There was no information available online on the system but I knew it existed from my [Land Management] menu and could clearly see it as a grayed out tab. It was all purely conjecture but I believed in my intuition.
My intuition had always been fairly sharp and was not often wrong… I've got an Ancient Relic's power to show for it after all.
By the fourteenth real-world day I had finally finished erecting my log lodge. It was a massive structure with misleading stature.
Standing only four feet tall at the surface at the lowest point, up to six feet at the highest point of the centerline of the roof, it simply didn't seem like much from the outside. But then all you had to do was walk down the wood and dirt ramp to find yourself inside a massive 57,600~ cubic feet structure.
The 60'x60' two-story floor plan with an 8' high ceiling at the minimum per floor provided roughly 3,600 square feet of surface on the basement or underground floor, while the partially buried first floor formed a square-ring that was open in the center allowing for a completely spacious and roomy atmosphere.
You wouldn't suffer any claustrophobia here.
Following the wooden stairs at either side brought you to the basement floor which had partial log walls that extended out a few feet to allow for some semblance of privacy but kept the entire place open.
I envisioned a large gathering of families sitting around a fireplace with tables strewn about the middle of the floor, beds formed along the walls with leather hides serving as curtains separating the "rooms" of the inhabitants.
Along the partially buried first floor NPCs would have space for their crafts and could perform their work indoors during the harsh winter while enjoying the sunlight from the wood cutouts that served as makeshift windows for the time being. I figured it could easily hold a few families without issue and with plenty of space to spare for storage.
Standing back and admiring my completed work that was economically a work of wonder, both in cost to acquire and in future cost to maintain; I felt incredibly proud. As my chest swelled with pride and the moment was being committed to memory I was disturbed by a system message:
[You have completed a Large Private Residence.]
[Information within the Land Management Tab has been Updated.]
[Do you wish to add this building to your list of Personal Homes?]
[Yes / No]
…I was a bit thrown off by the question.
Deductive reasoning proposes an alternate result if one selects [No] but it could certainly end up as a logical fallacy since I had no proof or information for the alternative. The building could just end up as unclaimed and I would lose my chance to claim it as my own property. I imagine that's how it works when players hire out others, a contract would be made and rights would be transferred.
Or something like that, at least.
I also didn't know what would happen if I selected [Yes], would it be locked as a [Personal Home] and that's all? I thought for a moment to contact a Game Master, to have him or her resolve my dilemma but for the most part they would only respond to issues within the game such as a bug or abuse.
I selected [No] and was flooded with system messages:
[The Large Private Residence has been converted to a Large Open Residence.]
[Rights to the Building belong to the Land Owner and can be accessed at any time within the Land Management Tab.]
[Information within the Land Management Tab has been Updated.]
[You have established a Public Property, do you wish to change the Territory Designation from Campsite to Village?]
[Yes / No]
Letting out a large heave as I relaxed my shoulders from the tension I couldn't help but smile. I was relieved that nothing strange had happened but instead, ended up with the exact result that was being sought.
I took a deep breathe of relief and stood still for a moment, then quickly selected [Yes].
[You have selected to designate your Territory as a Village.]
[All Land Management Sub-Menus are now available.]
[Information within the Land Management Tab has been Updated.]
Browsing through the tabs that had been previously grayed out, the majority of them were empty for now but showed promise for the future. They would come in handy one day but for now I let them be.
Then I made my way to the NPC-Recruiter tab, the one that I had been anticipating for quite some time.
Opening the tab I was soon stunned by the amount of subcategories that were immediately brought within sight. Expanding the menu to fill my entire field of vision I tried to grasp what I was looking at.
There was so much information that I was completely lost, unable to comprehend exactly what was hovering before me.
I decided to sit down and spend the next few hours going through every menu available. I might not have been the first to establish a home but there was a good chance I was one of the first to have stumbled into the NPC-Recruiter. I knew at the very least, that I was a part of the exclusive group of [The First Settlers].
That gave me some confidence going forward.
But before I could get too carried away I was alerted by another system message:
[Please enter the Name of your Village.]
[Once a Name has been designated, it cannot be changed.]
I looked out and around the land laid before me, taking in all of the nuances it offered and came to a conclusion.
[You have entered: Dragon's Breach.]
[Do you wish to confirm: Dragon's Breach, as the name of your Village?]
[Yes / No]
I selected [Yes].
It was a simple name with a simple story.
The stories of the land were that of a Thunder Dragon that ruled the mountain directly behind my village, the same mountain where I received the Lightning of the Gods.
At the tail end of the mountain, the river that exits out to the sea splits the tail as the mountains rise up on either side, creating a breached wall of sorts.
Yeah, the dragon's tail was breached by the river.
It seemed fitting.
Believing my task completed, I was about to continue reading through the tabs of information that had been unlocked before I was interrupted once more. The system message this time was a bit peculiar:
[Do you wish to make your Village known?]
[Yes / No]
I didn't understand the question.
Thinking things over, did that mean I could click [Yes] and the village would become known throughout the world? Was it so simple? Was that a good thing? Ideas were quickly running through my mind as I contemplated the theoretical benefits of such a decision, while trying to weigh the theoretical negatives as well.
Making decisions based off a lack of information was a travesty and I hated to commit such a crime, but I had no other information to go on.
Well, without knowing the consequences of such an answer, I had decided on [No]. Making my selection, I was soon prompted with another system message:
[Your Village will not be known as a Starter Location.]
[If you wish to change this at any time, please check the corresponding Tab.]
[Information within the Land Management Tab has been Updated.]
Mumbling to myself, "Oh, so that's how it worked."
Guess I made the right decision after all.
I'm glad I didn't select [Yes].
Chapter 29: NPC-Recruiter Oh My
(Sunday, April 25th Game Day / Monday, February 8th Real Day)
After combing through the entire Land Management Tab and all of the subsequent Tabs such as the NPC-Recruiter, I was of the belief that I had a solid understanding of all of the information provided. Though it took me nearly four hours of reading to understand it all, it was certainly worth it.
What I had found out was that recruiting NPCs for those who own a village or greater involves a rather interesting mini-game system that is rather time-consuming as well.