Confident that they were not here to raid, I gave permission for Jarl Injeborg's crew to disembark and make camp. Outside the walls of course. Whatever their intentions, if they could see how weak were our defences, they might well be tempted to sack the town. I took Carradock's comment on their piratical nature perfectly seriously.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XwsypVjvw
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0BoOeGJKvT
Back among my people, I organised a rota of pretend guards to face the Vikings, sent Carradock off to separate the prisoners and bring back the ones from Southway, then took Figus and Carlena with me to the keep.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv47MKVgDXt
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH8oIZaHnmK
There, in privacy, I explained the food situation and how important those 30 units of food in the ship were to us. We were up to 6 units of meat daily, with consumption at 15 (hopefully 14 when I got rid of the prisoners). Reserves were at 38. That gave us 4 days and then people would be on short rations. If we had the fish in the longship, that would give us 8 days before the stores were empty. Even then, we'd have plenty of iron but I had no idea how long it would take to build a ship, crew it and make a return journey to the Kingdom of Lost Souls. More than 8 days surely?567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRVFClyYTc
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ369s9trQHZ
'Which is why,' I concluded, 'I think Figus will have to go to the Necromancer and ask for an advance.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡph3nQyeeb5
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlnBxiNyLR8
'Tonight sire?' Figus looked carefully at me.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVaEN24CjVe
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzUBQDnps0
'Right away.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYpkjZzrPC
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZXl515YyH
'Perhaps the morning would be better, it is Moon Day and I have been working on entertainment that might raise the morale of the people.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnWVmUnL2a
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa54oikdQAS
'What's the significance of Moon Day?' I wondered aloud.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDObcqbzjrX
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD49PJPDeYz
Immediately Figus turned to Carlena with a face of pure suspicion. 'What's going on?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7lb4wxWcl
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvuFkfrK65R
Feeling a flush of embarrassment, I realised I'd asked a question that King Carlos would not have raised. I had been too caught up in the menus and had dropped my concentration.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zPjqkVwqy
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gGfrnio1c
'Well?' now the Bard turned his startling blue eyes on mine, expression hard and suspicious.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikX7pUgSOM
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4P9XUdJnqs
'Well what?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkO0U8FUoW
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAAgE2tQhj
'You're not King Carlos, are you?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZ0NFMaRDm
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylGT8jkuJv
'What do you mean?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD7ODvWPj6e
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkykK9yTv6
'You don't talk like him. You don't think like him. And you don't know that on Moon Day the burghers of the town attend you in the evening.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82Lb3oh9J2
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmH1tj7mXTE
'Listen carefully, Figus,' Carlena didn't move but her sharp, clipped words leaned over the Bard. 'If you go around talking like that, you'll bring ruin on us all. If his popularity gets any lower, no one will work or fight. And they'll abandon the realm.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSTMPEDgbf
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmSZqNA2hGr
'I'm no fool Carlena, even though you think me one. Just tell me.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerfbguuuCU
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YXxhM58xy
'My real name is Sean de Courcy,' I said quietly, 'I was summoned here by Carlena to replace King Carlos.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSik9y4lIR
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakzNYURvvC
'Summoned?' Figus looked at the sorceress.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXARyFHMXgy
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'That ignorant slob was a fool. All he cared about was his dinner menu. And he thought we could do nothing about his ruin of the kingdom. That we couldn't lift a hand against him without the realm losing its menus.' Carlena was becoming impassioned, her normal pale face flushed and her words coming fast. 'He underestimated me though, and Miya, our goddess. She didn't want her realm to be destroyed. She came to me in a dream and guided me in a ritual to replace King Carlos with a hero from another plane.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBHr3O0UmT
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquYLXfTSaL
This was the first time I'd heard that a goddess had been involved in the summons. The role of gods and goddesses was clearly another aspect of this world that I needed to understand better.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1XA3GuZ2M
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'Pause there, please Carlena. Can you tell me more about Miya and the other gods? Can we get her help? Does everyone have the help of a god? How can I talk to her?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjNP6Y8hvU
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKKhcSqx8Y7
'I'm a Sorcerer. All I can tell you is what everyone knows, that the gods created this world to play out their game. Each has one kingdom and they are all rivals to each other.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6C1FtY6Es
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICYZvW1CqC
'But how much do they intervene? How can we – or our enemies – draw on the powers of our gods?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsONzlOmU6W
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxfsXmgg7T
'They provide divine spells to their priests daily: Clerics, Druids, Paladins and Bards.' The Sorceress waved a hand towards Figus. 'Otherwise, hardly at all. I had never seen or heard from Miya before my dream.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4fviZNv0G
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZPNApzXCl
Figus nodded, then spoke, still with a tense and clipped voice. 'I believe… Sean de Courcy… that if you were to build the church up to a cathedral, and have very large numbers of worshippers for her, that Miya might be able to intervene more and provide significant benefits to the realm. Her attributes being those of fertility and renewal, they would most likely involve crops and healing.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrp9rLubBxd
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEadnyFina
'Interesting.' And it really was. I was already thinking that upgrading the church was an attractive option and this information reinforced that idea. 'There you have it, Figus. I'm a newcomer. I don't know the name of the days of the week here, let alone the rituals around them. But I'm confident I can save the kingdom and, in time, go on the offensive.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAWwfQyTQT
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQQq4dARl0
'This makes sense of everything that's happened in the last four days.' After my last words, the tension in Figus seemed to melt and all at once he was his usual devil-may-care self. 'Hello Sean,' he offered his hand. 'Welcome to our world. I'm sincerely glad you are here. We need someone like you.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ139QZz2e8S
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXAy98Ea33V
'Thank you.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEe7DjlsZz
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrHYRHyDPB
'This is exciting news. I feel hope again. And you know what? I think most of the people of the town would too, knowing the old King Carlos has gone...' Figus gave the Sorceress a rueful expression, as though apologising in advance for what he was about to say. 'You might consider telling them all. Especially if the goddess approves.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMn1T62bpx
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY35sCFxJSn
'It's too soon. He's doing well but we need to come on a lot more before we can risk a collapse in authority. I think his popularity has to be able to take a much bigger drop than it currently can.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhRBfOQhk4
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMVgWd8wzV
'I might be able to help with that.' Figus grinned and turned to me. 'If I have permission not to depart until morning.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYstFOKoDRM
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ad8dLt28e
'Permission granted.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNTIk5SxhV
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr9fB6mBev6
'In that case,' he stood up and bowed to us both. 'I'll take my leave and make my preparations.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ciCGk5BdE
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QdV9z5AJp
When he had left, I looked over at Carlena. 'I like him.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjM01ee0ER
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Ie1bmqKDK
'I am a difficult person, Sean, because I'm uncompromising. Figus was at King Carlos's right hand most of the time. I understand that he had to play the lackey to avoid punishment. But still, he used his skills to mock other people for the king's entertainment.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgzQOpecDb
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAsVZk4x13g
'I see. Including yourself, no doubt. But you can still work with him in our joint enterprise?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojizyyGW4H
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYKWvwVedH
'Of course.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ370qDFlCGK
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxv9M7wHKyp
'What's the Moon Day event he's planning for?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rUnULRA5J
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQf56wstjI
Carlena looked tired at the thought. 'The town has burghers.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Ns0wnYsTD
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBA3k3qJiA8
'Burgers?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhY04gDZOzc
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'Yes. Each guild has a representative: the chief baker, the chief butcher, the supervisor of the mines and so on…. These are the burghers of the town, they have a committee to govern all matters in Carrick that are outside of your menus, such as holding court on property disputes, and they have the right to a seating with the king on Moon Day.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjyoXgzSnKm
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS7voXhYgjb
'A seating?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45OIDWq5lE
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'They come to a grim and dull evening meal in the castle. Where you sit at the top of the table, hear any complaints they have and resist the urge to hang the lot of them. At least, that's what I think King Carlos usually does, to judge from his expressions.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAC4wkk5cgp
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5HLep7GRo
'I see.' I didn't really but I could manage to sit at the table and listen. It might even be useful, teaching me something about the way in which the orders I made through the menus resulted in changes in the town.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58aXhij1cw
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKl4aSWldTi
'Carlena.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnkYYMT6PYw
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8Hx11cYWc
'Yes?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOyuNPY7tNa
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3flp6ueyWM
'Are you happy?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVfgUQ3rhC
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptMFMzW9U2
'Happy? Of course not. We are on the cusp of destruction. I'm a Sorceress with the minimum number of spells and few prospects to change that…' she shot me a penetrating glance. 'Worse, this is a miserable kingdom with a cultural level not much higher than that of the barbarians outside the walls. My existence is incredibly boring.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo29ANdDUhO
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfU961bTFMp
'What would make you happy?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIE7A0bimzK
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoq1bPC4VRq
'I'll be honest with you Sean, although many would feel revulsion at my answer. It's power. Power over magic. Power over the other kingdoms. Power not for the sake of it, but to live free from the fear of capture or death.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGo0bQOAM7
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR89sy6qUkb
'I understand.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvlgWqK4VMR
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfgfF9QDo3
'Do you though?' Again that appraising look. 'I think you do, Sean. I think you understand everything.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh2XKeNKpai
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk87QC6SM3B
There was a weight on the word everything that was important, as though she were letting me in on a conspiracy. I couldn't grasp her meaning though, nor did I want to reveal my ignorance by asking.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqff7edAh3
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMVf325E5x
'What about you Sean, are you happy?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GneMqhmzb
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKXWgOZ62f
'Very. Before you summoned me, I needed a purpose to my life. A cause. And that moment when I thundered down on the enemy as a rhino?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZLaQ6vokN
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'Yes?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvu4e7GYCk
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6T4W3JgRE
'I've never been happier in my life.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflEpZLEYM0
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NQJpMQwEq
Carlena laughed. 'I think you share something with the old King Carlos then. He would have been content to live his whole life as a rhino.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgn9oFzZNIl
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***567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BJKsn5Ozq
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That afternoon I'd made sure to keep on top of all my town management choices, namely, assigning the completed steel pickaxes to the mines and deciding what to build, now that hunting lodge 3 had been completed.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pe1AsL9Pt
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbz1StKOoB
Barracks 2 had its appeal, as it unlocked ballista crew training, and with just one more ballista on the large tower (therefore covering the bridge at the same time as the first ballista stopped groups of archers from congregating under the tower), I could hold Three Ways even against much larger armies. A scriptorium was attractive too. When I had stood before the Vikings and made my bluff about Fireball, it had really struck home to me how disproportionately important was magic here. If we had a research option that led to the discovery of more spells and really did obtain Fireball, Carlena would make our army ten times more threatening.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpk0PlzJBP
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4K8qzFKdbd
Upgrading the mine to level 3 would work as well. Given how important iron was becoming to our trading and diplomatic negotiations, I obviously couldn't have too much of it. Also, the description of the level 3 mine said that I would have a chance at discovering seams of silver and gold. Yet while I certainly would push up mining production as a priority, I'd run into the problem that I had no unassigned people after putting the last into the new hunting lodge.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIwNXKqDyp
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It was during my investigation of the question of how quickly new people would become available that I discovered to my dismay that this was proportional to the realm's happiness score. Greyland's happiness had to be above 25 to even attract one new adult a week.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDClRMeWR4i
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQoqfZo3PN5
Which is why I used 110 planks of wood to set about the upgrade of the church. A bigger, more noteable church increased overall happiness, improved healing rates and attracted a new cleric to the town. Then too, it strengthened Miya, our goddess, and even though I wasn't sure how to quantify this, it was surely an important consideration? The timer on the upgrade was 2 days and 14 hours.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGpZ2h78TZ
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2S4dWyBHJH
During the afternoon, I'd also worked on my core muscles, although training wasn't at all the same on my own as when Carradock had been present. In the evening, I'd bathed and, on dressing for dinner, had been provided with furs and impressive jewelled rings to wear for the Moon Day dinner.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCoKu8nYxD
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEssKLFHLdS
The castle hall looked splendid, with silver places laid out for a dozen guests, glittering in the light of candles and a huge open fire. Banners and tapestries covered large areas of the stone walls and again I saw one of a white rhino on a green background. The people present included the chief carpenter, to whom I had promised the role of shipbuilder, and a dozen other men and women, wearing their finest clothes and bronze chains of office clasping emblems with the symbols of their guilds. These were middle-aged people; there was a dull emptiness in their eyes that made me wonder at first whether they were fully human or some kind of limited NPC.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlN81pSo6Dm
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt7CS0C3Dv3
It soon became clear to me that the dullness of their faces was a reflection of their interests rather than their intellect. Insofar as it was fair to generalise across them all, the issue was that their horizons were narrow. One after the other, they made the same kind of speech when their opportunity came to address me: the need to upgrade their factories or premises or equipment.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQsRocBT9w
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTrylxMNfvU
The 'factor' of the hunters, as she called herself, was rather less given to whinging, after all, she'd had two upgrades recently and twelve new hunters to lead. But even she wanted upgraded bows and knives.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOCPy1dXob
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS8G3U74MUB
I couldn't ask directly about how my choices in the menu options affected their work: it would reveal me to be an imposter. But I did get the impression from their remarks that they had free will, that they had ambition, rivalry, and passion even, somewhere beneath their solid exteriors. It also became clear that my instructions appeared to them as menus that the office holders could open and close, albeit that they couldn't make any amendments. Once or twice the burghers expressed thanks to our goddess, Miya, in a way that indicated that the divine power of the gods lay behind the menu system.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQaLDHbUMe
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5RIABwN8h
One question I thought would not be entirely out of character was that of reallocating workers. 'Ladies' – the baker, the brewer, the huntress, the seamstress and the scholar were female – 'and gentlemen. Today, we reached the maximum capacity of workforce in our town. Until such time as we attract new residents or the young come of age, I can only reassign workers. Tell me, is there any penalty for doing so?'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8pyPyjP65
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHNAuiyfJz
All their faces were turned towards me, orange tinted in the light of the large fire. Then factor of the hunters spoke. 'I believe sire, that while the gods allow this and the workers will immediately know the relevant skill, those reassigned are very likely to be discontented and that will reflect in the overall happiness score for our community.'567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddQKZi66EM
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxpV7ZjIKVO
Something to be avoided then. Raising the population had become a problem almost as urgent as that of the food supply.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4uR0ZIc5A
567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBhHLxOwsu
When the meal was done and all the goblets refilled, Figus took the floor. His dress, as always, was smart. Tonight a leather waistcoat lay on a silk shirt, unbuttoned at the neck, that appeared purple in the candlelight but which may well have been blue by day...
I've published Summoned! To an RPG World on Amazon. And I've enrolled it with their Kindle Unlimited. One of the terms of the KU scheme is that I can only make public 10% of the book. So my apologies if you've been enjoying the story, I can't go any further with it here. I hope you understand.
I'm currently writing two other stories you might like and which are free to read.
Summoned! To Grimworld is another isekai LitRPG.
Planet Earth's greatest - but unrecognised - artist, Marcus Korol, is mind swapped into a crashing spacecraft. Ejected to the surface of Grimworld, a planet with a base-building system, Marcus has to master the system in order to survive and prosper. Even if he can cope with the monsters and environmental dangers, there are warlike tribes to consider, twenty of them, in a complex arrangements of alliances. Staying alive, let alone prospering, is a daunting challenge that even a battle-hardened general would find daunting. Yet Marcus treats the situation with relish.
Marcus's one companion is another person summoned from Earth, a former princess, Duchess Sina Koskina: Sina is a young woman who has never done a serious day's work in her life. Having previously had servants for every task, Sina has no idea of her real abilities or talents, but she is keen to find out.
Marcus and Sina must find a way to work together, build a settlement, and master the strange system of the planet. If they can do so, they might even find and solve the Ultima quest that Grimworld is reputed to be host to.
The White Dragon is a metaphor for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It is the year 472 and the Roman empire is still strong in an alternative Earth where magic exists. The Roman authorities hate and suppress the use of magic, which by its nature is wild and uncontrollable.
Unknown to the empress and her brother, rulers of the mighty empire, they have an enemy, one that is inexorable; destructive; remorseless; a conduit for elemental forces. By driving magic away, the Romans did not make it weaker, only wilder and darker. And now the White Dragon is back, the empire is at her mercy.
From a remote village in north Wales comes Arthyr, a beautiful young man of nineteen, who is the antithesis of Roman values. Yet the empress and her officers need his power over magic to assist their armies and face the White Dragon.
Sent to train in Roman boot camp, Arthyr is the most difficult, insubordinate recruit the Roman sergeant-majors have ever had to deal with.
ns216.73.216.108da2
