Unsurprisingly, there were a few who had the nerve—or possibly complete lack of sense—to step forward and try to justify themselves to her. Also unsurprisingly, many were selfish idiots.

"You'll be able to farm a thousand square paces of farmland by yourself? With the restrictions I've placed?" Lori said flatly.

"It will be difficult, but with the assistance of my family—"

"Denied. Only you yourself are applying for land, not your family. If they will be working on the land with you, they will be part of the joint ownership of the land in question."

"As head of the family, I'm of course representing them."

"Given you visibly did not discuss this with any of the people next to you prior to coming forward, I doubt anyone gave you the authority to speak on their behalf. Again, denied. Next!"

Persistent selfish idiots.

"So, you intend to use the land you're asking for to grow ropeweed."

"Yes, your Bindership."

"Do you even know how to grow ropeweed?"

"I'll be learning as I go, of course, but it's a plant with seeds, so it can't be that difficult."

"And you base this on your prior experience as… what?"

"I've had ample time to study the growth of weeds."

"Doing what?"

"…I was a beastherd."

"Denied. Next!"

Bizarrely confident selfish idiots.

"You want two hundred square paces of riverside property to start domesticating seels for meat and fur…"

"Yes, your Bindership. I understand it's a lot to ask for, but the fursh clearly need the space to feed themselves, since if they were penned in a smaller space they would likely starve. Given that the coming spring is their breeding season, I intend to trap and pen the juveniles so that I can begin domesticating them, and so that I can begin learning how to best care for them long term."

"I see… and your experience with seels?"

"Well, in truth, I don't have much, but if children can deal with them it's probably not that hard—"

"Denied. Next!"

On and on it went. Some she denied regardless of their argument, because she had no need to justify her decisions, but mostly because they were clearly just trying their luck to grab something. Some actually had good proposals, but either asked for far too much land than they reasonably needed—which meant it was probably just trying to grab land—or clearly had no experience with what they were proposing.

While there weren't that many idiots, some of them were very long-winded, going on and on about why they deserved to be given land, more so than anyone else. They actually had lunch in the middle of it, with the kitchen workers getting up to get the food ready, and people coming from their tables to get their bowls and bread while idiots continued to be idiotic. Rian had slid her a note on his plank that people were less likely to pay attention to someone talking when they were eating unless that person was talking to them, so this way there was less chance the idiots—not that he used that word— would be able to sway people with their arguments.

Lori didn't know why that mattered, or whether it was even true, but she put the trivia aside for future consideration.

However, between the selfish idiots, there were actually a few who made a sensible argument.

"A waterwheel and drophammer?"

Lori vaguely recognized the man as one of their blacksmiths. "Yes, Great Binder," he said. "It will make forming sheets far more efficient, as well as blades for tools. And… with a water wheel, we should be able to build a rig that can more efficiently draw wire."

Lori had raised an eyebrow at the blatant hinting. "I see," she said flatly. "Have you identified a suitable location for such a thing?"

"Not yet, Great Binder. It will have to be far from the proposed sawmill and gristmill, however, for safety reasons. "

Lori nodded. "Identify a suitable location and inform Rian, and we will resume discussion on this subject."

"Thank you, Great Binder."

"Next!"

Rian kept notes next to her, seemingly keeping track of people, the amount of land they were asking for, and why.

"We already have a mushroom farm. De—"

"Wait, your Bindership! Please, just hear out the rest!"

"What else could there be?"

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"I know we already have a mushroom farm, but a mushroom farm outside would be easier to expand, letting us grow more, and the spores would be less dangerous to anyone working in it. We need the land because we can make it bigger than it currently is."

"…" Lori gave the woman a level look. "You may begin with a plot twice the overall size of the current mushroom farm," Lori finally said. "Same restrictions as everyone else. If you achieve some sort of success, you may continue, and we will discuss this further. If it is unsuccessful, I'm taking the land back. You have until next winter to bring about some kind of quantifiable result. Next!"

Admittedly, some ideas were more likely than others, but Lori had decided to give anyone who placed an emphasis on arguing for the feasibility of their idea over how much land they needed a chance. Were her conditions predisposed to make things difficult for anyone who wanted to try farming on their own? Very much so, since it deprived them of tools, resources and assistance when it came to labor. She was already prepared to say no.

"A curing shed?"

"Yes, your Bindership. W-while the cold rooms allow for storing food nearly indefinitely, properly cured with smoke and salt, meat is lighter, takes up less space, and easier to store. I-it would be easier to carry smoked or cured meat as provisions when going out to sea to collect salt, and we'd be able to carry more food. Trying to catch and butcher fursh on the Coldhold takes up time, and the blood draws beasts on land and dillians and other toothy things in the water, which make it difficult to gather salt. "

Lori raised an eyebrow. "Hmm… while that does sound advantageous, it seems a lot to go for provisioning just one boat. Is there anything else?"

"Cured and salted food tastes differently from food that's been frozen to preserve it," Rian said, one of the few interjections he's made since people started coming forward. "So it will also add a little variety to our meals. The hunters did a little smoking early on, but then they became busy treating the furs and hides, so all our meat has been frozen since then. Properly cured meat doesn't need to be kept cold, however, so storing them would probably be a lot easier and require less work on your part."

Lori considered that. "Are you certain you can build all you need for this?"

"Yes, your Bindership! Once a suitable shed's been made, all you really need is fresh meat, salt and firewood."

Lori tilted her head. "Do you have any objection to putting your 'curing shed' on the other side of the river?"

The man hesitated. "The only problems I can really see with that is the chokers there possibly getting into the shed and eating the meat, and perhaps the shed catching fire in the night without anyone being able to put it out."

"Hmm… is there any strong reason you would not be willing to live on the other side of the river, should a house be available there."

The mans' eyes widened. "Um, well… no bath house?"

People laughed.

Lori considered that, and nodded. "A thought for later, then. Very well, provisionally prepare what you need, and we shall test the capabilities of your 'curing shed' once fresh meat is once more available. Speak with Rian about where it may be located, we wouldn't want it to be in the middle of the vigasfield. Next!"

The proposals she didn't outright refuse weren't so much her saying yes as her tentatively saying maybe. If the idea was viable, and if it did need the land being asked for to be done effectively… then she'd be a fool to say no. But just giving land to people, even if it would technically be a long-term hereditary lease that would be paid for with land taxes, just because people asked?

That would just be idiotic.

Eventually, there were no more people coming forward. Well, untrue, there were some people she had denied earlier who thought that they could still argue their case, but while Lori had no memory for silly things like people's faces, she had a lord who did.

"Is that it, then?" Lori said, ignoring the ones Rian assured her had already spoken. "Very well. Now, are there any other matters that need to be brought up?"

"—ease, you Bindership, just hear me out—"

"—talked to my family, they've agreed that—"

"—was promised! I gave up everything to come here, I deserve—"

"Sit down and shut up, you idiots!"

Lori didn't know who yelled that last, but she nodded when they did. "Thank you," she said over the sounds of people being made to sit down and shut up, most likely by the hands of other people rather than their own will. "Any other matters? Raise your hand and be acknowledged if you do. "A few hands rose. After Rian pointed out the hands of the ones who had were still trying to justify why they should have land, Lori picked at random. "You," she pointed.

An older woman stood up, her dull purple hair just beginning to be streaked with white. "Your Bindership, since you've begun awarding land to some people—" Lori almost, almost said 'next!', "—does this mean you'll begin taking taxes soon?"

Silence fell.

"Not at this time, though I am certainly closer to it than the last time the subject came up," Lori said. "Rest assured that as much as you all dislike the thought of having to pay taxes, I dislike the thought of having to calculate how much you all owe me. That being said… All the proud new land owners—or rather, the new owners of a hereditary, transferable lease—will be required to pay taxes on that land." Lori shrugged. "We will come to an arrangement."

"I feel I should point out we don't really have any money in the demesne, as such…?" Rian said from next to her.

"Yes, Rian, I am very aware. However, it's not the amount of beads they possess that is of value. It's their skills, and the ability of those skills to make things gain even more worth. As I said, we will come to an arrangement. Does this answer your question?" Lori addressed that last to the woman who had raised her hand to ask.

The woman looked uncertain, but nodded hesitantly.

"Sit, then." She sat. "Next… you."

A man with long bright green hair and a beard stood. "Your Bindership," he said, voice, surprisingly soft but firm, "there's been talk of another expedition to Covehold, but what exactly will that mean?"

Lori glanced sideways at Rian, and found him looking right back at her. She pointed at him, and he nodded.

"The next expedition to Covehold will be to trade salt and, and try to find a market for the demesne's other available goods," Rian said. "Her Bindership and I have discussed it, and have decided that, for the moment, salt gathered by the Coldhold will be counted as a communally owned commodity, though of course those who volunteer to help gather it will be given some consideration for their assistance. But basically, the surplus salt that we will be taking to Covehold will be used to buy things the demesne needs that we currently can't make on our own, or at least not make easily. On the list of things to buy next time is paper for everyone's windows, more medicines, and more seeds, though that last will be hard because everyone keeps a tight hold of the seeds only they have. So unless we rob someone, we probably aren't getting hold of cloudbloom or white blood saplings any time soon."

"Don't get caught," Lori said immediately.

"I'm not going to rob some demesne to get cloudblooms," Rian said. "Just like how I didn't rob a bank!"

"I can order you."

"Your Bindership, how exactly are you planning to enforce that order from all the way over here? If anyone has any other trade goods they want to add, inform me. It's not required that it be a communal contribution, but her Bindership probably won't let us carry it without a cargo fee. If you need something however, tell me and we might be able to work something out that will satisfy her Bindership, even if she'll want to slap duties on it."

The green-haired man nodded and sat down.

"Next!"