World Conquest Online

Dom was happy that they had agreed two of the three new areas that they would settle in. A City by the sea would be an important step going forwards that would open more doors for Riverside, whilst also giving them a lot of protection. The agreement to place a Military Fort in the location of where another future city may be placed was also something he was happy with, and it would help them with drawing and defending the Region they planned to own.

"There are two other options available to us, one of which is quite clear." Subutai stated, when pointing at the location of Tongpai Town, which was now shown as a collection of broken buildings on the map. "The fourth location we discussed was in the location of the former Tongpai Town. However more towards the east of the lake than it’s current location."

Subutai then moved his pointer towards the edge of the Lake of their explored map, where the mountain and cliffs separated the north of Tongpai Lake from the land to the south where Riverside had claimed.

"We are aware that Tongpai Town had several locations full of minerals, as well as access to the lake for food. Our idea is that by moving it to the east, we can retain these advantages, whilst also having the defence of the mountains." Subutai continued, "Ideally, this is an area that we need to claim at some point, to manage our northern border and protect against anyone travelling south."

"So is this where you are proposing?" Dom asked seriously, thinking it was a good idea to claim that area.

"This is where we disagree." Xun Yu commented, stepping forwards towards the map and walking through the gaps between the pieces towards the location Subutai had pointed at. "The need for this Town, which we are currently calling South Lake City, is important. It is probably the most important in terms of current defensive needs. We have known competitors in that area, and if we don’t move fast they could potentially claim the area themselves."

"However, if we do have a Naval presence in the Lake, and follow our earlier discussions, then we can claim that area without the need for a City for now." Xun You interrupted, taking over the conversation. "Red Leaf City is more viable right now, especially if we are to build the Military Fort in the area of the Mountview City."

"I am assuming that you are now going to discuss the fifth option?" Dom asked seriously, thinking that this location was important and in his opinion more so than the Red Leaf City they had discussed.

"Yes, I think this location is the most important." Subutai explained, moving his pointer towards where the current Military Camp was located.

"The Military Camp?" Dom asked, as the others looked at it with a similar expression. Some had understanding looks, whilst others looked confused.

"I agree." Lucius stated, before anyone had chance to speak. Seeing that people were looking at him, he continued. "If we are building a City on the sea which is a two day walk from Riverside, then it would be ideal to build something in between them. Also, we have a huge amount of fertile land between here and the sea, but little opportunity to expand in all of that area."

"It makes sense, but it doesn’t explain why it’s more important than the others." Dom questioned.

"We have almost doubled our citizens and will continue to do so." Lucius countered, "This means that we can settle them across the three Cities that are all inter connected, which will push trade and mean that everyone is still linked together. This will keep the large community as one, without creating any fraction sections of our growing Kingdom."

"Travel time is reduced, food and resources are easily gathered and shared." Subutai agreed, happy that Lucius was on his side, "The land is easier to defend, and we can use our buildings more effectively."

"It also makes sense that this middle location is more of a farming location. Farming is one of the most important things for our soon to be founded kingdom. This location is the most central and easiest to defend if Riverside and Sea View are on each side of it." Hatshepsut explained, "A well fed nation is a productive nation."

"My other thought is that our final Town Centre Cube is of a lower grade, I think that Red Leaf and South Lake both should be of a higher grade. We would be wasting potential future growth if we used this token there." Subutai explained seriously, "I know there are no guarantees on if we will get more Town Centre Cubes or even what their grade will be, but I think it’s a worthwhile risk."

"And what would we call this City?" Dom asked, thinking that it did make sense. He grabbed the pointer from Xun Yu who was stood near him and pointed slightly south of the area that Subutai had selected.

"Bountiful City." Subutai explained, "As Lucius has said, it will be our food hub, we can centralise and manage all of our food production from here. It can cover all food production from Riverside to Sea View, as well as to the north towards South Lake when it is built in the future."

"What are your thoughts?" Dom asked the room, looking at Xun Yu and Xun You first.

"This is why it has been a hard choice, ideally we would have a third Town Centre Cube. All three remaining options bring possibilities, be that southern exploration, northern defence or a more united Kingdom. I want to push for southern exploration personally, but this would be my second choice." Xun Yu explained with an apologetic smile.

"I am similar to my cousin, but I would prefer the northern defence option, however this would also be my second choice." Xun You replied, moving his pointer in a diagonal line. "The three cities of South Lake, Bountiful and Red Leaf create a cross with Riverside and Sea View. Bountiful is the heart of that from a travel perspective. However this does not reduce the importance of Mountview."

"I agree with Bountiful City first." Hatshepsut stated, "But only if we concentrate some navy in Tongpai Lake."

"I think that is good advice." Shang Yang agreed, "We need to build a temporary camp in the location of Red Leaf, but I think we contain the area within the Calm River first, and then we expand to the south, before we draw our agreed borders."

"Then it’s agreed." Meritamen stated, "These are the three new locations, with names to be confirmed. Sea Lake will be the B Grade Town, Bountiful the D Grade Town and Mountview as the Military Fort."

There seemed to be a deep breath across the room, as this major decision had just been made. Riverside would no longer be alone, and would have sister Cities growing beside her. They would be accessible by land and water, able to trade and support each other quickly.

"Very well, then once the celebrations are over, we will go and build these cities over the next day." Dom announced, "Gan Ning, please have a ship ready in the morning ready to depart towards the two new cities. We will discuss the plans for the Military Ford later, as I believe we will need Civilian support to cut down forest and make it partially self sustainable."

"So what are the other rewards?" Lucius asked, as he stared down at the marked locations on the giant map that took up most of the room.

"Before I get on to the buildings, we received two White Resource Cubes and one Blue Elite Unit Spawner." Dom began. "I am planning to save the White Resource Cubes until we have spawned the new cities, as in the past it has given us items that were key to us."

"Can we reuse the inner wall schematic?" Shang Yang asked, looking at Hatshepsut.

"We can, I think I understand what you are planning." Hatshepsut stated, before explaining "If we decide to start building inner walls in both cities, we could potentially get the materials from the White Cubes?"

"That is my thought, and my hope." Shang Yang replied seriously. "A quick solution that brings additional security to our citizens."

"It is very possible." Dom agreed, "But we do also have the mines, so we can move the stones needed."

"We can, but that is a lot of weight to transport." Lucius commented, "We would have to mine them and then transport through Riverside and either send them via a Merchant Ship or by road."

"There is also a lack of relevant ships." Gan Ning added, "It is also additional pressure on our Miners who already have a long list of tasks."

"There are a lot of new Miners that have joined Riverside since the conquest of Tongpai Town." Tomyris countered.

"We need to finish the roads." Subutai explained, "The Legionaries have done a great job so far, but they have a lot of additional distractions recently."

"We could use the Blue Elite Unit Spawner on one of the Legionary halls?" Xun You stated, "It could potentially give us another Century that could support with that task."

"I would rather save it for now in case we can use it on a new Warriors Hall." Dom explained.

"I also think we could use it on the Horse Archers Warriors Hall." Subutai countered, "Banas and her Warriors have been key to our growth and if we had more of them, both the Archers and Lancers, we could do a lot of our tasks quicker."

"We’ll leave the decision until after we have used the Warriors Hall." Dom stated, not disagreeing with either Xun You or Subutai. "We have gathered a lot of buildings, but I think we can use them across the three Cities to help them all grow. We have some important buildings, but first I will go through the more common ones. We have got two new Mines, a Warehouse, Blacksmiths, Potters, a Docks and a Basic Market."

There was silence in the room for a short while as people worked through the different items that had been mentioned. Decisions being made in the Heroes minds on where they should be placed over others.

"The Docks has to be at Sea View City." Crassus stated, "As should the Warehouse and the Basic Market. We need the Docks for trade, as well as the Warehouse to store goods and the Basic Market to promote trade."

"I don’t disagree, but the warehouse would be better at storing food in the Bountiful Town." Lucius argued.

"I will task Sostratus with gathering the schematics on the Warehouse so we can manually build one if needed." Hatshepsut stated, which caused a lot of people in the room to exhale. It seemed she had been working Sostratus on overtime.

"The Blacksmith should be in Riverside, alongside our others, as should the Mines." Shang Yang explained, "We should keep Riverside as the centre of Manufacturing and Military. With the Food and Trade being spread across the other locations."

"I agree, I think the Pottery should be placed in Bountiful Town." Xun Yu explained, "We already have one in Riverside that is currently sufficient, with Bountiful Town being our centre of food, the Pottery seems ideal to place there."

"It does make logical sense." Lucius agreed, "Its a key building that we should have in every city."

"I’ll speak with Sostratus about the Schematics." Hatshepsut stated, taking a mental note. Dom felt that Sostratus would not be grateful for these new tasks.