You finally get around to inspecting the damage to the walls from the recent raider attack. Its concentrated around the main gate and is mostly minor. However, there is a large part of the parapet missing where Luchano de Meridi was killed. You also get around to checking up on the militia who were hurt in the attack. The one with the broken legs is fine, just annoyed that he'll be spending the next six months in bed. The two with internal injuries are more serious. You find out that one of them has slipped into a coma but that the other has been awake and talking.
You try to recall all the stories you can about the Maker's ship, the HMS Olympia. This treasure trove of Ancient technology has haunted you since your youth. You remember being perhaps five or six years old and a trading ship attempting to dock
next to the Olympia. The ash covered everything for days. Occasional gulls and the like flyover it from the wrong direction and disappear in a flash. Only two years ago a pair of young lovers seeking privacy disappeared late one night; the last play they were seen was heading for the Intake Bowl. You also have an idea: The datapad you found held an account of the fall of the Great Dish from the Control Tower. Perhaps it might hold information on the Olympia.
You order the HE-3 canister stored safely, such a precious resource must be protected in case something happened to the fuel stored in the reactor. You also have another long talk with your Tinkerers in the communal workspace. You bring up three main points. You spend some time discussing the primitive rockets you have salvaged, talking about the ideas of making your own launchers and more generally about making your own basic artillery, likely starting with mortars. There is general excitement about this idea, with the main problem being a lack of a steady supply of chemicals or explosives for warheads and propellant.
You also ask about the creation of glass domes for the gardens of Sala-Zione and explain that you are convinced that they will increase food production. They explain that they could set up machines to mass-produce more glass hexagons but that they would need a steady supply of flux and some dedicated workers.
Finally, you ask if there's anything you can do to attract more people to the communal workspace. They answer that there's not much more you could really do at the moment but once they finish some projects of clear benefit to the town then maybe more people will be tempted to join. Or that's what
they reckon. You have a few ideas on the subject yourself. Basically, you think that more Tinkerers will join once you get some more impressive machines in the workspace, the kind they would really want to use. If only in the travels of your youth you had found text on group psychology instead of nuclear fusion and mechanical engineering.
You consider the high efficiency computer unit. It's obvious that it could be used to control the Solar Forge, so you spend some time messing around with it, trying to come up with a program that could control the boosters. The OS is surprisingly easy to use and like many ancient programs when you first start it up it thanks you for using a thing that's free to all. Truly, ancient customs were strange. Since you don't have any actual real world inputs to go on, you start by devising a simple random number generator that simulates the light levels throughout different times of day and likely weather conditions. Its not really accurate, but it'll do as a baseline for testing. You then program the necessary commands for moving an actuator based on sensor input, so that it turns to reflect at the same spot. Or so you hope. All this is mostly based on your studies and working knowledge of the reactor's control systems. It doesn't have any actual application to the Solar Forge yet, but you feel a little more comfortable with the idea of actually doing it for real.
You hold an audience, what the Old People would have called a surgery, where anyone with greivences can come and be heard. Most are just townspeople come to moan a little, because they can. However, there are some that catch you attention.
Firstly, the is Mauro Proncharmi. He claims that his fifteen year old daughter was kidnapped by Suliman bin Qutira, the merchant who sold you the composite rods some weeks ago. Or at least, she disappeared just after his caravan left. He wants some kind of justice.
Some of the local fishermen come to you. They ask if you would give consider the creation of a larger fishing ship. While their little wooden sailing ships do bring in plentiful amounts of fish, some of them feel they could catch a lot more with a larger ship, particularly if it had engines.
Finally, there is some unpleasant business. Two townspeople have got into a rather serious disagreement after drinking copious amounts of brandy late last week, which resulted in them both being quite badly mutilated. It seems that one, a fisherman, bit off the other's ear and swallowed it, removing any chance of reattachment. The now one-eared gentleman, a general hauler about the town, responded by repeatedly hitting the fisherman in the face with the brandy bottle, which quickly became quite jagged. There may have also been a woman involved, but accounts vary.
One week has passed. What do you do now?
Alcide Brunelleschi: Family Armor, Laser Rifle, Hover Scout Trike (currently on loan to the Roman Embassy)
Sala-Zione:
Population:996
Major Official Buildings: The Main Building (water desalinization and machine shop), the Control Room (computers that control important stuff), The Reactor (a Sony AFIC MK23.a45 civilian Light Industrial Fusion Reactor) currently at 33.76% of fuel capacity and generating 14.94% of potential full capacity, the Control Tower (once a large coms relay unrelated to the plant but within its walls, now missing its dish and the seat of your government.
Minor Official Buildings: A small steel barrel and chain dock, painted white. A communal workspace with some machine tools, a power line and a small prototype steam engine.
Citizen Owned: A variety of houses, from rich to poor. Many small industries. A dozen tinkerers workshops, A large Solar Forge operating bellow capacity.
State Stores: 3 large caliber linear accelerator rifles, 900 6mm nickel cored Alloy tipped rounds, 19 Kalash Rifles in a poor state of repair, 4850 rounds of ammunition. 37 Arbalests in good repair with 20 pig iron bolts each. 11 crude iron muskets with 20 rounds and powder each. Three satchels of pipe bombs. A medium-large pile of assorted Alloy. A small pile of composite plates. A good stock of basic spare parts and scrap metal. A small stock of essential advanced parts and 24 spare laser power packs. 25,334.29 L of pure water. 20 Composite rods, three crates of electrical parts. 12 barrels of preserved fruit. A compact and efficient computer unit. 1 pressurized container holding 5kg of HE-3. An ☼armored exosuit☼. A small pile of knives. 6 simple HE rockets of unknown design. Some assorted trade goods (nails, bolts, torches etc).
Health: No diseases of note, an immunity to genetic plagues.
Defenses: Large Circular Pored Stone Wall, in reasonable Repair. 11 breaches filled with crude stone blocks and Alloy plating on the outside, some minor damage near the gatehouse from a recent raid. 30 dedicated Militia with Old Composite Armor and Laser Rifles, 3 out of action due to injuries. 2 Rocket launchers with 2 HE and 2 incendiary rockets remaining.
Food Supplies: Adequate. A sudden shortage could cause problems.
If you notice stuff that should be here but isn't, please tell me. Likewise with any suggestions I may have missed.
Author
Topic: You are a Lord of the Wastes (Read 26154 times)