Bandit encounters also appeared as we walked through Qwidon. We gained lots of reputation in this country from defeating them as well. When we were halfway through the country, we encountered a fruit stand ran by some villagers. They were selling fruit for 5 lin. I bought three of the apples and an orange. I gave the apples to the chimeras. “Make sure to keep the seeds. We are going to need them.” I said. They looked really confused, but all three nodded as they began munching on the fruit. I also ate my orange. Suzie bought a plum for herself and we ate them as we walked down the road. When we were finished, we went off the side of the road. Reiner, Elis and Tybalt had their seeds. I had mine as well. We planted them in the ground and I had them kneel and repeat after of me. “I swear from this day forward to always respect nature in all its beauty and all its forms. I will never raise my hand to an animal in malice unless for sustenance. We rise from now onwards as Green knights.” I said. They repeated it and when we rose, my class changed from soldier to knight. I was happy.
Suzie looked at me and said “Since you three are now knights, maybe we should take a bandit occupied fort when we pass the border. It will be harder to take you all if you establish your own knightly order.” The next country was Sivson. It was the country before Sacrilmon. I was thinking about it seriously. There was no way we would lose to any old bandits and we were two countries away. We could use our money and reputation to fortify it and make it a real fortress. That would be great. We picked up our pace, slaughtering any and all bandits we came across on the way. It took four more days to get to the border. When we got there, we were invited to stay with the guards. They bought us food and drink. They talked to us about our adventures so far and we hear that we had recieved a party name. We were known as the the “The Liberators of the Common Man”. It came with a perk. It allowed for 5% better prices when bartering with commoner NPCs. We also took the time to buy clothes and better armor from the outpost. We made sure it was green. The guards recognized me and the chimeras as knights.
I was pleased as they gave us even more deference than before. The chimers seemed to enjoy it as well. “Well, if we are treated this way, why don’t we just stay here?” Tybalt asked. “Because Lancelot is still way to close for comfort.” I answered. Reiner growled and said “I don’t see what we need to fear from him. He won’t leave the city. He has the most power there. If he came this far, he’d be much more vulnerable here.” Suzie and I both looked at him in confusion. “How do you know that?” Suzie asked. Elis looked sad and hung his head. He said “Our creators said it in passing before they were killed off by the paladins.” The other chimeras looked sad as well. I said “I guess that makes sense. I guess we don’t really need to go that far. As soon as we see a bandit occupied fort in Sivson, we’ll take it over.” I said Everyone agreed with the idea. At first light, we left the outpost and crossed into Sivson. We continued walking until we had two bandit encounters back to back. I had become Level 22 and Suzie was Level 20. The bandits were all Level 50 and above. Checking a map found on one of them, I saw a hideout.
The hideout was Fort Straightlance. It was only a day away. We continued to walk until we saw it in the distance. Since it was at night, there were less presence outside the fort. We stealthed up to the few guards that were there and killed them right away. From there, we opened up the gates and split up. I circled the perimeter and killed the guards I could see. As I got to the bandits on the walls, I threw my javelins at them and took them out. When I had cleared out the right side of the perimeter, I circled back to the keep where I met with Elis and Tybalt. We all shared a grin. A popup appeared a few minutes later. We had taken the fort. I wanted to see the inside of the keep, so I opened the door. I was barely able to squeeze through the door. I walked in and saw it was pretty bare inside and made of worn wood. There was a stone stairwell that spiraled down and a wooden ladder that went up. There was a large room for strategy along with a table with a map of the country. There were several chairs and a large candle stand. The bodies were all on the ground. I waited for Reiner and Suzie to join me.
A menu appeared and asked if I wanted to own the fort. I accepted and it asked me what type of occupation it would be. I chose a chivalric order. Naming it was easy. I called it The Order of the Apples and Orange. I was made the Grandmaster and I could set the six tiers of the order. Reiner and the other chimeras were the Masters. Suzie was a Templar. I decided to put some of my money in the treasury to fix and fortify the fort. I think it was a nice thing to do. I asked the chimeras and Suzie put pitch in their money as well. We shored up 210,000 in value from all the loot we got from the bandits in lin. That equaled 2,100 gold. I put most of it down to reinforce the walls on the main gate. There was still money left for some swords, shields, javelins and glaives to be placed in the armory. All that was needed was a banner for the order. I put a bowl of fruit on a grass green banner. It was pretty good. Suzie shook her head with a smile on her face. As the Grandmaster, I had the option to assign people to tasks. I decided to send Reiner and Suzie together with the order at the nearest city.
