Pelmarco certainly has a way of getting what he wants. This time he didn’t want to pay the exorbitant fees the town of Mazin was charging the Red Exemplars to camp on poor land nearby. His solution was an early morning raid in which the Red Exemplars captured all the town officials. Other than finding themselves pulled from their beds at such an early hour, the officials were treated well by the Red Exemplars. Fortunately, Pelmarco saw fit to wake the rest of us, and told us it was time to leave Mazin.
When the rest of the town awoke, they found their officials missing and the Red Exemplars assembled on the road just north of the town. When the people of Mazin demanded the immediate release of their officials, Pelmarco issued an ultimatum. They could either nullify all of the fees they demanded last night, at which point he would release their officials, or he would pay them for use of the land minus any fees he considered unjust, and take the officials with him.
Watching the townsfolk deliberate was disheartening, and it seemed that everyone aside from the families of the town officials prefered payment to the return of their leaders. The demands for payment drowned out the requests for releases. Pelmarco tossed the townsfolk a small coin, and said it was all the land the town let the Red Exemplars camp on was worth. When the townsfolk claimed the small coin was not enough payment, Pelmarco turned, and started walking up the road. The rest of us, aside from a few Red Exemplars guarding our rear, joined Pelmarco. As we distanced ourselves from Mazin, the town officials shouted loudly for the townsfolk to reconsider, but the crowd would not listen.
Sometime later today, while we stopped for a brief meal, a woman came up the road, and approached the Red Exemplars. She was the wife of one of the town officials, and requested the release of her husband and the others. Pelmarco ended up in a lengthy discussion with them, and eventually released them all. I think he even gave them each a coin. I expect there will be many changes in Mazin over this incident.