OOC) "From Mormons"? So would you learn it from someone who was not a Mormon?



No one really does any work. They carry the supplies to where they need them, then just stand back and psionically lift them into position and then psionically drive in the nails and whatnot.

The boat leaves with Campbell and the rest, leaving the workers. After several days, you're wired with solar panels and hooked up with electricity. Then they start working on the plumbing. Your sleep rotation amounts to staying awake for four days, then sleeping for about twelve or sixteen hours at a stretch. Just like with the solar panels, they physically move the pipes, then just stare at them and hook them up with their psionics. It might be slower than doing it with their hands, but it's much easier.



In addition to the military canned food, you also lead an exploratory mission of the island. You find lots of wild fruits and animals. After a few weeks, you celebrate the work's completion with a pig roast with fresh pineapple and banana.

The island seems to be free of zombies. Or at least you don't find any.

After a month, all of the work is done. The buildings are repaired. The place is all set up with electricity.

The Arizona returns. Carly Rae, that is, Doctor Jepsen, asks to talk to you. She says:

"It's about the blood sample you gave. I noticed right away it had a golden tinge unlike any I'd ever seen. After further analysis, I found that it is infused with scriff. It is completely resistant to the zombie virus. I believe a vaccine could be made from scriff to combat the zombie virus."

And you know that scriff creates versers.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:22, Thu 06 July 2017.

I could learn psi from others.

I check with the workers to see if there are any interested in becoming farmers, or fishermen.  Explain that I'm looking to sell land at very reasonable rates.

The idea is enough to pay for a clerk, and a small budget for minor things.  I'm thinking Homestead Act.  Get a decent plot of land, fix it up for five years, and pay a one time fee of 25 other universe dollars, which are pegged to the Mormon currency at a one to one value.  Then the land is yours, free and clear.

I start surveying if anyone knows how to do this.  We make square lots of fifty acres.  I put up a map in the admin's (moi) outer office where folk can see it.

I do enjoy the pig roast, a lot, and I point out that if we catch some small squealers, we can grow them up, and have a steady supply of pork bbq and bacon.

I will set up the Island Monetary System with my other universe dollars.

When Carly comes by, I show her the cleared land for the Recuperation Center.  A nice bit of land with ocean breezes, space for park and garden, and a beach along with the  hospital, and the long term convalescence huts.

Out there, I speak to her about being a verser.

"I can't stop you.  I'm not sure I should stop you.  But if you can, try another way."

OOC) I never understood why MJ made me do this until I started running games. Tell me exactly what you're telling her about being a verser. Don't just say "I tell her about it" tell me exactly what you're saying to Carly Rae about being a verser.

In reply to JohnA1nut (msg # 43):

"Doctor, what you're asking has its own problems.  That scriff can make a man vanish from the world, perhaps never to return, wandering the Multiverse.  If you do this, you will be sending many to such a fate.  I'm one such person, and while its not horrible, many would not like it."

Like who? And why not from Mormons? Does it matter from whom you learn the skill?

Also, where would you want to go next? I'm thinking of two worlds to send you to. Just say Future or Past.



GE 21

None of the people currently here are interested in that. But they'll pass the information along.



So you do that. No takers at the moment, but you get it surveyed.



That works. There's also other animals you could pen up.

Campbell promises to bring Angus on the next voyage. He's a farmer and he'll know what to do to get this all set up.



Campbell asks you again about the symbol. He wants to know where you got those bills.



She nods with approval. She really appreciates what you're doing.



Doctor Jepsen considers for a moment, then finally says "That actually explains quite a bit. For years after scriff technology was developed, there have been unconfirmed reports of people who recently used it disappearing inexplicably. So are you saying that's what happened to them? They stepped into this 'Multiverse'? Well, take comfort in the knowledge that you at least are immune to the zombie virus."

But then after a pause she says with regret "I thought we finally had a cure for this plague. What you're saying is that it would be Thalidomide all over again."

'A man needs his secrets, Elder Campbell." I say with a laugh, trying to duck the question.

I agree with the Doc with a sober expression.

What other animals?

I do another search of the island just to make sure there are no new saplings of zombie trees that sprang up or anything.

OOC: I've heard things about Mormons and fate that I don't really like so learning odd things from them is not my thing.  When you're playing around with your mind, it seems a bit of caution is in order.

Past.

He agrees with this statement. "A man is nothing without his secrets."



"It's a place to begin. Perhaps we can isolate the scriff structures that give viral immunity from the scriff structures that cause Multiversing. I'll get on it immediately."

And she asks for another blood sample from you.



What other animals would you want? Anything you want is just a dice roll away.



GE 16

You find no evidence of any new zombies. Nothing has changed.



OOC) Well, who would you learn psi from? You don't like to retcon. I love to retcon. We can retcon that so Campbell is whoever you're willing to learn psi from. I don't see what the big deal is. But you actually helped me write this world. You wrote something on GO about who would be likely to survive an apocalypse. Mormons and Amish were two that you specified. At about that same time, I went on a psychotic bender about zombies. When I sobered up, I combined the two threads and this world was born.



OOC) NUTS!!!! I was hoping you'd say future. The two past worlds I have kind of require the player to have magic. What kind of magic would you want to learn? Remember what I said? My biases are either 15@10 or flatlined? This is 15@10 across the board. You can learn psi and mag here if you want.

She takes the sample and promises to be extra careful with it.



Along one of the beaches, you find several smashed crates marked "Property of the San Diego Zoo." and roaming the island are all the animals you could ask for.



OOC) Originally this world was flatlined, but I said "Screw it!!!"



OOC) It's all 15@10. You should know that.

As a matter of fact, you find an old book in someone's quarters. It's a tome the size of a telephone book. On the first page is written:

"Oh great book of spells
in these pages dwells
secrets no one tells
awake!! For Gargamel!!!"

It's got everything from making black iron, controlling energy flows, and some cauldron recipes that are either magic, or the grossest casseroles imaginable.

What kind of magic do you want to learn? It's in this book.

I'll get some of the workers to put up corrals next to each other on the outer edge of town.  And then I take the Book of Spells, and look for some magic to attract and calm horses.  Also, I try to practice using a lariat.

We get started on putting up the Recuperation Hospital, and garden and stuff.  I deal with the doctor as to what he needs.

OOC: So I can maybe do miracles?

You chant some foreign words and try to approach horses. They run from you. If you do manage to get close, they bite and kick and won't let you near them.

(BOTCH!!!!!)

But the lariat practice goes well. You rope a wild hog for dinner.



You mean "She". The Arizona comes back with supplies to build a hospital. It all goes well for you. Two of the zombies are brought to the hospital for experimentation. Doctor Jepsen injects them with different scriff compounds. One verses out right in front of her. The other has no effect. The zombies are green-skinned. They require sunlight to stay charged. If denied sunlight for extended periods, they die.



OOC) Define "Miracle". There are those that would say Magehammer creating a block of ice out of thin air is a miracle. If you're looking to magically cure the zombie plague though........

In reply to JohnA1nut (msg # 51):

"Doc!!" I'm freaked.  "You have to stop.  We might have just spread this disease to another world."

=======

I look at the horses, blow out my breath, and try to approach them.  When they show anger, I back off and try again.  When next time fails, I give it up.

============

Still, I'm pleased to have another luau.

======

Miracles. Holy magic. "Dear God, heal this man, and bring fire down from heaven on that evil vampire."

Doctor Jepsen considers for a moment, then finally says:

"With what you've told me about this versing, and the fact that your body is immune to the virus, my guess is that he will be cured upon landing in the next world."

But she does agree to stop testing scriff on them.



And so is everyone else.

So you've got a MASH unit set up here. What else are you trying to do?



Of course you can do that!!!

The book does speak of a magical item. The Hammer of Heracles. It was a weapon wielded by an ancient king. Supposedly had the power to throw lightning and fire and to heal anyone of any diseases.

In reply to JohnA1nut (msg # 53):

"OK, Doc, you're probably right. But thanks for ceasing the testing."

============

I begin to pray more for safety for the islanders under my rule, and for their souls, and I also pray for putting things together well.  Some people are able to design cities and such with experience, or with logic, but not me, so much.  But I'm aware that certain relatively small differences can make a huge difference in how pleasant and useful a space is.

================

I talk to the soldiers who are becoming workers about whether they would like to move out of their barracks into small homes.  I expect they would.  If so, create neighbourhood, call it 'Beachside' with simple square block layouts for a hundred homes eventually.

Ten houses on First Street with three crossing roads, Pineapple, Banana, and Mango.  P and M are the endcap streets, and B runs down the center dividing the five on the left of First from the five on the right side of First.

So, 100 (starts at a 100) First Street would be at the corner of First Street and Pineapple Road.

Create a basic layout for each house.  Kitchen, bathroom with sewer connections, one bedroom, and one living room, and one closet.  I expect everyone to get the same, and then over time, one guy adds a new bedroom when he gets married and has a kid, and another guys adds a porch, and so on.  People are going to want to individualize.

Can I hook this into an existing septic field for the stuff?  Do I need a new one?  Is there enough water pressure, or do I need to make a new water tower?
[top]

Doctor Jepsen says "Maybe you'll run into him in The Verse."

OOC) Hint hint!!!!

As far as the rest of it, Campbell tells you that everything you want is doable. You don't have to pay a dime for any of it. In fact, they're offering you rent for the space they're using. This is a fortified location against the zombie threat. You're just going to have to put up with a lot of Mormons.

"So, what can I offer you as compensation for the use of your land, King Ashley?"

Mormons are generally nice people.

"Maybe." I say to Doc.

I explain that at least for the houses, I don't want rent.  I want homeowners, not renters.  Homeowners take more pride in their property, and also a society of homeowners is better in my opinion than a society of renters.  A man should be able to say "I'm going to my home, and no one, not even King Ashley is invited."

I tell them to put it on credit.  When I think of something, or when I see we need something, I'll talk to them.

OOC:  Perhaps we can move this along to the point where the hospital and its gardens and bungalows are completed, and the Beachside development is completed.

Campbell accepts this. He appreciates your sincerity. He explains though that he's not talking about the people renting from you. He's talking about the church renting from you. Governmental body to governmental body. He's not anticipating that there will be many individual homeowners here. This is a recovery center, military base, farm, etc. Most folks will rotate in and out. Very few permanent residents.

OOC) When Magehammer takes leadership of a city, he writes the laws to have lots of exceptions for people of wealth, influence, power, clauses to escape punishment for making restitution to the victims, things like that. Who but the king or a mage could make sufficient restitution for some crimes? In the end, the laws are worded such that he and he alone cannot be prosecuted for any crime. But he tends to be a benevolent ruler with an iron fist.



He appreciates that. Whenever you're ready.



So (Six months? A year?) later, there are about 100 houses, 50 on each beach side. The middle tract of land is being used for farming. The dock is repaired. You've got ships coming and going. Dropping off, picking up, the Arizona is a frequent visitor. The MASH unit is upgraded to a proper stone and glass hospital. Campbell shows you a set of blueprints for your own personal house. It's 2 stories, 12 bedroom, 3 bathrooms, four car garage, two living rooms. Or you can design your own house. Wild pigs, cows and other animals found roaming the island are domesticated and penned up. The island is made up of rich, volcanic soil and you've got a year round growing season. You've become a minor exporter of fresh meat and produce, which are rare and valuable commodities. You can set your own price for those. The farm crews are made up of the missionaries that would go door to door in a normal neighborhood. It's like scout merit badges to them. They live here for a few months, earn some kind of work credit, and rotate out. They're not here for more than one or two growing cycles, typically.

And you can of course veto and/or add to anything stated. Think of this like a cooperative game of Sim City, and you've an infinite money cheat code.

OOC) And to think, initially you wanted them to leave you here by yourself.

(Doing Therapy)

Two Posts

The head of the farming community and one of the few semi-permanent residents is an Amish farmer named Angus. He stands about 6 foot 8 in his workboots. Mid fifties, very muscular. He's the kind of guy you can just look at and know you want to stay on his good side. The Amish communities, if they were organized into one group, would probably represent the third largest governmental body in the world. They work closely with the Mormons. A lot of people "Went Amish" and joined them when they realized how well the Amish were living and eating in the face of the mass shortages of food. Angus moved his whole family here.

He wears a bag over his shoulder that contains a 20 pound sledgehammer and a double bladed wood chopping axe. And he's spent the last 30 or so years defending his home with them. According to rumor, he's been known to walk into a field full of zombies with the axe and sledgehammer and 20 minutes later, is the only thing that walks back out.

He brings you out into the fields to show you the progress they're making. The Mormon boys tend to be good hard workers. There's not a lot of dissent among them. They hold prayer meetings and church meetings on a regular basis. You are of course welcome to join. They have to try to convert you. It's just their way.

(Doing Therapy)

I'll make an effort to make it easy to get long-term housing.  Over time, I hope some will fall in love with the Island, and want to stay.

I'll take their offered house, with a few minor mods, since me and interior design just don't work well together.  I try to learn a bit of that from the architect so that I won't be so clueless.

I'll give them a good price.  One thing is the Henry Ford thing....cheap, good product makes people want more....and you could end up making more money that way.

I'll talk with Angus.  I ask him to come walking with me for a couple hours.  We go to a nearby, undeveloped area.  I hope there is some sort of nearby area with flatland, and water from a river.

"You're a great help here, sir.  I wondered if there were some of your fellows and sisters, families even, that would like to come to the Island.  I could see an Amish farming area, with a small market village here.  Put the village over there, by the creek, or on the shore.  We could run a road up here from the Main Town, suited for wagons, no mechanized traffic allowed.  And then you could have farm lots dealt out spreading out from the village.  I'd have a few rules, but mainly you and yours would handle things on your own."

As to the Mormons trying to convert me, well I try to convert them right back.

You're not really going to have that among the Mormons. This what you signed up for with them. You might have it with some Amish though.



You are also given a Mormon army jeep to drive. It's four wheel drive and runs on distilled alcohol. They don't drink alcohol, but they do use it as a fuel and other purposes. But it is drinkable grade.



You come to a good price for the exports. You're going to be rather wealthy in Mormon currency soon.



Angus drops down onto one knee before you and bows his head, to give thanks for your very generous offer. He's praying, thanking God, and thanking you at the same time. Then he rises to his feet.

The island is a rectangle, roughly 24 square miles. Your section of the land, where you live, and the docks is about 2 square miles. The area taken up by the Mormon colony is about 12 square miles. The area where you've taken Angus is trees and forest. They're going to have to clear cut that. But that's nothing they haven't done before. And they'll have logs for their cabins. But there's about 10 square miles of forest land for them. And Angus knows that he and his Amish brethren will relish in the challenge of taming the wilderness.

In a deep Slavic, Germanic, Russian type of accent, he says "I owe you a great debt. You have given my family and friends a safe haven. Away from the zombies."

So he's going to talk to Campbell about relocating his former community here. He thinks this will work perfectly for them. They're just going to have to do the Amish equivalent of "Roughing It" for a few months whilst they tame this beast.

On a side note, Angus' axe/sledgehammer fighting style is very similar to the katana/blacksmithing hammer style you learned in Arcade. He could and will train you in that if you ask him.



You have some lively discussions with them. Unfortunately, since they rotate out every three months, you can't really get to know them.

(Doing Therapy)

Two Posts

OOC) I'm going to assume you won't mind me skipping ahead a bit to when the Amish move in. I've just got an idea and I want to run with it.

A week later, several wooden sailboats arrive at the dock. The boats are reminiscent of the Mayflower. About a hundred Amish men, which is to say any married male over the age of 15 land there. It seems in their culture, you are a man at 15, but you're not a Real Man until you're at least married. Only Real Men get picked for assignments like this. So, all of them have wives back home, some have children. They're the first wave. The women and children will be along when the land is tamed enough for them.

Remember when I said you found crates from the San Diego zoo? Yeah, there's about a half-dozen tigers roaming the island. A small pack of lions, half-dozen elephants, monkeys, and a lot of deer and rabbits.

The Amish want to leave enough forest to allow the desirable animals a place to live. But they have no problem hunting the tigers and lions to extinction. Every time one of them is bagged, they make a feast of the tiger. A popular Amish expression among them is "All meat is meat." One of the men, a leather crafter by trade, offers you a tiger skin coat.

The elephants are domesticated, tamed, and used as beasts of burden, in addition to the animals brought by the Amish. Taming wild animals is what they do.

For the moment, the Amish sleep outside under the stars. They live completely off the land. "What can we need that the forest cannot provide?" is another popular expression among them. They're cutting down trees and building cabins with the logs. But it would be seen as a dishonor for one person to use a cabin before there are enough for everyone. So the built cabins stand unused for now. They're sleeping outside under the stars until there's enough cabins for them all.

Several of the Amish, as well as some Mormons take monkeys and chimps as pets. The smarter chimps are trained to do basic housework by the Amish.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:38, Wed 26 July 2017.

Three Posts (Sorry buddy!!!)

The Amish idea, their ultimate goal, is to give each man a family cabin and up to six acres of land to do with as he pleases. (Just Googled, 640 acres in a square mile.) Most of the farmers won't take the whole six acres, so they'll be plenty of room for expansion. They're not all farmers though. Some are blacksmiths, leather workers, woodworkers, etc. But they all do a little bit of everything. The blacksmith is 2@5 blacksmithing and 1@5 farming, whilst the farmer is 1@5 blacksmithing and 2@5 farming. This is going to take up about 1 or 2 square miles of their allotted 10. The farm proper is going to be 3 or 4 square miles and worked by all of the farmers. Which is to say, everyone in turn. That's barns, grazing land, fields, all of it. Leave the remaining 4 to 6 square miles of the densest forest for the animals, and as a hunting ground.

Ultimately, there's going to be between 500 and 1,000 Amish people. Two hundred families of varying sizes. There's more previously unmarried men who will be coming with their new wives, and the wives and children still on the way. Every once in a while, a boat shows up with a newly married man to help work. He got his honeymoon, hopefully impregnated his wife, and now it's time to earn his place in the world and make a home for them to come to.

There's a few lakes and streams for water and fish.

It's a volcanic island, and is rich in iron. The blacksmiths are making most of the tools they're using on the spot.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 10:36, Thu 27 July 2017.

"Angus, I'm sure in years to come I'll be happy to have such solid men in my land.  And being able to buy honey and mango jelly from you will be nice as well.  I look forward to seeing horses and buggies on the streets of this Island."  I clap him on the shoulder, my eyes tearing up a bit.

============

Not interested in the drink of alcohol.

============

I will take the tiger skin coat.  It looks awesome, and ferocious.  Unfortunately on a tropical island, its not much use, but I tell him that I have a feeling that eventually I will be going to places where it may keep me from freezing.

=============

I'm happy to see the elephants being domesticated.  Its the individual initiative I want in my society.  A king simply does not have enough time to make all the wise decisions in a society.  Neither would such a society be free.

The tigers being killed off makes me a bit sad, but the Island is too small for them to be free roaming, and losing a child would be a tragedy.  I support the extinction efforts without quibble.

I try to keep an eye on ecological invaders.  I don't want what happened in Australia with rabbits to happen here.  If need be, I post good bounties on anything that seems like an invasive species that is getting out of hand.

========

I host a grand feast/party when the Amish finally get up their houses.

============

Angus says jovially "Friends clap shoulders. Brothers hug!!!!"

And wraps you up in a chest-crushing embrace and actually lifts you a few inches off the ground. When he sets you back down, he too has tears in his eyes. He's very grateful for this safe haven. And for the work. "I've not tamed a wilderness since I was barely married." He's loving the challenge of it all.

He didn't do you any permanent damage with the hug, but you're fairly certain you never want him to do that again.



The Mormons don't either. Some of the Amish men do though. But they all see the logic of having drinkable alcohol.



Angus asks if you can have more elephants shipped here. They're apparently very easy to tame and one elephant does the work of a team of plow horses.

Angus says "I don't know how we ever got along without them."



They assure you that there's a lot more lions and tigers in the world. They're not even close to being extinct like on our world.



So far nothing the island can't handle.



You mean when they bring their wives and families here? They would bring their families here when they deem the land to be tame enough for them. That's when the houses are completed. Naturally they're going to celebrate that. The farm will still need to be built and the rest of the land will still need to be tamed; but a house to protect the women and children when the men can't. That's when the land is tame enough. Some of the cabins they're building are rather elaborate. Multiple rooms, some have two stories.

So you end up hosting a party that would rival the Ewoks of Endor. All of the women and children are here. Most of the just married women are pregnant with their first child. Several of the less than scrupulous Amish men make a point of introducing you to their daughters. Trying to marry them to a king. All in all, you have a good time.

(Doing Therapy)

Two Posts

When the barns eventually get built, they won't be log cabins. The Amish do have tools which can quite easily split the trees into crude boards. They just prefer log cabins to live in. More sturdy. So they're going to build the rest of it with boards.

The Amish and the Mormons don't grow all of the same crops. For example, the Amish grow cotton and hemp. The Mormons grow neither. Cotton and hemp is what the Amish clothes are made from. They do everything The Hard Way. Wives now sit at looms and spinning wheels making cloth from thread.

They do grow a few crops the same, and it is universally agreed that that Amish crops are better. So everyone on the island eats Amish grown crops and exports the Mormon crops. Where they're the same, that is.

They trade with the Mormons a lot. You are liked and respected for your easy going nature. You are welcome to sit at just about any dining table, anywhere on the island.

You are of course invited on numerous occasions to help them work in the fields or wherever you think your talents would be useful. That's Amish and Mormon.

The elephants are strong enough to pull out most tree stumps with ease. The Amish raise many more animals than the Mormons. The Mormons use alcohol fueled vehicles mostly, and the Amish of course use all beasts of burden. Horses, oxen, all burden animals are eaten when they die. The hides are tanned into leather. The bones are used. The Amish waste nothing.

The Mormons raise cows and chickens mostly. Fresh milk and eggs are incredibly valuable. And of course the meat.

The Amish raise pigs, cows, chickens, sheep, horses, hopefully about 10 more elephants, and others. Some find the chimp meat to be most tasty, and there are individuals raising chimps for meat on their 6 acres. But it's not really a group activity.

Again, the Amish meat is universally agreed to be superior, so everyone on the island eats that and exports the Mormon grown.

Your personal share that you eat is viewed as something of a tax worth paying. Or something.

OOC) You like this world so far?

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 01:11, Fri 28 July 2017.