William in Aprait

The day after the meeting, I gather the Elliot families representatives to inform them of the plan.

First, we have decided that as this new area is supposed to become self-sufficient where contact with Aprait would be as minimal as possible, it would be the most humane to send a family. We have chosen a couple of Powerful, Ethan and Sarah, who don’t have children yet.

A couple, assuming that they stay together, would probably have the lowest chance of becoming homesick and wanting to return, as well as having a lot of experience in battling together.

To finalize training, I will first have them spend two days in the wilderness, together with Arthur, venturing out in the direction that they will be moving to. That way, whatever they encounter should match their future foes, and at the very least this should make the treck there easier.

When they return, after an in-depth debriefing, we should lock them up in the library for a last-minute study session. With new insights into their skills and more importantly, into what they may be missing along with the scouting reports on what is available in the area, this should be a valuable addition to their current kit.

Then finally a day before they set out the nine people from the first group should get together and introduce themselves to each other. Most should at least know of each other, but a formal presentation in which strengths and weaknesses are presented is an important step.

As during the meeting most families pretended to be caught unaware by the expedited timeline we have not yet completed a list of who is going to go, which is another risk I am now happy with. However, I know that the first group will consist of nine powerful with no civilians.

As for our families group, Ethan is one of our best hunters and is carrying a bow made from the bark of trees so durable it took three of Miros’ gatherers to cut it down. It is strung with the sinew of an especially mighty wolf encountered last year, making it so that as long as you have enough strength to pull the string back, you can shoot with enormous power and at long range.

Sarah is a decent enough trapper. She is good at setting up traps that she knows but has in my mind spent too much time in safe zones hunting the same beasts over and over again limiting her knowledge. She is still young but in my mind too inexperienced in alternating traps towards beasts which she hasn’t encountered yet. The study session will be mostly for her to at least fill the gaps with some theoretical knowledge.

Ever since the plan was first hatched, I have had some of our weaker family members make new copies of some of our most practical books for the expedition to bring along. This includes a book on known traps which can be referenced once it becomes clear what kind of predators and prey are going to be present in the new environment.

They will also bring a copy of a compendium of all animals known to have lived in the United States, and which is the basis for the beasts now. In the end, mana enhances what is there so a scorpion might have faster-killing venom but would not suddenly become a sprinter physically overpowering prey. It would be a reference to what to expect when something new is encountered.

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We will also send a copy of a book which used to include most common plants and trees here, but to which we have added notes on how these have all been changing.

We know that in the past plantain was used to help fight toxicity, but the improvements with mana can make it so that it reduces the bodies natural immune system too. We have to be so careful with what we eat as it is almost impossible to know which parts of plants are further enhanced. The rule of thumb is to not eat anything that has been infused with too much mana.

The area to which the expedition will go is going to be a relatively large grass field of about Thirty by thirty meters. This is where we will set up the first tents and build a first defensible position. This should take the first day to get done.

The second day Arthur and Sarah will move towards the river and set up different types of traps along the way. The goal here will be to see which traps get triggered. Food won’t be a concern yet, but knowing where strong beasts are, how they move, and what they eat will be a good start.

Ethan will join a group of two Stallwar people and one of the Foggs to hunt in a circular pattern of incrementally increasing range around the clearing and make sure nothing dangerous remains nearby.

Of the last two Fogg people, one will run back to us to give an all-clear for the second group to set out. The last one should be an expert in insects and small beasts that the Fogg family has promised to send who should be cataloging anything dangerous that can’t be immediately seen. Think mosquitos carrying diseases or venomous scorpions.

If all goes according to plan, the rest of the expedition should be arriving by the end of the third day. This triggers the second phase, where a more permanent base is built.

The plan is to build the new community from the arrival position southwards towards a nearby river, so there will be one large building built in the clearing itself for one of the families to inhabit. This will be one of the points of the Heptagon in which the new town will be built.

As the Miros family keeps clearing more of the forests in the direction of the river, enough land will become available for the other keeps to be built. Until we have a similar pattern to Aprait with seven keeps surrounding a large swath of land on which the non-enhanced people can live and farm.

Then walls will be erected connecting the separate keeps to each other. But when we reach that point, we would be able to safely say that this had been a success and a second community would then be in play.

Unexpectedly Arthur complains to me regarding accommodation. Sure he has spent time camping out in tents, but never for an extended period. The danger seems surreal for now as threats are yet unknown, but from experience, he knows that spending days, possibly weeks in a tent is not going to be pleasant.

They won’t have bathrooms, fresh food will be limited to what they can kill and scavenge, and it will be cold or hot depending on the weather. There will also be no downtime on rainy days as the first months are going to be crucial for survival as nobody wants to stay in a tent when winter is to hit.

After listening to his complaints and trying to placate him with the prospect of growing incrementally more powerful under the effects of a dense mana environment, I send him off to go gather his hunting and trapping equipment.

Youth has advantages and disadvantages. He is young and resilient, and as long as he survives in the new environment he will grow much stronger than I ever will. He will get over the hardships once he discovers the influence that comes from being truly powerful.

At the same time, the moment he leaves I will search for a young new trainee so that the line will always remain intact. A hidden benefit to this arrangement is that besides the excursion personnel having more mana, the remaining people will profit from less competition too.