Icerust - Update 2
Long Winter Y100.M3: America Crying
Greylaw
In Thunderbolt, the ever-focused Alfa-Alfa didn’t want to distract the lawmen and -women from the important task of preparing the living quarters for the new joiners of their fight club. As a result, only faction of the gang’s time was spent hunting and salvaging, while the scrap chowder and protein pool started to pay for themselves.
(Thunderbolt: +22 Grub, +111 Junk, -8 Plush)
Alfa-Alfa’s challenge: Outlaws and losers (Completed)
Under FoFo’s supervision, the gang finished setting up its violent and manipulative initiation tradition, building a shantytown for the newly admitted “snowflakes.” (Investment: Labor 60/60, Expertise: 4/4, Finesse: 1/1, Award: +1d10 Proles, +1d2 Junk (5% chance/turn))
Alfa-Alfa’s challenge: Games of Greylaw
Alfa-Alfa’s next plan was continuation of the previous one. Seeing that his cutthroats were fuming with tension and frustration over months of winter chill and inactivity, he decided that Greylaw needed a valve to let out the excess steam. That valve became the first Game of Greylaw, a brutal, but “friendly” (meaning less-than-lethal, when possible) competition, in which the various houses - the Foxtrots, the Bravos, and others - would be able to compete for the entertainment of the entire Thunderbolt. As the first game is still being planned, but the excitement generated by the very rumor of it showed something unusual: apparently, the luxurious excesses of privileged living are not necessarily measured in edibles, wearables, or (for Alfa-Alfa and the like) readables. Looking at how much the leaders of Greylaw fought for the VIP seats in the yet-unannounced tournament, Alfa-Alfa understood that entertainment itself is just as much a source of plush as a moonshine bottle or a chrome necklace. Needless to say, the new tradition is dependent on the creative energy of the gang’s leaders as well as on the sheer labor needed to set up the new arena. (Investment: Labor 0/100, Expertise: 4/4, Finesse: 4/4, Award: +1d4 Plush (10% chance/turn))
The Wobblies
Very little salvaging and construction took place in Ravenswood Commune, because the expansion of the Hitchhikers’ quarters took all of the time, interrupted by more (yes, more!) committee sessions. However, the committee did request that some of the less useful scrap (mostly, plastic artifacts that have survived 100 years of collapse) get converted into the hygene products for the upper classes in the ultimate classless society of Icerust.
(Ravenswood Commune: -158 Grub, +20 Junk, -2 Plush)
Grand Foreman’s challenge: Plight of the proletariat (Completed)
The Hitchhikers’ quarters were constructed under the bridge of the elevated train station as a permanent refugee camp with a “Workers’ Consciousness” educational booth. Some of the miraculously surviving heat lamps used by the ancient inhabitants of Chicagoland to warm themselves during the Age of Autumn were dragged from the station and readjusted to give the Hitchhikers some warmth while they wait for their admission papers. With it, the project was concluded and… the next one began.
(Investment: Labor 60/60, Expertise: 3/3, Finesse: 2/2, Award: +1d30 Proles (10% chance/turn))
Grand Foreman’s challenge: Ray funnel
The Hitchhikers’ quarters were still being outfitted, when the committee under Chandra Gardener started discussing yet another problem. Raven’s Wood is a desolate ruinscape, evaded by wild animals and with arid, permafrozen soil. A heatcatcher could fix the problem to a degree, but the tiny commune struggles to find the working hands to complete the ambitious solar heater in a short term. So, Grand Foreman turned to her industrious engineers to solve the problem. A proposition of making a “smaller, smarter heatcatcher” was met with laughter, but an unusual alternative was found. One of the engineers suggest using a massive arrangement of reflective materials to focus heat rays in the vicinity of Ravenswood Commune, thawing a patchwork of soil and, possibly, attracting animals by its warmth. Not as strong in power generation as a regular heatcatcher, this device (named “ray funnel”)would be also very demanding to the amount and quality of materials. However, it may prove to be less labor-intensive to put together, as it wouldn’t require any heavy lifting and machinery installation. What it does require is mathematical precision and well-calculated measurements, though - something the committee members would be happy to provide. Now, the actual blueprints need to be drawn and peer-reviewed, before seeing what the new installation is capable of.
(Investment: Expertise: 21/40, Finesse: 2/5, Award: new structure available only to The Wobblies in the Building list)
Mommaz Boyz
Mommaz Boyz were busy hunting wild animals lost in the rainbow-colored fog of the Five Seasons, making sure to leave some occasional game bleeding out in the snow, attracting new kids for Grandma, later escorted (willingly or not) to The Crib. Their search for metal scrap was much less successful, but the recycling facilities at home helped to compensate for the meager takings. Meanwhile, at home Grandma Ultraviolet had a bad trip on Monkey Powder and got into a fight with a much respected Uncle K-9 (which cost her a pinkie - not her pinkie, of course). Uncle K-9’s fellow mechies saved him from the old harpy’s anger, but in her frustration she ended up kicking them back into the Binkie Slums.
(The Crib:+125 Grub, +285 Junk, +5 Guzz, -2 Plush, +98 Prole, -3 Jacks)
Grandma’s challenge: Lost grandkids
For now, the game baiting of refugees works well enough for Mommaz Boyz, and The Crib is gaining quite a reputation as a dysfunctional, but well-to-do settlement. So, the question of random (unbaited) lost grandkids has been shelved for now.
(Investment: Labor 0/60, Expertise: 2/2, Finesse: 0/1, Award: +1d10 Proles, +1d3 Junk (5% chance/turn))
Ogayori Clan
Well-provisioned and smoothly run, the settlement of Ryūgū-jō saw another construction effort, as a scrap chowder and waste kitchen were built, recycling the village’s metal scrap and food waste into the precious junk and guzz. Additional, salvaging runs were made around the Utsukushī Shima in search of salvageable materials and to a half-sunk trawler stuck in the ice by the shore, where gasoline was acquired.
(Ryūgū-jō: -413 Grub, +147 Junk, +380 Guzz, -4 Plush, +1 Waste kitchen, +1 Scrap chowder)
Clan Head’s challenge: Baka gaijin (Completed)
The tradition of assimilating all accepted newcomers was successfully introduced into the Ogayori Clan, based on a formal code of honor based on the ancient Japanese traditions. Additionally, a humble living quarter was built near the Yacht Club ruins.
(Investment: Labor 60/60, Expertise: 1/1, Finesse: 2/2, Award: +1d10 Proles (10% chance/turn))
Clan Head’s challenge: Red Beach memorial
The Clan Wars won by Ogayori Denji in the past have left quite a trace not only in him, but also in his clanmates’ memory. Many of his combat comrades keep revisiting the place of the bloodiest battle that bound them together: the Battle of the Red Beach. Some of them started to propose turning that location into a meditation garden (featuring, perhaps, some frost-resistant dwarf trees among the polished rocks and ice). There, the Clan’s weary warriors or overworked servants would be able to regain some sanity and sense of purpose through prayer and meditation. Needless to say, this is not the most pragmatic construction, but the spiritual peace it could grant to the Ogayori people might grant them as much joy as a precious bottle of sake or an ornamented outfit.
(Investment: Labor 0/100, Expertise: 0/2, Finesse: 0/6, Award: +1d2 Plush (15% chance/turn))
Monolith of Sarkic
The Monolith continued expanding its Cathedral, this time by adding two additional protein pools and a proper food conservation facility in the back of the mill’s ruins. This only cemented The Cathedral’s reputation as an eerie, but attractive place to live, especially as the future hunting bounties promise to be better preserved. In the meantime, the social stratification takes its toll on the cult’s mechanics and craftsmen, one of which quickly climbed the Karcist hierarchy for his development of a fearsome technical vehicle named “Evangelist,” based on powerful old-world urban SUVs, with a crude autocannon and Gatling gun installation and two trigger-happy autoriflemen in the back. Meanwhile, his less lucky colleague was given a boot down to the Half-believers’ quarters, after a rumor of his skipped prayers spread out.
(The Cathedral: -108 Grub, -300 Junk, -40 Guzz, -8 Plush, +1 Proles, -2 Junk, +1 Clout, +2 Protein pools, +1 Food sizzler)
(Monolith of Sarkic: +new Design (“Evangelist” Multipurpose Utility Vehicle))
Grand Karcist’s challenge: Heathens at our doorstep
The living quarters for the initiates of the Karcist faith have been planned, but no labor could be spared on their completion
(Investment: Labor 0/180, Expertise: 1/1, Finesse: 0/2, Award: +3d10 Proles (10% chance/turn))
Mid-Apocalypse Chaos Carnival
There was a boom of activity in Shelby Carnarium, as two more automated food- and metal-producing facilities (crude as they were) were built. Their chief engineer gained enough respect among the trouppe to become the Big Top Master, a position almost equal to Ringmaster Vanessa herself.
(Shelby Carnarium: -83 Grub, -224 Junk, -30 Guzz, -7 Plush, -1 Jack, +1 Clout, +1 Protein Pool, +1 Scrap chowder)
Ringmaster’s challenge: Carnival visitors
The construction of Chaos Clown Confections was completed this month, and the booths’ contents keep getting regularly restocked. The work is ongoing over the Visitor Alley (a temporary housing space in the carnival grounds), and the Chaos Carnival’s programme is yet to be made up.
(Investment: Labor 40/60, Expertise: 1/1, Finesse: 0/2, Award: +1d10 Proles (10% chance/turn))
Order Implacable
Located in an area of Old Milwaukee that was buried by huge snow slopes for over a century, Hammerhill proves to be a rich area with multiple dense sources of buried scrap metal and many hunting and fishing options. As every scrap run or hunt brings plentiful takings, it was easy for Sir Ducati to expand the settlement’s “light industry” through addition of another protein pool and additionally finding a way of turning rat intestines into gourmet sausages, Old Milwaukee style. (Hammertown: -12 Grub, +600 Junk, -10 Guzz, -3 Plush, -1 Jack, +1 Clout, +1 Protein Pool)
Grand Master’s challenge: The Poor Fellows of Hammertown (Completed)
The Poor Fellows’ colony of Hammertown was already well known among the lonesome survivors that stalked the Old Milwaukee wasteland, but few people would stay there for longer than it took to warm their bones and fill their bellies. However, recently Sir Ducati was joined in his Spartan retreat by one Bishop Lamborghini, a well-read man of lofty words (a trait that stood out compared to the Grand Master’s oath of silence, to say the least). With Bishop Lamborghini’s help, the first book of prayers was written, featuring fatalistic and yet hopeful passages about the “world that never weeps.” This trule helped to keep the new arrivals in Hammertown as true initiated Implacables.
(Investment: Labor 120/120, Expertise: 2/2, Finesse: 1/1, Award: +2d20 Proles (5% chance/turn))
Grand Master’s challenge: Fast and faster
Sir Ducati is not a man (or a woman?) of many words. If anything, she (or he?) is a person of barely any words. Some members of Order Implacable start wondering what their faith actually preaches, besides asceticism and silence. Others take it into their own hands to define their beliefs. A few true-believers started regularly fasting, consuming only enough food and water they need to survive their daily workload. This impressed Bishop Lamborghini, who suggests that maybe this could be another valuable tradition to start. If periodic fasting becomes a societal norm in Hammertown, perhaps, some extra food could be preserved for a darker day. Now, this raw idea may require some clarifications in order not to hurt the Order in the long run (and, in fact, some propose its direct opposite, with feasts of plenty), but it’s worth considering. (Investment: ??? Award: a chance of a positive event occurring every turn)
Restless Spirits
Protein pools and scrap chowders, as far as the eye can see - this will one day be written in history books about the early days of Icerust warlord states. The Restless Spirits were not an exception to that economic necessity, as Autos Bastille saw an algae-based protein pool and a metal recycling facility built. Dame Clara Eden also dispatched her brutes to hunt occasional wild dogs and snow rabbits across the desolate ruins of Sagnasty, picking up some metal scrap along the way. She also organized a foodfest (with Clara’s own favorite algae soup!) in Autos Bastille, which attracted some refugees from across the ruinscape. (Autos Bastille:-338 Grub, -150 Junk, -30 Guzz, -2 Plush, +16 Proles, +1 Protein Pool, +1 Scrap chowder)
Dame’s challenge: Spiritless strangers
Unfortunately for Dame Clara, the foodfest could only work as a one-off attraction for the refugees of Icerust. That is, unless such attractions become commonplace and fairly regular. That eventually was accepted as the Restless Spirits’ refugee acceptance tradition: offer warm food in soup kitchens, but let the newcomers figure their own accommodations and lifestyle. This promises to be a very cheap tradition to set up, although it doesn’t guarantee the same constant flow of newcomers or their smooth integration. (Investment: Labor 0/60, Expertise: 0/1, Finesse: 0/1, Award: +1d10 Proles (5% chance/turn))
Mikeland
Who never was afraid to be a maverick? Mike the Great never was. While the most of Icerust invested its meager resources into disgustingly-smelling superfood production and noisy metal recycling, Mikeland went head-on into entertainment. Not one, but two taverns were built in Popsicle Junction, with blackjack and less-than-frigid guys and girls. Having tested each of these facilities in person, Mike named the smilo joints “Mike’s Favorite” and “The Other One.” Excited about the business opportunities opening to him, he also declared a massive feast - an event that attracted dozens of refugees from Singing Ice and its environs. Needless to say, after eating the King’s food, the newcomers were presented with a bill, which they’re expected to pay through diligent labor in the upcoming few generations. (Popsicle Junction: -646 Grub, -200 Junk, -100 Guzz, -9 Plush, +100 Proles, +2 Smilo joints)
King’s challenge: Envious freebooters
The thrilling experience of luring refugees into indentured servitude gave Mike a great idea. Quoting an ancient loremaster Bill the Nigh, Mike proposed to welcome all newcomers with a warm meal (or two, or three), followed by a contract of indenture. With how desperate and illiterate the wandering survivors usually are, it doesn’t seem like a hard trick to pull, as long as Mikeland remains a prosperous realm. Of course, then you have a problem of serfs hating their master, but that’s just makes them selfish ingrates, meaning they deserve everything they get. (Investment: Labor 0/60, Expertise: 5/6, Finesse: 1/1, Award: +1d30 Proles (5% chance/turn))
The Republic of Sinclair
The Republic of Sinclair continued expanding its cricket-based food industry, while its game hunters and salvagers kept harvesting food and junk from across central Old Cleveland. Stern and pragmatic, Captain-Defender Eugenia opposed any proposals for expansion of the Republican car park, while so many mouths were yet unfed.
(Sinclair: -112 Grub, +50 Junk, -10 Guzz, -4 Plush, +1 Protein Pool)
Captain-Defender’s challenge: Arriving freedmen (Completed)
Speaking of the unfed mouths, Eugenia St. Clair and her lieutenants finished expanding the massive living quarters for the newly arrived immigrants in a rebuilt ruin of a Buddhist pagoda and a three-story Cantonese-style building on a corner of no longer existing streets. With it, the Republic set to work the most humanitarian welfare program in the least humanitarian part of the planet. (Investment: Labor 180/180, Expertise: 2/2, Finesse: 2/2, Award: +3d20 Proles (10% chance/turn))
Captain-Defender’s challenge: Justice and peace
Sinclair is a kind, welcoming refuge for the destitute and freedom-loving. However, some of the new arrivals, as desperate as they are, are recognized by the Sinclarians to be small-time raiders, slave catchers, and other similar lowlifes. Sure, living in Icerust has scarred everyone and made them accustomed to death and killing, but some people cross even that boundary. Even if they never held positions of authority in their gangs, they are deemed beyond the point of redemption by many. Yet, others point out that in Sinclair everyone has a chance to change for the better - after all, the Republic’s motto hints that there’s still work for self-improvement until the very grave. What justice should such newcomers be granted? (Investment: ??? Award: a chance of a positive event occurring every turn)
The Motors Parliament
After months of monotone labor aimed at merely surviving the raging winter, The Motorts Parliament has finally issued a decree (read out loud to a folk hip-hop accompaniment): bring the Patrol Squads back on the roads. Reinvigorated mechanics rushed to the back section of the Parliamentary Garage to execute the order in the most direct manner. A speedy roadster was put together, with a sleek frame of an American muscle car and a chassis of an autobahn roadster, driven by a light, but furious “Valkyrie” engine. As the rookie seat was replaced with a light mortar and its operator (part of the roof had to be sacrificed for the purpose of ergonomics), the red-and-white patrol car was born, named “L'Amérique Pleure” (America Crying). Soon, the highways of Ontario wasteland will hear the roar of the MPs’ engines once again.
(The Parliamentary Garage: -53 Grub, -57 Junk, -85 Guzz, -3 Plush, -2 Proles)
(The Motors Parliament: +new Design (“L'Amérique Pleure” Patrol Car), +1 “L'Amérique Pleure” Patrol Car)
PM’s challenge: Garage visitors
PM herself continued welcoming refugees in The Parliamentary Garage. Still lacking the practicality of many other emerging factions, PM’s plan had one unquestionable strength: the spirit boost the view and the roar of the new muscle car provided to the garage visitors. (Investment: Labor 72/120, Expertise: 1/1, Finesse: 0/1, Award: +2d10 Proles (5% chance/turn))
The Addlebrained Alcoholics
One day, Evie Jiang woke up to a realization that her struggling enterprise was running out of junk. Some say, it was just a bad hangover, but nobody could argue with the Top Brewer. Less than a month later, a scrap chowder was built and set working in an abandoned warehouse next to the main brewery. In the meantime, the majority of the Addlebrained Alcoholics kept salvaging Alcoland for any food - mostly hunting owls and snow mice, as the surrounding ruins prove to be rather poor in wildlife.
(Rotten Apple: -97 Grub, -140 Junk, -20 Guzz, -2 Plush, +1 Scrap chowder)
Top Brewer’s challenge: Thirsty throats (Completed)
Evie Jiang’s brainchild, the refugee apprenticeship program was finally set running, as a new living quarter was set up for them out of old world’s plastic waste and cardboard. Soon, news spread through Old Cleveland that Rotten Apple was the place where even the last prole could get drunk one day - if not from drinking the precious moonshine, then at least from breathing the brewery’s air. (Investment: Labor 60/60, Expertise: 4/4, Finesse: 1/1, Award: +1d10 Proles, +1d2 Plush (5% chance/turn))
Top Brewer’s challenge: Junk for booze
Alcoland is notoriously poor when it comes to the metal scrap. Once, it’s rumored, it attracted marauders because of the massive train park nearby, but since then all train cars have been cannibalized for spare parts or rolled elsewhere as mobile homes, and after that the greedy salvagers plucked away even the railway itself. With the remaining scrap of that part of Old Cleveland concentrated in Rotten Apple itself, the Addlebrained Alcoholics are notoriously strained when it comes to the bone and muscle of any car or construction: the junk. Some advisers of the Top Brewer say that discovering another Oz-free location and founding a colony there would be a good long-term solution. Others propose building local infrastructure for melting all minor scrap into new parts and pieces. But a short-term solution is still a glaring question mark. Somebody has suggested that, maybe, the Addlebrained Alcoholics should open their moonshine shop to anyone who comes their way, exchanging moonshine for scrap. This is somewhat dangerous, as it may increase the notoriety of Rotten Apple and expose it to a Highwaymen’s raid. On the other hand, maybe it’s safer to be the Highwaymen’s bartender, after all. What should we do now, before the brewery’s resources are ready for such an expansion? (Investment: ??? Award: a chance of a positive event occurring every turn)
Ol' Bunger's Bastards
Ol’ Bunger and his Bastards spent the month looking for that one favorite boot he lost. He refused to speak to anyone until the boot is brought back, and promised to punish anyone who does anything until that essential mission is fulfilled.
Old Man’s challenge: Them youffs
Ol’ Bunger’s reputation is well known. Well, not particularly, but he’s been around for long enough, so now every youth knows this or that about him, or, at least, they think they do. Anywho. The point is, many of them youffs come to our Kitchen and ask for some snacks, and they’re willing to work for them. Maybe they should be let in? After all, you’ve gotta start with a Max before you hit an Ol’ Bunger, right? With some labor, expertise, or finesse investment, perhaps, we could set up a good tradition that will benefit us in the future. (Investment: ??? Award: a chance of a positive event occurring every turn)
GM's notes:
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@Decamper - Without your orders, your faction will start starving next turn.
- The map doesn't really require an update, so I won't spend time on it. Please refer to the top post of this thread.
- The stats are up to date.
- The orders are due by next Friday.
