Cutting the Canal and the Appointed Lords

It was 20 years later when Shay decided to extend the harbour and cut the canal through to the swamp. Again it took time and effort - but most of all money. By this time the town had grown, with many of the natives moving in and living within the secure walls of the town. Shay offered to fund most of the project, he was still the driving force behind the new settlement, BUT insisted that the council should be extended to include the Harbour Master, Head of the Judiciary, and a Chancellor, to look after the funds of the burgeoning new town. The Old Lords Hummed and Hawed, but in the end even they could see the sense of getting other people to run the city on their behalf, and Shay's money meant they didn't argue too much when he insisted on appointing them either ...

Surprisingly enough, the last slice of funding for the canal came from the people who had recently moved into the city, in the form of their religious leaders. They offered to provide the labour to dig the canal cheaply, if they were accorded a place on the council. Shay jumped at the chance of completing the canal earlier using these labourers, and the old lords saw a way to dilute Shay's powers - and so the Patriarch of the Arthians was appointed to the council as well.