Shimmering Sea

"Shimmering Sea." Dom said, naming the Sea in front of him, as the sunlight shimmered of the very gentle waves. He had taken his sandals off and was walking along the edges of the beach, his feet gently sinking with each step in to the warm wet sand. It reminded him of his childhood and visiting the northern beaches with his mother.

[Congratulations on completing Quest 2 - Discover three new locations.

Quest Difficulty - C-S Grade

Total Score - B

You have discovered a variety of new surrounding locations to Riverside, expanding your knowledge of the local geography. The Plains and Forests to the south and the great sea to your east. Impressive that you explore far and wide, you have yet to explore more important locations closer to home]

[Mission Rewards have been placed in personal chest]

"We could set up a docks here that would allow us to control this part of the water." Tomyris commented from beside Dom as he read the description of the quest completion. Dom turned and looked at the mouth of the River that Tomyris was talking about as the calm water poured in to the sea from it. The mixture of

"We already control the river and it's crossings." Dom replied, "Which we need to expand on make in to a trading hub for the future. However I agree, if we can expand in this direction it won't be too long until we can have a subsidiary town here."

They spent a while longer at the beach, taking in the vastness of the sea and reminding them just how much work they had ahead of them in their growth of Riverside. The female Horse Archers had never seen the sea before and most had dismounted and were letting the salt water flow through their toes, whilst the Spartans stood at the edges in small groups talking happily amongst themselves. Hector holding the flag and Gregorios both stood nearby proudly, being in charge of their lords safety was a big honour when they had Spartans around.

"It's nice to have some time to relax." Tomyris smiled, before patting Dom on the shoulder. "You are building something good in these lands."

"Thanks Tomyris." Dom smiled back, "We will build something good, so next time an enemy such as Tongpai Town or even bigger appears, we won't have to hide our tracks and instead it will be them that things twice."

Several hours passed as Dom and his group were back at the location of the battlefield and the remains of the camp that had been packed up. The bodies had been buried and there were footprints and hoof prints from the marching forces of Riverside, The Nomadic Camp and the Tongpai Town Prisoners that headed in the direction of Riverside.

"We need to do something about these tracks or we'll be discovered soon enough." Tomyris stated.

"I'm sure Subutai has come up with a plan for it." Dom replied.

"I hope so." Tomyris sighed, "Otherwise we may lead them directly to us."

They rode through the evening until they saw the torches of Riverside in the distance, held aloft by the Town Guards. The sun was nearly set now and the usual quietness of Riverside at this time was not there, instead there was the bustle as huts were being built and three different types of people were meeting.

Dom headed straight towards the Town Centre with his entourage, past the huts that were being set up and the waves and praises from the Villagers as he rode past. He waved back and his flag held aloft by Hector fluttered in the weak wind.

"Welcome back Lord Lazarus!" Lucius greeted from the Town Centre doors. "You've had a busy few days!"

"That we have!" Dom replied with a smile as he dismounted and went over to clasp Lucius's arm.

"You have definitely created me more headaches, such a large population jump wasn't planned." Lucius stated, "Thankfully we have amped our construction of new houses up and have been able to use the excess we had built. I know that the Nomadic Tribe will want to stay in their huts for now, but I plan to merge them in to our housing over the next few days."

"Agreed." Dom replied, "I'll get Banas and Zanug to co-ordinate with you."

"Great." Lucius said as they both headed inside. "Shang Yang and Subutai have filled me in on everything else. Did you complete the final quest you could?"

"I did, I should have a lot of rewards to collect and go through." Dom replied, "We also need to work out what we do next with the captured Warriors."

"I'll set up an individual interview for them all tomorrow, we have started a census when new Villagers and Warriors arrive, so we can have them and the Nomadic Tribe complete them tomorrow." Lucius said, "Thankfully, Kento and Misato the teachers have been helping me with administration as the School is still empty."

"That is great to hear, I really want to get people using it soon when they have availability." Dom replied seriously, thinking that the School was a great way to upgrade his Civilians in grade and improve the efficiency of Riverside.

"One final thing." Lucius said as he sat down on a bench, grabbing some food and putting it in front of Dom. "We need to inspect any special buildings from the Nomadic Camp. Previously when we have conquered a location, we have taken new buildings for respawning, have you had anything similar this time?"

"I haven't yet." Dom replied seriously, not having thought about it. "maybe as they are nomadic it is different, we should go do that first in the morning before checking our rewards."

"Very well." Lucius nodded, "Get some food eaten and I'll catch up with you later, I'm sure you all need a good rest after a long few days."

Dom agreed, feeling exhausted and sore after travelling on the horses for so long, he was happy he had gained some skill in horse riding and decided he should work on some other skills in the future that could benefit him. After finishing his food he bade goodnight to those that were also eating inside and headed up to his bed. His bed was tidy and looked very welcoming. He undressed and lay down on the bed, before he had time to think about the day he fell straight to sleep.

The sun broke through the window and woke Dom up, he rubbed his eyes as he sat up and let out a long yawn. There was a slight chill today and Dom headed towards the window and looked outside, seeing that there were some white clouds to the east heading in from the direction of the Shimmering Sea. He quickly dressed himself, leaving his armour in his room and headed downstairs towards the central hall.

He was greeted by the sight of Lucius and Banas who were sat eating some bread and waiting for him. Banas was now wearing the same gear as the Female Horse Archers and seemed relaxed compared to the previous days, whilst Lucius seemed to be talking to her freely about anything and everything.

"Good morning both!" Dom said to announce his arrival. He leant over the table and grabbed a piece of bread himself and bit in to it, the dough inside still warm and soft. "Wow this is good bread!"

"It is!" Lucius commented, "The Bakers are fantastic, I'm looking forward to us having more ingredients for them to use."

"I've not had food this good before." Banas commented, "The food they brought to us yesterday when we were settling in was great, some of the vegetables were gorgeous."

"You'll get used to it." Lucius smiled back, "Now should we head to your camp and start getting everything settled so the people can find themselves new roles within Riverside."

Banas agreed and the three of them left the Town Centre and headed towards the camp that was currently temporarily built in the merchant sector as there was only a school and Clinic there right now. The plan was over the next couple of days the camp would be dismantled and they would move in to permanent housing. They needed more schematics and Sostratus was working with Wang Shu on creating modified houses that were of better quality and could be simply built. Sostratus has supposedly complained it was a waste of his skills but he would help regardless.

They soon reached the camp and watched as the different groups of people moved around. Dom was surprised to see that the Tongpai Shang Swordsmen Militia were helping out, and they didn't seem to have much of a negative emotion to the people that had just killed most of their allies in a battle only a couple of days earlier.

"Ok Banas, let's head to the Chief's Hut first, and then we can look at the other key buildings." Dom started, as they walked in to the Hut that he was used to seeing now. It looked out of place surrounded by the silver wooden buildings of Riverside, but he thought it was worth keeping them somewhere as housing for the Warriors when they were travelling.

"System, show Stats." Dom announced as they reached it.

[Town Centre of Chief Banas's Nomadic Tribe - Inactive

Village Grade - C

Village Level - 1

Village Occupancy - Inactive

Village Buildings - Warriors Hut, Stables Hut, Animal Husbandry

Level 1 Perks - Inactive]

"Game Support, can you explain the inactive meaning please?" Dom asked.

[Due to the Tribe have seceded to Riverside, the Town Centre is inactive until a decision has been made on it's outcome. Please choose if you wish to Claim, Relocate or Absorb it]

"Absorb please." Dom replied straight away. He already had a steady influx of Villagers and didn't need an increase, technically he had already claimed it and didn't want to relocate it anywhere to set up a sub town yet. The sea location was ideal, but they didn't have the manpower to successfully manage it at such a distance. What Dom did need was to upgrade his buildings to Level 2, so he decided to absorb it.

[Absorb chosen, Town Centre will loose it's power and revert to a normal building. Upgrade token has been sent to Personal Chest]

"Ok Lucius and Banas, the Town Centre has been deactivated and is now a normal hut. I hope this takes away some of the pressure from you Banas." Dom said, "Let's head to the other buildings now."

"I do feel relieved." Banas replied, "Just not having the word Chief in front of it is a big relief."

They soon reached the Animal Husbandry Hut, which was a big let down in comparison to the one that they currently had with the Ox. It was much smaller and it's spawn rate was poor in comparison, It was slightly better than that from the Gluttonous Chief's Village though. Dom directly claimed the building and decided he wanted to keep the Sheep that were spawning. It was currently a grade C building and spawned 3 Sheep per day.

"Game Support, can I convert this to a Riverside building please?" Dom asked. He was pleasantly surprised by the answer.

[Converting...Building converted to Animal Husbandry of Riverside. Please select spawn location.]

"Please place it next to the Ox Animal Husbandry." Dom asked. There was suddenly a shake, which caught the new members of Riverside off guard. In the distance a large silver wooden barn appeared with carvings of sheep appearing all around it. The new Villagers were shocked, but were soon calmed down by the old guard who explained this was a common occurrence in Riverside. "Lucius, we now have sheep!"

"Sheep?" He replied, "You do spoil me! With the ones that Paul and Duncan brought, and the ones from Zanug I was already working out how to use them to our advantage, now I know we have a steady flow I am excited."

"OK Banas, let's head to the last two, the Stables and the Warriors Hut and we can be done for the day." Dom said.

"That sounds great, then I can check on the rest of the Tribesmen who are still recovering." She replied, "Most are staying at or near the Clinic."

"Hua Tou, his family and Phoebe must be very busy." Dom lamented, thinking that he was short on high level Villagers with expertise. He looked towards Lucius who seemed to be doing some calculations in his mind. "Lucius, we need to start our education programmes soon."

"It's on the list." He replied honestly, "But the list doesn't seem to be getting any smaller."

They soon reached the Warriors Hut and Stables that were next to each other. These in Dom's opinion where the most important gains from the last few days.

"System, Show Stats." Dom asked.