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Morning arrived with a lot of cries from cockerels and the scents of food cooking. It was probably very early, but I couldn't wait to get started. Rolling out of bed, I dressed myself in a long, loose tunic and a very fine cloak, it was a real struggle, though, sitting on the edge of the bed, to bring my foot up to a position where I could get a sandal on it. Should I wear my crown? For now, I just carried it in my hand.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJHUGfaHcO
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On leaving my room, a guard outside looked at me in astonishment before composing his face into a neutral expression.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYQRIa054a
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It suddenly occurred to me that I had no idea of my way around this castle, yet it would be very strange if I were to ask the guard. So I just followed my nose and again, was met with looks of disbelief and alarm by servants and soldiers until I found my way down and around some wide stairs to a hall big enough for a feast, though all the tables were bare.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hKbknKitx
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'Ah, sire, we weren't expecting you for many an hour yet. I'll hurry the cooks.' A female servant came over as I sat myself at the top table in what was obviously the king's large, padded chair.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLjmDCaCsu
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'Just two poached eggs please and an apple and an orange.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw8oq2GdXt7
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'We have apples, sire. Not the other.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQSXBF44x5P
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'Ahh right. Two apples then. And if you can press a few more to get juice out of them, I'll drink that.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjLdXvlASi
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'Yes sire.' The servant, a middle-aged woman, had worry lines across her forehead. 'So no roast pork?' She gestured towards a door that I presumed led to the kitchen, judging by the concentration of cooking scents from that direction.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDr2jjgDFiI
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'No.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWQXUPhxcM
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'Er… forgive me, but just to avoid error, sire, no beef slices in horseradish sauce?'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQelNrve9T0
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'No.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKOtqmH79x
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'Nor the chicken breast in garlic? The bread-and-butter pudding? The…'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnoH4WVCV9
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I caught the servant's eye and with a gulp she stopped speaking.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDOmPMdgzy
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'Nothing,' I said firmly, 'other than the eggs, apples and the juice.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ewHjW0Wh5
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'Certainly sire,' the woman backed away with an anxious bow.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvU1szkYbs
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It would have been interesting to chat with someone and learn something about the world, but none of the guards and servants would dare look at me. The large dining hall was silent as though empty, even though I could count six guards and four servants.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqTBaTrJ6u
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Oh well. I raised my right arm and cascaded some menus. Good, steel pickaxes had been researched, my town now had the knowledge of how to produce them. So I opened up the smithy and planned for a build of 84 new pickaxes, one for every miner. That left my research queue empty and I crunched on one of the hastily delivered apples as I eyed my options, there were hundreds of possibilities, grouped into three core categories: economic, cultural and military. Currently, the food crisis was my biggest concern and my plan to solve it was via exporting ores. Assuming all my neighbours were hostile (and even if they weren't, I wouldn't want any of them to have extra iron supplies), I needed to get my ores further afield. And that meant… Navigation. A six-day research project.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVIPiAy9Cq
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aCNnZzF8g
After breakfast, with the help of a servant, I changed into tunic and trousers and good boots, then sent for my trainer.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYY5ecm1Hcb
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Carradock Goblinbane was missing an arm at the elbow. I didn't ask; maybe the king knew his story already. On the short walk from the castle to the barracks training ground, I briefed him. I needed strength training as rapidly as possible. I didn't voice it aloud, but I knew that I just could not risk progressing my character until I understood the issue of stats better and, in particular, whether I could push them up through training.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Uts7fNNNl
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'Strength it is, sire, and all-round fitness.' He looked at me longer than most people did. In fact, most people here didn't look me in the eyes at all. 'It will take a while. We must not rush. You're too big and too – excuse me – soft. You'll hurt yourself. For the first day, I just want to you walk around this ground fifty times.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCpj7dCVzox
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'Fifty?' How hard could it be to walk fifty laps of a square whose sides were only about a hundred metres?456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAAvuFv7ch4
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It was very hard. After one lap I was sweating. After the second my thighs began to ache and I found myself slowing down from my fast initial pace. After the third, I was panting and my huge body was complaining pretty much everywhere. On ten, Carradock handed me a tankard with cool water in it and I gulped it down. Then he offered me a sword hilt. It was a practice weapon, a rod of iron with no sharp edges. I reached out for it.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCOM693zdeP
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'Are you sure?' Carradock looked sceptical.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzxaw3Jqkx
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'Of course. I can do this.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMdhiSAS9K
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'No, I mean, your left hand.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRuQHhMwekv
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I had grasped the sword and raised it in my left hand. I tried it then with my right, shook my head, and shifted it back. 'This is better.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUD6KBkNihm
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Back on Earth, I was left-handed. Had the king been right-handed? Was this a sign to everyone I wasn't their old ruler?456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3a94mbkKsH
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'Carry it as often as you can. It will make your sword arm stronger.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxpP8lVt0S
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'Now?'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOiA7aAXTta
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Carradock nodded, perhaps with a hint of a smile on his narrow, fox-like face.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvyiLMYDxUR
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Then off I went again, with a new source of pain slowly moving up from my left wrist, my arm and along my left shoulder. At twenty I took another breather. One side of the barracks square was a two-story, grey stone building. The other three were enclosed by a low, wooden fence. And at the fence were gathered a dozen people, looking in at me. On their faces were expressions of dislike but also astonishment.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAge9fCYSKe
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All this walking had been good for my thinking. 'You,' I pointed to a woman with dressed in a tunic whose design matched that of the other castle servants. 'Get me the ambassador, Figus.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQcKOYgpw8
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'Yes, sire.' She curtsied, but I could tell from her body language she didn't like the duty.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZS49T0CDT
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'And the rest of you, get along with your business.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6zYpmg3sy
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No one spoke, but they all immediately hurried away.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwVQMp2cQf1
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It was another two laps before my ambassador came to the square around which I was walking. No doubt I was red-faced and quite a sight, but that didn't excuse the smirk on his face. Figus was quite the rock star. Unlike everyone else here, his hair was not a natural colour, rather it was bleached somehow and stood up in clusters of spikes. With a grace in his walk and a cynical smile in his bright blue eyes, I could see his Charisma of 15 was definitely in play. What was mine again, 3? I suddenly felt very conscious of my frown lines and a posture that was sagging at every point, including my face.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwQKP1OFgA
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The ambassador drew up close, took in a breath and then bowed. 'Sire?'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDckCIpX4gH
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This was a welcome excuse for a break, though I was aware that Carradok was watching and probably disapproved.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJNTm19yhT
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'We need to trade ore for food, what's the best way to go about it?'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKufBUvsDq
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Figus looked up with some surprise on his face. 'You are seeking my advice?'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcTANl7uVk
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'Uh huh,' I was still catching my breath or I'd have pointed out that he was our ambassador after all.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPDv6IT0pa
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEaWuNmPDai
'Well, as you know, we are at war with Southway and Trolland, our nearest neighbours. So they are out. That also blocks the inland routes. By sea, we could trade with Cantreth, the Kingdom of Lost Souls and Rockguard…' he paused in thought. I paused in tiredness.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJ62iHikeC
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsMYADAUKk
'Your majesty has no scruples dealing with a Necromancer?'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemvF8v39NR
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'Not at all, some of my best friends are Necromancers.' I was thinking of Storm Wars of course, but the look of consternation on the face of Figus made me feel like laughing.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6p4z4haY6
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To be fair to him, the ambassador recovered his poise quickly, 'in that case, I think the best deal we could make would be with the Kingdom of Lost Souls.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Cq0cWrwhK
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'Right so, off you go and make that arrangement.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFe5qfAl6U
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'Now sire?'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkFaaKHMTY
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I nodded.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qjW0bLVC0
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He hesitated. 'How much ore and of what kind and quality will we be offering?'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgW90InYSzb
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I didn't have to call down the menu for the mines, we were currently producing 2 ingots of standard iron ore per day. Assuming that would rise with the new pickaxes… 'Fifteen standard iron ingots a week.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIZvF6wBoj
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Figus nodded and then with a temerity that was unusual in the people around me caught my eye. 'One more question, sire, if I may?'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmQUC19LVi
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'Yes?'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxrqKq320N
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'We don't have a trading vessel, but we would get much better terms if this exchange happened in our ship.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGY9jL0ur8
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'I'll make that a priority.'456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqwudxXDis
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'Right so, I'll be off then.' There was a jauntiness to the man's step as he left me to my circuits. Had he deliberately just parrodied my turn of phrase? If so, I rather admired him for it.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQ1Jfnhq48
