Jonathan stood atop a half-finished stone wall, watching the construction efforts below. The morning sun cast long shadows across the growing settlement at the base of the Dread Tower. Goblins scurried about carrying lumber and stone, while Sentinels directed traffic and supervised the more complex building tasks.

"No, no, no!" Lily zoomed through the air, her wings shimmering in the sunlight. "The support beams go on the inside of the wall." Goblins were not used to building human houses and didn't quite get the ascetics at play.

The goblins grumbled but followed her instructions. Jonathan couldn't help but smile, for someone who constantly complained about being stuck here, Lily sure took the town's construction seriously.

"My lord!" A Sentinel called up to him. "The eastern quarter is ready for inspection."

Jonathan made his way down the scaffolding, his midnight-blue cloak billowing behind him as he dropped down. The settlement was coming along nicely, though he noticed a distinct lack of females among the workers. The goblins were getting antsy. Saikhi had explained that the goblin libido works off a positive feedback loop: the more sex they got, the more sex they needed. The breeding program, although useful in the long run, had made the current batch of goblins rather sexually frustrated.

"Careful with those stones!" Lily shouted at another group. "If you break them again, I swear to god-"

"They're doing their best." Jonathan said as he approached her. "Though I am a bit concerned about the, uh, demographic situation."

Lily rolled her eyes. "You mean how there's nothing but horny male goblins? Yeah, I noticed. They've been humping the building materials when they think no one's looking."

As if on cue, a commotion broke out near the nearly constructed tavern. Two goblins were fighting over a curved piece of wood, making rather suggestive gestures with it.

"For fuck's sake." Lily muttered. "Hey! You two! Put that down before you hurt yourselves!"

Sentinel broke up the fight, confiscating the piece of wood. The goblins skulked away.

Jonathan rubbed the back of his neck. "We need to address this soon. Sexual frustration isn't great for worker morale. Trust me, I took a whole course on workplace dynamics in college."

"Did your economics degree cover horny goblin management?" Lily landed next to him.

"Actually, there was this one case study about mining towns and... never mind." Jonathan watched as more goblins carried materials past them, their eyes lingering a bit too long on Lily. She shooed them away with a threatening gesture.

The construction continued throughout the morning. Jonathan approved the eastern quarter's progress and helped resolve various disputes, mostly involving goblins fighting over vaguely sexually-shaped building materials or holes in walls that were "just the right height."

"We should probably start recruiting some female workers." Jonathan said as he reviewed the construction plans. "Or perhaps move some of the breeders up here."

Lily nodded, hovering over the plans. "Yeah, unless you want them to start fucking the mortar."

Jonathan made a mental note to speak with Saikhi about bringing some of the breeding females up from the goblin caves. The sooner the better - he didn't want to deal with property damage from sexually frustrated workers.

"Let's go over what we've actually managed to build," Lily said, pulling out a scroll and unfurling it. "The tavern's almost done - thank fuck, because these guys need somewhere to drink after work. The first block of houses is finished, and the second block should be done by the end of the week."

"What about the marketplace?" Jonathan asked, studying the plans.

"Foundation's laid, but we need more stone for the stalls." Lily marked something on the scroll with a quill that materialized from nowhere. "The goblins keep trying to make the support poles look like dicks, by the way. I've had to reject their work three times already."

Jonathan chuckled. "At least they're creative."

"Oh, and you'll love this." Lily's wings fluttered excitedly. "Word's getting around fast about our little town. We've got a whole list of people wanting to move in once we've got enough housing."

"Really? From where?"

"Everywhere!" Lily gestured expansively. "Got some craftsmen from the Heartlands, a few faen families from the western forests. There's even a group of merfolk asking about setting up near the river."

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "Merfolk? On land?"

"Yeah, these ones can walk on land, they just prefer water. You'll be happy to know they have relatively human anatomy, sure they have fins, blue skin, and hidden gills, but you can fuck them all the same." Lily consulted her scroll again. "There are almost more than we can take in. Lots of folks looking for a fresh start after the Empire's collapse. Even got some ashborn interested."

"Sounds like we'll be quite diverse." Jonathan mused.

"Very diverse. Even more so than Cliffside if you'd believe it. Though Cliffside is getting even more diverse with the slave trade bringing in people." Lily made a face. "At least here everyone's coming by choice. Though I'm a bit worried about how all these different races will get along."

"We'll figure it out." Jonathan said, watching a goblin attempt to subtly hump a wooden post before a Sentinel shooed him away. "Though maybe we should prioritize finishing the guard barracks. Just in case."

"Already on it." Lily pointed to another section of the plans. "Should be done in two days, assuming the goblins stop trying to add 'decorative holes' to the walls."

Jonathan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Right. Definitely need to talk to Saikhi about those breeding females… Though, maybe add a gloryhole booth near the brothel."

"Pervert." Lily narrowed her eyes.