Heads up, I'm in Vegas this week for a wedding, so releases will be irregular this week. I have the chapters done just need to get the initial editing on them done. I know these are dense chapters but they're needed.
As the TOC Tribune sat, Councilor Caldwell stood.
The coin rolled across the back of his hand and dropped down through his fingers and came up the other side. His coat was fastened to the top button this morning, his hair had been brushed back, and a small clay mug of coffee sat beside his elbow on the table. He took the coin off the back of his hand, set it on the table by the mug, and opened his ledger.
"My lord. Council." His eyes ran the line of the table once, the way they always ran the line. "The treasury sits at seventeen thousand gold this morning. Down from twenty-six since the end of Lord Henri’s campaign."
Harold motioned for him to continue.
"The potion trade has been carrying the Landing's running costs for two quarters now. Payroll, materials, maintenance, garrison stipends, all of it. Tax revenue from the basin remains intentionally low — three percent on goods and that’s it and the entire tax line goes into the treasury rather than into operations. As of this morning, the operating budget is portion-funded, and the treasury is tax-funded." He turned a page without looking at it. "I have spent the nine thousand difference. With your standing approval, I have been buying the market ahead of the trade shutdown at the solstice, and trust me, our furious spending has been noticed. The other lords have been asking why we are buying so feverishly. I have also already spent our portion of the funds from killing the Thresher King in addition to the bonus we paid out to everyone who participated in killing him and the survivors from the trial."
"What has our buying been focused on?" Harold asked.
"Everything that will keep." Caldwell turned another page. "Breeding stock. Cattle, swine, sheep. Local grain in bulk — wheat, barley, oats. Seed stock. Cloth, tanned hide, and untanned. Dried lumber in milled and rough. Iron, copper, tin, lead. Charcoal and coke." He set a finger on the page. "And ore we don't have on the basin or haven't discovered. Tin in particular. We are short on tin, as I presume we are going to need it to make bronze."
Hargen, three seats down, lifted his head from the sketch he was still defacing with Caswell.
"Where'd you buy your tin, lad?"
Caldwell looked up, startled. Probably not used to being called lad. "Three Lords out of the Vellan reaches. Two more out of the southern coast lords. None of them is anyone we want to do long business with."
"Aye," said Hargen, and went back to his sketch. "Give us a couple of months in the mountains, and we will fix your ore issues."
"That was my read," Caldwell said. He turned his attention back to Harold. "I'm asking your formal approval to continue the buying program through the solstice. I will stop spending at fifteen thousand gold. No transaction takes the treasury below it. That reserve is for the system auction at year-end, where anyone can place items up for auction. I suggest that with our new policy of releasing information. We tell humanity that there will be an auction on the solstice, so people can prepare better items for us to buy. I would also suggest you tell the rest of humanity they can find system-made items within certain ruins, and it would empower some of humanity while allowing us to buy those put up for sale." His voice clipped slightly. "I want to be able to buy all the best items we can, and no one should be able to match our buying power."
"Approved," Harold said, without lifting his hand off the table. "Use your judgment, but you can release the information. Remember, no mention of how we know the information. Bring the ledger to me weekly. I'll countersign what needs to be countersigned and stay out of the rest. With the caveat that I’ll give you a list of ruins for people not to explore, as those ones will release monsters outside our ability to handle or lead to needless deaths."
"My lord." He confirmed as his aide wrote down his instructions.
The coin came back up between Caldwell's fingers and rolled across the knuckles. He let it travel three full passes before he caught it and set it back down beside the mug.
"Trade outside the basin," he said. "We have working routes to Lord Caswell's territory in the southwest, Lord Fitch's in the north quarter, Lady Maren's in the northeast, and Lady Renna's in the east. Lord Brennig's holding is the shortest haul of the lot." He nodded to Brennig on the wall, who tipped two fingers off the brim of nothing again. "These routes are not paved. None of them. The legion has cleared them as far as the basin border on each line, and from the border outward, every caravan we send is a caravan we send into monster country. The goblins aren't bad, but stone trolls are prevalent, and a few other nasties are out there."
"Losses?" Harold asked.
"Acceptable, this quarter. Six wagons in three months. The losses aren't what concerns me. The cost of the guard escorts is. We are paying nearly the wagon's value in adventurer hire and legionary detachment on every outbound run, and the merchants who'd normally be running these routes for us at a margin we could earn from won't accept the risk." He looked at the line of his lords down the table. "I'm asking the council to authorize the legion to clear these five routes properly. Bridge work where the rivers cross. Drainage on the low ground. Way stations at fifteen-mile intervals. And centuries to regularly patrol the roads." His eyes came back to Harold. "I want it done before the solstice, while we still have the trade window open to fund it."
Tribune Cess had her notebook out again, calculating.
Harold turned his head a fraction toward her. "Tribune."
"The five routes total around four hundred miles of road, my lord, by my understanding. If we could commit the entire legion. We can do it." She closed the notebook over her finger. "But we can’t commit the entire Legion. Not while also pushing Cohorts into the northern fortifications and not while also clearing the route to Blackjaws. We could create a central road to a central location, send roads off it like tributaries, and allow the Lords from those towns to link to it by road. I’ll defer the planning of that to Councilor Beth."
"I like it," Harold said it without raising his voice. "Beth, plan that for me and dispatch it to the relevant Lords. We need to begin pushing outside the Basin and securing our outlying Lords. I’ll have additional instructions for that at the end of this."
Caswell's chin came off his hand. "How about a tax credit, mate?"
Harold rolled his eyes. “Caswell, I’m not even taxing you lords yet.”
"Fair." Caswell looked at the dwarven elder beside him, waggling his eyebrows. "Could be worse."
Caldwell turned a page. "The internal economy. The basin is the brightest spot on our balance sheet. Five towns, nineteen villages as of the last census. Two hundred and forty miles from the Landing to the western edge, two hundred and sixty north to south at the widest. We're a small kingdom by area, my lord, though we'd rather not be one yet by name." His mouth pulled. "The villages have become the connective tissue between the towns. Caravans run almost weekly between every pairing. The road traffic on the basin loop has begun since uniting the Lords here, and we are under one banner."
"City upgrade," Caldwell said, and turned the next page. "The Landing needs to upgrade to a city per your instructions. The stele requirements are population — we're past those — and infrastructure, where we're closer than the council might think. I have ordered the construction of three trade depots in anticipation. One inside the Landing, on the east-side cobble flats, large-volume warehousing. Two more on the projected port sites south, near the river mouths." He glanced down the table. "Beth has the construction plans. We are well past the marker that requires us to make a profit."
Beth nodded without looking up from her own ledger. "The plans are done, we are just waiting on earth crafters to be available to begin. Some of those ports are in deeper water and need real foundations.
Caldwell turned the page. "The Tatanka."
He let the word sit for a moment.
"Nearly every draft animal in the basin is a Tatanka. Our farmers' plows, our hauling teams, our caravan, our timber-skid teams, all of it is Tatanka. The Tatanka are excellent at the work; they breed in this climate, they tolerate the basin's monster pressure better than horses would.”
Caldwell turned the page. "But we are critically short. We need four thousand head to fully service the basin economy at the current pace, and that will only increase. We have eleven hundred. The gap is real, and it is going to start producing visible bottlenecks until we can get more."
He let the next bit land.
"Lord Fitch and Lady Maren have horse herds in their territories that would solve our problem in a single season if we could acquire the breeding stock and the trained pairs at a reasonable price. I have been in correspondence with both their administrators since they swore, in your name, my lord, with your standing authority. However, we have not been able to close terms."
Fitch lifted his head off his palm again. “I have instructed them not to promise any horses to anyone. There is a breed out there that is similar to a draft horse.” He looked excited for a moment before Lady Maren placed a hand on his arm. He looked apologetic. “However, none are trained, and I don't expect to have any until late next year. Training efforts are going towards creating a cavalry force for the Legion. Excess from that will be sold to whoever can pay.”
He looked across the table at Caldwell, at Maren beside him, and put his head back down, visibly hungover.
"For now, I agree with the priority for those horses; we need mounted scouts and a strong mounted force. We can only train those horses so fast. However, Caldwell."
"My lord."
"Tatanka shortage is a continental problem. You said it yourself — all of humanity is running into the same problem."
"Every market I check, my lord."
"Can we facilitate trade using our river network. Most of the river is free of rapids. Perhaps we can start a river trade."
Caldwell looked thoughtful for a moment but ended up shaking his head. It will help move goods, but it will not help the villages and towns that rely on them to move damn near everything else. It is an idea to run down, though, and will almost certainly be needed in the future.”
Harold tipped his cup at Caldwell. "Anything else."
"Two items, briefly." Caldwell turned a page he had been saving. "First, the chit and coin system. It's running well; we are still short on copper coins, but it's a shortage that Councilor Lira is managing. For now, the chits are working until we have a suitable amount.”
“Alright, thank you for the update, Councilor Caldwell. I think I speak for all of us here when I say that I am thankful for all the work you do. I am glad you were one of the first names I called on my return.”
Harold tipped his cup toward Anil at the other end of the table.
"Councilor Anil."
He came up off the bench with a ledger open in front of him.
"My lord," he said.
Anil stood. He was a small man in a coat precisely tailored to his small frame, his hair was combed, his collar pressed. There was no nervous habit in his hands. The ledger in front of him had been opened to the correct page before he rose, and three colored ribbons hung out the bottom edge marking sections he intended to reach.
Margaret, two seats down from him, set her chin on her knuckles and watched him with the small, private satisfaction of a teacher whose student is about to do well in front of the headmaster.
"The administration of the basin." Anil's voice was clean and without inflection — he spoke precisely; English was not his first language, as he was from Nepal. Even in this common tongue, he spoke well. "I will give the council the state, and then I will give the council the problems, and then I will give the council the requests. Each in turn."
Harold nodded gently.
"The state. The basin population is 52,847 souls as of last week. 24,300 of those are in the five towns. 27,700 reside in the villages. The remainder are in transit, in temporary settlements, or in dispersed homesteads that have not yet been assigned to a stele." A finger touched the page without looking down. "Of the nineteen thousand integrated from Lord Henri, Lord Arjun, and Lady Aiko's former territories, sixteen thousand have sworn for citizenship benefits. The remaining three thousand are mid-process. The slowest cases will close within the month. One thing I would suggest as a change for citizens. I believe that once we have fully rolled out a privatized economy in order for your goal of elite citizens will be recognized. We should enforce some kind of fee and test for those seeking citizenship, and not allow children of citizens to become citizens, just as we do not allow children of nobility to inherit titles. Everyone must earn their way."
"Each of the nineteen villages has an administrative coordinator who reports to my office weekly," Anil continued. "Each coordinator was either chosen by the village's people in an open ballot or carried forward from the previous administration after an audit. The reports are filed every seven days and consolidated into the council brief that you receive every ten days. Lord, you have not yet read the most recent brief, and I will not hold it against you."
A small snort came out of Caswell at the end of the table, suppressed.
"It's on my desk," Harold said, smiling. "I'll read it tonight."
Anil turned a ribbon over.
"The steles. The basin operates nineteen village steles and five town steles, of which the Landing's is the primary one in our perk chain. The propagation chain holds at one level deep without the Cascading Seal Relic recovered by the Thornwalkers — every stele within the basin receives your perks once, and the perks do not propagate further. With the Seal, the propagation would reach three levels deep, and the cumulative benefit to the smaller settlements would compound. The Seal is therefore the highest-value relic on our acquisition list. I have reviewed the numbers from every village under our stele, including those of our newest Lords, and after the Thornwalkers recovered the Cascading Seal relic, each village’s production numbers and efficiency went up. Even our own loyalty predictions went up almost a quarter. If we can continue that trend, we will continue to compound our advantages. Trees are cut faster, people recover faster, and work harder. They are more loyal and more honest. More willing to buy into our budding empire."
"I’m glad you approve," Harold said dryly. "That relic was one that was not recovered last time. Gaining that relic surprised me as well."
"Continue, please."
"Justice." A second ribbon turned. "Two hundred and forty-three cases have come before the Landing's court in the past quarter. Two hundred and twenty-one were resolved at the village or town level by the local coordinator with my office's review. Twenty-two cases were elevated. Of those, fifteen were resolved with Judge Mendez. Seven remain on the docket pending evidence."
"Categories?"
"Eighty-three property disputes, mostly arising from settlement boundary questions in the newly integrated villages. Forty-one pay disputes. Thirty assault cases, of which six involved perk use and were elevated immediately. Twenty-eight theft. Nineteen domestic. The remainder are spread across small categories." Anil paused briefly. "There have also been four cases of attempted bribery filed against administrators in my office. Three by parties seeking to expedite permits. One by a party seeking to suppress the result of a property survey."
The room quieted by a notch.
"Outcomes?" Harold asked.
"All four bribery attempts were reported by the administrator approached in each case, on the same day. All four parties offering have been charged and are awaiting judgment. None of the administrators accepted, nor were any second approaches reported. The administrative service is functioning as designed, and those people were given a bonus pending Councilor Caldwell’s approval."
Caldwell, who had been flipping to the appropriate page. “I have built a small fund for uses like this. People believe in what we are building here; Loyalty is always something to reward.”
"Names of the parties charged," Harold said.
"In brief, my lord. Two of the four are men of moderate standing in the integrated villages. The other two are merchants from outside the basin from Lord Caswell’s village who attempted to purchase faster customs processing at our forts within the passes. The names will not surprise you when you read them."
“Oi! What are their names? I will deal with them appropriately.”
Anil looked up at him calmly. “With respect, Sir Caswell, they will face appropriate punishment in accordance with the Laws of the Landing. Of which you are sworn to uphold. Applying punishment from the law will fall under your purview. For now, they will be processed by Judge Mendez and sent to you for punishment.”
Caswell looked like he was about to protest, but calmed down with a look from the Count.
Anil continued on, looking toward Lord Henri.
"Two of the cases involve administrators from your former territory. Both administrators reported the approach within hours. Both are now serving in expanded roles in the Landing's office, with Councilor Margaret's approval and my endorsement, with promotions that reflect their integrity. Your former administrative service was understaffed and underpaid, though I will say it was not corrupt."
Henri looked furious for a moment before the anger left him, and he settled back down.
He did not say thank you, but he looked at Anil for a moment longer than necessary, and Anil looked back at him without flinching, before Henri looked away.
"Continue, Councilor Anil," Harold said.
"Civil services." The next ribbon. "We have a clinic in each of the four towns outside the Landing, and from there, medical apprentices travel to each of our villages. For now, they are escorted by members of the Legion who are learning to be medics. We gained more than a few doctors from Earth who are fascinated with how our potions heal people, but they are more than willing to teach others more traditional Earth methods, and they have gained perks related to that as well. They are nowhere as good as a healing potion, but they have saved lives regardless. Notably, midwifery is on the rise again. Many couples are getting pregnant.”
Harold shot a glance toward Beth, who was attempting to hide in her seat. Josh was still oblivious.
“The schools in three of five towns have begun their first formal terms. The other two will begin within the month. In particular, the schools have been well received because we are attempting to teach all of our students trades and ways to make a living. As well as introducing them to adventuring if they are interested. On the culture side of things, Lady Aiko and Lady Renna’s town are the clear leaders. The people from Earth there may not be happy to be here in Gravesend, but they are the most bought into what we are building here."
“I understand we have a culture requirement in order to upgrade to City, so I have begun to organize a winter solstice celebration. It is regrettable we don't know if we have passed the marker or not, but better safe than sorry.”
Anil turned the last ribbon.
"The problems. Two, briefly. First, the administrative service is the binding constraint on the growth of every other section. We are growing the basin's economy and people faster than we are growing the people who keep it in order. Councilor Caldwell mentioned village stele scaling for the chit system. I cannot scale the chit system to nineteen villages without doubling my administrative staff within the next two quarters. We are training, but we are training behind the curve. And this is with your guidance to not inflate the government. In addition, within a year, those new villages will become towns, and they will then place their own village steles. At that point, our population will begin to explode."
"What do you need?" Harold said.
"I am proposing a formal administrative academy. Forty seats per cycle. Six-month curriculum. Ledger work, basic law, perk-tier conflict resolution. The first cycle starts after the solstice. The instructors are already in my office — six of my senior administrators have agreed to teach in rotation. The cost is two thousand four hundred gold to stand it up and four hundred a quarter to run it. The graduate is worth four times the cost in the first year alone, according to my model, and we could use one of the original halls we built, which we are almost moved out of. I have asked Councilor Margaret to see if she can find skilled administrators from Earth to work in our government. Frankly, Sire, we will need the people."
"Approved." Harold did not pause. "Stand it up. Pull what you need from Caldwell's discretionary line. Though I want a list of the perks you expect them to earn and your methods to teach them. Civil administration will be important for us to make this work as we expand, and we need to develop that talent."
"My lord." He nodded.
"The second problem?"
“As a whole, our admin sections are working; we are integrating new people. Giving them jobs, resolving disputes. Our workflows are good. But people are people. Some are unhappy with their assignments and the days of work. Admittedly, most of these people are ones from Earth.”
Harold sighed, “Their life here has been too comfortable. I can guess which villages and towns these people are from. What do you suggest, Councilor?”
"My lord, I suggest nothing. Their complaints are meaningless. I am reducing the workdays to a traditional five-day workweek; I would have suggested it eventually either way. People want time to pursue their own interests, and we want to encourage that exploration. However, the people complaining are mostly just complaining. Our summoned peoples are almost universally hard workers, but they are the ones the admin section is most involved with to settle disputes."
"Anything else."
"One small matter." A page turned. "A week ago, a man came to the east gate of the Landing claiming to have administrative experience and seeking employment in my office. He came with papers from what he claimed was a Kingdom Alnor. Margaret's people are working on it. We have not seen this kind of attempt before, and frankly, Lord, I am not sure what to make of it."
Harold's face sharpened.
"What was his name?"
"Margaret has it, my lord."
"Then we'll hear about it in her section." Harold tipped his cup at Anil. "Sit, Councilor. Well done. In the future, bring this to my attention immediately. I believe his request is genuine, and the Kingdom Alnor is an honest human kingdom across the sea. However. Natives didn’t come to work for Lords until after our reputation systems were unlocked after the solstice. "
"My lord." Anil nodded.
Anil sat, and the ledger closed. Margaret reached across the bench and put her hand on his shoulder once, briefly, and then took it back.
Harold looked down the table.
The light through the high windows had moved a hand's width since they had begun. The morning felt more than half spent, not nearly done.
“Alright, let's break for lunch quickly, then let's get back to it with you, Bethe