“Cleansing the old ruling families when conquering a land was just the common practice, as cruel as it may sound. For one it stopped the locals from conveniently using them as a figurehead to rebel again, and in other cases, it even helped win some favorability with the locals should the current rulers be hated ones.

On rare occasions, when the local rulers were beloved by their populace and cooperative with the invaders, they might be permitted to continue existing as vassals. These cases were few and far between though, and more often than not, a territory being conquered meant certain death for the old ruling family, and at times the bastards they left behind too.” - From a paper by Leigh Wainwrought, Sociology student at the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, Circa 690 FP.

“I must say that your performance was most impressive, captain,” said the Crown Prince as Reinhardt met him in the confiscated office - the same one where they caught the nobles - of the fort later that night. The battle had been settled in half a day, a quick, brutal strike in the style the dwarves favored when on the offensive. “Two cities and your crew had bagged seven nobles already, eight if we count the one you caught in Fort Ascher before our arrival. This is one reason I always advocated having some competent mercenaries around with the army. You people are always far better at sniffing out and catching high-value targets than my army boys.”

“I thank you for your praise, Your Highness,” replied Reinhardt with a polite bow. The Crown Prince had kindly added half again the promised bounty since they had delivered the nobles alive - if not exactly in good shape - to him. “We strive to be worth our paychecks.”

“A welcome sentiment, captain! You have no idea how many less worthwhile companies only did the bare minimum stipulated in their contracts and coasted by to earn their money,” said the Crown Prince in a more friendly voice. At the moment their army was resting in Fort Fendorf for the night, as they planned to return to Norouz in a couple of days after they finished sorting out the salvage from the dead and the captives. “To find one who consistently goes above and beyond, even if it is for gold, is always welcome. Oh aye, while they were not on the bounty list we had put up, the ladies will be counted for another fifty gold a piece, to be credited to your company’s accounts when this is over.”

“Much appreciated, Your Highness. We will put it into good use,” said Reinhardt with a smile. His fang-bearing smile often incited unease in many, but the dwarves seemed to just take it in stride. The company had also captured the Count’s wife and his son’s, along with the infant daughter the younger couple had, sequestered in the basement of the Fort’s citadel in a safe room.

Clearly the Count had predicted the chaos the army found in Norouz, and had not cared beyond evacuating his own family - and a lot of his riches - away. He probably expected to win the battle then return home to crush the thug uprising in one go.

“If I may be so bold to ask, Your Highness, what is planned for their fates?” Reinhardt asked, although he knew that chances were all the ladies would be put to death alongside their men. The dwarves were ruthlessly efficient when they needed to be.

“The older ones will be publicly executed alongside their husbands,” replied the Crown Prince without missing a beat, clearly expectant of such a query. “As for the babe, that one’s got no real faults of her own, so we’ll likely either have one of our own raise her, or else put her in an orphanage. By the time she grew up I am certain we will have this region securely in our grasp anyway.”

“That… is mighty kind of you, Your Highness,” Said Reinhardt honestly. He had honestly expected a very public execution for the child as well, and said as much. “Most human employers I know of would have made an example out of all of them.”

“Well, we ain’t human,” replied the Crown Prince with a guffaw. “We dwarves will do what’s necessary to gain what we want, but I’m rather proud to say that we usually refrain from the excesses the human often went for.”

“Besides, even if someone eventually found the child’s identity and used her as a figurehead for an uprising somewhere down the line, it’d just help us round up the dissidents anyway, which I’m fine with as well,” added the dwarf with a conspiratorial wink as he poured himself some ale in a large flagon and drained it in one go. “I am certain whoever ended up caring for the child will know better than commit to such folly, wouldn’t you agree, captain?”

“Yes, indeed, Sire,” was all Reinhardt could say. By now, his company had turned in too many familiar faces for people to not notice the similarity between the Count of Norouz and his progeny to his wife, yet the Crown Prince and his men never mentioned a single word about it. While he had not said it outright, he had hinted that it might be to their mutual advantage if Reinhardt and his mercenaries simply took the infant girl away from these lands, so that nobody would ever use her for untoward purposes. “I will mention the matter to my wife.”

“I wouldn’t ask for more, captain Edelstein,” replied the dwarf with a nod. “Thank you again for your fine work, you are dismissed.”

“Oh, aye, it almost crossed my mind, but I have one more message I would like you to convey to your people,” added the Crown Prince just as Reinhardt rose from his seat and was about to leave.

“What may that be, Sire?”

“We plan to execute the count and his family publicly in Norouz in around a week,” stated the dwarf nonchalantly. “Should there be anyone who wishes to have the honor of ending their lives personally, let them know that it is a favor we would not mind giving consideration towards.”