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It was still a bit before go-time, and Erick was fretting. He had a simple plan, because anything overly complicated was doomed to fail. That plan went like this:

Get everyone into the same room.

Ensure violence would not happen.

Proceed to lay out some general duties so that everyone understood what they were getting into.

And then they would talk some, and Erick would assign smaller duties as necessary, for he surely hadn’t thought of everything that needed to be assigned. He assumed that this would take the longest amount of time, and most of the actual problems would arise here if not in that initial meeting.

Then he would assign the other 42 new hires to the various departments. He assumed that this section would also have a fair bit of discussion and anger. Hopefully, he could control this anger.

And that was it. His whole plan for this entire day.

Erick doubted that they would be able to get through everything in a single day. If they got through half of his goals he would be thrilled. He was pretty sure that he could keep the peace, though. Either way, he had rooms for the reincarnated back on Yggdrasil, while the wrought and the people of Ar’Cosmos already had their rooms inside the tower. All of those spaces were [Fairy Stronghold]s, too, so they were immune to casual observation.

Everyone would be mostly safe after the meeting, too, because he would be there.

“… Gods above I hope this works,” Erick said, as he paced in his kitchen.

Once again, Erick glanced at the clock on the wall. That clock had been a gift from Stratagold, back when Erick visited their district and he admired the clock tower, which had both the local time on top of the tower, and Stratagold time on a separate dial, just below the local clock. It was a small marvel that they had thought to put up such a tower, and that Erick hadn’t thought of such a thing first. Upon seeing the obvious utility of such a double clock, Erick wanted every district to have a tower like that, but he also wanted clocks on a wall inside House Benevolence that displayed every single time zone from every other Gate-linked land out there.

The clock on his wall right now was the first of many, for sure. It wasn’t the nice, solid green jade magical clock that Erick had had back in Ar’Cosmos, but mechanical clocks were nice, too.

Erick kinda wanted that jade clock back, though. Maybe he could ask Ar’Cosmos to provide a bunch of—

Teressa set a cinnamon roll on the table beside him, saying, “You look like you could use another.”

Erick chuckled a little. “Ahh. I am a bit of a mess right now—” Eyes wide, Erick looked around again. “How are we on supplies? Did we run out of anything important?”

The kitchen was absolutely filled with food of all kinds, but most of it was small cakes and rolls. There were large glass containers for coffee and tea, and that rounded out this morning’s general needs. Erick was all set to host a nice meeting between the overseers. If the day went super well, then Erick was halfway ready to host a get-together between all of his people.

Mephistopheles would be coming to partake of his planned role in an upcoming ‘royal court’. The only other person in that court was Zolan, so it wasn’t much of a court at all, but—

“Fuck,” Erick said, “I need a different name for the governors court— Oh! I can just call it that.”

Erick’s schedule was very full. Today was a massive day.

Teressa was still on Erick’s previous question, though, answering, “We’re low on almost all of the odder stuff, but that’s only because we haven’t been taking care of the garden recently. Stuff like flour and basic vegetables are taken care of, but stuff like beef and chicken are not.”

Erick stood straight. “What? No meat? But I had just looked...” He gazed outward with Ophiel, looking at the lands on Candlepoint’s southern edge. “Ah. Daetroi’s herds are still small— Wait… I don’t see any chickens? Where are the chickens? He had, like, a good four hundred of them with more being hatched and grown every day.” He counted the cows. He scowled. “And surely we didn’t go through a third of the herd in 20 days?”

Poi said, “Someone grabbed all of the chickens two nights ago and the cows have been vanishing, too. Slip has been investigating, but we think they were stolen by external forces. No real way to get them back, either.”

… What?

Erick had a surreal moment of disbelief, and then came the anger.

“What. The. Fuck.” Erick scowled at the world as he looked deeper into the manasphere near the former chicken coops. Two days ago was easy enough to [Witness], but it was still cloudy due to the passage of time. “… What the fuck? They all just… Flew away?” Erick looked more. “They flew away into the desert, and that’s everything. It ends there, some vanishing before the others, but all of them eventually vanish.” He came back to himself and looked around, asking, “They’re usually not that good at flying. Or [Teleport]ing?”

Teressa shrugged. “We think it’s a subtle [Husbandry]-[Teleport] spell, [Call the Flock]. A rare spell, but the Class Herder can get something like that.”

Poi shrugged. “It’s a theory.”

“… [Husbandry Teleport] is an option?” Erick frowned, mostly at himself. “Of course it’s an option.”

“You have to brand them, first.” Teressa said, “That means someone branded all the animals before they stole them but that could have happened weeks ago. Haven’t been able to find anything on that, either, so Slip is chasing down leads.”

Erick sighed. “Okay. So. No chicken for a while. Okay. Okay…” Erick frowned. “That’s just fucking annoying— Nope. Out of my hands. Not my problem right now. It’ll take Daetroi what? Two weeks to get back up and running?”

Teressa frowned a little. “Ehhh. Two months?”

“Months! Why would it take—” Erick shook his head. “Nope. Not a problem right now.” He looked around the room. “This makes all of this food a bit more extravagant than I thought it was, and yet, it’s not that special at all.”

Teressa burst out a laugh. “Sorry if I’m not a Cook, Boss.”

Kiri and Jane both frowned at Erick at the same time. Kiri was mixing up a bowl of cake batter in the kitchen, while Jane was icing more cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven.

Jane slapped down her knife, and then sarcastically said, “I could throw them out. We could have nothing instead. Nothing will probably taste a lot better than our meager offerings.”

“I don’t even like lemon cake,” Kiri said, setting down her bowl with much to-do.

Erick eyed them all, then said, “That’s not what I mea— Shit.” He caught sight of the clock. “It’s time.”

Jane went back to icing the cinnamon rolls, sighing as she said, “We’ll catch up.”

Erick looked to his daughter, and his apprentice, and his guard, and his prognosticator.

His family.

Was he being too hard on them? Shit. Maybe he was.

“Sorry,” Erick said, “I know this has been rough on all of you, too—”

“Dad. It’s fine.” Jane said, “And no. It’s not been that rough at all. Nothing has happened besides a lot of standing around and watching you work.”

“Yes. But.” Erick looked at Jane, saying, “You don’t want to do that. I know you want to be anywhere else but here.” He looked to Kiri. “You and I haven’t done nearly enough magic.” He looked to Teressa and Poi, saying, “… Actually. Are you two happy?”

Teressa smiled. “Yeah. I am.”

“Me too,” Poi said. “I’m perfectly content.”

“Ah! Good.” Erick said, “Two out of two. Okay.”

Kiri sheepishly said, “I thought we were pretending to be mad.” She furrowed her brow, and said, “If this whole House Benevolence works —And I’m going to work to make sure it does! This whole thing is among the most important events to ever happen to this world… And to me too, too, I suppose. I’m happy, Erick. I am… Just a bit bored, but that’s fine? That’s fine.”

Jane looked to everyone, and then frowned. She actually was a bit mad. Erick couldn’t blame her for that, but she certainly seemed to blame herself. Jane said, “Okay. Well. I guess I’m the odd woman out. Sorry. I should have…” Her voice trailed away. And then she breathed deep, and said, “Kiri is right. I don’t know what came over me. I mean… This is everything I ever wanted, too, right? Like… Making a clear and obvious good difference in the world? Yes. That’s everything I want.”

It was not everything she wanted, at all. She wanted to get out from her father’s shadow, and every single day that desire grew. And yet, she did actually want to make the world a better place. She just wanted to do more violence and less guarding.

… Erick could do nothing about that right now, but he would need to send her and maybe Sitnakov out on assignment, or something. Both of them were struggling—

He realized something.

Erick asked, “You haven’t been able to go out and find your sword, have you?”

Jane frowned, embarrassed. “No. I haven’t. It’s not a big deal, either.”

“It is a big deal.” Erick asked, “Would you be okay with me making that a task for you and some of the other enforcers? I’m going to need some tasks to give out at the meeting. Some assignments that I can set as small, achievable goals, which will make the Overseers all work together. I didn’t really have one for Enforcement yet. And! I need to ask you about that, too. You still want to go hunt monsters, right? I’m hoping to be able to put you into Enforcement for monster hunts.”

Jane’s face flushed a bit red with embarrassment. “I… Yeah. Yeah. I want to do that. That’s great. That’s.. That’s really good, dad.”

Erick felt a thrum of joy in his soul to see his daughter happy again. “Okay! Then here’s the plan: We’ll go to the throne room, and from there I’ll pick up the people from Oceanside. I want you to bring in the breakfast stuff up there, soon. I’ll send a [Gate] for you. Start making the coffee now, please. And then…” Erick breathed in, out, then said, “And everything will come together, or something.”

“On it! Coffee!” Jane said, moving to the machine.

Erick simply nodded. Then he turned to his right, and opened a [Gate].

Without another word, he got on with the day.

- - - -

In Erick’s opinion, the throne room at the top of the tower was the best location for all the major meetings of the House, but that room wasn’t quite finished. Until last night. While laying in bed and unable to sleep, Erick frantically worked through Ophiels to make the room presentable and functional. Shaping tables out of eternal stonewood. Reluctantly making a throne (that he wasn’t going to use in the actual meeting). Making chairs that fit the table. Realizing that the shape of his table would mean a lot going forward, he scrapped all that he had come up with and turned the table into something else. Lighting. Carving the walls. Fixing everything that he had disturbed while he had done all that movement.

Erick stepped out of his living room and into a place that almost looked like a clearing in the woods, but it was not that at all.

Teressa stepped out of the portal behind him, looking around, her eyes going wide.

Poi smirked as he stepped through, saying, “You could have gone more fancy.”

“It’s pretty fancy already,” Teressa said.

“Oh! Let me see!” Kiri said, rushing through the portal— She stopped on the other side. “Ah? Hmm.”

Jane followed through next, her eyebrows rising as she looked around. “It’s rather… Prismatic, dad.”

“It’s not that prismatic… Eh?” Erick asked, “Is it too much?”

The white throne room at the top of House Benevolence was 40 meters across, and had a dome roof made of triangular sections of glass that fit together like hexagons. Pillars in the shape of tree trunks lined the room like reliefs, their branches stretching up into that domed ceiling, holding it aloft, while their roots flowed a good 3 meters out from the wall in gentle tangles. In most places, those roots were simple, and would not hinder people walking out of the hidden doors Erick had installed all around the room, but it was easy to see that the roots meant something, for those roots stopped abruptly as they reached that 3 meter demarcation. Where the roots stopped, they formed a circular lip all around the room. That lip meant something, but it was hard to see from just that clue.

The full breadth of Erick’s Shaping revealed itself in the smooth floor beyond that lip of faux roots, when that smooth floor transitioned into faux tilework.

All around the room, the empty space between the roots and the tile remained unbroken, except in the north. There was an empty space there, where a short dais rested; the circular design was the rune of [Renew], and Erick’s throne would go where the gap lay in the rune. Erick was perhaps most happy about that part of his design.

But the room was very white, as it was made entirely out of eternal stonewood. To counter this, Erick had added color by placing special wardlights onto the ‘leaves’ of every single ‘tree’ that surrounded the room. He had even put up sconces all around, attached to the trees. Rainbow lights, ever shifting in their nuanced colors, glowed upon those sconces.

The throne room was a lot of green, and white, and nuanced rainbow, but it was actually all just plain white light; Erick had gotten the idea for such lighting from Redflame’s castle in Ar’Cosmos. All those lights were Carnage red flames, but they all gave off plain white light.

Erick was less than thrilled about the throne, but it had been necessary to have one, and so he did.

The throne was of similar make to the one at Candlepoint; a simple white throne that was easy to sit upon. This one was slightly different, in that he had thrown a ribbon of rainbow-white light across the back of that one. Other than that it was nothing special.

Erick moved through the room as he pointed and explained, “The echo was pretty bad in here until I added the tree pillars and all the faux foliage; now the sound is somewhat diffuse. There are doors hidden in the forest, mostly where the roots are absent, but all of the setup for this room is kept below. There are stage doors in the floor here; that’s where I put the furniture.” Those furniture pieces began blipping into space in the center of the room. “Ophiel is helping me move them up for today. The only main entrance is through those trees over there, at the southern end of the room; they fold inward. The room beyond that fake forest wall is meant for food delivery. That’s where you’ll come in from.

“I went with a simple round table for the meeting, and all the chairs I made for it are all the same.” Erick began arranging those chairs around the large table. “I won’t actually sit in the throne while we’re having a normal meeting. The throne is for special events… I guess. I also made a whole bunch of other tables that can go all around the entire room, sitting on the [Renew] rune or otherwise, which is where I will put them for the larger gatherings I have here, but the party tonight —if we get that far— will be at the atrium downstairs.

“And this is basically it!” Erick put a hand on the back of the chair he planned to sit on; it was exactly the same as the other chairs around the 4 meter wide circular table. “What do you think?”

Teressa glanced at the table, saying, “That needs to be bigger.”

“… Eh?” Erick asked, “But it’s orcol-sized already?”

Poi said, “You’ve got under two meters of distance between you and your next nearest person, and that won’t [Fly]. Also, the center of the table needs to be empty, so everyone can see each other’s feet and to see if they’re working magic underneath. Also, Sitnakov is coming in right now.”

Right on cue, The Adamantium Wind stepped out of the air and into the room. He happily said, “Morning! It’s time for the great big meeting, right?”

“Yes.” Erick said, “And I hope to the gods above and all others besides that this goes well.”

Poi nodded, adding, “I’m reasonably sure that we’ll have some unexpected guests, so you need to add more space to that table just for that reason.”

Sitnakov looked at the table. “That’s too small.”

“Okay okay.” Erick looked to Jane and Kiri. “Please get things ready; I’m closing the [Gate] after you go back through.” The two girls rapidly complied, returning through the portal to home. Erick closed the [Gate] and began reshaping the table, doing as Poi and Sitnakov suggested. “Six meters across mean around 2.5 meters between everyone. If two more people show up then that’s two meters between each person?”

Poi nodded; acceptable. Then he said, “Oceanside has alerted me that they are ready for pickup. Aisha, Burhendurur, and Volaro will be ready to join the meeting when you call for them. Within 15 minutes?”

Erick nodded. “Within 15.” He looked across the world to Oceanside, where four people awaited in a courtyard at the hospital; three people Erick expected, and Kirginatharp. He opened a [Gate] from there to here and turned to them, saying, “Hello, everyone.”

Kirginatharp asked, “How is the housing for the others?”

He was nervous.

Erick was nervous.

Both of them tried not to show it.

Erick said, “The housing is ready when the people are ready to come back. Everything is secured behind [Fairy Stronghold]s, runic webs, redundant illusions, and a direct promise from you-know-who to not go into those spaces where she has not been invited. I have explicitly uninvited her, too.”

Kirginatharp breathed deep, then he turned to Zolan, Mox, and Raingorl. “It’s been a pleasure working with you all these years. I look forward to continuing to work with you in your new home, and profession.” He turned to Erick. “Thank you, Erick. Everyone else might be a day or two getting ready. They’ll be waiting.”

Erick nodded, then he turned to his new people. “Welcome to House Benevolence, Zolan Brightborn, Mox Dawnborn, and Raingorl Brightsnapper. I didn’t mean to change your names, but it happened. I hope you’re happy with everything else.”

All three of them wore impeccable clothes—

Fuck. Erick needed a theme for his clothes, didn’t he? Or was that too ‘Star Wars’ trooper armor? Whatever the case, Kirginatharp or someone else had taken notice of how Erick had styled his own [Conjure Armor] these days. They had made similar clothes for his new Overseers; mostly white, but with black accents.

— on their new, younger bodies. Zolan was an absolute hunk of a 20-something demi, with nice violet skin, black hair, and small horns, and Erick was embarrassed for himself that he had an instinctual reaction upon seeing the guy, but there was no other way to say it other than Zolan was fucking hot. Which was fine. Zolan seemed perfectly aware of his body, if his casual expression of solidity was anything to go by, or perhaps he was just ready to start the workday, for real. He was ready to be political.

Mox wore white and black as well, which contrasted nicely with her dark skin. The human woman was also 20-something, and a fire seemed to burn in her dark eyes that was brighter than the sun. She was ready for anything.

Raingorl was your standard stupidly-beautiful 19-ish orcol man, blessed by the Goddess of Beauty and Brutality, Aloethag. That blessing hadn’t been so obvious back when Erick had sent the guy to Oceanside to recover, but now that Raingorl was up and about, that blessing was obviously present. He wore his black hair cropped short, and his clothes a bit loose. His left hand seemed to want to grip something, but he was probably just missing his cane, since he didn’t need it anymore.

The three ‘youngsters’ came through the [Gate] at near the same time, and then each of them took a knee, putting one hand over their chest and the other to the ground.

They lowered their heads and spoke in unison, “We owe you our lives, Apparent King and Wizard of Benevolence, Erick Flatt. We hope to repay your kindness and your trust by supporting the growth of your ideals, and of your House. Thank you for accepting us under your aegis.”

Unexpected, but perhaps Erick should have expected this. He spoke calmly, “Rise, and join me as we discuss our place in the world, and how to make everything better for everyone that we can.”

They rose.

Zolan had a small smirk he couldn’t control. Mox was relaxed, and prepared. Raingorl chuckled a little; he was happy to be of service to a higher ideal again. All three of them had missed this. All three of them had been exactly the kind of people who wanted to make the world a better place in the first place, which is why they went to work with Kirginatharp, the Headmaster. Time had made mockery of their efforts, and so they had to retire.

But now, they were here, out of retirement, and ready to resume with their life’s work, under a different power.

Erick turned and looked to Kirginatharp, standing on the other side of the [Gate]. The sun beat down at an angle over there, casting the gold and white master of Oceanside into tiny shadows. Here, at the Gate District of Candlepoint, the room was awash with white light from a thousand sources, while overhead the sky was golden with dawn.

Erick nodded to Kirginatharp.

Kirginatharp nodded to Erick.

And then Erick closed the [Gate].

He took a moment to breathe, and then he broke the ice, asking, “Any problems you’ve noticed? Everything working out well?”

Zolan said, “Everything is working out very well.”

Erick smiled. “Good.”

“I haven’t needed to clean and heal as usual for the first time in 95 years.” Mox said, “I now have a whole extra hour of every day, and an extra 3500 mana.”

“That’s great!” Erick said.

“Aloethag seems to have taken pleasure in my return to youth.” Raigngorl frowned a little, but even that looked hot on him. “She has given me a stronger blessing than usual. It should not affect my work.”

“Okay… That’s different.” Erick asked, “It’s okay?”

Raingorl smiled brightly. “I can live with it.”

“Ah. Good! Great.” Erick looked at the three of them, asking, “Any other changes I should know about?”

Zolan said, “All of our magical signatures are either paler or outright white. Mine is the color of new sand.”

“Mine is full-white,” Mox said.

“New growth green,” Raingorl said.

A bit weird! But fine! Erick was happy, for every one of these people seemed happy, and that’s what mattered. But it was time to switch gears. He was their boss, now. Erick looked at the three of them, and said, “Your counterparts will be joining us shortly.”

Zolan, Mox, and Raingorl each seemed to flick a switch, and turn professional. The time for small talk was not exactly over, but it was also time to work.

Erick had two different Ophiel each open up two different [Gate]s, about ten meters apart from each other. The celesteel human wrought, Aisha, stood on the other side of one portal, while the incani-like Burhendurur and the orcol-like Volaro stood together behind the other [Gate].

Erick said to them, “Please join us in the throne room. We will be discussing the future of our organization now.”

Aisha gave a small bow and strode forward. She wore robes that looked almost exactly like Erick’s, but fit for a woman, and made of her own iridescent silver body.

Burhendurur and Volaro gave small nods and walked into the room. Both of them wore robes like Erick’s, too, which was good. But they had made a mistake and it had nothing to do with what they wore.

Erick told the two dragons, “Eventually, I hope to attain a certain easy familiarity with each of you, and therefore there will be no need for bows or other such acknowledgments of stations. But that time is not right now.” He stared at them. “Everyone else bowed.”

The two dragons startled, and then they bowed. Everyone else gave small expressions of relief, righteousness, and gathered solidity. Burhendurur and Volaro did not seem put off by being put in their place, either, for in each of their minds, Erick could tell that yes, that had been a small test, and that they were both personally miffed at being called out on their antics, and relieved that antics would not be tolerated. Volaro actually seemed pleased with himself, as if he had given Erick a way to rise above the other people in the room at a small cost to Volaro’s own pride. Volaro seemed to have pride to spare, so this much was nothing to him.

Weird, but fine?

Good, actually.

Volaro seemed to have no trouble in being told that he was crossing a line, or perhaps he was fine with Erick telling him off. At least this would make it easier for Erick to tell Volaro that his judgements were unjust, and for the Carnage Dragon to do something else.

“Okay.” Erick turned to everyone, caught a hundred smaller thoughts in the expressions of eyes and shoulders and heartbeats and tensing hands of all his people, and said, “Everyone please have a seat where I placed the wardlight with your name and position.”

Without words, and in a guarded manner, the six of them complied.

Zolan sat to Erick’s immediate left, then there was Mox, then Raingorl, followed by Aisha, Volaro, and Burhendurur. The glowing names and positions faced toward the center of the table, so that everyone could read the others’ more easily.

Erick opened with, “Welcome, everyone. First, thank you all for choosing to be a part of House Benevolence. Together, the seven of us here and whoever comes afterward, will be working to make all the world a better place, a more connected place, a safer place, for all of us and all people, even those who have historically been enemies. Enemies of others, or enemies of ourselves, it does not matter. We work toward a brighter future.

“For our toil, we will be powerful, and able to cause change on a large scale. Mostly, I expect this change to come through proving our economic strength, and the strength of our defense, in order to provide peace and prosperity and to raise the standard of living across the entire world.

“We will even open new worlds, eventually.

“There will be difficulty, of course. I had expected to fight off at least one war by now, but that has not happened, likely due in no small part to the wrought and Oceanside and Ar’Cosmos and others each working in the background, in their own ways, to make this happen. You and your people all came to this table, ready to cooperate, and I thank you for your presence, and your oaths of fealty.

“I will prove myself and my goals worthy of your trust, and I hope you will do the same.

“I have a small measure of tasks to get done today, but after that, I hope that all of you will be able to talk with each other, and to plan whatever you wish to plan, and to work together to make our wishes of a better future come to fruition.” Erick paused, then he said, “Here is what I want to do, today:

“Introductions.

“Delineation of overarching duties and expectations, as understood by me.

“Then there will be a small break for refreshments.

“Then we will come back, and you all will speak of your delineation of duties, as understood by you.

“We will then have a reconciliation of overlaps and blank spots, in order to clear out those overlaps and assign those blank spots.

“And then we can work through the resumes of others I have already gotten and already assigned to your various offices. Some of my assignments will not be met with approval, but if you have better ideas of who should be assigned where, then I will accept or deny those adjustments.

“We might not get through all of that, but that is the entirety of the goal today.

“I expect we’ll need about a month before a lot of the historical angers begin to lessen. I expect at least one or two fights, and for some sort of real problem to appear. I hope, though, that that does not happen, and that there is only peace under the roof of his House. Angry, hurtful peace is fine, for now. In the future, I expect real, lasting peace and cooperation. I am sure almost all of you already know each other, but we will do this properly, anyway. We will begin with introductions.” Erick turned to his left, saying, “Zolan, if you would start. Please keep it under 5 minutes, or shorter, then we will move on to Mox, then Raingorl, then Aisha, then Volaro, then Burhendurur.”

Zolan looked out across his new compatriots. He held a thousand judgments about all of them, with most of those judgments cast upon the obvious-dragons. Some of those thoughts were good. Some were gauges of danger. But he put hope into his voice, as he said, “Zolan Goldbranch, now Zolan Brightborn; a foible of our King’s magic. My previous boss was an enemy to some of you, and a friend to most of you. That will likely bring difficulty, but the Headmaster is doing all he can to ensure that this works. Our Apparent King will become the living embodiment of a treaty between Oceanside and Ar’Cosmos, but more than that, I believe that House Benevolence will change the world for the better, and I, as Castellan of this House, will do my part to ensure that this House functions as best it can.

“I was at the center of Oceanside’s business for nearly 85 years, turning problems into opportunities and spinning gold out of every place I touched. I can do the same for this land, our king, and you, if you will work with me to make it so.”

He stopped there.

Mox spoke, “Mox Dawnborn, formerly Dawnsider. I think I directly fought against you, Burhendurur, for I remember your horns in that one battle against Hullbreaker north of Eidolon. I hope to not be doing any more of that sort of fighting at all. My hope is to raise this land to glory and power and change for the better, and to raise a family when I am able.”

Mox finished, faster than Erick would have thought.

Raingorl spoke, “Raingorl Brightsnapper, formerly Bonesnapper. The only one of you that I know is Zolan. I plan on making universities and other such schools, as well as seeing to the overall health and wellbeing of this land. I would ask you all not to start fights among the rest of us who are just trying to live our lives and make good with what we have.”

… A bit more antagonistic than Mox.

Burhendurur allowed himself a small frown that he had been holding back from giving Mox. Volaro narrowed his Carnage red eyes, not appreciating Raingorl’s smack against his honor.

Aisha barreled on, “Aisha, formerly of Stratagold and remaining of Archmage’s Rest, but my allegiance is now to our king, and to House Benevolence. My hope is to understand how Benevolence can stop all Sunderings, and to ensure that the magic that comes out of this House is of benefit to us all.”

Sure. Fine.

Aisha defused most of the obvious anger in the room.

Volaro spoke, “Volaro, formerly of House Carnage of Ar’Cosmos. Judge, primarily. I find myself dissatisfied that we two dragons are pitted against four of you. I can only hope that our king will be able to see that he is being led astray by the warmonger Mox and the golden thief Zolan, before disaster [Strike]s.”

Erick frowned.

But he said nothing. No one said anything against Volaro. Zolan did have a certain smirk in his eyes, though. Mox frowned a little, as though she were hearing some sort of weird lie that she just couldn’t even begin to understand.

Burhendurur said, “Burhendurur, formerly of House Death of Ar’Cosmos. My department will be the enforcement arm for House Benevolence, therefore I doubt that this situation here is as simple as my colleague formerly from House Carnage says; 2 against 4. It is more like me against every single one of you, for I will not suffer violence under this roof, and I will work tirelessly to ensure that everyone— Including you Volaro— does not physically harm anyone else. I am more than capable of fielding that duty.” He continued, “To that end, I have seen anomalies in the manasphere of this House. Some of them belong to your airy agents, Mox. Stop that. You are not allowed to enact violence on this land, and these spots are always preludes to your assassinating actions.” He said to Erick, “Other manasphere disturbances belong to Fairy Moon, who we have already asked to stop. Others still belong to Shade Goldie. The Shade of Assassination is here, now, standing beside your throne. Right back there.”

People tensed, including Erick, as Goldie stepped out of the air ten meters behind Erick, near his throne.

The goldscale Shade wore the same black armor she had worn when last Erick saw her, at that ritual in the desert not 25 days ago. Her massive black sword held in the air behind her like a guillotine edge, waiting to strike, but her face was almost relaxed. Erick was a bit worried that she was showing up now, after having been in the wind for almost an entire month, but she looked… ready to receive orders? He supposed?

Everyone else was terribly worried… Except for Sitnakov, standing off to the side.

The giant adamantium man looked ready to fight.

Erick wanted none of that, though.

With a bit of easy sunform, Erick silently turned his chair to face the woman. “Hello, Goldie. Good of you to join us. Would you like to take a chair, or watch from back there?”

“It would be easier for everyone if I remained in the shadows until called upon,” Goldie said, her eyes bright white with the power of her god. “I would have everyone know that I will suffer no underling to order me about; I will only take orders from you, my lord.”

“Fair enough. Thank you for your attendance Goldie. I will accept your report on the Chelation War afterward. At ease.”

Goldie relaxed, fading back into the empty air.

Erick turned back to the table, saying, “Excellent introductions, everyone, if a bit more antagonistic than necessary, in some cases. If we can keep it to that level and not escalate, then I will count this as a win.”

Zolan stared a little at Erick as he realized once more that he was dealing with true power; that Erick might look like a normal guy, but that was very far from the truth. Mox was simply ready for actual shit to hit the fan; these small words by dragons and a Shade and a Wizard were not nearly as bad as she had expected. Raingorl was feeling that he had gotten his foot stuck in a [Force Trap] and he wasn’t sure how to move; he couldn’t go anywhere.

Aisha was calm, though she was focused more on the person standing behind Erick, than on Erick— She glanced left, and then right…

She was watching Goldie, specifically, wasn’t she? She was.

Goldie aside, Volaro and Burhendurur were obviously in cahoots and trying to see how far they could push the power Erick had given them, but Erick fully expected that. He did not expect them to actually... Approve of Goldie’s presence? They liked that Goldie was here? But… Yeah. He was reading that right—

Oh.

They liked that Erick was able to command Shades around.

For that put them on the same level as Shades, which was actually a very large power increase for them.

They liked that.

Well okay then.

Erick said, “And those are the introductions. Now, we will begin the actual meeting. Zolan. You had a note-taking magic, correct? Did you regain that spellwork?”

Zolan picked up what Erick was putting down. “I did regain that magic. I simply need some supplies, for I have not prepared in that way.”

A stack of clean paper blipped onto the table in front of him, along with an assortment of pens and two jars of refillable ink. Erick had been taking notes on a similar stack of paper in a different room, through Ophiel, but now Zolan could publicly take notes, and everyone would know that notes were being taken.

Zolan smiled a bit at the casual display of power, and then he casually displayed his own power. Tan-colored magic washed across the stack of paper and black words began appearing on the white surface; ‘test, test’. The pens remained untouched, though the ink jar gained a slight sandy glow.

Erick began speaking, and words appeared on those pages as he said them,

“The duties of the Overseers of House Benevolence, are as follows.

“Castellan Zolan will have financial oversight over budgets for all aspects of the House. Every department will get money allotted to them beyond the stated salaries I have already discussed with all of you, and my castellan will be in charge of overseeing those and ensuring propriety.

“Zolan will also be in charge of organizing this Gate District. This will make him like a mayor for this ‘town’. This means he will need to get a sewermaster, and all of those assorted necessities. This town will be filled with embassies, though, each of which physically belong to the societies I connect to the Gate Network.

“Zolan will be overseeing the money that comes out of the Gate Network.” Erick looked to the man, saying, “Imagine if you were me, but without the need to worry over the larger picture outside of this Gate District. I will be the one actually crafting the Network and putting people into districts along Gate Road; I will be the one worrying over the larger politics of the Network itself, but if you have suggestions and assistance with those placements, then you will give me those suggestions.”

Zolan was slightly stunned with the massive amount of power Erick was granting him, but then he realized that this was exactly what he signed up for.

Erick continued, “And now, to explain how I see this land developing.

“I will be inviting people to live here, or to create new towns. I expect Candlepoint to grow very large, but I also expect other cities to come along and blossom beside the water, or in the lands beyond, which I will be turning back into actual forest, eventually.

“It is in these lands where Mox will be my Overseer of the Exterior. She will be responsible for coordinating and managing exterior cities to make sure they fall under the laws and regulations that we set forth here at House Benevolence. She will also be responsible for collecting taxes from those lands, and to ensure that those lands are productive, either in people, or in product. She can create dungeons out there in order to bring in more revenue for House Benevolence. I imagine us gaining a multitude of smaller city states under the aegis of House Benevolence eventually, with them starting off as hangers-on of the established lands, but eventually transitioning into incorporated lands with their own mayors.

“Those mayors, once their city has been approved by Mox, will gain a governor’s seat on what is essentially a ‘royal court’ in all but name.

“Zolan, and the current mayor of Candlepoint, Mephistopheles, are the first two people on that court. They will have an advisory role, for now, but I expect them to eventually be helpful for making laws that every city will follow.

“Raingorl will be my Overseer of Wellbeing, who will see to the mundane education and the health of every person living in these lands. I expect every proper city to have at least one school and maybe a hospital, but a single school and hospital will be more than enough in this beginning.

“Aisha will be my Overseer of Magic. Please work with Mox in the beginning to create some dungeons. I will be transforming one of those dungeons into a Benevolence dungeon… Somehow. Other duties of the Overseer of Magic include starting a magic school. I expect to be participating in this school, and if we need to start off with Arcanaeum Consortium teaching, we will, but I eventually want to see to teaching people about runic enchantment. I also want to make a few magics to make that sort of enchantment much easier for wide scale distribution among the normal people.

“Wands made of normal iron, for example, but with [Condense Oxygen] and [Condense Iron] workings on them to prevent the degradation of those wands through the normal use of magic on them. From there, and with [Renew], this will have turned a normal iron wand into a ‘magical metal’, which will enable wands of [Cooking Fire], for example, to be made out of simple iron and 20 mana from anyone who can channel [Renew].

“The tentative idea there is that I want to bring magical items to the common person, and not just to adventurers able to pay continual rad costs and for expensive materials like gold and such.

“I also plan on enacting wide scale Denial magics all across this land to ensure that it's easier for the common person to work and live in these lands; like they do in Songli. Instead of Singers, though, I was envisioning a ball of iron a meter across, or something similarly easy to enshrine in the center of a city, or something like that, which continually provides Denial of all smaller magics.”

Aisha stared a bit, her countenance seeming to sparkle like she would love to see Erick manage this feat of power. She simply nodded, but that movement was reverential.

Erick continued, “Volaro is my Overseer of Law. He will be ensuring that all the court systems that arise out of this organization are without corruption, and positioned toward reformation of offenders, or peaceful negotiations between antagonistic parties. In addition, I expect him to write up a complete code of law that is in line with the namesake of our House Benevolence. In the future, I believe the governors' court would be the ones actually making the laws, or perhaps they will send a representative to make those laws in some sort of congress we will create later, but for now, Volaro will be writing up those laws.

“And they will be administered fairly.

“We will have no caste systems or equivalents in this land.

“I reserve the right to overturn anything I do not like, which goes for him just as it goes for all the rest of my Overseers.

“As for the outcomes of trials, I might be offering [Blessing of Empathy] against the worst offenders, along with halfway houses to get them in a better place before they rejoin the rest of the world. Perhaps I will insist that in trials where the outcome is execution, that the convicted is instead allowed a choice of [Blessing of Empathy]. I had once said to Volaro, personally, that I might offer [Reincarnation] in order to ensure a real transformation of a problematic person, but I see now that that would be a mistake. I doubt I will be doing that.”

The three reincarnators flinched, and then relaxed, as though some terribleness had come and gone without actually doing anything at all. Aisha and Burhendurur were surprised, and happy that Erick had chosen not to degrade his magic in this way. Volaro would have words to say about Erick’s decision, though; he had initially thought the idea repulsive, but it must have grown on him.

Erick continued, “And finally, Burhendurur is my Overseer of Enforcement. He’s the guard on the walls and the patrol in the streets. He is the only one allowed to wield violence as a tool inside these lands. If any of you have a physical problem, you will either come to me, or go to Burhendurur. I expect him to use summoned souls in monster bodies in order to keep the order outside the walls. But inside the walls, the only area where Burhendurur will have guard duty is here, in the Gate District.

“Once a city state incorporates, they will be expected to field their own guard, just as Candlepoint has its own guards.

“Before that transition, though, I expect the Overseer of Enforcement to work with developing lands and try to establish guards out of the local population, and to guard those lands until such a force rises out of those lands. When the transition occurs, the Overseer of Enforcement will step away peacefully, and let the incorporated land defend itself from interior and exterior threats. Burhendurur will still be expected to protect cities from exterior threats, though he will never use person-based necromancy to do this. Summoned souls only, like as one would summon for an elemental, or a slime.” Erick finished with, “The only point of the necromancy itself is to provide a more stable body so the creature cannot simply be [Dispel]ed; there will be no sapient-necromancy in these lands, except for my own… Which is only technically ‘necromancy’. I do not like this exemption, though, so eventually we will do something different. Perhaps directed teaching of necromancy and allotment of that magic through certification.

“And that is how I see this whole thing working out, right now.”

Zolan’s magic had flowed across a mere three pages by the time Erick finished. It wasn’t much, but it was more than enough for a start. As Erick looked around he saw questions and concerns waiting behind the eyes of every one of his Overseers.

First, though, he said, “But let us talk of smaller things for a while, as my family has made for us breakfast foods, and such.” He gestured to the side of the throne room at an innocuous section of the ‘forest’ wall. That wall of trees opened up, double doors swinging wide to reveal Jane and Kiri, pushing forward tables that rested atop [Floating Platform]s. Cinnamon rolls and other assorted sweet breakfast items awaited, alongside coffee and teas. “Please help yourself.”

Erick stood from his chair and walked toward his apprentice and his daughter, and Kiri and Jane set the food tables down. Erick grabbed some food and a nice mug of coffee. It wasn’t until he was already pouring himself a cup that everyone else started to move.

Awkwardly, and with hesitation, the others stood, and then they began to move toward Erick, to the tables to grab something for themselves.

Erick smiled a little, and then he asked the air, “Goldie? If you would like something to eat, please join us.” As Goldie stepped out of the air only a few meters away, looking ready for a cinnamon roll and simultaneously putting everyone else back on edge, Erick turned to his people and tried to normalize the idea of having a Shade around by asking, “Do you like the name ‘Overseers’? We can change that if you want.”

Goldie grabbed a cinnamon roll and some coffee, and then she went back to being invisible and intangible.

Erick goaded conversation with another innocuous question.

And then, slowly, people started to talk.

Zolan was first, emboldened as he was by the power Erick was giving him and the need to see that power wielded correctly. Then came Burhendurur, when the topic of security arose. There was talk of necromancy and of the limits the Death Dragon would employ in his exterior security measures, and of the clear limits on his interior power. Zolan asked Aisha to explain the validity of Burhendurur’s necromancy ‘without using sapients’, and though Burhendurur took a hit to his honor at that simple question, he did not complain; he took that [Strike] in stride. And then, diplomatically, and with a fair bit of history, Aisha explained that certain uses of necromancy were not the bad uses of necromancy, but that it was hard to distinguish one from the other in almost all scenarios. Only with extensive testing and with a necromancer better than the one you were testing, could you tell if a soul was sapient or not. In this case, she would simply trust Burhendurur’s and Erick’s decisions to protect this land with summoned creatures in fleshy bodies, for she trusted Erick explicitly, and he trusted Burhendurur in turn.

As the conversation continued, Erick’s Overseers spoke of their own desires for the future; their needs that might not fit into the roles that Erick had given them.

Raingorl asked a pertinent question, “My king. You have technologies you wish to share with the world, yes? Do you have a plan for getting those out there? If you are amenable, I would like to take that responsibility; I feel that these things like your record players and particle physics would fit in well with mundane education.”

Aisha was instantly uncomfortable. She wanted that technology, if only to ensure that it was used in a responsible manner. Erick had already put Particle Magic out there, and who knew what would be the next thing like that.

Erick could think of a dozen things that would change the world again, that he wasn’t ready to release. The nature of light was still mostly hidden. Jane’s computers were still a world-changer, and they could be [Duplicate]d and thus change the world. DNA was a big one for Blood Magic improvements. Sound, and molecular vibrations would allow a person to remake Erick’s own [Physical Domain], which he knew could not get out there right now… But the ship had probably sailed on that one, if the Holy O’Kabil actually understood the record player he had given her.

Erick said, “Many of the technologies I envision releasing on Veird will likely have cascading effects, therefore I doubt I will be doing much of that in the immediate future. When I do decide to release more ideas into the world, those ideas will likely go through my Office of Magic.”

Raingorl frowned a little, but he accepted Erick’s answer.

Aisha was silently thrilled.

Almost everyone noticed Aisha’s silent thrill, too.

Every single person in this room was fully capable of reading each other rather well; in pulling apart the nuances of a lingering long or small breath held in reaction, instead of on purpose. Erick found he approved of that, quite a lot. It boded well.

Every single person here also exceeded Erick’s expectations of them ten fold; no one yelled. Everyone simply spoke their minds. And sure, they were guarded and reluctant, and some of those words were pointed with the sting of true history, but they still spoke. They still tried to work with each other.

And that boded well, too.

Erick added, “But the knowledge of electricity is already out there, and I do wish to make [Small Spark] the central magic of a revolution of gears and work.” He said to Raingorl, “That is about as mundane as you can get, and there are smaller things out there that I am sure will not actually create new magic. We can discuss all of that with Aisha and yourself at a later date.”

Aisha nodded, a bit tenser.

Raingorl grinned, exposing his lower fangs. He nodded.

The conversation continued.

- - - -

What came out of those first three hours of conversation was wonderful. Erick ended up with six concise-as-they-could-be lists of duties and responsibilities for each department, and for his own duties as the Head of House Benevolence. He got off pretty lightly with only a single page of responsibilities, mostly amounting to ‘keep House Benevolence looking and acting good’, ‘ultimate defense against outside enemies’, ‘maintain the Gate Network’, and ‘keep the world safe’. He could have gotten off with no responsibilities at all, for no one expected him to do anything except for what he wanted to do. After all, he was making a House out of the best talent in the world for the express purpose of relieving himself of all burdensome duties, correct?

While that was mostly correct, Erick still wanted people to know what he was prepared to do in times of stress, or otherwise.

The whole talk was fantastic, really. When the hashing of duties came to a close, Erick had gained a great idea of what to expect from his people going forward, for every single person he hired took great care in crafting their duties, and to ensure that all bases were covered. And what’s more, everyone seemed to relax a little around each other. This first meeting wasn’t exactly a team building camp, or trust fall exercises, but everyone here was a professional, and eager to work, for a multitude of reasons. Most of those reasons went unsaid, but Erick understood what was happening here well enough.

Zolan wanted power and to make himself a centerpiece in the world again, organizing a hundred separate forces into something cohesive and thriving. He had missed that part of his life, and he needed it back. He was also rather interested in all of the other powers sitting there in the room with him, and he wanted to prove himself as fully capable of standing beside Wizards and dragons and archmages, and even Shades.

Mox was ready to make civilization flourish. She wanted to transform everything into something better, and to ensure that the people who came along later were well organized and ready to help her turn even more of the world into something more habitable and more good.

Raingorl was much the same as Mox, but instead of places enabling the thriving of people, he wanted people to enable the thriving of places. There was a slight difference there between Mox and Raingorl, but they were basically focused in the same sort of direction.

Aisha wanted things to be safe, and for no mistakes to be made when it came to magic, but she was also willing to try new things, and she was especially ready to learn of Elemental Benevolence.

Volaro wanted things organized in a certain way. He wanted to know when problems arose, how those problems would be handled. Volaro’s insights into the separation and declarations of the various offices of the overseers was invaluable, as he could cite from a hundred different systems of law and pluck out exactly where Erick’s delineations were good, and where they needed work.

Burhendurur showed himself to be a rather competent warrior-philosopher, once he got over the need to defend his homeland Ar’Cosmos and casually threaten people that they were not allowed to physically threaten others. He seemed to really latch onto that idea that Erick had floated out there in his interview, which was fine, because Erick was not going to have a handful of different guard-type organizations running around here, no matter if it would make some people more comfortable in the short term. Eventually, though, Erick conceded that if people wanted personal guards they could have them, but no one was allowed to actually raise armies around here. Burhendurur also reluctantly agreed that this was fine.

As another good note, they had all agreed that ‘overseer’ was a fine title for their positions, while ‘governor’ was a good title for people like Mephistopheles, of Candlepoint. Zolan would technically be a governor as well as the castellan of House Benevolence, which he approved of immensely.

- - - -

Erick said, “And those are the duties, apportioned. I feel good about this, and I am glad you all feel good about this as well. I cannot do this alone, after all. So. Moving on?”

Nods and small words of ‘yes’ came from all around. Everyone had copies of the duties expected of everyone else, along with plates of mostly eaten cinnamon rolls and cups of coffee, filled or emptied as the person desired. It was time to get to the next part of the day’s schedule.

“Moving on.

“Now to assign everyone else from Ar’Cosmos, Oceanside, and Stratagold.” Erick blipped in packets of resumes onto the table, splitting them out to each person as he had already decided. They were not even packets; some departments had 10 people, some had 4, but all 42 people had been split up as best Erick could do. As his people began opening the folders, Erick spoke, “I’ve taken a basic accounting of every applicant, and put them where I thought they might best go—”

Erick almost stopped talking because everyone had glimpsed the first names in their packets, and their reactions were somewhere on the spectrum between disbelief and anger. Zolan rapidly flipped through his packet as though he were looking for someone, and not finding that person, he was miffed. Burhendurur and Aisha had the same reaction. Raingorl, who only had 4 people, raised an eyebrow, for half of the people on his team were from Ar’Cosmos. Mox got a lot of wrought and that was strange for her. Volaro narrowed his eyes at his own packet and wondered if he was being made fun of, for he had a lot of wrought in there.

“—Where they might best serve a sense of unity and working together, as well as play to their strengths.” Erick said, “But it appears all of you disagree with these assignments, and probably because I barely assigned with respect to where you originally came from. Let me explain my reasonings before you get too angry.

“I have 42 people to place, and some jobs need more people than others. Wellbeing needs infrastructure, so they only got four, and there are no outside settlements yet, so Exterior is also light on people. And since Exterior is doing dungeons right now, they got wrought Stone Mages. There are a lot of magically-inclined people of certain specific bents, and the two offices which require those with magic are Magic or Enforcement, so you got the most people. Law will take time to sort, but there’s not a whole lot of need for that right now, so Volaro got the second fewest number of people, at 5. There weren’t a lot of lawyers in the offerings, either.” Erick said to Zolan, “I need to put a good, united face forward, so my castellan got an even number of all forces, but it seems you did not get the person you wanted in your group.” He looked at all of them. “Each office will get more money to hire more people as the budget allows, so don’t think that these are the only people you’re allowed to have.

“But I want all of us to get along with each other, and that means people working in groups besides their own.

“Problematic interactions can be mitigated through the directed movement of certain individuals as the need arises…” Erick said, “But for now, unless you have a deep objection, these are the people working under you for the foreseeable future.”

Everyone tried to talk at once.

Erick raised his voice a little to be heard, saying, “You will all still live separately, with the reincarnators living on Yggdrasil, Stratagold’s people in their tower, and Ar’Cosmos’s people in their separate tower. Eventually, I expect the reincarnators to move to the actual House, as you wish, but that is not needed right now. As for now, you will all still get to communicate with everyone you wish to communicate with, for this will be a united House, and to that end, I am splitting up who you actually work with so that extreme factions do not form.”

Erick finished.

A moment passed.

Then everyone tried trying to talk all at once, again.

Erick turned the conversation back to order.

Voices rose. Emotions ran high. When old grievances came out into light, Erick shut that down. This only forced Zolan and Aisha and Volaro and Burhendurur to use more circumspect wording. But even that much was able to bring the conversation back down to a manageable level.

It was enough.

Erick knew he was not going to get what he wanted, though. He had expected this. It was too much to make known enemies work as closely together as Erick had tried to make them work. And so, Erick finally agreed to allow for small changes, which is what he was planning on allowing already.

Erick explained, “To change, then: You all get your first picks, starting with Zolan, then Aisha, then Burhendurur, then Volaro, then Raingorl, then Mox. Then Mox will pick again, followed by Raingorl, Volaro, Burhendurur, Aisha, then finally back to Zolan. Then, I will put the rest of our people—” Erick repeated, “—the rest of our people where they were already going, and the organization will end up looking almost exactly as it already does. I reserve the right to veto any specific choices.”

No one was really happy with that, but then Zolan started asking about specific people. He found out that Erick had placed a woman he wanted by the name of Iloya into Enforcement, for she was very good at managing people and Enforcement needed that. And then Zolan started talking with his fellow reincarnators. He was trying to game the system with picks.

Not to be outdone (and while Burhendurur complained that Iloya looked to be the only person he would even want to keep, both because she looked competent and to deny Zolan that person) Volaro spoke of taking back one of the professors from Ar’Cosmos Arcanaeum that Erick had placed into the Wellbeing office; a man by the name of Harolan. Harolan was a professor of law. Raingorl wanted to get rid of Harolan, because he was a law professor from Ar’Cosmos and that didn’t sit well with him, and he also wanted one more person. He wanted five of the people Erick had spread around here and there, which he simply was not going to get, though, so he started narrowing down the people he absolutely wanted on his team.

Everyone started to do that.

Erick wasn’t quite happy that everyone was fighting against how he had placed out the people, but he accepted it. No one was quite as willing as he was to work so closely with former enemies. But Erick at least managed to hold firm that there would be some working with old enemies. Everyone only got two picks.

An hour later, those picks had been made.

Erick had only needed to veto the movement of Harolan, for he wanted Wellbeing to have a different take on law, and the law professor from Ar’Cosmos was needed for that role. Neither Raingorl or Volaro were happy about this, but they could just remain unhappy; this was necessary. When Erick had interviewed Harolan, the man had spoken very well. He was sure that Raingorl would come to appreciate his expertise in international law. Volaro could just deal, too.

And Erick gave one final notice, “I truly hope that you don’t let talent languish, even if that talent might come from a former enemy. Every single person in these folders is highly competent and ready to work for House Benevolence. Please keep that in mind. And yet, at the same time, insubordination will happen. Let’s all try to work through this, as we can.” Erick added, “And that’s all I have planned for today.” He smiled. “It has taken us all morning and half of the afternoon to get here, and we did well.

“Zolan, Raingorl, Mox; I have your houses ready on Yggdrasil, alongside all the other houses of your fellows. Eventually, you can move here into House Benevolence, or you can stay up there. It’s only you three who are back from Oceanside right now, though, so take as much time as you want. I’ll open a [Gate] for you to get there in a minute, and then I’ll meet you there and tell you how the [Fairy Stronghold] works. Don’t leave the house yet, for you probably won’t be able to get back in without me telling you how.

“Aisha, Burhendurur, and Volaro, you already have your rooms set up. I hope they are to your liking, though I know they are not fully set up yet, either. This land has no sewermaster right now, but with Mox’s volunteering to do the sewerwork before she works on the dungeons, any water issues should be resolved soon. Perhaps a few days yet.

“And that’s everything for now!” Erick happily said, “There is a small get together in a few hours and Candlepoint will be joining us for that. I expect any immediate economic prosperity to try and go through there, if at all possible; buy things from them, hire from them, that sort of thing. They don’t have everything, but they do have a lot. Candlepoint is now your city, too, so treat it as such. This Gate District is more like a business district, than a real town.” Erick smiled, and said, “And that’s it! Anything you all wish to add in this meeting?”

There was a lot there, in what Erick had just said. It took a moment or two for everyone else to gather their thoughts.

Zolan spoke first, “I could go for hours longer, but there is only one thing I specifically wish to discuss right now. What do you mean exactly when you say ‘go through Candlepoint’, when we have a Gate Network right here?”

Others wanted to know that, too.

“Good question.” Erick said, “I’m not sure what I mean by that, exactly. I know what I don’t want to happen, and that is I don’t want Candlepoint to become a slum, a backwater, or anything like that. I want it to be a cosmopolitan city that eventually encompasses a great deal of the lakeside. I want to be able to walk through Candlepoint and buy anything from all across the world. And I want you all to treat it as your new city. You might just like it.” He said, “There are a lot of good people there, like this woman Zaraanka Checharin. If she wasn’t a shadeling, and if she was anywhere else, she would become a scion of industry. That’s probably why Melemizargo took her soul when she died and turned her into a shadeling. Then there’s Valok Greentalon, a shadeling who used to be a friend who I worked with to make the Farms at Spur. We were going to transform Spur into a breadbasket of the Crystal Forest… And then he was assassinated and turned into a tool to make me move certain ways. There’s a guardmaster there by the name of Slip.” Erick looked to Burhendurur. “He’s very good at his job; everyone thinks he is a Shade and I’m not sure either way.” Erick said, “There’s also Justine Erholme, who is a speaker for Koyabez, who currently runs the ‘True Interfaith Church’ over there, as they’re calling it. That black and white building is the physical representation of a pact between Melemizargo and the Pantheon to mark their non-aggression toward each other. There’s Ava, a former shadeling who is the sewermaster; she does a remarkable job, really. And then there’s Mephistopheles, their mayor. He’s a Cultist, and he has pulled that town out of multiple desolations. They’re all very good at what they do, and I hope you all get along well.”

Erick’s six Overseers were silent in contemplation.

And then Zolan said, “I look forward to working with them.”

Erick smiled.

There were a few smaller words after that, but eventually, Erick dismissed the group.

- - - -

Erick showed the reincarnators to their joined apartments and explained how it all worked, as well as informing them that he could adjust everything more to their needs with some more magic, but that could come later. Other than that, this was their property and they could do what they wanted with it, including inviting people inside if they wished. Erick explicitly offered to [Gate] in Zolan’s Paladin great grandson, Zorik, and Zolan took him up on this offer. Thirty seconds later, Zorik walked through a lightning portal, into the living room, carrying a bunch of bags. Erick offered the same to Mox and Raingorl, if they wanted any family to come here, but both of them were fine as they were, for now. Inviting too many people was a security issue, and they were living on Yggdrasil, which came with its own set of complications.

An introduction to the big guy took about two minutes, with Yggdrasil’s [Scry] hopping off of Erick’s shoulder to say hello.

The rest of that conversation took about five minutes, for all three of them were familiar with [Fairy House]s. All three expressed that they would never use a [Fairy House], though, unless they were desperate, and especially with Ar’Cosmos so close. Erick explained that he had gotten a good promise of non-intrusion from the person they were worried about, which only half-alleviated their worries.

He would have stayed longer to talk about smaller things, like how they were doing in their bodies and how everyone else was doing, and to ask after how their regaining of magic was going, but he could tell they wanted to be left alone, either to move into their apartments, or to talk amongst themselves about the meeting. Back at the House, Aisha was already talking to her people, with Sitnakov there, too. Burhendurur and Volaro were similarly giving bad news about work assignments to their own people. And so, Erick left Zolan, Mox, and Raingorl alone in their nice house on Yggdrasil’s branch right above his own. They talked amongst themselves, and probably to Kirginatharp, too.

Erick wanted to busy himself with helping to prepare the ‘business party feast’ later, even though Kiri and Jane had already done a lot of that work already, but he could not. He had one more meeting to take.

- - - -

In his office, on the western side of his throne room, Erick took a seat at his desk. Poi stood behind him. They were the only two people visible in the room, but he knew there was another close by. If Goldie didn’t show up after being named, then Erick would call to the Darkness ever-lurking in the corners.

“Goldie,” Erick said, “I’d like to talk now.”

The goldscale Shade of Assassination appeared in the air next to her seat, looking proper in her black work attire. Her large sword hung in the air behind her like a plank of black steel, while her eyes were bright white. She gave a small, professional curtsy. “My lord.” She rose. “What would you have of me?”

“I’d like to know of your encounter with Patriarch Xangu, what you found regarding the Chelation War, and to know what you’ve been doing since then. Afterward, I will tell you what I expect of you going forward.” Erick gestured to the chair. “Please sit.”

Goldie took out a folder of papers from the air and sat them down on Erick’s table, and then she sat herself down in her chair. “Where would you like me to begin?”

Erick ignored the folder for now. “When you stepped through that portal at the meeting.”

Goldie nodded, then she began, “I stepped through the portal and went unknown…”

Though she couched her abilities in obfuscating words, the rest of her tale seemed normal enough.

Goldie entered the Underworld where Erick had put her. She went ‘unknown’. She found the house on the hill under the large blue crystal, and then she infiltrated. Within ten minutes she had managed to confirm her target was at the location using a variety of measures. These included paperwork in three offices linking the owners of the house to Nelboor and Terror Peaks related interests, a blood-matching spell taken from the stray hairs of three easily identifiable family members and cross checked with some blood she had taken from the direct Terror Peaks clan, and visual and magical-signature confirmation of the target. While she did that, she also gathered evidence of Terror Peaks’ various interests and knowledge of how they managed to gather those Soul Spears. Then she prepared for the actual confrontation.

At the time of her infiltration, Patriarch Xangu was inside an office and arguing with his cousin, and he had been doing that for the last 25 minutes. The argument had been about the loss of the war a few months ago, but primarily it had been how Erick had been taken by the fae, and how Stratagold was keeping it as quiet as they could.

Erick interrupted her there. “Did you discover how they knew about that?”

“It was the argument you had with the fairy on the shores of Yggdrasil’s Underworld lake.” Goldie said, “There are always thousands of Sights upon all of these World Trees. Most of the world knew when you were taken.”

“… I probably should make an anti-[Scry] magic and put it out there.” Or maybe not? It was a double-edged sword. Anti-[Scry] meant Ophiel and Yggdrasil were blind… So probably not, actually. Erick moved on, “Continue.”

Goldie nodded.

Once she had confirmed the target, through several independent Blood Magics and prognostications, she flinched at actually killing the man. But she knew it was for the greater good, and Erick had ordered it, so she rapidly cut Patriarch Xangu into several disintegrating slices, annihilating his body, soul, and mind in the process. It was as quick and as thorough as possible. His defensive magics activated briefly and Goldie also had to tear through the various [Ward]s surrounding the whole property, but she did the job, and then she left. She was ashamed to say that they did track her for a short time, as she had left tears falling in her escape; her Blessing remains rather strong. Escaping from pursuit and the Underworld was easy enough, though, as she went to the nearest Teleport Station and commandeered that magic laid down by Tasar and Stratagold in order to reach the Surface.

Erick was a bit stunned by that.

Goldie finished with, “I arrived here in Candlepoint about 36 hours after that meeting. Since then, I have been acting in hidden service to ensure that only positive outcomes have happened in this land, as well as pursuing leads that I have accrued regarding the Chelation War ever since that disaster. I haven’t acted violently in any of these cases, but I did leave some notes on some pillows in order to frighten certain malefactors, and side-powers. The investigation into the Chelation War was completed weeks ago, with confirmation of many leads proven by what I found during my assault on Xangu.

“I have also checked up on your hires.

“Your woman, Mox, has a whole family of airy assassins, and they have been spying on you for a while now. When she accepted her [Reincarnation] she divorced herself from that life, as she does not wish to endanger what you are building here, and she is unsure if you would like her assistance in these sorts of matters. She would take her family back if you gave her the go-ahead. Her family would likely also feel in your debt if you took them back.

“As for the other ones,

“Zolan is a crafty man who we have attempted to kill only once, but he talked his assassin out of it, so he has had our approval for a long time. That happened when he was 45. Raingorl teaches his students well, and he seems to be continuing that tradition, so we have never had a problem with him. Mundane teaching has never been a problem for the Church of Melemizargo, for we do wish people to grow and prosper. We have tried to recruit Raingorl several times, but each time he rebuffs us. Our previous ultimate goals and his views of how the world should be have been incompatible.

“Aisha would be a Cultist and fall in line with our previous ideals to change the world if she didn’t have such a bad opinion of Melemizargo. As she has chosen to join you, a Wizard, I can reasonably confirm that she will be a great asset.

“Your dragons are dragons, and they are plotting to take as much power from you as they can.” Goldie said, “I am rather sure you will either have to put them in their place through physical means, or magical means, for they will never truly join House Benevolence until you undertake either of these options.”

Surprises, and non-surprises all around.

There was nothing about Goldie’s story or her opinions that struck Erick as untrue, and so he said, “One minute,” and he opened the folder and began leafing through the 30 page report, with pictures. 45 seconds later, he closed the folder and looked to Goldie. “Terror Peaks managed infiltrate the Book Binders and actually get the spell themselves? I have a hard time believing that.”

“I doubt Kirginatharp realizes what actually happened because the trail was rather distant, or maybe he does, and he does not wish to inform you of his own failure to protect his assets.” Goldie said, “As for the infiltration itself, I could easily infiltrate the Book Binders if I wanted; it is not impossible. You might be able to infiltrate them as well, just by virtue of that necklace you wear. But as for Terror Peaks’ infiltration... Your Worldly Path allowed a lot of small things to happen that would not have happened otherwise.”

Erick took a breath, the enormity of 4 million lives hanging over him like a guillotine. He frowned. He breathed again.

He fell silent.

Goldie sat at attention.

Poi was steady as a rock, standing behind and to Erick’s left.

Erick moved on, saying, “I’m going to give a copy of your report to Kirginatharp. Moving on. Do you have a place to stay? A place you are comfortable with?”

Goldie sat a bit straighter, for she had not foreseen that particular question from Erick. She said, “I have made a small place for myself in the tunnels of this House. It is more than enough for me.”

“That’s not enough for me, though.” Erick said, “If you’ve been keeping up with my actions here, you can probably guess that one of the towers I put into this House is for approved Shades if you can keep to a level of civility that everyone else in this House maintains… Or at least to the level of which I wish them to maintain.”

Goldie’s breath hitched ever so slightly. “I will follow your wishes, my lord. I will take residence in the smaller tower southeast of the main tower.”

“Good.” Erick said, “I want people to eventually get used to you being around, but I don’t want you seen that much in public for the first few months. Maybe not even a year or two. Other Shades who come here will need to adhere to the same level of respect and wariness as I believe you have shown. But! That said, you’re the only one I am accepting right now. If any others wish to follow you, they will be better served by making a district of their own on the other side of the lake, or somewhere they will not frighten everyone else. They will also have to adhere to all the general laws that I expect a place around here to adhere to.” Erick warned, “This whole endeavor cannot fall apart due to old hatreds, Goldie, and your Clergy is the largest contributor to those old hatreds in all this world. Do you understand?”

Goldie looked ready to cry for joy; small tears of light gathering in her bright white eyes. With a voice that she desperately tried to keep calm, Goldie said, “Your words are my law. I will see your will be done.”

Erick nodded. “Good. Now. How did Burhendurur know where you were?”

“An Elemental Death ability known as [Death Sense], though he was not able to accurately guess. I moved into the position he thought I was in at the last possible moment, in order to make him think that he knew where I was.” Goldie said, “His ability sees the number of lives that someone has taken. The only thing impressive about what he managed to do was that he was able to see through the pure pull of your own kill count. With the number of monsters you have killed I am amazed he was able to see anything at all past your own glory.”

Erick had mixed feelings about that, but he was too busy to dwell on them for any length of time. “Do Carnage dragons have any senses like that? Any stranger abilities I should know of?”

Goldie nodded. “Death Dragons are very good at Soul Work, though they are not good at working living souls. They have to kill the thing first.

“Carnage Dragons are a bit more nuanced. They are able to see the rage of others and accept that rage into themselves, giving them untold destruction in a battle. They can also control their rage better than any other dragon type, giving them the strongest resistance against the Dragon Curse compared to the other two types.” Goldie said, “Death kills the Dragon Curse. Fae tricks it away. Rage simply nullifies it. There are other nuances to Carnage which some are able to tap into, which allow them to subdue the impetus to war in others, or to sense the flow of battle, or to sense people ready to start a riot inside an otherwise plain-looking group of people on the street. There are nuances to all the types of dragons. Would you like me to continue?”

Partially, Erick did want her to continue, but he had other things to do and he couldn’t spend time on this right now. He’d need to ask Aisha about all this, too, for she would likely know. He could also directly ask Burhendurur and Volaro.

“Ah. No. That’s enough for now, which is why you asked that, I suppose.” Erick said, “I’ll learn all of this in due time, and I suppose I’ll learn all about Benevolence as time goes on, too. Do you have any suspicions about what Benevolence can do?”

“I know it can lay out the best possible path forward in any situation in order to exert helpful pressures on all involved.” Goldie said, “I believe you do this mostly unconsciously, but in the future I suspect you will be able to actively visualize the best paths forward. Other than that, and the visualization of ultimate ends and ultimate beginnings, I am unaware of any other unique uses of Benevolence.”

Erick’s eyes opened a bit wider. “Ah. Yes.” Laying out that as a nuance of Benevolence sort of put Erick’s entire life in a different light. Or maybe it didn’t? Erick wasn’t sure. He moved on. “You will not be joining the gathering tonight. Not publicly. In the future, you might, but not tonight.”

Goldie accepted this with a small nod.

Erick asked, “Do I require an oath from you? Or will that be too much for your prior commitments?”

“You have me forever, my lord, but I cannot offer you the final, most truest of oaths. It would turn binding in a way I will not be able to survive, for I have already given my entirety to my God in Darkness.” Goldie said, “I pray that His gift of me to you is enough.”

“Would it be correct, or incorrect, to say that the veracity of your loyalty is thus connected to the whims of your God?”

Goldie stared with bright white eyes, her countenance solid. “My God desires this to work, and so, I am here at his command.”

Erick left that non-answer alone.

He simply said, “Dismissed.”

Goldie slammed a fist over her chest, and then she vanished.

He had no idea if she was truly gone, but…

It was what it was.

Erick sat there for a moment longer, then he said, “Time to get ready for a party, I suppose.”

Poi sighed a little, letting out a massive amount of stress in the moment, all in order to shoulder more stress in the coming hours.

Erick said to him, “You need a break too, eh?”

“I don’t think I’m going to get one.”

Erick put on a smile, saying, “Maybe you will! Maybe these overseers will be the best possible people to make House Benevolence bloom into something that makes life easier and better for all of us.”

“One can hope,” Poi said, not feeling it.

“One can hope!” Erick said, speaking with as much enthusiasm as he could.

Poi tried to feel it, but it wasn’t taking. He shook his head.

Erick changed the subject, “Is everyone at Candlepoint getting ready? What about the other reincarnators?”

Poi looked away for a moment, tendrils of thought spilling off his head.

Erick waited.

Poi said, “Mephistopheles got the information packet and is happy to be part of your governors' court. The Interfaith Church has been cooking since noon, when you officially told them this would be happening. They are prepared for a professional feast, but they want you to know that if you require an actual feast, they have food in reserve.”

Erick smiled a little.

Poi continued, “The Headmaster received your overseer packet earlier as well, and now he is talking about all that with the reincarnators you installed at— ahem— the New Folks Home. The other reincarnators will be ready for transport two days from now. There have been a few delays on regaining Levels.”

Erick was glad that nothing had changed with the plan for the reincarnators, but upon hearing that name for the house at Yggdrasil… He frowned a little. “I didn’t call it ‘New Folks Home’? But— Ah? I kinda like it?” He lost his frown and said, “Yeah. I think I do.”

“It was named by Zolan, since you didn’t give it a name.”

“I think I made a good choice with that one.” Erick said, “With all of them, really.” He got up from his chair and opened a [Gate] back to the house, saying, “Time to get ready for the party.”

- - - -

Zolan sat in the common room of his new apartment building, feeling concerned.

Not about the house, or the fact that he was now living with others just down the hall, like this was an old folk’s home. He actually liked that a lot. He loved living in a great big house full of people, and the thought of living with his colleagues was growing on him. It would be difficult to maintain a proper work and life balance in this sort of environment, but it would be good to live like this while constructing House Benevolence. Later, he would have his own home inside the House itself, with his own security, but this was fine for now. This place was pretty decent, too, even though it was all Fae Magic. It even had most of the proper amenities, but the reincarnators would have to take care of cycling the water themselves. Wouldn’t be too hard to do that; the place was set up for easy [Cleanse Ward]s and [Gravity Ward]s for moving around water, and there was a giant lake not 1300 meters below them if they needed refills.

Zolan wasn’t even concerned over his new assignments. He was thrilled to have almost as much responsibility as he had had back when he was working for the Headmaster. In some ways, he had even more responsibility. He was excited to get in on the ground floor of what would eventually become a multi-world organization.

And then there was another nuance to this whole situation. Zolan was excited, and a little scared, knowing that if he was even half as good as the man he used to be, then Erick would keep him around for a very, very long time… Assuming Erick would achieve immortality himself. But then again, Erick was a Wizard. Of course he would eventually become immortal. Knowing that, Zolan saw his own future stretch into beyond. He could probably get another [Reincarnation] in 80 years. Or maybe only 40?

65 seemed like a good age to reset at.

Zolan couldn’t imagine growing much older than that, now that he had experienced youth again. His fellow overseers had had similar thoughts, back when they were at Oceanside and talking about their experiences in their new bodies. They wanted to be young forever, too.

Mox was a stunningly beautiful woman who Zolan was still feeling strange about. He had never felt anything even remotely desirous about Mox, and yet, here he was, getting odd, tingly feelings down there when he looked at her. It was probably the vagaries of youth, for Mox was usually not his type. ‘Type’ didn’t seem to matter much, though, for Zolan had been getting a lot of those sorts of feelings with practically every woman he looked at these days, and even a little bit for Raingorl, which was new, and a little bit exciting if Zolan was being honest with himself. At least Raingorl did have a strong Blessing from Aloethag, so that explained that, and other men just looked like men to Zolan; nothing special. There was no denying that Mox was definitely special, though. A competent woman with strong ties to other competent people. Who wouldn’t be attracted to that? And yet, Zolan had found himself making similar justifications regarding every woman he met—

He cut his thoughts short.

‘Splitting up our people will be a disaster,’ Zolan thought at the group. ‘Ar’Cosmos is going to do something to those under them. Some sort of ensorcellment.’

‘I don’t believe Erick would allow that.’ Raingorl sent, ‘He would notice.’

‘Unless he’s already compromised.’ Mox sent, ‘But the fact that we’re able to think these thoughts at all gives credence to the idea that he is not compromised.’

Raingorl sent, ‘I feel like everything that is happening is fine. Erick was willing to listen to our suggestions and push back on Burhendurur’s and Volaro’s overreaching. We’ll get our own securities for our tower in the House and they won’t be under the Carnage dragon’s oversight. Our people will be inside every other department, and we can all talk to each other about what happens in those departments. And none of us are redundant. We will know everything that happens there. Therefore, this is fine.’

For a long moment, no one said a word.

And then the Headmaster sent, ‘I suggest you think hard about whether remaining in your New Folks Home or moving into the House is in your best interests, for once you leave Yggdrasil you will likely not be allowed back. As for the departments and the organization, I am reading Zolan’s report, and Erick passed me one of his own. They are virtually identical. I don’t believe any of you are compromised. I do believe that Erick is trying his best and that it will be enough, if you help him to make that House the best that it can be. The future of our world is in your collective hands, my newly-young friends. Do your best.’

Zolan, Mox, and Raingorl sat there in the living room, stunned. Those words from the Headmaster were clearly his final decisions on the subject, and his final decision had been good. And he had called them all friends. Zolan knew that, in private, each one of them had received that honor at least once. It was why the Headmaster had even taken this chance on Erick’s [Reincarnation] working as advertised.

But to openly state friendship was to give honor and danger in equal measure. If someone else had heard that Zolan was a ‘friend to the Headmaster’, he would have been targeted…

But he supposed they were going to be targets now, anyway.

So they might as well tell those good truths to the world, while they could.

Zolan cheerfully sent, ‘Thank you for your kind words and your guidance, my old friend Kirginatharp.’

‘Ha!’ the Headmaster sent, surprised and amused at the same time.

Raingorl and Mox gave Zolan a little stare.

Zolan shrugged, adding, ‘I heard that everyone else is going to be calling you that, so I should, too. You know. So that they take me seriously.’

Still amused, the Headmaster sent, ‘Maybe save that for when you become at least an archmage and can stand up to your other overseers without Erick backing you.’

‘Ah. Prudent as always, my old friend Headmaster,’ Zolan sent, smiling, ‘Always a wise one, you are.’

Still amused, the Headmaster sent, ‘Enjoy your party, safe in the knowledge that if something strange should happen with Erick, that Stratagold, Oceanside, and others ready to step in if necessary. If some exterior force should attack, then I wish your organization the best of luck in growing strong. Farewell.’

The connection to Oceanside vanished.

And then it was just the three of them, sitting in a room together. Zorik was in his own room down the hall, putting away clothes. There was nothing to do for another three hours; until the party. So it was time to work.

Zolan stood up, saying, “I need to prepare myself for the gathering.”

Raingorl stood up alongside Mox, saying, “I’ve got it easy compared to you. Making a school and a hospital? Simple.”

Mox said, “I’m on dungeon and sewer duty for a while. Also rather simple.” She looked to Zolan, saying, “You’ll have to organize something completely new, though.”

“The exact form of this castellan position is new to me, but it’s little more than money tracking, allocation, and politicking on the entire world stage through this Gate District. I admit that it will be different to be within a single [Teleport] of any possible meeting, but that should prove more conducive to proper organization than anything.” Zolan said, “No… My worries remain in the contents of this House. We’re going to be vastly outnumbered by Ar’Cosmos and Candlepoint’s people, even if the wrought will be there with us.”

Mox hummed under her breath, saying, “Even when our fellow reincarnators come here we’ll still be outnumbered, just because of Candlepoint.”

“Even with your family hiding in the wind we’re outnumbered,” Raingorl said, shrugging.

Mox said, “They won’t do anything. I already told them not to.”

“But that’s enough fretting for now.” Zolan said, “All the world is watching, so we best put on a good show. It’s time to get politicking.”

“I’m ready,” Raingorl said, “Though the feel of eyes upon me is something I will need to get used to again.” He gave a tiny smile, adding, “It is not a bad feeling, but I did not expect as much from you, Zolan. Or you, Mox.”

Mox blushed, hiding a small smile of her own.

Zolan smiled wide, saying, “You’ve got a lot to look at, big man!”

Raingorl barked a laugh.

Zolan included Mox in the teasing, saying, “And you’re as beautiful on the outside as you always were on the inside.”

Mox laughed loud, and then she gave a false stare, filled with feigned anger, saying, “That might have worked on me once, but not this time, and never with you.”

Zolan shrugged. “I’m out of practice with beautiful young ladies.”

Raingorl chuckled, saying, “Don’t get too much practice tonight; we do have work to do.”

- - - -

The party was held in the atrium of the House, in the very center of the building. For the last few days this particular location had looked rather plain, and empty. Technically, it was still exactly that, if one ignored the lightsculptures that Erick had put up all around the place.

Over the last hour Erick had placed ideas of what could be into restaurant locations, into the empty Wayfarer’s small office, the two banking offices, and into the smaller offices of his overseers, all around the atrium. And it looked great! It would take time, but Erick was rather sure that his goals were not that distant. This place would eventually look like Archmage’s Rest, or the Grand Wizard Tower in the Core, or some of the large Guild offices Erick had seen in Songli.

All the while he was doing that, the people in the Stratagold tower, and the people in the Ar’Cosmos tower, watched Erick from their hallways on opposite sides of the atrium. They also watched a helpful clock that hung midair in the atrium, gently spinning, counting down until the party. The place was as good as it could be, for now. So Erick helped Justine and the people of Candlepoint move into the space, setting up tables and putting out foods.

It was nothing fancy, for Erick had warned Justine away from that. He was going for a low-energy sort of night.

“I understand,” Justine had said, “Everyone is worried about everyone else.”

Erick tried to pull back his paranoia, because it was obviously showing. “Yes.”

“Do you want a band? I have a small one that would like to play here, if you’ll have them.” Justine said, “They’ve played for us at a few gatherings, though most of their stuff is more high-energy than what you are likely going for. I’m sure they can tone it down, though.”

“Approved,” Erick said, glad that he could get a distraction for the night.

The large clock above continued to tick down, rapidly approaching 0:00, and that was apparently making everyone nervous.

Jane was the first to actually point that out, though, as she stood under the clock in the center of the room. “So the clock is a bomb?”

Erick instantly dismissed the clock and eyed his daughter. Jane put up her hands and backed away slowly, smirking a little as she went.

And the room was ready.

Erick opened a [Gate] from the New Folk’s Home to the atrium, another [Gate] from Candlepoint to here, and told the people from the wrought tower and the Ar’Cosmos tower that they were starting.

Those first five minutes were tense, as Erick herded everyone into the room and Justine’s suggested band used way too much drums in their music, but then the drummer switched to a violin and things turned softer.

Mephistopheles stood with Justine, Ava, Zaraanka, Valok, and Slip, each of them wearing nice clothes, alongside a good thirty other people from Candlepoint who had come along for one reason or another. Erick knew them all, from the woman who oversaw the Crystal defenses, to the farmers working under Valok, to Daetrio the cattle and other meat rancher, to a few minotaurs, to people in the guard who followed Slip, and even some paper shapers from city hall. A few of them were obvious Cultists, too, for those, like Mephistopheles, wore mostly black, and they stood next to the mayor, too, so that was a big clue.

A lot of people were eyeing Mephistopheles and his Cultists, or all the shadelings in the Candlepoint group, but no one was openly speaking at all.

There were a lot of telepathic tendrils, though; quiet conversations held outside the ears of anyone else, save for maybe Poi. A lot of small groups had formed roughly along expected divisions, leaving great gaps in the floor of the atrium. A lot of people gazed across those gaps at their historical enemies, or at unknowns.

Ar’Cosmos and their 16 people took up a slice of the room, while the wrought stood closer to Erick, but still distant. The reincarnators stood by the wrought, while the people of Candlepoint filled out almost half of the space on their own.

With Jane, Kiri, Teressa, and Poi standing with him, or close by, and Sitnakov standing a little further away, nearer to Aisha, Erick looked across the gathered crowd, and decided that it was time to bring the gathering to order.

With a step into the air, Erick made himself clearly visible to everyone. Since they were all silent, and the only other noise was from the small groups of Candlepoint, it was easy for his own voice to draw attention.

“Hello everyone. We are not a fully stocked House, yet, but we’re getting there.

“The main party will be another day; possibly a week. Tonight is so that we can all get to know each other in a more relaxed setting, and so that I can feed you guys and so you can go out and feed yourselves using the markets of Candlepoint, since there’s not been nearly enough venturing outside of your towers. Too much worrying over old, deep wounds, for anyone here to go out and get food, or to even venture far past their own [Fairy Stronghold], which is fine, for now.

“This is one of the things I want to change by doing this tonight, even though we’re not truly ready for actual guests, or anything like that. But look around you, and see the vision I have in store. This place will be great. We’ll have restaurants and services like the banks. We’ll enable the founding of new cities outside of this one. We’ll bring more people in from Ar’Cosmos, and they can settle a new city by the lake. We’ll be settling new lands all over the place, and turning the Crystal Forest back into a real forest.

“We’ll bring the whole world under this roof, and through causing prosperity, we will rise upon that prosperity. I expect each and every one of you here to have a safer life, a richer, better life, and to help others accomplish the same. We’ll push back the monsters of this world. We’ll open new ones.

“Candlepoint will be the main city that supplies all the rest, while everyone in House Benevolence will be working on these goals I have set forth.

“And to accomplish these goals, I have appointed 6 overseers.” Erick said, “I’m going to put up some lights, so don’t get startled now; I know we’re all way too much on edge.” He gave a small smile, and made a terrible joke that he knew wouldn’t land, but he was already committed, “Maybe I should cast a [Zone of Peace]? But that seems a bit too heavy handed.” He began casting lightsculptures into the air. “Anyway…

“This is Zolan Brightborn, from Oceanside. He is the Castellan of House Benevolence. Consider him the governor of this Gate District. His position is similar to Mephistopheles, and the two of them will be on the governors' court, which is basically a ‘royal court’.

“Mox Dawnborn, also from Oceanside. Overseer of the Exterior. She’ll be making some dungeons for now. She’ll be overseeing city settlements eventually.

“Raingorl Brightsnapper. Oceanside. Overseer of Wellbeing. He’ll be making a school and a hospital.

“Volaro, from Ar’Cosmos. Overseer of Law. He’ll be making laws and courts to uphold those laws.

“Burhendurur, from Ar’Cosmos. Overseer of Enforcement. Consider him a guard, but for the Gate District and for the lands outside of the control of governors.

“And Aisha, from Stratagold. Overseer of Magic. She’ll be making a magic school and much more.

“And that’s it for the House.”

Erick moved on, talking a bit about Candlepoint, and the people from there. He barely recognized what he was even saying, only that it needed to be said, for this groundwork needed to be laid perfectly. As he saw the people of Candlepoint brighten under his praise, he knew he had done well.

And then Erick stopped talking, and tried to get everyone else to start mixing.

It was awkward.

It was awful in parts, of course.

But it was also constructive.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, since Candlepoint was a known actor and without any history with any of the other people in the House, the three factions of House Benevolence (really only two, though, since Stratagold and Oceanside were almost on the same side) mostly spoke to the people from Candlepoint. From there, small talk moved on, and larger conversations occurred. There were a few incidents as Ar’Cosmos and Stratagold clashed, but, to Erick’s utter delight, everyone from Candlepoint worked hard to defuse those situations, and his Overseers also worked hard to do the same.

And sure, Zaraanka was still scared of him, and Valok was still curt, but both of them spoke at length to anyone who wanted to talk. Zaraanka, in particular, was very interested to talk to Zolan about trading with other nations.

Erick wasn’t there for that conversation since he didn’t want to scare Zaraanka, but he did manage to overhear that Zolan had quite a few contacts he wished to invite into the Gate District, but it would be a process. He was more interested in what Zaraanka had managed to do with Candlepoint. This transformed the discussion into talk of Erick’s Wizardry reveal and all that fallout.

There were a lot of small connections being made, all around Erick, which was perfect! That’s what he was trying to accomplish.

On the scale of ‘bad office parties to good office parties’, on Earth, Erick would rate it a 1.5 out of 10.

But on the scale of peace talks on Veird?

An easy 7. Maybe even an 8!

And everyone seemed to enjoy the food and the band.

Erick called an end to the party after only 3 hours, which was more than enough, for now.

- - - -

The gathering came and went.

So did the night.

The next day dawned, and Erick met with his people, individually, and sometimes as a small group. He [Gate]d in reincarnators from Oceanside and showed them to their rooms, and tried to make them comfortable. Some people from Ar’Cosmos ventured out to Candlepoint in small groups of two or three to buy food and supplies from the markets to bring back to their tower. Raingorl and Mox also ventured into the city, looking for supplies for the New Folks Home, and also to meet with potential employees who they had spoken with the previous night. You couldn’t run a school or several dungeons without having people to man them, after all.

The day passed long before Erick had gotten enough done, for he had barely scratched the surface of what Zolan could actually do for House Benevolence, and yet, already, Zolan had secured some official trade routes from the Wasteland Kingdoms to Candlepoint. He had piggybacked off of the work of Zaraanka and Princess Weilux, and used his connections as a former world power himself to do it, but still! It had gotten done. And now, Candlepoint had an official trading agreement in the West Bank.

That official trade agreement came with a request for a meeting with Erick, which was something he would satisfy on his own time.

Probably wouldn’t happen for a while, though.

The very next day, instead of goods blipping into discrete houses like they were smuggling goods (which had been how it had been happening since Erick’s announcement of Wizardry) [Teleport Platform]s floated through the eastern gate of the city, headed to the previously empty customs house. From there, those goods went to Market Street, and a new general store opened up.

It was sold out within five hours.

Erick would eventually open a [Gate] to make all of that easier, but for now, this was good.

The next day passed quickly, but monotonously, for Geode Bank had come to town and it was time to set up the banking for House Benevolence. With Zolan at his side, Erick went to Mage Bank first and spent five hours sorting out a new kingdom account. By that time, the basic building for Geode Bank had been built, right in front of House Benevolence, and so Erick and Zolan went over there to set up more accounts with them. Making accounts at Geode Bank went like a breeze, even though Erick had never worked with them before, because King Alfonin had paved the way for them long before Erick ever stepped in the door.

Mox began working on the sewers of the Gate District that day.

Raingorl broke ground on a trade school inside Candlepoint, since that is what they needed right now. There weren’t any kids but there were lots of adults who had to make a living in that place, since they weren’t allowed anywhere else in the world, and so a trade school was deemed the most prudent of options. He had eight students by the end of the day.

After overseeing a discussion between Zolan, Aisha, and Burhendurur (which went pretty well!), the Overseer of Enforcement decided to use summoned sand elementals instead of flesh golems and other undead monsters in order to secure the lands outside of the lake. There wasn’t much to actually secure out there, but Erick’s [Cascade Imaging] for ‘people’ surely didn’t catch all the possible problems out there. He had been using [Cascade Imaging] for a while, and surely someone would know that blocking radio waves was enough to stop that spell from seeing them; even if no one really knew the true nature of light, some people did. The Gemslicers down in Stratagold knew of light. Others probably did, too.

Volaro and Erick spoke of laws and ideals, here and there, and though Erick suspected they would talk a lot more about all of that in the future, for now, Volaro had a good idea of how to set up his court of laws. Mostly, he worked through Candlepoint’s existing court structures, which was great.

Erick was able to talk to Aisha some, and to lay out his smaller plans for wide scale denial magics, and for magical iron that wouldn’t rust no matter how much magic was threaded through it. Aisha already knew about using [Condense Oxygen] to prevent the rusting of iron, for that is what they used to treat wrought rot. Attaching that magic to simple iron was different than using it on wrought, and was not something that the Gemslicers had solved yet, but their office would work on that for now. Erick couldn’t really participate right now, though, for there was too much other work to be done.

Yetta Wheat, the Champion of Atunir came to town, stepping out of her own [Gate] and directly onto the farms of Candlepoint. Erick only noticed her ten minutes after she showed, because he was busy elsewhere.

Erick stepped down onto the land south of the erick bean fields, north of the wheat fields. He waved, and shouted, “Hello, Yetta!”

Yetta stood up from inspecting the beans. Valok stood up beside her. They had been discussing the beans and how they were used, but now they were focused on the Wizard. The young woman was exactly as Erick remembered; skin like dark wood, curly hair cut short, and with a faint aura of divine fire all around her. She seemed both perturbed, yet happy.

With a false air of anger, Yetta shouted back, “I kept waiting for your invitation!”

Erick smiled. “I’ve been busy!”

“I know.” Yetta walked toward him, extracting herself from the bean fields, saying, “I’m going to work on these farms. Keep what happened the last time you tried this from happening again.”

An unexpected swell of emotions rushed through Erick’s chest. He smiled brightly. Tiny arcs of Benevolent lightning skittered across the ground, and vines began to spread—

“Whoops!” Erick said, pulling himself back from sparking all over the place. He didn’t want to fill this walking space with unintended flora. “Ah. That happens sometimes.” He wiped away a quick tear. “Glad to have you, Yetta. Do you need a place to stay? I mean— How can I help you, help others?”

Yetta grinned, saying, “How about a proper altar to Atunir?”

Valok had joined them, and now he spoke up, “We can’t work in such a field.”

Yetta turned back to Valok, concern on her face. “We’re under a truce right now.” And then suddenly she shifted. Divine fire flickered behind her eyes, and she was the avatar for Atunir, the Goddess of Field and Fertility. She commanded, “Say my name, my former parishioner, and let us test the veracity of this truce.”

Valok’s glowing white eyes went wide as he realized who, exactly, was talking to him. A single name slipped from his lips, “Atunir?”

And nothing happened.

Valok jolted with surprise, for he was fine. No blood from his eyes. No vice grip upon his soul. None of the usual signs that happened when a shadeling spoke the name of a god besides Melemizargo. Valok laughed a little as he, too, realized what had happened.

Valok smiled, wiping away a tear as he said, “Ah. Atunir… Ah. Hello, my Goddess. It’s been a long time since I could pray to you.”

Atunir looked on through Yetta’s eyes, judging. She found the situation acceptable. The Goddess of Field and Fertility nodded at Valok, then turned back to Erick, and she was Yetta once again. The Champion of Atunir spoke, “There is no issue.”

Erick chuckled. “Then… I’ll make an altar… Somewhere?”

Valok said, “This way.”

The farms got an altar to Atunir, placed centrally. Yetta planted some divine-fire beans by that altar, and without ceremony, the beans instantly began to grow, spiraling vines of gold and silver up and down pillars, surrounding Atunir’s statue. The very next day the usual yields of the fields multiplied, as [Grow] worked overtime and the land itself teemed with vitality. And now, farmers of all kinds, including shadelings, did what they usually did all across the world before they started their work day, or maybe just a few times a week; they had a proper place to pray to Atunir. And that is what they did.

More days passed without great incident.

Here and then gone, went Stratagold’s month-long moratorium on new Gate sets.

Erick was already talking about where to open the next Gate set, but there was one thing to do before that happened; he needed to talk to the Wayfarer’s Guild. Zolan was already on the job. Soon, House Benevolence entered into negotiations with the Wayfarer’s Guild for them to provide ‘last [Teleport]’-level transportation services near the various nodes of the Gate Network. Thanks to Erick’s castellan (because the Wayfarer’s Guild wouldn’t actually talk to Erick, but they would happily talk to Zolan) the Wayfarer’s Guild came to town the very next day.

Even more days followed, the sun seeming to rush across the sky faster than Erick could handle.

Erick’s main fears of a sudden war had yet to materialize. There had been a few fights between members of his House, of course, but mediation by Volaro settled many of those fights. Thankfully, Volaro proved to be impartial once he was on the judge’s seat, so that was great.

Everywhere Erick looked, there was noticeable growth, and burgeoning cooperation.

Peace.

And so, because there was so much peace, Erick offered Jane the chance to go out and find her sword.

“You mean it?” Jane asked, all excited.

“Yes!” Erick said, “You will have some bodyguards and stuff, and this isn’t really a mission to find your sword; that’s just the excuse. You’ll be spearheading the chance to show how all of our sides can work together.”

Jane rushed her father and grabbed him in a great big hug, saying, “That works! Thanks, dad!”

Erick smiled as he hugged his daughter.

And so, Jane left, off into the sunrise with others in tow. There was Hizogard, from Ar’Cosmos, along with Sitnakov, because once he found out what was happening he practically forced his way into the expedition, which Erick was fine with. The big guy needed a break, too. There were a few others, including a Mind Mage for better communication when they were deep in the Underworld, but it was a balanced group. Their first stop was a visit to the new wrought settlement in Ar’Kendrithyst, and from there, they would venture into the depths of the Dead City, trying to retrace her path to find her sword. Apparently, Jane had traveled multiple thousands of kilometers in her fugue state, which is why she had not been able to locate her sword on her own. Their group would probably be gone for at least a month. Maybe even two.

Erick got a replacement Stratagold-sponsored wrought bodyguard while Sitnakov was away, though.

Tasar, the Summoner.

“Hello, Erick—” Tasar grinned a little as she corrected herself, “Apparent King Flatt.”

“Welcome to House Benevolence, Tasar,” Erick happily said. “Where would you like to room? Sitnakov’s room in Stratagold’s district, or inside the House?”

“Inside the House is good.” Tasar said, “My mother says hello, by the way. She hopes you’re doing well.”

Erick smiled at that. “I am. Tell her I hope she is doing well, too. Otaliya was such a good help to me back in that inquiry. How is she?”

Tasar smiled brightly, saying, “She’s out and about. Getting back to work. She’s happy.”

“Was there trouble after I came out as a Wizard?”

Tasar said, “It was what it was, and now we are here.”

Erick nodded. He understood that.

- - - -

Days passed like rain vanishing into dry desert sands.

- - - -