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Attempting to Fulfil The Plan: ISOT Edition

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The fact that we're giving our downtime population an actual education makes us more powerful than most little America's, we're an island of stability by virtue of not having endemic ethnic violence of uptime vs downtime in our borders
 
Well, the whole education thing for the masses is still a work in progress. It's definitely gonna pay loads of dividence though.
 
Urban education we can probably get to something vaguely acceptable in 5-10 years. We're going to have to keep pouring literacy efforts into the countryside for the next like 20 years minimum though, that's still where an overwhelming majority of our people live and they don't even have the decency to cluster around centralized urban services infrastructure smdh.
 
garphield said:
You can make wires, but without any rubber to insulate them they're pretty useless for electronics.
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we should have access to a fibrous plant similar to cotton and crete has asbestos bearing rocks so cloth wires are absolutely a thing we can make. sure, they are dangerous and inferior to thermoplastic wires we use modernly but with access to electricity, asbestos and a fibrous material we should absolutely be able to make cables for electronics.

also asbestos insulation, sure it kills you in the long run, but as a stopgap measure we could probably use it "safely".(asbestos is only dangerous if you breathe it in. if we stick it in the walls and roof and cover it with something, so long as we dont disturb it, it should last for atleast 20 years without any drawback.
 
garphield said:
You can make wires, but without any rubber to insulate them they're pretty useless for electronics.
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As Iceman said, you can use fabric/cloth insulation in a pinch- it was the norm IRL before rubber insulation became cheap, though it's less than ideal for precision work aside from overall lower safety.

But the lack of rubber IS certainly going to limit us and large chunks of our industry in the long run. IDK if there's any shitty substitute you can make out of European flora, but if not... we'll be in no position to found colonies in tropical Africa/India in our lifetime, hopefully our scientists can stumble their way into crude synthetics.
 
If we're getting kerosene lamps from Babylon then its not a stretch to say there are up timers with experience in the oil and gas industry helping the middle east get on the petrodollar early. Probably still a while until we see synthetic rubber in any real quantity and everybody else has the same lack of rubber holding back their industry. Good news is that with how limited our electricity currently is using crappy fabric covers probably isn't THAT much of a problem since anything that needs hot wires is gonna be watched like a hawk to keep it working.
 
Retired Explorer said:
Does the roll affect Egypt too? Because if not then we have a sudden need to build a merchant marine. Either way, we should also build a fishing fleet.
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Egypt is looking at the rest of the world and going: "What's that, you all don't have the consistently and predictably flooding river that constantly refertilizes your farmland called the Nile?"

"Well... Skill Issue, lol."
 
Chimeraguard said:
Hey everyone, check out the most recent roll:

It's for the entire Western Med BTW, not just us.

So it's time for some Very Fun Times.
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You mean Eastern Med? Western is Iberia and stuff. I'm guessing this will manifest as some very shitty weather or such.

But man, time to see if our modernization of the agricultural system has paid off. But it sounds like we had good stockpiles in our granaries so I'm not too worried. But we might want to cut down on big calorie-intensive projects for a bit.
 
General_Urist said:
You mean Eastern Med? Western is Iberia and stuff. I'm guessing this will manifest as some very shitty weather or such.

But man, time to see if our modernization of the agricultural system has paid off. But it sounds like we had good stockpiles in our granaries so I'm not too worried. But we might want to cut down on big calorie-intensive projects for a bit.
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Does voring New Arizona while they're busy with famine induced helot uprisings count as "calorie-intensive"? :thonk:
 
Yeah as much as I want to kick their door in were better off weathering the famine then attacking the turn after. This also gives us a chance to switch our cannons to steel and build infantry equipment
 
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Cannon Omake: The Price of Hunger
  • Sidestory

    • Knossos, 11 A.E

    Before the Event, in uptime the room was known as the Throne Room of Knossos even though in truth it had never been used for such a thing. In downtime it was used for religious festivals and often served as a meeting place for priestesses. During the remodels that occurred to the palace after the Event, the religious activity was moved to another room and the room itself was remodeled to serve as a general meeting room for the Anax and her top staff. The Invasions of Mycenae and Sicily were planned here, in part at least. Deals were made and broken in this room, one could argue this room shaped politics as much as the Senate did.

    Today the room contained six people: Anax Rachel herself, her brother Daniel, her daughter Kiya, Priestesses Yidina and Rusa; servants of the Anasso, and Jasen Harmon; Chief Minister of Agricultural Development. Before them were several tables, all covered in various reports about everything from the weather, to harvests, to saffron yields and unease among the population.

    The year had not been a good one, too little rain, far too little. Even in Knossos it was easy to see the fields close to the city withering and dying in the baking sun. The numbers painted a bleak picture, even uptime crops had notably lower yields. There would be shortages of everything from Cotton to Saffron. Profits would suffer this year but more importantly than that, food was going to be in short supply this year, perhaps dangerously short.

    It reminded Rachel of the first year in Troy, watching the fields outside the city struggle as summer temperatures hovered in the 40s and 50s. Thankfully this wasn't Troy, there were no madmen here who would murder a tenth of the population just to keep the American population content, or iron fisted thugs who wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who so much as dared to voice their unhappiness. There was just her, and the kingdom she built through deceit and bloodshed.

    "My advice would be to adjust the goods distributed outside the cities. Less grain, more fish, maybe more textiles and other goods to keep people appeased despite the reduction in food." Minister Harmon suggested.

    "That seems like a good first step," Anax Rachel agreed.

    While coins and other changes to the palace economy were being introduced to an extent. Most of those only affected the urban population of Crete and then only to an extent. It would be relatively easy to adjust most people's rations.

    "As for urban populations, expanding the grain dole in Knossos and other hard hit cities seems like the most sensible option. A temporary cap on fish prices also wouldn't hurt." Minister Harmon suggested.

    That produced some mutterings of discontent.

    "The Senate may not approve of such measures, many see the grain dole already as a costly burden." Daniel Wilson spoke up.

    While he was in the process of trying to retire from politics, Daniel still had a strong understanding of politics within the Senate.

    "Americans?" Crown Princess Kiya questioned.

    "Mostly," Daniel admitted, "Some of the merchant families as well take issue."

    Kiya ran her fingers through the pearls weaved into her brown hair.

    "Uncle, you should remind your friends in the senate that they no longer live in America," Kiya said, sounding quite cross, "The Senate's job is not to make its own members wealthy, it's job is to ensure the stability of the state. Which the grain dole helps provide."

    "You don't need to lecture your uncle on the basics," Rachel gently reminded her daughter.

    Kiya was just past 18 years old and had been spending the past few years establishing a political identity of her own. While Rachel wouldn't describe that identity as anti-American, that would be foolhardy at best, she could be rather skeptical of things she saw as "Overly American" intruding on Cretan politics. It had won over a number of previously distrustful priesthoods, though it left some of the former American mercenaries turned nobles a bit annoyed.

    "I can pull a few strings in the senate to ensure any grain dole expansion gets passed," Daniel sighed, "I have a few more favors left after all."

    "Thank you, Daniel," Rachel nodded.

    "Malta is already requesting aid, grain shipments and fishing vessels mostly." The Priestess Rusa explained.

    "We can tell Malta's king that we'd be more than willing to sell and lease them ships," Rachel replied, "But we barely have enough food to feed ourselves."

    "I will inform the new king," Rusa replied, "The ships will help a great deal I'm sure."

    "What should we do to prepare for longer term issues?" Kiya asked, "We shouldn't assume this drought will last a year after all."

    Minister Harmon looked through his notes.

    "We could dip into our reserves for a couple of years with little issue, that's what they're there for after all," he noted, "though it would be less than advisable to depend purely on that. New fishing vessels should be built as soon as possible, next year we should turn over some of the fields planned for cotton, flax, and similar products over to drought resistant crops. It will eat into profits but that's unavoidable."

    "None of the priesthoods will tolerate major disruption to the saffron crop," the Priestess Yidina warned, "those fields are sacred."

    They were also some of the most profitable fields on the entire island. Before Rachel arrived they were basically the economic backbone of the priesthood and even now it proved a fair amount of their funding.

    "I will do my best to ensure no one touches those fields," Rachel promised.

    "Thank you, my Anax," Yidina nodded.

    "I just hope the priesthoods will remember my loyalty when the next round of agricultural reforms are introduced to the Senate," Rachel added.

    Yidina and Rusa stiffened for a moment.

    "Of course, my Anax," Yidina added.

    The Priesthoods were generally loyal by this point but if Rachel could finally use this as a chance to rid Crete of slavery she was going to take it.

    "What of Sicily?" Kiya questioned.

    "Oh our soldiers are well provisioned," Minister Harmon assured her, "Your mother made sure to requisition quite a lot of supplies for the invasion. Our soldiers will not starve."

    A terrifying thought suddenly crossed the Anax's mind.

    "What about the people of Sicily?" Rachel asked, "How will they fair?"

    "Things will be tight in the areas we annexed but they should make it through," Minister Harmon replied.

    "And our vassals and those areas yet to surrender?" Rachel questioned.

    Minister Harmon searched through the notes in a clear effort to stall.

    "Jasen, talk to me," Rachel urged.

    The minister let out a pained sigh.

    "In all honesty, I have no solid data on the fields of Sicily," he admitted, "But widespread famine is almost certain. These people were fighting when they would normally be tending their fields, even in the best of circumstances these would be lean times. The people will likely face starvation for the next year at least."

    The Anax inhaled sharply. She knew it was the height of hypocrisy to feel empathy now, after everything that had happened, everything she had done to the island, but she couldn't help how she fought.

    "I do not understand your concern, my Anax," Rusa said, "We gave them a chance to join our kingdom peacefully, but they refused. Their blood is not on your hands."

    Rachel smirked

    "If we didn't invade Sicily, someone else, someone worse, would have in time," She said, more to herself than anyone else, "Anyone who died fighting us was doomed one way or another. But if we had invaded a few years later, this famine would not be happening. Blood I can accept but starvation…"

    She trailed off for a moment before turning her attention to the priestesses, their hair filled with pearls, their outfits dyed with colors few in Knossos could afford.

    "Tell me, Rusa, have you ever starved?" Rachel asked, "not counting fasts or anything like that. Have you ever been hungry for days but lacked the means to get even a halfway decent meal?"

    "No, my Anax," Rusa shook her head, "I'm sorry but no."

    "It's alright," Rachel assured her, "I doubt anyone here besides my daughter and I know what that's like."

    Kiya winced slightly at the reminder of just how she met her adoptive parents.

    "It's an ugly, horrific experience," Rachel went on, "After a few days without food, you start to feel like your own body is eating itself. Even if you survive, the experience lingers with you, and it can leave you very bitter towards the people who made you suffer in the first place."

    Rachel stared pointedly at her brother, Daniel withered under her gaze and turned away. It was an old wound, perhaps one not fair to drag into the open like this, but Rachel couldn't help it.

    "If Sicily starves, they'll blame us," Kiya added, "Making integration difficult, if not impossible."

    "Quite so," Rachel nodded, "We need to find a way to begin providing relief for vassals on Sicily. It will be a great way of building up loyalty among our new friends. And hopefully convince the last holdouts to surrender."
    The others looked at each other uneasily.

    "That won't be easy to achieve, we're stretched thin as it is," Minister Harmon explained.

    "Nor will it be popular in the Senate," Daniel added. "We'd be feeding former enemies. I can't promise the senate will be able to actually pass anything of real note

    "I know, but it's what we need to do," Rachel replied, "I won't argue morality here, the moral thing would have been to leave Sicily alone in the first place. Quite simply, we don't want to create our own Ireland. And if the island starves, that's exactly what will happen. If we want to hold Sicily we need to keep it fed."
    ---
    Omake reflecting the latest roll's effect on Crete and it's possible complications.
     
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  • Sidestory
    • Hmm. Where are we on charcoal production? The stuff has a LOT of uses. Not just as fuel, but as soil improvement, livestock feed additive, water filtration, waste treatment... I know we don't want to deforest the island, but maybe we can set up coppicing or something to get the wood for it? Or, for the non fuel uses, other waste plant matter can be used too. :/
     
    Angle said:
    Hmm. Where are we on charcoal production? The stuff has a LOT of uses. Not just as fuel, but as soil improvement, livestock feed additive, water filtration, waste treatment... I know we don't want to deforest the island, but maybe we can set up coppicing or something to get the wood for it? Or, for the non fuel uses, other waste plant matter can be used too. :/
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    I believe we have plenty of charcoal production. Too much in fact, since before we had coal we were deforesting at a catastrophic rate. Now our deforestation rate is still higher than ideal, but it's not as catastrophic. But we still want more coal so we can deforest the Peloponnese for more important things than fuel.
     
    Retired Explorer said:
    Do we have tree nurseries? It stands to reason that if we can not lower the consumption of wood we should try to increase supply.
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    The issue is that you straight up cannot have an industrial revolution off sustainable forestry practices. The immediate need for wood is simply too high. It won't be quite as bad as irl since we're pushing for coal and iron to substitute it as fast as we can but ultimately to prevent deforestation we need more coal to reduce demand and more forests to distribute the impact to individual forest systems around to something more easily absorbed.

    Of course getting more forests runs into the issue that this involves getting more people, which increases demand for lumber and now we're back at stage one.
     
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