Try to survive the Winter: A planquest in Fantasy Colonial America

Turn 10 results, part 1
Due to the size of this turn, how many votes will be included (and how much still need to be rewritten), the results will be divided in two parts.
This first part are the results from Fields to Crafts


Fields

[X] Test the Sambankoli [99/50] (1 Unchained Die) (93+6)

In the heat of summer, while our crops are growing for the harvest, some of the Unchained have begun creating their combined farm, "Sambankoli".
This takes the forms of planting trees between rows of Four Sisters mounds, and getting out the poultry to feed on empty fields, eating lost grains and spare insects, and slowly spreading their wastes in the fields.
Back in Africa, the poultry were out in the "dry season", but here, the Unchained think it may be adapted in early Spring before the sowing and in Autumn after the harvest.
The Unchained say the trees will help keep the fertility of the soil, and turn the poultry's waste into fertilizer for the crops. Interestingly, they also say the Sambokoli were used as a source of young trees to plant elsewhere, to help bring fertility back to exhausted fields left fallow, for example.
Such trees would be useful for building our hedge, and as such the Unchained have planted more trees than they usually did back in Africa.

Sambankoli set-up and being tested. Should increase fertility of the fields and provide a source of wood. Notably, will provide easily transplantable trees for projects like the Hedge.


[X] Razorweed
-[X] Feed the Razorweeds [49/25] (1 Native Die) (43+6)

Once again, the Winter planted into the earth poles of hardwood, and placed Razorweed pods upon them. Then, when the young Razorweed began to grow thorns, they carefully placed into them the Husks left in Union, bit by bit, to keep them well-feed without overwhelming them with the Husks.

And the Weeds grew, and grew, and grew, until the poles could not be seen under the Weeds, and the green of the weeds became tinted with silver.

Somewhat alarmed, the Winter Walkers came to me, to study this new Razorweed, and from it I felt a hunger for emptiness, breaking what has been hollowed out and taking it into itself. leaves and branches moving slowly toward the coldness born of the lightless void.

The Winter Walkers told me that some of the varieties of Razorweeds once grown by them would show some of their properties only after an appropriate feeding. Seems we have found such a variety, gone wild.

What an incredible plant…I asked them why they were the only one in the Federation to grew Razorweed. They told me it was because of fear, and of too many Dreamers cut apart when "walking outside their skin".

Obtained 2 plots (due to overrol) of Silver RazorWeeds, a type more effective against the servants and powers of Cold, but less against others threats.
Others Razorweeds in Union can be turned into Silver Razorweeds if feed servants of Cold. Unlock projects to see if other types can be awakened from Union's Razorweed with other feedings.


[X] The Wicker Man [114/100] 2 Colonist Dice (21;32+11;39+11)

This summer, a woman gathered in Union. She gathered broken, dirted things, she gathered rotting wood that would have broken if used, and the confidence given by many people in the dead of nights.
She gathered the lies, the fears, the petty thieves of children. And other women gathered like her, reuniting all they had found, and those who knew their letters wrote down on dried barks the confessed little evils, without name.
All the while,men prepared themselves to raise a giant of wicker, with tall herbs dried by the sun gathered in the wilds around Union. Many times they made one, and many times the women told them to try again, for the giant was not right.
Then, when the solstice came, the wicker man was right, its insides filled with all the evils little and bigs of Union. The people gathered for a feast, and the giant was set on fire.
So did the evils go away.

This is what the Scarecrow Maker told me of the Wicker Man. What I know is that the fires of Union burn a little stronger, people fight less, and are less ill.

And, when the Wicker Man burned, on the winds, I heard a voice like a man with his throat burned.

Wicker Man + Scarecrow + Cults of Saint and Heroes : Rites of burning integrated in the common practice of Union. As long as the burnings continue, the fires of Union are stronger and will act as a defense against the supernatural
Tales of the Burned Man discovered (available next turn)
The Scarecrow Maker is identified as a potential hero.


[X] Plant Flax [Task] [1 Workforce Die] (1 Colonist Die)

In the rich soil near the river of Union, the flax has been sowed.
Already, thanks to the fertile soil of Union, the little blue flowers of flax are visible, and soon we will be able to harvest them.
Beyond making a little oil from the seeds we can spare, however, we need flax to make linen.
Between retting, letting the inner stem of the flax rot in the sun, separating the fibers from the outer stem, dressing the fiber, spinning them into threads and weaving them after, this is…time consuming. Thankfully, most women in Union have experience with this. The others will learn.

Union will now produce one unit of Fabric each Autumn. This rate of production may be increased with other projects (the main limiting factors are manpower and tools, not the harvest of flax).
Access to flaxseeds oil


Wilds

[X] Hunt
-[X] Game [60/30] (1 Son's Skirmisher Die) (54+6)

Half the skirmishers go into the wilds, and seek the places already mapped by our hunters. Again, they find elks and other game, the herds reconstituted, as if placed by invisible hand.
Again, they hunt them down, and again they come back to Union, with meat and furs.
As long as we do not take more than what we took before, in the wilds we have claimed through our paths and our victory against the Lord, our hunting will be easy.

++ Food, + Heat, 2 units of Normal Leather
Old paths trigger, + Food
Hunting for Game will now be a Task, representing the hunt in lands claimed by Union. It may be possible to extend Union's hunting range.


[X] To find dogs [106/100] (1 Son's Skirmisher Die) (100+6)

At the beginning of Summer, half the Skirmishers left with bones and bites of uneatable meat, to gather dogs.
Then, for two months, they disappeared, before coming back with a strange pack of dogs. They were bewildered to learn about how long they had been missing, for them only a few weeks had passed, they said.
They followed tracks in the Wilds that seemed to appear and disappear almost at random, they told us, before reaching a place they had never seen before, filled with broken bones of monsters, and in it the dogs, that followed them easily once a little meat was thrown their way.
Now, a pack of wild dogs live next to us, eating vermines and sometimes coming with the hunters in their hunt.
The dogs are skittish, and many show traces of wounds from the maws of Winter's servants, so our people must take their time in taming them.
Still, I have noticed something strange about those dogs…
Union obtained a pack of wild dogs, helping in eliminating vermin and hunting. The pack will have to be tamed.
Choose one unique characteristic of the dogs

[] Halfdead [Dog] : The dogs are small, compared to the shepherd dogs of Europe, with long noses. However, they are strangely strong and enduring, able to run for an entire day and throw on their back a full grown man. The dogs are stronger and more endurant than dogs of their size should be able to be.

[] Ghostnoses [Dog] : These dogs don't bark, they howl, and they howl a lot in Union. It seems they can…smell the ghosts present in the town, and have learned to fear the specters of Winter. The dogs can smell the supernatural.

[] Spiritteeths [Dog] : The teeths of those dogs are sharp, and cut deep. More importantly, when one of them tried to bite the ankle of one of the Blade, I felt pain from the bond I share with them… The dogs have sharp teeths that can harm supernatural beings.


Town

[X] True Homes for a True People [206/140] 1 Colonist Die (101,94+11)

The builders worked hard, raising good homes for their kin, and now, Union is filled with buildings of strong wood, big enough to house an extended kin, each one story tall, with the workers even having time to build elevated granaries and seed-stocks for the food.

If we were in the old world, it would have been all. Here, it is only the beginning.

In each house, when Winter comes, the first floor will be abandoned, and the staircase brought down, the people gathering upward, leaving the house with ladders. The non-combatants will stay in the center, around a strong chimney and the gathered reserve of the house, far from any windows, and the fighters will use the outer rooms to watch for any monsters.
In the worst case, if the house is overrun, the people in it will be able to flee one last time, below the roof.

With the new houses, any of Union's streets can be watched during Winter, and fire from at least two sides given to any invaders.

This new house will give our people space, confort, warmth, and more importantly, protection.
—--------------------------------------
Jonathan Smith lives in the same house as his niece, but does not live with her. They share their meal, on a big table, but so many Mourners eat with them that they cannot speak.
His niece sleeps upstairs, in a windowless room, alway guarded, and when she wakes, there are always people around her, always there are things she must do.
Sometimes, he can speak truly with her, sometimes Jonathan sees her smiles, and remembers when he played with a little girl, so long ago.
But Jonathan is filled with doubt. He does not know if he lives in a house, or a fortress.
He does not know what his place is, in this town so alike and so different from his old home.
One day, he think his niece has not changed one bit, with her clear laugh, and the next, he think all she was is lost, replaced by a witch covered in ashes, with eyes that pierce the soul.

Housing and granaries built in Union, all the people of Union can be comfortably lodged.
Due to overrol, each house in Union is build to act as both a fortress and shelter.
+5 Morale, + Heat, + Defence.


[X] Train the Militia against monsters [Militia]
-[X] Formation Training [110/100] (1 Militia Die) (10;94+6)

What must be drilled relentlessly into the Militia, you learn, is to fight as one.
Teaching people to use a shield is the easy part, the hard part is making them walk and fight as one, to move without losing their formation, and to keep fighting and protecting their charges despite fear and terror.
A solution is found to ensure this : group by group, after their first drills, members of the Militia are given a draught made from mushrooms by the wises, causing terrifying visions, and drilled again and again until they can act as one despite the nightmares they can see.
When the Summer ends, the Militia seem ready to hold a formation during Winter.
You hear that many of the newcomers are somewhat terrified by the training, and even more terrified when told by their neighbors that the training did not shock them, and that the terrors of Winter are worse.

Militia trained in formation fighting and shield usages. Newcomers have their first taste of what Winter is like.


[X] Hospital [219/150] (1 Colonist Die, 1 Unhardened Colonist Die, 1 Native Die) (61+11;41;100+6)

From the Journal of Alexandre de Montfaucon
Translated from Early Modern French

Despite my misgivings about using almost pagan laborers for raising a hospital of Lazarus, the "Winter Walkers" have proven to be fast learners, doing almost twice as much work than my fellow newcomers to Union.

I must say I still find it unnerving how the people of this town act, how they seem to alway act as one, and to never stumble, fall, or accidentally hammer their fingers…
Especially when I open my spiritual senses, and can gaze upon ghosts floating around and whispering in the ears of the people, acting more like old men watching over the youth than any ghosts I have ever seen or read about…
But each day, my unase lessen….Ab assuetis non fit passio, I suppose.

Still, with hard work (and the use of the strong ropes and sticky patches of silk of Union, incredible things, able to hold with ease a piece of carpentry heavier than 10 men !), the hospital has been raised, built like the cloister of a monastery, four two stories high walls of woods around an inner court.
According to the principle of the Rule of Lazarus, all openings beside the main entrance have been pierced only toward the inner court, the patient's wards installed into the higher stories, and the cells for the healers, storerooms and other amenities installed in the ground floor.
Of course, the higher rooms have been reserved for more…dangerous patients, and made to be easily sealable. Sadly, Union does not have the steel for chains.
A well has been dug in the inner court, to provide clean water for the afflicted.
Of course, due to the lack of resources of Union, not all that was desired could be made. There are no gardens planted yet in the inner court, both to provide herb and vegetables to the afflicted and provide appropriate surrounding and air for their physical and spiritual health, and the wards could not be separated with strong doors.

Thankfully, the knowledge of the Winter Walker helped reduce the effect of this lack of resources, for a few elders of these pagans remembered how to produce quite adequate replacement for bandage from barks, and how to use the same barks to craft impermeable panels and tents, providing an easy way to separate wards and patients from one another.
Those tents of barks would even provide an easy way to fumigate the patients, allowing them to correct their humors through smoke and intense perspiration…

I was quite fast in finding how to adapt those tents for healing out in the wilderness !

I had a few thoughts of preparing the place for newer treatments, like bloodletting, but with the many unknow of these lands, I decided to mostly prepare the hospital for tried and true remedies and cures, and shared with a few of the "wise folk" of Union what recipes I could teach to laics.

I admit, the hospital has been mostly built according to my readings and my experiences more than any training, still, I am quite satisfied by this new hospital, and I am sure the good brothers of Lazarus would find great use of the barks-craft of Union, when linen is scarce or to care for the ills of a marching army.

Hospital build, + Knowledge, –Wood, provide basic care and quarantine.
Barks bandage and tents adapted, helping to care for the ill and maintain quarantine, especially outside of Union.


Craft

[X] Make Master tools [2 Craft ; 1 Good Steel]

From the smithy, all Summer, comes hammers, saws, needles, knives, all of the highest quality, all that is needed for a craftsman to do good work.

+1 Craft point

[X] Make some barrels [1 Craft]

John Granit got to work, making enough barrels to fill Union's granaries, enough to protect our harvest, enough to safely carry our goods when we travel by rafts.

Barrels made.
Combined with granaries, +Food from reduced food waste. More goods can be transported and traded in expeditions.

[X] Produce Winter Clothing [1 Craft, 1 Normal Leather]

Again, clothing of furs and leather come from Nixkamich's workshop, fusing in one when worn, and isolating the wearer from the outside.
Our Militia now has enough Winter Clothes to act in Winter. This is perhaps the first step in not only enduring Winter, but bringing war to it.

Enough Winter Clothes produced for the Militia. The Militia can act more in Winter.

[X] What to do with ashes? [1 Craft, Quality Roll] (50-10+10(Omake))

Our craftsmen stumbled for most of Summer by themselves to use the ashes, asking me a lot of questions during it (and grumbling about the children bothering them).
There are two issues : The ashes need to be applied all over something to give it power, and the power of ashes becomes spent with time, making any permanent addition of ashes to something rapidly useless.
So they stumbled and grumbled, until a breakthrough was made. Arnaud Fabre, the smith, remembered a coating made from ashes by one of his old friends to protect steel from rust. By making such a coating by mixing resin,weak bone glue and ashes, objects and persons could be charged with power for a time (at maximum a few weeks) with relative ease.
For now, the coating that has been made sticks well only on steel, but it should be easy enough to create versions for other materials and make unguent from the same principles.

Ashes coating invented. Enough ashes coating for steel produced for the Militia's use during one Winter.

[X] Set-up Charcoal Burning [81/50] (1 Colonist Die) (70+11)

Thankfully, some of the Colonists were once charcoal burners, and it is easy enough for them to train about 15 people in their craft, if long.
Charcoal burning is a delicate things, demanding to carefully select and dry wood, gather the wood in large piles covered with turf, and then set fire to those piles and keep careful watch and control over the intensity of the flames and the quantity of air in the piles, to turn the wood into charcoal and not ashes.
Still, they learn, and now, in littles huts on the outskirts of Union, the colliers do their work.
As should be expected, the charcoal produced is of the highest quality, burning long and well, with people gathering stocks for the Winter, and Arnaud telling me he could make good steel with such material.
More interesting, our growing charcoal stocks will help us in producing gunpowder…and to my sense, I can feel power, much like in the ashes, in this charcoal.
There is power in the wood of this land, and when burned, this power is…freed, made formless and easily accessible, no matter how the wood is burned.

Charcoal burning set-up in Union.
-Wood and +Fuel per turn, increased quality of steel produced, another project (like Salpeter cave trails) will reduce the number of gathering die for gunpowder production by 1.
Charcoal produced with the wood of this land is empowered, like the ashes.

[X] Build a Stonemason Workshop [74/50] (1 Unchained Die) (68+6)

From the Unchained, a woman has come forth, and rapidly took control of the efforts for building a stonemason workshop.

I talked with this woman, Adesuwa. She told me she is the last heir of a long line of stonemasons and artists serving the Oba, the King of the Kingdom of Benin, in the west of Africa.
For the Oba, her line made statues, palaces, and fortresses, in stone and in bricks of earth, until her grandfather became mingled in a fight between the warring princes of the Kingdom, and her whole family ended up executed, and her sold to portuguese slavers.

Now, she says, she is ready to do honor to her line and practice the craft she learned from her father and grandfather. I can feel the wounds in her soul, but who in Union is free of them.
She knows how to work stone, she has prepared and organized her workshop. This is all that matters.

Stonemason Workshop built, manned by Master Adesuwa, once stonemason of Benin. +1 Craft, stones and adobe Craft projects unlocked.

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No moratorium