It took some time for Ninyette to finish her tasks before she finally joined the rest of them in Jamie’s tent. Though everyone was busy in the middle of the day, Hank had convinced them all of the necessity of the meeting. The children, usually playing nearby, were exploring with Ruadh, Gruffly and Marko had disappeared off to the mine, allowing an almost foreign quiet to descend over the camp.

Hank reviled in the peace for a few minutes.

So it was with certain amount of reluctance that Hank broke the silence. “The situation is this. I have decided that the mine justifies a village even though it doesn’t produce gold. It seems to be good enough to satisfy Gruffly in the short term.” He glanced in Sabine’s direction, an unvoiced question on his lips.

“Yes, he is happy.” For a moment she appeared intent on elaboration as she opened her mount to continue. But thought better of it instead lapsing into silence.

“Which brings me to the big issue. Who’s staying here and who’s heading back south?” People were about to respond, but Hank raised his hand, signalling to pause for a second. “Keep in mind, we’ve had the first storm of winter and sometime soon another will presumably bring snow, probably preventing travel south until spring.”

“What makes you say that?” Jamie translated Ninyette’s question.

Funnily it was Sabine who responded. “We’ve told you about our trip north. I particular you may remember we ran into some naturalists on the way.” She received a nod from Ninyette as she continued. “One of them told us that winter brought snow much further south in the GNF than we are here.”

“Hmm,” Ninyette’s grunt and thoughtful expression left the floor open so Hank gestured for the others to speak.

Jamie promptly responded. “It’s unusual for my people to be so long apart from family. I will be returning to them in the south. We also have a contract to fill which my wife cannot complete alone.”

He sighed. “However, we still owe you a debt. If you are content here, then my family would willingly represent you around Indlu.”

It was time for a decision Hank realised. To date he had been following quest chains without a considered approach. The AI had been right all those months ago, he needed to pull out his finger and get on with life.

Hank took a deep breath. “Yes, I will stay. This place has a beauty that resonates and there is a chance that this mine will be profitable. I will make this place my home. So if I want to turn this settlement into a proper town I cannot leave in the short term. Well I also have to continue to establish certain things before the rest of Gruffly’s people arrive.”

“Then I will leave and return after the snow melts. At this stage I will not be settling in your town so I should allow you all to plan without me.” Jamie was about to get up.

“Please stay.” Jamie looked startled at Hanks response. “No I mean until the end of the meeting. You are quite fee to come and go as you desire. About the town I mean.”

Hank took a breath. “Ok so that was confusing. Please stay for the rest of the meeting as we would welcome your input. Aside from that, Wanderers will always be welcome here, you and your immediate family more so.”

Then turning to Sabine he continued. “What about your four?”

Sabine looked down, deep in thought. “I’ve been arguing with Gruffly.” A comment which drew sniggers from Ninyette and Hank, though only a wry smile from Jamie. “Yeah, yeah. Anyway we’ve always agreed, two will stay and two will go.”

“So if the division of forces was not in contention, what’s the argument ablout?” Hank asked.

She sighed. “If it was purely about retrieving our people, it should be Fritz and I who returned allowing Marko and Gruffly to establish the mine through the winter. But Gruffly wants to return and for Fritz and I to remain. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Hank could see this genuinely disturbed her. He didn’t understand the problem. “Perhaps it’s about his missing tools. He’s complained consistently on that front.”

“And everything else,” Jamie muttered, earning a grin from Ninyette. Sabine didn’t respond, but stared into the fire instead. Everyone had their opinions, but it was an issue for the wee people to resolve, so everyone else remained silent.

“What about your people, Ninyette? Are you and Ruadh planning to take the children south? That’s probably the easiest way back to your people in the high plains. Raising ten children requires more than two adults that’s certain.”

“No, Ruadh and I agree. We’re the last of our people.” Jamie translated Ninyette’s speech before continuing himself. “Huh. There are many more Ore Cane in the Höeveld.”

“Ore Cane yes, but we are the last people of the Wolf. We fled the high plains because the Wolf was no longer welcome with the Bear and Jaguar. The Fox, the Bull, and the Hawk will not stand with us. The high plains are no longer home to the Wolf.” She looked sad to the point of weeping. “We are verlate.”

Jamie didn’t translate the last word occasioning a questioning eyebrow from both Sabine and Hank. He relented. “Verlate, is something like desolate or perhaps forlorn. It is a very emotional word conveying a sense that the heart is broken by a truly immense rejection.”

Ninyette allowed the silence to hang for a moment allowing Jamie’s translation to sink in before continuing. “We’ve seen you, Hank, with these people. Except for the grumpy one and the sick one, everyone likes and respects you. You’re fair and you treat our cousins as you treat us. The Wolf will follow the Duck.”

“The duck?” Hank’s face showed his confusion.

“We don’t understand it either. When you aren’t around, your friends say that you are ‘an odd duck’. We think this is strange.” Jamie grinned through his translation as Ninyette continued. “Your animal is clearly not this water bird from the south. But since we don’t know your animal, we will keep the Duck, for now.”

The animal discussion made no sense to Hank, but decided understanding could wait for another day. “Ok. That brings me to the meeting’s second item, accommodation.” Hank looked around the circle before continuing. “Jamie, I assume you will take your tent with you?”

Jamie nodded.

“That’s a pity. My understanding is that Miylaneese tents won’t survive the snow conditions we anticipate up here.” Hank said.

It was Jamie’s turn to study the fire.

Hank understood Jamie wasn’t keen on leaving his tent behind. It was a much nicer tent than Hank’s Miylaneese tent. Hank had enjoyed sharing with Jamie for two reasons. Firstly they got on much better than Hank had anticipated. Secondly he had immensely enjoyed the much better class of tent.

Jamie was just about to comment when Ninyette spoke up changing his role to that of translator. “That’s not a problem, we have two spare small Ore Cane tents. One was almost destroyed, but I intend repairing it.”

“Can we make those tents ready for winter also?” Hank asked.

“Of course. We have done it all our lives.” Ninyette derisive tone underscored Jamie’s continued translation. “Besides, I was training to be a tent mistress.”

“What’s a tent mistress?” Hank asked.

“We, the people of the Wolf, all Ore Cane actually, are a wandering people, not like you Wanderers,” she paused, nodding at Jamie. “Two or three Ore Cane in any clan group are assigned to maintain and improve clan tents. These people are called tent masters or tent mistresses. Their role is very important. Our lives revolve around our tents.”

“And you are one of these tent mistresses?” Hank asked.

“No. Training still.” Jamie translated her curt reply.

“But you can upgrade them for winter?” Hank pressed.

“No. I mean, yes. I mean putting on the winter layers and redoing the ties is not a tent upgrade and anyone can do it.” Ninyette responded.

“So what’s a level 2 Ore Cane tent then?” Hank’s confusion evident as he reviewed his changing settlement accommodation screens. He had assumed as the tents were labeled level one, then a level two tent would be one prepared for winter.

“Oh, I see your confusion.” A smile crept onto Ninyette’s face. “We don’t have one here. A good example of a level two tent would be the home of our healer. We worked a number of upgrades into that tent so it’s better utilised as an infirmary with a separate sleeping section available for the night healer.

Hank realised that the tent situation was going to be problematic. He had been sharing Jamie’s tent which was going south. Sabine and Fritz had been using their own two person Miylanese tent which would go south with whoever the Wee people sent south. The tent that Marko and Gruffly have brought north was now abandoned back in the GNF so they had been using his tent.

“Ninyette, you have the large tent your using for all your people and you brought two others with you. Can we use those temporarily?” Hank was anxious to avoid sharing a tent, especially if Gruffly and Marko stayed.

“Yes the large tent is fine for all the people of the Wolf here. But only one of the other tents we brought is usable which we can lend you. The other is damaged so you can’t it.” Jamie translated seriously.

“Hmm, well that means I will have to use my tent.” Hank mumbled to himself.

Ninyette interjected via Jamie’s translation. “Not to sleep in you can’t. I’ve looked at those tents they can’t handle the weight for winter coverings. Besides I would be unwilling to breakdown our damaged tent’s winter covering and remaking it for a Miylanese shape tent. This is a one way alteration and to be honest Miylanese tents are garbage. You don’t want to keep them going forward.”

“Really?” Hank questioned more out off reflex than genuine contestation.

“As a Tent Mistress in training take my word for it. Those Miylanese will freeze their occupants this far north. You might as well cut them up for spare cloth.

“Dam.” Hank had hoped to use that tent for himself so that he didn’t have to either share with Gruffly or intrude on Sabine and Fritz. No matter who stayed, he didn’t want to share with the wee people. Hank asked a different question. “So, back to the previous discussions on what a Tent mistress is, you can make new tents and upgrade old ones?”

“Sort off. In general that falls a long way short of what a tent mistress does. I was only half way through my training. Some things I can do, others will require research and the clan's library. We should see what we can recover from our old camp. We left many valuable things behind.”

“Agreed. We will need to plan that excursion.” Hank added it to his mental list of things requiring attention.

Sabine piped up at this. “We also need to get back to the previous camp and recover the stuff that we all left behind.”

“Right.” Hank mentally sighed. “So we are going to have to mount a recovery expedition. What do you all need. A couple of windows popped up as everybody started talking at once. Hank raised his hand indicating calm. “Perhaps we can start one at a time. Jamie first. Do you have anything you need recovered from the old river camp.

As Jamie started to list the items that he had left behind, the window before Hank resolved into a new quest that changed updating items as it Jamie spoke. Curious, Hank gestured to Sabine to go next when Jamie finished up.

Generate Quest : Recover Loot Lost to Spiders

Quest Description :

There are a number of useful items that were left behind as the people of Hankston fled from the giant spiders of the Great Northern Forest.

Part 1

Part Name :

River Camp Loot

Part Description :

Find the goods left behind at the old river camp.

- Jamie’s spare saddle with saddle bags (2)

- Sabine’s spare axe

- Sabine’s training weapon set (5 items)

- Fritz’ forester’s pack

- Gruffly’s mining tools (2)

- Gruffly’s prospecting tools

- Gruffly’s “other” tools

- Gruffly’s tent

- Marko’s saddle bags (4)

Bring as much loot back as possible

Part Status :

Awaiting completion

Part Reward :

Experience split amount the successful group

- 10 XP base split

- 5 XP per listed item

- 2 XP per unlisted item owned by another

The return of any of your equipment left behind

An equal share of

- Any gold left behind by Gruffly and Marko

- Any spider parts harvested from the remains of dead spiders

Part Failure Penalties :

Loss of 50 XP shared equally amongst the failing team

Part 2

Part Name :

Ore Cane Loot

Part Description :

Find the goods left behind in the various Ore Cane camps and clearings.

- Ore Came meeting tent

- Ore Cane leader tents (2)

- Ore Cane medical tent

- Tent Mistress instruction manuals

- Other Ore Cane instructional texts

- 30 Oyadji of tent accommodation

- Ore Cane totem

- Ore Cane breeding records

Bring as much loot back as possible

Part Status :

Awaiting completion

Part Reward :

Experience split amount the successful group

- 10 XP base split

- 5 XP per listed item

- 1 XP per tent per Oyadji

An equal share of

- Any unspoiled consumables, seeds and plant material

- Any spider parts harvested from the remains of dead spiders

Part Failure Penalties :

Loss of 75 XP shared equally amongst the failing team

“Done.” The meeting broke up. Hank closed the quest window reviewing another that had been previously hidden.

Settlement Notification

Congratulations.

You have discovered one of the hidden benefits of a settlement. It is recommended you keep this hidden for obvious reasons. Continue experimenting to discover other undisclosed perks.

Settlement Quest’s

You can issue quests on behalf of the settlement. Everyone thinks these quests are automatically generated but they are not.

To issue a quest your settlement must have the reward in both items and settlement quest reward points (SQP). 1 SQP is equal to 2 XP. All quests must have XP as portion of the reward. For each quest offered you will need to pay 2 SQP irrespective of reward value.

Please see the relevant settlement control for the settlement quest point regeneration and current unallocated values. SQP regeneration is dependant on settlement size, productivity and status.

Everyone had left the tent so there was nobody there to comment as Hank remarked to himself. “Well, thats an interesting development.”