by Jez Cajiao
“Okay, then; you all want to join us, and that’s great. I’m happy to take you, but there will be Oaths, there’s no getting around that. In exchange for your fealty, I won’t just give you protection. First, I know there are some kids with you; anyone want to tell me how many?” Isabella spoke up, hesitantly.
“There are eight children, my Lord.”
“Righto. Well, while you can all swear, as you’re adults, the kids can’t. Don’t get me wrong, they’re very welcome here…” I said, seeing the panic on a few faces. “But as they’re only kids, I don’t expect them to swear to something they don’t understand. How old are they?”
“Between three and eleven,” Isabella offered after a quick whispered consultation.
“Okay, nobody under the age of sixteen can swear. They’ll be fed, and we’ll sort out some kind of schooling as soon as we can. Until then, I guess they get to play and get underfoot for now. I’ll not tell you what to do with them, as I’ve never had kids and don’t know what to do with them as well as you all probably do. So, moving on, are there any of you here that have a trade or recognized skill?”
Of the group of nearly twenty adults, only four held up their hands, and I asked them to stand and tell me about themselves.
“Well, um, I’m a farmer, m’lord…” the first man said, shuffling his feet awkwardly and looking down at his hands. His clothes were simple and had clearly been mended often, but he was fit and strong, with a heavily muscled frame, green eyes, and sandy hair. I blinked, a realization dawning as I looked over the rest of the crowd, and then considered Lorek. They were all what I’d have classed as ‘the beautiful people’ back home: not one of them was ugly, or even average, and the few that were overweight were clearly even more attractive than the others. They’d been taken as slaves, after all, or as hostages. The ship had probably left the ugly ones back at the village… if they’d not just killed them out of hand.
I suddenly realized I’d left the man standing there as I looked around, and I had to stop myself from facepalming. Great work, Jax. Way to make them feel valued!!
“That’s fantastic!” I said, forcing a smile to cover the awkward pause. “I’m sorry, I just had a realization; it wasn’t important, though. So, you’re a farmer? That’s going to be especially useful. After all, we all need to eat, right? What’s your name?”
“Ah, Timoth…m’lord,” he said, and I nodded at him.
“Well, welcome, Timoth. There’s certainly plenty for you to be busy with here. Tell me, how skilled are you?”
“I’m at level fourteen farmer, m’lord,” he replied proudly. “Been a farmer for seven years, grew up helpin’ me da!”
“That’s fantastic! Thank you, Timoth, you can sit down.”
I addressed the next person, finding in short order that I had a tall male elven baker called Krillek, a particularly wide-bodied male human leatherworker called Milosh, and that a tiny blonde half-elven girl called Miren had just started training as a hunter, until the Airship had arrived.
“An’ they started killin’ those that wouldn’t go peaceful-like, m’lord! Me Da, he took an arrow in the knee!”
“Used to be an adventurer…” I responded without thinking about it, before grimacing at Miren’s look of confusion. “Sorry, just a reminder of a…friend…from my home. What happened to the rest of the village?”
Isabella supplied the information quickly from her seat on the right of the group. I’d noted the looks she and Cai were exchanging as I talked to the rest of the people.
“The Airship stripped anything that looked valuable and captured us, m’lord, but they left those that ran away. Most of the village, the older folk especially, will still be there…those that survived, anyway…” she said, a catch in her voice.
“Well, we’ll be returning for them soon. My good friend Oren, here…” I said, clapping him on one shoulder, “will be flying us back to the village as soon as we can get the Airship up and running. This time, there will be no thefts and attacks. You will all be given the chance to gather anything you want or need and bring it back, as well as any villagers that wish to join us, provided they swear the Oaths as well.”
The group looked relieved at that, talking amongst themselves before quieting down as I went on.
“There is also another side to joining my community, as I said, besides my protection and getting to live in this high-class establishment.” I gestured with a raised eyebrow over my shoulder at the crumbling and almost derelict tower. “You will also get training and opportunities that I’ve heard have been long gone from the land.” I’d spent hours in conversation with Oren, Cai, and the wisps, and the cache of Memory crystals and Skillbooks in Oracle’s Hall of Memories had turned out to be a bigger boon than I’d realized. With the end of the old world, it seemed the making of such things had also more or less come to an end, which meant that it was, in fact, a treasure trove of skills that may have been long lost.
“I, and my advisors Cai and Oren, will talk to you all, discovering your skills and interests and what your attributes suggest you might be best at. Then we will separate you into teams, assisting the more skilled individuals amongst you to accomplish the first steps needed to bring life, comfort, and security to the Tower. Once that has been accomplished, and I’ve gotten a better measure of you, we will grant a select few with Skill Memories and Books. Are you familiar with them?”
The group looked at me in shock, followed by a few mutterings, then more voices rose, until everyone was speaking at once, making it impossible to understand anyone.
I turned to Oren and Cai, catching the grins on their faces as they nodded at me, Oren, of course, being the one to clap me on the shoulder and half shout in my ear.
“I told ye so, laddie!”
I shook my head, making eye contact with Cai as he rolled his eyes at the dwarf’s ostensible need to say it.
I stood, holding my hands up for silence, and as everyone quieted down, I relaxed slightly, glad that at least some gestures and reactions were universal across the realms, for whatever reason.
“Yes, I see you do know what Skill Memories and Books are, and yes, I have access to both. They are very limited, and I won’t be just giving them away to just anyone. You will have to prove yourselves to me and my advisors, and I will expect a lot of those that do get these things. For a start, anyone that gets a skill will be expected to teach others. For free!” I sat back down, looking at the now silent group.
“Teaching others in our community will always be for free, and teaching others that are not is banned, for now at least. I want to improve your lives, but I won’t be taken advantage of, so let’s be clear on that. Also, you won’t all be learning how to do everything. As much as I’m sure you’d all like to try everything, if you split yourself too many different ways, you’ll never level up or get more skilled. I want you all to consider what you would like to learn, and what you truthfully think you’d be best at. I’m aware these could be two totally different things, but I’d like to know, as it’ll give me a lot of room to work with you, and I might let you do both, if they are things that will complement each other.
“It’s my intention that we will grow and quickly, visiting other villages in the area and offering the chance to join us."
"So if you know others you think would make a good addition, tell Oren and Cai, and if you feel that someone won’t, for whatever reason, tell them that, too. We will initially need food and protection most of all, so I will be choosing two teams. The first will be farmers, and they will be working with Timoth to start getting our food supplies in order, and the second will be learning to fight and to hunt. Normally, hunters and guards or soldiers would be separate groups, and I’m well aware of that, but for now, I want a lot of you to be able to defend yourselves and those around you in short order. Once you’ve got a bit of experience in those groups and I can see where your skills lie, I’ll probably separate you out into soldiers, guards, and hunters properly. Does anyone
have any questions so far?”
When the two skilled individuals, Milosh and Krillek, looked uncomfortable but stayed quiet, I grinned at them.
“Don’t worry, I’ve not forgotten that you’re skilled as well. Krillek, I want you to work with Oren’s first mate Barrett, as he’s an organized bugger, and get a plan together for what you need to start baking. There have been a few people helping to keep us all fed so far, and that’ll need to be expanded into a proper kitchen team. Milosh, there’s going to be a lot of animal pelts coming in soon, I’d imagine, I know you’re a leatherworker, but have you any skill with skinning?”
“Um, well, I did it once?” he said, scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed look on his face, one which quickly got redder when a big young man seated next to him smacked him on the shoulder and spoke through a huge grin.
“Yeah and tell him what your master told you after it!” he laughed.
“That I’d never be allowed to butcher another animal as long as he drew breath…but he’s dead now, isn’t he! I’m tryin’, I am! ‘Least I got a skill; you’re no good for nothin’ besides chasin’ Betti!”
“Hey! I didn’t know!” The lad apologized shamefacedly, but Milosh shoved him hard, trying to hold back tears, and then he pushed back, a fight clearly about to break out.
“Enough!” I shouted, coming to my feet, and both men—boys, really—settled down, glowering at each other. “Look, it’s clear what you’ve gone through in the last few days, but there’s no need for this. First, I want five volunteers to help Timoth; anyone?”
A dozen hands shot up, and I grinned in relief, having half expected nobody to want to do it.
“Okay Timoth, pick those that you feel will be the best match, please.” He quickly picked five people, two men and three women, and I noticed they all had elven features as they stood with him, moving off to the side. I murmured a quick inquiry to Cai, who quietly assured me that elves were well known for their affinity for growing things, and that Timoth likely didn’t know any of the former slaves well enough to choose them on better criteria. I looked at the remaining thirteen people and decided to do a good deed for a friend next.
“That’s great; thank you, Timoth. Cai, I think you’d better get with Isabella and get a break down of her people’s skills in preparation for talking to them directly; you okay with that?”
When I saw the surprise, swiftly followed by a surreptitiously exchanged look of guilty pleasure, I moved on.
“Next, I want six volunteers for hunting and fighting training. Any volunteers?” The rest of the group immediately raised their hands, looking eager. “Miren, you’ve got some experience in this, I know, and you know your fellow villagers, so can you pick those that you think will be best, please?” With Isabella and Krillek already assigned, that left five people looking disappointed until I spoke to them.
“Okay, people, I know you’re all feeling a little down at not being picked yet for a job, but please don’t be. These next few days and weeks will be the chance for each of you to show yourselves ready for different training, but in the meantime, you will be helping the wisps and the Golems to put this place back together. That means hard work. Clearing fallen rubble will likely be the best of it, but believe me, while it might not be glamourous, it is needed.”
“The faster we have secure quarters and a little comfort, the sooner we can start with the interesting things!”
The remaining group looked a little mollified, but clearly still felt a bit depressed about not being chosen.
I asked them all to gather around and take the Oath, a slightly different one to that sworn by Oren’s people, as we’d now had a little time to consider things. Seneschal had given me a few pointers, including the use of one of the abilities afforded by being the master of a settlement.
I took a deep breath, and reached out with my mind, summoning my character sheet easily, but instead of looking it over and dealing with the stack of notifications, as I knew I needed to, I instead…twisted…my attention to one side, reaching out with my mind to the Tower. I felt Seneschal’s guiding as a new page blossomed before me. Most of its options were greyed out, but a tab clearly visible at the top of the page was marked ‘Citizens’. Selecting it, I found it was split into two sections. The top group was marked ‘Oath Sworn,’ while the second group was marked ‘Prospective’. I chose the second group with a mental flick, and an option appeared to add all the prospective citizens of the Tower, the wider land, and the country, or just selected people to the ‘Oath Sworn’ category. I chose ‘all’ for the ‘Tower’ section and grinned when a prompt showed before me, allowing me to check over it before sending it out to them.
Prospective Citizens of the Great Tower of Dravith!
Lord Jax offers you the chance to join him and swear fealty to his line and the Great Tower.
If you be pure of heart and clean of conscience, then repeat these words, but be warned, there will be consequences for those that are not!
I swear to obey Lord Jax and those he places over me; I will serve to the best of my ability, speak no lie to him when the truth is commanded, and treat all other citizens as family.
I will work for the greater good, being a shield to those that need it, a sword to those that deserve it, and a warden to the night.
I will stand with my family, helping one another to reach the light, until the hour of my death or my Lord releases me from my Oath.
Lastly, I will not be a dick.
I nodded, reading over the words I’d written. They covered it all, really. I wanted it to sound a lot cooler, but the popular green comic hero’s oath was all I’d been able to remember, and as cool as that was, I didn’t really see it fitting in here. Besides, nobody messed with Stan Lee and lived. I wasn’t going to disrespect the man like that.
I took a deep breath and reached out to the Tower, feeling the mana that it drew in from the world. It felt like simply taking a breath of the freshest, sweetest air I could imagine, but once I started, it began to increase in volume. It was like taking a drink from a straw; you sucked it in, then found the straw was somehow pouring the liquid into you, growing faster and faster. As the milliseconds passed, the straw became a firehose, mana pouring into me at a horrific rate, making my eyes bulge as my body began to shake from the power infusion. I’d drawn on it for less than three seconds, and I was starting to feel like I might explode, when Oracle was there.
Her mind was suddenly nestled within my own, guiding the strings of raw mana, the lifeblood of the realms, into the channels the Tower held for it.
Instead of the huge weight of mana about to crush me, a slim siphon existed again.
The mana returned to its proper channels, and the Tower gave an almost imperceptible shudder, returning to the task of repairs, as the channel Oracle had guided began to branch out from me, splitting into smaller and smaller strings, then threads, reaching out to link to the hearts of the people that stood before me.
I blinked, seeing the beautiful tapestry that existed all around me, the mana seeping into people and spreading throughout them as it connected them to the Tower… and to me.
The sound of voices rose all around me, the people each taking a knee and pressing their right hand to their heart in salute, speaking the words in a staggered, but heartfelt way, as each read at a different speed.
As the final words rang out and silence filled the courtyard, broken only by the distant mutterings of Lorek and his men, I let the latest notification pop up.
You have gained nineteen (x19) new Oathsworn Citizens! The average morale of these citizens is: Optimistic! Adding these to your current total citizenry of Thirty-Four (34) has resulted in an overall rise of morale to: Optimistic!
The Morale Bonus for ‘Optimistic’ of 10% increase in productivity and population growth has been added to your settlement.
I frowned, not realizing the opportunity for such a bonus before, but I quickly dismissed it and the rest of the notifications, feeling
a resistance like I was mentally closing a dozen virus/porn popup windows from the early 2000’s. The notifications really seemed to want to be read!
When I focused on the real world again, I saw Oracle hovering before me, watching me.
“We need to talk,” was all that she said, making sure I understood how serious this was before flitting to the side to allow me to interact with the people first.
I drew in another deep breath before forcing a grin at people, making sure I’d made eye contact with all of them before I spoke.
“Thank you all for your faith in me. I, Lord Jax, do swear to protect and lead you, to be the shield that protects you and yours from the darkness, and the sword that avenges that which cannot be saved. As the Tower grows in strength, so shall you.” I smiled at them then, a genuine smile as I relaxed a bit more. “Okay, people, if those that have been chosen to be hunters can head straight up to the Airship, you will be able to find Barrett. He’s hard to miss, as he’ll be the one making everyone clean and scrub the ship! When you get there, he’ll have some gear ready for you. Farmers, I want you to head up to the first balcony garden and find out what plants we have there. Clear away the dead ones and see what you can do to improve the yield, as well as putting together a plan for raising the food we will need. Lastly, my workers.” I looked to the five that stood in the middle of the group.
“I want you to work directly under Seneschal. If you head straight to the main floor, the one that you landed on, I’ll make sure he gives you direction. It will be hard, but he will also be giving me recommendations based on your aptitudes, so remember, who you will be is entirely up to who you show yourselves to be from now on.” As the groups started heading for the stairs in a rush, I sat back down, reaching out to Seneschal.
“Hey, buddy, you there?”
“Always.”
