So, as Alexstrasza's household was established, we started to get invitations and requests. By and large the noble families checking in on their investment, but there had been a number of those belonging to the Frostlander clans and the Merchant associations. All of them curious, given Aayla's alien nature and the fact that Alexstrasza was openly recruiting some of the orphans for to be the first students of the cult. Which yes, I had to do some teaching, and while it was nice to see the numbers go up? Well, that seemed to draw even more attention, given the fact that we were not exactly being subtle about things.
And yet, over the last month, there had been a consistent theme, as far as the questions and conversations went. Largely, about how they could not remain in the general area of the crater forever and would need to expand. Each of the those coming had somewhat different slants to the questions, to wondering if we would be willing to back them and their proposals. But all pointed to a particular picture, as they talked about areas out in the Frostlands.
Truthfully? The Nobles seemed to want to create settlements and colonies at least half because they wanted to create new semi-feudal holdings, were they would naturally be in charge. With the greater colony sites serving as lynchpins of the new holdings, the various resource extraction settlements as lesser fiefs.
The Merchants seemed to want to have additional resources to exploit and make sure the economy stayed growing, with the resource producing settlements feeding into the colonial centers which in turn would send the resources back the city... and then New London would sell the finished goods to the colonies who would in turn sell them onto the settlements in something that sounded almost but not quite like triangular trade.
Meanwhile, the various Frostlander clans? They seemed to be more interested in not keeping all the eggs in one basket, with a network of settlements and colonies that would be able to support each other... and that would mean that if something happened to destroy New London, any of the colonies or settlements, that there would be a much higher chance of survivors.
And why were they looking to Alexstrasza for some support (because yes, she was the focus of the cult we were setting up and a queen in exile)? Oh, that was fairly easy. Turns out the presence of a dragon could vastly simplify things, even without taking in account her more esoteric abilities. She had already restored the soil for all the food districts, enriching it actually, and regrew part of the frozen forest and so all eyes were on her, literally wide eyed and with eager as they talked of some of the more... promising locations close at hand.
Of course, there WAS the simple question, as we talked, of who would actually be in charge. Which is why Sir Weatherby was smiling, as he patted his lips with a cloth. "Why my good man, naturally, the one in charge of New London and its affairs is the Steward." Still, there was that knowing smile, as he continued. "Of course, there is the small matter that even with the air ships," which were basically zeppelins, "that these locations are some time away and there is something of a communication delay. Hence, while in theory the Steward can give orders..."
One of his companions, a Dame Ruth Rousenvale, lifted a small glass of rye whisky. "The captain is far away, and so it will be up to the local officers to largely handle the day to day affairs of the colonies." Now, there was, if you looked into it, a tendency to use Captain or King nearly interchangeably, and yet there was a difference. A king, Edward the Seventh, was viewed almost more as a mythical figure than a real person among those who hold to the old world, while the Captain, despite being dead for close to a year, loomed in their minds as a sovereign. "Which of course, is also why we are interested in seeing which of the identified sites you may be interested in Alexstrasza."
And there it was. Because as it was, the noble families had gotten used to being powers behind the throne, having someone else officially in charge of it all while they acted as managers and officials in the bureaucracy. And thus not the ones to be blames right away if anything went wrong of course. Still, my draconic companion looked over the papers, a thoughtful look on her face. "This hanging rock site, it has what seems to be geothermal activity." Now, she was musing, as she looked over the reports, and at the locale that seemed to be a mountain vale with abundant forests and the potential for hot springs. "That has... promise."
Now, that drew the eye of some of the guests, as she continued. "Because, to be sure, I could simply force the trees and plants to live, to focus on them and brute force it, but if there is geothermal activity, I could be able to tap into it to change the area." Now, eyes were wide as they looked at her... as she tapped the fact that there were at least two sites were it was notably warmer than the rest of the area. "I would need to do something about the gasses, but..."
She nodded. "Yes. I think I could do more with this site." She paused, and there was an amused smile on her face. "To be sure, I may be able to do something more dramatic with the Windswept Heath, but the ruins of Winterhome?" There was eagerness in her tone. "That I may be able to turn into an actual home. Subject of course, to what agreements may be reached?"
It was actually funny to watch the self titled knights shiver as she looked over them in an almost predatory fashion. It may be that using her powers to allow for human exploitation of the woodlands may be frustrating her slightly more than I had been assuming.
Now, the good news was that when a dragoness strikes a deal with the steward to ready a locale for colonization by herself? It had been the talk of New London for days... before me and Aayla were carried off to the site, as we had work to do. On the one hand, yes, Alex was eager and rushing a little, but as it was? I was mostly a spare set of hands as the girls actually did the bulk of the heavy lifting.
See, we were establishing a magi-tech, not quite titan, power tap into the local geothermal hotspots, and then using magic and some warding stones to both amplify and contain the heating effect. Essentially, as I carved the stones and Alex moved them to the various points that would anchor the whole thing, we were setting up a ritual to make the valley floor into a giant greenhouse, one that would actually be terraformed... and part of this, and Aayla's biggest contribution to the project, as she channeled the force to build a crystal furnace that was fed dragon blood and quartz?
Yeah, there was going to be a giant artificial kyber crystal floating in the air and anchoring tied directly into the local leylines (which technically existed) to augment the heat pulled from the geothermal taps and purify any disease or toxins in the area. Because that was less a traditional jedi force crystal and more... well, a psionic battery and computer meant to serve as a regional terraforming AI. Which, as it started to spin and pulse, as the snows started to melt and the grass and shrubs and trees all but exploded from the ground, well... it was freaking epic.
No animal life, no insects, even as we stood in the middle of a new temperate forest. And then... my gamer system dinged. Huh. I was getting some cash for terraforming a part of the world. Nice.