Iuri’s attempts at building a colony are somewhat hindered by a lack of skilled asistance: at the moment, almost everything is being propped up by his raw magical power. He’s hoping to change that as quickly as possible by establishing an industrial base, importing skilled assistants, and educating the population he’s already got.
Accomplished Tasks:
Basic Colony Construction: Fortified concentric castle and moat with outer walls enclosing the fields. Primary internal water supply magically supplied via ritually quickened “firehose” spell, secondary cisterns and wells. Running water and water power available (excess water goes to the animals and fields before it goes to the moat, limited amounts of solar and boiler-heated water are available). Sanitation is currently on composting and continuous-flow systems. Electrical power supply and basic lighting. Plenty of housing, including stables for the Centaurs (he’ll offer an upgrade to houses or whatever if they want it, but the may be happier as a herd), and shelters for the animals. All will be massive stone construction: unlike reality, that’s easiest for him.
Magical Defenses: Outer wall includes inscription on the inside for use as a hermetric circle with provision for “gates” openable from the inside or (by Iuri) from the outside for those with dual natures or active magic (like Iuri) to get in and out. While this will have an high effective rating (hermetric circles are limited by the size of the inscription, although I doubt that the scale of “one meter per force point” remains linear as the size expands; the limit is probably 20-24, just like most other magic). It will only be active while Iuri is actually using it for spellcasting or powering it, hence some secondary defenses will be required. Those will include: setting up the main keep as a Medicine Lodge (probably a force rating of about 12-16, which I’d guess is the effective limit), secondary wards/astral barriers (force 12), a few watchers and minor elementals on patrol (force 2; the elementals are mostly on maintenance duty: the air ones are keeping the air clean and the temperature comfortable, the earth, the fire ones are maintaining the fires and making sure that nothing catches fire that isn’t supposed too, etc), and whatever the village Shaman wants to do. While Iuri can cast a few long-term protective and convenience spells, there really isn’t much more in the way of passive magical defense available in Shadowrun. The large-scale geomancy isn’t exactly a “defense”, but it’s up and running. On the personal level, he’s setting a couple of force-2 air and earth spirits on “shield duty” every morning to get between him and any major attacks.
Physical Defenses: Well, it’s a castle. It has walls, moats, murder holes, arrow/gun -slits, gates, drawbridges, and so on. It also has some basic electronic alarms/monitors and a fair number of armed people around as well as the various characters. It has a vehicle yard and some basic (and doubly-warded) facilities prepared for the gateway site and the security detachment when they turn up, but they’re currently unoccupied and it doesn’t have any drones or major advanced security features at the moment. The outposts are mostly semi-concealed by being built into hillsides and ravines and such. They have some basic defensive features (massive reinforced doors, arrow- or gun-slits, secondary doors after the foyer and murder holes), but they’re designed to be secure refuges for small groups: they’re primarily intended to simply make it far more trouble than it’s worth to dig the occupants out, not to really hold or dominate the surrounding territory. At the moment, they’re sealed off with massive slabs of stone: he’ll open them when he’s got people ready to occupy them.
Supplies: A sizable stock of food (grain, root crops, fruits and vegetables, and meat, variously preserved), salt, wood, clay, fiber, sand, leather, fur, resin, glue, and stone has been laid in, partially though magically-accelerated plant growth. Centaur-and-plow agriculture (for food and fiber crops) is up and running, and there are domesticated herds/flocks/whatever of cows, sheep, chickens, goats, rabbits, and pigs and a few horses (corrals and grazing grounds are within the outer wall, but well-separated from the fields). Supplies of furnishings, cloth, rope, and other fiber products, (harsh) soap, (crude) paper, herbs, spices, minor magical materials (suitable for Talismongering) and basic clothing are available. There are also some Xanthian plant producing stuff, but I don’t know exactly what’s available that way. Probably some random goodies and luxuries, knowing Xanth.
Tools and Technology: Basic water-operated milling, grinding wheels, lathes, drop-hammers (for basic metal processing, leatherworking, and felting), sawing, papermaking, and weaving machinery has been set up, furnaces, kilns, and ovens for cooking, pottery-making, glass-working, canning, and metal refining have been set up, and there are plenty of primitive hand tools and simple armor, with a few bits of more sophisticated stuff. A basic printing press for block-printing and movable type is easy, but paper is in short supply. He has set up refrigeration equipment to cool one large room for food storage, but no smaller systems are currently available. Limited stocks of high-tech weaponry and communications systems are available, along with a fair number of computers/game machines and a (currently limited to Iuri) matrix link home. The current bottlenecks here are metals other than silver, fuels (modest amounts of coal turned up in his survey, but virtually no oil; he’s made some for special purposes, but that won’t do as a technological base), high-quality paper, good inks and dyes, semiconductor dopants, and medical supplies.
Education: Current classes for the kids include practical low-to-mid technology tasks (farming, herding, butchering, weaving, archery, operation of, and safety around, water-powered machinery and electricity, sanitation, etc) and basic education – literacy, basic mathematics, elementary scientific principles, art, literature, etc. Basic classes for the tribesmen and younger children will be run by the Centaurs, since they had a renaissance-level society. Advanced classes for the older shadowrun children will be educational programs from the matrix mixed with basic combat training, practical work, and a bit of magical training for anyone with talent (probably 1-4 with minor talents given an average distribution). Given how much he’s extending their childhoods, he doesn’t mind slowing down their education to make time for work: they’ll have plenty of time to learn anyway. He’ll have to come up with some sort of punishment for flunking out, but there’s no rush about it. Adult education will include practical weaving, archery, and basics of technology (archways, bows, looms, water supply, sanitation, better houses, plows, furnaces/stoves, metal forging, agriculture, needles, wheelbarrows, sledges, grinding wheels, pulleys, cranks, water wheels, wells, sails, plows and wagons). Unfortunately, the only currently-available libraries are purely electronic – but at least there are plenty of books available in that format.
Recreation: Currently this consists of tribal-style storytelling, performances, and video games. If anyone is interested, he’ll set up a quick theater and music room, but getting the more complex instruments will be a matter for trade. Making them is something of an art. Dyes and paints will probably take some research. He is making sure that there are competent adults supervising the children at play.
Centaur Trade: Currently he’s offering high-end magical, construction, surveying, and medical services (since they only have physical adepts), technological information, communications gear, and fish in exchange for metal stock, information, artwork, jewels, and – if at all possible – additional slaves (earlier out-of-character information suggested that they’d only be willing to sell a total of 200-300 slaves to him since they didn’t want to sell too large a percentage of their stock until they were more sure of the situation). He’d originally traded for food, bows, cloth, and tools as well, but currently he’s fairly well stocked on those fronts.
Merman Trade: Currently he’s trading waterproofed wooden objects, small amounts of forged metals, and other items which involve fire in their manufacturing for fish, pearls, and anything interesting that comes up out of the sea. This isn’t a major thing at the moment: he just wants to keep the channels open.
Dragon Trade: He’ll be tentatively offering spices, handicrafts, scale ornaments, minor services, and techno-trinkets (such as music players). He really hasn’t got any idea what they might want or have to offer, although he suspects that they have a lot of magical knowledge.
Earth Trade: Current trade to Earth is limited to Information. Currently he’s busy establishing copyrights on every spell, occult theorem, alien occult art or technique, and scan from Humphrey’s library that he feels is safe to release, doesn’t give away anything about other dimensions, and isn’t a really great secret advantage for him. This includes the basic theorems and applications for the Geomancy, Crafting, and Dreamquesting skills since they’re currently lost arts on Earth, the Centaur and Minotaur Metavariant Genetic Codes, the genetic codes of the Xanthian Plants and those of any interesting local species, along with any exotic technological information that he can gather. On the incoming side he’s importing people (preferably with suitable skills, and currently contract-slaves only, since he doesn’t want any competition) and small items he can’t readily produce – electronic components, medkits and vaccines, a heavy-duty power regulator, and basic machine tools. If the various copyrights bring in enough cash, he’ll start making double-blind purchases of Yasoda voting stock.
*He’d like to get an instrument package suitable for launching into orbit, but that’s definitely special-order (if fairly cheap these days). He’d also like to get some heavy weapons, alarms, and vehicles, but that kind of stuff will have to wait until the gate is open.
*Secondarily, If he can find anyone willing to offer lots of money for an instant, near-perfect, escape to a pristine environment, he’ll consider it. Kids with wealthy parents and severe cases of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome would be ideal: they need an unpolluted environment if they want to live past six or so – and he has one to offer. People who want to hide a child for some reason are also good candidates. Adults looking for a hiding place are possible, but iffier: he’d want an agreement that they wouldn’t poke around, interfere, or try to claim anything while they were in hiding – and a minimum hiding period of six months or so before they got sent back.
*Any private offers from yasoda executives will be seriously considered.
Information Gathering: The local area is well mapped, surveyed, and has had roads run through it and outposts set up. He doesn’t yet have a decent world map, although he was working on this with via ritual links to spirits. He was also sending spirits to catalog the other worlds Atheria is linked to, but that project is evidently pretty incomplete – if only because more seemed to be being added.
Administration, Justice, and Government: Currently that’s Iuri and the Shaman. He may have to come up with something more formal than a few assistants later, but things are small enough at the moment that this is really no problem. He has formed a loose coalition with the Dragons, Centaurs, and Mermen to present a united front the Yasoda and anyone else who comes along.
Medical: Everyone’s had the “Vaccinate” spell, and he’s treated anything he can except the slave-castrations. He’s uploaded genescans of the girls and interesting local species (and patented those he can, including the Centaur codes and the Minotaur metavariant genes), and everyone is getting a balanced diet with plenty of healthy food and exercise. He’s going to be applying curative spells (wounds, poisons, and disease) as needed, and may be applying the mass-effect version of the poison-removing spell on a regular basis, just to see if there’s anything subtle going on – or anything to which humans have grown used to over the centuries. He’ll do a bit of skill imprinting if its required, but not much – and he needs to find out what his parents loaded them up with before he starts tinkering around.
Current “Treasures”: These include a large box of catalogued Xanthian seeds, plenty of silver (and one silver mine), a fair amount of gold and some precious stones, a couple of force-4 weapon foci (sword and knife), assorted otherworldly coins, basic magical materials, assorted Telesma, a stock of elemental-summoning and ritual magic supplies, and an assortment of magical weaponry from the “wild west” area.
Emergence Campaign Weblog 
Leave a comment