He will recover. "This head's hard as old Serault oak," he sighs, rapping it. "A shame, really. I could do with a few days in bed." If lawless folk are bold enough to attack your own bailiff, who's next? A noble? Yourself? The Divine?
Bandits have attacked your Weary Bailiff and stolen your taxes. The woods hide many secrets. Today, they hide the guilty. The culprits have gone to ground.
Available actions[]
1.
Sanction the local villages until the bandits are handed over Someone knows who did this.
Difficulty: Rulership*2
Success: The region groans under your displeasure You levy fines, withold alms and forbid the chantry to conduct services in the area. A week later, three men are left at the local manor's gates, trussed like a First Day chicken. Beside them are your coffers, holding most of the taxes that were taken. Your justice is swift and final.
-10 Peril
Failure: Remorseless You squeeze the nearby villages in a vice of fines, curfews and public humiliations. They protest their ignorance, but you do not relax your grip. After a week the village headmen hand over three ill-favored men to you, and justice is seen to be done. The lost silver is never recovered. In the wake of the hangings, people mutter darkly about your wrath. But the wise ones do it quietly.
+10 Rumors of Revolution, -10 Prosperity, +1 Authority
2.
Spread tax increases across the Marquisate That will recover the lost revenue with a minimum of pain. Spend the income on additional security.
Result: Grumblings The populace feel the burden of the new tax. Porridge is thinner. There is more water in the wine. Meat is more gristle, less fat. But no-one suffers to onerously, and the increased patrols restore some safety to the roads.
-10 Freedom, -20 Peril
3.
Hunt down the perpetrators yourself Their woodland refuge will be well-hidden.
Difficulty: Woods-wise*6/7
Success: No hiding place They think the woods protect them. They are wrong. You follow their trails through the trees, coming upon the outlaws while they sleep. You and your men strike quickly, and the bandits are overcome without a single injury on your side. Your deed is the talk of Serault, and with every telling the number of bandits involved grows and the number of your men falls until it was just you, standing alone against a hundred. They call you the Woods-Ghost now.
-8 Peril, +2 Dignity
Failure: Frustration You search for three days, but the forest has locked its secrets away. You return to Serault castle empty-handed, bedraggled and bitter. The tales of your failure are repeated in the taverns, where you are the butt of many a joke.
-6 Prosperity, -4 Dignity
