“My vote is we try to talk our way out but if that fails then we fight our way out.”
Well, we could offer to leave behind one of our party members here as a pledge of trust, preferably one of our stealthier members who could sneak away and rejoin us later. Of course I won’t force anyone into doing such a thing.
Other than that, perhaps just try to bluff our way through young-brother? I’d really hate to have to fight our way out of here, especially when we are not yet explicitly on bad terms. I mean, we are still guests here after all.
Hoopy Frood said he called everyone in the party in.
“Our bargaining position is simply weak. Unless our martial support becomes needed, what real good can we do Shedlund? Thy attempts at negotiating as an equal confuse me, Faramond. We are not her equals-- she has land, we have none. We might be useful to her as a stealthy force, as independent supporters against Ironhall should they come to blows. I believe we should seek to learn her intentions against Ironhall; when we know that, we know what we have to offer her.”
“Yes that’s sort of what I’m saying. By feeding Ironhall with false information, we’d be independently supporting Shetland.” Baldur interjects.
"I think she means to go to war, and brother agrees. With that said, it seems our only options are talking or fighting, with the option to start with the former. Either one will happen in its own time in the morning, so let’s get a good rest and let Lady Shedlund make the first move. With that, I am off to bed. " Baldur puts Týr besides his pillow and then lays down to sleep.
I agree. How can we go about this? If you need someone to inquire, let me know and I can handle it. I’m quite good at talking to people.
:Sohan twirls her hair:
“Yes, talk to her like you used to talk to father.” Baldur says in a sleepy half-yawn voice.
“Meaning?”
“Oh nothing. Týr is just tired that’s all. Goodnight”
Hrothgar is his usual chatty self on all of this.
I believe the party is decided. We’ll sleep tonight, and Henry (and Sohan?) will attempt to convince the Baroness we can work as double agents for her against Ironhall.
Agreed.
Granted, I don’t think she’ll trust us in the beginning as far as she can throw us, but neither will Ironhall, so we can always try to get as much information from each and choose sides later.
Where Hrothgar comes from they would say “A good fight justifies any grounds” :D.
:Sohan starts to nod off in the corner:
Baldur snores. Týr is nuzzled up next to him, fast asleep.
Naimar heads off to bed as well
The night comes and goes, with morning arriving swiftly. Those party members still sleeping are wakened by the pounding of mailed fists on the doors to the rooms. The group is given a few minutes to prepare themselves before being escorted back to the audience chamber. Unlike the previous night, the castle is now brimming with life as various servants bustle to and fro on their business. Sarah Primrose is sitting in her chair, now dressed fully as befits her station.
“Well? I gave you time, what do you have for me?”
Baldur opens his mouth as if to say something, but thinks better of it and gives Henry a sideways glance.
:to Henry(quietly):
“My Lord, I believe you should phrase your words carefully. Tell him what we have planned.”
Well, as you may be aware, the lands of House Faramond in Hammerfall have been largely decimated by plagues, droughts, and the mist. So as far as what we can offer of our station, there isn’t admittedly much. However, while our exact arrangements with Ironhall are our business, I will say that we feel he isn’t adequately compensating us for our efforts. Heck, he’s loathe to even acknowledge his hiring of us or tell us the full story of what’s going on. After all, we were given the impression that Mildred was kidnapped, rather than running away. The truth being naturally more embarassing and complicated for Ironhall, the kidnapping was a much cleaner tale.
It was for these reasons that we decided to escort Lady Mildred back to you upon discovering her situation, rather than to her husband, as a good faith effort in possibly being of service to you instead–though, Mildred wasn’t exactly very cooperative or happy about the situation. Anyway, Ironhall, while not exactly trusting of us, seems to regard us at least more useful to him than many others. You can take advantage of this by using us as your eyes and ears into Ironhall’s lands. He won’t be happy at the loss of his wife, but I’ll come up with some reasonable story about how she managed to return to your lands.
Additionally, if you so desire to send word to Ironhall about his current situation, now that Mildred has returned to you, we’re willing to convey any word to Ironhall that you want. The exact circumstances under which our meeting with you in which we received the messages occurred need not be revealed to Ironhall, naturally.
In exchange for this, we currently have no specific requests. We aren’t so destitute that we are in dire need of funds, and while our lands may be destitute, we still own them, so we aren’t really in need of land, nor would I expect you’d be willing to give us any at this point anyway. However, what I will ask in payment is for the right to call on you later for any reasonable aid we might need, be it political, martial, or otherwise. Naturally the favors we ask will be in proportion to the amount of benefit we have provided for you up to that point. Granted, I realize that you could always renege on this, and there’s not much we could do about it, but that will pretty much guarantee no further aid from us. A decision you might end up regretting some day.
While the above is pretty much stated in a standard bargaining tone, that last sentence is said with a considerably darker, but not threatening, air.
So, do we have a deal? And what word, if any, would you like us to bring to Ironhall?