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"Don't worry, my teacher, Miss Witta, is working on it. There just isn't much that we can do." |
There was a smattering of giggles. Vara stumbled a bit, only to be caught by a plethora of hands that helped right her. ****** (So they don't do X-rays or search for internal implants? And are signals being jammed from leaving the colony planets. That basically is a forking thing determining whether or not Aerlanicans become an endangered species, or they at least have a chance of keeping their race alive. That then depends on what Jonathan Blinds does, or doesnt, do when he returns.) Even for the iron stomachs and steel livers of the Aerlanicans, this appeared to be a problem. The alcohol from the sap was dumped out and scattered to the floor, and any brew made was completely destroyed. On the upside, they began to use it as a form of biofuel, refining it in a similar way. In the caves, they still continue to dig. They avoid major veins of ore, citing the faulty mining equipment, and ask for more materials. The Hartians carve swaths of blight away, focusing on the most blighted crops. Soup kitchens are set up to make the food they have last until they can successfuly plant and grow a crop. All exports stop. As for within Aerlanica, the increasing strain on food draws many to the ranks of Madylin, or through hundreds of attempts to flee abroad. Others scavenge what little there is, hunting even the cancerous beasts of the countryside. William walked through the hallway. ****** Eastrid frowned. She tapped her chin. She frowned as she scratched her chin. |
"I'm guessing it is something for my room then." ****** (No, not that intense, but outbound signals are jammed. Only Tyramonian signals are allowed out, which notably don't include the coordinates of the planets.) Even after they stopped drinking, the Aerlanicans continued to get sick, apparently as a delayed response. The miners are informed that equipment and materials are in short supply, and additional supplies will not arrive for "some time". On New Hartia, food imports stop as well, as the Tyramonians had expected crops to be growing and harvested by this point. High-risk jobs working on the environment are offered for food payment. The Royal Emperor instructs Iblion and Delegata to brainwash and plant spies to infiltrate Madylin's forces in large numbers. People trying to escape are killed mercilessly. Few escape with their lives. ****** ( "Well, yes, I do know a Priestess, but I don't know where they are now." |
"Maybe, you don't know." Another smattering of giggles. Ophelia urged someone to quickly open a door, and soon Vara was halted. "Ok, open your eyes on one, two, three!" Vara's eyes opened to reveal a trunk. ****** (Ah, so I presume a COURIER agent couldn't slip aboard and ping the federal navy on the rough location they're going. Got it.) The sick individuals are hastily quarantined. Those who are in good health isolate, but still work. The miners say that they can not work because their equipment is broken. The New Hartians inform the Tyramonians a blight has affected their crops, and that food is needed to tie them over. Nearly all the Aerlanicans refuse the high risk jobs, instead a wave of raids on these food depots occurs; those arrested claim it's a much safer and honourable thing to do before they face the firing squad. As for the spies, Iblion creates several dozen and sends them to be recruited. ****** ( Eastrid turned to Ken. |
Vara raised an eyebrow, curious. She approached and opened the trunk. ****** (Exactly. That's half the reason for the signal jamming. The other half is so people don't realize the truth of the places...) After about a week, anyone who drank the sap-alcohol began exhibiting symptoms of nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, sleeping issues, fatigue, and changes in amount of urine. The more the person drank, the sooner the symptoms came and the worse they were. Without proper medical equipment, diagnosis and treatment was largely impossible. Repair equipment is slowly provided on loan, but return payments are expected with interest. The New Hartians are informed that food is in short supply, but some will be provided. No definitive date is given for when said food will arrive. The military fires upon anyone who attempts to raid the food depot. If overwhelmed, the soldiers destroy the food rather than let the Aerlanicans have it. ****** (I'll wait for Kansas on this one.) |
Inside was a tastefully organised collection of attire, toiletries, treats and other such items. "Here, we'll show it all for you." Ophelia grabbed the attire and revealed two short dresses allowing her tail to comfortably poke out from underneath it, one was a dark green with long sleeves and a high neck, while the other had a deep V neckline and short sleeves. There were two longer dresses that had parts in the back to allow her tail to pass through, one was sleevless and made from cloth dyed a beautiful deep blue colour with silver highlights, hugging her form to her waist before flowing down, giving the illusion of a waterfall. The other was made from a sort of rose-gold taffeta, which was very much form hugging which while it would restrict her stride, would look wonderful. Also in the clothing was two pairs of faded jeans, one was long, while the other was short with an intentionally frayed edge. Once again, parts were in the back to allow her tail to poke through. Likewise, she was given a few shirts as well with a few artistic designs. Underwear was also provided, and was of little excitement. Ajoining this was two tubs of foundation, along with mascara, eyeliner, and some blush. While not overly special, it still was makeup and fitted her skin tone, it was clear they believed she knew how to apply makeup on herself. There were some hair brushes, hair straighteners and curlers, as well as a hair dryer. There was a veritable goody bag of sweets; caramel fudge, chocolate bars, candy canes, P's and Q's, it was as if someone walked into a convenience store and grabbed randomly at the candy isle. Likewise, there was a jewellry box. ****** (Fair enough, you want them all to die?) Thankfully, everyone under the age of 18 didn't drink. Unfortunately, everyone over the age of 18 did. Most the adults got severely sick, and were treated by these children to what little ability they had. Still, they held on, trying to survive. Communications were sent by some of these children saying everyone was "dying" and they needed doctors. The Miners complain that the repair kits they were given are...well...not as effective as advertised and that if they wanted ore they should provide better ones (the proper words used were infinatley more rude, and were laided with swears and curses, berating the Tyramonians for not knowing how to properly operate a mine, insulting their advertised superiority when they're so incompitent and inept, and claiming that the female foreman would find the communication officers father and, quote "give him a [REDACTED] son he can actually be proud of".) In short, the Miners were upset and, clearly taking their work seriously, demanded "actual" mining equipment with a machine shop to properly maintain their tools and equipment. They demanded better equipment, better conditions and better tools all the while claiming mining was an art and not an industry. "Entitled pricks, the lot of them," many Tyramonians murmured. The communication officer for the New Hartians, a Farnham, profusely apologised saying he didn't want to hurt anyones feelings, and assured the Tyramonians that it wasn't their fault the food was blighted and the planet wasn't properly screened by the Tyramonians for food, assuring them that, naturally, coming from a Place like Tyramon meant it was hard to know the ins and outs of temperare farming. In the mean time, the Hartians began the process of finding, and domesticating, local foodstuffs. |
Vara smiled. ****** (Honestly I was expecting them to somehow figure out a way to make at least some of them survive, but if my plan is too foolproof and fits well within the 33%-50% range, then sure. Also, if you do want any of them to get help, I do have a plan/idea for that, but that is up to you.) Doctors were promised, but as with the food for New Hartia, no date was given as to when the doctors would arrive. Eventually, proper repair equipment arrived, and the miners were able to continue their work. However, they were informed that the replacement equipment came at a high price that would need to be repaid. The financial situation of the miners was not looking good, and in order to survive they would have to push themselves to the limit and sell everything they mined. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the way of local foodstuffs. The only visible life was that of grass. If they had cattle or something similar, perhaps the grass would be edible for the animals, but there was no telling and they had no livestock. |
Inside the jewellry box were two pairs of earrings; simple gold rings, and ruby studs. There was two thin, elegant gold chain necklaces (one with a small ruby pendant on it) while there was also a longer silver chain that ended in a silver flower and a thin strip of black cloth, most likely a choker. A few bracelets, two gold, one silver and one seemingly bronze, while two small rings (one with a bell attached) were also there. "What...are these?" "You put those on your tail; we didn't know what you liked so we just gave you a bunch of stuff." Ophelia said. "I make jewellrey for succubi appendages as a hobby...so...you don't have to wear it if it's not your taste, we just didn't know what you liked, so we got a bunch of stuff together. Just tell us what you like, and what you don't like." (While i won't say much, I will say this, between Madylin's troops, the Aerlanicans on the non-occupied planets and those currently stomping around Augusta, there's only 75 Million of the 700 Million Ethnic Aerlanicans not under Tyramon-Primaeri control, that is little over 10%. 50% of the Aerlanican population has survived the years, with 50% dying from the Aerlanican Civil War, Z-day, the Primaeri wars, and just general problems in life. Furthermore, Jonathan, who if you're following the Children of Eternity thread shook hands with the Abyss, swindled him, and is now not only healed of all the injuries (like the scar tissue in his lungs, and the carcinomas in his body), is also juiced up on abyss juice and also loves Aerlanica, but is currently trapped in the Abyss. It's Tyramon's time in the sun, you do you, i'll follow your lead. You want them to get help? be my guest. You want them to find a way to survive, go ahead, you want them to all die, I'll grove that way with you. I will say this, however; All actions cause ripples that either calm the waters or bolster the waves.) The Aerlanican children and teenagers on New Grendel continue to work dilligently, but with no medicine there isn't much they can do, and there are currently too many mouths and too little people able to bring food in. Likewise on New Hartia, they begin rationing the soup they have. With no local crops, they have to hope the harvest gets some food in. The Aerlanican miners, still very upset at the Tyramons simply handed them a large portion metals they were mining during their arguments with the Tyramonians and while they request better, more functional, equipment. This showed that despite the unreliable machinery, the Aerlanicans simply made do, and duped the Tyramonians carving a decent chunk out of their debt. In Aerlanica Proper, the raids on the food depots got to the point where the Tyramonian forces lost control, ran out of ammo, and in some cases set themselves alight burning the food depots. Many cities were in open revolt, but Iblion simply slaughtered the entire population of one, women and children included, and crucified them across the cities of Aerlanica, supressing the revolts, but fueling the number of them siding with Madylin Jones. |
Vara smiled and nodded. ****** (Okay, I'll take that into consideration... Are significant numbers of Aerlanicans still moving to the colonies, or is it safe to say that just about everyone who will ever move already has?) After some time, some of the children become sick as well. Even without drinking the alcohol, something is making them sick, though nobody knows what. However, the symptoms are different for them, involving localized muscle weakness. Soon, it is discovered that the children have red bumps in the area of muscle weakness, likely from some type of insect bite or sting. The miners are rewarded with some more repair supplies to help them along, but some of the debt remains along with the constant need to import food and fuel. Iblion is instructed to find Madylin Jones and offer her an ultimatum: denounce the rebel actions, turn in the rebels, and return to loyalty to the Royal Emperor, or die a terrible death. If she chooses death, Iblion is to bring her before the Royal Emperor. |
"And hey," Harmony said, "If you need anything else, i'll give it a run to Augusta or the Roxium Federation." ****** (It's safe to say everyone who has moved, has already arrived at the colonies, those that have not are those who refused to move or those who now fight under Madylin.) With the children now out of action, the Aerlanicans on New Grendel are effectively doomed. While the children attempt to combat the insects, they have no flyscreen to protect them from the insects, and while they send an order for the material it's inevitable that it won't arrive on time. The last of the children succumb to the insect bites, and slowly begin to starve to death along with their parents. The miners still mine dilligently, continuing with their work and pushing further into the cores of the mountain. Due to the Cell Structure of the Final Authority, most cells choose death over divulging information. More numbers flock to the Final Authority's side out of sheer desperation than actual revanchism. Iblion, likewise, encounters several speed bumps in trying to find Madylin, who remains completely hidden, directing orders from an unknown command post. |
Vara nodded. ****** Oddly, only about half of the children have bites and are sick. A quick survey suggests that the insects are located only deeper in the forest. One child crawls back to camp out of the forest, with a dozen or so bites and paralysis setting in. He also gives off a strong, unidentifiable smell. The few stationed Tyramonians pack up and leave the planet, saying they will return with help but are currently needed elsewhere. They do not return. Great riches are found in the mountain, but while it would make them extremely wealthy on Augusta, here it only pays for the bare necessities. |
Harmony nodded. "So? what shall we do?" Tabitha asked, "The night is ours, after all." "We could...watch a movie maybe? go to the games room and put something on?" Judy suggested with a shrug. "Boardgame is on the cards as well," Ophelia said with a shrug, "We could invite Eugine over-" "Yeah, and have you start snogging him the night through. let's just have fun the five of us? is that too much to ask?" Harmony politely requested, but not giving up a chance to playfully poke Ophelia verbaly and physically. ****** With a noticable lack of food coming into the colonies there is not enough food to go around, the children are left forgoten, and the colony is all but wiped out. The New Hartian colony requests more food to help tie them over, asking for expediting deliveries. The Aerlanicans still mine. Paying off their debt. (I presume you're having them all die?) |
Vara wasn't really sure what angle to play, so she said nothing and let the group decide. ****** (Naw...but almost.) As one of the kids of New Grendel wandered the forest looking for berries, he saw a beautiful, strange woman wearing animal-skin clothing setting up a syrup tap into one of the poisonous trees. She placed a bucket to collect the sap and sat down. She wasn't one of the Aerlanicans, and from the look of her she wasn't Tyramonian either. Her skin was odd, with a tanned look, but instead of being on a brown spectrum, it had a orange tint to it, just enough to make her slightly stand out as being unusual. Some food does arrive to New Hartia, but not enough to last long. Satisfied that New Hartia will also be dead soon, the Tyramonians quietly pack up and leave the New Hartians with only the promise of their return. |
Eventually after much deliberation, they settled on having a boardgames, but looked to Vara on whether or not Eugine, who apparently had some relations with Ophelia, should bring a boardgame or whether they should get one they have in the common room. ****** Still respecting the "stranger danger" rule, the kid slowly attempted to walk away, snaping a twig in the process, getting scared, and hurrying away. ****** The Hartians still try to eek out what little food they have, waiting for the harvest. |
Vara agrees that perhaps it is better that just the five of them have fun together. ****** The kid makes it back to the settlement, but not long after the strange woman is standing at the edge of the clearing, looking curiously at the settlers. ****** Perhaps there is a god after all, because by some miracle the diseased crops produce just enough food to keep them alive, perhaps to the next harvest if they ration hard. |
"Alrighty...I'll go get the boardgame from the common room." Judy declares, "Hey, Vara, want to pick one out with me?" ****** The woman sees desolation and death in this one colony. What little children and young adults remain are heavily malnourished and digging fields of graves, throwing corpses in without coffins and placing rudimentary crosses or headplanks where they lay. All of them are starving, and many of them are barely strong enough to walk. They look at her with hollow eyes and apathy. Under normal circumstances they may have waved, beckoned, or even invited her in. But all they did was give a tired look of acknowledgement, and returned to work. She watched as one boy staggered, dropped his shovel and tumbled into a grave, only for two girls to begin burying him in dirt; he looked no older than fifteen. There were scant few adults. And they too were on deaths door, even smaller pits were dug for infants, dead without their mothers. ****** (The Hartians do not believe in god, no Aerlanicans do; they already gave up on there being a merciful higher power long ago) The Hartians harvest what little there is and plant more, awaiting the return of the Tyramonians, and often sending signals out saying that a good harvest came through, and they didn't need as much food as requested. They do also request the mechanisation of farm equipment. ****** The Miners, however, state that the air deep in the mines is getting stale. They ask for some mushroom plants from Twilight's hollow to clean the air, otherwise the mines will dry up. |
"Uh...sure...I don't know many games though." ****** The woman rushed over to the boy who fell in the grave and pulled him out. She lay him in her lap and tended to him. She pulled dried meat and fruit out of a leather bag she was carrying and began to feed him. She looked to the girls who tried to bury him. She spoke to them in some strange language. When they didn't respond, she tried again in Augustan. ****** (I know...I'm not sure why I thought so little so late might change their minds...) They are unable to send any signal, as all the communication equipment was taken when the Tyramonians left them to die. ****** Their request is received, but they are informed that transportation issues have increased. The standard arrival of food and fuel does not come. |
"Well...hey just point at one that has five or more players and we'll play it." Judy stretchd. ****** Tending the boy does little; he has died from exhaustion. The girls look blankly at the woman, their cheeks shallow, their faces gaunt, their eyes dull. They did not reply despite a faint flash of recognition at the language. They pulled the boy from her grasp and back into the grave, slowly continuing to fill in the grave. "What happened here?" "We lost the war." Came the raspy voice of a girl. "They said they were moving us to better places...but they just wanted to get rid of us..." The grave was filled. "Who...are they?" "The Tyramonians..." another boy, little older than ten, said, dragging what appeared to be his twin brother into a hole, "...we didn't do anything to them...and they destroyed us..." No tears streamed from his eyes as he slowly buried his sibling. They were empty. "Where are your parents?" The lady asked. "My dad died in the Civil War, mum was killed in the Primaeri orbital bombardment...older sister died during their invasion, and uncle's hanging from the tree on the other side of town...I'm the last one." He said blankly. "Not that it matters, anyway...we're all dead...probably better that way; at least we'll get peace." He looked at the woman, and shrugged. ****** With no food or fuel on the way, the mining grinds to a halt, and the Aerlanicans in the mines are doomed to die. With no way to get home, get help, or do anything since most the mined materials able to make components have simply been removed, and there are no tools capable of making anything involving microelectronics, the Aerlanicans simply sit and wait for the end to come. Some smile, happy that their lives full of pain and anguish have come to a close, others are furious, wanting to hang every last Tyramonian but now unable to do so, others try and fail to make any semblance of a long range transmitter, only for the signals to be jammed by the Tyramonians. Death comes for all, the death toll rises, one hundred million Aerlanicans join the one hundred and fifty from New Grendel. Only five hundred and fifty Aerlanicans remain. ****** The New Hartians, very much pissed of, continue on their way; while they arent dead, they still are not happy with their situation. |
Vara nodded and picked a game at random. ****** "Well I don't. Come, I'll get you off of this planet. It is not a place to live. Everything here is poisonous." ****** (I'm assuming all those numbers are in millions?) Few starve to death; the cold comes first. A few weeks later, Tyramonians return to gather up what supplies and valuables still remain, as well as to confirm the death of the colony. ****** Fortunately for them, the Tyramonians ignore them and don't yet come to check on them. |
Vara withdrew a colony building game, a familiar one, one she played with a familiar Grendel general some time ago. "Just curious...I'm Aerlanican; Raynes, specifically...funny thing happened when Iblion was turning me; took a solid ten days..." ****** (Yep) The kids don't move. "I'm not going to kill you." "Tyramonians said that as well...said we'd be going to a safer place, a paradise, a place where we'd be safe and free to live our lives. Look how that turned out." The kid stumbled away. Another boy grabbed him. The kid shrugged. A woman, tired and lethargic, walked by and dumped another body into a hole; it was a toddler, not even laid to rest with care. |
Vara pushed back the memory. It would do her no good to think on it now, beyond remembering the rules of the game. ****** A man in his fifties with gray stubble and gray hair emerged from the forest and approached the woman. He wore a similar style of clothing and had similar skin and features. He spoke briefly with the woman in their strange language and looked at the settlers. Pity and sadness filled his face. He said something to the woman before hurrying back the way he came. "That was the captain," the woman explained. "He will bring the ship here. We cannot fit all of you as our ship is small, but we will take the most desperate ones and leave behind as much food as we can. We will bring more ships to help you. How many people do you have?" (I'm thinking...hundreds? Thousands? Maybe ten thousand? How many should still be alive?) |
"I dunno, they say the biocode, but whatev's, I got able to be a Succubus so thats all that matters." "Waiting ten days wasn't that bad, the end result was nice, and life here is heaps better than Aerlanica." ****** (Well this is just one town, there's a lot scattered around, also it depends on how many adults died and such, you place the number and i'll adjust the total death toll accordingly; there were 200 million on New Grendel just a heads up) |
"Is there any particular reason you wanted to become a Succubus, or just...well...Aerlanica being the way it is?" ****** (Hmm...let's say around 7000 are still alive, but many more will die before they can be helped.) A roughly submarine-shaped flying vessel approached and began to land. It was roughly 100m long and was painted orange. Once it landed, a hatch opened up, deploying stairs held by a rope pulley system. More of the strange people emerged and began to try to help everyone. |
"I mean, would you rather have no arms or legs and beg for scraps on the street or live here? Sure, the Federal Government tried to help everyone, but I got to walk again and use my fingers once more, so that's a massive plus." ****** (We settling with 2000 or so survivors? maybe less?) Many stumbled into the vessel, with the thirty or so people that remained in the village, they managed to crawl their way into the ship. |
Vara nodded. ****** (More or less, yeah.) The people found themselves in extremely cramped quarters, but the ship actually managed to squeeze some ninety survivors onboard. They soon noticed that the ship was made of wood, not metal. In fact, there was no metal to be seen amongst any of the people. The crew also questioned the survivors, sternly asking if anyone was carrying anything metal. Any metal was not allowed onboard. |
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