STEEL Dominion

Shortages of Iron and Stone reported in Kumala!

More proof that the Chimera project is working...for the first time since we've been tracking such things, there is no stone or iron to be found at any price, anywhere in Kumala.

Each of the three of [REALM]'s Chimera have two towns now (with the founding of "Hidden Vale," pictured below), and with the promise of unlimited resources being showered upon them to facilitate rapid building, it's putting a strain on the entire region.  Signs of this are evident everywhere by the eerie lack of traders.

"There's just none to be found...anywhere in Kumala" Said one trader who wished to remain anonymous.  "I get asked by merchants from Devil's Island multiple times a day, but there's nothing."

Rumor has it that Velociryx has placed orders privately with powerful, independent merchants throughout Kumala, and if true, this could mean limited availability of these two resources in the Kumala region's open markets for the forseeable future.

When asked about it, Vel had this to say:  "Yes, demand is increasing in the region, and The Chimera Project is responsible for a big chunk of that, no doubt.  I expect that supply will catch up in time, but until it does, you can expect that what supplies are available on the open market will be more expensive than we're used to paying here.  Unfortunate, but also unavoidable...we have the funds, and we're paying market rates for the goods."

In addition to the six towns of The Chimera, Velociryx himself recently founded "The Hermitage," the ninth town under his direct control.  This will, no doubt, place further resource demands on a regional system already struggling to meet it.

"Temporarily," Velociryx assures us.  "Our first goal when developing new towns in this fashion is to get their native resource production up to at least fifty tousand raw resource tons a day (OOC: per hour), so they can stand more-or-less on their own.  Even so, with the amount of Prestige we're dumping into the project, they can spend it faster than they can make it...thus, the shortages for the time being."

The problem even briefly got beyond the control of Velociryx's normally extremely organized drovers and quartermasters, as the cities of Calimba and Kell faced temporary food shortages.

"It wasn't so much a food shortage as an allocation issue...some wires got crossed and two expected grain shipments were delayed.  Nobody did more than have a lighter dinner than they were used to, and then, it only impacted two meals...we're back on track now."  Velociryx told reporters.

And so they seem to be.  There's an economic miracle rising up in the steaming jungles of Kumala, and it'll be exciting to see what shape it takes as it continues to develop.

** Tylo Ghent posting for The Blind Scribe, stationed in Kumala

Dark Dreams

It was a very strange dream.

I was tied to a chair and a faceless man was hovering above me, a bullseye lantern positioned in such a way that its light shone directly into my eyes, mostly blinding me and reducing the figure before me to that of a looming shadow.

I was shocked and more than a little angered at being tied up, but then, the miscreant drew back and hit me squarely in the jaw, hard enough to spin my head around.

"I want something."  He said in a menacing tone.

"What?"  I croaked as I spit out some blood.

"I have no idea....but I want it just the same."

This confused me.  "But...if you want something, then does it not follow that you should have at least some notion of what it is that you want?  Else...why go to the trouble of binding me, striking me and making a demand."

This, sadly, earned me no reply save for another blow.  "Shut up.  I want something and you're going to give it to me, or I'm going to keep hitting you."

"But...that makes no sense!"  I protested.  "You can't come in here, tell me you want something, not have the first clue what it is that you want, and expect me to figure it out...God's Teeth, YOU apparently don't know yourself, so how am I supposed to know?"

Another blow.  "No idea.  I'm bored and annoyed, and I wanted to beat on something to demonstrate to you that actions have consequences.  And....stuff."

I wanted to scream in frustration, but did not want to give my assailant the satisfaction.  "So...let me get this straight."  I said to him, worried on some level that my comments might see me next swallowing my own teeth.  "You tied me up and started striking me because you were bored and I annoyed you somehow.  You tell me that I can make you stop if I but give you what you want, but you have not the first clue what that might be yourself, and so, insist that the ball's in my court to figure it out and offer it to you if I'm genuinely interested in having you stop hitting me...a thing it should be obvious that I"m interested in, since I didn't ask for the treatment in the first place."

"Yes...exactly.  That wasn't so hard, was it?"  The mailed fist drew back again, and I winced away from the blow that was sure to follow.

I woke up then, and could not get back to sleep, no matter how hard I tried.

It was a most curious dream, and it troubled me greatly...

The Mystery of the Vanished Colony, Rare Herb Theft, and Other News!

It has been quite some span of time since our last report from Devil's Island, although based on what is occurring elsewhere around the nation, missives from a jungle backwater may go entirely unnoticed in any case.

Nonetheless, while these events are not as rousing or globe-shaking as events in the larger, wider world, they are of import to us and ours.

The first bit of news is this:  As I, your Humble Scribe, have continued to grow my two settlements under the wing of Velociryx, I have had some talks with the folk in tiny Port Snores, to my west, on the peninsula.

Two weeks ago, the colony was completely vanished!

Every building, cow, chicken, and yes, person, gone as if by magic.

Carved into a tree on the outskirts of where the town once was, was a single word.

"Stormbind."

This brings to mind (for me, at least), the memory of the strange storm that stranded me here, and may well have been an attempt on my life.

Are the two in some way related?

Unknown at this time, but it is unsettling.

We were preparing to offer to buy the small town in order to better control the peninsula, but now, plans are being laid to claim sovereignty over the region in the small town's absence.

In other news, we were thrilled to have discovered a new patch of rare herbs growing just north of our HighLord's city of EastGate!

Troops were dispatched to lay a formal claim over the land and carefully guard and protect it, but at some point not long after our troops departed, rogue Herbalists crept onto the land and stripped it bare, much to our sorrow.

Lacking any evidence about who may have done the deed, there is little we can do, but we feel it represents a huge lost opportunity for us, and as such, is a blow delivered from an unknown quarter.

As for life on the island...mostly unchanged from our last report.

Having greatly increased our size via claiming sovereignty, we are in the process of consolidating those claims, building improvements on the land, and shipping vast quantities of resources to our Chimera, and watching them grow and begin to flourish.

It is a long, winding path we are on, but we mean to continue as best we can, even with the storm of troubles swirling all around us.

When asked direct about the looming nation-wide conflict, Velociryx would say only this:  "Most wars are ultimately fought for silly reasons, and this one seems to be no exception.  We've got no dog in this fight, and I hope it stays that way.  I've got absolutely no interest in it.  Besides, we've got more than we can say grace over, right here on our little island."

~Posting from Devil's Island, I remain Your Humble Scribe