I am not sure what to contact then about right now
[X][Olivia] Have her do what she's already doing. You don't understand the underlying phenomenon and nothing that's happened so far seems dangerous. Best to not change things till you do get it.
As much as I may want to keep her out of the florest while we figure things out the fact of the mater is that with our terrible rolls we can't afford to bech our hero unit.
[X]Plan Progress
-[X][Construction] Charcoal Burner: 100 Denier construction cost, 100 Denier upkeep, 200 Denier profit.
-[X][Construction] Build a Tavern and hire some appropriate staff 200 Denier cost. Increases morale.
-[X][Personal] Investigate what's happened with your siblings.
-[X][Personal] Study what's happening with Olivia. You'll need some specialized equipment for the job though, it might come in handy later anyways though. (50 Denier, +5 to research related tasks as well)
-[X][Nerissa] Buy her some books? 25 Denier
-[X][Hunters] Scout to reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Footmen] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
--[X]Olivia helps
-[X][Levy] Guard
--[X] The base and sawmill
-[X][Captain] Command troops, raising morale and effectiveness
If I had a lot of original ideas, I'd run quests myself.
Buuut, if I had to guess... small stuff that improves the quality of life? A tavern, sure. Maybe return some money to the treasury by enabling gambling, although that might come with certain negative effects on its own. A firing range/training quarters? What about latrines, pardon my French? How do our men eat, sleep or bathe? Are there any recreation opportunities besides a unit of Camp Followers?
Our morale hit the new low, so maybe something needs to be done on that front.
That's the spirit, bro! If you buy out all the poison in the duchy, you'll drive up the prices and make it economically unviable to assassinate you. It's a flawless plan!
I like Zaelix' idea about a secret port; it's pretty inventive, and a good incentive for Nicola to drop by. Although I do not know whether we want to keep that secret for long, because we are in dire need of a supply route that can't be raided. And we need to connect to our sister, too.
But we do not have a port, so I am in favor of contacting Kaleb instead. 'Extra brutal' is more of an advantage than setback when it comes to the frontier. And we dearly need another combat unit, since we can no longer contain the orcs, much less do anything else.
If there is a possibility of hiring them as a mercenary unit for a couple of turns, I'd be up for sending them to find and eliminate what orcs they could find. It would give us a bit of a breather, at least.
We need someone to guard the merchant routes, because we currently have ~140 Denier trickling out of the treasury each turn. It's not an insignificant amount. I am wondering if we can't do without scouting by sending both Leo and Olivia to aid patrols, while we use the Hunters to survey the route to the sea... but it might be a bad idea. Don't know. Opinions?
Does anyone have ideas how to deal with cavalry raids? They aren't going to go away by themselves. Anything we could do to spook the animals, perhaps?
Dragon Olivia is oddly cute. If she didn't take it badly, I wouldn't mind her putting on more scales. It's not like we can keep her out of the forest for long, it defeats the purpose of training her to fight. I suppose our best bet is to study her condition while she goes about her business as usual.
[X][Contact] Kaleb
-[X] Work out how he's dealing with the severe attrition on his men, since you're suffering the same.
[X][Olivia] Have her do what she's already doing. You don't understand the underlying phenomenon and nothing that's happened so far seems dangerous. Best to not change things till you do get it.
[X]Plan Progress
A bit unsure what to vote for.
If we want to stop the Orc Raids, maybe hire some Skirmishers?
Or maybe we could get the Orcs to focus on us by raiding their Side of the Overgrowth?
They need a Base to organize their Raids and feed their Wolfs.
That would be my preference, yeah. If we can do that.
I mean, I am not sure how to chase orc cavalry through the forest.
[X][Contact] Kaleb
-[x] Describe our situation, ask for advice against the orc cavalry.
-[X] Ask him if we could borrow the services of his men. The price can be discussed. Maybe we'll owe him a favor?
-[X] Work out how he's dealing with the severe attrition on his men, since you're suffering the same.
Establish contact, get him to talk. The exact details can be discussed at a later date.
[X][Olivia] Have her do what she's already doing. You don't understand the underlying phenomenon and nothing that's happened so far seems dangerous. Best to not change things till you do get it.
Still mulling over what to vote for.
So what do people think about this?
[x] Plan Turtling Up
-[x][Construction] Forge: 200 Denier construction cost, 50 Denier upkeep, reduces costs by 10% on first 1000 per turn before merchant mod. (10 discount to upkeep with charcoal burner, but in general lack of ore hurts you here.)
-[x][Construction] Charcoal Burner: 100 Denier construction cost, 100 Denier upkeep, 200 Denier profit. -[x][Personal] Investigate what's happened with your siblings.
OR
-[][Personal] Find a way to make it so you can recruit without taking so much of your time. You'll either find an assistant that can do recruiting for you or just build a network of contacts willing to do it for a fee. (Cost variable dependent on roll, will have option to refuse and retry or recruit normally)
-[x][Personal] Study what's happening with Olivia. You'll need some specialized equipment for the job though, it might come in handy later anyways though. (50 Denier, +5 to research related tasks as well)
[x][Nerissa] Buy her some books? 25 Denier [x][Hunters] Survey the coast for a potential way to the water and a place to build a docks. Keep in mind the coast is a cliff.
-[x] Olivia helps
[x][Levy] Guard
-[x] The base and sawmill [x][Footmen] Guard
-[x] The merchants that bring your supplies (eliminate 15% modifier)
[x][Captain] Command troops, raising morale and effectiveness
Cost: 375 (+ variable?)
Starting: 23
Upkeep next turn: 905+15% (1041)
Income next turn: 1400
The important parts are highlighted.
So basically, we can't stop the cavalry until we hire some specialized units or do some voodoo magic. So maybe instead of chasing them around the trees we could try to protect what can yet be protected, like the merchant caravans. At least we know where those are.
Yes, it is going to suck, but if we can't prevent it, might as well take it on the chin and put our units somewhere they can make a difference, and stop throwing them into the Overgrowth maw.
Besides, it's going to be winter, so maybe they won't be raiding too hard? We could use getting rid of a -15% penalty, and I want to start on that port.
If Kaleb doesn't send someone over, we will have to hire new hands, since our current forces are woefully inadequate to deal with the threats we are facing. That's why I am leaning towards expedient recruiting without our direct oversight.
[X][Contact] Kaleb
-[X] Work out how he's dealing with the severe attrition on his men, since you're suffering the same.
[X][Olivia] Have her do what she's already doing. You don't understand the underlying phenomenon and nothing that's happened so far seems dangerous. Best to not change things till you do get it.
[X]Plan Progress
[X][Olivia] Have her do what she's already doing. You don't understand the underlying phenomenon and nothing that's happened so far seems dangerous. Best to not change things till you do get it.
[X][Construction] Build a Tavern and hire some appropriate staff 200 Denier cost. Increases morale.
[X][Construction] Charcoal Burner: 100 Denier construction cost, 100 Denier upkeep, 200 Denier profit.
[X][Personal] You could produce some basic enchanted gear for one of your units. Sharper blades and harder armor are staples for a reason. (100 Denier in needed materials)
-[X] Hunter's keep getting the short end of the stick... they need to be a bit less likely to die... and getting magic stuff makes people happy
[X][Nerissa] Spend a personal reading to her.
[X][Hunters] Scout to reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
[X][Levy] Guard
-[X] The base and sawmill
[X][Footmen] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
[X][Captain] Command troops, raising morale and effectiveness
Starting: 23
Upkeep next turn: 905+15% (1041)
Income next turn: 1400
We need to hire more men, especially real Scouts and Officers... but that costs money we do not have and housing we do not have...
Don't we already have an officer guy for training?
I mean, the dice crapped all over that inititive but if we want to raise up our dudes in terms of skill that might be a thing we can do. Possibly even make it a cross-training with the hunters since those men I thought did a much finer job of surviving in the woods.
[X][Olivia] Clearly the magic of the forest is feeding into her condition. You'll have her stay out of the forest, which will hopefully stop the effect and eliminate risks.
Yeah, don't her to change into a dragon or something.
Maybe we should start looking in investing in Skirmisher units to try and drive off the wolf riders. Or can we give our footmen anti-cavalry training? Simple shield walls should be enough.
Skirmishers could help by ambushing them... probably. Footmen can fight them fine as they are, it's just when they outpace you by that much, it's hard to force a fight.
Ideally, it would be skirmishers + footmen, tracking them down when they stop for a camp and then murdering them in their sleep.
Or we could try to enchant some doodad, like a horn that makes all animals hearing it enter a frenzy/panic/whatever. Something to mess with their mounts. Don't know if it's within our capabilities, though.
Also how old roughly are the characters in this story? I originally assumed the protagonist was a teen when reading through but with the addition of his family information I assume he is intended to be older?
That might work, swap it in place of doing the forge and the costs are account for. Still do the charcoal burner to get some more money flowing and setup doing the forge next turn.
And yeah, we should look into surveying and building a port.
On another note, it appears that Olivia probably has some draconic traits. It could be that instead of a human's normal cycle she may "go into heat" once a year for a few weeks. There is also the possibility that if she sets pregnant she may lay eggs instead of the usual.
We really need to get a handle on what is going on with her.
As for the Overgrowth, it appears that we have a name for the center of the forest. I wonder what is keeping such a powerful source of magic bound to such a relatively tiny portion of the world.
Could it be that something powerful is bound there and the entire remainder of the Overgrowth is just some form of escaping radiation? Its interesting.
Also how old roughly are the characters in this story? I originally assumed the protagonist was a teen when reading through but with the addition of his family information I assume he is intended to be older?
[X][Contact] Kaleb
-[X] Work out how he's dealing with the severe attrition on his men, since you're suffering the same.
[X][Olivia] Have her do what she's already doing. You don't understand the underlying phenomenon and nothing that's happened so far seems dangerous. Best to not change things till you do get it.
[X]Plan Progress
[X][Contact] Kaleb
-[X] Work out how he's dealing with the severe attrition on his men, since you're suffering the same.
[X][Olivia] Have her do what she's already doing. You don't understand the underlying phenomenon and nothing that's happened so far seems dangerous. Best to not change things till you do get it.
[X]Plan Progress
We should look into getting another unit or two of footmen in the next turn or two. By this point it'd be cheaper to just pay for the upkeep of one unit of footmen guarding the merchants and with one more after that we'd have enough troops that we could start pulling one away from immediate duties to start a training cycle.
[X][Contact] Kaleb
[X][Olivia] Clearly the magic of the forest is feeding into her condition. You'll lean into it and have her spend even more time in the forest to accelerate whatever is happening. Maybe feed her more food from there as well. The effects seem beneficial to her really.
[X] Covering our Bases
If I had a lot of original ideas, I'd run quests myself.
Buuut, if I had to guess... small stuff that improves the quality of life? A tavern, sure. Maybe return some money to the treasury by enabling gambling, although that might come with certain negative effects on its own. A firing range/training quarters? What about latrines, pardon my French? How do our men eat, sleep or bathe? Are there any recreation opportunities besides a unit of Camp Followers?
Our morale hit the new low, so maybe something needs to be done on that front.
Well the idea with the tavern is that it's essentially paying its own upkeep costs by charging for things like drinks. That's why it has no listed upkeep. It gives the men a place to drink at least for recreation, and the occasional bar game.
Latrines are typical military outpost style holes dug in the ground. Adding something a bit more permanent might be a good option, though anything fancy would be a full cost thing rather than a small one.
A training range hmm. I mean at present you just train in fields outside the base. Something like a bunch of dull wooden blades and such for training with might be a cheap option and maybe give some minor skill boost for it.
Sleeping is done in barracks style with curtained off bunks, though you have individual rooms for the officers, and something along the lines of dormitories for the civilian contingents.
Bathing right now is basically on the level of using streams. One consideration for an upgrade I had is a moat, and depending on design that could give you an area to bathe. Problem is that digging a moat interferes more with rapid expansion. Something along the lines of a bathing pond might be cheap enough to make, hmm. This is not a place where you struggle with fresh water because you have an enormous rain shadow effect from the cliffs, so there's rains of varying intensity pretty regularly and a lot of streams trickling all over that you have to divert out of your base. Digging a small pond could run afoul of mole rats, but if you didn't, you should be able to get enough water to fill it and keep enough moving water through it to prevent it getting too stagnant. Probably have to find some clay somewhere but there's probably fair few stream beds outside the overgrowth to use for that, and could simply line a pit with it and then make a fire in there to harden it enough to make a shell sufficient to hold water well enough for this sort of application. Probably a lot of labor involved in this, but no expenses besides that.
Eating is just outside or in the barracks, no specific cafeteria. Making an indoor cookhouse involves stone or brickwork. Problem with that is that bricks aren't the sort of thing that get shipped around much in this sort of tech level, so there's no profit in producing them locally except enabling more complex structures and not sure there's enough benefit in those structures to justify the costs?
That's the spirit, bro! If you buy out all the poison in the duchy, you'll drive up the prices and make it economically unviable to assassinate you. It's a flawless plan!
I am wondering if we can't do without scouting by sending both Leo and Olivia to aid patrols, while we use the Hunters to survey the route to the sea... but it might be a bad idea.
You can try this if you like. If you want to have a write-in where Leo goes with just those patrols it will give a larger bonus than spreading across the whole.
Dragon Olivia is oddly cute. If she didn't take it badly, I wouldn't mind her putting on more scales. It's not like we can keep her out of the forest for long, it defeats the purpose of training her to fight. I suppose our best bet is to study her condition while she goes about her business as usual.
Well if you chose the option that increased her exposure you would make it clear to her that you don't mind her growing scales, which would serve to reduce how much she worries about them.
If people want to write this in you can try and make send your troops to their side. It would be rough though because of having to carry supplies and lack of intel. You could send a hunter unit to try and get some intel and live off the land a bit, but that would have risks as well.
Yes. Lately people have just been spamming command actions to help patch over low morale and the generic bonus to effectiveness though rather than aiming for the permanent bonus from training.
Maybe we should start looking in investing in Skirmisher units to try and drive off the wolf riders. Or can we give our footmen anti-cavalry training? Simple shield walls should be enough.
Skirmishers could help by ambushing them... probably. Footmen can fight them fine as they are, it's just when they outpace you by that much, it's hard to force a fight.
This is pretty much the case. Your footmen would do quite well against the wolf riders if they engaged you, but they aren't willing to engage you on terms that are unfavorable to them. Skirmishers would be better at setting up ambushes.
Or we could try to enchant some doodad, like a horn that makes all animals hearing it enter a frenzy/panic/whatever. Something to mess with their mounts. Don't know if it's within our capabilities, though.
You could make something like that. But the effective range on the magic would be quite short, more on the order of 30 feet than the range of the sound of a horn.
(As a ballpark for your max enchantments, think of the general power level of D&D 3rd circle spells and below, but with a wider variety of specific effects at that general power level.)
Also how old roughly are the characters in this story? I originally assumed the protagonist was a teen when reading through but with the addition of his family information I assume he is intended to be older?
I never specified. I was thinking along the lines of 18 in my head for starting age for him. So he's in his early twenties now. He had a decent amount of education, and he had a decent enough idea to ensure his comfort. It just didn't align with this assignment.
[X][Contact] Kaleb
-[X] Work out how he's dealing with the severe attrition on his men, since you're suffering the same.
You don't really know what you were thinking asking Kaleb such a question. The response is really the best you could have hoped for really.
His handwriting is as terrible as usual, but at least it's still legible. Overall it's pretty worthless advice to you though, and you doubt it really helps him that much either.
He writes trite things like "Lead from the front", "kill anyone that flees battle," "kill anyone that talks about fleeing," "ensure your men properly fear you," and so forth.
You suspect that rather than dealing with attrition, he's causing it.
[X]Plan Progress
-[X][Hunters] Scout to reduce chance of enemies slipping by. 98+7+3+10-15 = 103
-[X][Footmen] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by. 15-15+10+10-7+10 = 23
--[X]Olivia helps 1d50 = 20
-[X][Levy] Guard 66+20+15-15
--[X] The base and sawmill
-[X][Captain] Command troops, raising morale and effectiveness
The weather this winter is colder than you're used to, with snow and sleet making up a larger proportion of the precipitation than rain. Some of the many streams exiting the Overgrowth freeze solid, while the rest are merely lethally cold. The wildlife in the forest has largely retreated underground to hibernate this winter, though as usual the wolves still lurk amongst the frost covered vegetation.
The orcs don't seem too inclined to push their luck in such a harsh winter. For all that your position is covered in slush, further inland is buried in snow. Raiding in such conditions would be perilous even without tangling with your forces, and fewer people are on the roads to accost.
Your own supplies dwindle as merchants are unable or unwilling to traverse the thick snow drifts along the roads to reach you.
Leo comes in one day to talk about it as you're fiddling with one of your new instruments and Olivia's scales. He stomps his boots in the entryway to clear them of mud alerting you to his presence.
"Well I've finished tallying the supplies and I can stretch them through to Spring with rationing assuming at least some of the merchants come through this winter or the weather breaks soon enough," he opens in a tone of exhaustion without preamble as he settles into a chair.
You hadn't actually realized that would be a problem. "Good, as expected," you say on reflex.
Leo snorts and makes a dismissive gesture. "We both know you had no idea."
You shrug, putting aside your tinkering. "I didn't know it was a problem, but I expect you to fix such things."
He chortles a bit. "I suppose that's true, and it makes you better than some nobles at management."
You give a blatantly fake smile. "I do what I can."
"And not what you can't. I do appreciate that," he concedes. "That being said this is a bit of a dangerous circumstance. Armies fight on their stomachs, and shivering hungry men start to get bad ideas. We really need proper storehouses in case we're cut off like this again by weather, or gods forbid a siege."
"We've managed this far without them."
"The weather has been good, I'm not sure how much we can count on that though, and the orcs are getting steadily more numerous," he replies pessimistically.
"Hmm, there's just so many draws on our funds, it's hard to cover everything. I'll see what I can do."
For those venturing beyond the walls the cold dulling their senses compounded the dangers of more material foes. The hunters managed it well, used to hunting in lower temperatures than this in their home villages. They managed to get the drop on the few orc parties that ventured into the forest this season, inflicting some casualties at no cost to themselves. Even the wolf riders were slowed by the more treacherous terrain enough for the hunters to bloody their noses.
The footmen and Olivia fare worse, their heavy equipment sinking them deeper into the mud and partially melted snow and slowing them down. Though the orcs don't get deep enough past your screening forces to harass them, the forest wolves appear to still be about, nipping at any stragglers. Between the wolves and sickness you lose a few of the footmen.
(-5% footmen, +10% footmen +10% hunters automatic replacement. Morale of all units suffers.)
-[X][Construction] Charcoal Burner: 100 Denier construction cost, 100 Denier upkeep, 200 Denier profit. 70-5+5-15
-[X][Construction] Build a Tavern and hire some appropriate staff 200 Denier cost. Increases morale. 69-5+5-15
A staple of any village or town is the charcoal burner who produces charcoal much of the year by himself or with an apprentice. You've a bit more ambition about production than that though. You hire a number of peasants who will work in shifts so that no individual has to spend over a day managing the charcoal mound.
There's no permanent structure involved in the process normally, but typical charcoal making isn't done inside a flammable base with regular rainfall. Construction is much more difficult due to the severe winter weather, with clay difficult to extract from streams turned into icy torrents, but your construction crews manage, and use fires to cure the new structure as best they can. A series of earth and clay walls will contain the flames and channel the embers to prevent errant sparks starting a fire, while also sheltering it from the rain. It's far from perfect as proper bricks would serve the job far better, and it will take significant upkeep, but it will do the job.
Given the number of people at your outpost now, it's far past time you had a proper bar for them to drink at. The decision to build one is met with agreement by just about everyone. The building itself goes up rather quickly despite the pouring icy rain. A simple wooden shell to keep the interior work out of the weather. Much of the furniture is produced in your own wood workshops, but the shelves and bar are made to fit. An ample area is left behind the bar for a kitchen to potentially be installed, but for now it's just extra storage as you lack the materials for an indoor stove.
The bigger difficulty in making a tavern this winter is securing the supplies. Barrels of alcohol have to be imported, and the roads are covered in snow or icy slush. For a month the tavern is completed but an empty shell bereft of the liquor which gives its life meaning. Yet as the weather begins to break a merchant arrives with the ordered alcohol to much rejoicing, and drinking. Suffice to say nearly the whole camp was drunk that night. The mood is much improved with such lubrication, even if they have to pay for it from their wages, what else would men do with money anyway.
(Morale of all units increased)
-[X][Personal] Investigate what's happened with your siblings.1d85 = 4 -10 winter
You make a number of inquiries about your remaining two siblings, but due to the severe weather this year communications throughout the duchy have nearly ground to a halt, and you don't get any response.
[X][Olivia] Have her do what she's already doing. You don't understand the underlying phenomenon and nothing that's happened so far seems dangerous. Best to not change things till you do get it.
-[X][Personal] Study what's happening with Olivia. You'll need some specialized equipment for the job though, it might come in handy later anyways though. (50 Denier, +5 to research related tasks as well) 1d85 = 37+5
Your obvious first step is examining the scales, since you have a few to work with and can do what you want without endangering Olivia in any way. Experimentation via simply hitting them with things is expedient and relatively cheap at least. From what you can surmise its base strength is approximately comparable to well forged steel, useful but fairly mundane considering they seem rather metallic.
When you move on to magical analysis techniques things get a bit more interesting. Your tests don't give proper results, in most cases simply failing to have a return signal at all. The energy seems to simply be absorbed into the scales. Increasing the power you put behind the tests serves to indicate an internal magical structure. The mana absorbing property only allows you to get flashes of it rather than a steady view, which makes understanding it much more difficult.
At any rate this seems to confirm your thought that they are dragon scales as you've heard they are somewhat magic resistant. Dragons have been extinct in your region for many centuries going by your vaguely remembered history lessons. You think there are a few dragons left somewhere, but most of what you know is merely stories. You're not even sure there are any books in the castle library that were made with first hand knowledge of them. That vial of blood you used must have been centuries old and long forgotten.
Analyzing what's happening to Olivia's body is even harder. She fidgets, she's inherently distracting to you, and there's a whole lot more going on. Her body is definitely absorbing magic to fuel the transformation. The amount she's getting inside the Overgrowth is far greater than she was getting before, which has fueled the more visible changes.
Over the season more scales have been growing in. Mostly they seem to be running in a line along her spine, though also scattered across her back. You can only speculate that it's because the spine is inherently critical in any creature and so requires the most protection.
After some rather intense cajoling and assurances you've started weighing her regularly with a scale purchased for the purpose. The results are odd. Her weight seems to fluctuate by around 15% even within the course of a single day, which is far more than could be explained by mundane activities. It seems that her weight is lower when she's had more time in the forest and then rises over time outside it. Some sort of weight reduction magic is at work it seems.
You don't even know where to begin on the more internal changes to her body. You can't really say you know enough about the functioning of a normal female physiology for that. A healer would likely be able to help more, though you'd have some concerns about secrecy.
-[X][Nerissa] Buy her some books? 25 Denier
You don't spend as much time with Nerissa this season, instead buying her a few easy to read books and letting her go thru them on her own. But you still take the time to go check on her every once in a while, under the pretext of answering any questions she might have. You did have a little concern considering she was outside in this sort of weather.
You hurry along the still sheltered path to her grove, bundled in clothing against the cold. When you enter into her inner sanctum you see her body emerging from her tree. It's still kind of weird but you're getting used to it. She's spent a lot of time this winter merged with her tree.
"Are you feeling okay Nerissa? It's not too cold is it?" you ask, noting the leaves piled against her tree like a blanket.
"This weather is nothing, I'm perfectly fiiiiine-" she boasts, but spoils it by yawning at the end of it.
You eye her a little suspiciously, but there's not really a whole lot you can do about it anyway. You glance at her tree a bit more, as if you could gauge her health. It's looking a bit taller. It seems to be growing about as fast as a normal long lived tree in a normal forest, though of course that comparison is flawed from the start.
Nerissa squirms a little as you look at her tree. "Stop staring," she whines.
"You're getting taller," you say as a quick reply.
She is a little taken aback but covers it up. "Well of course! I've grown wiser and more mature since you've known me! I've learned new things and moved my tree! Only mature dryads can do that!"
You can't help but pat her on the head at that. "I don't think it counts since Olivia carried you," you tease.
She makes a displeased sound, and seems to be trying to come up with a counter argument.
"How are you doing with the storybooks I got you?" you inquire to distract her, gesturing to a sort of lean-to formed from two other larger trees where the books are sheltered out of the wet.
"Well… I haven't been able to finish them, but they seem nice. Do princesses really lead such exciting lives?" she asks curiously.
"Some of them," you reply, vague enough to be true. Though the only princess you'd ever met had been a real disappointment by comparison, you're sure there has to be at least one that fits.
She beams at you, but her smile's broken by another yawn, which in turn makes you laugh. She pouts at you. "It's tiring keeping your plants active through this kind of weather. I don't even know if I could do it if I was doing anything else."
Plans for Spring: (Base costs shown, increase 15% for merchants issue)
You now have 2 construction actions (For clarity specifying number of structures inside wall now, you are at 8/12):
[][Construction] Construct a second sawmill. (100 Denier ongoing cost, 200 Denier expected profit.) [Requires basic recruitment be taken to activate, no upfront cost for the workers though]
[][Construction] Forge: 200 Denier construction cost, 40 Denier upkeep, reduces costs by 10% on first 1000 per turn before merchant mod.
[][Construction] Reinforce the newest section of wall (2 actions, minus 1 if taken after or with the moat project)
[][Construction] Warehouse: You could really use the ability to keep at least a season of supplies on hand. A simple warehouse would be enough for now. 100 Denier
[][Construction] A clay lined moat around the base with sections for bathing and swimming could add to the defensibility of the base while also improving morale. There's very little cost involved, but it will be an enormous amount of labor. (4 actions for defense bonus, gets morale bonus at 2 actions.)
[][Construction] More housing at current quality +6 housing slots (200 Denier)
[][Construction] You don't need a steady supply of bricks for your current operation. But you do have a number of things you could use them for. Making bricks is simple enough that you can probably have one of your construction teams make a big batch with some hired advisors. (50 Denier, will produce enough to add fireplaces to your current structures)
[][Construction] Build route to the sea. (Unknown cost without survey)
[][Construction] Write-in
2x d85s or 1x 1d100.
[][Personal] You could produce some basic enchanted gear for one of your units. Sharper blades and harder armor are staples for a reason. (100 Denier in needed materials)
-[] Specify a unit.
[][Personal] Have Leo give you a bit of training. However much you hate it, being better at fighting will help a lot if something is trying to eat you. (Must be taken with appropriate Captain action)
[][Personal] Recruit basic units. Specify what kind.
-[] Replace losses, 120 denier
-[] What units?
[][Personal] Recruit one Specialist unit (Enchanter, Elite, Healer, Potioneer) These units need special persuasion or negotiation so can't be hired in bulk. (Note this will involve traveling to them)
[][Personal] Find a way to make it so you can recruit without taking so much of your time. You'll either find an assistant that can do recruiting for you or just build a network of contacts willing to do it for a fee. (Cost variable dependent on roll, will have option to refuse and retry or recruit normally)
[][Personal] Investigate what's happened with your siblings.
[][Personal] Try to contact a few magical scholars and see if they have any ideas on what is happening with Olivia.
[][Personal] Write-in
There's always something nice about taking time out of your day to visit with Nerissa. (Can ask something of her as a subvote. Do keep in mind she's still maintaining a chunk of defense for your base and an herb garden regardless.)
[][Nerissa] Spend a personal teaching her.
[][Nerissa] Buy her some books? 25 Denier
[][Nerissa] Nothing
(2 Hunter units available)
[][Hunters] Hunt for food, reduce upkeep by 50
[][Hunters] Scout to reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
[][Hunters] Catch a bunch of rabbits for the rabbit pen. (Requires rabbit pen.)
[][Hunters] Explore the forest, collect flora and fauna samples. Attempt to map out the notable locations
[][Hunters] Survey the coast for a potential way to the water and a place to build a docks. Keep in mind the coast is a cliff.
[][Levy] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
[][Levy] Train with the captain (must be taken with captain action, is not advised at this time)
-[] Upgrade to footmen, 200 Denier upfront, 50 upkeep
[][Levy] Guard
-[] The base and sawmill
-[] The merchants that bring your supplies (eliminate 15% modifier)
[][Footmen] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
[][Footmen] Train with the captain (must be taken with captain action, is not advised at this time)
[][Footmen] Guard
-[] The base and sawmill
-[] The merchants that bring your supplies (eliminate 15% modifier)
[][Captain] Command troops, raising morale and effectiveness
[][Captain] Recruit new units. Specify what kind.
-[] Replace losses, 120 denier
-[] What units?
[][Captain] Train unit (must be taken with appropriate action)
[][Captain] Train you (must be taken with appropriate action)
[][Captain] Train Olivia
23 starting -1041 upkeep this turn -345 construction +600 season payment +200 sawmill profit +200 wood workshop +400 herbs = 37
Upkeep next turn: 1015+15% (100 you +100 leo +100 sawmill + 200 construction crews +75 hunters + 50 levies +90 footmen +50 herbalist +100 woodworkers+50 harvesters+100 charcoal burner)
Income next turn: 600 base stipend + 200 Sawmill profit +200 Wood Workshop +200 charcoal +400 herb sales
AN: No free choices this turn because couldn't come up with any new ones that fit.
Olivia is steadily becoming a dragon girl and getting a healer on site in general seems like a good idea.
Bricks for fireplaces may be a good investment. Still, we should build a forge this season. It will likely open up more options and may decrease the cost or time spent on other projects.
Other needs:
Survey that route to the sea
Look into recruiting a unit to counter the wolf-riders
Look into a recruitment network.
