To the Lord Marshall
Reaching the crest of the hill, the party is suprised to see that the old fortified manor is not as abandoned as it first appeared. While ivy does cover the walls and the roof needs some repairs the walls are in good shape and signs of repairs are easily seen. A small defensive ditch some ten feet wide and 8 feet deep surronds the manor and that instead of being dirt it has in fact been bricked, making the manor intself a very formidable redoubt. Merlons on top of the manor provide excellent cover fire on all sides and lend themself to supporting any defensive counterattack should the hill be scaled or the gates breached. Along the hill at the back of thr manor is a series of barns and outbuildings that form a wall some 20 feet high along the rear rim. The only real attack point is to the west from which the party entered the compound..but men can be seen reparing a ditch and earh berm along that side as well as digging pits on the outside so disrupt any attacking force. The interior on the hill some 200 feet by 150 feet is solidly enclosed with the hill crown itself acting as the walls as it rises from the ground some 30 feet. Perhaps some 50 or so women are busy with young lads carrying foodstores into the manor's cellars while the adolescnet males are busy stabeling livestock etc. Young girls can be seen carrying water from the streams below and filling what can only be large cisterns. Some 100 adult males are also in the yard reparing armour and cleaning arms. Given the number there and on the workforces there is easliy some 175 men avaialbe of various ages for the muster. Of that number some 60 or so strike you has hard bitten veterans.
Reaching the door in front of the manor, the old baron dismounts and leads the party to a large tabel set underneath a decorative arbor. "This was my grandfathers house before my father built a fancier less defensable smaller version some miles away. I hope it will prove a good refuge" On the tabel is simple fair, bread, chesse, smoked meats and water to drink. "Please help yourself"