TURNTURNTURNTell me more about the
Exodus of the Orcs, you say.
"The Orcs were one of the four major races just like Men, Dwarves and Elves. In stature they were the greatest of us, the average Orc standing at the height of a tall man and more than double that of a dwarf. They built their towns and kingdoms, traded and fought with others, and were swept up into the Regency just like the rest. It is hard to generalise much about the Orcs as a race: they were middling to proficient at much of the same skills as Men, and did not share the skill at magic of the Elves, nor the craftsmanship of the Dwarves. They had a talent for battle which suited their physical prowess, but on the whole it cannot be said that Orcs were more warlike than Men or Elves."
"In the time of the Confederation two of the sorcerer-kings were orcs: Krivak the Red, he who mastered the magics of blood and bone, and Belgara the Wise, she who sees all that passes. Great numbers of Orcs gathered in their southern lands, which sank beneath the waves in the Sundering. So did the Orcs lose much of their number. The remaining Orcs were mostly spread along the northern reaches of Assiria, along the shores of the Borea Sea."
"In the years following the founding of the Polonian Empire, the Orcs were ever a thorn in their side. Disagreeing with their emulation of the traditions of the Regency, no Orcish kingdoms ever joined the Empire, nor were Orcs present in their towns and cities. Constant wars were fought between the Empire and the northern kingdoms, and in time the weight of numbers began to tell. One after another, the kingdoms of the Orcs began to fall, until in 400 AS the last three of them declared all-out war against the Empire."
"They lost, and badly. Within the year Imperial armies were on the march against their lands. The Orcs withdrew before them, but not in the panicked flight of refugees. Instead, they packed up whole towns, moving that which could be carried and burning the rest, denying the invader any forage or loot. When the armies of the Empire reached their capital cities, they found the same thing had been done there - entire cities simply emptied. The scouts of the Empire all reported the same things: this great Exodus was headed ever northwards, into the treacherous, icy wastes of the frozen Borea Sea. The imperial commanders erred on the side of prudence, and declined to pursue them."
"That was in 401 AS. In the two centuries since, Orcs have never again been seen in the known world and have passed out of the knowledge of the common man. It is generally agreed by the learned that the Orcs are gone as a race. The Far North is not land in the proper sense - it is simply an ever-shifting sheet of ice over a sea. There is no way to farm it, nor are there enough fish in those frozen waters to sustain a people. Perhaps a few small bands yet survive in that frozen waste, but the frontier garrisons of that part of the Empire have never reported any Orc sightings."
Cool story, then. You're sure this will have absolutely no relevance to anything in the modern age.
A few days later, the Tax Collector informs you that the Great Survey of Lands has been completed. The clerks are still working to tally up the proper amount of taxes payable, but it promises to be a lot higher than before. She also hands you this map.
You make a note to yourself to hire some proper artists. "The blue borders are the limits of your county," she explains, "and the yellow borders are those of the Kingdom of Solfirth."
"During the survey, the men found an abandoned tower in Dwyndon Woods," she says. "None of them dared to venture inside, as the locals told them it was haunted. Could be worth checking out. Or you could deal with the treasury, I heard we don't have enough gold to pay Duke Wolstan his taxes yet."
What do you do?
A) Ride out to explore this abandoned tower now!
B) Adventure can wait, continue trying to deal with the cash flow issue
C) Spend some time with your wife, you haven't talked to her lately
If you pick B, choose one further optionA) Shift the tax collection date forward two weeks
B) Find a moneylender to borrow and cover the 3 gold shortfall temporarily, until your own taxes come in
C) Find some other noble to borrow the 3 gold from
D) Invest in some businesses in Tyneton
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Topic: SPAMISEKAI: Count Quill of Tyneset! (Read 9907 times)