Based on the responses here, the following are my plans for what will be done, with the caveat that if further ideas are posted there or in the IC post once this has started I'll come back to you to discuss retconning them in.
- Location: Near the western bank of the westernmost mouth of the river, close enough for easy access to fresh water but far enough to have dry, stable ground without any extra work.
- General Approach: Banzu realizes that this is going to be a time-consuming, resource-intensive, and expensive project, and will be looking to save time and money wherever possible without compromising on the safety of the result. Where possible and practical, he'll gather materials himself, act as his own general contractor, and overlap construction timelines. The wall and the drydock's cradle will be built first, then the buildings, mainland pier, and trench leading to the drydock will be constructed while the construction of the ship is underway, hopefully resulting in everything being completed at around the same time. Any shortfalls in construction help from player characters will be filled in with NPC hires from Union, with a view towards a balance between wages and completion time.
- The Ship: A 60-foot-long steamship, with the rear half taken up by the boiler, condensers, turbines, and fuel storage. I never realized how big a steamer's engines were. The forward half has an open deck over the cabin, which can seat 12 (not including the pilot) or sleep 6 (including the pilot). The ship is physically capable of carrying or sleeping more, but there would be no seats or beds for the extra people and it would be rather unpleasant for all aboard. The ship has a surprising amount of storage space tucked away in every possible corner along with a toilet, water supply, and a tiny stove, allowing it to operate for a short time out of range of the Warp Transmitter if need be. The ship in general is on the cramped side and isn't fitted for luxury, but rather to be able to fill any role competently while excelling at none. It could probably reach the island in under two hours.
- Drydock: Banzu considered a slipway to launch the completed ship instead, as it would be far easier to build, but his inexperience with shipbuilding and the stresses that he realized the ship would be put under during a slipway launch made him nervous, and he decided to play it safe instead of risking the completed ship breaking during launch. The drydock will be dug into the shore and a gate installed, then a connection made to the sea and the water deepened as much as possible in front of it, before the gate is opened and the completed ship moved out. Union's lack of dredging equipment will mean that the transfer can only happen at high tide until improvements are made. Banzu won't bother with the equipment for pumping water out of the drydock immediately, instead adding it once the ship has been launched, but he will enclose it so that he can work on the ship in all weather. Other than wood and stone, this will require a lot of physical labor to complete, much of which will continue while the ship is being constructed.
- Mainland Pier: For several reasons, the drydock isn't practical for regular use by the ship, thus the need for the pier. The pier will be a line of cut stone extending from the shore into the deeper water that the ship can always access. Construction will be fairly simple, amounting to a glorified dropping of rocks into the water.
- Island Pier: Similar to the mainland pier, only much smaller due to the island's different shoreline. It will be constructed once the ship is finished.
- Workshop: Extending from the drydock will be Banzu's workshop, a two-story room that will initially be nothing but a large empty space. Banzu will have the shell of the building completed and then bring in equipment and finish it himself as time and resources permit once the ship's been constructed. A small tower will extend from the roof to allow viewing over the walls and watching for storms.
- Living Quarters: Attached to the side of the workshop, and despite free reign to build as big as he wants they'll be equivalent in size to a small apartment in Union. The lower level will have an office, a bedroom for Pokémon, and a small bathroom, while the upper level will have a combination kitchen/dining/living room, Banzu's bedroom, and a full-sized bathroom. Banzu will have the shells of the rooms completed along with the installation of the bathroom and kitchen fixtures, and then furnish and finish them himself as time and resources permit once the ship's been constructed.
- Utilities: A small version of the generators used in Union for electrical generation, to be run only when needed, a pipe and pump to bring water from the river to a storage tank, and a simple waste disposal system will cover the utility requirements and will be installed as early as is practical in the construction process.
- Walls: Banzu will surround the port area with a ten-foot stone wall on the three sides not adjacent to the water and extending a short ways into the sea. While this obviously won't keep out everything, it's much better than nothing, especially if there's no permanent presence to dissuade local Pokémon. It will be broken by a small gatehouse and enclose more space than currently required, leaving space for expansion, primarily because it would irritate Banzu to not have the walls form a rectangle.
- Near-Future: Aside from the completion of the parts of the buildings left unfinished, there are a few other things that Banzu will be doing once the ship is finished. Assuming that his service is popular enough to warrant teaching another person how to pilot the ship, he'll install simple buoys to mark hazards near the port and the island so no one wrecks his ship. To help install and maintain those buoys, serve as a lifeboat for the ship if the concept comes up, and possibly be rented to those who want to stay closer to shore, he'll likely construct one or more rowboats. Since these rowboats will be far simpler and smaller than the ship, their construction can likely be semi-handwaved at a later date. Further thought will also be given to improving the shoreline, and Banzu may experiment with dredging techniques and/or building up the shoreline, possibly leading to another plot in the farther future.
Assuming that there's nothing in the preceding that someone in the game world would ICly be able to tell is wrong or wouldn't work, I'm ready for information on the materials gathering portion of the plot.
Characters who have expressed an interest in the OOC post so far: Red (gathering materials), Sync (gathering materials and possibly construction), Jason (gathering materials), Asemu (gathering materials), Ezreal (unspecified help), Melaka (unspecified help), Renko (unspecified help).
no subject
- Location: Near the western bank of the westernmost mouth of the river, close enough for easy access to fresh water but far enough to have dry, stable ground without any extra work.
- General Approach: Banzu realizes that this is going to be a time-consuming, resource-intensive, and expensive project, and will be looking to save time and money wherever possible without compromising on the safety of the result. Where possible and practical, he'll gather materials himself, act as his own general contractor, and overlap construction timelines. The wall and the drydock's cradle will be built first, then the buildings, mainland pier, and trench leading to the drydock will be constructed while the construction of the ship is underway, hopefully resulting in everything being completed at around the same time. Any shortfalls in construction help from player characters will be filled in with NPC hires from Union, with a view towards a balance between wages and completion time.
- The Ship: A 60-foot-long steamship, with the rear half taken up by the boiler, condensers, turbines, and fuel storage.
I never realized how big a steamer's engines were.The forward half has an open deck over the cabin, which can seat 12 (not including the pilot) or sleep 6 (including the pilot). The ship is physically capable of carrying or sleeping more, but there would be no seats or beds for the extra people and it would be rather unpleasant for all aboard. The ship has a surprising amount of storage space tucked away in every possible corner along with a toilet, water supply, and a tiny stove, allowing it to operate for a short time out of range of the Warp Transmitter if need be. The ship in general is on the cramped side and isn't fitted for luxury, but rather to be able to fill any role competently while excelling at none. It could probably reach the island in under two hours.- Drydock: Banzu considered a slipway to launch the completed ship instead, as it would be far easier to build, but his inexperience with shipbuilding and the stresses that he realized the ship would be put under during a slipway launch made him nervous, and he decided to play it safe instead of risking the completed ship breaking during launch. The drydock will be dug into the shore and a gate installed, then a connection made to the sea and the water deepened as much as possible in front of it, before the gate is opened and the completed ship moved out. Union's lack of dredging equipment will mean that the transfer can only happen at high tide until improvements are made. Banzu won't bother with the equipment for pumping water out of the drydock immediately, instead adding it once the ship has been launched, but he will enclose it so that he can work on the ship in all weather. Other than wood and stone, this will require a lot of physical labor to complete, much of which will continue while the ship is being constructed.
- Mainland Pier: For several reasons, the drydock isn't practical for regular use by the ship, thus the need for the pier. The pier will be a line of cut stone extending from the shore into the deeper water that the ship can always access. Construction will be fairly simple, amounting to a glorified dropping of rocks into the water.
- Island Pier: Similar to the mainland pier, only much smaller due to the island's different shoreline. It will be constructed once the ship is finished.
- Workshop: Extending from the drydock will be Banzu's workshop, a two-story room that will initially be nothing but a large empty space. Banzu will have the shell of the building completed and then bring in equipment and finish it himself as time and resources permit once the ship's been constructed. A small tower will extend from the roof to allow viewing over the walls and watching for storms.
- Living Quarters: Attached to the side of the workshop, and despite free reign to build as big as he wants they'll be equivalent in size to a small apartment in Union. The lower level will have an office, a bedroom for Pokémon, and a small bathroom, while the upper level will have a combination kitchen/dining/living room, Banzu's bedroom, and a full-sized bathroom. Banzu will have the shells of the rooms completed along with the installation of the bathroom and kitchen fixtures, and then furnish and finish them himself as time and resources permit once the ship's been constructed.
- Utilities: A small version of the generators used in Union for electrical generation, to be run only when needed, a pipe and pump to bring water from the river to a storage tank, and a simple waste disposal system will cover the utility requirements and will be installed as early as is practical in the construction process.
- Walls: Banzu will surround the port area with a ten-foot stone wall on the three sides not adjacent to the water and extending a short ways into the sea. While this obviously won't keep out everything, it's much better than nothing, especially if there's no permanent presence to dissuade local Pokémon. It will be broken by a small gatehouse and enclose more space than currently required, leaving space for expansion, primarily because it would irritate Banzu to not have the walls form a rectangle.
- Near-Future: Aside from the completion of the parts of the buildings left unfinished, there are a few other things that Banzu will be doing once the ship is finished. Assuming that his service is popular enough to warrant teaching another person how to pilot the ship, he'll install simple buoys to mark hazards near the port and the island so no one wrecks his ship. To help install and maintain those buoys, serve as a lifeboat for the ship if the concept comes up, and possibly be rented to those who want to stay closer to shore, he'll likely construct one or more rowboats. Since these rowboats will be far simpler and smaller than the ship, their construction can likely be semi-handwaved at a later date. Further thought will also be given to improving the shoreline, and Banzu may experiment with dredging techniques and/or building up the shoreline, possibly leading to another plot in the farther future.
Assuming that there's nothing in the preceding that someone in the game world would ICly be able to tell is wrong or wouldn't work, I'm ready for information on the materials gathering portion of the plot.
Characters who have expressed an interest in the OOC post so far: Red (gathering materials), Sync (gathering materials and possibly construction), Jason (gathering materials), Asemu (gathering materials), Ezreal (unspecified help), Melaka (unspecified help), Renko (unspecified help).