Living 270 days on an ice sheet. A pictorial story.

[Rhadamant]

Background
I am playing on Rimworld A8 with the mod IceSheet. I picked the coldest possible landing site I could find where even the average temperature in summer is -8^oF. The storyteller is Randy at 160% extreme. I am not going to use any Geothermal Vents to heat my colony, nor will I ever put on a Parka or Tuque. I also won't save scum, I did, however, pick my starting colonists, Teuton, Zan and Speedy. Teuton randomed a German surname, Keuneke (hence the nickname Teuton), Zan's name is Alexander and Speedy is both a Jogger and Industrious.

Zan: 17 year old shelter child who wanted to see the world and became a starship janitor. Tough work as a janitor has made him iron-willed and hard working. Like most 17 year old boys, he's got a burning passion for guns, but is well rounded and interested in a lot of other things.

Speedy: 36 year old woman who had a frightened childhood and can't seem to get over her fear of fire. She's really fast at everything she does, jogs everywhere and works quickly. She's great in the garden, and when you're laid up with either gunshots or ailments. She's a decent cook too, but this damn planet has nothing worth cooking anyway.

Teuton: 24 year old German dude who's as solid as they get. He's a genius at building and construction and very handy with crafting and art. As a mechanoid nerd as a child he became a military engineer as an adult. He's a steadfast guy who doesn't mind braving cold weather for his friends. There needs to be more Teutons on this planet.

Day 1
We're all very cold. We landed in December in this frozen wasteland. Teuton and Zan at least are wearing pants, Speedy is only wearing a Jacket. There are no flora or fauna here in this frozen hell scape. Time to find warmth.


Day 2
Teuton, the German engineer, decided that squatting was beneath us, even though an hour in this cold can kill. He decided we needed to build into the mountain so that we could be productive while we warm up. I think he was right. We've only got a tiny little shack right now, but at least we're alive.


Day 5
It seems some of our neighbors sent out a greeting party. What a grizzly end. Even with parkas they died before ever seeing our front door. Rest in peace Alyona and Blue.


Day 6 Hour 23
We received our first visitor! He nearly died of hypothermia while trying to get to our humble abode, but he made it. Winters, the visitor, commented on how we live in a cramped, dark little caveman hole. We kicked him out for being rude. We're trying to perfect our hydroponic techniques because unless we want to eat some of our frozen neighbors, our food stores are getting low. At least we've built some heaters and a wind turbine, burning through our limited wood supplies was depressing. It's been nearly a week, we're calling our little hovel, Salvation.


Day 14
We've finally started producing our own food, but it is only a tiny start. Unfortunately that also means we need to generate more power for grow lights and hydroponic tables. Why couldn't we have landed somewhere nice and warm?! Zan got so hungry he tried to run out to where one of our visitors collapsed to see if she had any food with her. She did have food and he enjoyed a fine meal, right before collapsing into the snow. Luckly Teuton braved the cold and saved him. We've got to be careful.


Day 15
Time has really started to fly. We faced near starvation for awhile, but now the hydroponic growing operation is starting to take off. People keep trying to visit us, but Winters was the only one so far who has made it. Sadly, he ended up dying after we kicked him out for being rude. Are we murderers?


Day 18
People have tried to attack us before, but today two tribal idiots managed to actually wreak some havoc on our little mountain salvation. Zan went all hulk mode on them and shot one of them five times! We're worried the cabin fever is getting to him. At least this time he saved us. Maybe we should sleep with one eye open. On the bright side we don't need refrigeration, we created a room with no roof, that'll keep our food fresh, if we ever have surplus...


Day 22
A group of neighbors came by, it did not end well. All but one died of hypothermia. We're going to have to dig a lot more graves. Maybe we should start considering putting up a "No Trespassing" sign to keep away the visitors. We've also managed to expand our little cave base for a more productive hydroponics growing operation, but metal is harder and harder to come by now. Hopefully we find someone to trade with, the only people that seem to visit our crappy frozen planet are slavers. I wonder if slavers deal in frozen corpses?


Day 27
WE'RE STILL ALIVE. A raiding party of about a dozen armed and angry pirates came swarming our home. They were trying to break into our home, luckily we built two doors for insulation. One of the pirates died of hypothermia and Teuton blitzed to his corpse, grabbed his machine gun and hosed four or five of them dead. The remainder fled. Lesson of the day: Don't f*** with Germans.


Day 32
So hungry .... must ... eat ....
Things were looking bleak until a bulk goods trader sold us some agave. We're back on the up and up. Although we are still recovering from that pirate raid, we're building a future here.



Day 57
After repeated pirate attacks we've finally walled ourselves off from the outside icescape. We now grow more than enough food for the three of us. Power generation continues to plague us, but now that our windmills are walled off from attacks we shouldn't be so vulnerable. It looks like we've secured a future here and we're here for the long haul.




Day 67
A band of foolish tribals attempted to attack us. They were woefully outgunned. I am sure they'll try again, we have to prepare better for these attacks, they're getting intense. Zan and Teuton got hit by some arrows, nothing life threatening, but they'll need time to recover. Luckily our power generation was better guarded and we won't be without food and power, unlike some of the previous attacks. Bring it on tribals.


Day 69
Teuton told me not to taunt the tribals, well .. they're back. Less than 48 hours after the last attack here they are again at our doorstep, for another butt kicking. The M24's we've scrounged have really come in handy and Zan is racking up a kill count higher than Rambo at this point. There was only one tribal survivor, but an L-15 LMG round went through his head so we just put him down. Why do these tribals attack us? Did we build on ancestral land? Whatever the case may be, its us or them and we pick us.


Day 73
Just a day or two ago some strange pods opened up and the people inside came to attack us. Today about 18 or so tribals attempted to avenge their dead brethren. It did not end well for them. Eight or nine of them died, the remainder fled. Teuton suggested we build effigies out of their corpses to try to ward them away, but Speedy nearly vomited not realizing he was joking. We're going to build a crematorium because trying to bury dozens of bodies every few days sure does take a toll on your back. And on your soul.


Day 85
Finally, no news is good news. Teuton has been working for almost the past week cleaning up corpses. We got depressed being surrounded by corpses all the time. That crematorium is paying off in a big way. We rescued some random lady that fell from the sky, but she says she's a pacifist so I think once she's over her extreme leg infection we're going to send her on her way. We beefed up our defenses a little, but probably still not enough. On the bright side it is now summer! It's a toasty -20^oF outside!


Day 94
Some ship part crash landed earlier this week. Speedy and Zan went to investigate. After not being able to interact with it, Zan, being a teenager, felt like shooting it. Immediately three large wormy looking robots popped out and one smaller, but much faster one started to chase us. Frantically and luckily Zan shot the small one in its robot brain and immediately disabled it. The larger ones were slow and stupid, we shot them to bits from a distance with our sniper rifles. I hope they weren't friendly robots, we broke them dead. We even broke their ship. Whenever we were around the ship it would whisper to us crazy things like 'go eat some humans, they're tasty' or 'Teuton wants you both to die'. Sadly, immediately after we broke the ship some pirates geared up to attack us. I hope we survive!


Day 95
Today sucked. While Teuton tried to finish demolishing the ship that whispers to us, Zan was all alone defending against swarms of pirates. He let the pirates contend with the turrets we set up for awhile, but eventually they broke them and he had to try to fend them off.  The pirates tried to kidnap Zan, but Teuton managed to slay the would be kidnapper and rescued Zan. All the while Speedy, who had previously been driven insane by the whispering ship, was in our makeshift prison going all bonkers inside the base. She somehow managed to punch the stone door open and just as Teuton got back to the base she was trying to bust open the door to our cold storage, which would effectively freeze all of our plants. Poor Zan, defended against the swarms of pirates and how he's in dire need of medical attention. I hope we survive today.


Day 96
Yeah, we survived. Speedy is still in prison and we just also recovered from a solar flare, so all of our plants died and our home dropped roughly 50^o, but we're living, so there's that. Hopefully Speedy decides that the whispering ship isn't her friend, because we need her back. We better get some turrets up and running again or we may very well be dead from the next raid. Happy Birthday Zan, now that you're 18 you get to deal with adult problems, right?



Day 108
Things have been pretty quiet lately. Speedy still hasn't chosen to cooperate with us. Zan purchased a social neurotrainer in hopes it will help him get better at convincing her. We're back on our feet, but some of the things we'd like to build requires wood and there are no natural growing trees out in this place. Teuton devised a way to grow trees within a shelter outside, we'll see if that is possible soon.


Day 113
We Zan finally gave up on trying to convince Speedy to rejoin us, so he decided to release her. He escorted her outside and the moment he released her, she realized who she was again, and rejoined the tiny colony. About damn time Speedy, but welcome back.


Day 123
Our tribal friends finally payed another visit. I guess we've got more bodies to bury. They'll never learn. On the upside our indoors tree farm is nearly ready for a test run and we re-purposed the makeshift prison into another work area. Things are actually starting to look nice around here.


Day 126
Another tribal raid. They seem to attack in pairs. Stupid and predictable. More bodies to burn. Our dear neighbors showed up to help, they got to the scene JUST in time to actually do nothing. Thanks Mie and Foster, you're both totally awesome.



Day 132
Some pirates sieged us. They blew up two of our wind turbines, setting back our hopes for trees and food. Worse yet, they shot off Teuton's leg. Let's hope for a merchant with a bionic leg to come by soon, Teuton is depressed but likes the prospects of being bionic. A week ago Speedy's legs were replaced with bionic ones. Now she's the fastest runner this planet has ever seen!


Day 141
Since Speedy researched just about everything she could we were able to make a Cryptosleep Casket for Teuton so that he could slumber until we're able to procure a leg from him to use. What a brutal injury. Get well soon Teuton. I sure hope someone will sell us a leg soon.


Day 143
Some idiot named Ellis wanted to join our colony. He can't build, farm, mine, cook or craft. I guess he's just either a cleaning maid, or some sort of mad artist or something. Despite being 37, the same age as Speedy, he's got cataracts in both eyes, making him a pretty useless shooter. He fumbles around our colony. Maybe he'll catch a bullet soon. Tribals are gearing up to attack us, so maybe it'll be an arrow. To the knee.


Day 146
I've got good news, and great news. The good news is Ellis gave up on our colony and wandered away into a snow storm, probably to die or something. The great news? We traded two tribal morons to a slaver for a bionic leg for Teuton. He's up on his feet and faster than ever!


Day 150
Out with Ellis and in with McDowell. He's at least more useful than Ellis, but he decided to try to join us during a tribal raid. The resulting bloodshed put him into a daze where he wandered around in -90^oF temperatures and passed out from hypothermia. Well done newbie, well done. We rescued him, but we're actually hoping one of the tribals we captures will join us permanently instead, and this McDowell guy will catch an arrow or bullet.


Day 162
McDowell kept partially abandoning our colony and wandering in the snow. We decided to sell him to slavers. Unanimous vote. We also managed to recruit one of the tribals we captured, Crica. He's really wants to become a bionic warrior, and he's a hard worker so maybe we'll make that happen for him. Things are back on track and finally we're starting to make progress, turning this hovel into a home.


Day 182
We're back to fighting the brutal cold. It is -140^oF outside right now, and no matter how much clothing we wear, it doesn't matter, we freeze in mere minutes. Luckily this will keep most of the attackers at bay as well. Crica is fitting in well, he's quite happy we hooked him up with a bionic leg. Maybe we will spring for another. He just had a birthday too. He doesn't talk much, but I think he's in his early twenties. We have to build little outposts around our colony as warmth spots, but the trick is we don't want our enemies taking advantage of it. Luckily, those morons tend to bash every door they see so if they bash the outpost doors they won't be able to heat up.


Day 187
You know how cold it is out?! The damn robots we're fighting are shivering. You heard me, robots things its too inhospitable outside. On that note we've been burning through our medicine stocks trying to treat frostbite and other cold related injuries. When tribals, pirates and robots aren't trying to kill us, mother nature is. I can't wait for spring.


Day 199
I tried to release a few pirate hostages in order to gain favor with them. Their attacks are getting annoying. Blackburn, one of the hostages, collapsed before he could get back to his clan. Zan went to try to rescue him, but I guess the tribals smelled blood in the water because they full on blitzed to where Zan was as soon as he got to Blackburn's shivering corpse.

[Rhadamant]

Day 216
Yeah, its been awhile since I've last reported. Things are going smoothly. We're starting to grow our own cloth, hopefully Circa will be out of his silly tribal outfit soon. We've just completed an insulated and powered mining outpost. Good thing too, we need the metal. Spring is almost as cold as winter. Screw this planet.


Day 230
Worst week ever? A new giant ship part crashed and started to drive everyone mad. The machines that guarded it left Teuton brain dead and the ship caused Circa to abandon all hope. Teuton is in a sleep pod now and Circa is in prison. We disabled the machines and the ship, but we're not certain Teuton will ever be the same again. In his sleep he murmured something about a motherboard in his brain, but he's probably got an IQ hovering around 30 now, so who knows what he is saying.


Day 244
It has become clear there's nothing more we can do for Teuton, so we're going to try to build a spaceship to leave this desolate world. Speedy has done a lot of research as to the mechanics, but we need to mine special metals in order to leave. We built an insulated outpost for the special metal, it is only a matter of time until we get off this rock.


Day 254
We've been working around the clock for the last ten days trying to build a ship off this ice sheet. Some tribals attacked us, and unlike how we usually come away unscathed, Speedy lost a hand. Hopefully we can replace her with a bionic part or maybe a mechanoid claw or something, mining one handed is going to be tough.


Day 270
The ship is finally done and Speedy assures us it will work. It is too bad Teuton isn't well enough to back up her claim, he's the real engineer. We're going to try to fly to medical help for Teuton, to get him back on his feet. It has been 270 days of desperate survival, but we've made it. Crica has even asked to come with us as. Crica says now that he is partially bionic his tribe would never take him back. Well, it has been interesting to say the least. I hope our survival story has inspired and educated you in your future endeavors.

[Kubouch]

Great story, keep it up!

[georgewesker97]

Great story, keep going!

[Rhadamant]

Will do! Glad you've liked it so far!

[litlbear]

i like it

[milon]

Subscribed!

[Rhadamant]

Got all the way up to day 132, still no casualties! I added in some background as well.

[iame6162013]

This is a nice story

[Rhadamant]

This is a nice story

Thanks!

[Thorin]

Dang, an other thread I'm going to keep track off.
Good writing style and good luck on that ice sheet.

Craft some ice-skates and it's time for hockey with someones head.

[Rhadamant]

Thanks. The Ice Sheet is fairly unforgiving, that's for sure.

[litlbear]

you can install the AI part i think

[Rhadamant]

you can install the AI part i think

The 8c hotfix broke this game so I had to wrap the story up. All of my hydroponics stopped working as a result of patching. I think it ended in a nice way, don't you?

[Col_Jessep]

Great story! I only went for tundra. Gotta try the ice sheet, too. Thanks!