Home sweet home

Being back on dry land after almost a month on that floating farm was a pleasure few could imagine unless you experienced it personally, I know I'm going to have to get back on a ship sooner or later but I can pretty confidently say it won't be on one of those I looted…..I'll be building my own

But being back on land the first thing I did with my new 2nd in command penny is I walked straight up to the confused looking Will to see what I've missed as the other ships start making land with my new residents

"Will mate….how's thing been since I've been away?"

Will understandably looks a little confused at penny who's currently mounted on my shoulders before bringing himself back to the moment

"Greetings m'lord, things have gone amazingly after your departure. The fields have only just finished their first crop harvests and I don't have exact numbers m'lord but every single granary you prepared is stuffed to the gills and then some. We've actually had to build a few more emergency granaries to handle the abundance of grains….the farmers are over joyed at the harvest size and have started replanting the fields with clover as you instructed ….they have actually even gone as far as starting to break new ground for more farmland in the surrounding areas in all of their excitement"

I motioned Will to follow as I made my way through the crowd of looky loos and nosy nellies who all give me a cheerful "welcome back m'lord" and various phrases that equate to the same thing..

"That's fantastic mate, hows everyone else going? Any sort of big picture issues I need to worry about?"

"Well the sewage system you had the extra labourers working on digging in your time away have made some progress on that front and if things continue on schedule it should be done within 2 years or so if we source stone locally to the south.."

2ish years isn't going to cut it, I need it built within a few months and I can't see that happening even with new blood introduced without me picking up a shovel…..*sigh*….the things I do to not live in poverty…

"…..alright…. What else you got for me?"

" the brick kilns you set up before your….expedition…..have been running day and night with people from the village volunteering in droves after seeing just how big the harvest was and you commenting on how important those bricks will become for the town going forward….oh also on that subject, people have been stock piling their wood ash for the "primitive cement" as you call it in the ware house near the blacksmiths"

"That's outstanding buddy, you've really been keeping a tight leash on things around here in my absence aye. What else you got? How were the men I trained for a couple weeks? Any issues with em?"

"No issues with them my lord, in fact they were quiet handy in dealing with a large bandit group that was starting to form on the route between our town and the Glover territory mainly because of the mass of people migrating this way due to all the trouble happening in Lord Glovers territory. Unfortunately you lost 6 men in the battle against those vultures but apparently Jon who commanded the guardsmen reported close to 40 bandits with no survivors remaining when all was said and done"

I lost a few guys eh? Well that's a bit of a kick in the lollies, but expected I guess, they weren't really trained or anything and 30ish guards against 40ish bandits with only a few casualties if pretty good in my books….

Wait who's Jon? Was he one of the guys I trained? I guess he would be…

"Oooooh? What sort of trouble has been happening in that Twats land?"

"I have only heard rumours m'lord but apparently a good number of their granaries that they had stockpiled their food enough to last themselves until the new harvest or possible merchant caravans to arrive was burned by some angry farmers which has caused a few issues with starvation in Lord Glovers lands which led to increased banditry and people migrating to where they might be able to feed themselves…and from what I gathered through rumours, Lord Glover is too preoccupied dealing with possible betrayal of some of his banner men to deal with it properly"

Kewwwwl, some of the shit I did before I left distracted the guy enough for me to leave in peace, I wonder how bad it is over there for people to start moving over this way?

"How bad is it over there? And how many people made their way here? Also how did you go with that paper thing I left you?"

"Well again my lord I can only go off rumours from people who made their way through town. But apparently it was pretty bad as a lot of people were relying on those food stores to see them through to the harvest, and apparently with a few of their granaries burned down they are having trouble storing their harvests which is leading to more unrest because the food is being uncovered and left to rot…..but onto the paper you requested us to look into, I have a sample of the best stuff they have made so far for you to have a look at…."

Will has been holding onto some paper since we we started walking, I thought I was just general paperwork or something but it turned out to be little project I left him with….to be honest I don't actually need paper at the moment but it was more to keep him busy while I was away….not that I didn't trust the kid but you know what they say again idle hands and all that….

The paper looks a little blotched but still decent enough, with a little further refining and a few bits and pieces I think it will be just as good if not better than what the citadel can provide and at a much cheap rate….if I were to actually sell it that is….but it's more just for personal use at the moment, I'm always going to need paper and I don't want to be up shits creak if a shipment is ever missed..

I noticed Thor and loki are following us quietly and keeping a keen eye on penny….a little to keen if you ask me…but I'll deal with that later if they show aggression…

I kneeled down to pat em both, one with each hand

"Hey boys, how's things been without me aye….who's a good boy!! Who, who's a good boy?!"

I managed to get them to roll over to give 'em some tummy scritches as they acted like the puppies they actually are….they were bigger but still pups..

I kept patting them for a few minutes before rising again and making my way toward my manor with Will for the next 30 minutes….it's a bit out of town as of now….

I managed to carve some basic wooden doors before I left to keep the wind and dust out of the place…. I'll be carving out some nicer ones from decent wood once I get a little time…

I walked around the empty mansion exploring it with will as he explained the small things, like how we managed to nab about 80 starving people from the Glovers and how the blacksmiths were being swarmed with requests because they were the only place within a moon (month) that had a decent iron supply to make anything people might need….which led to more people wanting to take up residence in Newtown after stories of my "heroism" spread around..

We made it to the kitchen where my two maids who I can't seem to recall the name of roasting a whole pig over an indoor fire pit I installed into the kitchens for my return, it was finicky and tedious setting in an indoor mid floor chimney in the stone for the smoke, but it looks pretty cool….

The kitchens were actually really nice….well the would be when they were done….my house is really only barebones…there's no countertops or anything yet, the maids have only had odd benches brought from outside to use for cooking at the moment, just another thing to do on my "to do list" I suppose

"And that's about it my lord, the men you trained are still working on their daily routine you left them and we fan finally start start building with those bricks that have been baked in the kilns.. but you told us to wait until you got back before we could build with them…"

"Yeah alright….well I'll get to that tomorrow seeing as it's starting to get dark, so I've got a whole lot to do on my return it seems…..I suppose I'll get started on some manual labour a little later tonight…where do the sewer guys keep their shovels?"

"Uhhh I think they leave them back at the blacksmiths for the night and pick them up of a morning before they get back into work. The blacksmith have kept the labourers well equipped in your absence after you let them know it was an important task"

"Cool beans my guy….well it's getting late and since there is no furniture here yet I can't exactly offer you a room for the night….wait…. have the maids been living here this whole time with no furniture?"

"Ahh, not to worry m'lord, the maids had a few of their effects brought from home with the help of some of the guardsmen, and the maids have taken appropriate rooms for their station….I think….I'm not very good at judging that…"

"Ehhh don't worry about it mate, I'll carve em up some actual furniture when I do my own in the next few days….I have so much shit to do it's insane…"

We continue downstairs toward the basement where my stashed loot from previous raids has been squirrelled away and it seems no one has been down here since I left….

Will has seen it before so he wasn't shocked….but it is a lot of stuff….just general stuff really, chests of gold and silver, fabrics, tools, weapons, lord and ladies clothes and shoes…..even a good bit of hardwood lumber lying in the opposite side of the room taking up a good amount of space...really just a hodgepodge of random stuff ready to be used….

After we check up on the stash we made our way back up toward the kitchens as Will asks the question he's been dying to ask for over an hour now..

"My lord….you said you found a new right hand, and while I find myself laughably under qualified for that position would it be alright if I asked who replaced me while you were away?"

"Don't worry your pretty little head Will, my new 2nd in command is very hands off when it comes to day to day, she's more of a big picture kind of gal"

"And who is this "gal" m'lord?"

"It's penny"

I point to the lovable little ball of feathers that's napping on my neck

"That…..chicken....is now your second in command?"

"Yeah pretty much…..I know I sound crazy, and to be honest I might just be….spending so long on that boat may have thrown me for a bit of a loop….but there is a method to my madness, so just go with it…..if anyone asks tell 'em penny is my second in command...wouldn't it be fun to see how the other lords would react to hearing that?"

"...I…..guess it would be m'lord, ser penny, second in command to lord Gideon Fenris…..the other lords may just laugh themselves to death my lord"

"Yeah pretty much, but whatever, she's a good chick….anyways, you're going to be looking after her at night for awhile while I work….she would slow me down to much having to take care of her…..oh and Will?"

Will is just eyeing penny with confusion but suddenly looks me in the eye as I call his name…

"Yes m'lord?"

I turn my face into stone, free from any expression or emotion as I place my hand around the back of Wills neck and lean down to bring him face to face to better make him understand the gravity of the situation

"I know what penny looks and smells like, don't try and play off another chicken as penny, I'd know...so keep a very close eye on her while I'm working…..understood?"

Will shudders a little in fear and gulps while nodding his head

Suddenly give a cheery smile and and pull my hand away

"Good!!, now take penny to your place for the night….I have some work to get started, the sooner I get to it the sooner it gets done….so I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning….I'm not sure where I'll be so just look around for me I guess…."

Penny suddenly jolts awake as I grab her off my should, only to cluck and look around with her chickeny eyes

"You're staying with will tonight…..he'll bring you back to me in the morning…I have some stuff to do and you would slow me down…so be good"

I pass penny to the still very nervous Will who takes penny like it's the most fragile thing this world has ever produced before making his way home..

I mosey on up to the kitchen where the maids have just finished the pig off and are getting ready to serve it to me while apologising about the lack of a table and cutlery, only for me to say I haven't actually made any yet and let them know it's not trouble at all as I just rip pieces of to eat whole, eventually eating 90% of the thing myself….I let the maids eat the other part after a long and winding conversation that lead them to tentatively believing that eating with me wasn't an insult to my nobility…

After cleaning up, the maids started wandering around the manner cleaning what they could with what they had….2 people running this place is a no go…I'll get more people later…

I take a moment to take in a big lung full of fresh air and comment "home sweet home"

But the sun was starting to set and I was raring to go and stretch out a bit after spending so long stuck on the sea….I was ready to get stuck back into work….so with a fullish belly and a skip in my step I made my way over to the blacksmiths to pick up a couple of shovels ready to attack the sewage system with vigour …