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Lord Mayor Frederick of Lindau

As Frederick watched the street and its people as he rode down the street from the mayor\'s manor to the city hall. The city had prepared itself well for this year\'s winter, and it showed in the residents\' mood as they went about their days today. There was no hunger seen in most of their eyes. No unease and trembling. No … desperation to speak of.

Oh, there will always be some whose life was not great, someone who just didn\'t prepare enough, someone who gambled or drank away their money away, but that was the nature of life. He could not save everyone and it would be foolish - even blasphemous - to think that he could save everyone.

Hell, he wasn\'t even a saint, and the saints can\'t save everyone!

No, he remained happy with what he managed to achieve.

In fact, he felt happier than he did last year because he was now going to host two lords in the coming weeks. It would establish his and his city\'s reputation as somewhere mediation can take place. If he was lucky, then he might have a buyer in the Baron of Fluelaberg for his city\'s new salted goods.

As the westernmost city in the Bavarian salt trade route, Lindau got quite a bit of salt that the House of Habsburgs have been pushing from their latest salt mines. As a result of this, the price of salt has fallen in the city and in the neighboring regions. But it wasn\'t so cheap as to be available for mass transportation.

But salted fish and meat? That was easy to pack, easy to cover from the rain, and easier to sell than salt by itself. Or at least that\'s what he\'s been seeing from how much salted goods have been flowing out of the city and how much meat has been flowing into the city.

While the cold weather of the Alps made it so that food could be easily stored during the winter and spring, the same couldn\'t be said for food during the summer and fall. Which was why he intended to use this chance to push his city\'s salted goods to the baron, who indirectly controlled this new "Compact."

When he first learned about the Compact, he had ignored it. Peasants tried to group up all of the time, but usually failed. What difference would the latest one make?

But it did.

They got the Prince-Bishop of Chur involved. They almost conquered the County of Toggenburg. They devastated the lords of Sax-Misox, Werdenberg, Zernez, and so many more. The emperor gave an imperial order elevating their leader to a baron, and then the Comapct went on to get the Abbey of Disantis, town of Illanz, and the Abbey of Saint Gall to join their ranks.

He would go so far as to say that the Compact was perhaps the greatest threat and opportunity at his border than the divided dukes of Bavaria and fractured Swabia.

But most importantly, his city profited handsomely in the surging trade coming and going from the Town of Fluelaberg, whose residents have somehow discovered how to make china.

And new dyes.

And books!

And paper!

And knowledge.

Militarily powerful, economically diverse and far-reaching, and politically stable. The Compact was an entity he needed to keep as his friend, but not so close that his city\'s independence becomes endangered.

How could he get the Compact and the Baron to consider Lindau as a valuable trading partner? Well, Lindau already sat at the end of a good trade route that all major players had a hand in. Peddlers and merchants passing through Fluelaberg already passed through his city to some degree.

He … could suggest elimination of any and all tariff between them. That would hurt his coffers a bit but could it benefit the city at least as much as it lost out on the tariff revenue?

Lindau mostly imported wool and meat from the Compact\'s many villages. The new goods were becoming slowly more important in the city\'s trade, but wool and meat were still the dominant goods that the city traded with the Compact. His city then took those wool and made fabric at a lower cost and higher volume than what all of the Compact\'s villages combined could make; it helped having a lot of weavers in one place.

If he removed tariff on woolen fabrics… He wasn\'t sure if he was ready to do that.

In fact, removing tariff on salted goods too would be unwise.

But the things he could gain…!

He knew that Fluelaberg was becoming a major town that produced gemstones. His wife actually had an emerald gold ring from Fluelaberg, which he bought for her because it matched her eyes.

Ugh, there were so many things to consider…

Perhaps he should get the baron to consider removing tariffs incrementally so that they both could see how they can benefit.

Yes, that was a good idea…

---

As the day of the mediation approached, Frederick found himself nervous.

What if things went wrong? What if the count found his city to not be to his taste? What if the baron became angry at all manner of his people\'s goods being sold at a much higher mark-up here?

Suddenly, the Lord Mayor of Lindau wasn\'t feeling so great about this.

"Lord mayor."

He snapped out of his worries and looked up from his desk to see one of his servants.

"What is it, Bernard?"

"You asked us to report to you if we saw the banner of either Fluelaberg or Heiligenberg. The baron is here, no more than a league from the city."

Frederick felt his back straighten and he stood up. "Very well. We should go and meet him at the gate."

"Of course, lord mayor. Shall we gather your most important retinue…?"

"Yes. I can\'t be seen greeting someone above my rank just by myself. Good idea. Bring Karl, Joseph, and yourself with me. And the gift I\'ve prepared."

"Of course."

As he raced out of his office and city hall in the most dignified manner he could, his mind raced as cold sweat broke out, cooling his already winter-chilled face further. The thumping of his feet against the wooden floorboards didn\'t make it better because they sounded like his heartbeats thumping in his ears.

He couldn\'t mess this up.

He quickly got on his horse and rode it out of the city hall and toward the bridge that connected Lindau to east coast of Lake Constance.

When he reached the bridget gate, he got off of his horse and waited.

After what felt like forever, he could see the black mountain banner of the Barony of Fluelaberg fluttering in the winter breeze as a small convoy of people, horses, and carriages made their way toward Lindau.

… But there were also people following them in … ropes?

Huh?

As the convoy got closer and closer, his heart only pounded harder and stronger in his chest and ears.

Because the baron got closer and closer, he saw blood.

Blood on the drawn sword.

Blood on the bear fur cape.

Blood on the baron\'s faceplate.

And then the baron was in front of him atop his horse.

Frederick suddenly had to look up. He felt … he felt so small in front of the baron.

Baron didn\'t just tower over him. Frederick felt a deep urge to either bow or run. The baron\'s presence only grew the longer he stared.

But he stood his ground and gave a half bow. "Baron Fluelaberg… welcome to Lindau."

The baron stared for a moment before he got off of his horse and put his giant sword onto his back with a grunt.

"Thank you for the welcome, Lord Mayor Galvan."

Frederick straightened his back and gulped again. "Um… may I ask if something happened …?"

The baron shrugged. "Some poor starving bandits thought they could attack me with their rusty pitchforks, axes, and hunting bows. They learned better."

"Oh." Please … please don\'t say it happened close to his city. That was in his city\'s jurisdiction. If he failed to keep law and order and allowed a powerful noble to get attacked in his jurisdiction…!

"It only happened like half a league from the bridge, so you shouldn\'t have to worry about the bandits. I took care of them all."

Frederick wanted to scream.

The baron had only just arrived but things were already going wrong.