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Day 76 - 90: If you can't beat them, join them
For the first time in a while, things seem to be going really smoothly. This is usually a precursor to something horrific happening, but Randy Random appears to be placated for the time being.
Auzari has a bit of a silver tongue and has been dropping in on the prisoners a few times a day. This seems to be doing wonders, with no further attempted murders or breakouts. Having spent some time figuring out what makes them tick, Auzari reckons he can convince the prisoners to put aside past grievances and join the Guild.
WolfsGhost has also racked up quite a backlog of construction tasks, and sets to laying some roads between various areas of the base, and paving the internal corridors. One of the wind turbine batteries also exploded and needs patching up.
Given that we've had a field of hops for some time but nothing to actually do with them, Auzari sets to mining out a new area to act as a brewery. As he works, WolfsGhost installs a brewing station and some fermentation casks. Unfortunately, before this can be completed Auzari, Spectre and one of the prisoners are bedridden by a particularly nasty flu strain.
Between treating patients, Ramke has marked out and ploughed a new growing area for some smokeleaf. Between the brewery and the joints, it's hoped that the colonists will be able to blow off some steam and cheer up a little. Unfortunately this plan is significantly delayed by a nasty case of crop blight.
The fast growing disease spreads across all of the Courtyard's crops, and before long the entire harvest is destroyed. Both Ramke and WolfsGhost are forced to drop their other tasks in order to burn the tainted crops and replant the affected fields. Most seriously, this issue resulted in the complete destruction of a crop of medicinal herbs that were nearly ready for harvest.
Auzari's brush with flu is almost a fatal one, with Ramke only just managing to nurse him through it with our dwindling supplies of medicine. Once he's back on his feet he finishes up the brewery and gets back to negotiating with the prisoners. Spectre takes over as master brewer, and begins fermenting the hops. We should have our first batch of Gallic Beer within 5 days.
Before long, Auzari's succeeded in turning the most recently captured prisoner: a 54 year old woman called @Venkman . As she leaves the cell, she throws off her clothes and announces that she's a nudist. The others can deal with it or do one. She's also a capable animal tamer and goes to find Lythrilux for a catch-up on Project MONKEY MASH's progress. She'll also be able to give Auzari a hand with the mining jobs, which are starting to back up given his other responsibilities.
While all this is happening, Lythrilux has been working with the war monkeys. Unfortunately she's getting a little too attached to them and starts giving them names - including Calamity and Ulyana. This will probably cause trouble when it eventually comes to the point of unleashing them in battle. During one training session, a lone raider attempted to harass the monkeys. After chasing them away, the pirate instead settled for vandalising ONIKS' memorial. Lythrilux responded quickly and put them down with her shotgun, but takes two arrows for her troubles. While she's injured, Venkman takes over the monkey training.
After another foolish raiding party is shishkebabed on our traps, Venkman has an idea. Instead of dragging the corpses all the way to the river, why not feed them to the monkeys? The taste of human flesh might even put them in the right frame of mind for tearing asunder the flesh of our enemies! The others back away slowly and leave her to do what she wants. (un)fortunately(?) the monkeys don't seem too keen on this idea and continue grazing the grass instead.
Not long after, Auzari has another breakthrough and reconciles with @Skorak - the tribal who originally murdered ONIKS. Despite having shared barely a word, Spectre already considers Skorak to be a friend - the others are far warier of the pardoned killer. Despite his advanced asthma and missing foot, Skorak will make a useful researcher and craftsman.
Living accomodations are now getting a bit cramped. Auzari has been mining out some new bedrooms in between chatting to the last prisoner. Fortunately @Typrop agrees to sign on with the Salt Miners Guild without further hostilities.
While she's not a great shot, she's keenly interested in improving and has an almost innate understanding of animal behaviour. After a quick rummage in the storeroom, she's given a machine pistol and sent out as the colony's new duty hunter. It'll be good to have a steady source of meat again.
Now that there are no prisoners staying in ONIKS' old room, the lock is removed from the door. The three new recruits are asked to stay in their old beds on a temporary basis, just until their private rooms can be arranged. A little disgruntled at having to stay in a place associated with some fairly bad memories, they reluctantly agree.
In other news, the monkeys have been embroiled in a near constant orgy ever since Lythrilux gathered the newly tamed pack together near the Courtyard gates. This has already predictably resulted in a slew of simian pregnancies. The pack is now looking to be pretty much self-sustaining, so a hard veto has been placed on taming any further wild monkeys. If we bring in any more, we'll end up with some kind of planet of the apes.
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Day 91 - 105: Bedding In
While the colonists have some spare time, there is some discussion about what could be done to improve the base. It's decided that first of all, safety is a high priority.
WolfsGhost builds another internal partition to close off the entrance of the Courtyard, creating a defensive buffer after the first trap corridor. While he is doing this, Venkman and Auzari mine out a winding passage through the mountainside near the battery banks.
This passage is used to create a second trap corridor. It's also noted that there had been a number of power outages recently, where there hadn't been enough excess electricity generated to fully top up the battery banks. A third windmill is ordered to try and compensate for this. Skorak also cryptically mentions that he's working on a few ideas that may help with our power problems.
Typrop has also been proving her worth by heading out on hunting expeditions and assisting the animal tamers with combat-prepping the monkeys. Gallia is thankful for a plentiful supply of fresh meat again, which has been scarce ever since ONIKS' untimely death. Spectre is able to start cranking out some fine meals, lifting everyone's mood. You can only go so far with potatoes alone.
After the palisade is finished, WolfsGhost moves on to start work on a large order of furniture for the Grand Hall. Fortunately he's there at just the right time to try the very first batch of Gallic Beer. Ramke is loitering around as well, having some lunch. After breathing creepily down his collar for a minute or two, WolfsGhost snaps at her to go away and do something productive. Somewhat annoyed, she heads off to plant some rose gardens and internally vows to give him messy stitches next time he gets shot.
Venkman, Auzari and WolfsGhost then team up to begin work on a recreation room where the settlers will be able to hang out when their work is done. It takes a while, but eventually the area is excavated and prepared for use. So far the room contains a billiards table, a poker table and a chess set, all with comfy lounging armchairs. Spectre brought the beer in for storage, alongside a few of Gallia's newest recreational offers: smokeleaf joints.
WolfsGhost and Lythrilux try out the poker table over a couple of beers; there's a sneaking suspicion WolfsGhost may be cheating however. Once the rec room is officially opened, there's a long discussion about what life on the Rim really means. It's eventually decided that life means more than mere survival, and time should be set aside to appreciate the finer things. Each colonist will now reserve the time between 20:00 and 22:00 for leisure and relaxation.
Outside, Venkman begins cackling wildly. They're ready! The monkeys are finally ready for war! Unfortunately before this theory can be put to the test, a plague rips through the pack. It is only through the heroic efforts of our doctors-slash-vets Ramke and Typrop that none of the poor creatures are left dead. Unfortunately, while the monkeys were incapacitated, a pair of cassowaries go bonkers and attempt to attack the colony.
Not being able to get through the walls, they settle instead for brutalising the sick monkeys. In the ensuring spat, one of the monkeys has its right eye torn out, and another loses a toe. Wasting no time at all, Typrop dashes to their rescue and promptly machine-guns the barbaric birds to death. Typrop determines that the peace was never an option: the remaining cassowaries in the area must go.
Once the monkeys are rested and healed up, she sets off on a punitive expedition with the pack in tow. Over the course of the day, all the remaining cassowaries are exterminated, falling either to a hail of bullets or a cloud or clawing paws. It seems the monkeys do, indeed, have a taste for blood.
The others have noticed that WolfsGhost seems... frustrated with his construction jobs, and appears to be attempting to inject a little artistic meaning in order to leven the mundanity of his day. The results are, to put it lightly, interesting. A number of the chairs in the Great Hall have received unusual engravings by his hand.
Things have been going well. Plans are made to start digging out a hospital over the next couple of weeks. Specter and Skorak have also been having some hushed conversations about smelting and forging techniques. One evening, Spectre puts the theory to the test locks himself inside the utility room until the early hours of the morning. After much clanging and swearing, he emerges with a definite upgrade for his dagger - a steel longsword.
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Day 106 - 120: Trial by Fire
The sun rises with the sound of gunfire: Typrop is out with a hunting rifle she 'acquisitioned' from WolfsGhost and is finalising the Great Cassowary Purge. The monkeys have been tagging along while she works, and appreciate the smell of cassowary blood. Once the last of the birds have been cut down and hauled back to the fridge, Typrop decides to get a bit ambitious: rhino meat. This experiment is only partially successful. Instead of a clean shot and kill, her target is merely enraged and charges.
Typrop dodges the furious beast's attempts to gore her, while the monkeys swarm in as a shrieking storm of teeth and claws. The fight is bloody - disturbingly so - as the frenzied chimps tear strips off the unfortunate ungulate. The monkey Konstantine is killed immediately after the rhino's horn tears out his throat, sending his head bouncing away like a discarded ball. Ceurvo also suffers a grievous injury after being gored, with one of her arms being torn off altogether.
Gross.
With Ceurvo horribly injured, Typrop leaves the rhino to bleed out and dashes home with the monkey in her arms. Ramke is there to meet her, and stitches the wounds shut while glowering at Typrop for getting the monkeys hurt. In the meantime, Auzari has been working on excavating the proposed hospital area, as well as attached living accomodations for both Ramke and Typrop as Gallia's most capable doctors. Neither seem particularly keen about the idea of sharing the facilities. The plan is to have easily cleaned steel tiling, dedicated hospital beds and a coolroom for the storage of drugs and medicine.
Attracted to the colony by the sound of voices, a boomalope also self-tames. These are bizarre, genetically engineered creatures that were imported during terraforming. They naturally generate chemfuel, a highly flammable biodiesel that can be used for a number of purposes. This fluid is somewhat disgustingly milked from large pustules that cover their bodies. One large problem with creatures that are full of explosive liquid is their habit of detonating upon death. It's decided that the boomalope can stay, but... outside the base, and away from the monkeys.
Skorak also reveals the big project he's been working on: harnessing geothermal power to completely trivialise the community's power needs. There is an active vent inside the sheltered animal roaming area. WolfsGhost runs a long power conduit up to the chokepoint wall in preparation for the power station's construction. With this positive news, the mood is lifted even higher by a malfunctioning psytallite in orbit. A misfiring psychic amplifier provides a general sensation of elation for a few days, calming nerves and raising spirits.
More raiders attack a short while later. The colonists are initially unphased, expecting them to splatter against the walls like a turd in the wind. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Instead they choose to set ONIKS' memorial on fire with molotov cocktails. The colonists move to chase them off, but the monument is destroyed before the area can be secured. More severely, it emerges that this vandalism was a luring attack, with two further waves of pirates springing their attacks while the colonists are exposed. Typrop blasts a whistle and the monkeys charge into battle, hoping for their first taste of human flesh.
Spectre and Auzari are caught in the open while chasing off this first wave, and are incapacitated by a number of gunshots and stab wounds. Sensing that they weren't going to achieve anything better, the surviving raiders grab the pair and make a break for the wilderness. The monkeys are having none of this, and go tearing after the kidnappers. With monkeys slowing them down and tearing at their legs, the others catch up and mow them down with gunfire.
During the mopping up stage, the remaining raiders split up to try and avoid the furious colonists. Unfortunately, a stray bullet catches a wild boomalope. While this does explode one of the fleeing raiders, it also sets even more of the forest on fire. Venkman receives several nasty burns, while the remaining colonists attempt to fight the fire and rescue their downed comrades. Spectre and Auzari get to be the first people to test out the in-progress hospital - fortunately both are fine, with neither suffering any permanent or long term damage.
During this chaos, a further two monkeys have been killed - including one Venkman had adopted as a personal pet. She is understandably distraught by this, and leaves to spend some time along in her room after Ramke had seen to her burns. While the other colonists are tending to injuries or rebuilding damaged walls, two further raids rock up. It falls to Lyth to single handedly hold the breach as the only person in the area with a gun.
Assistance comes from an unexpected quarter however. An enraged manhunter bull elephant had been rampaging towards the base to try and murder all the colonists. Not being picky about which humans it killed, precisely, it instead tore into the raiders' back line.
Lythrilux and the monkeys weren't going to look a gift-elephant in the tusks and booked it back inside the Courtyard, leaving the attackers to settle their differences in private. After the raiders had been mulched down into a fine paste, the elephant barrelled into the trap corridor and was summarily executed by numerous spiked barbs. The ensuing BBQ was delicious.
With the hospital nearing completion, some increasingly terse words have been shared by Ramke and Typrop. Ramke called her an up-jumped vet who shouldn't be looking after humans, while Typrop said some uncharitably cruel things about Ramke's appearance and bedside manner. This argument was the last straw, and the two medics threw down in a most undignified brawl.
Call an ambulance... But not for m- ouch!
Skorak also makes a surprise announcement. Given all the trouble we'd been having with raiders (he says with no sense of selfawareness whatsoever), he'd feel more comfortable if we could produce our own guns. On that basis, he'd shelved his geothermal project and thrown together some schematics for a machining bench that could produce some basic firearms, explosives and ammunition. WolfsGhost sets to installing it in the utility room, while Spectre looks over the plans for smoke launchers and shotguns.
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Alright, time for a risky, self-esteem damaging experiment! I've put together a video tour of Gallia with a little bit of commentary. It's... not exactly high production value.
The actual uploading and exporting of this took a lot longer than I'd anticipated, so I'm posting this in lieu of days 121 - 135. If anyone does want to see some videos instead of posts, I might do some future recordings, aiming to keep them between 5 - 10 minutes long. If people don't want videos, I suppose that saves me a lot of work.