by Eric Ugland
“Oh? Just mornings?”
“Mostly. That is when I wake up cold. Tired. Hungry. I wonder what my father actually wanted for my life.”
“You were a noble?”
“My father was. My brother is. I am mostly nothing now.”
“Nah, don’t say that.”
“You speak strangely.”
“You know, I probably do. But not many people call me out on it. Most people just accept how I talk. Which is odd.”
“Perhaps because they are afraid of you.”
“Could be.”
“I am not afraid of you.”
“Good,” I said, starting to realize how drunk she must be. “Are others though?”
“Oh yes. They say you bathe in blood. That you have killed thousands. That you delight in violence and have staked a claim in the wilderness because you intend to fight until you die.”
“I bathe in blood? I caught someone who bathed in blood, stopped her from killing kids, but I had nothing—”
“I meant no disrespect. I was merely passing along the gossip of your people.”
“I don’t bathe in blood.”
“I did not think so. Have you killed thousands?”
That was a good question. I certainly had ended the life of a number of living beings, and through a variety of gnarly and nasty means. But did the slaughter in the dungeon really count? And even if it did, was that something I wanted to answer here?
“No,” I said. “Just like I don’t bathe in blood, and just like I didn’t pick this spot so I could kill things. Or fight things. This spot was chosen because it’s full of resources and, you know, easily defendable.”
“Is it?” She asked after a long pull from her mug of mead. “It seems to me as if there is one side that has great defense, and another that is wide open to the world. And that seems to be where all the monsters have come from so far.”
“Working on that. How are you liking guard duty?”
“I admit to finding it dull. But I do appreciate the chance to improve my archery.”
“You like shooting?”
“I find it is one of the things I am best at in life. So yes, I enjoy it.”
“I’ve never shot a bow.”
“If you like, I can teach you.”
“That’d be pretty cool. I mean, not now—”
“No, of course.”
“But it might be a useful skill to have.”
“If I must fight, I prefer to do it at a distance. Especially if my opponent is a monster.”
“Yeah,” I said, thinking of all the various wounds I’d taken at the behest of monsters, and how it must be nice to be able to kill the monsters from a distance without getting your face bitten off, “that does seem slightly smarter than going toe to toe with them.”
“Is that what you do?”
“Unfortunately.”
“You seem to do it well, though.”
“Still winds up hurting quite a bit.”
“You seem like the sort of man who can take a little pain.”
“Doesn’t mean I like it.”
I mimed drinking my mead, and noticed a figure stumbling through the darkness from the bonfire area towards my little fire.
“We’ve got a visitor,” I said.
Carolene turned around, and almost fell off the log. Her brother caught her, righted her, then plopped down on the log next to her. He sloshed mead all over himself, then quaffed half his mug right down. Though, to be fair, quite a lot wound up running down his chest. I had the feeling there were going to be plenty of headaches on the coming morning.
“Sister,” Baldwin slurred.
“Brother,” Carolene replied.
“You are avoiding the dancing.”
“I am attempting to bring our lord back to the festivities.”
“You seem to be failing at that.”
“He is the lord of the lands. Who am I to order him to have fun when he wishes to do otherwise?”
“Hey,” I said, “I like to have fun.”
“Could have fooled me,” Carolene said.
“It’s more, given the size of that bonfire there,” I pointed to the towering inferno, “either we’re going to burn this place down or we’re going to attract some nasty customers. So I’m planning on spending some time on the walls tonight.”
Baldwin finished off his mug, giving me a wink.
“That’s right you are,” he said, or at least I think that’s what he said. It came out a string of sounds that I couldn’t 100 percent place, but I don’t think he was particularly concerned about the veracity of his speech.
“Then I will leave you be, my lord,” Carolene said, getting to her feet and giving me of a bow. “But if you find yourself a little too cold in the middle of the night, I would be happy to sit by your fire with you.”
Then she walked off into the darkness.
I watched Baldwin watch her walk off into the darkness. It was disturbing the way he seemed to be leering at her. It was decidedly non-sibling-like behavior, but I didn’t want to say anything. It made me question if incest was a thing with the nobility here like it had been in Europe.
Baldwin turned back to the fire and chugged his mug of mead. Then, he belched.
“My sister is nobility,” he said, his eyes barely open. I think he winked at me, and then tapped his finger on his nose. He laughed and got to his feet, then stumbled off into the darkness.
Things were getting weird. Well. Weirder. It definitely felt like Baldwin was pimping his sister out to me. Or, perhaps more politely phrased, he was pushing me to think of his sister as potential marriage material. Nathalie was also supposedly here for marriage, but she hadn’t exactly been doing anything in that regard. And Eliza was there for the same reason, at least according to everyone who was advising me. She’d been putting in the time, definitely doing more than a little laying on of hands. And don’t get me wrong — I was appreciative, but every time she touched me, or was nice to me, I had Nikolai’s voice in my head, telling me that she was there for Northwoods. That she was the wolf in sheep’s clothing. And, there was the girl back home. Gone from my life, but not yet from my heart. Though there were moments I was attracted the girls in Vuldranni, largely I just wasn’t feeling it. With any of them. Sitting there, I wondered if it was something I actually needed to worry about. Did I have to marry someone? I mean, Cleeve hadn’t been married, and he’d managed to adopt me, task me as his heir. I suppose I could do that as well.
I kicked out the fire and headed towards the rampart. I took a position looking out into the wilderness, pointedly staying in the darkness so no one else could find me. I wanted to be alone, to take the time to stop and think. I figured I should peruse my notifications as well.
Congratulations! You have constructed multiple buildings for your holding.
The two new longhouses were identical to the other we’d built, but because we weren’t having to throw so many people into them, the morale bonuses were slightly larger. There were still some issues with the longhouses that needed to be resolved — notably, the complete lack of privacy. The Smithy gave some bonuses to efficiency and production output, and also a fun little reward:
You have constructed an advanced mechanism: Power Hammer.
Having this advanced mechanism gives your holding an additional point of renown, and a boost to productivity.
It struck me as odd that I hadn’t received anything for putting the sawmill in place, or the waterwheel itself, but perhaps those were common enough in this technological level to just be, you know, things.
I could also see that my population had swelled, and that dwarves now represented far more of the population than any other race. Which, frankly, I was fine with. I liked having a wide range of peoples to interact with, especially because every race seemed to have certain abilities and environments they excelled in. Given that we were nestled in the mountains, I loved that we had dwarves around who were happy to dig in said mountains. And even li
ve in the stone. It certainly meant they’d be safer than if they were in the wood longhouses.
Looking out into the forest, I wondered what else was out there. If there were more trolls. If there were different trolls. Or monsters I couldn’t imagine. Worse, monsters I couldn’t defeat. The goblins were out there, I knew that. But what were their numbers? Did they count against me in my follower count? Would I have to declare war on them, and truly push my kill count up into the thousands? Or, gods forbid, millions? One of the most dangerous things about the valley was that we knew nothing about it.
But on that night, at least, no answers came from the darkness. It was still. And the only sounds were my people deep in their revelry.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The morning was full of groaning. Almost no one was spared from a hangover. After a good greasy breakfast, everyone was still hungover, but now not quite as hungry. By some miracle, work started on time, all attention on the towers.
By lunch, we finally had what probably should have been the first or second thing we built: the hall. It wasn’t a great hall, it was just a big rectangle with some chairs in it. One might be considered a throne, but only because it sat on a small platform. There was an office added on to the side, something for either myself or a chancellor, which would be Nikolai whether he wanted the job or not.
As soon as I walked into the place and called it my Hall, I got a notification.
You have built a new structure.
Hall
Structure Type: Common
Structure Class: Political
Material: Stone and Wood
Durability: High
Description: The hall is a large structure designed for meeting with groups of people. It represents the seat of power for a holding.
Effects: Unlocks the position, Chancellor. Unlocks position appointment.
Upgrades: Chancellor’s Office. Other upgrades available.
“Nikolai!” I shouted.
He came running over a minute later.
“I made an office for you,” I said, then went into the menu systems and appointed him as my chancellor.
His eyes unfocused as he read over his notification, and he nodded at me.
“I accept,” he said.
“Did you have a choice?” I asked with a smile. “Now, let’s get some positions filled.”
We walked into the office, which was just another stone box, with a very basic table and chair set up. It could only be called a desk if you were feeling quite generous. Nikolai took the one seat, and I leaned against the wall.
“What positions do we need to fill?” I asked.
“Some of them are already filled, at least, insofar as our little village is concerned. Captain of the guards—”
“Nathalie.”
“Naturally. You may also appoint individuals as the heads of certain industries.”
“Head carpenter?”
“Exactly.”
“That one dude.”
“Guy Gambrill?”
“Yep.”
“I beg of you, learn the names of your citizens. At least while their numbers remain small.”
“I’m working on it.”
“You have become increasingly anti-social.”
“Let’s stay on topic.”
“Imagine my surprise that you are not the one spiraling off on tangents.”
“Yeah, I’m becoming so mature.”
“Smith?”
“Zoey.”
“You might want to look at some of your new residents before proclaiming Zoey to that position.”
“She’s been super loyal though.”
“Loyalty is not alone in determining these positions. Skill should be the key factor.”
“Any complaints of her work?”
“I have yet to see much of her work.”
“The hinges in here are spot on.”
“All I counsel is caution.”
“Fine. I want to at least get a treasurer appointed.”
“An excellent idea. Do you have someone in mind?”
“You.”
“I think you will find I am already the chancellor.”
“Multi-task.”
His forehead wrinkled while he thought that through, and then he shook his head. “No. There is too much for me to do in this position to take that on.”
“Wasn’t Lee Cleeve’s accountant?”
“He kept the books on the caravan, yes.”
“So let’s make Lee do it.”
“You realize it would be better to ask people to take these positions instead of just forcing it upon them?”
“I mean, what’s the point of feudalism if you can’t rule by fiat?”
Nikolai sighed, then leaned back in his chair.
“What?” I asked.
“I am hoping you will suddenly decide to actually abide by your intelligence score.”
“You know, about that. How come I’m not smarter, given, you know, how smart I should be on paper?”
“You truly want the answer?”
“Yes.”
“Because you act stupid. I assume you were not particularly bright in your old life—”
“I wasn’t that stupid.”
“But to some level, you were. And the manner in which you lived your life there influences how you live your life here, even though you are changing mightily. When you actually work at it, you are more intelligent. You are making better logical leaps, and your understanding and comprehension have improved. But you have yet to internalize and truly capitalize on your mental gifts the way you have your physical ones.”
“That sounds like something that might be true.”
“It is true. Now go find Lee and ask him to be your treasurer.”
I pushed off the wall, walked outside, and found Lee. He was standing on the rampart looking at the water wheel spin.
“Hey Lee,” I said.
“Hey Montana.”
“You got a minute?”
“Sure.”
“Want to be treasurer?”
“Of what?”
“Coggeshall?”
“I guess?”
“Okay.”
“Is that all there is to it?”
“I mean, yeah? Are you going to run away with all the gold and treasure and screw us all?”
“No. I mean, I hadn’t planned on it, but if that’s an option…”
“I trust you. Nikolai trusts you. Everyone likes you. It seems like pretty much a no-brainer.”
“Sure. Wait, why not Nikolai?”
“He’s the chancellor.”
“So he’s my boss?”
“I think I’m your boss.”
“And Nikolai is?”
“An asshole?”
“Pretty sure he’s the spot in between me and you.”
“Well, if he bothers you, let me know.”
Lee smiled. “Thank you for the trust.”
“You are welcome. And I’m sure we can figure out some, you know, compensation.”
Lee nodded. “You think this wheel slows the river too much?”
I looked down at the water, watching the current for a moment.
“Not that I can tell. Why? You thinking of building another wheel?”
“Considering it.”
“Why?”
“To crush rock.”
“We’ve got wizards to do that.”
“Mancers.”
“Them too.”
“As much as I appreciate magic, I’d prefer finding non-magical solutions for as many things as we can. Magic should be a force multiplier and catalyst, not a stand-in for technology.”
“I mean, when you put it like that, I’m in full agreement.”
“Good. We might start work on another wheel then.”
“How about after we get gates built in the rampart? Or replace the wood wall with a stone one? Or get some siege weapons built so we can take down trolls and other nasties from a distance?”
; I don’t know what I said that sparked the twinkle in his eye, but he nodded enthusiastically.
“That gives me a great idea,” he said, already darting off.
“Hey, you need to count all the crap I put in the treasury soon!”
He nodded and waved, but continued on his way. So I moseyed back to Nikolai.
We moved our meeting to the treasury so I could unload the bag of holding while we continued our Coggeshall discussions.
The first thing we covered was the building schedule. We still needed more housing since the dwarves were mostly living in their tents. Come winter, or even fall, that wouldn’t be feasible. I floated the idea of building some, well, basically apartment blocks, but Nikolai had other ideas. He was really into the idea of building as much as we could into the mountain itself, that we should leave the area we’d just walled as our industrial area. But something like that required us to go and talk to the head dwarf, Harmut, to see what it was he and his people would like. So, off we tromped.
Harmut loved the idea of digging deep into the mountain. And digging down into the mountain. He figured that between his miners and Essie, he could have apartments for the entire population done in a matter of weeks. But I didn’t really like being indoors in that way, and I had a feeling the other non-dwarves might agree. So Nikolai and Harmut wanted to talk to people about that, see how everyone else felt. And that’s really how the day went: go from townsperson to townsperson and talk. Lots of talking. After which nothing would get decided. We would just go seek more input. By the end of the day, I was tired, but hopeful things would start to get moving.
At some point during the night, I woke up overheated because I was under a blanket of prinkies again. It’d taken them a little over 24 hours to pick up all the pine needles. I sighed, wondering how I’d already run out of jobs for dumb labor.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Things started to fall into a rhythm. Life in Coggeshall seemed to almost normalize. Morning would be a communal breakfast, lots of socializing, and the de facto leaders coming together to argue about who needed what for their projects.
