In addition to the numerous events that’ll unfailingly occur after Troll Trouble, you should also be boosting your Kingdom Stats (especially Military, Loyalty and Community). In the case of Community and Loyalty, when they each hit Rank III you’ll be able to claim a new region - the Northern Narlmacrches and Kamelands, respectively. When you claim a new region, you should immediately found a village there, even if you can’t build much else, as you can then travel to this village and find potential artisans residing there.

The previous section covered events you should always encounter and must resolve, but this section will cover the various artisan quests (either Errands or Kingdom Quests) that may pop up during this period of questing after Troll Trouble. Given the variable amount of time involved when it comes to boosting your Kingdom Stats, upgrading your Kingdomd Stat Ranks and founding villages, these won’t occur at fixed dates or even in a fixed chronology - but they all can be started in the months following Troll Trouble and preceeding Season of Bloom. We recommend starting as many as possible but you likely won’t finish all of these before Season of Bloom… or perhaps before Chapter 3, for that matter.

Southern Narlmarches¶

You will be able to claim the Southern Narlmarches after finishing Troll Trouble, regardless of your Kingdom Stats. Dragn will come to you, but the other artisan native to the Southern Narlmarches - Shaynih’a - requires more legwork on your part. To recruit Dragn you need merely accept his request and build Dragn’s Armor Shop, while to recruit Shaynih’a you’ll need to complete Author Wanted and build Shaynih’a’s Shop of Exotic Curiosities. [One Thousand and One Questionable Stories] and Onslaught will boost Shaynih’a and Dragn’s artisan tier, respectively.

Author Wanted¶

Another consequence of building a village in the Southern Narlmarches is the errand Author Wanted, which is quite easy to miss, especially if you don’t visit your villages often. Visit the village you established in the Southern Narlmarches (perhaps after giving the buildings there enough time to finish) and you should find a woman named Shaynih’a there, who will waste your time trying to indulge her attempt to become a storyteller. If you have Linzi in your party, you can refer Shaynih’a to her, and after allowing Shaynih’a to tell her stories you’ll have started and completed the quest Author Wanted, earning yourself a cool 600 XP in the process.

After deciding that perhaps being a muse isn’t her calling, she’ll settle for being a weaponsmith instead, asking you to build Shaynih’a’s Shop of Exotic Curiosities in the Southern Narlmarches village. Looks like you’re going to house a quality armorsmith and an exotic weaponsmith in the same backwoods village! This will set you back a mere 30 BP, and comes highly recommended.

One Thousand and One Questionable Stories¶

After recruiting Shaynih’a, return to your village in the Southern Narlmarches and talk to her again and she’ll ask you to “assist her in a delicate situation”. Ask for more details and she’ll ask you to deliver a letter to Hassuf, a merchant in your capital who seems to be rather popular with local artisans… Agree to help and she’ll give you a Letter to Hassuf (along with 180 XP), starting the quest [One Thousand and One Questionable Stories] in the process. Return to your capital and deliver the letter to update the quest and earn another 180 XP.

Return to Shaynih’a and tell her the truth or lie to her - the outcome is the same either way; she’ll tell you a story, the quest will go dormant and you’ll gain 180 XP. This quest won’t continue until Shaynih’a finishes crafting you an item, which is a variable amount of time. It’ll be covered in more detail on the [One Thousand and One Questionable Stories] page.

Onslaught¶

While you’re visiting your village in the Southern Narlmarches - ideally after Dragn’s Armor Shop has been built - stop by and talk to Dragn and he’ll tell you about his delinquent brother, who stole and sold off three pieces of heirloom armor to an equal number of merchants in the Stolen Lands. This will start the quest Onslaught, which will task you with recovering these pieces of armor.

While not a difficult request to fulfill, it does require you to do a good bit of running about, as two of the armor pieces are on opposite ends of your kingdom, necessitating several days of travel time, at a minimum. Their locations are as follows:

This quest will be covered in more detail later, but it’s worth keeping these objectives in mind, as you could very well end up traveling around the Stolen Lands a bit. While you’re at it, you might as well take the opportunity to stop by and pick up any pieces of the Onslaught armor set you’re near, just to be efficient.

Kamelands¶

You can claim the Kamelands after raising your Loyalty to Rank III. Found a village there and you’ll find Varrask and Nazrielle waiting to be recruited. Nazrielle’s recruitment quest, Patronage requires little more than a chat, while Varrask’s recruitment quest Varrask’s Tools tasks you with the trivial errand of buying Varrask’s Tools from a nearby merchant. Their following quests, [Obliteration] and Nazrielle’s Greatest Creation will increase their artisan tiers. It should be a simple enough matter to recruit both of them before Season of Bloom starts.

Varrask’s Tools¶

After your new Kamelands village is built, head down there and you’ll find Varrask the Wildfist standing idly by. Talk to him and he’ll tell you about an opportunistic merchant who took advantage of a moment of weakness and acquired Varrask’s tools, without which he cannot smith. Well, that just won’t do! Talk to the generic Trader nearby and purchase Varrask’s Tools for a mere 50 gold, then talk to Varrask and reunite the craftsman with his tools. This trivial task will start - and complete - the quest Varrask’s Tools and earn you the services of Varrask.

Be sure to begin construction on Varrask’s Weapon Shop to ensure he starts crafting your first item. Varrask can be viewed as the “barbarian” artisan, as he’ll craft mighty two-handed weapons (earthbreakers, greataxes and greatswords), “Kellid items” ( a category that includes boots, a ring, a breastplate and gloves) and “Orc items” (either a chain shirt, a dagger or a cloak). More details can be found on Varrask’s artisan page.

Obliteration¶

The follow-up quest to Varrask’s Tools, this will trigger after Varrask completes and delivers your first item, the time for which is variable. After he gives you the item via a throne room event, he’ll mention “giving you something even more impressive - a weapon worthy of Gorum’s herald”, starting the Kingdom Quest [Obliteration].

Patronage¶

You can also find the swordsmith Nazrielle in your Kamelands village, and she’s even easier to recruit than Varrask. She hints at possessing a retinue and asks for your patronage, which will offer her political protection and the resources necessary to do what she really wants to do - craft weapons of exquisite lethality. Sounds like a win-win. Agree to her offer to recruit her.

Make sure to start constructing Nazrielle’s Weapon Shop to allow Nazrielle to start working on your first item.

Nazrielle’s Greatest Creation¶

This event will occur after you recruit Nazrielle and build Nazrielle’s Weapon Shop in your Kamelands village. Upon returning to your throne room, an elf named Sartayne will ask for your help in recovering another of Nazrielle’s missing apprentices, who was apparently driven mad by the blade Nazrielle created for you. This starts the quest Nazriell’s Greatest Creation.

Northern Narlmarches¶

Raise your Community to Rank III and you’ll be able to claim the Northern Narlmarches. Found a village there, then travel to said village to find Sharel and Kimo Taven - two potential artisans. Unlike the artisans in the Kamelands village, hiring these two requires a bit more legwork, as their recruitment quests, Confirmation of Innocence and A Flower in the Swamp will take you back to the capital and to the Swamp Witch’s Hut, respectively. After you complete these quests, build their workshops and you’ll have two new artisans.

Confirmation of Innocence¶

Once you’ve claimed the Northern Narlmarches and founded a village there, pay your new village a visit and you’ll find a half-elf named Sharel being accosted by your guards. Apparently Sharel is being accused of thievery, and despite Sharel’s claims of innocence, there’s no immediate opportunity to pardon him. Sharel does say that Hassuf can vouch for his innocence, however, requiring you to return to your capital and speak with the merchant.

Talk to Hassuf and he’ll furnish you with Confirmation of Sharel’s Innocence, which is the advocacy you need to absolve Sharel of the accusations against him. With this letter in hand, return to your village in the Northern Narlmarches, talk to Sharel and make either a [Lawful Good] or [Chaotic Good] dialogue choice, both of which will absolve Sharel.

Sharel will immediately offer his services as a tailor to you, with the caveat that he can’t afford a workshop. You know the drill: build Sharel’s Sewing Shop somewhere in this village to get Sharel working on your first item.

A Flower in the Swamp¶

Sharel might be a suspected criminal, but the other artisan who has made his home in your village in the Northern Narlmarches - an elf named Kimo Tavon - is just weird. Talk to him and he’ll hint at a secret and try to solicit your aid before eventually telling you about “an incredibly beautiful flower growing in the swamp”. He wants you to recover it for him, as he fears his own incompetence. Probably a wise choice.

You’ll find this flower in the Swamp Witch’s Hut area, in the secluded clearing where three Greater Enraged Owlbears dwell. The links provided will help you clear out the Swamp Witch’s Hut area and defeat the Greater Enraged Owlbears, respectively, although this quest, A Flower in the Swamp, is covered in somewhat more detail on its own page.

Once you claim the Rare Bog Flower, return to Sharel and hand it over. In response, he’ll give you a Masterwork Longspear before asking if there’s a place where he can “settle in”. Offer to build him a workshop in exchange for working for you and the weird elf will readily agree, after which you merely need to construct Kimiel’s Shop in the village to get him started on his new line of work.

You probably won’t complete all these quests before Season of Bloom(https://www.gamerguides.com/pathfinder-kingmaker/guide/walkthrough/chapter-2-monster-invasion/season-of-bloom-events-overview) starts, so do what you can, prioritize recruiting artisans over finishing their tier-boosting quests, and work on these whenever you find some downtime… or when some other business takes you near a location of interest. These opportunities, of course, will vary depending on where exactly you build your villages, but you’re bound to be able to swing by at least some of these villages during the final two quests of the Troll Trouble main questline - Lost Child and The Curse of Candlemere.