Chapter 14

With the new commission Kelton was about to get larger, and busier. That means our food production could use a boost as well. Right now the town was only slightly larger than the population of the school, but the school was providing nothing to the food production. I decided to talk to those who would understand what I needed to know.

I sat down in Doc’s office and gathered around the room were the eldermen of the old village. “Thank you so much for meeting with all of you. Right now we face some problems and I am trying to figure out how this region was planned out. Why the villages were made here, why they are so far apart, why is there so much unused land between them.”

They others all looked to the oldest among them who was easily in his seventies. “The villages were made this way because we didn’t know how to properly fertilize our fields like we do now. When a village was not producing enough food to sustain its people and pay taxes they would move to where another old village used to be.” He pointed to east and west. “If you headed to either side of these fields about seven miles you would find old foundations of where another village once stood. Where there were once roads you would find light trails. The land would already be free of stones and ready for the plow.”

I nodded to his words respectfully. “With the new ways, do you think we could open those lands to new villages safely?” The old man nodded. “If people were sent to those plots and the fields turned with new fertilizers for growth you could connect each villages land with the next villages. I would think you could turn the entire region into one large farm with a ring of villages, like the spokes of a wagon wheel.” I nodded. “The old ways were started by the nobles to let fields recover, to let nature heal and recover the land. Now we understand that we can heal the land between seasons. We have become better stewards of the land rather than using it and moving on, repeating the same mistakes of the past, thanks to you.”

They all nodded and seemed to begin thinking. “A man and his family have only so much land they can care for. We can’t just increase six of the fields, we would have to build whole new villages, bring in new people, and raise new crops.” They all nodded in agreement. “How could we do that? Few farmers are willing to leave what they have to start new farms.” I thought about what I was hearing and what I knew. “What about farmers that became debtors? The two families I have working the mushroom farms were both being sold under contract for failing crops.” They all nodded. “And that debt would have to be settled in the capital.” At times like this I really wished I had a phone. I nodded and sighed. “Then I shall send off to the capital and Kalador to my representatives and have them buy the contracts of farmers who went into debt. I am sure we will get some bad farmers, but we also may get families that simply had bad luck or bad land.”

With that I started on the farmer relocation effort. I sent letters to our guild in the capital and another to Aliza about what I needed them to do and how to do it. Maybe before things got cold we would have the start of some new villages. Then it hit me that the new construction corps could start building the new villages as practice for the plans the kingdom had.

They get practice and we get new villages. Field walls could divide the new village lands from the old. Little by little new plans were forming and in another year or so we would have greatly expanded production. If we planned it like we did in the Artston region we could also include a village centered on meat production, with another centered on cattle feed production.

A month later the new generation of construction mages was sent to build their first village. With careful surveys of this village’s lands we began the layout of the next village. The plans looked great and I was thinking of asking some of the farmers, who had just finished the first harvest, to take plows and begin plowing the new lands so they were ready to plant next year when wagons began to pull into Kelton.

One day a man who was clearly an official came walking over and asked to see the baronet. I pointed to myself and he jumped a little and then bowed. “I am from Kalador and was told that you would gladly pay the debt on any farming families, plus the cost of transport.” I nodded and looked at the five wagons filled with very sad looking people. “I take it these are the only farmers you had in your possession?” The little man nodded. “This was a bad year for many. Possibly one of the worst we have seen actually. I hear the kingdom is beginning a new effort to combat these conditions but I really don’t see how.” I smiled and pointed around me. “The king commissioned me and my people to go out and teach people how we have had so much success for the last three years in a row. It’s not hard, but we need special people to do the job. That is one reason we need new farmers, to expand on what we already have.”

Bethany came out, looked at what was in the center of town, and then ran inside. Soon an army of my wives came out and headed to the wagons to start the integration process. Something they were already well versed in doing. I took the man into the office and we sat and looked over the papers. “All the contracts are the same, five year contracts to pay off overdue taxes. The last page is for the transportation cost.” I looked at the end price and sighed. I opened a bag and began stacking platinum coins for him to pay the bill. He watched carefully and then nodded when I finished.

“With your approval we brought along a contract mage. Once they have signed the contracts they will be sealed and then they are all yours.” I nodded. “And if we don’t use the contract mage?” The man shrugged. “Then the people could simply walk off leaving you with the bill.” I nodded. “That’s fine with me. You have been paid and I am sure that these families will stay. If they don’t then it’s their bellies that will kill them rather than a spell.” He shrugged and decided not to go against the whims of the nobility.

We walked outside to see all the sad people in family groups. They all looked at me and I raised the contracts up for them to see. “I am baronet Kelton and these are my lands. Right now we are creating new farms and new villages like you have never seen before. Fertile lands and new houses that look just like the ones you see here in town. Every family that stays here will be the founders of these new towns, and a part of my territory.” I took the stack of contracts and ripped them in half. “You are now free of debt. You are also free to stay and build a new life, or leave and starve, that is up to you. Those who want to live here please head over to the side here and those who don’t can probably get a ride back to the main road by these wagons.” It only took a moment for everyone to stand by the hold.

I looked at the man from Kalador who seemed to be thinking. “How many farming families could you take in?” he asked and I had to think. “Right now, since the new crops are barely in the ground, I could absorb another twenty families if they started planting now. That would give them one good crop before it gets too cold. That would be more than enough to survive the winter with the way we can supplement their winter supplies, though these people would have to do extra work to plant the whole of the farm land before too long.” He nodded. “Then maybe we will see each other again soon. I know of at least that many farms that are on the verge of collapse and in danger of debt. If you would pay the cost of shipping I will bring them here in a month’s time.” I put out my hand and we shook.

He packed up and though I offered to let them rest they all decided to head back as fast as possible. I looked over at the new people and smiled. “Forget your pasts, and think of our future. If you are willing to work hard you can help build a future for your children that will be far better than the ones you or your parents had.” I walked over and took Bethany’s hand in mine. “This is Lady Bethany of Kelton. She and my second wife Lady Jessa will guide all of you around and later to where you will live for a short time in the vault. The men will come with me for the day to see where the new farms are and to see what we are doing there. So men please follow me.”

I looked back over my shoulder to see men kiss their wives and jog to catch up to me. We hooked up one wagon, one of my newer ones with springs, and we loaded up for the trip. Along the way the men asked about the debt and how they were going to pay it all off. “Men, all I ask is that you work hard to make this all work out. If we can prove our farming techniques work then we can keep other farms from collapsing and keep families on their land from now on. We call that paying your debt forwards.”

As we passed a wall that seemed to extended to the horizon I explained that we were now in the lands that they would reclaim. They saw the rich natural lands and I could tell they knew it was fertile land ready for the plow. We turned off the road to see the new crews were already hard at work. The whole village would be in a square with the vault entrance already built. A larger than normal house was also built and a few homes were already finished and ready to have the carpenters come in and build the roofs.

Women started pouring out of the vault to see who was here and they all smiled when they saw it was me. I told them things were moving far faster than expected so I would be sending the next group over soon to help them finish the village a little faster. “We were brought ten families today, with the promise of more in a month’s time. That should fill this village and possibly start a second one.” This was taken as a challenge to see if they could meet the deadline and they all saluted before running to the next foundation. Stone rose out of the ground and rather quickly a new house had begun to take form.

“As you can see the construction corps does not mess around. This central building is the main vault entrance. Below will be a system of rooms and tunnels that will connect every house to the central vault room. So far this has proven to help a village survive the winter as a community. This eliminates the need to leave your home in the cold, it allows everyone to be able to visit, share contact and food and other resources with each other. It will also connect to a building to store wood in, though if our stone mages are able to, each vault will have its own heating system that runs off magic and not wood.” This caused quite the hubbub.

“Now what you will have to do is plow this land and plant the summer crop as fast as possible. Now what I say may sound impossible but it’s not. We have a new type of plow that cuts the time needed to plow to a fraction of the old ways. So while it will take less time, it will take a lot more work. The man that brought you told me he will be returning with other farmers who are close to losing everything because of fallow fields. He will be offering them transportation here and I am hoping that when they arrive, your hard work will already be showing results. That way all the people who move here will have food for the winter.” They all looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

“Well then we will leave these good ladies to their work and head back to Kelton so you can talk to your families.” The ride back everyone seemed hopeful but rather doubtful they could do what needed to be done in time. When we rode into town a large number of men were milling around the hold and I wondered what this was all about. The farmers with me seemed a little on edge as well, until they saw all the smiling faces. “Sir, we hear we have people who are planning to start a new village to the east.” I nodded as I hopped down. “Well if that is true these few men would have to work day and night to plant all that land even with the new plows. We figure that if we leave their women and kids to maintain our fields we will head to their village and help them out. Even with the travel we should be able to do it all in the same time it took us to plant our crops.”

I looked at the new men who seemed confused at this show of help. “Men of Kelton, why would you help people of another village?” They all shouted “Blood for Blood” and I smiled. “So you know you are not building a new community, only a new village. All the people in this territory, every town and village, are one people. We are all family and when one village is in need then all villages are in need. We are all one family and one blood.” The new men stood together and looked at us. “Blood for blood.” A cheer went up and hands were shaken and back slapped as they all came together.

Well the women loved the way they too were taken in by the women of the community. Rooms were given to families in the vaults and they all seemed a little intimidated by the wealth on display since a lot of the goods for the store will still kept in the central vault. As they were new here, and had nothing, the hold began to outfit them and the children with what they would need in their new homes. All debts would be on hold until next year’s gathering when they had both crops to pay with.

The next day five wagons of men and two wagons of equipment headed to the new village. We also had a train of horses to pull the plows along as well as another two wagons of fertilizers and bone meal. When they started work the new men were stunned to see the new plows turn the soil as soon as the nutrients were spread before them. This gave them a lot more hope than they had the day before and they put in twice the effort to show they appreciated the help. A few more days and things would be ready for a slightly late crop to be planted.

I went to see how the women were doing and was quite impressed. The vault was already looking rather comfortable and with the cellars and tunnels it would be a very nice arrangement for the winter. The fireplaces and wood storage were in place, the food storage was looking well thought out, the central wells and privy system were built, and as I looked at it with my craft I felt it was strong enough to last decades at least. I walked through the houses that were done except for roofing and loved how well these new mages were doing. Each was built off the Kelton homes and would be perfect to live in all year round. The gardens were even all raised beds and a shoulder high gated wall enclosed each back yard. Each house was a work of art and I was proud of them all.

At sundown everyone camped in the vaults and empty houses. After dinner we all talked about how the village would be done quickly. The idea was that the lumber mills could come in, clear the forest back quite a bit, haul the wood to Kelton, and the lumber for the houses brought back afterwards. The next day everyone fell to the work with a will and I had no doubt things would go well in the near future.

Good to his word a month later a new wagon train pulled into Kelton and it was a big one. Fifteen packed wagons but at least this time people had their homes packed in with them. “Well sir, here they are as I promised. These poor people were all looking at failed crops and the debtors gavel in the spring. I told them about this opportunity and all of them were more than happy to pack up their families and see if they could survive this winter to start in the spring.” I nodded. “Well I will gladly pay a little extra if we could get these people to their new homes. The new village has been built and ready to move in. This would save me a lot of work if you wouldn’t’ mind.” Everyone got back on the wagons doubtfully but quietly all the same.

After a half hour we passed from one farmland into the next, thought you wouldn’t know it if we hadn’t seen the wall. The new crops were growing at the same rate as the ones planted a few weeks earlier. When we pulled into the town it looked pristine with flower gardens already blooming in front of each house, something the new families had done. As the wagons unloaded people milled around as the villagers who built this came out to meet them.

There were actually a few tearful reunions as the new people met up with friends and family that had already been sold greeted them in this new home. We had worked together to make sure each home was a home as soon as people arrived. Goods had been supplied, food stocked, and all that was needed were people to live in them. The residents were showing the new families where to the houses that was best suited to them as they had either two or three bedroom houses.

The little man looked around and seemed in awe of everything around him. “Sir, are you telling me that your people built this village in a month?” I nodded. “Let me show you what you didn’t see before.” We went into the vault and he seemed even more amazed. I explained why we built them and what people could do down here and he just shook his head. “This amazing, a village above ground in the summer and a whole underground village during the winter. It’s simply amazing.” As we talked people were coming down and looking at the whole underground complex as the new locals explained what it was all about. The only thing that could be seen as “unfair” was that those who came here first had the role of leaders already. They broke the soil first, planted the first crops, and were to be seen and the founders. No one seemed to have a problem with this distribution of power.

After a brief welcoming speech I left the new town to sort itself out and headed back to Kelton with the wagon train. When we arrived they were paid and surprisingly accepted the offer to stay the night. They were housed in the vacant part of the hold for guests and enjoyed a great meal made by my wives. “Sir, just how many of these women are your wives?” one asked and I looked around. “I think all of them are though with twenty three wives and so many concubines I really don’t keep them separate in our home life.” Another man looked at me. “Does that mean all those children in there...” I nodded. “Yes I have...”I thought for a moment. “Thirteen children as of now if you mean I helped make them. However if you counted both them and the ones I have adopted in the last three years I would say I have forty or so children that call me father.”

The next day they all waved good bye as they left and headed into the sunrise. Garick had told me that all the farmer families who were looking at arrest had been brought in now and so the debt center would be rather empty for the foreseeable future. I also talked to him about keeping an eye out for craftsmen who were in danger of debtor’s prison and pointing the women in our direction. If he found any, he could talk to Aliza in Kalador to get funds for traveling this way. He agreed to do that and told me that he was glad he could help this project of mine keep going so well.

A while later the guards told me that on every check they did the new village was already thriving. All residents were busy growing vegetables to supplement their food supply and all seemed to be working hard. They did say it might help if I were to come and give them a look for myself so I did. I took a few guards and rode there with the hopes all was doing well deep down and not just on the surface. The trip was actually quite short and I wondered just how many farms we could build without overdeveloping.

We arrived and I could see men and some older kids working the crops, in the village women were working large drying racks loaded down with sliced vegetables. They all looked my way and when they realized who it was they all stopped what they were doing and came over to bow before me. “Please, unless there are other nobles with me, just treat me as you would an elderman.” They nodded but seemed unsure. “The reason I came was to make sure everyone was getting along since you all came from different villages.” They looked even more confused. “We have been following the lead of the founders and so far everyone is doing good.” One lady said happily. “Is everyone putting in good efforts?” they all nodded. “Is there anything the people in Kelton can help you with? Any problems that need addressing?” They all shook their heads but I was some in the back that didn’t seem so sure.

I pointed to them and asked them to come forwards and the other women seemed to tense up. I looked to them and said “Please be honest. I don’t know if you were told by the first group, but we are all a family and as the head of the family I need to know what is wrong at all times in order to make sure all my people are doing well. I am not like the nobles you know, I was not born a noble but as a hard working stone mage. In other words I earned my nobility and I aim to keep earning respect rather than have it given to me.” They all seemed to smile a little bit more honestly.

“Now with that knowledge please tell me if there are problems or concerns I may be able to deal with.” I looked around, saw some glances, and then resolve. An older woman lifted her hand and I pointed to her. “Well when we moved in there were many new products and we are wondering how much the taxes will be to pay for them.” I nodded. “Good question, thank you for asking. The first year there will be no taxes on this village. You arrived late in the season so that frees you from that worry. After that the taxes will be the same as they are for all other villages. As to the goods you had in your homes? Consider them a welcoming gift from the people of the region to you for coming here and starting this village.”

They all looked stunned. “But there were many things of a quality we had never seen before. Surly you can’t just give away so much.” I shrugged and smiled. “Stone mages and carpenters of Kelton came in and built this village from bare stone and dirt. The farmers of Kelton came in and prepared the crops. The artisans of Kelton supplied much of the goods. The women of Kelton came together to supply the food and spices from their own stocks. Why did they do this? Because when you came here you became part of our family. We want you to succeed so we wanted to give you the best start we could. If you want to pay them back then be the best brothers and sisters you can be to them.”

One woman laughed. “If my family had been as good to us as this one, we never would have had to leave our homes. If this is how these people treat family them I will work harder than ever to prove I am worthy of their love.” All the others seemed tearful and smiled with her statement. “We have a saying here Blood for blood. When one of us is bleeding, then we are all bleeding. We watch over and care for each other as if we were all born of the same womb because our lives depend on each other.” I then went on to explain the economy of the area, how more and more villages were raising spices as a crop in order to have gold to buy the goods we have for sale in town.

Another woman looked at me and seemed rather confused. “So you don’t take a part of the crops for yourself?” I shook my head and explained how I bought spices from them at a moderate price, sold them in the capital at a higher price, and that the money from that is them put into buying goods for sale in Kelton’s stores. They all thought about this and then looked at me. “But what about the taxes to you?” I just shrugged at her. “Since I don’t keep a house in the capital, nor a house in the royal capital, or throw parties from nobles to freeload at, nor go to parties to freeload off of others I live the same as my people.” They all seemed very confused. “But won’t the other nobles look down on you?” I laughed. “I care about what my people think of me, not what some popinjay thinks of me. I have connections with other nobles, but it is one of respect not payments.”

They all began to look at each other and me. “Then we will do our best to make sure you have a region you can be proud of.” I held out my hand and she took it. “That you said that is enough for me, now prove it to yourselves.” I looked around and tried again. “Now I ask again is there anything you need? I don’t know if anyone told you but we have a salt mine here that makes pure white salt with no minerals at all. The king loves us for it so we make sure to produce only the best.” They all were excited about this and asked how much it was. “I’ll have the mine bring you all a barrel each as soon as I get back, we deliver it to all the villages twice a year.”

Another woman came forwards and asked if I could have the stone mages come back by. They wanted to connect the garden walls as a village wall so animals couldn’t come in and get to their gardens. They were all shocked when I simply started doing the job myself. As I worked I asked the ladies if they liked the cellars and vault. I told them that as soon as it started getting cold people turned their cellars into sitting rooms for visitors and spent much of the winter below ground. They asked about what to do and I told them about cooking competitions, sewing circles, and other things we all did while staying warm. “In Kelton we actually never stop. All the workshops stay open and people come and go to work through the tunnels.” We talked about how the ability to get out of the house without freezing was also good for people’s sanity. Children could run and play to some degree, and parents weren’t locked in with bouncing children, and that sense of privacy could survive the winter.

I was about a third done when people began coming from the fields. I had been talking with the women but now I had a chance to talk to the men about how things were going. No one could give me even a slight complaint about their lives and instead kept thanking me for bringing them here. Then I heard lots of complaints about their old territory, how the nobles couldn’t care less about the farmers, and how learning about the high level of quality fertilizers they had been burying as trash made them feel stupid.

They couldn’t believe I had started off as a commoner, but they could see how I had focused on improving the lives of commoners. I told them that if a nation’s base is farming and production, then nobles should always work to have the best foundations possible to build on. They informed me that this crop was going to be far more than the village would need and hoped they would be able to get it all in at the same time. I told them not to worry and just do what they could.

Once I was done I made sure to tell them that the gathering would be coming up before they knew it, and not to worry about taxes their first year. I made sure they knew I had talked at length about this to the ladies and if they had worries or thoughts to talk to them. Then I hopped onto a horse and we headed back home. As we were putting up the horses a guard told me that he had never seen a village come together so quickly or so well.

A month later the worst of the heat was gone and we were on the slide into fall. Delaine and Irene had come to stay with us out of the blue, but we were more than happy to have them with us. Their children were fully mended and loved having so many playmates to have fun with. A new discussion did come up during their stay that I thought was curious. They wondered if the baroness was going to be living here during the winter and I said I had no idea of their plans. The two women seemed a little reserved and I asked why.

“Sir Kelton, the reason we ask is if the baroness isn’t planning on staying the winter, we were hoping that we and the children could stay the winter with your people.” I looked at them both with a rather upset look that had them pull back a little. “Delain, Irene, you seem to have forgotten a very important factor in this.” They looked at me as if trying to get a hard quiz question right. “You both are my family. That means you wouldn’t be staying here with MY people you would be staying with us, your family, please never forget that.”

They looked at me with softy smiles and nodded. “I love the both of you like sisters, and those are my godchildren over there rolling around with my children. I only ask that you warn me enough so that I can get things cleaned up and ready.” They both relaxed, and I mean really relaxed. They postures weren’t so stiff and their shoulders seemed to drop. I hadn’t realized how tense they both had been. I looked at Bethany, feeling there was something more coming, but she gave me the look that said she was working on it.

At the same time one of my projects was turning out far better than I had planned. When we had let the animals into the yards in the spring I had an idea for the winter. Last year we had so many eggs that we were using them as fertilizer since you either ate them or they went bad. Since we didn’t have real refrigeration I figured we would go with the option of our real freezer. So when we had too many eggs they would be scrambled and poured into steel molds I had made and put into the ice cave. Once the trays could then be emptied into small barrels or other containers to be used for eggs in the winter.

I set a few ladies to the task and turned it all over to them to be dealt with as it was just before my first trip to the capital. I hadn’t thought about till I was asked what they should do about the eggs. I headed to the ice caves and met with a lady in heavy winter clothing. “I heard there was a problem with the food storage?” she quickly showed me inside. Now something you have to understand is we learned from past years. Once all the ice was in place, the upper cave was sealed. No air flow, and very little temperature fluctuation meant far lower freezer temperatures. It also meant our freezer was much larger than years past. We now had a deep freeze that looked more like a sectioned warehouse than an ice cave.