Wernher

New Dawn of Civilizations(Always Open)

@Crusader Lord@Wernher@ActRaiserTheReturned@TruckKun

Side note, good posts so far and after talking to some people. I have been thinking about how people get resources for their civ. I am going to be more lenient with what resources show up. Like perhaps resources showing up, like after weather changes, exposing surface deposits. Like a small amount that you can get to work with and ease starting locations resources. Which would encourage people to look for more deposits. This is not to say, you can find trees in a desert or elephants in the UK. But, something more RP friendly and workable, and what do you all think of this?

@Theyra

100%, like I already said I think it's also realistic to expect some resources to simply have been depleted in time so of course we wouldn't have all the records, etc.

THAT BEING SAID... Do you mind if then I return to my original northern Italian claim? Moving to Sardinia was exactly because of 'ugh, I don't want to bother searching for everything so I'll just go with something that has a good cross section of historical resources' so if possible I'd go with my original idea.

New Dawn of Civilizations(Always Open)

Alright, my first attempt at innovating, tell me if its good or if you think I'm pushing it.

New Dawn of Civilizations(Always Open)

Saga of Astrid - Year 0 Day 22

Astrid hated this place. It had begun as merely uncomfortable but somewhat exciting and novel, but now that this was wearing off, all that remained was the daily inconvenience of living in such a primitive place. Everything to drink that wasn't water was lumpy and disgusting, that 'time of the month' was horrible to deal with and the lack of hair care product? Oh that might be the worst of it all! She loved her long blonde hair, not only that but it was also a status symbol! Everyone had commented about how beautiful and otherworldly it made her seem, 'hair like the sun' and so forth. At the moment Astrid realized that mysticism was what kept her alive as Chief Vilkas hosted her as entertainment.

On the problem of disgusting drinks she had a good idea of something she might be able to do to solve that problem, but she'd need more money than the few coins she had been given as 'tip' for her entertainment. Those coins however should be enough to maybe do something about her hair problem. Astrid had asked the local girls what they did for their hair as a desire for self care seemed universal for women no matter where or when and some different answers came up: Animal fat, oil, vinegar, some swore by certain recipe while others said these only made their hair worst...

But behind Astrid's eyes, the cogs were turning as she finally found a project that actually interested her! It was all chemistry after all. Lye soap. Sodium hydroxide for bars, potassium hydroxide for liquids, with fats or oils through a process called saponification. The problem? Lye soap was very caustic, so if you didn't wash it off completely it would indeed ruin your hair, thus the conflicting tales of its effect. Yes, this home-made soap for washing (with some rosemary to make it smell nice), cleaning with water and vinegar and finally some oil as conditioner, that seemed like a sensible hair treatment! Not the simple out of the bottle soap and conditioner but at least a solution.

"Oil? We don't make any here, but you're in luck! A greek merchant is passing through on his ship on his way west! I heard he doesn't speak the language though..." Lote, one of Chief Vilkas's young daughter, told her. As if she'd let this stop her, one could barter with body language alone! And so, she went to the merchant.

"Oil, do you have some to sell?"

"Ah! Someone who speaks a civilized language, of course my dear lady!"

Astrid raised an eyebrow, surprised to understand and be understood by the man completely. Meanwhile Lote and some villagers who were desperately trying to communicate with the merchant looked at her with eyes wide in surprise and amazement. She... didn't even notice anything! She just spoke to this man in plain Swedish, as she did all other people she had encountered so far, and apparently she was speaking Greek?

The immortal didn't understand, but she would make sure to use this odd opportunity! After all, everyone had so much trouble communicating with this man, why not offer her services while he was in town? For a price of course.

By arbitrating between merchant and clients, Astrid made a bit of money, by going to Vilkas and convincing him to loan her some money, she bought some goods herself to store and sell later, making more money, more than enough to experiment a little.

________________

Saga of Astrid - Year 0 Day 96

Finally, Astrid's golden blonde hair were as beautiful as ever! And so were those of most of the other women in town as they nagged their husbands for some coin or other things to barter for her new line of hair care products, the first one in history! She sold the basic formula relatively cheaply and even sometimes gifted it to girls who had special events, much to the appreciation of the villagers of course, but behind that was a marketing ploy.

First, her money mainly came (for now) from a girl she had trained to use the right amount of soap and oil with the right technique and who personally did the hair of the richer wives and daughters of the village for a tidy sum. Second, the women of this village with their beautiful hair were walking advertisements for her products and soon merchants who came around left with bars of her soap to sell around the island and other places in the Mediterranean! And these sales, ohhhh, she made a lot of profit alright! She couldn't mass produce this stuff anyways, so she sold it as a luxury product, hiring craftsmen to put them in nice looking little boxes and putting a a ribbon and a bow on top, they couldn't get enough of it!

And with this money and radiant hair, Astrid could move on to solve the next problem, getting something palatable to drink.

"It wasn't easy, but I finally think I built it to your specifications ma'am. What... what is 'it' exactly?

"It is called an Alembic, and with this I will make the drinks of the gods." Among so many other things. She had pondered the Alembic because everyone around here drank fermented drinks all the time, saying that water was dangerous (which made sense, fermentation killed bacteria), but thinking about it, this synergized very well with her first beauty business, with this she'd be able to make spirits, but also perfumes!

"Marlon, I have paid you generously to do this for me, have I not?"

"That you did ma'am."

"And I will continue to pay you generously to make more for me and above all, to never, ever make more for anyone else. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Marlon, you are a strong man, I have personally witness you drink a lot of ale. What is your record in one sitting?"

"Hehehe, a whole keg ma'am!"

"Impressive, I suppose. But we shall see how long you last against the drink that is called 'Vodka'."

Or maybe something closer to pure ethanol really, getting the right adjustments was not easy and ultimately she had to water down most of her batches (some she kept as medical rubbing alcohol), but she succeeded in making a product that was easy on the tongue and could make a man black out drunk. Easy on the tongue for the villagers maybe, but disgusting for a woman that didn't have a bottle of whiskey worth under 500$ in her liquor cabinet, but from now it was just a matter of adjusting the temperature, the time, aging the alcohol is casks and experiment. Experiment, experiment, experiment, with alcohol and with all the smells and odors she could also distill into perfume with the wondrous object that was the alembic!

TL;DR
- Astrid discovers she has a universal ability to understand and speak languages.
- She takes folk recipes of soap and uses her chemical knowledge to work out what works, what doesn't and optimize it all.
- She begins selling it as a luxury product.
- With the money she pays a smith to build a basic copper alembic to make alcohol and perfume. For the moment its ethanol/vodka, but she's experimenting.

New Dawn of Civilizations(Always Open)

Saga of Astrid - Year 0

Astrid awoke beside a small creek in the hills, naked and with no memories of how she got there. For a moment she simply sat there, looking around and trying to situate herself, but as much as she tried to remember how she could possibly have gotten here, all she remembered was going to bed after returning from her psychiatrist, her husband Bjorn once again having left a message that he'd be with his girlfriend tonight. It didn't make any sense...

But no matter, she had a meeting and was probably already late, maybe she had been kidnapped and when the criminals noticed who she was they left her in a field after stealing everything she had? She'd see soon enough. Seeing flowing water, she decided to follow it, figuring eventually this ought to lead her to civilization or at least the sea. But something was wrong... this wasn't Sweden. Actually, it was still familiar somehow... after walking for a while she replaced where she thought she had seen this kind of landscape, on a cruise in the Mediterranean!

After a while, Astrid stopped. Voices... yes, she was hearing people talk! In... Swedish? She understood them perfectly somehow! No matter, she walked up the hill and looked down under a tiny waterfall and saw a bunch of women in bizarre, rustic clothes. Her first thoughts were Sami natives, but this didn't fit with where they were.

"Excuse me, I need some help." She declared with a calm that mostly came from how tired she was after walking for hours bare footed. The women stopped what they were doing to look up with curiosity and then a mix of awe and fear. The difference between the two was massive! Astrid at 6ft tall with her long straight blonde hair and these girls who were much smaller, all with hair different shades of brown, they were looking at her like an alien.

-------------

The women generously gave something for Astrid to wear, though it barely fitted. When asked where she was, they simply answered Astrid that they were near the village. When asked to be more precise, they said it was Vilcas village, for Vilcas was their chief, as was his father Vilcas before. Astrid initially thought these people were LARPers who really stuck to character, but... when she said certain words like country, police, president, these people all looked at her with genuine misunderstanding.

Finally she was brought to the village where she quickly became the center of attention. To say the least she definitely stuck out, everyone around her had such a feeling of... inbreeding. Finally she was brought before Vilcas, a tall man -for his village- that arrived one head shorter than her.

"And who might you be lass?"

"I am Astrid. Astrid Palmkvist. Look, good sir, I'm sorry to bother you but I really need to contact the police. My father is a wealthy man, I'm sure he'll pay generously for any help you can provide."

This caused Vilcas to raise an eyebrow and the villagers around them to whisper. She clearly heard someone say she must've fallen on her head as she kept talking nonsense. The chief slowly approached her, reaching for one of her hands, which she pulled away reflectively as she stared down at the man. To be honest she was confused, she was afraid, but she had a gut feeling that now was not the time to show fear. The man held her gaze for a moment before smiling, seemingly amused.

"May I see your hand, my lady?"

He was polite, this seemed to prompt silence and renewed interest from the crowd. Astrid nodded and presented her dainty little hand with her long slender fingers.

"Well. Those certainly are not the hands of a commoner!" He said loudly as he rose her hand for the people around to see. Indeed she was free of callouses and blemish, those were the hands of someone who had never worked a day of hard labor in her life! Or for someone of this time and place, the hands of a noble.

"You seem to be lost and tired my lady, please, dine with us tonight, once you are rested we will see about returning you to your father."

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...Could it be she had been plucked from her existence and dropped on an alien world? Back in time perhaps? As around her people feasted around a fire (wherever she was, these people seemed to be quite rich in livestock) she looked at the night sky. No light pollution in the slightest, more than that, not once did she see the lights of a plane or of a satellite streaking across the sky.

"So, Lady Strid-" She could understand them and they understood her, but some words they seemed not to have the concept of, and likewise her name seemed foreign and unusual. "-why don't you tell us of your home?"

Astrid looked down on Vilcas and his assembled family and servants who looked at her with interest. Didn't they have phone to bury their nose in like normal people?

"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you." She said with a tired voice, not really being in the mood for any of this.

"Come on now! You certainly don't look like you come from these parts! Entertain us a little."

Astrid rolled her tongue in her mouth, calculating the situation. She was not in the mood but she understood this man was her host and, if this was not a nightmare that she'd wake up from tomorrow, someone who might have a lot of power over her destiny.

"If you insist, Chief Vilcas." Astrid deliberately took her time to sit comfortably and lean forward, so she might have time to think about what the hell she would even say! Talk about modern day Sweden? These people had no idea about half of the words she used to talk about modern life and what she described would seem like insane ramblings!

"...I come from a land called Gondor." She practically blurted out, shamelessly stealing Tolkien's intellectual property as she carefully looked at everyone around her for a reaction, a smirk or a face of some kind that would tell her they understood her cultural reference, but nothing.

If these people wanted to be entertained, then she'd entertain them! She had read everything Tolkien had written so she managed to recite the story of Gondor, Numenor, Sauron and the one ring pretty convincingly, answering questions as a matter of fact and keeping up the story better than she ever could a lie.

Ultimately, she and Vilcas's clan stayed up almost all night talking about Middle Earth and they would spent many nights hung to her lips as she used what knowledge of modern media she had to tell stories and keep the chief entertained. Eventually this became somewhat of a routine as Vilcas brought Astrid out to recount her stories to guests and travelers. Every day that passed forced Astrid to accept her faith and to be thankful of the role she had managed to get herself as she watched everyone else in the village toil with back breaking labor.

But was this it? No, if she had to stay here, she couldn't simply remain a curiosity to entertain others.

New Dawn of Civilizations(Always Open)

<Snipped quote by Wernher>

I mean like, mining or getting tin while in Madagascar, where there was no tin there, even historically. Like, look at the economy section of a nation in wikipedia, and if it says there that there is copper or iron in the nation, then it will be allowed to say set up a copper or iron mine if you start in that nation. If you say you are mining, let's say gold in a place that does not have gold deposits, even historically listed on wikipedia. Then no, that is not an option. But if the culture you start with, or you found that there are other resources like copper in Italy. Then just show me, and it will be allowed. You do not have to do heavy research for this, and just do some checking, and it will be fine.

Sure, you can get stuff through trade once that is set up, or if it is already set up, depending on the culture you start with. More so if the culture you start with has access to copper or bronze stuff. Either by mining or trade.

But, unless there is a good reason why you have something like elephants in the UK. Then no elephants in the UK since they were not there historically. So, for the last part of your question. The answer is yes, you cannot pull elephants, lions or silk worms out of nowhere since those were indeed from only a certain corner of the world.

Does this answer your questions?

@Theyra

Ehhhh, I might want to change location then.

If we go by that logic, then according to wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Italy , Italy is barren of any mineral wealth. Obviously its because modern day mining makes it unprofitable to exploit minerals from a first world country with deposits that aren't rich enough because otherwise it would mean the Roman empire started itself with just wood and marble. Now I could drag up the Roman mining article, but it describes what the entire republic/empire used so now I have to find very granular data to justify anything. And on the other side, some countries that are now considered extremely rich in mineral are only so because advanced mining technology allows to access these minerals and they wouldn't have been available during antiquity.

Now, I'm not bitching, I understand you have to run this show and this is an easy way to do it, but if this is how you want to do it I will relocate Astrid to Oristano, Sardigna, Italy since it will make anything resource wise sooo much more simple.

New Dawn of Civilizations(Always Open)

I personally dont care, I'll join a discord if there is one but I think we are perfectly good with just this thread.

And @Theyra please define 'pulling resources out of nowhere' because what I had in mind was say, I can manage to find mineral deposits etc with the excuse of 'by modern day it was exhausted' so I dont need to pull a geological survey to justify a copper mine, but I can't pull elephants, lions or silk worms out of nowhere since those were indeed from only a certain corner of the world?

New Dawn of Civilizations(Always Open)

Well, Astrid is a chemist!

But even if we go with the whole 'ooooo, the secret formula that we still have not rediscovered!' just the fact that we will jumpstart civilization and tech will likely have an exponential effect on what other NPCs will naturally discover, players wont have the monopoly of innovation after all.

Like our DM said, NPCs aren't stupid.

New Dawn of Civilizations(Always Open)

@Theyra Btw, on the subject of sciences and progress, I presume that our posts will be us communicating our intentions and methods to achieve them and you will in turn answer if we succeed or fail?

New Dawn of Civilizations(Always Open)

Something tells me the timeline for technological innovations will be accelerated somewhat lol

New Dawn of Civilizations(Always Open)

Astrid Palmkvist

Gender

Female

Age

33

Appearance

Astrid is impressively tall for a girl at 6ft3 with striking pale blue eyes and blonde hair, the rest of her features being less imposing with a thin frame with slight breasts and little in terms of hips. She is generally underweight though not in a bad shape as she used to ski and hike regularly.

Personality

The first thing about Astrid that is impossible to ignore is that she is a diagnosed psychopath, something she has known from a very young age and that she and her family spent many years working out. Her upbringing strictly reinforced in her the notion of not doing onto others what you would not want to be done onto you and to this day she works around doing the best she can to follow this creed. She can be very convincingly 'normal' but this is mostly all fake; her true nature is cold and calculating.

Nationality

Swedish

Education

Master's Degree in Chemistry

Former Occupation

Laboratory Director and co-owner of a small industrial paint business.

Skills

- Industrial Chemistry: Her bread and butter, most of it is way too advanced to be of any use so far back in history, but there are crumbs of knowledge that can certainly be useful.
- Astronomy: Her father used to take her hike up north to have a clear view of the stars, this caused her to have an 'astrophysics phase' but ultimately Astrid chose to instead go in a more lucrative field.
- Business: When she started her company with her husband Astrid was supposed to mainly focus on the product, but being a psychopath she found herself being a natural at doing commerce.
- Music: She was never interested in it, but her family insisted she learned an instrument, this left her quite proficient at the flute.

What you were doing last before falling asleep

Going to bed early while thinking about her last session with her psychiatrist.

Where your awakes up at

Oristano, Sardigna, Italy

Background

Astrid was born the only daughter of wealthy parents who treated her like a spoiled princess, as long as she excelled in everything she did. This constant attention thankfully meant that her psychopathic tendencies were discovered at an early age and her parents hired an army of child psychologists to make sure she would turn out normal, which she mostly did. She thus quickly learned to follow people's expectations of her, going through private school and university with success, there she met a socially awkward guy who also had high expectations from his family and the two mostly became a couple of convenience.

He studied in business and worked for his father for a while and she in chemistry and went to work in the private sector. When she discovered a process to make a copper based paint for ships that was 5% cheaper and 4% more effective than the current most popular mix, she and her husband were practically ordered by their respective parents to make a business out of it, one that knew immediate success thanks to the nepotistic connections both their families had.

While Astrid seemingly had the perfect balance in her life, her husband constantly had depressions, stating he felt unloved by his wife and so forth. Astrid encouraged him to go out and try to meet someone who could provide to him what she couldn't, but quite frankly she had judged him too pathetic and uninteresting to ever find someone else. This is why she was surprised when she saw him date someone else and flourish like he never did before, something she soon started to find extremely annoying. She tried to cope and rationalize this anger away but lets be honest, the night when she was transported back in time she was considering doing something drastic.

Goals/Plans

- Avoid dying in childbirth.
- Reach a point where no one has a power of life or death over her.
- Get as close to modern comfort as possible.
- Try not to fall to her base psychopathic instincts.

Why you picked your location

An interesting location without as much baggage as say Greece or Egypt.

Character Motivations

EITHER Try to make a world that works according to the values thought to her: Justice and the social contract, or if this barbaric place should prove too disgusting to change, amass as much material wealth and comfort for herself as possible.

Playing Yourself or Custom Char

Custom Character