Henrik, On the Road<br/>The coffers were quickly emptying, and while Henrik may not be directly privy to that knowledge, he has seen signs of budget cutting and penny pinching here and there. At some point, he's probably divined the problem, but if he has, he has chosen to remain silent upon it. Perhaps he didn't know, or perhaps he merely did not have a suggestion for how to deal with that problem right now.<br/><br/>It could also be because he's been away for the past two months on an intensive campaign with the Bloody Raven's. Banditry in some of their most recently conquered territories has been undoubtedly exacerbating not only the current, hidden financial crisis, but also the loyalty of the people; the very foundation of their nation.<br/><br/>But, for now, things were quiet. The vast majority of the 200 some odd members of the Bloody Raven's (and a hired blade that had been picked up along the way), were currently heading back towards the capital.  From the last letter he wrote his sister, they should be expecting him tomorrow; and in fact, it was very likely that they would get back in the dead of night or just as the sun rose. it should be noted that those men and women that would later be chosen for the privilege of Honor Guard (the exception being his own bodyguard), were those who had not deployed, but been left behind in their own fortress, which was itself only a day's walk from their main castle.<br/><br/>Thanks in part to Henrik's brilliant strategy, but also thanks to the highly skilled and well trained men and women he led, they had not suffered a single casualty; although a few dozen of their number would need a week or two to let some injuries mend. Still, their's about six dozen or so dead bandits now, and the handful that might have escape did so by staying low, and are going to maintain that low profile for some time.<br/><br/>Now, Henrik is a pragmatic man. While stolen goods were returned to their owners, their were cases where those owners were dead, or could not be found. Their was also the case of the cruder but still decent weaponry and armor that some of the bandit groups had access to. These goods were confiscated on his order, and being brought back in carts.<br/><br/>The gear could be repaired and strengthened into good stuff, and then sold or kept; the money had its obvious uses; the food stocks supplemented their rations; the other goods, mostly trade items, could be sold off. That money, of course, was likely to go right back into funding the Bloody Raven's, but it could very well end up going elsewhere.