Bandits

The large-scale war against the Sauron people in the latter half of last year had consumed an immense amount of wealth and supplies. It was not until the first half of this year that production in the areas surrounding the Royal Capital had barely begun to recover.

However, before the Kingdom could fully recover from the wounds of the previous great war, a new, perhaps even more deadly crisis had surged forth from within.

The Finance Minister had just finished reporting in a dry voice on the still-unpromising state of the royal treasury and the projected autumn grain tax collection. The hall fell into a brief, suffocating silence.

Then the elderly Minister of Military Affairs trembled as he stepped forward. He did not first mention the threat posed by the Sauron people in the north. Instead, he presented before the throne a thick parchment scroll filled with bad news, then began, in a heavy voice, to address the central—and most troublesome—issue of today's court assembly:

"Your Majesty, my lords, the Sauron threat in the Northern Territory is certainly cause for concern. Yet the matter that is most urgent, and has already taken on the momentum of a prairie fire, is the bandits surging up throughout the heartland of the Empire!"

He swept his gaze over everyone present, his tone heavy with grief as he recounted the origins and worsening of this calamity:

"Last year, Duke Ashir, the loyal governor who had guarded the Empire's northwestern gateway for many years, unfortunately died of illness. When Duke Ferdinand first succeeded him as governor of the Three Towns, he was still able to continue the policy of placing equal emphasis on suppression and appeasement. Though refugees arose everywhere and bandits appeared from time to time, their activities were generally confined to remote mountainous