clothing, bedding, and grooming supplies. Many paladins prefer to forage,improvise, or manufacture these items instead of buying them outright, in order to savemoney. Salaries. Fairsalaries are required for all servitors and henchmen. Strongholdexpenses. A paladin pays all costs associated with the construction and maintenance of his stronghold.Strongholds In addition to hiscontingency fund, a paladin may also maintain a separate fund to save for a stronghold. As explained in Chapter 7,construction prices vary wildly, though all are expensive. A paladin may have to save for years,even decades, to accumulate enough wealth to build a stronghold. A wise paladin, then,begins his stronghold fund as soon as possible; 1st level isn't too early to start saving. Once a paladinestablishes a stronghold, he acquires a universe of new expenses, particularly those involving personnel and maintenance. Thepaladin must adjust his monthly budget accordingly. He may also wish to build up hiscontingency fund to cover two or three months' worth of overhead. An establishedstronghold typically falls into one of three economic categories, each of which has a particular impact on the paladin's finances: Subsidized. Thestronghold has no significant agricultural or manufacturing base. Any crops or goods produced at the stronghold are insufficientto pay the stronghold's maintenance costs and employees. The paladin must make upthe difference out of his own pocket, which raises his monthly financial obligationsdramatically. It's not unusualfor a paladin to subsidize a new stronghold until it gets up and running. With careful management and a little luck, astronghold becomes self-sustaining within a few months or, at most, a few years. Some paladins,however, subsidize their strongholds indefinitely, usually for one of two reasons: The stronghold wasnever designed to generate income, functioning instead as a military stronghold, training center, hospital, or religious sanctuary. Such astronghold requires the commitment of a paladin with considerableresources. The stronghold wasdesigned to generate income, but due to misfortune or incompetent management, never succeeded. Should the paladin decide to cut his losses and abandon the stronghold, he must first see to thewell-being of his faithful employees, giving them adequate severance pay and doing what he can tofind them new jobs. Self-sustaining.The stronghold pays its own way through the sale of crops, goods, or services. The paladin needn't subsidize the operation in anyway, nor does he have to worry about the proper disposal of excess profits(there aren't any). This is the ideal arrangement for most paladins. Profit-making. Thestronghold generates regular and dependable profits from the sale of crops, goods, or services. The paladin uses these profitsto expand his holdings (to provide jobs for more people or to further glorify his deity,never for personal gain) or to increase his donations to his church or other worthy causes.A profit-making stronghold usually requires extra time and attention from the paladin,or the services of skilled managers.Excess Funds All of a paladin'sexcess funds must be forfeited. This includes all money remaining after he pays his regular expenses, as well as any money notspecifically allocated to a savings fund for building a stronghold. He may keep acontingency fund equal to two or three times his normal monthly budget (including maintenancecosts and