Vin’s morning started dreary, with only meetings and paperwork to look forward to. Since nine that morning, a dozen people have filed in and out of his office to present and report different aspects of the reconstruction project. On top of that, Vin had the drug cleanup to worry about.

From across his dark mahogany desk, his accountant presented the latest budget proposal for the reconstruction of the Ashen City.

“The construction project was a huge undertaking, but we’ve managed to allocate the funds properly,” his accountant said. “If you could just review these and sign, the additional budget will be released and allocated to the workers’ salaries.”

Vin took...