Out of Character: Zork will take up the offers but he does not necessarily want them all in the fort congesting it. He prefers they build in the surrounding area near the fort.
During the time of the setup Zork will be staying close to the guards, his captains and so forth to make sure they are trust worthy. He will set a series of loyalty tests to see how they do.
If you took one or both of the companies referred to you by Estari you will find the Captains to be well trained as well as their men are too. The Captains will listen to what you have to say and offer some of their own suggestions too that add to the security of the area. They will not take more pay than needed unless they have done something to earn it.
Zork monitor's his little kingdom noting the people coming and going. He looks for a scout, someone that can be his eyes and ears for the surroundings.
Out of Character: At this point I'm not sure what to do really, some guidance will be nice.
Out of Character: I meant mostly with my new fortress, but I guess I can appoint the captain to watch over things?
In Character: When things has settled down Zork will send one of the guards to find out if he is ready to follow up on the notes. He also makes inquires of hiring personal security.
At 3,500 gold, Durgan think the smiths will be ripping him off. If he can't haggle down to 800 gold or so, he asks for perhaps a smaller one, 1.5 foot across. He asks for both the plated price and the price without gold.
At night Durgan continues to house the poor until all his spare rooms are filled. He gets them to help around the house, cleaning, cooking, repairing and helping the construction of the chapel.
Regarding the notes, Durgan is pretty sure there is a single lead. The scribes had to have received the message from someone.
After a few days, If Estari hasn't investigated it yet, he will go to the scribes himself to check the handwriting and ask who ordered the message.
Durgan, The smith will haggle you on the price of the cross. The cost of the iron and then the smelting of the gold to plate it he can get it all done for 1,200 after you and him haggle for about 20 minutes. Your house is pretty full and you even have to turn some away unless you wish to let people sleep all over and more than four to a room. As far as Estari can tell you is the scribes will not tell her who commissioned the first note stating if they gave away who paid for work they would not have much work. They did tell her the second note is not from their hands.
Zork, Yes you can have one of the captains watch over things while you are gone or you can hire a steward to run things while you are away. A good steward will cost you 4 silver a week. If you pay more he will be more likely to run things better and more towards what you want. Once the inns are built will take about 4 to 5 months they will start attracting more people and more workers to build shops and other things that the travelers may want. But they will not start coming until the inns are open and they can have a place to stay as their places are built. You are looking for a few months of travelers stopping by and sleeping on the ground unless you open up your main place for them to spend the night.
Out of Character: Sure, travelers can use their tents within the walls or in bad weather within the fort itself but only near the entrance. What about the bodyguard?
I will like to hire a someone of good standing to be a steward where him and the captain run things together rather then one over the other. However the steward will deal with the administration and the captain more with the safety but they should both approve things together.
In Character: Zork awaits word from Durgan about his findings.