Day Three-Hundred-Sixteen: Make up your minds

By the gods, we actually have a town underway. And I'm excited.

There's more than just the pub and the golden tree, here, now. We have pens and shelters for animals, and the rebuilt bases of several houses, and plans for a water wheel to power a mill, and the beginnings of roads connecting everything, and… and… people. People WORKING. People NETWORKING. People getting ALONG.

Kinda.

The pub's become something of a stifling place to live. Though two of the recent newcomers appeared with their own wagons, most folks need cots. We're running out of room, and when people don't have room, they get grumpy. There's still plenty of friction between the nobles, who think they deserve their own rooms and luxurious accommodations and such, and the peasants, who would at least like somewhere private to flop each night. There's so much fighting over the rooms upstairs that I won't even get started on discussing 'em. Libby and me don't get a room to ourselves, and I'm the freaking mayor.

So we need to expand. And we are expanding! Slowly, by rural standards, but we're getting stuff done. Barrel's become a great help in felling trees, 'cause he can push 'em over, and Libby's working overtime turning the trees into planks with her tools. She's got a team of four in-training carpenters who are shaping up nicely, and she plans on leaving them to the felling so she can tinker with traps. She's anxious to brew up another technical monstrosity like the Matriarch.

Man. I wonder if she could turn Pubton into a rolling town. That would be AWESOME.

Problem is… though we're expanding… I have the feeling that we're not doing it right. You know? I studied other towns, other villages, but I don't really know how to make one myself. There are so many things to consider, and I don't wanna mess up on town planning. These people need me, and, well, I need them too. So I called for a town meeting around the golden tree to discuss what direction we should be taking as we progress. What do the people think is important, and how should we implement that thing so it's not buggered up?

Shoulda known what would happen. Everybody had different opinions, and those opinions sparked arguments.

"Keep building houses!"

"Make the pub bigger!"

"Build a distillery!"

"I want an outhouse! I'm tired of pooping in front of everyone!"

"Make a hat store!"

"No, we need ditches!"

"The farms aren't producing any crops! Let's make some crops!"

"You can't just make crops!"

"Sure you can! Build some flowers or whatever!"

"You're an idiot!"

"We need a nursery!"

"A bakery!"

"A brewery!"

"That's the same as a distillery!"

"You take that back, ya wino!"

Squabbling. Barrel set things to right by stomping his massive foot and roaring. Didn't resolve any of the arguments, but it shut everyone up. Maybe I should make him Libby's deputy, if she becomes sheriff.

No consensus, no progress. After the meeting people went back to doing whatever they were doing before, either building houses or setting up pens or complaining that the weather is too damned brisk for this time of year, even though it's just about right for October. Sometimes we're a big, joyful family, others we're a more realistic kind of family.

The pub brought us together. We were all happy doing that. Now everybody's settling back into their cliques, or whatever, and work is slipping into sloppiness. We need something that'll unify the lot of us… or maybe I need to get more bossy and tell people what they need to be doing, rather than asking if they need any help…

Hrm. I need help. Seems like I ALWAYS need help.

Sincerely,

Dragomir the Mayor