Once Harken and all the troops had moved away from the area, Jack began his work.
[Barracks blueprint: Troops can be garrisoned here in a stasis. While resting inside they don't require nourishment and heal wounds over time. Building cost: Wood x50.000. Stone x200.000. Gold coins x50.000]
Jack bought it and put it down adjacent to the road up to the plateau.
A 10 meter high, 100 meter long and 20 meter wide barracks building in solid dark stone appeared.
[Barracks, common rank: Can't be upgraded. Capacity: 0/10.000]
'Expensive.. But this building basically gives me 10.000 troops with no kind of upkeep.. That this kind of building exists blow my mind.'
Jack felt the price was well worth it and continued.
[Sawmill blueprint: A workplace to produce different kind of processed wood, mainly lumber planks for manual constructions. Upgrades decrease the cost of wood when processed. Cost: Wood x2000. Stone x500. Gold coins x1000.]
Jack went to the forest edge and placed one sawmill on each side of the forest road. About 300 meters between them.
[Lords resources: Wood x28.500. Stone x369.000. Iron x 200.000. Gold Coins x22.000]↨
Jack had spend a lot of resources. But was satisfied. 100 trash houses, not yet enough for all the civilians, but enough for now. 1000 new civilians. 5 upgraded drill-zones. 2 sawmills. Upgraded his lord mansion and 5000 fresh trash troops under way.
Seeing how his gold coins was very depleted, he scratched the idea of upgrading the new troops.
"Harken. Tomorrow morning there will be 5000 new trash troops awaiting in the dwarven halls. I want you to take control of them. Together with the 3000 current troops you will have sufficient troops to keep our territory safe. Rotate them in the Barracks and we will be able to save a lot of resources as they don't require food while resting there."
"Yes my lord! I will keep a tight watch! But what about the forest? When will we resume the attack lord?"
Harken watched the barracks in awe and clearly understood that it was invaluable to the military forces.
Harken was also a bit worried about his lord. He seemed more decisive. More tired even. And he wondered when they would claim the forest as it was still a threat and a pressing issue.
"I have thought about that for a while. And I might as well fill you in now."
Jack continued to explain the situation with Xena. A very valuable asset was on its way shortly. But in order to bring her here, they needed to reach the beach. And the beach was, according to Jacks memory of the peninsula, about 250 kilometers to the east along the northern coast.
"So you see Harken. That's why we have focused on infrastructure. The civilians needs to be able to thrive while I'm away. It might take weeks."
"I understand lord! But truly, in a dangerous area such as this, it might require tens of thousands of trash troops to reach the beach. Who knows what dangers lies beyond the forest?"
Jack had to agree. The more he thought about it, the more nervous he got. Could he really afford all this? Was Xena worth is? He didn't even know if her ability as a hero would be helpful. Would she even survive traveling to the coast?
Jack had many questions, few answers but plenty of doubt.
"We won't know the dangers before we try. However that's why the infrastructure is that much more important. When the civilians are taken care of, jobs are created and common resources flow... Then we can focus our efforts on claiming territory through force. Now go back to your duties, tomorrow, I will make everything fall into place."
"Yes my lord!" Harken bowed deeply.
But he was still a little worried about Jack, even though he had full confidence in him and proudly went back to his assignments.
It was getting late in the evening now, and Jacks head was working none stop. Always trying to think of alternative ways for him to bring Xena here.
'Having a fellow earth-human as a Hero... I just can't pass it up.. She seems smart, clever. I need a hero like that...'
Jacks head was full of such thoughts, always in the back of his head, even when he walked, talked and spoke to other civilians he met while heading for the goldmine.
"Gondo! A word."
In the goldmine, Gondo and 50 miners was in deep working mode. Dwarfs standing all around the lower area of the goldmine, hacking at the walls, bringing gold nuggets that sprung from the walls into a wooden cart of 4 stone wheels.
"Yes my lord! How can I be of service?" Gondo bowed deeply.
"How many dwarfs do you think could mine here at once?"
A simple question, Gondo thought, and one he had already contemplated many times over. He was a dwarf after all, and such things came naturally to him.
"About 200 my lord! But I have to add. That once we are able to build another 'level', this goldmine is high enough for another 200 to stand 3 meters above the ground team! I have already plans for this! I just need the materials... Planks, poles, hammers and nails!"
'So it still comes down to forges...' Jack was annoyed but expected as much.
"Reassign the miners here. I want all the pickaxes in use in the goldmine. I will procure more if i can. I order a complete stop of stone mining in the city zone. Take control of all the dwarfs, reassign them. Focus on gold and the Dimwags for now. Talk to Nisha about it. That's all for now. Good work Gondo."
Jack left Gondo with a new sense of pride and expectations. So much gold could be mined now! And he had the command of all the dwarf. He would not disappoint his lord!
Jacks head was still full of thought as he went to grab another bowl of food and went to his mansion. The area around the mansion was slowly being crowded by hundreds or thousands of new troops. But he didn't mind them. He went to his large meeting room and ate his food in peace.
[Jack: Ramises, I want to make a private and secret trade deal.]
Ramises the Goat was standing with ShadowCoke, now named Arrow as he changed his name when he became Lord Ramises hero, inside their small village enclosed in a wooden wall.
"Arrow, I need you to take the 500 troops and secure that medium size sulfur spawn! It's 5000 rare resource that we just have to claim!"
Arrow agreed, they needed the resources. Even if the coast was dangerous, they couldn't survive on just fish in the seas and resources from the hills and forests in the mainland. They had to expand!
Ramises looked around his small village. His Common mansion stood in the center, with 50 trash houses, a forge, tannery and sawmill spread out inside the circle wall of wood with a single heavy wooden gate.
Ramises pride however, and the source of his high ranking, was a 1 square kilometres enhanced barley field outside his village. It was a common ranked treasure he had obtained early on.
It wouldn't be long before the first harvest! But he needed gold! A lot of gold to build the brewery he had gained the blueprint for in the rankings. He was truly lucky to have obtained such matching treasure! Who else could be enjoying such enhanced barley ale at this stage?
"I will take them out and secure the sulfur on the beach tomorrow. It's too dark now. The crab monsters are too dangerous at night. Not to mention that plant-hybrid lord... He will surely fight for the sulfur."
But Arrow didn't get a reply. Ramises was staring into the air with a dumb expression.
Arrow was just about to ask if he was okay, when he finally spoke up.
"The number one ranked, Jack, just sent a private message for a secret trade deal..."
They just looked at each other with dump expressions before quickly falling into a high heated debate on how to respond.
Meanwhile Jack had finished his meal and Nisha had appeared.
"Lord! I'm truly sorry, but I wont be able to sleep with you tonight. Some of the Dimwags has already given birth, and there are around 10 in each litter! It requires my full attention."
'So when the treasure mentions 'breeding' it does not refer to the sexual act itself, but that they actually give birth each day... I wonder if its the same with the high horses...'
"Then we will have to make a matching enclosure soon. If they breed every day and they mature in a month, we could have an exponentially growing food source in just 30 days".
Nisha only half-smiled as she agreed.
"It feels overwhelming lord. Even the calves are weighing 20 kilos at birth, and looking at the 500-1000kg adults, they will gain massive weight each day. Luckily the stone miners stockpiled a huge amount of stone as their food source, before they left on your command."
"You will have to manage the population Nisha. We can't have more than 400 adults, maximum 500, before the new habitat is created. If needed, you can start roasting the calves when they are 3-5 days old to control the numbers"
Jack went to her and patted her head a few times.
"Go, you have a lot of work to do. I likewise have a lot on my mind. We can share a peaceful rest together in my bed another time."
Nisha blushed by the words and the lords pat on her head. She simply nodded, bowed, and smilingly went outside again.
Seeing he still hadn't received a reply he went to his bed. Tomorrow he would have a new stock of resources, and his plans could begin to take form.