>>6031417>>6031481>>6031661>>6031789>>6032261After a bit more than a week of pleasant travel you said goodbye to your baron and his troops and followed the Neutral Lord into his lands. It was a rich Lordship nestled between the Forest of Thorns and the Hills of Benny. The Neutral Lord had, as you learned, ten village wherever you had four, and a mine and an entry to the underworld defended by a fort plus some watchtowers and his lordship had a central position between Countal lands and the baronial demesne of Someplace. Travelers from all the barony had to pass by his lands and his tolls to get to Pleasantville and his lordship controlled both banks of the Queste river. It was logical that his family had become the most powerful vassals of the Baron if we excluded the Takables before confiscation of their lands. As Rose pointed out her father's demesne had fourteen villages, now she had only one, and it controlled the junction of the rivers Queste and Waifue and the waterways towards the Northern March, having access to woods, hills and fertile plains.
The Neutral's castle was a powerful fortress on the bank of a river, just like yours, but bigger. It's dungeon was higher, and it had a strange "living tower" in plus of the lord's quarters with huge windows, one of the eight towers of this castle, surrounded by a circle of walls and a moat. It was a good place for a good lord, not as strong as Someplace, who was on a hill near the river, or Pleasantville who was simply much bigger and in a city surrounded by walls but a good place to live and easy to defend. It's white stones were pretty too, like the stone that they loved to use in Île de France and the Royal Demesne. Of course it had'nt the greatness of the Vincennes dungeon but this was great.
The Neutral Lord explained the history of the place, how his ancestors peacefully integrated new lands and exploited their riches to build this castle. He said that he planned to build a new one in the north of his lands.
You found it charming until you saw the interiors. And there you had to cry, of course there were, in plus of the torches, some of these magical glowing stones, but what made you angry was the red wood, seriously, furniture made of a strange indian "Red wood" and interiors were awful. And others from yellow wood... Yellow, color of treachery, on a negociating table, what a bad taste. But you had to sit, despite all of this poor choice of interiors, under the statues of strange heroes and pagan deities, to discuss (while drinking an excellent wine) with Lady Takable, the Neutral Lord, and his son. His councilors were not here, he wanted it to be done in a very little committee.
After some polite exchanges and compliments, where the Neutral Lord showed that he could be polite and his son was, as always, a charming lad, you began to discuss important matters. The Neutral Lord telling you.
-So, what do you plan to do ?
