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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 2922661" data-attributes="member: 35788">Chapter Five: A LITTLE REVENGEThree relatively calm months had passed since the party found themselves facing off against the small reptilian opponents who had been summoned by the calling of the dragon.  Grixanthrosilithiss had not ventured over the mountains into Tongra in an attempt to exact personal revenge upon his runaway Provenience.  In spite of the lack of revenge from the red wyrm, even once they had returned the whole way to Rhema’s father’s home they refused to let their guard down for several weeks.  Rhema’s father lived in the sleepy hamlet of Huetown under Lord Ironblood’s domain, but the relative isolation brought them little comfort.  During each night Semeion, Rhema, Ischarus, or Charis would inevitably find themselves keeping watch over the family estate from the ground floor of Rhema’s father’s two story stone villa.  Many nights Charis found herself dodging shadows that seemed to her to be in the shape of Druff.  The first few weeks passed by slowly as they all awaited retribution.Rhema was the first to begin to let her guard return to normal.  Of course, normal meant the typical state of heightened awareness that comes from knowingly operating a farm villa using rescued persons from Quehalost as workers.  The majority of the workers were not permanent residents at the villa.  Instead they would stay until such a time as they had grown accustomed to life in Tongra that they could make it on their own.  There was a constant threat that someone from Quehalost, whom the party confronted earlier, could pass through the northern region of Tongra following the trail of the freedom fighters.Of course, the trail would lead them directly to the northern edge of Tongra where the would-be pursuers would inevitably become attracted by the capitol of Lord Ironblood’s land, Fingerdale.  Lord Ironblood was a ruthless manager of all the resources within and he knew precisely how to tax his residents so that they would be able to survive with only a small margin of profit to show.  Lord Ironblood seemed capable of knowing just how far his serfs could be pushed before they would revolt.  Fortunately for him, Lord Ironblood had never crossed that line.  Of course, Lord Ironblood also kept his people safe with a highly trained and well paid army.  Lord Ironblood’s serfs knew their life was difficult financially, but they were also a safe people.  Most of Lord Ironblood’s serfs resented the taxes of the land but were loyal to the life they had grown accustomed to.It was this very security that lead Rhema’s father to the land many years ago.  It was this security that kept Rhema’s father precisely in Lord Ironblood’s land in spite of the taxes.  The lord and many of his officers knew full well of the operations that ran out of Rhema’s father’s villa.  Rhema’s father paid a hefty tribute to keep the lips of those officers closed.  Yet everyone at the villa knew that secrets would inevitably leek out if the right person paid enough for the information.  This was the danger of living in a land where money dominated personal relationships.  So long as the rescue operations brought enough wealth back to keep the nobles and Lord Ironblood happy there would be no trouble.  If Rhema and her associates ever worked against a force in Quehalost that had considerable resources there was the risk of trouble.There was no doubt that Grixanthrosilithiss had such wealth, but being a red dragon it was rather unlikely that he would part with wealth to merely regain a Provenience.  There were other methods that would be much more satisfying to his loyal underlings.  It was precisely that thought that kept Charis awake at night and precisely that thought that she had to overcome in order to regain living a normal life.Fortunately for Charis, she had two things working in her favor as she strove toward overcoming her fear of retribution from the red wyrm.  First, her new associates had managed to meet up with six of her kin who were also fleeing from Quehalost.  Once her kin recognized Charis they readily followed Ischarus, Rhema, and Semeion into the land of Tongra and eventually to Huetown and the family villa.  The fact that there were then seven who were going through the retraining process made it easier.  Furthermore, the family villa knew that often the first step in retraining was ensuring that those being retrained spoke the proper language of the land.  Semeion took a keen interest in teaching the language to the refugees; and Rhema’s father was more than ready to hand that task over to Semeion.  With Semeion as the teacher, Rhema demonstrated a quick knack at learning the common tongue of the civilized lands.  By the end of the first two weeks, every refugee had a working vocabulary of useful terms for life on the villa and they were able to construct simple sentences.  By the end of the full three months, each of the refugees had proven relative command over the spoken language – although none of them had progressed at all in their ability to read.  This meant little, however, because the average person in Tongra could do little reading and the refugees were not even able to read in their native draconic tongue!Once the refugees had a working mastery of the civilized tongue, they were allowed to come and go at their leisure.  Of course, this was assuming that their responsibilities at the villa had been attended and completed.  Part of the retraining program was to teach the refugees that money was necessary for life as well as the fact that the only honest way to make money in the civilized lands was to learn how to balance work with leisure.  In the beginning, the more timid refugees stayed on the villa and worked hard – often stockpiling their wages.  However, eventually even the most timid of the refugees learned that their minor accumulation of wealth drew them out into the small town of Huetown.  Here they began to learn how the civilized world traded, bartered, and bought what they needed.Huetown was a small town, roughly existing on a working population of 900 residents during most of the year.  This population size was ideal for allowing the refugees to learn about wealth and commerce.  The whole town was accustomed to the occasional wave of refugees from Rhema’s father’s villa and by now had begun to assume responsibility for training these refugees in the ways of Tongra commerce. Of course, nobody in the town truly understood where the refugees can from and most knew enough not to ask.  The shopkeepers knew to be patient, which was usually relatively easy in such a small town.  The innkeeper and tavern owner knew to keep watch over the refugees until they learned the environment of inn and tavern life.  Through it all, it wasn’t too long before each of the refugees had begun to show independence and the ability to function on their own in the civilized realm.The final step in retraining a refugee was introduction to the life in Fingerdale.  Fingerdale was certainly not the largest of cities in Tongra; but it did have a respectable working population of around 10,000 people.  This central city of Lord Ironblood’s land became the place where the refugees learned about discerning which shops to choose, how to recognize safe areas of cities, and even how to get along with the local city guard.  Of course, street merchants, thieves, wandering minstrels, and the like roamed the streets of Fingerdale looking for any way – legitimate or illegal – to separate a coin from its owner.  This was perhaps the biggest test of the whole retraining routine.  Life in Fingerdale was appealing to the uninitiated; but life in Fingerdale was certainly not easy.[Sblock=Color Free Speech Section]Chapter Five: A LITTLE REVENGEThree relatively calm months had passed since the party found themselves facing off against the small reptilian opponents who had been summoned by the calling of the dragon. Grixanthrosilithiss had not ventured over the mountains into Tongra in an attempt to exact personal revenge upon his runaway Provenience. In spite of the lack of revenge from the red wyrm, even once they had returned the whole way to Rhema’s father’s home they refused to let their guard down for several weeks. Rhema’s father lived in the sleepy hamlet of Huetown under Lord Ironblood’s domain, but the relative isolation brought them little comfort. During each night Semeion, Rhema, Ischarus, or Charis would inevitably find themselves keeping watch over the family estate from the ground floor of Rhema’s father’s two story stone villa. Many nights Charis found herself dodging shadows that seemed to her to be in the shape of Druff. The first few weeks passed by slowly as they all awaited retribution.Rhema was the first to begin to let her guard return to normal. Of course, normal meant the typical state of heightened awareness that comes from knowingly operating a farm villa using rescued persons from Quehalost as workers. The majority of the workers were not permanent residents at the villa. Instead they would stay until such a time as they had grown accustomed to life in Tongra that they could make it on their own. There was a constant threat that someone from Quehalost, whom the party confronted earlier, could pass through the northern region of Tongra following the trail of the freedom fighters.Of course, the trail would lead them directly to the northern edge of Tongra where the would-be pursuers would inevitably become attracted by the capitol of Lord Ironblood’s land, Fingerdale. Lord Ironblood was a ruthless manager of all the resources within and he knew precisely how to tax his residents so that they would be able to survive with only a small margin of profit to show. Lord Ironblood seemed capable of knowing just how far his serfs could be pushed before they would revolt. Fortunately for him, Lord Ironblood had never crossed that line. Of course, Lord Ironblood also kept his people safe with a highly trained and well paid army. Lord Ironblood’s serfs knew their life was difficult financially, but they were also a safe people. Most of Lord Ironblood’s serfs resented the taxes of the land but were loyal to the life they had grown accustomed to.It was this very security that lead Rhema’s father to the land many years ago. It was this security that kept Rhema’s father precisely in Lord Ironblood’s land in spite of the taxes. The lord and many of his officers knew full well of the operations that ran out of Rhema’s father’s villa. Rhema’s father paid a hefty tribute to keep the lips of those officers closed. Yet everyone at the villa knew that secrets would inevitably leek out if the right person paid enough for the information. This was the danger of living in a land where money dominated personal relationships. So long as the rescue operations brought enough wealth back to keep the nobles and Lord Ironblood happy there would be no trouble. If Rhema and her associates ever worked against a force in Quehalost that had considerable resources there was the risk of trouble.There was no doubt that Grixanthrosilithiss had such wealth, but being a red dragon it was rather unlikely that he would part with wealth to merely regain a Provenience. There were other methods that would be much more satisfying to his loyal underlings. It was precisely that thought that kept Charis awake at night and precisely that thought that she had to overcome in order to regain living a normal life.Fortunately for Charis, she had two things working in her favor as she strove toward overcoming her fear of retribution from the red wyrm. First, her new associates had managed to meet up with six of her kin who were also fleeing from Quehalost. Once her kin recognized Charis they readily followed Ischarus, Rhema, and Semeion into the land of Tongra and eventually to Huetown and the family villa. The fact that there were then seven who were going through the retraining process made it easier. Furthermore, the family villa knew that often the first step in retraining was ensuring that those being retrained spoke the proper language of the land. Semeion took a keen interest in teaching the language to the refugees; and Rhema’s father was more than ready to hand that task over to Semeion. With Semeion as the teacher, Rhema demonstrated a quick knack at learning the common tongue of the civilized lands. By the end of the first two weeks, every refugee had a working vocabulary of useful terms for life on the villa and they were able to construct simple sentences. By the end of the full three months, each of the refugees had proven relative command over the spoken language – although none of them had progressed at all in their ability to read. This meant little, however, because the average person in Tongra could do little reading and the refugees were not even able to read in their native draconic tongue!Once the refugees had a working mastery of the civilized tongue, they were allowed to come and go at their leisure. Of course, this was assuming that their responsibilities at the villa had been attended and completed. Part of the retraining program was to teach the refugees that money was necessary for life as well as the fact that the only honest way to make money in the civilized lands was to learn how to balance work with leisure. In the beginning, the more timid refugees stayed on the villa and worked hard – often stockpiling their wages. However, eventually even the most timid of the refugees learned that their minor accumulation of wealth drew them out into the small town of Huetown. Here they began to learn how the civilized world traded, bartered, and bought what they needed.Huetown was a small town, roughly existing on a working population of 900 residents during most of the year. This population size was ideal for allowing the refugees to learn about wealth and commerce. The whole town was accustomed to the occasional wave of refugees from Rhema’s father’s villa and by now had begun to assume responsibility for training these refugees in the ways of Tongra commerce. Of course, nobody in the town truly understood where the refugees can from and most knew enough not to ask. The shopkeepers knew to be patient, which was usually relatively easy in such a small town. The innkeeper and tavern owner knew to keep watch over the refugees until they learned the environment of inn and tavern life. Through it all, it wasn’t too long before each of the refugees had begun to show independence and the ability to function on their own in the civilized realm.The final step in retraining a refugee was introduction to the life in Fingerdale. Fingerdale was certainly not the largest of cities in Tongra; but it did have a respectable working population of around 10,000 people. This central city of Lord Ironblood’s land became the place where the refugees learned about discerning which shops to choose, how to recognize safe areas of cities, and even how to get along with the local city guard. Of course, street merchants, thieves, wandering minstrels, and the like roamed the streets of Fingerdale looking for any way – legitimate or illegal – to separate a coin from its owner. This was perhaps the biggest test of the whole retraining routine. Life in Fingerdale was appealing to the uninitiated; but life in Fingerdale was certainly not easy.[/Sblock]</blockquote>

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