World Conquest Online

[Would you like to confirm?]

"Yes, please!" Dom replied, still surprised at the names his Generals had come up with for the new areas they had discovered. Dom’s naming sense wasn’t much better, but he decided to give them simple names based on the geography, as he hadn’t been able to see them himself. Part of him suspected which Generals had named which area, he wondered if he should take in to consideration their naming sense before sending them on raiding missions in the future.

[’Annoyingly Tall Mountain’ will be renamed as Mount Calm River

’Dark Cold Caves’ will be renamed as Calm River Caves

’Red Hare Valley’ will stay the same

’Where is my Shoe?’ will be renamed Serene Wetlands

"So Much Grass!" will be renamed as Infinity Plains]

Dom had thought that they would have discovered more areas, but suspected that either the San or the people from the Cove had named the other areas in the south, whilst Tongpai Town and the others must have named the other areas in the north. Regardless though, Dom was happy with the unexpected rewards, and he knew exactly what he was going to do with them.

Apart from the Villager cubes, which he didn’t have much need of due to the high number of daily spawns, and the resource cube which would definitely be helpful for either Lucius or Hatshepsut. The two key rewards were the Wooden Tokens.

"System, please use the Wooden Tokens on the Animal Husbandry Sheep and the Heroes Hall." Dom requested as he headed down the stairs with the items in his hand. There was constant talk about the issues with a lack of meat in Riverside, so Dom knew he needed to upgrade one of the Animal Husbandries. Ideally he should have upgraded the Ox Husbandry, as it was already at Level 3 and the animals were much larger. However, he had decided to do the Sheep Husbandry as it gave variety, a new level 3 building and the Sheep provided different resources. Also due to their size, he suspected their would be a larger spawn number in comparison to the Ox.

He was sure that Lucius would be happy regardless of which building he upgraded as long as it was related to food. He now also had five level three buildings, only needing eight more level two buildings and the one level four building to upgrade his Government Centre again.

"Eleven more Wooden Tokens." Dom commented to himself as he headed back towards the Heroes Hall. He would need to upgrade at least one of his level three buildings to level four, one of his level two buildings to level three and then nine level two buildings.

[Please choose a direction for the Heroes Hall, Capacity or Speed]

"Capacity!" Dom replied, if he had a choice of increasing his Hero Spawns time, normally he would have taken it. But not that he had reached Capacity, he knew that his priority should be increasing that first. He wondered if there was a way to manually upgrade the Heroes Hall, such as building an extension to it, but he would think about that another time.

Dom had realised that most Players wouldn’t be in the same situation as him, as one of the primary reasons his Capacity had been maxed was most likely due to the excess of Orange Cubes that he had used to spawn Heroes, as well as using his Spawn Allocation. He hoped that the Capacity increase would be enough to Spawn the two rolls that he had. He knew there was a mechanic behind the numbers being calculated by the system, and he decided that when Andrew joined, he would ask him to work out how to deal with it. As Andrew was more calculated at that type of gaming than Dom was.

As Dom arrived a back at the Heroes Hall, he asked to see it’s stats.

[Heroes Hall of Riverside

Hall Grade - S

Hall Level - 2

Spawn Rate - 1 Hero per 14 day in game cycle. Capacity has been upgraded so that as your Kingdom grows, your Heroes Hall Capacity will increase. Further upgrades will impact Spawn Rate.

Spawn level - Up to grade S, type dependent

Spawn Type - Heroes types can be requested, either Military or Domestic

Further opportunities to Spawn Heroes can be made available based on Village growth and Mission Rewards]

"Fantastic" Dom exclaimed, grateful that the Heroes Hall upgrade had worked in his favour. "System, does that mean I can now use both of my Hero rolls?"

[The Capacity of Riverside, Tranquillity and Serenity, based on the amount of Heroes currently within the areas will allow both rolls to be used.]

Dom headed inside the Heroes Hall again, taking a seat back in the chair he had sat in earlier, whilst Gregorios and Trojan joined him to make sure that the room was presentable and warm. The Heroes Hall had grown, and there were now an additional four bedroom doors. Dom wasn’t sure if that meant the Capacity had increased by four, or if that was just the style of the building. He suspected that most Lord Players would have moved their Heroes to different accommodation after they arrived.

"System, please use the first roll." Dom asked politely, grateful that the Game had reminded him to check his personal chest.

[Military or Domestic]

"Domestic please!" Dom replied, knowing that he needed capable people to help them expand. Each of his Generals had a strong support currently and he wanted to increase their force strength, without diluting it with new Generals.

[Population, Defence or Experimental]

Dom was surprised by the three choices, as they all seemed very different. Population was something that he constantly had a need for to help his expansion, so that was his primary choice, but he didn’t want to discount the other options straight away.

Defence was also a good option, as if this person could become a Mayor like Lucius, Elder Qiao or Artemisia, they could be dispatched to one of the border Towns that they intended to build. They did however have a lot of defence experts, with Xun Yan as the lower tiered General in charge of their base. They also had Domestic Heroes such as Lucius, Crassus and Xun Yu who were all excellent military leaders of their own, especially the latter two.

Experimental was a very broad option, it could lead to anything and part of Dom was tempted to take the risk and see what Hero he brought in. There were plenty of famous people from history who were known for taking risks, but he also had a strong growing of Elite Villagers who could fit a similar direction.

"Population." Dom replied, he was tempted for Experimental, but a population growth or a way to improve his current population were both exciting options.

[Rolling for Population Hero...Soga no Umako

Soga No Umako

Hero Grade - B/Military Grade - D

Hero Strength - Calm Mind and Incentivised Immigration.

A Member of the powerful Soga Clan of Ancient Japan in the Asuka Period. During his time in key Government positions, he promoted the religion Buddhism to the people of Japan to be the primary religion over Shinto. Whilst he was in power, he also promoted immigration from neighbouring countries, mainly China and Korea, whilst also creating trade to promote an advancement in knowledge.

He maintained his family legacy, by marrying his daughters in to the Imperial Family, so that future Emperors would have a connection to his family. He was also a respected Military Commander who fought against the Mononobe Clan.]

The doors to one of the new rooms opened and a middle aged man appeared, he was clean shaven, wearing a black cap with fabric tied in an intricate pattern over his short black hair. It wasn’t the most important thing, but he asked the System what the hat was called and was told it was a Tokin. He was also wearing black robes with golden embroidery and had a ring shaped hilt of a straight sword pushing through a central gap in his robe.

"Soga No Umako at your service my Lord." Umako said with a low bow. "You may call me what you wish, but I prefer to go by Umako. I hope that I can help you grow your Kingdom in to a mighty nation."

Dom quickly got up from his chair and helped the middle aged man up.

"Welcome to Riverside, I am Lazarus." Dom introduced himself, "We were originally a City, but now we are expanding and hope to declare ourselves as a Kingdom in the coming weeks or months. I hope to get you involved as soon as possible."

"I am more than happy to help, I am a passionate Buddhist, but my skills are in Population Control and Trade." Umako replied, his face welcoming but serious at the same time.

Dom felt that instead of a Mayor like candidate that he had hoped for, he had instead brought in a new member of Shang Yang’s Government. Umako could work closely with Crassus to increase the trade and the population, but in a completely different style to Crassus’s gold driven style.

"Trojan, please have someone sent to Shang Yang, let him know that we have a capable Minister who has joined us." Dom ordered kindly, to which Umako bowed his head again in gratitude to the compliment.

"I intend to bring another person here, and then I will introduce you to key members of Riverside." Dom explained, "Would you like something to eat?"

As Dom said this, Gregorios appeared with a plate of different fruits and meats that had been grown or cured in Riverside since it’s founding, allowing Umako a chance to taste the City before exploring it.

"Thank you, I would like that." Umako replied as he took at seat near to the fire that had been lit earlier. He saw with his legs apart so that his sword rested across his thigh. Each bite of his food measured and delicate. Dom watched him for a second, interested in his new Hero whose every action seemed measured and thought through. He was sure that Shang Yang would be a fan of him.

"System, please use my next roll." Dom asked again, excited to see what would come up next.

[Military or Domestic]

"Domestic again please." Dom continued, thinking he should have just said that in the first place.

[Senator, Explorer or Entertainer]

Dom didn’t feel that his choice was hard, as much as both an Explorer or an Entertainer could achieve things, a Senator was more what he needed. An Entertainer was ruled out straight away with little thought, but the Explorer did tempt him slightly.

"Senator." Dom replied quickly, confident this was the right choice. Regardless of which historical time or country, most Senators would have a wide range of knowledge and most would have some skills in managing, which could lead them to be a future Mayor or a key member of his Government.

[Rolling for Senator Hero...Marcus Tullius Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Hero Grade - B+/Military Grade - D

Hero Strength - Master Statesman and Great Thinker.

Cicero was a major Senator during the end of the Roman Republic, having been involved in key aspects from the original founding of the Triumvirate to dealing with the aftermath of Caesars assassination. He was a renowned Senator, who was skilled in Law and Governance. He was also a keen Orator, Writer and Philosopher. With his ideas leading to trigger parts of the Renaissance over a thousand years after his death.

His actions at the end of the Republic, in aligning with Octavian against Antony, propelled the young Octavian on his path to eventually becoming the first Emperor of Rome. He had performed in numerous different roles throughout his career in Government, both Domestically and Militarily, including governance of key provinces.]

Another door opened and a large man, with thinning short white hair appeared. He seemed to be in his late fifties or early sixties and was one of Dom’s oldest Heroes in terms of real age, rather than historical age. He wore a white Toga, and brown sandals, whilst in his hand was roles of parchment.

He looked around the room, at Gregorios first who was handing some food to Umako. He then looked at Umako with a strange eye, before looking down at the sword that was on his waist. He finally turned to Dom, bowing his head politely before introducing himself.

"I am Marcus Tullius Cicero, but I am happy to be called Cicero. Unless my brother Quintus is around, or my son as it then get’s confusing." Cicero announced politely.

"I am Lazarus, welcome to Riverside." Dom replied with a smile, standing up and walking towards the man. "Over there is Umako who has also just joined Riverside, and one of my guards Gregorios."

"A Hoplite?" Cicero studied as he looked over Gregorios’ armour and the sword strapped to his waist.

"Yes, and a very good one." Dom replied, Gregorios standing taller as Dom complimented him. Before slouching when Dom finished. "But he does talk a lot and thinks he knows everything."

"Greeks." Cicero laughed bitterly, "They are known for it, but some of what is said is quite good."