The enthusiastic crowds finally fell away once he entered the royal grounds of Stromgarde. A large number of elite Stromgarde Militia soldiers now patrolled and guarded the palace.
After fighting the orcs of Hammerfall, the Witherbark Trolls, and the Scourge, the baptism of blood had allowed the veterans of the Stromgarde Militia to reclaim their former glory and taught its recruits what their mission was.
Whenever Galen Trollbane looked their way, every member of the Stromgarde Militia proudly raised his head and held his weapon upright before him, ready for their prince's inspection.
"Your Highness, you've finally returned." Marshal Oslett had long been waiting for Galen Trollbane in the palace. During the prince's absence of more than half a month, this distinguished old marshal had handled all the affairs of the Kingdom of Stromgarde.
With the kingdom's old king, Thoras Trollbane, bedridden, and all the troubles caused by panic over the Scourge, the Kingdom of Stromgarde had accumulated a mountain of unresolved affairs. Galen Trollbane had not yet found the time to deal with that backlog either.
On top of that, the Kingdom of Stromgarde's victory against the Scourge had left it with everything in need of rebuilding, generating a host of new administrative matters.
All this work had thoroughly exhausted the old marshal. The deep, dark circles beneath Oslett's eyes were proof enough that he had not rested properly in a long time.
Looking at the exhausted Marshal Oslett, Galen Trollbane said guiltily, "I'm sorry, Marshal Oslett. My absence from Stromgarde has left the burden of the entire kingdom on your shoulders alone."
"All that matters is that you're back. Besides, if I can see the Kingdom of Stromgarde rise again, I wouldn't mind even if it cost me this old life." Though Marshal Oslett was exhausted, his spirits were remarkably high. In his youth, he had followed the old king, Thoras Trollbane, and taken the revival of the Kingdom of Stromgarde as his personal duty.
But as the old king, Thoras Trollbane, aged and grew increasingly inept, the Kingdom of Stromgarde had declined, and Marshal Oslett had also fallen into inactivity.
Now, Marshal Oslett saw hope for the Kingdom of Stromgarde's revival in Galen Trollbane, and the fire in his heart burned once more.
Suddenly remembering something, Marshal Oslett asked, "By the way, Your Highness, did your trip to Booty Bay go smoothly?"
"Of course. Rest assured, Marshal Oslett, a steady stream of supplies will be shipped from Booty Bay to Faldir's Cove. With those supplies, we won't have to worry about shortages anymore. We'll have enough to take in refugees from the Kingdom of Lordaeron, the Kingdom of Alterac, and Dalaran. We can even rebuild Stromgarde!" This trip to Booty Bay had completely resolved the supply problem that had been strangling the Kingdom of Stromgarde.
With those supplies, the Kingdom of Stromgarde had the resources it needed to rise again.
Hearing Galen Trollbane's confident assurances, Marshal Oslett did not even ask where the gold to purchase the supplies had come from. Tears streamed down his aged face as he said, "King Thoras, you can rest in peace."
If Marshal Oslett knew that the old king, Thoras Trollbane, had been poisoned by their own prince, Galen Trollbane, there was no telling how he would feel.
But that Galen Trollbane was already dead as well, his soul completely devoured. The current Galen Trollbane would never admit to poisoning the old king, Thoras Trollbane. No one knew anyway, so he would keep it all buried inside forever.
After returning to the palace, Galen Trollbane did not rest. Instead, he immediately began reviewing and handling the affairs of the Kingdom of Stromgarde.
Marshal Oslett had managed military and civil affairs in an orderly fashion. To prevent the Scourge from returning, he had stationed thirty thousand Stromgarde Militia soldiers at Thoradin's Wall.
After the victory over the Scourge, large numbers of Stromgarde's citizens had eagerly enlisted. Marshal Oslett had only replenished the Stromgarde Militia's losses from the successive battles, restoring its strength to fifty thousand, before halting recruitment. After all, fifty thousand troops were enough for the Kingdom of Stromgarde in its current state.
Reviving the Kingdom of Stromgarde, however, still required an enormous workforce, so they could not tie up all their labor in the army.
Galen Trollbane wholeheartedly agreed with Marshal Oslett's decision. The Kingdom of Stromgarde now had fewer than three hundred thousand people left, and fifty thousand troops were already its limit. Further expansion would only be counterproductive.
Next came the issue of housing and land. Severe population loss had left nine out of ten homes in Stromgarde empty, and most of the Kingdom of Stromgarde's land lay abandoned as well. Galen Trollbane had to settle the ownership of these homes and lands; he could not allow such vast amounts of property to remain unused.
"Lieutenant Varokar, conduct a census of everyone within Stromgarde in my name. Record every house left vacant because its occupants fled, and reclaim them all for the royal family. Do the same with the land in the Arathi Highlands. Whether nobles or commoners, treat them all alike!" Since they had chosen to flee when the Kingdom of Stromgarde was in its greatest peril, Galen Trollbane would show them no consideration.
Because of the old king Thoras Trollbane's inept rule, the nobles had already come to control almost sixty percent of the Kingdom of Stromgarde's land. Twenty percent belonged to the Trollbane Royal Family, and only the remaining twenty percent belonged to the people of Stromgarde.
That situation had to change. As it happened, eighty percent of the Kingdom of Stromgarde's nobles had already fled, so Galen Trollbane decided to confiscate all their land and assets.
With the nobles' land added to his holdings, Galen Trollbane controlled eighty percent of the land in the Arathi Highlands. These were also the richest lands, including the region's three major farms: Northfold Farm, Dabyrie Farm, and Go'Shek Farm.
With this land, Galen Trollbane could reshuffle land ownership within the Kingdom of Stromgarde, distributing it to refugees from the Kingdom of Lordaeron, the Kingdom of Alterac, and Dalaran.
This would both draw refugees to join the Kingdom of Stromgarde and increase its land-tax revenue and agricultural output. After all, working as hired farmhands for nobles and cultivating land of their own would certainly not yield the same results.
This was by no means a pleasant assignment. It could only be entrusted to his confidant, Lieutenant Varokar, because Varokar cared only about Galen Trollbane's orders and would neither fear the nobles nor compromise with them.
At the same time, the entire Kingdom of Stromgarde knew that Lieutenant Varokar was Prince Galen Trollbane's trusted subordinate. No one would dare obstruct the prince, whose prestige was now soaring after his defeat of the Scourge.
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