“Alright, what are you guys all talking about that has the Boss feeling so out of his depth about?” demands Teemo as he finally is able to join everyone in the war room.

I’m not that intimidated.

Teemo just smirks. “Sure you aren’t, Boss.”

I make a note to figure out a way to properly huff, later. Short version: I’ve stepped in politics.

Teemo shudders at that. “I’d rather you stepped into a sewer, Boss.”

Tell me about it.

Further snark is derailed as the gathered people start failing to stifle their humor at the half-a-conversation they’re hearing.

“Here I thought our gracious Lord Thedeim was letting us govern ourselves so we could grow. Now I find out it’s because he hates politics,” says Larx with a grin as he feigns being offended. The spiderkin triumvirate grin and nod, each pretending to be scandalized in her own way.

“It can be both,” retorts Teemo, and everyone laughs. He lets them get it out of their system, waiting for them all to calm down before continuing. “So, how bad is it?”

Tarl and Karn both consider the question, though Karn speaks up first. “It depends on how the Mayor decides to take it, and how much spin and lies we’re willing to make.”

Tarl sighs and nods at that. “I’ve only seen the Mayor a few times, so I don’t know how he’ll react to something like this.”

“I’ve only seen him once,” admits Karn. “Though I try to keep up on noble intrigue.”

Tarl blanches at that. “Better you than me.”

Karn just smirks. “Helps keep the rust off, heh. Anyway, our Lord Mayor Rezlar Herjan Kalsorthoth Niyeroul if’Gofnar the Eighth is probably not going to react poorly to what’s been done, but he’s going to need to do something if he doesn’t want the various guilds complaining to his father. Rumor is, his family sent him here to try to get him some backbone. Live a more rugged life, deal with the humble people who aren’t going to just kiss your boots because they cost more than their house, stuff like that.”

Aelara sighs. “Instead, he’s holed himself in his manor and left the actual running of the town to the various guilds,” she says, clearly used to the games nobles play.

Karn nods at her. “It wasn’t a bad situation, to be honest. Even with Neverrest, things were pretty stable. A noble who doesn’t interfere is way better than one that sticks his nose in and ruins everything. But things like trade deals and such are implied to have his consent. The dungeon dealing with a threat like that is clearly not something the Mayor planned, and clearly only happened because the Mayor didn’t have a plan for a situation like that.”

“So what’s the Boss do? Send me to negotiate something? Pretend there actually was a plan?” asks my Voice, and Karn shakes his head.

“Negotiating would probably be a good idea, but there’s no pretending there was a plan. The guild members will be talking about how I had to call a Raid Party to try to deal with this.”

Tarl speaks up. “And the citizens we evacuated will have noticed how fresh the ink was on the letters of affiliation we gave the dwellers. I imagine there’s a crowd of unhappy people around the Town Hall already, and probably some outside the Mayoral Manor, too.”

“Are we looking at a revolt?” asks Teemo, echoing my concern. Even if the absentee Mayor was absolute scum, things can get really messy if the people decide to oust him.

Karn shakes his head. “Nah. Politics actually acts in our favor on this one. He’s the only noble in town, so the only means to remove him are… not pretty. People will be upset about all this, but nobody is going to want to go that far. It should mostly be a lot of yelling and complaining, and probably letters getting written.”

Hmm… a letter. I give Teemo a quick explanation of my idea. He doesn’t look so sure about it, but he floats it for the others.

“What about a formal apology?”

“From the Mayor?” Karn grimaces. “I wouldn’t bet on it. Showing that kind of weakness could get his father to recall him and send someone else.”

Teemo shakes his head. “Not from him. From the Boss.”

While most of the table looks confused at that, and my dwellers look plain unhappy, Karn and Aelara both look thoughtful. Teemo decides to continue the idea.

“Something that says the Boss knows he overstepped, he made a mistake in underestimating Hullbreak, blah blah, the kind of thing that says he still understands who the town belongs to.”

Karn chuckles. “I think everyone will see through it, but it’s still a good idea. The Mayor can even pretend to be magnanimous and accept your apology.”

“Will the townsfolk buy that?” asks Aranya, not looking very convinced.

Karn just shrugs, and Aelara speaks up. “He’ll have to present a plan for dealing with dangers going forward, but it could work. People will see through the pretense, but as long as it’s clear something is being done, most will be willing to let it slide. Nobles hardly ever apologize to each other, let alone to ordinary citizens, so that’s the closest they can reasonably expect.”

“But he doesn’t have a plan,” points out Norloke.

Karn just grins. “Which means we can hand him one and let him pretend it was his the whole time.”

Norloke gives him a flat look. “We don’t have one, either.”

Karn deflates a bit at that, but presses onward. “We don’t not have a plan. Evacuate civilians, marshal the fighters…” He winks over at Teemo. “Petition the dungeon for help, heh.”

“Evacuate where? F’r how long? How will ye feed ‘em, keep ‘em safe?” asks Ragnar, getting into the kinds of details that will be needed.

“Here, for now?” suggests Karn. “Thedeim should be able to feed and keep people safe for at least a couple days, and we can work on some kind of mini-hold or something?”

Ragnar strokes his beard as he considers that, and Larx speaks up. “My people will help. We’re working on expanding our warrens, and should be able to house at least some people, should the need arise. We’ll also be working on our own evacuation plans, too, should something decide to attack from the depths instead of from the sea.”

Folarn nods at that. “As will we. We need to make sure we’re ready for the next time something like this happens. We’ve been working on plans slowly, since we expect the scythemaws will be a semi-regular occurrence, but after this, I think we need to get plans solidified sooner, rather than later.”

I let them get to working out the details as I’m reminded of something I asked for a while ago, but never actually got around to looking at. I had asked Tarl for records of as much as he could give me a while ago. While he delivered, I’ve been too distracted to actually sit down and pay attention to them. No time like the present.

It doesn’t take me long to find the books and notes, and of course Honey has organized them into the library. I focus on them, and the information therein. It’s weird, bringing the information to the fore. It’s less like I’m learning a new thing, and more like I’m remembering something I already know.

Some bits were already obvious to me, like we’re pretty northerly located. Snow by the ocean isn’t something you see in the tropics, after all. The ocean out west is also plain. To the north is mostly mountains, and to the east looks like rivers and farmland. Far to the east is a lake, and beyond the rivers that feed it are the Orcish Wanderlands and the Beastkin Principalities. Further east past them lay more mountains, claimed by the dwarves, seems like.

To the south of Fourdock is more of the Kingdom of Horlon, apparently the country I’m in. It looks like it’s mostly farms, rolling hills, and loose forests, though there’s only so much detail Tarl could reasonably give me, without giving me an entire library. It would have made Honey happy, though, heh. It does show we’re a long way from the capital, at least. No wonder there’s not much worry about defense, we’re in the back end of nowhere. The orcs are apparently nomadic, but have agreed to “not cross the Gofnar”, which I suppose explains why there’s a lake Gofnar, Gofnar River, and Also-Gofnar River.

Wait… Gofnar? Isn’t the Mayor something something Gofnar? Maybe his family is from around the lake. That looks like it’d be a pretty big trade hub. Waterways are always great for trading. There’s not much info about it in the packet, which is disappointing, even if it’s not surprising. I might need to start asking the aranea to give some quests for various books. While just seeing Honey’s happy dance is a pretty good motivation, I also need to get more info.

Now that I have a vassal and a protege, I’m probably going to be a major economic hub all on my own. Depending on how the stuff with the Southwood goes, I could be even more of a mover and shaker. I’m not really looking forward to having to butt heads with nobles and other political entities, but that’s the price to pay for prosperity, I suppose. You get more, people want some. The hard part is making sure to share with the right people, and to make sure the ones that don’t want to share can’t just take what they want.