A long bath helped, but afterwards, as I made my way down to dinner, every step was a painful one. My muscles were already stiffening. It would be even worse in the morning. Still, I was determined. And that encounter with the ambassador of Southway just made me even more so.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCFBmTIzWU
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A long, polished wooden table had been laid out with what looked like a banquet to me, despite my instructions. Silver candelabra held our source of light, light which glittered off a wide array of polished trays and bowls. There were grapes; cherries, apples and peaches stacked high; there were at least four kinds of fish, filleted and laid out with herbs and lemon on trays decorated with fishing net designs; bowls of peas, green beans, tomatoes and carrots were full to the brim, at least four different kinds of bread had been prepared, with slices and rolls displayed on yet more silver trays; while goblets of cut glass sparkled, ready to receive wine from a choice of six decanters.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpemoNReGO
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The table was laid for four people but the placings were spaced so far apart that it was like a socially distanced event during the COVID pandemic back home. Much to the consternation of a servant who was standing by the wall and hurriedly came over to help, I started re-arranging the plates and cutlery, bringing all the places up to the top end.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOhQpTRXK4
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No sooner than I'd taken my own seat, than Lord Arval, my Paladin General came in with a brisk march. Even for dinner, it seemed, he wore his chainmail and carried his sword. With a gesture that was nearly a smile, he took the seat to my right after I pointed to it.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxmUg4kGTmK
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'I heard about your training today sire. It gave encouragement to the troops.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFrqGPP5h0
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'There's a long way to go.' I glanced at my fleshy arms, so different to my previous body.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWFb8Z79zBD
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'I also heard that you scorned the ambassador of Southway.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7rD6R5nFvW
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'Oh did you? What did your sources say, exactly?'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeccZtb9KL
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'That you were offered wine and women for the rest of your life if you'd do the bidding of their king and you refused, telling him that it was him who would be grovelling in chains before you.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ25cwych08
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'Did I though?' I laughed. 'The story has grown. Good. They have the spirit right at least. That guy was so smug, I wanted to punch him in the face.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjKWyseCkZ
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We were interrupted by the arrival of Chancellor Parrin and the sorceress Carlena. Although they were not arm in arm, there was something about them that suggested to me they might be a couple. They were the right ages – she with silver hair and he with the grey and sliver of his beard – and they moved towards me with an ease in each other's company.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR4u0FUa0vp
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'Another innovation I see,' said the Chancellor with a glance at the place settings and then at the servants. I got the message: careful, go easy on the changes.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQx5viCcsbC
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I repeated my story of meeting the ambassador of Southway, to the approval of Parrin and Carlena but they were surprisingly taciturn. Only when we had eaten did Carlena lean towards me, so that I caught the full intensity of her stunning purple eyes, and whisper, 'send the servants away please, so we can talk properly.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzwQO9e4ey
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I nodded. And after the next time my glass was refilled, I slapped the table with my heavy palm (it was effective for that at least). 'Out! Servants out and don't disturb us until you are called for.' I spoke with unnecessary volume as they jumped to respond.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8EZUbMP7S
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'Spoken like the old Carlos,' said Parrin with a smile when we had the room to ourselves.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLX1L2JQep
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The two of them then began an interrogation that would have never have been allowed by the previous king. What was I researching? What was I building? How would we cope with the loss of our grain-generating lands? What other information was in the menus? On the whole they were cautiously positive about my decisions and plans. At least, they didn't propose I make any changes to it. I was warned that my popularity, already very low, would drop further if we did start trading iron to the necromancer king, but they could see the necessity of this.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnW7w1uovAl
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By the end of their questions, I was totally clear about one thing. Carlena, Parrin and (to a lesser extent) Lord Arval saw me as their instrument. I was accountable to them and had to take their instruction. In business terms, this was a board meeting and I was the CEO, not a king with absolute power. This didn't upset me. I could totally see their point of view: the kingdom was on the ropes and everything they owned, including their lives, was in jeopardy. They couldn't afford any mistakes from me. Also, while I quite enjoyed the authority of being king and the way all the people were quick to obey me, I didn't like the barrier that the role created. At least here, with these three, I could be myself.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgKjHRaviNo
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'I have a question about the menus,' I looked from one to the other. 'How is it there are so few people on them compared to the size of Carrick?'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMuM0OFVaS
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It was Carlena who answered. 'I believe the numbers allowed on the menu are capped in some way by the overall happiness of the realm. Most of our citizens would join the menus if allowed, wanting Miya to triumph and not wishing to be conquered. You should try to facilitate them.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3NqNNxFiU4
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That made sense and exporing how to raise happiness was yet another goal for me to add to the 'to do' list.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbANluYW9tK
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'How goes your personal progress?' asked Parrin.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsrpaRtI4y
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'I don't know yet.' I patted the rolls of stomach fat that were resting on the table top. 'I've made a start on shedding these. But I haven't seen any change to my character sheet yet.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd72lReRNi9
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Carlena frowned. 'What level Fighter are you?'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzMnVhtkRf
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'I'm not even a Fighter yet,' I confessed. 'In fact I was thinking my character sheet meant I should be a Sorcerer or Cleric.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbboBepyFZ
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All three of them turned pale faces towards me, eyes glistening in the candlelight.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2bDUgCyVo
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'Oh no,' said Carlena. 'Not a Sorcerer. You won't have any spells. To obtain spells you have to build a scriptorium of the spell level and then research them, getting a random result It would take you forever. And it's not what we need on the battlefield.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtIo7Om3cgp
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'I believe King Wace is level twelve,' muttered the Chancellor pointedly. 'And Queen Rorgesta of Trolland is eleven at least.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9aqN7TxRK
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I caught the Scout's eyes and said, 'I'll start levelling up soon. But with my current stats, I'd be a hopeless warrior of any sort. I have to find out can I improve my Strength before starting my personal progression as a fighter. Really, I should be a caster: a mage or cleric. And I also need to know how to level. Do I fight monsters? Complete quests?'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjJoC6fGTs
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'I suppose you are right to wait,' Lord Arval spoke after a short interval. 'But every day that you are not progressing is a day more for them to get ahead. You could easily reach level two or even three by performing task quests in the town itself.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuz4GQzSBw
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'And we can bring you to areas nearby where there are monsters you can fight and kill for experience,' offered Lord Parrin.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70tdmOgGuj
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That sounded promising and exactly like the RPGs I was used to.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKmqFKvgZD
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I took a deep breath. 'I will progress soon then. For now though, my body is a mass of aches and pain. I can barely lift this fork with my left hand, my shoulder is so sore. There's nothing more I could have done today to advance this body towards where it should be.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc87qXk8eTd
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'True.' Lord Arval nodded. 'Don't push so hard you damage yourself.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsOF9Vo5W8q
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'We need time. Time to fix the kingdom's economy and time for me to level up.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRBI7pvFFvw
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'Indeed. And in that light, provoking the king of Southway might not have been wise.' Carlena spoke tentatively, as if exploring the idea.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIAE3ZnEuI
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'Sean was right to refute him so publicly and so firmly,' Arval came in, 'the message to the soldiers and people was clear. We will endure.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1zlomyCsQ
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Chancellor Parrin nodded. 'I think so too. But still, there is a real danger of the two armies continuing their advance together and overcoming our defences.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCF46p9u72
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'Speaking of which, I'd like to see them. We have a fort at the head of the valley that leads here, right? I might be able to upgrade it.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyS2fYGuljt
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'You can't get there, it is thirty miles away and no horse can carry you.' It was Arval who made this depressing, if practical, point.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOroFfvkhd
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'I can show you on the map at least,' offering Parrin, 'and you should be able to find a menu for it. It's called Three-Ways Fort.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxEeRcj07uY
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'I'll check later. And if it's all right with you, I'll move any remaining troops from here down to it, including the new archers.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQiNlNkJ9DQ
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Everyone greeted my proposal with approval.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyX5rrXQ8p
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I had been thinking about Carlena's point about unnecessarily provoking King Wace. 'Could we maybe divide them? By talking with Queen Rorg… whatever … the Trolland queen. By suggesting that we might be willing to be a protectorate under her?'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9O2Kp2ysmF
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'Perhaps,' the Chancellor nodded. 'It would be a mission for Figus.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMX1QljVHk
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'When he gets back,' I said.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvT47OTajO
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'When he gets back,' Parrin repeated.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWSN6ccbMc
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'In the meantime, I think you need to go down to the lowlands and monitor the enemy's movements, to give us notice if they are advancing.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmYTv5tIdY
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'Me?' Parrin looked surprised. 'We have scouts, of course.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvXTTzt7ke
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'Yes, but they are all level zero, right? Whereas you are level nine.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1vbpmv84pX
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'It's been a while since I dusted off my scout skills, but you know what, I'll do it!' Parrin rubbed his beard around his mouth, where a smile was forming. 'I'll set out in the morning.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3l6G6GAcy6
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'Just don't take any risks.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVZWVZzDoF
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When our strategizing was at an end, Lord Arval called the servants back in and we resumed a more formal tone, until I was ready for my bed. Well, not quite ready.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvuH5xS1wz2
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'Can the king ask for a massage?' I leaned in towards the General.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNNM6aRNh9
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'Of course. I'll send someone.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqzZkIuw5G
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'Good, I'll go on up to my bed.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhD3XYi1808
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It was an effort, I was almost tempted to ask for help and a push, but my groaning legs carried me up two flights of stairs until I collapsed on the bed. Not long after I did so, a heavy knock came on the door and after I called for the person to come in. It was the masseur I was expecting. Well, not quite. A tall, muscular man in a soldier's tunic came in.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkJuFeVlwx
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'Massage sire?' he asked gruffly.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQfdAv0xCz
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'Please.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HBVfb3dGH
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'Saw you walking today sire. You'll want the legs looked at.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQyDxqyEwp
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'Left shoulder too, from carrying that sword.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dpqYce5cY
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He nodded. 'Too right. You know they make the dummy out of lead, deliberate like? So when you pick up your first real blade, it feels light.'819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pTTxoqsFe
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I didn't reply and soon I felt his hands on the backs of my thighs, through my clothes. I wasn't going to remove them, even if that limited his access.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDQQRBzYCF
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Before long, I was getting some serious work done, loosening my cramped and tight muscles and while it was borderline painful, it was effective. What with the wine and the exercise, I'd sleep well. There was one thought still nagging me though, arising from the questions that the sorceress and the chancellor had raised with me. Oh yes. The hunting lodge, level 2 had been due for completion earlier this evening.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6FRNJ8UF4q
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I paused the massage long enough to call down the town menu, then got back into position while I studied it.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemNlsRzpOc
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Greyland819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHrZzoaJZKt
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Economy819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvjHriidcG
Currently building:819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwx7Imv3Y8l
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Monthly trade income: 0819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7mWBrpPzB
Monthly tax income: 54 gold819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlJiQkOmjK
Treasury: 2 gold819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYvGNpXG3r
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Daily food consumption: 13 units819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93If0MPckw
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Grain yield: 0 due in 17 days819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8c2xrmjLE
Vegetable yield: 35 food units due in 20 days819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYbq42e3zM
Wool yield: 3 bales due in 33 days819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6VuDGiGy3
Meat yield: 5 units daily819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMHddCYQpiD
Timber yield: 17 planks daily819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMRiR6J3lJc
Iron yield: 2 ingots daily819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqqrkY2D7W
Quarry yield: 6 blocks daily819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdd3inqikIq
Smithy yield: steel pickaxes on hold. Awaiting iron.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pG635ZNto
Weaving yield: 4 bolts daily819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf33mqRb4kX
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Research: Shipbuilding One819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiyWyntZNYR
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Resources:819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLpTiicz1Y
Wheat: 14 food units819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySfpFBsf0M
Vegetables: 25 food units819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvggKLHjcdx
Meat: 8 food units819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0aP3sD4ZZK
Wool: 7 bales819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUZEGttZKO
Timber: 150 planks819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCPxruLgBo
Iron: 0 ingots819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDUgHwT9JX
Stone: 39 blocks819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3UQB8cI0x
Cloth: 4 bolts
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The meat yield had gone up by one. I had hoped for two but I couldn't argue with a 25% increase. That still left us losing about 6 food units a day, with reserves of 47. I winced, and not from the pain of the knuckles digging into my shoulder. I had to set a new town building project and the attractive options were hunting lodge level 3 or mine level 3. Both would take two days to upgrade.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8IscWIvet
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In trying to figure out which of the two would work best for solving the food crisis, I realised that something was wrong. The smithy should have made me eighty-four steel pickaxes. If they significantly improved iron output, I would build the next level of hunting lodge. Yet the smithy was on hold.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhANkufsul4
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The problem was iron. I had made a mistake. I blushed at the thought of talking about this with the others. If I had waited to create the new archers, I would have had plenty of iron for the pickaxes. Scrolling deeper into the menus, I could see that the Smithy had built a stock of 12 pickaxes before I had assigned the remaining iron to training the archers. Then it had come to a halt.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwTLBHA2uA
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Oh well, I allocated the twelve new pickaxes to the miners and given that at least two iron would come in tomorrow, the Smithy would be able to make 24 steel pickaxes, which would surely improve the daily output of iron? Three days would see me with a mining workforce fully equipped with the new pickaxes. Three days though. When I should have been using those days in building up a surplus ready to trade for food if Figus came back from the Necromancer with a decent deal.819Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdpTZltTTbM
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This was discouraging, but more positive was the discovery that the hunting lodge level 2 had the capacity for four more workers. That was a must. I assigned the new hunters from the reserves of workers (now only 8 strong) and went for the hunting lodge level 3 as the next build. While iron was vital, food was even more so and there was no guaranteeing that my ambassador would even return, let alone with a trade agreement.
and then Add to home screen.