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`Apr. 25, 2025` · [[Horseapple]] · #Fragment #Characters #Warband
> [!custom-callout]- All mentions, including keyword *“npc5”*
> *Pulled from* [[2-strings-(Warband)]]
> - “{Sir/Madame} -- it is with great regret that I have learned that you have told Baheshtur to let his people know that you will allow them to lead their flocks over the lands of their betters. I hope that I am mistaken about this, sir. The money we demand is but small compensation for the damage they cause to our flocks and the pollution of our water sources. My {lord/lady}, if your future kingdom is to be some nomads' paradise, then I for one do not look forward to it.”
> - “Greetings, traveller. Would you join me for a drink?”
> - “I am Baheshtur, son of Azabei, grandson of Badzan. Were you not a barbarian, you would likely know from my lineage that I am a Roan Horse Khergit of the highlands, of the tribe of Shamir, of the clan of Dulam, of the family of Ubayn, from the Pantash valley, and you might be able to guess why I am so far from home.”
> - “For as long as any one can remember, our people have feuded with the tribe of Humyan, many of whom have settled in the next valley over. Many men have died in this feud, on both sides, including two of my brothers. The Khan himself has ordered us to cease, to save men for the wars in Calradia. But I know my rights, and my brothers' blood cries out for vengeance. I waylaid and killed a Humyan on a track over the mountains, and I rode out of our village the same night, without even having had the chance to bid farewell to my father. I will bide my time in Calradia, for a year or two, then return home when the Khan's men have forgotten. The Humyan will not forget, of course, but such is the price of honour.”
> - “In the meantime, any opportunities to earn a living with my sword would be most welcome.”
> - “I've been wandering through this war-torn land, looking for a leader who is worth following.”
> - “Why, that is a most generous offer.”
> - “I shall not betray you -- so long, of course, as you do your duty to me by feeding me, paying me, and not dragging my miserable hide into a battle where there is no chance of winning. Hand me some salt, if you will -- it is the custom of our people to take salt from our captains, as a token of their concern for our well-being.”
> - “Thank you. Now, to seal off our agreement, I ask for {reg3} denars from you. It's an advice my father gave me. He told me 'Baheshtur, never fight for a barbarian before {he/she} pays you your worth of gold first'.”
> - “Pardon me, captain. It is not good to {s21}. Your first duty is to the men who have taken your salt. The least they can expect is food, pay, the opportunity to loot, and that you not waste their lives needlessly.”
> - “A moment of your time, captain. {s11} seems to think me a common bandit, just because I have rewarded myself in the past to the legitimate spoils of war from caravans passing through my family's lands.”
> - “I told him that if the warrior's way bothers him so much, that he become a priest or a beggar and so not have to worry about such things. I hope you do not mind that I said such things.”
> - “Captain. {s11} needs to have her tongue cut out.”
> - “When the loot was piled up after the last battle, I found among the enemy's baggage a very decent cooking pot. Often I had wished to find such a pot, so I could boil some of the stews that my people use to warm their bellies during the winter months. But {s11} grabs the pot, and tells me that I will not be allowed to 'taint' it with heathen food, and that it should properly belong to her. I yielded the pot to her, but I will not tolerate such disrespect in the future.”
> - “That was a fine battle, {playername} Bahadur! {s11} is a good man to have by our side in a fight.”
> - “As for his other attributes, I doubt that he is any more a Baron than I am, but I have to admire the brazen way he makes that claim.”
> - “Bahadur -- since I have taken your salt, I have fought for you fiercely, and loyally. But you have not always repayed my service with the kind of leadership that I deserve. So I am going home, in the hope that the Khan's men have forgotten me, to see my father and brothers again.”
> - “Bahadur! Your fame grows ever greater -- even as far as my homeland, beyond the mountains. I'd returned there, hoping that the Khan's men had forgotten. Well, they had not -- even before I set foot in my valley, I had word from my family that both the Khan and the Humyan were looking for me. So I came back again, hoping you might forget any harsh words I had spoken, to see if I could fight with you once again.”
> - “Bahadur, we are nearing Halmar, largest town in the lower steppe. My mother's sister went here to marry a townsman and I thought to seek service with the lord here. That is when I ran into you.”
> - “Khergits had always come here, to trade and raid, and in the last days of the Empire we began to settle. Just like the Vaegirs, Swadians, Rhodoks, Nords and the House of Sarran, we took the Emperor's coin to keep the other tribes at bay. But when the Great Horde attacked our homeland in my grandfather's day, we moved into this region in force. We pushed the Vaegirs back, and made their fortresses our own.” (*Note*: we know the name of Baheshtur’s grandfather, which is Badzan. A new generation is cleaved every twenty-five years, and so it was around 50+ years ago that the Great Horde, which Baheshtur mentions, must have swept in and forced the Khergits to invade further into Calradia. *Mount & Blade: Warband* begins in the year `1257`, and so 50+ years back would be *c*. `1207`, 123 years after the start of *Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord*, which begins in `1084`)
> - “Of course, you know how things go. My father's generation were hard warriors from the cold lands across the mountains, but this generation all has houses in the town and great estates and spend time as much trading as they do practicing archery. The next generation will grow soft on Velucan wine and will lose their lands to the next batch of illiterate hill-raiders to come over the mountains, just you watch. It's how things always were, and how things always will be.”
> - “I was born in the highlands on the other side of the mountains, past Tulga, but I have relatives in {s21}.”
> - “A fine idea, Bahadur - you have shown that you know how to govern men. Mind that you govern them justly, though...”
> - “Ay, Bahadur, I would. But there is something I should say, on behalf of the men of the steppes such as myself. It would bring great joy to us, to hear from the lips of one who would be khan, that you would restore an anicent right. From the days of the old emperors, the men of the steppes have enjoyed the right to bring their flocks to new pastures or to market, which necessarily involves the crossing of lands owned by the great lords of this realm.”
> - “Anyway, lord, in these sorry times the men of the great estates have taken to blocking our passage, charging us huge fees to cross. It is a great burden on my people, Bahadur. If I could take a few weeks to let the men of the steppes know that you would support the restoration of our ancient rights, well, then, I think you would find many who would support you as khan, And when men speak of you as khan, that's the first step to becoming one.”
> - “{playername} Bahadur -- I overhead what you told Ymira. But I wonder -- if the lords who live from farming, and the merchants who earn from trade, are allowed to determine what taxes will be leveed, then who will be taxed? Those who live from flocks, of course -- my people, the people of the steppes. I would have nothing to do with these councils, Bahadur -- all free men should be one, under the khan, and that is the end of it.”
> - “If you like, {playername} Bahadur, I can take a few days to visit my mother's sister's people. They work in a caravanserie in {s17}, and hear the news from all across the {s18}. They may have some gossip about the feuds and rivaries of the great lords, if that is of interest to you.”
> - “Bahadur -- I would be most pleased to hold {s17}. I will send word to the hills, to my kinsmen, and let them know that there is honorable gold to be earned serving under me in your armies -- and they will come flocking to fight for you!”
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