Ozzie was enjoying himself.

He still wondered why Suzette and Ben had thought it necessary that he be the one to start leading families out to the open land by the unicorn fields.

Over the years of working with his friends, he'd learned that you sometimes just went along with things and got the whole story later.

If they needed him to get together a crew and start building hamlets, that's what he would do.

The sun was high; there was a mild breeze and just a few clouds in the sky.

And a day spent out in the fields helping people to homestead would feel good.

The day hadn't started out that way.

The families he met up with at Rowan Keep were in rough shape.

They were scared and unsure of their future, and the adults showed signs of stress and extreme fatigue.

Some had injuries or burns, and they had been worse earlier.

The Courier had spent all of his mana healing the worst wounds.

Ben and Rolly had given him a brief rundown of the chaos around Northguard that had driven out so many peasant farmers.

The situation stunk.

At least one corporation was in bed with the Baron of Northguard.

Everyone called him PinchPenny, and his family's miserly ways had been legendary for generations.

So far, over 500 refugees had shown up at Rowan Keep, with many of them helped to safety by Rolly and Ben.

The Legion was overwhelmed with feeding and keeping them safe, and they were slowing the construction of the new keep.In trying to hurt the Baron of Gadobhra, someone had decided to hurt hundreds of people whose only crime was to be on the low end of the social ladder.

After spending an hour at the keep and working on setting up the little caravan he'd been leading, he'd had to walk off into the woods.

He was becoming angry and didn't want to scare anyone.

Part of him wanted to walk to Northguard and start tearing down the walls.

It wouldn't help; he knew that.

So instead, he sat down, leaned against a rock, and looked at the forest.

Ten minutes of deep breathing and watching squirrels chase through the trees had made him feel better.

He felt himself slipping back into his role as The Friendly Local Butcher, who didn't do scary things or get angry.

He returned to the wagons and checked that everyone was ready to go.

Once on the road, he'd been able to start enjoying the day, and by the time they got to where the first hamlet would be, he'd almost forgotten his anger.

And he was certain that a time would come when he'd get a chance to vent the rage he pushed down.

Suzy hadn't been happy when she found out about the situation.

Suzette had been upset when she'd heard from Rolly and Ben about the refugees.

Clearing the construction zone at Rowan Keep was important, but her primary concern had been where the people would go.

She'd devised the idea of settling them all near Sedgewick and pitched it to Billy.

She pointed out the profits to be made.

The game allowed for multiple harvests in a year.

With fertilizer and higher-level farmers using magic, some contract workers were harvesting fields every month.

If these people could even be half that productive, they'd provide a steady income for ACME of grain, corn, tobacco, and food to feed the contract workers in Sedgewick.

He'd taken a few minutes to think it over.

She could see more wheels turning in his head.

The Baron had agreed.

It solved one problem, and Suzette assured him she could make the new hamlets profitable.

She quickly found herself in charge of yet another project.

Billy liked profit, and he wasn't about to turn up a chance to put the risk on someone else.

He stuck her with the responsibility of turning a profit.

The new hamlets and farms were part of Sedgewick, not Gadobhra.

Billy would take a cut of the profit, and Suzette was responsible for any losses.

As soon as she had agreed to do it, she'd gotten a quest.

Extending a Helping Hand

You've offered to house and feed 500 refugees driven from their homes in the south.

Commendable, but it's easy to say and harder to do it!

Requirements:-Led 500 refugee peasant farmers to the Promised Land.

(Or at least the land you are promising them.)-House 500 refugee peasant farmers.-Clear 500 acres of farmland.

-Construct five small hamlets with a well, town square, 10+ houses, community storehouse, and roads connecting them to Sedgewick.Success will be rewarded by building points for Sedgewick and Gadobhra, increased options for Sedgewick, and increased trade.

Duke Carl will look more favorably upon Gadobhra.Failure will incur the wrath of the Baron as he tries to deal with increasing banditry within the Barony and the distrust of Duke Carl.