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[Splint]

I am so glad the progress triggers worked. 

They'll have to scrape the barrel once industry picks up to afford the steel items needed to outfit even a single squad, but the fact remains they can easily make the bridge guard the best armed in the kingdom through nothing but the stated purpose: The flow of trade. Couple that with veteran warriors to fill it, and train more, and there's a very real shot at actually being able to push back a bit once the place has fighting men to spare, to say nothing of resuming the export of goods unexpected of human hands.

[Cathar]

Yes ! Precisely ! Thanks again for the trick to enable commerce with dwarves. There is still a lot to be done, at this rate, even bronze equipment feels like a luxury, but if we don't mess up our diplomacy, we are on the rails to eventually have full steel gear. That will take time, but we just finished our first year in, after all.

Also a thing I should have mentionned : the elves of Iferifiyopi and the dwarves of Nishtiz, both trading with us, are at war with each other. So not only Kimaeslo Ori is a bridge between East and West Oak, it's also a bridge between two nations at war.

As for Ozo and his pet bunny, they've been promoted !

[Cathar]

Winter 150

The return of the monkeys

The winter was mostly uneventful and this update will be a little bare – as nothing of note happened. Only in early december, at the very beggining of the season, probably pushed south by the coming cold, a band of roving rhesus monkey came far too close to town.



They moved very quickly in the direction of the bridge – the militia was alerted but remained on stand-down. Fighting on the unfinished bridge was a receipe for disaster. Luckily, they bumped into the guildmen camping outside, who drew out a collection of knives hidden under their robes, engaging the wild creatures on their own.



One of the yak cows charged one poor helpless monkey, tearing its guts out with a horn strike then hoofing it on the ground. Pack animals are dangerous.

During the confrontation, Lesno took out his own axe and tried to help.



But fell in a trap before he could give assistance to the guildmen. Only after the confrontation could the Thaguk Alnos release him from his binds. Soon, all the mnkeys were dead or fleeing, and the crisis was averted. Monkeys are violent, if small, and the amount of damage they can cause by disrupting the peace, stealing valuable items and ganging on children and animals is horrendous.

This time, all went well. But concerns are arising about the guildmen – if the attackers are only monkeys, all is good, but shall Osme attack again, they would be totally wiped out. Something would have to be done before it happens.

The militia

A step up in the militia training had occured with the integration of Ipan as a spear instructor – it took him a bit of time to organize the group into a fighting force, but in winter 150, a first sparring match could safely be organized.





Ralin was still way under the level of her instructor, but managed in the end to score a couple hits anyway. For someone learning to fight only to be able to self-defend, that was a good sign. The militia was clearly stepping up their game.

Other factoids

Because of the relative calm of the season, the extraction of domolite bricks went particularly fast and multiple projects could be furthered. First, the farmers guild was being upgraded from wood to stone and a whole floor was completed. Multiple green glass windows were stuck into dolomite frames so the building was properly iluminated during the day. The saved wood was then reused to make floors for buildings.

The bridge was furthered also – a real noble palace was planned as a second building to be made on the gigantic bridge. Once it is complete, the old, smaller palace would then be converted in an administrative center, leaving the nobles to enjoy their rightful due of wealth and prestige, far from the working administrative class.

Another project undertaken was the completion of the city wall, and the construction of a trash compactor, to dispose of the non metallic garbage. Both proiject are still unfinished at the end of year 150.



Last but not least, Ozo has been promoted Bookeeeper of the Thaguk Alnos and started to make an inventory of the city's possessions. He has been given a small office and his personal bedroom is under construction.



When the next migrant wave come, other administrative nobles should be promoted and applications are welcome.

That's all for this season. Very calm winter indeed.

[Cathar]

Those months spent in the new Kimaeslo Ori, under the rule of the Thaguk Alnos proved themselves extremely calm. Nothing, to be sure, when compared to the permanent chaos that was the rule of the Aconilun. Maybe the population was still small and more tightly held together, or maybe the pearlites had learnt the lesson dearly paid for by the prior inhabitants of the bridgetown. Regardless, it seemed at this point that the community was on good tracks and would prosper in the future.

The life, death and return of Kamloc

Kamloc always had been a woman of odd jobs.She came in Thomocemir soon after its fundation in year 132, and worked where the work was needed, mostly in agriculture and fish cleaning.  Shehad no noteworthy story – she was unmarried and childless, content with her lot in life. She was good friends with Lasteret the scribe, and Lemann, Thomocemir's supply officer, and had no known relative.
To follow her friend Lastret, she came to Kimaeslo Ori in 144 and worked as a farmer. However, she was one the the first to suffer from the the chaos that was the Aconilun.


In november 145, after starting a brawl in the tavern, about a year after her arrival in the bridgetown, she was expelled and started wandering aimelessly in Minbazkar.

When the Aconilun fell in 149, she then came back to undress the corpses but died soon after in winter 150, after trying to cross the frozen water on foot. She was not part of the Thaguk Alnos and because she drowned, her body was not retrieved.

Because she was not part of the government of the bridgetown, people did not made anything of her death. It was sad – but not unexpected. She was simply another nameless soul to join the pile of nameless souls in Kimaeslo Ori.

However, one day of spring, the other vagrants came to see Histamine in terror. Kamloc, they said, had returned from the great beyond.




As  it turns out, pearlites do want to be remembered. A sstone slab was commissionned to the quarry to memorialize her. This is, after all, the goal of that very diary – to insure that the people who built Mong Kima do not go totally forgotten after their passing.

New inhabitants galore

The town is growing more prosperous – a far cry from the corpsebin it was in 149. The living space have mostly been cleaned and the production of barter goods – mostly made of bone and cloth, but also from wax and leather – was now in full effect. Those craft materials were chosen forr their renewability and the fact they would not offend their elven clients.

Admittedly, the walls were not finished and were not uniformly high at this point, but even so they would encircle the totality of the town. Multiple metal drawbridges would transform themselves into impenetrable walls at the pressure of a lever and the militia was armoring up and starting to make themselves into a competent fighting force.

All to say – the town was looking a more and more attractive prospect to pearlite villagers and vagrants. And in spring 151, a large group arrived.

The group was comprized of Dotep, Setoc, Ramet, Vispol,Sasir, Othla, Desli, Nemen, Ur, Enthep, Komo, Badu, Nelti, Anthis, Uja, Reloth and Omud

It was mostly old people whose skills were not very relevant to the needs of the town, but any help was good to take at this point – if anything, to build the bridge, to operate the furnaces and to clean the streets.

Among those people, one of them stood a bit above the other : Dotep Umcostuthid, the retired knight.



In his youth, Dotep has been a skald – settling in the (at the time) lively town of Edetledir where he composed and performed a poem My Friend Emancipation. Soon recognized by an elven Iferifiyopi poet by the name of Liceyi Yarareifada, who introduced him to her band of menestrels, the Azure Saviors. Dotep left his wife and Erod, his newborn son to study with his new master. He authored more poems with his new group.

Less than a year later, he came to miss his family and reunited whith his wife in the border fort of Tetzobsha and had two other children two girls named Sirris and Turot.

Not finding the success he wanted in Tetzobsha, he moved with his family in tow to the border fort of Thomocemir. That decision would cost him dearly, as his wife was killed soon after during an Osmite raid. Dotep joined the knights of Thomocemir and served under Sworncaptain Imic – until a deep wound left him unable to carry his shield – at this point, he retired and his son, Erod, took his place in the army.

Dotep is a highly skilled swordsman, but with only one functionning arm, cannot serve a fighting rτle anymore. Giving him a temporary instructor position may be a good idea – in the meantime, he decided to help Ador at the quarry. Thanks to his timely efforts, stone could be extracted and promptly carved into a slab, which was in turn engraved with a memory of Kamloc. Soon after, thevisions of the floating body over the water ceased.

A visit from the elves

Another noteworthy new face was Sacir, who presented himlself as a simple peasant with a juvenile dog, but soon  appeared to have a darker past.

Indeed, if Dotep had a good – if short experience living with the elves of Iferifiyopi, Sacir was far from sharing his opinion, and it became apparent when the elven merchants came to town.



« I'm no one to raise troubles » he said to Histamine, who still held the title of Leader of the Thaguk Alnos. « But is the central government aware that we are trading with Iferifiyopi ? »

Histamine shrugged. « We if they aren't ? » she asked. « We trade with whoever we want – why would they object to it ? »

Sacir looked a bit offended by the question, but then remembered that the new generations were not exactly aware of the history of their country – and how fundational was the massacre of Kostupu.

It was in year 116, Sacir explained. The pearlite central army, under the leadership of War Minister Lubbe, had been called to protect the western settlements against elven raids. They were attacked by a large fighting force of over a thousand heads and suffered a defeat – scrambling their remaining forces, they gathered in the village of Kostupu to recover and replenish their forces – but were then attacked again.

The elves only spared the children – men, women, soldiers and villagers were all slain by the Iferifiyopi army. Since the massacre of Kostupu, Mong Kima permanently lost its ability to muster large central forces and now has to rely on local militias to protect its settlements. Every later military doctrine – the construction of border forts, the formation of Thomocemir Knights and the Riverguard, the retributive strike against Pilalene – were all made to prevent another Kostupu from occuring.

« There are daggers behind their kind words » he warned Histamine. « And the teeth they smile with will eat human flesh if given the opportunity.
-I will then make sure they do not get that opportunity. » the leader promised.



Commerce with elves was nothing special this month either – elves are not known for the quality of their craft good – and the exchanges consisted mostly of grown fire wood and some animals (including a breeding pair of tame oppossums) against cloth and bone craft goods. Various additional gifts were made to insure the continued good will of Iferifiyopi elves and they left after a few days.

Miscellaneas

A couple of other news should be mentionned here.

First, we have our first birth in the town ! It's a baby boy by the name of Elloz, son of the clothier Theb and his wife Dag. We are now 39 souls in the Thaguk Alnos. Soon we shall become a real village.

Second, the library is officially in use !

People from the village and vagrants use the building to read the works of the late Jalew and to discuss scientific and philosophic matter. Although we are unlikely to make groundbreaking discoveries, this furthers the litteracy of the people of the bridgetown, and conversations between residents and vagrants will also, probably, further good intelligence between communities.

Third : there was a migration of sea otters during the string, and we captured a female. There are still others otter running about – if we can catch a breeding pair, we maybe can start a herd. Who know ?  Regardless, more animals mean more opportunity for Figaro to hone his skills.



And last – words from Thomocemir say Osmite troops are lurking about. This spring, they ambushed and catched two child snatchers. They catched them alive after they yield, and are now detained in the border fort. Activity from Osme is never a good thing and we should prepare. We commission more copper armors.

[Sir Knight]

This is so neat!  I love it.

Your depiction of the ghost looks particularly like it belongs somewhere, maybe a menacing poster or the cover of a horror videogame or something.

But speaking of depictions, what did you intend the background to be in this image?

Spoiler: Dotep Umcostuthid (click to show/hide)

To me, it looks like bubbles within glass tanks, which wouldn't be quite appropriate here (though it also would be awesome).  Mushrooms in the caverns?

[Superdorf]

He's a miner, so probably!

[Cathar]

Oh yes, precisely. I was trying to be consistent with my depiction of underground flora taking over the caves

[Sir Knight]

Ooooh, cave flora.

[HakuryuVision]

I'm an absolute sucker for these kind of things.
Bizarre and dark subterranean worlds filled with bioluminiscent fungi?
Sign me up!

Glad to see things are going better than for the previous bridge dwellers.
Btw, hows Toki doing?

[Cathar]

Summer 151

If any conclusion could be made on the state of affairs of the kingdom of Kima and its denizen during those past years, is they had a potent drive to recolonize the bridgetown of Kimaeslo Ori. Be it for its historical relevance, its strategic importance or the precious ressources that were lost within its walls, the simple opportunism of faraway settlers wanting to establish themselves in a more prestigious community, or that of, simpler still, vagrants in search of a home – migrants were coming in the town in large numbers.

Leader of the original seven vagrants who came here, almost two years ago, in late autumn 149, Histamine was still considered as the general authority in the hamle... but with the amount of migrants, most of whom were of higher status – some were older, other had participated in historic wars or were accomplished artists and craftmen. Although having spearheaded- the recolonization effort – be it by pure happenstance – carried a fair bit of prestige, this paled in comparison of men like Dotep or Sacir, who, respectively fought the Osmites in Thomocemir, and survived the massacre of Kostupu.
It was becoming more and more obvious she would not be able to cling to her authority forever : when the town have grown enough, a proper lord will have to be decided.

Maybe it was for the best, actually. The position was a bit stressful for her – being the informal leader of a group of friend was very different from organizing the urban development of a town.

Miscommunication

The guildsmen arrived  in town in late June, carrying an assortment of goods produced in the eastern settlements. Some craftgoods, a bit of metal, small domesticated animals and some raw materials.
With Uquur disapearance, the guild was left headless and would not take orders. Their function had devolved from kingdom-wide trade planning to loosely connecting the settlements to each other.

Still, even in its diminished form, the traders guild was the strongest link between the various pearlites hamlets and towns, and had such retained a lot of power. Moreover, as trade was the only possible source of tin for Kimaeslo Ori, cooperatrion with the guild was necessary for the production of military-grade bronze.



They started to unpack their goods in the dedicated market place, same as the previous year, and started to propose their goods. Some of them were interesting to the small town – mostly iron and tin goods – and Histamine was sent to negociate them for the town production, mostly comprized of bone, cloth and wax crafts – necklaces, earrings and the like.

« I cannot give metal for cloth and bone » the merchant said. « I cannot sell those back to the settlements – don't you have anything else to sell ? »

Of course, he was lying. Last year, he would probably have bartered more dyed cloth rolls of great value to Kimaeslo Ori.

But this year, however, they were met by a Histamine who actually learnt the value of trade goods. A long argument ensued. Hgistamine tried to offer a compromize – less metalware for more craftgoods, maybe ?  The guildsmen would not have it.

« We know that Luki was killed in Kimaeslo Ori » he said, « And  she was carrying jewlery made out of  the bones of Cobim, the dragon. We'll trade our wares for those jewlery. »

Cobim had been a female dragon who, during all antiquity, was terrorizing the subcontinent, antagonizing all countries, rampaging hamlets and fortresses alike – and have been a general threat to the region until its eventual demise in year 130, where it has been slain by Luki and her group.



When Luki arrived in march 146, she was carrying on her person a wealth of dragon bone jewlery – she was using that wealth to barter for her living expenses. When she was killed, a year later during an Osmite siege, those bracelets and amulets made out of dragon bones were lost and the guild had been trying to recover them since.


Testop Elthep, the bracelet recovered by Kashi two years ago, was one of those artefacts


« We have been recovering some of them » Histamine assured. « But we're not parting from them for that low a price – and there's nothing in you wares that would account for them. »



Offended, the merchants left immediately. They would come back next year – they said, but no market would take place this summer. Surely, a gift would be needed next year to appease them and keep the peace with the rest of the kingdom, but Histamine had her eyes on a much, much more lucraftive trade in autumn with the merchants from Nishtiz. This year she hoped to have her hands on the first scraps of dwarven iron – and for that, dragon bones could surely be traded.

The kid has grown up

The 8th of July saw a new wave of immigration. This wave was comprised of the following people : • Owba, cheese maker
• Sas
• Fensast
• Sota, planter and pig enthousiast
• Sitsu, Armorer

and more importantly, Uzu, son of Asin, brother of late Dengusa and grandson of Jalew, the previous lord of Kimaeslo Ori.

Usu trained a bit under sworncaptain Imic, but was too young to enter under arms. In an attempt to help the border fort of Thomocemir, he carried out several small mercenary work for travellers and local patrons. In 142, he accompanied Islas Candoalu, the Wild Swordsaint, to Bugikawe, to escort a traveller back to his wife. During that travel, he fought – and slain – a twilight monster.



He was then the one to report the massacre of Tetzobsha which prompted the retaliatory attack against the royalty of the elven kingdom of Pilalene. When the fires of war calmed down, Uzu became the protector of the village of Lemhuhqihu under Lord Ulet.

Uzu came to Kimaeslo Ori for multiple reasons. Finding revenge for his maternal grandparents, Lord and Lady Jalew and Sug – but more importantly, finding a new sword master and improve his skills as a fighter. He had heard that Dotep – his father in law – had been given a position as a sword instructor in Kimaeslo Ori and wanted to enlist. Even tho his skills were somewhat lacking for a Thomocemir taught swordsman, he was received immediately.



The teal wasp rises and other developments
Among the thing that all this new blood bringed to Kimaeslo Ori was a petition : indeed, they wanted to organize as a farmer's guild and wanted a place to gather and insure the transmition of the knowledge of their profession.

At this point in time, the farmer's guild building had already been fully renovated, Its decrepit wooden wall had been replaced by solid masonry and multiple glass windows were givbing the structure a very luminous aura – if a bit eerie.

The new guild, taking the name of The Teal Wasp, was immediately recognized as the town's official farmers guild, and was given the building.

With the arrival of so much new blood, Totten's squad could finally be completed. New gear was tailored for the new soldiers. After some trial and error and some evaluation of the cost in materials and labour, an uniform of sort was devised for the footsoldiers


Toki, in campaign gear

That uniform would consist of a bronze weapon, copper mail shirt and pants, and copper plate helm, a leather breastplate, gloves and boots and a wooden shield. That gear, a straight upgrade from the equipment of the Aconilun, would still be manageable in terms of metal and fuel, would allow to field multiple squads of reasonable capability.

Heavier full-armor, similar to Totten's current gear, would only start production after the Thaguk Alnos could outfit two or three regular squads.

As for Toki specifically, he had been training very hard, and is now an adept axeman. When he reaches the level of mster or grandmaster in his weapon, he'll be free to either be promoted to the rank of axe instructor, or be released into the civilian life where he would resume his lumberjacking business (let me know which do you prefer!)



Noloc's long walk

Behind every werebeast rampage, there is always a long story to be told, and the story of Noloc was not an exception.

Noloc was born in the year 112 in Beruime, a large seaside town of the kingdom of Luhmong, in the deep, deep south of the known world, from a clerk mother and a farmer father – he was the youngest of a siblinghood of six.

His father, Nocam, was a war hero. Before turning to the work of the earth, he was a soldier and participated to the war against Sotukosta, the local goblin empire – in a battle that inflicted them a crippling blow.

Noloc ambitionning to become like his father and siblings – either a laborer or a mercenary – but like in any story worth telling, things did not go according to plan.

In march 122, the wereskink Rusna attacked the familial farm – Noloc jumped on the monster and successfully drove him away, but was severely wounded in the process. Noloc managed to recover, and the next month, all his wounds were miraculousely healed – it took a whole year for the town of Beruime to understand that he had been infected by the curse.

Rusna, the original monster, would then continue his own story that would eventually lead him to Minbazkar, where he would start a whole new curse strand, and finally meet his end in 132 in Thomocemir.

Spoiler: Thomocemir, 132 (click to show/hide)

During that time, Noloc was hiding in the Indigo Steppe, the general area around Beruime, surviving on wild game and straying cattle for a few years, then his track was lost.

He reappeared during the full moon in August 151 in Kimaeslo Ori – attracted by the pack animals the vagrants kept around the bridge. Spotting a white yak through the leaves and branches, the cold blooded creature slithered its way in the forest and jump on the creature.

Its caretaker, a vagrant by the name of Strospi, tried to intervene – but the monster Noloc had become overpowered and mauled him very quickly.
Turning its savagery toward the yak, it attacked, clawed and bit through the thick fur of the animal – who responded with an equally savage flurry of horn and hoove strikes.

The commotion soon woke up the other vagrants nearby – one of them, Ramstom, pulled out a boning knife and rushed to the aid of the bovine.



Multiple stabs later, Noloc bled to death on the sylvan ground. Ramstom, with its clothes in tatters, survived his wounds – a fate probably worst than death. With this amount of bites on his body, it was obvious that the man was infected, and this much was made clear to the member of the Thaguk Alnos the next morning.

Not being a member of the Thaguk Alnos, quarantining him was not possible – exiling him wasn't either. Because the Thaguk Alnos had absolutely no doubt he would transform next full moon, a small pack of wardogs was stationned next to his camp spot.

It was probably the only alternative to straight up murder to prevent an epidemic.

[Haspen]

That is some lore-slash-horror update this time.

[HakuryuVision]

If he reaches a high level of skill in axefighting, make him an instructor.
Woodchopping can be done by anyone, if needed by more than one.
But i like the thought of him passing on his axe skills to several students. I think it's safe to say mong kima needs more abled fighters.

And i feel sorry for Ramstom.
Poor soul. : (

[Cathar]

Unfortunately, the werebeast curse thrives upon the instinct of people to defend themselves and each other... From Rusna to Noloc, and from Noloc to Ramstom, there's an unbroken line of people trying to drive the monster away, only to become monster themselves.

Also alright, as soon as Toki gets his master status, I'll promote him to his own squad and expend the military drastically. Probably in early 152.

Next update, I'll make a quick rundown of the current state of our military forces, which are becoming quite capable.

[Haspen]

Also, am I a ~~dorf~~ Pearlite in this iteration? I forgot if I joined ;v

[Cathar]

No I don't think so, but of course the doors are always open. And since the different forts occur in the same world, characters from previous iterations are still alive in this one.