Rimworld - Colony 1 - Part 3: Warg Woes

Current Objectives

• Research: Begin improving the colony's technology to ensure survival, such as automated turrets, weapon and armour construction. As well as the means to refine the resources required for those discoveries.

• Expand the Colony: New brick structures needed for storage, living space and workshops, allowing the old wooden structure to be repurposed in the future as a hospital or prison.

• Recruit More People: Find, hire, convince or bribe people to join the colony, ensuring more can be done within each day and allow specialists to focus on their main passion skills, such as research or cooking.

Day 11

With the wildman still roaming around, none of them really had any idea how to handle civilising him, with only Ara having even the vaguest notions of dealing with animals, much less a feral human. They realised they needed more people with a broad selection of skills if they wanted to do more than simply survive going forward. They needed crafters, fighters, doctors and farmers. It was true they had removed the immediate worry of survival, yet as the attack had shown them, not everyone who lived nearby was friendly.

They planned to build south and west. To the south was an obvious choice as a geothermal vent lay there, which would likely resolve most of their power issues if they were careful. West was also a solid choice as a mountain ensured their colony's planned structures would be protected from one side.

The Warg was still a minor concern, and Bowman was making sure to keep an eye on it. If it turned hostile, they'd need to take it out quickly, as it would clearly make short work of them if it got in close.

Day 12

Food was still an issue, and Bowman was doing her best to ensure what little they did have was cooked, and they all had at least something to eat in a day yet all their hopes remained with the crops growing steadily and providing a good harvest. They knew if push came to shove, they'd have to start hunting some of the local wildlife and simply hope it didn't turn hostile.

With winter fast approaching, wood was something they decided to stockpile and they knew they'd need heating too. Hermine was worried about how much pressure that would put on their limited power supply, and warm clothing was also considered. Though, as with building and brickmaking, it appeared only Hermine had any notable ability when it came to tailoring clothes, not to mention they'd need fabric to work with in the first place.

Ara sought to remedy that by planting three smaller fields near the power building. One for cotton plants, one for haygrass and another for hops. Having some booze to while away the days felt like something they all would enjoy, even if just to take the edge off the hard days they had endured and to cope with those that lay ahead.

Fox Note: Haygrass is something I just want to stockpile for when I eventually try my hand at herding animals for milk and such. Seems like a good idea to start sooner rather than later!

The first strawberries were harvested, much to the delight of everyone having something tastier than rice and rabbit to eat, variety was always appreciated, though Bowman was a long way from becoming a more accomplished cook; practice would make perfect, though. Such was the hope.

Day 13

The weather had been mostly in their favour until that day when a heavy thunderstorm swept in during the early hours, lighting up the sky as Hermine continued her task to stockpile bricks ahead of the large construction projects they had planned. All while hoping no lightning struck nearby and set fire to their home, given it was entirely made of wood. Something they'd attempt to rectify before winter engulfed them.

They could build to the west or the south, with both having their advantages and disadvantages. The western choice was geographically slightly safer, reducing the need for a perimeter wall on two sides, making it a logical choice for their new home structure. There was a geothermal vent to the west as well. The southern option would put them much closer to the geothermal vent, potentially solving most of their worries about power, though it would need a perimeter wall to be built on three sides, meaning it would be more vulnerable to raiders.

They spent most of the day deciding which option would be best for them before eventually settling on the West. The vent was more awkwardly placed, though some clever use of walls seemed to make it much safer from attack than the building to the south for now. If they had more people, it'd be a different story; for now, they had a hunting rifle, a pistol and a knife between them to defend themselves. Fine for dealing with the occasional club-wielding raider or wild animal, less so for dealing with a similarly armed opponent.

Day 14

With cotton being an uncertain resource to gain before winter arrived, Bowman decided to go hunting, and Hermine could use the leather to make ponchos for the winter as a fallback option. It wasn't an ideal solution, though; nothing since they crash-landed had really been anything even close to ideal.

Fox Note: Recruiting people seems largely at the mercy of the AI director and taming a 'feral' human takes more animal handling than any of my current colonists have. So, short of smacking raiders over the head and taking them prisoner (and convincing them to join), I'll have to hope for random events. Also, I need to set myself some more specific objectives next time!

The arrival of a caravan during the night was interesting, although not all that useful, they had only a small pile of silver and not much else to be worth trading just yet. Though Ara hoped that with the hops, they might be able to sell any excess beer to passing traders to give them some trading power. That wasn't the only event that occurred before first light, either; a lone raider from another hostile settlement came screaming toward their home with a knife.

Before they could wake up and get into position, the raider set fire to the horseshoe pin before pursuing the trading caravan passing through, injuring one of their number before being taken down. The raider had been carrying a couple of survival meals, a nice bonus for their rather meagre food supplies, given that Bowman had only fired a couple of parting shots at them and the traders had taken them down instead.

The first of the potatoes was also harvested, further taking care of their food issues, meaning most of what they needed to do was simply stockpile as much as they could before winter. Hermine also hoped to have the newer structure built before the snow arrived as well though that was more an aspiration than an expectation. Add that onto cargo pods full of hops falling from orbit and it seemed they were having a relatively good day.

Day 15

The foundations for a new structure comprised of sandstone were laid out, including space for bedrooms, workshops and a new storage area slightly larger than their current one. The existing wooden structure would be turned into a mix of both an infirmary and a prison. Ensuring that if any attackers survived, they could be patched back up and convinced that working with them was better than whoever had sent them to meet their doom.

A large caravan arrived, much to Bowman's annoyance; they had nothing to trade, a small pile of silver and no real means of trading for the things they would need short-term or long-term. Though the Gubia Confederacy found it fit to blame them for the death of one of their members when the Warg that had been roaming around killed one of their members. Bowman found that more than a little irritating, given they were the ones who had attacked it in the first place, making her wonder if they were trying to provoke a conflict or use the loss to leverage more favourable trades in the future.

With the crops being harvested, the Warg being butchered and a stable power supply keeping their food from spoiling, they'd ensured they wouldn't starve during the winter at the very least. The new structure was taking shape, with Hermine only being worried about needing a supply of steel and components later for the increased need for power, her plan was to wall off the nearby geothermal vent and build a generator from it.

It wasn't all perfect, however; Hermine caught the flu, likely from the heavy rain that had been lashing down all day while she was working outside to get the new building up and running.

Things were looking up, though they still had a lot to do before they would be able to survive the winter. Would they make it or would fate throw another boulder into the boat?

Please remember if you love what I do, consider donating via Ko-fi to help keep me afloat, if you have comments by all means, poke me on Twitter or Bluesky (I'll add a link soon.)