Year 0, Day 1
Eastern Plains of Avalonia
Lee Hyun-woo did not speak immediately.
He hovered, invisible, untouchable, a pure consciousness suspended fifty meters above the golden sea of grass.
First, he looked.
Really looked.
Ten villages lay scattered along the gentle curve of the river like beads on a careless string.
Some clung to the water's edge, others perched on low hills, one sat in a shallow bowl that would flood every spring.
He catalogued everything the way he once catalogued enemy base layouts in Eternal Throne.
Village 1 – Calder's Ford: 1 412 souls. Largest. Central. Good ford, clay-rich banks.
Village 2 – Greenhollow: 987. Fertile black soil, but half the fields already exhausted.
Village 3 – Stonebrook: 1 103. Flint and decent clay. Oldest inhabitants.
Village 4 – Willowbend: 892. Youngest population, poorest tools.
Village 5 – Highfield: 1 205. Elevated, windy, perfect future windmill site.
Village 6 – Oakrest: 1 087. Ringed by ancient oaks (future timber jackpot).
Village 7 – Reedmarsh: 964. Reeds, fish, salt marsh nearby.
Village 8 – Copperrise: 1 108. Barely visible copper staining on the eastern hills.
Village 9 – Riverwatch: 1 019. Best river access.
Village 10 – Eastgate: 1 223. Closest to the mountain foothills. Tin and copper waiting under thin soil.
Total population: exactly 10 012.
He already knew who would speak for him.
During the lobby he had spent four of his precious customization points on the leader archetype:
"Pragmatic Administrator – calm under pressure, high loyalty retention, excellent memory."
The system had assigned him Harlan Calder, forty-one, widowed, respected but not loved.
Perfect.
The connection snapped into place like a seatbelt.
Harlan was standing on the riverbank, staring at nothing, when the presence arrived behind his eyes.
[Harlan Calder. You are First Speaker. You will hear me alone.
Nod once if you accept.]
Harlan's hand trembled, but he nodded.
Hyun-woo wasted no time on ceremony.
[Survey complete. Situation assessed.
Relay the following decree exactly. Begin.]
Harlan's mouth opened.
His voice carried across the village square with unnatural clarity.
"Thus commands the Faceless One, Lord of the Plains and Master of the Long Tomorrow.
Hear and obey, for these words are the shape of survival.
From this day forth, the ten villages shall no longer be equal in purpose.
Four villages are chosen for the bread of the land:
- Greenhollow
- Highfield
- Willowbend
- Riverwatch
Every hand in these villages will turn to the soil.
Fields will be expanded. Irrigation channels dug. Three-field rotation begins immediately.
These four will feed the ten.
Four villages are chosen for the bones of the land:
- Oakrest – timber and charcoal
- Reedmarsh – reeds, salt, fish, and flax
- Copperrise – copper and stone
- Eastgate – prospecting and mining in the eastern hills
Every hand in these villages will draw the wealth that sleeps beneath our feet.
No field shall be ploughed here until the storehouses groan.
The two remaining villages shall be the hands that shape:
- Calder's Ford
- Stonebrook
Here clay will be dug, bricks fired, pots thrown, tools forged.
Here every roof will be raised stronger, every wall thicker, every hearth warmer.
In all ten villages, beginning today:
Every existing structure will be improved.
Huts with rotten thatch will be re-roofed.
Walls that lean will be straightened.
Doors that whistle will be sealed.
No home shall leak when winter comes.
The surplus of the four farming villages will feed the workers of the other six.
The ore and timber of the six will flow to the hands that build.
The clay and brick of Calder's Ford and Stonebrook will shelter all.
This is not choice.
This is necessity.
Begin at sunrise.
Rest only when the work is done.
The Faceless One watches."
Harlan finished speaking and swayed on his feet.
Around him, the village square had gone perfectly still.
An old woman dropped her water jug.
It shattered, but no one moved to clean it.
A boy (Rowan, nine winters) stared at his father with wide eyes.
Harlan met their gazes, exhausted but certain.
"The Faceless One has seen farther than any of us," he said quietly.
"And he has chosen life for every child here."
Far above, Hyun-woo watched the counters begin their slow, beautiful climb.
Specialization Efficiency Projection: +38 % by Turn 2
Resource Flow Projection: balanced by Turn 3
Structural Integrity Average: 41 % → target 88 % by Turn 1 end
Belief Threads: 10 012 / 10 012 (stable)
He allowed himself one private thought.
They will hate the work.
They will love the result.
Turn 0 locked.
The world lurched into fast-forward.
Five years began to race past beneath him:
children growing, ditches lengthening, roofs rising, the first faint green of clover spreading across fallow fields like a promise.