For weeks, Weston Lomarec had been riding in his dusty wooden carriage alongside his fellow settlers.

He was a portly, middle-aged man. His rotund visage and scruffy beard had done much to endear him to his peers.

On their journey together the caravaneers had grown close to the man. To them “Wes” was a generous and jolly fellow who they’d come to respect for his honesty and approachability.

This suited him just fine, he appreciated his soon-to-be neighbors’ attitude towards him. For you see, Wes was here for one reason alone. Coin.

He was a member of the Watergarde Merchants Company, an international organization that conducted maritime and over-land trade.

At present he was enjoying a conversation with the imperially appointed Commission mage, Clifford Graham, who he’d befriended along the way. Clifford had rented a spot in Weston’s carriage, so they’d had plenty of time to get to know one another.

“Clifford, I can’t help but wonder how much coin the council must have promised in order for you to come all the way out here. Is there anything you can tell me about your decision?” Asked Weston.

Sighing, Clifford responded, “Wes, I’ve already said I can’t disclose the details of my arrangement, I don’t know why you keep asking me about it.”

“Yes, yes, I’m aware, but there has to be something you can tell me, right?”

“How much have you heard about the Exchange?” replied Clifford.

“Not much actually, in that sense I’m failing as a merchant’s liaison, no? I’ve just been so busy preparing for this trip that I haven’t had many opportunities to gossip, as I’m sure you can understand.” Answered Wes.

The carriage they were riding in was jostled about as it passed over a drainage rut in the ashen ground, having taken a moment to resituate himself, Clifford resumed the conversation.

“As you may have heard, the Isolet Republic and our own Lyrian Empire have been collaborating at the Verdant Mountain for the past decade.”

Interrupting his acquaintance, Wes quickly interjected, “I’m not that out of the loop, it’s been every young mage’s goal to be recruited by the Upheaval Project overseers. Really, how could I have not heard, artificially reawakening a dormant volcano is the single greatest achievement of the century!”

Well used to his interruptions, Clifford casually waved Wes off. “As I was saying, our government hasn’t been sinking funds into this operation for vanity’s sake alone. Though it doesn’t hurt to show off advancements to our enemies, that was never the primary motivation for the operation. Merival Wood had always been an obstacle preventing most trade with the Isolens. After numerous disastrous attempts to lay roads through those untamed wilds, the Capital Chamber began to look for new solutions. Archmage Lemsard, the absolute madman, proposed a characteristically insane idea. I can’t elaborate on their methods, but one can easily see why stimulating the Verdant Mountain to erupt would serve the dual purpose of both clearing away any dangers in Merival Wood and preparing the land for settlement.”

Wes paused to absorb what he’d heard, and Clifford then continued. “Officially, the Exchange is a series of development projects, including the Upheaval Project, that will facilitate trade between ourselves and the Isolet Republic. Unofficially, it’s territory denial for the Elven Collective.”

After muttering something about wasted lumber under his breath, Wes said, “I still don’t see how that has anything to do with explaining why the Capital Chamber would station a Commission mage of your caliber here.”

Clifford carefully chose his next words and answered, “All I can reveal at this time is that I’m here to help establish our new town. More specifically, town which will be conveniently positioned midway between our two nations. Make of that what you will, merchant.”

Admittedly slow on the uptake, realization began to dawn on Weston’s face. He considered that perhaps sending him out here as a Watergarde Liaison was a smarter decision then he’d initially given the higher-ups credit for… That they didn’t brief him on the matter in advance was curious, however.

While Weston was daydreaming about all the coin he’d be raking in, Clifford abruptly stood up and began to frantically check several of the glyph-covered metal trinkets he carried on his person.

The mage addressed Weston and said only: “We’re here.”

Without waiting for a response, Clifford leaped from of the back of the moving carriage car­­­ and jogged ahead of the procession. He waved for the carriage drivers to stop and people slowly began to disembark and see what their town mage had to say.

Once everyone had gathered around, Clifford announced: “Though we haven’t yet reached our exact destination, we’re not far off. I’ve stopped you all here due to detecting an abnormally high ambient mana concentration. I suggest we spend the night where we’ve stopped and in the morning myself and a few others will travel on horseback the rest of the way to our target location and check to see if the mana isn’t any denser there. That said, I highly doubt we’ll encounter a location superior to this one for hundreds of kilometers.”

Taking a breath, Clifton added, “This is some of the densest mana I’ve ever encountered in the wild. Settling here would all but guarantee a prosperous harvest.”

The weary travelers visibly relaxed. Taking in the wonderful news, there were many smiles shared, hugs given, and backs slapped. There would be a celebratory feast tonight and everyone was looking forward to settling down on their new land.

The civilians couldn’t be blamed for not comprehending the full magnitude of their discovery, though they were happy to have found a good place to settle, they had every right to be more excited. After all, there’s a reason locations such as this are so rare in the wild. They’ve all had nation capitals built around them.

…

Clifford was ecstatic, he’d already known this community would be in a position of future significance, in fact, he was even privy to some additional information. For instance, the Capital Chamber had already planned to continuously entice citizens into journeying to the new site in order to gradually grow the village into a city.

He frantically rushed to grab his magical supplies stored inside Weston’s carriage, he’d need to report his findings to the Chamber right away.

Clifford hadn’t expected a situation like this, as such, his equipment and regents weren’t immediately accessible.

While Clifford was searching through his luggage, (Which is no simple feat when said luggage includes all of a skilled Commission mage’s worldly possessions.) Weston ducked under the ragged brown dust flap at the back of his carriage.

“What’re you trying to find?” He said.

Without looking up, Clifford immediately replied, “I’m gathering everything needed to make an emergency transmission to the Commission.”

Taken aback, Wes asked, “Won’t you need to crush a soulstone for that?!”

Clifford took a deep breath and exhaled, “Unfortunately I will. You have no idea how significant this is, I’ve triple checked every instrument I own and can safely conclude that we’re resting atop an undiscovered mana well.”

Once finished with collecting his materials, Clifford rushed out of the carriage with Wes on his heels. He excitedly added: “The Commission will most assuredly send battlemages to help hold the territory in addition to notifying the Capital Chamber so that we can receive military support. We’re not technically within Lyrian borders, as it stands, we’re in no-mans-land. Now that this stretch of Merival Wood is cleared of vegetation, rival powers are going to be scouting around. If, no, when they discover this hotspot, there’ll be war.”

Clifford’s demeanor instantly deteriorated when he realized his mistake. Trying to mend the situation, Clifford stopped what he was doing and sternly addressed Weston. “I wasn’t thinking straight; I should not have told you that.”

“Do not repeat this to anyone.”

Wes solemnly nodded in acquiescence.

Though Weston may be a greedy merchant at heart, he knew when to keep a secret. Wes had no intentions of betraying his friends trust, to say nothing of how angering a Commission mage wouldn’t be the wisest decision either.

“Weston, you should leave, I must contact the Commission now.”

Upon hearing this, Wes left Clifford so he could send his magical message.

…

Night fell and the celebrations had begun.

While the elated travelers were singing songs and making merry around a roaring bonfire surrounded by their wagons and carriages, Wes was deep in thought.

Everyone knew that permanent mana wells were highly contested locations. And rightfully so, there were innumerable benefits to living near one. For instance, the elevated ambient mana concentration would enable effortless arcane agriculture. Many magical plants require abundant mana to grow properly. Being able to cultivate them on the surface has innumerable benefits. Typically, magic herbs are farmed deep underground, however, doing so is extremely dangerous for many reasons. Sometimes they can be grown in mana-enriched greenhouses but employing so many mages just to concentrate enough mana severely reduces the economic feasibility of that method.

Other boons associated with mana wells include subterranean magicite deposits, veins of wonderous metals like mithril and other infused ores, naturally forming dungeons, and precursor ruins and artifacts.

What’s more, mana wells are hot research topics. Discovering what causes them and if the phenomena could be artificially initiated is the holy grail of science. There are many opposing theories that try to explain their existence: perhaps they might occur wherever there are plentiful tiny magicite particles embedded in the surrounding crust, they could be artificial precursor constructs, or they may even be associated with the elusive magic field lines. No one really knows.

There was not much he could do to exploit the situation without revealing his insider knowledge. When it does eventually get out, Wes intends to be in position to reap the rewards.

His task was assisting the villagers and providing outside goods that couldn’t be produced on-site. As a Watergarde Liaison, his job was to take note of the communities’ needs and place supply orders for his company. Under normal circumstances they would start by supplying a newly founded village with frequent supply runs, in this case, once a week, and then gradually reduce the frequency once a town had become more self-sufficient. Of course, they were flexible, if the town was producing valuable exports or growing rapidly, they could adjust accordingly. Needless to say, Wes had no doubts that his new home would show rapid growth.

…

Weston was pulled from his inner thoughts when the architect he’d come to know as Gregor Dunn came out of the darkness and walked over to him.

“Wes! Would you care to join me while we partake in the festivities?”

Having seen an opportunity to bring up a topic he’d been meaning to discuss for a while, Weston responded, “It’s good to see you Gregor, I’ve actually been meaning to talk with you!”

Wes pulls a large envelope from his red coat’s pocket.

Gregor visibly perked up upon hearing this. Wes continued, “In our previous shipment I received a letter addressed to you. I’m told that enclosed in this envelope are amendments to the construction orders your men have been assigned.”

Pausing to hand Gregor the envelope, Wes finished, “I’m actually interested in hearing about what you’ll be building and I’m also wondering if I can go ahead and make a job request?”

Having pocketed the envelope and gathered his thoughts, Gregor replied, “No problem Wes, I’d be glad to share! As you already know, the Local Chamber has commissioned a town hall along with several public buildings to be built. We’ve been studying the plans for the entire trip so we should be able to begin as soon as our first lumber shipment arrives. Speaking of which, do you know when your people will be here with that?”

Weston quickly answered Gregor’s query, “If all goes well, it’ll be just one week before they arrive with your goods and another week after that for the next arrival. In fact, I’ve also heard that they’ll be bringing along additional laborers for you. I can only imagine that’s somehow related to the amendment I’ve just handed you.”

Upon seeing Gregor’s nod of approval, Wes said, “I was wondering if you were already taking construction requests from civilians like myself, I’m interested in building a shop.”

With a smile spread across his face, Gregor happily responded, “I sure am! We’ve already accounted for additional jobs and set aside some extra builders. As long as you can procure the supplies and coin, we’d be happy to work with you!”

With relief, Wes exclaimed, “Well I’m glad to hear it! We can hash out the details later. In the meantime, let’s join the party!”

As they walked to the bonfire together, Wes smiled, he was going to ensure he’d be in the best possible position for long-term profit. With what he’d learned about the future of his new residence, Wes was unafraid to spend his life’s savings on an early investment. If his plans came to fruition, he’d be rich once again.