I think I'm slightly impulsive, sometimes organised and always in search of a bargain! - Lisa Snowdon

Hank opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. It was way too bright. There was a nasty throbbing in his head reminding him that last night was just a little too lively. Hang on a second, hadn’t he found a villager or two last night?

Hank rolled over and sure enough there was a piece of paper with the most illegible writing on it imaginable. He wasn’t even sure the writer wrote it in English. What they called common in this game. In any case there were four signatures on it. No weaselling out of it now. Hang on, whose were the signatures?

Hank could recognise the one he was using for himself in the game. He could also make out the Innkeepers. That left him with an ‘X’ and… He looked closer, nope it couldn’t be, surely someone hadn't drawn a hammer on a contract. Oh fantastic. He had entered into an agreement with an illiterate in charge of in excess of 100 people. Well, that’s assuming he could make out the writing correctly.

Wow, the spelling was awful. The actual writing was quite neat, but Hank wasn’t convinced people would actually be able to read the thing ever again. It seemed to have been written in fluent idiot gibberish.

There was a blinking message icon but as soon as Hank opened it he winced. The victory trumpet and the garish lights combined wonderfully with his headache to reminded him why he wanted to stay in bed for the rest of the year.

Quest : Found a Village

Part :

2 - Settlers for your village

Description :

A village needs a population

For your population to sustainable it needs to be in excess of 100 people

Status :

Complete

Reward :

100 xp

One new skill

Skill? What Skill? He pulled up his logs looking for Skills.

Log (Skills and Techniques)

Sweet Talk has advanced to level 1, no bonuses at this time, 10 XP awarded

Negotiation has advanced, negotiation increased by 0.01% for all circumstances

Trade negotiation has advanced, trading increased by 0.013% where bartering

Sweet Talk has advanced to level 2, persuasion increased by 0.1%

“How wanted this quest is quite a mystery. Why you expect the current bunch of rock breakers to help you complete it, is an even bigger one. But what really impresses me is how you have convinced someone to join a nonexistent village. Snaps for the persuasive chat. Or maybe just congratulations for boozing up the gullible.”

You could always trust the AI for a sarcastic comment, even if it didn’t answer questions anymore. Besides it knew perfectly well why Hank wanted the quest. Still, it was kind of comforting that it was still there, keeping an eye on things.

Quest Warning

Unfortunately completing quest parts out of order increases the penalties for failure.

Please note: The timeline for completing part 1 has changed from 190 days to 100 days. Your ‘villagers’ won’t wait forever. Have a nice game.

This was going to be unpleasant. Hank opened the link.

Quest : Found a Village

Part :

1 - Find a Spot

Description :

Find a nice spot to start a village.

It is recommended that there is a source of fresh water with good drainage. You will also need a source of work for your settlers, local construction materials and local food sources.

Status :

Open

Time Limit :

100 days remaining

Reward :

You will have to earn them

Penalties :

-150 XP

Cannot start this quest again

Loss of reputation with Gruffly’s people

Reputation altered to Charlatan

Wow. The price for failure had sky rocketed. The loss of XP was bad but those additional penalties were killer, particularly the possible reputation change. Hank was discovering one’s reputation affected everything. Earn a reputation rated bad or worse and you can’t sell to merchants, towns won’t let you in, you couldn’t buy in places, nobody trusts you, and zero chance of meeting someone worth settling down with.

Quest : Found a Village

Part :

3 - Accommodation

Description :

Congratulations you can now progress to next stage of establishing a village. Your villagers will undoubtedly want to be inside for winter. You have until the first snow of winter to erect accommodation for your villagers.

Status :

Open

Time Limit :

Depending on where you settle 67 to 130 days

Reward :

100 xp

Other Unknown

Penalties :

-150 XP

Death of “villagers” from cold

Loss of reputation with Gruffly’s people

Reputation altered to incompetent

Wow. This was the quest that just kept on giving. At this stage there were precisely zero chance Hank was going to escape losing reputation, XP and probably his life. “I hate mornings. Nothing good ever comes from getting out of bed early or in a hurry.”

Another sound trumpeted and there was another icon that lit up. “I can’t handle any more notices right now. Whatever it is turn that notification off.”

A few mumblings later and a dressed but still partly asleep Hank trudged down stairs.

“Morning Hank.” Hank almost bumped into the brightly vocal Elise.

“Shh, morning. Can we keep the volume down?”

“Well actually it’s lunch time and why did you need me to be quiet. Lady Mary says you should say good morning whenever people get out of bed, even if it’s not the morning. Which never made sense to me. After all Celeste’s dad works in the night shift so he only gets up in the afternoon and it’s just silly to say good morning when the sun is going down don’t you think. I mean it’s nighttime then and we are just opening and lighting the fire and putting the soup on and turning down the guest’s beds but lady Mary says I got to be polite, as that will help with the customers. But looking after inns is really boring and I don’t want to help the customers on account of the fact that I am going to become an adventurer like you and Mr Collins. Won’t that be grand? You and me riding around the place doing quests, starting villages, saving people in distress and then they will get to swoon like I was doing the other day. Well maybe not. It’s not that I don’t want to be saving people. I mean, I want to do the quests and save the innocent but I don’t want to rescue silly people who won’t fight back. Though it was kind of embarrassing to get captured before. But me and Meg have it all worked out I’m going to ask Oto-san and his friends to teach me self-defence. Even better, I have found someone to teach me archery. It’s going to be so great. Then I can come and find you and we can go adventuring it’s all planned.”

Hank was struggling and before he remembered… deliverance, peace, sweet nectar of the gods, silence. He raised a finger, “Breathe”. Stillness reigned. Well apart from the noise of a bar taproom across the passage and the dull roar of a busy city. But peace.

It didn’t last long.

“The other day…” she seemed lost and Hank’s pounding head got another few moments of peace. “I forget… so as I was saying…. I forget that too. But anyway you don’t look like you are feeling well. Perhaps it was the firewater you were drinking last night. Dad says never drink firewater with Bartholomew because I’m a girl and girls are not supposed to get soused on firewater. Why is that? What’s wrong with getting soused? Everyone seems to do it, even you last night. Is it because I’m a girl? Why can’t girls get soused? Or is it because girls shouldn’t drink firewater? Marinka does but who wants to be like Marinka so maybe that’s it. But anyway as I was saying never drink firewater with Bartholomew. I reckon it’s because his mom raised him on it on account of her being drunk on firewater herself when he was on the teat. Lady Mary says I oughtn’t to say ‘on the teat’ as that is only said in poor society and that I ought to say breast-feeding. I don’t see how that’s any better. After all Cassie says that all the time, and she is supposed to be a nurse to the rich and stuff. I’m not really supposed to finish sentences with ‘and stuff’ either because it doesn’t develop the conversation. Why is that? I think it developed the conversation just fine and whilst we are talking about this sort of stuff. See stuff is completely developing the conversation. Whilst we are talking about this stuff, why do I have to say ought and oughtn’t what’s wrong with should and shan’t. That’s what normal people say but lady Mary…”

“Breathe.” Hank’s head was starting to spin. The only way he could see clear to getting some peace and quiet was to get outside and perhaps head for the markets.

“It’s a bit late for breakfast but I am sure I can find something for you. We still have some juice from the morning fruit market so it’s fresh.” She was irrepressible.

“No, I expect I need fresh air, besides, there are some things I really need to pick up before I head off tomorrow.”

“Yay, Dad asked me to go out and pick some things up for him. I’m coming too.” Elise practically bounced.

Oh fantastic. No rest from the unrelentingly chipper mouth inhabiting the innkeeper’s daughter. It was all he needed with a headache that registered somewhere above 5 on the Richter scale. “Perhaps I’ll have some of that juice before we head out.”

“Wait right here I’ll grab a wine skin of juice and my money and we can go.” She turned and ran off through to the staff door shouting “Dad, Hank’s taking me shopping so I need…”

Wow her voice could really pierce. The head was not enjoying the morning. Still it might be nice to have some company going through the town assuming he could persuade the girl to take the volume down about 5 levels and insert normal pauses in the conversation. It really was amazing how she ran one thought into the next without pause.

Hank took a step outside and immediately regretted it. Someone needed to turn the sun down it was entirely too bright for a headache this size. He was about to grumble something about it when…

“So dad, was saying we need to get some groceries for tonight and he also wanted me to stop by the brew master’s place to order more beer for next week. Oh and I also needed to negotiate for laundry supplies. All of which Dad said was good for you to watch because you need to see how a town works and how all the parts connect and a bunch of other things. Which is all nonsense to me. I reckon you need to do your own shopping and I know where everything is, so I can take you around all of Perison. So, what do you need to buy?”

For the first time Hank could remember she was actually waiting for a response. Not just going on with one-sided conversations as she normally did.

“Well, let me think. I need a new staff after snapping my old walking stick at the guard’s station. Then I need to get some books. However, the most important things I need are seeds and seedlings. Seeds take up hardly any space, but usually require time to sprout before they mature. Seedlings, on the other hand, have a head start but are harder to transport. In either case I need a variety of them for the town. But I don’t have a lot of money so I am going to sell all the bits and bobs I have collected.”

“What kinds of books do you want? Do you want new books or do you want what’s cheap? Should we go to the second-hand stalls first or do you want to go to a couple of the farmer suppliers? Shall we try to sell your stuff first or after?”

“Do people barter here?”

“Yes, they love it. Who knows what you’re going to get in a trade. Dad doesn’t like it when I barter because he thinks I’m too trusting. I think it’s fun, and sometimes you get things you don’t expect. I like surprises. Dad reckons I get coned but I find it’s nice to sometimes get some of the strange things. Besides, I never give away the important stuff.”

“Let’s head to the barter stalls first. And you shouldn’t waste lots of your dad’s money.” Hanks struggling head didn’t enjoy the decision process either.

“Ok left here.” Elise responded brightly “But money is not important, it’s only a tool and we need to remember that.”

“Who said that? Anyway, even if the first thing you learn about money, is that it’s a tool, you still need it and it's hard to get. People who don’t have enough of it always have a different opinion.” Hank chided her.

“But uncle Ed says that the difference between the rich and the poor starts in the mind. Rich people live as if money is a tool. They do not mind ‘putting down a deposit to reap a reward. Poor people work to earn so that they can purchase that which they consume without a reward’.” Else looked up at Hank expectantly

“Hah, that sound very self-help.” He grunted.

“What is ‘self-help’?” She asked.

“Never mind. Who told you that?” Hank asked. He immediately requested asking an open ended question. He knew there was doing to be an in-depth response.

Elise did not disappoint. “Well uncle Ed should know, both him and Dad were very poor when they arrived in Perison and now he is very rich. And he told me that poor people in this town work hard all day and then come and spend their pay on beer and food at Dad’s inn. But Dad buys beer and food ingredients to sell to others so that he and I eat and drink but still make money.”

“But don’t you need the poor to work and do jobs?” Hank wanted to see if she was just parroting or understood what she was saying.

“Of course, silly. But if they only work for someone else, they are only making others rich. They are not making themselves rich.”

“So, if you look after yourself and ignore everyone else it is best?” Hank was still playing the dark man’s advocate.

“No of course not. But a drowning man cannot rescue another who is also drowning. If you are failing yourself how can you lead others to victory in their lives? You can’t really change people’s lives unless you are in a place that they are not. Well that’s what I think. After all lady Mary argues about this a lot. She thinks that if everyone got together, it would change everything. But I work in an inn. You will never get everyone to agree on everything. People are greedy and only ever look after themselves. If you want to help people, you have to succeed first and then encourage others to follow you. Don’t you think?” She danced backwards looking at Hank for a response.

Hank was almost astounded. "What is your dad trying to teach you? Most people don’t learn philosophy at school.”

“School.” The word came out with a snort of contempt. “How useless is that place? Rich people learning that poor people must serve them and never learning that you need to be able to do arithmetic, manners, debate or even fight. Useless waste of 3 hours a day! The only useful thing is that it helped with my writing. They should teach people useful things.” She concluded forcefully.

Her vehement attack on schooling surprised Hank. Perhaps it was just the standard teenager hatred for school. “And what’s useful?”

“Well Dad, uncle Ed and lady Mary never agree. It’s always a funny argument. But I think there ought to be more fighting and horsemanship, Meg, however, thinks that schools should have more dances and singing which is just silly. Knights don’t need to sing to rescue people. We should be rescuing more people from nasty people like Sarness. Also Dad says that you are going into the north where there are genuine monsters. I heard from the storyteller Aaron that there are giant spiders and wolves and that the wanderers breed horses that eat the dead and everything. It’s sounds so exciting I wanted Dad to let me go with you. I would be dead useful. I can help with the horses, and I cook well, and I know some basic self-defence. But I haven’t learnt to use a sword yet. Lady Mary says it’s unladylike to fight with swords, or fists for that matter. But I want to anyway. After all, I don’t need to be a lady, I’m supposed to take over dad’s inn. Well, when I get back from helping you build a village. Do you think that it will take a long time to build a village? I hope not, I need to help Dad and I can only be away until the busy season starts again in 4 months time. Anyway, I heard Lord Damien tell lady Mary that ‘inns are not a place for proper ladies’.”

She giggled having tried to put on a strange tone and manner as she repeated his words. “He sounds so funny when he speaks.” She continued. "Dickon heard from one of the stable hands that it was because he had a carrot in his sphincter. Do you know what a sphincter is? Is that another name for your mouth cos it must be something like that if it makes you talk funny? But as I was saying, I don’t need to be a lady to run Dad’s inn. He saved up an awful lot to buy it and it would just be silly not to continue to run it properly. Don’t you think? Anyway, here we are.”

The sudden end of chatter surprised Hank but his head thanked the mercies for brief trips. Hopefully something would distract the world’s longest sentence champion from monologues that were enough to make Shakespeare tremble with envy. There had to be something shiny he could distract her with. Maybe one day he would escape with a story that only involved one of her friends and not the entire city with whom she seemed to be on a first name basis. Hang on a minute. “We’re where? I said barter first.”

“Duh weren’t you paying attention? I told you that I have some errands to run and this one is right on the way to the market and happens to be next to the best armourer in the city. Well one that you can buy from.”

“What do you mean by that?” Hank asked with furrowed brow.

“Well you said you had no money and the kings armourers are off limits to all visitors like you. Besides you just want a stick not a full set of armour.” Elise concluded brightly.

“Just a stick is it? You just ask your friend the weapon master, who wins in a fight between a man in steel with a sword or a man with a staff? His answer might surprise you.” Hank stated.

“Ok, I’ll do that. But hurry up, I am only going to be quick in here.” She was pointing at a small shop squeezed between two sizeable buildings into which she disappeared.

Hank realised that he had not been paying attention to where he was at all. He wasn’t sure he could find his way back to the inn. He was on a wide, cobblestone street where the white wall buildings with thatch roofs were well kept. Hank wasn’t quite sure which store the girl had disappeared into but decided he had better get moving or he would be gawping all day.

He looked up at the sign on the building in front of him.