by Sean Oswald
“How am I supposed to know what Shanelle or any God is going to decide to do?” Dave bit back a comment about how Emily was supposed to be the priestess not him. “The class that she received is called Monster Friend, and it is the reason that she was able to bond with Krinnk.” After that, Dave went on explaining to Emily and the others about how Sara’s class worked or at least as best as he had been able to figure out with Sara.
Emily began playing twenty questions with Sara and Krinnk as she and all the others discussed not only the details of the Monster Friend class but also the implications of a child with a class. In the end, Emily made an uneasy truce with Krinnk, and while she certainly wasn’t warm to him, she consented to him living in their home.
By the time this was all over, the first sun was already setting, and the second sun was climbing in the sky. A woman that Emily had never seen before walked into the house. She gave a quick curtsy and said, “Lunch is ready Baron.” Then without hesitation, she walked up and pinched Sara’s cheek gently. “Don’t you worry a bit, I made some more of those sweet rolls you are so fond of.” After that, she stood up and looked around to everyone, nodding at Jaselm and saying, “Sir Knight.” Only after her eyes fell on Emily did her expression change. Her face puckered up like she had just tasted something very sour. “Oh and this must be the elven Baroness.” If it were possible to inject more vitriol into a single word than she had into the word ‘elven’ then Dave didn’t know how.
Wanting to get ahead of this potential problem Dave said, “Emily, this is Emmaline. She is a wonder in the kitchen and has single handedly taken over making sure that the entire town is being properly fed.”
Emily took in this new woman’s appearance. She was short and quite plump but more in the healthy way than looking sloppy. She wore a thick white blouse and green skirt with a stain covered apron over it all. They both looked at each other before societal necessities won out and Emmaline said, “Pleased to meet you Baroness and don’t you worry ‘bout a thing. I will make sure that your girls get a little more meat on their bones.”
On the verge of exploding, Emily calmed down as Dave pulled her close. She thought better of returning the insult before she knew the lay of the land. “Likewise, I am glad to meet you and any faithful resident of our town.”
“Emmaline, if it would be possible, could you have your sons bring the food here so that I can dine with my wife and children. Our family has some catching up to do.” Dave was careful not to be too enthusiastic when speaking to the cook so as not to anger his wife, but also to be respectful. He had worked in a restaurant in high school and knew what could happen to your food if you offended the cook.
“Of course, anything for you and your girls. Although I can’t promise that the gravy won’t chill a bit on its way over.” With that, she curtsied to Dave again and then headed out.
Daichi spoke with some urgency now, “Pardon me … well I’m not sure exactly how you want me to refer to your husband. For now, I will just use your human title. So again, Baron Murkwood, that woman clearly had a distaste for elves and for Lady Emiri in particular. Is there a security concern?”
“Master Daichi, I am no more accustomed to being a noble than my wife is, and just as she has asked, I would prefer that when we are alone you call me Dave. Your position as the head of her guard certainly makes you an integral part of our community. I can assure you that Emmaline wouldn’t do anything to hurt Emily. Her bark is certainly worse than her bite, but I do admit that I have been surprised by the animosity towards elves and particularly to my elven wife some of the newcomers from Albia bear. There are hundreds of new arrivals, so it's impossible for me to vet all of them fully, and I would certainly appreciate it if you keep your eyes open.”
“As you wish … Dave.”
“I also want you and Eisuke and all of the other elves to know that I am committed to making Eris’ Rise and indeed all of the Murkwood into a place which is welcoming to not only humans and elves, but to anyone who will contribute to our society. And I am confident that my wife feels the same way.”
“Very much so.”
The old elf seemed to be taking Dave’s measure before offering a short bow, “May your dreams linger past the rising of the sun.” He then turned towards Emily and said, “I will arrange for a guard to be kept outside of your house, but don’t see any reason to place a guard inside the home as long as your husband is with you.”
After a little more discussion, Dave told Jaselm and Daichi that they would be able to find food at the dining hall, although he said for now it was really just a large green tent. As the two of them walked out the door, Daichi could be overheard asking Jaselm, “What is gravy?”
Chapter Fifteen
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” — Robert Burns
It would be a stretch to say that by the time a leisurely lunch was finished that Emily was comfortable with Krinnk or with the fact that her daughter had some mystical connection to a goblin. Balayria didn’t bother her much at all. The half-orc for all of her brutish appearance seemed to Emily to have an artist’s soul. She was sensitive and clearly cared about Sara. The two of them bonded over that shared love. What could be said was that Emily was content to let Krinnk stay around. In fact, she decided that it was better to keep him close at hand so that she could watch him. She likewise determined to make sure both Jaselm and Daichi assigned a regular guard to watch over Sara at all times.
Even if lunch didn’t bond mother and goblin friend together, it did accomplish two important things. First and most simply, it gave time for all four of the Nelson’s who were present to report on their experiences since they had last been together. Those tales were accounted by Mira and Sara first. Both girls were regaled with questions by their mother in the fashion that only a concerned parent can do. Emily’s emotions rose in excitement with Mira as she described beginning to study enchantments and how she had already learned a simple light enchantment. Then her emotions roiled in turmoil as Sara described the attack by the ettin, complete with details filled in by Dave. Emily determined in her mind that as best as possible she would never allow any of her children to come into harm's way again, no matter that a part of her knew such a thing wouldn’t have been possible on earth, let alone in Eloria.
The second and perhaps more promising accomplishment of lunch was the first round of discussion, perhaps even dreaming that Dave and Emily were able to share about their vision for Eris’ Rise. Both spoke and stacked upon what the other said, and found much of what they said to be in complete harmony. Emily felt it was providential how much their thinking was alike. Eventually, Dave revealed to her that they shared a general vision of a blended community because whenever he was faced with any of the finer details of city planning, he simply applied the WWED rule: what would Emily do.
They chuckled together even as she chastised him, saying she wanted him to be his own man. He replied that he was his own man and that she simply made him into a better man.
When Dave started to detail all of the new groups which had arrived in town, Emily was a bit staggered by the scale of it all. A few weeks ago, they were hiding in the woods trying to stay alive, and now they were responsible for more than one thousand individuals. Dave showed her how to open the Land Ruler Interface, which showed up as another page attached to their individual character sheets. She was excited by the developments that he showed her there, and by the end of the discussion, she was practically dragging him out the door so she could see the actual people and buildings represented on the interface.
Land Ruler Interface (LRI): Barony/District- Capital: Town
Bonus (Doubled for dual nationality)
Citizen Productivity and Fertility: +20%
Building Construction Rate: +20%
Crops and Livestock Growth Rate: +20%
Current Morale: 62/100 (base 37)
+10 recently defeated goblin/undead raid
+30 new citizens
+10
new rulers
-25 racial tension
Population: 1899
Starting population: 140 (62 men, 39 women, 29 children)
Administrator: 2
Herbalist: 1
Blacksmith: 1
General Store: 1
Teamsters: 4
Farmers: 34
Loggers: 33
Recent Additions: Barony Soldiers: 286 (126 men, 66 women, 94 children)
Knights: 6
Soldiers: 120
Recent Additions: Church of Shanelle: 453 (188 men, 84 women, 184 children)
Paladins: 5
Knights: 15
Soldiers: 80
Priests 1
Acolytes: 4
Alchemists: 1
Blacksmiths: 5
Brewers: 3
Carpenters: 60
Cooks: 15 (F)
Leather Workers: 5
Engineers: 4
Fletchers: 3
Herbalists: 5 (F)
Pottery: 5 (F)
Tailors: 10 (F)
Fishermen: 8
Hunters: 8
Miners:4
Recent Additions: Church of Mishpat: 105 (all male)
Paladins: 5
Knights: 15
Soldiers: 80
Priests: 1
Acolytes: 4
Recent Additions: Church of Karbanot: 2 (all male)
Priest: 1
Acolyte: 1
Settlers: 560 (100 men, 100 women, 360 children)
Carpenters: 70
Farmers: 10
Loggers: 10
Teamsters: 10
Meiyo Eihei: 51 (21 men, 17 women, 13 children)
Monk: 6
Soldiers: 15
Cooks: 6
Fletchers: 3
Herbalists: 5
Tailors: 3
Circle: 59 (27 men, 19 women, 13 children)
Forest Wardens: 21
Druids: 6
Sculptor: 1
Cooks: 6
Alchemists: 2
Herbalists: 4
Leather Workers: 6
Throne: 126 (50 men, 42 women, 34 children)
Soldiers: 50
Cooks: 12
Herbalists: 4
Leather Workers: 4
Tailors: 5
Farmers: 17
Elven Nobles: 111 (51 male, 33 women, 27 children)
Alchemists: 1
Blacksmiths: 5
Brewers: 2
Tree Shapers: 20
Cooks: 10
Fletching: 4
Jewel crafting: 2
Rune crafting: 2
Tailors: 5
Hunting: 10
Mining: 4
Farmers: 19
Elven Settlers: 2 (1 male, 1 female)
Enchanter: 1
Farmer: 1
Buildings-
Ruler’s Residence: 67% complete
Citizen Homes: 44 built - current rate: 2/day
Dining Hall: 18% complete
Town Hall: 14% complete
City Wall: 4% complete
Church of Shanelle: 11% complete
Church of Mishpat: 1% complete
Church of Karbanot: 1% complete
Warehouse: 9% complete
Library: 1% complete
School: 1% complete
Hospital: 1% complete
Blacksmith: 1 complete, 1- 4% complete
Stores: 1 complete, 6 - 1% complete
Tannery: 1% complete
Resources-
81 Farm Plots: 47% complete
Food Production: 2741/day (72 per farm/day)
1 Iron Mine: 4% explored
Lumber Production: 132 units/day
Lumber Use: 130 units/day
Hunting Production: 774/day (43 per hunter/day average)
Fishing Production: 288/day (36 per fisherman/day average)
Alchemistry/Herbalists: unquantified
Blacksmith: unquantified
Brewers: unquantified
Cooks: current capacity 7350 meals/day
Enchanting: unquantified
Fletching: unquantified
Jewel crafting: unquantified
Leather Workers: unquantified
Pottery: unquantified
Rune crafting: unquantified
Tailors: unquantified
Current Food Needs: 5697 units/day
Current Food Production: 3803 units/day
Dungeon: Tomb of David Nelson- Tier: unknown Exploration: 2%
The amount of information available was staggering and there were other tabs which were grayed out indicating that there would be further information later on for things such as military, defenses, technology, education. One part of Emily was excited. This was literally a chance to build a society from the ground up. She knew there would be challenges with the various political entanglements, but she hoped to take the best from both cultures and add in a little bit of earth and make something greater than any of them by themselves. There was another part of her that felt like this reminded her of that silly farm app that some of her friends had tried to get her into. It had never been her cup of tea, and she didn’t think she would get into the number crunching here either. Emily thought of herself as an ideas or vision person and would have to trust Dave or people they could recruit to deal with the details.
As Dave led her around town, it was clear just how daunting the tasks before them were. They had to get enough homes built within the next two months to get all of these people out of tents. They needed several stores, the warehouse for food, dining hall, and other facilities for sure. Other things like the churches could wait even though she knew that there would be expectations about what was going to be done and how quickly it was going to be done. The biggest issue seemed to be that their ratio of soldiers to civilians was out of proportion, and they might not be able to produce enough food for their needs. What was worse was that they needed to be able to produce a surplus for the winter. The only good news was that King Borstein had committed to providing enough food to get them through this first winter.
It was interesting to see the way different people react to their tour of the town. They made quite an interesting party, all four of the Nelson’s along with Krinnk, the Baron’s guard consisting of two soldiers, and Emily’s church guard and personal guard each consisting of two soldiers. Talvenicus and Aloysia also tagged along with them. Most people simply nodded at them or gave short bows and curtsies, but there were a few who glared, mostly at Emily, and mostly the newcomers.
“So I can’t help but see some of the settlers don’t seem to like me very much.” Emily mused to Dave. Maybe she should be more concerned about it, but right now she was determined not to let anything ruin her happiness at being reunited with family.
“It’s nothing, simply something that people will have to adapt to. The rumors I hear are that some of the human’s don’t like that I’m married to an elf, although strangely enough they seem to accept the girls pretty well. One of them told me that it isn’t ‘the little sweetheart’s faults.’” Dave shook his head as he spoke showing exactly what he thought about this attitude. “A few blame me for taking a foreign wife, but most of them seem to whisper about how you must have seduced me with your wily fairy powers.”
“Oh I can seduce you alright, but it doesn’t have anything to do with fairy powers. As if elves and fairies had anything in common.” Emily smiled, happy to focus on light banter with her husband who she now walked arm in arm with.
“TMI, mom.” Mira groaned which only elicited even more laughter from Dave and Emily.
Of course that laughter came to an end when Sara asked, “What does ‘see doos’ mean?”
“Um ... nothing for you to worry about. It's just an adult thing,” Dave said and was only too relieved when Sara was content to accept that and go back to playing with Krinnk.
“What about the elves? Are they having the same problems?” Emily asked.
“Not exactly
, it’s different with the elves. First off, most of them are living out in the forest, saying that they need some sort of permission from you before settling in the town. After seeing what went on with Hiroto earlier, it makes sense. As far as our family, most of them seem to think I’m your stupid ape companion and have a strong distaste for the girls, calling them ‘Usumeru,’ which as near as I can interpret means diluted, but maybe I’m missing a euphemism.”
For some reason, the way the elves looked at her children more deeply affected Emily than the humans who judged her. A dark expression crossed her face, “Well we will just have to show them that we are stronger together.” She kept in the back of her mind that this issue would have to be brought up with Daichi as she needed to make sure that she could count on her elven guards to protect her children.
“So is there no blending of the races then?”
“That isn’t completely the case. The farmers, loggers, and hunters have a little bit of contact with each other but are for the most part keeping to their own groups as much as possible. The only place where there is a real blending is at the dining tent, and it is one of the reasons that the dining hall is getting so much effort towards its construction,” Dave answered.
“That doesn’t make any sense. If they aren’t getting along the last thing that they would want to do is eat together,” Emily’s confusion evident in her statement.
“Well I sorta decreed that until the homes were all completed that no one was allowed to eat meals anywhere other than the dining hall without express permission from me or now from you.”
“And that worked?” Emily asked with a laugh
“So far everyone is obeying. Apparently in your absence they felt they had to obey your consort and none of the humans want to get on the wrong side of the new baron. I hate to admit it, but the reputation of nobles for being brutal with their own people has helped out in this regard.” Dave had a wry expression on his face as he continued, “One of the first things I had made was enough tables to fill the mess hall. I can’t or won't make them share tables, but at least if they are in the same room, it's a start. Admittedly it’s sorta like a high school cafeteria in a John Hughes movie, but it’s a start. Then I ordered that the cooks had to only prepare one meal option for each of the three serving times. Now the human and elven cooks are probably the most integrated. Emmaline is over the kitchen, but there are more elven cooks than human so they have had to learn to work together.”
