Eight Era, cycle 1721 – cycle of the squatting dog, season of Unkh, day 303
‘Interesting.’ It wasn’t so much a word as a thought. The dimension Ben now operated in was one of abstract mathematical formulae, and he was a lone collection of thoughts without a form.
He found he could increase or decrease the speed of the “real world”, so that he could work through problems in fractions of “real time” or speed things up so that buildings appeared in moments, relatively speaking. He ascribed values to the people of the town, much like the attribute points he was used to, and from his values, he totted up his current resources and expected weekly resource pull. He found that he had lots of stone (mainly from the dilapidated buildings) and that his most used resource was going to be wood (as it could be used for buildings, for cooking and in weapons, amongst other things), so he prioritised lumbermen and guards to protect them from fiends. His biggest problem was with food and water: his workforce – er, people – would dehydrate and starve in days.
He looked around for the wave functions that made up Amaka, but couldn’t find her, and instead appeared in front of Philippa.
‘Oh! By the seven, you gave me a fright; don’t just appear in front of people like that, Ben!’ Philippa chastised.
Ben blinked. ‘You were unable to anticipate my arrival?’
‘Yes; you just appeared, like a deity.’
‘Interesting; I shall modulate my appearance to create less of a shock. Regardless, I’m searching for Amaka.’
‘We received a threat against the village, and she’s left to deal with it.’
‘Unfortunate. I require delegation of responsibilities. I’ve been assessing our situation and have discovered troubling outcomes on resource acquisition and stock holdings in regard to long-term sustainability.’
‘Less of the interface-Ben, more of the human-Ben, please,’ Philippa requested, confused.
‘We have three days’ food left and less than a day’s worth of water currently available to us.’
‘So you need more food and water? That’s simple enough; I’ll get a task force of gatherers together.’
‘We also require wood (both for building and fire), stone, sand, bricks and thatch…’ Ben tailed off when Philippa gave him the Look, something he recognised from his wife.
‘Okay, we’ll need lots of gatherers. I’ll get a collective together.’
‘It would be more convenient to recall Amaka.’
‘She’s on a quest to secure our future, Ben.’
‘I shall compile a list,’ Ben concluded, and then vanished.
The next moment, everyone in the village received a request to share their stats and abilities with the village’s personality (that is, with Ben).
Philippa sighed upon seeing it. ‘I’ll organise a city council.’
*
Philippa was irked – although she was polite about it. She was irked because Torent was there, but he was a popular figure, and once word had spread about the meeting, there was no way he wasn’t going to be there.
‘I must reiterate,’ Philippa stated, ‘that this isn’t a contest for leadership. Amaka is the leader of the village, and that isn’t up for debate.’
‘If I may?’ Torent began (and Philippa’s stomach dropped). ‘The fact that she isn’t here is reflective of her idea of leadership.’
‘Torent, this isn’t the time,’ Philippa warned him, but she was shot down with calls of, ‘Let him speak.’
‘I have the utmost respect for Amaka; she’s left to keep us safe. She is, it’s fair to say, the heart and soul of what we hope to create here. However, she’s a gifted warrior and will often have to take the lead to defend our village. Whilst most kings gain power through leading the charge, they retain power by delegating the fighting to others. What Amaka – and you – fail to understand is that people need leaders. People want someone to blame when things go wrong, and someone to look towards when danger draws near,’ Torent explained.
‘And that’s what Amaka is doing now,’ Philippa said pointedly.
‘Very true, but now what? No, no, we need a stay-at-home leader – a second in command even,’ Torent persisted.
‘But how far would your command go?’ Golgharfinch challenged.
‘How far? I’ll have the casting vote; I’ll be the first amongst equals. People will take their grievances to the council, and we’ll listen to their suggestions and address their issues within the grand scheme of the village. But in cases where the numbers on each side of a discussion are even, my voice counts for three votes. I have the majority, but I can’t create a dynasty,’ Torent elaborated.
‘So, you’d only ever need one vote out of the other four people to win? That’s too restricted; we should have a council of six, so you’ll need at least two votes to win,’ Helmhock countered.
‘I’d be happy with that,’ Torent conceded.
‘He wouldn’t even need two votes if someone abstains,’ Scale pointed out.
Helmhock grunted. ‘We’re discussing the present and future of the village; it’s your responsibility to have an opinion. Abstention is an insult to democracy.’
‘Well then, Amaka gets one seat, with her vote also counting as three,’ Philippa said stubbornly.
‘If she’s ever around,’ Scale maintained.
‘She’s a proven fighter, but I have yet to be impressed by her leadership,’ Torent objected. ‘Give her two votes.’
‘That seems fair,’ Golgharfinch acknowledged.
‘I assume each of you will be one of the six?’ Philippa demanded with a scowl.
‘We’re already the ear of the village; most people already see us as an unofficial council. We should make it public and gauge the response,’ Helmhock explained.
‘I’m not remotely interested in gaining any responsibilities of that nature,’ Philippa added.
‘Then, we have the council: Amaka, naturally; Helmhock; Golgharfinch; Scale; me; and I’d recommend Metrodora. She might be a tad… difficult, but she’s a gifted herbalist and her healing skills will be essential,’ Torent suggested to muttered agreement. She wasn’t a popular character, but at least everyone knew she wouldn’t be bribed or coerced.
‘What’s that human expression? I’d rather have her inside pissing out than outside pissing in,’ Scale summarised.
‘We need to discuss this message that the village has sent out; it’s scared a lot of people, who are concerned khoonti are circling,’ Golgharfinch said. (Khoonti are a predatory species that eat goblin eggs and new hatchlings; in this context, what Golgharfinch is saying is sort of akin to “big brother is watching”.)
‘I understand, but I agree with what Ben – or the village – is asking for,’ Torent replied, clearly uncomfortable with a sentient village. ‘In order to best make use of our villagers, we need to know what their abilities are for, say, fetching wood. Then it – he – can calculate our resource potential for wood. However, I understand the concern about allowing anyone full access to your stats; people still don’t trust each other – and I wouldn’t share such personal details with my wife, let alone a stranger.’
‘It isn’t only that, but just because someone might be good at fetching wood, it doesn’t mean they want to; they might want to be a hunter instead,’ Philippa added.
Torent disagreed. ‘In these early stages, it’s best to allocate workers.’
‘No! Just no! If we start that process now, then when will it be reversed? Some 200 years later, our great-grandchildren will still be being forced into jobs because of some flimsy pretence or another,’ Philippa argued hotly.
‘I agree. As we say, false values make for false associations,’ Scale added. ‘We goblins are known for our trickery; we accept no compromises in contracts between ourselves. What’s written is the contract; we won’t accept “short-term policies”, and all agreements are made under the assumption that they’re made to last. If you tell my people we’re to work based on our stats, it will be taken as… doctrine.’
‘Yes, we need to concern ourselves with the founding principles of the village and not short-term gains,’ clarified Golgharfinch, who’d spent more time amongst non-goblins.
Torent laughed boisterously. ‘I’m pleased; everyone seems to accept that we’re creating something generational. Indeed, let’s set up our guiding values.’
*
Ben studied the stats of the few people who had allowed him access and curled his noncorporeal eyebrow. These people were a mess. They were clearly self-assigning attributes and had – equally as clearly to Ben’s mind – changed their minds. One of the people had the stats of a level-7 hunter mixed with a level-5 brawler (brawling and other combat sports were placed into level classes rather than weight classes). Were they purposefully a poor hybrid or had they changed careers?
Regardless, Ben explored the possibility of resetting people’s attribute points. The usual method would be to ask scholars and priests, and then consult scrolls. Ben, however, had a different method: he could see the algorithms that made up the rules of reality – he could see the “matrix” – and so he placed a part of his consciousness into what he classified as “research” and used it to discover the possibilities for resetting points. So, now he had a research field; a resource field; a population counter; a mean, mode and median for the level of the citizens; and a few other measurements that were mostly used for experimental fields – such as his copulation field, which his human side quickly decided was impractical.
The troubling aspect was the human value. In order to level up the village to get the ability to reset stats, the amount of time his formulae were returning entered into the infinite – and yet his formulae were accurate. According to his maths, the time it would take a human to reach, say, level 15 was greater than a human’s lifespan. There was an intangible figure that reduced the final value, and that figure was based on individual drive, opportunity and other vagaries, to which Ben had given the name “chaos”. Because of this, he couldn’t find the value for the time it would take to reach the required village level.
Fortunately, there were other ways – one of which was faith points. But there was another problem: Amaka’s god was unreliable.
With a growing sound like tearing silk, accompanied by a crisp, blue light expanding like a cheap Star Trek graphic, Ben appeared back in the corporeal world.
Father Bloxby watched the apparition with interest, and Ben returned the look with his own scrutiny.
Name: “Father” Luciano Ludwick Bloxby, “Old Man”, “Grandad Bee”, “The Tea Father”, “Heretic”
Race: bastard
A bastard race, not worthy of detailing – this is by general consensus of the common races.
Genus: Mongrel (made up of at least three different species)
There are many different mongrel races, depending on the ancestry of the person. However, mongrels are looked down on by the common races and are considered a “bastard” race unless they have any noteworthy traits. Two such examples are the Glasya-Labolas and the chimera, who have gained acceptance by being really fucking terrifying.
Affiliation: Mrs Ogg
Specialisation: n/a
Class: E
State: mellow
Level: 184
Health 3,874/5,000, stamina 2,000/4,250, magicka 10,000/15,000
Endowment: unknown
Curses: unknown
‘The Tea Father and Heretic?’ was the first thing Ben said after reading Luciano’s description.
Luciano laughed a warm and well-used laugh. ‘Ah yes, The Tea Father was a jest as I always have a kettle ready for tea. And Heretic is the most frequent insult people think of when they learn of my lineage. Compared to many of my kind, those names are rather tame.’
‘Perhaps this was a mistake. Someone who takes on such aliases can’t be capable of managing a holy tithe with a god,’ Ben said bluntly.
Luciano looked confused, ‘A holy tithe? If you mean being a member of the clergy, a father of Mrs Ogg and leader of a church – well, hut – then yes, I’m able to be her representative. She’s more interested in a person’s actions than a person’s reputation.’
‘Then she must be a very weak and feeble goddess.’
‘She was once mortal; she and Esme were the protectors of their land, and Mrs Ogg gathered a large family, commanding it with a fair amount of strictness. However, her family grew, and eventually, everyone considered themselves to be an unofficial member of the Ogg family. The entirety of the region looked to her as their matriarch. Belief or faith is a type of magic, you see, and she was transcended to godhood. Due to her humble origins, she takes godliness with a pinch of salt, so perhaps she may not be the most powerful of gods, yet she’s more than capable of offering bounties and rewards.’
‘She generates faith points and allows them to be spent on miracles?’
‘“Miracles” isn’t the term she uses, but yes. If you wish to be reborn into flesh, that can happen under her guidance.’
‘No, I wish for the village to acquire faith points, but as Amaka is often absent and her goddess is mercurial, I was seeking a more reliable presence. I wish to buy attribute resets for members of the village.’
‘An interesting idea, and yes, Mrs Ogg is able to do this. May I enquire as to why?’
‘Many people don’t know what they wish to be as they grow, or they change their minds, depending on circumstances. Reinvesting points is the fastest way to increase productivity.’
‘A worthy cause; thank you for thinking about us. Faith points can be spent between gods; however, it will mostly cause friction, as gods are jealous, and it isn’t unusual to receive two levels of taboo from even the simplest of purchases. Now Mrs Ogg has a good relationship with most gods, so this shouldn’t be too much of an issue; however, there are two pitfalls. Firstly, as you so bluntly state,’ Luciano said with a self-mocking smile, ‘she isn’t the most powerful. Resetting stats is within her ability, but upgrading buildings to level 5 isn’t in her power, so depending on your requests, she may or may not be able to act. Secondly, there are many gods who won’t accept points being spent with any other god, so if Amaka’s is one such god, we may face the destruction of the village.’
‘How would we know?’
Luciano offered Ben a cup of tea, took one for himself and sat on the floor next to his blooming asters.
‘I shall commune with Mrs Ogg; she may know offhand what Amaka’s god’s feelings are. If not, she’ll inform us of how best to proceed,’ Luciano suggested.
‘My thanks,’ Ben said, and then started to dissipate his corporeal form.
‘Wait!’ Luciano cried.
Ben reappeared.
‘Before you go, how are you? How are you feeling? It must be challenging for you to have a new form, new responsibilities and a new abstract view on reality. Are you feeling well?’ Luciano probed.
‘My emotions are intentionally retarded,’ Ben stated.
‘Oh my, that can’t be wise. May I ask why?’
‘What use would emotional context be? I must manage the village, and the best method of doing so is to ignore the calls of the organic and think of the future… of the most ergonomic method of village growth.’
Luciano bit a chunk of cake, musing on this statement. ‘Hmm, I’m not sure I agree. What, for instance, makes a flower beautiful? When do the ingredients become the cake? At what point does “cake” happen?’
‘Meaning?’ Ben replied, confused.
‘If beauty and joy are intangible, we need your human side to help manage our mental well-being, to create the best possible village from both a mechanical and a psychological perspective. That is, a village that brings us joy, comfort and beauty, not just form, function and practicality. The algorithm and the biological.’
‘But I’m dead. I don’t wish to open myself up to the prospect of never seeing the next phase of life, knowing I’ll forever see green fields but never touch them, and realising my wife and child live without me.’
‘I see. It’s an interesting proposition. Is it our emotions that make us human, and if so, do you lose your humanity by curtailing your emotions? I’d like to hear about your family; please tell me about them.’
*
‘Where are all these quests coming from?’ Roderick, the village’s clerk, asked Torent.
‘Apparently, Ben is able to create them – although I’m not sure about his reward structure. He has a strange idea of what comprises a difficult quest. Kill ten Hercules beetles for 5,000 experience points. Return one tree – presumably chopped down – to the village for 500 experience points. So returning ten trees has the same points value as the beetles. Really? And each faith point is 100 experience points? I’ve been trying to organise a meeting with him, but the soonest I can get is early next week,’ Torent complained.
‘Still, it isn’t easy to cut down a tree.’
‘No, but why would anyone risk their life to kill ten beetles when they could chop down ten trees? Then we’d have an infestation of Hercules beetles and an influx of wood.’
With a growing sound like tearing silk, accompanied by a crisp, blue light, Ben appeared back in the corporeal world.
Torent didn’t as much as flinch at the apropos apparition, but Roderick jumped out of his seat.
‘Ah, Ben, your ears must have been burning,’ Torent stated, somewhat irked. ‘I hope we didn’t offend you, but if that’s what it took to summon you, I should have cursed you out days ago.’
Ben shrugged. ‘I hear everything, and so I heard your conversation. So, in a sense, yes, my ears were burning. However, nothing you said was insulting.’
‘Then why appear now? Not that I’m not grateful.’
‘I’ve been discussing the possibility of adding more “human” into my process,’ Ben said. ‘So I’ve put some things on hold to discuss matters of the village.’
‘Ah, well, I think you’ve been given some wise counsel,’ Torent declared as he tried to marshal his thoughts.
‘In relation to your discussion about quest rewards, I felt it was more incumbent on me to reward low-risk quests to help stabilise our village’s population,’ Ben explained, anticipating the question.
‘That’s a very commendable response; however, we need the monsters and fiends kept at bay.’
‘We’re in a high-risk area; I anticipate a loss of 10%–20% of our village to fiends per year, should the rewards be increased.’
‘Yes, and that would be tragic, of course, but we need to encourage the questers as, ultimately, they’ll be the lifeblood of the village. They’ll find rewards, offer protection for travellers, allow our traders to pass freely and gain strength through combat – all of this will drive our economy. The strong will thrive, and until the weak level up, they can seek protection from the strong.’
‘And all of this will be taxed, I assume?’
‘Well, of course, and we can use the income to pay for labour and goods to increase the village.’
‘And the strong become rich, and – possibly – the rich become strong.’
‘Strength, vision and risk deserve rewards, and we must encourage that. Wealth is success, and we wish for fruitful people. We must encourage that; a free market and rich people show the world that we’re a successful village,’ Torent agreed. ‘I want to see rich people; it shows we’ve done things correctly.’
‘That does build a barrier between people; wealth is a source of jealousy,’ Ben offered as an argument.
‘True, but people are jealous of others’ levels. Yet surely you don’t suggest we have an egalitarian approach to levelling? We can’t shun or discourage wealth, especially as the village will gain in the form of taxing the rich.’
‘Perhaps I should introduce a tax on experience?’
‘Is that possible?’
‘We can make a village creed, a law and a motto; set an ambition to reach; and any who agree to follow it can also help develop the village by having a tax on experience. I have so far pooh-poohed any thought of doing such a thing.’
‘I agree; experience is more vital to people’s safety.’
‘A village motto? Such as?’ Roderick asked, interested, finally joining the conversation.
‘“Prosperity and cohesion”,’ Torent offered.
‘I don’t believe Amaka would agree to any such rhetoric; I believe the word “bollocks” would be used,’ Ben countered.
‘Yes, she lacks vision, that one. How about “Come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough”? I think that would meet her rather blunt standards,’ Torent moaned.
‘“You’re going to get your fucking head kicked in!”,’ Roderick chanted.
‘You need to stop going to the circus, Roderick,’ Torent scolded.
‘Yes, she would probably like that. We should sit on it; I have no wish to be connected to that for the rest of my existence,’ Ben decided.
‘Well, one of my other questions was about faith points; why are you pricing them so high when they’re basically useless?’ Torent queried.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
‘That’s a common misconception. Faith points are one of the more valuable forms of currency on the Sphere. My current purpose is to retrain people for their new lives here, as many people are currently next to useless. Nevertheless, they have sufficient stat points to become competent masons, joiners, carpenters, weavers, etc.,’ Ben returned.
‘Interesting – I hadn’t heard of that possibility. But why would the village pay for that for someone? Shouldn’t they accrue their own points?’ Torent pushed.
‘You surprise me; surely you can see how we can generate revenue from selling faith points back? To reset stats requires 5 faith points, so when someone comes to me to reset them, I can charge them the cost of 5 faith points,’ Ben suggested.
‘Yes, yes, that might be the best thing,’ Torent concluded, nodding, with a glint of avarice in his eyes.
‘So what are our current levels of resources and our resource-gathering rate?’ Roderick asked, and they got down to discussing the minutia for a while.
*
Crowdell and Mund were goblin twins, which meant that they both came out of the same egg. Goblin twins were one of the rarest forms of twins amongst the races, with two souls formed from one egg. They had rare abilities from birth – such as sensing each other’s location and emotional state, the ability to combine spells, or the ability to magnify a spell’s potency – and they were able to share health, stamina and mana, amongst other skills.
They also had another feature that made them unique amongst goblins: they were builders.
Normally, goblins carved out their homes from a rock face, not unlike dwarfs. But dwarfs would also build castles under mountains, whereas goblins carved out their castles to incorporate the randomness of nature into their designs, and they did not tame the ground with artificial walls and floors.
‘It’s a wall,’ Crowdell said with a snort, and then spat out a wad of something that isn’t worth mentioning.
‘It’s the boundary of the village,’ Ben corrected him, looking at the 4-foot-high stone wall. It looked like people had just found random stones and didn’t bother shaping them.
‘You want it bigger?’ Mund asked. ‘More village?’
‘That isn’t how it works; you can expand the wall, but it won’t count as a village structure,’ Ben explained.
‘So?’ Mund asked.
‘As you work on it, your interface will highlight the placement,’ Ben answered.
‘Right, right. What size are we talking? We wanna know how long we’ll be,’ Mund pushed, as Crowdell poked and prodded the wall.
‘It should take you less than three days,’ Ben said.
‘So it’s just the wall?’ Crowdell reiterated, him being the slower of the brothers.
‘Precisely,’ Ben replied.
Mund shrugged. ‘Not worth it,’ he concluded, snorting again. ‘The time-to-experience ratio is just a waste.’
‘You’ll gain additional experience as it’s a village project,’ Ben confirmed.
‘All I’m saying is that it’s three days’ simple work,’ Crowdell grumbled.
‘My brother’s right; what perks are we discussing?’ Mund asked.
‘For a start, there’s a master mason position open, and the village needs rebuilding,’ Ben cajoled.
Mund grinned. ‘Ah, now you’ve sparked my interest.’
‘It’s a wall,’ Crowdell persisted.
‘My brother likes a challenge,’ Mund explained.
‘Then do it in two days,’ Ben challenged them, and then left.
Crowdell turned to Mund and shook his head. ‘Big mouth.’
*
Ben appeared before the village smith, Jorden, and looked around at the sad blacksmith’s forge.
‘We require some basic tools,’ Ben said.
‘Oh aye, I heard you were still around,’ Jorden replied, glancing over at Ben with a surprised look but showing no sign of pleasure that the hunter was still alive.
‘How long will it take you to make basic tools: hoes, spades, shovels and rakes?’
Jorden picked up a brick and tossed it into the forge, which was filled with crap. (Not literal crap, but scrap.) ‘Do you see all of this? Just what do you expect me to do exactly?’
‘Clean it out and get some help; we have the basics here to produce low-quality items.’
‘Low quality? I’ll be lucky to get something that even works.’
‘It doesn’t have to be great; we just need to start working the land.’
Jorden shook his head. ‘I’d just be wasting my time; I wouldn’t get any levels out of this crap.’
Ben remembered Jorden from when Ben was alive, and he now remembered why he disliked the man. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any other smith around; at this point, Ben would take a newly levelled over Jorden. (A “newly levelled” means someone who has just reached the age where they become level 1; until then, children are given the class “U” and have no level.)
‘Irregardless, it would be helping the village,’ Ben replied.
‘“Irregardless” isn’t a word,’ Jorden corrected, folding his arms.
‘Irr… be that as it may, you’ll be helping the village,’ Ben declared, feeling a surge of emotion for the first time since becoming the village.
‘Such as?’ Jorden was waiting for Ben to make the first move.
‘We’ll pay you extra, and you’ll get help to start the forge, which is free labour.’
‘Everyone’s getting free labour; I want double and no rent on the smithy.’
‘No, I don’t care that you’re the only smith; the village needs its income. Double, I’ll accept, but free rent for a year only,’ Ben countered.
Jorden shrugged and turned his back.
‘And free materials for the furnace,’ Ben added.
‘Make that two years, then you’ve got a deal,’ Jorden concluded. He may have been the only smith, but on the other hand, smithing was his only way of making money, so he needed the rest of the village as much as they needed him. Also, he’d be working for practically pure profit for the next two years.
Ben, for his part, immediately put “find a new smith” at the top of his to-do list.
Assuming that the tools would be ready, Ben started assigning tasks to get the village functioning again. Currently, it was classed as a campsite rather than a village, and that was due to all the damaged and dilapidated buildings.
Settlement name: Tumbleswood
Would you like to rename the settlement? This is a one-time opportunity: settlements can only be renamed when they’ve been conquered/rediscovered.
Classification: campsite
What you have here is a plot of land with a load of debris.
Size: 16 acres
(An acre on the Sphere is defined as the area of a field that can be ploughed and sown by the plant-crop spell when cast by a level 10 mage with exactly 50 mana points [there’s also a highly tedious description of what statistics the mage should have included in that]. Interestingly, the size isn’t too different to the English measurement. This is why most people still use oxen.)
Morale: low
These people have been through a lot; some of them are refugees and others have left their old settlement in hope of a better life, but they remain wary.
Production efficiency reduced by 5%.
Twinned with: none
Production:
Wood – currently, 9 tonnes gathered from the woods per day, store 0
Stone – currently, 3 tonnes accumulated per day from clearing out derelict buildings, store 0 (rubble collected in tumbledown buildings doesn’t count)
Metal – currently, 1 tonne accumulated per day from clearing out derelict buildings, store 0 (see previous statement)
Food – currently, 234 portions of food produced per day, store 6,543 portions; you’ll run out of food in under 3 days
Water – currently, a nearby river is used by people to refill their water bottles
Diplomacy: n/a
Fame: none, you are unknown
Research points: none
Faith point: none
Experience points: 1,000 experience points generated per day to reward quests and things, plus 100,000 experience points for establishing a village, store 101,000 experience points
Population: 2,543
Notable structures: peculiar statues
Food was a massive priority; many hunters actually specialised in finding and killing U-class animals, and it was considered a very elite profession as the hunters would be out for weeks or months hunting and trapping. Just because the prey didn’t fight back, it didn’t mean it wasn’t massively challenging or rewarding if you used your own skills and didn’t buy overpowered weapons. And then there was fishing; Ben had loved fishing…
He cut out that line of thought and returned to thinking about the settlement.
Settlement name: New Hopesville
Are you sure you want to rename the settlement “New Hopesville”?
Amaka would kill him.
Settlement name: New Freedom
Are you sure you want to rename the settlement “New Freedom”?
Amaka would still kill him.
Settlement name: Amaka Sucks
Are you sure you want to rename the settlement “Amaka Sucks”?
It would be funny for all of 10 seconds, and Amaka wasn’t around for the joke.
Settlement name: Benland
Are you sure you want to rename the settlement “Benland”?
Settlement name: Kingdom of Ben
Are you sure you want to rename the settlement “Kingdom of Ben”?
Neither of them had any real ring to them, and again, it would be funny for all of 10 seconds.
Settlement name: Gjfrafigz
Are you sure you want to rename the settlement “Gjfrafigz”?
He’d randomly hit his mental keyboard in the hope that something interesting would appear.
Settlement name: Bryncaster
Are you sure you want to rename the settlement “Bryncaster”?
Congratulations
New settlement name: Bryncaster
You’ve fused words from multiple langues: “bryn”, meaning hill, and “caster”, meaning camp. Due to your haphazard blend of two langues, your settlement name is meaningless.
Ben smiled; he didn’t care that he’d squashed together different langues – he liked the resulting word.
Next, he created quests for the different jobs he required completing. The first set of jobs he created was simple clearing jobs – such as clearing the paths, the buildings and the farm lands – and the second set of jobs was sorting out the piles of debris into different materials. Ben also attached a timer to each of the quests, with diminishing returns on the experience; he wanted the settlement cleared and sorted as soon as possible, so that they could start working the fields and restoring as much of the village as possible, as quickly as possible.
An alert appeared in Ben’s formulations, and he focused himself on the epicentre of the commotion; the reason the word “epicentre” occurred to him was because the commotion was below ground. He appeared in a growing cloud of dust and the diminishing reverberations of falling rocks; a party was close by, and they noticed Ben’s fancy materialisation display with mistrust and a wary unease.
‘O local genie, we didn’t mean to disturb thy,’ one of the party said.
‘Thee; disturb thee,’ another of the group corrected.
‘O local genie, thy didn’t mean to disturb thee,’ the first voice tried again.
‘I’m not a local god; I’m the settlement interface: Ben,’ he said, which didn’t help the confusion in the slightest. (Interestingly – or not, depending on your perspective – a “genie” is the blue guy with the wishes, whereas “local genie” refers to a local god. A local god is usually called a “small god”, and this just means it doesn’t play the Great Game. The Great Game is the game played by the gods [except the small gods], and it was devised by them as a way to stop direct interference with mortals due to all the genocide and stuff. The Great Game is the cause of the levelling system and interfaces.)
‘If you’re the settlement’s interface, then why can we see you? Nobody can see someone else’s interface,’ a voice called out.
Ben used his knowledge of the settlement to get the names of the party to lessen his own confusion.
Name: Vytautas Attard
Race: dwarf
Genus: Common
Affiliation: Hephaestus
Specialisation: miner
Class: C
State: surprised
Level: 25
Health 1,250/1,250, stamina 1,250/1,250, magicka 1,250/1,250
Endowment: unknown
Curses: unknown
Name: Nerijus Diaz
Race: dwarf
Genus: Common
Affiliation: Hephaestus
Specialisation: miner
Class: C
State: surprised
Level: 27
Health 1,350/1,350, stamina 1,350/1,350, magicka 1,350/1,350
Endowment: unknown
Curses: unknown
Name: Gains Landfall
Race: dwarf
Genus: Common
Affiliation: Hephaestus
Specialisation: miner
Class: C
State: annoyed
Level: 22
Health 1,100/1,100, stamina 1,100/1,100, magicka 1,100/1,100
Endowment: unknown
Curses: unknown
Name: Balázs Knarepeat
Race: dwarf
Genus: Common
Affiliation: Hephaestus
Specialisation: miner
Class: C
State: alarmed
Level: 22
Health 1,100/1,100, stamina 1,100/1,100, magicka 1,100/1,100
Endowment: unknown
Curses: unknown
Name: Colt Stilman
Race: human
Genus: Common
Affiliation: Mafdet
Specialisation: miner
Class: C
State: confused
Level: 18
Health unknown, stamina unknown, magicka unknown
Endowment: unknown
Curses: unknown
Name: Ben Smithson
Race: human
Genus: Common
Affiliation: none
Specialisation: none
Class: C
State: confused
Level: 15
Health 750/750, stamina 100/750, magicka 750/750
Endowment: unknown
Curses: unknown
Name: Labama Shaqiri
Race: gnome
Genus: Common
Affiliation: Vishnu
Specialisation: geobiology ·
Class: C
State: amused
Level: 27
Health 1,350/1,350, stamina 1,350/1,350, magicka 1,350/1,350
Endowment: unknown
Curses: unknown
Name: Bi Thapar
Race: goblin
Genus: Common
Affiliation: To-Kabinana
Specialisation: spelunking
Class: C
State: peeved
Level: 34
Health 1,700/1,700, stamina 1,700/1,700, magicka 1,700/1,700
Endowment: unknown
Curses: unknown
‘You’re a group of miners, I see; that would explain why you’re here. But what was the disturbance I measured?’ Ben asked, getting straight to the point.
Half of the group exchanged uneasy glances, whilst Bi and Labama seemed unconcerned.
Vytautas had been the first to speak on Ben’s appearance and seemed to be in charge of the group.
‘Well, you see,’ he started shiftily, ‘that’s a personal matter, now.’
‘With your seismic activities, you’ve caused a disturbance to the settlement and endangered the foundations of the bunkhouse that sits atop this tunnel. This is no longer a “personal matter”.’
‘Ah, well, you see—’ Vytautas tried again, but cut himself off on seeing Ben’s look.
‘It’s an individual matter?’ Labama tried.
Ben shook his head. ‘Try again,’ he insisted.
‘It’s a financial matter,’ Ben (Smithson) said to loud shouts of, ‘Shut up!’
‘I see; whilst I’m not driven by financial gain, as a representative of the settlement’s council, I must inform you that any financial matters should be shown to me or another council member, and we shall discreetly record your find – or other such financial gain – and take a 10% tax on it,’ Ben explained.
‘Well, 10% ain’t bad,’ Ben (Smithson) stated, trying to appease his group.
‘Aye, but when we sell it to them, we’ll be taxed again,’ Balázs complained.
‘If you’d gone through me, I’d have authorised your work and paid you a comparable market rate for whatever minerals you find, removing the double taxation. Unless you were trying to defraud the settlement?’ Ben enquired.
‘What? Ah… well… no… of course not,’ Vytautas said hesitantly.
‘How comparable?’ Colt asked.
‘Are we talking market rates? If not, we’re in no rush to sell,’ Gains stated, ready for a long negotiation.
‘All resources found, mined, hunted, farmed or acquired in any other way in the settlement – apart from by approved venders – must be given to the settlement in return for a fair payment, or kept but with a payment to the settlement,’ Ben replied.
‘Who’s to say it’s a fair price?’ Gains challenged.
‘I suggest you start a guild to discuss such matters, as this is a stance I shall not be dissuaded from,’ Ben insisted.
‘How will you know?’ Colt sneered.
‘As the settlement improves, so, too, will my perception,’ Ben confirmed.
Colt snorted. ‘So you won’t,’ he stated, and then laughed dismissively.
‘Correct; however, I do know where all the mine entrances are. If a guild were to be created, then they’d presumably decide to limit entrance to the mine – thus eliminating the problem,’ Ben replied coldly. ‘Otherwise, if I felt there was cause, I’d simply task more of my presence to monitoring all mines in the settlement.’
‘Well, what would be the point of that? We’d be best to explore elsewhere,’ Gains whined.
‘Two reasons,’ Ben explained. ‘Firstly, you’re safer here. If you discover a nest of monsters, the entire contingent of settlement guards is here to back you up. Secondly, you don’t have to mine here, but you could use this as your base to explore outside. You’ll be rewarded for expanding our knowledge of the local area, so I recommend taking a cartographer with you. Plus, when you run low on supplies, you’ll have a safe base to return to.’
‘Wait. What does exploring elsewhere have to do with you? Why was that your second point? What do you get out of it?’ Colt asked cautiously.
‘Well, you’ll buy your items from here, thus contributing to your taxes, and presumably you’ll own a house, which will be bought from the settlement and generate more income for us. Also, for our defence of the settlement from fiends, knowledge of the local area is essential. Lastly, most of what you mine will also be sold here, which we’ll either buy directly or, once more, gain tax from. So, either way, the settlement wins,’ Ben concluded.
‘And this guild you spoke of, what’s its use?’ Balázs cut in.
‘We’ll charge the guild a yearly fee; in turn, they’ll presumably charge a fee to join – perhaps an annual fee – unless they’re successful enough to not worry about that. So if you wish to mine in the village, you’ll need to join. Maybe they won’t be so concerned with people mining outside the settlement. So if you don’t join, you’ll still be able to live here – I’ll push for this as I require inhabitants to grow as a settlement,’ Ben shared.
‘Interesting; yet all this is theoretical and future-proofing. Alas, none of these protocols are in place today, so we’re free to mine and keep all the resources we find, right?’ Labama checked.
Ben thought for a while. ‘For today, I could agree to that.’
‘Three days,’ Colt countered.
‘Two,’ Ben replied.
‘Agreed,’ came the chorused reply.