The Community Colony has Begun. Follow our Progress, or Join us!

Discussion in 'Clockwork Empires General' started by Unforked, Jul 11, 2016.

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  1. Alephred

    Alephred Royal Archivist for Queen And Empire

    I've completed my turn, in video form! I'll post it up when I get it all put together, but in the meantime, here's the save file, on the night of the 30th. The new Overseer's turn starts on the morning of the 31st day.
     

    Attached Files:

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  2. Unforked

    Unforked Member

    That's awesome, can't wait to see that!
     
  3. Alephred

    Alephred Royal Archivist for Queen And Empire

    Here's my second turn as Overseer, in video form:



    The save file is posted above.
     
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  4. Noratoxin

    Noratoxin Member

    Three cheers for bustling graveyards!
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2016
  5. OddProphet

    OddProphet Member

    Nicely done! I'm glad you decided to put it in video form. Youtube is kind of your schtick, after all.

    Post video edit:

    It takes willpower to devote your turn to maintenance, and the colony thanks you. One minor note: the glass bottles can be used to pickle fungus at the kitchen workbench, which can help alleviate our food concerns.
     
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2016
  6. Trey3rd

    Trey3rd Member

    I would have never thought to put more than one mineshaft module on my mines if it weren't for this. You should try to set up a teaching one like this, as I haven't been able to find a beginners guide that's anywhere close to current.
     
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  7. OddProphet

    OddProphet Member

    I don't know that you actually need more than one, unless I'm terribly mistaken.
     
  8. Rentahamster

    Rentahamster Member

    Only one miner can enter a mineshaft at one time.
     
  9. Unforked

    Unforked Member

    Well, you don't need it. But it makes life much easier to build a mine with five shafts, fully staff it, and have a couple of ceramics workbenches go full time on level one and two upkeep trunks. Frees up your wood supply and you never have to think about most upkeep again.
     
  10. OddProphet

    OddProphet Member

    THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
     
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  11. Noratoxin

    Noratoxin Member

    So it's Danstien the Great's turn next, right?
     
  12. Unforked

    Unforked Member

    Haven't heard from @Danstien the Great since before the colony started, so I think you can go ahead.
     
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  13. Noratoxin

    Noratoxin Member

    Watch Days 28 to 30

    An Agent from the Colonial Ministry

    Do they think it’s a just coincidence that every single one of them has been called back just after exactly three days? William – just call me William, as he always adds – is a Colonial Ministry agent. He is a hard worker making it in the Colonial Ministry. Some colonial bureaucracy experience is the last thing standing between him and a promotion to the higher and more private circles. He does not worry, for he has been reading the Bureaucrat’s guidebook religiously for half a year now, but being privy to the workings of the Colonial Ministry’s shadowy meeting rooms, he knows that a three-day term of office is a precaution used with only the most unusual of colonies.

    Day 31

    The moment the peaks of the colony soon to be lead by him appear from behind hills covered in sturdy trees of green his heart sinks. Famished colonists limber from one edge of civilization to another – always for some reason avoiding the centre of their hamlet.

    He lands and the airship rises once more, breaking away through the clouds. At that any other bureaucrat might develop cabin fever, but William has asked for a private airship to be hidden behind a large boulder near the colony.

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    After looking through the stockpiles and maps, he smiles widely. Yes, everything is breaking down. Yes, colonists have been gnawing on their own arms in their sleep for a while now. But at least the problems are tangible and he knows how to solve them. In fact, solving them will earn him bonus grades. Thus he begins giving his orders.

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    At first, the colonists seem off-put by him, as if he presented some new danger. Perhaps they have had poor experiences with bureaucrats in the past. The only ones smiling are the ones who have just been pushed off the airship and haven’t regained their sight, meaning they can’t take note of the state of the colony. These four happy idiots will be the cornerstone of William’s promotion.

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    Yes, the wellbeing colonists is not a real concern, but a good grade in feeding might do him well. William makes his first order. The kitchen shall be built next to the farm!

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    There is more than one farm plot ready to be ploughed away at for years to come, but instead of having more than one farm active, he assigns more colonists to the understaffed first one.

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    Next up, William lessens the worries of the colony by demolishing a few extra modules, which no one is using. He also removes plans for the modules that will not be constructed any time soon. The mess at the Colonial Ministry, which almost got him lobotomized, if nothing else at least taught William to be organized. Working at the Colonial Ministry is hazardous work, but dad always said that feelings were for the weak. So why be worried about lobotomy when being organized is a much more pressing concern? Stockpiles are now all located next to their corresponding workshops. There is only one food stockpile and that lies next to the farm.

    A new policy concerning the production of upkeep trunks also passed into effect. Rather than have the workbenches in the carpentry workshop fight over logs, which ended in both of the workbenches being poorly supplied, novice upkeep trunks are now crafted from stone at the ceramics instead to lighten the bearing of the carpentry workshop.

    Having concluded the research project started by a previous bureaucrat in charge, William also disbands the group of scientists working on farming technology.

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    As the Colonial Ministry says. Be vary of science, dread the things we might know. Of course, this is only the sentence printed on the plague carved into the wall of the front of its headquarters. What the Colonial Ministry really says comes with an asterisk only known on the higher floors, the inner walls of which for some weird reason seemed to be glazed in dark green and putrid – moss. Or is that just him? Of course he has never touched it and pointing out such things at the Colonial Ministry could get one into a – mess.

    All these changes leave William with some extra work crews. One heads off to the new – the old jobs were removed for the good of good cogly sense – woodcutting areas. Another one stars work on a stone quarry, since the mine seems to not yield much of that basic material. The third one is given the long list of buildings to be constructed, they scratch their heads and hide in fear.

    William also decides to reassign all of the colonists, so that no idle workers would have got time to write poetry or something while the rest of their fellow men would like to rely on them to carry their own weight. This purge of laziness results in 12! colonists whose thumbs are beginning to develop infections due to the steady bored sucking. Also, the barbershop is disbanded and the building deconstructed for the sake of free movement. It had been claustrophobia inducing. Eight of these labourers are right away sent to the woodcutting and mining operations. These two work crews are now fully staffed.

    William ponders around town, trying to figure out what to do with those last four colonists and one overseer. Something perhaps to make the colonists happier? Surely interaction with the colonists to find out their problems would result in a fine grade indeed!

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    Why of course! We need create a squad for efficient killing. William can’t help but smirk as one of the brown coats begins to practice shooting. They don’t notice that their pistol is pointed at the farmers. They should see real military prowess. The colony has not yet met with the occult police, of course. Perhaps one day they shall. And certainly, William wouldn’t mind.

    There they run now, helping Genevieve Smith kill a Selenian worm. The advantage of crushing creatures with feet is that you can’t miss. Hope the brown coats hold steady aim.

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    A few of the first pistol shots indeed hit tree trunks, and it might very well be that Genevieve is the true hero, since she keeps the worm from getting away. What could a few bullet wounds do to a thing like that anyways? The soldiers would need to be extremely lucky to hit an organ, but a foot almost never misses its target. Indeed, Genevieve’s boot makes liquid burst from under the beast’s skin, its life force is running out. However, a brown coat claims the kill. A lucky bullet does indeed smack through the worm’s shell. The creature squeals in its death. The now broken vital organ filled with gases, which had been pierced by a bullet, is emptied by pressure.

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    She thanks her saviours. The sight of the female soldier doing push-ups gives her a sense of safety

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    At that point it is brought to William’s attention that an “ore” has been “lost”. Such things are not news to him. He knows very well what’s up. Had he not a day before been looking over a junior bureaucrats report on recent cultist activity in their colony. These are the benefits of being part of the ministry. Right now there is nothing he can do about it besides trying to keep his colonists happy.
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2016
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  14. Noratoxin

    Noratoxin Member

    As he leaves the church where the ore had been lost, he walks past Pathena Walkerson, who tries to pathetically walk away, when it’s obvious that she has just been dealing with a bird’s nest. What is she ashamed of? William calls after her, but Pathena turns behind the corner and disappears. Did she construct it or did she try to lay an egg in it? William, at his age and with all his experience at the ministry would doubt nothing.

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    After but a half a day of efficient work crew organization there’s wood and stone aplenty! William shakes the hand of every hauler bringing stone to the stockpile. Even the second and third time around.

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    But perhaps sometimes it would be smart to be less efficient, maybe even destructive. Well at least, William knows where there is now money to be made. And though no one states this openly in the Colonial Ministry, careless export of strangeness to foreign states is always a good idea, a win-win strategy. This would certainly get him a bonus grade.

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    At the end of the day – another day over – the military prays at the church, which bring an unusual sort of smile – a genuine smile – to William’s face. Good, let them not get any “bad” ideas. Otherwise, the colonists seem to stay away from the place, which might need to change in the future. Most of the officials grading his work might actually not be against other beliefs, so William was only mildly worried about the weak piety of the colony.

    18.png

    Some people sleep on the floor, but they shouldn’t complain. These poorly kept planks they call the floorboards are soft enough to sleep on from all the wear and tear and the mould hiding inside them.

    Some cheeky git wakes William up in the middle of the night, announcing the arrival of more bandits. How does the brat know it already! Are they a spy? Dealing peacefully with bandits would not be graded lightly, especially if instead of killing colonists the raiders focused on stealing wares. William grumbles and takes sleeping pills before pulling a plaid blanket over his head. He hasn’t been able to sleep without pills for over a decade now. Living in the Capital is stressful, working on the higher floors of the ministry more so.

    Day 32

    They do not wait to attack.
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    The proud colonists with finally something of value to protect – a working colony – stiffen their knuckles and steady their pulse. Some even grin as the massacre begins. What were the bandits thinking coming unarmed? Without even reaching the stockpiles the failed band of mercenaries turns back. Not a fist had been flung their way before they did so. But the fury of the colonists rises, if nothing else they have a high sense of comradeship. There are at least three labourers fighting per bandit. Some punch and some tackle and the bandits try to crawl away. They hiss at the colonists. William sees all this and nods. The bandits weren’t expecting tribal ferocity. When the brown coats pounce on the enemy, all is over, a few bullets into their weakly protected brains, lungs and heart is all it takes.

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    William assigns more graveyard space for the newly dead, at the same time shaking his head. There are not enough bodies. If only the bandits had been better armed! If they had at least taken one colonist along! But no.

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    But the morning comes with some good news for the agent of the Colonial Ministry. The new kitchen has been built. The construction of furnaces is finished by the chef himself, who can soon return to the weird culinary world only seen in the colonies. There is a joke often told among the officials of the Colonial Ministry about the true science taking place in the kitchen. William laughs just by remembering it. They are right, aren’t they? They are always right.
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    A Stahlmarkian rogue offers to train the colony and of course William accepts. ‘Take advantage of traitors’ is one of his favourite guidelines in the bureaucrat’s guidebook. But it may be all for naught, since the military has a change in command. A new overseer arrives, one with actual military skill.

    William notices that Bessie sits around in the metalworks all day, doing nothing, since there is nothing to smelt. She probably does harm to the delicate machinery just by standing there. So she is taken off the workshop and promoted to the leadership position of the new Colony’s Primary Haulers Club. She goes about down telling everybody. But nobody seems to care.
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    Fishpeople attack at nightfall. They are better equipped than the barbarians and the military folk are off duty, praying at the church. The brown coats hear ominous loud gurgles echo through town and they run out of the church to meet the noisemaker interrupting their meeting with Cog. They do not arrive late, but at exactly the right time. One person has already died. William with glee watches the fight from behind a boulder. Finally someone to bury! Asher and Mordecai have fought off one of the green monsters. It had been the savage Mordecai, who had taken the fishperson by its neck and begun choking the poor thing. Asher had punched it in its fishy and spongy belly. These vibrations throughout its flesh send the fishperson’s consciousness into disorder. Together with the damage to its fishy breathing organs it all takes a toll on the thing. The cogsent scaly monster slumps down. It is their captain, though no one but William understands the hierarchy of the fishpeople and so no one takes advantage of the fact. The other fishpeopel luckily don’t seem discouraged. They wield horrifying weapons, which, without touching the colonists, already cause psychological damage to them. But they are no match to a pistol and without any leadership the one-minded fishpeople are mown down.

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    Asher and Mordecai have been through hell together. Upon the events of the night a newfound relationship finds it cradle. William decides to keep an eye on the two.
     
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  15. Noratoxin

    Noratoxin Member

    24.png

    Two tenebrous stone blocks, a fishy idol and a bird’s nest, in the future when the colony graduates to a city this place will be called the Idol Square. And of course Inger Harelip is standing there right now, the colonists whose folder was among largest of the colony. William had found out quite a few interesting event in her past thanks to his access to the files of the Colonial Ministry.

    Day 33

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    Under the rising sun and temperatures. The corpses of the fishpeople have begun to rot, but no one has time to butcher them. In the light their skin colour is revealed. So green! Oh so very green! The day is a busy and productive one and rumours of traders circulate the colony.

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    In preparation the ceramics workshop starts producing glass. Sand has been waiting and doing nothing in the stockpile. Speaking of which, sand seems to be the only thing that the mining facility is good for. Sand and sulphur. William scratches his head.

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    He sends out his underlings to search for a better mining spot and though there are none nearby and none of ideal quality, one spot might interest him as a future possibility. Clay, stone and hematite, all a bureaucrat could wish for.

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    Of course, before trading away the glass, the most important thing is to get rid of the stones. Those stupid Stahlmarkians won’t be able to tell the difference, until some day, one of them will. And then that one of them will develop and interest and begin to understand the stone. And then.

    William’s dreaming is interrupted by a sudden message that he is to head home. “Head home! Why? Me? I’m not like those other junior bureaucrats who can’t handle a bit of insanity. I’m from the ministry! Surely I don’t need to be restricted to three days.” But nothing can be reversed. The airship is almost there already, he is told. And William accepts his fate. Feelings are for the weak.

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    Before he can do anything else, another announcement of marauding fishpeople sounds across the colony. A lumberjack has died in the forest, but the colonists are fighting back. The fishpeople are dead before the military arrives, but the loud sound of smacking of flesh against flesh seems to echo throughout the colony for the rest of the day. Things are becoming fishy indeed.

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    And for some obscure reason, some of the colonist have begun to develop a sympathy for the fishpeople. Maybe it is time to restrict the access to the church for military personnel. They need to kill the scaly beasts not hug them! Curse that Julia Donough, who built the church and introduced empathy towards fishpeople to the colony. Hope she’s happy now with her decisions. William’s friend had been the one to put a stamp of confirmation on what to do with her.

    But William, seeing that the fish people are not his problem anymore, doesn’t report these facts of increased fishy activity. It would only look bad on his promotion paper. He does report the dead lumberjack. Thing are going well.

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    In the end, people seem to be happier. At least William sees more glowing faces in place of lurid white ones.

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    Wealth has been accumulated and the hunger situation has stabilized. Workshops are no longer in danger of breaking down.

    William says goodbye to the colony, thinking for a while, even as the airship rises to cold altitudes where putting a jacket on his shoulders might not be a bad idea, whether anything could have been done to earn a bonus. Perhaps declare war on another nation. But William is taken away into the sky above the colonial seas. Soon he collapses into a deep and fishy sleep. Cogs are clicking in his head.

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    Read Days 34 to 36
     
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  16. Noratoxin

    Noratoxin Member

    The save:
     

    Attached Files:

  17. Unforked

    Unforked Member

    You really have a talent for this, I bow to your skill. :)
     
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  18. Noratoxin

    Noratoxin Member

    Thanks a lot.
     
  19. Unforked

    Unforked Member

    You're up @mrclint, whenever you're ready!
     
  20. mrclint

    mrclint Member

    Oooh, I skip my turn. I'm on vacation right now.
     
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