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 Post Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2016 4:35 am 
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After a brief supper, everyone sits down to put a couple of hours into the translation program:

Felix: Science: +3 Roll: -3 Total: +0
Nathan: Science: +0 Roll: +0 Total: +0
Arkady: Science: +2 Roll: +4 Total: +6


While Felix and Nathan have few ideas, Arkady's experience with English/Russian translation allows him to simply blaze through several problems. The first thing Arkady suggests is to simply ignore the problems of grammar - for the moment, at least - on the basis that something that makes people sound like Yoda is almost as good as a full translator, and several times easier to complete. After an hour or so of work, the team has a very simple system set up; when you type in a word, it looks up that word in a list, and provides the given translation. (Arkady's also assigned to Felix the task of creating an alternate software keyboard for the tablets that uses the Elene alphabet instead of the English one; a task Felix accomplishes easily enough). At the moment, the system only has a few dozen words loaded into it; but there's a simple tool which can be used, by anyone who speaks both languages, to add more words.

Arkady's design deals with the problem of homonyms by largely ignoring it for the moment. When the system runs across the word "tear" it will guess at random whether to provide the Elene word for a drop of water released from the eye or a rip in something; and the grammar, of course, is still all over the place. As a translation tool, it's pretty horrible. But, if both sides in the conversation are willing to be patient and ignore any unintentional faux pas, it can probably be used to communicate a few simple concepts.

--------------

Eventually, everyone goes to sleep - except whoever's on watch. Sir Ulath promptly adds Arkady to the watch rotation (perhaps because he can talk to Arkady).

Felix: Alertness: +2 Roll: +1 Total: +3
Sir Bevier: Alertness: +0 Roll: -4 Total: -4
Arkady: Alertness: +1 Roll: -1 Total: +0
Sir Ulath: Alertness: +2 Roll: +0 Total: +2
Nathan: Alertness: +4 Roll: +0 Total: +4


Nathan, who is looking for it, once again notices the anomalous wind which appears to be helping out the windmills. It seems, perhaps, a little bit less severe than it was last night. Unless they are deliberately looking for it, nobody else notices it at all.

Day five dawns, bright and cheery.

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 Post Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2016 1:22 am 
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After a quick breakfast, Felix gathers up anyone willing to help and gets started on setting up the fertilizer refining plant. If it doesn't look like it'll be too complicated, and he has enough people working with him, he'll split some of them off to the hydroponics wing to see what maintenance it needs. After that the two crews will meet in the middle and get to work on setting up the wind mills required to power both systems.

Felix is burning with an incredible passion today. Spend fate points to tag Colonial Environmental Manager and Laser Focus to boost or redo Engineering and Leadership rolls as necessary.

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 Post Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2016 8:42 pm 
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Arkady contemplates Felix's plan for a moment, then says "The wind does not always blow. I would like to set up a fuel cell to help bridge those calms. But I will need a bit of help gathering wood."

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 Post Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2016 1:12 am 
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"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have more than two power sources up at any given time," Felix says. "Though after we're finished and everything is powered I'd like to see if we can't find a source of coal or natural gas or something in the forest nearby. It's the next task I'd planned to tackle after making sure everything was up and running in here."

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 Post Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2016 4:44 am 
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The fertiliser refining plant is really quite a complex piece of equipment.

Felix: Engineering: +5 Roll: +0 Laser Focus: +2 Total: +7

Because Felix is a brilliant engineer and incredibly well-focused engineer, he and his team have, by lunchtime, managed to put the fertiliser refining plant together.

Meanwhile, Arkady begins to look into the problems of a fuel cell. After some consideration of the types of fuel cell out there, he settles on a methanol-based fuel cell...

Arkady: Engineering: +5 Roll: -3 Total: +2

Bad luck seems to follow Arkady all day - he's still feeling a little fuzzy from the long cryogenic sleep. Despite that, he manages to put together a reasonably simple system of fuel cells, and starts up the distillation of some broken-off branches to methanol. Sooner or later he'll run out of easily accessible branches, but until then there should be little trouble keeping the fuel cell going, as long as there is someone around to look after it. (And by then, there's presumably be better power-generation options on the table)

Nathan gets dragged off to look over the hydroponics lab for any maintenance that might be required there...

Nathan: Engineering: +2 Roll: -4 Total: -2

Nathan can find absolutely nothing in the hydroponics lab that needs fixing. The sunlamps are of course not yet powered, but as far as Nathan can tell they will be in perfect working order once power is applied.

--------------

It is while everyone is taking a break for lunch that the visitors arrive. A half-dozen red-tuniced Elenes with spears - clearly guards or soldiers of some sort - accompany an Elene man in fancy clothes (perhaps a nobleman?) with ridiculously puffy sleeves and a personal trumpeter. The trumpeter announces their presence by playing a few bars on his trumpet, and the probably-a-nobleman calls out. "Ahoy!"

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 Post Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2016 1:02 pm 
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Felix stands up from where he was sitting for his lunch. His eyes pass over all of the new arrivals, taking in their features before settling on the apparently noble speaker.

"Hello," Felix replies, nodding his head. No point in not being polite, and the Knights would have warned him by now if there was any danger. If they were able to, anyway. "You've caught us as we're taking our lunch, so apologies for the lack of a proper welcoming committee."

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 Post Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 2:52 am 
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"Are you responsible for the appearance of this structure on Crown property?" asks the probably-a-noble, looking down his nose at them.

"Baron Harparin," whispers Sir Bevier. "Nasty bit of work. Those fellows with him are Church soldiers, I think they probably report pretty directly to the Primate Raven. Harparin's allied with the Primate, almost certainly here on his behalf. Must have left the Capital pretty much the day you landed to get here this quickly."

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 Post Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 3:15 am 
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This doesn't seem like a warm and welcome greeting. His suspicions confirmed by Sir Bevier, Felix taps a button on his visor to bring up the infrared vision augmentation he'd installed. Using it, he gives the surrounding forest a look over to see if he can spot any more soldiers in hiding.

"Yes, as a matter of fact we are," Felix replies. "Not by choice, mind you, but as far as landings go I'm just glad we're in one piece."

Felix laughs jovially.

"Now I take it there is something you wish to discuss? Some matter of importance you had in mind?" Felix waves the Baron over to a log by the fire. "Come, sit. Sit. We'll share in a meal while we're all here. The only meat we have is Manticore and Cockatrice, but it's certainly edible as things go."

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 Post Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 3:36 am 
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Nate looks the soldiers over, trying to get a feel for their level of proficiency and discipline.

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 Post Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 8:41 am 
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Arkady tries to get a read on the newcomers, while hoping their friend Sgt Kalashnikov can stay away from all of this. Then he comments in Elene: "Cockatrice and manticore? Doesn't anyone raise chickens anymore?"

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 Post Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 9:11 am 
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Felix: Alertness: +2 Roll: -3 Total: -1

Felix can see no sign of any hidden soldiers in the vicinity.

Nathan: Weapons: +3 Roll: -1 Total: +2

Nathan takes a close look at the spears of the soldiers. They are not new - he can see a little spot of rust on one of them - but they are pretty much unused. It seems that these soldiers don't see much battle. On a scale of Peasant to Knight, they probably rank as Mooks - not a serious military threat, unless they have a lot of friends hiding nearby, but good for standing guard over things.

Arkady: Empathy: +4 Roll: -2 Total: +2
Baron Harparin: Resolve: +0 Roll: +1 Total: +1


The Baron looks down at your group with the self-assurance of a man who is truly confident that nothing you can do could possibly affect him. While this is blatantly false (as Sgt Kalashnikov could quickly demonstrate), Arkady has seen this sort of confidence before - this Baron is a man who is convinced that, no matter what may happen, "My Connections Will Protect Me". Even if those connections are currently five days' horseback travel away.

The Baron looks so far down his nose at the group that he gives the impression of observing them with his nostrils. "And who are you people? Where do you come from?"

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 Post Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 2:57 pm 
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"We're Terrans from the territory of Earth. We come in peace," Felix smiles. "Our ship was sailing through the skies some time ago when we ran into a bit of trouble and were forced to make an emergency landing. No worries, though. Everyone is alright!"

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 Post Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 1:44 am 
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"Excuse me a moment, I need to check on my smoked manticore."

Nate motions to the knights. "Can I get a hand?"

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 Post Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 4:10 pm 
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Arkady switches to English and tells the other Terrans present: "This man is a courtier. He's a baron, and allied with the head of their sect (he indicates the knights). They think he's a 'nasty piece of work', dispatched immediately after we landed. He seems to think his patron makes him bulletproof. The spearmen are church troops." He switches to Elene and comments "We don't all speak Elene; some of us learned it when we arrived."

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 Post Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 4:41 pm 
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Sir Bevier gets up and follows Nathan; Sir Ulath seems to prefer to stay where he is, giving the Baron a rather nasty glare.

The Baron, for his part, turns slightly to speak to Arkady (or at least to point his nostrils in Arkady's direction). "And now that you are here, what exactly do you intend to do?"

Captain Argent nods at Arkady's explanation. "See if it's possible to get official permission to use this land," he says, in English. "Perhaps we can claim refugee status?"

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