A week after the Tri-Alliance was formed, I received a letter from Braycott. With no modern methods of communication, enchanted letters are the primary means. It’s a simple and cheap spell, and has allowed Carcosa and VTR to keep an open dialogue. The only downside is you can’t just blast letters out willy-nilly. The sender needs to know the receiver, or as is the case now, two Settlements need to have a relationship.

The ensorcelled letter is made of thick stock, and the writing is in elegant cursive. Whomever penned this has a steady hand and a directness I can appreciate.

Dear Leader Jordan,

As per our cooperation agreement, Braycott is open to residents of Carcosa.

A delegation has been dispatched to your Settlement, and should arrive in the next day. Please inform your sentries, as our group is heavily armed.

We look forward to your own delegation. Housing has been set aside and a feast will be held in your honor. Please provide notice of your estimated arrival.

Sincerely,

The Council of Braycott

Time to put on the airs, as they say.

I call a meeting of the senior staff. We’ve never received a diplomatic delegation before, so the impetus is to make Carcosa as inviting as possible: Donnie and Curtis, as heads of the crafters, are going to ensure all work spaces are tidy; Sarah and Justin, the leaders of our magic classers, make plans to use Cleanse spells throughout the Settlement; last but not least, Andy, our head Rogue, will have his team scout the area between here and Braycott, ensuring it’s a safe route in.

With the meeting over, and a rough plan in place, I call in Jennifer, our Asian full-plate wearing Fighter. Though she’s not part of the core group, her level of competence and willingness to help makes her a favorite of mine. After a brief discussion, Jennifer agrees to lead the honor guard. She and the other six Fighters will have their armor and weapons polished and standing by to greet the delegation.

Brad?. The stoat-dragon’s training regime is going well…sorta. Sarah’s spent hours each day trying to get Brad? to follow simple commands. After a week, it’s kinda working.

Brad? no longer eats the thing he’s supposed to fetch. That’s about it. Considering the beast is as stubborn as a hungry beagle who sees food, I’m impressed. Sarah brought up the stoat-dragon during the meeting and agreed to keep him sequestered away the entire time.

Feast wise, I go to our one and only Cook, Rebecca. Like Sarah, the woman has raven black hair, though she keeps hers in Dutch braids. She’s also quite petite. Coming in at an average height, her diminutive build belies the amount of food she can put away. With System increases to our metabolism, and a skinny person’s natural ability to eat, Rebecca is a neigh bottomless pit.

Rebecca assures me she’ll have a smorgasbord of food prepared for our guests. I know it’ll be well prepared, as the Cook has spent a considerable amount of time honing her craft post-System. Not that she needed it. The woman was a talented head chef in Columbus before things went to shit.

Knowing the Braycotts want eggs, I send a message to the children. Their business, Cluck You, Two, is the only source of poultry and poultry products at the moment. I’m told they have thirty dozen eggs in stock, and their price for visitors is five Credits per dozen, with a discount of one Credit if over ten dozen are purchased at once. Considering Ketrell still charges twenty Credits per egg (why, I don’t know), that’s one hell of a deal.

The last person I meet with is our Quartermaster, Emilio. The Italian man, who looks like he could be a model on the cover of a trashy romance novel, was a quartermaster in the military, and keeps track of everything. How many grains of rice have we harvested? Emilio knows. What is the consumption rate of calories broken down by class? Just ask Emilio. His ability to use spreadsheets comes from a Talent, or so the rumors go.

Once he’s informed of the upcoming visit, Emilio assures me he’ll have things ready for our guests: sheets, toiletries, housing, everything. I provide the Quartermaster with a slush fund for last-minute purchases.

It all takes six hours, but in the end I’m pleased with how things are. Hopefully, our guests will be, too.

*****

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Should arrive in the next day is a vague timeframe. So, we’re all waiting impatiently for a scouting report.

Noon rolls around, and people are antsy. The honor guard, bored to tears from having to wear armor and not kill something, starts smoking. Which is surprising, because tobacco is a hot commodity at the moment. We don’t have any way to grow the plant, and any cigarettes were smoked up weeks ago. What little people have now comes from Chugg, who acquired a few pounds for a premium price.

Another two hours go by before an enchanted letter swoops over the ramparts and lands at my feet. The message is simple: checkpoint delta. The delegation is less than an hour away.

It’s from Mason, one of the older children, and one of our three Wizards. The shaggy-haired teen has been wanting to get out and do more, so Andy brought him on their scouting mission. Mason’s competent, but a little lazy. It surprised me when he volunteered. He usually has to be told what to do.

I let out a loud whistle and yell the new information. This reinvigorates people, and they tidy up and put on their best, most welcoming demeanor.

I go to the ranch house and take our makeshift elevator to the top. The defensive package purchased for the building, back when the Settlement was first founded, comes with a lookout tower. From high upon the tower, along with my Talent enhanced senses, I can see as far as the horizon lets me. Forty minutes go by before I catch the glint of metal.

The Braycott delegation, as they said, is heavily armed. A dozen full plate wearing soldiers, four mages, and fourteen non-combat looking types walking in formation. A few moments later, Andy and his crew appear from a wood line. As per the plan, the Rogue meets with the delegation and guides them the remaining mile.

Standing at the entrance, I’ve got on my best clothing. I’ve also trimmed and waxed my beard. Jennifer and her honor guard stand on either side of me with weapons raised high. Carcosa doesn’t have any Bards, so one person who knows how to play guitar is off to the side strumming a soothing melody.

The convoy stops just outside the ramparts, and Mr. Eric Breckenridge and Ms. Illana Maple walk forward. Both are dressed to the nines in white silk garments. Maple speaks first.

“Leader Jordan, it’s a pleasure for us to visit Carcosa.” The woman smiles widely and gives a bow.

“Indeed.” Breckenridge looks at the honor guard and nods his approval. “Our arrival is well met.”

I nod to both of them. “It’s our pleasure to host you. Please, come inside. We have three buildings set aside for you. If the accommodations are not to your liking, we have room in our primary structure.”

Another bow from both ambassadors, and the entire procession moves inside. The Control Zone covers a large area, and though we’ve filled much of it with tilled land and structures, there’s still a lot of dead space. In one such space, Emilio constructed three Tier VIII Multiple Occupant Cottages. They weren’t cheap, but having dedicated housing for our guests is necessary.

Two Braycott guards take post outside the entrance to each cottage. The other six start removing items from their inventory. Following suit, the non-combatants do the same. After a few minutes, a pile of boxes has formed.

“Leader Jordan, please accept these goods as a gift of our friendship.” Breckenridge smiles and nods.

“Thank you, that’s very generous. What all is there?”

“Clothing, soaps, scented oils, produce from our greenhouse, and a variety of handcrafted items.”

“They shall be put to good use.” I motion towards a group of people nearby and instruct them to remove the items. “I can imagine you’re all tired and hungry from the road. Dinner will be ready for you in one hour. Until then, please rest, and of course, you have free rein of Carcosa.”

Leaving the delegation to their devices, I meet with Andy at the ranch house. The Rogue and his team are inside relaxing. It’s only fair since they’d been waiting out in the summer heat for the better part of a day.

“Anything I should know about the delegation or their trip here?”

Andy points to Mason. “Our fledgling Wizard was a big help. He fought off a nasty monster all by himself.”

“Really now?” I cross my arms and nod my head a few times at the boy. “Tack on a few more levels?”

“Oh yeah!” Mason gives me a toothy smile. “I was almost level twelve already, and since I killed the slaughter-deer by myself, it kicked me over to fourteen.”

I shake my head. “Did you say slaughter-deer?”

“Yes, he did.” Richard, the team’s Scout, gives Mason a pat on the shoulder. “Fucking thing was crazy. The kid and I were doing a patrol, and it popped out of nowhere. It fired antler spikes at me like a gun, caught me in the leg, and did a charge to gore me.”

“And with quick thinking, and cracker jack timing, I used a Shove spell to knock it off course. Then a judicious use of lightning and fire, and the thing was as good as dead.”

Mason and Richard fist bump.

“If one monster gave you an entire level’s worth of XP, it must have been real nasty.”

Mason nods emphatically. “I burned through my entire mana reserve, plus three potions. Even then, I barely killed it.”

I let out a huff. “Note to self, don’t fuck with slaughter-deer.”

The others nod in agreement.

“Glad to hear everything went well, and good job on the levels, Mason. Anyway, the delegation is getting prepped for dinner, so I suggest you all do the same.”

Next, I make my way to Rebecca’s house. Like most others, the Cook purchased a single occupancy cottage. She added an upgraded kitchen, which makes sense, so the structure has a small addition on one end, along with an extra chimney.

Inside, Rebecca is cooking up a storm. With Talents and Class Abilities, she’s able to take a wide range of disparate ingredients and produce a feast. It’s quite interesting to see her bake a loaf of bread in less than a minute.

“Everything good here?”

I’m met with a nasty glare. “Interruptions aside? No. Thirty people wasn’t the plan.”

With a weak smile and a nervous laugh, I apologize and then leave.

Rebecca’s right. I figured there’d be ten at the most, maybe fifteen. I hope the Braycott people aren’t looking for anything too grandiose. Not that I’m worried. Rebecca’s a wizard in the kitchen. However, three times the people mean three times the food and three times the work. I make a mental note to buy her something nice.

I make a loop through the Settlement to make sure everything’s going well. A few of the non-combat Braycotts stopped at the big barn to see the workshops. Donnie the Artificer, and his endless supply of mechanical gizmos, are of particular interest. Several visitors place orders.

Five minutes to spare. I head to the ranch house to make sure everything’s in order.