The Surveyors guild was an ornately decorated stonework building with a large entry hall, a balcony ringed the open space, held up by elegantly carved pillars of oak and maple.
I stared wide eyed at the masterful craftsmanship of the workers who built this place as I made my way to the marble countertop, if it weren't for the piles of scrolls, antique hand drawn maps, and ever present scratch of quills on parchment, then this place wouldn't have looked out of place as any municipal office from back home.
Waiting as the line in front of me shrunk, I wondered how much of a roll magic played in construction. Healing would probably make workman's comp a thing of the past. And OSHA inspectors would tear their hair out at the thought of a mage or wizard using telekinesis to move blocks of stone or large timbers in place of a crane.
Structural engineers would have a fit at the idea that a druid could command a row of young saplings to grow into a sturdy, interlaced and joined living wall.
Sidetracked with these thoughts, I missed the second time the exasperated halfling called out. "Next.", a short elven man nudged me from behind and I quickly went up to the counter where the halfling still looked irritated.
"Name and business with the Surveyors Guild?" The man said curtly.
"Needs information on buying the land. Want to know how works. What need. How much. Things like this." I said, stumbling through the still confusing grammar while pulling my identity documents and wooden sigil from a pouch on my belt.
The man sighed slightly as he examined the items before handing them back. And slowly as if speaking to a child, he began to explain the process.
The cost of the land was as Mrs. Amarelle said, based partly on the distance from the city walls, with all land inside owned personally by whichever lord or noble was in charge. And mostly as explained by the clerk based on the circumference of the property that someone wished to purchase. This was done, so the man said to curtail the power of merchants.
The base cost was ten silver per 'tillen', a unit of distance equal to roughly 900 ft. Making one tillen of land about one and a half acres, though because it is measured as the perimeter of the land in question, the cost raised sharply for each 'tillen' of distance. Ten for the first, twenty for the second, thirty for the third, and so on.
For thirty silver, I could get roughly five acres of land. Once payment was received however, a guild trained surveyor would accompany me out to wherever the unclaimed land I wished to purchase was and perform the measurements before planting magically infused boundary markers, unable to be moved or altered by anyone except those authorized by the guild.
Once that was complete, the land was mine to do with as I pleased. As long as any structures on the property were built for my own use. Byzantine regulations surrounded construction within packed cities like Ardalk, however outside there were virtually none. Leaving some more populous cities as I gathered, to have massive shantytowns spring up around their walled cores.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Though with the Siege and capture of Ardalk by Duke Erinson's forces so recent, that was unlikely to happen here anytime soon due to the ever present threat that a new lord of a particular city wouldn't be able to defend their holdings.
With a somewhat clearer picture of plans for the future, I thanked the elven surveyor and made my way out into the bustling street.
Wandering aimlessly through packed crowds and rickety looking markets as the sun rose higher, I was well and truly lost. Multi storey stone and timber buildings rose up on both sides of the narrow road, barely wide enough for a horse drawn cart to pass by without running down any pedestrians.
A passing guard directed me to a quarter of the city near the southern gate when asked in my barely passable rendition of the local language. The man waved me off as I tried to thank him, saying something unintelligible to his two companions who laughed uproariously till one dropped his spear. The sorry halfling was immediately berated by the older guard as I walked away, not wanting to catch the ire of the man now shouting at his other companion as well.
What passed for the more industrial sector of the city was thick with coal smoke from the numerous blacksmith's shops, as well as from the more specialized tool makers.
Many establishments seemed more geared towards manufacturing than sale, and I was turned away by more than a few busy managers who seemed to think I was looking for work instead of wanting to buy their products.
Working as an apprentice blacksmith doesn't seem like a great plan anyway. I thought, remembering the barely contained outrage from the dwarven smith during my assessment.
The fact that I was only trying to get an idea of the prices certainly didn't help matters, and few seemed to understand what I meant, or were willing to help.
However, as the sun was sinking lower towards evening I had a rough idea of what was needed.
Nails were far more expensive than I had anticipated, at two copper for what looked like a pound of large iron spikes. Evidently most of the construction was done with pegs and notched joints.
Something as simple as a cordless drill and a bucket of screws would no doubt make me rich beyond measure.
Those thoughts aside, I knew I needed an extra fifteen or so silver pieces for all the tools and hardware. Even going the cheaper route and just purchasing the tool heads, resigning myself to days of work whittling handles for axes, hammers, a scythe, and the other miscellaneous items I'd need.
Forty-five or fifty silver seemed an almost unreachable goal. That was three months at least, even assuming I slept in the woods or Mrs. Amarelle's shop most of the time. Tack on the time to actually build the cabin and it was doubtful I would have even a rough structure done before winter set in, let alone one that would stand up to the elements long term.
My head spun as I made my way back to Mrs. Amarelle's shop to rest for the night, determined to set out early in the morning and focus my gathering on only the more valuable herbs and medicinal items.
I need a way to make money faster than this. I thought, dozing off on the now familiar wooden bench.
-----
Waking in a panic, I was drenched in a cold sweat as my mind clawed it's way back to reality through already half forgotten nightmares, of being injured in the forest, of being stalked by something otherworldly, of being saved by eldritch magics scarcely more preferable than death.
Slowly I stilled my trembling hands and frantic heart rate as I remembered where I was, though I wasn't able to get back to sleep.
Dawn came swiftly, and soon I could hear the now familiar sounds of Ardalk waking up, the many residents gerring ready for the new day.