Scott arrived at my compound in the late afternoon. I shouldn’t say my ‘compound,’ but it is the apple grove. Compound gives it almost sinister connotations.
Anyways, I greeted him and without much preamble, we delved into discussing the quests that had been offered to the villagers and their outcomes.
“Scout the Surroundings,” I began, checking off the list. “Raj took this one. He’s got a knack for exploration. Came back with updates for our maps and spotted a couple of berry bushes I haven’t seen yet. Plus, he found signs of a boar den, which we’ll need to keep an eye on.”
Scott nodded, making notes. “Good. The information will be invaluable. And the Herb Gathering Expedition?”
“Kim and Helen teamed up for that one,” I replied. “They brought back a substantial haul of medicinal herbs, some of which I hadn’t seen before. Kim’s already experimenting with new recipes and Helen’s interested in their use for potions.”
“I didn’t know Helen was into potion making.” Scott observed.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I didn’t know either. But here we are.” I answered.
“The Wood for the Winter quest?” Scott asked, glancing at his list.
“A group effort, that one.” I answered. “Ethan led it, with a few other newer arrivals pitching in. They’ve gathered enough firewood and timber for the upcoming winter and even marked a few trees for future construction. It was a rather good team building exercise for them.”
“Seems odd a druid would be so cool with cutting down trees.” Scott said as a way of a question.
I shrugged my shoulders again. “Life is a cycle. The trees they took weren’t too many and I can use the now open areas under the canopy to grow something else. In the future, we will probably have to go further afield if want to continue using wood or I come up with a different method of wood production. We just needed the material fast is all.”
Scott nodded. “Patrol and Protect?” Scott inquired, looking up.
“Maya and a few others.” I said. “They’ve been diligent, patrolling the areas closest to the village. Ran into a small pack of gremlins but handled it well. The village perimeter’s safer now, and they managed to bring back a few trinkets the gremlins had hoarded.”
“And the Lost Artifacts Hunt?” Scott looked particularly interested in this one.
“That was all Fernando,” I smiled, recalling the adventure. “He managed to navigate the ruins and retrieved an old wand with some residual magic. We’re still figuring out its properties, but it’s definitely added a bit of excitement around here.”
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“Mushroom Foray?” Scott continued.
“Ah, that was a success.” I said. “Liam led the foray, and they found an abundance of edible mushrooms. Haven’t eaten any yet, I plan to test the mushrooms later.”
“How will you that?” Scott asked.
“Taste test probably.” I said. “I have an affinity to plants and should be able to weather any adverse effects.”
“Sounds risky.” Scott said. “I don’t particularly like you risking yourself like that. What we have now falls apart if you get yourself killed now.”
“Ok, then.” I answered. “You pick who the guinea pig will be.”
Scott was silent for a moment. “I see the problem.”
I merely smiled back at him. “I’m not being completely altruistic about this either. I get experience for identifying new plants and effects. If there is a deadly or adverse effect, my immunities in the related skills will increase. It’s mostly win, win.”
“Purge the Pests?” Scott checked off another.
“Tina and a few of the village guards took on that cave,” I informed him. “Cleared out the pests threatening the crops. There haven’t been anymore issues since, but its still early days.”
“Lastly, the Water Source Survey.” Scott said, looking at me expectantly.
“That was a combined effort between a few families.” I explained. “They discovered a small spring not too far from here. They are already planning on how to integrate it into our water supply system. Which brings me to my next point.”
“Which is?” Scott asked a little nervously.
“Urban planning.” I said. “I don’t mind making things, but I won’t be the one making the decisions on where everything goes. After all, I get experience when people use my creations. I also various people will get experience if they use their classes appropriately while planning everything out.”
“That makes sense.” Scott said. “Do you have a plan?”
I smiled broadly this time. “Yes, I do. You do it. Or organize a vote and fill out a basic city council sort of thing. There probably should be a planning committee of some sort. Since we are so small, it is better if we get this settled sooner rather than later. Newcomers will just accept the status quo, but if we wait too long people will want input and make things difficult.”
“You’ve dealt with this before.” Scott asked.
“Spent my entire life in government work of one sort or another.” I said. “I have no appetite for dealing with people. I like to fix things. I have also discovered, if left to my own devices, my solutions are not popular with other people."
"Why is that?” Scott asked. “You aren’t dumb, so that can’t be the problem.”
“I am a special kind of dumb.” I said with a slight smile. “I’m too smart and hit stupid coming back the other way. Trust me on this. Things will be better if I am not planning everything.”
“I’ll trust you on this.” Scott said. “See you tomorrow?” He asked.
“Meh.” I said. “Maybe, I’m not going anywhere and I got some ideas of magic and stuff I want to experiment with.”
“What if there is a problem?” Scott asked.
“What sort of problem?” I inquired.
“Monsters. Or another attack.” Scott said.
“Oh.” I said. “I think I forgot to tell you. Fernando is free range out there keeping an eye on everything. Thor and Loki are also drifting around. Anything too big for the people out there and they’ll take care of it.”
“That’s good too know.” Scott said. “Should I tell people?”
“No, not really.” I said. “They’ll act stupid and get themselves killed. They should get in the habit of taking care of themselves.”
“Seems harsh.” Scott observed.
I shrugged. "World's harsh. Coddling people will just make it worse."