June
It had been a few hours since Angelica had left to go back to Zahrada, leaving Eric to do what he was charged to do: Rule the lordship of Stormalong. Eric had requested a short time to fully gain his bearings as lord. The honeymoon phase of his marriage had left him spending more time with Angelica, and less time truly ruling. But now was the time to throw himself into his work. It was his realm to administrate, and he'd received lessons on administration from the best administrator he has ever known. 

Laid on Eric's desk was a detailed map of Stormalong, and then the surrounding land that were all under Stormalong. It had the surrounding villages, hills, dense forests. The map was dated for about fifteen years before. It was comissioned by during the reign of King Cleburn, but he doubted it was comissioned by him directly. 

Syric had been summoned to meet with Eric, who was looking at the map idly.
Alex
The newlywed Stafford's had basically spent the entirety of their honeymoon locked away. Which was to be expected, but definitely pushed back his return date. When Angelica asked him to remain in Stormalong until Eric felt comfortable, he'd agreed thinking it would be a few weeks away. It was looking to be a longer stay, which wouldn't be a problem, but he'd have to request more of his team back in Alsher to cover him while he was away. 

He'd been summoned to meet with Eric, seeing as how today was the first real day that he'd spend on the administration. Angelica had left this morning, and he'd given Eric the rest of the morning to return to the real world. 

When he arrived at Eric's newly claimed office, he knocked sharply, and waited for the sound of confirmation from the other side before entering the room.
June
"Enter." Eric said, looking up to the door. Eric was dressed to look the part of a lord, the well needed break seemed to clear up the worn out look he'd had since Randall Storm had abdicated. Marriage was clearly agreeing with him, and gave him a new found confidence. 

Once Syric had passed the threshold, Eric smiled. "My lord," Eric would start, "Just for the sake of speed. If I summon you, feel no need to knock before entering. I consider you a friend and if I am expecting you, I won't have much to hide."
Alex
Syric gave a nod of acknowledgement. "It was more just so I didn't walk in to find you drooling over a portrait of your wife." He teased, and moved to take a seat across from him. He'd never seen Eric in clothes that weren't meant for convenience. They'd spent the first year of their knowledge of each other as soldiers. Well, Syric had been. Eric had been squire, and then in turn the protector. Neither was a role that justified livery. 

"You clean up well, Stafford. I trust you've got an idea as to where you'd like to start?"
June
Eric smirked at Syric's joke and turnned his eyes to the map of Stormalong. "This map is the most recent one of Stormalong and the surrounding villages that fall under its shadow. Those villages are shells, with a paltry amount of people living in them. The population of the city itself is hardly a quarter of what it was before The Fall. My lordship is a ruin and a band of survivors." Eric stated factually, "But there isn't a lot I can do until spring comes. So, instead, I'm sending a Stormalong commander with a handful of men to every village, the few that are still populated that is, and I will begin drilling every boy who can hold a spear through the winter. The same will be done in the city. I will not just be idle during the winter."

"There is also the crime in the city. Smuggling, thieving and rumors of... Human trafficking..." Eric said that bit with special sort of disgust. "I already have Captain Aldvis gathering information, but he's a soldier, not an investigator. I'm sure there is more broken hands than information being gathered in the docks." Eric said, "On top of all of that, food is becoming an expensive commodity. I have some money in the treasury from my Southern excursion last winter, do you think we should use it to buy food from the Southern Isles?"