“An’ they started killin’ those that wouldn’t go peaceful-like, m’lord! Me Da, he took an arrow in the knee!”
“Used to be an adventurer…” I responded without thinking about it, before grimacing at Miren’s look of confusion. “Sorry, just a reminder of a…friend…from my home. What happened to the rest of the village?”
Isabella supplied the information quickly from her seat on the right of the group. I’d noted the looks she and Cai were exchanging as I talked to the rest of the people.
“The Airship stripped anything that looked valuable and captured us, m’lord, but they left those that ran away. Most of the village, the older folk especially, will still be there…those that survived, anyway…” she said, a catch in her voice.
“Well, we’ll be returning for them soon. My good friend Oren, here…” I said, clapping him on one shoulder, “will be flying us back to the village as soon as we can get the Airship up and running. This time, there will be no thefts and attacks. You will all be given the chance to gather anything you want or need and bring it back, as well as any villagers that wish to join us, provided they swear the Oaths as well.”
The group looked relieved at that, talking amongst themselves before quieting down as I went on.
“There is also another side to joining my community, as I said, besides my protection and getting to live in this high-class establishment.” I gestured with a raised eyebrow over my shoulder at the crumbling and almost derelict tower. “You will also get training and opportunities that I’ve heard have been long gone from the land.” I’d spent hours in conversation with Oren, Cai, and the wisps, and the cache of Memory crystals and Skillbooks in Oracle’s Hall of Memories had turned out to be a bigger boon than I’d realized. With the end of the old world, it seemed the making of such things had also more or less come to an end, which meant that it was, in fact, a treasure trove of skills that may have been long lost.
“I, and my advisors Cai and Oren, will talk to you all, discovering your skills and interests and what your attributes suggest you might be best at. Then we will separate you into teams, assisting the more skilled individuals amongst you to accomplish the first steps needed to bring life, comfort, and security to the Tower. Once that has been accomplished, and I’ve gotten a better measure of you, we will grant a select few with Skill Memories and Books. Are you familiar with them?”
The group looked at me in shock, followed by a few mutterings, then more voices rose, until everyone was speaking at once, making it impossible to understand anyone.
I turned to Oren and Cai, catching the grins on their faces as they nodded at me, Oren, of course, being the one to clap me on the shoulder and half shout in my ear.
“I told ye so, laddie!”
I shook my head, making eye contact with Cai as he rolled his eyes at the dwarf’s ostensible need to say it.
I stood, holding my hands up for silence, and as everyone quieted down, I relaxed slightly, glad that at least some gestures and reactions were universal across the realms, for whatever reason.
“Yes, I see you do know what Skill Memories and Books are, and yes, I have access to both. They are very limited, and I won’t be just giving them away to just anyone. You will have to prove yourselves to me and my advisors, and I will expect a lot of those that do get these things. For a start, anyone that gets a skill will be expected to teach others. For free!” I sat back down, looking at the now silent group.
“Teaching others in our community will always be for free, and teaching others that are not is banned, for now at least. I want to improve your lives, but I won’t be taken advantage of, so let’s be clear on that. Also, you won’t all be learning how to do everything. As much as I’m sure you’d all like to try everything, if you split yourself too many different ways, you’ll never level up or get more skilled. I want you all to consider what you would like to learn, and what you truthfully think you’d be best at. I’m aware these could be two totally different things, but I’d like to know, as it’ll give me a lot of room to work with you, and I might let you do both, if they are things that will complement each other.
“It’s my intention that we will grow and quickly, visiting other villages in the area and offering the chance to join us."
"So if you know others you think would make a good addition, tell Oren and Cai, and if you feel that someone won’t, for whatever reason, tell them that, too. We will initially need food and protection most of all, so I will be choosing two teams. The first will be farmers, and they will be working with Timoth to start getting our food supplies in order, and the second will be learning to fight and to hunt. Normally, hunters and guards or soldiers would be separate groups, and I’m well aware of that, but for now, I want a lot of you to be able to defend yourselves and those around you in short order. Once you’ve got a bit of experience in those groups and I can see where your skills lie, I’ll probably separate you out into soldiers, guards, and hunters properly. Does anyone have any questions so far?”
When the two skilled individuals, Milosh and Krillek, looked uncomfortable but stayed quiet, I grinned at them.
“Don’t
