Before bathing, Dom decided to check his Personal Chest for the rewards of the two Towns he had conquered and for having three Legendary Items. Inside his Personal Chest, alongside the White Letter, General Order Token and the Mission Tokens, there were some new items. The first thing that Dom pulled out was a building spawn cube, that when reading the information he laughed to himself.
[Legendary Weapons Reward - Museum Building Cube]
Dom felt that a Museum was actually a good building to have, with the history that was spanned across by the people of Riverside and all of the things that they conquered or discovered in World Conquest Online or the Missions they visited. Dom didn't plan on putting his Legendary Weapons in there though, as if he didn't need them, he had plenty of Generals that could.
The next Items were things that Dom needed, he had four Wooden Tokens, two from each conquest. The other items he had were four white Resource Tokens, another two from each conquest. He was happy with all of these, especially the Wooden Tokens. Dom was surprised he hadn't received any larger awards, such as Elite Villager Cubes, however he suspected that this was due to the pace that Riverside was growing at.
After bathing, Dom headed towards the Town Centre where the Shang Yang, Lucius, Xun You, Xun Yu, Crassus, Cicero and Hatshepsut were waiting for him. Umako was still in Serenity and would return in the morning. Dom had been informed on his way that Subutai had also arrived with his updates from both Nakbe and the Subterranean City. Dom wore comfortable clothes now, but had the Zhan Lu strapped to his waist rather than the Harpe. It was a longer sword, but more deadly than the Harpe, which was preferable when fighting against other types of humans. He also wanted to take it to Ou Yezi for his thoughts on being reunited with one of his blades.
The meeting room was in full conversation when Dom walked in, Subutai looking dusty but pleased as he sat at the head of the table in the meeting room that Hatshepsut had sorted for them. She also looked pleased after an initial conversation with Subutai, whilst the others discussed multiple things. They all looked up when Dom entered, with some eyes flickering to his new Sword.
"So is that the Zhan Lu?" Shang Yang asked as Dom placed it on the table as he sat down, allowing them to look at the new Sword that seemed to fascinate those from that part of the world. "I remember reading the texts of how it was created for King Helu of Wu, along with a collection of Legendary Swords by our Master Swordsmith Ou Yezi. It is a pleasure to cast my eyes upon it."
"It was said to have disappeared and reappeared throughout our long history, only appearing beside righteous rulers." Xun Yu commented, "I wonder if it would class as a Regalia as Ou Yezi created it, or if we still need a new one. As this would complete one of our quests."
"I believe we should reforge the crown from the Ancient Underground City that was found in the early period of Riverside's growth. Ou Yezi has already been creating designs and that would be more ample as a Regalia." Shang Yang replied openly, "However, with Lord Lazarus wielding this blade, any that know of it's history will have trust in us."
"I don't know about symbolism, but as a sword it is deadly. In a clash with a much larger sword wielded by Actumerus, it caused the other blade to have a damaged edge. Actumerus has had to take his sword to the Blacksmith Zone for repairs." Subutai interceded. "If we want our Ruler to have a weapon, one that can not be destroyed is a good start."
There were lots of nodding heads in agreement, as Subutai passed the bag he had across the table to Dom. They all looked on intently as he pulled it open and looked inside. The bag was full of building spawn cubes and Dom was excited to see what they were. Rather than checking one by one, he asked the System to summarise.
[Nakbe - Town Centre Cube Grade D
Nakbe - Temple Cube x 3
Nakbe - Stone Masons Cube
Nakbe - Quarry Cube
Nakbe - Hunting Lodge Cube x 2
Nakbe - Aqueduct Cube
Nakbe - Well Cube
Nakbe - Herbalist Lodge
Nakbe - Manor Cube x 5
Subterranean City – Town Centre Cube Grade B
Subterranean City - Armoury Cube x 2
Subterranean City- Blacksmith Cube x 2
Subterranean City - Barracks Cube x 2
Subterranean City - Pottery Cube
Subterranean City - Warehouse Cube x 4
Subterranean City - Manor Cube x 3
Subterranean City - Bakery Cube
Subterranean City - Stables Cube]
"Thirty three buildings in Total!" Dom exclaimed as he read the list out to those in the room, "As well as the Museum Cube I received earlier."
"That is a huge amount of buildings if they were all placed in Riverside." Hatshepsut replied, "However, if that is two new Towns being spawned and if all of the buildings are to be spread across all Five, then the number is much lower."
"There was also a Palace, but we have decided to keep that in place as our base of operations in the Subterranean City. The Town Centre Cube was in a Chest on the Floor with all of the Gold and Jewels, we are unsure as to why." Subutai explained.
"Did you say Gold and Jewels?" Crassus asked with open eyes, which caused Cicero beside him to roll his eyes.
"Almost as much as what we took from the Ancient Underground City." Subutai teased in response.
"I will head there in the morning and begin counting, I have grown a good team at the Bank and I will take some of my experts." Crassus replied immediately.
"We need to send many experts so that we can do thorough research, I will write up a list and send them all with you." Xun You commented, catching Dom's eye with a smile. Dom realised that Crassus had been led in to a trap of delegation by Subutai and Xun You, but he didn't seem to mind.
"That is a lot of buildings, but the key ones to discuss are the Town Centre's. The B Grade one will obviously have the high growth potential, but they are both key." Xun Yu stated, taking over the meeting before Crassus began to ramble on about expenditure. "Realistically, with the subjugation of both towns we could complete most of our Kingdom quests. We could draw around the north, the land inside is now all ours and unchallenged. We also have government in place and a population that could hit the target. I am not saying that we should, but it is a positive position to be in."
"I do agree, which is why I want to use both Town Centre Cubes in the North." Dom replied, "This way, we have a safety net if the south becomes troublesome. I know it would be ideal to build towns on the south of the Calm River, especially across from Serenity and near the Westwood Fort and the entrance to the Red Woods."
"My key worry about the south is both the Ancient Underground City and the Subterranean City. If the mission is to subjugate or eliminate, we would have failed in both locations if not for a stroke of luck." Subutai explained seriously, "Every part of the south need scouring before we can declare it."
"That is already in the plans." Shang Yang replied, agreeing with Subutai. "Liao Hua and Tomoe have done excellent jobs, once the marked dead Towns within the Red Forest have been searched, we should have covered everything. I would however recommend a full search through the cave systems in Mount Calm River. We also have The Cove and The San to deal with first."
"I have added it to Tomyris's schedule to explore the underground systems. She will also lead on the Western Expedition." Subutai agreed, "I would also like to recommend her as the next Mayor for that Location. I want to re-use the Town Centre D Grade in the location of the Subterranean City. We will rebuild it and rename it, and it will be our hidden Military City."
"Our plan was to keep Riverside as the centre of our Military?" Lucius stated, not wanting to weaken the Capital.
"I do not wish to change that, I plan to keep all of the Military Spawn Buildings here, but move units for Western Campaigns there. It is also easily accessible to both Mountview Fort and the location of Nakbe, so it is a key place for us to have." Subutai replied, not disagreeing.
"Our initial plans were near Sun Ce's camp and on the coast, as well as one near the old location of Tongpai Town." Xun Yu explained, "We also wanted to replace the Fort at Mountview with a Town Cube."
"One moment." Subutai replied, before leaving the room.
"Whilst we wait for Subutai, we also rescued around two hundred people that need care and rehoming." Dom explained to the group, as they all went in to thought.
"Personally, we should see their skills, but I think their best home would be Tranquillity." Lucius stated, "It's peaceful and much quieter and slower paced than the others. If they need a place to restart, I think that should be it."
"Tranquillity is for the best." Hatshepsut agreed, "However even though we have the Clinic being build from Sostratus's Schematics, we don't have the staff for it. Hua Tou, Phoebe and Hua Xin are all key to Riverside's growing population. We need more Doctors."
"I will deal with that." Crassus stated, adding it to his spending list. The group agreed as they continued discussing how to deal with them. Subutai then returned with a large rolled Parchment under his arm. He placed it on the table and rolled it out so that it covered most of the table.
"This is a map of all of the land I suspect we will claim." Subutai began, "Gu Kaizhi and some talented Artists have been working on copying the Map Room in to picture form. Riverside, Tranquillity and Serenity are on the south of the Northern part, with the Calm River splitting our proposed Kingdom."
The group all stood up and looked over as Subutai began pointing at areas on the map. Everything was clearly marked, from the Forts to the locations of the Cove and the San. There was even markings of the key battles that had been fought in their brief history.
"My first plan is to build a Fort Network that will defend our borders in the North. These will be built separate from the Town Network so they don't interfere with our planned development. Westwood Fort on the south of the Calm River is based on our most western line, I want a mirrored Fort on the Northern shore." Subutai continued, "I will also build a smaller Fort at the Entrance to Tongpai Lake from the Calm River, which with the Naval presence will protect the Northern part of our Kingdom until we have enough spare Town Centre cubes or Natural growth to build in them locations."
"That makes sense for now, it protects the Western edge of our Kingdom and doesn't use much resource." Dom replied as Xun You and Xun Yu both nodded in agreement.
"I also propose we build a Fort on the Sea, beneath the Northern Mountain Pass. It is not a City for now, but if we can built it like Mountview, with a Docks, then it will be more than ample for now." Subutai explained. "We can direct any ships that approach with friendly methods towards Serenity and have a fleet based here in the future to defend against those coming from the North."
"So we build our next City to the south of the Northern Mountain Pass on Tongpai Lake, around fifteen minutes east of Tongpai Towns remains?" Shang Yang interceded, pointing at the map.
"Correct." Subutai smiled, "A small Town within the Mountain and a Large one near Tongpai's remains."
"The Town on the Lake can feed the Fort." Xun Yu agreed, "Whilst between them, we can build Roads and even a giant stone Gate that will block of the Mountain Passes to the North."
"We had many of them at home, that would be a good idea." Xun You nodded in agreement.
"So we are agreed on where we will place these new towns?" Dom asked the group, "In the place of the Subterranean City and Beside Tongpai Lake? We will build a fort network and the North is claimed for now?"