"No." Andrew offered hesitantly, a conflicted look on his face.

  "That's three for, four against." Ermina moved the image of the mine back and forth as she considered it. "Will you make it a tie?"

  "What tie?" Ethan offered with a wry smile. "This isn't a democracy; the choice is mine to make." He offered it with humor, but it was no joke. Heavy is the head. If he was to rule this fief, then he would rule it. Honor demanded that where the responsibility for success or failure lay with him, so too must the final say.

  "Then why ask?" She offered slight lines forming at the corners of her eyes.

  "Because I value your minds. Your reasoning, as much or more than your final opinion."

  "And that reasoning...?" Andrew prodded, leaning back in his chair with a small smile on his face.

  "-left me about where it left you. A coin flip. And oddly enough, that’s sufficient to turn it down."

  "Oh, how so?" Miro asked. With curiosity, he was pleased to see, not challenge.

  "Because while you, Conner and Leo threw your stones for it, none of you did so with any enthusiasm." Neither had the four opponents, though acknowledging that wouldn’t help here. "We have a half dozen projects sitting on the list waiting that don’t have that failing. Things we all know we need, just at a lesser priority than food, clothing and tools." Ethan paused, then, picturing the Pottery building, added a sentence. "Or containers to hold or eat that food from."

  He tapped his fingers on the table, trying to mentally arrange it all, then after a few moments, gave it up.

  "I think I put this to you in the wrong order." Ethan mused, still tapping away. "It's not what we need now, but instead what we will need later."

  "Which later?" Leo snorted, amused and not bothering to hide it.

  "Spring mostly. What will we need to get the farms and pastures up? How many of each do we need and how long will it take our workers to finish them? When do crops need to be seeded and will we need to spend extra points to finish the farms before that? I think I saw something under the pastures about spending BPs to hasten plant growth."

  He sifted through the interface for a few moments, then nodded and tossed the box up.

  It wasn’t quite what he’d remembered, but it might be better.

  "We will be pretty damn short on fodder by then and might need to outright buy a few. How many is a few?" He pointed to Miro who nodded and, with a stick of charcoal, began to sketch out items on a scrap piece of parchment.

  "What other generators do we need? Copse for sure, yes?" They were running dreadfully short of wood already. "Start from what we know we will need and let's work backward. Find out what we can afford to spend now, then we can rank the other options against what we have to spend."

  "Then you can pick what you feel like." Leo snickered, his eyes locked on Ermina, though at an angle where she might not have noticed.

  She gave the snickering Conner an unamused look before turning it full bore on Leo. Apparently, she did notice.

  Ethan coughed, hiding his mouth behind a covering hand. “Ah, that is, Ermina why don’t you start us off?”

  She glared at Leo for a moment longer, then turned back to the table.

  “If you focus on the farming nodes, you’ll find that glacial silt soil is a modifier that ensures at least a 1.5 richness. It's quality soil and we’ll need all 6 acres farmed. But not quickly. You can’t plant till the soil defrosts and dries. I don’t imagine that will require us to race. It probably won’t be ready for the entire first month of spring. More than enough time to plow it manually.” And she did mean man, he reflected with an inner smile. With a distinct lack of oxen or work horses, it would be teams of Labori dragging the plows.

  She paused to take a sip from her cup and Andrew picked up the thread. “We have 77 goats of breeding stock along with 44 sheep. I checked earlier with the herders and twins are the rule for goats, not the exception. Sheep aren’t quite so prolific, but pretty close. With most of both flocks pregnant already, so long as we can keep them well fed-“ A non-trivial condition, though Ethan didn’t bother to debate it. “-we should have around 135 kids and 65 lambs. Not all will make it to adulthood, but that still leaves us in want of a great deal of pasturage and even more hay for next winter. If we figure kids or lambs as half an adult-“

  “Generous in the spring, significantly under by fall.” Miro interjected, Andrew curiously gave her the floor. “Two months, more or less, before they’re weaned. They’ll eat like an adult by winter and be able to breed themselves by the next spring. If we don’t butcher most of them for meat and to reduce the amount of fodder we’ll need for the winter.”

  Andrew stared for a moment, then shook his head. “That’s, well, fast!”

  She giggled. It was an oddly endearing sound. But one that clearly embarrassed the young lady. She glanced down for a moment, then looked back up, mouth half open. Saw Andrews bewildered face and broke down in giggles again.

  Ermina, her own mouth suspiciously twitching stepped in to help her out. “That’s why they’re herd animal, Sir Andrew. Now, while butchering is the natural state of things, I don’t recommend more than a bit of lambing for a few years. We’ll need rennet for cheese making and fresh lamb is quite a treat, but the rest should be encouraged to grow.”

  “It will take an appreciable amount of our total work force to lay in the hay, and we’ll need to be a bit careful about breeding, new Bucks and Rams will be needed periodically, but in a few years we should have a large source for cloth, milk and cheese.”

  Conner broke in with, “Which wes-“

  “We.” Ermina breathed. Not looking up from her list.

  Conner grunted, then started over. “Which, we, will want. Cheese keeps, even without magic. It's energy-dense, and if you cure it right, travels well. Perfect for trail or siege rations.”

  Ethan nodded in agreement. Also tasted pretty damn good. Less so for the rock-hard stuff Conner was describing, but it didn’t all have to be hard cured. He glanced around and, from the look in his eyes, half imagined some drool at the edge of Leo’s mouth.

  “Then all the meadow for pastures, possibly with build points spent to allow overgrazing. That and grazing them up or down the valley and into other meadows from spring through fall.” Andrew supplied. Working the idea around in his head. “Going to need one hell of a guard force at first. Damn wolves.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Damn wolves!” The refrain echoed through the room in a hoarse, angry growl.

  “Could use more herders.” Leo pointed out, balancing his chair on its back two legs and placing a sock-clad foot onto the table. Ethan glared at the offending appendage, but it was James, a bit of cord whipping around the rear legs and giving them a gentle pull that brought them, and him, down. Though without much effect. Leo, catlike, rode the falling piece of furniture down like a tower shield on a snow slope. A hobby that was growing ever more common as the winter months dragged on.

  “A Basic class shouldn’t be that hard to hire.” James pointed out, coiling the cord back up and smiling at Leo’s I’ll-get-you-later stare. “Some of the Forest Keeps are herder cores, they’re not all foresters. And if not, the Riverlands has them in great numbers.”

  “And we do have to make a trip to see my father.” Ermina pointed out as Miro scratched at her parchment furiously.

  “True, but getting a bit far afield. That’s 3 pastures and 6 farms. And we’d make more if we had the nodes.”

  “You can build more of both.” Ermina pointed out calmly. “They just won’t be core recognized and will produce far less.”

  Ethan grunted and waved a hand. He’d known that, but- “It’s not worth it, efficiency-wise. Better to use what rich resources we have and trade for any extras.”

  “If wes, hmph, if we can trade past hostile neighbors.”

  Ethan shrugged. It was a consideration. But he doubted the good baron would consent to robbing trade caravans. He might, and probably would, raise the road flag fees on any that tried to pass him by.

  For that matter, a road tax without a road…

  Still, “We won’t die without extra grain. The hunting, and rifting, will be adequate if we keep at it.”

  “Mostly.” Leo interjected. Suddenly serious. “Here.” He reached into a pouch and poured out a pile of bright green needles. A large pile of some evergreen’s not-leaves, if Ethan was going to judge. A quick trip to the sideboard, while everyone stared at him uncomprehending, yielded a pot of hot water and a stack of cups. Despite the heat and the height of the stack, he handled both with the easy grace that was as much an ubiquitous part of the man as his terrible sense of humor.

  He mixed the needles into the water, shaking it gently, “Should steep longer, but here.”

  He poured 8 cups and passed them out.

  “Are we out of tea that you choose pine tree leaves now?” Andrew asked, unintentionally echoing Ethan's thoughts, and looking doubtfully at the slightly green liquid.

  “Drink it. If you want to keep your teeth.” They stared at him and he grimaced. Scratching at his head as he tried to find the right words.

  “To much meat, not enough plants.” His shoulders rolled backward and he shook his head. “Just drink it.”

  Doubtfully, but he did trust the man, Ethan took a sip and felt his mouth dry out, leaving a sharp, almost citrus note behind a mouth full of wood. Not all that pleasant. But far from the worst thing he’d put in his mouth.

  “Gave the cooks a bag full. Everyone will need to drink it, once a week at least.” He considered, then shrugged. “Collect rose hips next year if you want a better taste.”

  “For our teeth?” Miro asked again, prodding the unappetizing-looking liquid.

  “Bleeding fingernails, rashes, night blindness, diarrhea. You want more? Death if you leave it to long.”

  She flinched at the deadpan delivered list of frightening maladies. Then took a quick gulp of the tea, to an approving nod from Leo.

  Ethan took another drink himself and tried not to sigh. It was always something new. He understood this; they were all learning.

  But why did it feel like herding cats!

  “Six farms, three pastures, the copse, the fishery-“ He paused, then nodded. “We could all use a bit more variety in our diets, and I am partial to fish.”

  “The Berry patches.” James pointed out. “Your brother gave me an earful about them. The tier 1 variety apparently pinged one of his, how did he call it, al-chem-ik-cul-“

  “Alchemical.” Ermina corrected gently.

  “Alchemical,” he agreed easily. “It pinged one of his inspection skills. And even without that, it will be nice to have something sweet.”

  Many voices rose in agreement to that.

  “We-“ The word sounded almost painfully correct coming from Conner's mouth. “-could build the practice ground outside. Will no-“

  “Won’t.”

  “Won’t be useful come winter, but the tools, practice weapons and pells mostly, won’t go to waste. Reuse them for the permanent version later.”

  Ethan nodded, if cautiously. That was a flat waste of points getting the core to recognize an inherently disposable building. But eight months of benefit might be worth the waste. He nodded to Miro and she went back to scratching at the parchment.

  “Wouldn’t mind the Pit.” Guile interjected, for the first time in a while. Ethan had thought him sleeping, so far was he reclined in his chair, wrapped up like a flat bread kebab in a rather luxurious fur throw. “We’re a bit light on entertainment, and without wine, or anything that’ll do the same trick, the Tabernii is pointless.”

  Ethan pointed to Miro again. He was actually half right on for once. Everyone needed a bit of entertainment. Though a bit of music might make the Tabernii worthwhile, even without the wine.

  “Housing.” Ermina chimed in, flicking her fingers twice.

  “For permanent residents and, forgive me for being blunt, us.” Ethan stared at the two screens, unimpressed. The first looked fairly expensive, and the second miserable. Though perhaps, he expanded the modular upgrades and nodded. Raise the ceilings and the morale penalty disappeared. Add beds and mattresses and it got into minor buff territory. Increased the materials costs, but not by all that much. If they had more wood available at least.

  “Want a palace, do you?” Guile quipped, staring rather longingly at the half-filled amphora of wine in its place of honor on the wall.

  “A proper great hall at the very least.” She fired back, unbothered. “Eating is an important ritual, and without a proper place to do it, we are failing to reinforce the codes and social obligations that will ensure proper, mostly peaceful rulership of a fief.”

  She raised an eyebrow, daring him to disagree. He merely smiled, unbothered and uncaring, raising the needle tea in a salute before downing it in one go, leaving Ethan wincing, his taste buds crying out in pity for their forlorn brethren across the table. Did the man ever bother to taste what he drank?

  “But that wasn’t entirely what I was aiming for. It's high time we moved out of a tent in a cave and into something a bit more private. An actual room and bed at the very least. There are standards, My Lord.” And if her cheeks were dusted with a bit or red, everyone pretended not to notice. Or mostly everyone.

  Miro hand moved in a forceful jerk. Underlining something if he had to guess. Then two more times as Leo snickered softly in the background.

  “Do you know where you want them?” Ethan offered, before the two women tried to lynch the scout.

  “Yes.” Ermina offered, immiadiatly distracted. She stood and walked over to the wall, returning a moment later with a scroll. A bit of work had the rotuli extended and propped open. It was a flat view of the main tunnel and the slowly growing network of caves and buildings around it.

  The industry square and practice cave were the largest openings, but the combined space of the village seed galleries was larger than either by a good bit.

  She tapped easily at the tunnel that led to this very room, and The Bir’ding Gate just shy of them. “This should be the noble district. A gate house or guard post at the tunnel entrance-“

  Conner nodded sharply at that. “-for propriety and safety. Both for us and that gate. I think access to it is going to become one of the largest single rewards you can offer, My Lord. So the great hall directly across from it would be nicely symbolic. Place it front and center where anyone we invite to our table will see it, coming and going.”

  Ethan smiled. That would rather reinforce the point. Bluntly to. Not that that was a bad thing. Common soldiers and Basics both, subtlety was often lost on them.

  “Two additional entrances, one here-“ She pointed to the side closest to the main tunnel “- for the cooking staff, and here-“ she pointed behind the dais, “-for nobles to enter and exit. This route should lead to a few guest rooms and our residence. I’d considered placing the Magisters Tower back here as well, but I don’t believe we want the many patients waiting to be healed to have access to our private quarters.”

  Ethan stared at the loosely sketched shapes, the heights even helpfully lined out. And quite high heights they were for the great hall. Two rows of columns inset 10 feet from both walls and leaving a 30-foot expanse in the middle, all connected by a massive barrel vault the length of the 60-foot room? Would she want a figure of the divine and man trying to touch fingers while she was at it?

  But then again, such structures weren’t awe-inspiring to stroke his ego. They were there to inspire that awe in his subjects. A far cheaper, and gentler, stick then armed repression.

  It would still take a great deal of work. Not that many points, though, when he really looked at it. Not at first, at least. Built it up in phases, more space as the builders finished each section, bricks and voussoirs when needed. And no open space would ever be wasted when most were snowed in for the winter...

  It had potential.

  But how much work would it take to actualize?

  ___

  Squares are 15ft x 15ft.