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

Sivantic · May 22, 2024

[] Plan Forest of Life, Town of Death

Obligations
-[] Teach the Shepherds [Task] [1 [Death Singing] Die] 1 Mourner Knowledge die
-[] Make tools for the Sheperds [1 Craft ; 1 Mediocre Steel]

Fields
-[] Harvest [Task] (3 Dice) 1 Unhardened Colonist die, 1 Colonist Die, 1 Native Die

Wilds (1 combat re-roll per turn)
-[] Rebuild the Peaceful Wilds
--[] Forest Gardens [0/150] 3 Native Dice
--[] Sulfur Paths [0/75] 2 Colonist Die
--[] Iron Paths [0/75] 1 Generix Die
--[] Deers Clearings [0/100] 2 Colonist Dice
--[] Gathering Expedition [DC 20/80/120]: 1 Unchained Die, 1 Colonist die
-[] Purge the Vermin [Away with the pest] [Risky] [Tyring]
--[] The Tower of Eyes [Vermin][???]
---[] Strike down the Node (Risky) [0/75] 2 Warrior Son Dice, 2 Skirmishers Dice

Town
-[] Train Champions [0/100] 1 Unchained Die, 1Andreyas Sarsa Die
-[] Train the Militia against monsters [Militia]
--[] Spread and Regroup [10/75] 1 Militia Die
-[] The Food Traps [0/25] 1 Council Die
--[] The Flesh Traps [Free]
-[] To protect animals [0/50] 1 Colonist Die
-[] Underhives [0/75] 1 Dead Die

Crafting
-[] The great mending [2 Craft, 1 unit of Fabric]
-[] The Giant's Shield [2 Craft, 1 unit of Excellent Wood] (will trigger a quality roll)
-[] Produce Protective Clothing [1 Craft, 1 Normal Leather] (Will trigger a quality roll)
-[] Making Hearths [1 Craft]

Raids, Expeditions and Diplomacy
-[] A path towards the Hunter [0/100] 2 Sara dice, 1 Silent Blades die

Knowledge
-[] Forceful Reciprocity
--[] Free the Enslaved [21/100] 1 Alexandre Die
-[] Rites of Death [0/150] [Death] [Freed] 1 Mourner Die, 1 Failure Die, 1 Sara Die

The Council
-[] Funerary Practices [DC 25/75/ ???] 2 Council Dice

This is the updated plan, Xs are in the original post. I have added Gathering Expedition so that we can root around for more medicinal plans, and added the Hunter expedition with Sarah to try and bring back our lost Brethren.

Oregano · May 22, 2024

[X] Plan Pest Control

OldShadow · May 22, 2024

Chimeraguard said:
EDIT: Actually, @OldShadow while we're on the topic, could we have some more details on how Sara accompanying the Blades on a project affects its Tiring status? Does it remove the tiring status, effectively half it (2 Silent Blades dice on a Tiring action with Sara counts as only 1 Tiring action), or something else?

Remove it in most cases, reduce for the most brutal action (constant combat for days, for example)

Chimeraguard · May 22, 2024

Hrm, I suppose the purging of the Many-Limbed Devourers is probably the latter, huh?

Well, if it's reduced from 2 to 1...then provided the 2 Silent Blade Dice existing in the Winter is also tiring, then Sara should enter the Spring with probably like, one action remaining before she's exhausted. At which point we can have the 2 Silent Blades doing nothing so Sara can recover and be fully refreshed for the Summer offensives.

Alternatively maybe Winter isn't automatically tiring for each Silent Blade, but come on, we're not that lucky.

Mortenkam · May 22, 2024

[X] Plan Pest Control

Fireiy · May 22, 2024

[X] Plan Pest Control

Generally greatly prefer this plan, most of the actions with the wilds are things that I think would be better suited to be done during the spring instead of autumn. One question I do have for this plan is why the distribution of 2 council dice and 1 personal dice for the assembly and 1 dice on funerary practices? I would have thought that shifting the personal dice to funerary practices is the more natural distribution there.

Chimeraguard · May 22, 2024

Fireiy said:
One question I do have for this plan is why the distribution of 2 council dice and 1 personal dice for the assembly and 1 dice on funerary practices? I would have thought that shifting the personal dice to funerary practices is the more natural distribution there.

This is a good point. Would there be any objections to me making this swap of the Council die to Assembly and Sara to Funerary Practices?

Chimeraguard · May 22, 2024

Okay actually, thinking on things, I wonder if maybe we ought to chance what Council Projects we're doing.

Right now it's 3 dice on Give Power to the Assembly and 1 die on Funerary Practices, with the intention of maximizing our dice gain while also getting Funerary Practices established before Smallpox hit (with the idea that it only needs to pass the 1st DC because they don't need to be perfect, just functional.)

But I'm starting to have 2nd thoughts on that.

OldShadow said:
The People's problems :

Winter is coming, complains are not heard in Autumn

The newcomers fell isolated

OldShadow said:
[] Funerary Practices [DC 25/75/ ???]
Union do not have any official policies on how to deal with the dead, with the body left to the family and the duties of caring for the mourning kin left to me.
There was none for it was common sense amongst the Colonists and the Winter Walkers to either bury the dead deep or carry them to the Deadtown, to be cared for by the other dead.
But now, with more and more people joining Union, good practice should be made into laws.

From this, the Newcomers already feel isolated, and part of the Funerary Practices is addressing how they don't really have the experience with the need for certain rites in Winter because nothing stays dead here.

So, I have a hypothesis that Funerary Practices has the first DC as getting an official code, while the 2nd DC is getting the Newcomers to not freak out about how weird the new code is.

That would make it very important to pass the 2nd DC, because the Newcomers are already feeling isolated.

And speaking of that, this brought me to this action:

OldShadow said:
[] Principles of Union [DC 40/80/???]
Union was born from two people joining together despite their difference, united by a common humanity and their struggle against Winter.
Now, new people have joined, and more will probably join us in the future.
It is perhaps time to sit down, and truly think about how we can more easily join foreigners to our Union.
Union develop integrations policies.

This project seems like the sort of thing from its wording that is not just about integrating future peoples, but the current ones as well. So it might go a way into addressing the main People's Problem that isn't being put on hold because Winter.

As such, I would like to propose a change in the Council Actions from the 3x Assembly and 1x Funerary to 2x Principles of Union and 2x Funerary. This would sacrifice the anticipated Dice gain, but it would also maximize the amount of integration work we're doing and would hopefully go a way towards reassuring the Unhardened (and to some degree the Unchained as well.) Working to address another People's Problem on the most vulnerable section of our population once Winter comes in, since we should solidly pass the 2nd DC in both with 2 dice. Then in the Spring we can put all 3 Council dice onto Assembly work.

@Hunter531 @Fanhunter696 As the other two big debaters when it comes to my plans, I'd like your input on this.

Hunter531 · May 22, 2024

Chimeraguard said:
At which point we can have the 2 Silent Blades doing nothing so Sara can recover and be fully refreshed for the Summer offensives.

I strongly suspect that won't be an option. Spring is a busy time for us even when we aren't dealing with the consequences of a smallpox outbreak. We'll likely need to settle for placing the Silent Blades on an action that isn't Tyring, preferably with Sara for added recovery. On the plus side, Sara should be able to supervise them to reduce exhaustion.

Chimeraguard said:
@Hunter531 @Fanhunter696 As the other two big debaters when it comes to my plans, I'd like your input on this.

I'm not too worried about the newcomers being isolated, mainly because they will be integrated next turn, assuming they survive of course. I'm fine with two dice on Funerary Practices, as you've made a good point there, but I think Principles of Union is overkill. By the time we're able to enact those policies, the newcomers will be close enough to being integrated that it won't make much difference.

On the plus side, doing Funerary Practices would free up a Sara and Council die to do other stuff. Getting another Dead die definitely appeals, and there's no shortage of places where a Council die could be useful.

Fireiy · May 22, 2024

I think that getting integration sorted before winter is the kind of thing that keeps the newcomers from getting killed during their first one and I want to point out this section at the start.

OldShadow said:
They speak of Sara's uncle, slipping out from the great house where they both live, going to break fast and share prayer with some other newcomers. His heart is divided, between his love of the girl and his fear of the witch, between the joy of eating well again and the anxiety from all the strangeness of Union, between convincing his people to seek a new life in Union or trying with them to flee. When Winter comes, he will have a choice to make.

I imagine that winter is going to be very happy to whisper in the ears of the unhardened.

Chimeraguard · May 22, 2024

If nothing else, we do plan to integrate whatever slaves we rescue from the Tribute-Takers next year. It'd be one less thing we have to do then if we get the fundamentals for how we integrate newcomers settled out now.

And to a degree, I think an important part of it all will be that people would be able to see that we're trying our best to integrate the Newcomers and make them feel welcome, whether or not there's enough time to implement the official policy before Winter.

Fanhunter696 · May 22, 2024

Chimeraguard said:
@Hunter531 @Fanhunter696 As the other two big debaters when it comes to my plans, I'd like your input on this.

Very much like Hunter531 I am not worried about the integration of the Newcomers, because Winter will deal with that for us, and we kind of took Steel in our Souls to deal with this... For me, Principles of the Union is not a good option because you are overblowing a relatively minor problem...

Regarding Funerary practices, I don´t think that it is that important to reach that second DC (because honestly funerals when the dead guy will return as a ghost seems kind of unnecessary) , and Power of Assembly is going to be a godsend for our action economy, so I would rather keep things as they are now...

Having said that, if waiting a turn for Power of Assembly, and putting a couple of Dices on Funeral Rites allows us to rearrange things so that we can try to get extra Death Dice I would be willing to compromise, if only because with the Deadport we need as many of those as possible...

Another thing is that if we wait before taking Food traps for a season, we can feed the fleshfruit to the voices for free, and with all the stuff we are adding the likelihood of getting that mandate finished for spring-summer increases significantly, and putting that freed dice in Shepards of Corpses may allow us to get both dead dice before Winter...

Chimeraguard · May 22, 2024

Mmm, I really do feel like the issues of the Newcomers are being dismissed too easily. The intro statement outright noted that a lot of the Newcomers are considering fleeing Union outright. That sounds especially dangerous when Winter's just around the corner. And fundamentally, I don't think it would be noted that "The Newcomers are feeling isolated" would be noted as a People's Problem if there weren't actions in the Turn that could at least attempt to address them.

It's dangerous to rely on Winter to paper over the issues of isolation as well. Sure, it worked for Union...but it didn't work for 3/4ths of Johnstown, which tore itself apart in fear and hunger until Sara managed to unify the survivors. Nor did it work for the late Dreamer Federation, which was torn apart by internal issues. Now I doubt the problems with the Newcomers will get that bad...but I do think we should at least make an effort to integrate them now. If nothing else, it sends a message that we aren't just ignoring their concerns, but are actively trying to make them feel welcome as part of the community.

Besides, Integration sorting is something we'll need to do anyway sooner rather than later. We'll hopefully be picking up a significant number of former Tribute-Taker slaves next year after all. It isn't that big a cost to have it done now instead of later.

Delaying Food Traps I feel is unnecessary, since bandaging the Wounded should already speed up the healing process if it goes even remotely well, and dangerous because after large monsters and swarms have both failed to inflict lasting damage on Union, the next thing Winter is liable to send would logically be Spirits. After all, spirits were the things that inflicted the most actual harm on Union previously (the curse during the first turn) and nearly turned the tide during the last Winter (when they tried to possess the Silent Blades.)

Watcher's Eyes · May 22, 2024

Fanhunter696 said:
Another thing is that if we wait before taking Food traps for a season, we can feed the fleshfruit to the voices for free, and with all the stuff we are adding the likelihood of getting that mandate finished for spring-summer increases significantly, and putting that freed dice in Shepards of Corpses may allow us to get both dead dice before Winter...

Hhm I got a feeling that if we are successful with the striking the nodes of rogue eyevines the eyeless lord would provide for us more eyevines to grow more fleshfruits as his reward for vanquishing the rebels and the fact we are probably getting alot of extra fleshfruits as spoils from the rogues when we attack the nodes. So I think flesh traps would be ok to stay.

Fanhunter696 · May 22, 2024

Chimeraguard said:
Mmm, I really do feel like the issues of the Newcomers are being dismissed too easily. The intro statement outright noted that a lot of the Newcomers are considering fleeing outright. That sounds especially dangerous when Winter's just around the corner. And fundamentally, I don't think it would be noted that "The Newcomers are feeling isolated" would be noted as a People's Problem if there weren't actions in the Turn that could at least attempt to address them.

TBH, they have nowhere to go in the New World nor any way of going back to Europe, so I am not too worried about them fleeing...

And regarding the "The Newcomers are feeling isolated", that is normal to me, and Winter will deal with that on its own... It even appeared in the "Integration Objectives"

Watcher's Eyes said:
Hhm I got a feeling that if we are successful with the striking the nodes of rogue eyevines the eyeless lord would provide for us more eyevines to grow more fleshfruits as his reward for vanquishing the rebels and the fact we are probably getting alot of extra fleshfruits as spoils from the rogues when we attack the nodes. So I think flesh traps would be ok to stay.

That is an interesting possibilty...

@OldShadow considering this... Would it be possible to take both the Food Traps with fleshfruits and the free action that feeds fleshfruit to the Voices in this turn?

Chimeraguard · May 22, 2024

Fanhunter696 said:
TBH, they have nowhere to go in the New World nor any way of going back to Europe, so I am not too worried about them fleeing...

And regarding the "The Newcomers are feeling isolated", that is normal to me, and Winter will deal with that on its own... It even appeared in the "Integration Objectives"

I have very strong doubts that that will stop people from trying. People in Johnstown no doubt did all sorts of foolish things in the Winter, most of which got them killed, especially when Winter can easily whisper into their ears. And they may decide that, having felt isolated before Winter and terrified during it, that they want back on the first boat going to Europe and damn whatever it costs them, it's better than sticking around in this living nightmare surrounded by foreigners wearing the faces of their families.

And the You Will Learn only changes the die from Unhardened to a more conventional one. It doesn't mean the Newcomers will automatically suddenly be okay with all the odd practices they're not used to.

Honestly, every dismissal of the issue I've heard thus far has only further convinced me that it is a real issue that is being actively ignored, and ought to be addressed now instead of waiting for Winter.

Fanhunter696 · May 22, 2024

Chimeraguard said:
I have very strong doubts that that will stop people from trying. People in Johnstown no doubt did all sorts of foolish things in the Winter, most of which got them killed, especially when Winter can easily whisper into their ears. And they may decide that, having felt isolated before Winter and terrified during it, that they want back on the first boat going to Europe and damn whatever it costs them, it's better than sticking around in this living nightmare surrounded by foreigners wearing the faces of their families.

I still think you are worrying too much about this... But since you are still mulling over this, you can always use an OOC question to have confirmation from the QM himself...

Hunter531 · May 22, 2024

Chimeraguard said:
Mmm, I really do feel like the issues of the Newcomers are being dismissed too easily. The intro statement outright noted that a lot of the Newcomers are considering fleeing outright. That sounds especially dangerous when Winter's just around the corner. And fundamentally, I don't think it would be noted that "The Newcomers are feeling isolated" would be noted as a People's Problem if there weren't actions in the Turn that could at least attempt to address them.

True, but that doesn't mean that Principles of Union is the best vehicle for doing so. Such policies will likely take time to have a serious effect, and Winter is just around the corner.

If I can't convince you not to go down this route, may I at least suggest a different approach? A Graveyard in the City of the Dead explicitly improves our relationship with strangers and newcomers, and it should synergize nicely with Funerary Rites.

It makes sense when you think about it. Nothing builds bridges like mutual cultural touchstones, and a healthy respect for the dead makes for a great touchstone. Plus, it should help quell fears that the Unionists are eager and unrepentant necromancers*.

*In reality they're more like reluctant necromancers who would happily repent if they thought they'd survive without the assistance of the undead.

Chimeraguard said:
And they may decide that, having felt isolated before Winter and terrified during it, that they want back on the first boat going to Europe and damn whatever it costs them, it's better than sticking around in this living nightmare surrounded by foreigners wearing the faces of their families.

I don't think that's particularly likely. Quite frankly, if the newcomers can't adapt when Winter hits, then they won't be making it to Spring.

Chimeraguard · May 22, 2024

Hrm...actually, I did have an idea for an omake that would be pretty thematically appropriate to use for an "how to manage the Newcomers' isolation" OOC question. Lemme see if I can write it real quick.

Fanhunter696 · May 22, 2024

Hunter531 said:
If I can't convince you not to go down this route, may I at least suggest a different approach? A Graveyard in the City of the Dead explicitly improves our relationship with strangers and newcomers, and it should synergize nicely with Funerary Rites.

TBH I don't think That Chimeraguard would go down that route, changing a fairly major part of the vote less than 24 hours before the vote ends is considered tasteless, especially when the feedback has been mostly against this particular change

Fireiy · May 22, 2024

Hunter531 said:
they will be integrated next turn, assuming they survive of course.

Bolding added by me on what the point of contention here seems to be. There seems to be a somewhat dismissive attitude towards integrating them being solved by winter, when the issue at hand is that I don't believe they will survive it without more effort towards integrating them.

Fanhunter696 · May 22, 2024

Fireiy said:
Bolding added by me on what the point of contention here seems to be. There seems to be a somewhat dismissive attitude towards integrating them being solved by winter, when the issue at hand is that I don't believe they will survive it without more effort towards integrating them.

They are in a stronghold, with spiritual wards, plenty of food and water, and in which 90% of the people are veterans surviving winter... As long as they don´t act like dumb teenagers in a slasher film, and keep their heads down while we handle the though staff they have pretty good prospects for survival...

Hunter531 · May 22, 2024

Chimeraguard said:
Hrm...actually, I did have an idea for an omake that would be pretty thematically appropriate to use for an "how to manage the Newcomers' isolation" OOC question. Lemme see if I can write it real quick.

If your muse isn't feeling cooperative and you don't think you can finish it before the vote ends, feel free to use one of mine and just pay me back later.

Fanhunter696 said:
TBH I don't think That Chimeraguard would go down that route, changing a fairly major part of the vote less than 24 hours before the vote ends is considered tasteless, especially when the feedback has been mostly against this particular change

I wouldn't go that far. Both Chimeraguard and Fireiy have made pretty good points about why this change should be made. As such, while I'm not entirely convinced, I wouldn't exactly object to the plan being changed now either, especially if it was towards the Graveyard action I suggested. It's not like such occurrences are without precedent in this quest.

Fanhunter696 said:
They are in a stronghold, with spiritual wards, plenty of food and water, and in which 90% of the people are veterans surviving winter... As long as they don´t act like dumb teenagers in a slasher film, and keep their heads down while we handle the though staff they have pretty good prospects for survival...

Don't underestimate Winter. It's a tricky bastard, and very much motivated towards making us hurt for all the trouble we've caused. Human beings aren't exactly rational at the best of times, and I wouldn't be surprised if Winter is able to take advantage of that to kill or corrupt the newcomers.

Chimeraguard · May 22, 2024

Shards of the Federation
Before the fall, trade with the Shepherds was a thing both regular yet celebrated. A trade of meat for Three Sisters, of hides for tools, of stories for stories. More than that, it was a trade of companionship. A reminder that no matter how harsh the Winter, the people of each settlement were not alone, but part of one greater whole. It was no mere arrangement between bargainers, but gifts between friends.

That was gone from this meeting of Shepherds and Unionfolk. Each gazed at the other with wary eyes and negotiations began. Each frightened by the other, yet too blind to their own alterations. The wise of the Shepherds flinched when they witnessed the ghosts of Union, whispering warnings on the wind of things from dangerous predators to an uncomfortable resting spot in the grass. Even in this land where nothing remains dead, they should not be so active. The Unionfolk gazed in horror upon the Hairy, those things which had once been human, were still perhaps human, but were also but beasts, herded alongside the Shepherds and not devoured...unless truly necessary. To feast on one's kin, even in desperation...

A couple of the Unionfolk remained silent at such fearful mutterings. They remembered Johnstown, they remembered what hunger had driven them to do. They still remembered the taste...And then they spoke up that they were not here to judge such things. That was not their way, not when Union had been forged between two people's united by terror and despair despite lacking even a common language, despite all being alien and monstrous. A wolf that walked on two legs sniffed and gazed at one wispy thing and whined sadly. A hand like faded fog reached out, to pet or take its claw like a hand, but passed through like mist. A Shepherd's gaze turned from suspicion to sympathy.

Well and so. Perhaps they were not so different after all. Agreements could be made. For survival when Winter came, they would be made.

Asylum was the first thing. It was a natural place to start, borne from a sense of common humanity, one that had compelled Union to warn the Unchained, compelled Awakes and Shepherds to search for those lost in the cold as they travelled, for a family to leave a light on the porch that there was room inside for one more. No one deserved to face Winter alone. Wherever the Shepherds and Unionfolk went, the could find shelter with each other...for a time.

(Before, the elders of both remember sadly, it had been something that could be assumed without asking, something that came freely. Before, it had not been something one needed the community to negotiate for.)

There are other things each has the other needs. Winter Walkers who remember of caravans pulled by deer and haired things, a mobile logistics base that could be staged out of, to strike deep into the Takers and withdraw before retaliation, bringing with them war plunder and freed slaves. Elders remember the caches of the Awakes, waiting for proof that the old unions still held weight before they would withdraw their secrets. Smiths stared in fascination at the coarse hairs of the beasts, so much finer than any before, to be used to fashion the munitions for the thunder-weapons that kept the monsters at bay.

The Shepherds' needs were more base, yet far more vital. Food to replenish stocks, yes. Tools to build shelters, yes. But more than that, ways to keep their minds. Infusions that had once been bought to sharpen the human intellect were now a necessary thing just to hope to keep it. Union has stocks aplenty, fed hungrily by monsters impaled upon their thorns. They have enough for themselves, and enough to spare.

(One woman supervises the sorting of leaves to keep and leaves to trade. Her mind wanders down the trails to the past until she was a child again, meeting with a boy when the Shepherds had come to the Old Home. She had enjoyed his presence, and him hers. They had traded gifts before they left. Where was he now? What was he now?)

Then there are secrets. One nascent, one old. One shattered until only fragments remain, one too young to have grown any to begin with. Perhaps in truth...what each require's the other for is not so different. To rebuild the ties between broken kin shattered by Winter. Be it the dogs that once played with the children of the Winter Walkers, or perhaps in that fool's hope to salvage the minds of the Shepherds lost to Consumption, is it truly so different? It seems not, for another trade is made and deemed fair.

The deals are made, added onto, and then concluded at last. In the old days, this would not be the end of a meeting, for their was friendship and celebration to be had between honored companions. But not here. They are strangers still, too wary, too busy. Those flashes of shared suffering are not enough to bridge the gaps that have cracked open what there once was.

Perhaps it will be one day. Perhaps this is but the first step for something greater. Perhaps the old dreams of Federation have not been shattered so thoroughly that something new cannot be pieced together from the shards.

Perhaps...
-----
A/N: I've had this idea for a while, but the whole thing with the Newcomers inspired my muse (I wrote 150 words over the past few days and the rest over the past hour.) I wanted have it that both Union and Shepherds are to some degree frightened and even sickened by how the other has changed, and are aware to some extent, but still only partially cognizant of how they themselves have changed to survive Winter as well.

Anyway, @OldShadow here's my OOC Question for this omake if accepted: What can we do this turn to address the issue of the Newcomers feeling isolated, and what sort of consequences will there be (if any) if we go into Winter with it being unaddressed?

OldShadow · May 23, 2024

Chimeraguard said:
Shards of the Federation
Before the fall, trade with the Shepherds was a thing both regular yet celebrated. A trade of meat for Three Sisters, of hides for tools, of stories for stories. More than that, it was a trade of companionship. A reminder that no matter how harsh the Winter, the people of each settlement were not alone, but part of one greater whole. It was no mere arrangement between bargainers, but gifts between friends.

That was gone from this meeting of Shepherds and Unionfolk. Each gazed at the other with wary eyes and negotiations began. Each frightened by the other, yet too blind to their own alterations. The wise of the Shepherds flinched when they witnessed the ghosts of Union, whispering warnings on the wind of things from dangerous predators to an uncomfortable resting spot in the grass. Even in this land where nothing remains dead, they should not be so active. The Unionfolk gazed in horror upon the Hairy, those things which had once been human, were still perhaps human, but were also but beasts, herded alongside the Shepherds and not devoured...unless truly necessary. To feast on one's kin, even in desperation...

A couple of the Unionfolk remained silent at such fearful mutterings. They remembered Johnstown, they remembered what hunger had driven them to do. They still remembered the taste...And then they spoke up that they were not here to judge such things. That was not their way, not when Union had been forged between two people's united by terror and despair despite lacking even a common language, despite all being alien and monstrous. A wolf that walked on two legs sniffed and gazed at one wispy thing and whined sadly. A hand like faded fog reached out, to pet or take its claw like a hand, but passed through like mist. A Shepherd's gaze turned from suspicion to sympathy.

Well and so. Perhaps they were not so different after all. Agreements could be made. For survival when Winter came, they would be made.

Asylum was the first thing. It was a natural place to start, borne from a sense of common humanity, one that had compelled Union to warn the Unchained, compelled Awakes and Shepherds to search for those lost in the cold as they travelled, for a family to leave a light on the porch that there was room inside for one more. No one deserved to face Winter alone. Wherever the Shepherds and Unionfolk went, the could find shelter with each other...for a time.

(Before, the elders of both remember sadly, it had been something that could be assumed without asking, something that came freely. Before, it had not been something one needed the community to negotiate for.)

There are other things each has the other needs. Winter Walkers who remember of caravans pulled by deer and haired things, a mobile logistics base that could be staged out of, to strike deep into the Takers and withdraw before retaliation, bringing with them war plunder and freed slaves. Elders remember the caches of the Awakes, waiting for proof that the old unions still held weight before they would withdraw their secrets. Smiths stared in fascination at the coarse hairs of the beasts, so much finer than any before, to be used to fashion the munitions for the thunder-weapons that kept the monsters at bay.

The Shepherds' needs were more base, yet far more vital. Food to replenish stocks, yes. Tools to build shelters, yes. But more than that, ways to keep their minds. Infusions that had once been bought to sharpen the human intellect were now a necessary thing just to hope to keep it. Union has stocks aplenty, fed hungrily by monsters impaled upon their thorns. They have enough for themselves, and enough to spare.

(One woman supervises the sorting of leaves to keep and leaves to trade. Her mind wanders down the trails to the past until she was a child again, meeting with a boy when the Shepherds had come to the Old Home. She had enjoyed his presence, and him hers. They had traded gifts before they left. Where was he now? What was he now?)

Then there are secrets. One nascent, one old. One shattered until only fragments remain, one too young to have grown any to begin with. Perhaps in truth...what each require's the other for is not so different. To rebuild the ties between broken kin shattered by Winter. Be it the dogs that once played with the children of the Winter Walkers, or perhaps in that fool's hope to salvage the minds of the Shepherds lost to Consumption, is it truly so different? It seems not, for another trade is made and deemed fair.

The deals are made, added onto, and then concluded at last. In the old days, this would not be the end of a meeting, for their was friendship and celebration to be had between honored companions. But not here. They are strangers still, too wary, too busy. Those flashes of shared suffering are not enough to bridge the gaps that have cracked open what there once was.

Perhaps it will be one day. Perhaps this is but the first step for something greater. Perhaps the old dreams of Federation have not been shattered so thoroughly that something new cannot be pieced together from the shards.

Perhaps...
-----
A/N: I've had this idea for a while, but the whole thing with the Newcomers inspired my muse (I wrote 150 words over the past few days and the rest over the past hour.) I wanted have it that both Union and Shepherds are to some degree frightened and even sickened by how the other has changed, and are aware to some extent, but still only partially cognizant of how they themselves have changed to survive Winter as well.

Anyway, @OldShadow here's my OOC Question for this omake if accepted: What can we do this turn to address the issue of the Newcomers feeling isolated, and what sort of consequences will there be (if any) if we go into Winter with it being unaddressed?

Canon.
The Federation is dead, but remembered, and death is a far less inescapable fate in this land...

To stop the Newcomers from being isolated, you need to either truly convert them to the Cult of Saint and Heroes (mostly through continued religious actions), make them feel their voices as heard for decisions (missed opportunity last turn, since they cannot have members in the Council) by empowering the Assembly for example, or, less effectively, by making them work on shared actions with other types of dice (like the harvest...)

The consequences are that the Newcomers will be more vulnerable to subvertion from Winter, and may make stupids mistakes out of distrust. For now, I will put the chance of the Newcomers to come out of the Winter unharmed at 20% and the chances of simply losing their die at around 30%-40%. Winter is hell for the unready, and from their experiences, most folks in Union have a "shoot first, ask questions laters" for people that seem to become corrupted and cannot be easily immobilized or locked up.

For people that find this high, remenber, Jamestown had a 75%-80% lose rate, and it would have been almost at 100% without very lucky breaks.

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

We do deserve to exist.

We do deserve to exist.

We do deserve to exist.

We do deserve to exist.

We do deserve to exist.

We do deserve to exist.

We do deserve to exist.

We do deserve to exist.