World Conquest Online

"Former Bandits?" Lucius asked.

"Yes Sir." Crixus replied with a gruff tone, "We only entered banditry to escape our lives and give ourselves a future, but we realised the wrongs that we were doing and have looked for a new beginning."

"I haven’t thought about training Villagers to join our Warriors, this is something to think about." Dom commented, "Welcome to the Village."

"I can speak with Octavian." Lucius replied, "See if training is something we can do, it would always be good to have more Legionaries."

"Legionnaires?" Crixus asked with a strange look.

"Yes, Legionnaires." Lucius replied seriously, "Is that a problem?"

"None at all!" Crixus replied, "I have long heard of their greatness on a battlefield, it would be an honour to learn to fight like them."

"Game Support, can Villagers become Warriors?" Dom asked, turning away from Lucius who was chatting with Crixus and the others about their time as bandits to see if they had other skills.

[Correct, However a training hall would need to be created with relevant trainers assigned. You can receive the training hall through schematics and mission rewards.]

"Can you tell me more about Crixus?" Dom asked Game Support, noting the strange look that Crixus had given Lucius when he mentioned the Legionaries.

[Crixus

Villager Grade - C

Warrior Grade - B+

Former Gallic Warrior, who was captured by Romans in his home state of Gaul. He was trained as a Gladiator and eventually won his freedom in the arena. He eventually bought the freedom of his sworn brothers. After spending all of his money and getting in to debt, he fled from Rome and became a bandit]

"Damn, a former Gladiator!" Dom exclaimed, "Game Support, can I trust his loyalty and will he be fine with my Roman contingent?"

[Game Support can not guarantee Villager loyalty, however all those that have been placed within Riverside are genuine with their emotion to want a fresh start. You can ensure loyalty by being a good Lord]

"Crixus, I’ll see what we can do about setting you up." Dom interrupted the conversation between Crixus and Lucius. "Would you be comfortable with joining the guards for now? Paul and Duncan are our only ones, rather than guarding, its more supporting the other Villagers with their tasks and evening patrols, or the occasional sending of a message."

"That sounds like something we can definitely do!" Crixus replied, "Thanks for giving us a chance."

"Duncan, please can you take Crixus and his men and show them around." Lucius commanded to Duncan who was stood nearby, as usual expecting his next interruption.

Crixus and his men bowed their heads in acceptance, before heading off with Duncan around the Village.

"What an interesting fellow." Lucius commented as they left.

"I believe he is a former Gladiator." Dom replied.

"What is a Gladiator?" Lucius asked intrigued.

"They are a warrior who fights in an arena." Dom replied, "Some were slaves, where as others were freemen. They normally fought until one was beaten down, but sometimes they fought to the death."

"Oh, that sounds interesting, I think I’d enjoy watching something like that." Lucius replied, with Gladiators coming a couple hundred years after Lucius’s part of history, "Shall we spawn our Elite Villager then?"

"Yes, lets!" Dom agreed, taking a seat back down on the stone benches, facing towards the Town Centre doors. "System, please spawn Elite Villager."

[Rolling for Elite Villager.....Villager Chosen]

The door of the Town Centre opened again, this time with a singular man walking out. He was short, aged and muscular, with thinning grey hair on the top of his head. On his back was a satchel full of parchments, and on his waist were some simple tools like a hammer and a chisel. He had a bright smile and had an imposing aura.

"Good Afternoon Lord, my name is Sostratus, some refer to me as Sostratus of Cnidus." The man Sostratus introduced himself with a light bow, "I am an Architect and I’d like to also call myself a Sculptor."

"Welcome Sostratus." Dom said, "We have been in need of a man of your calibre since the founding of Riverside."

"We actually have a potential office for you." Lucius added, "I’d be more than happy to show you to it."

Sostratus thanked them both for their kind welcome, whilst Dom asked Game Support to show his stats.

[Sostratus of Cnidus

Villager Grade - S

Sostratus of Cnidus is a famous architect and engineer from Ancient Greece, being linked with the creation of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. All modern Lighthouses are based on his original concepts.

Can be converted to Hero Grade through completion of personal hidden missions]

"Sostratus, can you tell us more about your expertise?" Dom asked.

"Of course, I like to design and build memorable buildings that challenge the status quo." Sostratus started, "However I also enjoy designing simpler buildings that can improve the lives of every day people. I am more than happy to use my own funds to invest in my master pieces."

"I think we are going to get along well!" Lucius commented, "Lord Lazarus, should we introduce Sostratus to Wang Shu and also show him the architects office?"

"That sounds good to me!" Dom replied, "Sostratus, you wouldn’t mind being given an important role on arrival would you?"

"If it keeps me busy and let’s me be remembered, then I am happy to do what ever the task." He replied, "I would however love to have some Wine to celebrate my arrival!"

"We don’t currently have any wine." Lucius lamented, "But I hope we can grow some Grape Trees soon!"

"Then let’s have a look at what you have for me." Sostratus nodded, "We can deal with the Wine situation in the future. I do agree though, that Grape Trees are a priority." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

They headed in to the Town Centre, whilst Dom’s guards Gregorios and Trojan stayed outside and waited for their return. As they walked through, Sostratus was taking note with his eyes of the structure of the building.

"It’s a simple design." He commented, "Personally I would have placed a central beam here, and allowed the room to have a more directional flow."

Lucius looked at Dom confused at what Sostratus was mumbling to himself, whilst Dom just shrugged his shoulders also not having any idea what he was talking about. They soon reached the corridor with the offices and reached the Architects Office. Dom pushed the door open and allowed Sostratus to enter.

"What do you think?" Dom asked, as Sostratus walked towards the desk and touched the empty parchments that were laid on it, he then walked behind the desk and took a seat in the comfortable chair behind it.

"I like it, simple in design but I can add some things to it to spice it up a little." Sostratus replied, "The parchment are good quality as well."

Sostratus then opened his pack and placed his own parchments on the table, some covered in sketches, whilst others were blank.

"Are you happy to be Riverside’s Architect?" Lucius asked.

"Of course, just promise me you will find some wine." Sostratus replied.

"That’s a promise." Lucius replied, "Other than having this office and working with the construction teams led by Wang Shu, we also have a morning meeting for the family heads which I would like you to join."

"System, show stats." Dom asked whilst they talked.

[Architects Office

Grade - S

Office Perks -

(Random Spawner - Will spawn a random Schematic every 7 days for either a new building or an upgrade to an existing one.)(Architect Skill - Assigned Architect Sostratus of Cnidus can design and create schematics, these will be limited to the available resources and technology level of the Town Centre)

Office Assignee - Architect or Building Designer - Sostratus of Cnidus]

"Let’s go introduce you to Wang Shu." Lucius commented, "and we can catch up later this afternoon if that is ok?"

"That would be great, I always like to get involved with the construction teams, maybe I can help them with a build or two to understand their skills." Sostratus replied.

They soon left the Town Centre and Lucius directed them towards the Residential District that was currently being built. Wang Shu and his sons were currently moving pieces of silver timber and stacking them in preparation for their next house. There were currently around forty houses that had been built, which was ahead of the schedule that Dom had expected. Gregorios and Trojan followed them a few paces behind, spears held high with smiles on their faces, feeling they had an easy job today compared to most of the other Hoplite and Legionnaires.

"Wang Shu!" Lucius shouted, getting Wang Shu’s attention, who almost dropped the timber he was carrying, making his son have to take up the additional weight.

"Hey Mr Mayor!" He waved back, before putting down the silver timber he was carrying and headed towards Lucius, Dom and Sostratus. He noticed Dom and bowed his head, "Welcome to the Residential District Lord Lazarus."

"Thanks Wang Shu." Dom replied, "The houses are coming up quickly, your team are doing a good job!"

"We are trying!" Wang Shu replied, "I am also excited to see some of this Red Wood Timber that the Hoplite mentioned to me this morning, we’ll obviously need another Lumber Camp and to expand Riverside in that direction first, but it’s exciting!"

"It is." Dom agreed, thinking that the combination of colours would be a great addition to Riversides variety. "This is Sostratus, our new Town Architect."

"Welcome!" Wang Shu said happily, "It would be great to have your input and hopefully you can create us some schematics for some new buildings!"

"That is the plan." Sostratus replied, "We can discuss more on what is needed and I can get my mind together. First though I’d like to see your teams skills so I can design things that are within your remit and not to complex. I also need to see what materials you have at hand!"

"Well as you can see." Wang Shu started, "We are currently limited to Silver Forest Timber. However, we have the aforementioned Red Woods Timber on the agenda, we also have our newly arrived miner family looking at potential sources of stone."

"This Silver Forest Timber seems to be of a high quality." Sostratus commented as he touched the wood and felt the grains that ran down it. "I think you could push this timber to a higher stress factor. Have you thought about building the houses with two floors rather than one?"

"We had, however we do not have the schematics for it." Wang Shu replied, "We also wanted to build some other buildings, such as a dedicated Farm House and Animal Pens. We also really want to get started on a basic town wall, but we only have limited time and knowledge."

"I’ll help you build this next house." Sostratus said, "I can see where we can make some simple changes and hopefully make some upgrades as we go!"

"We’ll leave you be then!" Dom announced, happy to see how keen Sostratus was and that Wang Shu was grateful for the support, rather than against it. "Lucius, let’s head to the Heroes Hall."

"Yes!" Lucius replied excitedly, finally hearing the words he had wanted to hear all day, "Lets do that!"