The Stone

"What did we get?" Lucius asked as Dom stood there silently pondering the new Warriors Hall, and trying to work out how he felt about receiving the Dishonoured.

"More Legionaries." Dom replied, "This time the Legio I Germanica, they are from the same time as the Legio IX Hispania."

"That's fantastic news then, the Legionaries have had a huge impact on Riverside so far with their help in construction of Roads and Houses, as well as being our main heavy force." Lucius stated, happy that it was another Roman unit, with Warriors who had similar tastes to him. Lucius obviously didn't know the history of the Legio I Germanica as they did not exist until long after his death in ancient history. 

"I suppose it is good." Dom said, slightly more positive "I just hoped we would get a different unit type as we have gaps to fill."

"This is true, but they are the centre of our force with the Hoplite, so more units is always better." Lucius continued, "also, Centurions like Octavian and Pullo have been huge assets with the projects that they have been involved in, more leaders like them are necessary."

"You have a valid argument." Dom agreed as he remembered how lucky he had been so far and that he should just be grateful for what ever he gets.

"Are you going to upgrade it?" Lucius asked, "So that it is in line with the other Warriors Halls, we can always not upgrade one of the other buildings?"

This was a question that Dom was also thinking about, they had already upgraded the Lumber Camp, Clinic and Bathhouse. They had discussed and planned upgrading the Ox Animal Husbandry and the Docks as the final two. He didn't want the new Warriors Hall to fall behind the others though and he now had a decision to make.

"We should upgrade it, however we already have the Legio IX Hispania Warriors Hall that is a level two." Dom replied, "We may get to a stage where we have legions competing for upgrades."

"Is it possible to merge the buildings?" Lucius asked, whilst he did ask, a notification popped up for Dom.

[System Notification, due to spawning a unit related to a unit from the same historical time period, historical area and historical force, two options have appeared. Option one is to merge the units together, this will upgrade the current Warriors Hall by one level and add an additional perk. Option two is to receive a bonus to your new Warriors Hall, upgrading it by one level.]

Dom felt like the System was listening to him and Lucius, as it's prompt came well timed. He had two options, the first was the most tempting.

 "We can merge it and get a Level three Legionary Warriors Hall with an additional perk, or we can get an instant upgrade for the new one to become a Level two Legionary Warriors Hall." Dom said, "I am inclined towards the first."

"It makes the most logical sense, but I am not sure if it is the correct option." Lucius replied after a few seconds of thought. "Each Unit has it's own difference and speciality, we could potentially be losing an asset."

Dom thought back to the Legion's nickname, the disgraced and thought it didn't bode well, but he trusted Lucius's judgement. Part of him felt that he was being tested by the System, to take the quick tempting reward of an upgraded Legio IX Hispania, or take the risk on having the Legio I Germanica as well.

"System, Upgrade the new Warriors Hall please." Dom said, committing to his choice. Dom wondered if this Warriors Hall would also have a Training Camp attached, similar to the other.

The Legio I Germanica Warriors Hall shook as another building, half the size of it, spawned next to it on the left, with an interconnecting corridor. On top of the door was the picture of a stone with a loose braid like rope around it. Dom was confused at the sight and asked the System to show him the stats.

[Legionnaire Warriors Hall of Riverside Two

Hall Grade – S

Hall Level – 2

Spawn Rate – 8 Legionnaires a day (Can be upgraded with Village growth), 2 Balearic Slingers a day (Can not be upgraded, however can be merged with another lower grade Warriors Hall)

Spawn Level – Legionary Grade A, Slinger Grade B

Spawn Type – Legio I Germanica Legionary, Legio I Germanica Auxiliary Balearic Slinger.

Effects: (Give Me More S Grade – All spawn related buildings will have a random increase in daily spawns or reduction in spawn time)]

[Balearic Slingers are Indigenous Slingers from the Balearic Islands to the east of Spain; Mallorca, Menorca, Formentera and Ibiza. Famed for their mastery of the Sling, they served as Mercenaries for Carthage and then after being conquered by the Roman's, became auxiliaries to them.

They were equipped with a goat skin shield and an iron tipped javelin for close range, and were lightly armoured so that they could move swiftly around the battlefield. They had three slings, one around their waist which was for long range shots, one on their hand for mid ranged shots and a smaller one around their head which was for close range shots.

They were known for decimating ranks of enemies from a distance, with their range of projectiles cracking skulls, helmets and breaking bones of any unprepared foe.]

Dom realised now that the additional building was actually a partial Warriors Hall that gave him a limited amount of an auxiliary unit that was attached to the Legio I Germanica. The Balearic Slingers were a unit that he could use, they were fast and light and were a foot ranged unit that he was missing. The downside was that he couldn't upgrade them directly, and would need to capture another Warriors Hall to do this. He thought of the upcoming campaign at Tongpai Town and wondered that if relationships broke down, could he repurpose their Shang Warriors Hall that had given Dom some low grade Warriors that were training to become Legionaries.

"System, spawn units." Dom asked, as both doors opened.

Out of the main doors marched ten Roman Legionaries, similarly dressed and armoured to the Legio IX Hispania. The main difference was that on their shields was the painging of a bull, where as the Legio IX Hispania had the Sabre Tooth Tiger of Riverside. Dom realised he would have to do something to integrate both unit's, whilst also keeping them as separate entities. From the other door, three tanned men with olive skin, black hair and brown eyes appeared. They were a bit shorter and more youthful than the legionaries and seemed to have excitement on their faces as they appeared.

The lead Legionary had a red crest on his helmet and Dom recognised him as a Centurion like Octavian and Pullo.

"Good Morning Lord, I am Percennius the Centurion of the First Century, First Cohort of the Legio I Germanica. We are grateful for the opportunity of redemption." Percennius announced.

"Welcome to Riverside." Dom responded kindly.

"The young slingers here are from the Auxiliary unit attached to us during our earlier campaigns." Percennius continued, "They are brave and always have our back."

The three young Balearic Slingers bowed their heads upon hearing the praise in thanks, before Pullo who was training on the nearby Training Field suddenly appeared.

"Good morning Lord Lazarus." Pullo said as he looked at the new warriors in front of him in shock. "More Legionaries?"

"Which Legion are you from?" Percennius asked.

"Legio IX Hispania!" Pullo replied proudly, "You?"

"Legio I Germanica." Percennius stated evenly, judging the response.

"I heard you thought well in Germanica?" Pullo replied, praising the Legion for the one positive it was known for.

"We did, but we have had some troubles on our way." Percennius replied, "It's an honour to fight alongside the Legio IX Hispania."

The legionaries beside him all patted their chest piece with their fists in acknowledgement to Pullo, who patted his chest back in response.

"Welcome to Riverside." Pullo said in acknowledgement. "Things are different here than Rome, I know of your past, but you will like it here. Lord Lazarus, do you mind if I take them to meet some of the Ninth that are on the training field before General Xun Yan takes them on a tour?"

"That is fine, thank you Pullo." Dom replied, "But please wait a minute first."

Dom pulled out his Elite Unit Spawner cube and used it on the miniature Balearic Slingers Warriors Hall in front of him. The door opened and out marched another one hundred and fifty Balearic Slingers who were slightly older than the younger ones that had appeared earlier.

"Dad?" One of the young ones said, looking at the lead Slinger who had walked out. He was dressed similar to the others, with a short beard and moustache.

The Slinger looked at the younger one and smiled at him, before bowing towards Dom.

"Good Morning Lord, I am Balius, the Centurion of the Balearic Slingers." Balius introduced.

Dom introduced himself and spoke with Lucius, Pullo, Percennius and Balius for a few minutes before leaving with Lucius and heading back towards the Heroes Hall to use the Orange Hero Spawner Cube.

"Crassus is going to be very happy." Lucius said as they walked.

"I don't doubt it." Dom replied with a laugh, "at least we got ourselves some ranged foot units."

"And foot scouts as well." Lucius agreed as they were happily discussing the Balearic Slingers that had arrived.

Dom also used the Upgrade Tokens on the Ox Animal Husbandry, which increased it's daily spawns, as well as on the Dock which now had another wharf and an increase to both the attraction to fish in the area, as well as some additional fishing boats. This had made Lucius very happy, and he suspected Helena would be as well when he next visited the Docks. He just hoped she didn't fall in the River again as she had the last few times with Dom had upgraded or spawned something in that area.

They had now used all of the Wooden Tokens, the Elite Unit Spawner and the New Building Cubes which he had gathered from the Missions and the Auction. He still had many things left to do, but he looked around at the messengers running from here to there and was grateful that he wasn't doing it alone.

"I think we should dispatch the Balearic Slingers to Subutai." Lucius commented as they arrived at the Heroes Hall. "I am sure he will be grateful for their addition."

"We can send them up this afternoon, let them have the tour from Xun Yan first. He may want to keep a small detachment of them behind as they are an ideal defencive unit as well. I am also sure Tomyris will want some and Gan Ning for scouting purposes." Dom replied.

"I agree, however we only have a limited number and if we dispatch too many, we will weaken them too much to make them worthwhile." Lucius responded, to which Dom agreed, they couldn't do everything at once, and if they had any losses, it would take a long time to replenish with the small spawn count.

"System, please use the Orange Cube." Dom requested once he finished discussing the slingers distribution with Lucius.