World Conquest Online

"Thanks Meritamen." Dom replied, as he stood up again. The Heroes all excited for his announcements at what their hard work so far had added to Riverside. There were some ideas and assumptions already, but hearing it all would let them plan for the future.

"We have our original items, such as the two Special Missions, Invitation Letter, Family Orange Cube and the General Order Token." Dom began, "We still need to decide what and when to use these."

"The Two Special Missions we should use soon, once we have settled Tongpai Town residents and decided our locations for the other towns." Xun Yu commented. "From the history of Riverside so far, these have been instrumental."

"Only because you joined due to one." Subutai joked, "But I do agree, that is also how we got our ladyship."

"They are our ace that allow us to grow at pace, rather than slowly." Shang Yang agreed, "But each one comes with risk."

"Let’s save the Invitation Letter for now, as this may be handy for Quest Seven and getting us acknowledgement." Meritamen stated, after giving Subutai a smile in acknowledgement for his comment and Shang Yang a nod at his sensibility. Dom agree with Meritamen’s idea and thought it was a worthwhile risk to take.

"I have ideas for the Family Cube." Gan Ning commented, causing everyone around to become silent, "But it may be a waste."

"What is your idea?" Dom asked, as everyone turned to the jolly but fierce General, who once again had a serious look in this face.

"I have thought long and hard on this, but I was thinking of Da Qiao." Gan Ning stated seriously, which caused some raised eyebrows in the group. Gan Ning put his hand up for quiet before anyone spoke, "Let me finish, this isn’t in Charity, even though I do think she would appreciate some positivity. I thought of her because, her Husband Sun Ce was a mighty General known as the Little Conqueror, he won several battles both on the Land and the River before his early death. Her Sister was married to an impressive general named Zhou Yu who has an in depth knowledge of Naval Combat and Naval Strategies, he is also a friend of mine who I think would be a huge asset to Riverside. Her Father was a renowned Governor that could settle down the populace and support with the management of some of our territories, especially as we are planning a big expansion."

"And what if we only get one person and it’s her Sister?" Subutai replied seriously, not in a means to offend, but to question Gan Ning’s plan as it was risky.

"There is always a risk, but she’s intelligent and it wouldn’t be a total waste if that happened." Gan Ning replied, "There are plenty of other options as you are all aware, Subutai has worked with mighty general as well, and many of you have families who have done impressive things. Lucius’s sons are Warriors, Tomoe is close to mighty Warriors as well. However we need to grow, and we could wait and wait until the right General or Hero arrives. I think it is a worthwhile risk."

"I would like to see my Son again." Crassus added, "He is a respectable General in his own right, having fought for my friend Julius, he can also manage the Legionaries better than most and he is an excellent Cavalry Commander. However Gan Ning’s idea does have merit."

"It is an idea." Dom agreed, "It is also a risk, but if we don’t take risks then we will never succeed. I’ll think over it. We also have no use of the General Order Token for now so let’s leave that one until a related unit appears in a Special Mission. Next we received two Wooden Tokens, I think it would be good to use at least one on the Trireme Shipyard."

"It is essential we upgrade our Navy, so I would agree." Subutai stated.

"Seconded." Lucius replied, "We have a need to expand our farming and housing, but our defence is key, especially with our current quest. More ships allows for further exploration."

"We do have the merchant ships from Tongpai Town, but I would rather rely on our Military Navy as the lead, rather than ships made for carrying goods." Gan Ning agreed.

"Plus, those merchant ships are key with us growing our trade on the coast." Crassus agreed.

Dom felt like that was an approved decision, now that two of his most senior members had agreed and the others related to the Navy thought it was the best idea. He looked around and saw that everyone was waiting on him to continue, so he did.

"I suppose we should discuss our big items, before I break down in to the buildings and other rewards." Dom replied. "Riverside is a Grade S Town, we have received a Grade B Town that was once Tongpai Town, and a Grade D Town that was taken from the Type 3 Humans. We have also received an improved Military Camp, which I believe will spawn us a Fort similar to that at Tongpai Town. Where do we use them?"

"I think this is a wider conversation about Riverside and it’s future growth. Now that we have the quest to outline our Region, I think it’s important that we plan ahead on our Town growth. If we create a plan now it gives us something to work towards." Xun Yu explained, "Shall we head to the Map Room to discuss?"

Dom agreed and stood up, followed by all of his Heroes of Grade B or above. They entered the Room which Dom had not been in for a while. It had grown since his last visit, with the Town Centre having gone through several upgrades. The Room was wider and central to is the Map had also grown, with more and more segments having been added as more area had been discovered. Riverside was still clearly central, with several segments to the south that covered the land between Riverside and the Underground Ancient City. It also spread towards the west towards where the Red Hare Horses had been found. The River also was clearly marked as it had been explored by Gan Ning on his trip to Tongpai Lake. The area to the north was huge and other than the blank corner where the Mountains to the East of Tongpai Lake were unexplored, the rest of the area was clearly marked.

The segments had a slight thin walkway between them, and the three main strategists Xun You, Xun Yu and Subutai quickly headed to the far wall and grabbed a long pole each that could be used to point at the map. There was also some building shaped blocks on an other table, and Gan Ning was sent to grab those.

"Here is Riverside." Xun Yu began, pointing at the large city in the centre, with it’s wall now clearly built. "Riverside is lonely, she is in the middle with no one to keep her company or protect her. Ideally she needs some friends, in fact she needs five of them."

Subutai and Xun You quickly moved around the table, placing some of the blocks that Gan Ning had gathered. They were placed in different area, all of which Dom recognised.

"We have spoken about this already and this is the perfect time to show everyone our idea." Xun You said, now taking over the narrative. "We call this the five points of Riverside. If each of these locations has an outline city built, Riverside will feel the protection, whilst being able to quickly attack and defend from it’s borders. Each location has a strategic goal and there is then room to develop the land in between, with smaller Towns in the future."

"The most important one is this one." Subutai stated, pointing at the one at the Eastern tip of their explored land, the mouth of the River where it met the sea. "Riverside is in a great strategic location for it’s own growth and development. The land around us is fertile and full of ample resources to help us grow. However, to access her from a trade perspective, Merchants must enter the river and travel down. We also have no way of fending off enemies who could land around us and travel down the River to attack us."

"If we develop in this location, we can create a maritime nation, that can trade with other sea faring nations. Whilst also building ourselves a safety measure to protect Riverside from the sea." Xun You said, continuing from Subutai. "We also thoroughly control any trade routes further inland, both to Tongpai Lake and further up the other fork of the River that we have yet to explore."

"And what would we call this Town?" Dom asked, completely agreeing with their thoughts, having already decided that this would be their first Town himself.

"Sea View City." Xun Yu declared. "Our merchant centre and our naval defence."

"Or something else." Subutai replied with a smile, "We haven’t decided a name, but the location definitely."

"Would I have to be the Mayor there as well?" Lucius asked, looking at the huge distance between the two locations, it could be easily travelled by boat, but by foot it was around two days.

"No, we would need a different Mayor for that location." Xun You explained, "Each Mayor of these Five Cities must be part of our group, so they are both central and local government. Those in any other town that falls within the space of the Five Cities, can be handed to others as we expand."

Lucius seemed to visibly relax at that statement, not wanting any additional workload. Dom however was nervous, as sending anyone away to manage these new locations meant weaking his central structure. He had also grown attached to his Heroes and felt it would be a shame to not see them all regularly.

"Which locations are next?" Dom asked, looking at the other areas pointed out. "We will use the former Tongpai Town Centre Cube in this location, we have time to decide on the name."

"There are four north of the River, and one south." Xun Yu continued, before pointing to the next location with his large pole, "The decision is up to you, but I feel the next should be the southern one, I call it Red Leaf City."

"Red Leaf City is situated a day south of Riverside, on the border of the forest where the Underground Ancient City lies, it gives us a dedicated location to explore the southern regions, as well as being within a days travel of Riverside." Subutai explained, "It is a good strategic location, which with some minor building works, could have a water supply from the lake near the Underground Ancient City."

"Why not just at the location of the Underground Ancient City?" Shang Yang questioned.

"It is underground and not suitable for long term living, we do however want to continue building it as a final line of defence if Riverside is ever invaded. To protect our most important and most vulnerable. Red Leaf would be an exploration City, that once we have explored the south, would become second to Riverside in size once we have expanded." Subutai replied. "However I disagree with this being the next option."

"What do you think should be the next option?" Dom asked, but Xun You replied instead.

"It should be here." He said, pointing to the most north western point on the map, where the River split towards the North and to Tongpai Lake. This area was unexplored, with the mountain to the south and the forest everywhere else. "This would be Mount View City. It would control the River split, as well as have ample resources from the Mountain and the Forest. If we have a Town here, we could cut through the forest and eventually connect it with Riverside by both Land and Water."

"It is a key strategic location." Dom agreed, "But the lack of a current land connection is worrying."

"That was my thought." Subutai agreed, "However it is definitely an important location. The Mountain is not easily traversed and is still mainly unexplored. We could however potentially use the Improved Military Camp here instead, and use it as a base for the exploration, with the intention to change it to a Town in the future."

Dom agreed with Subutai’s idea, and he looked towards Gan Ning and Tomyris who were going to lead on the subjugation of the land between this new city Mount View and Riverside, with their search for any remaining Type 3 humans and the hidden City from the Map. They both agreed with Subutai’s idea.

"If we have a Military Camp there, we can secure supplies and have a safe base to retreat to. If we have one to the level of Tongpai Town, we can securely defend it." Tomyris agreed, having taken the fort herself.

"If we can create a wharf, we can even dock the ships there and use it as a central dispatch base." Gan Ning agreed, "We can even explore to the north of the fork from there."

"Then it is agreed, we will use the Improved Military Camp cube in that location instead for now. We will put Mountview, or what ever we name it, on pause until the future." Dom stated, having made his second decision, he only now needed to decide on where the final Town Cube would be used. Either in Red Leaf or one of the other two locations not yet explained.