Ioma Island is the largest island in the Nelanthel Islands and has the richest freshwater resources. It is also the most suitable island for settlement and farming.
As early as hundreds of years ago, this place was built with slaves plundered by pirates and became a medium-sized port town.
The town has a small ship repair yard, a blacksmith shop for making weapons and armor, a carpentry room for processing and manufacturing wooden boards, several taverns and hotels dedicated to serving pirates, and a store responsible for purchasing and storing goods and various trophies.
Warehouse.
The rest are small-scale plantations opened by slaves, pirates and their families, as well as strongholds built by black marketeers who had business dealings with pirates.
In short, the scale is not large, with no more than a thousand people at its busiest time.
The purpose of its existence is simply to provide a place for sailors who have been at sea for a long time to go ashore to vent their anger and get drunk.
However, since Eric won the decisive naval battle and completely brought the Sword Sea area under his control, it became the first place to be officially included in the development plan.
In just over a month, the originally dirty, narrow and dilapidated town was completely demolished.
Instead, there are carefully planned port areas, high-end residential areas, civilian residential areas, warehouse areas, administrative areas, commercial areas, cemetery areas, workshops and handicraft areas, etc.
At present, not only has a towering lighthouse been built in the entire port area with the help of magic, but the plank roads and supporting facilities for docking ships are also basically completed.
There are also many houses scattered in the residential area, and they are even equipped with running water and sewer systems.
The streets look exceptionally clean and tidy, which is a huge difference from the previous dirty and smelly environment.
And all of this is completely the result of thousands of undead creatures who never tire as laborers, working day and night to construct.
All the skeletons and zombies are basically the pirates who refused to surrender, or pretended to surrender and then secretly connected with each other.
Through necromancy magic, the Lich first kills them and then pulls them up to make up for the serious shortage of labor on the Nelanthel Islands.
It is foreseeable that a new seaport city will rise here soon.
In addition to building cities, some undead were sent to reclaim wasteland on a large scale and plant food and cash crops.
At present, all islands with fresh water resources basically either plant large areas of sugar cane, or plant wheat, rice and some vegetables and fruits, depending on the climate and environment.
Looking at it from a high place, you can see that green buds are already growing in the large flat fields.
Since the location and climate of the Nelanser Islands are typical of the tropics, not only does it have sunshine and abundant rain all year round, but the temperature never drops below 16 degrees Celsius, so it is very suitable for the growth of crops.
If nothing else happens, we will have a big harvest in three or four months.
By then, not only will the food rations of the island residents be met, but there will also be surplus available for trade.
Anyone who is not an idiot will realize that the long-standing disorder and chaos in Nelanthel Islands is about to end after seeing this scene.
A new city-state or even country will rise in this sea area and become a force that cannot be ignored.
Standing on the balcony of the recently built castle halfway up the mountain, Eric looked down at the city that would soon be his in name. Without looking back, he asked: "How many refugees were sent to the port today?"
And slaves?"
A middle-aged man who was not dressed like a pirate at all quickly replied: "About three hundred refugees from the Kingdom of Tethyr escaping the war, and more than a hundred slaves rescued from illegal slave ships.
Among them, those who could farm and raise livestock were assigned to farms in the countryside.
The rest were left in the city's workshops to learn skills.
I have to say, those mages are really talented.
It turns out that coarse salt that can be eaten is really produced on Koka Island.
Now we only need to transport the coarse salt back and then carry out a few further processes to produce the kind of high-quality white salt without any impurities or odor.
Many businessmen saw this kind of salt and placed a large number of orders, and it would even take two or three months to complete the delivery.
In addition, the sugar factory has also begun to produce a large amount of white sugar, rock candy and various fruity hard candies.
Even the residue left over from sugar extraction can be used for fermentation and wine making.
Currently, half of the merchant ships in the harbor come for salt, and the other half come for sugar.
They transported sugar cane, sugar beets, grain, poultry and livestock from the countries around the Shining Sea and Steam Lake in the south, and then took salt and sugar with them when they left, basically forming a stable trade route.
Coupled with the monopoly on the main route from the Sword Sea to the Northern Sword Coast and the collection of protection fees from passing merchant ships, the tax alone will become quite considerable.
Based on the shares you hold in it, you can get thousands or even tens of thousands of gold coins even if you do nothing for a month.
And the money will become more and more as time goes by."
"Not bad! It seems that I made the right bet, doesn't it?" Eric pursed his lips and showed a proud smile.
Although he lost the direct command of the huge pirate fleet after the decisive naval battle, he got the stable life he dreamed of.
There is no need to fight for one's life on the dangerous sea just to make a living as before.
As for the betrayed fellow pirates, they had just been brutally purged not long ago, and then Vanessa sent a retired naval officer who was hired to retrain and reorganize the remaining ones.
Anyone who shows disobedience to orders during the reorganization and training process, or who is dissatisfied and wants to stir up rebellion will, without exception, be sent to Zuo Si's mage tower to receive the "influence (brain modification)" of strange objects.
When they come back, they will become dull and stupid, completely lose their ability to think, and become puppets who obey orders.
Especially for chaotic and evil monsters like orcs, ogres, gnolls, bugbears, and tauren, basically no one escapes the net.
In contrast, the evil and lawful hobgoblins transformed themselves into captains or first mates through their devotion to loyalty.
Coupled with the human officers recruited from the Kingdom of Tethyr, the originally chaotic pirates were transformed into a powerful and disciplined navy.
At present, the military power of the newly established regime in the Nelanthel Islands is almost entirely in the hands of the lichs of the Arcane Order.
However, the middle-aged man in a formal dress obviously didn't know this, and quickly squeezed out a flattering smile and responded: "Of course! All this prosperity and order are thanks to your wise decision. I only mean that by relying on this
The merchants who make their living along the maritime trade routes would like to express my most sincere gratitude to you."
Eric sneered and waved his hand: "Forget the boring compliments. Have you found the person I asked you to find?"
"Yes. Based on the clues you provided, we found two targets in Darauma along the Is River, both in age and appearance. If nothing else, they should have been hidden by Hallet.
Mistress and daughter." The middle-aged man reported carefully.
"Very good! Help me get them both here. It doesn't matter whether it's kidnapping or deception. Anyway, I want to see them appear in this city within two months. If you can do it, I will appoint you.
Be the mayor of this city. But if you can’t do it, then don’t appear in front of me again.”
When saying these words, Eric did not hide his naked desire at all.
Because he longs to use this extremely twisted and morbid way to vent all the pressure he endured when Hallett was dominating him.
"As you wish!"
Knowing that he could become a powerful figure in this emerging city as long as he accomplished this, the middle-aged man's eyes shone with ambition.
As a businessman with a keen sense of smell, he could already predict that Eric, who controlled the Neransir Islands, the Racing Channel and the northern Korin Islands, would sooner or later become the unrivaled overlord of this sea, so he did not
He traveled thousands of miles from the distant city of Ariwen in the south and took the initiative to seek refuge.
If he can become the mayor, then he and his family can settle down on the island and become a member of the ruling class of this emerging force.
Obtaining a noble title in the future is just around the corner.
After watching the merchant leave the castle, Eric immediately turned around and went to the secret room on the top floor. He put one hand on his chest and bowed deeply to Vanessa, a lich.
"Master, with the magic chart you created, the fleet has basically controlled the movements of all ships on the west coast of Faerûn. So far, no merchant ship can escape our eyes. Do you think you can start?
Are you ready for the second step of your plan?"
"Well! It's time to inform all fleets that in the future, any ships that want to dock at Baldur's Gate or sail out from Baldur's Gate will be charged three times the protection fee. As for the reason, that's it.
We declare to the outside world that Baldur's Gate is an evil city-state like Luskan. We are on the side of justice and impose trade sanctions on it."
Vanessa nodded straightforwardly and agreed, and casually made up a reason.
"Justice? Trade sanctions?"
Hearing these unheard of new terms, the corner of Eric's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
He really couldn't think of anything about him, who was born as a pirate, or his peers who were also born as pirates, that could be related to the word "justice".
As for the so-called "trade sanctions", although he knew every word, he couldn't understand them all together.
Looking at the pirate leader who had been very obedient recently, Vanessa said meaningfully: "No matter what you do, you must first place yourself on the side of justice, and then stand on the moral high ground and accuse your opponent of being evil. This is
It is the most commonly used method in political struggles. If you want to become the king of the Nelanthel Islands, you'd better learn a little bit. Otherwise, it will be difficult to secure this position."
"Damn! It seems I have to hire a teacher for myself." A wry smile appeared on Eric's face.
You must know that when he first learned to read and write Common Language, he spent almost a whole year.
To be continued...