>>541374
We need a blacksmith, a carpenter or two, and a couple of farmers. Unless anybody else thinks of some other vital skill we need at the moment, the rest should just become woodcutters/miners/whatever.

And let the two strong wisps just sort of do their own thing.

>>541374
It sounds like we can choose an appearance for the 9 less-substantial ones, and influence the skills of all 11 of them.

So here: calico cat, cheetah, rat, mouse, mole, english mastiff, hare, ... are there any limitations in place for appearance? I steered clear of reptiles, because of the cannibal lizards, and I'm not sure birds are in the running. Could we make custom races?

A mason would be nice.
A miner or two, yes, but we need light sources of some sort to mine. Perhaps our new friend can help with that, but otherwise I suppose some intermittent firepits could provide light to mine by, at least until we find materials to make proper torches or lanterns.
Farmers are good, though they won't be working the fields constantly, so they should have a side job. Once we get some livestock they'll be a bit busier.
A carpenter's handy. Workshop is still in the building queue I assume.
Some military personnel would be nice. Right now we can only really manage stone spears, but we DO have some iron ore already mined, so if we smelt that down we can get some proper weapons. Oh! We could make some bows and arrows, those don't require much in the way of metal. Regular patrols and a guard tower are good for defense. It's best for guards to work in shifts so we should have a good number of them on hand. Let's have about half of our workforce capable of fighting. Five or six.
Speaking of metal, a blacksmith is a good idea, for all sorts of things.
How about a WIZARD? Can we get a wizard?

In addition to the skills/trades already mentioned, we might consider a potter, because we will need storage & crockery. (I'm sure there's clay somewhere, or there will be) We could maybe have a basketweaver or cooper instead, but I think a potter would be more versatile.

Seeing as there are bandits around I would like to see at least one or two of them having skills as more of a front-line fighter as Thrush's skills seem to be more scouting related and I would like to have some bruisers if we are not able to fall back and ambush attackers. Plus such people would likely be quite strong so they could assist with mining or construction.

I would like to place my vote that if we get one that, despite there being some worry about cannibal lizards, that it is Komodo dragonish for the dual reason of it would be rude not to trust lizards just because there are some bad apples and also because Komodo dragons are bad-ass.

With possible threats coming, now's a good time for defense. There's not much call for another building yet, so use the wood with the font to start building a stockade.

The new wisps should be two main types, headed preferably by the two strongest: burly miners with picks, and rangers who'll be able to hunt with bows (wildlife or otherwise), doubling as part-time gardeners. That way you've got useful job skills in people who can also hold their own in a fight.

Next steps beyond that should be a dedicated smithy building (including someone to work there) and a search for clay for pottery.

Thessel 2013/09/27(Fri)20:39 No. 542389 ID: b58bab
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>>541382
Yup, the smelter finished up last evening, though there isn't much point in going out to check on it yet since the addition of all these wisps is going to rather significantly rearrange the surrounding land.

>>541387

So here's the thing, the easiest thing to do is to enforce a known pattern onto a wisp (ok, easiest after getting one that's stable enough just be left to do its own thing) So for example, I'd easily be able to make them take on forms akin to Pike or Thrush.

Now, I CAN apply pretty much anything that can be thought up to these wisps, however there's a very good chance that things won't go quite as planned....speaking of which, the results of the two more substanital wisps....well, lets just say that if I didn't know better I would have said that they were examples of just such oddities.

"Well then, hello there you two and welcome to my little settlement. Still doesn't have a proper name, though I'm sure that'll be fixed soon enough."
'ello there.
Hey there, Sir. How can I be of help?

"Well, for the time being you'd be most helpful if you assisted the others, Pike, Thrush and Zivoi. I'll get back to you once I've got proper jobs for you."

Now then, for whatever reason (presumably since i'm getting a bit better at this wisp thing) I've got a vauge idea of the primary skills for these two. The little yellowish one is apparently both a skilled miner and to a lesser degree a whitesmith. He could probably work as a passable blacksmith as well, though with nowhere near the same level of skill.
Now, the other one, who honestly looks a bit like a cousin of mine if they'd been run through some sort of magical accident that subsequently left them with an extra pair of legs and double their original mass. That mildly unsettling thought aside, he seems to be something of a stonemason with some skill in stonecarving.

I'll have the short one take over operating the mine, though it might be a good idea to take a peek down there before starting up any actual mining.

I can definately attempt at trying to get a wizard however I've got a strong feeling that it'll come with some unexpected surprise.

Now then, there's currently enough wood to construct one building and the area around the main building has been flattened out. Two options for the next building are a workshop or watch tower, however we can probably get enough wood to do at least two more buildings by the end of the day given the influx of new labor.

It should probably be noted that the smelter does have a small shelter attached, though it could easily be expanded fairly easily.

Woah. I bet he can work on masonry after it's up in the wall!

So we now have a mason, a miner, and a smelting building, so it looks like we should check out the mine first. I suppose cave-dwelling critters are a thing, so we should probably have Thrush go with us while inspecting the mine in case we run into any.

I want to say build the workshop first so we can try and get a stone quarry to help us build a better watch tower but hey we can always just upgrade the tower later so it's not really that big a deal, but for now lets get thrush with us and check out the mine and then go from there. Just ask Zivoi if he has anything he could whip up so you can have light once you enter the mines.

>>542389
Workshop first so we can make tools and stuff for the watch tower.

Let's... wait on getting anyone with magical skills until you're more confident in your wisp-altering abilities. At least until you have a better idea of what the consequences will be. The settlement might not take well to a big surprise right now. If you think it'll be mostly harmless just go for it. How does magic work around here anyway? Are nonmagical doctors in demand, or will we just be able to brew healing potions and cast healing spells? And sure, let's get Pike and Thrush 'copies' though they won't really be copies apparently.
Anyway, my finalized list:

Pike-based
Thrush-based
Carpenter and woodcarver - cheetah
Blacksmith and metallurgist - english mastiff
Farmer and rancher - how about a caterpillar thing?
bowyer/fletcher and woodsman/hunter - kangaroo mouse
militia - hawk (with real hands obviously)
militia - some kind of snaky thing
militia or wizard - a lynx

For surrounding land, aside from the farmlands it could be good to have a wooded section with some fruit trees in it. Heck, let's just have a bunch more woods nearby, that might result in some bigger animals showing up which we could hunt or domesticate.

Ya, lets hold off the wizard right now, lets get some one or two hunters for archery skill and to gather meat or to gather animals if we find some that we might be able to raise. We should definitely have a wood-worker as well, I'm not real sure on the rest however my vote on getting some front-line fighters>>541468 still remains. But lets get a workshop for the building, we should have enough people for scouting purposes that any non dedicated attackers should not be able to sneak up on us so the watchtower won't be a necessity (a tall building would be useful for attracting peoples attention however.

>>542389
Do we know pikes skills yet?

For the wisps: it'd be a good idea to make the next few wisps dual-purpose, either as miners-or-masons/fighters or as hunters-and-farmers/archers. Copying existing designs is fine for them. (Skunks and squirreltaurs! But that's not important.)

For buildings:
-Stockade: more useful than a tower right now, since you can't see far in this forest.
-Latrine: maybe something to gloss over, but realistically would get important quickly.
-Mining Hut: an initial shelter for miners and storehouse for stone/ore.
-Workshop: start producing carts for better wood/stone transport.

>>542415
Keep in mind that the Fount can do construction on its own!
Our biggest need is "Resource Collectors" for the materials and "Artificers" to equip the Fount with tools!

>>542854
The skill with which the font's work is done depends upon the skills of the people operating it. We need skilled craftsmen of all kinds.

>>542907
I'm pretty certain that's wrong?
IIRC, the Fount may construct anything out of anythin, so long as the materials and tools are laid out for the construction of the thing.
If you lack tools, it doesn't happen at all, or happens crudely.
If you lack resources, it uses whatever physical stuff is around.

>>542991
"As for other useful properties, Founts are primarily known for their capability to emulate their user's efforts in a condensed period of time. So an average untrained person could use one to construct a building which would have taken them a week to do in a single day. Of course, it would still be the same quality as if that person actually built it. Same goes true with other objects."

My question is, what if a person could have built a house in a week, but they could have built the same house with much greater care in two weeks? Even a complete novice can make things of great quality if they build very carefully and constantly refer to guides as they go.

(1/4) Thessel 2013/10/06(Sun)17:58 No. 543262 ID: b58bab
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Alright, so lets finish up with these wisps and then I'll take Thrush and Zivoi's lamp to go explore the mine to see whats hidden in there. For the sake of expediency, I'll let Pike and Zivoi help with names for all the less substantial wisps.

>Do we know pikes skills yet?

Not yet, though I can try giving him a look over later to see if I can tell anything. I'm not confident I'll get anything useful though

So lets go with the first three, two based on Thrush and one on the still unnamed little mouse-ish newbie. Going from left to right, their major skills are Soldiering and...clothesmaking? alright, whatever, it'll be handy eventually. Moving on, we've got soldier/ farmer and a Mason/ Miner.

Ok, so far so good. Now for the next ones.

2/4 Thessel 2013/10/06(Sun)18:00 No. 543263 ID: b58bab
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Next up is one based on Pike and two based on the bigger of the new guys. I'll save the last three for doing the larger experiments.

Alright, formwise, they ended up just about as expected and for their major skills we've got a gardener/ herbalist for Pike's not quite double. Next in the line we've got a carpenter/ woodcarver and then finally a farmer.

3/4 Thessel 2013/10/06(Sun)18:02 No. 543264 ID: b58bab
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Alright, lets see about doing something a little trickier. Lets try for a lynx and a mouse....and that went without too much trouble. Way harder to manage but still nothing's gone wrong yet. The lynx seems to be pretty heavy on the hunting, fishing and soldiering while the mouse is an archer/ bowyer.

4/4 Thessel 2013/10/06(Sun)18:04 No. 543265 ID: b58bab
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Alright, those two went just fine. One last one to go, lets go for a big burly smith to take care of that job. Ok here goes......

...by all thats good in the world what have I created!? That last one just turned into a gigantic brutish undead horror....who upon closer inspection appears to have no mind whatsoever. Its just a huge horrible atomata. Um....I've got no clue how to deal with this thing. Even assuming that I knew how to control it (which by the way, I don't) it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the first moment any of the legions of the wraith king appeared they could turn it on us nigh effortlessly.

So the question becomes, how to deal with this thing now that its here? The longer it sits here, the better the chance that something we don't want will notice. Especially since I can practically feel the eminations seething off this thing.

>>543265
First instinct is kill it immediately. Second, well, we could get our alchemist to look it over for a second, maybe tell us the cleanest way to kill it or a way to gain useful resources from it... or ask our soldiers. Or anyone that knows anything about undead.

Speaking of magical stuff, you know conjuration, so what sort of stuff can you conjure?

>whitesmith
...wait, if a blacksmith works metal, what does a whitesmith work?

>undead monster
Can you 'dismiss' a wisp creation? You know, just undo it? Normally that would seem terribly unethical, but not so much if this thing is mindless.

Killing it seems risky, as it might instinctively respond to attack.

Could we just send it off marching in a strait line? Don't aim it at any inhabited areas.

First we should ask our resident magic man if he knows what is up with that last one, particularly these 'emanations'.

>...wait, if a blacksmith works metal, what does a whitesmith work?
Blacksmiths works with iron (vaguely black colored) while whitesmiths work with tin (lighter colored).

it should still be loyal to you due to it being a summoned wisp.

Ask Zivoi what the fuck that thing is and how to destroy it.

>>543265
Oh, do you have any idea why that went wrong exactly? Did you ask for something that was too big for the wisp to handle?

There might be a use for the last one. Don't just destroy it because you are scared of it. Find out more first incase its more than it appears.

Since blocking the automaton's emanations and securing it from outside control is assumed to be far beyond the capabilities of you and everyone else here that leaves either destroying it or disposing of it far away from the village. Get Zivoi in here if he isn't here already, explain the situation and start picking his brain about how to go about doing that. And you may as well let everyone else know about it as well. Maybe somebody'll have a bright idea to deal with it.

How much punishment would you guess an undead of this size can take? Could you setup a something where a bunch of heavy rocks crush it completely, or at least pin it down so that everyone can bash on it without it being able to fight back?

Figuring out how to issue orders to it would help greatly in getting rid of it, but even if you can't figure that out it can still be moved by a bunch of people carrying it, or building a handcart to put it on.

Dumping it far out in the wraithlands is an option, but if it's carried or rolled out whoever does the job likely isn't going to make it back. Perhaps it could be taken into the mine and dumped in the depths there instead, but that'd only work if its emanations are blocked by thick rock.

>>543262
ok for the clothes making solder, that could actually be quite useful. He might be able to help make armors or at least get the right measurements and we could see if he could make some camouflage armor/stuff for our solders as well. But that's all for later lets deal with the now first.

This thing,>>543265
can you try and tell it to do something? Maybe get a feel for how it works. Cause if we can control it then this could make a good scout for the mine's (especially if it glows) or maybe we could try and use it as a type of scarecrow. By that I mean we have it patrol the boarder of our land to scare off any unwanted guess, like those bandits we heard about. Cause really if I saw something like this I would just turn tail and run.

Have Zivoi take a look at it before getting rid of it. Then if nothing can be done, get rid of it.

Seconded. Hopefully the mage can think of a way to safely dispose of it, but failing that, the temptation to keep it around for heavy labor sounds like a bad idea. Even if you knew HOW to order it around. Do try giving it an order though.

Can you tell us anything about how necromancy works? Ie. is anything undead like this innately evil, or just scary?

Besides that, you're ready to start on other tasks like checking out the mine. Some resource gathering is in order for everyone. Get started on a garden with the mage's seed supply.

On top of having the mage look at it, also make sure to get Pike and Fem-Pike to assist in checking it out. They should both be detail oriented and science/engineering minded.

>>543265
I like the cut of its' jib. Ask Kivoi to imbue it with sapience.

Better, catch more wixps, base them on Kivoi, have THEM do it.

>>545524
More wisps? That gives me an idea. We could try shoving another wisp into this undead guy to give it true life, rather than destroying it.

(1/2) Thessel 2013/11/09(Sat)16:04 No. 547253 ID: b58bab
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>>543267
How to kill it? Well that's the question now isn't it? I could probably smash all its bones and immobilize it, that might even do the job though I suspect that it actually would take some decently potent magic to do the job properly. That said, its bones could be a particularily potent ingredient. Unfortunately, as they are they practically radiate a particularily unwholesome taint.
Now, with regards to conjuration, my skills are fairly limited currently since I have had only a basic instruction in the art and most of my practice has been in utilizing the Fount to construct buildings and conjure up new forms for the wisps that I've gathered. Aside from that however, I do know how to conjure up a simple weapon and defense as well as passable wine. All of this takes a great deal of effort however, plus the wine is neither filling nor lasting though overindulging in it is just as miserable an experience as with most any other brew.

>>543268
If it is possible, and I heartily suspect it isn't, I wouldn't do it anyways. Last thing I want is for those serving me to be terrified of simply being dismissed out of existence at my slightest displeasure or angered whim.

>>543276
Sadly, I don't have a good idea what went wrong. Could've been that the wisp was tainted ahead of time, could've tried something that in turn had to tap into some tainted essence, or it could have been simply too huge or even just a mistake on my part.

>>543278
This thing is huge, so it'd probably take a huge amount of punishment to destroy. I'll ask Zivoi about it momentarily.

>>543394
Necromancy is kind've a odd and wide field around here, not exactly evil per se. However, it also isn't exactly a wholesome field of magic either. Lots of very bad things come out of it and things that aren't evil do have a bad tendency of skirting lines that would be best left alone.
It primarily works by invoking or conjuring the essence of something dead and then binding it to a task or purpose. Since the essence is of something dead, it pulls back from whatever nameless void or plane the essence inhabited until this point to the world and form it once inhabited. Not really sure about much more than that as necromancy is rather looked down upon in these prats due to the presence of the Wraith King. He's said to have been a necromancer of incredible skill that could easily twist any necromantic magics he encountered to his own devices and was even able to conjure himself back to unlife when he first died. Heck, there's even rumors that he was involved in the calamity that brought about the wraithlands back in some long lost age.
The gist of things being that any long lasting necromantic creature of construct will fall under the Wraith King's sway. It is only a matter of time unless you have the skill, tools and facilities to obfuscate or shield it from the powers of a necromancer supreme. None of which are currently available to us.


Now then, lets see what Zivoi has to say on the matter

"Alright, I need some solutions for this particular problem right away. Zivoi, any thoughts lest we all be torn limb from limb?"

Zivoi: "Actually, Oi do 'av sum. Ah've dealt wi' somethin' akin ter dis 'orror. Albiet on a smaller scale....with a full workshop available....an' tree skilled wizards 'elpin'. 'owever, Oi tink wi' a bit av 'elp Oi can render it down into a 'armless state an' purge enoof av de taint dat de remainder can be masked."

"Excellent, I'll assist. The rest of you, get everything Zivoi needs. This job is going to be very unpleasant and so I'll take it upon myself to do the worst of it. Understand though that this is not done out of malice towards this poor horror but simply because the lives of everyone here is at immense risk as long as it persists."

The room is awash in chaos as back off and try to collect their thoughts while others rush to help Zivoi with everything that is needed to deal with the undead monstrosity

(2/2) Thessel 2013/11/09(Sat)17:42 No. 547274 ID: b58bab
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Well, there we are. Its done with at least for now. We smashed the larger bones and then incinerated the whole lot in a large herb spiced fire to purge whatever taint could be removed. Then the lot was put into this chest which Zivoi constructed and treated with potions to diffuse and hopefully cleanse whatever taint remains on its contents.

It wasn't something I'd wish on anyone, especially since one could visibly see the Wraith King's power start to touch it near the end.

Now that that crisis is over with, at least for the time being, there's still time to go and start exploring the mine. Or alternatively, I could stick around here and oversee the construction of the new structures and the new recruits. Unless of course, there's something else that might be of use.

A passive influence, or he became aware of it? If the latter, we should probably post a watch, at the least.

Let's work on helping construction. You've already dealt with one surprise today, save exploring for another day.

Well, that resolved decently but leaves you about where things were before. Best to go on as before: start investigating the mine and as resources permit, try starting work on:

Stockade, Latrine, Mining Hut, Workshop

I say stay here for now and help build the place up, maybe get to know your recruits better seeing as they're going to be helping you build up your kingdom.

>>547274
Phew, crisis over. If the Wraith King started to affect it, doesn't that mean he knows where you are? I think we need to get some fortifications up. Some stone walls, perhaps?

Also Zivoi just earned his keep and then some. Good grief, if not for him we'd be screwed. You'd have had to drag the undead thing out into the wraithlands and hope it didn't come back after coming under the influence of the Wraith King.

Stick around to set up the general buildings, then perhaps explore the mine? Might as well have some more wisp traps set up as well, though we have to worry about feeding everyone. Go for farms first thing, actually. Set up some fishing traps.

I'd recommend bringing the lynx with you if you do go into the mines, don't want to go into such a thing unattended by a soldier and he must have good eyesight in the dark. Claws, too.

Let's name the lynx Hugo.

(1/2) Thessel 2013/11/30(Sat)20:34 No. 550438 ID: b58bab
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Well then, its been a little bit. Everyone's been kept busy what with what happened. I was actually just about to take a look through that mine out back since Pike and Thrush seem to have gotten the whole direction and command of others deal down.
Haven't seen Zivoi for the last day, though Pike's double has been helping him out. Well, presumably helping him out though it did look like a large part was going and getting him a sandwich every couple hours.

As you can see, we've managed to get a small stockade up surrounding almost everything important. Had to leave the mining hut/ smelter outside since there was no good way to protect it without completely encircling the hill (which is still mostly wraithlands at the moment) Also,a small bunkhouse have been completed alongside the workshop which Zivoi has commandeered the side room of.

Oh! Also, we have a little functioning farm plot which should help offset the amount of hunting and foraging needed to sustain everyone. Though, if we're beseiged then its not going to sustain us for more than a miniscule amount of time.

>>547314
That sound to be about the gist of it. The Wraith King probably doesn't know exactly where we are but he almost certainly knows we exist now. So it probably will be more than worthwhile to fortify the place as best we can. Stone will be great and plentiful once the mine is operational.

>Lets name the lynx Hugo
Done and done!


Surprisingly, we didn't get any more wisps over the last two nights. However, that might just have been due to us having grabbed all of the nearest ones. I'm sure more will show up given a bit of time.

(2/2) Thessel 2013/11/30(Sat)20:34 No. 550439 ID: b58bab
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Alright, so lets get down to exploring that mine. I'll take Hugo with me as Thrush is busy making sure the newbies are up to snuff and can all work together effectively.

Right now between the two of us we've got about 10 meters of rope, Zivoi's lamp with a flask of extra fuel, 3 torches and a wooden spear Thrush made earlier for fishing.

If there's anything else thats needed before going down there, now's the time to get it

Food and water, in case a cavein happens and one of you gets trapped. Perhaps some writing supplies to make a map.

maybe something to mark the walls so you wont get lost

How about you take the mouse-ish newbie with you since he was a Mason/Miner.
He might come in handy and he will probably be the one working in the mine in the end.

>no more wisps
I don't suppose they're less likely to stumble across the area now that it's more developed? They don't prefer the wraithlands or anything?

If so, we'd have to put catching efforts on the periphery.

Water and a snack are definitely useful. Helmets would be nice, though you probably don't have anything available. You should get a bit of chalk or really, any rock that will make a simple mark on the cave walls.

I see torches and a lamp, but don't you have any means of re-lighting the thing in the dark, like flint and tinder? If this is a skill you've never practiced, you shouldn't go in far!

If you can't find chalk make a bucket full of charcoal. That should do.