Medieval: Kingdom Come: Deliverance

4 month 23 day.

Peter's camp is now in a state of full readiness.

Jerry continued his reconnaissance mission to the village.

Tom and Romeo set traps, mechanisms, and falling rocks in Devil's Canyon to hinder and kill the enemy as much as possible in this level.

John the Big Mouth, Andre the Redbeard, Monkey the Skinny, and Robert the White Hair continued to sell medicine at the crossroads, creating the impression that they were completely unaware of the encirclement plan. At the same time, they practiced horseback riding and searched the surrounding area for enemy spies and scattered bandits, capturing them as soon as they were discovered.

The carpentry team began digging a trench around the new camp, then laid a layer of sharp wooden stakes at an angle to create a drop in elevation, which would serve as a temporary barrier. Building a wall would take too long and involve too much work, making it not worthwhile.

Peter stayed at the camp, preparing contingency plans for the enemy's breach of the Devil's Canyon defenses.

When there's no camp, you can choose to flee into the mountains like other bandits and play hide-and-seek with the lord's guards. Those with nothing to lose are fearless.

Now that we have a camp, with fixed assets such as houses, kitchens, storage rooms, alchemy tables, and carpentry workshops, it will be difficult to abandon it. If I were to escape and the camp were to be burned to the ground, not only would all my hard work over such a long period of time be for nothing, but the loyalty of the people in the camp would also be greatly reduced.

This is something Peter absolutely cannot accept.

As the saying goes, "A single punch can save you from a hundred."

If the camp wants to develop, it will inevitably clash with the local noble lords. Since they have chosen the path of "Thief Baron", they can't keep hiding. They have to fight head-on to establish their prestige, raise their banner, and gain a foothold.

"Sir Peter, what is this winged animal you drew?"

Pavlina saw Peter painting on a piece of white linen with red paint and asked curiously.

"This is a griffin, a mythical creature, a combination of a lion and an eagle, symbolizing strength, courage, and protection."

Peter's painting is very evocative.

"Griffin? Is this the coat of arms of Lord Peter's family? This is the first time I've seen it."

Pavlina and Peter spread out the linen cloth and looked at the bright red griffin on it, marveling at it.

At this moment, the old monk approached, glanced at Peter's coat of arms, and quipped, "Griffins, as mythical creatures, are widely used in family crests. However, most originate from the Griffin family of the Kingdom of Pomerania, whose crest is a red griffin with a gold background; the Mecklenburg family, due to marriage ties with the Duchy of Pomerania, uses a four-sectioned gold griffin; the French families of Pontis and Sayers use a blue griffin with a gold background. The Beaufort family of the Queen of England uses a red griffin with a silver background. In our Bohemia, only the Sedras family is related to the Griffin family of Pomerania by blood, and they use a four-sectioned gold griffin. So, Lord Griffin, from which family does your bloodline originate?"

You old geezer, you're so annoying! Aren't you just exposing my secrets?

Peter knew absolutely nothing about the heraldry of nobility. He simply thought the animal was cool and could fly and dive, so he adopted "Griffin" as the name of his illegitimate family.

I don't care what family you're from, it won't help me at all anyway, so I might as well do whatever I want.

Peter handed the heraldic diagram to the old monk and said, "Since you are so proficient in heraldry, then please fill in the details for me. I want the Griffin family's heraldic banner to fly high during the battle four days from now, and I want all the shields to be imprinted with the griffin pattern. This task is entrusted to you."

"Sigh, sigh..."

The old monk stared in disbelief as Peter strolled away with the beautiful woman in his arms, leaving this arduous task to an old man like himself.

Heraldic symbols represent the lineage of a family. The earliest family crests were simple combinations of colors and patterns. Later branches, sub-branches, in-laws, and bestowed families would add embellishments, divisions, diagonal lines, etc., to the original crest as a sign of respect. Therefore, the lesser the noble family, the more complex the content of its heraldry.

Is Peter's simple background with a red griffin a sign that he's starting a new family on his own? That certainly takes guts.

However, a white background is a bit monotonous. Perhaps a blue background would provide a stronger contrast.

The old monk immediately went to the warehouse to find blue and red dyes to test his idea.

.......

It wasn't that Peter had great courage; rather, he was a blank slate. Born an illegitimate child, he rose to power by posing as a wandering knight, and he had nothing to inherit. He himself was everything to the family.

This emblem will neither be recognized by the nobles nor included in the noble council, so why should I care about your rules!

I mean destiny.

"Keep up the good work, everyone! Dig the trench before dark, and everyone'll have wine and meat!"

Peter went to the carpentry team and began to encourage everyone.

"good!!!"

Doug, Charlie, and the others became more enthusiastic when they heard that there would be wine and meat.

Peter also carefully observed everyone's reactions. Charlie's group of seven is now down to six. With Charlie at the core, they are used to carpentry and have Charlie as their deputy leader to take care of them. They are content with the status quo and do not want to change.

John's group of eight was reduced to five members. Lacking John, Monkey, and Andrei—their core members—they were physically strong and powerful, but scattered and easily subdued by Charlie and his men. Therefore, their desire to join the fighting group and change the situation was very strong.

The eight-man guards were fairly honest in their work, but they weren't truly loyal. They weren't considered camp members, but rather prisoners. They weren't enthusiastic about the camp's determination to fight the executors. Some even harbored the idea of ​​rejoining the caravan after the camp was breached.

In response to these circumstances, Peter has been working, eating, and living with the carpentry team for the past few days. They work together during the day, have extra meals with wine and meat in the evening, and sleep together in the Viking longhouse.

4 month 24 day.

John's group sold 5 bottles of medicine and collected 15 groschen in caravan tax.

A half-meter-deep trench outside the camp was closed off and covered with sharp wooden spikes.

4 month 25 day.

The traps in Devil's Canyon are now in place.

John's team arrested one poacher and dismantled a three-person bandit gang.

The carpentry team produced a large number of shields.

4 month 26 day.

News came from Troski village that the town hall had completed tax collection. Guards began to assemble.

John's team discovered suspicious individuals spying on them while selling medicine.

Brother Martin painted the Griffin pattern on the shield.

.......

After several days of living and eating with them, and using tactics such as "recalling past hardships, stirring up hatred, and promising a bright future," Peter aggressively increased the favorability of the carpenters' group. He finally raised the favorability of Charlie's group of six and John's group of five to over 60, gaining their loyalty and unlocking their character panels. Even two members of the eight-man guard group chose to join him.

With this system monitoring, there's no longer any fear of being backstabbed in the camp.

Peter promoted the loyal carpenters to reserve members of the combat group to assist the full members. This brought the combat group to 16 combatants, closing the gap in numbers with the Troskii Guard.

The responsibilities of a monarch lie in sacrifices and in warfare.

Peter decided to perform a blessing ceremony that evening to give everyone a boost. "I've already told you I'm a Knight of God, and you still don't believe me? Then let those who believe in me experience the awe of this boost."