Thaddeus spent the last three days, working 18 hours days to finish the walls and roofs. He was finishing the roof on the last house when he saw a caravan of people arriving. To his surprise, there was a group of players with them serving as their guards. He nailed the last shingle on the roof and received a notification:
Quest Complete: Followers of Demeter
Provided basic homes for 10 families. Reward: Bakery, +5 Authority in the Church of Earth.
He put the bakery in the middle of the six houses on the west of the main road. The three houses to the left and right of the bakery and four houses across the street. He also left a space between the houses in case he got another commercial building.
When he was finished, he walked over to meet the caravan. To look presentable, he made sure to wear the fine clothing he bought from Cassian. As he walked to the caravan, he was surprised to see the priestess as an elf. On his way over he looked up the etiquette to meet a wood elf.
The players were surprised to see Thaddeus, they thought they were escorting these NPCs to visit another NPC. They were even more surprised when they saw the hamlet. Everyone seemed surprised to see a fortress, farm, houses, carpentry shop, forge, tannery, sawmill, gristmill, bakery, and church. Everyone seemed surprised except Priestess Thera.
"Lord Brown, I greet you in Demeter's name. I am Priestess Thera, you may address me as Thera," said the elf woman. He was tall, slender, and beautiful. She had brown hair and eyes, and he could tell that she was a wood elf based on Maria's character.
"Blessings of the forest upon you," Thaddeus bowed with his arm crossed his chest.
"Oh, you know of the old ways. I should have known since your half-bear kin," she smiled happily.
Thaddeus wondered what trouble he brought upon himself. He re-read the post and saw it was the old culture of how people from the Forest greeted each other.
"Good to see you, old friend. I see you've been busy. I've been gone one month, and you've built a fort, bakery, and ten houses. When do you sleep?" Cassian asked.
"Sleep is for the dead, my friend," Thaddeus replied jokingly.
The players and new residents were amazed that he built so much in a month.
"The Goddess Demeter has surely blessed you," said an old-looking NPC man with dirty blonde hair and a beard.
"Welcome to Woodhaerst. I hope you find this hamlet enjoyable. I am Thaddeus the owner, please feel free to ask me any questions," he announced.
"Priestess Thera told us you have houses already built for us, is that true?" asked a woman with brown and white hair holding a small child.
"Yes, I finished the last house just before your arrival," Thaddeus explained. It was true. He worked through the night to finish the last house.
"Bless the goddess," said the woman crying tears of happiness.
"What's the tax rate? And how much is the rent?" asked a man with dirty blonde hair and a full beard.
"Alfred, can you quickly explain how taxes work?" Thaddeus asked.
"Lords can tax the population annually. The system automatically redistributes the tax from residents and transfers it to your settlement account. The amount you can take varies by settlement rank. As a hamlet, you can tax between 5 and 30 coppers. Also, the empire requires you to remit taxes every July 1st. You are expected to pay 50 coppers," Alfred explained.
"Thanks, Alfred. Let's keep the tax on the lowest until reach the rank of town," Thaddeus instructed.
"Very well, sir, and your trap has sprung," Alfred said
"The tax and rent are each five copper a month or, 10 copper altogether," Thaddeus replied, answering the man's question.
"My lord isn't that too low?" the man asked incredulously.
"It's fine. I'm not here to get fat off the backs of residents," Thaddeus explained.
System Message:
Your new residents are moved by your words. +1 INT, + a new skill.System Message
He looked at his notifications and check out his new skill.
System Message
New Active Skill: Leadership. At higher levels can rule a nation.
Stat Increase: +1 to INT, 1+ Charm, +100 EXP
Level 1: Novice Level 1
Effect: Increased increases decision-making.
Well, that was a nice skill. He has leveled his charm which was the most difficult stat to level.
"Any other questions?" Thaddeus asked.
"Lord Brown, Priestess Thera has been telling us about you. Today, you have proven her words true. My lord, will you accept us official residents?" the dirty blonde hair man.
"Of course, welcome to Woodhaerst!" Thaddeus said warmly as he received another notification.
System Message:
Congratulations, Woodhaerst has advanced to Hamlet Level 3. +1 WILL, +100 EXP, + 1 common building.
Thaddeus decided to wait on choosing the next building until heard about his residents' professions.
"Sir, my name is Brand and I'm a butcher by trade. This is my wife and our six children," he said introducing himself.
Hearing that he put the butchery in between the four houses to the east side of the main road. Now the butcher and backer were across from each other.
"My name is Lidia, my lord. I'm a baker, and this is my Sean, he's a farmer and our four children," she said.
"Name's Hunter and I'm a Hunter," said a short red hair man with a bow strapped to his shoulder.
He added a hunter's lodge to the buildings he needed to buy.
"Lord Brown, my name is Arthur and I'm a farmer, this is my wife Margaret and our four children.
Seven more introduced themselves but they didn't have a profession. Thaddeus quickly appointed people positions in hamlet.
He gave Brand the butcher, and Lidia the bakery, and made Arthur, Sean, and Mathews farmhands. He sent Hunter off to check the traps, appointed four men to serve as guards, and Arthur's wife to serve as Lidia's assistant.
With Brand and Lidia moving into the Butchery and Bakery, respectively, that meant basic houses would be vacant.
After he was done, he let the residents go to explore their new homes, except for the guards. He posted one at the bridge and two in the fort. The last guard was put on a break. Every hour, the guards were expected to rotate.
When they left only Thera, Cassian, and the player escorts stayed to chat with him.
When he finished the received a notification:
System Message:
Congratulations, your leadership skill has reached Level 2, + 2 skill points.
"I've been traveling my route for 12 years, and I think, I'm ready to settle down. If you decide to build a general store let me know and I'll buy it from you," he said.
"Why not partners 50-50?" Thaddeus joked.
"How about 70-30?" Cassian laughed.
"It's a deal then! Thaddeus said shaking Cassian's hand.
"I was able to buy 10 goats and two pigs. The price comes to 2-gold and 20 silvers. " Cassian announced.
"That's expensive," Thera said.
"You know what they say commoners eat chevon, lords eat mutton, kings eat pork, and emperors eat beef," Cassian complained.
"Do you have any weapons to give the guards," he asked.
"I do, they're 15 copper a piece. Do you want to trade them for pelts," he said taking out four common spears.
"I don't have any, but I'll have about 30 when you return," he told Cassian. Then he told Alfred to pay him.
"Done, sir," Alfred confirmed.
Cassian gave Thaddeus a receipt. Then he gave him the crate of pigs, and goats attached to the back of his caravan. Thaddeus gave the livestock to a farmhand to take away.
"Pleasure doing business with you. I'll be gone for two months. I noticed two houses were vacated, do you mind if I sleep in one tonight?" Cassian asked.
"Not a problem," Thaddeus agreed, and Cassian left to explore Level 3 Hamlet.
Now it was the players' turn to talk to Thaddeus. Naturally, Thaddeus was more on guard against players.
"Easy, we don't want any trouble. We're a small guild, the Gold Caravan, and we primarily do escort missions. I just looked online. You were ranked 98 globally and ranked 3rd among settlements builders. You have a nice settlement. Do you mind if we sleep in your fort?" the leader asked.
Thaddeus brought his axe out from his bag of holding. He wasn't sure if these people were nice or secretly planned to conquer his territory.
"We apologize. We come in peace. We just wanted to secure our wagon for the night," another guild member explained.
"I think it's more appropriate you leave your wagon next to the church. Goddess Demeter will protect your wagon. There's also room in the church to sleep," Thera suggested.
"Thank you, priestess," they said and left to explore the hamlet.
"Can you give this old lady a tour of your hamlet?" Thera asked.
"You don't look old," Thaddeus complimented
"That's nice of you to say, but I'm well over 300 years old," she responded.
Thaddeus tried to hide hui shock, 300 years old, just how long did elves live? Changing the subject, he checked "Should we start with the church?"
"No, if you saw one, you've seen them all. I want to see the dragon's domain," she said gleefully.
They walked down the road to the river. They watched the families moving furniture in their houses. The people waved happily to Thaddeus and Thera. Children played in the streets. They stopped waking when they got to the bridge.
"It's beautiful. Thank you for walking me down here. Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to meet a dragon. Just being this close, is exciting," she smiled.
"Well, I hope you enjoy your time in Woodhaerst," Thaddeus said sincerely.
"I've been a priestess of Demeter a long time. It's been a while since she's been this excited a follower. But I hear you're not a religious person. She told me you turned down the chance to become a deacon. I'm sure you have questions for me?" She said turning to face him.
"I'm not a religious person. In my world, religious people are expected to visit church an hour a week to listen to the priest talk about god. But here people aren't expected to attend church weekly," he described.
"Most people worship gods in their home. We believe religion is a personal issue. I'm just a counselor and a medium. Some seek me out for advice and aid. Others wish to speak to Demeter through me," she explained.
"Do I need to make regular sacrifices," he inquired.
"Ha-ha, you have to understand the gods are like us. They get happy, angry, frustrated, and pout. Demeter wasn't mad, she was just pouting. You were the first person to offer her a sacrifice in a thousand years. But I can tell you, she really enjoys the wolf," she laughed.
"Can you explain authority?" he questioned.
"Yes, I see you 20 authority in the Church of Earth. Think of authority as contribution points. What most people do not know, there are two orders in the church. The first is the priesthood. Most know a priest can advance to bishop, archbishop, and if chosen pope.
The second order is the templar knighthood. They are the church's secret military order. If you have enough authority, you can join the knighthood. There are five knight ranks: Knight, Knight Lieutenant, Knight Captain, Knight Major, and Knight Commander. Only the pope can appoint the knight officers: Seneschal, Marshal, and Grand Marshall," she explained.
"What's the incentive to join?" Thaddeus wondered.
"You get access to the Church of Earth quest. A discount in the Church of Earth's store. And you can participate in the Church of Light meetings, but rank restrictions apply," she answered.
"Church of Earth Store? What's sold?" he asked excitedly.
"That's confidential, but I can tell you the four categories found in every church store. You can spend authority to purchase, soldiers, equipment, materials, and consumables," she described.
Thaddeus wasn't interested in soldiers, equipment, or potions, but he did want to check out the materials.
"Interested?" she asked curiously.
"Maybe," Thaddeus said unsure.
"You need 5 more authority points to join as a knight. Now escort me to the church. I need to sit down," she demanded.
When they got to the church, they saw Brand and Hunter waiting outside. A dead buck was laying on the ground.
"Lord Brown, Hunter, and I wish to speak to you," Brand said respectfully.
"I'll go inside the church now, thank you for indulging an old woman today," Thera smiled.
"How can I help?" Thaddeus asked.
"I'd like to buy this deer from you?" Brand said assertively.
"And, I want to buy this trap," Hunter said straightforwardly.
"Name a fair price," Cassian said coming over.
"40 coppers for the deer and 60 coppers for the trap," Brand said annoyed Cassian butted into the conversation.
"It's on the low end, but fair," Cassian agreed.
"As long as you give me the pelt, we have a deal! Brand, I also have prairie dogs, coyotes, and wolf meat. I'm happy to sell that to you too. And, Hunter I'm also happy to sell you more traps," Thaddeus responded.
Thaddeus sold half his meat to Brand and got an order to build three more traps for Hunter.
Thaddeus checked his watch, it was 3 pm. There was still a lot of daylight left and he was ready to start a new project. There were three buildings on his list: his farmhouse, the animals' pens, and the hunter's lodge.
With 24 goats building a pen now was the most important thing. He could also build the pens and coops in two to three days. He grabbed his tools and walked to the kiln.