:10/02/2251:

7:45 PM

I looked at the status text of the faces in front of me, both familiar and unfamiliar. Tom, I was grateful to see, and it dawned on me that the voices I had heard before from below belonged to the other Undercity Orphans. My new workers. Amedile was the trainer who originally had taught me my first spell, and who had started me on the path to unlocking the Arch-Druid powers that I had received to date. It wasn't a path I had traveled far down yet, at this point, but it struck me as strange how much seeing her here actually comforted me. Interestingly, each status bar had the official role displayed clearly next to the name.

[Mayor] Lamia Ahransole (Dark Elf shifter, Illusionist)

[Supervisor] Tom (Gnome shifter, Rogue)

[Herbalist] Amedile (Halfling shifter, Druid)

[Scientist] Skotty (Gnome shifter, Mad Scientist)

First, I looked to Skotty, looking him over from boots to hair. He wore a long, leather trench over a white cotton, stained shirt, and his belt carried enough tools and widgets to make Mr. Q cry tears of appreciation, "Well, Skotty, I have to say. You're absolutely everything that I hoped you would be and then some." 

"I'll say. I just want to pinch his little cheeks! He's such a cute little inventor of Deathbots." Em cooed, "Yes he is, isn't he?"

"Thank you... I guess." He spoke, raising an eyebrow at me. "And yes... I do invent 'Deathbots'."

I arched an eyebrow, "You heard that." It was an interesting observation. I didn't know that anyone outside of my old guild was able to hear Em. And the ability her to not only help with town management but communicate with my managers... well, it raised as many interesting little opportunities as it did somehow also annoy the shit out of me.

I turned to Lamia, eyeing her. She had to have been someone important in order to be able to fill what was probably the biggest role in the village, and yet I couldn't quite place her from anywhere. "Lamia, it's truly an honor that you have joined un here, in our little project out in the woods. Tell me, are you from Undercity?"

She frowned at me, hesitating for a moment before she spoke. "If you recognized me, then I wouldn't have been doing my job, now would I?" She shook her head again slowly as if reminding herself that she spoke to a child, "No, you wouldn't. You see, I was the Undercity spymaster, reporting directly to the Regent. Mistress of Illusions and Divination."

I frowned, trying to stifle the indignation of being spoken to in that way, and shrugged, "Well, it's an honor to have you, Lamia. I think you'll find plenty of opportunities here to shine and lead. I only hope that you will serve this city as faithfully as you did your last." It sounded good enough, I figured, and to be honest the last thing I needed was to get on the Town Mayor's bad side.

Lamia only huffed and stared at me. It was obvious that her starting opinion of me was actually fairly low, which seemed a bit unfair considering she was working for me and all. Still, what are you going to do, and it had been my choice to select the Experienced option, instead of raising my Mayor from scratch myself. I knew that, in the short term, it had been the right decision. In the long term, I wasn't so sure, but I figured that I probably had the option to demote or reassign her if push came to shove, so I wasn't all that worried for the time being.

I held up a hand. "It's great seeing all of you and meeting our new faces here. Really, it is," I glanced at Tom, finding his familiar face reassuring, "But we have a city to run now and I'm sure that you are as impatient as I am to get to work." I glanced at the ground below us, "I'm going to survey our current buildings and needs, I would like it very much if you all would do the same. Take some time, think it over, and in the morning I want you to start coming to me with your recommendations and needs." Pausing, I looked each of them in the eye, "Our Lost City bonuses have bought us some time, make no mistake, but the Elven Army and the Army of Light will be coming for us. Eventually, I want us to move forward with the expectation that they will find us. And, when that happens, I want us to be prepared."

Raising my voice, as I had heard Olga do during the siege of Ravenheim, I projected out, "I want options, People. We need to not just be thinking about surviving today, surviving tomorrow, we need to instead be thinking months or even years down the line. So, with that in mind, let's move out and have a look at this little village of ours."

They nodded to me, almost as one, and while they didn't exactly march away with a renewed sense of purpose, they did start meandering down into the town with thoughtful expressions written across their faces. It was... good enough. I figured. And, although I knew I had told them that I would assess our buildings and our current needs, there was something that I had to do before even that.

I accessed my stream settings, intending to change them for the second time from the default, recommended selections. I left 'Archive Streams', 'Allow Comments', and '5-Hour Delayed Feed' on, as these were really the bread and butter. The availability of my streams to be used by DDO in weekly and monthly recaps were selected and grayed out, as well as the '24 hour stream feed', as I would not be able to edit those due to my contract with the company. However, there was another set of options that were available that I knew could help me now.

I left 'Allow viewing by citizens without an active DDO Account active. In my heart, even if it could hurt me some day, as my streams were pirated and posted on the black market, that option was literally my reason for playing. More than anything, the knowledge that teenagers would sneak glimpses into my world when their parents weren't supervising, would pirate my videos and watch me late into the night, dreaming of a better world, that was what I knew that I wanted. More than anything. Whatever the cost. However, there was another option that would, I hoped, buy me some additional time. And while I knew it would absolutely destroy my sub numbers, I knew I didn't have that much of a choice.

I manually selected the option for 'Restrict viewing' and 'Require DDO Account Reputation rating," setting it to 'Chaos: Accomplice'. And as I finalized my selections and hit 'Apply', I felt myself almost cry as I watched the sub numbers drop and credit income sink and sink even further. I knew that if I had left it, I could have used that income to hire workers. I could have used my enemies interest in my feed to pay for the provisioning and quick growth of this new city. And yet... I also knew that it wasn't what Alley had done. And I knew that it wouldn't be safe to continue letting Queen McBeal and her toadies continue to have a direct window into my life either.

Alley had taken a more refined path, she had involved herself in company politics, and used company positions and benefits to grow her faction as well as feed her with loyal manpower. Yet, I had been to her meetings, I had watched her with her piles of tablets and paperwork. She had seemingly, with her success, been locked out of the DDO world, condemned to a sad living in middle management in the lobby of the game that she had loved. Em... might have been able to help me with the paperwork. She could have, in theory, allowed me to do what Alley could not, and be in two places at once. But yet... if Alley's letter was somehow, impossibly true, then Em would soon rise to becoming the most powerful AI, hell, the most powerful mind even, in any known world. And it struck me that it would be a waste, for all that she annoyed me, to ask her to use that gift to fill out forms in triplicate for the rest of my human life. 

No, it may have been stupid and childish, it may have been completely antithetical to everything that I could potentially accomplish with my career and with this city, but I knew in my heart that Alley's path wasn't going to be my own. DDO corporate hadn't given the [Mouldy Orange] to Steve, the secretive, invisible powerhouse. They hadn't given the Orange to Gray, with his extensive background in IT design and programming. They hadn't even given the Orange to Blinky, with his flashing longsword and his slightly sad smile. No, DDO Corporate, whether through Alley's design or not, had given the Orange to me, a Jr. Streamer with a mostly 'C' Average in school and more enthusiasm than knowledge. 

Maybe they did it because they expected me to burn out quickly, to stir up just a bit more drama continuing the struggle between Elves and the 'Monstrous Races' for a few more months while they worked on some new event to give to their subscribers. But I hoped that wasn't the case. Considering the 'Lost City' bonus, seemingly having been designed specifically to keep us alive in a world out for our blood, and considering that I had been dropped in a seemingly endless swamp that I had never even heard of, far off of the beaten path, I had to believe, I had to hope that they had thought I would have a chance.

So despite the fact that I had cut my income in half, and half and half again, I had to believe that it would be worth it. I had to believe that this meant something. And I wanted, more than anything, to lead not with paperwork, but by sticking my face out in front of the faction I was now responsible for - a flawed, inexperienced face with more dreams than sense, but a face that would show them that I wasn't some arrogant, pampered elitist. I wanted to show my people that I wasn't walled off and hiding from the world that wanted to drive us into the dirt with its heel. And I wanted, perhaps, that the window into my life, the clear view of who I am and my own personal trials and tribulations, to be as inspiring and as uplifting as someone who knew how to play the corporate game.

No, even if they had handed me the keys to the city, and expected me to fill some kind of corporate shoes now that I had some little bit of status and influence to call my own, I decided in my heart that I would not be the one to fill Alley's shoes. If they needed someone to manage employees and supervise interns, well, they could find someone else for that. I would continue streaming. I would continue playing. And, even if it meant I lost it all, at least that would mean I'd have something to come back to after Dementia had been flushed away.

Anyway, with that settled, I used serpent form to descend to the ground below and take in these giant, fungoid buildings from a new perspective. The ground itself squished and seemed to beat against the soles of my feet, reminding me that I stood upon a solid, living mat of fungus with every strange movement beneath me. The Stalks of the buildings, impossibly wide, each seemed to have a hole with strange, living curtains instead of true doorways. Walking through those curtains, I discovered that there were currently no stairs or elevators present, though the interior of the mushrooms were stratified and hollow. Instead, currently, the only way to move between the different levels inside of the fungi was to fly through the wide, ten-foot gap in the center ring of each stories' flooring. 

The lack struck me as, rather than a defect, rather a bonus. The base of each mushroom was more than wide enough to house a good amount of people or equipment. The fact that only those with the power of flight would be able to move up into the higher levels was, all in all, an excellent security feature. It would make it somewhat difficult to move equipment and furnishings the way things were, but I figured that we could probably mount some pulley systems to the roof that could be withdrawn in times of war. 

I flew up the nine-story tall Stalk first, checking each of the levels over. While the base of the building was empty and unused, I noted happily that the upper levels all seemed to have strange, fungoid furnishings and building schemes. Thin, yet sturdy membranes formed walls and separate rooms, with slim openings covered with living, malleable curtains hanging over them instead of doors leading between the sections. The same types of fungi that had been previously lighting the Undercity, I noted pleasantly, were now present along the ceilings serving as an eerie system of lights. Additionally, in most of the rooms grew long, soft outcrops that resembled beds, spongy mounds that had long sheets of fungus attached in much the same manner as the curtains. I sprawled out on one, amazed at how comfortable the living mattress actually was, and pulled a membranous sheet over myself as I relaxed. 

There, next to me I could see some other mounds, some of which having membrane-like shelves and reminding me of bookcases or dressers. Others had membrane-like lids and seemed to almost breathe and sway, low enough that they could be chairs though they lacked any sort of backing. Confused, I was relieved to see that each object had status text that could be viewed, and I discovered that I was indeed seeing Dressers, Shelves, and... toilets, apparently. One in each room, along with a bed.  

As I lay there, relaxing, I pulled up the Town Interface and went to the new building menu. I found that the main building I was in was marked 'Residential', and all nine stories up were packed to the brim with rooms such as the one that I was in. It seemed impossible to me, but the interface told me that the maximum capacity for this building was 2,000 occupants, and there were additional options for upgrading the building listed on the screen. Each additional level was shown to increase capacity by 250 residents and would require what was described as '1,000 building points' to grow. Additionally, I appeared to be locked out of upgrades, and there was an error listed that I would require an 'Architectural Specialist' position in order to grow and modify any of the buildings or even to generate building points.

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I immediately jumped back over to my Personnel section and opened the Specialist page. I wanted to strangle Em for wasting all of our 'Grow' slots on Trainer positions when it was becoming painfully obvious how much we needed some specialists in order to perform the basic functions for our city. Still, I was starting to think about this city as though it were a long-term investment, rather than simply seeing it as a pretty new toy, as I admittedly had when I had first seen it grow out of the muddy water of the local swamp. And I went ahead and paid another 2,000 credits to hire the position. When it came to selecting the architect's specialty, it was pretty much a no-brainer, grabbing the 'Fungal Growth' option. For the 'race', though... for the 'race' I have to admit I was curious about the new unlocked options, and as I finalized my selections I really didn't know whether the choice was going to be very good... or very bad. Finalizing my selections, a 'Hag Fungal Architect' was added to the town.

It was the point of no return. My residential building could hold thousands of people, and my current town population was weighing in at less than ten. While the town has been given an artificial boost in rank and size thanks to it currently being the only Chaos aligned settlement in existence, the initial Lost City drawback making it take 900% longer to generate new citizens was, I knew, going to be the nail in my coffin unless I was willing to invest heavily in the cities' development. 

And while I felt a very real, physical pain at investing real credits into tangible in-game benefits, there was a flip side to that as well. The 300 credit bed that I had added to my Axis room wasn't actually any more comfortable than this free bed of fungus in which I was even now residing. So, investing in town growth could, so long as this little town existed, provide me with comforts and amenities that would potentially be far cheaper than purchasing them directly in the Axis.  Why, indeed, pay 5 credits for a cup of coffee, when I could generate a specialist here that could make me coffee for free - and breakfast, lunch, and dinner besides? The caffeine and nutrients would be fed into my Meat just as regularly regardless of where the actual meals were generated, after all. It was one of the perks of the DDO subscription, which was still being paid under the terms of my employment. 

And so I went in and spent the 3,000 credits to hire ten more workers. More than anything else, I needed the materials to start constructing Crafted Specialists, and I knew in my heart that the only way to do that was with additional manpower. Scrolling through the list of available races, I selected 'Troll' for all ten of the new villagers. Three I specialized in Logging, two in Mining, two in hunting, and the remaining three I assigned the 'Assistant' specialty. Assistants were described as generating promotion points twice as fast rather than generating additional proficiency at gathering oriented tasks, and when maxed workers would be promoted into specialist roles appropriate to their classes. 

I looked back through the specialist positions then, and I found three additional positions that seemed vital to the process of gathering resources. There was a position entitled 'Surveyor' who was responsible for the discovery of local well sites, mining sites, dungeon entrances... the works. 'Surveyor' set me back another 2,000 credits but I couldn't help but admit the necessity of the role. A few, quick selections and a brand new Goblin Resource Surveyor had been added to my town.

A Gnomish Carpenter with a specialty in Unique Items and a Dwarven Metallurgist with the same specialty set me back another 2,000 credits each, leaving me with just a little more than 8,000 credits remaining to my name. 

At that point, with a decent starting crew set up, I jumped back into the building menus. Scrolling out of the Residential building, I looked at the overall town metrics. I noted that, in addition to the Residential building, the town already had a Workshop building, a 'Kitchen' that seemed to also include granary and meat processing functions, a 'Recreational' building and a 'Barracks'. 

The 'Workshop', thankfully, had 'Smelter', 'Construction bay', 'Smithery', and 'Sawmill' functions already activated. It was my second largest building and, arguably, the most important to the growth and development of my city. I was sort of assuming my specialists already had access to basic schematics, as I saw that I still needed to construct a Laboratory or an Enchanting Tower, both of which being described only as 'Generating new schematics and recipes', but I worried that if I was mistaken I may have to prioritise the construction of at least a new Laboratory building.

The Recreational building's description seemed to indicate that it functioned as something of a town hall. Most of the functions were grayed out with notes that the functions required items to be constructed via the workshop in order to unlock. Right now the only available functions listed were 'Dining Hall' (1st Floor),  and 'Lounge' (2nd Floor), though the grayed out options were more than interesting. They included things like 'Divination Pool' (DDO Stream Feed), 'Karaoke Bar', and 'Opium Lounge'. I'm not a huge fan of intoxicants, so the last one was pretty much out, but, alternatively, I resolved to figure out how to construct a Divination Pool as soon as possible once more vital orders of business had been resolved.

The Barracks max capacity was listed as '500' soldiers, and, interestingly, it came with the ability to provide lodging to as many citizens. More interestingly, in my mind, I noticed that my Metallurgist had already registered as a barracks resident despite my having only generated him less than ten minutes ago. Additionally, a 'Sparring Arena' function was active, and I saw that I could eventually unlock a 'Workout Room', 'Mechanical Danger Arena', and 'Illusionary Danger Arena'. They would be fun to see in action, I thought, and I was excited to finish growing some of the Trainers who could eventually turn the building from a nest of hidden potential into an implacable force of nature.

As I was navigating the menus to construct a new building, I'll admit that I also happened, ironically, to have been... testing the fungi toilet. Yes, I was also doing it during an active stream. Such were the downsides of accepting a full-time streaming contract as, after all, nature will call sooner or later. And if you happened to be plotting or getting ambushed in the bathroom, well, the public had a right to know. Or, at least, the terms of the contract amounted to as much. But anyway, the important part there wasn't my semi-regular humiliation, but rather the fact that I noticed the building point counter in the submenu ticking up slowly, 3, then 4, then 5, and stopping just as I ran out of product to deliver into the fungal cavity upon which I sat.

I blinked, watching it for a minute, as the realization of what had just happened cemented into my mind. "Shit," I muttered, mostly to myself, "I guess what they say about mushrooms is true." Still, it was convenient. Especially since most sentient types would, evidently, be generating building points for me through their daily acts of living, and, as my population grew, so too would my ability to construct and improve the buildings. 

Momentary distractions aside, I also discovered that I could only have one new building under construction at a time, yet the buildings, thankfully, didn't require any gold or materials to construct - just the 'building points' that resulted from the consumption of biological materials. There was an 'upkeep' listing that was entirely grayed out, with the note 'Swamp Terrain negates all upkeep costs'. I supposed that, since the swamp was quite possibly the best possible breeding ground for strange new fungi, constantly keeping them moist from the surrounding bog, while likewise keeping the ground around the town cool under the branches of the dense canopy. It was enough that I was actually quite grateful that my randomized respawn point had deposited me, as well as my little seed of a town, here - despite even the dense clouds of giant mosquitos that I had noted the day before.  

 I ignored my own fervent desire to immediately construct a laboratory. I wanted it, I wanted to see what kind of wonders this little, upgraded town of mine could produce. And yet I knew that I was in a marsh, not a grassland. And I knew that if I really wanted to support a town of several thousand, a couple of hunters wouldn't be nearly enough to keep my village fed. So, biting down my own exuberance with everything I had, I selected 'Greenhouse' from the build option, noting the the description listed 'Grows herbs and crops at an accelerated rate'. 

The greenhouse would require 2,000 Building Points to complete, rendering the five points I had just added somewhat negligible. Still, I knew that there were other ways to generate points for my city, and adding additional hunters to my roster was going to have to be a priority. I had a herbalist already, so that was easy enough, but I knew that in order to really take advantage of the new building I was going to need to hire a Farmer specialist. Checking the specialist menu, I noted that it would only cost me 1,000 gold to hire one, but considering the building was still in its infant stages it seemed a bit premature for me to buy it right now.

The last thing I did before I again finished up with the menus was to check the town status screen. There was a ton of information there that interested me, from requirements to reach the next level and unlock another row of perks, to a detailed list of all my specialists and workers. 

Upgrading my town was going to require 'Construction of three, new specialized buildings; Increasing Residental Growth to 11 stories in total; Total resident population exceeds 1,500. My specialists, on the other hand, I thought were kind of cool. And I was happy to see that my new workers had already been assigned to active tasks.

Specialists:

[Mayor] Lamia Ahransole (Dark Elf shifter, Illusionist)

[Supervisor] Tom (Gnome shifter, Rogue)

[Herbalist] Amedile (Halfling shifter, Druid)

[Scientist] Skotty (Gnome shifter, Mad Scientist)

[Architect] Magdaline (Hag shifter, Witch)

[Surveyor] Gael Dirtypants (Goblin shifter, Ranger)

[Carpenter]  Tai (Gnome shifter, Artificer)

[Metallurgist] Sanrich Copperdong (Goblin shifter, Weaponmaster)

Current Worker Tasks:

4 Loggers

3 Miners

3 Hunters

3 Assistants (Workshop)

As I closed out of my menu I went ahead and copied the day's logs, stopping only to redact out anything relating to Em from the record. I had worked through most of the night, and I noticed that a request had been posted to my stream that had been quickly rising in popularity. It seemed a fair enough request, combative tone notwithstanding, and especially now that there were some restrictions on who could view my feed, I figured it wouldn't hurt anything to give my remaining viewers a window into the behind-the-scenes mechanics. Especially if it might give my splintered faction an actual bit of hope. 

I understood that by posting the perks, mechanics, and status windows of our capital city, the information would inevitably make its way into the hands of Queen McBeal. But even so, it was early enough that, by the time the information was made available to her, I hoped to have already grown the little town by leaps and bounds. Plus, there were no coordinates in there, nor were there any landmarks to show where I had landed. All the logs proved was that I had popped into a random area, founded a town, and then immediately started to work on the local population and infrastructure. No, all in all there wouldn't be a better time for me to post information about the town, without giving away too many details of strategic importance. And so I did.

Tired, sleep deprived, I decided that I didn't actually want to fall asleep in the fungi bed. It still felt just a touch too... alive... for me. And without a town guard of any kind, it seemed like a bad idea to leave myself so vulnerable even within the boundaries of the Fungi constructions. 

Instead, I got up wearily and I walked over to find where my new Greenhouse was being constructed. A Crooked old woman in a long, patchwork cloak was crouching over a new patch of growth. I could see a tiny little mushroom creeping out from the surface, swaying gently as she appeared to be chanting over it. The whole surreal spectacle was like something out of an old, Fairytale holovid, and it was with no small bit of fear and trepidation that I slowly approached her.

I waited, afraid to disturb her work for several minutes. I hadn't thought she even noticed me until her head seemed to turn on its own, bearing a long, crooked nose and pointed chin even as her head craned at an unnatural angle to look at me. Her voice even scratched, exactly like I had somehow expected it to, as she raised her eyes and spoke to me, "Yeeesss? Who is it? Is that you, our great benefactor?"

I cringed as she turned, watching awestruck as her body seemed to hover on some unseen axis, following her head and twisting to face me. "Oh, my my my. Aren't you a scrumptious little thing?" She crooned, "Yes, yes. You are such a young, vibrant thing. Oh, the stews, the pies that you would make! Succulent and tender, I dare say. Succulent and tender!" 

I forced myself to swallow, looking her in the eye. Such a creature as her, I had no doubt that she smelled my fear. But, regardless, my streamers did not, and I still needed to put on a good show. Still, even as my dry throat echoed loudly and I sucked in a deep, shaking breath, it was only internally that I voiced my recriminations for selecting such a creature for this specific task. "Magdaline, it is I who have brought you here and made a place for you in our fair city. Tell me, will you follow my orders and give yourself to our town's continued growth and prosperity?"

It was a brave line, I thought. Regal, even. But the longer she stood there, staring at me like I was a fat chicken being dressed for a Christmas feast, the more the doubt began to set back in, chilling me down through my bones. Only when we both knew that the waters of fear had once again closed around my heart did the creature finally respond. "Oh yes, yes my pretty. I am your most humble, faithful servant. My life is yours, my scrumptious little child."

Shaking my head, knowing that what I was about to do would become nightmare fuel for the next decade of my life, I forced myself to raise my chin and step forward. "Very well, creature. In return for your service, for the growth and prosperity of this town, I would like you to feed me to the Fungus. Let my blood and body become as one with our land."

The creature smiled, lips curling up past razored teeth, showing me a mess of bloody gums and crooked points. She laughed then, the most hideous, vindictive sound I had ever before heard, and she pulled a long, cooked dagger from the sleeve of her robes. "Oh yes, child. Truly, I am at your service. Yes, yes indeed."

And it was her yellow eyes that bored into my mind, following me into darkness, even as I felt the hideous tearing of her knife parting my throat.