PRAISE KOTZAR!
(4) Kotzar gives Inspirational Speech: eS, Cnidaros, NAV, King Zultan
(2) Make Kotzar mentor the Katzarin: Cnidaros, blueturtle1134
Shelter:
(3) All colonists on shore continue making igloos, using construction tools: Cnidaros, NAV, King Zultan
-(3) Those not fit for labour to make more warm coats, using remaining feathers and necessary leather: Cnidaros, NAV, King Zultan
(1) Use the excavator and relevant experts to assist in construction: Cnidaros
(4) Don't use the excavator to construct: Andrea, King Zultan, blueturtle1134, NAV
(2) Make nice tents with all remaining leather: Cnidaros, NAV
Transport:
(4) Move items as in Priority Queue: Cnidaros, NAV, King Zultan, blueturtle1134
Food:
(4) Increase fishing ships to 6: Andrea, King Zultan, blueturtle1134, NAV
(2) Fish off the side of the ice shelf: blueturtle1134, NAV
(1) Half Rations: eS
Expeditions:
(3) 18-man hunting party, half with rifles, the other half with hunting tools to set off and hunt seals once hunting tools/sled are delivered to shore: Cnidaros, NAV, King Zultan
-(1) Bring back the skin and bones as well as the meat: King Zultan
-(3) Don't brick back any non-edibles: Andrea, blueturtle1134, NAV
--(1) Leave the bones and skins in marked stashes for future recovery: NAV
-(2) If we find a young seal, bring it home as a pet for the Katzarin/possible pack animal: blueturtle1134, NAV
(3) Expedition to the coal seam, bring excavator, tractor with sled and the expert miner, along with as many people can fit on the machines: King Zultan, Andrea, blueturtle1134
Mapping:
(3) Find out how far the coal vein is from water: NAV, King Zultan, blueturtle1134
(3) Draw a basic map of the area: NAV, King Zultan, blueturtle1134
Miscellaneous
(4) Make a sled out of ship furniture, deliver it to shore: Cnidaros, NAV, King Zultan, blueturtle1134
(4) Make a large sled to attach to tractor (use mechanical expert and as many people as needed): Andrea, King Zultan, blueturtle1134, NAV
(4) Salvage all small items on the ship that could be useful, like rope/chain: Cnidaros, NAV, King Zultan, blueturtle1134
- (0) Small items on the ship that could be useful includes Katzarin:
A SpeechThe Kotzar calls for a speech to be heard, on the ship- he stands high on the top deck of one half, while his audience sits on the many decks of the opposite half, like a sort of amphitheater.
"Antarctica is in many ways an alien world. Living on it is like living on the moon, nobody sane even attempts that. However, this is what has been said about many places in the world, including our old beloved shithole, Vlanlados. We lived down there and somehow we survived... mostly... unscathed. While coming down here is not the best of ideas, as in best case it isin't exactly better than where we lived previously, it's really not that bad. There's air, there's water, we found coal and food, even if we haven't really figured out how to get enough of it, and, to think of that, there are no murderous polar bears, just harmless seals and penguins! I think. Now, it all comes down to working hard to start getting enough of what we need. So what I will need of all of you is to do exactly that. And really, just think about it - when we settle Antarctica, and world learns of us, we will be famous! We will be rich thanks to interviews and seal... movies! Everyone will want to be like us! We just need to suffer through this for a while longer, and then we will be rewarded with our own continent to live on, unlike those pesky Forenian and Cannalan islanders. Vlanlados will yet become the most powerful country in the world! We will have our booming arms industry and retake what is rightfully ours! We will do the impossible! We will be mighty! IT'S NOT EVEN COLD OUTSIDE, LIKE COME ON! ALL HAIL KOTZAR!"
[1d6:6] The people don't understand all of what he said but they love it anyway. Women scream and swoon. Men stand in salute. If there were skeptics about Kot's leadership among the common people before, there are almost none now. After a rousing, unplanned rendition of the Vlanladosian National Anthem sung by hundreds present, he adjourns.
EvacuationThe
Crabby Wench is unstable, so all efforts are focused on getting people and property on shore before disaster strikes. Except actually only have efforts, because six of the lifeboats are devoted to fishing. This is presumably based on the argument that running out of food would be equally disastrous, which is actually a valid point, but the splitting of labor leaves only five boats and the raft to move things, including cooked meals and such other supplies are consumed by workers on shore.
In the first three days of working, a bunch of stuff is moved according to the priority list written by one of the cabin-hanger-arounders (for lack of a better term for the people who tend to make decisions in the colony). The medicine, hunting and construction tools, the food, and a portion of the coal are moved over. The 60 fishers pull up 1000 pounds of food, eating the fast-expiring, (and slightly unpleasant, to the Vlanladosian tongue) krill first. Shore or ice-shelf fishing is discussed, but falls out of favor instead of having the workers on land build as much shelter as possible. A few random sundries are brought as well but not many, as the priority has already been decided upon.
The Kotzar moves permanently on shore first, (or first after the order to evacuate everyone at least) to set an example for the other colonists: he will not have them saying that he sits in a warm, dry cot while demanding the rest of the colony move into damp igloos. Still not without his penchant for grandiosity, he commissions a larger igloo for himself, which requires scaffolding to assemble, and has space for fully 16 people. Unfortunately not only is the larger igloo colder than the smaller ones, this means he has to share the space with 15 other Vlanladosians, at least one of which has sleep apnea and another of which talks in his sleep about insane plans to film movies about the local seal population wearing wigs. The Kotzar sleeps poorly and is seen with bloodshot eyes throughout the day. Impressively, another full 200 colonists' worth of igloos are prepared. The workers already on land are much more productive than workers who have to travel out by boat in the morning and return in the evening.
Some of the mechanics are dedicated to preparing sleds from furniture and whatever other spare materials they can find on the ship. [1d6:5] They've put together one large sled to be towed behind the tractor and three smaller sleds that could be pushed by hand. Each one is pretty sturdy and light considering the materials available, which is tube-steel frames with a wooden deck made of deck boards from the ship.
Lastly, an 18-man hunting party is sent out, with rifles, as soon as the hand-sleds are ready. Their orders are to head to the seal colony and bag up as much seal meat as they can, and meat (or fat) only, to feed the colony. At the same time the tractor, excavator, and large sled head south with a team of 6 lead by the mining engineer towards the coal seam. It's barely enough people to operate the two machines, but the hunting team already brought 6 of the 8 tents (two more have been put together) and they don't want to risk sleeping outside. In all the rush, nobody who's been out before is available to draw up a map.
The StormOn the night after the third day of the week, some of the few colonists who've stayed out after dark see lighting on the horizon. They tell the others to pack away any lightweight things left outside, and make an effort of dragging the boats and raft far ashore, but other than that there is little to be done but go to sleep and hope for the best. The colonists on shore could tell little of what exactly happened that night: it was dark, and furthermore the air turned white with fog and sea spray no lamp could pierce. What is known is that the wind howled like an angry god of wolves, thunder boomed the whole night through, some colonists came into igloos desperate for shelter after their own collapsed, and at some point, everyone heard a prolonged, groaning crash of metal.
In the morning, all the helpless colonists can do is observe the wreckage of the
Crabby Wench- what's left of it, that is, a pile of metal beams and bulkheads no more than a quarter the size of what was there before. The enormous foundry crucible pokes out of the pile. In the water is driftwood... and bodies. Of what is on land, much of it is buried in snowdrifts, many of the colonists need to dig out the entrances to their igloos. Much of the rest of the day is spent rescuing colonists who had somehow made it to shore after the ship collapsed, or were lost in the dark after abandoning the remains of igloos.
-553 Individuals
-1 Mining Expert (Away)
-1 Mechanical Manufacturing/Repair expert
-1 Agriculture Expert
-1 Electrical/Radio Engineer
-1 Theoretical Physicist
-1 Expert Hunter (Away)
-1 GLORIOUS KATZAR KOT
-1 Katzarin
--------------
55 Assigned to Cooking & Cleaning
10 Assigned to Nursing
24 Away
464 Available
60 Sick, 8 Frostbitten
4 Recovering from injury
Shipwreck Camp
-1880 Food rations (enough for about 4 days)
-260 Chicken leathers
-200 Chickens' worth of feathers
-240 sets of fishing tools
-200 sets of construction tools
-100 sets of farming tools
-150 sets of hunting tools (spears and traps)
-89 VL-41 "Dove" Semi-Automatic Rifles
-9,900 rifle bullets
-1.5 Tons of Coal
-1 Wrecked steam-turbine
-1 Wrecked boiler
-6 3-man tents, good quality
-0.9 Tons medical supplies
-500 feet of rope
-100 feet of chains
-200 lanterns, with oil
-60 stoves
-20 cots, with mattresses
-1 set of signal flags
-1 Vlanlados Flag
-350 Colonists' worth of igloo-space
Boats at Shore Camp:
-11 Lifeboats, holding 20 people each
-1 raft, labeled "Ovechkin Helmsman Did Nothing Wrong"
Seal Hunting Expedition:
18 men, including Expert Hunter
6 3-man tents
3 small sleds
9 guns, 100 bullets
60 rations
Coal Mining Expedition
6 men, including Mining Expert
2 3-man tents
1 Large sled
Tractor
Excavator
0.5 Tons of Coal
60 rations
The architect and two of the manufacturing experts are missing, along with doctor- all on the ship at the time, as was almost every colonist that didn't have shelter on the shore already when the storm hit. That's to say, 550 colonists. 53 of those turned up alive, but most of them sick after having swum to shore and spent the night in the cold, or they even have frostbite, and some of the ones who lose their igloos are sick as well. Some are floating in the bay, most are just missing. Pretty much all the equipment on the ship is as good as gone- if it can even be recovered, it's wet and probably damaged, the only obvious things worth recovering are raw metal and some of the heavy-but-simple foundry equipment.
In the absence of the doctor, a few of the colonists who worked with him are using what they've learned, but most of them were working in the hospital on the ship, so properly treating the sick colonists takes a lot of guesswork. 8 colonists have frostbite, and will probably need fingers, hands, or feet amputated, but nobody's confident in undertaking such a procedure.
As for the men on expedition, none of them are due to return for a few more days still. There's no saying what happened to them in the storm. If they don't return soon, you may want to send people after them, or you could send a party preemptively.
As for the immediate pressing issues, food is still a problem, and furthermore, there's not enough shelter for everyone. Even if you cram into the igloos (and that's with space to sit, but not lay down), you could fit 500 people at most in what you have now. Then there's the bodies. Naturally the colonists want to see their friends and family buried, at least those of them whose corpses have turned up, but you will have to decide whether to set aside the labor.
It is a grim time indeed for Vlanlados. The colonists are grief-stricken... but still, determined, and faithful in their leader. What will you do?
Author
Topic: Exodus from Vlanlados (Read 29312 times)