Good guess, the savages are very stabby. It’s almost as if we spawned in a late game zone or something. We maintained a careful distance to observant and learn what we can, as is the proper course of action. Then Sakki kidnapped one of them while exploring that spot to the north. Because of course he did.

They’re not particularly wealthy, as I said they have a wooden palisade…savages. Their armor is also largely inferior to ours though their weapons seem of better overall craftsmanship. Their warlord is wearing full plate though, according to our captive it is blessed by the elders of generation after generation blah blah its enchanted and probably fourth tier judging by the description. So third tier accounting for primitive minds exaggerating what they do not understand. Their population is small but they’re ferocious snow rabbits. After awhile of observation we’ve noticed they have found some manner to keep monsters uninterested in them. From the stories I’m hearing, it sounds like this is because they are destitute in terms of mana and there is little to draw beasts to them when the lake is so nearby.

Sakki when to check out the north, it is just more snowy hills. We just hadn’t actually mapped it yet, he punched another few monsters for the effort to map it though. Notably the monster concentration appears to be stronger the further north along the lake you go as the northern banks hold the most mana. We’ll likely consider expanding there after we have a more solid colony to operate from.

We’ve managed to find the elven city, apparently named Tethalyn. It is a massive city of guilded white marble and well maintained grounds, its glory must rival what ours once was yet, we notice it shares in our silence. Despite being well maintained and affluent in appearance, much of it sits silent just like Sybaris. This is a fallen empire.

They’ve been a somewhat welcoming host, even if a bit overly so. Reportedly their empire stretches along a river that empties out where we are building a village. They say the river crosses the entire continent. Though Talia is suspicious of the claims. While their population is higher then ours and their city in better condition the unmistakable signs of a remnant are there. While the river is likely true, the size and scope of their territory may be suspect. That being said, they do have a standing army.

Attacking the city might yield great riches though given the ornate nature of its construction, we would not have to look far for something worth taking. Though the battle is of uncertain nature given they are like us, ancient. We could have Talia continue to play the role of diplomat, or prepare for more violent courses of action should the rewards be worth the risks to you.

Also the people have been becoming acquainted with the docks and revenue is up, along with higher traffic among the roads as word spreads.

Greetings keeper! It is a glorious day for the Oda people, for I have returned and you find me amiss no longer.. Also dear keeper, we are not all monks. Just the members of the monastery are. Kaze is preparing to embark on his voyage to the island.

In regards to your query about the nature of Ki, it can be disabled by means of beheading. One of the primary benefits of it is its resistance to being removed. Like that weird blue magic you hear legends about.

Construction of your economic projects are underway but it will take a little bit of time to build the ships. They should be ready by the time the fleet is ready to depart to the island once again.

I have entered negotiations with the fishing village. They would be willing to become our vassals should we provide them with sufficient defenses against the monsters. Our architects estimate costs would range about two hundred gold to build a reasonable wall and if we provide them with twenty soldiers it should be sufficient to protect them until they can raise a larger town guard themselves. ((Mechanics note: vassal isn’t a special qualifier, its just yours))

A note if I may, there are no Ki abilities that lend themselves to actually specializing in stealth in that way. Also there is no school of shadows, though there are some branches of arcane magic that do that sort of thing. Though if you seek a master of stealth, there are some outside the monastery that could be contracted who rely on more typical practices or arcane magic. Might I recommend an illusionist or a ninja?

An illusionist it is then! This is Kyoko Uyemura, a local wizard. She does illusions and carries a few sharp objects around for hurting things as she has yet to learn any evocation in her time studying the craft.

She could be described as perhaps a sarcastic troublemaker, a clever one at that. She was born and raised here in the city proper, however she isn’t an active member of the military. She doesn’t have much experience in the wilds and has lived most of her life acting as a student of magic, she only recently graduated and was seeking adventure.

Greetings Khan! It is a glorious goddamn how does that old fart pretend to be so upbeat all the time. Anyways, the Fukuchi have mobilized as commanded. We’ll get reports from them as things develop.

Though in the more immediate concern, Tokota has already encountered some of these badland natives. True to rumor, they are a bunch of violent maniacs that tried to kill him. While he has kept his life the rest of his retinue are already dead. He was taken prisoner, escaped, and is currently trying to outmaneuver them.

They were mounted on those horse creatures, using them to create a calvary faster then ours. However, a single member of them had a much more bizarre mount. It was made of stone and lined with magic crystals and inscriptions, flying across the badlands at unbelievable speeds with spikey bits on the front for ramming through things. This was apparently the leader, and he had a weapon similar to Ryo’s.

Tokota estimated he came across a team of fifteen of these bandits, though is not sure where they live where more might be found. So far as reports indicated, he has noticed a distinct lack of monsters.

Also tier 2 enchantments cost approximately 20 mana per object, and a sufficiently talented enchanter. We lack that second part. Though the Nalkas likely have it.

Plans to utilize golems must take into account what you wish to use them for. They consume a lot of mana to stay functional, and while they’re great for labor intensive tasks they are terrible at harvesting mana. Largely because mana is stored at random in various things such as tree amber or coral reefs. The lakes of the north are geological anomalies in the abundance of it they provide, which is why we live here. If you do seek to utilize such automatons, keep in mind their detriments at tasks that require a precise eye and the costs it will put on our mana income. Since nalkas are better harvesters normally, obviously you’d leave warm bodied peasants to do the mana harvesting to fuel the golems working on some farm or regular metal mine. Historically golems made for popular soldiers though, fearless warriors that you really only had to put mana in once you had something for them to fight so they make for a good reserve force.

Coastal expansion is the current target though it might be a little while before we are prepared to do so. Territorial expansion in the north is harder then other places due to the environment making people less willing to walk any given distance, resulting in very dense populations within the city. That and the monsters out here are big.

The workforce census yields that the actual problem with our number of laborers for resource exploitation stems from an abundance of people who consider the labor beneath them. We house many elderly as well as scholars, not so many ‘manual labor in the freezing snow’ types. Our technology and magic is advanced for this but we could definitely benefit from some more peasants with fewer options. Maybe raise college admissions to start cycles of poverty if you would like more people trapped within the mines, it’d help my paycheck at least. That or slaves, though if we’re going to go raiding for slaves may I remind you that I have been very proficient in my duties and am deserving of the second most beautiful one we should capture. You can have the first but don’t take the second third and fourth too, that’d be a dick move.

That being said our population is increasing at a steady rate via native births but not picking up many immigrants like the Fukuchi manage to do. Not many people want to live up here and like Katara we have a bit of a…reputation. With plans to establish a new colony certainly in motion to siphon some of our populace to get it up and running, encourage more child birth.

As another bit of census, we as nalkas are exceptionally proficient in harvesting mana, and the mana lakes are easier to harvest from then anywhere else in the world. More golems in labor intensive positions would free us up to harvest more mana, and that is actually a decently favorable job since we build our city right on top of the lakes. I can literally throw a rock from my office window and hit the lake. So people are more comfortable in that line of work then remote mining. So there is value to that plan as well though yields might come closer to balancing out then you might hope for. Though laborers would find it favorable.

Hiring Oda peasants to assist with coastal mining will require the expansion of our territory so we can place nearby docks, roads, and transportation to the main city line effectively without it getting eaten by monsters. So that plan will have to wait for a little bit.

In other news Jonne’s trip around the coast has yielded the find of a village of primitive folk. Clothed in the most basic of fur and leather, their town is made from wood and the area near them devoid of foliage they must have used to build their palisade. It’s actually amazing they’ve survived as long as they have out here. Jonne is looking into the matter.

Sakki’s work as an observer has come to an end now that the construction of the colony is under way he has been keeping busy trying to keep people safe from the abundance of monsters at the location. The downside is at least 15 of our warriors have fallen to the raids. It will be a tough battle to secure the colony from them, though as progress continues it will become safer once some siege weaponry is added to the defenses.

Also our chef is quite good, the undead raven was wonderful with proper herbs and I am not dead. Though I have been experiencing strange cravings for brains lately.

I should advise that you leave Kairi and her army, or Tallis, to the defense of those constructing the bridge and subsequently the new village plans. We know the area to be dangerous and until proper defenses are established we cannot consider our workers as safe.

As for the source of the monsters, if we knew where to find such a thing we would have made that a priority long ago. I imagine every denizen of the world would. Not all remember the times before they roamed the land but we do, and we know they came only after the dying night.

Also work on both the road to join all of our allies, except the Fukuchi, and the docks have been completed. The fishing sector of our civilians has never been better since the docks have no boats in them yet. Even if we don’t build any ships it turns out to have been beneficial enough on the economy to make back what we spent soon enough. We have the ability to build some rudimentary boats at least, though for the cost they’re not terribly efficient. With some experimentation perhaps better naval options will appear.

Road tax is profitable as well, especially in the initial boom considering general interest in checking places out. Travelers visiting us have been female dominated as might be expected given our reputation. Though of interest a handful males from Oda came here to…retire. Though to the chagrin of some, Kazehaya wasn’t one of them. We’ll get him yet.

Tallis sends back reports of finding evidence of civilization in the direction she is moving but it tends to elude her. There is likely some sort of city nearby hidden within the forest if she could find it. Also she has apparently lost ten troops to the monster attacks thus far.

Areti has similar findings of people. The long lost and fabled “elves” were found by her. By found I mean she saw some of their hunters in the forest and then interrogated them. Unfortunately they are unable to guide her to their city since they soon found themselves… victims to the hungry monsters that lurked in the forest. Apparently their city is due south of her. I think Tallis outright passed it, we could have them converge on it, or send one of them alone while the other continues exploring.

Suuup. Kurisu is off being an envoy so I’m taking over while he’s away, he should be back for the next meeting or the one after that, depends on travel time.

Anyways, Shime’s investigation into the isolationists proves to be a bit of a difficult thing as they don’t even desire to let her into the city. She is also a dark skinned elf with white hair and bright clothing or lack thereof at times, she sticks out a bit. From observation she has noted that other then hunters who travel towards the woods for game, no one seems to leave or enter the place.

The mining has begun in the mountains, as well as construction of a watchtower to keep control of the area as well as allow us to keep track of what happens beyond the mountains that seclude us from everywhere else.

Iwanagi has taken off in a boat headed south along the coast looking for…generally anything of interest. There are some small frozen landmasses rich in mana southwest of Sybaris but something is off about them. Namely that they are to the south of us and frozen. The abundance of mana indicates there is something fishy going on there.

He spotted a foreign ship flying a gilded green and gold flag sailing south wards, he hasn’t had time to catch up and say hi. Though its the first evidence in some while we’ve seen of anyone else out on the high seas.

Also our fleet, with a bit of help from Iwanagi passing by, have managed to map the entirety of the island’s coastline to the west of us. However, one of our ships was lost to a giant tentacle monster. After sinking the craft it retreated into the waves, so that thing is still out there to keep an eye on.

A peculiar new design was made by some of the shipyard architects upon hearing of this thing. A hunter class ship designed to hunt monsters instead of other naval craft or land bombardment. It is especially equipped to strike beneath the waves thus vastly improving its ability to fight off the nautical beasts. The design was refined so expenses are roughly the same as a standard warship, though its capabilities against other naval craft are suspect.

The diplomatic envoy has been prepared to visit the island city though we will need to bring the fleet back to pick them up and take them there. I volunteer to go while Kurisu is away. I am an apt naval commander when time calls for it. Please send me…ever since that road was finished a bunch of katara have been visiting and there is no tree in this forest that can hide me from them. I don’t really mind the adoration of women but it takes supreme willpower not to give in and become cursed to die in a couple of years. I’ve had to keep a monk with me at all times to keep my undisciplined dick in check.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, less disciplined men then I have been resigning from their posts to either head south and I’m pretty sure the local drunk Takota’s sudden untimely demise may be related to these visits.

Also as requested, preparations for a festival to welcome our potential new village have been arranged for pending news upon his return.

We’ve pretty much run the town dry of the mana they’re willing to part with. Some of it they were less then willing but it was acquired none the less. Reportedly the badlands use mana as the preferred form of currency over gold due to its scarcity out there. In theory if we take mana to them to trade and bring their wares back for gold the net gains should be helpful.

Ryo comments that his gun is quite weak specifically against enchanted armor. Once you hit a second tier of enchantment the projectile fails to punch through all that effectively. For all its effectiveness in general at killing people, once it stops penetrating through it loses a huge amount of its threat more so then normal weaponry. The strength of it comes from its small size that is highly likely to go through, once it fails to a chest plate effectively renders the spread of its impact into being near useless.

Atop of this, fireball still hits a much larger area. His weapons take precision which can be difficult against moving or small targets. Whereas if I just use a pillar of fire I’ll wipe out a whole unit regardless of size. In the end mages can deal much greater damage but it takes them a little longer to get set up and their range is more limited.

The caravan is prepared to part ways as requested at any time you should tell them to do so. Though I will remind you that the caravan will continue to move at the same speed it always does. If you send Kaiba with just the army he can cover much more ground for purposes of scouting.

Also we could just send our agents to poke their heads in. They’re much faster by themselves and less likely to draw attention or get into too much trouble.

Finally, we encountered a strange creature out here where the forest meets the badlands. In this green but unforested terrain we found something the fishers refer to as “horses”. We saw their use as beasts of burden for the fishers, they may be worth capturing to bring with us.

SoL3

Jordy:

Work on colonizing the new area is proceeding as planned, though slowly. The snow and mountainous terrain definitely hinders us in expediting the matter. To go with that, Sakki reports alarmingly high monster presence as the area is one of their primary food sources to be found inland given the difficulty we give them over Jämsä. Considering what we once knew of our geography, these three lakes are the only ones to be found for several days journey. To the east of us lays just a regular lake, in theory we may be able to better protect our lands if we take control of this lake and the coastal reefs that are also rich with mana. Simple ecology demands the slow but inevitable starvation of the beasts if we do so, which will afford us to invest military efforts elsewhere. Though we will have to fight for this lake, and as the beasts go hungrier by the time we completely control the mana of our area, the last one will certainly be a war with the wild life for it. Just a thought.

In the meantime, we’ve lost a few soldiers on the journey to settle the lake already. As was aforementioned, its going to be a violent effort. A handful of laborers dead as well. To conclude Sakki’s findings, he spotted a colossal monster visiting the lake once. We don’t really have a grading system, but I would say that it is one grade lower then an elder dragon. It is strange we have never seen it before now, and it must roam in the areas we do not have presence. If it is engaged with our current army, losses are projected at eighty percent. The problem is if it visits the lake again.

Moving along, Jonne has found the coast line rich with mana in his initial report from his journey. His skeletal raven will not be returning any further messages to him though, so he is liable to continue his coastal journey for the time being. It knocked over some of my papers. Interacting with our neighbors through laborer’s work on the road has made us aware that all three tribes allied to us are considering a trip to investigate the Badlands. We’re going to have a few less allies soon, so I would advise preparing to have no one to rely on while they’re busy recovering.

In regards to the mines, if we can mine it we’re doing it. The issue lays not in building more of them, but increasing the available work force. Unfortunately up here in the north we have few neighbors to enslave, especially with the able-bodied male prisoners being sent to Katara. Not that we have many to begin with anyways.

This concludes my report, now if you’ll excuse me, the chef has prepared an undead raven for me and I am interested to experience what he could have possibly made out of it. If I die from this meal, I would like to be reanimated as a zombie and have the chef fed to me please. I, being of sound body and mind, do declare this to be my will should I perish.

Sam:

Greetings Keeper! It is a glorious day for the Oda people. The expedition continues to circle the island, though they have found evidence of actual civilization. There is a city large enough to be spotted from sea a bit inland. A large channel of water runs in, it could likely be docked with. We have avoided contact for now in order to finish circling the island.

As requested we have expanded our people to the mountains nearby, our population has become fit to do so. Soon the mine construction will be complete and I am positive we will find strong returns upon the start of our work.

One of our people visited the village Shime found, with some finesse they managed to receive a confession that mana was richest on the far side of the lake they dwell upon. Near the transition to the badlands. The village has expressed some interest in our monastery, Shime left quite the impression on them. With the size of their population, it may be possible to add them to our growing kingdom. They are not far from our borders and have much to gain from such an arrangement. They are fearful for their lives against the constant threat of the monsters, even if they were to all migrate to our city for safety they would leave behind the infrastructure for our bolder citizens to replace them. If you so wish, please allow me to act as ambassador to convince them of such an offer. It would go hand in hand with your desire to increase the monastery’s recruitment efforts.

Speaking of villages Shime found, she came across another one upon a hidden oasis to the north east of the fishing village. It sits in an amazing location, the border area between the badlands, the frozen north, and the western forests. Giving them access to a wide variety of resources. Though it would seem they are very unfriendly, having denied Shime entry or even the opportunity to trade for supplies. Even threatening her! The scouts say it seems they are paranoid of outsiders because they frequently interact with denizens of the so-called Badlands. A nasty bunch it sounds like.

Oh, lest my memory escape me, allow me to introduce your newest agent. As per your request we asked the grandmaster to provide us with an able bodied sort to travel the world and venture into the unknown.

Iwanagi is a perpetual ghost in the woods. The grandmaster assures me that if all you desire is to know what is out there, Iwanagi has mastered techniques that render him nigh uncatchable. He has specialized his whole life in the discipline of the wind and waves. He would make a good sailor too. He is a prime candidate to escape the clutches of whatever hungry beast might be out there.

He is a capable fighter but I’m told that in terms of sheer power, he will not compare to Shime nor be anywhere near approaching the elf’s combat ability. But he is faster on foot, can move through any terrain with ease, and won’t get caught up fighting every monster he runs into along the way. We can’t send people to escort him since his benefit is that he cannot be caught, any scouts assigned to assist him would certainly only slow him down or be left behind. Though unlike Shime, he can speak so it isn’t as terribly necessary.

Tess:

As requested, the docks have begun to see reconstruction. This has displaced some of our fishers though as they cannot work in areas under construction and the supply of fish thus dwindles. As it is the…commoners meat I was told, this may upset some of the populace while it is under construction.

The army is moving south as requested, though it is a long journey to catch up to a single witch moving with just a small team. I will inform you soon as they find anything of interest. Unfortunately, they lost some soldiers in their encounters with the monsters of the wild along their journey.

Construction of the new village will take a little more time then normal. While the new army has set about to clearing the path, the problem is the river itself. It is home to some extraordinarily powerful monsters as it is wide, deep, and connected to the ocean. Along with that, it is so large near the area most convenient for a crossing that construction of a bridge would be a serious undertaking. We could wait until the shipyard can produce ships to ferry people across, or begin the arduous process of placing a bridge. As an…option… our allies may be of use here. Oda command the waters for the whole alliance, they may be better prepared to fight the river and have the tools to build upon the water with greater ease. Nalkas sorcery is also very advanced and while our architects are going a little crazy trying to figure out how to even physically get the material in place we know the Nalkas to be masters of engineering. I cannot imagine they would object to assisting, it isn’t like we’re asking their people to die for us. Just allow us to commission some skilled tradesmen.

Also to your request, we have raised a second army of equal strength to what we had.

This is Marilena, she was a member of the soldiers we collected. She stood out a bit, namely in that she was already trained. Prior to volunteering for the recruitment she was something of a hunter, but she specialized in hunting people. Many would-be slavers have met her. The soldiers we raised seemed to consider her the boss automatically, she carries herself in the way you would expect of a leader and her comrades simply fell into line. She isn’t as rough as Talia, there is a gentle and refined side to her. A kindness that prevents her vision from being clouded with rage and bloodlust, keeping her fit to command, and offering her a level of finesse and grace that sees to the swift execution of her enemies.

((Commander bonuses: +1 movement, +2 vs people, +1 morale))

As for a new agent that we can send afar, we found Areti in the outskirts of our city. She’s a veteran of our warriors, she’s been part of the military and then later the scouts most of her life. She is generally always in a bad mood and shouldn’t be asked to do anything diplomatic if it can be avoided, but her accomplishments make her stand out. She’s a brute, but a loyal one. She uses nothing more then conventional weapons and a few magic baubles to give her the strength she needs, a true embodiment of the word knight. Most people, especially the younger ones, have no idea who she is anymore. Just trust me when I say that before your time, she was one of the greatest. Though, I advise against meeting her in person. She may not show you the respect you deserve, and I would rather not have an incident between you two unnecessarily. Not to mention she’s always one step away from pummeling people and the palace guards will certainly do something to evoke her ire…like ask her for her name.

Johnson:

Hello my Khan, it seems the nearby village has yielded some interesting trade. They have little in the way of gold, but as such they very much desired it. They had mana though, and that is just as good as currency these days, we negotiated favorable trades. They know little of the value of their own possessions.

Unfortunately, they definitely did not have the loud lead flinging toys similar to Ryo’s. I have asked him where he got such a thing, I know of guns but his is the only one I recall seeing that didn’t throw crossbow bolts instead. He said he got it in a trade with people who had come far from the east, perhaps that is where we might best find more.

As another aside, the katara army has deviated from their course. They suddenly fled to the south for reasons unknown, as such we will not be able to rely on them to tell us what awaits in the badlands to the east. We asked about the village for details of the eastern land. They seemed quite concerned, though they are peasants who live every day in fear of the most basic monsters of the forest.

However, I inquired about Ryo’s weapon with them. Apparently they have those in the Badlands, and that is why their people fear to venture into the place. They speak of violent bandits around every corner, armed with weapons we have never seen before. A race of people so volatile that even the monsters do not venture there, a land where monsters of even the largest sort are hunted as sport to fulfill an ever and all consuming greed that has given rise to the most eclectic bazaar ever heard of.

Sounds like our kind of people to me. I suggest we send someone into the lands ahead of us, to find the bazaar and waste as little of the caravan’s journey as possible. There is profit to be made, and I find the anticipation eating away my patience.