The Unknown God

Chapter 39 - The First Plan

The trees gave way to the expedition. The newcomers were awed by the majestic grandeur of the surrounding hills and the crystal clear lake. The island appeared to be a precious stone gifted by the lake to the mortal eyes.

[Welcome back to your domain: Domain of Celebrim.]

'Alright, the funs over, time to work,' thought Simply. "Alright, everyone! We are here, Master Forger Yngol and Lady Arya please come over here." called over Simply. The old man led his horse towards the front of the column, while Arya waited for Simply to begin his brief.

"You, two shall be in charge of delivering my orders to the men. Lady Arya, have your men establish a defensive perimeter. The light cavalry will be in charge of scouting the area for possible hostiles. Make use of the carpenters and workers to erect a temporary base of operations. It should be a square, a hundred and twenty meters in length. Have the labourer dig a trench, throwing the excavated dirt inward, to be later formed into the rampart. On top of this build a palisade of stakes fashioned out of the surrounding wood. Place towers at intervals along the wall with positions between the four cardinal gates. I'll leave the layout of the camp up to you. My only wish is that the camp is oriented so that a wide straight road can run from Eternal Landing into the fort to the island over there. Later we will build a bridge. Alright, good luck." Lady Arya accepted her orders with a nod and promptly left to complete them.

"Yngol, I'll have to trouble you in taking charge of the blacksmiths and construct a metalworking shop. In the coming days, we will need a stable supply of iron tools and construction supplies. Don't take it the wrong way, but we need to first establish a heavily fortified city before we can focus on forging masterpieces."

"I understand. Leave it to me."

---

Four well dressed old man introduced themselves to Simply.

"My Lord, we are the architects sent by Duke Astrus. The place you chose to construct your outpost is mindblowing beautiful. However, it will require a lot of work and a lot of funds. Especially if you wish to construct it on the island. We would advise you to establish it on land. I'll bring you a construction plan tomorrow."

"Thank you, however, there is no need for you to make a plan. The blueprint for the city has already been completed. Here is the first part of the building plan. I estimate it will take over a week to finish this step. Work with the masons. Take the rest of the day to familiarise yourselves with it. Tomorrow you shall begin the construction. Now, I'll let you to it."

"Wait what?" Shock overwhelmed the lead architect when he received a thick parchment. For a moment, he even wondered if he was hallucinating.

...

Within a tent, nine people look at each other. The young lord at just rocked their entire lives. They had dedicated their entire life in the art of constructions. However, they had never seen such a well tough out plan before.

The first part of the plan involved the construction of large rectangular boats that could be arranged together to form a stable bridge to connect the island to the shore. This would allow an easy method of transporting the building materials from the mainland to the construction site while ensuring its safety. At the first sign of danger, the workers could disconnect the 'floating' bridge, cutting off the invader's path. Once the stone walls had been raised around the island, a bridge would be built, concretely connecting it to the shore. The bridge was the final step of the first part.

While the wall was an important task, the inner Keep located within the future citadel in the centre of the island was the priority. Followed by the inner city surrounding the Keep. The island would be reshaped by the addition of a massive stone wall that would edge around it in the shape of a pentagon. The pentagon's points were extended into diamond shaped points. The ingenious concept behind the shape of the fortification was that they were no 'dead angle' to give the enemy shelter from the defenders' barrage of fire.

According to the plan, the Keep was to the centre of the island where the ground level was the highest. It was designed to have a large sturdy rectangular base, which would rise high into the sky, overlooking the area. Its general shape was similar to a sharp inverted V with two towers above it, dominating the landscape. A wall would skirt around it, separating it from the inner city. The inner city was divided into four distinct sections. In the north were the military and academic districts. Both were separated from the other districts by an inner wall, similar to the Keep, however smaller in size. This was to minimise the leak of information from pesky spies. South of the Keep, the residential quarters alongside the trade district were situated. These two districts were separated from each other by a grand plaza that ran from the main gate of the island to the citadel. The trade district had a large open plaza reserved for stalls, while large shops with warehouses would surround it. Workshops such as blacksmiths, woodworkers and tailers were assigned to the north of the trade district, close to the academic district and the citadel.

A place was left near the military district and the trade district to construct fortified harbours to lessen the transportation burden on the bridge. A complex underground water system had also been planned out by Simply. A large underground chamber was to be excavated for a future water project. The military district had a few barracks marked out, an office building and a few warehouses and workshops. These buildings overlooked a parade ground, while behind them were training grounds. A library, a hospital, a laboratory, school building and dormitories were planned in the academic district. Similarly to the military district, these buildings faced a plaza, while a park was planned to be made behind them. The residential quarters, on the other hand, was left to the architects' discretion, similarly so was the business district, except for the location of the city hall which was to the right of the grand plaza, near the citadel.

A few plots of land were marked as 'future development'. Which puzzled the architects.

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Level 22 (99%)

Name Simply Umbra

Class Imperial Dragon Knight

Bloodline Golden Dragon Ancestry

Race Human | Golden Dragon

Health 479 (420) (+14%) { [(vitality-10)/10 x 2.5] +bonus = X% }

Mana 248 (220) (+12.75%) { [(Intelligence-10)/10 x 2.5] +bonus = X% }

Stamina 462 (420) (+10%)

Intelligence 61 (55) (+10%)

Wisdom 55 (50) (+10%)