Chapter 14 – Eyes of a Bird

I can’t believe this shit.

I’m still shaking slightly after yesterday. That was some fucked up shit. My new V.I… What the shit!

Gut assures me it takes a few hours for a freshly created V.I to set his personality traits. Apparently, they can jump between quite a few before they settle on one. It seems like I triggered a personality change when I told Wrex to ease up on the military act. I’m not sure if the word ‘goblin’ is what triggered his personality to turn into some real psycho horror shit, but I vowed never to mess with that stuff again.

I’m scarred for life.

After I quickly withdrew from the conversation with Wrex, Gut took over. I don’t know what was said but it seems like Wrex settled on a personality in between the two first ones.

I exchanged a few more words with him later on in the evening, but only after I had partaken in a few dozen sips from Gut’s ever full wineskin. It’s going to take some time for me to get used to him.

I quickly do my morning routine and stretch my imaginary sore spots. I really have to complete building that chieftain’s hut soon. Oh yeah, the [Chieftain’s Hut] is my next building project. It unlocked itself for me to build as soon as I spawned the [Carpenter]. It’s nice to know that I can finally build some proper items. My ever growing stack of gathered resources has been taunting me for days now.

For the last few days, I have started to make a habit out of taking stock of my resources every morning. After the recruitment spree during the last few days, my food stores are once more starting to dwindle. I currently have fifty goblins in my tribe, including Gut and I. Only seven of the goblins are food gatherers. I also have a cook which has really made a difference in how to best utilize my resources. I’m pretty sure it has made a vast difference in the grand scheme of things.

Today I have decided to boost my food gathering crew. I spawn two more [Forager]s, seeing as they are the type that yields the most amount of food for me at the moment, taking my level of technology into consideration. The last goblin I spawn is a carpenter. I need another one of them because the one I currently have just doesn’t have the capacity to produce both furniture AND shafts for spears.

Aww man. There are just too many things I need, but I can only spawn three goblins per day. I need to figure out how I can increase that number soon.

I have a decent hunch on that one though. One that I plan on rectifying first thing on the morrow.

The next part of my morning routine is to inspect the progress of my troops. Including Wrex, I currently have fifteen soldiers in total, whereas two of them are being trained as mages by Gut. His apprentices have started to learn their first basic spells, but it’s a slow and arduous process. Poor Gut seems about ready to throw a fit. It shouldn’t be too long though. The mage apprentices have both reached skill level six in their respective fields. A couple more days should do the trick.

Hopefully... For Gut’s sake.

My fighting force fares far better. I now have ten goblins which reached weapon specialization ten and have been promoted to [Warrior]s, including Wrex. This is a perfect number for him to lead in his [War Party]. I did a few experiments yesterday, and it seems as if the goblins are far more inclined to listen to Wrex’s orders if part of a [War Party] than without. It’s a pretty neat game feature.

Not to mention a necessary ones… These dumb sacks of…

Ugh.

The last three goblins are the two freshly spawned spear wielding females from yesterday and my newly designated tracker.

Oh man if I have some high hopes for that tracker. I have been drilling her non stop for two days playing hide and seek with the goblin warriors on rotation, and the progress has been immense! She has already reached tracking level nine! Only one level to go to see if it will trigger some sort of tracker class. I’m practically bubbling with excitement!

It seems like it’s far easier to level the [Utility Mastery] skill tree compared to the fighting masteries, and I’m immensely glad it is. Grinding skill levels is already a far too long winded process if you don’t have to also take support abilities into consideration. Luckily, this has been a quick process. If this experiment is a success, then I will definitely start dumping more goblin recruits into this sort of training. My grand strategy is dependant on a flexible and utility based combat style after all.

Anyway. I’m crossing my fingers that she will cross the threshold during the day.

The day continues like the ones before. My soldiers keep sparring and my workers keep hammering.

I’ve started to make a habit out of spending a few hours each day inspecting the progress of each work group. This is to make sure everything is flowing along nicely and make certain that my tribe’s efficiency levels are peaking. I am definitely not doing this because I’m sick and tired of practicing with my crossbow day in and day out. Nope. Not at all.

I spend some time making my rounds today. My first stop is along the mountain ridge, where my miners and masons are hard at work. The sound of picks against stone can be heard from quite some distance away, and I ponder about the possible security complications this might bring later if I ever have to move my mining operation. No matter. It’s a problem for another day.

Disappointingly enough, seeing as my racial traits give me heavy penalties to physical labour, the progress is downright abysmal. My miners have been hard at work for five days now, and they only managed to gain the same amount of skill levels. At this rate, I won’t get better metals until my goblins die of old age.

Ugh, and don’t get me started on the progress of my stonemasons.

Bloody horrendous is what it is.

Moving along, I move over towards my builders. If you can consider my labourmen subpar, then my builders are the belle of the ball. My six strapping goblin builders are hard at work as usual. The pride of the tribe is what has been keeping my spirits high since the beginning of this game.

After finishing my [Workshop] yesterday morning, they have started on what is probably going to be my most important building going forth. A building I unlocked after I finished building and staffing the workshop.

I decide to bring up its information window.

Chieftains Hut

Basic Command Structure. Grants access to tactical overview functions.

30 Pinewood, 10 Grass, 2 Furniture, 4 Pelts

The building description is what’s satisfying my wet dreams at the moment. It’s going to be beautiful once it’s complete. I just know it. And it’s so close to completion as well! All six of my workers are working tirelessly to finish it. Only a couple more hours.

AAAH! The anticipation is killing me.

----------

The hours drag by and not much happens.

Swords are crossing clubs, spells are being flung, nails are being hammered down and stones are getting picked.

I however, have retreated to a secluded little hiding place I just so happened to stumble across during my walk earlier.

I’m currently lazing about on top of a small pile of grass in a small half-cavern hidden directly behind the tiny waterfall pouring down into the miniature lake. You wouldn’t spot the cavern unless you knew exactly where it is, as the small opening is perfectly concealed behind a thick bush. Hell, just me finding it was an incredible piece of luck.

During my afternoon round of professional-level procrastination, I decided to take a nice bath in the lake. It was one of those pleasure baths, seeing as my ingame avatar doesn’t seem to have any need at all for personal hygiene.

Well, like most bathers with access to a waterfall, my instincts told me to stand directly beneath the falling water. Because you know… Why wouldn’t I? I just so happened to accidentally stumble across this little sanctuary. And man, does this feel nice.

This is my place.

The falling waterfall muffles most sounds from the outside, and the cool water causes a small gust of wind to pleasantly wash over my face. It’s relaxing as fuck. This cave could be a great tactical asset for me… but nah. I think I’ll keep it all to myself. I won’t even tell Gut about it. That grumpy old fleabag would just find a way to ruin-

“Young one, are you coming out soon?”

“...”

God damnit… How the hell...

“What?” I grumble.

“Your tracking goblin has reached the sufficient level for a promotion.”

Oh holy shit! I quickly jump to my feet and jump headfirst through the bush covering the entrance with a manic grin on my face.

I nearly crash into Gut who has to take a sharp step backwards in order for us to not bump heads. His foot catches on something and he stumbles. A rough pair of green hands manage to catch him however.

The hands steadying Gut belong to a frail looking female goblin. Or so I think at least. I still can’t tell them apart really... She seems a bit jumpy and it doesn’t quite look like she knows what to do. Her submissive eyes flicker around wildly before they settle on a small tuft of grass in front of my feet. She seems a bit more shy than most of the other goblins. Weird. I didn’t think the common goblin V.I units would have individual quirks like this.

Oh well. I shrug. It doesn’t really matter. It’s nice to notice these little details every now and then.

Without further ado, I pull up her status page.

Goblin Fighter

Class: Upgrade Available

Perk: Frail

Morale: 0%

Skills

Melee Mastery: Level 3

-Club Specialization: Level 3

Utility Mastery: Level 10

-Concealment: Level 4

-Tracking: Level 10

--[Analyze Tracks]

I decide to forego bringing up her equipment page. It’s depressingly barren. Looking through her status page, I’m not too surprised with the contents. Her skill levels are all fairly low apart from tracking, as it should be. Her [Analyze Tracks] skill shows great promise though. It appears to be an information based skill. Can’t wait to see what it does in detail...

Anyway! She will be my first attempt at specializing a goblin. The fact that I can assign her a class is looking very promising.

Focusing my mind on the upgrade option, a new window appears.

Attention!

Your goblin [Fighter] has the possibility of upgrading her class to one of the following options:

[Scout]

Unlock Criteria: Tracking Level 10.

Gain:. Possibility of raising mastery levels above 10. 50% increase to [Utility Mastery] acquisition. Unique passive ability: [Enhanced Sight].

Lose: 50% decrease to [Spell Mastery] acquisition.

Warning!

Choosing this class will cause the unit to lose all accumulated skill levels in [Spell Mastery].

YES!

HELL FUCKING YES!

It worked! I can’t believe it worked! Fucking finally!

My whole body is shaking. The good kind. I had already started to mentally prepare myself for the game system to throw another middle finger straight at my face. But finally! The break I needed!

This confirms my suspicion. Classes are granted when my goblins reach level ten with any given skill. It means I’m definitely on the right track with training my mages. Now I can fully start to devote myself into unlocking more classes. The only question remaining is; how many class possibilities are there? Is it possible to gain new classes if my goblins gain even more skill levels?

Oh the experiments I’m going to do…

*Ahem*

Snapped out of my thought, I turn my head and see Gut staring at me expectantly. Almost like bellboy at a hotel, waiting for his tip.

“Ehm... Do you need anything?”

He starts to frown. “Grrr.. Yes, young one. Your [Chieftain’s Hut] is also completed. You need to activate it to gain its powers.”

“What? Powers?”

Gut lets out a long winded sigh. He turns around and starts walking off. Motioning for me to follow. “Follow me, young one…” The familiar string of muffled curses trailing him as he walks away.

Normally I would be incredibly annoyed at his demeanor, but I don’t think anything can bring my mood down today. And hell! It sounds like I’m going to gain some more skills! I smell a good celebration brewing tonight.

I start jogging in order to catch up to Gut.

We walk mostly in silence back towards the base. Gut wearing an angry scowl and me sporting a gleeful grin. I only break the silence when we are halfway there.

“By the way Gut… How did you manage to find me so quickly?”

He turns his head to look at me, looking slightly confused.

“Huh?... Aah. Right. She tracked you.” He nods his head towards my new goblin scout who up until now, walked quietly behind us.

I snap my head backwards, startling the scout. I give her the most devastated look of betrayal I can muster. How could she. That was my special spot…

The scout, scared out of her mind freezes. Her eyes scream with fear as she tries to make herself as small as possible. In her panicked state of mind, she drops to all fours and bury her face in the dirt.

“I’m so sorry great chieftain. Forgive this one!” She pipes up, surprisingly fluent.

Crap.

“Oh shit sorry. I was only messing with you!” I blurt out. I bend over to help her up, but she refuses to budge an inch.

“This one has failed you, great chieftain.” She sobs.

Oh crap! Now she’s crying.

Fuck fuck fuck.

“No! You did well! The fact that you managed to find me there at all is impressive! … Please get up.” I plead with her.

She stops sobbing. She slowly raises her head from the ground and stares up at me, making eye contact for the first time. Her round eyes look innocent, still wet from the tears from earlier. A sharp pain in my chest strikes as I’m staggered by the realistic display of emotion she radiates. “R-really?” She stammers.

“Yes, really!” I nod and try to give her my most reassuring smile. I haven’t done it before, so I’m not certain the message gets through. It seems like it does. She gives me a weak smile. “T-thank you, great chieftain.”

Holy crap.

What just happened? I just interacted with a lesser grade V.I, and she actually managed to tug on my heartstrings and make me feel bad. This is just too freaking weird. It has never happened to me before. It was odd at first when I started sympathizing with Gut earlier, but that is somewhat understandable. But with this simpleton?

…

I don’t get it.

We wordlessly continue on our way towards the base. I give the scout a concerned look over my shoulder. The little goblin sports a shy smile while diverting her eyes as far away from me as possible. Her posture has improved somewhat since earlier, but I can still spot several quirks in her character. What’s going on? Can even the lesser grade V.I get some semblance of a personality? Did they just need time to settle in? Did the game developers sneak in a patch at some point?

Shaking my head in confusion, I decide to drop the matter. I will most definitely keep an eye on the matter, but pondering about it for too long is just going to result in a massive headache down the road.

Coming up to my [Chieftain’s hut], the good feeling I had earlier returns to me.

It’s somewhat halted though when I notice Wrex is waiting outside. I still haven’t gotten used to the guy. He creeps me out.

“Greetings Chief!” He shouts when he notices my approach, raising his shield arm in a salute. I return the gesture with a low-key wave of my own. It doesn’t seem to dampen his mood though, as he takes a step forward and nods his head in a sign of respect.

Ach. He is making it damn hard to ignore him. I look over his shoulder and attempt to divert the conversation over towards our newest building. Frankly, it doesn’t look all too different from any of the other structures. The building is constructed on a sturdy wooden frame, with crude planks boarded up between them. The roof consists of thatched grass supported by long, thin beams. It wouldn’t be far off to describe it as a peasant's hovel from medieval time, but I suppose that’s all one could expect from a hastily erected low-level building.

Perhaps the inside is better.

I shove myself past Wrex and enter the building. The inside is not unexpectedly, but slightly disappointingly, barren. There is a small fire pit only a meter inside the door that serves as both a source for heating and light. I can’t see any hole in the building for the smoke to escape, but I suppose asphyxiation doesn’t matter when you are a videogame character.

Other than the fire, my carpenters have added both a chair and a table. The chair is placed up against the back wall, facing the room. The rough wood is covered by a couple of untreated furs to make it look more comfortable and inviting. I suppose that’s my throne? Hmm. Every chieftain needs his special seat I suppose…

The most interesting addition to the building, and what catches my eye, is the table. It is located at the center of the room and it has a map stretched out over it. I have no idea where these little gremlins managed to find a map, but my gamer instinct just screams how important it is.

I immediately head over to it.

Looking down at it, I notice a few peculiarities with the map. I’m not certain what material it’s made from, but it appears to be some sort of thinly woven cloth. The edges are tattered and there seems to be some random burn marks along the corners. It looks as if it hasn’t been really well cared for, but as if it has survived for a few decades. It looks really cool. Very goblinoid at the very least.

One thing's for certain though. None of my goblins made it, and it sure as hell wasn’t part of my starting kit. Its origins is of lesser import though. What’s truly fascinating is the soft blue glow it radiates. My subconsciousness forces me to inspect it.

As I do, my mind explodes with a myriad of sensations.

My eyes teleport to the skies, overlooking a forest. My forest. I panic for a moment, thinking I accidentally activated a teleport scroll two hundred meters into the air above my base. My stomach drops as I start flapping my limbs around frantically. It takes a few seconds for me to realise that I’m not falling headfirst to my death. Hell, I realise I don’t even have a body! I’m just an invisible entity floating around in the air, looking down.

Oh yeah. I know what this is. My excitement building. This is what I was missing. This is what defines a strategy game.

The bird’s view.

Yeah, that’s right. The best tool in a strategy player’s arsenal. The complete and utter real-time overview of the map. It’s the exact same feeling I had when I inspected the map during the pre-game options before the game actually started. I quickly try to accustom myself to how the controls work. I perform various mental gymnastics, trying to get a proper feel for it.

I quickly regain the feeling from earlier, and activate my zoom ability. I’m able to study a small pebble in great detail and watching the entire forest all at once. There are tons of familiar features tied to my ability.

First of all, it seems like the only area I can see in detail is the immediate area around my base where my goblins are located. Everything else seems to be hidden behind the fog-of-war. This makes obvious sense in a strategy game. It wouldn’t be any need to recruit and train units to gain intelligence if I can see everything my enemies are doing after all.

Another cool feature is that every single one of my units have a slight green glow to them. The glow doesn’t disappear no matter how far out I move my vision out. It’s a pretty neat way of keeping tabs on where my units are at all times. This is going to be immensely useful.

Playing around with my ability some more, I figure out that I’m also able to both spin and tilt my view, looking inside the very house I’m currently occupying.

I see myself standing bent over the table. My gorgeous well trained green body-

*Cough*

My perfectly average and unremarkable goblin avatar is standing just where I left it. Flanked by Gut and Wrex, my avatar looks frozen in place. Something is amiss though. Instead of the normal red eyes which all goblin’s have, my eyes are now glowing blue. They look more like computer monitors than anything else. It’s kind of cool, albeit a little scary.

Disengaging the view mode, my senses come rushing back into my body, completely overwhelming me.

In other words; I fall flat on my butt.

“Ow. Fuck…” I curse as I start massaging my buttocks. It doesn’t actually hurt though, it just feels like the right thing to do in the situation. Virtual avatars are nice like that.

“You alright chief?” Wrex offers his hand to help me up. I accept it with only a minor feeling of reluctance. No need to be rude just because I don’t like the guy.

“I’m fine. The new ability just caught me off guard is all.” The sudden appearance of the ability startled me. Much more than I would expect. I suppose this is just another one of Logan’s pranks on the players. That dick.

Gut strokes his beard. “The overwatch ability is a mighty one indeed, young one. I am impressed you seemed to operate it as well as you did. Most new chieftains fall over screaming the first time they activate it.” Well I’m not sure who these previous chieftains are, but I have a good feeling he is referring to other players. I hope Richard was one of the ones who freaked out. Would serve him right…

“Did you learn anything useful chief?” An eager Wrex shoots in from the side.

I lean against the table, crossing my arms across my chest. I get an idea. Something I’ve wondered about for the past week. I raise my right hand and gently rub my chin, looking deep in thought.

“Hmm yeah. I did. However… It feels… lacking. Somehow.”

Gut raises his head slightly at the que. A wide smile spreads across his wrinkled old face.

JACKPOT!

“Good instincts, young one.” He hobbles over towards the comfy looking chair. “If you would take a seat.” He beckons at me.

Eager, I hurry over and sling myself into the chair while using a little more force than necessary. Damn. I think I just cracked the code to trigger Gut’s information blocks!

So far I’ve found it increasingly annoying that Gut seems to withhold information from me involuntarily until I ask for it. It has really slowed me down and impeded several important moments for me. Just like yesterday when he withheld the information about lieutenants for two whole days! That’s a freaking lot you know!

So I figured there had to be a certain set of parameters for me to trigger these information events. A couple of times so far, I’ve noticed that as long as I seem to suspect there is more or strongly hint at it, then it’s enough for Gut to spill the beans. Just like now. I had no idea there was more information to be had. I just faked it until i made it.

Take that, stupid developers! I figured out your trick.

“Now what?” I ask the mage.

Gut clears his throat and looks pleased with himself. “Now that you have a seat of power, you can use it to access the status of your tribe.”

“Like what?” I nearly shout with a wide grin on my face.

Gut pauses to frown. “I was getting to that, young one. Impatient little… grr…”

“Yes, yes, sorry sorry! Please continue.” I urge him on.

Slightly mollified, he continues. “You now have access to peruse the status of your tribe’s population, morale, resources, combat strength, your territory, officers and buildings. You will also have access to the knowledge of the Gods.” He scratches his beard once more. “I believe you chieftains like to refer to it as a ‘wikipedia’ for some reason.” He shrugs with indifference.

Hnnnng!

I quickly open up the two first lists, one after the other.

Population Dark Fang Tribe

Goblin Soldiers:

Goblin Warrior: 10

Goblin Scout: 1

Goblin Fighter: 4

Total: 15

Goblin Workers:

Goblin Builder: 6

Goblin Lumberjack: 8

Goblin Mason: 3

Goblin Hunter: 3

Goblin Forager: 5

Goblin Fisherman: 1

Goblin Hauler: 1

Goblin Herbalist: 1

Goblin Gatherer: 1

Goblin Miner: 3

Goblin Cook: 1

Goblin Blacksmith: 1

Goblin Carpenter: 2

Total: 36

Morale Overview - Dark Fang Tribe

Summoning Points Counter: 51/60 (0)

Morale:

30 Goblins (10 Soldiers, 20 Workers): +20% Morale

Lodgings: 0%

Food Variety (3): 15%

Cuisine (Novice): 5%

Comfort: 0%

Magic: 0%

Population density: 0%

21 Goblins (5 Soldiers, 16 Workers): 0% Morale

Lodgings: -20%.

Food variety (3): 15%

Cuisine (Novice): 5%

Comfort: 0%

Magic: 0%

Population density: 0%

Beautiful. Just beautiful. This is what I’m talking about. Raw delicious numbers and statistics that put my wet dreams to shame. It’s been far too long since I had the possibility to crunch numbers like this. Shit. I nearly need to wipe a tear away.

The list of my goblin population is pretty self explanatory. It’s not useful as of yet, but it will save me loads of work in the future when I have far too many of these little rascals running around.

The morale list however, is where the gold is. Just look at that beauty. There are so many things that affect my morale. It’s a lot to take in. The list is divided in two. The default setting must be to divide my goblins into groups based on the amount of total morale they have. All my goblins seem like they have the same benefits except for lodgings. I only have one [Longhouse], which from its description can only house thirty goblins.

“Hey Gut, what’s the benefit from having high morale?”

“Grrr… Their attitude towards you…”

“...” I drag my eyes away from the blue display to give Gut a deadpanned look. “Don’t fuck with me.”

He lets out a sigh. “The morale affects how efficient your tribesmen are in what they do.” He stomps his staff into the ground, taking a moment to listen to the sound echo between the walls. “Every percent of morale adds up to half a percent of efficiency.”

Hooh. I quickly do some mental calculations.

So it seems like my goblins who live in the longhouse have a ten percent increase to their efficiency. Not bad at all. All my goblins are luckily at either neutral or positive morale. I suppose it’s good that it doesn’t appear to be difficult to gain morale. Looking through the different morale boosters, I’m happy to see that I have several sources of beneficial morale already.

The most mysterious part of my morale overview is my summoning points counter. It’s currently at 51/60. The exact number of goblins I have. I’m pretty darn certain maxing the counter out is going to lead to some sort of drop in morale. I guess it’s one of the dev’s ways to balance the game up. A small tribe has an easier time of gaining higher morale than a large one, which should help to make up for being the underdog during combat and production. I just fear how large the morale drop will be.

I guess I will find out in three days.

But I know one thing I have to do.

“Gut. I need you to reorganise the housing. Put all the warriors and crafters inside the longhouse. Prioritize our strongest fighters, and make sure there is room for the blacksmith and the carpenters. I will leave the remaining room for the workers who work the hardest. I’ll leave it up to you to choose who deserves it.”

The mage gives me a courteous nod. “It will be done, young one.” I catch a glimpse of his departing form from the corner of my eye. A small grin can be seen from under his hood.

With Gut leaving, I sit down and browse through the remainder of my overviews. None of them are as exciting as my morale overview, but they give me some decent statistics to play around with later. They are all pretty self explanatory.

The buildings list lists all the buildings I have. Big surprise! The only interesting aspect here is that it also lists how many occupants each building has and how many goblins work at each station. It’s worthy to note that there actually is a limit to how many people can work at my crafting buildings. I have to remember to keep an eye on that.

The officer list gives me an overview of Gut and Wrex’s status windows. Not very helpful at this stage of the game. Same for the territory overview. It basically functions as a filter on my overview map. My own little pizza slice of a territory is highlighted in a bright green color. It irks me that I’m not in control of Harvalon’s territory though. Her territory is unceremoniously grayed out on the map. Perhaps I need to establish an outpost there or something to truly claim it?

I shrug. I wonder what my map will look like after I do a little scouting.

Combat Strength is interesting though. It gives me access to loads of interesting numbers about my troops. Not counting how many types of each soldier I have, it also gives me access to what their skill levels are, the unlock criterias for my already unlocked classes, the equipment I have access to, their kill counts… There’s a lot to take into consideration here. I’ll browse through it some more later.

My biggest and most extensive list is my resources tab. The list is divided in three, where two of the lists are locked from view. The one list I can see, is the amount of food I have. It also shows me tons of other useful information. It shows me how much of the different food types I gather each day, how much food I’m consuming, and to top it all off, it shows if my stock of any food is expected to rise or drop in the future.

This. Is. Huge.

If I spend some time on this, I can maximize efficiency in gathering resources. It’s a logistics officer’s wet dream made real.

The other two lists are for crafting materials and weapons. Apparently I’m required to build a [Warehouse] and an [Armoury] to access them. My ever expanding list of top-priorities is growing faster than [Insert sexual joke about the male reproductive organ here].

The best part which I have been looking forward to forever is the wikipedia. Sweet baby jesus it was about time I unlocked it. Maybe things will go more smoothly around here now?

I open it and peruse the information. My initial reaction is surprisingly disappointing. Sure, it grants me access to several hundred pages of content, but it all seems a little bare. As I expected, there are no real numbers or statistics that explain the strength of a unit. There are no numerical measurements for strength, agility, intelligence or the like. It’s just skill levels. Simple and scalable skill levels based on percentages. It doesn’t satisfy my inner statistics cravings, not by a long shot, but it sure as hell answers a few of my unanswered questions. It also confirms a whole lot of my suspicions, which is nice.

The list doesn’t seem to be complete. Sure, there are alot of information available, but most if it is locked into buildings I currently have, or technologies I currently have access to. I never expected the developers to give me too much of a break, but it sure as hell helps.

The biggest segment of the entire wikipedia is the information about the different races. That information is worth its own weight in gold. There are far too much information for me to memorize, but it will be helpful when I figure out which race I’m currently in conflict with. Another good reason to get some scouting done soon. I need to be prepared for anything.

Grinning with content, I close all the lists and get up from my chair.

I am left alone in the room with only Wrex as company. I must admit, I totally forgot about the guy. I’m not sure if I would even have allowed him to stay if I knew he was here. The guy still creeps me the fuck out.

But it doesn’t matter. I’m in too good of a mood.

Noticing my sudden movements, Wrex lowers his head in respect.

“What do you require of me chief?”

I turn my smiling form towards him.

“Wrex...” He lifts his head. “Gather the warriors. We have a job to do.”

He squints his eyes in confusion. “It will be done chief…” He gets to his feet. “What do you need us to do?”

I chuckle lowly to myself. I massage my hands, gently popping my knuckles one at a time.

“It’s time we go hunting.”