Prologue​

The world is flat; a round disc floating endlessly through the firmanent with a spotlight sun illuminating it. For as long as this was known there was always a desire to find the edge and when the age of caravels and galleons arrived the first expeditions set out for the southerly reaches of the Earth to be the first to discover the end of the world. But where they expected a sudden cessation of the sea into the aether, they instead found a horizon of frozen white: the ice walls.

For centuries the walls were insurmountable by humanity, but the advent of aviation would change that. The accounts that trickled back painted a picture of glacial waste that was lifeless and static. However, no pilot dared to fly too deep into the white expanse. The possibility of something further beyond captured the minds of many, but the resources and planning required to even scale the ice wall, let alone go further out, remained a significant hurdle. Any effort would likely require governmental backing which remained unforthcoming, as the nations of the world found themselves engulfed in a great war.

But with the war now over, the eyes of the world have once again turned towards the ice walls. In an effort to promote peace and global cooperation, the nations of the world have coalesced around an initiative to finally explore the ice walls, with the ultimate goal of discovering what, if anything, lays beyond them. A council of figures form participating nations has convened for the first time today to discuss and decide how to begin this gargantuan undertaking. The top tasks on the agenda are to select a head and base of operations.

Head of Operations:

[ ] Jordan Aukatsang - The son of a low-level noble in the Holy Kingdom of Bod. Jordan would spend a decade working as a civil servant and would become well-known for his on-the-ground efforts to connect the Kingdom's mountainous reaches. These efforts would crystallize into several proper expeditions to the peaks of the Himalayas, culminating in his leadership of the first expedition to summit Chomolungma. (Begin with +1 Exploration Dice and a Pioneer Background)

[ ] Dídac Rasgado - Being born in Punta Arenas, Dídac Rasgado spent most of his early life with the ice wall just over the horizon. His entry into the military and service in the Ten Year War on the side of the Platinean Confederacy would take him far away from those glacial expanses. But he would eventually return; this time as an admiral leading a military survey of the Platinean-claimed section of the wall. (Begin with +1 Development Dice and an Officer Background)

[ ] Lara Stepanova - Daughter of the famed aviation pioneer Valery Stepanov. A brush with death in a plane accident early in adulthood would find her taking a radically different path than her father becoming a scientist. Trained in paleontology and geology at the University of Pereislav, Lara has accumulated years of experience working in the cold wastes of Siberia, but has also been involved in some short expeditions to the ice wall. (Begin with +1 Research Dice and a Scientist Background)

Base of Operations:

[ ] Ushuaia, Platinean Confederacy - Located in the Tierra del Fuego and widely regarded as the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia boasts a population of around 50,000 and has the amenities that would be associated with a city of that size, including a harbor and an airstrip. Although it has no outstanding qualities on its own, its significant proximity to the ice walls makes it a location of interest for a base of operations. (Begin with +40 Resources per Month and a 2:1 Conversion of Resources to Supplies)

[ ] New Canterbury, United States of Australasia - The largest city on New Zealand's South Island. New Canterbury has been rebuilt with modernized infrastructure following a devastating earthquake a decade ago. Its island location still renders it somewhat isolated from mainland logistics networks, but the state of the art port and airport facilities have caught the eye of planners. (Begin with +60 Resources per Month and a 4:1 Conversion of Resources to Supplies)

[ ] iKapa, Kingdom of Xhosa - Also known as Cape Town, this city is by far the largest of the options being considered. Along with extensive facilities to support a wide variety of operation, it also has a robust manufacturing sector making it possible for necessary equipment to be produced locally if required. However, compared to the other options, it is relatively distant from the ice walls. (Begin with +80 Resources per Month and an 8:1 Conversion of Resources to Supplies)

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Voting is open.

Winning Votes:

[X] Lara Stepanova - Daughter of the famed aviation pioneer Valery Stepanov. A brush with death in a plane accident early in adulthood would find her taking a radically different path than her father becoming a scientist. Trained in paleontology and geology at the University of Pereislav, Lara has accumulated years of experience working in the cold wastes of Siberia, but has also been involved in some short expeditions to the ice wall. (Begin with +1 Research Dice and a Scientist Background)

[X] Ushuaia, Platinean Confederacy - Located in the Tierra del Fuego and widely regarded as the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia boasts a population of around 50,000 and has the amenities that would be associated with a city of that size, including a harbor and an airstrip. Although it has no outstanding qualities on its own, its significant proximity to the ice walls makes it a location of interest for a base of operations. (Begin with +40 Resources per Month and a 2:1 Conversion of Resources to Supplies)

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January, Year 1

Resources: 40 (+40 per Month)
Supplies: 15
Results: 0

Lara Stepanova puffed her cigarette one last time as the plane skidded to a halt on the runway and began its short taxi. She didn't typically smoke, but it was a vice she afforded herself while flying; it took the edge off. The plane stopped on the apron and Lara looked out the window while the attendants hurried around the cabin. A small truck waited outside. The military symbols on its hood had been hastily covered over with white paint and "IIWE" in block letters. It was her ride.

The drive to the Expedition's provisional headquarters was quick. It was currently located in a warehouse near Ushuaia's port. The bulk of it was taken up by neatly organized pallets of supplies, but a section had been partitioned to act as a meager set of offices and meeting rooms. It was totally inadequate. But Lara knew it was only a stopgap measure while more sufficient accommodations were prepared. She walked through the hastily-made space towards her office.

Like the rest of the provisional headquarters, Lara's office was sparse. A metal desk with a typewriter, a set of filing cabinets, and an empty shelf. Lara didn't particularly mind it during the times she had an office she never really took to furnishing it. This was in part due to her work being filled with travel. Nevertheless, her new office had a comforting familiarity to it.

Lara took a seat behind the desk. A sheaf of documents had already accumulated, and she began leafing through them. There was much to be done and an all-hands meeting had been scheduled for later today. Along with formally introducing herself, a basic agenda for this first month would need to be set. For the first time, the breadth of the job she had been appointed to and so graciously accepted seemed to be sinking in. She felt overwhelmed, certainly, but also determined. She began to pore over the documents on her desk and furiously take notes.

Exploration (2 Dice):

[ ] Complete "The High Jump" - Before the ice walls can be crossed, they must first be scaled. Standing 6,000 meters tall on average, the pilots that have undertaken overflights of the walls have taken to referring to it as "The High Jump". However, a human has yet to touch foot on the surface. This must change. Taking advantage of the leaps and bounds made in parachuting during the Great War, a six-person team will be paradropped with supplies atop the ice walls for a week-long survey and exploration mission. (5 Supplies + Exploration Die, DC40)

[ ] Begin Initial Survey Flights - So far, all attempts to conduct aerial surveys of the ice walls have been small-scale and localized to certain areas of interest. Nevertheless, they have provided an abundance of data to work with, but this only further proves that more extensive and methodical aerial surveying is necessary. Such surveys will be crucial for developing the first maps of the walls and selecting a suitable location to set up a base camp. (5 Resources per Die, 0/50)

[ ] Establish Drift Ice Station - Although not on the ice walls themselves, establishing a semipermanent camp on the drift ice around the walls could serve as an important stepping stone. A drift ice station will provide personnel with needed experience in remote subzero environments and can serve as a testbed for new construction techniques adapted to the hostile conditions. Furthermore, the development, interactions, and fate of drift ice is an important area of glaciology and a station is certain to benefit continued research. (10 Resources per Die, 0/100)

Development (2 Dice):

[ ] Complete Move-In - The Platinean Navy, one of the Expedition's primary backers, has been gracious enough to offer a place to locate our headquarters in an unused outbuilding near their naval base in Ushuaia. Currently, operations are being conducted out of a partitioned area in a port warehouse used to store supplies. This is obviously less than ideal, and moving into a proper building ought to improve the efficiency of the planning and administrative side of operations. (Development Die, DC30)

[ ] Winterize Vehicles - A majority of the vehicles lended to the expedition were intended for use in more temperate environments. Although currently not an issue with summer upon Ushuaia, this will change when winter comes and when operating vehicles on the ice walls. Installing heaters in vehicle engines and batteries, among other measures, will go a long way to preventing the weather from getting in the way of operations. (5 Resources per Die, 0/50)

[ ] Improve Air Strip - Ushuaia's airstrip is well-equipped to handle the standard arrivals and departures of tourists and cargo that come to the city. But the beginning of the Expedition will push the single-runway strip to its limits and at some point it may become a limiting factor on support and survey operations. Although adding another runway is currently out of the question, adding more plane stands and extending the existing runway would make a prudent investment. (10 Resources per Die, 0/150)

[ ] Integrate Logistics Connections - The roads and railways that link Ushuaia to the rest of the Platinean Confederation are as important to the IIWE as they are to the city itself. As of now, these logistical links are relatively loose and uncoordinated, which ought to be expected given the Expedition's recent arrival. A significant investment will be required to integrate into these logistics networks, but will ultimately provide better access to the resources of the mainland. (10 Resources per Die, 0/250)

Research (3 Dice):

[ ] Request University Assistance - Lara knows well that science is inherently collaborative, and the Expedition is certainly no exception as can be seen in its international nature. However, there has so far been no collaboration with the centers of education and research, universities. Lara sees this as a missed opportunity and wants to change this, hoping to take advantage of the extensive contacts she has in the academic community to accomplish this. (Free Action)

[ ] Launch Weather Balloons - Like most aspects of the walls, its weather patterns remains critically understudied. Periodically launching weather balloons over the walls will fill in many meteorological gaps and go a long way towards efforts at forecasting weather in the area. This is not only of purely scientific value, but will be of crucial utility to any efforts to explore the ice walls. (5 Resources per Die, 0/50)

[ ] Research Arctic Survival - Although no other place on Earth is completely similar to the ice walls, there are several regions that roughly approximate it in one aspect or another. One of these is the Arctic Circle. Survival techniques in this region have been uniquely adapted to the consistent cold temperatures and remoteness from civilization. Researching and applying these techniques will improve survivability until a time when techniques specific to the ice walls can be developed. (5 Resources per Die, 0/50)

[ ] Improve Rations - Backing nations have granted the IIWE a significant stock of rations with most of it being military surplus from the Great War. These rations are perfectly serviceable for feeding our expeditions in their current state, but it is obvious there is room for improvement considering that they were designed for war-fighting rather than exploration. By tweaking portions and modifying packaging, a ration that is more fit for our needs can be created. (5 Resources per Die, 0/125)

[ ] Study Altitude Effects - At the ice walls elevation, air pressure is only around 50% of what it is at sea level. This has significant physiological effects including the possibility of altitude sickness and further life threatening complications. Collecting existing research into the biological effects of altitude and conducting our own studies will allow us to develop ways to rapidly identify and treat altitude sickness even in extreme environments. (10 Resources per Die, 0/150)

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6 hour moratorium. Vote-by-Plan.