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This is why I always wear mittens during sex.
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Dec 2, 2023 18:45
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Mechanical Ape posted:This is why I always wear mittens during sex. Sin guante no hay fiesta!
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Dec 4, 2023 04:16
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Way back in part four there was an incident with an indignant engineer that resulted in workers and engineers quarters being unofficially segregated. Our best employees deserve the best accommodations. We will provide Engineers with special, separate living quarters. Now we get a chance to make that official policy, and give the engineers nicer digs to boot.   It takes a while to finish the upgrade, for two reasons.   Engineers' Lodgings are almost identical to base game Houses, but more expensive. You can just upgrade tents directly, and they can hold the same number of occupants. The problem is we also just brought in the fifty workers from Site 120, so I need to be spending the wood on regular tents and roads at the same time as upgrades are going on, and the math is hard in base-8.  Sir, we noticed that one of the engineers is sending very long letters to "Aunt Bertha" almost every day. They regard family and religious matters and seem innocuous, but the German sounding name of this "aunt" raised our suspicions. We found out that by rearranging certain letters we can form sentences such as "shaft rotor" or "iron coupler." We also found "flu rhino" and "cackle gran" but this might be code. What should we do about this engineer? Well this is clearly a dangerous conspiracy that we must devote all of our resources to in order to prevent their dastardly plot from coming to fruition! Spoiler alert: nothing happens.  Sir, people we rescued from Workers Camp - those who fled from the failed generator site - are unhappy with life in our camp. They complain about workplace safety and overtime. They call the work conditions inhumane. They claim that our camp resembles their own too much. What's worse, people listen to them and grow anxious. In the canon run, we let these guys complain freely. In this timeline, they are beaten so badly that two workers eventually need to be sent home.   All engineers are accommodated in better conditions than workers. Ah, finally! And it only put us out by about 175 steel. So far.  An overseer asks to talk to you in private. After making sure nobody can hear you, he confesses to killing the missing strike leader. "It went down like this. I and some friends grab this guy, just to have a little talk, make him see reason. He won't listen, starts a fight, slips, smashes his stupid noggin on a kerb. Oh bother. We buried him in freshly poured concrete under the generator. With your blessing, I hope." Well, that all sounds extremely likely and above board. The game tells you that commending the overseers here like I did results in workers occasionally disappearing, and that is actually exactly what happens: you don't get a notification or a body to bury, you just notice every so often that one of your workplaces is suddenly down a man.    To maintain the necessary level of efficiency, Convicts can be used as involuntary workforce. Thanks, Thirteenth Amendment! Wait, wrong country. This is the signature ability of the Engineers law, the source of the "class 0 employees" the Foreman mentioned once or twice.    With proper infrastructure to house the convicts in place, we can now request them to be shipped from the homeland and put them to work. Convicts are cheaper to maintain than workers and, for obvious reasons, much less prone to striking. The "proper infrastructure" is a big ol' prison that can hold 25 Convicts, a new population class separate from Workers and Engineers. Penal colonies must be built within range of a security outpost, and Convicts must be put to work in a workplace that is also in range of a security outpost (not necessarily the same one).    Penal Colony has been established. Convicts only count against your Logistical Limit by 1 apiece, half that of a Worker and a quarter that of an Engineer. They also only get half the rations.  Sir, a worker's mother writes him that his brother was shot dead during a demonstration against conscription, a highly controversial new measure introduced in the second year of the Balkan War. Young people have been protesting it from the start, but this is the first time the mechanised lancers were sent against them. The real-life Balkan Wars took place in the early 1910s, so something in the Frostpunk timeline apparently caused them to start about 25 years early. If you've been wondering why we don't get automatons in this scenario, well, apparently they're too busy being used as armed "mechanised lancers" back home.   22 convicts arrive and are put to work on the Generator, as soon as I remember to put a security outpost up next to it.  Sir, our first transport of convicts is here and workers are upset. Some of them gathered by the docks to watch the convicts arrive, then started to vent their frustration, hurling insults and stones at them: "Look at this scum, come to steal our jobs. We don't want your kind here!" The working class blames the lowest caste of society for their problems rather than the state which enabled the existence of that caste. Tale as old at time.   In order to meet the medical needs of employees, Convicts can be kept out of health facilities. Sometimes there's only one line of dialogue when you sign a law, or none at all like in this case. I'm not sure why that is.  Sir, the head overseer is here to discuss with you the expansion of the penal-industrial cooperation. "Look, workers love nothing more than to stir trouble. We could arrest the most rebellious ones for slacking off or minor theft or whatever and move them to penal colonies. There they will work more and eat less. And think how it will motivate the rest to behave! Deal?" So, anybody surprised that this is generally thought of as the fascist path compared to the communist path of the workers?  We took the Steam Cores we were offered by mistake. The old storekeeper waved us goodbye and left us with the precious loot. The foragers in this universe successfully took the steam cores from the French storehouse and contact was never lost.  Some Irish republicans arrived on the latest convict transport. This causes tensions, as many convicts hate the idea of sharing a cell with the "micks," as they say - a feeling the Irish return in full. Shall we keep them separate? This is one of those choices between raising discontent or lowering motivation. I go for the one that seemed more likely from a roleplaying perspective. By the way, you may have noticed by now that it's a lot harder to keep Motivation up in this path.  A second penal colony will allow us to use up to fifty convicts at once, enough to fully staff a section of generator construction.  Known troublemakers and malcontents can be convicted without trial. This should fill the involuntary workforce pool nicely! So at the beginning of the Engineers tree we got the ability to turn Workers into Engineers, and now we can turn them into Convicts. So much potential social mobility in this scenario!    You introduced the "Roundups" law as planned. At this point I already had 25 more convicts en route so I never actually use the ability.  Fully staffing a workplace with convicts lowers the strike risk, and once the final law is signed they can also be made to work more efficiently at the cost of safety.   To try to help counteract the generally lower motivation in this timeline I have the cookhouse serving cocaine pills again. Along with the occasionally disappearing workers, the number of workers is just gradually ticking down now.  We lied to the Frenchmen that the train will be here soon. They did not try to stop us when we left with their food. In what alternate-historians will one day unanimously agree to classify as a dick move, the foragers con the French workers at the freight terminal out of their last bits of food.   A group of workers comes to complain about the constant surveillance. "I'm doing my best, boss, believe me!" says an experienced fitter. "But I feel like a criminal with all these overseers watching over my shoulder. Show us you trust us. Get rid of at least one security outpost." Refusing to dismantle a security outpost raises the general strike risk, but it's resting low enough that a strike doesn't actually happen this time.  Work on the generator continues.  Sir, an engineer is here to present his new surveillance concept. "Building upon Jeremy Bentham's panopticon idea, I designed a structure that would allow a handful of overseers to monitor the convicts at all times. This will ensure that they work with the highest efficiency." Should we implement his plans? Well, that is why we're here.  Everyone is suspect. Everyone is watched. Everyone will serve. The Engineer-equivalent to the Workers' TERROR is SERVITUDE. Yes, the all-caps is how the game renders both of those laws.   You introduced the "Servitude" law as planned. Great?   So rather than the Execution Place that TERROR has you build, you need to spend 100 steel on the Panopticon, which puts observation towers all around the perimeter of the generator and lets you use the aforementioned Forced Labour ability (increase convicts efficiency by 100% at the cost of three safety levels). It's marginally more benevolent than executing an engineer or three every day!   Panopticon has been built and manned according to plan. You don't actually need to assign anybody to the Panopticon, regardless of what the flavour text says.   And with that, we're done ahead of schedule once again! And this time, we're not sticking around a minute longer than we need to.  The huge generator slowly disappears from view, dwarfed by the mountains towering over it. You accomplished the most magnificent feat of engineering, yet the future remains uncertain. While your crew retreats to their quarters, you recall the tormented faces of convicts lashed by freezing wind. They are headed to another project aboard a prison ship. You don't think they'll see its completion. But the homeland which you are so eager to see is in disarray. The convicts won't see the new world you build, but what about your people? Was their sacrifice for someone else entirely? Goodbye for good, Site 113.  Every bold endeavour Demands sacrifice  And so We did...     Constant oversight Penal colonies Armed overseers Deporting the amputees  Can one life Be worth more than another?  Liverpool needed a chance I forced us to give it    3 dead workers 1 dead engineer 0 dead convicts  But... Was this price just?  So now we know what might have happened. I hope this foray into a darker timeline was interesting to read about, but I am glad we ultimately went with the other route. Can you believe that, including Endless Mode, we've done six scenarios so far? Only one more to go! Tune in next time for the final chapter of Frostpunk, On the Edge.
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Dec 4, 2023 05:46
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Although, this timeline was actually "safer" since there wasn't a mass execution of engineers near the end, although I don't know if things would've started popping off if you'd gone for the bonus objective.
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Dec 4, 2023 06:47
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Ah yes, the natural conclusion of fascism: slavery.
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Dec 4, 2023 08:27
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Remalle posted:
Oh my god. That's horrible! As the body decays it will create a void in the concrete right under the generator. I hope you stripped his engineer's license for such an egregious dereliction of duty.
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Dec 4, 2023 08:52
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My first post on this thread has to be for what is my favorite scenario, On The Edge. Before you start it may I suggest reading Democratic Confederalism by Abdullah Öcalan?
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Dec 5, 2023 12:49
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Smegma Princess X posted:My first post on this thread has to be for what is my favorite scenario, On The Edge. Before you start it may I suggest reading Democratic Confederalism by Abdullah Öcalan?
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Dec 5, 2023 22:07
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Here we go, let's fire up the last scenario in the whole game! Billed as Frostpunk's final chapter, On the Edge was the last expansion released, and like The Last Autumn shakes things up in some really big and interesting ways. You'll see soon. After the Great Storm has exposed an army warehouse, we are sent from New London to set up an outpost there. Times are changing, what will be our role in the coming thaw? There it is. Have a listen to the On the Edge Theme as we sit through the opening movie.  They say that the snow is dead.  But we've learnt to the contrary.  Snow is ever-changing...  Unstable...   Restless.  We survived the Great Storm.  It took away a lot from us.  Still, it gave us something in return.  Tempestuous winds brought relics of the past to light.  Ones that can bring hope for the future.  Our assignment was simple. Arrive at the site, build a reliable camp and create a stable chain of supply.  In return, we'd get food and necessities.  A square deal.  But... deals have this peculiar quality.   Just like the snow - they tend to change.   The Great Storm has uncovered an underground army warehouse from times before the evacuation. New London sent us here to build an outpost and gather any resources we find. We must rely on New London for food - there are no animals to hunt here and the ground is solid rock. Thankfully the weather is fine for now, so we should survive without the Generator until we have other ways of heating. Fittingly for the final chapter, we're back to the New London story! To be more specific, we are the team of Outpost 11, tasked with sending steel back to New London. Should be pretty low-key.    Instead of the traditional zoom into the local Generator, we get a pan over the area, showing off some big differences right off the bat. The shape of the area is rather small and narrow, nestled between a cliff face and a sheer drop. There's already a bit of infrastructure built - some roads, a Beacon, and what appears to be the ruins of a previous encampment. And most crucially - no Generator.   Our first task is to clear the road to the Warehouse and start gathering steel. And of course let's not forget to set up some tents. The night is going to be cold without a generator. This isn't The Last Autumn, we're not building a Generator here for permanent habitation. We're just gonna have to find other ways to keep ourselves warm.  Here's our objective, the Army Warehouse. We can't work this until we can get a road connected, and we can't connect a road until we clear some of that wreckage lying in the way.  And here's a closer look at the rest of the camp. As you can see, there's the usual assortment of resource piles sitting around all over the place, as well as the aforementioned ruins to the right which can be dismantled for more resources. And, of course, the eponymous cliff edge, overlooking the Frostlands; I'm sure there is no further meaning to the title of the scenario.  Since we already have a Beacon, we can see what's going on around us. Look, it's New London! Their current population is 527 (we had 684 at the end of A New Home), while we have 65 here at Outpost 11. Their Favour is currently Low; we'll see what that means in a little bit. What other wrinkles do we have to deal with?  Huh. Well, what happens if we click the locked Book of Laws button?  The Laws are signed by New London We're back to the Adaptation tree again, but nothing is signed and nothing can be signed. This should be interesting.
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Dec 6, 2023 04:35
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Oh that's very interesting, not having control over the laws you're given. I'm sure there's tech for heating, but it's not like you could go against them since they're giving you food and other stuff.
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Dec 6, 2023 07:47
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My guess is that the scenario will be able when and how to break off from New London as they go increasingly despotic/insane.
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Dec 6, 2023 08:59
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Clearly new london will fall into that giant cervice opened up next to it, and we will have to keep warm by STRIKING THE EARTH and living inside that clearly giant, mostly weatherproof army warehouse.
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Dec 6, 2023 12:25
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We will uncover a cornucopia of weapons, and go to war with New Berlin and New Paris that are surely out in the Frostlands somewhere.
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Dec 6, 2023 12:43
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Now that we're separated from New London and its propaganda factory, we can start to have ... ideas. Weird ideas. Ideas like democracy, and compassionate justice, and requiring everyone to eat their soup from bowler hats instead of actual bowls. Okay, so not all weird ideas are equally valid.
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Dec 6, 2023 20:31
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Captain's Log, Day Three Hundred and Ninety-Eight The plague outbreak appears to have been contained by enforced quarantine measures. No new cases were reported today, and the Infirmary reports two workers are fit to return to work. The Guards brought in three more troublemakers and another two suspected to be entertaining unlawful intent. Outpost Team Eleven has arrived at the former Army Warehouse site and will be expected to provide New London with regular shipments of weapons-grade steel. The Personal Diary of Signalman E. Bourchier OED (Outpost Eleven Day) 1 We made it, dear diary. My apologies for the scarcity of missives in the past few days - even now the environs outside New London are notably harsher than before the Great Storm, to say nothing of the climate before the Great Frost set in. Three pairs of mittens are scarce conducive to diary writing! To respect the gap in entries and our new residence I will be taking the liberty of counting the days in reference to our time here at Outpost Eleven. As I was writing those words Henry looked over my shoulder and laughed, but he means well as always.    There were already a functional Beacon and Stockpiles loaded with just enough materials to assemble two Gathering Posts. The engineers and I along with Bewley and a handful of others were given the privilege of working from within the shelter of a gathering post, while the others will need to make do gathering resources out in the cold for the time being.  As you can imagine, the first day saw little and less worthy of note, especially as our Outpost's raison d'être is currently made inaccessible by wreckage. Enough wood was stripped from the ruins of the old army base to ensure everybody has a tent, and our Cookhouse will be operational by dawn. Some Workshops will also be assembled so that we can perform on-site research; the Captain forbade our engineers from bringing any blueprints with them out of New London, but Robertson and the Uptons think they can recreate them from memory given time. At my request, the builders were careful to reserve enough wood to assemble sleds so we could equip our own scouts. We have a working Beacon, it would be such a pity for it to remain unused!    We can see an outline of a large, ruined building. It seems that it had several chimneys. From a distance it seems to us that we can see a cave entrance in the mountainside. We can see some kind of building standing at the foot of the mountains. We were able to note the locations of some new points of interest as we were coming in. I dispatched our newly formed scouting party to the nearest, a Collapsed Building a little bit further into the mountains. OED 2 I awoke this morning in a tent for the first time in what must have been many months. Henry and I are sharing a tent with Jane Dynham and the Percys, among others, which goes a small ways towards making this Outpost feel homey, but of course it is not the same now that we have got used to proper Houses again. Then there is the small matter that we have no steam heat for lack of a Generator!  Now we need to rebuild the Transport Depot, so we can get supplies shipped from New London before supplies run out. To get in touch with them, an Outpost Administration will be necessary. Even with a Beacon our means of signalling New London remain impractically primitive. For the kind of communication we will require a dedicated signalling facility is necessary. We will also be trying to get our Transport Depot up today in anticipation of our first outbound shipment.   We are standing in front of a ruined building whose purpose we cannot guess. It is possible that it is only a remainder of a larger complex. Perhaps it was a mountain shelter or maybe a military watchtower. A shred of a white flag flutters in the wind above it, God only knows how it survived. There's no telling whether it has always been white or has lost all colour over time. The scouts reached the Collapsed Building but were not able to find much of interest there. They found a few scraps of usable timber and moved on.  A darker line crosses the valley. Further down along the valley, the scouts spotted what appears to be a Stone Wall, perhaps indicative of past or present human habitation.   Just after luncheon it was announced that enough wreckage has been cleared that the road to the Warehouse can be rebuilt.   In preparation for when we can start gathering its Steel we have begun construction of the Transport Depot. Surveying believes the lower edge of the cliff face will be ideal for the newly-developed Steam Lorry.   Next to that will be built the Outpost Administration facility. OED 3 One of the builders gently roused me not long after midnight to inform me the line to New London has been established. I knew Hale would still be awake on the other end so I made contact. This is a facsimile of the record, in case you are interested!  Good day, Outpost 11. Well done with the progress so far. We'll send you the first food shipment soon. Now that the operation is established, we await the first batch of steel from your outpost. In the meantime, we are dispatching a group of clerks to run the Outpost Administration. Your children will arrive with them. They are surely eager to rejoin you! Remember that we can always assist you with any problems! We have to talk  Outpost 11, we read you loud and clear. How is the operation going? What is our task again?  Your task is to explore the Warehouse and retrieve as much Steel as possible. We expect at least one shipment every few days. We will be sending you food every day. We better get back to work then ... We have some problems, can you help us?  We can assist you in many different ways. What is your problem? What do you need? We need more Raw Food  Your request is granted. But keep in mind that this will take a lot of effort on our part. Thank you   There must have been some misunderstanding - our children were not supposed to join us, certainly not so soon! It won't make things any easier for us. Well, it's too late to turn them back, and at least New London promised to also send food our way. Hopefully they'll keep to the schedule. Communication with New London gave us a reiteration of our commission for official record, but they also apparently sent our children along with some clerks and raw food. It is a puzzling and unfortunate miscommunication, but such things happen even in the most ideal circumstances, of which these are not.   A wall-like rock formation crosses our path. It almost looks like the work of human hands. We noticed some snow covered shapes in a niche sheltered by the rock wall. After a while of digging we uncovered several frozen bodies huddled together by a couple of broken sleds. Judging from their clothing and gear, they were scouts like us. We also found some valuable resources on the sleds. Our scouts have found the remains of a party that must have come from a different settlement - I am aware of no records of a scouting party disappearing in this area. They reported seeing nothing of immediate note on the other side of the valley and so are returning to base with wood and steel in tow.   Sir, the clerks sent by New London to run the Outpost Administration are here. They brought out children with them. Many of our people are really upset, because it looks that our kids were neglected. They haven't enough warm clothes and some of them caught a cold on the way. But now that they are here we can take proper care of them. The Percys were furious when I returned to our tent for supper. Theirs were among the worst off of all the 15 children who arrived just now along with the 10 expected Clerks. Those Clerks are to be my staff in the Administration building; we have yet to determine what to do with the children, as we had not expected them here so soon.  The engineers replicated our previous advancements in gathering efficiency earlier, but these "Braziers" of theirs are our first wholly new technology. Without a Generator to provide central heating, these Braziers will be what keep our homes comfortable to live in in this -30 degree weather.   Sir, we have great news! The warehouse contains an unknown, but very large number of steam cores! We immediately sent the news to New London and await instructions. In the meantime, we might try to haul at least some of them to the surface. This will require stopping the steel extraction for some time. The scouts returned with enough steel that we could send our first shipment back to New London - they don't care where the steel comes from, as long as they get it on time. As we were loading up the lorry, though, one of the workers assigned to the Warehouse reported that there is a trove of Steam Cores contained within as well. We now await New London's instructions before we proceed with the shipment.  We've heard that a cache of steam cores was found in the warehouse. This is a very timely discovery, these devices are critically important for the security of our city. Please send a couple of steam cores with each steel shipment from now on. To help you ensure timely deliveries you are hereby authorised to use Emergency Shifts. If you encounter any obstacles to your progress, talk to us and we'll find a solution. Understood   To ensure the survival of the colony and boost key resources delivery rate from Outpost 11, the government of New London issues an act on the emergency shifts. From this day on, work shifts can be increased up to 24 hours. As expected, New London's Captain has decided that our mandate will be expanded to include both Steel and Steam Cores. It will make things more difficult, as the cores are heavy and difficult to remove safely, so once the preparations for extracting Steam Cores are finished we will be going on Emergency Shift. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of how all that works. Henry would like me to write down that he send you all his love, dear diary. I know he means well, no matter how loudly he laughs when he says it. It's not as if I spend that much time writing in you! I should spend some time with the dear man now, though, so I will put the pen down for now.
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Dec 10, 2023 05:42
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Uh, yay? I have suspicions here.
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Dec 11, 2023 06:03
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I'm happy for Signalman Bourchier and his husband.
Smegma Princess X fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Dec 12, 2023 |
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Dec 11, 2023 13:12
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Smegma Princess X posted:I'm happy for Signalman Bourchiour and his husband.
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Dec 11, 2023 21:24
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The Personal Diary of Signalman E. Bourchier OED 4 So much has transpired since last I wrote in you, my dear diary! Last night the gatherers assigned to the Warehouse were put on Emergency Shift, with the aim of collecting enough Steam Cores for us to send our first New London-bound shipment.   Sir, the first shipment is ready to be sent to New London. Visit the Outpost Administration and ask the clerks to open a communication line for you. You will be able to dispatch the shipment then. It took all night and morning, but the workers pulled through for us. Their complaints of frost-nipped fingers prompted the engineers to look into adapting the old Heater technology for our situation.  We acknowledge the dispatch of your first shipment. Well done! These steam cores mean a lot to our people. We are pleased to let you know that we plan to send you food shipments every day. Just keep these steam cores and steel coming! If the supplies you provide are deemed insufficient, we will have to think of some consequences. And remember, if you run into problems, let us know and we'll look for a solution. We have to talk  Outpost 11, we read you loud and clear. How is the operation going? We have some problems, can you help us? We can assist you in many different ways. What is your problem? What do you need? We need more Coal Your request is granted. But keep in mind that this will take a lot of effort on our part. Thank you  Sir, the news that New London is "pleased" to tell us that they'll keep sending us the food they owe us spread among our people, causing a lot of resentment and anxiety. And the vague "consequences" they threaten us with, shall we fail to please them, further fanned the flames of outrage. All everyone is talking about now is how we should use the steam cores to help us first, since we found them and have no generator, unlike folks in New London. My communications with New London are posted for public view in the centre of camp, and it seems some people were not happy about their wording in the latest record. Personally, I do not see what all the fuss is about; it is more probably a misunderstanding blown out of proportion than any sort of malice from our neighbours. Still, when our survival depends on their benevolence as it does, I cannot fault my team members for their concern!   It is indeed a large grotto. In the darkness filling it we find lots of animal and possibly human bones bearing teeth marks. We are in the lair of a large predator, probably a bear. A terrifying and sad place. An animal that lived here was for a long time feeding on the prey hunted in the area. After searching the cave we found the predator: a bear mother with young cubs. They are lying, huddled together, in the farthest corner of the cave. They did not survive the Great Storm. I was not yet a resident of New London when this occurred, but I recall reading the old scouting reports regarding this very bear cave. Our scouts were fortunate to escape back then; the bear was not lucky enough to escape the Storm in turn.  We can see a long building which seems to be recently repaired and inhabited - we can see smoke rising over the roof. From that location our scouts reported seeing signs of human presence nearby. If there is another scouting or outpost team in the area, New London has not informed me about them, so the scouts are en route to make contact. OED 5 I awoke shivering this morning, but at least the temperature has risen back to -20. We used some of our excess steel to place braziers near most of the tents. We are expecting a report from the scouts at any moment, so I must go relieve Roberts.   The building, once heavily damaged, has been repaired to provide some protection against the weather. Smoke is billowing from its makeshift chimney. We knock, and armed people answer the door - but they lower their weapons when we assure them of our peaceful intentions. We soon find out that we are their last hope. They are emaciated, hungry and sick, and their supplies are running out. We learn from them that previous inhabitants of this place were killed by wild animals. I have wonderful news! The scouts arrived at the Crumbling Hut, and although details are still scarce, it appears that they have encountered a group of survivors unconnected to our city! We had long wondered whether anyone else still lived after the Great Storm, and most - my Henry included - believed us to be the only people left. We now have definitive proof that other people yet live outside of New London!   The poor folks are not strong enough to make it back to New London. They will be brought back to Outpost 11 for the time being - we will need to put up more tents and braziers, and I will contact the city first thing in the morning to ensure our food shipments are temporarily increased to feed over 30 new mouths. OED 6 Not much time for pleasantries this morning, I am afraid; I must contact New London as soon as possible about sending us more food.  Outpost 11, is there a problem? You haven't dispatched the scheduled steel and steam cores shipment to us. To help you with fulfilling your duties, we grant you the right to introduce Extended Shifts. Use it wisely! We need to talk  We don't have time for that, farewell. Farewell   To ensure the survival of the colony and raise the resources delivery rate from Outpost 11, the government of New London issues an act on the extended shifts. From this day on, work shifts can be increased up to 14 hours. When I contacted New London they simply told us to increase our working hours so we could send supplies faster, then cut me off before I could bring up our food situation! It must have been that trollop Anson on the other end this morning.  Sir, workers unloading the shipment of food from New London noticed that it's quite a bit smaller than expected. The news is of course already all over the outpost, causing much anxiety and anger among our people. Let's hope it's just a mistake, not a sign of some trouble to come. Further confounding our food income imbalance is the fact that our latest food delivery was short by a quarter. We were already receiving only enough to feed ourselves day by day; with this shortfall only half the camp will be able to eat tonight. New London telegraphed not long after.  We're sorry to inform you that due to circumstances beyond our control your food supply will be reduced until further notice. We assure you that the shipments will return to the agreed size as soon as possible. We hope this inconvenience will not impede your progress. We expect you to keep the shipments on schedule. Keep up the good work! We have to talk  We don't have time for that, farewell. Farewell   Indeed, a large building stood here once. The size and number of chimneys suggest that it might have been an inn. But now their collapsed remains are all that stands among snow and ice. Before the frost there was probably a road here that led from the bay to the plains, and it must have been frequented since there was an inn beside her. The place was undoubtedly nice - at the feet of the mountains, with a view of the sea on the horizon. That's all we can guess from the ruins sticking out from under the ice. The scouts stumbled upon the heretofore undiscovered remains of what appears to have be an inn. One says she found fragments of a sign in what appears to have been French, though she is uncertain.  A small sheltered bay looks that looks [sic] promising. We think we could find something there. From there, they are able to reach a couple of previously recorded locations. The scouts are headed to the Forgotten Fishery in hopes of finding any food that may have been left behind after the Outpost there was abandoned.  We noted an exposed coal vein on the cliff face when we first arrived. We have used one of the steam cores we dug up to get a mine built, which should allow us to run our heaters and braziers indefinitely. OED 7 I forwent my morning meal today. Every bite will need to be carefully rationed for the time being, and already I hear grumbling stomachs from my tentmates and neighbours.   The engineers rigged up some wooden handcarts for the warehouse gatherers, and we expect to see a significant increase in their collection rate.  In fact, we were able to send another shipment a couple of hours after noon. Hopefully this will dispose the Captain more favourably to the needs of our Outpost.   This sheltered cove was a convenient place for fishing once, until seas froze and a thick snow cap buried everything. Strong winds blew the snow away, revealing remains of fishermen's huts. Remains of fishermen's huts and tents are scattered among the ice. The wood is crushed to splinters, it won't be of any use to us. Unfortunately there were barely any fish worth speaking of at the old Outpost. We will keep the scouts exploring for the time being.  This is undoubtedly the building of the observatory belonging once to the British Royal Society. Sturdily built, it seems to have survived the storm intact. They have visual confirmation that the Observatory still stands, and are headed over to see if anything else of note survived.   We have already gathered a good amount of wood, and now have two sawmills fully staffed. We can use it to increase the efficiency of our gathering within the parts of the warehouse that would normally be deemed too close to collapse to risk entering.  A sturdy watchtower stands on the hilltop. This must be Nansen's Storm Watch, which our scouts visited before the Great Storm. Five of the healthiest of our new arrivals were organized into a second scout unit, and sent out to Nansen's Storm Watch to see if anything survives there. I will attempt to reach New London once more before I turn in for the night.  Outpost 11, we read you loud and clear. How is the operation going? We have some problems, can you help us? We can assist you in many different ways. What is your problem? What do you need? We need more Raw Food This is clearly a resource management problem on your side, but we have an idea how to solve it. But...   To ensure the survival of the colony and to mitigate the temporary food shortage, the government of New London issues an act regulating the use of Raw Food. From this day on, sawdust can be added to meals in the Cookhouse. I was finally able to communicate with the city regarding our food problem, and they had a solution... after a fashion. Our sawmills will now see double duty as filler production! Needless to say, this is not the resolution we sought! I am praying they see fit to send us more real food soon - even in our poorest days in Kent and in New London we never had to resort to eating sawdust.
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Dec 13, 2023 01:27
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This deal is getting worse all the time.
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Dec 13, 2023 05:34
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loving sawdust. Bastards.
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Dec 13, 2023 08:56
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Time to start building up supplies of torches and pitchforks.
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Dec 13, 2023 09:01
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Super rude, the thread demands soup, not sawdust!
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Dec 13, 2023 11:39
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What utter shits.
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Dec 13, 2023 15:36
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I'm assuming New London has basically no leverage if you're able to build up a food supply, since they even sent over the They don't really seem to be in a place to mount an invasion, especially if you're the ones supplying them with steel and steam cores.
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Dec 13, 2023 19:29
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I can see where this is going. We have an army depot after all.
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Dec 13, 2023 20:55
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When we get to Molotovs, they both burn things and provide warmth, desperate warmth...
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Dec 14, 2023 06:53
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The Personal Diary of Signalman E. Bourchier OED 8 My dear diary, the mood around our little settlement has been positively mutinous since the last transmission from New London! Would you like to know the worst part? I took an accounting of our new food production capabilities with added sawdust, and, would you care to guess? We still will not have enough! The city must surely see reason if I bring this up with them during our next communication, must they not...?   Close up, it turns out that the building is not in such good condition as it seemed. The walls are partly collapsed, the dome's structure is damaged, and part of it fell inside. The roof dome collapsed a long time ago, probably under the weight of snow, allowing the Arctic climate to complete the work of destruction. The Great Storm took the rest. There is nothing here for us. Our brave scouts continue their explorations undaunted, even though they find little more than ruin wherever they tread.   The engineers devised an ingenious shift system that will allow the workers in the warehouse to gather steel and steam cores simultaneously. Previously we had been switching our focus after each day's shift.  Outpost 11, we have bad news for you. The rules governing your shipments are changed. From now on food supplies will be sent only after you dispatch a shipment of steel and steam cores our way. We regret the necessity of taking such drastic measures, but they were deemed essential to facilitate timely delivery of critical supplies. We have to talk We don't have time for that, farewell. Farewell   Sir, our people are angry and anxious about the food situation. A group of experienced explorers is here to talk to you about a solution. "By cutting our food supply, New London has shown that we can't rely on them. We need to have another source of food. Fortunately, our scouts reported signs of human presence to the south. Send them to investigate! This might be our lucky break." Les fils de pute! We will surely starve. There are other survivors out in Frostland, though - perhaps our scouts can discover what their food source has been. As an aside - keep this to yourself, dear diary - we must keep an eye on this "John Johnson" (one of the newcomers rescued from the Crumbling Hut). Such an appellation must surely be an alias. OED 9 Henry brought me the ration pack with the least amount of sawdust he could find at the Cookhouse and we split the meal with Jane Dynham. It was not nearly enough, but there was just enough flavour that I could close my eyes and imagine it was a croissant and not a table leg.   Sturdily built, Nansen's Storm Watch survived the storm and rises proudly over the snow. It was here that we have seen the last traces of the fearless polar explorer. Its walls are free of ice; someone must be inside. Inside, we find a group of people huddled by a big stove. They say that they were rescued by Nansen from a whaling ship trapped in ice right before the Great Storm. The great explorer brought them here and ventured further north to study the changes brought to the world by the Great Storm. They survived thanks to a store of fuel and rations found nearby, which is now running out. My word, if I understand the scouts' report correctly Fridtjof Nansen survived the Great Storm and ventured further north in its aftermath! Perhaps one day he may return to us, but for now, the people he rescued are being escorted back to the safety of our settlement. More mouths to feed.   The road ahead opens and leads to a mountain terrace. The other scouting team returned with their meager spoils and headed out in the direction they believe most likely to lodge other survivors - and their food source.   Our attention is drawn to a dark, oval shape standing out in the wide white expanse - a hole in the snow, and who knows, perhaps a settlement at its bottom? The Nansen party was shown to our home and then their rescuers immediately departed again. They claim to have spotted a depression on the horizon almost exactly like New London! OED 10 I awoke this morning to a noise I had finally gotten used to the absence of. While the engineers among the new arrivals were assigned to new workshop space, the new workers had a brand new coal thumper and two attached gathering posts - built in anticipation of their arrival - ready for them to begin work first thing in the morning.  Outpost 11, you still haven't dispatched the steel and steam cores shipment to us. Our patience is wearing thin. You are hereby reminded of the need to put more effort into fulfilling your duty. I received this transmission from New London just as we were loading the transport with our latest shipment. I considered not replying, but Henry reminded me that the sooner we report the shipment sent the sooner we will receive our next meagre food delivery. We determined that this would be the opportune moment to bring up the food issue again:  Outpost 11, we read you loud and clear. How is the operation going? We have some problems, can you help us? We can assist you in many different ways. What is your problem? What do you need? We need more Raw Food No, we can't afford it. Thank you    The mountain terrace slopes gently towards the valley below. The view is promising - the valley seems cosy by the Frostland standards, and invites us to descend into it. There is nothing remarkable in the terrace itself. Ahead of us we see an isolated, cosy valley, which seems to invite us to visit. It seems the scouts will be our only hope to avoid starvation.  Every time I get off the wire with New London people swarm me asking if I have come to an agreement. Every time I must be the bearer of bad news or worse. OED 11 I hear the construction crew was busy last night setting up new braziers and moving the sawmills further into the woods for the morning shift. Now they're already back to work at their regular workplaces during the day. I am glad I have my staff to cover the night shift for me!   [img] This valley seems to have its own microclimate. It's less cold, and the waterfall, although frozen, appears to have been flowing relatively recently. Going further into the valley, we find the remains of a grove - a large number of stumps is all that's left of it. Someone cut it down, and not too long ago - we found some fresh chips under the snow. The valley widens ahead, and there seems to be a small settlement there. Success! The scouts have located a settlement, apparently located atop hot springs powerful enough to warm an entire valley.    It turns out that there is no city in the hole. Part of the ice and snow covered beach was carried away by winds of extreme force, which exposed bare rock underlying it. This is just a depression reaching all the way to the bare rock created by violent winds. One of the more striking testaments to the power of nature's forces unleashed in the passage of the Great Storm. Our maps say that proud Tesla City once stood there. Let's go see what happened to it. And less success to the other team, though they are near enough to the coordinates of Tesla City that they have decided to check on its status next.   Meanwhile, the engineers continue to dream up new ways to speed our material collection so that we may eat again.   A small settlement built under the cover of rocks, in which several dozen people live. It consists of several sturdy buildings and two large greenhouses heated by hot springs. Amazingly, people live here, and not only do they grow their own food, but they're willing to share it! This enclave of life clinging to a few hot springs was settled after the Great Storm by people from a town which survived with the help of another city. They set up the hothouses here and planted the seeds, as they say, "to pass the gift of life." They gave us some food as a gesture of goodwill, and are eager to trade more in exchange for help with expanding their settlement. Finally, the scouts have reached the other survivors' encampment! It seems they originally came from a place called New Manchester, and decided to split off and establish a settlement on the fertile hot springs. They had enough excess food to keep us alive another day once the scouts return!    Now that we found a promising food source, we should form a Construction Team unit in the Transport Depot and send them to Hot Springs to build a permanent Trading Depot. In order to ensure regular deliveries of raw food from the Hot Springs, we will be sending over 10 of our workers with enough supplies to build a Trading Depot. Finally, our food troubles are over! Remalle fucked around with this message at 06:55 on Jan 12, 2024 |
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Dec 17, 2023 06:56
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I foresee no problems coming from this! Is this the cannibalism scenario?
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Dec 17, 2023 08:07
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I see New London wasted no time in finishing out the Order tree :P
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Dec 18, 2023 21:59
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It's astonishing how bad NL has managed to go so quickly.
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Dec 18, 2023 23:44
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The Personal Diary of Signalman E. Bourchier OED 12 Good morning! The builders we sent over to our new friends at the Hot Springs last night are on their way, and our scouts on their expeditions as well. Godspeed to all of them - we are beginning to starve.    Yes, Tesla City once stood here. The testament to technology, human pride and the power of nature, written in silence and stillness. The city founded by a genius inventor, once protected by some kind of electric dome, fell into complete ruin. The most valuable resources were taken out before the Great Storm and now only packs of hungry rats roam the streets. It may be worth searching this place again, but we must watch out not just for rats but for anything, really. The place looks dangerous. I heard that the scouts took on great risk exploring Tesla City, but the lure of salvageable resources proved too much to ignore.  We got lucky, we survived and found some valuable resources. Bentinck and Jackman nearly got electrocuted by some stray static charge, but they made it. In addition to wood and steel, they found enough dead rats that we will be able to eat again for a little while once they return.   Sir, our people rejoice at the news of the food deal with Hot Springs. We might still have to somehow return the favour, but we'll do it on our own terms. The workers we sent managed to set up a Trading Depot, and with it, a signal tower. I will report back after I have established communications with our new partners, dear diary!  Hello! Your people did a great job setting up the Trading Depot so quickly. Now we can start helping each other! We are sending you our surplus of food, and we can give you more if you provide us with resources necessary to expand our settlement. We'd be grateful if you could also assist us with improving our housing and health care. One more thing  Outpost 11, greetings. What is it that you wanted to talk about? We have some problems, can you help us? How can we assist you? Tell us what you need. We need some food You ask for a lot, but we agree. We hope you'll remember about it when we need help. Thank you   We now have two shipments of food incoming from the Hot Springs, as well as the food our scouts have found! Our hungry need only hang in for a little while longer.   Dark dots mark a wide area of land, evenly covered with snow everywhere else. We see a large flat surface reflecting sunlight. A lake fed by underground sources, perhaps? The scouts head back out into Frostland, having dropped off just enough food to stave off starvation for our worst off.  Our workers at home have collected steel sufficient to satisfy New London and the Hot Springs needs alike, with the help of our brave scouts. We are now expecting four food deliveries in the near future! Oh, Roberts just informed me there is a transmission from New London incoming.  We commend you for finding another settlement and making initial contact with their representative. Their crops will provide a very timely aid to our food security. However, we have to remind you that all external connections and food distribution network are to be handled directly from New London. Immediately cease contact with Hot Springs and hand over the raw food you received! This is outrageous   Sir, people are rioting! They refuse to follow orders from New London. "No more masters!", chants the mob. "Enough is enough!". A miner waves her mattock in the air. "Bloody bastards!", she shouts. "They treat us like dirt, abuse our kids and now they want us to just give up our only hope for survival?! No way!" People have dragged the office workers from the Outpost Administration to kick them out of the outpost as they stand. Should we intervene to let the clerks prepare for the journey to New London? After the latest exchange the anti-New London sentiment boiled over. We managed to cool things down before things could get ugly, but now we must decide what to do with the most visible symbol of the city's dominion over us - the clerks. Of course they can not remain here, but will we send them back immediately or allow them time to prepare for the return trip?
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Dec 18, 2023 23:59
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Is there something that gets revealed later on in the scenario about New London? You'd think the people who were sent to found Outpost 11 would've known beforehand that things were getting bad in NL and they were going to get hosed over, but everything seems normal at the start and then starts instantly deteriorating.
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Dec 19, 2023 00:07
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Time to Prepare I guess they had a raffle to resurrect a random thing from the old world. Shame it was colonialism.
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Dec 19, 2023 00:41
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Time to prepare They don't have food to take with them and they'll likely starve on the way back. Give them some time and some rations - enough to let them make it back to New London. We're men. We're not New Londoners
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Dec 19, 2023 01:10
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Time to prepare. If we want to send a message, we want to make sure the messengers survive the trip.
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Dec 19, 2023 01:30
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Quixzlizx posted:Is there something that gets revealed later on in the scenario about New London? You'd think the people who were sent to found Outpost 11 would've known beforehand that things were getting bad in NL and they were going to get hosed over, but everything seems normal at the start and then starts instantly deteriorating. Josef bugman posted:It's astonishing how bad NL has managed to go so quickly. The answer is basically no. And honestly it's a very notable issue with the story in this scenario just how clueless the people setting up the outpost are with the mood in New London (seriously, we're talking a community of significantly less than 1,000 people here) and just how fast it all goes to poo poo. Particularly given New London was the very first scenario, in which you could decide to be an incredibly reasonable, altruistic leader, and then they've got this scenario - which is implied to be not too long after that final storm (exact timeline is unclear) - where they veer hard into being incredible dicks very quickly.
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Dec 19, 2023 02:20
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Might be a "I didn't think tigers would eat my face" situation
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Dec 19, 2023 02:25
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Are they starving to death themselves, incredible dicks, or both?
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Dec 19, 2023 02:33
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The turnaround is honestly maybe too quick to make sense. I can definitely see a situation where the out-of-sight outpost becomes an out-of-mind outpost and support falls off, but these guys apparently started using our children as soccer balls the instant we left the city limits? Kinda wild.
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Dec 19, 2023 05:11
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