by L. R. Wolf
“Are you ready to return to the city, my friend?” Aya tore her eyes away from the massive amount of items within the satchel to see Elohwa and the Goddess were standing in front of her. She had been so deep in her thoughts about the loot and what they could do with it that she hadn’t heard them approach.
“Yes, sorry, I got caught up with Thorn and all of the loot.” Aya gestured at the creature who was milling about close by. Both Elohwa and the Goddess glanced over at him.
“You named it?” Elohwa tilted her head to the side, she had thought about naming it, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet.
“Actually, it named itself.” Aya frowned again as she thought of something, she turned her attention to Thorn. “Ok since I don’t know how summoning creatures really works, are you male or female? I kind of feel bad continually referring to you as just ‘it’” Thorn shambled over to the women staring at each of them in turn before it looked around. After a time it lifted its finger and pointed at a colorful bird that was hidden in the branches above them. The three women looked up into the tree. Aya raised an eyebrow questioningly as she didn’t quite understand what it was trying to get across. Elohwa and the Goddess both laughed softly as they both came to the same conclusion.
“Thorn is a he.” Elohwa glanced back at Thorn to see him bobbing his head up and down.
“How can you tell?” Aya had seen the bird, but she couldn’t tell its gender just by looking at it.
“The bird is a male.” The Goddess pointed at the bird above them. He had turned his little beady eyes down on the women as he had realized the women below were discussing him. He puffed out his chest and flared his wings out for a moment as if basking in the attention. He chirped a few times almost as if saying ‘like what you see?’. The Goddess continued with the lesson. “This particular species is called a Peeka. The males are brightly colored so as to attract the attention of the much more dull colored females.”
Understanding dawned on Aya, as she suddenly realized that Thorn had pointed to the only other thing in the glade that would have stood out as obviously male. “Oh, ok. So, Thorn is a he then.”
Thorn nodded again as Elohwa and the Goddess smiled.
“I will send you back to your city when you are ready.” The Goddess folded her hands over her stomach waiting patiently.
“Yes, sorry. I’m ready if Elohwa is.” Aya glanced to Elohwa who nodded. “Guess we’re both ready to get building!” Aya could see the excitement on Elohwa’s face and knew that she was wearing a similar expression.
“I would advise you to close your eyes as it might be a bit disconcerting.” The Goddess watched as the women closed their eyes before she raised her hands in the air, palms out towards the two. Her wings unfurled from behind her and folded around towards the front, the tips of each wing touching Aya and Elohwa’s foreheads before they disappeared from the glade. Thorn turned his head towards the Goddess and tilted it as he’d seen Aya do. “Do not worry little one, I have not forgotten you.” The Goddess’s wings once again came forward to alight on Thorn’s shoulders before he, too, disappeared. The Goddess pulled her wings back folding them behind her back before she raised her hands to her heart once again. “Until we meet again my children.” The words were barely a whisper, but they were carried upon the breeze down into the city where they were heard by the spirits wandering within. Hope blossomed in the hearts and minds of all those who heard the words of the Goddess.
Chapter 22: A City Reborn
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Aya and Elohwa opened their eyes, blinking them a few times before they looked around them. The familiar city ruin spread out around them.
“Wait, where’s Va'lore??” Aya and Elohwa hadn’t seen him since they were brought before the Goddess and now they were back within the city with no sign of him.
“Srev?” Elohwa called out, a small mote of light drifted towards them before it coalesced into the familiar form of Srev.
“Yes M’lady? How may I be of service?” Srev bowed his head ever so slightly towards the women. “And might I add, congratulations on obtaining the Heart.”
“Thank you my friend. Have you seen Va'lore by chance?” Elohwa’s eyes once again scanned the area above them to see if she could perhaps catch him descending from the path leading to the Sky Temple.
“I fear I have not. The last time I saw him he was with you and Lady Aya ascending to the Sky Temple. If you would like I will send some scouts out around the city and back towards the Temple in search of him.” Srev closed his eyes for a moment as he sent orders to some of the scouts under him to go look for the missing Prince.
“Thank you, Srev. I should probably warn you that we’re going to be making changes to the city, we’re likely going to have to clear it and start over. I’m not sure how that will affect you and the other spirits?” Aya wanted to at least warn the residents that there would be vast changes coming to the city so that they wouldn’t be overly shocked, she also wasn’t quite sure what would happen if the spirits no longer had shadows to move through during the day.
“Thank you for the warning, Lady Aya. I will inform the others and have them move into the caverns and temples during the day so as not to diminish their power.” Srev looked to Elohwa who was standing just behind Aya, an approving look passing over his face.
“Thanks so much. I just didn’t want anyone to be caught off guard or something especially considering this is your city.” Aya smiled kindly at Srev, she could see his eyes were filled with new respect.
“Once the shadows diminish within the city I will not be able to assist as much during the day, but you will still be able to contact me through Va'lore. He is the strongest of us and is able to traverse outside of the shadows.” Srev bowed his head once more before taking his leave to inform the other spirits about the future plans for the city.
Once Srev left to gather the other spirits, Aya and Elohwa turned their attention to the city. Now that they were within city limits Aya could access the city building icon in her interface. A notification popped up in the middle of her view before she could start looking over the interface.
Welcome to the City Interface! As this is your first time initializing the City Interface we would like to briefly inform you of some of the benefits in raising your city level.
**Access to higher level hirelings
**Access to a larger variety of hirelings
**Access to larger quantities of hirelings
Aya quickly skimmed over the list of what was available as plots of land evolved from encampments to villages and towns all the way up to the Kingdom classification. The higher the level the better the hirelings would be and the more you could hire at once. Because Eventide Falls was already considered a city, even in its dilapidated state, she would be able to hire Grand Master hirelings as well as a much larger variety of the hirelings. If she had just been starting out in a new encampment then she would only have access to the most basic novice haulers and builders and that was it. She dismissed the screen, a map of the entire city taking its place filling her vision. The area to the north closest to the mountain was marked in red as the area was currently overrun with gnolls. They would need to clear that out before they would be able to build there. Aya brought up the city menu, a brief overview of the city and the surrounding areas popped into view.
Eventide Falls-Ruins
Classification-City (Can be upgraded to Kingdom upon claiming the regional Keep)
Natural Resources-Incredibly Rich
Wild Game-Incredibly Rich
Farm Lands-Incredibly Rich and Fertile
Defenses-None
City Income-None
City Expenses-None
City Treasury-0
Population-0 Permanent Residents,
Loyalty-N/A
Morale-N/A
Her first thought brought up the Cities Interface Permissions allowing her to give Elohwa access so that she could help rebuild the city. She happened to catch a look of surprise o
n Elohwa’s face when she received a notification informing her of the change, a smile taking the place of surprise. Aya heard a familiar clink as Elohwa deposited all of the platinum she had accumulated into the city treasury so she did the same and dumped most of her own earnings into the treasury, keeping only two platinum to have on hand to purchase anything they might need in the future. Aya saw the city treasury change as money was deposited.
City Treasury-1300p 0g 0s 0c
“What should we build?” Aya knew that if anyone would know it would be Elohwa since this was, or rather had been, her home.
Elohwa took a moment to peruse the multitude of options before she came to a conclusion, “I was talking to Va'lore and Srev while you slept earlier, they both told me that very little of the city was intact. The parts which are the most intact are controlled by the Gnolls. We would be better off clearing everything that we can, we might be able to salvage some of it to reuse. After that we will need a quarry, a stone cutter, and a lumber mill to provide materials to build everything else.”
Aya nodded, “That’s about what I had figured. We can get hirelings from somewhere we just have to find where.” Both women frowned as they continued going through the menus within the city interface. One of the options caught Aya’s attention and she perked up. “Ah, there it is! Hirelings for all of our needs!”
“Where did you see that?” Elohwa had also perked up at the thought they’d be able to get the buildings started without having to release her people first.
“Under building management it’s called work force.” Aya and Elohwa were both examining the page.
Available Workforce-
Slave Labor-5g a day for 20 slaves. Unskilled
The women exchanged glances both reading what the other was thinking, the amount of sheer disgust at the very idea was written all over both their faces. It may have been cheap, but slave labor of any sort was absolutely out of the question. They moved to the next option.
Random Laborers- 10g a day per 20 Laborers. Races are random, possibility of racial tensions. Unskilled.
If they were to get an assortment of races, odds were they’d likely get a few who would end up fighting. They continued down the list, their eyes lighting up with excitement with the next few entries.
Barbarian Haulers-20g a day per 20 Haulers. Barbarian Haulers are incredibly strong and are excellent for various forms of manual labor. Due to their strength, Barbarian haulers can carry twice as much making their tasks take half as long. Grand Masters further increase speed and efficiency by an additional 25%.
Dwarven Miners-25g a day per 20 Miners. Dwarven workers make excellent miners and stoneworkers. Skilled in stone and metal. Yield, quality and durability of any stone or metal item worked on or mined by a Dwarf increased. Grand Masters further increase speed, efficiency, yield, quality and durability by an additional 25%.
Elven Woodsmen-30g a day per 20 woodsmen. Elven Woodsmen make excellent woodworkers. Their deep affinity for nature allows them to get a higher yield and increased durability and quality on any item cut or made from wood. Grand Masters further increase speed, efficiency, yield, quality and durability by an additional 25%.
Werekin Hunters-45g a day per 20 Hunters-Werekin, specifically WereWolves and WereCats make excellent hunters due to their uncanny sense of smell. They are able to hunt and track anything and everything much faster than other races and their animal instincts allow them to instinctively kill their prey quickly whilst leaving the skin and hides intact for materials. Grand Masters further increase speed, efficiency, yield, quality and durability by an additional 25%.
With the Haulers they’d be able to get the city cleared twice as fast and with the Grand Master status that they would have it would go even faster. Once that was done they’d be able to start hiring other races. Between the dwarves and the elves, they would not only be able to start getting the materials needed to rebuild the city, but the yield, quality and durability would also be raised substantially on the materials they gathered.
“Elohwa, go ahead and clear the city with the Haulers. Once they’re done and the city is clear, we’ll raise the quarry and lumber mill from any materials they are able to salvage from the ruined structures.” Elohwa nodded at Aya, her eyes unfocusing as she started working on the city.
“I requested two hundred haulers. They will start clearing the city and sorting out anything that might be usable. I set some areas to be temporary stockpiles so that they will have someplace to dump materials and to pull materials from. We should probably move away from the area.” Elohwa gestured back towards the already clear area they had set up camp in earlier.
Aya noticed that a notification had opened up within her city tab once Elohwa had ordered the workers.
City Expenses-2p per day
Before they got too far they heard a whoosh as a portal opened next to them. Both women turned and stared as barbarian after barbarian poured through the portal and immediately got to work. The barbarians were wearing light clothes. Most of the men didn’t bother wearing a shirt so they could keep themselves cool as they worked. All of them were at least seven feet tall, tattoos adorned their faces, arms, chests, back and legs. They were all incredibly muscular; Aya was immediately reminded of depictions of ancient spartans. The ripped bodies gleaming in the sun, she couldn’t help but stare. A barbarian dressed differently than the others, he was wearing a blue form fitting shirt and black pants. He looked around briefly at his workers before he approached the women.
“Greetings Ladies.” The man’s voice was deep, powerful and commanding. He bowed at his waist, lowering himself momentarily to the height of the women. Both women had to look up to meet his eyes when he came out of the bow. “I am Grand Master Foreman Askar. You have hired me and my work crew to clear and sort the rubble from your city, yes?”
“Yes, please. Do we pay you now or later? Sorry, I’m just not sure how it works.” Aya had to concentrate hard so that she kept her eyes locked onto his and not wandering to his chest or abs which were at her eye level.
The man smiled broadly, “As long as you have funds in the city’s coffers we will get our share.” The man turned to look out over the city. The rest of the barbarians had come through the portal. Askar commanded all of the foremen who were then in charge of the twenty haulers under them. The other foremen had spread out and were taking stock of the situation before them and then relaying the information back to Askar. “It appears we can have the city cleared and sorted within three days, but keep in mind that does not include the area controlled by the gnolls. My men are not fighters, so they will not go anywhere near it until it is cleared. We also take breaks every two hours to eat and rest, but we will do it in shifts so that a few groups are always working.”
Aya nodded in understanding. “That’s fine. Thank you for the help.”
Askar barked out a laugh, “While your thanks is deeply appreciated, it is not needed.
This is what we were born to do! It is both an honor and a privilege to serve the people of Marod!” He turned away from the women to begin handing out specific orders to his men.
A thought occurred to Aya. “Oh, would you mind leaving the temples up? I know that some of them are run down and I will get them fixed up eventually, but I want to keep them up so that people have someplace to go.”
Askar looked down at Aya, a smile once again lighting up his face. “Yes, of course M’lady. It shall be done.” Askar quickly relayed the modified orders so no one would accidentally begin demolishing the temples.
Aya managed to tear her eyes away from all of the muscular eye candy as a chime let her know it was time she could talk to her family. Immediately she opened a call with them. To those around her it appeared as though she were speaking to herself, but Elohwa knew better.
Elohwa grabbed Aya’s hands and led her to the clearing they had camped in earlier and then guided her to a low wall she could sit on while she conversed with her family. Elohwa turned away from Aya leavi
ng her alone with her family. She knew it was bound to get loud with everything being moved and shifted around so she decided to set up the new tent that she had received in the satchel they’d received a few days ago.
Architect’s Large Tent of Comfort-This tent was a gift from a being of higher power. This tent is the ultimate in comfort. Completely weather and sound proof! Will never catch fire! All those within the tent will feel completely at home. Fireplace, table, chairs and sleeping cots included! Fits 4 comfortably!
She quickly got to work setting the tent up. This one was rather large so took a few extra minutes to put up, but once it was done it was a wonder to behold. Though it was made of dark green canvas, one would think they were looking at a well built cabin. Squares running along the front and sides indicated where windows could be opened up inside. Elohwa pulled the tent flap back and looked inside. Two sleeping cots lined each side, a stone fireplace was set at the back wall of the tent while a table with four chairs sat in the center of the tent. She entered the tent and closed the flap behind her. Silence fell around her as the sound proofing spell took effect. She quickly opened the flap and returned to Aya, once again taking her hands and guiding her into the tent and to one of the empty chairs. Aya was deep in conversation with her children. Aya nodded at Elohwa in thanks before returning to the chat.
