Luxuriating in a – necessarily large – wooden bath, I got a good view of my enormous body. Well, at least as far as the vast stomach. From there, my lower half was completely out of view. Maybe Carlos felt at home like this and I wasn't judging him from the point of beauty or shame. My dismay at the body I was in was a practical one. As it was, I couldn't possibly help these people in battle. And I was so used to my own, fairly fit shape that for me, this was like being an imprisoning shell. I had an idea of who I was that was at odds with this person. It would take some serious work but I was determined to get in shape, not least for the sake of the battles to come. At least he was tall, taller than me, at about 6' 4" I'd guess. That was promising for the long term, if I could get the body into fighting condition.487Please respect copyright.PENANAs2oDpa8cUb
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While I didn't want to make any important decisions about my character sheet until I had tested if I could improve my stats, I took some time to properly study the kingdom menus.487Please respect copyright.PENANA8ntuhiniin
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Greyland487Please respect copyright.PENANASSXXvMlXMO
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Economy Military People487Please respect copyright.PENANANv4hIIbjx9
Currently building: granary level 2487Please respect copyright.PENANA6r4bKUICow
Monthly trade income: 0487Please respect copyright.PENANAorg5koDAJf
Monthly tax income: 54 gold487Please respect copyright.PENANAFM4nxseYg4
Daily food consumption: 13 units487Please respect copyright.PENANANFX2CjTtFG
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Grain yield: 0 due in 17 days487Please respect copyright.PENANAmlpagLq00Y
Vegetable yield: 35 food units due in 21 days487Please respect copyright.PENANAJ2cxNuyn45
Wool yield: 3 bales due in 34 days487Please respect copyright.PENANAIXK8F8dB53
Meat yield: 4 units daily487Please respect copyright.PENANAA4KXOMIowp
Timber yield: 17 planks daily487Please respect copyright.PENANAD8Ms0FRgVt
Iron yield: 2 ingots daily487Please respect copyright.PENANAMcu4ADzwqK
Quarry yield: 6 blocks daily487Please respect copyright.PENANA8vOZK4AFut
Smithy yield: no production set487Please respect copyright.PENANARsbuPcejqC
Weaving yield: 4 bolts daily487Please respect copyright.PENANAsrKAVEFbne
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Research: steel pickaxes487Please respect copyright.PENANAXgBbEOmdLU
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Resources:487Please respect copyright.PENANAHf8UmScHqv
Wheat: 19 food units487Please respect copyright.PENANAGqppDuP5wt
Vegetables: 32 food units487Please respect copyright.PENANAGqngQ9ZeHj
Meat: 5 food units487Please respect copyright.PENANAx7H2iE63kQ
Wool: 7 bales487Please respect copyright.PENANAup3xxOKRl7
Timber: 134 planks487Please respect copyright.PENANAQ964Uz5qHS
Iron: 11 ingots487Please respect copyright.PENANA06MhZm8vrY
Stone: 33 blocks487Please respect copyright.PENANARCMAGHmyAR
Cloth: 0 bolts
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All of these points of information could be opened for more detail, so I focused on the 'currently building' tab. There, I could see a graphic of a partly constructed wooden tower. The granary, presumably. In a timer that was counting down, there were two days and several hours left on a bar that was about half filled with green. I had other options, currently greyed out: farm buildings, level 2; hunting lodge, level 2; sawmill level 2; watermill; mine level 3; quarry level 2; smithy level 2; library level 2.487Please respect copyright.PENANATa4Bs7ApVd
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There was an obvious contradiction between the fact the kingdom was working on a new granary and there was no grain yield. Presumably, this was a legacy of losing the recent battle and the farmland. I should almost certainly swap the construction project to something else. Long term, it was often a good idea in strategy games to invest in research, which might be what the library was good for. But I had a real worry about the food situation. So without making any changes, and after shifting my hulky figure to swirl some warm water around, I looked at the Military sub-menu.487Please respect copyright.PENANAtbtFXjGddc
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Military487Please respect copyright.PENANA08STljwkiW
Light infantry: 32487Please respect copyright.PENANAINQfPjN3Jm
Heavy infantry: 12487Please respect copyright.PENANAtH7rTElQj9
Archers: 18487Please respect copyright.PENANAFxIuanhkPj
Light cavalry: 24487Please respect copyright.PENANAWGK9UIq1YO
Heavy cavalry: 3487Please respect copyright.PENANAeBUCmiDo7f
Ballista: 1487Please respect copyright.PENANAf1uYoCMzIb
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Hospital: 17487Please respect copyright.PENANApXQ8JOBzEe
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Military upkeep cost: 42 gold, 5 silver487Please respect copyright.PENANAonPGs56Xej
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Currently training: 2 heavy cavalry487Please respect copyright.PENANAXmOAA5AQEB
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Buildings: keep level 2; curtain walls level 1; towers level 1; town walls level 1487Please respect copyright.PENANAhfKkbcXFEM
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Currently building: tower machicolations, 3 days
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I had no idea how big the armies in this world were, but with just a hundred troops the situation here was certainly dire. I suddenly had a dark thought. What if we were overrun? Slaughtered. What would happen to me? Would I get home? Respawn? Or just die, forever?487Please respect copyright.PENANAChPH1LR3OK
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Although they were fundamentally important questions, there was nothing I could do to find answers to them, so I returned my focus to the menus. Each of these entries had options to drill down into more specific information, such as about the stats on the troops, but I just skimmed through them, wanting to understand the big picture items first.487Please respect copyright.PENANA1fVaN7Gnsa
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People487Please respect copyright.PENANAS7Wh0Pv3C9
Citizens: 485487Please respect copyright.PENANA8jfybNo0hS
Happiness: 14487Please respect copyright.PENANAqZ0hrAqcmR
Tax Level: High487Please respect copyright.PENANAy964RvZItr
Health: 89487Please respect copyright.PENANApB5dJ9YdRB
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Specialist roles487Please respect copyright.PENANA64GOU2kUka
General: Lord Arval, Paladin Level 7487Please respect copyright.PENANAr7apR5RzHe
Royal Wizard: Carlena, Sorceress Level 9487Please respect copyright.PENANAvjVb0mE95l
Steward: Chancellor Parrin, Scout Level 9487Please respect copyright.PENANAeZ5w1R4Ocb
Ambassador: Figus, Bard Level 3
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Looking at the Citizens menu I saw a more detailed breakdown: Soldiers 110; Farmers 38; Builders 40; Shepherds 34; Hunters 48; Miners 84; Clothmakers 23; Bakers 23; Brewers 16; Carpenters 21; Stonemasons 14; Smiths 4; Researchers 4; Idle 26. It was strange how few were the numbers here. Was this because I had found myself at an early stage of whatever game-like system this world was based on? Or was there some other explanation?487Please respect copyright.PENANACQ7vumGrty
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This was interesting. For a start, the king had been lying to Chancellor Parrin for some reason. Far from being a Level 5 Scout, the thin man was 9. Then I found I could open up their character sheets and I did so for Lord Arval.487Please respect copyright.PENANAco8GQbzlUx
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Lord Arval: Paladin Level 7487Please respect copyright.PENANAHejMgyUPrK
HP 64487Please respect copyright.PENANAOP6zRiF917
AC 18487Please respect copyright.PENANAvHKMSGPpV3
XP 19,663 (28,800)487Please respect copyright.PENANAbJ596UX1sI
Str 17 (18), Dex 12, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 9, Cha 9.487Please respect copyright.PENANAoV2ND8k9KQ
Shield of Defence +1, Trueblade +2, Ring of Strength +1, Potion of Haste, Potion of Healing.
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Very interesting. I had to close my eyes for a moment, ducking down to soak my hair, but the character sheet was still there when I came back up out of the water. Firstly, I noted that Lord Arval had an XP bar. He could level up. That was encouraging for me, because it suggested that stats might evolve too. Secondly: magic items. Everybody loves magic items, but again I was particularly excited to see they could be used to change stats, as in Lord Arval's Strength.487Please respect copyright.PENANAvOpA37xRUZ
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Time to check the others.487Please respect copyright.PENANAGP9rEQxYPD
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Carlena, Sorceress Level 9487Please respect copyright.PENANAbfTqVd9djJ
HP 34487Please respect copyright.PENANADTZC7uiU1G
AC 5487Please respect copyright.PENANAbpPzB6RFuo
XP 72,102 (86,400)487Please respect copyright.PENANALuR8uGof1r
Str 5, Dex 11, Con 9, Int 17, Wis 7, Cha 8.487Please respect copyright.PENANA0xx1LJ40MI
Broach of Protection from Magical Missiles; Wand of Channelling; Potion of Transformation.
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Chancellor Parrin, Scout Level 9487Please respect copyright.PENANAJmtdf5sHSY
HP 53487Please respect copyright.PENANApDX1xiVuYG
AC 12487Please respect copyright.PENANAiRF6btFfQM
XP 71,043 (86,400)487Please respect copyright.PENANAydQrKY0gCd
Str 9, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 6, Cha 9487Please respect copyright.PENANAy7xHgs5tNP
Dagger +1; Leather Jerkin +1; Ring of Silent Movement.
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Figus, Bard Level 3487Please respect copyright.PENANAJo7BuRxtYx
HP 17487Please respect copyright.PENANArSGd86xZaq
AC 14487Please respect copyright.PENANAX9TZkRPU5J
XP 684 (800)487Please respect copyright.PENANAoeGXkYSE82
Str 13, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 9, Cha 15487Please respect copyright.PENANArr3KaAsz6k
Scroll of Charm487Please respect copyright.PENANAPSz08mKs9Z
Ambassador feats: Speak Language; Swift Travel
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Pretty decent, or so it seemed. But everything was relative. What special roles did our opponents have? Maybe Chancellor Parrin would know.487Please respect copyright.PENANAzo1nuJJpBG
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By this time my bath was only lukewarm and so, with some difficulty, I stood up. Water dripping from me, I took a towel and when as dry as I could manage, a robe that a servant had brought me that looked clean enough. Outside the door of the bathroom was a young servant, who ducked his head when I left rather than make eye contact. After I was past him, he ran into the bathroom, to tidy up perhaps.487Please respect copyright.PENANA6wXm5lLD38
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Lying in a comfortable four-poster bed, in clean sheets, I considered that I was blessed. Almost certainly, there were gods in this world. And if one of them had played a role in bringing me here, well, fair dues to him, her, or it. I sent a silent prayer of gratitude. This is what I needed. Not the trappings of being a king but the challenge. A kingdom under threat and an RPG system to wield to the best of my ability. I really wanted to get stuck into my own character sheet, but most of my decisions would have to wait until I had more information. And I was too tired to explore the menus much further.487Please respect copyright.PENANAIBxbCf7ce7
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There were two tasks, however, that shouldn't wait until morning. I called up Greyland/Economy/Currently Building. There I switched the granary out and from the other options, dragged in hunting lodge, level 2. We were losing about 7 food units a day, with reserves of just 56. Obviously, I needed to resolve that, before planning on building something more strategic.487Please respect copyright.PENANAmJgPna5Eij
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The other assignment I wanted to make was for the Smithy, which was not producing anything. The sub-menu, however, was complex, full of possible items like horse shoes, swords, shields and arrow heads that all looked extremely useful. There were tools I could create too, including hoes, which I was tempted by, as these would surely help my food output. Or were they limited to use in the kind of fields we had recently lost?487Please respect copyright.PENANAKsLmBvFp2p
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Wondering why my predecessor had left such an important building idle, I had a thought and checked the research queue. There was only four hours left on the countdown for steel pickaxes. Maybe he had planned on completing that research and then getting the smith to work on producing them. If so, it wasn't a bad idea, all we really had going for us were the mountains around the town. If we could use sources of iron to build up tradeable reserves of iron and steel, that might be another way to solve the food crisis. So that decision could also wait until morning.487Please respect copyright.PENANAJw4PZxpxhF
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My head filling again with images of the town planning interface, I was asleep before I knew it.