Luria Nova/Events/Estate-Manager/Dealing with the Pirates

Returning to your estate with your loyal men and the considerable sum of 30 gold from Alushaar, you find yourself faced with a pressing issue – the presence of pirates who have kidnapped your workers.

The pirates have disrupted the harmony in your estate, causing both concern and outrage among your residents. They demand action, and you have two viable options:

Negotiate with Pirates (Cost: 8 Gold): Opting for negotiation involves paying the pirates to secure the release of your workers. While this may appease the peasants and lead to the safe return of the kidnapped laborers, it also entails surrendering a significant portion of your treasury.

Deal with the Pirates (Cost: 10+ Gold): Choosing to confront the pirates means hiring experienced mercenaries who can effectively challenge the pirates' stronghold. Eliminating the pirates may free your workers but also potentially allow you to recover their stolen goods. However, this path is riskier and more costly, as hiring skilled mercenaries comes at a higher price, especially when dealing with a fortified enemy.

The decision rests in your hands. Will you take the diplomatic route to ensure the safe return of your workers, or will you muster the resources to eradicate the pirate threat and reclaim their ill-gotten gains, even if it demands a higher investment of your gold?

Outcome: Dealing with the Pirates II

Fed up with the persistent threat of the pirates, you make the decisive choice to hire skilled professionals who are well-equipped to handle the situation. Thankfully, with the monster invasion now behind you, the cost of hiring mercenaries has significantly reduced. You invest 9 gold to secure their services, and they promptly set out to eliminate the pirate problem once and for all.

After a couple of weeks, the hired mercenaries return with news of their success. While the pirates had already sold all of your kidnapped workers to slavers, the mercenaries managed to exact a fitting revenge by slaughtering some pirates and capturing most of them. Moreover, they successfully retrieved all the stolen goods that the pirates had accumulated over the years. The captured pirates, now in the custody of the mercenaries, are coerced into unloading their ill-gotten gains from their ships.

Before you, a substantial pile of exotic goods and treasures collected by the pirates is laid out. You face a choice regarding the captured pirates. You can opt to sell them to the mercenaries, who may subsequently trade them to slavers they have connections with. Alternatively, you can defy the law and keep them as your own slaves, perhaps putting them to work in a secretive mining operation you plan to develop with Lance. The third option is to have the pirates publicly executed, which could provide a measure of satisfaction to the families who lost their loved ones to the pirates' kidnappings. The decision is yours to make, and it will shape the future of your estate and its dealings with the pirates.

Amid the exotic goods recovered from the pirates, you come across a mysterious map that appears to be a treasure map of some kind. You have the option to put this intriguing map up for auction at the upcoming end-of-year banquet in your liege's castle or take on the challenge of unraveling its secrets on your own. The decision is yours to make as you consider the possibilities that lie ahead.

Releasing and Hiring the Pirates

In a surprising turn of events, you choose to take a different path and release the captured pirates, offering them an unexpected proposition. Instead of seeking vengeance or justice through punishment, you decide to hire them as your own crew of pirates. This decision sparks anger and resentment among those who lost their family members to the pirates' past actions. The families and their sympathizers, determined to take matters into their own hands, launch attacks on the surviving pirates both day and night.

In response to the growing unrest, your vigilantes make an effort to maintain order, but their limited numbers prove insufficient to quell the rising tensions. They eventually turn to your soldiers for assistance in restoring peace. The soldiers take swift and forceful action, subduing the angry peasants and executing some of the most violent agitators in order to reestablish order.

This choice also garners disapproval from the local minor nobles, who hold a strong disdain for individuals they view as low-life pirates.

However, your unorthodox decision begins to reveal its potential as the surviving pirates surprise you with an offer. They share the knowledge needed to decipher the treasure map, revealing that the previous pirate captain had concealed his riches within Lance's estate. The pirates express their willingness to help locate the treasure for their "new captain" if you grant them the necessary permission.

However, this proposition comes with its own set of risks and uncertainties. By allowing the pirates to embark on this treasure hunt, you acknowledge the possibility that they may discover the treasure but opt to keep it for themselves, betraying your trust. If you decide to accompany them, you must be prepared to forgo the end-of-year auction, which might have offered valuable opportunities. Moreover, the presence of a large contingent of pirates at Lance's estate could potentially alarm him and his people. The fundamental question lingers: Can you truly trust these newly-recruited pirates, and how will you safeguard your interests should they decide to double-cross you? The future is fraught with uncertainties and complex decisions.

Outcome: Accompanying the Pirates to Lance's Estate

You decide to accompany the pirates to Lance's estate, curious about the potential treasure hidden there. You spend a few days with the pirates, using song and drink to build camaraderie and gain their trust. Upon entering Lance's estate, you quickly realize that it's in a dire state, having lost all its men during the battle with the Demolisher.

Unfortunately, your new pirate companions aren't the most genteel of characters. As soon as they realize the reality of the situation, they immediately reveal their rough and ruthless nature, causing chaos and fear among the locals. While you are preoccupied with charming the local women, the pirates seize the opportunity to pillage and ransack the estate. Once their bags are filled with plunder, they depart, leaving you with the aftermath of their destructive spree.

As you survey the devastated estate, you consult the treasure map, and a location becomes evident to you. It directs you to a tree on the western hill of the estate. With determination, you dig at the specified spot and soon your shovel strikes something hard. Digging further, you uncover a small chest. Upon opening it, you find a beautifully decorated locket. Inside the locket, there is a small portrait of a young woman and a child. It appears to be a treasured keepsake of the captain's wife and child.

With the locket in your possession, you swiftly depart Lance's estate, leaving the chaos behind, and head back to your own estate, pondering the story behind this precious keepsake and its connection to the pirates' captain.