Beastborne
Page 43
The erstwhile Reaper nodded her acceptance.
His koblin friends had been so solemn and uncharacteristically quiet that Hal nearly forgot they were there. Only when he turned to survey the immediate area did he remember. Each of them looked up at him expectantly.
“My dear koblins,” Hal said, unable to refrain from smiling. He dropped to one knee and put a hand on Vorax’s lid. “The task I have for you all is perhaps the most important.
“Take Vorax with you. Search for any creatures that may wish us harm within the valley. If you find any that you think might be friendly, let me know. Do not try to fight anything, only look. Understood?”
Each of the koblins gave him a goofy little salute, most of them hitting the padded leather mask so hard that their green ears flopped from the impact. “No use fighty-tool! Kobbies see-true enemies in long-stop! Will take many tock-ticks. Kobbies give this helpy-hand!”
Hal imparted his instructions separately to Vorax. “Keep them safe. And talk to any monsters to see if they would be willing to have a home with us. I want this place to be as much a safe haven for people as for monsterkind. So long as they are willing to live in harmony.”
Vorax imparted its own understanding, flashing images of Vorax and Hal as an example of companionship. Of family. Together the koblins and Vorax hurried off to the east.
Luda stood there, tilting her head as she watched them. Turning back to Hal she smiled. “I appreciate you sharing such a solemn occasion with me. Is there nothing I can do to help?”
“You said many among your disciples are accomplished crafters and gatherers, right?” Hal asked.
“Indeed,” Luda said, nodding along. “And you wish to employ them in the defense of their new home. I will see that they make it their sole concern.”
That left Hal alone with Noth, and the Manatree.
“I can feel it, you know,” she whispered so softly that if the wind hadn’t died down Hal would have missed it. “The Manaseed. I’m tethered to it, just as you are. It feels….”
As she struggled to put a word to her feelings, Hal said, “Peaceful.”
Noth looked at him, her expression softened. “Yes,” she said, turning back to look at the Manaseed. “Peaceful.”
71
Before Hal returned to the caravan and the whirlwind of activity he knew it would be, he took a moment to savor the peace. Beside Noth, Hal brought up the Guild menu and pulled up the perks available for the Settlement Archetype.
[Settlement Archetype]
Founding 0/1
The Founding perk grants a temporary buff known as “Founder’s Day,” which repeats once per year on the anniversary of this perk’s attainment. The initial “Founder’s Day” buff lasts for three days. Every year the settlement remains the “Founder’s Day” buff grows in strength.
Changes settlement type to outpost.
Unlocks Research Points.
Unlocks Manatree Control.
Unlocks Morale.
Grants Tier I Building Schematics.
Allows the formation of Gatherer & Crafter Bands.
As the only perk available at the moment, Hal placed the lone point he was saving into it and was immediately hit with a deluge of information.
Next to him, Noth looked over noticing his reaction. “I imagine what you’re seeing is a lot more than what I am.”
Hal nodded. “How much did you see?”
“That we can now form something called ‘Gatherer Bands’ and ‘Crafter Bands’, we’re upgraded from a caravan to an outpost, and we’ve got new building schematics. The dwarves will be happy about that last bit, I imagine.”
“I think we all will be,” Hal said with a grin. “Let’s head back, I’ll look over this stuff on the way.”
Area Effect: Founder’s Day
Founder’s Day
+25% Skill gain rate | +25% Experience points.
+25% Crafting Points | +25% Gathering Points.
+25% HP | +25% SP | +25% MP.
+25% HP Regeneration | +25% SP Regeneration | +25% MP Regeneration.
+100% Morale | -25% Elysian Point cost | +100% Settlement defense.
Duration: 3 days.
Settlement changed to Outpost.
Outpost
Without a Town Hall built, your fledgling town is little more than a group of people huddled around a fire. Putting down roots is an important first step to building a lasting settlement. But without permanent lodgings, comfortable amenities, safety, or stable supplies your settlement will not last long.
Settlement Consumption: +10% | Settlement Production: -10%.
Influence Area: -20% | Settlement Morale: -50%.
Research Points: -50%.
Research Points
The sole purpose of Research Points (RP) is to allow for the creation and discovery of new recipes. These recipes can include new Elysian Abilities, Building Schematics, Crafting Recipes, and many more.
Manatree Control
Having founded a settlement with a Manatree, you have gained access to not only the unique power of a Manatree’s Elysian Abilities but that of the settlement’s as well. By possessing both, you can bind the Manatree to the settlement, improving the lives of all citizens and granting them the boons of the Manatree as well.
Doing so should be done with the utmost of caution, however, as this action cannot be undone. If the settlement dies, so too will the Manatree and vice versa.
If performed, the benefits are many, such as the increased generation of Elysian Points (EP), increased Manatree Abilities, and increased Manatree Experience gain. The Manatree’s influence range will be expanded to include all of the settlement if it’s influence range is less, or beyond the settlement, if its influence is greater than the settlement’s.
Morale
People are the lifeblood of any settlement, and the general wellbeing of those people is paramount to their ability to work effectively. Stress them too much, and their work suffers.
Morale is affected by a variety of effects. From those you control, such as amenities, comfortable homes, the safety of the settlement, and a steady supply of food. To those you do not, like inclement weather, local flora and fauna, neighboring settlements, the appearance of dungeons, and roaming monsters.
Various activities, abilities, and buildings provide bonuses or maluses to Morale. Effectively managing your settlement’s Morale can make even the most skill-deficient citizens productive. While mismanaging Morale can cripple artisans at the pinnacle of their craft.
Tier I Building Schematics Unlocked.
Production Tier I
Defensive Tier I
Housing Tier I
Building Schematics
Every structure requires a set of schematics to be able to be built. Otherwise, an extensive amount of RP and time is required to research new types of buildings. Every settlement type brings with it a set of Building Schematics, minus the caravan type.
Building Schematics can be bought, sold, created, discovered, or researched. Every Building Schematic requires a set amount of resources to build and possesses an amount of Crafting Points (CP) required to complete it.
Building Schematics possess 3 major categories:
Materials
The amount of resources required to complete the construction or construction stage for multi-step buildings.
Parameters
Useful information about the building itself. Defensive structures have their HP, DEF, MDEF, and any other relevant status listed here. Housing would showcase Comfort, Luxury, and Morale bonuses.
Construction
Portrays information about the building’s construction cost, most notably: cost, difficulty, and worker limit. Cost is the amount of CP required to complete the building or the current construction stage for multi-step buildings. Difficulty is the amount of complexity in the building’s design. Higher levels of difficulty require its workers to possess higher Building Skill. Worker limit is the maximum amount of workers on a g
iven project.
Gatherer & Crafter Bands
Up to 20 people can form a band. Bands are unique to Manatree settlements. They allow for a coordinated effort to craft, or gather. Every additional member over 5 contributes to a bonus to their respective discipline for the entire band. Mixing Professions and different Classes can create unique buffs for the entire band.
They were in sight of caravans as the pair wove around a tumble of tall pale stones. “There is a lot to do,” Hal said.
“We have a week to get some defenses in place,” Noth said, misunderstanding his intent as worry. “With the dwarves and everybody pitching in, we will stand against what is coming.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. It stopped him in his tracks and he turned away from the notifications to see Noth clearly. “This is our home now.”
Her words held such conviction that Hal couldn’t help but smile. “It is our home,” he agreed, as he laid his hand over Noth’s. He gave it a reassuring squeeze and they continued walking side-by-side toward the circled wagons. “And we’re going to make it into something great.”
“Then,” Noth began, tilting her head and regarding him curiously. “You are not worried about the pending attack on our home?”
“I am. It would be hard not to be. But I have faith in Durvin’s boys and in the rest of us. You are right, Noth. If everybody pitches in, we can do this. I need to look at what we’ll need to progress to the next settlement type, but I can guess well enough that we need at least a town hall.”
“Can we spare the work from the walls to do that?” Noth asked.
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Hal shook his head. “Maybe. Maybe not. Now that we’re considered an outpost, our penalties aren’t quite as large. But they’re still there. We’ve got a combined twenty percent hit to how much we use.
“Presumably, that also includes the costs to construct buildings. If everything takes ten percent more materials - possibly including CP - and we can produce ten percent less of those materials, it might be worth it to divert some production to the town hall.”
As they came upon the caravan, they could see how busy the place was. Dwarves hopped around, organizing into groups. Some had woodcutter axes, others fashioned large wooden sleds tied to a simple harness to ferry the Guild Chests around.
But everybody was moving in one way or another. It was like somebody had poked a beehive.
“But you’re still unsure,” Noth said, reading Hal’s emotions right this time. “You don’t know if building a town hall will be enough. And the cost for failing to build proper defenses is high.”
Hal nodded, coming to a halt a dozen yards from the caravan. They were on a rising slope that afforded them a perfect view of the manic motion.
“The gap is small compared to most valleys, compared to most of the areas we found at the base of the mountain for that matter,” Hal said, crossing his arms as he looked over the roofs of the wagons far to the south. Toward the darkening gate-like entrance to their home.
“But it’s still over two hundred yards wide. Perhaps more. I won’t know until we get an accurate assessment of the area.” Hal watched as even then, a score of dwarves were marching to the south. “We have enough stone and wood to build some things, I’m sure. But we never expected to have to erect solid defenses so quickly.
“I would rather struggle and have sturdy stone walls than to have holes in our defense,” Hal said, mostly to himself he realized. That was the beauty of talking to Noth sometimes. He could work out his own inner turmoil, and she would listen. Often offering her own solid advice.
“Everything must be seen through the eyes of an immortal,” Noth said, her eyes were watching the caravan but her look was distant, distracted. “You build for the future. And there can be no future if your - our - settlement is wiped out. Strong defenses will buy us time to set other plans in motion.
“But it will depend largely on how expensive the town hall is. The Founder’s Day buff we have is quite significant. We might be able to use that to our advantage.”
Hal was already thinking along those lines. The morale detriment of being an outpost settlement was completely erased. Instead it became a 50% morale boost. While the settlement defense likely wouldn’t see any use, the lowered EP cost, bonuses to EXP, skill, crafting, and gathering would definitely see use.
Looking at his own MP, sitting at a beautiful 1,018 thanks to the 25% boost, Hal began to imagine all the things he could make with Bonecrafting. With his scarcely used trait, Improvised Crafting, he might even be able to aid in construction.
72
It was a testament to how busy the caravan was when Hal and Noth returned that nobody noticed them. Hal could feel his connection to Vorax somewhere off in the distance. There was a sense of curiosity and hope flowing through the mimic.
Hal didn’t truly expect to find many monsters in the valley. But he knew if he could find some and Vorax could make the proper introductions, they might avoid conflict later on.
While he was claiming the valley for his own people, it was not a small place. There was room to give what monsters - provided they were friendly, or at least amenable to peace - were already living in the valley their already claimed space.
“I’ve never seen so many people, so busy,” Noth said. When she caught Hal’s curious look she smirked and added, “Most of my experience with people is after the chaos has died down. Sometimes in the middle but rarely at the beginning. Do you feel it, Hal? The air is almost charged with hope and expectation.”
“They’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Hal answered, watching two dwarfs reach for the same hammer. They started to bicker and tug on each other’s beards. Noth gave a soft laugh to his side.
“We all have.” Hal shook his head and ventured into their wagon. “Weeks of hard travel crammed into tight - albeit fairly comfortable accommodations - while most people could never be sure this was going to happen.
“I mean, look at this place.” Once inside the wagon, Hal motioned to the stunning shadowed valley view afforded through the window. “I don’t think anybody could have guessed we’d find such a nice place.
“And even if they did,” he continued, reaching into a trunk. Hal grabbed a leatherbound notebook and a fountain pen. Noth helped him clear the table of still-warm teacups and half-eaten biscuits for his materials. “It’s one thing to see the reality of it, and quite another to hope for it.”
“Tea?” Noth asked, depositing the dishes in the sink.
Hal nodded, opening up the journal to a page half-filled with random bits of math. Despite his high Intelligence, he couldn’t hold a million things in his head at once. Nor could he do a dozen calculations - not if he wanted them to be accurate - like some sort of savant.
What Ashera had told him way back in the forest outside of Fallwreath seemed true. There was only so much raising his INT could do for him. His magic was undoubtedly powerful, far more than back then. But he was still Hal. Perhaps a little wiser, a bit faster with his thoughts.
The same man… but better. At least he hoped.
Before he dove into the Building Schematics he hadn’t explored yet, Hal took another peek at his Guild Status.
[Guild Statistics]
Production
Food: -33u
Settlement Type
Outpost
Consumption: +10%
Production: -10%
Influence Area: -20%
Settlement Morale: +50% (+100% from Founder’s Day)
Research Points: -50%
Stores
Food: 362u
Days Remaining: 10
Stone
Rough Stone: 45t
Stone Bricks: 11t
Dressed Stone: 12.2t
Crystal
Unrefined Crystal: 5.12t
Shardite: 1.01t
Empyreal Shardite: 0.35t
Wood
Raw: 20t
Lumber: 40t
Metal
&nb
sp; Copper: 1.8t
Iron: 5.2t
Steel: 0.77t
Silver: 0.98t
Gold: 0.45t
[Guild Status]
Guild Name: Bravers
Emblem: N/A
Guildmaster: Hal Williams
Members: 87/140
Guild Level: 2
Experience: 3,475
To Next Level: 5,300
Perks: 0
Guild Points: 120/250
Generation: 20/day
Territory: 1 Mile (-20% from Outpost Type)
Alliance: N/A
Opposition: N/A
Guild Skills
Regeneration
All guild members within the guild’s territory (or their influence area) have their HP regeneration rates increased by 50%.
Guild Point Cost: 10
Duration: 24hrs
Effects:
+10% Reputation (Bonecraft Discovery)
Everything seemed in order until he got to the Guild Points. He paused, did a double-take, and turned to Noth just in time to be handed a cup of hot tea. “Thanks, have you taken a look at the Guild Points?”
“Yes, why?” she asked, pulling up a chair beside him. She cradled the mug in her delicate hands and rested her elbows on the table. “We have quite a few points, the bulk of which we gained from Leveling Up. The rest seemed to come from changing our settlement type but that’s just a guess.”
Hal shook his head. “I guess I was so sleep-deprived these last few days and so busy looking for a home that I didn’t pay that close attention.”