The view on the way back to the farm was far different than when John had walked through just three hours ago. Much of the cleared land to either side of the road had been expanded with dwellings and out buildings, many of which were elaborate, large, or both. Further, someone had gone to the trouble of creating side streets branching off the main road, which had expanded the available land dramatically.

“Oh wow, are these people moving here? Some of this stuff is pretty fancy,” Slip commented.

“I don’t think so, the one noble I talked to seemed to think it wouldn’t be more than a week before he was done here,” John replied. “I’d honestly expected magic tents and the like, but maybe it’s just cheaper to have an earth mage raise a building?”

“Seems like a waste of time and money,” Slip commented.

“I don’t think these people have a money issue,” John assured him.

As they continued walking more than one horseless, floating carriage passed them with an entourage in tow. It seemed that nobles were still arriving, however it was also apparent they were quickly running out of space to set up. Some were even being forced to employ their mages to clear new swaths of land adjacent to the side streets.

Arriving at the farm they found one of the on-duty knights waving off another carriage. The man, large for a human, but too small to be a titan, gave John a grin.

“Good to see you back; we were beginning to worry someone had waylaid you. Might be best if one or two of us went with you next time, yeah?” the knight said, though his tone and face indicated more joke than actual worry.

“Actually, that might not be a bad idea,” said Elenia as she walked up to the wall and peeked over it. “Didn’t expect this many new people or I’d have insisted that you take someone with you. Most of these nobles don’t know who you are, but once word gets around they might try some more forceful methods of persuasion.”

John stopped, looking at the little knight. “You really think they might? Actually, no, if they’re all like Lord Tragwynn I could definitely see that. Okay, no going out without a knight or two, got it.”

“Knew you’d understand!” Elenia replied cheerfully. “That settled, we’ve got someone you might want to meet.” She waved toward the pavilion which john could see had been substantially enlarged and now contained a half-dozen more people, all of which appeared to be dwarves.

A quick look showed that five of the dwarves were male, armed to the teeth, and (thankfully) happily playing cards with the still seated knights. The final member of the party was a dwarven woman who appeared to be on the younger side. She was sitting slightly apart from the guards and reading from a small book.

John looked around with a frown. “I don’t see a carriage.”

“That’s not my story to tell,” Elenia replied. “But you should talk to Lady Oswald, I think you’ll find her a nice and refreshing experience after Lord Tragwynn. Wouldn’t want you to think all nobles are like that.”

“Do I greet her now and ask her to wait a moment while I get things settled with Slip, or do I get slip settled and then come talk to her?” John asked Elenia.

“Best to greet her first but let her know you’ve got a moment of business to take care of. If she’s the type of person we think she is, she’ll tell you to take care of it. If she’s not… well, then what you do is up to you,” the short knight replied.

John nodded and headed over to the pavilion and stopped near the dwarven woman. “Lady Oswald?” he said, uncertain whether he should show some other form of respect, such as bowing.

Susana looked up from her book. “Yes? How can I help you? Oh, are you John, the groundskeeper?”

John nodded. “It seemed polite to come greet you before I delt with a few things that require my attention. I’m afraid I don’t have much in the way of refreshments that I can offer you while you wait, I wasn’t really expecting guests.”

The dwarven lady waved him off. “It’s fine, we have water and we brought plenty…” she paused, uncertain. “We brought some food,” she finished finally. “Do take care of your farm, and then we can speak again.”

John nodded. “It hopefully won’t be more than a few minutes.”

Susana nodded and then turned her attention back to her book. John stepped back and then gestured for Slip to join him. With a quick pace he took the other player to the house and helped him outline the locations for the various rituals. Seeing how big John wanted them (about five feet in diameter) Slip quoted a price of a silver an hour. John agreed and created pedestals in the locations Slip indicated. He then left the man to it and headed back out into the twilight.

A few moments later saw him standing in front of Lady Oswald once more. “Sorry about that, I needed to get Slip working before we ran out of light totally.”

“Slip? The human who came in with you I take it?” she responded.

“Yeah, he’s a ritualist I’ve hired. Now what can I do for you?” John asked.

The woman hesitated for a moment. “We were actually hoping we could convince you to let us bunk in your house,” she said. “Our traveling companions brought us as far as the Gateway of Worlds and then firmly suggested that we make our own way. I’m afraid that we had been relying on the mage in their employ to provide us with shelter, but it seems we don’t have that option anymore. But I see you had other intentions for your dwelling… Could we perhaps convince you to let us use one of the greenhouses instead? I understand it’s an imposition and would likely ruin the crop within, but I’m sure f- Lord Oswald the Stalwart would be willing to repay you.”

John ran his fingers through his beard. “I take it you don’t have many funds on you?”

Susana shook her head with a vaguely glum expression. “We were informed that we wouldn’t need to worry about that, however it seems… we were misinformed.”

John frowned. It sounded like someone had deliberately set Lady Oswald up in this position, that and the fact that she wasn’t pushy and demanding made him want to help her. “I see. Well, it’s almost too dark, so we can discuss payment later. I’ll set up a place for you to sleep.”

“Set up?” Susana asked, clearly confused.

“Sure, who do you think built my existing structures?” John asked. “It shouldn’t take me long to set up another house, I’ve still got the blueprint.”

“That would be exceptionally gracious of you,” Lady Oswald said.

“It’s not that big a deal,” John said, and then turned towards the knights. “Could I get one of you to come provide a light for me? I’m afraid I still don’t know that spell.”

“Sure!” Elenia replied cheerily. “I can teach it to you later too, it’s not a hard pattern to learn.”

John nodded and headed off toward the eastern part of his farm. As he neared the wall he called up the house blueprint he’d saved and overlaid it in the area. The ghostly outline of the house took shape and with a thought and a gesture he began to excavate the basement and foundation. As with his last endeavor it took about an hour to create the structure, meaning it was quite dark by the time he finished. However, thanks to Elenia’s light, the area was nearly as bright as day.

Walking into the building, John headed toward what was the storage space in his own home. A quick effort of will and a use of Create Earth saw a series of five sleeping platforms created, turning it into a dorm room instead. He then headed for what was, in his house, the work room. A few moments of work saw all the windows occluded and the room split into three spaces instead of one large space. The wall between the original bedroom was removed, creating a much larger bedroom. The two remaining spaces were turned into bathrooms. One that was accessible only via the bedroom, and one that could be accessed from the living room. Unfortunately, the accommodations were fairly basic, being little more than a large tub, a wash basin, and an enclosed latrine.

Returning to the outside of the house he and Elenia (who had given more than a few pointers on the creation of a latrine that wasn’t going to stink up the whole house) returned to the pavilion. Lady Oswald stood at his return.

“That was quite the display of magic for someone who’s only been part of our world for a few months,” she said, seeming impressed.

“I got lucky with my feat selections and had a good teacher,” John said with a shrug.

“I see,” the noble woman replied. “May we move into the building, or is there more that needs to be done?”

“Nope, should be good now. I’m afraid there’s no running water, so I hope you know the Create Water spell,” John said.

Susana nodded. “That won’t be a problem, da- Lord Oswald the Stalwart made sure we all knew basic survival spells.”

John nodded back. “Alright then, it’s all yours.”

“Ah, we didn’t discuss the subject of payment,” Lady Oswald said. “I’m afraid I can’t offer you much, but we do have a few golds we can spare.”

John paused a moment. More gold would be welcome, but it seemed like they might need that money for other things. While he had no doubt even a single gold would normally see them through an entire week here, the prices in town might spike dramatically given the sudden influx of people. Finally he shook his head. “Keep your money for now, we can discuss a fair price tomorrow, and you can pay me when you’ve got access to more funds.”

Susana surprised him by giving a short curtsy. “That is generous of you, and the kindness will be remembered.” With that, the woman and her entourage departed.

“Well,” asked Elenia, “What did you think?”

“She seems nice for a noble, not at all like Lord Tragwynn. Uh… what is a fair price for her renting my.. I guess guest house?” John replied.

“Eh, it varies. You could probably squeeze her for as much as a gold a day. That said, a fair price is probably much, much lower. Lord Tragwynn was probably right in that a gold for the week isn’t unreasonable, assuming they aren’t bunking in your greenhouses and destroying your crops,” Elenia explained. “That said, the Oswalds are known for being generous to a fault. She’ll probably insist on paying you more. I’d argue her down to two gold for the week, maybe three. Keep in mind you’re not feeding her, and it’s land you’re not currently using. Basically, them staying here costs you nothing aside from the hour and a half you spent on housing them.”

John nodded. “Alright, thanks for the advice. Will you guys be staying the night or…?”

“No problem, and nah, we’ll be swapping with another group here soon. Commander Axia wants eyes on your farm at all times while this… whatever is going on,” the short knight responded.

“Alright, have a good night then,” John said.

“You too. Oh, right, before we forget!” Elenia held up a hand and a small pattern of mana appeared in it even as a light hovered over her head. “You might want to try and learn Evoke Light, it’s pretty handy.”

John grinned and nodded; he then took a blueprint of the pattern. “Got it, thanks!”

“No problem! Now if you’ll excuse me, my relief should be here any minute,” Elenia said, and then headed for the pavilion.