Chapter 6 – Misfits

A bright light momentarily blinds me. The sudden influx of sensations takes me completely by surprise. I blink a couple of times and look around, trying to get my bearings.

I find myself in the middle of a small clearing. I see the steep mountainside behind me and I let my eyes follow its ridge until the forest hides it from view. When I looked at the map earlier, the mountain didn’t look quite this big. This giant block of rock is humongous to say the least. Even though I know the mountain is roughly round in shape, it looks as if the massive wall of rock is very linear. I must really have underestimated the scale of these biomes.

I spin my vision around and take in the rest of the sights. There aren’t really much to look at, just a lot of trees. Lots and lots of trees. There are trees in all sizes, with most ranging between four and twenty meters tall. Various lesser brushes and vegetation is nicely placed in between, giving me the entire forestry feel.

I can’t help but be impressed about how the forest can look so realistic, and so fake at the same time. It’s weird really. I knew the game had good graphics, but the quality of this game makes Yggdrasil Online look like a 2D pixel game compared to reality. It’s beautiful.

Taking in the beauty of the game, I soon realise something feels off. The clearing looks... out of place. It is shaped like an egg, expanding away from the mountain range. There is a clear cut edge separating it from the treeline, making me think the clearing was cut out only seconds before I spawned here. There is also a small pond of water just inside the forest clearing to my east. I suppose I didn’t see it during the intro sequence due to all the large trees surrounding it. It looks very nice. The kind of place where you one day dream of having a picnic.

I can work with this.

The clearing isn’t very big, going roughly a hundred and fifty meters out from the mountainside, and it’s about eighty meters from east to west at its widest. The clearing is mostly flat, with a few smaller hills closer to the mountain side. It should be a perfect location to start a great goblin settlement!

I start pacing around the small clearing, trying to figure out the capabilities of my new avatar. Nearing the small pool of water, I take a look at myself in the reflection of the water’s surface.

Holy shit I’m ugly.

An ugly green mug looks back at me. Correction; an ugly ass mug with eyes that glow ruby red. I’m a small bald little gremlin looking creature. My skin is incredibly rugged, with deep furrows all over. I look like a wrinkled old geezer who has stuck in a washing machine for too long.

I lift my hands and touch my head. I have large pointed ears sticking horizontally out from my head. They look a lot like an odd mix between wolf and elves ears… just sticking outwards rather than up. A large hook shaped nose extends from my face, and a couple of long fangs protrude from the lower lip of my abnormally large mouth.

My hands though… I raise them and hold them in front of my face. I’m not sure why, but I did expect to look at my good old pink human hands, but what I see is quite different. My hands look crazy ass weird! My hands are green, and they are abnormally large. And shit! I only have four fingers per hand! Creepy… I gently flex them to get a feel for it. It feels oddly natural, as if I’ve always had four fingers. So weird...

My eyes scan my odd fingers further. The tip of my fingers have some long sharp nails… more like claws. They look sharp enough to be able to rip things apart in a most savage way.

…

Okay, that’s pretty cool.

I start moving my hands all over my body. Ignoring the fact that I must look like some sort of weird ass pervert, but I don’t care! I’m a goblin damnit! Being in a new and exotic body feels completely surreal. In other games, you always play as some sort of humanoid with a body similar to humans. This body doesn’t feel human at all.

My body is small like a child's. I’m surprisingly thin and lean, with tight packed muscles. The joints in my arms and legs are extraordinary flexible, and my arms are slightly longer than they should be. My feet also got an extra spring to them. I feel very light. I bet I would be a beast at parkour with this body.

While I caress my body in the weirdest manner possible, I take a closer look at the clothes I’m wearing. It’s a nicely stitched set of leather armor. The leather is attached tightly to my body, and a few smaller pieces of chainmail cover the vital spots on my torso. Not only this, but I have a crossbow strung across my back, and a small quiver of bolts hanging on my belt right next to a scabbard holding a bronze dagger. Guess I’m an archer after all. Neat!

I am so consumed by my new body I nearly forget where I am. I manage to pull myself together for long enough to try and focus on the task at hand.

It is time to begin.

…

What the hell am I supposed to do!? Isn’t there a tutorial of some sorts? A simple guide to tell me what to do? The game has told me nothing. NOTHING! How am I supposed to… Oh. OOOH! The wiki! How do I open it?

I try making the same mental maneuvers most games use to open information pages. I close my eyes and take a deep breath and calmly utter out loud the standard phrase:

“Open Wiki.”

I gleefully open my eyes, prepared to take in a vast amount of delicious information. What greets me though, is a completely different message.

You do not currently meet the requirements to browse the Wikipedia.

My jaw drop.

“EXCUSE ME!?” I yell. The fuck? Are they for real!? Did they really just block the wiki for the players, after allowing us to browse it before the round started? Fucking assholes!

“Younglings these days… always with the yelling and prancing around… Not an ounce of respect for the old ways.” A voice grumbles from behind me.

Startled, I spin around on my heel, trying to locate the source of the voice.

“Who the fuck are you!?” I shout, my voice breaks from the shock, making me sound like a woman struck by hysteria.

My eyes lock onto a small green creature a few meters behind me. He is roughly the size of a twelve year old kid, with an abnormally large head. His body is thin and lean, but clearly in shape. Most of it is covered in a tattered black hooded robe. He has a wide mouth with a few sharp teeth protruding between his lips. A gray uncombed beard struts in all directions from his chin. Some dark red eyes can be seen from under his black hood and he is leaning against a crude wooden staff.

He looks like a tiny goblin Gandalf. Evil version.

“Tssk. So crude.. I’m Gut.”

“Gut?”

“Yes. Gut. Do I need to smack you around a little for it to sink in?” The initial shock starts to fade, and I start to calm myself. I sure as hell hope no one is tuning into my feed out in the wide world. This scene can’t have looked very intelligent.

“Are you my Advisor?” I raise my eyebrow.

“Advisor, counselor… I have many titles… And by the look of you, a wet nurse.” He shakes his head and growls under his cowl. Damn, the V.I. is really nailing that whole goblin wizard thing.

Wish he wasn’t such a cunt though.

“Are you supposed to be this rude to your chieftain?” I ask the mage.

“Tssk. Chieftain... Barely got the tit out of your mouth and you already have the audacity to call yourself a chief.”

…

I guess that qualifies for a response in some way? I shrug it off. For some reason I doubt I will gain anything from bickering with an NPC. I ignore his response and press on.

“What is your purpose?” I try to figure out what an Advisor really does. Better to know this now rather than later. Who knows? Maybe he has some secret voodoo juice tucked somewhere in that robe.

“Tssk…” He snorts. He is starting to get on my nerve. “I am here to give you council youngling. I will follow your every command, and will care for your tribe to the best of my ability. Any order you give is law. Unto death.” I’m surprised. I was expecting another condescending reply, but he now sounds far more sincere. Is this a scripted response?

Hardcore!

“Sweet! … What do you suggest I do first?” I ask my newfound companion.

“Must I do everything… I advise you summon some workers, youngling. We need some workers and warriors to build your tribe.” The guy is both being a professional and a complete dick at the same time.

“How about you take that stick of yours and sho-” My response is cut short by a sharp hit on the top of my head. A jolt of pain races through my body and my vision blurs. Is this some stun effect?

It takes a few seconds, but eventually my head clears. I can definitely feel the pain, but it feels like it should have hurt way more than it did. Luckily, the game puts some severe pain filters on. It still hurt though. I cast an angry scowl at Gut who stands a meter in front of me, his makeshift staff-club still in hand. My scowl is returned several fold by the little mage.

Hrmpf. I turn away from his uncomfortable gaze. Nevermind the angry little goblin grandpa… Let’s get to it. Summon me some minions!

…

And how do I do that?

“Err… Gut?”

“You utter the words of power, youngling. Try ‘Summon Units’.” Gut appears to have read my mind. I start smiling involuntarily. He is helpful. I’m starting to get accustomed to his personality, and I must praise the choice of personality traits for my race’s V.I. units. I can only assume a goblin would act this way. It feels very natural and really builds a good atmosphere.

Following his suggestion, a blue display pops up.

Summon units.

Available SP: 60

SP generated per day: 6

Goblin Fighter: Cost 2 SP

Goblin Worker: Cost 2 SP

Uhm. I scratch my head. I expected the list to be a lot more… complicated. Didn’t Logan hint to this game having a lot of tactical depth? What the hell can I do with only two types of units? There has to be some trick to it. I suppose I have to do some good old fashion experimenting.

I decide to summon one of each type.

A brief flash of light hides the arrival of two goblins. Unlike Gut and I, they wear nothing but a single piece of dirty loincloth. They do have some equipment though. The fighter goblin I summoned has a small rusty knife in his hand. It doesn’t look particularly deadly, but the two inch blade could probably cause some nasty damage. Anyone struck by the knife would at least have to take a Tetanus shot.

The goblin worker on the other hand has a few more pieces of equipment. He has a small brown sack made of cloth strapped to his loincloth. I’m not even going to question how the loincloth can hold the weight… I’m just glad it does. I suppose he needs it to transport goods more easily? I don’t know.

The worker also has some odd piece of tool in his hand. It looks very crude, and is basically just a stone loosely tied to a stick. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be a hammer, an axe or a pickaxe… perhaps all three? I guess I will find out later.

The goblins loiter around for a few seconds with vacant looks in their eyes. They soon come to and immediately drop to their knees, bowing their large green heads before me.

“Chief!” They utter simultaneously with respect. Hoh? What's this then? Some respect? I can get used to this!

I throw a sideways glance at Gut over my shoulder, raising an eyebrow. “You could learn something from their behavior Gut”. I only get some low growling in response. A smirk appears on my lips. I am going to enjoy this.

I focus my mind on both of them, inspecting their details in turn.

Goblin Fighter

Class: None

Skills: None

Perk: None

Morale: ???

Goblin Worker

Profession: Not assigned

Skills: None

Perk: Short Sighted

Morale: ???

Okay. I can’t say I’m impressed. The game is pretty scant with information. If I understand my units correctly, they are basically clean slates. Level 1 mobs. Useless. I have to train them up. The little information my inspection reveals from my two minions isn’t much, but it allows me to make some good guesses to their development paths.

The fighter should be able to learn any skill, and can later gain a class. This should allow him to specialize in a specific combat role. I wonder how many classes there are though. I am looking forward to delve deeper into that mystery.

Skills is obvious. It’s what my guy can actually do. I suppose if he swings that little dagger around for awhile, he will gain some sort of ‘Dagger Mastery’ skill. This is far too similar to other role playing games. No reason for the developers to reinvent the wheel is there?

My worker on the other hand is a little different. First of all, he is the only one of the two who has a perk! Although it looks like a bad one. [Short Sighted]? It doesn’t come with a description, but I’d be damned if it does anything other than reduce the range he can see stuff.

Anyhow, the only other new unique thing is the profession. I bet it’s the same deal as the fighter’s class system, but this one has [Not assigned] next to it. This should probably mean that it is probably available to be assigned right now… no? How do I do it?

I try focusing on the profession, and a new list appears! Yay!

Choose a profession for your Goblin Worker

Available Professions:

Hauler

Builder

Digger

Lumberjack

Mason

Hunter

Farmer

Fisherman

Forager

Gatherer

Breeder

Herbalist

Miner

Finally. Some options! Looking through my list, I try to think about what I can use these professions for. Every profession is simple and straightforward, and doesn’t warrant an in depth explanation. I am a bit worried that there are a few unavailable professions though, like a smith, but I suppose I get to unlock those later on.

I decide to give the worker one of the basic professions that I know I will need first. A Lumberjack. I select it, and soon after, the Worker shines with a bright light. I quickly inspect him.

Goblin Lumberjack

Profession: Lumberjack

Skills: None

Perk: Short sighted

Now we are talking! Progress!

There are a few changes to the goblin’s body. His muscles seem to have increased slightly, and the crude tool he wore earlier has changed. It now looks more like a proper axe. The quality still looks poor though. Anyhow! Let’s summon some more!

I get to summon 28 more minions. This is a sudden death strategy game, so I would be a fool not to invest heavily in military units. Considering I also have to train them for quite a bit, I should focus on them as early as possible. I should also heavily invest in the future. If the rest of my units are as poorly equipped as my first two, I should prioritize upgrading ASAP. I need a blacksmith, and for that I need to build up my infrastructure.

“Gut!” I call. “I plan on recruiting a total of ten [Fighter]s, and twenty [Worker]s. How do you advice I allocate the workers’ professions?” I figure it doesn’t hurt to ask. I’m certain the little guy knows things I am probably supposed to know myself.

“Grr…” He gives me another angry scowl. “I suggest you focus your efforts on creating some buildings, youngling. For that you need [Builder]s. As many as you can spare.”

I nod in acknowledgement. Gut doesn’t really give me any specific numbers, but the advice is sound. It wouldn’t be much of a game if the Advisor did everything for me, would it? I do notice a few mistakes in his logic however.

“Thank you Gut. How about gathering raw resources? All these [Builder]s are going to need a bunch of building materials if they are to create buildings? And what about food? To me, builders seem pretty far down on the priority list.”

Gut looks annoyed now. He looks at me as if I’m an idiot. Cheeky bastard. “While that is true youngling, In a true settlement, the resource gatherers should always outnumber your production units. Gathering raw materials is also necessary for the production to function. Lumber is the most important resource for the early stages of development. I suggest you have at least three [Lumberjack]s for every two [Builder]s.”

Hold on for a moment. This guy is contradicting himself.

“Gut?”

“Behind you.” He growls at me.

I turn around, and my jaw drops. A large amount of wood, stone, grass and meat is stacked in a large pile behind me. Where did that come from!? Why does this game repeatedly try to surprise me? And how the hell does Gut always know what I’m thinking!?

…

I give up.

I turn back to Gut. If he had been a real person, and not a V.I., he would be smirking at me. Good thing he isn’t... or I would have to start practicing with my crossbow… at a moving target. I take a very deep breath.

“How much is there?”

“Our current stock amount to 80 [Pinewood], 20 [Stone], 30 [Grass] and three days worth of food.”

“Thank you Gut…” I narrow my eyes. “Are there going to be any more surprises I should know about?” I attempt to stare a hole in Gut. This fucker better not be trolling me.

“Cheeky youngling...” I can hear him mutter some muffled curses under his cowl. I stay quiet for a while. Just staring down my Advisor. Uh-huh. You’d better not be lying...

In the end, I decide to recruit ten [Fighter]s, five [Lumberjack]s, six [Builder]s, two [Mason]s, two [Hunter]s, three [Forager]s, a [Hauler] and a [Herbalist].

I inspect every single one of my new arrivals, and notice a few discrepancies from my first two summons. First of all, not everyone wears a loincloth. Some has simple linen pants, and some even wear shirts! Very classy.

There are also some minor differences in their appearances. Some of the workers have smaller ears, some have bigger noses and some of them even wear basic jewelry like nose rings and earrings. About half of them even have hair! I can see a couple of mohawks and top knots in my merry band of goblins.

Roughly seven of the goblins; five workers and two fighters have perks. The fighters have perks called [Eagle Eye] and [Deft Hands]. I can’t wait to figure out what those do. Although I have some good guesses. The workers mostly has negative perks, like the [Short Sighted] perk. Two of them are now [Glutton]s, one is [Short Sighted], one is [Clumsy] and the last is [Strong].

While all the workers have the same little brown bag and crude tool, my fighters fare a little different. Half of them have crude wooden clubs. Two of them have rusty knives, two have small wooden spears and one even has a rusty cutlass! The starting gear for the fighters appears to be completely random. No matter. I will soon replace them with better equipment. I do however, love how authentic they look.

My ragtag band of green misfits are all bowing their heads before me. A small sense of hubris fills my heart. The feeling is awesome! I feel like a proper king!

It’s about time for me to have my men… goblins earn their keep. I survey the lands nearby, trying to figure out how to best utilize my troops. The clearing I’m currently residing in is a little small. I’m not even sure I want to place my village square at the center of it. My best option would be to think of defence. If the crude weapons of my soldiers are an indication of my tribe's power, then I don’t want to take any chances.

I look over towards the small pool of water located just inside the treeline to the east of the clearing. Walking closer to it, I notice how it’s hugging the mountainside, and it’s completely round. I’d estimate it’s about forty meters across. A small waterfall comes down the mountain, and a small stream of water exits into the woods to the east.

This is the place.

I turn around and find my tribe walking at my heels, all staring at me with respectful eyes. Right. Dutiful little rascals aren’t they?

I call out for my five lumberjacks and have them start clearing the trees around the pool. I figure the pool will be a nice natural defence against invaders from the east. Hopefully they aren’t amphibious creatures… I shiver at the thought. Naww. Only a proper dumbass would pick an amphibious race in a forest… right?

To the sound of my lumberjacks smacking trees with their crude axes, I next address my two masons. I have them use their newly transformed pickaxes to start clearing away the rocks that litter the area. I consider having them hacking away at the mountainside. Who knows? Maybe they can make a cave? It could be practical. And I need stone anyway. Hmm. I shove the idea to the back of my mind. I have to prioritize clearing up my construction site first. It’s only proper strategy after all.

Next I look at my hunters and gatherers. These guys’ tools have gone through the most significant changes. The hunters now wield a short hunting spear, and the gatherers wield some slumped planks. Makeshift baskets? I can still see the characteristics of the template crude tool in them though.

I tell my food harvesting crew to start do their thing, and bring the food they find back to Gut. Uttering this last order promotes a low hissing sound from somewhere behind me. This pleases me greatly. I also decide to have my herbalist do the same.

My entire resource gathering crew is already scurrying around, utilizing their professions as best they know. I’m left with my band of warriors, my builders, my hauler and a very angry looking robed grandpa. Now for the difficult part.

I have to do something about my fighters. They are all poorly equipped, and they have no skills at all. How can I improve them?

…

“Gut? Do you know how to train up our forces?” I don’t expect much. A low grumble answers me.

“Combat. How else?” Is it just me, or has his grumpiness leveled up?

This guy.

His answer is pretty straightforward though. It’s also a little tricky. Combat can mean a lot of different things. Fighting enemies, or amongst themselves…

“Is there a good way for our warriors to heal themselves if injured?” I ask him.

“Healing magic or healing potions.” He snorts.

…

What an ass. “Thanks, I’m not an idiot. I mean ways that are available to us right now. I plan on having our troops spar with one another to quickly raise their combat efficiency. Wouldn’t help us much if they died now would it?”

Gut doesn’t answer immediately like he usually does. He looks surprised actually. In a positive way even! Did I finally hit the nail on its head when it comes to questioning?

“There is, youngling. By drinking the water over there, your fighters will slowly regenerate their wounds. It takes a few minutes, so it isn’t too useful in combat, but it helps heal their ailments when in safe areas.” He responds. I’m a little surprised actually. He didn’t growl at me a single time during that answer. Green baby Jesus! I think the old geezer is warming up to me!

Does the V.I. that control Gut respond well to intelligent questions? So far, I have only made basic ‘stupid’ questions, and the politeness of his responses has deteriorated gradually. He definitely responds badly to sarcasm and disrespect. And I gave him a lot of that shit. I’m not sure I can stop with sarcasm though, so I suppose Gut and I won’t ever be BFF’s. Maybe drinking buddies?

Oh god. I hope this game doesn’t turn into one of those weird japanese ‘dating’ simulations where I have to keep picking the correct dialogue option to proceed in the game. I just don’t want to deal with that kind of drama.

Shaking my head, I return to the task at hand.

My fighters loiter around. I’m surprised how realistic they look. They don’t stand at a complete attention like most other NPCs do in similar games. They look a lot more lifelike. They just follow me around and do random… goblin stuff. One of the goblins is picking his ear… another two are brawling, and a couple of them are just staring at the treetops with vacant looks on their faces. None of them look particularly intelligent in any perceivable way. It’s like I’m the caretaker of a fantasy special needs class.

“Alright everyone!” I clap my hands together to gather everyone’s attention. The vacant looks all turn my way, and the eager looks from earlier reappear on their faces. Aww. What a loyal bunch.

“Fighters! We are going to do a little combat practice!” I shout. I receive a lot of confused looks. Great…

“Form up in pairs and start fighting one another. And whatever you do, don’t kill each other. When you are injured, take a sip from the pool over there until your wounds heal. Then start sparring again. Everyone got that?”

My small warband elicits a motivated cheer before they clumsily group up in pairs. They immediately start punching each other and smacking their weapons around. The sight is gruesome. This isn’t sparring. It’s a goddamned brawl! Some of them even drop their weapons and starting punching the shit out of each other.

“STOP!”

The huge pile of green body limbs immediately stop flailing madly around, and ten confused looking faces turn in my direction.

Sigh.

Why does this have to be so freaking hard…

I spend the next half hour carefully instructing my goblins how to spar with one another. I tell them to use the weapons in their hands and only fight against one opponent at a time. It takes a lot of effort, but they eventually get the general idea of what I’m trying to tell them. It still doesn’t look good. Like… at all… but it’s a start.

Dejected by the idea of my future as a goblin emperor, I turn away from the clang of weapons striking each other and address the last goblins in my group. The builders. Oh, and the hauler. Nearly forgot that guy.

So... What to do about these guys?

…

I give Gut a look.

“Grr… Words of power. Construct Buildings.”

“Thank you Gut! Your wise counsel is all that keeps the tribe progressing forward!” I suppose I charged that comment with a tad too much sarcasm, because the look Gut gives me can instantaneously kill puppies. The adorable kind.

Aaaanyway. Back on track. I will forward the long missed blue window.

Available Buildings for Construction:

Cooking Fire

Basic building for processing food

Allows for basic food to be made. Cooked food increases morale by 5 per unit.

10 Pinewood, 5 Grass

Hovel

Basic living quarters for your Goblins. Increases morale by 10 per occupant. Provides housing for 6 Goblins.

30 Pinewood, 10 Grass

Longhouse

Basic cramped living quarters for your Goblins. Eliminates morale deficiency due to lack of housing. Provides housing for 30 Goblins.

90 Pinewood, 40 Grass

Woodsman Hut

Basic resource gathering hut. Grants 10% bonus to Lumberjacking, Hunting, Gathering, Herbalism.

50 Pinewood, 20 Grass, 30 Stone

Farmer’s Hut

Basic resource gathering hut. Grants 10% bonus to Farming, Breeding.

50 Pinewood, 20 Grass, 30 Stone

Miner’s Hut

Basic resource gathering hut. Grants 10% bonus to Mining

50 Pinewood, 20 Grass, 30 Stone

Quarry

Basic resource gathering hut. Grants 10% bonus to Masons.

50 Pinewood, 20 Grass, 30 Stone

Granary

Basic storage hut for food. Prevents food degradation by 50%.

50 Pinewood, 20 Grass

Blacksmith

Basic crafting building for Metal.

60 Pinewood, 20 stone

Leatherworker Hut

Basic crafting building for Leather

70 Pinewood, 30 Grass, 20 Stone

Workshop

Basic crafting building for Carpentry

70 Pinewood, 30 Grass, 20 Stone

Woah. That’s some list! And this is only the building available to be constructed now? I shudder at the thought of what will be available down the road. All these choices. Where is a poor little goblin supposed to begin?

Time for me to do what I have been doing for two hours. Analyze, analyze and then analyze some more!

Okay.

I’m going to immediately de-prioritize the resource gathering buildings. The buildings give boosts to my resource gathering productivity, but I refuse to believe the boost is worth it this early in the game when I hardly have any workers for the bonuses to influence. The crafting buildings immediately catch my attention. The [Blacksmith] has always been the cornerstone of any sprouting settlement. This building should definitely be a decent priority. Not only do I need it to arm my scruffy looking troops, but I bet it’s crucial to gain some new buildings and technologies.

Same goes for the [Leatherworker Hut] and the [Woodshop], but the [Blacksmith] has more value.

Aaah. I really want to just start building it. But there are several other crucial buildings that I need. The lodgings seems to be interesting. There are two different types of housing I can build now. [Hovel] and [Longhouse]. The buildings seem to be pretty straight forward. The [Hovel]s may cost more resources per housed unit, but it also gives a positive morale bonus to my troops. The [Longhouse] can house all my units and is far cheaper, but it doesn’t give me any bonuses. It only eliminates the morale deficiency for lack of lodgings.

Wait… How big is this deficiency?

Abstaining from asking the grumpy Gut, I follow the trending game logic and think about opening a morale window. It takes me a few moments before I get it right.

Morale Overview

You do not currently meet the requirements to view this information

…

Give me a fucking break.

I guess I have to assume the worst and guess the lack of housing penalty is far more severe than it should be. I move the [Longhouse] to the top of my priority list.

Moving on, I start mulling over the food related buildings. The [Cooking Fire] and the [Granary] seems to be important. Especially the [Granary]. Food degradation? That could seriously mess things up! How do I see how much it degrades?

Puzzled by this fact, I walk over to my pile of resources and grab a piece of food from a brown wicker basket. It’s a piece of what appears to be cooked mutton. I carefully eye it, and compare it to the rest of the pieces of meat left in the basket. They all look generic and similar. I can’t help but be disappointed the food doesn’t have the same individual uniqueness that my goblins seems to have. Oh well. Logan has to save money somewhere, doesn’t he?

Crossing my fingers and hoping for the best, I inspect the meat.

Cooked Meat

Consumable Food. Meat type. Increases morale by 5 when eaten for 24 hours (effect does not stack with same food type).

Degradation: ???

Well that’s anticlimactic. This game really don’t want people to make well informed decisions do they?

Fuck it. I have to start with the [Granary] now. I can’t risk my food stores disappearing overnight and all my people starve to death. No matter how unlikely it is.

First things first though. I have to pick a good location for it. Proper city planning is insanely important in a strategy game to optimize the production output of the city. Looking around and considering my options, I spot a few good locations for my [Granary]. Since my food production will primarily be based upon hunting and foraging, I should place it close to the forest to the east. My units will have to go deep into the forest, so I shouldn’t hide the building at the back of my village close to the mountainside.

I walk over to the location where the open field intersects with the treeline and the northernmost border of the small pool of water, a good fifty meters away from the mountain. This place should allow for easy access for both my food gatherers and my units for later in the game while still having it in a fairly secure area.

Rounding up my [Builder]s, I order them to start constructing the [Granary] at the specified area. The group of hammer-wielding green bundles of muscle starts carrying wood from the pile of resources and dump them near the construction site. My hauler does some magnificent work, being able to carry twice the amount of resources, twice as fast as any of the builders. I stand still for a moment, mesmerized by the brilliant work ethic of my troops. Everyone is hard at work, and it makes my chest swell with pride.

I can really make something out of this.