February (Month 1) Recruitment- You may choose as many as 140 individuals who will be your vassals to found your county. Each of these will be an adept in a profession of your choice. None of these may be arcane practitioners of any kind, and only as many as 10 may be soldiers (These individuals are of course in great demand in this time of war). Furthermore some 150 additional unskilled commoners (primarily goodwives and widows) shall also be assigned to your service. Lastly you may choose 10 additional Master level professionals, though none may be magical practitioners. In addition to the above, you may choose to also start by bringing children along as part of your vassal's families. You may choose to take with between 0 and 300 children. Many children will increase the population growth of your county; but they can also be a huge burden to provide for. When choosing your people, be sure to have a plan of sorts in mind for your community's future. During this month, leaders are free to communicate freely with each other. The game master must receive a copy of all communications.

March (Month 2) Supply- This month leaders have the serious task of deciding what they want to purchase and bring with their expedition. You are given 600 bushels of food stuffs which will get your people through their first couple months in their new settlement. Next you will be given some starting money. You shall be granted 2000 Harvings with which to purchase gear. You will be given as much as 300 bushels of seed of your choice. You may choose several different kinds of seed as you choose. It is absolutely essential that supplies be purchased with a great deal of care. Upon arriving, your people will be without anything but, the clothes on their back and a few personal trinkets. You must buy and bring all they will need to get a start. Tools will be vital. Shelter and clothing will have to be provided for quickly or the elements will take their toll. The importance of food and drink can't be understated. During this month, leaders are free to communicate freely with each other. The game master must receive a copy of all communications.

April (Month 3) Departure- During the month of April, supplies and people will be loaded on ships and transported to the new colonies. The task for leaders this month is simply to catch up and finish or revise oversights of the prior months. This is your last chance to get things in order. This month, there is far too much confusion and too many logistical problems for leaders to communicate with each other any longer. As the transportation final arrangements are underway, a dock is being built for your new town This dock capable of accommodating up to 1 galley sized ship or 2 sailing ship or 4 keelboats.

Your county will need to be as close to self sufficient as possible as soon as it can be. Additionally, the king expects that you will be soon be able to take in additional refuges and produce goods for war. To this end, you have a lot of planning to do.

Because you are being provided some initial food supplies, the first concern for your fledgling county is shelter. You and your vassals shall arrive on your new land with little more than the supplies you have purchased and brought as provisions. Having some strategy to quickly shelter your people will be a very important step.

Developing agriculture will be vital. A first important step is clearing farmland. Carving fields from the uncultivated wilderness can be time consuming and labor intensive. The sooner land is cleared the sooner crops can be planted. Fishing, hunting and gathering are your best options for getting food prior to developing farms, gardens, herds and orchards. They don't require the massive investment that farms do, but there less efficient. These are great ways to supplement starting provisions to make them last longer. Fishing in particular can grow in efficiency with time when fishing boats are developed.

You will need to begin industry if you are to be of any value to the throne. Having a thriving industry requires having people with the proper skills in sufficient quantity. It also means being sure you have all the needed tools and facilities for that industry. On one hand you are being called to be self sufficient, which requires having a wide variety of tradesmen, craftsmen and professionals to meet the needs of your vassals. On the other hand, you are being required to make an significant war contribution which will require a at least some specialization of industry. It might be very advantageous to coordinate with other Earls to specialize in different industries such that needed goods can be produced and traded locally. It can be more efficient if one county specializes in mining ore and another specializes in smelting and forging it, than both counties trying to do both.