Retreat to the War Room.

It's time to plan things out, but this time, it's less stressful. One might say it's actually rather fun. You get to figure out some trade routes, imports, exports, housing plans, and all manner of things like that. You just recently managed to grow your numbers by almost a couple dozen, which is far more than you've ever had at once. You've nearly doubled your numbers in only a couple days. You actually decide to gather basically everyone for this (not all the newcomers of course), at least at the beginning. It's good to let everyone know exactly what's going on after all. Including yourself, there are over thirty people surrounding the table in the center, meaning most people have to stand. Fang, however, is the one moreso in the center, as she leans forward over a pile of many papers.

She holds a coloured pencil up proudly. "You'll be so proud of me, Kyle. I took a census and not only wrote a little about every person in Castle Phoenix, but I drew them too! Not all those new folks, but everyone else. Hopefully that helps."

"Oh. Wow." You pick one of the drawings up and look it over. It's crude, almost like a child's doodle, but you can't help but smile. "Thanks, Fang. That does help. We gotta keep organized, especially if our numbers are gonna keep growing."

Though over time, people start to filter out. You've explained all that's important anyway. Once it's time to actually plan for things, only a handful of people remain in the War Room, and slowly you begin to sit around the table as your legs grow tired.

"All right. So we'll actually be able to import all this, and these few people said they were pretty good at building homes, so we should be able to start raising some roofs for people to live under," you say as you trail your finger along all the notes that have been written on various things. "I really want everyone to be able to have a home for themselves, if they want one. It looks like we have more than enough room. Castle Phoenix can house an army after all."

"Should we start planning an attack on that Elok asshat yet?" Niki asks. "I'm sure he's doing the same."

"Maybe. I wanna make sure everyone is safe here first. Then we can check out that old Demon King's lair and see if we can turn anything up. Itching for a quest, Niki?"

"You bet! That's why I asked. I don't know anything about building houses, but I can definitely survive one falling on me."

"I hope that doesn't come up."

"But if it does, I'll be ready."

Amara salutes. "And I will be there to heal you!"

Niki pats her on the head with a grin. "Good girl."

Things are going smoothly for once. It's time to look over your plans once more, and then Niki will at last have her chance to quest once again. It's been a little bit since your party has ventured out, so you understand her eagerness. It was frightening when you first came to Abso, but now here certainly is something tantalizing about a good quest, even if you know something will always go wrong.