“What in the hells are you thinking. We’ve already put in days of work.”

“The clinic needs to be a higher priority. People are sick, some have already died.”

“We need to defend ourselves. This city isn’t going to last if we don’t have some way to protect ourselves.”

“Hey, uh, can we make a pizza shop a top priority? I could really use a slice of zah.”

“When are you going to be done with all of this? We still need to go take over another alter, remember?”

“Why don’t I see a marketplace on this list? When are we going to build a real marketplace?”

“The manor must be our top priority or we will have a revolt on our hands. It’s the one building on this list that takes care of most of these need.”

With the sun barely visible, Eli sat in his comfortable chair at the head of the large desk in the war room. For nearly an hour, Eli stayed silent as his friends, party members, and the newly formed city counsel argued and yelled. Some were yelling directly at him, others with each other.

Finally, he had enough, “Look!” Eli boomed, asking Aida to share the cities overview with the other players in the room. As people settled, he went over the state of the remaining resources available to the city, “We are running out of supplies and money. That's a fact that we all need to deal with. This settlement just started and it’s almost broke. We have no food, no weapons, and minimal housing. No one is going to bail us out here. Dawnport and Daggerfang keep see us as a threat and have already contested our ownership over the Wildwood.” Peering around the room, his eyes settled on Alyssa’s, “I’m sorry Alyssa, food is our top priotiry. I know the Wolffen have been fending for themselves, but they can’t keep up with demand. Even sick people need to eat and drink clean water. As it is now we aren’t able to hunt or fish enough to feed everyone. The humans and other races are starving.

“That’s not our problem, is it? Why should we help everyone else when they left us all to starve. No one lifted a hand to help us when we needed aid, why should we?”

Looking her in the eye, Eli continued, “Look. I know you have had it rough. But that’s no excuse for denying aid to others. For most of the people here, including the Wolffen, Blights End isn’t just a new place to live. It’s their last hope for a decent life. Look at the face of the people out there, they need help. They need food, clothing, medicine and shelter at the very least. That responsibility is on us. We have to do this right. We need to take care of the basics first. Then we can move on to the important things.” Breaking his gaze, Eli paused to peer around the room. Seeing a few eyes divert, followed by shallow nods, he continued, Food, water, building materials and tools. Those are the priorities. From there we need to tend to the sick and wounded. Then and only then can we even think about defenses, trading, or administration building.”

This time it was Myr who spoke, his concerns growing, “How low are we? I have access to the treasury as mayor, but have to go through James for everything.”

In response, James whispered, “If we finish the manor, we will be completely out of building materials. Unless we start producing food of our own, we will be out of food in a few days. Maybe a week if the Wolffen range farther and more people forage or fish. But that would take labor.

Finishing Jame’s though, Eli took his chance to speak, “Labor that we need to build and fortify this city.”

“What about housing and income?” Roscoe said, running his fingers through his beard. “I understand where you’re coming from, where is everyone going to sleep? Hell, how are we going to pay everyone?”

Eli’s response came quick, his voice devoid of emotion, “For now, we can leave the temple open to the public. I’ll open up more rooms on the second level if I need to. Its the safest building we have. I can turn these empty rooms into temporary workshops, clinics, markets, and other necessary buildings. It will cost points, so I can only build them as supply increases. But, it’s better than nothing, at least until we have more permanent structures in place.” After a short pause, Eli got to the point he was hoping to avoid, “As for how we pay everyone, that’s simple. We don’t.” As his words left his mouth, everyone in the room eyed him suspiciously, before continuing to harangue him. Not wanting to sit through even more screaming, he cut them off with a shout, “They will get paid, just not in coin.”

“Then what?” Rougar chimed, with a laugh, “IOU’s?”

Followed by Myr, “I’m sure that would go over well.”

As Eli opened his mouth to speak, it was Roscoe that answered, “Land.” The simple word brought the room to silence and a smile to Eli’s face. “The boy wants to pay them in land.”

Laughing, James continued the explanation with a joke, “Like the French, just with less gallows and burning buildings. You give them land, with the obligation of keeping it fertile and producing some type of necessary resource. Preferably wheat and barley. This place could use a good beer.”

Around the table, mouths closed and eyes turned to their hesitant leader. After a dramatic pause, Eli confirmed Roscoe’s suspicions, “I’m going to give everyone a deed of land. Each plot will be large enough to grow enough food to feed their family and at least five others. Of course, it will come with expectations. They have to reach quotas, pay taxes, and pay fees for land ownership. It’s not free and the deed can be revoked at any time if they don’t hold up their end of the bargain. But this is the only way I see us getting out of this mess. People will work to feed themselves, especially if given the land and tools to do so. They can also put that labor to work for the benefit of society as a whole. If not, they can go somewhere else, they are welcome to leave.”

From his seat at the opposite end of the large table, Myr spoke quietly, as if asking questions of himself, “It would still take time and building everyone a farm house is impossible with current supplies. But it could work out in the long run. It’s just not how things are usually done.” He grumbled, “It would ease the burden of management.” As if winning an argument with himself he stood quickly, his eyes only seeing Eli, “This will work, eventually. But this build order is nonsense if you plan on building individual farmhouses and silos. We simply don’t have-” Suddenly, his gaze shifted down to the sheet of paper with Eli’s proposed build order. “You really are going to keep everything in the temple, aren’t you? But how?”

With a grin and a tap of his fingers, Eli rose to his feet, “Myr, I think its about time we all had a tour, maybe make a few changes. You need to see what this place can do.” With an excited energy filling the room, everyone stood.

A few moments later, a small parade of players and NPCs filled the halls of the temple. Poking into empty room after empty room, left each member with a sense of wonder. With enough faith and build points each could be instantly transformed into anything from a magical workshop to research center. Staring at a particularly large room, similar in size to the library below, Eli paused to look over the most viable options for the room. Behind him, the group argued over their own priorities.

Available Room Options:

Administration Hall - Variable

Financial Center - 26 FP / 34 BP

Barracks - 30 FP | 40 BP

Clinic - 28 FP | 36 BP

Dormitory - 24 FP | 36 BP

Kitchen - 20 FP | 30 BP

Workshop - Variable

Religious Center - Variable

Research Center - Variable

Throne Room - 50 FP | 60BP

Trading Post - Variable

Training Facility - 30 FP | 40 BP

Trading Post - 22 FP | 34 BP

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Classroom - 20 FP | 30 BP

Greenhouse - 28 FP | 36 BP

Without consulting anyone, Eli looked first to his small stockpile of thirty faith points and fifty build points, then selected the option for clinic. With a deep breath and a quick step away from the door, he selected yes.

In a silent slam, the door to the barren room shut before changing shape. The once indistinct single wooden door widened, split, and took the form of intricately carved slabs of polished wood. At the center of each was a large symbol, featuring twin snakes intertwined around a long winged scepter with the head of a lion. Making a circular order around the ornately carved emblem were two branches of thistle.

Around him, everyone fell silent. As Eli pressed his hand to the center of the twin swinging doors, Alyssa smiled. Before he could show off the latest addition to the temple, Eli felt Alyssa rush past him.

“Its a clinic!” The woman screamed, her usually rough Wolffen voice taking on a bright gleeful tone. “A popper clinic!”

As she peered at the four-dozen neatly made hospital beds, fully enclosed offices, wall of locked medical cabinets, reception area, and triage center, the womans mouth fell silent. Tears welled in her eyes as she ran through the sterile-looking stone room. Several large windows let in a fresh breeze and the gentle morning sun. Staring at an impossible view of some distant plains, the woman laughed.

Without hesitation, Alyssa picked up a set of keys from the small reception desk before running to the back wall. Fumbling with the small ring she cursed, the sound of metal hitting stone echoing off of the walls.

Eli stood in silence. His smile not allowing him to speak as he watched the woman take a deep breath and unlock the of the large cabinet doors. He had a feeling that the womans excitement was about to double.

Beside him, Don whispered, “Oh. Holy shit dude.”

“I know right. I was hoping it would come stocked. I mean, the war room came with maps, a blackboard, and a bunch of other stuff. Hell it even had those little figures to move around when planning battles. Why wouldn’t the clinic come with the tools and equipment it needed?”

“Yeah. I guess. But dude,” Don stammered. “This is like, a full supply of medical tools, bandages, salves, potions, and other expensive items. It’s worth a shit load of money.”

From behind him, Michelle rushed to speak, “We should sell it. Sell all of it. Fuck it, make as many clinics as possible. Then sell everything. We’d be rich.” Laughing, as if she already had the money, she stared off into the distance, “Oh, holy fuck guys, we are going to be so rich.”

“I don’t think it works that way guys,” Eli said, shaking his head. “Have you ever tried to take things out of the war room? Unless it’s designed to be removed it just zips back into the room. So at best, the medicine and potions might be able to leave the room. Some of them. But I don’t even want to think about what happens if you try to sell or transfer them.” Looking the Troll in the eyes, he continued, “Bedsides, she needs this stuff. There are a lot of sick people. As it is, this place might not be large enough to house them all. We need this the clinic to be operational. From the looks of the stock, this small stockpile won’t last long.”

With a sigh, the warrior dropped her head, “Well, shit. Way to be a party pooper.” She pause, he lips curling towards her chin in a fake pout, “And thanks for making me feel like an ass.” Picking her head up, Michell focused on the Wolffen leader, her tone turning serious, “But that doesn’t change what I said earlier. If we can get free shit from making more of these rooms we should. Even if it’s just to better equip people or get some free tools. What other rooms do you have available?”

Remembering the second line from his list of rooms Eli went quiet. A moment later he came to a sudden realization, “A bank!” In an instant Eli’s spun, planting himself in front of the door opposite what was now a clinic. A moment later, he stood tapping his foot and muttering to himself, “Damn, damn damn. Of course it’s not the same price.” Eli mumbled, looking over the same list of rooms from a moment earlier. Only, their prices had all increase significantly.

Each of the remaining rooms had doubled in cost. Having spent nearly all of his points, Eli looked at the option to refund or replace currently existing rooms. What he saw, nearly caused him to smash his fists through the simple wooden door before him.

He was able to refund the cost of previously built rooms, that was simple. The issue he faced was an imbalance of cost. According to Aida, each subsequent room caused the costs of future rooms to increase. While the war room had only cost a meager ten FP and ten BP, the clinic had been more than twice as much. At first, Eli assumed it was because of the cost went with the value of goods associated with each room. Now, however, he understood the gravity of their situation.

Sure, the first few rooms would be cheap. Depending on the room, the first would be ten to twenty five points. The second would be twenty to fifty and the third would be forty to one hundred. After that, a single room would cost at least a weeks supply in both faith points and build points. If he were to fully build out his temple it would cost tens of thousands of points.

To make matters worse, the refund costs did not scale with each level. Each room would only refund the amount spent to create it, minus a variable percentage for wear and tear. The longer a room was active or equipment used, the less the refund would be. In theory, it made sense. You can’t just make rooms then rob them blind and expect to get a full refund. But in practice, it was a devastating drain on vital resources.

Looking at the refund for his War Room, he saw nine FP and nine BP. If he were to refund it, then immediately build it again, it would cost him twenty of each. More than double what he would receive as a refund. The only benefit he could see was that doing so would lower the cost of the bank, dropping it from third tier pricing to second.

Regardless of how he looked at it, the only way to build the bank and test his theory was to refund both the war room and the clinic. Seeing Alyssa’s confused yet still excited face, Eli pushed the thought out of his mind. They needed the clinic more than they needed to test his theory. If he was wrong, it would be a waste of settlement resources and a loss of the only administrative office they had, or its only real medical facility.

With a sigh, Eli turned and faced his friends, “Welp. We need to get get back to work. The rest of these rooms are going to be expensive as hell and we still need to get that shrine finished. Training people up to be skilled laborers and apprentices is also a pretty high priority. It’s the only way we are ever going to get these things done.”

“I’m staying here?” Alyssa said, she said as if asking a question. Then she firmed her spine and repeated herself, this time with conviction, “I’m staying here. I need to inventory everything and start moving patients.”

With a nod, Eli let everyone get back to work. As each member of the council turned to leave, he spoke to the players, “James, Roscoe, Michelle and Don, I need a moment.”

“Uh, we just gave you a bunch of moments dude.” Don replied, with a laugh.

“Yeah. You woke our asses up at like four in the morning.” James continued, nudging Eli in the ribs with an elbow. “You know I need my beauty sleep.”

To the surprise of no-one, Roscoe nodded and turned to walk towards the War Room. Holding Michell's hand, the surly dwarf pulled her along like a pet, “Come on. Lets get this over with. I think the boy’s about ready to put in some real work.”

Thinking he saw a smile on the womans face, Eli rushed to catch up to the shuffling pack of players. He knew she would be the one who liked what he had to say next. After all, it was time to hunt some monsters.