Journal of Ferbsed Livingden, expedition leader of HoppercloudyThe merchants arrive! Too early in my opinion. The wagons left as our depot was still half-built, but their pack animals and vehicles were able to get in. Sadly however, we didn't have enough to trade with them, so we ended up exchanging trinkets for rope.
The liaison met me at the inn, we discussed trade stuff, rather boring but nobody else here had the required skillset to be the impromptu broker.
He gave me a list of what goods they would be buying next year, since we clearly hadn't produced much of anything this one.
He also gave me... Other news.
"Ferbsted. Do you remember what the queen told you, before you were assigned on this expedition?"
"You will have to be more specific than that."
"She said it would be the first of many expeditions to claim uncharted lands. A few months after you left, another group was sent to reclaim a long-abandoned coastal city."
"And? How are they doing?"
"Only one man survived."
"...oh."
"The nobility pushed the queen to stop all colonization efforts since that. They did not want another peasant revolt."
"You are talking to me as if I wasn't one of those peasants they are so afraid of."
"You would be if you were back at the capital, Fer, but you aren't. You are a settler.
The settler. Back home, many sectors of the court are still more loyal to the Satrs that to the crown, and are ready to give in as soon as the crown completely gives up on its expansion efforts. This is why this colony is so important, even if the merchants I came with will try to con you."
"Typical of merchants, regardless of the situation."
"Indeed, but I digress. Ferbsted. The success of this colony is what may sway the public back home either to the queen's side or to the side of the traitors at court. That means two things: that any success here will have to be communicated to the homeland in order to garner support, and that every mistake will have to be covered up."
"Covered up?"
"The court needs any excuse to suspend this short-lived attempt at acting without the Tower's permisison. They will use any report of trouble at the colonies as an excuse to do it. That means, mess up once, and fail to keep word from spreading back home, and you are alone."
"This is a lot to think about."
"Then think about it, but if you in any way care for your country, you will follow my advice. Also, a new migrant wave is going to arrive here in a few days, they were following our caravan. Be sure to keep them alive."
So, this is the situation now. I would ponder on the implications of my actions as leader of this backwater may lead to a coup led by snobs loyal to a bunch of devil-worshipping monsters, but I don't want to go insane, so lets instead focus on the task at hand: running this colony.
First of all: drinks. I don't know if the winters here are cold enough to freeze the brook and lakes, but I will not risk it catching us completely dry.
Secondly: stone. In case of an attack, fortifications sturdier than wood would definitely help us. I told Kassed to dig down until-
Oh boy. Well this just gives us a lot more variables to worry about.
Yeah thanks for nothing. Now if the liaison was telling the truth any time now...
There we go. A rather large wave of migrants, led by a couple interesting characters. One of them is a very very old miner. One hundred years old and still in the profession. I gotta commend his dedication.
The other is a farmer named Salemuk. A very religious man, he worships more saints and deities than anyone I've met. Some of those deities I never even heard of. Unsuprisingly he started talking of building a temple immediately upon arrival. He's probably right, however. With the situation as is, we need all the help we can get, and the Corpse God is not a cruel god.
In the meantime, we have a bigger problem.
So, turns out the brook does feeze in winter. Fantastic. The miners however report the underground temperatures remain constant, so the lakes down in the caverns are still liquid. We will have to capitalize on that.
And with that, our little well area is secured. We'll just need someone to actually go there and build the thing.
I am also not very comfortable with having an undefended cavern entrance. Some of the critters I see from there are not easy on the eyes.
...And so, with this solemn act called "I absolutely detest lampreys", I hereby declare the foundation of our colonial militia, led by conscript leader Merman, staffed by Zultan, Weitz, and three other newcomers. Try not to die.
Well, in the time it took for the squad to be formed, the lamprey ended up going away. And people are just worrylessly going down to the cavern floor to cup their hands and drink some water, instead of taking the time of building the well, then complaining about drinking water without a bucket. Yes, I'm talking to you Weitz!
Either way, the colony right now seems pretty peaceful. I think we'll make it through the winter without any incide-
OH GOD WHAT IS THAT
HOW DID IT MAKE IT TO THE SURFACE KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT AAAAAAAA
Okay, alright, breathe. The troops are chasing the spider. It doesn't seem to be fighting back, it just shoots web out of its ass every time a soldier gets to close, freaking the fuck out of that soldier.
Yeah, I feel you, but you can't just let the monster go!
...So, after forty minutes to an hour of our valiant troops chasing the monstrosity around, commander Merman came to the conclusion that it was more scared of us than us of it, and that I should let him decide what critters are a threat to the colony as opposed to those that are just ugly or scary to
some people. I didn't like how he said those two last words.
Well, at least I can be confident that we wont having any more scares like this in the near futu-
ohshitwhatthefuckarethosefuckingWOLFMEN! LOCK THE DOORS, GET ARMED!
They are approaching the colony, crossing the brook and calling out to us to...
...Trade?
...Huh.
I will be honest now, I had never seen a wolfman before in my life. We all knew they existed. Ancient pagans that made a deal with the Green God, turning them into violent, unthinking monsters. Other than those tales, we didn't know much about them apart from nursery tales. "Go to sleep at bedtime or the wolfman will eat you" "eat your greens or the Green God will turn you into a wolfman", that kind of thing.
Those guys seem pretty reasonable, though. They might be hard on the eyes and of rough speech, but they are certainly more helpful with trade than the merchants from the homeland, that's for sure. Some metal bars here and there, food clothing... The wolfmen said they heard about this settlement from a group of foreigners that had visited our inn some months back. After they were done laughing at their leader's name, they decided to pay us a visit. As they told us, an enemy of the Satyrs is a friend of theirs, even if our gods are enemies.
Well what do ya know, not only did we not get killed by monsters, but we made friends with them. What's that for good press, liaison?
After the merchants left, we went on an expansion project, a stone structure that will be used as a temple for our zealot friend Salemuk, and some dormitories above the kitchen to house new migrants and visitors until we can properly house all of them. I didn't think I'd say this, but it seems like things are shaping up. Now we have to wait and see how long this peace lasts...
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Topic: Hoppercloudy - A Fall From Grace human fortress (Read 3990 times)