Rumors of a Mighty Winter
Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2025 10:27 pm
While there are plenty of areas in the Central Lost Lands quite used to harsh winters, there is a growing concern about the cold and the snowfall covering a significantly greater range across the region this year.
"Shadgardians are well accustomed to harsh winters and we make routine preparations for such every year," said Mayor Castelli of Shadgard, "but we would still occasionally benefit from seeking resources from nearby regions that have less extreme climates. The snow is falling even over areas that have experienced very mild winters in the past, which will limit those fallback options we had in the past for emergencies. I can't imagine what people not used to these kinds of conditions are going to do." The Mayor went on to express gratitude for engineer Fahima's steam pipe infrastructure that provides heating to residents with greater efficiency than so many individual fireplaces and wood-burning stoves would, though she worries that additional help may be needed to keep the boilers fueled if the winter goes on longer than usual as some are predicting.
Rig-Jarl Bjorn of Dwaedn Vil suggested that his people may limit the supplies they normally make available for sale to visitors in order to ensure that local villagers are taken care of first. When asked how he felt about potentially turning visitors down and leaving them to fend for themselves, the Rig-Jarl laughed and proclaimed, "It will toughen them up!" He continued in a more serious tone, "I am not against offering shelter and aid when in a position to do so, but as Rig-Jarl my first duty is to my own people. Those not of my clan must find their own way, band together with their own clans to fight for their own survival. This Mighty Winter will bring suffering and death. It is nature's way to weed out the weak, the unfit, and the unnecessary."
While many members of Tse Gaiyan are exceptionally capable hunters and foragers, extended wintry conditions would take a toll on what forage and game are available long-term and could be problematic for maintaining operations in their Chapterhouse. The greater concern among their organization however appears to be how the situation will affect the resen. A Udemi ranger by the name of Isfridr had this to say: "On the one hand, the resen don't do well in the cold, so that could be considered a positive aspect of this situation. On the other hand, we're likely to see some bands of infested pushed to desperation and a resulting increase in raids for supplies or better resources and shelter."
The residents of Morhollow and the University of Elemancy are concerned as they have neither surplus stockpiles nor the means of producing significant amounts of food for themselves in extended wintry conditions. With how unlikely it is that any other outposts will be willing to share their own dwindling supplies, there is some scrambling going on as to how they might face the situation.
While no official statements have been given by the Corvus Outpost, many believe they are likely to be more optimistic about the situation, with the majority of their denizens being less susceptible (if at all) to the cold or to concerns of physical sustenance. Still, there may be worries among those residents who are yet retaining their humanity.
There has been no contact with or comment from Mistral Lake as the town has remained completely closed off, so it is unknown how they feel about or might be preparing for the situation.
Regardless of how prepared or capable anyone is to face an extended winter period, it is certain to have an effect on the resources and labor available to all Lost Landers. Everyone should be prepared to tighten their belts and find ways to help support their communities.
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Get ready for a cold, harsh, extended winter! There are Lore Reasons(tm) for this which will be alluded to and explored over time via in-game events and such. Some of the more mechanical impacts are going to be more and longer periods of extreme cold and/or snow, and some items currently sold off-the-shelf in unlimited quantities will start becoming more limited in availability. Town-provided public heat sources are also likely to start taking some player character effort to keep turned on.
The idea is to eventually have PCs contributing more to overall town services by providing the resources/items/crafting/labor themselves. Presumably the usual supply is dwindling due to the harsher and more wide-ranging winter conditions affecting resource availability, some of the NPCs that normally provide these resources or services are getting sick or going hungry, and all that kind of thing. The ultimate intent is that while the situation might feel bleak, it should bring people closer together and make the community feel tighter, and make individual characters feel more important and impactful as they provide more directly and visibly to their community. For example, I think it'll be pretty great for players to see the items they crafted be put up for sale in the associated specific shops instead of just as part of a giant pile in the market. It'll also feel nice to be able to see a need (such as a low supply of leather gloves) and be able to personally address it, and make crafters feel even more important to their community.
I've got more ideas for things people can do to feel more directly impactful to their community, but I don't want to wander too far off into the weeds just yet with all this stuff. There's still a lot of baseline stuff to be working on as well (like getting guilds recruiting again and restoring more crafting stuff).
P.S. The IC bit of this post above the break can be considered information widely available to anyone in-game. I'm going to set up an IC news board (rather than selling individual newspaper copies), but you don't need to wait on that. You can just assume that your character has already heard about all the above ICly through town news criers and the rumor mill and all that.
"Shadgardians are well accustomed to harsh winters and we make routine preparations for such every year," said Mayor Castelli of Shadgard, "but we would still occasionally benefit from seeking resources from nearby regions that have less extreme climates. The snow is falling even over areas that have experienced very mild winters in the past, which will limit those fallback options we had in the past for emergencies. I can't imagine what people not used to these kinds of conditions are going to do." The Mayor went on to express gratitude for engineer Fahima's steam pipe infrastructure that provides heating to residents with greater efficiency than so many individual fireplaces and wood-burning stoves would, though she worries that additional help may be needed to keep the boilers fueled if the winter goes on longer than usual as some are predicting.
Rig-Jarl Bjorn of Dwaedn Vil suggested that his people may limit the supplies they normally make available for sale to visitors in order to ensure that local villagers are taken care of first. When asked how he felt about potentially turning visitors down and leaving them to fend for themselves, the Rig-Jarl laughed and proclaimed, "It will toughen them up!" He continued in a more serious tone, "I am not against offering shelter and aid when in a position to do so, but as Rig-Jarl my first duty is to my own people. Those not of my clan must find their own way, band together with their own clans to fight for their own survival. This Mighty Winter will bring suffering and death. It is nature's way to weed out the weak, the unfit, and the unnecessary."
While many members of Tse Gaiyan are exceptionally capable hunters and foragers, extended wintry conditions would take a toll on what forage and game are available long-term and could be problematic for maintaining operations in their Chapterhouse. The greater concern among their organization however appears to be how the situation will affect the resen. A Udemi ranger by the name of Isfridr had this to say: "On the one hand, the resen don't do well in the cold, so that could be considered a positive aspect of this situation. On the other hand, we're likely to see some bands of infested pushed to desperation and a resulting increase in raids for supplies or better resources and shelter."
The residents of Morhollow and the University of Elemancy are concerned as they have neither surplus stockpiles nor the means of producing significant amounts of food for themselves in extended wintry conditions. With how unlikely it is that any other outposts will be willing to share their own dwindling supplies, there is some scrambling going on as to how they might face the situation.
While no official statements have been given by the Corvus Outpost, many believe they are likely to be more optimistic about the situation, with the majority of their denizens being less susceptible (if at all) to the cold or to concerns of physical sustenance. Still, there may be worries among those residents who are yet retaining their humanity.
There has been no contact with or comment from Mistral Lake as the town has remained completely closed off, so it is unknown how they feel about or might be preparing for the situation.
Regardless of how prepared or capable anyone is to face an extended winter period, it is certain to have an effect on the resources and labor available to all Lost Landers. Everyone should be prepared to tighten their belts and find ways to help support their communities.
==========
Get ready for a cold, harsh, extended winter! There are Lore Reasons(tm) for this which will be alluded to and explored over time via in-game events and such. Some of the more mechanical impacts are going to be more and longer periods of extreme cold and/or snow, and some items currently sold off-the-shelf in unlimited quantities will start becoming more limited in availability. Town-provided public heat sources are also likely to start taking some player character effort to keep turned on.
The idea is to eventually have PCs contributing more to overall town services by providing the resources/items/crafting/labor themselves. Presumably the usual supply is dwindling due to the harsher and more wide-ranging winter conditions affecting resource availability, some of the NPCs that normally provide these resources or services are getting sick or going hungry, and all that kind of thing. The ultimate intent is that while the situation might feel bleak, it should bring people closer together and make the community feel tighter, and make individual characters feel more important and impactful as they provide more directly and visibly to their community. For example, I think it'll be pretty great for players to see the items they crafted be put up for sale in the associated specific shops instead of just as part of a giant pile in the market. It'll also feel nice to be able to see a need (such as a low supply of leather gloves) and be able to personally address it, and make crafters feel even more important to their community.
I've got more ideas for things people can do to feel more directly impactful to their community, but I don't want to wander too far off into the weeds just yet with all this stuff. There's still a lot of baseline stuff to be working on as well (like getting guilds recruiting again and restoring more crafting stuff).
P.S. The IC bit of this post above the break can be considered information widely available to anyone in-game. I'm going to set up an IC news board (rather than selling individual newspaper copies), but you don't need to wait on that. You can just assume that your character has already heard about all the above ICly through town news criers and the rumor mill and all that.