After the crew was assembled, we set out for the other isnd. The trip took about ten hours, and then we spent another four hours pig which valley to set up camp in. Ultimately, we picked oh a det sized stream running into the o, though it was quite a bit more narrow than some of the other valleys. We anchored the ship offshore and used two rowboats to ferry ourselves and our supplies onto nd.
The guards and soldiers hunted and protected the camp while the stru team and myself worked on building a fort for us to stay in. After about half of a month, we'd made a basic fort such that it took much less effort to protect ourselves. Every day before that, and even afterwards, we'd had a few giant lizards e bother us. I'm pretty sure that these ones are a little smaller than the ohat were on our isnd, even after fact in that I'm rger than I was back then. They also have a slightly different pattern on their skin. They aren't any less aggressive though, which is a shame.
There are ground birds on this isnd as well, though they're also slightly different than our own. They too seem to be slightly smaller, and their plumage seems to be a bit lighter in color. Between hunting and cutting down trees, many of the individuals who came along on this trip have gained quite a few levels.
By the end of the month-long trip, we'd added basic sleeping quarters to the fort, a few ste areas, a proper cooking area, and two charcoal kilns. Our ship's boiler uses charcoal for fuel, so keeping a stockpile at this fort is just on sense. It took us two days to get everything loaded onto the ship to leave. Iure it'll probably take less time, because most of the time spent came down to wasted time due to ck of skill. Though, I decided we should probably add in some basic pulleys to help with hoisting cargo up onto the ship, since lifting a whole rowboat each time was a lot of effort.
Ultimately, our return haul from the isnd included 70 giant lizard hides, a bunch of charcoal, and a bunch of levels uhe belts of most of the trip's partits. Even fact iire year prior where I did at least a month of leveling, I'm still only gaining levels very slowly. I didn't do any lizard killing on this trip though, so that's probably partially to bme.
As winter gave way t, we didn't end up getting any word from the dwarves, which was somewhat nerve wrag. For what it's worth, Elora was getting updates from the elves using their bird messengers. I took what she said with a grain of salt, but it sounds like the situation is at a standstill, with both sides having dug into defensive positions.
Building up our defensive positions seems like a good idea as well. With our new hematite iron produ, I'm hoping Karsh make a fully funing artillery piece, and we build up even more coastal defenses. I also had arategy meeting with Zeb and Zaka to pn out this year.
Without any trade, we're currently just stockpiling our extra salt and paper, so we won't be expanding any salt produ this year, even though we have a det supply of quartz ing in from the current mining deposit. I did, however, vince Zeb to dedicate a stru team to expanding the tunnel leading to the current deposit.
We also discussed a few old ideas that had been put aside for some time. Betweeerrace farms and our normal clearing of forests to make new farms, we've gotten to the point where we've decided to dedicate a stru team to developing some vilges outside of the city. Currently, some of the farms are about a two hour trek from the city gates. So, after looking at some maps, we've picked out two locations to build vilges. The general idea is that a vilge will have between 40 and 75 individuals. They'll be mostly self-suffit, though they'll only have basiecessities.
The pn is to have the vilges have a well, some warehouses, a carpenter, an inn, and houses rather than apartments. One is being built along the road that goes around the isnd, just before the tuo the other valley. The other is being built up along the road up the mountain, closer to where we have the allotted forest plots for wood produ. Both locations are actually along a stream, but food measure, a manually operated well is going to be installed too.
The vilges won't have a city wall, nor will they have a set of guards. Though they'll have a designated leader who'll be in charge of immediate handling of crimes, should they be itted. Ultimately, their vilge chief will report to Zaka once a month, or if any serious problems arise.
There was also a question as to how fecal waste would be handled. Uhe city, where I built a sewer system that ran to the o, in both of these locations, there is a serious about inating the water which eventually runs to the city. Ultimately, it was decided that multiple saltpeter fields would be set up he vilges, with extra stone shaping being doo help prevent leeg into the water supply. They'll have special outhouses dug that be ed out periodically to transport the waste to the fields.
At the same time, we still pn on growing the city. Some degree of discussion was had about the idea of building a yle of residence for hosting ogres and other simirly sized demon evolutions. Zaka has his own residence due to his size and status, but there are other demons of simir size which will only increase in number over time as more demons evolve. The main point of the discussion wasn't whether we he residences, but rather what form they should take. Should it still be unal housing, or should reag that level of evolution e with additional residency perks, like having your own house?
Ultimately, it was settled that Zeb's team would tinue only building out unal style housing. If a rge demon wants a house, they pay for one like everyone else, and given their increased size and stats, it should be easier for them to earn enough moo do so if they want one.
We also still have a signifit amount of excess stone ing from the terrag and mining operations. So, while the port won't be directly expahis year, the two jetties over there will be, as a way to use up the excess stone. The jetties help calm and direct the waves in the harbor, so it should make the port easier to navigate. We've also reached the point where the salvage team has started to run out of sunken ships that they recover supplies from.
For over a year now, they've been colleg the remnants of the ships from the city's side of the isnd, and there are much fewer on that side of the isnd. That being the case, we'll switch it over to harvesting float vines from locations that are harder to reach for the rowboats. That alsht up the notion that year the group going to the other isnd over winter should include some float vine harvesters, so we gather even more float vine as it's actually our limiting factor in a number of metallurgic processes.
Hopefully, by wihe war will have died down and we resume business as normal. Internal growth is great, but iing ourselves into the ey of other tries is one of the best ways to prevent war.