Evolve

by Derek Belfield

  Slate held the pyramid in his palm. As he did so, he could feel it begin to warm.

  Welcome, Heritor.

  He heard in his head. The voice wasn't from Shale. Instead, it sounded like a young girl. Who is this? He warily replied.

  My name is Haven. The voice replied earnestly. It's finally good to meet you.

  At the shocked look on Slate's face, his two companions gave him a questioning look. He waved them quiet with a hand. Haven? He asked. What is your purpose?

  The voice giggled cutely. I am a gift from Lucidus. She said proudly. I'm your city management system. I help you design, build and run the city.

  Chapter 16: Urban Planning

  It would have been safe to say that a disconnected voice was the last thing Slate had been expecting. It didn't occur to him that this world would have a mechanism in place to guide the development of a city. It took a horde of people to make anything as complicated as a town sustainable. He had been planning to create a small council of advisors and let them pick their own staff. That was the way campaigns and governorships worked, and he didn't have the time or inclination to run take a direct hand in urban planning.

  If Haven possessed immediate and perfect knowledge of Lighthaven, then he could get by with a stream-lined system of government without an ungainly bureaucracy that would just waste everyone's time and money. He wondered if the city took a direct hand in actually building the structures. If this were earth, the Heritor would assume things would be constructed in the usual way: manual labor and supplies. Somnium was a world of magic, he wondered if that made a difference. He needed to clarify the information. What do you mean by that? He questioned.

  The voice replied like a child knowing it was answering a stupid question. It means that I help you guide the development of your territory. You can manually build things the traditional way, but that requires labor and materials. If those are things that you don't possess, I can make it for you. There is a trade-off, its cheaper in materials to build without magic. Sometimes it may be worth it to create structures the natural way, but time is money, and it can be more cost-effective to use me from that perspective.

  Slate's ears perked up at the mention of costs. Okay. He said slowly. What exactly do these things cost?

  The spirit giggled, and Slate felt as if he had asked another stupid question. The same things everything does in this world--experience and biomass. She replied.

  In hindsight, Slate figured he should've known that but it wasn't an intuitive guess to think that the same thing he used to grow scales would be used in growing buildings. The thought made him realize something else. So I have to sacrifice my experience and biomass to build things?

  The spirit only laughed at him again. That doesn't seem very efficient, Heritor. She seemed to be placing emphasis on his title.

  On a whim, he asked. So, as the Heritor, I can acquire experience and biomass from other people? Say...from the citizens of Lighthaven?

  The spirit spoke slowly as if she were talking to a particularly dense person. Yes, Heritor. Some might even call it a tax. She said the last word as if it were an urban legend and Slate growled deeply in his throat. He particularly disliked being made a fool of, and the idea of creating a tax policy brought up memories he'd soon rather forget.

  At his growl, his companions looked at him with concern, and he gave them a mollifying look before continuing on with his conversation. So how do I go about setting this tax and acquiring materials?

  That's easy! The spirit said brightly. Build a sacrificial platform.

  Her tone didn't fit with the dark connotation of the words, and Slate was momentary put off guard. A sacrificial platform? He questioned. Where the fuck would I put one of those?

  The spirit adopted a business-like tone. Well, you could place a relatively simple one in the center of the marshaling ground. It would be cheap and low-leveled. It wouldn't cost much in the way of biomass and experience, but it would be kind of the way when you marshaled a larger army, and it wouldn't be big enough to deposit massive amounts of biomass with any speed.

  Slate was genuinely surprised at her answer. Up until this point, she had been woefully scant on the details, and now he felt as if he was finally getting somewhere. He decided to press his luck. Good idea, what would you suggest I do?

  The spirit answered immediately as if she had anticipated the question. If I were you, I would instruct your beautifully intelligent assistant—me—to build a level 20 sacrificial chamber on the top of the pyramid. That would allow you to create a spectacle out of the event and raise morale within the village. Right now, the Guardians hunt more because they're bored, than because they're hungry. If you give them a mission to collect biomass, it will go a long way in endearing them to your leadership. They don't require biomass outside of sustenance since they cant evolve so it would be a win-win for everyone.

  The spirit continued. Additionally, at level twenty, the platform can dedicate the biomass to Lucidus and build up your reputation with her. The more status you and your people have with her, the better boons that she'll bestow upon the city.

  Slate didn't reply immediately and stopped to think. Is there an actual reputation system that I didn't know about? He asked. I feel like I should have been building reputation this whole time if that's the case.

  Not exactly. The spirit replied. I'll let you know if your territory is getting close to a boon from Lucidus. There isn't a numerical value it depends upon the actions your region takes and the context they occur in. If you defeat a large number of enemies for Lucidus, that might be worth more to her than a basic sacrifice of biomass. On the other hand, sacrificing an influential enemy leader might mean more to Lucidius than defeating an entire army or claiming a city. It simply depends.

  Slate supposed that made sense. Does Lucidus tell you what she wants to be accomplished? He asked.

  The spirit sounded thoughtful. No, not really. That's more a job for priests and leaders like you. However, if you leveled the temple within the main pyramid, it would allow her to communicate more readily and offer quests to you and your people.

  Slate considered the news. That would make things much easier for the Scourge. A deity had more perspective on world events than a mortal could. It could be potentially life-saving if suddenly quests could be issued to defend Lighthaven or protect a particular target. Just knowing about the quests would be an insight into their enemies. That would be a topic for another time. He moved on.

  Okay, now that the biomass piece has been figured out. What about the experience? That isn't really anything physical that you can place on a sacrificial platform. He had been wondering about the nature of experience since he came to this world.

  That's even easier! The spirit seemed to shout with childlike glee. I can apply a tax to all the experience earned by Lighthaven citizenry. Would you like to apply one now?

  Slate considered the question. He would need to keep it relatively low to encourage leveling in his guardians. He needed them to be strong enough to protect the Scourge and take them out on hunting trips to level as well. For right now, start a flat tax of 10% on all experience earned. I'm assuming I can make it more complicated later to encourage or discourage particular behaviors?

  Absolutely. The spirit affirmed.

  Feeling that he accomplished something, Slate decided to continue. Okay, now let's build the sacrificial platform.

  Sure! The spirit laughed. You just need to provide 33,500 experience and 335 biomass.

  "What the fuck?!" Slate yelled. Shale and Merus looked at each other and then at him with concern.

  Merus was the first to speak. "Lord Heritor, is there something wrong?" He asked. Slate rudely hushed him and started to loudly berate the spirit.

  I thought you said that I should build one! Why didn't you tell me it would be so expensive. The spirit sounded like a smug child, sounding each word in a sing song voice.

  I recommended that you should have built one. I didn't recommen
d that you build one right now, silly!

  Slate briefly considered turning the miniature in his palm into crushed powder. Why is it so expensive? He asked with strained patience.

  The childlike voice sounded confused. It's not expensive. It's the typical cost of the accumulated experience for a level 20 anything-Guardian, Scourge, or platform, they all cost the same. The biomass is just a flat percentage of the experience. Slate considered his own level. He was level 26 with almost 90,000 experience. He begrudgingly admitted to himself that the cost made sense.

  Slate slammed the pyramid on the desk in front of Merus with anger. "Hold on to this." He growled. "It's just as important as you guessed, but we can't use it right now without more experience and more biomass. Once we reach enough, production should speed up for the entire village.”

  Merus looked down at the crystal trinket and then back up into Slate's fuming face utterly unaware as to why he was shouting. "Uh, Sure, Heritor."

  Shale just looked amused as she could sense the tone and tenor of the conversation that Slate went through the Scourgemind. Looking between Shale's amusement and Merus' confusion, he decided not to expound on the situation. The spirit sounded like a child, and he was NOT going to be upset by a child.

  He crossed his bulky arms over his chest and silently dared Merus to ask follow-up questions as his tail swept angrily at his feet like a twisting viper. Merus looked down at his tail, gulped, and decided to change the subject.

  "Well, how about we take a look at this map?" He offered. Shale broke in before Slate could reply and patted him on the shoulder harder than was strictly necessary.

  "Sure,” she said with false cheer.” We could use some good news." Slate looked between the two companions and realized that he was acting foolish. No one enjoyed a leader that was over emotional. It made them afraid to deliver bad news when it mattered. He took a measured breath and visibly calmed himself. "Let' do this."

  Nodding, Merus unrolled the map and used the crystal pyramid to hold open one side while he held the other with his hand. As if remembering something, he looked up at the Scourge leaders. "Should we invite Sumnu for this?" He asked. "Intellectually I'm interested in this information, but if we're coming up with battle plans, he would be a better pick to advise you." Slate considered the suggestion and looked over at Shale. "Would he be better at this sort of thing than you?" Slate's tone wasn't offensive, and he was relieved to see that Shale wasn't angered by the question. It was a blessing to work with professionals.

  "Probably." Shale shrugged. "I'm better at single combat. I've never been interested in high-level battle analysis. It wouldn't hurt to have him along." Slate nodded and then walked to the doorway of the throne room. Two Guardians stood watch at the threshold. He addressed one of them. "Please summon Guardian Sumnu for me, please." The woman saluted and then sprinted through the corridor while the other remained in place. Slate was surprised she had taken off running. He expected a brisk walk and running seemed like overkill.

  A short time later, Sumnu entered the room and saluted the Scourge leaders. "You needed me, Lord?" He asked. Slate nodded affirmatively and gestured to the table where Merus sat. "We acquired a map from our foray into the town of Wayward. Care to take a look with us?" Sumnu looked surprised at being invited. "I would be honored." He replied.

  The three standing individuals drew closer and peered over the map from the other side of the table. To Slate, the landmass looked somewhat like the Southern part of Western Europe as it wrapped around the Mediterranean to meet Africa. It wasn't quite the same, but it did share the general shape. On the map, it was labeled the Sturmian Sea.

  The map only consisted of the coastline of the Sturmian sea and about five hundred miles in every direction. Almost directly in the center, north of the sea looked to Slate like the expansive forest that contained Lighthaven. He used his finger to point at the Wyldwood and then drag it west a short distance until it rested upon a dot inked into the map. It was labeled "Wayward."

  "This is where we acquired the map," he said pensively. "We look to be on the western edge of something called the Vallyrian Collective." He used his finger to gesture to a purple shaded territory that extended all the way from an ocean in the west of the continent to their current position. It took up area reaching all the way north before it stopped in a line of labeled forts and then to the south until it touched the Strumian Sea. It actually wrapped around the forest to the south and cut them off from the ocean.

  "That's good for us," Merus. "It means that there aren't a swath of fighting nations. It makes diplomacy easier. We'll only need to deal with one entity instead of many." He mused.

  Both Shale and Slate looked at each other and then looked at Merus as if he were stupid. Shale took the opportunity. "What do you mean by diplomacy, Merus?" She asked like she was speaking to a particularly dense apprentice. "We're going to kill or convert anyone who stands in our way."

  Sumnu took the opportunity to defend Merus. "Well, he's not wrong." He drew a finger in a circle around the surrounding region. "Just because this map only shows the Vallyrian Collective doesn't mean there aren't more nations surrounding us. How we treat other countries is going to build a reputation for everyone else.

  If we look like too much of a threat, then we risk the other nations coming to the defense of the Collective." He looked up thoughtfully. "I'm assuming we're planning our conquest of the Collective, right now?"

  Both of the Scourge didn't like Sumnu's reasoning. It was logical and realistic. Unfortunately, it meant a lot less killing for them. Neither of them answered Sumnu directly. Shale sounded pained as she spoke. "Well, that sounds like it makes sense." She allowed. Slate sighed heavily.

  He could feel her disappointment through their bond. "It does make sense. Continue, Merus."

  "Well, I just mean if we can get someone to join us through their own volition, then that would be an obviously better solution than forcing them?" Merus asked. He looked at both of the murdering monsters, disgust clearly written on their faces. "Right?"

  "No." They both said at the same time and shook their heads. "Where's the fun in that?" Shale asked while Slate said, "where would we get biomass?" Sumnu chuckled with a sound like rolling thunder. Both of the Guardians could sense that the Scourge monarchs were kidding. Sort of.

  Merus looked between them and back at the map. He knew he wouldn't be able to completely convince the bloodthirsty duo right now but perhaps he could over time. Deciding to shelve the matter for later, he studied the map. "Well, in that case," he supplied, "We have four or five large towns all around us. Wayward seems fairly small, but there are many more. We have a plethora of targets we could send raiding parties to."

  "Great" Slate said and shared a savage grin with Shale. Their spirits had obviously been lifted after moving away from the talk about peace. "In that case, where should we attack first?" Slate asked. Merus tapped a finger to his lips as he thought out loud. "Well, we can assume that this Collective is pretty powerful. It takes up a large part of the visible territory on this map." He placed his finger on a city to the south of Lighthaven on the coast of the Sturmian Sea.

  "We should probably attack here." He suggested. "If we claim this population center here, we'll have a route to the ocean. That would help us with trade and food. I'm assuming the sea is just as much a source of biomass as the forest. It might even be profitable for us than conquering or hunting. Slate was pleased that Merus was bringing up concerns that related to the governing of a region. It showed him that the Guardian was taking his duties carefully.

  He turned to Sumnu. "What do you think?"

  Sumnu quietly studied the map before replying. When he did, he was confident. "There are many considerations for taking a city in that location." He began counting on his fingers. "First, it's likely to be well defended with fortifications. If it's as important to commerce as Merus suggests, it will be protected. Second, because of its positioning, it's in a better location than Lighthaven—" he
pointed on the map to expand on his point—"There's mountainous territory to the east, floodplains on the west, the Wyldwood to the north, and the Sturmian Sea to the south. If we can take it, we'll be in a much better position to attack further cities. "Finally, because of its proximity to the water, we need to fear a Collective navy." He crossed his arms and cradled his chin in his hand. "It would be a shame to catch an ambush in the ass while we were off raiding and pillaging the coastline. Both of the Guardians looked to Slate to see what his response was.

  Instead of replying, the Heritor glanced at Shale. Shale frowned at the Guardians, this kind of maneuvering was well beyond her. She could tell you the best way to place a knife between two ribs without scratching either side, but she didn't care to think about the geopolitical effects of such an action. "This isn't really my expertise. Tell me who to kill, and I'll make sure they're extra dead."