Hosting of retinues

Scarterran Feudalism links a body of more or less autonomous realms together via chains of duty and obligation, but lords still need to have some communication and oversight with their vassals.   Scarterra doesn't have the phone, radio, or internet. In order to keep lines of communication open, people usually have to physically travel to a location to talk to people in person.   If the king or queen visits a vassal, that vassal is obligated to provide the monarch with food and shelter. Also, the vassal is obligated to provide food and shelter to the king or queen's entire entourage including courtiers, guards, servants, and steeds. This can quickly become very expensive if the royals stay a long time.   Some kings make it a point to visit the vassals they dislike more often than the vassals they like in order to use this as backdoor to collect more taxes by proxy.   Dukes and duchesses travel with smaller entourages than kings and queens, but the same basic dynamics apply when dukes visit their counts and when counts visit their barons and so on and so forth.   If a king or other potentate wants to visit a vassal for a friendly visit or a matter of importance to the realm, and he wants to drive home the point that is not abusing the rules of hospitality, it is customary for the visiting liege to present his vassal with a gift. Gifts vary greatly in form and value, anywhere between a small symbolic token gift and a very generous gift that greatly exceeds the cost of hosting the retinue.   Nobles can even pull this on a lower scale with commoners seeking to win their favor. A local tavern owner might refuse payment from a lord drinking at his establishment simply because it is good marketing for his business to have the lord be known to be a patron of his ale.   Even if he likes slumming with commoners, a king or duke is not likely to accept this sort of largesse and his retainers are probably handling the bar tab anyway, but on the lower end of the spectrum, this behavior is more common. Knights and barons sometimes do this frequently, particularly if they are charismatic and well-liked.  

Inverted Hosting Rules

  Hospitality requirements are hard rules when a lord is visiting his vassals, but they become broad guidelines when the vassals are visiting their lord's demsense. A lord is not required to provide free food and lodging to visiting vassals.   If a vassal is visiting his lord, it is customary to offer a small gift before asking for food and lodging. The lord may politely refuse the gift and host his vassal for free, but the offer is customary.   If a peasant seeks an audience with his local lord for whatever reason, he is likely to bring a token offering for the lord's table such a chicken or something similar. Again, the lord may politely wave off the gift as being unnecessary, but the offer is customary.   Note, if the local lord invites or summons his vassals to come to his fiefdom, it is a major faux passe if the lord does not give his subject food and lodging for his stay since they had no choice in the matter, though they needn't be hosted in the lord's home personally.