Zuban approached her “Show me where.”
Romil traced her finger over the board pausing at several spots.
“Ah, yes” He grunted.
They seemed to be hitting it off so I left them to it.
It was almost morning already, and I didn't feel like doing any more enchanting this night. I went into my house, sat down on one of the stools and reviewed the settlement Interface.
Goblin’s Gorge Interface
Energy: 198 (101 / day)
Settlement level: 1 (war camp)
Bosses: 1 (Main: Dread Totem)
Morale: -18
Religion: Rank 0
Efficiency: -5.6% (morale: -3.6, crude tools: -4%, low support structure: -8%, +10% nocturnal)
Population: 41 (37 goblins, 1 hobgoblin, 3 dire apes)
Food Upkeep: 38
Buildings: 7 (chief’s hut, chief’s house, cemetery, breeder’s den, rabbit warren, shrine, quarry, smithy, construction yard)
Fortifications: 0
Food production: 70 (37 raw meat, 17 gathered herbs, 16 fish)
Resource production: 60.4. (5.2 stone, 10.2 lumber, 13 logs, 21 furs, 11 raw ore)
Crafting production: 7.5 (leather: 3.5, tools: 4)
Our daily energy gain was huge. My tactic of immediately investing energy points to level up all new recruits was paying off. Morale was dipping again, probably because all the new goblins I had summoned did not have housing. General efficiency was also down, most likely also due to the low morale and missing support structures required by all the new workers and crafters. The population was picking up, we were growing at a good rate. With all the food the clan had hoarded so far, I was within easy reach of the 50 residents required for the next settlement level.
Of course, the population surge also meant our daily food upkeep had risen to 38. Luckily, my investment in food production was paying off. Even excluding the one-time mushroom harvest, we were producing a steady 70 units of food per day. Even considering the upkeep cost, we were still producing enough food so I could afford the expense of a to summon a new Simple Worker every day.
Overall, not bad. At our current progress, I’d soon be able to recruit and outfit a small goblin army.
Next, I reviewed the Morale Interface.
Morale Information
Total morale: -18
Effect: -3.6% total efficiency, -3.6% daily EP.
One time modifiers:
● Blessing, Mettle I: +5
Dynamic modifiers: --
Continuous modifiers:
● Daily food: Guba’s special stew: +3
● Lack of lodging: -36
● Shrine built: +10
As I expected, lack of lodging was the largest part of our low morale. I had forgotten that morale had an effect on the daily energy gain.
But I had an ace up my sleeve; soon, the Mess Hall would be ready, providing a +20 morale bonus, which would offset the penalty caused by the population surge.
I need to keep the morale penalties in mind when summoning and maintain a balance. It was no good to mass summon new workers, and then have their efficiency crippled by the low morale.
I’d done enough recruiting for now anyway. In a day or two I’d be wiser after seeing the impact the recent changes had on the economy.
I yawned deeply, playing this strategy-development-first-person-RPG game was exhausting. It was morning already, time for bed.
The door opened quietly, and Tika sauntered into the room. She looked surprised to find me up and awake. She was used to slipping into my room and sleeping furs unnoticed.
She approached, smiling shyly. She stood next to me, placing her hand on my neck, and then seemed to hesitate, looking at me. I returned her look steadily, it seemed like she had something on her mind, so I didn’t rush her. After a few moments, apparently reaching a decision, she seated herself with a delightful wiggle. On my lap. I had to admit it was not a bad way to wind down at the end of dark.
“I bring gift to you,” She said in her charming, simple way of speaking. In her hand she held a small egg.
Puzzled, I took the egg.
Lyrical egg
Description: The egg of a Lyrical bird. Lyrical are magical birds whose song is said to be the sweetest in the realm
Rank: Rare
Type: Single use object
Effect: Hatch a Lyrical Bird
“Where did you find this?” I asked in amazement. Lyrical birds were famous! The birds’ song, other than being considered ‘the sweetest in the realm’, gave a varied day-long buff to the first person who heard it. They were rare and expensive pets. Wealthy players usually kept a few of the birds in their mansions, both as a display of their wealth, and to enhance their overall power.
Tika gave me a puzzled, wide-eyed look. “I hunt sing bird. Find egg in nest. Think make good gift.”
“It is, thank you Tika.” Her weight pressed down on me, and I noticed that her hand languidly caressing my thigh, had roamed higher while we spoke.
“Erm… shall we go to sleep?”
She froze, halting the gentle explorations of her hands, and lowered her eyes.
“Yes, Dark Totem.”
“When we are alone, call me Oren,” I said quietly. I’d never shared my real name with an NPC before.
She caressed the back of my neck and bent toward my ear, whispering “Oren,” as if repeating a wonderful secret. “We go bed now.”
She slid off my lap and took my hand to lead me to the sleep chamber. As we lay down, she pressed against me, her warm body yielding and conforming to mine. Her lovely neck laid before me, and I kissed it unthinkingly. Tika stirred, encouraging me on. She was still insistent, but not as aggressive as before. I let my hands slid over her body, enjoying her lithe firm body. After several minutes of leisurely kissing that didn’t lead any further, she finally turned around and fell asleep.
My heart was racing for a long time before sleep took me as well. What have I gotten myself into? I berated myself. Trouble.
***
I woke up the next noontime to Tika’s soft caresses on my face. She leaned in and kissed me tenderly.
“Morning,” I said somewhat hoarsely.
“Morning.” she kissed me again, “Oren.”
Red warning lights were flashing all around in my brain, alerting that we were getting too intimate. I chose to ignore them.
My eyes wandered toward the Lyrical egg resting on the table and I got up to my feet. “Let’s use the egg you gave me.”
“Have no cooking fire,” Tika commented, looking around.
“What!? No! Watch.”
I picked up the egg and activated it. The shell cracked and fell apart, and the pieces disappeared. Instead of an egg, I now held a small bird. It was pink with golden wings and a gold crest. It had a narrow sharp beak.
New pet acquired: Lyrical Bird
Bind it to [Chief’s House] Yes/No?
As a novelty pet it can be bound to a specific location.
Yes.
The bird fluttered from my hand to perch on the table. It ruffled its feathers then shook itself to smooth them back down. Then it began to sing, filling the room with hauntingly beautiful orchestra-like music.
Buff gained: Lyrical Song.
Duration: 12 hours
Effect: +10% Mental resistance; +5% luck
I’d forgotten about the second effect. If the Luck bonus from the Lyrical bird stacks with my Lucky Bastard skill, it will be a lucky coincidence indeed. Pun intended.
“Bird sing good. Better than omelet.” Tika noted with a smile, staring transfixed at the bird, captivated by its music. It was likely the first time she had ever heard music of any kind, other than goblin chants. Goblins chanting...enough said.
I laughed and looked at her fondly, “It is indeed. Thank you again for the lovely gift, Tika”
She was blushing as I kissed her goodbye and left the house.
The usual breakfast crowd was already sitting and ea
ting around the campsite. The nearly finished Mess Hall was clearly visible behind them. Yeshlimashu the gremlin was sitting among the goblins, looking a bit lonely.
Vrick was also sitting alone, eating distractedly, while messing with an unfinished mass of leather in his free hand. I wholeheartedly approved of how devoted he was becoming with armor crafting.
I grabbed a bowl of breakfast. Guba's stew again, I thought mournfully and sat next to Zuban. He nodded at me in greeting, “Dark Totem.”
“Hey Zuban,” I ladled a spoonful of the stew into my mouth distractedly.
“Holy crap!” This was not the eternal daily brew of meat and mushrooms I had come to dislike. Instead it was a deliciously herb-flavored fish soup with mixed hearty portions of vegetables.
Zuban noted my reaction and smiled. “I heard Gandork complaining about running out of raw meat after ‘wasting’ it all on the Breeder’s Den. I think he tried using fish instead and was quite happy with how well it turned out. He does seem to be a decent cook. I haven't eaten this well in years.”
I wrinkled my forehead, “Your previous clan didn’t feed you well?”
He shrugged, “Not every clan invests so much in food production, as you do, Dark Totem. Most hobgoblin clans concentrate on improving their fighting force. Food quality isn’t great. Most of the time there’s not enough to feed everyone anyway.”
“Then what do they eat? Don’t they starve?”
He scratched the side of his head thoughtfully, maybe remembering less pleasant morning meals. “Most times we had to find food on our own. Rats mostly, or you could dig around for worms. It kept me from starving, but I can’t say it contributed a lot to morale, and it definitely cut down work efficiency.”
So I don’t have to feed everyone!? I shook my head in disbelief. Why hadn’t I considered that before? Now that I thought about it, I realized there’s no way Tika could have hunted enough game by herself to feed her old clan. They probably gathered enough to feed the bosses and the few elite warriors, keeping them at their maximum efficiency, while everyone else scrambled for crumbs. Actually, that made sense. The standard fodder goblin had little purpose in life other than to be defeated by new players. Since they didn’t contribute anything to the clan, their low morale would barely affect the clan if at all.
“Vrick, stop sending food to the two new goblins guarding the Chief's Hut.” I called to him.
He looked up from his food, and without any discernible hesitation nodded, “yes, Dark Totem.”
“So Zuban,” I returned to my foreman. “How is the construction progressing?”
“Very good,” He motioned with his head toward the Mess Hall. “The lumberjacks are working hard, supplying us with wood for construction. I expect the building will be completed today. As for the Lumber Yard, it’s a little slow going with only three builders. One of the builders working on the Mess Hall has already reached his Apprentice rank. Once the Mess Hall is finished, I’ll reassign him to the Lumber Yard to speed things up. That will leave two jobless novice Builders for whatever simple buildings you want them to work on next. ”
“Good progress, well done,” I complimented him. “I think we ought to build a Warehouse next.”
“Hmm,” he thought it over. “That project also requires a lot of wood, but with the three Lumberjacks, we should be able to do it. Where do you want it?”
“Right over there” I pointed at our clan’s large, jumbled ‘storage’ pile. “I want everything to be properly organized eventually.”
“As you command, Dark Totem.” he replied respectfully.
A thought suddenly struck me. Why the wait?
“You know what…”
I opened the Construction Interface, selected the Mess Hall.
Rush Mess Hall Construction (26 energy required, 149 available). Yes/No?
Why not boost development a bit? I shrugged.
I looked directly at the nearly completed building as I selected Yes.
The uncompleted parts of the Mess Hall shone bright blue. Holes and gaps were filled in with glowing brown energy. A large stack of timber near the building started glowing also with the same brown hue and then disappeared, pieces of wood instantly reappeared over the glowing filled gaps. As the glowing energy faded away the wood integrated into the construction, and a moment later, all that remained were finished, seamless walls.
New Building added to your settlement: Mess Hall
Clan’s morale increased by 20
Cool, I thought.
“Yippy!!!” I heard someone screaming happily.
I looked around.
It was Gandork, raising both arms into the air and almost dancing in circles. “I have a kitchen!”
“Not exactly,” Zuban whispered wryly to me, “I still need to get the Blacksmith to craft some proper kitchen tools. Oven, knives and such. You should tell him.”
“Nah, let the skinny guy have his moment of happiness,” I waved Zuban off. “It’s a bit sad how grumpy he is all the time.”
He grinned mischievously.
“Anyway, you can now reassign the workers, have the two novices start on the Warehouse.”
“Right away, Dark Totem.”
I finished my food and went over to Bosper, our new Bowyer. “How was your first day?”
“Fruitful.” he pointed toward a small stack of branches. “I found some good trees for making bows and I cut enough of them to keep me occupied for a few days. The forest is especially peaceful, so I wasn’t distracted by having to run from enemies.”
I nodded. This was mainly due to Vrick and Bek’s dual scouting expeditions in the valley’s forest. Come to think of it, it’s been some time since their last patrol. Well, now that the Mess Hall was complete, I could put the warriors back on military duty.
“So, have you crafted any bows yet?”
“I did, one. It's very basic, barely a step above throwing rocks. But it does have a decent range. With a proper workshop I’ll be able to make better ones.”
I took the bow he offered me and viewed it.
Crude Willow Bow
Description: A crude bow made of springy Willow, offering somewhat increased range than standard wood.
Type: weapon [two handed]
Rank: crude
Durability: 8/8
Range: 55 meters
Damage: 6-8
It wasn’t great, not for players, but for a goblin, it wasn’t bad at all.
“Keep producing as many bows as you can,” I ordered him. “We’ll find a use for them later.”
Harvey, the Fletcher was working nearby. He was sharpening a long slender Hugger bone. There was a neat stack of finished arrows next to him.
“Do you need anything else?” I approached him
“Not!” he squeaked. “Bone does arrow easy. After use wood.”
I nodded and walked over to Vrick. He was sitting in the exact same place as when I had left him eating breakfast, but now he was messing around with a bunch of leather straps that covered his lower torso. He was completely oblivious to everyone around him, caught up in crafting the straps into something that looked vaguely like a dress.
“Vrick.” he didn’t look up.
“VRICK!” That got his attention.
“Hmm, Dark Totem?”
“It’s time to give your new hobby a rest. I want you to take the warriors and patrol the forest. Make sure there are no new dangerous creatures in the valley.”
“But…” he tried to protest.
“No buts!” I cut him off. “You had your fun, it’s time for some combat training. If you find any weak foes, let the newer warriors take the lead, but keep a careful watch over them. Have Bek treat any wounds immediately. If there’s something more dangerous, use your shield to hold it off, just as we practiced. Anything too strong, you run away. Are we clear?”
He looked longingly at his bundle of leather straps. “Yes Dark Totem.”
“Good, oh and bring back any meat and pelts you find.”
Leaving the crestfallen goblin behind me, I headed to the Smithy. With the new requirement for kitchen tools, the place was becoming more and more important to the settlement. I wanted to make sure everything was going smoothly.
I heard the telltale hammering long before I reached the building. As I approached I could see Malkyr hammering at the anvil. Next to him, Barzel was carefully pouring molten metal into a mold.
“Malkyr, do you ever take a break?” I asked in awe.
He looked up at me from the anvil, “Oh, hey man, didn’t see you coming, was concentrating on this piece.”
He used a pair of tongs to hold a red-hot metal gauntlet. It looked to be of good quality.
“Nice work! I didn’t think you could craft anything that well using just a basic forge,” I commented.
He dropped the red-hot piece into a cooling vat, releasing a jet of steam in the process. “Me neither. I was just finishing a quest from Vrick to forge a couple of shields, when I had this sudden inspiration to craft some armor for myself. When I started, I weird puzzle game popped up on my interface. I had to solve a series of mathematical problems, each correct answer improved the quality of the item.” He fished the cooled gauntlet from the tub and placed it on the ground next to an already finished one, completing the pair. “You know, I’m starting to sound like a broken record with how often I say how weird stuff is around here. Anyway, I just finished these, check them out.” pointing at the pieces of armor.
The gauntlets looked impressive. It was comprised of joined steel plate links, each supporting ridges of reinforced steel that ran along their lengths. I analyzed the cooling pieces of metal.
High-Quality Steel Gauntlets
Description: High-quality gauntlets, provide excellent protection for the hand and forearms.
Runecraft viability: can hold up to 6 runes.
Type: armor [hands].
Rank: masterwork
Life Reset: A LitRPG Novel (New Era Online Book 1) Page 60