1: Hope is the first step... After the hells that were Sogwood and New Sogwood, we were glad to arrive in the new colony of ... well apparently it wasn't named yet, so we took it upon ourselves to dub it "No Soggy Wood". Despite some odd placement decisions, we were able to establish a basecamp with some shelter the day we arrived. The land around was dense with trees, and the climate was good for Maize. Before too long, we had set up the main basics: Carpentry, Kitchen, Ceramics, Mine and a Barracks (equipped with a locker full of Improvised Muskets). With all these in place, we began to construct a Ziggurat-pattern Middle-Class House. Hearing our positive reports, lower-class laborers arrived to take up farming jobs. The next task was to prepare the interior of the Ziggurat for an optimal Middle-Class "experience". The plan was to round out our population with a few more overseers and laborers before the next push. Some fishpeople came by and caused trouble for us. The military immediately sprang into action utilizing the famous "Musket Stock Strike" to drive away the abominations without using too much force. But when bandits came...
2: Hope is the first step... The bandits left after taking away their haul: several baskets of raw Maize. Nevertheless, our Colonial Bureaucrat was quite displeased with the outcome, especially when we realized the bandits had actually set up camp rather close to our colony. Still, it was really a close call. It was only the next day that we finished installing our second locker of muskets in our second barracks. If it had been done before, we would have had a chance to repel the bandits... Early the next morning, while everyone else was asleep, a secret military formup was taking place... As the sun was rising, two units (10 soldiers in total) raided the neighboring bandit camp, scattering those outlaws and killing most of them. And yes, we recovered our maize! The fishpeople returned as well, perhaps to gain revenge for earlier received beatings. This time we used the muskets to shoot them dead. This is solid dry Imperial ground, the Drowned God's servants were on someone else's turf today. Following the lessons learned in the battles for (New) Sogwood, we made sure that our buildings were prepared for use as fortifications. It always pays to be prepared. Rather than try for more sophisticated arms, it was necessary to make do with our Improvised Muskets and Stone Pellet Ammo. Not the most inspiring, but it was effective. We celebrated our twin victories in the newly opened public house "The Pleasing Shaft" which sounds more like they ripped off the name of our colony's mine... welll whatever. Invigorating Frontier Chicha was consumed cheerfully. Of course the military took shifts to celebrate, in order to maintain the watch. And a good thing keeping the watch was, too. Early the next morning there was the sound of heavy fighting, and the soldiers made ready to meet the enemy! It turned out that -both- bandits and fishpeople had come to harass us, but being enemies with one another, they had started to fight. Both sides were probably surprised when our muskets opened fire on them! Indeed, we cleared the field. Already the bodycount is starting to rise - a graveyard was established for the human corpses. The fallen fishpeople were butchered instead in order to prevent them from rotting. Yes, we just left the steaks on the ground, it doesn't rot that way, due to Frontier Realities.
3: Frontier Science The Frontier is different from the Homelands. Therefore Frontier Science is different from Homeland Science. It is thus only natural that we need to re-examine what would otherwise be well-known aspects of science. Leola Spindle, Frontier Scientist With these words, the Pleasant Hall of Learning opened and was tasked with applying Frontier Science to our crops. Which our scientists never actually took a look at except perhaps while taking their tea (the Laboratory is on the other side of the colony from the farm). After all, we will need a lot of food before we can start expanding our Civilization. We have a solid labor base and foundation for resource extraction. Remember that overstretching is a slow and insidious killer on the Frontier. Our Colonial Bureaucrat was quite concerned about the rather messy appearance of our stockpile. It is a sign of our productivity, sure, but nevertheless a sign that more workers were needed to organize the results of said productivity. Some bunkhouses were added to the list of construction projects. As overseers join the colony, new beds are made and added to the Ziggurat for them. Laborers follow the usual custom of sleeping on floors (some floors are nicer than others, the Ziggurat has Wonderful floors, by the way). You can clearly see that we take some effort to ensure that the overseers are comfortable, even hanging up some spare bedsheets to, uh, something. Science said that it's necessary to maintain the Building Quality. As our ability to support them rises, our military forces grow. Athena Junk and Josephine Chaintemper lead our two military squads, which are now at 100% capacity. The Empire was burn from the firepower of massed muskets, and our musket-armed mass will firmly cement this land as part of the Empire in turn! While the newest recruits train towards becoming a Frontier Redshirt, a third squad is already being considered. Our production of Stone Pellet Ammo has allowed a generous quantity to be prepositioned for times of need. Well this is quite unusual. Although some wanted to investigate, out Scientists had to keep their eyes on the blackboard in order to improve our food production, as previously established. Besides, it can't be anything more threatening than bandits and fishpeople. Oh no, our food stockpile! What hath our hubris brought upon us, we should have made more walls and guns!
4: A New Gastronomy Remember the days when starvation and even cannibalism were rampant on the Frontier? Well never under our Colonial Bureaucrat, but in any case a new discovery has revolutionized nutrition forever. A Republique cookbook, with some adaptation for our local products. This comes at a perfect time, as we're recovering from losing all our food stocks to the death-explosions of weird meteor-borne lifeforms. If you take enough maize for about two portions of Maize Chowder and dump in a six-pack of beer (or chicha, or several bottles of wine), the result can be divided up eight ways and is still good enough to satisfy overseers. This increased efficiency makes feeding our expected population surge much easier then anything else. How does that work? It's a secret, but the fact that our basic stone ovens are able to perform this suggests it isn't anything particularly special. Not willing to accept their earlier defeats, more bandits came snooping around, but we shot them to bits. The Quality of Life is greatly improved in terms of safety when there's a "massive Colonial Garrison". Although we have not set up a wall that fully encloses our colony, these bandits are rather dimwitted if they think charging in through the open points, which we're fully aware of and prepared for, will bring them victory. Our Colonial Bureaucrat was sent an "invitation" to try and reclaim the Sogwoods, but... there was not much interest in returning to that fish-infested wasteland. Maybe as part of an organized chain of fortified colonies along the "border". As musketeers marched towards their tents full of ill-gotten loot and weapons, the bandits could not mistake our intentions. While before some of these outlaws had raided us and failed, now the roles were reversed as they braced themselves for our massed attack. Our Colonial Redcoats formed up in disciplined lines but, just as it seems both sides were about to clash in bloody battle, we held to our positions and simply waited. The bandits taunted the soldiers facing them, trying to lure us into a prepared crossfire, but we continued to stand firm. And after a moment, an ominous sound could be heard from above... It heralded a sudden series of explosions in the bandit camp, as incendiary bombs were dropped onto them from an airship far up in the sky. Our victory was secure. Some of the bandits tried to flee, but did to towards our line and were immediately shot. Others ran off into the forest where ammo- supply-less, they would almost inevitably become prey for the fishpeople and other horrors in the dark. As the soldiers returned home, they were greeted by our new public house, The Welcoming Queen.
