Handle the barbarian problem

Your own education told you that suppressing the barbarians would a temporary solution at best, at least until they could gather their weapons to attack your state.

A good solution, albeit a long-termed one, is to put them under your rule.

The challenges are daunting. The food scarcity is a very big problem, without having to add language, religion, cultural and geographical barriers to the mix. Plus, any effort to integrate them would also requires you to put more effort into improving your own people's life as well.

However, you don't have the luxury to deliberate. Your major victory against Vetrix has increase your influence among the barbarians, at least as the person who defeats the best of them all.

In the first place, the barbarians migrated from somewhere else. Those that turned raiders, with the exception of very few, did so because their deplorable living conditions instead of the desire to do so. If you have enough time, army and patience, you can embark on a campaign to eradicate them but that is as effective as cutting of weed and grass while hoping that they would stop growing.

So, you will make the barbarians your subjects. To do that, you decide to get all of them to relocate to an area you noticed during the expedition. You will give them the land, equipment and food supply to develop the land. Some soldiers would also be detached there to provide security and train the local population to defend themselves. In return, you would be tributed by their loyalty and manpower for your military endeavors. Language, religion and other parts can come later.

Here, Dobra shall prove to be very useful since she would play the middle person between you and the barbarians. Since her daughters will be with her, the Vitrex widow will be more motivated to cooperate full, instead of doing something like trying to get you murdered or trying to do the deed herself.