book Duex

Economics one oh one. I watched as the last patches were put on the roof of the command building. Our people were gathering strength, and all was well in Artilia. I had recently sat down, and the other leaders from the tribe were currently discussing how the village was going to be laid out. The only two buildings that had been completed were this one, and the neighboring command center. Personally, I was happy that I had a place to sleep, and could get off that stupid boat. I hated sleeping on a boat down here, they just did not have the same appeal as the heavenly ones held. The door would swing open, revealing the second division captain. Entering the room, he would take a light bow before giving information on his scouting party.
“Sir, we have discovered a nice path in a circular pattern around the village boundaries, that is about four hundred paces out. The entire thing goes from shore to shore, at about a twenty minute run. Two hundred more paces out is another one.”
“Good work.. I want you to take some of the workers and begin widening that area. We will be using the forest around it to create a wooden wall for defense. The last thing we need is some random tribe attacking our people whole they are defenseless. Once that is set up, we can gate it, and control who enters our territory, and when we want that to happen. Is everyone clear?”

There were heads shaken from around the room. I was satisfied that they agreed with me on this one. After all, once we had the wall setup, we could begin taking down the trees on the inside for expansion. Using the water side of it, we could open up a full trade route to the Yaksa’s grounds, and then to Tara Mura. It would be much more convenient to trade with them via sea than to go through the land. The other thing was Domen’s colony, Domenance. I bet it had grown into at least a city by now. This curiosity would warrant a visit from me soon. Looking at the soldier who was in front of us, I would give him one more order before dismissing him.
“you have done well. I want you to take four, count out sixty paces, and do the same there. Do not start building on the interior yet, but work hard on the exterior one. That is where we will build the wooden wall. On the inside, we will use stone. Because this one will be more difficult to construct, we need to establish a solid trade route with cities who have bulk stone. Send two soldiers with the next merchants to the inland area, and find us some stone. Our miners are only producing a small amount a day. If that fails you, then find slaves or bring people that want a new life, and we can put them to work here.”

“do you all agree, that this is the best defensive method we can use?”
There were heads shaken, while one of them asked about the funding. I would reply that our merchants were beginning to funnel a decent amount of currency into our village. With this happening, we could afford to bring in supplies and resources from elsewhere. Standing, I would end the meeting for now since I wanted to see the first of our residential area completed. After that, I had a list of other places and things that I wanted to do. I would need at least three dozen small houses for the workers and their families. The military people would be given their own district, and with that military housing. I figured a few larger buildings, in a barracks style, would work perfectly to that end. Stepping out into the sunlight, I would be able to lay my eyes on the workers finishing up the first home. The roof had been lifted and added on, while there were many workers moving in and out. The final wall was being covered, the shingles added, and the windows placed in. All in all, I was rather satisfied with the quickness in which they could get a home built. If we could recruit a few more workers, we would be able to get at least one small house built per day. It would take a lot of wood, but it would most definitely be worth it in every way.

Looking out behind me towards the boats, I lifted lightly off the ground and flew towards them. There were people on the boat still, people who had never been given the option of a new life. With that in mind, I knew I could sway a few of them to work for my people, and in turn give them a new home to look to. How often were people given new homes for free, and pay for it with simple service. I knew that being a lumberjack was probably exhausting work, but it was pretty safe. Especially over in my neck of the woods. Anything that might be considered dangerous I would take care of personally. I would not have there being anyone who would harm my people have the chance to do so. This gave me great pride as a leader. Landing on the boat, I looked across the ship before announcing to have everyone come to the main deck. As they did, I started my speech on all of this. About half of them seemed interested, which was more than fine with me. I needed lumberjacks, and if they were willing to do it of their own free well, that was even better in my book. I would watch several of them load into boats and head for the shore. There were about seven of them in total, and that was more than I had originally expected. I may have to make some of them merchants after all.

Thinking about the wood that I needed, I figured it would be in my best interest to send those soldiers out with the mission of gathering wood. We had a solid amount of wood up here, especially since these lands were open and untouched. I had seen the future for this ridge, and it was leveled, cleared, and full of fancy estates. The northern heights had become my home, and of them, lots of good memories. Then again, there were a lot of bad memories as well. The humans had that stupid spirit net thing across the city, so the good stuff I couldn’t even get to. I bet that I could do it now that I was a lot stronger, but I really didn’t want to test that at all. There was so much stuff that I wanted to do that was out of my reach because of it. With a light sigh released, I would lift off the ship and head back towards the main land. There were many things on my head, but those would be gone upon landing. The first of the residential sector had been completed in the short time I had been away. Across the street, stones had been moved, and another house was beginning to take shape. These carpenters really knew their shit, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that in a couple of weeks, this place was going to be rocking on the city map. The rest of the world would know who we were.

UPDATE 1
1,256 words
+10 Lumberjacks
+Work Credit

I would relocate to the table at the center, while watching the children play around. Using my knowledge and memories from the future, I had a few ideas for things that could help this village grow. The first was supplies, including military rations. It was still beyond me whether or not I would be able to take bulk materials through the portal. Biological organisms were fine, but I had no idea about the other. And then, why stop there. If supplies could, then how about weapons and other things. I bet a small power reactor and pitch construction lights would be fantastic. Would it be wrong of me to start to shift technology progress towards what I wanted it to be. Maybe, just maybe I could make our own future, and blend humans and spirits together. Maybe, I would be able to shift the future of man to live side by side with our people. A smile would cross my face as I stood up from the table. There was wood here, and I wanted to give something back to my people, on my own. Floating over to the pile of lumber, I would take several pieces of it under my arm and head towards the start of the residential area across the street. Looking at the area, I would move the second house over by about twenty five feet. In this area, I would create a public playground for the children to spend their time, and get out of the workers ways.

253

Taking the wood over, I would make a line, and finally, a square shape. Inside of it, the ground would be torn up to create a life, powdery dirt. The wood pieces that were left would be built into a fort like thing, with a wooden climbing side. Slowly, while I built this thing, children would begin to start watching. Extending from the fort was a single plank of wood, about seven feet off the ground. I would use three pieces to brace the end, and in the center of the bar, two rope swings. After about an hour or two of work, the structure would be complete. I would smile, while wiping the sweat from my face. It was nice to do work for the community while they worked on finishing the second house in the residential sector. Our progress was coming along rather well, and for now, nothing could really get in the way of it. With a light smile, I turned to the children before stepping out of the community playground. “Go for it kids, all yours”. They ran past me happily while examining the entire thing, and beginning to do what kids do. Parents looked happy that I had given them something to do, and even I was happy to give to the families. They had nothing like this on the island, and now I could move on to building them a school. Sighing, I realized that there was still a lot of work to do. At least the second house was finished and people could start moving in.

263 / 516

The second house was going to be ready by the end of the day, and that was something that I was absolutely happy about. While walking through the center of what would be our village, two groups of soldiers emerged from the main road, with a large enclave of traders. Among them was a single group of slavers, who had what looked to me like a decent amount of workers. I was not the type to go about complaining about slavery since I had freed my fair share of them. I would, in turn, move to the center seats while the people of the village began to trade with others. It was good to see the villagers trading with others while here in the safety of their own domain. We had a small group of structures up now. It wasn’t much, but every civilization had to start somewhere. I would sit there and observe all of the traders, while wondering about the capabilities of more wood. We needed more people to work in the woods, and that was a priority. If we could get an even level of lumberjacks to keep up with the building capabilities of the carpenters, then we should be able to maximize expansion and production for the entire village. The only problem I would have right now is figuring out how to feed them effectively. I guess that meant that more farmers would be needed as well. Looking across at the slaves, I would look them over before making my decision.


255 / 771

There seemed to be a decent amount of muscle inside that train, and some beautiful women who really didn’t belong there. I was not really happy sitting here and watching them sit there in their bindings. “Cavor! Get over here..” The small, bulky man, head of our treasury department, came over to sit across from me. “How are our current finances?” He replied that we were doing decently, and had a little over four thousand shinny in our possession at this current time. I wondered how much it would take for me to get some of those girls out of there. I did not like seeing them like that at all, and the more I sat here the more I disliked it. “There are about ten women over there.. I want them freed. Take care of it.” He shook his head before hopping up and heading into the treasury house to figure out how to make this work. I would stand up and float over the table before landing on the ground and heading for the slavers. A whip was cracked across the side of one of the larger males when he tried to sit down. There was no reason for such violence here, and I would be damned if I watched senseless violence on someone. Lifting a finger, a single bolt of lightning would ignite the ground before striking the slave driver. His body would fly to the side, while the entire courtyard was silence. Lowering my arm, I smiled across at the slaves, who looked on in awe at what just happened.

264 / 1035

My stride would be light and care free as I approached the others. There was a bit of low lying voices from the sides that I would ignore while approaching the slaves. Lifting my hand towards the cart that held the women, a bolt of lightning would erupt, splintering the wood in the corner towards the back. Another one would clear the sides, allowing them a free area to climb out. The women would hop out before scattering to the sides, being reassured by others who had been freed by me. The slave driver would climb to his feet with a dark scowl before lifting his whip towards me. The soldiers of the village would fail to make a step forward, as they had all seen my power when I saved them. Shaking my head, I would give him an option. He could sell the slaves to me, or release them of his own free will. Several angry words came from his lips, while he raised the whip higher. With a sharp crack, it would descend towards me, only to hit the ground. A sharp spray of blood would emerge, spraying across the ground behind him. Where he had once been, he remained. A single piece of structure, an arm, was completely through his chest. The punch had been effortless, but required a light amount of pressure and force to create a punch that humans would never be able to come close to In power. Ripping my hand out of his chest, the body would fall to the side while I reached down and pulled keys from his body.

269 / 1304

Turning, I would toss the keys over to the slaves. They had done well to stand there, and now, I had an even higher amount of slaves. Happy that the other slave driver had remained on his mount, Cavor came out of the building with a small amount of gold. I would apologize for the trouble, and give him a decent amount of gold for the slaves I was about to purchase from him. This also meant that I would be giving him an apology as well. I hated to do something like that in front of everyone, but I would not tolerate such violence inside of my territory. The slave driver would apologize for his partner, and thank me for opening a business opportunity. “as long as you continue to bring me people, you will be primary for my business. Understood?” He shook his head before turning the horses and heading to the rest of the merchants. With all of these men now freed, I was ready to start work again, and begin expansion for all of them. The same words would come to them that had come to all of the others. They were free to work for their place in our society, and in turn earn a place to live for them and their families. I would be able to relocate them out there, once they had worked their debt off. Here, their mistakes would not mean anything. They were given a second chance, and would not take that lightly. Many thanks were given to me before they were shown which ways to go. Now that I had more workers for the forest, I could start to balance out the construction ratio as I had wanted. What a nice day this had become after all.
300 / 1604
update 2 :
+8 merchants
+ slaves [lumberjacks 10]

Back in the future realm, another being was starting to wake up. Inside the Venturion Academy, the new Director was taking his business rather seriously. He was an old friend of the Lightning Tiger’s, and was pretty close through the time they spent together in the spirit world. Taking a light stride over to the main desk, he would sit while taking a look at the lower left inbox. It was flashing with a red pulse, something he had never seen before. Upon clicking it, an email popped up. It had been dropped in his box by Sanzon after his escapades in the underworld. After he passed through, he had left the message, along with a map to the portal that would take him to the past realm. There were instructions for him to get there within twenty four hours. It was time to start working on their joint dealings in both worlds, and he really needed an assistant out there. I was more than happy that I had left it there, and even happier that he would follow the instructions. Megan, the administrative assistant, would call it a winter break, and dismiss the students for a week. After all, the academy would need a light break to restock from the semester while both were gone. As for me, I was happy back here, working on building my village up from the ground up. There was still a lot of work to do, and the framework for the third part of the residential district was coming along nicely.

I had a plan in my head, and so far, it was right on target. There wasn’t much else that would make me happy today, especially knowing that we would be able to house everyone pretty soon. I didn’t have the production capacity of the bigger cities, but that would come in time. Right now, I just had to do with what I had, and make it work. Right now, less and less people were sleeping in tents, and they were sharing their homes until they had their own. Two houses were swamped with people, and every time one was completed, that swamped number would get lower and lower. Lifting up a large plank of wood, I would carry it over to the side of the third house, and hand it off to the carpenters. Off in the distance, the trees were being cleared in a circular pattern, so that they could use the fresh dirt for farmland. It was a solid plan, and made it easy to plant since the dirt was already torn up. These people had some brains to them, and I was particularly happy about that more than anything. A smart society would be able to last much longer than one who blindly followed a leader with whatever course he set. Floating upwards, I would stand on the roof of the second home so that I could look at the large stones that had been set up to mark the houses. The layout was correct so far.

509/ work credit

Another day, another batch of work to do. A new house was to be started today for another family. I was particularly happy with what we had going on in terms of research for our lands. Stepping outside, I watched the third part of the residential area slowly being assembled. We should be able to get halfway through another one today if we worked hard enough. Thankfully, I really didn’t have to work them hard; they wanted to do this for their people. The amount of camaraderie that was constantly on display here amazed me each day. The only part of my daily plans, as of now, were to watch the final parts of the third house, and get onto the outlands to double check the wall barrier. There was an idea that I wanted to go with, and that would require several hundred feet of stone to be setup. Stone, a mineral that we were gathering from the north, was being kept at a private quarry. I wouldn’t really need it until I started the foundation for my estate, which the other spirit said he would assist with a long time ago. I didn’t really bank on him actually doing it, even though I had set aside a nice plot of beachfront property for the large estate. I wanted the entire thing to be able to connect to the future command quarters. The little ones that were being used now were not going to remain primary operation centers for too long.

Lifting off the ground, I would float across towards the residential sector before landing on the roof of the third building. About a quarter of the carpenters were here on this one, while the majority were setting up the frameworks for a fourth house. Assisting the workers here, I would help them pull up a set of roofing before applying it myself. As soon as we were at full completion, I watched another family get assisted into their home. Hopefully, I would have enough carpenters to build two houses per day. Figuring the current production rate, I would need over double what I have now for that operation to work. A sigh would hit my ears again, bringing my attention down to the people who were still living in the courtyard. I felt bad for them, and I wish that there was more I could do, but there was only so much that could be done with building structures. If there was a way to magically make the buildings build themselves, I was sure that I would be doing that right now instead of working myself. On the other side of it, the people were beginning to trust me simply because I was leading by doing, not by delegating. Trust was a crucial part of this settlement. One day this settlement would be a village, and then a city. I had to keep looking towards the future while leading them through faith and hope. Still, I would probably end up having to get to the cities and get a seer and educators.
514, work credit

There was a long series of logs laid out where the districts would be lined out. Floating over to the edge of where the central circle will be, I expanded the left side by about forty feet. This way, a market place could be set up where members of the village could trade with each other. The good part about this would be in the location and how relative it was to the treasury. All incoming items could be taxed if I needed to expand finances. Turning, I would look out towards the residential sector. They were now beginning to take them more to the west, creating what would be the first quarter of a large half circle. We still had a hell of a lot of work to do, but it was coming along well. I was more than satisfied right now, and being able to watch the fourth house get put up from the ground up was more than enjoyable. Yesterday, they had set the foundation and initial frame. Today, all that was left was to build the infrastructure, get the roof up, and move another family in. It sounded like a lot of work, but it would be up before sundown, leaving us with hopefully enough time to clear the ground for the fifth home. At the edge of the village, two large horses would emerge, followed by four more. They were all connected, leading two carts with a small man sitting at the helm. His face held a large smile, making me smile as well.

One of our best merchants had actually came through for us. He had traveled from the city as soon as he heard we were in need of lumber. While our lumberjacks were fully capable of taking care of it, they were not able to keep up with the need that we currently had for the carpenters. I wish that we could get a few more lumberjacks right now, but that wasn’t within our boundaries. First thing was first, and that was homes for what we had now. I had a lot of work I wanted to do, and needed to make sure everyone was housed and comfortable before we moved onto the next part of the village. Walking over to greet him, he hopped of the cabin with a smile. “four hundred pieces of wood for about two thousand, it wasn’t a bad deal..” Laughing at the tone he had, I assured him that it was more than enough for now. Four hundred wood would be all that we needed for at least four more homes, and with the wood we had right now, probably about six of them total. By that time, we might have the lumberjacks that we need to keep an even amount of progress moving forward. A building a day was my goal, and that was possible if we had the workers. For now, we would have to make do with what we had. Taking a stack of lumber, I would move it over to the central pile while other men came to assist me. We had a lot of work to do before the sun went down.

272/521
work credit, +400 wood, -2000 shinny

The sun would set across a velvet sky, giving me a nice view of the moon on the horizon. A light smile would be on my face, while I was care free and without worry. There was a hammock tied to the top of the mast, giving me a nice, open breeze on this beautiful night. The humans had done well, and as I drifted to sleep I wondered if they would continue to surprise me. I would really, really need to get more workers, which meant that next week I would personally go to the city. This had a set of problems with who I wanted to leave in charge. To be honest, I figured that the humans could run themselves at this point. I was just an overseer of their village, and would continue to give them the support that an overseer should. Managing what they built was my job.. how they did it was not my concern. After all, they were building it for themselves so they were obviously going to do it the right way. These thoughts would move quickly through my mind while I drifted off to sleep. A few hours later I would wake up, just so I could watch the sunrise across the water. I had done this every morning, and thoroughly enjoyed the sight of it. There was a bit of excitement in knowing that the humans would be working on the central compound of what would one day be a city, as soon as the residential district was established.

I was pretty sure that I would need about.. Twenty homes at this point if I wanted to work it successfully. There was still a lot to do with the planning stages. As soon as the sun had raised its head above the coast line, I would flip out of the hammock, free falling towards the boat deck before flying off to the settlement. Small stock, such as chickens, had started to be incorporated into the farm section. While I kept the farms at a decent distance to allow growth for the village, I knew that the farms were well within range for the city walls to protect. Speaking of the city walls, the initial stone wall would be able to start construction as soon as the stone was ready. The miners had a decent stock pile of it, but I had planned on needing at least three times their current amount. They were working hard, and in a nonstop shift method that would allow them to continuously work without tiring themselves out. It amazed me that they were able to use such common sense and logistical planning, especially given the time frame they were working in. The smell of fresh bread would rise through the air as I walked through the center court before taking a seat at one of the tables. Gradually, the children would begin to emerge from their homes and tents before heading off to breakfast. Worried mothers would be behind them, and I would simply smile and watch.

These children were the future of the village, and I wanted to make sure that they were properly educated. After all, they would need to learn military strategies and tactics, be educated in the ways of politics, and know how to operate every aspect of the village. While I was positive that they would be given a specific job to learn, I wanted every male to be able to take up arms for his home. Everyone was to defend it in some way, shape, or form. This thought would give me an idea for a summer workout program. These kids would be trained from the ground up in the art of warfare. If Khroda could do it, then so could I. The last thing that I wanted was to fall far behind him in terms of settlement capability. He was already far ahead of me in terms of structural capacity and city size. I would definitely have to work on establishing relations with the other cities as well, and open up a formal trade route. This would mean protection and outposts that stretched far beyond my land. I would have to take a flight out to make strategic planning for this. The theater of war was one I was greatly familiar with, and since there was a great evil coming, we all had to be prepared for the worst. Instead of bringing my people there, however, I would take my own self out and leave them here to carry on. After all, whats the odds of it making it all the way up here?

264 / 775
work credit

Village Log, September 28th...

Or at least I thought it was that day. My track of time had really, really gone out the window as of late, and there was little that I could do to get it back. The latest building was being put up, but it would not be finished today. The overall construction, in terms of framework, would be completed as scheduled. Unfortunately, a storm would end up rolling through, causing the villagers to crowd into the few buildings that we had. We only had six total facilities, but it would hold all that we needed. For that, I was satisfied. After all, I would not let anyone be outside during the storm. Even the miners had been recalled for this event. Looking out the main window of the command facility, I asked myself if I would be willing to fly during this storm. The answer to that was a solid no. Even I would have a great difficulty maintaining balance during the winds that were currently blowing trees across the area in front of me. Tents were ripped up, and the tarp like cloth covering the logs was blown free. I bet Khroda was having a great time over on his little island during all of this. I wish that there was something I could do to keep this storm at bay, but I was not going to even attempt to control the elements. If it had been a simple lightning storm, I would balance the electricity and redirect it, but the rain and wind was far past my current abilities. With a light sigh, we would wait for the storm to pass before exiting the buildings and returning to work. That was, after all, as soon as we finished with cleaning up the mess. The entire area was a muddy disaster, and I was rather surprised the boats were still floating offshore. Minimum damage, no casualties, first major storm completed. Now, to put up a house..

Village Log, 29th.
We lost a bit of the wood to the storm. It was soaked beyond repair, so we threw it out. The last thing that would be good for this place was to build a home out of soaked wood. Even I knew that it would fail to meet walkthroughs. What was I saying.. there were no walkthroughs in this time. I would watch as the house was brought up from the ground and completed. This would make us eight total buildings, with six in the residential sector. Another hard day of work would come and go, and fewer tents were being used. The women were in the farms, the men were building or hauling lumber, and a mix were in the mines. For a minute, I would stop to look at the settlement. It had been much easier than just getting the permits for my academy. Speaking of that, I wondered how it was going. I left it in the capable hands of the Fire Dragon, a close friend who knew business and science. He was medically adept, and knew how to take care of things. If anyone could fulfill my research for artificial energy, it would be him. A single breakthrough in Artificial Energy would give people several life times of energy, far surpassing what a normal being would be capable of. That was the only way I figured that we could stand on par with the pillars. If this research worked, then there was a chance that our bodies could be strengthened from the inside out. Taking a seat at the center table, I shook my head, wondering if everything was going to be okay.

A small, petite human brought me a clay plate with a piece of bread on it. Sitting across from me, I smiled lightly while taking a bite out of it. It was still warm, and rather enjoyable. I wondered what it was like to be human, to have that vulnerability, and short lifespan. It was interesting to me, who had lived for nearly two hundred and fifty years. Even in spirit years, I was young, but I was still rather strong. Finishing off the rest of the bread, I thanked the human with a smile before I got up. As I passed, I would pat her lightly on the head, giving a gesture of my approval. Good job human, you made me smile and relax a bit. Time to get back to work. We could get about half of this building up today, if we worked hard enough. Cavor would come out with a business report, giving me a rundown of the village’s current financial situation, along with a resource listing. Once we hit ten residential homes, I wanted to transfer the workers to a larger project to expand the outpost. A wall would be build, and from that, our new command center. If we could get the command center up in under a week, the current one would be turned into the first of the economic sector, where trade routes would be dealt with. I wanted to have all of these little things under control, so that the village could prosper without too much difficulty.

Nightfall would come, but I would not get any rest. A trade route was entering the village. The fourth division would pick it up, alerting Cavor , the treasury head. With a yawn, he would be drawn out into the darkness to assess the group. Fires would be lit, giving the group room to rest, and accommodations. The flames would alert me, but not to what I had thought. A familiar sight was there, of days long lost. The spirit who I considered my brother was in the future realm, and I was far too occupied to stay around him right now. I had left him to run my academy while I was here, and I was perfectly confident that he was able to do that, if not better than what I could have done. Hopping out of the hammock, I would float down to personally greet them. It made sense that I would, figuring this was my settlement and I was rather particular about it. While something told me to deal with business right now, I decided against it, and instead offered them accommodations for the night. After all, they had traveled a decent amount to get here, and I was willing to wait until the morning before engaging in business. Once they were all settled in, I decided to wait for them to get to sleep. Tents were set up, and I looked over to a cart with stones in it. They had to have been moving pretty slowly with all of that weight. Their slaves were allowed out, and given watch by my solders. I was willing to donate that time anyway, allowing them to keep watch over the traders through the rest of the night. At this point, I was ready to return to my sleep, which was exactly what I was going to do.