<div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote"><div align="center">Be it so known that the bearer of this charter has been charged<br/>by the Swordlords of Restov, acting upon the greater good and<br/>authority vested within them by the office of the Regent of the<br/>Dragonscale Throne, has granted the right of exploration and travel<br/>within the wilderness region known as the Greenbelt. Exploration<br/>should be limited to an area no further than thirty-six miles east and<br/>west and sixty miles south of Lawrence’s Trading Post. The carrier of<br/>this charter should also strive against banditry and other unlawful<br/>behavior to be encountered. The punishment for unrepentant banditry<br/>remains, as always, execution by sword or rope. So witnessed on this<br/>24th day of Calistril, under watchful eye of the Lordship of Restov<br/>and authority granted by Lord Noleski Surtova, current Regent of<br/>the Dragonscale Throne.</div></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Oleg's Trading Post: the last bastion of civilization before the wild stretches of the Stolen Lands. The riotous River Kingdoms lay many long leagues to the south. More closer and relevant was the Greenbelt, a strip of land which was reckoned to begin the moment one stepped foot south of Oleg's. It could be divided into roughly two halves: the forests of the Narlmarches in the west and the rolling hills of the Kamelands in the east. The charters borne by a chosen few were not public knowledge, but even then there were official reasons for them to be granted. Brevoy had long had a claim, if unacted upon, upon the Greenbelt as part of the Stolen Lands. If made safe once more, not only would the southern border be secured against bandit incursions, but also profitable trade routes could be opened with the River Kingdoms. Or at least, that was how the official story went.<br/><br/>The expanse of wilderness which went by the moniker of the "Stolen Lands" lay between the state of Brevoy to the north and the River Kingdoms to the south. Jungle, hill, swamp, and mountain denoted the natural boundaries between the farmed plains of civilization and the untamed wilds. Rivers snaked through the Stolen Lands, but none formed the single, continuous, and most importantly, navigable route from north to south (or south to north, depending on one's point of view) needed for a viable trade route. Uncharted roads, natural dangers of the wild, and last but certainly not least the threat of banditry made the overland route a matter of such poor odds that even the most desperate gambler would shy away from. Hence the name; lands which could not be settled, considered stolen from the kingdoms with rightful claims to them. Histories and legends told of many attempts at carving a kingdom out of the Stolen Lands over the centuries, all of which had obviously come to naught.<br/><br/>The Greenbelt lay in the middle of the Stolen Lands. Starting at Oleg's trading post at the south-western corner of the South Rostland Road, the Greenbelt was a strip of land that stretched south and could be divided into roughly two halves. The forests of the Narlmarches made up the western half, and where they ended the hills of the Kamelands began, rolling towards the east. The Greenbelt was rich in game, if merely adequate for farming, though fewer hunters and trappers roam those wilds nowadays than there should have been, no thanks to the bandits who made their hideouts out there, beyond the reach of the law.<br/><br/>It was the last day of Calistril and the blizzards of winter were widely thought to be safely past by now. It promised to be a warm year with an early spring thaw. There was still a thin layer of frost on the grass and one could still see one's own breath, but the sky was clear, the sun bright and the winds calm. From Oleg's, the northernmost reaches of the Narlmarches could be seen to the southwest, while the hills of the Kamelands beckoned on the southeastern horizon.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Oleg's Trading Post</div><div class="spoiler_body">(http://i.imgur.com/ZYd4by4.jpg)<br/>The trading post itself was a fort abandoned long ago now converted and rebuilt by one Lawrence Oleg and his wife Horo. Atop a foundation of ancient stone, it had a wooden palisade with a square wooden watchtower on each corner. A wooden gate was set in the southern palisade as the only way in or out short of scaling the walls. Inside the trading post, the market yard was ringed by several buildings and a cooking fire. There was also a guest house, a stable where Lawrence's horse was kept, a roofed storage pen, and a squat but sturdy building that contained a variety of rooms used as offices, stockrooms, and personal living quarters.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Lawrence and Horo Oleg</div><div class="spoiler_body">(http://i.imgur.com/aSg17HC.png)<br/><br/>Lawrence Oleg, the builder of Oleg's Trading Post, was a middle-aged man with graying hair. He was rumoured to have moved to this remote location precisely because it was so far removed from Restov and its urban bustle.<br/><br/>Horo Oleg was Lawrence's kitsune wife. She looked much younger than her husband, but whether this reflected her real age or was simply a kitsune illusion (or even simply natural for her race), no one really knew. She had a prominent pair of auburn-coloured fox ears peeking up from her similarly coloured hair.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Mayor Bingley</div><div class="spoiler_body">(http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag94/Autocad-E/Bingley_zps8dbcb5ae.jpg)<br/><br/>Mayor Bingley was a middle-aged gnome who was mayor of a small village most of his life, now sent to the Greenbelt to help with settlement. With the title of "Mayor" most of his life, the name had stuck even after his arrival at Oleg's made him technically not a mayor anymore. He had been granted his own super-charter of sorts, giving him the authority to manage the charter-bearers' exploration efforts and ensure that they do not step on each others' toes.  He sported a fabulous handlebar mustache with gloriously curled tips.<br/></div></div><br/>Mayor Bingley was a friendly and talkative sort, and from him much information could be learned. He was expecting two more groups of adventurers to arrive soon, bearing charters of their own. Pioneers and settlers were to come later on with the warmer weather to start establishing homesteads and a foothold on the Greenbelt. For now, though, a total of three adventuring parties, including those brave souls already present, was perfectly suited to his needs, as he had three directions that he needed explored. As the first arrivals, the party already at Oleg's would have first choice, and the others would have to settle for the remainder.<br/><br/>The lands around Oleg's were roughly known, thanks to the reports of the hunters and trappers who frequented his trading post. Going south, the first natural barrier in the Greenbelt was the Thorn River, a fast and deep river with steep banks overgrown with stinging nettles and tangles of sharp brambles. The lands between Oleg's and the Thorn River needed to be mapped and cleared of danger, and any crossings over the Thorn River needed to be found and secured, as the first step in reclaiming the Greenbelt. Bingley had three leads:<br/><ul class="bbc_list" style="list-style-type: decimal;"><li>Southeast, a tribe of kobolds called the Sootscales dwelled somewhere in the Kamelands. Normally not a problem and keeping to themselves, they had been riled up by something lately, and were being even more unfriendly and sometimes downright hostile to passing hunters and trappers than before. The kobold issue needed to be handled to make sure they would not become a threat to future settlement.</li><li>South, the smokes of campfires, probably belonging to bandits, had been seen in the Greenbelt. Bandit incursions and highway ambushes were a constant nuisance in the southern borders of Brevoy. Settlement in the Greenbelt would only make them bolder and provide more plunder to support even more of them. The bandit problem was to be solved, permanently.</li><li>Southwest, the Narlmarches were said to be teeming with fey and exotic beasts. Fanciful tales told of creatures from wild boars to wyrms, repeated often enough that there had to be a grain of truth to them. If a settlement was to have secure borders, the forests would need to be tamed by iron and steel.</li></ul><br/>The first task of the day, it seemed, was to come to a consensus on which way to go.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Map</div><div class="spoiler_body">(http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag94/Autocad-E/Kingmaker_001_small_zpsf1cb84d7.png)<br/>Legend:<br/>Light green - plains<br/>Dark green - forest<br/>Orange - hills<br/></div></div>