After several hours of walking, they came upon the open field and the dozens of shacks that made up Casterville village. Only now that he was showing off his new ‘town’ did Caster realize how poorly the place looked.

The town was not well-kept; many buildings had fallen into disrepair if they were ever fully functioning in the first place. A large number of buildings were boarded up with old, rotting planks and covered by a tattered cloth or a piece of canvas to keep out the elements—a testament to the poverty of the Badlands.

They made their way out of the tree line and crossed over what was left of the ‘crater.’ Now it was only a minor dip in the ground that led them up to the outskirts of the village.

The villagers were still busy, but their activity had died down and only a dozen or so still roamed the streets carrying various tools and moving what sparse supplies they’d gathered. Sherman was near the center, and as his eyes met with Caster’s, he ran from his place in the village center where he was giving orders and knelt before Caster.

“Master Caster! We have finished the filling of the crater as you ordered.” Sherman said proudly.

“Nice! Woody, Elenore, this is Sherman. He’s the mayor of this village,” Caster turned toward his two new companions.

Sherman stood, and bowed to the newcomers.

“I only serve in Caster’s place when he is absent. I am glad you have accepted his benevolence’s offer to help him build a better world and save us from the evils of the lesser Gods,” Sherman said.

“Never thought I’d see someone from the Badlands praising a God,” Woody said, scratching his flowing beard.

“I wasn’t lying when I told you his feats,” Phoebe said, proudly.

“M’lord, we have buried the invaders a thousand paces away in order to protect our… treasure,” Sherman continued.

He must be talking about the water supply. I don’t think Woody or new Elenore will betray us or spread the word about water being here. In fact, I don’t think either of them is going to leave anytime soon.

“It’s okay Sherman, these two are on our side. We don’t have to keep the well or any other secrets from them,” Caster said aloud. Sherman hesitated but bowed again.

“Very well. What would you have us do now?”

“We’re going to have a meeting right now to decide on what we should do next,” Caster proclaimed, boldly stepping into the middle of their gathering at the center of the village.

“But I didn’t come here to micromanage and lay every board where I want it to be. Sherman, you have more than proved your competence in my absence, and so from here on out you are officially the Lord of Casterville whenever I am absent.”

“M…m’lord! I am not worthy…” Sherman began falling to his knees again. “No, I am! If you say it, then it must be!” He stood straight up, full of confidence and humility. “I will carry this honor to my utmost ability.”

“Woody, as long as you’re here you’re in charge of every building and structure inside the lands Casterville controls. You have free reign over what gets put where, though I do have a couple of personal requests.” Caster looked to Woody.

“Ohh? Free reign you say?” Woody continued scratching his beard, thinking to himself.

I can’t read his mind, but by the way, he takes his time to carve things like that duck and that he complained that the Great War destroyed his works, I think he takes pride in what he builds. He’ll probably perfect artistic control over things.

“Of course. Your talents, your village. It’s up to you to make the plans and see that Casterville becomes the greatest City-State you’ve ever made.”

“Alrighty then, I’ll see what I can whip up.” Woody nodded, looking over the sad state of affairs the village was in. “Won’t be easy, but I’ll see what I can do.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Elenore, you’ll be in charge of the city’s defenses. I’ll need you to train scout out the villages here that you think would be best suited for training in the combat stats. You and Woody will need to coordinate on building a wall, barracks, armory, and other things like that.”

“You’re callin’ me a general? Me?! Why, I never thought this day would come,” Elenore seemed shocked.

If she’s anything like the last Elenore, I have a feeling she’ll be perfect for the job.

“Abel here can be your second in command. Sherman says he’s the strongest person this village has.”

“Second in command??? I’m the best fighter here! I’m not gonna be told to do by some girl-OW!” Abel protested before Elenore immediately put him in a headlock and brushed her knuckles over his skull

“Welcome to the Casterville military kiddo!” She laughed.

“Phoebe, you’ll be in charge of this city’s temple.”

Phoebe looked toward him in surprise.

“Me? A priest?”

“Of course. You have the highest Faith stat in the village, right? It only makes sense. Plus…” Caster stepped closer, lowering his voice. “My plan is to make it seem like this village is totally neutral and welcomes all Elder Gods. That way their followers will come here, and we convert them to gain more information on our enemies.”

Phoebe’s eyes lit up. “Of course…”

Caster hesitated as an eerie grin spread across her face.

“Then I can capture them and drag them into the torture dungeons far below the surface, where they will be converted and follow the one true Elder God or be tortured until the end of their days as I heal their wounds only to tear their flesh away once more. No one will hear their heretical cries for mercy!” Phoebe grinned. “I accept this position, your Holiness.”

Holy shit. Wait, is she… blushing? What a freak!

"Now, that everyone has their roles…” Caster cleared his throat and recomposed himself.

“Woody, what kind of buildings do we need to build first in order to turn this village into a full-blown city?”

Woody thought for a moment.

"Always start with the basic four. Food, water, shelter, and protection. Apparently, this place already has a well, but we’ll need a better way of accessing the water than a bucket. Aqueducts will be required later, but for now, we can make do with simpler systems. Next is food. I assume you folks gather from the forest and the trade route to the north between Hale’s Pass and Kirkwall. We’ll need to plant our food from here on out, so it’s a good thing we have a decent amount of land to work with. These shacks look like they barely keep the rain out, we’ll need a huge amount of manpower to fell trees to construct a new and proper living complex. How many people are here?”

“We have just over 100 fully able people,” Sherman answered.

“Hmm. A third for logging, a third for farming and digging, a third for constructing the living complexes and walls ought to do the trick.”

“Agreed, Sir Andre.” Sherman nodded.

“General Elenore, will you be able to find who would be best at protecting the farmers, scouting the surrounding Badlands for threats, and guarding the walls once they’re built?” Sherman asked.

“Sure can!” She nodded.

Wow. They’re getting along already!

"Sounds like a plan." Caster said. “Sorry Phoebe, but the temple and courtrooms will have to wait until we have the basics complete.”

“I… understand, your Holiness,” Phoebe nodded solemnly.

I definitely don’t want to keep her waiting longer than I have to.

"Woody, how long do you think it will take to complete the living complex and the walls?”

“A few days, at most.”

“A few days!? Even with a thousand people, how could you do it that fast???”

“I have spent hundreds of years mastering the skills of crafting, smithing, and construction. When you’ve maxed out like me, boards tend to nail themselves together.” Woody chuckled.

Wow. I sure did pick the right guy.

"We'll get started right away, my lord!" Sherman said.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the results. Oh, and do any of you have an extra dagger or something? If I don't always want to use my full power if I have to teach someone else a lesson about messing with Casterville."

Sherman undid a leather strap that was hiding just above his boot. He handed Caster the item eagerly.

Item Added: Iron Dagger! Equip to Right Hand slot? [Yes] No

Iron Dagger A simple weapon with low damage output, but can be especially devastating when used for critical strikes. It should only be used in head-on combat if no other weapons are available.

"Thanks, Mayor Sherman! In the meantime, I'll be inside my sacred... orb. Phoebe, if anything goes wrong, just knock."

Caster held the Zz’Wrath up, and it grew in his hands. The group scattered away as it grew to its full size, 2-men tall. Caster stepped into the orb at the center and cleared his throat as the world vanished behind him.

“You bunch of bastards! What’s the big idea - keeping me dead for years!” Caster screamed at the abyssal sky within his orb.