It was a normal day at the office of the CYS Gazette. The next issue was due out tomorrow, and all but two stories were already done and edited. Everyone was just starting to pack up for the day, but the first person to the door was Anthraxus.
To his surprise the door of the office no longer opened onto Main Street, but instead revealed a swirling vortex of black, blue and purple light and gas. Anthraxus took a step or two back, calling out for everyone to check this out. Everyone drew closer to the door, getting a good look for themselves. Suddenly invisible hands seemed to grab at them all, pulling into the vortex. Everyone tried their best to escape, even Raina the office dog, but to no avail. Each was dragged into the swirling mysterious phenomona.
What happened within the vortex itself is unknown. No one can remember exactly when they lost consciousness. All everyone can recall is the office and the feeling of being pulled forward and some passage of time before opening their eyes here in this new place. There was no sign of the vortex nor of the office. They all stood, or knelt, in a small group in a broad flowered meadow surrounded by strange pink leaved trees. Just beyond the trees in any direction, the sounds of burbling water could be heard. A small hill rose up from the center of the small island, and just to south of that stood a towering monolith that seemed to pulse and shift in strange ways. Auroras of green, yellow, and red lights danced in the sky.
Everyone awoke at the same time, shocked to find themselves standing, dressed in new clothes with hoods and surrounded by a scattering of supplies. Something had changed in them in the transit as they were each convinced of the value of writing, to the point of literal religious fervor. The burdgeoning faith was not well defined, but it provided a strong emotional connection. As we started sorting through the supplies and exploring the area, we all realized that it seemed like we were in some way written over the existing bodies of other people. Faint and distant memories of this other life began slowly coming to each of us. If not for these memories and related skills, we would probably be doomed from the outset. There was no time to consider the moral and ethical implications of this, as we needed to make shelter and begin trying to figure out this new alien world we find ourselves on and how to survive long enough to find a way back home.
First thing first, we needed to know our immediate surroundings, so we quickly scaled the nearby hill or mountain. Our first real disagreement as a group was what it should count as, but from the peak we could see that we were on a sizable island in the middle of a river. There was a scattering of what could charitably be called mountains, but were really little more than sheer eruptions of stone out of ht ground. Their sides were so steep as to be practically unscalable. Numerous copses of various kinds of trees dotted the valleys between the escarpments. Somewhere in the distance a psychic drone that seemed to only impact the men in the group was ringing, setting nerves on edge.
After a quick conversation as everyone descended down again, we agreed on a small collection of buildings for barracks and workspaces, as well as a central warehouse building. Among the supplies we found a big seed book, so took advantage and planted several small gardens in some nearby rich soil since we needed more wood anyway.
Before we go much further, here is a closer look at our group and their mysteriously inherited skills. Everyone awoke in clothes of their favorite colors, and the hoods provide shelter from the weather and a certain religious comfort. Anthraxus, as the atheist of the group before the vortex, has issues recognizing and reconciling what this might mean, as well as the implanted religious faith that came with existing in this world.
Due to poor planning and everyone focused on cutting trees and getting the gardens going, not enough beds got made on the first day. This resulted in RK falling asleep in the one dining chair that got built and Fresh just laying down in the flowers outside the first barracks building. Because of this poor sleeping situation, Fresh fell asleep on a chair in the dining room that was built the next day. Not really giving his fellow colonists due consideration, RK wound up sitting on her while eating dinner.
Apparently sitting on Fresh satisfied whatever was causing the psychic drone, as that finally ended on the dawn of the third day. Intense work was on schedule for the third day. Two wind turbines and enough beds and bedrooms for everyone were finished. Additional gardens were marked out to help keep the turbines free of obstructing trees. While Milton and Anthraxus work on those, Fresh took a few moment so to work on her relationship with Rina, the office dog. As she chases the dog around the base, whatever was causing the previous obnoxious drone that was draggin the guys down, started droning again, this time focused on women.
By the end of the fourth day, Anthraxus put the finishing touches on all of the inital buildings, although temperature controls, particularly for the warehouse, are now high priority. A lot of conversations have been had about the need to research the monolith and figure out how it is related to how we wound up here. Milton volunteers to start this investigation and in alarmingly little time, he determines how to awaken it more fully.
Mere hours after the pall took hold and the monolith was awakened, a tiny figure stumbled into the area. It was a young girl named Mary Graf from the nearby Eastern Enmonla group. She seemed pretty lost, but had a few items that she might trade. As we waited for her to approach, three other strangers appeared from the west. This trio is begging for 37 silver to rescue the fourth member of their barbershop quartet. We have currently have 1000 silver, so not a big sacrifice for us, but they aren't a member of any of the factions, so it's just moral goodwill most likely. Alternately, I could designate some prisoner sleeping areas and capture them.
So to the votes:
Vote One - What to do with the beggars?
- Option 1: Give them the silver they need. See what, if anything, they give us in return.
- Option 2: Try to capture one or more of them and see if they can be converted/recruited.
Vote Two - Mundate Research - Currently researching wall-mounted heaters and coolers (new tech from a mod), but where should we go next?
- Option A: Smithing and Machineing - This is the most expensive option, but will get two keystone techs out of the way.
- Option B: Soups and Stews - open up some cheap food options
- Option C: Drugs - Not only the standard Rimwolrd drug production options but a industrial smokeleaf mod I've added.
