World Conquest Online

Dom arrived in the Merchant District with Lucius, Shang Yang and Subutai in tow. The four most senior members of Riverside arrived in the busiest part of Town, as Hittite Civilians were still gathered between the Doctors Clinic and the School where they had registered. The queues had reduced since earlier as other members of Riverside took those that had been registered on tours around Riverside or directed them to the places where they could start their new careers over the next day or so.

"It’s looking very busy." Dom said as they stood there watching all of the hustle and bustle. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"It really is, I think Lars and Wang Shu are going to be extremely busy for the next few days." Lucius replied, pondering what they could do to improve the speed to keep up with the growth. "We could have upwards of sixty new people a day, with at least sixteen houses needed per day. With the backlog of from todays additional numbers we are going to be struggling to keep up."

"They are always extremely busy." Shang Yang agreed, "We need to look at a better structure for building."

"We need apartments." Dom replied, "A multi level building with multiple houses within them. We need to get Sostratus some support."

"And investigate the Market to see if their are any schematics we can purchase." Lucius agreed.

"So, are we going to use the final Green Cube now?" Shang Yang asked, "I’m interested to see what we will receive."

Dom agreed and asked the system to roll for the final Green Cube.

[Rolling for Random Building....Building Selected....Bank]

Beside the Market, the ground began to shake as a large stone building appeared, the first stone building in Riverside. The stone was white and clean, with a large thick double wooden door on the front that was gilded in gold. The door was covered in pattens of the Sabre Tooth Tiger and the images of weighing scales. There were a few windows around the sides of the building, but they were all covered in thick metal bars that stopped anyone from breaking and climbing through them.

"Show Stats!" Dom asked, whilst Lucius and Shang Yang looked at the building with wide open eyes. Lots of the new people also looked at what had happened in shock and were once again being calmed down, but even those who were from Riverside were in awe at the new stone building.

[Bank of Riverside

Bank Grade - S

Bank Level - 1 (can be upgraded)

Level 1 Perks:

(Safety First - All Items stored inside the Vault have a reduced chance of going missing)(Investing - Has a higher chance of making Riverside attractive to external investors)

The Bank of Riverside will allow a safe storage place for all of Riversides valuables, be it from a central treasury perspective or individuals who want to store their own wealth. The Bank can be upgraded to increase both it’s security features and storage capacity. The bank staff will all need to have strong maths skills, but the tools are available to help them manage and track all deposits and withdrawals]

"It’s a bank." Dom said to the group as they walked towards it.

"It’s fantastic." Shang Yang stated, "With this, we finally have somewhere safe to store the wealth we have gathered, and it allows us to finally look at getting Currency put out within Riverside."

"Once we have a Financial person for the Finance Office we will be in a great position." Lucius agreed, "We just need a gold mine now for continuous growth."

"Well, we have a mine, we just need to find the gold." Subutai added with a smile as they appeared before the large golden gilded doors. "We’ll need to make sure we have permanent guards at the Bank to protect the wealth."

"Agreed!" The other three replied in unison as Dom pushed the doors open.

Inside they were greeted by a exceedingly clean hallway, with wooden counters that were down the left side of the room, where the bank staff could serve customers. To the right there was a couple of comfortable looking chairs and chaise loungers where visitors could sit and wait. At the rear was another thick gilded wooden door, which Dom assumed would lead on to the Vault.

They headed down and Dom grabbed the large handle and pulled the door open, which wasn’t currently locked. Inside was a thick metal barred wall, with another metal gate which lead in to partitioned sections of stone rooms with metal barred doors.

"It looks like we can separate the items based on their value." Lucius commented as he looked through one of the rooms. "This one is full of stacked metal boxes, which I think would be ideal for all of the jewels that have been brought back from the Underground Ancient City."

"Tomoe also brought back a large chest full from Kadesh and we have the items from Gluttonous Chief’s Village as well." Subutai agreed.

"The wealth alone from the Underground Ancient City is enough for a small Kingdom, let a lone a sole Town in the wilderness." Shang Yang stated, "We should get it all brought over immediately and stored in here. I shall ask Aristarchus to help me with counting it all in."

"I think we should also get Cassius our head merchant involved as he has been speaking with the Market Store owners." Lucius commented, "He should be able to calculate a single unit in wealth based on the weight in comparison to other states that surround us, rather than the grain comparison that we have initially worked on."

"I think both ideas would work." Dom replied, "But I’m not an expert at this."

"It’s fine Lord Lazarus." Shang Yang agreed, "You are an ideal commander on the battlefield and a fair Lord in domestic matters, just continue to trust in us to deal with the tasks you have assigned us."

They soon left the Bank, all excited at the possibilities that it left them. Subutai quickly departed and headed towards the Warriors Halls where he planned to gather a large group of Legionaries to help him transport all of the wealth they had plundered from the Underground Ancient City.

"What are you planning to upgrade?" Lucius asked Dom, hoping that it would be another of his choices, but understanding that Dom had already given him one so this may end up being one of the others options.

"I’m going to upgrade the Dock." Dom replied, "We are wanting to start looking at trade options, we are building our initial Navy, and we are also wanting to increase our food production. Upgrading the Dock will support all of those."

"And it would keep Helena happy." Lucius agreed, with Helena being the Family Head for all things fishing related, and the current manager of the Docks. When he held his daily family head planning meetings, she was always very vocal, alongside the others: Wang Shu the Builder, Lars the Lumberjack, Zanug the Shepherd, Benjamin the Farmer, Alejandro the Weaver who over saw the Manufacturing buildings and Cassius the Merchant. "I think we’ll need to hold a meeting with the Family heads, and maybe introduce a few others to it."

"With all of the new buildings and new members to Riverside, I would agree." Dom said, "There is just so much growth and change constantly happening."

"We can set up a noble system, where those that support the growth of Riverside the most in this current stage can join the more senior ranks and be involved in those conversations." Shang Yang stated, "I’ll think on it some more and confirm back to you."

They soon walked towards the Dock and saw that it was busy as usual with Helena’s daughters and her two new adopted daughters, Atzi and Tayanna were all busy on the small boats fishing, whilst the banks were also full of people with long poles and nets. Dom couldn’t see Ophelia amongst those on the boats, and knew he needed to ask Helena how she was doing.

Helena had spotted there arrival from her small office and was making her way towards them with a gentle smile on her face.

"How is my hero doing?" She asked as she arrived.

"I’m doing great thank you." Lucius replied, "How are you doing?"

"Shush." Helena laughed, "You know I was talking to the Lord."

"I’m not the hero." Dom said, "That was definitely Himilco. How is Ophelia doing?"

"She is recovering well, Doctor Hua Tau and Doctor Phoebe have both declared that she needs to rest for a couple of more days to make sure there is no unknown damages, but she’s excited to get back to work." Helena replied seriously, "I will forever be thankfully for what you did, as I know she is as well. I’m sure she would appreciate you visiting her."

"I will definitely make sure that I do that." Dom said seriously, "I have come for another reason though."

"What is that?" She replied, pushing her fingers through her long hair.

"I want to upgrade the Docks, but I have decided to prewarn you this time." Dom said to her.

"Ha!" She replied with a laugh, "So I don’t fall in this time in shock."

"Exactly that!" Dom stated, still blushing at the sight of her in her tight fitting wet clothes. "System, please use the Upgrade Token on the Dock."

[Dock of Riverside

Dock Grade - S

Dock Level - 2 (can be upgraded)

Level 2 Perks:

(Attractive to Fish - increases the amount of fish in the vicinity)(Well Managed - Allows for increased efficiency in loading and unloading of goods)(Merchants Love - Easy access routes and better resources for replenishment for traveling vessels.)

The Dock gives Riverside access to the water, allowing Fishing Boats, Merchant and up to medium sized Military ships to have access to Riverside, by docking with the Dock. The Dock comes with a management office and a large holding area for items and materials that are transferred through the Dock, this is both through the staging area and the storage area attached.

The Dock comes with ample berths for up to six medium ships simultaneously]

The Dock suddenly shook as the warehousing and staging area both expanded in size, as did Helena’s office which suddenly was almost double it’s earlier size, giving her plenty of space for meetings and checking in arrivals.

The biggest changes were the berths on the dock, these had now expanded to the sides and the wooden berths were now thicker so that a ship could dock on each side of it. There was also the arrival of wooden ramps and stairs that appeared that could be used for the larger ships.

"It looks big enough to berth a couple Trireme now." Dom stated as he looked out.

"It looks brilliant." Helena replied with a smile, placing her hands on her hips as she did so.

"I will visit Ophelia later." Dom promised Helena, "For now we have some important tasks to complete."

"I understand, you are all a busy bunch. See you later Lord Lazarus and Advisor Shang Yang." She replied, "And Mr Mayor, I’ll make sure to bring you some tasty fish for our next meeting."

Dom, Shang Yang and Lucius headed back towards the Town Centre, as they did they saw the some Legionaries running back and forth, whilst others were guiding heavily covered carts from either the Warriors Hall or the Town Centre where Subutai had been hiding the loot. They were all heading to the Bank and Dom was pleased to see that things were moving quickly.

"So what first?" Lucius asked, "Hero, Elite Villagers or Resources?"