Goliath took a breath and looked at the settlers around the fire. Everyone was done eating, and Mirabelle had snuggled in next to Ana with the puppy in her arms. The puppy had scarfed down its fill of meat and was now fast asleep. Mirabelle looked like she wasn’t far behind. It was past her bedtime, and the excitement of the new puppy had kept her awake later than usual. Beside her, because where else would Tia be, Tia stood, pen and scroll in hand, ready to continue documenting their meeting.

  ‘All right, everyone. I’m just going to start and run through my list point-by-point. First up, let’s review our current quests. I’m very pleased with our progress so far. This morning, Alan completed the settlement layout quest, and Tia has uploaded it to our settlement system. We are now ready to start developing our settlement towards village status. Further, Isaac and Ana completed their quest and identified not only three but seven smallholding sites, which Tia integrated into Alan’s settlement layout scheme. This is great news, as it will help our settlement to produce more than enough resources for our first upgrade to a village.

  ‘However, now we need people who can utilise those smallholdings. Since Isaac and Ana are experienced smallholders and were also the ones who put in the effort to identify Cursed End’s smallholding sites, I think it is only fair to allow them first choice in picking a smallholding for themselves.’

  Everyone nodded to these words, with Fred calling, ‘Hear, hear!’

  ‘So, it is decided. Isaac and Ana, you get first pick. Which site would you like to claim?’

  Isaac looked to Ana, who nodded to him in confirmation. ‘We thank you, Founder Goliath, and it is an honour to do our part for our settlement,’ he said. ‘We would like the site to the closest left of the settlement.’

  ‘Yes,’ Ana joined in. ‘It’s raised on a hill, surrounded by the meadow, and the river runs past it at the bottom of the smallholding. That’s where we would like to make our home.’

  ‘All right. Tia, will you please assign it to them?’

  ‘First smallholding assigned,’ she confirmed.

  ‘Staying with smallholdings, we need more smallholders to provide for our settlement. Is there anyone else with any smallholding experience?’

  ‘Us,’ Granny Manon supplied, indicating herself and Benji. ‘I used to grow herbs for our village for healing and cooking. I realise that we will need more than that, so Bemji and I can also cultivate a few orchards and keep chickens for eggs. If you could help us find some chickens, that is.’

  ‘Sounds good to me. Isaac, which smallholding would you suggest for Granny Manon and Benji?’

  ‘I think the smallholding on the closest right side of the settlement should do. It’s got an even terrain with lots of sun, and the river runs right through it. If we can build Granny Manon a bridge, it would be perfect for herbs and orchards.’

  ‘All right then, Tia?’

  ‘Smallholding assigned,’ Tia confirmed.

  ‘Thank you, Founder Goliath,’ Granny Manon also said, inclining her head.

  ‘Well, that settles at least two of the seven, which is enough for now. Next up is rudimentary housing. While everyone has done great work on the temporary tents and lean-tos constructed for our initial rudimentary housing, we need to start thinking more long-term for our settlement. Since we are in the unique situation of being able to build to some extent on what has gone before, I’ve decided to forego initial living structures and jump straight to more sturdy housing. I realise this will take more time to get into place, but we have at least two seasons’ worth of good weather ahead of us during spring and summer, and sturdier structures will benefit us more in the long run anyway. So, to start with, I want to queue a barn as our first official building since we can all shelter in it should there be a storm. It will also provide initial storage for what we gather. Once that is in place, we can start on individual housing. Does this sound good to you all?’

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Once again, everyone indicated their assent.

  ‘Before I can do this, however,’ Goliath continued, ‘we need to have a settlement reward system in place since this settlement doesn’t have the economy for a money system in place yet. I’ve assigned this task to Ranca, our Resource Manager, and I believe she has something to present. Ranca, what have you come up with?’

  ‘Thank you, Founder Goliath, with your permission, I would like to propose the following settlement reward system. I have based it on a reward solution often used in places with a dungeon. It is a points-based system, allowing the settlement’s Founder and administrators to assign a point value to whatever service is performed. The recipient of the points may use these points to ‘purchase’ other settlement rewards or services. This will help us reward settlement contributions fairly until we can get a more formal economy going. I have assigned myself ten contribution points for developing this system, should it meet your approval, Founder Goliath.’

  ‘That seems fair. I approve. Will you implement it, Tia?’

  Tia’s eyes lit up for a moment. ‘It is done, and building a barn has been queued for settlement development.’

  ‘Thank you, Tia. Next up: There have been two significant events that we need to address within our settlement appointments. One is the spy, and the other the dungeon. Let me start with the dungeon. Samuel, unless I’m very much mistaken, you’ve got experience as an adventurer and dungeon diver. Am I correct?’

  Samuel looked a bit uncomfortable with all the attention suddenly on him. He shuffled and replied, ‘Yes, this is true. But I do need to add that my adventuring days are long past, even though it was once my main occupation. There comes a point when the danger just isn’t worth it anymore, which was why I chose to become a town guard.’

  ‘And you can still be a town guard, but at this point, we need someone with experience to take charge of the dungeon. Would you be willing to take on the dungeon as a primary part of your settlement task? An unsupervised dungeon can pose a significant danger to a settlement, after all.’

  ‘Why yes, I suppose I can do that.’

  ‘I thank you. Then, Michael, I think it only makes sense to have you take on settlement security in general as part of your primary responsibility. This would mean securing us from spies and protecting the population in general. Are you up for the task?’

  Michael brightened at the assignment. ‘Absolutely, I’ll get right on it.’

  ‘I’m happy to hear that, thank you. Well, that takes care of my to-do list for tonight. Anyone else have any important matters to raise?’

  Both Isaac and Ranca raised their hands. Goliath nodded, motioning to Isaac to go first.

  ‘Since this is the beginning of spring, it is quite urgent that we start on our production as fast as possible because we’ll need all the resources we can get for the coming winter. This means we need to acquire starting resources, specifically livestock for Ana and me, as well as orchard seeds and chickens, possibly a rooster too, for Granny Manon and Benji.’

  Ranca spoke next, adding to Isaac, ‘Yes, this is just what I was about to point out. This means we must get to know our neighbours and establish a trade. So, we need to find something valuable to trade with to get our starting resources.’

  At this point, Samuel pitched in. ‘Our dungeon might be able to help us with that. I’ll start on it tomorrow and see what we can get out of the dungeon as starting resources. I’d also like to suggest an addition to Ranca’s point system, regarding the dungeon, if I may.’

  Goliath nodded to this, and Samuel continued. ‘I suggest that everything we find in the dungeon is added to the settlement’s inventory, since the dungeon belongs to the settlement in a way other dungeons don’t often do. Goliath, as Founder, you can decide which artefacts should stay in service of the settlement, and which can go to the settlers. Then you and I can assign a point value to it, making it available for the settlers to purchase with their earned settlement points. This is a fair system that works well and places unusual and potentially useful items within reach of all settlers. What do you think?’

  ‘It sounds fair to me,’ Goliath responded. ‘And to you, Ranca?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said with a nod.

  ‘Noted and adjustments made,’ Tia confirmed.

  Goliath was just about to continue when Tia’s eyes suddenly glowed. ‘Intruders,’ she said.

  He flew around, reaching for his gladius, while the rest of the settlers also grabbed their weapons, ready to fight!

  <><><>

  really ready for that kind of responsibility. What do you think?

  and support the story? Check out my where patrons get early access!