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.198Please respect copyright.PENANAdl8lil76qq
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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.198Please respect copyright.PENANADltTCHYb39
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Greyland198Please respect copyright.PENANANCt2QdiviV
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Economy Military People198Please respect copyright.PENANAQHuFQEAS5V
Currently building: granary level 2198Please respect copyright.PENANASf2u44bbSz
Monthly trade income: 0198Please respect copyright.PENANABbEq0Mt925
Monthly tax income: 54 gold198Please respect copyright.PENANALYePUKaLM0
Daily food consumption: 13 units198Please respect copyright.PENANAMB8wlNzx1d
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Grain yield: 0 due in 17 days198Please respect copyright.PENANA8vFKD9F6iw
Vegetable yield: 35 food units due in 21 days198Please respect copyright.PENANA4focznJnaz
Wool yield: 3 bales due in 34 days198Please respect copyright.PENANAynQwfxCcGj
Meat yield: 4 units daily198Please respect copyright.PENANAzete0DppDp
Timber yield: 17 planks daily198Please respect copyright.PENANAHYM6YUG4Eq
Iron yield: 2 ingots daily198Please respect copyright.PENANAehVgdTOdg2
Quarry yield: 6 blocks daily198Please respect copyright.PENANAbWO9y3mgc0
Smithy yield: no production set198Please respect copyright.PENANAhOdUSblnB6
Weaving yield: 4 bolts daily198Please respect copyright.PENANAmo9ZlZsQCW
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Research: steel pickaxes198Please respect copyright.PENANAAL5Z5mXQEP
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Resources:198Please respect copyright.PENANAVNKaLtBxeA
Wheat: 19 food units198Please respect copyright.PENANAELDtlVOHeD
Vegetables: 32 food units198Please respect copyright.PENANATYXcEAybnv
Meat: 5 food units198Please respect copyright.PENANAxyqIyzskyU
Wool: 7 bales198Please respect copyright.PENANAivLZF7STXZ
Timber: 134 planks198Please respect copyright.PENANAvXBVU3igOA
Iron: 11 ingots198Please respect copyright.PENANAKxWqKQzwyq
Stone: 33 blocks198Please respect copyright.PENANAONjIzNOJsD
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 2.198Please respect copyright.PENANA0eKVtgafWX
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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.198Please respect copyright.PENANABmdRMY7nY9
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Military198Please respect copyright.PENANAeGOTi0eY2t
Light infantry: 32198Please respect copyright.PENANAdJIs4jNBLx
Heavy infantry: 12198Please respect copyright.PENANAxnounVmccL
Archers: 18198Please respect copyright.PENANAixfFrMQpzo
Light cavalry: 24198Please respect copyright.PENANAt8NpRJKil5
Heavy cavalry: 3198Please respect copyright.PENANAvGkPd6qxZc
Ballista: 1198Please respect copyright.PENANAzSSEWHF3Ds
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Hospital: 17198Please respect copyright.PENANAQy6EL0LeOc
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Military upkeep cost: 42 gold, 5 silver198Please respect copyright.PENANAladpGwMpmV
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Currently training: 2 heavy cavalry198Please respect copyright.PENANAQX9FL0cHuU
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Buildings: keep level 2; curtain walls level 1; towers level 1; town walls level 1198Please respect copyright.PENANABOexvUg4ck
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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?198Please respect copyright.PENANAadxnYEiG4J
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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.198Please respect copyright.PENANAbXjGqiW4bw
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People198Please respect copyright.PENANA89TBd4NJHD
Citizens: 485198Please respect copyright.PENANA9ANsAXepbq
Happiness: 14198Please respect copyright.PENANAkAhxnej2mG
Tax Level: High198Please respect copyright.PENANAFBLnTuELuj
Health: 89198Please respect copyright.PENANAVLB1AeArAH
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Specialist roles198Please respect copyright.PENANApYNSIJD3R3
General: Lord Arval, Paladin Level 7198Please respect copyright.PENANAJlqbnUPGjV
Royal Wizard: Carlena, Sorceress Level 9198Please respect copyright.PENANAhwCvuqAm6a
Steward: Chancellor Parrin, Scout Level 9198Please respect copyright.PENANAsN55qWqjb9
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?198Please respect copyright.PENANAvsGwZYYVYa
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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.198Please respect copyright.PENANAT9LyWSYOQX
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Lord Arval: Paladin Level 7198Please respect copyright.PENANAktSLJxVlx7
HP 64198Please respect copyright.PENANAa7y5tL1iwu
AC 18198Please respect copyright.PENANAsf6VDzGDK0
XP 19,663 (28,800)198Please respect copyright.PENANALuaL054Ga1
Str 17 (18), Dex 12, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 9, Cha 9.198Please respect copyright.PENANAvOv2Ez2fXw
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.198Please respect copyright.PENANAgA3wVs9IDa
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Time to check the others.198Please respect copyright.PENANA40f0AsVQVu
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Carlena, Sorceress Level 9198Please respect copyright.PENANAtOk0trgRFs
HP 34198Please respect copyright.PENANAXUXYITety9
AC 5198Please respect copyright.PENANA0DueQEgT8X
XP 72,102 (86,400)198Please respect copyright.PENANA4LI7g5lSUy
Str 5, Dex 11, Con 9, Int 17, Wis 7, Cha 8.198Please respect copyright.PENANAgLLtaN45Mr
Broach of Protection from Magical Missiles; Wand of Channelling; Potion of Transformation.
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Chancellor Parrin, Scout Level 9198Please respect copyright.PENANAKJyIgwgNUH
HP 53198Please respect copyright.PENANAusqSTGsGEF
AC 12198Please respect copyright.PENANA2kZrA4bEyG
XP 71,043 (86,400)198Please respect copyright.PENANARW0dBl5S3s
Str 9, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 6, Cha 9198Please respect copyright.PENANAcyERIYiquE
Dagger +1; Leather Jerkin +1; Ring of Silent Movement.
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Figus, Bard Level 3198Please respect copyright.PENANAdHDCGAwWBN
HP 17198Please respect copyright.PENANASL4JlqI3Yt
AC 14198Please respect copyright.PENANAD75N5WNZgM
XP 684 (800)198Please respect copyright.PENANAkmeIBzQvJW
Str 13, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 9, Cha 15198Please respect copyright.PENANAM3dAsbD3R3
Scroll of Charm198Please respect copyright.PENANAyX5MUVjvoP
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.198Please respect copyright.PENANAwuYZ8pEEUl
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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.198Please respect copyright.PENANAB2GbAkMscg
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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.198Please respect copyright.PENANANihHueIlYW
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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.198Please respect copyright.PENANAOaagDc8ySP
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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?198Please respect copyright.PENANAUpzsIu4lel
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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.198Please respect copyright.PENANAkBYlTEzYc5
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My head filling again with images of the town planning interface, I was asleep before I knew it.