World Conquest Online

"The first is the Merchant Ship Shipyard from Tongpai Town." Dom began, "Our first choice is do we keep our ship building industry all in Riverside and send them down the River to Sea View. Or do we place it in Sea View. Our second choice is similar to the Shang Swordsmen Warriors Hall, do we use it again or do we re-spin it, if we get that option."

"Riverside should stay as our hub, we have the Forest here to build the Ships, and it also means that our Shipyards are protected from any coastal attacks." Xun You stated, "If we move it to Sea View, we will need to transport the wood downriver. It also adds another touch to Riverside being the heart of the Kingdom, both for key industry and Military"

"I agree, even if we keep the Merchant Ship Shipyard as the same, they are an asset and should be centralised. We can also move resources and workers between the Shipyards when priorities change or certain expertise is needed." Lucius agreed. "Himilco is also based here and is our master shipbuilder, I doubt he would want to move with Helena nearby."

"So we will keep the Shipyard in Riverside." Dom announced confidently, "So do we keep it as a Merchant Ship Shipyard or see if we can change it?"

"Definitely not." Crassus stated seriously, which surprised Dom, as Crassus was the main push behind expanding Riverside as a merchant nation and trading with their partners, where as he suspected others would push for a more military nation.

"It is much easier to buy Merchant Ships, and we now have a good amount from Tongpai Town. If we conquer the Lake, we can also have further Merchant Ships. If we decide not to conquer the lake, we can at least purchase Merchant Ships from the other powers on the Lake." Crassus explained, "Also, we have a clear lack of Military Naval Ships for our goals. If we re-spin and get another Military Ship, regardless it will improve our strength. If for some reason we do not and we get a transport or a fishing type vessel, they still bring us positives."

"I agree, Merchant Ships are much easier to build than Military Vessels and expendable. Strategically they are less important for us right now." Hatshepsut agreed.

"There is a risk with any re-spin, but I agree we need Military Vessels." Xun You concluded. "I am not a Naval Strategist, and neither is anyone else here. Our only Commander who is based in that area is Gan Ning, so I will look to Gan Ning for his opinion."

Everyone turned to Gan Ning, who amongst all of the Heroes of Riverside had the most experience with the Navy. Historically he had been a Pirate before joining the forces of a warlord called Huang Zu who worked for the Governor Liu Biao, performing admirably in naval and land skirmishes. Eventually he joined the forces of Wu under Sun Quan and battled in many naval and land battles. Out of the other Heroes the nearest in experience to Gan Ning was Crassus, had been on ships such as Bireme and Trireme, but had not commanded them, as had some of the Hoplite and Spartan Warriors in Riverside. Everyone else however was very much a land based expert and had little expertise they could input on the Navy.

"We need ships." Gan Ning replied simply. "If we can re-spin and get another Trireme or even a Bireme, then fantastic. I also have a lot of experience on Han based vessels such as the Mengchong and Louchuan, but they would be much better placed protecting the River and the Lake than heading in to the sea. I would feel safer on a Bireme near Sea View than an unwieldy Louchaun."

"There are many other Military Ship types we could get." Subutai commented, "I may have never been on the sea, but I have heard enough tales of Raiding Sea fairing nations that have done so."

"The Trireme and Bireme would be helpful, we could be lucky and get a Quinquereme, a five layered version of the Trireme." Crassus said excitedly. "I do not know much about the Ships Gan Ning is mentioning, but my friend Julius did struggle with his Trireme’s against the Celts. Their ships were much larger and the wood used from the northern forests was thick oak, they used sails as their primary function and not rowers. It was funny when he told me, they tried to ram and he joked that it was like a child trying to punch a man. I am not saying those ships are better, but if we had a fleet with a variety we would be more secured."

"Then it is agreed, that is what we will do." Dom stated, happy that they had almost finished going through the rewards. "The final item, is a Building Clone Cube, this can not be used on any building that spawns in people, therefore I thought we should use it on the Trireme Shipyard and double our building capacity."

"Great idea, unless we use it on something that is needed in one of the other cities?" Lucius replied, "We could use it as on the shipyard and add one to Bountiful Town, without having to get Sostratus to draw up a schematic and then us build it. Or we could use it on the Clinic and expand our medical care to the other locations."

"They are both good points, as is the School. Education is key and from discussions it seems the level of those from Tongpai Town is below that of Riverside." Shang Yang explained, "I feel there is no rush to use this straight away and to think this through."

"There are a lot of options, it is a shame that we can’t use it on one of Warriors Halls." Subutai replied, "But I do think a Docks or the Shipyard are the correct options.

"Actually, I think that Lucius was correct with his initial idea?" Meritamen interrupted, "It may not give us the quick wins that we are aiming for, but it will have a huge impact on Riverside in the next few months."

"What are you thinking?" Dom asked, wondering what she was talking about.

"The Clinic." Meritamen explained, "We have a huge population, with now only a small number of medical experts. Hua Tou and Phoebe could take on trainees, but it would take a long time. We need to search through the Tongpai Town populace for anyone with medical experience."

"That is a very good point." Shang Yang agreed, "Not only will it give our Civilians a higher chance of survival in his large world, from injury and illness. It will also be a huge asset to our Warriors who may pick up injuries. I also have a proposal as part of my legal reforms that the Clinic will help."

Everyone looked at Shang Yang for his proposal, those that had stayed behind in Riverside during the Tongpai Town conquest had knowing looks on their faces. Whilst those who had travelled with Dom had looks of nervousness on their faces. Shang Yang had been tasked with bringing in the laws of Riverside and making it in to a strong City that benefited it’s citizens.

"Population is our weakness, we may have had a huge increase due to Tongpai Town, however we do not have our own population growing." Shang Yang began, "The most loyal Citizen to a Kingdom are those that are born within it, it is their only known home. We have many Citizens arriving daily in Riverside, from many different backgrounds, but we need to unify them."

"So what are you proposing?" Dom asked, agreeing with Shang Yang’s sentiment.

"We push for cross marriage between families that are joining, and we push for new babies being born who are pure Riverside Citizens." Shang Yang explained passionately. "We reward those that marry with financial reward, and we reward even more for every child that is born. I am not saying we force marriage, but that we entice it."

"So that their different backgrounds disappear and their loyalty is to the state where their children are born?" Lucius asked, "It does make sense, in Rome, we were loyal to our state, as it was our home, the home of our parents and the home of our children, and then their children."

"We definitely have the finances to support this." Crassus agreed, "But it won’t solve our population quest in a short period."

"No, but it will help with future ones." Meritamen replied, "We could have a steady stream of new citizens arriving and being born less than a year from now, along with our other ideas of growing our population."

"It’s a great idea that I will think about." Dom replied seriously, it was a great way to increase the population and it was something he needed to do in the game, he just didn’t want to plan that far ahead. He also understanding the other options of buildings being put forwards, his own opinion had been another Shipyard, but the Clinic made sense as it would protect the women that would potentially give birth. "I will let you know soon, as I need to use this building cube within the next three days, as I do not want to lose any potential benefits from it."

"Why three days?" Meritamen asked, her tone accusing at his comment. "Are you expecting to be away for longer than a day or two?"

Dom took a deep breath as he looked over the faces of all of his high grade Heroes who were surrounding him as they discussed. They had so much to do, and he would have to trust that they could achieve it all whilst he was gone.

"I do not know how long I will be." Dom replied seriously. "The shortest time is four days, however I believe it could be between twenty and twenty eight days."

Dom had worked out that his trip to the Isles of Brittany and then back to Central University could be between five and seven days, and he worried that he may loose almost a whole month of in game time where he wouldn’t be able to impact or achieve anything. His biggest worry was that if something happened, he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. What if he returned to Riverside and it no longer existed.

"You could be gone a month?" Meritamen asked in shock, "That is ridiculous, what if something happens!"

"Nothing will happen." Subutai stated seriously, "With all of us here, as long we we agree what our plan is in that time and who is second and third in command, then their is little to worry about. I had worked remotely from my old Lord on many occasions, thousand of miles between us."

"I am the same." Shang Yang agreed, "It is not ideal in this growth stage, but we will survive and prosper. So that when Lord Lazarus returns, we are much closer to achieving our goals."

"I will be back as soon as possible. In the mean time, before I go, we need to do the following." Dom explained. "I need to Spawn the Shipyard, Beast Hall and the New Warriors Hall. Hatshepsut I will leave the other buildings to you."

"As you wish my Lord." Hatshepsut accepted, "I will also task Sostratus on collating the necessary Schematics."

"We then need to create our new Towns." Dom continued, "Gan Ning will head north within the next three days and spawn the Military Fort. Tomorrow I will head East and spawn Bountiful Town and Sea View City. We need to agree who will take over Management rights over those locations."

"We will discuss and give you options." Lucius replied, the minds of all of the Heroes working tirelessly.

"I also want to use the Family Cube, I think Gan Ning’s idea makes sense, but if anyone has any additional ideas, please let me know." Dom continued, "But more importantly, we need to begin our celebrations."

"Yes we do!" Meritamen agreed, "but first we need to agree who will deputise in your absence!"