Chapter 156: The Right Tools For The Job

[Martial or Domestic Hero?]

This was a very apt question, on his Martial side, he currently had Tomyris, Gan Ning, Subutai, Tomoe, Liao Hua and Xun You as his top level Heroes, either B Grade or above. After that he had Xun Yan, Abubakar and Uriah. An additional Military based hero would be great as it added further strength and tactics, however the forces they currently had were not enough for each General to show of their entire skillset. More Generals would prologue the time it took to get the current armies up and running.

Then again, some armies worked best when they had multiple commanders that could support each other. For example, Subutai could use Abubakar as his vanguard, whilst he himself brought up the main army, and use someone like Xun You to protect the rear guard. Gan Ning had Liao Hua for support on the southern aspect, but Tomyris and Tomoe could do with an additional senior commander to support them.

Domestically he had Lucius, Shang Yang, Xun Yu, Crassus and Meritamen. A much smaller amount of Heroes in relation to the Heroes number in total, but he had a variety of Elite Villagers and as they still had less than three thousand members in Riverside, the need for a large amount of Government wasn't there.

With his current governance structure, he had Lucius who was the Mayor and dealt with the day to day, Shang Yang who was in charge of Law, Xun Yu who looked after administration, Crassus who looked after Finance and Meritamen who looked after Diplomacy. Xun You and Subutai overlooked the Military aspect.

Dom was sure that Xun Yu would appreciate some additional support as his role encompassed the most, but he wasn't sure if a Hero was necessary or more Elite Villagers.

"Domestic." Dom replied after thinking through his options, he did not know how many opportunities he would get to bring in more Heroes to Riverside, and he could train up some of the Centurions to be more senior, but bringing in ancient knowledge for Riverside's development was just as key. He also felt that as he had another two Golden Token's, he may get further chances to get other Military Heroes of some quality.

[Construction, Constipation or Condemnation]

"What sort of choices are those?" Dom exclaimed as he read them, "Construction, Constipation or Condemnation? Constipation?"

"You are having a challenging day." Lucius commented as he heard Dom's exclamation.

"Construction is obvious." Dom said, "A Hero with a construction background would be a huge asset, but I can't understand the other two."

"Constipation could be a Medical Hero who could take Riverside's Healthcare forwards." Lucius replied, trying to be supportive.

"We have Hua Tau, his family and Phoebe. I don't think we need to add more to that area yet." Dom stated, understanding where Lucius was coming from with his explanation.

"Condemnation could be a Religious Hero?" Lucius continued, "We don't urgently have anyone who is dedicated to that as of yet."

"I think it is best that we stay that way." Dom replied, "We have such a variety of cultures merging in Riverside, adding a Religious figure could be divisive."

"Possibly, but it's an important aspect to many cultures to celebrate their gods or god." Lucius replied evenly. "So, what are you going for?"

"Construction!" Dom announced, to which Lucius just shook his head and smiled. Construction was a key part of Riverside's growth, so hopefully a hero who could help in that regard would arrive.

[Rolling for a Construction Hero…. Hatshepsut

Hero Grade – B+

Hero Strength – Majestic Builder and Avid Tradeswomen

Hatshepsut was the second confirmed female Queen Regent of Ancient Egypt in the 18th Dynasty. Daughter of Thutmose I, Wife of Thutmose II and Mother in Law of Thutmose III. She led in a time of peace and prosperity for Ancient Egypt.

Attempts were made to remove her from history from her decedents, primarily to enforce their own rule during some trying times that followed in later generations, but her footprint on history is not as easily forgotten.

She re-established key trade routes and networks with nearby kingdoms, bringing in luxuries and necessities in to her own kingdom. She was primarily peaceful, but did have some military might in her own right, having directed some campaigns in to some of her southern enemies.

She often dressed more masculine so as to maintain the male leader feeling within the kingdom, but was revered due to being a woman who was successful in her role at the time.

Her Biggest accomplishments were her constructions, having built and started many construction projects across the years she was in power, across both the upper and lower parts of Egypt. Most of these buildings were religious in nature and she with the best Architects that were around at the time.]

[Hatshepsut is a Grade B+ Hero due to the restrictions on technology from 1500BC when she was around, however can be upgraded to Grade A once she has learnt more modern techniques.]

The Heroes Hall doors opened and a tall, dark skinned woman walked out, wearing a gold coloured Toga and a blue Headdress, with a golden necklace around her long neck. She looked to be around thirty five years old and had a regal air surrounding her. Her eyes were black and looked youthful, and she gave Dom a motherly feel.

"I greet the Lord." She said as she bowed. "I am Lady Hatshepsut."

"Welcome to Riverside!" Dom said kindly, whilst Lucius gazed at her with his eyes wide, as if he had seen the most precious thing in his life. Dom had to give him a polite nudge so that he closed his mouth.

"Thank you for having me." She replied, catching Dom's nudge to Lucius and putting a polite smile on her face, "I hope that I can help you grow your Kingdom."

"It is but a small City." Dom replied with a laugh, "Not quite a Kingdom."

"For now maybe." She replied, "But not for ever."

"Would you like a tour?" Lucius asked, his words coming out much quicker than he probably intended.

"Of course." She replied with another polite smile. "It would be interesting to see your home and the people who live here."

"I'll leave you two to it then?" Dom asked questioningly as they both headed off towards the Town Centre.

Dom thought for a few seconds about Hatshepsut's information, he had not chosen Condemnation as he didn't want a Religious Hero, so instead he had chosen Construction and received a Temple building expert. He felt that the system was playing games with him today. He was interested to see what she could bring to Riverside though.

He would have to let Meritamen know that another Ancient Egyptian had arrived, even if she was from a different Dynasty and around three hundred years earlier in history. He was sure that she would be happy with this though, as they had some common background.

Dom now had Heroes from Ancient China, Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt. As well as Heroes from Ancient Iran, Japan and the Mongolians. He was impressed with the variety that he had gathered so far, and wondered who he would come across next. History was so expansive, as were the numbers of Kingdoms and Empires that had emerged and fallen.

....

Dom headed towards the Town Centre where he planned to use the Elite Villager Tokens, before heading off towards the Military Training that was taking place in the east, in preparation for the Excursion to Tongpai Town, after the final Auction that was taking place in a couple of days.

Dom was greeted by Meritamen and Xun Yu who seemed to be in deep conversation, they looked at him, Xun Yu smiled, where as Meritamen frowned.

"Is everything ok?" Dom asked, worried that something had gone wrong.

"Everything is fine." Xun Yu replied kindly, "We just saw Lucius and the new Hero Hatshepsut."

"Do you enjoy bringing new women to Riverside?" Meritamen joked, "I have never seen Lucius like that before"

"He may be a bit excited for once, about something that is not farming." Dom laughed in response.

"We need to get some controls in place and find some ways to integrate the new citizens." Xun Yu stated, taking them back to the conversation that Meritamen and himself were discussing prior to Dom's arrival. "As with all of the different cultures mixing, issues are bound to arise."

"What's happened?" Dom asked.

"Nothing major, Himilco our Shipbuilder is from Carthage, and he got in to an argument with the new Balearic Slinger Leader Basius when they were on their tour of Riverside." Meritamen replied, "Basius said something and Himilco took it wrong. Everything is calm now, but it could be a worrying sign of things to come."

"Especially with the influx of the freed slaves and the different daily spawns." Xun Yu agreed. "I am assigning houses to people as they become available, and I don't want to create segregated zones based on background."

"How do we resolve this before it becomes a thing?" Dom asked seriously.

"We need to find some similarities between the groups and pull them together." Xun Yu replied.

"I was speaking with some of the Hoplite's earlier, and they used to have competitive games." Meritamen announced, "I was thinking we could do something similar with both our Military and Civilians."

"The Olympics?" Dom questioned, aware of the old sports event that took place every four years. It had stopped a few hundred years ago, but there were discussions of it being brought back.

"Yes!" Meritamen responded with a grin.

"You two do what ever you want to do! I think that will be a great idea." Dom replied, not wanting to get organise it himself, but happy that his Heroes were on top of everything that was going on around him.

"I will go and organise it now!" Meritamen stated, before leaning in and giving Dom a kiss on the cheek and disappearing in to the Town Centre, where Dom noticed Chanda was waiting for her.

"Why is Chanda there?" Dom asked.

"She has become Meritamen's assistant." Xun Yu replied with a shrug. "What are your plans now?"

"Do you need me for anything?" Dom replied, his small list growing.

"No, don't worry! I just wanted to head out to the Military Camp with you when you go." Xun Yu stated.

"I'd be grateful for the company." Dom replied honestly, "I just need to do the Elite Villager Spawns first."

Xun Yu nodded before heading inside himself so that Dom could get his tasks complete.

"System, use the first Red Cube." Dom said.

[Rolling for Elite Villager….Villager Chosen]

The Town Centre doors opened and a woman with blonde hair and olive skin walked out in a white toga. She had a papyrus rolled under her arm and a piece of charcoal in her mouth. She had the look of a scholar and was looking around impressed as she appeared.

"Good Morning Lord." She greeted, "I am Hypatia of Alexandria."

"Welcome to Riverside." Dom replied kindly, "System show stats."

[Hypatia of Alexandria

Villager Grade – S

Hypatia of Alexandria was a renowned Astronomer, Mathematician and Philosopher. She was born in Alexandria, Egypt in the Eastern Roman Empire during the late 300AD's and was renowned for her intelligence and forward thinking thoughts.

She created tools that made sailing ships much easier and tools that allowed the density of liquids to be measured. She was a prominent speaker and was well respected by Philosophers of her time and after.

Historically, she suffered a violent death at the hands of religious Zealots who disagreed with both her views and the fact that she was an intelligent female.]

Dom felt that she would easily work alongside some of the other Historical Figures they had gained so far, and would introduce her to Aristarchus for Astronomer and Sostratus the Architect as soon as he had finished his spawning. Dom hoped she could help the both of them.

"I will make sure you are given a good role here in Riverside." Dom said to her, after reading the final line of her description.

"As long as I can be treated as an equal and learn, then I am happy." She replied seriously.

Dom smiled before he asked the system to use his next cube.

[Rolling for Elite Villager…..Villager Chosen]

The Doors opened again, this time a short man from Asian descent, with huge muscular arms walked out, he had a large hammer in one of his hands. He had long black eyebrows that pointed to both sides, with thick black hair and a wide grin of white teeth. Behind him was a young boy who stood in his shadow.

"Ou Yezi at your service my Lord." Ou Yezi announced, bowing his head very low, his big wide grin still on his face. "This is my apprentice who has decided to join me on my adventure here."

"Welcome both!" Dom replied kindly, before asking the system to show stats.

[Ou Yezi

Villager Grade – S

Ou Yezi is a Master Swordsmith and Master Blacksmith from the Spring and Autumn period of Ancient China. Renowned for making some famous swords for both King Zhao of Chu and King Goujian of Yue.

He was also an expert teacher, having trained both Gan Jiang and his wife Mo Ye, two expert Blacksmiths in their own right, whose lives works are renowned throughout history.

Ou Yezi is a Grade S Villager, however could upgrade to a low level Hero with an increase in knowledge on more modern materials.]

"I wish I had upgraded the Blacksmiths!" Dom lamented as he read Ou Yezi's stats. Imaging all of the great Weapons that could be developed and created with this Villagers skills.