Chapter 052 - Operations

Anna, Catherine, and Beval trudged through the snow, crossing the last bit of distance between them and the faint glow of the precinct doors. The eerie green light of the glow stones-Anna still hadn’t gotten around to actually setting up proper lights-turned the glass doors into a beacon in the winter wonderland outside. It was fortunate that there were so few creatures out in the chill besides the skeletons that had been intentionally sent after them. Otherwise the glow might have spelled their end many times over.

She glanced towards Catherine, stoic as always. It was obvious she’d leveled up at least once or twice more while grinding. That had to put her at least at level five, which meant she already knew what her first class-skill quest was. Her eyes flicked towards Beval next, he looked exhausted. A weariness less from the chilly march and more from the worry about those he’d left behind in the precinct. A question that had been tickling at the back of her mind resurfaced and she couldn’t resist.

“Hey,” she grunted at him. “I have a question.”

He turned his head towards her and met her eyes before looking away and down with a sharp jerk of his head. Her lips thinned. That was going to get annoying if it made it difficult for him to answer a damn question. She opened her mouth to press but he just cleared his throat. “Y-yes, my lady?”

Fine, I’ll hash it out later.

“When I identified you it said ‘Dulin’. The hell is that? Some kind of elf?” Anna asked.

He nearly stumbled, his eyes going wide for a moment before understanding dawned on his face. Meanwhile, Catherine let out a noisy cough of surprise. Anna looked between the two of them and scowled. “What?”

“That word is a shortening of the word Aelf,” Catherine said quickly. “A slur. Most Aelves don’t even call themselves aelves. They refer to themselves by their own ethnic group, the Dulin. Er…” she actually hesitated a little as she met Beval’s eyes. “Wood Aelves.”

He scoffed a little but nodded. “Yes, that’s correct.”

Well I stepped in shit there, Anna thought irritably. “Won’t happen again.”

“You’re a native of an unintegrated world,” Beval said with a shrug. “But… thank you,” he trailed off as they approached the doors to the precinct and he let out a heavy sigh of relief. Anna looked through the doors as well and spotted two of the new ‘residents’ sitting in chairs and speaking quietly amongst themselves. No stress or anxiety on their faces. She allowed herself her own moment of relief though she was careful to keep it from her face. 

“Good, let's head in,” Anna said and pushed through the doors.

The reaction was immediate; the pair that was sitting in the chairs; a female dulin and a male orc, both hopped their feet with wide eyes before the orc hurried off through the doors leading further inside. The Dulin on the other hand searched each of their faces in turn before dipping into a low bow. “My Lady, Ser Knight, Brother,” she said politely.

“Eawyn,” Beval said, stepping forward and glancing towards the door. “...you two looked friendly.”

Anna crossed her arms and tilted her head to look at Catherine with a raised eyebrow. Catherine shook her head and shrugged. Eawyn seemed to notice the exchange because her face paled a little and she gave her brother a stern look. “...brother, now is not the time nor the place,” she hissed and flicked her eyes over his shoulders. He froze, his shoulders tensing a little before looking back at them.

“The concerns of a filial brother,” Catherine huffed. “You certainly have gotten comfortable, Beval.”

Anna just frowned and went to sit down on the couch, slumping onto it and stretching out her legs with a shrug of her own. “Do what you want on your time,” she grumbled. “Though now I get why you wanted to come back so quickly.”

He looked down at his feet. “...I apologize.”

Anna pursed her lips. “You work for me, don’t forget that. I don’t care what you do outside of that time, but keep it there,” she said with a growl and leaned forward, planting her feet firmly on the ground. She was about to ask where the others were when the doors opened and the remaining rescued slaves passed through, led by the old priest himself. He was leaning on what looked like a cane fashioned from part of a standing lamp, but he was walking.

Beval turned to him in shock. “...old man!”

The Old Man didn’t respond to him as the others gathered behind him. Instead, he lowered himself slowly to the ground and to his knees. Anna’s hand twitched but a gesture from Catherine stopped her from hopping to her feet. He shouldn’t be moving like that if he’s in such bad condition, though, Anna thought sharply. She held Catherine’s stare and relented, crossing her arms and frowning instead. Fine, I’ll play it up. Shouldn’t be hard.

“You’ve recovered, old man.”

The wizened orc nodded. “Only by your great efforts, my lady. Harkin Na-kar is well enough to be of service to you,” the old man said. “You took pains to aid me, but I did not know that you had acted with such concern. I heard about your rushed efforts from the others, even before I introduced myself and my value to you.”

Eyes fell on her and she realized she couldn’t look to Catherine for a signal as to what to say here. She exhaled and relaxed in her seat. “I did not save you just to watch you die. Harkin, was it?”

“Yes, my lady,” the old man rumbled. “Even if it was just for that reason. You have my gratitude and that of the others,” he said and looked up, meeting her eyes. “The others and I have spoken and wish to provide what little help we can, within the scope of our paths prior to our capture by the undead. To start, by sharing what skills we have so you might best utilize them.”

Anna titled her head, “Go on.”

The old orc gestured and first a male dulin, russet skinned with short dark hair and feral eyes stepped forward. With him was a female orc who looked around his age but stood a head taller than him. “Adwig and Vola Na-Yugul are both level one. Both of them were being raised to be hunters in their respective settlements.”

Anna pursed her lips and flicked an eye towards Catherine who had already walked over to the precinct front desk and pulled a notepad out of the drawer. It was damn good to have a competent subordinate. The old orc gestured again and female Dulin stepped forward next to join the other two. Her eyes were cold and hard, her expression flinty. “Wulfa was a member of her settlement's security, a novice, but still trained. She is level two.”

Anna nodded along. Next four orcs stepped forward. One of them was Beval’s friend, Korat. Another was a female who looked like a taller and meaner version of the youthful Vola. The third was a young male who had Harkin’s soft eyes, he was also the same one that had been talking to Beval’s sister. The fourth was another male, who shifted uneasily on his feet despite dwarfing his fellows. “Korat Yut-val was a visitor to our settlement when everything happened, testing to become an apprentice blacksmith. Pulsa Na-Yugul was a hunter. My grandson, Gron Na-Hakar was studying medicine with me and the teachings of Memna. And Krig had been studying to become a clerk. They are level three.”

Anna glanced towards the big guy again and raised an eyebrow slightly before nodding along. If that's where his talents lay, I don’t begrudge him, I guess. Maybe he just doesn’t like fighting.

Next, Eawyn stepped forward, helping another elderly Orc along. The old man had deeper lines on his face than Harkin. His expression was stern, his black eyes boring into Anna’s own for a moment before inclining his head. Harkin kept speaking; “Eawyn was following the path of Nature’s magic before the ability to advance was stripped from her. Elder Molag Na-Zol served our settlement as part of its overseeing council. He has insight into the operation of a settlement. They are all level four.”

Anna sat up a bit more at that. A Natural Magic user and someone who knows shit about running a town? Now we’re getting somewhere.

Finally, the old man looked up himself and another elf moved forward. A woman with far more maturity on her face than the rest of her kin. “You know my role, you know Beval, Elder Mildrith here served in a not dissimilar role in the Fairwind Settlement to Elder Molag. We are level five.”

Anna let out a breath and leaned back in her seat a bit further, pursing her lips. Catherine approached her with the notepad in hand and leaned down to speak in her ear. “They are likely hoping you will free them entirely after this demonstration. While honorable, it is also inadvisable at this juncture if you wish to keep them as part of your settlement.”

Anna narrowed her eyes a bit and looked at her knight. “Am I supposed to just dismiss a show of loyalty?” she asked. “I get ruling with a firm hand but that’s…”

“Certainly not,” Catherine murmured. “Open a path for them instead, meet them half-way.”

Open a path? Anna thought, pursing her lips and looking back at the slaves. Having slaves gave her hives, she needed to figure out how to get these people out of that as soon as possible. Catherine was right, though. Looking at it a different way, these people had no roots, no real commitment to what Anna needed to build. A way to track their contributions visibly, a tangible proof of their own investment. She crossed her arms before an idea popped into her head.

She hopped to her feet and quickly strode around them. “I will be back, remain here.”

A few quick strides sent her through the doors and before long she was back in the barracks. She reached into her inventory and a glowstone appeared in her hand. She held it up and scanned the room, trying to find what she was looking for. She’d could have sworn she’d noticed something like it at one point while wandering the precinct. There! She hurried over to a whiteboard set onto one wall above what looked like a rolling end table or something. 

It’s a little childish but… she knelt down and searched the end table, pulling out a small pouch of star-shaped stickers and a package of dry erase markers. Her lips twitched up in mild amusement. Perfect.

Anna reached out to grab the board next and a notification appeared in her face.

<System Notification!>

You are attempting to create an operations board. You currently do not control a system-recognized settlement. Operation’s board functions are not permitted outside of System-recognized settlements.

She blinked.

<System Notification!>

Local-Level Authority detected! As an individual that possesses Authority. You possess the right to create an Operation’s Board outside of a permanent, system-recognized settlement. However, functionality will be reduced. Functionality will be further reduced by lack of sufficient materials.

Proceed? Yes / No

Oh fuck the hell yes, Anna thought triumphantly. Finally something good comes out of this Authority thing. I think I’m starting to get what it ‘does’ now as well, she thought and indicated ‘yes’. 

With a flicker of light, the markers and stickers vanished from her hand. The white-board began to glow as the names of the cops that had once adorned it vanished. A moment later, the glow was gone and the blank whiteboard simply hung there as if nothing had changed. She reached out and picked it up to give it a quick identify.

Operations Whiteboard (Mundane-Grade)
A simple whiteboard capable of tracking the successful completion of beneficial tasks for a settlement automatically through a visual indicator. Rewards system: disabled. Merit point system: disabled. Name Capacity: limited. Range: limited. You may set daily maximums and minimum beneficial thresholds. You may wipe visual indicators as needed.

Anna’s lip twitched. It’ll do.

She hustled back through the door and made her way to the lobby. Everyone gathered turned and looked at her in confusion, even Catherine frowning a little bit as she spotted the white board. Anna made her way over to the front desk and set the white board on it, standing up a bit straighter and clearing her throat. “This is an Operations Board. Are any of you familiar with it?”

The elders, Mildrith and Molag, sat up a bit. Their eyes suddenly focused. Catherine let out a breath and nodded to herself with a smile before sitting down. That one act was enough to tell Anna that she’d had the right idea so she pressed on. I’ll get this leadership thing down, just watch, she thought. “This Operations Board will track your names as well as visually show a marker, a gold star, every time you complete a task that's beneficial here.”

Now she had everyone’s attention. Now to apply something I learned from mom.

“Every day you complete a sufficient number of beneficial tasks, you will get one gold star,” she said firmly, tilting her chin up. “After you have acquired thirty of these stars, I will hear one plea from you on any topic or issue,” she let the words hang in the air, “Such as your contract.”

A low murmur passed through the gathered group, some smiling, some frowning in thought. Anna set the white-board down and crossed her arms. “I will not overwork you or let you overwork yourselves just for a shot at discussing your situation with me. A minimum amount of effort to demonstrate your value here should go without saying. We do not have enough resources to feed mouths that do not contribute.”

The thinly veiled threat gave some of the frowners a bit of pause. She tilted her head, “All that said, it’s clear to me that some of you will be more productive and useful with your ability to refine restored to you. Catherine says there’s a way to do that selectively. I will look into it. For those of you here who may not necessarily need that restriction removed just yet, there are jobs you can perform here. I will hash out a duty chart and present it when I can.”

Vola, the youngest orc, raised her hand. “But there is nowhere for us to hunt.”

“We have an option,” Anna said. “I will explain it to those wanting to hunt soon.”

First I need to figure out how to give Catherine and the hunters access to the dungeon, she thought wryly before sweeping her eyes over those gathered. “Any more questions?” she asked. When none came she nodded. “Then we’ll end the conversation for now. I’m pretty sure you just need to interact with the whiteboard to add your name. Do that while I speak with my knight.”

She hadn’t missed Catherine’s gaze growing more intense by the second. After a chorus of agreeable nods and affirmations, Anna walked over to speak with Catherine. “How was that?” she asked.

“Inspired, why thirty?” Catherine asked.

“My mother once told me that it takes thirty days to form a habit,” Anna said and glanced back at the  people moving towards the whiteboard and putting their hands on it one at a time. “I just need to make that habit working for me.”

Catherine smiled. “You will be a ruler yet.”