Chapter 48: Council Meeting, Pt. 1

  A hammer, engraved with rosy vines twisting up its smooth-sanded shaft, plummeted with its oaken headfirst into a fine, resistant wooden surface. A clang resounded—sharp and piercing, yet still a hollow thump. The sound echoed back and forth between the walls.

  “Shit, sorry.”

  The voice’s owner grabbed for the hammer, clumsily shoving it rather than picking it up before it bounced against the tabletop yet again, making a more dampened thwack than its first call. As the fine tool moved forward across the table, an even trilling sound joined the cacophony of the fumbling hostess and the echoes of the hammer’s recent past.

  “Fuckin’ hammer, thwackin’ b—”

  She silenced herself as her louder-than-strictly-necessary words didn’t help matters. She got the hammer and held it firm in her hands, letting the echoes of her failings die out. Wen cleared her throat and touched the hammer to the table again, this time more carefully whilst making sure her grip was firmer.

  Thwang.

  “With that, uh, I guess the first official council meetin’ is adjournied. Adjourned? Don’t let me lead, please.” The hammer slid back across the table. “And why the hammer?”

  “I thought it would seem more official-like,” Willam defended, catching it before it fell over the edge of the table. “It’s very fine work, though, thanks, Hank and Bella.”

  The builders nodded in approval of his thanks.

  “If I’m the one to take the mantle of leading this meeting, then I should start by saying that it is our perogative…Prerogative? Pterogative to, uh… To have them here?”

  Willam didn’t seem to wear the cape of leadership any better than his colleague. He laid the hammer down, eyeing both Theo and Grace with hopeful eyes.

  “Why—and bear with me with this crazy idea—don’t we just talk like normal people? No one’s writing this down, right?”

  “Oh! About that, we should probably name someone to take responsibility for sharing the goings-on in these meetin’s with the rest, right?”

  “Excellent idea. Let’s do that first, then. How about you?” Theo asked. “Your responsibilities in town are already social in nature, and you’re in charge of the tavern where you can post news.”

  “Oh! I didn’t think of that. You know what, I accept.”

  “That was easy,” Grace complained. “You know she just wanted that responsibility, right?”

  Theo chuckled. “If you want it, Wen, you should just ask. We all know you’re the most social of us, so I don’t think any of us would take this responsibility from you.”

  “All right, you got me. So, unless anyone has anything to say about it…” She waited two whole seconds. No complaints. “Agreed, then!”

  “See, already checked one thing off the list,” Theo laughed. “And no more grand words, got it? So, to finish Willam’s previous attempt at speech, Hank and Bella are here attending this meeting because of their expertise in building, as is Julie for her leading role of our only resource—the lumberyard. As is our prerogative,” Theo said with a friendly, mocking smile, “the council can bring anyone we think appropriate for these meetings.”

  The first real aim of this meeting, agreed before Wen’s sudden idea of sharing the contents of their meeting with the village, was to plan Sigil Lake’s future. They wouldn’t make every decision now—that would be impossible—but broad strokes and rough drafts. It was a good idea to have future goals to strive towards and milestones to show they were on the right path for them.

  To start, the council went through the Town Configuration System again to make sure they were all still on the same page regarding the structure of Sigil Lake itself.

  Town Configuration System Activated (System-specific)

  Town specialisation: None

  Town governance: Founding council (3+1)

  Town law enforcement: Volunteer watch

  Town justice system: Council judgment

  Town currency (local): Trade + Merit+ Global currency

  Town social structure: None

  Town religion: The Scorned Witch with an Attitude (Origin)

  A few items of interest had changed since last time, though neither was a surprise to any of them. Another member had joined the council after Theo invited Grace, the First Storm of the Scorned Witch, into their midst. Having the highest willing member of the Sigil Lake’s main religion aboard would also prove useful, as her power within the town was nothing to scoff at. Theo could always override her decisions as the true leader of the religion, but he hoped he’d never have to do that to her. The religion was of course the last change that had occurred. Theo checked his system about the ‘Origin’ marker, which stated that the religion was unchangeable for a period, as it originated from Sigil Lake.

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  “Regarding the specialisation, then,” Wen got them started on the next topic of interest.

  Perhaps the toughest decision of all—choosing a specialisation for the town. Undoing it would require effort. They would be hard-pressed to stay on the path they chose, but it wasn’t impossible to change down the road if they regretted their decision whole-heartedly. The world had systems in place so the town couldn’t change this willy-nilly to boost one specific aspect of their town’s economy when it suited them—harsh, but fair.

  “Among the slew of options we see on this list, there are some better suited to us than others. Let us all agree on removing things like ‘Port’ and ‘Ice skating’ from our list of options, shall we?” Wen said.

  Among the long list were several viable options for the town, though the list itself didn’t show all options any town could have. For instance, ‘Port’ was only available because of the town’s access to water. Choosing to become a port town would’ve been an odd choice given the medium-sized lake they had access to, but the world would let them do it for that reason alone.

  Even after removing the odd alternatives, many remained. Agriculture, hospitality, and forestry were among those they felt most comfortable with, but considering the list in its entirety, they could also glean more information about their surroundings first to help them weigh the options.

  “An option for a mining town is on the list. That means there are deposits of something here, right?” Theo asked. It wasn’t likely to be their first choice either way, but discussing it in the open could spark an idea in someone. Even if it didn’t, recruiting someone to survey the area might be worth it even if it only turned out to be bedrock.

  Julie joined the conversation with a clearing of her throat. “You should consider this not in the current situation, but also for future purposes. A town might have different needs than a city would, after all. I’m mentioning this because of the forestry option; our forest is rather small, too small for a city in its current state. I’d expect it to be gone by the time we reach that status anyway, and though there are more forests littering the landscape surrounding us, none of them are large.”

  “An excellent point,” Theo said with a thankful tone. “You’re saying we shouldn’t consider forestry, then?”

  “I wouldn’t go that far. Choosing forestry might give the town or area a boon that helps trees grow faster, which would make it easier for us to plant a forest instead of using the options available to us right now. It’s a risk, though.”

  “Same goes for fishin’,” Wen added. “Not much area to take from, but no easy way to expand it, either.”

  “We have to consider an expansion of our border as well,” Willam said. “Where do we aim for next? Should we expand our borders across the lake or deeper into the forest? Is it better to take plains first?”

  “Also something to consider,” Theo agreed.

  “That choice is obvious,” Grace said. She earned everyone’s fixed gazes. “The forest, obviously. There’s a dungeon there. It seems none of you realise the value in having a town—or even a city—dungeon. When the dungeon grows more powerful, it will yield more resources, which will draw in more people, which will help it grow more powerful in turn. I’d say we should expand there first, choose the dungeon specialisation and go all-in on that dungeon.”

  “We have enough abbles already to last us a lifetime,” Wen said.

  “The abbles, while certainly the primary resource of the dungeon, aren’t the only thing it’ll provide. Charging for entry is common in city dungeons, and adventurers are always willing to pay until they feel they’ve exhausted the dungeon for anything they would need from it. Take Theo’s clothes, for instance; who wouldn’t want clothes like that? We could even sell those as well if they drop as loot often enough. Consider trading the abbles rather than eating them all ourselves—you wouldn’t get anything like them unless you’re living it high in Ercheat or somewhere else equally extravagant.”

  “That’s…true,” Wen nodded.

  “What places have you all lived in earlier, and what specialisations and bonuses did those towns have? I can say towns despite them being cities, right? This is a ‘town configuration system’, after all,” Theo asked.

  “All cities start out as towns, or villages to keep the terms proper, but referring to a city as a town can be considered disrespectful,” Bella said. “Grew up in a lumber town, learned my trade there. Increased durability of any woodcraft, buildings included. Later, I moved to a crafting town to enhance my skills, which is where I met my husband,” she said, meeting Hank’s warm smile. “Didn’t think much of it there as it wasn’t relevant to my efforts, but I think it related to flimsy things not breaking or tearing when using them to craft—thin silver threads, tiny figurines, that sort of thing.”

  Hank nodded. “Mining town, with an enhanced yield of stone. Later a port city, but don’t know much about what that brought to the table.”

  “Mostly lumber towns, with sturdier wood—as much a detriment as a boon for someone without fine steel and craftsmen—or increased chances of seedlings, things like that,” added Julie.

  “None of you has mentioned Ercheat.”

  Theo looked at them all, but they all shrugged.

  “A place like that is generally full of various bonus effects, from those given by random buildings you pass by to city-wide boons. Neither of us has your kind of…system, so it isn’t like all bonuses reveal themselves to us, either,” Hank answered. Theo hadn’t considered that. If most buildings in Ercheat provided bonuses, be it inside or outside, then would Sigil Lake do the same?

  The conversation continued for several minutes. These were minutes Theo paid the utmost attention to, as learning how the world worked outside of the small borders of Sigil Lake was one of the most important things he could do with his time. He was in an odd world that functioned nothing like his old one. A day would come when he needed to know these things as well as any natural inhabitant did.

  “Agriculture, forestry, trading, brewing, hospitality, dungeon and crafting—those are the ones we’ve come down to. Did I miss anything?” Wen asked. Upon receiving no complaints, she continued: “Without knowing what bonuses will be provided, I find little purpose in discussing what amounts to simple and hopeful guesswork.”

  “A vote, then? Or does anyone have strong feelings towards any of these specialisations?” asked Theo.

  “Dungeon,” Grace reiterated.

  “I have to agree,” Wen said. Her agreeing with Grace was the true bomb that was dropped.

  “Okay, then. I also put my faith in Grace.”

  Willam shrugged. “Then a fourth vote won’t matter, but I see the potential in going down that route. I agree.”

  Theo smiled, then made the choice from the interface of the book in front of them. Everyone saw him touch the option for ‘Dungeon’. He confirmed and exited the configuration menu.

  Town Specialisation has been changed to Dungeon. Sigil Lake is now a Dungeon Town.

  Specialisation bonus (Dungeon): All goods created from Dungeons within town limits have their quality increased by 10%.

  “As expected,” Theo said, reading the message on his personal system. The system from the book would show the bonus, but he’d have to find the specific location as there was no built-in notification system. “It does us no good right now, as we all thought. But I consider that bonus a win,” he smiled.