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

Awesome!!! I had assumed that we wouldn't have access to dairy products until we could get some sheeps and/or cows from Europe (so realistically at least a couple of years)...

Getting milk, butter, cheese and yogurt is going to make wonders for our morale...
I thought we had goats and they produce milk. Well more milk production is a good thing and now we are getting access to dairy sooner which is very good.

Also good writing @Chimeraguard, and congratulations on it being made canon.
 
Union is only missing a few cooking stables to make some better meals. Brewing, fishing, salt pans, and tree tapping would pretty much get us everything but spices. As a bonus, vinegar, salt, and sugar are great for food preservation.
Well, brewing and fishing are already unlocked and we just need to put the dice into it... Regarding salt, that is something that we will probably need to finish the Deadtown to build a saltern (or to be lucky when exploring since Virginia has salt mines), and if we want tree-sapping it is pretty much mandatory to go for the pottery first...

Regarding spices, once we have access to Europe via the galleon or merchants we will have access to plenty of inexpensive herbs and condiments that grow everywhere like parsley, rosemary, garlic, shallots... Not exactly fancy spices, but good enough for us.

I thought we had goats and they produce milk. Well more milk production is a good thing and now we are getting access to dairy sooner which is very good.
We lost all our livestock when Jamestown fell, the only domestic animals we have are turkeys (that we found in the wilderness and brought into the Union), chicken (that the new colonists smuggled), cats (that we bought from the captain), and dogs (the ones that the Winter Walkers had that manged to survive 4 years of winter)
 
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Novus Ordo Seclorum
Novus Ordo Seclorum

By A. B.

The Novus Ordo Seclorum are a shadowy occult organization who have allegedly been manipulating events from the shadows since the time of Camelot and King Arthur. According to legend, they armed Mordred's insurrection, cursed Harold Godwinson with ill luck shortly before the Battle of Hastings, and used the chaos caused by the Night of Long Knives to spread their tendrils to the Continent.

They Huntsmen claim that the Ordo was entirely destroyed a few decades ago, but they lie. Only one small cell was destroyed, and I have it from extremely reliable sources that Lady Ravenswood, known agent of the Ordo, had dealings with a vile cult a few months prior to my writing this.

Indeed, what makes the Ordo truly dangerous is not their supernatural might but their ability to infiltrate and influence even the most devout organizations. Cults under their aegis shall receive advanced warning of raids, and even see their enemies receive increased attention from the Huntsmen and the like as well.

Fortunately, the members of the Ordo are notoriously mercurial in temper. If they are insulted, then bloodshed is not an uncommon outcome. Severe or repeated insults will result in the hammer of righteousness slamming down upon the unfortunate warlock organization in question. Still, such is their power that agents of the Ordo such as Lady Ravenswood and Lord Blackthorne are quite welcome amongst the wicked and vile.


Bladsworth has not always been the most accurate of writers, but this tale is probably his least accurate one. It is almost entirely fictional, albeit very much by design. I should know, I'm Lady Ravenswood.

The Ordo wasn't founded centuries ago by some shadowy figures, it was created a few decades ago by a con artist named Neal Reynard. He figured that creating a phony occult conspiracy serving strange and dangerous beings from before the dawn of time would be a great way to bilk money from the rich and ambitious. In this he was correct, but his other assumption, that no occult forces would get involved so long as he didn't invoke actual occult powers in his rituals, was not.

Satan's forces are clever, and took the guise of the entirely fictional entities that Reynard had created out of whole cloth once the Ordo had gained sufficient power. Neal was horrified, as he was not entirely without scruples. Despite the forces of damnation offering to make him a cult leader in truth, Reynard decided to destroy that which he had spent so much time and effort building. Alas, the Ordo had grown too strong for him to dismantle on his own.

Instead, he went to the Huntsmen. He pleaded with them to help dismantle his cult, not even asking for his life to be spared. As Secret Master of the Novus Ordo Seclorum, he called for a Grand Ritual which required the attendance of all members of the Ordo. When the final cultist arrived, the Huntsmen launched their ambush, slaughtering all of the damned present.

Fortunately, the Huntsmen had been greatly impressed by Neal's contrition and willingness to die for his sins, so they spared his life. Instead, he was made to join a Lazarite monastery so as to learn to handle the marks his tenure as involuntary cult leader had left upon his soul.

Unfortunately Reynard had done his work too well. Few believed that an organization with the power and influence of the Ordo could be wiped out in its entirety. The more the Huntsmen protested against this idea, the more influential it became. In the end, there was a large amount of ready-made legitimacy for any cult who wished to take up the name Novus Ordo Seclorum.

To combat this, the Huntsmen, with the cooperation of the Lazarites, filled the void. They had some of their agents, including a repentant Neal Reynard, pose as "Emissaries of the Novus Ordo Seclorum", seeking to bring other malign organizations into their sphere of influence.

At the time, it was hoped that this would discourage cults from using the Ordo's name for recruitment, with the elimination of cults being a secondary objective at best. Instead, it became the most successful anti-cult operation in the history of the Dual Monarchies. All it took was warning the targets of a few minor raids, raids which the Emissaries could easily arrange through intermediaries, and the cults would hand over entire membership rosters and safehouse lists. Then, the Emissary would feign offense at some minor insult, and the cult would be destroyed with none the wiser. Eventually, new Emissaries would be recruited from the Huntsmen and Lazarites to replace those who had been rendered unsuitable by age, which is how I became Lady Ravenswood.

It is worth noting that the Ordo's legitimacy would not survive if its targets didn't want to believe in them. They are a warlock's fantasy. If the forces of light are truly naught but a pawn of the Ordo, then avoiding destruction is as simple as allying themselves with said organization. Moreover, if the supposed paragons of virtue in the Dual Monarchies are so easily turned to darkness, then their own falls from grace were quite excusable, if not forgivable.
@Chimeraguard's omake inspired me to finally finish one of my own (writer's block has been killing me). My other inspirations were a previous discussion regarding how shadowy antagonistic conspiracies manipulating events from the shadows wouldn't fit this quest, as well as Hit Man on Netflix.

As I alluded to above, the Ordo's success probably won't survive the coming of the Enlightenment. A secret society that offers to protect cults from the authorities in exchange for fealty and membership lists stops being a fantasy when such organizations become a major threat to cults and instead becomes highly suspicious.
 
Novus Ordo Seclorum

By A. B.

The Novus Ordo Seclorum are a shadowy occult organization who have allegedly been manipulating events from the shadows since the time of Camelot and King Arthur. According to legend, they armed Mordred's insurrection, cursed Harold Godwinson with ill luck shortly before the Battle of Hastings, and used the chaos caused by the Night of Long Knives to spread their tendrils to the Continent.

They Huntsmen claim that the Ordo was entirely destroyed a few decades ago, but they lie. Only one small cell was destroyed, and I have it from extremely reliable sources that Lady Ravenswood, known agent of the Ordo, had dealings with a vile cult a few months prior to my writing this.

Indeed, what makes the Ordo truly dangerous is not their supernatural might but their ability to infiltrate and influence even the most devout organizations. Cults under their aegis shall receive advanced warning of raids, and even see their enemies receive increased attention from the Huntsmen and the like as well.

Fortunately, the members of the Ordo are notoriously mercurial in temper. If they are insulted, then bloodshed is not an uncommon outcome. Severe or repeated insults will result in the hammer of righteousness slamming down upon the unfortunate warlock organization in question. Still, such is their power that agents of the Ordo such as Lady Ravenswood and Lord Blackthorne are quite welcome amongst the wicked and vile.


Bladsworth has not always been the most accurate of writers, but this tale is probably his least accurate one. It is almost entirely fictional, albeit very much by design. I should know, I'm Lady Ravenswood.

The Ordo wasn't founded centuries ago by some shadowy figures, it was created a few decades ago by a con artist named Neal Reynard. He figured that creating a phony occult conspiracy serving strange and dangerous beings from before the dawn of time would be a great way to bilk money from the rich and ambitious. In this he was correct, but his other assumption, that no occult forces would get involved so long as he didn't invoke actual occult powers in his rituals, was not.

Satan's forces are clever, and took the guise of the entirely fictional entities that Reynard had created out of whole cloth once the Ordo had gained sufficient power. Neal was horrified, as he was not entirely without scruples. Despite the forces of damnation offering to make him a cult leader in truth, Reynard decided to destroy that which he had spent so much time and effort building. Alas, the Ordo had grown too strong for him to dismantle on his own.

Instead, he went to the Huntsmen. He pleaded with them to help dismantle his cult, not even asking for his life to be spared. As Secret Master of the Novus Ordo Seclorum, he called for a Grand Ritual which required the attendance of all members of the Ordo. When the final cultist arrived, the Huntsmen launched their ambush, slaughtering all of the damned present.

Fortunately, the Huntsmen had been greatly impressed by Neal's contrition and willingness to die for his sins, so they spared his life. Instead, he was made to join a Lazarite monastery so as to learn to handle the marks his tenure as involuntary cult leader had left upon his soul.

Unfortunately Reynard had done his work too well. Few believed that an organization with the power and influence of the Ordo could be wiped out in its entirety. The more the Huntsmen protested against this idea, the more influential it became. In the end, there was a large amount of ready-made legitimacy for any cult who wished to take up the name Novus Ordo Seclorum.

To combat this, the Huntsmen, with the cooperation of the Lazarites, filled the void. They had some of their agents, including a repentant Neal Reynard, pose as "Emissaries of the Novus Ordo Seclorum", seeking to bring other malign organizations into their sphere of influence.

At the time, it was hoped that this would discourage cults from using the Ordo's name for recruitment, with the elimination of cults being a secondary objective at best. Instead, it became the most successful anti-cult operation in the history of the Dual Monarchies. All it took was warning the targets of a few minor raids, raids which the Emissaries could easily arrange through intermediaries, and the cults would hand over entire membership rosters and safehouse lists. Then, the Emissary would feign offense at some minor insult, and the cult would be destroyed with none the wiser. Eventually, new Emissaries would be recruited from the Huntsmen and Lazarites to replace those who had been rendered unsuitable by age, which is how I became Lady Ravenswood.

It is worth noting that the Ordo's legitimacy would not survive if its targets didn't want to believe in them. They are a warlock's fantasy. If the forces of light are truly naught but a pawn of the Ordo, then avoiding destruction is as simple as allying themselves with said organization. Moreover, if the supposed paragons of virtue in the Dual Monarchies are so easily turned to darkness, then their own falls from grace were quite excusable, if not forgivable.
@Chimeraguard's omake inspired me to finally finish one of my own (writer's block has been killing me). My other inspirations were a previous discussion regarding how shadowy antagonistic conspiracies manipulating events from the shadows wouldn't fit this quest, as well as Hit Man on Netflix.

As I alluded to above, the Ordo's success probably won't survive the coming of the Enlightenment. A secret society that offers to protect cults from the authorities in exchange for fealty and membership lists stops being a fantasy when such organizations become a major threat to cults and instead becomes highly suspicious.
Semi-canon
False occult organization used as traps definitely exist, but the details may varie...
Question or bonus ?
 
Regarding spices, once we have access to Europe via the galleon or merchants we will have access to plenty of inexpensive herbs and condiments that grow everywhere like parsley, rosemary, garlic, shallots... Not exactly fancy spices, but good enough for us.
I would honestly think that the Winter Walker natives would have their own array of "herbs that are nice for flavoring food" that would already grow around our area. They'd be unfamiliar, but I'd expect them to exist, surely?
 
I would honestly think that the Winter Walker natives would have their own array of "herbs that are nice for flavoring food" that would already grow around our area. They'd be unfamiliar, but I'd expect them to exist, surely?
I think that I talked about this some time earlier in the quest, but I'll bring out my list of North American herbs and spices.

Sumac is a type of shrub, native to the Old and New World, that has a a large amount of tightly packed flowers that eventually turn into tiny fruits. These fruits can be dried and then ground into a tangy, tart, and lemony spice for flavoring drinks and dishes. The Unchained and Natives would be familiar with it.

Juniper is another plant native to both landmasses. The berries are good for adding flavor to meats, especially wild game, and alcoholic beverages. It was used for medical purposes by many people. Some Colonists from more northern parts and most Natives would know about it.

There are many, many types of mint that grow wild in North America. While being good for food, it was also mixed with tobacco to smoke or chew.

Virginia pepperweed can be used as a substitute for, as you can guess, black pepper giving the seeds the nickname 'poor man's pepper.' Can't really find much else about it except you can eat the young leaves.

Wild ginger should be widespread in our area since it loves forests. It is actually a bit funny because ginger would only be used by more wealthy families in Europe at this time.

I could go on and on. There are a lot of different plants that can be used to flavor foods (and/or mixed with tobacco and/or used for medicine.) I sometimes feel like I took too many foraging classes.
 
I think that I talked about this some time earlier in the quest, but I'll bring out my list of North American herbs and spices.

Sumac is a type of shrub, native to the Old and New World, that has a a large amount of tightly packed flowers that eventually turn into tiny fruits. These fruits can be dried and then ground into a tangy, tart, and lemony spice for flavoring drinks and dishes. The Unchained and Natives would be familiar with it.

Juniper is another plant native to both landmasses. The berries are good for adding flavor to meats, especially wild game, and alcoholic beverages. It was used for medical purposes by many people. Some Colonists from more northern parts and most Natives would know about it.

There are many, many types of mint that grow wild in North America. While being good for food, it was also mixed with tobacco to smoke or chew.

Virginia pepperweed can be used as a substitute for, as you can guess, black pepper giving the seeds the nickname 'poor man's pepper.' Can't really find much else about it except you can eat the young leaves.

Wild ginger should be widespread in our area since it loves forests. It is actually a bit funny because ginger would only be used by more wealthy families in Europe at this time.

I could go on and on. There are a lot of different plants that can be used to flavor foods (and/or mixed with tobacco and/or used for medicine.) I sometimes feel like I took too many foraging classes.
Thank you, I knew that there were plenty of plants and herbs in America that could be used as a condiment for flavoring food, BUT honestly, almost all of the ones that I could remember were from more southern latitudes...

Anyway, once we get our own European inexpensive herbs and condiments (and we get some salt extraction/production source), the Union's Cuisine is going to be one of the most interesting in the world
 
Wild ginger should be widespread in our area since it loves forests. It is actually a bit funny because ginger would only be used by more wealthy families in Europe at this time.
Not really. Wild ginger is actually a completely different genus and species compared to ginger. Wild ginger was named such because its rhizomes smell like the spice, although they apparently taste differently.

I'm also hoping that said plant mostly stays in the medicine cabinet instead of the stewpot. Wild ginger, like all birthworts, contains aristocholic acids, which cause both cancer and kidney damage. Fortunately, its use in medicine should hopefully be relatively safe in-universe given the magical nature of the setting and the long history of such herbs in medicine, going back to the ancient Greeks and Romans.
 
Focus Vote
Hello everyone, after three months of absolute hell, I finally have some free time coming up for writing !
However, with clear limitations still present in my free time, I will not be able to work on many quests at the same time as I once did, and will have to limit myself to one or two quests (the idea being to brough them to a worthy conclusion before moving on).
Furthermore, beyond a desire to write, my motivation and inspiration are still very low, and I feel no particular desire to work on any quests in particular.
So, since it is still a few weeks before I can truly go back to writing, I am putting this decision to a freeform vote, where you may vote for as many options as you like, and help me make my choice.

Currents quests (most in need of rework) :

[] Try to survive the Winter: A planquest in Fantasy Colonial America
This quest, my first work beyond a half-forgotten attempt during my teenage years. A planquest focusing on the survival of a settlement in fantasy early colonial America, with the threats of terrible Winters, three mouths of endless nights filled with monsters, as a constant issue to deal with.
Focus on survival, the supernatural, the actions of various heroes and a burgeoning new society.
I have a lot of affection for this quest, and I think it still has some potential, but it is saddled with a lot of early mistakes. In particular, the planquest framework is not that well adapted to the management of a colonial settlement filled with supernatural power and heroes, and I will need to deeply rework the mechanics of the quest.

[] Tower of Babel: A Bronze Age Space Civ Quest
Be a civilization of bronze age wizards in a sci-fi setting. Reach the stars, cast grand rituals, and reshape your society toward wisdom.Think very carefully about the consequences of your magic.
Compared to Try to survive the Winter, this quest is far less focused on detailed management or survival, and far more on shaping a society and wisely using the power of world-shaping and world-shattering rituals. Use an Action Point system depending on the population of mages, mundane persons...
This quest is mostly based on taste : people either like thinking about the potential consequences of mystic rituals and omens applied to the space-age, or they do not.

[] Learned one, help us : A quest of death and progress in a stone age deathworld
A quest based on the idea of playing live after live in a world filled with danger and hostile to human life (think Exalted) and slowly better your community through generation of work. Lots of randomness and a rapid succession of turns. Due to the incredible luck of the playerbase, this initial goal has been somewhat lost.

[] Before the Dungeons : a D&D inspired civ quest
Play as proto-elves in the early age of a D&D world, as the gods still battle above. Reach the heights of the first, mythical civilization of such a world. Fall. Leave behind the ruins that shall be delved by the adventurers of the future. That's the idea.
Use the same system as Into that Vast and Unrelenting Darkness (40K Xeno Civilization Quest) of the great The Bird.

[] Reach the Stars, Explore the Void REBOOT : A Stellaris-inspired quest of research and exploration
A quest about playing the research department of a Stellaris civ. More specifically, of a post-alien invasion, humanity on an Earth rendered almost unlivable and having freed and learned to live with (and use...) the various research subjects of the invaders.
Build on a slots systems : you have assets, can activate a limited number of them each turn, and they earn experience when used.

Quests ideas, new and old :

[] And so we will say, so that it may be : Play the priests of a broken world
Play as priests of what gods remain in a Glorantha-inspired world after its near-destruction. Choose witch gods, and with them witch skills, still exist : will you retain the ability to write, to have gardens, or embrace the raising of monsters as a new livestock and be blessed to drink blood as if it was water ?
Fight the threat that laid the gods low and try to rebuild the world.

[] Against the Ubermensch : A WW2 Superheroes program quest
The damn nazi have done it, they have found a way to empower their soldiers with superpowers ! As the lead of a new Allies team, it is your duty to develop a response, to make superheroes able to vanquish the nazi Ubermensch !
Will be played as a planquest.

[] The Last City
In what was once a cliché fantasy land, doom has come. Otherworldly invaders have conquered and brought down almost all that is...almost, but not all. You are the leading council of the Last City, the last land free from the Invaders. Thanks to...morally ambiguous methods, you have survived the onslaught, and now it is your duty to win the long war against the Invaders.
Have you unleashed the might of necromancy ? Found a way to bind the Invaders to your will ? Made pacts with dark gods ? Made monsters able to devour the unnatural flesh of the Invaders ?
It does not matter, only victory does !
You know Diplomacy is Not an Option ? More or less my take on it.

[] Gods, I hate cultivators... : an anti-Xianxia quest
This is a world where, through mystical practices, one can earn great power and immortality, and so the cultivators constantly fight, betray each other and generally act like amoral monsters to get just a little more power. Not you.
You prefer to stay in your retreat, do your things and not bother with the rat race. But, inevitably, some bastards always come to break your peace...deal with them.

[] 10 thousand years of tyranny : A 40k Planetary Governor Quest (CK3)
In most planetary governor quests, you play as the governor of a new imperial world, ready to try creating a better system from the ground up...but this is not what 40k is about, in my humble opinion. 40k is about the weight of the past, of old failures and terrible compromises.
So in this quest you will play as the new governor of an ancient world, full of injustices and cruel lords. Will you be able to better such a terrible place ?

[] By the Wisdom of Solomon : An Exorcist Quest
Play as a master of the arts of Solomon, maker of seals, binder of demons, invoker of angels. Try to protect the world from terrible evils. Try to make peace between the many, feuding factions of the heirs of Solomon. Probably fail.

[] The land shape the Hero, The Hero shape the land
Probably my most...experimental idea. I have long tried to find a way to turn into a quest the way history works in fantasy worlds : heroes rise, shaped by their environment, through their deeds shape the environment around them, then disappear.
Such would be the gameplay of this quest : first making a hero in reaction to a new threat and event, depending on what society is available, then letting the hero act, with their triumphs and failings, and finally see what legacy the hero is leaving behind.
 
[] 10 thousand years of tyranny : A 40k Planetary Governor Quest (CK3)
In most planetary governor quests, you play as the governor of a new imperial world, ready to try creating a better system from the ground up...but this is not what 40k is about, in my humble opinion. 40k is about the weight of the past, of old failures and terrible compromises.
So in this quest you will play as the new governor of an ancient world, full of injustices and cruel lords. Will you be able to better such a terrible place ?

My desire to fix the broken shit skyrockets
 
[X] Tower of Babel: A Bronze Age Space Civ Quest

I like this one the most and would love to see it continue.

[X] The Last City
 
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[X] Try to survive the Winter: A planquest in Fantasy Colonial America
[X] Against the Ubermensch : A WW2 Superheroes program quest
Also it would be fun seeing you write something different. Like I would be 100% all the way if you tried to write a Super Robot Wars Quest since I like your worldbuilding style and there aren't that many SRW quest's that shift into horror like what you do
 
[X] Try to survive the Winter: A planquest in Fantasy Colonial America

[X] 10 thousand years of tyranny : A 40k Planetary Governor Quest (CK3)


[X] The Last City
Most interested in these 3 and most of all the last city one, but man you have some cool ideas in that noggging of yours.
 
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[X] Try to survive the Winter: A planquest in Fantasy Colonial America
This quest, my first work beyond a half-forgotten attempt during my teenage years. A planquest focusing on the survival of a settlement in fantasy early colonial America, with the threats of terrible Winters, three mouths of endless nights filled with monsters, as a constant issue to deal with.
Focus on survival, the supernatural, the actions of various heroes and a burgeoning new society.
I have a lot of affection for this quest, and I think it still has some potential, but it is saddled with a lot of early mistakes. In particular, the planquest framework is not that well adapted to the management of a colonial settlement filled with supernatural power and heroes, and I will need to deeply rework the mechanics of the quest.

I had a ton of fun with this quest, and like the aesthetics.
 
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[X] Tower of Babel: A Bronze Age Space Civ Quest
My absolute favorite of your quests.
 
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