Entry III - The Life and the Tellings of Everard the Tavern Keeper
Written by Chris Jorgensen
We have a bit of a problem. Word must have gotten out quicker than we had thought. The bandits have barricaded themselves in the forest now. The town council has decided to leave it to the now four groups to deal with themselves as they see fit. That was the initial hope anyway. Now, we are watching a standstill between the legion that was sent by the Baron, the knight squires from the Earl, and a band of roving justices from Esperia in search of their workers. Turns out, those masons were bringing in new stone to work on some new court building that was going to be equal parts of temple and justice. All in all, we are now on the outskirts of a possible conflict between people who all have orders to deal with the bandits. But rather than just deal with the bandits and let it be done, they are now squabbling between each other as to who has the proper jurisdiction.
The legion claims that they are the first responders in these lands. They must bring about order in this region, and by the name of the Baron, they will bring about justice. They demanded that the knights stand down or lend their resources to this cause.
The knight squires are making their stance by saying they owe no fealty to a lower ranked division. By their own right under the Earl, they will be the ones who are the hand of the righteous according to the laws of the land. They have told the legion that they are to stand aside.
All of that and the roving justices are claiming the defense and the return of the goods from their merchants and manual laborers. While the banditry happened in foreign lands, the people and the material belongs to them. They claim the right of agreement with the kingdom to allow passage through these lands and have already paid tariffs to allow for safe passage. Now that they find their people under attack in another kingdom, the agreement provides for them to retrieve their property.
Needless to say, there is quite a bit going on that we would rather keep our heads down about. We have seen representatives from each group already, and each one has told the council that they are the power that will protect the town in case things get messy. They have each demanded that we give them aid in any way we can. Of course, the council has agreed to each of them. So that means we have three groups all the demanding assistance in case of a problem. We really have found ourselves in a predicament.
My guess is that now that they are all occupied with each other, the bandits have had time to scutter off. The five days the three groups have all been camped facing each other, and the bandits could have easily made a run of it. We are just hoping that there isn’t any major conflict between them in the meantime. If there is a fight; well, I’m not exactly sure what will happen. Better that they all figure it out on their own.
Malith, one of the council members, has been coming in and ranting about the whole situation night after night. Thankfully, he is the owner of a few large wheat fields, and so his money is always welcome, and he never rants or argues without a glass of drink in his hand.
Not to sound awful, but conflict is good for business. That and a harvest. Nothing brings people together quicker than a hard day’s work or the group mentality that pits us versus them. Business is going pretty well. I still worry about the different groups causing trouble eventually, but for now, the best thing to do is keep our heads down and hope the whole thing blows over.