The Wild Edge (Fantasy Border Outpost)

[inverted_helix]

I like how subtle that threat is as both even with all his paranoia she knows what he likes to eat and how that implies that she can poison him at any time...

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I can actually see where you get that idea, but it's not what's intended. You kind of have to put it together with what you learned in your own investigation of Nicola a while back.

@inverted_helix shouldn't we be producing 3 units of Saints blood since we expanded production to a third grove?

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I've been tracking their maturation rate. It takes 2-3 turns for them to mature, and then they only produce a unit of output the turn after. The second grove matured last turn (rolled 3 on the 2-3), so only produced its first unit this turn. The third grove rolled 2 on its 2-3 and so matured this turn and will be producing its first unit of output next turn.

Also what is the max enchant level for our construction workers?

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+10.

Only 1 tick of progress on the moat... yeah that seems about right for us

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33 +14 = 47, which about what an average construction roll should be. So between the two you only made 1 tick of progress. Honestly with the rolls this quest gets if I did explicit construction progress meters like some quests do you'd need to throw two actions at each 50 progress action most of the time. Instead it's only egregiously low rolls or things that have multiple actions required that trigger something like this.

 

[Void Stalker]

Upkeep: 1461.1
Forge reduction remaining: 23
Income: 2250
Treasury: 85
Net: 873.9 (plus 23 discount from forge)

Current Costs: 50 (Construction) + 200 (Enchantment) + 200 (Supplies) - 23 (Forge) = 427 *.95 = 405.65
New Treasury: 468.25
Estimates for next turn: no construction but the same enchantment and supplies(drop supplies for replacements if needed) 430.75 + 468 = 898.75
Elite Ranger cost: 1200 * .95 = 1140



Prelim Thoughts:
[X] Plan Training ground and engagements
-[X][Construction] Build a training ground for your personnel. Some targets, some dummies, and obstacle course, and a big area set aside to practice on. Grants a bonus to training. (1 action, 50 denier, 2 space)
-[X][Construction] Expand the moat around the new walls. There's very little cost involved, but it will be an enormous amount of labor. (2/6 actions, increases cost of further expansion)
-[X][Construction] Expand the moat around the new walls. There's very little cost involved, but it will be an enormous amount of labor. (2/6 actions, increases cost of further expansion) 2nd time
-[X][Hunters 1] Scout to reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Hunters 2] Guard
--[X] The base and sawmill
-[X][Skirmishers] Scout to reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Footmen 1] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
--[X] Olivia Helps
-[X][Footmen 2] Guard
--[X] The docks
-[X][Levy 1] Guard
--[X] The base and sawmill
-[X][Levy 2] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Captain] Command troops, raising morale and effectiveness
-[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] Construction Workers
--[X] Skirmishers
-[X][Assistant] Look for additional experienced shipwrights
-[X][Purchase] Fill warehouse with supplies (200 deneier) (subject to change)
-[X][Contact] Adolphine
--[X] Since you are thinking of recruting both Civil and Siege Engineer ask her if she can help you find higly qualified ones, perhaps even at a cheaper price if you are lucky. Also since she manages a port town ask if she would be able to find you some experienced shipwright to suplement you current ones.



Okay if we have the 2nd footmen guarding the docks for the foreseeable future then we do not need to boost their enchantment right away, instead we finish enchanting the skirmishers which are going to be engaged with the orcs. Also since we have more construction workers our enchantment there has been reduced to a +2 bonus so time to fix that and make construction more likely to succeed. We should not have a -5 penalty for the moat this time around which makes it more likely for both to succeed leaving us at 4/6 and allowing us to finish next turn. Training ground is to make sure we have time to follow up on finishing it in the fall so it is ready for training in the winter of the two levys. If it and both moat actions succeed then next turn I want to build a unit of bricks and then the turn after build the rabbit pens to both get a bit more money and make us a bit better at handling a siege due to more food.
Okay looking at it we can recruit an elite ranger over the winter at our current expenditure cost.

@inverted_helix is it possible to try for improved shipwright to up our drydock income or do we just need to let the current guys become more experienced at this point.

Edit- changed to a plan, the idea is to move out in force to try and contest during the summer then fall back in the fall to see if they will follow us to our base, along with replacements coming in during the fall for any losses we take. Training ground so that this winter when we train both levy it will go better and the enchantment continues to try and give our troops the edge they need. Next turn for fall do footmen and construction enchantment which will hopefully finish off both and then we can start enchanting the levy over the winter. In addition the savings will allow us to recruit an elite ranger in the winter to give us someone to counter the orc hero unit. That way coming out of winter our forces should be:
Two footmen full enchant
One skirmisher full enchant
Two levy trained and partial enchant
Two hunters
One Elite Ranger

Spring I would do enchant for Elite Ranger and one of the levy and just keep on working until everyone is at full enchant. Though when we reach the hunters we can probably drop to one enchant a turn and one other personal action.

Edit- added in contact and have assistant looking for better shipwrights since they are not doing anything else this turn.

 

[buli-buli]

I like how subtle that threat is as both even with all his paranoia she knows what he likes to eat and how that implies that she can poison him at any time... I say for his birthday we gift him some high quality booze and an enchanted set of armor to help him feel safe.

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I think its more likely that he's intentionally building up an immunity.

 

[karmaoa]

I say for his birthday we gift him some high quality booze and an enchanted set of armor to help him feel safe.

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I think he would like enchanted Tableware, that neutralize any Poison, and a Bell that rings if someone bloodrelated to him is a close by, or even a few Miles away, more.

 

[Dwergar]

Bell that rings if someone bloodrelated to him is a close by, or even a few Miles away, more.

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A bejeweled ring is better; Keyed to blood relatives, with number (and/or color) of glowing jewels corresponding to number of relatives in his vicinity. And heat/electric shock, to notify him.

 

[Zaratustra]

[X] Plan Morale Matters
-[X][Construction] Expand the moat around the new walls. There's very little cost involved, but it will be an enormous amount of labor. (2/6 actions, increases cost of further expansion)
-[X][Construction] Expand the moat around the new walls. There's very little cost involved, but it will be an enormous amount of labor. (2/6 actions, increases cost of further expansion)
-[X][Construction] Build a larger amount of housing so that you won't run out for a while. Increases housing capacity. 400 denier, 2 spaces
-[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] Construction Crew
-[X][Personal] Spend time with Nerissa
--[X] Try instaling a circle of wardstones designed to influence magic so it flows inwards around her tree, since a higher concentration should alow her to do more.
---[X] If this works as her to restart Hypnofruit production, also ask Olivia to spend as much time os possible in the higher concentration of magic and eat mostly food from the ovegrownth so her wings can finish growing sonner.
-[X][Hunters 1] Train
-[X][Hunters 2] Train
-[X][Skirmishers] Scout to reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
--[X] Olivia Helps
-[X][Footmen 1] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Footmen 2] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
-[X][Levy 1] Guard
--[X] The base and sawmill
-[X][Levy 2] Guard
--[X] The docks
-[X][Captain] Train unit Hunters
-[X][Assistant] Recruitment : Camp Followers (200 denier)
-[X][Purchase] Fill warehouse with supplies (600/1000)
--[X] How much? 50
-[X][Contact] Adolphine
--[X] Since you are thinking of recruting both Civil and Siege Engineer ask her if she can help you find higly qualified ones, perhaps even at a cheaper price if you are lucky. Also since she manages a port town ask if she would be able to find you some experienced shipwright to suplement you current ones.

 

[Void Stalker]

Renewing the question:
@inverted_helix is it possible to try for improved shipwright to up our drydock income or do we just need to let the current guys become more experienced at this point.

Also converted into a plan format. Idea is to get training ground up before winter so we can train the two levy units over winter, while continuing to work on enchanting our men (construction so our defenses are more likely to finish and skirmishers to give them a little more power in combat). Fall would be enchant construction and 2nd footmen which would hopefully finish both off and then we would enchant both levy units to combine with their training.

 

[Zoxabels]

[X] Plan Training ground and engagements

 

[PurposefulZephyr]

[X] Plan Training ground and engagements

A bit more sensible, short-term oriented.
There's a siege coming, after all.

 

[Zaratustra]

There's a siege coming, after all.

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No there isn't, if we can take anything from the orcs actions is that they have no interest in Sieging our base whitout much more troops.

 

[Void Stalker]

No there isn't, if we can take anything from the orcs actions is that they have no interest in Sieging our base whitout much more troops.

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I am hoping to bait them into doing so but they are unlikely to do so during the winter because they suffer even worse winters and their supply line could easily be cut by the weather. I do like the Nerissa action as a 5th grove would be useful, I just think get enchantments up for our skirmishers and footmen is a bit more important at the current time.

 

[Zaratustra]

I am hoping to bait them into doing so

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How ? I would realy like to know what you think would interest the orcs into attacking our increasingly more fortified base whitout way more people.

their supply line could easily be cut by the weather.

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See here is the problem, weather matter little, the overgrowth itself can always easily cut supply lines.

I do like the Nerissa action as a 5th grove would be useful,

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Hopefuly that nets more than just one extra grove, otherwise we will need more circles before having the leway to experiment.

I just think get enchantments up for our skirmishers and footmen is a bit more important at the current time.

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I am not sure why, that is at most +5, honestly it is probably way more effective to just have the captain training troops whenever we aren't doing some special operation in the long run isntead of always having him comading and hoping that is enouht to avoid loses, because that hasn't been working.

raining ground so that this winter when we train both levy

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Also are you sure this is a good idea ? Wouldn't winter debuffs apply to training ?

Also did you notice this ?

Comfortable Barracks for 15 units, 18 used

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We realy need more barracks, we have been overcroded for some time already.

Finaly what do you think of y action to contact our sister ?

 

[zup]

We should give Mina a surprise hug from behind when she next visits.

 

[Void Stalker]

I thought I added it into my vote. But I like the sister notice. I don't think we took a penalty to training over the winter, but we dont generally have to worry about orc attacks so we can pull units off the line.

 

[Zaratustra]

I thought I added it into my vote. But I like the sister notice. I don't think we took a penalty to training over the winter, but we dont generally have to worry about orc attacks so we can pull units off the line.

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True, also how do you plan to bait the orcs into attacking our base ? Also why not have the captain train the uselessness out of our hunters ? Seens like a better plan in the long run than just keepin then out of danger and hoping things work out.

 

[inverted_helix]

@inverted_helix is it possible to try for improved shipwright to up our drydock income or do we just need to let the current guys become more experienced at this point.

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You could keep trying, but it would be a very ineffective use of time.

 

[Void Stalker]

True, also how do you plan to bait the orcs into attacking our base ? Also why not have the captain train the uselessness out of our hunters ? Seens like a better plan in the long run than just keepin then out of danger and hoping things work out.

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Mainly because I feel that we need the bonus from commanding our troops against the orcs right now. Winter though they should not be attacking so we could train the two levy and two hunters then.

 

[megrisvernin]

Mainly because I feel that we need the bonus from commanding our troops against the orcs right now. Winter though they should not be attacking so we could train the two levy and two hunters then.

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I'll throw in that the Orcs are attacking from further north. Since this setting is modeled off of Europe, going further north makes it colder. So the Orcs are used to colder winters. Something the freak winter a while ago reinforced that really cold winters can happen even further south.

Activity by them isn't impossible in winter, but it would likely need to be for a good reason. Mind the Orcs aren't stupid and you don't do too well in winter conditions either. So keep both in mind.

 

[Zaratustra]

Mainly because I feel that we need the bonus from commanding our troops against the orcs right now. Winter though they should not be attacking so we could train the two levy and two hunters then.

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No we can't, we only have one officer and he can't train diferent types of troops at the same time.
Also who do you think the orcs won't be attacking ? Because they have never attacked our base, also what is you plan to bait then again ?

 

[Void Stalker]

I'll throw in that the Orcs are attacking from further north. Since this setting is modeled off of Europe, going further north makes it colder. So the Orcs are used to colder winters. Something the freak winter a while ago reinforced that really cold winters can happen even further south.

Activity by them isn't impossible in winter, but it would likely need to be for a good reason. Mind the Orcs aren't stupid and you don't do too well in winter conditions either. So keep both in mind.

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Well in general in Europe winter was not the campaign season so my expectations are they would not want to siege then, especially if that supply line runs through the overgrowth which could be as much as a foe as anything they face.

No we can't, we only have one officer and he can't train diferent types of troops at the same time.
Also who do you think the orcs won't be attacking ? Because they have never attacked our base, also what is you plan to bait then again ?

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During the winter, poor supply lines puts attacking forces at risk of attrition and starvation leaving them vulnerable to a counter in spring. As it is for me by hitting them this season then I hope that they try to respond and hit us the following season when we would be pulled back into our base and sawmill area.

The only one type of troop is a bit annoying but then that means they have to wait until the following winter as I can't see pulling any off the line until then unless the war ends and we can get a second officer.

 

[Zaratustra]

Well in general in Europe winter was not the campaign season so my expectations are they would not want to siege then, especially if that supply line runs through the overgrowth which could be as much as a foe as anything they face.

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You are looking at it the wron way, they have no interest in sieging, they like raiding, and it is our job to stop raiding so there is a chance for then to raid in winter.

During the winter, poor supply lines puts attacking forces at risk of attrition and starvation leaving them vulnerable to a counter in spring. As it is for me by hitting them this season then I hope that they try to respond and hit us the following season when we would be pulled back into our base and sawmill area.

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Okay I will need you to elaborate on this a bit for me because the impression I have is that you want us to attack their base on winter so they will retaliate on spring, and that sound like a bad idea on so many levels.

The only one type of troop is a bit annoying but then that means they have to wait until the following winter as I can't see pulling any off the line until then unless the war ends and we can get a second officer.

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Actualy it is quite easy, look how I did it, I put the officer to train the hunters since we are at full strengh so we don't need the bonus right now and sent the hunters to train because as is they are pretty useless anyway.

But what I realy don't get is why you have a footman safely guarding the base and a levy patroling, that fells ike the exact oposite of what we should be doing.

 

[Void Stalker]

You are looking at it the wron way, they have no interest in sieging, they like raiding, and it is our job to stop raiding so there is a chance for then to raid in winter.


Okay I will need you to elaborate on this a bit for me because the impression I have is that you want us to attack their base on winter so they will retaliate on spring, and that sound like a bad idea on so many levels.


Actualy it is quite easy, look how I did it, I put the officer to train the hunters since we are at full strengh so we don't need the bonus right now and sent the hunters to train because as is they are pretty useless anyway.

But what I realy don't get is why you have a footman safely guarding the base and a levy patroling, that fells ike the exact oposite of what we should be doing.

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No, I do not want to attack their base in the winter, I am saying that if they do attack and try and siege us in the fall and stay there in winter then a bad winter would leave those forces easy pickings in the spring for our garrison to sally out and deal with. Also raiding in the winter is dangerous as even a normal winter is going to be harder on them crossing the overgrowth, even if not as severe as the one Winter they run the risk of units getting cutoff or isolated. It just is too risky to try during the winter without some sort of aid to mitigate the dangers more so since the winter can be really harsh.

As for not needing the bonus, right now I feel like we need all the bonuses to the rolls that we can to stay even with the orcs so pulling the captain off boosting our footmen and skirmishers is not something I want to do. As for the 2nd footmen, because we may have another kraken try to attack our port and the footmen generally have the strength to deal with any threat from sea. As for our main base I have a hunter and levy there as they should only have to deal with the wildlife with the hunters, skirmishers, levy and footmen and Olivia as our force in the woods.

 

[inverted_helix]

So going to go ahead and comment more to stir things.

We should not have a -5 penalty for the moat this time around

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That's actually due to having that penalty for digging into the ground. You never actually got rid of the burrowers, just used magic to stabilize the ground so they wouldn't bother surface construction.

I think its more likely that he's intentionally building up an immunity.

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This is actually spot on. Given this is a fantasy world it's actually a reasonable thing to try. It was referred to early with your own research of him having rumors that he was buying unusual amounts of various poisons.

I think he would like enchanted Tableware, that neutralize any Poison, and a Bell that rings if someone bloodrelated to him is a close by, or even a few Miles away, more.

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A bejeweled ring is better; Keyed to blood relatives, with number (and/or color) of glowing jewels corresponding to number of relatives in his vicinity. And heat/electric shock, to notify him.

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You could enchant something to neutralize some poisons, but the sort of absolute all poisons isn't really possible. The biggest problem is you as the enchanter have to know of the poison, it's not conjuring knowledge. You'd eat your hat if Mina didn't know poisons you don't.

In terms of a blood related alarm like that you can't really manage something that broad and unanchored. You have to work on the area being scanned essentially. So the best you could do is warding his ship with it.

-[X][Personal] Spend time with Nerissa
--[X] Try instaling a circle of wardstones designed to influence magic so it flows inwards around her tree, since a higher concentration should alow her to do more.
---[X] If this works as her to restart Hypnofruit production, also ask Olivia to spend as much time os possible in the higher concentration of magic and eat mostly food from the ovegrownth so her wings can finish growing sonner.

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I do like that you're actually thinking about this sort of thing. Increasing Nerissa's growth to increase what she can do for you was something I indicated as possible, but I had been hoping for players to come up with ideas rather than have to give default options. This sort of route is one of the harder ways to do things though, so you'll probably only be rewarded with +1 and that because of wanting to reward such thinking. I kind of figured players would catch on to the idea Mina thoughtfully provided when she first came by.

I am not sure why, that is at most +5, honestly it is probably way more effective to just have the captain training troops whenever we aren't doing some special operation in the long run isntead of always having him comading and hoping that is enouht to avoid loses, because that hasn't been working.

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Possibly enchanting to boost a unit's effectiveness is a little undertuned. I'll consider increasing that to make it a little more balanced.

On the captain it depends. He gives +10 to your forces when he's commanding, which does tilt the odds in your favor quite a bit depending on how many units are engaged, but that's only the turn that he's doing it. Whereas training gives a variable permanent boost to that unit. I think that they're relatively balanced. Though you're definitely at the point where another officer is a good idea. (Do keep in mind that second officer will be an inferior nameless NPC though. Duplicate units will generally never be named characters.)

Also are you sure this is a good idea ? Wouldn't winter debuffs apply to training ?

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Winter debuffs won't typically be that bad on training. Since it's at least done close to your warm barracks.

We should give Mina a surprise hug from behind when she next visits.

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:lol

Well in general in Europe winter was not the campaign season so my expectations are they would not want to siege then, especially if that supply line runs through the overgrowth which could be as much as a foe as anything they face.

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They generally won't want to start a siege then. Once they commit to one though they'll try to make it stick through winter just to prevent you getting supply shipments.

I can't see pulling any off the line until then unless the war ends and we can get a second officer.

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You can try to recruit one, it will be a roll same as getting replacement troops and at the 3x cost mod, but it's definitely possible.

 

[Edifier]

Did eating the best and first hypnofruit and than having another dryad help it pass trough our system, without malicious effects, change us in any way?

My intuition says no, yet my greed for power and mutations says yes.

 

[Nevill]

The one silver lining is that if it's this hard to dig in the ground above ground, you imagined any orc sappers would find themselves in an underground hell with those oversized rodents lurking there.

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Hm, I never before contemplated settling Hell just to give the enemies a worse time when they come knocking. For once something worked in our favor!

But yeah, it's a pretty comical image, when you think about the poor enemy sappers going against us with their conventional siege tactics.

As the men scattered away from the water in surprise, it blasted its blowhole showering them with water as if in thanks for the easy meal.

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You are welcome, big guy.

...sometimes I wish there were magic/enchantment that allowed us to communicate with animals. Would that be that much of a stretch to hope for one?

Then I imagine sending envoys to the wolves, and reality reasserts itself.

His ship is scarred in a thousand places, holes barely patched, the mast a mere suggestion. It's clear that it could hardly last much longer. It does have character though, it's been through a lot.

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The ship of Nicholas is the fantasy rendition of the ship of Theseus.

He spins a tale of a distant atoll, hardly secret, though scarcely traveled. All around it can be found sea monsters of breeds long since vanished from the greater seas. The stories say that the atoll itself is inhabited by merfolk, but that their beauty is only matched by their hatred of mankind, and none are allowed to reach their lair alive.

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Huh, didn't think there were many of those places around. I wonder what serves as the core, the source that keeps the magic churning. Will these places wither and die once it runs out? Or is it like magma, in that our planet is full of it, but it only comes to the surface through a few volcanos?

An eventual expedition to the center is becoming to look more attractive as the years go by.

Mina Revaria
Current Assignment: Spreading friendship to the Kingdom of Tedora
Favorite Things: Hugs, kittens, and puppies
Difficulty of Surprise Hugs: Older sisters always wants Hugs!
Direct Combat Skill: Angry kitten

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I love the style. Surprise Hugs is my favorite euphemism for stealth assassinations.
Alas, she left out the difficulty on her own file. Are we meant to discover it through trial and error? I am all for spending an enchantment action just to improve our hugging rates, but who would we test it on? Would be rather awkward with Leo, and Olivia would lose on purpose.
Why is there no dossier on ourselves! I feel underappreciated.

I am hoping to bait them into doing so but they are unlikely to do so during the winter because they suffer even worse winters and their supply line could easily be cut by the weather.

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How is that? They won't attack blindly, and we keep scaring away their scouts. And if we don't, the scouts would report if the terms are unfavorable to them.
...Frankly, I think we may want to do some opportunistic raiding to keep the orcs on their toes and make them split attention between raiding and defending. We might be able to use some of Nicola's ships to make a landing in their lands.

I'll throw in that the Orcs are attacking from further north. Since this setting is modeled off of Europe, going further north makes it colder. So the Orcs are used to colder winters. Something the freak winter a while ago reinforced that really cold winters can happen even further south.

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I was under an impression that our outposts are about three hundreds kilometers apart or so. A couple weeks travel through a dense forest. The climate should not be that drastically different with distances like these.

Of course, we have no idea how far north their lands stretch or where their reinforcements are coming from.

In terms of a blood related alarm like that you can't really manage something that broad and unanchored. You have to work on the area being scanned essentially. So the best you could do is warding his ship with it.

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Maybe just passing a certain threshold would do. It's unlikely that the potential spy would make a separate entry for themselves, so only a few key locations need to be enchanted.

I kind of figured players would catch on to the idea Mina thoughtfully provided when she first came by.

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I am not sure what suggestion you are referring here. Did Mina suggest something?


As usual, I'll try making a plan of my own sometime tomorrow.