Night at the Farm

The 12th Floor is still a blasted wasteland, but here, at least, things are looking somewhat better. Nestled up to one of the 12th's ruined villages, a new stretch of farmland has emerged. Makeshift homes have sprung up in a cluster at the center of fresh fields, where refugees of the war against the Palace Lands have begun making a new life for themselves in the relative safety of Aincrad Tower. Here, the eerie silence that had permeated the rest of the floor has been broken. Around the fields, it feels... less hostile than the rest of the 12th, as if they were surrounded by a bubble of tranquility and warmth that is slowly expanding into the desolate, dead silent floor.

Night has fallen, and there is a tent set up next to a small campfire near the edge of the settlement. A sign has been hung up, bearing the symbol of the Scale Emblem Alliance-- as well as a Staff of Asclepius, the universal symbol of medical care. The Doctor of Tolbana has been traveling to this far-off floor regularly when he has spare time, providing free medical care to the Landers who have been brought here to cultivate the once barren land. Tonight, he sits next to the fire, munching at a bowl of simple wheat porridge prepared by some of the locals. It's a humble meal, but it wouldn't feel right to dine extravagently here.

Schneider doesn't get to spend as much time in the higher parts of Tower as he used to; between the Palace Land war and all sorts of events in his first floor flying school, and his recent spate of research in the Doc's clinic, and his own training, this is actually his first trip up this high. He's been looking over the landscape, Appraising some of the more unusual features, but also helping to get the refugees settled.

He's sitting at Proph's fire, munching the food and thinking about Asuna's cooking, but wondering, "So, I didn't even know we were moving people this far into the Tower. It's safe? We haven't cleared this floor yet, have we?" He's lost track of our Tower progress with everything going on.

"This floor is... was silent," Prophylaxis answers around a mouthful of porridge. "That is to say, something had killed its ability to sustain any kind of life. I wasn't too worried about monsters as a result, but you're probably right that we should establish more of a presence up here. For the Landers' sake if nothing else," Prophylaxis shrugs. This is about as far as the Scale has come-- so far, anyway. He had made it a priority to ensure the stability of the 12th floor before proceeding to the 13th. "Now that there are Landers working the land, things are... less dire. But I think it'd still be a good idea to rehabilitate the town of Lokk, not far from here. The more life we can put into the floor, the better."

Otherwise... Ganesha seemed very concerned when Prophylaxis went to ask him for advice. Songs maintain this world, and for a place to go so completely silent is a dire omen. Is someone trying to cut off their ascent through the tower by rendering floors uninhabitable...?

Schneider looks alarmed as Proph tells him about the floor. "Killed its ability to sustain life? Like some kind of magic debuff? Or like plowing the fields with salt?" But it sounds like that whatever happened is not permanent, if we're slowly brining life back. "I might be able to help if finding arable land is needed? And I'm sure Syx could help, if he can spare the time. I'm sure his farming expertise and my ability to evaluate hidden characteristics will let us do the best that can be done." It's a plan, anyhow.

But he doesn't sing, and doesn't really understand the whole Song Makes Everything Work metaphysics, so he can't help in that regard. "But if things are coming back, does that mean things got trashed a long time ago? Or is the scorched earth a recent thing, just not permanent?"

"It's hard to explain," Prophylaxis rubs at his chin. "There was definitely a lot of damage. When we arrived in Lokk for the first time, it looked like something had gouged the ground out with a huge weapon or something like that." Nevermind that the town was utterly wrecked, with only a single survivor whose mental state has been, to put it lightly, kind of fucked. "If there were Landers here once, they were all killed-- except for one, maybe. But that's only part of the problem."

Prophylaxis gestures vaguely at the air, the sky, the earth. "You ever notice that there's always music? Like, if you really listen closely, you can hear song. Those songs are something that resonates through the whole of the World. And when we'd come here for the first time, something had completely rendered the floor silent. The land was... dying, at least from what I was able to put together with my brief conversations with Ganesha. But bringing Landers here to work the land seems to have restored the Song. Which is good!"

"But now we have to deal with the aftermath. I'm planning to extend the rail line to this floor and turn the floor into another stronghold for us. It's definitely not the best in terms of terrain, but I'd feel better knowing that we'd really 'secured' it, after seeing how we'd found it."

Schneider hrms as Proph explains what was found on the floor, and what was done and has happened since. "So, like, this inherent song is a product of the collective presence of the Landers?" he asks. "That's pretty metaphysical." As far as bringing the train up here, he asks, "We need to make sure the floor's pacified before we put a train up here, right? Have we fully scouted this floor? You said it was sterilized, but does that include the floor boss? Or is the floor boss what sterilized the land?" So many questions.

"Have we scouted here for resources, also? If you're bringing the train, is there anything worth shipping down? Or just a sort of manifest destiny thing?" He also wonders, "What's up with the terrain, by the way? I didn't get a look around, myself."

"It might've been the Floor Boss," Proph allows thoughtfully, "Truth be told, we haven't done much raid scouting. We came up here when the Palace Land War was in full swing and they were in control of Mac Anu. So other priorities kept us busy. Thankfully though, the floor transition is in an abandoned town, so establishing a foothold for the station shouldn't be too hard."

"I'd welcome anyone willing to take a look around for resources," the doctor continues. "But the train thing is mostly just for rapid transit. Our nearest settlement is Karluin on the 5th floor, and as we continue to climb, we'll need another base of operations. This floor is relatively quiet and was until recently uninhabited, so it's a good candidate. The surrounding area is mostly tundra and wasteland, but there is some greneery to the south and a handful of forests to the northeast. The tundra is... new. I think it's part of the floor's process of 'dying.'"

"And it's not necessarily the result of the Landers' presence," he explains after swallowing another mouthful of porridge. "Other creatures can produce songs, too. Like chims, for example. Some monsters can produce particularly eerie songs. The kind that strips System Protection, for example."

Schneider winces at songs that strip system protection. "That sounds particularly horrible. I guess I can help take a look around and scout." His Appraisal skill may help with that. "And yeah, if this is otherwise empty, it should be fine to make a base here. If we can pry the resources out. Otherwise it's just earthen berms and a fortified campsite. But maybe some sort of sustained heat source will warm the tundra?" Because Fire, he can do.

"We've got the silver mine on the eigth floor, but that's barely an out post. But the ninth floor is pretty inhabited, isn't it? They had some sort of fortress there, I thought? Then we can go again here, so our posts are kind of close together. Though I think we don't want to spread too thinly, either."

"One on the Eighth could be a good idea," Prophylaxis agrees. "The distance between the Fifth and Twelfth is pretty sizable. Having an outpost would be nice. The Ninth is already pretty heavily populated, though. It's not ours to control, but it is part of the Aincrad Economic Union, so it's a safe place to resupply. We definitely need something up here, though." Otherwise... Well, who knows what lay above the 12th? When would the next safe opportunity to build a stronghold emerge?

"I understand your concern. We only have so many players, after all." He shakes his head slowly, "Mmm, maybe, maybe not. I wonder if the Tundra is even native to the floor or the result of the wasting. But either way, it's a lot of clear land for us to make use of. Plenty of ruins we can rebuild, too, if we'd like to."

Schneider nods about the ninth floor being populated. "That's why I was thinking we could have something more like a hostel than a fortress like on the fourth floor. Let the Landers own and maintain it, pay them with silver from the mine on the eigth floor, maybe? But a place on the eigth floor could work, building up around the mine can't hurt and it'd make it more secure."

As far as the Tundra being native, he has no idea. "People with real jobs don't tend to play games. We don't have a lot of aeronautical engineers or geologists or whatever degree you need to understand tundra. It's mostly college students like me, or people in the computer field, it seems? Just a smattering of people outside that, it seems. We could use more actual scientists and engineers," he says glumly.

"Well, I am a doctor in the real world, you know," Prophylaxis says rather sheepishly. But he is absolutely in the minority of People With Actual Degrees, it seems. "We could, though. Maybe we should put out recruitment posters, especially with the Palace Lands being slowly liberated..."

He nods, though, at Schneider's suggestions. "Either could work. I like the idea of reinforcing the mines on the Eighth though. Silver is extremely valuable. If we want to keep extracting and refining it, we should guard it carefully." Plus, it's an economy that basically establishes itself.

Schneider ohs about Doc being a Doc in RL. But that does make him an exception, as he admits. "Yeah, there's a handful of people in the game with real lives," he agrees. "Not everyone can be a freshman in college with nothing behind him," he says with a smirk. But he ooohs at the Palace Lands survey. "Yeah, I'm not sure how China's gaming population is built, there could be more real people like you," he agrees.

He nods about fortifying the eigth floor mine, agreeing about how valuable silver is. "Yeah, when I did research, I found out there's only one silver mine in all Yamato. That's crazy, I thought. But we can probably get influence in Yamato by spreading a bit of silver around. But we'll have to be careful how we use it so they don't know we have another source. But ... if fortifying the eigth floor mine is a thing, we should probably get working on that, too. Before silver starts turning up, because people may come looking."

"And yet even without a 'real' life to get back to, many trapped here still have enough waiting for them on the outside that they've dedicated themselves to trying to get out," Prophylaxis says with a nod. "And especially in the Palace Lands, I think, we'll have a number of interested recruits. After all, I'm sure many who have recovered from being Crowned have... poor memories of their time here."

As terrible as it sounds that they're taking advantage of such awful experiences to build their pool of manpower.

"Mmm, if we start challenging the monopolies of Yamato's nobility, we will surely start making even more enemies. I'm not sure how 'public' you've made the silver mine's existence as of yet, but we'll want to tread carefully. We'd need the buy-in of the Lander Bankers to make much use of our silver if we want to make it into currency, though. Otherwise, I'm sure there's a monopoly to be broken in the crafts-grade silver market."

Schneider nods grimly about the Crowned. "Many of them were killed just to take away memories. Do you remember the first ones we uncrowned? They were nealy Landers, some of them. I think they'll be glad to work with players, where the Landers don't hate them. But it's China, right? They're used to the state controlling their lives." He seems unsure. "Which, I think is why some of them were willingly crowned."

As far as reading people into our silver mine, he shakes his head. "The Alliance knows, and we haven't -said- it's a secret yet. But I don't think it's a common topic of conversation, so it might not have come up. But coinage is standardized the same here as in the Palace Lands. If we spend the silver there as coins, I can't imagine there'd be any fallout. What I don't understand is how the game keeps prices the same. A starter sword is 15 gold in Carmina Gadelica, Mac Anu, and Lumina Cloth. Why? How?" he shrugs weakly. "I don't know how games work."

"Mm," Prophylaxis sighs mournfully, "Yeah, that whole mess is really a bit much. I worry about them, even if we are able to get them out, how badly will their minds have been affected by the experience? If they can't remember how to live in the outside... I worry for them." But in a way, once they're out, they won't be his responsibility anymore. Though...

There's a bit of guilt there, maybe. After all--

Prophylaxis has never once died in this world.

"Oh, I can answer that, but it's something of a secret," the doctor shrugs. "Simply put, the Lander Banking Guild is coordinating and standardizing prices all across The World. They've essentially established a single marketplace. But of course, factors can affect prices even within that, such as supply shortages and the like. But by and large, for many commodities, they regulate the prices. It's also why I'm concerned that minting our own coinage isn't going to be quite so simple. Creating currency seems like it's one of those things that are protected secrets, you know?"

Schneider has died twice, he's not best pleased by that, but it wasn't avoidable in either case. It didn't feel careless, either. It just was. "It seems strange that things that we can't remember are things from our real lives, while things that we learned here aren't lost."

As far as the bankers coordinating things and us getting into trouble for minting our own coinage, he asks, "Can we simply sell the raw ore to the banks and let them make the coins? Minting our own coins seems like it won't work. They'd technically be counterfiet, wouldn't they? Even if they've got as much silver as official coins. Unless we're blessed by whoever issues currency?"

"I suspect there are reasons why we're not forgetting memories made in 'this' world," Prophylaxis shrugs. "There are many possibilities as to why, but I like very few of them."

"Hmm. It's possible, but we may want to produce ingots of refined silver and sell those instead. Higher mark-up," the doctor strokes his chin. "If we want to make our own coins, we'd have to look into the process. And I guarantee that doing that will start turning heads. Better than we look into the extant silver market in Yamato and look into selling into it through the Aincrad Trade Organization." That is, the trade union Prophylaxis forged between the extant markets within the Tower.

Schneider probably won't like any of the reasons for forgetting memories, no. He doesn't like them, and he's got no idea what they are.

He nods about selling ingots of refined silver. "That sounds like a better plan, yeah. Definitely wind up with fewer problems. Aincrad Trade Organization? Who're they?" he asks. "But I like the idea of using some organization Landers are already familiar with. Changing the Landers' ways seems to always become a crisis."

"The Aincrad Trade Organizaiton, or the Aincrad Trade Alliance is an organization I put together a while back. Basically a trade union between all of the major settlements in the Tower to allow them to coordinate, trade with each other, and potentially also to trade outside the tower as well. Basically, turned a bunch of isolated markets into a system of interconnected ones. It may be good to sell to them, and then allow them to decide what to do with the silver from there. Of course, that has its disadvantages as well."