Ok, it's been some time since I've commented on the updates, so let's see...
First, the stuff in spoilers.
Materials: 145.71 (min. +19.44, max. +118.44 per Turn.) - (110 Materials owed in 4(four) Turns to The Merchant Guild.)
It's a good chunk to work with but we probably should, at least partially, start paying back that loan. 110 Materials in one turn is just too much.
No change in Relationships, which surprised me because I expected the CoE to gain
or lose Influence, but that brings us to the Artefacts.
Flexible Window - 1.21 - +5 to Common Armor
A small bonus but the fluff could be useful if we develop better heavy armor or even power armor.
Actuator Joint - 6.00 - +20 to Advanced Armor/Hydraulics
Electro-Spool - 6.63 - +20 to Advanced Weapon/Electronics
Calibration-Matrix - 6.30 - +20 to Advanced Weapon/Programming
Rust-Free Alloy Samples - 6.14 - +20 to Advanced Metalurgy
Enviromentaly Sealing Door - 7.10 - +20 to Advanced Mechanics
Mostly armor and weapon boosts. The alloy could be useful for steam engine upgrades and the sealing door for the pneumatic tool research.
Äther-Battery - 15.90 - +50 to Pioneer Electronics/Physics/Chemicals/Engineering/Metallurgy
Turbine Injectors - 15.46 - +50 to Pioneer Hydraulics/Chemicals
Fire-Suppressant Systems - 15.41 - +50 to Pioneer Hydraulics/Chemicals
Hexagonal Armor Plate - 18.01 - +50 to Pioneer Armor/Metallurgy
Auto-Pilot - 19.66 - +50 to Pioneer Programming
Foldable Loading Ramp - 18.37- +50 to Pioneer Mechanics
Prototype Fuel Refiner - 19.45 - +50 to Pioneer Hydraulics/Chemicals/Engineering
Aaaand tons of Lost Tech. Those are some huge research boni but it will be a long time until we can use them.
The Turbine Injectors could be useful for airship research, the Auto-Pilot for drone research, and the Fuel Refiner could help with developing bio-fuel out of Sandwheat.
-CORE-^Ä^
PD found this Core within the bowels of the Daughter of Dawn, even months after the latter was used as quarters for a veritable legion of engineers and soldiers. He seems to be an old friend, and one can hear both chatting quite often when maintenance calls, but ^Ä^'s speech is unintelligible for any human, Mutated or otherwise. Seriously, how can you hear [T]7 in speech? Otherwise, he seems perfectly fine with only being a Core, though he would like to be put into a Knight in the next century or two.
Neat. Can we use him as another research booster like PD?
Along with gardens with plants carefully arranged to grow on both sides and over to supply food, medicine, and beauty. With an outwardly deep resignation and inwardly jubilant glee, they eventually agreed to the Elders' plans in exchange for him to stop 'bothering' them about his 'extremely time-consuming project' with no ulterior motives.
That
sounds like it should reduce upkeep for the Medical Wing but it's probably just fluff.
Because, as it turned out, ^Ä^ had managed to crawl into an elevator shaft before using his only remaining arm to drag himself further into a small warehouse near the aft of the Daughter. A place where he plugged himself into the ship's power reserves to preserve himself from shutting down.
Huh, that reminds me of Portal and all the hideouts that could be found there. I wonder if PD's monstrosity of a Core contains a potato?
C:
Glad to have you back too, old fart.
Ah, they are definitely friends. Now I want to see how the meeting with Aria is going to go.
"This thing is called an Äther-Battery for the exact reason that it needs no cables, connections, or anything otherwise to transmit power from itself to anything needing the same."
"That is. Honestly, I don't know what to call it, miraculous, perhaps?" Martyris replied in awe. "The things that one could do if one understood how to recreate this thing."
That's... Hmm, stationary stuff would be better of with cables, assuming Jewel is more efficient, and mobile stuff runs the risk of getting out of range. Probably most useful if mobility in a defined area is necessary, like to power tools on a construction site, weapons while defending a building on short notice, or for drones while the control unit is nearby to power them.
"Jewel is much better in that regard, even if you have to create a physical connection. Still," he said, clapping as the light show from the pyramid gradually dimmed, both from the power running out and natural light returning through the skylight, "if nothing else, whatever machine you set this baby into will be able to forego a lot of cabling.
Yeah, it's best if you know the thing that needs power stays nearby but can't use cables. Although, if we can find out how it works, get enough range, and manufacture the tech cheap enough, it might be useful for driving civilian airships. There would need to be many ground stations but it should make the airships cheaper, allow focused defenses, and prevent anyone from misusing the airship tech.
"Well, my boy, then you never went to one of Maranicas events. They can pack a punch, so to speak," Arider said, laughing about a joke only known to him, before hissing in pain, holding a hand towards his right ribs. He held up his other arm towards a concerned Martyris, waving his concerns away. "Don't worry; only a sport wound acting up. Damn woman, light spar my ass," he said, inaudibly muttering the last part.
Lady Maranica seems to be surprisingly open about her hobbies. I expected it to be more of an underground fighting ring.
"Thanks," Wiljem replied after a long silence between them before looking at the pieces of the sandwich in his hands again. "Ah crap, now it's ruined. Do you have another one?"
You know, are sandwiches on this planet made of Sandwheat?
[ ] The Hunt For Annika - Discrete
It is of utmost importance that Annika is found and Phyrro freed from her. The woman has gone far too far to allow anything resembling a gentle attempt at capture to be tried. It may be next to impossible with the almost cold trail, but it needs to be done. Our reputation may suffer because of this, but this is irrelevant to the continued wellbeing of Phyrro.
-[ ] Activate Needle's Old Contact
"He will find her. Alive is another matter."
(Cost: 3 Materials, 2.78 Goodwill
Reward: Add +43 to the roll.
Warning: 09% Chance that Annika is killed when found.)
(Cost: 1.10 Materials, 4 Goodwill
Chance: 06%
Reward: Annika is apprehended, and Phyrro freed.)
This seems to be strangely formatted. The base cost is 1.10 Materials and 4 Goodwill, while using the contact costs 3 Materials and 2.78 Goodwill extra, right?
[ ] Complete Some Contracts - (Specify Unit)
When you have no use for your Units, you could send them to the adventurer guild to gather both experience and money. You would have to pay an entry fee to the guild first, but buying one for the Pilgrims, in general, would simplify the whole process, instead of buying one for every Unit.
(One-Time Cost: 4 Materials
Chance: 90/50/10%
Reward: 2/4/8d4 Materials.)
We might want to do this action. The Unbroken doesn't have much to do and the surge of bandits should cause even more work for adventurers.
-[ ] Rare Odds And Ends - (Category)
(Cost: 7 Materials
Reward: +2d20 to a specific Category for one Turn.)
Could we use this to boost Diplomacy, aka The Hunt For Annika - Discrete?
-[ ] Investigate
(Cost: 3 Materials
Reward: Chosen targets plans for the next two turns are revealed.)
Or could we use this to get a boost on the hunt action?
-[ ] Commission A Knight-Frame For ^Ä^
--[ ] Malachial-Pattern
(Turns: 4, Cost: 150 Materials, Armor: 200/200, Structure: 60/60)
--[ ] Hadramiel-Pattern
(Turns: 4, Cost: 300 Materials, Armor: 350/350, Structure: 40/40)
--[ ] Gezuria-Pattern
(Turns: 5, Cost: 700 Materials, Armor: 650/650, Structure: 80/80)
--[ ] Commision An Unique-Pattern
(Turns: 8, Cost: 200 Materials, Armor: 10 points for 2 Materials, Structure: 2 points for 5 Materials)
Does ^Ä^ have any preference?
[ ] Shift Your Buearacrazy From (Category) To (Category)
Sometimes the need arises where efforts have to be reduced in one area and expanded in another when no additional resources are available to do so otherwise. Today is one of those times where a shift in attention is required.
(Cost: 1 Material
Reward: 1 Action is shifted from the first to the second category, active next Turn.)
Could we use this to turn a Tree action into Holding action? Most Tree actions are way too expensive to do right now and starting the other 4 turn action now means we can finish the basics for Norqod in 4-5 turns.