Living on a prayer.
A week has passed since I converted the recruits into knights, for now, I have them helping the villagers to plough and tend to the fields. Why? Because we need food, just like them and helping them now, will give us their loyalty forever as long as we keep them on our good side, unlike the Templar forces they do not have a Loyalty equilibrium. It seems I forgot to explain this, Proxy told me it means no matter how much the Templars hate a choice I make or a rule I enforce, as long as I keep their loyalty above 30% they won't rebel.
The Equilibrium being 60% means that if it goes higher or lower than 60% it will find its way back there, a representation of the loyalty of my troops is crazy useful. According to Proxy, the command line with have one for Civilians too further down the line, meaning I won't have to worry about civil unrest however until I unlock that, I will need to make sure, the Templars are shown in a good light to the civilians and as such, I have set up a 'court' as the old monarchs had in Thedas.
The civilians had elected an 'Elder' for the village that meets with me once a week, bringing me the concerns of the village as well as what needs they have going forwards. Currently, they need 2 things, the Bandits need to be eliminated and food, hence the Templars working in the fields. There is a second reason that they are in the fields, I believe that the report was right and there is some sort of magic at work in the fields, destroying its fertility, at a guess, it would be dark magic.
I will wait for the Templars to return from the fields and report on whether they felt a magical disturbance or not before I proceed, my plan? Is to use spell purge on the soil, it should destroy the magic if not heavily lessen its effects on the land. Giving us more land to farm will in turn increase the crop output of the village, meaning more food and taxes.
Now I bet you are wondering what I spent those 1000 Templar points on right?
Well, I bought two buildings for the keep, well one new building and fixed an old one, I guess. I spent 500 points on creating a smithy within the courtyard of the keep to go with my new blacksmith. You know what's crazy? I actually met the Blacksmith in the past, his name is Wade, a Blacksmith with a huge reputation in Ferelden, apparently, he kept the Warden-Commander supplied during the war with the Darkspawn. Someone of that calibre is defiantly good enough for me.
The second thing I spent points on was repairing the walls, granted this could have been done without spending templar points however the new walls are infused with a Lyrium lining, allowing us to break some off if we need it in battle, the Lyrium self-repairs, the wall included. I do not know where this power has come from or why it was given to me however I feel that Andraste has given us a reason, no, a way to fight back.
Speaking of Andraste, I have yet to send a Prayer to her, I believe we need to meet soon, I have questions I need to answer in order for the Templars to expand further. there are parts of the templar screen that are greyed out. Specifically, the Legion section as well as the Empire section.
Moving onto my next issue, the command structure for the Templars, over the past week I have sifted through the 14 knights and other than Myra there are two who show leadership potential. One is the first man to convert to the order.
His name is Marcus, a tall man easily taller than me with a slim build, he is suited perfectly to either be a duelist or a Ranger however he is determined to become a knight, something he had apparently been denied in his life before the order. His story is extremely interesting, as a young boy he trained in the royal barracks of the Nalan Empire, being squired to a sword god, his skills with the sword can almost compete with my own.
However, his family, having the small title of count, we exiled due to them allegedly colluding with the Violent Dragon Empire, this is was later proved to be fake however the damage was done. His father was killed off, his mother, sister and himself were all sold into slavery, in a last-ditch plea, he asked his tutor to save him, the Sword God just smirked and left the crying boy.
From there, his mother served many lords, keeping them entertained so her children could survive, this went on for nearly two years until she had enough and took her own life. With the mother gone, the lords moved on to his sister, the same scenario played out until she also ended her life. Now alone, bitter and angry, Marcus managed to break free from his chains one night, grabbed a sword and killed the lord that currently held him captive, taking what little money he could find, he fled to the Violent Dragon Empire.
Only to be beaten and enslaved once more, this time to the old coot that was lord of this place, my speech about giving power to the normal man seemed to appeal to him a lot and in his status, he is 90% loyal. He genuinely cares for the villagers and is keen to listen to the Elder, I believe he is even interested in one of the young girls that live in the village, which is good for our reputation as long as he keeps it in good nature.
So, I think I will promote him to Knight commander and leave the village in his stead, a trail run if you will, if he fails then the punishment will be harsh however if he succeeds, he will thrive and I will have a good and loyal commander going forwards.
Whoops, I'm running late.
*Bang, Bang*
Myra's voice followed the bangs on my door.
"My lord, you said we would be having dinner tonight, are you ready?"
Shit forgot about that...
Fuck, I knew I had something to do tonight, got lost writing in the journal again...
I never did tell Myra bout what happened in the forest, I might as well do it tonight, I mean I'm going to bend the events to paint me in a better light, I sort of have to. I feel like the tension between her and the old me was close to bursting and if that is what this dinner is about then my god is it going to be an interesting dinner.
The norm that has been settled for food this past week, is that we leave the keep and head down into the village centre and take part in some sort of group feast, again to further the bonds between the Order and the Village. This allows us to mingle with the villagers in a safe environment, to say things were tense during the first meeting between myself and the villagers before is an understatement.
<6 days ago, the day after the mass conversion. Catherine's Pov>
"Yesterday a carriage rode into the village, 4 men got out of it and began to take stock of the entire village! From the number of chickens to the total number of goods in the general store. It was crazy, someone cared enough about the village to check in on us."
My father gently put his bowl down on the table after eating his share of the porridge, his face wasn't smiling like mine.
"Catherine, it will be the same as always, he will come to check the village, raise the taxes and then return to the capital, I don't know why you keep getting your hopes up."
Raising to my feet quickly, I shouted
"Then what about the woman who came to check on Maya?"
A small smile came to the face of my father, he then sighed "Catherine, I admire your positive attitude but she likely came on her own volition, not on any lords' orders. The Lords do not care for the peasants, that is the way it is and will always be."
*Bang, Bang*
Someone was hitting our door with a large amount of force, fearing a bandit raid again, my father grabbed his hammer and slowly approached the door before flinging it open and swinging it at the man. "Stop, it's Anders" I yelled.
My father barely stopped the hammer from impacting Ander's face, Anders who was scared shitless just froze.
"Anders, why are you here?"
My father bellowed, not amused by the sudden interruption of our family breakfast.
the light seemed to come back to his eyes as he looked at my father, quickly glancing at me with a smile.
"Michael, there are warriors in unknown high-quality armour, standing in the center of the village, demanding to speak to whoever holds the most authority in the village. I thought of you as the leader of the militia. They say they will not leave until their commander has spoken to an authority figure and has addressed the village as a whole."
My father sighed, before he turned to me and spoke
"Go back into the house do not leave until the fighting has stopped."
<Michael's Pov>
My daughter puffed out her cheeks and stomped back into the house before barricading the door as I told her to. "Anders prepare for the worst, if these talks fail, I will hold them off until you can escape with my family. Is that understood?"
The boy no older than my daughter nodded his head as he followed me into the square, seeing the knights for myself, I realized this was a fight I was never going to win. 3 of the knights were dressed the same, in grey armour, they looked to be newly recruited, the way they carried themselves and their weapons left a lot to be desired, I reckon I could take them.
One of them, had a dark red tint to his shoulder pads, he was at least a foot taller than the rest of them, he was experienced, a little below my level maybe but with his reach, I would struggle to beat him, then came the two hardest opponents by far.
A woman in the same armour but Jet black with a white sword in the centre instead of a black one. She carried herself as she had already killed me four times over in her head, simply waiting for me to make the first move so she has a reason to kill me off.
The last of the six, he stood at the back of their formation but this was a trick, he wants us to believe he is the weakest of them all, but the raw bloodlust that reeks off his body is making me nervous and I'm on the other side of the courtyard, I can't imagine what it would be like standing right next to him.
I approached until I got to the centre of the square, right next to the well, "Stop there."
The man at the back shouted,
"Tell me your name and whether you represent the village of Astuga?"
I leaned on the wall as I responded, "My name is Michael, I do not know if I represent the whole village but I do represent the Militia as the lord here does nothing to protect us."
The man laughed and removed his helmet, his scraggy black hair came into view, he had a silver eye with a tint of blue, a scar covered his face from left to right, at a guess made by the back end of a staff, maybe four or five years ago. (A/N: This man is the mc, just a quick mention in case you didn't know.)
The man brushed past the other 5 knights, the woman reached out to stop him however he turned on his heels and fell on one knee, kissing her hand before he quickly rose and walked towards me.
The bloodlust leaking off of him nearly made me vomit as he stood there, looking into my eyes, the things this man has seen, I can only begin to imagine. The things he has done, I believe they would be much worse.
"My name is Alex, the Knight Vigilant of the Templar Order and starting yesterday this Village and the fort have belonged to us. You will be under my jurisdiction and my protection; I will tax you fairly and in return I expect you to work hard. The elderly will not be expected to work and nor will the children as soon as an education system is set up in the village. Until then, they can man the fields and help the farmhands. I request that you gather the people of the village into the square as soon as possible, I would like to address you all in one go, I'm in a bit of a rush you see."
<Catharine's Pov>
Father came back un-hurt; I assume the Knights did not want to loot the village then. What are they here for? "Catherine get your mother and Brother and brings them to the center of the village, tell anyone you meet on your way to do the same, the Knights have a message for us."
We brought a few of the aunties and grandmas of the village to the centre, it was packed, the 6 knights stood silently, waiting for the last of us to filter through into the square. Once we had, one of them with a scar began to speak. "My name is Alex, the Knight Vigilant of the Templar Order and starting yesterday this Village and the fort have belonged to us. You will be under my jurisdiction and my protection; I will tax you fairly and in return I expect you to work hard. I will be bringing the religion of my Order to the village; I'm not going to demand that you convert to it however only those who are under the maker's guidance will be allowed to seek promotion in the village's roles going forwards."
The village began to murmur and negative statements began to filter towards the young man.
"I see that you find this to be a bad thing? Then may I ask why you serve a God that has abandoned you in a Shit hole like this one? Let you be dragged through the dirt by some low life mage? I'm only here thanks to the guidance of the Maker and his wife Andraste, do you think I would have taken the lordship of this town willingly? Think about it? One of the first things I will be bringing to the village is a temple of worship for the Maker, they are called the Chantry in my religion, one of the first jobs I will create and pay villagers for is priestess jobs within the chantry. The Chantry will also be responsible for the education of children within the village going forwards, I understand that some of you will not want your children to be taught by Heretics but this is mandatory. Like I said, for your children to have a future in the village and as it grows town and maybe a city in the future, they will need to be believers in the Maker."
The crowd murmured again, however, the young men and women, myself included looked at the man in a new light, he was offering us jobs, education and more as long as we followed his religion? So, to have a future greater than this, I only need to convert? Really? That sounds too easy.
"Let's move on to other means, like military, I will offer any man or woman who wants to join the Templar order join us, the only thing we ask for you to join our order is to take the vows and convert to the Andrastian religion. You will gain power able to stand toe to toe with any mage, defend the village from any bandits. We give you strength and expect loyalty in return. To prove my point."
The man waved his hand the head of the former lord rolled out into the centre of the square.
"You all feared this man, right? He took things from you, correct?"
The man turned to Maya,
"I'm sorry I arrived a day too late to save you, I can give you the strength to make sure no man can do that to you again without your consent."
The woman next to the man took off her helmet and walked next to Maya and pulled her into a slight hug, it was the woman I had seen coming in yesterday. Maya cried into her shoulder as the man continued. "My order specializes in killing and destroying Mages and Demons, I have a plan to fix the soil around the village but I will need more Templars to put it into action. From now on, I would like my order and the villagers to eat dinner together here in the village, only by eating together and sharing our lives will we grow to accept one another. I understand that I might be asking for too much for some of you but you have to remember that I'm also offering you a lot as well. "
The man smiled and bowed before he put on his helmet and turned to leave,
"Myra you can stay here with Maya until she has calmed down, there is no need for you to rush back to us."
The man then walked back towards the keep, not saying anything, just smiling at the villagers as he passed. An uncomfortable silence covered the square as we all waited for someone to say something.
>Michael's Pov>
I walked to the centre of the square, my mind full of conflicting thoughts, what do I say here? I guess the truth is all can say.
"I think we should convert to his faith. The look in his eyes as he spoke about the village, I have not seen passion like that in a lord regarding his peasants ever. I will hold a vote tomorrow to determine what we agree to as a village until then, we will host them tonight. Please at least try to mingle with them, they could be the solution to our bandit problem at a minimum."
<Chapter end>