Akmedrah - Homestead Survival 283: Aedificare Gentem 1

<16 January 2025, GRAND MESA OF SUMMER, A+ >[Theo and Julia]The first thing that happened after they woke up was that Theo and Julia used the first of their Greater Charter Tokens. They both checked over what they were offering.

They had discussed with Kreldar what they should offer, and they had decided that they would negotiate with whoever took the offer.

A moment later, a portal opened, and through it stepped a distinguished-looking man with rock-scaled arms and rock outcroppings instead of hair. Without much fanfare, he looked around, then waved a hand, revealing his Status to Theo and Julia.

"You need roads. I make roads. You will pay. What is your offer?" Dorran said, his voice halting in a strange way.

"How long can you stay?" Theo asked.

"Custom Charter, from greater Token. Time Negotiable; I stay one stoneflow." Dorran responded, his eyes taking in everything and seeming to pierce through the walls that surrounded him.

Theo did the conversion in his head, "one hundred and fifty days... that's good."

Julia spoke up, "May we have a moment to discuss before we complete our offer?"

"I am patient," Dorran said, turning to look away from them.

Theo and Julia, who sent a quick message to Kreldar, finally spoke up after several minutes. "Very well. Mister Vesk, we have our offer."

Dorran turned to them expectantly and remained silent. "We will pay you one platinum up front; that is for the one hundred gold per forge week and the first road we have that we would like built. After that, we will pay you fifty silver a mile. If you have to harvest materials for the road or build a bridge or some other structure, we will pay one gold per mile. Upon the completion of each leg of road, we will pay a bonus based on the length of that leg of road. And if you complete all of the roads we desire, we will pay you another two Platinum for the completion of the project."

"May I leave if I complete my tasks early? Less than a Stoneflow?" Dorran asked.

Theo nodded. "Yes. As a matter of fact, the quicker things get completed, the more we will pay you in bonus."

"I will complete roads. After first road, we will speak again, and you will offer more." Dorran said, his voice calm and stating simple facts, not boasting, "Show me your supplies."

Theo nodded and opened the Warfather's Reliquary, which got a singular twitch of an eyebrow from the neutral Dorran. They walked inside, and Dorran was silent until he saw the piled-up bodies; he gestured to the Crystaline Berserkers of Sloth piled in the Spoils Vault. "I will wait one day. You will process for Sloth Stone. I will make excellent roads."

Before they could say anything, Dorran turned and walked out of the manor hall where they had summoned him.

Theo looked at Julia. "Guess I know what we are doing."

Julia nodded, and they called everyone in to start their new task.

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<17 January 2025, GRAND MESA OF SUMMER, A+ >[Theo and Julia]The next morning, Theo and Julia were eating after a harrowing day of labor bent over the monster processing table. Dorran, who had seemingly vanished for the night, returned. "You have materials?"

Theo laid out a piece of everything they had gathered. Detailing the amounts they got thanks to the effects of the Monster Processor as well as several stacking effects from skills that he and Julia had. "We do. We received roughly thirty-six thousand pounds of Slothstone, three thousand Dense Armor Plates, a thousand Heavy Crystal, fifteen hundred pounds of Stasis Sift, sixty-two hundred gallons of Preservitive Brine, seven hundred Inert Cores, and twenty-eight hundred pounds of Gravity Dust."

Theo did not add that they had gotten more Nodes of every type, putting them on the path towards having another defender for the Teleportation platform using Clang-Ma Ro's blueprint.

Theo and Julia waited while they watched Dorran. He touched each item in the same order Theo had laid them out, and spoke a short note about each. "Slothstone for roads, and counterbalances. Armor Plates for walls. Heavy Crystal for counterbalances and magics. Stasis Sift for preserving organics temporarily. Preservative Brine for food preservation. Inert Cores for removing wards. Gravity dust for gravity."

He looked up at Theo and Julia. "I will take Slothstone. I will take twenty thousand units of Gravity Dust, roughly thirty-eight pounds. I will take 500 large stone blocks. You will tell me the first road. I will build. You will pay more."

Theo looked hesitantly at him. "You will return excess materials?"

Dorran nodded. "I will, at the end of the Charter. I might request leftover materials as part of the completion bonus, at System Price."

"That would be acceptable, so long as we do not have any direct need for the material," Julia said.

Dorran nodded. Theo opened the Warfather's Reliquary, and Dorran quickly moved the materials he wanted into his own storage Skill; then he spoke once more. "What is first road?"

Theo quickly outlined the route of the road, how it was to connect the System-given road and the bridge the dwarves had built, and, if he wanted, the bottom of the elevator that had been installed. Dorran nodded. "I shall return upon completion."

The man turned and walked out of the hall, then seemed to vanish once more. Hestia spoke before Theo and Julia could, "That man is strange. He somehow found his way to Sorrin's Quiet March without asking me directly and surveyed what I would guess are the roads he will build. It was unsettling."

Theo let out a long breath; Dorran was unsettling. "Well, that is why we need to do whatever we need to activate the teleportation defenses of the March and the Overlook."

"Speaking of that," Hestia said, "Two people just arrived at the Teleportation Platform and are departing to come here. I have sent one of the golems from the platform, and one from here, to exchange and ensure their safety. With their speed, they will be here by dinner. They are the children of the Ro family. And they said they have instructions for final activation from Lord Clang-Ma Ro."

"Well then, let's stay busy. When they get here, we can figure out activating everything and decide on what they will do." Julia said.