CWD: GA ~ Forty

One hundred and eighty-six were people living on Armor Mountain, which was a good number for a community. All of them were between the ages of sixteen and fifty-five, so The Dinner Party fit right into the younger age bracket. The entire place had fairly naturally separated out by age, so Nacho’s people found a little place to set up on the southern side of the encampment with the other early-twenties crowd. They spent twenty total credits on two cheap tents, then got back to planning with the current leaders of the makeshift settlement.

After a total accounting, it was found that the population had a pool of nearly three thousand credits. That had been one of the benefits of not knowing how to access the Store right away: even though they were making money, they couldn't spend it. Mayor Dan and Iron Becky—having done most of the fighting that had been necessary—had a thousand credits between them, a third of the community’s total.

The Armor Mountain colony was doing pretty well, thanks to Taye, but Nacho knew that they needed to do better. He and Reuben decided that the quickest way to secure their collective safety would be to load the people up on buffs and send them down into the Deep Buggy Darkness underneath their mountain home. Reuben had wanted to tell the Armor Mountain clan that the trio had already been down in the dungeon, but Nacho and Brie didn’t think that was a good idea, at least not until they’d signed the charter.

The Dinner Party continued working with the mayor, his wife, and Taye to hash out the guild charter, but in the end, there was only so much they could change. They couldn’t change the Guild Command spell—they had to remove it entirely—but they were able to alter the tax rate and add in conditions allowing people to leave the guild if they were mistreated. There was also an option to select a new guild leader, likewise based on mistreatment, based on a majority vote.

After that point, it was pretty clear that they were going to accept the remaining defaults to the charter, which was what Nacho suggested. The Patrons had for some reason set up the System to ensure people joined together for the common good. So as long as the Guild Master wasn’t an evil person, the benefits were clear. Even better when you opted to be a Guild Leader, as he had.

Sitting in his tent, wrapped in his sleeping bag, Nacho went over the details of the proposed guild charter with his best friends one last time.

The Pros:

• 10% off buildings and building supplies and specific other Store items.
• Gain additional bonus credits on every kill. Based on monster, minimum is 1.

The Cons:

• 10% tax on any credits gained (sales tax, kills, trading) automatically delivered to the guildhall’s coffer.
• Fealty to the Guild Leader unless there is a full vote to depose—not really a con, but it goes in this column.

There shouldn’t be any big issues with feeding people after they settled the charter. He planned to buy higher rarity ingredients, having considered that might be one of the problems with his cooking—bad quality ingredients. He should’ve thought of that before, but he’d initially figured ‘flour is flour, so why bother getting a better version’?

When they went out to propose the idea to the other people living in the settlement, Kala took off with a half-dozen people, just as she’d promised—which included a daggerless Myron. Nacho figured that when they ran into the Death Knight and her unibrowed assassin again, the Chips guild would have an impressive start to a castle.

Everyone else that remained decided to join the guild, even if a good chunk of them did so reluctantly. Knowing that they would be fed, sheltered, and enabled to grow stronger was enough to make almost anyone join under such favorable terms. With that knowledge, all that was left was to spend a thousand credits to form a guild. Luckily, the purchase included a guildhall.

They wouldn’t get such a bargain on buildings ever again.

The Chips planned to designate a mead hall as the guildhall on the plateau; the location seemed to have been made for such a purpose. Inside the dual-purpose building, Nacho would have his kitchen. That would provide a nice camouflage for the Guild’s center of power, since the other guildhalls he’d seen—the Final Victory, the Gorged, and a coven of wizards called the Midnight Fist—all had selected medieval throne rooms with the paper copy of the guild charter hanging on the wall surrounded by security.

Nacho’s plan was to splatter batter on his charter, then slap it on the wall surrounded by recipes in a similar state, so if anyone did manage to storm his walls and capture the guildhall, the invaders would just skip over the charter, never guessing that such an important document would be treated so poorly.

Like always, they had so much to buy, but he couldn’t get sidetracked. While Nacho missed the sweet setup of the Chicken Coop of Chaos’s kitchen, such a luxury had to wait. They needed to build the guildhall first, which would be mostly kitchen, but it would also provide a huge central dining area with a large fireplace. Beyond the building itself, walls were necessary for protecting their mountaintop fortress.

The barrier they had set up currently was impressive, but not completely impregnable. A determined attacker could climb up the western crags or come sneaking up through the northern forest. The south was a sheer wall, while the east sloped down to a cliff only about ten feet high, where they had secured the rope ladder. That would be where the Bove would come clambering up, if they didn’t take care of the beast sooner rather than later.

Their survival was a race against time. One of their enemies would attack them eventually, and if it wasn’t Kala’s band or the Bove, it would be Crave and Red Suzy Blacke, coming to get revenge.

A terrible irony to Nacho was that Reuben did most of the public relations work, and most people thought he should be the Guild Leader. The Healer laughed it off and let them know that he didn’t want the job, while Brie was as stand-offish as a secret service agent watching over the president-elect.

Mayor Dan might’ve been the next logical choice for Guild Leader, but he didn’t want the job. For one, he knew how much of a pain in the butt it was to be in charge. For another, his understanding of the gaming system wasn’t anywhere near sophisticated, and his previous experience would actually serve as a detriment. That left Iron Becky, who understood the Juxtaposition better—though not as thoroughly as Taye—who broke out into a sweat at the very idea of taking responsibility for the community.

That ultimately left Nacho, who felt oddly comfortable with the task. Maybe it was because he’d seen Crave rule, and he knew he’d be better than that. Crave had done a good—if brutal—job at organizing the dungeoneers of the Final Victory. After all, in the end, the Gorged would’ve joined Crave’s guild, and not the other way around. He was pondering all this when he heard someone scratching on his tent as if trying to knock. “Who is it?”

“Becky,” the woman called in her harsh tone. “You don’t need to come out. I just wanted to tell you that everyone that’s still here has decided to join the Chips. We’re on board with paying the thousand credits for the guildhall and charter. Then maybe tomorrow, we can get serious about powering up for the Juxtaposition?”

Nacho wasn’t sure what to say. It had all moved so fast. This community was taking a big risk on him and his friends, and he still wasn’t all too clear on their motivations. “Why are you guys doing this?”

“That’s easy, kid. I wasn’t there, but Taye was. He said the minute the Bove attacked on Rocky Top, Reuben and Brie charged that cow monster. Reuben threw himself in front of it, and your girl with the hammer went to work. You impressed Taye, and lord help me, but we’ve trusted that kid with our lives. Why stop now?”

The woman retreated back into the night, and Nacho stretched out. He felt himself relax in a way he hadn’t for a long, long time. Other people were on watch, he was surrounded by a clan who had decided to trust him, and his friends were alive. They were going to make a difference in this iteration of the game, even if he’d spend most of it in the kitchen. Good. Killing people, especially with the HungerCry Knives, was messy and sad.

Creating delicious food was going to be so much more fun.

The next day, after breakfast, Reuben went around telling everyone that they would be setting down the guildhall that day. He included a reminder that they didn’t have to join, but they would have to move their tents. Some people grumbled, while others talked about leaving; but most stayed, at least to witness the spectacle of building the first permanent structure they’d seen in the nearly two weeks they’d been on the Starter World.

Once the  tents had been cleared away, what remained was dirt, stone, and old ash-blackened rings of rock marking where the fires had been.

Nacho stood still, trying to picture where the guildhall would be best situated. No one else had offered to donate credits to the cause beyond Mayor Dan and Iron Becky, ironically and unwittingly highlighting the importance of an automatic tax.

He experienced a moment of doubt; how was he going to justify charging his guildmates for the meals he cooked? They were already paying ten percent of their kills to him, and Store meals were cheaper. Nacho shook off the concern; he’d just open his kitchen. People who wanted to pay would pay, and people who wanted to eat from the Store could do so if they wanted.

Of course, he would offer Store prices for anyone who traded in their kills, because he’d get credits from processing the ingredients. He would gladly pay for people to bring him fruits and vegetables, such as a credit an apple or per pound of bulk ingredients like wheat.

Everyone was watching, and Nacho felt a little exposed. He had rolled the sleeves of his shirt up, and it seemed like they were expecting him to say something. At that moment, he knew he couldn’t pass the task off to Reuben.

Nacho inhaled shakily. Even though honesty was the best policy—for the most part—he wasn’t used to opening up. “I know many of you don’t know me, and you think that I’m just some kid with dreams of a kitchen of my own. But I was given a boon by a Patron, which allowed me to learn the rules in a very intimate way before the start of the Juxtaposition. I’m not going to lie to you…”

“We’re living life on hard mode.”

After taking a few deep, calming breaths and trying to ignore the fact that a hundred people were hanging on his every word, he was able to continue. “I found myself with time to prepare. It’s why the three of us have backpacks, sleeping bags, and combat boots. I know how the Juxtaposition works. I know our biggest threats, at least until my information becomes outdated. I’m going to be fair, but my main goal is survival. Food and water are our biggest concerns, without a doubt, and they will become more and more critical as we go. I’m a cook, and I assure you, that will make all the difference. Our guild will get big quick, once word gets out about what I can do. You people are joining us at the beginning, and we won’t forget that you put your faith in us.”

“Who is this ‘we’?” a voice called out. “You got a piece of cheese in your pocket?”

Nacho gestured at Reuben and Brie. “My friends are the ‘we’. Taye, Kristie, Mayor Dan, Iron Becky, and their daughter Colleen are the ‘we’. You all are welcome to become the ‘we’, once we get the guildhall built. I hope you do. Because we are going to work to make sure we win this game… not just survive.”

“Win the game,” Reuben chimed in loudly, “and eat like kings while we do it!”

The crowd started murmuring, but Nacho lifted a hand, and they went quiet once more. “Okay, I’m going to buy the charter and the guildhall. Everyone who wants to join will sign up, and then we’ll organize strike teams for the dungeon at the base of the mountain—also, I think Taye found another dungeon close by. At this point, if we can earn credits fast, we can get a full wall built, and then we'll focus on helping guild members to level up their Skills. Yes, we prioritize Skills rather than character class. There’s a great reason for that.”

Nacho waved everyone back. “This thing is going to be pretty big, twenty-five feet wide and two hundred feet long, and I’m going to put a big kitchen near the back. The entrance will align with the rope ladder, and we’ll eventually have houses, but for now, we can set our tents along the central road. I’ll almost always be in the kitchen in the back when you need me. Hold on!”

The System realized what he was doing and hit him with a message.

Wow! Looks like you found enough like-minded people that you want to form a guild! Were you lonely? Well, not anymore! We detect a hundred and eighty-nine souls there. Tell us, Player, would you like to form a guild?

Yes / No.

Nacho replied in the affirmative. He was then presented with a whole range of hall choices, from a medieval throne room—the same one which had been very popular—to a baroque pink palace with lots of curlicues everywhere, to a Japanese pagoda, or even a Nepalese chhaang hall. The prices were equally varied, but he was forced to go with the cheapest option. They only had a thousand credits, after all, and it hurt to realize that any buildings after the guildhall would cost a credit per square foot for the lowest quality.

As planned, the brand new Guild Leader went with the classic Beowulf mead hall, which had a very specific feel to it—rough wood and rougher stone, a big central beam overhead, and massive tables where adventurers could carve their initials into the wood with their trusty pigstickers. Nacho would keep three long tables and benches in the common hall, but he planned to make a kitchen for himself in the west end of the five thousand square feet. For the moment, he didn’t have the credits to buy the exact things he wanted—like a stove, an oven, shelves, or countertops.

Undeterred, he quickly sketched out what he wanted to purchase once the credits started pouring in. He’d have to put in an oven and stove later, though he could choose the basic layout as part of the hall’s initial purchase. A room-sized icebox was an absolute necessity, as well as lots of shelves and plenty of counter space. He also added a slot that would face the eating hall, so he could slide trays through to feed his hungry customers. There was no need for a cash register, because he would collect credits automatically through the System.

Nacho felt content with the basic layout, though his kitchen and corresponding icebox room would remain empty for the time being.

Old Bill scowled and shouted, “What’s he waiting for?”

“He’s having to design it,” Taye explained with a groan. “I seem to remember people like you always complaining that my generation was all about instant gratification…”

Once Nacho was done selecting the building details, the coolest part came next: the structure went into an open slot in his extra-dimensional storage. “Okay, I’ll be putting the building down. Everyone take a big step back. More. More.”

When he was sure he wasn’t going to squash anyone—not that the System would let such an easily-abused option exist—he ‘placed’ the building, and the entire length of the mead hall appeared in the sky above his hand. The stone, the wood, the big doors held onto the hinges by leather straps, the two stone fireplaces on either end of the length—every detail was clearly defined. It wasn’t transparent; it was a fully formed building sprouting from Nacho’s hand. He swung it around a little, feeling mightily powerful as people shouted in concern. It was too bad that it couldn’t be used as a weapon, or people would absolutely run into battle wielding barns.

It might look solid, but it wasn’t. On the ground, green translucent squares appeared to indicate where the building would sit. Only when he set it down would the building become real. Taye let the expletives fly, and both Mayor Dan and Iron Becky shushed him.

Old Bill was quiet, because it wasn’t every day a building sprouted from the hand of some guy who had just spent a bundle of credits on a pre-made structure. Ignoring the murmurs and grumbles from the onlookers, Nacho closed one eye and tried to judge the distances involved. “Hey, Reuben, am I in line with the rope ladder? I want to create a grand avenue to our guildhall. It’ll be super impressive with torches and severed heads on pikes for anyone who defies me.”

Reuben laughed nervously as many people’s eyes snapped to focus intensely on the Healer. “He’s kidding, folks. No heads on pikes. He has a slightly dark sense of humor.”

Brie got behind him and double-checked his line of sight. “You’re good, Nacho.”

Out of an abundance of caution, the onlookers took another few steps back. With a final nod of confirmation from Reuben, Nacho gently laid the building down onto the green transparent squares.

Hey, cook, we’re not your buddy, and you won’t be able to move this big, beautiful guildhall once you set it down, no matter how much your lady friends want to rearrange things. So, last chance: do you want to solidify this structure and get your guild started on a super sugary slope to success?

Yes / No.

“Yep,” Nacho confirmed as he chose ‘yes’. The entire structure flashed, and then it was suddenly there: a big Viking-inspired hall that would make King Hrothgar jealous. There were four basic entrances—the main doors were at the eastern end, but two side doors existed as well. Nacho planned to designate his own entrance as the one at the rear of the structure, which was near a few elm trees.

He opened the door and walked into the bare kitchen, then continued through into the icebox room. No counters, no shelves. It was kind of disappointing. First things first; they had the guild, but they needed to hit the dungeons hard to afford castle walls, guard towers, and to level up Brie. So far, she was the best warrior on Armor Mountain, and they needed her at her strongest in order to beat the Bove.

The cook left the kitchen through an archway into the main room, where numerous settlers were already milling about and inspecting the three long tables, the benches, and the two fireplaces on either side of the hall next to the side doors. The wall at the opposite end from the kitchen was dominated by the magnificent double front doors with impressively large iron fittings.

A woman with short blonde hair and a splash of freckles across her nose perked up as she caught sight of Nacho and wandered over to him. Colleen, Mayor Dan’s daughter, sighed happily. “We can sleep here! We can have a fire and sleep here. We can feel safe again.”

Nacho felt tears sting his eyes at her words. They weren’t there yet. He considered how far they had to go. He truly wanted these people to feel safe, but to get there, they still had to risk everything, over and over again.

First off, they had a dinosaur-cow to kill.