Feudal Quest

[ShaperV]

A Wild Dita Appears, Pt III

Reactions:

[X] Make an offer to be consider once she has rested: "Getting to India would be easier if you had more than the clothes on your back and whatever you manage to acquire along the way. There are two Haunts within my fief that need to be dealt with before I can fully invoke Regency over Corzu and beastmen that need to be dealt with. Needless to say your aid would be appreciated and rewarded for taking part in such dangerous tasks." (4)

[X]Keep her in for the winter and use the opportunity to learn more about Inova and see how impressive the Chosens are exactly. As long as we don't exactly know the stance of our family on her it should be ok to treat her as a normal member of our family. After all, we can't assume she IS a family pariah. Decide what to do in the spring as you learn more. (2)

-----

"India, huh?" You reply with a wince. "All by yourself?"

She shakes her head. "I need to actually pull this off somehow, not die bravely. I might be able to talk a Chosen into helping, if I can get back in contact with them. I can't fight like they do, but at least I can keep up."

"Hmm. You turn fifteen this spring, right? Seems to me you've got a couple of years to prepare before the timing gets critical. You should spend that time training, maybe try something easier like clearing a few haunts. Bialis and Jaroslaw are pretty good instructors, and I think I'll be able to spring for some arms and armor once the household tax comes in."

She gasps. "You'd do that for me?"

"You're family, Dita. Of course I would."

She hugs you. "Thank you, Dominic!"

You pretend not to notice as she wipes away a tear. "Come on, let's go roust the cook and get something warm in you before you catch cold. I don't think we have any proper clothes a lady, but even a maid's uniform would be better than those rags. What happened to your dress, anyway?"

"Well, I cut off most of the skirt so I'd be able to run," she admits. "But, um, I wasn't expecting the snowstorm. I thought I'd be here well before dark, but the snow slowed me down enough that I was still up around Boskin Wood at sunset. Dodging through underbrush in the dark did the rest."

You stop to stare at her. "You were running around at night in a snowstorm? You're lucky you didn't get lost and freeze to death."

"I can see in the dark," she replies hesitantly. "And, um, I always know where the sun is, even if it's below the horizon. Besides, I didn't have a better choice. By the time I realized I wasn't going to make it I was over the border, and there wasn't time to run all the way back up to Castle Pisch. I suppose I could have stopped in Tamasi, but I don't have any money and that really wasn't much closer."

"You ran forty miles over snow in a day? Neat. Can you show me how that works sometime?"

She breaks into a relieved smile, and only then do you realize how nervous she was about mentioning her abilities to you. Well, she's probably had a lot of lectures about the dangers of magic in the last few years.

"Sure thing, cousin. But I'd better get some rest first, or the only thing I'll be demonstrating is how to fall over."

-----

So you settle Dita in the one guest room that's actually habitable right now, and return to your projects. At some point you'll need to mention her presence to your family, but that can probably wait until spring. By then you should have a better idea of just what your strange cousin can do, and hopefully you'll have a plan for how to handle your family.

Update is in progress.

 

[ShaperV]

Update - February 1, Year 1​

Project Results

Dominic - Training
Your experiments in new applications lead to a new ability - banish fatigue. This is essentially a specialized healing spell that drains your magic to rejuvenate your body, and you can easily cast it several times per day.

You also make good progress on leveling up your flesh sorcery (now at 2/4).

Bialas - Train Archers (Discipline)
No problems are reported here.

Dita - Recuperate
Dita spends the month recovering from her recent ordeals, exploring Corzu Keep and watching the men train. Towards the end of the month she talks some of the maids into helping her clear out a space in the attic, and starts doing sword drills and calisthenics there on a daily basis to build up her strength. She thinks she'll be ready to do some serious training in February if anyone is available to teach her.

Jaroslaw - Train Rangers (Skill)
Jaroslaw picks out eight men from your existing units for special training as a ranger team. All of them were experienced hunters to start with, and he reports that they should be ready for easy missions by the spring thaw.

Traiain - Plan Harvest Tax Collection
Your accountant produces a detailed plan for how to collect and store the harvest tax for the coming year, but pulling it off is going to be expensive. According to his calculations you'll need to buy a substantial number of wagons and/or boats to ship the grain to Corzu Keep, which will run something like 300 - 500 SP depending on local prices. You'll also need to build a fairly substantial granary to store the harvest, which is likely to cost around 1,000 SP. That would eat up almost all of the cash you're going to collect this year, leaving you with very little money for anything else. You're going to have to put some thought into ways to do things cheaper, or to cover some of the cost in barter instead of cash.

Staff
Your staff completed the following projects this month:

[X] Lay in enough firewood to last several weeks, in case you get snowed in.
[X] Clean and refurbish some guest rooms, in case you get important visitors. (Cost: 10 SP)
[X] Clean, refurbish and restock the stables, so your horses will be happy and well fed. (Cost: 4 SP)

Your maids also managed to come up with clothing, toiletries and other necessities for Dita, although of course none of it is of a quality that would normally be considered suitable for a lady.


Other Events
After Dita's unexpected appearance the rest of the month passes peacefully. There are no attacks on the keep or the nearby hamlet, although by the end of the month the weather is cold enough that no one goes outside if they can help it.

Your two upstairs maids, Aldona and Mira, have apparently gotten into some kind of competition over who gets to be the handsome young lord's mistress. They're both flirting with you quite a bit now, and they're cute enough that it's a bit distracting. So far they've managed to keep this a friendly competition, but you should probably do something before it devolves into sniping and hair-pulling and you have to let one of them go.

Dita's birthday is February 29th (she was born on a leap year). You might want to give ehr a present or something.

 

[Thomasfoolery]

Are the staff able to procure the foodstuffs involved in the last two house making projects or will that have to wait until after winter?

Also as more general question, is it possible for us to add new recruits into a more experienced unit and have them be assimilated to that skill level so long as it's done gradually?

Also is the tax collection plan taking into account the usage of the 60 days of service we can conscript peasants into, or could ordering them to build stuff for us during that time help mitigate that cost?

Edit: To the other players, what direction do you think we should encourage Dita's training to go in, with just one project a month it'll take a while for her to advance in any direction so whatever we start now is probably going to have to be the main focus.

 

[fitzgerald]

Going to suggest light sorcery

It will be her best weapon against vamps and other mystical.beasties

So other than finishing Flesh sorcery any suggestions for Dominics 3rd slot

I.was going to suggest: Increase agility aka using flesh sorcery to make Dominic more agile, light as a cat etc

ShaperV would the following be a minor action. Visit town and have Dita check if the "Witch" really is one

Also on the maids..... to quote Tatewaki Kuno "Have both!"

 

[Graig]

Dominic
[XX] Level up Flesh Sorcery.
[X] Study Flesh Sorcery. Learn to increase agility.

Minor action: Pick the one of Aldona and Mira you most prefer to be your mistress.

Staff
[X] Set up and stock a chicken coop, so you can have fresh eggs and a bit of meat now and then. (Cost:3 SP)
[X] ?
[X] ?
[X] ?

Bialas
[X] Continue training Archers

Jaroslaw
[X] Continue making a specialist Ranger squad.

Traian
[X] Draft plan for using barter to partially pay for the granary and wagons etc.

Vet Men at Arms
[X] Garrison

#1 Archers
[X] Be Trained

 

[fitzgerald]

Dominic
[X]Train Flesh sorcery (3/4)
[X]Train Flesh Sorcery (4/4)
[X]Train Flesh Sorcery: Agility (Dexterity)

Staff
[X] Procure a herd of pigs, so you can have bacon and ham at meals. (Cost: 12 SP)
[X] Set up and stock a chicken coop, so you can have fresh eggs and a bit of meat now and then. (Cost:3 SP)

Dita
[X] Train: Light Sorcery (1/4)


Bialas
[X] Train Archers (Discipline)

Jaroslaw
[X] Train Ranger squad. (Skill)

Traian
[X] Draft Plan to repair roads, improve them and expand the network to include all known hamlets and villages

Vet Men at Arms
[X]Garrison

Archers
[X] Be Trained (Discipline)

Rangers
[X] Be Trained

Minor Actions

[X] Pick either Aldona or Mira to be your mistress? Bah you must have them both! aka Kuno route!
[X] Acquire a high quality bow and arrows for Dita

 

[fitzgerald]

On Dita

Light Sorcery can be leveled up relatively fast, more importantly even at lvl2 there's tons of tricks for light that I can think of right now that would aid Dita well on her way to India especially if she can hook up with an Inovia champion.

The term "Firing my Laser" comes to mind 8)

On Roads Planning

Nothing wrong with having prepared plans and solid estimates on what our various options to improve Corzu will cost us. Improved roads will ease travel, improve trade and in general show that we weren't just jumping in half arsed into whatever actions we take.

 

[drake_azathoth]

Dominic
[X]Train Flesh sorcery (3/4)
[X]Train Flesh Sorcery (4/4)
[X]Train Flesh Sorcery: Agility (Dexterity)

Staff
[X] Procure a herd of pigs, so you can have bacon and ham at meals. (Cost: 12 SP)
[X] Set up and stock a chicken coop, so you can have fresh eggs and a bit of meat now and then. (Cost:3 SP)

Dita
[X] Train: Light Sorcery (1/4)


Bialas
[X] Train Archers (Discipline)

Jaroslaw
[X] Train Ranger squad. (Skill)

Traian
[X] Draft Plan to repair roads, improve them and expand the network to include all known hamlets and villages

Vet Men at Arms
[X]Garrison

Archers
[X] Be Trained (Discipline)

Rangers
[X] Be Trained

Minor Actions

[X] Pick either Aldona or Mira to be your mistress? Bah you must have them both! aka Kuno route!
[X] Acquire a high quality bow and arrows for Dita

 

[kinglugia]

Your two upstairs maids, Aldona and Mira, have apparently gotten into some kind of competition over who gets to be the handsome young lord's mistress. They're both flirting with you quite a bit now, and they're cute enough that it's a bit distracting. So far they've managed to keep this a friendly competition, but you should probably do something before it devolves into sniping and hair-pulling and you have to let one of them go.

Click to shrink...

Can we hora both plz? As in threesome?

 

[Malcolmo]

Dominic
[X]Train Flesh sorcery (3/4)
[X]Train Flesh Sorcery (4/4)
[X]Train Flesh Sorcery: Agility (Dexterity)

Staff
[X] Procure a herd of pigs, so you can have bacon and ham at meals. (Cost: 12 SP)
[X] Set up and stock a chicken coop, so you can have fresh eggs and a bit of meat now and then. (Cost:3 SP)

Dita
[X] Train: Light Sorcery (1/4)


Bialas
[X] Train Archers (Discipline)

Jaroslaw
[X] Train Ranger squad. (Skill)

Traian
[X] Draft Plan to repair roads, improve them and expand the network to include all known hamlets and villages

Vet Men at Arms
[X]Garrison

Archers
[X] Be Trained (Discipline)

Rangers
[X] Be Trained

Minor Actions

[X] Pick either Aldona or Mira to be your mistress? Bah you must have them both! aka Kuno route!
[X] Acquire a high quality bow and arrows for Dita

 

[ShaperV]

Orders for February, Year 1

It looks like this is the winning plan:

Dominic
[X]Train Flesh sorcery (3/4)
[X]Train Flesh Sorcery (4/4)
[X]Train Flesh Sorcery: Agility (Dexterity)

Staff
[X] Procure a herd of pigs, so you can have bacon and ham at meals. (Cost: 12 SP)
[X] Set up and stock a chicken coop, so you can have fresh eggs and a bit of meat now and then. (Cost:3 SP)

Dita
[X] Train: Light Sorcery (1/4)


Bialas
[X] Train Archers (Discipline)

Jaroslaw
[X] Train Ranger squad. (Skill)

Traian
[X] Draft Plan to repair roads, improve them and expand the network to include all known hamlets and villages

Vet Men at Arms
[X]Garrison

Archers
[X] Be Trained (Discipline)

Rangers
[X] Be Trained

Minor Actions

[X] Pick either Aldona or Mira to be your mistress? Bah you must have them both! aka Kuno route!
[X] Acquire a high quality bow and arrows for Dita

This is a simple turn, so results will be out soon. Next turn travel resumes, and you can begin doing something about your long, long list of problems and adventure leads.

 

[megrisvernin]

Dominic
[X]Train Flesh sorcery (3/4)
[X]Train Flesh Sorcery (4/4)
[X]Train Flesh Sorcery: Agility (Dexterity)

Staff
[X] Procure a herd of pigs, so you can have bacon and ham at meals. (Cost: 12 SP)
[X] Set up and stock a chicken coop, so you can have fresh eggs and a bit of meat now and then. (Cost:3 SP)

Dita
[X] Train: Light Sorcery (1/4)


Bialas
[X] Train Archers (Discipline)

Jaroslaw
[X] Train Ranger squad. (Skill)

Traian
[X] Draft Plan to repair roads, improve them and expand the network to include all known hamlets and villages

Vet Men at Arms
[X]Garrison

Archers
[X] Be Trained (Discipline)

Rangers
[X] Be Trained

Minor Actions

[X] Pick either Aldona or Mira to be your mistress? Bah you must have them both! aka Kuno route!
[X] Acquire a high quality bow and arrows for Dita

 

[ShaperV]

I Must Have Them both!

Mira is a buxom farmgirl with an innocent smile, who's happy to show off her assets at the first sign of encouragement. She makes the cutest noises when she's worked up, which isn't hard to accomplish.

Aldona is a sultry little brunette with a slender figure and a passion for oral sex that she's happy to demonstrate for you. She's definitely the more adventurous of the two, and loves to try new things.

Having either is a lot of fun. Having them competing with each other over who can be more pleasing is even better.

For about two weeks.

Then comes the pouting and sniping and fighting over attention. The 'aren't I prettier than her?' questions. The 'wouldn't you rather have me than her tonight?' gambits. At this rate they're going to be poisoning each other before long, if they don't drive you mad first. But it's all subtle enough that it's hard to complain about it without sounding ridiculous.

And no, they aren't interested in anything that involves being naked in the same room as each other. Ew, gross! That's disgusting.

What are you going to do?

[ ] Surely a feudal lord can handle a pair of peasant girls? Give them both a good spanking, lay down some ground rules, and make them behave.
[ ] Ignore it, and wait for them to work things out.
[ ] Ugh, this harem thing was a mistake. Keep Mira, and replace the other girl.
[ ] Ugh, this harem thing was a mistake. Keep Aldona, and replace the other girl.
[ ] Mistresses weren't such a great idea. Break it off with them both.
[ ] Write In

If you decide to get rid of one or both of them, keep in mind that they're no longer suitable for marriage. Customarily it's now your responsibility to make sure they don't starve to death, at least anytime soon. Do you:

[ ] Be generous. Set her up with a house and a nice pension. [Cost: 20 SP + 1 SP/month]
[ ] Do the customary thing. Send her a little money now and then. [Cost: 6 SP per year]
[ ] Do nothing. It's her fault she got fired, she can deal with the consequences.

 

[kinglugia]

[X] Surely a feudal lord can handle a pair of peasant girls? Give them both a good spanking, lay down some ground rules, and make them behave.
-[X] Take them both at the same time.
Can I haz the appearance of Dominic plz?

 

[Tetsurō]

[X] Surely a feudal lord can handle a pair of peasant girls? Give them both a good spanking, lay down some ground rules, and make them behave.
-[X] Use the same method that secured our staff in the first place, carrot and stick, punish them when they are bad and reward them when they are good.

 

[Arkeus]

Re: Orders for February, Year 1

It looks like this is the winning plan:

Click to shrink...

Fyck, the last update ending with 'update in progress' made me think that people voting now were wasting their times, and so we end up with things like:

[X] Pick either Aldona or Mira to be your mistress? Bah you must have them both! aka Kuno route!

Click to shrink...

Well, good time quest, you were fun for a while.

Also, we need more info on each of the girls ( what differe about them, their differnet was to fight over you, etc etc) to make a decision unless we want to break off with both o them. And breaking of with both of them is, like keeping both of them, the 'weak' option that costs a lot of money/time respectively.

 

[fitzgerald]

Arkeus Dominics 18, screwing up with two peasant girls is much better time to learn this lesson than with someone high stakes.

 

[Arkeus]

Arkeus Dominics 18, screwing up with two peasant girls is much better time to learn this lesson than with someone high stakes.

Click to shrink...

18 then is the equivalent to 30 nowadays for this shit. He doesn't need to 'learn' from this mistake anymore, it's just a couple of posters were trolls when the last update wasn't even finished, and the author rolled with it.

 

[Graig]

Dominic was right about how this situation would turn out so I am inclined to trust him that keeping both of them is likely to be problematic. Spanking them etc might work but there is also the possibility that it will not and that we will have to get rid of both of them. We have far better uses for money than paying ex-mistresses.

[X] Ugh, this harem thing was a mistake. Keep Aldona, and replace the other girl.
[X] Do the customary thing. Send her a little money now and then. [Cost: 6 SP per year]

 

[fitzgerald]

[X] Surely a feudal lord can handle a pair of peasant girls? Give them both a good spanking, lay down some ground rules, and make them behave.
-[X] Use the same method that secured our staff in the first place, carrot and stick, punish them when they are bad and reward them when they are good.

 

[ShaperV]

Can I haz the appearance of Dominic plz?

Click to shrink...

Dominic's appearance won't be set until I apply the rest of his stat points, which won't be for another couple of turns at this rate. But you're welcome to offer suggestions.

Arkeus Dominics 18, screwing up with two peasant girls is much better time to learn this lesson than with someone high stakes.

Click to shrink...

That's probably why your father gave you Corzu in the first place - if you screw things up here it won't matter all that much.

Fyck, the last update ending with 'update in progress'

Click to shrink...

That just meant that I wasn't done updating the various status posts yet - I remove the note when everything is up to date. But I'll try a different wording in the future.

made me think that people voting now were wasting their times, and so we end up with things like:
Well, good time quest, you were fun for a while.

Click to shrink...

Dominic's position isn't so fragile that one mistake is going to end his career, especially over something this minor. If it was a big deal I would have called for more votes before letting Dominic do it.

At this point there are actually several different ways to turn this into a win, and several others that would make it one of those embarassing little incidents that everyone has in their past. You'd have to make several more bad choices to turn it into a significant problem, and even then the worst you're likely to do is make yourself look bad to your current retainers.

Naturally it's beneath Dita's dignity as a lady to even notice what's happening... oh, who am I kidding, Dita's too much of a tomboy to have any dignity. But so far she seems to think it's kind of funny.

Also, we need more info on each of the girls ( what differe about them, their differnet was to fight over you, etc etc) to make a decision unless we want to break off with both o them.

Click to shrink...

Honestly they seem pretty similar to you. They're both pretty young peasant girls who were smart enough to figure out that seducing their handsome young lord could be a good career move, but not wise enough to prioritize keeping you happy over fighting for the top spot. You're pretty sure each of them is dreaming of being your only mistress, and eventually seducing you into marriage with her uniquely special womanly charms. Which is actually pretty silly of them, since nobles almost never do that, but then again girls can be pretty silly at that age.

Mira is the more genuine of the two - she's nice, good-natured, generous and still pretty innocent. If you like the curvy type she definitely has the better figure, and she tends to be meekly compliant in bed. She thinks of herself as a good girl, and probably has no idea that she intentionally set out to seduce you. But she got you first, and she thinks Aldona is being a big meanie and betraying their friendship by trying to grab some of your attention.

Aldona is a little insecure about her smaller bust, but makes up for it by being a naughty, adventurous girl who actively works at holding your interest. If you seriously want a future that involves multiple mistresses, three-ways and other kinky adventures she's definitely going to be the more willing of the two, and she might even decide she likes it. Unfortunately she sees Mira as a threat, so she's been the more active of the two in trying to undermine her rival.

So far the girls are pointing out each other's faults, sneaking off to seduce you in the middle of the day so you won't have energy for their rival, trying to get each other stuck with time-consuming chores to keep them away from you, and applying the dreaded puppy dog eye technique to try to convince you to spend time with them. But the rivalry is slowly escalating, and will probably continue to do so until you do something about it.

And breaking of with both of them is, like keeping both of them, the 'weak' option that costs a lot of money/time respectively.

Click to shrink...

Dumping them both definitely makes you look weak, although it's also the least complicated option.

Dumping one is a delicate decision - it could easily make you look weak if you handle it wrong, especially doing it so soon. OTOH lords do that all the time, so it isn't a huge issue regardless.

Keeping them both could give several different impressions, depending on how you go about it. If you end up with two resentful girls who snipe at each other behind your back all the time that makes you look weak. If you end up with two happy girls who work together on kinky entertainment plans that makes you look like a manly man (and will get other women chasing you). Whether this is actually possible (and how to do it) is left as an exercise for the players.

 

[kinglugia]

Honestly they seem pretty similar to you. They're both pretty young peasant girls who were smart enough to figure out that seducing their handsome young lord could be a good career move, but not wise enough to prioritize keeping you happy over fighting for the top spot. You're pretty sure each of them is dreaming of being your only mistress, and eventually seducing you into marriage with her uniquely special womanly charms. Which is actually pretty silly of them, since nobles almost never do that, but then again girls can be pretty silly at that age.

Click to shrink...

So we need to sit down and talk with them both in the same room, preferably with some of the more loyal guards that could keep things hush-hush.
Tell them that we like them both, but since both of them are cute in their own ways, we would like to have the both of them.
Since the two of them have been like sisters since childhood, it would do wonders for them to share such a handsome stud like you~

 

[Arkeus]

So we need to sit down and talk with them both in the same room, preferably with some of the more loyal guards that could keep things hush-hush.
Tell them that we like them both, but since both of them are cute in their own ways, we would like to have the both of them.
Since the two of them have been like sisters since childhood, it would do wonders for them to share such a handsome stud like you~

Click to shrink...

Am i the only one who loath Harems, and who think that it only makes you strong to a very limited kinf of childish people?

So it seems that one of them is meeker but would probably be possible to be badly handled if she gets into her head this is 'true love' and decides to do extreme things to be noticed, while the would be more regularly risky but less likely to be erratic.

[X] Ugh, this harem thing was a mistake. Keep Aldona, and replace the other girl.
[X] Do the customary thing. Send her a little money now and then. [Cost: 6 SP per year]
-[X]Make sure that she knows this was a mistake, but her life isn't over. However, don't comfort her either as it would only make her more attached. IF she needs to be comforted/etc, maybe using someone loyal to you could do it.

Only 6P, because giving any more than this would be like saying this is a big mistake/big deal, and saying it would make people believe it.

 

[ShaperV]

So we need to sit down and talk with them both in the same room, preferably with some of the more loyal guards that could keep things hush-hush.

Click to shrink...

What on Earth would you need guards for?

Since the two of them have been like sisters since childhood,

Click to shrink...

Not sure where you got that idea from. They grew up in the same village, and they're friends, but there's a lot of distance between 'friends' and 'like sisters'.

Am i the only one who loath Harems, and who think that it only makes you strong to a very limited kinf of childish people?

Click to shrink...

That viewpoint originates with modern feminism, so it wouldn't make much sense for Dominic to think that way.

In ancient societies where it was common for wealthy men to have multiple wives, concubines and/or mistresses that kind of attitude would be incomprehensible. You'll often see older men saying it isn't worth the hassle, or young men complaining that they can't find a wife because the rich guys are hogging all the hotties, or philosopher claiming the practice encourages bloody wars and makes society unstable. But 'multiple partners = childish/unmanly' is a concept invented by women who wanted to tilt the dating market in their favor.

 

[Arkeus]

That viewpoint originates with modern feminism, so it wouldn't make much sense for Dominic to think that way.

In ancient societies where it was common for wealthy men to have multiple wives, concubines and/or mistresses that kind of attitude would be incomprehensible. You'll often see older men saying it isn't worth the hassle, or young men complaining that they can't find a wife because the rich guys are hogging all the hotties, or philosopher claiming the practice encourages bloody wars and makes society unstable. But 'multiple partners = childish/unmanly' is a concept invented by women who wanted to tilt the dating market in their favor.

Click to shrink...

I...huh...what? What kind of ancient society are you talking about? Harems have only existed in specific, very peculiar society in the last 5 thousands years as far as i know, and in those societies Harems were for showing off your money.

I guess i don't know much about ancient china, but apart from that...what are you talking about?

In the last 5 thousands years Harems = childish has ben pretty consistant.

 

[Malcolmo]

[X] Surely a feudal lord can handle a pair of peasant girls? Give them both a good spanking, lay down some ground rules, and make them behave.

 

[Graig]

I...huh...what? What kind of ancient society are you talking about? Harems have only existed in specific, very peculiar society in the last 5 thousands years as far as i know, and in those societies Harems were for showing off your money.

I guess i don't know much about ancient china, but apart from that...what are you talking about?

In the last 5 thousands years Harems = childish has ben pretty consistant.

Click to shrink...

Harems with hundreds or thousands of participants might have been somewhat rare even among those who could afford them (and were as you said often a way to display your wealth) though they did exist in many different cultures (some examples are mentioned here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harem#History)

However 'harems' as in having multiple mistreses is seldom a rare occurrence among rich people.

 

[ShaperV]

I...huh...what? What kind of ancient society are you talking about? Harems have only existed in specific, very peculiar society in the last 5 thousands years as far as i know, and in those societies Harems were for showing off your money.

I guess i don't know much about ancient china, but apart from that...what are you talking about?

In the last 5 thousands years Harems = childish has ben pretty consistant.

Click to shrink...

Sorry, no, that's a load of modern revisionist BS.

Some form of polygamy among the upper classes was the norm for virtually every non-Christian society from the invention of agriculture up until modern times, and it's still not unusual in Central Asia and the less modern parts of the Middle East. Sometimes it takes the form of multiple wives, sometimes it's wife + mistress(es), sometimes it's a literal harem, but in almost every case there's some custom that lets the rich and powerful keep multiple women. Men who ruled substantial kingdoms frequently kept huge numbers of women, and often that was seen as a status competition.

Even in Christendom it was common in many lands for lords to keep a mistress or two on the side, although there was a constant struggle with the Church over how to justify that without calling it adultery. Strict monogamy was usually found only in places where the ruling class wasn't strong enough to hog all the women - nomad tribes, poor rural areas, democratic city-states and other relatively egalitarian societies. Everywhere else you could pretty much measure a man's status by how many women he had.

At any rate, in Borjeria the normal pattern is that commoners are monogamous, while lords have one wife plus however many commoner mistresses they want to juggle. Normally that means one or two mistresses at a time until you get married, then you put them aside and pay attention to your wife for a decade or so until her looks start to fade, then you discretely collect a fresh mistress or two. But Duke Czene is known for the pleasure palace where he keeps a hundred or so beautiful girls in style, and the fact that he can afford to do that is mostly seen as a measure of his power. Really the main constraints are that spending too much money on frivolous pursuits can make you look irresponsible, and that noblewomen in Borjeria have a fair amount of soft power and aren't going to approve of a husband who never has time for them.

 

[Darik29]

[X] Surely a feudal lord can handle a pair of peasant girls? Give them both a good spanking, lay down some ground rules, and make them behave.

We wanted both, but didn't even think of how to make them live together in Harmony. We Really need to fix this. Set down some basic rules, try and get them to make up with each other, work on communication.

We've effectively aquired to mistresses. We Will make this work, because doing otherwise causes lifelong pain to at least one of these girls, and I'd rather avoid that if necessary.

 

[Tetsurō]

[X] Surely a feudal lord can handle a pair of peasant girls? Give them both a good spanking, lay down some ground rules, and make them behave.

We wanted both, but didn't even think of how to make them live together in Harmony. We Really need to fix this. Set down some basic rules, try and get them to make up with each other, work on communication.

We've effectively aquired to mistresses. We Will make this work, because doing otherwise causes lifelong pain to at least one of these girls, and I'd rather avoid that if necessary.

Click to shrink...

And would also incur an annual cost to support one or the other.