Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 267 (Patreon)

The Tavern was quite full as the taxmen entered. The men at arms each got a beer and went to sit in the stables with the horses. One scribe named Kenneth Higgins ventured to the bar at the order of Theordis, ordered three glasses of small beer and three Blud Dark for their table, and inquired about the Mayor. No one seated at any of the tables stood out. The barmaid, however, stood out quite a bit. The scribe had suddenly found himself staring and unable to speak as the half-elven girl stared at him with large eyes. She smiled and toyed with a lock of his hair. "And what do those scary-looking tax people want with our mayor? Nothing bad, I hope?" It took a few breaths until he found his voice. "Oh, no. Nothing bad at all. They want to offer the Mayor a bribe to work with them against the Baron. All for the best, really."

The barmaid took the scribe's money, handed him the water, and poured three beers. "Thanks for your honesty, Kenny. Don't worry; I'll keep it between the two of us." She walked behind Kenneth, swaying between tables, greeting people, and stopping to talk. Getting to the tax men, she put a mug in front of each. "If you are looking for the Mayor, they will be in the meeting room on the third floor in ten minutes. It's traditional here in Sedgewick to offer refreshments. Please help yourself to a glass of wine while you are waiting."

Theordis was looking at her strangely. "Have we met before?" Suzette seemed to think about the question. "Sorry, I don't remember so well. I'm sure you'd remember me if you had entered my tavern before. Then again, they do say all barmaids look alike." She walked away laughing.

Kenny took a long drink of his water. "I wished they all looked like that."

Manfred shrugged. "She's a level 10 barmaid, and despite looking like that, quite lonely with a crush on a local boy too shy to talk to her. She also has several interesting quests dealing with the local dungeons."

Geoffrey laughed. "Not surprising since everyone goes to a tavern looking for quests, and one of the dungeons is located beneath the tavern." He pointed around the room at glowing swords, shields, tridents, and loin clothes. "Notice all the low-level magical items for sale. Adventurers probably trade them to her for beer and food. Someone could make good money buying them from her cheap and selling them elsewhere."

Theordis stood. "Something else to talk about after we are done with our chat with the mayor."

The six of them trooped up the stairs and found a large meeting room. On a small side table were several bottles of wine, one already opened. A dozen simple goblets were next to the bottles, and each took the opportunity to try the local vintage. One of the scribes, Vincent, offered his opinion. "It's not bad. Very sweet and fermented from apples and other fruit. Blackberry? Slightly carbonated and with a good sparkle. The vintner didn't skimp on the mana. The barrel this came from must have spent months sitting in a sunny meadow." He took a sip, then another.

Theordis downed half of his at a gulp. "I'm not interested in your opinions on wine, Vincent. Perhaps your father still needs your help back on the farm?" He sniffed the glass. "Not up to my usual quality, I'm afraid, too sweet." He drank the rest of the glass. "But I'm warming to it. Open another bottle, Vincent, and refill my glass."

Geoffrey laughed. "Just like a bar to have roasted peanuts on the table." He ate a handful. "Quite salty, but I like the flavor." A half-hour passed, and another bottle was opened. The peanuts disappeared. Imperial functionaries were used to waiting for appointments. Sometimes for hours. They all decided things would improve if their next meetings had wine and snacks. Finally, after an hour, the door opened, and the barmaid from below entered the room, taking a seat on the other side of the table.

While Sedgewick offered more opportunities for profit than the average village out in the boondocks, such dealings were becoming more common. Programs were set up to help the locals, and the tax men found ways to enrich the empire and themselves. Agreements were made with local mayors or land owners. It kept things orderly and under control. In this case, if they could gain some control of Sedgewick, they could use it to negotiate easier with the Baron.

"My apologies. Things are just so busy today. What do we have to talk about."

Manfred was looking at his paperwork and trying to use his Identify skill. His notes said the mayor's name was Suzette, and this woman was Identified as 'Suzette, Mayor of Sedgewick' but was obviously the barmaid from downstairs. Theordis took the lead in the discussions. "Greetings, young lady. We are here, representing the emperor, to assist you in your duties to the larger empire. But first, I have to ask: How did you become the mayor? You seem quite young for such a responsibility."

The mayor smiled. "Lucky, I guess. Baron William is just so busy with things up in the city that one day, he made me Mayor and told me to take care of the village. It's not that hard, but I wish he would give me more advice on how to do things."

The three taxmen shared a look. Theordis continued. "How fortunate for us to come here. That's our main job, offering advice. Can we talk about your bank? Does the Baron control it, or do you?"

She thought for a moment. "Well, the nice little gnome showed up and talked to me first and had me open accounts for the town, and the bank is part of the town, and Baron Billy is so busy at the city and wants me to run the town, so I think I'm in charge of the bank? Does that make sense? Things are so confusing for me at times."

"It's a good thing then that we are here to help. Does the Baron offer you a salary for all of your hard work?"

Suzette became sad and clutched her hands in front of her. "Not yet, sir. I have to work for him for five long years, and then I'll be paid at the end if I do a good job. My family was impoverished, so I signed his contract. But it's better here than where I grew up. All of us signed those contracts with the Baron."

"Well, you're new friends sent here by the emperor aren't nearly so stingy. What would you say to working for us as well? We would pay you five gold a month plus bonuses. All you'd have to do is let us help you, take all of our advice, sign a small contract, and not mention our help to the Baron."

The Barmaid considered that and grinned. "I'm good at keeping secrets! And that much money would let me buy a new dress. And with friends like you, the job will be so much easier." She paused and looked at their glasses. "Oh, you finished your wine. I'm being a poor host. Let me refill those!" She pulled a cork from a new bottle and filled each glass almost to the brim. Vincent was convinced the wine was more potent than usual and started to say something, then thought better of it. He'd voiced opinions before and was usually told to be quiet and mind his tongue.

"Well, here is our advice for you, and I think we can help each other. Geoffrey is here to offer you an Imperial Storehouse for your town. This will bring in goods from far away for your townsfolk and buy up the local excess. In return for this. Manfred will help you pay your taxes and keep your town's books. He'll take over the town's bank account and control of its building interface. Have you tried to use that yet?"

Suzette nodded. "It was very complex and hard to figure out, but the town had some points just sitting there, so I bought some sparkly lights and fun stuff. The Baron was a little mad. He made me use the rest on a Bank and all the storehouses. Oh, and we bought that big set of storehouses for merchant Kallvek. The Baron said he was a nice man and here to help. It used up most of our points, but we have much more now! The Baron got 50,000 building points for making some good deals, and I got a quarter of them. That's, um..."

Geoffrey spit out his wine: "12,500 Building Points!" The others looked shocked as well. The news that the Kallvek trading house also had some alliance with the Baron only added to their anxiety. But that amount of building points was unheard of. It must have been a reward for Gadobhra's rumored trade route to the plane of smoke. The validity of that rumor had been nearly proven by the presence of a flaming ship visiting Sedgewick.

The Barmaid laughed a little. "That's the number! Thank you."

Theordis spoke quickly. "We mentioned bonuses. I think that many building points and signing over control of the interface would give you a big bonus. How does 500 gold sound?"

Suzette smiled at each in turn, which seemed to add to the effects of the alcohol they were all feeling. "That's a lot of gold! Do you have this paper I have to sign?" That galvanized the tax men. Scribes pulled out sheets of parchment. Such a critical contract couldn't be put on paper! The wording was discussed, and a document was quickly put together. Their regular contracts just didn't fit the details of this unique village. Eventually, they pushed it toward her. Suzette glanced at it.

"I sign here at the bottom?" They all nodded, nearly drooling. She frowned. "Oh, then you all have to sign first. Your names are higher up than mine because you're more important. That seems right, doesn't it? Of course, it does."

They nodded. That was how things worked. Theordis grabbed the pen and signed. "As the leader of this group, I sign first. Then Manfred and finally Geoffrey." The quill and ink were passed around, with each accountant signing his name. It was passed to Suzette.

"Let me blow on this a little to dry the ink." She inhaled several times, blowing on the paper. All six men stared at her as she took those deep breaths. Then she reached for the pen.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

The door slammed open. The Baron and Baroness of Gadobhra entered the room. They were accompanied by a strange man in a pin-striped suit, an Imperial Courier, and a small, nondescript man in a mouse-grey tunic and tights who bore a large journal with him. The pin-striped man moved before anyone else could act, picking up the contract. "Your instincts were correct, your excellency. We got here just in time!"

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Meanwhile, back with the refugees from the south....

Jonathan Yarrow was tired. He was tired of running and tired of sleeping under a wagon, worried that his family would have to flee in the middle of the night. They had rested in the large refugee camp on the outskirts of Rowan keep for the last three days. At least his family had been able to relax. The children could play with others their age, and his wife and mother-in-law had slept for a full day. His wife's father was also looking better. His burns had nearly killed him, but he had saved two of his grandchildren when the house was torched in the middle of the night. Now he was up and walking again. The goddess had sent a healer to them, for which they would ever be thankful. He'd come riding up on a large horse to help them gain the safety of the keep. When he noticed old Fellis in the back of the wagon, he'd leaped down from his horse and used the Goddess's light to heal the old man. The children had gathered around him, asking him to heal their cuts and scrapes, and he'd also taken time to heal those. Jonathan had never believed the old tales of the Emperor's magical couriers who rode through the empire righting wrongs and carrying word from place to place. He was more inclined now.

Two days later, they were on the road again. And it was a good road for a change! The wagon wheels rolled quickly along the smooth stone. They were headed for a small village ten miles away at the end of this road. The new Baron was offering them a chance to farm for him. Jonathan and others had eagerly taken him up on his offer. It would still be working all day to make a noble rich, but if it kept his family fed and protected, that was all that mattered. His family and nine others were in a group; all headed together to an area they could begin homesteading.

The work would be hard at first. Trees had to be cut, and stumps torn out. The wood could be used for timber to make houses. Then clearing rocks, which could be piled into fences and used to build his hearth and chimney. Food was a worry, but the Baron's man had joked that they had no shortage of groats. It would be porridge and muffins three times a day, but at least his family would be fed until he could make his first harvest. Things would be rough, but rough was better than impossible.

The little caravan moved down the road and circled the small town. The children had stared, first at the horrible smoking building and then at the beautiful ship floating above it. A flying ship! There had been a wild tale that such a thing had been sighted in the sky. But where was it from? The rest of the town seemed well off—roofs and walls of solid stone and slate. No one was pinching pennies here. It would be a place to visit and spend their meager savings on necessities for the house. They had saved a few things, like his plow and smithing tools, but many things had been left behind.

After the town, they turned off the paved road onto a dirt lane that had seen much traffic. They passed wagon after wagon headed the other way, loaded with gravel, sand, wooden planks, and apples. So many wagonloads of apples. After five miles, they stopped in the middle of nowhere. All around them was a vast area of tree stumps, piles of barren limbs, and stacks of lumber. It was as if Death's scythe had destroyed a forest. One of his younger sons pulled on his sleeve. "Daddy, what happened?" He had no answer, but a large man who had been leading the wagons began speaking. He was quite large, and when one of the wagons had become stuck, he had picked it up and set it down a few feet to the side as if lifting a piece of firewood.

"This was a forest a year ago, but the oaks picked a fight with all the other trees and then went to war with the town. The town had more axes than the forest had treants. Things have all been worked out, but it left the Baron with some local land, and the mayor wants to fill it up with people. No sense in letting it become scrubland. Follow along, and I'll show you where to start building."

He led the wagons to an area of flat ground. Work had already been done here. A place a hundred feet to the side was paved with stone. A well stood in the center. On the far end was a stone building with no windows that looked like a storehouse for grain. The area around the square had plots laid out for houses. "Normally, we'd just dig wells and lay out the town square, but things are busy with the work up at the keep. The mayor talked to the Baron, and he agreed to use some of the village's building points to get you folks started. Each hamlet will start with a town square, a well, a storehouse, and one hundred acres of clear land for farming. You can bed down the children in the storehouse until we get the homes finished up. There's blankets and food inside. Lots of fuel for fires in those piles. If you folk can decide who lives where we'll start moving the timber and stone to begin the houses." He paused. "Any questions? I know this is hurried, but the mayor wanted to settle you as quickly as possible."

There were murmurs all around. One man ventured a question. "The Baron is generous to build houses for us to live in as we work his land. Do you know what he expects in harvests and taxes from us?" Many of the other farmers were curious as well.

"Oh hell, don't worry about that for now. But let me make a few things clear." He began counting the points off on his fingers.
"No taxes the first year because the Baron knows you don't have any money."

"You should consider the houses as belonging to you. Technically, the mayor has things set up as a long-term lease, but we'll include a way for you to buy your land and house."

"Each family starts with a farmhouse and ten acres of land. This area in the center will be for your hamlet. We want each of you to have a small vegetable garden, and we'll plant berry bushes and fruit trees around the houses."

"The Baron will provide seed for the cash crops and tell you what to grow at first. Expect several harvests a year. Things are fertile here. Oh, that reminds me: Just let the unicorns roam around and make friends if possible. They might be a bit skittish at first. They can increase the yield in an acre just by walking through the crops, and unicorn poop should be saved and used in your gardens. Careful, it's potent stuff."

"Hmm, other rules. Don't cut down an apple tree; always ask permission before picking fruit. In fact, its best not to cut down any trees at all."

"That should do it for now. In a little bit, I'll start working on your farmland, and we'll have a gopher hunt. Betty sent along a recipe for gopher stew, hope you like it."