4-5: Hoein' Ain't Easy

With delicious rice in their bellies, the gang throws themselves into their work. Unfortunately, they're not afforded the luxury of working uninterrupted for long. Soon after Karst starts working on the settlement's second building, the gang begins to experience a core part of the base-building experience in Kenshi: Getting attacked all the damn time.

Thankfully this is one of the game's less dangerous areas. Periodic hungry bandit attacks are nothing to write home about at this point for most of the gang. Unfortunately, Karst isn't most of the gang. This is only the second fight they've ever been in in their life. They take a solid whuppin' while their new comrades stunt on the bandits, nearly going down to repeated whacks to the chest.

It's not a huge deal. In the long run, it'll even be beneficial, helping them toughen up a bit—it's mostly just annoying because Karst needing to rest means a delay in building. Generally, beds for resting would be one of the first things you'd want to build in a new base for just this reason. In our case, though, being so close to the Smugglers Bar means the gang can actually afford to put off building beds for a while. It not only has tons of beds the gang can use but as far as I know, it's the only inn in the world that lets you sleep there for free. Ells escorts Karst there to nap it off.

While this may be one of the less deadly regions in the game to build in, it's not all just hungry bandits. The gang semi-frequently has to fend off beak things, a genuine threat to the weaker members. Very occasionally, a group called the Band of Bones shows up too.

In terms of danger, these guys are somewhere between dust bandits and Berserkers. They're a couple notches up from hungry bandits but not a huge deal. The first group to come by doesn't even attack. They're not considered hostile yet since the gang hasn't had any run-ins with them, which doesn't necessarily mean anything—for bandit groups, non-hostile usually just means they'll wait until they get close to you to decide to attack. These ones' path seems to just happen to keep them outside that radius. They aren't here by chance, though. Once you've begun a settlement, the game will spawn groups of enemies specifically programmed to walk into it.

In my first playthrough, I was really excited to get into base building; I started on it much earlier with a much weaker team. I tried finding a place out of the way of where bandit groups tended to roam, thinking I'd be left alone while I built. When wave after wave of hungry bandits came at me, my team really struggling to weather them all, I was confused and a bit alarmed, thinking I'd somehow screwed up. Nope. The game really does throw enemies directly at you from the moment you start building. You'd better be able to comfortably handle a region's hostiles when you make the decision to build there.

After the gang beats back a few attacks, there's a lull in the action for a little while, letting them actually get some work done. It's perfect timing; their first harvest has come in!

A day and a bit after planting, the wheat, hemp, and cactus are already ready. Astonishing there's so much starvation in Kenshi when crops grow this fast. Silvershade and Keys bust out the hoes and start harvesting, and... they fuck most of it up. See, Farming is one of those skills where your skill level affects not just the speed but the quality of your work. An inexperienced farmer will often fail to properly harvest a plant, obtaining nothing for their efforts. Silvershade and Keys manage to successfully harvest only just enough to expand the farms, leaving nothing left over to cook.

The proximity of the Smugglers Bar keeps this from creating an emergency, but with the long-term goal being to actually feed everyone, the smart thing to do is gonna be to hire someone who actually knows how to farm. Swallowing their pride, Silvershade and Keys go around to their comrades, asking if anyone knows any farmers. After a few shrugs in response, they get around to asking Horse, who surprisingly actually does have someone in mind. At the fishing village where he was hanging out when Jam first recruited him, there was a human man named Green Finger who knew a thing or two about plants and was looking for a ticket out of the place.

Small settlements like villages don't show up when the map's zoomed out far enough to actually show the gang's base and the fishing village at the same time, so I've used the in-game cursor to note the location. As you can see, it's a trek. The most direct route is to run straight up the Holy Nation-controlled deserts just west of the base, from the unpatrolled Skinner's Roam through to the heavily patrolled Okran's Valley.

With that in mind, it's wisest to send a couple of humans. Cat is the first choice—the paladins won't question a human man. Outlaw Hana volunteers to go with him. While the paladins keep Holy Nation territory pretty free of bandits and Cat can outrun any of the scant trouble he might come across on the trip, it's still best to use the buddy system in case something weird happens and he gets knocked out. An unconscious lone traveller is at the mercy of the world; they could easily get enslaved, eaten alive, or just plain bleed out if their wounds are bad enough.

Though uneventful, the trip takes Cat and Outlaw Hana a full day. They arrive in the fishing village a little hungry but first things first, it's time to find Green Finger. The bar's the only real hangout spot here—they roll up, take a look around, and quickly spot him: A full-bearded scorchlander lounging on a cushion at the edge of the room, his face obscured by a wide straw hat. Cat pounces forth, excited to take his turn at bringing in someone new.

40 in Farming will do the job nicely. Green Finger's 40 in Labouring and 25 in Engineer will be quite helpful too. Farmers can have long stretches of downtime: When nothing's ready to harvest, their only job is to intermittently water the crops. It'll be handy to have someone who can help out with odd jobs or assist Karst with construction during that downtime.

The three get on their way south immediately, Outlaw Hana giving Green Finger her spare longcoat and a sabre for protection. When they hit Okran's Valley, Green Finger starts musing about the holy lands.

Cat and Outlaw Hana exchange a sidelong glance, neither wanting to be the first to tell Green Finger they're not settling in the holy lands. At least he doesn't seem like a devout Okranite or anything—surely he'll be fine with any old patch of fertile land, right?

It certainly could be true that Okran is real and has been keeping the Holy Nation flame alive. Not that it's particularly germane to the gang's plans. God or no god, the Holy Nation's practices of slavery, human supremacy, and patriarchy must be opposed. Far from Jam's original drive to get stronger just for their own sake, the gang is starting to put together a notion of what they're training for.

Granted, the gang isn't exactly training at the moment, but establishing a base of operations is important too. Fighting skills are only going to get you so far without a source of food, good equipment, and a safe place to rest. While Outlaw Hana, Cat, and Green Finger make the long walk back from the fishing village, the rest of the gang is working as hard as ever to build up more of their new home. Ells once again finds himself in the unique position of having free time, but he doesn't spend it lounging around—he takes Pilaf on a trip to The Hub, picking up all the research material the gang left there so they can set that ball back in motion.

With everyone working so diligently, the gang's new home is really starting to come together. Naturally, such excitement isn't going unnoticed by the outside world. The base is starting to attract visitors.