Getting up at the crack of dawn was a habit by now, even if there wasn’t anyone there to enforce it this morning. Putting away the roll and preparing for the day was fast if not simple. From the sounds that were starting to fill the air, some of those settlers were early birds as well.

Not sure what else he should be doing, Ben wandered around where he had last seen Kinsoriel heading. Finding a huge dragon in the middle of a forest shouldn’t be hard, right? Well, yeah, it wasn’t. He’d be hard-pressed not to see the big black lump on the floor. He raised a brow as a random thought popped into his head. Was that really him? There were at least two others of similar size, and he’d never been up and operational before him.

Getting closer was the only way to know for sure. Stepping up to the reptile, he was able to confirm that it was indeed his MC via the facial structure and lack of scar. Strange how he wasn’t awake yet. Looking him over a bit longer, Ben saw the mighty dragon shaking in his sleep with short huffs. Was he having a nightmare? It reminded him of a dog. Something about seeing a normally intimidating creature like this struck him as funny. A light-hearted laugh wormed its way out of him as he pushed against the dragon’s chest.

Kinsoriel’s eyes opened up like a pair of blinds getting a yank on their cords. They focused on Benjamin who now asked, “You alright there?”

Groaning like a teenager getting out of bed, his protagonist stretched out all of his limbs until they had popped. Relief seemed most apparent after the one with his wings.

“I’m fine,” Kinsoriel said with a large yawn. Large bags formed under the dragon’s fiery eyes, which were also less intense than they usually were. It was an odd look putting it bluntly.

“You don’t look fine. You look more like the sandman hit you with a bus.”

A confused expression combined with his tired face. “I don’t know what any of that means, but,” he paused for another yawn, “I just had a rough night. That is all.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Ben left the matter alone. “Alright then. Well, now that everyone’s gotten their beauty rest, what are we supposed to be doing now?”

Looking up and to the side, it took the scholarly character more time to answer than usual. “As per Wex’s instructions, creating his altar should come first. It would need to be large enough to hold the whole city, so stability would be a big factor.” He began trailing off with smaller details around this altar, seemingly forgetting he was in a conversation.

“Kinsoriel,” Ben said, trying to get his attention. “Kinsoriel!” he said louder, still falling on deaf ears… er, ear fins. “KINSORIEL!” he shouted, finally getting results.

The dragon was uncharacteristically startled, jumping back a bit. “What?!” he said, flustered.

“What are we supposed to be doing now?” he reiterated, hopefully bringing him back on track.

“I am to oversee the construction of Wex’s altar. You,” he said while pointing a claw towards another part of the forest, “gather the deathbounds and keep them away from the dragons. You can’t send them away, but otherwise I don’t care how you do it. You’ll make your teacher proud and do this for me, right?”

Fighting off the urge to make a face, Ben agreed. Trying to say no would only sour their interactions. He’d still likely end up doing it anyway. Fake choices always rubbed him the wrong way, both as an Author and being presented with one himself.

“Splendid. If that is all, I’ll be seeing you later.”

Letting the frown out once he’d turned away, Ben walked towards where he remembered some people had gone. Somehow, he felt like he had more dignity being referred to as a servant. The thought of being a middle-managing man wrangler repulsed him more than he would have imagined.

“Benjamin!” he heard coming from a sing-song voice. Looking towards it, he saw Moira speedily walking towards him.

“Oh. Hey Moira,” he said with a wave. Parsing what she had said, he asked, “Why didn’t you call me Fayten?”

Panting a bit when she had caught up with him, she looked up and made an indication she wanted to whisper. Bending over a bit, she cupped one of her hands over his ear. “I don’t want to risk revealing your identity to everyone else, so I’ll address you by your disguise. I hope this doesn’t upset you.”

Nodding along, he couldn’t help but praise her. “That’s a great idea. You’re a clever cookie, you know that?” He wasn’t exaggerating either. Even he didn’t think of that risk, and yet, here she was being mindful of their environment.

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Looking away from him, she let out a nervous laugh. “Haha, yeah, thanks.”

After bringing her in on what Kinsoriel told him, they both continued.

Making small talk, Ben noted, “You seem more upbeat today. Did you sleep well?”

“I did, but it was mainly thinking some things through.”

“I’d hate to ask, but does it have to do with your shapeshifting?”

A sad look passed over her for a moment before returning to neutrality. “It has to do with that, yes.”

“I’m still really sorry about that happening to you.”

“Thanks, Benjamin, I do appreciate that. I just need to get an answer to a question I have, and then I’ll know what I need to do,”

Before he could ask what that question was, a group of people came into view. They looked to be standing around not doing anything. A dead campfire pit was between them, the only indication they had camped out.

“Hey you guys,” Ben said awkwardly, “could you get everyone to meet up here?”

Their eyes bore into him and Moira with distrust. “Who are you?”

“You can call me Benjamin,” he answered with a bow, “and it’s a pleasure to meet all of you”

Despite his polite demeanor, it didn’t seem to win over any of them. “Not going to bother telling us your last name then?”

Even if Ben felt like divulging that information, he couldn’t. Authors only had one name, and they were all unique. There was only one Benjamin, only one Stromwell, and so on. There wasn’t enough to make one up without it sounding awful, so he didn’t try.

“That is only for friends and family,” he boldly lied.

Regardless of whether they believed him or not, it didn’t look like they much appreciated it. Perhaps it was seen as very disrespectful where they had come from. They started to adopt more aggressive postures. Before anything could happen, one of them asked. “Aren’t you that guy that was all buddy-buddy with Wex’s champion?”

“Why yes, yes I am,” the ex-Author improvised with a sweat. “I’ve been tasked with overseeing the construction of this city. So, could you all get everyone assembled?”

The group looked amongst themselves before leaving to do just that. At least, Benjamin hoped as much. They could have just not wanted to talk to him after his connection was realized.

Under the assumption that he’d be seeing a workforce soon, he had to make sure he could play the part. His eyes went wide as he pondered before knowing exactly what he should do. The past him deserved a pat on the back and some kind words. One of the elements of meta-knowledge he’d chosen to remember was cities. It didn’t stop at their location or their history. He knew exactly how they were built and how to replicate those steps.

Slowly but surely, people started to appear in front of him. He directed them to wait until more people were present. When about as large a group from yesterday had been formed, Benjamin clapped his hands together and drew all eyes on him. Using all he knew about speeches from more inspirational characters, he presented himself as confidently as he could.

“Greetings everyone, my name is Benjamin, but you’ll be calling me many things from now on. One of which will be ‘Foreman’. I’ve been given the responsibility of turning this place you see now into a marvelous city for us all to live in.” He had to pause to make sure he didn’t say this next part with an attitude. “Under the gaze of the moon, under the guidance of Wex!”

High-energy cheering came from the diverse group. Some looked like the types that would get shoved into lockers in a more modern setting. Others looked like the ones that would do said locker shoving. They united here because of their worship of Wex, which meant one thing: They all liked to learn. All of them were bound to have a skillset of some use. And using them is just what Ben intended to do.

“The first step is for us to gather the materials we will need and clear out space. Wood, stone, water. If you are skilled enough to get those, please do so right now!”

About fifty or so people left to do exactly what he had said. Those that remained were waiting for their own tasks.

“Those still here will help me with the logistics. We will zone out where buildings will go, their dimensions, and whatever else. Follow me!”

Benjamin and his entourage began scouting out the area as he had proclaimed. Engineers and city planners came up with prime locations. They reluctantly took into account that the humongous dragons would be citizens of the city as well, adjusting size estimates of roads and housing districts. The more militarily minded looked for spots that would be more defensible and pointed them out. He had the artists make sketches of the proposed structures to help visualize them for everyone.

They all returned at the beginning of the night. Benjamin gathered what everyone was thinking. Woodsmen and other artisans had gotten a decent stock of materials, but it didn’t look like it would be particularly fast. All of them had prepared rations before coming, but they wouldn’t last forever. Winter would also be coming in a few months, so lodging was going to be important. He considered everything before drafting a timeline of which projects would need to come first. Stable food and water sources took priority, followed immediately after by secure housing.

A problem presented itself when Ben noticed that there were a good few new faces in the crowd. More people were coming. He’d heard that Wex had invited them all, so why did Ben think this would be it? There were bound to be many coming from all around the world. Sure they’d have more hands, but it also meant they would have more mouths and less space. At his estimates, they wouldn’t have enough time to solve these issues by then.

Sighing, Ben knew what needed to be done to get this to work. He excused himself and went towards the raised outcropping. He could see a few dragons overhead but paid them no mind. The foreman needed a chat with the boss.