law holdings

In Roesone, law holdings belonging to the baron generally represent the strength and dedication of the royal service in that province. Unfortunately, the royal service is still young and must rely heavily on local support; the baron's law is strongest in Caercas, Bellam, and Ghoried, but elsewhere people don't feel that the baron is all that necessary, and it can be difficult for the baron's tax collectors and wardens to make sure that his orders are obeyed with any consistency. It may seem odd that the royal service is more firmly entrenched in Ghoried and Bellam than in the other counties, but there are good reasons for this. First of all, the folk of Ghoried see the baron's troops defending them from the threat of the Spider every day. They can easily understand how much they've benefited from Roesone's rule. On the other hand, the Roesones are respected in Bellam because there are more than twice as many royal servants at work there than elsewhere in the kingdom. The barons have never trusted the Bellamie family, and they compensate by making sure that the Bellamies have less opportunity for "creative reorganization" than other rulers in the barony might. Most of Roesone's provinces are not populous enough to support rival powers working to control the local bureaucracy or constabulary, so the baron doesn't face any challengers for his control of the land's law. However, the borderlands of Ghoried and Fairfield have been challenged by raiders and spies from Ghoere.