The Land: Predators: A LitRPG Saga (Chaos Seeds Book 7)

by Aleron Kong

  7) Can Assign 2 Diplomats and 2 Spies. Each Diplomat has +1 Relationship rank with other settlements

  8) Provides

  100 units of storage space

  Housing for 25 people (Adequate housing Quality)

  9) Can now generate specific quests. 100 XP generated daily which can be used as a reward.

  As Town Administrator, Randolphus received the same notification as Richter. These were the generic bonuses any Settlement would gain from having a Townhall, but there were also specific benefits from converting a captured Goblinhold.

  1) Having such an impressive settlement center causes your people to be 5% less likely to revolt or plot against you

  2) Affixing the remains of conquered foes will inspire your people and provide bonuses to your populace. Max: 2 Trophies

  When Richter initially read the last prompt, he really hadn’t been overly interested in attaching decaying flesh or old bones to his Townhall, but Randolphus confirmed there could be great benefit in doing so. He’d actually already had the builders remove a few bones that had been affixed to the building. Of course, he had thought they were just macabre decorations. Once the Goblinhold was repaired, putting the old bones back did nothing. Roswan guessed that was because the villagers had not claimed the trophies themselves. That gave Richter an idea, though.

  Thirty minutes later, Richter stood in front of the Townhall with the leg bones of an old nemesis and a complaining necromancer to boot. He had previously allowed Beyan to commandeer the remains of the rock giant to see if he could make anything out of them. The gnome apparently thought it was unfair Richter was now taking them back, especially since his pet decaemur knight was about to be sacrificed. The chaos seed ignored the protests. He’d only taken the leg bones. Beyan still had the arm bones and the giant’s crown, heart, and skin to play with.

  A short time later, the two bones were affixed in an “X” above the main entrance. Richter smiled as he gained a new prompt.

  Truly you have triumphed over a mighty foe. The fact that this was a Mortal Enemy doubles the bonus to your settlement. +2 (base +1) Strength to every member of your village!

  That bonus was not only awesome, it earned him another boost to Morale!

  +40 Morale Points for boosting the Strength of your settlement by +2.

  Base: +877 x 1.84 (+25% Undefeated x +41% Administrator x +10% Health x -2% Crime x +10% Vassal State)

  Total Morale Points: +1,614

  +200 personal Relationship Points with every villager.

  It felt a bit like he would never get to rank four in the village’s Morale, Richter thought sourly. If he hadn’t accepted the freed prisoners into the village’s population, he probably would have reached that milestone already. Then again, the former captives had also increased the number of hands to help out in the village and had brought him several new Professionals to boot. All in all, Richter was more than satisfied with his choice to grow his settlement’s population. And really, with all of his choices so far… minus one or two drunken moments, but hey, he was an American. Shit yeah!

  Richter tried one or two other “remains.” He brought out a bag of condensed powdered crystal, hoping that the crystal guardian would trigger something. Apparently rendering a foe’s body into dust made it ineligible for this particular perk, because nothing happened. Richter thought about a few other enemies, the crypt mistress, the dark aberration, Nien the Reaver… It only took about ten seconds for him to decide against anointing his new Townhall with any of those. Even though the rock giant had been a twenty-foot tall cock, it hadn’t necessarily been evil. His other noteworthy foes though, were seriously bad mojo.

  He wasn’t sure what perk might come from such evil remains, and he wasn’t willing to risk that it might irrevocably change his village for the worse. Richter was pretty sure a goblin chief might consider making his people more ruthless or bloodthirsty a good thing, but he did not. Until he could learn more about this particular perk, he told the builders that he only wanted to put neutral aligned enemies up as trophies. To himself, he added good enemies would work in a pinch as well.

  There was one more prompt that came from building his Townhall, something that he hadn’t expected but was perhaps the most exciting development!

  Greetings, Master of the Mist Village! For building a settlement center, you may now decide what type of ruler path you will follow. Your people will follow your direction and act accordingly. The following options are based on your own proclivities as a ruler. You may now choose a specialization for your village!

  Richter’s eyes grew wide as the options were laid out in front of him.

  Ruler Path

  (Prereqs)

  Ruler Bonus

  *cumulative with Settlement Bonus

  Settlement Bonus

  Method of Advancement

  Technocrat

  (Ruler has Research skill)

  +100% or +1 Research Points generated even when not actively involved in research (whichever is greater)

  +10% Research Points

  +1% chance of having an Epiphany

  Research 10 techs

  Summoner

  (Summoned creatures used at least 50% of the time in the settlement)

  +2 level increase of summoned creatures

  Creatures summoned inside settlement domain +50% stronger and last +50% as long

  Summon at least 10 creatures in the settlement for 100 days in a row

  Diplomat

  (Ruler has Diplomacy skill)

  1 day of Diplomatic immunity with enemy settlements. 1 week of Diplomatic immunity with neutral settlements. Can use once per month.

  +10% Relationship Points with other settlements

  +10 Diplomatic Points per day with settlements which have Friendly or better relationships with your settlement (Max: 500)

  +1 Relationship rank with other settlements

  Form at least Friendly or better relationships with 10 or more settlements

  Warmonger

  (Ruler has War Leader skill)

  + 10% XP from slain enemies

  +10% XP from slain enemies

  +1 Fighting Spirit rank

  Kill 1,000 enemy creatures

  Merchant

  (Ruler has Trade Skill)

  +10% Better Prices, Buying and Selling

  +10% better terms during Trade Agreements. Other settlements more likely to enter into Trade Agreements.

  Form 10 Trade Agreements

  Explorer

  (Ruler has personally discovered 5 Locations)

  +10% Movement Speed

  +10% Movement Speed for every villager

  +10% chance to find Locations

  -10% chance of monster attacks

  Find 10 Locations, Interesting or Higher

  Lover

  (Ruler has Charisma > 20)

  +10% Charisma

  +50% more fertile

  +10% Population Growth

  +10% Morale

  Increase Population by +10%

  Alchemist

  (Ruler has Alchemy Skill)

  +10% Potion effect

  +10% Potion effect

  +10% Chance of successful potion completion

  +1% chance to make new Recipes

  Brew 1,000 potions

  Master Mage

  (Ruler has a Place of Power)

  -10% mana cost for all spells

  +10% Mana for all villagers Increased magic skill affinity for villagers

  10% of all villagers become at least Novice casters

  Enchanter

  (Ruler has Enchanting Skill)

  +10% Enchantment Points per captured soul

  +10% chance of Enchantment success

  +10% chance of captured souls being upgraded by one rank

  Capture 1,000 souls common rank or better

  Fighter

  (Ruler has Martial Skill)

  +10% Health

  +10% skill progression for martial skills

  Increas
ed magic skill affinity for villagers

  10% of all villagers become at least Novice fighters

  Adventurer

  (Ruler is a Dungeon Master)

  +10% Attack and Defense while in Dungeon or Labyrinth

  +10% chance to find Nodes

  +10% Dungeon Points from any source

  +10% Dungeon Loot

  Generate 1,000 Dungeon Points

  Hunter

  (Ruler has Tracking Skill)

  +10% Attack and Defense against creatures in your domain

  +10% chance to find Dens, Nests, Lairs, etc. +10% Attack and Defense against creatures in the domain of the settlement

  Accumulate 1000 Hunter Points

  1 point per Den

  10 points per Nest

  100 points per Lair, etc.

  Armorer

  (Ruler has Smithing Skill)

  +10% Attack and Defense

  +10% smithing Productivity

  +10% Attack and Defense of forged items

  Forge 1,000 weapons

  Benevolent Ruler

  (Settlement has Morale rank 2 or higher)

  +10 Relation Points per day with villagers who have sworn fealty

  +10 Morale Points per day

  +10% chance for villagers to swear fealty

  Earn 1,000 Morale Points

  As soon as Richter saw the extensive table he was overcome with two emotions. The first, predictably, was irritation. Why hadn’t anyone told him that building a Townhall would let him specialize the village?! If he had a Dr. Evil conference table, he would seriously be pushing some buttons and cooking some fools!

  Since he lacked said table, or even electricity, or a volcano lair to drop said henchmen into, he moved onto his next emotion, which was pure fucking awe. He was overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices and the benefits each could bring to his people! So much so that he sought out help from the best authority he knew on such matters.

  “I am relieved that you finally constructed a settlement center,” Hisako told him in a slightly judgmental voice.

  Richter’s hand slowly curled into claws, and he bit back the criticism that she could have told him how important it was. “Me too…now, what can you tell me?”

  Hisako eyeballed him for a second, having totally caught his tone, but she answered anyway. “The choice of specialization is a serious one, Lord Richter. Each level your village achieves allows you to choose an additional specialization, but once made, the choice can never be undone.”

  “Well, what did you choose to specialize in?” Richter asked.

  She regarded him for a moment, but ultimately answered, “We are Earth Guardians. The benefits are subtle at first but, just as in nature, from tiny acorns do massive oaks grow. Our specialization has given us a profound connection with nature and allows our trees to grow strong.”

  Richter thought about what she had said. He didn’t have the Earth Guardian option so he couldn’t know the specifics, but he could see how it would be the perfect choice for the sprites. They were bonded to nature and preservation of the natural order was almost a religion to them. The more he thought about it, the more a few unanswered questions seemed to fall into place. The wood sprites had an ability, Woodcraft. It let them literally disappear into the trees. It also let them move through the woods as fast as if they were running down a paved road. Some of the other races of sprites didn’t have that though. Hill sprites definitely didn’t and even a few of the forest sprites had lacked it. Every single wood sprite did have the ability though… was that a perk of their settlement specialization?

  Richter also reflected on what Hisako had said about the specialization making trees grow strong. The Hearth Tree was the single largest structure he had come across since coming to The Land. The thing was so big it boggled the mind. It was just a guess, but he thought it was over two hundred stories tall. Richter had always thought it had grown that large because it was built on a Place of Power, but maybe that wasn’t the whole story. Maybe whatever high level her settlement had achieved in its specialty had also played a role. That kind of information would be valuable and possibly compromising. He suddenly knew why she had hesitated before telling him.

  He bowed his head and, in a serious tone, thanked her for sharing such an intimate piece of information.

  She smiled warmly, pleased that Richter had understood the trust she was showing him.

  “Well, do you have any advice for me?” he asked.

  “Yes, but I will not tell you specifically what to do,” she told him simply. “Your village is a reflection of you. My counsel is that you ask yourself, who do you want to become? What do you want your village and its people to become? Trust yourself, young lord, and the decision will become clear.” With that pronouncement, she had walked off.

  Richter had mulled over both her words and his options for a long while before making his decision. The problem was that so many of them made sense. The first, Technocrat, would give a serious boost to the village’s Research. They had only just scratched the surface of that particular facet of the settlement and Richter was sure there would be awesome bonuses later as they learned more techs. It was a late-game play, something that fit with his general approach when he’d been a gamer. The problem was, in the last few months, he had found that approach just couldn’t be applied all the time in real life. When you were gaming, the biggest consequence of losing was having to buy a round of beers for your friends. In real life, ignoring the needs of today could get people killed.

  On the other side of the spectrum, Warmonger, Master Mage, Alchemist, Armorer and Hunter all gave immediate benefits. They made his people tougher, stronger and more likely to survive in the harsh environment of the forest. Hunter especially was attractive. Finding nests and dens was something Richter worried about in the back of his head. If he hadn’t found the assengai spider nest before those thousands of spiders had hatched… the thought made him shudder. And that was only one example. If any type of lair went unchecked, hordes of monsters could sweep over the village in a wave of death. The best strategy, by far, was to clear out pockets of breeding monsters before they could become entrenched and proliferate out of control. That was, of course, easier said than done. Finding them was a matter of Luck as much as skill sometimes.

  While all of those choices could offer real benefits, Richter realized that the village already had perks that gave them an edge in battle, the biggest being the Forge of Heavens and the enchanted weapons and armor that were made there. Which of course brought to mind the Enchanter specialization. That settlement bonus, upgrading captured souls, was amazing. There was a pretty steady stream of basic and common souls being brought into the village now thanks to the Soul Trap arrows Richter was making. Higher level souls, luminous or brilliant rank, for example, were much harder to come by. If the common souls obtained from average strength monsters were periodically bumped up to luminous, that would be a game changer! It would let Richter make stronger enchantments, which in turn would make his people deadlier by far.

  The con to that though was that he and Gloran were the only two people in the village with a high skill level in Enchanting. If Richter was apart from the village for an extended period of time, that would mean only one person in a thousand would really benefit from the specialization.

  Diplomat would prove useful, especially since the village’s boat would be finished any day now. Ideally, he would meet other settlements soon and it would be great to have a boost in negotiations. As nice as that sounded though, Richter already knew diplomacy wasn’t his strong suit. Same with Merchant. He definitely loved a good deal, but trade would always be a means to an end, not the real purpose of his life or his village.

  Summoner was fascinating. He would love to have the personal bonus to his summoning magic. His minions being two levels higher would really increase their battle capabilities, and it might even be good for the mist workers he summoned on a daily basis. It really didn’t fit the needs of the villag
e as a whole though, at least not yet.

  Richter’s eyes lingered on Lover for a bit. That could definitely be fun, but he was already kind of up to his neck in pootie tang. Also, the 50% more fertile thing was not his idea of awesome. He was already downing enough star zenia that it might start sprouting from his ass. He had prayed more than once that the herb didn’t have any weird side effects. Still, even if it did, better some pube loss or minor brain damage than a bunch of bambinos bouncing around, in Richter’s opinion.

  Benevolent Ruler was definitely the safe choice. A daily boost to Morale would be great. The personal boost to his relationship with every villager would have many positive long-term effects as well. Overall, his people definitely liked him, but it hadn’t escaped Richter’s notice that he was leading a settlement of over a thousand now. If even 1% of them were plotting against him, it could lead to all manner of trouble.

  Richter mulled it over for the rest of the day and discussed it with Randolphus. The Spy advised him to look at it from another angle. It wasn’t just the initial perks of a specialization that needed to be considered. It was the difficulty in leveling each path as well. Technocrat, for instance, required that the village research ten techs after choosing his specialization. That could take an entire year. They had battles to fight now and enemies that were probably plotting against them every day. If leveling was as important as Randolphus said, then choosing research as a specialization was definitely not the best choice.

  That sage advice narrowed it down for Richter. Of all the options, the two that had really caught his eye were Enchanter and Adventurer. Both would be easy for him to level, something that Randolphus promised would open more options down the road. The chamberlain couldn’t say exactly what leveling would do, as it was unique for each settlement, but he guaranteed there would be interesting opportunities as the village progressed down its chosen path.

  Enchanter would be great for Richter personally. It would increase his power and the capabilities of his Profession. That in turn would strengthen the village, albeit indirectly. Adventurer on the other hand would increase the power of anyone he allowed into the Dungeon. Richter had already decided to make access as widely available to his sworn people as was safe. That meant potentially hundreds of people could benefit from the Adventurer specialization every day.