Shova, 21th, 10,391

Six awoke next to Ravna. The shard in his chest limited how close they could be but It was nice just being in the same room. She was still asleep as he slipped out of bed and into her empty forge. After dressing he performed his stretching and visualizations, wielding his magic, his golems, and a chainsaw in his mind’s eye.

Ravna’s apprentices came in and began to reignite the furnaces, stoking the still warm coals into new life. They bowed respectfully to Six and tried to work as if he wasn’t there.

Six for his part, took this time to get back into work mode and began by checking his skill prompts.

His duel with Alyx had brought.a single level in multiple skills,

Skill increases:

Analyze - Initiate - 17

Inspect - Initiate - 12

Heavy Armor - Apprentice - 27

Athletics - Initiate - 21

Force Magic - Initiate - 10

Unarmed - Initiate - 13

His time spent relaxing after brought some levels in other skills aswell

Taming - Initiate - 13

Mindfulness - Apprentice - 22

Masonry - Initiate - 19

He’d spent time with Ravna, rubbing shoulders and holding hands. It felt nice, and he’d reveled in that feeling, loving it and appreciating it. He pushed away any creeping guilt that told him he should be working and truly relaxed.

It was at that moment he realized that Ravna was right to suggest this. Such moments rebuilt him, gave him a reserve of energy and positivity that led to good work performance. He needed more recovery time, even with his crazy constitution.

Nibbler received many pets and the scraps of their sumptuous meal, which consisted of a platter of roast meats, vegetables, roots, and mushrooms. Dessert was a large fruit pie with condensed milk on the side. Simple but delicious.

After dinner, he got to reading his book on masonry again, gaining his last level of the day.

Reviewing his books Six realized it would be a long time before he got around to reading that farming book or practicing the art. So he decided to loan it out to whoever Leoka wanted to. She would know the most promising up and coming farmers.

Six left Ravna with a kiss and made his way to the lakeside for his first experiment of the day.

He made boats under the mentorship of the village’s foremost boatbuilder. An ancient K’gan man, with thick white dreads and meaty, knobby hands. Cyan was his name and his shipbuilding was late journeyman, sitting at 58. A good teacher to learn from.

“Now I only built fishing dinghies here so far milord, I’m saving up and aiming for a loan from Gunnbjorn, then I'll be able to get a proper drydock built. Make some real ships den.”

“If you need a loan I can see about financing you. Hell, I’d build it myself, if that's what you want.”

“That would be most kind milord. Franklin does good work, well and quick, but your bonuses are quite good. It would help with quality and efficacy of de final product.

“Right, I’ll find you tomorrow and we’ll get you building proper ships.”

Cyan guided Six as Six started with simple boats.

Six didn’t look to the traditional way of construction rather he built the practice ships like anything else he made.

He grew it,

He selected cedar saplings for this task, taking the little sprigs and with the Staff of Profound Verdance he used Plant Growth to shape them to his will. Pulling and extruding until the sapling had taken the form he wanted.

The first one was shaped more like a raft than a boat, but it floated and was stable.

The fifth one was a fine multi person canoe.

The tenth was a small sailboat.

The next was yet better.

Six worked the whole morning, experimenting under the gentle guidance of Cyan. The old journeyman grunting corrections and murmuring affirmations.

Each boat was sold at a pittance to prospective fishermen with no money down, Elara setting them all up with no interest payment plans.

Six wasn’t trying to make money off of his learning experiments, he expected most of these people to fail as fishermen but this was the beginning of his own banking system. Thus he needed to keep credit scores, one of the worst creations of mankind.

The price rose as Six’s skill and knowledge with growing boats increased and soon it was only the established fishermen who took on the debt, expanding their small fleet or upgrading to one of Six’s boats.

Six worked for the whole morning, emptying his mana pool, ley line mana, his enchanting coven, and his health with blood casting.

By the end of the training, with the mentorship, Unbound Comprehension, and Inspired Retention from the Emperor Tree, he’d gained shipbuilding and 8 levels in it.

Skill Gained: Shipbuilding - Initiate - 8

Each level provides an additional 5% to overall Vessel durability and an additional 0.5% chance to improve the quality of the Vessel by one rank.

Six may be able to pump these boats out but Cyan had a skill rank of 58 which meant an increase to durability of 290% while his at level 8 only provided an increase on 40%. Not to mention the two skill evolutions Cyan must have.

One day Six might catch up but for now he could at least flood the waters with cheap boats while Cyan worked on the hard stuff.

He moved inside the Townhall for the next part of his day, gaining privacy from Elara and reaching out to Big Sister.

Hello Six. It was enjoyable seeing you make bigger and bigger boats.

Hey Big Sister,” Six engaged in some small talk with her. The mind construct had been told to only communicate with himself, Charles, and Leoka. Three very busy people, so interaction was limited at most times. Six didn’t want her to go crazy with loneliness. He was her only social outlet on his own orders, further isolation would be beyond cruel. She seemed ok so far, but a bit of chit chat usually did everyone some good. Then he got to work. “You’ve been listening?”

And watching.

“How do people feel about the duel?”

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Most speak of the fight with awe and pride. Some speak of you as a heathen monster.

“Oh?”

That you spit in the face of Kynairos by allowing such free worship. That by Kynarios, Alyx should rule this bounty, that she would enforce such proscriptions.

“I didn’t expect to be supported by all but it irks me to hear that.”

They are few in number, most all followers of Irduth’s congregation. But a few of the other congregations of Kynairos have members like this. A few of Leoka’s people also speak out against you. In truth this is the majority opinion amongst the people of Mountain’s End but most would not trade you for Alyx despite wanting religious purity.

Most speak of having a strong lord and merciful leader. A leader that works to make their lives better. Everyone recognizes your strength.

“The original migrants wanted religious freedom and I’ll be hard pressed to fiddle with that despite them being outnumbered. What of her accusation that I’m a puppet of Aclo?”

No one believes that. All are in agreement you are too strange to be a puppet of someone so rigid like Aclo. Most speak of him as an exiled traitor, to be so far from his family and brother.

.

“That's good. A heroic martyr is far better than an evil puppet master. And what of the ones I’ve asked you to monitor?”

It is as you said, Gatbark is underreporting his wealth to avoid taxes. Irduth preaches against the other religions but does not call for an outright purge. Kathy is careful to never speak against you directly, but has taught the children of democracy as you predicted. Aclo teaches his charges to respect the true line of nobility and was immediately and constantly vigilant when warned of Alyx’s arrival in our village.

Six rubbed his face in irritation.

Have I said something wrong?

“No, you’re fine Big SIster. Good job, this is exactly why I asked you to pay special attention to these ones.”

They talked more before he left. Plans for the future. His reasoning for certain new laws she should be aware of. She told him of things that caught her attention. Certain interactions, new and interesting flora and fauna, her sporadic dreams.

Six listened mostly, appreciating the simple wonderment of such a new mind. Sharing in her curiosity and offering explanations where he thought appropriate. Simple and direct, a very easy conversation that had to always be cut short.

Six had to address these new problems now.

So he made his way to where the makeshift temples held services. Leoka consolidated them all into one ‘religious quarter’ and it held many different beliefs. Crafters, priestesses, gurus, and leaders, all called out to prospective flock members, attempting to lure more to join them.

Each had a fairly sizable chunk allotted to them and more permanent structures were going up slowly but for now there were only the ramshackle temples and some didn’t even fit their entire congregation.

It was easy to find Irduth’s plot, his church was furthest along in completion, made from the dark stone from the quarry of Blackmine. It’s footprint stretched and was ringed with pillars still rising, carvings being etched into columns as they grew upwards.

Surprisingly enough it was Narhurin who’s temple was second furthest. The periodic sessions with Yanzo must be affecting him, for him to turn from warrior to priest. He was building a stepped and rotated structure, like an imperial imitation of the swirling buildings of the tsunken aelf cavern. A temple to Baimoto, also built with the same stone, was already creating a cohesion between the two buildings.

It was Irduth disrupting that cohesion.

Six was delayed at the entrance of the temporary church by a young acolyte. “May I ask your business, my lord?”

“I am here to see Irduth.” Six went to step past the priest but was blocked with a quick sidestep.

“My lord, if I may check with Craftsmaster Irduth.”

“No, excuse me.”

“At least let me announce you.

“I wish to enter unannounced.”

“Sir, I-”

Six pushed down his mounting anger. “Respectfully, you just work here. You will not stop me. I am going to enter now.” Then Six pushed past and pushed the doors open, striding into a packed room. All turned to look at the interruption that was Six. “Irduth. I am here to make clear my expectations.”

Irduth quickly regrouped and smiled down from his raised stage. “Have we done something wrong, oh Lord Deathspire?”

“Not yet no. You are getting close to what I would call, criminal intolerance.”

“You made that expectation quite clear.”

“Yes, my reports detail you speaking along the line of the current legal standards. I am here to promote that restraint. I am of course speaking to all gathered here. Criticize beliefs all you want but use of threats, violence, and intimidation to promote your faith, will be met with prison or exile.”

“Yes, violence is only for you to use.”

“As is my right. I would love to return to the forest if someone strong and capable enough could take my position from me. Would you like to try, Irduth?”

“I am a crafter not a warrior.”

“Would any gathered here like to try?”

“Pagan beliefs are proscribed for a reason, Lord Deathspire. Kynairos reigning supreme is what brought us strength. Disunity canters the plow.”

“I don't want to worship your god,” Six said plainly.

Irduth pursed his lips.

Six spoke to the crowd. “I will never recognize Kynairos or any god. If I did as you wanted, I would proscribe all religions.”

“That's insane,” Irduth scoffed.

“Yes. It is,” Six said with frustrated insistence. “That’s why I’m not doing it. You’ve been warned.”

That was a clear warning as to his expectations.

But as Six left the religious quarter he knew he needed to do more. Irduth was right in a twisted way, these divisive institutions would create conflicts and segregations within society. Natural schisms of thought and ideology, where the advantages and strengths of one religious community may not be available to another. This separation was also exacerbated by certain races having previous cultural connections to old gods that survived Zleenish imperialism in some fallen way.

Six didn’t want to take any of that away but he also wanted an integrated society. He needed everyone to pull in the same direction.

The simplest solution was establishing secular institutions that offered chances for cultural exchange and diffusion, letting people meet and form connections outside of their enclaves.

He had already started that with funding Kathy’s school. A good start but he needed to provide more opportunities.

Parks, perhaps a recreation center.

A thought came to him as he walked.

Festivals.

He needed to plan a festival. Food, music, and other displays. There were many such festivals where he used to live and they always brought everyone out to have a good time.

He was already thinking of where to have it, right after harvest. Just under two weeks to prepare but the first one didn’t need to be amazing. Mentally catalouging the bards and bands that roam with their music, the nomadic food vendors and meat grillers trawling their carts about. Six’s mind was putting the pieces together and it was looking simple but possible.

He arrived at Kathy’s school which was really just a large magic grown windbreak with an awning.

When he had made it, he’d looked at it and with confidence, declared that, “That's enough.”

He could see now by the hordes of gathered children that what he made was insufficient to cover all of the assembled youth who huddled underneath it. Listening to the lessons of Kathy’s teachers who wrote on slate with chalk. Most of them just working on different levels of Zleenish literacy.

Kathy herself was already walking towards Six on an intercept course. “Lord Six,” she said with a bow. “What brings you to the school?”

“Just here to observe your progress.”

I could have sent you a report. We are doing the best we can with what we have. I think we are providing a quality education in relation to our current resources.

Six nodded. I can see that. I would almost refer to this as an emergency. Were there really this many orphans?”

Yes, although some of them are not orphans but children whose parents have placed them with me.

How many exactly?

“291 orphans, 36 enrolled.”

Six sighed, it had only been about three weeks since he gave her the commission and she’d already collected near three hundred orphans. “You’re doing a good thing here Kathy. Thank you. But I have recently received a report that indicates you are teaching the students of different political systems.”

“Is that a crime?”

“No. I only bring this up to reiterate our agreement that we made three weeks ago. Influence them towards unity.

“And where is my schoolhouse?”

“Fair point, I’ll start it right after I interrogate these children about their political beliefs.”

She shook her head, disappointment on her face. “You think you’re funny but you’re actually just fucked up.”

“No. I think I’m funny and fucked up.”

The classes had stopped, the sight of the village lord drew the children’s attention and the teachers surrendered to the moment.

Six gestured broadly to her student body. “Call up your best.”

“It's been three weeks, Six.”

“I know you have some fuckin list in your head. Either you pick three or I’ll pick three.”

He could see a mixture of curiosity and fear in the students’ eyes, unable to hear what their leader was saying to the principal.

Kathy called up three adolescents. “Sloan, Vezerk, Coralo. Answer the questions of our Lord.”

The trio of human, vrill, and halfling bowed awkwardly and replied in unison. “Yes, Lady Katherine.”

Six scoffed a laugh. “Lady Katherine?”

“A term of respect.”

“Couldn’t just use Principal? Or Headmistress?”

“Are you going to ask your questions or not?”

Six smiled and waved her irritation away. First he began with basic math questions and Zleenish literacy. After that he moved on to questions like, “who do you owe allegiance to?” receiving answers all quite similar to,

“I owe allegiance to our lord Six and to our home, Mountain’s End.”

Good enough.

He asked them if they had been told to expect these questions and while Sloan the human boy said no with disarming ignorance, the other two confirmed with conflicted guilt plastered on their faces.

Kathy was quick to comfort the two who must feel terrible for betraying their new parental figure in order to obey their lord.

Six felt like shit but he needed an idea of what was happening here. “AIght, I’m out, gonna go start on your schoolhouse.”

Kathy pinned him with a venomous gaze, “Make sure you don’t use slave labour to build it.”

“Hah, sorry but I myself have to put some time in, so no can do on the no slave labour”

“The fact that you’re making jokes about being a slave while permitting slavery is messed up.”

“What?”

“I'm serious SIx. No slaves!”

Six was genuinely mystified. “Who here has slaves?”

“Gatbark, for one. I know there are others.”

Six’s stomach twisted, how did he miss this. “You serious?”

“YES! Ahrg!”

Six cleared his throat. “Elara.”

His assistant appeared, “Yes, milord?”

“Is owning slaves illegal?”

“Under current law, no, milord.”

Six grimaced. “Well there you have it, nothing to be done about it,” he said sarcastically.

Kathy slapped her head. “What do you mean? Change it?”

“Perhaps after the democratic referendum, might take a while to see if the people want to get rid of slavery.”

“Of course they’d want to get rid of slavery.”

“I think you’d be surprised. I just had to defend freedom of religion.”

“Stop joking about slavery in an attempt to make a point about democracy while there are slaves present in the society you lord over.”

“... Right.”