Codex Agricultura
When you look at a farmer's field these days, you almost want to cringe. You know dozens of ways they could be doing it better. Every struggling farmer barely eking out enough food to survive the next winter is a human life wasted. If they could produce more food, or preserve it for the future better, the number of people available to do things like crafting, studying science, making fine goods, and artistic pursuits like painting and singing would skyrocket. When most of everyone has to spend their days out in the fields, there's very little chance to make progress toward the future.
When it all comes down to it, food is the bedrock of human civilization. Without the humble farmer, kings and nobles and merchants would starve. Armies could not march, weavers could not make clothes, monks and scholars could not copy out books. Improving the ability to produce food is probably the single most important cornerstone upon which you can build that miracle world. You get the feeling it will take longer to have truly impressive results than some of the other things the Codex showed you, but once you see those results you will have a rock-solid foundation to move forward from.
Initial Unlocks:
Four-Field Crop Rotation - Simple and easy to teach to any peasant farmer. Divide your fields into four. Wheat becomes turnips, turnips become barley, and barley becomes clover, then repeat. The exact plants can be substituted with similar ones depending on what is available and needed. The benefits are twofold - balancing out what is planted keeps the land in better shape, and having grazing crops available year-round makes it easier to keep livestock, well, alive. Even if farmers will gripe about not growing anything in a quarter of their land.
Wind and Water Mills - Actually growing plants is not often the hardest part of a farmer's work. Turning the raw plants into usable food - threshing, drying, sorting, grinding, mixing, and so on - takes most farmers quite a lot of time and effort. You can use wind and water to move large grinding stones, processing grain into a consistent product with much less muscle power than before. By freeing up the farmers to tend more plants or do other kinds of work you benefit the economy, and by selling cheap flour you benefit your stash of profits.
+1 from starting location choice
Initial Research Prospects:
Ammonia Fertilizer - Extracting the stuff through various disgusting or difficult methods will be a trick, but apparently ammonia is very, very good for the growth of certain plants. And the Codex Crystal hints at future uses, too.
Mill Machinery Standards - A big problem with making lots of anything is that every smith and carpenter does things differently. Even different pieces by the same person often don't fit together. You need to fix that somehow.
+2 from starting location choice
Choose a starting location
[ ] Firyn. A land of monsters and crazy ideas, whose people are incredibly reckless and thus always willing to try something new. The insanity might cause trouble for your investments. At least they stay well away from the world stage, more concerned by fighting their own land than outside threats - not counting the Sudarians who never seem to make much of a dent in their crusades.
Advantages: Pro-innovation culture, insanely reckless populace, very resistant against invasion, Great Powers not worried about this place.
Disadvantages: Insanely reckless populace, Monster infestations, Difficult terrain and little infrastructure, Regular target of crusades.
Extra initial unlock: Salt Evaporator
Extra initial research prospects: Barbed Wire, Step Farming
[] Fressia-Hatania. A wealthy Duchy under Emperor Carrus III. The province jealously guards the secrets to growing a very special crop: Sugar beets. The rare, sweet delicacy demands an extremely high price among nobles. There is a lot of opportunity here, but there are many risks as well.
Advantages: Slavery, lots of investors and merchants, skilled workers, produces rare luxuries, excellent land and sea trade routes in the area.
Disadvantages: Slavery, imperial bureaucracy, squabbling nobles, bandit problems, religious tension, border province might get invaded.
Extra initial unlock: Sugar Press
Extra initial research prospects: Seed Drill, Compass
[ ] Veschwar. A kingdom that has been constantly under attack for centuries and clawed its way to relevance through war. The people here are bitter, tough, and always looking for a military advantage. While most of the world is very wary of them, this kingdom is ripe for industry and innovation.
Advantages: High population, Military prioritized, good internal security (death to bandits), stable government.
Disadvantages: Military prioritized, Landlocked, Trade embargoes, Great Powers are worried about this place.
Extra initial unlock: Improved Horse Collar
Extra initial research prospects: Cast Iron Plow, Vodka Distillery
Choose a character archetype. More character creation to follow.
[ ] Scarred Knight
[ ] Shrewd Merchant
[ ] Rogue Alchemist
[ ] Disgraced Noble
[ ] Unfortunate Genius - gain superior stats and possibly other bonuses, but suffer at least one major disadvantage, such as being labeled a heretic by a religion, being afflicted by a magical curse, not being entirely human, or similar.
