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.219Please respect copyright.PENANAMBx3aclWFj
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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.219Please respect copyright.PENANAoYdTRJweFo
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Greyland219Please respect copyright.PENANADdOvUtUfBu
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Economy Military People219Please respect copyright.PENANAPzxvgHn0AS
Currently building: granary level 2219Please respect copyright.PENANAgnynCT5avZ
Monthly trade income: 0219Please respect copyright.PENANAJosKw3vCEZ
Monthly tax income: 54 gold219Please respect copyright.PENANAl046snP1Rq
Daily food consumption: 13 units219Please respect copyright.PENANAfmfoy6Jewj
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Grain yield: 0 due in 17 days219Please respect copyright.PENANAQTVQqAhVOk
Vegetable yield: 35 food units due in 21 days219Please respect copyright.PENANAosyZafDYCB
Wool yield: 3 bales due in 34 days219Please respect copyright.PENANA5HdOAIGLBE
Meat yield: 4 units daily219Please respect copyright.PENANAIgwMOpeMrB
Timber yield: 17 planks daily219Please respect copyright.PENANAk5I0vBjyu5
Iron yield: 2 ingots daily219Please respect copyright.PENANAwZS2HVzFQ6
Quarry yield: 6 blocks daily219Please respect copyright.PENANAFmHGMpFqyf
Smithy yield: no production set219Please respect copyright.PENANACl5IMf979U
Weaving yield: 4 bolts daily219Please respect copyright.PENANANARmq4lXFI
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Research: steel pickaxes219Please respect copyright.PENANAsvTIKGwEhr
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Resources:219Please respect copyright.PENANArcA81zWzeL
Wheat: 19 food units219Please respect copyright.PENANApNwWtjKZ74
Vegetables: 32 food units219Please respect copyright.PENANA4g29K0f8fL
Meat: 5 food units219Please respect copyright.PENANADO0N7iRnGR
Wool: 7 bales219Please respect copyright.PENANAxQEWAA2QK0
Timber: 134 planks219Please respect copyright.PENANAnifOoaJKf1
Iron: 11 ingots219Please respect copyright.PENANARi4Bwrqp5V
Stone: 33 blocks219Please respect copyright.PENANAMtKt7Nr0iT
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 2.219Please respect copyright.PENANA4UuAlAfgqn
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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.219Please respect copyright.PENANAeG015Vpc5U
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Military219Please respect copyright.PENANArVwsJbqIrm
Light infantry: 32219Please respect copyright.PENANAQJ8pUjr0uF
Heavy infantry: 12219Please respect copyright.PENANAutPxrDlGZh
Archers: 18219Please respect copyright.PENANAt1an4CLZQA
Light cavalry: 24219Please respect copyright.PENANA3ZW1PtFYBQ
Heavy cavalry: 3219Please respect copyright.PENANATWYCrtTakj
Ballista: 1219Please respect copyright.PENANAG9bgekiPPf
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Hospital: 17219Please respect copyright.PENANAggfVH0O4TO
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Military upkeep cost: 42 gold, 5 silver219Please respect copyright.PENANAeHNzLSuyl1
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Currently training: 2 heavy cavalry219Please respect copyright.PENANAAB07dR1hFQ
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Buildings: keep level 2; curtain walls level 1; towers level 1; town walls level 1219Please respect copyright.PENANAIvwwCzuJKE
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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?219Please respect copyright.PENANAIVvnAkfl61
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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.219Please respect copyright.PENANAvDJPWngGqd
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People219Please respect copyright.PENANAUUu5eDeISk
Citizens: 485219Please respect copyright.PENANAqbgzek1HFf
Happiness: 14219Please respect copyright.PENANAIa70zxC3U2
Tax Level: High219Please respect copyright.PENANAxAKc8BVicx
Health: 89219Please respect copyright.PENANA2pcFZrgPOR
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Specialist roles219Please respect copyright.PENANAWEXWWLrajq
General: Lord Arval, Paladin Level 7219Please respect copyright.PENANA4ImMDn07LF
Royal Wizard: Carlena, Sorceress Level 9219Please respect copyright.PENANA2YVcLVRcPI
Steward: Chancellor Parrin, Scout Level 9219Please respect copyright.PENANA9ewnEQ7drm
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?219Please respect copyright.PENANASVRptAZGe0
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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.219Please respect copyright.PENANALRWuVJi3Sy
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Lord Arval: Paladin Level 7219Please respect copyright.PENANATXCWrQwB3X
HP 64219Please respect copyright.PENANA0xHr22KWFe
AC 18219Please respect copyright.PENANA4lUlLE836Y
XP 19,663 (28,800)219Please respect copyright.PENANADjL4A3jlDj
Str 17 (18), Dex 12, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 9, Cha 9.219Please respect copyright.PENANA30JJxS7Wx1
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.219Please respect copyright.PENANAo2M6iNVqIL
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Time to check the others.219Please respect copyright.PENANAZ6wHttTxI7
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Carlena, Sorceress Level 9219Please respect copyright.PENANA9WNIsvSpCH
HP 34219Please respect copyright.PENANAI3ODr2W6GA
AC 5219Please respect copyright.PENANA9fSMIjYMjv
XP 72,102 (86,400)219Please respect copyright.PENANAYL2RmB72yp
Str 5, Dex 11, Con 9, Int 17, Wis 7, Cha 8.219Please respect copyright.PENANApoByEWhnMN
Broach of Protection from Magical Missiles; Wand of Channelling; Potion of Transformation.
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Chancellor Parrin, Scout Level 9219Please respect copyright.PENANA7q5FMtUj1o
HP 53219Please respect copyright.PENANAwTLPa35yyg
AC 12219Please respect copyright.PENANAbIqh7vA3BU
XP 71,043 (86,400)219Please respect copyright.PENANASb4gNCguwH
Str 9, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 6, Cha 9219Please respect copyright.PENANA7HHTgpLLyQ
Dagger +1; Leather Jerkin +1; Ring of Silent Movement.
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Figus, Bard Level 3219Please respect copyright.PENANAGix0ePlBJN
HP 17219Please respect copyright.PENANAch6wm6kg1e
AC 14219Please respect copyright.PENANAI5Ocq2Ssog
XP 684 (800)219Please respect copyright.PENANApcW0m9cW6u
Str 13, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 9, Cha 15219Please respect copyright.PENANATOthrtvpPe
Scroll of Charm219Please respect copyright.PENANAqkVdaA4FG6
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.219Please respect copyright.PENANA7n8Ws2aslf
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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.219Please respect copyright.PENANArTrtnDKZXW
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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.219Please respect copyright.PENANAEvQ25LC3g2
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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.219Please respect copyright.PENANA69GEI742ZL
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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?219Please respect copyright.PENANAwd0FWZsd2l
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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.219Please respect copyright.PENANA0YQGpXL8Ov
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My head filling again with images of the town planning interface, I was asleep before I knew it.