Frostbound

Chris

The choice of who to visit first wasn't that hard to decide upon. There were a few that I could start with that didn't worry me as much as others, but I decided to start with one I was most personally interested in.

I'd spoken to her only briefly and while her City wasn't as immediately close as Ashton's was, she could still be considered a neighbor.

It helped we had already started talks along these lines through messages. Now all we had to do was finalize it.

Mountainside was around two months away by caravan. We hadn't made the trip, and that time wasn't confirmed, but from what we knew of the area and from maps, our estimate was two months.

Marcus and the Twins were closer, but we didn't have a whole lot of options when we looked at our trade opportunities. At least not until River travel opened up, then we would be flush with choice.

Jayla's camp was in a similar state to our own. It was still intact and had minimal damage, but instead of mostly canvas or leather tents set up, it was mostly earthen constructs.

After arriving, I was met with a few people who stopped me and asked what I was there for. The guards still looked battle-worn but had no obvious wounds showing. Either already healed or they made it out better than the average soldier.

Unfortunately, or rather quite predictably, Jayla wasn't there. She was still out near the Obelisk dealing with the arrival of the Merchants. I had to wait for an audience, but I saw someone from her camp run off to get her.

While I had delegated the task of probing the Merchants for information and gaining intel on what they had for sale, most others did not. Looking back, that should have been rather obvious.

As I walked away, there were only a few others who had followed my lead or had ideas similar to my own.

Still, waiting gave me the chance to go over what I was about to negotiate for. Mountainside, while close, wasn't that high on our list of priorities to gain favorable trades for at this moment. Sure, eventually, we would want something running between our Cities, but she didn't have the same advantages as trading with someone like The Admiral.

The information we had didn't say they had anything vital that we needed. They had surplus food, a great deal of high-grade stone, and vast metals they pulled from the mountain, but nothing that we couldn't gain on our own.

Not like some other pylons.

Still, creating this connection would help our City develop and she was an entry into my next stop, which held things that were of greater importance that I wished to acquire.

It would also open us up to a market with a few more dungeons. Skills shards and other rare drops were still infrequent, but as time went on and Dungeons expanded, we would see more of them.

Expanding our reach now would make it easier later.

It was some time before Jayla returned and I was let in to meet with her.

Her 'tent' was worlds different than my own. It wasn't even really a tent. It felt like a bunker. It was made entirely of hard-packed earth to the point it was nearly as hard as stone and the inside was decorated sparsely.

Most everything was made of rock or stone with only a few things not of the Earth. Fur blankets and cloth accessories were one of the few.

Jayla sat upon a chair made of stone and at a table raised from the ground. It was similar to what I could do with my Ice but she didn't have to continually infuse it with mana to keep it from melting. As she could let go once the stone was in shape and supported.

Jonathan had done similar things in his and Abigail's tent.

Her face was tired and I knew my own held a similar expression. While I had slept, it hadn't been near enough.

"Christopher, have you come to finalize our agreement?" She started and got straight to the point.

I'm glad I started here first.

"I have," I said and sat at the chair across from her, "The details still need to be finalized and with everyone most likely making quick exits in the next day, time is not on my side."

Jayla nodded at that, "Good, I feel the same. We've discussed the idea of trade and are both agreeable, but not specific goods."

"No, we haven't." I answered, "I hear word of the occasional high-grade metal you mine that would be beneficial to my City along with other rare gems."

"And you want these high-grade metals and gems that I pull out of the mountain to make strong equipment, I presume?"

"That, among other things." I said, "What would you like in return?"

"Before we get into that, I feel we should agree on two things first." She said, "One, Trade Permissions that allow any Merchant under my banner to enter your City. You may still charge them an entry fee and tax them on their transactions but nothing above the standard rate. I will do the same for any Merchants of yours but this does not extend to Trade beyond my borders."

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Free trade without any additional tariffs? Fair enough.

"Agreed. And the second?"

"A Non-aggression agreement. Neither one of us will declare war or engage in hostilities with the other while this agreement is in effect."

Another request easily granted. Unless Mountainside attacked first, I had no plans to go to War with them. A Defensive Alliance would have been a hard no, but non-aggression was fine.

"Agreed. Now, what is it you want for your metals and gems."

"A percentage of the equipment made from it to offered back to us, before selling to others, along with a discount on such equipment." She said holding up one finger. The first ask was doable and not that hard to comply with. "Along with a road."

"A road?" I was surprised by the request.

"Yes, a road. Whether only financed or instead built by your own men, it matters not. I have plenty of earth mages and masons that are up to the task if you have the coin to pay them." Her smile was a touch predatory at offering her City's services in that regard.

Priority trade on the equipment we make from her material, favorable deals on such equipment, and a road. Two were obvious and not that difficult to comply with, but the third threw me at first.

"Anything else?"

"No, that should do it. In return, in addition to rare metals and gems, I'll throw in something else." Her eyes sharpened, "I hear you have several citizens taking after Avian Bloodlines, yes?"

Austin, Hal, and my Mother came to mind. My Mother hadn't gotten one yet, unlike Gabriel, but high-Grade Wind Bloodlines were almost always Avian.

I nodded, "Yes, I have a few with Avian Bloodlines."

"My mountains hold more than riches. We haven't spotted any Drakes or Wyverns, but we have seen Giant Eagles and Griffons." She said. "While parts will be scarce as everyone rushes to evolve, sightings will not be. Information on specific Bloodlines you need is what I offer in addition to what we already agreed upon, how does that sound?"

The road was going to be expensive, time-consuming, and take away from other projects we could be doing, but it would eventually be a net positive. With the Bloodlines and Parts as the kicker, it was a hard deal to refuse.

"I am agreeable."

"Then so it shall be." She held out her hand and we shook.

I remained seated and she looked at me expectantly. "You arrived and fought with the Leader of Yellowstone, Travis, if I recall?"

"I did."

"Would you introduce us?"

"Off to secure more metals for the forge?" She commented, "Sure, I can introduce you to Travis."

I remained silent.

Sourcing more metal was a reason I was meeting with him, but not the primary one.

Frostheim, while great in many ways, was also lacking in many ways. We set down roots in a place with no previous infrastructure or industry. We had prepared for that and brought along seeds for farming, but we still lacked certain things.

Without that previous industry, even though most of it had been destroyed, we were still behind. Yellowstone's most precious resource for us right now wasn't metal.

It was something more basic than that.

"You want cattle?" Travis sounded surprised. More than surprised, actually. He must have been expecting me to ask for what everyone else was asking of him, metal and minerals.

But that wasn't what we needed. We pulled enough out of the Dungeon for our needs. We could use more, but other things were more important. Cattle was one of them.

"Yes, a sizable herd along with a few Ranchers to teach their craft." I reiterated. We had a few Ranchers among our City already, but they were Horse Ranchers. Their skills were all in regards to rearing and taking care of Horses, not Cattle.

The main reason we needed Cattle was for food. We made do with Hunters, but as we grew, meat became less and less available. We had chickens, and people took up Chicken Farming, but outside of that, most of our meat relied on Hunters.

The town we had assimilated after passing through it, where we picked up Elliot, brought pigs along with them but there weren't enough for an entire city. Even with their reproduction increasing, it still wasn't enough to feed thousands.

Cattle would also give us access to milk and cheese, another area we were deficient in. Dairy Cows and Meat Cows. Two things that the Ranchers of Montana, or now Yellowstone, could give to us.

There was another Faction I would be going to with a similar request. The Reservation. Instead of Cattle and Cattle Ranchers, my ask would be Sheep and Shepherds.

Cotton did not grow in the Far North. Other than a rough flax, we were left with leather and fur as our options for clothing and textiles. Wool would go a long way.

Finalizing the deal for Cattle was rather easy and I even managed to secure a small amount of metals. Not anything overly large, but enough to boost our supply.

After Travis and Yellowstone, I went to The Reservation. After securing sheep, I went to the Great Lakes Alliance.

I was slowly making my way around our closest neighbors. Starting with Jayla in the West, Yellowstone and The Reservation in the Southwest, and now the Great Lakes Alliance in the South.

Patrick already showed interest and the deal with them was rather simple. Fish, Aquatic resources, along with access to Aquatic Bloodline materials, in return for money and crystals. I also secured a bit more grain from him.

With the Crystal mine in full swing, we were pulling enough out of it that using them in trade was possible. Our needs for them were being met and we had some left over.

I was even able to make Patrick agree to a reduced tax on trade through his future Ports. The Lakes, while still a danger zone that held deadly aquatic beasts, would eventually turn into a hub of trade. It was nice to get an agreement set in place now.

The man was oddly agreeable.

We already had Deals in place with Ashton and I didn't want to deal with the new Leader he pled allegiance to. It would be some time before they found routes around the forest that separated us anyway and with everyone else I had made agreements with, I didn't need anything from him.

The person I saved for last was The Admiral.

He didn't have any raw resources we wanted, but information. From our Scouts, we knew they had a long-distance way to communicate we needed to get our hands on.

It wasn't to the point I would fight him over it, not after Tracy handing me a way around it, but it was still something I wanted to take a look at. Compare the two and see if Miles, Gabriel, or I could fuse into something better.

Additionally, they had designs for ships that we didn't have and would be a step ahead of what we could produce. We knew that they already had seaworthy vessels going up and down the coast.

Schematics on how they accomplished that would be a great head start when we needed to start designing our own for River or Lake travel. Eventually, the Ocean. The Hudson Bay wasn't that far away. We were still years away from being able to traverse the Oceans, and we were totally ignorant of what dangers we'd run into, but it was something we would plan for eventually.

Maybe not in this decade, but maybe the next.

Lastly, they held the most up-to-date research on magi-tech. I wasn't sure how close they were to cars or other electronics, but we had seen them using devices that we did not have.

Communication, ship advancements, and magi-tech.

Three important advancements I needed to secure.