<em>Greatcentral City</em>


    <em>4 a.m. Sunday, November 13, 2095</em>


    *


    ''You cannot trade in a Vige.''


    That was the main difference between the designations of town and vige in Zushkenar.


    A vige cannot convene a market.


    It was true for the races Eli knew best, except the sirens who gleefully flouted convention anyway. Also, their floating cities were a secret, so they traded from small floating viges. Or did they call those ''towns''?


    But human, vargvir, and draculkar kept the distinction.


    The exchange between caravans in Gremut was only technically legal, allowed because the vige wasn''t gaining taxes from it.


    But more significantly in Rends, it also meant there were no shops that had an Orddet''s terminal, and therefore not a part of the Orddet''s transportwork.


    He''d have to pay more to get things delivered.


    Bundled in a thick puffy fur-lined parka, with a nket over his legs, Eli browsed the craftmaster forums.


    The craftmasters had great stakes in trade, or they won''t advance in their craft.


    They should know a bit more about the economic and social world of Rends than battlers.


    So far, he''d found that the differences between town and vige were pretty much universal in the game.


    Then there was the fact that apart from not having markets, viges didn''t have banks, tradepany branches, and temples.


    Not having temples meant not having hospitals, libraries, and contract negotiators.


    Oh, and protection. The draculkar nation Civil Guards were pretty much adherents to Dagad of Destruction, deity of protection whose symbol was a winged silver snake. The snake was even on the Guard emblem.


    The administration of a vige was elected, generally to judge disputes. In draculkar terms, that meant the oldest that wasn''t infirm headed the vige, being the wisest.


    The administration was informal, however, and the elected leaders could be changed at any time if the vige was under the umbre of a town or estate.


    Or if a vige was taken over by a guildn.


    If he remembered correctly, a guildn was designed in the Rends social rankings to be halfway between mercenary soldierpany and noble family. Joining a guildn afforded every member this social status, especially if they failed the registration rolls to be a noble.


    If wielded right, that status meant more tolerance from the upper ss, and more respect from themoners. Some guilds in Zushkenar had indeed wielded that small influence, and became warlords.


    Social status.


    That was the reason for the connected name, instead of just calling it a guild or a n.


    A guildn warleader could create towns for their guild, if they wanted, if they could afford it.


    The chartering of a town in Craftmasters was a right only given to the leaders of nations.


    Eli frowned.


    A headache was forming behind his eyes.


    There were conflicting reports on whether or not a noble could build a town.


    They couldn''t?


    Nobles and castle-lords in Zushkenar had castle towns, after all.


    A few hours digging through dross and convoluted y-strategies, plus cross-referencing with the battlers forums and the official data, he got the answer.


    He sat back with a disgruntled expression.


    Apparently nobility was different for different races.


    He didn''t know that.


    Hisst life had been amoner, alright? When would he need to know noble ranks in the nine races?


    Commoner of knightly ancestry, to be precise, but that hadn''t helped anything, had it.


    Actually, he''d been allowed to own forestnd because of it, but he hadn''t a chance to take advantage of that privilege before he returned to the past.


    If it was just Craftmasters, he could divide social sses into royal-noblemoner-outcast. But the Masters of War expansion revamped the social ranking system and the creation of lords among the yers.


    It was now moreplicated, with actual named ranks instead of just social levels.


    Craftmasters could quest for noble status when thends they held reached a certain area limit, or if they gained control of a castle manor.


    Warmasters had the ability to gain noble status at ''birth'', winning the rank from the registration process. The ability to quest for noble status was removed.


    From the forums of hisst life though, the title ''castle-lord'' could be acquired with control of castles, keeps, and forts.


    It was currently listed as a noble title in human, vargvir, draculkar, and mafmet races.


    In the human-led territories, the castle-lords ranked above barons and knights.


    Actually, in the dwarvir race, the equivalent of castle-lord was baron – because all their nobles held strongholds. The dwarviran guildns who won control of castles were ennobled.


    Eli blinked, took his sses off and massaged the edges of his eyes.


    What.


    He just wanted to know how towns were built in Rends!


    When did it get to the minutiae of different races'' noble ranks?


    For that matter, where was the draculkar version?


    "I need a break."


    He threw his sses back on and stood, stretched the kinks out.


    nced at the clock, grimaced.


    It was eight in the morning, on a Sunday.


    His aunt didn''t require him to go to Sunday mass with her, but what kind of great-nephew would he be, to not apany her for just one hour sitting in a church?


    Eli regretted still, that he hadn''t visited her in the years before she died.


    He''d been given this chance to make it up. This life wasn''t going to pass like thest time.


    Frost clung to the ss panes, sparkling as he drew the curtains. The weak sun was out this morning, which meant his aunt would take the morning mass, and not the afternoon or evening ones.


    Eli turned, only to stumble on the edge of a chair. Gah! He red at the furniture.


    Why was it that he <em>still</em> hadn''t limated to theyout of the apartment?


    Onest surly look at the offending chair, he headed to the bathroom.


    The second morning mass started at 9 a.m.


    He divested himself of clothing and entered the shower.


    Warm water cascaded down his body, soothing.


    He stood there, head bowed against the pressure of the water.


    Was he really thinking of staying in Cerkanst?


    No.


    Location aside, he didn''t have the resources and manpower of a whole guild.


    A thin smile nted over his face.


    Or was this the universe telling him he should make his own guildn?


    Ha.


    Haha.