2-1: Go West

Riddly, Jam, Outlaw Farmer, and Ells standing amidst the scrub on the hill outside the hive village. Riddly, Jam, and Outlaw Farmer all have matching leather armour now. The armour is made to cover the chest and not so much the stomach, but Jam's new leather hive vest gives them a bit of protection there, cinched snugly around their abdoment. Outlaw Farmer has swapped out her straw hat for Riddly's old turban and Ells has upgraded from a non-protective gi top to decently protective ninja rags, a dark grey wrapped garment that covers his torso, arms, neck, and mouth.

Jam, Riddly, Ells, and Outlaw Farmer strike out from the hive village and head northwest, away from United Cities lands. They'll have to keep an eye out for whatever dangers these new lands hold, but they're a little stronger than when they met. They set forth with confidence.

The gang walks across orange desert sand. In front of them, the landscape changes from desert to badlands.

As the gang sets forth, the Great Desert recedes behind them, giving way to the towering cacti and rugged badlands of Sinkuun. Jam has heard tales of this place.

While walking, Jam relates what they've heard of the area. At the bottom of the screen, a text box reads 'Discovered Outpost'.

Jam: A lot of hungry empire peasants live out here... It's likely we'll meet some of them...

Jam: They'll want our food and they won't ask nicely for it.

Outlaw Farmer nods silently. Until joining the gang just a couple days ago, she was one of those hungry peasants. With any luck, her new friends won't run too afoul of her old ones.

As they walk, the gang spots an outpost in the distance. As the game helpfully informs us, we have "Discovered Outpost". Usually, a new place we come across will be described generically like this when we first come within discovery range. We'll only be given the place's actual name and affiliation when we get up close.

Curious, the gang decides to approach this mysterious outpost, making sure to avoid scuffles with roving squads of rebel farmers along the way.

A small settlement, protected by crappy walls made from overlapping sheets of scrap metal topped with barbed wire. The settlement consists of a few small shacks and a couple larger circular buildings similarly made of overlapping metal sheets. The gate guard hurls a threat at the gang.

Outlaw Swordsman: Touch a hair on uncle's head and you're meat.

The outpost turns out to be the rebel farmers' headquarters. Thankfully, while squads of rebel farmers attack on sight, the people at the HQ are a bit friendlier. Just a bit.

The map is open, naming this place Fort Simion. It is a short distance northwest of the Distant Hive Village, in the middle of a peninsula poking out from the northern edge of the continent into the sea.

Now that the gang is close, the map updates to identify this place as "Fort Simion" rather than the generic "Outpost". The map gives a decent amount of information about settlements once we've gotten close enough to get their proper names. At the moment it's not much more than trivia, but if you're planning to attack a place, it's useful to know how many people are there. The icon for Fort Simion has also changed from white to red, identifying the controlling faction as hostile. That would generally mean its inhabitants would attack the gang on sight, but there are a couple settlements it's safe to go to even though their faction defaults to hostile. In these cases it's best not to linger just outside the settlement—if a roaming group of rebel farmers were to attack the gang and the gate guards here saw them fighting their friends, the guards would join in and attack too.

As such, the gang hurries inside. They head into one of the large, round buildings and find a man named Boss Simion who seems to be in charge.

Jam and Ells stand inside a metal building furnished with a large dining table, wooden interior walls, beds, and a clay oven. A group of rebel farmer elites walk by, toting swords and wearing straw basket hats rather than the conical hats usually worn by their brethren. Jam speaks with Boss Simion, an imposing grey-haired man wearing armoured rags over the usual tank top, cargo pants and wooden sandals favoured by the rebel farmers.

Boss Simion: Who the fuck are you? Be wantin' me bounty I 'spect, eh? That's all that ye plump traders, mercenaries and townies are interested in after all, ain't it? Don't matter whose pocket the Cats are in, as long as you can line your own with 'em...

Boss Simion: *spit*

Jam: Actually, I want to join you.

Boss Simion: [He chews on an imaginary straw and stares you up and down]

Boss Simion: Don't look desperate enough to join a bunch of dirt covered peasants, eh, chub... Move the fuck along. We may be hungry but at least we be free of the Empire here, I won't have no plump townies spoil me ranks...

Boss Simion: You REALLY wanna join us, ye can go prove yourself to us—Go punch a noble or somethin'! Come back if ye survive their wrath, eh?

Boss Simion: Now scram! Or take me bounty... if ye can.

Jam experiences a brief rush of revolutionary fervour but perhaps this alliance wasn't meant to be. Not yet, at least. One day, Jam swears, they will be strong enough to punch a noble and get away with it.

Unsurprisingly, Boss Simion's is another bounty that can be found in United Cities bars. The gang hasn't actually come across it yet but it reads:

WANTED: Simion

Race: Greenlander
Gender: Male

Bandit leader wanted for multiple counts of murder and robbery. Preys upon travellers and merchants, growing stronger and more powerful in numbers.

Simion has a vicious army under his control: caravans are warned to employ extra bodyguards when travelling the desert until further notice.

REWARD: c.20,000

Even if they were strong enough, the gang is not interested in this bounty. With nothing else to say, they leave the fort, heading further into Sinkuun.

Despite their best efforts to avoid rebel farmer squads, the gang is spotted by a lone outlaw swordsman—a stronger member of the rebel farmers faction—as they wander the badlands.

Riddly holds her sword up to block as the outlaw swordsman takes a big overhead swing at her. Behind Riddly, Jam, Ells, and Outlaw Farmer assume combat stances, awaiting an opening to attack the swordsman.

The swordsman gets some licks in but the gang prevails without too much trouble. The gang wins! They actually win a fight! The celebration is tempered by the fact that it was 4 against 1, but this is technically the first fight they've actually won without any outside help.

Outlaw Farmer bandages her unconscious former comrade's wounds and the gang presses on. They go a little while without seeing anyone else, easing the tension a bit and letting them simply enjoy the silence. It's midday by the time they spot another person.

On the side of a hill of orange sedimentary rock, a human man dressed in standard clothes and a tagelmust sits in front of a campfire. His campfire is right in the middle of a barren shrub, which looks kind of silly. Behind him, a sleeping bag sits not quite under something I'd hesitate to call a tent: A tarp stretched between four vertical sticks. Beside the man, a small herd of goats stands in single file as if they were following him. They are, but he's not going anywhere, so it looks strange.

A lone goatherd relaxes in a pretty rudimentary camp, his goats forming a line beside him. Those goats have the discipline of a parading regiment, apparently. Riddly goes up to him and says hi.

Harv: What can I do for you, traveller?

Riddly: Do you have anything to trade?

Harv: Jus' goats.

Riddly: Nevermind.

The gang declines to buy a goat. There's a few different kinds of animals you can buy in Kenshi—a couple as beasts of burden and a few simply as fighters—but the gang would only be able to afford a baby goat and baby animals are really slow. Animals also eat a lot of food. They're not really in a position to take one on right now.

Saying farewell to the goatherd and heading on their way, the gang reaches the edge of the badlands. Ahead of them lies a peninsula of rocky hills and white sand.

2-2: CREEPIN' DARKFINGER ⮞