Well, it's been an exciting six months out in Colonia with lots going on - expeditions, research, wars, community initiatives - and the Traveller's Guide for Colonia is definitely due for an update.
As before I hope it gives visitors and newcomers to the region an indication of how important Colonia is, in many ways that aren't obvious at a first glance, and why so many of us are willing to fight for it.
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I had originally intended to include in this update a history of the Third Regional Conflict. It rapidly became clear that there was far too much information to fit in the guide, so it just has a brief summary of the current overall outcomes. Instead, a history of the full conflict so far from April 3305 to December 3306 and an analysis of the wider political context, with a complete set of maps, is being published separately
History of the 3rd Regional Conflict: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HOSLLTjNMdVJqTdCjh4MVFIP8eIk8XEG/view?usp=sharing
While I've tried to be as neutral as possible on "who was in the right" so that people can make their own decisions based on the events, obviously there is substantial room for disagreement in a 20-month conflict over which events get highlighted and which get mentioned in passing if at all. I'm very happy to take criticism here of my decisions on what to document and how to present it, but continued discussions of the issues of the conflict itself might be best to take place in one of the existing threads on that topic (there's a few in the Lore and Roleplay forum) to keep this thread appropriate for Dangerous Discussion.
As with the Traveller's Guide itself, this document is intended as an in-universe one, so certain important issues which were not directly in-universe have been referred to obliquely if at all, for example, and there has been some artistic license taken to present in-universe explanations for events which don't have them. It is, ultimately, a work of fiction.
I'd also like to repeat my thanks to the various participants and observers of the conflict who provided their perspectives on motivations, tactics and outcomes, and who must in many cases remain anonymous.
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Since it's coming up to 3307, there's also another bonus piece of content available - a little story about some employees of the Tir Research Labs - including a small puzzle to solve.
Arcturus Rising: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F3FFeAgY92kbs6wDfVjNtToEi_e-6IN0/view?usp=sharing
As far as the puzzle goes:
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If anyone is wanting to help out on some Colonia projects, we still have a few engineering blueprints to finish off (before Odyssey gives us some more?), and in light of recent events in the bubble I'm collecting a stockpile of materials which we might need but don't have ready access to on my carrier - https://cdb.sotl.org.uk/projects/19 for details - if you're heading up in the new year, please bring some goods along and help secure the sustainability of the region.
Here's to more Colonia excitement in 3307 - hope to see you around!
- information on the events of the last six months
- some new photographs (just one site still in winter to wait for...might be able to push out a quick revision in a few weeks to include that one too)
- more background on some of the factions
- a little bit of reformatting
As before I hope it gives visitors and newcomers to the region an indication of how important Colonia is, in many ways that aren't obvious at a first glance, and why so many of us are willing to fight for it.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I had originally intended to include in this update a history of the Third Regional Conflict. It rapidly became clear that there was far too much information to fit in the guide, so it just has a brief summary of the current overall outcomes. Instead, a history of the full conflict so far from April 3305 to December 3306 and an analysis of the wider political context, with a complete set of maps, is being published separately
History of the 3rd Regional Conflict: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HOSLLTjNMdVJqTdCjh4MVFIP8eIk8XEG/view?usp=sharing
While I've tried to be as neutral as possible on "who was in the right" so that people can make their own decisions based on the events, obviously there is substantial room for disagreement in a 20-month conflict over which events get highlighted and which get mentioned in passing if at all. I'm very happy to take criticism here of my decisions on what to document and how to present it, but continued discussions of the issues of the conflict itself might be best to take place in one of the existing threads on that topic (there's a few in the Lore and Roleplay forum) to keep this thread appropriate for Dangerous Discussion.
As with the Traveller's Guide itself, this document is intended as an in-universe one, so certain important issues which were not directly in-universe have been referred to obliquely if at all, for example, and there has been some artistic license taken to present in-universe explanations for events which don't have them. It is, ultimately, a work of fiction.
I'd also like to repeat my thanks to the various participants and observers of the conflict who provided their perspectives on motivations, tactics and outcomes, and who must in many cases remain anonymous.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Since it's coming up to 3307, there's also another bonus piece of content available - a little story about some employees of the Tir Research Labs - including a small puzzle to solve.
Arcturus Rising: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F3FFeAgY92kbs6wDfVjNtToEi_e-6IN0/view?usp=sharing
As far as the puzzle goes:
- it has a definite in-game answer that you can take a clearly recognisable screenshot of, though I don't guarantee it'll be a particularly interesting screenshot if you do - it's an unofficial puzzle, after all!
- it can be solved entirely with in-game tools and information, thinking on the right lines, and maybe a bit of scrap paper to write notes on
- you don't need to read the story to solve the puzzle
- there are no prizes other than the satisfaction of being right
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
If anyone is wanting to help out on some Colonia projects, we still have a few engineering blueprints to finish off (before Odyssey gives us some more?), and in light of recent events in the bubble I'm collecting a stockpile of materials which we might need but don't have ready access to on my carrier - https://cdb.sotl.org.uk/projects/19 for details - if you're heading up in the new year, please bring some goods along and help secure the sustainability of the region.
Here's to more Colonia excitement in 3307 - hope to see you around!
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staying just long enough to unload some of my goods then heading back to the bubble to sell the rest and buy a ship or two, if there is still a demand I will bring some back with me.
.... and a slice of cake 
