The Empires Rise

Delving into the options that were available to me, I started to gather more information.

- Building Options:

Upgrade Central Command Post Tent - 5 Resources, Including expanded living quarters for the noble.

Build Basic Defenses - 5 Resources, Includes a small wall, a gate, and a ditch.

Build Basic Barracks - 5 Resources, Includes basic housing for troops. Capacity 10 Command Points of soldiers.

Build Basic Training Yard - 10 Resources, Includes a training yard to improve troop coordination.

Recruitment Options:

Name: CP Cost: Description:

Bat Swarm 1 Summons 5 bats in the swarm. It's a basic scouting unit.

Doppelganger 3 Summons 1 Dobbelganger to fight. It's a basic infiltration unit with poor damage.

Gnoll 2 Summons 3 Gnolls to fight. It's a basic infantry unit.

Succubus 2 Summons 1 Succubus to fight. It's a basic magic unit.

Elananx 2 Summons 1 Elananx to fight. It's a basic assassin unit.

Hag 5 Summons 1 Hag to fight. It's an intermediate magic unit.

Linnorm 10 Summons 1 Linnorm to fight. It's an intermediate beast unit. Heavily aggressive towards other units, it will kill those around it if agitated.

Skulltaker 6 Summons 1 Skulltaker to fight. It's an intermediate magic unit.

Unicorn 10 Summons 1 Unicorn to fight. It's an intermediate calvary unit.

Wendigo 10 Summons 1 Wendigo to fight. It's an advanced infantry unit. -

Looking through my options, I am concerned about how little I have regarding available options. There are potent creatures available to me, but I don't know what I will face in properly using any of them. The one creature that concerns me the most is the Linnorm. Seeing the warning, I agree that spending the command points on units that won't attack each other would do me better.

"What do you see, Drake?" Ritotorous asks.

I show him my screens. "I am trying to figure out what to do with the units. Who should I summon first, and what should my spread be for the units I summon?" Seeing all the screens and options in the last couple of weeks has stressed me out. There are so many things I need to take care of.

"Drake, I think this is a good opportunity for you."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"For the exact reason back at the settlement. You have to learn to delegate. So, let's focus on one task at a time."

"Ok, and what do you think that first task should be?"

"The camp itself. We have 20 resources to spend. I am curious about why the upgrade to the tent costs as much as building basic defenses, but for now, let's set that one aside. Get the defenses and the barracks."

Thinking about what he said, I can't help but agree with him. Trying to calm my thoughts, I select the basic defenses and the barracks to be constructed. There is a flash from the map, and the resources have been deducted. Looking at the map again, I can see a small barracks tent off to one side of the command tent and some basic defenses. Nothing crazy, just a border of wood around the border of the square we are on.

"Have you tried anything else with the map yet?" He asks me.

"No, just the menus and my concerns about the troops threw me through a loop."

"Try to focus on one of the squares outside the initial square."

Following his instructions, I focus on the square directly to our north.

- Would you like to scout this section of the map? Yes/No -

I select yes, and another notification appears.

- Unable to scout this location due to a lack of scouting units. -

When Ritotorous is told about the two notifications, he nods, "Okay, we did get a scouting unit. I recommend summoning a set of bats and seeing what they can do."

When I summon the bats, I hear some screeching outside the tent and wings fluttering. Looking back at the command center, above the barracks, is a counter; it displays 1/10 now.

"Ok, we have scouting units. Let's try and scout the terrain next to us."

Again, the notification comes up, and select 'Yes,' the flutter of bat wings disappearing in the distance proceeds.

With my attention on the map, the square becomes clear. There is now a tiny flag on the square, which shows a picture of a small skull. I intently look to see what it means, and another notification appears.

- Enemy Troops: 1-5

Would you like to attack this enemy? Yes/No -

Again, I consult Ritotorous. "What do you think I should do?"

"It is a small section of troops. Let's summon some more troops of our own. I don't think the bats will do any good in a fight. I would say summon some Gnolls and maybe a succubus."

Agreeing with him, I summoned the succubus first. I was curious about what they looked like. A flash of light blinds me for a moment, and instead of outside the tent, the succubus appears in front of me.

"Greetings Nobleman." The demoness says. From first appearance, she is wearing a long flowing dress, has red tinted skin, small horns sprouting from either side of her head, black nails, and a small bladed whip on her side. Her voice is sultry alto, making me immediately understand why succubi are lust demons.

"Greetings. Do you have a name?" I ask, trying not to get transfixed from her voice.

"No," she responds. She is standing nearby with her hip cocked and her hands resting on it.

"Well, what are you? And why did you appear in the tent with me?"

"I am a succubus if that isn't obvious," she sticks her tongue out at me, "And I appeared in the tent with you because I am different from the other rabble you summon. I am a heroin."

"A succubus hero?" I ask perplexed.

"Yes, you know about heroes, right?" She looks at me.

"No, I just got here?"

"Really? No wonder your tent is so small." She giggles a little at this statement.

"Hey," I start a little aggrieved and then look around. She means the actual tent, but her tone is very... Flushing from embarrassment and frustration, I ask her, "What does a hero do?"

"They help the nobles with their tasks when they have too many things on their plates. Once the tent is upgraded, there are places for me to command troops under my banner, and then you don't have to do everything and can tell me the objectives we need to take."

Trying to figure everything out is causing my head to spin, so I back up and sit on my bed. "So, because the tent is too small, you don't have space to work?"

"Work, live, relax."

Sighing, I look at Ritotorous, "Do you think we should upgrade the tent?"

"I would say yes, but I am curious about something. Can you ask the succubus if she can leave the tent?"

Following his thought, I asked her to step out of the tent. To my astonishment and dismay, she left without anything happening. When I called her to come back in, she proceeded to do so.

"It seems you have been investing in the right areas at least," she comments on entering back into the tent.

"Yeah, we figured having the defenses and at least one barracks would be a good start. We still have some resources left, but I didn't want to spend them without knowing what I need to focus on."

"Makes sense. I would recommend you start exploring, though. The more area we have, the more likely we are to discover resources."

Agreeing with her assessment, I proceeded to summon some Gnolls like I was previously going to do.

Summoning four sets of Gnolls, the barracks show 9/10. Looking at my command points, they have dropped to 49/60.

"How many command points do you have?" The succubus asks me.

"Currently, or overall?" I return.

"Both, if you don't mind sharing."

"I have a total of 60 points, but as of right now, only 49 points remain after summoning one set of bats, four sets of gnolls, and you."

"Wow, you have a lot of command points. Do you know where that number comes from?"

"I have a small idea, but if you know, that would be great if you could tell me."

"From my knowledge, command points are the noble level multiplied by 10, so you must be a level 6 noble."

"No, just a level 5 noble currently. I received 10 points for interacting with the strategy table."

"Ah, those must be temporary. If you are smart about it, you can keep that number if you don't lose too many troops."

"Fair enough. Are there any other troops I should summon?"

She looks over at the strategy table and then back at me. "With one set of bats, we won't be able to scout that many territories before initiating the first attack on the camp. I recommend summoning another set of bats and seeing if there are any other easy locations we can grab this early."

Ritotorous seems thoughtful and then agrees with her. "That sounds like a logical plan. You should follow her idea. She seems to know more about what is happening here than I do."

Summoning the next set of bats, the barracks are now full. I tried to summon more bats but was stopped by a notification.

- No more spaces are available to summon additional creatures into the Command Post. Please construct additional barracks to increase capacity. -

I went back to the build options to try building more barracks, but I was unable to select them again.

- Building Options:

Upgrade Central Command Post Tent - 5 Resources, Including expanded living quarters for the noble.

Build Basic Defenses - 5 Resources, Includes a small wall, a gate, and a ditch. (Completed)

Build Basic Barracks - 5 Resources, Includes basic housing for troops. Capacity 10 Command Points of soldiers. (Completed)

Build Basic Training Yard - 10 Resources, Includes a training yard to improve troop coordination. -

I ask the question that is on my mind. "To level up the command post, I must construct all the provided buildings?"

"Correct, and once you build them, you will receive more buildings that need to be constructed and other goals. I wouldn't expect to get too far currently."

"Why do you say that?"

"Most nobles can't handle the time away from their main settlements long before they have to return."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Oh, I have had several different nobles I have served. They mostly die before they have the chance to come back." She gives me a sad smile.

"What happens to you when that happens?"

"I get sent back to the summoning pool and wait for another noble to summon me. I never truly die in here."

"If you had the option, would you leave?"

"Yes."

"Drake, don't worry about her. We need to worry about ourselves first."

"Right," I pull myself out of those thoughts and focus back on the map.

After scanning the map, I selected the east square and sent my bats to scout that location. While waiting, I got the tent upgrade since I could only buy the items on the list once, and they needed to be purchased either way.

With that purchased, the size of the tent quickly expands to take up twice the standard space. There are now two chairs in the room, one on each side of the strategy table, and a small rug.

"Cozy," she says and sits on one of the chairs. With only five resources left, I looked at the map to see what the bats scouted.

- Enemy Troops: 1-5

Would you like to attack this enemy? Yes/No -

Not seeing the point of attacking someone right away, I selected 'No' again and tried to scout out another square.

- Unable to scout this territory as scouting units have run out of stamina. -

It was worth a shot. Going back to the eastern square, I selected 'Yes' this time, and the sound of gnolls grabbing their weapons and bats fluttering around reached my ears.

"It looks like it is my time to shine," the succubus says before heading out of the tent with the rest of the troops.

It doesn't take long before the map shows an icon of crossed swords. Interested in what this could mean, I select the swords.

- Would you like to spectate the fight? Yes/No -

When I select 'Yes,' my view starts from overhead. I can control where I am looking with a thought. At first, I can see a small encampment with walls in the middle distance and all my troops filing out while whooping and hollering.

The succubus is at the back of the pack, letting the gnolls take the lead. The bats hover around her as a bit of protection. As they proceed further forward, the enemy comes into sight. There is a group of goblins sitting there, five of them, and they get up after hearing the gnolls coming barreling towards them.