Crypto Kingdom - 1991 Retro Virtual World(City)

[djjacket]

The King has sinned and The Bishop has given an audience to him. The church welcomes his repentance. His gift of 5000 gold shows his devotion to the church.  Especially with the tremors approaching, the time to act is now.  The Church has blessed the king and his ancient posessions due to the large donation that has been given. It cannot make up fully for all the sins of the Kingdom, however...

Others are welcome to the opportunity to donate in the name of Christ, Our Lord. Their sins shall be forgiven and their items blessed as well.

NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT.  

With the earthquake coming, will you want to take a chance without The Church's blessing?  Any donations will also be applied to the new Church level system that is now in place. We will determine after the quake which level this may be.

With God's grace,
The Church

The Prince of North Face has donated 20% of his total stone supply from his previous quarry operations (~1M) to the Church for future building projects for its Friars.

[djjacket]

The Grand Hotel is taking heed of the warnings presented and has started preparations to move all valuable items in the Old Town Grand Hotel to the vacant army barracks located at the back of the building.  These rooms are heavily fortified and will provide great protection should any structural damage be sustained in the main hotel.  

The Prince of North Face has moved his valuable possessions from the palace to the Grand Hotel and has donated the services his troops to help guard and protect all the items.  The rest of the possessions were moved to the Prince's HAW Houses in OT.

Any valuables from the New Town Grand Hotel will be placed in the Courtyard area away from the main structures.

In addition, The Grand Hotel would like to donate its 500g of Ancient Silver from 1539.  May it help fund some of the great works during the Reconstruction!

[rpietila]

I presume all admins make their own donations in the DB as well.

If not, it is the Church's responsibility to check (that silver thing is potentially difficult to ascertain, for ex)

Church will know the hour of the Earthquake such in advance that it has the opportunity to bless whatever they wish. They may not divulge this information.

[luigi1111]

The Earl of Rome wishes to donate 50m to the Church, may it further God's work.

If corporations can be blessed, the Lucky Lion would like to donate 50m as well.

Valuables from both the Earl's properties (Grail and Quail, Town House) and all the Lucky Lion buildings have been relocated to the center of his haw, where a guard wielding TMA, Very Powerful Sword of Mario stands watch. Some even say the guard is the Earl himself, as he is wearing TMA Masque of Mario, obscuring his face, and no one has seen the Earl since the possessions were moved. It should also be noted that he has never loaned out either of these items since receiving them in the 1460s.

[rpietila]

The King remembers that as Mayor, CEO of many corporations, and wealth manager of many of his friends, also these items need to be protected.

He petitions the Church to extend Blessing to the Town items and buildings, if such is found worthy.

Asking to bless the Bank would be too much, and the Bank also is (privately) against "superstition".

Tavastia (willing to gain favor in the eyes of his father) is donating 100 gold and prays for blessing.

The Prince of Soul (the third person to own a handwritten Bible, in addition to the King and the Bishop) is again on his travels. The King ponders if he would be willing to gain Blessing. "He has said repeatedly (in private, of course - Soul is perhaps the closest friend of the King after 182 years of acquaintance) that there is one mediator between man and God, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ - there are many things in the Church ways that do not exactly correspond to the revelation he can read in the Bible in his own eyes (knowing how to read, knowing Latin, and being able to purchase an item worth years' of workman wages)." - Oh well, perhaps his God is protecting him, and his buildings are from the 1500s anyway.

The basements of the Triple Towers are large and h=4, making them good places to amass all the wealth of Soul and Tavastia (they have heavily invested in New City, and the rest need to be transported. Even the carriages are put in a soft surface to "protect them from dismantling by the tremors". (The King had dismantled his own - not that it is especially heroic, just practical - only the Red one is left for daily use.)

The lesser wealth management characters deposited their fragile items in earthquake-proof buildings provided by Soul and Tavastia.

The work involved in all this, in addition to the daily needs, was of course enormous (and it is not completely sure whether items may have suffered in transit as well!) but when it was all completed, the ground still had not shaken.

[rpietila]

On behalf of the Rhadamanthus Estate, we ask that all the possessions of this great man are blessed (if they are not already) - The transfer of title of the institutions is only pending legalities.

Dr. HS-S (#93) lives humbly in a 20 sqm house but asks to consider his 10 gold donation, "for the poor gives from his lack".

The Royal CryptoArmy wants to be victorious in the name of God, and donates 200 gold (1% of all the gold held in the Army vaults).

Royal Windows Works Corp. is seeking for a blessing "this time only, due to obvious need" for its window production facilities, but "unfortunately cannot spare a donation due to governance issues".

[MoneroMooo]

It didn't take much time for Mooo to pack his belongings in his wooden toybox. The earthquake warnings had become more urgent lately, and waiting more could prove disastrous.

Mooo stepped outside and put the toybox on the ground. He walked to the pagoda and carefully moved it away from the building, well clear of any collapsing walls. Its light frame would be a good passive defense against tremors, but falling stone could be a clear danger.

After securing it to his satisfaction, Mooo grabbed the toybox and headed northeast, to place it in safekeeping in a property built to - hopefully - withstand earthquakes (toybox and contents are in 1-NE-D8).

Once the box's safety was ensured, Mooo started towards the San Pietro cathedral, carrying his ocarina with him. Some pastoral music might go a long way to calm nerves.

Upon his arrival at the cathedral, Mooo donated two million moneritos to the Church and found an unobtrusive place to settle down among the crowd.

[Karl Hungus]

The Prince of OZ and Hokusai each donate 100 CKG to the Church. Heeding the advice of HM and others on the calamities about to descend on our fair City, they both move their valuable items to the Prince's Haw, guarded by the men of the The 6th Company and Hokusai.



God's grace be upon us all during these difficult times!

[smooth]

Smooth donates 150m to the Church:

1. 50m, on behalf of himself (50m)
2. 50m, on behalf of his various owned an affiliated business interests and managed characters (Smooth QC, Smooth IF, Hotel, BlackWidow and Itrix)
3. 50m, on behalf of and in the name of the University

All paid by smooth.

Valuable items and business records of all of the above are moved to the open fields of the smooth haw, where they are guarded by the encamped Smooth Company.

[Callixtus]

The Church is very pleased and taken aback at the surge of faith that has enveloped the Kingdom in this potentially dark time.  All who have donated shall receive the blessings of The Lord. "Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith, said the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

"And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.  Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out."

Deuteronomy 28:1-6


"But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out."

Deuteronomy 28:15-20

[sphericon]

Lord noms looked out the hole where his window used to be and thought that he was worried about what may come this night.  He quickly gathered up all of his possessions and put them in the cellar of his palace. He remembered a proclamation by the King that any of the buildings created after 1580 would not be damaged by the earthquake, so he felt secure knowing that they would be safely stored in his palace.

He opened his doors to his fellow townsmen and let everyone know that if they wished to store any valuables in his palace, they were more than welcome to. He just needed to meet with them and safely store them.

He took his carriage as well as the other carriage he had purchased from the Late Marquess Arda, and moved them to a safe area of the swamp in borough 4, near his research center. He thought that such unstable ground might soak up the tremors and protect his carriages from the impending quake.

[Roopatra]

Dame Roopatra packed her ancient items and rode her horse towards the swamp land, where she owns a restaurant which is newly built so hopefully it won´t be affected by the earthquake. The swamp may swallow some of the tremors and perhaps the ancient items will be better guarded there.

It might already be to late to ask for a blessing, but regardless Dame Roopatra fishes out some gold coins from her coin purse and gives them to the church, finishing a silent prayer.

[Callixtus]

Dame Roopatra packed her ancient items and rode her horse towards the swamp land, where she owns a restaurant which is newly built so hopefully it won´t be affected by the earthquake. The swamp may swallow some of the tremors and perhaps the ancient items will be better guarded there.

It might already be to late to ask for a blessing, but regardless Dame Roopatra fishes out some gold coins from her coin purse and gives them to the church, finishing a silent prayer.

It is never too late to seek the comfort of Our Lord. Your donation has been noted and appreciated.

[papa_lazzarou]

After securing his roughly hewn woollen cape with the silver brooch with the mark of Enoch, Angus broods while mindlessly caressing the torque on his neck. Thoughts of the impeding disaster kept him awake at night. He can't believe the superstition his fellow townsmen have shown .

"How can they give such power to ones who trade blessings for gold and land? What will be the end of this?" he wonders as he ties the pouch of foreign silver coins to his belt. His thoughts are with his friends as he departs. But the urge to make this journey in search of wisdom and enlightenment leaves him no choice. He shall explain all upon his return.

While he walks past the familiar streets of his doomed home the wise words of the Poet race through his mind:

"Severance,
The birds of leaving call to us,
Yet here we stand
Endowed with the fear of flight.

Overland
The winds of change consume the land,
While we remain
In the shadow of summers now past.

When all the leaves
Have fallen and turned to dust,
Will we remain
Entrenched within our ways."

[NewLiberty]

It is with some delight that Duke Joseph of New Liberty notices all the new attendees at the morning Matins in the Cathedral.  Many have given donations in lieu of attendance also, but the Duke takes a daily (and oft many times a day) drink from the cup of forgiveness.  The spiritual life and the physical life being unified and the Duke's visits so frequent that gossipers have speculated that it is more the wine than the forgiveness that was sought.

However a long life full of adventure and experiences may bring some measure of wisdom, it is the remembrance of humility and gratitude that are most important in these acts.  Contrition and supplication precede forgiveness, and these are most easily done from a state of humility and gratitude.  The grandiosity of the Old Town Cathedral with its great and ancient form are designed to evoke this humility and truly for anyone who could be impressed by an edifice, this does the job.  There may be larger or more expensive, but the humbling age and beauty of the Esteemed Cathedral can never be doubted.

And so the daily visits and communion wine drinking have kept The Most High within the mind and heart of all endeavors.  Humility is important and increasingly difficult as one's stature increases.  It would be easy to fall into the sin of pride for bringing the church to its first foothold in the New City Borough with services in the NLQI, or the early and frequent advocacy for the esteem of the Cathedral or the daily attendance at services.  

And so while most recently the crowding of the church has shifted the consumption of communion wine to the chapel in the Noble Palace with its view of the obelisk out the mysteriously intact windows, being present at the Cathedral, and being seen doing so, may encourage others by example.

[rpietila]

When the tremors started, it felt as if a relief. Finally, the waiting will end and the total extent of the devastation becomes possible to evaluate, and the new life, even new Era, start. Instead of terrified, the people seemed peaceful, even joyful when running out from their buildings to the squares and parks.

Not many had anything to carry in their hands or hearts, for the Church had provided ample opportunities for confession of the sins, and also the few Ancient Items had in general been removed to places where they could reasonably withstand what everybody expected, especially after the King's dream that had been circulated to all the townspeople by criers.

The King was in his least heavy Royal clothes, the day was warm, and  - -

nothing was happening. The tremors slowly ceased, but what caught the people's attention was (again) a change in illumination. Despite the sun being visible in the sky, it was getting less bright, and soon dim, and before long, completely dark.

[rpietila]

And then, gracefully, the tremors started again. Slowly intensifying, so that no people got hurt. But the buildings shook. The King was standing in the Central Square (granted, the Parkside would have been safer, but then all action would be missed - at 234 years, you still don't want to miss action if it is reasonable safe to do).

The darkness made it difficult to get the kicks though, and a bit scary, since it was a possibility that building stone would fly to the air and drop to your head. After some time of intense tremors: the lights were on again.

Quick glances:
Sun - exactly where it was before the darkness started
Palace - safe
Grand Hotel - wounded but safe
NewLiberty Palace - looking ok
Obelisk - no changes
Lucky Lion - as if the south tower was not there...
Town Hall - oh my, the building is half fallen and looks like the other half is just about to do as well
Cathedral - a-ok
Noble Palace - noooOO! There is nothing but a pile of rubble here 


On a closer look to the /BLDG DB (avoid to do it, as there is still work to be done on it), the actual collapses have happened in 6 buildings only, which out of 400 in the game is reasonable damage:

Noble Palace upper floors supporting columns did not take the horizontal movement and broke. Some parts of the ground floor are not collapsed but close to.

The Great Hall in Town Hall same recipe - central column broke and the whole roof came down with such a force that there was much collateral damage and everything looks very unstable. The majority of the building can still be saved with immediate action and great cost, (unlike Noble Palace sadly)

Lucky Lion Fine Dining Restaurant was supporting the weight of the south tower in quite suspicious designs. As the architect, I almost saw this happen when the building was built and it was too late. The tower fell on the void when there was not enough wall supporting it. The rest of the building is standing but on the verge of collapse due to it being even less solidly designed as the south tower.

Tsurugajo Art gallery from 1520 was a great loss and it remains to be seen if masterpieces were lost as well. The building is very high and has(had) an elaborate network of high arches shifting the vertical forces in concentric circles. When designed, it felt like a masterpiece of engineering as well as beauty. Obviously, a thick and low wall is better than a high and thin web of columns when it starts to shake

The last 2 buildings are hardest to explain. The Portal has been a home and office for dozens of people, and it is reasonably new, built in 1543. Witnesses claim (I don't know how they saw it since it was dark) that the ground floor of the Old Town side had a rupture first, and the massive building above it just completely collapsed. Only parts in the 1-2 floor on the East side remain, in reasonably good condition.

The University Main Building seems to have fallen on its footprint. Some say a bird with a flash of light hit its top floor and it collapsed as a result. Others explained this as a lightning, the third party claims that two towers were hit by the birds and collapsed, fourth party swears to have followed the situation closely, but not seen any light. Regarless of that, nobody can explain why University 7, the highest tower, collapsed, because it was never hit by anything according to reports (it was a funny custom to name the 6 small towers as University 1-6 and the central one as University 7 - that's what students do).

Many other buildings, while spared from outright collapse, are in immediate danger, because when repair% < 20%, there is a daily chance of collapse in the V.4. Collapse destroys the building and most if not everything of value there, except most of stone and all gold.

[sphericon]

Noms surveyed the damage and was noticed that a number of buildings
had been damaged. He was glad to see that only 1-2% of all buildings were damaged! Initially, it looked like nobody had been hurt during the quake, as most had prepared prudently.

The noble palace has been leveled. That was a hard pill to swallow. He had recently attended a meeting there and was enjoying his time immensely. Perhaps the new Round Table building would serve the purpose of that which the Noble Palace had. 

Noms was glad to see that the King's Palace and the Obelisk were safe. Those two would be a terrible loss if they were damaged or destroyed.

He walked to borough 4, climbed into his carriage, and drove back to witness more of the destruction.

Mother Nature is a powerful beast...

[rpietila]

It is hard to decide which loss to lament the most. Despite that only 6 buildings were affected (out of 200 lots with floor area), the collapsed buildings are as though representatives of the different walks in life, each a masterpiece for its own purpose. After quick meetings with Church officials, it seems that even they attribute the worst damage to structural causes - while the whole Earthquake clearly seems to have been planned in advance; how else could it have been known before any buildings were even built?

All the buildings collapsed share the properties of having been the latest the regulations could permit. They reached the highest height allowed, often to the meter (NP, Portal, LL and University) or 1-2 less (TH, Tsurugajo). The opulent interiors required many windows and columns, to replace what would in less magnificent constructions be solid stone walls.

To answer my own question - I select the loss of the University to be the most lamentable. Every other building will certainly be replaced as soon as the rules allow and resources can be mustered, but the University is not likely to recover from the loss.

Let's have a quick glance on the history:

The Town was founded in 1430, and building started the same year, with the oldest private house being that of Mistress Liekki from 1432. Originally the private dwellings were directed to the free land in 1-C (inside the ring road, later to become Earl's Street - King's Park Street, the land cost originally a hefty price of 20 mil/q, for which reason the oldest buildings are in the outer circle).

The 1-C was zoned such that public and commercial buildings would be to the south, and the lots now occupied by the NP, GH, MH and Casino, were to be given for free to "commercial multipurpose palaces whose design pleases the King's eye. In the 1440s it was difficult to find anyone to design (, build and own) such buildings despite the free land, and also hard to find buyers for the lots to the south, because the land was free in 1-N, and the great buildings were considered a great risk and involvement in the young game.

Lord smooth asked to have the 1-C-A1 (NP lot) for a University he had wished to start, but we considered that the lot was far too central for such a sprawling organization, and in connection to this, far too small as well. He did not present any plans either, so the plan fell through.

After the Golden Jubilee in 1450, the West Side (1-W,NW,SW) was opened. The land was selling badly, with most of the land offered at 7-10 mil/q and still often not catching a buyer. The West side was fragmented and never really enjoyed a heyday (except the Jousting, and even that was short).

By the 1460s, the situation with the game and the land had improved, and a small "land craze", first boomtime in the Town, was experienced. The prices in the centre reached such heights that by 1468, all the land had been sold, with the current Embassy Tower lot for as much as 125 mil/q. By this time, Monero House and Grand Hotel had been built, and NP was still in the drawingboard.

The 1460s was the time to organize many game elements. The University and Army were both organized in 1466, Church 6 years later. We hoped that the University would become a great Special Organization (which was formally subgame-ized in 1565, but would have much earlier if the University would have worked). Towards the purpose, we nominated Lord smooth Chancellor, soon promoted him Earl (at the time when there would be only 1 Marquess for another 25 years!), and gifted the nascent University 108 quadrats of land in the Old Town, making it a bigger landowner there than ourselves!

What is the sad part - this gift was never used to any remarkable extent. The 1400s was great time for late-medieval universities, and we could have produced so many masterworks, even starting the Renaissance on our own right - but not a single building was built, no thread posts survive, no nothing.

Just before the barbarian invasion deadline, too late to be of much help if the invasion would have happened, the Military Science dept was constructed.

And then, the 1500s saw a great increase in everything, even the time was slowed to accommodate it all, and for decades, still no university. In 1525, the Villa Rotonda School of Economics, with a sting towards the lack of university-level research, but no university.

Finally the new-rich Sir Paul, Ph.D, Earl of Soul, promises to donate the main building, originally intended to be a 300 million affair, later enlarged to 1.5 billion. Still it takes years.

When the plans are ready and funding is ready, still it takes years.

When the building is ready, there is nothing happening there for more than 10 years, "because there is still deficit". Deficit is supposed to be covered by donations, not by rendering unusable a building that was first waited for 100 years, and then could have immediately been used in the subgame that was designed for it, and the building for the subgame!!

And when the AIC process is happening, we purposefully leave the University balance empty, even negative, and yet no one, not a single one, during the 10 days period, cares. The building would have been probably the most AIC of any building (in traditional sense).

The Prince of Soul has joined us meanwhile and together we weep for the final loss of so many hopes, and the opportunities, and the time, never to be reclaimed.

His Majesty, the King, will receive the counsel of the wise men concerning what to do with the University (the whole concept, of course including the wreckage). The current administration, as well as anyone with a vision, may present their plans within 5 days. In absence of credible plans, one option is to shut down the University and give donators a claims process if they so wish.

/lament  I don't usually lament, but when I do, it's safer to stay away.

[rpietila]

Lament only lasts for so long...

The items are listed, and earthquake (and other) damage assessed. No changes of any kind may be made. For reasons not known, some Items are missing, and even theft cannot be counted out. Times are bad, but Justice is sharp if anyone is caught for such a deplorable activity. Some other Items are worn down/minor damage (75%), unusable but repairable (50%), barely salvageable at a great cost (25%) or irrepairably destroyed (0%). The wall painting in the collapsed Great Hall of the Town Hall is an example of the last category.

Now we have 990 Ancient Unique Items in the database, and when they come back into the game in V.5-6, they will command great status, perhaps usability, and likely market value as well.

In addition, 4,572 Ancient Fungible Items (most made of gold or silver), 9,665 Ancient Gold Coins, ~5,000 Ancient Silver Coins and 484 Most Ancient Copper Tokens.

We have 560 Lots, of which 228 are built. In total ~400 Buildings.

The dream last night was peaceful. Like summer is coming, easier times are coming for the Kingdom. I saw peddlers in the dream (The Town Hall was originally constructed in 1454 with arcades to allow small business to take place under the hood, freely and for free. After the commercialization and Lucky Lion, there had not been peddlers in the town for 100 years).

When I went out to check my mood, I soon got cheerful. Peddlers indeed had appeared, carefully jumping over the stones in New Liberty Street between TH and LL, just where I used to see them when I was 100 years younger and water tasted good

[V.4 will have a Peddler-subgame, for new players to get started without Building investment.]

(the water will need to have a separate post soon..)