Six giant crawdads later and Shelby had 32 units of Crustacean Meat in her inventory. She and Thimble rode back home on Madeline's back, running at a full gallop, to help their sopping wet clothes dry out. The tree-ringing village in the distance looked both pretty and spooky in the stark white moonlight.

  Both of the gathering parties that Shelby sent out had been successful and were already gone on another trip. The Stone and Lumber they gathered was stacked neatly on the bridge, and Shelby immediately started the repair project after picking the items up. It needed time to complete, but it was only a 5 minute project.

  Shelby used her waiting time to find the Hodekin cooks, Aniya and Churu. They had assembled a cookpot and campfire in one of the few buildings that was still usable. As Shelby suspected, these were the two she had met at the Seacarved cave that Naile and her pack had been using as a hideout. They were friendly types, and immediately invited Shelby to come in and relax.

  She handed over the spices she had collected, and a huge stack of the crayfish meat to the cooks. They added a fistful of it to the bubbling red paste in their cookpot then tucked the rest away. The food smelled vaguely like pasta sauce, but Shelby didn't bother to question the diet of a group of bipedal wolves. Instead, she spent a few minutes sitting by the campfire and watching them work. I should learn a few of their recipes in case I need to cook for them...

  By the time she returned to the bridge, the stone ramp had been smoothed out and a continuous path wound around the tree's elevated roots until it connected with a small dirt road by the river. Repair Progress had risen all the way up to 66%, and a new repair goal appeared:

  They already had enough Lumber, but all of the Stone was used up for the prior repair. Shelby bit her lip as she considered the materials needed. That much Stone would probably take two trips for the Hodekin gatherers, which in turn would be longer than she had left on her character. Might as well pet two cats with one hand and switch over to Ginger. Then I can have extra stone for future projects, plus I'll need to find those divinities...

  Shelby found Naile and Thimble sitting outside the gatehouse eating two bowls of the, uh, Crayfish Tomato Soup? Whatever it was, they seemed to be enjoying it, so Shelby quickly said, "I'll be back in a little," before pretending to walk off somewhere by ducking around a corner of the tree's folded bark.

  Within a minute she had located Ginger and returned to the world as her Capybara knight. She, or... he was still sitting on the beach, far to the southwest of the new Hodekin town. The bay looked different under the glow of the night sky, but still beautiful. She flopped backwards onto the sand, which was still faintly warm, and yawned.

  "Any idea about where those divinities could come from?" Shelby asked AIDAN.

  "I will mark a few potential locations on your map."

  Suitable Stone was apparently a lot more common than Lumber, so Shelby found herself stopping and hopping off of Madeline's back every dozen yards. AIDAN had marked Rifu's dig site for investigation, but Shelby didn't want to accidentally start another quest, so she opted to approach a different small ruin on one of the hills surrounding the research camp.

  The divinities were difficult to find compared to Stones, but Shelby got the hang of locating the tiny items as she walked through a series of overgrown stone buildings. Civilization divinities seemed to only show up inside of the structures themselves, or what was left of 'inside', and were often in the unrecognizable scraps of ancient items blown about the floors. Trade divinities were common in roads, she knew, and she found a few of them too, but Safety divinities were harder to pin down. She found one embedded in a low perimeter wall. I guess that makes sense, walls are for protection. There was a second and third in a seemingly plain building, but she couldn't figure out exactly why. She also found a Minor Divinity of Romance hovering above the floor of another home, which made her laugh. After a few minutes she had cleared the area. Well, whatever, that's good enough.

  She gave 44 Stones and a grab bag of divinities to Caramel at the log in scene, then zipped back north to the Riverspan Tree. It was convenient to be able to swap locations so easily, and AIDAN informed her that she had eked out an extra 15 minutes before she needed to log out again. That bonus gave her close to an hour left. Shelby didn't know if she had an hour of wakefulness left, however, and the mild vertigo she experienced from swapping back and forth forced her to find a place to sit down.

  While she recovered, she scrolled through her menus. The gatehouse repair needed 10 minutes to finish, so she started it immediately. We're so close... she sat down and thought about what else she could possibly need to do before she finally succumbed to sleep. Am I going to need to build a bed for myself, and everyone else?

  AIDAN interjected, "While it is possible to construct a bedroom and accommodations for yourself in this village, you may also opt to switch to a character who has access to the Copperglade Inn."

  "Ah, right. Mille is in town. What about for everyone else?" Shelby asked.

  "They will become increasingly disgruntled if not provided with secure locations to rest, so yes, they will need beds," AIDAN said.

  "Maybe I could gather some straw or something. That's what old-timey beds were made of, I think. The inn beds sure were," Shelby recalled with a sudden urge to scratch her back.

  Straw was surprisingly hard to find. Shelby could find plenty of Grass, but not Straw. AIDAN mercifully informed her that Grass and Straw were not interchangeable materials for bedding, and she continued her search until she found a small field of wheat. Madeline was given a huge pile of Grass to chew on while Shelby hoarded both Wheat and Straw from the golden field. She made a mental note of where the field was, then returned home with 30 bundles of the stuff she needed.

  The gatehouse was in much better shape when she returned. The slumping walls had been righted, and new wooden frames held the buildings straight. They were still empty and plain, but the Hodekin now had four modest rooms to take shelter in. That also meant that the repairs were complete! Shelby checked her town status.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Another veil of twinkling magic wafted down from the branches overhead, and its passage left a few helpful features behind. Candles materialized in some adorable built-in wall nooks and lit the gatehouse rooms. A few of the brittle branches that crisscrossed over the bridge gained leaves and a springy bounce as they shook in the wind. Shelby's favorite update was an oval rug in the center of the gatehouse's largest room. A magic rug! It's like a housewarming present!

  "Much cozier!" she exclaimed to a trio of startled Hodekin.

  Now that the town wasn't stuck in disrepair, she needed to get the basics built so she could take some much needed rest. The menu, like many of the village stewardship menus were, was hidden away. A selection named Build opened a version of the map that she hadn't seen before. This map was much more detailed than it normally was, and Shelby could see each room, the bridge, and the inner-tree space laid out on a grid that seemed to be down to the foot.

  There were a few tiers of building options available, all the way from 'Buildings' down to 'Decorations'. 'Furniture' was an intermediate option, and Shelby was flooded with options upon opening it. She was able to filter the choices down to just bedding, and even that had a dozen choices to pick from. The first entry, Straw Bedroll, seemed within her means, so she read the entry.

  Ugh! I didn't think about string... Shelby closed the pane and selected the next option, Basic Cot.

  Oh come on... can't they just sleep on a pile of straw? I guess they deserve a little better than that... Shelby begrudgingly turned to AIDAN again, "Any tips on string or fabric?"

  "They are crafted items that can be produced with a Spinning Wheel or Loom, respectively. Some materials require more processing than others," AIDAN said.

  "Ah, different materials..." Shelby said, looking through her inventory, "can straw be made into string?"

  "Flax straw can," AIDAN said.

  "So, no... what else could we use? I guess we should see if we can even build a Spinning Wheel," Shelby said.

  She was able to search directly for a Spinning Wheel in the Furniture menu:

  Shelby had the Lumber and a suitable divinity, but didn't know what a mechanism was.

  "Let me guess, this is something that I would have to build a Mechanism Factory for, which needs a Mechanism Factory Factory to build..."

  "While I recognize that you are becoming frustrated, Mechanisms are indeed a crafted component which requires a Workbench to produce. May I make a suggestion that I believe will alleviate your irritated condition?" AIDAN said diplomatically.

  "Yep. Shoot. Tell me anything."

  "Perhaps it would be easier to trade for the items you require," AIDAN said.

  "Oh, hmmm... I was going to help repair the other villages before I sent anyone to trade. Plus won't it take an hour or two? I guess I could try to get another cart sent out here," Shelby muttered as she opened her map and looked at the transit prices.

  "I apologize, it seems my suggestion was not sufficiently clear. I was indicating that you should trade for the items," AIDAN said.

  "Ah! Yes, I could teleport, and then it would only take like 15 minutes to travel back here!" Shelby said, perking up.

  "This appears to be an opportunity to use the phrases I have been studying in the development logs, in order to present as a more human-like companion. Ahem, perhaps you would be better served if you were to 'play four dimensional chess' or perhaps even adopt an attitude in which you were 'living in the year 3027'," AIDAN said with an odd inflection, which Shelby guessed was his stab at conversational.

  "Uh, wow. I don't know if I understood that at all..." Shelby trailed off, "Wait! What if I switched over to Mille? She's in Copperglade right now, remember? I was just talking about that."

  "Yes, that is-" AIDAN started to say.

  "Shelby, you absolute genius," Shelby interrupted.

  She didn't even bother to sit up as she logged back out. Between all her characters, she had a measly 18 tin coins remaining, and she wondered if that would be enough for one length of string, let along the 15 she needed to make bed rolls. While the stars spun around above her, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on making a plan.

  I could... oh, I wonder if they sell straw in town too?

  Then I could buy, two times ten more, twenty... twenty more straws... maybe I should just buy the linen then too, since I'm here. Or, I will be there...

  Shelby tried to open her eyes, but it felt like trying to open a jammed window. With a jerk, she sat up and managed to blink away the exhaustion gripping her. She slapped her cheeks lightly a few times, "Geez, close one. What happens if I fall asleep out here?"

  "I am not sure. I imagine you would experience back pain from sleeping on the hard ground," AIDAN said.

  "No sleeping while our people need beds!" Shelby shouted for her own benefit.

  A few familiar faces around the campfire glanced her way with looks of concern. She waved with a sheepish grin, "Sorry..."

  "Vocalizing seems to be aiding you in your objective of retaining consciousness, perhaps you can discuss your plan with me," AIDAN suggested.

  "Yes! Okay! I want... to make 25 beds. Cots. Or, 24, since I don't need one," Shelby started.

  "I will keep a tally of the needed materials. You are currently in possession of 30 Straw and 10 Lumber, so you will need to purchase 20 more units of Straw, 24 units of Linen, and 14 units of Lumber."

  "Any idea how much that would cost?" Shelby asked.

  "I estimate that these items would require 2 copper coins and 30 tin coins," AIDAN said.

  "I... don't have that much money. Uh, well, I have gotten coins and items from Contracts before..."

  "I do not believe that Linen can be obtained as a reward at Copperglade's current advancement state, but Lumber and Straw are potential rewards," AIDAN said, his core flaring intermittently.

  "Okay, so... I guess our only option is to try and do some contracts that either reward the items we need or that provide coins. Is one copper coin like one hundred tin coins?" Shelby asked.

  "That is correct."

  "I think I remember getting like ten to fifteen tin coins for contracts before, so that's twenty contracts..." Shelby groaned and rolled over onto her face. Sleep was quickly winning the battle of wills in the face of such a heavy work load.

  "I believe that will be unnecessary," AIDAN said, "I will devise a plan to minimize our total time spent on contracts, but I require knowledge of the current state of the Copperglade markets in order to formulate the optimal solution."

  "Okay, thank you AIDAN. First stop..." Shelby sat up and blinked rapidly at AIDAN.

  "The market," AIDAN said.

  "The market!"