Let's Cover the Lands in Progress: Gold Release Community Colony

You may as well take your turn, @Unforked. Better to have more time than less to prepare a write-up.

 

Oh okay, I thought you switched with Cthulhu_Awaits and were up next.

 

Nope! Them's the rules. I didn't have the gumption to pull myself out of food coma.

 

Something important for you: there a lot of clearing orders paused to get priority to buildings and flattening. And there is an important flattening (and I'll edit an image here in about an hour) in which I planned to put the new mine: if built correctly, it will output both malachite and haematite.

 

Is that a fact, can you build a mine covering a double output ?

 

I've done it multiple times.

 

Nice hint - thanks !!

 

@Unforked I forgot something crucial: don't chop down trees, since we have a Logging Agreement with the Novorus Imperya! I hope they didn't get mad at you...

 

FROM THE PERSONAL NOTES OF
BRONZESTEAMINGPISTONWHISTLINGONPROGRESS VAN COGLITTHON ALEXANDER III
​

I received the Assignment Note from the Colonial Ministry: I’ll go, once again, back to the Frontier. It may be sound strange, but it comes as breath of fresh air, after a hectic period of bureaucratic warfare alongside the Empire. The Novorus Imperya lately enacted an aggressive expansion towards neutral Empire-aligned countries, in an attempt to secure some important commercial junction to exploit in his favour. We had, thus to counter this rush, while also trying to avoid the always-looming over threat of an all-out war against the Imperya. So, we had to provide supplies, and organize the war-efforts of those neutral countries... sometimes I think the Empire should just leave those imbeciles to the Imperya: at least we won’t have to deal with them anymore!

[...]

“Now that the mighty Clockworkians are supporting us, we can finally put my victorious plan in action! Now that we have some air support, we will secretly parachute a thousand elephant units behind the enemy lines, after that we will launch an offensive on the eastern side of the front, where they don’t expect us, thus breaking through their lines all along the mountain ridges. After breaking the front we will operate a pincer movement with our elephants and crush their invasion force!”

“His Majesty, I’m sorry, but this strategy won’t be possible, because…”

“Ah, yeas, you may be right… One thousand elephants might not be enough to utterly crush those pesky Novorussians! We should prepare twenty-thousands of elephants!”

“His Majesty, parachuting those elephants won’t be of any use, unless you plan to bombard the enemy with them!”

“Oh, what a brilliant idea, my trusty advisor! We should deploy them directly on the enemy! A brilliant assault force directly in midst of the enemy lines! We should equip them why grenades and heavy armour! You Clockworkians are surely some genius tactician and brave soldiers! My trusty advisor, let me call you “friend”! The Powerful Indrashtva sent you! The gods have not forsaken us!”

[...]​

In this tense climate, I just hope to get on their good side, thanks to the operating Foreign Office if the colony, so they won’t think of getting a payback on the Empire through a small skirmish at the Frontier… At least, not on the same colony I’m managing…

The Colonial Ministry seems to have lessen their grip on my previous “affair”, since, from what I’ve heard in the corridors, that same colony continues to suffer human losses, by the most strange and unspeakable menaces… And for this same reason, the Other Ministry got a hold of my assignment schedule and quickly sent me back to that colony. The last reports they received seem to have caught their “keen” interest. Along with the usual Assignment Note, I found a postcard, with a rough sketch of a strange bulbous root-like thing, with stumps protruding from the centre mass.

“Provide us with as many as you can. - said the note on the other side of the card – This matter has to be kept confidential: we will send “traders” to pack them up.
​

Enjoy the Benefits”​

The card disappears in purple dust on my same hands. As usual. They like to be theatrical in what they do. I never thought that it was the kind of Ministry to take interest in agriculture. From the sketch, that thing seems to be an innocuous root of some sort. It probably isn’t even edible.

Yet, it somehow leaves me an unsettling feeling about the matter.


DAY 47

After a long journey in a stormy weather, I finally arrive at the colony. A vision of a battlefield unravels in front of my eyes… Unburied corpses, reduced to skeletons. Corpses brought to the graveyard, but left unburied. Traces of blood and craters of explosions. Those strange roots are everywhere, and they are far bigger than what I was expecting! And the colonists seem to avoid them as much as possible; they seem to fear them. Some of those roots are even eerily glowing… I definitely don’t like this matter, and I already think it’ll be a good thing to get rid of those things as soon as possible.

Spoiler: My arrival

Spoiler: Unburied bodies

I’m examining the mess of papers and reports that the Bureaucratic Office is right now: recent reports are properly organized, but there is a mess of papers in an angle of the Office that I still have to sort out, before getting to work.


Things are far worse than I could ever image: the recent reports, left by the Bureaucrat that managed the colony right before me, describe this “roots” as something more like “spores”. This… “things” are what is left behind by an alien menace that fell from sky: the so-called “Selenials”. A name coined by the head of our current research group, the scientist Pathena Robinhooke. These “Selenials” attacked the colony in the last few days, they can come both as hungry, luminescent slug-like creatures or as flying glowing orbs. Those same slugs have, apparently, destroyed our food supply, while growing in a monstrous plant-like deformed creature. The dread and horror seep through the writings as I read them. The Holy Cog assisted us and, luckily, we didn’t lose any valuable colonists, but we have been left on the verge of starvation.

An horrifying enemy. The ever-hungry menace from beyond. I cannot fathom what That Ministry wants to do with these dead (or “dormant” as Robinhooke suggests) “spores”. I immediately order a clean-up of the colony, corpses to be buried, craters to be filled, blood and debris to be cleaned. During the clean-up I will examine the older reports to try and sort them out.



Apparently, it’s a lost cause: there is a knot of events, dates and reports that I can’t disentangle! What the Shiny Cog happened! I don’t know what happened to my predecessors at that time, but I can suggest to limit the Laudanum intake…

With much to my annoyance, I noticed that, in spite of my frequent orders and threatening, many bodies do not get buried. Instead, there seems to be someone how repeatedly uncover the bodies to "enjoy the vision of death and decay" ... I hope things won't get out of control...




While examining these reports, I found some documents for a pair of change in name? Kind of strange, but apparently this forms are regular, signed but never officially applied. And with these it comes the establishment of our own “Militia Grades”, apparently? I find it a bit confusing, but it’s signed Bureaucratic forms and papers; and I’ll abide by them.

The colony grew so much from my previous trip, that I can hardly recognize it. People are missing, and the graveyard I created is now full…

Progress was done, but not enough. We still need some beds, for instance! And furniture to be made! Let’s get some orders in place.

Spoiler: vision of progress

We finally have a Naturalist Office. But still not a mine that can give some metal ores? I sincerely thought I wouldn’t find the same old mine I built on my first assignment! I’ll immediately issue the Naturalist Office to search for possible ore deposits nearby!

Meanwhile, in the prospect of foreign relationships, we need to get our back covered by the Empire. After that we will try to talk with the Imperya.

Spoiler: F.O.

We now have two kitchens, three ovens each. I can’t understand why the other Bureaucrats don’t like my taste for spices and spice-racks… A bunch of tasteless people, I assume… ugh! Well, anyway, I have to notice that Steelgrass’s work crew is a full 5 people crew. With three ovens. Two people stuck doing nothing… let’s re-assign some people: there will be only as much people as there are ovens or modules to operate, and with a steady request of a full stockpile of food. For both kitchens.

 

I just went to take a nice sip of Chicha, only to find out that there is no booze available… No booze!?!?! The Cog’s Jam is this?? Alcohol is a primary need on the Frontier!! How can you keep good morale and oiled cogs in their mind?! On the Frontier!! This is madness! Assured madness and revolts!! Communism!! Dry throats!! Sobriety! I need to provide a steady supply of alcohol to the public house. Right now!



During my inspecting patrol around the colony I came across a corpse. A fishy, horrible, inhuman corpse. Those monsters are still around, and as aggressive as ever! I will have to take our military problems head on!



Just as I was inspecting the traces of previous attacks on the colony, the “fish-men” decided to attack us. “They are coming! Loyal subject of the Queen and Cog, fear not! We shall nurture the earth with their corpses!” (and keep the Other Ministry content with their dissection…)

“Go forth my brave colonists, those creatures shall be made into pieces!”

Spoiler: To Arms!

Night 47

Someone before me had the Horrible idea to persuade a fishy personality into indulging into delusional dreams… better keep an eye on this strange fellow. And with that he just fell into madness. This is just great! This is what you get with no Booze!

​

Finally, I get the news of the arrival of a trade mission! A commercial Stahlmarkian convoy is approaching the colony. Is That Ministry working with the mad scientists of Stahlmark?

Spoiler: Shady Traders

DAY 48

During my daily duties around the colony, I found a fishy corpse in the Chapel. Strange bloody rituals are performed in the colony… When I ask the vicar Goldencowl about it, and he just puts up an act of surprise and arranges some excuses with a pair of nearby soldiers. The current doctrine of the colony seems to be… quite peculiar in its teachings and rituals. I’ll let it go, since it seems to comfort and keep a good morale in our troops.

Spoiler: Rituals

The “traders” have finally arrived at the colony. I gave them all the spores, except for two, one for each kind, under the heavy requests of Professor Plumb (she threaten to write a report to the Colonial Ministry, and have better keep this matter secret, for now).



The morale of the colony is always on brink of collapsing: two of our colonists, Everett Chainbreaker and Cecil Pinne have a nervous breakdown. Such is frailty of human mind…

The prisoner crew, who was working with the colony when I arrived, is leaving. We will miss their help, but the colonists already feel more safe, to have those criminal leave our rightful and proper colony.

Our search for metal deposits starts to bear some fruits: we found a Malachite deposit, a good source for copper.

​

A report from the Foreign Office claims that we have achieved a good standing with the Empire, and they are considering to be a good moment to start some work with the Imperya. And I agreed with them.

 

With the resources we obtained from the Stahlmarkian “traders” we can now put the Metalworks into a new project: the upgrade of our current weaponry. The Blunderbuss are the best weapons we can currently employ, and we, luckily have some spare munitions for them. Hip, hip hooray! The increased range and damage will help us in keeping the Eldritch horrors that infest the Frontier at bay.




Tea time

Finally, the Stahlmarkian traders leave with those cursed spores… And only when the convoy left the sight of our colony, I discovered that not all the spores that still lay around the colony have been accounted in the colony’s inventory and “sold”. I need to have a word with Professor Plumb about this…

In the last orders for the day, I issued the demolish of the old mine and set some priorities to my colonists, saying them leave some assignments to be done in the far future. Finally a good news: some diligent colonists found some supplies. I don’t even know where he found them! Either there is a “black market” spreading in our colony, or he is a kind of a magician. Either way, we need to keep an eye on him. Too bad I can’t remember his name…

​

DAY 49

The day begins with good news: our Naturalist finally spotted an hematite deposit, and quite close to malachite one! A good placed mine could extract both malachite and hematite, giving the colony a steady supply of both copper and iron! These are wonderful future prospects! I immediately issued a flattening order for the area, to prepare the terrain for our new mine and highway to progress!



Bad news: the Ministry wants to send an Occult Inspector. I… can’t refuse them. I have to allow the inspection, I just hope she doesn’t freak out at the first unburied corpse she see…

​

The Occult Inspector!​

Wonderful news from the scouting airships patrolling the Frontier: a caravan of monsters is passing nearby. And we have an inspector in town… this is just wonderful… I need a drink, right now!

​

The Foreign Office just called me in: they have come with a diplomatic apology to be sent to the Novorus Imperya. It’s pleading enough, but not too much to hurt our pride, and, more importantly, not supposed to be seen by the Empire’s Diplomatic Office. A good piece of diplomatic effort, let’s hope they will receive it as soon as possible, you can’t be sure they aren’t preparing an assault in this very moment…

​

I don’t even know how it all happen… While I was accompanying our dear Inspector around the colony, a labourer called me aside, and, with a frantic whisper “The Fishmen have come! From the southern side!”. I immediately had to put up an act of composure and with my better fake-relaxed tone I persuaded the Inspector to follow me in taking a look at the strange mushrooms and foliage on the northern side of colony, swaying her away from the assaulted front… and it worked out!

Spoiler: Keeping things calm...

Meanwhile, our well stuffed militia takes no time into disposing of the fishy menace: those blunderbusses make some really efficient weapons. We will need to keep a good supply of munitions and gunpowder. I’ll have to plan for a chemist workshop, since we don’t have that much gunpowder. And we will need more of it, since I hope the colony will soon be able to support another Militia Squad.

​

 

THE MARVELLOUS ADVENTURES OF THE OCCULT INSPECTOR CONTINUE

​

 

DAY 50

"Finally! My airship is here! I will leave this Inspection to the next poor Bureaucrat!" That is what I was thinking, until the Inspector kindly, but firmly grabbed my arm and asked to be assisted during her whole inspection. By me. I'm badly in need of a drink, right now...





Our brave soldier do not fear beetles. Even the big ones. With keen eye, they aim.

Spoiler: Beetles

In an attempt to improve our relationship with the Novorussians, I decided to prove our good will by accepting a Logging Agreement: we won’t chop down any kind of tree in the next four days, to let the Novorus get a hold of the wood market. Honestly, I prefer to have to buy wood from the Novorus traders than to have to fight the Novorus soldiers… At least for now.

​

 

NIGHT 50

Finally, the inspection comes to an end. I'm deeply relieved... But now, a full journey back to civilization, in company of the Inspector, awaits me. Where is my personal flak of Laudanum? I need it. I need it now! In the end I was able to get all my luggage and myself to the airship. The Inspector, strangely enough, didn't embark with me. The last time I saw her, she was walking towards the borders of the colony...

Spoiler: she's gone

 

Glorious!

 

Christ. Thank goodness the inspector didn't turn up anything - our colony can't handle the bad press right now.

 

I can't take much more of this exile. It is my scientific duty to tame the natural world, but living alone in the bush for so long makes me fear it has tamed me. I've seen things... things far more wretched than the usual fish monstrosities and glowing worms to which the colony has grown reluctantly accustomed. These things I saw from my perch in the tree top - they don't invade the land, they invade the mind.

Day 51
​

I'm wasn't going mad. I'm not going mad. I'm not going... but I couldn't live like an animal anymore, I needed a plan. The latest in a curiously long line of colonial bureaucrats wandered toward my covered pit trap, eating a baguette (where did he get it?) and singing Au Claire del la Lune to himself. Clearly far too influenced by the Mechanique. He fell cleanly. I'm almost certain he'll survive, but I'll be forced to concoct a story about him becoming a spectral entity, just so they ignore his cries for help.



My pet giant beetle Jasper and I once again stormed into the colony and declared our rule. This time there was no protest, just some long sighs and a few chuckles. We received a few immigrants just as I arrived, three overseers and two laborers. The colony thrived. It was not longer a question of survival, that much was obvious, now it was time for a great project. It was time to begin work on... A STEAM KNIGHT. That meant finding a suitable spot for an iron mine. In the mean time, a Republicain artist wanted to prove their skill.




Our scientist, Professor Plumb, has gone indisputably mad. Someone had attacked a farm worker, and when I asked the overseer who did it, she said: "It was Professor Plumb, in the study, with the candlestick!" That left me as the only sane scientist, but I had other duties to fulfill.

Day 52 ​

I feel a great desire to chop down trees, as is my right, but a previous overseer had begun a logging agreement that I will continue to support for diplomatic propriety. It is an itch I need to scratch, however. If I don't take axe to tree soon, I may feel compelled to take it to flesh. Jasper's beetle eye flickers at me. No... not you Jasper, never you. Why am I suddenly speaking in the present tense? I'm not going mad, you know. Who am I talking to?


Glorious! The artist pulled through, by Cog! We have ourselves a priceless painting worthy of the empire, 'Aspengreen near the grass, perhaps'. Clearly this artist was inspired by an aspen, and some grass. No other artist has merged these two natural wonders in such a way. I will hang in in an overseer house immediately.




Not enough is happening today. I'm sitting here on my Bureaucrat's Porch, sipping a single malt and watching my naturalist slowly survey for minerals. Please, please find some hematite soon. Yes! First survey site. Grimley Oressly, you sir are a master at your craft, and your beard is strikingly masculine.



This means I can finally lay plans for my glorious capybara-shaped mine! I hear some snickers around me. Hushed conversations. The last bureaucrat had already found a much better spot for a mine, they said, one that could extract more than just hematite. In fact there was a massive clearing job underway to prepare for the foundation. I didn't know! I was grooming Jasper at the time! The capybara mine will break ground despite the ridicule.

Day 53 ​

I'm desperately trying to scrounge for wood to build the capybara mine, but this logging agreement continues to be a terrible nuisance. Bandits attacked once again. We've become so accustomed to these skirmishes now, we might was well be swatting mosquitoes. Colonel Mustard, (who had been last seen brandishing a lead pipe in the conservatory), accidentally impaled his hand with his rifle. Not even that could stop such a seasoned veteran from dispatching bandits with ease.



I'm ordering a wheat plantation, since we now have the technology, led by Harvey Mudgrass, of course. The Mudgrass family is renowned for their farming prowess.



No! The rightful bureaucrat somehow escaped from my pit trap! How is this possible? I built it with the exact standard pit trap specifications. No matter. I can survive in the wood once again, because nothing can break me. I am not mad.


---

Note: So... I had completed virtually all of this before I'd even seen @Cthulhu_Awaits write-up, so there are a couple of discrepancies I tried to edit around.

I don't know how I missed it before... who named those Clue characters? You are a genius.

Really, It's all easy street right now. There will be no foreign attacks, food is perfect, sanity is... sane enough. Just my opinion, but some shake-ups might be in order.

 

You did well! The Capibara Mine is just wonderful! My idea was to ensure a moment of "peace" in which to strengthen the colony and its military. We are still with only one redcoat squad!

We can still declare hostility and send insults around, if you want some "movement"

 

nice write up's

 

I confess to the clue names, I love that game I renamed them in my first go round but since my upload was wrong that time it never got played, so unless I am mad and don't remember changing their names when I played my last round, I believe Cthulhu_Awaits changed them when they played, and I thank you for that. I loved both yours and Cthulhu_Awaits posts, The humor in them is so fun to read.