Town Builder - 66 - Goatyah (Patreon)

Chapter 66 Goatyah

Fareth, the master cook at the inn, prepared a special feast for us focused on buffs for the expedition. She had been working on it all night, and the results were remarkable.

Alpha Plains Cat Steak with Mushroom Gravy, 20% health pool buff for 12 hours, 50% to all pool regeneration for 12 hours

Plains Buffalo Stew, 25% magic pool buff for 12 hours, 50% to all pool regeneration for 12 hours

You could only get the benefits of one dish at a time, but these bonuses stacked with potions—and tasted much better. Danny lacked some decorum as she ate, and she reminded me a bit of Grinder.

With my one free NPC bid, I thought about looking for another grandmaster cook. The only negative for the profession was the dishes needed to be consumed immediately unless you had a special bag to preserve them. The townsfolk got these quality meals at fixed low prices and they accounted for a significant increase in quality and quantity in our production. I let my thoughts slid to the upcoming quest.

Joining us at the table were the NPCs from Malcum that were coming with us. I looked at the list and their titles.

Medea             High Priest of the Sullen God            Level 151 Human High Priest

Mira                Master of Scouts                                 Level 143 Demonkin Farstrider

Titus                *Quest Giver                                       Level 140 Gnome Hospitaller

Tanguin           General of Malcum                             Level 80 Giantkin Warrior

Iona                 Worker                                                Level 120 Elf Constructor

Sanso              Master Stone Mage                             Level 94 Elementalkin Earth Mage

Yorric              Lord’s Bodyguard                               Level 32 Giantkin Bodyguard

Iona and Sanso would help build the fortifications after we cleared the spawn sites. In addition to these NPCs, Tanguin was leading a detachment of the army, one Angelkin Captain (level 61), and a dozen giantkin infantry (level 32). The soldiers sat at another table nearby, also consuming the feast.

“You can ask your elven companion to join us,” I told Danny, who was on her second steak.

Danny looked behind her at the elf leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. “Lohan, gather six of the highest-leveled guards. We are leaving soon.” The elf pushed himself off the wall with his hips and made to leave.

I stopped him, “Have a steak first. You have the bodyguard class, Lohan?”

He nodded taking one of the few open seats, squeezing between the Tanguin and Mira. “I do.”

“How did you come into Danny’s service?” I asked the NPC.

Danny answered for the NPC. “It was a long chain quest when I hit level 100. I had to free the love of his life from marrying someone else and then allow her to live in my town. She is among my citizens. He then pledged loyalty to me and vowed to protect me as long as his wife is safe.”

“Huh,” was my immediate response. “Have you talked to him beyond the quest? I mean, gotten to know him.”

Danny sipped some of the local ale called Jungle Brew. “We talked a few times when I brought him along on a quest, grind, or dungeon raid.”

“Are you aware of how the AIs in the game work?” I asked.

Danny thought for a bit, “The different tier cores, based on a plant or something?”

“Yeah. My AI companion explained it to me. You can upgrade your town AIs by interacting with them more. However, the quantity is limited, but more AI cores are being added. I am unsure how difficult it will be to upgrade NPCs with all the new players. I am assuming a lot of them are paying the monthly fee for a permanent NPC tutorial companion.” I gestured at my NPCs at the table. “Everyone here has been upgraded.”

Danny seemed to be thinking it over and watched her elf companion eat. “So if I treated them more like a person, they would get a better core?”

“That was how my tutorial AI explained it to me. The upgraded NPCs also get more skill slots, can offer quests, and are smarter.” I replied.

“Hey, I resemble that remark,” Tanguin said, chewing on his fifth steak.

“It doesn’t help their sense of humor, though,” I replied reflexively. The table of NPCs laughed at my joke.

“I saw the costs for keeping the tutorial NPC. Ridiculous. Ten thousand monthly of in-game gold.” Danny replied, irritated.

“Wait? You can use in-game gold?” I said, going to the updates for the NPC Tutorial.

I started reading through the explanation of the NPC tutorial from starting the game. The tutorial companion explained the mechanics to the player until the player reached level five. At the fifth level, the incorporeal companion could be added as a free additional companion for the additional cost of 10,000 gold a month and become corporeal. You needed to earn the gold in-game or buy with real-world money.

There were a lot of benefits to the AI companion. For one, it was always equal to the player’s level, and the player could wear gear only intended for players. The player could also choose the direction of growth for the companion. The loyalty of this companion could never fall below neutral—so it should never leave you.

There was a whole section dedicated to explaining the adult content related to this particular NPC, which I skipped over. In essence, it allowed players to adventure without other players, doing more difficult solo quests as well. There was a whole section on the NPC AI companions. Based on what I was reading, after the fifth level, they could become as powerful as a player.

One interesting fact was the relationship bar. Although it couldn’t fall below neutral, if you treated them poorly, it may never rise above neutral as well. It had me thinking about my own tutorial NPC, Simba. He had made overtures of wanting to return, but he also served as a spy for the Matriarch and the developers. Well, Simba was more of a tool for the developers.

The other interesting note was that if you didn’t pay your monthly fee for the companion, they disappeared with all the gear you gave them. Once you paid up, they returned and would be raised to your current level. The biggest limit for the NPC companions was skill growth. They needed to level up their skills like players so they might be a lot weaker than players if you didn’t adventure with them. If they died, there was no fee to bring them back, just a seven-game resurrection period.

“Are you ready?” Danny asked, breaking me out of my focus on my interface.

“Yeah, whatever happened to your tutorial AI?” I asked Danny, standing to leave.

“I don’t know. She was a pixie, and when the update happened that required you to pay for them to stay, she vanished. My family doesn’t have the funds to pay as we are still waiting on the settlement from the crash. The Corp keeps slowing down the payment through the appeals process, dragging it out.” She noted in irritation. “I think they hope I die before they have to pay out.”

It was a touchy subject, and establishing her new town would put her in a better mood. We met outside with the horses, ready for my people. Danny and her NPCs didn’t have the riding skill, but the iron mine was only four miles north of town, at the base of the mountains.

Danny walked next to me as our group moved north. As we passed Sanso’s old tower that marked the copper mine, I told her what is was. “There is a slow vein of refreshing copper underneath the tower. Some caverns were hollowed out by Sanso to grow mushrooms as well. Breda is trying to push the Malcum’s border this far north to encompass them so we can free up an outpost slot. Once an outpost improves into a town, it frees an outpost slot. My problem is that we will be recognized as a kingdom when that happens.”

Danny looked in deep thought after we passed the tower. “So my new not have anywhere to expand?”

Sanso jumped on the question, “The Endless Dark runs into the mountains. Even though the surface is inhospitable, there are millions of miles of tunnels that serve as highways under the earth, going deeper and deeper.”

I could see Danny’s face clouding in doubt. She was having second thoughts. She hadn’t thought about expanding her control beyond a single town, and by choosing to build her settlement at the base of the mountain with Malcum four miles to the south, a river to her east, and the mountains to the north, she was almost trapped even with Sansa’s explanation that she could extend down.

“Do you want to build your town somewhere else?” I asked before she could. “The Shiverwood Forrest across the river extends hundreds of miles.”

Danny was quiet for a time before she finally said, “No. I was deliberating if I wanted to extend my control past a single township. I don’t think I do, and the iron mine is a good commodity.”

“There should be silver and gold veins deeper in the mountains,” Sanso supplied helpfully.

Danny asked softly, “What if my new town became part of Malcum?” She quickly added, “I mean when you are ready to expand to a kingdom.”

“You want to become my vassal?” I asked, surprised.

She blew a blueberry. “Partner, not vassal. You are basically funding the town anyway and building everything. Plus, you are likely going to be the wealthiest person in the game until the game fully launches.”

“So, you want me to be your sugar daddy?” I asked in amusement.

She laughed musically at the joke. “Perhaps. What do I have to do for you to be my sugar daddy?” She reached up and stroked my thigh and batted her eyelashes before breaking into laughter.

I was uncomfortable with the flirting nature of the interaction. Jaesmin was my—Jaesmin was an AI that I called my wife. But she was only circuits and code. Danny was a real person, just like me. Both our bodies were broken in the real world while our minds were trapped here in this game. We were in a struggle to make the best of our circumstances.

“Nothing. You don’t have to do anything.” I said, looking at her seriously. “I will help you whatever you decide.”

Danny didn’t say anything as we approached the mountain cliff that extended into the sky with winding trails spread throughout. Sanso led our party to the iron mine he had found. It looked more like an ominous cave than a mine. Danny brought up her interface map and started sending our invites for a raid.

“To start a town, you need to start a raid. All spawn sites in the radius will light up, and they will send wave after wave to you for an entire game day. The wiki doesn’t state how many waves, though.” She looked at her map and started to move the area she wanted to claim. “I think I can set it up only to overlap three spawn sites. Two outside the mountain and one inside the mine.”

The raid map appeared in my interface and I looked at it. The three spawn sites were: breakneck mountain goat level 80, breakneck mountain goat level 82, breakneck cave ogre level 90. “This doesn’t look so bad. Just three creatures at a time.”

Medea, my High Priest, shook her head. “They spawn in groups. There will be three to five creatures each spawn. They will all spawn at the same time every hour. The last hour will be a double spawn.” Walking here, we hadn’t faced any monsters higher than level 15. “Have the earth mage erect a defensive works before starting the claim. This should not be made more difficult than necessary.”

I think my High Priest was a little irked at being made to join this endeavor. I worked with Sanso and Iona, and we used the plans to construct a tower.

Very Rare Stone Archer’s Tower, 250,000 Health, Requires Masonry Foundations 23, Masonry Structures 43, Enchanting: Ritual 23, Spawns one Elite Commander Archer Level 70 (respawn 72 hours), Spawns Six Archers Level 35 (respawn 1/day), Special Effects: building recovers 1% health per day.

It took the three of us ten hours to finish the structure, our food buffs nearing expiration. Danny didn’t even need to start the raid because as soon as the tower was complete it automatically triggered it.  

Mira and Tanguin were already unleashing arrows to the west at four massive goats rushing at us. There was some chaos as we moved the lower-level NPCs into the tower, and others met the charge of the goats. Roars from inside the cave as three pale ogres raced out with large clubs, joining the attack.

We were caught slightly flat-footed as we didn’t know the building completion would start the raid event. Two goats went down before reaching the tower, and the other two smashed into the tower, surprising everyone. I checked on the building.

Very Rare Stone Archer’s Tower, 374,880/375,000 Health, Spawns one Elite Commander Archer Level 105 (respawn 72 hours), Spawns Six Archers Level 47 (respawn 1/day), Special Effects: building recovers 1% health per day

The two attacks from level 80 creatures had done a total of 120 damage? Then I remembered there were other stats associated with structures, including armor and resistances. The tower also recorded 156 health an hour as I dove deeper into the tower’s details as the five more goats joined the assault from the other spawn site, and the ogres approached.

Titus, the gnome, wielded a sword too large for his frame as he skewered a goat. Danny fired a barrage of arrows at one of the ogres, causing it to stumble and slow. “Enhancing everyone’s damage,” Medea said, bored. Arrows now started to punch through their targets, leaving holes in the unfortunate creatures. I stood watching the chaotic carnage as the monsters were focused on the tower and not us. One of the ogres managed to swing his club once, causing a flake of stone to fly off, and two other goats were able to ram the structure.

Danny asked, “Are you going to help, or just stand there?” I looked around and saw that there was nothing I needed to do. Titus was engaging the last ogre, and Sanso formed a stone pen to trap the last two goats.

“You can domestic those!” Medea said, excited for the first time. “They should make fantastic cheese and butter!” Medea rushed to the enclosure, casting her magic to subdue the goats.

We had a few injuries that were quickly healed. Medea was standing over her pacified goats. “Six minutes, not bad for a first wave. If we can get two goats every wave, we will have a nice flock.”

Danny asked again, “Why didn’t you help?”

I came up with an excuse on the spot, “We can't earn experience or level our skills, but the NPCs can. If they got in trouble I would have helped.” Not that my level 32 would have done much against these high-level enemies.

Danny saw right through my bullshit, “You are a wise one, Kemosabe.”

We started harvesting the hides and meat from the goats. The ogres had pouches with crude unfinished gemstones and chunks of silver ore. Tanguin identified the loot from the ogres, “About a hundred gold in lesser gemstones and three gold in silver ore.”

“If they have silver ore, does that mean there are silver veins in the mine too?” An excited Danny asked.

“No,” Medea burst her bubble. “It is just monster loot. I am sure deeper in the mountain, you could find a silver mine, but you would have to raid it as well to start a mining operation.”

“How come your NPCs know so much, and they volunteer information? It feels like they are all tutorial AIs.” Danny questioned me accusingly.

“No, like I explained, they just have more advanced AI cores.” I shrugged.

Danny turned from me and looked at her elf companion. “Lohan! Come and tell me about all your dreams and aspirations!” I couldn’t tell if she was serious, but it was a step in the right direction.

The next six waves were handled easily enough, and our loot and flock of goats grew. The seventh wave got tricky as an elite ogre spawned with four companions. He managed to take nearly 5,000 health from the tower before our archers and Titus on the ground could take care of him. He had a very shiny black club as loot as well.

Ebony Maul of Invulnerability, +10 strength, +30 constitution, +500 to stamina pool. One a day, negate damage from any single attack. Requirements: Strength 150, Level 75

Tanguin was happy to take the maul as a prize and proceeded to get some practice with it in the next wave. The fourteenth wave spawned an elite goat, but it didn’t cause us much of an issue. Building the tower appeared to be a bit of a cheat as it drew all the aggro for every spawned mob. Only after attacking the monsters did they turn on us.

As Medea predicted, the final wave was a double wave with 16 mountain goats and nine ogres. We were able to let the monsters waste their attacks on the tower while we picked them off in small groups. It did take us twenty minutes to finish off the last wave, but after a day of fighting, our raid group got the notification:

Raid Complete: Success! Experience being awarded based on contribution. Please name your new settlement! You have a seven-day grace period from wandering monsters.

I looked at Danny, “What will you call your new town?”

Danny seemed to think for a moment, then said, “Goatyah.” She shrugged, “I was never very good at naming things. My cat was called Meowcules.”

“Goatyah it is,” I said returning her smile and pulling out the first building plans.