World Conquest Online

Dom was sat in one of the new meetings rooms in the Town Centre, which had been upgraded to the Government Centre. The Room wasn’t huge, but was the perfect setting for the intimate meeting he was about to have.

The journey to the Town Centre had been interesting, it wasn’t a long walk but everyone he passed stopped and paid respect to him. At one point, he heard someone ask who Dom was, the person beside them explained that it was the Lord, and they quickly apologised for their ignorance. Dom had laughed and waved it off as he walked past, happy to see the positivity in most of his Civilians.

Once they had arrived at the Town Centre, more messengers had been spread to let the Senior Heroes know that Dom had returned. Quickly they had appeared one by one, and Dom was happy to see that the relaxed relationships he had with them all continued. Lucius had been the first to arrive and had given Dom a long hug, grateful that he was back, before asking if Dom had found a replacement for him yet as he was enjoying working with Elder Qiao on the farming too much. Dom had laughed in response, not making any promises.

The second to arrive was the aging Shang Yang, who had brought both Xun Yu and Crassus with him. Dom was surprised and glad that both of them had come with Shang Yang, as they would have the most information on the changes that were taking place. Crassus had pulled Dom aside as he entered, with a large grin on his face, explaining that he had bought some interesting things recently during his trading and would show Dom later. Xun Yu on the other hand had gripped Dom’s arm in greeting, happy that his friend had returned, before promising that Dom would be impressed with some of the things they had been up to.

Finally, Subutai had arrived. Dom was glad that he was around as he had suspected he would be involved with one of the many campaigns that were taking place. Surprisingly he had only returned the night earlier as he was planning to speak with Ou Yezi about some work they had been doing together. Dom had asked for more information, but Subutai said it was a surprise for later as well. He had apologised about Xun You’s absence, the Lead Strategist currently with Gan Ning and Tomyris in the north.

Shang Yang had explained which room they would be using, and directed them too it. Hatshepsut was sat inside waiting for them, having been in a meeting with the lead Architect Sostratus before hand. Dom felt sorry for the Architect as he knew that Hatshepsut would have kept him very busy during Dom’s absence.

"Where is Meritamen?" Dom asked those seated in front of him, wondering where his Wife was. She had declared that position herself and Dom had learnt to accept it. Whilst he had been gone, Shang Yang, Lucius and Subutai had been left in control of their growing Kingdom, but Meritamen had the final veto on any decisions made.

"She is currently visiting Serenity with Da Qiao. Artemisia and myself have been busy and she has come to inspect some of the new deals we have been setting up." Crassus replied with a broad smile. "Sun Ce has also been extremely busy, so she decided to take Da Qiao for some much needed family time."

"I have dispatched a fast ship to inform her of your return." Xun Yu added, a teasing look on his face.

"Thanks for that." Dom replied to Xun Yu, his eyes betraying the words that came out of his mouth. The group laughed a bit at Dom’s expense, the atmosphere in the room relaxed. The relaxed feeling made Dom feel reassured that what ever had taken place in his absence had been positive, as no one seemed on edge.

"I will be quite happy for her return." Hatshepsut smiled, "I feel like I am surrounded by too many handsome men."

"She obviously means me when she says that." Shang Yang replied with a small smile at the edge of his mouth, a rare joke from the stoic man. Lucius laughed in response, sat beside Hatshepsut. Dom felt that something had developed there over the last few weeks, and he was interested to hear from Lucius himself later.

"I am sure that she does." Dom agreed, before moving the conversation on. "How is the development of the two new towns going?"

"Extremely well." Lucius replied, "I will talk about Tranquillity, but I am sure that Marcus here would like to talk about Serenity."

"I would be happy to." Crassus agreed, allowing Lucius to continue.

"All the farmable land between Riverside and Tranquillity has been drawn out, with most of it being planted with the many different seeds we had gained, either through our own growth and discovery, the merchants at the Market, or Marcus’s trade successes." Lucius continued, "We have redirected a large portion of our newer arrivals to Tranquillity to help farm the fields or manage the large amount of cattle we have gained. There are a large numbers of small housing communities now spread across the farmland as well, but those populations are still managed by Riverside for now."

"That’s really impressive Lucius, it is great to hear that we have hit our goal of preparing to feed ourselves in the future. How much yield do we expect from the land cultivated so far?" Dom asked, knowing the population figures already.

"There should be enough land cultivated to feed a population of at least five times that of what we currently have." Lucius replied seriously, his tone now back in to Mayor mode. "We have also done a recon in to the lands north of Tranquillity towards the old base of Tongpai Town and towards the East to Serenity. All of that land is farmable, as well as the land on the Southern Coast."

"So if we continue to expand in to those areas, how many can we feed?" Dom asked, food was the most important part of any growing kingdom.

"Easily in the hundreds of thousands from what we have already calculated." Lucius laughed, "If not more. This should be more than enough for our current growth, if we continue south there could be so much more."

"We have agreed that if we build our next town in the south as planned, we can easily control all of that land as well." Shang Yang added, "If we claim all of that, we could potentially have enough land to feed a small empire, let alone a small kingdom."

"The land is very fertile." Lucius agreed, "As long as we use the correct crop rotations, we can constantly be using the land for the correct purposes. The only thing that we are short on currently is meat, we have Ox and Sheep, as well as the Goats that were seen on the south. We have also discovered an inlet to the south of Serenity where we have located Crocodiles."

"We are hunting them carefully, as both the skin and meat is usable." Crassus explained, "However, we are being careful to maintain the population until we get another Animal Husbandry."

"There has also been an update in hunting now that we have better control of the forests, so meat such as Deer, Rabbits and some Birds have been added to the menu’s." Xun Yu explained, "But we are trying to keep this as a minimal."

"Meat is a bonus and not a necessity." Shang Yang explained, "But by having it, it does allow us to have a stronger growing population."

"And Military." Subutai agreed.

"Thank you all, is there anything else to update about Tranquillity?" Dom asked.

"No, Elder Qiao is doing a great job and we have been very successful with our plans so far." Lucius replied, before turning to Crassus for him to begin.

"Serenity is also doing well, we have been able to set it up as a small trading hub. Lady Hatshepsut has helped us build a protective wall, and we have been able to replicate some schematics to build up the merchant face of our Kingdom." Crassus began.

"Sostratus has been very busy." Hatshepsut agreed, "We have now built multiple bars, restaurants and even a small hotel that we received from our schematic roll. The Wall is based on Riverside’s Inner Wall and we have also been able to copy the Docks Schematic as planned and build another Dock there. So now we have two Docks in Serenity, One in Tranquillity and our biggest one in Riverside, so it has been much easier for the movement of goods."

"We have also set up a growing fishing fleet that stays within a certain radius of the coast. This had brought in another source of food, so now not only do we have food from the Calm River, but also from the Shimmering Sea. I have been speaking with the lead Chef’s on creating some local specialities, that can become a key talking point with traders." Crassus continued, "I have also had some success with the Trade City to the North, Crixus has been very successful with his infiltration and networking."

"How has Artemisia settled in?" Dom asked, impressed with all of the information that was being given to him.

"Very well." Crassus smiled, "She has worked with Lady Hatshepsut to create a strong defensive but welcoming growing town. She has been working very closely with Sun Ce to train the growing Navy as well. I am happy with her progress."

"As am I." Lucius agreed. "Both Artemisia and Elder Qiao have been great assets to us since arrival." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"And how is the Navy?" Dom asked, turning to Subutai.

"The Sibylla has been repaired, joining the Galatea and Enyo. All three of those Ships are with Gan Ning to the North. We have also launched another six Trireme, however they are lightly crewed in comparison. Three are stationed with Sun Ce and Artemisia near Serenity, whilst the other three have also been dispatched with Gan Ning." Subutai explained. "We have kept two Bireme to defend Riverside, whilst the third is being used as a messenger ship primarily, between Gan Ning and us."

"The Navy growth has been substantial, but we severely lacking when it comes to trained crews." Crassus added.

"How do we solve that then?" Dom asked, "We have five ships building at once, but not the crews to manage them."

"I have been purchasing slaves from the north and also trying to promote poorer people wanting a better life to move here." Crassus replied proudly, "I have stuck to the original agreement that once the slaves arrive, they are freed with the proviso that they remain a constructive member of Riverside. A lot of them have joined the Navy due to the higher wages I have promised."

"But, they still lack training." Subutai continued, "Artemisia is doing her best, all new ships and crews are sent to Serenity for training, however a lot of those we have brought are often under fed and not strong enough."

"We need time, or to acquire a naval Warriors Hall." Shang Yang interrupted. "Once our next stage of growth is finished, we may need to spend some time on internal development."

"So this is still a problem for now, let’s keep progressing as we are and hope for the best." Dom explained, "Who knows, we may get lucky again. Have you had any luck hiring more groups like Elon and his Phoenicians?"

"I was coming to that next." Crassus laughed, "Yes, but not to the level we wanted. We now have a fourth Bireme that is based at Serenity, but it’s crew are mainly new trainees. The crew from that ship are mainly on the Sibylla. Elon travelled north with me two visits ago, and we found a former friend of his who had a ship that was docked and looking to hire themselves out as mercenaries."

"That is some good luck." Dom replied seriously.

"It really was." Subutai agreed. "Otherwise, we would only have the Galatea and the Enyo at full crew capacity."

"I don’t praise him enough, but Crixus has a lot to do with this." Crassus added.

"How are our Generals getting on, and how is the development of Riverside?" Dom asked, moving the conversation on.