Event: Day 265 [OPEN]

[bastionpc]

Who: Several NPCs and you
Open: Open
When: Day 265
Where: The Bastion in general
What: Everyone adjusting to the new land, plus some bad news from Nathaniel.
Format: action
Warnings: Lnone

[First, the good news: everyone came back more or less alive and well, and they had a core! After some deliberation, eventually it was decided upon that adding more land to the Bastion (as well as improving the efficiency of power use in the Bastion, so that the extra land is not a strain on the already limited power) is the best use of this Core.

Once the core has been integrated into the Bastion, the land expanse is almost immediate. Several chunks of the nearby Skyway (monster-free, thankfully) attach themselves to the Bastion, nearly doubling the available land. In addition to the flat plains, lake, river, and hills, there is much more flat land, and a few sharp peaks (nowhere near tall enough to be actual mountains, but they are made of rock and have the same jagged edges and steep inclines that a mountain would have) have attached themselves to the north-eastern side of the Bastion.

In addition, several empty buildings have sprung up in the south and western parts of the Bastion, along with a large empty area clearly left open for tents or more structures. With all of the new land and buildings, the Bastion should be able to hold several hundred residents comfortably. Provided the people could be found to fill those spaces, the Bastion could be a small town now!

But today is not entirely a day of good news. Around midday, Nathaniel calls a meeting by the monument to discuss some things, and he doesn't look happy at all.]

Okay guys, I'm just going to be honest here. We've got some trouble brewing.

For starters, I haven't been able to pick up the energy signal from that other core. Either it's been buried, or it fell off the Skyway, or something else got to it. It may come up later, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Along with that, we've got another mess on our hands now. Remember that group of Ura that you guys have been talking to? Well, they left this letter in the place where we leave written communication with them. Zahi translated it for me, and long story short, their crops failed and they're asking us for help.

We can give them supplies, but the farm doesn't grow enough to feed both us and them. If we found another core we could expand the farms to make it feasible, but there's no telling when we'll find another core. Our other option is to start growing our own farms on top of what the automated farm grows for us, but that won't actually help for several weeks, even months. They could possibly starve by the time that pays off. There's also the problem of how to get the sheer volume of food they need out to where they are. Their numbers are about equal to ours, and it's not a trip we could make every day, and most foods would spoil by the time we got it to where they are, so that's something to keep in mind too.

As near as I can tell, we can either help them out until they can grow more food, or we can ignore the request and let them fend for themselves. If any of you guys have another idea of what to do, we can discuss it.

I'll leave the decision up to you guys, but whatever you choose, make the decision quick, so that whatever you decide to do can be put into motion as soon as possible.

Comments

[freedom_engineer]

[Zulf's admission just earns a knowing smirk from Colin, and he says nothing more on the subject.]

Yeah, you can see it. I left my satchel back at my workshop, though, and everything's in there.

...

I'll warn you now, a lot of it is unreadable. The scene at the prison was unpleasant. A lot of people died AFTER the calamity. ... The journal's heavily bloodstained.

[twinked_witch]

Some Shard use might be wise for better materials, as well. Fortunately, I've got plenty to spare, frankly.

... Yeah, I don't know much of the politics with them yet. So we'd be still talking a delivery run, not just a location, then. Still risky, but probably one of our better bets.

[Megaera pauses for a second.]

Somehow, I suspect there's going to be a lot to learn on my end, isn't there?

[four_quarts]

As a matter of fact, an airship was one of the earliest projects I worked on. Provided we can pool the shards for the materials, it would not be terribly difficult to recreate.

[Sure, that was back when he was still a child and the majority of the design had been his late elder brother's work, but he remembers the details well enough. Actually, this was a good opportunity to revisit the design and improve upon it. Oh, the possibilities...

...Don't mind him, he's just slightly excited at the prospect of doing a large scale project again.]

[cyan_maid]

[Right...it makes sense with what she'd been told by the locals. Jane sighs.]

I really want to ask more, but I feel that we're going to get completely off topic if I do. The fact of the matter is that there are folks out in that Skyway place who need help, and no one here is sure how to best go about it. Frankly, I wish I could think of some other option.

[daughterofursa]

[Are you arguing with Aoi? Why are you doing this?]

None of us has any right to decide who's "useful" or not, and we aren't going to. If it gets to the point where some of us might not make it? That's something all of us should figure out, together.

I'm not making this an "us versus them," because it shouldn't be.

[daughterofursa]

We could've used their help plenty of times before now, and I can think of plenty more situations where it would be nice to have allies.

Right now, we still need to be cautious. I think they feel the same way. They'll defend themselves, but I don't think they're looking for any more fights either.

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko doesn't know what a plane is, but she gets the gist of this.]

That's an idea, but I'm not sure how much something like that would cost us. We need to be sure we can still provide them with enough foodstuffs.

[daughterofursa]

Ostrich horses were used to pull carts all the time in the Earth Kingdom. I don't think that's going to be a problem.

It'd be faster than carrying it ourselves, and probably the cheapest use of shards compared to- buying something faster than the barge. [She's sure the two of you can think of more fancy vehicles than she can.]

[bakegarasu]

[Because.]

I'm just saying. If there's more of them than there are of us it's going to take a lot of stuff to keep them alive.

[daughterofursa]

I think they're going to have to be involved in the final decision. It's for their benefit, and no matter what we do, we'll need at least some cooperation from them.

And we should definitely bring something. It might make them more open to working with us.

[daughterofursa]

I've flown them before, but they worked with firebending. Still, you don't need the... special air. Even for a larger ship.

[That's basically what helium is, as she recalls.]

[fuckthemancers]

I can imagine. Still, I'd like to see it regardless.

[notfell]

... Are those even edible? [ They don't really sound like they are.

And so if Moon comes back injured from the skyway, Colin may know why. Moon doesn't look terribly believing, but then again, Moon hunts while shifted. ]

So you're saying that if they're not hunting well, it's because the prey has adapted, as tough and smart as these Ura are? [ ... And that they shouldn't hunt the Ura? Why would they hunt them?? ]

[notduchess]

... Then we could take a risk - maybe not their young and old, but some of their warriors. Some who are less at risk from us. [ They have enough fighters that a handful of warriors shouldn't be that much of a problem.

Then again, the bastion itself has an effect on violence, as far as they'd been told. ]

[daughterofursa]

I'm not sure we'll be in a position to build up a store of our own until they're back on their feet. I guess it depends on how badly off they are.

I doubt they'd trust us with their children or elderly alone, but they might consider it if they had some of their own men here to protect them, too.

[aprettyred]

Could I bring Mikoto, or is he too strange?

[ She likes her firebug, okay. And said firebug can spit fire, which could help ward off nasty skyway critters! ]

[freedom_engineer]

Of course, let's go get it while I'm still thinking of what we can do here...

[Colin turns, and starts off towards his workshop.]

I'm going to guess they were probably political prisoners, but we couldn't find much very much of use in the Warden's office...

[freedom_engineer]

Some of each might not be a bad idea. The ones that can't really survive out on the Skyway, and some of the ones to watch over them.

I think we should probably have Zahi, Zayna, or Zulf make that offer, though...

[Just... don't underestimate them. One warrior can cause more than enough damage to mess anyone up, if underestimated.]

[freedom_engineer]

I think that anyone who can't stand Mikoto isn't worth knowing.

[Colin smiles, and reaches out to gently tussle Anna's hair. Bring your Firebug, Anna.]

[freedom_engineer]

I think if we offered to house some of the ones who are having the most trying time, and offer to let them have a guard of Ura choosing, that might not be a bad idea.

But yeah, I'm thinking long term here. This whole incident is going to hit us pretty hard, we're going to be losing a lot of our backup plan here to help the Ura. I want to get it built back up quickly once the Ura are out of danger. I don't need to mention that if we lose the monument for any reason, we're going to be in the same boat as the Ura...

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin nods in agreement with Zuko again.]

... Once we've put it to a vote, you wanna go with Zulf? You seem like you've got a pretty good idea of what we need...

You know, assuming we vote to help them.

[Cause really, is that even gonna be a question?]

[freedom_engineer]

Alucard's tried them. ... And no, they really aren't. Plus, they're sentient. And from what I'm observing, they've been treated pretty badly even before the calamity.

I'm saying that the stuff that's left alive has adapted, and is tougher than the Ura or us. A lot of our expeditions have ended in running back to the safety of the Bastion.

[freedom_engineer]

I can take the barge to the observatory, that's not going to be an issue. If I can get a few hands, we can do a harvest there and bring it back here. A few days of canning, and we'll have a healthy surplus of food.

[Colin smirks.]

There's plenty of time to learn, and... it's really important stuff. A lot of bad things have happened in this world. Knowing what not to say to a Ura or Cael may save your life. I'm still learning myself, too... Just... remember, there's no love lost between those two groups.

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin arches an eyebrow and he looks at Ibuki.]

Hydroponics, Ibuki. Hydroponies are a Trilarian birthday attraction.

[He sounds amused, and he gives her a nod.]

But yeah, I'm... going to need some help there. I could probably use Ippo's help too for some heavy lifting, it's not going to be easy...

[freedom_engineer]

Well, we've only just started discussing the matter. And from the sound of it, we all want to help. That's one of the important parts.

The other is simply doing it in a timely manner.