The Land: Predators

by Aleron Kong

  Richter looked at Randolphus, who was still looking confused and expectant.

  “We’ve got some things to talk about,” Richter told him before telling him about the prompt.

  A few minutes later, Randolphus was almost bouncing with excitement, “I have heard of Settlement Points, of course, my lord, but it has been long since any ruler of Yves has been able to earn any.”

  “Why?” Richter asked. “What level of settlement is Yves anyway?”

  “Yves is a level five kingdom, but that does not necessarily translate to how many levels of Power have been unlocked in the Place of Power it was built upon. I have never been able to personally examine the Heart Crystal of Law. No ruler of Law would ever trust another with the key to his power, especially not a half-blood relative like myself. Through research, however, I believe that the highest level of its Powers that have been unlocked occurred under the rule of Emorrie the Great. He was able to finish quests to unlock the fourth level of his Air Power.

  “That is not currently the case, however. The bonuses to spell power and resistance are hereditary and can be used by the current Master of Law’s Heart Crystal. The new King has a fifty percent bonus to spellpower and resistance in all four of the Law’s Powers: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. The abilities and other bonuses that can come from being Master of a Place of Power, like your Fast Learner or Bounty of Life abilities, must be earned through quests with each new ruler, however. The current king has only performed one such quest to my knowledge. The Mastery of Fire gave him the ability Soul Blaze, which increases the power of his summoned creatures by 30%.”

  Richter frowned slightly. Doing quests to unlock his powers was not easy, but the benefits were massive. His Life Power had given him the Bounty of Life ability. It meant that the growth of his settlement was increased by 30%. His Air Power ability, Fast Learner, had given him a 30% boost to the advancement of all of his skills. That and his Limitless ability were what had made him so dangerous in just a few months. “Why would anyone forgo the bonuses from their Powers? Why wouldn’t they just do the quests?” he asked.

  “Decadence,” Randolphus replied with a shrug. “The old king had unlocked level one of all of four of his Powers and also the second level of both Fire and Air, but his son would prefer to drink and gamble with his friends.” The chamberlain’s face turned sour as he thought of his wastrel nephew.

  Richter shook his head, not understanding, but then he stopped and thought about it. To him, every new spell, every new piece of magic, even every new monster he came across thrilled him. The Land was a harsh and barbaric place, but it was also full of wonder. In a very real sense, he was living his dream.

  Would he still feel the same way if he had grown up in this world and all of this was commonplace? To the people of The Land, spells were probably just like science. Back on Earth, there were people who could do amazing, MacGyver-type things, because of their knowledge. He’d thought it was cool, but hadn’t ever really been motivated to learn most of that himself. There had always been a cool movie to see, or a test to study for, or some friends to get drunk with. And back home, all you really needed to do was watch youtube to get a top-notch education. Quests, on the other hand, were extremely dangerous and could easily get you killed. Factoring all that in, maybe Richter did understand those who were happy just to get by. He imagined that in every world there would be those who would take the easier, safer path in life.

  That was a thought for another time though. In the meantime, it was nice to hear that the king of Yves wasn’t some powerful badass. Richter wasn’t exactly sure the man was an enemy, but it certainly seemed likely that the two of them might need to have words sometime in the future. He turned his attention back to the topic at hand. While he’d been musing Randy had been peppering him with questions about exactly what they could do with the points. Richter focused back on the Settlement Point prompt. Focusing on each of the categories in turn made more windows appear in his vision.

  The first one he looked at was Buildings.

  You may convert Settlement Points into Building Points at a 1:5 ratio.

  Simply think of a building and you will be given the cost.

  Maximum Building Level allowed: Level 2

  The building materials will be based upon the most abundant building resources in the area.

  Possible Building Materials: Wood, Stone, and Marbled Quartz.

  Base Building cost will be based upon Wood construction.

  Building with Stone increases required Building Points by 1.5x

  Building with Marbled Quartz increases required Building Points by 1.75x

  Smiling and not believing it could be this easy, Richter thought of getting a Core building, specifically a Library. A red prompt appeared with a quickness.

  You may not construct a Core building without a Magic Core.

  Hmpf, Richter chuckled to himself, didn’t think it would be that easy. A Core building wasn’t what he really wanted anyway. When he thought of his true desire, he saw that it was expensive, but completely possible. He made a note of how many Settlement Points it would take and set those aside. He still had plenty to play with and planned to use them to the fullest effect!

  The next building he thought about was a Barracks, something his people desperately needed.

  BARRACKS

  *Cost is in Building Points

  Level

  Cost* for W/S/MQ

  Effect

  0

  112/168/196

  1) Can train 1 basic unit at a time (Swordsmen, Bowmen, etc)

  2) Provides housing for 10 people (Housing nonfighters here will cause a drop in morale)

  3) Training in a Barracks increases acquisition of Martial skills by +5% (cumulative with trainer bonus)

  1

  252/378/441

  1) Can train 2 basic units at a time

  2) -10% training time

  3) Common unit upgrades available

  4) Provides housing for 25 people (Housing nonfighters here will cause a drop in Morale)

  5) Training in a Barracks increases acquisition of Martial skills by +10% (cumulative with trainer bonus)

  2

  610/915/1,068

  1) Can train 3 basic units at a time

  2) -20% training time

  3) Uncommon unit upgrades available

  4) Provides housing for 50 people (Housing nonfighters here will cause a drop in Morale)

  5) Can train 1 specialized unit at a time. 2 Specialized Units available: Meidon Archers and Pixie Scouts

  6) Training in a Barracks increases acquisition of Martial skills by +25% (cumulative with trainer bonus)

  7) Can train War Leaders

  8) +10% Building Durability

  Richter needed Randy to explain some of what he was reading, but when the chamberlain did, he got even more excited. A Barracks not only gave his people a place to train, but it also let them train as cohesive units, such as a phalanx. Functional groupings of people in The Land often seemed to revolve around five-man teams. It was the max number of people that could fight together without getting penalties to the XP they gained from battle. At least without adding in other factors like having someone with the War Leader skill involved.

  A Barracks apparently let those five people mesh into a formal attack squad. A basic unit of trained Spearmen, for instance, would gain combat bonuses after they were trained and could even level their unit to gain further perks. To Richter it sounded like a poor man’s war party. Not as effective, but also not requiring someone with the War Leader skill to be present in a battle.

  Randolphus also explained the various upgrades that Barracks-trained units could gain. A group of Swordsmen trained in a level one Barracks might earn a common upgrade like +1 to attack or defense. Units trained in a level two Barracks though were eligible for uncommon upgrades which could include boosts to martial skills, extra health and other cool perks. Uncommon upgrades could even increase his fighters’ base affiniti
es in certain skills!

  A level two Barracks could also train specialized units that had extra powers. Apparently the meidon sprites qualified, most likely because of their imbued arrow strikes. At least, that was what Randolphus posited. The chamberlain was sure a Barracks-trained unit of meidon sprites would get combat bonuses, though the chamberlain had no idea what they would be. Meidon sprites hadn’t even existed in The Land two months prior, after all. Randy was more surprised that pixie scouts were also a possibility as a specialized unit and had no explanation at all for that one. Richter supposed there was only one way to find out, and he wondered if Skath cavalry would one day be listed as a specialized unit.

  As if that wasn’t enough, the building could also serve as housing for at least some of his army. From the warning about Morale drop, Richter imagined the accommodations wouldn’t be super comfy. The Barracks probably just offered three hots and a cot, but it would still help out with the housing problem. It was the last line of the Barracks window that Richter was really excited about though. A level two Barracks would let the village make more War Leaders! So far, only he and Terrod had the skill. The badges and promotions War Leaders could earn made them deadly in the extreme. If Richter could get even three or four more, he’d feel a lot better about his fighters patrolling the woods around the village.

  Choosing to make the Barracks seemed like an obvious “yes.” As he made his choice, he realized that in addition to not needing to actually take the time and resources that would be required to build the Barracks in the traditional way, there was another huge advantage to creating it with Settlement Points. Namely, that they just couldn’t build a level two Barracks no matter how much time they had because they were lacking a vital piece of the puzzle. No one in the village had the knowledge or the Blueprints required to build a level two building of any type. This would probably be his only chance to get a building like this for the foreseeable future. Richter was about to spend the points, but then a thought occurred to him.

  “Randy, the max level of village buildings is one plus the level of the Townhall. What’s the max level of the Townhall though?”

  Sighing slightly at Richter’s insistence on shortening his name, the Spy answered nonetheless, “A settlement center, like the Townhall, has a max level of the settlement’s level plus one.”

  Richter smiled. That meant he could get a level two Townhall. Once he did that, the max level of other village buildings would be boosted to level three! Excited about what a level three Barracks might offer, he minimized the current window and thought “Townhall.” The prompt was slightly different, most likely because while he didn’t have a Barracks of any level, he already had a level one Townhall.

  Know This! Upgrading an existing building will subtract its current worth in Building Points from the final upgrade cost.

  TOWNHALL (GOBLINHOLD)

  Current Level: 1

  Cost (in Building Points) to Upgrade to Level 2:

  Wood: 1,011 / Plain Stone: 1,767 / Marbled Quartz: 2,144

  Effect

  Level 1

  Level 2

  Max Building Level

  2

  3

  Diplomacy Points

  Max 1000 DP/ Foreign Settlement

  Max 2500 DP/ Foreign Settlement

  Taxes

  1-5% = No Penalty

  6-10% = -50% Penalty

  >10% = Full Penalty

  1-10% = No Penalty

  11-15% = -50% Penalty

  >15% = Full Penalty

  Morale and Loyalty

  +1/day (Max: +1000 Points each)

  +2/day (Max: +5000 Points each)

  Diplomats and Spies

  2 Each

  (+1 Relationship rank with other settlements)

  4 Each

  (+2 Relationship ranks with other settlements)

  Espionage

  10 Espionage Points/day

  Foreign Espionage -10% Effective

  20 Espionage Points/day

  Foreign Espionage -20% Effective

  Housing and Storage

  Housing for 25 people (Adequate housing Quality)

  100 units of storage space

  Housing for 50 people (Comfortable housing Quality)

  250 units of storage space

  Quest Rewards

  25 XP/Day

  Building Durability

  +10% Building Durability

  Unrest Suppression

  (Goblinhold)

  5% less likely to Revolt or Plot against you

  10% less likely to Revolt or Plot against you

  Max Trophies

  (Goblinhold)

  2

  5

  Fear

  (Goblinhold)

  1% chance for attackers to be struck by Fear

  Know This! Creating a Level 2 Townhall will allow you to make custom quests for your people. Creating such quests will allow you to motivate your people in new and interesting ways. At Level 3, your Townhall will also generate 25 XP/day that can be offered as a reward. This XP pool will accumulate over time allowing for greater rewards to be provided.

  BE WARNED! The reward can be set as anything you wish, but if a quest is completed and the reward cannot be paid, there will be MAJOR consequences to village Loyalty, Morale and other city mechanics and dynamics!

  After reading the prompt about the Townhall’s increased capabilities, Richter had been excited. After he saw that he could start making custom quests though, he knew buying it was a lock. He’d been able to randomly give a quest or two before, but it had always just happened. Now he could choose what the quests would be! Not only would it let him start power leveling his people, but it was also an easy way to get them to do things they might otherwise balk at. He just had to have the third level building!

  At a ratio of five to one, it would cost him four hundred and twenty-nine of his new Settlement Points to upgrade the building to level two, marbled quartz. That was more than the base value of a level one Power from the Heart Crystal, but he knew the Townhall would be worth it. As far as using marbled quartz and not wood, well he believed in building something right the first time. The bugbear attack had seen almost all of the village buildings burned down. If that ever happened again, having buildings made of super dense stone might save more than just infrastructure, it might save lives.

  The increase in taxation alone made upgrading the Townhall a smart idea. He was also delighted to see that both the human and the goblin sides of the village were being leveled up. The +10% durability wouldn’t hurt either. The possibility of the invaders being struck by Fear was also awesome. As there was no other way to advance the building to level two without a Blueprint, Richter felt good about the purchase.

  Out of curiosity though, he decided to jog outside first. The chaos seed took off without a word and, after a sigh of exasperation, Randolphus took off after him. When they made it outside, Richter stood upon the hill overlooking his village. The chaos seed announced some of the buildings would be getting upgrades, then he sent a soldier running to the Townhall with orders to clear it out.

  A few minutes later, that was done. While they had been waiting, Roswan had joined them. The elf asked why he had been summoned, but Richter just told him to wait with an enigmatic smile. The chaos seed actually felt the resultant ‘grrrmm’ in his soul that time. It didn’t bother him. He was about to do something amazing!

  He did have one question for the builder though while the old Townhall was being evacuated.

  “If you build something out of wood, can you transition the building to be made out of stone or marbled quartz later?”

  The elf had stroked his mustache, but the final response had been “Rarely.” It was possible in some instances, but normally the entire building would have to be torn down and rebuilt or it would be structurally unsound. No matter what, there was a risk of the building’s bonuses being lost. He had heard about an Engineer Talent that made it much more likely, but he lacked it himself.


  That was what Richter had been expecting, but he had to check. If he could purchase wooden buildings, it would save him Settlement points and would be exactly what he’d do if the wood could be replaced with marbled quartz later without losing the building bonuses. That particular cheat wasn’t possible though, so he decided to use top-notch materials from the beginning.

  As soon as a soldier jogged back to the catacomb entrance and told them the Townhall was clear, Richter purchased the upgrade. A translucent representation of the village appeared in his vision. An overlay of red lines popped up over the Townhall showing how it would look when he upgraded it.

  Would you like to move the Townhall to another location before you finish upgrading it for no additional cost? Yes or No?

  Richter was more than happy with the position of the building, so he chose “No.”

  Would you like to upgrade your Townhall (Goblinhold), Level 1 (Wooden) to a Townhall (Goblinhold), Level 2 (Marbled Quartz) for 429 Settlement Points? Yes or No?

  One “Yes” was all it took.

  Mist rose from the ground, unable to be seen through even by those with immunity to the village’s defensive enchantment. A great cacophony could be heard within, like grinding rock and hammered wood. To everyone’s surprise, a builder gnome shot out of the mists. The man flew through the air and landed in a heap several yards away from the mist-shrouded Townhall. He got up soon after, not having suffered any real injuries. Richter later found out the inquisitive gnome had heard about the upgrade and had decided to see the phenomenon from the inside-out. Randy made sure the gnome got latrine detail for a week after that, but at least they all knew upgrading buildings was a benign practice.