Chapter 19 - Kill Ten Hordelings (Part Five).

"Whoa."

Congratulations Traveler! You have discovered an unbound [Waystone]. An unbound stone can be activated in order to establish a Village. Would you like to bind the [Waystone]? Y/N

Søren sat for several minutes, staring at the blue window in the center of his interface. Well, that's interesting. This world or simulation has aspects of kingdom building. I imagine binding a Waystone isn't a common thing or this one wouldn't have been unbound in Neeka's home. Eh, what's the worst that could happen... he asked himself as he mentally acknowledged the query.

Congratulations Traveler! You have bound your first [Waystone].

The Leadership path has been added to your Potential.

As the founder of this settlement, you may guide the growth and expansion of the Village into a Town by managing the different areas of governance such as Policies, Infrastructure, Citizen Happiness, aspects of the economy like Production, Natural Resources, and much more. As you advance the Skills of your Leadership path, you will unlock additional means by which you can grow your Village. You may also assign an administrator to handle the day to day tasks of managing a Village and rely on your Policies to guide them.

What would you like to name your Village?

Søren fumbled for a moment, thinking. Coming up with names for anything is always so difficult. Suppose I could always change it later. Well, maybe. Would not be surprised if name changes or other similar "services" cost money or resources. Ah... Caisleán will do for now. He focused on the interface in front of him and added the name of the village to the prompt and mentally hit enter to save. A new icon appeared in the top right corner of his interface, but it was greyed out. It looked like a small building with a door, window, and roof that sloped upwards from left to right.

Congratulations Traveler! The name of your settlement is now Caisleán. If at any time you wish to change the name, you may do so under the Settlement Management menu. The current population of Caisleán is 1. Increasing your population is the first step towards completing the founding of your settlement. As the Owner and Administrator of Caisleán, you may change the citizenship requirements from closed to open or invite only. An open citizenship requirement allows anyone to become a citizen of your settlement by acquiring or purchasing a plot and building or taking over a home or business upon that plot, by being hired by a current Citizen to work for them long term and acquiring a permanent residence within the settlement zone of control, or by being invited to be a Citizen by the Owner or Administrator.

An invite only citizenship requirement prevents anyone from acquiring or purchasing a plot of land without the direct approval of the Owner, the Administrator, or Planner. Further information is available in your Mission Log.

Congratulations Traveler! It appears you have already acquired a Resurrection Shard. As the Owner and Administrator of Caisleán, you may spend a Settlement Build Point to relocate the Resurrection Shard into Caisleán's zone of control. Your current pool of Build Points is 0. Complete Settlement Missions to accrue Build Points.

Søren dismissed the window after reading through it several times. He noticed a second icon on the right side of the screen, below the first. It looked like a broad, sideways chevron pointing to the left. He mentally tapped the icon and a panel slid out from the side. The broad chevron spun around in a quick animation to face the opposite direction. The open panel revealed a fairly standard quest log, or rather mission log, that Søren had some passing familiarity with. A title bar at the top clearly labeled it as the mission log. Beneath it was a section title with a plus sign to the left of the word Settlement Missions. Beneath that was another section title with a plus sign to the left. That one said Personal Missions. Finally, a third section title, Group Missions, but it didn't have a plus sign next to it.

Søren realized he was not feeling as awful as he had been earlier. He looked at his status bars and noticed his health had ticked upwards a significant amount. Ah, must have some natural regeneration of hit points. I'll have to sort that out later At Søren's mental urging, the Settlement Missions category opened and revealed a single mission. Reach 10 Citizens (1 / 10). He focused on the name of the mission and a window popped up into the center of his interface. He skimmed through the flavor text of the mission and scrolled to the bottom.

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Recruit 10 Citizens (1 / 10)

Recruit more Citizens to found your settlement.

Rewards

• 100 TEK

• 1 settlement build point

• Access to Settlement Management

Søren finished reading the mission and looking at the rewards. Seems simple enough, he thought to himself. Just... how do I invite people to be Citizens? He looked up and saw Neeka turn one of her eyes back towards him. He focused his attention on her and tried to imagine inviting her. To his surprise, a small floating box of options appeared next to Neeka.

[Neeka of the Water Finders, Fuerven Speaker (Copper VI)]

• Inspect

• Invite to Group

• Invite to Caisleán

• Whisper

• Block

He clicked Inspect and only saw what he already knew. However, he also noticed that there was a subtle feeling of danger when he inspected Neeka. A feeling that left him on edge, ready to run. He shoved that feeling down, feeling it replaced by the same feeling he had felt when he added the [Brave] perk to his sheet. Søren then invited Neeka to Caisleán. He figured she had received a notice in front of her, with the way both her eyes turned towards him, wide open. He heard her say something with a hiss.

"Uh... shit," Søren muttered. He glanced at the progress bar in the bottom right corner. Just another hour remaining. "Maybe I should have waited."

Neeka stalked over to Søren and stared at him. She then pointed at Søren and then at the stone he sat upon. A faint, cyan light was emanating through the moss and leafy vines. She tilted her head to the right slightly and made the interrogative cough he was familiar with. Søren looked down and also realized the Waystone had started glowing.

"Oh. Yeah. That was me," he said nodding his head yes, but then remembered that gesture wasn't something Neeka was familiar with. He imitated the soft cough of affirmation he had learned from Neeka during their trip through the caves. She pierced him with her gaze from both eyes for several more moments. He reached up and adjusted the collar of the white jumpsuit around his neck. A soft chime sounded as Neeka's eyes focused on something in front of her and not him. She reached up and tapped a fore-claw on in the air.

*ding* Recruit 10 Citizens (2 / 10)

Søren turned his attention away from the interface and back to Neeka. A broad smile split his face. Some of the Fuerven behind Neeka hissed at this display of perfectly white teeth. Oh shit, whoops. Søren stopped smiling. Neeka's eyes twitched in slight movements as she read something in front of her, unseen to everyone else. One eye twitched towards Søren and then back to the air in front of her. Søren slid off the Waystone and tried pulling the vines off. The vines had twisted into a thick mat and refused to be dislodged.

He could hear Neeka speaking to the others. Søren pulled the crystal bladed dagger from its sheath at his side. The light from the crystal blade illuminated the area. Søren kneeled next to the Waystone and started slicing into the vines near the base of the stone, careful not to scrape the stone itself. He heard someone step up behind him, their feet crunching on the dirt.

"Almost done," Søren said. He finished cutting through the last of the vines and peeled off the mat of leaves, roots, and woody vines from the Waystone. Søren stood up and stepped back. He looked at Neeka, the one that had stepped up behind him. One eye was on the Waystone, the other on the dagger. "So uh... I did a thing."

Neeka turned both her eyes on Søren and gestured with her claws, making a box in the air. She pointed to him and then to the rest of the Fuervens gathered. She then handed him the blue crystal shaped like a lightning bolt.

"Are you sure?" Søren asked, tacking on the interrogative cough. Neeka nodded at him. "Alright, then." Søren focused on each of the Fuerven, starting with the elderly Fuerven next to her. He made special note of their name, Torza, and noted the similarities between her and Neeka. The others, if he remembered them, it would be great, but it wasn't a priority. The range of emotions displayed from each as he sent them invites to Caisleán were interesting to watch. Each and every one of the Fuerven present accepted the invitation however, getting the same faraway look in their eyes and reading something that Neeka had.

Congratulations Traveler! You have founded your first settlement! The Village of Caisleán has a current population of 34. Further information can be found within the Settlement Management window.

WARNING! Ownership of the Resurrection Shard is being contested by a Hordeling Monarch of the Umber Horde. Ownership of the Resurrection Shard will revert to unowned in 15 hours, 32 minutes.

Søren's mission log updated and a new mission appeared under the Settlement Missions category.

Defeat the Hordeling Monarch

A Hordeling Monarch is attempting to gain control of a Resurrection Shard in the Mourning Cave. Stop her before it's too late for Caisleán. A monarch that gains control of a Resurrection Shard can convert it into a Hordeling Den and spawn an endless horde of Hordelings.

0 / 1 Hordeling Monarch slain

0 / 3 Hordeling slain

0 / 6 Hordeling Spawn slain

Rewards

• 100 TEK

• 3 settlement build points

• [Uncommon] engram

Søren dismissed the notifications and minimized the mission log.

"Bloody hell."