universe, as opposed to letting it grow organically. What I mean is, if at all possible, try not to mettle extensively with forces outside the scope of Frye. We only have a very few instances currently of families doing such things, and in none of them did they ask OOC questions about the universe canon to try drag in specific things for their advantage. This game is meant to be in a village-sized scope.

[Sassy Cassie]

Thanks!

[BakedToast]

Thus the Seventh Month has come and gone, like the passing of an old friend into the nether realms; we shall never see it again. What is done has been done, and the consequences now unfold before our eyes.

The Elders have discussed the Current issues, and their results are recorded here.

No Issues were voted on last month. The Elders took the opportunity to simply talk of matters of administration in Frye. The meeting was productive.

Cisse, our Bailiff, has read the letters of the powerful families and has responded accordingly.

Lew: Sorry about earlier, we didn’t know we could ask you for teachers. Currently our school is in need of a history teacher. If our proposal is accepted, we might also need a teacher of medicines and herbology. Do you know anyone willing and qualified to teach these things? Sincerely, Lew.

Tannell: [No Letter Was Written]

Ferran: Confirmation that the Steel Company has been sent to the ascribed location.

Asura: [No Letter Was Written]

Elforche: [No Letter Was Written]

Cisse has read the letters: Cisse has received Ferran's mercenaries. Cisse has read Lew's letter, and has sent them a rather spindly and bookish young man, who has been studying historical events for most of his short life. The man's name is Hahish; he arrives at Lew's doorstep, awaiting instructions on how and where to teach. Cisse leaves the responsibility of appointing and hiring him upon Lew.

The powerful families have done much this past month:

Ferran: -Hearts of Stone- 4
The Ferran Family excitedly begins the reconstruction of their estate. Unfortunately, most of the nearby land is owned by either unwilling homeowners who don't want to sell, or by Elforche, who had been slowly but strategically buying up a few loose properties over the past couple years. The only way for the Ferran Estate renovations to go was up (or down, but, you know, who goes down?). As they began to build, they shortsightedly did not hire any master of actual construction for the job. The masonry was rock-solid, but without the complete skill set, Ferran has caused three quarters of the house to come crumbling down on it's old wooden supports, forcing the family to move into the remaining small portion of the estate that still stands. There is barely enough room, and Ferran may need to find alternate housing for their family for the duration of the project. The repair of 70% of the estate will doubtless be slow and expensive.

Ferran: -Library Offer- [No Roll Required]
As Ferran was the only Family to step forward to offer to build the Library, the Village Elders have given them the contract. No time-limit has been set on the contract, but certainly the other families might begin to apply pressure if Ferran delays the construction for too long.

Ferran: -Not Silver But Steel- 46
The Steel Company departs from Frye in the late afternoon, with high morale and confidence of their success, led by Ciona, who has earned their respect recently. They head in the direction of Frye, following the instructions given by Cisse in the letter. They return to Ferran near the end of the month, bearing another sealed letter from Cisse. A fair number of them are wounded, and a few are missing - slain in combat, they inform you. Ciona herself is mostly unscathed, and the mercenaries are impressed by what must have been some extraordinary combat feats in the field; leadership is unlikely to be problem in the future for Ferran. The letter will be revealed to Ferran in the Diplomacy Section.

Ferran: -Founding Farmsteads- 56
The clearing of the forest in the allotted land goes smoothly, and another farmstead has been finished. The alotted room remaining could probably hold one more farmstead, giving the Ferran Farm District a total of 5 farmsteads. While no outright attack from the Black Beast came this month, some of the workers clearing the forest in the early mornings and late at dusk claim to have heard strange bestial noises from the forests around them...

Ferran: -Otherworldly Omittance- 61
Nola informs Ferran that this being indeed has a name, and can speak. However, Ferran soon discovers that its method of "speech" sounds like hissing sand, and that it cannot understand them either. Ferran has taken to calling the sandy being "Ash". Nola communicates with it by etching odd symbols into a pliable material, at which it can write in turn. Communication between Nola and the creature is quite slow. Nola warns Ferran not to interfere with her custody of Ash, and that she will take care of it. She requests a second bed be brought into their quarters for Ash, as she doesn't want him making her bed all sandy. Thankfully, Nola's quarters were not damaged by the aforementioned estate collapse.

Ferran: -Cupid Crafting- 41
Searching around Frye, Ferran has found a hunter, Keralt, who has been of the habit of making his own equipment, including arrows. While he doesn't make the finest of arrows, he is willing to work for Ferran, provided they purchase the supplies necessary to make the arrows, and pay him a handsome fee for his work. He was well-informed of the license situation, and had already purchased a license, being one of the only Fletchers in Frye, and deriving more business from fletching than actual hunting.

Ferran: -License Purchase- [No Roll Required]
A small fee later, Ferran has the required licenses to run their blacksmithing outfit. The Indigo Ibex, Ferran Stonework, the Ferran Mine, and the Quarry, do not need licenses, as the law only encapsulated crafting businesses.

Benaros: -Gregarious Grigaro- 40
Since the meeting was public, the commoners who heard Grigaro's speech were not impressed that he came here to manage taxes. A few of them shoot disgruntled looks in passing, but dare do no more to a noble. The Council themselves seem ambivalent to this news. Initially, they ask for any written confirmation from Cisse or the Duke himself, but Grigaro manages to bluff his way into convincing them they don't need written proof. The Village Elders welcome Grigaro to Frye, and are somewhat willing to coalesce with Grigaro on various matters of administration; however, they insist upon convening as a group first, and having a vote on whether or not to fully endorse working with him. They inform Grigaro that they will get back to him on this matter. Thus, Grigaro is unable to put forth his tax reform request.

Benaros: -U'debbhaian Underlings- 62
The U'debbhaian clergy are quite surprised and intrigued to hear Benaros' true identity and intent, since they had heard of his initial speech to the Village Elders only a day earlier. The U'debbhaian leaders inform Benaros that Esau is a vile cult leader, and his teachings contradict the great being of U'debbha, and that he lures people to be deceived in his basement temple in the House of Armanus. They warn Benaros to have nothing to do with Esau, and never to keep any of his gifts. They speak of the Dabalian priests and their temple with mild contempt, but add that there has been an uneasy peace between them for a while, since there are bigger fish to fry. As for Northe, they consider him with disdain as well, and his petty pseudo-religion, and that it has led to a far greater sin; the sect of Loforians, under Loforz, a former Village Elder, U'debbhaians who have rescinded the U'debbhaian principles of peace in order to protest and cause ruckus in the village, has only been aided and abetted by Northe and his followers. They have grown rambunctious and proud. The clergy gladly accepts the donation of the 2 knights of the honor guard, particularly appreciating the fact that they are stipulated to follow any orders given them. As Benaros leaves, he hears them already giving some sort of instructions to the honor guard members on some kind of errand they need to take later in the month.

Benaros: -Training Trifles- 74
Finding the Asura family to be in possession of the finest training grounds in Frye, Benaros uses his shrewd negotiation skills in order to strike a bargain with Asura to use the training grounds exclusively for his own purposes once a week, for a reasonable fee. Naturally, this will drain Benaros' finances, but certainly things will turn around for his family...

Benaros: -Comfortable Cabinet Investment- 7
Unfortunately, Rolfe, the owner of the Comfortable Cabinet, has had his share of family entanglements and outside meddling in his company, and refuses to even hear Grigaro's proposal. His company is doing just fine on its own, he inform Grigaro. Furthermore, Rolfe makes mildly insulting remarks about how foreigners think they can just act all high and mighty in order to possess the livelihoods of resident business owners. Rolfe then threatens Grigaro to keep his blue-blooded hands off his business, or he will regret the consequences.

Benaros: -Bandage Old Wounds- 61
The repairs are going well, with Benaros having wisely brought some construction-based supplies in one of his wagons. Whatever happened to this villa, it certainly wasn't neat. The massive hole in the living room wall was the first thing to be completely patched up, such that it can hardly be recognized from outside or inside that there ever was a breach there. There are still minor damages on the inside of the property, as well as a large stubborn bloodstain on the basement floor that doesn't seem to want to come off.

Lew: -Mace's Malcontentment- 49
Mace is insulted that he even has to explain this. Many of his men were killed, thus greatly weakening his fighting force. Mace demands that Lew pay him handsomely for the cost of recruiting new thugs into his outfit, especially since they'll have to be recruited from outside of Frye to avoid suspicion of banished Mace being present in Frye. If Lew doesn't wish to pay him for this, then they must instead recruit enough thugs to make up Mace's gang's numbers. If nothing of the sort happens, Mace will be far less effective in any errand Lew sends him on. Thankfully, due to this explanation, Lew understands that Mace's allegiance hasn't been blunted by this event, as he is a pragmatic mind, and is willing to overlook this shady action on behalf of his employers, provided he still gets a cut of the loot.

Lew: -Bait and Switch- 15
Mace and his men are too wary to obliviously imbibe the "medicine" so generously offered by their employers immediately after such an event, and although Lew tries to keep them in the main estate, they walk off back to their own quarters, medicine in hand. After giving some to a few stray rats, they see the rats die, and are infuriated. Lew tried to poison them! Mace and the remaining thugs charge back to Lew's main estate, swinging their weapons with wrath. They vandalize and further destroy almost all the furniture in the estate, leaving the inside of the estate a tattered ruin. Mace doesn't stop his gang from doing this. As they leave the estate again, Mace smugly informs Lew that devastation like this is what they get for trying to cross a twice-loyal man like himself. If they cross him again, Mace threatens that he won't hold his thugs back from taking and destroying whatever they want from the estate. Lew has suffered major financial losses, and also has no working furniture in the estate except for one bed in the servant's quarters that survived the onslaught.

Lew: -Aftermath- 70
Thankfully, commoners don't notice or gawk as Lew farmers shovel non-descript chunks of what appear to be meat into holes near their fields. After all, those farmers do all sorts of odd things to try bolster their crop growth, and the passers-by have learned to stop inquiring into the Lew family's odd behaviors.

Lew: -Herbal Hospitality- 9
The herbs Lew attempts to plant grow miserably; perhaps there is something they are missing in the soil that they had when they were growing in the forests? Lew expects no yield from these herbs this year.

Lew: -Medicant Arrangements- 6
The Medicants are loathe to negotiate with Lew, but they are very pleasantly surprised when a Lew delegate approaches them in the Church of Northe, asking to buy "their" hospital. They happily, and quickly, take the decent sum of money offered by Lew for the hospital without bothering to negotiate a higher price, smiling widely the entire time. They inform the Lew delegate that the deeds for "their" hospital are currently being held with the Village Elders, and that they can pick them up from the Elders. Then the Medicants happily hurry away with the money given them by the Lew delegate.

Lew: -Scholarly Satiation- 19
Lew's scholars have very little to tell their leaders on the subject. While they did indeed read the books gathered by Mace's breaking and entering, very little is written in these books of political philandering; most of the writing takes place on a personal level, or with small groups, and is deeply personal and/or philosophical.

Tannell: -Animal Testing- 98
It appears that Tannell's scholars were wise to panic. An extensive test on small animals over several weeks has seen almost all of them die of what seemed to be minor illnesses, until Tannell realized what was really going on; the animals had rapidly aged, and then died of complications. Clearly, while the Orange Seeds have the benefit of granting an increased intellect, they have the cost of rapid aging associated with them... They do seem to increase the fertility of the animals as well, however with small animals with already short lifespans, this effect seems to be mostly irrelevant. Tannell scientists were so successful at testing that they were able to generate a report on the fruit:

These new seeds will grow into a great tree which will bear grey banana like fruits that will increase the eater intelligence and fertility but will lower their total lifespan by 1% per fruit as a price for eating the fruits. These fruits will have a very sweet taste and have a slightly weaker narcotic effect.
((Log (x number of years))/ (0.004321374)) = number of fruits to eat to age x years

Tannell: -Dinner Fit for a Duke- 85
The gilded letter which Tannell sent with the finest of emissaries to Traye to meet the Duke has come back with wonderful news! The Duke has read the latter, and since he was already intrigued with this small village which seemed to appear out of nowhere, is overjoyed by this invitation! He promises to visit Frye in the coming month, and will attend Tannell's feast. He sends a personal letter in return to Tannell, which can be read in the diplomacy section. Currently, this banquet is private, but Tannell could choose to invite the other families (or even select other families) if they so choose...

Tannell: -License Purchase- [No Roll Required]
Although Tannell members show up at the Village Elders to purchase a license, they are informed that the new Law only applies to the crafting industries, and thus the Eloquent (not Elegant) Oak doesn't need a license in order to operate.

Tannell: -From Far and Wide- 22
Unfortunately, the unskilled Tannell inquisitors don't have the proper appreciation of literature to be able to identify a skilled editor when they see one; thus, they return home empty-handed. One of the inquisitors returns with a wound, which he informs Tannell was from roaming thugs on the highways of Traye County.

Tannell: -Linguistic Learnings- 63
In Traye, Tannell delegates find out that, in fact, Cisse himself can read Humic! Cisse had recognized the Tannell members in the streets of Traye, and had inquired on their errand, and was delighted that he could be of aid to them. Upon hearing of why they needed a man that could read Humic, Cisse was impressed by their valiant efforts, and although he was too busy with... risky... political events taking place this month, he referred them to another scholar in Traye, a woman by the name of Reyya, who was well versed in Humic as she had learned it at a young age. Finding Reyya, the scholars informed her of their intentions, with Cisse's recommendation, at which Reyya was willing to be hired by Tannell for this task, provided they gave her food and lodging, and gave her a fair wage for her work.

New Issues:

1. Grigaro of Retaur, a relative of the Duke, has arrived in Frye, and has requested to work with the Elders on matters of administration. Shall the Elders accept his proposal, and allow Grigaro to propose administrative-related laws to the council?

2. Bouhe has stepped forward to propose a new Curriculum set to the School of Frye. They request expansion into Medicine and/or Herbology, due to Frye having two hospitals and Lew hoping to produce more herbs in the future. This class would increase student's general knowledge, and could attract more foreign students to pay to be taught at the school to learn these subjects.

Notable Events:

1. The Duke has sent an official letter to the Village Elders of Frye, which was read aloud in the town square of Frye. The honorable Duke Foreke plans to visit Frye in the coming month! He looks forward to seeing this lately-discovered village in his vassalage.


2. Rumor has it that a major upheaval took place in Traye this past month. A large group of heavily armed mercenaries attempted to stage a coup during a feast in the high courts of Traye! The mercenaries were beaten back, but whoever plotted this coup has remained hidden.


3. One of the protests led by Loforz was rudely interrupted when two heavily-armored knights, bearing the clear standards of Grigaro of Retaur, the newcomer noble in town, barged into the protest, and charged Loforz himself. In the name of U'debbha, they impaled him on their great-swords, letting his dead body slump into the mud of the street. The rioters, terrified at the murder of their leader, fled to their homes, cowed and deterred. The village guards surrounded the two knights, and forced them to relinquish their weapons, which they willingly did, since they had completed the orders of the true god, U'debbha. The two honor guard knights are currently being held in the Frye temporary jail, being questioned by the captain of the Village Guard.

4. While Loforz's protests had gone on, and were interrupted, Northe's protests have altogether stopped. No qualms or issues whatsoever have arisen from the Northe camp the entire month... They have been suspiciously quiet. Northe still holds meetings in his Church, and still manages the Public Frye Hospital.

Inquiries + Diplomacy

Lew

1. At midnight on a night near the end of the night, Amialal returns to the Lew estate. He apologizes for his greed with the previous prisoner, and for any damage that was caused on his behalf. He understands if Lew doesn't want to take him in, but he also warns them that he has no one else to turn to, except to live as a feral beast in the woods if he is not helped. He promises to be more discrete this time around, and to do LITERALLY ANYTHING that Lew asks him to do.

Tannell

1. The Duke has sent Tannell a formal letter:
Greetings, Tannell family heads. I am greatly delighted to attend your banquet feast this coming month at your estate. I am very interested in hearing about life in Frye, as well as how it has been the couple years, since you've rejoined our fair Denir Duchy. I am a man of few words, and thus I will make a speech if you insist, but otherwise, I would greatly enjoy the mere relaxation of a banquet with my loyal subjects.

Ferran

1. Having accepted a proposal from Grigaro, Ferran has received a modest sum of capital to invest into the growth of their mines as they see fit. How they choose to use this money to improve their mine's output or quality is up to them.

2. Having accepted a proposal from Grigaro, Ferran has paid a modest sum to Grigaro as a bride price, and must now select a member of the Ferran family to be the betrothed husband to Alisay. Ferran and Grigaro must now decide the location of the betrothal ceremony, and whether it shall be public or private. A private ceremony is "slightly" less likely to go sideways, but a public ceremony will have the other families honour-bound to present luxurious gifts to the betrothed couple. Ferran has now also received 5 heavily-armored and well-skilled knights sworn to protect his chosen Betrothed husband, and certainly will do whatever Ferran commands them...

3. Ferran has received a wax-sealed letter and a fair-sized bag of money from a hooded courier. The letter is from Cisse, the courier tells them, although there is nothing on the letter to prove such.
“Your mercenaries have done well; here is the agreed-upon payment for their services. Unfortunately, my plan did not go as expected due to unforeseen complications. Thankfully, I was not discovered. I request that you grow the mercenary company, and train them further, so that next time I have need of them, we should be able to overcome any unforeseen factors with ease. I shall pay you one and a half times as much for your mercenary services next time should we succeed, and the same price as last time should we fail, the next time I have need of them. I look forward to a long and prosperous relationship with the Ferran family.” -(not signed)

Asura

Elforche

Benaros

1. Having accepted a proposal from Benaros, Ferran has received a modest sum of capital to invest into the growth of their mines as they see fit. Benaros can expect a potential payout in the future, or whenever he and Ferran agree to pay out dividends.

2. Having accepted a proposal from Benaros, Ferran has paid a modest sum to Benaros as a bride price. Ferran and Benaros must now decide the location of the betrothal ceremony, and whether it shall be public or private. A private ceremony is "slightly" less likely to go sideways, but a public ceremony will have the other families honour-bound to present luxurious gifts to the betrothed couple. Benaros has 5 less knights to command, bringing his total of expendable knights down to 13.

In short, here are the current Issues that the Elders can vote on this month:

1. Allow Grigaro of Retaur to propose administration laws?

2. Open a Medicine Curriculum? Open a Herbology Curriculum? Both? Neither? A merge of the two?

And now the Eighth Month has come upon us. More an more the tangling vines of intrigue, drama, and plots, unfold. Things have already been set in motion that cannot be stopped, and have been left thus for too long...

[naturegirl1999]

1. Yes
2. Yes

Events:
Give Mace a large sum of money, sneak Shuldri eggs onto the money. I’m sure the young Shuldri will appreciate the new hosts.


Take Amialsl in.

Buy furniture from the various furniture shops

Make the stew we learned about last month and sell it.

Have a member of Lew direct Hahish to the school in Frye

[Sassy Cassie]

So, would Venaros know now avout the coming of the Duke, since this was publically announced?

[Sassy Cassie]

-Propose to Ferran that the betrothal ceremony be held in the light of the God U'debbhaia, in front of the Head Cleric of Frye, publicly.

-Propose an information exchange to Ferran. Ferran recieves knowledge about the outside world that could help them, such as political and economic information, as well as good, up to date maps. "Grigaros," recieves in detail information about Frye. Mainly investment opportunities, details about local politics, and any... Unsavoury elements that they may wish to divulge that may benefit "Grigaros." OOC: To be clear, if Ferran accepts this, Benarös will reveal his true identity to the head of Ferran.

-Continue to work on the estate, investing into byilding a stable for the various livestock that was utilized to trabsport the caravan.

-Sell off half of the wagons and similar utilities that were used to transport "Grigaros," and his family to Frye.

-Begin using the training grounds rented from Asura, with Forüke, Barödan(56/ The knight which Forüke squired under until he was 15, and a skilled, nearly famous veteran), and Beyzaar(27, a highly skilled Lancet and cavalier), as the main trainers for a publically open martial school. When advertising this, "Grigaros," offers two kinds of courses. The first, led by Forüke and Barödan, are for people willing to sign on specifically for caravan guard and merchant protection services, offering them a hefty wage, should they do well enough in the classes. Plus, these courses are free, should they sign on for at least 2 years! The other, led by Beyzaar, is a general martial strategy class that also includes more advanced warfare classes, how to fight in full plate, and the possibility of being admitted as a squire for one of the Honour Guard, a very prestigious position! The courses headed by Beyzaar, however, will require a mediocre fee; expensive enough to offset the costs of renting the training grounds, but cheap enough that well off peasents can afford it, and nearly any member of any family.

-Arrange a meeting with Northe, to be held next month. Specifically bill it as a discussion with an esteemed theologian of Frye, laykng thick on the flattery, to discuss matters of theology.

-Further inquire into investment oppurtunities.

-Speak to the U'debbhaian Church to see what they intend to do about the knights that they seem to have already lost to prison. Offer help, if they dont have any viable plans to free them.

[BakedToast]

So, would Venaros know now avout the coming of the Duke, since this was publically announced?

You answered your own question.

[Tiberius]

I can't seem to find the letter pertaining to the steel company

[BakedToast]

I can't seem to find the letter pertaining to the steel company

Oh, shoot! I had a feeling I’d forgotten something! I’ll write it up as soon as I can.
Edit: Updated with the letter.