The Dragon of Roads

In the aftermath of the fall of the Theocracy of Ulsfarh, about half of the population had perished. Some were purged by their own leadership, others I purged as undesirables. And by that, I mean rapists, murders, career criminals that have no desire to live an honest life, and people that delight in cruelty and parasitic behaviors instead of living peacefully with their neighbors. It wasn't motivated by uncontrollable aspects, such as a person's race, where they were born, their shoe size, or so forth. All told, with the populations of various former cities, towns, and villages now incorporated into my own empire, all of whom are displaced and mixed together, tensions were rising and a sense of worthlessness descended upon the population.

Many were providers who spent every day toiling to earn just enough to feed their families. Now, only a handful were needed to maintain the social services of my cities and to manage what food production I currently had available. There simply were not enough jobs for everyone to be employed as they were before, and many felt as though their self-worth, which had hinged on being a provider, had become lessened. All had housing, food, clothes, healthcare, and sanitation provided for them, regardless of employment, but old habits die hard.

The Theocracy of Ulsfarh had been wider than it was tall, geographically. The western half now remained devoid of civilization, with the eastern half containing my holdings. I had eight cities more or less in a grid with the center being empty. Each city likewise had a similar grid of towns around it, and each town a grid of villages, all in counts of eight and in a fractal pattern. Naturally, the terrain often dictated deviations from perfection, but that pattern provided a stable and predictable means of managing infrastructure and logistics.

The towns and villages were new, and they held many of the amenities and protections that my cities had to offer, just on a smaller scale. My mortal agents were working diligently to sort people so that only those interested and capable of living in these rural areas would be sent there. And, on the marches, I needed able-bodied men and women, whether they be former soldiers or Adventurers, so that they could fend off curious and aggressive beasts or invading monsters. Essentially, every type of role and responsibility needed in a settlement was accounted for, and then people applied for those positions.

This matter became more complicated by groups of people wanting to be sent to the same locations, such as members of a family, and so the wheels of bureaucracy slowly cranked away at figuring it out. A great deal of my own resources were thrown at this challenge, for while I had promised to feed them and indeed I had been, a million mouths are beyond the scale of what my fancy farms can handle. Estimates put food shortages occurring at six months without imports, and my coffers suggest a year of supplementing before that too becomes unfeasible.

I need revenue streams, and though I am making money hand over fist, I spend it just as fast to support the needs of all the peoples in my empire. However, these people are not lazy or hopeless; they just need direction and a chance to prove themselves. Soon, they will go from a bottomless pit that sucks all the money out of me to producers; I just need to weather the storm. To keep matters civil between myself and Bylo'selhi, I plan for my exports to mostly consist of high-value goods, that kind with handcrafted expertise you can only get from a master of his or her craft.

Masters don't crop up overnight. Bellwright has been instrumental in setting up schools, colleges, and universities. He has recruited a small army of technical professionals and masters of various trades, and those with aptitude and merit are to soon start attending those schools free of charge. Naturally, all children receive a basic education, but I have no favorites for who receives higher education. There is only so much demand for each profession, and I like to maintain the right level of scarcity for goods such that my exports remain lucrative. Ergo, I will not allow my people to flood the market, and the standards to which I hold professionals are strict.

As far as [Deeds] go, I noticed that I had one for [Mortal Citizens (Non-Kobold) - 1,000,000] and another for [Mortal Citizens (Kobold) - 1,000,000], each earned around the same time. These came with useful perks for managing them, keeping myself aware of public sentiment, and knowing what ambitions were held by the population. I know this sounds simple, but on such a scale, that is a great deal of information that I can only act on so quickly.

Fortunately, Kaisadoro and Tamadora were soon to have their first children, and I have more of my own on the way. Nabonidus wields incomparable aptitude to recruit loyal and competent administrators, to which Bellwright can see to it that their skills and educations are refined to make them into titans of administration and industry. I remain careful that my underlings don't get too big for their britches, for all that they have has been given by me, and all can be taken away if they don't behave as I expect.

There are tensions between kobolds and everyone else. Kobolds do a lot of work in my cities. I don't really know how they are managed, how they get their jobs, or what it is that they do, I just know it happens. That means less work for everyone else, and even though survival needs are met, people still want to have spending money for their luxuries and leisure. This is probably why people start wars all the time, so that they can trim back their populations.

Speaking of kobolds, I can sense a disturbance from Gambino and Bambina. I found myself shocked to discover that they were angry at me, and indeed, I could feel the general resentment of the kobold population breaching its breaking point. Whelps from all over were reporting signs of protests, complete with marching and picket lines. Fortunately, no riots were underway, but that would not remain true if I did nothing to intervene.

Some time later, I found myself in one of my new cities (the official name pending a public vote). Huge crowds of kobolds flooded the streets and marched on the government district. Kaisadoro was busy in a different city, and, as I could tell, handling matters there. Leading the protest was none other than my favorite duo. I felt a little hurt by their betrayal, that they did not bring this matter to my attention earlier, but knowing kobolds, they had wanted to have a good protest just for the sake of having one and experiencing something new.

I found myself further confused as they drew near and I saw what messages they had on their signs. The crowd chanted a message I did not expect to ever hear.

"WE DEMAND MORE HOURS AND LESS PAY!"

As they stopped before me (in my mortal form), Gambino and Bambina quieted the crowd enough for me to address them.

"My loyal and beloved kobolds, I see that you are deeply concerned with how certain matters are being handled. Please, let us discuss this like reasonable adults so that we can work together to find a peaceful and mutually acceptable resolution."

That went over about as well as trying to break open a piñata at a (non-gnomish) funeral. A good amount of them started shouting before Gambino quieted them enough, and then one among them spoke.

"My son is a [Starving Artist]. How is he supposed to turn the experience of his tortured existence into works of beauty if he doesn't face extreme hardship in life?"

"My daughter's Role is to be a Street Urchin. How can I expect her to do that if there is ample housing and if the streets are nice and clean? There aren't even piles of trash for her to turn into a makeshift hovel!"

"My father only gets 30 hours a tenday as a [Gong Farmer]. How can I feel ashamed of him and share society's resentment of his profession, despite its necessity, if he doesn't come home smelling of night soil? At this rate, I am never going to get a Role of Stripper With Daddy Issues."

And so the complaints continued, and any attempt to work with them to find a good solution was met with disdain. They wanted me to use an iron fist, to make an ultimatum, to dictate some harsh measures upon them, that they may thrive as submissive servants. Only through an appropriate level of hardship could they advance their Blessings, and my ideal society had been too soft for their liking. They won't get the juiciest and best Roles unless they are taken advantage of at least a little bit. I had known this from the knowledge imparted by my [Deeds] and my Abilities related to [Kobolds], but I guess I never really believed it.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

And let's be clear here, they didn't demand that all of society be like this, but rather, the sub-section that was for kobolds. It isn't my place to judge or shame them for wanting a lifestyle with more… adversity. I guess when you invest so much time in bowing, scraping, sniveling, and groveling, it chafes when you don't have an opportunity to use those techniques.

And so, there was only one thing left to do.

"Jericho, arrest some of them. Especially that one with the harmonica; he will be needed in the cells for the atmosphere."

A kobold with a harmonica on a string around his neck simply pointed to himself in confusion and mouthed "Me?" as the crowd cleared and Jericho attended to my orders.

"And let them out in two days," I continued as I looked at Gambino for acceptance. His eyes narrowed in disapproval. "Make that three days." His eyes widened back to normal as he smiled back at me.

"There will be changes around here, and you will obey and serve, or you will be cast aside and trampled underfoot."

An over-the-top wail of anguish and dismay arose from the crowd, followed by hearty cheering at my declaration. Gambino and Bambina fell in step behind me as I turned from the crowd and walked away.

"Seriously, how did it come to this," I muttered as I continued to a location where I would have to draft up some new draconian laws for my kobolds.

Ambriolita sat at her desk, her pen scribbling away on its own as her mind dictated words for it to write. Only a few days ago, the "Kobold Uprising" had been dealt with. It had been a baffling affair that bordered on absurd, but she remained hopeful that it did not set an unhealthy precedent for how matters would be handled for everyone else.

The Emperor had outlined his beliefs and goals with the laws he wanted, and indeed, with the administrative services that would enforce them and carry out the public services. Many such services were already operational, but they lacked clear rules and guidelines, and indeed, they were doing things as individual leaders saw fit, which was a recipe for corruption and disaster.

It wasn't that the Emperor did not know this, but he simply could not fix all these problems overnight. In only a few months, a whole country had disappeared, and the survivors had their lives turned upside down. Sorting through them was a logistical nightmare, but also, a worthy task to prove her usefulness and aptitude.

And the more she examined the Emperor's vision of society, the more conflicted she became.

"He wants us to live happy and fulfilling lives full of personal growth and cooperation with our fellow man, even if he has to drag us kicking and screaming the whole way…" she muttered to herself as she pondered how to word her next clause.

She didn't even know how to describe the form of government proposed. There were [Nobles], but they were strictly regulated and made to work hard to keep their positions. Soirées would be fewer in number and funded only through personal investments instead of public funds. In fact, nothing in their personal lives was to come from public funds, and their pensions were ridiculously small compared to what she had been used to. They would have different pots of money to be spent on different projects, and any mismanagement of funds would often result in a brief visit with a headsman.

There were very few elected officials, and those were mostly concerned with public outreach, tourism, culture, and "feelings", if she had to put a generalized descriptor on it. Anything of substance was by appointment only, with limited and non-consecutive terms. She did find it rather refreshing that a person had to be qualified for their position and not possessed of any biases that would cause a conflict of interests or impropriety.

Imagine a world where [Healers] had the predominant say in how healthcare was configured and administrated, especially in concerns with matters regarding public health and disease control. Or better yet, where [Engineers] would be in charge of sanitation, infrastructure, utilities, and other complicated aspects of everyday life. There were also others from outside those professions that had a say, usually from other professions that had tangential roles or interfaced with them. Public Transportation would have at least one member from the Rickshaw Guild, and another from the Animal Husbandry Guild. Ultimately these institutions served the people, and so checks and balances were in place to help ensure special interest groups didn't get too greedy.

And while the people didn't vote for many officials, they would vote on all manner of topics by public referendum. Naturally, they had to attend educational briefings to remain politically literate, especially for recent events. There would be a yearly test to retain voting rights, which basically required you to not live under a rock when considering what matters would be voted on.

Ultimately, the Emperor controlled everything. Every last scrap of land was owned by him, and most industry was likewise under his control. Entrepreneurs were not entitled to the lion's share of their earnings, for the Emperor wanted to avoid a society with a bunch of rich, fat cats. Or in other words, no one gets seconds until everyone has been served, and no one gets fine dining when someone else is starving.

This meant that the floor had been greatly raised for the common masses, but the ceiling had become unbearably low for those used to lives of luxury. Most would probably leave the empire, but eventually, a society used to such restrictions would form, with a focus on public duty usurping personal greed.

This wasn't to say that people were stuck in a caste. Far from it. Anyone with aptitude could train for any profession, and the best would rise while the worst would retrain into something else. The Emperor cares most about a person's character, that basically they are not "dicks" to other people, as he so eloquently puts it. Then he cares about merit, that people are competent and responsible. The list goes on with more absurd things, such as "still has all their fingers and toes", and then way at the bottom, he lists "consideration for family name and social backing".

Obviously, those from prominent backgrounds may have the connections and inside knowledge to know how to properly groom a child from birth for a given profession, which certainly gives them a leg up on the competition. As far as the Emperor is concerned, if those people still are the most fit for the job, they get it, otherwise, someone else does.

She shuddered as the clattering of chains that only she could hear consumed her focus. She was entrusted to write the laws and rules, which then needed approval by the Emperor or his flight. Millions of lives, both born and unborn, depended on how she worded these laws. And her own wellbeing hung in the balance, for if she strayed too far from his vision, she knew she could end up in chains once more.

Ambriolita wiped the sweat from her brow and took a sip of her tea that had gone cold. Perhaps a moment or two of reflection and contemplation would help calm her nerves and restore her focus. Her people had found salvation in a tyrant, one whose word would not be defied (unless a petitioner had a very good reason). Her teacup trembled as she set it back down. It certainly had nothing to do with her shaking hands; it must be the result of some enchantment in the room that was on the fritz.

She instead turned her attention to something simple, the Emperor's S.A.V.E. campaign. It was propaganda of sorts to reeducate the masses and to shape culture around a new way of thinking, one that she happened to agree with. "Safety" came first, for if people got injured on the job, then something was drastically wrong with their standards or methods. "Accuracy" came next, for if you don't make something to specifications, then it isn't useful. "Velocity" was third on the list, for if you cannot meet demand, then you need to reassess your work processes to see if something is slowing you down. "Efficiency" came last on the list, as an ongoing process to constantly refine how we do things to make it better in some way.

Most people are susceptible to propaganda, especially gnomes and kobolds (who absolutely love it). The people had it beaten into them, often quite literally, for how they should do things, and culture does not change overnight. Perhaps this could be a positive tool to motivate the population into accepting and embodying the new order. For so long, they had to do as they were told, but now that the S.A.V.E campaign would give them a voice and a mechanism to raise concerns, they would feel invested in how they conducted their business.

This could be just the thing to impress her new boss, or she could botch it and end up in a cold, dark cell to be forgotten by all and never again to see sunlight again while…

Ambriolita stopped herself from spiraling down that particular rabbit hole as she took another sip of her tea from her cup that still shook in her grasp. She reminded herself that she was not alone in adapting to her new reality, and over time, she would go from surviving to thriving.