As people moaned and spasmed around them, Eli and Alyssa talked. She explained that she was nearly out of supplies, even with her packs ability to forage, hunt, and gather. They needed cloth, potions, salves, and other medical supplies. While some human NPCs and an Aosai player offered to help her with her duties, she was in dire need of equipment. The blades she had were rusting and dull. Her tongs were bent and blunted. She also needed a proper place to care for the sick and injured, especially if most of the four hundred citizens slept in the temple.

Having people sleeping so close to a medical ward was a biological hazard. Infections would spread, people were having trouble sleeping, and if one of the blighted wolffen turned, it would be a disaster. With each passing day, the disease took hold. If a few of the infected were to turn, they could spread through the entire settlement in one night. Eli knew better than anyone, just how important it was to get the shrine up and running. What he was learning was exactly how important a market, workshop, and means to produce raw materials were. For any hope of having everything ready, people needed to move faster, they needed direction. Seeing the old Wolffen Rou’gar selling trinkets to strangers gave Eli an idea.

“Alyssa, I’ll take care of this. You’re the medical director, or director of health and safety, or whatever it is. You have one of, if not the most important positions. If you need anything, at all, just ask Myr, James, or myself. I am also giving you permission to open an account under the guilds name. Whatever you need, get it.” As he ran off to talk to Rou’gar, a notification appeared asking if he wanted to grant Alyssa to open an account under the guilds name.

Approving the account, he sprinted towards the Wolffen merchant. As he approached, the old man grew worried, as if he had done something wrong. Not having time to question his motives, Eli berated him with question after question. He needed to know if the man was up for taking on the constructing a merchants' quarter, and any future clandestine operations. After some time, and bartering for decreased taxation on his own goods, and a free permit, he agreed. The guild would front the resources, and gold, to construct the buildings, charge rent, and collect taxes. In return, Rou’gar would oversee the operation and hiring for the shops and stalls. Their plan was to have the grizzled merchant work with Myr and find a location with enough space to expand.

Eli’s plan was to start with one stall, where the city could buy resources and sell excess goods. Starting the next day, he would post several standing quests for players. To get resources, they needed people to collect it. As it stood there were few supplies coming in, mostly meat, hide, a few herbs, and lumber. Stone was being re-purposed as the ruined buildings were torn down, but there was only so much that could be used. Most of the bricks were uneven or nearly destroyed. Rou’gar had given out fetch quests for other items, but until that day, none were being completed. NPCs mostly did what they were programmed to do, which in this case was hunt or forage. Skilled craftsmen were almost nonexistent.

Those who were designed to be beggars and urchins had almost no practical skills. Myr had put them to work, but it was slow moving. Thinking back to his conversation with James, Eli hoped that the unskilled NPCs would learn something useful. It would take time, but it was better than nothing. Not wanting to waste any more time, Eli urged the trader to get a plot of land and a team of workers from Myr and get to work before the night was through. Before leaving, he turned back to the merchant and asked about the shrine.

“Do you know what the holdup is for on the shrine? We’re cutting it pretty short here.” Eli asked as calmly as possible.

“Materials boy. They need materials. Myr asked me if I could acquire a single large log, a chunk of metal, or stone to act as the altar itself. He said it needed to be something rare, valuable.” After a moment of hesitation, and scratching the patchy fur on his chin, he continued, “Problem is, we don’t have strong enough tools to chop down an ironbark, carve out marble, or mine stronger ore. We’re essentially in the stone age. We need iron and steel.” As the man finished speaking, his head tilted, and he stared past Eli, towards the portal. “Now what in the hells is she doing?”

At the man's words, Eli’s head filled with the sounds of alarms. Someone was attacking the temple, specifically the portal. Turning to see the cause of the disturbance, he saw a tall thin Aosai woman in green robes trying to walk through the shimmering field of magic. It was a player, trying to make their way deeper into the temple. Immediately, Eli’s thoughts went to those on the lower floors. The twins were in their rooms, William was in the library, and Kelly was who knows where doing whatever it was he did. With a thought, Eli’s familiar took to the air and the flying guardians made their way to intercept the invader.

Calmly, the woman looked up and smiled as the guardians descended. A breath before the beasts tore her to pieces, the woman closed her eyes and started whispering. While sprinting, Eli watched as a cloud of poison enveloped the small pool of water. Willing mana into his palms, Eli began firing arcane missiles. Between castings, he used his abilities to close the distance. As he reached the water's edge, Eli used Lunge, which would pull him to his target in an instant. As power filled his legs, and he prepared himself to leap, the woman smiled and vanished through the portal.

As she disappeared, the alarms in his mind went silent. The guardians returned to their over-watch position in the sky, as if nothing was wrong. Roughly sixty people stared at him, and the slowly dissipating cloud of dust and toxic gas. Some stood scared, other held their weapons. Many were shouting. Blocking out the distractions, Eli jumped through the portal, starting on the second floor. Seeing no one, he screamed a warning, letting whoever was down there know there was danger. Finding a similar situation on the next floor, he sent his familiar to keep watch and relay any information to him through their connection.

After appearing on the bottom floor, where his library, treasury, and altar room were located he saw nothing wrong. William was pouring over a book of text, while Kelly pulled stacks of books from shelves and placed them on the table next to him. Neither of them paid Eli any attention.

“Did you guys see anyone come through here? A tall Aosai woman, and adventurer?” Eli asked, out of breath as he scanned the room.

William waved his hand, not looking up from his work. If she had come through here, the scholar likely would not have noticed.

After a second of silence, Kelly unloaded a heavy-looking pile of books, and spoke, “The pretty faery lady went towards the altar, I think.”

At the gladekins words, Eli’s eyes went wide as he sprinted through the maze of shelves. How did she get through the portal? He thought, making his way through the long narrow hallway. Dim green light pulsed from the large room ahead. Eli’s heart pounded with every step, he knew that if he lost the stronghold him and don were doomed. They didn’t have time to find another altar. Dawnport would never let them in, and the closest unclaimed stronghold with one was a week's march away and under siege by the blight. Bursting into the room, an axe in one hand and a glowing ball of mana in the other, Eli found a sight that made his head spin.

Kneeling beside the altar, with her hand in supplication, was a stunning fair skinned Aosai with green-blond hair. Rufio, the fearsome guardian, was sitting beside her, licking her face. Streaks of molten saliva fell to the floor harmlessly, doing nothing to damage the woman. The glowing orb that represented Aeryntorr hovered around her. She was praying, and the Altar was lit with the same color that shown when Eli had first claimed the stronghold.

Before he could move, Aeryntorr spoke into Eli’s mind, “Everything is fine, Eli. I allowed her to come down here. She’s try trying to get her class.”

What do you mean, everything is fine? You’re letting strangers into my stronghold. Do you have any idea how much danger we’re in right now? What if she was a spy, or an enemy? What in the fuck? As Eli shouted, never taking his eyes off of the woman.

“Eli, calm down. I am fully aware of the situation. In fact, I know far more about what is going on than you, or your friend James. If you want to get through this, you will need my help. I can only help if I have followers. This woman has offered to become a Priestess. You need faith points to build your shrine.” Aeryntorr said, his bestial, commanding voice echoing in Eli’s mind. “Right now, the only person praying is Alyssa, and it’s only while trying to heal the wounded. We need more people to become followers, I need more power.”

How do you know you can trust her, Eli said, inching forward, standing over the woman, I’ve never even spoken with her, and you’re asking me to just allow her into my home, to wander freely around where the people I care about sleep?

“If she tries anything, I can revoke her privileges and her class.”

Wait, what? You can revoke divine classes? Eli asked, fearful of his own power being revoked by the AI god.

“Yes, even yours. Divine classes get their powers directly from the gods. Her spells will fail, her abilities will not activate. She will be defenseless. That’s part of the bargain. Your power comes from me, your magic comes from nature itself. I control nature. Do not worry, you have to fall out of favor or do something in direct opposition to your patron to lose your spells and abilities. So, as long as we work together, you keep your class. Now watch.”

As Aeryntorr cut off communication, the woman's eyes shot open. Flashes of green and red light poured into her, as if the altar itself was filling her with power. A moment later, the woman rose from the ground, hovering in the air as if she was leveling up. Rather than the warm golden glow normally associated with the spectacle, a fierce, natural looking energy surrounded her. Eli stood in awe of the beautiful display as the woman's feet slowly touched the smooth stone floor. A moment later a green name tag appeared above her head, Liliana Le’fae - Level 5 Druid Priestess.

With the light-show over, Eli grabbed the woman and shook her, “What were you thinking? I almost killed you!” He screamed, nearly attacking the woman. “Do you have any idea the trouble you’ve just caused?”

“I’m Sorry.” The woman said curly, pulling her hands up and grabbing Eli’s wrists. “I did not mean to cause you any harm. But, no one would speak to me and I needed to pray at an altar to finish my class quest. So, if you will, please remove your hands from my shoulders.”

“How did you even get down here?” Eli asked, taking a step back and breathing deeply.

“Well, I made my way into the temple. When I couldn’t get through the portal, I prayed. That’s when you attacked me. As you did, Aeryntorr shielded me and let me through. The only option I could choose from was the bottom floor. The two guys in the library, didn’t really stop me and neither did this cute little girl,” She said, patting Rufio on her head. “When I got close to the altar, Aeryntorr appeared and guided me. Now, I’m a Druid Priestess.” She said with a bow, as if it were some epic achievement. “You should really increase security down here.”

After smacking himself in the face with the palm of his hand, Eli sighed, “Well, can you please leave. You’re not supposed to be down here.”

“Sure, but I need access to this altar. At least until you have another place of worship devoted to Aeryntorr. Oh, and I’ll need to bring others down here to pray.”

Not wanting to argue with a woman, he didn’t know Eli started walking, waving her to follow. While the two left the temple, Eli reset all the security measures and informed Kelly and William to keep a better watch on the place. William told him to hire guards, quiet ones. Noting the man's refusal, Eli took Liliana by the hand and dragged her through the portal.

After speaking with the woman, calming down the growing crowd in the temple, and consulting with Aida, Eli hired two stern looking Wolffen to act as guards. He would have to allow the woman to start a small priesthood, or druid circle if he wanted to build the shrine. He didn’t really know exactly what to call it, but he knew that the FP they would bring in was vital. They needed to build up their stock of the precious resource as possible, quickly.

With the night coming to an end, Eli, Don and James found themselves near the construction site for the inn. A small group had formed around them as the rapidly growing population of adventurers fought for their attention. Each of the new players joined the guild, with Don’s approval, and all of them were looking for work.

Two of the players, a half-wolffen and a dwarf, wanted to become scouts, hunters, or rangers. The Half-Wolffen was a well build woman with a short mohawk. She explained that a large number of non-human NPCs had gone missing in Dawnport, especially children. While trying to investigate, temple guards drove her out of the city. Her theory was that they were sacrificing non-humans in the temple to please the gods. While she had no proof, she seemed positive in her assumption. After hearing her out, Eli sent the two to find Kata and Ellius. As they left, he shouted at them to approach with caution.

As they left, a stocky looking full wolffen approached, inquiring about smithing and mining. Hearing the man's words brought a huge smile to his face, they needed craftsmen and Wayland had just offered to take on apprentices. Without hesitation, he told the man to find the smith and offer to help him build the workshop. He also informed him of the man’s distaste for Wolffen, and that he may have to do several quests for the man before his disposition changed. With a grin on his face, the man ran off, looking forward to grinding.

Most of the rest were combat and complex crafting classes, unsure of what to do. There was an alchemist, a jeweler, and an enchanter who he told to see Myr for work. He didn’t know if the mayor would have anything for them to do, but it would keep them occupied. Each of the players focusing on different combat classes were sent to find Michelle, and given quests to find cloth, meat, ore, metal, weapons, armor, and anything else that the city could use. He set the experience rewards to maximum, and the monetary rewards to a minimum. To Eli’s surprise, most of the low level players grinned as if they were receiving an amazing gift.

After they put everyone to work, Eli took his friends and held a quick meeting about the day's events. As they made their way toward the northeastern river, Eli spotted the Iron-bark Oak, and had a better look at the tree that the foreman wanted so badly. While explaining what happened in the temple, and their dire need for medical supplies, Eli stepped on something impossibly hard and slightly sharp.

There was no pain, but the out-of-place object made him stumble. Catching his balance on the tree, Eli looked down to see what it was he stepped on. Sitting on the floor, shimmering in the moonlight, was a metallic-looking acorn the size of Eli’s fist. At first, Eli wanted to kick the annoying ball into the river, then he remembered how valuable the acorns were.

As Eli bent to pick it up, his hands grew strangely warm, as if the seed was alive. Running his free hand over the cannonball sized acorn, he felt its smooth surface shift slightly. Staring at the object, Eli reached out to it with his mana. Through his Shape Nature spell, he was able to make a connection, force it to grow slightly. It was alive, and nearly ready to sprout.

“Dude, what are you doing?” Don whispered, “You’re just staring at that ball.”

“He does that,” James added, laughing.

“Quiet,” Eli said, as an idea crept into his mind. “I think I have an idea.”